Five Reasons My Home is Always Clean

We live in a life that is incredibly understanding of women who can't get everything done, and I love that, because I certainly don't get it all done; however, I do keep a spic and span home. Various people do this in different ways because people live different lives. Here are some of the ways I keep my home clean:

Spinach Meatballs: Gluten, Dairy & Egg free

I don't usually post recipes, but this one was special. As I've said many times, I do a lot of hosting, and one part of hosting is cooking for people with allergies and dietary restrictions. I recently hosted a family with a lot of allergies and dietary restrictions to deal with, and I loved the challenge of creating something for them that was delectable. You shouldn't feel like you're missing out!

I mention in the recipe that you can use any ground meat. I happened to have a pound of ground beef and a pound of ground turkey on hand, so I combined those. This is very different than my usual meatball recipe, but I think it's just as delicious without feeling like a compromise.

I used garlic and onion powders rather than chopping those ingredients up partly because my husband has an issue with onion texture and also because it's a little faster. Feel free to substitute and adjust amounts accordingly.

Try it out and let me know what you think!

How many meatballs you make depends on the size. I shaped my meatballs about the size of a golf ball and ended up with 33.

Spinach Meatballs

2 lbs. ground meat (turkey, beef, sausage, etc., or a mixture of any of these)
1 lb. frozen spinach, thawed and excess water squeezed out
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried marjoram
1/2 tsp. parsley


Combine all ingredients and form into meatballs. Place on cookie sheet about an inch apart. Cook at 350 for 20 minutes or until done through center. Can serve over garlic and herb rice (essentially rice with the same herbs and spices used in this recipe).

Being Hosted: Proper Etiquette

We all enjoy being invited over for a meal and conversation, and I see plenty of people talking about the proper ways to host. One thing I don't see often, however, is how a person should act as company. I host at least twice a week, often three times, which means I invite people into my home 104 - 156 days a year. That's a lot! My husband and I enjoy hosting, and we've made huge efforts to hone our hosting abilities and make our home one that is easy for others to be welcomed into.

Because we do so much hosting, there are problems I sometimes run into with company. Nothing so serious it would ruin an evening but things I would guess people aren't aware are bad etiquette for company. Here are some things you can do to ensure people love hosting you.

Our Minimalist Home

I've been wanting, for awhile, to share some pictures of our home. We love being here, and we enjoy showing it off. Here are pictures and brief explanations of our space and how we use it.

Living Room

We do most of our hosting on the main floor, which contains our living room and kitchen, as well as a half-bath off the kitchen. Because our living room doesn't have a light built in, we have to use several lamps so it isn't so dim we get sleepy at night (especially on long winter days, when it starts getting dark around 4 PM). We have a clock on the wall and some pictures near the entryway.

One shelf has reference and literature books. The other only holds items our daughter plays with. There are six or seven toys, a few items which "nest", her Simba, and a box of blocks.

Two couches and a love seat might seem like too much, but we frequently need all of them, and the rug is mostly to protect the cream carpet from my daughter :). The mirror and the clock were gifts from my mother.