8 Tips for a Simple, Fun Holiday Season

Let it all hang out this holiday season!

“Good Enough IS the New Perfect”

Is the mere thought of the upcoming holidays making you feel exhausted, overwhelmed, guilty and quite frankly stressed the hell out? Does the idea of escaping it all and landing in a remote island appeal to you? 

In a world jammed with cutesy DIY projects, photos of gift wrap themes and scrumptious recipes that are posted all over the internet it’s no wonder our holiday To 

Do lists have gotten out of control!

Professional organizers, Grace Brooke and Jennifer Ford Berry are known for their tough love approach to simplifying, organizing and being more productive in less amount of time. 

Here is an inside peak at some of their favorite tips for keeping it real and maintain your sanity during the holidays:

1.    Get real about your expectations.

Turn off the HGTV channel and hide your Martha Stewart subscription until January. Design your own holiday experience without the pressures of the media.

2.    Quit being a grouch and start being grateful. 

Stop complaining about what still needs to be done and start being grateful for all of your blessings and accomplishments. 

3.    Develop a holiday vision that is unique to your family.

Sit down as a family to discuss the things you want to do during the holidays and more importantly the things you don’t want to do.  You may include: movies you want to see, old traditions, new traditions, places to visit etc. Write up a list and post it where your family can be reminded of it daily.

4.    Stop cluttering up your friends’ and family’s homes!

Give them the gift of an experience, a memory that they will enjoy and cherish forever. It can be anything from gift certificates to memberships to services for your home.

5.    Opt out of the “Perfect-Holiday-Card” contest.

Do you notice how everyone is trying to come up with the designer holiday card (you know…the one that is professionally shot, where the family is in coordinating outfits, the hair is perfect and everyone is full of holiday cheer).  A snap shot from last summer’s vacation is good enough! (The NEW perfect).

6.    Stop being Martha Stewart and start getting drunk with the rest of them!

This holiday season pass on the sit down dinner and plan a fun, simple cocktail party with appetizers.  Make it more about getting together and less about weeks of 

preparation.  Good food and good company is what it’s all about.

7.    Let the “Fifty Shade of Gift Wrap” go and just get it done.

Keep it simple.  For example: recycling your kids’ artwork to add a personal touch to your gift wrapping. (And this is a great way to get rid of more crap).

8.    Cut down on your holiday storage and decorate your tree with natural ornaments.

Make clean up and storage a snap by using popcorn, berries, cookies, pine cones, bird nests, oranges, candy and other disposable items.

For more great ways to organize and simplify your holiday season check out Grace and Jennifer’s 65 Day Holiday Organizing Challenge that begins on October 29^th.

SWEET POTATO CAKE

We have another amazing contributor with us today!  I am seriously loving this recipe and pics!  We have Jessie, from Optimal Living, here to share this deliciously, divine cake.  Jessie is a wife and mother and excellent cook!!

SWEET POTATO CAKE

I have been having some serious cake dreams lately. As you may already know…I LOVE me some cake. I also LOVE making them! So it was no real surprise that my daily power walks were being corrupted by visions of moist delicious cakes. Kind of ironic…but that is my thinking time.

With Thanksgiving coming up, I wanted to create a festive cake. And what is more festive than sweet potatoes…well maybe turkey, but I am not going there. I also remembered that I had a can of organic sweet potato purée in my pantry just begging to be used. Perfect.

Here is my latest creation…

(and before you go thinking that I totally copied the Epicurious concept…I actually had the complete cake idea in my head before I did any research. It just turns out that my idea wasn't that original…Just had to get that off my chest;)





The Recipe:

2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups canola oil (NON-GMO!!!)
2 cup puréed sweet potatoes (or 1-15oz can of sweet potato purée)
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder (aluminum free)
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

You will also need 1-2 cups of Sugared Pecans…I used this recipe. And this recipe for Caramel Frosting.

The Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.



Gather the ingredients.

Butter and flour a bundt pan, or 13x9 inch cake pan. Personally, I really LOVE my bundt pan…I think I discussed this in my German Apple Cake post. It makes the cake look extra classy, especially if it is for a special occasion, or you are entertaining. OK…I’ve said my bundt pan peace…you will never have to hear it again (yeah, right).



You should always use room temperature eggs when baking. Most of the time I use this little trick to quickly bring my eggs to room temp…Place the eggs in warm (not hot, or they will start cooking) water for a 5 or 10 minutes. This is a very useful tip if you are like me, and decide you are going to bake something on a whim, or just lack the attention span and patience to wait…HAHA!



This is the can of the sweet potatoes that gave me the inspiration for the recipe. I bet you could use the baby food sweet potatoes instead…but you would need A LOT of jars.

Combine the sugar, oil, sweet potatoes and vanilla in a large mixing bowl…or the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix at medium speed until well combined.



Add eggs one at a time…



scraping down the side of the bowl with each addition.

Tip: 

Cracking the eggs into a small dish before adding to the batter ensures that you will not be eating pieces of shell (or fishing them out of the batter), and that if an egg is rotten it will not ruin your ingredients.




Next stir together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg). I do this with a fork…or you could sift them. I only sift ingredients together when I am making a yellow or white cake. I know…professional pastry chef I am not.)

Add to the batter.



Mix on the lowest speed until combined and only a few lumps remain. 

Do not over mix.



Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake for 45 minutes…or 30 minutes, if you are boring and using a 13x9 inch pan;)

Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for ten minutes.



Flip the slightly cooled cake out onto the same rack. (You will need oven mitts or potholders, as the cake will still be hot!)
Let the cake cool completely for about an hour.




This part is optional…I like to trim the bottom of the cake off, and even the cake up with a serrated knife. But I am a crazy, perfectionist freak when it comes to stuff like this…so it is really up to you. Plus, I really like to eat the scraps;)



Transfer to a cake plate, or whatever you will be using to serve your cake on.

Time to prepare the frosting.



It is a bit richer than the one I used for my German Apple Cake.




It poured onto the cake like a dream.

Immediately after I frosted, I covered the top of my cake with the sugared pecans.



Look at all of that gooey caramel frosting!




I hope you will consider taking this beauty to your Thanksgiving gatherings. This was a huge hit with my family. We had this sucker polished off in a day and a half.

Enjoy!

Jessie

Thank you so much Jessie! :)  

What is your favorite cake?

Bonnie :)

Declutter in 5 Minutes {guest post}

Hello! :)  I am so, so, so excited to share this new blogger and personal friend with you.  Michelle is here today to share her story how she saved on the grocery bill!  She is a very passionate and loving wife and Mama!  She is a hard worker with lots of talent and wants to share all of it with you on her blog.

As a full-time working mommy, who is also markets health and wellness products part-time in the nooks and crannies of our life, I need a home that is clutter-free.  It's especially important because I work both jobs out of my home and have a less than 1100 sq ft home! And I might be a bit of a neat freak...but my husband is NOT, nor do I expect him to change on account of my likes :) This was a HUGE undertaking for me to commit to 31 days because I work days, my husband works evenings, so I really don't have much time to clean.  However, I promise you that even thought it seems overwhelming at first, now that I'm on my third day I feel like my whole house is completely doable to become decluttered!! And it's much easier to keep a decluttered space clean, as long as you have proper organizing materials and tools. 

Whether you work full-time, part-time, are a full-time student or a stay at home mommy, follow my series and I can help you with with your decluttering needs!  In addition, everyone has financial clutter.  I can help you with that too! 

~Enjoy~

I don't think I realized until today that this whole area was a problem area! It took up three days of decluttering, but that is what 31 Days of Declutter is all about-taking just five to twenty-some minutes a day to declutter your home in baby steps.  So, without even realizing it, I took one whole area, broke it down to smaller areas, and tackled them one at a time. And today was the final smaller area.  You will see the total area below!

Remember the boxes I used yesterday for the magazines and books?

I used the middle box to store our wedding and baby cards that I previously had just sitting in gift bags, which are not very cute when used as home decor.  

I put my paper shredder back over by my full-time job working space where it belongs.  Then I hid the lampshade behind my plant stand.  If you look closely, you can still see it.  But, I really have no place to put it right now, and it's pretty well hidden.  Sometimes you just have to be creative for the time being ha ha! And then I put the dog bed on top of his kennel for storage, and then if he wants ot lay on it, I will lay it back down on the ground for him.  I like his doggy bed, I purposely picked out colors that would look good with our decor.

So here it is! The final decluttering done.

While decluttering this space, I found a safety pin. 

If you didn't catch my Organizing a Small Laundry Room/Space blog, click here.  Then it will make sense that I had this to put the safety pin in!

Reusing glass jars is a GREAT way to create functional decor! And keep your home decluttered at the same time.

Here is the entire area that I have now decluttered in three days. 

Well...almost decluttered...

Until I tackle decluttering the decor on my walls, those will stay for the time being.  Well actually, it could use some straightening, and perhaps I could find a cute way to cover them for now...hmm...see what else you accomplish by doing 31 days to declutter??? You find more areas you can declutter and straighten that you overlooked every day :)

Happy decluttering!

And if you are just starting, here is Day One and here is Day Two.  You can also follow along on my menu on the right.  Just click what day you are on to get some great tips and ideas, pick your cluttered area, and get started!

What are you going to declutter today?

Thanks so much for sharing Michelle!!  Isn't she great?  What did you like about this?

Have a great day!

Bonnie :)

8 Simple Steps to get healthy TODAY

Good morning!!  How are you today?  Any plans? 

 
Today, we have a guest post by one of my personal friends, Claire, who blogs at Claire's Healthy Home!

Claire is so amazing!!!  She is so caring, loving and helping...and a whole lotta fun!!!  She loves life and is on a mission to help women and families.  I admire her and her goals in life.  

Please welcome Claire...

Are you a busy mom on the GO?  

Do you desire a more healthy lifestyle for you and your family?  

Do you struggle with action and committing?  

Or are you confused about where to start?  

You are NOT alone!  

Most people want to get healthy, feel better, have more energy and look younger yet they feel they are too busy to make it happen.  Then discouragement sets in.  I know because I struggle with this all too! 

Prior to making some important changes in my life and family, I was a burned out mom.  I was feeling sick, depressed, tired all the time and had very little energy.  

My role in life was changing from mommy to mom, my husband had a stressful job, we had gotten ourselves into some debt and my passion for life had seemed to just be gone.  

It was time for some serious CHANGE, but even the thought of that overwhelmed me. I thought I needed a major overhaul (and I did!) but I thought I had to do it ALL at once.  That thought crippled me until I decided to change that thought.  

Who says I have to do it all?  I think it was just me telling myself that.  

Is this you too?  It is freeing to get rid of that crippling thought and I must remind myself of this often.

If you are FED UP with this reality, then I invite you to get serious and find some new habits that will serve you and your family better.  

Take it ONE STEP at a time. 

Healthy living shouldn’t feel hard…..it should feel GOOD!

Here are my 8 Simple Steps to get started TODAY!

1.  Drink a full glass of water first thing in the morning.

2.  Grab a few fresh fruits on your way out every day.

3.  Avoid eating out for lunch.

G

4.  Exercise daily.

5.  Drink herbal teas.

6.  Eat a handful of nuts around 3pm.

7.  Breath Deeply and Pray.

8.  Get enough sleep.

Commit to action and start feeling GOOD!

Which one will you start with?

A commitment is always more successful when you surround yourself with like-minded and encouraging people.  I invite you to plug in here for community support.  

Start by subscribing by email to get access to our newsletter.

Subscribe to our mailing list

Then JOIN OUR FACEBOOK COMMUNITY for more tips and ideas and accountability.

Claire

Thanks so much Claire for sharing! :)

Have a great day!

Bonnie