Mandi Ehman's Blog, page 121

The Financial Implications of Rural Living

The following post is from Christina of Northern Cheapskate :

source: Christina Brown

Eight years ago, my husband and I made the decision to build a house in the woods on a lake.  We had a deal on some family lake property that we couldn’t refuse, and we loved the idea of living in a rural setting.

We both grew up in the country, but had spent the previous years living in major cities and a few small towns.  We figured we had a pretty good idea of what to expect.

For the most part, our expectations were correct.  But we didn’t count on how much having children would change our perspective.

The financial Downside to Rural Living

The cost of Transportation

We live in between two small towns.  One is 26 miles to the east and is where we go to the doctor (and have for decades!). It’s also where my husband works.  The other town is 28 miles west and is where the kids go to school.  We volunteer at a few places in this town (and at the school).  We have friends in both communities.  Taking public transit or riding a bike is not an option.  While we try to carpool and combine trips when possible, there isn’t very much wiggle room when it comes to the gas budget.

Our vehicles need more maintenance more often since we travel so many miles on rough roads.

There is also a cost in terms of time.  It takes 35 minutes to get to town in good weather, and as much as an hour in bad weather.  We have to consider whether an activity is worth the time spent to get there.  And we have to think about whether we’ll be in town during mealtime (and plan accordingly).  Because of the time and the financial costs, we have to carefully consider what activities our kids participate in.

Increased Cost of Phone, Television and Internet

We’re in a bit of dead zone when it comes to cellular coverage.  We can make cell phone calls sometimes, but it’s hit and miss.  We need a land line to ensure that we can make phone calls at all times.

Because much of what my husband and I do for a living is online, we need a fast internet connection.  Our only option is satellite internet, which starts at $50 a month and has strict bandwidth restrictions.  Skype doesn’t work well.   We can’t stream movies through Netflix. We pay close to $90 a month for a bare bones internet package that doesn’t work when it’s raining.

Digital television isn’t an option for us because we live too far away from the broadcast towers.  If we want to watch any television, satellite television is a must.

Increased Household Operating Costs

Home owners insurance costs more in rural areas because it takes longer for emergency services to reach you.  Need a new appliance delivered?  It costs more to get it here.  Plumbers, electricians and other contractors also charge more for services to rural customers.

Higher Taxes

More acreage means you’ll pay more in property taxes.  You’ll also pay more for lake shore.  And the value of your tax dollars goes down since you don’t get as many of the amenities as city dwellers do (such as quick emergency response or easy access to a public library).

Difficult to earn extra money.

It’s pretty impossible to hold a garage sale where I live.  Babysitting jobs require someone to give your teenager a ride.  If you’re thinking about picking up a part-time job, you have to figure out the cost of gas to get there or you could end up working at a job that pays the equivalent of $2 an hour.

The financial Positives of Rural Living

Of course, there are always two sides to every story, and living in the country has plenty of perks, too.

A Healthier Environment

The air is clean and the water is clear.  There are plenty of safe places for the children to explore.  It’s very quiet and dark at night which means we get good sleep.  We don’t take as many vacations as our city-dwelling friends do because we live in a beautiful and relaxing locale.

Grow a Garden

Gardening is a great way to stretch your grocery budget. The food you grow tastes better and is healthier than anything you can buy in a grocery store and the entire process is good exercise.

Line Dry Clothes

We save money by using a clothesline in the summer to dry our clothes.  If you live in a city, you may not have space to do this, or in some communities, you may not be allowed to.  I like knowing that I’m helping the environment and saving money, too.

Know Your Neighbors

When there’s a snowstorm, a power outage, or just the need for a tool you don’t have, rural living brings people together. It’s helpful to have neighbors who watch out for you and are there if you need them.  When we lived in town, it seemed harder to create those personal bonds.

Easily Unplug

Sure, it’s easier to unplug when you have limited access to technology.  It’s also easier to unplug when you’re surrounded by fresh clean air and beautiful scenery.  When we lived in town, we found that we never really felt “at home.” We often felt like work or obligations were pulling us here and there.  When we’re at our home in the country, we are truly home, and able to fully embrace our family life.

Less Temptation to Spend Money

It’s a lot harder to blow money in a rural area simple because there aren’t as many places to spend your money!  We don’t have much for retail shopping.  We have no major sporting venues, and there are a limited amount of cultural events that cost money.  If you stay off the internet, it’s pretty easy to avoid spending money for long periods of time.

You’re also much more likely to make do or go without when you live in a rural area.  When a trip to town and back costs $12 in gas and takes up an hour of time, you don’t rush out to the store to pick up one little thing.   Rural living encourages you to be more self-reliant.  You’re much more likely to fix something yourself than try to get someone to come out and do it for you.  You’re more likely to figure out how to create what you need with what you have instead of buying it in a store.

Final Thoughts on Rural Living

Living in a rural area can be expensive, but there are plenty of benefits, too.  We know that even with all of rural living’s challenges, we’re still glad we left the city.  We love where we live, even if we have to make sacrifices sometimes.

Whether you live in the woods or live in a big city, the important thing is that you embrace where  you are and find happiness from within.

As Marcel Proust once said, “The real voyage consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”

Do you live in a rural area or in a city?  Which do you prefer?

Christina Brown is the creator of Northern Cheapskate, a blog dedicated to frugal living through coupons, freebies, and money-saving ideas. She lives in the rural north woods of Minnesota where she clips coupons, pinches pennies, and chases her three boys (a 7-year-old and twin 5-year olds) as a stay-at-home mom.

The Financial Implications of Rural Living is a post from Life Your Way

© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Money Your Way subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please send an email to contact@yourway.net to let us know. Thanks.

How to Make Your Work-at-Home Time Really Count

The following post is from Prerna of The Mom Writes :

source: blakespot

When I started out with my social media and web content business many moons ago, I was determined to bootstrap it and not dip into our savings for anything. So, not only was I the chief content writer and head social media manager, I was also chief everything else- designer, bookkeeper, fire extinguisher and my go-to guide for everything was Google.

Since then, I’ve had the blessing of my husband join me and take on a lot of my additional workload but even then, with business growing, I’m having to spend more and more time on client projects, consulting and coaching and not as much time with my family.  It’s a vicious circle really. We need the money since it is our primary source of income to give our family the life we want.  ~sigh~

Any way, so I recently sat down and plugged EVERYTHING I did into a nifty time-and-money calculator that my husband had designed for me.

It was an eye-opening exercise to see how my time-consuming tasks {think uploading posts, replying to emails, PR, etc} weren’t really bringing in the money.

It was time to make my time count. {See what I did there!}

Here’s how I worked out how to make the MOST of the time I spend on my business:

 Fix the “unprofitables”.

The first thing I learned from my time and money  exercise was that I had been spending way too much unprofitable time on activities that were NOT my core focus areas. I specialize in writing and social media management and that is what brings in the butter for our bread. Replying to emails is something that a virtual assistant can easily and responsibly handle for me as well as helping me with managing my PR and outreach efforts.

What is YOUR core work responsibility? Will doing more of that and outsourcing the unprofitables give you the extra income and freedom of time that you need?

Say “No.”

I keep repeating this but saying “no” is so liberating. I have a no-do list for my personal life and now I have one for work. Assignments that I wouldn’t take, things I wouldn’t do- Skype calls that can easily be sorted out over email or in-person meetings that can be done over Skype and so on.

What can YOU say “No” to at work?

Evaluate every now and then.

Evaluating your current situation is key to making your time really count. For instance, I am ALL for bootstrapping and being a DIY-er, but when I was starting out, it was okay. I didn’t have the resources or even the wisdom to invest where needed. Now, if I want my business to grow AND for me to spend more time with my daughter and husband, I need to evaluate what I can hire out and how much time would that save me without impacting my income.

Download the free time-and-money project calculator and plug in your numbers for at least one month and see what can YOU do away with without it impacting how much you earn.

Keep your vision intact.

Seriously, you’d be amazed at how things get when business starts to grow. If you really want to make your time count, think about the WHY behind your journey and then take the action you need to realize it. For me, it was recalling that I wanted to work-from-home to be there for my daughter and if now all I was doing is working, I might as well go to an office, right? SO, write it down if you have to but keep your vision intact and base your decisions on that.

What is YOUR vision? What is YOUR story for working from home? How do YOU think you can make your time as a work-at-home parent count? Yes, we can all learn from each other, so do share!

Prerna Malik is a mom, a wife, a writer and woman who believes in being postively productive, parenting with love and creating a home that invites you to put your feet up and relax. Find her sharing her journey and experiences with productivity and parenting at The Mom Writes.

How to Make Your Work-at-Home Time Really Count is a post from Life Your Way

© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Work Your Way subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please send an email to contact@yourway.net to let us know. Thanks.

How to Deep Clean Your Kitchen the Green Way

The following post is from Emily of Live Renewed:

source: Emily | Live Renewed

It’s spring time, and spring makes me think about spring cleaning. Some people like to spring clean by doing a general clean-up all around the house, or decluttering certain areas of the house. But when I think of spring cleaning, I think of deep cleaning – all the little, or sometimes big, cleaning tasks that need to be done, but in reality don’t get done all that often.

And there seems to be a lot of these tasks in the kitchen. We clean our kitchen up on a regular basis; wash dishes, wipe the counter, sweep the floor. Honestly though, at our house, the deep cleaning doesn’t happen as often as we just try to keep up with the daily maintenance.

So, this week I’m working I’m tackling some of these spring cleaning tasks in my kitchen. And I wanted to share how I deep clean without resorting to toxic chemical cleaners, but instead using green and natural cleaning products that are still super effective.

Sink Cleaner

Why someone ever thought it was a good idea to put a white sink in the kitchen is beyond me. I really do not like our white sink, and while we’re hoping to update our kitchen at some point, it’s just not in the budget. So, for now I have to scrub out our sink that gets so stained and dirty and gross just from normal everyday use.

We had a stainless steel sink at our previous house, and I think this method would work great for cleaning and shining a stainless sink as well.

Supplies:

Baking Soda
Lemon Juice from fresh lemons
Cream of Tartar (optional)
Vinegar and Water cleaner (optional)

source: Emily | Live Renewed

Here’s the real life – our before sink was gross! This is what happens when we just wipe it down with cleaner, but don’t actually scrub it. Life has been super busy lately, and my hubs has mostly been doing the dishes, which I appreciate, but he’s not always great at the deep cleaning part! But honestly, it just get’s this way so quickly because it’s white.

Method:

Sprinkle baking soda around your sink basin and squirt the lemon juice around on top of it. It will fizz up a little. Using a green scrubby pad, scrub all around your sink to get the stains and grime off.

If you have stubborn stains, or if your sink is really dirty like mine was, you might want to shake some cream of tartar with the baking soda. Cream of tartar is a natural whitening agent, so it works especially well to clean white sinks. Also, if you want more cleaning and disinfecting power, you can spray your sink with your vinegar and water cleaner before wiping it down.

Rinse the baking soda and cream of tartar residue off and enjoy your clean and shiny sink!

Dishwasher Cleaner

Our dishwashers can get pretty gunky inside with regular use and often need a good deep cleaning so they can run more efficiently and get our dishes cleaner. This method for deep cleaning the dishwasher from Katie at Kitchen Stewardship is the same one I use for deep cleaning my dishwasher.

Range Hood Deep Cleaner

Whether you have a range hood or a microwave above your stove, they both can get super grimy and greasy. I have found that vinegar is a super de-greaser and dish soap adds extra cleaning and de-greasing power for cleaning this stubborn area.

Supplies: 

Vinegar
Natural Dish Soap
Water

Method: 

My vinegar and dish soap cleaner is perfect for cleaning the range hood, or just a bowl of warm water with a couple glugs of vinegar and squirts of dish soap will do the trick!

Spray or wipe on with a clean rag and let it set for 10-20 minutes. Come back and spray or wipe on more cleaner and then wipe off  with a clean rag. You may need to repeat this process a few times depending on how greasy your range hood is.

Stovetop

I have a glass stove top and one of the things that I like the most about is how easy it is to wipe up spills and keep it clean on a regular basis, no electric burners and drip pans, or gas burners, to scrub and scrub. But, inevitably, food spills or pans boil over and burn on the stove top, requiring a scrub down every once and while.

Supplies:

Baking Soda
Water
Steel Wool Pad (optional)

Make a paste of baking soda and a little water and spread it over the dirty and burnt spots on your stove top. Let it sit for 10-20 minutes, and then gently scrub with a green scrubby pad, or steel wool pad if it’s really burnt on, but be careful because the steel wool can scratch the surface.

For those of you with electric or gas stoves, tell us in the comments how you deep clean your stove top naturally!

source: Emily | Live Renewed

Clean Oven without Toxic Chemicals

Finally, there’s the oven, and unless you’re a super clean freak, this is a chore that probably doesn’t get done often enough and then you start to really dread doing it, and put it off, and put it off, and put it off… Not that I would know anything about that! Ahem.

When I finally cleaned my oven for the first time since moving into our home 3 years previously, I was determined to do it without the harsh chemical oven cleaners. This method for cleaning my oven naturally gave me great results, and now I’m not so intimidated by cleaning my oven to let it go for so long before cleaning it again!

Happy Green Spring Cleaning!

What’s your favorite method or cleaner for deep cleaning in the kitchen?

Emily McClements is passionate about caring for God’s creation while saving money at the same time. She is a blessed wife and mama to two young children, and blogs about her family’s journey toward natural and simple living at Live Renewed.

How to Deep Clean Your Kitchen the Green Way is a post from Life Your Way

© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Green Your Way subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please send an email to contact@yourway.net to let us know. Thanks.

Giveaway: Good Cook Touch Treasure Hunt (More Than $1000 in Prizes!)

I mentioned the Good Cook Touch Treasure Hunt a few weeks ago, and today I’m excited to help kick it off!

Over the next 5 weeks, you’ll have the opportunity to find and collect up to 115 Good Cook Touch codes, like the one above. Enter each code you find at GoodCook.com, and the participants who find the most icon codes will be entered to win one of three Good Cook Touch grand prize gifts worth more than $340 each!

Search for Good Cook Touch Codes

The Good Cook Treasure Hunt codes have been posted on the participating blogs as well as on random Touch products. Here’s a list of products to get your started in your search:

Stainless Steel Turner
Stainless Steel Ladle
Stainless Steel Basting Spoon
Stainless Steel Slotted Spoon
Kitchen Shears
Egg Slicer
12″ Stainless Steel Locking Tongs
Bottle Spatula
Blade Spatula
Spoon Spatula
10×15 Plastic Cutting Board
Soap Dispensing Scrub Brush
All-Purpose Clips (4-Pack)
2-Quart Batter Bowl

Visit Other Participating Bloggers

Visit each of the bloggers below to discover even more codes:

Special Offer

You’ll save 30% automatically on the purchase of any Good Cook Touch products during this promotion, and as a Hunt participant, you can save an extra 10% when you enter coupon code HUNT at checkout.

Enter to Win a 2-Quart Touch Batter Bowl (4 Winners!)

Good Cook is also giving FOUR lucky Life Your Way readers each a 2-Quart Touch Batter Bowl!

To enter, fill out the form below:

This giveaway ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on 5/21. The winner will be selected randomly and notified by email, and this post will be updated with their name as well. Open to U.S. residents 18 years old and above.

Giveaway: Good Cook Touch Treasure Hunt (More Than $1000 in Prizes!) is a post from Life Your Way

© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Food Your Way subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please send an email to contact@yourway.net to let us know. Thanks.

The Best Way to Squash Sibling Squabbles

The following post is from Amanda of ohAmanda.com :

source: Amanda

Siblings argue. It’s a fact of life, right? Big sisters are supposed to be eye-rollers, and little brothers are supposed to be annoying. Haven’t you ever watched a sitcom? Siblings don’t love each other. Siblings are fodder for jokes and complaints. Siblings are just people you’re stuck with until you can move out of the house.

It’s a sad truth that many people believe. But I don’t want that attitude for my kids. I want my kids to be best friends. I want them to see the advantage of having someone who has known you your entire life and is your best ally. I want my kids to practice growing up with someone who loves them the most. I want my kids to view their sibling as their ace in the hole, the person they can always fall back on, their secret keeper, and the one who will always pick them up.

There is one thing that gets in the way of this beautiful sibling relationship: my kids are human. And human beings are selfish. I know, because I am one. Whenever my mama-pride begins to swell at my sweetly playing children, you can bet that one of them shows that selfish human side and starts yelling, “Uh! No fair! That’s mine! Mommy! She took that! Give that back!”. Which of course makes the other one shoot back, “Nu-uh! It’s my turn! Give it to me! MOOOOMMMMMYYYY!”

Those little arguments can get out of hand and take over a game, a conversation, a playdate and even a whole day. Those little arguments hurt feelings and can set a course of an entire relationship! My goal is to help my kids navigate through those tough spots so hat tthey can set aside their pride and really love each other.

There are many different ways to stop sibling squabbling. I’ve tried the whole this-is-your-brother-and-he’ll-be-your-best-friend-forever speech. I’ve given them time-outs. I’ve separated them. I’ve taken away privileges and given punishments. I’ve made them apologize and give hugs.

But my all time best strategy for stopping arguments in an instant?

I take away the privilege of speech.

When an argument goes on too long or takes a step into that-was-too-mean, I say, “No more talking.” And even though they weren’t obeying any of my other rules of being kind, gentle and loving, they for some reason obey this one. They immediately stop talking, and it immediately douses the fire of anger and whining.

Sometimes they can’t speak for only a few minutes, “No talking until the timer goes off.” Sometimes until they finish whatever it was they were arguing about, “No talking until the dishes are done.” Sometimes, it’s until I can handle them again, “No talking until we get home!”

I think what makes this little trick work so well is that it has nothing to do with their attitude, their heart or their actions. It’s as quick as dropping a ball–it drops the argument, drops the whine and drops the anger. And more often than not, when they are allowed to speak again gentle words return, too.

Not only is this an effective strategy that can be used at any place and any time, I think it’s a picture of how we should be in all of our relationships. When we find ourselves getting too selfish, too argumentative and too upset, we need to just shut our mouths. We need to drop the conversation and let our minds and hearts take a break. Then we’re able to start again, either forgetting the past or confronting the problem with new clarity.

In the Bible, James writes, “we should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” (James 1:19) I want to help my kids understand this concept, and I think this little step of literally shutting our mouths is a practice they can use for years to come.

What’s your favorite way to douse the spark of sibling squabbles?

Amanda is a stay-at-home mom of two who blogs at OhAmanda.com. In her former life, Amanda was a Children’s Pastor — overseeing, organizing and developing ministry for kids in nursery through middle school, but now that she is a mom, her “skills” are used up on her kids!

The Best Way to Squash Sibling Squabbles is a post from Life Your Way

© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Family Your Way subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please send an email to contact@yourway.net to let us know. Thanks.

5-Minute Terra Cotta Birdbath

The following post is from Janel of Life with Lucie and Ella.:

source: Janel from Life with L and E

When my husband and I bought our first home, we were overjoyed to have a backyard. Better yet, sweet little birds flocked to our yard and sang every morning. The woman we purchased our home from had a beautiful stone birdbath in the little patch of lawn in the backyard. Unfortunately, the birdbath went with her, and we were left with a dead circular patch of grass where the birdbath once stood.

We loved the look of the birdbath in the lawn, but all of the birdbaths we saw for sale were far outside of our meager budget. We got creative and decided to make our own using inexpensive terra cotta pottery from the garden center. It was so simple — it took us less than 5 minutes to assemble.

This is a great project to reuse pottery that you already have or pick up at a garage sale or thrift store. Even if you have to purchase the supplies new, they shouldn’t cost more than $30 altogether. (The 16-inch saucer is the big ticket item.) Since none of the pieces are permanently affixed to one another, you can easily disassemble the birdbath if you are moving, need to store it, or want to reuse the pottery for another purpose.

source: Janel from Life with L and E

Supplies:

two 10-inch terra cotta pots
one 16-inch terra cotta saucer
one large towel
two metal washers that are larger than the drain holes in the pots
one 2-inch bolt that will fit through the washers
one nut to fit the bolt

Directions:

To assemble your birdbath, you’ll want to work on a soft area (like the grass) so that you don’t accidentally break your pottery. Place the two pots on the ground with their bottoms facing each other. Roll up a towel and place it underneath the bottoms of the pots to support them so that you can properly align the bottoms.

source: Janel from Life with L and E

You’re going to use the washers and bolt to hold the two pots together. To do this, place one washer on the bolt like this:

source: Janel from Life with L and E

Place the bolt through the drain hole of one pot and through the drain hole of the other. Secure the two pots together by twisting the nut onto the end of the bolt. The inside of one pot will look like this:

source: Janel from Life with L and E

The other will look like this:

source: Janel from Life with L and E

Stand the pots upright. You have assembled the base of the birdbath. Move the base to the desired location for your birdbath. Make sure that the ground is level or your birdbath won’t sit properly.

source: Janel from Life with L and E

To complete the birdbath, place the terra cotta saucer on top and center it. Then, fill it with water for the birds to enjoy!

Helpful Tip: Here in Virginia, we have lots of mosquitoes that just love standing water. To help prevent mosquitoes from breeding in your birdbath, empty out the water every day or two and replace it with fresh clean water. Because the saucer is not affixed to the top of the birdbath, just lift it off and dump out the water.

Related Posts:

5 Simple Tips to Create an Outdoor Living Space
5 Outdoor Projects for Going Green This Spring
Attracting Butterflies to Your Garden

What are you doing to spruce up your garden / outdoor spaces for spring?

Janel is a stay-at-home mom of two and law school wife. Raised in a budget-conscious and do-it-yourself minded family, she loves seeing something in a store or magazine and making her own version at home for less money. Janel blogs about motherhood, crafts and recipes at Life with Lucie and Ella.

5-Minute Terra Cotta Birdbath is a post from Life Your Way

© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of DIY Your Way subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please send an email to contact@yourway.net to let us know. Thanks.

Super-Moist (and oh-so-easy) Gluten-Free Orange Cake

The following post is from Amy of Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free:

source: Amy Green| Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free

When you get into the nitty-gritty of gluten-free baking, there are a lot of choices. So many choices, in fact, that it can be completely overwhelming. After a while you realize that if you can grind it, you can bake with it. Today you can buy bean flours, pea flours, grain-based flours, nut flours, and yes, even popcorn flour.

My go-to gluten-free flour blend is a mix garbanzo-fava bean flour, sorghum flour, potato starch, and tapioca flour. It has protein from the beans, creates great structure in my baked goods, and uses just enough of the white starchy stuff to give my baked goods a crumb similar to wheat-based products.

Once in a while I bake with nut flours. They’re full of good-for-you fats, have about the same protein as bean flour, and are a little heavier in the calorie category than other flours. According to Honeyville Farms, 1/4 cup of their almond flour has 160 calories, 14 grams of fat, 6 grams of carbohydrates, and 6 grams of protein. For me, almond flour is a great option when making a decadent dessert. I wouldn’t want to eat a sandwich smashed between a couple slices of almond bread, though.

I have, though, been trying to get more nutrient-dense, calorie rich healthy foods into my 13 month-old son, Nate. He’s goes all-day, non-stop. He even moves his feet while he’s sitting in his highchair eating. And, like his momma, he loves green smoothies, oranges, brussel sprouts, beans, asparagus, salad, berries, and even pepitas.

I’ve been playing around with different almond flour recipes trying to find something that Nate will eat. No luck yet. He’s one of the only kids I know who would happily take blackberries instead of a cookie. For someone like him, a sandwich on bread made with almond flour would be fabulous.

In the end, the flours you choose to need to work with your body and your taste buds. The good part is that there are lots of options. In the process of finding the right flour for you, you might toss a couple of bags of gluten-free flour in the trash can or pass them along to a friend. But, it’s a journey that’s well worth the effort.

This simple gluten-free cake is impossible to mess up. I’ve seen some fabulous citrus sales in our area lately, and I’m sure you still have a couple of oranges rolling around in your hydrator pan. This is the perfect way to use them. If you don’t have any almond flour, you can grind your own from whole almonds in your food processor. Just be careful not to over-process the almonds or you’ll end up with almond butter instead of flour.

And, though Nate isn’t a fan yet, I’m confident that you’ll love this dense, moist cake.

If you’re an almond flour fan or looking for another way to use it, check out this Easy Almond Meal Chicken Nuggets recipe.

Flourless Orange Cake



#ratingval# from #reviews# reviews



Print





Recipe Type: Dessert
Serves: 8-10
adapted from Every Woman’s Guide to Eating During Pregnancy by Martha Rose Shulman

Ingredients

2 medium oranges
3/4 cup coconut palm sugar
6 large organic eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour



Instructions


Place the oranges with the peel in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Bring to boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 2 hours. Add more water if necessary.
Remove the oranges from the water and let cool. Oranges can be refrigerated overnight or up to two days if desired.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 10-inch springform pan by lining with parchment paper and lightly oiling the paper.
Cut the oranges open and remove any seeds. Put the oranges, including the peel, in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process until smooth. Measure out 1 1/4 cups of pureed orange. Set aside.
Put the coconut palm sugar in a blender and process until it reaches the consistency of powdered sugar.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs until combined.
Add the powdered palm sugar and beat on medium-high until the eggs are thick and airy. When you lift the beater, the mixture should set on the surface for a second until it disappears.
Mix in the blanched almond flour, then mix in the orange puree.
Transfer batter to the prepared pan. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until a knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. The cake will also pull slightly from the edges of the pan.
Let cool for 20 minutes on a wire rack, then run a thin, offset spatula between the cake and the edges of the pan. Remove the outer rim and let cool completely.
Store covered at room temperature or in the refrigerator.

 

What are your favorite flours to use when baking gluten-free?

A stay-at-home mom, wife, and passionate cook, Amy strives to make each meal healthy and delicious. When she’s not doing laundry, dishes, or caring for her son, she plays around with food in the kitchen developing new recipes, which she shares at Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free. Amy also publishes The Balanced Platter and authored the book Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free: 180 Easy & Delicious Recipes You Can Make in 20 Minutes or Less.

Super-Moist (and oh-so-easy) Gluten-Free Orange Cake is a post from Life Your Way

© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Food Your Way subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please send an email to contact@yourway.net to let us know. Thanks.

Weekly Reads + When You Make Time to Read {4/15/13}

Sadly, I didn’t read a single page this week either, and I honestly think the reason is just that I’ve gotten out of the habit of picking up my Kindle. That didn’t take long!

On the other hand, I have spent quite a bit of time vegging on the internet — reading news stories, blog hopping, etc. I gotta say that’s not nearly as refreshing or relaxing as picking up a good book, so this week I’m determined to start reading again, starting today.

Head here to see Katie’s post for this week. We also want to know what you’re reading! Add your blog post to the linky below or leave a comment with your favorite reads from this week.

A Question for You

This week, I’d like to know when you read.

Typically, I read after lunch, while getting my midday caffeine fix, and again in the evenings. That obviously hasn’t been true for the past few weeks, though!

How about you? Do you have set times for reading, or do you just look for a few minutes here and there?

Share Your Reading List

Day 29-31: Choose Your Own Task {Spring Cleaning Made Easy}

This month we’re spring cleaning the easy way with our Spring Cleaning Made Easy series! The goal is to get the whole house clean — one mini task at a time — without having to set aside a whole week, or even a whole day, to clean.

The hardest part about coordinating this series for me was knowing that spring cleaning really isn’t a one-size-fits-all kinda thing. Some homes have bonus rooms, game rooms or rec rooms while others have formal dining and living rooms or multiple guest rooms. My goal was to cover the basics through the series while leaving a few days at the end for any of those tasks we didn’t cover.

source: eyeliam

Whether you have an extra room (or three!) to tackle, a special collection of Longaberger baskets or a shed that’s overflowing, the next three days are for you. Choose one room or task at a time and follow the same basic plan we’ve used in the other rooms:

First, declutter and organize any collections or clutter, including that which is hidden in drawers or closets.

Then, start at the top and clean your way down:

Grab a duster or vacuum cleaner and clean off the fan blades.


Using your duster or vacuum, clean the corners between your walls and ceilings.


Dust window frames and clean blinds. Hang your curtains outside or tumble them in the dryer to get rid of any dust in them.


Next, wash the windows and any mirrors.


Dust any shelves and knick knacks as well as picture frames.


Clean under the couch cushions.


Pull the couch out from the wall and clean under/behind the couches.


Clean the baseboards and behind other any furniture.


Finally, vacuum and steam clean or sweep and mop.

For outdoor projects, your focus will probably be more on the decluttering and organizing than cleaning (although I promise not to judge you if you steam clean your garage floors!). Now would be a good time to clean out the garage or shed, pull weeds in the garden, organize the outdoor toys or powerwash the deck!

Be sure to print the Spring Cleaning Made Easy checklist to keep on hand for your next spring cleaning month. Click here to download or print your copy!

What tasks will you choose to finish off the series?

Mandi Ehman is the founder and publisher behind Life Your Way and the co-author of All in Good Time, as well as a wife and the homeschooling mom to four beautiful girls. She lives with her family on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia and loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Day 29-31: Choose Your Own Task {Spring Cleaning Made Easy} is a post from Life Your Way

© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Home Your Way subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please send an email to contact@yourway.net to let us know. Thanks.

5 Simple Living eBooks for Just $7.40 This Week Only! {BundleoftheWeek.com}

Is simple living just a pipe dream in today’s fast-paced, always-on, more-is-better culture? With this week’s collection, you’ll discover the secrets to living simply from five authors who are living intentionally and inspiring others to do the same! But don’t wait because this bundle is on sale for 90% off this week only.

With your purchase, you’ll get all five of the following ebooks:

25 Intentional Days by AndHeDrew
Simple Ways to Be More with Less by Courtney Carver
Inside-Out Simplicity by Joshua Becker
ClutterFree by Leo Babauta & Courtney Carver
Flying by the Seat of My Soul by Tess Marshall

Get yours today!

Even if you’re not interested in this week’s bundle, be sure to sign up for the BundleoftheWeek.com weekly newsletter so you can be the first to know about the latest bundle:

5 Simple Living eBooks for Just $7.40 This Week Only! {BundleoftheWeek.com} is a post from Life Your Way

© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Home Your Way subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please send an email to contact@yourway.net to let us know. Thanks.