Category: HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY

Be sure to join us for Happy Homemaker Monday and link up with our host, Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

I truly feel like I’m in an episode of Ground Hog Day! We did have snow last week for Valentine’s day, most of which melted by Wednesday and Thursday, though we still have some on north facing slope areas.

But, that was only a precursor for the 5 days they are predicting this week and  a couple more into March. One night this week is slated for a low of 17° which is fairly unusual for this late in February.

So, you guessed it, I’m still wearing layers and layers 😀 Today is a purple turtleneck sweater and gray hoodie with Levi’s my favorite black UGG’s. By the way, did you know you can wash UGG’s? I broke a bottle of oil last week and soiled my UGG’s and Levis to a point that I thought it was hopeless! I figured I’d try some dirt devil stain remover and washing since I really had nothing to lose and was so surprised at how well it worked. It did take a bit for them to dry, but they’re better than ever!

I’m feeling much better this week! Good thing I had so many BLOG 365 posts ready to go. Between the Valentines dance and super bowl party planning and shopping, I didn’t know if I was coming or going the last couple weeks, though this week is still quite busy.

Praying for the situation in Turkey and Syria. So many needlessly lost lives between the catastrophe and corruption that led to so many construction issues and building collapses – ALL so sad.

I know after the 1994 Northridge earthquake we also had widespread Valley Fever from spores that were released from underground after the quake. I pray that there isn’t some “new”, “ancient” virus that has been released in the Turkey/Syria area compromising them further.

Hot water and a banana.

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS

LAUNDRY & CLEANING I have several loads of laundry to do playing catch up, but it will wait so I can help a friend who is supposed to move in the snow in a couple days as well as get my groceries and errands (that I WAS going to do at the end of the week) out of the way before the weather turns. GROCERIES & ERRANDS A quick Walmart run for a couple items and grocery list when I head to town for my primary yearly exam. RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I’m actually hoping for a couple days of snow so I can have an excuse to sit and peruse cookbooks for a March Menu.

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV

CABLE TCM – Gunga Din, NUN’s Story, A Mid Summer’s Night Dream as well as NASCAR and TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS starting this week and most of our “REGULAR” network shows.

I started reading The Restaurant by Pamela Kelly from her Nantucket Inn series.

	MONDAY 2/20	TUESDAY 2/21	WEDNESDAY 2/21	THURSDAY 2/23	FRIDAY 2/24	SATURDAY 2/25	SUNDAY 2/26
DINNER	MAMA GRONK CHICKEN SOUFFLE	MANICOTTI and SNAP PEA SALAD	PORK CHOP SKILLET and GREEN CHILE CREAMED CORN	CHICKEN ENCHILADA SOUP	SLOW COOKER BEEF STROGANOFF and 2 1/2 BEAN SALAD cooking for the EAGLE’s dinner if it doesn’t get canceled due to snow	CRANBERRY CHICKEN WINGS	HAM ENCHILADA BAKE for BRUNCH, COPY CAT KFC CHICKEN and MASHED POTATOES
DESSERT					PINEAPPLE ANGEL FOOD CAKE

 

I need to find homes for these sweet kittens. Sweet Pea here is especially soft, cuddly and loving.

It’s been pretty gray lately, but we did have a couple clear days that ended in amazing sunsets.

And this American Robin is awfully daring to land within reach of the quick and curious kittens.

I still really want to build this in my next kitchen! But, with a French door refrigerator with the 2 drawer snack pulls. 😀

• ROUND-UP RIBS
  
• CHOCOLATE CHERRY MOUNDS
• GRILLED PINEAPPLE WHISKEY CHICKEN
  
• SALTED CARAMEL PRETZEL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

• BAKED SOUTHWEST PORK CHOPS
• HOT CHOCOLATE SOUFFLES
• PINEAPPLE RAISIN DESSERT TAMALES with ORANGE BLUEBERRY JAM
  

Be sure to join us for Happy Homemaker Monday and link up with our host, Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

Good morning sweet friends! Can you believe that we’re halfway through February already?

Last week was sooooooooooooo busy and this week is looking like it will be too! Our Eagle’s lodge had a Valentine’s dinner dance on Saturday night and a Super Bowl party yesterday. I already do half the weekly shopping for the lodge on Wednesdays, but the lady who does the other half was sick this week so I did it ALL, PLUS the shopping for the Dinner Dance AND Super Bowl Party.

We had a GREAT time at the party. Trudy and I were the official trivia question answer checkers throughout the game. Congratulations to Jean and the Chiefs on a GREAT fun to watch game and the ultimate WIN 🙂

Then I spent Thursday helping my friend with estate sale items, Friday prepping the food for Saturday and Sunday, Saturday cooking and serving and Sunday helping with the boards and activities for the Super Bowl Party ~ ALL of which were HUGE successes! I even won some of the score board money, a t-shirt from an old favorite hangout, some kitchen credit money, beer coozies and these embroidered hand quilted pot holders.

So, evidently, Punxsutawney Phil was right this year! We are under Winter Storm Warning AGAIN! SO, needless to say we’re still cold and I’m still wearing multiple layers with warm UGG’s!

I’m devastated by the ongoing horror in Turkey and praying for ALL of those affected and that they can truly deal with the corruption that led to so many deaths from poor construction.

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS

LAUNDRY & CLEANING I need to catch up BIG time on the chores I didn’t get done during last week’s chaos! GROCERIES, ERRANDS, PAPERWORK, PHONE CALLS, PROJECTS & TRAVELS Hubby and I are doing date night with a couples paint night and dinner at a favorite haunt. RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I’m done for this week, but will be doing a deep dive on the pantry/freezer inventory tomorrow to make the next month’s menu.

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV

CABLE We finished the re-watch of How I Met Your Mother and NASCAR starts next weekend, cooking shows…

I am literally between books, but did finished all the cooking magazines I needed to get through so will start a book tomorrow.

	MONDAY 2/13	TUESDAY 2/14	WEDNESDAY 2/15	THURSDAY 2/16	FRIDAY 2/17	SATURDAY 2/18	SUNDAY 2/19
DINNER	SLOW COOKER BUFFALO CHICKEN LASAGNA	SAUCY PORK CHOP SKILLET, QUICK YEAST ROLLS	MEATY MANICOTTI and SNAP PEA SALAD	COPY CAT KFC CHICKEN, GREEN CHILI CREAMED CORN	BEEF & BLACK BEAN SOUP	SLOW COOKED CHICKEN ENCHILADA SOUP	ROUND UP RIBS, GRANDMA DOLL’S POTATO SALAD
DESSERT	BANANA NUT BREAD and  CHOCOLATE BANANA MUFFINS	CHOCOLATE CHUNK CHERRY COBBLER	FRUIT CROISSANT PUFF	FLOURLESS DARK CHOCOLATE CAKE	APPLE PUDDING CAKE	MAPLE CARROT CUPCAKES	BRUNCH HAM ENCHILADAS

The one and only sunny day last week the kitties got out to play.

• LASAGNA SOUP

• CINNAMON BUN CUPCAKES
• CREME BRULEE FRENCH TOAST
• BEEF & BEAN ENCHILADAS – TAKE OUT STYLE

Be sure to join us for Happy Homemaker Monday and link up with our host, Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

It’s February, what can I say? It’s cold, wet, foggy and rainy. 😀 So layers, layers and more layers with comfy UGGs

Our first house was a TINY 1 bedroom place. Our next house wasn’t much bigger, but was twice the size with 2 bedrooms and a larger kitchen so we accumulated yet a few more things.

Around that same time my dad passed away and we ended up with quite a few “extra” things when my mom downsized from the 4 bedroom house to a 2 bedroom condo as well as the “leftovers” from closing our family antiques and collectables store.

Then our next house was a move across the country and was a HUGE 3 story plus a BARN so we accumulated yet even more things to fill it “appropriately”!

From there, several years later we began care taking for multiple family members around the country and almost everything ended up in storage while we traveled until we went back to Texas to rehab my grandparent’s house (which was half the size) after my cousin passed away, but most of you remember what a mess that was! It was such an involved project that we never really got to deal with our own things (let alone unpack them) because ALL our time was spent on dealing with the hoarding mess my cousin left behind plus the repairs and updates required to bring the house up to date for sale.

So, now that we’re finally dealing with our own needs, we are down sizing BIG TIME and I’m absolutely exhausted making it happen! We’ve been working long and hard sorting, condensing and repacking as we go through EVERYTHING for the upcoming garage sale. I’M HAPPY TO SAY that the donation pile and the sell pile are both QUITE LARGE!

BUT, trying to schedule my time between the winter cold which eliminates working outside in the early morning and late afternoons, all the rain, helping a friend organize an estate sale, my duties at the Eagles and ALL the other things that fill my schedule has been time consuming and like I said, COMPLETELY EXHAUSTING!

You guessed it – hot water and yogurt! 😀

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS

LAUNDRY & CLEANING I’m up to date on the laundry, but have some serious cleaning and vacuuming to do from the mess of preparing for the garage sale 😀 GROCERIES & ERRANDS, APPOINTMENTS, PAPERWORK, PHONE CALLS, PROJECTS & TRAVELS I have an out of town oncology check up for my 7 year remission 🙂 later this morning, haircut and pedicure tomorrow, shopping for the Eagles post on Wednesday which will be a BIG one because of the Valentine’s dinner and party on Saturday and helping a friend with an estate sale on Thursday and Friday. Sunday I’ll be back to working on our own garage sale items. RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING My menu is planned through this week, but I’m still leafing through a bunch of magazines from the estate sale looking for new ideas.

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV

AMAZON PRIME Last night we watched SHOTGUN WEDDING and LOST CITY which was cute and funny! CABLE Got caught up on all the prime time shows and cooking shows and watched MR. LUCKY on TCM

I’ll finish The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach by Pam Jenoff tonight and am ready to start something new, but still have not decided what. I’m hoping to get through the rest of the cooking magazines first.

	2/6 MONDAY	2/7 TUESDAY	2/8 WEDNESDAY	2/9 THURSDAY	2/10 FRIDAY	2/11 SATURDAY	2/12 SUNDAY
DINNER	UNSTUFFED CABBAGE ROLLS & COWBOY BREAD	STAMPEDE RIBS & POTATO SALAD	PEASANT SKILLET	SLOW COOKER CHEESY WHITE LASAGNA	CHEESEBURGER SOUP	C.O.R.N. CLEAN OUT	ORANGE GLAZED MEATBALLS
DESSERT	CHOCOLATE MALT BARS			HINT OF CHOCOLATE CHERRY COOKIES	FUDGY OAT BROWNIES	CHOCOLATE FRITO BARS

• ITALIAN CORN CHOWDER
• GARLIC CHEESE BREAD
• APPLE BALSAMIC CHICKEN
• COPY CAT KFC COLESLAW

• BROWN BOX CRACKER MEATLOAF with BROWN BEER GRAVY
• STACKED CHICKEN SUIZA ENCHILADAS
• CHOCOLATE CHERRY TRUFFLES
  

Be sure to join us for Happy Homemaker Monday and link up with our host, Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

It has been pretty nice the last couple days, but COLD. And then last night it became FRIGID with a low at 17° when I got up at 6:30. The bird bath is frozen solid! Fortunately we don’t have a storm today, but do have a small craft advisory due to wind. This always makes me laugh because we’re 15-20 miles from the coast as the crow flies, yet we always get the small craft advisories in the weather forecast 😀

Today is supposed to be the only sunny day this week with another frigid nighttime low tonight. Needless to say, I’m still living in turtlenecks, sweaters, Levis and UGGS. The rest of the week we return to our regularly scheduled programming of rain, grey clouds and more rain 😀

So many things on my mind, but how I’m feeling is the hard part. I have so much to do, but have been limping around since last Wednesday when I accidentally jammed my foot into a corner and broke a couple toes and did soft tissue damage. I’ve been icing it several times a day so am at least not turning black and blue (yet) just a mild purple 😀 You take walking for granted until something like this happens! 

Mixed fruit yogurt and hot water.

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS

LAUNDRY & CLEANING I accomplished all the laundry yesterday and will finish some organizing and cleaning today and tomorrow. GROCERIES & ERRANDS This week’s menu is from the pantry and freezer, so no groceries to speak of. I have just a few errands to run later in the week. RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I’m trying to clean up some recipe scraps. February’s menu plan is done and I’m now working on the one for March.

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV

CABLE We didn’t watch much TV this week. When we did we watched some old TCM movies – Larceny, Inc., Young Man with a Horn, The Fastest Gun Alive and Woman of the Year. We also watched Frozen Planet on BBC, The Hammer with Reba ON DEMAND and the football championships of course. I know Jean is celebrating 😀

I started reading Summer Magic book #1 of the The Thorne Witches by T.M. Cromer

	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY	SUNDAY
DINNER	CHICKEN FRICASSE, PENNIES from HEAVEN CARROTS and SALAD	HAM & WILD RICE CHOWDER with SOUR CREAM CHEDDAR BISCUITS	PASTA FAGIOLI with COWBOY BREAD	BBQ CHICKEN & APPLE BREAD PUDDING with SALAD	PORK CHOP POTATO CASSEROLE with HONEY-LIME COLE SLAW	CRISPY LEMON CHICKEN	CHICKEN GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE
DESSERT		CHAPEL SQUARES (finally)

Last week my girlfriend and I were in town and it was a beautiful day! Where we live tends to be gray, foggy and rainy ALL the time, but just 10 miles away they see the sun which really made us happy! So, on the way home I was able to get a great rainbow picture since I wasn’t driving 😀

I also got this cute close up of Mirror #1

And then there was this amazing sunset last night.

• ASIAN HONEY CHICKEN
• SNICKER DOODLE BREAD
• CHAR SIU PORK

• SMOKEY JALAPENO BBQ MEATBALLS
• TOFFEE WALNUT CINNAMON PULLS
• CHOCOLATE COVERED CHERRIES
  

Be sure to join us for Happy Homemaker Monday and link up with our host, Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

EVERY time I checked the weather yesterday the forecast for the week was DIFFERENT except for the temperatures. So we’ll supposedly still be in the 40’s during the day and 30’s at night, it’ll be gray and cloudy with some wind and we may or may not have rain 😀 We were supposed to be sunny yesterday and weren’t so I just don’t trust what they say and will take it one day at a time!

I’m still working on putting away the Christmas decorations as I sort though them for the garage sale and will be deep cleaning the kitchen with no plans to leave the house at all today so will be in yoga pants and a purple long sleeve t-shirt all day.

I’m back to hot water and yogurt. The coffee experiment didn’t work out.

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS

LAUNDRY & CLEANING I have a load of sheets going with a load of towels to do next today and a few blouses to iron. I’ll finish the de-decorating today and begin the deep clean. GROCERIES & ERRANDS I think I’m good this week on groceries and just have 1 quick appointment on Wednesday morning. RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I’m done through January 😀

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV

NETFLIX We started watching Vikings Valhalla AMAZON PRIME We started watching RIG CABLE Regular shows are starting to get back to normal so will be checking out what’s on the DVR. DISH is in dispute with FOX so I am missing a few shows, but refuse to start another streaming service just for 2-3 shows.

I love reading WWII romance stories. I just started the Last Summer at Chelsea Beach by Pam Jenoff.

“Summer 1941. Young Adelia Montforte flees fascist Italy for America, where she is whisked away to the shore by her well-meaning aunt and uncle. Here, she meets and falls for Charlie Connally, the eldest of the four Irish-Catholic boys next door. But all hopes for a future together are soon throttled by the war and a tragedy that hits much closer to home.

Grief-stricken, Addie flees—first to Washington and then to war-torn London—and finds a position at a prestigious newspaper, as well as a chance to redeem lost time, lost family…and lost love. But the past always nips at her heels, demanding to be reckoned with. And in a final, fateful choice, Addie discovers that the way home may be a path she never suspected.”

	MONDAY 1/16	TUESDAY 1/17	WEDNESDAY 1/18	THURSDAY 1/19	FRIDAY 1/20	SATURDAY 1/21	SUNDAY 1/22
DINNER	LEMON CHICKEN, MASHED POTATO CASSEROLE & PENNIES FROM HEAVEN CARROTS	RED BAKED BEANS & CRANBERRY BBQ CHICKEN	FRENCH ONION CHICKEN & TOMATO ONION SALAD	CHICKEN BLT CASSEROLE	CHEESY CHICKEN TOMATO BAKED ORZO & SAUTEED PEAS	CHEESY POTATO SOUP & SOUR CREAM CHEDDAR BISCUITS	SICILIAN SPAGHETTI
DESSERT	COFFEE CAKE KNOTS		CHAPEL SQUARES

My friend texted me and asked if I would be available to cat sit later in the week because they wanted to take a trip. I said of course I’d hang out and feed her sweet and adorable KitKat. Later that day she showed up with these beautiful flowers to say thank you!

• KUNG PAO CHICKEN
  
• MOLASSES SNAPS
• BLUEBERRY ALMOND COFFEE CAKE

• PORK ROAST with APPLE PEAR CREAM PAN SAUCE
• CRANBERRY POUND CAKE
• TROPICAL YUM