This is Barry’s public service post for the season. If you’re looking for ideas for what to buy dad for Christmas (or any other occasion for that matter), this is the post for you. Of course not all of these will apply to your dad; maybe he is a manly man or maybe he isn’t. Maybe he wants lots of stuff or maybe he is impossible to buy for. Either way, if this list doesn’t give you a worthwhile idea or two, it is your responsibility to leave a comment with at least one decent idea I didn’t have that would work for your dad. For everyone else, you are welcome to send me a gift for being so awesome and racking my brain for these 25 ideas to save you the time and effort. You’re welcome. ;0) [Read more…]
Archives for November 2013
Rock Your Crock with Plan to Eat
Y’all know how much I love Plan to Eat. I am a meal planning junkie, and Plan to Eat just fills my need of order and list making. When I first confessed my love of this program, I told you I had been a hard sale, because I like my lists on PAPER, not online. But the great thing about Plan to Eat is that you CAN print your stuff out on paper. So, I’m organized and I have my paper. God bless America.
If you’re scared of Plan to Eat, never fear – I’ve even got a video tutorial showing you how I meal plan…and another post about how I use Pinterest and Plan to Eat together for meal planning. [Read more…]
Advent 2013
This is our fourth Christmas celebrating Advent together as a family. Each year I am more excited about it than the year before…because this is a time when our family can bond and sing kum-ba-ya. Ha, ha! No really, we SO enjoy our yearly Advent activities – because it’s a time when we can focus on Christ and spending time together…instead of the hustle and bustle of Christmas and the stress that can sometimes accompany it.
So, let me catch you up if you’ve joined us since last year. Our family celebrates Christ’s birth by focusing on Advent during the holiday season. We start December 1st and have a family activity every day through the 25th instead of the traditional gifts. Each day our activity is accompanied by an Advent devotion using Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room (affiliate link, as usual). I’ll put some past Advent links at the bottom of the post in case you want to see them. [Read more…]
4 Ingredient No-Churn Pumpkin Ice Cream
In the spirit of keeping it real, let me tell you… bombed a recipe. Well, not really BOMBED – as in, setting on fire. But the recipe was sub-par and I don’t post sub-par recipes. It’s the perfectionist in me, which sometimes needs to take a hike.
I wanted to show y’all how you can use your blender for all kinds of things – besides smoothies! – and tried a recipe for Raw Cinnamon Bun Bites from my Blendtec blender cookbook. But when I switched some of the ingredients… it just didn’t turn out super yummy.
Instead, I’ve giving y’all my 4 Ingredient No-Churn Pumpkin Ice Cream!
Five Minutes on Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is our favorite holiday. We LOVE that it is all about family, food and taking a moment to recognize just how many blessings God has granted us. Even in the worst of times, there is always something to be grateful for. To us, that’s what Thanksgiving is about. But there are other reasons we like Thanksgiving, and look forward to it every year.
Around the world, many countries observe the Thanksgiving holiday, even if it is done a little differently or at different times of the year. There are at least ten reasons I LOVE Thanksgiving. [Read more…]
Once a Month Shopping – Part Two
See my first post about Once a Month Shopping if you missed it.
Judging by the feedback from my last post and pictures on Instagram, y’all are super interested in Once a Month Shopping. And I know why – because after three months of doing it, I am totally hooked! You have asked lots of questions, so I am here to answer them and share an update on how it’s going.
First, let me remind you that I first learned about how to do this using the book My Grocery Budget Toolbox from my friend Anne over at Authentic Simplicity. It’s a great book for anyone looking to maintain their sanity and do the best by their grocery budget. And no, I’m not an affiliate – the book is just awesome. If you are really ready to make this change, you’ll love this book! [Read more…]
Southwestern Frittata
Am I the only one around here who wakes up about to eat her arm off? My eyes open and I immediately think “Must. Have. Food.” Maybe that’s why breakfast is my favorite meal of the day – I love a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge breakfast. All of you sad people out there who don’t eat breakfast – I just can’t understand you. You make no sense to me. Maybe you should seek professional counseling – or make this Frittata. That might fix it.
I spend the majority of my meal planning time trying to decide on breakfast. I spend a majority of my Pinterest time pinning breakfast recipes…and I even have a board totally dedicated to oatmeal. I’m serious about breakfast – it is not a laughing matter. It IS the most important meal of the day…even if there are likely 1.5 million studies about how eating breakfast can kill you slowly. Everyone is a critic.
20 Nutty Recipes
I love nuts…from my head down to my…errrrrrrrrrrr. Um, yeah. I love nuts. They are a tasty treat – a delicious snack – a good side – a nice topping – a good dinner. Wait, that’s not just me who eats nuts for a meal, right?
Around these parts, we keep nuts on hand all the time – because sometimes Mama gets a brain freeze and can’t think of something for snack. Out come the nuts! Not to mention that they make a delicious garnish. Am I the only one who sometimes just eats the garnish? I’m not a very formal person. [Read more…]
Buying a Car with Cash
I was recently privileged to purchase my latest new-to-me car, a 2008 Ford Taurus SEL. My 1997 Ford Ranger is still doing fine, but is not very family-friendly and the gas mileage on my 80 mile commute (round trip) was definitely a concern. So for a few months I’d been looking for Ford makes to fit our family and save us some gas money in the process. This is the third vehicle I’ve bought for us using $100 bills and several of you have asked me how to pay cash for your vehicles and/or how to break the cycle of car payments. I dedicate an entire chapter in my book to that topic, but I thought I’d give you the gist of it through a post today. [Read more…]
Crock Pot Trail Mix
Hold on tight to your knickers – I’m about to blow your mind. First, I brought you Crock Pot Candied Nuts. Then, I busted out the big guns and presented Crock Pot Cocoa Almonds. And now I have exceeded awesomeness with CROCK POT TRAIL MIX. I know. I can hardly believe it myself…if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Except in this case. This is true, my friends. A true culinary delight.
And if you haven’t figured it out yet, I enjoy saying “culinary delight.” It makes me feel official and stuff. So, expect to see it a lot with all my other favorite phrases: rock my face off, thebomb.com, booya, and don’t eat my chocolate. [Read more…]