Frugal Homemaking

Just some things in the frugal homemaking department...

 

I've been busy throughout the months of January and February.

 

Another batch of taco seasoning.

I'm still trying to perfect this recipe. It's still very spicy. I have to admit, I've been tempted to give in and go back to purchasing the little packets. But then I remind myself of why I'm doing this.

 

 I decided to tweak my laundry detergent recipe a bit. I thought I'd found another one that I'd like better, so I decided to give it a try.

 

It's a little different from the recipe I currently use.

This recipe replaces borax with citric acid and a natural oxygen bleaching agent (no bleach).

 

And in this recipe, you add your essential oils to the powder mixture. I used sweet orange. Mmm, smells yummy.

 

 

 

Well, after all that, I didn't like this detergent as well as the recipe I was using. It didn't seem to clean as well. That tells me that the borax plays an integral part in cleaning the clothes. So, I decided to go back to adding the borax to the powder, and now I'm happy with the results.

 

Here's something new I discovered. When I cook bacon I don't always use the whole package, so I usually store the rest in the refrigerator. Most of the time bacon doesn't sit around in my fridge long enough to spoil, but should I not need to cook any for some time, this is a neat idea.

 

Roll up a slice of bacon like this.

 

And put it in a freezer ziploc bag like this.

 

Put it in the freezer, then when you're ready for bacon, just take out as many slices as you need, defrost it, and you're all set to cook only what you need.

 

Now I can buy bacon in bulk packages since it's cheaper that's way. :)

 

I've gotten well underway with my freezer cooking these past two months.

I think I've made enough cream of chicken soup to last for maybe a couple of months.

I use cream of chicken soup in lots of recipes.

 

Individual servings of spaghetti. Beats the canned variety.

 

I tried making my own yogurt in January, and I froze the whey that was strained off of it. I read about different things to use the whey for, but so far I haven't used any of it. 

 

And the yogurt? It turned out fine, but it seemed like more trouble than it's worth to me considering we don't eat a lot of yogurt around here. So I'll probably stick to buying it in the store.

 

I know this doesn't exactly count as "freezer cooking", but it does fall into the category of "frugal."

This is milk and buttermilk, and orange juice and pineapple juice, frozen in 1/2 cup, 1 cup, and 2 cup amounts. If I have any milk left that won't be finished before it expires, I just put it in the freezer to be used in recipes and cooking.

 

I don't usually have to worry about the milk going bad. We drink milk pretty quick around here, but I don't use buttermilk fast enough. So to keep it from spoiling, I have started freezing it to be used in recipes when needed.

 

And these are just a few of the homemaking activities going on here in my little domain over the last two months. This is what brings me joy :). I do enjoy finding ways to be more frugal in keeping my home.