PopCorn

 If you have ever been curious and cut open a bag of butter popcorn, you may want to try this. Not only is this popcorn recipe better for you, it's cheaper too. I found this recipe online the other day, and just had to share! I hope you enjoy it.
 Here is what you need.

1 small paper bag
1/4 cup Corn Kernels
About 1 Tsp. Olive oil
Salt to taste

 Place Corn Kernels in small bowl

Drizzle with Oil and salt. Toss to coat all kernels.

Pour Kernels into a paper bag.

Fold opening 3 times to seal.

Place in microwave with fold side down to stay closed.
Microwave on high for about 2-3 minutes or until there are 5 seconds between pops.

Remove from microwave and pour into bowl.

So simple and healthy. Enjoy!(:

DIY Laundry Detergent

 If you are looking for ways to cut corners and save money, here is a recipe I think you will like. I started making my own laundry detergent about 2 months ago, and I can't believe I haven't tried it before. It's so easy and saves us A LOT of money each month.
 Here is a recipe I use. I read alot about homemade laundry detergent, compared recipes and found this works best for us. You can tweak this recipe any way you like to make it your own. There are so many different ways to make this. If you don't like using liquid detergents, try powder detergents...yes, you can even make homemade powder laundry detergent!

 Liquid Detergent~
 Here is what you will need...

 

{ If you don't want to use fels-Naptha bar soap, you can also try Ivory soap.}

 Grate 1 bar of Fels-Naptha soap

Bring A large pot of water to boil.

 Add Grated soap.
Stir Continuously until completely dissolved

 Once soap is dissolved, Pour mixture into a large bucket.( I used a 5 Gallon Bucket with a lid)

Measure 2 cups each of Borax and Washing Soda.

 Add to bucket and stir until dissolved.

Add more hot water and continue to stir.

 Fill bucket up the rest of the way with hot water and yep... stir some more. (;

Let sit until it is cooled, and cover or put a lid on it. Let is sit over night.
It will gel, so you will need to mix it before using it.

I pour mine into detergent bottles that I have saved up.
Use about 1/2 cup per full load of laundry.

This detergent will last you a long time. Before making my own, I would buy detergent and softener at the store for $8 each! That's $32 every month. It costs me about $1.50 for 5 GALLONS. Yes $1.50 for 5 Gallons of laundry detergent! This will last me several months. That's Saving (:

Does homemade detergent clean clothes?? Yes. This stuff is tough and gets everything clean. From my husbands work clothes, to Dirty cloth diapers, it gets the job done.  I found alot of my recipes from Tipnut.com you can find lots of great stuff there!

Creamer For Your Coffee?

 If you are an avid coffee drinker like me, you'll love this recipe. I love my coffee with a little sugar and LOTS of creamer! I used to like the powder kind of creamer and I would add some milk. Once I discovered the yummy liquid creamer, there was no going back. It's not the cheapest coffee accessory. The good coffee creamers like Coffee Mate and International Delight are very yummy, but not so wallet friendly. I think I pay around $2.50 for a small bottle of store bought creamer. Here is a recipe I concocted. It tastes just like vanilla Coffee Mate coffee creamer and is so simple! It costs me about $1.50 to make 2 bottles of coffee creamer(about4.5 cups). That saves me around $3.50!

In a medium bowl, add about 4 cups whole milk and 1 can sweetened condensed milk. Whisk together until combined.


Add 3 Teaspoons Vanilla extract. Whisk until combined.

Tadaa! Simple Vanilla Coffee Creamer. Enjoy.(:

Enough Eggs?

 For our wedding anniversary, my Husband built me a chicken coop a few weeks ago. Talk about a happy wife!(: Some women love diamonds, some love flowers or chocolates(Of course I love these things too from time to time)...to make me happy it's simple, anything that will continue to provide something for me. Weather it be a potted plant, or an animal, I will love it.

 As kids, growing up we always had chickens...I can't remember ever not have chickens. I LOVED collecting eggs every day. The way the chickens always gathered up to eat when they would see me coming with the food bucket always made me smile. Just knowing that every day I could step outside and grab a couple eggs from the chickens I raised gave me a sense of pride even as a kid. It makes me so happy to know my little Lilly Mae will get to do the same!

 So, with my coop built and a fence up for them to roam, it's time to find my hens.
Some of our favorite laying hens are Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, Americanas and Buff Orphingtons. These hens are made for laying, and are great at what they do! We have Rhode Island reds, Barred Rocks and Buff Orphingtons so far. I'm looking forward to getting a few Americanas. I love the blue eggs they lay.

Our coop is 5'x5'x6.5'. Because our hens will be in the yard during the day finding bugs and worms and such, they don't need much space in the coop. The coop is just for them to roost at night and lay their eggs. We put 5 nesting boxes in ours and its plenty enough for our hens.

From 5 chickens, we get about 4 eggs a day. They usually lay an egg a day each. Sometimes a few of them will skip a day depending on the heat of the day.

 Before we had our hens,  I would buy a dozen or 18 eggs each week and use them sparingly. I didn't want to run out of eggs and then need them for something and have to go all the way to the supermarket to buy more. There has been more than one occasion where I had all of my ingredients for cake or cookies measured out to find that I had run out of eggs! That's not a problem now. (:

 I figure we spent on average about $14 a month on eggs (that's for regular sized store bought. Not organic or farm raised. "Organic" eggs are more expensive). We pay $12 a month to feed our hens and have more than enough eggs. The best part about it? We know EVERYTHING that goes into our eggs. I'm glad to be able to check that off of my grocery list each month!

Peanut Butter Time!

 I go through a lot of peanut butter at my house. I LOVE a peanut butter and jelly sandwich anytime of day. I was reading the ingredients label on the back of my peanut butter container before I threw it away and was surprised by how many ingredients were listed. I thought...Isn't it just supposed to be peanuts and oil?? So, here is a recipe I threw together after doing some reading on the subject.
If your used to buying peanut butter from the stores, this peanut butter may take some getting used to. After I made this peanut butter, I gave my husband a taste and he said "tastes like peanuts" well of course. It's peanut butter! It tastes alot like.....peanuts. (:

Shell about 2 cups of peanuts. Or buy shelled roasted peanuts from the store. Just try to get unsalted.


Spread onto cookie sheet and Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 for about 8 minutes(or until golden) shaking the pan every 2 minutes to prevent burning.

Remove from oven and cool.

Put roasted peanuts in a food processor.

Add about 1/4 cup olive oil 1/2 tsp salt and 2 tbs honey( you can use whatever sweetener you like. brown sugar, honey, or whatever you decide.)

Process in food processor until it is the consistency you like. For smoother peanut butter, process longer. There you go! Peanut butter.


  Put peanut butter in a jar and store in refrigerator for up to a month.
 You can play with this recipe until you find what best suits your taste. Enjoy and have fun with it!

Cloth Diapers!(:

  If you have a baby, you know how expensive it can be to buy disposable diapers and wipes. How sad does it make you to pay around $10 for 36 diapers, only to be throwing them in the garbage in 1 week? Well, you don't have to! I have been using cloth diapers on my 8 month old daughter, Lilly Mae and I LOVE THEM!
 
  I've tried a few different styles(there are so many!). My favorite happens to be the cheapest: Prefolds. They cost about $11 for a package of 12 and about $8 for a pack of 6 covers. I also love re-usable wipes! My daughter has sensitive skin and most wipes break her little bottom out. I didn't actually buy my reusable wipes. I just had an old cotton T-shirt I was going to toss out, and I just cut it into wipe sized squares. I fill my sink with a little water and add a few drops of baby soap, toss in the wipes and wring them out. I use a wipe container to store them. To me, It's easier to just toss the wipes in the pail with the diapers. And, not to mention less messy. You can just wash them over and over!

 
 I tried the pocket snap cloth diapers and they just weren't for me. But, everybody is different! Try whatever you and your family likes best! When I first got into cloth diapering, I bought one of a few different kinds of diapers and found that I kept going back to the prefolds! I know moms that fell in love with pocket cloth diapers too. Like I said before, choose whatever is best for you.
  There are so many websites that have lots of good deals for new cloth diapers and lots of different types and colors! I also ordered a lot of my diapers and reusable wipes on Ebay. You can find great prices there and usually free shipping!(:

 During the day, I just rinse the dirty diapers and wipes( I hold the diaper into the toilet and flush to clean a poopy diaper. There are diaper sprayers you can buy for about $20 that hook to the toilet for easy cleaning!)  then toss them in a 5 gallon bucket with a lid. (Or, you can buy nice diaper pail from Walmart or Ebay)I like to fill the bucket about half way with water and a tad of laundry detergent. ({Be sure to put the lid on if you have a little one that can reach it}) At the end of the day I pour out excess water and toss them in the wash. Simple as that!

 We save about $45 each month using cloth diapers and wipes. I'm defiantly excited about that!(:  I hope this info was helpful!