September Giveaway Time!

For this month's giveaway, I thought I would do my all-natural laundry detergent. 

I've been especially thankful for the money it saves me lately.  It seems that I am washing more clothes lately than ever before.  Take Girl 2 Wednesday -- she wore one outfit to school, a second one to tumbling class, and was about the change into a 3rd before an evening jog with daddy when I convinced her that she could just jog in her leotard (and shorts, of course).  Or, take Little Boy who is exceptionally excited about his new-to-him tennis shoes and wants to wear them all the time.  We take our shoes off when in the house.  He's got super-sweaty feet, so he doesn't want to put wet socks back on everytime he's ready to go back outside.  All this means that he may go through 4 pairs of socks a day.  (I know I could fight him on this, but I'm just so excited that he's mostly putting the socks and tennis shoes on by himself.)

The basic recipe for the laundry detergent uses these basic ingredients.  You could easily whip some up for yourself.

What makes my mix special, though, is that I don't use Ivory or some other ready-made soap.  Instead, I use soap shavings from my very own Coconut Laundry Soap.  This substitution to the regular recipe makes the laundry soap 100% all-natural and fragrance-free.

Whoever wins this month's drawing will receive a sour-cream-sized tub of laundry detergent.  At 2 Tbs. per load, it ought to last awhile!

So, how do you win?

I need some great CrockPot recipes for fall!  Fall means extra-curricular activities are back in full swing for our brood, and some of our weeknights are downright crazy around here.

Tuesday:  5:00-7:00 (including travel time) soccer practice for John and Girl 2

6:15-7:00 Hip Hop class for Girl 1

Wednesday:  3:30-6:15 dance team, jazz, tap, and tumbling for Girl 1

5:45-6:15 tumbling for Girl 2

Thursday:  5:00-7:00 soccer practice for John and Girl 2

5:30-6:30 ballet for Girl 1

What in the world will we do when Little Boy starts having evening activities, too?

Anyway, all this means that sometimes I am shuttling kids around during the time I would otherwise be prepping dinner and/or that we eat in shifts.  CrockPot meals solve both problems. They make it possible for me to be out of the kitchen in the hour before dinnertime and keep the meal warm for those who have to eat dinner at the later shift. 

And, yes, those of you who know me, I am saddened by the fact that we don't get to sit down together for dinner everynight anymore.  I guess we're entering a new season; at least we still get to have breakfast together.  Not having dinner together, though, means that important business, like our vote on what we're going to be for Halloween, has to be tabled until we can all be together.  (Yes, it's a very democratic process and a very big decision that we don't take lightly around here. :)

So, submit a CrockPot recipe or link to a recipe that you've tried out, and you'll be entered in the drawing for the laundry soap.

Please respond by Monday to be entered in the drawing.  Thanks!