Pit Stop

I've been out figuratively riding around in my automobile--enjoying spring.

With tomatoes being $2 a pound I thought I'd share this salad recipe.

It's good, not boring and no tomatoes necessary.

Coffee Cup Dutch Salad

Begin by making the dressing.

Combine:  2 cups Miracle Whip, 3 tablespoons mustard, one-half cup sugar, 1 teaspoon celery seed and salt and pepper to taste.

Warm in the microwave.

To make the salad:

Pour the finished dressing over chilled lettuce and top with crumbled bacon and sliced hard boiled eggs.

Enjoy!

 I'm headed back out. 

Gasoline is cheap in a figurative automobile.

Not sure when I'll be back.

But I'll keep you posted.

See ya.

Make Your Own Laundry Soap

Edit:  My concentrate got so thick overnight I don't think it will pour out of the jug.  I'll have to cut the top off and add the additional water for ease of use.  So--if you make this be sure and add all the water--which is  water to equal 5 gallons.

 Today I finally got around to using the supplies I'd gathered to make my own laundry soap.  Five gallons worth for the price of a bar of Zote soap, a cup of washing soda and a half cup of Mule Team Borax.

I was inspired to do this after my husband brought home a sample along with the recipe-- given to him by a coworker who has used it for years.  I thought why not--not much money to lose and a lot of money saved if I like it.

There are a lot of recipes on the net.  All similar.  Mine called for half a large bar (the large is 14 ounces) Zote soap, one cup washing soda (not the same as baking soda)  and half a cup of Mule Team Borax

You grate the bar of soap, then melt it in hot water.  Stir in the soda and borax mixing well to combine.  Put this is a 5 gallon bucket and add water to fill.  Use one half cup per load. 

I didn't have a 5 gallon bucket so I added enough water to make 2.5 gallons of concentrate.  I'll use a fourth cup per load.

Here's a video that shows the general process.

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FYI:  I found the washing soda at my grocery store (Ingles) and the Mule Team Borax at Walmart.  I found the Zote bar soap at Kmart. For grating the soap I bought a grater-- to dedicate to soap making-- at the Dollar Tree.  I saved 3 one gallon water/milk jugs to pour it into after mixing in my bucket-- which I already owned (remember I only made 2.5 gallons instead of 5).

Also, once your soap is mixed and stored it's important to shake it before dispensing--it gels and you want to make sure it's well distributed.
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For a step by step photo blog post go to Gardenview Cottage.

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And here's another recipe from The Duggar Family website.

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap- Front or top load machine- best value

4  Cups - hot tap water
1  Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*
½ Cup Borax

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" - in some stores or may be purchased online here (at Meijer.com). Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!

Microfiber and Mighty Mouse Save the Day

My dryer lint filter is in the top of my dryer.  Because it is important to clean the lint filter with each load that is dried, I do.  But tiny pieces of lint--lint dust-- end up all over the top of my dryer.

For years I cleaned up up with a wet paper towel.

Let me tell you, getting wet lint up and off your dryer is no easy feat.  But leaving it dry is worse--the lint scatters everywhere and ends up mostly in the air and on the floor.

Then one day I got a brilliant idea.

I bought a micro-fiber duster at the Dollar Tree.

Voila.  A mini dust mop that captures the lint in one fell swoop.

I keep it hanging beside my dryer.  All it needs for maintenance is a good shake outside--like you'd do a dust mop--once in a while.  And it can be laundered.

No more using those expensive paper towels and no more chasing lint.

And for your viewing pleasure one of my favorite cartoons from the past:

Saving Money

For many years I paid for an anti-virus program.  Every year I doled out my cash.

On the other hand, my brother, whose income surpasses mine substantially, used the freeware.

I determined I would do the same.

On my new machine I use the free security suite my ISP offers.  If I purchased it the outlay would be $160 per their statement.

However, on my old machine--which, if it were a car, would be considered a clunker--I went a different route.  I had the ISP freebie on it, but that program, like so many, is bloated.  It slowed my machine down to a crawl.  BTW--my clunker only has 248k RAM, unlike the newer machines which have gigabytes of RAM.

So I went to www.cnet.com and clicked on the download tab.  The best free anti-virus programs per cnet's recommendation and user recommendations are AVG, Avast, Avira, and MSE (Microsoft Security Essentitals).

I chose MSE.  Why?  It uses little resources compared to the other programs.  Which means it won't hog my CPU and cause my clunker to get slow as molasses.  Avira is notably less of a hog than AVG and Avast, but the latest version has a few cons that caused me to not choose it.

Hence, I downloaded MSE.  The download went great and the program is intuitive--easy to understand and configure.  But, it kept getting turned off.  Every time I opened Windows it was off.  After a little research I found out what might be needed to fix that issue.  I imagine these would be good steps to take anytime you download new anti-virus software.

First thing of note:  before installing a new av (antivirus) program you need to uninstall any other av programs on your machine.  I did this using the add/remove program (prior to installing MSE).  But guess what.  That program usually leaves junk behind.  Who knew?

The remedy?  Go to the av web page and search for their removal tool.  Download it, run it and let it remove every trace of the program.  AND...if you have had your computer for a few years and over the years have used additional av programs, and you did not use their removal tools, run those too.

Having done that, the next step would be to run a good cleaner.  I like the CCleaner freebie.  You can get it a cnet.com as well.  It is not a real time program--it only runs when you open it .  It downloads quick and uses little resources or space.  So--I ran CC so it could clean up the junk the removal tools left, and as well I ran the CC task that cleans the registry.  You'd be surprised at how many registry entries are left behind when software is removed.

Those steps seem to have fixed my MSE issue and I am quite happy with MSE.

FYI--I also downloaded Malwarebytes to my clunker (also available at cnet.com).  I run it periodically to clean up what MSE misses (MSE is a real-time anti-virus and malware program).  I've used Ad-Aware freebie in the past but it is major bloat on an old machine with little RAM.  Every time I'd run a scan it would freeze up.  To it's credit though, it did fix a trojan that Norton let in and couldn't fix.  Malewarebytes is a speed demon...scans in a flash..quarantines what it finds and lets you choose how to handle it.  No bloat, no freeze.

If you're looking to save some hard earned cash, avail yourself of these free programs.  It seems like a lot of programs but those in the know about smooth computing indicate that it usually takes multiple programs to catch what the others miss.  And those who offer the freeware hope you'll buy the paid version.

 BTW--be careful where you get your freeware.  CNET tests theirs to make sure it is spyware free.  It's best to go to their site and click their download tabs to be sure you're getting a safer download.







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