Some Call it Random Acts of Kindness. I Call it Showing God's Love.

Today is November 1st. I honestly can't believe I just typed that...where has this year gone? With the month of November comes taking the time to think and talk about what we're thankful for. I have a lot to be thankful for this year. God has blessed us over and over again, my family and I are healthy and we're well taken care of.

Today we had a lazy Sunday. We decided to go to Friendly's for lunch-- we don't get there too often, but when we do the kids love it because they know they're going to be getting ice cream.

Spicy Buffalo Chicken Dip | Recipe

It's football season and when I think about yummy game day snacks, spicy buffalo chicken dip comes to mind! This recipe is super easy to make, very delicious and has a nice kick to it. You can of course monitor how spicy you want it by adding as much or as little hot sauce you want!

Round-Up: 25 of the Best Pumpkin Desserts

It's that time of the year where you're probably baking (or looking for recipes) with pumpkin as the main ingredient!! We collected some of our favorite pumpkin dessert recipes, both no-bake and baked recipes, from fellow bloggers, and listed them all for you below! Happy baking!!

Apple Crisp Delight | Recipe

It's that time of year where I find myself baking more, do you too? Lots of pumpkin spice and apple cinnamon desserts come out of my oven almost every week! One of my kids' favorite desserts that is super easy to make is apple crisp delight. This recipe is so simple, yet so delicious! Enjoy!

Homemade Chocolate Cake with WOWButter Icing | Recipe

This chocolate cake recipe has been in my family for as long as I can remember. Growing up, we always made it with peanut butter icing, but since having my daughter and learning about her peanut allergy, we now use WOWButter which peanut-free soy butter. This moist chocolate cake with WOWButter, tastes almost exactly like peanut butter but is completely peanut free and safe for those with peanut allergies.

20 of the Best Pie Recipes | Round-Up

Does your family love eating pies? Pies are one of my favorite desserts to make and eat, and since Fall is right around the corner (we find ourselves making more pies in the Fall/Winter) we wanted to create a list of the 20 best pies we could find!  Here are some of our favorite dessert and dinner pies from fellow bloggers, listed below!

Mama's Homemade Lasagne | #Recipe

This recipe is the one I grew up with. My mom made it for me every year on my birthday, and occasionally when requested in the Fall and Winter time. It's so delicious and very simple to make!

7 Easy Cleaning Tasks for Your Young Child

Ever since I can remember, both of my kids have always loved helping me clean. There are some times where I don't want their help, ha ha, but you know what I mean-- I just want to quickly and thoroughly clean something on my own. Cleaning to me, is almost therapeutic. Call me crazy, but I find it calming and relaxing to clean. Maybe it's because it gives me a little alone time and I can actually hear my own thoughts? Also, I'm one of those women when I get irritated or mad, I go clean, ha ha seriously-- it calms me down! While I like to do cleaning tasks on my own, I also know it's important to allow my kids to help me, and to teach them how to clean and how to do it the right way the first time. It teaches them responsibility AND when they finish cleaning tasks, they'll feel accomplishment and will be proud of themselves. Plus, it also helps mom around the house, and we can all use a little extra help, right?!

Cracker Crusted Chicken with Old Bay Seasoning | Recipe

So I'm not sure if this could be considered a "real" recipe, simply because I didn't really measure the ingredients I used to coat the chicken. I kinda just eyeballed everything and guessed at how much Old Bay to use, and I think the amount I added below is about what I used when I made this chicken. You really can use as much or little Old Bay Seasoning as you want! For being a dinner that I just threw together with a couple ingredients, this chicken turned out to be so moist and bursting with flavor-- it was a big hit in our home!

15 Yummy Recipes of Side Dishes & Desserts for Summer Cookouts/bbq's | Round-Up

It's that time of the year where you're either hosting or attending Summer cookouts and bbq's! Do you need to bring a side dish or dessert to a cookout/bbq, but aren't sure what to make and bring? Well, we've made it easy for you... We collected some of our favorite cookout/bbq side dishes and desserts from fellow bloggers, and listed them all below!

(Click on each title to go to the recipe)

Tips for Dining Out with Food Allergies

The following is a guest post from Paul Antico. 

Dining out is one of America’s favorite pastimes, and should be a pleasant, fun, social experience, but for the millions of people with food allergies and intolerances, eating out at restaurants can be frustrating, stressful and potentially dangerous. As the father of three food-allergic children, I understand how nerve-wracking it can be to trust other people to prepare food that my children can safely enjoy. However, since my oldest son was first diagnosed with multiple food allergies 15 years ago – and with two of my younger children subsequently diagnosed – our family has developed strategies that allow us to much more comfortably dine out as a family.

Tuna Cakes | Recipe

Tuna Cakes are something my husband came up with all on his own...not that he "invented" or created them hah. He loves crab cakes and was craving them one night (4 years ago already!), but we didn't have any crab in the house nor did we feel like running out to the grocery store. While looking through our pantry he spotted cans of tuna and decided at that moment to be creative and try making tuna cakes. They were a huge success and since then, we enjoy Tuna Cakes from time to time!

8 Restaurant Chains that are Peanut Allergy Friendly & Are Our Go-To Places to Eat

Disclosure: The following content is meant for educational and informational purposes only. The following statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products mentioned and/or information listed are not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease. Readers are advised to do their own research and make decisions in partnership with their health care provider.

Going out to eat can sometimes be a challenge when you or someone in your dinner party has a food allergy. Over the years, we have come to love specific family friendly restaurants that are also great at handling food allergies. When ever you go to a place to eat and have a child (or anyone) with a food allergy, be sure to tell your server right away about their allergy. We make it a habit to do this when ordering drinks, in the very beginning of our dining experience. 

Kids 'Hands & Toes Print' Craft For Mother's Day

Mother's Day is just a little over a month away, and if you are looking for a fun and easy kids craft to do, how about this one? I decided to do one hand print of each of my kids, and one set of toes from each of them to include on one sheet of paper. We made these to gift on Easter to their grandparents, but really this is a an overall great Spring craft, but also perfect to gift on Mother's Day! 

Delicious Candied Carrots Recipe | Perfect as an Easter Dinner Side Dish

Easter is in just two days! Will you be hosting or visiting family this year? Whether you are hosting, or need a side dish to bring to dinner, we have a really easy yet delicious side dish you can make/bring! This Candied Carrots recipe is from my Grandma (Hey Grandma!) and I remember it being at every Holiday meal at her house growing up, and we still make it today! It's not the healthiest per say, but it is so stinkin good!!

5 Actions to Take Immediately When You Learn About Your Child's Peanut Allergy

Disclosure: The following content is meant for educational and informational purposes only. The following statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products mentioned and/or information listed are not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease. Readers are advised to do their own research and make decisions in partnership with their health care provider.

As you may know, my daughter has a severe peanut allergy. She was diagnosed with this allergy when she was just 11 1/2 months old. Being a young and first time mom at the time, I really had no clue she had this allergy until the moment she ate a peanut butter cookie, and even then I wasn't too sure. I was so unfamiliar with food allergies, I doubted myself that much and had to hear it from the ER doctor that she needed to go to an allergist and get tested for a peanut allergy. That day, when my daughter's throat started swelling, she was choking on her vomit and passing out all at once-- my daughter went into anaphylactic shock, and it was the most horrific and terrifying moment in my life. 

5 Immediate Actions to Take Once You Learn Your Child Has a Severe Peanut Allergy

Disclosure: The following content is meant for educational and informational purposes only. The following statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products mentioned and/or information listed are not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease. Readers are advised to do their own research and make decisions in partnership with their health care provider.

As you may know, my daughter has a severe peanut allergy. She was diagnosed with this allergy when she was just 11 1/2 months old. Being a young and first time mom at the time, I really had no clue she had this allergy until the moment she ate a peanut butter cookie, and even then I wasn't too sure. I was so unfamiliar with food allergies, I doubted myself that much and had to hear it from the ER doctor that she needed to go to an allergist and get tested for a peanut allergy. That day, when my daughter's throat started swelling, she was choking on her vomit and passing out all at once-- my daughter went into anaphylactic shock, and it was the most horrific and terrifying moment in my life. 

WOWButter Eggs for Easter! | Recipe #PeanutFree

Easter is this Sunday, so of course our family has been making Easter themed crafts and doing activities like Easter egg painting, and today we just made WOWButter Eggs! Growing up, we made peanut butter eggs, but since my daughter has a severe peanut allergy, we have really come to love and enjoy WOWButter which we have found great to use for baking and using for desserts. Below is our family recipe for WOWButter Eggs...you can of course substitute the WOWButter for Peanut Butter (the same amount).

10 Refreshing & Healthy Smoothie Recipes You'll Love

If you are looking for a really yummy a refreshing smoothie recipe, you have come to the right place! We came up with a list of 10 smoothies that look simply delicious! We can't wait try some of them! Feel free to comment below and tell us which one you can't wait to try or which one you think will be your favorite!

Butter Pecan Crackers

This is a guest post from Teryn from Southern Mountain Mommy! 

Looking for something easy to make to satisfy that sweet tooth? Check out these butter pecan crackers! You will need:

Ingredients:
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1 cup of pecans
- 1 stick of butter
- 1 stick of margarine
- 1 1/2 sleeves of crackers

5 Tips to Organize Your Playroom

This is a guest post from Larisha of We're Parents!?

The holiday season has officially came to an end and you have hopefully started or finished taking down your Christmas decorations.  However, if you were anything like us in the past year, this only leads to one HUGE glaring issue.  What in the world are you going to do with all these toys!?

Toy room organization has always been a difficult task for me and I just couldn’t seem to get it together.  That is, until the beginning of this year, when I was just run down, tired of stepping on toys, and realized that we desperately needed a different solution than what we currently had going on in our toddler’s playroom. I thought we had a good system before, but after the holidays, it was clear that nothing was currently working.  Here’s the 5 steps we took to optimal toy room organization.

Chicken Broccoli Divan #Recipe

My family absolutely loves this meal, Chicken Broccoli Divan-- it's a crowd pleaser for all ages, even kids who are picky eaters! Not to mention, it's super easy to make! This meal is especially nice to make on cold winter days, so your oven can help heat up your home.

Ingredients:
1 lb Fresh steamed broccoli cut into spears or 10 oz frozen broccoli, cooked & drained
1 1/2 Cups cubed cooked chicken (I use two nice sized breasts)
1 Can broccoli cheese soup
1/3 Cup milk
1/2 Cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp dry bread crumbs
1 Tbsp melted butter

Stuffed Shells, with Turkey Burger & Velveeta Cheese | Recipe

This recipe has been in my family for such a long time, I couldn't really tell you how long. When I was a kid, I always loved this dish, and of course still do! My husband is in love with this meal and so are both of kids. It really is a pleaser to all ages and definitely "hits the spot".

The following recipe makes about 22-25 shells. Boil at least 25 shells in case some break while boiling them, to point you can't use them.

7 Tips to Potty Training Toddlers

The following tips are ones I personally came up with, through my experience. I am currently potty training my 2 1/2 year old son and I think it's safe to say we are 85% there! I do want to say, I do not believe in forcing a child to learn how to potty train. You definitely have to wait until they are ready-- some kids are earlier than others, some are later than others. Our daughter was fully potty trained at 22 months, so at first I was frustrated about our son not being ready at almost 2 1/2 a couple months backs. Truth is, our son is not as mature as our daughter was at his age...all kids are different!

WOWButter Cookies with Hershey Kisses | Recipe #PeanutFree

The cookie most commonly known as "Peanut Butter Blossoms" have always been one of my favorite cookies. Since having my daughter who has a severe peanut allergy, I have not made these cookies in years (about 5 years). This past year I came across the amazing (in my opinion) soy butter called WOWButter and now substitute peanut butter with WOWButter in my grandmother's recipe and they are soooo good! Honestly, people who love peanut butter and didn't realize soy butter was used instead of peanut butter, can't tell the difference. Now my whole family can enjoy this long-time loved cookie and it's safe for our daughter!

Ingredients:

1 3/4 Cups Flour

1/2 Cup Sugar

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

1/2 Cup Shortening

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp Vanilla

1 Egg

1/2 Cup WOWButter (or peanut butter for non peanut allergies)

Bag of Hershey milk chocolate kisses