As many of you know, I cloth diaper our babies. It's better for the environment, better for baby, and better for our wallet! Along with cloth diapers, I use cloth reusable baby wipes as well. This recipe can be used to make disposable wipes as well. Just replace the baby wash cloths with soft and durable paper towels.
2-3 dozen baby wash cloths (as little as $1 per pack)
2 cups of warm water
1 tbsp baby soap or shampoo
1 tbsp cooking quality oil (my favorite is coconut oil, but vegetable oil will do)
1 splash of vinegar (helps prevent yeast rash commonly mistaken for diaper rash)
*Dip the stack of wash cloths in the mixture, ring them out, and store them in a baby wipe warmer or container.
Homemade Laundry Detergent
Another recipe that's good for you and easy on the wallet. This works with all types of washers and is safe for cloth diapers.12 cups Borax
8 cups baking soda
6 bars grated Ivory soap or Fels Naptha soap
*Mix all ingredients together and store in a large Rubbermaid container with lid. Use 1/2 cup per large load.
Homemade Dog Food- The Raw Diet
Dogs in the wild do not find rock shaped kibble to eat. When they are in captivity (domesticated house pets) we feed them these "rocks" that they don't like and they develop costly health issues that aren't typical in wild dogs. We feed our dogs a natural raw diet and they love us for it. I must warn you, it's exactly "cheap" but it's about the same cost or cheaper than the higher end dog foods. Dogs nutritional needs are based on age and size. We have a young boxer and a old chihuahua. Adult dogs eat 1/2 oz of food per pound daily. So our 50 lb boxer eats 25 oz (a little more than that because I spoil her) daily and our 12 lb chihuahua eats 6 oz daily. As an older inactive dog, the chihuahua gets less carbs in her diet than her hyper sister. The dog food mixture should be:*75% raw meat (ground turkey, chicken with or without bones, ground beef. NEVER cook the meat! If you choose not to feed chicken or turkey bones, you must give a multivitamin. NEVER give your dog raw pork!)
*15-25% veggies (I buy a bag of frozen mixed veggies and thaw in warm water for about a minute. If you run out of veggies, no biggie)
*0-10% grains/carbs (rices, potatoes, pasta)
A simpler recipe:
Determine the amount of food need per day (for the boxer, 25 oz about 1.5 lbs) and purchase that amount of meat. Garnish with veggies and grains.
