Kitchen Weekend ~ More New Recipes (Can you stand it?)

The weekend was pretty prosperous.  Hubby needs a motorcycle helmet, so he offered to tote the younger two around for their needs (one is attending prom next month), while I stayed home.

Although two kiddos were out, two were also in.  That gave me more dog walkers, so I stocked up on homemade condensed cheddar soup.  Two more "cans" made it to the freezer.

Puppy Casualty

I had a nice blog post ready to post, with this photo, but the story quickly changed.  Zuri had been sleeping on the new rug, and kind of took it over from the other dogs.  It made me smile that she liked the warmth and comfort of it.  And the fact she would stay out from under my feet.

However......

Homestead Happenings

As I crocheted and watched the news,  was hoping that the weather forecast was wrong (as it is most times).  They were right.  Well, right on one thing - snow.  The weather man kept stating to watch for "thunder snow."  I didn't see rain or hear thunder, but the white stuff returned.  It's already melting, so I'm not worried.  Or should I be?  It will be a low 20°F tonight.  And more rain.  And more snow. 

 It is nice to see it so bright out today, but by Wednesday it should be gone.  It rained for 3-4 days straight before this arrived, so it's a swamp out there (soon to be an ice rink).  Good thing I have spikes for my boots too. 

Homemade Bagels

We've been having weird weather again.   It's cold, cloudy, raining and a few spurts of hail.  We do not need more rain, but my garlic loves it.  

I was a bit flabbergasted yesterday morning, when I realized I had nothing to blog about (other than the weather).  One daughter joked she would do something funny, but sadly got on the school bus and left.

There I was, staring into cyberspace, sucking down strong coffee, attempting to will myself into a long walk on the treadmill, when it hit me - bagels.

Homestead Happenings ~ The Rug is Done!

Our daughter named the one on the left "Dallas."  Both Dallas and Jackson are enjoying the grass already.  Although this week has been cold, they love it here.  Dallas is very friendly, but Jackson is a bit timid yet.

I can tell already they know who "Mom" is as well.  As soon as Daughter walks near the barn (where they can see her approaching), they run inside to her.  Of course she is the food supplier, so they know.  So funny to see them so attached to her already.

Puppy Update

Zuri is not getting much larger in the way of height, but getting muscular.  She's very curious of everything around here outside and inside.  She has a very particular "stranger danger" bark as well as King.  You can't sneak past them without them hearing you.  She gets along with the cats, but hasn't quite understood the goats yet.  King wants to lick the goats and give them kisses.

Happy Homemaker Monday

I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom, for Happy Homemaker Monday.  Enjoy!

Breakfast time....what is on the plate this morning. . .
~ organic toast with organic peanut butter, coffee (I got a late start, and a sluggish one)

Motivation

My husband is a very hard working man.  We often sacrifice your life for the needs of our kids.  What parent doesn't?

We spend our hard earned money on cars, repairs, school,clothing, school trips to D.C., bicycles, skate boards, pets, swimming lessons, horse riding lessons, musical instruments and lessons, voice lessons, college, and so many other wants and needs.  Life goes by too fast, and before we realize we haven't done anything for ourselves (but hard work).

We have gotten the puppies for us, but they are family dogs too.  We also take more time for our marriage, now that the kids are older.  So what's next?

Mac n' Cheese with Homemade Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup ~ Snow Return-eth

We are still messing around with baked macaroni and cheese recipes.   This one was required canned condensed cheddar soup, so I made some from scratch.

The recipe I used was pretty simple.  It does not contain chopped onion, or breaded topping (which I prefer), and it was very creamy.  Hubby is stuck on a very old recipe that my Mom gave me using (gulp) Velveeta.  I keep trying to tell him it's not food, so this recipe may be the one to convince him to ditch the bad so-called cheese.  We'll do the reheat test today and see if it reheats creamy.  It tasted much, much better than the crock pot recipe I make using ricotta.  You could play around with other cheeses with this recipe too.  I may be typing it up to share.

Random Tidbits

I've been doing some more deep cleaning. Dumping drawers, sorting, purging, tossing, re-organizing.  I'm purging like a mad woman this year. I saved those days for rainy days.

And look at this.  I don't think I need any new bandanas for outdoor work and camping this year.  Ha!  They are all washed and ready for the season.

Camping Lantern Dilema

I have been searching for a replacement bulb for this battery operated camping lantern for two years.

Garden Time

I've been spending more time in the garden and with outdoor chores.  The garlic is weeded, the asparagus is weeded, and the sticks are getting picked up.

I loaded up a cart of firewood and stocked the hearth. Barns are getting a good spring cleaning, debris picked up that blew in over winter, and so forth.  The temperatures are typical too.  High's in the 60's in the middle of the week and down to lows of 27 over the weekend.  

I got all the fruit trees pruned (apple, pear, plum, peach and elderberry).  I am tickled pink to see the plum tree made it.  Yay!  I just have to buy and replant the red raspberry and blackberry.

Breakfast Fun ~ Random Tidbits

I've been playing around with new breakfast recipes.  This one I printed from the internet, and is a diabetic friendly dish.  I like their recipes (Diabetic Living recipes online), because they are very healthy recipes.  This one won over.  Everyone liked it.  Some grocery stores sell non-gmo/organic hash browns in the organic freezer section, or you could make them from organic potatoes too.  If you google it, it's called "Sweet Pepper Hash Brown Baked Eggs."  It was sort of fun to make this too.

Herbal Coffee ~ Mini Pineapple Crochet Applique ~ Tidbits

I placed an order for the Teccino herbal coffee sampler reently.  I wanted to give it a taste test before introducing it to my Mom.  She really can't drink regular coffee, and decaf can (from what I read) contain traces of caffeine.  

This coffee was rated organic, and made with various nuts, fruits, and herbs.  These are completely caffeine free.  I'll let you all know how they taste.  They are all non-gmo as well.

Update on Chicks ~ We have blooms! ~ The Surprise (new additions)

My little ladies are not that little any longer.  They are growing quickly.

I'm starting to teach them the call to come for a treat.  I need to get some meal worms next. 

Surprise Mail and Other Homestead Happenings

There is a lot going on this weekend.  One surprise I can't tell you about until tomorrow.

The mail surprise was a blessing. My cousin messaged me that he had his Mom's knitting needles and crochet hooks and wanted to know if I'd like to have them.

I said yes of course.  My Aunt is the Aunt I hand wrote letters to so often, along with "happy boxes."

Zippy Carrots ~ Tidbits

I've been flipping trough the new recipes and picking out ones I have ingredients on hand for.  The next to try was a side dish - Zippy Carrots.

I you freeze carrots and green bell peppers, grow garlic, can ketchup, make your own butter, you'll like this "from storage" side dish. 

I'll admit, plain carrots are boring anyway. I used all organic ingredients.

Gettin' Cold Again ~ Random Tidbits

I had the most amazing day on Tuesday.  I was able to spend several minutes on the front porch.   The weather was awesome.  I cleaned almost everything on Monday, so I felt much less guilty partaking in the porch on Tuesday.

I took out several books and decided on one that I purchased on a recent getaway by James Patterson.

I am also reading (or skimming) through library books.  Currently, I am skimming through one titled "Tonics"  but actually has meal recipes in it.  I can't say yet that I would buy it, but I'm finding a few I may want to try (ha!  Here I go again!).  I ordered this book from the library because I thought it would have tea recipes.

Ground Chickory Root -~ Herbal Coffee ~ Tidbits

There are some days I have the hankering for a coffee in the middle of the day.  I don't buy decaffeinated coffee.  Although, I noticed our grocer just started carrying an organic decaffeinated coffee.

I've known for a long time that chickweed root can be ground for a coffee flavored, healthy drink, but haven't grown it here (yet).  We've see a few around, but not enough to dig up.

Signs of Spring ~ Herb Bread

The daffodils and hyacinths are up and about to bloom.  No signs of tulips, except at my little garden alongside a log.  I hope to start bringing in fresh flowers soon. Once again the weather people were wrong.  The high 70's that were forecasted for early this week?  Not happening.  If we are lucky, we'll get up to maybe 60°F today, then drop to the 40's and 50's for a few weeks (or so they say).

Camping Prep ~ Crochet Projects

Remember all those English Walnuts we bartered for?  I was still cracking them this month.  Apparently, the kids have lost their mojo with helping me.

The shells are always saved from these walnuts.  My older brother and his wife gift me their cardboard egg cartons.  

Four dozen campfire starters are in the making today, and I have more shells.

From Pile to File ~ Random Tidbits

I really liked this new recipe we tried recently - Pasta with Spinach and Ricotta.

You boil 8 oz. of rotini pasta and drain.  They suggested the tri-color veggie noodles, but I can only find organic regular noodles.

While the noodles are boiling, drain and squeeze a frozen and thawed box of  chopped spinach (or use equivalent of homegrown).  Place in a 12 inch skillet, add 1 minced clove and heat 5 minutes.  Add 1 cup ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup water and 1 1/2 Tbsp (I didn't measure) of Parmesan cheese.  Add salt and pepper.  When heated, add drained rotini and serve.  

I doubled it for our family, and had to buy the spinach, but I can typically find organic ricotta at our one grocer.  It was very good.  I had practically no leftovers.

Homemade Pomegranate Syrup

I'm sharing yet another new recipe.  I had already written this recipe down on a recipe card, so once again, I have no idea where I obtained it.  I'm sure I've had it in my recipe pile for over 6 years or so.

I'm sharing because there are days when I am hankering for pancakes for waffles and have no syrup on hand.

You make this by using pomegranate juice and honey:

First Herbs ~ New Additions to the Homestead ~ Tidbits

I am happy to say my herb garden is springing to life again.  I chopped my first chives of this year.  Boy was it a good feeling.  My kids thought I was nuts when they saw me smelling them while walking in the house.

They went into the butter I made for the steaks yesterday, and I chopped more for eggs.  It really is a good feeling. 

I also added a tab divider in my recipe box.  I reads "butters."

Guess what I brought home? 

Open Window Weather

These few pieces of furniture made there way out to the porch over a week ago (tee hee).  Although there was a teensy chill, I opened windows (again). 

I tried another "new" recipe from the pile last night - overnight french toast casserole.  I didn't really follow it completely, and used a topping recipe from another recipe.  It was good, and easy to make.  Just very sweet, so a vegetable hash side would have been nice.

Rainy Day Advantage ~ Tidbits

I had two jobs on the list for rainy days.  One - a good overall cleaning of the master bathroom.  Two -  my bedroom closet.  The closet won.

I never did finish the closet last fall, so I chose to dig into that job first.   That is what I was doing when I got a text message from Hubby to pack my bags and that we were leaving for the weekend (last weekend).  

I had tossed all my clothes out of the closet and onto the floor.  Hubby thought I had lost my mind.  I went through each piece, purging anything I had not worn and re-organizing.  It's Hubby's turn to purge next.

He did it again . . .

I'll be honest.  Losing an hour of time is no fun.  I'm downing coffee like it's water this morning.  Maybe I should just go to bed for an hour and start over?  

Oh wait.  I can't. I have another kid sick this morning.  She was fine last night, and them boom, she's sick today.  She can't even swallow.

Back to who "did it again."

March "Dishcloth of the Month"

I have a feeling that these "dishcloths of the month" will be put into a box for when the first kid gets their first house.  A set of them would make a nice house warming gift.

Puppy Mayhem ~ Random Tidbits

Zuri had just had play time with the other pups and was finally going down for a nap.  I had to wait to get photos. All of the photos I tried to take earlier, were all blurry.  Even this photo is sort of blurry.  They were zipping around the house playing.  The don't sit still unless they are soundly sleeping.

Early Spring? Coffee Cup Cup Coaster

The weather has turned a gorgeous warm spring week.  I know rain is on the way though.

I stole a few minutes of morning porch time after washing three days of dirty dishes.  Yeah, you heard me right.  With the kids working, one in school, and one sick, it was not on the urgent list.

Sick Kiddo

Our youngest daughter is back from her D.C. class trip.  However, she came home sick.  Sunday morning her temperature rose to 102.7.  

I quickly heated a cup of herbal tea with herb infused honey (which has been a lifesaver for her throat and keeping her hydrated).

In a short time she was sleeping and her fever reduced.  While she slept, I whipped up some homemade ginger-ale syrup, and sent the Hubster to town for club soda.

Homemade Hand Sanitizer

I found this recipe in my "try it" stash pile.  I must have printed it way back in 2010.  You'll probably laugh, but I even found a crochet pattern in my "recipe stash."

Youngest was still in elementary school, and I had been recycling school papers for printer paper.

Homemade Granola

Sharing another recipe we've been making here for a few years now.  We love this version and have gifted it many times.  I use organic/non gmo ingredients.

Random Tidbits ~ Puppy Mayhem

I opened the fridge, only to find some grated zucchini I had thawed.  Not letting it go to waste, I made us some zucchini muffins.

These come in handy for a healthy after school, or take to work, snack.  Do you think I can count is as a vegetable? Ha ha!

My stove was already heated up, so I turned down the heat and picked out another recipe in the pile.  Don't worry, I won't share every new recipe.

A "Pile to File" Recipe ~ Cranberry Nut Clusters

I had a stash of chocolate left from last Christmas.  I had cashews that I had not yet made Curried Cashews with, and I had some organic dried cranberries for salads.

....and I had 10 minutes before my washing machine was done.

I made Cranberry Nut Clusters.  Easy, quick and delicious.  Another new, and amazingly quick, recipe.

Hear Ye, Hear Ye! ~ From Pile to File Recipe

I finished going through the remaining older recipes, and all have been purged, copied or double copied.  Extras went to the girls, and heirloom recipes passed down.  It was hard to decide on so many of them too.  Many of my grandmother's recipes for dessert required instant pudding and jello mixes.  A few called for pop like 7-Up or Teem.

The only recipes left, are ones that I have not yet tried.  I'll be honest, I purged that pile already, and have reduced it.  There are still some that may yet go from "stash to trash."

Random Tidbits

Our 14 year-old daughter is on the way to D.C. with her 8th grade class today.  They return Saturday.  She's the last one in the family to go.   Although big snow flakes are falling , the weather is pretty nice for them today, so they should have a fun time.   Praying for a safe trip.

It has been, and will continue to be a busy week of running kids here and there.

Barf Cookies ~ An already in the file recipe

Recipes seem to lurk all around my kitchen.  Even though I am on the road to completely being organized (a bunch of larky), I realized I had a recipe box in one cupboard that I haven't opened for years.

Actually, we only opened it to access cookie/candy recipes at Christmas.

I decided to empty that cupboard, purge, wipe it out and start tossing recipes from the box.  One recipe book went to one of the girl's hope chest for when she moves out.  One recipe book will go to the library as a donation.

I found fun recipes in the process.  Like one from Jr. High School Home Economics class, ha ha!

And one of my mother's family favorite, hand-me-down, recipes - Barf Cookies.

Houseplant Experiment ~ Random Tidbits

My re-potted succulent plants had a few bits of plants break off. 

We have placed them in starter cups in hopes to bring them to grow new plants.  

We'll let you know if they grow this way.  According to the internet sources, I think we are doing it right.  The girls have given each one a name. 

Random Tidbits

My hens were treated with a tray of over ripe fruit.  I'll be honest, I have never fed citrus to my hens and rooster.  Those scraps always went to the goats.

I wasn't sure if they would be interested, but they ate the entire tray.   I repurposed a tray used to bake a giant coolie with.  Cleaning has it's advantage.

They absolutely love rotten bananas.  So if I don't feel like whipping up banana muffins or bread it goes to them.

A Dose of Cuteness

These new puppies are so spoiled.  Allowed to snooze on the couch?  Ha!

Snow Arrived ~ Project Progress ~ Extreme clean ~ Sickness and a Discovery

Our snow arrived, and we are going through many old towels from wiping paws off.   I'd rather have the snow then the previous pouring down sleet we had.  School closed yesterday.

Jasper found the sun spot the other day.  He gets along with Zuri just fine, but King has too much energy for him. 

How my Mind Works ~ Think "give a Mom a muffin"

The day I delivered my 84 year-old Dad some home cooked meals, I gave myself a reason to visit two stores while in town. 

Pssst!  You're gonna need a cup of something to sip and read through this today, ha ha!

I went straight in, bought what I needed, and headed for the front of the store.  I was in the last store before returning home.

I raced down the aisle, hoping the speed would burn more calories, but came to a halt.  The clearance shelves.  Yikes!
There in front of me was a beautiful kitchen rug.  The kind you put in front of your sink.

Random Tidbits

The lack of snow, and abundance of sunshine is being enjoyed here at the homestead.  The ladies and Sparta are getting much needed dirt baths, exercise, grit, and sunshine.  Watching them roam about, makes this gal smile.

Building a Recipe Box

I bought this recipe box many years ago (old photo, hence the peaches).  I tried to contact the box company to get another one, and failed.  Then forgot about it.  Then I tried emailing again.  Again their email system is either not working or they are out of business.

I went online and could not find one suitable either, or found them too expensive.  I shopped at three stores, and looked a craft supply companies online - nothing.

Happy Homemaker Monday

Joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom today.

Sunday Sunshine

Hubby and I had a wonderful date yesterday.  It was an unplanned "date" out.  The day was absolutely wonderful for February, so we took advantage of it.

We drove to town and parked the car.  We shopped at locally owned stores and even sipped a hot coffee at a popular (also locally owned, by someone who I graduated from high school with) coffee house/used book store.  I was tempted to come home with a book, but knew I better get home to read the ones I already have.

After picking up chicken feed, and other necessities, we retreated to the front porch.  Ahhh, porch time.  What a blessing it was.  Fun day, and ended fun.  Hubby beat me at two games of cards too.

Thoughts, Plots and Knots ~ Gratitude

It seems the best thoughts and plots come to my brain when I am exercising, and I can't write them down.  I had a recorder at one time, so I'll have to do more cleaning and see if I can find it.

The exercise is starting to balance out now.  The tight knots I had in my hips and back are working themselves out.


I'm quite honestly running out of steam for this "extreme" clean going on here.  Although, I must be spreading motivational thoughts into my kid's heads.  I see them cleaning quite often in their rooms lately.

Don't throw tomatoes,

Rosemary Infused Red Wine Update

A week has passed, and the infused red wine was ready to taste.  I poured Hubby and I a glass just before dinner.  

I paired it with a beef/potato/veggie plate.  Not that I am a wine connoisseur, but anyway....

The taste? 

I will not be defeated.... ~ Foxtail and a Puppy

Remember that baby blanket I started four years ago?

Well, evidently, I used the wrong yellow yarn to make all 96 of those yellow center flowers, so I have to make them all over again with the right yarn.  They are too big.