I’d feel just a bit silly if I didn’t know full well that things are about to change. This is the Midwest, after all, and we’ve been known to have a fifty to seventy degree variance in temperature within a twenty-four hour period. Still, as I sit here with the windows open and the ceiling fan in my office circulating the eighty degree air, the October First Friday Freebie seems entirely uncalled for!
You’ll be ready for that nip in the air when it arrives, or maybe it already has in your neck of the woods.
This beautiful scarf by Capelli New York will look great with all your fall fashion with its tan and soft white tones. It’s 100% acrylic, very soft and is hand washable. Including the fringe, it measures approximately 72” X 5.5”, so it’s long enough to loop and tie in all sorts of fun ways or wrap around your neck twice on those extra frigid days.
It was a great find at my local Factory Connection, where I often find fun fashion and great home décor at good prices.
To enter to win the Capelli New York scarf, all you need to do is “Leave a Comment” on this post, saying, “Keep me cozy, Midwest Storyteller!” You’ll need to do that before midnight TONIGHT, October 1st, 2021.
NOTE: An occasional problem occurs with subscribers not receiving confirmation emails. Should this happen, email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com so that I can report it and have the issue resolved.
First Friday Freebies are for email SUBSCRIBERS ONLY, so you’ll want to subscribe over on the right sidebar or use the menu to navigate to the “Contact” page where you can subscribe to Midwest Storyteller if you haven’t done so.
I hope you get excited about winning freebies and share them and my blog stories with your friends and family through all your social media. If you like an idea, recipe or story you see here, be sure to hover over the photo and “pin it”. Help me get the word out!
On the “Freebies”page, you can see what readers have been winning every month.
A winner will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight tonight, October 1st, by leaving a comment which says, “Keep me cozy, Midwest Storyteller”.
For the complete First Friday Freebie rules, click here.
Why not subscribe and confirm right now before you forget?
October is like May – you just can’t get enough of either one. Enjoy each crisp and colorful day!
[NOTE: I openly disclose on this blog that as a certified lifestyle coach through Trim Healthy Mama, I may receive financial benefit from those who desire to enlist my services privately or in a group setting.]
I’ve learned to love to cook. It wasn’t always so. It wasn’t always easy. A combination of things has made my kitchen efforts frustrating through the years.
One would think, growing up on a farm with a nine-member household, I would have learned to be an excellent cook right off the bat. However with five sisters who were quite a bit older, there were enough of them to fill up the kitchen and I’m sure my mom preferred I not be underfoot. After they all began to leave home on their journey through life, I think my mom must have been relieved not to be making soup in a wash basin anymore and to have the kitchen to herself. I poked around in there, fixed myself after-school snacks and helped out when company came, but the skills you get from daily having to sling hash and get it all on the table hot and ready was a training that I missed.
Then, I married Smuffy. Smuffy’s mama had spoiled him rotten in the food category. He’d lived a life where all he had to do was sigh and whisper that he wouldn’t mind a little bit of this or a small dab of that and it appeared before him in no time at all accompanied by about a dozen other delights he hadn’t even asked for.
I thought I hated to cook and that I was bad at it. Yet, there was always a certain sense of adventure when it came to foods and I’d often find myself thinking that I wanted to try to make something new and exciting I’d tasted at a party or seen in a magazine. Plus, I have a huge appetite and just plain love to eat.
Another factor that tripped me up on my road to being a good cook was the fact that I tend to be distracted. Forgetting to thaw things out, neglecting to turn the burner down, not setting the timer – these were only a few of the things that made me wish we could just eat out all the time.
In hindsight, I’m thankful that the budget prohibited that because I see so many people who are enmeshed in the restaurant culture and most of them are barely able to waddle back and forth to their cars or are afflicted with a myriad of health problems.
Necessity being the mother of invention, I learned to be a really good cook over time and that Pookie of mine – she can really put the love on a meal. However, distraction is still a problem for me, especially now that Lil’ Snookie is here demanding my attention. I’ve learned to do a lot of simple prep-ahead things to make throwing yummy meals together less of a strain.
Since health is a major concern, I avoid pre-made and pre-mixed items that are always loaded with sugar or other ingredients that aren’t going to lead us down the road to better health. Grabbing each and every tiny little ingredient out of the pantry or spice cabinet slows me down and frustrates me when I’m cooking.
I know I could always parcel out things into little snack baggies to have them ready to dump into recipes, but they slip and slide and are difficult for me to keep organized. I thought I’d share this great find that is helping me cut down on steps and stress.
These great mini craft paper bags with resealable lock seal zipper and transparent windows were an Amazon find and are from Kingrol. They are 3/5 X 5.5 inches. This is the smallest of three sizes and is just right for that small amount of “mix” you want to grab and whip up something quick. They are reusable. If you prefer not to buy from Amazon, you can do a search and probably find them elsewhere online.
These are great for the dry ingredients that go into so many things – taco seasoning, Wonder Wraps, my Chocolate Collagen Trimmy and my oatmeal fixin’s, to name a few.
The bags are made of high-quality kraft paper with food grade PE inner membrane. Sturdy, waterproof and leak-proof, they should keep the contents from moisture and offer good shelf life.
They were advertised to have a stand-up design. This must be a feature on the medium and large bags only, because the smaller size I ordered do not have a gusseted bottom. I like that they have a little rectangle matte window that allows me to get a glimpse of the contents and save time when snatching them out of the cupboard.
The heat sealable feature is something I won’t use because I plan to use them only for dry mixes and then re-fill them. The resealable zippers seem to zip fairly easily and stay shut.
I didn’t mind ordering in quantity because I do make a lot of homemade mixes and also because I like to give some of these away as gifts sometimes and these bags will make a much nicer presentation for that than a plastic zippy bag.
So, yes, I did order 300 of them and it will take me a while to use those up, but it will happen. Next time, I think I’ll order the larger size because these will be a bit of a tight squeeze for certain things. The whole pack costs around $18 which makes them six cents each. Not bad.
I started off by filling them with some of my favorite items that fit the THM plan. I’ll include a few simple recipes.
Wonder Wraps II (FP): These are on page 251 of “Trim Healthy Table” cookbook. They can be made in a big batch, but I usually make the small batch when we do tacos. I put the THM Baking Blend, Mineral Salt, Whole Husk Psyllium Flakes and nutritional yeast in the bag and then just stir it in with the three wet ingredients when the time comes. Tat makes so much less I have to think about when I’m busy.
2. Coach Barb’s Morning Oatmeal (E): I have this two or three mornings a week and get tired of measuring out every little thing. I soak 1/2 cup of old fashioned oats in water in my bowl overnight. In the morning, I place a hand over it and drain off most of the water. Then, I dump in the packet which contains – 1 Tablespoon grass-fed beef collagen, 1 skimpy Tablespoon chopped walnuts (for a bit of fat to help my carbs absorb), 1/2 Tablespoon Pristine Whey Powder (plain), 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom, a generous 1/8 teaspoon mineral salt, 12-15 raisins and a doonk or two of Pure Stevia. Mix this well into the oats before stirring in a generous 1/4 cup water. Microwave for one minute. Then, stir in another generous 1/4 cup water and microwave for another minute. (This process helps to avoid an oatmeal mess in the microwave.) That’s it. Tweak the spices and sweetness to suit yourself, keeping in mind that getting all silly with raisins will spike your blood sugar and that’s a no-no and adding more walnuts will be “on plan” but will turn this into a Crossover, which will not aid in weight loss.
Note: You can use another whey powder. Just be sure it is cross-flow and micro-filtered. You can use any other on-plan sweetener, but it will take a lot more.
3. Chocolate Collagen Trimmy (FP with an S option): I fill the bag with 2 Tablespoons Dutch cocoa powder, 1 Tablespoon grass-fed beef collagen, 1/2 tablespoon Pristine Whey Powder (see note above) 3/8 teaspoon Pure Stevia, 1/4 teaspoon Sunflower Lecithin and 1/8 teaspoon mineral salt. When you are ready for a trimmy, pour an inch or so of hot water into the bottom of a 12 ounce (or larger) mug. Add the contents of the packet and a splash of pure vanilla extract and stir well with a mini whisk before filling your mug the rest of the way. If you’re feeling like a real hot chocolate experience is called for, add a tablespoon of heave cream for an “S” treat. A collagen drink like this will give you protein to balance your blood sugar and keep your tummy full for a long time. It’s a great way to avoid having your hand in a snack jar all day.
NOTE: Keep in mind that I like my chocolate dark and enjoy a bit of the bitter here. You may have to do some tweaking of the ratio of chocolate to sweetener to get this to be the mug of goodness that speaks to your soul. Also, nothing compares to the Dutch process cocoa powder. I am spoiled to it and any of the cans of cocoa powder we’ve been accustomed to finding in the stores all these years are icky to me now. I highly recommend you try some! I get mine at my local bulk food store.
4. Taco Seasoning Mix: It’s so great just to be able to take a pound of browned burger, sprinkle on this packet knowing that it has no sugar and no other stupid ingredients, stir in a half cup of water and simmer for a bit. I’ve offered this recipe up before along with a free printable and you can find it here.
If you need support in your journey, head to the Contact Me page and let me know. I’ll give you all the info on group sessions which I conduct locally in person on a weekly basis. Private coaching can be done in person or by phone. Share with friends and let’s see how many are ready to get Trim & Healthy!
Tempted but not sure? Check out the Trim Healthy dish I made here and see if it doesn’t make your mouth water!
The Trim Healthy Mama Plan is a great way to boost your immune system and we all need that right now, don’t we? Leave a comment and tell me your thoughts.
The sounds of autumn are coming through the open windows of my office as I type this and I marvel that I find it a pleasant sound when it is actually a multitude of the insect host singing whatever it is they sing to each other this time of year. God bless the one who invented window screens. The sound does signal the end of heat and humidity and that’s a good thing.
It’s almost three more weeks until the season changes officially, but you’re right on time for the September First Friday Freebie! Let’s take a look.
Once at a ladies’ function, we played a “getting to know you” game where we had to jot down on a piece of paper “two things you love and one thing you hate” and toss the paper into the bowl. When the bowl makes a second pass around the room, someone else draws your paper and tries to guess who may have dropped this list into the bowl. I remember that when I played this, one of the things I jotted down that I loved was jewelry. I do love a bit of bling. I could so keep this freebie, but it’s all yours.
This pretty necklace by Accessory Connection is a long one. It has an adjustable chain section that extends from 32” to 35”. The “Y” section at the bottom adds an additional 2.5”. This makes it great to throw on over all your great fall sweaters and tops. Double chains of both black and gold (not visible in the photo) meet up with the beaded section which has iridescent beads in black, pale amber and a color I can’t decide whether it is a smoky blue or a smoky purple. A small stone in the “Y” section hovers above a teardrop pendant that I’d describe as a golden caramel color.
I took several photos trying to get the colors to appear as they do in reality, but the bottom pendant seemed to look washed out in every single one. Anyhow, it’s prettier than the photo.
Factory Connection is a great store to find cute jewelry and other accessories along with some fashion clothing. I don’t get there often, but when I do I often find great prices on items like this freebie. Check out their website herefor locations near you.
To enter to win the beaded necklace, all you need to do is “Leave a Comment” on this post, saying “Bring me some bling!”. You’ll need to do that before midnight TONIGHT, September 3rd, 2021.
NOTE: An occasional problem occurs with subscribers not receiving confirmation emails. Should this happen, email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com so that I can report it and have the issue resolved.
First Friday Freebies are for email SUBSCRIBERS ONLY, so you’ll want to subscribe over on the right sidebar or use the menu to navigate to the “Contact” page where you can subscribe to Midwest Storyteller if you haven’t done so.
I hope you get excited about winning freebies and share them and my blog stories with your friends and family through all your social media. If you like an idea, recipe or story you see here, be sure to hover over the photo and “pin it”. Help me get the word out!
On the “Freebies”page, you can see what readers have been winning every month.
A winner will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight tonight, September 3rd by leaving a comment which says, “Bring me some bling!”
For the complete First Friday Freebie rules, click here.
Why not subscribe and confirm right now before you forget?
While you’re waiting to find out if you’re the winner, you’ll love a good Smuffy story – the most popular thing on my blog. Our Smokin’ Hot Honeymoon is a great place to start.
May your windows be open, may your hair un-frizz and may you sniff the first hints of fall!
I know what you’re going to say once you start reading this – “Aren’t those people ever gonna finish that kitchen?”
That, my dear friends, is exactly what I ask myself, sometimes multiple times per day.
We’ve got to cut Smuffy some slack, though. After coming home from his day job, he tackles everything else that pops up (or falls down, as the case may be) with this seventy+ year old house. There’s all the yard work, the garden and how a huge outdoor project he’s had to undertake. My “new” kitchen goes forward in spurts and I try to have patience. I will admit to having tears, though. Every once in a while, the whole thing about having a toddler here every day with no cabinet doors gets to be a bit much. Careful placement and a good boy are all that stand between us and disaster.
Well, the doors have arrived! I’d do the happy dance, but they’re not up yet. You see, they’ve been handed over to me. Yikes!
I’ve done a lot of DIY in my time, so I had a hard time figuring out why these made me so nervous. Then, I realized where my jitters were coming from.
It’s one thing to drag something home from a yard sale or resale shop and dive in to give it a whole new life. It is quite another to take brand new things that Smuffy has poured blood, sweat and tears into and risk screwing it up! As I said in an earlier post, most people who say they did their whole kitchen makeover by themselves have few bragging rights compared to what we’ve undertaken on this project. Ripping out things, bringing home new cabinets and installing them and then slapping on some trim pales in comparison to what we’ve done. It’s been me with my sheets of graph paper and research and Smuffy painstakingly hand-crafting each and every cabinet, pull-out, replacing windows, framing in new ones, building the pantry and making all the shelves to my specifications. It’s been a long, long road and each interruption and setback has been tough.
Now, Smuffy has handed me his beautiful cabinet doors and it’s turned me into a big chicken. My design all along (I tell him that at all times he must remember that he’s Chip and I’m JoJo), was to have antiqued creamy cabinets. I went to great lengths to get just the right paints, additives, glazes and colors to achieve the end look. I did all right through two coats of primer. I did all right through two coats of paint. Then, somehow, as soon as I got ready to antique them, nerves kicked in. How could I ugly up Smuffy’s beautiful doors?
It was all I could do to go down to the basement and smear the glaze over the perfection and start wiping it around with old rags over that pristine first door. It was as though I kept forgetting that the installed cabinets upstairs had already been antiqued and it was too late to turn back now. Duh!
There are reasons I chose antiquing. So many kitchens are what I call “hospital white”. I hope it’s a trend that ends soon. Sometimes I think way too many folks out there are working in labs or schoolrooms or medical offices and this look is seeping into their souls. Anyhow, I didn’t want that. I wanted homey. I have a working kitchen – a really working kitchen. With homecooked healthy meals every single day and all the prep for cooking demonstrations at the classes I teach, it would be hard to keep a sleek kitchen looking sleek all the time. Also, I have some things of my mom’s I’d like to use to decorate my open shelving and they’re just pretty shabby and farmy. In honor of her, I’m calling this my Emmabelle Kitchen.
As you can see in the photo, I went ahead with Door #2 and then I started to calm down. In game shows, there is something behind the door to jump up and down about. In my case, I’ll just have to wait a while longer. Smuffy keeps assuring me we are in the home stretch. I nod and sniffle. The home stretch is every bit as exhausting as the rest of this turtle race.
Just in case you’re wondering, Smuffy’s masterpieces are finished off with two coats of Benjamin Moore primer, have had a light sanding and received two coats of Benamin Moore trim paint in “Fresh Narcissus” with Floetrol added. This additive makes all the brush strokes or roller marks “melt” away. The antiquing is done by taking eight parts Benjamin Moore Studio Finish Acrylic Glaze and adding one part Benjamin Moore satin finish paint in “Devonwood Taupe. This is wiped on and then off immediately with cotton rags, leaving accents in the wood details. Two coats of Benjamin Moore polyurethane are added after glazing to restore the hard finish. Otherwise, the glaze would remain too “soft” for durable cabinetry.
I must add that in this photo, the antiqued door looks like it has much more antiquing on it that it does in actuality. There’s no explaining why photos do that sometimes.
Smuffy does more than just build things. My Life With Smuffypage is loaded with stories that will make you laugh, cause your hair to stand on end and probably bump us up to the top of your prayer list!
Leave a comment! What do you like/don’t like in your kitchen? Or, have you seen something online or in someone else’s kitchen that you’d like to have if you could remodel your kitchen? My kitchen is small. Give me your best storage tips and tricks!
My apologies for running late with this announcement. Not only did I fall behind a bit, but our winner has been under the weather (though I doubt the weather had anything to do with it) and getting it to her and getting a photo has had its challenges.
She was kind enough to snap a picture of her First Friday Freebie in its new home and send it to me, so let’s congratulate and extend get well wishes to –
Liz from Boonville, Missouri!
Liz often enters to win and has been a previous winner, so if you want to meet her, just check out all the past winners and their gifts hereon my Freebies! page.
The “Then Sings My Soul” box-style décor is a Hobby Lobbyfind and you can see the original freebie offer, here.
If you’re not yet a subscriber to Midwest Storyteller they might entice you to become one – First Friday Freebies are for email subscribers only.
Look for the subscription area. It’s easy to find on the “CONTACT” page and after subscribing, confirm your subscription when the confirmation email arrives in your inbox. If you’ve done that and not received a confirmation email, please email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com – it seems that from time to time, a subscription will get “stuck”.
Subscribing is the best way to avoid missing what’s new here on the blog because you’ll get an email reminder each time there’s something new – like when there’s a FREEBIE on the First Friday of every month.
Comment as directed on the post that offers the Freebie and you’ll be entered to win.
Freebies help me reach more people with my stories, recipes and more. When you share with all your friends via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, you’ll give them the opportunity to subscribe and win also. Subscribing is free. Freebies are free. Are you catching on this is a free thing?
Coming soon: September’s First Friday Freebie – that takes place on Friday, September 3rd. You’ll see a photo of the Freebie and you can enter to win at any point all day that day. Don’t forget to check the email that you used to subscribe for notification that you’ve won.
A winner is chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight on the day of the drawing.
ONCE AGAIN (because you tend to forget): Should your name be drawn as the winner, you will be notified via the email you used to subscribe. That means you’ll need to check your email often in the week following the drawing so that you can respond and keep the prize from being offered to someone else.
Take a moment make yourself familiar with the complete Freebie Rules by clicking HERE.
These four simple steps will have you ready to enter to win on Friday, September 3rd, 2021.
A lot of people say, “I never win anything!” I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment and tell me the best thing you’ve ever won.
Welcome to August! (I say that like I’m hosting the month personally.) Actually, I’m missing out on a lot of it due to the Big Kitchen Crunch, but that has nothing to do with Freebies unless you count the fact that it’s forcing me to do this post past my bedtime.
Yes, it’s the First Friday and that means that commenting as directed in this post will enter you to win my August Freebie. Let’s take a look at it.
This black and white wooden décor will look great on your table or tucked into a shelf. It measures 4.875” X 7.375” including the knob on top and if you’re up on your old hymns, it reminds of that famous one, “How Great Thou Art”. The little damask print bit of stenciled art at the left adds just the right touch and I think it will look great year round as well as with all your upcoming fall decorations. It’s a Hobby Lobby find, because, as you may have noticed, I can’t stay out of that place.
To enter to win the “Then Sings My Soul” décor, all you need to do is “Leave a Comment” on this post, saying just that, “Then Sings My Soul”. You’ll need to do that before midnight TONIGHT, August 6th, 2021.
NOTE: An occasional problem occurs with subscribers not receiving confirmation emails. Should this happen, email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com so that I can report it and have the issue resolved.
First Friday Freebies are for email SUBSCRIBERS ONLY, so you’ll want to subscribe over on the right sidebar or use the menu to navigate to the “Contact” page where you can subscribe to Midwest Storyteller if you haven’t done so.
I hope you get excited about winning freebies and share them and my blog stories with your friends and family through all your social media. If you like an idea, recipe or story you see here, be sure to hover over the photo and “pin it”. Help me get the word out!
On the “Freebies”page, you can see what readers have been winning every month.
A winner will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight tonight, August 6th by leaving a comment which says, “Then Sings My Soul”.
For the complete First Friday Freebie rules, click here.
Why not subscribe and confirm right now before you forget?
Summer’s winding down. Enjoy every minute of warmth and bloom.
It’s time to take a peek into the Smuffy’s secret life. By now, if you’ve kept up with every episode of “Life With Smuffy”, you probably think that he’s all daredevil and that this nature leaves little time for anything other than leaping across steep roofs, shooting the rapids and having heart-stopping encounters with motorized vehicles.
Oh, not so! There is another side to Smuffy that makes life with him equally as interesting as all the more hair-raising things. I can’t classify it as his dirty little secret, though. You see, Smuffy is clean. He’s very clean.
The casual observer may assume that this characteristic wouldn’t cause much of a stir in everyday life.
Don’t get me wrong – Smuffy is also dirty. When he is dirty, he is very, very dirty and actually enjoys a good dose of grunge. Once, on his birthday, we were unable to locate him to remind him that it was time to get ready to go out for the evening. We finally found in the compost bin. He hadn’t been able to think of a more enjoyable way of spending his birthday than cleaning it out and, having done so, to sit restfully inside in the ninety-degree heat with compost plastered to every inch of his sweaty body. It seemed to him the ideal way to pass the time.
To go hunting and smear himself with disgusting stuff that only an amorous 30-point buck would love and then haul home carcasses and attack them with knives comes as natural to him as, well…bathing. The bright side is that he does a great job of cleaning up the gore. He should have started a business – “Smuff-Pro – Like it Never Even Happened”.
Then, bathe he does! When Smuffy is finished being dirty, he is ready to be clean. Proper soaps become an issue. Subtle fragrance and texture variances can cause them to get banned from the home. When they stopped making his favorite bar soap, our world came to a standstill and he still mutters its name with a tremor of nostalgia.
After boot camp at living with this paradox, I realized I’d married a man who was a complete blending of Grizzly Adams and Felix Unger and each personality would have its high moments.
If Smuffy has a stint at taking over the kitchen, I can always tell. I find counters sopping wet, towels dripping, the whole room is wet. He has gotten all things clean – about 15 times.
I can hear you saying, “How fabulous to have a husband so helpful around the house!” Well, not that I’m going to let you live with Smuffy because he’s mine – all mine – but you might do well to imagine what that really might be like on a moment-by-moment basis.
When we first married, it didn’t take long for me to start feeling much like Ingrid Bergman in “Gaslight”. He’s not only clean – he’s tidy. Should I lay a book aside to go to the kitchen for a cup of tea, when I returned I’d search madly for the book till I questioned my own sanity and Smuffy asked what was the matter. “Oh,” he’d explain after hearing my frustration, “I thought you were finished with it so I put it back in the bookshelf.” The same thing happened with too warm slippers I’d kicked off, a watch that chafed or a hair barrette that pinched. Everything just vanished the minute I released it from my grasp. I was compensated somewhat by the fact that he smelled terrific!
I did my best to explain to Smuffy that laundry doesn’t get “done”. Laundry is like dishes. Dishes can be clean, counters shined and things put away and within seconds, someone arrives with a cup or spoon. Laundry is always but one sock away from the new pile. Yet, I felt guilty when Smuffy would start up the washing machine because he felt I’d fallen behind.
That is, until the day I discovered his secret. I’d made a concerted effort one week to get all the laundry done so that when Smuffy was home and doing his basement projects over the weekend there wouldn’t be a single thing peeking out of a basket to torment his delicate sensibilities. Of course, a sock or two, a towel and a couple of other things were tossed in by Saturday morning, but what was that in the course of life?
As Smuffy began his project day in the basement, I began to hear the usual sounds waft up the stairs. He likes to enjoy several things at once, so it’s perfectly normal (normal?) to find him down there hacking up a deer, melting wax for homemade candles, mapping out his next woodworking project while listening to the oldies or watching cooking shows all at the same time.
Suddenly, added to the symphony came the sound of the washing machine. What on earth? I went to the basement.
It’s important to stress that Smuffy had never been trained as a launderer. His mama did all domestic duties for him. He’d only entered forced servitude when Pookie came along and he needed to help out by doing things that kept me off the stairs. Though I appreciated the help, the delicates often suffered and I preferred to wash certain things myself.
“What are you washing,” I asked.
“Oh, there was some laundry in one of those baskets over there.”
“But there couldn’t have been more than three or four things. I got all caught up just so you wouldn’t have to bother with it.”
“Oh, I just thought since I was down here, I may just as well take care of it.”
I stood defeated for a moment, feeling as though all my efforts had backfired somehow and then came the revelation. I turned my gaze from the empty baskets to the man at the workbench.
“You love it, don’t you?”
Smuffy looked perplexed and gave me a “Huh?”
“You love it! You didn’t need to do any laundry and you knew it. You missed it! While you were working, you were craving the swish-swish of the washing machine and the soapy smell of clean clothes. You’re doing laundry to enhance your experience!”
Then, I saw it. The blushed cheek and the darting of the eyes told me that I had discovered the truth – Smuffy had an addiction.
Now, it may seem obvious that a person can be addicted to a lot worse things than laundry, but over time I discovered that Smuffy’s inability to keep his hands off soiled textiles led him down the road toward destruction.
Oh, the mangled bras! Oh, the scorched elastics! Oh, the irreversible bleach disasters! I tried to make a deal with Smuffy. If he must do laundry, could he please limit himself to his own work clothes so that Pookie and I could manage to have something that survived his efforts? He’d agree to terms and then, as though they were some sort of irresistible delicacy, sneak those items in with his own and render them rags. Each time, those puppy-dog brown eyes of his would look into mine and he’d profess to having been certain the item was his. It was enough to make me wonder if he had more of a secret life that I thought!
Once he managed to get hold of a pair of Pookie’s jeans she’d bought as an older teen – one of those special pair that she’d saved up her own money to buy because they were “the thing”. Convinced they were his own, he took things a step further this time. After an especially tough morning at work one day, he came in for lunch grubby and tired. As he entered the kitchen, I could tell he was disgruntled.
“Dirty job”, he muttered. “I’m pooped. And it didn’t help any that these jeans have shrunk or something. They’re so tight I could barely move, let alone work.”
I glanced at his behind. There he was, having washed and dried them, stuffed into Pookie’s “cool jeans”, convinced that anything in blue denim must be his. They were ruined and, considering the structural design of gals’ jeans, I’m surprised parts of him weren’t. No amount of TLC was going to restore those jeans to something worthy of the brand label he’d been sporting on his tushy all morning as he put them to the working man’s durability test – which they failed.
I told him he’d better buy her another pair and preached him my “Leave Our Clothing Alone” Sermon Number 843.
Pookie took the loss graciously. He’d been trying to instill in her the need to clean up and tidy up since she was a mere tot.
Once when Pookie was three years old, we returned home after being gone for most of the day. Smuffy scooped Pookie up under one arm and headed for the bathroom. Being exhausted, I headed straight for the sofa, stretched out and closed my eyes. As I lay there, I could hear the water running and Smuffy’s monologue as he took advantage of this important teaching moment to give his little one a ten-minute sermonette on how they were washing their faces and hands and why they were washing their faces and hands. Germs, he explained, were like bugs. They were nasty, icky little bugs that make you sick. You could have lots of them all over your hands and they were so tiny that you couldn’t see them, but they were still there. However, they would take all the warm water and the soap and wash all the invisible bad bugs right down the sink.
Soon after, I heard the approach of little feet and became aware that a little person had arrived and waited next to my head to see if my eyes might pop open. I tried to keep them closed in hopes that her dolls and toys might lure her into letting me rest a bit longer, but she lingered so patiently that I finally peeped one eye open to find her big blue eyes eager and concerned.
“Did you hear what Daddy said?” she asked, as if there’d been headline news.
Interested to hear her three-year-old version of it, I played along. “No, what did he say?”
Stamping her little foot, she narrowed her eyes and pinched her lips together.
“Oh! I wish you did!” came the disappointed whine. “I didn’t understand a word he said!”
All my weariness of the day washed away with my laughter over the fact that Smuffy’s germ lesson, though well-meaning and thorough, had gone right over her head and quite possibly, down the drain.
One of Smuffy’s finer moments occurred when I was out of town and I still feel a bit cheated that I missed seeing it in person. This being the first time I’d left Smuffy and Pookie to themselves for more than just overnight, I called every evening to check in. To my surprise, Pookie answered. At age six, she was not allowed to take calls yet. The fact that she answered told me immediately that something might not be quite right. Where on earth was Smuffy?
“Hello?”
“Hello! And how are you today?”
“Just fine.”
I strained to hear any background noise. Things seemed overly quiet somehow.
“Did you have a nice day today?”
“Yes.”
“Did you miss me?”
“Yes.”
“I missed you, too. Is Daddy there?”
“Yes.”
“Well, can I talk to him.”
“I’ll ask him. He’s sweeping all the bubbles out the back door.”
“Bubbles? You have bubbles?”
“We have lots of bubbles. Daddy’s got the broom.”
Smuffy made it to the phone. I asked him how he happened to be sweeping bubbles out the back door.
Always having lived by the motto that “more is better” when it comes to soap, he had decided that what our dishwasher needed was a thorough cleaning. So while it was empty, he’d given it a good dose of liquid dish soap and turned it on. The entire kitchen had filled with bubbles. He’d been doing his best to get them all out onto the deck where they could ooze through the rails and down the stairs.
The bright side is that this is probably the cleanest our kitchen’s ever been.
Oh, how I wish I’d been there! I’d have felt just like Doris Day in “The Thrill of it All” (1963). Her hubby (James Garner) got things clean, too.
Things are not so spit ‘n polished around here these days due to endless remodeling and toddler-keeping, but that, they tell me, won’t last forever. When the first is complete it will be a huge relief, but the latter will, I’m sure, make me a little sad.
It’ll be interesting to watch little Snookie take cleaning lessons from his Paw-Paw. This time, I’m recording.
My Life With Smuffy is always exciting. Read about our Smokin’ Hot Honeymoon. You’ll find, in Smuffy Takes the Cure that I did try intervention. Try his river adventures here and here for the white-knuckle type of adventure. Even on dry land, he tends to get himself into situations, so check that out here.
Are you living with a “cleany”? Oh, please do share in the comments!
If you are in the Midwest, I hope you’re a heat and humidity lover or are blessed to stay in and enjoy some air conditioning. Our air conditioning went out recently and replacement parts were never more welcome. One thing you can enjoy in this weather is a First Friday Freebie, so let’s meet the winner –
Ginger from Prairie Home, Missouri!
Congratulations, Ginger! Ginger enters to win on a regular basis so it’s no surprise that she’s happened to win more than one of my First Friday Freebies. Take a look at the inset photo and you’ll see she’s not the only one enjoying it. She used it to decorate the front door of her chicken coop and now all her “ladies” are simply cackling with delight over their new decor.
You can see all the past winners and their gifts here on my Freebies! page.
The bright red metal flower Ginger just won is a Hobby Lobby find and you can see the original freebie offer, here.
If you’re not yet a subscriber to Midwest Storyteller they might entice you to become one – First Friday Freebies are for email subscribers only.
Ginger’s been a subscriber ever since the beginning of this blog. She became one by entering her email in the subscription area here on the blog and then confirmed her subscription when the confirmation email arrived in her inbox. If you’ve done that and not received a confirmation email, please email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com – it seems that from time to time, a subscription will get “stuck”.
Subscribing is the best way to avoid missing what’s new here on the blog because you’ll get an email reminder each time there’s something new – like when there’s a FREEBIE on the First Friday of every month.
Comment as directed on the post that offers the Freebie and you’ll be entered to win.
Freebies help me reach more people with my stories, recipes and more. When you share with all your friends via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, you’ll give them the opportunity to subscribe and win also. Subscribing is free. Freebies are free. Are you catching on this is a free thing?
Coming soon: August’s First Friday Freebie – that takes place on Friday, August 6th. You’ll see a photo of the Freebie and you can enter to win at any point all day that day. Don’t forget to check the email that you used to subscribe for notification that you’ve won.
A winner is chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight on the day of the drawing.
ONCE AGAIN (because you tend to forget): Should your name be drawn as the winner, you will be notified via the email you used to subscribe. That means you’ll need to check your email often in the week following the drawing so that you can respond and keep the prize from being offered to someone else.
Take a moment make yourself familiar with the complete Freebie Rules by clicking HERE.
These four simple steps will have you ready to enter to win on Friday, August 6th, 2021.
A lot of people say, “I never win anything!” I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment and tell me the best thing you’ve ever won.
Since Smuffy shares a birthday with the greatest country on earth, things will be busy for me in the next couple of days. So, let me take this First Friday Freebie post to also wish you a Happy & Free Independence Day! (And, Happy Birthday, Smuffy!) I invite you to make this Sunday more than a great time for family and fireworks. Spend some time with those you love celebrating the real meaning of what it means to be an American and the brilliance and freedoms established and granted to us by our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. These are short documents, but do we know what’s in them? We are a country of political will and ideals that are not found anywhere else on earth.
If I may quote Ronald Reagan from a 1988 speech –
“America represents something universal in the human spirit. I received a letter not long ago from a man who said, ‘You can go to Japan to live, but you cannot become Japanese. You can go to France to live and not become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey, and you won’t become a German or a Turk.’ But then he added, ‘Anybody from any corner of the world can come to America to live and become an American.'”
I just heard some early fireworks going off outside as I finished typing that quote, as if to punctuate this truth.
Now, remembering that today is the first Friday of the month, let’s take a look at your Freebie.
This bright red metal daisy with its sunny yellow center from The Spring Shop shouts of summer and also of the fact that I’ve been roaming around Hobby Lobby again. It measures 8.75” across and is ½” deep. My first thought how this would make your garden area pop if hung on a fence. Then, I quickly realized that it would look great inside the house as well, adding a little summer to any room. Kitchen, kids’ room, porch – anywhere that bit of red to catch the eye is needed.
To enter to win the red metal daisy, all you need to do is “Leave a Comment” on this post, saying, “I love freedom and a freebie!” You’ll need to do that before midnight TONIGHT, July 2nd, 2021.
NOTE: There seems to be an occasional problem with subscribers not receiving confirmation emails. If this happens, please email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com so that I can report it and have the issue resolved.
First Friday Freebies are for email SUBSCRIBERS ONLY, so you’ll want to subscribe over on the right sidebar or use the menu to navigate to the “Contact” page where you can subscribe to Midwest Storyteller if you haven’t done so.
I love it when people enjoy my blog stories and recipes and get excited about winning freebies. Share with all your friends and family through all your social media. If you like an idea, recipe or story you see here, be sure to hover over the photo and “pin it”. Help me get the word out!
Subscribers win every single month! On the “Freebies”page, you’ll be able to see what they’ve been winning.
A winner will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight tonight, July 2nd by leaving a comment which says, “I love freedom and a freebie!”
For the complete First Friday Freebie rules, click here.
Why not subscribe and confirm right now before you forget?
Do you have special Independence Day traditions? Leave a comment and let me know how you make the day special.
June turned hot here in the Midwest and now it’s closing out as wet, wet, wet. Let’s dry off for a minute and meet the winner of June’s First Friday Freebie –
Kathy from Prairie Home, Missouri!
Congratulations, Kathy! I hope you’ve been getting good use out of your lemony freebie, perhaps while serving up some refreshing lemonade on those sweltering days.
Kathy has not only been a winner of my First Friday Freebie before, but has also been a guest here on the blog. She kindly taught me how to do wood burning and make beautiful spoons like the ones she made here and mine also became a First Friday Freebie! You can see those here, learn how we made them and find out who won them here.
I’m waiting for the word from Kathy – if she has another artsy thing to teach us, I’d love to have her share it here on the blog. She’s always doing something fascinating with found items.
The lemony kitchen set that Kathy just won are by Home Collection and you can see the original freebie offer, here.
You can see past First Friday Freebies and their winners on my Freebies! pagehere.If you’re not yet a subscriber to Midwest Storyteller they might entice you to become one – First Friday Freebies are for email subscribers only.
Kathy’s been a subscriber for a while now. She became one by entering her email in the subscription area here on the blog and then confirmed her subscription when the confirmation email arrived in her inbox. If you’ve done that and not received a confirmation email, please email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com – it seems that from time to time, a subscription will get “stuck”.
Subscribing is the best way to avoid missing what’s new here on the blog because you’ll get an email reminder each time there’s something new – like when there’s a FREEBIE on the First Friday of every month.
Comment as directed on the post that offers the Freebie and you’ll be entered to win.
Freebies help me reach more people with my stories, recipes and more. When you share with all your friends via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, you’ll give them the opportunity to subscribe and win also. Subscribing is free. Freebies are free. Are you catching on this is a free thing?
Coming soon: July’s First Friday Freebie – that takes place on Friday, July 2nd. You’ll be able to see a photo of the Freebie and enter to win at any point all day that day. Don’t forget to check the email that you used to subscribe for notification that you’ve won.
A winner is chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight on the day of the drawing.
ONCE AGAIN: Should your name be drawn as the winner, you will be notified via the email you used to subscribe. That means you’ll need to check your email often in the week following the drawing so that you can respond and keep the prize from being offered to someone else.
Take a moment make yourself familiar with the complete Freebie Rules by clicking HERE.
These four simple steps will have you ready to enter to win on Friday, July 2nd, 2021.
I’d love to hear from you, especially if anyone has any ideas about how we can divert some of this rain to parts of the country that so desperately need it right now. We are having road closures due to all the flooding and it is one soggy mess around here.
[NOTE: I openly disclose on this blog that as a certified lifestyle coach through Trim Healthy Mama, I may receive financial benefit from those who desire to enlist my services privately or in a group setting.]
I’m dedicating this post to Smuffy. I’ve lost count of the times he’s told me we really needed to rate recipes. He enjoys the food on the Trim Healthy Mama plan, but just like the rest of us, he likes some things better than others. On the other hand, some are just not his cup of tea at all. He’s been recommending for some time now that I come up with some type of rating system so that he can tick the boxes at any given meal to let me know just how well he likes what’s set before him.
I’ve found the cookbooks from Trim Healthy Mama to be fantastic. Aside from some old family favorites that already fit the plan or just needed a little tweaking, I cook almost exclusively from these books now. There have been very few that I would have given a low rating and just because I like being honest and saving you time and effort, I’ll mention just a couple. Brown Rice Crispy Treats – I followed the recipe to the letter and even I, who hate throwing anything away, had to admit they were icky and chuck them over the back fence. I’m open to suggestions from anybody who can show me how to save that recipe, but I think I’ll taste yours first. Then there was Slender Slaw – oh, dear! Perhaps it’s cultural and it’s just an Aussie thing for Serene and Pearl, but I got my exercise in on another trip to the back of the property with that one.
Then, there are the winners. There are tons of recipes in the Trim Healthy Mama cookbooks that are just fabulous! I’m addicted to Cry No More Brownies and the Superfood Mounds – oh, my goodness! Then, there are Two Minute Truffles, Dreamy Chicken Lazone, Cheeseburger Pie, Lazy Lasagna, Queso Chicken Bake. I could go on and on.
However, Smuffy says we need a system so that we can create a notebook full of winners that he’s happy to dive into any time. Did I mention the Philly Cheese Meatloaf or Melissa’s Amish Broccoli Salad or Just Like Orange Juice or The Shrinker? This is making me feel all peckish.
Anyhow, we borrowed the general idea for our rating system from one that was used at an annual benefit for the area food bank where soups are judged and the winners are awarded “golden ladles”. If I might mention it, I am the recipient of six golden ladles and my #1 favorite is a recipe I invented, Creamy Leek Soup with Chicken and Sweet Potato. In fact, that soup has won three of my golden ladles! Try it here and I dare you not to love it! There’s a free printable waiting just for you.
There are several aspects of food that determine whether or not a person will like it or even want to try it. We decided to include a ranking on a scale of 1-5 on whether or not we are pleased with each. Is the appearance pleasing? What about the aroma? How does it actually taste? Mouth feel is an important consideration, so we included a category for texture. Finally, we asked for a ranking on what we considered the greatest compliment – whether or not we’d order the dish in a restaurant.
So, thanks to Smuffy’s nudging, here’s the rating chart –
I’m including a free printable so that you can easily print these out four on a page, cut them apart and keep a stack near the table so that friends and family can have fun with the rating system and you can develop a great collection of winners. Create a notebook or just slap a sticky note on the page in the cookbook so that you know which recipes you can always fall back on.
I have a funny feeling that anything that does not score 3.5 or above on Smuffy’s card will probably be frowned upon from now on out.
Don’t forget your free printable !
Coming up, I’ll be sharing healthy recipes, letting you know how we’re rating them and providing notations concerning recipes that have already appeared on the blog and whether or not they fit the Trim Healthy Mama plan. I’ll be making recommendations from THM recipes and providing lots of information on my Food Freedom Facebook page where I’ll share THM knowledge, recipes, tips and all sorts of other goodies. Please “like” and “follow” at https://www.facebook.com/Food-Freedom-THM-Certified-Lifestyle-Coaching-100703354727086/?modal=admin_todo_tour
Most of all, Happy Eating!
Be sure to SUBSCRIBE, so you’ll receive an email reminder each time Midwest Storyteller has something new.
It seems we careened past Memorial Day and now have come to a pleasant pause with our toes on the edge of summer. There’s a freshness to this new beginning that makes me want to plan outings or just sit in the back yard chaise and watch Phoebe June chase bugs and lizards and give squirrels a piece of her mind. The planting is finished, the weeds are pulled (for a while) and blooms are popping.
A little summer citrus fits in just perfectly with the season, so let’s have a lemon First Friday Freebie!
These lemony additions to your kitchen by Home Collection are both useful and pretty. Included are two 7” potholders and a 15” X 25” microfiber dish towel. They’ll freshen up your décor with a summer feel while you’re preparing all those trim and healthy summer recipes to nourish your family. Wink! Wink!
To enter to win the lemon kitchen set, all you need to do is “Leave a Comment” on this post, saying, “I’m squeezing the best out of summer!” You’ll need to do that before midnight TONIGHT, June 4th, 2021.
NOTE: There seems to be an occasional problem with subscribers not receiving confirmation emails. If this happens, please email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com and let me know so that I can report it and have the issue resolved.
First Friday Freebies are for email SUBSCRIBERS ONLY, so you’ll want to subscribe over on the right sidebar or use the menu to navigate to the “Contact” page where you can subscribe to Midwest Storyteller if you haven’t done so.
Let’s get the word out! I love it when people enjoy my blog stories and recipes and get excited about winning freebies. Share with all your friends and family through all your social media. If you like an idea, recipe or story you see here, be sure to hover over the photo and “pin it”.
Subscribers win every single month! On the “Freebies”page, you’ll be able to see what they’ve been winning.
A winner will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight tonight, June 4th by leaving a comment which says, “I’m squeezing the best out of summer!”
After you do that, fix a lemonade, go outside and dream up your plans for a fun summer!
For the complete First Friday Freebie rules, click here.
Why not subscribe and confirm right now before you forget?
Leave a comment. What are your plans for making Summer 2021 lots more fun than last year. That’s not a very high bar to set, now is it?
My “job” keeps me hopping and a bit too busy to come up with new ways to sneak into Phoebe June’s diary without getting caught. The grandma life is sweet, but with my Sweet Boy here almost every day, I have to be sure that Phoebe June gets the attention she demands. That’s right – demands! She’s fully aware that she’s grown into her title of “Queen of All Cats”, and still prefers to spend plenty of time practicing her hunting skills (even if she has to do it by murdering catnip mice, leaping onto house flies and basement crickets and slamming me with surprise attacks). In Phoebe June’s mind, I am the other kitten in the barn loft, just waiting for the next big surprise as she spikes up her fur and advances toward me with “Let’s rumble!” written all over her face. I have the scars to prove this.
You can imagine my concern over introducing a baby to such a needy cat who thrives on rough and tumble human interaction. Should I expect jealousy? Fury? Or, perhaps most worrisome, an attitude that if Mommy loves this new critter, it must make the perfect plaything!
Well, she’s had over a year to adjust and I think Phoebe June’s handled it fairly well, considering. I thought it might be time to take a peek at some of her observations on those first days.
Monday, February 10, 2020
It arrived not long after Christmas – The Snookie. I was familiar with Pookie and she’s all right by me as long as she resists the urge to tweak my nose, but after all these months and months of talk about Snookie coming, I started to wonder if Mommy intended to trade me in for it, whatever it was. Then came the socks. They looked just my size, but Mommy stuck them on her thumbs the other day and (she’s done strange things before) massaged my cheeks! They smelled funny. She said I could expect Snookie to smell the same and that I would just adore him. Well, he showed up today, socks and all, taking up a large portion of Mommy’s lap that I required for other purposes. I jumped in and tried to be sociable even though he does smell funny. He’s got to learn – the red furry thing is mine!
Sunday, March 1, 2020
Mommy says tomorrow’s the Big Day. Snookie will be all ours – all day! She got excited and fixed his cage. He must be pretty puny if he can’t jump out of that. After festooning it all over with soapy-smelling soft stuff, she put a critter inside, smiled at it and called it Pooh. She pulled the thing on its head and the minute I heard the noise, I knew that the Pooh varmint must die. I hunkered low and went in for the kill, yanking him through the bars. Just as I was showing him what real cats are made of, Mommy said I mustn’t and put him back in the cage. She just doesn’t understand some things. I tried my best all day to murder that thing, but finally she stuck him on top of the wardrobe. I can jump up there, but she’d take it personally. I’ll bide my time.
Thursday, March 12, 2020
Sometimes the noise is almost unbearable. How Pookie stands it in the middle of the night at her house is beyond me. I get a strong feeling that Mommy wouldn’t like it much if I just popped him on the snoot when he makes that racket, so when Snookie got all fretful today, I decided to help out. I jumped up next to him and demonstrated how to self-soothe. Cats know these things. Step 1: Find the furry thing. Step 2: Give it a thorough stomping, giving care to exercise the toes and claws. Step 3: Purr very loud. Step 4: Curl up on it and konk out and stop making noise! Did he listen? No! Did he make the slightest effort? No! And so I suffer.
Friday, April 10, 2020
He isn’t always noisy. The endless snuggles Mommy gives The Snookie can really get on my nerves sometimes. She thinks he’s darling. I suppose he’s tolerable. He still smells funny, but she doesn’t seem to mind, even when he spits. I’ll forgive her for acting goofy over him today. She’s been telling him how it’s his Great-grandma Emmabelle’s birthday today and how she’s looking down at him from Heaven and loving him. All pretty drippy stuff, but that’s how Mommy is. I’ll just be glad when she gets back to snuggling me and calling me all my sappy nicknames.
Monday April 13, 2020
I have to admit, The Snookie has his moments. I’m starting to see why they take such a shine to him. Of course, he’ll never be as cute as me – he’s far too furless – but he has perked up and started to act like something I might want to play with someday. He also looks like something that’s going to try to pinch my fur. Those fists clutch at everything, including my tail if I let my guard down. There is a twinkle in his eye. He does stuff now. He moves, but I can move faster. If I stay a couple of feet away, I can study him without getting nabbed. I have a funny feeling Mommy would take his side if I had to pop him one. What worries me is that he learns a new trick every day. It’s such a relief that walking is never going to be one of them. And note the absence of any teeth – the advantages are all mine!
That’s only the beginning of Phoebe June’s observations on babies. More to come in the days ahead, so subscribe now so that you don’t miss out on what she has to say about crawlers and toddlers!.
Our Phoebe June – lovable and opinionated! “Share”, “Like” and “Pin” her thoughts and adventures with the cat-lovers in your life.
If you missed the first installments of “The Phoebe June Diaries”, you can catch up by clicking hereand here. Check out everything on her page here!
May is known for being merry and for the flowers brought on my April’s showers, but let’s not forget the First Friday Freebie. Meet the winner –
Ruby from Boonville, Missouri!
Congratulations, Ruby! Thank you for the photo and I’m glad you like the reminder that “Everything is ‘figure-out-able’”. It may not win any grammar prizes, but it does help us take a deep breath in the midst of the stuff of life and let our worries go.
Ruby has been a winner here at Midwest Storyteller before and that’s because she is faithful to enter the drawing each and every month.
This little wooden block was a Hobby Lobby find. If you’d like to see the original freebie offer, click here.
You can see past First Friday Freebies and their winners on my Freebies! pagehere.If you’re not yet a subscriber to Midwest Storyteller they might entice you to become one – First Friday Freebies are for email subscribers only.
Ruby is a long-time subscriber. All she did was enter her email in the subscription area here on the blog and then confirm her subscription when the confirmation email arrived in her inbox. If you’ve done that and not received a confirmation email, please email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com and let me know as I am trying to work out a few bugs with that. It seems that from time to time, a subscription will get “stuck”.
Subscribing is the best way to avoid missing what’s new here on the blog because you’ll get an email reminder each time there’s something new – like when there’s a FREEBIE on the First Friday of every month.
Comment as directed on the post that offers the Freebie and you’ll be entered to win.
Freebies help me reach more people with my stories, recipes and more. When you share with all your friends via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, you’ll give them the opportunity to subscribe and win also. Subscribing is free. Freebies are free. Are you catching on this is a free thing?
Coming soon: June’s First Friday Freebie in celebration of summer! That takes place on Friday, June 4th. You’ll be able to see a photo of the Freebie and enter to win at any point all day that day. Don’t forget to check the email that you used to subscribe for notification that you’ve won.
A winner is chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight on the day of the drawing.
ONCE AGAIN: Should your name be drawn as the winner, you will be notified via the email you used to subscribe. That means you’ll need to check your email often in the week following the drawing so that you can respond and keep the prize from being offered to someone else.
Take a moment make yourself familiar with the complete Freebie Rules by clicking HERE.
These four simple steps will have you ready to enter to win on Friday, June 4th, 2021.
I can only hope that June in your neck of the woods is as beautiful as it is here right now. Perfect temperatures, lush greenery and beautiful blooms are all around.
I knew it was bound to happen sooner or later. There would come a month that I would go straight from First Friday to First Friday with nary a post in between. All I can say about this regrettable situation is that this is what happens when your daily charge is 16 months old, walking and talking and it’s also weed pulling/planting time. I had loads of fun this week, but most of it was spent as being Lil’ Snookie’s on-demand playmate. I didn’t bother to count, but today it felt like we played 4,672 games of “Pi!” (his way of saying “Surprise!”). This involves running around to opposite sides of the bed, ducking down, popping up with hands in the air to say “Pi!” and then ducking back down to crawl/toddle around the end of the bed where we meet to giggle and tussle.
One of us is thrilled to no end with this and the other is overwhelmed by the cuteness but not getting to the computer to be much of a storyteller. My apologies, but I’m not gonna quit my day job.
Oh, well, as my mother used to say, it’ll all come out in the wash.
I love the sayings people have that serve as a reminder to shrug off worry. The Scriptures tell us not to worry about tomorrow because each day has enough troubles of its own. How true! Worrying today about tomorrow only piles more troubles onto a day that already is bound to have its own share of ups and downs.
At various times when I listen to the Trim Healthy Mama podcast, I’ve heard Serene and Pearl share that their mother often says, “Things come and things go” when asked about life’s difficulties.
Perhaps it’s weed-pulling season that brings these sayings to mind, for it does give me time to ponder and pluck up not only the weeds from the ground, but weedy worries from my mind. The beauty of spring helps with that – everything’s starting over.
That’s why this month’s First Friday Freebie caught my eye. I thought it might serve as a great reminder to one of my special readers who needs to pluck up some worries and toss them out.
This inspirational table or shelf décor will help you do just that. While I’m not sure that absolutely everything is figure-out-able (because there are just some things we are not meant to know), I love this saying. It’s another phrase that will stick in your head to remind you that your sticky situation is going to go just as it came, or come out in the final wash or you’re going to be granted a solution. The wood block from The Spring Shop is one of my Hobby Lobby finds and measures 4” X 3”, so it will tuck in perfectly amongst your other décor. The white lettering and painted floral accent bring the message with a hint of summer.
To enter to win the “Everything is Figure-out-able” wood block, all you need to do is “Leave a Comment” on this post, saying, “This may be the best day ever!” You’ll need to do that before midnight TONIGHT, May 7th, 2021!
NOTE: There seems to be an occasional problem with subscribers not receiving r confirmation emails. If this happens, please email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com and let me know so that I can report it and have the issue resolved.
First Friday Freebies are for email SUBSCRIBERS ONLY, so you’ll want to subscribe over on the right sidebar or use the menu to navigate to the “Contact” page where you can subscribe to Midwest Storyteller if you haven’t done so.
Help me get the word out so that more people can enjoy the stories, recipes, laughter and, of course, the FREEBIES here on the blog, too, so share with all your friends and family through all your social media. If you like an idea, recipe or story you see here, be sure to hover over the photo and “pin it”.
Subscribers win every single month! On the “Freebies”page, you’ll be able to see what they’ve been winning.
A winner will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight tonight, May 7th by leaving a comment which says, “This may be the best day ever!” After you do that, you can go out and have fun, smell the flowers, pluck a weed or two and toss them out with your troubles. It’s spring! Sow a little positivity.
For the complete First Friday Freebie rules, click here.
Those four steps are simple and quick! Why not subscribe and confirm right now before you forget?
How are you enjoying this most beautiful month of the year? What new things and old favorites are you growing in you garden? I’d love it if you’d share in the comments.
If you’ve been a regular here at Midwest Storyteller, you can’t help but be familiar with April’s winner of my First Friday Freebie. I was so happy to send it on its way to –
Diane Yates in Lake Alfred, Florida!
Congratulations, Diane! I hope you enjoy this little birdie as you stroll along your garden path.
Diane has made previous appearances here on the blog. She’s a fellow writer and great friend and I know that some of you have either won as a freebie or purchased one of her great books. You can find them all at dianeyates.com
If you missed my interview with Diane, check it out here.
This garden pick by Spring Shop was a Hobby Lobby find. I love a great excuse to visit that store (as you can probably tell). If you’d like to see the original freebie offer, click here.
You can see past First Friday Freebies and their winners on my Freebies! pagehere.If you’re not yet a subscriber to Midwest Storyteller they might entice you to become one – First Friday Freebies are for email subscribers only.
Diane entered her email in the subscription area here on the blog and then confirmed her subscription when the confirmation email arrived in her inbox. If you’ve done that and not received a confirmation email, please email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com and let me know as I am trying to work out a few bugs with that. It seems that from time to time, a subscription will get “stuck”.
Subscribing is the best way to avoid missing what’s new here on the blog because you’ll get an email reminder each time there’s something new – like when there’s a FREEBIE on the First Friday of every month.
Comment as directed on the post that offers the Freebie and you’ll be entered to win.
Freebies help me reach more people with my stories, recipes and more. When you share with all your friends via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, you’ll give them the opportunity to subscribe and win also. Subscribing is free. Freebies are free. Are you catching on this is a free thing?
Coming soon: May’s First Friday Freebie! That takes place on Friday, May 7th. You’ll be able to see a photo of the Freebie and enter to win at any point all day that day. Don’t forget to check the email that you used to subscribe for notification that you’ve won.
A winner is chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight on the day of the drawing.
ONCE AGAIN: Should your name be drawn as the winner, you will be notified via the email you used to subscribe. That means you’ll need to check your email often in the week following the drawing so that you can respond and keep the prize from being offered to someone else.
Take a moment make yourself familiar with the complete Freebie Rules by clicking HERE.
These four simple steps will have you ready to enter to win on Friday, May 7th, 2021. And, by the way, welcome to the most beautiful month of the year! Well, at least if you live in the Midwest.
That was yesterday. And I didn’t play a prank on anybody, although I did have a really good laugh at Smuffy’s expense, but that’s a story for another day.
April has arrived and I’m so excited. March consisted of winter, false spring, scenes from Wuthering Heights, Spring Glimmer, See One Bloom and Dance Day, followed by Curly Girl Wind Alert Week and then Sunny Winter. April, though often rainy, brings a slight reduction in meteorological mood swings. (Except for those tornadoes and we try not to think about those.)
And, of course, it brings to those who are subscribers of Midwest Storyteller, a First Friday Freebie! Today’s the day, so let’s look at what you can enter to win –
This garden pick by The Spring Shop is yet another great Hobby Lobby find. It will not only add some whimsy and color to your flower bed or pot, but also a faint tinkle should the wind set the little bell in motion. A cute little bird and red flower adorn this metal pick and will draw the eye to whatever plants you want to accent.
To enter to win the bird and bell garden pick, all you need to do is “Leave a Comment” on this post, saying, “Let’s get outside!” You’ll need to do that before midnight TONIGHT, April 2nd, 2021!
NOTE: There seems to be an occasional problem here on the blog with subscribers not receiving their confirmation email. If this happens, please email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com and let me know so that I can report these instances and have the issue resolved.
First Friday Freebies are for email SUBSCRIBERS ONLY, so you’ll want to subscribe over on the right sidebar or use the menu to navigate to the “Contact” page where you can subscribe to Midwest Storyteller if you haven’t done so.
Your friends will enjoy the stories, recipes, laughter and, of course, the FREEBIES here on the blog, too, so share with all your friends and family through all your social media. If you like an idea, recipe or story you see here, be sure to hover over the photo and “pin it”.
Subscribers win every single month! On the “Freebies” page, you’ll be able to see what they’ve been winning.
A winner will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight tonight, April 2nd by leaving a comment which says, “Let’s get outside!” After that, please, go outside!
For the complete First Friday Freebie rules, click here.
Those four steps are simple and quick! Why not subscribe and confirm right now before you forget?
Much more important that this being Freebie Day, it is Good Friday (or God’s Friday). I pray all the blessings upon you that the Messiah gave His life on this day to bestow upon you. Spend these Holy Days with your family and enjoy one another. Sunday for us is the grandest, happiest day of the whole year as we celebrate that fact that the tomb was found empty and Jesus is ALIVE!
Comments? How are you celebrating this glorious weekend? I’d love it if you’d share.
Disclaimer: Lest you think this drawing is rigged, I hereby announce that this is a first in my First Friday Freebie world.
Our February winner is also our March winner! Let’s meet the two-in-a-row winner –
Christine in Boonville, Missouri!
Congratulations, Christine! Christine has certainly found out that it pays to subscribe and then enter to win – maybe not early, but certainly often. Thanks so much for sending me this photo.
This adorable bunny pillow cover is a great Hobby Lobby find that will bring Christine’s décor right into the spirit of spring. If you’d like to see the original freebie offer, click here. If you’d like to see what Christine won last month, click here.
You can see past First Friday Freebies and their winners on my Freebies! pagehere.If you’re not yet a subscriber to Midwest Storyteller they might entice you to become one – First Friday Freebies are for email subscribers only.
Christine entered her email in the subscription area here on the blog and then confirmed her subscription when the confirmation email arrived in her inbox. If you’ve done that and not received a confirmation email, please email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com and let me know as I am trying to work out a few bugs with that. It seems that from time to time, a subscription will get “stuck”.
Subscribing is the best way to avoid missing what’s new here on the blog because you’ll get an email reminder each time there’s something new – like when there’s a FREEBIE on the First Friday of every month.
Comment as directed on the post that offers the Freebie and you’ll be entered to win.
Freebies help me reach more people with my stories, recipes and more. When you share with all your friends via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, you’ll give them the opportunity to subscribe and win also. Subscribing is free. Freebies are free. Are you catching on this is a free thing?
Coming soon: April’s First Friday Freebie! That takes place on Friday, April 2nd. You’ll be able to see a photo of the Freebie and enter to win at any point all day that day. Don’t forget to check the email that you used to subscribe for notification that you’ve won.
A winner is chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight on the day of the drawing.
REMEMBER: Should your name be drawn as the winner, you will be notified via the email you used to subscribe. That means you’ll need to check your email often in the week following the drawing so that you can respond and keep the prize from being offered to someone else.
Take a moment make yourself familiar with the complete Freebie Rules by clicking HERE.
These four simple steps will have you ready to enter to win on Friday, April 2nd, 2021. No foolin’!
March can be cold. It can be dank. It can be way too windy. We shall see what the rest of the month brings here in the Midwest, because March has certainly come in like a lamb so far. Glorious days with just a light jacket or no jacket at all have been perfect for getting outside again. It makes you feel almost as happy and carefree as if you’d just won a First Friday Freebie! That’s something to relish in case it decides to go out like a lion.
Winnie the Pooh observed that no one – not even Eeyore – could be un-cheered by a balloon. I feel the same way about bunnies and tulips, so cheer up and enter to win –
This 16” spring pillow cover made me just a little sad, however, but only because there was only one and I wanted one for myself as well. As I wrench it from my grasping fingers, I declare today that it’s all yours! The cute, brown bunny amidst the eye-popping tulips in all their various spring colors should go wonderfully with any décor that needs that added spring touch. (Note: Pillow not included.) A handy zipper along the bottom edge allows you to slip it on over one of your other pillows for the season. My pillow in the photo was less than 16″, so you can fatten up your bunny more with a bigger, puffier one.
To enter to win the bunny pillow cover, all you need to do is “Leave a Comment” on this post, saying, “Spring is my thing!” You’ll need to do that before midnight TONIGHT, March 5th, 2021!
NOTE: There seems to be an occasional problem here on the blog with people trying to subscribe and not receiving their confirmation email. If this has happened to you, please email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com and let me know so that I can report all these instances and have the issue resolved.
First Friday Freebies are for email SUBSCRIBERS ONLY, so hop on over to the right sidebar or use the menu to navigate to the “Contact” page and subscribe to Midwest Storyteller if you haven’t done so.
Your friends will enjoy the stories, recipes, laughter and, of course, the FREEBIES here on the blog, too, so share with all your friends and family through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest.
Subscribers win every single month! On the “Freebies”page, you’ll be able to see what they’ve been winning.
A winner will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight tonight, March 5th by leaving a comment which says, “Spring is my thing!”
The complete First Friday Freebie rules are found here.
Those four steps are simple and quick! Why not subscribe and confirm right now before you forget?
Enjoy this month that carries the promise of spring! Many scientific studies have been done on the benefits of humans being outdoors. Most of us probably didn’t need science to tell us that. Our own common sense and instinct tell us to get out and enjoy creation. The benefits of deep breathing, walking, “grounding” yourself by wiggling your bare toes in the grass are all a part of restoring our physical and psychological well-being after going through the long winter months.
My tulips are up! So are my hyacinths! That goes a long way toward making me feel like God’s in His heaven and all’s right with the world, even if I don’t spy any snails and thorns.
Comments? I’d love to hear what’s pushing its way through the earth in the place you call home.
My February Freebie got all caught up in the snow, snow and more snow, which had me confined more than usual. Once things finally cleared up, I was able to get it to the winner –
Christine in Boonville, Missouri!
Congratulations, Christine! Enjoy your gift and thank you for subscribing and entering to win.
If you’d like to find out what’s inside the cute, sparkly box Christine is holding, see the original freebie offer here.
You can see past First Friday Freebies and their winners on my Freebies! pagehere.If you’re not yet a subscriber to Midwest Storyteller they might entice you to become one – First Friday Freebies are for email subscribers only.
Christine entered her email in the subscription area here on the blog and then confirmed her subscription when the confirmation email arrived in her inbox. If you’ve done that and not received a confirmation email, please email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com and let me know as I am trying to work out a few bugs with that.
Subscribing is the best way to avoid missing what’s new here on the blog because you’ll get an email reminder each time there’s something new – like when there’s a FREEBIE on the First Friday of every month.
Comment as directed on the post that offers the Freebie and you’ll be entered to win.
Freebies help me reach more people with my stories, recipes and more. When you share with all your friends via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, you’ll give them the opportunity to subscribe and win also. Subscribing is free. Freebies are free. Get the idea?
Coming up: March’s First Friday Freebie! That takes place on Friday, March 5th. You’ll be able to see a photo of the Freebie and enter to win all day that day. Don’t forget to check the email that you used to subscribe for notification that you’ve won.
A winner is chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight on the day of the drawing.
REMEMBER: Should your name be drawn as the winner, you will be notified via the email you used to subscribe. That means you’ll need to check your email often in the week following the drawing so that you can respond and keep the prize from being offered to someone else.
Take a moment make yourself familiar with the complete Freebie Rules by clicking HERE.
These four simple steps will have you ready to enter to win on Friday, March 5th, 2021.
Are you ready to hop into spring? March’s Freebie will put you in the mood!
January is bitter and devoid of Christmas. March is raw, teasing with its two or three nice days and threatening to never end. But February? Right spang in the middle of it, its redeeming quality, Valentine’s Day, comes to brighten up what would appear to be just another set of footprints plodding through the snow and slush till spring. It doesn’t hurt that chocolate usually enters the picture, too!
While I had no way of sending you chocolates and my little Sweetheart Valentine has kept me from getting a homemade set of Valentine cards made for you, I do have a bit of cheery bling to offer.
Take a look –
This beautiful pendant on a 28”-30” gold-tone chain followed me home. It’s from Accessory Connection and I just loved all the movement in the tortoiseshell pieces hanging from the black faceted embellishment, not to mention the detail in the chain that adds the extra sparkle.
To enter to win the pendant and chain as a Valentine for yourself or for someone you love, all you need to do is “Leave a Comment” on this post, saying, “Be My Valentine, Midwest Storyteller!” You’ll need to do that before midnight TONIGHT, February 5th, 2021!
NOTE: There seems to be a problem here on the blog with people trying to subscribe and not receiving their confirmation email. If this has happened to you, please email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com and let me know so that I can report all these instances and have the issue solved.
First Friday Freebies are for email SUBSCRIBERS ONLY, so hop on over to the right sidebar or use the menu to navigate to the “Contact” page and subscribe to Midwest Storyteller if you haven’t done so.
Your friends will enjoy the stories, recipes, laughter and, of course, the FREEBIES here on the blog, too, so share with all your friends and family through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest.
Subscribers win every single month! On the “Freebies”page, you’ll be able to see who they are and what they’ve been winning.
A winner will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight tonight by leaving a comment which says, “Be My Valentine, Midwest Storyteller!”
Take advantage of this “month of love” by sending some Valentines! I know, I know, it gets all commercialized, but you must admit, we don’t spend enough time telling friends and family how much we love and appreciate them. Let’s let all the commercialism serve as a nudge. The simplest note or a treat wrapped in red tissue is all it takes to make someone feel special
Subscribe now if you haven’t already, and confirm in your email before you forget! (See note above concerning subscription issues.)
I type this at the end of a raw, blustery day. Is that the distant call of spring I hear? Never mind, I think it’s the Roomba.
Comments or questions? Share some of your simple ideas for making someone feel loved and appreciated on Valentine’s Day.
I’m excited to announce the winner of January’s First Friday Freebie. Sometimes my Freebies have to take a little journey to arrive at their new home.
This one did do some traveling – all the way to –
Janine in Rochester, New York!
Congratulations, Janine! Enjoy your goodies and thank you for subscribing and entering to win.
If you’d like to see the original freebie offer, check it out here.
You can see past First Friday Freebies and their winners on my Freebies! pagehere. If you’re not yet a subscriber to Midwest Storyteller they might entice you to become one – First Friday Freebies are for email subscribers only.
Janine entered her email in the subscription area here on the blog and then confirmed her subscription when the confirmation email arrived in her inbox. If you’ve done that and not received a confirmation email, please email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com and let me know as I am trying to work out a few bugs with that.
Subscribing is the best way to avoid missing what’s new here on the blog because you’ll get an email reminder each time there’s something new – like when there’s a FREEBIE on the First Friday of every month.
Comment as directed on the post that offers the Freebie and you’ll be entered to win.
Freebies are my way of reaching more people with the stories, recipes and more. When you share with all your friends via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, you’ll give them the opportunity to subscribe and win also. Subscribing is free. Freebies are free. Get the idea?
Coming up: February’s First Friday Freebie! That takes place on Friday, February 5th. You’ll be able to see a photo of the Freebie and enter to win all day that day. Don’t forget to check your email for the reveal.
A winner is chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight on the day of the drawing.
REMEMBER: Should your name be drawn as the winner, you will be notified via the email you used to subscribe. That means you’ll need to check your email often in the week following the drawing so that you can respond and keep the prize from being offered to someone else.
Take a moment make yourself familiar with the complete Freebie Rules by clicking HERE.
These four simple steps will have you ready to enter to win on Friday, February 5th, 2021.
Preparing to say “Happy Valentine’s Day“ to someone special? You can keep this Freebie for yourself – or maybe not!
This recipe has been updated and I am reposting it to better help those who are on the Trim Healthy Mama plan. Of course, since it’s the best soup I’ve ever made, anybody is going to love it!
While it’s still soup weather… Well, it’s soup weather somewhere, I suppose. Here in the Midwest, weather gets wonderfully weird. When I first posted this soup recipe, a nearby town had just set a record a few days ago when the temperature hit seventy-eight degrees in February! That’s weird. That’s wonderful! So many areas of the country received winter’s full blast while we were just – chilly. It has to get mighty warm for us to give up on nourishing, yummy soups at our house, though.
This soup was born of necessity – and that’s another post for another day. Having taken yet another serious step forward in improving my food choices, I’d adapted many of my old recipes into grain-free, sugar-free versions. One day, oozing with inspiration and having one of those “if I were the perfect soup, what would I be like?” mind excursions, I hatched a plan. It must have been one of my super-duper, genius, over-the-top, brainy days, because after a trip to the store and a little time at the stove, I rolled my eyes and patted myself on the back. All my past kitchen flops had been compensated for and I knew I had a winner.
I needed a winner. I had a reputation to uphold. At a local church sponsored Souper Bowl of Sharing, soups are judged and the top-rated soups receive the coveted “Golden Ladles”. I’d received three consecutive Golden Ladles, so why not go for a fourth? Besides, all proceeds go to the area food bank. They deserve a great soup, right?
My own high praise of this soup comes to you from a life-long sweet-tater-hater. I’ve only embraced the rock-hard, ugly roots in the last few years. I think it happened during a daring restaurant experience when I lost my head, blurting out, “I’ll have some of those sweet potato fries.” I’ve been experimenting with them ever since.
I filled my slow cooker with a triple batch of this soup and, yes, I took home another golden ladle!
So many people have asked me for this recipe. I think you’ll love it. If you can’t have dairy, I weep for you. However, I did have a good friend tell me that she made substitutions in the soup due to her dietary restrictions and not only was it yummy, but her husband said it was the best soup he ever had in his life.
A few notes before we start –
1. If you haven’t worked with leeks, they look like giant green onions. However, their onion-y taste is delightfully delicate! They pick up a lot of sand and grit while growing, though, which is why the recipe says to halve lengthwise. This will enable you to fan the layers apart and rinse all the dirt out. Then, just pull all the layers back together, lay flat side down and slice into thin ribbons. Use all the white part and a good portion of the green, but not any parts that look extra tough. The green parts will soften well during cooking.
2. I place the chicken in my slow cooker or a large skillet, season it with salt & pepper, and cook on LOW for a while ahead of making the soup. (Your chicken will be tough if cooked too fast.) When it’s thoroughly cooked, I place it on a cutting board and use one of the handy-dandy Pampered Chef dealy-bobs featured in the photo below.. It shreds it to perfection in no time! I get my Pampered Chef items here. If you don’t have one, just slice across the grain, then pull apart.
3. Do not confuse sweet potatoes with white potatoes when it comes to cooking time. Cubed sweet potatoes cook FAST! The best way I’ve found is to take a large knife and slice off a 1/2″ slab. Then, turn the sweet potato over onto the flat surface you’ve created and slice the whole thing into more 1/2″ slabs. Stack a few together, cut into 1/2″ strips (like French fries) and then into cubes. Sweet potatoes are solid and difficult to cut when raw, but don’t let them fool you. Once cubed and put into the boiling broth, I’d advise giving them the taste test after about five minutes. In case just reading this instruction wore you out, check your supermarket for frozen bags of cubed sweet potatoes. One bag is just about right for this recipe and you can just dump them right into the boiling broth. Not all stores carry these, so grab them when you see them.
4. I invented “Faux-broth” as a substitute for chicken broth one day when none of the stores nearby had chicken broth without sugar in it. Again, I let my mind wander. (It’s not always dangerous.) I threw together a series of things that I would have used if I were seasoning, for instance, a chicken for roasting. I feel a little silly, I must say, for sharing a recipe for water with herbs in it, but I’ve used it over and over again. Anyhow, if you’re out of broth, this “flavored water” will get you by in a pinch. The first time you make this soup, I’d advise using real chicken broth. Then, you’ll know how it’s meant to taste. (That’s what I used for the soup contest – and I won – I’m just sayin’.)
OK – Let’s make AWESOME, prize-winning soup! And, don’t get your under-drawers in a bunch over the butter and heavy cream. Fat doesn’t make you fat – dual fueling your body does. This soup is a satisfying “S Helper”. Besides, as I often tell Smuffy – nobody’s forcing you to eat four bowls.
Let me restate a portion of my disclaimer. (See the sidebar for the whole thing.) It is my promise to properly disclose any items which may have been given to me for consideration, are sponsored, or contain affiliate links. Some links on my site may be affiliate links for which I could receive a commission for your click-through and/or purchase. I only feature brands and companies that I have used and genuinely love. All opinions are completely my own. As a THM Certified Lifestyle Coach, I do, at times, receive monetary compensation for these services.
Below the recipe, you’ll find a link to a free printable which includes both the soup and the faux broth.
Creamy Leek Soup with Chicken & Sweet Potato
1 large leek, halved lengthwise & cleaned well, then sliced into 1/8″ ribbons
1/4 cup butter
1 to 1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts or thighs, seasoned, cooked & shredded.
2 medium sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2 ” cubes (or one 10 ounce bag of frozen cubed sweet potatoes)
2 cups chicken broth (with NO sugar)
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon (or more) mineral salt
In a medium skillet, cook & stir leeks in butter until very soft over medium heat.
Meanwhile, bring broth (or faux broth) to a boil. Add cubed sweet potatoes. Return to a boil, reduce heat and simmer till just tender (around 5 minutes). Add leeks (with butter), cooked chicken, salt and heavy cream to the pot. Heat thoroughly.
Great with fresh, THM-friendly “FP” biscuits & a salad with “S” or “FP” dressing! Makes 7-8 cups.
Enjoy the awesomeness!
A word of caution about food safety: If the grateful recipients of your awesome soup present you with a Golden Ladle, examine it carefully. You might want to keep it “just for show”. I’m highly suspicious of the spray paint job on mine!
Don’t forget your two-for-one free printable! If you’d like for your faux-broth to be smooth (minus the visible bits of herb), you can always put your dry herbs in a small processor and spin until powdery.
Questions? Comments? If you make the soup, let me know how you liked it! Any fabulous healthy recipes you’ve invented on a brainy day?
More “Golden Ladle Winners” coming up, so be sure to SUBSCRIBE!
I fully disclose that as a Certified Lifestyle Coach I do, at times, receive monetary compensation as such. See The Fine Print on the “About Me” page of this blog.
Here we are, Dear Readers, over halfway through January 2021. So far, I’d venture to guess that most of you who sighed with relief at midnight on December 31, 2020 are just a shade disappointed.
Having mentored people with their health for years and being an avid observer of human nature, I think all we have to do is turn on the news lately and within thirty seconds we’ve decided we’ve had our fill of human nature.
In January, you’ve probably observed a common occurrence in either your own life or someone else’s. We muddle along through the holidays, stressed and for most of us, over-blessed, promising ourselves that, come January 1st, things will be different. “Enough of this nonsense”, you say, vowing to lose weight, get organized, take better care of yourself, serve your community more, keep in closer contact with the ones you love – the list goes on and on, doesn’t it?
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again – I can’t fathom why they ever designated January 1st as the beginning of the new year! It makes no sense, at least for the Northern Hemisphere. Just when the Good Lord offered us hibernation time and a nice, long rest, the calendar screams at us to jump up, get going and conquer the world and all our shortcomings. Oh, please!
Would anyone like to join my movement to have the new year moved to the first day of spring so that we could all get a little more excited about it? I know, I know, it’s a brilliant idea! That’s probably why people in high places never thought of it.
Anyhow, here we are and we seem to be stuck with it for now. This brings me back to my original question: “How’s that workin’ for ‘ya?
One thing I stress in lifestyle coaching throughTrim Healthy Mamais the concept of “tip-toeing in”. I would far rather see someone read a couple of chapters in the Trim Healthy Mama Plan book then choose three simple recipes to fit the plan that they can make in the coming week than I would to see them do a complete pantry makeover, call a family meeting on how things will change and then wear themselves out making sure every bite that goes into their mouth is perfect!
Speaking of perfect bites, let me pause to point out that “sticking to plan” with THM does not equal suffering, as evidenced by this beauty I made last week!
“Loaded Philly Cheese Meatloaf”, page 216 Trim Healthy Table, declared by Smuffy to be the best meatloaf I’ve ever fed him.
Here’s a little nugget to chew on. Repentance is better than goals. Goals involve setting a bar and then trying to measure up to it. Repentance simply involves realizing the road you are traveling is headed in the wrong direction, then turning around and going the opposite way – to a better place. (See how I did that – I’m so clever – note the heading of this blog.)
I want you to feel blessed today and not condemned. If you’re halfway through January and all those new leaves you vowed to turn over are still stuck together, just take a deep breath, take another step on the right path and find joy on the way to a better place. Then, perhaps when someone asks, “How’s that workin’ for ‘ya?”, you won’t have to hang your head and sigh.
If you’re wanting to make your journey with Trim Healthy Mama joyful, choose three recipes that fit the plan and make those this week. Ask yourself some questions about the rest of your meals and snacks and make sensible tweaks. Let 2021 take you to a better place step by step.
I like to make out a menu plan on weekends, but I only plan out four items. I enjoy my “pleasant ruts”, so I already know what breakfasts will probably consist of. I share complete weekly menus in my coaching sessions, but I’ve been on the plan long enough that lots of meals are “freestyle” now.
I thought you might like to see what a recent plan included. We have our main meal at lunch because that’s what Smuffy prefers and supper is freestyle. You’ll have your own plan for your own household.
I take it for granted that each of these main dishes will be served up with quick-fix non-starchy veggies, salads and other sides and that snacks are ready to grab.
If you need support in your journey, head to the Contact Me page and let me know. I’ll give you all the info on group sessions and private coaching, which can be done in person or by phone. Share with friends and let’s see how many are ready to get Trim & Healthy!
For info on getting started and a few questions you can ask yourself about getting started, click here. For coaching pricing, click here.
It’s a great way to come out of social distancing a better person.
Have the events of the last several months caused you to re-think how you are fueling your body so that you can build your immune system? Leave a comment and tell me your thoughts.
It’s 2021! May I be the first to wish you a Happy New Year! And a healthy one! And a normal one!
The first Friday of the month can sneak up on you if it falls on the first day of the month. It can really sneak up on you if it also falls on the first day of the year!
Let’s get to the good stuff so you can get on with your New Year’s Day celebrations or, as I prefer to call it, National Jammie Day. Just leave those warm snugglies on and do whatever you feel like today. After all, you have 364 more days to be busy and stressed and overloaded.
Just don’t neglect one thing – enter to win January’s First Friday Freebie!
This 6 ½” X 3” hanging wooden sign is a rustic reminder of what really matters during the months ahead. After all we’ve seen happen in 2020 (much of which we never thought possible), we truly need to learn to simplify, to be grateful for what we do have and, most of all, to allow ourselves to dream and hope for better days ahead. Along with the sign, you’ll receive a package of three scented sachets for your home from Lifescapes. The Sea Salt & Driftwood scent will make your home as fresh as the new year. I know this is the time when many of us promise ourselves we’ll de-clutter and get reorganized and whether it is drawers, closets or office space, a little scent gives an added boost to our moods and our sense of accomplishment.
To enter to win the sign and sachets, all you need to do is “Leave a Comment” on this post, saying, “Happy New Year, Midwest Storyteller!” You’ll need to do that before midnight TONIGHT, January 1st, 2021!
NOTE: There seems to be a problem here on the blog with people trying to subscribe and not receiving their confirmation email. If this has happened to you, please email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com and let me know so that I can report all these instances and have the issue solved.
First Friday Freebies are for email SUBSCRIBERS ONLY, so hop on over to the right sidebar or use the menu to navigate to the “Contact” page and subscribe to Midwest Storyteller if you haven’t done so.
Your friends will enjoy the stories, recipes, laughter and, of course, the FREEBIES here on the blog, too, so share with all your friends and family through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest.
Subscribers win every single month! On the “Freebies” page, you’ll be able to see what they’ve been winning.
Once again, a winner will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight tonight by leaving a comment which says, “Happy New Year, Midwest Storyteller!”
I know you stayed up too late last night, but don’t let your grogginess keep you from entering right now. Subscribe now if you haven’t already, and confirm in your email before you forget! (See note above concerning subscription problems.)
Is the earth spinning faster than it used to? We’re going to turn around and find out it’s Valentine’s Day and wonder how that happened.
Comments or questions? I’d love to hear how you’re going to make even the smallest shifts in your life in 2021 to Live Simply. Be Grateful. Dream Big.
I’m here today to commiserate with those of you who may be thinking that The Most Wonderful Time of the Year always seems to have some small slip-up that knocks a bit of the sparkle off.
I suppose is happens to us all, but once you become a repeat offender, you tend to get somewhat of a reputation. Family members in attendance at gift-opening time are known to ask outright if one of their gifts happens to be from last year. Or, they lean forward with a raised eyebrow and inquire, “Are you sure that’s all?”
They’re not greedy. They’re just offering me an opportunity to right my wrongs. I take a little comfort in the fact that, though this seemingly unshakable tendency of mine irritates me to no end and adds to the general mirth at the festive gathering, at least it’s not dangerous. Unlike Smuffy, no matter how many times this has happened to me, I never run the risk of being drowned, impaled or dismembered. So far.
Are you ready for my Christmas confession? Are you longing to learn of my annual downfall?
I am a lover of gift-giving! My brain is an idea factory! I am a super-shopper and, most of all, I am a master-hider! My skills at the latter are my nemesis, however. All year long, I scrounge, I create, I store up and I stash. I make lists of things I’ve bought, want to buy, want to make and need to assemble and still lack parts. I am in my element at thrift stores, garage sales, online, clearance aisles, craft stores and, yes, retail establishments.
I blame it on the house. Limited storage causes me to scatter my treasures to the four corners, layer them between other stashed away items and wiggle them into cubbyholes already occupied by other items which then serve as camouflage.
Then, the tree goes up. Then, wrapping begins. Amid oven timers and cooling racks, when everyone’s backs are turned, out come all my treasures to be boxed, wrapped and fancied up with hand-made bows. Except one.
I always miss ONE!
Smuffy’s been known to receive a cozy cardigan in May when I’m on a closet cleaning binge. Poor Pookie has learned that she, too, is likely to be handed something in mid-summer that was intended for the Christmas stocking. This has been going on for more years than I care to count. I swore I’d turn over a new leaf when I got a son-in-law, but he’s been around long enough now that when I handed him his last gift this year, he smiled and asked if I was sure about that.
A grandchild is on the scene now, causing me to repent afresh and overcome this tendency. Leaving out something intended for Little Snookie would be unpardonable!
I’ve been known to misplace a paper list. This year, I installed a new app in my phone to help me list each family member and each gift. I had my act together. I cleaned out one spot and one spot only and collected my stash there. I did all the wrapping at once and checked it off again on my phone.
Ah! Christmas went like a dream. I took all the ribbing with a smile, informing everyone that I was 99.9% sure that there wasn’t a single thing that didn’t make it into a stocking or under the tree.
Then, it happened. Christmas festivities wound to a close. The house seemed strangely quiet – too much so – as the car pulled away with Pookie and her loves, leaving Smuffy and me (and Phoebe June and several bags of paper and cardboard boxes). I went into the entryway, checked the front door and turned out the light.
As I turned around, thinking nothing was the matter, what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a tuft of tissue amid red and green over there. For behind the TV there sat a small bag. I rolled my eyes and felt my shoulders sag. I knew what it was – there was no denying. I merely chuckled, walked past and refused to start crying.
Pookie will love it! She’ll think it’s just right – when I place The Un-given Gift into her hands tonight!
I know exactly what happened. It was small and easily crushable under the tree with all those bigger gifts. That little bag would be safer tucked away just behind the edge of the TV. Well, wouldn’t it?
What can I say? It’s a tradition.
Happy New Year! May you change the things you can and learn to laugh about the things you can’t.
Any true Christmas confessions? Just leave those in the comments. I can’t be the only one. Can I? Hello? Hello? Anybody out there?
Subscribe so you don’t miss out! If you haven’t taken the deep dive into my “Life with Smuffy”, you really don’t know what you’re missing, so check it out along with the fun things on myLaugh! page.
Make someone smile. Share this post via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and by all means, “Pin it”!
December has gone by in a blur around here. I hear it hasn’t been so for some of you who’ve had pretty much everything cancelled. I didn’t get in much blogging and writing time due to my small daily companion even though he tried to be such a help with his new skills at grabbing and throwing, paper tearing and high-speed floor cruising. Evenings and naptimes seemed to be the only slots available for this gal who normally suffers from Martha Stewart/June Cleaver/Mary Poppins/Emily Post-itis to decorate, create, bake, wrap and deliver. But, hear me loud and clear – I’m not complaining! This Grandma Life – there’s nothing like it!
I didn’t really know what to ask for this Christmas because I’ve learned from experience that no matter how many times you proclaim that all you want is a nap, you never open a box or bag and find one.
My First Friday Freebie did, however, find a new home and if you’ve been keeping up with Midwest Storyteller for a while, you may recognize the winner –
Kathy from Prairie Home, Missouri!
Congratulations, Kathy! I hope you’ve had time to enjoy your gift!
Kathy is such a creative spirit. She’s been a guest here on the blog to share some of her creations. Hopefully, she’ll reappear here at Midwest Storyteller again in 2021 and show us how to do more creative projects. If you’d like to take a peek into her talents and see the Freebie she helped me create, click here. Other creative ideas are found on my Create! page.
Kathy received this copy of Glenn Beck’s novel, “The Christmas Sweater”. I offered this book after reading it myself and giving it five stars. I recommend it for ages pre-teen and up.
If you’d like to see the original freebie offer, check it out along with my thoughts on the book here.
You can see past First Friday Freebies and their winners on myFreebies! pagehere. If you’re not yet a subscriber to Midwest Storyteller they might entice you to become one – First Friday Freebies are for email subscribers only.
Kathy entered her email in the subscription area here on the blog and then confirmed her subscription when the confirmation email arrived in her inbox. If you’ve done that and not received a confirmation email, please email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com and let me know as I am trying to work out a few bugs with that.
Subscribing is the best way to avoid missing what’s new here on the blog because you’ll get an email reminder each time there’s something new – like when there’s a FREEBIE on the First Friday of every month.
Comment as directed on the post that offers the Freebie and you’ll be entered to win.
Freebies are my way of reaching more people with the stories, recipes and more. When you share with all your friends via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, you’ll give them the opportunity to subscribe and win also. Subscribing is free. Freebies are free. Get the idea?
Coming up: The First First Friday Freebie of 2021! That takes place on Friday, January 1st. I’ll surprise you that morning with a “Happy New Year” and a photo of January’s free gift, so don’t forget to check it out.
A winner is chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight on the day of the drawing.
REMEMBER: Should your name be drawn as the winner, you will be notified via the email you used to subscribe. That means you’ll need to check your email often in the week following the drawing so that you can respond and keep the prize from being offered to someone else.
Take a moment make yourself familiar with the complete Freebie Rules by clicking HERE.
These four simple steps will have you ready to enter to win on Friday, January 1st, 2021.
Preparing to say “goodbye” to 2020? It’s been quite an experience! Blessings on your life as we enter a bright and happy new year!
In some ways, I have my ducks in a row. In others, not so much. Throw a monkey wrench into my well-oiled plans and I’m likely to forget I had any plans at all. November’s First Friday Freebie was chosen in a timely manner and in the usual way. And then, emails just didn’t seem to be moving back and forth in their proper cyber-flow and I lost contact with the winner. By the time this got sorted out and the Freebie got into the hands of the postal service, and the Freebie took it’s cross-country journey, I succumbed to CPO (Christmas Preparation Overload)! This condition, complicated by my chronic state of GCED (Grandchild Comes Every Day), led me to lose complete track of things.
Anyhow, let’s meet the winner –
Jean from Hurricane Utah!
Congratulations, Jean! I’m so glad you entered to win!
Jean received this autographed copy of Diane Yates new novella, “Christmas on the High Seas”. I’m hoping that COP did not prevent her from enjoying this great read in time to enjoy it during the Christmas season.
If you’d like to see the original freebie offer, check it out and enjoy a brief interview with Diane Yates about this Christmas romance here.
You can see past First Friday Freebies and their winners on myFreebies! pagehere. If you’re not yet a subscriber to Midwest Storyteller they might entice you to become one – First Friday Freebies are for email subscribers only.
Jean entered her email in the subscription area here on the blog and then confirmed her subscription when the confirmation email arrived in her inbox. If you’ve done that and not received a confirmation email, please email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com and let me know as I am trying to work out a few bugs with that.
Subscribing is the best way to avoid missing what’s new here on the blog because you’ll get an email reminder each time there’s something new – like when there’s a FREEBIE on the First Friday of every month.
Comment as directed on the post that offers the Freebie and you’ll be entered to win.
Freebies are my way of reaching more people with the stories, recipes and more. When you share with all your friends via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, you’ll give them the opportunity to subscribe and win also. Subscribing is free. Freebies are free. Get the idea?
Coming up: December’s winner! Then, 2021 and another great drawing are just around the corner on Friday, January 1st. I’ll surprise you that morning with the announcement and photo of January’s free gift, so don’t forget to check it out.
A winner is chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight on the day of the drawing.
REMEMBER: Should your name be drawn as the winner, you will be notified via the email you used to subscribe. That means you’ll need to check your email often in the week following the drawing so that you can respond and keep the prize from being offered to someone else.
Take a moment make yourself familiar with the complete Freebie Rules by clicking HERE.
These four simple steps will have you ready to enter to win on Friday, January 1st, 2021.
Preparing to say “goodbye” to 2020? It’s been quite a year! Blessings on your life as we enter a bright and happy new year!
This month’s First Friday Freebie is one that you’ll really enjoy and I hope you’ll share it with someone else.
I’d heard about this for years and had put it on my mental list under “Someday When I Have Time, I’m Going to Get This Book Because I’m Curious”.
From what I’d heard, it seemed to be about a boy and a sweater he’d received one Christmas. As a novel with such a plot, I couldn’t fathom why the author, Glenn Beck, would put out such a book. There must be some driving purpose, right? Some political point? Some analogy to the times in which we live?
Well, there is a driving purpose and it’s not what you think.
It takes a while for things to move to the top of my slush pile and when I tell you that this book came out in 2008 and that I just read it a few months ago, you get the idea. I discovered the purpose of the book at last and I believe that Glenn’s intent was to tell his own story in a unique, entertaining and heartfelt way and, most importantly, to heal your soul.
The copy I am sharing with you today is in large print, making it easy to read for you, young readers or anyone else who needs that feature.
Yes, it is about a boy and a sweater he received one Christmas just as he entered his trying teen years. It’s about his loss, his heaving emotions, his relationships with his parents, grandparents and everyone else. As I read it, I found myself wanting all boys and girls in this stage of life to read it and find that they are not alone and that God cares. You’ll fly through the pages and won’t be able to put it down. Glenn gets an A+ rating from me on “keeping it clean”.
To enter to win this copy of “The Christmas Sweater”, all you need to do is “Leave a Comment” on this post, saying, “Send me The Christmas Sweater!” You’ll need to do that before midnight TONIGHT, December 4th, 2020!
NOTE: There seems to be a problem here on the blog with people trying to subscribe and not receiving their confirmation email. If this has happened to you, please email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com and let me know so that I can report all these instances and have the issue solved.
First Friday Freebies are for email SUBSCRIBERS ONLY, so hop on over to the right sidebar or use the drop-down menu on your device to navigate to the “Contact” page and subscribe to Midwest Storyteller if you haven’t done so.
Your friends will enjoy the stories, recipes, laughter and, of course, the FREEBIES here on the blog, too, so share with all your friends and family through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest.
Subscribers win every single month! On the “Freebies” page, you’ll be able to see what they’ve been winning.
Once again, a winner will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight tonight by leaving a comment which says, “Send me The Christmas Sweater!”
Don’t let the day slip away! Subscribe now if you haven’t already, and confirm in your email before you forget! (See note above concerning subscription problems.)
Christmas will be here before you know it! My apologies for moving straight from “Freebie-to-Freebie” this month. There has been much to distract me as you will see in upcoming posts.
Comments or questions? I’d love to hear from you! If you’ve by chance already read “The Christmas Sweater”, please leave a comment and let me know how you liked it!
I realize I haven’t shared many creative endeavors here on the blog in a while. That is, any that are mine and mine alone. Yes, our house is still torn up in several places and most of the efforts are going into what has become the longest kitchen renovation in the history of the world. C’mon, folks! Try and top it! Leave your comments, be honest, and let me know how long your kitchen makeover took. It’s coming along, but we do get weary at times. However, there is only one of Smuffy and everything is hand-crafted in this project, so on we march toward the finish line in our tortoise-like fashion.
In the middle of it all, I decided that if I had to look at our fireplace one more minute I might just scream. I’d passed the grumbling and sneering phase long ago. Built in 1950, our home, for which we are grateful in many ways, was given a fake fireplace from the start. Sturdy and solid brick with a nice oak mantle, it stands tall and proud and just a shade wonky which is better than many other things in our house which are wonky in the extreme. After living here and working on the house for decades, we’ve come to the conclusion (with no offense intended) that our house had to have been built by someone who, being a certified nitwit on his best days, practiced up for his future career as a builder by whamming away on his first project (our house) with a dull axe during bouts of extreme drunkenness.
Many are the projects we have undertaken and pushed through to the end with heavy sighs, but the fireplace has stood just as its maker intended, since 1950.
Then, as happens to so many of us, I saw a photo on Pinterest at acottagegirl.com. I love Cindy’s ideas on her blog. I’d never really known what I wanted to do to the fireplace till I saw her fireplace photo. It filled me with that feeling that can only be described as “Oh, yeah!”
Then came the research. I had to know how to get the look without making some mistake I’d be sorry for. Here’s what I did and a little bit about how I did it. I hope you enjoy the results. I’m very happy with the outcome. The before photo is in Spring 2020 when I hadn’t much desire or inspiration to decorate and the after is, as you can see, decorated for fall. I’m not quite finished tweaking it for Christmas just yet.
I had a long talk with an experienced paint man at Home Depot who recommended a good masonry primer. After applying this, I applied a Behr paint in a Magnolia color called “Lit Candles”. Then, I got pretty jittery about how to apply the darker color and get it to look right. I ended up choosing a Behr paint, “Armadillo” , in a satin finish and mixed it, one part paint to four parts faux glaze. I only had to buy a sample jar of the paint and I had the glaze on hand. I applied this with a sea sponge in a horizontal swiping/dabbing motion and then, with a wet rag, removed as much paint/glaze as I could from the mortar between the bricks. It was a bit like being way too close to your Monet while painting, but each time I stood back and took in the effect, I grew a little more confident that I wasn’t creating a total disaster.
The dark accent wall behind the fireplace, along with the rest of the room, has now been painted in Valspar’s “Milk Toast” from Lowe’sand I’m liking it better and better every day. It went on like a dream in one coat over a special primer called “PPG Gripper” from Home Depot, recommended to me by their helpful paint guy as something I could put straight over my old faux-finished glazed walls without having to sand them. God bless this man!
I’m pressing the pause button on all home updates other than the kitchen until after the holidays. I’ll take progress on that room any time I can get it!
So, dear readers, show me your fireplaces and any other fun updates you’ve been doing lately. I value your ideas because I need to make changes in several rooms.
You can check out some of my other creative projects, including writing, wood burning, decorating, sewing, re-purposing and restoration by exploring my Create! page.
