Pioneer Woman at Heart

  Hot mess express checking in for a quick minute.  October has been, and still is a crammed month of commitments, projects and whatnot.  More so on the commitments (preventing other work to be done). I feel like the days are so out of control, but I dug out my new jars and recipes.  I realized I had not dehydrated comfrey or plantain, and needed it for one recipe.  Of course, we just mowed too. The kitchen is full of baskets of herbs and medicinal weeds, which are all waiting their moment in the dehydrator. Our weather changed rapidly, so I am working quickly.   Sticky notes to the rescue!  Without them, I would be a double hot mess express.  I finally made a phone call for a quote, that should have been done a year ago.  I was to complete that job today, but someone took the wrong vehicle to work this morning. Purging continues, but not as productive as it should be.  Garage clean out remains on the to-do list (did I mention too m...

We woke up to a bit of rain, which was not in the forecast.  I am thankful for that, as the bell peppers are still producing, and the vines on the spaghetti squash are still producing more squash. I have 90 drafts on my blog right now.  Sheesh.  I believe I will try and clean those up, or write them, on the next rainy day.  I still need to read my emails.   I had a saved glass jar, so I made a jar of homemade taco seasoning for one of the kids.  We had them over for dinner recently, and her boyfriend loved the taco seasoning in the chicken quesadillas we made.  I buy most of my organic ingredients bulk, so they were gifted a jar. I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.   The weather . . . We are in the 70's all week with rain about 3 days this week too. As I look outside my window . . . It's still pitch dark. Right now I am . . . Sipping coffee and getting this post up. Thinking and pondering . . . Work on the chicken coop i...

  I had all the ingredients to make this (for a potluck that I did not make it to), so I did, and sent most of it to work with my husband.  It is not diabetic friendly.  It is very good however.  I saved some for my own lunch (comfort food).  It is "corn bread" however.  There is a layer of bread then meat/veggies then more corn bread on top.  It's more of a side dish for your next Mexican meal night or potluck. Anyway, you top this with sour cream, or whatever you'd like, and is perfect for a potluck dish for a Mexican food meal. The actual recipe is online, but we adjusted it with organic ingredients.  Recipe is online with "Bake it with Love." Did you know you can make homemade "jiffy" mix ? I also make homemade taco seasoning .  I have been doing this for years now. "Rotel" can be substituted with home canned tomatoes and added organic chilies. You can add more flavor by adding diced jalapeno to the ground beef mix as well.  So good,...

  I did a lot of kitchen work early, due to the water needing shut off again, for the bathroom repairs.  I finally got a batch of taco seasoning made, whipped up some biscuits for a breakfast for my husband - biscuits and sausage gravy, scrambled eggs, and fried potatoes.  However, I have a mound of dishes to do this morning, and need to empty the dishwasher. We got more rain early yesterday and more last night.  We hit a heat index of 100°F yesterday, and boy was it humid and hot. The bathroom repairs are coming along, but slowly due to the rain.  The old drywall is cut out, and the floor is in, but there needs to be another layer of floor to get it the the same height as the kitchen.  Not sure how long that will take.  All water lines to the bathroom sink have been replaced. I brought down another bag of trash from the upstairs and got more organizing done, but have a large tote of hay to get rid of.  Apparently, Daughter K had it for her rabb...

My husband had to work all weekend, but we managed to get to the gathering regarding the loss of one daughter's boyfriend a year ago.  Oh my, we love those families/friends.  It was a good turn out, including classmates of his and daughter E's.  So many good laughs and good times and even tears, but so thankful we all got together. Something I learned (although some of you may already know this). . . I have never cooked with flank steak before (believe it or not).  I bought some last week and sliced it and grilled it for philly's sandwiches.  What did I learn?  Well, I was watching America's Test Kitchen (love that show) and watched them prepare a recipe using flank steak. What did I learn?  I learned it has little fat and you must pound it before cooking, to tenderize it.  I literally did not know this until I watched the show.   I will be buying flank steak again and giving it a try the right way. Ha ha!  It always makes me excite...