thursday thrift: laundry soap

i'm sorry to disappoint anyone stopping by who was looking to view some delicious food photos. the following post contains photos of laundry soap. not delicious in the least. and while i tried my best to make the laundry soap appear elegant, it is for cleaning your clothes, not filling your stomach. however, i have gotten complaints from people saying my blog makes them hungry, so i guess this post is for you people. you cannot possibly walk away from these photos and be hungry as a result. (right?)

thursday thrift is not just about eating well for cheaper. it's also about the home, and living well for cheaper. my sister and i recently decided that laundry soap (the stuff that's not harmful for the environment & full of chemicals) is a bit expensive. so she found a recipe for homemade laundry detergent. it's very, very simple, and you can pick up the ingredients at your grocery store. (i think)

what you need:

• 1 bar of soap (we used unscented baby-mild hemp pure-castile soap by dr. bronner's. feel free to use scented soap, but stick to a simple soap with no parabens or unnatural colorings or scents)
• 1 cup of washing soda (sodium carbonate - DIFFERENT from sodium bi-carbonate, which is baking soda)
• 1 cup of borax

grate your soap as small as you can. this part takes the longest, and the smaller you grate, the longer it will take as well. mix everything together, and put in a container you don't mind smelling soapy, & store in your laundry room.

the finished product - aptly put in a re-used container (ugly as it is). when using, since it is a powder, remember to put your detergent in first (1 or 2 tablespoons per load) & swish the water around before adding your clothes.

the thriftiness of roasted chicken

maybe not (definitely not) the best photo ever, but it represents good eating, good friends, and thriftiness. the best part about roasting your own chicken? the countless meals it will make. after we ate ourselves full, i salvaged what meat i could and tucked it away in a container in the fridge. i then tossed the chicken bones into a large pot with some onion, celery, carrots, salt, pepper, bay leaves, whatever herbs i chose to put in, some water, and i boiled it for an hour or so. i froze a couple of cups for future use, and used the rest as soup for meals this week (about 5 servings). the chicken meat was used in a few sandwiches all week as well (about 5 servings). moral of the story: if you aren't vegetarian, and you want to save money but still be getting some meat protein, roast your own chicken.

anyone else have any thrifty, wholesome meal ideas for when your appetite is larger than your wallet? (and please no one say instant noodles. please. or campbells soup. i'm using the word 'wholesome' for a reason.)