homemade detergent recipe {the best!}

hi everyone! how has your week been going? we've had some crazy weather here in the Bluegrass. on monday we had 5 inches of snow {our first real snow day!} and today we're on the porch wearing flip flops, enjoying 72 degree weather. crazy!

for the last year or so my husband has been telling me about "homemade laundry detergent." you know me, i stuck my nose up to it and said no. ha. i figured with my coupons, that i could get brand name detergent so why did i need to make homemade? well, as the laundry companies have been tightening their coupon-giving-dollars, it's been tough to find super cheap cleaners. last week i was down to my last container and thought i'd better go get more... but there were very few GOOD coupons with store reductions. and what happened? you guessed it! i decided to make my own laundry detergent. my MIL has been using it for about six months and said it's great so i was excited to try it.

this recipe is safe in all HE washers, too.

first you'll need these ingredients...

2 cups Washing Soda {not to be confused with Baking Soda}
2 cups 20 Mule Team BORAX
2 bars Ivory Soap {grated}
2 Purex Ultra Packs {Tide also has these}
2 gallons water
1 quart of water {to use for boiling}
large bucket for stirring
4 empty 48 load purex containers {or any detergent container}

you can find all these items at your local grocery store in the laundry isle.

Directions:

add 1 quart of water to a large saucepan and bring to a boil, add in 2 grated ivory soap bars and stir until dissolved. once dissolved add in 2 cups washing soda, 2 cups borax and 2 ultra packs; stir until completely mixed and dissolved.

then pour into your large bucket, adding in 2 gallons water, mix thoroughly. at this point, you can add in any fragrance oils. i don't but have thought about it, however for now i've been adding 1 cup of regular detergent to the entire 2 gallon batch and mix. it gives it a blueish color and a nice scent.

after everything is mixed i slowly pour into my four empty purex containers {shown above}. if you have a difficult time pouring, you can remove the clear pour spout inside the container and then putting it back into place once your detergent has been added. before each load, give your detergent bottle a good shake. it took me about thirty minutes from start to finish.

and there you have it! totally ready for laundry! for hard-to-remove stains, i have standard Tide liquid detergent that i use to spot-treat. it's on sale this week at Kroger for $4.99 and there's a $1 off coupon in the paper. spot cleaner for $3.99 is pretty good if you ask me.

doing your laundry this way, the cost of your laundry loads is roughly a penny. totally awesome! why didn't my husband tell me to do this sooner?! sheesh.

my favorite chicken salad {recipe}

this is my favorite chicken salad recipe, taken from my two favorite chicken salad recipes. lol my mom's and a favorite bistro i love to go to with girlfriends. so here goes... i hope you love it.

My Favorite Chicken Salad Recipe

Ingredients

6 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts {or 8 smallish ones}
2 chicken bouillon cubes {i use Knorr, but any will do}
1 onion, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

{boil chicken with onion and S & P, when finished, remove from pot and chop in small bite-size pieces and set aside -- it is not necessary to keep the onion, you just need the chicken}

1/3 cup sweet pickle relish
1/2 cup celery, diced
6 smallish green onions, chopped
1 Fuji apple (leave skin on), chopped
3 small golden delicious apples, peeled and chopped
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 tsp celery seeds
1 cup Daisy sour cream
1 cup Hellman's mayonnaise


To garnish

Salt
Fresh cracked pepper
leaf lettuce
swiss cheese, sliced
1 pound thick-slice bacon, nicely cooked {don't burn}
3 tomatoes, sliced
Croissants {small} from your bakery section of your grocery store {this recipe will make 12}
Wavy potato chips and apples for garnish

Recipe

After cooking your chicken, chopping, dicing and preparing all your ingredients, add everything to a large mixing bowl. Stir, making a nice coating with your salad. Give it a taste, if you think it needs something extra, experiment but not too much, it can quickly get out of hand. After I have mixed everything I always add my salt and cracked pepper. Taste again. If it needs a bit of sweet, add some more sweet relish, but I've made it this way several times without adding anything extra and the recipe always comes out the same, perfectly. i hope it does for you too.

Even though my photo does not show the swiss cheese, it makes a nice addition. My kids didn't want cheese on theirs this time so my pictures don't reflect what it usually looks like. With the bacon, cheese, tomato and lettuce added to the croissant and salad, it's a gorgeous presentation. We have four kids and all but one love it so I figure that's pretty good, right?

side note:  it's important to use Daisy and Hellman's brand when making this recipe. i've tried it with other brands and it NEVER turns out the same. so stick with these two. you can also use Granny Smith in place of the Fuji, but it will be more tart, and that might not be the thing you're going after, we like it both ways. I've also added green or red grapes before but it makes it very wet and i don't care for that. it's up to you.

 i love fresh apples...

 thick, crunchy bacon and vine tomatoes... lovely


You're ready to eat! Enjoy!

 

my mom's taco salad recipe

this is my mom's recipe. years ago my folks would make this for the Honeybee Festival in the town where i grew up. their line of customers would be down the street, waiting patiently for their taco salad bowl. those were great memories...and my parents loved every minute. their recipe is still the best around.

many of my high school friends continue to ask me if they can get the recipe, so i thought i'd stick it here and put it on pinterest.

My Mom's Taco Salad Recipe


Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds ground chuck
1 packet of taco seasoning
1 medium can of kidney beans, drained

1 bag of plain tortilla chips, crushed
3 large tomatoes, diced
1 head of lettuce, chopped
2 (6oz) kraft mild cheddar cheese, grated (or you might want more, we like extra cheese)

1 3/4 cup miracle whip (do NOT use anything else, no store brands etc.)
3/4 cup sweet pickle relish
1/2 cup heinz ketchup
2/3 cup granulated sugar

Directions

brown ground chuck then drain. follow packet directions on taco seasoning. add kidney beans and simmer until ready to mix salad and serve. place lettuce, tomatoes and chips into large bowl.

mix miracle whip, relish, ketchup and sugar until completely blended and sugar is dissolved.

pour salad dressing over lettuce, tomatoes and chips and toss until nicely coated. add ground beef and beans mixture. toss gently but thoroughly. top with grated cheese. serve immediately.

PERSONAL NOTES: 


DO NOT USE BOTTLED thousand island dressing. IT WILL NOT TASTE the same. Really. I promise. It'll be icky. So use the recipe i've given you here. :)

this salad must be mixed at time of serving. if you're taking it somewhere or having folks over for dinner, have everything separated and then toss when they are ready to eat, otherwise it will wilt and not be as wonderful as it should be.

Chicken & Shrimp Gumbo Recipe

i thought it would be easier to put our favorite recipes here on my website... here's a new favorite. it's a bit tricky but if you're patient it might turn into a family favorite for you too.

 

 

Chicken & Shrimp Gumbo

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 cups all-purpose flour
9 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
2 1/2 cups chopped onion
2 cups green onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 (10 ounce) can Rotel
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
3 pounds, peeled fresh shrimp
4 (boneless, skinless) chicken breasts
1/2 cup fresh parsley
1 tbs file` powder

 

Directions

at the heart of any gumbo is a dark, silky roux. you'll need flour, oil and patience {lots of patience}. it will take from 20 to 40 minutes, depending on your pot, oil and temperature. don't try to rush it--if it burns, simply THROW IT OUT and START AGAIN. it is NOT worth saving.

heat oil in a large stockpot over medium heat; gradually whisk in flour, and cook, whisking constantly, until flour is a dark mahogany color {roughly 30 minutes}.

first, i added in my 1 1/2 cups of oil {i did not use olive oil--just regular crisco oil}, i sprinkled in the flour and would blend it in evenly, then add some more flour, blend and so on. after all the flour had been added, i set my timer for 30 minutes so i would have a good idea of where i was in the whisking process. it's important NOT to burn your roux so i wanted to be on top of it at all times.

in the beginning, your roux will have a blonde look. with your heat set to a medium level, simply continue to whisk at an easy pace. it will gradually begin to boil {like above} so just keep an eye on it...

 

10 minutes in... nice bubbly going on, but with the continued stirring you're not in danger of burning it, just don't walk away...

 

20 minutes in...notice the shift in color...

 

30 minutes in... continue stirring... don't leave it for a second, we're getting there...

 

40 minutes in...it's ready! at this part you're going to smell that wonderful oaky, nutty flavor.

 

SIDE NOTE: at this point you're going to add in your chicken broth but be careful! with the severe temperature of your finished roux, the steam will be dangerous. so gently pour in the broth and stir, stir and stir some more. keep on top of it, it desperately wants to get away from you.

 

i've poured in all the broth, and added the next 6 ingredients: onions, green onions, celery, garlic, rotel and tomato sauce, and bring to a boil. reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 2 hours.

 

SIDE NOTE: if you have the time, you can let it simmer for an additional hour, making a total of three hours, but i didn't feel it was necessary. it's totally up to you.

 

while the gumbo is simmering, i turned on my iPhone and put on some Pandora {set it to Rachael Platten Radio} and listened with glee while i cut up my 4 chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces, washed and then set aside...

 

and peeled my shrimp and cut into halves and set aside with the chicken {sorry for the blurry photo, it began to get pretty dark as i made this in the late afternoon}.

 

after a full hour of simmering, everything seems to be going along nicely. i noticed a lot of grease at the top of my gumbo so i spooned it out into a separate bowl. in the process, some of the veggies came with it so i put them through a strainer {i did not rinse them off} and put them right back into the pot, allowing them to continue cooking.

 

after removing all the grease the end result looked beautiful...at this point i added the chicken so it could cook for a full hour, giving it a nice tenderness {which it did, the chicken melted in our mouths}.

 

again with the annoying, blurry photo. my apologies. next time i won't be cooking at 5:30 in the evening. ha. anyway, i cooked the rice and set it aside, letting it cool down. oh, we used regular long-grain rice from Mahatma {that i got for .79 cents after my $1 off coupon}.

after the rice had been cooking for about fifteen minutes i added the shrimp to the pot. let it take on a nice pinky color so you know it's cooked all the way through.

 

after the chicken and rice had both cooked i gave it a good stir {i was so excited, i could hardly stand it!}... we were ready to eat! thank goodness!

 

spoon in your rice, pour gumbo on and top it off with some parsley.

this was absolutely divine. i cannot even tell you. it's a nice, mild gumbo, and we added creole seasoning to our own bowls. some like it hotter than others. :)

 

we bought a lovely italian bread from our deli section and i lightly toasted it. some added butter and some dipped in their gumbo... no matter how you like it, it's simply heaven.

the table-talk was so much fun, too. everyone was chatting and giggling about how good it was, passing bread back and forth and enjoying every. single. bite.  there was no greater compliment, and all the kids told me how fabulous it was and could we have it again tomorrow.... absolutely! there's tons left!

 

jeff and i polished off three of these babies. we're not big drinkers -- by any means -- but it was grand to have a cold Mike's with our gumbo. the kids had Orange Crush in the bottle. there's something that makes soda better when it's in a glass bottle.

 

and everyone cheered hooray! it was a success! it was a fabulous day in the kitchen, if i do say so myself!

 

the recipe came from Southern Living, originally having crab meat in it. our kids didn't want crab so we substituted chicken, jeff thinks sausage would be great too. so we might try that next time.

all in all, i learned a little about the roux process, needing to take my time with it and not panic. it was a fun learning experience and even though i'm not an everyday cook, trying these recipes from time to time makes me more confident in the kitchen. :) i hope you enjoy it! if you try it, please let me know if you liked it as much as we do!

-laurie eller

i {heart} my keurig.

 deanie and me snappin' some pics for the start of my Project Life commitment. i'm kinda excited. it's been years and years (like twelve) since i did any scrapbooking, which is totally sad, but i'm going to start with this year. if you're not sure what Project Life is, go HERE.

on a personal note, after i saw this photo i realized that i'm showing my age. ::sigh:: when did that happen? when did all these lines appear? i was never a sun-worshiper so i hope that these 40's are kind to me. maybe i need to get a bigger hat to wear at the pool. :)

i know you're gonna think i'm a goof, but i actually buy these cups to make my coffee at home. i don't always use them but i love to take them with me when i leave the house. :) and boy, i have a lot of reward cards. lol

love how these turned out. adding them to the shop later. not the greatest pic. i took them too late in the day. ugh.
 

you know how i feel about finding earrings to wear with jeans, and these are no exception. love love. they're filled with sunshine {and denim}.

enjoy the rest of your week. it's been busy around my home. working on silver orders and trying to find time to finish natalie's furniture. today i found some amazing knobs at Hobby Lobby. i've been taking photos to show you next week. :)

love grows {within you} sterling necklace

hello dear friends... it's been a long time, i know. :) i guess i needed a break from blogging.

here's a little of what's been going on with us...

nathaniel and natalie are both in their school's production of Annie. i cannot tell you how excited i am for them. theater has become a staple of our life these days.

jeff took his Praxis test and scored a 198 out of a possible 200. how exciting! he finishes classes in june but he will walk the line in may. my little family will be there cheering him on. it's something that doesn't happen everyday, your husband of nearly 18 years graduates from college {again}. we are so proud, so overjoyed and i'm madly in love with my fella.

so onto jewelry...

i've thoroughly enjoyed making my sterling charms for you all. here's my Sweetest Letter necklace with a couple additional charms. i love how this turned out.



there's something about wearing my necklace that makes me feel comforted. like my family is with me, all the time. love grows within you... if you'd like to see more photos, go HERE.

i hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. we just finished watching Big with Tom Hanks. my kids had never seen it, and what a darling movie it was. i teared up at the end. speaking of movies... a few weeks back the kids watched The Indian in the Cupboard and there's a scene when they're in New York City and in the background you can see the Twin Towers. it made me just stop and rewind it several times, wishing that they were still standing tall in the skyline.

Chicken enchiladas with green chili sour cream sauce

 i love pinterest. do you pin? i've found some wonderful ideas and fabulous recipes. you'll have to sign up! you have to be invited, so email me and i'll send you an invitation. if you want to follow me, click the red pinterest button on the right of my blog.

in the meantime, i wanted to share a recipe i found from a fellow pinner that i follow. we made these enchiladas tonight and i cannot tell you how amazing they were. the kids ALL loved them, and for my kids to ALL love something--it has to be good. they didn't have anything left on their plates, so you can bet we'll be making these on a regular basis.

the recipe is easy to follow. a word of advice, definitely roll them tightly so you can get ten in the 9x13. we didn't roll ours tightly enough and had to re-roll to stuff all ten in the dish. these are excellent!

 

Chicken enchiladas with green chili sour cream sauce

*These are seriously so so good*

10 soft taco shells

2 cups cooked, shredded chicken

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

3 Tbsp. butter

3 Tbsp. flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup sour cream

1 (4 oz) can diced green chillies

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 pan

2. Mix chicken and 1 cup cheese.  Roll up in tortillas and place in pan.

3. In a sauce pan, melt butter, stir in flour and cook 1 minute.  Add broth and whisk until smooth.  Heat over medium heat until thick and bubbly.  

4. Stir in sour cream and chilies.  Do not bring to boil, you don't want curdled sour cream.

5. Pour over enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.

6. Bake 22 min and then under high broil for 3 min to brown the cheese.

if you try them, let me know what you think. i can't wait to have them again. :)

our favorite banana bread!

 

Bisquick Banana Bread

1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 large mashed bananas
1/2 tsp vanilla (i use real vanilla)
3 eggs
2 and 1/3 cups PLUS 2 heaping tbls of bisquick
1 and 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
2 tbls fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup nuts (i use pecans), chopped

heat oven to 350 degrees.

grease bottom of a loaf pan. beat all ingredients with spoon until thoroughly mixed. pour into pan.

bake until knife comes out clean, roughly 55 minutes, depending on your oven. remove and brush with melted butter (will make the top moist). cool 5 minutes.

tip: i cut pieces of parchment paper and line the bottom and sides of my loaf pans. it makes it very moist and comes out easily, not getting stuck inside. :)

my kids LOVE LOVE this bread, and it's the very best i've ever tasted. promise. :)

hello new things!

i'm so excited to introduce my new things. it's been a long time in the making and more difficult than i originally anticipated, but aren't all good things, really? when i had the desire to work in PMC {precious metal clay} i thought it would be super easy. here, almost eight months later, i'm feeling a little more secure in my work, having spent countless hours on drawings, revisions and yet more revisions...making microscopic changes that anyone might think as unnecessary... but each small change mattered. i am thrilled with the outcome and hope you will be too.

each charm is drawn and a relief is made, digitizing it in Adobe Photoshop. it's tedious but rewarding work. the digitized image is sent off and a prototype is sent back to me, and this is where i have to revise the image over and over and over again... well, until it's perfect. once i'm satisfied i make a clay impression into PMC (99% fine silver). various steps happen after i make the stamp, but it's finally fired, tumbled, oxidized, tumbled some more and polished to a high shine. each charm has its own personality which i love the most.

the love tree was something i wanted desperately to turn out the first time, but alas, it took almost six times for it to work out as i'd seen in my head. just a simple tree, sure, but the heart was either too big, too small, too fat or simply didn't look like a heart at all. i am so pleased with the its shape and more importantly the heart. <3

it really began with cupcake joy. i think she turned out as cute as a well, cupcake, especially with her heart on top. and again, it took roughly eight times to perfect. for some reason i was having a tough time with the look of the wrapper. one line would be off just slightly and make the entire thing look like it would grow legs and walk away. not the look i was going after. ha! in the end, it turned out as darling as can be and i absolutely LOVE her. :)

this was my most difficult. the coffee mug. i began drawing this in the summer. cracks me up to think how many times i sat down to sketch it out, only to get frustrated and toss the paper in the trash. i'd walk away and come back a few days later, hoping to have a clear mind. it wasn't until mid-december that it came together. the body of the mug was lengthened and i added more steam. originally, there was just one waft of steam coming from the top but it needed more. it took four times to perfect the width and length of the steam... sending it off to the stamp company and each returning incorrect... ::sigh:: i knew coffee would give a headache but this was ridiculous.

the final result is darling. this charm was made for my BF because she brings me coffee most days of the week. i love my java mornings with her.

this is how i wear my charms, in a cluster and i cannot tell you how many times i'm stopped and asked, "where did you get those?" and now i'm happy to say, "I Do!"

most necklaces run $69 which includes one charm, one pearl drop and sturdy sterling ball chain. you can also purchase charms separately, they're each $34. more charms are in the works... so be sure to get on my mailing list to be notified of new styles.

if you'd like to see my entire spring collection, click here.

picture project {month 1}

i complain all the time to friends or anyone who'll listen, that i love taking photos {i have a great camera that i've had a couple years and it needs to be used more} and yet i rarely pull it out. so enough is enough. i want to capture moments with my family {all together}. this is such a cool idea.

while catching up with favorite blogs, i've decided to do a monthly-family-portrait. i am SO excited! here's on of the blogs i read regularly and where i have stolen this idea.

Fourteen Thousand Days {blog}

i've chosen a photo from november to use as my first... i realize it wasn't taken by me but i love love love this photo. for two years i begged Moon to find me weeds so we could take our picture in it... so this is the first.

happy saturday everyone. i have been making some new things, oh and i'll have tiny charms up later today. :) finally!

sweetest letter. {necklace}

several years ago (like eight), a friend introduced me to PMC (aka: art clay silver, aka: precious metal clay) and i bought a small 25 dollar packet of it. sadly, i didn't know what to do with it and eventually it dried out. little did i know that i could revive it but i ended up throwing it away. 

every now and then i'd think of the PMC and wanted to jump right into really working with precious metal clay. last october i got the chance, buying a new kiln and all the supplies to start moving in a new direction with my jewelry. i can't tell you how excited i was to really get clay on my hands. :)

i suppose one could say i'm late to the game, but with four kids i am late to a lot of things, and last year was a rough year for me and my family. we are all looking forward to twenty-twelve!

so here's the first in several new designs...

 

i'm excited to introduce the sweetest letter {necklace}. it's a thick piece of solid sterling with your initial in the center. if you'd like to find out more on how i create these, check out the listing on my website... link below.

go here

 excuse the photo quality. my purse was stolen a few weeks ago and with the christmas rush i didn't have time to get a new one before this was taken. i absolutely love it! hope you do too! it's on sale right now until supplies run out. :)

hello 2012! {so glad you're here!}

hello! it's been a while since i've written so i thought i'd post my christmas family newsletter that i sent to our family and friends.

dear family & friends,

what a long year it has been. normally i say it was so fast, that i didn't see it slip by, but not this year. although...since last year is over, maybe it did slide by pretty quickly. eh? :)

most of the year was a blur until summer when a few things happened at once. in june, jeff suffered a series of heart attacks, was hospitalized and had a stint put in a blocked artery. what a stressful time. with a lot of prayers, he's doing great now.

in july the four kids enrolled in theater camp at the theater house and had the best time performing in Once On This Island, Jr. Later in the month, my niece gave birth to a darling little boy. she and her husband are having the time of their lives with their new, happy bundle. he is so caaauuute! we all had a lot of fun with him at christmas.

august rolled around and can you believe we have two in middle school and two in elementary? however, this fall all that will change but the biggest change will be nathaniel's heading to high school. lord help me! :) crazy. they grow up too fast.

november came and i turned thirty. i mean forty. wait. what? what just happened there? ten years? where did those years go? well. poo. yeah. so i'm forty. :)

our december was eventful. nathaniel landed a role in our town's theater production of Scrooge, the Musical. he was peter cratchet and young ebenezer. we all saw it several times--the entire show was like being in New York. it was fantastic! i wish you all could have been there to see it. all the kids seem to have the acting bug and it's been a joy to see them perform.

my purse was also stolen last month. so sad. so much loss. it's unfortunate that people choose a life of crime that causes so much heartache to others. it just makes you stop and realize how we all need the lord in our hearts.

twenty-twelve came in with a bang, and we couldn't be more thrilled! jeff will walk the line in may from asbury university and begin student-teaching in the fall. currently he's teaching kindergarten and of course those little kids love him. he's always been my hero, but seeing him work so hard for our family makes me so proud. i adore him so.

we hope you are all doing well and keeping safe. may your year bring you happiness and cheer and in the words of Buddy the Elf, "take time to snuggle." hopefully we'll see you soon, but if not please know that we think of your often and love you all so much.

hugs,
jeff & laurie
nathaniel, natalie, nicole & nadine