New Recipes- Ranch Dressing, Coffee Creamer, Granola

With a new year come some all new recipes I found. These three have been huge hits in my house as we start our focus on real food.

Ranch Dressing
My husband loves ranch dressing, but it can be full of all the wrong stuff. This recipe from Heavenly Homemakers is so easy and tastes better and the store bought stuff.

Coffee Creamer
We got a Keurig for Christmas (which we love!) and we use coffee creamer like crazy in our house. This recipe from Deliciously Organic provides many options for flavored homemade coffee creamer. I use half and half when I make it.

Granola
My daughter loves yogurt and granola. This recipe is also super easy and delicious. It's a great basic recipe hat can be modified to make a variety of granola. We like to add pecans and sometimes dried cranberries. I also use 4 cups of oatmeal instead of 3. I find that it doesn't take as long in my oven, so it's a good idea to check it so it doesn't burn.

A New Year. A New Start.

It's a new year! I'm not one for  new year's resolutions. They seem to create too much pressure and then disappointment if I fail. I instead like to think of the new year as a way to again focus on things I have already started. I try to put new energy into things I enjoy or believe are important.

This year will be a year of major change for our family. My husband will start graduate school in March and we are expecting baby #2 in May. While in school he will only be able to work minimal hours. We are trusting the Lord to meet our needs and are trying to be proactive in preparing for the changes. I am looking for ways to save money, make money, and keep our household in order. I hope that this blog will help me to keep focus on the things that are important.

This year I want to focus on four things:

• Seeking the Lord- Over the past few years the Lord has not been my priority. I want to focus on my relationship with Him and make Him first within our family.
• Having fun as a family- We will have minimal time together and will need to make the most of the moments we are able to spend as a family. These won't be costly, but will hopefully draw us closer as a family.
• Eating more of a real food diet- We started heading this direciton prior to my pregnancy, but my pregnancy cravings and aversions derailed us. I'm ready to refocus on this again
• Saving money- I will be working to save money as much as possible so that we have more for household and school expenses.

I'm not much of a writer, but I hope this blog will re-energize my family and maybe inspire whomever finds it.

Christi