Steel-cut Oats

I'm sharing our favorite steel-cut oats recipe.  It's a great way to start the day, or a healthy after school snack for kids.

Healthy Start

My days are so short anymore, especially with having to restock firewood, hanging the laundry outside, and other chores that I decided it was time to start getting back in shape.  It's not a "new year" thing for me.  Today was day 3 in going back to the gym to work out.  I have to say, it wasn't as hard as I thought, considering I had been splitting wood by hand and other work around here. 

If I want to be a better writer, I need to have better health.  We hit the gym at 5am this morning.  This means we preset the coffee pot for 4:30am so I can down a cup of coffee and a banana.

Dog Tales

 Meet Jesse (aka Jesse James because he used to steal shoes and chew up flip flips)

Hilarious!  I've seen our smaller dog drop toys right on top of my one daughter's school book bag, but this is so funny.  Right before the kids go to school, they get wound up and start bringing toys to their owners.  Each child has a dog or cat that is theirs and the three older ones each have a dog.  When my 8th grader came home the other day, she came inside laughing.  She was holding a dog toy that her dog had dropped into her bag while it was hanging on the back of a chair.  She found it in her bag while digging through it on the bus ride home.  I guess he really wanted to play fetch.

Making Do ~ Using it Up

To help provide lunch snacks for the kids, I baked banana bread two days in a row, using organic bananas.

I used some whole wheat flour I purchased from the stone mill, and mixed it half and half with the white.  I also had about 5 sun dried apricots leftover, so I chopped those up and added them to the bread.  It was pretty tasty.

Today, I am using a ham bone from the holidays, and making soup.  I'm taking several items from the freezer that I froze over summer (from the garden).  It sure smells good!

For dessert I dug through my cupboards and used one can of canned sweet potatoes to make a pound cake.  I didn't have the orange juice it called for, but made it anyway.  The chickens have supplied us with some eggs this week.

My daily reading chair has moved from the front porch, to the back yard, and now to the living room.

This is my favorite place to crochet, read my Bible, and write.  Today's it's a perfect chair to view the beautiful snow we are getting today.

I've been crocheting a few dishcloths in this chair.  Here are are few pictures of some of them.

 

I'm using up whatever yarn I have.  As for my cleaning updates, I am moving on the kitchen (gulp!) area next week.  I'm not sure I'm up for that yet, as our family computer is in the kitchen and that area is a mess right now.

Cleaning Up ~ Good Start to the New Year

It is funny how I thought that cleaning the living room would be a piece of cake.  It's been very productive and I found my lost Writer's Market Guide I've been looking for too.  In fact, I found to antique candle holders, which should be hanging on the wall. 

I bought these in an antique store in Michigan a few years ago, and they were tucked away in my breakfast bar.  Speaking of that.  I also found two new (bought on clearance) photo frames that should have been used by now.  I not only got rid of the broken, plastic frames, but put the photo's into the new picture frames, and added "buy 2 more frames" to my shopping "wish list."

I can't decide whether I should keep the coffee pot collection or do away with it yet.  I've had it for several years now.

What do you think?  Keep or get rid of it?  The kids say keep it, but it does collect dust in our country home.

So far, I've donated 3 bags of movies (DVD, VHS) and books to our library, a box of clothes and a garbage bag of used shoes to Goodwill, along with a bag of unwanted stuffed animals, two pads of partially used teacher stickers from homeschooling got taken to school for a teacher, 2 bags of clothes were donated to the school's "closet" for students in need, and two books given away.  I'd say I've started the year on a good note.

Putting it all away

The tree is completely down, the decorations are all packed away, and the tree skirt is folded and packed.  It is hard to believe that the year of 2010 went so fast.  When one of the kids asked me what my resolutions were, and I didn't have any to share.

By her asking me, I became motivated to hunt for my journal I keep specifically for goals and resolutions.  Remember, I'm a journal junkie.  I not only found it, but found another one I used for short stories.  Now I have something to read over tomorrow.  It could be just the source to motivate my writing.

I have to admit that writing on-line can quickly burn a person out.  It's requires a massive quantity of articles for a small income.  Did I mention small?  I'm ready to move on to bigger pastures. 

Putting everything away reminded me to "put away" all the negative memories and keep them put away. 

First Day of the New Year

There's nothing better than sitting around in my pajamas, doing nothing but whatever I feel like, and enjoying leftovers from New Year's Eve.

We make our "chex mix" a bit different, and use Crispix cereal.  I was so lucky to have coupons for the cereal this year.  The cereal is not cheap.  This is a tradition for our family that I carried over from childhood.  We are fighting over the leftovers so I hid it earlier in the day. He he he!  They are already asking where I put it.  Ha ha ha! Around here you have to hide it if you want it later.