Rasberry Fluff

16 oz. vanilla yogurt
16 oz. cool whip
1 small package instant vanilla pudding 11⁄2 cups milk
12 oz. raspberries
Fold together the vanilla yogurt and cool whip. In a separate bowl mix the instant vanilla pudding and milk together. Fold the pudding into the yogurt and cool whip mixture. Mix in raspberries. Refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours or overnight. Stir before serving, the raspberries leave a nice looking swirl pattern. 

Megan Warnick served this at a RS meeting last night.  It was delicious!  If I make it, I think I might use 1 cup of real whipping cream that has been thickened and sweetened insteat of the cool whip.

Corn Chowder

In frying pan, cook one large chopped onion until tender in butter or bacon grease:

 Put the following in large pot:

• 1 cup carrots, sliced small
• 1 cup cubed potatoes
• 1 cup celery

Cover with water and cook until tender

Add

• cooked chopped onion
• 1 #2 can creamed corn (20 oz)
• 1 can mushroom soup
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 2 cups milk (adds more flavor if one cup is canned milk)

Heat and serve

I got this recipe when I was first married 35 years ago.  It is  easy and tasty. 

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Mary Hunt published a recipe for laundry detergent in our local paper.  I gave it a try and really like the end results.  (Especially the cost...she claims it is 3 to 5 cents per load.)

click on article to read

 Quick and Easy Homemade Laundry Detergent

3 tablespoons borax
3 tablespoons washing soda
2 tablespoons Original Blue Dawn dishwashing liquid.

Find a one-gallon container with a tight -fitting lid.  Pour in the borax, washing soda and liquid Dawn.  Add two cups of very hot water.  Apply the lid and shake until the soda and borax have dissolved.  Now fill the container with cold water.  reapply the lid, label and you're done.  To use:  Add 1 to 2 cups to each load of laundry depending on the size and soil levels.

Note:  Unlike commercial detergents, this is very thin - like water.  That's the way it's supposed to be.  Even though this is not a thick liquid, it works just as well, so don't let that concern you.  Instead start thinking of how you'll use the money you're go longer spending on pricey commercial laundry detergent!

Note #2:  Mary later wrote another column with a concentrated version.  The ingredients are still the same.

Concentrated version:

3/4 cup washing soda
3/4 cup borax
1/2 cup Blue Dawn dishwashing liquid
1 gallon hot water.

Use 1/4 cup of the concentrate per load of laundry.  (You can experiment until you discover the least you can use in your washer.  If you use too much detergent you'll have trouble getting it all out in the rinse.  Hint:  If your laundry comes out of the dryer stiff and scratchy, that's a sure sign that the detergent did not rinse out properly.)  



Mary Hunt is the founder of www.DebtProofLiving.com, a personal finance member website.  

I bought my ingredients at Walmart.  For my one-gallon container with a tight fitting lid, I used an old 1 gallon water container from Costco.  I'll have to be sure to label it as laundry detergent so no one will think it is blue Kool-Aid and try to drink it. I also noticed that it was hard to dissolve the powders just by shaking it in the hot water.  I put the powders and hot water in a pot and heated and stirred until it was dissolved.  I put in the Dawn dishsoap last so it wouldn't suds up when I added the last of the water.