Tuesday, June 26, 2012

DIY Review

Today's blog is a review of the DIY products I have tested lately. I will start with the Dishwashing Detergent first. I posted a while back pics of this and gave a tutorial. This is a product I had high hopes for to really work as a DIY and I even tried a second formula and it was a fail twice. My dishes would never come completely clean. I washed them off well before loading to the dishwasher and even added the vinegar to the rinse cycle hoping this would come out crystal clean and no spots.
FAIL again. My entire family had complaints how the dishes, glasses and silverware had a film on them. I went back to my store bought formula until I can find another DIY formula that works better. I am open to any reader's comments or suggestions.

I have also made the Liquid Dish Soap. Once again this was a FAIL.
Ugh I know. I was disappointed. I added the glycerine to the formula and this product came out stringy and weird. My entire family will not touch the soap.
I have looked for the Meyer's bar soap at several locations and no luck finding it. I used the Bonner's soap as my bar soap. I think I will give this a try again with a different type of bar next time around. I am not crazy about the texture of the soap I made.

Now on the other hand, my laundry detergent rocks! I have orders of people wanting to buy it now. I am going to be selling it in a local co op in The Woodlands. I am very pleased with the results of this product. I will be making several different scents and it will come in clear plastic gallon container that is refundable on the next order.

I made the Air Freshner spray this past weekend with Orange and Lemon essential oils. It smells amazing. I have been using essential oils as air freshners for quite sometime. My favorite scent is Spearmint. People tell me how wonderful my house smells when I use Spearmint. I use essential oils from www.nowfoods.com.

I made the Glass Cleaner also. I love it! I use a spray bottle, vinegar, alcohol and dawn soap. This cleans glass and chrome unbeliveably. This gets an A plus just like the laundry detergent.

Some of the DIY are better than the product you can buy in the store but some are a complete waste of time and money. As DIY is a part of my blog I feel it is my responsibility to share the good and bad with my audience.

Friday, June 22, 2012

Fresh Ginger Dressing... Shared from The Pioneer Woman's Blog

JUN202012

Fresh Ginger Dressing

Posted by EatLiveRun in Step-by-Step Recipes

I love homemade salad dressing, but for some odd reason, never make it! Then, after having dinner at a friend’s house a few weeks ago where I tasted the most delicious homemade dressing that she just whipped up a few minutes before the meal, I got inspired. I was ready.

Good salad dressing really does “make” the salad, plus it’s super easy! I mean, it only takes five minutes, if that! In the time it would take you to find good bottled dressing in the grocery store and make it through the check-out lane, you could have your own homemade dressing already on the table.

So, after eating at my friend’s house, I came home and searched Tasty Kitchen for simple, homemade salad dressings. This Fresh Ginger Dressing by afarmgirlsdabbles immediately caught my eye! It’s absolutely addictive and turns regular ol’ salads into something magical. Try it and taste for yourself!

I told you it’s super easy! All you need to make this dressing is vegetable oil, rice vinegar, salt, pepper, honey and fresh ginger, of course.

If you don’t like using fresh ginger because it’s a pain to peel, allow me to share with you this little secret a chef I used to work with taught me, and that is using a spoon to peel the ginger! Just lightly scrape the thin skin off with the edge of a spoon and it comes right off. It makes all those crevices much easier to peel. Once you do the spoon trick, you’ll never go back. Trust me on this.

To make the dressing, just put all the ingredients together in a pint-sized jar and shake, shake, shake!

Keep. On. Shaking!

Now you have your own sweet and spicy ginger dressing. It tastes just like the kind from my favorite Thai restaurant in Florida.

 The recipe says that this dressing will stay fresh in your fridge for a week in a Mason jar. I’ll definitely be making this all summer long! Thanks for the lovely recipe, Brenda (who shared it from her grandma’s recipe box!). Have you visited her blog A Farm Girl’s Dabbles yet? You must. You simply must.

Recipe

Fresh Ginger Dressing

by afarmgirlsdabbles on May 7, 2012 in Salad Dressings, Salads
See this recipe post on afarmgirlsdabbles’s site!

3.00 Mitt(s)1 Rating(s)

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Recipe Description

Sweet and full of zing, this fresh and easy ginger dressing promises to be your go-to salad topper of the summer!

Preparation Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a pint jar and shake vigorously. That’s it! Serve with your favorite fresh greens. Keeps well in the refrigerator for 1 week.

Adapted from my Grandma Renelt’s recipe box, one of my favorite recipes in all the world.

Ingredients

½ cups Vegetable Oil
½ cups Rice Vinegar (or Regular White Vinegar)
⅓ cups Honey
1 Tablespoon Grated Fresh Ginger
Pinch Of Kosher Salt
⅛ teaspoons Freshly Ground Black Pepper

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DIY Brown Sugar Scrub

I have always been a bath junkie. I used to spend so much money at Bath & Body Works. I love bath gels, bubbles, scrubs and body mists. I am learning how to make my own soaps, sprays and scrubs with all natural ingredients. I started green living about 10 years ago. I am finding it easier to adapt more and more to green living these days.
I found this brown sugar scrub and wanted to share it.

First start with 1 cup brown sugar
1/3 c olive oil
2 tbsp honey

Mix well into glass container.

Brown Sugar Scrub can be used for shaving, exfoliating your body, hands or feet. Be sure and soak your skin in water for a few minutes before applying scrub for best results.

Enjoy a natural body scrub and save tons of money while doing so.