Teabag Tidbits and other randomness

We had a plethora of cardinals yesterday.  Sorry for the dirty window, and lawn furniture in the way of your view.

There were over a dozen.  I was taking photos quickly, so sorry they are out of focus too.  I couldn't believe there were so many of them in one place.


One of my daughters came out for a visit yesterday.  I was just thinking about her too.  She typically is the only daughter (that's moved out) that comes to visit anymore.  I do enjoy her company.

I had so much to do yesterday, that reading time was very limited.  I hope I can finish my book, but I do have a crochet order as well.  

We have a long week of no sunshine this week.  I have had all the lights on, which I know won't shrink my inflated electric bill, but man.

I managed to make a trip to the library, just to get out of the house for a short spell.

Seed catalogs have arrived.  I am trying to make a conscious effort to downsize, just in case we have a rotten spring.  I can't go in debt with spending and no bounty from it.  It's tough to figure out what to continue to grow and what to cut out of the list.  I miss my popcorn, but I can buy non-gmo about 3 hours from here, which lasts for us.  I know I will order more garlic.  I doubt what I planted (so late too) in the grow bags last fall will amount to much of anything.

We have officially run out of wood.  We got zero cut last night.  Hubby took had overtime.

Happy Homemaker Monday

Thankfully, we didn't get much snow over the weekend.  It was cold, but not too cold.  However, we didn't get a lick of wood split.  We had lunch with the grandkids and who knew playing barbies and trucks and cars could be so exhausting (ha ha!).  We plan on cutting wood (gulp) every night this week after he gets off work.  

...and of course the pellet stove has not been installed.  I'm going to print out his "to-do" list so he can see it daily.  Maybe that will motivate him.

I made us a crock pot chicken Mexican style soup over the weekend. Although corn (cutting this out of the menu more often) was added, it was very good.  I am so glad I found this Chia and Quinoa tortilla chips (all organic ingredients).  Hubby can add a tiny bit of crunch and a small dollop of organic sour cream (although now I have to also watch the cholesterol a bit more).

Russell Crow (aka rooster) has not charged at me since the other incident.  Not sure if he was just having a bad day or what.

Speaking of chicken, I'm having a horrible time locating organic turkey.  I even tried the organic farm 1 hour from our place.  Nope.  I guess I'll be trying the health store today.  

I have a new recipe to try this week.  Crossing my fingers I get the time to make it.  

Today I'm joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.


The weather outside is . . .
In the 30's all week, cloudy.


How I am feeling this morning . . .
Good.

On my mind . . .
A possible winter getaway for a night, Daughter's upcoming grad party (what foods to prepare), and the garden(s) and seed orders.



On the breakfast plate  . . .
Eggs, Ezekiel bread and jelly, coffee

On my reading pile . . .

On my TV . . .

Watched the last season of The Ranch.  I think they ended it very nicely and I think there were tears in the room.

On my to-do list . . . 

Laundry
Master bath
Dump Ash Bucket

Kitchen - dishes, counters, floors

Carpets swept

Dust

Make homemade foaming hand soap
Clean coffee pot (it's brewing pretty slow today)

On my to-do list this week . . .

Can jelly

Library visit

Make lotions and lip balm
Still working on cleaning utility room, will start washing windows (inside only) soon.
Figure out a "on the go" breakfast for the next few days

On the menu this week . . . 

-Cabbage/tomato/ground beef stew type dish

-Flounder, brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes

-One pan dinner - organic chicken sausage/sweet takes/onion and asparagus

Have no idea yet.  

What I am creating . . .

The last order - Xl pot holder in gray.  I still need to write the list of what I need restocked, so I can stay on track.

From the camera . . .

We saw this over the weekend in another town.  I love the idea of recycling the newspaper/magazine stands into free food pantries.  There is much need for it I am sure.  

Chore I am not looking forward to today . . .

Not really a chore, but more of self care chore - working out.

To relax this week I will . . .

Write and read.

On my prayer list . . .

Mom

Philly Fritatta ~ Gloomy Weather

A bit late in sharing, but remember the "philly" stuffed peppers I made?  Well, we had some leftover steak, and green pepper/onion mix.  Guess what I used it for?  Although omelets sounded good, I baked up a "philly" frittata.

I added some extra red bell pepper diced.  Mushrooms would have been nice too, but I was fresh out.  

I topped it with fresh parsley.  I should have added more garlic, but it was very good.  I did not add cheese to this either.

It seems like 99% of my day rotates around the kitchen with baking/cooking and doing the dishes.  Literally.  Saturday my husband took overtime, so while we got more rain, he went to work.  Youngest daughter went to visit her boyfriend, so I took advantage of an empty house, on a rotten weather day and crocheted.  I should have been cleaning again, but I have one more order to fill.

Tiger ~ Grape Jelly ~ Weather ~ Canning Journal

I was at the computer writing up my post yesterday morning, and it was raining. I kept hearing something in the window and thought it was rain.  Not so.  I pulled back the curtain, and Tiger was on the windowsill, eating my basil plant!  It's not toxic, but he's acting up lately.  The weather perhaps?  

Or perhaps we have another stray cat eating the barn car food now.  Urgh.  Not what we need.  Apparently, Romeo isn't fond of them either.  I now have 3 holes in a curtain that covers the window that is by the food box.  Lovely.  Now I have another "to-do" on the list - sew curtain.

I canned grape jelly.  We use this to mix with BBQ sauce or other sauces for our meatballs, or enjoy for PB and J sandwiches.

The weekend brings us weather obstacles.  Again.  Rain poured down all day Friday, snow moves in today, and possibly more snow Sunday.  Looking over the "to-do's" we have, and what needs done is getting down right frustrating.

Got out my "canning" journal and added a page to it - bulk buy items and their status.  It'll help keep me on track with future orders.

Pen Found ~ Daughter goes off grid (sort of) ~ Corn Meal? ~ Philly Stuffed Peppers

I found one of my pens!  I fired off a hand written letter to one of my cousins too.

Our youngest daughter is taking psychology in school this semester.  She came home the other day and told me she was now inspired to get off social media for 2 weeks.  Her choice.  Her idea.  I had to put my hand on her forehead and ask if she was feeling okay.  I'm so proud of her.  I bet she'll like it too.  She loves going off grid at the island.  She will allow calls and texts, but has deleted all her social media off of her phone.

My resource for organic corn meal has been out of stock for a long time now.  Has anyone noticed this?  Is it available from another resource?  Our stores have zero as well.

I finally made Philly stuffed peppers.  They were soooo good too.  I used a recipe online (Tasty), read all the reviews, and used organic ribeye steak (you can't find organic flank steak).  I'll definitely make them again.  I baked the peppers for 10 minutes prior to filling them, and cut peppers in half.

Romeo ~ Baking ~ Rooster

Romeo strikes again.  He hates it when his Mom goes to school.  He's been putting his paws into the cat hole in the kitchen gate and yanking it open, when she goes out the door.  He actually did it so fast he got outside!  We got him in, but now I need a different gate there, but Tiger needs access too. 

I got another batch of fruit/nut bars made.  I have made many "granola" bars, but we love these the best.  Less fruit, more nuts and seeds.  Yum (King Arthur recipe online)!

Here is the recipe for the "Low Carb" Garlic Cheddar Biscuits I made the other day:

1 1/2 Cups Organic almond flour (superfine)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. baking soda (non-gmo)
1/2 tsp. homemade garlic powder (organic)
1/2 tsp. homemade onion powder (organic)
2 large farm fresh eggs
1/2 cup organic sour cream
4 Tbsp. organic butter, melted
1/2 cup organic shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl, set aside.  Mix we ingredients, then add we to dry and mix well.

I lined my muffin pan with parchment cups for easier removal (which worked great), otherwise use a non-stick spray.

Makes 12 muffins. Batter is slightly thick, but bakes up so nice.

Bake at 450°F for 10 minutes.

Note:  I freeze organic sour cream, and had thawed it, stirred it and used it in this recipe.  It will be a thinner texture of sour cream, but worked great for baking.

Note:  I accidentally baked these the first time without the butter, and they were so tender and flavorful.


If you are looking to buy a bookmark from my other blog, the purple one is no longer available.  Thank you for your support too!  Every bit counts towards a new coop or dog fence.  Not to mention a grad party this summer.  

I posted some heart embellished paper clips on my Rooster's Crow Handicraft Blog.  

I went to the coop to feed the chickens, and guess what?  Russell Crow (aka Rooster) attacked me. Not once, but twice.  He's about to get the boot and a different rooster put in with the ladies.  I don't know why he's turned on me after I raised him and he was nice all this time.  Until yesterday.  Do rooster's change on a dime like that?  Turn from nice to mean?  Sparta was such a good rooster and lived 10 years, so this boggles my mind.

From the handiwork journal ~ Mexican Street Corn ~ Herb Garden Question

. . .finished these keychains.  I found them in my night stand.  I just had to sew in ends and add the chains (UFO completed).

. . .finished this order of purple hot pads.  Just need to deliver them.

Here is a photo of the Mexican Street Corn I made.

I didn't "char" the corn completely, but it was very good with using thawed (off the cob) corn.  I am sort of looking forward to re-vamping my herb garden now.  The corn contains green onion and parsley.  Yum!  It was also the first time to try the mexican cheese the recipe required.

Yesterday I got smart and did all of my cooking and baking first thing.  Dish washing went much smoother.  I pulled the very last ham bone from the freezer, some split peas, the last bag of frozen garden carrots, a few celery cubs from the freezer, added diced potatoes and some fire powder (vs. onion) from the pantry - split pea/ham bone soup.

I also made biscuits for the first time, using almond flour.  I wanted something to go with the soup other than a sandwich, but low carb.  I found a recipe online, and used my home ground garlic, home ground onion, sour cream I pulled from the freezer and a bit of cheese (all organic).   I literally forgot to add the 4 Tbsp. of melted butter.  

I was a bit worried they browned too much, but they were so delicious.  Very moist biscuit, and very flavorful.  No need for butter.  I will be making these again.  Even without the butter.   

Herb Garden Make Over 2020

Question for herb gardeners - is there a resource to buy green onion bulbs with greens on them (online)?  Or just bulbs vs. seeds?  Organic of course.  I really do not want to start with seeds again.  My green onions I had, I had for 15 years plus, by someone sending me a handful in the mail wrapped in a damp paper towel, in a plastic bag.  T

They grew great and multiplied like crazy until last year.   I will be digging my herb garden out, layering black mesh and cardboard and filling it in with new soil (which means digging out the problematic rose bed across the sidewalk).