Pioneer Woman at Heart

  The month of February typically is the month we tend to get the most snowfall.  Now we are thawing out, and having some flooding.  Heck, Wednesday we started out with everything frozen again, then snow showers, followed by a day of rain. Yesterday we woke up to fog.  The weather is all over the map right now.  Just after dinner time last night, we had a rain shower.     Ribbit, Ribbit. 🐸  Sounds like Rip it, Rip it.  It's where the term "frogging" a crochet project comes from.  Ripping out stitches due to mistakes in previous rows. I did more frogging this past week than I wish I had, ha ha!  I worked on the blue and white baby blanket , but kept making mistakes.  I am not sure if it was my husband talking to me, or if I was just having an "off" day. Ha.  If fact, I had to rip out a few rounds last night (again) due to an extra stitch I had made in a previous row.  I hope to get it finished soon.   U...

  Here is how I make our red lentil hummus.  It makes a good amount, but you can slather it on a cracker and top it with a sliced boiled egg, dip fresh veggies in it, enjoy it on a sandwich (of any sort) and so many other ways.  You can use hummus as your "sauce" for dishes. First, measure 1 cup of organic red lentils, and rinse them.  Add them to a pot and 3 cups of water.  Cook them until there  is no water left (they will be a mushy consistency).  You will need to watch the pot at the end so it does not burn to the pan. Take off the heat and allow to cool.  Go clean something, read a book, fold laundry or enjoy the outdoors for a bit. Place the cooked and cooled lentils in a food processor and add: 1 can organic chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1/2 cup Tahini 3 Tbsp. Lemon juice (I use fresh squeezed and often use one lemon, and don't measure) 3-4 Cloves of garlic, minced (to your taste) 3/4 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. cumin Mix in the food processor, chil...

  It's hard to believe that we are approaching the last day of February 2025 this coming Friday.  The weather was definitely much more "winter" this year, but February is the month we tend to get the most snow.   There has been some beautiful sunrises this month.  I'm blessed be able to capture a few.  We even squeezed an adventure in this month.   We have also driven around, and located some new hiking/walking trails to enjoy nature and get exercise (maybe even a few picnics).   Although we had much of the month in freezing and subzero temperatures, this week it warmed up to a wonderful 53°F. Seen during the day recently.  Even the deer are enjoying the warmer weather this week. I had the chance to read a new book on the porch this week, before the month ends.  Oh my gosh, the sun felt so good. The ground is a very mushy mess this week, so there is no work progressing on the new chicken coop, but we have not forgotten about it...

  Success this past week. I installed shelf liners on 3 shelves in one of the bathroom cabinets.  I also completely cleaned out two large corner kitchen cupboards, purged any expired seasonings, vinegars, oils etc. Cleaned them, washed every lazy susan/turntable, lined the shelves, and re-organized. I made a trip to town to buy liner to finish the remaining shelves.  I also invested in two more turntables to make life more organized. However, between putting the roll of shelf liner on the check out, and then paying for it, apparently it never made it home.  The drive back is not short.  The remaining shelves will be waiting until we retrieve the roll.  We are stumped at how we never got that long roll back into the cart.   Anyway, I have also done inventory to see what I need for this year's canning season.  I, apparently, have enough celery seed to can items for the next two years (ha ha! Whoops!).  The kids moved in and out, but left b...

  Yesterday's sunrise.  It was snowing all day, but it was one of those big, soft, slow falling snowflake days.  Beautiful, despite the freezing temperatures and lack of full sunshine. Check out these photos.  I had to take them thru the window, because of the snow outside, but loved what I photographed (cannot wait to upgrade my camera soon).  There was a woodpecker enjoying the bird feeder later in the day, but the bugger was playing with me, and kept flying off before I could snap one photo, ha ha! Look at the top of the photo. A blog follower asked for the hamstring stretches that I was given by one of my daughters.  Here they are, but check out anything on Youtube too.  There are exercises on there that were also helpful. I also did floor stretches in addition, and ate a well balanced diet etc.  Good advice I was given one day, is 80% of maintaining your health (good weight, or weight loss) happens in the kitchen. ~  ~  ~  ~...

We warmed up from 0°F to 2°F today.  It's all a sheet of ice outside.  No sign of thawing just yet.  We also got more snow last night. We are getting news from family and friends of sickness.  One is one of the kids too.  She has confirmed having the flu.   The water softener is still on the "off" mode.  My husband has acquired the supplies to repair the leak in the line, but has lacked the time to do the actual repair.  I'm tapping my foot in anticipation, so I can turn the water softener back on (laundry awaits).  He works outside in this cold some days, so when he comes home, he is physically spent so to speak. With that said, I have only moved a few puzzle pieces on our current puzzle. Update on the last new pancake recipe.  I froze about 15 of them, and we are thawing them this week for breakfast with a side of homemade chicken "sausage" patties.  I may add scrambled eggs later, but I wanted to let you know they thawed and...

I'm not too behind in trying this recipe.  I printed it off (gulp) back on December 3rd of 2024. Bacon Jalapeno Popper Pinwheels Appetizer (Don't Sweat the Recipe, online) Did you know they make organic tortillas now?  In case you are lazy like me, and do not want to make them homemade.   One bowl mix. Spread on the tortillas, roll up, cover, chill, and slice later. How they looked sliced for snack size appetizer. We love these, but be warned, they are not low-fat ha ha! These would be great for summer potlucks, taking along for weekend getaways, when guests come to visit, picnics and the like.  Not just for Christmas.  I would love to try them with home grown jalapenos from the garden this summer. Honestly, if you don't want the tortilla in your meals, I would just as much enjoy deviled eggs with bits of freshly chopped jalapenos in the filling too. ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~ It's a brisk 3 degrees here today, with a windchill of -9°F. ...