Celebrate Love with Everything Romance

Are you looking for a little romantic inspiration? Do you need a pick-me-up in love? Is there a special someone in your life that you want to make poetic memories with?

Then I recommend picking up a copy of Everything Romance by Todd Hafer.

This book is loaded with short stories, poems, quotes, facts, scripture and notes on everything love presented in gorgeous colors and fonts that set the mood to passion from the first turn of the page.

While not necessarily designed as a sit and read format, this book is perfect to glance through for intimate quick reading either as an individual mood booster or part of a romantic evening with someone special. Its perfectly varied order allows for fun and continually fresh casual reading while still offering a well-organized index to locate exactly what you want when you need a specific passage or topic.

The perfect gift for a wedding or anniversary or a personal choice to share with you special someone, this book makes a wonderful addition to any library. I highly recommend it to anyone as a fresh read on the world's greatest and most important topic: love.

Disclosure:  The views expressed in this article are entirely my own.  I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group for the purpose of an unbiased review.  I received no other compensation for this review.

Homemade Corn Flakes

I love cereal. I used to eat cereal every day, sometimes twice a day. When I started to get away from prepared and processed foods, cereals were one of the first items to go. Since then, I thoroughly enjoy a bowl of granola in place of the preservative-riddled breakfast, but it just was not the same.

Needless to say, I was ecstatic when, in search of a simple corn chip recipe, I accidentally made homemade corn flakes. I am super excited to share this easy, delicious and preservative-free cereal option with you:

Homemade Corn Flakes

• 1 c. cornmeal
• 1 T. vegetable or olive oil
• 1/2 t. salt
• 3/4 c. boiling water

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl until completely moistened. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto heavily greased cookie sheet. Using your fingers, pat out the dough very thin. Bake at 400 degrees for about ten minutes or until golden, turning once. Allow to cool completely. (Note: they may not be crispy when removed from the oven. They will get crispier as they cool). Using your fingers, break into smaller pieces.

Serve with milk and top with sugar if desired.

Cinnamon Sugar Carrot Sticks

Frugal and healthy snacks are something that I search for constantly. I love incorporating fruits and vegetables into our menu whenever possible but sometimes children can be picky. This treat, however, has only brought smiles to my kids' faces. Best part? They love to help make them!

Cinnamon Sugar Carrot Sticks

• 4 large carrots, sliced in quarters
• 1 T. olive oil
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/4 t. black pepper
• 1 t. sugar
• 1/2 t. cinnamon

Toss carrots in oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Line on a cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes, turning once. Remove from oven an immediately sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Best when served warm.

Enjoy watching your little ones eat veggies like candy!

Also check out my other tasty and healthy snack recipes!

The Life We've Been Dreaming

“We don’t need to wait for external circumstances to perfectly align in order to show up for the life we’ve been dreaming.”
~Ingrid Mathieu, PhD

Sauteed Black Beans and Cabbage

I am actually new to the world of black beans, but I am finding them just as easy to use as all of my other favorite beans. This recipe makes a great lunch, dinner or side dish. The color contrast is pleasing to the eye and the flavor is sure to hit the spot!

Sauteed Black Beans and Cabbage

• 2 T. olive oil
  
• 1 c. shredded cabbage
• 1 celery stalk, diced
• 1 c. black beans, cooked and drained
• 1/2 t. garlic powder
• Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add cabbage and celery and saute until tender. Add black beans and spices and continue sauteing for a few minutes longer. Serve!

To make this a super fast and frugal meal, I pre-prepare dry black beans and freeze them. I also shred my own cabbage ahead of time and store it in small containers.

My Eye-Opening Moment

Most people who dramatically change their lifestyles have an eye-opening moment. A moment when something happened to them that made them take a hard look at their life and make some serious changes. It is usually not something positive, and sometimes it can be too late to completely repair the damages.

For my family, our eye-opening experience about our health and finances came three years ago. It resolved us to a new way of life that I am grateful for each and every day.

Here I wanted to share that moment with you:

Beginning

Four years ago, my husband and I were eating fast food often, our groceries ran about $150 a week for the two of us, and my shopping list always contained Little Debbie snacks and Doritos. None of this phased us. It was the food on which we were raised and felt it was the normal way to eat.

Even after our first son was born, we continued to eat as we were, thinking our son was getting the best.

Panic

Then, three years ago, some events occurred that had us hurting financially. One month, my husband sat down to do the bills and informed me that I had $90 to feed our family of three for the entire month.

At first, I panicked. I had a moment familiar to many of us where I was convinced we would never get through it. I was ready to pull out the credit cards just to feed our family.

After my initial period of fear and self-pity, I decided it did not have to be that way.

Resolve

I was determined to make that $90 work. I sat in our office, with meal plans, recipes, shopping lists and old receipts and worked away, slashing any food that was not an absolute necessity for survival.

It was then that I figured out how to stretch a 5 pound chicken into seven meals. I was determined to learn how to cook dried beans. I new I could make bread from scratch.

In one night, I learned more about grocery shopping, cooking and nutrition than I had in my entire life.

That month, I fed our family on a mere $90. In fact, I recall having a few dollars left over.

Peace

After that, I stopped buying chips and pre-prepared meals. There were no more preservative-filled sweets or vitamin-enriched cereals. We stopped consuming a pound of hamburger in one night.

Was our diet perfect? Certainly not. I am still learning, growing and improving. But it was a million times better than it had been.

And we felt great.

My eye-opening experience about our diet and our spending was one filled with worry, panic and fear. But it does not have to be that way.

Your Turn

Do not wait until you are struggling. Do not wait until you cannot pay your bills. Do not wait until you have a stroke, heart attack or are diagnosed with diabetes. Do not wait until you are filled with worry.

Change your life now. Make this your eye-opening experience.

Crockpot Salmon Chowder

Because the crockpot makes meals so effortless allowing me to spend more time with my family, I am constantly on the lookout for new recipes. The most recent recipe I found proved to be much easier and tastier than I anticipated, so I am excited to share it with you:

Crockpot Salmon Chowder

• 5 c. chicken or vegetable broth
• 2 onions, chopped
• 3 carrots, diced
• 1 c. peas
• 1 c. corn
• 3 lg. potatoes, diced
• 1/2 c. uncooked brown rice
• 1/2 T. dill weed
• 1 t. salt
• 1/2 t. black pepper
• 1 lg. can salmon
• 1-1/2 c. cottage cheese
• 1/2 c. mozzarella cheese

Add broth, vegetables, rice and spices to a crockpot. Cook on low heat for 5 to 6 hours or until the rice and vegetables are tender. Add salmon, cottage cheese and mozzarella cheese and stir until melted and creamy. Cover and let cook on low for ten minutes. Serve!

Note: You can use vegetable broth and omit the salmon to make a tasty vegetarian Potato Chowder!