(Just About) The Only 2 Cleaning Products You'll Ever Need

That's it. Separately or in combination, baking soda and vinegar are amazing household cleaners. I've known this for quite a while. In fact, this post has been in the back of my mind for quite a while. It wasn't until last night that I realized that I had to share my knowledge with the world (or at least the very small portion of the world that reads my blog). Here's what happened:

Last night, John was doing the dishes (have I mentioned how amazing my husband is?), when he called out to me that we needed to buy some Drain-o to fix our sluggish drain. I HATE having chemical cleaners in the house, and I remembered reading somewhere that there was a homemade alternative.
Imagine my surprise when, site after site gave the exact same remedy:
Dump about a cup of baking soda down the drain. Follow it with about a cup of vinegar. Let it sit for about 30 minutes, then flush the drain with a couple of cups of boiling water. That's it.
For a simply sluggish drain like ours, it worked perfectly. I've read that for a completely stopped up drain, you should double the amounts of both baking soda and vinegar.

I was so excited to share this with you. I'd also like to share a bunch of other uses that I've found for baking soda and vinegar:

• baking soda works as a fruit and vegetable wash. Just sprinkle a little on a clean damp sponge, scrub and rinse.
• vinegar works as a fabric softener - add about 1/8 of a cup in the rinse cycle, or use a downy ball (don't do this if you are using bleach)
  
• Use baking soda on a damp sponge to clean and deodorize kitchen and bathroom surfaces
• a solution of equal parts water and vinegar is a great window cleaner. Just mix in a spray bottle and use just like windex
• To clean your microwave, boil a mixture of 1/4 cup vinegar and 1 cup water. The steam will loosen bits of splattered food
• To clean a burnt pan, sprinkle baking soda on the bottom of the pan, then add enough water to cover the bottom. Let sit 30 minutes, then scrub
• You can use baking soda as a replacement for toothpaste (I haven't tried this one yet, but I thought I'd throw it out there)
  
• relieve bug bite itch and sunburn pain by making a paste with baking soda and water
• use baking soda as a carpet deodorizer - sprinkle it on your carpet and vacuum up
• add a 1/4 cup baking soda and 1 cup of vinegar to your toilet. Let sit 30 minutes, then scrub with a brush and flush
• remove (crayon) marks from the walls by sprinkling baking soda on a damp sponge and scrub

This is by all means not a complete listing of the wonders of baking soda and vinegar, but it definitely illustrates how they can replace most of the harsh cleaning products that I have (or had) in my home.

Goat Cheese

It all started a few months ago, when I was perusing The Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen website. I stumbled across this recipe for Homemade Goat Cheese. I love goat cheese, so I wanted to try it. Unfortunately, the in order to make it, you needed a yogurt maker. Since I don't exactly have $60 to try out this recipe, I put it out of my mind.

Fast forward a few weeks. John and I were at a garage sale. He was searching through the record collection, and I was left to wander. I stumbled upon a vintage Salton Yogurt Maker. It was priced at $5. I remembered the goat cheese recipe, and knew I had to have it. We ended up paying $4 for it.


When I brought it home and cleaned it out, I discovered that one of the jars was broken, but a quick google search said that I could replace the jar with an 8 oz canning jar.

To make the goat cheese, you first make yogurt. To make yogurt, you need milk and a yogurt starter. I was off to our local "Natural Food" store, Akins, to see if they carried it. I don't remember how much it cost, but I think it was around $4, and it should make 6 batches of yogurt.


So, crazy... to make goat cheese, you must start with goat's milk. Unfortunately, it was really expensive at Akins. Luckily, I found a local goat farm that was willing to sell me raw goat milk for $5 a gallon (it's only $4 if you bring your own jug).

I thought I finally had all of the supplies I needed. Then, I looked at the recipe again:

Special Equipment needed:

• cooking thermometer
• yogurt maker
• cheesecloth

and realized that I didn't have cheesecloth. I looked at Target, and was unable to find it. I had child in tow, so I didn't feel like searching the planet for cheesecloth. I remembered reading somewhere that a coffee filter would work in place of cheesecloth. I have coffee filters, so I'm set. Back home to start my project.

Preparation instructions (I ended up halving the original recipe, since my yogurt maker only holds about 4 cups):

In a large saucepan, heat milk to 110°, stirring constantly.

I love my digital thermometer!

Once it reaches temperature, pour milk into a blender, then add yogurt starter.


Blend on high for 10 seconds. Blending the milk removes any clumps that the yogurt starter may form. I'm glad I halved the recipe. I wouldn't have been able to fit twice as much in my blender!


Pour milk into yogurt maker and turn machine on. Leave yogurt in machine for 12 hours, longer is OK too.

Line a colander with cheese cloth (or a coffee filter) and place the colander over a bowl. Pour yogurt into cheesecloth lined colander and allow to drain for 8 hours in refrigerator. I actually used 2 fine mesh strainers lined with coffee filters.

After 8 hours, my cheese was still really wet, so I left it a while longer. I ended up draining it almost 24 hours, and it still isn't as dry as I would like it, but that may be because the coffee filter didn't let enough liquid drain through.

Once it's done, transfer to a lidded container. It's really good. Next time I make it (and I will make it again), I will try to find cheesecloth to see if that dries it out more.

My investment of about $12 should make me at least 32 ounces of goat cheese (I froze the rest of the goat milk, and still have enough to make 3 more batches). Have you ever bought goat cheese? I think that's a pretty good deal.

My next project with the yogurt maker: yogurt!!