I found these recipes on the blog of one of my friends. I am interested in trying some of them. If nothing else, baking soda should be a MUST in your food storage. It's multi purpose-- cooking and cleaning!
Dishwasher Detergent1/2 borax and 1/2 baking soda. Put in sealed container. Use 2 Tablespoons per load or more if you have hard water. Rinse Aid1/2 water and 1/2 white vinegar. The vinegar smell goes away as soon as the dishes are dry.
My Favorite
Laundry DetergentThis stuff smells so good. You may need to use Clorox 2 on tough stains but this will get your clothes clean. Finely grate 1 bar of Fels Naptha laundry soap (in the laundry aisle). You could use Ivory soap or a vegetable based glycerin soap if you have a Natural Foods store close by. Add 1/2 cup Arm and Hammer washing soda (NOT baking soda) and 1/2 cup borax powder. Shake it up in a closed container. If you'd like a different scent add some drops of your favorite essential oil. I find I like orange and lemon the best. Tea tree oil has an anti-bacterial effect! Anyway, use just 2 Tablespoons per full load. This costs 2 cents per load instead of 15+ for regular detergent. I just saved myself over $100 this past year!
*Instead of Downy you can add 1/2 white vinegar and 1/2 water to your downy ball for the same anti-static effect. This will slowly strip off the waxy build-up from those dryer sheets.
Toilet Bowl CleanerMy least favorite thing in the world... So add a splash of white vinegar to the bowl. Then sprinkle some baking soda on your toilet brush and scrub around. (I like to save my Parmesan grated cheese containers and reuse them by putting baking soda in it.) If it's bad feel free to let it sit while you clean the rest of the bathroom then scrub it again.
Tub and Sink CleanerSave that grated parmesan cheese container (clean it out first) then put in baking soda. Sprinkle on whatever surface you want clean then scrub with a wet scrub brush or rag then rinse clean with water. If you want something like that Soft Scrub brand all you need to do is sprinkle salt on the wet surface. Cool, huh?
Window Cleaner1/2 vinegar and 1/2 water works best but I've also tried club soda and that works too. Windex is mostly water and ammonia. That stuff just gives me a headache and if you accidentally mix it with anything that has bleach in it you get toxic fumes. TOXIC people!
All-Purpose CleanerMix 2 Tablespoons white vinegar and 1 teaspoon borax in a small bowl. Add 1 cup hot water and stir till dissolved. Let cool then put in 16 oz. spray bottle. Add 1/8 cup Palmolive or Ivory liquid soap then fill to the top with water. If you want an anti-bacterial spray add 15 drops tea tree essential oil.
Disinfectant CleanerFill a 16 oz. (2 cups) spray bottle almost all the way with purified water. Add a few drops of Palmolive soap and 30 drops of tea tree essential oil. Did you know that Lysol spray is legally considered an insecticide? Yike! Who wants to breathe that?
Furniture Polish1/4 cup olive oil, 4 Tablspoons white vinegar and 25 drops of lemon essential oil and no ozone-killing aerosol can! Hooray!
Other Ideas to Try
We have a carpet cleaner that comes in handy for flu season or potty training season and I've found that instead of buying the carpet cleaning solution all I have to do is put in a few Tablespoons of Clorox 2 with 1 cup hot water and I've made my own!One more thing: We use the foaming soap dispensers for our bathrooms. If you buy the concentrated liquid soap and use 1-2 Tablespoons and fill the rest with water, and shake really well, you've made your own for a lot less money.
Sofi has learned what GUM is! AUGHGHHH! Every time she sees gum, she insists on having some. So at first, I gave a miniscule piece and she was content...meaning she would swallow it the second she put it in her mouth. Now she has learned that you are not supposed to eat it. So, she just holds it in her hand (see her hand in the photo) and sucks on it every now and then. Needless to say, I find pieces of her gum everywhere:(
Someone at David's work gave him some old toys that they had. A barbie car, an Easy bake oven, a huge tea party set and some friendship bracelet materials. The girls were thrilled with them all. So its been like Christmas at our house. Both Sofi and Nuni constantly fight over the car...I never did like barbies, ha ha ha. But they really love it. 
This morning we tried baking chocolate chip cookies in the easy bake oven. This is the outcome... pretty yummy considering they were cooked by a light bulb. :) Analeah loves it. The best part for Mommy---Analeah and Sofi fight over who gets to stand on the chair... and if both of them are standing on the chair, who has more room... Is this just a stage, or should I prepare myself for a lifetime of sisterly love:)
Here you can see their REAL sisterly love. They are wearing the absolutely adorable aprons my friend Camille made for Christmas. Gotta love a girl in an apron--or two:)
