New Women's Devotional Available on Amazon!! Now: Purposeful Steps Toward a More Abundant Life by Sarah Coller

I'm so so excited to announce my devotional for women, Now: Purposeful Steps Toward a More Abundant Life is available for sale on Amazon! Wow---what a labor of love and unbelievable learning experience! I hope this book blesses you all. You sweet readers have been such a source of kindness and encouragement to me!

Linking with:

Vintage Show & Tell
Happy Homemaker Monday

The Art of Homemaking
No Place Like Home

Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Motivate Me Monday 

Modest Monday @ The Modest Mom 

Living Proverbs 31

Inspire Me Monday @ Create With Joy 

A Round Tuit @ Creating My Way to Success 

Making Your Home Sing Monday

Amaze Me Monday
Soul Survival linkup

Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Through Life

Tips & Tricks

So Much At Home

Show & Tell

Tuesday Afternoon

(Titus 2)s Days @ Time Warp Wife

The Scoop @Stone Gable

Roses of Inspiration @ The Enchanting Rose
Book Nook

Homemaking Party @ Classical Homemaking

A Wise Woman Builds Her Home

Homemaking Link Up @ Raising Homemakers

Inspire Me Wednesday @ MamaBuzz

Wow Us Wednesdays

Mexican Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread #ad

The holidays are finally here and our family is doing all the traditional holiday stuff---including baking yummy breads and treats! Although canned pumpkin is available all year 'round, it only seems appropriate to bake with it in the fall. I usually come up with at least one new pumpkin recipe each autumn season, and this year is no exception. You'll love the spicy zest I've added to my favorite pumpkin bread recipe.

Years ago when I was selling kitchen products as a home business, one of my favorite recipes to make for guests was Mexican Chocolate Cake. It's amazing how the inclusion of cinnamon brought out the deliciousness in that rich chocolate cake. "Mexican" chocolate usually features the addition of cinnamon and chili powder to give it a spicy zing. Since I tend to be a bit on the extravagant side, I figured five added spices couldn't hurt anything in this experiment!

I found many of my ingredients at Dollar General, which is just up the street from where I live. I love that smaller "corner store" feel to Dollar General and it's great that I can find many of the things I need without having to drive to or navigate the larger superstores. What's more, Dollar General offers coupons I can use right from my phone, and this season they're offering deals on many of my favorite baking items. Visit the Dollar General website to download your coupons, as well.

This recipe features both Nestlé® Toll House® Morsels and Libby's® 100% Pure Pumpkin---two items featured at a great price at Dollar General. I love that it's a simple "dump it in and mix it up" sort of recipe. These kinds are my favorites because they're ones I can have my kids whip up without my help when I'm short on time.

I served my Mexican Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread on Thanksgiving morning and the kids loved it! They knew something was different from my usual pumpkin bread recipe (besides the added chocolate chips) but no one, not even Daddy, guessed what it was. After everyone had agreed they liked it, I told them I'd added chili powder. They were surprised!

Here's the recipe. Let me know if you make it as I'd love to hear how it worked for your family!

Mexican Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

2 15 oz. cans pumpkin 
1 1/2 c. oil
3 c. sugar
6 eggs
4 3/4 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp. cloves
1 1/2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. chili powder
1 pkg. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350º and grease 3 loaf pans.  Mix the pumpkin, oil, sugar, and eggs.  Combine the dry ingredients and then stir into the wet mixture.  Pour into pans and bake 45 min. or until done all the way through.


Be sure to visit Dollar General's website to download coupons for your favorite products like DiGiorno, Nestle Toll House Morsels, Nescafe Taster’s Choice, and Coffee-mate. For more creative pumpkin recipes, check out:

Pumpkin Pie Fudge
Pumpkin Banana Bread
Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Sprinkle
Autumn Spiced Pumpkin Bread

Week End Wrap Up -- Happy Homemaker Monday

My hot chocolate is speaking to me today. Be happy ... even if there's a chip in your cup. 

It's been a great weekend of relaxing and enjoying family time. I'm really looking forward to the week ahead---Thanksgiving week! Here's a wrap up from the past seven days...

The weather.....

Although we suffered through 87º days twice last week, it's finally gotten cold and we had our first hard freeze Sunday morning! We woke up to a 58º house, indicating that there's something wrong with our furnace. Jamie has called to have it fixed but, in the meantime, we've got the fireplace and wood stove stoked and it's getting toasty in here!

Right now I am....

Sitting in front of the first fire of the year. In fact, this is the first time I've ever lived in a home (as an adult) with a fireplace so this is a real treat! Jamie and the six older kids are at church and the three youngest are getting settled down to sleep. I've got hot dogs and s'mores stuff in the kitchen...I wonder if I should go find the roasting sticks?

Thinking....

I'm thinking about the nice weekend we had. Yesterday we spent the day at home and I worked in the kitchen most of the day. I made pancakes and bacon, slow cooked bbq pulled pork, homemade buns, coleslaw, and slow cooked baked beans. Then we went to Bentonville for the downtown lighting ceremony. Today Jamie took most of the kids to church and I stayed home with Brenna since she's got a little cold. I worked in the kitchen again, making a carrot cake, peanut butter cookies, and a fried chicken dinner. I love fall as it makes me want to be in my kitchen.


On my reading pile....

I'm still reading Sixpence House by Paul Collins. I've not gotten a lot of time to read the past couple months but I'm enjoying the book immensely.

On my TV.....

Jamie and I have been watching Murdoch Mysteries on Acorn TV. I've been disappointed by a few immoral plot lines but it's been pretty good, for the most part.


Looking forward to this week....

If all goes well, I should be able to announce my new book by the end of the week. Editing, formatting, and publishing may have been tougher than the actual writing. But, I'm no longer a newbie so I'm sure it will get easier every time!

Looking around the house....

I did some baking today to warm up the house. I've been loving this homemade vanilla a friend gave me while I was in England in September. I use it in all my special baking. Last Sunday morning I took about four hours and deep cleaned the little kids' bedroom. Our 6, 5, and 3 year olds share a room and I'd not gone through their toy boxes to purge and organize in over a year! I'm thrilled to say that it's been a full week and they've kept it nice and clean and have gotten into a habit of cleaning up before bed, as well as picking up toys several times throughout the day. They're proud of it and want to keep it nice. Yay!

Hope everyone has a lovely week ahead and a beautiful Thanksgiving (for those of us in the USA)!