Homemade French Fries

Hello Friends, continuing with our series of posts on making things ourselves, here is a new one. French Fries! :) Who doesn't like french fries? Of course they have many things in them you may or may not want to eat, when you buy them either at your favorite restaurant or even frozen at the store. Check out the ingredients on the back of the bag of frozen french fries. I would rather skip serving the hydrogenated fats, not to mention the other hard to pronounce items, to those I love. Plus a bag of frozen french fries could easily cost 2 dollars or more for a one pound bag. I don't know about you, but I can buy a ten pound bag of potatoes at most of my local grocery stores for between $2.00 -$2.50. You do the math, making it at home is almost always cheaper and healthier.

So are you ready? Here we go. All the ingredients are easily available and pronounceable.
My favorite!

The humble potato. So good for you! It has loads of potassium and vitamin C.

Potatoes are actually quite good for you. They come in many colors, red, white, and even blue! Often potatoes have gotten a bad rap, through no fault of their own. They are packed with good nutrition, it's what the humans put on them that makes them unhealthy. Think sour cream, cheese, butter, whipping cream, all things that contain cholesterol. These things, while they may be delicious, do not add to a healthy heart or vibrant lifestyle. But potatoes can certainly be prepared in healthful ways that don't include all the unhealthy fats. And don't think that they can't be delicious without all those high in cholesterol foods, they absolutely can!

After I wash and peel the potatoes, I slice them like this. Slice them as thick as
you think you might like your fries.

Then cut the fries into slices, whatever length you desire.

The next step is to add whatever seasonings that you would like to add. An easy way to do this is to put your freshly cut french fries into a plastic, gallon size storage bag. At this point I add about 2 tablespoons of canola oil, salt, and some onion powder. Then I close the bag, and shake well. After the fries are coated with this mixture I put them into a baking dish or onto a cookie sheet. I bake them at about 425F until nicely brown. You can add any seasonings that sound good to you, ex. garlic seasoning, ranch seasoning, whatever you like. Sometimes if they seem to be slow to brown, and they are cooked thru, then I will put them under the broiler for a minute or two. I always watch them when I do this because they can burn quickly.

Freshly flavored fries ready for the oven!

If I am short on time I will put the french fries into the microwave at this point, cook them for about 5 minutes and then put them in the regular oven. This shortens the baking time considerably.

All done! Fresh from the oven.

Are you ready to eat? Let's! 

Yum!

Just grab your favorite condiments, we love ketchup or homemade salsa, and enjoy! Leave a a comment and let me know what you think.

Homemade Laundry Soap

Homemade laundry soap is quick and easy to make. For families that have loved ones with sensitivities you know how careful you have to be with things that can irritate their precious skin. When you make the laundry soap you know whats in it. Not to mention it costs a fraction of the commercial kind. After using it for many years I'm sold on it. Ready to try it?

The recipe is pretty basic. I normally use only 3 things in mine. This recipe that I am sharing is a powdered laundry soap recipe. I've made both the liquid (I'll share that recipe in another post) and the powdered version. 

Homemade Powdered Laundry Soap

1 bar of Fels-Naptha soap (or Ivory, or another bar soap that you have at home that you like. I usually use Fels-Naptha. It's available in the laundry aisle of most stores. At my store it usually costs about $.97.)

1 cup of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda (not to be confused with Baking Soda. This is NOT edible and is strictly used for cleaning).

1 cup of 20 Mule Team Borax.

All I need for homemade laundry soap!

First you need to grate your bar of soap. I use a small cheese grater just for this purpose. Then put it in the container that you want to store it in. I put mine in a decorative glass jar. 

Grating the soap very carefully...

All done!

Then measure out your Washing Soda and Borax and mix them in too. Mix well together. 

Now you are ready to do laundry. I use a tablespoon per load. Now I understand that this may not seem like enough. But what you just made is concentrated laundry soap. It works great and 1 tablespoon will be enough. When I make the liquid (which makes 5 gallons) I use close to the same amounts of the above ingredients and it will last me several months.

Don't worry about the little curls of soap, they will dissolve in the wash.

Let me know how it works! If you want some extra scent, add a few drops of essential oils (I like lavender) once the water has been added to the washing machine. The lovely smell doesn't usually stay with the clothes but it makes the laundry room smell good when it's washing them! :)

If you don't have essential oils and would like to try them, go to www.iherb.com use code "Sus515" to save money on your first order and usually shipping is free if you order at least $20.00. I love the NOW brand essential oils, vitamins and herbs. That's what I use personally for my family. Check it out!

Are you ready to wash some clothes?

I've gotten a couple of questions about if this laundry soap can be used in a high efficiency washer or not. I do not have a high efficiency washer, so cannot tell you for sure. What I can tell you that it doesn't foam up at all and if you do a google search you will find many similar recipes to mine that report they are safe to use in a high efficiency washer. That being said, you will have to decide for yourself.