Lovely Links

Hope you all are enjoying the beauty that is fall. No theme to the Lovely Links this week - just a few things I came across that I thought might be interesting and beneficial for all my awesome readers.

Six Natural Remedies You Probably Already Have - Simple Mom
(A couple weeks ago, I wrote about natural remedies and I thought that this was a good follow-up. Lots of easy tips.)

Udder Covers - For Nursing Mothers
(My husband's cousin sent out an email about a promotion offered by this company. They make covers for breastfeeding moms - I had no idea these even existed three years ago when I was nursing my son; it would have made life just a little easier for me! Anyway, these covers are usually $32.00, but for a limited time, if you enter "1free" in the promo code box on the order page, you get the cover absolutely free! All you need to pay is the $8.95 shipping and handling cost. From what my husband's cousin said, this is less than it costs to make your own cover! Even though I'm not expecting or anything, I still ordered one since I figure I'll need it someday. And, even if you're not going to use it yourself, it still makes an awesome baby shower gift - and you can't beat that price! I don't know how long the promotion will go, so if you're going to get one, I'd get it soon!)

3 Great Ways to Spend More Money - Small Notebook
(Not exactly the type of link you'd expect to see on a blog about all things frugal, but I thought this article was quite insightful. I like her attitude about thinking of things that you can get, instead of thinking of all things you can't when you're trying to be frugal.)

20 Activities Under $10 - Simple Kids
(As the weather turns colder and kids have to stay inside more, it can be hard to come up with new, fun things to do. This link has a lot of fun, simple ideas. And I'm all for only spending $10 to do it!)

"Thou Shalt Not Covet"
(Click this link for spiritual enlightenment. Applicable to everyone and every situation.)

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." – Leonardo da Vinci

Book Review: America's Cheapest Family

I know this may come as a huge shook to you, dear reader, but I happen to always be on the lookout for a book with new ideas on how to live more frugally. In my various searches on Amazon and PaperBackSwap for book suggestions, I came across this one, America's Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money by Steve and Annette Economides. I had to wait a little while on the hold list at my library to get it, but I finally got it a couple weeks ago.

Being completely honest, I have to say I didn't really learn all that much from this book. Nothing against it or anything, but a lot of the book's content was a review for me. That said, there's nothing wrong with a good review now and then. There many times when I was reading that I would think, "Oh yeah, I forgot about doing that..." or "I should be better about doing that..."

I had my notebook that I write random things in at my side and I wrote a bunch of notes of things that served as useful reminders, along with things I wanted to share on this blog. Here's a few:

• Reduce the number of grocery shopping trips. If you go a few times a week, start going weekly. If you go weekly, try going one every two weeks. You could even work your way up to going only once a month like they do (they explain how in the book). This was a fairly new idea to me - I didn't really think the frequency of shopping trips made that much of a difference. I'm going to give bi-weekly grocery shopping a go. I'll let you know the results of that experiment in the future...
• Consider getting a separate freezer. The more I think about it, I'm definitely leaning toward getting one because it would be nice to stock up on good sales (like when turkeys go on sale later this month...) and to freeze produce from my garden. Plus, my freezer in my kitchen is getting really full. In fact, just a minute ago, I heard my husband shout because he got nailed by a rock-hard package of frozen chicken when when he opened the freezer. What can I say? It's a delicate balance in there.
• Using a price book. I need to be better about that and update mine.
• The book had lots of ways to save on utilities: using ceiling and portable fans, putting a special blanket on your water heater, low-flow shower heads, vacuuming refrigerator coils annually (never done that), using a clothesline, landscaping to shade the house, etc. Lots of good ideas, mostly common sense.
• I really liked the section in the medical chapter that focused on preventing disease. Like Benjamin Franklin said, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
• There were lots of fun ideas for entertainment, recreation, and vacation. Like stay-cations - I always thought the idea of taking a vacation at home sounded kind of lame, but they actually helped me open my mind to the idea.

There were other things that I didn't write down that may be useful to others or be new information to someone. There's definitely more than what I listed. I also skipped the section on how to get out of debt just because we're following Dave Ramsey's plan already. One complaint: I had a hard time with the clothing section because I just can't get myself to buy our clothes at thrift stores. This is something I really should get over - I know a bunch of well-dressed people who almost exclusively buy their clothes second-hand (if you're one of those people, let me know. I may have you be a guest writer on here). Even then, this book made a really good case for doing that, much better than The Tightwad Gazette did for me.

This is a really great starting point for anyone wanting to live more frugally but doesn't know where to start. The book is laid out very well and is extremely readable. It only took me a few hours here and there to get through it. One thing I really liked about it is that at the end of every chapter, they give three different ways to apply the principles in the chapter based on how gung-ho you want to get. Kind of like those old aerobics videos from the 80's (this link, by the way, is a gem. My mom used to workout to this program in the morning. I would sit and admire - no, envy - the brunette's awesome ponytail) where they show the different levels of intensity - you can do low, medium, or high effort. Like with the cheesy workout video, doing even the low effort is better than doing nothing. Go, borrow the book from the library, and I promise you'll find something - even just one thing - that will make it worth your while.

Note: Some of the links in the post above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. 

Vegging Out: Saving Money with Meatless Meals

For about a year and half - maybe even closer to two years - my husband and I were vegetarian. Well, technically, we were "pesco-vegetarian", meaning we'd occasionally eat seafood. We did it for a bunch of reasons - mostly health and moral/ethical reasons - but we eventually drifted back to our carnivorous ways. Our return to meat all started last year, with an In-N-Out burger while en route to Disneyland...but I digress.

As you might imagine, one of the byproducts of our vegetarianism was a lower grocery bill. And though our meatless days are mostly over (I say mostly because I almost never cook with beef or pork - most of my non-veg meals have either turkey or chicken in them), I still incorporate vegetarian meals into my menu planning at least twice a week. Not only does this help us eat meat sparingly (seriously, our country eats waaay too much meat - if we all cut back, we wouldn't need to mass-produce the animals the way we do here. Dang it - I got on the soapbox. I made a goal not to do that in this post), but it's a frugal way to cook for yourself and your family. Here are a few ideas to get you to go meatless, even if it's just one dinner a week.

These are all things I made back in our veg-head days. I might add that none of the recipes include tofu - nothing against it, I just could never get it to work for me. Maybe I just expected too much of it. Anyway, here's some ideas...

• Pizza is a staple at our house. I'm going to devote an entire post to my pizza recipe in near-future. It is ridiculously fast and easy - and I make it for less money than even a $5 Little Caesar's pizza. But if you're dying of suspense and have to have the recipe right away, you can check out this link to my personal blog when I wrote about it a little over a year ago. We have pizza once a week and it's so easy to make it meatless.

• While I'm mentioning pizza, I might as well add that Italian food offers many meatless options. I think it's partly due to the fact that meat isn't always the center of the meal and the pasta fills you up. Of course, there's always spaghetti - it's really easy to omit the meat in spaghetti sauce. There's also lots of vegetarian lasagna recipes out there (seriously, tons. Do a Google search. Here's one I found that I think I'm going to try - even though I LOVE my go-to lasagna recipe). There's also eggplant parmesan - delicious and surprisingly easy.

• And while I'm mentioning noodles, how could I not mention macaroni? (This post is quite stream-of-consciousness...) Homemade macaroni and cheese is super-easy and cheap to make, not to mention so much better than the boxed kind (here's the link to the recipe I use - though I just use regular cheddar instead of white). You can also add some vegetables to the mac and cheese - I always add broccoli. My sister-in-law's mom made us chipotle macaroni and cheese, which was also awesome. Macaroni is oh-so-versatile and easy to go vegetarian with.

• Now, one option totally unrelated to Italian food or noodles (well, I guess you could serve it on noodles...): stir-fry. The nice thing about making stir-fry is that you can basically make up your own recipe for the sauce, add whatever vegetables you want, and serve it on rice. Here's the link to a helpful guide (basically just a formula to follow - you decide the ingredients) and how-to to get you feeling more stir-fry savvy.

• Beans are your meat-free friend. They're bursting with protein and are very filling. My favorite beans are black beans and I use them in all sorts of recipes, particularly in Mexican dishes. An example: I'll fill tortillas with cheese, black beans, corn, and a little enchilada sauce, roll them up, line them in a pan, top with more enchilada sauce and cheese, and bake them for 15-ish minutes. This is such an economical dinner to make because most of the ingredients come from your pantry or freezer. Again, Google bean recipes and you'll find a ton of ideas.

• Eggs are an awesome meat-free dinner option. Sometimes, if I'm feeling lazy, I'll just make omelets for dinner (I'm going to try to make them a la Julia Child - I've been reading the section of Mastering the Art of French Cooking all about omelets and I want to make a truly French-style one). Another awesome way to use eggs for dinner: Smitten Kitchen's huevos rancheros. Click on the link - I dare you. I can't look at this recipe on her blog without getting a mad craving for them.

• Make breakfast for dinner - sans the sausage, ham, and bacon. When I was a kid, my mom would make breakfast dinner and we loved it! If you're going to do this, use this pancake recipe.

• Soup it up! There are so many options when it comes to soup, especially if you want to make a meat-free soup. You can make a simple chowder with a roux, a little water, and some vegetables (I'm keeping this all fairly vague for a reason - I'll be posting a bunch of soup stuff in the weeks to come). Or you could make this minestrone soup - not only is it meat-free and delicious, but it is so cheap to make since it's mostly just vegetables that you probably already have in your crisper and then a few pantry items. Really, it costs almost nothing to make, but it's just as good as what you'd get in a restaurant.

The ideas I've listed are only a start - there really are a ton of options when it comes to making meatless meals. Granted, if you're going to eat this way all the time, you may need to get more creative, do some more research and reading. One cookbook that I recommend is Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers - the recipes are specifically made to be simple, weeknight-type of vegetarian dinners. I also have the be-all and end-all of vegetarian cookbooks, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. This is an amazing guide and has all the information you could possibly want on how to prepare and cook vegetables, along with beans and grains (like rice, quinoa, barley, etc.). And then there's the Internet - you can find a bazillion vegetarian sites and recipes.

So, step away from the meat counter (don't tell my dad I wrote that - he just so happens to work as a butcher at a supermarket in Park City) and try a meat-free dinner, even if it's just once a week. You'll be surprised how little you'll miss the meat - and your wallet may just thank you.

Soup's Best Friend: The Popover

It snowed here yesterday - and not just a little. At the height of the storm (before it began to melt), we had a good couple inches of the white stuff. Now I'm not one of those cold weather and winter haters, but I'm not sure I'm ready for all the ice and snow just yet. However, with the colder temperatures comes two welcome additions: soup and popovers.

Once spring hits, all my soup recipes go into storage. Then, when the air turns crisp in the fall, my menu expands instantly when I pull them out again. I love cooking hot dinners when it's cold outside. So comforting, so satisfying - and so cheap. But there will be plenty of time to share all those soup recipes - what I really want to write about is one of my favorite soup accompaniments: the delicious popover. And did I mention that they're ridiculously easy and affordable to make?

I came across this recipe in my favorite, now-defunct magazine, Wondertime (stupid recession - even though it's been months since the last issue, I'm still bummed that it got shut down). I'd never had a popover before, but they looked yummy and the recipe looked simple, so I tried it out. What I love about this recipe is the ingredients are so basic - just a few kitchen staples. Milk, eggs, flour, salt, butter. That's it. My husband I were hooked from the first time I made them. In fact, we skipped the soup and just had popovers for dinner last night. Anyway, here's the recipe:

You'll need:

2 eggs at room temperature
1 cup milk at room temperature
3/4 cup flour at room temperature (couldn't resist - I'm such a nerd.)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (use half the amount if you're using table salt)
3 tablespoons butter

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Mix together eggs, milk, flour, and salt (lumpy batter is fine). Cut the butter into 12 pieces and put a piece in a each cup of a 12-cup muffin tin. Put the tin in the oven and let the butter melt for a couple minutes. Take the pan out and fill each cup about halfway with batter. Bake the popovers until they're brown and puffy, about 15 minutes. Only open the oven to take them out - if you open and check on them, the popovers will deflate. Serve immediately.

Don't fight the cold weather that's coming. Celebrate it with a popover (or four). Make them this Saturday, along with a big pot of soup, for your little ghosts and goblins before they go trick-or-treating. Ahhhh...you gotta love the simple (and inexpensive) joys of the season.

No Cover-Up Here

This past Saturday, my husband and I threw our annual family Halloween party. We had a lot of fun planning it, putting it together, and then actually hosting it. We played games, ate lots of food, socialized, and, of course, admired everyone's costumes. I think that might be my favorite part of the whole thing - dressing up and seeing what everyone else thinks of. This year, my husband I used Big Trouble in Little China as our inspiration - which leads to the subject of this post.

My husband dressed up as Kurt Russell's character, Jack Burton, while I dressed up as Kim Catrall when she's in geisha get-up at the end. Anyway, as part of my costume, I needed my face to be painted white, with pink makeup all around my eyes. As I was getting everything together, I suddenly remembered a children's cookbook I have that has a homemade face paint recipe in it. I decided to try it - it would cost less and I could post it on my frugal blog! Plus, it seemed like it would be more skin-friendly since it used cold cream.

I got my ingredients together. I had everything except the cold cream - I had to buy that at the store. It cost about five dollars for a six-ounce bottle. I thought, "That's kind of expensive, but you don't need much of it. If you buy halloween make-up, you only get a little bit for the same price. This is going to pay for itself..."

The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of cornstarch and 1/4 cup of cold cream. You mix them together until well blended.

Then you mix it with a 1/4 cup of water. That's your face paint base. From there, you separate it into other containers and add food coloring. I spread the white paint on my cheek to test it out. It was moist, but it spread well. I was patting myself on the back - I'd just saved myself a bunch of money in the future. I was going to make our Halloween face paint like this every year, I decided.

I packed it, like the recipe said, into air-tight zipper bags. I was a little concerned that the paint on my face hadn't really dried, but I wiped it off and got back to working on the party.

A few hours later, when it was time to get ready, I got my face paint out. I put it on. It didn't work at all like I'd hoped. It was wet and gooey looking. I tried to powder it with cornstarch. That didn't work either. I should have posted a picture of myself on here. I looked completely ridiculous. It was as if I'd put a bunch of heavy lotion on my face and then smeared a handful of flour on it. Not only did my face look horrible, but my bathroom sink was coated too. Finally, I just had to wipe it all off and improvise with some pink eyeshadow mixed with water and using a make-up brush dusted with cornstarch as a powder. In the end, my make-up looked just right for my costume. But, I wasted money in the process. Live and learn.

Two lessons learned here: one, this recipe was a bust for Halloween. Maybe it's just meant for kids who want to play and paint their faces for fun. It comes right off and it doesn't dry. Lesson two: don't wait until the last minute to experiment with some new recipe. True on so many levels...

But wait! Here's something useful (*sniff* I was so sure mine would be...) for your Halloween preparations this week - a link to bunch of Halloween ideas on Parent Hacks. I'm pretty sure these have all been tested successfully.

One other note: Check out the poll on the sidebar. I thought it would be interesting to get your opinion on some of the frugal ideas and suggestions I've read and come across. Sometimes, I wonder if I'm the only one that thinks these ideas are waaaay out there. Other times, I wonder if I'm not being open-minded enough. Anyway, I voted that I'm on the fence on the washing and reusing zipper bag thing. I'd consider reusing them if they were only barely used and used for something dry (like bread or cookies). And even then, I may just get too lazy to wash it out. However, some people swear by running them through the dishwasher (I even read about someone running a bunch through their washing machine) and some even wash and reuse aluminum foil. Different strokes for different folks, I guess...

When Life Gives You Bruised, Slightly Wormy Apples....

...make applesauce.

Last month, I bought a big bushel of beautiful Honeycrisp apples. They were snappy, crisp, and sweet (with just the right amount of tartness). The apples pictured here are the ugly ducklings of the apple family. With the beautiful Honeycrisp apples, I made several quarts of apple pie filling and, by the time I was done, ran out of enough to make applesauce. I was a little bummed, but not enough to go and buy another box of them.

Then, this past week, as I was at my parents' house (remember the quarantine of my husband?), we were raking leaves and I noticed that one of the next-door neighbors' apple trees was still laden with fruit. I pointed this out to my mom and she commented, "Oh yeah. She said that she was done with all her canning and wasn't going to be able to use the rest. She said that I could pick any if I wanted." Well, of course, I jumped at the idea. The neighbor wasn't going to use them, Mom wasn't going to use them. What a waste! So I got a box and went to pick.

Mom warned me that the neighbors hadn't sprayed them and that they might have tiny little worm holes or bruises. Sure enough, most of the apples did. Some were eaten completely through. Others were barely touched, with only a little round circle on the skin, as if the bug just took a nibble and moved on. So I selectively picked. In The Tightwad Gazette, the author mentions a concept called "selective squeamishness", where you move past the initial 'ick!' reaction and realize that it's not so bad after all. Like black bananas.

After I picked the apples, I went inside and cut on the opposite side of the bug bite. Sure enough, the untouched half was perfectly fine. My parents' neighbor does the same thing with these apples - she uses them almost exclusively for applesauce. Like I said, move past the initial 'ick' and you realize that they're really okay. To me, these apples are a little dinged and bitten, but since they're not sprayed, technically, they're organically grown. Organic apples are expensive; I got mine for free.

Okay, so onto the process...

There are various mills and sieves which you can use to make applesauce. I've used the kind where push it by hand through a sieve and it took F O R E V E R. Applesauce is great and all, but hours of pushing soft apples through a sieve is hardly worth it. I suggest getting one like mine. It does cost more than the other kinds, but it pays for itself after a couple of seasons (depending on how you make, of course). Plus, you can use this food mill for other things, like tomato sauce and baby food.

So, if you have a handy-dandy food mill like I do, there's really not too much work. You don't even need to peel the apples. Simply quarter them (cutting around the questionable parts, of course) and put them in a pot of hot water to simmer. Cook the apples for a while - make sure they're really tender before you try to put them through the mill. I tried to run it through the mill too soon and it just made my arm tired. They need to be really soft.

Load the hot apples into the top of the mill. Don't force them down, just guide them.

Turn the crank and the apples feed through a strainer/screen, giving you the applesauce consistency. I don't have any idea how it does it, but somehow it magically separates the fruit's flesh from the skin and sends the unwanted stuff out the side (see that clear plastic thing on the far left). One note: once you've put all your apples through the mill, run the 'unwanted' stuff through the mill again. You'll be surprised how much more you'll get.

Once you've run it through the mill, put it back into a pot and heat over the stove until it boils. With applesauce, there's no specific recipe. You can simply add sugar to taste (or exclude it completely like I do) and season it with cinnamon. I always put a lot of cinnamon in mine. Once it is boiling, ladle the applesauce into hot jars. Adjust lids and bands. Process in water-bath or steam canner for 20 minutes (adjust your time according to your altitude - I had to add an additional 10 minutes to my processing time).

And there you have it! These apples would have just ended up on the ground, in the compost, or in the garbage and gone to waste. Instead, I got a delicious batch of organic applesauce (I tried it - yummy!). And you just can't beat the price...

Nature to the Rescue!

So it actually was the dreaded H1N1 (aka swine flu) that my husband had. We tracked it back to a couple guys in his office at work. Though my son and I were away in the mountains at my parents' house, I could still tell via telephone how completely miserable he was. I'm happy to report, though, that he is back at work today, feeling like himself again.

As he was battling the yucky virus, he turned to a variety of sources for relief. A little honey here, a little NyQuil there; some herbal tea here, some Mucinex there. Living in the 21st Century offers thousands of possibilities when it comes to our health. We can turn to some of the modern medicinal miracles, but we can also use some of the natural, time-tested remedies of our grandparents.

For reasons both personal and frugal, I like to turn to the natural remedies first. In so many aspects of my life, I think the more down-to-earth, the better. Don't get me wrong, though - I'll turn to modern medicines, vaccines, cures, and doctors' advice (of course, after a little research and thought on my own) also. But, sometimes, we are so eager for a quick fix in a bottle, we overlook many simple ways to soothe and nurture our bodies. Plus, these natural remedies cost so much less (hence the mention on this blog). Here are a few ideas and tips that I've learned over the years...

• Salt water is a great first line of defense. Whenever my throat starts to feel scratchy or sore, I gargle some warm, salty water. I remember as a kid I got strep throat a lot and one time, the doctor suggested gargling salt water twice a day for a while. It really made a difference. During this cold and flu season, I plan on gargling salt water at least once a day. From what I've read, this stops the proliferation of certain bugs in your throat. Start with a cup of warm water, add a spoonful or so of salt, and mix. Gargle and spit. Like I said, it worked for me.

• Another way salt water can help with illness and contribute to overall wellness is the use of a neti pot (it's the teapot thing in the picture above). Basically, you mix a saline solution (I do 1/4 teaspoon to about 3/4 cup of lukewarm water), stick the spout up one of your nostrils, and, if you tilt your head correctly, the water will come out the other nostril, thus cleaning your nasal passages. It sounds awful, but it doesn't hurt and it really...um...clears things out. It has helped me a lot with sinus inflammation and allergies. I've also used it when I've had a cold and it helps get all that gunk out of my nose. I definitely recommend it. If you're curious, there's a bunch of videos on YouTube that show how it works (people will put just about anything on YouTube). If you're still put off by the idea of sending water up your nose, I read recently that you can also use a cotton swab dipped in salt water and clean your nasal passage that way.

• I always have an aloe vera plant somewhere in my house - preferably the kitchen. Whenever I get a burn (it's usually me that's getting burned in the kitchen), I break off the tip of one of the large leaves and squeeze the goo out of it right onto the burn. You can buy burn creams and spray with aloe in it, but why not save the money and get the actual plant? It looks cool and you're growing first aid!

• This sounds totally weird, but the best thing for mosquito bites is deodorant. There's something about the aluminum in it that neutralizes the reaction. Whenever I get a mosquito bite, I go to the bathroom, grab some deodorant, give the bite a few swipes, and it's practically gone in minutes.

• Speaking of insect bites and such, baking soda is also a great remedy (ahhhh, baking soda. What can't it do?). Put a paste of baking soda and water on bug bites and bee stings. Apparently, the alkaline baking soda helps to counteract the acidic swelling (according the article I read). I used this when I got stung by a wasp a few months ago and it really did help.

• Look into different herbal teas. When I was suffering from a lot of sinus and ear inflammation a few months ago, a cup of peppermint tea did wonders for clearing my head. Chamomile is supposed to help with gastrointestinal problems and migraines. I even read once in Parents magazine that you can give a couple ounces of chamomile tea (at room temperature, of course) to a colicky baby. Raspberry leaf tea is supposed to help with...how to put this...feminine issues. A ginger tea (you can make your own by adding a teaspoon of shredded ginger to four ounces of boiling water) can help with nausea. Herbal teas can be found at any grocery store and they're fairly inexpensive. Plus, sometimes just drinking a hot cup of herbal tea settles my nerves and helps me relax. Double benefit!

• When my son had a double ear infection a couple years ago, we did a round of antibiotics and when he went back to the pediatrician, only one of his ears had shown sign of improvement. The doctor advised giving it a few days and if it wasn't better by then, he would give him a shot of another antibiotic. It was so hard to see my little guy suffer so and when I complained about it to my friend, she suggested putting garlic oil in his ears. She said that it worked wonders for her children. Desperate for any kind of relief for my son, I tried it. I bought a bottle of garlic oil made especially as ear drops (mixed with olive oil and lobelia) at the natural and health food store. I used the drops for a few days and when I took my son back to the doctor, he said his ears were completely better. Ever since, whenever I see him tugging at his ears or if he gets a cold, I put a few drops in each ear just in case. He hasn't had an ear infection since (knock on wood). I've also used them on myself when my ears feel stuffy. Not only does it clear it up, but it's a natural pain reliever.

• The thing my husband said was the worst about H1N1 was the super-sore throat and frequent coughing. The thing that gave him relief was honey and lemon juice. According to an article I read, lemon dries up congestion and honey coats the throat. I've even heard that some studies show that a spoonful of honey worked better than cough medicine for kids' coughs (it's important to remember, though, to never give honey to a child under one-year-old). Anyway, I just got a mug of warm water and mixed it with a tablespoon of lemon juice and tablespoon of honey. He said it worked wonders.

There's so many other remedies out there - some may be outdated or ridiculous, but others have withstood the test of time for a reason. Remember - before you try natural remedy, do some research. Mother Nature has a lot to offer - maybe we should pay a little more attention.

Do you have any time-tested remedies? Anything your mom (or you) swears by?

Lovely Links: Birthday Edition

-- First business of the day: opening presents!--

Not much time to post - today is my little boy's third birthday! And since I'm in the birthday mindset, I thought I'd include just a couple of lovely links that are related. Enjoy!

Best Birthday Cake - Smitten Kitchen
(This is the cake I'm in the process of baking right now - it's in the oven as I type this. Update: I'm on the fence about this recipe. It wasn't really sweet, but it tasted really wholesome. Good texture, too. But, it wasn't as sweet as I thought it would be - and that's a big detail. It wasn't bad, I'm just not sure it's my favorite. Just thought I'd tell you.)

A Birthday Alternative: Less Stuff, More Fun - Simple Mom
(Kids don't need all the fanfare we think they do, in my opinion. Often, the simple things are the best things.)

“That man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest.”
- Henry David Thoreau