Sassy Housewife 3 : Apple Chips

HELLO LOVELIES!
I Cryssi am on a cooking bender.  This is something in years past I have hated, but I am determine this year to be a better wife, and a healthier me, so here I am on this little ole journey.  One thing that I am trying my darndest too cut out of my life, as much as possible, is a lot of processed foods.  Now don't get me wrong, I know most everything is processed, but I can't take eating one more bag of chips, or one more frozen lunch.  I just can't do it.

Today I wanted something sweet and crunchy to accompany my turkey wrap for lunch, but I have no chips in my house, and I didn't want a raw apple so I tried out something I saw on pinterest.. apple chips.  DELISH!

So here are my 4 easy steps to making my apple chips.. my mistakes, and amendments!

OK first choose your apples.  I used Granny Smith.. if you like your apples more tart I would say go with this, but if you are wanting something a little more sweet you may want golden delicious.  Peel your apple.. this was mistake #1 on my part... I just didn't like the peel once it was cooked, but hey everyone is different.  try out different things.. who knows the peel may be your favorite part.  Next, cut your apples in thin slices.. if you have a mandolin slicer, please use it.. I have one {SOMEWHERE} which I couldn't find.. so I used a knife.. and cut myself!

Secondly .. Dust your apple slices with brown sugar and cinnamon, or coat them, whatever your pleasure!

Next Spray cooking oil on a cookie sheet, heat over to 350 and place in oven for about 12 minutes.. check after about 8 as everyone's oven is different, and hey you may even need 15 minutes

I really enjoyed my lunch today.. this was the perfect thing to satisfy my sweet tooth, and a happy little side dish for my lunch! Make them for the kids or the hubby!  I know they will love them! Until next time Lovelies!

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Sassy Housewife... My 5 grocery changes this week

Happy Rainy (hopefully snowy soon!) Thursday Loves...

     I think most people can agree that a grocery trip is one of the most dreaded moments of the week... the lines, the kiddos running down the aisles knocking over jars of glass pickles, the total dollar amount at the end. It can be a rough couple of hours, and sometimes leads to bad decisions. In the chaos of trying to get out of there quickly, we sometimes can listen to our five year olds begging for that bag of cookies or giant container of cheese puffs... and in our frustrations, we give in. Healthy options are not always the most popular option but it can end with some new fun favorites with your family plus maybe losing a few pounds in the process. Also, take an extra trip to the farmer's market. By developing relationships with farmers you can find many that are pesticide free, organic, and allow their animals to be free range. We are chatting with one right now about grass fed cow meat and a boat load of veggies!

    Some of you know of Haven's sick history and the problems we have had with it. We now are trying to conquer her problems and our health by making yummy easy choices. Here are 5 easy choices that are healthy for our daughters (and us) plus are pretty yummy. 

1. Tea  sweetened with yummy honey. Both black and green tea have lots of yummy benefits like loads of antioxidants (I learned that their benefits are almost identical so have fun picking your fave flavor!)...  Honey also has nutrients, but beware of how much you use for the calories can quickly add up! Skip the soda aisle. Even diet soda has terrible side effects like kidney and tooth damage as well as bone loss.

 2. Snikiddy Eat Your Vegetables Chips... No MSG, no trans fat, gluten free, cholesterol free, 1 serving of veggies in every ounce, and an excellent source of vitamin A. I discovered these for Haven who loves those dreaded cheetos at lunch... and guess what? She ate them right up! :)

 3. Fruits for the sweet tooth. Strawberries, apples, grapes, pineapple, etc.... are such a great swap for the cookie aisle. I have never been a fruit person (shocker- my family cant believe this!) but I am learning to find the yumminess in fruits that I normally would skip over. Havie G took a Pink Lady Apple this morning for snack and ate it right up (even with her loose tooth)

 

4. One thing that was strongly suggested to us for Havie G was switching over to organic milk. Yes, it is more expensive but the shelf life is much longer. Plus, it is missing artificial hormones like BGH that are given to cows producing regular milk. Lastly, all organic dairy cows are SUPPOSED to spend most of the year pasture grazing as opposed to feeding lots... which makes me feel better about drinking it. It is also packed full of nutrients, yummy calcium and lots of vitamins. We choose whole milk because lil A needs more fat for her teenie brain development, but organic milk comes in all forms (2%, 1%,skim, and even chocolate!) 

 5. Free Range Eggs... If I had a choice I would have my own chicken but where we live makes it nearly impossible. But there are lots of local farms near us who raise free range chickies and have lots of yummy eggs. Many in our area feed organic feed as well... keeping as many pesticides out of our diets as possible. Yes, a trip to the outdoor market may be out of the way but it is a great way to support your local farmer and keep healthier options in your home.

Like I said, some of these may not be the easiest or most popular options but we are taking lil baby steps to better our lifestyle. Tony and I have lots to learn and are completely open to new suggestions on ways to guide our family down the healthy road. Feel free to send any our way! Much love and happy grocery shopping :)

xoxo

Lollie and Cryssi 

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The Sassy Housewife : Ed. 1

We are beyond excited about 2013 and not only what it holds for our business but what it holds in our personal and home lives. We are not big on "resolutions" but rather goals and lifestyle changes we want to follow through.  If you know us, then you know that we love our soda {cherry lemon sun drop} and our pizza and cheeseburgers, I could go for a Penguin Drive In Burger and fried pickles right about now!  We have done some soul and life purpose searching, and have realized above everything else in 2013 we want to be great wives, and Lollie, a great wife and mother, and along with great daughters to our heavenly father.

This is definitely a new journey for me, Cryssi, who before this week never cooked 5 meals in a single week in her life.  All that has changed, and we are beyond excited about sharing our domestic journeys, tips, tricks, recipes, pinterest flops & success, and fun little tidily bits with you all!

First this is one is for all you WOOF WOOF lovers.  Yes I Cryssi, love, like love love my animals, Lollie thinks it is a bit weird.  I have 2 dogs, Roxy who is 10, and Gidget, just turned one.  I have Buckwheat, my adorable black cat who adopted me and Justin 2 years ago.  Literally as we were moving into the rental house we were living at the time, she walked right in with us.

One thing Lollie and I are really trying to do this year is being more conscious of toxins and unhealthy things that are in our food.  This pertains to our animals, our my babies, too.  The whole story started after my dad brought home a rather obscure pack of dog treats for Gidget.  Leary and not sure I wanted to give them to my suppose to be Yorkie, I actually think she is an American Terrier, I searched the company to see what people had to say.  Well a few google searches later, I saw that little doggies had been dying from these  {GASP}.  The company had thought to have been putting fillers, probably plastic in the food and it was killing dogs.  After a few more google searches I realized that ALOT of dog treats and food were pouring in with reports of killing perfectly healthy little doggies.

So the journey began to not buy any more treats.  I first learned Gidget adored apples after visiting our local apple farm, and she ate every one in sight.  So if you don't want to make these treats, I suggest trying apples.  My dog LOVES them.    Last night I came across a Pinterest Pin on homemade dog treats, and since I had all the ingredients in the house I took the whole 7 minutes it took to make them and I made them...

THE RECIPE
3 CUPS OF QUICK OATS
1/2 CUP LOW FAT MILK
1 CUP PEANUT BUTTER

Mix the Milk and Peanut Butter together, then add the Oats one cup at a time until all mixed together.
Then take mixture and roll into bite size balls placing on a wax paper lined cookie sheet.  Place in fridge for an hour to let stiffen.  I then stored mine in a large Mason Jar in the fridge.

And how does Gidget like them?? See for yourself.  I couldn't get a clear picture of her she was jumping up trying to get the treat, and my hand along with it if needs be!

P.s. My dad ate one not knowing what they were... he really liked them, in case you get hungry ;)!

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Dear 2012, joy unspeakable...

Hello Dear 2013...

What a swirling, twirling adventure of fun... full of giggles, tears, excitement, discouragement, hurt, and joy unspeakable. 

To every single beautiful person who allowed us to take our cameras and click click click away, thank you! Your trust in us and encouragement of our inspirations is why we pick up that piece of equipment.  Every single one of you have a place in our hearts... God has used each of you to enrich our lives in ways we cannot express. You are a glue in our business... you keep us going, keep us smiling, and you keep us energized to share the world inside of our brains with anyone who will let us. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! 

We have enjoyed every maternity, newborn, family, engagement, bridal, boudoir, and post wedding shoot. You opened your hearts and let us dive in. We saw beautiful babies grow up and become one, we snuggled little newborns and were able to kiss their sweet soft cheekies, we watched families giggle into the sunset, we cried at so many lovely weddings where Mr. and Mrs. joined families and hearts for the rest of their lives, we hugged those who had lost those they loved dear, we sighed during those daddy/daughter dances, and we fell in love with each of you. We cannot tell you how grateful we are that you were understanding and patient when things have been crazy for us. When we had sick babies, you wrote us and sent your prayers; when we have been helping with Peepaw, you offered your help; when we felt attacked on all sides, your notes encouraged us. You have become so much more than clients... you have become kindred spirits. And we love you. 

My Jesus has given us so much to be thankful for this year and to be able to capture it with our camera is such a gift. Here are some of our favorite family memories this year from our hearts to yours. 

1. I breathed the words "Hello, Beautiful" to my second daughter Adelveis Prim for the first time. Her presence add some more filling to my already over pouring heart. Her happiness is contagious and I cannot praise my Lord enough in how gloriously He created her... absolutely every wrinkle is perfect. 

#2 We went to the mountains... ALOT... and fell head to toes for the simplicity of it. Just to get away from it all, even if for a day, and surround yourself with those most precious to you is such a gift.

#3 Cryssi had to say goodbye to a sweet cuddly part of her family, Mia... and then was able to snuggle up to a new one. Gidget became part of the Sassyfras family...

#4 We became Instalovers... Oh Instagram, you have made our lives as photographers just a titch more fun. We are now not seen wondering the streets on ordinary days with our giant cameras... we snap snap snap the days away with easy edits and have made so many friends through it all. 

#5 We took pics of our parents!! This was a huge deal since I cannot remember the last time, if ever, mommy and daddy had pictures made. To see them walk through their back woods hand in hand and snuggle under a fleece blanket made my heart burst with giddiness. They are the most beautiful people God could have ever entrusted me to.

#6 We took on a fantabulously fun business adventure... our Wedding Stories class through The Define School... the next one has registration starting this month in January... whoop whoop!! We love You Jess Cudzilo and your beautiful dream!

#7 Cryssi got a stunning tattoo... She has been talking about it for years and was even more lovely than I could have imagined. It is a dedication to our sweet Savior and His thoughts and protection of us as well as a beautiful reminder that our meemaw is always looking out for us. We miss you
 meemaw!

#8 We connected with friends near and far. I am most thankful for the friends He has given to me through this business... Ladies, you know who you are and I am sending giant hugs to you right now!! You have chatted with us throughout the late night hours, read our messages of frustrations and lended a shoulder to cry on, made us laugh when we wanted to cry because of things gone wrong, and encouraged us when we were knocked down and wanted to quit... you all are awesome! xoxo

 

 #9 I was surrounded by beautiful people in Guatemala. Thank you for everyone who gave items, money, prayers, and love for our journey. My heart is already longing to go back and be completely saturated with the beauty of God's people...

 #10 We took a "teenie" bit of time to relax... our time with family is what we cherish most... to be with our cousins, our aunts and uncles, our peepaw... and eat more food than our bellies can hold, watch movies til our eyes explode, and bury our feet in the sand... ahhhh, vacation, it is too short!

#11 We celebrated a birthday and a journey of an adoption at the fair with those we call family, crazy adorable family. Just twirling with my girls, flying high in the sky on the ferris wheel, and watching my family laugh while the fair lights spun all around was such a huge reminder of why I want a big family... full of more babies to cuddle and call dear. 

#12 And lastly, we nuzzled our peepaw close. We know every single second is a sweet present from Jesus. Soon, he will be dancing the street of gold with meemaw close by but until that day comes, we will hold those calloused hands and retell him the stories that he always told us around the breakfast table. We love you sweet punkin! 

And so, 2012, as we dance the year away... it has been great, full of God's blessings and sweet kisses from Heaven... but 2013 will be even better. We will be better servants of our Savior, better photographers, better sisters, a better mommy, better daughters, better wives, and better friends to all the people God has put in our paths. We love you all!

Happy New Year

xoxo

The Sassy Sisters

Lollie and Cryssi

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Christmas Cheer : 1 Find the Tree

The best way to spread Christmas Cheer is :

These Simple Steps.  This season follow us as we gather to do our Family traditions, and share them with you!  These are all our go to family traditions, that fill our hearts with cheer, and our souls with peace.

The first way that we find Christmas cheer starts with the tree.  We have always had real trees, in our family, anything else is blasphemy, so one of our favorite traditions, was always the day that we would go find the tree.  As a family of 5 girls {and dad} you can imagine how picky we were about the tree.  We had a saying every year after the tree was home, snug in the gorgeous ceramic tree holder, lights being strung, and ornaments laid out ready to adorn the tree...  the saying was... ," Wow this is the best tree we have ever had."  We still say it to this day.

What's such a big deal about the tree... why spend so much time on something that will be out of your house in a month?  For us, it was a time to spend time together, to come together, and decide on something as a family.. the right perfect tree, that you will all gather around on Christmas morning, and if you were like my family who had a hard working dad that couldn't always be there.. a time to see 5 girls with a saw taking turns to hack away at a stump {Hilarious}

And as we end.. one more story as to why Christmas Trees  mean so much to us.  We grew up pretty poor.  The thing about being poor is that you don't know you're poor until you're not poor anymore, at least that's how I see it.   You would have thought that we would have realized we never got new clothes unless it was Christmas, or that many nights my dad would go into the pantry and gather whatever cans he could find to make his not so famous "matter mess" for Dinner, and though we had way more than 99% of people in the world, and the Lord never let us go without, we would have been considered poor to most.  I remember one Christmas in particular.  It was a rather hard one.  I, Cryssi,  was in the 4th grade, and my dad's work had been slow {Seems to be the life of a carpenter}.  I remember my precious mom explaining to us that we couldn't get a tree yet, but would have to wait a little.  My mom never let on of our money troubles.. the last thing she would have wanted was for us to worry, but the thing we didn't know is that we just didn't have money for a tree that year.  Lollie walked into class a few weeks before Christmas, and lying on her desk was an envelope of money.  The only thing on it was a few words... for a Christmas tree.   We were blessed.  God saw it favorable to even meet such a small need as a Christmas tree.  I will never know who did that for my family... who helped us meet that need of Christmas Tree by allowing us to keep our tradition, but I want to start off this list of Christmas Cheer by saying thank you.

Don't know where to find a tree farm... check out this handy dandy site.

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Happy Dance

Monday we will send out our sixth and final lesson for our Define : Wedding Stories Class.. We couldn't be more thrilled and excited to have been able to teach this class!  Soooo here's a big WOOHOOO and a HAPPY DANCE ! Hopefully ya'll can join us for another class soon!

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Everything Is Clearer

Do you ever stumble across a new editing style... and you just want to go back and re-edit every picture you have ever taken?  That was in the mood I was in last night... To Create, to find new a new love, there is nothing better. Happy Friday Everyone!

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Let the Games Begin!

If you watched the opening ceremonies last night (like I, Lollie, did) then you had a blast experiencing fun moments like the Queen's "skydiving", Mr. Bean's musical talents, and of course the Mary Poppins bit with the children in bed. My family snuggled up and watched the 2012 Opening Ceremonies from our comfy home here in NC. Havie G must have said over and over again "I want to go to the Olympics!!" (and what child doesn't?) I remember being at the beach in 1996 when Keri Strug's landed the famous one foot vault. My sisters and I would dream of being gymnastic Olympic finalists... even to the point of my sister Jessica spraining her ankle doing a vault off of a wooden beam in the back yard!

I sifted through all those memories last night and after hearing Havie say over and over "Go USA! USA! USA!" and my heart pumping with the adrenaline of competitive spirit, I decided that we did not have to wait for her to make the Olympic team... we could compete NOW!

So, after an afternoon of busy art time with Havie making an American flag, a picture of the Queen, a USA sign, Gold medals..... we decided to have our own Wagoner Family Olympic games. We hope this gets you in the mood for the games and full of giddy excitement for your country and your favorite sport (mine being Volleyball!)

Enjoy our goofy video... dont mind my shaky hand... videoing with a baby on your hip is no easy task!

olympics from Lauren Wagoner on Vimeo.

xoxo
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DEFINE: A NEW JOURNEY

What defines us? Sometimes I feel that who I am as a photographer defines who I am in my daily life.. did my blogposts get enough hits, how much noise did my new picture on Facebook make... am I attracting new fans to my business.. did everyone LOVE the new DIY project we did?  It is hard to set ourselves apart in this business, and not let our work define us, but let who we are as individuals define our work.

YUCK.. it can be hard as a photographer not to get discouraged , especially if you are in the wedding industry. It is cut-throat and down right exhausting some days. Do we ever step back and look at the lovely stories we are celebrating? those once in a lifetime moments we are able to capture and go "WOW... I am in the middle of something special"...  even on those wedding days where everyone is running behind (even the guests) and you are playing wedding coordinator, makeup artist, and photographer extroardinaire... and yet still have the major task of being creative, upbeat, compassionate, and just excited, in the midst of stifling 105 degree weather.

Trust us, we know all about it, but guess what.. we LOVE every minute of it. We are so thrilled to be called storytellers, to capture love stories, and to be there for so many first official husband and wife kisses. We revel in the first dances and roll with the punches of a late groomsmen.  We are passionate about our jobs because it is a gift to be invited into so many intimate moments...  like the moments right before the bride walks down the aisle when her daddy whispers something in her ear, that only she will ever know. That moment where the groom is on cloud nine and can't help but be jittery. That special moment when a handsome man turns around to see his one and only in the gown made just for her... you can't hear it, but you know his heart just skipped a beat! How lucky we are to be photographers, and it is important for us to remember it.

Three short years ago, this month, we started a little business called Sassyfras Studios. Time flies by so fast, but within this short amount of time, we have been beyond blessed to photograph and engage in some AMAZING weddings. Our couples come to us to tell their story in a unique and powerful way. It is important for us to find out individually who each one of our brides and grooms are, what makes them unique, and what makes their love explosive. Our style is not to come to a wedding with a pose list and "click click click" because we know that each of our bride and grooms are different and unique, and their wedding day should reflect their personalities.
So, you're probably wondering what this whole spill is about.. rewind back to Define. It is because of this driven passion for love stories that we have been asked to teach at The Define School.  We are just honored and blessed to share this with YOU.

We will be teaching a class just for you photogs{even if you are just aspiring}. It will be an AMAZING 6 weeks of knowledge, fun homework assignments, and some great QandA times. We will be pushing your boundaries on the A to Z of wedding photography, taking you through our process from beginning to end. We will be doing everything from how to find your style, book the clients you want, manage your workflow and editing, keeping a consistent look, and how to just be darn creative, among many other things! Registration for our first class will be opening August 13th, and the class will begin on the 27th. We look forward to having a great time interacting with each of you who decide to go on this new journey with us to further Define who we are as photographers, and help define the photographer you want to be!


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