Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 4-6 tbsp. vegetable shortening or lard
• 1 1/4 cups warm water

Instructions:

Recipe @ thenoshery.com

I made these and i think they are very yummy!

• Braised Chicken and Spring Vegetables
• Beef With Radishes (Stir-Fry)
• Momos (Tibetan Steamed Dumplings)
• Beef Tataki

What You Will Need:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup sea salt
• 1-2 slices of lemon
• 1-2 slices of orange

Directions:

1. Put the oil and salt in a bowl or blender.
2. Chop up the orange and lemon slices and put them in your bowl or blender.  If you’re using a bowl, chop them as finely as you can or omit them entirely.
3. Blend everything together and put in your container.  That’s it!

From: http://searching4hiddentreasures.blogspot.com/2011/02/home-made-laundry-detergent.html


DRYER SHEETS:

Ingredients:

1 container of your favorite fabric softener  (or better still, click here to learn how to make your own!)
a bucket
water 
2 sponges

Directions:

Pour fabric softener in bucket.  Add 2 parts water.  (Fill your fabric softner container with water twice and add to bucket.)  Mix well.  Throw in your sponges.  Ring your sponge out and add it to dryer with your clean, wet clothes.  Return sponge to mixture when clothes are dry.  

There you have it!!  Life is easier already!  =)

From: http://searching4hiddentreasures.blogspot.com/2011/06/dish-washing-detergent.html

• 1 quart (8 cups) of water
• 1/2 bar of your favorite soap  (I use Ivory, but you can use castle or whatever you like best.)
• 2 cups of vinegar to cut the grease  (I suppose lemon juice would do the trick too, but citrus takes the shine out of your silver ware too, so I use vinegar.)

Recipe @ http://beingcreativetokeepmysanity.blogspot.com/2010/11/homemade-laundry-soap.html
Found in the comments that you are suppose to use 1 tablespoon a load but some do 2 tablespoons.
Going to try this since i have quite a lot of laundry soap supplies built up. They say it’s cheaper then the wet laundry soap.

Recipe @ http://www.wearenotmartha.com/

My modified version of the chicken salad wraps found here: Santa Fe Chicken Salad Wrap, Creamy Avocado Chicken Salad

For the Chicken Salad
2/3 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 – 3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1 - 2 tablespoon minced cilantro
2 – 3 green onions, sliced thin
2 cups poached, diced or shredded chicken (or grilled is great)
¼ cup tomatoes, diced

¼ cup black beans, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup corn kernels

I just throw everything in a bowl and mix… and slop it on a shell and your ready!

I usually pass by recipes that are in a magazine but this one i decided to try. It was AWESOME! One of our new found favorites. Of course i change the recipe to make it my own (and better).
Super simple! Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 5 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

I used only 1 Tbsp. and i used white vinegar… i don’t like vinegar very much

• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. snipped fresh parsley

I didn’t have this

• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. dry mustard

I used plain o’mustard from the bottle… but i used the same amount as above.

• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 5-oz. pkg. fresh baby spinach (about 5 cups)

We didn’t use near 5 cups! I just put it in the as if it was lettuce or something… not piles of it!

• 6 10-inch flour tortillas
• 6 slices mozzarella cheese, torn in half

Shredded works fine too…. once again no measuring needed just sprinkle on your shell. Think taco!

• 8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 12 slices bacon, crisp cooked and drained

• 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 3 hard-cooked eggs, sliced

Bacon is the main ingredient! As far as the toppings, do your own thing if you don’t like mushrooms or eggs. I had it with mushrooms, tomatoes and green pepper…. were as my Husband only had tomatoes and loved it! I would suggest tomatoes!

I was craving some hot chocolate and i had used the last of my store bought chocolate syrup the other day. I got the bright idea ‘why don’t i make some? i bet i can find a recipe online!’

So i searched and easily found it!

(My Homemade Chocolate Syrup)

The recipe:

From The Complete Tightwad Gazette.

½ cup cocoa powder
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
⅛ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon vanilla

Mix the cocoa powder and the water in a saucepan. Heat and stir to dissolve the cocoa. Add the sugar, and stir to dissolve. Boil for 3 minutes over medium heat. Be careful not to let it get too hot and boil over! Add the salt and the vanilla. Let cool. Pour into a clean glass jar, and store in the refrigerator. Keeps for several months, but trust me it will be gone before then. Yields two cups.

The result is very rich and yummy!

These would make cute hostess gifts or party favors!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So then i went on to make my hot chocolate.

What I used: Homemade syrup and stove top frother for that ‘coffee shop’ quality.

Purchasable @ http://www.organic-vida.com

Measure out your milk using your mug. Keep in mind to leave some room for your syrup plus room for the milk to expand when frothed.

Pour milk into frother and put on stove on medium heat without lid. Heat until desired warmth. Can test with your finger. Take off heat and put lid on.

Froth by pumping the handle on the lid. You don’t have to pump very fast to make great thick foam. Pour your desired chocolate syrup into bottom of the mug. Pour a little of the frothed milk in, using a spoon to hold back the foam. Stir the chocolate into the milk, the pour the rest of the frothed milk in.

Yum! Even better if you can top with some whipped cream and drizzle with more chocolate!