Keep Your Blog Going While Traveling

Traveling is a great way to relax and unwind but when you’ve got a blog to keep up, you might not want to leave it unattended for more than a couple of days. As well as keeping your readers up to date with new content, you might also want to check in to moderate comments and keep on top of any updates. Image Credit: Pexels

Smoked BBQ Pork Steaks

Join me for a St. Louis style barbequed pork steak, smoked on the grill and then seared to lock in the juices and the BBQ sauce!

Grilled BBQ Strawberry Shortcake

Grilled BBQ Strawberry Shortcake is perfect for a backyard BBQ dessert.  Grilled strawberries are nothing new, but basting them with BBQ sauce is a unique way to serve them.  Top them on your favorite shortcake for an exciting and delicious dessert.

The Ultimate Guide To a Stress-Free Move

If you are in the throes of selling up and moving on, the chances are that your stress levels will be ever so slowly increasing as you edge ever closer to moving day. Moving is one of life’s most worrying times, and the relief you feel once you are all settled in makes you vow never to do it again. However, moving needn’t be so stressful. You need to be organized and have everything planned out weeks in advance. Take a look at this simple guide that will leave you wondering what all the moving day fuss was all about.

Grilled Mac and Cheese Burgers

Welcome to BBQ Week hosted by Ellen and Christie !  This week will be filled with recipes that will help you plan the most fun BBQs in the neighborhood!  You will be the "hostess with the mostess!"

Pulled Pork Burger

It's the Fantastical Food Fight where each month Sarah gives us a food challenge and this month it is a burger.  What a perfect time to do this, right before our upcoming Memorial Day holiday! We cheat a bit on this burger.  We have a BBQ place about a mile from us that makes indescribably good pulled pork. This is the pork we use to make these burgers so delicious. It's a shortcut that we are happy to make.

Fast and Easy Petit Fours #BakingBloggers

I think it is fun to host gatherings for friends. One of my favorites is the afternoon tea party but a more informal affair that doesn't require a set of gloves!  I'm going to share with you my favorites for an afternoon tea party in four easy steps, including a recipe for fast and easy petit fours.

Create a Kitchen for Welcoming Friends

Our homes are a great place to welcome friends and family for food and entertainment, but often they aren't optimized for social occasions. If you want a kitchen which encourages everything from informal get-together to sit-down dinners that are more formal. Give your kitchen a few additional touches and your space will be primed and ready for guests.

Grilled Chicken BBQ Pizza

I was given the iGrill Mini thermometer from The BBQ Guys in exchange for my honest opinion. All views are my own.  #summergrilling #imabbqguy This is my last post for #SummerGrilling and it has been a fun-filled week.  I hope all of you have entered the contest and I am sending good vibes to each of you!  I am sharing a quick recipe for a delicious pizza that starts with grilled chicken.

Jalapeno Air Fried Shrimp with BBQ Hot Honey Sauce

Farmer's Pantry sponsored this post with free product, but all opinions about that product are my own. #ad #summergrilling #farmerspantry I was very excited to learn that Farmer's Pantry was sponsoring today's post. The product we are sharing is called Cornbread Crisps .  They come in three flavors: Jalapeno, Honey and Original.  All are delicious snacks that fill you up and taste great. They are made with ingredients from American farms, which is one of my happy places.

Pistachio Cream Coffee Cocktail

Today's #SummerGrilling recipe has been sponsored by XX, however, all opinions are my own. #ad #SPONSOR #SummerGrilling  #Torani #JoyJolt I sharing a fabulous Friday night summer cocktail that is perfect for getting your party started. Friday nights are hard, you are tired from the work week and you need a pick me up. This Pistachio Cream Coffee Cocktail gives you enough of a kick to help you through your Friday night slump.

Gateway Bloody Marys, Gateway to the North Steak Butter, and Grilled Ribeye Steak

Today's #SummerGrilling recipe has been sponsored by The Spice House, JoyJolt, and Hamilton Beach, however, all opinions are my own. #ad  #SummerGrilling #JoyJolt #TheSpiceHouse All this week we will be sharing amazing summer grilling recipes, and our readers have a chance to win some amazing prizes from our generous sponsors.  You're not going to want to miss a single day! #ad #SummerGrilling I'm excited about today's recipes!  You are going to get not one, but three recipes that will become staples for your summer BBQing. As these are more techniques, versus actual recipes, I know you are going to love how easy this is!

Strawberry "Champagne" Smoothie #TasteCreations

Welcome to our Taste Creations Blog Hop!  We have been a blogging group since 2015.  We feature a monthly ingredient and then have our bloggers do their thing with it!  If you are a blogger looking for a fun, monthly event, please consider joining us.  Email me at terri@terristeffes.com if you are interested.

Gift Ideas for Difficult Loved Ones

When we say “difficult”, we don’t mean that you don’t love this particular friend or family member - we just mean that it’s incredibly frustrating to try to buy them the right gift every time their birthday comes around or Christmas approaches. Maybe they’re polite when you give them a gift but you still get the feeling that you’ve bought them the wrong thing (a feeling which is confirmed when you notice that they never use that thing). Well, fear not because this article is going to give you the help you need. These are some gift ideas for that difficult friend or family member.

Card Making with The Paper Crate

Happy May!  I am so glad to be here and with the bloggers from Bring on the Crafts Blog Hop. Last month we worked with flowers and I made these cute Solar Lights for my flower garden. This month we are working with stamps. This is so timely, as I attended a card making event with the owner and artist behind The Papercrate , Shannon Silvermann.

12 Things to Make Your Home More Beautiful

Bless You! Foods for Allergy Sufferers

Image   If you love food as much as we do, it can be a little bit heartbreaking to find that there are some foods out there that you may have an allergy to. It's more common these days that people have allergies to nuts, dairy, or wheat. But what about those people that have general allergies? And as pollen is starting to fly around, as nice as it would be to have  a hot toddy  in the middle of the day to soothe our symptoms, it's not particularly feasible! But are there certain foods we can eat to help fight allergies?

Spring Salad with Herb Garden Dressing

May is National Salad Month and I want to show you how delightful it is to grow your own! There is something truly special about getting your meal from your own garden!  Most of what is on my plate here are grown in my Salad Bowl or my Herb Garden.  Isn't that fun and exciting?  I truly love the satisfaction I get from growing some of my own food.

Key Lime Cupcakes

I am so excited to be a part of the Mother's Day Kitchen Aid Mixer Giveaway. This giveaway is organized by Allison and Jess of Triple Chocolate Kitchen ( https:// triplechocolatekitchen.com - formerly The PinterTest Kitchen) They organized all of us and boy, I am so happy!

No-Churn Blueberry Lavender Ice Cream #sipbysip

I received product from The Republic of Tea in exchange for a recipe. If you haven't tried the teas by The Republic of Tea, you are missing out on a lot of special recipes. I wanted to make sure that my readers had the opportunity to learn about these teas so that you can take advantage of the special qualities. Thank you, Camilla, for hosting this event.  Friends, please so and see Camilla's blog at Culinary Adventures with Camilla! A big thanks to The Republic of Tea for sponsoring this post.  Get to know them better by checking out all their social media links! Website: https://www.republicoftea.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RepublicofTea/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/republicoftea Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/republicoftea/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/republicoftea/ I am making ice cream from the Daily Beauty line of teas and using the one called Blueberry Lavender Tea.  This tea makes a beautiful purple tea.  It is designed

What I Read in April #ourgoodlifebooklist

As an avid reader and a part-time book blogger, I have wanted to do a wrap up of the books I have read each month.  April is a good time to do this, I think.  I mostly want to be outside, but April showers bring May flowers and all...

Lemon Thyme Lemonade

There are few things I enjoy more than my herb garden. I finally got it planted now that warmer days have decided to stay.  One of my favorite herbs is lemon thyme. It's the best of all herbal worlds.  I love it in salads, but I also love this lemonade.  It is perfect for garden parties.

Choosing a Custom Door For Your Home

When selecting what doors to have fitted in your home, this is a decision which should be made with a lot of forethought and careful consideration. After all, this is something that is a massive feature in any home. Moreover, it is quite a substantial investment, and so it is a decision which cannot be made lightly. Interior doors have the capacity to dictate the entire look and feel of a room, and this is something which is very important to bear in mind. Therefore, there are some key aspects you need to bear in mind when you are seeking custom made interior doors for your home. https://pixabay.com/photos/door-toilet-door-peace-and-quiet-1229144/

Free Lilac Printable and a #Mothers Day Giveaway!

Mother’s Day is around the corner and I have a special printable for your mom as a sweet little gift. This is a watercolor of a photo of lilacs from my garden. Print on a heavier stock paper and frame with an 8.5 x 11 frame and it is gorgeous anywhere!

Borneo Without Breaking the Bank

While there are other places like Indonesia that can most definitely be tourist traps, there are countries not so far away, but still within Asia that is very cheap. Borneo is one of those places that can be a haven for backpackers, but what is the best way to get the most out of an expedition to Borneo without breaking the bank?

The Summer Retreat #ourgoodlifebooklist

If you need a summer beach read, don't hesitate to pick up The Summer Retreat by Sheila Roberts. I didn't realize when I picked up this book that it was the third in a series of books.  I'm always hesitant about getting a book in a middle of a series!  However, my fears were unfounded.  The author does a great job of getting you up to speed without seemingly doing so. The book is set in a small harbor town that makes you want to read it on a beach!

Six Best Things to do in New York City

New York. It really is the city that never sleeps. With a seemingly unlimited selection of restaurants, bars, exhibitions and shops, there's no shortage of things to do in the city. Whether you’re visiting for a long weekend or stopping over to see a family member or your children, it's guaranteed you’ll find something that suits everyone's tastes. We’ve rounded up a list of the six BEST things to do in the Big Apple, to make sure a great time is had by all. Image Source: Pexel

Pan Bagna #NationalPicnicDay

April 23 is National Picnic Day so my friends and I decided to share our favorite portable picnic foods with you.  I'm sharing Pan Bagna, a pressed sandwich that you can make ahead, thus saving you time on picnic day!

Swiss Almond Cheeseball

April 17 is National Cheeseball Day and I can't let it go by without sharing a super simple cheeseball recipe. So delicious, as well as easy!  I love the flavor of this Swiss Almond Cheeseball.

Peach Vodka Tonic #pinterestchallenge

Welcome to the April edition of Pinterest Challenge!  This is a group where we actually try the pins we save!  I had saved this pin to my Summer Lovin' board and wanted to get started on some of these delightful cocktails.  If you don't already, you should follow Summer Lovin'.  There are hundreds of fabulous summer ideas on that board!  The original maker of this drink was How Sweets Eats and the pin was found here .

Lavender Tea Bread with Lemon Glaze

My favorite way to celebrate Mother's Day is to go to a fancy brunch. I love having beautiful mimosas, decadent dishes to try and luscious breads:  scones, biscuits, tea breads all beautifully matched with special butters to go on them!  We are helping you create that pampered feeling of a fancy brunch without having to spend the big bucks!

Strawberry Fizz with Rhubarb Shrub

This month in Improv Cooking Challenge, we were given the combination of Strawberries and Rhubarb.  That's a tough combo this time of the year, many of us don't have rhubarb growing at the moment.  That was fine with me, I just used a bit of my homemade Rhubarb Shrub.   If you follow the link, you will learn about shrubs and how to make the rhubarb one.  So delicious in a cocktail.

10 Reasons to Visit Indonesia

Image Source. Licensed under Creative Commons. Indonesia has something for everyone – it’s no wonder that it’s one of the fastest growing travel destinations. Here are just 10 incredible reasons to visit Indonesia.

3 Benefits of a Motorhome Vacation

Image via Pixabay There is a big, exciting world out there, and there are all sorts of interesting and life-affirming ways to see it. You could, for example, fly to an all-inclusive five-star resort and spend a while being pampered, or you could visit one of the great cultural towns of your country, or an iconic world region, and spend your time checking out renowned art galleries and museums. This article, however, is going to tout the benefits of a motorhome vacation – whether that means buying your own, or renting an RV , and seeing how far you can travel across the country during the time that you have it in your possession. Without further ado, here are some of the benefits of a motorhome vacation.

Vacation Ideas for the Whole Family #ourgoodlifetravel

It’s getting to that time of year where you’re thinking about booking some time away with the kids. However, arranging a vacation that everybody is going to enjoy can be frustrating, not to mention difficult without spending too much money. When you have children, all you’re looking for is something that will entertain them, educate them, and also provide some sort of respite for Mom and Dad. That can’t be too difficult, right? Luckily, it’s not as hard as you might think and to help you out, we’ve come up with a list of easy vacation ideas for the whole family, so check it out!

Baked Romaine Chips

While it is still pretty early to have spring produce at your fingertips, I wanted to share with you this recipe for Baked Romaine Chips as they are so good and basically good for you!  In under 10 minutes, you can have a salty treat that won't break your diet. I'm joining the Baking Bloggers with their theme of Baking with Spring Vegetables. Romaine lettuce is a later growing spring crop, mainly because it can tolerate the heat more than other lettuces. Most gardeners plant their romaine after the spinach and chard have already made their appearances.

Three Great Beach Reads #ourgoodlifebooklist

I've been so busy reading that I haven't taken the time to do the reviews.  I want to catch up a bit and tell you about these incredible reads.  Please note:  I received these books for free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Caesar Egg Salad with Lettuce Wraps

Caesar Egg Salad is an Egg-straordinary Egg Salad, which is the theme of today's gathering.  You will find many ways listed below to make egg salad.  I am a big fan of eggs, and I have given you many egg dishes over the years, such as these Jalapeno Deviled Eggs , Lacy Eggs (one of the blog's most searched for post!) and Milk Poached Eggs (this is delicious, you don't know what you are missing!) I really like this Caesar Egg Salad because it is good for you keto dieters.  This is a low carb dish, especially if you use a homemade Caesar dressing, like the one I found here at Low Carb Maven.   This dressing is so good, you will want to eat it by the spoonfuls!

3 Fascinating US Cities

If you are thinking of taking a trip around the US , whether from abroad or from home, you will want to make sure that you are aware of where to go. Of course, there is plenty to see across the US, and you might feel that it is hard to narrow it down to a few options. But there are some cities, in particular, you might be keen to visit, and which can help to give you a taste of US life across the board, and those are what is worth looking at first in particular. In this article, we are going to take a look at a few of the best US cities that you should absolutely consider visiting so that you can make sure that you are seeing as much of the country as you would like to. Let’s take a look and see if these strike a chord with you. Credit San Francisco Known for its history of being a loving and hippie kind of place, San Francisco is also just a great place to visit generally. Whether you want to go and see the infamous prison of Alcatraz, or you are thinking about jus

Solar Lights Flower Stakes

I am delighted to be joining Bring on the Crafts monthly blog hop sponsored by Inspiration Vault and Craftify My Love.  Our theme for the month is anything to do with flowers. I may have stretched the theme a bit, but I love making plant stakes for my flowers every year.  Remember when I made these plant markers with plastic spoons from Dollar Tree?  Or these s uper easy and fast clothespins markers ? These new plant stakes are a tiny bit more complicated, but still easy and fun! My little cutting garden is in the back corner of my yard and I wanted to do a little something that would show me where it was at night.  As I was searching for plant markers, I found these simple outdoor solar lights and instantly knew I could combine the two needs into one item. Thus the Solar Lights Flower Stakes was born! I didn't need many materials, and what I did have to buy all came from Dollar Tree. I happily painted the rim of the solar lights white, taking care to make the brush