Pioneer Woman at Heart

Rain moved in yesterday as predicted. Our temperature is to drop considerably tonight.  They say the rain will go on for 36 hours. I went from "I'll just clean the hallway" (where people just drop stuff on the floor coming in and the boot pile is a mess), to "I think I should make...." and here is what got done . . . Homemade English Muffins were made. Einkorn Peanut Butter Cookies were made. Einkorn pizza dough was made for the freezer. I would have made pie crust crumbles, but I need to get some flour.  It remains on the re-stock it list. I got zero cleaning done, other than dishes.  Our 20 year-old daughter came out for dinner, and helped with making it.  I was totally excited she wanted to help.  Although I told my husband he would only get homemade corn dogs once a year, he got them.  I told them no "french fries" though.  They got oven roasted potato wedges and they were fantastic.  I used a recipe online (...

We are seeing some beautiful fall colors right now.  Yesterday, we were blessed with another dry, but cooler and cloudy day.  Dry is the key word.  I put on snow boots (still can't get my ankle in my muck books, and high tailed it out to pull tomato stakes.  Rain arrives today, and for about 24 hours straight.  Inside work resumes today. Yesterday I finally (finally, as my family patiently waited), got homemade (organic) sausage put into a dandelion/egg/jalapeno/potato and egg scramble. Speaking of potatoes, I pulled the sweet potatoes from my grow pot.  They are pretty long, but only the diameter of about a quarter or less.  They needed a longer growing season.    I'm saving them for another breakfast. The tomato stakes and wimpy tomato plants have been yanked.  I was utterly and fantastically surprised to see jalapenos.  I'm not sure how hot they are, but we are about to find out.  Yum.  ...

I had my first yarn stolen by Romeo.  Sigh.  Goodbye Blue Hawaii crochet thread, and hardly used.  A chair was left out and not pushed in and in a millisecond, he was up on the chair and out with the yarn. Got three sticky notes taken down and off the to-do list.  Woohoo for that.  Propane is on the way. I got one of our 3 porches cleaned up.  Flower pots dumped, coolers put away, and other misc. items.  One down, two to go.  I do need to re-do the outdoor winter cat house.  It needs cleaned out and re-packed with straw. Homemade Croutons 6 slices organic whole wheat bread (or baked bread) 2 tsp. homemade Italian Seasoning 1 tsp. homemade garlic powder 1/2 tsp. salt 1/4 cup organic olive oil Preheat oven to 350°F.  I like to put everything in a bowl and toss as I drizzle the oil, but you could also do it all on the baking dish.  Bake 14-16 minutes or until crisp enough.   Freeze until needed.  We ad...

It's now cold weather handiwork, winter coat weather, but more so hurry-up-and-get-it-done outdoor work weather.  A recent conversation on the porch with Hubby got us talking.  We talked about what we would never do again as a homesteader - deal with black walnuts.   The other day workers were going up and down the country highway, and cutting back trees near the power lines.  Our black walnut tree is one of them.  I looked out the window and saw the guy on the ground throwing black walnuts at the guy in the bucket.  It gave me a chuckle.  I thought to myself, his hands are gonna be black when they drive off. I then remember my hands after peeling those walnuts.  Yeah, with two pairs of gloves, my hands burned for days after that.  The tree is getting old, so it may become firewood.  Who knows. Another thing I won't do ever again - buy straight run chickens.  We have a plethora of grasshoppers. I mean a plethora, so m...

We woke up to extreme wind outside.  The rain has stopped, but it's too dark to see if we got damage to the trees or barns (or house for that matter).   Romeo is up crying on a squeaker toy this morning.  He misses his Mom again.  She went to an overnight Halloween party.  I wish I could film him, but when I get to a point to film him, he stops.  Poor guy. As I sit here, waiting on the sun to rise to go outside, I went through some old photos on the computer. Remember when I made these?  April 7, 2016.  2016??? I haven't made bagels since then.  They are somewhat "tricky" to make, or time consuming, but good.  I think they will be on the list this next week if I have time.  I love going through old photos, and speaking of that, does anyone know how and where a person can get a (mine) blog published into a book.  I'd like to have it done.  

Friday morning I realized I was completely out of onions, so dinner plans changed quickly, but easily.  I grabbed a container of frozen french onion soup, a bag of homegrown frozen carrots, some corn off the cob frozen corn, and a handful of homegrown potatoes - a last minute version of potato/carrot and corn chowder.  Believe it or not, it was delicious with some added milk and a dab of shredded cheese at the end. The weather went pretty cold last night, and rain and wind will kick up today.  Again, we are glad we canceled our last camping trip.  It would not have been fun putting our pop-up down in the rain, wind and cold.  Sad we couldn't take off, but we took last weekend off. I spent most of my day in my office (kitchen) area.  It was a paperwork day for sure.  Boy, am I the queen of sticky notes.  I finally devised a sticky note station, which is a string tacked under a cabinet and the notes are held on with mini clothespins.  It...

Okay, what's your "go-to" crock pot dish for a Thanksgiving meal?  I need two sides to take to a gig on the day after Thanksgiving and someone is already bringing green bean casserole.  I love to bring BBQ green beans, but that would be a lot of green beans then.  Hm.  Any ideas?  Glazed carrots?  I don't want to do mac n' cheese. Has anyone bought and used the crochet hooks that light up?  I have read reviews that some give you a headache from the light.  I would love to buy some, but I though I'd ask here and see if any of you who crochet uses them. Short post today.  

The last of the tomatoes weighed in at litteraly ounces over 10#.  I got one last batch of tomato soup canned.  So happy right now.  It ended up about 45-50# of tomatoes - 6 pints tomato sauce, 10 pints tomato soup.  I am a happy gal! I had to get dinner in the crock pot before canning.  I was stressing about having to dice and dice before canning (which required dicing carrots, celery and onion as well). I decided to pull a quart of frozen homemade french onion soup for the "broth" and "onion" in the lentil soup.  Pulled celery cubes and carrots from the freezer.  Worked perfectly.  I am now adding that on the re-stock list for the winter as well.  It always comes in handy.  I also pulled rolls from the freezer, making dinner way easier after a canning day. My waste funnel for my food strainer is on it's last leg.  Why can't they make these with a thicker body?  I do not know.  I went online and ordered a very ex...

I woke up early looking like a cross between Medusa and Heat Miser.  Literally.  Sigh.  Hubby walked in the door last night about 4:30pm, and said, "I love you Honey" in a way in which it  gave him away.  He took on the night shift last night and will work through first shift today.  I could not sleep and....well I'm up early.  Let's get this post posted and may the coffee and a hot shower give me super powers today. Dinner Monday night after canning.  Homemade sloppy joes using home canned ketchup (the best), and sweet potato fries (white sweet potatoes and they are so creamy, and organic).  Tuesday nights dinner . . . Chicken enchiladas with homemade enchilada sauce, and crock pot fried rice (both new recipes, actually 3).  I know "fried" rice is not a Mexican dish and Spanish rice is, but wanted to try it for a possible vegetarian potluck dish. Guess what?  We did not like the rice recipe (hence no photo), but l...

Yesterday started with a beautiful sunrise.  We won't see many more as we crawl into winter. I was a hot mess myself Monday morning.  It was madness I tell ya'.  First, I was so tired Sunday night we decided to leave the blanket and towels on the line and get them down in the morning.  I was so tired I wasn't thinking that they'd be covered in dew and damp, and we hired our biker friend to come mow before it rained.  I ran out and took it all down after getting tomatoes cut and in the pot, only to find out the mower is not running.  All the hydro static oil leaked out and something is very wrong (adding to the to-do list). I had to put away all the dishes Hubby washed before I could even start the tomatoes, and after that, had to wash dishes again and put them away so I had the counter free to can soup later.   I opened the dishwasher and couldn't tell if Hubby unloaded just the bottom and forgot the top, so I re-ran it too.  Later ...

I was so tired Thursday morning I just took the day off.  I literally did dishes and made dinner.  Oh and froze more jalapenos.  Thursday evening it was predicted to reach close to freezing temps in the evening, so I went out to check the garden (because I've not had time to be outside right now with the condition of the inside of my house).  I saw a few green bell peppers and jalapenos, so those will be eaten with meals vs. frozen. Small, but not wasted either.  Time needs to slow down so I can actually pull the garden and be done with that. I've been promising biscuits and gravy for days now, so I baked biscuits and made it for dinner, along with scrambled eggs and fried potatoes with onion. Friday I canned tomato sauce (happy dance). The weekend was more of a "stay-cation" for us, and well worth doing too.  (that wasn't even all of the bikes) Saturday we joined up with a biker benefit/memorial ride with some friends....

✔Spray painted more clipboards. ✔Booked two craft shows.  One in Nov. and one in Dec. ✔Cut up 10 yards of blue netting, cut up 10 yards of netting, then pink is next.  It's quite a job too.  I have to cut 10 yards in 3 inch strips.  I found an easier way, but it's still time consuming. I want to add items to my craft shows for men.  What else besides these items would sell? Hat Scarf Bookmark Cup cozy Slippers?  Not sure these would sell eyeglass cases