Homemade Disposable Baby Wipes Tutorial

4/20/11 This is a revisited post updated with a breakdown of prices in parentheses next to the ingredients.  Prices may vary according to your area.  I recommend using the generic baby oil and shampoo but using quality paper towels.  Buy the paper towels in bulk (use your coupons too) for best prices.  Watch the sales.  Paper towels don't expire.  ;)  My cost for homemade wipes?  74 1/2 cents for a batch of 70 wipes.  So, YES, homemade wipes are cheaper than Wal-Mart wipes.

1/2 roll Quality Paper Towels    (58 1/2 cents for the half roll when bought in bulk)
1/2 Tbsp. Baby Shampoo or Baby Bath    (5 cents)
1/2 Tbsp. Baby Oil    (5 cents)
1 drop of Tea Tree Oil    (6 cents)
container for wipes
1 1/4 cups water

Start with some good quality paper towels like Bounty. Yes, this truly turns out FAR cheaper than store-bought baby wipes even with Bounty. It makes a difference.  Don't waste time and extra money by buying the cheap stuff.  I hear Viva is good too for wipes.

Unwrap them. We're doing a whole lot at once because we change a WHOLE lot of diapers in Pookieville. AND because I am all about efficiency. No sense getting the knife and cutting board out every three days when I need wipes again. And I do not make enough wipes to last a week. I'll get to that later.

 

Now get yourself a cutting board and a knife.  Do NOT use a serrated knife.  I made that mistake for YEARS (yeah, I'm s-l-o-w sometimes).  It causes a huge fluffy mess.  Even the electric serrated knife makes a mess.  Just use the knife your grandma gave you that ended up being your favorite knife even though it doesn't match any of your other knives.  You know the one. 

Cut it in half.  When cutting it sometimes makes a squeaky sound that upsets my chi. This is to be expected and does not lower the awesomeness of homemade wipes.

Now, I like to use purified or distilled water to lower the chances of anything growing.  And I heat it in the microwave in a glass measuring cup until it boils which is 2-3 minutes. 

 

Remove the paper tube from the center.  Just work it loose and pull it out.  It's a little easier if you wait until the roll is wet to pull out the center.  But soggy paper towel tube wigs me out.  I dunno.

 

Add 1/2 tbsp (1 1/2 tsp) baby shampoo/bath to the 1 1/4 cup of boiled water.

 

Add 1/2 tbsp. baby oil to the water/ baby bath mix.

Add 2-3 drops of tea tree oil (not to be taken internally by gremlins- or anyone)

Pour over the paper towels in container.

 

Watch out for the steam!

All done!

The tea tree oil helps prevent mildew from growing on the wipes.  But even with tea tree oil they will mildew in about a week (at least here on the central west coast).  So that's why we only do one-half roll at a time.  It's really fast once you've got the supplies close by.  I keep them on top my fridge and whip them together between doing dishes or cooking dinner. 

These are ready to use as soon as cool enough.  My kids love to hug the warm container.

This post is linked at http://www.lifeasmom.com/ , Tales from Bloggeritaville, My Coupon Teacher, Finding Fabulous, 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven

Family Vacation Prep

Next week we are going on a super fun family vacation!  We will be traveling 800 miles to our first ever family reunion for my side of the family.  That's my parents, my siblings, and our kids. 

But before we go to the family reunion, we are taking the kids to Sea World. 

Some necessities for going on vacation with 6 and a half kids under 8 1/2?  Zoloft.  And lots of it.  Just kidding!

I started my list:

Water.


Playpens.


diapers.

Music, not just this kind.


Games.

Magna Doodles.

Audio Books to listen to.

Pre-rationed snacks in ziploc bags.

I referred to this awesome post, about driving with kids, from Kristen at We are THAT Family.  I've referred to her post multiple times during my preparation.

Yesterday, after we went bowling for Bun's birthday, we went to the library to look for books on CD and tape for Danny and me to listen to on the trip to help us stay awake.  Then we decided that it might be fun for the kids to listen to books also.

I asked a library employee where I could locate the children's audio books.  I was directed to a section labeled "Playaways." 

He said, "You can check the battery right here to make sure it's working and just plug it in to any headset."

I was like, "Oh, okay."  Hmm... I'll just ask Danny what these new-fangled contraptions are and what kind of music player they go in.  He's pretty up-to-date on that sort of thing.

The library employee continued to explain how handy these "Playaways" are for travel on planes and car trips, etc. 

So, I finally just said, "What do these plug into again?"

He said, "Any earphones or headset should plug right into it.  You just press 'play' to play or pause, this button forwards to the next track, you can speed up the book to play it fast..." he continued.

Then I forgot to use my library voice.

"Danny!  Check this out!  All you have to do is plug in headphones and listen!  Isn't that amazing?!  We should checkout a bunch!"

We checked out ten books on playaways and this one of gross and silly songs.  They sell these new-fangled thingamajigs on Amazon and probably other places too.  But check your library-- that's the frugal thing to do!

 The employee told me that these things are often sent with troops going overseas.  They are also great for when you're jogging and that they're virtually indestructible so you can hand them over to your kids to use.

That's good.  Because I bought four new kid-head-size headphones for the trip.  I expect peaceful driving. 

Making your OWN homemade pizza

Sorry, I couldn't figure out the blogger option to make this into a scratch-n-sniff sticker. 

This here is homemade combination pizza with one side being the fantastic green bell pepper, LOADS of sliced fresh mushrooms, shredded mozzarella and pepperoni slices side, and the other side being Gabbers friendly - no mushrooms, no bell peppers. 

How do you make sure you don't accidentally throw off the balance of the universe and egads! serve your Gabbers bell peppers and mushrooms? 

You put one sliced mushroom on the mushroom side and one sliced olive on the olive side (both being on top the pepperoni) to identify it correctly.  

Time to make your own homemade pizza.  First of all, start with a decent dough.  This dough is what we use.  We like it.  It works great.  It's pretty inexpensive. 

You can even prepare the dry ingredients weeks and weeks ahead of time and save in the freezer in quart containers. This will make pizza night prep even easier.

Now you need a good sauce.  Please do not use a jar of spaghetti sauce-- unless you want it to taste like the pizza in elementary school.  Use Mom's recipe. 

Sauce:

one 8-ounce can tomato sauce

one 6-ounce can tomato paste

1 tablespoon olive oil (optional)

1 teaspoon oregano or 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed

1/8 teaspoon crushed dried hot red chili peppers (optional)

Warm all ingredients together in a covered saucepan over lowest heat about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Keep warm until ready to use.  Makes enough sauce for 2 to 3 pizzas.

It's easy, it's frugal, and freezes well.

I like to make a big batch and freeze it for future use. This way I only take the time to make it once, but use it on a dozen pizzas.

Assembling Pizza:

1.  Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

2.  Divide dough in half.

3.  Roll each piece of dough on a very lightly floured surface until it is about 12 to 14 inches in diameter (about the size of your pizza pan).  (NOTE:  Do not make dough too thin in the middle.)

4.  Pick up dough carefully, folding it over your arm.  Gently place dough onto pizza pan, being careful not to press dough into pan.  Form crust by rolling edge of dough, again being careful not to press dough into pizza pan.

5.  Spread sauce onto dough very carefully.  (NOTE:  Too much sauce will allow cheese to slide off after pizza is cooked.)  Evenly spread shredded (or thinly sliced) mozzarella cheese (6 ounces maximum per pizza) onto pizza.  If desired, sprinkle parmesan cheese over mozzarella.

Now add your favorite toppings!  Try not to use thick-sliced pepperoni; it makes for a greasy pizza.  Make sure if you do use pepperoni, it's on the top layer. 

Our favorite toppings:

sliced mushrooms- I prefer fresh but will used canned versus none at all

sliced black olives

sweet onions

pepperoni

green bell peppers

mozzarella

Jimmy Dean sausage (browned and crumbled first)

Bake for about 7 to 15 minutes or when crust starts browning and cheese in the middle of the pizza is bubbly. 

Remove pizza from oven, slide pizza from pan onto serving pan or large cutting board.  Slice and serve.

TIP:  Pizza pans with holes in the bottom will allow crust to have a better texture and not be soggy.  I'm not a fan of using pizza stones.    

 What's on YOUR pizza?

This post is linked at:  LifeasMom's Frugal Friday and Frugalicious Friday

What's grosser than gross?

When you finish eating a bowl of rice and the last one crawls away. 

Does that take you back to Jr. High?  Now that you're thoroughly grossed out I'm going to tell you how brown rice can be dinnertime's best friend.

Rice is cheap.  Chee-eap.  And I am a frugal fanatic.  So it didn't take long for our friendship to blossom. 
Did you know you can freeze rice?  Freezing brown rice is especially handy in individual serving sizes.  If you have leftover rice at the end of dinner, just scoop it into a freezer-safe container or zippered bag and FREEZE. 

Since I rarely have the need to make a single serving of rice, I thought I'd emphasize freezing in meal-size servings for your family. 

Brown rice tends to be drier than white rice and chewier.  Freezing it and rewarming gives it the time it needs to soften up-- but not turn it to mush. 

If it seems dry as you're reheating it, just add a little water.  Start with a tablespoon and see if you need more. 

Rice does not last long in our humidity.  It gets weird and turns slimy.  Then I get so freaked out by slimy smelly rice that I don't end up making it for months.

I cook up two cups more than we need for a meal and freeze the leftovers in 1 qt. Ziploc containers. 

If you have a rice pot, it's way easy. If you're making rice on the stove top, just make a little more. You'll be surprised at how having a staple like rice already made and in the freezer speeds up dinner prep.
One stress-free day, don't laugh it happens sometimes, I made a FULL pot of brown rice just for the purpose of freezing.  Then I divvyed it up, washed the pot, and made ANOTHER pot of brown rice.  It's been a dinner rescuer many times.


A few meals made easier in our home with frozen rice:

Chicken soup with rice
Fast beans (a family favorite)
Creamed Tuna on Rice
Canned Salmon and rice (another family favorite)

Sausage Casserole
This recipe is from my mother-in-law.  I have varied it slightly to the likes of my family.  The original recipe has sausage, onion, celery, rice, and noodle soup.

1 lb. Jimmy Dean sausage
1 large onion chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 cups finely chopped or sliced celery
1 carrot grated
1 cup sliced mushrooms (or chopped if you have a food snob)

2 cups brown rice cooked
2 packages Lipton Noodle soup
3 cups water


1.  In a large skillet or 4 qt. casserole pan (stovetop safe), brown the sausage, onion, celery, carrot, and mushrooms.  Drain any grease.

2.  In a separate pan bring the 3 cups of water to a boil.  Add the noodle soup and cook for 7 minutes.  Remove from heat.  You can do this at the same time as the first step if you're coordinated.

3.  Mix all the ingredients together (including the rice).

4.  Serve!  If you like it a little more cooked (less-liquidy) bake it in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes.





This post is linked at Coupon Teacher's Thifty Thursday, Thrifty Thursday, Frugal Friday, and Frugalicious Friday.

Fleece Diaper Pockets Tutorial

Fleece diaper pockets are a frugal semi-crunchy mama’s dream.  They work much better than just a fleece liner because they won’t bunch up.  The fleece pulls the wetness inside the diaper and the baby feels dry longer. 

When changing the diaper, just pull the diaper and doubler out of the fleece and toss them all in the diaper pail together.  If it’s poopy, pull the diaper and doubler out and all you have to rinse is the fleece pocket.  A lightweight fleece pocket is so much easier to rinse than a big-ole poopy prefold.

Look for remnants of fleece to make these pockets.  I actually bought the fleece for $4.44 a yard at Wal-Mart and got 14 out of each yard.  With tax, it's still less than 30 cents a piece. 

Gather your supplies:  Fleece, measuring tape or ruler, scissors, diaper, cover, and doubler.

Lay your prefolded diaper on the fleece to get an idea of how big to sew the fleece diaper pocket.  Allow for an extra half inch around. 

Cut a piece big enough to fold it in half sideways. ←→ Also make sure your stretch is ←this way→.  Fleece only stretches one direction.  This is very important that you make sure it goes sideways.  It is a hassle to try to stuff a fleece pocket when the stretch is going the other way.  I did that once and ended up chucking that pocket because it was so dang annoying.

Sew a straight stitch along the top and down one side (not the folded side).

Turn right side out.

 

Now stuff it.  mwahaha.  *ahem*

All stuffed.

Place stuffed fleece pocket in cover.  I prefer Proraps. 

Put on Tater, or whatever cute baby you have laying around your house. 

So comfy!  I think I might just . . . ahh! 

Spare fleece pockets and one already stuffed diaper, just in case.

If you like what you read here, follow me on my journey.  I’d love to have you along.  :)

This post is linked at Thrifty Thursdays, Frugal Fridays, My Coupon Teacher’s Thrifty Thursdays, and Frugalicious Friday. and Homemaker Mondays, and A Soft Place to Land.

Homemade Pizza Dough

Pizza Kits next to the Dinner Rolls Kits

Long ago, in house not far from here
but many years ago,
well almost six actually,
we used to have
Friday Night Pizza.

And now, after living in the Frozen North,
and back here again on the west coast,
Friday Night Pizza is back.

The cheering, the celebrating, the happy children
are all great reasons
to start up yet again, Friday Night Pizza.

And cuz it's frugal.  And you know me, I. am. frugal.  It's my middle name, you know?
Nikki Frugal McMuffin (That's not really my last name.  It doesn't even start with "Mc."  Just sounded good at the time.)

So pizza tomorrow for Friday Night Pizza will be made with a pizza dough kneaded in the bread machine.

4 1/2 cups of flour
2 Tbsp. yeast
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups very warm water.

Just four little ingredients start off your family's new Friday Night Pizza tradition too.

Dump them in and press the dough button.

1 hour and 20 minutes later take it out.   Punch it down.  Shape into two crusts.  Top with your favorite toppings, and bake at 500 degrees for about 12 minutes.

Guess what?  I just learned how to toss pizza dough.  I just googled "How to toss pizza dough" and watched a video.  It was way easier than I thought.  :)

This post is linked at Thrifty Thursdays and Frugal Fridays.