Monthly Archives: May 2014

DIY Homemade Powder Laundry Soap

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Laundry…..Does it ever end?

Do you ever feel like a laundry fairy comes at night and reproduces all your dirty clothes?  I can FINALLY be caught up and then the next morning we have a huge pile again… URGGGG!!!!

I see two things that are going to have to happen…1) We are going to have to not change so many times during the day. (Why do you need to change so many times unless you are taking a shower and putting on clean clothes) or 2) Start going naked!

I’m really down to those 2 choices.

One thing I love to do is make homemade laundry soap. I love the fact that I can determine which ingredients to add, I also love the low cost and how long the detergent lasts my family. I almost feel like a June Cleaver! Oh wait, June probably never made her own laundry soap did she? But really, it’s super easy and I wanted to share my variation.

First, I start with my Ingredients:

Borax

Washing Soda (such as Arm and Hammer)

Bar Soap (I use Ivory, it’s so natural and so cheap)

Epson Salt

Essential oils (or in my case I try to buy epson salt already scented with lavender).

 

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Second, I grate my bar soap on smallest grate possible.

Third, I get all my ingredients  measured.

2 Cups Borax
1 Cup Washing Soda
1/2 grated bar of soap
1 Cup Epson Salt
and if you prefer scented
10 drops of essential oil

Finally, mix in a container and seal.

I use appx 2-3 tablespoons per load of laundry, depending on the load size
With 1 box of Borax, 1 box of Washing Soda, 2 bars of soap, and 32 oz of scented Epson Salt, I can make 4 batches of Laundry Detergent. Enough to last my family 3-4 months. (please keep in mind, I do a lot of laundry)

 

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No judgement on the Ice Cream Bucket turned into Laundry Soap Bucket, needed!  Hey it works and that’s all that matters!

 

I also love Line-Dried Clothes.  I must confess though, I do put them in the dryer for about 10 minutes first to fluff and get any excess lent off of the clothes.  (Can’t stand the stiff feeling or maybe it’s just I would have to iron if I didn’t fluff them first loI) I can remember when I was little, we had a washing machine but no dryer.  All Spring, Summer and Fall, my momma would hang out our laundry to dry.  When Winter came, we would have to take Saturday Morning trips to the Laundry Mat.  I can remember after my momma passed away, my daddy finally went and tore down that old clothes line that was no saggy and worn from years of weather and use.

Maybe it’s from the line-dried clothes as a child, I’m not for sure, but there is just something so tranquil about hanging out my laundry and watching them blow dry in the wind.  I can see my clothes line from my bedroom window, and some days I go sit on my bed just to watch it blow back and forth.  Simplicity maybe? Or contentment?  All I know is a peaceful feeling that settles over me.

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I would love to swap Laundry Soap Recipes!  Please feel free to Link me up to your Blog Posts!

 

 

 

A Little Taste of Mexico and The Truth about Link Parties!

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My family loves the Hispanic Culture. From the people, to the feista’s to the food. My community has a large Hispanic Population, so with that comes several Mexican Restuarants in town. And we normally eat at our favorite mexican resturant or cook Mexican food at home twice a week.
My kiddo’s think that every Wednesday before youth group, we should stop and let them pick up Mexican food. Most Wednesdays we do, but tonight our youth group is going to another campus so we have to leave early, so I decided to cook at home before we left.

First, I started with the salsa-I really love making this and it’s not a Mexican Dinner without salsa! A friend from years ago taught me and after tweaking for my family a little I finally found the perfect recipe!
My salsa recipe will make a quart size mason jar.

Here is what it consists of:

1 Lg can of crushed tomatoes
2-3 jalapeños (add an extra for more heat)
1 bunch of green onions
2 heaping tables of minced garlic
1- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
A few leafs of cilantro

In blender, mix jalapeño with a couple tablespoons of water and purée. Best if peppers are sliced down middle. I leave seeds for extra heat.

Next add tomatoes, minced garlic and salt and nd and a few leaves of cilanteo blend a couple of times.

Then take 3-4 green onions tops and dice them down to the white onion part. if you do not like chunks in salsa then blend them up with the rest of the mixture. If you do like chunks, don’t blend the onions but just stir them in salsa.

Pour in jar and leave overnight so the flavors will mix together yum!

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Now that i’ve made you extremely hungry for Mexican food, I wanted to share with you about Link Parties. After a lot of time and research on how to find amazing blogs to follow, and raise my stats in the process, I came across Link Parties @ http://www.beautythroughimperfection.com/link-parties/

You may be asking yourself “What is a Link Party”? Link Party participating is a great way to gain some traction and grow your blog. You get your posts in front of hundreds of other bloggers this way, and can connect with some new ones via comments! It’s fun, but can get tiring too. It can be tedious, but definitely worth it! You more or less share a blog post onto another blog.
I wanted to share with you three amazing blogs that I linked up with today:

http://www.notjustahousewife.net/2014/05/show-me-what-ya-got-166.html

http://raisinghomemakers.com/

http://www.adornedfromabove.com/

Hope you will drop by their blogs and link up as well! Happy Blogging!

Freedom at it’s finest….And potato salad too!

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Memorial Day……

What a special day we have the opportunity to experience.  A day to give thanks where needed, remember the ones who have lost their life for us to live ours and a time to reflect how differently each of us would be without the ultimate sacrifice that someone paid in our place.

For me, this is a humbling day.  I looked and reminisced through old photographs of family members who have proudly and bravely fought for my freedom as well as yours.  Many who are still serving today.

I would be lying to you though if I said I didn’t enjoy the other aspect of Memorial Day….Grilling/Cookouts/Picnics!

I love getting together with friends and family and sharing memories.  This year we chose to have our family cookout on Sunday after church so we could enjoy Memorial Day making other memories.

No cookout in my family is complete without my Momma’s Potato Salad. I know everyone has a special version but for me I have always loved this southern style potato salad this more than any other I have tasted.  I am so thankful for the freedom I have to share this special recipe with you today.

Here’s what it consists of…

5 lbs of Russet Potato’s scrubbed and boiled with peelings on until they have cracked and Potato’s are soft.  (Make it 10 lbs if your feeding a large group of 15 or more.)

 

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Mix together (or if you like chunky like me, use your potato masher and slighty mash leaving big chucnks of potatoes, with the peeled potatoes….

Appx 1/8 cup of mustard ( A little more if you like more of a mustard taste)

1 – 1 1/2 cups mayo or miracle whip

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Pepper

1/2 onion diced

About an 1/8 cup of pickle relish

4-6 boiled eggs chopped up

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I love adding about 1 tsp of paprika on top, but that is completely optional.  You can serve warm, yum yum or chill in fridge til time for your celebration.  Either way you will not be disappointed!

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So on Monday, we decided to spend the day as a family at our favorite Amusement Park.  Even though its about a 2 1/2 hr drive each way, we enjoy going at least once a month to have fun and relax.  Yesterday, we decided to take our great nieces Maddie and Jessie with us.  We love them sweet angels so much and we take advantage of every opportunity we have to spend time with them.  Of the innocence of childhood. (Sigh)

SDC

Silver Dollar City, in Branson, Missouri, is the most family oriented amusement park I have ever been too.  From the rides to fit all ages, amazing Festivals and Shows, old homesteads, the school that teaches history lessons of the park and area and The Wilderness Church that still operates every Sunday Morning and you can even have Weddings in!  I never get tired of making memories at SDC!

I hope you had an amazing Memorial Day as well.  Enjoy your freedom!

Sometimes we just need a “Do Over”

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A few months ago I had a day that I would like to have started over at least ten times.

Do you ever have those days?

I sat down at least 3 different times to blog but no words came to mind, no fingers begin to type, no creativity flowed at all.

Of course that was only the start.

That was a day to go back to bed, pull the covers over my head and forget it ever existed.

I would have to say after the dog escaping from the house, running up and down the neighborhood, pleasantly enjoying me yelling as loud as I could, all while running faster away from me, I was done completely done with the day.

So as I stood outside in my housecoat, tears streaming down my face from frustration, I had to get my thoughts right before I had a complete meltdown.

As I went back inside, with no dog, deciding to take a nice long hot shower, a song came to me, “Beautiful Jesus”.

“Your love o God, displayed for us
As crimson covered over sinless hands
Your majesty for all to see
In raging storms and quiet cloudless days”

“Beautiful Jesus, beautiful Savior
Nothing is greater, brilliant creator
Friend of mine”

No matter if my days are chaos and hectic or quiet and calm, he is still my Beautiful Jesus, Perfect in Power. He is still the one I go to, to calm my mind, to fill me with peace and comfort.

What else was there to do then to go to him in the WORD. So for the reminder of the afternoon it was just me, my coffee and my Beautiful Jesus talking it out and being reminded that he is still God. He is the only one who can take away the overwhelming feelings that this world fills me with.

Just as Isaiah 41:10 reads,

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

I hadn’t thought much of that day until this past week. My husby and I had decided to take a huge step into risky waters, to go into a ministry that we felt God was leading our family to. Everything was stacking up just perfect. We felt God’s hand every step of the way, until last week.

I received a disturbing phone call from the organization we were planning to work with. Several years ago we had worked with the organization and during this time my family was wronged. Even though I cannot express details, all I can say is that my family was victimized. It has taken a lot of prayer and faith to let go with the feelings and emotions involved with that situation.

You might be saying, well why would you want to go back into that organization again? Well, I guess because God did not put any restrictions on our freedom or his love for us, and it is our responsible to do everything we can to reach every lost soul.

Back to the phone call, we know the devil can wiggle his way into every situation. And we know he uses normal people to do his dirty work. Even though my family was wronged, the person who wrote the report has tried to turn it around so my family looks like the bad guy, not the organization.

How wrong is that? Why have we had to relive painful memories when we were trying to do God’s work?

I believe there is a couple answers to that. First, the devil plays every game possible to try to detour God’s plan in your life. And the other is that God already has our life planned and maybe God is trying to prevent us from bring hurt worse in the future.

I also had another thought. What if God needed my family to relive the memories that was brought up to help us heal and move forward. Is he trying to see if we are strong enough to deal with situations that are to come.

As I sat and pondered this week, I came back to the memory of a few months ago. I had to chose not to let my emotions overwhelm me or I would be lost in the chaos of the dying world, and my light would turn dark. I cannot let the black hole of hurt affect what God has in front of me. I had to go back to the same scripture I read that day.

Isaiah 41:10

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

God will work it together for his good. He us still my God. He plan is greater than my plan. He can turn the negative into a positive.

So as I sit and type these words, I am renewed, refreshed and loved by my creator. I may not understand the path right now, I just have to trust and have faith and know his ways are always better than mine. That he is my protector, my provider, my Jesus!

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Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Cookies

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I love oatmeal.  The love the texture of the warm gooey mess on any given morning.  I know for some, oatmeal is a fall/winter breakfast item.  For me it is plain and simple comfort food that brings back such warm memories of childhood that I enjoy it all year round.  I can remember my momma cooking a big ole pan of oats in the morning.  I can still remember the way she smelled of sugar and cinnamon after she was done.  Oh sweet memories.  Last week was the 11th anniversary of her trip heaven.  Every year I try really hard to remain positive but the day still crashes down on me like it happened yesterday.  My momma was my best friend, she was my rock, support and encourager.  I was her baby.  Remembering these precious memories are like a lifeline tom me.  I get scared at times thinking I am going to forgot.  It makes me feel better blogging about them and having them always.

I don’t know if anyone else has trouble getting kiddos to eat oatmeal, but it’s like pulling teeth around here.  I have to sneak it in every form and fashion.  What better way to sneak in wholesome oatmeal than in cookies!  Especially when the cookies contain chocolate and peanut butter!

This recipe is one of the easiest I use!!
And they make a perfect after school/work snack.   Hope you enjoy and as they make these, think about sweet memories of your childhood!

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Ingredients:

1c sugar
1 c flour
2 c oats
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 tablespoon baking soda
2 eggs
1 1/2 sticks of butter
1 cup peanut butter
3/4 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Mix sugar, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg together. Add in butter (melted) and stir together. Next add in eggs and vanilla.
Sift flour and baking powder together and add in mixture
Now add in chocolate chips and peanut butter

Roll into golf ball size and place on ungreased cookie sheet
Bake apps 10-12 mins.

Ooey, Gooey, Goodness

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I am a bread lover.  I am a butter, cinnamon and sugar lover.  What better why then to mix them all together for a mouth-watering, combination of goodness!  

Ooey Gooey Goodness Bread is my version of Monkey Bread. If your a monkey bread fan then you will love this!! Lets get Cookin.

What you need:

1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon

2 loaves of frozen bread or can biscuits
1 1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks of butter (salted or unsalted is fine)
1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup of your favorite nuts (mine is pecan)
1/4 cup of chocolate chips or peanut butter chips

First mix sugar and cinnamon in large ziplock bag and shake well.

Next tear your loaf of bread or biscuits into 1 inch size pieces

Mix the bread into the sugar/cinnamon mixture. Coat really well.

Now place your pieces of bread into a 9 x13 well buttered pan

Cover your bread pieces with the nuts and chocolate chips or pb chips

Melt your butter and mix with your brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice.

Pour over the bread and cover every piece

Next sprinkle about 2-3 tablespoons of your sugar/cinnamon mixture on top of butter/brown sugar.

Bake at 350 for appx 25 minutes

Enjoy!

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Ooey, Gooey, Goodness Bread
photo by graceandgravy

Perfect for a lazy Saturday Morning Breakfast, or an afterschool snack for hungry kiddos.  This will send your taste buds overboard!