Who knew the weather forecasters were right when they said that our cold, rainy and gray June would turn into a scorching hot and dry summer as we neared July? With temperatures that suddenly hit the 30's starting on Friday, it is definitely summer now! I'm actually relieved, as I've been so worried about my ...

Would you rather buy these for $16.50, plus tax and shipping... ...or all of this, for $15.50 total?   In a couple hours of garage saling this morning, I purchased 6 pairs of pants (khaki, cord and jeans), 2 knit sweaters, 2 knit winter hats, 1 sweater vest, 6 warm sleepers, 3 long sleeved button up shirts, 1 tee ...

When you're on a tight grocery budget, just how far can you stretch one little chicken? I decided to track exactly what I did with a my last free-range chicken, because I wanted to know the ultimate value derived from it. I started with a box of Whole Chicken Fryers, from Shelton Natural Poultry. They ...

Mmm... the first salad of the season, made with a lettuce blend from my backyard! I'm using a nice heirloom lettuce blend, as well as a romaine called Olga and some oriental greens called Mizuna. Is there anything more satisfying than eating what you've grown? (Okay, the answer is yes, but it sure does rank ...

Inspired by the recent rise in grocery costs, and our ever-present desire to cook whole, nourishing food for our families (and encourage you to do the same!), I will be collaborating with Kimi of The Nourishing Gourmet to bring you a carnival that we are really excited about!Actually, it was all Kimi's brilliant idea... after ...

This week's baby step is: To introduce one new cultured or fermented food to yourself (and your family, if you can)! Why this step is important: Though they made not sound all that appealing initially, and I know that this may be a bigger Baby Step than some of the previous ones, cultured and fermented ...

I just love a good book and our family has a book budget that is continually being used to the max! However (quite sadly), with all of the site problems and transfers I've had to focus on in the past few months, reading has mostly gone by the wayside. So how excited was I to ...

In conversations of late between my husband and I, one of the resounding themes that keeps coming is that we just have too much "stuff"! Now, I don't think that most people who visited my home would feel that it was terribly cluttered or knick-knacky, or that we were bursting at the seams. However, it ...

Does anyone else find it hard to even think of cooking when you're sweating glowing away in a roasting hot house? About the only thing sounding good to me right now is an ice cold fruit smoothie! And I suppose, I can't really make that for dinner for the next 7 nights in a row ...

"When are we going to do Learning Time, Mama?"This is almost a daily question in our home, from my eager 3 1/2 year old daughter. She just adores the time that we spend each afternoon, reading, studying, discussing, creating, learning, and most of all, enjoying! I received the sage advice early on to not focus ...