Pioneer Woman at Heart

  I got a bit more cauliflower blanched and froze.  It's hit or miss at the store, so I grab it when I see it.  We did not grow any over the summer.  I asked my husband to bring home sweet potatoes, and he said they did not have any.  It's a growing concern.  I will watch for them, and mash and freeze when I do see them. Getting to the store during the week is about hit or miss as well.  Guess who has to go get more wood for the floor?  So, yeah, my truck is borrowed way too much for my liking.  I have already had the discussion with my husband, that if we hire someone we know, they must have their own vehicle, and we'll get supplies over a weekend.  I'm just (whining I know) tired of not being able to just go when I please, get my hair cut, etc. I didn't get any answer yesterday on to blanch or not to blanch butternut squash, so I guess I will try and do more research.  I am unable to get to any of my homesteading books right now. ...

  I haven't lost my mind with this living room project just yet.  Getting to town is hit or miss.  The truck is needed to haul wood and blocks etc.   Also, I get so excited to add a new recipe to my "Christmas" binder and then realize it is buried in the office.   I got excited about a free ornament pattern to make for a daughter, then realize the yarn I need is upstairs.   Patience....patience..... Another thing about shopping is, for some reason, prices at our Kroger are much higher for some items that are sold online with their sister store - vita-cost. Literally.  I just ordered items, free shipping, and right to my door.  I needed almond flour and other items, and I also noticed that Monkfruit sweetener is much cheaper at our nearest Big Lots.  I have to do hurdles, but will be really watching where to buy things we need. My husband had to stop at Home Depot for more flooring supplies and brought me home these.  I won...

  I had to order the yarn to make this for our youngest daughter.  It's a bit larger than I thought for a Christmas tree ornament, but it turned out super cute.   There is a story behind the safety cone.  If you have been following my blog, you know that her high school boyfriend and his bed friend died in a car accident, the night before her graduation party. Prior to that happening, she hosted a surprise birthday party for him at our house.  They never woke us up in the night, surprisingly.   The next morning, it was awfully quiet.  I came into the kitchen to brew coffee, and lifted my eyebrows when I saw a giant safety cone on my kitchen table.  I kid you not.  I just chuckled and went back to my bedroom sipping my hot coffee. The boys, apparently had a history with taking these cones from various places and returning them later. Hence the safety cone Christmas ornament to lift her spirits and always make her chuckle when sh...

I baked us some healthy banana cookies.  It takes organic oats, bananas, oil and I used diced apples in place of the dates.  I have no access to my  home canned applesauce to cut the oil, but anyway.... They tasted great.  Good enough to eat more than one, but I will add more cinnamon and nutmeg next time.   Recipe is from Allrecipes, called something like Healthy banana cookies?  Anyway, my husband loved them and the oats did not make his sugar go up thankfully.  They say oats can affect people differently. I also make a new dinner recipe called chicken bruschetta casserole.  You dice the chicken and cook it first, layer it in a 8 x 8 baking dish, and top with goodies.  I simple used a 1/2 pint of "Bruschetta in a Jar" I canned, then added some mozzarella cheese.  It was good, but I think it would be more beneficial to simply can canned tomatoes and add the garlic, fresh basil etc. to the dish.  I forgot to take a photo, but w...

  To make the new breakfast casserole, I needed sausage.  The recipe called for Italian, but I simply used my homemade sausage recipe , by swapping out the pork with lean ground turkey.  I put the extra into the freeze for other meals. I made a new breakfast casserole, but after putting it together it is basically like a bake I make, only the potatoes are swapped out with cauliflower.  It's very good, but I will season it up next time with either jalapenos, garlic or fire powder.  I topped it with dandelion greens as well.   Today, I am on the hunt for someone to at least remove the popcorn ceiling.  Wish we luck.  Nothing is cheap anymore.  We can do the painting, but I have never removed the popcorn ceiling.  The floor work is slow going right now, which is driving me crazy.   I signed up to make rolls for one Thanksgiving, and yesterday realized, I cannot get to my recipes.  They are buried in my office, where the ...

  I finally got to the grocery store.  I noticed that they now only sell one type of tahini now.  They used to carry about 6 different brands.  I also noticed the peanut butter selection is much smaller.   In the midst of trying to find the tahini, we had a conversation with a woman who was shocked at the price of eggs right now.  Then we were talking about hummus and found out she could not eat chickpeas, so I told her she could make hummus with pumpkin, black beans, beets etc.  She was so happy to find that out and said she grew pumpkins this year.  Anyway, nice lady and I was glad I could share with her. We had our first snowfall.  It's officially winter.  It snowed all day, but melted away.  Nice big snowflakes too.  They kind that make you want to hunker in and crochet.  I did that too, only due to the fact I can't really do anything, other than tidy up the boot area in the hallway (I may do that today). I was th...

  Daughter K came for a visit.  I completely forgot to have her go thru the Christmas stuff in the garage.  I guess that will be next visit. The living room floor is ready for it to go back in, but not until starting Monday.  He "doesn't work weekends."  Also, he said his back is hurting.  Not what we wanted to hear. In the meantime, I have a family member coming out to give us a quote on cleaning the gutters.  The leaves are all down, and it needs to be done. Daughter E's cat Tiger finally got the vet and got his shot. He's is feeling much better and eating again.  I found his special food online and he's a happy cat (can't find it in any store anymore). Not sure what the weekend will entail, but I do know we need to get all the porch furniture put into storage for the winter.  Right now the porch is literally the only place to sit, other than in our bedroom.  Yes, it's part of my stir-craziness.  I'm trying to be patient, but....