Children's chapter books

http://www.chicagonow.com/portrait-of-an-adoption/2014/12/amazing-awesome-list-of-best-chapter-books-for-kids/

Toxic products...which products NEED to be clean.

http://www.drfranklipman.com/putting-it-on-your-skin-does-let-it-in/

Home organization apps!!!

http://www.home-storage-solutions-101.com/app-store.html

Crafty Gift ideas

http://www.theidearoom.net/2014/10/diy-gift-ideas.html

Sweet Potato Beef Stew

Sweet Potato Beef Stew

Total Time: 2 hours

Yield: 6 servings

Sweet potato beef stew is a healthy twist on a classic cold weather dish. Serve this up with bread to make sure you get all the delicious gravy!

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 pounds beef stew meat
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 medium onions, chopped into bite-sized chunks
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups dry red wine
• 2 cups beef broth
• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into bite-sized chunks
• 4 large carrots, peeled and chopped into coins
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Heat the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Dredge the stew meat in the flour. Brown the stew meat, working in three batches, for just a few minutes until the sides of the meat are brown and crisp. Remove meat from pot and set aside.
2. Add in the onions and garlic, and cook until just fragrant and tender, about five minutes.
3. Add in the wine mixture, and scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze. If cooking in a slow cooker, transfer the wine, beef, and all remaining ingredients in a slow cooker and cook for 4-6 hours on high or 6-8 on low. If cooking on the stove, add in the beef and all remaining ingredients to the Dutch oven, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 90 minutes to 2 hours, or until the meat is very tender and the gravy is thick and smooth.

http://backtoherroots.com/2014/10/09/sweet-potato-beef-stew-2/

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Original Page: http://backtoherroots.com/2014/10/09/sweet-potato-beef-stew-2/

Summer Basgier

Eric Carl videos

For Campbell!

https://www.smore.com/z78v-eric-carle-online-stories?utm_content=buffera5a1f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Books to read!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariannarebolini/books-you-should-read-now-based-on-your-high-school-favorite?bffbbooks&s=mobile

How long will it last in the freezer?

I always try to date my food with a sharpie, but that doesn't do much good without this handy chart!

FOOD — MONTHS IN FREEZER

Ground Beef — 3-4 months

Uncooked roasts — 8-12 months

Uncooked poultry — 9-12 months

Soups/Stews — 2-3 months

Casseroles — 2-3 months

Meat Balls/Meatloaf — 2-3 months

Bread — 1-2 months

Hot Dogs/Lunch Meat (opened or unopened) — 1-2 months

Bacon/Sausage (opened or unopened) — 1-2 months

Ice Cream (opened) — 1-2 months

Fresh Vegetables/Fruits* — 5-6 months
(*fresh produce loses original texture with freezing for any amount of time. Best used for soups, stews, or in blended mixtures.)

Freezer casseroles

Always looking for good freezer meals!  The first two on this post sound great!

http://femiology.com/13-make-ahead-and-freeze-casseroles-and-grocery-list/

These soups all sound yummy as well!  

http://femiology.com/11-make-ahead-and-freeze-soups-with-shopping-list/

Jeans

I want!

http://socaclothing.com/denim-spotlight-ags-contour-360/

Fair trade friday

I am intrigued by this.  Seems like a great way to support women around the world and get some cute, unique, affordable gifts and treats at the same time.  Thinking of signing up...maybe to stock up for Christmas!

http://fairtradefriday.club/

Lebanese chicken

Going to cook this soon!

http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2009/08/04/lebanese-baked-chicken/

Homemade bug spray!

Interested to try this!

Original Page: http://backtoherroots.com/2014/07/18/homemade-all-natural-bug-spray-that-actually-works/

Homemade All-Natural Bug Spray (That Actually Works!)

I’m a bug magnet. And I always have been. Craig and I can be sitting outside, and within five minutes, I’ll get bit no less than 10 times, and the bugs wont even come near him. When I was a kid, people used to say it was because I was so sweet! And while that’s a nice sentiment, it doesn’t make the thousands of bug bites I’ve gotten over the course of my life any less itchy. I’m not sure what it is about me that is so attractive to buggies, but man, I really wish they’d, uh, bug off.

If I want to sit outside in the summer, I literally have to surround myself with citronella candles and douse myself in bug spray. I never really felt great about spraying super chemically bug spray all over my skin, but it was the only thing that made being outside in the summer tolerable. I finally found some all-natural bug spray last year that actually worked really well for me, and while I was really happy to be bite-free and chemical-free, I wasn’t happy about the $10 a bottle price tag. Especially considering I could go through a bottle in only just a few weeks!

So I did some research on the ingredients, and decided to come up with my own bug spray. It’s really simple. It just requires a specific mixture of essential oils that turn off bugs, and, oh my gosh, it actually works! I mean, I’m not guaranteeing you’ll never get bit again wearing this stuff, but it definitely reduces my bite-levels dramatically. Now, instead of getting bit 70 times in an evening (this literally happened one night while visiting Canada—we counted), I might get bit once or twice. I’ll take it! And, of course, it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than $10 a bottle.  It takes a bit of investment to buy all the essential oils if you don’t have them on hand, but for $20 worth of essential oils, you can make hundreds of dollars worth of bug spray.

What You’ll Need

• 1/4 cup witch hazel
• 1/2 teaspoon liquid vegetable glycerin
• 5 drops each of these essential oils: rosemary, citronella, lavender, clove, peppermint, and eucalyptus
• 1/4 cup water
• Glass spray bottle

How to Make It

Mix together the witch hazel, vegetable glycerin and essential oils. Add in the water, pour into spray bottle and spray liberally on your skin before going outside.

Why It Works

There are a lot of smells that bugs hate, and this particular combination makes them buzz off! You can feel free to tweak the mixture and figure out what works for you and the bugs in your area. Peppermint, citronella and rosemary are three good “base” smells that keep away a lot of biting insects. Also, feel free to up the amount of essential oils if you need a stronger bug spray.

Do you get bit by bugs a lot?

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Original Page: http://backtoherroots.com/2014/07/18/homemade-all-natural-bug-spray-that-actually-works/

Summer Basgier

Elderberry syrup?

I am thinking about trying this...both girls already have the sniffles after 5 days of school.

http://wellnessmama.com/1888/elderberry-syrup/

Freezer cooking

I need to do this so that I can actually cook during the week!

http://www.5dollardinners.com/gluten-free-slow-cooker-freezer-packs-costco-meal-plan/

Kids and Screen Time

"Everything in moderation."  Love this post from one of my top 5 favorite mommy bloggers.

http://andreadekker.com/why-we-our-let-kids-watch-tv/

I'm baaaack!

So who knows if any of you still have me in your RSS feed.  It has been three years since I used this blog.  I started this blog wanting to journal the goings on of our fam, but life happens, right?  Even though I stopped WRITING blogs I have been avidly reading them for the past three years.  I love that blogging is such a "thing" now.  I am in love with my RSS feed app (I use feeddler pro which syncs with The Old Reader.). I am still angry with google for shutting down Google Reader.  My blogs are like my magazines now, full of recipes, financial advice, parenting tips and news.  I find myself constantly forwarding posts to friends and linking to social media.  Like with my magazines (I tear out pages I want to read again) I want a place to keep my favorite blog posts so when I need some inspiration or a good laugh I can revisit a good post.  Usually if I loved a post, lots of other people to too.  So I am going to use this little spot on the www to share my favorite blog posts.  I blog blog of sorts.  If you love blogs and want to follow along, welcome!