Anyway, lets’s get into the goodies.

• I baked…

  The apple cinnamon breakfast bread I mentioned last week. It’s not bad, but not “I can’t stop eating it” good. I kinda forgot about it. I was gonna have some this morning, but the fam wanted pancakes, so I made pancakes…and they were amazing! I also feel like the bread tastes more like fall. I’m gonna make it again when the weather changes and top it with some of my homemade pumpkin butter.

  

  My daughter and I also baked brownies that came out really good. She got the recipe from The Big, Fun Kids Baking Book by Food Network Magazine. And of course, I baked another two dozen muffins.

• I ruined…

  I don’t remember ruining anything this week.

• I bought…

  • New kitchen towels from Sam’s Club. You can never have too many!

    

  • Metal bench scraper (all of mine were plastic), and this one is oversized.

  • A walnut spoon (it’s gorgeous), and I think it will photograph nicely.

  • A candle holder, it was on clearance, and I want to add some warmth to my kitchen.

  • A silicone scraper

  • Boos Block board maintenance kit…gotta protect my investment.

  • Membership to Thrive Market. My first order came today; I haven’t opened it yet.

  • I also grabbed a cute oversized mug from Home Sense. I almost bought all three, but I went with the red striped one.

    

• I learned…

  Learning rather, kitchen control. I did pretty good today. And by kitchen control I mean being more conscious of what to start cooking first, what we’re running low on, what got eaten and what didn’t. I’m also going to start keeping a litchen diary of sorts. I started in June but didn’t keep up much this month. I want to keep notes of recipes I make all the time, coffee ratios I like, tracking my sourdough, and such. I also like to make a note of what I cooked each day. It helps keep track of how long food has been in the fridge, how long batches lasted, and helps with meal planning.

• I’m making next week…

  BREAD! I haven’t baked bread in about two weeks. I need to make more jam too; I’ll make a double batch and freeze half.

• I’m testing…

  My muffin recipe. I bought a muffin pan from T.J. Maxx a few years ago that resembles USA Pan. It’s done great. When I wanted to start baking two dozen at a time, I bought the USA Pan muffin tin. However, one pan comes out a little burned. Not so bad that no one eats them, but it’s still noticeable.

  The test: My oven is narrow; it’s a wall oven, so one pan goes on each rack. I want to test if the bottom rack is burning; otherwise, the pan itself is burning. I really think it’s the bottom rack that puts me back to square one, baking only one dozen at a time.

I have a few things on my Kitchen Wish List; let me know if that’s something you’re interested in. I’m happy to share.

That’s all I have for this week. Please let me know in the comments what’s going on in your kitchens. I’m nosey; I wanna know!

Thanks for stopping by!

P.S. Some of the links above are affiliate links. If you decide to purchase through one of them, I’ll earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting ChardaeEveryday!

I baked...

Two loaves of sourdough sandwich bread and two dozen blueberry protein muffins.

The muffins are a weekly staple around here. My kids can be picky eaters, so I sneak in a little extra protein by adding powdered whole milk and collagen peptides. It’s an easy way to give breakfast a little more staying power.

The sourdough bread was a brand-new recipe for me. Honestly? It was...fine. The flavor was a little bland, and I think I should have refreshed my starter twice after taking it out of the refrigerator before baking with it.

I’ll definitely be giving the recipe another shot.

That said...those two loaves disappeared in three days, so apparently my family didn’t mind nearly as much as I did.

Recipe: https://nutrimill.com/blogs/recipes/classic-sourdough-sandwich-bread

I ruined...

A perfectly good plastic bench scraper.

I was cooking chicken breasts on my nonstick griddle and, for reasons I still can’t explain, grabbed my plastic bench scraper to clean the surface between batches.

Bad idea.

The edge melted just enough that it doesn’t scrape smoothly anymore. Lesson learned...and thankfully, bench scrapers aren’t expensive and I have a few more sets.

I bought...

Quite a few cookbooks (no surprises there 😂).

I never leave Dollar Tree without checking the book aisle, and this week I found several great additions to my collection.

I also picked up a few digital cookbooks because my cookbook obsession clearly has no limits.

Some of this week’s finds:

• Food IQ

• Dynamite Kids Cooking School

• America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook (eBook)

• Save It Forward Suppers

• Instant Pot Bible: Copycat Recipes

• The Bean Book (eBook)

• Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream (eBook)

The purchase I was most excited about, though, was my Staub 4-quart braiser.

Late last year, the Smitten Kitchen x Staub braiser caught my eye on the Williams Sonoma website. It normally sells for $399 and occasionally drops to $299. I almost convinced myself to buy the Basil or Grenadine colorway several times.

Then last week, while browsing Zwilling’s website, I found the Cherry braiser for $199 in the Factory Seconds section.

That was all the convincing I needed.

It also happens to match my Cherry Staub skillet, so now they make a pretty pair on my stove.

I also finally ordered a John Boos maple cutting board, something that’s been on my wish list for quite a while.

And while I was wandering through Costco, I picked up a Taylor thermometer set that includes both an instant-read thermometer and an infrared thermometer for $20. That’s a fantastic value.

Shop these:

• Staub Braiser: https://benable.com/Chardaeeveryday/cast-iron-collection/details?detail_id=22548144

• John Boos Cutting Board: https://thekitchentable.surlatable.com/a/chardae.perry

• Taylor Thermometer Set: https://www.costco.com/.product.4000255467.html

I learned...

Cooking dinner earlier in the day is absolutely my preferred method.

By the time evening rolls around, everyone is hungry, homework starts, somebody needs something, and the kitchen suddenly feels chaotic.

Having dinner mostly finished before all of that starts makes the entire evening feel calmer.

Now I just have to keep doing it.

I’m making next week...

A build-your-own salad bar is on the menu.

My daughter also found a cake recipe in one of our new Dollar Tree cookbooks and has already informed me we’re baking it together.

Who am I to argue?

I’m testing...

A breakfast bread.

Think Morning Glory muffins...but baked as a loaf instead.

If it turns out the way I’m imagining it, it could become an easy grab-and-go breakfast for busy mornings.

Thanks for spending a little time in my kitchen this week.

If you tried something fun in your kitchen recently, or found an incredible cookbook deal, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

P.S. Some of the links above are affiliate links. If you decide to purchase through one of them, I’ll earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting ChardaeEveryday!

I had a whole plan. A series. Ideas. Notes. Momentum.

And then life got loud.

Between work, motherhood, home, business, content, and just trying to keep myself together, I realized I had created one more thing that felt like an obligation instead of a place to breathe.

So I stepped away.

Not dramatically. Not intentionally, really. I just got overwhelmed and didn’t come back.

But I’ve been thinking a lot about what I actually want this space to be. And the truth is, I still want to write. Maybe even more than I want to be on camera all the time.

I love sharing food, kitchen things, routines, mom life, work-life thoughts, senior care conversations, and the little everyday systems that help me keep going. I just need to do it in a way that feels sustainable.

So I’m coming back simpler.

No big relaunch. No perfect schedule. No pretending I have it all figured out.

Just real life, written down.

I may still revisit parts of the series I started, but I’m not going to make myself finish that before I move forward. We’re picking up from here.

Welcome back to Chardae Everyday.

My socials are mostly food-related. I love cooking, baking, trying new recipes, and I love kitchen stuff real bad. Stuff being small appliances, gadgets, dishware, and such. I have way too many mugs and tumblers, pots and pans, spatulas and spoons. It’s my thing, so I allow myself to enjoy my thing.

I’m leaning more toward lifestyle content over here. Food will definitely be here, but it won’t be the main focus. I’m thinking real life as a wifey, mom of 3, 9-5’er, business owner, college student, and content creator…I told you I wear a lot of hats. On top of all that, I’m embracing the changes that come with perimenopause. I’m joking, I’m fighting perimenopause with all my might! This shit is real!

Please introduce yourself in the comments. Feel free to subscribe; I’d appreciate it, and I don’t bite.

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About my hats:

• Me & my man, my man, my man…locked in almost 20 years.

• The kids: girl is 10, boys are 7 & 5. The boys are 21 months apart, to the day. The baby was born at the top of the pandemic. There was a strong possibility I would’ve had to do L&D alone.

• 9-5: corporate America healthcare

• Business: Senior Living Advisor - I help people and their loved ones find assisted living, independent living, adult day care, and in-home care.

• College: I’m finishing an AA in General Studies. I went to college right out of high school. After a few semesters, I stopped going. Then I transferred to community college. I went on and off. I spontaneously decided to go back this past September. Before then, I hadn’t registered for classes since Spring 2012. When I’m finished here, just one more class after this semester, I’m going back to a university to major in Business or Health Informatics (my current career).

• Content creation: Starting this was also a spontaneous decision this time around. I enjoy it, though. You can check me out on TikTok and YouTube; I post to those the most. And Benable, I share a lot of my faves there. I love to share.

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That’s all I have for now. I just typed this on my phone while cooking multiple dinners for my picky family 😔.

I’ll be back soon, as long as I can post from this phone. Next time, let’s talk hobbies and “goals”.

Leave a comment

I was baking bread and muffins, running endless loads of laundry, planning outfits, updating the calendar, prepping a big Sunday dinner—all the things.

And come Monday morning? Burned. Out.

The house was reset, but I was not. I was starting the week already running on empty.

That’s when I realized I had to give myself grace.

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’”
— 2 Corinthians 12:9

If God can give me grace, why can’t I give it to myself?

So I shifted my mindset. My reset no longer lives on Sunday—it’s spread across the whole week. It flexes with our schedule, my energy, the kids’ moods, and it leaves space for rest when my body and mind say “enough.”

Now my motto is: that mess will be there tomorrow!

That mess might be uncooked food, unbaked muffins, laundry piles, snacks not bundled together in a Pinterest-worthy way, or the van still trashed from football practice. Whatever it is—it can wait.

Chile, when I’m tired, I lay my butt down.

If everyone has clean clothes for the next day, the rest of the laundry can wait. If I can throw together a lunch that doesn’t require a sandwich, I’m calling it a night.

Here’s what my grace-filled reset looks like now:

• I bake when I can, but I double the batch so it lasts longer.

• I shoot for two loads of laundry a day—some days it’s more, some days none.

• The kids gather toys and trash from the van on Saturdays after football.

• I make condiments and spice blends as needed, not on a set schedule.

• I season meat before I freeze it to save time later.

• Snack packs get made on the fly.

• Spaces get cleaned when they’re dirty, not on a rigid timetable.

And my favorite trick? 5-Minute Fixes.
I set a timer for five minutes and tackle whatever small mess is bugging me—folding laundry on the couch, straightening a pantry shelf, clearing the bathroom counter, or putting away hoodies piled by the door. Five minutes really does make a difference, and if it’s not done, I circle back later with another five.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned is this: ease up. Give yourself grace. The “perfect reset” doesn’t exist—but peace does. And peace comes when you stop chasing perfect and start choosing grace.

I hope that’s the lesson for you too.

💌 If this resonated, share it with another mom who needs a little grace this week. We’re all in this together.

I finally said “enough” and came up with a new idea: eat the same meals every week. Will it work? Will they rebel? Will I stick to it? Who knows—but it might just save my sanity.

I break it all down (and ask for your advice!) in this week’s blog post:

Read the full post here

Let me know in the comments: how do you handle dinner time?

Here are a few key takeaways:

• Bread flour makes a difference—it creates a softer, fluffier loaf.

• Weighing ingredients is a game-changer—a kitchen scale improved my bread instantly.

• Mistakes happen, and that’s okay—keep a backup loaf in the freezer just in case.

• Homemade bread won’t last long (because it’s so good!)—and without preservatives, it spoils faster than store-bought bread.

• You don’t need fancy equipment—just basic kitchen tools and quality ingredients.

Baking bread at home is easier than you think! Want my full list of tips and favorite baking tools? Read the full post here: Full post

Are you baking your own bread? Let me know in the comments

!

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