Homemade Laundry Detergent from Homemaking911

My mother started making my family's laundry soap back in 2008. We were not sure how it would turn out, but thought we would give it a try. I thought it was odd, but was willing to go along for the adventure and see how it worked. We found that it did not take much time to make, only about fifteen minutes per batch, it cleaned just as well as the name brand detergents, our clothes still smelled good, and it did not cause problems in the high efficiency washing machine.

So we tried it and took pictures of every step to show others how easy it is to do at home and to show you what the mixture looks like at every stage. We originally posted them on her website Homemaking911, you can find the original post here. 

We purchased three ingredients at a total cost of under $11.00. This will make 8 batches of liquid laundry soap.
Soap (You need one bar per batch). We chose Ivory. If you use Fels Naptha, you will use less, about 1/3 of a bar.
Arm and Hammer Washing Soda (Available in the laundry area)
20 Mule Team Borax (Available in the laundry area)

Step One: Shred, chop or shave your soap into small pieces.

Step Two: Measure and start heating water. You will need 6 cups of water heated to melt the soap in a sauce pan. Add the soap and water to the pan.

Step Three: Once the soap is all dissolved, you stir in half a cup of Borax and half a cup of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda. Stir over the heat until it is all dissolved.

Step Four: Remove from heat and pour into a large bucket. I used a five gallon bucket, but a smaller bucket would have been just fine.

Step Five: Add four cups more of hot water to the bucket and stir until well blended.

Step Six: Add one gallon plus six cups of cold water to the mixture. Mix well. Let sit for 24 hours.

Store it in your old laundry soap bottle or other plastic container for easy pouring.

Ready to use! I used 1/4 of a cup because I have a high efficiency machine. Most would probably use half a cup. It looks like a liquid gel. A few notes from Christina: I love using our homemade laundry soap. I can change the smell of the soap to any scent I like by changing the bar soap I use for a batch. Just a note: if you add powdered Tide to the mixture for the smell, I personally love the smell of Tide, it simply sinks down to the bottom of the mixture but never dissolves. This was a bit of a disappointment, but the laundry soap still turned out great and the last few loads did smell like Tide. Another nice thing to note is that if you want your laundry soap to gel, leave it in an unsealed container overnight. It works best if it is stored in a cool place, but anywhere room temperature works just fine. Sometimes the consistency varies somewhat, some batches are almost slimy, others are more of a gel, while some are more of a liquid. This does not affect the quality of the soap at all. I have had the strangest looking batches, one was bright pink from using a pink bar of soap, and I have never had an issue with the quality of the clothes. The whites washes in the pink batch of soap still turned out as white as ever, much to my relief! Enjoy your homemade laundry soap! If you try it let me know how it worked for you!

Couponing Step-By-Step

ADD PICS: cutting individual pages, inserts including P&G week, stack of newspapers, binder with pages showing, binder zipped up
ADD AFFILIATE LINK: Jim Bob Howard's Class
So many people ask me how to coupon, and I can think of no better way than to tell you what I do every week. It isn't hard and usually takes me an average of about 5 hours a week from start to finish. There are some rules to know which I will post later that you will need to know, but for now here are the steps I go through every week to save big on my grocery bill.

1. Buying Your Coupons

In Louisville our Sunday papers cost anywhere from $1.00-$1.75. I just discovered this week that you can purchase them for $1 at the Dollar General where everything is a dollar. Go figure. There are also plenty of ways to find coupons without buying the Sunday paper. There are dozens of websites where you can print out coupons, or you can load e-coupons to your store loyalty card for paper-free couponing. In my experience the Sunday paper offers the biggest, and most consistent savings.

Saving Money using Coupons with Minimal Effort

ADD CF AFFILIATE
I love the phrase work smart, not hard. So many people think couponing has to be hard, complicated, and that it takes a lot of time to save you  very little money. While there are certainly are shopping trips that are more involved and require more thought and knowledge of coupons, most are very simple. If you are looking to start saving with coupons but are not sure where to start, here are a few ways to make saving money really easy and take up very little of your precious time. These probably will not save you as much money as the hard core couponing veterans will save, but you will save some money. After all, don't we all want lower grocery bills?

Extreme Couponing: Insane Yet Motivating

I have heard mixed reviews of the new show on TLC called Extreme Couponing. My mother and I called our coupon adventures extreme couponing long before the show came out, but we are nowhere as insane as the ladies on this show. They devote entire rooms in their home to their stockpiles, including any other spare room anywhere else in their homes. They talk about spending sixty hours a week couponing and some even watch houses in their neighborhood to be foreclosed on so they can take their newspapers for their coupon inserts. One comment the latest show I watched said made me a little frustrated. The woman featured said that she spends over sixty hours a week doing this and that anyone who said they are spending less than ten hours a week is lying.

This is exactly the type of thing that scares away people who are nervous about trying couponing! I spend less than ten hours a week almost weeks on my couponing from start to finish. There are weeks that I spend more time on it because there are an unusually large quantity of deals, or if I feel like spending more time trolling the aisles for other deals such as clearance and closeout deals that aren't advertised.

So if you have watched Extreme Couponing and feel like using coupons will turn you into a fanatic, don't be afraid. Couponing can be simple and easy, and it often is. If you want to spend an few hours a week saving money, you can. You don't have to fill six grocery carts and house a stockpile big enough to feed the US Army in your garage to save money.

Stay tuned for my next post for the quickest way to implement coupon savings into your regular shopping trips.

Crochet Amigurumi Bunny

I am a big fan of crocheting, it's one of my favorite hobbies. It is something that can be very inexpensive, can be shared with my friends and family, and it saves me a lot of money around the holidays because my homemade crocheted gifts are much cheaper than anything I would buy for my family.
I made this bunny to put into my hope chest which used to hold things for when I moved out on my own but now keeps things for my future children. It did not make it to the hope chest though because my when I showed it to my mother she asked jokingly if I made it for my little brother, Daniel. I love making things for Daniel because he is just so cute. At first he was actually afraid of it, but after a few days he grew to love it and now plays with it daily.
I love this pattern because I don't have to worry about any limbs getting damaged. I made sure to secure the ears on extra well to make sure they would not come off during a rough play sessions. The pattern isn't mine, and unfortunately I can't find the original. I suppose I will just have to do the next one from memory. 

Pyrex Free Sample Comes in the mail! :)

One of my favorite part about getting free samples that by the time they have come in the mail I have completely forgotten that they were coming. Many times I will go on a sample spree and sign up for anywhere from five to fifteen samples, then I might not for a month or two. I suppose I did this a few weeks ago because I recently got the cutest hot pan holder in the mail from Pyrex. We always seem to be short on hot pan holders at our house, so I was actually pretty excited about it. This coming in the mail made me excited again about getting free samples so I went out to Deal Seeking Mom and found more freebies. It's a fun thing to do that does not cost me anything but a little time and in return I get surprises in the mail- it's the ideal hobby!

Anticrastination with Rita Emmett

I used to have a serious procrastination problem. I would put off not just little things, even the very important things. I cannot tell you how many times I missed out on opportunities to save time and money, make money, and save myself very much stress.

I found this website and signed up for a newsletter which has really helped me to putt off procrastinating. It isn't a miracle cure that magically made me stop procrastinating, but it is very motivating. I do not read it every month but when I am feeling particularly unproductive, I go into the last month's newsletter and read her Anticrastination Tip Sheet. It has really helped me learn not to put things off so much. 

Sign up to get Rita Emmet's Anticrastination Tip Sheet here.

Getting Over the Flu

I was listening to the radio months ago and there was a very in depth discussion about how to get over the flu. The best thing the callers suggested was rest and Vicks VaporRub. The Vicks doesn't go on your chest as directed, however, instead you are supposed to put it on your feet and wear socks. Of course, I didn't get sick until recently. I thought that the Vicks on the feet was insane, but worth trying. Instead of using the name brand I tried something similar called Winter Breeze by one of my favorite companies, BeeYoutiful. They make awesome products that are all natural and their prices are actually reasonable unlike most brands with products made from natural ingredients.

I was shocked to find that after a few days of Vicks on my feet I actually felt a lot better. The cough did linger for a few days, but it was nothing compared to the days before the Winter Breeze. So the next time you have a cold or the flu, pick up some Winter Breeze here or use your Vicks VaporRub, throw on some socks, and get ready to be back on your feet in no time!
If you want to check our Winter Breeze, you can get yours from Homemaking911.com in the health section of their store. 

Gift To Grow Points

Rewards programs are so much fun. I love using my debit card because I know if I run it as credit, I earn points. I also like getting free things, so why not get rewards for doing things I was going to do anyway? I was thinking about this today as I was perusing Deal Seeking Mom today and came across a Pampers Gift to Grow points code. I usually take a moment when I find these and share them with the mothers I know who have a Gift to Grow account. This takes very little time, and so I wondered why I did not add all of these free codes to my own account. It's true that I do not have children yet therefore I'm not buying diapers, but if I keep up with the free codes then maybe I can get something free, even without purchasing anything.

When Was the Last Time You Checked Your Credit?

It wasn't my plan to buy a house any time soon because my husband was going to be career military. I also was planning to pay cash for any vehicles we purchased, so I didn't see the big deal with looking at my credit score. Now, however, with my husband considering other career options  and the knowledge that we will be buying a house in our hometown, I decided that I should check to see what our scores were.

I was surprised to find there were multiple things on my credit score that were incorrect. Not major things, but there were several addresses and phone numbers I did not recognize on the report. This wasn't a big deal, but it made me thankful I checked.  What if the wrong things had been big things? On Dave Ramsey's website, he talks about a woman who checked her credit score only to find that someone else's information had been mixed with hers due to a mix up of social security numbers. I would rather find out something like that sooner, not later. 

So when was the last time you checked your credit? Go get your free annual credit report from all three reporting agencies here today. 

Organizing Pays!

I have a confession to make: I have a problem, a serious addiction. I am addicted to organizing. Some people smoke, others drink, I go through my kitchen cabinets to figure out how to keep my pots and pans organized. I was going on an organizing binge when I came across some old gift cards that were misplaced in the shuffle of moving. I decided to keep them organized by putting a hole punch through one side and putting them on an extra key ring I had. Then after putting all the gift cards onto the ring, I decided not to stop there. I also pulled all of the membership cards I had cluttering my wallet and purse and put them on the ring also.

Next, I decided to check the balances on all the gift cards and write them on the back with a permanent marker so that when I went to use them I would know how much was available to spend. This revealed to me that I had a few Best Buy gift cards that I had a large balance on. I have been looking to get an in expensive camera to throw in my purse and bring to parties and events. Several years ago my family surprised me with a Canon EOS 30D which is a great camera, but I wanted something that was a little more portable and I would not have to worry about as much as my Canon. I found a Insignia NS-DSC10B that was free with my gift cards, I only had to pay for shipping.
So, yes, I do have a problem with organizing, however it just earned me a digital camera! Without organizing I would not have found these gift cards for a long time, so it is a problem that I'm happy to keep for a while at least.

Love Your Home

I am learning to simplify my life, beginning with the things I keep in my home. My mother has a great way of evaluating things. When we were going through things in my room when I was younger, she would ask me, "Do you love it?" and if the answer wasn't a yes, then it probably needed to go to another home. This applies to so many things. That fuzzy sweater Aunt Lucy made you for Christmas five years ago that you will never wear, the socks that stay at the bottom of your sock drawer because they are stretched out, books that you have intended to read for ages but have remained unread, these are all things that clutter up your home and make it harder to clean.

By removing the things that you don't absolutely love from your home, and your life, you make it possible to fill your life with the things that are truly important to you. Take the fuzzy sweater, for instance. It might hurt Aunt Lucy's feelings if you tell her about the sweater, but give yourself room to be honest. If you hate the sweater and you have not ever worn it then chances are you probably never will. It is taking up space in your closet and you might even feel dread every time you look at it. You do not have to announce that the sweater is going to Goodwill, either, so you do not have to feel guilty about how Aunt Lucy might feel if she knew. She won't know and it's your house, so put it in the donations box! Removing things from your home that you don't want or love will make your home a place where you can be comfortable. Imagine if all of the clothes in your closet were all your favorite things to wear. Wouldn't that be great? You can bring yourself one step closer to that dream by removing the clothes you don't love, or can't fit into.

Late Night Couponing Adventure

It was not my intention to go couponing tonight, but I found myself dreading going to bed alone and was missing my husband, so I thought it would be nice to have a little distraction. There is a Mega Sale this week at Kroger, so since I am less than 5 minutes away from a Kroger I thought tonight would be a perfect night to find some good deals.
My budget was $50, I hoped to find some low calorie snacks, yogurt, possibly some Mountain Dew for my husband when he gets home, and I wanted to check the prices on things I usually stock up on like hot sauce and maybe some hair products. I have been waiting for a long time to find cheap or free toothbrushes, so I hoped to find some of those too. Here is what I ended up taking home.

Great Deal on Chicken

My mother has a membership to a store called Restaurant Depot which is very similar to GFS but is for business owners. We were able to get a great price on chicken, $1.25 a pound, when we bought a whole case. So, I got forty pounds of boneless skinless chicken breast but realized when I got home that I had no plan for all of this chicken. So, here are the quick and easy marinades I made all from things I already had in my pantry. After all, I had already bought forty pounds of chicken, I really did not want to spend money on anything else extra.
Here are the ways I prepared my chicken. All of these recipes are for 2 chicken breasts. After combining all ingredients in a freezer bag I put them in the freezer. It's great to know that I have a lot of different meals in the freezer that were easy to make and will be easy to cook. Any of these recipes can be put in the crock pot for 4 hours on high, baked at 350 degrees for an hour, or grilled. I love cooking but I don't always have the time or energy to come up with something different.

Italian Chicken:

• McCormick Italian Seasonings
• Oil
• Salt & Pepper

Thanks for the Bad Day and Horrible Hair! :)

There are days where everything just seems overwhelmingly horrible. Things that did not bother us days ago drive us crazy and all of the challenges in our life seem insurmountable. Yesterday was one of those days for me. My husband has been gone since November of last year and I miss him terribly. The only thing keeping him away from me is paperwork, and that drives me crazy. We usually can only talk on the weekends, but every time my phone rings I still wish and hope that it is him calling. I am not a person of few words, and so I feel so disconnected from him when we can't talk frequently. Most days I am alright, but yesterday I just wanted to talk to him and hear his voice.

My thirteen year old sister Sarah also went into the hospital with abdominal pain a few days ago, but was told that it was no more than she needed to eat more fiber. She just had her braces put on, so because her teeth were so sore she was primarily eating smoothies. In the process of finding out what was wrong with her, however they uncovered a large cyst on her ovaries. The ER doctor told my parents it was no big deal, but the pediatrician called the next day to tell them another story, that she needed  to be seen immediately and have it checked out. It should not wait. She has an appointment with the doctor soon, but I still worry about her. She has no idea about the cyst because my parents do not want to worry her needlessly. I feel so anxious about her, I did not know how to cope with it.

Weight Loss Without Radical Dieting or Exercise Part 2

I was so proud of the little changes that I had made, especially of eliminating late night snacking and having self control with the foods I loved. I also added more fruits and veggies to my diet which naturally are a lot lower in carbs then bread or pasta. I also started eating fat free snacks when I was craving sweets. Eating oranges instead of Ben and Jerry's does make a big difference.

It wasn't until this February when I moved into my new apartment that I got really motivated to start doing any major exercising. I felt the need to become a new person for the new apartment. After all, I had updated my home, why not update my body? I was also diagnosed as pre-diabetic and told by the doctor that the best thing I could do to help was to exercise and lose weight while watching my blood sugar levels and carb levels in each meal.

Weight Loss Without Radical Dieting or Exercise Part 1

We all want to change our bodies. We don't like our hips, our nose, or the way our hair never wants to stay straight in humid weather. Sometimes it's little cosmetic things, other times it is not so trivial. Sometimes we want to change so that our bodies are a healthy weight or so that we are fit enough to be able to take walks or jogs with our loved ones without being out of breath and exhausted.

When I got married I was 165 pounds. Of course, I still wanted to lose some inches, but overall I was proud of the way my body looked. I had worked hard to look good in my dress and I loved the results. After we got married I was diagnosed with a condition called Interstitial Cystitis (or IC) which is a non-bacterial infection in the lining of my bladder, I found myself in near constant pain and discomfort. It affected intimacy with my husband and I was constantly running to the restroom. A visit to the gynecologist helped me so much, she prescribed a medicine to help me manage the pain while dealing with other treatment options.

Writing to the Congressman

My husband called me today and said that I might be able to get him home sooner by writing to our Congressman. I had not considered writing to a politician to get my husband home sooner, but I was willing to try it. So I found Congressman Yarmuth's website and sent him a letter. I was not sure what to expect, but the next week I received a phone call from his office and was told that they were going to launch an official congressional inquiry as to what is holding him up. It is not guaranteed to help get him home sooner, but it might and at the very least it will give us a reason why is still stuck in Georgia.
So now I am wondering what other things we want to change that can be helped by writing to a Congressman. What are things you would change about your city or state? What problems would you want your congressman to solve?

Dog Park: A Worthy Investment

I spent $30 on a membership for my dog Katy to become a member of the Louisville Dog Parks. She is a very nervous dog who is afraid of everything. People, other dogs, loud noises and the car all make her cower on the ground and shake. So, I have been working on introducing her to more people and now have decided that she needs to be socialized with other dogs. The dog park membership allows me access to four dog parks around town, but so far I have only visited the one closest to my home. We have been going every afternoon for a week and already she is playing with other dogs and will run around instead of hiding under the bench where I am sitting or between my legs.
I have even noticed that on our walks she is more confident and seems curious about new situations. She is still afraid of the car and gets carsick, but hopefully with time she will get over that too. for now, I am just happy that she has room to run around off leash and play.

Steamed Carrots

Carrots - the word alone makes my nose wrinkle in disgust. Yes, they're healthy and I know they are full of healthy vitamins and antioxidants, but I just don't like them all that much. Crunchy and bland tasting, I only like them cooked with brown sugar which defeats the purpose of eating the healthy food in the first place. Since moving into the new apartment, I have been watching Food Network and find myself inspired. While I'm not trying anything particularly challenging yet, I have tried a few new things in the kitchen. So, what better food to try than something fat free and very healthy?

I made steamed carrots using my rice cooker which came with a steamer bowl attachment. It took a little longer than the instructions in the manual recommended, I cooked it for 18 minutes when only 10 was recommended. I added a little fat free I Can't Believe It's Not Butter and a pinch of salt, and it was delicious. I was more than a little shocked by how much I loved it, I actually ended up making more. 

So, thank you Food Network. I'm not making Coq au Vin, I have found a new vegetable I'm actually excited to eat and it was SO easy. What is the world coming to?

Groupon Deal for a 5 Cheap Dates!

I told you a little while ago about Groupon.com and that I found one great deal, and I am very excited to say I found another one!
My husband still isn't home, we are still waiting on paperwork to process, but I still am looking for ways that we can have fun and go out once he gets home without spending over our budget. The Comedy Caravan is a local comedy club that my husband loves visiting. He loves comedy in general, so I am really excited because I got a great deal on the tickets. I paid $10 for a set of two tickets to see comedy shows. I could have paid $15 for a pair of tickets to a weekend show, but we don't mind going to a show on a week night, so I opted for the cheaper tickets.
I ended up spending $50 on five sets of tickets, which was a little painful, but I have to realize I'm saving a lot of money. We could have a nice dinner at home then go out and have a date night for only $10! I have already paid for them, so it won't use any money from our budget when he gets home.
I can't wait to find my next Groupon deal!

Groupon.com First Deal!

I wrote last week about Groupon.com, and I've been checking the site every day for a great deal to share. I found a wonderful deal for here in Louisville, KY for an optometrist. I paid $49 (normally $73) for a visit and $150 off a pair of glasses. Now, I would not consider the visit alone for $49 a good deal because there are always places like Dr. Bizer's Vision World having specials for around that, but the discount on glasses will be great. I'd say I am certainly sold on using Groupon!

You can find deals like this for your city too here. They also have a iPhone app, so you can find the deals on your phone. I love using my phone, so this is my favorite way to find the Groupon deals.

Louisville Half Off - More Amazing Deals

My husband loves eating out. If it were more economical, we would probably eat out at least four or five times a week. I know that when he gets home he'll want to go out with friends to celebrate being home and able to eat non-Army food.

So, since he'll probably be home in about a month, I have started looking at Louisville Half Off to see if they have any gift certificates for places he likes to eat. See, just as the title says, all the gift certificates are half off. So we could have a $50 dinner for the two of us for only $25! I'm not sure about you, but I think that's pretty awesome. And maybe I'll even be able to find a coupon for our dinners - wouldn't that be insane?

So If you live in Louisville - visit Louisville Half Off and get saving!

Louisville Half Off

Funny Smell That Won't Go Away?

I love fragrances. Candles and lotions, body wash, I even use Aussie hair spray because it smells good! So when a not-so-nice smell appeared in my second bedroom, I wasn't too happy. It quickly became apparent that Katy probably went potty a little on the futon mattress. Oh the joys of dog ownership!

I aired out the room and mattress for 2 days, and throughly cleaned the futon with a water and vinegar solution. The smell went away for a little while, but reappeared yesterday evening. I decided to try baking soda sprinkled on top the mattress, letting it sit for 30 minutes, scrubbing it in with a scrub brush, then vacuuming away the excess. The baking soda I vacuumed up did absorb some of the smell, so I decided to take no chances. I flipped the mattress over and sprinkled the baking soda again, but left it overnight instead of half an hour.

I am happy to report there are no more funny smells in my apartment! Just to make sure, though, I am putting a old jar with holes in the lid under the futon to absorb any other lingering odor. Thank goodness for baking soda!

Organizing, Cleaning, Unpacking and More Unpacking,

I love organizing. Isn't it great to look at a pile of stuff, then sort it all out and find a new way to store it all in a way that actually makes sense? Moving to my new apartment, I vowed that I would no longer have bags, baskets, and boxes filled with all the random stuff that would not fit other places. After the third consecutive hour of unpacking and organizing today, I sat down on the futon sitting in my extra bedroom and just sat there, admiring the fact that I had extra closet space. In my old apartment, the only reason that a closet would be that empty was if we had to empty the entire closet because we were looking for something. 

One thing we had trouble with in the last apartment was having boxes that I knew the purpose of, but my husband didn't. So when we were cleaning, my husband had no idea where things went. I am a huge fan of boxes, bins and baskets, so as I am deciding on places I am labeling them. Hopefully this will help my husband be able to find the correct place for things, but it would not hurt to have a reminder for me too! 

Well, the boxes and their labels are calling again. I have many boxes to unpack and label before I'll be satisfied with my work today. How do you keep your house organized? 

Groupon.com

I have seen ads on Facebook over and over again for Groupon.com, and I was not sure about it. It seemed gimmicky to me, and so I did not sign up. It was not until a friend told me about a great deal she got on a gym membership for more than half off with no strings attached that I joined.

The website was very simple to sign up for, you can use Facebook to login or just put your full name and email, and you're ready to go.
I only joined yesterday, but I'm already excited to see what great deals I can find. I'll let you know as soon as I find something I can't live without! Have you ever used Groupon? What deals have you taken advantage of.

Boxes, Dog Training, and Wonderful News!

I am so thrilled. I just got a call from my husband, Jonathan, who is currently in Fort Benning, GA in training with the Army. He might be home within the month! It will be so nice to be able to have him home to share our new apartment with him. It's been very difficult to have him gone, but staying busy is the best thing.
 Right now I am trying to decide how best to organize the house so that hopefully we can keep things in some semblance of order. We had almost no closet space in our old apartment- it's quite a change to now have a walk in closet, or "walking closet" as my little brother David calls it, not to mention a linen closet and laundry room, plus a second bedroom. I almost don't know what to do with so much space!

So this week I hope to go thru the kitchen and label the inside of the cabinet doors with what should go on each shelf. That way my husband can not only find things, but he will be able to put things away where they actually go! At the old apartment we were aways struggling to keep everything orderly, but that's hard when my sense of where things should go is very definite, where my husband is much more flexible. Flexibility is a really good thing, and I love that he is that way, but it was very frustrating to both of us that we could never find everything. I am very excited to think that we'll both be able to use the kitchen and be able to find everything!
I will post pictures when everything is labelled and organized.

Kong Tips for the New User

If you are thinking of using Kongs, here are some tips that I have learned the hard way or others have shared with me. Hope they help you as much as they have me!

Always supervise your dog the first few times you give them a new chew toy of any kind, especially if you have a dog who is an aggressive chewer such as a Pitt Bulls or Rottweilers. Kongs are very durable, but no dog toy is indestructible.

Make sure to get to correct size Kong. If you are not sure about what size is good for your dog, check out the official Kong sizing chart. Don't go with a smaller size than is recommended for your dog's size and weight. They might swallow it whole, causing a possibly life threatening situation, not to mention a very expensive vet bill!

The sales lady at the Feeder's Supply gave me some great advice. She told me if you are trying to decide between two sizes, go with the larger size. They hold more food which means less work packing food inside!

If you intend to feed your dog using only Kongs, buy enough Kongs to hold 2 days worth of food. This allows you freeze one day's Kongs so you don't have to repack them every day, or multiple times a day. Buying different kids of Kongs, not just the Classic, will help keep Fido entertained. We bought 2 Activity Balls (also called Stuff-A-Balls) which are great. The normal Kongs don't take long to be emptied out, but the Activity balls filled with Kibble keep your pet playing for longer. We also like the Genius Kong, it's the Mike. The large size holds an entire day's worth of food for our dog, which is great.

After filling a Kong with too much peanut butter for my dog one day, I was left with a challenge: how to clean the sticky gooey mess out. After a little bit of Googling, I found an easy solution: a baby bottle brush. This works like a charm and it is so much easier than anything else I tried. Now, I can put peanut butter, honey, or any other stick substance without dreading having to clean it out. They are dishwasher safe, so once a week or so I put them through on the top rack.

Hope these tips help you!

Christina 

Kongs - Fad or Useful Tool?

If you own a dog, or are considering adopting one, you will probably hear about Kongs. They are rubber chew toys that come in different sizes and strengths that allow you to pick which one is best for your dog. They came highly recommended to us by our vet, but I wasn't sure how they would help us with Katy.

When we brought home our little Beagle Katy, she serious issues with confidence. We were told that she was most likely abused before she was found the pound. She had serious separation anxiety and whenever my husband and I left her alone in the house, she would bark, whine, roll her cage and tear up anything she could get a hold of. Once I came home to find her bloody where she had worked herself into such a frenzy that she destroyed the plastic base in her crate.

After my husband left for training with the Army at Ft. Benning, the symptoms only worsened. In desperation I called our vet and they recommended hiring a trainer from a company called Bark Busters, and only feeding her using the Kongs. I bought the Kongs on the way home, after all what did I have to lose, and started packing her kibble in them.

It took her a few days to really get into using the Kong, but after that she grew to love them! After 3 months of use, the Kongs I have purchased for around $8 each don't show any signs of wear and tear. I highly recommend the Classic Kongs, although we also use the Activity Balls, and Genius Kong regularly. as a chew toy and as a method of feeding your four legged friend. For an investment of less than $10 and a little creativity you can keep your pet entertained and happy for hours on end. It's well worth it to me to know that when I leave the house and put Katy in her crate, she has something fun to do to keep her happy.

For more information about stuffing your Kongs, visit the Kong Recipes Page.

Chopsticks and Baby Bottle Brushes

I believe the phrase, "Work smart, not hard." If you do things the smart way, you can move on to the fun things that much sooner. So, I am pleased that I have found two really easy ways to clean out my dog's Kongs with minimal effort. If you have a big treat stuck inside one of your Kongs that your dog cannot get it out, there is a very simple solution. Chopstiks! I use a chopstick and stick it through the small hole of the Kong and push the treat out. My father in law has a Chinese restaurant, so we always have chopsticks in the house.
I also have a problem with peanut butter and other sticky substances being stuck in the bottom of the Kong. A baby bottle brush takes care of that with no problems. Afterward I throw the Kongs in the top rack of the dishwasher and they are good as new!

Moving, Dog Care, and a Hurt Ankle

There are so many things going on this week and while I'm very excited about all of the changes, but it's going to be a lot to keep me busy.

Firstly, I am moving to a new apartment. I'm upgrading from a one bedroom, one bath with no washer and dryer to a newer apartment with two bedrooms and bathrooms, with a washer and dryer! While it means more money, having the washer and dryer alone would be worth all the effort of a move! I'm sure that my parents and friends are tired of seeing me come to their house with overflowing laundry baskets and a jug of homemade laundry soap. 

Secondly, my mother and I are in a weight loss contest, to see who can lose the most weight in a month. Our final weigh-in will be on the 23rd of this month. I have only lost 5 lbs, however I am sure that I have been gaining muscle. I started jogging with my two year old little Beagle, Katy, instead of just walking. We were walking for 15-20 minutes a day, three times a day, until I took a fall and sprained an ankle. So for the next few days I'm going to be taking it easy as much as possible and hopefully I'll keep any extra weight off during all the moving. 

Lastly, I am also babysitting a friend's one year old twins Monday through Thursday. So while packing, unpacking, organizing, and doing laundry in my new washer and dryer, I'll also be changing diapers, picking up finger foods, and wiping little noses. Oh, the joys of change!

Well, off to go do some packing!