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

Happy Homemaker Monday

 It's been a long time since I participated in Happy Homemaker Monday.  I apologize for the length of it.  I tend to get a bit chatty and blabber on a bit with these posts.

Today I am joining Sandra with Happy  Homemaker Monday. 

The weather . . .

Cold!  Sunday we got down to 27 degrees, our first hard freeze, and rain.  

It's 18 degrees and snow arrived.

Right now I am . . . 

Brewing coffee, and writing this post.

Thinking and pondering . . .

Spring home projects/repairs, chicken brooders, volunteering...fun winter activities.

How I am feeling . . . 

Overall, good, but frustrated with those who cannot "listen" and I have to repeat myself over and over and over (not my husband ha ha! He's a great listener).  I have really learned from this, to be a much better listener.

On the breakfast plate . . .

Have no idea yet.

On the menu . . .

-(new recipes to try), crock pot mac n' cheese

-crockpot flank steak tacos (new recipe to try)

-Salmon, stuffed acorn squash (new recipe)

On my reading pile . . .

1.  A lot of crockpot and sheet pan dinner cookbooks from the library (working on new, easy dinners for the next few months).  I have never had the "need" for a crockpot breakfast, but I'm looking into those as well.

2.  Non-fiction (trying to get a few pages in a day).  Interesting, but the authors continuous references to war or military are monotonous (hence 2 pages a day, ha ha!).

3. Fiction

(forgot to take a photo).

On my TV this week . . .

Anything that brings laughter.

Looking around the house . . .

Looking good, and I managed to clean up a pile of paperwork, but found about two dozen printed new recipes to try.  How does that happen?  Sheesh.  I thought I found them all.  I now use my phone to try the recipe first anymore.  If it's a keeper I then either write it down or print it (no more recipe piles for me).  I do have a pile of free magazines from the library to read.

To-do list for the week . . .

-make a new breakfast

-sweep and mop floors

-dust

-one doctor appointment this week

-return books to the library

What I am creating . . . 

Finished this lap afghan for a future donation.

I was given some yarn recently, and there are at least 21 skeins of Red Heart aran yarn in the mix.  Yes, 21 of them.

I started a new lap afghan pattern with the aran colored yarn, and should use up 4 skeins to make it.  It is my "travel" or "on the go" project for now.  It's one color of yarn, and the pattern is very easy to memorize, so "on the go" is perfect for this blanket.

From the camera . . .

Updated photo of my crocheted "Book Blanket" I am making.  If you haven't seen my first posts on this, you can see it HERE and another post HERE.  I crochet a granny square, with scrap yarn, with my best ability to match the colors of the book cover.  The granny squares are crocheted onto the blanket (a join as I go project).  The photo is 40 completed books with 40 matching granny squares.  We'll see what I get attached by the end of 2025.

Devotional, Prayers, Bible Verses . . .

A few prayer requests:  

Abby, a daughter to folks we know, who was in a car accident and in the hospital unconscious.  They cut some of her skull to relieve pressure, and have plans to slowly remove her from sedation and eventually move her to acute long term facility.

Larry, adult friend of a family member who recently suffered serious seizures.  We are told he takes medication for seizures, and the cause is not known. He had a seizure recently, while driving to work, which put him in the hospital.

Myself.  God knows the details.

Happy Homemaker Monday  ©  November 2025 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart