Encouraging Deep Roots

I've been busy the past few weeks as I worked on the release of my new book, Simple & Nutritious: 52 Plant-Based, Whole Foods Recipes. You can find that on Amazon and I have published it on all the Amazon channels so my friends in the UK can find it.  But I haven't just been busy with the book release. I was working on a new website and blog to talk about all things related to being frugal, as well as healthy, and sharing tips and tricks on how to save money. You can find that information by clicking on The Frugal Connection link above or by clicking here.   My goal is to also make some short videos, featuring different aspects of my new recipe book, as well as other tips from time to time. So I tiptoed into YouTube and started a YouTube channel. The first video on there was from my very old cell phone and the angle is not great, but it's a start. You can find that link here . I will still continue to regularly do blog posts here on the ways God is speaking to me throu...

I've spent the past 4 days staring at a computer screen for hours each day, feeling like I wanted to rip my hair out and yes, crying a few tears. However, I am happy to say that my new cookbook has been published. You can click on the picture above to take you to the page on Amazon where it is listed. It is available as a paperback, hardcover and Kindle e-book. I'm so happy with how it turned out and yet, never thought writing a cookbook would be that difficult. I would think I was finished and then find something else I needed to tweak. I also included a bit of my weight loss journey in it as well.  I have also created a new website for all things frugal called The Frugal Connection . The link for that is at the top of this blog. I also started a Facebook page for that with the desire to build a community around inspiring each other with ideas to save money in this crazy economy. I'm excited about this new book but had to laugh at the irony of how expensive it is to print ...

March came roaring like a lion and the snow is here to stay for a while. Dan and I went to visit Emily on Monday night and the hour and a half ride home was wild. We had no idea it was supposed to snow like this and the plows had not been out yet. So we had a white-knuckled ride all the way home. It's been a good week to hunker down and get some things checked off my list. The biggest of these was gathering all our tax information and getting it off to the accountant. I don't know what possesses me to procrastinate each year with keeping track of housing expenses, etc., but I do it every time. And then I'm scrambling to catch up on a years worth of paperwork! So I had a different sort of white-knuckled experience on Wednesday doing that.  I tried my hand at homemade yogurt in my slow cooker and it turned out great! This is definitely a new staple here. When I mentioned this to someone on Sunday, she asked, "Why?" and I responded, "Because I can!" 😁  Ser...

“A quiet and modest life brings more joy than a pursuit of success bound with constant unrest.”  ~Albert Einstein It's been a slow paced summer here and as I look back over the month of July, I'm finding it hard to remember how the month seemed to have slipped by without me doing much of anything. I'm not really hating that though. I have a tendency to plunge in to one thing after another and the pace does bring about a certain amount of anxiety. I've been trying to live in the moment and just enjoy what's in front of me. I still have meetings and work to do, but I've also been enjoying puttering around my house and getting it in order. Besides cleaning and organizing, I've also been able to do some of the things I enjoy. I prepped some cucumbers and veggies for relish. The plan this afternoon is to can this. I've made the shift to mostly homemade cleaners since most of the commercial cleaners bother my skin. I've been experimenting with different sc...

I've just spent the past 4 days at our district's family camp in my role as district women's ministry director. It was a great time of fellowship, ministry and praying and chatting with different women. I had a good conversation with a friend about my ministry, writing and blogging and what I could do to bring in some extra money.  I love blogging and the blog posts that seem to get the biggest response are the ones on simple living, frugality and how to make our dollars stretch. The idea that she put in my head is to start a website on those things where I can monetize some of the information in the form of training, cooking and canning classes or downloadable pdfs of tips or recipes, YouTube videos or podcasts.  As I mulled that over, I didn't want to give up the blogs I do where I give words of encouragement or some lessons that the Lord is teaching me because I know that people find those helpful as well.  So I think the place where I've landed is to keep this b...

About 5 years ago I made both lemon and orange extract. It required lemon peels and orange peels and vodka. I made a jar of each and then never used it, because I discovered I don't bake anything that requires those extracts. If I am making something with lemons or oranges, I prefer to use the zest and fresh juice. Fast forward to this week. I was cleaning out some things and came across these two jars. I didn't really want to waste them by tossing them. Then I had a thought.  I use a lot of natural cleaners because they are cheaper and also don't use a lot of harsh chemicals. However, when it comes to the bathroom I tend to stick with commercial cleaners because well.....bathrooms are gross! But the problem with store bought cleaners is they are harsh and bother the eczema on my hands even when I wear gloves. I know alcohol is a natural disinfectant so I decided to make a bathroom cleaner out of these. I strained out the peels and put the extract in a spray bottle. Then I ...

  Dan and I went grocery shopping this morning for the first time in about 2 weeks. Yikes! I knew that prices were going up, but I was shocked at how much things changed in just a few short weeks. Some items were basically the same, but things like butter, maple syrup and coffee have skyrocketed. I didn't even bother looking at the meat since we do have some in the freezer. The butter price has doubled and that made my decision not to bring cookies to the markets this year an easy one. I believe I'm just going to stick to the craft items this year. Anyway, this spurred me on to do a pantry challenge for the month of April. My plan is to use up what I have on hand in my freezers, fridge and cupboards. I am giving myself $20 per week to pick up things like milk, eggs or fresh vegetables, but other than that, I'm going to try to not purchase anything else at the store for one month.  And God is good. No sooner had I started typing this all out that I got a text from someone sa...

A enormous head that I picked up for $2.99. It's enough for 4 meals. Prepping vegetables for giardiniera Apple Butter   I've had a busy week and it's been one of Zoom meetings, face-to-face meeting, church events, computer work, cooking, baking, canning, and sewing. I have a busy weekend ahead as well. My sisters-in-law and myself are taking my mother-in-law out to lunch for a belated birthday celebration. Sunday is crammed full as well.  I've been trying to get everything canned and processed this week because I will be leaving on Monday morning to go stay with my mom and stepdad for a week. My mother's cancer is back and she is weak and in pain and they really need some help, even if it's just preparing meals. I'm concerned about them both and even though I will have to quarantine when I get back I felt I needed to go down. Life is stressful at the moment and there are days when I'm feeling like I'm going to have a giant meltdown. However, that won...

Dan and I are on vacation this week even though we are staying at home. We are trying to pick places to go that don't cost much or are free. It's fairly easy since most places are still closed down. The one thing we love to do that doesn't cost anything is hiking. So yesterday we tried out a new hiking trail and ended up hiking five miles. There was a beautiful place to stop and eat lunch with a scenic view of the valley. It was very humid and hot, but a breeze would blow periodically so it wasn't bad. Everyone always tells us to not think or talk about the church when we are on our day off or on vacation. It's such a part of our lives that it's hard not to make it part of the conversation. But we did our best though as we walked in the quiet woods I was able to sort out two church challenges that I have ahead of me so I consider that a good thing. :-) Church ministry is a crazy beast and it amuses me when people say that the p...