I have long loved using my CrockPot for keeping food warm at parties, making dinner and occasionally for breakfast, too. It’s how we have a hot lunch as soon as we step in the door on Sunday afternoons. We use a CrockPot so much, I have five – various shapes and sizes.
One of my favorite things to make in the CrockPot isn’t dinner, though. We enjoy smoothies — a lot. I always include yogurt, so we go through quite a bit of yogurt. Do you know how easy it is to make yogurt in your CrockPot? I first read about it on A Year of Slow Cooking blog. Some times it comes out perfect, sometimes it is runnier. It is always good and only has what *I* put into it. We use it in smoothies, as sour cream and in oodles of recipes. Yum! And so much cheaper. Win-win!
I have recently tried another non-traditional use for my CrockPot. It also involves saving money — and your knuckles. I make our laundry soap. The recipe is one found all over the internet. Grate a bar of soap (we prefer Kirk’s Castille (4 oz bar) over the often mentioned Fels-Naptha) and melt with some water. Stir in 1/2 C Borax and 1/2 C Washing Soda. Add this and enough water to fill your bucket. This is the amount I use to fill a 2 1/2 gallon pail. After a few days it gels. I add 1/4 cup to each load in our top loading machine.
You may wonder when the CrockPot gets used? I really, strongly dislike grating that bar of soap. I have a box grater set aside for this purpose and don’t even bother to wash it afterwards. The tip I recently learned keeps that box grater in the cabinet. Put that bar of soap and plenty of water into your CrockPot. I put in on high and checked about 3 hours later (same time I turned of the yogurt cooking in another CrockPot). It was completely melted. I ladled this into the bucket and stirred in the Borax, Washing Soda and more water. After everything was completely dissolved and thoroughly mixed, I filled the pail to the “almost” top. It’s been two days and is just starting to gel. I love how simple this is! I love the money and time saved (and scraped knuckles). Another win-win!
With 6 children who have a knack for finding every mud puddle and trying to wear it back inside, we go through many clothes in a week (which translates to many loads of laundry). The above picture is not of our Mt. Washmore but from the seasonal clothing switch. Still, we do on average 2 loads a day. The only thing I’m not super happy about is the lack of “brilliance” in our whites. Part of this is due to our well water. The rest is the lack of chemical whiteners found in commercial detergent. I try to hang the whites in the sun as often as possible. Well, most of the whites, no “small clothes” (code for underwear) but definitely the diapers. I also resort to using an oxygen cleaner when things get really dingy.
What do you use your CrockPot for? Any frugal discoveries to share?
