Ready to meet another fantastic blogger?!
Today we’re meeting Amanda at The Kolb Corner. Amanda has been a host on the Merry Monday Link Party since August of 2014…almost an entire year! If you love frugal living, you’ll love Amanda’s resourceful and creative ways to decorate her home and I can’t wait to see all of her room reveals. You’ll also find great recipes, meal plans and household projects/tips on her site.
Q1 – Tell my readers about yourself and your blog.
A1 – At The Kolb Corner, I blog about food, crafts and diy, with an emphasis on frugality. My husband and I bought a house at the end of 2014 and have been working to make it more of a home. I have a degree in Interior and Environmental Design that I’ve never put to use as a career, so I love being able to put my skills to use on this new home. It’s a never-ending challenge to satisfy my champagne taste on a beer budget. I also have a passion for baking and cooking, as well as gardening. My husband and I try to eat a whole diet–meaning no processed foods–although we have fallen off the horse recently. Our ultimate dream is to own a small piece of land where I can have a huge vegetable garden and raise chickens.
Q2 – Why did you get into blogging? What inspired you to blog?
A2 – I started blogging when we moved from Tennessee to Texas in 2013. It was my own little way of letting friends and family know what we were up to. I also loved being able to have a creative outlet where I could share recipes and little projects I had been working on. My friends were always asking me how I did something–whether it be a recipe, or DIY, so I figured The Kolb Corner was a great way to answer all of those questions.
Q3 – How long have you been blogging?
A3 – I started The Kolb Corner in December of 2013, but didn’t really get going until July 2014. My husband has been my biggest fan and encourager through this whole process.
Q4 – What can readers look forward to seeing on your blog this year? What do you want to teach/share with your readers?
A4 – Since we bought our home, we have been slowly adding our own personal touch. You can expect a lot of DIY’s as we go room by room. Currently, we are working on our dining room and next will be the living room. I would say my decor style is rustic/cottage/industrial with a little bit of modern thrown in. Sounds like a hodge-podge, but it works 😉
I also have some recipes I’ve been working on that should be coming down the line, and I’ve already started my Fall and Christmas craft brainstorming. I totally missed out on Christmas last year because we were moving, so I don’t want to miss this year!
I’ve recently started using Essential Oils and am working to replace our everyday cleaners and beauty products, so you can expect to see those recipes as well!
Q5 – I notice you have a meal plan posted each week.How do you determine what goes on your meal plan each week? What are you “go to” recipes/meals?
A5 – The reason I started doing this was more to hold myself accountable and help me stay on track with my grocery budget. I haven’t posted any meal plans for June, and my budget has definitely suffered. Normally I sit down Saturday evening and plan out our meal plan for the week. This involves going through our pantry, fridge and freezer to see what all we have. Generally, I’ll start with the meats in our deep freeze to help me have a starting point. Every week we try to have a meatless meal, and a large salad. I plan CrockPot or simple meals on the nights I work late (Tuesday through Friday) and on the weekends I will make a meal that is more in depth. My go to meals include CrockPot Italian Beef, Slow Cooker Chilli, Fajitas and Pulled Pork.
Q6 – What is your favorite post you’ve written?
A6 – I don’t have a single favorite post, but my 30 Days of Real Food series was so much fun to do/write. I learned so much during that time!
Q7 – What is your blog’s most popular post?
A7 – My most popular post has been How to Store Spinach and Real Food Freezer Meals.
Q8 – What are some of your favorite blogs to read and why?
A8 – I read so many blogs that it’s hard to pick favorites, but I do have some that I’ve been following for a long time. View from the Fridge, Just a Girl and Her Blog, The Budget Mama, and Making it in the Mountains are just a few.
Meet more great bloggers…
What a great featured blogger Erlene! Thanks for sharing this at the Say G’day party! Pinned and look forward to seeing you on Saturday! #ibabloggers
It was so nice to get to know Amanda better! I have admiration for anyone who can create a meal plan that works! I’m inspired to give it a try.
Hi, Erlene & Amanda ~ This post was so much fun to read! It was great to get to know you better, Amanda! I’m heading over to pin your most popular post (I know why they’re your most popular posts). :0) Great series, Erlene! Keep ’em coming!
Thank you for featuring me Erlene! I have loved reading all of these Meet a Blogger posts and getting to know other bloggers more.