Saturday, August 27, 2011

English Muffin Breakfast Sandwiches and Laundry Questions

So I joined pinterest mostly to see other people's sewing and quilting links, but I've been getting caught on all the recipe links.

One of the links that I saw on a bunch of friend's boards is for breakfast sandwiches. It's simple enough to do and you probably don't need a recipe.

I used cheddar and colby jack for the cheese, whole wheat muffins, and eggs. I also added turkey sausage to half of them.

Here are the finished sandwiches. I will be freezing these for Q to grab in the morning for work.

I've gotten a few questions about the laundry soap:
Can I use it in a high efficiency washer?
Yes, I think so. I googled a number of things to determine the difference between HE detergent and regular detergent and also the differences in the machines themselves and how they handle the detergent. I also found a couple of quotes from the manuals of HE washers and letters from the manufacturers of the machines in response to this question. The general consensus is that HE detergent does not create as many suds as regular detergent, and the laundry detergent I made makes very few suds. Chemically they should act the same for cleaning. The recommendation from others using this same detergent in their HE machines is to use only 1/4 cup of detergent for each load. Also, I've read the recommendation to occasionally run a hot wash in your HE washer with just vinegar to clean the system regardless of whether you use this recipe or a store-bought detergent and that seems like a really good idea.

Aren't you worried about it causing rashes on your babies?
Well, I really didn't consider this at all. I didn't consider it when I used regular detergent when I first had the nerdlet and everyone was recommending to make sure I got a really gentle soap either, but this soap is going to be more gentle than store bought detergents on both your baby and the environment. However, the diapers have all been through the wash using the new detergents and Darth Baby actually seems to have less pinkness than before even when I use the plastic diaper covers that usually cause it.

How long did it take to make?
It took me about an hour, but that is because at every step I had to go searching for something. Where is that bucket? What in the world did I do with my immersion blender? How am I going to stir the five gallon bucket? Nerdlet, can you go get the funnel from your toys in the bathtub? Anyway, you get the idea.

Well, that is way better than making lye soap.
I think my MIL thinks I'm too nutty crunchy. She thinks I'm a bit weird for breastfeeding and making my own baby food. I get the impression that she isn't entirely comfortable with my using cloth diapers (and when she has had them they have been in disposables for the most part - or at least they come home in disposables). When she heard I was making my own laundry soap, she obviously was picturing the old way her mother used to make soap. Just for the record, I will never be doing that.

I was actually surprised at how much interest there has been in the laundry soap, but the way I figure it is that if it doesn't work for you, you have wasted $7.00 and an hour of your time. If it does work, then you have a product that is much cheaper (even accounting for your time) and that is better for the environment.

2 comments:

  1. I am so going to do that with English muffins! Good idea to do with the crayons, I am so tired of picking up broken crayons and now our youngest LOVES to color.

    www.justonemore4us.blogspot.com

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  2. i love sausage egg biscuit. i eat them every time i travel in the morning at McDonalds. i know! so bad for you but i do. occasionally we make them but rarely.

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