Five Favorite Crockpot Meals

No matter what your busy holiday season may look like, you may still want a hot home-cooked meal with little fuss and healthful ingredients.Ā  So I’m sharing my five favorite crockpot meals and hope to inspire you treat yourself well. My kitchen countertops are often sporting a crockpot full of something.  It’s probably my number […]

Holiday Potpourri

ā€œSimpleā€ is my holiday mantra and enjoying holiday potpourri is about as simple as you can get and still satisfy the senses.  A tiny crockpot means the stove doesn’t even have to go on and I can set it and forget it. Remember the dried orange slices I made a couple of weeks ago?  I […]

Air Fried Pork Chops

Any sort of pork is not on our normal menu around here.Ā  Except for.Ā  Umm.Ā  Bacon.Ā  Should that really be classified as pork? But this week air fried pork chops made it into the rotation. The occasional babyback ribs or pork loin will show up, but not really pork chops.  Hub likes them way more […]

Dried Orange Slices

Dried orange slices at Christmas time are so beautiful as natural tree ornaments, garland embellishments, and drink garnishes. I am blessed in life to have friends and family who are beautiful and talented and smart and funny.  All very important traits.  And most of them are creative and artistic.  That’s where they leave me in […]

My Top Tips for Staying Zen During Christmas

Okay, so maybe Zen and Christmas don’t really go in the same sentence, but as much as everyone wants to enjoy the holidays, I think we all want a little peace too.  So here are my top tips for staying Zen during this Christmas season. Tip #1 – Stop! šŸ›‘ If you’re doing something that […]

Very Minimal Christmas Decorating

Let’s get this weekend started, shall we?  Saying I need some downtime is a gross understatement.  I’ll share my less-than-wonderful-week with you shortly.  But on the positive side I’m going to share my very minimal Christmas decorating involving almost no shopping.    For Christmas decorations, that is.  Not to say I didn’t shop this week.  […]

Walmart Bedding Honest Review (and a Couple Other Finds)

A warm, wintery look in my bedroom is always on tap after our long Arizona summers.  But since we don’t have that long of a winter season, I really don’t want to make a huge dollar investment and then feel saddled to expensive bedding for the next ten years. Bedding that will look nice all […]

Simple Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

If you’re in need of some warm comfort food, here’s a recipe for simple homemade chicken pot pie.  And it will also work if you have some leftover turkey you need to use up! To lighten this recipe, filling goes into a bowl and pie crust is only used on the top.  The contrast between […]

Simple Holiday Home Bar

If your plan is to dazzle guests with holiday dĆ©cor and your bar or bar cart is one of those areas you wish to dazzle with, you might want to move on.Ā  This is all about a simple holiday home bar constructed to take you from Thanksgiving to New Years.Ā  And most importantly, to encourage […]

Thanksgiving Appetizer Ideas

After the annual turkey trot, we eat our dinner pretty early around here.  But depending on your tradition, you might be pretty hungry by the time the bird comes out of the oven.  Here are some hearty Thanksgiving appetizer ideas to keep the growly tummies at bay. Bacon Roll Ups One of our good friends […]