Pioneer Woman at Heart

Today is the last day of February for 2024.   Hopefully it's the last day of our winter as well.  Although, every day has been up and down weather, and yes, more snow yesterday.    

  Update on the Tex Mex Sweet Potatoes and Onions:  Delicious!  However, I keep forgetting that our jalapenos from last year, were very "hot" in flavor (hence the small amount on my plate).   It ended up very spicy, but next time I will cut the jalapenos to a smaller amount, ha ha!  I cannot find the recipe online, so you'll need to borrow the cookbook from your local library.  We served the side with homemade chicken enchiladas with homemade enchilada sauce . My chicken enchiladas are filled with sauce, then a layer of cooked onion, chicken, chilies, and black beans (salt and pepper), and some cheese. The enchiladas are super easy to make.  I cooked my chicken in the crock pot the day before, and the sauce can be made up to 3 days before (stored in the fridge). On Monday, we had a 65°F day!  Sitting on the porch in February is unheard of in our area, and I took advantage of it. Not once in the day, but twice I got to enjoy our front porch....

  In the beginning of February (2024), I made homemade hair detangler ( recipe is online with Mommypotamus ).  I was quite impressed when I brewed the tea for this on the first batch.  It uses marshmallow root for the tea making part, and it creates a wonderful "conditioner" spray for the hair (mucilage properties). My review?  It takes about as much effort to comb out my hair with homemade detangler vs. store bought (chemical free/no preservatives). I have new hair growth underneath the back hair, and very slightly around the brow area.  It is said that the marshmallow root can repair damaged hair and encourage new, healthy hair growth. I absolutely love my hair after using it, and I letting it dry as much as possible without a hair dryer.  My hair is softer, feels better, and looks so much better.  My scalp feels better as well. The only draw back I see, is that by storing it in the refrigerator, the oils (jojoba and any essential oils if y...

  Today is definitely a "happy" homemaker day.  Waking up to new floors in the hall and the kitchen is a game changer.  It really brightened up the house.  If you didn't see the photos of the hallway progress, you can see the post HERE .   Today is the last Monday of February 2024.  How will you be spending your day today?  Time flies by way too fast. We are getting a lot finished on the to-do list, and boy it feels great.  No more pattern binders piled in the living room, another lap afghan finished, kitchen blinds/windows cleaned, and so forth.  We still have a bit of work in the hall, but it's 98% done! We haven't decided on the next course of action, but with spring around the corner, we may be back to working on our waist high, raised beds (a project from last spring).  There is the complete garage clean out, and the drywall repair/new outlet and window project too, to think about.   I think I forgot to buy new s...

  The last Sunday in February.  We went from 60 degree weather earlier in the week, to cold 30°F with a windchill  of 20°F, and snow. The forecast is all over the chart for next week.  We are to warm back up to a delightful 66°F, but with it comes thunderstorms and wind.  We just can't win this time of year. I do love the sunshine.  We got a glimpse of it yesterday, but it hopefully, we'll see more of it today. Happy Sunday!  I hope you all get some rest and R & R today. Up and Down Weather   © Feb 2024 by  Kristina  at  Pioneer Woman at Heart

  Friday was an extremely foggy day.  I was a bit worried about my husband's drive to work. By 11am, the fog had lifted. My husband and I were not happy with the glue-down flooring that was installed in the kitchen, after half of the  floor was torn out  for joist replacements and new subfloor over a year ago.  it was coming up, spreading apart and dirt was sticking in the cracks. A wrench in my winter hallway repairs, but the flooring was on sale, and the installers were free, so my husband made arrangements. On Wednesday, we emptied the entire kitchen, other than the refrigerator.  The flooring/installers were to arrive at 10-11am Thursday to install (same flooring as hallway).  Around noon, I am notified that they are not going to make it.  Friday they arrived, but had to come back on Saturday to finish up.  Hence my delay on posting. During my waiting process, I had collected all of the pattern binders (but one), purged them all, tossed o...

  We had the most gorgeous 60°F day Wednesday.  It was also one of my most busiest days of the week for me as well.  Sheesh.  There were lots of dishes, more laundry, cleaning, cooking and so on.  I also started on the stairway clean up project.  It may take a month to finish, as I am fitting it in my cleaning schedule, as I have time for it. I finished dusting and cleaning all of the kitchen blinds and windows, and the valances were washed and put out on the line. It was so nice to open windows and let the fresh air flow for a day.  So intoxicating for the soul.  Winter can seem so long sometimes, and this day was welcomed by all. To focus on what's in the freezer and pantry. . . I made a batch of Einkorn pumpkin pancakes for us for breakfast, and more egg cups, as I had one more cup of cooked sage sausage to use.  I used thawed frozen pumpkin puree from last year's garden, for the pancakes.  Einkorn flour pancakes are the best.  ...

  I happened to see this recipe in a cookbook from my Mom's old work place, and thought, "hm, I should try this."  Ha ha!  I love this cookbook, but this recipe was the most poorly written recipe I have ever tried.  The photo is putting the dish together sadly written instructions. I didn't read the instructions when I shopped for ingredients, and what do you know?  There were ingredients in the instructions not listed at the top, and the layering of it all was not correct.  I decided to re-write the recipe, and share it.  You could make homemade corn tortillas for this.  We indulge maybe once (or twice) a year for this, as the corn tortillas spike my husband's sugar. Here is the recipe they way I make it now: We top ours with either onions/tomatoes or pico de gallo, shredded lettuce and sour cream. Note:  I thaw tomatoes I froze from the garden, drain and add them vs. canned tomatoes (in case you grow a garden).  I cut the recipe in hal...

  Breakfast Lasagna (there are more versions of this online) The recipe is found on a YouTube video.  It uses a lot of cheese to make this a "zero" carb recipe, but not low in calories.  You start by scrambling 18 eggs.  Here is the video LINK for the YouTube video on how she makes the breakfast lasagna. Gravy is made with breakfast sausage, cream cheese and beef broth.   Like I said, it uses a LOT of cheese. I'm not a subscriber, so I could not get actual measurements from her recipe, so I "eyeballed" it.  I used a mix of mozzarella and pepper jack, and some Parmesan cheese. The ham I used.  Honestly, didn't feel one 6 oz. package was enough, but I wasn't sure on the size of pan to use either. Here is my review:  I used a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.  It was too big of a baking dish, to get even layers. It was very good, but I will use my own milk based sausage gravy next time, and will utilize frozen diced ham we saved from the ...

Do any of you own one of those box style choppers, that also work as a mandolin?  I have a hand chopper and food processer, but I'm thinking the box chopper would be easier to use, and wash and store.  It could utilize it in the camper as well. I'm just thinking ahead for garden season, when we bring in tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers and the like.  I need to replace my mandolin this year, so I'm curious about this type of chopper/mandolin. I have been getting outside for fresh air as often as I can. I think this is mentally and physically important.  Whether it is to pick up trash thrown in the yard from people driving by, to muck the coop, pick up or clean up the porch/patio, or ... ...to simply put on a jacket and sip a hot beverage and sit and enjoy the sunshine. Today I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. The weather . . . We still have a bit of snow on the ground, but we are to get up into the 50's again this week. Right now I am . . . Drin...

  I had a bit of Red Heart's Bright Stripe leftover from a blanket I made for a daughter, so I wanted to use it up somehow.  I decided to incorporate it into another lap afghan, using up other scrap yarns in bright colors.  The blue is from the last lap afghan I made (using up almost all of that blue). Here is an update on how it's going.  I'm not sure if the seniors will like the bright colors, so it may end up a gift to another person.   Finished!   It's probably the most "scrapy" of all my scrap lap afghans so far. This is all that remains from that one skein of bright stripe yarn.  Saving that small scrap for the local art teacher (if they still use them). I used about 3 balls of soft violet cotton yarn to make two night stand doilies for one of the kids.  I just used the traditional granny square, but with a solid look.  I had to use a slightly different shade (same name, but color lot was different) to finish the edge.  There ...