Guest Post: Sweet Potato Bread

I wanted to welcome you to a guest post by Angie at God's Growing Garden.  She offered me the great opportunity to post my pumpkin bread recipe on her blog and she is posting her Sweet Potato Bread recipe here.  Make sure you check out her blog after reading her great recipe here at NOVA Frugal Family!!!  Stop by and tell her where you found her!!  I can't wait to make this bread and the holidays seem like the perfect time.  Add in some extra sweet potatoes into the cart and fix this up for breakfast the next morning and the whole family will love it.  I can't wait to try it myself.  YUM!

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The article below is written by Angie Ouellette-Tower from http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/

Blog Motto:  Plant, Grow, Harvest, Preserve, Consume & ENJOY

Sweet Potato Lemon Poppyseed Bread

The flavor combination of Lemon, Sweet Potato & Poppyseed are so delicious that this recipe might become a Thanksgiving tradition!

Printable Recipe

Bread

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1/2 cup sweet potato (previously baked, peeled & mashed)

3 eggs

1/4 cup poppyseeds (I used white poppyseeds but the black ones are just as delicious)

1/2 cup butter (melted) (I used salted butter - if you are using unsalted then you will need to add 1/4 teaspoon salt).

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups sugar

In a large bowl with an electric mixer blend the lemon juice & lemon zest, sweet potato, butter & sugar just until combined.  Now with a wooden spoon stir in the flour, baking powder, baking soda & poppyseeds until mixed.  Now pour the batter into a sprayed loaf pan and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 50 (plus) minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean).  Remove from oven & cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes (before turning it out of the pan).  While it is cooling make the drizzle below.

Lemon Drizzle

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 teaspoons lemon juice

In a small saucepan heat the lemon juice & sugar just until the sugar is dissolved.  Now drizzle on the bread (while the bread is still hot & in the loaf pan).  After adding the drizzle allow the bread to cool in the pan for 15 minutes & then take a table knife & go along the edges to loosen the bread.  Flip the pan over and the bread should easily slide out onto the rack.  Slice while warm or totally cooled & ENJOY!!

 

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Guest Post: Changed Outlook on Life

I was contacted by Heather, a fellow blogger, and she asked if I could share her story.  I jumped at the chance to spread her message.  She blogs about her struggle with Mesothelioma here to try to educate others on the disease.  For those you who don't know what that is check out more details here.  I know that I didn't know much about the disease except to know that it was like lung cancer and it was from asbestos exposure. 

My father in law, Steve, passed away from lung cancer (and complications from lung cancer) which I am not sure was ever diagnosed as Mesothelioma.  He most likely got his exposure while building a ship for the Navy so the VA doctors weren't really jumping to diagnosis something that would make it "their fault."  Luckily, he was able to meet his grandchild before he past.

Here is a picture of Heather and her daughter, Lily.  Read below for her whole story (and don't forget to check out all of her posts for more heartwarming stories).

My Struggle with Mesothelioma Changed My Outlook on Life

Shortly after my daughter, Lily, was born in August of 2005, I returned to work. My family was in the midst of one of the happiest times of our lives. My parents, extended family and numerous neighbors and friends stopped by to see our beautiful new baby and to welcome her to the world. Little did I know that our lives
would take an enormous turn in the very near future. 

Soon after I returned to work, I started feeling consistently ill. I was losing around five pounds a week and I constantly felt fatigued and lethargic – much more so than is normal for even a new mom. I also felt breathless for no apparent reason. When these strange and alarming symptoms persisted and showed no signs of letting up, I went to see my doctor. After a series of tests were ran, it was eventually discovered that I had mesothelioma.

It was only three months after our Lily was born when my doctor told me that my diagnosis was malignant pleural mesothelioma. This is a type of cancer in the lining of the lungs that is the result of exposure to asbestos. When I was a kid, I had been exposed to asbestos without anyone knowing about it. Many years later,the symptoms that I thought were typical to post-labor conditions actually turned out to
be symptoms of mesothelioma.

The doctor told me that if the cancer was not treated, I would only have around 15 months to live. While the prospect of going through endless rounds of chemo, radiation and surgeries was certainly not appealing, I knew I had to think of Lily and my husband. I could not just give up hope and not make an effort to get better. 

My husband and I flew to Boston where I started extensive treatments for mesothelioma. During this time, my parents took care of Lily and I just cannot imagine how we would have made it through the entire ordeal without their help. In addition to my parents going above and beyond to be supportive, we also received help in numerous forms from family members, friends and co-workers.

With mesothelioma behind me, I definitely have a new outlook on life. I am so grateful for everyone who provided us with invaluable support, as well as my husband who acted as a wonderful caregiver to me.

Guest Post: Lowes Shopping with Super Doubles

Becca, a wonderful reader, contacted me to let me know the great deals that were going on at their Lowes store.  After having to admit that I don't have a Lowes Food in this area, I told her that I would love to post her trip on my blog and let other readers know about it.  Hopefully some lucky readers out there have this wonderful store.  Plus, we love to share our great trips and tell everyone how well we have done!!!  A big congratulations to Becca for a super trip even after a long day :)

Check out this picture:

Becca got Nissan Noodles, Honey Nut Cheerios Cups, Yogurt, Burritos, Kraft Mac and Cheese, Bush's Baked Beans and a whole bunch more.  What would you expect that she paid for all this???

Becca said "there are some Yakisobas you might not be able to see, but they were cheaper at Lowes than they were at HT and they had plenty when I went!  LF always keeps a nice stock.  I love my HT, the customer service is great but they do get wiped out pretty quick.  I told my husband I think even though the limit they will double is $1.98, I'm getting MUCH better deals there than at HT."


She came home with lots of food for the price that I would have paid for one soda at a convenience store back before I became frugal :)  We all know that this food will feed a family for a long time and how can you pass up the 96% savings.  Congratulations to Becca on her great trip!!!

Total OOP:  $1.93Total Savings:  $45.01

On a related note, I had a conversation with my mother in law that our stockpile was starting to dwindle on medicines and some other things because those are the deals that I always used to get at Rite Aid and the other stores haven't had the deals that Rite Aid used to have.  I also just read an e-mail from Food Lion which I haven't been to since they closed the Bloom (a branch of the Food Lion stores) near my house.  I got great meat deals and frozen food that I can't get at other stores which I now don't have. 

I think that everyone has their go to store to get there deals but I am going to work on expanding my stores that I can make sure that I am getting the best deals for my family.  I hope to check out a local health food store to see if they offer bulk spices.  I want to check out the dollar stores and their selection of items that might have coupons.  I am also going to check out Whole Foods and some other high end markets that are usually thought to be more expensive.  I used to think that of Harris Teeter to so I should learn from this post is that there are different deals everywhere and the ones that are the best are the ones that your family needs!!  Next mission, get to know the stores in the area.  Sadly, no Lowes Foods to add to the mix but I hope that you take this opportunity to do some homework and look into the different stores and what bargains they may hold.