Introduction

I've had some great guides helping me get to this point in my life. Since they were so much help to me, I'd like to use this blog to pass that help along. I expect to regularly write about the mundane-such as menu planning for the upcoming week, recipes, great activities to do with kids, and things like that-to more uplifting topics.

With rising prices at the grocery store and often little time or inclination to make great food easily, I would like to share ideas we've found helpful for saving money and calories and eating healthy. I collect cookbooks and recipes and am a great experimenter. I also work outside the home full time, so I need to be able to have simple meals for the end of the workday. I expect to share these about once per week, probably Thursday or Friday as I plan menus for the next week.

I home schooled for quite a while and loved it. I gathered lots of great ideas for enriching and fun activities with our kids even if they are not home schooled. Kids who go to school outside the home still learn more than we realize at home. I'll try to share ideas and activities at the beginning of the week so if you want to use them, you can plan how they might fit in with your current plans.

Reading is my escape and relaxation. It seems I read all the time and my house shows it even though I do borrow books from the library. I'll share some of what I'm reading and why I enjoy the books I do. Most will be of the escape variety, but some are a little deeper.

I also love to garden and combine that with my love of cooking. I won't write much about the garden in winter, but expect to read about that regularly the rest of the year.

I look forward to your participation, comments, questions and suggestions. I'd like this to be the kind of ongoing conversation I have with family and friends.
Marmie