Simple Joys At Home

  "There is a lad here, which hath   five barley loaves, and two small fishes:  but what are they among so many?"              John 6:9 There were thousands of people to be fed, and only a  small  amount of  food  to feed them with. Andrew's question was a valid one. How would they feed so many? We all know the story. Jesus blessed the  small  amount they had, and fed the crowd. There was enough. And when everyone had eaten,  there  were even leftovers. Don't we too, at times, have the same question as Andrew did? How will this little bit, this small thing, make a difference? The truth is,  that  we will never know what difference something will make, until we do it.  Even then, there are times that we won't know. Sometimes we do things, or have  promptings  to do things, that we can't see how they would make a difference. S...

So, I was compiling a list of some of our favorite THM recipes for some friends of ours, and since I went through all the work of doing it (which I enjoyed) I thought I'd share it with y'all too. So, here goes, in case you wanted to know everything that we ever eat, and then some. *Note: All the foods with page numbers beside them are from the Trim Healthy Mama book , and can be found on that page number in the book. So, one thing that we eat about once a week, that there isn't actually a recipe for (at least that I recall coming across.) Naked Burritos. We eat this so often that once Leah asked if we could have burritos with clothes on them. Basically, we cook up a big pot of rice, and a big pot of black beans. We also marinade a bunch (as in, however much your family would eat) of meat (chicken breasts or a beef roast) n Italian salad dressing. We normally at that point cut it up, and cook it an electric skillet. Traditionally, it would be grilled, but o...

         Starting tomorrow evening (11/28/2013) I'll be having a Black Friday/Cyber Monday SALE in my Etsy shop !  I sell all sorts of fun crocheted items, such as hats, cowboy boots, and doll shoes.  I also have a few little girls' aprons for sale. All items will have between a 15% and 50% discount in honor of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This ONLY applies to my Etsy Shop , and NOT my Facebook page .  This also does not apply to custom orders, although I will still be taking custom orders during this time. Sales will start Thursday evening, and end either Monday night or Tuesday morning.  Four+ days of savings!  Keep in mind that this is the perfect time to purchase Christmas gifts!  Hope to see you there!  Visit my shop --->  https://www.etsy.com/shop/SimpleJoysAtHome

This is week six of a six week Menu Monday trial period.....I've gotten very little feedback, which means no more Menu Monday! Sad, I know, but also somewhat of a freedom for me. rest assured though, I'll still post some recipes, they just won't be as regular. In fact, I'm in the middle of creating a super duper yummy THM approved recipe.... Today's Menu Monday is super simple, because we've been sick, and I kept forgetting to take pictures of my food. In fact, this picture was taken of the leftovers from this meal, that I just pulled out of the fridge and arranged on a plate for the picture. There wasn't any leftover broccoli,  which is why there isn't any in the picture. This is real life y'all. Oh, by the way, this is a THM approved 'E' meal. Baked Chicken: Ingredients: Chicken breasts (however much your family will eat) Salt Pepper Garlic Powder Chives Place chicken in a pan, and sprinkle with spices. I use dried chives, ...

 As many of you may know, I have an Etsy shop that I opened back in January. You may wonder what that has to do with you... I'm now offering a coupon code to all my blog readers! Yay for you! You can now use the the coupon code "BLOGFRIEND" to receive a 15% discount off anything in my shop. To top it off, right now is the perfect time to start ordering Christmas gifts. Everything in my shop is handmade, so if you wait until too close to Christmas, you may not get your package in time. Here's a sneak peak of some of the things you can find in my shop: Oh, I also do custom orders, so if there's something that you want, and can't find in my shop, be sure to send me an email! Here's a link to my shop:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/SimpleJoysAtHome

You may have noticed that I didn't post a Menu Monday last week...the week before was super busy, and I forgot to take a picture of anything to share with you.  I sincerely hope that you forgive me. Well, okay, I unsincerly hope that you forgive me.  I really truly do hope that you didn't mind too much though.  I'll stop while I'm ahead. The recipe for this week is designed to only serve two people. Or one person twice. Normally I post recipes magnified greatly, because that's how much food that I actually make. For those who don't know me, I have 8 siblings. 3 of them are boys between the ages of 11 and 15. They eat. A lot. This recipe is different because it's a thm recipe, and only two of  us are are doing thm..The last Menu Monday post had adaptations included to make it a thm S meal.  If you are wondering what in the world thm is, it stands for Trim Healthy Mama . Look it up. I've included a link. Maybe someday I'll do a whole p...

It's  finally  starting to feel like fall in our neck of the woods, and hot, yummy foods like these are the best when temperatures drop below 80 degrees. Yes, that's what I mean by it feeling like Fall. No more 100+ degree weather. We hope. For all you THMs ( Trim Healthy Mamas ) out there: You will be happy to know that this meal is thm "S" approved, when using the alternative ingredients, listed in italics.     You're welcome. Meatballs: Ingredients: 5 pounds of hamburger 5 eggs 2 cups of breadcrumbs or 1 cup rolled oats, (ground/chopped), and 1 cup almond flour 1/2 cup dried, minced onion 2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce or 2 tablespoons vinegar, and 1/4 teaspoon each of chili powder, garlic powder, and cloves 1 tablespoon salt 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper Mix all together well, and form into ball of desired size (mine are 1 1/2-2 inches). Bake on ungreased baking sheet at 350 degrees until inside is no longer pink. These work very well for fre...