Soap Nuts Giveaway!

Ok, these are the coolest sounding things ever. I really want to try this.

Soap Nuts!

Isn't that crazy sounding? An inexpensive and natural laundry soap.

Go check out the giveaway Lindsay is doing and read her really interesting article about homemade laundry detergent options.

I have been planning to try making my own for quite a while now but have not gotten to it. This seems even easier and more natural for sure!

Budget Tip - Cook More from Scratch

Alternate Title - Conquering your Cooking Fears

I am just so glad that I finally tried making tortillas today. They were not really round, but they tasted really good and it was so cheap to do. I have been wanting to try for so long, after I realized how expensive tortillas were at the grocery store, relative to other things that I buy. I was really scared that they would not turn out, either not cooking through or sticking to the pan. Neither of those things happened and really it was a pretty quick process.

Here is the tutorial I followed:
Tortillas at Cooking During Stolen Moments

I have also made yummy pita pockets like this:
Pita Pockets at Tammy's Recipes

It is also easy to make things like sandwich bread or hamburger buns, especially if you have a bread machine you got as a wedding present hiding in your closet.

I also conquered another cooking fear this week - Cinnamon Rolls:
Cinnamon Rolls at Pioneer Woman

I halved the batch and decreased some of the butter and sugar in the filling, plus I made my own frosting. They were so good in spite of the fact that my rolling was a bit uneven.

Budget Tip - Pay Attention to How much you use!

I confess - I tried to make my own dish detergent. And then I kept trying it, thinking it would miraculously start working better. And you know what, it didn't! The glasses never did rinse clean. And yes fellow frugalites, I did try vinegar as a rinse aid. It just did not work for me.

So instead I am back using regular detergent, but way less per wash than ever before. I started pouring it into a plastic tub and scooping it out with a measuring spoon instead of pouring random amounts into the washer each time it ran. Then, this week I had an epiphany, and switched to a measuring spoon half the size as the one I was using and.... it still works great!

So there is my frugal tip!