I tend to get stressed before birthdays, especially Naomi’s birthday. I tend to set too-high expectations for myself, and then procrastinate out of a fear of failure. After talking with Brad and a friend about my concerns, I decided just to have a simple “Pink Princess Party” with just our family for Naomi’s 4th birthday. […]
Archive for the ‘Food’ Category
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Free Flowers
July 8th, 2013 
Jessica Who needs to buy flowers when you can grow your own for free? We have plenty of rose bushes, geraniums, sunflowers, and wild flowers growing around our yard. I love when Brad picks me a half-dozen roses for the dining room table, or when the kids come running inside with a handful of wild flowers […]
Freebie Friday!
June 28th, 2013 Jessica We have all kinds of “free” things growing around our house these days! Our compost pile has exploded into a gigantic pumpkin patch that gets bigger every day. Our grape arbor (which only produced two bunches of grapes last year) is covered in grapes. We’re already harvesting bright red tomatoes from our two tomato plants. […]
Freezing Lemon Juice & Lemon Slices
June 3rd, 2013 Jessica If I haven’t mentioned it recently, our family moved to Northern California in September 2011. After living in Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, China, and Minnesota, I was unprepared for the availability of fresh fruit on the West Coast! It is not unusual to see fresh citrus fruit falling off the trees in our neighbor’s […]
Pinterest Inspired: Crockpot Barbecue Chicken
May 25th, 2013 Jessica One of the ways that I save money is by “shopping from my pantry.” Recently I noted that I had all the ingredients on hand for Barbecue Chicken. I remembered an easy recipe that I’d spotted on Pinterest. Crockpot Barbecue Chicken 4-6 Pieces Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts 1 Bottle BBQ Sauce 1/4 c Vinegar 1 […]
Freezer Cooking: Burritos
May 23rd, 2013 Jessica Before Evelyn was born, I filled our freezer with a lot of meals so that I could rest as much as possible. As you can see, I prepared about 3 burrito meals in advance. If you’re looking to save yourself time, freezer cooking is the way to go! If you’re looking for some tips and […]
Our Compost Garden: The Harvest
December 5th, 2012 Jessica I know it’s been awhile since we discovered our thriving Compost Garden, and later harvested its produce, but I just couldn’t resist showing you these photographs! The first two photographs are from our fall harvest. Finally, while making Tomato Soup, I sliced up our fresh Compost Garden tomatoes alongside some Store-Bought Tomatoes. Brad and I […]
Make-Ahead Sausage & Egg Casserole (Only 7 Ingredients!)
November 17th, 2012 Jessica When I was growing up, one of our many Christmas traditions was eating Sausage & Egg Casserole on Christmas morning. My parents would prepare it the night before, and then they would let it cook while we opened our Christmas presents. This dish is a delicious and filling breakfast option for any day when you […]
Acorn Squash Soup with Kale (Only 7 Ingredients!)
November 9th, 2012 Jessica After our very popular Acorn Squash with Sausage Stuffing last year, our Compost Garden produced a bumper crop of Acorn Squash (16 Cups Frozen!). I decided that I wanted to try something new this year, so I found this recipe for Martha Stewart’s Acorn Squash Soup with Kale on Pinterest. My first attempt was a […]
Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo (Only 8 Ingredients!)
October 24th, 2012 Jessica I was looking through my (FREE) October 2012 Better Homes & Gardens magazine when I stumbled on this recipe in a Campbell’s Soup advertisement. It looked easy and yummy, so I tried it a few weeks ago. It was an instant success, and we’ve had it at least 3 times since then. I actually don’t […]
