Sara Reads Things

It seems like every time there is a family dinner, I'm asked to bring something that taste amazing. The great part about this is, I don't have to think about what to bring. For Easter I was asked to bring gluten free lemon muffins. I've made this recipe before, but in cake form. It took a little bit of experimenting to get the timing just right, but they turned out delicious and you couldn't even tell that they were gluten free. Ingredients for the muffins: 1 1/4 cup sugar 1 cup butter, softened 4 eggs 1/3 cup lemon juice 1 tsp vanilla 1 1/2 tsp lemon extract 1 1/2 cups gluten free flour (or regular flour) 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt Glaze: 1 Cup Powdered Sugar 2 Tbsp. Milk ½ teas. Lemon Extract. Black Berries or Raspberries (Optional) Instructions: Preheat oven to 350˚. In a large bowl cream together the Sugar and Butter. Beat in eggs, then the Lemon Juice, Vanilla and Lemon extracts. Add the Flour, Baking Powde...

What an extraordinary week. Middle boy lost another tooth. He looks so adorable when he smiles now and the lisp is way beyond awesome. He is also such a goof ball. I don't know if you saw my post about my book contract, but I'm super excited about it, so check it out here . Enjoy this weeks menu! Monday - Chicken Cobb Salad Tuesday - Grilled Steak and baked potatoes Wednesday - Meximelts Thursday - Baked Ranch Chicken  and potatoes Friday - Ham and Swiss Croissants Rolls Saturday - Spaghetti Sunday - Tuna sandwiches

I have some exciting news to share with all of you... I have signed a contract with Evernight teen publishing for my manuscript HUNTER. This has been a whirlwind adventure, one that I am taking one day at a time, and one that I am extremely grateful for. I am proud of my work and can't wait to share it all with you. For more info about HUNTER, keep reading. Coming soon from Evernight Teen Publishing ~ HUNTER When sixteen year old Hunter’s growing telepathic ability lands her on the FBI’s radar, her colleague puts a gun to her head. He wants to silence the secrets of their bounty hunter agency locked in her mind. Fortunately for her, it’s not her time to die. Surviving means making an unlikely friend with an FBI agent named Seeker. He’s the same agent that caused her partner to turn on her in the first place, and he has a mission of his own. Bring Hunter back alive to face judgment for her role in a multitude of murders she’s being accused of. After nearly escap...

Its the week before Easter and it also happens to be Spring Break. That means the kids are home from school and they are going to the in-laws while I work, instead of my parents home. Its a much longer drive, so everyone is going to be waking up a lot earlier. Its shaping up to be a long week. It was an amazing week last week. I got a promotion at work. I'm going to be moving on to a new location and learning lots of new and exiting things. This is a whole new chapter in the world of "Adulting" that I can't wait to start. This weeks menu is going to be pretty simple since I will be on the road all day and won't want to cook anything extravagant when I get home. Enjoy! Monday - Cheese steak quesadilla Tuesday -  Loaded chicken taco salad Wednesday -  Cheesy taco skillet Thursday - Spaghetti Friday - Gluten free Lasagna Saturday - Pizza Sunday - Easter dinner at Gustav's

When we moved into our new home a year ago, the first person to welcome us to the neighborhood was Dan, the man that lived next door. His yard was filled with nick-nacks and there was a giant peace sign that illuminated the street at night. He always wore a smile on his face and waved every time he took his dog (Sun dance) out for a walk. When the wind picked up, as it usually did down our valley, you could hear a low hum from his yard. It was the sound of several homemade wind chimes, the tallest being over 20 feet. We found out that it made such a loud noise that the other neighbors complained and he was only allowed to let it ring on Sundays. Sadly, Dan passed away about six months after we moved in. His brother was forced to sell everything in the house, but for some reason, one wind chime was left, unclaimed by the person who promised to buy it. One weekend, I had some cash in my pocket and sent my husband next door to negotiate with the brother for the wind chime. He was ha...

Ever since we moved into our new home a year ago, we have gone through many blinds in the boys bedroom. Every few months we end up buying a new blinds to replace the old one the boys tore to shreds. They can't help them selves. This was the last time I decided to replace their blinds. They look terrible from the inside and just imagine what they look like from the outside. It was embarrassing. I found a tutorial on Pinterest that seemed really simple and used the shell of the blinds that I already had. The best part was, I didn't have to sew anything. They look great! I purchased the fabric on sale at my local fabric store for about $8.00 the glue was $1.99. I spent a who ten dollars making Roman shades out of the existing ugly blinds. and I got to pick a cool pattern and color. I would recommend this DIY tutorial to anyone. Stop by the Made 2 Style blog and make your own Roman shades and then send me an email to let me know how they turned out. I would lov...

As a mother of three who works a normal 9-5 job, it can be extremely heard to find time to write good content for my blog, write my books, juggle my photography and run my household. Let me tell you, it's not easy. Over the years I've come up with some sure fire time to myself that I can get all my work done in. It's called a lunch break at work. That one hour that's supposed to be spent relaxing and refreshing myself is really spent planning and typing away on my handy dandy laptop. I even pump up the jams through my over sized head phones. I find it more relaxing than making conversation while stories are flying around in my head. Can we say "introvert?" For people like me, there is always a need to do things quickly and efficiently, that's why the people over at  FreshBooks .com  have come up with a system that you can access on the go. They can help you handle all your  accounting for your small business  with just the touch of a button....

Just when I thought spring was here, a bitter cold has blown in from the coast. The wind and rain has taken back over and its almost as if we've been sent back to into fall. I wonder if the weather is the reason why the kids have been so sick and now I'm fighting off a cold? The boys have come to realize that mama can't talk anymore and they wont be yelled at for acting out. Shame on them. Life does go on, even when mama is sick. Here is the menu for the week. Hopefully I can get the post up about the roman shades we made for the boys room. Monday - Pesto meatball panini Tuesday -  Onion Scallion Beef Wednesday -  Cheesy taco skillet Thursday -  Stuffed pepper soup Friday - Loaded chicken taco salad Saturday - Oven fried chicken and potatos Sunday - Tuna sandwiches

Welcome to another wonderful week. We've had some sickness in the house, but I'm hoping that the boys will get over it soon. I hope you enjoy this weeks menu! Monday - Taco Soup Tuesday -  Chicken Alfredo Wednesday - Stuffed pepper soup Thursday - Cheesy taco skillet Friday - Onion Scallion Beef Saturday - Spaghetti Sunday - Dinner with the in-laws