Homemade Laundry Soap - Where to buy Supplies

Supplies for Homemade Laundry Soap

A few of the items for Homemade Laundry Soap are hard to find, so here is a list of where you can find each item in Henderson, NV (as of 6/2010). Here are the original posts for Homemade Laundry Soap (Liquid and Powder)

1. Fels Naptha - Ace Hardware for $1.29 each

2. Borax - Albertsons for $4.99 and Walmart for $2.98 (MUCH cheaper!)

3. Super Washing Soda (NOT baking soda) - Albertsons for $2.99
4. Bluing (for whites) - Albertsons for $2.99

Castle Ridge Cooking Blog

Food prepared from scratch costs about half the price of restaurant fast food—and much less than food from a nice restaurant. Buying basic foods in bulk; planting a garden and using vegetables from it; and avoiding snack foods, partially prepared foods, and instant foods can further increase your savings on meals prepared at home. Frugal fare, however, doesn’t mean that meals have to be boring

taken from Stretching Your Dollars
By Kay Przybille

The Castle Ridge Cooking blog is now online! Leah is going to be posting recipes from her monthly or bimonthly meetings. This will be a great source of recipes for cooking all different types of meals. Don't forget to add it to your favorites!

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)

This would be a great course to take to help with Emergency Preparedness! Classes are FREE and you can register for the 6 week course here . I don't see any available classes in Henderson right now, but there are some for October - December located at Losee Rd and also in Boulder City.

"In Southern Nevada CERT training began in 1999. The first course was held in Sun City Summerlin and graduated 12 students. We offer between 18-and 20 courses each year throughout Southern Nevada at Community Centers, Churches, and other facilities provided by the groups sponsoring a course. If your group consists of 15-32 individuals we can tailor a course specifically for it.

The Community Emergency Response Team concept was developed and implemented by the Los Angeles City Fire Department (LAFD) in 1985. The Whittier Narrows earthquake in 1987 underscored the area-wide threat of a major disaster in California. Further, it confirmed the need for training civilians to meet their immediate needs. As a result, the LAFD created the Disaster Preparedness Division with the purpose of training citizens and private and government employees.

The training program that LAFD initiated makes good sense and furthers the process of citizens understanding their responsibility in preparing for disaster. It also increases their ability to safely help themselves, their family and their neighbors. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recognizes the importance of preparing citizens. The Emergency Management Institute (EMI) and the National Fire Academy adopted and expanded the CERT materials believing them applicable to all hazards.

The CERT course will benefit any citizen who takes it. This individual will be better prepared to respond to and cope with the aftermath of a disaster. Additionally, if a community wants to supplement its response capability after a disaster, civilians can be recruited and trained as neighborhood, business, and government teams that, in essence, will be auxiliary responders. These groups can provide immediate assistance to victims in their area, organize spontaneous volunteers who have not had the training, and collect disaster intelligence that will assist professional responders with prioritization and allocation of resources following a disaster. Since 1993 when this training was made available nationally by FEMA, communities in 28 States and Puerto Rico have conducted CERT training."

Rave Reviews - Recipes!

Most of these are recipes that we've had during the year. Hot Chicken and Wheat Casserole and Chicken Fried Steak (minus the hen) are new!

Chicken Fried Steak (minus the hen)
by The Prudent Homemaker

Click here for the Chicken Fried Steak recipe!

Hot Chicken & Wheat Casserole
by I Dare You to Eat It

½ cup butter, plus 2TBSP butter, divided
1 cup celery diced
1 cup onion, diced
1 cup green pepper, diced
6 cups cooked wheat berries
2 cans chicken chunks, drained (12.5 oz.)
1 can cream of chicken soup
3/4 cup mayo
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 cup breadcrumbs

Sauté diced fresh veggies in 1/2 cup butter until they are partially cooked and color brightens. Add wheat berries, drained chicken, soup, mayo, and water chestnuts. Stir to combine. Pour mix into an oiled 9x13 pan and sprinkle top with breadcrumbs that have been combined with the 2TBSP melted butter. Bake 350 degrees F for 45 minutes.

Perfect Whole Wheat Bread

1 TBSP instant yeast
2 ½ cups hot water
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup honey or raw sugar
1 TBSP salt
6-7 cups whole wheat flour

Combine all ingredients. Kneed for 10 minutes. Form into loaves. Place in prepared bread pans and let rise until double. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

TVP Tacos

1 1/3 cup TVP
¼ cup Taco Seasoning (1 pkg)
1 (14 oz.) can low sodium beef broth

In a large skillet, heat the broth over medium heat. Add TVP and stir well. Allow the TVP to reconstitute for 2-3 minutes. Add taco seasoning & stir well. Allow to cook for another 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently. Serve in place of ground beef in your tacos.

Apple Betty
by Becky Gamett

apples (rehydrated dried apples)
2 TBSP lemon juice mixed with ¼ cup water
½ tsp cinnamon & ½ cup sugar mixed together
1 cube butter
½ cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup of oatmeal
½ cup of oat flour (pulse oatmeal in blender to make oat flour)

Slice enough apples to fill a greased square pyrex baking dish & pour lemon juice & water mixture over apples. Sprinkle cinnamon & sugar mixture over the apples.

Mix butter, sugar, salt, oatmeal & oat four together until it is a crumbly consistency. Place on top of apples, covering all the apples. If you make a 9x13 baking dish full of apples, double the crust recipe. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Top with vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, roasted chopped pecans, and a dollop of whipping cream.

Corn & Black Bean Salsa

1 cup cooked wheat berries
1 (15 oz) can black beans
1 (14.25 oz) can corn, drained
1 medium tomato, diced
1 small red onion, diced
¼ cup lime juice
1 tsp cumin
1 bunch cilantro, diced

Mix together and serve with tortilla chips.

Herb Butter

6-8 oz butter, at room temperature
4 TBSP fresh chopped parsley
1 1/2 TBSP snipped chives
1 tsp fresh chopped tarragon or thyme
1 large clove garlic, crushed
2 TBSP lemon juice
salt and freshly milled black pepper

Combine all the above ingredients together. Store, covered with foil, in the refrigerator in small 2 oz portions (or use a plastic wrap lined ice cube tray within a plastic bag). This can also be a good way of storing fresh herbs in the freezer.

Lemon Bars (with Whole Wheat)
by Jamie Perkins (page 179 in the Galleria Gourmet)

Crust:
1 cup butter
½ cup powdered sugar
½ tsp salt
2 cups whole wheat flour

Filling:
4 eggs, slighly beaten
2 cups sugar
½ tsp baking powder
¼ cup whole wheat flour
¼ cup lemon juice

Cream butter and powdered sugar. Add other crust ingredients and mix. Pat into 9 x 13 greased pan. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Mix filling and pour over hot crust. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Black Bean Brownies
by I Dare You to Eat It

1 (19 oz) box brownie mix
1 (15 oz) can black beans

Rinse and drain the black beans. Then spoon the beans back into their can and fill the can with fresh water. Pour beans and water into a blender and puree until smooth. Add puree to the brownie mix and stir. Pour into a sprayed cake pan and follow the directions for baking as printed on the back of the brownie mix box.

Only 2 points per brownie for Weight Watchers!

Self-Reliance in All Things - Social-Emotional and Spiritual

Social-Emotional and Spiritual

"Most of us have thought about how to prepare for storms. We have seen and felt the suffering of women, men, and children, and of the aged and the weak, caught in hurricanes, tsunamis, wars, and droughts. One reaction is to ask, “How can I be prepared?” And there is a rush to buy and put away whatever people think they might need for the day they might face such calamities.

But there is another even more important preparation we must make for tests that are certain to come to each of us. That preparation must be started far in advance because it takes time. What we will need then can’t be bought. It can’t be borrowed. It doesn’t store well. And it has to have been used regularly and recently.

What we will need in our day of testing is a spiritual preparation. It is to have developed faith in Jesus Christ so powerful that we can pass the test of life upon which everything for us in eternity depends. That test is part of the purpose God had for us in the Creation."

(Henry B. Eyring, "Spiritual Preparedness: Start Early and Be Steady," Ensign, Nov. 2005)

Thanks to Stephanie for this post!

Introduction post here.