Homemaking: DIY Dish Soap

Homemade cleaners are something I've been looking into more and more - especially since my daughter started crawling a few months back and is now very interested in using our spray mop! Even when my 10 year old uses the chemical detergents and cleaners I get nervous!

I found this liquid dish soap recipe today over at kitchen-apparel.com and thought I'd share it - it's simple ingredients and doesn't look like it would cost any more than store-bought varieties!

Happy Homemaking!

Debbie Jean

Easy,Cheap Homemade Rose Pasta Sauce!

One of my favorite dishes ever is a nice dish of tortellini with Rose Sauce! I first tried the wonderful, creamy stuff when my husband and I were first dating and since then cannot go a month without it at least once!
So while we've been trying to save money on groceries lately, I haven't really been able to buy any - it isn't exactly cheap unless you buy the no-name variety, which just does not taste as good!
So I decided to go ahead and try it myself one night when I was getting to the end of our grocery supply the day before our shopping day :)
And it came out really great! I was surprised, especially since I didn't have any real cheese, just cheese slices! (But you can use real cheese too!)

So here it is....

Homemade Rose Pasta Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 can diced or crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup cheese or 3 cheese slices
• 3 tbsp + 1 tsp margarine or butter
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 onion, minced or grated
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp basil

How-to

1. In a fry-pan on medium heat, melt 1 tsp margarine or butter. Cook garlic and onion until soft. 
2. Add diced or crushed tomatoes and cook until tender about 10 min. 
3. Blend up in blender, making sure everything is completely smooth. Set aside.
4. In a separate pan on low-medium heat, melt remaining margarine or butter. Add in flour.
5. Quickly stir flour with butter while pouring in milk very slowly, making sure to completely dissolve the flour mixture. Add more milk if desired for a smoother consistency. (If it seems lumpy, just keep stirring - it will turn out! :)
6. Add cheese, continue cooking until cheese is melted, then pour in blended tomato mixture.
7. Add Basil and salt, and some pepper to taste and cook on low heat for about 5 more minutes for flavor to seep in.

That's it! Wayyyy cheaper and honestly yummier than store-bought!

I had dishes that were licked clean that night :) Can't wait to make it again!

Hope you enjoy it!

 - Debbie Jean