This and That

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 itself tasted more of elderberry, but good.  It paired very nicely with the hibiscus tea.  Very pretty too.

Not a crockpot recipe, but a new breakfast recipe.  It was in a 22 year old cookbook I already had, and it's very similar to Rachael Ray's Cheddar and Green Chile Egg Casserole, but added ingredients, and it calls for Tabasco in place of chili peppers.  I used jalapenos, jalapeno salt, doubled it (expect the butter).  I used breakfast sausage.  It gives us breakfast for several days (no bread, no potatoes).  I thought I took a photo of the recipe for this post, but it has flown somewhere into cyber world.  

               

Regarding the blanket pattern for this lap sized afghan . . .

It is free and printable online with yarnspirations.  The pattern is here:  Free Easy Red Heart Lattice Lapghan (Yarnspirations).  I am using Red Heart color Aran, and an "I" hook (5.0mm).

We are researching on what type of brooder we want to build for the chicken coop. 

(not my photo)

We are collecting photos on possible builds for the brooder.  It will be built inside the actual chicken coop, so we'll also need access to electricity (or solar if available, as we have not looked into it yet).  

This and That  ©  November 2025 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Chit Chat

 

In May of 2024, I ordered a brand new, USA made stainless steel tomato strainer.  In the fall of 2024, I called to check on the order, because it did not arrive in 6 months as I was told.

I was then told, the new sauce maker would arrive in May of 2025.  Keep in mind, you have to remember this over all this time too.  Well, May of 2025 has passed. 

It's now June and I called again.  I'm told (and before she even asks for my order number) the production won't produce any until "May of 2026" (seriously). 

I asked for a refund.  I'll let you know what happens, as I do expect that refund one way or another.  Once that is back in my bank account, I need to find a better source for a stainless steel tomato strainer.  I thought I would share, if case anyone has thought about ordering from them.  I'm not "bad" mouthing the company.  I'm just sharing my experience in attempting to order a tomato strainer.

Who knows what I'll be doing in a year from now?  My instincts told me that next year would arrive, and this company would tell me the same story  - not ready for another year, blah, blah, blah.

I may have a secret summer home by next year, sold the house, and started traveling the world in an RV by next year.  I could be sailing the oceans too.  You never know.

Either way, I was not going to wait another entire year to find out if the tomato strainer would be shipped or not.  So....if you have suggestions, I'd love to hear them (for a stainless steel one).

I have been taking advantage of the hot water the garden hose has in the first use in this heat wave.  I can clean chicken feed pans, my lounge chair, and the chicken watering units, not wasting that hot water.

No rain yet, and the heat continues, but very slightly lower than the 100's.  Rain was due last night, but nothing.  

We have been very thankful to once again get garlic scapes from our garlic.  These can sometimes be found at Farmer's Markets as well.  Garlic scapes form on mature garlic plants, and you need to cut them off before they bloom. 

I have once again made our favorite spread - radish garlic scape spread. The spread is cream cheese, garlic scape, radishes, fresh spinach and a bit of real lemon juice.  It's delicious!  The only thing missing is freshly made cream cheese from goat's milk (we really miss that).  I also use 2 garlic scapes in this recipe.  I do cut off the flower end.  It really has a good flavor, and the cut scapes are not wasted.  I plan to freeze the remainder for future recipes.  I may even freeze some garlic scape pesto.

We were gifted a lot of fresh dill from a co-worker of my husband's.  I put much of it in the dehydrator, but saved some for salads and other recipes.  It got me thinking.  Has anyone ever made a dill tincture?  I'm looking into it, only because of the large amount of dill we were given.  

It's a small start this year, but this is my husband's attempt to start back at the new chicken coop project.  The ladies deserve a chicken castle picnic table, ha ha ha!  We have much to do on the coop, and are now looking into solar exhaust fans for the new coop.  I can say, I am thrilled we picked the location for it now.  They will have more shade when their new run is built and installed.

Homemade peach crumble.  The only thing I've done with peaches this year.  So far anyway.  Georgia peaches from a local produce stand (we planted another peach tree this year).

Back in May, I visited a locally owned coffee shop/book store.  I walked by this book enough, and finally opened it. 

I did a check at Goodreads to see what the rating on it was.  I am still reading a book, so it is now on the list to read.  We shall see if it's any good.  My first "blind" date with a book.

Chit Chat  ©  June 2025 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Heat Wave ~ Record Breaking Day

 

The heat index was 105°F yesterday.  Today it is said to be a record breaking day.  I have yet to hear what they actually do expect today.  Yes, we did outdoor work yesterday, but very early.  AC is on, but one system has to be worked on before we can turn it back on.  The sunrises are still smoke hazy sunrises. 

A heat wave means it's officially salad season again. We were gifted some garden romaine.  I made us a big salad (apples added later) - chicken, apple pecan salad.

Something new (a first for us) this year - growing a Meyer lemon plant.  I have wanted to do this for several years.  One blogger I used to follow was going to mail me seeds.  When that didn't happen, I bought some on Etsy, and not one seed sprouted.  Years later I found a plant and wa-la!  We have some lemons on it this year.  

I have a lack of photos, partly because I have lost my blogging mojo (numbers show a lack of interest anyway), and partly due to the heat wearing us out.

The chickens have been treated with some chipped ice, and will be until this heat is over with.  They are being treated with some sprouted peas, and maybe later some frozen veggies.

Of course, there is nothing ready to harvest from the actual garden but I have harvested lots of oregano from the herb garden.  I am waiting for the heat wave to end, before I continue to cut more.  God provided us with a lot of oregano this year, so I have more plans to utilize it soon.

The dehydrator is off during this heat wave, but we have lots of herbs to dry for the season this year.

We located more local strawberries and peaches, but there will not be jam made (so far anyway).  It's been nice not to have to can/bake/cook for more than us two. I also located a lemon balm plant (I dug ours out of the garden a few years ago, and the new location is not doing well).  I may have a new way to enjoy lemon balm this year.

I finished a few baby washcloths, and completely used up this crochet yarn (discontinued).

Miscellaneous blog thoughts:

- I miss reading an actual newspaper in my hands.

-we attempted to donate to a free little pantry, but the door was missing and the items inside were old.

-I'm looking into new tinctures to make

-making lists for new home projects, home repairs, new "try-its"

-I really miss the bloggers I used to follow (no longer blog), as there was a connection to homesteading, preserving, home remedies, eating real food and the like.  In fact, we have zero family/friends that are like-minded and I have been having acquaintances tell me to stop gardening, saying it's too much work.  Funny thing is, is that once the garden produces, I suddenly get text messages asking for "free" produce from our garden.  I love to share, but I'm done with people who are negative and who offer nothing but negative vibes (or help in the garden).

-still looking for lemon verbena seeds or a plant

Heat Wave ~ Record Breaking Day  ©  June 2025 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Tidbits

 

We enjoyed our 78°F days, but then the weekend brought us rain. The wind was terrible, but we still had breaks in the day to do some outdoor adventuring.  We have a tree down, and a few large tree limbs down due to the high winds.  Monday morning it was 21°F!  A big swing in temperature for us.

If you saw my post about the "blind date" with a puzzle, I have some news about that.  My husband said to toss it in the garbage and chalk it up as we were duped in the purchase.

I however, took photos, and contacted the store we purchased  it at.  Mind you, we bought it January 31st, and we just finished it.  I was nice and polite, but to the point about our disappointment on the expense and product. 

The store responded back to me.  I'm told they purchase them from a vendor from California, and were as disappointed as we were.  She said they were supposed to all be "new" puzzles.  I explained to her that that the box was even falling apart.

They are looking into new vendors now, and we got a refund.  It pays to inquire. Thankfully, I had taken a photo of the purchase while at the store too.

So we were not being duped by the store, and they were being duped by their vendor/supplier.  If that is true.  I do find it odd a business would buy pre-wrapped puzzles to sell.  Why not wrap them yourself?  Anyway, we got a refund, including tax.

I tried a suggested mix of essential oils on cotton balls, and placed them in a few windows, to deter those nasty orange ladybug pests from entering.  The next morning there were 4 in the same window.  

The ladies are laying once again.  Very thankful for that.  I see a breakfast frittata and maybe some boiled eggs soon.

(Mom taught me to always remember to clean my clothesline)

The clothesline is back in action (or was, ha ha!).  First order of business was to clean it.  It has much wear and tear this spring, so I have a new one to install (that was supposed to be put up last year, ha ha!). 

The weather on this particular day was absolutely fantastic.  It was like a breath of fresh air (yes, and with windows open once again).  I spared you from seeing all of my laundry, ha ha!

Kitchen tip:  I never thought to do this, and I use more than one, and they often stick inside each other.  Brilliant!  Kudos to Cooks Illustrated. 

Here you see me reading a book on the porch (our 78°F day), and the weather was amazing!!!  I was enjoying a glass of iced nettle tea too.  I normally do not have my phone with me, but I was waiting on a call.  I snapped a photo.  The garden is brown still, but the green grass is returning. 

The weather is going up and down so often, it makes gardening and outdoor work very limited right now. We have had a hankering for roasted swiss chard, and we cannot find one bit of it in stores right now.  It's on the list to plant again this Spring.

I can say, that I need to stay out of book stores and yarn stores for a while now, ha ha!  I'm re-stocked in both, and have plenty to keep myself entertained.  I sort of abandoned my shelf lining project, but have not forgotten about it.  What can I say?  When the weather is nice, we enjoy it. 

Tidbits ©  March 2025 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

This and That ~ Welcome March

The new sprouts for the chickens.  These are organic peas.  I am sprouting a small amount to introduce them to the ladies (chickens) and see if they like them or not.  They love sprouted lentils.  They should be ready to treat the ladies in a few days now.  

 Welcoming March!  We already had our first adventure day trip on March 1st.  We drove a few hours to visit one of the kids and their new house.  The weather was back to freezing cold here, so what a better way to spend a Saturday in winter.

I surely gave me a break from lining closet shelves and purging clothing.

My goodness, it was so nice to see the kids and their pets again.  We haven't seen their pets in many years, and Jasper (cat), bless his heart at 16 years old, sniffed my face, put his nose to my nose and rubbed his head on my forehead.  He remembered me.  He did the same with my husband.  Such a sweet moment.

Of course we stopped at a pet store and picked up toys and treats for all three of them.  We had a meal with the kids, got a tour of the house, and it snowed the entire time.  Loved every minute of it, and this particular daughter is crocheting!  Ha!  She is crocheting a blanket. She has a stack of books she read, and I shared with her my crochet "book" blanket.  She is just a beginner, but I will still offer ideas to her.

On the drive home, I convinced my husband to make a pit stop at a JoAnn Fabrics (on the route home), and check out the yarn.  Sadly, the yarn was already picked over and very limited.  What I did find, was 25% off.  They had a ton of #10 cotton thread, but hardly anything left of Caron, Redheart and Lion brand yarns.  We only have one JoAnn Fabrics within a 30 minute drive from our home.  I did find another one this morning, about a 33 minute drive.  

Do you have anything exciting planned this month?  I do not, but every day brings us an "open book" so to speak.  I have already sent a few emails, to inquire about some walking trails/parking etc.  We also visited a book store and purchased a guide book with trails in our state.  There is no local bookstore close to our homestead.  Everything here is a bit of a drive.

I do plan to get outside this month more than we did last month, now that we are approaching better weather. Ha, or we hope to anyway.  

My first goal this month, is to locate some inexpensive tulip bulbs.  I want to experiment in planting them again.  The first year we lived here moles ate every single one.  I read one idea in a recent book, so hence "inexpensive" bulbs to try it with.  I absolutely love Breck's bulbs, but want to be sure the moles will leave the bulbs alone (otherwise I'll pot them in pots and insert the pots into the gardens).  I love tulips, and really, really, miss having them in our spring flower beds.  We do have two mole chasing windmills up too (and I still see mole hills some days).

This and That ~ Welcome March  ©  March 2025 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Chilly Time Chit-Chat

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 re-heated nicely.  

I have found another high protein pancake recipe to try soon as well (recipe with no protein powder).  I have several healthy new breakfast recipes to try, as well as dinner, so I won't run out of winter activities, ha ha!

I finished a few books, so I'm working on some new granny squares for our "book" blanket.  I'll post them soon after I get them done, ends sewn in and added to the blanket.  What a huge improvement on reading books this year too.  I would say 98% of the books read this year are books I bought at least a year to three years ago.  Other ones are given to me or borrowed from the library.  The one on top was okay.  I didn't really learn a lot to be honest.  She mentions Lincoln shell peas as the best yielding peas, but I grew them here and they did not do well. It was written and published so many years ago too.

I started some lentil sprouts for the chickens.  I think they will be happy ladies with this deep freeze we are experiencing.  Although lentils are inexpensive, I will be adding new sprouts to their winter diet.

~Home Updates~

I'm getting some shelf liners installed.  Woohoo to that.  One area is already done.  Three more areas more to go. I added another area.

I have wanted some of these for a long time, and finally bought some (online).  They are shoe bags. These are clear enough I can see what shoes will be in them, and durable enough they keep the dust off shoes on a wire shelf in the closet, and they can be used to take shoes traveling (water shoes, flip flops, sandals or whatever).  

In order to line the closet wire shelves, I have some updates like this to do.  I may be doing some purging in there too.  I know the clothes have got to be sorted.  Good luck with me getting my husband on board with his clothes.  

Progress is better than no progress.

I made a few peanut butter/bird seed treats for the birds.  I'm sure they will be enjoyed during this winter.  I just saved some empty toilet paper rolls, spread peanut butter on them, then rolled it in the bird seed. I then put the rolls on high branches in the trees.  

I'm hoping the birds find them before the raccoons.  I spotted this guy, but I still have not replaced my camera, so it's not that great of a photo. I'm tickled they are finding the food with this deep freeze.

A little "funny" to share.  We were in a hurry one day, and at a different store than usual.  We were out of coffee, so I grabbed a bag and kept shopping.

It took one day to realize we didn't like their "brand" and the next day went back to buy our regular organic coffee.  

I was cleaning off the counters yesterday, and moved the old bag of coffee beans.  I happened to pick it up to take a photo, and text my husband if he wanted it tossed out or if someone could use it at his work.

Ha ha ha ha!  After I sent the photo, I looked at it again and groaned.

See what it says???  Uh oh!  Whoops.  Not wonder it didn't taste right.  Good grief.

Chilly Time Chit - Chat  © February 2025 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Just the Bits

 I hope the joys in your winter days are pouring in.  I got a teeny tiny sample from Eden Garden Essential oils, and it's in the diffuser today.  It's called "It Smells Amazing."  Photo to show you how tiny and cute the sample bottle is.

One day it was very dreary, but the huge slow falling snowflakes were so pretty.

Another day we started out with snow fog.  Crazy, but it was beautiful with the sunshine.  Love that sunshine.

A few bird photos I took recently.  The sun was shining just a bit too.

The snow is rolling in again, and more until Saturday.  Last I heard they predicted about another 2-3 inches for our area.  I won't complain.  It's poor man's fertilizer.  Good for the garden, because it brings nitrogen to the ground.

The weather however, is delaying our beloved Fluffy Butt Hutt (aka new chicken mansion) from progressing. Even so, the ladies are back to laying us at least one egg a day.  I have been taking scraps and treats to them, and giving them positive mojo talks (yes, I do that).  Focus is directed to other projects for the meantime.

I have gotten all of our Christmas decor put back into totes,  but a few items.  The tree star was taken down and boxed up until next Christmas.  We'll take the tree down together this weekend.  I think I will join Anne in the Kitchen with her count down to Christmas, with trying new recipes for the next winter holiday.  Maybe new gift ideas that come along to print off, and anything else.  Adult games that are not corny would be fun to research as well.  I've had a binder for such things for years, but really have not spent time with it, nor adding anything to it.

The only decoration remaining, is our evergreen door wreath.  It smells so good when I open the door to fetch the mail, that I plan to leave it up for another week or so.

I had to laugh yesterday.  My husband and I were talking about the Breakfast Chicken Sausage Patties I recently made, and he was shocked I made them from scratch.  Insert eye rolling, because he knows I cook from scratch ha ha!  They really are that good.  The sage, thyme and garlic come from the garden.

These are so good, we are considering grinding our own chicken, which means investing in a meat grinder.  I have an old hand crank one, but if you own one and have a suggestion, that would be a great place for us to start.

I think the word for this month should be "perspective" and "consistency" (possibly others).  They keep coming to me in my books, devotionals, blogs from some of you (thank you for that), and even in some TV shows lately.  Your mindset is a powerful tool in navigating life.  When I hit a bump in the road to our plans, I am getting positive reminders to not boo-hoo my day away.

We are delaying any traveling this month.  Not just due to the recent snow storms, but now I have two doctor appointments.  Ha!  Nothing like being told, "we would like to see you, to make sure you did not fracture anything" and "just to be sure" when you are starting to regain momentum with daily exercise.   In the meantime, I have new spike straps for my boots, when I go outside.  On a good note, they do the x-rays in the same building as my doctor's office, so it's much more convenient, and quicker results.  To be honest, I am not worried about having a fracture, but more worried about being able to lift a filled canning pot this summer (only me, right?)

Praying for the LA area in CA right now.  I have a cousin, her husband and their cats living in the area of these fires, and they are greatly affected by it.  Currently without power, damaged roof, dangerous to drive anywhere due the 100mph winds and so forth.  Please pray for Cindy, Chip and their cats (which are rescues that were dumped in a trash can, and very dear to them). Cats names are Ginger and Mary Ann. 

Just the Bits © January 2025 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

What's Cooking?

 

It's been in the teens, and we are getting more snow.  It's 16 degrees this morning.  I'm thrilled to be getting about an egg a day again.  

We got more snow last night, but it's a wet snow.  According to the news weather report, there is another snow storm brewing up.

Breakfast side meat has been chicken breakfast patties, and we love them!  They are much better than the turkey ones, and are nice to enjoy between sage sausage and bacon.  If you haven't tried them, they are delicious on their own or in a breakfast sandwich.

We tried a new crockpot recipe for black eye peas and ham.  I added collards to it and it was fantastic.  I used the recipe from Skinnytaste online, but used a ham bone and diced ham both (because I had both in the freezer), and again, added collards.  It will be a keeper recipe for sure.  The red bell pepper and jalapeno were also both from the freezer (from last year's garden).

What's Cooking? © January 2025 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart