About Soapin'

A couple of you readers asked for tips on laundry detergent making when I posted about making my own powerful cleaner and laundry detergent in this post, and I am just finally getting around to posting this! Sorry for the delay, but here's my two cents worth on soapin'.....
I've been re-searching and asking about, and the recipe I work with probably would not work for you living in America :(

Here in our area in Brazil, most people use this for a washing machine:

It's called a "tanquinho" which translated would mean, "little tank". It is not your normal washer, it just beats the clothes, you have to fill it manually, and rinse the clothing separately in a big tub or something of sorts, yeah I know, big pain....but it is what most of the people can afford so it works just fine, and yes, you should be thankful for the convenience of having a washer and dryer :)

Ahem...

All this to say, I use it to mix up my soap....and I don't know if you all have anything like this in the US...It's been a long time since I've been to the good ole' USA, so please correct me if I am wrong in assuming these "tanks" are not available there?!?! I haven't tried mixing the soap by hand, so I can't tell you if it works out or not, I guess you could always try :)

Just a reminder, this recipe makes a whole bunch of soap....around 15 gallons!!!
 ....Moving on:
Here's what I use for the soap: ( and this was a pain to calculate since everything here is measured differently.)

About 2 quarts of cooking oil (I buy the cheapest one available)
2 quarts of ethyl alcohol (is that available for you guys?!?)
2 lbs of caustic soda
your choice of essential oils
13 gallons of water from the tap

Again, I don't know if these things are available for you, if it is and if you're brave enough to try, go for it :) If you do want to try this recipe out, shoot me an email (alexejesslima at gmail dot com) and I'd be glad to give you the directions and offer help. I recommend that you research online, there are a ton of recipes for detergent out there. You can surely come across one that will work for you! It will definitely save money, and it just feels awesome to be frugal ;) Here and here are the links to two different recipes that I've come across, again I've never tried them, so I don't know how they would work, but I am sure you can find something.... and remember, If at first you don't succeed, try again! Mrs.Long from Treasures From A Shoe Box also has a post about laundry detergent you might want to check out

Thought? Comments? Questions?
I'd love to hear what you think, and your experience in soap making, if you do make your own detergent or try to make it :)

Many blessings,

Irresistible Chocolateness

I love chocolate....


I just can't resist chocolate and lately I have been just craving chocolate... if you like chocolate as much as I do, there's nothing yummier than this cake!
It's my new all time favorite chocolate cake... the richness of it's flavor and the moistness is just out-of-this-world... I just gained a bunch of pounds eating this stuff....

Seriously awesome! 
Want something sinfully chocolate? Give this recipe a try...I am sure your taste buds will love it! 

Hershey' Prize Chocolate Cake
1/4 C. Butter
1/4 C. Shortening
2 C. Sugar
1tsp. vanilla
Cream these till light and fluffy...
add and beat 2 eggs.

in a separate bowl sift:
3/4 C. Cocoa
1 3/4 C. Flour
2/4 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. baking soda

Add these ingredient to the cream and alternately mixing in 1 3/4 C. Milk. Blend well. Bake in two well greased and floured 9 inch round cake pans. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Cool for about 10 minutes and remove from pan.

Frosting:
6 Tbsp. butter softened
cream & add:
3/4 C. Cocoa
2 2/3 C. Powdered Sugar
1/3 C.Milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix well, spread on cool cake... put another cake on top and cover....

Enjoy!

Is you mouth watering yet?!?! Mine is! I better run and get another slice!

Grandma's Easy Banana Bread

I'm attracted to recipes that say "easy" on them. I seriously try out almost every recipe that is said to be easy. Cooking never was my very favorite thing to do, I have to say that trying new recipes has definitely made me enjoy it more, for which I'm thankful! I try to stay away from the complicated recipes that take many hours of work and expertise, I just appreciate the simple, down-to-earth recipes that can be easily made without much strain and with simple ingredients.

I was so pleased when I came across this marvelous recipe for banana bread. My grandmother adapted this recipe for her use when she lived way up in the Amazon and ingredients were very scarce, and I found the recipe while looking at some old recipe card of my mom's. I have to say it's one of the best banana breads I have ever tasted...and the most wonderful part of it all, it was a breeze to make!

Super duper easy, folks...

Here's what you'll need:
(Yields: 2 loaves)

4 C. flour
2 Tbsp. baking powder
1 1/2 C. sugar
Mix these three ingredients in a bowl.

In the blender, throw in:

2 eggs
1 C. butter or margarine
1 C. milk
2 C. bananas ( I usually freeze bananas that are almost too ripe and use them for banana bread later on).

Blend until smooth, mix with dry ingredients.
(If you're a nut lover and have some extra nuts on hand, this would be the time to mix some in for some scrumptious banana nut bread ;)
Find a cute and eager little helper to lick off the spoon :)

Pour into 2 greased and floured loaf pans. Bake in low oven for 1 hour or until done!

If you have a small family and only want one loaf, it's also super easy to make half a recipe, or you can make both and freeze the other loaf for another day, which is what I did!

It was so yummy and so easy to make! Looking for a way to use up those bananas?!?! Give this recipe a try, I'm sure you'll like it!

Sweetness for the sweetest of all!

The hubby doesn't have a sweet tooth! Definitely different from me! I love sugar...and I love chocolate. The hubby, prefers food...the filling kind of food. It can be simple, but has to be filling. Me?!?! I'd take chocolate instead...any day!
There are very few desserts that the hubby eats and enjoys...this is one of them,
Meet "Pudim de Leite Condensado", a very popular brazilian dessert.
It's super easy to make and I love to see the smile the hubby has on his face when I make this dessert just for him! It makes it totally worthwhile, even though I think chocolate would be so much better (smile)...

It takes simple, simple ingredients:

1 can sweetened condensed milk
measure in the same can some milk
4 eggs
and 3/4 C.Sugar to caramelize the pan!

1. Beat all the ingredients minus the sugar in blender...

2. In a round "bundt" pan melt the sugar over the stove top. Make sure you spread the caramel on the sides too!

3. Pour in the liquid... and bake for 40-45 minutes on a double broiler. It will look like this when it's done: (see below)

4. Let cool. Once it's cool, carefully (this is the trickiest part) turn it upside down on your serving platter. The "pudim" is soft, so if you're not careful it might break and that would just be too sad :)

The hubby likes his "pudim" cold, so I put it in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving...

So, that's the hubby's favorite dessert and I love spoiling him, so I make this quite often! After all, he deserves to be spoiled, he's the sweetest hubby ever...yes, I'm in love :)

Crazy for Lemon

I've had this craving for anything lemon lately....and no, I'm not pregnant!
Just to set things straight :)

Anyways, I ate something at a fair here in Brazil and I loved it. Hubby took me back there again and we could not find the people who sold this again, (sadness)....
so I decided to try to make it on my own....and boy, am I pleased with the turnout!?!?!

It was super easy to make and it tastes yummy... it's kind of like a tart thingy... ummmmmmm

 Yummy Lemon Tart

Bottom crust:

2 cups all purpose flour

3 Tablespoons of Sugar

3/4 tsp. salt

1 cup cold butter

Directions:

In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir until dough forms a ball. Press into the bottom and sides of eight  4" tart pans.. (I did not have tart pans, so I just pressed them into muffin pans, and that worked fine. Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire racks.

Filling:

1 can of sweetened condensed milk

1 cup of heavy table cream

1/2 to 3/4 cup of lemon juice (depends if you want a strong lemon flavor, or a light one)

Beat the sweetened condensed milk, heavy cream, and lemon juice in the blender for about 2 minutes or until well mixed. Let it chill for a couple of minutes in the fridge while the little crusts cool. When the crusts are cooled, spoon the lemon cream stuff on. Garnish with lemon wedges or grated lemon peel. Keep in the fridge until time to serve.

Enjoy!!!

I hope you'll give this recipe a try...it cool and refreshing for a h.o.t day, and from what I hear, many people have been experiencing very hot weather!

Hope everyone is staying cool!!!

Happy, Happy Friday!!!!

Deliciousness.....

Have I ever mentioned I just love having internet access?!?! I just love browsing through websites and blogs and I have recently found a great site with wonderful recipes and great ideas. I have tried several and they all have turned out WONDERFUL! This recipe is no different, definitely a keeper. It was a huge hit with my family and I will certainly be including it in my recipes! This new site is now a favorite of mine! I can hardly wait to try out some more recipes! You can find the recipe for these delicious stuffed pizza rolls there. I had to change the recipe around to make do here in Brazil, since we do not have refrigerated pizza dough, but it tasted wonderful all the same. I used pepperoni and cheese filling and it was just heavenly! It was also very fast and super easy to make! I had a lot of fun putting them together! Try it out! I am sure this will be a huge hit with both kids and adults!!!!