I did a little virtual tour of our weekly grocery haul over on Instagram and got a few comments from you all asking for the full meal plan! This week I was a little less “planned” and did my grocery shopping in person at our local Walmart. I feel like our dollars stretch really far at Walmart and was reminded of what a great selection our local Walmart has when I was there this week. I think my budgeting skills … Read More
Ainsley’s Favorite: Wild Berry Smoothie
Ainsley loves wild berry smoothies at our local coffee shop. But as a mom, my preference is for something both a little less expensive and a little more nutritious. I came up with a smoothie that Ainsley loves (she is pretty picky on taste!) and I can feel good about. It’s easy to make – we usually have all these ingredients on hand even when the pantry is pretty empty – and made with zero added sugar. Ainsley is also … Read More
June Recap: Grocery Budgeting
Now that the month of June is coming to a close, I’m ready to do a full (transparent) budget recap for you. Since I declared this the summer of grocery budgeting, I wanted to show you what it looks like for our family and what a tremendous impact it made this month! I looked back on another month (March) which was a pretty typical month for our family in terms of spending. I added up all our grocery spending PLUS … Read More
Homemade Pesto
While I’m not a gardener by any stretch of the imagination, I AM a big fan of my little herb garden. My mom got me two large garden boxes to hang on our deck and it’s been the most successful I’ve ever been at keeping herbs alive and thriving! I also learned a bit more this year about how to property cut basil leaves to help your plants continue to flourish all summer long. If you want to learn more … Read More
Meal Plan :: Week of June 7
I’ve been sharing more about meal planning and budgeting for meals over on Instagram and really been enjoying the challenge of sticking to a grocery budget of $200/week. It’s really stretching me to think more intentionally about food and also plan ahead for what we are going to eat each week. You can check out this week’s grocery haul over HERE where I shared a full video of what we bought this week! Since a few of you said that … Read More
Oat Flour Banana Muffins
Muffins are a family staple food in our house. My family all loves muffins and I find that a batch usually lasts no more than one or two days before they are gone. Banana muffins are a staple because we almost always have leftover bananas at the end of the month and bananas are so dang affordable. These banana muffins are low in added sugar, easy to pull together in just a few minutes and incredibly tasty. You can buy … Read More
Summer Of…. Grocery Budgeting
This is probably a funny time to embark on a grocery budgeting challenge when we have all the kids at home for the summer and kids are snacking more than ever, but with how much more expensive life and the grocery store has become, I’ve been feeling the pull to be more disciplined about our spending at the grocery store. I’ve realized as our family has grown that if I don’t take time to plan meals and grocery shop intentionally, … Read More
Summer Skin Guide
We are wrapping up the craziness of May and I’m, quite honestly, pretty excited to have this month in the rear view mirror. We have settled into our new house (sort of) and are getting into the swing of the summer schedule this week. Summer weather means I’m also scaling back some of my skincare routine and focusing on lightweight products that pack a performance punch. Here are some of my tried-and-true favorites if you’re looking to do the same … Read More
Supplement Spotlight :: Seed Daily Synbiotic
I get asked quite often about various supplements, but one of the most asked about is the probiotic I take. I’ve used various different probiotics over the years, but again and again I kept hearing my in-the-know friends talk about their love for Seed. This daily synbiotic (prebiotic and probiotic) has quickly become my favorite and Joe’s favorite, too. I noticed within a couple months of taking Seed some pretty significant health improvements (despite already being on a quality probiotic) … Read More
End of Year Teacher’s Gift Guide
One of the things I love doing is spoiling our kiddos teachers at the beginning and end of the year. We have been blessed with THE most amazing teachers for our kids – we haven’t had a year yet where our kids have had a “bad” teacher – they have all been amazing and brought new things out of our kids throughout the school year. I’m rounding up some ideas for the teachers in your life in case you’re looking … Read More
House Progress :: Paint Colors We’ve Used So Far
Hello, from the land of renovation! We have been hard at work at the new house (trying to leverage the time we have with both houses in our possession to do as much as we can before we move furniture in!) Most of our renovation (the big stuff like gutting the kitchen, the bathrooms, the new flooring, and opening up the living room/dining room area) won’t be able to be done until this fall/winter when our contractor wants to take … Read More
My Summer Active Wear Capsule
I’ve been putting together my warm weather active wear wardrobe for this spring/summer. I find that I typically wear the same handful of basics all summer long and some of my favorite basics are getting a little worn out. As I’ve been doing some updating, I wanted to share with YOU all my favorite items! I’m ultra picky about activewear. It has to fit *just* right, wash well, and look great. I want to be comfortable but also look and … Read More