Pioneer Woman at Heart

Yesterday Morning.  We got zero sunshine, even though they said we might see some. I had to make a trip to the "Big City" to fetch not only the overcast hot pads, but a set of soft violet too.  She didn't want either set, so they are up over on my farm shop blog . With that said, a trip to town cuts all my work/play time out of the day.  I literally had time to feed the chickens before dinner, and get the mail.  There is no stove to stoke.  Hubby worked until midnight last night - no wood cut. Last night I wasn't feeling all that great either.  I woke up to a scratchy throat.  I sipped some hot ginger tea with honey and downed some sage tincture for my throat.  I was feeling off too, so I didn't even wash the dinner dishes. Well, I can say we are glad we haven't built the dog fencing yet.  We now know his capabilities as far as sailing over a gate.  We've moved the stairway gate up halfway to the top (the steps turn halfway up)....

On the breakfast plate this morning - coconut waffles with homemade blueberry syrup, and organic sausage patties. We've been hankering waffles lately, so in trying to stick to low carb, I looked up a few recipes using coconut flour and/or almond flour.  Minus the mini-chocolate chips.  Minus any sugar or sweetener. The only thing missing?  A side of scrambled eggs. It's been so dark here lately.  Lights on, candles are burning, and I keep cleaning to keep moving.  I can't remember a time that the darkness latest this long here. Speaking of Overcast, I will be sharing a set of pot holders soon.  Crocheted in "overcast" color.   Here is photo of the yarn color. The person who asked me to make them, doesn't want them now.  I just have to go back to pick them up, and have them up for sale soon.  It also cost me more to buy this particular color too.  I am just frustrated that I could have been working on something el...

Something I've learned baking with coconut flour - it requires a lot more eggs than Einkorn or organic all purpose flour.  Eggs of which are not getting laid by the chickens right now.  Hmpf.  I guess they are all on strike again. I printed this helpful chart and pinned it on the cork that I glued inside a kitchen cupboard.  Sharing in case it could help others. Do you follow MRH (Mountain Rose Herbs) blog?  They have a syrup recipe for the "blues" and it can be put on pancakes/waffles.  Hubby can't have honey, but we can.  If I can find hawthorn berries, I'll try it. No, we didn't get wood cut last night.  I was dressed and ready to go out as Hubby walked in the door.  He said, "it's raining out."  Yeah, no wood was cut. One of my simple pleasures. . . Holding and reading a book.  I forgot how pleasant this feels.  I just put if off due to other "busyness."  I'll continue to work harder and keeping up with cl...

We had a plethora of cardinals yesterday.  Sorry for the dirty window, and lawn furniture in the way of your view. There were over a dozen.  I was taking photos quickly, so sorry they are out of focus too.  I couldn't believe there were so many of them in one place. One of my daughters came out for a visit yesterday.  I was just thinking about her too.  She typically is the only daughter (that's moved out) that comes to visit anymore.  I do enjoy her company. I had so much to do yesterday, that reading time was very limited.  I hope I can finish my book, but I do have a crochet order as well.   We have a long week of no sunshine this week.  I have had all the lights on, which I know won't shrink my inflated electric bill, but man. I managed to make a trip to the library, just to get out of the house for a short spell. Seed catalogs have arrived.  I am trying to make a conscious effort to downsi...

Thankfully, we didn't get much snow over the weekend.  It was cold, but not too cold.  However, we didn't get a lick of wood split.  We had lunch with the grandkids and who knew playing barbies and trucks and cars could be so exhausting (ha ha!).  We plan on cutting wood (gulp) every night this week after he gets off work.   ...and of course the pellet stove has not been installed.  I'm going to print out his "to-do" list so he can see it daily.  Maybe that will motivate him. I made us a crock pot chicken Mexican style soup over the weekend. Although corn (cutting this out of the menu more often) was added, it was very good.  I am so glad I found this Chia and Quinoa tortilla chips (all organic ingredients).  Hubby can add a tiny bit of crunch and a small dollop of organic sour cream (although now I have to also watch the cholesterol a bit more). Russell Crow (aka rooster) has not charged at me since the other incident.  No...

A bit late in sharing, but remember the "philly" stuffed peppers I made?  Well, we had some leftover steak, and green pepper/onion mix.  Guess what I used it for?  Although omelets sounded good, I baked up a "philly" frittata. I added some extra red bell pepper diced.  Mushrooms would have been nice too, but I was fresh out.   I topped it with fresh parsley.  I should have added more garlic, but it was very good.  I did not add cheese to this either. It seems like 99% of my day rotates around the kitchen with baking/cooking and doing the dishes.  Literally.  Saturday my husband took overtime, so while we got more rain, he went to work.  Youngest daughter went to visit her boyfriend, so I took advantage of an empty house, on a rotten weather day and crocheted.  I should have been cleaning again, but I have one more order to fill.

I was at the computer writing up my post yesterday morning, and it was raining. I kept hearing something in the window and thought it was rain.  Not so.  I pulled back the curtain, and Tiger was on the windowsill, eating my basil plant!  It's not toxic, but he's acting up lately.  The weather perhaps?   Or perhaps we have another stray cat eating the barn car food now.  Urgh.  Not what we need.  Apparently, Romeo isn't fond of them either.  I now have 3 holes in a curtain that covers the window that is by the food box.  Lovely.  Now I have another "to-do" on the list - sew curtain. I canned grape jelly.  We use this to mix with BBQ sauce or other sauces for our meatballs, or enjoy for PB and J sandwiches. The weekend brings us weather obstacles.  Again.  Rain poured down all day Friday, snow moves in today, and possibly more snow Sunday.  Looking over the "to-do's" we have, and what needs done...

I found one of my pens!  I fired off a hand written letter to one of my cousins too. Our youngest daughter is taking psychology in school this semester.  She came home the other day and told me she was now inspired to get off social media for 2 weeks.  Her choice.  Her idea.  I had to put my hand on her forehead and ask if she was feeling okay.  I'm so proud of her.  I bet she'll like it too.  She loves going off grid at the island.  She will allow calls and texts, but has deleted all her social media off of her phone. My resource for organic corn meal has been out of stock for a long time now.  Has anyone noticed this?  Is it available from another resource?  Our stores have zero as well. I finally made Philly stuffed peppers.  They were soooo good too.  I used a recipe online (Tasty), read all the reviews, and used organic ribeye steak (you can't find organic flank steak).  I'll definitely make them ...

Romeo strikes again.  He hates it when his Mom goes to school.  He's been putting his paws into the cat hole in the kitchen gate and yanking it open, when she goes out the door.  He actually did it so fast he got outside!  We got him in, but now I need a different gate there, but Tiger needs access too.  I got another batch of fruit/nut bars made.  I have made many "granola" bars, but we love these the best.  Less fruit, more nuts and seeds.  Yum (King Arthur recipe online)! Here is the recipe for the "Low Carb" Garlic Cheddar Biscuits I made the other day: 1 1/2 Cups Organic almond flour (superfine) 1/4 tsp. salt 1 Tbsp. baking soda (non-gmo) 1/2 tsp. homemade garlic powder (organic) 1/2 tsp. homemade onion powder (organic) 2 large farm fresh eggs 1/2 cup organic sour cream 4 Tbsp. organic butter, melted 1/2 cup organic shredded sharp cheddar cheese Mix dry ingredients in a bowl, set aside.  Mix we ingredients, then a...

. . .finished these keychains.  I found them in my night stand.  I just had to sew in ends and add the chains (UFO completed). . . .finished this order of purple hot pads.  Just need to deliver them. Here is a photo of the Mexican Street Corn I made. I didn't "char" the corn completely, but it was very good with using thawed (off the cob) corn.  I am sort of looking forward to re-vamping my herb garden now.  The corn contains green onion and parsley.  Yum!  It was also the first time to try the mexican cheese the recipe required. Yesterday I got smart and did all of my cooking and baking first thing.  Dish washing went much smoother.  I pulled the very last ham bone from the freezer, some split peas, the last bag of frozen garden carrots, a few celery cubs from the freezer, added diced potatoes and some fire powder (vs. onion) from the pantry - split pea/ham bone soup. I also made biscuits for the first time, usi...

After Romeo just about gave me a heart attack, by getting the zoomies and zooming right out of his collar in 4 degree weather (and putting me on a chase in pajamas and a carhartt), I finished up the housework.  So thankful for leftovers on a Monday yesterday, which left me time to write.  It was a small story, and submitted yesterday.  It's not for pay, but a byline and free copy of their publication (if published).  It's something to get me started up again.  I feel so good about writing again, but I know summer will bring a lot of work time. I didn't get papers filed.  Tiger was not having anything to do with Romeo.  He took to my computer area and up he went.  Away from the dog, ha ha!

Did you know you can freeze buttermilk?  I did not know this.  According to Food Network you can.  Pour it into ice cube trays, freeze, and store in freezer containers.  Organic buttermilk is hard to find, so I'll be keeping this on the to-do list.  It keeps up to 3 months. I put a few hand crocheted "heart" bookmarks up on my "shop" blog.   The grain free fruit and nut bars went quickly here.  I will be making more this week.  Very healthy too.  Gotta get those nuts and seeds in our diet one way or another. Our weekend was pretty much a "stay in pajamas" kind of weekend.  I got a lot of crochet time in.  In fact, so much, my eyes need a break today.   I'm joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom today.   The weather outside is. . . . 14°F (feels like 5°F) On the breakfast plate . . . I have no idea yet, but this is what my husband made me yesterday.  Mmmm!  So good. ...

We had snow emergency levels on Saturday, so as I said Saturday morning, our "Mexican" themed meal get together was canceled.  Well, not canceled, but those who could make it there safely did.   We didn't want to drive back home on icy roads with all the slush re-freezing. Our dinner Saturday night was a Mexican themed dinner. Mexican chicken (using quinoa based tortilla chips), Mexican street corn with our corn off the cob from the freezer, and of course, Hot bean taco dip.  Oh, and Sangria.  I had purchased it to take to the gathering, so we got that out and enjoyed it too.  I will try and get photos of leftovers.  It's always nice to be "snowed in" but that means nothing on the list gets done, other than housecleaning.  I did mention one job in the utility room for Hubby, but his response was more like, "I need a siesta day." Today we awoke to "feels like" -1° outside. I just cleaned out my inbox.  Whew.  I had over 4,000...