Pioneer Woman at Heart

I had a busy day Tuesday.  Once I had the chickens tended, I headed to town to do some paperwork with my younger brother.  I then ran some stuff to Daughter E, and went to a couple of stores, and completely forgot to pick up chicken feed. Once I was back home, I had dishes to wash, dry and put away, only to start baking a breakfast and dinner for the day, and finish up more laundry. It felt weird, but I made a small batch of blueberry pancakes and cooked some locally made blueberry maple sausages for breakfast for a few days.  I typically make a giant batch of pancakes, that's why I said "weird."   I tried another new recipe.  Thanks to my dear friend for asking me to help her with freezer meal ideas, I came across this one - Taco Stew.  I've made taco soup before, but this was amazing.  I told my husband, that it was almost better than chili.  I changed a few things, like using home canned tomato (herbed) sauce, and added homemade taco seaso...

I intended to take a photo of the casserole with cheese (fresh out of the oven), but it smelled so good we scooped and ate right away. The only thing I did differently, was mix the pepper in with the onion (vs. sprinkle on top the cheese).  Well, that's not the only thing I did differently, I also used sage sausage vs. ground beef, and used home canned pizza sauce vs. tomato sauce.   It was delicious.  I think it smelled divine, because it was home canned pizza sauce.   I froze the other half of it, so we had an easy meal for another night. Just google the name of the recipe, and Taste of Home.  Recipe is online. Great way to use your zucchini this season (and for us avoiding pasta), and using up some home canned pizza sauce.

We didn't have to make breakfast Sunday.  Our niece and her husband invited us over.   To top that off, she baked my husband's favorite cheesecake.  I'm sure we'll be sharing as he shouldn't be eating it, ha ha!  So good though. We picked up another load of stuff at Mom's house.  There is much more to do there.  I just put all the gardening stuff in the barn and will go thru it all after we finish the kitchen floor project. Sorry for my lateness this morning.  I am easily distracted with my multitasking today. Joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.  It is Monday right?! Ha ha!  Oh boy.... The weather . . . 34°F/21°F As I look outside my window . . . Nothing but gray skies right now. Right now I am . . . Doing too much multitasking and not enough of one job, ha ha! Thinking and pondering . . . Trying to figure out a plan for today.  I have to start moving Daughter K's stuff to an area not in my way, and out of my kitchen....

The funeral home is the last place I wanted to be last night, but we went to visitation, regarding the young 22 year old that went missing.  The mother works where my husband works.  I'm still a little rough around the edges, and emotions were a bit sparked by being there, but glad we went.  She was so happy to see us.  She came to my surprise birthday party years ago. It's tough to see this happen, as we have a 22 year old as well.  It's not said how she passed, other than she went missing, they went out searching and found her too late.  It's just so heart breaking for the family. Woke up to snow.  Not much, but UGH!  We went from several dreary, windy days to this.  I hope it's gone by tomorrow. Sheesh.  My daffodils are already coming up.

  Check out my new round cake carrier!  I just love it.  I have had a Tupperware one for maybe 30 years and this replaced it.   It can be used for all sorts of make and take foods as well.   I wiped down the wooden towel stand that was in the smaller bathroom, and it will go to the road for free this weekend weather permitting.  The bathroom has no linen closet, so I have a wall unit that now holds the towels and washcloths.  Daughter K is coming for a weekend in April, and after that we'll be ripping stuff out of there soon. I'm still debating on replacing the sink, mirror and wall light.  I could paint it, but then there is the garden too.  It's a small bathroom, so the sink is pretty small compared to a normal bathroom.  Not sure if we would even be able to find one that size.  Time will tell, so will the pocket book. We have not gotten the estimate on the kitchen floor main work, but have been making plans ourselv...

  I spent the good half of the day yesterday in the kitchen.  I felt bad my husband had nothing to take to work for breakfast. I made a sweet potato (organic hannah), bacon with greens hash, topped with eggs.  It was so good too. I also made a pecan sour cream coffee cake with Georgia pecans.  Oh my goodness!  So good.  New recipe I tired. Dinner was homemade meatballs with a sauce made from home canned barbeque sauce, garlic from the garden and a bit of honey, on a bed of wild rice.  I wanted broccoli in it, but that didn't happen. Cleaning also resumed, after a mountain of dishes were done, and dishwasher ran two times.  It was a beautiful 60°F day, but too windy to enjoy the front porch. The local professionals stopped in last night to take a look at our first project - kitchen floor/new joist/new sub floor.  They took measurements and asked questions.  The estimate will be emailed soon.  My husband is 99% sure we'll be doin...

Took advantage of good weather and got the chicken coop mucked, and just before the rain moved in.  I did a little bit of sweeping on the front porch, and swept living room. Craft stuff put away until big repairs are complete.   I really don't have time to create right now.  I will try to carve out a break time for my self some how. I guess I'll be collecting more boxes.  I have two more cupboards to empty. I purchased a new toilet paper holder for the bathroom remodel.  It pivots up, and has no spring thing to deal with.  It should arrive today. My kitchen is full of boxes that Daughter K needs to come and move yet.  Sigh....I do not like my house looking so chaotic.  In time it will be looking spiffy. Here is our big job to-do list for this year: 1. Rip out some counter tops and cupboards, rip up flooring and sub floor, replace joists, re-do sub floor and complete new flooring, put cupboards and counter top back in, hutch back in, and re-fi...