I had this great idea, years ago, to buy a ton of ground beef (OK, more like 10 pounds) and then brown all of it — all at once. That way I could divide it up into 1-pound portions, freeze it and have it all ready to go when a recipe called for ground beef. Great idea! Did it work? Well, sorta’ — if by “working” you mean taking a long time, making a huge mess of my stove and kitchen, and having to do it in batches because who has a frying pan that big — and basically vowing to never do THAT again.

Just imagine you could actually make all kinds of household products equal to (maybe better) than the window cleaner, chlorine bleach and all-purpose cleaner you’re buying now — and make them for pennies, not dollars. You can if you have the right recipes.