Laundry Detergent

Okay, so last night, it was that time again. Time to make my own laundry detergent. So, I thought I'd share how I make it. It's super easy.

First, you start with washing soda, borax, and a bar of soap.


And, a 5 gallon bucket (at least, that's what we use)!


Start by grating the soap (and then, if you have a wonderful husband like I do, let him take over).


While he is grating the soap, put 4 cups of water on the stove and let it get hot, but not boiling (believe me, I let it boil one time and there were suds everywhere!!).


While that's getting hot, pour in 1/2 cup of borax into the 5 gallon bucket.


And, 1 cup of washing soda.


Meanwhile, John David has almost finished grating the soap.


Add the soap one handful at a time to the hot water and stir til it dissolves.


It gets nice and soapy.


This is what it looks like after all the soap has been added and dissolves.


Add the soap to the washing soda and borax in the 5 gallon bucket.


Now add 3 gallons of hot water straight from your faucet.


Stir (with a big paint stirrer in our case).


And, voila! You're done! It is 1 cup per load, just buy a cheap measuring cup or something. And, stir it a few times after you've made it (in the hours following) because it helps the detergent not clump.


On another note: we have vegetables in our garden! We have squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, and lettuce (which we've already used in 3 meals this week) and will have peas, beans and peppers soon. Yay! I'll post pictures on Sunday because I forgot to take them today (oops).

Have a wonderful weekend!

Family (aka the post where I include lots of links)

If you know me very well, you know that I have had a very hard time since my parents moved up to Dayton, Ohio. I mean, when they moved to Nashville, Tennessee, I had a hard enough time, and that is only 1 hour away. :/ But, this weekend, John David and I took advantage of the extra day off and went to visit my wonderful mom and dad. We had such a fabulous weekend and now it kind of feels like a part of me is missing since we came home last night. It sucks. I wish we lived closer, but such is life, I guess. :(

Ok, enough with the sad part. Dayton is amazing! Really. I mean, you wouldn't THINK it would be, but it really has a lot of culture and community and art and beauty. I could really live there.

Saturday we explored the area. We went to a great pancake place for breakfast, explored the 2nd Street Market (and let me just say that it's a good thing we had just eaten, because each of the 40 vendors had free samples...I would have eaten myself sick), went thrifting/antiquing in a small town outside Dayton called Waynesville, went to a Kroger Marketplace (SO jealous we don't have one of those...they're like a Whole Foods and Wegmans wrapped into one), went to an amazing Thai restaurant in an area of the city called the Oregon District (which is, coincidentally, where I would love to move, raise my children and grow old with my amazing husband because the area is just so freaking cool!), and got ice cream at Young's outside Yellow Springs (which is the coolest hippie-town ever). And, that was just Saturday. Yes, my family likes good food. I ate too much this weekend, but I don't even care.

Sunday, my dad made breakfast, then we played disc golf, saw my grandparents and ate dinner at a local burger joint.

Monday, shopping at Cincinnati Premium Outlets and The Greene, lunch at Brio (which was so authentic we decided we're going to take trip to Italy as a family next year), and just relaxing at mom and dad's house before we had to head home.

I didn't take many pictures (sorry), but here are a few from the weekend:


Would you ever want to leave Dayton if this is what it looked like every morning when you walked out the back door? The pond is so peaceful. Mom and Dad's place is amazing. It has so many flowers and gardens that it's not even funny. And, Mom and Dad have completely redone the inside of the house (I mean, everything: the floors, new paint, new kitchen, new bathrooms) and it looks brand new! Next time we're up there (which will be very soon), I will get more pictures of the house, inside and out!


Dad is going to make me one of these greenhouses out of old windows. Isn't it so neat? We found it in Waynesville when we were antique shopping (but if you think I'm paying $120 for it, you're crazy).

And, there was this amazing antique/consignment/thrift store that had two huge sections of mid-century-modern kitchenware. I resisted the urge to buy anything, but I sure did take pictures. I want that set of green and yellow polka-dot glasses in the top right corner, but once again, I'm not going to pay $50 for 6 glasses. Maybe they'll go on "sale." Ha!


Well, there you go. Basically this is what it boils down to: We had an amazing weekend. My parents' new house is awesome. Dayton is surprisingly wonderful. I love my family so much and miss them more than you know!

We Must Be Doing Something Right!

Because the plants are HAY-UGE!!! We think we're going to have to pull up some of the squash plants because they are so big it's not even funny. We'll still get plenty of squash, even if we pull out half the plants!

This week:


And, this is last week! Can you believe the difference? It's astonishing to me! Wow! And, this is organic, no fertilizer, no pesticides! I'm so proud of JD and me being able to do this! Yay!


Some more "close-ups" of this week. Sorry I didn't get more detailed pictures of each vegetable, but it was raining, and I don't like to get wet, and I had to go to work.



Have a wonderful long weekend!!! I'm seeing my mom and dad this weekend and could NOT be more excited!

Bugs...

I am not a big fan of bugs. Especially mosquitoes. But they sure seem to love me. I am also not a big fan of bug spray. It leaves me feeling sticky and medicated. I know that it's poison that I'm spraying on my body and that does NOT thrill me at all. :/

John David and I are big fans of being outside, especially in the summer. I mean, I can't garden, bike ride, have cookouts, lay in the hammock, go to the park, or play disc golf INSIDE, can I?

So, this is the latest homemade item I'm going to try: all-natural bug spray that I can make at my house. Yay! I found this amazing site that has numerous ideas, which I'm going to list below, but I want to know what you all think. Which one should I make? Please comment and let me know. Or, if you have any of your own suggestions, I'm up for those, too! :)

• Blend of essential oils:
  1. Mix the following essential oils in a 4 oz. container: 20 drops Eucalyptus oil, 20 drops Cedarwood oil, 10 drops Tea Tree oil, and 10 drops Geranium oil.
  2. Add 2 oz. of a carrier oil (such as Jojoba). Mix well.

• Mint-based bug spray:
  1. Place 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. of either catnip, spearmint, or pennyroyal (all in the mint family) in a spray bottle.
  2. Add 1 cup of isopropyl alcohol and 1 cup of water.
  3. Shake well.

• Herbal insect repellent safe for use on the face:
  1. Blend 4 drops each of sandalwood, cajeput, and lavender essential oils with 2 teaspoons of carrier oil (such as extra virgin olive oil).
  2. Mix well and apply as needed.

• Vodka Mist Insect Repellent:
  1. Mix the following in a spray bottle: 50 drops Jojoba, 50 drops Lavender, 25 drops Eucalyptus lemon, 25 drops Lemongrass, 25 drops Patchouli, and 25 drops Catjeput.
  2. Add 1 fluid ounce of vodka.
  3. Mix well.
  4. Apply jojoba oil before spraying the repellent on the skin.

• Natural insect repellent lotion:
  1. Place 2 ounces distilled water in a large mixing bowl.
  2. Slowly drizzle in 2 ounces of olive oil while beating quickly with a wire whisk.
  3. After the oil is mixed into the distilled water, stir in 120 drops of citronella essential oil.

Of course, after you all help me decide, I'll post pictures and such of the process of making it and updates after I use it to let you know how well it keeps those gross bugs away!

Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas.

Here is one of my favorites to make. You may remember me talking about it in this post. But, I thought I would put up my pictures and step-by-step instructions just to show how easy it is.

Cast of characters: 1 pound Monterey Jack cheese (pre-shredded or shred yourself, you decide. I'm in it for the ease of preparation), 1 rotisserie chicken, 2 containers tomatillo salsa verde (30-ish ounces total), 2o corn tortillas (soft taco size), a container of feta cheese, half a red onion, and cilantro (not pictured, sorry. I remembered it was in the recipe at about step 5, so I couldn't go back and take another "cast of characters" picture.). Oh, and preheat your oven to 400 degrees.


Take your rotisserie chicken and pick off all the meat. Don't use the skin, just the meat. This is the most time consuming part (and, if you have an amazing husband, like I do, it takes half the time because he helped me).


Ta da! Chicken. About 3 cups or so.


Now, chop up the onion and put it in a plastic bag or tupperware container. You'll need it later.


Let's get started layering. Spread a 1/2 cup of salsa on the bottom.


Top with 4 tortillas (cut them up so they cover the salsa).


Top with a large handful of chicken.


Top with 1/2 cup or so of Monterey Jack cheese. (Don't touch the feta, yet.)


Top with another 1/2 cup of salsa.


Repeat the above process until you've run out of chicken. Finish that layer (top with cheese), then top with remaining tortillas, remaining salsa, and finally the remaining Monterey Jack cheese. Here's what it looks like:


Cover with aluminum foil, and put it in the oven for 30 minutes. Take off the aluminum foil after the 30 minutes and continue to bake, uncovered, for 15-20 more minutes.


When it's finished baking, sprinkle the onion, whole package of feta, and a large handful of chilantro (chopped) over the top. Mmmm...My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Now, I made this on Sunday night for the finale of LOST. I pre-made it then took over to my friend Jennifer's house to bake. I forgot to take a picture of the finished product (oops). So, here is the picture from Williams-Sonoma's website. Here's the recipe, as well.


Enjoy! It's so good and easy. I promise you won't be disappointed!

Perfect.

So I was going to do this amazing blog post on Sunday about what Ekklesia is. We met at a local park, and I had it in my mind that I was going to take these amazing Pioneer-Woman-inspired photos that perfectly captured the beauty that is my community. Really, it was going to be wonderful (not to mention totally crazy because I CAN'T take amazing pictures like the Pioneer Woman, but still, I like to build things up in my head).

Then, I rushed out of the house and forgot the camera. Darn it. Guess that post will have to wait. In a couple weeks, we're all taking a camping trip and having a good ole fashion field day (you know, with water balloon fights, sack races, egg races, etc.), and I am DEFINITELY going to bring my camera then. I'll get that post done. I promise. Because I know some of you want to know what we do at Ekklesia. Well, there aren't really words (which is why I've stopped trying to explain us), but I hope to capture what we are with my camera.

But, seriously, my weekend was perfect. Saturday consisted of chocolate chip waffles, gardening, mowing (my husband mows, not me, because I can't walk in a straight line to save my life), disc golf, and grilling out. "Heaven on earth" is the phrase that kept coming to mind all day Saturday.

Sunday, Ekklesia met at the park, then we went to a friend's pool. JD and I went to Broadway for youth and brought our "children" (aka Penelope and Capo), and then watched the finale of LOST with Jennifer. Once again, perfect.

Do you ever have those moments where you just look around and want to cry or laugh or dance (or do all three at the same time) because of the beauty and perfection and love that surrounds you? I had that all weekend, but especially sitting under a big tree at a park on Sunday with my community. Wow.

It was perfect.




P.S. Stay tuned because I have a few recipes ready to go, plus I get to see my mom and dad this weekend, and I'm sure we'll do some thrifting and looking for mid-century modern wonders. Plus, I'm scouring the web for recipes for a certain type of homemade "something" (I can't tell you, yet, it's a surprise!). And, of course, the garden update. So, many blog posts are coming. Soon. :)

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary...

How does your garden grow? Well, my garden is growing pretty darn good, if you ask me! Here are my updates pictures for this week!

My strawberries are growing like crazy, and it's impossible to keep them weeded because the plants are so thick, so, bring on the weeds! They're not affecting my strawberries, so I'm happy. I'm NOT happy, however, that rabbits and squirrels keep eating on my strawberries. Dumb woodland creatures.


Voila. Here's the garden this week. Look how big my plants are!!


Peas


Cucumber


Beans


Squash. Oh my, I'm going to have squash coming out my ears. Have great squash recipes, anyone? I'll need suggestions.


Lettuce (in the front) and carrots (in the back)


Tomatoes. I found a flower on one this morning which means we should have tomatoes soon.


Pepper.


Broccoli.


Melon.


Basil. Does anyone have any suggestions about how to get it to look better? My basil isn't as impressive this year as it was last year. Should I just give it more time?


Sage


Flat-leaf Parsley


Cilantro

That's it. Really, please, I'm begging you, any suggestions or tips or recipes are encouraged. Please. :)

Have a wonderful weekend!