Homemade Coffee Creamer

Hello Monday

Today we are venturing into the kitchen again with some more DIY.  That's right, y'all, we are gonna make some Coffee Creamer!  I stumbled into this adventure by accident.  The other night I made some donut holes and had three different "flavors."  Powdered sugar, of course, chocolate and cinnamon sugar.  With the leftover mix I decided to try it in my coffee as a sweetener and it was pretty good.  It got me to thinking how much I like to flavor my coffee and creamer is ridiculously expensive, IMO.  I mean, who doesn't want to save money???  I also like to see what I can make with the ingredients I have available in the house. This is super simple and a wonderful way to use up the powdered milk I have left from bread making.  There's always so stinkin' much...

Gather Ingredients:

Dry Milk

White Sugar

Brown Sugar 

Powdered Sugar

Cinnamon

Cocoa

I then put everything in the blender (recipes follow), blend and voila, creamer.  It would be just as easy to put it in the container and shake, shake, shake...

Cinnamon Sugar:

1 Cup Dry Milk

1/4 Cup White Sugar

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar

1/4 :Powdered Sugar

1 TBLS Cinnamon

Mocha:

1 Cup Dry Milk

1/4 Cup Cocoa

1/2 Cup White Sugar

Now, these are the measurements I used and these are the first batches.  I will make these again but some changes will be made.  On the cinnamon sugar, I would use more brown sugar (for a caramel flavor) and less cinnamon.  For the mocha I think more cocoa would be better.  I have discovered the addition of extracts give me so many more variations.  I'm a huge amaretto fan so, of course, almond extract would be fantabulous.  The possibilities are endless.  I would most certainly make a bigger batch but I just wanted to fill these little jars for now.  Yes, I am going through a glassware/storage phase and I LOVE it!

So, I hope this gives you a start.  I would love to hear what other flavors/recipes you may have.  Please, feel free to share in the comments section.  I feel like I talk to myself most of the time, which I do in reality, but it would be great to get some feedback.  

Here's to a Great Week!

~Ash

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Good Afternoon Everyone.  Today I'm giving out the tweaked recipe I've come up with for powdered laundry detergent.  I started with a simple recipe I found online.  Honestly, I can't pinpoint which blog or website to link or recognize, there are so many with the same things posted.  Anyhoo, it originated with Borax, Washing Soda and Fels Naptha and, has since, expanded a bit through my imagination.  It's super easy and lasts for quite awhile.  Here goes:

1 Cup Borax

1 Cup Washing Soda

2 Cups Grated Fels Naptha

(you could use other laundry bar soaps for this)

1/2 Cup OxiClean

1/2 Cup Kosher Salt

Mix all ingredients together, place in a storage container of your choice and use approximately 2 TBLS per load. I've noticed the OxiClean scoop is just the right size. I have an HE front loader and I have no problems using this, it won't suds up like a regular detergent.  The basic recipe worked fine but since we have super hard water I decided to add the OxiClean and Kosher Salt to help with the whites and light colors, they were getting a little on the dingy side.  A great source of information I've found is here.  There are truly so many more out there!

As for using a fabric softener, I have tried several different things.  I'm not sold on any one in particular so if anyone has a suggestion I would LOVE to hear it!  I do use vinegar for now but I can't seem to combat the static cling...  The website I linked to above has softener suggestions as well.

Anyone else make their own or do their own thing?  Drop me a line and let me know your favored laundry "go to's."  It's kinda odd just how excited I get to try these new DIY recipes around the house...  And I mean EXCITED!  I can't wait to find and share new ideas from the farm...

P.S.  Fels Naptha is awesome as a kitchen DIY liquid soap.  Absolutely NO smells on my hands after cooking, and I use a ton of onions and garlic around here! 

TTFN,

~Ash