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Money Saving Idea: Getting Comfortable in the Kitchen
Throughout the next month the focus is going to be on saving money. No pressure on my part as that leads to nothing but guilt, and therefore failure. However, when I do find myself doing ‘the right thing’ I want to focus on it and think about how I can make it that much better. (My motto, “Little Drops of Awesome“) There will be a lot of trust. Trust that this focus is important, necessary, part of managing the household. It helps with some of the stress on my marriage. It helps me feel like a better manager of God’s provisions. Money doesn’t bring happiness but I’d sure like to try peace…
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Summer Meals and Menu for Children of All Ages!
Camp Grandpa! It is July on our calendar and fireworks are getting to explode in my heart as the grands are getting ready to arrive. Activities are on Grandpa’s plate. Their hunger for adventure, outdoors, hammering, mud and total movement are insatiable. Therefore, Grandma is getting ready to find some ‘fuels’ that are kid appropriate: lunches and dinners. We have a bread lover, a meat on bone lover, a thick steak fan, and one who isn’t too certain what is the best… well ice cream is there, but not on my meal plan! The secret plan that Grandpa and I have is to keep them so active and involved that…
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Tasty Tuesday: Slow Cooking BBQ Chicken
A new baby, a sick family member, a recent (or upcoming) PCS, or ‘just because!’; there are many reasons a gift of dinner is so appropriate and heart-warming. If you are looking for a great dinner to deliver ahead of time this is a great one to try. (Bonus is that you will have two to give and one to keep!) Slow Cooking BBQ Chicken: 3 large unpeeled sweet potatoes4 large green peppers1 large red pepper2 medium onions3 tsps quick cooking tapioca3 – 4 pounds chicken thighs or breasts2 8-ounce cans of diced tomatoes3 tablespoons packed brown sugar3 tsps Worcestershire sauce3 tsps yellow mustard powder3 cloves garlic, minced3 teaspoons salt Chop, dice, cut … into your preferred bite size pieces. Dump everything evenly into three one-gallon…
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Tasty Tuesday: Slow Cooker Goulash – Make Ahead
I love Pinterest. Especially when I find something that looks doable and then I do it! I’ve been able to mark a few things completed. I cleaned out my sink-drains with baking soda and vinegar. We have turned an old dresser into storage shelves in our basement. Most recently I made Freezer-Ready Crock Pot Goulash, a great recipe for my family and also to give as a gift to a family with a new baby. This is a super easy recipe for goulash and I made three two-gallon freezer bags of it, each with 5 cups of prepared, but not cooked, goulash in it. I put it together this afternoon and then can cook it in…
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Eat With Your Family Day
Today is ‘Eat With Your Family Day’. Who knew?! It is interesting the search terms that bring folks into our blog. Most of them are quite applicable, but some make us scratch our head. Last night we had visitor from Lahore, Punjab looking for “eat with your family day 2011”. This peaked my interest, because quite frankly I find dinner time to be the most important time to connect. Apparently this little known date is a day in Singapore: May 27, 2011 is the date to mark on your calendar for Eat With Your Family Day. This annual event encourages organisations and education institutions like kindergarten, schools and tertiary institutes to…
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Getting a Grip on the Spring Sports Schedule
Holy Smokes! I feel like I have been thrown into the lion’s pit. The lion’s pit of an over-scheduled-family! How did this happen? Just this weekend we had three birthday parties, one soccer game, two baseball practices and running up to the elementary school twice for baseball-team pictures. I can almost breath a sigh of relief that the weekend is over! Almost… This week we have three soccer practices, two soccer games, and four baseball practices, if I’m counting right. And if I thought this last weekend was crazy… wait till next weekend when Hubs is out of town for a JAG conference. I’m not a “soccer mom”. I don’t have cute…
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Tasty Tuesday Slow Cooked Apples
Can you believe it is almost Thanksgiving? Oh what a wonderful time of year. A time set aside to think about thanks, giving thanks and filling the mind, spirit, belly and arms with fantastic treats! Our treats start arriving on Wednesday and the locals on Thursday. The smell of cleaning is strong in the house today. So strong that I just had to add some cinnamon and spice to the mix. Silver polish is great stuff… but when the trays and forks are shining and sparkling… it is time to dazzle the taste buds.In late September we went apple picking, and bought extras just for Thanksgiving get together. Leanne is…
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What goes around … comes around
A friend of mine and her family has been sick – for two weeks. She has three young ones between the ages of three months and five years and her husband is on a submarine in the great Atlantic. The kids keep passing the same bug back and forth & she has managed to catch it a time or two. I had this nasty bug back around Christmas at my folk’s house and it was no fun! I was visiting my mom and dad, my husband was there … if there was a place to be sick that was it! Now imagine (and some of you don’t have to imagine…
