Valentine Getaway

We usually celebrate Valentine's Day by making a day trip to a town we'd like to explore and scope out the antique stores, thrift shops and eat at a local restaurant for lunch.

This year, Andy surprised me by making reservations at a bed and breakfast in Hendersonville, NC for one night as well as making arrangements for our dog and my work schedule so we could leave earlier on Friday.

He also was wise enough to let me know about the plans several days in advance! If you've been reading here long, you might have guessed that I'm not a very spontaneous person, what with all my planning and all.

I was very excited  and could hardly wait until Friday! It was so awesome to have everything taken care of--I didn't even make food to take along!

We stayed at a nice and old bed & breakfast in downtown Hendersonville. The innkeeper served us a wonderful breakfast on Saturday morning and then we got right out to explore the town. It was snowing which was awesome, even though it didn't stick!

Our first stop was at the old courthouse to tour their Civil War and military exhibits. From there we walked down Main Street, stopping in at interesting looking shops. There were several antique stores, a couple of thrift stores and then just a bunch of fun home/gift shops that were nice to poke around in!

It was pretty cold and windy so it was nice to duck in to the shops and warm up a bit before heading back out!

We had lunch at a wonderful little coffee shop which was cozy and warm with a fireplace and comfy chairs around the tables. We splurged on a slice of homemade pie for each of us. I had a slice of coconut custard and Andy had a slice of peanut butter pie. Both were delicious and made completely from scratch with mostly organic ingredients-- totally worth every penny and calorie!
 
Of course, I made sure we stopped back in at Mast General Store-- the trip wouldn't have been  complete without it!

We finished the day by stopping at Goodwill and a grocery outlet on our way out of town.We found a few good bargains at both of those places-- one being a Redskins blanket for Andy from the Goodwill!

We had the most wonderful and relaxing time and feel so grateful that Andy took the time to plan such a special little trip for us!

Cheeseburger Meatballs

I saw these cheeseburger meatballs in a  recent grocery store magazine and knew I wanted to try them! The magazine article was titled 'Dinner On A Stick' and featured these meatballs grilled on skewers.

I decided to simply bake them in the oven this time and made a few changes to the recipe to fit our low-grain diet. Served with Riceworks rice chips( a good alternative to regular chips) and coleslaw and ketchup and mustard for dipping, we both agreed this recipe is a keeper!

Cheeseburger Meatballs
Serves 4-6

3 ounces mozzarella cheese, cut into 24 small cubes
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs (I used some leftover brown rice couscous which had kind of a bread crumb consistency; you could probably add rice although it would alter the texture or just omit altogether.)
1 Tablespoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/4 pounds lean ground beef

In a large bowl, combine eggs, bread crumbs, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder and salt. Add ground beef; mix well. Form meat mixture into 24 1 1/2 inch meatballs around the cheese cubes.

Place in greased baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20- 30 minutes. Serve with ketchup and mustard.

Chocolate Festival

A local church hosts a Chocolate Festival right before Valentine's Day every year and we always love going! It's a fun low-key event with lots of delicious looking treats to buy and eat!

This year I remembered to bring my camera to document the adventure!

 These little 'ice cream cones' are made with a tiny kid-size cone, filled with M&M's and topped with a large marshmallow dipped in chocolate and sprinkles. So cute and yummy!

Quick Low-Grain Meal: BBQ "Meatballs"

This is what we had for supper tonight. I had nothing planned and needed something pretty easy as I was already cooking several dishes for tomorrow's Sunday fellowship and a Super Bowl party. I already had a pound of ground beef out to thaw and was only going to use 1/4 to 1/2 of it.

So I decided to cook it all, remove what I needed for the other dish I was making and add BBQ sauce** to the rest. I also added some cooked rice to the mixture, let it heat through for a few minutes, then served it up with some cauliflower on the side. Quick, easy and super yummy!

Tasted a lot like BBQ meatballs over rice without all the work!

I pinned this idea from Hummingbird Homemaking a few months back. She cooks a similar low-grain diet for her family and has lots of great ideas!

**As we know, BBQ sauce is super high in sugar. We use it occasionally as a compromise food. I have made my own at times but typically I keep a bottle on hand for convenience. We like Bulls-Eye brand which doesn't contain High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Gingham Cottage News: New Items, Apron Sale!

**Through February 10th, all half aprons (waist aprons) and children's aprons in my shop are priced at just $10.00 each. This is a savings of $3-$5 off the original prices!**

Some new items have recently been added. Here's a sampling: 

Yellow Floral and Gingham Apron

 Rick Rack Trimmed Cloth Napkins 

Made from a vintage tablecloth.

Matching kitchen towel also available!

 Not made by me but by someone else's sweet mama, these vintage hand-embroidered bunnies would make a darling spring garland!

Visit my shop to see all this and more! 

Thanks for looking!

Room To Breathe

You know how things get cluttered up around you and you feel like the walls are closing in? And then you clean things out and once again you feel as though you have room to breathe?

Well, closets aren't the only area that can get cluttered! During this first month of the new year, I've discovered a few changes that are helping to make my days run a bit more smoothly and giving me a little room to breathe.

• Daily schedule. On New Year's Day, I quickly scrawled a new basic daily schedule on some scrap paper while at a friend's house watching a football game. Bright and early the next morning, I began to implement it. It's been 4 weeks now and I'm still following it and have experienced tremendous freedom from such a simple plan. On a typical day, I can get the basic household stuff accomplished without feeling like I'm letting everything else go. In a nutshell, what I'm doing is focusing on what needs to be done rather on all that could be done.
• Rest. I've established a daily rest time for myself. If I worked at a 'real job' outside the home, I would get a lunch break. What I do is set aside 30 minutes once the littles are down for naps and I've cleaned up the lunch and breakfast dishes. I set the timer so I don't oversleep and then settle in on the couch and close my eyes. Sometimes I doze off, sometimes not. When the timer dings, I get up and go on to the next thing. Some may like to read, use the computer or craft during this time. That is certainly fine although I've found that I really need the complete mental break. My husband has noticed the difference this short break has made on my mental/emotional state and energy level for the rest of the afternoon. I am an introvert and the quiet time does wonders for me! God created rest and we would do well to make time to pause during our busy days. 
• Computer time. I've cut way back on the time I spend at the computer. It's amazing how much more productive I can be! And I'm much more focused on what I'm doing online when I set limits on my computer time. I've reduced the number of blogs I read daily--down to 10-15 of my very favorites--and then I catch up on others when I have time here and there. My mind feels less cluttered-- a very positive thing! Blogs, emails and Facebook will still be there when I get to my computer time for the day--they aren't going anywhere!
• Delegating. This is something new I'm having to learn. I've never been a good delegator. It's easier for me to do things myself than ask someone else to do it! But it's necessary, especially for this season. One reason is that I simply cannot do it all. Another is that I don't want to do it all--I want to be able to sit down in the evenings sometimes and watch TV or do something fun and not be working all the time. My husband is completely on board with this and is more than happy to help out when he knows what needs to be done. He's been doing most of the grocery shopping for me (I make the lists). We've also moved cleaning chores to every evening right after the kids I babysit leave for the day. We set aside 30 minutes to do some daily chores(sweeping/vacuuming, etc.) plus clean one room each day and then work together on it. With both of us working quickly--we set the timer to keep us on track--we're usually done in about 15 minutes.
• Outside/extra activities. I hate saying 'no' to people. But even more than that, I hate saying 'yes' and immediately wishing I'd said 'no'. I've been saying 'no' more lately and so far it hasn't killed me. Instead, it's given me the license to spend time on what I truly believe is best. I'm not saying that I shouldn't ever do anything extra or do things that I don't want to do as there certainly is a time and place for that. But just because something is a good thing or a great cause, doesn't mean that I absolutely need to be involved. Asking God what He wants and listening to the Holy Spirit is key to balance in this area.

 I've found that these simple things are really helping me and hope it's helpful in some way to you as well!

Freezer Cooking: Doing What I Can

If you've been reading here any length of time, you know how much I love freezer cooking! There's just not much better than having the freezer full of food ready to eat!

Lately, I haven't been able to block out a day or even a morning or afternoon to devote solely to freezer cooking, although I would like to do that soon. And Saturdays are usually booked.

So instead of doing a freezer cooking session, I do the next best thing--Doing what I can.

If I'm cooking rice, I'll bake two pans instead of one and freeze the extras in 2-cup portions. This makes sense since I'm using the oven anyways; might as well fill it up!

Occasionally, I'll double whatever we're having for supper and freeze half. Although, I do like having leftovers for lunch the next day, too!

A large pot of soup is more than one meal for the two of us, so I'll freeze a quart jar or two for later.

I like to cook extra meat and freeze it for later!

I chop extra celery and keep it in a freezer bag.

I bought a 5 pound block of cheese at Sam's Club a few weeks ago. We prefer buying blocks of cheese and shredding it ourselves for taste and better melting. Pre-shredded cheese almost always has extra additives too that we prefer to avoid. And blocks of cheese are usually less expensive. Anyways, sometimes I'll shred a big block and freeze it all. But I haven't had time for that lately so I've been trying to shred an extra cup or two to freeze in 1 cup portions every time I get some out to shred for a meal.

Doing what I can and doing a little at a time saves me time in the long run!