Thrifty Herbal Cleaners for a Healthier Home
July 28, 2008 by Karen Weideman
Filed under cleaning, health, household product
The following is a guest post.
What could be better than saving money, reducing landfill waste and at the same time making your home safer for you family? Making your own simple cleaning products will accomplish all three of these and give you a sense of self sufficiency that is very powerful. Who knows, it may start you down the same path that I took ten years ago to simplify my life by teaching myself to do things that I had previously relied on others to do for me.
Maybe you have started on this journey already but haven’t had the confidence …read more
Carnivals are Up
October 2, 2007 by Karen Weideman
Filed under blog carnival
The Make it from Scratch Carnival is up at Stop the Ride.
The Carnival of Family Life is up at Real Life.
The Carnival of the Recipes is up at Everything and Nothing.
Enjoy! Do you have any favorite blog carnivals? If so, leave us a link. Thanks.
Easy Homemade Brown Sugar
September 16, 2007 by Karen Weideman
Filed under food, frugal living, money saving idea, recipes
Did you know that you can make your own brown sugar? I had no idea until just recently. I didn’t even know how brown sugar was made.
Making your own brown sugar is the frugal way to go. I’ll admit that sometimes I’ll pay a little more for convenience, but this recipe is so easy that we all can do it!
1 cup white sugar
1-2 tbsp molasses
Use 1 tbsp molasses for light brown sugar and 2 tbsp for dark. Just mix the two ingredients together. How simple is that?
This is really a great recipe for those of you in other countries that …read more
Thrifty Hot Chocolate Recipe
January 22, 2007 by Karen Weideman
Filed under blogs, food, frugal living, recipes
I was visiting Revka’s “The Porch Light” and found a recipe for hot chocolate. You can make a bunch of it and put it into jars for gifts. I like to see those homemade gifts that are put into old-fashioned mason jars with cute fabric on top. Here’s the recipe:
Heavenly Hot Chocolate Mix
10 2/3 c. powdered milk
6 oz. jar nonfat powdered dairy creamer
4 c. confectioners’ sugar
3 1/2 c. cocoa powder (can use hot chocolate mix like NesQuik)
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. (I recommend processing the powdered milk in a blender to break down the large particles into …read more
Homemade Vanilla Extract
October 30, 2006 by Karen Weideman
Filed under food, frugal living, money saving idea
Real vanilla is very expensive, but it really adds to the flavor of recipes. I know that many of you will be baking during the holidays, so I thought you could use this recipe for homemade vanilla.
I found it at Camp Homeschool. This recipe seems pretty inexpensive to make for the amount that you get. Perhaps you could make some and give it away to your friends and relatives for their holiday baking or use it as a gift.
Homemade Vanilla
1 bottle of good Vodka
2-3 whole vanilla beans
Place the vanilla beans in the Vodka and let steep. Ready to use when the Vodka smells …read more
