Monday, June 3, 2013

Margarine Recipe Made from Powdered Milk – Make Your Own


I have found that there is no need to buy margarine at the store, when it is so easy to make your own. Not to mention healthier for you and cheaper. In my humble opinion, homemade margarine tastes a lot better as well.

Shirley's Notes:
  • I used vegetable oil only because it was the handiest for me. As far as I know, any kind of cooking oil can be used. Of course the type of oil that you use will affect the taste of the margarine.
  • I haven't tried this, but you could add herbs to the end product.
  • I have used this in cooking and for spreading. I have not tried it in baking yet so I don't know if it would work or not for that.
  • If you want your margarine yellow, but are opposed to food dyes, you can still get a yellow tint to your margarine by grating a carrot and simmering it in milk until the milk turns yellow. Replace the 6 tablespoons of water in the recipe with 6 tablespoons of the yellow milk.


Recipe:

7 Tablespoons powdered milk
6 Tablespoons water
½ teaspoon salt
12 ½ oz (375 ml) cooking oil
Yellow food coloring (optional)

Place powdered milk, water, salt, and food coloring (if desired) into a bowl. Using a mixer, beat until mixture has thicken and is smooth.

Slowly add oil to mixture while continuously beating the mixture. Beat at high speed until the margarine ends up being thick and smooth like store bought margarine. If it isn't thick enough, just add a little more powered milk to achieve the correct consistency.

Store in refrigerator. Yield: About 1 ¾ pounds

Thanks for reading and visiting my blog. :-)

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Liquid Laundry Detergent – Make Your Own


It is no secret that laundry detergent is getting expensive. Right now, where we live at, the cheapest laundry detergent that we can buy costs $6.25 for 40 loads. If I make it myself, it costs around $3.25 for around 180 + loads. (Cost may vary depending on the prices where you live at.) It is very simple to make and works just as well as the commercial brands.

What You Will Need:
  • 4+ cups hot tap water
  • 1 bar Fels-Naptha soap
  • 1 cup Washing soda (not baking soda)
  • ½ cup borax
  • large pot
  • 5 gallon pail with lid
  • large stirring spoon
  • hand grater or a sharp knife
  • Empty laundry detergent bottle
  • Measuring cup

What to do:
  1. Unwrap the Fels-Naptha soap and allow to air dry for two or three days. This will make it easier to grate the soap so that it won't gunk up your grater.
  2. Grate, or if using the sharp knife finely whittle, the bar of soap. Place soap into pan and add 4 cups of water. Continually stir mixture over medium low heat until the soap is melted.
  3. Fill the 5 gallon pail half full with hot tap water. Add melted soap mixture, washing soda, and borax. Mix until well blended. Then, fill bucket to top with more hot water. Cover, and allow to sit over night to thicken.
  4. Next morning, fill an empty laundry dispenser half ful with soap and then fill it the rest of way with water.
  5. Yield is 10 gallons.

To Use:
  • Shake the bottle of soap each time before using
  • Top load washers use 5/8 cup per load
  • Front load washers use ¼ cup per load

Thanks for reading and visiting my blog. :-)