Pinterest Weekend!

I love Pinterest.  I didn't get it at first--I resisted it at first, but now...I love it!  There's nothing like wasting time going through the pins, thinking I can do this, or I can make this.  Then I pin it...and that's usually about as far as I get.  Anyone know what that is like?

Well, I decided that this weekend I wanted to make some of the delicious looking food I had pinned.  So Thursday night I sat down and made a mini-menu; Friday I headed to the grocery store.  Then I started cooking.  Of course, I had to take some pictures of my food.  (I got a new camera for Christmas.  I bought one last June before my TAH trip, but I lost it during VBS in August.)

I will be posting the recipes and picture on here along with my variations.  I'll make a different post for each recipe.  So I will have more posts from this weekend than in the history of my blog!

My first recipe is not edible.  My friend Brittany (A Tale of Two Kings) had told me about her homemade laundry soap a long time ago.  Last summer I was getting frustrated at always buying laundry soap; that stuff adds up.  So I bought all the ingredients, and they sat in my living room until Friday.  It was simple to make and smells good.  I have not used any yet.  I still have some store bought soap to use up. 

Ingredients:
Hot tap water
1 bar Zest Soap (I chose Zest because I like the smell and I knew it wouldn't break out my skin, but you could use any kind you wanted)
1 cup Arm and Hammar Super Washing Soda (NOT BAKING SODA)
1/2 cup Borax
Optional: Essential Oil (My sister told me that if we were going to have homemade laundry soap, it had to smell good.  So we spent about 1/2 an hour in Hobby Lobby smelling all the essential oils.  We ended up with "Red Rose and Thyme")

Steps:
1.  Grate the bar of soap into a saucepan. (I bought a cheap cheese grater to grate the soap.  It worked pretty well, but I was terrified of grating my fingers.  I tended to do that as a kid when I grated cheese...)

2.  Add 4 cups hot water (I boiled the water in my teapot to expedite the next step)
3.  Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves (This step smells really good)
4.  Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water.
5.  Add melted soap mixture, borax, and washing soda.  Stir until the powder is dissolved.
6.  Fill bucket to the top with more hot water.

7.  Stir, cover, and let sit overnight to thicken.  (It gets really thick and gelled.  This is when I stirred in the essential oil.  On her blog, Brittany suggested 10-15 drops per 2 gallons)
8.  Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap bottle half full with soap and then fill the rest of the way with water.
9.  Shake before each use (will gell)

Top loading Machines: 5/8 cup per load (approx. 180 loads)
Front loading Machines: 1/4 cup per load (approx. 640 loads)

I'm really excited to try this.  It was a little expensive to make at the beginning, but I have 5 gallons of concentrated laundry soap made.  I still have a TON of borax and washing soda.  AND Zest is not that expensive, so I know I will save money in the long run.  PLUS, it is one less thing to pick up from the store.

Up next: Olive Garden Taste-Alike Salad Dressing