Fun Finds for March!

 

I’ve stumbled upon a few fun things throughout this month and wanted to share some of them with you today!

Before I begin, I wanted to give you an update on the Souper Cubes I talked about last month! I bought them with a gift card I won at work and the verdict? – LOVE THEM. I had two servings of a big pot of soup that I didn’t want to eat in real time, so I poured them in the cubes, froze them, and then popped them out and put them in freezer bags. Now we’re all set whenever we need a quick lunch or dinner and don’t have time to cook. I told Ryan I also think this will be perfect for the marinara sauce I like to make in batches and freeze for pasta dishes. I’m so glad I bought them!

Now on to this month’s finds!

·         Several years ago (like back in the Marion days) I was a contributing writer for a website run by a friend of ours from our Sunday School class. She used the Trello website to manage all her writers and their assignments. I haven’t used Trello since, but I decided this month to see if it was still free and if I might like it to help me manage some parts of life – like meal plans/grocery shopping, writing/speaking, etc. While you can upgrade to paid versions, it appears you can still operate on a free version for the basics, and I had a lot of fun experimenting with it this month. I put all our meal plans on there and it helped me keep track of my lists, recipes, etc. I used it every single day to remind me of my meal and snack plans, and it is a perfect fit.

·         I tried a new guacamole recipe this month and didn’t like it as much as the one I’ve made for years. I am also working on putting together a new “Shafferland Recipe Box” file for our newfound favorite recipes, and I wondered if I could figure out the nutrition facts on the recipe I had, so I hunted online for a free recipe nutrition calculator. I found this one, and it was fun to use! I put in my ingredients and how many servings for the recipe, and it came up with all the nutrition facts!

·         Speaking of food…I tried a few new things this month. It turns out that I like butternut squash. Who knew?! I’m not sure how often any of you have ever cooked with it, but it has a good taste to it. (It’s a pain to peel and slice, but it’s good!) Heavily recommend using a mandolin (or slicer of some kind) if you’re working with one of these, but I also feel like it is worth the work for the end result of tasty, healthy food. I also tried pears for the first time (that I can remember) in my grown-up life. I have eaten them canned – back in my childhood – and didn’t like them. I decided to try one and learned that I really do love the flavor, but the texture is off for me. Too gritty. I think I can handle them in things like salads, but not on their own.

·         I follow Dawn McVey on Instagram – and she was actually the one who introduced me to the wheat we now mill to make flour. Dawn is an artist and was recently commissioned by her church to paint a full set of armor, which they presented (piece by piece) to women who attended a conference at their church. The story of the whole project was beautiful to read, but my favorite thing is that Dawn made an art print of the shield from the armor set and you can purchase it on her website! (Prices vary depending on the size you purchase.) I LOVE IT because it’s beautiful – and what a perfect reminder of the armor of God! It’s on my wish list.

So there you go! Some fun finds for the month of March. Maybe one of them will be a good fit for you or supply a gift idea for you. Enjoy!!