Pioneer Woman at Heart

  Not to make the last post too long, here are a few of the 200 or some photos we took on our drive-thru Christmas light display this year.  Totally worth the cost, and I'm thankful we could do this vs. a walking tour.  It took about 1 hour to drive all the way from beginning to end.  Great display.   What goes up, must come down.  Holiday decorations are slowly being taken down and places in piles here and there.  Soon enough, it will be placed back into storage for next holiday season. I hope to get around to reading updates on your blogs soon. Today is a holiday for some, but a regular work day for others.  Tonight's dinner will be a new recipe - black-eyed pea cabbage soup.  I have a new biscuit recipe to try soon, but when I am up to it.  I hope and pray your new year is a good year. Christmas Lights  ©  December 2025 by  Kristina  at  Pioneer  Woman at Heart

I started a crochet book blanket at the beginning of this year (2025).  I crocheted a granny square for every book I finished, and crocheted the square with matching colors of the actual book.  The plan was to get back into reading, be motivated by the crocheted blanket, and use up scrap balls of yarn.  An overall fun, and positive project for myself.  The blanket is a join-as-you-crochet type of blanket, making it less intimidating to start, work on, and eventually finish.  How many books did I manage to read? 43 books, with one last book that will be finished on the 31st, will make that final year end number a whopping 44 books! Not the amount I had hoped for, but I really did not have a number goal in mind. It's not a bad number either.   In the past 5 years, I was lucky to even read 1 to 5 books within the years.  There were all sorts of reasons reading didn't happen. On the bright side, the blanket is coming along very nicely, and it is such ...

Finished this Christmas book and matching book blanket granny square.  It's about the 6th of 16-18 books of a box I bought at an antique store very early in the year.  I'll attach it to the blanket soon. Two of the kiddos who received the 24 day advent gift bags, have been in touch, and so far have really enjoyed them (and found it fun and love the "useable" theme I tried to adhere to).  One kiddo I have not heard one iota from.  Not even a thank you.  One loved the hand crocheted dust cloth (as it is reusable and saves them money), while one was ecstatic about the tiny sample jam jars we included.   The Christmas Spice Extract I "brewed" up was ready to strain and bottle.  Just a few lucky ones will be receiving it to try this Christmas season.  I was able to bottle this up early December, but have not tried it yet. The had-it-on-the-plan, but did not happen.  Yet. Homemade Seasoned Salt for another quick and easy gift idea. My Mom loved th...

  I'm working on keeping the monotonous, un-monotonous.  More so leaning on keeping the variety of these winter days interesting and not boring.  Although one who is constantly "busy" would find forced rest time a blessing.  Or not, ha ha! I am doing well.  I'm not back to reading very much at all, but the "mind" games are a bit refreshing.  Spikes are back on my boots, although we are told Christmas will be in the 50's and rain here this year.  I'm getting a walk in to the mailbox once in a while.  If there is sunshine, it's a win-win. I've been relying on the health benefits of herbal teas, and have been rotating them for restorative benefits.  T eas are always are soothing addition to the winter days. I've discovered that we love a peppermint anything hot in the winter once in a while.  Sort of a treat in the day so to speak.   Homemade peppermint mocha creamer for your coffee!  Yum!  Of course the heavy cream is n...

We started December with some chilly weather - low -4 (windchill) 6°F/High 27°F.  The coldest weather for early December since 1976.  According to weather authorities.  We've been as low as -8°F this month.  Now we are melting away into the 50's by tomorrow with a lot of rain.  Crazy, crazy winter weather for sure. Surgery went well.  Thank you all for your prayers, good vibes, positive mojo and good thoughts.  I am in recovery mode, which oddly feels very strange for someone who is on the go most days.   One kiddo visited to help out, and stayed the night, and I really appreciated the help. She did some driving for us, cooked and even cleaned.  Very thankful for her help. Not to worry.  I am listening to my doctor/nurses.  I'm not able to exercise like I typically do daily, but my brain is getting a super dose of "brain" activities. On top of a new puzzle, and a 132 new word search book (my first), crochet also continues....

  There has been no more snowfall this very chilly day, and by chilly I mean a wind-chill of 14 degrees.  Snow is on the ground, but no more snow in the forecast for now anyway.  It's slippery out for sure. My lovely ladies have started to lay again, after a much shorter (but still long) molting hiatus, compared to last fall.  They love their new coop.  They have more room, more roosts, more light and more protection from the predators.  It only took us 3 years to complete it ha ha!  Photos to share soon.  We are actually considering on keeping the old coop and using it for the actual "brooder" now.  We'll be adding more ladies to the clan, so we'll figure that out sooner than later. I have not made all of our gardening plans for 2026, but I am putting in an order for some herb garden seeds.   The rosemary and chive plants I brought indoors are still alive, but the rosemary is looking iffy (crossing my fingers, saying a prayer)....

  Weather has been in the 20's here, with lots of snow, some rain, icy roads, and just your typical winter weather. The latest crocheted granny square for my book blanket.  Book was about a 3/4 out of 10, if you ask me.  Just too much family drama for me. In the midst of the Thanksgiving holiday, we made up a batch of homemade meatballs and got them into the freezer for winter meals. Update on the crock pot macaroni and cheese...  It reheated great!  Just do it slowly, and it reheats very creamy as it was when it's cooked.  My husband took some to work and heated his in the work room microwave, but heated it too long and the oil separated.  So, just heat it slowly, and not high microwave heat, and it's great the next day. Here is how I made it. In a crock pot pour in dry noodles.  I used a 14.5 oz. box, and that was non-gmo (can't remember the brand), but it was enough noodles. My Mom never made stove top mac'n cheese with whole milk, but she did...

  Tree was made from a cinnamon stick, fake evergreen cut, and buttons.  The candy apple ornament was a mini muffin wrapper, a small apple ornament dipped in glue and bird seed. Drum was made from half a toilet paper tube, craft foam for the top and bottom, felt and ribbon, and the drum sticks were painted tooth picks with tiny pom poms glued on.  Yes, they took forever to make, and back then, I didn't blink an eye on how much time they took to make. A small bit of all of my duplicate handmade Christmas ornaments.  I could not believe how many duplicates worked their way to the Christmas storage totes (Three more totes to go through yet).  Good grief.  Anyway, the story behind them all. . . When the kids were in elementary school, I would race to the school and sign up for room parent for their Christmas party first.  My second choice was always Valentine's Day when the lists were full.   Anyway, for some crazy reason, I fell in love with mak...

  We have been blessed with sunshine the last few days, and I am so thankful for that (after several days of zero sunshine). I emailed our local library, and proposed a puzzle exchange program.  They may not have the space for such a thing, but I have suggested it. We got a call that an extended family member on my husband's side of the family, had passed away. Joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. The weather . . . 25 degrees at night, but we had some pretty nice, almost 60 degree weather over the weekend. Right now I am . . . Making a list of of things that need moved to the top of my to-do's for the day. Thinking and pondering . . . Thinking about adding another crockpot to our home.  I've been doing research on the best one on the market these days.  Boy have they changed too (digital buttons etc. on some). When the last kiddo moved out, she took one of our crockpots with her, so we do need another replacement. I'm thinking about getting us a puzzle boar...

I harvested one last bit of Russian Red Kale.  I saw new sprouts of our Swiss Chard.  It makes me happy to see it growing this late in the season.  I am already missing the garden.  Crazy as that sounds, but I am.  A funny to share.  I was working on the dinner in the kitchen when my phone rang.  Ha ha ha!  It was my husband.  He was home, so this was strange to me.  He said, "Well, I have discovered one problem with the coop.  Can you come let me out?"  Ha ha ha ha ha ha!  The door shut, and latched on him.  We are still laughing about it.  We will be doing something to rectify that from happening again.  Oh, they are still not laying eggs, but they deserve a break too.  They still get treats and such, so hopefully they will be laying again shortly.  Then again, they have new roosts, so they may be acclimating to them. Our little library is celebrating 100 years, and they are having a "home" Bingo...

  I found it very difficult to find a selection of any lima bean recipes.  I asked around, and only one person I know ate them as a kid, and not ever as an adult.   I purchased canned lima beans in the Amish area we visit this year.  They are very hard to find around our area for some reason.  I have had them sitting around waiting to try.   I used them to make hummus.   Delicious!! (source:  Google images) I did not cook the lima beans, as I do not when I use chickpeas, but I may try cooking them next time (to see if it would be creamier, and/or cook from dried beans).  I do not mind the texture regardless, and it tastes just like chickpeas in my own hummus recipe.  Of course, I used home grown garlic, and it makes it the absolute best flavor. I just swapped out the chickpeas for the canned lima beans (rinsed and drained), and it was fantastic. My traditional hummus RECIPE . Red Lentil Hummus In the past we have tried bee...

  Not new, but sharing a hand crocheted XL (for those 13 x 9 size pans/pizza pans etc.) pot holder I created and gifted one Christmas.  I made one for each of my sibling's family, Mom, and a few friends one year for Christmas.  I used to put together a box or container of handmade gifts for each family, and had so much fun creating the gifts too.   As one blogger stated recently, life requires us to make "adjustments" sometimes.  I have a few local people to gift this Christmas, and it's not happening this year.  I had plans to can a ton of "Christmas" jelly, but it will have to wait until Holiday season of 2026.  Note:  My husband is already trying to assist, and help can jelly sometime after late January.  He's so sneaky really. I have looked into adopting a person in a nursing home/assisted living facility.  I plan to keep that a year long commitment if I can locate a facility.  Many facilities are doing things like fill a ...

  I tried another new crockpot recipe, and we loved it.   The only thing I discovered, is my crockpot "low" setting is pretty hot, and I can lower the cook time on this, and it lacks "color" due to the homemade basil pesto.  We think adding some red bell pepper next time would be nice.   Also, it did not make a lot.  It's about a 3-4 serving dish, but it ended up a 3 serving for us, ha ha.  I would double this for leftovers. What is it? Chicken with Zucchini Noodles and Basil Pesto Where is the recipe from?                           I prefer to cook my raw chicken separately, and not with other vegetables, when it comes to crockpot cooking.  It's just me.  I cooked the chicken the day before (in the crockpot), shredded it and cooled it (recipe called for chicken breast sliced). I simply added the chicken at the end of cooking, as well as grated parmesan cheese, because I fr...