20 Minute Double Chocolate Muffins

I have been craving muffins lately. I am getting married in 76 days so I have been avoiding sugar but I just couldn’t resist making these! They are so simple and bake quickly! I also purchased an old Hoosier cabinet and just had to take some pictures!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup milk

1/3 cup oil

1 egg (beaten)

1 cup semi sweet morsels

 

 

 

Directions:

Mix all dry ingredients and set aside

Mix all wet ingredients in  large bowl and mix in dry ingredients.

Mix well

Grease a 12 muffin tin or use cupcake liners

Fill each about 3/4 full

 

Bake for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees or until toothpick comes out clean

 

 

Easy Apple Pie with 4-Ingredient Pie Crust

I don’t always make homemade pie crust, but when I do it’s for apple pie. Just kidding, I do always make homemade pie crust because I have the SIMPLEST recipe EVER! I love good food, but love good food that is made as simply as possible even more!

With the harvest season quickly leaving, I realized two things; 1. I am not ready for Thanksgiving at all. And 2, I hadn’t made a single apple dessert. So here she is! I had some extra motivation when I visited a very good friend and left with a bag of apples that she so graciously gave me! She is a wonderful photographer and before I left her home I had posed for what turned out to be my favorite picture of myself ever. Bask in its beauty above.

I will get straight to the good stuff and hand over the super simple and delicious recipes!

4 Ingredient Pie Crust

1 3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons cold water

Directions:

1. Mix flour and salt, add water evenly to mixture and combine well.

2. Add oil and continue mixing by hand.

3. Split into 2 equal parts. Roll one evenly and place in pie pan.

4. Set the other half of the crust to the side to be used as the top crust after filling is made.

Easy Apple Pie Filling:

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 tablespoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon butter

4 to 5 apples; pared, cored, and sliced

Directions:

1. In a bowl combine sugar and cinnamon.
2. Add apple slices to the cinnamon sugar and toss.

3. Put apple mixture in prepared pie crust and top with butter throughout. Put second half of pie crust on top. Pinch edges and ventilate.

4. Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes or until top is golden brown.

5. Enjoy!

I find that this pie freezes well and can be saved for holidays! Want a guaranteed Thanksgiving day hit? Look no further!

CHEAP & EASY Laundry Detergent!

This morning I woke up to a dirty house. I’ve had a cold that WILL not go away, and it shows. Laundry, dishes, dusting, vacuuming, pretty much everything imaginable needs to be done. I was feeling considerably better today so I thought I would dive into the jungle and CLEAN! Then I had another thought; “Self,” I said to myself “let’s make the mess a little bit bigger before we clean!”

What a wonderful idea! So I decided to make my ever so messy (but so easy to make) laundry detergent. I usually make about 4-5 quarts at a time and it lasts FOREVER!

I started making my own laundry soap because my dad had noticed that using even the FREE AND CLEAR store-bought laundry detergent, that it was making him itch! Not good! This recipe is hypo-allergenic, can be used in HIGH EFFICIENCY washers, and can be tweaked (if you’re as into making things your own as I am).***

Did I mention it is SO simple. You need three ingredients and some kitchen stuff you already have!

What you need:

1 bar of Fels Naptha

1 cup Super Washing Soda

1 cup Borax

Directions:

First, grate the bar of Fels Naptha (my absolute least favorite part of the whole task)

Next, go ahead and blend the grated bar in a blender to get it as powdered as possible.

In a bowl, pour out the powdered bar of soap. Add 1 cup Borax and 1 cup Super Washing Soda. Mix with your hands to get it all incorporated.

Add the mixture into the blender a little at a time just to make sure that it is all blended well. Also make sure that the pieces of Fels Naptha are tiny enough that they will dissolve in the washing machine. Nothing is worse that left over crumbles if soap in your clean clothes.

Once you feel that it is all blended well, pour detergent into a quart jar. This usually makes about a quart per turn.

Now for the clean up… of the WHOLE HOUSE including this little mess I just made!

Use 1 tablespoon per load of regular laundry

Use 2 tablespoons if the laundry is heavily soiled

I have found that this detergent works wonders on a mechanics work clothes. Oil stains, grease, and grime are no match!

INGREDIENTS:

1 bar Fels Naptha soap

1 cup Super Washing Soda

1 cup Borax

DIRECTIONS:

Grate bar of Fels Naptha

Blend bar of Fels Naptha

In a bowl mix Fels Naptha, Super Washing Soda and Borax

Blend in small batches

Pour in quart jar

1 tablespoon for lightly soiled laundry

2 tablespoons for heavily soiled laundry

*** You can add laundry scent boosters to the mixture to make the laundry detergent scented!***