Pioneer Woman at Heart

  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...

  What is was supposed to be?  A new recipe - flank steak tacos (recipe is in the first cookbook below).  what it ended up as?  Round steak fajitas.  First, I've only cooked a flank steak once in my lifetime (no kidding there), and two, we couldn't find flank steak, so we used a round steak.   The seasonings were exactly as the recipe called for however, and it shredded up very nicely.  Although, I would cut back on the seasoning, it was very good, and mostly very, very easy to prepare for the crockpot. We got 4 servings (2 meals for 2 people), plus we had more leftover after that. Super easy, many possibilities, and a good bang for the buck. The above cookbook was probably my favorite of all the cookbooks I have borrowed this month.  You don't have to be diabetic to enjoy any of these either.  They are very healthy recipes.  I have many more to try yet. I found this one to have a lot of recipes with very little ingredients, but mos...

  Beautiful sunrise, and the weather has been in the 60's, with yesterday almost 70 degrees.  A nice break in the weather. I'm already writing up a list of new herbs to plant next year.  It may be the weather break inspiring me. Winter home repairs are on hold for now, but I'm taking notes, making lists, and so forth. Crazy me, as about 4 crochet blankets on the hooks, but for different occasions (I love a single yarn pattern for "on-the-go" etc.).  No hurry on any of them, other than one for a Christmas present.  I've had more "sit" time than I'd normally prefer, so I'm taking advantage of it. Do any of my blog followers have a knitted hat pattern (easy) for beginners (or links to free online patterns)?  I have knit dishcloths, but would like to expand my ability to knit hats (before I attempt socks).   Maybe a pattern you shared on your blog perhaps?  One of my grandmothers used to knit, but of course I was too young to even think to learn ...

  Organic lemon balm sprouting up in an indoor pot, for the first time ever.  I have not planted it indoors before, nor brought in a plant or portion of a plant.  It's being started from organic seeds. I brought in some chives and rosemary.  We'll see if I can master the ability to keep them both alive indoors this winter. Sage and Thyme from the herb garden (brought in before our first hard freeze):  dehydrated the thyme, but next year I think it would be useful to make a thyme tincture (for any medicinal reasons).  Do you make a thyme tincture?  If so, what do you keep it on hand to treat?  It totally slipped my mind this year. I dehydrated most of the sage, but used some fresh to start a tincture (this is great for sore throats when you don't want to/or can't make hot tea).  Just my experience with a sage tincture.  If you have other uses, please share.   I ground some ( a first for us ) of the sage and filled a re-purposed ...

We are enjoying our garden potatoes.  I use the really small ones for breakfast scrambles or for soups/stews. New crockpot recipe tried - Beef Stew.  I cannot recall that I have ever made beef stew in the crockpot.  I have always used the oven.  I have to admit, I did not follow the recipe exactly, as it called for red wine.  I did not have any, and used additional beef broth and two tablespoons or organic red wine vinegar instead.  The one thing I will do different next time, is put the rosemary sprigs and bay leaves in a piece of cheesecloth tied with string (making removing them so much easier). Peas were added in the end, and the seasoning was perfectly delicious.   Next time I will be adding some sourdough bread, rolls or biscuits with it. Newest tea to try by itself, and as iced tea - Hibiscus.  I tasted and tried a small bottle of locally infused honey in the tea as well - Organic elderberry and hibiscus infused honey.  The honey ...

  It's been a long time since I participated in Happy Homemaker Monday.  I apologize for the length of it.  I tend to get a bit chatty and blabber on a bit with these posts. Today I am joining Sandra with Happy  Homemaker Monday.  The weather . . . Cold!  Sunday we got down to 27 degrees, our first hard freeze, and rain.   It's 18 degrees and snow arrived. Right now I am . . .  Brewing coffee, and writing this post. Thinking and pondering . . . Spring home projects/repairs, chicken brooders, volunteering...fun winter activities. How I am feeling . . .  Overall, good, but frustrated with those who cannot "listen" and I have to repeat myself over and over and over (not my husband ha ha! He's a great listener).  I have really learned from this, to be a much better listener. On the breakfast plate . . . Have no idea yet. On the menu . . . -(new recipes to try), crock pot mac n' cheese -crockpot flank steak tacos (new recipe to try) -Sal...