Links

1. Growing Tulips in a Vase - spring flowers for those of us without a flower bed.
2. Need help deciding how to decorate? Take the Ultimate Find-Your-Style quiz.
3. Insight on how to deal with toddler tantrums and disciple without adding to the drama.
4. 6 Easy Top Knots - because who doesn't need quick, easy up-do ideas?
5. Are you a tea drinker? This little steeper man was just too cute not to share.
6. Nailed it - there's a vast difference between 'old' millennials and 'new' millennials.
7. In pursuit of reducing waste and repurposing - 101 Things to do with Mason Jars.
8. Baked Apple Donuts - yes, please.
9. Some cute ideas for the surplus of Easter eggs you have left over.
    

Friday Favorites - Shopping for a Good Cause

TGIF! Hope the week has been a good one for you, and the weekend even better.

Not to get preachy, but I've been thinking a lot lately - or I'm trying to be continuously aware of - how blessed I am in this life.  I feel like I'm constantly in the "I want", "I need", "how can I have more" mind set, and while those can be self-motivating, I also don't want to forget all that I do already have. Which is so much more than most of the world.  And if you are reading this, you are likely living a blessed life as well (and I don't mean because you read my blog.  But if you are, that's another way I am blessed. Thank you.  ;) )

My favorites for this Friday are companies that are helping those who have much less than all of us.  Our purchases from these companies provide women, both domestic and foreign, with jobs so they can support themselves and their family, and provide food for hungry school children.  And we get to add some great accessories to our closets, which hopefully when we wear will remind us how fortunate and blessed we are.

Your purchase of a fashionABLE product helps create opportunities for vulnerable women in Africa.  fashionABLE works with women to help them start small business coopertives, and partners with and requires manufacturers to employ women with fair wages and fair hiring practices.
 

Clockwise from top left: The ABLE Scarf, Minka holding the Hibret Zippered Pouch, Tizita Bracelets, ABLE Necklace, and Agnes Foldover Crossbody Bag
 

Founded in 2007 by Lauren Bush Lauren, FEED supports the World Food Programme's School Feeding program, which feeds and educates hungry children.  Every product sold has a measurable donation attached to it and, to date, the social business has been able to provide over 87 million meals globally through the WFP and Feeding America.
 

Clockwise from top left: FEED 5 Bracelet (with pouch) provides 5 meals, FEED Diaper Bag provides 1 mother and 1 child with micronutrients for a year,  and FEED 10 T-shirt provides 10 school meals.
 

Better Life Bags is based in Detroit.  They hire women who otherwise could not get jobs, and then rent them a sewing machine and tools while teaching them skill sets that allow them to become a primary or secondary provider in their families.   Most of the women are fist generation immigrants, so BLB provides them with fellowship and friendship.  They have ready-to-ship items, or you can customize with your choice of fabrics.

Clockwise from top left: Laptop Sleeve, Linda, Brynnda, Wristlet Set, and Nesting Pouches with Leather Bands.
 

I'm all for anything that makes life easier...

I dread dinner.  Not because I don't like to eat or cook -- on the contrary I love the former and am fine with the latter -- but because it causes me stress.  I have a husband who essentially requires any meal have a substantial amount of protein (read: meat), we like to eat healthy, and a toddler with whom I am trying to build a diverse palate and provide him with enough varied nutrients.  Those requirements must be met in a meal I can prepare and have on the table in approximately 30 minutes, 45 max, after I rush in the house after sitting in traffic and being at work all day. (Not to mention my new mission to reduce waste, which adds a whole new meal planning element into the mix.)

The stress from all those requirements is that I never have any ideas for what to make.  And when I do randomly find recipes to try, I never have them on me when grocery shopping. Yes, I need to get better at meal planning, and shopping accordingly during the week.  That's where this app/website comes in handy: 

Pepperplate keeps all your recipes at your fingertips with an app on your phone, and the home base on their website via the profile you set up.  You can manually add favorite recipes, or import them electronically through websites they've coordinated with, such as: allrecipes.com, Eating Well, Rachel Ray, Skinnytaste (my favorite), Food Network, and many more.  You can add tags to your recipes for sorting and searching (e.g. 'quick dinners') and pull them up anywhere from the app.  

And you can add a recipe to your shopping list and it will automatically add all the ingredients you are going to need. You can check off those items you already have and shop more efficiently because they organize the list by grocery store aisle/department. It also has a meal planning a calendar feature that I need to get better at using. Meal planning needs to be a habit I adopt. I'll add that to my to-do list.