Storm Trooper Snow Flake

For all of you Star War's geeks out there....

I made this one Friday-Crafternoon at work. You can make one too by downloading the template from this awesome website. You can also make Darth Vader, a Clone trooper, Boba Fett and a very elaborate R2D2 (which will require some experienced cutting skills).

My 3 year old nephew was very happy with his Storm Trooper Snowflake - who would have thought?

Storm Trooper Snow Flake

Homemade Yoghurt

So I've been an owner of an Easiyo yoghurt maker for quite a number of years now and go through fads of using it. One of the pro's was that it was better for the environment for me to make my own yoghurt than to purchase something in a plastic container (which up until recently was non-recyclable in Wellington, NZ).

However the cost of a sachet (over $3) and the convenience of buying many different flavours already made at the same price made me less ecologically savvy and more focused on how much money I had in my pocket (selfish I know!)

Then from reading many different blogs about sustainability and frugality I kept reading about how people make their own yoghurt from milk or milk powder and I thought - I can do that! So I have found a recipe that has worked for me and it created this delicious thick yoghurt featured below with boysenberries.

Homemade Yoghurt

• 2 Cups of Whole milk powder
• 2 Tablespoons of natural yoghurt (I used a previous batch of Easiyo Greek Style)
• Cold water (close to room temperature)

1. Put ingredients into the Easiyo jar.
2. Use a whisk to mix together.
3. Top up with cold water and put the lid on.
4. Fill the Easiyo maker with boiling water up to the top of the baffle. 
5. Place jar into the yoghurt maker and top up with boiling water.
6. Put the lid on and leave for 8-12hrs 
7. Remove jar and refrigerate.

Result = thick creamy yoghurt for around $1.50!

Homemade Yoghurt

Gingerbeer

I got the bug! The Gingerbeer bug that is!

At the Karori Normal School Fair a couple of weeks ago I purchased a gingerbeer bug and began to feed it (2 teaspoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of ginger every day).

The gingerbeer itself was pretty simple to make. I simply drained liquid from the bug into a bowl, added 2 cups of hot water that had had 2 cups of sugar dissolved in it and then the juice of 2 lemons and 12 cups of cold water. Mixed it up and then put it into bottles which had 3 raisins in the bottle.

The instructions suggested I put the bottles in a sunny spot for a week (oh but where is the sun?) and then in a week's time put it in the fridge and then it's ready to drink.

I did a little bit of googling and found several different recipes for gingerbeer with most suggesting that you put the bottles outside incase they explode (good tip!).

I can't wait to try the fruits (rhizomes??) of my labour this weekend!

Gingerbeer

I love laundry!

Yes I really do! But recently I have been a little disappointed in my laundry powder as it doesn't seem to dissolve and leaves white marks on the clothes.

But it's OK because I've found an extremely affordable, good for the environment laundry liquid to make! And it works even better than the powder.

I found it via Frugal Kiwi's website and have halved the recipe so that you can make it in a small bucket.

Laundry Liquid

1/2 Cup Borax
1/4 Cup of Washing Soda Crystals
1/2 bar of Sunlight soap or any other castile based soap
Essential oil

1. Grate the soap and melt it in 2 cups of water in a pot on a low heat. Avoid boiling it, it is ready when it has just melted.
2. Pour the melted soap mixture into a bucket and add 22 cups of warm water.
3. Add washing soda crystals and stir until dissolved.
4. Add borax and stir until dissolved.
5. Add essential oil to suit (I used about 20 drops of rose oil)
6. Cover the bucket with a towel or lid and let sit overnight.
7. In the morning the concoction should resemble a shiny globby gel. If there is water sitting on top simply mix it back in.
8. Pour the mixture via a funnel into clean milk bottles.
9. Use 1/2 cup per load.

This recipe made two 1.5L bottles full and one 2 litre bottle fill with a bit left over!!! Cost wise I think it works out to about 5c per load!!

Borax sounds like a horrible chemical but it is actually a mineral salt. You can read more about it here. As for buying it I sourced mine from Clorogene in Petone, Wellington for $13 for 2 litres. You can also buy it off Trademe and from Bin Inn but it is more expensive.

My clothes are clean and smell great!

I love laundry!