Home made is my favourite way because the ingredients in anything should be recognisable or at the very least readable. And if I make something myself then I know for sure what I am eating or using. I just don’t trust store bought. Only some ingredients have to be on the label. Some origins and ingredients can be hidden or renamed or hidden in code. There is no logic to label reading anymore. 
So here is how I make home made laundry powder. In New Zealand we call this washing powder. In New Zealand we hang out the washing. In America we do a wash. Or put away the laundry. I love colloquialisms.
OK; home made washing powder.
- 1 cup borax
- 1 cup washing soda
- 1 cake grated laundry soap
Use one tablespoon per wash. So simple. During the period that I lived with the nuns and worked in their enormous laundry ( a story I have yet to tell) we melted left-over soap, those little slithers from the showers, in jugs of hot water and used this to wash our own clothes, so this is a pretty fancy recipe compared to that.
If you are uncomfortable using borax or can’t find it – you can omit it from the recipe.
Of course this laundry powder, as well as getting clothes lovely and clean, is cheap to make.
Peanut butter is consumed in massive amounts in this household (though not by me) and is often heaving with artificial sweeteners and msg and salts. John from Chicago left his big bag of peanuts in with my groceries the other day so I made a batch of clean pure peanut butter.
How to make Home Made Peanut Butter. 
- One tablespoon peanut oil
- One cup of peanuts
- A little salt if you prefer
Blend until the blade in your foodprocessor breaks and the whole thing dies. Oops.
- I was working on one side of the barn the other day and heard John say Oh Come on Kupa give me a break. Kupa had opened his train right behind John so that he had to part the curtain of feathers to get back out the door.
Kupa was as unrepentent as his wives were interested. But he is a startling bird. Did I tell you that if I take too long to milk in the morning he tiptoes into the milking parlour looking for his breakfast. His train is long now. It drags in everything. He has no idea how long it is and so I am constantly getting swiped with exotic feathery while I am working. I have even stood on his tail by mistake, setting off an appalled honking.
Speaking of exotic feathery.
Mama was having a family hug with her girls yesterday. 
Her udder is so large now that I pop her in her own pen at night, so I can check her easily. 
She has never had lambs this early before but you will remember that Hairy refused to wear his harness. Every morning I found it draped around a fence. So once again we cannot pinpoint when she is due. His first date with her was September 19 last year. Almost exactly 5 months ago. 
The gestation period for a sheep is 145 -150 days. So if she had been bred the night the ram walked through the gate, then she is due round about very soon.
I have everything ready just in case. I even have little coats for little lambies. I bought them to have a look and they are very easy to make so I am collecting old jumpers to turn into lamb jackets using my limited sewing skills.
Good morning.
It is windy with rain forecast for today. So we will see what happens. I might leave Mama in her pen – wind, rain and lambs do not mix. But at 3am this morning she was all perky and interested. I am really waiting for her to start lying round all day groaning as she gets up and down. This pregnancy she has been noticeably energetic, I suspect she is not carrying as many lambs, usually she has four as you know, less would be nice.
Have a lovely day.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
95 responses to “Home Made Peanut Butter, Home Made Laundry Powder, a Home Made Life”
If I show King the pic. of Kupa he will be so jealous – he’s shedding again!
Oh no, I hate it when they shed, they look so Small.. Eve-morning julie
Kupa is magnificent!
What kind of food processor did you have? I am thinking about getting another one, as soon as one shows up at the thrift store. I had a Cuisinart and did not love it.
A kitchen aide.. I hate it, too many bits. The cuisinart’s bowl broke and the replacement was more than the gadget.. Why can’t i just buy a machine that works! she whines!.. c
My Magimix is now 24 years old. I have replaced the plastic bowls a few times (my fault as I put them in the dishwasher) but the machine itself has never let me down. It has certainly earned its keep.
Thank you maeve, that is an excellent recommendation. i shall look into them! c
Miss C, I also have a magimix…….14 years old now, all original parts. I always wash by hand.
You remain such an inspiration C, you are just too wonderful for words. Have a super day day.
🙂 Mandy xo
Darling Mandy! I am making your mustard soon, a recipe John gave me via you and celia, how about that for the community of bloggers! Aren’t we awesome! c
Absolutely awesome! Can’t wait to hear how you enjoy the mustard – it is fabulous! 🙂
I am making laundry soap this week. It is so much cheaper.
SO much cheaper, And easy too! Dead easy. One thing that worries me about the store bought stuff is the containers, these huge containers that i have to find a reuse for .. what do people do with them? c
Good Morning. Enjoyed the walk around and the peek at your peanut butter. Have a great Monday, C.
Morning sabra, do you have a holiday today?.. c
I don’t think I will ever adjust to how cool Kupa is. He is amazing to look at. His wives are gorgeous too! I can’t wait to see baby lambies!
Every time I use my food processor it overheats. Honestly, you’d think they’d make one that actually does the job it’s supposed to. Peanuts would surely kill it! 🙂
I agree completely, absolutely and completely.. what do people use that works? We need to get industrial gadgets.. c
Homemade!
There are many good reasons for it, but the world has turned a different direction.
Take postcrossing – a service which allows to send (and receive) postcards to (from) random people all over the world. You would expect that folks who enjoy exchanging real postcards would appreciate other people’s creativity, but if you look at people’s profiles, a very big proportion actually asks senders to NOT send self- or homemade cards to them.
After noticiting this, I put a “selfmade cards welcome – our own creativity rules” on my profile.
What was the result? From 67 received cards only 2 were “selfmade”:
– a card from China with a photo taken by a friend of the sender
– a card from Taiwan with a sailing ship drawn on it
My wife got a really nice card with a flower made out of teabag envelopes from the Netherlands.
That’s it.
Oh, what do we do?
We frequently send postcards made from our own photos.
Quilters send patchwork cards. I wonder how those would go down?!
I had no idea about this postcrossing, i have postcards made from my own images, i would love to do that, is there a site?.. c
Here it is: http://www.postcrossing.com/
I miss so much when I don’t visit you often enough!
But you can catch up in about 5 minutes!! It all moves very slowly really.. have a lovely day, i shall pop over to visit in a minute and see what you are up to! c
You are the self sustainable Queen of the world… washing soap, peanut butter but why don’t you eat it.? and how many blenders/ food-processors does one need to make the peanut butter.?? I do love your blog, one never knows whats coming next…
Sometimes i eat it off a spoon, but i am a marmite on toast girl!! c
Peanut butter and honey man… and you make both…
i love to make peanut better. plus yo can add things to it like honey or honey and cinnamon. our store have peanut butter grinders so all you have to do is buy any kind of nuts and put them in the grinder and make it right there. my husband loves cashew butter. kupa is a real looker!
what an excellent idea, making your own nut butters. I want one of those grinders now! c
My daughter has been making her own laundry detergent for about 6 months, and won’t ever go back to store-bought. They add a few drops of essential oils to make it smell nice, too…
I see the old green truck is loaded onto the trailer – is this the spring that you’ll get to sell fresh asparagus from it, by the side of the road?
I like the idea of adding a wee bit of lavender oil to the laundry powder. Yes I am hoping once again to sell the asparagus, as long as the frosts don’t beat me to death again. the green truck is being taken out to Johns workshop so he can put a new starter motor in it and get it ready for the summer! fingers crossed. c
Where is the old green pickup going? Perhaps north to Minnesota and onto my driveway? My husband loves old trucks like this.
John loves this truck too, it is just going out to the workshop to be worked on a wee bit, a little tlc.. c
I made peanut butter in the Vitamix blender and it came out beautifully. It’s not always easy to find fresh, shelled peanuts. Any ideas?
When you say “washing soda” I assume you are referring to baking soda, right?
Not the same thing at all!
No it is not the same though i have come across a recipe that used baking soda, but that was a suggestion i chose to ignore! You will find washing soda in the laundry aisle in the supermarket. We found these nuts in Patels indian spice shop in chicago. which is probably not useful for you.. c
The coupe is coming on at a cracking pace: much more change each day than the daily photograph of the treehouse! I use liquid laundry detergent, and I search out the green ones with no phosphates in. On bottle lasts months, as you only need a very little at a time.
I like your idea of home-made peanut butter: store-bought has salt in it (as do 90% of stuff, even mustard!) and I am doing my best to stick to the salt-free diet that my cardiologist insists on. Jock too is supposed to be on it, but he grumbles so much that he gets the salt cellar by his place.
Poor Jock. i am making mustard soon.. a few jars would last quite a while in the fridge I bet! Salt free is so much healthier though. i have read that all the salt that people consume has a huge impact on weight retention as well as all the other factors. c
combined with the diuretic I’m obliged to take, you can imagine why I am tied to the loo more or less until lunchtime. Morning appointments are a nightmare!
Oh dear, hope that levels out somewhere along the line.. c
A story involving nuns and a laundry sounds a little ominous. 😦
Naughty teenagers have ominous experiences but actually it was not all that bad.. there are piles of really funny stories that came out of that time.. some would make you cry though, me too.. c
Awww. 🙂