Dishes?? We don't need no stinking dishes! Other uses for Blue Dawn!

I love the original blue Dawn dish soap. It always works great and never dries out my hands. That's very important to me as I always seem to have my hands in the sink washing dishes. It's the necessary evil to my enjoyment of baking and cooking.

Dawn really is a wonderful product, but it does so much more than just clean your dishes! It's so versatile and I think you'll be very surprised at what else it can do! Here are just some of the various cleaning ideas I've found online for Dawn...

BUBBLES

 

Dawn makes the most awesome homemade bubbles. I know this personally as we use it all the time during the summer for my daughter's bubble machine. Here's the recipe we use...I found this recipe years ago online and it always works great!

 

1/2 cup Ultra Dawn

1/2 gallon warm water

1 tablespoon glycerin (available at any drug store) OR White Karo syrup

Stir gently. Skim the foam off of the top of the solution. If you have too much foam, it will break down the bubbles. Dip bubble wand or pour into bubble machine and get ready for some good, clean fun!

HAIR PRODUCT BUILDUP

By using original Dawn as a shampoo once a month, you will remove excess oil and strip away any styling products build-up. It's so gentle that it will do all of this without any damage to your hair or scalp. You'll not only help your hair and scalp, but you'll save by not having to buy expensive salon products that do the exact same thing. Great, right??

REPEL HOUSEPLANT INSECTS

Did you know that just a drop of Dawn in a spray bottle with water will repel insects from your houseplants? That includes those pesky aphids, spider mites and mealy bugs. Just mix one drop of Dawn Dishwashing Liquid in a spray bottle, fill the rest of the bottle with water, shake well, and mist your household plants with the soapy water.

 

 

CLEAN YOUR WINDOWS

Merry Maids uses Dawn to make windows squeaky clean. They mix 3 drops Dawn in 1 gallon water and fill a spray bottle with the solution. Spritz and wipe as you would with any window cleaner.

PETS AND PESTS

Dawn also works great to kills fleas on contact and it is so much cheaper than buying those expensive dog shampoos to do the same thing! Get the neck area first (make a ring of suds completely around the animals neck), the fleas will move as soon as you start washing your pet, since the soap interferes with the fleas ability to breathe. Here's another tip that works to get rid of fleas. Get a spray bottle and put about an inch or so of Dawn liquid and fill the rest with water. Then spray on the bed or dog house. This will keep the fleas out of their area. 

 

ICE PACK

This is a tip I received from my husband. Dawn can make a great ice pack should you need one and don't have a commercially bought pack on hand. Fill a strong zip-type sandwich bag with Dawn, close and freeze. The liquid soap stays cold much longer and can be frozen and reused many times.

 

 

UNCLOGGING TOILETS

 

 

Just pour a cup of Dawn into a clogged toilet and let it sit for about 15 minutes. Then pour a bucket of hot water into the toilet from waist height. This will clear that clog out of your toilet.

 

EYEGLASS DEFOGGER

Simply rub a small drop of Dawn on eyeglass lenses, and wipe clean. It will leave a very thin film that will prevent them from fogging up.

SIDEWALK DE-ICER

 

For icy steps and sidewalks, mix 1 tsp of Dawn, 1 Tbsp of rubbing alcohol and 1/2 gallon of hot/warm water. Pour the mixture over the steps and sidewalks. They won't refreeze and you won't have anymore salt eating at the concrete in your sidewalks.

 

 

There are so many more uses for original blue Dawn that I haven't covered. Do a search online and you'll be amazed with how many things Dawn can help you with. I certainly was and plan to try out pretty much everything I've found so far. Good luck!

Save it....Freeze it!

Ever wish your grocery store would carry smaller containers of buttermilk? I have several recipes that use only a couple of tablespoons and then I'm left with this big container that will eventually go to waste. I mean, really, does anyone use a whole half gallon of buttermilk before it expires anyway?

Well, here's a good tip for you...freeze it! I freeze my leftover buttermilk in 2 Tbsp portions using my ice cube trays. Once frozen, you can store the cubes in a freezer bag. Plus, since you've already measured them, you can just pull out whatever you need when a recipe calls for buttermilk.

The cubes can be melted at the low power setting in your microwave or you can let them thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Freezing buttermilk, or any dairy, will cause the solids and the whey to separate. To reincorporate the solids and they whey, you'll want to be sure to whisk or run the buttermilk in the blender before using it.

I've also used this method for half and half as well as whole milk. It really saves you money in the long run and you'll always be sure to have it on hand when it's needed.

Orange Vinegar - "green" cleaning

I've used vinegar before to clean up various things throughout my house. It will clean up anything in a snap, however, you're whole house smells like a pickle when you get done. Granted, I really like pickles. But I sure don't want the house smelling like them unless I'm actually making them.

I came across this great blog, The Fountain Avenue Kitchen, and they had a post about using vinegar to clean also. However, they have directions on how to steep the vinegar in orange peels! How great is that?! You get an awesome cleaner (without the pickle smell) that will not leave that toxic residue the manufactured cleaners leave behind. And who doesn't love that fresh smell oranges leave behind anyway? I don't think you could ask for anything more!

Orange Vinegar:

 

1 16-ounce canning jar

2 oranges, peels only

vinegar to cover

Curl the peels around the inside of the jar. If your oranges are small and you could fit another peel, feel free to add one more. Pour vinegar into the jar to cover the peels and close tightly. Store in the cupboard for two weeks, then transfer the vinegar to a spray bottle and use for all your cleaning purposes!

You could also easily use lemons, limes, clementines....anything citrus with a peel. Even a combination would work as well to achieve that sweet smell.

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Taste Kitchen Results: Pumpkin Spice Creamer

SUCCESS!! I tried a few lighter options with my previous post about the Pumpkin Spice Creamer and I have to report a big success! The lighter version tastes just as good as the original and is still so easy to make. Please give it a try and let me know what you think!

 

 

Lite Pumpkin Spice Creamer

 

1 cup skim milk

1 cup half & half

3 Tbs pumpkin puree

1 tsp pumpkin spice

4 Tbs sugar free maple syrup

2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions: Whisk all ingredients except vanilla over medium heat until steamy. Remove from heat and add vanilla, whisking to combine. Strain creamer and transfer to jar or container. You'll definitely want to strain it, otherwise you'll have a heavy mixture of pumpkin & spices sitting at the bottom of your cup...unless you like it that way. Let the mixture cool and refrigerate for a day. The flavor increases as it sits.

Pumpkin Spice Creamer continues...

I was asked by a friend to come up with a lighter version of this creamer. As I am a diabetic myself, a lower sugar and lower calorie version that tastes just as good would be a wonderful thing. I could actually have more than one cup of coffee with it!

So, I picked up some ingredients at the local grocery store and will be working on this tonight. As the flavor increases as it sits, I'm hoping to be able to give a good report on it tomorrow. Off to the test kitchen I go!

Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer

It's getting to that time of year when the cravings for Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte' start rumbling. Unfortunately, getting to Starbucks isn't as easy as it once was....closest location is about 30 miles away! I decided I needed to start searching for a recipe to get me thru my cravings. I've found several and have experienced numerous failures, however, I do believe I've found one that will work just nicely.

 

 

I originally found the recipe on Next To Heaven, who found it on an organic cooking blog called Deliciously Organic. Several different creamer recipes were listed, but I zoned in on the pumpkin spice. Someday I very well may try the others.

 

Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer

1cup of organic whole milk

1cup of organic heavy whipping cream

3 tablespoons of organic pumpkin puree

1 teaspoon of pumpkin spice

4 table Maple Syrup

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Whisk milk, cream, pumpkin, syrup, and pumpkin spice together over medium heat. When it gets steamy remove from heat and add in the vanilla.

 

Use a strainer to transfer the cream into a jar or pitcher. Let it cool down and chill it the refrigerator. The flavor will be stronger the next day.

 

Some other flavors on the site include... cinnamon strudel, chocolate almond, french vanilla and peppermint mocha. They all sound so good and are only supposed to take approximately 5-10 minutes to make. What an easy and inexpensive way to get those yummy flavors we so crave!