Homemade Laundry Detergent

Contributors: Cari and Donna
Did you know that you don't actually have to BUY laundry detergent? Yes, you can make it yourself. It is cheaper, it is more environmentally friendly, and you may find it empowering to reconnect with the generations that came before you that didn't mindlessly pick up that jug of Tide. Sometimes the "Loads of Hope" don't come from the dubious charity of a corporation; instead they come from one woman, who decides that she is quite capable (thank you very much) of making the cleanser she needs to keep her family sanitary and presentable, for a fraction of the cost.



Here are some recipes from one of our most creative and hard working contributors.......
There are quite a few ways to prepare homemade laundry detergent. Some like it wet, some like it dry, and front loaders work better with the wet. You can make it with ingredients geared toward sensitive skin, or you can use ingredients that are stronger for not so sensitive skin.

My favorite recipe is dry. I melt the detergent with hot water at the beginning of every load. All ingredients can be bought locally:

1 cup borax
1 cup baking soda
1 cup washing soda
1 cup oxygen cleaner*
1 cup water softener or salt
1 cup grated soap-Kiss My Face makes a saponified olive oil soap that is great for sensitive skins, or the old stand-by Fels- Naphtha are my favorites. Lacking those 2, plain old Ivory would probably work just fine.

I use a very fine grater to grate the bar soap. Also, by making several batches at a time I save myself some time, I only have to make it every 2 or 3 months. The detergent is stored in an old coffee canister; and I use the scoop from the oxygen cleaner-1 scoop for regular laundry 2 scoops for very dirty laundry.
*Omit the oxygen cleaner if you are going to convert the dry soap into a wet soap, it can cause a chemical reaction and the result will be ruined. I purchase my oxygen cleaner at the dollar store. It works as well as the expensive stuff, but is several dollars cheaper.

February BLAH's

Contributed by: Michelle
February always seems to bring the winter blahs and a case of cabin fever, but it doesn't have to. You may start to feel sad or moody. You may lack energy. You may crave sweets. Here are some suggestions for avoiding the winter blahs.

Get some fresh air: Go outside and take a walk for 10 minutes. Most of us remember being sent outside as kids even if it was just for a brief period.

Exercise: Whether outside walking or doing something at home. There are plenty of options out there for DVDs and computer programs to help you exercise in the comfort of your own home. One of our contributors has a mini-trampoline that she keeps in her living room when it is too rainy/snowy/cold to do anything outside. She says that 5 – 10 minutes on it really helps.

Drink some juice: When you crave something sweet in the winter, try drinking some juice. It will satisfy your cravings for something sweet, but not have those empty calories.

Try a body detox: Especially if you over indulged over the holidays, a detox may be in order.

Vitamin D: Make sure you are getting enough Vitamin D. A lot of fish are naturally high in vitamin D.

Watch your eating: We need to make sure that we’re not overeating, or eating too much junk. Packing on the pounds and not giving your body proper nutrition will not make you feel good. Conversely, stay away from crash dieting. Denying yourself overly much will not make you feel good, in fact, that kind of self-denial tends to make a person feel worse.

Time to start thinking about SPROUTING!

Contributed by: Rachel

Sprouting is so simple and easy! Add to that, sprouts are cheap, tasty, healthy, and they bring the garden indoors during those months that it is difficult, if not impossible, to grow anything outdoors.

Sprouting seed stores well under the right conditions, and offer an almost instant source of food that requires little water and hardly any space to grow. They are organic (or you should make sure that they are!) and environmentally friendly! They offer high amounts of enzymes, anti-oxidants, minerals, vitamins and that our bodies need, and probably a lot of us don’t get. Proper enzyme balance aids in digestion, and actually encourages the absorption of protein and other vitamins and minerals in our bodies. Sprouts are a living and raw food, and as they are consumed almost immediately after harvesting, we obtain the maximum benefits vitamin and mineral wise.

Before you begin…

You NEED to know 2 things. First and foremost, NEVER EVER sprout seeds to eat that are supposed to be for sprouting a plant that you will harvest the fruit from. The seed for growing plants are covered with an anti-sprouting retardant and an anti-vermin that are POISONOUS to us when in the sprouted form. They are apparently safe after they have grown to plant size, but even that I am not convinced…

Instead, you need to obtain “seed for sprouting”. In most cases, you will recognize it further because it will come in size options larger than the small paper envelopes of seed for planting that we are used to seeing for our gardens.

The second thing you need to know, you NEED to get your seed from reputable suppliers. Sprouting seed should preferably be OCIA and NGMO, but definitely OCIA. Here a few trustworthy suppliers:

www.sprouting.com
www.sproutpeople.com
www.primalseeds.org/sprouting.htm
www.westcoastseeds.com/topicdetail/topic/16/
www.sprouthouse.com/Organic_Sprouting_Seeds_s/1.htm

*Lots of natural food stores stock some seed for sprouting

Now, you need to decide what type of sprouter you would like to use. Until you decide how much you like sprouting, I would recommend a glass jar. A typical wide mouth glass canning jar works great. To close the end of the jar, either use a double layer of cheese cloth fastened with a rubber band, or buy a few different gauges of non-metal screening that you will cut to the size of a lid to fit under the ring of your canning jar. As you get more into sprouting, you will discover other sprouting accessories.

When deciding what kind of seed you would like to sprout, keep in mind that some seeds are harder to grow than others. Typically the longer to sprout are the more difficult ones, but none of them are REALLY hard to grow. The flavors always resemble the vegetable, but more concentrated, so keep that in mind if you have strong food preferences.

I haven’t ever grown a sprout that I don’t like, and once I got more experienced, I even started mixing my seed so I got unique blends. I use my sprouts in EVERYTHING! Soups, stews, sandwiches, salads, on their own, in breads, cookies, smoothies, cakes, quick breads, muffins…the possibilities for use are endless. You can also dry your sprouts if you need to be sneaky with the delivery, this way is nearly invisible. I personally think it is better to just offer sprouts as part of the meal and leave it at that.

Once you have ordered your seed and decided on your sprouter, measure out some seed in the jar (one tablespoon of small seed for a pint sized jar should be sufficient, up to 3 tablespoons for larger seeds/legumes). Rinse, and cover with warm water (not hot, you will kill the seed) and let soak over night. In the morning, rinse and swish with cool water and set to drain. To keep the water off the seed, tilt a jar on an angle upside down on a drain board or plate. Do this a few times a day. Also, try to shake the seed around the sides of the jar so they aren’t squished all together in the same spot. Don’t put the jars in the sun; a shadowed place on the counter is fine for most sprouts. Legumes, especially mung beans should be sprouted in the dark, either in the cupboard, or under a towel if the weather isn’t too hot.

In a few days, you should start to see growth, and maybe some leaves! There is no wrong time to eat your sprouts. I prefer them younger, but some prefer to let them grow longer. I linked to a few charts below that give average sprout and harvest times. Taste them as you are growing and see how you like them best. Typically hot sprouts, like radish, onion, mustard, etc, gain intensity as they get bigger, so that might determine when you would want to harvest.

On the day that you decide you like your sprouts and you want to harvest, give a good rinse and set the jar in the sunlight for a few hours to let the chlorophyll develop. You don’t HAVE to, but I like mine green. Up until now your sprouts will be pale green to whitish or yellow even. Don’t leave them in a hot window, they will sweat and cook, indirect sunlight is sufficient. Then, when the sprouts are green, to harvest, simply turn your sprouts into a bowl full of cool water. Give them a swish, and let drain well. The hulls will float to the top of the bowl (or sink to the bottom), and they can be removed if you have esthetic issues with them, but they are fully edible, and good for you so it isn’t necessary to remove them (I don’t bother). Once they are done draining, spread them out on a towel until they are mostly dry, but don’t let them get wilty. They will keep for a few days in the fridge if you drain them well and put them in an airtight container. I use glass, but you could use a plastic container too. I usually leave a small piece of raw muslin in the bottom of the container to collect any moisture.


Here are a few links to charts with approximate days to sprout:

www.simplyprepared.com/sprouting_chart.htm
www.living-foods.com/articles/easysprout.htmlwww.raw-food-living.com/soaking-nuts.html

Have fun and enjoy!