Parenting on a Penny: Financial Mistakes We Made in our Newlywed Days {at Modern Alternative Mama}

Image by epsos.de

It's been a while since I've had a Parenting on a Penny post! Yesterday, I posted about financial mistakes we made during our newlywed days over at Modern Alternative Mama. 


Here's an excerpt:
With a new year always comes new talk goals, whether it be for your spiritual life, your health, or, for many people, your finances. Thankfully, besides our house, our family doesn’t have debt.

But while we haven’t used credit cards since we were married nearly 7 years ago, there are still plenty of mistakes we made in our newlywed days. I hope you can learn from our mistakes!

Read the rest of this post here.

Did you make any financial mistakes in your newlywed days? What did you learn from them?


I'm linking up with: The Prairie Homestead, Growing Home, Far Above Rubies, Time-Warp Wife and Raising Homemakers,  Works for Me Wednesday, Frugally Sustainable,  Deep Roots at Home, Homemakers Challenge, The Better Mom, Raising Mighty Arrows,  Live Renewed,  Simple Lives Thursday, Frugal Friday, Women Living Well

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Real Food Doesn't Have to Be "All or Nothing"

Today I'm posting over at Modern Alternative Mama about how real food doesn't have to be "all or nothing." Here's an excerpt:

I must confess: I’m an all-or-nothing person. When I decide to do something–whether it be cloth diaper my child, achieve a natural birth in a hospital (shocking!) or blog, I go at it full force.

But it can be to my detriment. Why? When you think everything has to be all or nothing, you can burn out easily. And when you realize you really cannot do it all, frustration sets in.

Making the switch from the Standard American Diet to a real-food lifestyle is no different. If you go at it full force, you may burn out, give up and frustrate yourself. 

If you’re new to this whole real-food thing, sit back, relax, and take things slowly. (I started all this more than 3 years ago, and it’s been one baby step after another. And there are still many aspects of the real foods lifestyle that my family cannot attain.)

So if you’re an all-or-nothing person like me, how do you avoid that during your switch to the real foods lifestyle?

Check out the rest of this post over at Modern Alternative Mama!


I'm linking up with: Homestead Barn Hop, Monday Mania, Mangia Mondays, Real Food 101, Traditional Tuesday , Fat Tuesday, Works for Me Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Simple Lives Thursday, Live Renewed, Fight Back Friday, Living Well Blog Hop, Sunday School

Coconut-Cranberry Peanut Butter Truffles (at Modern Alternative Mama)

Today, I'm posting a recipe for some yummy cranberry-coconut peanut butter truffles over at Modern Alternative Mama!

Here's an excerpt:

The holiday season has officially begun and baking of all kinds of delicious treats has commenced as well. But you don't have to be a master baker to make yummy candies for your family. Who says making holiday truffles has to be hard work?

Chock full of seasonal cranberries and rolled in "snowy" coconut, these super easy raw peanut butter truffles are sure to please your guests--and save you time in the kitchen.

Read the rest of this post here. 


By the way, this recipe is one of 22 holiday treats recipes in Healthy Holidays: Slightly-Indulgent Sweet Treats, a free eBook some other blogging friends and myself put together for our RSS/e-mail subscribers! Click here, to find out how to get your own free copy! 

Interested in some other holiday treat recipes? Check out these yummy allergen-free pumpkin spice donut holes or this probiotic pumpkin dip! 

For even more real food dessert recipes for this "season of sweets," check out Kate's Treat Yourself: Real Food Desserts eBook and Katie of Kitchen Stewardship's Smart Sweets eBook. 

What's your favorite holiday treat to make for your friends and family?

I'm linking up with: Make Your Own Monday, Homestead Barn Hop, Monday Mania, Mangia Mondays, Real Food 101, Traditional Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Healthy 2Day Wednesdays, Real Food Wednesday, Foodie Wednesday, What's Cooking Wednesday, Gluten Free Wednesday, 

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A Natural Holiday: Homemade Peppermint Foaming Hand Soap

Welcome back to A Natural Holiday Carnival! Three weeks ago, we looked at decorating with nativities from around the world, two weeks ago we checked out a cheesy green bean casserole and a natural holiday meal plan and last week I posted a recipe for some yummy pumpkin spice (and allergen-free!) donut holes as a party food treat!

Today we are ending the series with homemade Christmas gifts! And I can't wait to share with you this great recipe for peppermint foaming hand soap!


But I must admit. I am not crafty. At all. Oh, I have tried. I once thought I would get into scrapbooking. My loving husband enthusiastically helped me out by purchasing scrapbook-making materials for me. 
I. never.made.my.first.page.


Then it was knitting, then jewelry making, then sewing. Nothing stuck. I'm just not built to be crafty. It's not how God made me. And I'm OK with that--now. 
(Hey--I LOVE blogging! That's one thing that's stuck! But, oh, blogging isn't crafty! Oh, well!)


I digress. You want the recipe for this homemade peppermint foaming hand soap! 


My point is: You can be the least crafty person ever and STILL be able to make this soap for your friends, family, neighbors--and hey, you can even keep some for yourself! 


And the best part? This soap isn't antibacterial! (What's wrong with antibacterial soaps? Well, check out this post.) It's all natural, and I feel safe using it on myself (and even as a baby wash on my girls!). 


Homemade Peppermint Foaming Hand Soap
Ingredients:

• 1/4 parts peppermint scented castille soap (or plain)
• 3/4 parts distilled water
• a few (2-3) drops peppermint essential oil (or tea tree for disinfecting)
• a foaming soap dispenser

Method:
Mix soap and water. Drop in and mix in oils. Pour into a foaming soap dispenser. That's IT!
I found this great tutorial for making a cute foaming hand soap dispenser out of a canning jar. With my hubby's help (I'm not crafty, remember?), we've made one for our bathrooms and kitchen, and we will be making several as Christmas gifts. 
We simply purchased the canning jars and plastic canning lids at Wal-Mart, and we also purchased some colorful (red or green for Christmas!) smooth stones to go in the bottom of the jars. 
We purchased the foaming dispenser tops, here. (But if you're super frugal and patient like my friend Stacy at Stacy Makes Cents, just ask your friends and family to save their old Bath and Body Works dispensers for you!). 

Be sure to check out the other great natural gift-giving ideas in today's hop!


Real Foods Christmas Gifts @ Creative Christian Mama
Homemade Christmas Gifts @ Modern Alternative Mama
Personalized Gifts-Placemats from Storybook Pages @ Stacy Makes Cents
Homemade Christmas Gift Ideas @ Day2Day Joys

Want some more homemade Christmas gift ideas? Check out MadeOn Hard Lotion's My Buttered Life Gift-Giving Edition, which gives diy recipes for: chocolate body mousse, flavored lip balms, chocolate peppermint lotion bars, scented & shaped lotion bars, and beeswax candles!


Or, get the book for FREE by purchasing the DIY kit!

Also, check out Kitchen Stewardship's Smart Sweets book for some yummy holiday treats!

Have you gotten my FREE eBook yet? I don't want you to miss out! If you are a RSS/e-mail subscriber, please e-mail me via the contact tab or leave me a comment here to request your copy!! You can subscribe in the box below if you haven't already. 

I'm linking up with: Make Your Own Monday, Homestead Barn Hop, Made By You Monday, Made With Love Monday, Traditional Tuesday, Frugal Tuesday Tip, Domestically Divine Tuesday, Growing Home, Works for Me Wednesday, Women Living Well, Healthy 2Day Wednesdays, Wildcrafting Wednesday, Penny Pinching Party, Simple Lives Thursday, Creative Juice, Things I Love Thursday, DIY Thrifty Thursday, Live Renewed, Frugal Friday, Living Well Blog Hop, Frugally Sustainable, The Nourishing Gourmet,  Made at Home Monday



*There are affiliate links in this post, which basically means if you purchase through my links, I will get a few dollars to use to buy some Christmas gifts for the girls. :) Thanks for supporting HH! 

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A Natural Holiday: Allergen-Free Pumpkin Spice Donut Holes

Welcome back to A Natural Holiday Carnival! Two weeks ago, we looked at decorating with nativities from around the world, and last week we checked out a cheesy green bean casserole and a natural holiday meal plan. 

Today's theme is party food!

Image by littlekata

Pumpkin is, hands down, my favorite seasonal flavor. But up until recently, the only pumpkin I knew was pumpkin pie! Over the past year, I’ve enjoyed experimenting in the kitchen and creating and re-creating all kinds of pumpkin recipes! 

These pumpkin spice donut holes are perfect to take to a holiday party—but they’re best served right out of the oven! Be sure to check out the allergen-free version below as well!

 Combine dry ingredients. 

Combine wet ingredients. 

Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients. 

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 

into mini muffin pan. 

 

Mix coating while donut holes

are baking.

Ingredients for donut holes:

• 1 ¾ cup white whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. sea salt
• 1 ½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 1/3 cup coconut oil (or butter), melted 
• ½ cup honey
• 1 egg
• ¾ cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• ½ cup milk 

Ingredients for Coating:

• 1/4 cup coconut oil (or butter), melted
• 2/3 cup sucanat (or brown sugar)
• 1 ½ Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice

Method:

Grease a mini muffin pan with coconut oil or butter. Combine all dry ingredients in one bowl and all wet ingredients in another. Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix well. Drop by rounded tablespoons or with a melon baller into the muffin pan. Bake on 350F for 12-15 minutes. (I had to bake this version for longer than the allergen-free version below.)

While the donut holes are baking, combine sucanat and pumpkin pie spice. Pour melted coconut oil in another dish. I leave mine on the stovetop, so the coconut oil doesn’t harden. Once you take the donut holes out of the oven, dip them in the oil, then roll them in the sucanat/spice mixture.

Makes 48 donut holes!

 

Allergen-Free Version (gluten, egg, dairy-free)

Ingredients:

• 1 ¾ cup all-purpose gluten free flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill, but you can use can make your own.)
• 1 ½ tsp. xanthan gum
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. sea salt
• 1 ½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
• ½ cup honey
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• ½ cup allergen-free milk (rice, coconut or almond)

Follow the same method as above. It should take slightly less time to bake the allergen-free version.

*If not consumed within a day, these should be refrigerated. My inspiration for this recipe came from Crumbs and Chaos. 

Be sure to check out the other great recipes in today's hop!

Whole Wheat Vegetable Pizza @Stacy Makes Cents
Velvety Mashed Potatoes (w/ GF/DF options) @Christian Mommy Blogger
Real Food Party Dishes @Modern Alternative Mama
Turkey Pesto Pinwheels @Day2Day Joys
Marinated Goat Cheese @Creative Christian Mama

I am SO EXCITED to announce a GIFT to all my e-mail subscribers! Later this week, we will release Healthy Holidays: Slightly Indulgent Sweet Treats, an eBook with more than 16 recipes for healthier holiday cookies and candies!

Any e-mail subscriber to any of the following blogs will get this book for FREE!!

The Purposed Heart,

Quick and Easy, Cheap and Healthy,

Intentional By Grace, or

The Humbled Homemaker (aka--me!). 

I truly appreciate all my readers and subscribers, and I cannot wait to get this special gift into your hands! Stay tuned!!

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I'm linking up with: Made By You Monday, Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Mouth Watering Monday, Made With Love Monday, Mingle Monday, Traditional Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tasty Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Works for Me Wednesday, Healthy 2Day Wednesdays, Real Food Wednesday, Foodie Wednesday, What's Cooking Wednesday, Gluten Free Wednesday, Recipes I Can't Wait To Try, Pennywise Platter, Cooking Thursday, Full Plate Thursday, Creative Juice, Things I Love Thursday, Live Renewed, Sweets This Week, Food Trip Friday, Fresh Bites Friday, Friday Food, Fresh Food FridayFoodie Friday, Foodie Friday, Allergy-Friendly Lunch Box Ideas, Your Recipe, My Kitchen, Weekend Gourmet Blog Carnival, Growing Home