A Homemade Life, February 21

Okay, I have been thinking a lot about what I might share for A Homemade Life this week. I do so many things in the course of a week using homemade ideas. This week I used a few of these ideas, some of which I've posted on my blog in times past. I'll provide links for those.

One thing I did this week was to wash down the fronts of my kitchen cabinets. I wanted to hang some tri-bead hearts from the cabinet knobs, but I desperately wanted to wash the cabinet fronts first. To clean them, I used a homemade cleaning solution my pastor's wife shared with me years ago:

AUNT ROSIE’S ALL-PURPOSE CLEANING FORMULA

1/4 cup baking soda
1/2 cup vinegar
1 cup clear ammonia
1 bucket hot water

Combine all ingredients in a plastic bucket. Use for washing walls, cabinet doors, or any kind of grimy dirt. Will also strip wax off floors, so try not to drip onto a waxed floor unless you intend to strip off the wax.

I have noticed recently that our local supermarket is featuring its own brand of refrigerated "Scoop and Bake" muffins. I've made bran muffins on this principle for years. You make the batter, store it tightly covered in the refrigerator, and bake muffins as needed. The batter will keep for at least 4 weeks in the refrigerator. Here's the recipe:


PAIL FULL OF MUFFINS

Combine the following in a very large bowl:

4 cups bran buds
2 cups all-bran
1 quart buttermilk
2 cups boiling water
1 teaspoon salt

Let mixture cool until it’s lukewarm.

In another bowl, cream together:

1 cup shortening
3 cups sugar
4 eggs

Add the creamed ingredients to the bran mixture.

Sift together:

5 cups flour
5 teaspoons baking soda

Stir the sifted ingredients into the bran mixture.

If you like, you may also stir in 1 to 3 cups of raisins at this point.

Muffins may be baked right away, but keep in mind that this recipe produces at least 5 dozen muffins! The idea is to store the batter in a covered container, like a Tupperware® bowl or a covered plastic pail, in the refrigerator, then bake the muffins a few at a time as needed. The batter will keep for at least a month in the fridge.

When ready to bake, fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups only half full. Bake at 375º for 20-25 minutes, until the muffins test done.

Another homemade item I use all the time is laundry soap. This works well for almost all laundry needs. However, my husband's greasy, ground-in, grimy logging clothes are too much of a challenge for it.

Homemade granola is a breakfast staple at our house. Here is the basic formula I go by.

And this is the specific blend I frequently use for granola.

Well, those are my ideas for this week.
To see more homemade ideas shared by others, go to Life on a Back Road. You will find lots of inspiration there!