HomeMade Laundry Detergent.

I finally did it! I made home made laundry detergent. I found a recipe for it over a year ago and was going to make it, then decided not to. It sounded like a lot of work and I needed a large bucket that I didnt have and space to keep the bucket that I also didnt really have. A few of my friends were talking on facebook about the soap that they made so I decided to dig out my recipe and give it a shot. It is SOOOOOOOO Easy to make and so cheap to make and it makes TON! So here is the recipe I used (I dont remember where I got it, Im sorry)

~Recipe~
1/3 bar of Fels Naptha (or other bar laundry soap) I got this at Walmart for under a $1
1/2 Cup Washing Soda This was like $3 also at Walmart. You want Washing Soda Not Baking Soda. Arm and Hammer makes both :)
1/2 Cup Borax I got this at the local Whole Foods store for a couple dollars, I bought about 2 pounds so I dont have to go back next time I make this.

Grate the soap into a saucepan add 6 cups of water. Heat until the soap dissolves. Add the powders, stir until dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot tap water into bucket. Add the Soap mixture and stir. add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of additional tap water. Stir and let sit for 24 hours. It will Gel and is ready to use! You can add essential oils if you want it to have a particular smell. I actually like the smell of this as is. It is a very clean fresh scent!
Use 1/2 cup per load.

I used this tonight for the first time and I am actually quite amazed at how well it worked and how great my clothes smell. I am very glad I gave this a shot and It will save me oodles of Moola!!! :D XoXo If you try this let me know what you think!!!

Meat Loaf Cupcakes.

Yummy! I got the idea from a friend of mine who got the idea from Pinterest. I am not a big meatloaf lover but I did pick up a packet of McCormick Meatloaf seasonings a few weeks back. So I figured I would make it. Everyone loved it, the kids had multiple servings and loved that they were in the cupcake wrappers (which are reusable!) and that they got to pick what color they wanted. Also didnt hurt that they cooked in about 20 minutes and I served with a salad so it was a very simple and delicious dinner.

~Recipe~
McCormick Meatloaf seasoning packet
2 pounds ground beef (or you can use turkey)
2 eggs; lightly beaten
1/2  cup milk
1/4 dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup ketchup, tomato soup

Preheat oven according to package directions 375, I did 350
Combine all ingredients in a bowl until well incorporated. Seperate into muffin pan, cupcake wrappers, whatever you wish. I also have a mini heart cake pan that i have used previously. Bake for about 20 minutes or until cooked through.  Eat and enjoy. :D

Note. I cut the recipe in half and used 1/2 the packet. I knew my family wouldnt eat 2 pounds of meatloaf so I made one pound and there were no leftovers. I still have enough seasoning to make another meal out of it in the near future. 

My JoJo Bear.

Most of the excitement around here lately has been centered around Teddi. Here is a post about my JoJo. She is the complete Opposite of Teddi. She is very shy, reserved, quiet, sneaky, She is also a Practical Joker, with tons of funny quirks and personality traits that are so amazing. She 100%  brightens any day. It is so hard to believe that I will be planning her 3rd birthday in a month. Some days I feel like she is turning 4 and then others I feel like she is still my little baby.  One of my Fav quirks so to speak that she has is she HATES to be called Princess. If you call her a princess she will ball her hands into fists tilt her head down and in a growly voice tell you " I am NOT a Princessesa!!!!" She adds the A at the end, I think for dramatical purposes :p My mom believes that we all have had previous lives. She thinks that Josie must have been a high woman of power in a previous life and to her the term princess is an insult to what she is capable of. She says how else do you explain a little girl who Hates the word "princess" with such passion?! It does make sense in a weird way....lol. She is totally a Mama's girl. Although she has Dad wrapped her tiny little finger. She is also afraid of the dark. She has to go to sleep with the light on, we shut it off when we go to bed, 99% of the time when I wake up her light is back on from her waking up in the middle of the night. Sometimes if she doesnt want to get out of bed to turn the light back on she will cry for me to come and turn it on. She has been afraid of the dark basically since she was born. We had to have night lights in her room. But as she got older those stopped "cutting" it and now the overhead light needs to be on. I love her shyness and reservedness and little things about her that are just part of who she is. Every kid is different in my case my girls are as different as Night and Day. I had one friend one time when commenting about her Shyness say "make me wonder what happened to her" LOL nothing happened to her, she is the way she is and she is perfect. I never have to worry about her going off with a stranger LOL, where as Teddi introduces herself to every person she meets whether on a sidewalk or in a store. Josie just sticks closer to me or dad when people are around. I have my Princess Teddi and I have my TomBoy Josie. I love my Midgets with everything I have.

Deliciously Simple Pork

This is the easiest way to cook pork chops, you can use bone in or out and they are oh soooo good and makes the house smell like apple pie! Yummy!!!!!!!!!!

~recipe~
 pork chops
4 medium apples
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Lay the pork chops in a crock pot (cook on low 6 hours) or in a casserole dish (cook at 300 for about 2 hours) in a single layer, cover with sliced apples, mix all the seasonings together and sprinkle on top of apples. Layer more pork chops, cover with apples, sprinkle with seasoning. Do this as many times as needed. Cover, cook and enjoy!!!!!!! :D

Brown Sugar Wheat Sugar Cookies.

These are my new absolute favorite cookie. The texture alone is wonderful. They are so flaky and delicious with a wonderful glaze to top them off with. The photo does NOT do them justice please make them and try them for yourself. Here is the oh so easy recipe!!!

~Recipe~
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cup vegi shortening (not Oil)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 egg white
1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
1/4 teaspoon orange rind (optional)

Cream the sugars and shortening together. add the extracts and orange, add the dry ingredients and egg white.  The cookie dough is going to be pretty "runny" not like normal cookie dough. Refridgerate for 4 hours.

preheat oven to 325. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. (you can also grease the pan but I find that parchment paper makes for much better cookies) Form into balls or use a spoon and lightly dump onto pan. bake until brown About 20 minutes give or take a few depending on your oven.

Glaze
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
water

Add all ingredients and whisk together, add the water last and keep an eye on the consistancy. you want it kind of thick.

Spoon the glaze onto warm cookies and let it run where it will. it will harden as the cookies cool.

Eat and enjoy! If you make these please let me know what you think. I LOVE them! :D

Tooth Fairy!

As if turning 5 was not a big enough deal for this Mama, she went and lost her tooth a week later! Her other bottom front tooth is loose too and will be falling out within a few weeks. My beautiful little toothless wonder :D The tooth fairy came and visited her which of course made her whole year! Nate went to the bank and asked the teller "What is the going rate for the tooth fairy these days?" She asked if the child had been good, of course Nate said Yes! He traded a $5 bill for some beautiful Gold coins (the kind tooth fairies give out in the movies and commercials with their big bag of coins, it is much more believable that way) Then we debated on how much her tooth was worth. I initially threw out that $2 was good, we ended giving her the whole $5 worth of coins. We decided since she will lose about 16 teeth (we dont really know how many kids lose and have not "Googled" it yet) That over the next few years we can handle $5 a tooth, what a lucky little midget! I got a dollar and Nate got a Quarter when we were kids. We also told Teddi that when you lose a tooth you have to put a note on your door so that the tooth fairy knows to stop. It was Nate's idea because that way when she gets older and loses a tooth and decides not to tell us we will see the note and know that the tooth fairy has some work to do that night.  We woke up the next morning to Teddi Dancing and screaming in joy that the tooth fairy actually came! It was sooooooo cute! She called the whole family the day she lost her tooth and told everyone what a big girl she was. She is growing up too fast in case anyone is curious how I feel about this LOL. I am so proud of my big girl and I love her gape toothed grin. Melts my heart.

My Baby is 5!

WOW I can not believe my little Teddi Bear is 5 years old. I cried when she turned 1. 2, 3, & 4 were no problem but 5, FIVE holy buckets this one is a biggy (for me) We did her family birthday dinner and presents on her real birthday. In my family we always got 1 big present and then smaller presents. Teddi's big gift was the Leapfrog Leap Pad. She LOVES it. When she opened it she got all super duper excited couldnt believe she was getting one, then straight face and calm looks at us and asks "what is it?" We were laughing so hard! She plays with it all the time. :o) She has even taught her younger sister how to use it. I can hardly believe how well Teddi is sharing her gift. The minute Josie wants to play with it Teddi says "ok but then it is my turn" Is this a sign that the 5s are better than the 4s?? The 4s are rough, only someone with a 4 year old knows what I am talking about. My friend Sara put it perfectly that it is all the emotions that they are learning and experiencing and like Teenagers they just can not handle them. It is like they have a million split personalities some with bipolar disorder and some of those personalities you would swear like to drink! LOL JK :P  The next day we did her friends birthday Party! It was so much fun! We decided to do a bonfire so that the kiddos could roast their own hotdogs and marshmallows, we had TONS of Balls everywhere, bubbles, chalk, and a big yard for them to run in. The theme was Monster High, I had a large wall poster that we put up on the garage, hanging thingies that we hung outside, and I made homemade cupcakes and decorated them to look like the monster high skull with the pink bow.

I started running out of time on the skulls and had to rush them a little bit, next time I will give myself more time, but I think they turned out pretty good. The kids at least were quite impressed! Teddi got almost all the Lala Loopsies that were on her list and some new barbies that went with her Barbie Movies (they make the cutest movies!!!) She was on cloud nine and had such an amazing time.  I did learn why people hire someone to take photos at parties, I was so busy hosting and running around everywhere that I only got pictures of her opening presents. Those pics did not turn out to well because Teddi kept getting mad at the wind blowing over her presents so she has a scowl in most of the photos LOL. Next time I am designating a photographer or paying someone.  Not only did Teddi get to see people near and dear to her heart, but I got to see people that I do not know what I would do without! I am a million percent sure I have the most amazing friends. Having them here to support me so to speak and to celebrate my daughter's birthday meant so much to me. Kids birthdays are not always the most exciting thing in the world but to know that I have people in my life who care enough to come spend the day with me well it meant the world to me. A couple of my friends even made me tear up! I am such a baby! When I had kids one of my biggest fears was that I would lose friends because I was no longer able to be the girl they called on to go and party, luckly for me, my friends and I have made it work. I found this quote that sums it all up so perfectly! "Much of the vitality in a friendship lies in the honouring of differences, not simply in the enjoyment of similarities." James L Fredericks. My bestie Chelsea and I were talking one of the last times we were together and part of why we have never arugued and are able to just be there for eachother and have fun where ever we are is because she could never do/want to do what i do and I could never do nor do i want to do what she does.  It is a recipe for Perfection!  I think sometimes everyone needs a reminder of the people in their lives that are there for them & Love them and this past weekend was def a reminder for me.

My Little Teddi also had another birthday surprise for me that she woke me up for on Sunday. She has TWO LOOSE TEETH!!!!!!! Are you kidding me! Talk about mommy's baby is growing up too fast heartbreak. Nate picked up some $1 coins for when it falls out, which we are sure will be super soon since we can see the adult tooth has already broken through the gum line behind the loose tooth. I thought kids did this closer to 6 years old not 2 days after their 5th birthday! I remember when she was just a little midget curled up in my arms while I fed her. Thinking Wow she is mine. Promising her to always love her and care for her and be the best mom I can be. She draws pictures of her family with hearts & rainbows all over the place and tells us stories, puts on shows with sweet songs and dances, she is a happy child. I couldnt have asked for more. I couldnt be happier with her. Even her sarcasm makes me proud. My Mom and I spoke when I was pregnant with her that we wanted her to be part of our family (I looked into adoption) and be sarcastic like us. She fits in perfectly!!!

Happy 5th Birthday to my Beautiful Theodora XoXo