You Need Aloe In Your Life and Here's Why

Welcome to The Cherry On Top.

Today's food blog is a bit of mixed bag. It's combining all things Cherry. Digital design, a fun and pretty free printable, food, beauty and health tips. Pretty cool, eh?

The hot topic is aloe. I always knew that it was great for skin and burns. We had an enormous aloe plant in our backyard in Florida. We only ever used it for burns, but it turns out you can and should use it for a lot more.  

Add some fun text to the design. I love the fun, sass of this one.

Simply click and download the image.

I've always had aloe plants around me and had no idea just how wonderful they are. I mean, besides how gorgeous they are and er hem, how easy they are to grow and keep alive. Every time I buy an aloe plant, it is tiny. I mean like 2 inches tall and an inch wide. I know, right? And every decade, I have to ditch it which usually entails putting it outside because it is an enormous monster and doesn't even fit in my house any more. Hehehe...

This poor baby got so heavy it fell over and broke. Those larger leaves are nearly 3 feet long! I had no idea what to do with all of this aloe. So, I went on a Pinterest hunt to see what I can do with it. To my delight, there was quite a few things to do with this bumper crop of aloe. Whoo hoo!

Years ago, I blogged about my hair. Lord, my hair! My hair is notorious! Hehehe...There is just so, so much of it and the older I get, the curlier it gets and the frizzier it gets. I tried the flax seed and water recipe, but I think I'm just too lazy for this method. You heat up a bit of water, throw in some flax seeds and shortly, you get a gel. Crazy, right? I have a difficult time separating the seeds from the gel and boy what a mess. I had more on the counter than in my hair. Though, the results were pretty darn good.

 

These two images are with aloe.

If you're finding yourself thinking it still looks frizzy, you have no idea where this hair came from. Ha! I found the harvesting of aloe rather easy, but a bit time consuming if you have a lot to harvest. There's also an easy trick ya have to do to get rid of the greenish yellow stuff called aloin. You can read the article I read to find out how to get the aloe out of the leaves.

Easy, fabulous results.

I put the freshly harvested aloe in small ziplock bags and put them in the freezer. Every time I need to nourish my hair (twice a week or if I need to look acceptable), I take the pack out and let it thaw. You'll get a bunch of juice that you can put in your hair either wet or dry. Yes! Isn't that so mega fab?! I love that I can put it in my hair when it's dry and not have to blow dry. It is not sticky at all which is even more great. If you do the freezer method and even if ya don't you'll have meat left over as well. This you can put in a small blender or chopper and zap it into a juice which you can also put in your hair.

I put the pure juice in a reused spray bottle and man did that work great, but it got clogged and stopped spraying. No other bottle worked. If you know of one that might, hit me up. It was by far the easiest way to get the stuff in your hair. It was ideal when ya just need to tame it a bit before leaving the house.

Apparently, aloe is excellent for slowing down the aging process. Say, what?! You can find out more about that at one of my favorite sites.

Read more about how aloe can help with diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, cancer and much more.

You can put it in smoothies, too. Make sure you read more about that before you drink. I haven't dared it myself, but perhaps it could help you with a chronic problem you have where nothing else has worked. There are some precautionary measures you'll want to address.

In this blog, I share our lice story. Ugh! We suffered for years with lice and finally found the natural trick to not only get rid of our lice, but keep it away. This is another blog on hair care that I highly recommend. Again, they are all natural ideas and big, big time money saving techniques for dry, curly and or frizzy hair.

I didn't touch much on how easy it is to grow aloe. If you live where it is chilly, you'll have to keep them inside when the temperatures start dipping. I leave mine in year round until that last one that out grew the house. I put it in my new green house where it is doing just great. Despite how mutilated it got after it fell over and I harvest several of the leaves.

Aloe doesn't need a lot water. Honestly, I only ever give it rain water and that's it. It even grows well in areas of the house with little light. I just can't kill this plant and that says a lot. Maybe there is some symbolism there? If you use aloe, maybe you'll live longer, too? Wink, wink...

Visiting Haarlem in The Netherlands A Charming Old Town Full of Wonderful Shopping and Cafes

Welcome to another travel edition of The Cherry On Top.

Since I'm only just designing for fun these days, I wanted to add a little twist via means of blogging about travel and showing off pictures through scrapbooking pages. Change is good, right? Another reason I want to start writing about travel is to help future travelers. I often read reviews and do research on places I want to visit. Sometimes I just can't find good information and or pictures. I want to try and fix that through my travels.

My first few travel blogs covers my trip to Monschau, Germany and the latest one is about Zandvoort, The Netherlands. Zandvoort is very, very close to Haarlem. A 15 minute bus ride and you're there. If you think you may want to add Zandvoort to your trip list, check out the blog and see what you think after reading.

Haarlem was absolutely beautiful. If you love old architecture, it's the place for you. In a previous travel blog, I mentioned that we went to Amsterdam. I will be blogging in detail about Amsterdam, soon. Haarlem was such a breath of fresh air after spending a very rushed and busy day in Amsterdam. It's a fraction of the size of Amsterdam and holy wow, a fraction of the people. We did go in the middle of November. The streets had a small trickle of people which you could find the bulk of in the many unique shops and cafes.

Did ya miss the first Dutchie Freebie?

Honestly, I cannot say enough about the shops in Haarlem. All of the unique little guy shops in my neck of the woods are all but gone. Not so in Haarlem. It seemed to me that more than half of the shops were not large chain store shops. How refreshing? If you're looking for a special gift, it's a great place to go. There are upscale shops as well as a fantastic thrift store (kringloop winkel). The thrift store had a sweet, little English book section and I stacked up.

I'll probably do a little blog about knitting shops since my friend is an enthusiast.

I also mentioned in a past blog about the high tech in The Netherlands. If an Orwellian experience is what you're looking for, The Netherlands is the place for you. Public transport is with a card only, as far as we could see and some cafes have a QR code for the menu. Make sure ya have your card with you, but be double sure to hit up those shops where they do take cash. We can't let cash die. Ever.

My friend and I hung out at a few cozy cafes on the main square, across from the church. It was really cold and very peaceful. No cars are allowed anywhere near the main square. I absolutely love that! Little kids could run all around, free as a bird, but ya do have to keep those pesky bikes in mind. Hehehe...As The Netherlands is well noted for bikes everywhere. We were nearly run down at least half a dozen times and I'm kind'a use to bike culture.

The menu choices were interesting. Previously, I spoke of my opinion in regards to The Netherland's cuisine. Personally, it is one of my least favorite foods of the world. It's often unimaginative and like Belgium, nearly every restaurant serves the same damn thing! I just don't get it! Hehehe...Insert that crying laughing emoji. It is true! Nearly every standard priced restaurant and cafe has the same menu. So if you just can't get enough of fried food like fish, potatoes, krokketjes or bitterballen and toastis which is a grilled cheese sandwich, then The Netherlands will be great for ya. There are places that sell soups and more original dishes, but ya have to look for them. Many places offer vegetarian items.

You can visit museums, take a canal cruise or soak up the sun in an outside cafe on the river bank. I was very pleased at the prices for food and drink and if you do go visit Haarlem, put a limit on your bank card so you don't crazy with all of that amazing shopping.

I've got your next Dutchie freebie for ya.

Thanks for visiting The Cherry. Let me know in the comments if you've been to Haarlem or if you think it looks like a great place to visit.

Happy travels!

Adorable Valentine's Day Mailbox Printable, Step By Step Tutorial and Free Lovable Gnome Scrapbooking Mini

Welcome to The Cherry On Top.

I've got a super, craft-a-licious blog set for you. First, a mega awesome pack of Valentine's Day printables that includes this paper mailbox template printable. There's some cheeky Anti Valentine's Day printables in the shop, a new gnome themed digital scrapbooking kit freebie, Chai 18 Designs new newsletter freebie and a scrapbook page from a friend that I just had to share.

Here's the link for the step by step tutorial.

Y'all! This mailbox template took me hours to design and get together. What do they call it? A labor of love? Hehehe...It's not too tricky to get together and the tutorial will definitely help. As I always advise, any time you start a paper craft, breeze through the tutorial first, then get started. This way you can gauge the difficulty of the project and see that ya have everything you need for it.

If you click on this link, you'll get to download this mailbox for free. I'm only leaving the link up through the holiday. If ya miss it, you'll have to grab it from my shop. It is available alone as well as a part of this huge printable bundle, shown below.

I've put all things related to love and Valentine's Day on sale at 50% in my shop. How about showing The Cherry some love and grabbing something you've always wanted?

I designed the stickers and cards below for my boys. It is most fitting and a great way to be more objective about February 14th. This sassy shark with Love Bites quote is great for boys and girls.

An Anti Valentine's Day Twist for Those Not So Kind at Heart

I wanted to offer you something special for the holiday besides my mailbox template and had these cute gnome designs in my stash. Ya gotta watch out for that Ai stuff. I'm tell'n ya! There's always something off. The eyes and hands are the first place you need to look. These designs were quite ok. I hope you like them as well.

Click on the preview, grab the download and show us what you create in the group.

I've got a lot of free designs on the blog that are ideal for sublimation projects. Here are a few examples of what you can do with today's new Valentines Gnome Freebie. Cards would be super simple.

Speaking of freebies. Isn't Chai 18 Designs new newsletter freebie so cute? I just love the little mice. I used one of the designs to make a paper. It'd be easy to whip up a paper pack, journal cards, printable stickers and cards of course. Join her newsletter and get the cool free stuffs.

Cute, eh?

Here's my friend's page. I laughed so hard when I saw her post.

Let me leave you with a few Valentine's Day scrapbook page ideas from the Love Bug Collection in my shop that's also 50% off for a few days.

Above, is my page with my youngest. This page scrapped crazy fast. I simply clipped in the papers to the template and added my photos. 5 minutes is all you need. If you know nothing about digital scrapbooking, you need to check out this video. There are plenty of videos to get ya go'n.

I hope you enjoyed today's freebies. Let me know in the comments if ya do.

I'll be back with more travel blogs and more free Dutchie freebies, as promised.

 

Waste Management At Home Saves You Money and is Better for the Environment Here Are Some Hot Tips

Welcome to The Cherry On Top,

A lovely fan had a question about jalapeños on a previous blog and also mentioned that she too does not like waste. So, I'll address both. It goes perfect with what I was just doing which was cleaning out our little compost bin we've got in the kitchen, next to the sink. Fun!

This lid closes tightly leaving no smell.

We rarely use paper towels. Seriously, it probably takes us a year to get through a small roll. We only use them when something is mega, mega gross like puke and poop or super dirty. Otherwise, we use rags and wash them. I do use paper towels (white only, no ink) in the bottom of yucky garbage cans and my little compost bin. It helps make cleaning the containers a lot easier and the white paper towels are fine for in your compost bin as is most, ink free, white or brown paper. Line small bins with paper bags from your produce purchases.

I only put fruit, vegetables and old, moldy bread in our compost. Because we have some animals running around, we throw meat products in our county's compost bin along with big greenery and sticks from the yard. Our chickens devour most of the "good" food waste like old, left over rice, meats and even some sauces. Cut up the core of your apples, pears and or seeds from peppers, oranges, etc and give them to your flock and other birds. They eat just about everything which saves us an unbelievable amount of garbage. 

Just the spinach came in a plastic bag.

Let's say our garbage bags (Yes, our county still uses bags and not roller cans. I know?!) are 45 liters or 12 gallons. It takes us an entire month and sometimes longer to fill one bag. Our county did recently change our recycling system to include nearly all plastics which was a huge help. We have to pay per bag for both garbage and recycles. I kind of appreciate that because we get "rewarded" for being conscious of our waste. How refreshing?!

We don't have to pay anything for them to come and take our paper which gives me huge incentive to buy stuff in paper and not plastic. Again, a kind of reward. Be a conscious shopper when purchasing items. Above, I have a few paper bags from produce I purchased. It is tough finding items not wrapped and suffocating in plastic. I buy laundry soap in a paper container and any other cleaners I can find. As you may know, I rarely use chemical cleaners or beauty products that comes in plastic. Shampoo bars and bars of soap can be packaged in paper. It might sound tricky, but it gets easier as you go. Just as long as you make a start.

Also, there are a lot of microplastics in our foods due to packaging and they've recently found that plastic is miraculously penetrating through the blood brain barrier. What isn't lately? So, eliminating plastic from your life has become even more pertinent.

These are my jalapeños from the green house. They didn't make it anywhere else and they are still there in January despite the freezing temperatures.

The large compost bin out back will turn into fertilizer for our garden and green house. We've got a mega easy, cheap compost system. Click here to check it out and learn more about chickens and your garden.

I just saw that someone has her kids put their junk paper through a shredder and they use that for in the chicken coop. What a great idea! Just watch out for inks and dyes.

I throw the girls fresh fruit and veg bits that we don't eat. What they don't eat gets raked up and thrown into the compost. Easy peasy!

Let's get back to those jalapeños. They are one of my favorite spicy peppers and I don't know if it is a fluke or what, but they are one of the few things I planted in the green house that is thriving. It's January and the plant itself is finally looking a bit wilted after weeks of freezing temperatures, but the fruit is still perfect. I never have to harvest the peppers because the chickens and all of the critters that might get in the green house are leaving it alone. Slugs can be an issue in warmer temperatures, I've found.

If you were to have to use them in bulk, here are some ideas for you.

Pickled Jalapenos (Here's a recipe for a sweet one.)

Jalapeno Hot Sauce (This one has pineapple!)

Jalapeno Poppers (This recipe has bacon. OMG!)

Hot Pepper Honey (One of my go to sites. This one sounds amazing.)

Bacon, Jalapeno Deviled Eggs (Maybe with a little avocado?)

Put jalapeños in your hummus, on your tacos, in breads with cheese, in quesadillas, egg rolls, salsas, soup, jalapeño butter and even jalapeño salt. See! No worries with those bumper crops. If I missed something amazing, link us up. (And I don't mean the missing Spanish accent. Sometimes it shows up and sometimes it doesn't. Hehehe...)

When you get a really good plant, like the one I currently have, keep those seeds. I'll be trying to grow more. I only need one plant for the four of us, but I'll try to grow a few. I can always give them to neighbors that like it hot.

So, there you have a few waste tips and ideas for how to use up those awesome jalapeños. I hope you found it helpful. Keep up the good work in that winter garden of yours and if you're not already mindful of waste, start thinking more about it with your purchases.

Thanks for checking out The Cherry!

Gorgeous Free Digital Scrapbooking Template for February

Welcome to The Cherry On Top.

Whoo hoo! Hello, scrap-a-licious fans! I've got another fabulous, free template for you. I can't wait to see what you do with it. Scroll through the inspiration and start thinking what kit you're going to use with this template and what pics.

Check out the inspiration!

There's plenty of room for more pictures. Put a small one just behind the title or go for two circle ones behind the camera. I've got them hidden in the template for you.

Michal and Hilary added a whole lot of detail to their background cluster.

I used my free kit and template for the page below. I kept my page a little more simple. I showed this off on a travel blog about Zandvoort in The Netherlands. Keep your eyes out for the free kit and peruse our scrap-a-licious travel blogs.

Here's January's template. The plan is to have your template up and running on the first of every month. So, come on back and grab them each month. I'll be keeping you up to date in the group and via the newsletter. (I never spam your mailbox. I shoot for once a month.)

Warning! I won't be leaving these links up eternally. The twelve templates will be available in a huge bundle in my Design Bundles shop. Grab those links while they are still live.

This is the template for next month. Cool, eh?!

This blog is mega full of free stuff. Seriously, mind boggling freebies. I'm starting to run out of storage for these freebies which goes pretty well with me going through all of the blogs and taking down links for old goodies and updating everything. (It is a huge endeavor which I doubt I'll actually finish. Hehehe...) Scroll through and get the goodies while they are still there.

I'll be back Sunday with another food blog. Did ya miss last week's travel blog? Pop back there and see what awesome freebie I've got for ya!

Thanks a million for popping by the blog. Have a fabulous weekend and happy scrapping.

Visiting Zandvoort in The Netherlands and a Free Dutch Design

Welcome to The Cherry On Top.

As the wind is picking up and more clouds are moving in, I sure am grateful for the warmth and protection of my home while I write this. My last trip to The Netherlands was a chilly one with a lot of wind. I'll be sharing some of the details so that you might get an idea on what these towns and cities in The Netherlands are like. The towns are Zandvoort, Haarlem and Amsterdam. Perhaps you'd like to visit one day or maybe you're just curious.

There are plenty of destinations on this planet that I have absolutely no interest in going to and others where I'd really, really love to see. Places like Australia and Japan are at the top of my list, but I'm fairly sure I'll never get there. I love watching shows in these places and seeing images from friend's visits and pictures from the internet. Today, I'll be giving some tips and my opinions about these places through scrapbook pages and the free kit.

I already shared two blogs on visiting Monschau, Germany. You can scroll back and check those out and grab both free designs. Here's the first and this is the second.

Above is my friend I traveled with standing on Zandvoort Beach. As a former Floridian, I am not at all crazy about the beaches in The Netherlands or Belgium. That's just me.The Netherlands does have a lot more nature on their shores, but when you look over the ocean you get a very industrial vibe which completely clashes with the natural zen I try to get. The sea is full of enormous cargo ships and windmills and the sky is usually filled with, heavy steel gray clouds. It's even cold in the summer (to me) and the winds are often whipping sand in your face. I digress.

As you can see in the photo above, we had a rare glance of sunshine and blue skies. It didn't last long. By the time we walked a couple of meters, the rain started pouring. Good thing there was a place or two right on the beach where you can get something to eat and or drink. There are a lot of places, but most are not open all year. Despite a sizeable town with many permanent residents.

The buildings along the seaside are ghastly in architecture and just on the outside of the town Zandvoort, it gets worse. It reminds me of something you might see in 1960's Russia. It is a total downer. I suppose the plus side is that those on welfare can live on the beach? Can we not agree that most of today's architecture has little to beholden, unimaginative and often offensive in its simplicity? 

We stayed 3 nights in a place that was only one street over from the beach and a good walk from the town's center which was full of shops and a bunch of cozy cafes and restaurants. Whoo hoo! Zandvoort was really a super cute town for a day's visit.Our tiny apartment was ok. I think it fair to say that Zandvoort is a tourist kind of town.

There were a lot of chain shops and a few unique ones sprinkled here and there. There was a big grocery store and a kram met vis enz. Mmmm... (a food truck with fish delights)

Gosh darn! We just missed the town's weekly market. I think it may have been a Wednesday? I am losing interest in the weekly markets here in Belgium. The prices are not competitive by any means and most of the sellers are not offering unique items. If you've not been to one, I'd still go to check it out, though. It's nothing like what we've got in The States.

Like many, many Air BnB's our place was decked out with Ikea furniture and broken appliances. The toilet right on top of the dining room. Ugh! Ya had to go up a tiny, steep staircase (very typical in The Netherlands) to get to the living/sleeping area which we didn't really dig because ya pretty much have to go to bed and wake up at the same time and if ya have to pee in the middle of the night, a little dangerous, but it was quiet, clean, warm and overall, nice.

I've spent a lot of time in The Netherlands and even lived there a few months and I can honestly say, I am not a fan of the food. Especially food in restaurants. I am a kind of budget client, though. I'm happy to get out of a restaurant for under 30 Euros, drinks included. The prices were fine everywhere we went, but the fare itself is mostly unappealing to me. I feel the same about England. I often go for ethnic restaurants because England's and The Netherlands cuisine just ain't mah thang.

There are some "specialty" menu items you can get that are ok like bitterballen (which my friend loved) and kibbeling (fried fish). The Netherlands is pretty darn good for fish. I love a herring (maatjes) sandwich, which is popular at markets and in big cities and towns. Find them in Zandvoort by the grocery store on the main square. Pancakes are very popular and usually palatable. In The Netherlands, pancakes are not always sweet. In the above scrapbook page, there is a picture of a pannenkoek with brie, pine nuts and a salad slapped in the middle. The Dutch pannenkoeken is like a French crepe. My friend liked it, but I was cringing. Hehehe... I had fish and chips that were ok.

Take note, if you are visiting Europe from the U.S. there are no free refills, no ice (unless you ask), no free tap water (France has somewhat of an exception.) and you have to pay a small fortune for a glass bottle of water. Soda costs more than beer and wine (usually) and condiments like ketchup and mayonnaise costs extra. Typically, around 1 Euro to 1.50 for a minuscule amount.

How about that first picture on the above page, though? Now, that was one heck of a presentation and the restaurant was super cozy. All of that food was for us, two, old ladies! We didn't even eat half of it. There was a few German things in this restaurant. I had an absolutely delicious German beer and there was schnitzel on that board that wasn't too shabby. Overall, we enjoyed the heck out of everything. The place was also by the main square.

The above page has photos from an awesome cheese shop in Zandvoort. There were so many choices of cheese and much, much more. I wish we had a shop like this in my neighborhood. There were awesome gift ideas as well. 

If you didn't know already, Belgium and The Netherlands are by far, the best for speaking English. It really is impressive. I like to recommend The Netherlands and Belgium to those people wanting to travel to Europe, but are a little nervous about the language thing. The beer in The Netherlands is hit or miss, but there are some stars. Besides Heineken, I'd dare try any other beer, there. Hehehe...

Here we are on the train. We spent a lot of time on trains. It was our main form of transportation for the Nederlandse trip. Ya don't have to think about where you are going to park and the crazy prices to park. Getting lost is more difficult by train and traffic is finally not an issue. Some of the trains were nice and some were disgusting as hell. The toilets stank. There was graffiti and they were not all that clean. Especially those with Amsterdam connections. Go figure! We did take the bus from Zandvoort to Haarlem and that was fantastic. It was warm, clean and the driver was a hoot. He as many other Europeans just love to talk and joke about Trump. Get ready for that, too. It can turn in to a heated debate! Hehehe...

If you're like me and centered when it comes to politics, get ready for some seriously ... progressive (?) culture in The Netherlands. It's all part of the experience, right?

I want to share how we did this trip because we had such a great time and you may want to try it out for yourself. Perhaps not in The Netherlands, but anywhere else in the world.

We left our place in Belgium with the train and headed to Zandvoort. It took us around 4 hours. We walked from the station to our tiny apartment. It was quite a walk, but doable for us. Even with luggage and at an advanced age. Hehehe... I did research to make sure this was possible. We could walk everywhere, easily and we felt safe, too. This is a smaller town and it is extremely compact. 100,000's of people living right on top of each other. The very center of town is much more charming. However, small.

The next day, we woke up early and headed to the station and went in to Amsterdam. It took around 50 minutes. 

Remember! You cannot get on a bus or train without your debit card. We were literally trapped at a station!! It was kind'a scary. We had to plead our story to a metal speaker where a most kind man (it took awhile to get an actual person) freed us with a push of a button. Oh, the Orwellian vibes. Nearly every transaction had to be done with a debit card. The train and bus was debit card only. For this old lady, it was way too Orwellian for me. One cafe didn't give me a menu. I had to pull it up on my phone, which I don't have and so we left immediately. I'm not sure how far one can get in The Netherlands without a cell phone and or debit card. This is a terrible path for any country to go down, but we won't discuss that here.

After a very long day in Amsterdam we shlepped our way wearily back to our apartment. The next travel blog will be the Amsterdam trip.

Our last full day in The Netherlands was spent in Harlem which I cannot say enough awesome things about. I'll cover these trips in more detail on the next two travel blogs. I'll be going to The Netherlands again, this weekend, but this time, way up north. Exciting!

Your Free Design

This was a great way for us to travel. There was a lot of sight seeing as well as a good amount of relaxation. When we returned from The Netherlands, we rested two days before touring Monschau, Germany. It's really difficult to enjoy an international trip when it's non stop, go-go-go. Museum after museum. Train ride after train ride.  and really get to know it. Relax in a cafe after touring the town or a museum and swim in the culture.

Find yourself a great place to stay, book it for a few nights, really get to know it then branch out daily to different towns and cities. It's a much more relaxed way to travel. You won't feel like you're living out of your suitcase and you can soak up the atmosphere.

I'll be giving away this free scrapbooking kit when I wrap up this entire trip. Stay tuned!

The windmill design is one of three other freebies besides the kit. So, come on back and grab next week's and the week's to come.

If no one's told you, you are a star! I absolutely love that you've come to The Cherry for a visit and I hope you do it again.

Feel free to leave us a comment about your dream vacation, your favorite destination spot or a fun travel anecdote.

Happy travels!

 

Grilling, Getting the Kids to Cook, Keeping It Simple, Belgian Butchers, Quality Products and Buying Local and in Flanders

Welcome to The Cherry On Top.

I dropped the ball, already! I was supposed to blog my beef n' beans recipe on the stove pot and I totally forgot to take pictures. I guess that can happen when enjoying an aperitif takes priority. Hehehe...So, I'm throwing this one together and peppering it with all kinds of meals to inspire you and maybe teach you some really important skills with shopping and cooking healthy, affordable meals.

Pulled Pork Before Pulling

For most of my life, I shopped at the big grocery store and as time passed, I stopped enjoying the experience. Prices were soaring. Quality was plummeting. Choices were growing thin. The overall experience was most unpleasant and I didn't know where my food was coming from or what was in it.

Lamb Shoulder

As you may know, I have two children, now adults, with Autism and through a lot of research, I found that a pure, healthy diet can help eliminate a lot of Autistic symptoms. My youngest was non verbal for nearly a decade. He had PICA and everything was a challenge. Weeks after we got them started on a pure diet of whole, organic foods things changed quickly. Thank goodness!

So my passion for food was becoming essential. What is more important than our health? Especially, when your physical situation prevents you from performing everyday tasks? We rarely shop our large grocery stores and opt for the little guys in town. They often provide local wares that are much better in quality and sometime superior in quality. They might be a bit more expensive, but I encourage you to shop around and find the ones that suit you best.

Meat Ribs Buik Ribben

The hubs and I were not always great cooks. We joke about our first few meals together. Spaghetti sauce from the Aldi. Soup from a can. Progresso was the good stuff! Hehehe... My husband definitely has more passion than I. We make such a super team. I come up with what to cook. I purchase the goodies and more than often, he cooks it. He says he's the sous chef and I'm the chef. Works for me!

A glimpse of a simple local butcher. Grass fed beef is best!

Above, you see a quick shot of our favorite butcher. He's not all that local to us, but good enough. His prices are insane! He charges nearly half the price as all of the other local butchers. In Belgium, your little local butcher is still very popular, but unfortunately they are closing and no one is taking their place. The same thing for bakeries. I cannot figure out why that is. They seem to make ok money. There are a lot of people still wanting this service. They are by no means cheap. Are we losing our passion for good quality food? Do we not understand the importance of local, healthy food? I don't know. What do ya think?

We started collecting all of our receipts and we are off to check all of the butchers in about a 15 mile radius, here in East Flanders. So far we have a very clear winner. I want to check with these butchers if it is ok that I share the information, but I'm thinking if you don't know who it is, it should be ok. Also, I'm scared to tell the address of my amazingly inexpensive butcher in fear of everyone going there and getting all of the good stuff. Hehehe...

It is so important that you are aware of prices. One butcher might charge 8 Euros for a kilo of hamburger and another 11! That is a huge difference. Also, ask where is the meat from? I just love when I ask where the meat is from and they point through the window at the sheep grazing in the field. My favorite says he does the sheep and his brother the cows and pigs. For us and for the economy and the environment, it's best to buy as close as possible.

I'll be diving more in to detail about that later.

If ya want to make things easier on yourself and help your children get them cooking. All summer, I teach them how to make new things and throughout the year, they have to cook them. I have children with Autism and they are pretty great in the kitchen. Don't let any kind of disability get in the way. At least give it a few tries. I do like to keep an eye out on the youngest who needs a little help most of the time. It takes some patience, but it really is important. Kids love feeling independent and I love a break from cooking. So, it's a win win.

Above, Liam is whipping up a huge sheet of nachos. We don't always add meat. We actually prefer them without, but it's fun to change things up at times. Try bacon, hamburger, chicken or chicken burger or even left over pulled pork.

Spread a bit of olive oil on the bottom of the pan with your fingers (then rub it in your skin hehehe...), place your choice of chips on the top. (We stay away from nearly all big brands that are taking over the market. That is a whole other story I can't wait to dig in to. I'll be doing some serious investigation here, because I'm getting a bit freaked out at just how few companies own all of the food.) I buy the store brand tortillas chips if we don't make them ourself and organic when possible. We love Santa Maria Chili Beans, but you can use any kind of beans at all. I'm pretty sure we tried every single kind of beans there are. Cheese is the only other essential, but you can add anything else you like. That's part of the beauty of nachos and the kids absolutely love it. Nachos are great for cleaning out the fridge.

I love spring onions on mine, served with sour cream, guacamole and salsa. I typically make everything from scratch. It's a bit of work, but often I have left over that I can use it for another meal. It might depend on what's growing in the garden. Lately, I've got a fabulous bush of jalapeños. It's January and I still have the bush in my green house, full of peppers. I couldn't be more surprised seeing how much of nothing else is growing in there. Hehehe...

Pop in to your small, local specialty shop and see what treasure is there.

My husband has lived in Dendermonde his entire life. So, he's got a lot of friends, here. Many have their own business and we try our best to visit these places. One only lives a hop, skip and a jump from ours and boy is his shop full of awesome. It's tiny and unimposing. Inside you can find a lovely array of organic and biodynamic products. How cool is that?! My favorite, wine, bubbles, pasta, olive oils of all kinds, vinegars, honey and some sauces.

Above you can see some smoked olive oil. I needed bacon in a recipe, but forgot to buy it. So, I drizzled some of this over my smokey, cheesy potato concoction. Use it for anything ya want a little smoke flavor in. BBQ, eggs, baked beans...

Y'all know I like it hot! I bought some squid salad from our local fish monger and added a generous drizzle of this chili olive oil over it for a hot, flavorful touch. This is served cold. Let it sit for a bit and don't be afraid to add a few more items to fit your needs. I sprinkled some extra garlic powder and chopped green onions really thin in there, too.

Specialty shops are so super fab when it comes to uniqueness. When you want a splash of something different or even exotic, specialty shops like, Belle-Olio are just what ya need. Above, I heated up some left over paella and served it up with a simple salad of field lettuce, radish and fresh herbs than pimped it up with delicious olive oil (which raw, is crazy good for you) and this honey mustard from the gods. This stuff is like crack, people. Take caution when consuming! Hehehe... I'm not a big salad fan, but when I put this stuff on raw veg, I go to town.

My apologies for slacking on the beef n beans. I did get the inspiration from Jamie Oliver and totally changed it up, but ya might want to check his out. Our family loves it. I got'cha linked up. This book they advertise is a must have! It is by far the prettiest, most aesthetically pleasing cook book I've ever seen. I use it a lot. It would make an awesome gift for advanced and new cooks in your life.

Thanks for your visit. Feel free to scroll back for other recipes, cooking tips and more. The side bar and search field is pretty handy. Here's a link with the best Italian season on the planet. This blog has tips on how to get kids to eat veggies. Maybe check out one of our 52 Weekly Menu Planners? This is how ya cook! You can save time, money and a whole lot of waste when you plan your meals. Check out some of ours. They are typically easy, inexpensive and healthy. Our Weekly Menu Planner Board and Food Boards will totally help ya out.

Happy cooking!!