Make your own laundry detergent

For a long while now I have wanted to make my own laundry detergent but never got around to it. Finally I have. Recently I watched a video on how to make it and decided to just gather the supplies and do it.

The Video Link Here

  Check out more from her at:

http://grocerygeek.com/

Here are the written directions and some of my photos:

Supplies:

- 5 gallon bucket with lid
- long paint stick (You'll need it to stir or something sturdy)
- bar soap (5.5 oz) that is not perfumed, My soap came from Sappo Hill

 (You should be able to find soaps that contain only: “Saponified Oils of Palm and Coconut; Glycerine”)
-1/2 cup of Borax
-1 cup Washing Soda (not Baking Soda but by Arm & Hammer – buy it in the laundry aisle)

Note: It says "Not perfumed" but that wasn't an option at my store so I got aloe vera. I'm not concerned because Sappo hill uses all natural ingredients and colored with mineral pigments.

Directions:

1. Cut bar of soap into small pieces or grate. I strongly recommend grating because it will melt faster.

 2. Cook soap pieces in 4 cups of hot water over medium heat; stirring frequently until fully dissolved.

 3. Fill bucket half full with hot tap water
4. Add the dissolved soap/water from cook-top.
5. Pour in the Borax (left) and Washing Soda (right) and stir until dissolved

6. Fill bucket with additional hot tap water (to the 5 gallon mark) and stir.
7. Place lid on bucket and let sit overnight to gel.
8. The next day, stir and pour solution into smaller containers.

Note: This solution is a concentrate, so be sure to add it to your machine water before adding clothes.
Also, this soap will not form suds: don’t worry, it’s not the suds that do the cleaning; it’s the components of the soap. Give the jug a quick swish before each use, but vigorous shaking is not necessary.

A cupcake that will ruin your diet

Also know as...
Chocolate Doughnut Cupcakes w/ Salted Caramel Filling & Chocolate Ganache
(I know, I'm down right evil....you love it)

The Batter:
(Based on THIS one with some changes)
1 1/2 cups AP Flour (or cake flour)
1/2  cup unsweetened cocoa
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup buttermilk (room temp)
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
1/2-3/4 cup fresh brewed coffee of choice (optional)
1/2 cup chopped chocolate
1 teaspoon vanilla

The Filling:
(So...I cheated. I had to come up with a new filling because my original idea didn't work out.
I didn't have time to make caramel from scratch but luckily we had those wrapped caramel squares..
so I improvised.)
1 bag caramels
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons Bragg liquid aminos (or soy sauce)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Ganache:
1/2 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
2-3 tablespoon heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter (room temp)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425°  and prepare a cupcake pan.
Brew your coffee (if using, I suggest you do).
Once coffee is brewed pour 1/2-3/4 cup into a mug then add the butter and chopped chocolate to it, stir until incorporated and set aside (this also melts your butter for you!)

Make the batter: 
1. In a large bowl mix the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
2. Mix in buttermilk, vanilla and eggs.
3. Once cooled add in the butter, coffee and chocolate mixture.
(don't overmix..or eat the batter..that second one is really difficult)
4. Fill cupcake liners about half way (they puff up!).
5. Bake for 7-10 minutes (10 minutes in my oven was perfect).
6. Cool completely before moving onto the other steps.

Make the Filling:
Like I said..I cheated. I will eventually update this with a real recipe.
1. Unwrap the caramels.
2. Place in a pan with the liquid aminos/soy sauce and heavy cream.
3. Melt together over low to low-medium heat and stir often.
4. Take off the heat and move onto the next steps.

Prepare the cupcakes:

1. Make a well for the filling. I used my handy-dandy apple corer to make a well in the middle, you can also use a melon baller...or whatever else as long as it works for you. Save what you take out!
2. Fill them. I filled them once the caramel was fairly cool then I placed each on in the fridge after filling (because it will soak into the cupcake, the warmer the cake/caramel the more it will absorb)

3. Place the tops back on.

Make the ganache:
1. Place the chocolate and heavy cream in a pan.
2. Heat over low-medium heat while stirring constantly.
3. When it almost comes together add in the butter and stir until it's all incorporated.
4. Allow to cool slightly before topping the cupcakes.
5. Top the cupcakes and place them back in the fridge for the ganache to set up.

Decoration:
I added none but you could add sprinkles, nuts, anything!
Another way to top them is to put a layer of caramel on top and then the ganache.

I love my new Ninja!

Banana "custard" (Raw/Vegan)

All hail my new Ninja blender! And since I finally have one I got to try this recipe.

Ingredients:
3 Ripe bananas
2-3 tablespoons dairy replacement of choice (I used almond milk)

Garnish (Optional)
I had banana chips so I put one on top.

Directions:
1. Cut the bananas into small pieces and freeze for several hours
(I froze mine overnight)
2. Place frozen pieces and "milk" in the blender.
3. Pulse a few times to get it mixed and then blend, stopping
occasionally to scrap down the sides.
4. Serve! Place the extra in the freezer for later.

Note: Next time I will probably add cacao to make a "chocolate covered banana custard" or maybe strawberries.
Anything really. It's delicious just like this.  

Banana Cake w/ Nutella Frosting

I made this cake for my friend Mara's birthday, it turned out awesome!

Banana Cake:
1 1/2 cups ripe bananas, mashed
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375°
2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs (one at a time) and the vanilla.
4. To that add the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately then fold in the mashed banana.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan (I used a spring form) and bake in preheated oven for one hour
or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
6. Remove from oven and place directly into the freezer for 45 minutes. (ensures the cake will be moist).

Frosting:
1 26oz jar of nutella
2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened.

Directions:
1. In a large bowl mix the Nutella and butter with a hand mizer (or in a stand mixer) until light and fluffy.
If you think your frosting is too thick add some heavy whipping cream or vanilla extract,
if too thin then add some powdered sugar.

Note:
I made a lot of frosting because I cut the cake in half and put frosting in the middle. You could use the smaller jar of frosting and one stick of butter.

Decorations:
Shaved chocolate
Banana Chips
Chocolate heart (I just poured melted chocolate into a cookie cutter on parchment)

Yalanchi

I made these with my friend Chelsi not too long ago (Along with the couscous salad and kunefe) so I wanted to make them again.

•1 cup oil
•6 cups onion, chopped
•2 cups rice
•1/2 cup parsley, chopped
•1 cup water
•1 cup tomato sauce
•1 cup lemon juice
•1 tablespoon salt
•1/2 teaspoon black pepper
•Dash cayenne
•1 tablespoon dill
•1 quart grape leaves (80-100)
•1/2 teaspoon allspice, optional
•1 cup lemon juice

PREPARATION:
In a 4-quart stainless steel roasting pan, saute onions in oil until clear. Stir often to prevent burning.
Add all ingredients except parsley and bring to a boil. Stir, turn heat low and cook, covered, about 15 minutes. Add parsley and stir. Let cool.
Rice mixture should be cooked the day before and allowed to cool
Rinse grape leaves and squeeze out water. Remove stem from leaf.
Lay each leaf flat dull side up. Place 1 teaspoon rice mixture on the leaf, fold sides over filling and roll leaf up.

How to roll grape leaves

Couscous Salad

Salad:
Couscous, 1-2 10oz boxes of 5-min OR any amount/type you want
(I used two boxes of Original Near East, use whatever kind you want)
Cucumber, Chopped
Bell Pepper, Chopped
Carrot, Chopped
Tomato, Chopped
Spinach, chopped (I chiffonade mine)
Onion, chopped
Garlic, Minced
Teaspoon of fresh dill
Teaspoon parsley
Dressing (recipe follows)

Dressing:
2 tablespoons balsamic vinager
2 tablespoons olive oil
Basil
oregano
thyme
Salt/pepper/garlic powder
(I also add a squeeze of lemon to mine)

Directions:

Make the dressing:
Combine all ingredients in a blender/food processor or just mix by hand and set aside.
(depending on how much couscous you make you may need to double the recipe)

Salad:
Prepare Couscous (according to whichever couscous you pick).
Add to it the dressing and the vegetables, parsley and dill.
The vegetable are whatever amount YOU want, I like a lot, some people like few.
Refrigerate for a few hours to overnight.

'Smores Cupcakes

The actual cake recipe is much like the one I had for my red velvet,
just slightly modified.

Cupcakes:
1 C Almond Milk
1 tsp. Apple Cider Vinegar
1 C Sugar
1 1/4 C Flour
1/3 C Canola Oil
1/2-3/4 C. Cocoa Powder
1 teaspoon instant espresso (optional)
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 tsp. Salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cupcake liners in your cupcake pan.
2. Combine soy milk and apple cider vinegar in a bowl and let sit for 5 minutes to thicken.
3. Combine sugar, oil, extracts and espresso in a large mixing bowl.
Once your soy milk mixture has thickened add it to you mixing bowl. Combine thoroughly.
4. Add the rest of your dry ingredients, mix until all lumps are gone.
5. Fill cupcake lines 2/3 full.
6. Cook in the over for 17-19 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the
center of a cupcake comes out clean.
7. Wait at least 30 minutes, or until completely cool to frost.

The frosting I mad was fail, despite is looking nice so I won't list the recipe.
It was marshmallow but the taste was a bit off. So use any frosting you want, this would be really good with peanut butter
frosting or you could mix chocolate chips into it and have them as muffins.

For decoration I crushed some graham crackers and melted some dark chocolate.