My One and Only Home

Fruit and Veggie Smoothie

October 3, 2015 By: Emily Nagelcomment

One of my many ways to get my kiddos eating there green veggies. The best part is that they are the ones who have come up with almost every recipe! Here is the basic smoothie recipe, below is a list of some extras we like to add in for fun.

1 cup of frozen strawberries
1 cup of frozen blueberries
1-2 cups of plain yogurt
one scoop of Green SuperFood powder or a large hand full of baby spinach
Apple juice or almond milk
Honey or agave syrup

Add frozen fruit into the blender. Scoop in yogurt and green power. Add in juice to help the blending process. Puree the smoothie adding [Read more…]

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

October 3, 2015 By: Emily Nagelcomment

Fall is around the corner when the different types of squashes show up in mass quantities at our local French market. I have not yet met a squash I didn’t enjoy, but there is something so sweet and savory about the typical butternut squash that makes it my first choice. A bonus to this type of squash is that everyone in the family loves it, especially when its in the form of my roasted butternut squash soup. This recipe simple and freezable. Whats not to love.

1 – 2 lb + butternut squash
1/2 an onion.
Olive oil, Salt and Pepper
1- box of Chicken Stock or broth
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
Hand blender, blender, or Cuisinart

After washing the squash [Read more…]

5 Tips for Monthly Meal Planning

September 27, 2015 By: Emily Nagelcomment

At a soccer game I got talking to the other moms and found out we each manage our meal planning slightly differently. There are many useful apps out there for making grocery shopping and monthly meal planning much easier. At a stationary store I picked up a handy dry erase calendar that is tracking tool.

My tips or meal planning are: [Read more…]

Birthday Card Banner

September 27, 2015 By: Emily Nagelcomment

Are you looking for a way to display your birthday or holiday cards? We had so many sweet cards from my little one’s birthday that I decided they needed to be displayed somewhere other than [Read more…]

Save Spend Share Jars

September 27, 2015 By: Emily Nagelcomment

We were trying to decide how to approach money management with our children at a very young age. After doing some research we came upon Dave Ramesy, a Financial author and radio host who helps people get control of their finances. He recommends that financial education be taught starting at a very young age. One of the ways is to use a system which allocates money into savings, spending and giving categories. We took a similar approach in our home.

Allowance is handed out once a month in our house. The amount you get depends on your age (three year old = three dollars). The money is not tied to chores as we expect the kids to keep up with their family responsibilities with our without allowance. What we really hope the allowance is doing is teaching them, at a young age, a thing or two about money.

The kids have three places where they keep their allowance which they split into thirds each month. There is jar for savings, spending and sharing. [Read more…]

The Jefferson House Tour

September 25, 2015 By: Emily Nagelcomment

Jefferson Home

My home is where my heart is. So when we move from one dwelling to the next, my heart is certainly along for the ride and easily nestles into our new abode. The first home that my husband and I purchased met everything we needed and then some. It was a well-loved home and ready for some personalized updated.

One of the first projects we took on was getting the house up to code. It mean new wiring, electrical boxes, but also the opportunity to update the decor with new lighting fixtures. We decided to go with a versatile oil-rub bronze theme through out giving our cozy home a little continuity.

We refinished the dark stained maple floors to a natural blond (like me!) which l [Read more…]

Weekday Nacho Dinner

September 18, 2015 By: Emily Nagelcomment

There are four of us. My husband and I might be much larger than the other two Nagels, but when it comes to eating, they have us beat. These two boys can eat twice as much as me in one sitting. When I pick them up after work they are ready for dinner before I even have a chance to decide what dinner is going to be.

That’s when I started incorporating the nacho dinner into our life. Its the equivalent to the taco dinner, but speedier. There is no recipe needed, which make it great for your older kids to whip up too. [Read more…]

Hello. My name is Emily.

September 18, 2015 By: Emily Nagelcomment

I’m a corporate warrior by day and a blogger by night. When I’m not enjoying time with my family and friends, you will find me balancing my insanely busy life.

My passions can be categorized into the rooms in my home, my love for cooking and entertaining, doing projects with my kids, my crafty/home-fixn’ side, and the obvious fact (to most at least) that I am a classic bookworm. There is also interior decorating which you will see on my home tour page.

Addition to that, balancing a corporate career and co-parenting as a now single mom.

It’s a beautiful crazy life!

The amazing thing about blogging is you are one of many. As such, there is a growing community out there sharing a plethora of ideas and life-advice. This includes the support you may need when entering the world of blogging.

It seems like yesterday…

I started my blogging journey way back in 2001 on blogger.com. Who knew back then how far reaching this world of writing would take us? If you are thinking about starting your own journey in blogging and want some insight or answers, let me know, I have been there!

I took a pause from my blogging to meet my children’s father, get married, and start my beautiful family. After attending two incredibly motivating Blogher conferences and establishing an accountability buddy, I decided to launch a brand new website. That is when My One and Only Home came to life in late 2015.

You will find a Community page on my website. My Community page is an opportunity for those with or without their own websites to post on My One and Only Home and share your thoughts, recipes, ideas, advice – you name it. Educate us! Let me know if you have something to share and want to be part of the community.

Kindly yours,

Emily