cottagesweetcottage-Al-Jazeera-America

I found this lovely Christmas Red Sweater the other day at the thrift store.  It's hand knitted with a lovely mohair type fiber.  I also found the rabbit trim around the neck of a sweater and purchased it as well.  As soon as everything came home I threw it all in the washer.    

I turned the sweater inside out and cut off one of the arms at the proper length for a hat.  I sewed the top and

I have sweet memorites of my Mom making up a batch of homeade Whipped Cream for the tops of pies and desserts during Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Oh how good that stuff was and I was quickly able to discern the difference between the 'real' stuff and the stuff that comes frozen in a tub.  The real stuff is AMAZING and it's so easy to make!


I never measure but here I've used the entire half

I've always wanted a Cricut Paper Die Cutter and finally found a used one for an awesome price!  I wanted to have it before the winter set in so I'd be able to do some crafting in the colder months.  

There is a definitely learning curve as I'm trying how to learn how to use this contraption!  



Above is my first card and below is my first envelope.  



With all of  the leftover pieces of

From since I can remember My Mom has always made the most awesome Teriyaki Chicken.  So much better than buying the sauce in the grocery stores and it only takes a few minutes to whip up a batch with ingredients you probably already have in your cabinet.  





Ingredients 



1 bag of Chicken Thighs (I prefer with bones)  

1/2 cup soy sauce 

1/2 cup sugar~  brown or white 

spoonfull of

We've had a hot summer and it left me not wanting to do much of anything.  Cooking was minimal due to the heat and even home things went undone.  With cooler weather I'm quite happy on becoming more domesticated again and back on track!  Yayyy!!!!  



Oh how I love Homemade Hummus!  I can eat it for any meal and it's truly one of my favorite things to snack on!  It's good with sliced up

Summer is definitely here!  

I've been enjoying time outside and not cooking and baking like I would normally do in the cooler weather.  As a result my blog has been languishing a bit.  

I never thought I'd say it.... but I really am looking forward to more tolerable weather.  



I recently picked up this cute little dish for my Sweetheart Kitchen and love it so!  

Best of all it was only 50

I'm quite excited to tell you that we have a new home for Rednesday!  Isn't that awesome?  



Please head on over to Melody's blogs~  Her adorable blog can be found here.  Please stop by her blog and shower her with much love and comments!   

Have you ever bit of more than you can chew? 

I have and it's finally nice to be able to play catch up and get back to normal.  



 I've always wanted to host a linky party/blog hop so when Rednesday became available it seemed perfect for me.  I jumped at the opportunity to host it.  



But along the way, I've seemed to lose something...  



The requirement to host and blog has become

These are good.  Really good.  What I really love about them is that they don't take forever to cook (like traditional Banana Bread does) and they don't get too dark where the muffin and pan meet.  Win/win in my book.    

I hope you enjoy these as much as my hubby and I are!



Mix together Streusel/Crumb Topping Ingredients.

1/4 cup butter or shortening (your preference) 

1/2 cup sugar 

1

This is so yummy on a hot summer day, for a picnic or a potluck or any time you fancy something chilled and sweet.  It's so easy to throw together and I like to make it the day before so it has time to chill and firm up.  

I hit Aldi's today and found everything that I needed in generic form~ and it didn't effect the taste in any way.  



One can cherry pie filling 

(I've always wanted to

I had these for the first time about 2 weeks ago at a graduation and they are absolutely stupendous!  Even the hubs was asking when we'd have them again.  It's something about the spiciness of the jalapenos and the texture and coolness of the cream cheese.  Add bacon to the mix and it's a wonderful combination~  oh yeah!  



1 pound of bacon

8 jalapeno peppers, firm and smooth

1 block of

I've been doing quite a bit of digital scrapbooking lately and having such a great time!  I started about a week ago and love combining colors and textures into something visually pleasing.  

And now I can add a little bit of practicality in organizing my computer desktop with wallpaper!  Yay!   



Here's my basic layout for a computer desktop organizer.  

(click to enlarge)





I've added

We've been so busy lately!  So so so busy!  Time has been flying by and it's been difficult to blog too. 

I made hubby a big pot of spaghetti sauce the other day and I"m not too fond of red sauce.  Whenever I make the hubs a meal that isn't my fave I usually whip this up for my dinner.  

It's super fast~  

Enough time to boil the pasta and about 3 minutes to whip up the alfredo sauce.  



It

I've tried Chicken Stew in the crockpot and it wasn't as good as this.  I've also tried it in a Dutch oven on the burner and, again, it wasn't as good as this.  I don't know why, but the flavors are wonderful in this when it's cooked in the oven.   I make this the same with Pork cubes for Pork Stew and it's even better.  



It's not an exact 'by the book' recipe and I 'm sure if you

Easy No Knead Buttery Rolls.  I can eat these for breakfast, lunch and dinner... in fact I'm getting ready to fry up an egg for the hubs to have on top of one of these for a quick brekky.  Yummo.   I won't tell you how many of these I ate when they came out of the oven yesterday.  Okay.  I ate 4!  haha!

The dough can be mixed together and kept covered in the refrigerator and dough can be

1~ My husband.  

Having him here with me in this world is one of life's most precious gifts!  I almost lost him last year and I appreciate him so much more!



2~  Sitting down to dinner as a family.  

We can talk, eat and enjoy our meal with one another.  It's priceless!



3~ Being Clutter Free!  

It's a daily process but so freeing!



4~Being Organized.  It's an ongoing journey

f you haven't seen the first installment on Creating a Home Binder you can find it here. 



The next portion of my Home Binder is a weekly To Do List.   

It's a working journal and so it's not very pretty.  It works for me.  ;)  



This list might seem long but it only takes a few minutes to do these things. Two things I get done every week are change my sheets, vacuum and a detailed wiping

I posted this Tuesday but wanted to post it again because I wanted to share it at other linky parties and be a polite participant. ;)!  I promise this will be my one and only repeat!



Goodness~  this post is going to be image heavy.  I took out a vintage quilt out of the hutch and took out my camera with my wonderful 105mm macro lens that I've kept on it.  I love that lens.   And how can I

This potato salad is just like Grandma used to make and it's oh so good!  I make it the day before a barbecue or picnik and stick it in the fridge to chill overnight.  It makes ALOT so you might want to cut it in half for your family.

5 pound bag of red potatoes or golden 

12 hard boiled eggs

Mayonnaise to the consistency you like (I use more than a half of a large jar)

Relish or sweet

These aren't healthy.  And neither are the Jack in the Box 'real' versions.  I've made these twice in the past 6 plus months.    In fact, before I even tasted a Jack's taco I was eating these Mexican side of the family's tacos.  

They're easy and minimal ingredients too.  





Here's how I watched them being prepared as a young girl~

Ingredients~

I dozen corn tortillas 

1 pound ground beef

This has been a staple recipe for our family forever.  It can be ordinary pork roast, add some bbq sauce and make bbq pork sandwiches,  the gravy can be thickened and you can have open faced pork sandwiches.... it has so many options!  



I usually use a pork roast, but the butcher had some pork pieces on sale, so I used that. Sometimes I use pork butt.  If your meat is too lean it will

Lately I've been contemplating on Resignation.  

My will and desires have to be put aside and yielded to a God who is all knowing and who knows what is best for me. 

He knows what is best for me~  

That's a hard pill to swallow when I love to hold on to the reigns of life and take control of every minute detail. 

It's a hard road that even the Apostle Paul walked.  So why should I think

There are a few thing that have made my life a whole lot easier and 

I'd love to share them here with you.  

There are so many organizing sites and apps that you can pay for and download.  There are also free sites that are awesome.  Some can become a bit overwhelming with info and some can't be adapted to meet each person's needs.  I've merged what works for me into what I use today and it's

Happy Mother's Day to all my sweet readers~!



It's been a few years since I've been without my dear Mom who passed away after a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease.  I never wanted to remember her for the latter years but wanted to remember her as she was when she loved life.  If there was one word that could describe my Mom it would have been love.   You know when someone loves you and I

Some might cringe at this and some might say it's most awesome!  ha!  I say it's most awesome!  



I love super streamlined drawer organizers from places like bed, bath and beyond... but the price is something I'm not too fond of.  I love me some youtubers that have serious money to organize and arrange every inch of their home~ but I can't bring myself to splurge like that.  ;)  



So I did a

I have loved quiche since I was about ten years old when I first tried it.  And I've loved it ever since.     

Hubby had wanted me to make him Spagetti this week, and since I'm not that big a fan,  I decided to make myself a quiche.  And my tastebuds are so happy!  

I started out rolling up a homemade pie crust~ although you can use store bought pie shells.  I use the basic Crisco pie crust

I love pie crust and making one that looks nice can sometimes be difficult~  If the weather is hot and humid it makes the dough difficult to work with.   

Here are a few tips that I use to make a great looking pie crust.  



When measuring out shortening I line my measuring cup with plastic wrap, making sure the wrap touches the entire bottom of the cup.  I scoop my shortening in the cup and

This really wasn't meant to be solely a cooking blog~   I've got to change things up so I'm promising myself some non foody stuff coming up!  



These are so easy and yummy and little and big kids love them.  

They also go by different names, such as~ 

Eggs in a frame,  

Eggs in a nest 

Eggs in a hole

Eggs in a basket

Toad in a hole



Cookie Cut a whole in

Here's a little bit of what I've been whipping up in our kitchen lately.  Some of these have made it to my blog, some were too simple to merit a post, and others were new recipes I tried but weren't good enough for a post of their own  ;)  



Grilled Pepperoni and Cheese on Homemade Bread with Salad in a Jar~







Beef Stroganoff~



Corned Beef Sandwiches and Salad on Homemade Bread~ 

I stopped at a yard sale yesterday and came across these cook books for a quarter each!   



I had about 6 of them when we were first married and they have some great recipes in them.   Looking through and marking recipes that I wanted to try I found my Oven Baked French Toast recipe in it and I always wondered where I got that recipe from!  



Yup~  now I know and it only took me 23 years to

I can't tell you how good this is~!!!  Pastry Pockets filled with chicken and topped with gravy and cheese.  Yes~  It's high in Sodium and super redonkulously high in fat.  But it's good and you aren't going to eat this every day~ so make a salad for a little balance and just go ahead!  ;)  



Originally from Janell @ Comfy in the Kitchen I've adapted this a bit and hope you like it too~  

I've been making this for years and it can be a side dish or add a salad and you have a quick all in one dinner.  Yummy!




1 pound ground beef (I used turkey) 

1 onion chopped 

one garlic clove minced (optional) 

2 Tbsp Oil 

2 Tbsp butter 

1 cup long grain rice 

8 ounces angel hair pasta~  broken up in small pieces about an inch long 

4 cups chicken broth.
Chopped almonds or pecans

I know this might seem like quite a silly post, but I've seen some things and thought, "Why in the world didn't I think of THAT?"  ;)  So... I'm posting it anyways~! 

 

When I buy milk I purchase the gallon since it's only 1.88- 1.99 depending on pricing in my area.  Half Gallons run around 1.65.   We don't normally drink that much milk and I'd hate to let it spoil in the refrigerator.  

A few months ago I purchased a 25 pound bag of flour since it was more economical than purchasing the smaller 5 pound bags of flour individually.  It's definitely about the savings since we would eventually use up the flour anyway~ so it definitely works for me. 



I tried writing everything down in keeping a tally of what I baked/made using the 25 pound bag and here is my list~   



24 loaves

This officially, isn't a puff pastry but whatever you call it... it's good!  ;)   Technically it's a cream puff dough topped with a chicken/spinach/sour cream mixture and rolled up all pretty like!  



2 cups of chicken~ deboned and seasoned to your preference

1 cup of sour cream  

1 cube butter (1/2 cup) 

dash of salt

1 cup water

1 cup flour 

4 eggs 

Spinach (optional~ squeeze out as

I found the original recipe over at Greek Food and Greek Life and tweeked it to my own liking.  



Quick and Easy with minimal ingredients~  



In large bowl mix together~ 

1 cup of flour~  heaping 

1/3 cup sugar 

1 tsp baking powder 

dash of salt 

1 tsp cinnamon



In seperate bowl combine wet ingredients~   

1/2 tsp vanilla 

1 Tbsp butter melted 

1 egg 

1/3 cup milk (plus

Its been a while since I've posted anything decor related.  With the coming of spring and Easter I saw so many other blogs featuring Egg Vignettes and I really wanted to try my hand at it too!  I scoured the Target dollar bins since I had seen some premade nests but I would have to dissassemble them and would have only gotten 3 eggs with holes in them where they were wired into the nest.  In the

We've been traveling all this week and just arrived back home~  and how good it is to be sleeping in my own bed!  Yay!  



I also wanted to thank you for taking the time to being a follower on blogger or google friend connect.  I don't use those options and prefer to follow by an RSS feed or I would gladly follow you back.  But I wanted to take the time to say thank you! 



What a great pound

I've been wanting to get some new kitchen towels to match my Sweetheart Kitchen and I happened upon these at the thrift store last week for .50 cents each.



  I believe they were still new since it felt like the sizing was still on them.  



Love them!





And I also happened upon a milk glass candy dish or 2 dollars











Mondays~ 


I Should be Mopping the Floor 

Homemade Mondays

I love photography and am always trying to improve my craft.  I'm blowing my own horn when I say that I take all of the photos posted on my blog.  ;)   







The lens covers I use now are not padded and I throw alot of stuff in my camera bag along with my lenses.  My lenses need a bit more padding.  



I saw similar lens padding at a well known photo site and decided to do my own.  The name

Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet eating her curds and whey~!  

That recitation has been going through my mind all week since I made my first batch of farmers cheese!  I never really knew exactly what curds or whey was but I do now~ and it was OH SO easy!  



I've been watching videos on youtube gleaning tecnique and recipes.  Some add cream and some don't but I'm sure it would be much

    




















Ingredients 



4 cups of Milk~  for thicker yogurt use whole milk 



1/2 cup dry (powdered milk but I used 3/4 cup) 



1/4 cup plain yogurt with live yogurt cultures as a starter.  I used Greek Yogurt







Step One~  Place milk in pot and heat up till milk is almost boiling which is 180 degrees.  You don't neccesarily need a thermometer for this part but I like to

These are so good!

 I love the texture of these and they are so much more healthier than ordinary pancakes with the addition of oats.  Good with or without syrup~ and now that I am thinking
about it~ they would be good with some pecans or walnuts thrown in to make them crunchy.



2 cups quick cooking oatmeal

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup milk

2
eggs

dash of salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/4

Last week I mixed up some orange peels together with some vinegar and let it sit in a mason jar on the counter to steep.  I originally made this to add to my all purpose cleaner to use on my floors but I found that it left my floors sticky.  I'll just continue on using the original solution plain since it works so well for me.  

Not wanting to throw this great smelling stuff away I decided to

I wish you a wonderful Easter spent with loving family and friends! 

The crux of the Christian faith is the death and ressurection of the Lord Jesus and and we have so much to be thankful for in all that was accomplished!  Forgiveness of sins, victory over sin, walking with a Lord who is a perfect and loving Father.    In this world we can only catch glimpse of what a perfect Father is, but

Ive been making my own hand soap and, wowser, every time I make it I am impressed! The scent is great and the texture is just like a namebrand softsoap.
It's so much more economical than buying in the stores.  


 


Best of all it's easy!

1 bar of your favorite hand soap
Boiling water
1 Tbsp Glycerin (purchase at health food stores or online)
1 Tbsp Honey

Grate your bar of soap or throw it

Here are the ingredients~ 

1 cup of long grain rice 

2-3 Tbsp Tomato Sauce ( You can see how I store mine here) 

onion~  about 1/3 of an onion (or however much you like) 





Season Salt 

Cajun Seasoning 

Goya (comes in small envelopes inside of box.  You can find it in the Hispanic section of the supermarket

(all of these are totally optional and you can use whatever you

After one of our batches of yogurt failed we've updated our recipe for no failure.  Please click on over to our post on Homemade Yogurt to get the updates!
    




















Ingredients 



4 cups of Milk~  for thicker yogurt use whole milk 



1/2 cup dry (powdered milk but I used 3/4 cup) 



1/4 cup plain yogurt with live yogurt cultures as a starter.  I used Greek Yogurt







Step

Smoothies are so yummy and I love trying different variations!  

I did these today for the hubs and I and they are pretty basic.  



Frozen fruit~  your choice of rasberries, strawberries, peaches...etc (1/2 cup or so)

Bananas 2 or 3 ( chop and freeze them in a baggy for an even better smoothie)

Yogurt~  This is the American counterpart to the Korean version of yogurt.  I prefer using a

I rustled up some Fried Bread this afternoon for an early dinner/late lunch and then then, using what I have in the kitchen, made up some Indian Fried Tacos.   Not bad and pretty easy to boot!  



It isn't as greasy as it seems since the dough is pretty thick and doesn't absorb too much oil.  

Mix together: 

4 cups flour 

1/2 tsp salt 

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 1/2 cup milk 

Oil for frying 

My husband and I had the opportunity to visit with a sweet lady who so kindly invited us into her living room to sit and talk.


She has macular degeneration and her vision is quickly growing very dim.  She has been housebound and is unable to work.  She is quickly losing her ability to do things independantly and has basically shut herself off from the outside world.  Her husband was a pastor

I love cloches and have been scouting for them as I shop.  Last Monday at the thrift store I ran into this~  2.50 marked down half price to 1.25.  So I brought it home and started trying how it fit on different things~  



I already had the mini cake stand so here's how it looks~ 



This red salad plate was .35 cents...



...and the large yellow dinner plate was .35 cents also.   



I know

On Tuesday Night, hubby and I returned home and there was a box that was delivered at our back door.  We hadn't ordered anything.  On the outside it said "Kitchen Aid".  Of course I had always wanted a Kitchen Aid so I asked the hubs if he ordered it.  He said, no.  So I sat it on the dining room table while I scratched my head wondering who in the world could have sent

If I make soups, stews, I never use the entire can of tomato sauce/paste and I hate to throw away the leftovers.  In the past I would just pour it in a sandwich bag and freeze it but when I would try to use it and have to peel the bag out from the crevices of the frozen sauce and  it was just kind of annoying really.  Trying to break a chunk of didn't work very well either.   I read over on

Thank you to all new followers! I really appreciate each and every one coming  to visit and especially hearing from you when you comment!  It really makes my day and I try and respond to each and every one!  I also love to visit your blogs!



Here's a little (or should I say a lot) of what I've been up to lately.

We're still enjoying our Salad in a Jar! I make them on Sunday Evening and they

 

I've been wanting Mexican food and today was the day that I satisfied my craving. I made the enchilada sauce last night and I posted the recipe here.  Next time I plan on doubling the recipe and storing the sauce in the freezer for a quick meal~ enchiladas or chili colorado.
To be honest, I can't wait till dinner tomorrow when we get to munch on these again!  Yum!

Here are the ingredients

I might as well turn up the music since I'm going back to my roots of growing up in my native Los Angeles where the Mexican food is absolutely delish!


I rustled up some Guajillo chilis and made homemade enchilada sauce last night. I'll be putting them together for tonight's dinner~recipe coming soon!  I was going to resort to canned enchilada sauce but the taste isn't as good as homemade and

I've been looking for a set of Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls for years now with no success.  My heart has been set on finding the same set as when I was a kid and they are ridonkulously expensive!  This morning I took a trip to the thrift store and found these.  







A close up of both~



A close up of Mrs Ann~





And Mr Andy~





These aren't the ones I had as a kid.  They are hand made (

I threw this together yesterday, put it in mason jars, and am letting it sit in the refrigerator for flavor!  Oh how I love Garbanzo Beans and pickled vegetables! 



Very easy ingredients with no measurements to your liking~ 

1/2 package of garbanzo beans cooked till tender 

one can of sliced olives, drained 

Cilantro leaves chopped up

Cherry tomatoes (they are in there~ they must be shy!

I keep my oil in the cupboard next to the stove and got so tired of the occasional drip down the bottle getting the bottom of my cabinet greasy.  I know there are special bottles for oil to eliminate dripping but this will have to do for now!  ;)  My friend shared a genius tip with me over ten years ago and it's so silly and obvious and makes me wonder why I didn't think of this!  





Cost

I'll bet you're wondering what this blog post is about!  ;)  It sure was difficult to give this post a name!   I rarely rant but this might come across as one!  ;)  It's about the word "ONLY".  Coupled with money, people throw this word around ALOT!   At the grocery store.  Car Dealerships.  On billboards. As Seen On TV.  Retail.  Wholesale.  Everywhere!   



When you see high pressure

Many years ago I had an awesome brainstorm on how to make Easy Fried Potatoes.  I really got tired of undercooked fried potatoes that were hard in the middle but dark on the outside.
I love this because it's simple (who doesn't love simple?)and makes serving breakfast VERY fast. Prepwork makes it so easy and I love the fact that it's also economical!

Here's how I do some down home fried

When we first were married almost 24 years ago I had an official recipe for this since I was learning how to cook and knew absolutely nothing! (Those were the days!)  If I remember correctly, I pulled it out of a Reader's Digest (I read them cover to cover!) from an advertisement for soup or stuffing.   I had cooked up some deboned chicken that I made in the crockpot and it popped into my

I was able to hit my fave thrift store on Monday and came away with a few great things.  I had MUCH more in my basket and started whittling away things the closer I got to the checkout since I've been trying to be very choosy even if something is cheap.  Just becasue something is a good price doesn't mean that I have to have it!






I picked up these 6 basketweave cups for ..39 cents each

I can't believe I haven't shared this yet!  I've always hated buying Commercial Stain Removers.  They are expensive and most of the time the stains were too set in and I'd end up tossing the garments that were soiled.  





While thrifting, I was constantly seeing the same fuschia skirt that had a huge grease stain on the front.  (It looked like someone dropped a half pound of bacon on their

This post might seem silly to some but anything that helps make life more convenient, streamlines a process  and makes it more affordable is definitely a winner in my book!  And I also just love the creativity of folks on the net and how they share with others!




I recently purchased a large 25 pound bag of flour at quite a substantial savings for baking and keep it in my pantry.  Instead of

Have you seen the Salad in a Jar frenzy on Pinterest?    Many times I buy salad makings and then never assemble them due to time laziness and then the ingredients go bad.  I bought a head of romaine, a cucumber, some baby tomatoes and green peppers for an easy Salad in a Jar.  I plan on adding some crunchy nuts and cheese when the hubs and I eat dinner together later on.   I'd really like

I loved the convenience of individual water bottles purchased in bulk but I knew the cost was busting our budget.  In the past I'd also find multiple bottles opened and half empty around the house~ not good!    I knew my dollar would stretch alot longer if I purchased cheaper.
This led to a little price comparison when I went to Food4Less last night with the hubs.


Recently I purchased a

I've finally got all stocked up with the 5 things neccesary for my daily Swish and Sparkle in each bathroom.  I was getting a little tired of carrying the cleaning supplies from upstairs bathroom to guest bathroom to basement bathroom so streamlining is putting a great smile on my face since it makes everything so much easier!   Oh~  and I found the small spray bottles at a beauty supply store

I'm on a tight budget but there are a few things that a girl's gotta do.  One of them is have matching hangers in all of our closets.  In my opinion it's worth EVERY dime!  I can't stand having wire, flocked, dry cleaner castoffs and all of that jazz all tangled up inside of my closet.  

(By the way, you can take a look at my closet here if you interested!)  



Funny thing is we never realize

I finally figured out that I can add a 'blogger' follower gadget instead of a Google Plus followers gadget to my sidebar at right so if you'd like to follow me that option is available!  



My blog is still under construction and the sidebar still needs a bit of help but I'm liking what I see so far.  Maybe another week or so before things are (hopefully) perfect!  



We're having our first

This week I'm grateful for~  

Love.  

Valentined Day has come and gone.  

I'm so thankful that we don't need a holiday to encourage us to share and show our love for one another.

It's just there.  Unassuming and yet, always there. 



This week I enjoyed~ 

Getting in the kitchen and baking some homemade bread and pizza.

There's just something about making from scratch, kneading the dough

I recently saw Elaine's recipe over at Sunny Simple Life for Pizza Dough and gave it a whirl this morning for our Saturday Lunch/Brunch/Dinner.  It was delish!  The crust baked out evenly and was very soft~  just the way I like it.  I was able to get two large pizzas and used two 13 by 9 cookie sheets. 





For the sauce I mixed up 2 cans of tomato sauce and added some Italian Seasoning, Onion

Happy Valentines Day~!



I hope you have a wonderful day planned with the ones that you love!



In thinking of Relationships,  it's easy to have expectations  of what we seemingly desire a relationship to be like instead of just enjoying the relationship we are in. 

It's so easy to walk away dissapointed in our marriages when we see impossible expectations all around us.  Isn't it so much

We're trying to save money wherever we possibly can and I decided to write down all of the ways I've been trying to be frugal~  aaanddd...here they are.  I've put a *** by all the ones we are implementing and hopefully soon more will be added.  This is an ongoing work and we always want to try new things!  If you have any other ideas please comment~  I'd love to hear them!  





Cut your

This soup was born out of a head of broccoli that was in the fridge needing to be used quickly! 

It is so much more tastier AND healthier than the cream soups you will find at a local restaurant. 

It also packs more punch in fiber and has so much more broccoli in it! 

I hope to try this with cawliflower in the future.  I've tried my best to come up with measurements on this but it's a

This bread takes about 30 minutes to prepare and to clean up not including the rise and bake time.

  It’s very easy to put together.



5 ½ cup bread flour (I use regular and never go over 5 cups of flower)

1 ½ tsp salt
 
2-4 Tbsp sugar

1 ½ Tbsp yeast
 
1 ½ Tbsp oil
 
2 cups water at 120 degrees




In bowl add warm water and yeast. Let yeast sit in water till yeast is proofed~ about

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

What strikes me most about this scripture is man's dependance on the Lord.

Without Him we have no breath.

No life.

Nothing.

Nada.

Without Him we are just a lump of clay.

Dirt.

That can be quite a humiliating thought... that we are like that dirt

I tried my hand at making homemade Glass Cleaner last week.  I've just started using it and find that it doesn't 'dry' as fast as a commercial cleaner would so I added more alcohol to remedy that. 









Empty gallon jug (Mine is an recycled OJ container)

Ammonia

Isopropyl rubbing alcohol


Dawn

dish detergent (not shown) 




Fill the empty gallon jug 1/2 full of water.Fill the half

I've had this brewing in my mind and heart for a while...  How much should 'organizing' cost? 

I've seen many bloggers and vloggers go 'all out' in organizing and spend a TON of money on getting their house in order.  While that might be fine for them,  I just don't have the expendable money to buy hundreds of dollars in organizer doo~dads even though honestly I'd LOVE to!     Sometimes it

Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.  -Psalm 51:8



Haven't we all known sorrow?  Who hasn't fell on bad times?  Those difficult times can be a turning point in our faith.   We can either grow from those experiences and be thankful or we can become bitter at life, those around us, and at a God who is still merciful in the midst of all of our

We have limited space underneath our kitchen sink so bringing the most used cleaning items to the front is definitely helpful for a quick wipedown of the sink or a swish and swipe of the bathroom! 

I found an old tension hanger in the basement (that we're cleaning out!) and decided to put it to work. I've put the spray bottles hanging on the rod making more room for other things to be within

I love granny squares and found these 2 throws at the thrift store for $1.50 and 75 cents.  Decided to pull out my Macro and take some pics of them.  One of them has a Project Linus tag on it and it makes me wonder who made it and what was the circumstances to the little child that recieved it.









My favorite shot because it's so colorful!

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.  -Romans 15:13


I love that the God promises His children joy and peace!  As His children we are to abound in hope, joy and peace even in the midst of difficult circumstances. In the Greek, one of the defnitions of hope is  'joyful and confident expectation of

Every so often at the airport I'd see the cleaning people with a tennis ball on the end of a broomstick and watch them as they used the end of a tennis ball to remove shoe scuffmarks from the floors of the long corridors of the airport without having to bend over.   When the vestibule and hall area of our church was prone to getting black scuffmarks I thought of making one.  Googling brought me

Do you have a morning routine? 

 I've been using my morning routine faithfully every day for about 3 months now (I did also previously but moreso since our big move) and am so glad I did! Every day I do these 9 things and it really helps my day go much smoother. 





(left to right and top to bottom)



1.  It's so much easier to want to stay in PJ's all the morning but getting dressed

My friend Melissa over at Honey Bee's Fancy told me about doing soap devotions a few years ago and I've been doing it ever since.  It really is a great way to study the word of God.  It's one thing to hear a sermon or read scripture alone.  But hearing, reading, and writing sermons used in scripture and scripture for bible reading really brings it home for me and reinforces it in my heart and

I've been trying many cleaning products for my white tile kitchen floors since we moved in.  Pine~Sol left smudges and left the floor slippery.  Fantastik and 409 type cleaners left it sticky and noisy to walk on.  I even tried Murphy's Oil Soap highly diluted and it, too, was greasy and slippery.  I promised myself that when all of my products were gone (besides the Murphy's because I do use it

This week I'm in the Master Bedroom and adjoining hallway closets for heavy cleaning.

I saw something recently online that really piqued my interest.  It was a one year challenge. 

You turn around all of the clothing that is hanging on hangers~ turn them around backwards. 

As you choose something from your closet and wear it, you turn the hanger and garment around the 'right' way after you

My rolling pin has found a home above my stove and I love it there! 

When I found an older vintage one for rolling dough, my brain went to churning and I decided to add some red paint to the handles to make it look vintagey

 like the old fashioned ones you see like this. 





 I love the splash of color!!!

I've been on a mission in looking for curtains for my Sweetheart Kitchen for over 2 months. 

I tried WalMart, Target, and any and all stores in the area

and could find nothing that really spoke to me and that I had to have. 



I finally did find something at Anna's Linens and it would have cost me over

300 bucks for the three windows in the kitchen alone!

Wayyyyy too much money for me

One of my favorite breakfast dishes EVER!!! 






I love the fact that you do the preperation the evening before

and then pop it in the oven in the morning!!! 

This is so yummy and easy for Christmas morning or for guests year round!



Preheat oven to 400*

The ingredients:

 1/4 cup butter

3/4 inch sliced french bread slices

1 1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup sugar

6 eggs

2 Tbsp maple syrup

Here's some of the things we've been eating around here~  Trying some new recipes and staying with tried and true recipes as well.



Open faced pork sandwiches with broccoli

Swiss Steak, homemade mashed potatoes, cheese biscuits and corn

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Glorious Chicken

I made this today and you'd never know there was zucchini in this! Very Moist and Delish!




1/2 cup butter, softened


1/2 cup oil

2 eggs



then add-

2 cups shredded zucchini

1/2 cup sour milk or buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla



Cream above ingredients and mix well.

2 1/2 cups flour

1 3/4 cups sugar

4 Tbsp cocoa (unsweetened)

1 Tbsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/

The prompt for day 5 is 'Colorfuul food'.  I made salsa today, guacamole, took pictures of them and even my inner plate which was chicken and gravy, rice and mixed veggies and none of them seemed to satisfy the challenge for today.

 

Then it hit me!

        And I smiled! 

Really big!  

Scripture Genesis 41:38
And Pharaoh said unto his servants,

Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?




 

Genesis unrolls like a television drama.

Betrayal, Seduction, Deceit and more. 

And the fact that it is historical and not solely made up in the minds of men is incredible!   

Whoever said the Bible is boring needs to read it and they will find it

Yummy homemade salsa is so much better than store~bought!  I've heard jalapenos are chock full of vitamin C so it isn't any wonder why I was craving it recently with the ick that has been going around!



1 1/2 pounds tomatoes 

2 jalapenos, de~seeded and membranes removed

1/2 onion 

handful of cilantro~ leaves only 

few cloves of garlic

juice of 1 fresh lemon







Remove Tomato Stems and

New Years Resolutions lead to broken promises and dissapointment before the year gets off to an end.  How many people really keep their New Year's Resolution?  Not many!
 This year I'm losing the resolutions and choosing one word to live by and to be intentional about. 
A byword is a word or expression summarizing a thing's characteristics or a person's principles. 
So, this year as my byword,