With Halloween gone, now is the time to find those deals on pumpkins in the stores. You can make pumpkin puree with almost any pumpkin, but the holy grail of nutrition, is found in those pumpkin seeds.
Not all pumpkin seed recipes are healthy. Once you’ve added the butter or oil, and possibly an overload of salt, they become well…less heathy. Since I am a huge fan of pumpkin anything, and have been more mindful of ingredients and nutrition, I decided to come up with my own new flavors of pumpkin seeds! Continue reading →
Love and gratitude are priceless gifts. Image courtesy of ChineseMedicineLiving.com.
With Valentine’s Day less than 48 hours away, some of us are still scrambling to get our loved ones a gift. But why do we have to wait for a holiday to show people how much we care? It doesn’t cost a penny to show kindness every day.
Ideas That Change People’s Lives
When we are grateful each day, the people around us thrive. Our smiles can engage strangers to pass on the goodwill and although it may seem like a small gesture, for others it will be huge.
Examples of Showing Love Without Pulling out Your Wallet
Offer to drive an elderly, disabled, or just any person without a car to the store.
Invite someone who is single/divorced/widowed to dinner.
Shovel a neighbor’s driveway or rake their leaves when you do yours.
Call someone you haven’t spoken to for awhile ~ and really listen.
Spend time with family members instead of on your devices.
While cooking for yourself or family, put aside a meal for a friend and delivery it.
Volunteer at your local charity or child’s function.
Surprise your loved ones with breakfast in bed ~ even if you can’t cook.
Use your unique talents – e.g. wipe someone’s computer, fix something, etc.
Help with chores – parents/spouses will rejoice.
Use your crafting talents and re-purpose an item for gift giving. Nothing says I love you more than homemade ingenuity.
So without a penny spent, show your family and friends how much they mean to you ~ everyday. Tomorrow is not promised and money cannot buy love.
To help get your creative juices flowing, see the links below:
The Minecraft Periodic Table, courtesy of Stubby EE on Minecraftforum.net
This is part of a series of how we pulled off a Minecraft gaming party for over 45 people. Part 1, includes a game tutorial, dealing with vendors, and helpful links. Part 2, shared our gaming trailer experience, event schedule, glitches and making a Minecraft invite for a girl. Part 3, we go over decorations, food containers transformed into Creepers, party favors/bags, tableware, and several links for printables to make 3D table toppers.
Every post has helpful links, so please check them out if you’re thinking of having a Minecraft party. For Part 4, we’ll go over foods you can match with the Minecraft Periodic Table, and drinks. Continue reading →
Neapolitan cookies have multi-layers of flavor: Almond, raspberry, apricot, and chocolate. Image courtesy of thehopefulhestia.wordpress.com
This is part 3 of the series: Get Ready for the Christmas Baking to Begin. These next two holiday favorites are easier to make than expected. Both goodies run about $9 a pound at your local bakery and this frugal gal knows that you can go broke trying to purchase a nice platter of these delightful morsels. With that in mind, I offer you two great gift-worthy recipes:
Italian Neapolitan Cookies
*Coming from an Italian family, I can tell you this recipe is authentic in nature. Other recipes call for other flavored fillings, but most bakeries use these ingredients.
Italian Chocolate Balls that appear to have chocolate frosting instead of white in our family recipe. Image courtesy of Applecrumbs.com
This is part 2 of Get Ready for the Christmas Baking to Begin.Today, I’ll be adding three more recipes:
Italian Chocolate Balls (our own family recipe), Peanut Butter Balls (some call them buckeyes, but they really taste like a Reese cup), and
Almond Sugar Cookie Cutouts (my very own recipe that has been acclaimed by many).
Italian Chocolate Balls
*This batter takes a fork and a strong arm for mixing or a heavy duty mixer. Yet, the results are so worth it.
