Wow! I can't believe that a week has passed since my last blog. This past week has been a long one for me. Ryan left last Wednesday for the Christian Music Broadcasters convention in Orlando. He was there until Sunday. I must take a second to brag on my husband. He was up for the CMB Echo Award for Program Director of the Year. He is truly one of the hard working PD's in Christian radio. He didn't get the award this time but it sounds like he came very close to winning it. The loss was softened a little by knowing that the award went to a PD from Augusta Georgia. Gotta keep it in the home state :)
I'm so glad that Ryan is back home. I'm just not fit to be a single parent. It's hard work!!!!! My hinny was dragging by the time he came home. Not only was I doing my regular everyday things that I do but I was having to do Ryan's share of things around the house as well. I was up at the crack of dawn and in bed (if I was lucky) by midnight. My body just isn't used to that. AT ALL!!!!
On top of all of the madness with Ryan being gone, my daughter started telling me that she just didn't feel right. To make a long story short.....she battled a nasty sinus infection all weekend. She woke up this morning running a low grade fever, so I decided to keep her home from school today. She isn't a very fun kid when she's sick. Life can become unbearable with her when she's not feeling well.
So, with all of the madness going on, I decided yesterday to make a pot of Santa Fe Soup! So easy and so cheap to make. Plus, Morgan said it was just what she needed since she was sick. The good thing is, it makes alot of soup so we are heating it up again tonight for supper :) Yay me!!!! All I had to do was plug in the ol' crock pot and supper is ready! I'll put the recipe at the bottom of today's blog :)
Well, the sick one is calling for me so I must tend to her :) I am hoping to blog more than just once this week. We will just have to see how the week goes I guess!
Until next time!
SANTA FE SOUP
1 can black beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can dark red kidney beans
1 can corn
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 (28 oz.) can of diced tomatoes
1 packet taco seasoning
1 packet ranch dressing seasoning
1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained
1 cup water
Mix all ingredients in a large crock pot. Heat for at least 3 hours on low.
Serve with fritos, sour cream and shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Enjoy! :)
Monday, September 14, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Happy Tuesday!!!!
Well, I made it through the weekend! Saturday was a good day for the most part. Ryan and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary. It was quiet. We didn't go anywhere or do anything, but we did look back fondly on the day that we committed ourselves to each other. It was nice.......until 2:30pm!
WHAT HAPPENED???? You may be asking. I'll tell ya what happened.......my Georgia Bulldogs got creamed by Oklahoma State!!!! That's what happened. It got loud and it got ugly here at the Springer house. I'm really surprised that you couldn't hear me! I played a long and hard game. Actually, I probably could've done alot better myself if Coach Richt would've thrown me in the game. But NO! He wouldn't listen to me :(
Now, I must say all of that to tell you that my poor husband is a self proclaimed sports atheist! He was raised by a sports atheist! Bless his heart he really tries to understand me but he ends up shaking his head and going to another room to watch "This Old House" or something. Every year he tries to watch a game with me. He does pretty good until the second quarter. Then he starts asking questions that I know my 11 year old daughter can answer. I really try to be patient, but really? How many times do I have to explain that you get 4 chances to move the ball 10 yards? I give up! I love his non-sports loving heart anyway.
So things got pretty quiet again after the beating was over. Then the good part of the day happened. OU lost to BYU!!!!!!!! I can't tell you how happy that made me. Ahhhhhhh, just to know that all those people that gave me such a hard time about being a Georgia fan all week, were now feeling the same agony that I was in! Misery really does love company! LOL
Ok, enough about football, or at least until next Saturday! Labor Day was nice. We ended up making a trip to Kohl's to get a new suitcase for Ryan. He's headed to Orlando this week for a Christian Radio Conference. Morgan is WAY upset that he is going to be at Disney World and staying on the property. I think knowing that her daddy won't have time to rub elbows with the Main Mouse helps to ease the pain a little.
Well, I think I've got ya caught up on the happenings around here over the past few days. Thanks so much for all of the feed back on the laundry detergent. I've already had a few people try it and they LOVE IT!!!!!! If you're thinking about giving it a whirl, DO! I promise you won't regret it.
Until next time y'all!!!!!!!
P.S. The picture above is my sweet Jackson! He was letting us know what he thought about Georgia losing to Oklahoma State. You do know that he will be the next BIG thing for Georgia Football! LOL GO DAWGS!!!!!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Homemade Laundry Detergent
If you're like me, you're always trying to do what's best for your family. Sometimes it can be a struggle when you're on a tight budget. Recently I was at our local "Superstore" to buy laundry detergent. As I stopped to pick up a bottle of my favorite detergent I noticed that the price had gone up AGAIN! But, I had to have it so I just shook my head and put the bottle in the cart and then made my way down the aisle to where the fabric softner was located. Again, I picked up a bottle of my favorite fabric softner and the price had gone up on it as well.
Now, two years ago Ryan and I decided that we wanted to save a little money on our water and electric bill so we bought a high efficiency (HE) washer and dryer. Best move that we made. I LOVE my machines and we have really noticed a difference in our water and electric bills. Ok, with that said, I've been paying out the wazzou for laundry detergent because my machines only use HE or low sudsing detergent. Do you know how expensive these detergents are? We go through alot of laundry around here, so I was running to the store almost every week and a half to buy detergent and fabric softner at close to $10 -$15 for detergent and $5 -$7 for softner. Thats ALOT of money when you're on a budget!!!!!
So, about a month ago I was watching one of my favorite TV shows on TLC about a family that has 18 kids. Yeah, you know the one :) Anyway, I decided to check out their website. While I was looking at their site I noticed that they make their own laundry deterget! And they use HE machines!!!!! I was like, WHAT? BACK THAT TRUCK UP!!!! So then I decided to do a little research on my own about making your own laundry detergent. Now, Ryan at this point is shaking his head and was most likely thinking "Whatever".
I found out that it really is so simple to make your own detergent and it's very inexpensive. WAY CHEAPER!!!!!
So to make a long story short.....I made my first batch and I was pretty surprised to find that not only did it clean better than the high dollar brands but it also softened our clothes (I no longer use fabric softener) and made everything even smell fresher than the brand I had been using.
It has been requested by all members of my household that I only use this detergent from now on. We’ve been using it for about a month now and I’m totally won over. Of course, they love it for the smell and feel of our clothes, I love it for how great it works and the fact that it only costs me about eight cents per load of laundry now!
This is only my second batch that I’ve made up. It seemed to last forever so this last time I actually measured out how many loads were in each batch so I could give you an accurate figure. No wonder it lasted forever, I had made enough for 160 loads!
Before I forget, when I do feel the need to use fabric softner I've started using (are you ready for this?) plain ol' white vinegar. Yep! Not only does it soften my clothes (and no, you can't smell the vinegar in the clothes) but it keeps my machines smelling good and keeps the hoses clean and fresh!
Today I’m bringing you the recipe I use. This one is the hands down winner at my house!
You’ll need:
■Laundry Soap (Fels Naptha or Zote are the ones I have used. You can also use: Sunlight Bar Soap, Kirk’s Hardwater Castile, or even Ivory)
■Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda (NOT baking soda)
■Borax
Note: You’re not likely to find all of these things in one store. I usually have to make trips to at least two different stores to get them. One store will have the Borax but put it beside a huge box of Baking Soda instead of washing soda and then another will have the soap. Just have fun shopping around for what you like but be sure you remember where you got everything! I am going to show you a recipe for detergent to make about eighty loads worth but I recommend you get four bars of soap and go ahead and make 160 loads worth because there is enough Borax and Washing Soda in one box to do that much. This will give you the absolute best savings!
The only real work involved is grating your soap. I use a cheese grater for this. I really want to use my food processor but I’m worried about hard soap damaging or dulling my blades so cheese grater it is! I get about three cups of soap shavings from each bar. Measurements will vary according to the size of your bar soap and how finely it is ground. We’re grating this kind of fine so it melts easier in the water. If you like, you can run the shavings through the food processor when you are done to make it finer but this works just fine for me.
Measure out your soap grounds in a large mixing bowl. This is where the recipe gets easy. However many cups of soap shavings you have, half that to know the number of cups of Washing Soda and Borax to put in. So for six cups of soap shavings, use three cups of borax and three cups of washing soda! Measure out the washing soda and borax then stir all of that up! You’ll have to stir a bit each time you scoop some out to get a good ratio of soap shavings to powder but that’s no big deal.
I store mine in a glass container with a lid and leave a 1/8th of a cup measuring cup in there to measure it out. Can you believe this only takes two tablespoons per load? Seriously! I put this to the test, too. I’ve figure out that two tablespoons is pretty close to 1/8th of a cup so that is the measurement I use now.
The main difference you will notice between this and store bought detergents is that this detergent doesn’t suds up as commercial ones do. Don’t let that deter you! Once you pull out your first load of clean, fresh smelling, naturally soft and fluffy laundry, that only cost YOU eight cents to clean, you’ll be hooked.
If you decide to try making your own detergent let me know how it works for ya. I know that you'll love it and love the savings! Happy washing :)
Homemade Laundry Detergent
■4 Bars Laundry Soap (to yield 12 cups of soap shavings)
■6 Cups Borax (this is roughly one box)
■6 Cups Washing powders (this is roughly one box)
Grate soap using cheese grater. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir well. Place in sealed container and measure out two tablespoons for each load.
Now, two years ago Ryan and I decided that we wanted to save a little money on our water and electric bill so we bought a high efficiency (HE) washer and dryer. Best move that we made. I LOVE my machines and we have really noticed a difference in our water and electric bills. Ok, with that said, I've been paying out the wazzou for laundry detergent because my machines only use HE or low sudsing detergent. Do you know how expensive these detergents are? We go through alot of laundry around here, so I was running to the store almost every week and a half to buy detergent and fabric softner at close to $10 -$15 for detergent and $5 -$7 for softner. Thats ALOT of money when you're on a budget!!!!!
So, about a month ago I was watching one of my favorite TV shows on TLC about a family that has 18 kids. Yeah, you know the one :) Anyway, I decided to check out their website. While I was looking at their site I noticed that they make their own laundry deterget! And they use HE machines!!!!! I was like, WHAT? BACK THAT TRUCK UP!!!! So then I decided to do a little research on my own about making your own laundry detergent. Now, Ryan at this point is shaking his head and was most likely thinking "Whatever".
I found out that it really is so simple to make your own detergent and it's very inexpensive. WAY CHEAPER!!!!!
So to make a long story short.....I made my first batch and I was pretty surprised to find that not only did it clean better than the high dollar brands but it also softened our clothes (I no longer use fabric softener) and made everything even smell fresher than the brand I had been using.
It has been requested by all members of my household that I only use this detergent from now on. We’ve been using it for about a month now and I’m totally won over. Of course, they love it for the smell and feel of our clothes, I love it for how great it works and the fact that it only costs me about eight cents per load of laundry now!
This is only my second batch that I’ve made up. It seemed to last forever so this last time I actually measured out how many loads were in each batch so I could give you an accurate figure. No wonder it lasted forever, I had made enough for 160 loads!
Before I forget, when I do feel the need to use fabric softner I've started using (are you ready for this?) plain ol' white vinegar. Yep! Not only does it soften my clothes (and no, you can't smell the vinegar in the clothes) but it keeps my machines smelling good and keeps the hoses clean and fresh!
Today I’m bringing you the recipe I use. This one is the hands down winner at my house!
You’ll need:
■Laundry Soap (Fels Naptha or Zote are the ones I have used. You can also use: Sunlight Bar Soap, Kirk’s Hardwater Castile, or even Ivory)
■Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda (NOT baking soda)
■Borax
Note: You’re not likely to find all of these things in one store. I usually have to make trips to at least two different stores to get them. One store will have the Borax but put it beside a huge box of Baking Soda instead of washing soda and then another will have the soap. Just have fun shopping around for what you like but be sure you remember where you got everything! I am going to show you a recipe for detergent to make about eighty loads worth but I recommend you get four bars of soap and go ahead and make 160 loads worth because there is enough Borax and Washing Soda in one box to do that much. This will give you the absolute best savings!
The only real work involved is grating your soap. I use a cheese grater for this. I really want to use my food processor but I’m worried about hard soap damaging or dulling my blades so cheese grater it is! I get about three cups of soap shavings from each bar. Measurements will vary according to the size of your bar soap and how finely it is ground. We’re grating this kind of fine so it melts easier in the water. If you like, you can run the shavings through the food processor when you are done to make it finer but this works just fine for me.
Measure out your soap grounds in a large mixing bowl. This is where the recipe gets easy. However many cups of soap shavings you have, half that to know the number of cups of Washing Soda and Borax to put in. So for six cups of soap shavings, use three cups of borax and three cups of washing soda! Measure out the washing soda and borax then stir all of that up! You’ll have to stir a bit each time you scoop some out to get a good ratio of soap shavings to powder but that’s no big deal.
I store mine in a glass container with a lid and leave a 1/8th of a cup measuring cup in there to measure it out. Can you believe this only takes two tablespoons per load? Seriously! I put this to the test, too. I’ve figure out that two tablespoons is pretty close to 1/8th of a cup so that is the measurement I use now.
The main difference you will notice between this and store bought detergents is that this detergent doesn’t suds up as commercial ones do. Don’t let that deter you! Once you pull out your first load of clean, fresh smelling, naturally soft and fluffy laundry, that only cost YOU eight cents to clean, you’ll be hooked.
If you decide to try making your own detergent let me know how it works for ya. I know that you'll love it and love the savings! Happy washing :)
Homemade Laundry Detergent
■4 Bars Laundry Soap (to yield 12 cups of soap shavings)
■6 Cups Borax (this is roughly one box)
■6 Cups Washing powders (this is roughly one box)
Grate soap using cheese grater. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir well. Place in sealed container and measure out two tablespoons for each load.
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