Pepper Plate

In the interest of all things awesome I absolutely have to share with you my latest find.  Initially, it was a free download on my Kindle Fire. I downloaded it, and it sat there a while.  Little did I know the organizational gem I was holding at my fingertips and failing to benefit from.

As some of you may know, I have been on a cookbook writing adventure with my best gal pal of 31 years for, oh let's just round it off, say the last 10 years.  She is a home schooling mother of six, and I am a mother of seven adult children and a now two-year-old.  Need I say more about why we have been working on this project for 10ish years?

Anyway, I absolutely love all things cooking, baking, recipe related, and the like.   This website that is totally new to me is like a creative gift.  It has everything a cookbook writing, busy mom of a toddler, Pinterest pinning, Facebook loving, Kindle Fire newbie, foodie could ever possibly want in a food planning recipe saving, menu creating, and grocery list generating website.  It's incredible and VERY user friendly.  I love it!

No, they didn't pay me to write this post.  I just had to share.  It's not too often that I get excited about any particular website, but this site is now my favorite website.  Yes, I even love it more than Facebook and Pinterest.  It's easy to use, practical, and downright fun.  I may actually get the work done I am supposed to with this little gem under my belt.

What is the site, already, you ask?  It is called Pepper Plate, and you simply must check it out!  You can manually enter recipes that you have in your own personal stash.  It's as simple as copying and pasting from Word, which is what I do, or typing it out.  You can also use the Add to Pepperplate button and add directly from any website.  It's awesome!  You just copy and paste right onto a popup screen.  It even lets you drag a picture of the recipe onto it as well.  This feature, the whole recording right from the website, is what seriously got me excited.  Do you see the potential in expanding your cooking adventures?  I love, love, love this website.  Period!

Angel Food Ministries

With the focus being on penny pinching so much lately I thought it would be prudent for me to share a wonderful resource that is available in 35 states across the nation. This is an amazing food program that is open to anyone regardless of income. Angel Food Ministries was started in 1994 by Pastors Joe and Linda Wingo in Monroe, GA, and serves over 500,000 families monthly through their food distribution program.



Each month Angel Food Ministries offers a new menu to choose from. Orders are placed and paid for ahead of time and picked up at a local host site; usually a church, school, outreach center, or organization. Once you've determined your local host site, you simply contact them to place your order. They even accept Food Stamps (EBT).

With each order you will receive a copy of Servant Magazine. This magazine gives you up to date information about Angel Food Ministries, inspirational articles, the next month's menu, and reports from various host sites across the nation. You will also find useful recipes on their website for inspiration while using the food you purchase. For those of you that enjoy cooking and creating in the kitchen, you can even submit your favorite recipes to share with fellow participants or those simply visiting the website.

This is a wonderful resource for those on a fixed income, including senior citizens. There is a special menu designed especially for seniors which is comprised of complete meal choices. The menu includes 10 fully cooked meals that are nutritionally balanced, complete, and ready to heat and serve.

If you are vegetarian or vegan, this may not work for you since the main package always has meat in it. However, if you have a carnivorous friend you can benefit as well. Supplemental packages are available with the purchase of a main package. So, your friend could benefit from purchasing the main package, and you could pay for the addition of the produce package. You cannot beat the pricing!

Special holiday packages are available as well. They special design supplemental packages for the holidays. Traditional food items are included at a tremendously discounted price compared to local grocery store prices.

Just as Angel Food Ministries helps meet the needs of the general public, they have needs of their own. Volunteer opportunities abound. Maybe your church or organization would like to be a host site, or maybe your group is looking for a worth while cause to support via donations, fundraising, or actual volunteer time. Angel Food Ministries can benefit from your skills and talents. This is a wonderful organization and well worth exploring as a customer or a volunteer. You may even find a job opening!