“…And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.”

Ephesians 3:17-18

Monday, January 31, 2011

Welcome!

Welcome to Roots-to-Grow!  We are so glad that you have found us and hopefully you will look around, like what you read and return often.  Our blog will be a compilation of sorts, but mostly posts about things that we find important to our families: faith, food, money saving tips, do it yourself projects, and fun ideas!  Check out our About Us page to get to know us a little better.  We look forward to getting to know you too – Happy Reading!

Naomi & Kristen

Believe it or Not Peanut Butter Cookies



This recipe is so easy and delicious! These simple cookies only take four ingredients that you probably have in the cupboard and you don’t even have to break out the mixer. They are even gluten free, which makes them a good cookie for those with food allergies.

Believe it or Not Peanut Butter Cookies
(or Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies)
1 small jar of peanut butter
2 cups sugar
2 t. vanilla
2 eggs
* optional: Chocolate chips, peanut butter chips

Combine all ingredients in medium bowl. Drop rounded spoonful of dough onto greased baking sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 1 minute. Move to wire rack to cool completely.

Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar…. me!

I unashamedly admit that I have issues when it comes to sweets.  I could probably be professionally diagnosed as having an addiction to sugar, but since I haven’t yet received a diagnosis I will continue to get my daily saccharine fix.

Among all things sweet, cookies are probably at the very top of my list, with bite size candies coming in a close second.  I like to always have fresh baked cookies on hand in our house and usually make them once or twice a week.  If my husband and I are on ‘good’ behavior and we don’t devour the cookies as each sheet comes out of the oven, I like to save some of the dough and make cookie dough balls to freeze for baking later in the week.  

This week I made a new chocolate chip cookie recipe and it is phenomenal! The secret is a box of instant vanilla pudding, which generates the moistest (is that even a word?) cookie you will ever taste.  The whole batch lasted 2 days in our house….like I said before, I have issues when it comes to sweets!  Happy Baking!



Ingredients  
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used ¾ package of mini-chocolate chips)
Directions
1.     Preheat oven to 375 degrees (I baked them at 325 degrees)
2.     In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add pudding mix, eggs and vanilla. Combine flour and baking soda; add to creamed mixture and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips.
3.     Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned.
Yields  approximately 4 dozen

(One of my ‘go to’ websites)

Kristen

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap

This is one of the biggest money saving DIY discoveries I have made! I first saw homemade laundry soap on an episode of 19 Kids and Counting (or is it 20 now?) on TLC. The Duggar girls were making this soap and honestly I did not even consider trying this myself at the time.  I think I disregarded it as another odd-ball thing the Duggar family does.
But, as I have been examining my grocery budget and trying to really cut down, I realized that if I cut out nonfood items (or at least cut them way down) I could significantly reduce  the amount I spend each week. So, I Googled the Duggar laundry detergent recipe and decided to give it a try.
I have to admit that I was very skeptical at first. But, I figured if the soap did not work well I wouldn’t be out that much, and it seemed like a fun science project, so it was worth a try. I have used it on every type of laundry and I have been very pleased! It really cleans and has not faded out any of my clothes. It gets my husband’s work clothes cleaner than store bought detergent did! I have even used it on cloth diapers. They come out white and have no perfume smell. This is a biggy for me because my Little Man has sensitive skin.


Here’s the recipe:
4 cups hot water
1 bar Fels-Naptha soap *
1 cup Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda**
½ cup Borax
Grate bar of soap. You can use a food processor for this. Add grated soap to 4 cups of water in sauce pan. Stir continually over medium heat until soap dissolves and melts completely.
Fill 5 gallon bucket half full of hot water. Add melted soap, Washing Soda, and Borax. Stir well until all are dissolved.
Fill Bucket to top with water.
Put in clean laundry container filling half way. Fill the rest of the way with water.
Shake before using.
This makes 10 gallons. ¼ cup per load = 640 loads!
* Ivory soap or Colgate Octagon soap can be used.
** You must use Washing Soda NOT baking soda.

A few extra tips:
1.)    I was sharing this recipe with someone much smarter than I, who said “Couldn’t you just cut this recipe down. You could easily half it or even forth it and you wouldn’t need to have five gallons of it sitting around.” Well….hmmm…. that would just be too easy. But, if you prefer the easy way I suggest you cut this recipe down.
2.)    If you have a friend (or two) who wants to make this laundry detergent too you could easily share and take turns making it!
3.)    The detergent does get lumpy even when you shake it, but it still works well!

How much is it saving me? Here’s the math:
Fels Naptha = $1.29 per 10 gallons of detergent
Borax = $4.99 per box = $0.07 per ounce = $0.56 per 10 gallons of detergent
Arm and Hammer = $3.79per box = $0.07 per ounce= $0.28 per 10 gallons of detergent
$1.29 + $0.56 + $0.28 = $2.13 FOR 10 GALLONS OF LAUNDRY DETERGENT!
That’s just $0.13 for a regular 72 oz laundry detergent container!

Naomi