Sunday, February 28, 2021
Beet Chutney Recipe -- Gluten Free, Vegan, Paleo, and Delicious
4 Easy Ways to Be More Frugal in the Kitchen
5 Christmas Gift Ideas for Kids; 5 Cost-Efficient Christmas Gift Ideas for Kids
Friday, February 26, 2021
Tteokgguk or Ddukguk Recipe -- Korean Rice Cake Soup -- Gluten Free, Allergy Friendly
This recipe is one of the most traditional Korean recipes using rice cakes. Tteokgguk is generally eaten on the Lunar new year, one of the most important Korean holidays. It is symbolic, as the white disks represent money, wishing people a prosperous year. This dish is so traditional that one of the ways of asking people how old they are, in Korea, is to ask them how many times they had this soup.
There are many different ways of making this soup, both in types of broths as well as additives, but I chose to make mine with beef which is the most traditional, and left out the additives. This recipe also generally has egg in it which makes the broth white-ish which is also symbolic for purity, I think, but I kept mine allergy friendly and mine is egg free. So it's not white but that's ok.
This recipe is gluten free and allergy friendly- the only common allergen in it is soy, but you can make it with coconut aminos as well.
Tteokgguk soup is both delicious and comforting and a fast favorite.
I based mine on a bunch of different recipes I saw online but Maangchi's is the one I was mostly inspired by.
Teokgguk or Ddukguk Recipe -- Korean Rice Cake Soup -- Gluten Free, Allergy Friendly
Tips For Running a Successful Blog
Thursday, February 25, 2021
Korean Style Roasted Fennel and Sweet Potatoes Recipe
This is suitable for most diets- gluten free, vegan, paleo, and allergy friendly as well- only contains sesame and possibly soy from the top 8 allergens.
Korean Style Roasted Fennel and Sweet Potatoes Recipe
What Couples Can Expect from a Trial Separation?
This article will go into what couples typically experience during a trial separation and how to make the most of it if the couple truly wants to work on the relationship, from the office of Philadelphia divorce attorney Lee A. Schwartz.
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
My Response to an Article on Men Being Abused by Women
Warning- this post is probably very triggering for people who have been through abuse. It contains details about abuse and also talks about suicide and murder. Read at your own discretion.
This is an edited version of my response that I sent to the magazine. There’s very little chance that this will ever be published, because of its length, but it's too important a topic to not be shared, so I’m sharing it here with you to right a grievous wrong and to correct some, unfortunately too common, misperceptions about abuse.
Understanding Law: What Does Family Law Cover?
But what if you’re facing legal battles such as divorce and child custody? The three legal fields above wouldn’t suit that kind of conflict. So what kind of professional legal representation should you seek? The answer to this is easy. You need to hire a lawyer who is an expert in family law. But to understand exactly how they can help, you need to know what Family Law covers.
Monday, February 22, 2021
Easy Honey Butter Brussels Sprouts Recipe
Easy Honey Butter Brussels Sprouts Recipe
How Reading Can Help Speech Development in Kids with Delayed Speech
Friday, February 19, 2021
Making a Quick (and Very Imperfect) Zebra Costume For My Daughter
I had a hard day today, and that sucked because it was my birthday. I had no energy for pretty much anything. And then I was reminded that my daughter Rose needed to have a costume to wear for a costume party next week, and she's leaving to her dad tomorrow and I won't be seeing her again before the party. To be honest, I did know about this need for a costume a few days ago, but first stores that sold costumes were closed because of the lockdown, then once they opened we were having bad weather and then snow, and everything was shut down, so I couldn't go out to buy her a costume even if I wanted to.
I had an idea to make her a costume with a silver dress she had and make her into either the tin man or an astronaut but she nixed those ideas. She also didn't want to be a fairy or a mermaid which I had good clothes for her to use for those costumes. So we decided to go through my clothes and see if there was anything I could use to make her a costume, and I rediscovered my black and white striped dress that was ripped (and I wasn't super thrilled as to how it looked on me).
I asked Rose if she wanted to maybe be a zebra, and she said that was a great idea. Her sister had some animal ears and a bow tie and a tail that were black and white striped as well (probably intended to be a cat, to be honest) and she said she could use that together with the black and white striped dress for her zebra costume.
Thursday, February 18, 2021
Why it’s Extremely Important to Teach your Children the Basics of Personal Care
Life skills are all part of your children’s essential learning. They form the foundation of their understanding of the world and help them discover good, healthy choices.
Like many things, personal care starts at home. From teaching your little one to brush their teeth to exploring nature as a family, there’s a lot you can do to ensure your child’s wellbeing. Forming good hygiene practices in their early years will have a positive effect on their growth and development.
Not sure where to start? Here are a few simple tips to help you on your journey:
How to Scrimp and Save to Support Your Children With Their Studies
Wednesday, February 17, 2021
Korean Style Cold Noodle Soup Recipe Inspired by Mul Naengmyeon -- Gluten Free, Allergy Friendly, Pescetarian
Sometimes I make a dish and I follow the recipe exactly so even if it's not something I've ever tasted before I have a good idea what it is supposed to taste like. Other times I have eaten a dish (or something very similar to it) before so even when experimenting with a recipe and changing it up to use ingredients I have on hand I am pretty sure that my reproduction is close enough in taste to the original.
And then there are recipes like this. This Korean soup recipe is made chilled, usually in slushy form/half frozen, and it's nothing I've ever had before, nor have I ever eaten anything similar. But the recipe used ingredients I didn't have or couldn't eat, so I played around with it, using similarly flavored ingredients as much as possible, and reading carefully about what the flavor is supposed to be like. I used Maangchi's Mul-naengmyeon recipe as the base for mine. I have frankly no idea if my recipe tastes anything like hers, but I'm guessing it does since I did use something similar to one of the broth variations she mentions as options in her recipe.
Ok, let me talk about the changes I made:- I used anchovy and shitake mushroom broth instead of powdered broth
- I used dijon mustard instead of mustard oil
- I used bean thread noodles instead of buckwheat and wheat based naengmyeon noodles, because bean thread noodles are a bit chewy
- I used an apple, pear, and a bit of sugar instead of the Korean or bosc pears, and I put the fruit itself into the soup instead of just its juice and using some for a garnish
- I put in all the liquid from the marinated cucumbers
- I added some soy sauce
- I left out the egg
- I served mine chilled, not slushy
- I added bean sprouts to some servings of mine
- I left out the sesame seeds
Korean Style Cold Noodle Soup Recipe Inspired by Mul Naengmyeon -- Gluten Free, Allergy Friendly, Pescetarian
Providing Your Kids With the Best Upbringing Possible
Sunday, February 14, 2021
Tasty Gluten Free Sorghum Flour Vegan Bread Recipe
Tasty Gluten Free Sorghum Flour Vegan Bread Recipe
5 Tips to Take Care of your Mental Health
Saturday, February 13, 2021
Amanda's Cheddar Beer Soup Recipe- With Gluten Free Options
Amanda's Cheddar Beer Soup Recipe- With Gluten Free Options
Step Away from the Traditional and Try Gentle Parenting in 2021
Parenting in 2021 couldn’t look more different. Not only will you hear phrases like “baby-led weaning,” “attachment parenting” and see Dad’s taking up the “stay at home” role, but our approach has also changed. We are raising confident, happy children ready to take on the world.
Here’s how to step away from the traditional and how to embrace 21st Century gentle parenting:
Wednesday, February 10, 2021
Korean Style Spiced Fried Tofu
Korean Pan Fried Tofu Recipe - Gluten Free, Vegan, Allergy Friendly and Delicious
Tips for Keeping Everyone Happy on a Family Vacation
With so many wants and needs in the mix, what's a family to do? Fortunately, it's not impossible to plan a trip everyone can enjoy. Keep reading for some tips on preparing a memorable vacation.
Tuesday, February 9, 2021
Waking Up Is Hard to Do, But You Can Make it Easier
Waking up can be tough for various reasons; factors such as lifestyle, mental health, medical conditions, and medication can significantly impact your sleep quality and ability to sleep for enough hours. Without sufficient sleep, you won't have enough energy for the day, and you'll struggle to get out of bed.
Your body has an internal clock that tells it to anticipate sleep at night, awaken in the morning, and then stay awake during the day. If that circadian rhythm is disrupted, a sleep annoyance can, in time, become a sleep disorder.
Though having a couple of nights of poor rest is usual, chronic inability to sleep can signify more serious issues. You could be suffering from a sleep disorder like parasomnia, sleep apnea, sleep deficiency, or sleep deprivation. Parasomnia manifests in sleep behaviors like sleepwalking, sleep talking, or experiencing night terrors. Sleep apnea disrupts breathing during sleep and can be dangerous if left untreated.
If you find yourself having difficulty getting out of bed in the morning and want to prevent a more serious condition from developing, don't worry. There are many ways to take control and improve your sleep, including the following.
Monday, February 8, 2021
Throwing Money at Problems, Take Two. Is More Money a Solution to Problems?
I realized after I wrote my last post about how I threw money at the issue I was having with my broken freezer, which ended up being cheaper than taking care of the otherwise might have been, that the title of the post promised a lot more than it did. I talked just about my freezer and paying my son to help with part of it, but didn't go so much into the concept of throwing money at problems, which is a topic worth discussing.
I'm trying to think about the best way to start this post because have so many ideas. I hope therefore that I can write it in a way that doesn't sound so disjointed while I try to piece together all the different thoughts about this going through my head.
I run a local frugal Facebook group where I share lots of frugal ideas; many others share wonderful money saving ideas. There is a similarly themed group called "Living Financially Smarter in [My Location]" and in the past when I'd share frugal posts in that group, I'd often get comments like "It's not financially smart to cut your costs on this- the real financially smart thing is to make more money so you can spend normal amounts of things and not need to cut corners on things."
To be honest, I would always get annoyed when people would make such statements. How could they? Of course being frugal is financially smart! Of course what I was doing was the smart thing to do! How could people be so blasé about saving money and think that the only answer was making more money.
You know what? I think that the answer to whether it is smarter to earn more money or spend less money is a complicated one. There are people that earn more money than most people, supposedly wealthy people, who are dealing with financial problems. Having more money doesn't mean you're financially smart.
When Do You Know A Foreign Love Should Stay?
Throwing Money at Some Problems or Fixing Them Myself?
I checked the freezer and everything was frozen solid. So that confirmed that the cooling unit was working but it wasn't managing to get the cool air into the fridge.
I knew immediately what the problem most likely was. There must have been frozen ice blocking the opening between the two compartments. I dealt with this repeatedly with my last freezer but never had this issue before with this one, only four years old.
I was dreading the solution. I knew it entailed emptying out the fridge and the freezer to be able to access the inner workings of the unit but I had so little energy. Beyond no energy. I confessed to my friend that I had such little desire to do that that I was even contemplating if spending over a thousand dollars on a new fridge was worth it. Why not just pay a repairman? Because even if I paid a repairman I'd still have to do the emptying and filling of the fridge /freezer and the actual fixing was the easy part, and it would be throwing away money.
But I thought about it. The fact that this issue was so daunting for me that I'd be willing to throw large sums of money at the problem to fix it. So I thought if there was a way to throw less money at the problem and take some of the stress off my shoulders.
Let The World Know The Twins Have Finally Arrived With Custom Birth Announcements
Wednesday, February 3, 2021
Korean Style Steamed Zucchini Side Dish Recipe -- Gluten Free, Paleo, Vegan, and Easy
I'm tired and exhausted but told myself I'd get a post done today, so this is a quick one before I go to sleep. This recipe is based off one from Maangchi's site for an eggplant based side dish but I didn't have any eggplant at home. What I did have was lots of zucchini and I assumed that it would work just as well in this recipe. I made a few more changes, such as veganizing it as well. It was spectacular and was a great addition to my Korean feast.
This recipe is not only easy and super quick to make (less than 10 minutes start to finish), it is also frugal, vegan, paleo, gluten free, allergy friendly, and just plain old yummy. You can eat it both hot and cold.
Korean Style Steamed Zucchini Side Dish Recipe -- Gluten Free, Paleo, Vegan, and Easy
Navigating Financial Uncertainty During a Divorce
Tuesday, February 2, 2021
Easy Roasted Asian Style Brussels Sprouts Recipe -- Paleo, Vegan, Gluten Free, and Delicious
I have an embarassing confession. When I read recipes, I usually just read the ingredient list and don't look at the instructions, and then I start cooking the food and sometimes realized that I completely flubbed the instructions. Oh well. Usually it works out ok anyhow, and this was one of them, but other times it flops.
I was looking for a recipe for brussels sprouts to make for my Korean feast, but Maangchi didn't have any recipes for them, so I found this recipe instead which I based mine on. Only I completely botched up the instructions so mine aren't crispy like the original. They're still extremely tasty and probably one of my favorite ways I ever had brussels sprouts. I made mine from frozen, but I'm sure this would work just as well with fresh, but the cooking time probably will be different.
This recipe is gluten free, allergy friendly, paleo, vegan, and absolutely the bomb. Did I mention easy? The hardest part was waiting for it to be ready.
Roasted Asian Style Brussels Sprouts Recipe -- Paleo, Vegan, Gluten Free, and Delicious
What You Need to Know Before Buying Living Room Furniture
Whether you’ve recently made the move into a new home or are just looking to spice up your decor, it can be really difficult to know where to start.
Your living room is where your household will likely be spending the majority of their time and having the perfect backdrop to your forever memories, is the added cherry on top of fully enjoying your home.
However, there are few things you should consider about living room furniture before you make the vision in your head a reality.
Monday, February 1, 2021
Poverty Induced Trauma and Judging Myself About My Expenses
I just went grocery shopping. I needed to go desperately. While my grocery stockpile still is decently stocked with some things, some of the dry goods we use regularly have run out and we were virtually out of all produce and refrigerated items. I hate having an empty fridge and my fridge today was bare, bare, bare. (Really, the only thing in it was a package of cheese, half a bottle of shelf stable milk that I opened because we were out of other milk, some condiments, half a cabbage, some oranges, a few apples, and a few beets.) So it was obvious that I needed to do a big shopping.
I made myself a shopping list, keeping in mind what things we were using regularly, and to make sure that we also had ready to eat things for the kids, so that even if I didn't have a chance to prepare something, they would have what to eat.
I went through my shopping list at the store, price comparing every item before I bought it. Weighed if it was something that we'd use, if there was a better priced item. The only things I purchased that weren't on my list were some other items that I should have put on the list and were on sale.
When I went to the register to pay, my head just had this phrase on repeat "let it be under $285, let it be under $285". (I know that sounds weird, but the local equivalent is a round number. I wasn't really saying "$285".) By the end of the cashier ringing it up, what do you know, it was over $285. And I felt like a failure. I felt shame. I felt yucky. Like I can't call myself a frugal person if I spent that much on just one shop.
And I know this is silly. I know that there is really no purpose to eat myself up over this shop.
This was a good shop.
It was a smart shop.
It was a well thought out shop.
It was money spent on things that were important to me, money being spent where my values lie. It wasn't $285 thrown in the trash.
But yet... the guilt.
And back in the day, I was able to have our monthly grocery total be $230 some months. When I would be "spendy" I'd spend $285 in a month.
And whenever I'd be at the register with my super frugal shop, and someone else would have their shop cost over $285 I'd look at them and judge them for being money wasters, for having their priorities wrong. For being spendthrifts.
Because I knew a family who had no money, wasn't surviving financially, kept on having their electricity being shut off due to lack of payments, and yet each time they went shopping for the weekend they spent $285 or more, not to mention all their shops throughout the week.
That number, in my head, became synonymous with extravagant people who aren't being responsible with their money and are hopelessly in debt and its all their fault because they don't know how to live within their means.
And I know now that that isn't true. I know that there are perfectly reasonable reasons to have a grocery shop cost that much. And probably a big reason I judged them was because I was jealous of people that could spend that much on groceries when we were struggling so much. But because I was judging people then, I judge myself now. Am critical of myself now. Even though it makes no sense.
There's no way in hell I could spend $230 on groceries for a month for my family now. We'd starve. Then our family was much smaller, with only a baby and a toddler, not 2 teenaged boys and 2 elementary school aged girls. Then, my whole life, by necessity, was seeing how little I could spend. My whole focus then was see where I could cut corners. What could I make from scratch to save a little bit more money here. Those months that I got my grocery bill that low, almost all the veggies I got were either foraged or nicked from the dumpster pile at the open air market. Everything else I bought was from the reduced rack store at the open air market. Our diet was heavily legume based, and I made everything from scratch. Every. Little. Thing.
And honestly, it wasn't good for me. I neglected myself. I negated myself. I negated my needs and emotions on the alter of trying to survive. And it wasn't a pretty sight. Yes, I might have blogged about how awesome it was, but really that was me trying to convince myself of that, and beneath that all, I was suffering. I have trauma from that. Trauma from needing to live extremely frugally. So much so that I get triggered by ridiculous things that shouldn't trigger people, but they trigger me because they remind me of how much of a wrung out sponge I was then, doing everything I could to survive, and never thinking about me.
And to be honest, I think my kids are a little traumatized too. They can't handle the taste of lentils, and I think in large part because of how much they associate that with the times when we had so little and lentils were our protein staple.
My situation now fortunately isn't anything like that. Things have improved financially for us for a variety of reasons. And I still live frugally, but a very different type of frugal.
And my monthly grocery budget was $715 a month but because of lockdown and everything stressing me out I allow myself to increase my grocery budget to $850 if need be and wiggle other things in my budget to allow for that.
The last few times I went grocery shopping to the store I shopped at today, my bill was over $285. But not once have I gone over my monthly grocery budget, and I think only once did I even need to go over the original $715 amount.
Its just that my grocery habits have changed. Because of lockdowns, I don't leave my house as often. I go shopping much less frequently. When I do shop, it is big shops that will have enough food to last a while. So even if this shop is more than 1/3 of my monthly grocery budget, that's fine, because I'm not spending this all the time. This is just the big shop of the month, and the other shops at the local store will be significantly smaller.
I realize quite clearly that I am judging myself unfairly. That I set myself an impossible and ridiculous goal, that has no basis in my reality. There is no reason to aim to get under $285 in one shop. The only goal is to stick within my budget, and however that works is fine.
This post isn't really a how to or instructional thing or even to teach anything specifically, but as I write about frugal living, I wanted to share what I go through. Sometimes we need to reassure ourselves that yes, we are allowed to spend money. We shouldn't judge ourselves for spending money. We shouldn't judge ourselves for taking care of our families' needs. And sometimes we will anyhow, and that's when we need to remind ourselves that even if our automatic reaction is to judge ourselves, those emotions don't fit the facts, and we need to give ourselves slack.
And yes, a reminder that needing to live extremely frugally can definitely cause someone trauma. I have money trauma. A whole heck load of money trauma.
But I'm working to heal that.
And part of that is saying yes, I spent over $285 today on one grocery shop, and its ok, its ok, its ok. I need to repeat it to myself and hopefully it'll sink in. But even if emotionally it doesn't yet, at least intellectually it is.
5 Online Dating Tips for Single Parents
You might feel all excited about this decision, but you’ll probably quickly realize that things might not run as smoothly as you might have expected them. As if being a single parent weren’t difficult enough all on its own, now you have to spend your free time socializing in an effort to find that one person who might be right for you. Okay, nobody said that this will be easy, but it’s definitely worth a try, since there’s no need for you to go through life all alone.
There is, however, a much easier option than the one that would require you to go to bars and attend a huge number of social gatherings in order to find someone you like and someone who will be ready to date a single parent without being weird about it. I’m talking about joining one of those dating sites for single parents and trying to find that person online. This is easier in so many ways.
For starters, you don’t need to go to those events and visit bars and clubs while your children are with a nanny if they are not old enough to be left alone. I suspect that no parent would feel rather comfortable doing this. But, you don’t need to wait for them to grow up either in order to get back out there and find yourself a person that’s willing to share his or her life with you. Instead, you can just meet people online from the comfort of your own home and then organize a real date only if you are sure that you and the other person could work well together.
If you are worried that you might be the only single parent out there engaging in online dating, then let me immediately assure you of the wrongfulness of that statement. There are actually quite a lot of websites that basically specialize in bringing single parents closer together and I’m sure that you would love to meet another parent determined to do what’s best for his or her children, while also struggling to meet a like-minded person to spend some time with. While I’m sure that you can do it all alone without any troubles, the truth is that things are definitely much easier when you have someone by your side and all the parents on these sites feel the same way.
Now, when you decide to give these sites a try, you might not be completely sure about how to do it or how to behave upon making your profile. That’s perfectly fine. You have probably been out of the dating pool for quite a while and all you have to do is brush up on your skills and you’ll be ready to get started in no time. In order to help you, I have prepared a few useful tips on how to date online as a single parent. Hopefully, you’ll use those and find a great person for you pretty quickly.