Recently while cooking dinner, I realized I had run out of laundry soap – and didn’t have time – or ability – to run to the store. So J volunteered to make up some homemade powdered laundry detergent for me, if I would teach him how. (what a great kid!)

And then he agreed to do it all on camera so you can learn how to make homemade laundry soap too, just in case you ever have a need

The cost breakdown for homemade laundry soap is equal to about the cheapest laundry soap available on the market, but it is quick and easy to do, and a real time saver if you are caught in a pinch like I was.

Budget wise – I also consider it a time saver and money saver, because I can’t seem to get through a grocery store with *just* one item, so just having the ingredients on hand helps. And if money is tight having the ingredients already on hand, makes it much easier to make a new batch of homemade laundry detergent without figuring out where the money is going to come from to make another shopping run.

For ingredients, you need:

• a bar laundry soap (Fel Naptha, Zote, or any other bar laundry soap), usually costs about a $1
• washing soda , found in the laundry isle, usually costs about $3-4
• Borax, also found in the laundry isle, usually costs between $4-5

The washing soda and Borax will last you a while (the recipe only calls for 1 cup), and I usually just make sure I have a bar of Fels Naptha on hand (especially during poison oak/sumac season).

In all I think it costs about 5 to 10 cents per load, depending on how much you pay for your ingredients and if you use the optional Oxiclean (or generic) like I do in the video.

And then just follow the instructions in the video… it’s really that fast and easy.  And then all you need is 1 Tablespoon per load, 2 if the kids’ clothes are particularly dirty.

Enjoy!

…Shannon

P.S. If you aren’t able to see the video, here’s the short version of the homemade laundry soap recipe:

Mix together 1 bar of laundry soap (grated), 1 cup of washing soda, and 1 cup of Borax

Yep, that easy.

P.S.S.  If you have young children in the house and you make your own anything, be sure to write the ingredients on the container you use, so that if there’s ever an accident that involves you or a babysitter calling poison control, you can just read the ingredients off the container rather than trying to remember what’s in there.

As February is American Heart Month, and I promised you some free Heart- Healthy Cookbooks, here’s the first one.

 Keep the Beat: Deliciously Healthy Dinners is a beautiful heart-healthy cookbook put out by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute.

There’s two versions of the book available:

- a Free PDF version (just click on the link to download it (opens in a new window).)

and a print version, which you can order online. I got both versions and in the video above show you the print version that came in the mail this week. 

When I ordered my copy, the print version was free (not even a shipping cost). But no where on the site does it say it is free and you do have to go through a shopping cart process, but it never asked me for payment.  My suspicion is that getting the print version for free is a temporary promo, but I have no confirmation of that.

So… If you’d like a copy of the print version (it’s a beautiful cookbook), head over to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute site and order your copy. It’s a beautiful cookbook to add to your collection of heart-healthy recipes.

To get your copy, just go to the Keep the Beat order page (opens in a new window). Enter a ’1′ in the quantity field and click the “add to cart” button.

It’ll then walks you through an order process with shipping info. I had mine sent to a PO Box and it worked great.

Enjoy – and please, Take care of your heart!

…Shannon

Feeding a large family?  I just ran across this and knew I had to share it with you.

Kelly Morris, a busy mom of 9 (and a fellow homeschooler), recently released her new e-cookbook: Just Get ‘Em Fed: Simple Whole Food Meals for Your Family.

And it’s free!

Not only does Kelly share her family’s favorite recipes across each type of meal, including

• casseroles
• pasta
• chicken
• beef
• slow cooker/crockpot

She also shares her strategies for menu planning, grocery shopping (w/kids in tow), and food storage, all with an eye on time and budget, and of course nutrition. 

If you are feeding a large family, grab your free copy of Just Get ’Em Fed and check out her suggestions. I know I found some new tips and a more than few new recipes to try out.

Also, while you are at it, be sure to check out Kelly’s site. She has a ton of information on staying balanced and managing life with a large family.

Enjoy!

…Shannon

A few years ago, I was introduced to the Gluten Free world through a friend whose daughter was diagnosed as gluten intolerant, and followed along as they made the transition as a family to being completely gluten free.

Since then, my mom has been diagnosed as gluten intolerant, and my circle of friends and acquaintances with gluten free families or children seems to have grown.

Mary Blackburn from EasyGlutenFreeLiving.com

So in today’s podcast, I am excited to pick the brain of Mary Blackburn, from EasyGlutenFreeLiving.com on what it means to be gluten free, and specifically be gluten free with kids.

Mary was diagnosised with Celiac Disease in 1987 when she was a young mother of 2, and has been living Gluten Free ever since. 

Her website  is dedicated to helping those who are new to Gluten Free living find the information and encouragement they need to be successful in the gluten free lifestyle.

Mary is also  the author of Gluten Free Get Togethers, an e-cookbook full of the tried and true gluten free recipes she’s compiled over 20+ years of gluten free living.

Mary is an incredibly knowledgable and generous person. During our entire interview we experienced all kinds of technical problems and she was so gracious and wonderful about it. It’s always a privilege to share with you someone who really knows their topic, but also is just a great person as well. And that’s Mary.

Through this interview, she has given us basically a beginner’s guide to living gluten free.  We covered:

• What it means to be “Gluten Free”
• What Gluten is, and what foods it is found in
• What the difference is between being gluten intolerant and having Celiac Disease
• The symptoms and indicators of gluten intolerance and Celiac Disease
• What you should do if you suspect you or your child is gluten intolerant (and what you shouldn’t do!)
• What grains are gluten free and what you can eat on a gluten free diet
• The foods you wouldn’t think of that have gluten hidden in them
• How to read labels to ensure the foods you are buying are gluten free
• How to eat out when you are gluten free and ensure that you won’t get sick. 
• Her little trick that helps restrauant staff understand what is safe and what is not.
• When to get screening for Celiac Disease, and who in your family should be tested.
• What misinformation is out there about Gluten Free Living
• How to help family members and friends understand what is safe and what is not on a gluten free diet
• And so much more

I learned so much from Mary in this conversation, and I’ve been researching this for a couple years now. If you know anyone who is gluten free, or if you or your child is gluten free, I encourage you take the time to listen in to this interview, and share it with others who need to understand what is okay and what isn’t on a gluten free diet.

To listen in, simply click the play button below. To download the recording to your computer, right click on download link below and choose ‘Save Target As’.

Gluten Free Living [ 1:20:33 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Enjoy!

…Shannon

P.S.  After talking to Mary, and learning that 1 in 133 people are gluten intolerant, I totally understand why it’s so important to build awareness for a gluten free lifestyle. Please, please, share this podcast and help build awareness for our friends and families who live with this disease every day.

P.S.S. Prefer to read?  Good news! A transcript is available. Click here to get your FREE copy of the transcript: Gluten Free Living: A Beginner’s Guide to Gluten Free Living.

Over the years, I’ve cut my grocery budget from over $1000/month for 6 people (2 adults and 4 kids under 6) to where it is now at $300/month for 6 people (2 adults, 4 hungry kids ages 6-12)

So when a friend asked a while back for some recipes that would allow her to cook more frugally and cut down her budget, I almost went into overload, because there are so many ways. 

But one of our favorite ways is to cook whole chicken and make multiple meals of  it.

As I’ve mentioned before I buy meat when it’s on sale and freeze it for when I need it. So usually I pick up whole chickens on sale for between $.59 to $.79 a pound, so one chicken costs about $3.  

So, to start, I pull one or two chickens out of the freezer and defrost it. For the sake of this example, let’s assume I’m doing 2 chickens so I can make multiple meals out of it.

Meal 1: Roast chicken, rice, and vegetables

I roast the chickens, covered in the oven for about an hour at 425 degrees. One chicken is used as the meat for that night’s meal.

Then I pick off all the meat from both chickens and separate into 3 zip lock freezer bags. Any chicken broth drippings from the pan I roasted the chicken in are spooned into the three bags, as chicken freezes better and is moister with some broth.

The carcasses are then put into gallon size zip lock bags and saved (in the freezer) to make chicken broth later.

Now I have three bags of chicken to work with – sometimes these are frozen, sometimes held for the rest of the week’s meals. But basically here are what I make out of them.

Meal 2: Chicken and Dumplings over rice or quinoa

Since we’re really on a tight grocery budget now, I try to work in as much nutrition as possible, so I use homemade chicken broth, throw in potatoes, lentils, and some barley, as well as grated carrots and chopped cauliflower if I have it. This way the meal is nutritious and filling.

Meal 3: Chicken pot pie filling served over rice or as a chicken pot pie

The chicken pot pie filling recipe that I use calls for lots of veggies (whatever you have on hand), so again it’s nutritious and filling. And I’m using homemade chicken broth for this as well.  The recipe I use also makes a double batch, so there’s always left overs for either another dinner meal or for lunches.

Meal 4: Chicken Tacos

These I make in my small crockpot. Just throw in the chicken, a little chicken broth, and some taco seasoning and let it simmer until it is warm and seasoned.

I serve these on whole wheat tortillas, with rice, salsa, cheese, and sliced spinach (my crew won’t eat lettuce but they do eat fresh spinach – go figure!). Sometimes I’ll pull some pinto beans out of the freezer and add those in as well, to make it extra filling and nutritious.

The Bonus: Homemade Chicken Broth

All chicken carcasses are saved for a day when I feel like making broth. Broth is super easy to make, I can’t believe I was afraid of it for so long. But basically I do this in my large crockpot overnight.

At the bottom of the crockpot I put a roughly chopped onion, some celery if I have it, and a couple chopped up carrots (these are thrown out at the end so it doesn’t matter how neat they are). Sometimes I throw in a clove of garlic or two as well. 

Then on top of that I put in as much chicken carcass and trimmings from the freezer as will fit. Cover it all with water. (but leaving at least a 1/2 inch for the broth to fill in – believe me if you fill it all the way, it will overflow and make a huge mess!)

Then splash in about a tablespoon of vinegar (helps draw the nutrition out of the bones).

Cover and cook on low all night. (Warning: about 3am the house smells really really good and may wake you up.)

The next day, strain the broth out from the vegetables, meat, and bones. I give the meat and bones to the cats and then throw it away afterwards.  Place the broth in a bowl in the refrigerator for a day or so.

When the broth gets cold, the fat rises to the top. Then you can just use a spoon to scrape it off and dump the fat in the garbage.  What you are left with is yummy, fat-free homemade chicken broth and it cost you less than a $1 for the onion & carrots.

Now, it may look more like jello, but that’s because it contains more nutrition from the bones than store-bought chicken broth does. But believe me it cooks up great.

I freeze the chicken broth in pint canning jars and fill an ice cube tray with broth for those recipes that only call for a tablespoon or two of broth. Then when I need broth, I just pull it out of the freezer and microwave it and it’s all ready to go.

Sometimes I also just pull out a jar, heat it up with some onions and vegetables and have a yummy hot soup in less than 20 minutes.

So if you do all that, you have at least 4 if not 6 meals from just 2 whole chickens.

This method also works great with Turkey, only you get more meals. Just last night I made turkey broth from our christmas turkey, and we’re on meal 4 out of 7 I think of dinners with left over turkey. Definitely an easy way to stretch the grocery budget and cook frugally

Enjoy!

…Shannon

P.S. For more ideas on how to cook frugally, I recommend checking out the Hillbilly Housewife website. This is THE site where I learned a great deal on how to stretch my grocery budget just by cooking frugally.