recipe – Page 3 – Pollywog's Place Blog

Seasonal Food Preservation Guide

Published on January 29, 2026January 2, 2026 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog2 Comments

Many of us drool over the beautifully crafted pantries we see on Pinterest or Instagram. They have neatly arranged shelves lined with beautiful canned goods. This doesn’t happen by accident… those jars of proof of lots of hard work that went into growing and preserving each of their contents.

I did a lot of preserving many years ago. I had a garage with custom-built shelves to display our garden’s abundance, but my situation is different now. We dream of a pantry with beautifully stocked shelves, but it hasn’t quite happened yet. I can’t build the pantry today, but I can work on getting some jars filled with delicious food to nourish my family.

Continue reading →

Special Holiday Meals: February Edition

Published on January 24, 2026January 16, 2026 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog2 Comments

This time of year seems to be a little busier for us, so I thought it might be helpful if I just got all my special meals and recipes gathered for the month. I checked the menu plan and have made a list of the holidays that we want to celebrate.

If you haven’t seen our Perpetual Meal Plans yet, then you really need to check them out, as they have all kinds of special and unique holidays listed. Now is the time to start making your bucket list for Fall things, if you haven’t already.

Special Winter Meals with Recipe Links

You can also check out our Holidays tab and the February Holidays post for even more ideas!

Don’t forget to add upcoming birthdays onto your Meal Plan!

Here are a couple of links that you might find helpful:

Grocery List

Blank Meal Planner

February

2: Groundhog Day

3: National Carrot Cake Day – I’ve got an amazing Sugar Free recipe that I need to post!

5: World Nutella Day

6: National Chopsticks Day

7: National Fettuccine Alfredo Day

9: National Pizza Day

12: Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday

14: St. Valentine’s Day

20: National Cherry Pie Day

21: National Sticky Bun Day

22: George Washington’s Birthday**/National Chili Day/Cook a Sweet Potato Day

23: National Banana Bread Day

24: National Tortilla Chip Day

25: National Clam Chowder Day

26: National Pistachio Day

27: Polar Bear Day

28: National Pancake Day – Make a Pancake Board w/all the yummy toppings!

Other:

Friday the 13th: Good Luck Meal

5th Saturdays: Weenie Roasts

**President’s Day (3rd Monday) this day honors George Washington’s birthday

Mardi Gras / Fat Tuesday (varies)

Leap Day (29th)

Ash Wednesday (6 weeks before Easter Sunday- the beginning of Lent)

March

1: Peanut Butter Lover’s Day

2: Dr. Seuss Day

6: National Oreo Cookie Day

7: National Cereal Day

Holy Days

We have also been studying ‘Holy Days‘, and we try to add them in as we can.

I’m sure there are some days that I haven’t added, but let us know in the comments if there are any that you think should make the list!

God Bless!

Special Holiday Meals: Opposites Day/Backwards Menu & Activities

Published on January 20, 2026October 5, 2025 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog1 Comment

Opposites Day is on January 25th, and Backwards Day is January 31st, these days may be linked to old customs like Topsy Turvy Day (think Hunchback of Notre Dame) that happened around the Epiphany (January 6th) and similar celebrations have been noted throughout history… a special day set aside to break the mundane and bring a little excitement into everyday life.

I had a hard time thinking of foods to go with these holidays… what would you add to the list? This could get a little confusing, but don’t be afraid to be SILLY!

Opposites Day/Backwards Day Menu & Activities

Main Dishes

Breakfast for Dinner/Dinner or Dessert for Breakfast/Dessert before Dinner, etc.

Upside Down Meatloaf

Popover Pizza

Arrange the meal into a cake form… Spaghetti or Meatloaf Cake w/Mashed Potato Icing or meatloaf cupcakes… the possibilities are endless!

Desserts

Chocolate Cake with white icing or a white cake with chocolate Icing

Hot Cocoa with Ice Cream

Ice cream with the cone on top

Pineapple Upside Down cake

Blonde Brownies

Opposites Day-Backwards Day Menu & Activities Download

Activities:

Wear your clothes backwards or inside out, shoes on the wrong feet might be painful though

Say your ABCs backwards.

Have a backwards dinner menu, or start with dinner for breakfast.

Write with your opposite hand.

Wear pajamas all day and wear your regular clothes to bed.

Learn about opposites, antonyms, palindromes, etc.

Games:

Have an Opposite Day Scavenger Hunt.

Play Opposite Day Bingo.

Have a Race where you run backwards and the last person is the winner!

Movies:

Please review these and use at your own discretion as I have not seen many of them myself.

Opposites Day
Freaky Friday

Also, check out our posts:

Backwards Day

Opposites Day

A New Year of Old Traditions

Published on January 18, 2026January 16, 2026 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place BlogLeave a comment

We have been on a mission to bring our family closer together. This is something we have prayed long and hard about, and GOD is working!

We love a lot of old traditions and customs, along with some of the new ones. We try to have at least one or two ‘family get-togethers’ here at our home. The biggest is probably our annual Polar Express party around Christmas time… this has been happening for a while now, and everyone looks forward to it. Why stop at that? We were trying to have a special Sabbath meal each week, and also trying to plan a monthly family dinner with Papa and Nanny, but those got sidelined a bit.

Why? Well, our priorities shifted, and other things seemed more important. We have to make room and time for the people and things we truly love, so I am on a mission to bring back our family dinners. They may not be quite as fancy as they once were, because I’m still exhausted from all the challenges we had last year, but they will be fun.

Continue reading →

Special Holiday Meals: National Peanut/Peanut Butter Day

Published on January 17, 2026January 16, 2026 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place BlogLeave a comment

Did you know that January 24th is National Peanut Butter Dayand then September 18th is National Peanut Day? Well, here are some recipes so you aren’t caught by surprise: