Living Well Etc.

  Eat Well, Spend Less, and Engage Children This Holiday Season As a young mother, many years later a small business owner, now retired, I've always found ways to save money.   The holidays often bring budget-busting challenges, especially when hosting the extended-family Thanksgiving dinner.  However, after 30+ years of hosting, I've come up with some great money-saving tips.  Follow along as I share mine with you.    Decorate with found objects or real fruit and vegetables. Feeding a large group of people doesn't leave much room in the budget for decorations.  This doesn't have to be an issue as most of us have just the right table centerpiece in our own homes.   I often dress a large oval plate with leaves, pine needles, or herbs from my garden.  On top of this, I arrange fruit, vegetables, nuts, pinecones...whatever I can find that looks appealing.  One year, I filled the plate with bright orange persimmon...

  While I LOVE chocolate croissants so much, I resort to purchasing them at a coffee shop when out with others; I prefer real croissants and not just something that appears to be one. Well, Trader Joe’s has nailed it again.   These Frozen Chocolate Croissants are elegant, flaky, and downright yummy.   Plus, they are less than $5 for four delicious supreme pastries!   The only downside is inflexibility.   These chocolaty goodies must rise from a frozen state.   But with planning—best left out the night before—they are perfectly risen and ready to bake into the perfect chocolate croissant this side of France .   What I found is that these require a warm setting to rise, even when left out all night.  So, I put them on a plate, covered with a towel, and place them in a cupboard, which is roughly a constant 70 degrees.  Anywhere where there is a constant warm temperature is fine.  When baked, the chocolate croissants a...

Tub of Fun Found in Trader Joe's Animal Crackers If you are like me, every time I see a box of animal crackers, I relive my childhood years of drooling over a box decorated as if it is a red circus boxcar filled with exotic animals.    My favorite cookie/cracker was the elephant.   Therefore, when I noticed a tub --yes an entire tub-- of animal cookies on a Trader Joe’s shelf, I squealed like a little girl and promptly tossed one in my cart. As a fan of simple English style cookies, Trader Joe’s Organic Animal Crackers are a perfect fit for me.  They are crunchy, light, great with hot beverages, and shaped like animals.  What could be better?  Right?  The real surprise with these cookies is that these are not your typical guilty-pleasure snacks.  Oh no.  These puppies —or should I say camels -- are low in fat and sodium, vegan, organic and only 120 for 17 delicious cookies!  There are even tigers in the tub.  It just ge...