Author name: amy

21 days to a more natural home series part 13…dishwasher detergent

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all natural home seriesWe prefer to do our dishes manually by hand but if you use your dishwasher, know that on the back of your box of detergent are some pretty strict warnings.  How many of us accidentally drop a few grains of dishwashing crystals onto the floor and then have our crawling babies get it on their hands?    It is highly toxic and the box recommends we don’t even breathe it in.  But we are going to wash our dishes where all our food and drinks touch and then enter our bodies???  Doesn’t sound right.

Here is an alternative that is safer to use. Mix the following into a bowl.

  • 1 cup borax
  • 1 cup washing soda
  • 1/2 cup citric acid–found in the canning section
  • 1/2 cup kosher salt (for scrubbing action)
  • optional– essential oils,  10 drops of orange

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Use 1 Tbsp per load.  Even when the detergent opening is larger and will fit more into it, on the back of your “store bought detergent” it recommends using 1 Tbsp only, save your money and use the correct amount.

The citric acid will cause your mixture to “clump.”  If you leave your mixture out on the counter for a few days that will disappear.

For rinsing aid, use straight vinegar .

Are you reducing the amount of chemicals you bring into your home?  Start on day 1 of this series and see why it is so important to remove as much as possible toxic chemicals and cleaners in your home.

 

Easy strawberry freezer jam lower sugar recipe

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I love to can and freeze foods. Some see it as more work to be done, I see it as a challenge I am willing to do.   It gives me a sense of accomplishment to see all of the rows of jars on the countertop.  Also knowing that I am preparing nutritious foods that do not contain high fructrose corn syrup or any other perservative for my children.

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We eat many peanut butter and jam sandwiches around here.  Most everyday for lunch that is what we have.  We make a very simple, low sugar, homemade freezer jam that my children love.
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We had a good time picking strawberries yesterday.  Every year I think to myself, “Why am I doing this?”  because it can get a little frazzled at times, but I know that we are creating memories that my children will always remember.

Our adventure included these little facts:

  • we were there for 3 hours
  • took 3 potty breaks to the van
  • 2 snack breaks
  • the 3 and 4 year old grew tired of picking and decided to pick the newly planted strawberry plants
  • the 3 year old boy, decided to use the bathroom right out in the open field.
  • the 2 year old, stumbled twice on the box of picked berries, resulting in smashed ones
  • the baby was stained red as he was enjoying eating out of the boxes we had already picked.
  •  We picked 4 flats of berries, not bad considering we had a 1,2,3,4,6,8,12, and 15 year old

We had a good time, and had a nice fellowship day with another family. We came home and threw in a dvd and watched a show while we hulled the strawberries.

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Easy strawberry freezer jam recipe

measure 5 cups of berries into your food processor or blender.

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Add 3 cups of raw sugar—that is all we use and find that the taste is sufficient for our family. pulse until mixed

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Pour into a large container.

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In small saucepan boil 3/4 cups of water and a package of pectin. we use the bulk package so we measure out 1/3 cup of pectin. Boil this for 2 minutes, whisking quite rapidly.

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Mix into your pureed strawberry mixture.

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pour into plastic containers and cover.  Let sit for 24 hours on countertop.

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Set in freezer and you have a nice supply for the next coming year. We did 47 pints of jam this year.

This is also good over yogurt, on homemade waffles or on popovers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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