Amazing Dishwasher Detergent!

I had been making my own dishwasher detergent and though it was cheaper, WAY cheaper, it just wasn't doing it's job. There was always spots and it my glasses were always cloudy and I had to wipe them down with a towel to get them kinda sparkling. Anyways, we ended up going back to Cascade Power Packets because we were working twice as hard as needed to get our dishes clean. I mean that's what the dishwasher is for anways, right? To cut your work in 1/2.

Then I came across a pin on Pinterest titled "Another DIY Dishwasher Detergent" that had a few more ingredients then the one I was using did. I had everything except LemiShine so I thought I'd buy it and try it out. It was only like $2.50 or something around that price.

This was so much cheaper than Cascade and cleaned SO much better! I mean, not a SPOT was on my dishes, all the food was gone, no residue and even my casserole dishes looked amazing! Where has this detergent been all my life?!?!

So here's the results:

SPOTLESS!

So here's the ingredients:

1 cup Borax
1 cup washing soda
½ cup *salt

½ cup *citric acid (double this if you have hard water) (*I used 1 cup Lemishine found next to the rinse aids in the dishwasher-soap isle at Wal-Mart.) (You can also find citric acid in the canning isle, but I think you get more Lemishine for the money.)

Use 1 Tbsp per load.  Use white vinegar in the rinse aid compartment of your dishwasher to help keep your dishes from getting spotty.

If you buy the blue rinse aid stuff at the store look at spending $3.75 or more per 30 loads.  If you use white vinegar, you’ll be spending about $0.06 per 30 loads. Hello!

This recipe will clump. To reduce clumping, add a few tablespoons of rice in a cheese cloth and tie it up.  The rice will pull out the moisture and keep the detergent from clumping. I had heard putting 2 of the normal size marshmallows in your brown sugar will help it not clump and I wonder if it would do the same thing here...

Disclaimer: If you have hard water, you may have to adjust the amount of citric acid (or LemiShine) that you use, to keep your dishes from getting cloudy.  Also, it said that some people have had problems with the kosher salt being too abrasive on their dishes, because of the larger crystals.  I use regular table salt and have had no problems. If you use table salt, you may want to get the kind without iodine, but that’s what I had, so that’s what I used

Green Monster Spinach Smoothie!

I came across a post on a blog talking about a Green Monster Spinach Smoothie. Spinach in a smoothie? Gross! So I had to keep reading about this.

After looking at the ingredients, they didn't look that bad except for the spinach. She SWORE it didn't taste like spinach and that it tasted like a ice cream smoothie. I took that as a challenge.

AND OH MY GOODNESS! This smoothie is one of the best smoothies i've ever had! It does NOT taste healthy at all! It's green obviously from the spinach but that's it! All I could taste was the fruit and peanut butter!

PPPPLLLLLUUUUUSSSS....check out all these benefits of spinach:

• Spinach is fat free, cholesterol free, low in calories, and very low in sodium
• Spinach is an excellent source of vitamin A, C, K, iron, fiber, folate, and lutein
• Leutin is an antioxidant that promotes good eye health, and may help prevent cancer of the liver, ovaries, colon and prostate, and even dementia.
• Dole lab tests found spinach juice has twice the chlorophyl, eight times the calcium, six times the magnesium, 10 times the potassium, 15 times the vitamin C and 43 times the vitamin A of wheatgrass juice!
• It makes your skin, hair, nails, and overall self feel totally great!

So here's the ingredients, cause I know you want it!

Green Monster Spinach Smoothie

(Serves 1)

Ingredients:

1 frozen sliced banana

1 Tablespoon peanut butter

1/2cup Greek yogurt (I used the whole thing since it was only 6oz)

1 cup milk

4 cups baby spinach (or more, or less)

1) First add 1 sliced frozen banana, and 1 Tablespoon peanut butter in a blender. Tip: PEEL and SLICE your bananas before you freeze them, or you’ll be sorry!

2) Next add bulking agents for staying power, like protein-packed vanilla Greek yogurt (I used Chobani banana strawberry greek yogurt) and milk. You could use any kind of milk you want – cow’s, rice, soy, etc.

3) Fill the blender the rest of the way up with baby spinach. I reckon I fit about 4 cups in there today!

4) Start the blender on “high blend” until everything’s mixed up, then switch it over to “liquify” to get the Green Monster velvety smooth.

***You can try throwing in different kinds of greens, protein powder, and any frozen fruit or berry combo under the sun.***



Nutritional stats:

350 calories, 10g fiber, 21g protein

Why didn't I think of that?!

I came across a pin the other day with the most simple, simple solution. Instead of wasting money on bag clips, you probably have like 100 in your house right now. Well, if you're like me you probably have a 100.

You can use them as any type of clip but I used them for a bag of chips I opened the other night. Check this out!

How simple is that!?!

 =)

DIY Canvas Pictures

I've been working on a project I just couldn't talk about until after Christmas. It was my mother-in-law's Christmas present. I took 8x10pics of her grandkids and put them on Canvas to hang on the wall. I think it turned out pretty good and I'm pretty sure she loved it.

I know I usually put on here how to do it but I don't think I can explain it any better than the website I got it from. The lady on that website goes in to so much detail with detailed pictures.

So, if you are interested in making your own, here's the website with the directions:

http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/2011/01/guest-post-diy-photos-on-canvas-by.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BlueCricketDesign+%28Blue+Cricket+Design%29