Recipe Time!

So I have been meaning to put this recipe up here for a long time. This Homemade Laundry Liquid recipe is courtesy of my lovely friend, Ness Schenk. So here is how to make the laundry liquid that we use :)

1 bar Sunlight laundry soap
1/2 cup of Letric Washing Soda
10 litres of water

First grate the bar of soap into a decent size saucepan and then add 1 litre of boiling water from the kettle. Stir this on medium heat on the stove top until the soap has completely dissolved. Add the washing soda, and mix really well. Transfer the mixture into a container that will hold 10 litres and add hot tap water to fill, stir really well, it should be really runny. Let it sit overnight, and in the morning it will be set like jelly. Give it a really good stir, or you can roll up your sleeves and squish it between your fingers to mix. Then just add 1/4 of a cup per load of washing. If you want your washing to smell like something other than clean, you could add 5mls of your favourite essential oil. I don't do this, as I love just the plain fresh smell of my clothes.

This is safe for front loaders. Also if you have any stains on your clothes you can pre treat them with a scoop of the liquid and give it a scrub with a nail brush.

If you like to use fabric softener, I recommend using 1/4 of a cup of vinegar instead, it is amazing!
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Okay - so this is my new favourite recipe. I made this for the first time yesterday and it is awesome... and with not much butter, no milk or eggs, is reasonably low fat. I made it as mini muffins, but the recipe is for a bread type thing. The recipe made about 20 mini muffins, and in this situation only take about 10 minutes to cook. I found that when I got them out of the oven they look reasonably cooked on top but when I touched the top of the muffin it still seemed quite goo-ey inside. At first I thought they would need more cooking time, but when they have rested for 10 minutes they are firm, just like a normal muffin. Also, I thought the ingredients were going to be wrong, as the mix looked really dry, but when all the ingredients were combined, I put the electric mixer on for 2 minutes and it all came together looking like a normal cake batter. Anyway, here is the recipe.

White Chocolate and Banana Bread

* 1 1/2 cups flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 pinch of salt
* 3 ripe mashed bananas
* 2 tablespoon soft butter
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 cup white chocolate chips
* 1/2 cup chopped pecan nuts or walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 375F/190C. Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan and coat lightly with flour to prevent sticking.

2. Sieve the flour into a mixing bowl and add the baking soda and salt.

3. In another bowl, cream together the butter and sugar then add in the mashed bananas and mix well.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well. Add the chocolate chips and nuts if you are using them.

5. Pour into the prepared loaf pan and bake for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

6. Allow to cool in the loaf pan for 10 minutes and then place on a cooling rack to cool fully.