I hope everyone has some fun things to link up at the Ginger Jamboree today! The party will begin at the end of this post.


I've seen a recipe for shrimp tacos floating around in a couple of different spots. I made it a few weeks ago and they were so yummy (keeping up with my June goal to eat more fish). I decided to make them again and change a few things up.

First i whipped up this cilantro lime yogurt sauce and let it sit. It's greek yogurt, cilantro, lime juice, lime zest and salt & pepper.

Next, I seasoned up a pound of raw shrimp with salt, pepper, cumin and cayenne pepper and let it sit for a bit.

While that was sitting, I heated some small corn tortillas on dry skillet, just to brown them a bit.

Finally, I dressed some spinach with olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper.

Cook the shrimp for about 5 minutes just until cooked through.  Now, just assemble everything and enjoy!

Here is the recipe: (adapted from this one)

Shrimp Tacos
1 lb uncooked, devained shrimp (medium or large)
6 oz. greek yogurt, plain
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 cup shredded spinach
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 lime
salt and pepper to taste
3 Tbs olive oil
small corn tortillas.

Mix yogurt, juice and zest from lime, cilantro and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl.  Season shrimp with cumin, cayenne and salt and pepper. (cut shrimp in smaller pieces if desired). Heat corn tortillas on dry skillet until slightly browned. Heat 2 Tbs olive oil in skillet on medium heat. Cook shrimp until opaque, about 5 minutes. Don't over cook or they will be rubbery! Dress spinach in 1 Tbs olive oil, 1 Tbs lime juice and salt and pepper.  Put everything together on tortillas and enjoy!



Now, here are my top three favorites from last week's Ginger Jamboree party!


I'm digging this ombre orange dresser from Silver Boxes.  I want an orange piece of furniture in my house!

This 4th of July Necktie invitation from Jac o' lyn Murphy is so cute! I could also see it as a boy baby shower or even graduation invite!

Finally, I'm amazed that this laundry room makeover from Lewisville Love was only $30! I'm always very jealous of laundry room makeovers because I don't have a laundry room at all!

Now it's your turn! Grab a button and link away. Don't forget to visit some other links and comment! :)

Summer Saturday Share Series

I'm so excited to introduce a new summer series that I will be hosting here on Homemade Ginger!

I have asked some other amazing bloggers to collaborate and share their skills with all of you every Saturday for the entire summer! I'm so excited to see what they all come up with and I love getting other bloggers names out there to gain new followers. It's so fun to stumble upon a new blog and get some fresh ideas! Some of the bloggers are crafty, some are yummy cooks and some are very knowledgeable about nutrition and health. It's going to be great!



Here is the exciting lineup!

 6/22: Brooke from B in Real Life 
6/29: Heidi from Handmade Frenzy
7/6: Diana from Unusually Lovely 
7/13: Leslie from Green is my Favorite Color 
7/20: Hilary and Jessica from Domestic Bliss Squared
7/27: Janiene from Bishops Family Site 
8/3: Laura from Make it Lovely 
8/10: Hayley from Welcome to the Mouse House 
8/17: Megan from Homemade Ginger
8/24: Julia from It's Always Ruetten
8/31: Jessica from Cutesy Crafts

 Thanks to everyone who is going to participate, I can't wait!

Phone Dump Friday

Better late than never...here is a recap of our life over the past few weeks via Instagram!

1. Sweet sleepy Pearl. I'm so thankful that this girl is a great sleeper!
2. I bought a book at a garage sale for Lula and Jane but didn't bother to look through it. While reading it to them before bed, I realized that one of the stories is about kids sneaking into their Grandma's cigarettes and smoking them. Oops..probably not appropriate for a 2 and 4 yr old (or ANY kid for that matter!!)
3. Daddy and the girls have been saying the Lord's Prayer before bedtime. It's so sweet, I love listening to them.
4. We've been loving HiHo Cheeryo these days. Cutest game ever!
5. So glad to be done with blog updates for awhile!
6. We are loving the grocery store game..another garage sale find.
7. Some sweet visitors came and brought me flowers and a card on my first day back at work from maternity leave. (I just work part-time)
8. Pearl Violet turned 2 months old and is so smiley! She is wearing my baby sweater circa 1982 in this picture.
9. Jane was all about the cat face paint at our VBS carnival. This girl loves cats, but actually hates them in real life. Funny.

I {HEART} ALDI

I have a confession to make.  I love Aldi. It's almost an obsession. I know this probably sounds crazy to some and maybe others of you out there are also secret closet Aldi lovers.  I whipped out my phone at my last Aldi trip and decided it deserved a blog post.  I love seeing what people buy at different stores and I thought some of you might be curious to know what I like to buy at Aldi. 

If you want a great, comprehensive post on Aldi and how it works, check out this one here. I'm just documenting what I've been buying at Aldi lately and why.  First off, I used to mock Aldi.  Reid and I would joke about cheapy things saying "oh, that is the Aldi version of ________".  We were SO funny. But then, we started getting serious about our grocery store budget.  I tried couponing. I would spend hours matching up deals and going to multiple stores.  I just couldn't keep it up.  Then I discovered Aldi.  All great deals all in one spot! It's a weird store that you have to get used to if you haven't been before and you definitely can't buy everything there.  I used to associate it with cheapy and super unhealthy food, but that is definitely not the case, I've discovered! Some people price match from the Aldi ad at Walmart which is great! I don't do this because I never shop at Walmart AND I have found that 75% of stuff at Aldi is cheaper than Walmart, not just the stuff advertised in their ad. But, if you are already shopping at Walmart, go for it! Ok, on with the rest of the post...Here is what I like to get at Aldi:



BAKING SUPPLIES, SPICES, FLOUR, ETC...

Aldi is a great place to stock up on flour, baking soda, nuts, salt, sugar spices and anything else that is the same no matter what brand you buy.  They are significantly cheaper and there is absolutely no difference in the ingredients. Score!



PURE MAPLE SYRUP

 Yes, I've discovered that Aldi now has pure maple syrup.  I was buying the same size of syrup at Trader Joes for $6.99...and now I can get it at Aldi for almost half the price! No, it's not organic. If you are striving to buy totally organic, don't shop at Aldi. But, if you are striving to eat healthier and less processed foods on a tight budget, this is a great option!



WHOLE WHEAT PASTA

Another product I've discovered at Aldi is whole wheat pasta. Again, just the same as the pasta at other stores, but so cheap. I think these were around $1 each.



PAPER TOWELS, NAPKINS, PAPER PLATES, PLASTIC BAGGIES, ETC

Any paper goods, "ziplock" baggies, plastic forks or cups are super cheap at Aldi.  If you are having a party, stock up here! The quality is pretty good considering.




PRODUCE!

Produce is my favorite reason I love Aldi.  I'm not sure if the one I shop at has improved, but the quality in the produce has become much better lately.  For the most part, it's great. These prices are unbeatable, even when they aren't on sale.  If you go when it's picked over, it's not great, but when you go at the right time, stock up! They have great deals on bags of apples, peppers ($1.49 for 3), berries, avocados ($.50 or less) and even mangoes($.50 each). Again, nope it's not at all organic.  But if are on a budget, non-organic fresh fruits and veggies are better than nothing.



FROZEN FISH

I've been buying these bags of wild caught frozen salmon and tilapia.  I've been pretty impressed with the quality. I've also tried the frozen shrimp which has been great.  This 16oz bag was $4.49.

Some other great finds at my last trip was goat cheese for $1.99,  16oz. hummus for $1.99 (it's so good!) and 11 oz. blueberries for only $1.69 (these were great quality, only 1 or 2 bad berries).

I also buy things like greek yogurt, sour cream, cheese and raisins at Aldi. Their dairy isn't organic, but it is hormone and antibiotic free.

Now, for things I WOULD NOT recommend buying at Aldi:
Packaged foods like Aldi's version of Cheezits, Oreos, Cheerios.  I don't tend to buy these things a lot anyway, but when I have tried them, you can definitely tell a difference. If you want a bag of oreos, get the real thing.

Meat: I am picky about ground beef and haven't even tried getting it at Aldi. I have occasionally bought a bag of frozen chicken breasts, but they are pretty fatty.  The fish is really the only meat I will buy here.

Gum: We tried it once and it was absolutely disgusting. Don't do it.

Bread: it's not great and it's full of crazy ingredients (even the "whole wheat") But, if you are desperate, get the 100% whole wheat bread. It doesn't have any high fructose corn syrup in it which is good.

Ok, that was a lot of info and I feel like I typed the word "Aldi" about 100 times. They did not tell me to write this post, it's just my opinion! Do you shop at Aldi? If so, what are your favorite things to buy?

Garage Sale Haul

I had another successful garage sale day this past weekend that I thought I'd share with all of you.  Our neighborhood was having a garage sale and I scored some great finds!

These items were all FREE at one sale. 3 vintage childrens books (one is not pictured) and a retro baby toy (that the girls actually love playing with).

Next, I found this sweet little hand knit wool sweater for Pearl. I think it was $0.25.

At another sale, I found some adorable pink high top converse for Jane and a vintage book about measuring for Lula. I think these were $1.50 total.

Why on earth would I buy this old trucker hat for $0.50?  Well, because my husband is obsessed with them.  He loves wearing vintage trucker hats and if I ever spot one, I have to buy it.  This one looks like it has never been worn, which was also a plus.

But, the very best find of all was this amazing 1970's little people grocery store toy. Oh my goodness, it's the cutest thing I've ever seen and it was only $5.

When, you open it up, there is a tiny grocery store with little people and their carts.  There are tiny cardboard food items to put in the bins.  And there is a checkout lane.

But, the best part is that the people have magnets underneath them and the board is magnetic too. So, when you turn the yellow crank, they "travel" all around the grocery store with their carts.

The girls have loved playing with it.

I started thinking that maybe $5 was a steal for this game, so I looked it up online.  It's supposedly extremely rare and selling for nearly $60! I'm not sure if we can part with it though.

And that was my weekend garage sale haul!

New Blog Design & Ginger Jamboree Link Party!!

You may notice a few differences on my blog today.  I've been working hard on giving it a much needed facelift! I kind of get a thrill out of re-designing and figuring out how to make changes on my blog.  However, I do need a break from Photoshop and HTML code for a few days, I've been staring at them every night for the past week.


Remember the old blog design?

I have updated the header, column width and added new menu items

I've also added a new little widget with my social media buttons and a new "start here" page.  And you can now follow me on Bloglovin' and Instagram!   Also, I have compiled my favorite blog posts in the sidebar, which I will change out every once in awhile.

I also added some links to stuff I've seen around on Amazon or recently purchased and am loving.

And of course a new blog design needs new buttons

So, there you have it! A fresh new design!



And now for the party!

Some of my favorites from last week:

Check out the cute deck makeover from A Nest For all Seasons.  It makes me want to go relax out there with a glass of lemonade!

This DIY necklace from The Pin Junkie is so pretty! I would love to start making my own jewelry...inspiring!

The freezer berry jam from creativehomekeeper looks so easy and yummy!



Now it's your turn! Grab a button and link up!

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RECIPE: Lemon-Dill Tilapia Packets

One of my June Goals was to eat more fish.  I love it but have never known how to make it, so I've been having fun experimenting with new recipes.  I came up with this one that is so easy and yummy, I just had to share!

All you will need is some tilapia (I just used frozen tilapia and defrosted it).  I'm sure lots of different kinds of fish would work for this recipe.  You also need some fresh dill, a lemon, minced garlic and olive oil.

Lay out 4 pieces of aluminum foil and put a piece of tilapia on each.  Add some lemon juice, garlic, dill, salt, pepper and drizzle on olive oil.  I also added 2 slices of the lemon on top. (You could put a piece of parchment paper on top of the aluminum before adding the fish and ingredients if you are worried about the foil touching your food. We ran out of parchment, so I skipped this step.)

Fold up each packet and put on a baking sheet.  Bake at 450 for about 20 minutes.

When you open it up, it's perfectly cooked with a nice sauce made by all the juices.

They are so yummy and you can experiment with adding different ingredients and seasonings! I love that you can easily make it for just one serving.

Lemon-Dill Tilapia Packets:
4 tilapia fillets
2 tbs minced garlic
3 tbs fresh chopped dill
4 tbs olive oil
1 lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Place each tilapia fillet on a piece of aluminum foil.  Evenly add ingredients to each piece of foil.  Wrap them up and place on a baking sheet.  Bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes and enjoy!

Do you have any yummy fish recipes?