It’s apparently cookie week over here! All I’ve been talking about are cookies and desserts. From these sugar cookies bites to these white chocolate cranberry cookies, I’ve got cookies on the brain. While these orange sugar cookies are technically called Christmas sugar cookies, I’m honestly not sure where the name comes from. Other than the fact that they use orange, which is something I use in my Christmas punch and cranberry orange bread....

I’ve been all about the cute Halloween treats this year from my Frankenstein Halloween pretzels to my Halloween dirt cake! And I’m finishing it off with these cute Oreo cookie spiders that are perfect for Halloween parties! It’s a new recipe I hope you’ll love! The only take 4 ingredients and are as simple as can be to make! You can make an entire batch for your next Halloween party then watch the kids (and adults) devour those little spider bodies and chocolate spider legs!...

You may be familiar with eating seaweed already, thanks to delicious menu items like nori-wrapped sushi—but the world of edible algae extends well beyond your favorite spicy tuna roll to include varieties like chlorella, spirulina, and sea moss. These microplants are rich in nutrients and are thought to provide a host of health benefits when consumed. “Algae is very efficient at synthesizing and making bioactive compounds,” says Ralph Esposito, ND, LAc, naturopathic physician, functional medicine practitioner, and acupuncturist specializing in integrative urology, endocrinology, and nutrigenomics (the study of how food/nutrition impacts your genes)....

The Nuzzie Weighted Blanket is a sustainable chunky knit throw promising to deepen sleep, reduce anxiety, and mimic the comfort of being hugged. The weight ranges depending on the size of the blanket. A kids’ blanket is eight pounds, a full is 15, a queen is 20, and the king size weighs 25 pounds. Unlike models with glass beads, the Nuzzie gets its weight from its material: 100 percent brushed jersey-knit polyester on the outside, filled with 100 percent eco-friendly polyester fluff made from over 500 recycled water bottles....

Financial Independence, Defined For many people, defining financial independence is personal. You might consider yourself set if you’ve managed to pay down all of your outstanding debts, or maybe you won’t feel you have financial independence until you hit the lottery. For Kimberly Palmer, a credit card and banking expert with Nerdwallet, financial independence is something a little less tangible. “I think about it as feeling confident that you can always pay your bills and then also having money left over so you have the freedom to eat out at a restaurant if you want or save up for a vacation,” Palmer says....

Now that my youngest is in preschool, he’s getting really into doing art projects and simple crafts. And my oldest has always been into painting and fun, so we’ve started doing more simple crafts at home. This ghost craft is our new favorite one because it’s super simple and pretty hard to mess up. And as a mom of a perfectionist kiddo, crafts that are hard to mess up are sometimes the best!...

With all of my other gift exchange games, I’ve had a ton of people email me and ask for a printable left right Christmas gift exchange poem. I’ve only ever played the game two or three times so never wrote my own poem up until now. But it’s a super fun game, so I thought it was time! And you know I like to rhyme, or you should if you’ve ever seen any of my scavenger hunt ideas!...

Sponsored by: Cricut. All opinions are honest and my own. This post also contains affiliate links. If you purchase via these links, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. I’ve always loved the show The Amazing Race. I’ve even considered applying myself once or twice until I realized that I would get out if there were any crazy eating challenges. Picky eaters don’t do well on The Amazing Race!...

For some, Easter is a religious holiday; for others, it’s a time for Easter Egg coloring and Easter games. Still more see Easter as a springtime holiday and celebrate the coming of a warmer, greener season. Fortunately, for every way of celebrating Easter, there’s an Easter quote, Easter message, or Easter caption to capture and share the desired sentiment. Like love quotes, there’s an Easter quote for everyone—the trick is to figure out what kind of message you want to send....

Native to Asia, ginger comes from the flowering plant of the Zingiberaceae family. Most of us are familiar with consuming its root to add a unique, zippy flavor to dishes and condiments of many cuisines. Ginger tea—steeped in boiling water or infused into herbal blends—is equally delicious, soothing, and beneficial to the body. Ginger Tea Benefits It helps alleviate nausea. Drinking ginger tea may help ease symptoms of motion sickness; such as dizziness, nausea, and cold sweats....

Unfortunately, many believe that eco-friendly alternatives are inherently more expensive. But that’s a harmful myth, since reducing plastic use is becoming increasingly imperative. In order to tackle plastic pollution, we must demand alternatives from product manufacturers, and equally importantly, we must all begin to change our daily habits. It’s time we begin integrating products into our routines and lifestyles that provide alternatives to single-use plastics. At the very least, we need to begin consciously selecting products that significantly reduce plastic waste in some way....

One of the most important and often irritating examples of this issue is the cost of homeowner’s association dues, otherwise known as HOAs. If you’re not careful and don’t ask enough questions about a prospective HOA when considering a home purchase, you may be in for a rude awakening when, year after year, the monthly dues continue to creep up and up and up until one day, your housing costs have inflated well beyond your monthly budget....

It’s almost Christmas time and that means we’re full on into the holiday spirit over here at my house! We’ve already played Christmas bingo, started our DIY advent calendar, and of course started playing the best Christmas songs all day long! And I can’t forget the Christmas treats. We haven’t done our Christmas cookie baking yet, but we’ve already feasted on some delicious Christmas goodies like these reindeer brownie balls, peanut butter snowballs, and homemade nutter butters!...

“In the early ’70s, people all over the country migrated to Mexico City for a better opportunity,” says James Beard Award–winning chef Hugo Ortega, who opened his restaurant Urbe (meaning city) about eight years ago in Houston. “So when that happened, they brought their very best family recipes that they’ve made for generations. For example, from Puebla they brought how to make mole and tamales.” At Urbe, Ortega wanted to represent the food that came out of this movement....

That leads us to another laundry debate: How often should you wash your bras? Surely bras aren’t like jeans, where you should wait as long as possible before washing them. But they’re also not like underwear, where daily washing is a no-brainer. Danny Koch, brassiere expert and fourth generation owner of New York City’s Town Shop, recommends every other wear, or by the third, maximum. The reason? “The main thing you’re trying to do is keep the integrity of the bra for as long as possible,” Koch says....

The truth is that our post-shower hair care products usually end up looking more like a random experiment than a routine, but being a mixologist with your styling arsenal isn’t doing your hair any favors. Just like you shouldn’t apply face oils before serums, the wrong order can make your products not as effective, or worse, damage your strands. “Knowing the correct order of application for your hair is just as important as your skincare routine,” agrees Michelle Lee, professional hairstylist, co-owner of Salon Eva Michelle in Boston, Mass....

When was the last time you checked on this hidden, yet hardworking unit? A dusty, dirty fan can’t do its job and all that dust may make it sound like a jet engine taking off. Here’s how to clean a bathroom fan so it can do its job quietly and efficiently. What You’ll Need: Sturdy step ladderFlashlightScrewdriverAll-purpose household cleanerSink or bucketMicrofiber clothOld towelVacuum with hose and crevice attachmentElectrostatic duster...

Once you’ve jumped on the Instant Pot bandwagon, you’ll likely look back and wonder how you ever managed to get dinner (and breakfast, lunch, even dessert) on the table without it. But as with any product that gets a lot of love, the more you use your Instant Pot the more you’ll notice how easily food can get trapped in all the nooks and crannies of the lid, pot, and pressure release valve....

Knowing how to clean fan blades, globes, and chains on ceiling fans is important for keeping your home’s air cool and dust-free. The trick is to remove the dust and grime without making it rain down on your floors and furniture. Learn how to clean ceiling fans without making a mess using these tips. The Best Way to Clean a Fan Follow these steps to clean your ceiling fans about once every two to three months, or as soon as you notice dust building up on the blades....

Laminate floors get their beautiful appearance from a photographic reproduction, which is layered inside protective plastic coatings on a supporting core of wood-based material. Although laminate floors look like hardwood, they cannot be refinished and are difficult to repair. If laminate gets worn down, it will have to be replaced, so it’s worth your time and effort to keep your laminate flooring clean and free from damaging grit and moisture....