When Life Gets Too Busy...

I will be honest, lately I have been feeling sorry for myself. My husband works out of town, I work full time, I have two children to take care of by myself when my husband is gone, a home to take care of alone when he is gone, my husband and I are both taking college courses... life is hectic. But aren't all of those things I just mentioned blessings? Of course they are!

My husband works out of town and I am constantly running around trying to make things happen at home while working full time myself. But we both have good jobs and we are able to provide for our family. Others can't find work, or chose to not look for work... and often times their family has to struggle through that.

Taking care of children is a big task. But one I am grateful God allowed me to have. Many couples want children and can't have them. Many are struggling through the process of adoption that just doesn't seem to be happening fast enough. My husband and I had our own hard times in the process of having children and I am thankful that with God's help we have come out on the other side. Often times I feel like I am failing at giving my children what they need because I have so much going on, those are the moments where God shows me how I can slow things down and that it is ok to be late for work every once in a while if it means letting my daughter pick me "flowers" (aka weeds) as we go out the door in the morning. The moments when I need it most my son will walk up and hug me for no apparent reason except it being his way to say "thank you mommy, I love you" or my daughter will say "You're the best Mom in the world". I need... we all need... to learn how to embrace those little messages from the Lord saying you're doing just fine. The Lord has given me two beautiful healthy children and for that I am eternally grateful!

Taking care of everything that needs to be done at home alone through the week is daunting. There are always toys in the floor, dishes in the sink, clothes to be washed... the list goes on and on. But we are able to own a home, put food on those dishes and play to get those clothes dirty. When there is a mess it usually means something great occurred to make it that way. Sometimes that is hard to see behind the piles of dirty laundry but I assure you that if you just keep digging you will find that blessing hidden in there.

As for college, Lord help!! What a task it has been. Just one of us going to college would have been hard enough but both of us... we must be crazy. Crazy isn't always bad... because we are in our last semester and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. God has blessed us and helped us every step of the way and I have faith that he will allow us to reap the rewards of our hard work and faith in him.

Maybe I have said all of this just to prove a point to myself... yeah probably so... but behind the stress and struggles of every day life there are blessings that we often times over look. Next time you are stressed and feel like you just want to scream do yourself the favor of reversing that energy and thinking about the good behind the stress. I think that could help us all. And when life seems too busy know that it is ok to slow down, even if it's just a little. You will thank yourself for it.

Snow Cream

Those of you who are my fellow Southerners know that we very rarely get any snow. And we very VERY rarely get enough to get super excited about. Well, last week we got a good bit of snow not only once but twice in a week. It didn't last long as we are already back up around 65 degrees (if you don't like the weather in the south just give it a few days and it is sure to change) but it was fun while it lasted.

In honor of that glorious snow I thought I would share my snow cream recipe with you. I searched the internet for a recipe that I thought I wanted to try and they were all similar yet different. I found one that I thought would be closest to what I wanted and then tweaked it just a little to make it mine.

Here it is:

1 cup of almond milk {can substitute another kind of milk if you would like}
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract {come on now.. we all know we just fill up the cap :)}
pinch of salt
7-8 cups of snow

Optional:
Sprinkles or other toppings you like

Mix your almond milk, sugar, vanilla and salt together with a whisk and sit it in the refrigerator while you gather your fresh clean snow. Once you have your snow ready slowly add it to your liquid mixture until it is a nice ice cream like consistency. Top with your favorite topping(s), our's happen to be sprinkles and chocolate syrup, or serve plain. Plain is ok but let's all be honest... life is better with a little extra fun... SO ADD THE SPRINKLES!! :) And Enjoy!

Tip: Snow cream tends to melt fairly quickly so prepare right before you plan to enjoy it.

 

Homemade Powder Laundry Detergent

 

Why?

Why make your own laundry detergent? I get asked similar questions about most all of my homemade items. The answer to "why" is different for a lot of people, for me it is a combo of things. It saves money, no fillers (you know exactly what is in it), it is simple, it is fun and the products work really well. I will be the first to say I am only going to use it if it works.

How To

The ingredients for homemade powder laundry detergent are surprisingly simple. I remember feeling a little overwhelmed when I first started my journey into homemade cleaning products because I wasn't sure how easy the items I needed would be to find. Much to my surprise and pleasure EVERYTHING I needed for my laundry detergent was right there together... in the laundry aisle (go figure). There are several different recipes out there but I have adapted the following recipe as what works best for my family. I use it on everything from the kiddos' clothes to the hubby's work clothes and it works wonders.

There are three main ingredients in my laundry detergent recipe:

 One large box of Borax

 One large box of Washing Soda

2 bars of low sud soap (I use Zote which is in the laundry aisle and it works best for me... I have also used Fels Naptha in the past and I have heard of others using the plain white dove or ivory soap. You may however want to up it to 3 bars if you use something other than Zote, as the Zote bars are much larger than the other options.)

Theses three above are the only necessary ingredients, however, I also choose to add:
One large box of baking soda (for hard water)
One large box of Clorox 2 powder for colors (for extra brightening and stain fighting)
One container of Purex Crystals (for some smelly goodness)

The actual process of making the detergent is so simple it will blow your mind. Grate the soap (I use a cheese grater and yes it is a little time consuming but that's what works for me). After that you've got it made in the shade so to speak :). Dump the entire box of borax, washing soda and grated soap (as well as any of those extras I mentioned) in a garbage bag or large bucket and shake/mix it around until it is thoroughly combined. I suggest doing this outside where you can get fresh air as some of the powders tend to fly into the air. Transfer to air tight containers and you are good to go.

How To Use It

Because your homemade detergent has no fillers you literally only have to use 1 tablespoon per load. That idea definitely took some getting use to. It also shows you how many fillers are in commercial detergents. I do tend to use up to 2 tablespoons for extra large or heavy soiled loads but I don't know that it is necessary, 1 tablespoon would probably still get the job done (this stuff is seriously amazing).

I always wash in cold water and have no problem with the detergent. I have heard several suggestions that if you wash only in cold water (regardless of what detergent you use, commercial or homemade) you may want to run one extra large empty load of hot water with a cup or two of vinegar in it once a month to keep buildup out of your washer. That's just an extra little helpful tip... free of charge of course :).

I have personally never used this detergent in a HE washer... but have heard through the grape vine that it should work just fine for those of you operating on that system. I will leave that decision up to you... but if it was me I would go for it.

****NOTE: I use this homemade detergent along with my homemade fabric softener and dryer sheets... check them out here!

Cost Break Down

For the sake of this post I am going to round my numbers because not all stores are priced the same, this should still give you a very good idea of the cost:

Borax (4 lb 12 oz box) approx. $4.00
Washing Soda (3 lb 7 oz box) approx. $4.00
Zote Soap approx. $1.00 per bar x2= approx. $2.00

If you only use these three ingredients you will spend around $10 and have enough detergent to last (in my busy home) around 4-5 months.

If you add the extras:

Baking Soda (4 lb box) approx $3.00
Clorox 2 (3 lb 7 oz box) approx $6.00
Purex Crystals (28 oz) approx $5.00

You will spend between $20-$25 dollars and have enough detergent to last close to a year.

Without the extras you are getting a deal at around $0.04 per load and are spending around $0.09 per load for the top notch homemade detergent. In comparison Tide Ultra sells for around $0.21 cents per load (and that is if you get as many loads out of it as they say you should....)

More To Come

Be on the look out because at some point in the future I plan to share the recipes for my whipped and liquid laundry detergents. Both of those use the same ingredients as the powder just in a different form/process. I wanted to share the powder version first because it is our current "go to" detergent. I have all three versions made up and on the shelf but we always seem to use the powder. My husband has been such a trooper in the transition to homemade products, he will use them... but only as long as they efficiently and effectively get the job done. The powder has by far been his favorite detergent so that makes it a winner in my book.

***If you try this detergent or have any questions or suggestions I would love to hear from you! Leave me a comment below!***

Live, Laugh, Love and DIY!

New Blogger

My Life... As A Blogger??

So... here I am, new to the blog world but ready to give it a try. I'm gonna take a minute to explain my blog and what I hope to accomplish through it. To be honest I'm still figuring that out... so I guess that's my first point. We can learn together and you can always expect me to be completely honest. I have a heart for family and giving my family the best I can. Because of that I try to do a lot of DIY projects and make healthy food and cleaners for my family and home. I also TRY to get my family involved in my projects when I can as a chance to spend time together. But, and here is that honesty, we all know that husbands may not be as excited about making homemade laundry detergent as us women.

Being crafty has always been an attribute of mine so I try to take that throughout my home and life. Doing things yourself can not only save you money but it can truly be FUN and I want to share that with the world! This blog idea started because I have had a lot of people asking for recipes of my homemade cleaners (laundry detergent, dishwasher tabs, toothpaste...) and baby items (wipes, powder, booty cream) so I thought this would be a good place not only for others to see the recipes but for me to go back to them myself and develop them even further over time. So you can certainly expect to see recipes for a lot of cleaners, baby items and more. 

Who Am I??

How rude of me... I haven't properly introduced myself. Way to start things off Tiffany (yep I just referred to myself in third person).

My name is Tiffany and I live in a small town in Alabama. I am a southern girl through and through. I enjoy hunting, fishing, cooking/baking and... you guessed it... being a DIYer. My family is my heart and everything I do is for them. I guess this Southern Mommy Minute blog is going to be about what makes me ME and those times that I take a minute to do the things this southern mommy enjoys and the things I have to do to keep things running "smoothly" around home. *insert disclaimer: my "smoothly" may not have the same definition as yours, and then again it may... after all I am a full time working mother with two small children and I am also taking college courses and trying to run a home with my darling husband, "smoothly" in my book means everyone is clean and fed and that I look half way presentable at work after sleeping a few hours with toddler feet in my back and baby feet in my face... you get the idea... now where were we...* I want to be able to share with you the mommy minutes that teach me life lessons, the minutes that help me make memories, and the minutes that help me make my home a better place for us to live. I expect this to be a place where I can be me... just in blog form. :) So that's who I am and what to expect... anything me. Life lessons, memories, how-to moments and more. Together we will live, laugh, love and DIY.

Here's to what's to come! -Tiff