Caring Bridge

This post is a somber one. I wanted to let everyone know about this website, though. Also, to encourage anyone looking for a charity/website to donate to this holiday season to think of Caring Bridge. http://www.caringbridge.org/ is "a 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing free websites that connect family and friends during a serious health event, care and recovery. A CaringBridge website is personal, private and available 24/7. It helps ease the burden of keeping family and friends informed. The websites are easy to create and use. Authors add health updates and photos to share their story while visitors leave messages of love and support in the guestbook."


Unforunately, I've had a number of former students who were cancer patients or had life threatening illnesses. Most recently, one of the mommies from my October baby group on Cafemom, had her 3 year old daughter diagnosed with Leukemia. Such a tragedy for a family that had already experienced a lot of loss in just last week. The good news is her daughter has ALL, which has a very high recovery rate, so we're all hoping for the best!


In times like these it's nice to have a way to update everyone, without having to make a ton of calls or emails. Caringbridge.com allows people to post updates, pictures, etc. from anywhere at anytime. It's a great site and free to everyone. I hope that you might consider a small donation.


http://www.caringbridge.org/donate

Fruity Sweet Potatoes

Here's a super duper yummy slow cooker recipe I tried out for Thanksgiving. Everyone loved it and of course it was so easy for me, since I just threw it in the crock pot!

• 2 lbs. (about 6 medium sized) sweet potatoes, or yams I only used 3 large and it worked fine
• 1 1/2 cups applesauce
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp. butter, melted
• 1 tsp. cinammon
• chopped nuts, optional

1. Peel sweet potatoes if you wish. Cut into cubes or slices. Place in slow cooker.
2. In a bowl, mix together applesauce, brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon. Spoon over potatoes.
3. Cover and cook on Low 6-8 house, or until potatoes are tender. *I was short on time and did them on high 3 hours and it worked out fine!
4. Mash potatoes and sauce together if you wish with a large spoon -or spoon potaties into serving dish and top with the sauce.
5. Sprinkle with nuts, if you want.

prep time: 15 minutes
cooking time: 6-8 hours (low)
ideal slow cooker size: 3- to 4qt.
Makes 6 servings **according to my recipe. BUT mine served at least twice that plus had some left, I guess it depends on how much is considered a serving!!

Kid Steals

I had a previous post about BabySteals.com, well great news! Now there is a KidSteals.com too! Be sure to bookmark it and maybe even sign up for the daily updates. It's the same concept as Baby Steals, with "products from one hot brand each day at 50%-80% off until it sells out." Thrifty moms like me love it!

Update - Peel and Stick

I have not posted lately due to, go figure, being busy as a Mommy, wife, teacher, friend, etc. etc.! I do apologize and hope to post more often.

I wanted to reference a previous post. A while back I had mention Peel and Stick room decorations. Well, I finally got around to purchasing the pink and brown dots for my daughter's room and they are wonderful! So easy to use and matched her decor perfectly. They're exactly what I was looking for!

I'll post a picture of how they look:

Also to elaborate on my previous post about BabySteals.com- they have now opened KidSteals.com! Another great resource for fellow thrifty mommas.