Today in My Kitchen

So about a year ago I made some laundry detergent, and it’s time to make more!  No, that 5 gallon bucket of detergent didn’t actually last the whole year.  For several months I used something else because the homemade stuff built up in our laundry (as in, the washcloths repelled water instead of absorbing them!).  I stopped using it in my diapers after a few months because of the build up problem and have switched to Rockin’ Green, which I LOVE for cloth diapers.  I also use it for my hand washing… ahem. 

Anyway, I started using my homemade stuff again after many months of not using it and I like it just fine.  If I have a problem with build up, I’ll just strip the towels (that’s really where the problems happen since I wash them a lot) and adjust how much detergent I use.  Wow this is a long rambling post about laundry.

Oh well.

So I opted to make the powdered version today simply because I like the idea of storing it better.  I only have room for so many five gallon buckets in my utility room.  Though it will be easier to store, I think it will be a little more difficult to use since I’ll have to make sure everything dissolves in every load.  I opted for a half batch to make sure it works for me.

That, and grating soap is hard work.  :)

Half a bar of Fels Naptha soap, grated finely.  This is one of those things where I think a food processor would be sooooo handy.

A cup each of super washing soda and Borax.

And mix it up!

I stored mine in a plastic container in the laundry room.  You use 1-2 Tablespoons per load.

In the middle of the day I washed a lot of dishes, cleaned out my fridge and freezer, washed some more dishes, tried to keep the kitchen cleanish, fed five people lunch and snack, then…

This evening we made pizza on the grill!

I used this recipe for the crust from Money Saving Mom.  The only adjustment was that I did it in the Kitchen Aid instead of by hand.  It’s sooooo easy.  Dump ingredients into the bowl, attach dough hook and go!

This was our first pizza on the grill experience, and I found these instructions to be helpful.  Man I love the internet.  And somewhere in all this searching about pizza and laundry soap, I earned myself enough Swagbucks for another $5 Amazon gift card.  Hmmmm… what Kindle book shall I buy with it?  Or maybe I should put it toward this giant set of blocks I was drooling over today?  It wouldn’t really make a dent in the camera I’m lusting over though.

I digress.  Where was I?

Ah yes.  I made the pizza dough and prepped the toppings.

Dr. Grill cooked it for us.

Oh yum.  I never claim to be good at rolling circles of dough.  I figure who cares what it looks like as long as it tastes good!

BBQ sauce, leftover rotisserie chicken, fresh spinach, and mozzarella cheese.

We were all fans!  I even left the sauce off a chunk of the pizza so James could enjoy it as well.  And he did.