Easier

Well, as any organizational guru would tell us, the more we maintain habits, the easier they get! Habitual, you might even say.

Did you know you can pan fry meatloaf if you accidentally turn the oven off? And I think I may even prefer it that way, with all the crispy edges. My favorite meatloaf recipe is 1 lb. ground beef, 1/3 lb. ground sausage, 1 cup of dried bread or cornbread, with sage, italian seasoning, and garlic salt (or you can use a cup of pepperidge farm stuffing and skip the bread and spices), recipe credit G.B.

Well, my family and I have been sugar-free all this month (with the exception of a couple family birthday parties and our weekend at home) and it has been a very good experiment. I have an unfair advantage in that it makes me sick to eat any kind of treat, but we are in this together and even my husband has done well. Although we did make the exception that he needed only be sugar-free in our presence. But he's around a lot so I still think of it as an accomplishment on his part. As for me, I'm learning to love savory foods, and plan to make these for my next special occasion. And if you love peanut butter and chocolate, you have to try these gluten-free brownies from the Spunky Coconut. I've been making them every week and they are mostly protein/fat, so it's a guilt-free food as far as I'm concerned.

And speaking of Valentine's Day decorations, I caved today and made a coffee filter wreath. Even though it was one of the Top 10 Decorating Trends of 2010, and if you've ever met me you KNOW I'm not trendy. But I had a 75 cent thrifted wreath on hand, and a pack of coffee filters were only $1. My home goods budget is shot until March due to the purchase of a drying rack (which is super useful in the winter when you have a wood stove) and a new iron (which is also nice to have, but it's never as fun to replace things, even if the new one is exactly like the one my grandmother had) so I did what I had to do. I was tired of not having any decoration on my door, especially since I have that lovely 1960's diamond window greeting everyone. Now you have to look closely to see the retro-ness of the (unpainted) door. I had to go with what I had, so I didn't use any specific instructions, but The Nester has some step-by-step guides for making all sorts of coffee-filter inspired decorations.

Are you feeling the love?