Here's a fun and dollarwise Valentine's Day breakfast/brunch idea. Really fun for kids with the heart shape! And healthier and cheaper than heart candy, dare I say. After my hubby Steve baked a big pan of these up for us, I put them in the fridge 'til cool and set well so I could cut them cleanly with a cookie cutter. Don't skip the fridge step as it works to solidify the chocolate chips too so they cut well. After you cut the hearts out, you will have some odd size pieces left. Just cut them up in smaller pieces, freeze them, and have one or two with afternoon tea or morning coffee, like a cake-bar. The original recipe for these is from VeganBlueberry.com and I modified it to our health needs to be gluten-free. I also used oat milk and honey instead of maple syrup. (Strict vegans don't usually eat honey, but we do.) DISCLOSURES Here's my version/recipe makeover for our needs below. I used Walmart's Great Value brand ingredients for these and they turned out just fine. Chocolate Chip Oven Pancakes INGREDIENTS 3 cups almond or other milk (I used oat milk) 1 T. apple cider vinegar 3 c. all purpose flour (I used gluten-free) 4 t. baking powder 1 t. salt 1 t. vanilla extract (I left this out as real vanilla is ridiculously expensive these days so I refuse to buy it. I don't feel it affected the taste at all by leaving it out. 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted (This is wonderful and a great price for a big tub! No coconut taste or smell at all. Bonus: I use it to moisturize my face in the dry desert air and it works dandy!) 1/3 cup honey or coconut sugar, which is lower glycemic than white or brown sugar (I love this honey and the price!) 1 bag chocolate chips (I like this brand) INSTRUCTIONS Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. In a medium mixing bowl, combine milk and apple cider vinegar and let it sit In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together to combine and set aside Add the vanilla, honey, and coconut oil to the milk mixture and whisk/stir well by hand Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, whisking all together until fully combined Add chocolate chips at end Pour the batter into a 9x13 oiled or non-stick pan and use a spatula to smooth it out (I used and love the Rachael Ray pans) Bake15-20 minutes until toothpick in center comes out clean Serve with maple syrup or honey drizzled on top. Or not. I have also made the blueberry version and they are great too. Just sub out the choc chips with blueberries is all you do. These can be a bit messy, so try my new "never buy paper napkins again" m.o. by using these wonderful microfiber towels as napkins. They are the size of a dishtowel vs. a square napkin and work just great for messy meals and also as "bibs" for kids and adults alike. I was amazed that even spaghetti sauce washed out without using a spray treament in the laundry. Win! I am not sure if blueberry juice would wash out; guess I will have to try that. Since we have a garden theme going in our decor, I chose this pattern. We keep a big stack of them near our table and just toss in the wash. Dry, fold, and never buy paper napkins again. :) Happy upcoming Valentine's Day, my sweets! Kathryn #kathrynbechen #kathrynbechenauthor #authorkathrynbechen #homebaking #budgetbaking #chocolatechipovenpancakes #heartpancakes #Valentineheartpancakes

I like my home to run efficiently and I also like it to be cozy, comfy, and attractive. Did I mention that I like to do all that on a realistic budget? Combine that all together and you have created a wonderfully comfortable home space for yourself and your family. Below are some of my favorite dollarwise home products and how we use them ... DISCLOSURES If you've struggled to get food into a Ziploc bag, this tool is great. My hubby loves using it! It worked perfectly for bagging cooked rice that will go into the freezer. Have a chair that's in good condition but is no longer your upholstery taste? Vacuum it, steam clean it and let it dry well, and then slipcover it! It's an economical way to brighten up your furniture. If you want more dollarwise decorating tips, you can find those here. If you want to add cottage style to your home, you can find my tips here. Before our slipcover: Nice, clean, plus I once loved this elegant fabric for a former more formal apartment of ours but I was going for a more "cottage-y" look in my current more casual home, so the pink floral slipcover achieved that. A hanging zipper jewelry case works great for storing essential oil bottles or Bach Flowers. Great when you travel too as nothing falls out nor rolls around. I cut labels out of heavy card stock and labeled them in large red print with a Sharpie pen which makes the right Bach Flower bottle easy to find in the dark of night if needed. It's also an easy way to check your inventory to see if you are out of a remedy, because the system is so visual. I just tucked the card label in the front of each pocket. It's not attached in any way. I alphabetize my remedies and the cards can easily be moved around as the inventory changes. I use and love Bach Flowers! Now here's an old trick we used a few years ago in our kitchen. Key hangers don't have to just hold keys! The measuring cups and spoons here are from Pioneer Woman. Trouble getting a jar to open? Use a piece of this shelf liner cut to size. Wrap it around your jar lid for a great grip! Just run through your dish water in your sink to clean it off and air dry it in your dish drainer on top of your drying dishes. How easy and inexpensive too! It comes in a roll so you can line your drawers or cupboards while you're at it. :) Large labels work great for labeling bigger bins. Beware though that they are not always removable even if the manufacturer says they are. I have had to just cover a printed label up with another new label as I could not get them off. Also, I have switched to buying bulk all white inexpensive washcloths to save money in the kitchen as we are clean freaks so we go through many dishcloths and towels. When you buy inexpensive washcloths, they are thin with a lot of nap for easy kitchen counter cleanup. Once they are ratty, I cut the corner off and put them in the rag bin. The corner cut off tells me they are a rag and no longer a dishcloth. I bleach them once in awhile so they stay (somewhat) white. I like non-toxic and fragrance free Charlie's bleach and I find the best price for that usually at Vitacost. The best dollarwise dishtowels in my opinion are flour sack dishtowels like our grandmas used way back in the day. Do my same m.o. for when they need to become rags. NOTE: If you use Vitacost, be sure to watch for their coupons and promo codes. Wonderful discounts! Sometimes multiple coupon codes etc. Also before you go into the Vitacost website, go through Rakuten and then search Vitacost in there, click to get into Vitacost. Rakuten gives cash back by percentage and sometimes it is quite high. I have earned over $2000 from Rakuten over the years. Just for using their site to shop for what I would already buy anyway. Sometimes by using Rakuten plus Vitacost's coupons and discounts I save 30% or more. That's a lot! Dollarwise shopping for things to run your home and life will help you avoid this stress. We know because by practicing dollarwise living ourselves, for a long time, we have no debt. Zero. Nada. None. But we don't live a miserable miserly life. We spend carefully on the things we need so we can pay cash for the nice things we want. Like our secret garden patio. All of which we paid cash to set up and decorate. BTW, I don't recommend debting to decorate your home! Use your creativity and some of my tips here instead, and take your time and let it evolve. Living in a small house, condo, or apartment also helps your money go further. "People do not understand what a great revenue economy is." --Cicero If you need help managing your money better, these books are all helpful. May you have ease and beauty in your home, money in your bank account, and grace in your life. Kathryn :) #kathrynbechen #kathrynbechenauthor #authorkathrynbechen #homeorganizing #homedecorating #smallspaces #smallspaceorganizing #smallspacedecorating #dollarwiseorganizing #dollarwisedecorating #savemoneyathome #thriftyhome

Happy almost spring! If you are new here, welcome. If you are a longtime reader, thanks for stopping by again. If you are money-conscious-yet-creative and you want to set a pretty spring or Easter table, but you don't want to use your credit card to decorate, (please don't!), stick with me kid, because I've been creating dollarwise tables and meals for years. And years. Today I will share a few of my affordable tricks with you so you can use your own creativity for your tables too. None of my ideas are anything dramatic, but maybe you will find one or two ideas you have never thought of, so here we go ... DISCLOSURES As in the photo above, my favorite way to set a table, whether it's just the two of you, you are a single, or you're feeding a crowd is what I call my Sunday trays. I guess they would be my version of a charcuterie board, if you will. All I did above was use a tablecloth and napkins I found on Amazon, set some nibbles dishes on top of white melamine trays and arrange them so the food colors popped, put little appetizer forks in a small pitcher I had long ago purchased at TJMaxx, and I set two small lighted orchids on the table. Festive. Fun. Easy cleanup. Affordable. This was a simple table I created about 20 years ago at our California condo. I tied the tablecloth with pink ribbon I had on hand. The antique chairs we bought at an Omaha antique store. The green folding chairs are very vintage and were purchased from a store in La Jolla, CA that used to repurpose and repaint old funiture. And here are some other easy things I did another time for our same table of four ... I used a blue teapot that was stored in my curio cabinet as my vase. Someone gave me this as a gift so it brought back that nice memory too. And the bright blue added some great color contrast to the pink daisies. Daisies are the ultimate dollarwise flower in my opinion. We had them for our wedding nearly 44 years ago and I still love them. The water goblets were from an antique mall when we lived in Omaha, NE and at that time in our young lives we were scouting antique malls and estate sales and thrift stores to furnish our home affordably. The pink flowered china Steve and I found on a day trip in a little dusty antique shop in a small town in Iowa. We still laugh that there was one plate missing in the set of 12 so they gave us the whole box for $3.00 and since we have never had 12 people to dinner, it was not a big deal. In fact, we had extra plates in case one broke. :) Look around your home beyond your kitchen and dining rooms ... I would imagine that you have things that could be pulled from other rooms in your home to set your table. Look at your things with new eyes and see what you come up with! You don't have to use matching plates or glasses etc. either. Some of the most interesting tables I have ever seen are when the hostess mixed and matched colors and patterns for a "chic boho" look. This was our Easter table at one of our former San Diego, CA apartments. The same pink floral china and goblets. The floral placemats and charger plates were from Marshalls. I like to reuse things, and since I stick to a floral theme with a lot of my home decor it can easily be used over and over and it really never dates as it can be freshened up easily with some more modern touches over time. Steve recovered the chair seats with a matelassé bedspread we no longer used on the bed. To me, pretty fabric is pretty fabric and not to be wasted, no matter the original purpose of it, like a bedspread. Here's what I did for my fresh flower arrangement that was easy and fun ... I sliced some limes for a little interest. Fun, and I don't remember it killing the flower or anything. :) This was another table I set out on our apartment terrace when we lived in San Diego, CA. The vintage lace tablecloth was from a thrift store and I will show you a little trick I used below for that. Again, same china and placemats. I liked back then to use goblets for fruit and desserts. (I have since banned glassware from my home now that I am in my 60s and my hands ache and I don't want to keep cleaning up dropped glasses, so I prefer pretty stainless wine-sized tumblers now.) The candleholders were on a clearance shelf at my neighborhood grocery store, amazingly. Grocery store floral departments also have great containers for both beauty and organizing. This was an anniversary table for us, so I tied festive gold ribbons around the water goblets to go with the gold candleholders. The roses are in a white pitcher I bought at Home Goods. I love to use pitchers as vases. When decorating, I always look on the clearance racks in stores and now shopping online, for coupons and discounts. The corner of this vintage tablecloth had a quarter-size hole in it, and since mending and sewing are not my thing, I tied a knot to hide it. Done! The napkins were vintage linens from a thrift store. The chair was a clearance find at a garden center and Steve spray painted it for me. The cute cushion was found at an antique store. The white privacy screen behind the table was from Burlington, and Steve painted it white for me since it came brown which did not go with our decor. I don't let less-than-perfect things deter me when I decorate a table or anything else in my home; I just find a way around them. And paint is my number one go-to for transforming almost anything in my home. This was a super duper easy and simple Easter table I did long ago. I wrapped a cross necklace around a vase, stacked a cake stand on a plate, and stacked a lidded dish on top of that where I put Jordan almonds that looked like Easter eggs. Steve and I gave each other an Easter card and called it a quiet and peaceful day. I bought the white table at a La Jolla, CA consignment store that is no longer there. The owner told me at the time it was designed by a famous tennis star's sister. Who knows if that's an urban legend or not! I liked it because it was made of heavy metal that was bent to look like twisted vines with roses on it, so it went with my love of garden elements in my home. This was a dinner table in CA that I did on our tiny apartment terrace. The tablecloth is originally a huge scarf from Goodwill. I loved the roses pattern. (I always wash and sanitize secondhand finds, even before the pandemic.) Look through your own linen drawers and even clothes closet. You might find the perfect "table touch" item. I have often used shawls to cover up chair backs, for instance. Again, washed before use. The water goblets were also Goodwill finds. The bistro set was from Amazon. On this table, the silver tray was found at Goodwill and the candle holders from another Goodwill store when we were out and about on a day trip. Steve and I like to stop at antique and thrift stores on day trips and when on vacation. When we tire of something or it no longer fits our current home since we have moved a lot, we re-consign it or donate it to Goodwill as we don't want things to end up in landfills. Above, I took the green center faux plant from elsewhere in our apartment and borrowed it for the table. The glass fruit cups were found at Goodwill too and by their bottom design I recognized them as very old. I like decorating with vintage things sometimes. But I like adding touches of something fresh and modern in too sometimes as well for an interesting mix. BTW, I don't care about "pedigree" nor who a famous dinnerware designer is, because just like I don't want to pay for a designer's name on the rear end of my jeans, I don't see the need to have them on my table either. :) I just buy what I like and for a dollarwise price to me. Side note: Yes, I have endured rolled eyes and condescending remarks about my thrifty decorating ways from "friends" with huge homes and (seemingly) very affluent lives. I ignore them with a smile, knowing that my dollarwise decorating and efficient and organized home management helped us retire three years ago with zero debt, including no mortgage, and a peaceful and pretty yet modest lifestyle which we prefer instead of living like this. This was one of my favorite tables I ever set because I LOVE the colors in the scarf I found at Goodwill. It had a sailboat on the pattern and palm trees so since we lived in San Diego at the time it was perfect. I matched the roses on the table to it. The white tablecloth was another thrift store find and was in perfect condition. I brought our terrace tables and chairs inside just for fun. I hope this gave you at least one dollarwise idea for your spring or Easter table. Look in every room in your home. I know you can find something pretty to repurpose and move to your table, both to save you money and fuel your creativity. I wish you simple beauty on your table and the grace of Easter in your soul. Kathryn :) P.S. If you would like to receive my dollarwise decorating and organizing tips and tidbits right into your email inbox, please subscribe at the bottom of this page. It's free. If you would like my dollarwise decorating tips all in one place so that you can just scroll through them and read quickly, here's my tips eBook on that topic. #kathrynbechen #authorkathrynbechen #kathrynbechenauthor #budgetdecorating #dollarwisedecorating #budgettablesettings #dollarwisetablesettings #tablesettingsEaster #Eastertablesettings #springtablesettings #tablesettingsspring

Greetings! I hope you all had a blessed Easter. Christ is Risen! OUR EASTER CELEBRATION AT HOME Instead of a regular meal at home, or going out, Steve and I decided to make an Easter tea together at home. We had a lot of fun with it; I think Steve told me at least three times how much he enjoyed the quiet day at home doing this. Me too! DISCLOSURES Here's what I did for planning and what Steve helped with too. I always try to keep things as simple as I can, and I did. In hindsight though, make-ahead quiche, a salad, and iced tea would have been much easier labor-wise. But this was really FUN. I put our pretty new dishtowels on our range as we have limited counter space so this works great as they are just the right size. I never let living in a small home deter me from anything; I just find a creative way! My favorite brand of floral dishtowels. I love my new floral tea pot and I had the other one already. We wanted to make plenty of tea to last the whole day. We already had the wicker tray and tea set and I put a cross on there since it was Easter. We thought ahead of what we wanted for food and bought the ingredients ahead. I made chocolate chip bars and Steve made chocolate chip raisin muffins. For the sandwiches I made three fillings: Salmon with capers Tuna with chopped pickle Vegan feta cheese with strawberry jam on top Steve cut all the crusts off our fave GF sandwich bread, and we saved the crusts. (More on that below; don't toss those!) Once he had the crusts cut off, I cut the bread with my heart-shaped cookie cutter. We loaded everything onto to the tray (similar) and covered it with foil and put it in the fridge until we were ready to eat. (You don't want food poisoning and an emergency room visit on Easter Day. So please use your fridge.) We made our favorite Steep tea in various flavors combined for a new twist. They were wonderfully flavorful. We ate in our little at-home bistro which I "fluffed up" recently with these and these. I love our new little tablecloth. It stays on the table well due to the elastic and reminds me of a Monet painting. Steve loves Monet art. But if you like something else, this tablecloth comes in many colors and sizes and patterns. I wore my new "Garden Party" dress which you can see the pink here a bit. (In other words a floral dress made of knit that is soft and comfy. And stretchy.) In the old days they called them house dresses. Anyway, to keep it fun, instead of calling it a boring-sounding house dress, I call this my "Garden Party" dress and I bought several of them in different colors along with the most comfy floral slipper-shoes I could find, which I love wearing. They even have some arch support in there, but wear like a cozy slipper. They have a nice non-slip bottom too. Perfect to wear to a real live garden party. Just because you mature/age, doesn't mean you lose your creativity and imagination. At least not in this house, if I have anything to say about it! Everyone has some life limitations at some point in life; being aging or whatever, and I make the best of mine and carry on, making things pretty and orderly to lift our spirits. It's my art! And sharing it on my blog and website and in my eBooks is how I help and serve others. It can be your art too, to make your home a pretty place to live. And you can do it on a budget if you need to do that. (Unless you are a multi-millionaire, I think everyone should decorate and organize on a dollarwise budget. It increases your creativity, and gives you nice retirement money to tuck away for your later years. I know that, because I have done that myself with what I saved via my dollarwise decorating.) Here are my best tips for making a cozy pretty home on a budget. I use these pretty stainless floral tumblers instead of glassware now. It's safer than shattered glass and they clean up really well, and I love the pretty colors. Our floral napkins make me smile. They wash, dry, and iron easily too. During our tea planning week the weather was nice and we enjoyed our palm trees outside our dining nook window. On Easter Day it rained. And rained. It's the first time it rained on Easter Day in The Valley of the Sun in Arizona in 20 years according to the internet. But for us, that was okay as we watched sappy-style movies from bed in the afternoon, which we love doing because there is nothing icky in those. Just people falling in love, cute towns, beautiful scenery, pretty dresses and hairstyles, and young people having fun. Why not?! We use the Freevee program that came with our TV. Free makes it even better in my dollarwise lifestyle book! LIFE INSIGHT When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, as the old cliche goes. When life rains, your plants will grow, and you can watch a cozy movie inside. In other words, you might be disappointed you were not able to dine on the patio, but trust me, you will live, and the sun will shine again. Now for those bread crusts that we saved. Steve diced them up and put them in a cake pan. I drizzled them with olive oil, and garlic powder, and put them in the oven for about 30 minutes, tossing them once. And here's why ... They make the most wonderful croutons for on top of salad! OUR LIFESTYLE UPDATE I had mentioned that Steve and I had made a new "life plan" last August that we were really excited about. But alas, several things transpired rather unexpectedly in our life after we had decided that to make us change our minds and cancel our plans. But that's okay; we are both fine with it, doing well, and we believe one of the most valuable life skills anyone can cultivate is the ability to pivot while keeping a positive attitude the best you can. We have always tried to do that in life, and we intend to keep doing that as long as we live. Is that Pollyanna? Not in our opinion. It just seems wise to do your best, jump over hurdles, and move forward. "We can let circumstances rule us, or we can take charge and rule our lives from within." --Earl Nightingale May you have tea on your table, flowers in your home, and Easter Jesus in your heart. Love, Kathryn P.S. If you have not already, you can sign up by email at the bottom of any page on my website/blog to get my tips and tidbits that I share here delivered right to your inbox. It's free. #kathrynbechen #kathrynbechenauthor #authorkathrynbechen #teaathome #hometeaparty #Easterteaathome

Hello, lovelies! I hope you had a good last weekend of fun and relaxation. I have always been a tea lover, so when my husband Steve was told by his Dr. recently to stop drinking coffee for health reasons, we both ditched our coffee, cold turkey, and went all-in on tea. So far, neither of us has missed coffee at all and we are really enjoying tea, both hot and iced. DISCLOSURES Now, being in the sunset era of our life where we are streamlining and simplifying every single thing in our entire home and life, we have decided to just use tea bags and not mess with loose tea anymore. I know, the high tea purists are calling me on the phone right now! But don't worry, my tea connoisseur friends. When I go out for tea next time to say Balmoral Castle or the Shangri-La, I will be sure to politely tell them I would like gourmet loose leaf tea and no grocery store tea bags, please. But back to real life in Arizona, USA where I drink at-home tea at my little cottage-style retirement home. Tea in a pretty cup. With cozy garden-esque slippers on my feet and a lovely "Garden Party" dress on my bod. Note that when you like to try many different flavors of tea like I do, you'll likely buy at least six boxes at a time, or so. That's a lot of tea bags! But, you want to buy that many boxes at a time, because just like flour, rice, and other food staples, if tea is your main beverage of choice at home other than plain water, you're going to want to stock up when those bags are on sale. BTW, my favorite tea bag brand is now Bigelow's Steep, sealed in foil wrappers so they don't go stale nor absorb odors during shipping, and my favorite place to buy those tea bags is Vitacost because they have the best price, plus stackable discounts and coupons too at times. (10% off right now!) Be sure to go to Rakuten first and then to Vitacost within Rakuten so you get a cash rebate, too. Steep is Bigelow's premium line of tea and it's organic and non-GMO. I'm impressed. Okay, so you have now stocked up on 9000 tea bags. (Kidding!) So how do you find the flavor you are craving this very day, and none other will do? You organize those tea bags! Like you didn't know by now I was going to say that?! :) And here's the easiest way by far that I have found to organize tea bags so you can find your English Breakfast tea easily without having to go back to bed in frustration. (Hey, it happens.) Think of this tea organizing system below kind of like the Dewey Decimal system of organizing library books. Only for tea bags, not books. (Sorry, but I worked in several libraries when I was young and Dewey became my good friend and informed my future life.) Yes, I realize I am showing you this picture twice in this post. It's that important of a concept. You see that thing on the right here that says "Steep" a lot? Those are tea bags. And they are in drawers. And those drawers have dividers in them. Eureka, it's the sorting principle, once again! As in "divide and conquer!" So for example, my particular tea drawers are sorted by Earl Grey, Lemon Ginger, Mint, (for tummy aches), Chamomile Citrus, (to help you doze off), Chai (yum!), and Dandelion Peach. Those are then followed in the drawer by other flavors, sooooo, you can have a lot of different flavors and tea bags in a very small space. Bye bye, bunch of bulky tea boxes cluttering up your cupboard! When I get my tea boxes, I remove the pouches/bags from the box and I organize them by flavor in the drawers, as I mentioned. Like the title of a book, the tea flavor is on the front of the bag/book cover so you can readily see what flavor of tea it is, of course. Any excess bags go in the clear container marked "tea" shown here, because I keep extra bags on hand that I bought on sale so that Earl Grey and I will always have a date night together. Swoon, we're dancing the tea tango, Earl and me! PRO TIP: Only so many bags will fit in each section of the drawer. Plus one more: Turn the last tea bag upside down so the bulk of the bag is on top and you can fit one more bag in that way. (Steve just said to turn every other bag upside down to get even more bags in. Geeesh, some people think they know everything, don't they?! :) He is laughing as I read this to him.) Here's another way you can organize your tea bags, but I am not fond of this thing-y so I changed to the drawers pronto. Here's why: These stack, which is nice, but it was a pain to take them off the shelf to get at the exact tea flavor I wanted, so Goodwill it was donated to new or not, because I don't do clutter. This is not a waste of my money; it's a charitable donation! Because someone could use this divided box to sort maybe their jewelry if they have a lot of large pieces, or office paperclips etc. I don't have much of either, so I did not need the box and therefore donated it. Also, according to Murphy's Law with this bin/box system, the bag flavor I wanted was usually in the bottom bin, go figure, so I would have to lift the top box off all the time. The drawers are much easier -- just like your dresser drawers. Drawers are sorters. Sorters are good -- no they are great, in your home! Everywhere. Shout it from the "rooftop" of your beautiful backyard tea party: Sorters are great in your home! You could also put these bins with the hinged lid in a drawer in your kitchen, but you're not going to be able to see the tea bag flavor names that way because you will be looking at the top of the bags, and the name is on the front of the bags, and you have to fiddle with the lid. No fiddling! I have helped people get organized in one way or another since I was about two years old, (okay, maybe a little older than that), and you should know that I do not advise "fiddling" with anything in your home, (unless it's the musical instrument, of course), because you are a busy person who needs things at home efficient and easy, so just like me, you don't want to fiddle with anything but a musical fiddle. And in order to not fiddle, you need a system. And this tea bag drawer system is it if you want to be Queen of Your Tea Bags just like you are Queen of Your Paperwork. :) Okay, I'm done with my former 8th grade teacher voice who only wants you to learn and do your very best. So that your home is organized and runs smoothly so that you have time to have a little daily tea party for one at home. :) May you have tea bags at home organized by flavor, a pretty dollarwise tea pot, and a loved one to share tea time with, wherever you live in the world. Love and tea hugs, Kathryn :) P.S. The Cup of Life and Tea Thoughts and Thirsty for Tea are lovely and informative blogs about all things tea. They have a nice eBook too. I don't know these ladies personally, but I like their blogs and tea vision so wanted to share them with you here. Enjoy! #kathrynbechen #kathrynbechenauthor #authorkathrynbechen #kathrynbechenteatime #teatime #drinktea

Hello everyone! Just a note to let you know that I have three new handy features on my website to make things easier for you to find. Here they are on the desktop version, and the mobile version adapts. A bright pink "View Latest Post" button at the top right that leads you to my latest blog post/article. A search bar at the top right so you can quickly find any topic on my blog that I have written about. A sign-up box on the top left side so you can get posts directly to your email inbox if you wish. You may unsubscribe at any time. LIFE & HOME UPDATE ... My husband Steve and I have been doing lots of dollarwise DIY spring spruce-ups in our little retirement cottage. I can tell Steve is feeling better because he's up for home projects once again. Let the painting begin!! He has had four outpatient surgeries in the past several months but he sailed through fine and is doing well now, and fortunately they were not life-threatening, but just like a home, he needed "fix-it maintenance." :) Thanks to a great surgeon, Humpty Dumpty is put back together again and I gave him lots of TLC and homemade soup! I will be sharing some of our home projects here on my blog later, but for now, here's a quick sneak peek ... Steve painted my desk with Ecos Paints, which I love. Here he is priming and the final result and colors I just love and I will show you those later. It was windy and rainy this spring in AZ, so he used our living room to paint, which was fine as he is careful, and it dried well with this method too. He also assembled two bookcase towers to put on either side of my desk. I know I am blessed to have such a handy husband and I never take that for granted. My home office area is in our bedroom on one side, and I needed more room to get things better off my desk, and wanted the area to look prettier, without being too girly for my husband since it is our master bedroom. (He never cares about that, but I am conscious not too make things too foo-foo.) :) I will be sharing more pix and links to some of the dollarwise organizing and decorating products we have used in our latest home spruce-ups, so please come back, and thanks for visiting today. "May your cottage roof be well thatched and those inside be well matched." --Irish Blessing Kathryn :) #kathrynbechen #kathrynbechenauthor #authorkathrynbechen #smallspaceorganizing #smallspacedecorating #DIY #homeimprovement #budgetdecorating #decoratingonabudget #dollarwisedecoratin

Greetings from Arizona! DISCLOSURES I bought this blanket for my husband Steve for when he had surgery recently, (he is fine now), and I got to thinking that this would make a great gift for anyone -- upcoming graduations and weddings come to mind, or Mothers Day if you can get it shipped to your locale quickly enough. It was easy to upload the photos from my computer and I was able to also easily customize the border color and the text at the bottom. I named it the "hug blanket" because when you wrap it around you with memories of your loved ones in the pix it feels like a hug! The photo above does not do it justice; it looks better in person. Had I to do it again, I would order the border black instead of gray, but that's just a personal choice. It's a really lightweight blanket -- perfect for hot summers. "Science has proven that a simple hug is one of the most convenient and inexpensive therapies available." -- Leo F. Buscaglia Hug your loved ones today! Kathryn :) #kathrynbechen #kathrynbechenauthor #authorkathrynbechen #decorating #DIYdecorating

Hello my lovelies! Thanks to those of you who inquired about our well-being since I have not posted since December, 2024. Both Steve and I are fine; just unexpected happenings that required lots of my focused attention, so my blog simply had to take a break. I am in the middle of preparing a long new blog post with many photos and helpful dollarwise tips you could use in your own homes, but it's not ready yet. Thank you for your patience. I did manage to update my Resource Room page on my site where you can find articles, forms, etc. that might be useful to you. I will continue to add things to this page so check back periodically to see what's new there. Also, I updated my Our Cottage-Style Home page with new photos and a bit of explanation with each pic so you can see how our home looks after streamlining it a lot in 2024. If you want to see room details, click on the photo to enlarge it. We have always tried to live pretty simply, but as we age to the end of our 60s, and now fully retired from working full-time, we want even less stuff to maintain, as many people do, so viva la streamlining! Or something like that. :) Since the world has now entered tariff-land, today I thought I'd quick share our homemade bread recipe so you don't have to spend $6-7 on a loaf of store-bought bread. Lordy! Don't succumb to grocery price-gouging; get creative and do your very best to dance around it and keep that hard-earned money of yours in your bank account or for something fun you really want to do. Back to my bread. No kneading! It's so easy, my friends. You can use gluten-free or regular flour. The GF flour does not give as much of a rise but it still tastes really good. Since this makes small pieces of bread, rather than a sandwich size slice, we use the small slices kind of like a crostini and they are yummy and fun that way. Great with some nut butter and jam for afternoon tea, or with some tuna salad on top open-face for lunch with a nice little green salad on the side perhaps. You can do this. One loaf of bread for maybe $1-2 sure beats $6 or $7! Nice to take in the car when you travel too, with a jar of nut butter, for a healthier and more dollarwise snack vs. expensive fast food stops. DISCLOSURES IMPORTANT: Another tip I have for gluten-free flour is use the King Arthur brand ! Oh my, so much better tasting and worth the money , even if you are on a budget. Some things I DO feel it's better to pay a little more, and in my opinion, this flour is one of them. They have several kinds; this is the one we use. EASY WHITE BREAD WITH GF OR REGULAR FLOUR Mix in a large bowl: 3 cups flour 1 t. salt 1 T. honey 1 t. yeast, any kind 2 cups warm water Then do this: Once mixed, cover the bowl and let rise 4-24 hours in a warm place. The dough will be sticky, just so you know. Once risen, put dough on a cookie sheet sprayed with olive oil and shape into the shape you want. Examples: We have made long baguette style loaves as well as round loaves like the pix above. Spray top of loaves with olive oil (gives a nice brown crusty crust). I do that with my nifty olive oil dispenser , which I love! It's easy to use and to wash. And today, there's even a coupon and we love coupons , yes?! Bake the loaf at 450 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Preheat oven before you put it in. When done, remove from oven, let cool, slice in slices and put slices in Ziploc bag to freeze. Take out the number of frozen slices you want to eat at one time and pop in microwave for one minute. This freezes well. You can also make these into garlic toasts by spraying olive oil on top with garlic salt and putting in oven under broiler for a bit. "Give us this day our daily bread." --Matthew 6:11 Blessings as you break your homemade bread, Kathryn :) #kathrynbechen #kathrynbechenauthor #authorkathrynbechen #homemadebread #breakbread