Happy New Year!

 

Happy New Year!  

I'm excited about a new crochet project, and it is a sort of a motivation tool for something else.  I'll be posting later about it.  Overall, it will reduce my time wasting internet scrolling, pointless social media scrolling (looking for recipes, patterns, exercises are all good scrolling minutes, he he!), procrastination station, and endless him-hawing.  Not to change the subject, but I mean some scrolling is needed to avoid endless days of shopping in stores looking for something my husband suggested we buy.

I found one close to what he feels we need at Harbor Freight, but it's wall mounted, and runs on batteries.

Does it even exist?  I'll be searching for it, but we may have to buy battery charged or a rechargeable light.  He wants a solar chargeable, motion sensor, small table light (sort of the brightness of a nightlight) for the bathrooms.  We lack outlets by the toilet, and do not want to put in a floor strip light, or wall mount solar lights.  Most motion sensor lights for indoors run on batteries or or rechargeable.  We want the motion sensor, so the light only comes on at night if needed.  I'll update later on this, after we have located and made a decision.

Okay, back to the post....

(sunrise 12-26-2024)

Sunday it rained all day long.  Last year we had warm enough weather the same time in December, that I was washing bedding and putting it on the clothesline.  We are pretty much flooded this year.

We decided together, that it was a good weekend to take down our Christmas tree.  Normally, we would leave it up for New Year's Eve.  The holidays this year hit mid-week, and I would much rather have help with it, than wait for an entire week to take it down and put it all back in storage.  

Well, the tree is still up, ha ha!  We had a few returns to take care of, some grocery shopping for fresh vegetables and fruit, and other errands.  I forgot to look for a plant for my planter, but we are also very limited with selections in the winter time.  I may be planting an herb for indoor winter cooking. 

Before decorations get packed back up, I decided it was time to toss out some very very old Christmas decorations, and donate others.  I added one book to the newest donation box, as my husband gifted me a new book too.

My husband gifted me a new bathrobe, so the old one was literally tossed out (not even worth donating ha ha!).  Sort of feels good to go into a new year with so many completed home projects, and a more organized homestead.

It's been a year since we have baked cookie cut-outs, so when I dug out the container, I purged those before returning them to storage. Good gravy!  I had cutters from when the kids had birthday parties in elementary school.  Whew!  Someone will be enjoying those, as they are being donated.

 

January is my month to focus on my health even more than ever.  It will be a long wait to see the doctor, but I thought about that too. It gives me a month to do specific exercises.  I really did a number on myself when I tripped twice later, after my stairway fall back in April of this year.  Anyway, every day I work on myself, is one day closer to back to normal or even better than normal.  Per a conversation on the phone with the doc's nurse, I am to avoid "heavy lifting" and have been the last two weeks.  It's a tough one, as a bag of chicken feed is not light weight.  I have learned how to lift more properly, so there is that.

I am already feeling signs of muscle improvement, less pain, and more flexibility, so doing these stretches may be a permanent addition to my daily/weekly fitness routine.

I need this body in good working condition, as I have ordered a tool to help start the next home repair project.  The kids left tape, those 3M sticky tapes, and other adhesives on the walls upstairs, and some in the higher to reach walls in the stairway.

It'll be a project for sure, but needs to happen before it's painted. After seeking advice, we need to buy some drywall mud, as the kids (and past hired help) put large gouges in the plaster walls.  It would be great to get this job knocked off the list by the end of January, so we can start working on the stair project (stair project is an entirely new project of it's own).

Speaking of health . . .

Hummus people, I have a quick question.  Do you ever add turmeric to your hummus for added health benefits?  I'm wondering if it tastes good in it, and how much to add?  We love the garlic in ours, so I'm not sure about adding it to our hummus just yet.

I'm already planning some new ideas for next Christmas, as we were so delayed by home repairs/renovations that had to happen.  I follow Betsy on Simple Lift of a Queen blogspot and, she mentioned exchanging advent gifts with her grand daughter.  Betsy, if you are reading this, I would love to know how to prepare the advent gifts.  Do you just wrap each one and place them all in a bag or box with numbers for the day of the month?  Or do you prepare them another way.  My brain is already chugging away at creating new traditions next year.

Also, Betsy where can I find the "Every which way filet" baby blanket pattern?  Thanks!

Sorry for the long boring post to start out this new week.  My kitchen is once again a hot mess from lack of being home, but it'll be spic and span clean this week.

I hope your weekend was good.  I may not be back to post, until the New Year, so Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! © December 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Chit Chat

Sort of a boring post today.  I know not everyone can afford "organic" groceries anymore, but wanted to share some things.

 I have been reading the ingredients on the black eyed peas in stores here, and we cannot buy "organic" canned in any of the stores in the area.  

The non-organic cans of these beans contains an ingredient I was not familiar with - diosodium EDTA.

I did some searching on google (I know it's not the best resource), but I did find this information.  I am reading it is mostly used in cosmetics.  Anyway, I found organic black eye peas do exist, but I have to order them online.

Organic canned black eyed peas do not contain the Diosodium EDTA.  In the brand we found, it contains Kombu Seaweed.

By the way, you can buy these dried, and soak and bake them yourself. I am looking into that variety as well.  I found another "dip" recipe that calls for black eyed peas to try, but I think we love the last one we found (in moderation with other healthy foods).

The holidays usually involve a lot of cookie baking, candy making and other comfort food making.  One is the traditional "Chex Mix" recipe that most people love.  Over the years, we stopped buying the three Chex cereals, and my Mom (when she was with us) started making it with just Crispix cereal.

It was Mom's favorite holiday treat to eat.  I have found a way to make it, but with organic/non-gmo ingredients.

The cereal we used this past Christmas, was Cascadian Farm multi-grain squares.  By the way, of course we could not find this in any stores in the area either.  I had to order it.  It was about as expensive as Crispix cereal is, but with no shipping cost.  It's a once a year treat, so I did order it to try.  By the way, it was kid tested too, and we all agree it was a good swap. 

I buy a non-gmo nut mix, which is also hard to find, but I can buy them in an area store.  There are no added bad oils in these deluxe mixed nuts.  Many nuts sold in stores have bad (unhealthy) oils added to them, and most people don't read the labels, because they think it's just "nuts" in the container.

And finally, you can now buy organic/non-gmo pretzels in stores.  They are sold in many stores here actually. 

That brings us to the last ingredient - garlic bagel chips, rye chips, or rye bagel chips.  You cannot find them organic anywhere, but you can bake your own sourdough rye bagels and make your own bagel chips if you prefer to add them.

As for the seasoning, I make my own onion powder, garlic powder, and our own homemade seasoned salt.  You can

 make your own butter as well, but we buy organic.

I have a question for sourdough bread bakers. . .

Do you have a recipe for sourdough rye bagels?    Is there such a thing?  Or can you direct me to a resource that has a recipe?  I have been looking online and have not been able to find a recipe.   I have not located a recipe book with such a recipe either, and our stores do not sell a sourdough rye bagel.  Or even just a rye bagel recipe maybe?  I don't mean a rye bread recipe either.  A bagel recipe.  Crazy request, but I thought I would ask here first.

We have a friend who is a sourdough baker, and she is just now experimenting with rye.  I may be visiting her for a sample yet.  We are just exploring more on the bread department of our diet.  She has offered me a sourdough starter, and I just might take her up on the offer.

As for more boring news, we took down the outside Christmas lights yesterday.  The weather is very warm this weekend, but rain is in the forecast for the entire day Sunday.  We have been talking about taking our tree down this weekend as well, and packing up the Christmas decorations.  I hope to be back with a more interesting blog spot next time.  Have a great weekend.  Enjoy the joy in every moment.

Chit Chat © December 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

New Cookie Recipe Tried ~ Homemade Body Wash

 

I know there is one more holiday approaching, but I hope you all had a very nice Christmas.  Our Christmas week is typically full of celebrations - our youngest's birthday, Christmas Day, and our Wedding Anniversary.  A lot to celebrate in one week for sure.

My husband only got Christmas day off of work this year.  It seems the kids also had to work the same days. 

Our weather is taking a turn for warmer temperatures, and tomorrow they expect it to be around 60°F here.  Crazy for sure.  However, it is the perfect weather to take down all of the outside Christmas lights.  I would love to keep them up for New Year's Eve, but the weather will turn right back to very cold temperatures by next weekend.

It's the perfect weather to work on outdoor projects, but the best weather days are during the week.  The home repair list is dwindling, but it's still lingering ha ha! 

Two of the kids are house shopping, and we are trying to help, but it's not a great time to buy right now.

I have been seeing a lot of cardinals here lately.  I do need to clean my windows ha ha!  Next time I will go outside to snap a photo.

We made one batch of our traditional butter cut out cookies (gave most of them to others), and one batch of a new einkorn recipe from Jovial recipes - Peanut Butter Blossoms.  They contain einkorn flour (no white flour), but they do contain granulated sugar and brown sugar.  I used the Hershey kisses, but these went to work with my husband for a treat.  We kept just a few for us.  They are very good.  Next time I will try breaking up an organic white chocolate or dark chocolate bar, and use those in place of the kiss candy.  I got 43 cookies using my small pampered chef scoop.

We also baked a healthier version of "chex mix" and have already given half of it away (one kiddo loves it).  We all love it, so I'll have a post on that soon.  It's a treat only at Christmas and New Year's Eve for us.

I'm still staying on track with my fitness, and otherwise healthy meals despite the holidays and cookies.  I have a few new salad recipes to try soon, and we are focusing on the freezer and pantry for the next month.  Other than buying  fresh vegetables and fruits, it should be a fun monthly meal plan.

I mixed up a new recipe to try - homemade body wash.  Winter brings dry skin, and I wanted to give it a try.  We do typically only use goat's milk soap, but this may help a bit more.   I'm only making a small amount to make sure I am not allergic to any of the ingredients.  I'll update on it after using it for a while.

In other news . . .

I was washing dishes, and saw something jumping around out in the yard.  It was this cat, and he/she (most likely a he by the coloring), was pouncing on something.  I had to laugh.  It was out hunting for food, and caught it.  I've see it hanging around before, but it's been weeks since I've seen it.  I could not get a close enough photo to see if it was a catch and release (tipped ear) cat.

I have not been watching he morning or evening news, so I really don't know what's going on in the "real" world lately.  I have spent more time sipping herbal tea and reading, and a few minutes of easy crochet work.  Once the weather turns cold again, I will check my yarn stash and start a new lap afghan.  I may have enough to donate by next winter (not enough time this year with home repairs/purging/cleaning, and re-organizing (but so worth it).

I have finally opened my new planner and started filling it in already.  Which reminded me about how people spend their entire day looking forward to the end of the day, or end of the week, instead of embracing the moments as they are in real time.  Don't forget to find joy in the present moments, as you can't get that time back.

Do you do anything "fun" to embrace a moment or moments in your day?  Sit outside and watch the birds?  Watch the sunrise or sunset?  Plant a new plant indoors?  I would love to hear your winter activities or plans.  

I was gifted a new planter container last May (gulp), and have yet to fill it.  I had planned to try and bring in Thai basil, but that failed.  Rosemary is very difficult for me to winterize indoors, so I'm looking into maybe another herbal plant.

I have not yet found any local line dancing, but we are continuously seeking out activities for us this winter.  If anything, we'll get some evening walks in.

New Cookie Recipe Tried ~ Homemade Body Wash © December 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Homemade "Velveeta" Review

 

We tried the homemade "Velveeta" in my traditional Christmas dinner Cheesy Potato Casserole.  It was pretty good, but we have a review on the taste.  Overall, it made the potato dish turn out a creamy texture and gooey goodness.

The original recipe (potato dish), that was given to me so many years ago, actually does not require "Velveeta" in the recipe.  Over the years, it was added for more creamy potatoes, as well as sour cream.

The original recipe for the homemade "Velveeta" called for mild cheddar cheese.  We both tasted it before using it, and we both felt there was not enough "cheese" flavor with using the mild cheese.  I will be making this again, but with medium cheddar.  Not sure if sharp would be too much, considering we use sharp cheddar in our potato dish as well.  We only bake this potato dish at Christmas time.

Results:  It's a heathier version of a creamy addition to a recipe.  First, the Velveeta spread sold in stores is not real cheese (and it's expensive for not even being real cheese).  The homemade version is very delicious, and you can rest knowing it's real cheese.  In my opinion, it's basically used to add a creamier cheese texture in whatever cheese dish you are cooking.

I would only be using this homemade version to make the traditional cheesy potato dish, or to make a stove top version of homemade Macaroni and Cheese (we have yet to try it in this).  I don't think I have any other uses for it in my recipes.  It may be a good substitution for a crockpot cheese based dip as well.

There are many recipes for homemade "Velveeta" online, but for ours, I used 1/3 cup powdered milk (organic is available), one packet of unflavored gelatin (you can also find this organic if you prefer), and one cup of boiling water.  Mix the ingredients in a food processor, and add 16 ounces of mild cheddar cheese (or cheddar of your choice) that has been grated (do this first, so it's ready to add right away).  The cheese mixture will thicken quickly.

Mix everything until it is creamy, and spread into a lined mold of your choosing (we just used a food container).  Place in the refrigerator until it's firm and use in any recipe.  I'm told it will last 2 weeks in the refrigerator, but I'm also reading you can freeze it.  I have not had the chance to try the freezer for this yet, but it may change your final texture of whatever you are using it in.

Homemade "Velveeta" Review © December 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Merry Christmas Eve

 

My Aunt sent me 10 different stuffed snowmen years before she passed away.   I love displaying them around the house, and it adds some Christmas sparkle to the air.

Merry Christmas Eve!  I have our make ahead Christmas morning breakfast ready to simply heat and eat on Christmas.

I'm not sure what the plan is for the day today, but I am sure I will at least get one type of cookie baked, and maybe more tomorrow.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas! 

Merry Christmas Eve © December 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

A Little Late ~ Attempt to Put the Jolly in the Holidays ~ Homemade Velveeta

 

Yes, we have Christmas themed bedding.  It is coming out of storage today.  I'm very behind, but it's happening.  In fact, I have another King Christmas comforter to give away, but it may be next Christmas.  The kids have apartments, and no room, nor a place to wash a King comforter.  Any who, I'm hoping the new view of the bedding will put a spark in our Christmas spirit. 

We've had some bumps in the road for sure this season.  I think it will make the house a bit "brighter" and happier.  I have a bad habit of worrying about things that rob my sanity and happiness.  Do you have a prayer in regards for not worrying?

As long as we have life, we have problems.  It's how to be able to laugh and smile, to get thru the problems, worry, or setbacks, and what not.

The Christmas tree is up, grocery shopping has taken place (although we had to go to three stores because most were lacking supplies), and we both got haircuts.  The haircuts were very overdue and a much needed day of pampering.  I got a hard water hair treatment, and WOW!  My hair is amazing now.  No brassy hard water.  We do have a water softener, but she sent me home with some hard water treatments too.

The chicken coop was mucked last Friday, so that is off the to-do list this week thankfully.  I have four filled boxes ready to take to donate (with another possibly getting filled today).

The small room we used for an office, is now put back together.  In fact, I can now store extra folding chairs in our storage area under the stairs, along with other items I won't have to take upstairs anymore.  Woohoo to that.  

I need to finish decorating the tree, and I can put the totes away, and tidy up the house.  The plan is to bake some Christmas cookies, and maybe candy in the next few days (maybe today).  I'll be honest, I have not been in a festive mood this year.  A good daily workout keeps me energized, but.....

The recent handyman wanted to start on our next repair project, but it involves part of the kitchen ceiling, so we said it can happen after the holidays.  We removed an old light, so the drywall needs patched, and then half of the ceiling painted and that project will be completed.

We have had one evening of driving around to see Christmas lights, but plan to go see more.  I do miss my jolly holiday self this year, so I'm hoping some Christmas music will do the trick.  I normally would be busy creating a new ornament, but my siblings (most) do not put up a tree anymore.  Even my husband said I haven't been "crafty" lately, and I should work on something.  I don't know.  I can start another lap afghan, but I needed a break from that.

Jar openers are on the list for my on-the-go project. Apparently, I did not write the pattern down correctly, so I will be re-writing that today.  It should not take that long to do.  I have the supplies, and thought I could make these my "crafty" project for now, and donate them along with the lap afghans to senior centers, adult living facilities, and have them on hand for host/hostess gifts or just gifting.

I know what my Mom felt like at the holidays now.  When all of us adult kids started having our own families, she was alone more often.  I get it now, as our kids are building their own families.  However, I am also trying to focus on making our own couple traditions as well.  I really miss calling Mom and discussing life in general, health issues, advice and the like.  I do not have an elderly person left in our family.  I may have to adopt someone's Grandma.

On the try-it list - homemade "Velveeta" 

I made this yesterday, so we plan to taste test it today or tomorrow.  There is a traditional dish that we have (or used to have, as we don't get together at the holidays anymore).  I got the recipe from a friend at work, many, many years ago.  The recipe requires Velveeta in it - Cheesy Baked Potatoes.  I haven't used Velveeta since the kids were born (that long ago).  It is also an ingredient in my Mom's stove top Macaroni and Cheese.  She never had a recipe, but I think I could remember how to make it.  That's the plan if this tastes good and works well when baking and cooking.

We hope it works out well, and I have read that it freezes well too, as it only lasts about two weeks after it's made.  The recipe is very simple, and is made very quickly.  When I processed it, it not only smelled good, but tasted good.  I'll be back with an update.  I just used a container as my mold, as I did not have a 1 pound loaf (mini) pan.  

A Little Late ~ Attempt to Put the Jolly in the Holidays ~ Homemade Velveeta © December 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Taste Test ~ Black Bean and Corn Dip

 

As per my last post, I am back to share the taste test on this new recipe (dip).

We decided to add feta cheese to it.  I tasted it prior to adding the cheese, and it was more bland.  The only "flavor" was the red onion in this recipe.  It is healthy, so don't let that stop you from trying it.  It is a healthy appetizer to make or make and take to gatherings.  It's great for a snack or light lunch.

Taste test results?  We love it!  Serve with tortilla chips of your preference.

Recipe is Black Bean and Corn Dip

Recipe is online from:  What Molly Made

I had to buy the fresh red bell pepper, fresh cilantro, and fresh green onions for this recipe, but think how nice it would be to make this in the summer with your garden goodness.

I could not find organic candy canes this season, but after two years of searching, I found this organic candy cane syrup (I love a mint hot mocha/hot chocolate).  It does not expire until spring of 2025, and thank goodness for that.  It is made with organic cane sugar, so it is not sugar free (gulp!).  It's a treat for sure.  I do wish it came in a smaller bottle.  I may have to share with the kids.  I wonder if I could freeze half of this?

I hope your holiday spirit is in a good place this season.  It is very quickly approaching.

Taste Test ~ Black Bean and Corn Dip © December 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart