This is a new feature here: Things I Enjoyed is simply quick takes on stuff I liked using, reading or wearing in the previous month.
Tangie Laundry Paste Concentrate
I recently decided to start buying my laundry detergent in bulk, since I go through so much, and the stash I bought back in the summer (dirt cheap) is gone. I couldn’t find a great deal in order to stock up, and didn’t want to fool with coupons and such, figuring buying in bulk would be cheaper anyway.
After searching Amazon for a while and finding that nearly every bulk container of laundry detergent was perfumed, except for Charlie’s Soap, which I don’t like, I came across Tangie Concentrated Laundry Paste.
It’s a pretty interesting concept. For about $15, I got a huge bar of laundry soap, which I then dissolved in a gallon of water. This makes 264 loads, .05 a load, which is a great deal. Plus, it’s shipped in a tiny container and with Prime I had free shipping.
I promised my Instagram followers I would do a review so here goes.
I love this stuff and will definitely be buying it again. It works just as well as any other detergent, and is organic and environmentally friendly – you can reuse any other packaging you have to mix it up. Plus, I love supporting a woman-owned cottage industry.
Sorry for the blurry pic. That’s what happens when I try to take a picture with a baby on my hip. That handy-dandy sticker comes with the laundry paste, you slap it on your re-purposed jar (in my case, pickles) to remind you how to mix and use it.
This product doesn’t make suds, so it’s excellent for HE washers. It also doesn’t leave behind fragrance, which for me is a huge plus, as hubby and I are both sensitive to fragrance. Maybe it’s odd to enjoy laundry soap, but hey – it “sparks joy” when I use it. (I recently re-read this book by Marie Kondo. Also love.)
My Minimalist Cookbook
Ok it’s not technically called that. It’s called Simple: The Easiest Cookbook in the World and its author is named Jean-Francois Mallet. I mean, come ON. In his pic, he has messy hair, is wearing a wrinkled button-down and that “follow me to le chambre” look in his eyes.
You KNOW the food is good from that information alone, non?
If there were a minimalist cookbook, this would be it. I spotted this sucker at Barnes and Noble and nearly bought it. But I was patient and waited until I had some credit card rewards points, and used those to buy it.
Every recipe is made with less than 6 ingredients, and it was written by a French chef, so…
I’ve made several recipes from this book and so far all of them have been yummy. I present Pork with Cherries:
Another bad pic, but man it was yummy and fast. And it had, like, 3 ingredients.
My Old Lady Eyedrops
A confession: for a couple of years now I’ve had trouble with my eyes. I would wake up with them hurting, they would be bloodshot and sore on a regular basis, no matter how much sleep I got.
I tried an eye mask (it helped me sleep better, but didn’t really help my sore eyes). I tried drinking more water, consciously blinking more, changing up my mascara and eye makeup remover… nothing helped.
Finally I bought some eye drops. At first I was concerned that I would become addicted to them, but so far I only need them about once a week.
I have no idea why I’m having this trouble, but I suspect that it has something to do with peri-menopause. Estrogen makes everything juicy, so as estrogen levels drop, everything gets drier. I can’t find ANY info on this via Google, but it makes sense to me.
Either that, or I’m developing some horrible autoimmune disease like Sjögren’s or Lupus (which my mom actually has) or Behcet’s syndrome.
THANKS GOOGLE.
(I know what all of those are thanks to my love of Hugh Laurie as House.)
I think I’ll stick to my perimenopause theory.
It’s a little thing, but it sure makes a difference in my quality of life!
Man am I still loving AmazonFresh.
And wonder of wonders, despite the fact that their prices are higher than ALDI on most things, I stayed in budget for groceries – I’ve actually spent less on groceries this month than in November.
My theory? Being able to shop without kids sneaking stuff in the cart, no impulse purchases (ALDI special buys, I’m talking to you!), and no frozen pizzas or other overpriced stuff making its way into my buggy.
I’m thinking the monthly fee will be worth it. At the moment, I don’t have a car (long story, hubby has had two cars go caput in recent months so he’s using mine for work), so ordering groceries and other goodies has kept the children from rioting. See a more thorough review of Amazon Fresh here.
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