1.
I am absolutely loving the 4 Moms 35 Children posts. Start at the Common Room and work your way through the links to the other ladies.
2.
I made some really good short ribs the other day, out of grass fed beef provided by my sister. Basically, I braised them on the stove, then added some tomatoes. Husband dear approved and Mr P gobbled up the leftovers, so I guess that recipes a keeper! I was going to post it here then I remembered I’m going to start posting recipes in their own post so it’s easy to find them. So, something to look forward to sometime in the future, eh?
3.
My sister also gave me a heaping portion of soup bones from an organic, free range cow. Oh, yes, friends, she totally hooked me up. I attempted to make stock. The brew smelled so foul it actually turned my stomach. I think maybe the bones had gone bad – I make chicken stock all the time and it smells awesome. But this beef bone broth – after 8 hours on the stove, it smelled worse than when we began. It hurt to do it, but I threw it out.
4.
Last week, my washer died a horrible death. The clothes inside it were smoking, people. Now I have a fancy schmancy new front loader. With a sanitize cycle and lots of happy buttons. The best one? Child lock. Genius.
5.
My only complaint is that my laundry room is set up backwards – the washer is on the right, and the dryer is on the left. All front loading washers open from the right to the left. My dryer (a freebie off Craigslist) opens from the left to the right, and the door isn’t interchangeable. So I have two wonky doors in the way when I move my laundry over. Still, it beats the laundromat or beating the clothes on a rock in a stream!
6.
Previously I made my own laundry detergent out of bar soap, washing soda, and borax. I store it in old pickle jars, because I’m not just a class act, I’m married to a German. Of sorts. Anyway, I’ve read bloggers who claim you can use this soap in high efficiency machines. Do any of my readers make their own detergent? Any success in front loaders? Frankly, WalMarts HE soap stinks, even if there is a flower on the package.
7.
Yes, I realize that perhaps it doesn’t count as “making” my laundry soap, when it’s more of an assembly job. But I have no plans to make my own soap to make it a truly from-scratch project. Grating a bar of Zote is as good as it gets, people. Work with me here.
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I just had to get a new washing machine, too, but I opted for the cheapest one I could find. I am a little leery of the front-loaders because you have to leave the door slightly open whenever they are not in use to prevent mildew forming. That just seems like an invitation for little people to throw damaging things in there when my back is turned.
+JMJ+
I make my own laundry soap out of Fels Naptha, Borax and Washing Soda. I have been using it in my HE front loader with no problems for over two years now. I am even using it on diapers to great success!
I store my soap in washed out Simply Orange Juice containers.
Hope that helps.
I’ve used homemade laundry soap in an HE front loader. In my experience, Zote just doesn’t work as well as Naptha Fells. If you use Zote, you need 2 T per load rather than the 1 T with NF.
And grating the soap by running it in chunks through the food processor works better than a cheese grater. Granted, a grater is easier to do, but it produces larger pieces rather than powder that mixes well with the other two powders, so you have to make sure you get a balance of soap and powder in your scoop.
Hope that helps.
Rachel, do you use it dry? I make mine into liquid laundry detergent.
Yes, I use it dry.
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