I tried that!: Whole wheat pancake mix

Whole wheat pancake mix

ingredients:
5 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 TBSP Baking powder
4 tsp baking soda
4 tsp salt

Directions:
Whisk all ingredients together and store in an air tight container.

To make pancakes
1 cup of the mix
1 cup of milk
1 egg
2 TBSP oil
Mix until well blended.

The mix is a little runny when you first make it but, if you make it ahead of time it gets a little thicker as it sits. Once it thickens up a little it works great for waffles too! I have used this mix just I would for any Bisquick recipe and it works just the same and is much cheaper to make!

I tried that! Make your own produce bags from t-shirts

Produce Bags

Supplies:

old t-shirts ( I used my 7 year old son's shirts that he grew out of.)
A pair of scissors
sewing machine



Directions:

First; you are going to cut off the neck line,bottom seem and arms of the shirt.I cut the neck line shallow for this bag. Second; turn the shirt inside out and sew the bottom up.If you have a surger sewing machine I would surge it first then sew it for extra hold. Now just snip rows of small holes down the length of the bag for breathing and your done!
Happy crafting

I tried that!: DIY dryer ball

I stopped using dryers sheets at the beginning of this year as part of my pledge to live a more sustainable life style. Here is one I have been using for about a month that seems to work.

Aluminum foil dryer ball

Supplies:

Aluminum foil

Directions:

Cut off a sheet of aluminum foil big enough to make a ball the size of your palm. Crunch the foil up and put in your dryer. The ball does shrink down after the first run through the dryer so don't make your ball too small or you will need to make two and that's it.

I tried that!: All Purpose Citrus Vinegar Cleaner

Lemon Rosemary Citrus Cleaner

Ingredients

distilled vinegar
lemon peels-just the peels and pith, not the edible inside parts.
fresh rosemary, 3 or 4 sprigs
vanilla extract (optional)
essential oils (optional) adding a few drop to the spray bottle will help with the vinegary smell

 Supplies
jars or other containers that you can seal
spray bottle (the bigger ones are best)
a funnel
a wire mesh strainer or mason jar lid strainer for filtering out the fruit and herbs from the vinegar when done.

Begin by preparing the lemons, I found it easiest to cut up the lemon into quarters and then peel the skin off the sections. This way it comes off fairly easily and cleaner. You don't want any of the edible part, as it will cloud your solution and make it sticky. Add in 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract, a couple rosemary sprigs, and the fill to the top with lemon peels. Pour in enough vinegar to cover all the peels, cover tightly and let for 2 weeks ( or as long as a month), shaking the jar every few days to redistribute the contents.Strain jar and store for up to one year.
Dilute the concentrate before use by mixing in a spray bottle at a rate of 1/3 cup of vinegar concentrate to 2/3 cups water. Add 3 or 4 drops of essential oils to enhance the scent. Not recommended for marble or granite surfaces.

I tried that! DIY Hot tigers balm

I love Tigers balm it relieves my aches and pains just as well as Ben Gay with out the smell!!So when I found this recipe on Pinterest for it I was excited, as Tigers balm can be expensive.

Hot Tigers Balm
Ingredients
1 oz beeswax
1/4 cup almond,coconut or olive oil
10 drops camphor essential oil
9 drops peppermint essential oil
8 drops eucalyptus oil
5 drops cinnamon essential oil
5 drops clove essential oil

Directions
1) Combine beeswax and your choice of oil in a double boiler on low heat.
2) Stir mixture until it completely melts.
3) Pour mixture into a glass container. Do this before adding essential oil, because the oils evaporate quickly.
4) Add your essential oils and stir. Quickly so the oils don't evaporate out!
5) Tightly seal lid and wait until mixture hardens.

I was unimpressed with this particular recipe for Tigers balm. I don't feel any heat at all and have recently rewarmed my balm and added 5 more drops of camphor and eucalyptus and still no heat. However, I did find that it helped with the pain in my shoulder. I will be trying another recipe for it soon and will let you know how that one turns out!