Homemade Citrus Cleaner

Here is a little recipe that I use to clean the bathroom. I love the smell of oranges!

I take orange peels and put them in a quart sized canning jar. Add white vinegar to the jar and let the peels sit in the vinegar for 2-3 weeks. I will swish the peels and vinegar every couple of days, but you don't need to.

Then drain the vinegar from the peels. Save the vinegar, but toss the peels. The vinegar is a beautiful light orange color and smells just like oranges. So yummy!

Add to a squirt bottle and then add 20-30 drops of sweet orange oil. Then clean away. I use it all over the toilet, inside and out (I swear my boys miss on purpose) and all over the counter and sinks. Works great and smells great. No vinegar smell at all. Something I can't stand.

Frugal Fabric Softener

I have been looking to get rid of all the toxic chemical cleaners in my house for a long time. I have asthma and it would always kick in whenever I used anything like Windex or other harsh chemicals to clean with.

Another thing I wanted to get rid of is fabric softener. I have always hated the slimy feeling it left on my clothes. The smell was nice, but was over powering at times. Dryer sheets were the same.

I started out by just using half a dryer sheet at a time in the dryer. It worked well and left less of a slimy film on my clothes. But it was still not want I wanted to use.

 I spent some time on Pinterest checking out what others have done. Most just use fabric softener liquid but in less amounts on a face cloth or a sponge and keep using them over and over. Not what I want. Another I saw used hair conditioner and water. I knew how conditioner felt on my hair and did not want that on my clothes. Finally I saw where some people used vinegar. I have that in my house and use it for my cleaning recipes. Only drawback was that I could smell the vinegar on my clothes even after washing and drying. I hate the smell of vinegar and honestly, who wants to smell like it.

I saw some people add essential oils into the vinegar and decided to try that. I have quite a few oils and picked lavender to try it out.

I filled a quart jar with vinegar and added about 15 drops of the lavender oil to it. Put on the jar cap and swish it to gently mix the vinegar and essential oil a bit. That's it. No chemical smell, No asthma attacks, not to mention it is eco friendly.

To use it, I just add it to the fill line in the fabric softener spot on my washer. I do swish the vinegar around a bit to make sure the oils are mixed in and not just sitting on the top of the vinegar. My house smells really nice while the washer is going.

I do smell the lavender on my clothes when they are wet but once they are dried, I don't smell it, but I also don't smell the vinegar. I have also noticed that the vinegar makes my clothes soft and it has stripped off that yucky film left over from the dryer sheets and commercial liquid fabric softener.

There are times when the vinegar/oil fabric softener does not get rid of the static cling though. It gets very dry here in the winter so I need a little something extra. I bought (or you can make) some wool balls. I love the Woolzie brand. So does my cat Abby, she keeps taking them if I don't leave them closed in the dryer.

These do a great job getting rid of the static cling and they fluff up the clothes. Not to mention that they help dry the clothes faster. I use three balls at a time. I bought a six ball pack, not knowing how many balls to use at once or how long they last. They last a long long long time.

Now to get the hubby to get me a nice umbrella clothes dryer for outside so I can save the electricity from the dryer in the warmer months. Not to mention the heat that it gives off to make the house hotter in the summer. I miss having an outside dryer.

Few little garden projects

The garden is going great. Everything is up and growing. I hate how we had to plant a little later this year due to the cold.

A couple of weeks ago we did a couple of little projects for the garden. We needed a new pole bean trellis. The one we made last year broke and it wasn't tall enough. So the boys made me a new one.

We have a nice tree line in the back of the yard. There are a few little trees there that are in the way and need to come out. So, those are some of the trees we used to make a new trellis.

Matt and the hubby cut the trees down. That fallen tree bent and broke a bunch of trees when it fell during a storm years ago. It is also what we use to cross the little stream behind the house. Eventually we will have an actual bridge

Picking up the cut off limbs while hubby is using loppers to cut them off.

The three poles for the trellis. We had a four legged one last year, but three is fine. We had to cut like 3 feet off each of these because it was so tall, I would never be able to get the beans at the top.

The trellis up and with guide strings added to each side. All the beans are now about 3 inches tall and just popping out their first set of true leaves.

The hubby and I also made up some plant labels to help identify where and what the plants are that I planted. I have a ton of used canning lids. I figures they could be used for something else after they have already been used for canning. The can only be used once for canning. This is what we made:

Not my original idea. I got the idea from the blog, Hickory Holler Farm. The sharpy marker has faded a little bit, so I had to rewrite on some of them. I know what each and every plant is, but the hubby doesn't and I get tired of telling all my neighbors when they come over to see.

I even had a neighbor buy me some snap pea seeds, a tomato plant and two bell pepper plants. So now I have 11 pepper plants and 13 tomato plants. I always share with my neighbors anyway, but this one will get extra from his plants.

I love thrift stores

We have a little local thrift store that I like to check out every now and then. Pretty much all our clothes come from thrift stores. I hardly ever buy Matt new things because he is growing so much. Plus it is eco-friendly and frugal to buy used. I have found so many brand new things for next to nothing at thrift stores.

While out to lunch with a neighbor, I stopped in the thrift store to see if I could find some pants for Matt. He is now wearing men's sizes, Heaven help me. I did manage to find him a couple pairs for 2.00 each, but it was the other item that we found that I was most excited about.

I have been after Matt about getting him a new blanket or quilt for his bed. He has had the same blanket since he was out of the crib and refuses to get anything else. The darn thing is paper thin. When I saw this beauty, I asked Matt what he thought of it and he liked it.

Boy colors for sure. Plus is is made from denim so it is nice and strong and has some weight to it. I paid only 5.00 for it too! Loved that the most. Matt said he will use it over his paper thin blanket because he will not get rid of that one. LOL

What does "Homesteading" mean to you?

This is a post that I have been wanting to do for sometime now. I have had some people tell me that I can not possibly homestead where I am. I beg to differ. So, what does homesteading mean to you?

The definition of a homestead is:

1. a house, especially a farmhouse, with adjoining buildings and land.
2. Law Property designated by a household as the householder's home and protected by law from forced sale to meet debts
3. Land claimed by a settler or squatter, especially under the Homestead Act
4. The place where one's home is 

I have a home and I do have a little land and one outbuilding (a storage shed). So, according to the first one, I have a homestead.

I live in a mobile home (a home is a home regardless of what it looks like and we own it outright, so no mortgage). I do live in a small mobile home park, but because it is small, each home here has a decent sized yard. Our park is just two streets. The side that I live on has nothing but a stream and a tree line behind it. Our park owner said that our lot is the biggest one in the park. He also doesn't care what we do as long as it is kept neat. 

This is the stream behind our house. This was taken in late spring before the stream was overrun with wildflowers and weeds. You can see a tree that fell in the upper left hand corner. That is the "bridge" that Matt uses to get to his fort.

This was part of the garden last year. You can see the tree line behind it at the edge of our yard. Matt has cleared out a little area in the "forest" to make a fort.

We are not allowed to have outdoor animals, so that limits us. We can not have the chickens or goats that I want. So no eggs and milk to make cheese. The hubby wants to get bee's but I am not to keen on that idea. I would love the honey, but not the risk of getting stung. A neighbor not that far from us (not in the park) has a few hives, so we saw lots of his bee's in our yard last year, just not as much as the year before.

Most of the blogs that I read here have what some people consider true homesteads. They have acres of land, animals, large garden, etc. This is why I think most people consider what I am doing is not homesteading, hence the name of my blog. 

So how do I define homesteading? To me, it is a way of life. I grow my own veggies and preserve them in a few ways (canning, dehydrating, freezing). I am frugal in the way I shop (I coupon, price match, use thrift stores, meal plan). I am also eco friendly (I use cloth bags when I shop, use a clothes line in the summer, use cloth pads for my period, rags and towels instead of paper towels, we recycle and compost). I also cook from scratch. Not many prepackaged things are found in my house. I think the only things that I have are some boxes of cake that I got cheap.

To me, this is homesteading in the 21st century. A life style of self sufficiency. Granted I will not be totally self sufficient, but I do what I can to lower our footprints. 

Frugal Micro cloth Dish Cloths

Like most people, I have always used sponges to wash the dishes. I don't have a dish washer, unless you count me and sometimes one of the boys. I just hate how they start to smell and you have to throw them away. I have herd you can microwave them to "clean" them, but I never tried it.

While I was at the dollar store, I saw a couple of micro cloths with some cute patterns on them. When I first got them, I had no idea what I was going to do with them. I just thought they were pretty and at a dollar each, why not. They aren't cheapy clothes either. They have some thickness to them.

I just cut them into thirds and then each third in half. It made six 7x7 squares. Perfect size for washing dishes in my opinion. Now I just use one every time I do the dishes and then throw them into the wash to clean. I have plenty to last me a few days so I don't have to do a load of laundry every day.

Each smaller cloth comes out to about 16¢ a piece. Not bad. Way cheaper than a sponge plus they don't get thrown away, unless they are totally gross that is.

I've been using them for a few weeks now and love them. I still have some sponges, but haven't had to use them at all. Now to just make some scrubby's so I can stop using the Brillo pads.

Preserving My Parsley

My parsley plant has been growing like crazy and I have been able to get a couple of harvests from it so far. I wanted to be able to save the parsley without drying it. I love the smell and taste of fresh parsley. I figured that I could freeze it and what better way to do it than in ice cubes.

I washed and then trimmed the stems. I only got a small bunch this time. The other day I got a bunch more.

Then I put the parsley in the ice cube try. Trying not to fill up each compartment with parsley because when you add the water, the parsley will float a little.

After adding the water, just stick it into your freezer.

All frozen. Still nice and pretty and you can still smell the fresh parsley smell.

Isn't it pretty? makes a nice looking ice cube.

I just put all my cubes in a ziplock freezer bag and labeled and dated it and popped it back in the freezer. When I want to use it in my recipes, I can just pop it right on in the dish and let it melt. Not sure how it will be if you want to use it "fresh" and not cooked. Might be a little bit mushy, but still very flavorful.

Homemade Oxy Clean

Here is a "recipe" that I use to clean my whites. I try not to use bleach and have found that this makes my clothes cleaner and soft as well.

For a small to medium sized load use:

1/2 cup Washing Soda (not baking soda)
1/2 cup Hydrogen Peroxide


For a large load or a very soiled load use:

1 cup Washing Soda
1 cup Hydrogen Peroxide


I use hot water and put in my regular detergent. Add my clothes, then add the washing soda. Once the washer starts to agitate, I add the hydrogen peroxide and let it agitate a moment more. Then I turn The washer off and let it sit for a few hours. I tend to do my whites at night and let it soak over night then finish it up first thing in the morning.

This works great at getting the dirt and gunk that seems to cling to my son and hubby's socks. I also add my cleaning rags and my homemade cloth pads and this solution gets both very clean.

One word of advice though, Do not mix the washing soda and peroxide up together ahead of time. The peroxide looses its potency and changes over time. it is why it is stored in a light proof bottle.

Homemade Vegetable Stock

There are some recipes that I make that I do not want to use any chicken stock in it. Basically anything that will be vegetarian.

Because I am into spending less and wasting little, I make my own stocks. During the warm months, I compost all my peelings and normal veggie parts one would toss into the trash. However, in the cold months, when I can not compost, I use those peelings to make my veggie broth.

Every time you peel, cut, etc, save those trimmings into a gallon sized bag. Make sure the veggies are cleaned and the trimmings are relatively dry. I pat them down with paper towels. You can also use a salad spinner if you have one. Store the trimmings in the fridge.

Some good trimmings to use:

Stems from herbs

Leafy celery tops

Potato peelings

Carrot peelings

Bell Pepper scraps (no seeds)

Any parts of an Onion

Tomato cores

Some bad trimmings to not use:

Broccoli

Cabbage

Cauliflower

Brussel Sprouts

Basically anything that is bitter, do not use.

After about 4 days, it is time to make your broth. Try to have about 3/4 of the bag full of trimmings. If not quite there yet, just add some limp celery or other veggies you have on hand that have seen better days.

I make mine in my crock pot and have it cooking on low over night for about 8-12 hours. Make sure to cover the veggies in water. In this batch I happen to have a bunch of potato peels and my gallon bag was full. I had to keep pushing my veggies down (they tend to float) to make sure I had plenty of water in the crock pot.

After the stock has cooked, strain  & toss out the veggies. I strain the broth again through some cheese cloth to catch anything small that might have snuck through.

From here, I can the broth for a later use. Process pints for 30 minutes and quarts for 35 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure. Do not use the boiling water bath method, only the pressure canner is safe to can broth of any kind.

Green Cleaning Recipes

Clean & Green

Excellent nontoxic alternatives exist for those harsh chemical cleaners and many of them are already sitting on your kitchen shelf. 

Baking soda works well for cleaning glassware, especially coffee pots, and removes red wine stains from carpeting. 

A baking soda and water paste removes tea stains from ceramics and polishes silver and stainless steel.

Use coarse salt to scour copper pots and other cookware. It will also help clean up fresh spills in the oven.

Lemon juice removes grease from stove tops and other kitchen surfaces.

Olive oil (3 to 1 with vinegar or 2 to 1 with lemon juice) makes a great wood furniture polish.

Here are some specific recipes for a clean — and healthy — home:

Air Freshener
4 oz. distilled water, 2 oz. rubbing alcohol, 30 drops of essential oil of choice (can blend fragrances. For example, 15 drops of orange and 15 drops of clove can be combined for a winter holiday air freshener)
Combine in a carefully labeled spray bottle and enjoy!

Carpet Freshener
In a container with a tight-fitting lid, combine 1 cup crushed dried herbs (such as lavender or rosemary) with 1 teaspoon ground cloves, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 2 teaspoons baking soda. Shake well to blend. Sprinkle the mixture on carpet and let sit for one hour. Vacuum.

Copper Cleaner
With a rag or sponge, coat dirty copper with an even layer of ketchup. Allow ketchup to penetrate the tarnished metal for approximately 20 minutes. Rinse with warm or hot water and buff to a shine.

Disinfectant — Heavy-Duty
Combine 1/4 cup powdered laundry detergent, 1-tablespoon borax, 3/4 cup hot water and 1/4 pine oil. Slowly stir the detergent and borax into the water to dissolve. Add the pine oil (available at hardware stores and supermarkets) and mix well. For bathrooms, use the mixture full strength. For kitchens, dilute with water.

Drain Clearing Agent
Sprinkle a generous amount of baking soda in and around the drain opening. Follow with 1 cup of white vinegar. Repeat if necessary and flush with hot water.

Glass Cleaner
Combine 1/4 cup vinegar and one quart of water. Plain club soda also works!

Grease Stain Remover
Cover stain with a mixture of borax and water. Rub in and wipe off. Rinse well after applying stain remover.

Kitchen Disposal Freshener
Just drop in a few lemon wedges and flip the switch.

Laundry Bleach
The only ingredients are 1/4 cup of lemon juice and some sunshine! Use the lemon juice in the washing machine's rinse cycle. After clothes have spun, hang in the sun to dry.

Multipurpose cleaner:
Combine 1-teaspoon borax, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 2 teaspoons vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon dishwashing liquid, 1 teaspoon lemon juice and 2 cups hot water.

Mold Remover
Saturate a sponge with full-strength vinegar and scrub the moldy area. Rinse well.

Oven Cleaner
Make a paste of equal parts salt, baking soda and water. First, wipe away any grease and scratch off burnt spots with a scouring brush or steel wool. Finally, apply the paste, let stand five minutes and wipe clean with a damp rug. Scrub if necessary. Do not allow baking soda to touch heating elements or wiring.

Rust remover:
Sprinkle salt on the rust and then squeeze a lime over the salt until it is soaked in juice. Let the mixture sit for up to three hours. The leftover lime rind can be used as a handy scrubber to remove the rust. Another option is to rub the rust with balled-up aluminum foil after wetting it with water. Use caution as aluminum foil will scratch chrome.

Silver Cleaner
Rub the silver with toothpaste; wipe off tarnish and then rinse. Dry with a soft cloth.

Tile floor cleaners:
Mop floor with solution of 1 to 2 teaspoons of liquid dish soap dissolved in 3 gallons of warm water. Rinse with 1 cup of white vinegar in 3 gallons of cool water.

Toilet bowl cleaner:
Combine 1-cup borax with 1/4 cup vinegar or lemon juice to make a paste. Apply it to the inside of the toilet bowl and let it sit for one to two hours before scrubbing.

Wall and wallpaper cleaner:
Dissolve 1/4 cup borax in 1-gallon hot water. Stir to blend. Use a sponge or rag.

Window Cleaner
Mix 1 part vinegar to 4 parts water. Add 5 drops lemon oil or, if you like suds, 5 drops favorite all-natural dishwashing liquid.

Use to wash windows, other glass or mirrors. This mixture can also be kept in a covered container with a rag submerged in the liquid. For damp dusting, simply wring the rag out and wipe surfaces clean.

Wood floor polish:
Mix 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/2 cup vegetable oil. Rub on floor and buff with a clean, dry cloth.

These cane be found here at the Whole Foods Market Website.