Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween today!

Fall Foliage

One of the many reasons that I love Fall is because of the Fall foliage. I love how the trees and bushes will turn from their summer green to the amazing yellows, oranges, and reds. 

"I'm so glad that I live in a world where there are Octobers" Anne of Green Gables

Here are some amazing photos of Fall foliage that I think are the most amazing!! Enjoy!

Crock Pot Pumpkin Spice White Hot Chocolate

It's that season! Pumpkin spice everything. I found this yummy pumpkin spice white hot chocolate recipe that is to die for. It only takes three ingredients to make and can simmer in your crock pot all day if you want. The secret ingredient is amazing!

Yes that's right, pumpkin pie spice coffee creamer. I don't drink coffee, but I use coffee creamers to make my hot cocoa even better. Now I said that this recipe was super easy to make so head on over here to get the instructions on this yummy recipe!

25 Family Friendly Fall Activities and a Yummy Apple Cider Recipe

Ugh I'm dying here! The days are still long and hot, it's not quite Fall, but I can feel it coming and I can't wait. I love everything about the season and all of the fun family activities that happen during the Fall. I decided to put together a small bucket list of some of my favorite Fall activities, along with a fun recipe for home made apple cider.

 Visit a pumpkin patch

 Roast pumpkin seeds

 Carve or paint pumpkins 

 Jump in the leaves

 Attend a high school football game

 Make a bon fire

 Bake some Pumpkin cookies

 Get lost in a Corn Maze

 Go on a hay ride

 Burn Fall scented candles

 Go apple picking

 Bake some apple pie

 Open the windows to let the crisp air in

 Make apple cider

 Roast smores

 Donate to your local food bank

 Make some chili and cornbread

 Create a giving tree and talk about what you’re thankful for

 Watch Hocus Pocus

 Go to a haunted house

 Decorate for Fall

 Go for a drive in the mountains to look at fall leaves

 Make caramel apples

Go apple picking

Make a scare crow

Homemade Apple Cider

Ingredients:

12 apples (6 granny smith & 6 red delicious)
1 orange
1 cup brown sugar
One whole nutmeg
4 cinnamon sticks
1 teaspoon whole cloves

Things you’ll need:

Stock pot
Strainer
Potato masher
Cheesecloth

Wash and cut your fruit into fourths and add to pot. Add brown sugar and chop and dice nutmeg. Lay your spices into the cheesecloth. Wrap it up tight into a pouch. This provides all the flavor without any bits and pieces. Cover with water. Bring to a boil, covered for a least an hour. Mash up your softened fruit in the stock pot. Simmer for two more hours. Once finished allow to cool completely. Line a bowl with strainer and cheesecloth. Ladle in the strainer than squeeze out all the goodness from the cheesecloth. Serve warm.

What are some of your favorite Fall bucket list activities? Comment below with your family favorites!

35 Emergency Foods You should Include in your Food Storage

Modern life has led people away from their backyard gardens and well-stocked root cellars. These once farmhouse staples helped ensure that families could feed themselves no matter how long the road to town was, what the weather was like, or their economic situation.

While access to grocery stores makes it seem like there’s no need to worry about keeping food on the table, there are many potential emergencies that could happen: losing your job, blizzards, or even economic collapse. These things could leave your family without a secure food source. Even if you don’t live in a farmhouse it’s easy and wise to stockpile emergency foods.

Below you’ll find a list of 35 emergency foods you should be stockpiling. With all of these foods on hand, you’ll be eating well no matter what happens.

1. Flour/Wheat Berries

Obviously, flour is a staple of the modern diet, but there are a few things to consider before running out and buying big bags of it. First, whole wheat flour doesn’t store well. The oils have been released from the wheat berries and it can go rancid quickly. Second white flour offers little nutritional value. For these reasons, the best option may be to purchase whole wheat berries which store well while retaining their nutrition, especially those in #10 cans. Whole wheat berries can be easily turned into flour with a hand crank mill, they can be cooked whole as hot cereal, or they can be added to soups and stews. Wheat berries can also be planted.

2. Salt

Salt is so much more than a seasoning. In a survival situation it is essential to preserving food. It can be used to salt meats and pickle or can garden produce.

3. Sugar

This is another essential preservative. With sugar, it’s easy to put up fruit and jam for winter.

4. Honey

Honey is more than just a tasty treat! It’s natural preservative, immune system booster, antibacterial, and anti fungal. Make sure you get real honey and not the fake stuff.

5. Baking Soda

It’s cheap and absolutely worth stocking up on. It’s an important leavening agent in many recipes and can be combined with a little vinegar and used in place of eggs in quick breads and cake recipes. It also makes a good, natural cleaner and deodorizer. It’s just over a dollar a pound.

6. Baking Powder

Another leavening agent, baking powder is an important part of many recipes. It’s also cheap and easy to store.

7. Dry Yeast

It may be advisable to store both bread yeast as well as yeast for brewing beer or wine. Even if you have these on hand, it’s also important to learn how to make sourdough or wild yeast starters so that you could make your own bread even if your supply ran out.

8. Dehydrated Milk

It may not be as tasty as fresh milk, but dehydrated milk can add essential fats and proteins to your diet in a survival situation. It’s also important for many recipes that just wouldn’t be the same with water, plus it lasts a long time.

9. Rendered Lard

Modern recommendations are to freeze lard, but not that long in the past it was commonly just kept in canning jars or crocks and even used to preserve meat. If you’re making lard at home, make sure you render it, removing all the perishable parts.

10. Vegetable Oil (olive, coconut, etc.)

Vegetable oil can add important fats to a survival diet and is important for many dressings and sauces. It’s also great for many herbal preparations and soaps. Oil doesn’t last forever so it’s a good idea to rotate your stock or at least regularly check and make sure your oils haven’t gone rancid. I’m a big fan of Nature’s Way Coconut Oil.

11. Dried Flint/Dent Corn

Flint or dent corn are varieties that are grown to be dried, ground, and used as a grain not sweet corn. They last virtually forever and are easy to grind to make cornbread, tortillas, grits, etc. Plus you can plant some to grow more as needed.

12. Pasta

While you can always make your own pasta, having some on hand is convenient in an emergency. It offers a quick and filling meal, plus it’s fairly lightweight and easy to store.

13. Cereal

Many families are accustomed to eating cereals, but they’re also important because they’re fortified. Most cereals contain a large part of your daily vitamin requirements.

14. Popcorn

Plain popping kernels are easy to store and great for keeping spirits high. For the amount of space they take up, they offer a lot of snacks.

15. Instant Potatoes

Instant potatoes offer a lot of benefits for little cost. They’re filling, cheap, last practically forever, and are lightweight and small in storage. They also only require boiling water, so you won’t use much fuel making them.

Continue reading here.

8 Fall Decor Ideas

Fall Mantel

Hello Fall

Pumpkin Table 

Fall Wreath

Fall Centerpiece

Give Thanks Quote

Fall is my favorite season of all. I love the smells and the colors. I love the crisp cool air and being outside. One of my favorite things to do is decorate for the holidays and bring some of the fall colors inside. These are a few of my favorite fall decor ideas.

What are some of your favorite fall decorations?

Back To School Tip

Let me first say that me and organized don’t usually belong in the same sentence, but for 3 school years now this system has totally worked for me, so that’s gotta say something.

I have 3 kids, one that is off to college and twin middle schoolers. Over the years we’ve evolved how we handle homework in our house. We have discovered that what works best for us is to have everyone working at the kitchen table together. Then mom and dad are close by if they need help and there are less distractions. (this post contains affiliate links)

This however created a problem in the kitchen.  It seemed I always had pens, pencils and paper all over the table even after they were done.  A couple of years ago, I got the idea to create a Homework Station on my kitchen table.  Everything they need contained in one place and it’s easily moved out of the way when needed.

12 Simple Ways to Bring Peace into Your Home

She dropped by unannounced.

And I couldn’t help cringing somewhat. Ever-so-slightly mortified.

You see, she was an author, something of a celebrity, and now a personal friend.

So, of course, I was thrilled to see her, but was also deeply concerned about the impression we were making. Suddenly self-conscious of the layer of dust on the piano and the ridiculous pile of dirty socks by the front door.

I faintly whispered to my husband, “Oh, what must she be thinking??”

And his helpful response, “That we live here.” (Thank you, Dear).

But we soon lost ourselves in conversation and enjoyed a lovely time of catching up on each others’ lives. Ignoring the young boys rollerblading through the entryway and the teens crooning love songs while cleaning up the lunch dishes.

Our own happy kind of chaos.

The hour passed quickly and our glamorous friend got up to go. Before leaving, however, she turned to say something. Then stopped. Clearly something was on her mind.

“I don’t know quite how to say this….,” she began.

Oh dear. Here it comes.

“But you know what I’ve noticed whenever I’m in your home?”

The dust? The heap of shoes on the porch? An impressive amount of loud noise? Some of my silent guesses.

“It’s the peace that I find here.”

Hubby gave me a slight nudge.

Well.  What d’ya know.

Where I saw mess and mayhem, she saw joy and contentment.

A peaceful home.

Maybe there’s no easy formula, but here are 12 simple things that can help bring peace into your home:

Perfect Frosted Sugar Cookies

I think it’s safe to say I have a slight sugar cookie obsession. If you’ve been following my blog you’ve likely noticed by now. But really, who doesn’t love frosted sugar cookies? I mean how can you not love them? The only people that don’t are liars, I’m just kidding everyone is entitled to their own personal opinion. But those of you that don’t like them, well lets just say we probably don’t have much in common.

I know I’ve already posted a sugar cookie recipe, well that’s old news. Those are good, but these are better. These are so soft, so fluffy, so tender. Basically they melt in your mouth dreamy.

So, you may be asking, what is that makes these special? To answer that, it’s a combination of things. The texture is amazing thanks to the cake flour and cornstarch. Don’t substitute all-purpose flour for the cake flour or your cookie will end up heavy and dense (compared to what you get with the cake flour, besides you’d have to adjust the portions anyway because cake flour is lighter). I know cake flour is more expensive than all-purpose flour but sometimes its worth it, in this case it’s definitely worth it. The combination of butter and vegetable shortening also helps the texture, especially when it’s whipped to fluffy perfection. I got the inspiration to use egg plus egg white along with the almond extract from white cake. This is one cookie that is meant to be a bit cake-y, it gives it that amazing, pillow-y as clouds bite.

If you like the Lofthouse style cookies from the store, trust me you’re going to want to try these. I think these far outdo those. Those almost taste like plastic to me, good texture but weird taste. I even like these more than my old favorite from the local bakery. These are my new favorite! Enjoy and share!

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10 products to help grow your spring garden

It's safe to say that everyone's been looking forward to the sun to come out and flowers to bloom. 'Tis the season to start thinking about your home garden and the beautiful flowers and textures you want to fill it with.

From a perfect pair of gloves to avoid invasive thorns to the must-have hand trowel of the season, these are the 9 products you need to successfully bloom your spring garden!

12 Months Of No Processed Foods – Crock Pot Recipes

 I personally am sick and tired of always eating processed foods, majority coming from fast food restaurants. As a family we decided to eat healthier and in doing so we actually saved a lot of money and feel better than ever.

Eating no processed foods is paramount to living a healthy life. Don’t be alarmed if you see that some of these recipes call for what we call “minimally processed foods”, for example, ketchup, canned vegetables, etc These are minimally processed foods but can also be made from scratch if you like. I buy everything organic and any meats grass fed without hormones.

But thankfully these meals are all wholesome and very easy to make. I love crockpot meals because all you do is chop up and add all the ingredients, turn it to low before you go to work and when you return you have a fully cooked meal that will fill you up and not cause you stress because the cooking is already done! Unless otherwise noted, all recipes are gluten free. Please read all labels carefully each and every time, as manufacturers change ingredients/manufacturing processes quite often. If you aren’t gluten free, just ignore my notes!

Hashimoto's Thyroiditis vs Gluten

Is Giving UP Gluten REALLY Necessary for Hashimoto’s Patients, or Just Fad Hype?

Unless you are newly diagnosed, chances are you have heard a lot about the connection between eating gluten (a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, oats) and auto immune diseases like Hashimoto’s.

You also have probably heard from your doctor, online nutritionists, and many mainstream media outlets and late night talk show hosts saying it is a lot of BS, and that you actually NEED gluten to be healthy.

So Who Is Right?

And also, just how strict do I really need to be? Can’t I have a little cheat? What if I don’t have any gut symptoms?

To find out the answer, I searched through research articles on PubMed. I already knew my stance on the issue, but wanted to make sure there was current research that supported it.

The September 2015 edition of the journal Gastroenterology  found high “proportions of patients with NCWS or CD develop autoimmune disorders, are ANA positive, and showed DQ2/DQ8 haplotypes”. (note- NCWS is non-Celiac wheat sensitivity.)

In the March 2015 journal Cerebellum, gluten was further linked to neurological disorders such as gluten ataxia, where there were no gut symptoms whatsoever, and occurred most commonly in patients with Hashimoto’s and other auto immune diseases. Check out this quote from the study:

“As with celiac disease, patients with GA (gluten ataxia) are often found to have an increased prevalence of additional autoimmune diseases the commonest of which include hypothyroidism, type 1 diabetes mellitus and pernicious anemia. Gastrointestinal symptoms are seldom prominent and are not a reliable indicator for the presence or absence of enteropathy. In this respect, gluten ataxia resembles dermatitis herpetiformis, an autoimmune dermatopathy triggered by gluten where gastrointestinal symptoms are not prominent even in the presence of an enteropathy.” (parenthesis and bold added by me for emphasis and clarification)

Wow. That is pretty powerful. How many of you with brain symptoms has ever had your doctor consider a possible gluten connection?

How To Lose Weight With Hashimoto’s

My Top 5 Helpful Weight Strategies For Hashimoto’s

Weight gain and the inability to lose weight may be a devastating consequence for many with hypothyroidism.

Many of you have been asking how to lose weight with Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism…

Here are some helpful strategies for weight management and Hashimoto’s:

1. Get Your Latest Lab Values

Get your latest lab values for TSH, Free T3 and Free T4 from your doctor. You may have been told that these numbers were “normal”, but sometimes when these numbers are on the outskirts of normal, your metabolic rate may still be impaired making it more difficult for you to burn calories.

Additionally, new guidelines have redefined the normal range for TSH to be below 3, however, not many labs have implemented this guideline. Your doctor may be using old ranges.

Most people report feeling well with a TSH between 0.5-2. 0. Remember, thyroid medications are dosed in micrograms, (that is 1/1000 of a milligram), sometimes a teensy increase in the dose can make a world of a difference. Talk to your doctor.

2. Consider The Type of Medication You Are Taking

Some report more weight loss with T4/T3 combinations (Armour, Nature-Throid, compounded medications) versus T4 medications (Synthroid, Levoxyl, Tirosint) alone. T4 is a precursor to T3, but some individuals do not convert T4 to T3 properly, and the T3 component is the metabolically active one. For more information, make sure to read my article on which thyroid medications are best and my top 11 thyroid medication tips.

3. Consider the Type of Diet You Are Eating

DIY Vapor Rub Shower Melts

I am so in love with vapor rub. You may remember my post 10 Uses for Vapor Rub, or 5 Chest Rub Hacks for Babies, and this Vapor Rub Scented Candle. And if those aren’t enough to convince you I am back with more! One of the littles was sick this week and just as stuffy as could be. Insert sad face here. After she was pretty sure I was the Wicked Witch for making her take medicine (side note…Hey pharmaceutical companies, it’s the year 2015. Medicine should be tasting like bacon now. Stop making it taste like rancid fruit juice.) I made her a peace offering of these homemade vapor rub shower cubes.

Now before you go thinking I Betty Homemaker, think again. These are so stinking easy to make, and you can whip them up in about 20 minutes. The end result is a vapor rub infused bath cube that you can place in the shower for instant relief from nasal congestion. Want to make your own? Let’s get started!

Here is what you will need to make your own Vapor Rub Shower Cubes:

Ice cube tray 

3 tablespoons of vapor rub (Maty’s makes a petroleum free, all natural variety with eucalyptus, peppermint, and wintergreen found here for around $5. It is amazing, it is safe for use with children, and I highly suggest it!)

1 cup of corn starch

2 tablespoons of water

Mixing bowl

Blue and green food coloring (optional)

Once you have your supplies, you are ready to roll. As you can see, chances are you already have these items in your home. Oh and when you are done with this recipe, check out my recipes for Vaporizing Bath Bombs and Vaporizing Bath Soak too!

The 5 Biggest Mistakes You Make When Painting Furniture

Improve a less-than-stellar piece with paint, patience, and my tricks. I had the oops moments; now you can learn from them.

There's no shortage of tutorials about painting furniture online. And I've used a lot of them to paint dressers, console tables, chairs, mirrors, and more. But I have found problems/issues with a lot of the tutorials—paint chips, finishes aren't smooth, and paint peels. I have had to redo several furnishings, so I decided to compile all the mistakes I've made to help you give your furnishings a makeover that will last.

Here's how to paint a piece of furniture—without making a major mistake:

1. Sand it. There are lots of tutorials out there that claim you don't need to sand. There are also lots of primers and paints promising no sanding necessary. From what I have learned, sanding is a must. Sand all surfaces with 150-grit sandpaper. (I use this orbital sander with variable speeds.) Be careful not to gouge the surface. You're just looking to rough it up a little so the primer has something to adhere to; you're not trying to strip the surface. Use 80-grit if you are sanding a furnishing with an existing varnish.

2. Remove residue. Wipe down the surface with a tack cloth to remove any residue. Do not use a paper towel. Don't speculate on whether something is a lint-free cloth. Just use the tack cloth.

Nesting Bunny

via  On Sutton Place

Oh my I don't have any words for this very cute little bunny. I found this a couple of years ago and I feel deeply in love with how cute and simple this is. I love that the whole thing has a vintage spring look to it. I feel that the vintage Easter/spring look is so beautiful and I have been slowly changing all of my spring collection to be vintage. 

I can't wait to get this made for my own home. I feel bad keeping this beautiful secret to myself so I thought that I would share this even though I haven't made my own yet. 

What do you think? Is this cute or what!

What We Mean When We Say We Need a Break

As a stay-at-home mom of two small children, when I say that I need a break, I’m not talking about wanting a vacation or a treat as a reward for doing my job. Needing a break doesn’t mean that I’m seeking a respite from my responsibilities or that I want to put my feet up. It means that I need a moment to feel like a human being in the midst of a relentless life where I don’t belong to myself anymore; where I give my love and energy away, every moment of my existence, and can’t figure out how to keep any for myself.

We’re all very aware of men who don’t understand the point of giving the mother of his children a break. They go to work all day and they don’t have fun at work, do they? When they come home and their wives say, “I need a break,” they think,When do I get a break? I just worked all day and now I have to come home and give my wife a break?

Read full article here

How I Easily Organized My Junk Drawers

We all have them, no one is immune. That one or two drawers that everything gets put into when it doesn't have a home. I happen to have a few of these drawers in my house, and here is the proof!

This is one of the 'junk' drawers in my kitchen. Do you remember those cute I Spy books that you would spend hours looking at when you were younger trying to find all of the items in the picture? Well that's how I felt every time that I would open this drawer. I could never find what I was looking for. I keep my instruction manuals for all of my appliances in this drawer and it had become so over run with 'stuff' that they would always fall out the back of the drawer into the cupboard below. There are playing cards, wax for candle warmers, push pins, a light bulb, a golf ball, lots of magnets that I made, and even garbage! It was pushing me over the edge every time that I needed something and I couldn't find it because this is what I had to deal with, so......

Can I get an AMEN! I am new to the de-junking thing and getting rid of unnecessary things that just bog me down and clutter up my life. My sister-in-law Heather (you can check her our at her blog here)was in town this past week and helped me get started on cleaning things out and de-cluttering my home. At first it was hard, like ripping a bandage off real slow. It stung and the hoarder in me had a hard time letting some things go, however as we kept going it became freeing and I soon became excited to go through my whole house. 

I am not a professional organizer at all and Heather had gone home so I decided that I would try something small to start off with. Baby steps. And this is what I came up with.

Ah so much better! It is so nice to be able to get into this drawer and be able to find things. My kids get into this drawer all of the time to find batteries and odds and ins and now they can find things easily and without destroying everything.