Homemade Cleaning Solutions

Last night, I tried out a brand new food – Whole Food’s Organic Butternut Squash Ravioli!

Yummmm, these were delicious! They were a little expensive and had a little bit more calories than I normally like, but I bought them before I started calorie-counting and they needed to be eaten. Normally, I would’ve made a garlic aioli sauce to have on top, but I didn’t want to use any extra calories on olive oil. And I didn’t want to use butter because, again, calories. So I used tomato sauce even though I thought it might taste a little weird. But it was actually good!

Lately, I’ve been getting into something awesome… making my own household cleaners!

I don’t really mind buying cleaners like 409 or Fantastik from the store because, since I use coupons, I can get them for very cheap. But for people who don’t use coupons, the prices can really add up. Even if you use coupons, it’s still astronomically cheaper to make your own. Every dollar counts, right?

Along with the benefit of saving money, making your own cleaning solutions allows you to have full control over what chemicals are used in your home. I’m not a huge proponent of all-natural and organic living, but I do really appreciate those families who have subscribed to that lifestyle.

While I don’t strive to live that way, I do try to do my part as much as possible by:

• bringing reusable bags to the grocery store
• not using those plastic produce bags they provide
• using fans instead of ACs as much as Brent lets me
• choosing the short cycle on the washing machine
• air-drying a lot of my clothes
• taking a bath instead of a shower once a week

First, I had to stock up on a bunch of home cleaner essentials: baking soda, ammonia, and white vinegar.

Next, I picked up some brand-new scrubbers at the dollar store. I can’t wait to break these babies out and go to town on our bathtub and bathroom floor!

Then, I made two cleaning products that I’ve been using around the house a lot lately:

Miranda’s Bathroom Scrub

(use on tile floor, bath tubs, sinks, etc.)

Ingredients:

Baking Soda

Water

Directions:

Miranda’s All-Purpose Cleaner

Ingredients:

2 cups hot water

1 cup white vinegar

2 tbsp ammonia

Directions:

Add all ingredients to an empty spray bottle and shake to combine.

(Hint: Be very careful when dealing with ammonia. Use gloves and eyeball the 2 tbsp. Don’t use real measuring spoons unless you have a separate pair for cleaning only. You don’t want that stuff near your food!)