Homemade Laundry Detergent

Okay one more recipe for today! Another one I just made recently. So far it seems to be working out great! And its super cheap to make! Somewhere around 3 dollars and I think I should be able to do 32 loads? I haven’t figured it out quite yet.

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

Lately I have really been trying to turn our house as green and chemical free as I can. So I have been making a lot of products I would normally buy at the store myself. Then at least I know what is going into our products and whether or not it is safe. 

Washing Hair or Not? Part 2

I have been wanting to update everyone on how my non-shampoo and conditioner routine has been going. In my last post I was using baking soda and apple cider vinegar. I did this for about 2 weeks, but my hair started feeling really strange and looking pretty greasy. So I started doing some research and found that other people who have naturally oil hair were also having problems with using the vinegar for a rinse. So I decided to switch up what I was doing.

Cream Cheese, Bacon, Green Onion Stuffed Chicken

Last nights dinner was so yummy! And easy to make! Hope you enjoy!

You will need:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2-3 pieces of cooked bacon

4-5 green onions

1/4-1/2 of 8oz brick of cream cheese

1/4-1/2 tsp. lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450. Grease an 8×8 inch glass baking dish and set aside. Next trim and pound out chicken breasts. Pound until about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. In a bowl add your cream cheese and soften in the microwave (about 20-30 seconds). Now chop your green onion and add to the cream cheese, shred your bacon and add as well. Pour in lemon juice, add salt and pepper, stir until well combined. Spread mixture over half of each chicken breast. Fold the plain side of the chicken over onto the cream cheese and hold in place with toothpicks. Place both chicken breasts in your baking dish. I sprinkled a little Mrs. Dash over the top of my chicken you can use whatever seasonings you like. Place in oven and cook for 20-30 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink. Serves 2.

Orange Chicken Recipe

This is one of my favorite dinners! We make it pretty often cause it is so versatile. Plus I almost always have everything I need on hand for this dinner! Every time I make it comes out slightly different. But it is oh so delicious! 

Homemade Larabars

These are so yummy and so easy to make! We have been buying store bought Larabars, but they can get expensive so I wanted to see if making them at home would be any cheaper. Depending on how much everything you use to make them is, it does seem it can be cheaper or about the same price at worst. The nice thing about making them is you can get creative on the flavor combinations! I love these because they are something you can grab on the way out the door, or throw in your purse or diaper bag for a snack later. Lyla won’t eat the store bought Larabars but this morning she ate my homemade chocolate almond ones! I was so excited! So try out these recipes or make up your own!

Joyful Abode Giveaway – Gift Card to Tea Collection!

Joyful Abode is doing a giveaway! A 100 dollar gift card to Tea Collection! Ever heard of it? I hadn’t but they have such cute stuff! Clothing for kids and women! I could go crazy buying Lyla dresses from there! Check out their website http://www.teacollection.com/  And if you want to enter the contest go to http://www.joyfulabode.com/2011/04/23/tea-collectionreview-giveaway/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+JoyfulAbode+%28Joyful+Abode%29

This is Joyful Abode’s daughter in my favorite dress from Tea Collection! She is so cute!

Quick and Easy Lunch

Chicken Avocado

You will need:

1 can canned chicken in water (or canned tuna in water)

1 avocado

onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper

Pickles (optional)

First cut your avocado in half and remove the pit. Scrap the meat into a small bowl and mash. Now add your onion, garlic, salt and pepper, mix well (I add some, taste, then add more until it tastes good). Next open and drain your chicken/tuna and add that to your avocado. Again mix well. Josh likes to add diced pickles to his as well. You decide what you like! This is so easy to make and really yummy!

Chicken No-Noodles Soup

Josh and I were both craving homemade chicken noodle soup last night. But of course we can’t have noodles so I made chicken noodle soup without the noodles. Josh isn’t normally one to finish the leftover broth in his bowl but he ate everything broth included. It was so delicious and really hit the spot!

Homemade Toothpaste

Lately I have been doing a lot of reading on cost affordable body care items I can make at home. I am always trying to avoid chemically enhanced products, especially because Lyla’s skin is so sensitive. Recently I posted on our new discovery of shampoo and conditioner, I will update soon on how that is going. With Lyla I am currently just using water to wash her hair and on days where it seems especially dirt then I might use the baking soda mixture. One of my favorite discoveries is coconut oil which is so healing for both the inside and outside of your body. I have been using it for my facial lotion and it works great! Coconut oil can be expensive but you only have to use less than a teaspoon for the face. And I figure compared to what I spend on facial products ends up actually being less expensive, which is great! Currently Josh and I have been using Tom’s toothpaste one that rates especially low on damaging chemicals on skin deep. However, I have been working on getting Lyla to brush her teeth and she is always wanting to be a big girl and sees mommy and daddy using toothpaste. So, I obviously don’t want to give her “real” toothpaste because she may eat some, so I decided to make homemade out of edible products.