favorites – Choosing Hope

I’ve had some heavier posts lately and still to come, so I’m keeping it lighthearted today by sharing a few of my favorite things! Have you tried any of these?

A sweet friend brought us one of these Danish Kringles from Trader Joe’s. Light and flaky and filled with the most delicious almond flavored filling, it is a true treat! If you want to try it you need to snag one soon, because this is a seasonal item they offer!

These mason jar zipper bags have made my spice situation so much easier! I tend to accumulate a lot of different spices trying new recipes, and it was taking over an entire cabinet. I ordered these bags and dumped my spices into them and keep them in a rectangular basket that now only takes up a portion of one shelf. I made them easy to find by organizing them into letter order. Not alphabetical, but all the A’s are together all the B’s are together, etc. Here is the link if you want to get yourself some! Mason Jar Zipper Bags

If you have been contemplating having special dishes for Christmas these are on sale until December 26th. I have been on the lookout for Christmas dishes for years, but I knew if I was going to sacrifice the space for a seasonal set of dishes it had to be one I really liked. Sam’s Club for the win! Not only are they adorable, they are also huge, and the set serves 6 which is perfect for my family! These cute dishes make me smile every time I serve up a meal. Here’s the link if you want to check them out! Peanuts Dishes

Ok, my Voss water habit may be a little silly. I first started getting these because I like the glass bottles. They are great for reusing. Then they started making this smaller version and I liked them even more, but they started making the bottles plastic and I didn’t like that. Well just recently this one entered the scene, and not only is it a glass bottle, but it’s also sparkling which I find much more enjoyable than flat water! I found these at Dorothy Lane Market, but I know Walmart carries Voss water and I’ve also seen it at different gas stations.

I started getting some kind of respiratory crud a few weeks ago and one of my dear friends immediately brought me a jar of her homemade Elderberry syrup. I had already started using my homemade garlic honey, but when I added the syrup I noticed a positive difference within a day, and after that I only got better and it never really turned into anything. That was enough to make me a believer in having Elderberry syrup on hand. Here is the recipe for Elderberry Syrup and here is one for how to make Fermented Honey Garlic

I hope you enjoyed my five favorites and found something new to try!

Here I am again to share a few of my favorite things that you don’t want to be missing out on!

If you are a pickle lover, these are the best! I used to think Claussen pickles were the end all be all for crunchy, flavorful pickles, but once on a whim I grabbed one of these at a gas station pit stop on a road trip, and my life was changed! They are perfectly pickley, have an incredible crunch, and the serving size and convenient package makes eating a pickle in the middle of well, anything a pretty convenient and enjoyable snack. Oh, and Kroger often runs sales on them. Winning.

Perhaps I’ve mentioned it before… oh well, I’m mentioning it again. Mega Stuf are the superior Oreos. These are especially handy for the genius hack my son recently taught me, which is to slide the tines of a fork into the creme and use it as an instrument to fully submerge your Oreo in a satisfying dunk of milk. You just can’t do that when there isn’t enough icing in the middle. End of story.

Dollar Book Swap. It hasn’t been that long since we were let in on this secret, and we are irreparably hooked. Located on Webster street in downtown Dayton this hidden gem kind of throws you for a loop as you are creeping through dented metal doors and abandoned-looking warehouse rooms wondering if you’ve been duped for something sinister, but all of a sudden you turn the corner and your eyes cannot even soak in the goodness of how many treasures await you on shelf after shelf of gently used books marked up to a whole dollar twenty five. Yep, that’s what I said. $1.25. I have mentioned my appreciation for it being a hike across town for us, otherwise we would be running out of shelf space at home from too frequent trips to this magical hideaway. If you haven’t been there, put it on your summer bucket list.

Squeezy peanut butter. This one may seem strange to you, but I’m telling you I have cracked a code for dog owners everywhere. You know how when it’s time to clip your dog’s nails (again) and you find yourself doing some sort of jujitsu style yoga/stretching exercises to stabilize the paw you’re clipping while attempting to corral the other three legs, and you start doubting your life choices in getting a pet in the first place? Well no more. You don’t even have to get it on your hands or your good silverware; just squeeze a swirl of this oddly packaged peanut butter on your shower wall, and then enjoy the smacking noises as you expertly snip all five toes without so much as a pulled muscle before your dog even knows what has happened. Reapply as needed. You’re welcome.

Annnnd we are back to pickles. I had been tipped off about this mouthwatering delicacy right before my little sister came for a quick visit recently. In the 3 days that she was here, the two of us went from a new bottle to about a quarter of a bottle remaining. I don’t even care that every single thing I tasted that weekend was pickle flavored, because it was like living in the little world I created in my head when I was kid where everything was just the way I wanted it. We had it on popcorn, we had it on scrambled eggs, we tried it on cottage cheese, on cooked carrots, on mashed potatoes, pizza, and pretzels. There has literally not been a single thing I have regretted dousing in this stuff, and my salivary glands are currently wholeheartedly agreeing. If you are a pickle person get to Trader Joe’s, because you have not lived until your plate has disappeared beneath a cloud of this stuff.

Tag: favorites

Five Favorites

Five Favorites