News & Blog

UPDATE: September, 2021: I originally wrote this post pre-pandemic, to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. I thought it would be fun to republish it now for "armchair travel" from home during Covid, when we're all staying home more and/or not traveling in-person at all, which is a good time to plan a future trip! Should you travel in person, please check the latest Covid travel advisories and be safe! Because this was written quite some time ago, and businesses have als

DISCLOSURES Hello, my lovelies! I thought it was time to share some things I've come across lately that made me smile. I'm feeling a little wordy today, so this will be a long post, but hopefully it's filled with useful resources, tips, and pretties that you might use yourself, and also enjoy! If you want to get yourself some tea or "calming" coffee in your favorite cup, (here's my fave cup lately), I'll wait for you! ARIZONA ARMCHAIR TRAVELS PAST & FUTURE Let's do a little

DISCLOSURES Hello, my lovelies! I had half of a can of black beans in the fridge so I decided to make homemade enchiladas. I saw a few recipes online but they seemed overly complicated and since I like SIMPLE, I made up my own version and my hubby and I both enjoyed them so I thought you might too! DIRECTIONS FOR INSIDE FILLING: Mix all of the below together in a large bowl: 1 can refried pinto beans, mashed up with a fork 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed (I used my ha

Hello, my lovelies! Have some plain white cabinets in your home that need perking up? Try decals! They are such a fun and dollarwise way to do a little cabinet (or wall) spruce-up. Here's how we used them in our home recently ... DISCLOSURES My best tip for installation is to ask your hubby to install the decals. :) Steve likes to help with home projects of all kinds and he's handier with things like this than I am so I'm all for his help. My job was to research/source A

Hello my lovelies! Have you found it problematic getting packages delivered to your home during Covid? We have been blessed with good delivery service for the most part, and grateful for those who do that hard work during these tough times. We've also tried to make it the easiest and safest possible process for both the delivery drivers and for us. Here's what we did to make package delivery easier for all concerned: DISCLOSURES When Covid first started we immediately began

Hello, my lovelies! If there's anything that makes me smile since we moved to Arizona in 2018, (I can't believe it's been three years!), it's cactus! So ... Steve and I took a drive in our area this past week to enjoy the outdoors in a safe-as-possible manner during Covid. (As in, we stayed in the car most of the time and were around no other people when we did get out of the car. Water bottles in tow, and masks with us.) My hubby is 6' 2" tall, so you can see how tall some

Hello, my lovelies! I don't know about you, but after all these intense pandemic-drama past months, I think we could all use a high-end spa day of pampering and relaxing and some new clothes. But if pricey spas aren't in your money-budget or in your time-budget, then never fear, since I'm sharing below today my fave at-home DIY dollarwise ways to pamper yourself and your wardrobe. DISCLOSURES I have used Devita facial products for awhile now. Recently I'm enjoying their Alo

DISCLOSURES Hello my lovelies! If it's been as HOT where you live as it has in Arizona where I live, (+115 degrees some days), then you might like to invest in this dollarwise little kitchen lovely so that you don't have to turn your oven or stove-top on and therefore create even more heat in your house and up your AC costs by doing that too. Bonus points here for the fact that this cooking m.o. is a one dish clean-up project. Don't you just love those?! TIP: Soak the whit

Hello, my lovelies! Imagine my delight when I opened my dining nook window shade to this lovely right outside our Cactus View Cottage (CVC) recently. I thought you might enjoy these pretties too so I snapped this pix really fast to show you. See that hole in our Saguaro cactus? That's for birds! They nest in there, just like in a tree. Some Saguaro cactus are as big as BIG trees too. BTW, Saguaro is pronounced "Suh-wahr-oh." And here are more flowering cactus pix that ot

Hello, my dears! Have you ever felt like this? Yes, I thought so! My hubby Steve and I are doing small dollarwise home-handy projects right now; I have spring-spruce-up fever! How 'bout you? “Spring is the time of plans and projects.” ― Leo Tolstoy Does your home need some little dollarwise spring-spruce-ups too? My favorite eBook I wrote years ago on that topic is useful if you have trouble knowing where to start, or if your home improvement budget is small. Happy dollarwise

Fourteen Years of Blogging. Kathryn Bechen.

Hello my lovelies! I've been enjoying easier home cooking with our new big pantry m.o. that's working SO great! Our new skinny storage m.o. has helped the easier-cooking-in-our-small-home cause along too. (Small Space Organizing help.) And so, I thought I'd share a new super easy online "recipe find" that has so blessed our life since we became plant-based and almost vegan awhile ago. (We still eat honey and once in a great while, fish.) I love a good quiche/easy egg bake

While weeding through my memorabilia box recently, I came upon my journals I've saved over the years. And ... Taped in the front of my Amazing Grace journal was this. I don't remember where it came from, but I have personally found it to be a life truth. Also, here's a poem I wrote in 2004 that I thought I'd share during this time of Covid-19 pain and hardship for so many. Divine Inheritance Divine Inheritance That’s what He gives Gave His life on a cross So that we might l

Hello my lovely organized at-home cooks! If you're a foodie who loves nothing more than trying new recipes and spices, you might consider that really fun, but as for me and Steve, we consider cooking pretty much work these days, so going out to cute bistros where someone waits on us and we get to enjoy the wonderful food, decor, and romantic ambiance would be our version of fun! But in case anyone hasn't noticed, cute bistros of the eating-out-variety are out of the question

Hello my lovely and organized readers! I told you in my recent pantry upgrade post that I'd share with you why I used the particular bins and baskets I did here rather than buy all new pretty colored matchy-matchy bins like you see on beautiful online boards, and also that I'd let you know which bins were my favorites. Here was my overall "flexible" strategy: I don't like colored bins and baskets all that much, (or folders or labels either), because if one cracks or breaks or

Before I get back to sharing more food-pantry-strategy with you, Steve made our homemade recipe for veggie lasagna the other night and it's so easy and so good that I thought I'd share it with you since it's a bit snowy and super-cold in some areas of the U.S. right now so this will fill your tummy with warm yum! :) DISCLOSURES RECIPE Pre-heat oven to 375. Use a 9x13 cake pan. (We use non-stick but you can also oil a regular pan if you prefer.) Use about 2-3 jars of Marina

Hello my lovely think-outside-the-box readers! How has Covid changed the way you and your family dine? For us, like most people, it's been zero restaurant outings and instead mega-cooking at home because we feel safer healthwise eating this way now. My husband Steve and I have not eaten out, had food delivery, nor bought grocery store deli take out even once since the pandemic began. (This is why I came up with our Sunday Trays to make things a little easier too food-prep

Hello my lovely readers! Do you love to cook at home, kind of like it, or are you super tired of a whole Covid-year of so much at-home cooking?! No matter which one you are, we all deserve a little cooking-labor break from time to time, so ... Hello no-cooking-on-Sunday-trays! To curb so-much-cooking-fatigue, you just "assemble" healthy attractive "nibbling" foods on trays, but no cooking allowed at least one day a week. That's what I came up with as a solution to so much

Hello my lovelies! I have decided to start a new series here on my new blog called My Favorite Things Lately, with links, so that you can check them out for yourself if you wish. Hope you enjoy this and find it useful too. DISCLOSURES Here we go! MURPHY'S RUG LAW: Reader Margie in sunny San Diego, CA wrote asking me where we bought our new floral kitchen runner rug. I told her that I had just spilled a big blob of spaghetti sauce on the white area of it, (of course!), and it

Hello, my lovelies! Celebrating the month of love, as my gift to you, I have priced my home and lifestyle eBooks at just $1.99 for the entire month of February. My eBooks are purposely short so you can take action easily and quickly without getting overwhelmed. There's little fluff and instead, simple how-to tips that are tried-and-true. Plus all of my tips are dollarwise too so that you can stick to your budget while tapping into your own creativity. How can my eBooks help