The Famous Homemade Laundry Detergent

I can't even begin to count how many people I've passed this recipe on to.  I've got it from my friend Dana a few years ago originally as an alternative to expensive commercial laundry detergent.  As our household became more aware of the products we bought and how they effected the environment, it just added to my love for this recipe.


We make a conscious effort to steer clear of buying products with lots of packaging.  We do this in lots of ways...buying used, frequenting the bulk bins at the health food store, staying away from individually packaged anything, enforcing the use of water canteens and reusable coffee mugs, eating only fresh veggies,  hunting and fishing our meat instead of buying it, banning paper towels in our house...really just being aware of what we buy.  There are so many ways to reduce waste, and a little effort by all goes a long way!  Pick one idea or come up with your own, and try it for a week...you may never go back :)

Even though we recycle, it still takes a process that uses energy, transportation  and emissions are still produced.  Don't get me wrong, recycling is MUCH better than throwing it "away"...just where is "away" anyways?   So, in the case of laundry detergent containers, our preferred method of the three R's (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) is to Reduce.  I triple the recipe, store it in a 6 gallon bucket saved from my bulk wheat berry purchases, and refill an old Tide container as needed. 

Before I give you the recipe, just a  few more bits of info I want to share.  This soap will not suds like commercial laundry detergent.  You will see a small amount of suds while you are making the soap, because soap does make a small amount of suds naturally.  The lack of suds does not mean it's not working.  Suds were actually introduced to soaps for marketing purposes.  We've basically gotten trained to seeing suds and think cleaning.  Commercial laundry detergent manufacturers use sodium laurel sulfate or some derivative of it as a surfactant.  That's what makes the suds.  Unfortunately, it is a proven carcinogen.   Aside from the surfactants, more recently, another set of chemicals being introduced called optical brighteners, are used to "trick" the eye into by altering ultraviolet wavelengths to make clothes look brighter. Studies have shown these agents are extremely toxic to fish and can cause mutations in bacteria. They can also trigger strong allergic reactions in humans when exposed to sunlight.  Last, but not least, commercial detergents contain phenols.  Phenols have been deemed toxic by the National Health Institute.  They can cause damage to the lungs, heart, kidneys and liver. They are very easily absorbed into the skin, making them especially dangerous. Phenols have been linked to serious health conditions and even death.  None of these are something I'd like to have touching my family's bodies all day or entering our waterways.

On a happier note, I like a little smelly good in my detergents...especially on towels and sheets.  I don't add it to my big batch, because I use vinegar as a fabric softener on my dark loads of laundry, and it neutralizes whatever scent I added.  Since I line dry my clothes, a fabric softener helps to do a dryer's work and remove any lint that tends to be visible on dark loads.   If you're not using vinegar as a fabric softener, feel free to add a few drops of essential oils to your detergent.  I like to use lavender, but get creative...try jasmine, lemon, eucalyptus, orange, geranium, rose, vanilla.  You can mix them or try them on their own.  Have fun with it!    

Lastly, I find all these ingredients at Publix.  The Borax is a little less expensive at Target, so if I'm there already, I try to remember to grab a box.  Did I mention, this recipe costs practically nothing?  I make a 6 gallon bucket of laundry detergent for under $5, and it lasts me at least 4 months (if not longer).

I know there are so many versions of this recipe out there.  This one worked right off the bat for us, so I never tried any others.  If you have a recipe you use, please feel free to post it in the comment section!!

LAUNDRY DETERGENT RECIPE

1/3 bar soup (Fels Naptha or other types of soap like Zote )
1/2 a cup of washing soda
1/2 cup of borax powder
2 gallon size bucket to mix in


Grate the soap into a sauce pan. Then add 6 cups of water & heat til soap is completely melted. Add washing soda and borax and stir that til dissolved. Remove from heat; pour 4 cups of hot water (we just use out the faucet, as hot as it would get) into a bucket; now add your soap mixture; stir. Then add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water; stir. Use 1/2 a cup per load.

Happy Cleaning!

The Pantry Raid-Part 1

A side effect to whole eating that I hadn't really put much thought into when we started making these changes was weight loss.  After three kids, I had spent two years getting back into a good exercise habit and was actually very happy with the condition my body had settled into.  I hadn't done too much with my eating habits aside from moderation, so it really caught me by surprise, because I wasn't setting out to lose weight.  I had people asking me almost on a daily basis, "what the heck are you doing??".   Honestly, it took me a few to really process what was happening.  I hadn't changed my exercise routine or the amount of food I was eating, yet, the pounds were dropping off like flies.  Even my husband who was already very fit compared to the average Joe also lost 10 pounds.

Basically, as we started becoming more conscientious about the foods we consumed from a green standpoint, eating more whole was just a natural progression.  The more whole we ate, the more our bodies adjusted to a healthier state.  The best side effect I've ever experienced! :) 

The first step was reading labels.  Sure, I had checked out fat and calorie content on labels.  I had even advanced to checking fiber and sugar information, but very rarely did I even glance at the ingredient list.  The more aware I became of strange ingredients like Butylated Hydroxyanisole (I can't even say that!), the more I couldn't imagine eating those foods anymore.  Go get a bottle of salad dressing from your pantry and read the ingredients...I dare you!  You will be amazed!  Just because I'm a little anal retentive, I started researching these ingredients only to find that I had been pumping our family full of chemicals and biologically modified foods (which is so ironic taking into consideration that I spent my early years out of college as a scientist in the industry responsible for these modifications...a whole other post coming on that subject :) ). 

The more educated I became, the better we ate.  Out with processed foods and in with organic, whole foods.  I think mostly because of the visible, physical improvements, I have so many people asking me about making healthy changes to their eating habits.  The big question--So, where do I start?

Every household is different.  Personally, I have a hard time diving right into anything, so we started gradually.  Our focus was really driven by our new-found knowledge of where our food comes from and what effects its production has on our environment.  

My goal with starting this blog back up is to be able to answer this question for as many people as I can reach.  Clean, whole eating can prevent and cure many diseases that have become common to our country, and I feel blessed to have the opportunity to share what I have learned!  I will be posting a weekly series called "The Pantry Raid" where I will be sharing all kinds of mind-blowing info on our food supply and baby steps on how to get your pantry in shape, so make sure you check in frequently for new posts!

The VERY Best Wheat Bread Ever

Pin It

So, I log onto the blog thinking it's only been a few months since my last post, and BAM...it hits me like a ton of bricks.  I haven't posted anything in over a YEAR!   What hit me even harder was reading up on past posts and seeing how much everything has changed in a year.

It was fun to see how far we've come in our Big Life and our Little Garden in such a short time.  I am so excited to get the blog back up and running so I can share all the fun experiences and knowledge we've gained!  The change that struck me the hardest was that I've gone from the "queen of couponing" eating pretty much nothing but processed food and what we grew in the garden to becoming full blown, what most would call, health freaks.  Our quest to green our household has sent us on an amazing journey into the world of whole food living.  Quite some time ago, we had a chance to see the documentary "Food Inc.".  What an eye opener!  One documentary led to another and things started changing in or house faster than you could say "high fructose corn syrup".  Which, amongst many others, has become quite the buzz word in our house.  Lots of posts about that subject to come :)  

Amazing though...some things never change.  My last post was a precursor to the best wheat bread recipe ever.  Low and behold, what was I planning on posting when I logged on and discovered I was in denial about what a year really feels like?   ...The best wheat bread recipe ever.  Coincidence, I think not.  With all the changes to our eating habits, one thing has remained steadfast--homemade bread.

I started making our bread almost three years ago as a less-expensive alternative to store bought wheat bread.  I had found myself buying the cheap, store-brand, white bread and even in the midst of financial crisis was very sure that was a pretty unhealthy habit for my family.  Desperate to do the right thing and not break the bank, I started making my own bread.  For those of you who are cost-conscious and making the switch to healthier, you know that the jump from white to wheat flour is not the easiest to execute.  So, in search of the most cost effective solution and some advice from some great friends, I turned to milling my own wheat.

Over the years, I've tried and tweaked many different recipes, and  finally have a forever keeper.  This recipe makes either two one-pound loaves and a baguette, or two larger loaves.  I go with the two loaves and a baguette most of the time, not just because it's fun to watch the family fight over the baguette while it's still warm, but it also makes a nice, healthy addition to any dinner.

So...without further ado...the recipe


BASIC WHOLE WHEAT BREAD RECIPE
5-6 c fresh milled organic hard white wheat flour (*can use store-bought if you prefer)
3 c water or leftover whey from cheesemaking
4 Tbs dry active yeast
1 Tbs sea salt
2 Tbs honey (I use raw local)
2 Tbs organic olive oil

*if using store bought flour, I recommend King Arthur's Whole White Wheat Flour

In mixing bowl, combine 1 c flour, 2 Tbs yeast and 3/4 c water.  Stir with wooden spoon ~100 times.  Cover with clean kitchen towel and let set for an hour.  This is called the poolish.  After an hour, the mixture should have visible air pockets (bubbling).

Add the remaining 2 1/4 c water, 2 Tbs yeast, 4 c flour (reserving 1 c ) and salt.  If using a stand mixer, use the dough hook to combine.

Once all ingredients are well combined, add the honey and olive oil.

Your dough may look very wet at this point depending on the condition of the air in your kitchen.
If using a STAND MIXER, the dough should be forming a ball, but barely not sticking to the sides of the mixing bowl.  Add remaining flour as needed to obtain the right consistency.  On occasion, I have had to add more than the suggested 6 cups.  This happens mostly on a humid Florida day.  Allow the mixer to knead for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth.

If you are hand mixing, go ahead and turn the dough out onto a floured surface and continue adding flour as you knead the dough until the point where it is still sticky, but not sticking to the surface as you knead.  Knead until soft and smooth...about 15 minutes.

Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with a clean kitchen towel and allow it to rise until doubled in size.  This usually takes an hour or so.  Don't get nervous if it takes longer...the air temperature is a huge factor.

Heat oven to 450.  Punch down the dough, divide into two 1-lb loaves and a baguette or 2 larger loaves.  Shape, place in greased pans and cover until dough doubles in size again.

Lower oven to 350, place a pan on the bottom shelf of the oven with 1 c. of ice.  Bake loaves until golden brown on top and when tapped on the bottom sound hollow.  This can take anywhere from 20-45 minutes.

Remove loaves from oven and cool on cooling rack.

The baguette is great warm.  I do suggest allowing the other loaves to cool all the way before slicing to get a better slice.  The dough is still cooking until it cools off.  Loaves freeze well if they don't get eaten on baking day.  I double the recipe and freeze them to get all my bread baking done for the week.

Happy Baking!!