Hey guys!
I went over to my Mom's on Monday like I always do on my day off and came home with a new recipe for GF (gluten free) Peanut Butter Cookie recipe! I love peanut butter cookies so naturally I couldn't wait to try out the recipe! Well I just got done and they are sooooo Yummy! Recipe is as follows:
1 Cup Peanut Butter
1 Cup Sugar (if your peanut butter is already sugared, cut this to 3/4 cup)
1 Egg
1 tsp Baking Soda
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Step 2: Combine all ingredients well.
Step 3: Roll 2 Tbls of dough into balls.
Step 4: Press dough down with tines of fork to make criss cross
Step 5: Bake 10 min**
** For dark cookie sheets please reduce to 8 min.
Step 6: ENJOY!
I will say this is an awesome recipe. The cookies come out crumbly but harden once cooled.
Other then cookies my life has been pretty status quo. So with that being said I am going to say goodbye and go enjoy one of my cookies with Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk! :-) Yummy!
~ Simple Rose
The Fam
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Time just flies on by
Hello,
So some time has passed and I just felt like I needed a little break from my blog. I will do that from time to time but hopefully I will always come back to it. So I caught up about all the things I had written about previously and I have to say that the gluten free pizza crust was a bust! It turned out like a biscuit and was no bueno (no good). We are going to try a Bob's Red Mill pizza crust later this week and will let you all know how it turns out.
Our garden has been very successful so far this season. We have gotten tons of zucchini and TONS of Matt's tomatoes. I have just finished pulling off the green tops and putting them into a freezer bag and putting them in the freezer. There are about 7-9 cups in the freezer now. Ryan cut up and grilled about 6 of our zucchini and we are going to put them in the freezer after they have cooled on the counter for a little while. We have really enjoyed our garden so far this year and cannot wait to make some additions to it next year. It feels very rewarding knowing that you grew this plant and are reaping the benefits from it. I also like that it saves us money since we buy mainly organic produce and that can be expensive.
The summer so far has been such a blur but very fun. It seems that sometimes we are just starting a week and then in the blink of eye its already Monday all over again. We are both itching to go camping again and take the canoe with us this time. However, we are trying very hard to save money and stick to our financial plan which doesn't leave much extra at the end of the month. I do suppose that we will at least get to go one more time before the end of the season.
I am still wanting to put up a laundry line and Ryan wants to get into hunting this year as well. We have so many wants and dreams to live more simply and frugal but sometimes we find it difficult since the costs for getting it started we cannot afford right now. We agreed that we are going to take it one step at a time because we are no longer using credit cards for anything so it will take us longer but the feeling will be much better knowing that we don't owe anybody for the stuff that we own. :-)
Until next time, Simple Rose ~
So some time has passed and I just felt like I needed a little break from my blog. I will do that from time to time but hopefully I will always come back to it. So I caught up about all the things I had written about previously and I have to say that the gluten free pizza crust was a bust! It turned out like a biscuit and was no bueno (no good). We are going to try a Bob's Red Mill pizza crust later this week and will let you all know how it turns out.
Our garden has been very successful so far this season. We have gotten tons of zucchini and TONS of Matt's tomatoes. I have just finished pulling off the green tops and putting them into a freezer bag and putting them in the freezer. There are about 7-9 cups in the freezer now. Ryan cut up and grilled about 6 of our zucchini and we are going to put them in the freezer after they have cooled on the counter for a little while. We have really enjoyed our garden so far this year and cannot wait to make some additions to it next year. It feels very rewarding knowing that you grew this plant and are reaping the benefits from it. I also like that it saves us money since we buy mainly organic produce and that can be expensive.
The summer so far has been such a blur but very fun. It seems that sometimes we are just starting a week and then in the blink of eye its already Monday all over again. We are both itching to go camping again and take the canoe with us this time. However, we are trying very hard to save money and stick to our financial plan which doesn't leave much extra at the end of the month. I do suppose that we will at least get to go one more time before the end of the season.
I am still wanting to put up a laundry line and Ryan wants to get into hunting this year as well. We have so many wants and dreams to live more simply and frugal but sometimes we find it difficult since the costs for getting it started we cannot afford right now. We agreed that we are going to take it one step at a time because we are no longer using credit cards for anything so it will take us longer but the feeling will be much better knowing that we don't owe anybody for the stuff that we own. :-)
Until next time, Simple Rose ~
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
MMMM Pancakes! Gluten Free Style!
Hello,
So tonight on my Facebook I said that I was going to try to make some gluten free pancakes and see how they turn out. Well they turned out great! See for yourself....
I used Bisquick pancake and baking mix. Man did they turn out great. I made half a batch which gave us about 7 pancakes the size of the ones in the picture. I couldn't even tell the difference! They aren't as fluffy as regular pancakes but that could be because I split the recipe in half and only used half a cup of pancake mix but there was no way for my to split the egg so I added a whole egg instead of half. I am thinking that was the culprit to why they weren't as fluffy. These were the easiest pancakes I have ever made...Usually I make waffles because I suck at making pancakes...but these all turned out perfect! I am super happy with this baking mix and will be using it to try a pizza crust next! I love my pizza so hopefully that will turn out just as good as the pancakes did. I have not been let down yet from the gluten free diet. I feel better then ever! Also get this, I used to think I was anemic because I would shake if I didn't eat every couple hours or so..I read somewhere that if you are gluten intolerant that it can cause issues with your blood sugar. I haven't had any shakes since I switched! I am hoping the going gluten free is the reason! I am just so thrilled with it and can't wait to try some more recipes!!! As always more to come!!
Simple Rose<3
So tonight on my Facebook I said that I was going to try to make some gluten free pancakes and see how they turn out. Well they turned out great! See for yourself....
I used Bisquick pancake and baking mix. Man did they turn out great. I made half a batch which gave us about 7 pancakes the size of the ones in the picture. I couldn't even tell the difference! They aren't as fluffy as regular pancakes but that could be because I split the recipe in half and only used half a cup of pancake mix but there was no way for my to split the egg so I added a whole egg instead of half. I am thinking that was the culprit to why they weren't as fluffy. These were the easiest pancakes I have ever made...Usually I make waffles because I suck at making pancakes...but these all turned out perfect! I am super happy with this baking mix and will be using it to try a pizza crust next! I love my pizza so hopefully that will turn out just as good as the pancakes did. I have not been let down yet from the gluten free diet. I feel better then ever! Also get this, I used to think I was anemic because I would shake if I didn't eat every couple hours or so..I read somewhere that if you are gluten intolerant that it can cause issues with your blood sugar. I haven't had any shakes since I switched! I am hoping the going gluten free is the reason! I am just so thrilled with it and can't wait to try some more recipes!!! As always more to come!!
Simple Rose<3
Monday, June 3, 2013
Savin' Moolah!
Hey All,
Okay this post is going to start with some financial goals! We have moved into the house and spent quite a bit of money and I hate to admit but put a quite a bit on credit as well. We love our house but with me dropping down to part time and moving into a house with a lot of projects we have noticed we are a bit strapped and I hate feeling that way! I have always been a saver since forever! By then time I was out of high school I had saved up a few grand with paying all my own bills, counting the fact that I still lived at home...but I also worked at Taco Bell making only a little over 7 dollars an hour. So needless to say I have been in charge of the budgets and the money for the most part in our household. I love my husband with all my heart...but like most guys (not all guys) he didn't even know what a budget was and as long as he had about 20 bucks in his pocket he was happy. So we were pretty much complete opposites when it came to the financials in our relationship. For the last 3 and a half years I have handled the financial goals and budgets..but for some reason it never really worked for us...it was hard to save and it seemed like we were never really getting anywhere. Well it made sense because it was all one sided. I knew what I wanted and what we had to do to get there but never really included him in it. Or would tell him what I wanted to do but never asked him what he thought. Well in a marriage everything should be together...there can't be a marriage without a partnership and without both people working towards the same goal it's hard for that goal to be achieved. So it was time...to sit down and have the financial goal talk. I not only wanted to talk about it but I wrote everything out that we talked about it in steps and put it on our refrigerator to remind us every time we look at it that it's what we both agreed on.
So we sat down and stared at the blank piece of paper I sat on the table...I struggled with starting because I had never really included Ryan in my plans and he was blank because well I had never included him in any financial planning....So I came up with a question that we both answered individually and came up with our financial plan.
What do we need to do to be where we want to be financially?
So we put down 3 different big things that we need to do and then put bullet points of things we need to do to achieve that goal. It looks something like this...
1. No Reliance on Credit
a. Stop use & Lock em' up!
b. Change spending habits
c. Save back that money that we aren't spending anymore
The first idea seems pretty easy...and for us it shouldn't be too bad since we only have one credit card but for a lot of couples out there this will be the hardest hurdle to jump over. A lot of people play there bills with cash and then use credit to do everything else! This will be okay at first but it will catch up to you and probably push you to bankruptcy, something that Ryan and I don't want to ever have to do together. So instead of getting in deeper into credit card debt we are choosing to change now before it gets too bad. The big way to get yourself out of this rut in my opinion is our second goal we made...
2. Start a Savings Plan
a. Change spending habits
b. Write Lists Before Leaving the House
c. Use Cash (other then bills paid online, groceries, and gas)
Change spending habits came up again...because it's the first thing that all couples must do to achieve financial bliss. One of the things that came up for me was garage saleing and The Goodwill and for Ryan it was vending machines and fishing tackle. I always say..."I can have as many pairs of shoes as I want because I buy them for $3 dollars a pair from The Goodwill." This is a bad thought because even though they are only 3 dollars because I'm thrifty its still an over abundance and sometimes a waste of 3 dollars because some go back to The Goodwill. I say people who thrift shop are awesome and it saves you TONS of money...but ONLY if you are buying things that you would normally need or go to the store for. Otherwise you are just spending money for the sake of spending money. Ryan is bad with vending machines he will go through 20 dollars every week or so in vending machines and gas stations. That is not how I want to spend my hard earned money and I found out that he doesn't want to either! So after venting to my wonderful mother a couple weeks ago she told me that she used to have the same problem with my Dad so she would buy the little packs of chips at home and send them in his lunch. The individual packs of chips are more expensive than a giant bag...but WAY cheaper than 75 cents a bag in the vending machine.
How many times have you walked into Target, Meijer, or Walmart, only needing butter and you walk out with...butter, 2 dvds, a new shirt, 2 bags of chips, and a Slim Jim. The total should have been $4 (we buy organic butter) instead it was $45. A $41 dollar difference...for stuff that you didn't even need! Do that a couple more times a week and you could have racked up well over $100 dollars on stuff that you would have never needed to buy. So hopefully the writing AND most importantly sticking to the list will help us with that little problem we have.
Last for this topic is the CASH factor. A ton of people have done and been very successful with Dave Ramsey the envelope system, this is said because scientifically we think more about cash leaving our hands then sliding a credit or debit card. I love using cash...I think about it more. When we are in a store getting something and all I have is cash, I think well I only have $20 dollars so I have to only get what I need and not all that extra crap I DON'T need. Cash=Good. Credit=Mindless Spending.
ACTUAL SAVINGS PLAN: Any excess money before our next paycheck gets deposited into our account will be put into a savings and we will revisit this plan once we have roughly 2 months of emergency fund built.
We both came up with this plan together and that's is why I truly think that is the reason it will be successful.
3. Change of Spending (Habits)
a. Group Spending (set amount)
b. Writing Lists
c. Both people have to be in agreeance for any purchase above $5.00....yes you read right...$5.00
d. Any large SPONTANEOUS purchase must wait and be revisited in 24 hours before purchase
The changing of spending habits is so important that it ended up being its own main category for our financial goal. You don't change the way you are spending your money...you won't change the financial situation you are in....bottom line. We went with the group spending because neither of us spend money at work (Ryan won't spend any at the vending machines) and it makes you think..if I pull out 5 dollars to buy something that's not fair to Ryan or that only leaves him a set amount to be able to use. Again writing lists....It's just soooo smart....in for one thing...leave with ONE thing! Next, we went with a $5.00 limit because it will start making us think about every purchase we are making instead of just the big ones...and honestly we are a nickel and dime couple not a big purchase couple. Then every once in a while we go CRAZY and buy some huge unplanned purchase when we went in for something minor...this is BAD really bad...if you don't plan for a big purchase it usually means that you aren't aware of your financial situation and you know you have the money now so you buy it not even stopping for a second to contemplate what it could do to you in the future.
So that is that. We aren't hoping that this will work....We know that it will work because we have a set goal and we are going to support each other when the other is feeling weak.
I believe that money can't buy you happiness but having no money and being broke and in debt doesn't lead to happiness either. So we all have to make a choice. What's yours?
----Simple Rose
Okay this post is going to start with some financial goals! We have moved into the house and spent quite a bit of money and I hate to admit but put a quite a bit on credit as well. We love our house but with me dropping down to part time and moving into a house with a lot of projects we have noticed we are a bit strapped and I hate feeling that way! I have always been a saver since forever! By then time I was out of high school I had saved up a few grand with paying all my own bills, counting the fact that I still lived at home...but I also worked at Taco Bell making only a little over 7 dollars an hour. So needless to say I have been in charge of the budgets and the money for the most part in our household. I love my husband with all my heart...but like most guys (not all guys) he didn't even know what a budget was and as long as he had about 20 bucks in his pocket he was happy. So we were pretty much complete opposites when it came to the financials in our relationship. For the last 3 and a half years I have handled the financial goals and budgets..but for some reason it never really worked for us...it was hard to save and it seemed like we were never really getting anywhere. Well it made sense because it was all one sided. I knew what I wanted and what we had to do to get there but never really included him in it. Or would tell him what I wanted to do but never asked him what he thought. Well in a marriage everything should be together...there can't be a marriage without a partnership and without both people working towards the same goal it's hard for that goal to be achieved. So it was time...to sit down and have the financial goal talk. I not only wanted to talk about it but I wrote everything out that we talked about it in steps and put it on our refrigerator to remind us every time we look at it that it's what we both agreed on.
So we sat down and stared at the blank piece of paper I sat on the table...I struggled with starting because I had never really included Ryan in my plans and he was blank because well I had never included him in any financial planning....So I came up with a question that we both answered individually and came up with our financial plan.
What do we need to do to be where we want to be financially?
So we put down 3 different big things that we need to do and then put bullet points of things we need to do to achieve that goal. It looks something like this...
1. No Reliance on Credit
a. Stop use & Lock em' up!
b. Change spending habits
c. Save back that money that we aren't spending anymore
The first idea seems pretty easy...and for us it shouldn't be too bad since we only have one credit card but for a lot of couples out there this will be the hardest hurdle to jump over. A lot of people play there bills with cash and then use credit to do everything else! This will be okay at first but it will catch up to you and probably push you to bankruptcy, something that Ryan and I don't want to ever have to do together. So instead of getting in deeper into credit card debt we are choosing to change now before it gets too bad. The big way to get yourself out of this rut in my opinion is our second goal we made...
2. Start a Savings Plan
a. Change spending habits
b. Write Lists Before Leaving the House
c. Use Cash (other then bills paid online, groceries, and gas)
Change spending habits came up again...because it's the first thing that all couples must do to achieve financial bliss. One of the things that came up for me was garage saleing and The Goodwill and for Ryan it was vending machines and fishing tackle. I always say..."I can have as many pairs of shoes as I want because I buy them for $3 dollars a pair from The Goodwill." This is a bad thought because even though they are only 3 dollars because I'm thrifty its still an over abundance and sometimes a waste of 3 dollars because some go back to The Goodwill. I say people who thrift shop are awesome and it saves you TONS of money...but ONLY if you are buying things that you would normally need or go to the store for. Otherwise you are just spending money for the sake of spending money. Ryan is bad with vending machines he will go through 20 dollars every week or so in vending machines and gas stations. That is not how I want to spend my hard earned money and I found out that he doesn't want to either! So after venting to my wonderful mother a couple weeks ago she told me that she used to have the same problem with my Dad so she would buy the little packs of chips at home and send them in his lunch. The individual packs of chips are more expensive than a giant bag...but WAY cheaper than 75 cents a bag in the vending machine.
How many times have you walked into Target, Meijer, or Walmart, only needing butter and you walk out with...butter, 2 dvds, a new shirt, 2 bags of chips, and a Slim Jim. The total should have been $4 (we buy organic butter) instead it was $45. A $41 dollar difference...for stuff that you didn't even need! Do that a couple more times a week and you could have racked up well over $100 dollars on stuff that you would have never needed to buy. So hopefully the writing AND most importantly sticking to the list will help us with that little problem we have.
Last for this topic is the CASH factor. A ton of people have done and been very successful with Dave Ramsey the envelope system, this is said because scientifically we think more about cash leaving our hands then sliding a credit or debit card. I love using cash...I think about it more. When we are in a store getting something and all I have is cash, I think well I only have $20 dollars so I have to only get what I need and not all that extra crap I DON'T need. Cash=Good. Credit=Mindless Spending.
ACTUAL SAVINGS PLAN: Any excess money before our next paycheck gets deposited into our account will be put into a savings and we will revisit this plan once we have roughly 2 months of emergency fund built.
We both came up with this plan together and that's is why I truly think that is the reason it will be successful.
3. Change of Spending (Habits)
a. Group Spending (set amount)
b. Writing Lists
c. Both people have to be in agreeance for any purchase above $5.00....yes you read right...$5.00
d. Any large SPONTANEOUS purchase must wait and be revisited in 24 hours before purchase
The changing of spending habits is so important that it ended up being its own main category for our financial goal. You don't change the way you are spending your money...you won't change the financial situation you are in....bottom line. We went with the group spending because neither of us spend money at work (Ryan won't spend any at the vending machines) and it makes you think..if I pull out 5 dollars to buy something that's not fair to Ryan or that only leaves him a set amount to be able to use. Again writing lists....It's just soooo smart....in for one thing...leave with ONE thing! Next, we went with a $5.00 limit because it will start making us think about every purchase we are making instead of just the big ones...and honestly we are a nickel and dime couple not a big purchase couple. Then every once in a while we go CRAZY and buy some huge unplanned purchase when we went in for something minor...this is BAD really bad...if you don't plan for a big purchase it usually means that you aren't aware of your financial situation and you know you have the money now so you buy it not even stopping for a second to contemplate what it could do to you in the future.
So that is that. We aren't hoping that this will work....We know that it will work because we have a set goal and we are going to support each other when the other is feeling weak.
I believe that money can't buy you happiness but having no money and being broke and in debt doesn't lead to happiness either. So we all have to make a choice. What's yours?
----Simple Rose
Saturday, June 1, 2013
TGI Saturday :-)
Hello All,
I am so glad that it's Saturday! Today's post will be a short one since we haven't done anything else with our backyard project and there is not much news. I do however have a couple things. I have been gluten free now for a couple days and I am feeling great! No more tummy issues and there is sooo many things you can get at the grocery that's gluten free I don't even feel deprived! Since I am not actually allergic to gluten or have coeliac disease I tried some spelt bread with my breakfast this morning and haven't have any problems. They say that since spelt bread is made using the ancient wheat grain people that have problems with gluten might be able to handle it. It is extremely nutritious for you. I still won't rely on spelt bread since my main goal is to give up gluten but it is nice to have it in case I want toast or a sandwich. I am just so glad that everything with going gluten free is going good!
Tonight I am hanging with some girlfriends and we are going to a local Mexican restaurant to celebrate one of my friends getting married in two weeks. Ryan was nice and called ahead to make sure that their chips there are corn instead of flour. I am happy to say that they are corn and I will be able to eat them!
Last thing before I go. Ryan and I created a list of everything we need to go camping and we realized that we have a lot of the typical camping gear, what we did notice though is that we were having to pack our utensils and a lot of kitchen stuff from home. A lot of times we were forgetting these things at home that left us feeling disappointed once we were camping. So I made up a list and we were off to the dollar store. I wanted to get most of the stuff on my list for under $30 bucks..and this list was for about 35 things. So i figured I could make my goal if we went to the dollar store. The stuff we will be buying for camping will only be used but a hand full of a times a year and doesn't need to be the sturdy names brand products. We ended up walking out of the dollar store paying only 25 dollars and having everything we need plus a few extras like foam blow dart guns ( haha we are still kids at heart). I am thrilled that we could find all the stuff we needed. I will still keep an eye out at the Goodwill since you can always find cheap utensils and cooking stuff there. We leave for camping on the 7th and we couldn't be more excited. We gave up our trip to South Carolina because we bought a house and even though this isn't anything close to that we are still glad to be getting away, doing something we love for a couple nights.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend!
---Simple Rose
p.s. I know I haven't had as much living simple stuff on my blog as much and that's just do to the fact that Ryan and I have been busy! Hopefully in the next couple weeks I can try some new things and get some posts on here. I have been wanting to put up a laundry line...maybe that can be my next adventure!
I am so glad that it's Saturday! Today's post will be a short one since we haven't done anything else with our backyard project and there is not much news. I do however have a couple things. I have been gluten free now for a couple days and I am feeling great! No more tummy issues and there is sooo many things you can get at the grocery that's gluten free I don't even feel deprived! Since I am not actually allergic to gluten or have coeliac disease I tried some spelt bread with my breakfast this morning and haven't have any problems. They say that since spelt bread is made using the ancient wheat grain people that have problems with gluten might be able to handle it. It is extremely nutritious for you. I still won't rely on spelt bread since my main goal is to give up gluten but it is nice to have it in case I want toast or a sandwich. I am just so glad that everything with going gluten free is going good!
Tonight I am hanging with some girlfriends and we are going to a local Mexican restaurant to celebrate one of my friends getting married in two weeks. Ryan was nice and called ahead to make sure that their chips there are corn instead of flour. I am happy to say that they are corn and I will be able to eat them!
Last thing before I go. Ryan and I created a list of everything we need to go camping and we realized that we have a lot of the typical camping gear, what we did notice though is that we were having to pack our utensils and a lot of kitchen stuff from home. A lot of times we were forgetting these things at home that left us feeling disappointed once we were camping. So I made up a list and we were off to the dollar store. I wanted to get most of the stuff on my list for under $30 bucks..and this list was for about 35 things. So i figured I could make my goal if we went to the dollar store. The stuff we will be buying for camping will only be used but a hand full of a times a year and doesn't need to be the sturdy names brand products. We ended up walking out of the dollar store paying only 25 dollars and having everything we need plus a few extras like foam blow dart guns ( haha we are still kids at heart). I am thrilled that we could find all the stuff we needed. I will still keep an eye out at the Goodwill since you can always find cheap utensils and cooking stuff there. We leave for camping on the 7th and we couldn't be more excited. We gave up our trip to South Carolina because we bought a house and even though this isn't anything close to that we are still glad to be getting away, doing something we love for a couple nights.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend!
---Simple Rose
p.s. I know I haven't had as much living simple stuff on my blog as much and that's just do to the fact that Ryan and I have been busy! Hopefully in the next couple weeks I can try some new things and get some posts on here. I have been wanting to put up a laundry line...maybe that can be my next adventure!
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Bye Bye Gluten!
Hola!
So first off I would just like to say I am sooo glad that this was my Friday since I don't have to work tomorrow. I am excited to announce another project Ryan and I started! I swear you buy a house and you never stop working! I love it. It's easier if I show you the picture and then explain our plans.
So first off I would just like to say I am sooo glad that this was my Friday since I don't have to work tomorrow. I am excited to announce another project Ryan and I started! I swear you buy a house and you never stop working! I love it. It's easier if I show you the picture and then explain our plans.
So this is something that was here when we moved in the used to have the bird feeder and look something like this...
Well we moved the bird feeder and the solar light decorations to the other plot of dirt mulch in the middle of our yard because the rabbit poop. So before we did the digging we did tonight it basically looked like the second picture minus the decor but with like a billion and a half weeds! I got sick of it looking like crap and even though we are going to be busy the next three weekends, I figured let's start it tonight! haha So the top picture it what we have gotten done so far....which may not look like a lot in the picture but it actually took us a good hour and a half to get that all done and move the dirt to another area of our yard. Once we have another chance to work on it we will be digging down roughly two inches and filling the entire thing with pea gravel and then we are going to put some pavers in the middle to set our fire pit on! I am so excited for the project to be done because it hasn't looked the best for awhile now. I like the idea of pea gravel now because its more cost effective for us right now and someday when our kids come along they will be able to play near it without getting all dirty. :-) More to come on this project as we work on it!
So as you guys read in my last blog I have decided to stop eating gluten. Today was my first full day of doing it. To tell you the truth it wasn't all that bad. Ryan is really loving it right now because I just bought a box of Organic Cherry-Pomegranate Toaster Pastries and I can't eat them anymore! :-( But on a happier note I made stir-fry up and we had andouille sausages over the top of it. It was awesome! I am excited to start trying some gluten free recipes and posting there outcomes on here to share with you all. I am just beyond excited because today was the first day in a long time that I haven't had any problems with my stomach and its been a blessing! My mom has been gluten free now for a number of weeks and she feels that it is benefiting her as well. She has lost her last 7-10 pounds doing so! I am so proud of how healthy she and my Dad have become. It really makes me strive to be a healthier person too. :-)
~~~Simple Rose~~~
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Eatin' Right for My Blood Type
Happy Wednesday Everyone!
Only a few more days til the weekend for most people. I only have one more day of work since I am part time and currently am enjoying my Fridays off for the next two weeks before I go back to my Tues-Fri schedule. Even though we had Memorial Weekend and I have only been to work for two days...it feels like such a long week!
Ryan and I finally got to drop by the Library and I picked up my blood diet book. I just recently found out that I am an O blood type by taking an at home test. I read through most of the book tonight and found out some very interesting things. First of all I was a vegetarian for 4 years and that was the complete wrong diet to be on, which makes sense since I didn't ever feel that great. I have been eating meat again for almost 2 years but still have a lot of issues with my stomach (bloating, gas, not digesting food). After reading through the diet that an O should follow I know why! Gluten is very bad for people who have O blood types and even though I don't eat as much breads and wheat as I did when I was vegetarian, Ryan and I do consume quite a bit of the stuff. So I have decided that I am going to give up gluten for a couple weeks and see if I start to feel better. Since I don't want to give up everything all at once I am going to start with that as my main focus. Next will most likely be to lessen my dairy intake since I am not supposed to have that much dairy. The O diet is centered around meat, fish, and vegetables. Which makes a lot of sense since O is the first blood type in our history. It is definitely all very interesting and I am very excited to see if I will start to feel better and hopefully lose the 10 pounds I have been wanting to shed. I think with dropping the gluten and exercising the way O blood types are supposed to, which is vigorous exercise for 30 min, 3x a week, I'll drop the weight and start to feel healthier in no time.
I have already switched to mostly all organic vegetables and we buy the vast majority of our meats free range. I am doing this not only because it is better for me but since Ryan and I are hoping to have children soon it's a good idea to have my body in tip top shape for my pregnancy. I have been reading books on what Mommy and Baby should eat during and after pregnancy. What I have gathered so far is that a healthy Mommy means a healthier baby. Plus the healthier you are the more energy you have...and I've heard Mom's need plenty of that. ;-)
So the last thing I want to touch base on is the veggie garden! We are so excited that our plants are growing great! The seeds we planted have germinated and the plants are popping up fast! I have to admit that I wasn't overly excited when Ryan told me that he wanted to start the garden this year instead of waiting til next year but I can definitely say now that I am really excited for whats to come! I am sure that next year there will be a lot more added on to our little garden area that we have now. I will take some more pictures of it in another week or so to show you guys the progress that it's making.
Well I am pooped out and I have to go find some camping spots for our camping trip that we are taking next weekend! I am so excited for the little get-a-way. We definitely need one! More to come.
p.s The book that I am getting the Blood Diet information out of is, Eat Right 4 Your Type, by Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo
----Simple Rose
Only a few more days til the weekend for most people. I only have one more day of work since I am part time and currently am enjoying my Fridays off for the next two weeks before I go back to my Tues-Fri schedule. Even though we had Memorial Weekend and I have only been to work for two days...it feels like such a long week!
Ryan and I finally got to drop by the Library and I picked up my blood diet book. I just recently found out that I am an O blood type by taking an at home test. I read through most of the book tonight and found out some very interesting things. First of all I was a vegetarian for 4 years and that was the complete wrong diet to be on, which makes sense since I didn't ever feel that great. I have been eating meat again for almost 2 years but still have a lot of issues with my stomach (bloating, gas, not digesting food). After reading through the diet that an O should follow I know why! Gluten is very bad for people who have O blood types and even though I don't eat as much breads and wheat as I did when I was vegetarian, Ryan and I do consume quite a bit of the stuff. So I have decided that I am going to give up gluten for a couple weeks and see if I start to feel better. Since I don't want to give up everything all at once I am going to start with that as my main focus. Next will most likely be to lessen my dairy intake since I am not supposed to have that much dairy. The O diet is centered around meat, fish, and vegetables. Which makes a lot of sense since O is the first blood type in our history. It is definitely all very interesting and I am very excited to see if I will start to feel better and hopefully lose the 10 pounds I have been wanting to shed. I think with dropping the gluten and exercising the way O blood types are supposed to, which is vigorous exercise for 30 min, 3x a week, I'll drop the weight and start to feel healthier in no time.
I have already switched to mostly all organic vegetables and we buy the vast majority of our meats free range. I am doing this not only because it is better for me but since Ryan and I are hoping to have children soon it's a good idea to have my body in tip top shape for my pregnancy. I have been reading books on what Mommy and Baby should eat during and after pregnancy. What I have gathered so far is that a healthy Mommy means a healthier baby. Plus the healthier you are the more energy you have...and I've heard Mom's need plenty of that. ;-)
So the last thing I want to touch base on is the veggie garden! We are so excited that our plants are growing great! The seeds we planted have germinated and the plants are popping up fast! I have to admit that I wasn't overly excited when Ryan told me that he wanted to start the garden this year instead of waiting til next year but I can definitely say now that I am really excited for whats to come! I am sure that next year there will be a lot more added on to our little garden area that we have now. I will take some more pictures of it in another week or so to show you guys the progress that it's making.
Well I am pooped out and I have to go find some camping spots for our camping trip that we are taking next weekend! I am so excited for the little get-a-way. We definitely need one! More to come.
p.s The book that I am getting the Blood Diet information out of is, Eat Right 4 Your Type, by Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo
----Simple Rose
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Memorial Weekend!
Hey All,
So I have been busy for the last couple days, finishing up my work week and getting ready for the big family gathering Ryan and I are going to today for his side of the family. We are meeting at a local park here and they have rented out a pavilion for us to use all day. The weather is just beautiful, cool and sunny, couldn't have asked for anything more perfect. Excited to have some good eats, fun games, and good conversation.
As I have said before Ryan and I started our first garden this year for the house. We have some big ideas for years to come but for this year we just wanted to start simple. I have some pictures that Ryan took that I want to show all of you! I will be taking pictures throughout the garden season so you can see all of our wonderful plants grow. This year we are doing strawberries, peppers, zucchini, squash, lettuce, Matt's tomato's (my favorite), and daikon radishes.
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So I have been busy for the last couple days, finishing up my work week and getting ready for the big family gathering Ryan and I are going to today for his side of the family. We are meeting at a local park here and they have rented out a pavilion for us to use all day. The weather is just beautiful, cool and sunny, couldn't have asked for anything more perfect. Excited to have some good eats, fun games, and good conversation.
As I have said before Ryan and I started our first garden this year for the house. We have some big ideas for years to come but for this year we just wanted to start simple. I have some pictures that Ryan took that I want to show all of you! I will be taking pictures throughout the garden season so you can see all of our wonderful plants grow. This year we are doing strawberries, peppers, zucchini, squash, lettuce, Matt's tomato's (my favorite), and daikon radishes.
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This is a picture of the strawberry plants that we got from my parents. They do there own starts in their house and offered some to us for our new garden! :-) The plants are already getting runners on them. We know that we probably won't be getting any strawberries this year....but we are excited to see some next year!
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This is a picture of the garden bed that we built using concrete blocks. The total cost was around 60 dollars for the entire thing. I also like the idea that since these concrete blocks have the holes around the edges I could do a little herb garden in the holes as well! You can't really see a whole lot in our garden yet since most of this one is seeds with the exception of the Matt's tomatos (right side) and the zucchini plants (left side).
More pictures on the garden will be coming!
I also wanted to say that my Eating for Your Blood Type book is sitting at the library waiting for me to pick it up! I am excited to see if this could help me with the stomach issues that I have a lot. So I will have more on that front a little later.
Well I am off to get everything in the car for the family picnic we are going to today! I hope you all have a great Memorial Day weekend!
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Ton O' Topics
Good Afternoon Fellow Bloggers!
So I have a lot to talk about today in my post. First off I put together some before and after pictures of the renovation we have made to the house since we moved in. I will post the picture and then tell what renovations we made and approx. how much it cost.
Secondly I bought an at home blood test kit from our CO-OP that we have here in town and I am going to start looking into eating for your blood type. I have a lot of stomach issues that stems from food so hopefully this will help! I was vegetarian for 4 years and now I am back to eating meat because I didn't feel that my body was getting the nutrition it needed so I am very interested to see what I can find on blood type dieting. I will talk more about this in future posts.
The third big topic for today is that I am trying out some homemade dishing washing powder today. I love to save money any way that I can. PLUS the dish washing powder I use is far more natural then the stuff you can buy in the store which is a big plus! ANNND great news it's only 2 ingredients! Which are:
1 part 20 Mule Team Borax----Roughly $3.50 at your local supermarket for a 4 lb box!
1 part Baking Soda---Roughly $2.50 at your local supermarket for a 4 lb box!
I use a little over 2 tablespoons to fill my dishwasher dispenser. The savings are great! I was paying 3-4 dollars for a box of dishwasher powder that was a little less then 3 lbs! So as you can tell making your own will take you ALOT further and save you lots of $$$$$!!
If you don't like water stains on your glasses or find that you get them now that you have switched to your homemade, add a little vinegar to your rinse dispenser and that should do the trick. (your dishes will NOT smell like vinegar). That trick is courtesy of my Momma who has taught me most of what I know about homemade tricks! Thanks MOM!
So the last thing I am going to post today are the pictures of the house...Here they are! All of the pics show how the house was set up from before we bought the house from the realtor site because I forgot to take pics before we starting the renovations.
So I have a lot to talk about today in my post. First off I put together some before and after pictures of the renovation we have made to the house since we moved in. I will post the picture and then tell what renovations we made and approx. how much it cost.
Secondly I bought an at home blood test kit from our CO-OP that we have here in town and I am going to start looking into eating for your blood type. I have a lot of stomach issues that stems from food so hopefully this will help! I was vegetarian for 4 years and now I am back to eating meat because I didn't feel that my body was getting the nutrition it needed so I am very interested to see what I can find on blood type dieting. I will talk more about this in future posts.
The third big topic for today is that I am trying out some homemade dishing washing powder today. I love to save money any way that I can. PLUS the dish washing powder I use is far more natural then the stuff you can buy in the store which is a big plus! ANNND great news it's only 2 ingredients! Which are:
1 part 20 Mule Team Borax----Roughly $3.50 at your local supermarket for a 4 lb box!
1 part Baking Soda---Roughly $2.50 at your local supermarket for a 4 lb box!
I use a little over 2 tablespoons to fill my dishwasher dispenser. The savings are great! I was paying 3-4 dollars for a box of dishwasher powder that was a little less then 3 lbs! So as you can tell making your own will take you ALOT further and save you lots of $$$$$!!
If you don't like water stains on your glasses or find that you get them now that you have switched to your homemade, add a little vinegar to your rinse dispenser and that should do the trick. (your dishes will NOT smell like vinegar). That trick is courtesy of my Momma who has taught me most of what I know about homemade tricks! Thanks MOM!
So the last thing I am going to post today are the pictures of the house...Here they are! All of the pics show how the house was set up from before we bought the house from the realtor site because I forgot to take pics before we starting the renovations.
This room is still in progress. Everything I got for this room was from garage sales and the Goodwill. The only thing that is in this room that we brought with us is the TV stand and the tan love-seat I have everything to complete the room and the total cost was $80 and that includes the practically brand new futon couch and the end tables! I scoured garage sales and the goodwill for the best deals and didn't do to bad. We are going for the fishing lodge look since my husband and I are BIG outdoors people!
The living room is my favorite room that we redid because of the drastic-ness of the after pics. I got that awesome TV stand for $10 dollars at a garage sale! A lot of what is in the room came with us so the renovation cost isn't that impressive. Total cost of this room included the paint that we got on clearance at Walmart is $40 bucks. The coffee table was hand made by a good friend of me and Ryan's! Love this room the best because we had to take the wallpaper liner off the walls and it was a NIGHTMARE! :-)
Lastly. the master bedroom! This room is one of my favorite rooms in the entire house. When Ryan and I lived in apartments we were in college for a lot of it and defiantly lived that way. Our bedroom never had much decor so we decided that since we are in a house now that we want a bedroom that looks nice! So we bought some lamps and curtains and did it all up the way we always wanted it. Unfortunately most of the stuff we bought for this room was from Walmart or Target, although I did snag a picture (you can't see in this pic) from a garage sale for $3! Total cost of this room after moving in: $50 bucks. (bed, nightstands, 2 pictures not included.)
I just want to inspire people to not always just run to the mall or expensive department stores every time you need something to decorate your home. There are a TON of great deals out there and if you are patient enough and realize that if you don't have the perfect painting on your wall you WON'T DIE then you can find some pretty great deals out there. I am excited for this new journey in my house with my hubby and our little doggy. More to come.
----Simple Rose----
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Homeowners with adventures to come!
Helllo everyone!
Sorry its been so long. Its been a crazy last couple weeks. We BOUGHT the house that I was talking about in my last blog and closed on it in early April! We have done a ton on renovations and will post pictures as soon as I am on my home computer. We really wanted to redo the house on a budget. We aren't free of credit cards yet but hope to be within the next couple of years. We made a promise that we would only use one credit card and pay cash for everything else! I am pleased to admit that it was EASY to keep our promise to eachother. I have been garage saling quite a bit with my mom and have found AWESOME deals. All the renovations from the pictures including the fence total out to less than 1000 dollars! Thats what a little scaveging for deals and ALOT of hard work will get you! Most of the stuff that we redid the look of our home with came from garage sales! We decided with the help of my parents to not rush into buying everything in the first week but to take out time and remember that you can't have it all in one day. I will be following this post up with two different posts, one about the renovations that we did to the house w/ pics, and the other a post about garage saling and all the great deals you can find out there if you just take the time to look! I can't wait to get this blog going!
I just recently dropped down to part time at work to have more time to devote to my family and my house. Ryan and I are at the mindset that we want to be happy and we have come to realize that we can't find that through lots of money and things but through moments together and a life with little stress. Since I have dropped down to part time my plan is to spend WAY less time sitting in front of the TV and way MORE time doing things. We have started a garden bed in our backyard as well and I will also take pictures and post them as well and keep you all informed on that front as well. I am just so beyond excited to finally be a homeowner so that I can start to do things the simpler way! More to come.....
--Simple Rose
Sorry its been so long. Its been a crazy last couple weeks. We BOUGHT the house that I was talking about in my last blog and closed on it in early April! We have done a ton on renovations and will post pictures as soon as I am on my home computer. We really wanted to redo the house on a budget. We aren't free of credit cards yet but hope to be within the next couple of years. We made a promise that we would only use one credit card and pay cash for everything else! I am pleased to admit that it was EASY to keep our promise to eachother. I have been garage saling quite a bit with my mom and have found AWESOME deals. All the renovations from the pictures including the fence total out to less than 1000 dollars! Thats what a little scaveging for deals and ALOT of hard work will get you! Most of the stuff that we redid the look of our home with came from garage sales! We decided with the help of my parents to not rush into buying everything in the first week but to take out time and remember that you can't have it all in one day. I will be following this post up with two different posts, one about the renovations that we did to the house w/ pics, and the other a post about garage saling and all the great deals you can find out there if you just take the time to look! I can't wait to get this blog going!
I just recently dropped down to part time at work to have more time to devote to my family and my house. Ryan and I are at the mindset that we want to be happy and we have come to realize that we can't find that through lots of money and things but through moments together and a life with little stress. Since I have dropped down to part time my plan is to spend WAY less time sitting in front of the TV and way MORE time doing things. We have started a garden bed in our backyard as well and I will also take pictures and post them as well and keep you all informed on that front as well. I am just so beyond excited to finally be a homeowner so that I can start to do things the simpler way! More to come.....
--Simple Rose
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Buyin' a Home
Hey guys!!
So this post is about the house that me and the hubby are hopefully going to be buying soon!!! We have been looking for a couple weeks now and are getting very excited! So this post is going to be about buying a house without thinking you need the biggest or the newest one on the block.
It's all about buying what you can truly afford with also keeping in mind future plans as well. Ryan (hubby) and I want to buy something that we can afford now and later if I ever wanted to be a stay at home mom. So we are planning for now and for the future. We want to have no more than 2 kids so when we went house hunting we looked for a 3 bedroom and 1+ bathroom with ample backyard area for the kids to play around in. I personally never wanted anything more than 1500 sq ft because I don't want to have to clean a huge house. It's all about deciding what is most important to you because you will never find a house with ALL the things to want unless you have a custom built house...and let's face it that's not what this blog is about.
I am happy to say that we found the one we wanted! We are putting an offer in today and hopefully all goes well! I will post pictures later if it is the one we end up buying! It is a 3 bedroom and 1 bathroom with family room and living room with a BIG backyard and 2 car detached garage. Ryan and I decided that it was the home for us!
So remember when you are house hunting not to let too many people sway your decision and stick to your price point. They say that you can purchase a house for 3 times your income!!!!! And that your house payment should account for 1/4 of your monthly income! That is just crazy talk in my opinion. In today's day in age most people can't afford for there house payment to be 1/4 of there income because we like to do other things. We like to travel and have nice things and eat out and have a life other then our house. We chose not to follow that advice and to buy something that we will love and that will allow us to do other things in life rather then feel broke and "stuck" in the house we purchased.
Updates will come soon on whether or not we buy the house!!
So this post is about the house that me and the hubby are hopefully going to be buying soon!!! We have been looking for a couple weeks now and are getting very excited! So this post is going to be about buying a house without thinking you need the biggest or the newest one on the block.
It's all about buying what you can truly afford with also keeping in mind future plans as well. Ryan (hubby) and I want to buy something that we can afford now and later if I ever wanted to be a stay at home mom. So we are planning for now and for the future. We want to have no more than 2 kids so when we went house hunting we looked for a 3 bedroom and 1+ bathroom with ample backyard area for the kids to play around in. I personally never wanted anything more than 1500 sq ft because I don't want to have to clean a huge house. It's all about deciding what is most important to you because you will never find a house with ALL the things to want unless you have a custom built house...and let's face it that's not what this blog is about.
I am happy to say that we found the one we wanted! We are putting an offer in today and hopefully all goes well! I will post pictures later if it is the one we end up buying! It is a 3 bedroom and 1 bathroom with family room and living room with a BIG backyard and 2 car detached garage. Ryan and I decided that it was the home for us!
So remember when you are house hunting not to let too many people sway your decision and stick to your price point. They say that you can purchase a house for 3 times your income!!!!! And that your house payment should account for 1/4 of your monthly income! That is just crazy talk in my opinion. In today's day in age most people can't afford for there house payment to be 1/4 of there income because we like to do other things. We like to travel and have nice things and eat out and have a life other then our house. We chose not to follow that advice and to buy something that we will love and that will allow us to do other things in life rather then feel broke and "stuck" in the house we purchased.
Updates will come soon on whether or not we buy the house!!
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Gettin' Started
Helloooo!
So this is my "new" blog. I say new because I actually wanted to start this blog a couple months ago and then , well, to be honest with you....life happened. So I am here now and hopefully I will keep up with it. So, let's get started.
I will start with a little background information about who I am and why I want to live simply. I am a young woman of 21 years old. I am in what feel like a fairy tale marriage with a very supportive husband. We both have a little doggy named Kindle...she is pretty much like our daughter! She is a spoiled little miss! My husband and I both work full time and make a very comfortable living. We want to keep that living going no matter what life throws at us.
Here is a little about how I grew up. I have always lived a life where I never had to live without anything and most of the time had a lot of extras. It wasn't always like that in my family though when my parents were just starting out and raising my older sisters. My mom really had to count every cent and think of ways to do things cheaper. The great thing about it was that my mom could do that but not give up on fun things and could still live life interesting but frugal. I want to have that for my kids. So even if we always don't have loads of money to take lavish vacations and buy top of the line everything that we can still enjoy the little things in life. :-)
So I don't want to go on and on about my past because this blog is about my future. I am excited to share my simple ways of living and learn a lot along the way too.
So this is my "new" blog. I say new because I actually wanted to start this blog a couple months ago and then , well, to be honest with you....life happened. So I am here now and hopefully I will keep up with it. So, let's get started.
I will start with a little background information about who I am and why I want to live simply. I am a young woman of 21 years old. I am in what feel like a fairy tale marriage with a very supportive husband. We both have a little doggy named Kindle...she is pretty much like our daughter! She is a spoiled little miss! My husband and I both work full time and make a very comfortable living. We want to keep that living going no matter what life throws at us.
Here is a little about how I grew up. I have always lived a life where I never had to live without anything and most of the time had a lot of extras. It wasn't always like that in my family though when my parents were just starting out and raising my older sisters. My mom really had to count every cent and think of ways to do things cheaper. The great thing about it was that my mom could do that but not give up on fun things and could still live life interesting but frugal. I want to have that for my kids. So even if we always don't have loads of money to take lavish vacations and buy top of the line everything that we can still enjoy the little things in life. :-)
So I don't want to go on and on about my past because this blog is about my future. I am excited to share my simple ways of living and learn a lot along the way too.
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