One website, huge benefit!

Once upon a time, my husband and I were poor college students. Well, he was a poor college student. I spent a whole semester trying to get a job and other than a temp position, went without.

I wasn't a great cook, either. For a variety of reasons, I knew how to make very little. Mac and Cheese, hamburger helper. That was about it.

Totino's pizzas were still round and a dollar. Spaghetti was easy and cheap. Peanut butter and jelly was easy. Then I got pregnant and had a good amount of morning sickness. I couldn't handle the texture of pb&j, so that was out. I ate a lot of oranges and crackers. And then we moved on.

Over the years, I worked my way "up" the recipe ladder. I figured out how to make hamburger helper from scratch. When we got tired of the beef+pasta combo several nights a week, I worked on chicken recipes. I had subscriptions to Rachel Ray mag, Cooking Light, Family Circle, and more! I tried new things, and kept the recipes in a binder. Now I feel like a reasonable cook.

I cancelled all of my magazines when they started to take over the house. I still have too many, sitting and waiting for me to sort them. One day, I will pitch them all.

So now that we've established that I'm a hoarder, wouldn't it be great to digitize this stuff?

Plan to Eat is an excellent resource! Here's the short list of what you can do with it:

* Save recipes, even directly from a website.
* Sort recipes into categories, adding tags and nutrition information.
* Plan a weekly or monthly menu.
* Print a shopping list based on your meal plan.

I currently have 238 recipes saved to my Plan To Eat profile. I also have access to recipes from 13 friends. This gives me almost 1500 recipes available at my fingertips.

I tried Plan To Eat when it was new, and decided not to renew. When I came back to PTE several years later, here's why I decided to stay:

"You are invited to a free, 30 day, full-service, no strings attached trial.

No payment information is required and your feedback is welcome."

THAT, my friends is how a company should be run. No fake trial that will be charged automatically. If you join and then decide to leave, your recipe collection stays! Full service, no strings attached FOR REAL. There is nothing to lose. 

Ready to jump in? Click here:

My Sister Called

Unlike most households in America today, we still have a landline. We're weird like that. Truthfully, it's because I'm home most of the time and my husband's phone is provided by the employer.

Like most households, we have caller ID. It would be an usual day when, at some point, there wasn't a call from my sister. Since it's currently the Christmas season, I tend to jump straight to that White Christmas tune "Sisters, sisters..." I do sing it out loud, I can't help it.

My sister- we have a typical bond, but I feel that it may be from unusual circumstances. Or not. She's the only sister I've ever had. We are eight years apart. I am the older one. I was seen as a troublemaker, she was seen as a golden child. In my opinion, the roles are reversed.

We weren't terribly close for a long time. It's hard when I'm in college and then raising babies, and she's still in high school. When she went to college, we had a better opportunity to get to know each other. When she moved home, I begged her to move here instead.

When she got married.... well. We don't talk about that year, mostly because we didn't talk to each other that year. Then we got over it and she had a baby. Now we talk to each other more than anyone else.

As her older sister, with four kids, I am the encyclopedia.

"I need help. What do I do for teething?"
"I need help. How do I know if the milk went bad?"
"Sister, I need you."

I am honored that she trusts me. I am honored that I can be here for her, even though I'm a thousand miles away. I also know that if it weren't me, it would be our beloved Grandmother.

Watch for more about when my sister calls.

Welcome!

I am so excited to be starting a new chapter out here in cyberspace. I hope to share the usual- parenting, book reviews, pictures, etc. But I have a couple of other really neat ideas, we'll see if they congeal into reality soon.