Moms' Idea Factory

Don't try to eat this!

 

It's a recipe, sure, but not one for eating!  

 I'm as concerned (more or less) as the next mum when it comes to a) not having nasty chemicals in my house and b) not spending the whole paycheck every month. So, as I was googling around for some homemade lotion recipes for Christmas crafts last month, I ran across a few websites with essentially the same recipe for homemade detergent. After much rumination, I added the required ingredients to my shopping list.  

Most of the recipes I came across used Fels-Naptha soap, which is readily available in the states (or online at soapsgonebuy.com) but has a nasty orange colour. Sunlight is the only one readily available north of the border, but, never one to do things the easy way, I picked some Pink Zote up in Bellingham last weekend on my fortnightly Trader Joe's pilgrimage. Zote is gorgeous pink and smells a bit like citronella. 

This is so easy, and cleans so well (so far) that I can't believe I hadn't yet tried it. You can use a little of the liquid for a stain pretreatment. We are even using it in our dishwasher now too, with vinegar in the rinse-aid) compartment. 

Did I mention it's less than $3.00 to make 1250 loads worth?

1 small bar laundry soap (Zote, Fels-Naptha, sunlight) approx 200 grams

1/2 cup borax

1 cup Super Washing Soda

20 drops essential oil (I used lavender, but lemon, orange, etc wouold do)

Grate the bar of soap into a large steel saucepan. Pour over about 4 cups of water. Heat on low, stirring occasionally, until it is totally dissolved. Add in borax and washing soda. Stir until dissolved.

Pour all into a 5 gallon paid with a lid (I used a large rubbermaid-type container). Add enough water to make 5 gallons. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to gel up. Stir in essential oils.

Decant into an old detergent bottle and use 1/2 cup for a top loader, 1/4 cup for high efficiency machines

Buying organic veggies

Maybe it's my natural inclination to get my back up whenever I feel someone is trying to tell me what to do. Or possibly, it's that I bristle at what I feel is a "starbucks-ization" of the "organic lifestyle" by organizations such as Planet Organic and Whole Foods (I mean, come on - organic mangoes? Sheesh, since when is flying a fruit halfway around the world sustainable? Oh that's right, Mr. Planet Organic, you don't do it because it's sustainable, you do it so you can charge someone 7 dollars for it.) I just don't seem to be able to force myself to jump on the "I have to buy everything organic" bandwagon. Besides, since I decided to stay at home with the kiddos, it's not like we are exactly rolling in cash. So here I've reproduced for you the "Dirty Dozen" fresh foods that are highest in pesticide use (taken from Dr. Andrew Weil's book, 8 Weeks to Optimum Health).  Choosing to buy organic brands of these 12 most contaminated foods can cut your pesticide consumption in half:

Apples
Strawberries
Spinach
Peaches
Grapes
Red & Green Bell Peppers
Cantaloupes
Cherries
Celery
Apricots
Green Beans
Cucumbers

There are a number of other, non-produce items that ought to go on the list: especially oats, and (especially if you live or shop in the States) meat & dairy.

Family Budget

Seeing as I don't have my fancy lawyer job (or income) right now, and Cakes recently started in a largely commission-based job, I've had to face a hard reality that I haven't had to face for a while: I need to budget our money. I've made a startling discovery in this regard. As I have had the priviledge of holding a well-paid job, I really never had to look at prices when I shopped, nor did I...so guess what, this budgeting thing does not come easy for me. Here's an excel template that I made, which might help some other moms keep their family finances under control. The key for me is to give myself envelopes of cash for grocery, clothing and spending money (out of which comes everything not listed - movies, DVD rental, new toys, etc.). When the cash in the envelope is finished, so is the buying for the month!

Check out my excel template here.