Top Ten "Make Your Own Products" Recipes

My favorite all purpose cleaner is a simple solution:

EQUAL PARTS OF WHITE VINEGAR AND WATER. That's it. I keep spray bottles of this mixture handy in the kitchen and bathrooms.

I use this formula for cleaning glass, mirrors, countertops, wiping out the refrigerator, and cleaning my cooktop.

If I'm preparing fruit or vegetables. I will squirt this mixture over the produce, then dry it off. This is especially important if you've purchased your produce from a regular market rather than a farmer's market or from the garden.

Not only is this a dandy cleaner, but if you spray your countertops with it, it will repel ants and other insects!

Here are a couple of variations of this solution.

FOR LAMINATE, STAINLESS STEEL AND GLASS
1 part white vinegar
2 parts water
2 or 3 drops of liquid dish detergent

NOTE: The detergent in this recipe is supposed to effectively cut the wax that commercial cleaners leave on glass, etc. I found that it did take a little longer for my vinegar/water solution to eliminate the waxy finish but maybe just three or four applications. And I was aware of that in the beginning.

SCOURING POWDER
1 cup baking soda
1 cup borax
1 cup salt

DISHWASHER DETERGENT
2 cups granular dishwasher detergent
1 cup borax
1 cup baking soda

Commercial drain cleaners are pretty scary. They include chemicals that can't possibly be good for your home's plumbing let alone the waterways that they eventually flow into. Not to mention that if there are children or pets in the house, these products are toxic.

Several years ago my sister gave me a recipe for a safe drain cleaner that works like a charm. The key, really, is to use it BEFORE your drains clog up.

This recipe will flush away grease and other residue and keep your drains smelling fresh.

DRAIN CLEANER
1 cup baking soda
1 cup salt
1/4 cup cream of tartar

Put 1/4 cup of this mixture in the drain and follow with 2 cups of boiling water.

Photograph by electricinca

A bowl of rosehips on a table is an easy and perfectly fragrant potpourri. I like that. But if you love buying packages of potpourri with lots of different dried flowers and herbs, you probably have wondered what's there.

Here's a recipe for a really lovely Citrus-Spice Potpourri that you can make yourself. It's easy, inexpensive and it makes a wonderful gift, especially at the Holidays.

It's from a book called Traditional Christmas Cooking, Crafts and Gifts that I've had for probably 15 years. You can buy that very same book through Amazon. See below.

1 orange
1 lemon
1 lime
1/3 cup (75ml) water
1/4 cup (50 ml) whole cloves
2 Tablespoons (25 ml) whole allspice
3 cinnamon sticks, broken into pieces
4 bay leaves, crumbled

First you cut long strips of zest from the orange, lemon and lime. Use a sharp knife or a vegetable peeler but it's important not to get the white membrane. Cut the strips into 1" pieces. (Use the fruit in another way)

Place the strips on a plate lined with paper towels and place in the microwave with a glass cup with the 1/3 cup of water. Microwave on high power for about five minutes or until the peels start to dry. Every minute or so toss the peels so they will dry evenly. Let them dry for about 24 hours on another paper towel lined plate.

Put the dried peels and the other ingredients into a plastic bag and shake to thoroughly mix. You can then tie the bag with a piece of ribbon, place it in a pretty bowl and give as a gift. Include a tag with listing the ingredients and instructions as follows:

Place 1 cup of hot water and 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) of the dried potpourri in a small bowl with a handle. Microwave on high for 2 or 3 minutes or until the water boils. Remove from the microwave and enjoy the fragrance. You can reheat this mixture several times.

Photography by bptakoma.

There has always been controversy about whether or not commercial toothpastes are harmful. The flouride is important but too much can be unsafe.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has long cautioned parents to use no more than a pea-size portion of toothpaste on their children's toothbrushes and warns against swallowing the mixture.

I make my own toothpowder. It's excellent. I adapted a recipe that I found in an Arm & Hammer book on the uses of baking soda.

I mix 2 Tablespoons of baking soda with 1 Tablespoon of ground cinnamon. I keep it in a small jar and dip my damp toothbrush lightly into the jar. I just love how my teeth feel after brushing with this mixture.

One teensy little thing you should know...the cinnamon in the mixture will turn the bristles on your toothbrush cinnamon color especially at the base. Not real pretty but I just rinse it as much as I can. I also like to soak my toothbrush in peroxide which won't remove the color, really, but it does eliminate any bacteria buildup. You should do this even if you use conventional toothpaste, actually.

I love this tooth powder so much that I do not mind this minor side effect.

The original recipe called for equal parts of baking soda, powdered cinnamon and oil of cinnamon.

I've never made it this way - I didn't have oil of cinnamon for one thing and I also just felt like it would be spicier than I'd like. But you might like it.

You could also probably use peppermint oil or some other essential oil. Lemon, maybe.

Here is another example of how I modified a recipe for bath powder.

I simply mix 1 cup of cornstarch and 1/2 cup of baking soda.

I put mine in a large empty spice container with the small holes and just shake it into my hand to apply. It's smooth and silky and fresh. Simple as that.

The original recipe (also from the Arm & Hammer book) also included 10 drops of essential oil. I much prefer no fragrance so that's the way I go. But you might like to add lavender essential oil, for example.

Photograph by KaCey97007

I love rhododendrums or "rhodies" as I like to call them. We planted eight or nine miniature rhodies in an evergreen garden and the second year after planting I was puzzled about why there were doing so poorly. A couple of them died, even.

Well, long story short - our soil was very alkaline and these are acid loving plants. I could have purchased a commercial supplement for them but I did a little research and learned that I could enrich the soil by watering thoroughly (but infrequently as they don't like their feet wet) with a mixture of 3 Tablespoons of white vinegar to 2 quarts of water.

Amazingly, this seems to be doing the trick. They're looking healthier and have new growth.

NOTE: I also save my used coffee grounds in an old coffee can. When it's full I scoop it around the base of my rhodies and dig it into the soil. It enriches the soil with a little more acidity.

If you'd like to test your soil for acidity, put a handful or so of soil in a small bucket or other container, pour 1/2 cup of white distilled vinegar mixed with 1/2 cup of baking soda over the soil. If the soil bubbles or gets fizzy, you have acidic soil.

Photo courtesy of crystl

There are several recipes for faux playdough - aka play clay. This is one of them.

The classic recipe calls for 2 cups of baking soda, 1 cup of cornstarch and 1-1/4 cups of cold water. You can add food coloring at this point.

Place all ingredients in a cooking pot and place over medium heat. Stir it until it has thickened to the consistency of mashed potatoes. Put the mixture into a bowl and cover with a damp cloth until it has cooled. You can keep it in the refrigerator sealed in a plastic bag for about a week. Remember to bring it to room temperature before sculpting with it.

The kids can roll it out onto waxed paper and use cookie cutters to make different shapes. Lots of fun and very inexpensive and best of all, it's non-toxic.

photograph by thebittenword

I do not remember where I got this recipe but I do know my children were all small and they're not anymore! So it's in the "oldie but goodie" category.

If you do make it, either divide it up into twenty portions and store in the freezer or take out a portion each time you use it.

IMPORTANT: Don't just use the whole thing and save the rest. You don't want chicken (or fish or whatever) juices to get into it or you could end up sick as a dog.

4 cups flour
4 cups cracker meal
4 Tablespoons salt
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
3 Tablespoons paprika
1/4 cup oil

Mix thoroughly. Store in refrigerator.

This recipe is great to have on hand. The pancakes are always light and fluffy.

EVERYDAY BAKING MIX

6 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
3 cups sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon salt

Stir together and store mixture in an airtight container at room temperature. It will keep for up to three months.

To make pancakes:
2 teaspoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for skillet
1 large egg
2/3 cup milk
1 1/4 cups Everyday Baking Mix, spooned and leveled

In a medium bowl, whisk together butter, egg, and 2/3 cup milk. Add baking mix; whisk just until moistened (do not overmix; a few small lumps are fine).

Photo courtesy of kona99

Back in the mid 1970's when my youngest daughter was a baby I bought a book called Feed Me! I'm Yours by Vicki Lansky. I also had a manual baby food grinder which was really nice to have on a trip...we could order simple foods at a restaurant and puree a portion for her.

There are two good recipes for teething biscuits in this book. Healthier, I'm sure, than any you could buy. It's comforting to know what, exactly, is in your baby's food.

I suggest using the brown sugar and whole wheat flour options.

This will make about 12 durable and almost crumb-free teething biscuits.
HARD ROUND TEETHING BISCUITS

2 eggs
1 cup sugar (white or brown)
2 to 2-1/2 cups flour (white, whole wheat or a combination)

Break eggs into a bowl and stir until creamy. Add sugar and continue to stir. Gradually add enough flour to make a stiff dough. Roll out between two sheets of lightly floured waxed pape to about 3/4-inch thickness.

Cut in round shapes. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Let stand overnight (10-12 hours). Bake at 325 degrees F until browned and hard.

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