We are OFFICIALLY IN THE HONEY HOUSE! Can I just say, Virginia is beautiful!
For the past few months I took a break from our magazine esthetic of the Inspired Notebook. However, after conducting a survey in Insta Stories it seems that you are loving this good ol' vintage version of a newsletter, so I'm going to make a few changes moving forward.
We're going to continue with this version; however, with our exclusive recipes I will continue to create a beautiful printable version for you to print for your Recipe Keepers (aka: recipe binders).
It's the best of both worlds! Plus, I'll be adding a few categories to the newsletter, like a book review section, and Aimee's crunchy favorites. Oh boy, and do I have a book review for you. Scroll down to see a great book review from my favorite author!
The Inspired Notebook: September Issue
Homemaker On A Budget
Get YOUR copy of Real Food Lunchbox Cookbook ebook now! It's available, just in time for this school season. Give your kids what they really need, real delicious food on a budget!
Make sure to print a copy for your recipe keeper, or have it spiral bond.
Want a head start to see our favorite lunchbox containers? Here's the link: https://amzn.to/4lL72WR
My kids eat homemade food everyday for school lunches, so I've had to simplify it to be cost effective, and something they'd be excited to eat. That's why I wrote down the recipes that I make weekly, and created this cookbook.
September's newsletter feature is Jade Leaf Matcha!
I'll share a recent story with you while I was at the farmers market a few weeks ago. As I was walking along the park looking at various vendors I stumbled upon a tea connoisseur. She was incredibly fun to talk to, and I enjoyed hearing about all the various teas she was selling. So I told her a bit of my story, and how I had cancer 18 months ago.
I asked, "If you were me and had had cancer, what tea would you make sure you drank every single day to armor your body from a reoccurence?" Her response, "1-2 cups of green tea everyday."
I told her I drank matcha every morning, and she said "girl, you're already doing the right thing!" I was so excited! Jade Leaf is the most affordable and highest-quality matcha I could find. It tastes so good!!! Below you'll see a super fun and HEALTHY strawberry matcha recipe.
Budgeting Will Save You A Headache Later
Budgeting is simply a plan in place to keep you on track with your money goals. That's it, yet we overcomplicate our budgets and think they are taking away all the fun.
Today I'm going to share with you my Bucket System. We bank with Ally. Ally is a wonderful online bank, which means there are no brick and mortar banks. That might scare some of you, and it scared me too. We also have an account at a credit union, which we use for our checking account, as of right now, but we are hoping to convert competely to Ally because it's JUST SO GOOD!
Mobile Deposits: you can take a picture of a check, and it will electronically deposit into your account.
Transfers: Ally easily can make transfers to different banks.
Pulling Cash: Ally works with several banks and provides ways to pull cash at various ATMs at no additional cost to you.
My favorite feature of Ally is their savings account. They offer a system called Buckets. Buckets are your sinking funds. Your savings account holds the total amount, but it can be broken up into various categories using the Buckets.
These are my bucket categories:
Christmas
Beauty
Car Repair
Car Registration
Amazon Prime
Vacation
I don't overcomplicate the process, but I would add to this list if I needed to save up for something specific; which I did when we moved. I set up a moving bucket and a household furniture bucket. We didn't go into debt with this move, and we paid for it all out of our own pocket.
Saving for a purpose is the way to go, and I highly recommend using Ally for your savings, not just because of the bucket system, but because they offer very high APY, much higher than most banks. Definitely look into Ally!
The Honey House...
We are officially in THE honey house (we nick-named every house we saw). This is a special house that I plan to make into our long-term home. The PODS were just delivered last week, unloaded by 3 most amazing college aged guys our realtor set up for us, and now we're just trying to make everything fit!
My new kitchen, still very disheveled as we move in.
The kitchen is NOTHING like my beautiful California kitchen, and that poses a question... Will this be our forever home? I was asked this recently in my stories by various people, and my answer is I HOPE SO!
My California kitchen...
Forever homes don't have to be your Pinterest inspired most lavish million dollar homes. Forever homes, or dream homes, can simply be right where you are. Even for me, an Instagram gal just sharing my story, I don't need the pressure of this world to tell me that I must have a lavish beautiful kitchen to create content. I simply can have a kitchen like this in our new home, and make exquisite meals.
I will just let you in on this... this kitchen is TOO SMALL for all my kitchen stuff (THAT I LOVE and will NEVER PART WITH), so we are adding more kitchen cabinets soon to a blank 9 foot long wall that's just offering to help make life a bit easier. The honey house is perfect for us, and I'm so happy to be here.
Strawberry Matcha Protects YOU From Cancer!
Can a dessert drink actually protect you from cancer??? YES! Here's how:
Organic strawberries (always make sure strawberries are organic!!!!) boost antioxidant defenses. How? They are packed full of vitamin C, anthocyanins, phenolic acids, and flavonoids. They neutralize free radicals, which can damage our cells and DNA. These free radicals can lead to cancer, so thanks to strawberries we can neutralize them and stop them.
Raw honey is rich in antioxidants! Remember, antioxidants neutralize those harmful free radicals. Now, there's that saying that says too much of a good thing can turn into a bad thing. It's not good to overload on honey, it is definitely a sweetener, but a little does the body so much good!
Matcha powder is also SUPER HIGH in antioxidants! Make sure you purchase an organic version to keep your body safe from pesticides. Green tea (matcha is the whole form on green tea) is one of the best defenses for protecting breast health. I make sure I drink matcha every single day to protect my body from a reoccurence of cancer.
Milk options best for overall health: grass-fed A2 whole milk (A1 is the most inflammatory food, and produced in excessive amounts in America), organic soy milk (yes, great for preventing cancer), coconut milk, and almond milk (preferably from sprouted almonds).
Finally, a book review...
The Paris Daughter is a book that I absolutely got myself wrapped into. Kristen Harmel is a wonderful author, and she still holds as my favorite author for writing my favorite book The Book Of Lost Names. Both books are equally as good.
The Paris Daughter is a wonderful story, based during the times of World War II in France. Kristen takes real accounts from history and intertwines them into a wonderful story. This is a novel, a fictional story, but it's so exquisitely written. After reading, she gives you every detail of the most important scenes and explains the real life accounts, which give meaning and purpose to the story line in the Author Notes.
Don't worry, no spoilers! This is in the caption on Amazon: "Young mothers Elise and Juliette become fast friends the day they meet in the beautiful Bois de Boulogne. Though there is a shadow of war creeping across Europe, neither woman suspects that their lives are about to irrevocably change."
The twists and turns, tears and laughs, I was absolutely a fan of this book and I highly recommend reading it.
My 15 year old daughter read this book as well. It does require a level of maturity to read this book. Please use discretion if you allow your teen to read. Kristen Harmel is not a Christian author and some of her other books are too graphic, when it comes to intimacy, even for me.
"Ordinary work, which is what most of us do, most of the time, is ordained by God every bit as much as is the extraordinary."
Elizabeth Elliot
Thank you so much for your love and support on Homemaker On A Budget. Next month's focus will be on "embracing autumn!" See you next month!
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