This recipe for Fried Brussels Sprouts with Bacon is packed with flavor! The sprouts are fried in bacon grease, then topped with bacon bits. They make a great side for dinner, but you might find they are so good that you want to eat them for breakfast, too!

This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission if you choose to purchase through these links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Click here to read my policy.

Brussels Sprouts can be an acquired taste. Many kids hate them; many moms want to serve them being well aware of their health benefits. My recipe for Fried Brussels Sprouts with Bacon is a game changer! Cooking these veggies in bacon grease may not be the healthiest option, but it is sure one of the tastiest! You may even find yourself wanting to eat them for breakfast instead of as a side with your dinner.

Why we love Fried Brussels Sprouts

• Brussels Sprouts are high in fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
• Plain Brussels Sprouts can be boring. Frying them in bacon grease gives them lots of extra flavor!

Ingredients

To make this Fried Brussels Sprouts recipe you only need three ingredients:

• Brussels Sprouts
• Bacon
• Parmesan Cheese

Kitchen Tools

Some kitchen tools you might find handy to make this recipe include:

• A good 12″ frying pan
• Some kitchen tongs
• Handheld zester/cheese grater for your parmesan cheese.

FAQ

---

Can I use turkey bacon instead of regular bacon?

Yes! Any kind of bacon will work with this recipe.

Can I cook a whole pack of bacon and then fry them in that grease?

Yes! While this recipe calls for 4 pieces of bacon to be cooked to crumble on top, you can cook the Brussels Sprouts in any amount of the bacon grease. You can fry your Brussels sprouts in the grease from the 4 pieces of bacon. Or if you are cooking a whole pack of bacon for breakfast or to have on hand for the week, you can fry your Brussels Sprouts in that grease. Just a word of caution – the more grease you have, the more splatter you may have.

Can I fry the Brussels Sprouts in Olive Oil instead of Bacon Grease?

Absolutely. If frying in the bacon grease isn’t your thing, you can put a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a pan and fry your Brussels Sprouts in that oil. You may not have the bacon flavor infused, but you can still sprinkle bacon bits on top when you are done.

Other Bacon Recipes

If you love bacon and want other ideas of what to cook with bacon, take a look at these recipes:

• Bacon Wrapped Tater Tots
• Filet Wrapped in Bacon
• How to Cook Bacon in the Oven

Fried Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

Yield: 1 pound fried Brussels Sprouts

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

This recipe for Fried Brussels Sprouts with Bacon is packed with flavor! The sprouts are fried in bacon grease, then topped with bacon bits.

Print

Ingredients

• 1 lb Brussels Sprouts
• 4 slices of bacon
• 1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Cut Brussels Sprouts in half and set aside.
2. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat.
3. Wait until pan is hot and then fry four pieces of bacon until crispy (you will want to flip the bacon over from time to time to cook evenly)
4. Remove bacon with tongs and set on top of a plate lined with a paper towel to soak up excess grease.
5. Keeping pan on medium heat, add Brussels Sprouts to the same pan and fry in the bacon grease for about 6 to 7 minutes or until they are tender (you can test by sticking a fork into the middle of a sprout; if it is soft and comes out easily, they are done).
6. Remove Brussels Sprouts from pan with tongs and also place on a tray or plate lined with paper towls to soak up excess grease.
7. Transfer Brussels Sprouts to a bowl.
8. Either chop bacon with a knife or crumble into pieces with your hands. Sprinkle bacon on top of Brussels Sprouts.
9. Grate about a tablespoon of parmesan cheese over the top of your Brussels sprouts.
10. Serve hot and enjoy!

Notes

I hope you enjoy this recipe! -- BA Haggerty

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  OXO Good Grips Zester & Grater
• 
  GreenPan 12" Ceramic Nonstick Frying Pan
• 
  OXO Good Grips 9" Tongs

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment below OR share a photo on Instagram and tag @foodmarriage - can't wait to see how it turned out!

The post Fried Brussels Sprouts with Bacon appeared first on Food Marriage.

Making Peanut Butter Cookies

I love to eat cookies any time of year.  Growing up, these peanut butter cookies were definitely in the Christmas Cookie category for our family, I will eat them any time of year.  Recently, I decided to go hunting in my recipe box for these old fashioned peanut butter cookies. My mom gave me the recipe, which my grandma had passed to her, hence the “old fashioned.” My favorite recipes are the ones that get passed down. The recipes have stood the test of time and each generation continues to pass them down. **Insert teary eyes here as I realize I am now passing these along to my daughters**

I’ve also been looking for fun things to keep the kids busy. I have found that our 5-year-old loves taking charge in the kitchen! And our 3-year-old likes eating up all the crumbs that we drop! Baking cookies has become not only a fun bonding time, but also a good way to start teaching some basic kitchen skills. And of course, while waiting for the cookies to bake and cool, it teaches patience.

The best part for me (besides eating them when they were done) was seeing how proud my daughters were when I let them smoosh some of the dough balls all by themselves with the fork. Those ones didn’t turn out with the perfect “criss-cross” pattern that is classic to these old fashioned peanut butter cookies, but that didn’t matter. The girls made them on their own and they were beautiful.

Baking these cookies with my girls brought back memories of growing up. My mom always let us help out in the kitchen. Flour always spilled everywhere, but that flour made memories, and those memories made happy kids!

Other Peanut Butter Recipes:

I’ve got a whole collection of delicious cookie recipes here on Food Marriage, but if you are looking specifically for more peanut butter dessert recipes, here are some of my favorites!

• Peanut Butter Middles
• Brownie Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Chips
• Peanut Butter Temptations
• Buckeyes
• Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe:

Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies

Yield: Approximately 4 dozen cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Easy classic old fashioned peanut butter cookies. 7 ingredients and bakes in 10 minutes!

Print

Ingredients

• 1 cup Lard (example: Crisco)
• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1 cup Peanut Butter
• 2 1/2 cups Flour
• 1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 2 eggs

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375°
2. Mix together the lard, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until well-mixed.
3. Add in the eggs and beat until mixed.
4. Next, add in your peanut butter and mix.
5. In a separate bowl, mix together your flour and baking soda.
6. Slowly add in the flour/baking soda mixture into your other ingredients while beating slowly, until everything is combined.
7. Roll dough into small balls and place on cookie sheet.
8. Flatten your dough balls with a fork in a criss-cross pattern.
9. Bake for about 10-11 minutes or until they appear a light-brown color.
10. Remove from cookie sheet and transfer to a cooling rack.

Notes

If your fork starts to stick when you are making your criss-cross pattern, dip your fork in some flour before pressing your design.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment below OR share a photo on Instagram and tag @foodmarriage - can't wait to see how it turned out!

Wondering what kind of peanut butter to use in your peanut butter cookies? Here’s a great article from Baking Bites that explains using natural versus regular in baking. I typically use a regular creamy peanut butter like Skippy, Jif, or Peter Pan!

The post Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies – Bakes in 10 minutes! appeared first on Food Marriage.

Photo Credit: Delaney Dobson Photography

We loved our home – it was our very first home together as a married couple. And it was our daughter’s first home! But when we found out we were expecting our second child, we knew that we were quickly outgrowing the two bedroom/two bathroom condo. My husband and I quickly put a plan in place and worked toward the end goal of selling the house before Baby #2 made their arrival. We listed in the very beginning of September and knew we were nearing the end of the busy season for real estate sales. Pat and I crossed our fingers (and prayed!) that everything would work out!

If you want to learn how to sell your house fast – check out what we did to sell our home faster than we could have ever imagined!

Photo Credit: Delaney Dobson Photography

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission.

5 Tips on how to sell your house fast:

1. Get a Storage Unit

Even if you home has a ton of storage space, I still recommend getting a storage unit. Nothing turns off a potential buyer more than clutter or the feeling that their things may not be able to fit into the space. Before we even got close to listing our home, a good 6 months before listing, we got a storage unit. We used a U Haul Storage Facility since it was close to our home, but any facility will do. The key is to have one close to home to make trips back and forth quick and easy.

Every weekend I would pack up a few things and send my husband off to the storage unit. We started with the big things like baby swings and portable cribs and things that took up a lot of space. Next, we moved to emptying out the closets and our crawlspace attic. Even though an attic is meant for storage, we didn’t want to pack it to the ceiling. We wanted to make sure that when a potential buyer peeked in that they could see how much storage space there actually was. Then we moved to packing away large kitchen supplies that we barely used (waffle irons, panini presses, etc!)

The easiest part about having the storage unit was that we filled it gradually every weekend so it never seemed like a lot of work. And then on moving day (we definitely hired movers!) and after they emptied out the house, we made a stop at the storage facility and they emptied that all out too before going to the new house!

Photo Credit: Delaney Dobson Photography

2. De-Personalize

I’m sure you heard this one before, but seriously do it and do it 100%. Nobody wants to know who was living in the house before them – they want to picture themselves there. We took down EVERY personal picture we had in the house and either packed the frames away or replaced the picture with something else. For example, I went to Etsy and purchased downloadable printables that said things like “Home Sweet Home” or “Welcome” to put in existing frames. Here’s a few of the ones I purchased if you want to check them out!

• “Home Sweet Home” Printable from HeartOfLifeDesign on Etsy – this one was my favorite purchase and I still have it hanging in a frame in our new house now!
• Chef’s Kitchen Utensils From TypeSecret on Etsy – I printed this one and then pinned it onto a small pin board and hung it in the kitchen from kitchen twine!
• Sweet Home Alabama Quotes from HeartOfLife Design on Etsy – “Why Would You Wanna Marry Me Anyhow?” And, “So I can Kiss You Anytime I Want.”  I printed these large at 11×14 and put them in frames that I had taken our wedding photos out of.
• “Happy Girls are the Prettiest” from PantonAndBloom on Etsy – we put this one in a 5×7 frame in our daughter’s bedroom.

Photo Credit: Delaney Dobson Photography

3. Professional Cleaning

Even if you never used a cleaning service before, I recommend getting one right before you move. I was 6 months pregnant around the time we listed our home and didn’t want to be around chemicals. It was also a huge help so I didn’t have to get on my hands and knees to scrub bathtubs! Getting someone else to clean your home can take some of the stress away. Your house will also get a deep clean so your house sparkles for those first showings.

In addition to the professional cleaning, I made sure to straighten up the house every night before bed. You never know when someone may call for a showing and I didn’t want to be caught off guard. I also never wanted to turn down a request for a showing for any reason, including if the house was cluttered. A missed showing could be a missed opportunity!

There was literally a time when I got a phone call saying that someone wanted to see the house at 12:15pm and it was 12:00pm! Luckily I was able to grab my napping toddler out of her crib and run out the door at a moment’s notice. (By the way, I totally miss her sweet little nursery below).

Photo Credit: Delaney Dobson Photography

4. Hire a Home Stager

The changes a home stager will make may be small and subtle but they will make all the difference! We hired Jennifer of Jennifer Smith Designs. Jen initially came over about a month before listing. She gave us an easy-to-do list with things from removing bath rugs and trash cans in bathrooms to inexpensive updates like changing out some light fixtures. She then came out again the day before our photographer came and did some furniture re-arranging and added in some of her own accessories. Jen was new set of eyes on the space. She pointed out things we weren’t able to see or weren’t thinking about. I think it made such a positive difference!

(Jen also previously helped us design our daughter’s nursery in the above picture. Sadly, she didn’t stay in it long because we moved, but we loved it! And I think it helped with resale value as we added new carpets and the built in shelving.)

Photo Credit: Delaney Dobson Photography

5. Hire a Professional Photographer

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and I agree! If something doesn’t look good in pictures, a buyer may not come to see it in person. And for me, lighting is huge! If a home doesn’t look like it has a lot of natural light, I’m not interested. I knew from the beginning I wanted to hire a professional photographer to take pictures of our home. It was a super minimal investment that I feel totally paid off in the end!

We hired Delaney Dobson Photography, who Jennifer Smith Designs actually referred to us! Delaney has the light and airy style of photography that I was looking for (check out her instagram feed and you will see what I mean!). She typically specializes in newborn and family photography as well as wedding photography, but was willing to take on our little project! She did an awesome job capturing not only the light, but also had great angles on the room and was able to show the height and detail of our wood-planked ceilings. Her turn around time was amazing and we were able to get the pictures to our realtor in no time.

Photo Credit: Delaney Dobson Photography

Our Results?

As I shared, we had our first showing within one day of listing. Then, we had an offer within two days after the first showing. But did I mention the offer came in 1.5K OVER asking price? We accepted immediately.

We were able to get on track early on by getting the storage unit and de-personalizing. And we were less stressed when it was time to actually list the house. Then bringing in the professional cleaners, home stager, and photographer tied everything up in a pretty little bow!

We sold our home before Baby #2 came which was the ultimate goal. Then we started hunting for a new home right away! We moved into our new home exactly a month before our second little girl arrived! Truly perfect timing!

Photo Credit: Delaney Dobson Photography

Have you been researching how to sell your house fast? Or have you had fast results in selling your home? What are some of your tips? I’d love to hear from you! And please let me know if you have any questions on our process!

The post How to Sell Your House Fast – Within a Week of Listing! appeared first on Food Marriage.

2016 was a life changing year for our family. Long story short: we found out we were expecting our second child, I made the transition from my full time corporate recruitment job to being part time, my husband took on a new job, we decided to put our 2 bedroom condo up for sale and sold it within a week, and then realized we had to find a new house FAST. We found a house, packed up the old one and moved, and then had our second baby exactly a month after moving into the new house. Whew! Just typing that out was exhausting! But it was one of the best years of our lives so far! Now we get to share our lives with not just one little girl but two!

Matching Mommy and Me Dresses: All dresses purchased online from Ralph Lauren. They weren’t in a Mommy and Me collection, but I searched Women’s Dresses, Girls Dresses and Baby Dresses until I found coordinating outfits! I’m wearing a size Medium.  Our toddler is wearing a size 3T and the baby is wearing a size 3 Months.  All fit true to size!

Now that we are settling into our new normal, we can actually take some time to sit back, relax, and appreciate all that we have in our life. We have the most beautiful happy and healthy girls and that is all we could ever ask for or need. Being a mom to these two girls has been the most rewarding (and challenging) job that I have ever had in my life. I’ll be honest, I’m still learning how to juggle taking care of both of them at the same time! And there are times I lose my cool. But those little smiling faces and eyes that light up a room quickly melt my heart.

These little ones have made me a more patient person, a more selfless person, and a more loving person. I can’t wait to continue to see them grow and learn new things every day. I am truly blessed to have these babies!

Happy Mothers’ Day!

SaveSave

The post Blessed to Have these Babies: Happy Mothers’ Day! appeared first on Food Marriage.

So I decided to try something different this weekend. I decided to cook bacon in the oven instead of on the stovetop. It’s not necessarily an overall time saver. However, it does allow you to take the cooking time and spend it doing something else while your oven does all the work. All you need is a baking sheet, some parchment paper, and of course the bacon itself. Then, throw it in the oven for 30 minutes!

My daughter and I took our half hour to build block towers, knock them down, and build them up again.  We have these classic wooden blocks with ABC’s on them that she loves. I remember playing with the same blocks when I was little! We sang our ABC’s! I also heard our daughter said “Pooh” for Winne the Pooh for the first time today!  Very exciting day in the Haggerty household, hahaaa. And definitely time well spent! When the half hour was up, I pulled the crisp, hot bacon out of the oven. We enjoyed it with some scrambled eggs. I would definitely recommend this method of baking bacon to anyone! It doesn’t have to just be for busy parents. Anyone who doesn’t want to get splattered by bacon grease can use this method! Here’s my way of how to cook bacon in the oven!

SaveSave

Oven Baked Bacon

Yield: 1 lb cooked bacon

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Print

Ingredients

• 1 lb bacon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
3. Lay strips of bacon across baking sheets.
4. Bake in 350° oven for approximately 30 minutes (the bacon should appear brown and crisp),
5. Use tongs to remove bacon and transfer to a plate.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment below OR share a photo on Instagram and tag @foodmarriage - can't wait to see how it turned out!

Looking for some other great bacon recipes? Try my Bacon Wrapped Tater Tots!

The post How to Cook Bacon in the Oven appeared first on Food Marriage.

I spend about 10 to 15 hours a week commuting to and from work (my full time job as a corporate recruiter).  The commute used to be the worst part of my day and I felt like I was wasting so much valuable time – however, I’ve recently discovered podcasts (I know….totally late to the game!!!) Now every day, I fill that time with listening to really great podcasts. I’m a huge Serial fan, but as you may know, with a new episode coming out just once every two weeks now, I have some other space to fill! I’ve been keeping my food inspiration alive with the Bon Appetit podcast, I’ve been listening to some of Pat Flynn’s Smart Passive Income Podcast, and I’ve been keeping up to date on parenting pop culture with the Spawned Podcast (they are super funny! Check them out if you get a chance!)

But mostly I’ve been binge-listening to the Food Blogger Pro Podcast. Whether you are new to the game of blogging or an experienced veteran, you will definitely benefit from listening to this podcast! Each episode Bjork Ostrom interviews someone different who is influential in the food blogging community. Each person’s story is so unique in how they got started and how they got to where they are today. Many of them also started out with humble beginnings and lack of knowledge. The best part? They want to help other bloggers avoid the missteps they made and help them achieve the success they know is possible. Because I am so thankful for those bloggers that have paved the way and who are so generous in sharing their knowledge, I wanted to join in on the community and share my journey as well.

How I will be measuring my income and expenses:

While I have not attempted to make money in the last 4 years with Food Marriage, I certainly have incurred expenses over the years (domain name purchase and renewal, web hosting, camera, etc). I will not be reporting any previous expenses before this point. #1 – I was blogging for fun, so just considered it my hobby expense.  # 2 – I never truly kept a good record of expenses! So I actually don’t have a clear record before now!

I will be reporting income as it is paid out to me. Depending on the ad networks a blogger can work with, you can actually earn income that may take some time to pay out until you hit a certain threshold. Some bloggers report out their income in the month it was earned, and not in the month it was paid out. I find that it makes most sense for me to report on when it is paid, because let’s face it, money that is sitting with an ad network that I can’t access actually isn’t mine yet!

Income & Expense Breakdown:

• Gross Income:
  • Ad Revenue – The Blogger Network – $25.45

• Expenses:
  • Canva – $10

• Net Income:
  • $15.45

Income & Expense Summary:

I’m calling it a win that I have a net profit this month! Okay maybe it’s enough to buy me lunch tomorrow, but it’s a profit nonetheless!

My profits came solely from ad revenue.  I’m so excited to be working as part of the Propel Program with the Blogger Network. While most premium blog networks require high traffic volume of 100,000+ page views a month to join, The Blogger Network created this great program to teach you how to grow your traffic while they take care of the monetization piece. It cost $99 to join the program (again another expense that I already previously paid in 2015, so not reporting at this time) but I do anticipate to make back that money quickly and continue earning even more! As part of the Propel program, you get access to a wealth of online trainings to help you grow as a blogger. They also take care of setting up all ads on your site, so you don’t have to worry about it. You are eligible to sign up for the Propel program if you have over 10,000 page views a month. The goal is to keep your traffic going up and up so you can continue to be successful and make money! I love how supportive they are of bloggers and also how quick their customer service is to respond if you ever have questions!

My only expense this month was with Canva. I know a lot of bloggers live by PicMonkey, but I’m personally obsessed with Canva! It’s generally a free service to use to do graphic design if you use your own photos or their free elements, but you can also purchase stock photos with a one time use license agreement for a great price! The photos are only $1. I don’t use stock photos that often, so for an awesome price and if I find exactly what I’m looking for, I’ll use it! I spent $10 this month since I bought a package – $10 actually gets me 11 images. A couple examples of the stock photos I’ve bought and did some design with include my post on Travel Tips for Flying with a Baby and 5 Tips for Blog Branding.

Traffic Summary:

For January 2016, I had a total of 18,744 pageviews! It is so exciting to watch these numbers grow month! As I continue to create these monthly income reports, I plan to dive deeper into analyzing other data such as mobile vs. desktop usage and main sources of traffic.

Social Media Overview:

Pinterest continues to be a front-runner in the social media space for Food Marriage! One reason may be because of my increased pinning and utilization of a tool called Ahalogy! Not only does it give me the ability to schedule pins, but it also helps with elevating my SEO with Pinterest by helping pick out different keywords as I type in your pin description! It allows me to be part of an AWESOME content network with so many other talented bloggers. I love sharing my content and pinning the great things that I see from the other bloggers!

Another thing that Analogy does is give brands the ability to pin my content! A notable brand that has pinned one of my pins is Keebler Toll House Crackers! They pinned my Bacon Wrapped Tater Tots recipe to their Entertaining Made Easy Board! In the last 30 days alone, because it is on this board, this ONE pin for Bacon Wrapped Tater Tots has gotten 59,611 impressions, 944 clicks, 318 re-pins, and 28 likes! SO POWERFUL!

Goals:

Gosh – where to start with my goals!? I have so many for this year!! If I had to narrow it down to my number one goal – it would be to blog more consistently! I’ve gone through periods where I’ve blogged very consistently, and then through periods where I didn’t blog for months on end (ahem….during pregnancy….ahem….again after I had my daughter). The goal I want to work towards is blogging consistently once a week and I plan to implement this starting in March.

Once I get into the rhythm of consistency again (which should hopefully in and of itself increase traffic, which should then increase income), but I would also like to then look into other avenues of blog monetization!

Thanks for joining me on my money-making journey! Looking forward to continuing to share my story!

The post January 2016 Blog Traffic & Income Report appeared first on Food Marriage.

Happy Super Bowl Sunday! Appetizers are my favorite part of any football party and today is no exception! Here’s a fun recipe that you can whip up in no time before the game: a Football Shaped Pimento Cheese Ball recipe. I made it before for my Girls Fantasy Football Draft party and it was a hit! (please excuse the photography here…it was a quick pic snapped on my iPhone that night!)

Needless to say, my participation in a Girls Fantasy Football league (3 years in a row) has not enhanced my knowledge of the game much. However, it has increased my attention span for watching football games! It was always so fun throughout the season to recognize players’ names and cheer for my guys! While I didn’t win the big money, what I really got out of this football season was the friendship, camaraderie, and competition with the girls! It’s something I think we will keep going for years to come!

This recipe is so easy with only 4 ingredients: cream cheese, pimentos, pecans, and string cheese. Anyone (even the kids) can make it! You can make it an hour before the game or you can make it the night before so it is ready to go. It also transports very easily if you are traveling to a party – I put it on the serving tray and covered it with plastic wrap. I brought two different boxes of crackers and opened them up once I got there.

This Football Shaped Pimento Cheese Ball will be a great addition to this year’s Super Bowl Sunday Spread! If you make it, let me know how it turns out for you!

Love pimentos? Me too! Check out these other Pimento recipes deep from the archives of Food Marriage!

• Checkerboard Cheese Sandwiches – way back from November 26, 2011
• Cheddar, Swiss, & Pimento Spread – Wow – from December 11, 2011

SaveSave

SaveSave

The post Super Bowl Sunday: Football Shaped Pimento Cheese Ball Recipe appeared first on Food Marriage.

As a mom who spends 40 hours a week working outside the home along with 10 to 15 hours a week commuting, I’m always looking for different ways to make money. I have known for a while now that bloggers can make significant income, but didn’t realize the true potential until I discovered bloggers who disclose their income. The best example I have found of this is by the blog,  Pinch of Yum. They started trying to make money blogging in September 2011 (Eek! Just a month before I started Food Marriage!) and they have grown exponentially since then! Pinch of Yum’s Monthly Income reports are not only for their own tracking purposes, but also to help and inspire other bloggers that if you put your mind to it, anything is possible!

When I look back at my own blogging experience, I often wonder to myself, “What if I had monetized my blog early on?” I actually didn’t start to try to make money until December 2015, a good 4+ years after I began my blogging journey. Why didn’t I monetize early on? There are several reasons why I didn’t monetize my blog in the beginning.

My Reasons for not monetizing a blog in the beginning:

• I started Food Marriage for fun!

  This blog has always been about being married, having fun, loving life, and loving food! I have kept that theme present from the very first moment I started blogging on October 3, 2011. I have always loved to cook and saw it as a great platform not only to share recipes with friends, but also to document and save some great family recipes! I’ve been able to share some of my wedding and party-planning ideas. And as our marriage has evolved and we are now parents, I incorporate some of that into the blog. Food Marriage always has and always will be a space for sharing and personal expression for me. I do it because I enjoy it, not just to make money. If it turns out that it can bring me an income in the future, that will be an added plus!

• I was focused on building content.

  Looking back at Food Marriage’s Blog archives, it was surprising to see and remember that for the first three month’s of the blog’s life, I was posting almost every day! Granted, it wasn’t always the best content or the best photography in the beginning, and I certainly wasn’t sharing it out on social media at that point. But the effort to be consistent and really build up a good base of information was there. Currently, at this point in my life with a 1 year old, I’m lucky if I even get the chance to make a grilled cheese at the end of the night for myself, but back then in the newlywed stage, I spent a lot of time cooking for myself and my husband, learning to blog, and sharing that content out for everyone to see.

• I had a Bad First Experience with Ads

  I remember installing Google Adsense when I first started blogging. I had absolutely no clue what I was doing and thought that maybe it would make me some money, but I was thinking in terms of nickels and dimes. As soon as I installed the ads, I saw an ad for something divorce-related on my blog. I had assumed they picked up the keyword of “marriage” and somehow thought a divorce ad was appropriate. It definitely did NOT fit with what my blog represented. At the time, I didn’t understand that you could actually have some control over the ads and filter certain things out, so I completely uninstalled the whole thing. It wasn’t until several years later that I actually took the time to sit down and learn more about different advertising networks and what control a blogger can have with the ads on their site.

My Advice to Other Bloggers

My advice to other bloggers is to NOT start a blog with the sole intention of making money. If you do, it has the potential to come off as forced or not genuine. I believe to build a blog and to gain a following, you have to have passion for what you do. The love and passion you have will really shine through and be what makes your blog special and memorable. Once you have that, I think looking at monetization is a great idea! Why not start to make money from something you love!?

The post Why I Didn’t Monetize My Blog in the Beginning appeared first on Food Marriage.

I recently took my daughter on her first plane ride.  I took her to Chicago to celebrate her Uncle Matthew’s Graduation from Chiropractic School and also to meet her GREAT Grandparents for the first time. My husband wasn’t able to make the trip due to work and school commitments, so I was traveling alone. People thought I was crazy for flying alone with her. I almost didn’t book the trip because of so many fears! But in the end I decided to do it! And guess what? Flying with a baby wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it might be!

We flew when she was about 7 months old, so I was able to keep her on my lap the entire time (talk about cost saving!) Most airlines allow you to have a child on your lap up until they reach 2 years of age. Overall, we had a great trip and I was so glad to have taken the opportunity to go on a trip where we could spend quality time with family that we do not get to see often.

 Here are my Top 5 Tips for Flying with a Baby:

1. Do Not Read Negative Articles Before You Go – this will only stress you out.  A couple weeks before we left, I read an article about a woman being kicked off a plane because her child was crying uncontrollably before takeoff. This happened to be the same airline that I had already booked. Everyone was trash talking the airline in the comments section and basically said if you have kids, steer clear of that particular airline. Of course, I freaked out after reading this but it was too late to change flights at that point. We kept our flight and I was pleasantly surprised to find that everyone we encountered on the airline was extremely friendly and helpful. We could not have had a better experience.

2. Do Not Care What Other People Think – this will also stress you out. My biggest fear was sitting down next to another passenger and getting “the look” – you know the one where they are thinking in their heads “I cannot believe this person brought a baby on a plane.” What I found was that most strangers were happy to make silly goofy faces at my daughter and make her laugh and giggle. How could you not love a smiling bright blue eyed little babe!?

3. Do Not Forget Hand Sanitizing Wipes – Notice I did not say “Do Not Let Child Touch Any Surfaces” because let’s face it, that is nearly impossible to do.  Let your little one play and be curious – it is a fun and new experience for them and they are exploring the world around them! Just be sure to be quick with the wipes before they put their hands in their mouth!

4. Do Not Be Afraid of Making Friends – I usually keep to myself when traveling, reading a book or minding my own business. I rarely talk to other passengers. I found that having a baby in your arms invites conversation. Don’t be afraid of it! I found myself giving tips on baby carriers to a pregnant woman and having conversations with a group of young adults on their way to Basic Training in the Navy. It actually made the trip fun and go by quickly!

5. DO ENJOY EVERY MOMENT – as we all know, our children are only little once. As a working mom who works full time outside of the home, this time I spent with my baby girl was precious. This was the first Mother/Daughter trip that we took together, and I hope there are many more to come. Try to look at the world through your child’s eyes and see what an incredible adventure you are on!

Hoping that these tips can ease some of your travel anxiety if you are planning your first trip with your little one! Best of luck!

SaveSave

The post Top 5 Travel Tips for Flying with Baby appeared first on Food Marriage.

For my daughter’s first halloween, I knew I wanted to make hand make her costume! Nothing against store bought costumes, but I was just itching to do something creative! I originally wanted her to be a baby bumble bee after I saw this No Sew Bee Costume from Sugar Bee Crafts, However, when I went to the craft store, there was no bright yellow tulle to be seen. I saw bright red tulle and was sold on the idea of a little ladybug! I started right away on making Little M’s ladybug halloween costume!

With less than a week until Halloween, you can still make this easy costume if you want to! I paced myself by doing one piece of the costume each day until it was finished. Here’s what you’ll need to create this adorable baby halloween costume:

1. Basic Black Clothes and Red Socks – Any plain black shirt and black leggings will do (Tip: Wal-Mart carries Garanimals brand clothing for babies and toddlers with mix and match separates – you can get exactly what you need at a great price – under $4 a piece!) I also picked up fuzzy red socks from Carter’s.
2. Ladybug Wings – I was going to get red felt and then cut out black circles and glue them on, but I got lucky and found red felt that already had black dots on it the craft store. Score! I bought two pieces of felt, used a bowl from the kitchen to cut them into half-circles and then glued them together at the top with Tacky Glue. Once it was dry I used red thread and hand stitched the wings to the top of the black shirt.
3. Tutu – I got black elastic, black tulle, and red tulle.  I followed the general idea from Sugar Bee Crafts of just hand-tying the tulle to the elastic band.  I did NOT use glitter tulle as I thought that was not a good idea for a 9-month old. I used regular matte tulle and bought one roll in each color (I used the 3-inch wide kind).
4. Antennae Headband – Using leftover elastic that I had from the tutu waist band, I tied it in a little knot in the back to make a headband. I then took little red pom poms and stitched them on to the top with red thread.
5. Mommy & Me Matching Red Infinity Scarves – I used to crochet a long time ago, but haven’t done it in years. I watched this Easy Crochet Infinity Scarf Tutorial on YouTube by Melanie Ham, and it came right back to me!! Her tutorial was just what I needed to get back in the swing of things and learn how to do an infinity scarf, which I had never done before. I made our scarves much smaller but the general pattern was the same with a half double crochet stitch. I wore a black shirt with my scarf to match my little one!
6. A Pumpkin with Red & Black Acrylic Paint – We spent one night painting our pumpkin red with acrylic paint.  The next day, we painted the top black and added black polka dots with a round sponge brush.

We were happy to get our little girl all dressed up for a party this past weekend. And we are even more excited to get two uses out of her costume this coming weekend for Halloween!

SaveSave

The post How to Make a Baby Ladybug Halloween Costume! appeared first on Food Marriage.

The idea for my recipe came from an Ina Garten themed dinner party I threw for my mom in the past. That night, I made the most delicious coconut macaroons from Ina Garten’s cookbook – Barefoot Contessa Family Style. I decided to revisit this cookbook to add my own fall twist on these classic cookies. And they came out delicious!

However, when I stored them in an airtight container for another day, they got very sticky. (I didn’t mind the sticky because they tasted so good, but they were a little messy).  Any suggestions on how to make them not as sticky are greatly appreciated!

Pumpkin Coconut Macaroons

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

Print

Ingredients

• 14 oz shredded coconut
• 15 oz canned pumpkin
• 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon pumpin pie spice

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Mix the coconut, pumpkin, condensed milk, salt, and pumpkin pie spice together.
3. Whip the egg whites in a mixer with the whisk attachment for about 2 minutes.
4. Fold the egg whites into the rest of the mixture.
5. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
6. Using a large cookie scoop, drop the cookies onto the parchment paper.
7. Bake in 350° oven for 45 minutes.
8. Remove and cool on wire racks.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment below OR share a photo on Instagram and tag @foodmarriage - can't wait to see how it turned out!

Recipe adapted from Barefoot Contessa Family Style by Ina Garten.

The post Recipe: Pumpkin Coconut Macaroons appeared first on Food Marriage.

Branding is such a huge part of the world we live in, and I’m not just talking about commercials you see on TV or products you buy in the store. I mean in everything we do, including the blogs we read and write. When I started The Food Marriage Blog back in 2011, I had my general idea and my tagline, “Being Married, Having Fun, Loving Life, and Loving Food,” but I did not have a clear brand direction.

I was using Blogger at the time and had a generic theme with a pink background. Back then, I didn’t have consistency with my images (And can you believe I didn’t even watermark my blog images?  Not that many of them were worth watermarking…the quality of my images back then were not the finest!)

In 2013, I switched to WordPress and also worked with a designer to help me completely re-vamp the blog and develop a true brand. Since I am the face of my brand, I wanted something that would truly reflect me. At the time, my blog was not monetized, so it was a personal investment to make – but investments in yourself are always the best ones!

I worked with Elizabeth from The Mustard Ceiling Designs (unfortunately she is no longer taking on new design projects, but if she were I would totally recommend her!) She really took all of my ideas and turned them into a reality.  The inspiration for the Food Marriage Blog Design was my wedding. I wanted to use a similar color scheme and use things like the scrolling pattern on my wedding invitations as inspiration. I shared some of my ideas (and my wedding photos) with Elizabeth and she went to work helping me create my dream brand!

Whether you are just starting out or have been blogging for years, I highly suggest you create a brand for yourself. It gives your readers something to remember and look forward to every time they are on your site. If your blog is well laid out and easy to read, they will keep coming back!

Here are my Top 5 Tips for Creating your Blog Brand:

1. Stay True to Yourself – Go with your gut on this one. While you are hoping for page views and loyal readers – don’t choose a design just to impress others. Choose a design that fits you. If you are true to yourself and genuine, the readers will come!

2. Stay Creative – This one can be the hardest part because we all try to emulate the blogs that we love (They say “Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery”) But for your personal blog, you really want to do something that is unique and a little different if you can. It will make you stand out from the crowd!

3. Stay Simple – Don’t go overboard. You don’t need 10 different colors and 15 different fonts to make an impact. Anywhere from 3 – 5 colors in your palette will do just fine and two fonts will suffice (one block font and one script). Also stay simple in your design – I can’t tell you how many times I have stopped reading a blog because it was difficult to navigate!

4. Stay Up To Date – We all know mobile is the way of the future. While you may have a beautiful desktop design – a huge number of our followers are now viewing our blogs on mobile platforms. Be sure your branding and design extend into the mobile space as well!

5. Stay Consistent – Try to stay as consistent as possible. This goes for all social media outlets as well. Be sure to extend your brand into your social media avenues and keep it similar. Loyal fans and readers will come to know your style. If they happen to see a pin on Pinterest, they may know it’s yours before even going to pin it if it has your logo and consistent design elements!

What inspires you? Do you have any other branding design tips to share?

The post 5 Tips for Blog Branding: How to Create and Build your Blog Brand appeared first on Food Marriage.