The Little Things Newsletter #485 – Life, laughter, and lots of great food!

Welcome to the weekend, my friends! I’m in fall-inspired cleaning and donating mode and have been clearing out closets, posting things in our local buy-nothing group, and enjoying the roomy new spaces in our home very much. 

Question – where do you donate or give things away? While it takes a little more effort, I’ve been enjoying the buy-nothing process so much more than dumping things at donation centers. We still donate that way as well, but when the items are nicer and we just don’t need them any longer, I try to remember the local groups for giving things away.

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK: Tender broccoli florets and chunks of spicy sausage are scattered through every bite of this hearty, satisfying pasta. When you’re craving pasta comfort food, but still want to enjoy a generous serving of vegetables (without messing around with a salad), this broccoli sausage pasta is the answer.

This garlicky, orange shrimp packs a whole lot of awesome flavor with little more than some orange juice, fresh garlic, and a dash of spices.

Fresh green beans are tossed with Sriracha, honey, soy sauce, and sesame oil and then roasted to hot, crisp perfection to create these immensely snackable spicy green beans.

You’ve never had sweet potatoes like these glazed sweet potatoes. They roast up with the most irresistible caramelized brown sugar crust. Tender, sweet, and savory all at once, they’re the kind of side dish that makes any meal feel special.

Pumpkin + coffee cake = fall dessert magic. Layers of soft sour cream coffee cake, creamy pumpkin filling, and a crunchy cinnamon-sugar pecan topping make this pumpkin coffee cake downright irresistible. One slice and you’ll be hooked! 

Buckeyes, also known as Peanut Butter Balls, have a smooth peanut butter center and chocolate shell. I’ll warn you now that once you’ve tried them, you’ll be making this simple buckeye recipe for all of your Christmas treat trays and holiday food gifts.

Creamy homemade chocolate ice cream is loaded to the absolute limit with bite-sized chunks of Oreo cookies to create this chocolate lover’s cookies and cream ice cream.

What I’m CRAVING: My friend Rebecca (yes, last week’s brownies were hers too. She’s really been making me hungry lately!) introduced me to the idea of swapping cottage cheese for the mayo in tuna salad several months ago, and I’ll admit that I was taken aback by how odd it initially looked in the bowl. HOWEVER, it tastes fantastic. I am 100% converted to making tuna salad without mayo.

My FAVORITE THING this week is this cheap little hanging closet organizer for hats / leggings / shorts / whatever. I actually like it so much, I ordered two more for my boys’ coat closet, for winter gloves and baseball caps. I have my leggings and workout shorts on one in my closet, and winter caps and gloves on another one. The uses are pretty much endless for this hanger.

What I’m LISTENING to: Colton Dixon is still on repeat over here. I stumbled on his music via my Forrest Frank playlist, and he’s been a favorite for the past week or two. 

“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” Isaiah 12:2 ESV

Wishing you a beautiful week filled with little things that make you smile!

Mary