The Little Things Newsletter #458 – Life, laughter, and lots of great food!

Welcome to the weekend, my friends! I did a double take as I wrote today’s date – March 1st. I’m not entirely sure how that’s possible and yet, here we are. Time is certainly flying this year. 

March usually has me craving salads and lighter meals for spring, but I’m still very much in the hearty, comfort food zone over here. I’m thinking that a big pot of chili sounds just about right for this weekend, along with some oven burritos, and some meat lover’s pasta for this week. Admittedly, there will be salads too, but for the most part, just give me all the warm, cozy meals.

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK:  Flaky buttery pastry tops a luscious medley of tender chicken, hearty vegetables, and a creamy, savory sauce in this Puff Pastry Chicken Pot Pie.

Forget heating up the oven, use the air fryer for baked sweet potatoes. The first time I baked sweet potatoes in the air fryer it was a game-changer for me. Over the past few months, this has been my lunch at least once a week.

Rich and garlicky, you’ll have trouble believing this Creamy Cauliflower Potato Soup is made without a drop of cream or milk! I loved this soup from the very first bite.

Melting chocolate, chewy coconut, and crunchy nuts are layered over a buttery graham cracker crust to make these Hello Dolly Bars. My kids and husband devoured these lightning fast! Luckily, they’re very easy to make as I suspect they’re going to be popular in our home for a lot of years to come.

This three ingredient Hot Cocoa Mix is a tasty, simple, convenient, and economical way to get your hot chocolate fix. Whip up a batch to keep on hand for after school, cold weather, and cravings.

This chocolate ice cream is swirled with bite-size wafer cookies and also loaded with chocolate-covered chunks of Kit Kat candy bars. Kit Kat Ice Cream has everything you love about Kit Kat candy bars swirled into each scoop of this homemade ice cream.

What I’m CRAVING: A bowl of my friend Shawn’s Creamy Broccoli Cheese Soup along with some crusty warm bread for dipping? That sounds pretty much perfect right now. 

My FAVORITE THING this week is this journal. I almost always lean toward spiral bound journals, but this one is a new favorite for me. I love the size (it’s great for tossing in my bag) and the quality is excellent. The pages are nice and thick and it lays flat for writing. It’s very comfortable to use and it looks so nice too!

What I’m LISTENING to (on repeat): Never Lose Sight by Chris Tomlin. The entire album is great and I’ve been enjoying starting my days with it.

What I’m READING: I’ve started and stopped a few fiction books lately that aren’t worth mentioning. (Could be that it’s just not my season for great fiction.) However, this Tim Keller book, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God has been wonderful so far! I’m reading it slowly and trying to really absorb it, it’s likely to be in my favorites list for a long time.

“Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.” Psalm 86:11-12 ESV

Wishing you a beautiful week full of little things that make you smile!

Mary