• 2 cups washing soda (NOT baking soda) – Arm and Hammer makes it, find it in the cleaning or laundry isle
• 1 cup borax – 20 Mule Team – next to the washing soda
• 1 bar of Fels Naptha or Zote soap (laundry isle) finely grated with a cheese grater or in the food processor

Mix all together.  Washing soda will lose its potency if it absorbs moisture so store this mixture in a tightly sealed tub or canister.

Use two tablespoons per regular load, three tablespoons for heavily soiled loads.

• 1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide
• 1/2 cup washing soda
• 1 cup hot water

Mix together and soak laundry (think dirty socks and grass stains) in it for 20 minutes to overnight and then wash as usual.

Mixture can be doubled or tripled.  Test for color fastness on colored clothing.

This recipe can be made for about 40 cents per gallon.

Mix into a large stock pot or dutch oven

• six cups boiling water
• 1/2 cup borax
• 1/2 cup washing soda
• 1/3 of a bar of finely grated Fels Naptha® or Zote® soap (find at Wal-Mart, Target or Mexican grocery stores)
• 30 to 60 drops of essential oil of your choice – optional
• liquid bluing – optional (liquid bluing added to laundry soap helps keep whites brighter without the use of bleach)

1. In alarge stock pot, heat 6 cups of water to a boil, then turn off the heat.
2. Add soap and stir until it is completely dissolved.
3. After the soap is dissolved, stir in the washing soda and borax and mix well.
4. Add one-quarter cup liquid bluing (optional). Note: Liquid bluing may turn the laundry soap yellow, that’s okay.
5. Using a large 3 to 5 gallon plastic bucket or container, add 1 quart of very hot tap water. Add soap mixture. Stir until thoroughly mixed. Add enough cold water to soap mixture to equal two gallons. Stir in essential oil for scent, such as lavender, bergamot, vanilla, orange or lemon (optional).
6. Let mixture set for 24 hours. The solution will gel as it cools. Give it a good stir to mix and pour it into clean jugs. Clean milk jugs, large juice bottles, or old laundry jugs will work just fine.  Place cap on bottle. Label.

Shake well before each use (soap may separate). Use 1/2 cup per regular load of laundry. If you have a very grimy or large load, use 1/3 cup. If you have extra hard water, add an extra 1/2 cup borax to the load.

This soap will not create suds in the washer, which makes it perfect for HE machines. It cleans very well in cold, warm, or hot water. You can also use it to soak your finest sweaters. It rinses clean and leaves no residue. Try it on spots or stains as a pre-wash. For stubborn stains try wetting the fabric and rubbing a corner of the Fels Naptha bar on the stain. It is effective on grease and many food stains.

• 1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide
• 1/2 cup washing soda

Use as you would OxyClean®. Pour the peroxide and baking soda directly into the wash water and then add your laundry soap and laundry.  Wash as usual.

Makes 8 servings

Vegetables

1 medium sized eggplant, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch slices

1 each red and yellow bell pepper, cut into 1/4 inch slices

2 zucchini, cut lengthwise

1 red onion, peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch slices

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon finely chopped garlic

salt and pepper to taste

Pasta

1 -25 oz jar of your favorite marinara sauce

1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil

6 cups hot cooked penne pasta (about 12 ounces uncooked tube-shaped pasta)

1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Place vegetables in a large zip-type bag. Drizzle with oil and toss vegetables to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper (to taste).

Spray grill with nonstick cooking spray and heat over medium-low heat. Place vegetables on grill and cook 8-10 minutes, or until tender and lightly browned on both sides.

Remove the vegetables from grill; chop vegetables into 1/2 inch pieces and place in a large serving bowl.

Meanwhile, heat marinara sauce.

In the large bowl, combine marinara sauce, vegetable mixture, pasta, basil and cheese; toss well.

Serve with grilled garlic bread and a nice glass of Chianti.

Aioli Ingredients:

• 1 clove garlic
• 1/3 cup fire roasted red peppers (from jar)
• 1 tsp chopped fresh parsley (or 1/2 tsp dried parsley)
• 1 1/2 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp sour cream
• dash cayenne pepper
• several cracks black pepper

Halibut:

• 1/4 pound halibut per person (or similar whitefish, 1 inch thick)
• extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt
• black pepper
• garlic powder
• cayenne pepper
• dried parsley
• fresh lemon wedges

Directions:

Make the Aioli first and allow the flavors to blend together and the red color to deepen.

1. Finely mince garlic with a pinch of sea salt to form a coarse paste.
2. Finely chop fire roasted red bell peppers. For this recipe, we prefer the jarred variety because the added liquid makes the aioli the perfect consistency. Reserve liquid.
3. Chop parsley.
4. In a bowl combine garlic and red bell pepper. Stir together and continue to mash mixture with back of spoon. Add mayonnaise, sour cream and enough reserved pepper liquid to make 1/2 cup of sauce. Continue stirring vigorously and mashing mixture until mayonnaise and sour cream are smooth and other ingredients are incorporated.
5. Add a dash of cayenne pepper, black pepper and parsley.
6. Cover and refrigerate.
7. Fire up the grill!
8. Drizzle olive oil over fresh fish. Season with sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, cayenne pepper (you choose how much you use) and parsley.
9. Place fillet on a hot, well oiled grill. Grill fish about 5 minutes per side per 1 inch of thickness. Turn over carefully. Squeeze lemon over cooking fish.

Serve with lemon wedges, roasted red pepper aioli, rice and roasted asparagus.

Since there’s no “official” supply list for homeschoolers we decided to put together a basic list of what most homeschoolers need for “back-to-school”. Use this list as a guide for restocking your supply closet and for setting up a homeschool area.  This is also a good list for parents who have children in public or private school.

Be sure to visit our Coupon page for back-to-school coupons.

Basic supply items needed for grades K-12.

• Glue sticks
• White school glue (gel glue is great for less mess)
• Pens: black or blue and red for correcting papers
• Pencils (#2 is the only kind accepted when taking standardized tests)
• Erasers (big pink erasers are great)
• Colored pencils (the erasable kind is a good choice)
• Crayons
• Markers (washable preferred)
• Writing tablets (lined and dotted for early grades)
• Binder filler paper (wide-lined for 2nd through 6th grade and college or narrow lined for upper grades)
• Graph paper
• Spiral notebooks
• Composition notebooks (great for narrations or notebooking – 1 per subject per child)
• File folders (plain manila folders for lapbooks – pocket folders for other work)
• 3-ring binders (to keep information together-1 per subject, per child)
• Ruler with inch and centimeter measures (make sure it has a good straight edge)
• Highlighters
• Scissors (start early grades with safety scissors)
• White copy paper (great to use even if not making copies)
• Card stock paper (white and/or a variety of colors use for things like flash cards, etc.)
• Index cards (great for making flashcards)
• Compass (for upper grades)
• Protractor (for upper grades)
• Stickers for papers with good work

For art and/or special projects:

• Playdough ® (or clay)
• Washable tempera paint (variety of color or at least the 3 primary: red-blue-yellow)
• Paint brushes
• Paper plates and/or egg cartons (to pour glue, etc. onto)
• Q-Tips (to spread glue and paints)
• Craft sticks
• Gum erasers
• Colored paper
• Oversized paper
• Poster board
• Sketch pads

For setting up the classroom:

• Pencil sharpener
• Stapler
• Staples
• Globe
• Thesaurus
• Dictionary
• Bible
• Kleenex
• Baby wipes
• Paper towels
• Magazines (to cut pictures out)
• Paint shirts (over-sized t-shirts or dad’s and mom’s old shirts)
• Bookshelves (or tubs or other means of storing books and supplies)
• Table
• Chairs
• Calculator (s)
• Computer + software (optional)
• Copier (optional, but great to reproduce copy permission-given pages)
• Tape and/or CD Player (optional)

Miscellaneous items that help keep things tidy and portable:

• Backpacks (to tote learning materials)
• Pencil boxes or pouches (one for each child)
• Crates or totes for each child’s books