The weekend was a mix of good and bad weather. Friday, if you didn't read about it already, we canceled our camping trip over the weekend. The weather was fantastic Friday, but indeed the storms and rain moved in. We had both agreed that being stuck in our small camper was a no-go, especially with my medical boot on my foot (already tired of lugging it around).
These posts tend to be long, so grab your cup of java or tea, and hopefully it won't be too long for you today. Sorry if my posts regarding old drafts are boring. I had over 80 drafts written up, and I'm down to under 30 now. I have to admit, that some are making scratch my head. Some have titles, and no content. Did I have recipes to try? I have no idea.
I had one draft (now deleted) on dehydrating red bell peppers to made homemade paprika. One, it takes a lot of peppers for a small jar to be made, and two, you need other peppers, not red bell (from my research, and still researching). Does anyone here grow a specific pepper in their garden to make homemade paprika? I'm getting mixed information.
The cost of anything these days, has me looking into making more homemade spices/herbs for cooking and baking.
Cooking/Baking Tip: Instead of frying potatoes or cooking them in a skillet on the stove top for a breakfast ingredient (or side), roast them in the oven to speed up total prep time. It am loving this due to not wanting to stand on my foot too long at the stove.
Another tip: instead of mixing dry ingredients in a small bowl, use your measuring cup with a spout on it. It pours out so much easier (many of you many already know this). I use my 2 cup measuring up and a funnel to pour it into the storage container for the pantry/cupboard.
We took a weekend drive to a different greenhouse, and picked up some vegetable plants that I did not start from seed this spring. We really like this place, and will be back for flowers and maybe other plants if we have room in the garden. The only issue I had, was forgetting that I had a medical boot on one foot, and a shoe leveler on the other, and the place was all stone. It was very easy to trip if I was not being careful. Then, there were hoses all over the floors inside one greenhouse. I survived anyway, and like I said, we love this place - more variety, lower prices.
Today I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. I missed last this last week. I'll link up when she posts.
The weather . . .
70's and nice, but more rain moves in later today.
Right now I am . . .
Packing up my husband's breakfast, lunch and coffee for work. Sipping my own coffee and posting this.
Thinking and pondering . . .
Looking for more resources for future crochet/knit donations. I emailed our nearest Ronald McDonald House about baby blankets, but got no response. I have found a second place to locally donate lap afghans. My crochet time will dwindle down as the garden gets planted too.
How I am feeling . . .
Better than last week, in regards to my fractured foot. I have had some down days, as to be expected sitting around so much. It can really drag you down to the pits or make you stir crazy. Anyway, everything is falling on my husband now, and I can tell it's getting to him. Especially after he gets home from a full work day.
I am getting around a bit better, so more laundry is getting done, dishes washed/dried put away, some housecleaning getting done here and there, and making some meals again.
In the meantime, my gardening pants hang on a hook awaiting their day of glory.
On the breakfast plate . . .
Not sure just yet. Possibly Chili Egg and cheese casserole. I forget the exact name, but it has cottage cheese and chilies, and it is very good.
On the menu . . .
-Meatballs with homemade spinach alferdo sauce, oven baked swiss chard with feta
-Turkey sausage sheet pan dinner with carrots and potatoes
-leftovers
-Pumpkin Ricotta Stuffed Shells (if not made, will move this to next week), a side meat (maybe grilled)
Snack: Easy layered tomato dip
On the reading pile. . .
Finished this book, that was on my bookshelf for a few years. However, I went to pick a new book, and found two more to the series, and realized I read #2 in a crochet mystery series.
I own #1 - #3, so I'll be reading #1 next to get back to reading them in order.
Crochet Mystery
1 Hooked On Murder (2008)
2 Dead Men Don't Crochet (2008)
3 By Hook Or By Crook (2009)
4 A Stitch in Crime (2009)
5 You Better Knot Die (2010)
6 Behind the Seams (2011)
7 If Hooks Could Kill (2012)
8 For Better or Worsted (2013)
9 Knot Guilty (2014)
10 Seams Like Murder (2016)
11 Hooking for Trouble (2016)
12 On the Hook (2018)
13 Hooks Can Be Deceiving (2018)
14 One for the Hooks (2021)
15 Killer Hooks (2023)
Here is the order of book titles, in case anyone is interested. Our library only has a few ebooks and audio books, and very few at that.
The motto for books this year is "borrow, not buy" so I'm not looking into buying the rest of the series for this. They are good so far, but once you read one, the next one gets monotonous.
On the TV . . .
Kitchen Nightmares (not my husband's favorite)
Dateline (always interesting, but after time, it can be boring)
Whatever movies we find interesting
(the first two are just "noise" makers for when I put my foot up)
Looking around the house . . .
The kitchen is a hot mess. Literally. I love that my husband is meal planning and cooking, but he is lacking in the cleaning department. I am slowly back to the kitchen washing dishes, taking trash out (yep!), cleaning off the counter tops (cannot stand looking at clutter) and whatnot.
On the to-do list . . .
I still have my to-do list from over 2 weeks ago. I check off what I can physically do, and the rest remains for other days.
-check laundry
-sweep a room or two
-dishes
-make homemade hair detangler
-make a breakfast
-dinner prep
-paperwork
From the camera . . .
My husband bought us a small bag of chili pistachios to try, and he took them all to work. I was not a happy gal, as he ate them all. Of course that put me in "let's try a new recipe" mode.
These are fantastic! I adapted the recipe from The Almond Eater online. My husband said they taste better than the ones we bought too, but these only last about 3 days in an air tight container, so I'm glad it's a small batch recipe (I doubled the recipe, so we could both share ha ha!). Yum!
What I am crocheting. . .
I finally crossed off every single older, unfinished project!!! Yahoo!!! I have items that I recently started such as a baby blanket and scrap yarn lap afghan (which I have not worked on this past week), but my old list is DONE!
I have a few items that I have now listed to make, to have on hand for gifting or for home use, but other than that I am not dragging around those unfinished projects!
I used my last cotton yarn scraps to make these:
Scrap cotton yarn cleaning cloths. They could ideally be used as washcloths if needed too, but I put those scraps to use. Easy peasy and done!
However.....
Now, truth be told, I bought specific yarn for a new Christmas ornament to gift (this was over 2 years ago), but since my family is overwhelmed with my hundreds and hundreds of ornaments, that I have made over the years, I will be using the yarn for another use.
If you got this far in today's post, and you crochet, what is the best row counter to buy these days? I've never purchased one, so I'm asking here first.
Devotional, Prayers, Bible Verses . . .
Prayers for quick healing of my foot fracture.
Prayers for a hair dresser/stylist we know. Her name is Taylor, and after finally getting their first "real house" as she put it, there was a fire (they lost everything, but they are okay) a few days ago. Prayers for a new home, and all her and her young daughter's needs. I was told her son, his girlfriend and their own child also lived in the same house, so all of them will be starting over.
