tip for mamas home with babies

Babies are wonderful, and babies are so much work! One year olds are the worst, extremely mobile and yet they have no sense of danger. And why God made them so curious and drawn to the most off limits thing in any given room, I will never know!

All I know is this. Set up your pack in play. Fill it with toys, board books, and a comfy quilt. Utilize it on a routine basis. I like to set my little Jilly in hers midmorning after she's been very busy crawling all over the house and trying to kill herself. She may protest a little, but typically settles in and will play for about 20 minutes.

I usually spend this time getting dressed for the day or prepping dinner. 

best chocolate cake ever

Making this chocolate cake is our Valentine tradition. I've tried a lot of chocolate cake recipes but this is THE one. It's from Jenny Rosenstratch's cookbook, How to Celebrate Everything. 

a few tips....

1. Line the cake pans with parchment paper, tracing and cutting out perfect circles. Then spray the sides with cooking spray. This ensures the cakes come out smoothly.

2. Freeze or refrigerate the cake layers before you ice them. It makes them so much easier to work with. 

3. Use smaller cake pans, 8" or 9" for this recipe because this cake is delicate. Larger cake layers tend to fall apart easily. 

I'm making this sound fussy. It's worth it. Trust me.

cake

2 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups flour

3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1  teaspoon baking powder

2 large eggs

1 cup room-temperature strong black coffee

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup canola oil or vegetable oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Cut out parchment paper and grease the pans. Mix all ingredients and bake in a preheated oven (350 degrees) for approximately 25-30 minutes depending on your oven. Consider it done when a knife comes out clean.

frosting

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled

1 tablespoon whole milk

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Use a mixer. The icing makes just enough for the cake, none to spare.

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And just for fun! Here's me + my Valentine. This was our first date. Summer 2000. Jackson, MS. I was 17 and Stephen was 19. 

thrifting + the family shopping

I thrift. I've always dabbled, but these days I'm really into it! I have a lot of reasons, but my main one is I am severely disappointed with the quality of most products. I find that even paying discounted prices for new, well known, name brand items does not deliver most of the time. Combine that with the wear and tear our lifestyle puts on clothes, shoes, household items, etc. and it only makes sense to buy second hand. It's economical.

Full disclosure, it does take a little more time and skill to thrift. Even beyond that, it takes time to do the family shopping in general.

I have discovered that this needs acknowledgment. This was a real breakthrough for me. I have had to give shopping a bigger spot in my mind and in my schedule. With the ability to order everything online, it feels like it should take no time. And it also feels like something we should not do so much. Shouldn't we stop spending and acquiring so much?! But, the reality is we need stuff. Stuff to run a home and stuff to wear. Kids grow and seasons change. The family shopping is a whole thing. I repeat. The family shopping is a whole thing. So let's just give it the proper place and space it deserves. 

Okay, so now that I've accepted this is a time consuming and necessary responsibility of mine...how am I going to approach it? 

Lately, I have been taking regular trips to my local thrift stores. I try to buy second hand, first. Obviously if I can't find what I need, I buy new.

Here's a few of my recent wins...

I bought a mirror for my boys' bathroom for $15. It looks so good! I like the eclectic vibe it gives. It feels acquired and layered. 

I've been building a small collection of shoes for Jill to grow into at $2-$5/ pair. 

My oldest likes dress clothes, but he's only 14 and still growing. I've picked up some men's shirts and dress shoes for pennies. They all look brand new.

I feel so grateful when I find a deal. It feels like God specially put it there just for me! 

Recently, I wanted some casual everyday, mom-work tops. I found this oversized button down (which are so in, btw, and a 100% cotton L.L.Bean sweater. The color feels very Valentine-y). I paid total $8 for both. What a rush.

And I bought Jill's miniBoden top at a consignment sale. We are so cute!!!

Here's a couple of tips if you want to become a thrifter: 

1. Just because it's cheap does not mean you have to have it. Only buy it IF you need it and if you LOVE it. It needs to be a 10 out of 10.

2. Go regularly. Buy very few items and make very selective purchases. Often, if you have a win, you'll think...what else can I buy in here?! Don't. Take your one or two goodies and go back next week. 

There is beauty in restraint.

And just for fun while we're on this topic, let me share my guilty pleasure....it's kristalavrusik's instagram account. When I'm done with everything for the night, I've been doing a deep dive and going through her old reels. She has so much thrifting wisdom to share. Her focus is personal style. My favorite takeaway is that she doesn't take it all so seriously! 

Do you thrift? 

stuffed pepper casserole

I love stuffed peppers, but the recipes are too fussy and labor intensive for me in this season of life. All the prep you have to do with the peppers. Ain't nobody got time for that! This casserole is a satisfying alternative, and it is also one of those recipes where you can throw in beans, veggies, chopped spinach...whatever cheese you need to use up. It's versatile. 

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

one onion, diced

1 spoonful jarred garlic

2-3 bell peppers, cut into 1 inch pieces

1/2 cup rice (measured before cooking)

1 can rotel tomatoes

1 cup Mexican blend cheese + a little extra for topping 

salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon oregano

Cook rice. I always like to cook mine in chicken broth for flavor. In another pan, sauté diced onion in some olive oil, add garlic, and then beef. Drain when done. Add rotel tomatoes and cooked rice when cooled just a bit, then cheese. Season with salt, pepper and oregano. 

In a casserole dish, layer diced peppers and then pour on beef mixture. Top with some cheese. Bake in oven on 350 for 30 minutes covered with foil. Remove foil for the last bit of cooking and let the cheese get a tiny bit browned. 

I cut up some fresh spinach and mixed it in the beef mixture. Herbs would also be nice.

My family really enjoyed this meal. I served it with a side of frozen broccoli. And of course I doubled the recipe. Cook once, eat twice. Always.

And yes I did use aluminum pans. This would be a good meal to take to a new mom or a sick friend.

mom needs to be pleasant

A few years ago I was listening to a podcast about decorating and making a warm and welcoming home. It was a conversation between 2 moms, and the interview began with a basic question. "So where do you start when you want to make a beautiful home?" 

The interviewee responded with the most surprising yet profound answer. She said, "Well, for starters, mom needs to be pleasant."  She elaborated about how mothers have so much influence over the atmosphere of the home, and that the most perfect pillows and paint colors are worthless if mom's mood takes everyone down. 

Pleasant happens to be one of my second grader's vocabulary words this week, defined as friendly and likable. 

Mom needs to be pleasant. I have been clinging to this mantra this week. I've had a little cold. My sleep hasn't been great. The baby is not the best napper. People keep eating! A child needs multicolored sharpies and a piece of plexiglass in less than 24 hours for a school project. A mouse chewed through a giant bag of oatmeal. I put marinara on my taco instead of salsa and didn't realize until after I ate it. It was weird. 

I feel irritated and irritable! 

But...do I actually want to take my whole family down with me? Definitely, no. 

If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

A wise woman builds her home, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands.  Proverbs 14:1

A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back. Proverbs 29:11

Fake it till you make it. 

I have learned and am still learning how to not act the way I feel at all times. We can govern our emotions and provide stability and peace even when (and especially) we don't feel the sweet feelings. 

Also, I have learned that when I'm in a bad way....a batch of cookies covers a multitude of sins. So I made some cookies.

I'm so thankful for the weekend and a fresh start each day. Can I get an Amen?!