Happy Homemaker Monday

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 is hit or miss around here. My husband was sick Sunday.  I am wondering what day we'll go get more supplies to finish it.

I'm thinking about making a list of medical supplies. I want us to be stocked up for winter, and when I last shopped I could not find everything we needed at one store.

One store sells water-cress, and the leaves were all brown and looked terrible.  Check your expiration dates too.  Stores don't care anymore.  They had cottage cheese that has expired a month ago in their case.  So many things are just being sold old.

Listening to . . .

Country music in the kitchen, but about to put on work out music.

How I am feeling . . .

Tired.  

On the breakfast plate . . .

Leftover breakfast casserole.  Just something I threw together.

On the lunch plate . . .

Have no idea yet.

On the dinner plate . . .

I think I will make the sheet pan dinner tonight.

What I am wearing . . . 

Still in jammies.

On the reading pile . . .

Nothing currently.  

On the TV . . .

Movies on netflix.

On the menu . . .

-Chili
-Chicken Alfredo Spaghetti Squash
-Sheet pan dinner (Sweet potatoes, chickpeas, broccoli, and red onion)

Looking around the house . . .

I am still trying to get order back.  I have one kitchen counter that is driving me nuts.  It's on the list for this week.  Everything needs to find their home again.

To do list . . .

-make homemade granola
-make homemade granola bars (these two are for the week, as I need to grocery shop for some ingredients)
-start a jar of garlic/honey
-laundry
-check garden for more bell peppers/hot peppers
-bake a breakfast  (something with our apples perhaps)

-make banana muffins (sugar free, flour free)

-work on upstairs floor in spare room

From the camera . . .

Devotional, thoughts, prayers . . .

Update on our friend's daughter who had a brain bleed.  She is up and sitting in a chair, and is able to run the TV remote with one hand.  So far, the progress reports are coming in good.  thank you all for your thoughts, prayers and good mojo!

Mexican Corn Bread

 

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, but not good for you, ha ha!  Perfect for a Mexican Fiesta!  

I'm making a new recipe tomorrow for a Mexican dinner.  It starts with a chuck roast in my crock pot.  I'll update after we taste it.  My husband requested it.

Do you have a favorite dish for a Mexican meal?

Kitchen-ness and weather updates

 

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 rabbit, and the rabbit didn't like it.

Both the younger two daughters left their graduation gowns up there too, so I brought them both down and put them up for free.  Hopefully that will help someone else out.

Trash day was delayed a day, so I also got some of the fridge cleaned out, but not all of it.  I still have stuff in there like pudding cups from Daughter K that need to be cleaned out.  It's just been so busy here with the garden, painting and what not.

Happy Homemaker Monday

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 excited to cook when I learn something new.

I made a double batch of homemade taco seasoning.

I made a comfrey salve.

Today I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

The weather outside is  . . .

86°F/66°F, sunny

Heating up and we are finally drying out!  

How I am feeling . . .

Rested.  Ready to take on the week.  

On the breakfast plate . . .

Coconut flour waffles, bacon, coffee

Looking around the house . . .

I have some boxes I need to take upstairs for Daughter E, for her big move coming up, but the kitchen is almost pristine.  I spent quite a bit of time cleaning yesterday while my husband worked (really stinks because weather was great on Sunday for outdoor work, bike ride, cards on the porch).

On my reading pile . . .

Nothing last week.

On  my TV . . .

Finally finished the entire season of Heartland.  Ending wasn't exciting either.

On the menu . . .

-Baked walleye, steamed broccoli
-Meatballs with homemade teriyaki sauce, asparagus

-something on the grill 

-have no idea

-leftovers

From the camera. . . 

The rain brought us some new blooms, and one glady finally bloomed.

I am thankful for . . .

A few dry days to allow the garden to recover, and give me time to do more weeding (not to mention get the grass mowed). I had more handiwork time over the weekend, which was a nice change (everything outside this weekend was soaked and road still flooded).

I am hoping to . . .

Get to the "Big City" to get errands done this week.  Maybe.  Nothing I need is an emergency, but needed.  The list is growing.

On my prayer list . . .

No personal requests, this country could always use prayer though.