Little of This ~ Little of That

 

Mondays are always hard, as it's back to the grind, and no sleeping in.  I, however, took advantage of the day and the 60-some degree weather.  Laundry went on the line, I worked a bit in one of the vegetable gardens, and I did some indoor painting.  I also got some porch reading time in, and boy the weather was fantastic.

I've learned in our area, that you need to just drop whatever you indoor plans are on good spring days, and get outside.  The weather has quickly turned to rain, thunderstorms, and high wind warnings.

Breakfasts were finally decided on, and I pulled more frozen garden pumpkin puree from the freezer, along with some holiday diced ham we froze, and frozen garden grown bell peppers.

Freezer meal planning progress . . .

Meaning using the freezer items as a meal prep start.

(Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole:  The Real Food Dietitians online.  I had to put foil on top and bake longer, because the center was not cooked all the way).

I made us some Einkorn flour pumpkin pancakes and a ham and egg breakfast casserole.  I have more frozen garden pumpkin puree, so I'll be looking for more new recipes to try. 

The ham and egg casserole was a new recipe to try.  It was similar to the egg cups with ham, but in a 9 x 9 pan instead.  

The bottom layer of it requires flour, so the next time I will try Einkorn flour and reduce the milk.  Any advice for swapping all purpose flour with Einkorn all-purpose flour when baking?

Has anyone made their own date syrup?  I bought organic dates, but I need a small batch recipe, not one with a pound of dates.  I did not get medjool either, they simply say "organic" on the label.  I'm thinking of making some for pancakes/waffles, but would need a recipe for 1 cup of dates.  Just not sure on the amount of water to use.

We've located a resource for "lightly" pasteurized goat milk.  It's a bit of a drive, but we will stock up soon.  We have yet to locate "raw" goat milk.  Does anyone know if I can make cheese with this type of milk?  I used to make all sorts of cheese when we had raw milk from our own Lamancha goats, and I do miss it.

Garden notes for the end of March:

-any and all plastic/stakes were removed from the garden for tilling

-chives and green onions have recovered from the recent snow

-garlic looks a bit dry, but there is rain falling now

-more egg shells were added to another area of the vegetable garden

-potato starts have been purchased, and I'll be placing them in a cardboard box to grow sprouts for planting

-rhubarb is up and look good, it's too early for asparagus just yet, and we need a new raised bed, as we plan to move the rhubarb plants this spring, asparagus bed needs weeded, but I will wait for the shoots to come up first

-I will not be putting out my mole-chasing windmill until these high winds stop, but it will be going up after that.

Little of This ~ Little of That  © Mar 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Happy Homemaker Monday

We are greatly anticipating outdoor spring activities and garden prep.  Not to mention the finishing of the new coop.  I already have a plan in place for moving the chickens.

We have friends that just sold their house, bought an RV and are living/traveling in the RV now.  I'll admit, it sounds interesting, and could imagine a life with a lot less taxes.

I'm on the hunt for Arnica cream/lotion.  Sigh.  Just trying to avoid buying all the ingredients to make it.  If you know of a resource, be sure to comment.  By the way, I have tried to grow arnica here a few times, and with no success for some reason.

We had unexpected guests all weekend, so I feel like we did not get much done around here.  We did manage to pick up a few bales of straw (at a high price), from a farm store for now.  We are having trouble locating a larger amount from a local farmer, for the chickens.  We've sent a few messages, so we are waiting for responses.  

We also managed to pick up the light we needed for the hallway ceiling.  The online inventory stated they had 5 in stock, but when we arrived that was not the case.  We will still need one more light fixture.  

 

Today I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.  Somehow I missed last week, but nothing much was news-worthy.  I apologize for the length of this post today.  I hope you have a hot cup of java or tea to get you to the end.

The weather . . .

The weekend was very cold, with Sunday morning being a windchill of 18°F.  Today we are to hit the lower 60's, and then we lower again to the 50's with nights in the 30's.  All of our daffodils that bloomed so far, and now laying flat.  I am hoping the remainder of them still bloom.

Right now I am . . .

Sipping coffee, and writing out a to-do list, and getting early morning laundry started.

Thinking and pondering . . .

I'm considering other herbs to infuse  for healthy ice teas.  Does anyone else make tea infusions for health?

I'm working on high protein, healthy snack options.  I borrowed some "clean" snack cookbooks from the library, but more than half the recipes call for protein powder.  I want real food ideas.  I do  have some eggs waiting in the fridge to boil in a few weeks.  

How I am feeling . . .

Pretty good.  We've been welcoming spring with some nettle/oat straw tea infusions (served iced), and ending the evenings with hot tea and squeezed lemons.  

On the breakfast plate . . .

Our most recent breakfast, and our favorite.  I could literally eat this every morning!  My husband said, that when he was reheating his at work, everyone asked what he was eating (it smelled that good!).  I'll make a post to share how I made this.  It a bit of work, but it lasts for a few days too.  Not sure what we'll have this week yet.

On the lunch plate . . .

Slice of organic sourdough bread, with fresh made peanut butter, and banana slices.  The organic bananas that we've purchased the last few times, have tasted weird.

On the dinner plate . . .

Not sure yet.  It may be a new recipe, or it could be something easy like grilled cheese and home canned tomato soup.

On the menu . . .

-Stuffed pepper pizzas, sliced apples

-Sheet pan chicken dinner, veggies

-Crockpot meatballs, oven roasted mushrooms/asparagus

I have several new recipes to try.  I am working on our freezer stash, so hence new recipes to indulge in. 

On the reading pile . . .

Another book passed on to me from my Mom, that was on a bookshelf.  I'm not a big fan of romance novels, but I am giving it a try.  So far, it's slow going.  Mom wrote the sticky note that is still on the front of it.  I have tucked it inside, so I can pass the book on when I am done.  Hopefully I will finish it.  I used to buy up all of the Love Inspired books at our library book sale and deliver them to her.  I guess I should have known that one would make its way back to me.  

New to the bookshelf.  Gulp.  Yes, I said "new" to the shelf, but I have a large box filling up with finished books to donate soon.

On the TV this week . . .

Western movies.

Looking around the house . . .

The kitchen is looking fantastic for once.  Other than our tote of painting supplies still hanging around.  I'll be moving it later this week.

On the to-do list . . .

-laundry

-sweep/mop

-dust

-water plants

-paint interior side of door to garage 

For the week . . .

-wash down kitchen island

-wash down kitchen cupboards

-wash two more windows downstairs

-wash and clean upstairs windows

From the camera . . .

Despite snow and colder weather, the green onion is springing back to life in the herb garden.  Note:  I took this photo before the weekend snow buried them lol!

What I am crocheting . . .

I'm not quite done with this throw, but it's coming along.  There are many hours of hard work involved with this project.  I use an "H" hook, so there is a lot of stitching and a lot of yarn used.  Cold days are coming to an end, so my goal is to finish it before it gets too hot to work on it.

My current project for when I need a break on the large throw pictured first on this project list.  The only one that got a baby carriage robe from me was our grandson who passed away suddenly at the age of 4 months.  I think I used purple and blue in his blanket.  

There are so many babies being born on my husband's side of the family, that I cannot keep up with crocheted gifts.  Anyway, I am making this carriage blanket with yarn in my stash, to work on using up the stash yarn.  I may be adding baby booties, but for now, I am using up some baby blue and light brown yarn to make this blanket.

My current go-to project for on-the-road traveling - baby washcloths in white.  I have yellow-ish yarn, multi-colored yarn and white.  I have zero in any blue for this project.  I do not want to buy yarn right now either, so white is being used (all 100% cotton, light weight, discontinued yarn).

I completely forgot about this square doily.  I am back at working a row a day (when I can or remember).  It takes more concentration, no interruptions, and some reading eyeglasses to get those fine stitches to look good.

The two unfinished projects that were taken apart - thin dishcloth (these never sold at the craft shows anyway), and a flip flip key fob.  The keyfobs were to be sold at a store on the island, where my camper ornaments were sold, but that store closed last year.

Devotional, Bible Verse, Prayers . . .

Prayers for the tornado victims, from the tornados that came through our state and caused much destruction.

Happy Homemaker Monday 3-25-2024  © Mar 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart