Nothing says Fall like the first bite of pumpkin-flavored goodness like these delicious baked pumpkin donuts. Pumpkin-flavored desserts are my favorite and we have so many amazing pumpkin recipes on this site. This new baked pumpkin donut recipe is no exception. Biting into a pumpkin donut fresh from the oven takes you right to the pumpkin patch, the barn rope swing, the hay slides, the petting Continue Reading >>
Five Ways to Make Cooking at Home Easier
It's all well and good to say we should cook at home more often, but guess what? It's not always easy. At one point I had six kids ten and under -- I know that quite often by the time a mom gets to the end of her day cooking at home is the last thing she wants to tackle. I've been there! That's one of the reasons I like to eat out so much! But with all of the great reasons I've shared for cooking Continue Reading >>
Eight Reasons to Cook More at Home
Let me tell you something deeply personal about myself. I love to eat out. Literally, I love eating at restaurants. If you ask any of my friends who know me well -- does she eat out a lot? They will all say yes. So much so that when Covid19 struck, my family saved a bundle of money because we suddenly stopped.eating.out.all.the.time. I honestly think it can be an addiction. Here's the thing Continue Reading >>
Ten Ways to Decorate Your Home on a Budget
How many hours a week do you spend surfing the internet or watching people remodel houses, looking at other homes and longing for a finished, cohesive look in your own home? I get it. We've been living in rental properties for twelve years now, and have finally purchased a home of our own again. I'm ready to put our personal stamp on it, but with five more kids yet to finish college, we need to Continue Reading >>
Eight Strategies to Stop Emotional Spending
As I write this, we are six months into a complete economic shutdown across vast portions of our country and world. I'm tired. Everyone is tired. Emotions, and emotional spending, are at an all-time high. As humans, we process a wide variety of emotions throughout each day. Some days, these emotions are a product of situations that are out of our control. Nevertheless, emotions are God-given and Continue Reading >>
Instant Pot Apple Maple Chicken Legs
Have you ever noticed that chicken legs are super cheap? Compared to other packages of chicken, chicken legs can be purchased for pennies apiece. This makes chicken legs an economical meal solution even for large families. Chicken legs are also a cheap, easy protein snack for growing kids! To make our Instant Pot Apple Maple Chicken Legs, you will first saute the chicken legs in the Instant Pot Continue Reading >>
Instant Pot Applesauce
One of our favorite things to do each Fall is going apple picking. We team up with friends and head to a local orchard to fill our box with apples. One year I ended up with almost $90 in apples the kids picked so much! Now, we don't always come home with apples en masse, but we almost always have enough to make an Apple pie or Apple crisp and a few batches of apple sauce. Making apple sauce in the Continue Reading >>
BJU Press Science Review: Homeschool Science on Demand
This post has been sponsored by BJU Press. We decided to try something new and switch to a completely different homeschool science curriculum for fourth grade. We chose BJU Press Science 4. This one comes with online video lessons, a student text, a student workbook, pre-printed student handouts and tests, and the teacher's guide. Each day my boys watched a teacher named Mrs. Overly Continue Reading >>
25 Free Things You Can Use in your Homeschool Right Now
Everything is getting more and more expensive. I just picked up a $3 bag of candy corn at my local grocery store and literally said out loud "What is this?" when I felt the weight of it in my hand. Everything is in smaller packaging but costs more. If you, like me, are starting to notice significant inflation and finding yourself cutting corners and working while homeschooling just to make ends Continue Reading >>
Homeschool Pros and Cons
Where I live, everyone is scrambling to figure out what school is going to look like this year. The pandemic has changed everything. And all of us are struggling to figure out how we are going to do life in this current reality. The school choices my friends and family are facing as public schools around us move to all virtual or require unhealthy masking are not easy. Teachers and administrators Continue Reading >>