How I Get My Kids to Eat Fruit and Vegetables
When my daughter, my firstborn, was born I followed every “mom rule” out there. I think it’s a rite of passage for every first-time parent to go a little overboard at first. We had a spreadsheet detailing her diaper business, if you catch my drift. We earned a gold medal in overboard. So when my daughter ended up being a really well-rounded eater, I definitely thought it was due to my awesome parenting. How could it not be, right? Uh, sure. Go with that thought. Then my son came along and all of the sudden I had a child that would not try new foods. What??? Peaches? Nope. Green beans? No again. Blueberries?…
Blogilates
As I sit down to write this post, my abs are on fire. Not literally, of course, but they are burning with exertion. It’s that good kind of pain…just don’t make me laugh tomorrow. Ready to know why? (I know one of you wise guys is out there saying, “nope, not really!”) I just finished an itty-bitty, 6-minute Pilates video on YouTube. Six. Minutes. That’s all it took. You’d think it was my first time working out, but no. Now, generally speaking, I’m in pretty decent shape. I run 3 days a week and ride the bike 2 days a week. That’s not bragging, it’s just that exercise is pretty much…
Paper Rainbow Butterfly Art
An alternate title to this post could be, “How to Turn Birthday Decor Into Art.” Or, I could have titled it: “The Time I Spent 50 Gajillion Hours on a Silly Project.” Before we moved to Georgia, my daughter had a “Rainbow Butterfly” themed birthday party. There might have been unicorns in there too. It’s hard to pick just one favorite thing when you are turning six. Anyway, I had this brilliant idea to make it look like a swarm of butterflies were passing by our window. It wasn’t a hard project. It involved construction paper, tape and a butterfly hole punch. I did severely underestimate how long it would take…
My New Favorite Spice – Herbes de Provence
It’s true. I have a new favorite spice. This in no way, shape or form means that I have abandoned black pepper. No way. Black pepper is a part of me — mainly because I have consumed so much of it over the years. However, this new spice in my pantry has been the MVP of many recent dinners. Allow me to introduce you. Friends, meet Herbes de Provence. Herbes de Provence, meet friends. I first met Herbes de Provence two years ago at Friendsgiving. What is Friendsgiving? Thanksgiving with friends. It’s one of my most favorite holidays…where you celebrate with those friends that are like family. Anyway, the only spice…
Cleaning Baked Gunk off of Pans
I’m fairly certain I am using the same glass baking pans I received as a wedding gift…16 years ago. Now, that’s a quality product! Of course, they last a lot longer when you don’t use them at all for the first 10 or 11 years. Just saying. Anyway, the point of this story is that my glass bread (loaf) pans looked disgusting. I swear I cleaned them, but they had dried gunk on them that would not come off no matter how hard I tried. See? I promise I did try. I used a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, every cleaning product in my cupboard, baking soda, glass cooktop cleaner, scraping it with…
Almond and Anise Biscotti
Five or six years ago I spent the weekend with my aunt at her cabin in Eastern Oregon. While there, she offered me a slice of homemade biscotti. A vision of every coffee shop’s hard, stale, flavorless stick of biscotti wrapped in plastic flashed before my eyes. Thankfully, my manners kicked in before my gag reflex and I said in my most upbeat voice, “sure, I’d love a piece.” I cautiously took my first bite, wondering how I was going to get through an entire piece of biscotti. That, my dear friends, is when the angels started singing and every bad experience I’d had with biscotti vanished in a mouth-watering instant.…
Potting Shed, Part 2
Someone is ready for spring planting! Spoiler alert: It’s not me! Before the end of 2014, I posted about my stepmom’s new potting shed. By new, I mean they just built it, but most of the materials are salvaged or repurposed for the space. So, totally new, right? Ha! Isn’t it charming? Let’s go inside! The beam work you see on the outside of the building is carried through to the inside. I’m not the only one drooling over those beams, right? That sliding door sections off an area that will be used for storage. Fun fact! This wood door used to be the front door to our house before the home…
Way Back Wednesday – Oregon House
It’s time for another trip down good ol’ memory lane! It’s been a little over 10 months since we moved from Oregon to Georgia. While we do love the South, sometimes I miss that quaint, old farmhouse in Oregon! The photos in this post were taken by the real estate photographer, not yours truly. I wish the lights would have been off and a different camera lens used, but it really doesn’t matter. You’ll get the idea! The Oregon house had two stories plus a basement and for a home built in 1936, was pretty large at 2,100 square feet total. One of the funky things about the layout was…
Creamy Tomato Parmesan Soup in the Slow Cooker
If I was going to pick between winter and summer, I’d pick summer. My flip flops are calling to me, people. They miss me and oh, how I miss them. Winter does have one primary perk. Okay, maybe more than one, but I’m feeling stingy today. Ha! The perk of winter is soup. Warm, delicious, filling, tastes-better-the-next-day soup. So, that’s what I bring to you today. Creamy Tomato Parmesan Soup made in your slow cooker. In all actuality, tomato soup is kind of a misnomer for this soup. It’s actually more of a creamy and slightly chunky vegetable soup with carrots, celery and tomatoes on the ingredient list. I have…
Travel: Marathon, Florida
The day after Christmas, we got up at 4 a.m. and headed south to the Florida Keys. Road trip! Poor us, right? We started planning this vacation with friends from Oregon almost 6 months prior and while we like to plan, we’ve never planned a vacation that far in advance. It was totally worth it! While it was freezing cold and dreary at home, we were soaking up the 80 degree temperatures and sunshine. Should I say “poor us” again? This was the view from our deck. Absolute heaven. A friend had told us that the Florida Keys doesn’t really have the white sandy beaches that other parts of Florida has.…
