Homemaker Gone Natural

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Tag Archives: homemade


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Homemade Basic Bread Recipe

This is my basic go to bread recipe.  I occasionally will switch things up or make variations, I will post some of those later.

Basic Bread

  • 1 1/2 c hot water
  • 1/3 c extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/3 c raw honey
  • 2 t sea salt
  • 1 free range egg
  • 4-4 1/2 c freshly milled flour (I mill 1 1/3 cups hard red wheat and 1 1/3 cups hard white wheat)
  • 1 T dry active yeast

Put ingredients in order I have them listed into your bread machine making sure to mound and crater your flour for your yeast.  Set your machine to desired settings and viola! Bread. 🙂

 

 


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Homemade Powder Laundry Detergent

After using the Homemade liquid laundry detergent and liking it, I wanted to give the powdered a try just for a comparison.  I will let you know which I like better after more washes.

     Powder Laundry Detergent

  • 1 bar natural soap (I used Tom’s Sensitive)
  • 1 c Borax
  • 1 c Washing soda
  • essential oils of your choice (6-8 drops)

Grate soap, add powders, mix.  hmmmm simple enough but well, who likes that?  So, I made this x5, and the last cup of washing soda I had to replace with 1 cup baking soda, because I ran out…… oops!  Also I added about 30-40 drops of Peppermint before I stirred it all up just to give it a nice ahhhhhhh smell, my kids really like the peppermint.

Enjoy!

Purchase pre-made HERE


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Homemade Wheat Crackers

So in my quest for non processed wheat intake, I am stumped at the cracker problem….. I like my chili with a lot of crackers (after my pb sandwich is gone of course) but homemade crackers????? That’s just nuts.  Well why not try it after all, I am a bit nutty!  So I grabbed the Whole Wheat Crackers recipe from Heavenly Homemakers and thus began my adventure to crackers.  Here is what I did, however thinking back now and tasting my end result, I MAY have accidentally used too much flour.

Homemade Wheat Crackers

  • 2 c whole wheat flour (I milled 1 cup hard red and 1/3 cup hard white)
  • 1/2 t sea salt
  • 1/2 t baking soda
  • 1/2 t baking powder
  • 1/4 c oil (I used evoo but Laura at HH used coconut oil)
  • 1/2 c water

Mix flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Stir in oil and water until a ball of dough has formed. Roll dough very thin, about 1/16″ thick.  Cut into 1″ strips and place on cookie sheet. Bake in a 350º oven for 12 min. Turn off the oven, but leave crackers in until cool, allowing them to dry out for added crispiness.

Cut up cracker dough before baking


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Sloppy Joe

I just want to make note that I used grass fed beef and organic ingredients the only exception being the Worcestershire sauce.  I used Lea & Perrins original, which was the only brand I could find without HFCS.  Next I am going to try an organic brand I seen at Sprout’s. This recipe I got from one of my favorite sites: Heavenly Homemakers

     Sloppy Joes

  • 2 lbs ground beef {grass fed}
  • 2 T minced onion
  • 1 c ketchup
  • 1 t prepared mustard
  • 1/4 t garlic powder
  • 1 T Worcestershire sauce

Brown meat with minced onion and garlic powder.  Add the remaining ingredients and allow to simmer for a few minutes. I served on my homemade Garlic Onion Rolls.


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Rolls-Garlic Onion

I was on a gluten free diet for a while, because I wanted to give my gut time to heal from all the processed wheat products I had been eating.  I finally received my mill and grains the other day and was anxious to get started milling my own organically grown non modified wheat berries so that I could finally add back wheat to our diet in a way that made me comfortable with feeding it to our family.  One of the first things I did was modify my basic recipe to make a roll for eating our Sloppy Joes on.  So here is my recipe, hope you enjoy.

       Garlic Onion Rolls

  • 1 1/2 c water
  • 1/3 c extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/3 c raw honey
  • 2 t sea salt
  • 1 free range egg
  • 1/4 t garlic powder
  • 1/4 t onion powder
  • 4-4 1/2 c whole wheat flour (I milled 1 2/3 c hard red wheat berries and 1 c hard white wheat berries)
  • 1 T dry active yeast

I put ingredients in bread maker in order listed, making sure to mound up the wheat and create a crater for the yeast.  I set my maker to dough and let it do its thing.  After it was done, I pulled the dough out and kneaded it.  I pulled it apart and rolled into 1/2 fist sized balls.  I sat in warm place and let rise until almost double (about 45 min).  After that I baked ate 390º for 15-20 min.  I cooled them, cut in half and served with sloppy joes.

 

Sloppy Joe on Garlic Onion Roll (I will work on improving images)

 


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Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent

I was very excited to stop using the chemicals in my laundry detergent as well.  I must tell you that before finding this recipe, I just bought some soap nuts and was washing my clothes with those.  I didn’t really care for them.  I thought the clothes smelled worse coming out than they did going in.  So I added some essential oils to the bag containing the soap nuts and this helped, but not enough for my liking.  I went online and scoured the internet for homemade natural laundry soaps.  There are A LOT out there.  I knew I wanted one that was not a powder*, so that helped narrow it down.  Finally I found one I liked using simple ingredients.

Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent

Heat the water, washing soda and borax in a large pot.  Once the powders dissolve, take it off the stove and add the castile soap.  You may add this directly to your gallon sized container or you may wait for it to cool.  We use about 1 cup per load.  We use this in our ‘he’ washer with no problems, but we put it directly in with clothes not through dispenser.  In the dryer, I use the dryer balls they sell at Wal-Mart (they are blue with spikey things all over them)  and I put EO on a rag and toss in, these combined give me a chemical free, wonderful smelling, static free load.

* I have switched to a powder version.  I really thought I wanted liquid because that was what I was used to, but I have since switched to powder because the prep is easier and it works just as good if not BETTER. Here is my dry laundry detergent recipe.


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Homemade Liquid Dishwasher Detergent

Another homemade product I have begun using in my efforts to be frugally natural is dish detergent for my dishwasher.  I really enjoy this recipe*see bottom of post, the only flaws I have found is that you still need to add something for hard water and you have to shake it before each use as it separates as it sits.  I originally got the recipe from here

Homemade Liquid Dish Detergent:

•16 cups Water, halved

•1 1/2 cups WASHING soda

•1 cup Borax

•1/2 cup Dr Bronner’s Pure Liquid Castile Soap (I used Orange scented)

Bring 8 cups of the water to a boil.  Remove from heat and stir in washing soda, borax and liquid castile soap.  Continue stirring until completely dissolved.  Stir in remaining 8 cups of water and allow to cool.  Pour cooled dishwasher detergent into container of choice.  It will ‘gel’ up over the next 24 hours.

Prior to using, shake up detergent.  I use approx 2 Tbs in the detergent dispenser, but experiment to see what works best for you.  This lasts a VERY long time.

*editing on 6/6/13 to say: This was a great starting recipe for me to use, however, since then I have begun using the Natural Homemade Dishwasher Detergent Tabs with much greater success.  I honestly don’t see me using anything else but these in the future.  They work better and they are both easier and cheaper to make.


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Poo-Free “Shampoo/Conditioner” (Homemade)

Yes, I have made the plunge into trying to make my own body care products and household cleaners.  I was a little skeptical of some of the recipes wondering how they could possibly work, after all I love my Herbal Essences Shampoos and Conditioners and the thought of giving those up was sad.  BUT after 2 weeks now of using my new “shampoo” and “conditioner” that I made tweaking the recipe I found here, my hair is softer and easier to manage! I love it! So, I thought I would share.  Keep in mind, it is okay to think I’m crazy because well, I thought this was crazy too, but I tried it anyway, I guess because I’m crazy like that. 🙂

SHAMPOO MIX:

• 4 TBS Baking Soda

• 32 oz Water

• 5 drops of Essential Oil (I used lavender)

CONDITIONER MIX:

• 4 TBS Apple Cider Vinegar

• 32 oz Water

• 5-10 drops of Essential Oil (I used lavender)

I put these each in a large spray bottle and I just thoroughly spray in the “shampoo” until my hair is saturated then wash my hair and rinse.  Repeat with the “conditioner”


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Homemade Natural Air Freshener

In my search to eliminate harmful chemicals from my everyday life, one of my favorite, feel good finds is the way to replace my love for all things Febreeze.  Its easy and simple.  Works on most fabrics too.

Homemade Air Freshener

  • 1/4 cup vodka (you can replace with rubbing alcohol)
  • 3/4 cup distilled water
  • 40 drops of essential oil(s) of your choice

 Combine the essential oils and the vodka in the bottle and allow to sit overnight to intensify the scent.  Add distille water the following morning, shake and spray