Homemade Liquid Hand Soap

I read an article the other day about how the hand soaps that we use have too many chemicals in them and how antibacterial soap was really not good for us to use. I checked prices of several natural soaps and they were outrageous, so I started searching the internet for a recipe for hand soap. We really do not like bar soap, it's just not convienient. So, here is the step by step directions to make liquid hand soap. Thank you to www.littlehouseliving.com for the recipe.

I started by bringing to boil 8 cups of water.

While the water was coming to a boil, I used my grater to grate 1/2 a bar of a natural soap that I purchased at the nutrition store. The bar cost me $4, so The cost for this hand soap is $2, since I only used 1/2 the bar.

When the water comes to a boil, stir in your grated soap and continue to stir until the soap is dissolved. At this point, you can add some essential oils to change the scent of the soap if you choose. I added some vanilla and a small drip of spearmint.

Remove from heat and place a lid on the pot and let it sit for up to 3 days or until it becomes thick.

When I was finished, I used some containers that I had to store the soap in. You cannot purchase this much hand soap at the store for $2, so I am happy with my results.

Milk at Kroger

Super excited about the deals I got today at Kroger. I went in to get a gallon of milk and ran across an awesome deal! Horizon Organic Milk Singles on Sale for .25!!!! I got 18 of them and a gallon of milk. I had a coupon for $1.00 off the gallon of milk. I wish I had some Horizon milk coupons, but I didn't. However, I will be printing some and going back for more milk. My total came to $6.69! A savings of 21.34!!!!!

Kroger Deals! Mega Event!

I went to the grocery store yesterday afternoon with 3 kids in tow to just get a few things. I couldn't pass up the Mega event. There are lots of good deals out there.

I got all of the above items for $48.79, a savings of $45.13. For coupon matchups go to www.southernsavers.com and select Kroger. The Bertoli pasta at my Kroger had peelie coupons on them, so be on the lookout!

Pasta Sauce!

I saw a recipe on Food Network the other day and I had to try it. I have been looking for a good pasta sauce recipe for a while. I highly recommend this one with a few of my adjustments.

I began by roasting my eggplant and garlic. I left out the peppers, because we are not big fans of peppers. To roast the eggplant, you slice them in half and brush the cut side with EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) and salt and pepper. Place cut side down on pan. To roast the garlic, you cut the top of the garlic and put EVOO and rosemary on it. Wrap it in foil and place on pan with the eggplant. Cook at 475 for 40 minutes.



While that was cooking, I opened up 2 large cans of crushed tomatoes. The recipe calls for 1, but I wanted to make more sauce. I put those tomatoes in the blender and pureed them because we like a smooth sauce. I then put them in a pan on the the stove along with 2 cups of chicken stock. After the eggplant and garlic had cooled, I scooped out the eggplant and placed it in the blender with the garlic. I pureed them also and added them to the tomatoes.

Next I added the spices and let simmer. I also added 4 tablespoons of sugar.

My plan is to strain this sauce because we like it really smooth, and once it is cool put in 2 containers and store it for later. We will use it with spaghetti, lasagna, or maybe even as a pizza sauce. The total cost for this recipe was less than $4 because I had gotten the canned tomatoes on an awesome deal earlier in the year. You cant buy 2 cans of a good sauce for that! Plus, I know what is in this sauce. I controlled the ingredients.

Oh yeah, it even tastes good!

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

It is a lazy Sunday afternoon at our house. We came home from church, ate some sandwiches, and everyone has been doing their own thing. Hubby fell asleep on the couch while watching the Reds play, Todd is playing on the computer, and the girls are doing what they always do and making a mess of their room. I was surfing the internet looking at recipes and blogs and ran across this blog post and was intrigued. The kids have been taking their lunch quite a bit this year so far and I am sick of sending the same old things already. Several things caught my eye in this post, but one thing inparticular did because I could make them right now ~ muffins!! The kids have been asking for me to make muffins for a while, so why not make them now! In years past, I would have said, "Oh no, I can't make muffins, I don't have muffin mix". Now, I would never dream of buying a muffin mix unless they were on sale and I could get it free with a coupon. It just isn't cost effective. I have everything in my house to make homemade muffins already, why go buy a mix? I googled muffin recipes and I decided on two. The first one is from Food Network and I have to admit they turned out awesome! It is Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins. Then I looked around and noticed I had some bananas, so I decided on a banana muffin recipe. It was good, but not as good as the chocolate ones. I now have 22 muffins for my kids to eat for breakfast or to take in their lunch this week. Yummy!!! Now I am off to take a nap too!!

Another school year begins...........

School starts in a week and a half and we have a lot of changes going on in the Hall house this year.

My oldest, Todd, starts middle school, and I have to admit, I am nervous. In preparation for this transition, we did go out and add him to our cellphone plan. I couldn't stand the fact of him being away from me and not having a cellphone for emergencies. He is allowed to text, but does not have internet access. We also set him up email and a facebook account to interact with his friends, however it will be monitored VERY closely! Open house at Todd's school is Tuesday night and I am very anxious to see how that goes.

Emily is going into 3rd grade this year and I think she will do fine. She will be switching classes between teachers this year, so it may be a little transition. She is still as dramatic as ever and cries at the drop of a hat, so I just hope she will at least walk to her classroom by herself this year. (Working at your kid's school can be a blessing and a curse.)

My little Mahala is starting Kindergarten this year, and I know that she will do fine. She has been looking forward to this for years now. I am so thankful that I will be in the same building as her and can peek in on her from time to time.

Emily and Mahala's open house is Thursday night.

My busy time at work starts Monday. We have training all day on Monday, opening day for staff on Thursday, and the rest of my week will be full with entering new students and putting schedules in Infinite Campus. It is an exciting time and I am looking forward to it.

Tony is starting the year subbing for a 4th grade teacher at Eubank who is on maternity leave. He is pretty excited about it, I think.

Oh, and for those of you who haven't checked yet, the menu for the first day of school says spaghetti for lunch, which my kids will not eat, so I guess I will be packing lunches on the first day. Hope that is not an indication of how the rest of the year will go................

Free sample of Cheerios!!

Go on over here and get your free sample of Cheerios and a coupon. Allow 6-8 weeks for delivery.