Category: HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY with MENU PLANS week 12 of 2022

Doing Happy Homemaker Monday so extensively helps keep me on track as it summarizes the past week and lays out a fairly concise plan for this week. 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 hope you are all doing better than I am this morning. The weather has been so unpredictable and I know that’s why I now have a sore throat and ear ache 🙁 It started Saturday afternoon as a sinus headache, but by the time I woke up Sunday it was full blown misery. I immediately started on Theraflu and Emergen-C along with a hot shower and felt better for awhile. I stayed in yesterday and will again today, but I think I caught it in time.

Saturday night’s low was 29° and tomorrow’s high is supposed to be 75° for a single day before it drops back into the 40’s for the rest of the week… no wonder I’m sick!

So today is a yoga pants day! 😀 And I’m not complaining about that.

Hot water and peach yogurt.

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • LAUNDRY & CLEANING Despite not feeling well, I was able to get the laundry done and will do a deep clean on the kitchen and vacuum in a few days when I feel more energetic.
  • GROCERIES & ERRANDS Fortunately I don’t need much until later in the week so won’t worry about any of this until I feel better. Honestly, I’m back to the point of trying to stay completely home. They have lifted the mask mandates here and I’ve heard they’re not even counting COVID cases because they don’t think it matters so I’m afraid that there might be an issue in the next couple weeks and am laying low to avoid it with being immunocompromised 🙁
  • PAPERWORK, PHONE CALLS & PROJECTS I have a list to accomplish, but will wait until my throat and voice are better.
  • RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I’m good through the end of the month, but am sorting through for some spring like recipes in April.

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
  • NETFLIX This has been our channel of choice this past week as we are not basketball fans and March Madness has taken over. We watched the sweetest movie, Rescued by Ruby and the Adam Project with Ryan Reynolds – he’s so funny in a sarcastic way 😀 We also watched Against the Ice which was quite good and then we finished with The Good Cop starring Tony Danza, but are sorry it only made one season 🙁
  • CABLE Spring Baking Championships, Tournament of Champions, Junior Masterchef – I absolutely adore the kids! I have a couple Hallmark movies to finish catching up on and FIXER UPPER episodes

I’m reading Return to Sender by Jennifer Peel

Saturday before I started feeling poorly there was a small break in the rain that we thought was going to last longer so we took a drive, but the rain that had ended and turned to pure sunshine returned with a vengeance. I did get a few good shots though. We even found a few things we’d never seen before.
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
DINNER
CHICKEN AMASU
HAM and BROCCOLI BAKE
CHICKEN NEW ORLEANS
C.O.R.N. CLEAN OUT REFRIGERATOR NIGHT
SHEET PAN CHEESY CHICKEN
PIMIENTO CHEESEBURGERS
BLACKENED ORANGE ROUGHY & BACON GREEN BEANS
DESSERT
GRASSHOPPER CHEESECAKE SQUARES

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY WITH MENU & RECIPE LINKS week 11 of 2022

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

Did you remember to change your clocks? Changing the clocks (as much of a pain as it is) always makes me feel like spring has sprung. At least we’re an hour closer 😀 That said, I sure wish they’d stop. I don’t even care which time they pick – standard or daylight savings – just pick one and stay with it!!!!!

We had a BIG storm blow in on Saturday with wind so bad it literally pulled my yard stakes out of the barrels, had the wind chimes tangling and being more noisy than I have ever heard and the flag was blowing straight up! It’s supposed to be raining most of this week, but also be a tad bit warmer so that’s okay too. Day times should be in the high 40’s to low 50’s and night times are supposed to be in the high 30’s.

My prayers and thoughts are with Ukraine as I pray for a peaceful ending to this war. I also applaud all those that are able to help in any way they can.

Hot water and cherry yogurt this morning

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • LAUNDRY & CLEANING I’m in spring cleaning mode, but the weather just won’t cooperate! For now I’ll settle for getting the bedding and laundry done.
  • GROCERIES & ERRANDS These will wait until I head to town later in the week. Fortunately, I don’t need much. 😀
  • PROJECTS We’ve done several remodel rehab renovations and the one thing I can say is they are ALWAYS entities in and of their own! There are no two alike and they are ALL fraught with their own issues. But plumbing is by far always the worst part of each one. I wish this was because of a remodel. Fortunately, even as bad as this mess was we have a water alarm under the kitchen sink that went off. Otherwise it would have been 100% worse waking up to it this morning. The part that ALWAYS ticks me off is that the part that fails is usually an inexpensive part in the middle of a line. In this case it was the connector in the middle of the faucet sprayer hose. It had been fixed once before, but has always been the weak link in this model particularly according to the plumbing expert at Home Depot. 🙁
  • RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I’m up to date through March and am starting to look to more spring like recipes for April. The Eagles asked me to make a fruity dessert for their end of the month brunch and I’ve been working up a new recipe for that. Peach Pineapple Pear Bread Pudding 😀 or maybe a Blueberry Cream Cheese – we’ll just have to see 😀

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
  • NETFLIX We’re watching old Cheers reruns at night before sleep
  • PRIME 🙁 We finished Mrs. Maisel on Friday night. Even with only getting 2 episodes a week, the month went by quickly and now sadly we have to wait until December for the next season.
  • CABLE We’ve been watching old movies from the 50’s. I love seeing things from before I was born. This weekend we saw Rio Grande with John Wayne, Dean Martin, Walter Brennan and Angie Dickinson

I just started RETURN TO SENDER by Jennifer Peel, a new to me author. While I just began it I thinking she is going to be a good change of pace for me.

I have to add this funny, because it’s so so true! I’m getting a 4th booming on my Christmas Cacti too 😀

The spring flowers are trying to make an appearance, but winter keeps rearing its ugly head too. I can’t wait for some consistent warmth and be able to plant some seeds and ground cover in the planter areas.

with the links to last week’s posted recipes, featured party links for the week and upcoming recipes to be posted soon.
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
DINNER
LEMON HERB BAKED SALMON
ZESTY ANGEL CHICKEN
SALISBURY STEAK, SCALLOPED POTATOES & GREEN BEANS
 MEATBALL  POTATO GRATIN
PASTEL AZTECA with SALSA VERDE
PORK CHOPS with TOMATOES
CHICKEN RAMEN IN SHOYU BROTH
DESSERT
GRANNY’S APPLE CRISP & PEACH BREAD PUDDING TEST RUN

  • BLONDE BEEF STEW
  • PORCUPINE MEATBALLS

HAPPY HOMEMAKER with MENU PLAN & RECIPE LINKS WEEK 10 OF 2022

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. I hope you all had a great week and an even better weekend. For some reason this week flew by for me and I don’t feel like I got enough accomplished. I’m still struggling with adjusting my diet on a daily basis 🙁 and that seems to occupy way too much time, especially coupled with the seesaw of unequal and opposite reactions that accompany this new thing called daily life.

Between the pandemic, world events and life in general most days I sometimes feel a bit overwhelmed. Unfortunately, I also know I’m not the only one and we’re all in this together, so I pray that they find a cure for this danged virus and some world peace thrown in for good measure would go a long way to curing ALL of OUR ails.

I am so saddened by what is happening in Ukraine. It is all so senseless and selfish of Putin to invade and destroy Ukraine.  So many lives have been lost. Even more hopes and dreams have been shattered. I keep praying things will turn around and turn around soon!  Prayers for Ukraine and its people.

The picture above is from Facebook, but I also ordered some digital art from Ukranian artists on ETSY in an effort to help somehow. I actually love these and will be printing them for framing.

I know gas prices are going up everywhere because of the price of oil and the the Ukranian/Russian war, but for us here our state ALSO added a 38¢ state tax effective January 1st of this year. Gas has gone from $3.46 at Christmas time to $4.49 yesterday. I’ve always tried to combine my errands to the least amount of trips to town and the least amount of gas used, but this now holds even truer!

We have mostly cloudy days in the 40’s with wind to look forward to before the rain begins towards the end of the week. I keep thinking spring is right around the corner, but then winter rears its ugly head yet again. It’s also another week of below freezing at night so hubby put the faucet covers back on.

I have some spray painting to do in order to spruce up some old hanging planters and patio furniture  that have peeling paint, but the weather is just not cooperating! I just need one, just one still and SUPER SUNNY afternoon above 50° to pull it off 🙁

I wish this could change a little bit, but yet the hot water and yogurt is tried and true 😀

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • LAUNDRY & CLEANING I need to change and wash bedding in hopes of switching to “spring” types, but the weather is not holding out hopes for that as we have several nights this week below freezing still.
  • GROCERIES & ERRANDS Hubby has a couple appointments this week that I will tag along on to also run my errands. At the price of gas right now it just doesn’t make sense to make multiple separate trips.
  • PROJECTS I have a couple flannel shirts that are too large for me, but I love the colors of so am going to turn them into aprons based on this picture I found on pinterest.
  • RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I’m making the phone calls necessary to quit all recipe & menu services because they are just not enjoyed anymore as the recipes have become repetitive and the ingredients less reliable which may be a regional thing. I just used to enjoy them more 🙁 So it’s back to my trusty tote full of recipes 🙂

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
  • NETFLIX Sweet Magnolias, Virgin River
  • PRIME Mrs. Maisel
  • CABLE FLYING TIGERS with JOHN WAYNE, NASCAR, Walking Dead, Cooking shows ~ Tournament of Champions, Spring Baking, Alex VS America I’m excited to watch the new show next week where they cook along with Julia Child

Someone Like You: A Wild Widows Novel ~ Wild Widows Series Book 1 by Marie Force. This is a companion series to her First Family series (3 books to date) which is a companion series to her Fatal series (16 books to date) – I obviously like this author. I’ve been reading her for years and truly love her series format.

Carrie asked me a week or so ago about how I sketch before I paint. Here are a couple of sketches I did recently, but have yet paint. The one on the left is going to be a cute little bird on a fence post and the one on the right is going to be a lighthouse on a sandy shore. I just use a heavy gauge pencil to canvas. Paint will cover it as I go.

with the links to last week’s posted recipes, featured party links for the week and upcoming recipes to be posted soon.
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
DINNER
CHICKEN AMASU & SALAD
PORK LOIN with APPLE CREAM SAUCE with GLAZED CARROTS
BLONDE BEEF STEW
BLACKENED ORANGE ROUGHY & GREEN BEANS
SALISBURY STEAK, SCALLOPED POTATOES, GREEN BEANS & APPLE CRISP
CHICKEN PAPRIKA with MASHED POTATOES & GRAVY
PORCUPINE MEATBALLS & MASHED POTATOES with PAN BROWN GRAVY
DESSERT
BOLOS DE COCO (PORTUGUESE COCONUT CAKES)

  • SAMOA CHEESECAKE
  • CHICKEN with TARRAGON SAUCE
  • CALABRIAN CHILE TOMATO SAUCE

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY & MENU PLANS week 9 of 2022

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

How was your weekend? Wherever you are I hope you haven’t had too much weather and have been able to get out and enjoy life a bit. We have had a few decent hours each day and have gotten a couple small projects done – things that don’t require you to finish immediately if the rain starts kind of things.

On Saturday before the rain began I was able to cut out the dead parts of some Mallow bushes and together we were able to level a couple of planter areas. They really need to be redone, but with leveling the blocks and turning the boards they’ll make it another season anyway. I did find this little ladybug – must be a good sign right?

Also, the mousers have been hanging around a lot – I think because they can stay warmer together. I don’t think they’re thrilled with the frozen bird bath though.

The rain is back and while the temperatures have warmed a few degrees during the day, nighttime hasn’t, so it is only a couple hours a day 🙁 AND it’s not supposed to last dropping back down for next week.

The weather has been so weird (again) and we’re still having “sugar ant” issues – you know the little black ones looking to get out of the cold or in search of water. AND NOTHING SEEMS TO BE WORKING AGAINST THEM!

 

I have put out 2 of these in EVERY room and they all look like this! I’d actually feel better if they were after food, but they go nowhere near the kitchen. No amount of scrubbing or vacuuming is helping! They are invading from outside.

Hot water and peach yogurt

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • LAUNDRY & CLEANING I have a few loads of laundry to get done and want to deep clean the kitchen before I vacuum.
  • GROCERIES & ERRANDS I need a few dairy items and produce and want to get a card for hubby’s birthday Wednesday so will head into town tomorrow for a bit. I’m going to make him a special Girl Scout cookie inspired Samoa cheesecake when I get home.
  • PROJECTS With the weather having been so bitterly cold and now rainy a touch of cabin fever has set it in as hubby and I have both been craving more outside time. We have gotten a few things done replacing rotten boards and leveling a couple planters as well as cutting out the dead mallow parts and wild blackberry that had wrapped itself around plants.
  • RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I’m trying to cycle through the pantry and freezer items building the menus around items on hand.

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
  • NETFLIX Steel Magnolias. Virgin River
  • PRIME Mrs Maisel season 4
  • PLUTO Becker reruns
  • DISNEY+ Turner & Hooch
  • DISCOVERY + FIXER UPPER
  • CABLE GHOSTS, COOKING SHOWS -Tournament of Champions, beat Bobby Flay, Spring Baking Championship

I haven’t decided what to read this week. I just finished a book and want to focus on cleaning up my scraps of paper notes instead this week.

So, driving by the pond the other day this is what I saw. It’s just a man walking his several hundred pound pig. The funny part was watching him trying to get it back into his minivan.
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
DINNER
POT ROAST & MASHED POTATOES
CHICKEN with TARRAGON SAUCE
ITALIAN – OUT FOR HUBBY’S BIRTHDAY
PAN SEARED SALMON with GARLIC LEMON SAUCE & POTATOES AU GRATIN
PORCUPINE MEATBALLS and CORN CREOLE
CORN STUFFED PORK CHOPS
BLACKENED ORANGE ROUGHY with RICED CAULIFLOWER
DESSERT
SAMOA CHEESECAKE

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY with MENU PLAN & RECIPE LINKS week 8 of 2022

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

How are you? Grab a cup of coffee and join me in a look back at last week and a look forward into this week.

This is the 3 year anniversary of SNOWMAGEDDON so I was a bit apprehensive when I saw this WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY on Saturday.

Snow or not (it just can’t decide), the temperatures are going to be super cold this week. Fortunately, with a few days of FOOL’S SPRING last week we were able to complete a couple outdoor projects. Hubby has since put the covers back on the faucets though to ward off the nighttime lows in the teens this week and I have no where to go today, so LET IT SNOW 😀

Hot water and peach yogurt.

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • LAUNDRY & CLEANING I finished the laundry over the weekend, but want to deep clean the bathrooms and kitchen as well as vacuum.
  • GROCERIES & ERRANDS I have a small appointment at the end of the week, but that’s it for anything big and groceries will depend on the weather.
  • PROJECTS I have sketched a couple of canvases to paint this week if I have time.
  • PAPERWORK & PHONE CALLS I made a HUGE dent in the paperwork over the weekend and am filling the empty recycling bin quickly 😀
  • RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I’m hoping to go FISH forward next week so am looking for some new orange roughy and salmon recipes.

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
  • NETFLIX Virgin River
  • PEACOCK Marry Me
  • PRIME The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
  • DISNEY+ Sulphur Springs
  • DISCOVERY + Mysteries of the Abandoned
  • CABLE Olympics, NASCAR

I’m about 3/4’s done with Beach House Romance by Cora Seton. I’ve been falling asleep quickly every night so I only get a paragraph or two read. Too bad I’m wide awake 4-5 hours later 🙁

The ONLY pictures I took this week were chore or food related. I mentioned the “FOOL’s SPRING” above. We took advantage of those couple days and tackled a couple outdoor projects and an indoor one too 😀

The whiskey barrels we installed a couple years ago were showing considerable wear already and the rings were rusting A LOT so I sprayed the rings and barrels with Rustoleum to revive them. Hubby removed all the dead plants and weeds. The red heather in the center tear drop was dead unfortunately 🙁 and the annuals were completely done and one was molding – weird.I found some red/pink heather which will bloom spring and summer as well as some white heath that will bloom fall and winter to offset. And these pretty blue hyacinth smell heavenly and will add a pop of color.

The Japanese maple tree has been doing poorly the past few years and the new gardener pruned it back A LOT this year. He also said we needed to deal with the root issue. The planter had been built with a single layer of blocks, was on a slight slope and not level.

Short of digging up the tree to replant it deeper which would have been a VERY involved process because of the roots being so unruly, it was easier to level the blocks and add a new layer of blocks and tons of new soil to cover the exposed roots to protect them and hopefully reverse the issue.

Of course the blocks are no longer being made in the same size so that added it’s own layer of complications 😀 We solved that by making the other teardrop the same height. We added the old blocks from around the maple tree to the teardrop on the other side of the yard around the whiskey barrel and used all new for the maple tree.

This worked better because we could level out the sloped front area before placing the new blocks. This should help the tree flourish better this spring. Plus now they are “balanced”.

We also started hearing LOUD and weird noises from behind the refrigerator. I needed to clean behind it anyway so we rolled it out 😀

We found that the water filter was overdo for replacing so added that to our chore list and got it replaced. VOILE and thank goodness the noises stopped.

Hubby likes to cool his hot coffee down in the morning with an ice cube so this works both ways 😀

with the links to last week’s posted recipes, featured party links for the week and upcoming recipes to be posted soon.
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
DINNER
TEX MEX CHICKEN POT PIES
BAKED HERBED SALMON
LEMON ORANGE ORANGE ROUGHY
POT ROAST & GRAVY
TURKEY & GRAVY
PORK CHOPS of some sort
BURGERS of some sort
DESSERT
BLACK BEAN BROWNIES

  • HAMBURGER HASH
  • BLUEBERRY SOUR CREAM BREAD/MUFFINS

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY with MENU PLAN & RECIPE LINKS week 7 of 2022

HAMB

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

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

I hope you had a GREAT week and for those of you that are sports fans I hope you enjoyed the SUPERBOWL and are equally enjoying the Olympics. Having been a RAMS fan all my life I’m quite happy with the outcome, though I would have been equally happy with a Bengal’s win after their great season. I will make an effort to get around better this week to visit you all. Last week just wasn’t my week.

FINALLY some rain for a day or two and the temperatures have dropped back into a normal range. Highs this week will be in the mid 40’s and lows in the 30’s with very little sun.

Hot water and pineapple yogurt.

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • LAUNDRY & CLEANING I’m going to deep clean the kitchen and do all the hard surface floors to clean up the ants that are back. At least they are mostly dead since I did the Terro traps last week.
  • GROCERIES & ERRANDS I have very few of each this week, but will go tomorrow morning.
  • RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I’m still doing a bit of research, but have the rest of February planned.

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
  • NETFLIX Hubby want’s to check out Free Guy and The Adam Project
  • PEACOCK I want to watch Marry Me sometime this week
  • PRIME 4 days until Mrs. Maisel begins for the season
  • DISNEY+ I’m finishing season 2 of Sulphur Springs
  • CABLE We’re finishing up the Olympics we have recorded. I also have a couple Hallmark movies to finish up and a couple cooking shows to watch

I’m about halfway done with Beach House Romance by Cora Seton

So I heard a strange noise in the backyard and went to take a look out the window. This is what I found. I guess it needs to be renamed cat fountain since I’ve never actually seen a bird bathe in it. On the upside, I haven’t seen any mice. 😀

I LOVE these!

with the links to last week’s posted recipes, featured party links for the week and upcoming recipes to be posted soon.
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
DINNER
FILETS & BAKERS
HF ~  YUCATAN CHICKEN CITRUS BOWLS
HF ~ BULGOGI PORK TENDERLOIN
C.O.R.N. CLEAN OUT REFRIGERATOR NIGHT
HF ~ BALSAMIC FIG CHICKEN
PORCUPINE MEATBALLS & SALAD
BLONDE BEEF STEW & TWISTY ROLLS
DESSERT
ZEBRA CAKE – WHITE, DEVIL’S FOOD & RED VELVET with SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM

  • TACO SPAGHETTI
  • HAMBURGER HASH
  • CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY & MENU PLANS week 6 of 2022

Doing Happy Homemaker Monday so extensively helps keep me on track as it summarizes the past week and lays out a fairly concise plan for this week.

 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 had a very busy weekend and well I’m just beat today and coping with food and tummy issues still. I’m hoping to find some energy laying around.

Well, our rain never materialized and we have been having quite a bit of “stagnant” air. Day in and day out have been foggy, dewy mornings that burn off into 1-2 hours of semi-sun shine just before the sun begins to set. Highs in the 40’s and lows in the 30’s which is still good for Levis, comfy hoodies and UGG’s 😀

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • LAUNDRY & CLEANING I’ll be doing a deep clean on the kitchen this week since we’ve been infested with “winter” ants again, you know the ones looking for water and warmth. I’ve set a dozen or so traps around the house.
  • GROCERIES & ERRANDS Not much this week which is good because I’m just a bit worn out lately and lacking enough energy.
  • PROJECTS Hoping it get sunny enough an afternoon or two to finish covering the rust on the cafe table and chairs that sit by the front door and the barrel rings of the front planters.
  • RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING The next couple of weeks are planned.

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
  • PEACOCK Frasier reruns at bedtime
  • DISNEY+ Sulphur Springs season 2
  • CABLE OLYMPICS, Rawhide reruns, HGTV – Fixer Upper, COOKING shows – Girl Meets Farm, Beat Bobby Flay, Alex vs. America, Kids Baking championship

I finished up Return to Sapphire Bay – THE LAKESIDE INN by Leanna Morgan and started BUNDLE OF TROUBLE by Diana Orgain this week. Bundle of Trouble wasn’t on my original list for the year, but popped up as a free kindle read in my email so I thought I’d try a new to me author. I’ll then double back to grab book #2 for The Return Sapphire Bay.

My friend came for dinner the other night before our big paint day and brought me this beautiful teacup of flowers. Originally I wasn’t fond of this picture we painted for the fundraiser, but it has grown on me 😀

Everybody probably already knows this, but a single mini marshmallow in the bottom of your cone can keep it from dripping all over you 😀
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
DINNER
SPICY SHRIMP TEMPURA BOWLS
CHICKEN & PROSCIUTTO PENNE
MOZZARELLA CHICKEN
C.O.R.N. CLEAN OUT REFRIGERATOR NIGHT
OUT
HAMBURGER HASH
TEX MEX POT PIES
DESSERT
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

  • INCREDIBLE MYSTERY FUDGE
  • GERMAN APPLE PANCAKES
  • APPLE PIE STREUSEL MUFFINS
  • NO KNEAD (SALAMI) BREAD
  • CITRUS VINAIGRETTE SALAD with GOAT CHEESE CROUTONS

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY & MENU PLANS week 5 of 2022

Doing Happy Homemaker Monday so extensively helps keep me on track as it summarizes the past week and lays out a fairly concise plan for this week.

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

What an exciting playoff day yesterday was! The sacks, the interceptions, overtime – the games had it all!!! So sorry Jean 🙁 I really thought the Chiefs had it until the very end. When the coin toss for overtime came up in their favor I was sure it was all over. It has been so many years since the Bengals have even made it to the playoffs, let alone through them that I’m not totally disappointed. It was a good game.

The Rams game didn’t start out well, but boy was the second half an edge of the seat worth the wait! I’m not from California, but I grew up there. My dad was an “original’ Rams fan from when they were originally a Los Angeles team so I grew up with them being the home town team. Honestly I would have been okay with the 49ers winning, but am so glad to see the Rams be one of the first teams to go to the Super Bowl in their brand new home stadium.

Our weekend rain didn’t materialize until last night and while it poured A LOT, it was short lived leaving us with an even colder week ahead. Saturday was actually gorgeous – sunny and bright despite being cold. With the sun the temperature actually hit 40 and we were able to take a comfortable hike around the pond. That sun was short lived though and the low was 29° that night 🙁 This week will be in the low 40’s with very little sun making it a bone chilling cold again. Nights will be in the low 30’s. But, I am LOVING the continued turtlenecks, flannels, hoodies and UGG’s though.

I’m a positive, upbeat person 95% of the time who loves to interact with people and be involved in multiple projects, but I can seriously see how easy it would be to become an agoraphobic person.

I seriously question leaving the house EVERY time I do it these days. COVID variants and people’s actions or lack of are on my mind ALL the time these days. I never used to judge people and hate to admit I do now. I try to not even use public restrooms these days, but every now and then it is a necessity and when I see someone leave a restroom without washing their hands I cringe and just want to yell at them!!!!

Because of my immuno compromised status I am ALWAYS (and have been for a VERY long time) aware of my surroundings and the actions of those around me, but MORE than ever it makes life a challenge these days.

Hot water and cherry yogurt!

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • LAUNDRY & CLEANING I have a load of towels to do, but the rest of the laundry is up to date. I’ll vacuum later. It’s been so cold at night that we are still getting those pesky tiny black ants. They are not in search of anything, but warmth since they never get into food, but boy are they annoying!! So I like to vacuum them up as often as possible.
  • GROCERIES & ERRANDS I have hair and pedicure appointments this week so will work the groceries and misc. errands into those appointments. The painting class for the Eagles is on Saturday also, but that’s super local with people I know and in a LARGE room appropriately spaced.
  • PAPERWORK, PHONE CALLS & PROJECTS Still whittling down a bunch of stuff.
  • RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I’ve been reading a couple of new cook books and working on down sizing a few more recipes for February.

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
  • PEACOCK Fraiser reruns
  • TUBI That Girl reruns
  • DISNEY+ Sulphur Springs Season 2
  • CABLE I have some cooking shows (Next Level Chef, Alex VS. America, Girl Meets Farm, The Lost Kitchen), Hallmark movies and some CBS shows (Magnum, Blue Bloods, NCIS, Bull) that haven’t yet gone on Hiatus as well as some Rawhide reruns recorded that I’ve been watching in between things.

I’m finishing up THE LAKESIDE INN by Leanna Morgan and will start BUNDLE OF TROUBLE by Diana Orgain this week. Bundle of Trouble wasn’t on my original list for the year, but popped up as a free kindle read in my email so I thought I’d try a new to me author.

It’s been completely dry and super cold lately with heavy dense fog mornings that haven’t been clearing off until around lunchtime, but that has been creating some incredible sunsets. 😀 I caught this one just in time on Friday afternoon.

Then on Saturday when it actually warmed up a bit with the sun we walked around the pond and were rewarded with this cute beaver sunning himself on a downed log.

Recently they cut back A LOT of brush from around the pond and you can now see all the beaver activity as they begin building their summer home.
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
DINNER
TACO SPAGHETTI
SALAD with GOAT CHEESE CROUTONS and CITRUS VINAIGRETTE
TEX MEX CHICKEN POT PIES
SEAFOOD SALAD & NO KNEAD SALAMI BREAD
SAUERBRATEN, POTATO PANCAKES & HOMEMADE APPLESAUCE
CHICKEN & DUMPLING SOUP with NO KNEAD ONION BREAD
HAMBURGER HASH with MARINATED BEAN SALAD
DESSERT
MOLLY CHOCO CHIP COOKIES

  • MARINATED BEAN SALAD
  • TUSCAN STYLE HERB CHICKEN
  • ELVIS COOKIES ala DUFF GOLDMAN
  • MARINATED PORK CHOPS & FRIED POTATOES

HAPPY HOMEMAKER & MENU PLAN MONDAY week 4 of 2022

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

First off, my sympathies  🙁 to all my Packer fan friends, Carrie in particular. I’ve never been a 49er fan, but that was the game of the year with a seriously unexpected outcome!

And having grown up in southern California before the RAMS went to St. Louis, I’ve always been a RAMS fan, well because my dad was – they were our home team. 😀 So, that was a good outcome (as far as I was concerned) and a really “historic” game with Tom Brady receiving his first ever un-sportsman like flag and penalty.

As for the Bengals and Titans I had no preference, but I do like the Bengals helmets – ha ha I know, such a girl thing to say! 😀

I’ve always been a Bills fan for some unknown reason, but am also a Chiefs fan so had no true preference there either except to see a good game, which we certainly did! It truly was the Josh Allen & Patrick Mahomes show. Congratulations Jean 😀

All 4 playoff games were quite good and I really enjoyed them all, but it’s time to get this week started.

Looks like we’re heading back into wet weather later this week, which is normal for us at this time of the year. The dry weather we’ve been having has been kinda nice after all the snow and rain, but much colder 24/7 with it being so clear, making the rain a welcome change.

This week will be in the high 40’s during the days and 30’s at night with the rain returning over next weekend. Either way I get to keep enjoying turtlenecks, flannels, UGG’s and snuggling in blankets and quilts.

Hot water & Apple Blueberry toddler squeeze

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • LAUNDRY & CLEANING 2 loads of laundry to do and some more sorting through clothes and stuff.
  • GROCERIES & ERRANDS Hubby and I each have a couple appointments this week. Unfortunately, they’re on 4 separate days! Have been trying to combine things where possible to save on gas – it’s gotten so expensive!
  • PAPERWORK, PHONE CALLS & PROJECTS I’m working on some paperwork and calls.
  • RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING Menus are planned through mid month pending any serious change in weather 😀 I’ve been reworking recipes I had set aside to try into servings for 2 with NO leftovers!

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
  • PRIME Looking forward to the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in February
  • DISNEY+ Black Widow
  • CABLE We finished Yellowstone through season 4 which upset hubby because season 5 won’t start before at least November along with the Four 6’s. Last year we watched a single episode of Resident Alien, but somehow missed the rest of the season so we’re watching it now before season 2 begins. We’ll also catch up with BULL, Law & Order SVU, the CHICAGO trilogy, SWAT, 911, Fixer Upper, Kid’s Baking, Next Level Chef, Alex vs. America, Beat Bobby Flay, a few movies

I’m finishing up THE LAKESIDE INN by Leanna Morgan and will start BUNDLE OF TROUBLE by Diana Orgain this week. Bundle of Trouble wasn’t on my original list for the year, but popped up as a free kindle read in my email so I thought I’d try a new to me author.

I’m getting a third blooming on all my Christmas cacti. 😀

 
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
DINNER
STUFFED MEATBALL PIES
WONTON CROUTON SALAD
BOBBY FLAY CHIPOTLE SALISBURY STEAKS with MASHED POTATOES
C.O.R.N. CLEAN OUT REFRIGERATOR NIGHT
CHICKEN & DUMPLING SOUP with NO KNEAD BREAD
BAKED GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICHES and BOOZY TOMATO SOUP
PROCIUTTO STUFFED CHICKEN BREASTS & PASTA
DESSERT
DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CHEWY BROWNIES

  • CHIPOTLE SALISBURY STEAKS
  • DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CHEWY BROWNIES

HAPPY HOMEMAKER & MENU PLAN MONDAY week 3 of 2022

RECI

Doing Happy Homemaker Monday so extensively helps keep me on track as it summarizes the past week and lays out a fairly concise plan for this week.

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

This is always one of those dates that sticks with me! 28 years ago today, also on a Monday, my world turned upside down (along with thousands of others) when at 430AM the Northridge earthquake struck and we lost it all. Even after growing up in southern California and knowing about, as well as living through other major quakes, the memories of this one in particular are VERY vivid. I honestly thought a jet plane had crashed into the neighborhood from the violent way it all happened (I was literally thrown out of bed across the room and had bruises on the bottoms of my feet for a month), but I lived on a street near a DWP plant and what I thought I saw was actually the transformers on the pole tops all blowing one after another…

The earthquake occurred just after 4:30 am local time along a previously undocumented blind thrust fault in Northridge California, a suburb located about 20 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

The major shock lasted 10–20 seconds and its peak ground acceleration of 1.82 g was the highest ever instrumentally recorded in an urban area in North America and registered a magnitude of 6.7. It was caused by dip slip on a thrust fault—the overriding movement of one crustal block up and over a second crustal block.

This is what is left of the parking garage I would have been parked in later that day had it not been a federal holiday for Martin Luther King day.

The major shock lasted 10–20 seconds AND I am STILL after all these years flabbergasted by the things destroyed AND the things that survived that horrible day in just that short amount of time.

My car was totaled when the neighbors block wall toppled on top of it because there was no rebar supporting it, but my Princess House Brandy snifter bowl full of all the shells I’ve collected through life survived after it flew across the room and landed on top of a pillow under my roll top desk. The painter was coming that day to do the remodel on the kitchen so literally EVERYTHING kitchen related was on banquet tables throughout the house as we had just spent the weekend emptying EVERY single cabinet. We lost every last piece of our small appliances, glassware, dishes, crystal, china, food, etc… and yet life has moved on, things have been replaced and the memories remain.

This is the first piece of Princess House crystal I ever purchased and the ONLY piece I have left. Only God knows how it survived that day since NOTHING else did. In it are the shells that I have collected with my cousin Jenn throughout my life from the Galveston, Texas Gulf Coast. She and I neither one live there now, but do still have friends and family in the vicinity.

On another note today would have been Betty White’s 100th birthday – SEE MY GINGERBREAD POST to honor her later today.

This was one of my favorite magazine covers from her 98th birthday.

I’m keeping track of the words from the Compendium of UGLY English words calendar I was gifted for Christmas as a source of amusement. Some of these are roll on the floor laughing hilarious and others are just flat out gross! They do cheat a bit and only give us one word for the weekends. 😀 I’ll pick up where we left off last Monday.

  • January 10 – MILDEW (noun) A white fungus that forms on damp organic material like clothes or rugs. Commonly found in old apartment complexes under that light fixture that always leaks when it rains.
  • January 11 – NAUSEA (noun) Believe it or not, there’s a word for that queasy rumbling you get in your stomach as you stare into the dizzying abyss of your toilet following a night of heavy partying or cheap Thai food: nausea. If you’re feeling “nauseated” or “nauseous” and think that you situation can’t possibly get any worse, just know that you can.
  • January 12 – DOUCHE (noun) A strong jet of water applied to certain body cavities as a means of cleansing, or a device used for this purpose. You probably saw it in a French Airbnb once.
  • January 13 – PANTIES (noun) A woman’s undergarments and contender for worst word on this list next to moist purely for its consistent pairing with the word “used” as in “used panties” and as in “with no time to spare and no other option,…
  • January 14 – QUAFF (noun) To drink with enthusiasm (or the act of doing so). Often results in throbbing hangovers and a lot of missed calls from some guy named :Hot Anthony”.
  • January 15-16 – SNOT (noun) A piece of mucus and/or a stuck-up person. Snot is the sound you hear when your nose is filled with snot and you attempt to breathe in. Try it.

We’re a bit on the dry side again, but still cold with highs in the low 50’s and night’s in the 30’s with foggy days so I am still enjoying hoodies and UGGs when I go out.

WOW, just such a big category lately. I’m still having trouble wrapping my head around people spouting “hoax” regarding the pandemic. No matter where you stand on vaccinations, saying that there is nothing going on is just crazy. The cult like mentality it takes to believe that the WHOLE world is perpetrating a hoax just baffles me. I pray that some enlightenment takes root soon. We need to be over this pandemic as a lifestyle.

Hot water, a banana and peach yogurt

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • LAUNDRY & CLEANING I have a couple loads of laundry to do along with bathrooms and kitchen deep clean. The dishwasher mother board fried after the last power outage 🙁 After some research and the inability to get a plumber in a timely manner the $450 for a plumber and part on a 6 year old appliance just didn’t make sense so we replaced the dishwasher on Saturday which was another 14 step project LOL 😀 Since I had to empty beneath the sink it just made sense to do a deep clean that area and then the walls and floor behind and under the dishwasher…
  • RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING The BIG downsize sort through the recipe tote is complete and BIG handful have been chosen as the next culprits for the winter. They have even been organized by category 😀
  • GROCERIES & ERRANDS Hubby’s surgical follow up and stitch removal is later this morning as well as another appointment. Besides groceries, I don’t have many errands this week.
  • PAPERWORK, PHONE CALLS & PROJECTS Now that the holidays are over, the decorations are all cleaned up and the house completely back in order I have some paperwork and calls to get to. Just after I posted my HHM last week Diana chose the painting for the Eagles fundraiser. It’s not really my style or even my favorite choice, but it is for a fundraiser 🙂 so paint I will.

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
  • CABLE We’re finishing the Yellowstone marathon we recorded a couple weeks ago. We just finished season 3 and will watch season 4 this week. After episode 10 of season 3 and episode 1 of season 4 I needed a minute to process it all. BULL, New Amsterdam, The Resident, 911, Chicago series – Medical, Fire & P.D., Magnum PI, Blue Bloods, NCIS,  I also have a couple Hallmark movies to watch – The Wedding Veil #1 of a trilogy, Sweet Pecan Summer, North to Home and some cooking shows to catch up on – Kids Baking Championship, Guy’s Ranch Kitchen, Molly Yeh, Beat Bobby Flay, Alex VS. America, Guy’s Grocery Games…
  • AMAZON PRIME We’re waiting for Mrs. Maisel to begin again – they finally announced it would be February 18th, but they’re only going to release 2 episodes a week for 4 weeks. That is probably good for me though – otherwise I’d have to watch all 8 episodes in a single sitting.

Hidden in the Keys, Longboat Key Island by Sage Parker

Okay, I didn’t take this picture, but I thought it was quite funny that I needed to share it 😀
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
DINNER
CHICKEN MADEIRA
SEAFOOD EXTRAORDINAIRE CASSEROLE
FRITOS NACHOS
C.O.R.N. CLEAN OUT REFRIGERATOR NIGHT
PROSCIUTTO STUFFED CHICKEN BREASTS
ENCHILADAS SUIZA
GERMAN APPLE PANCAKES
DESSERT
CHERRY CHEESECAKE BITES and DUFF’S ELVIS COOKIES

  • CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD PASTA SALAD
  • APPLE PANCAKES
  • BAYOU BLEND CASSEROLE
  • CHERRY CHEESECAKE BITES
  • BALSAMIC PINEAPPLE CHICKEN
  • SUN DRIED TOMATO PESTO SALAD

HAPPY HOMEMAKER & MENU PLAN MONDAY week 2 of 2022

Doing Happy Homemaker Monday so extensively helps keep me on track as it summarizes the past week and lays out a fairly concise plan for this week.

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 finally got most of the Christmas decorations all stowed away this past weekend. It was cold, but dry and somewhat sunny for a couple hours each day so that helped a lot. I’m still waiting on delivery of one last tote for larger items. Taking the batteries out of items took some of the longest along with untangling some light strings.

We were also able to get a couple of walks in helping hubby not feels so house bound.

I’m keeping track of the words from the Compendium of UGLY English words calendar I was gifted for Christmas as a source of amusement. Some of these are roll on the floor laughing hilarious! They do cheat a bit and only give us one word for the weekends. 😀 I’ll pick up where we left off last Monday.

  • January 4 – CHUMP (noun) A lump of timber; the blunt end of an object; someone (usually a man) with an IQ lower than a piece of wood’s.
  • January 5 – DEBT (noun) What’s easy to get, hard to lose, and make a grown man cry? Answer: it’s debt. Massive debilitating debt.
  • January 6 – GASSY (adjective) Full of gas-not in an automobile sort of way, but in a my-boyfriend-ate-Mexican-ffod-and-has-been-farting-in-bed-all-night sort of way. Some sources theorize that wars could be fought more effectively through the use of butt gas over tear gas, though this has not tested.
  • January 7 – JAUNDICE (noun) That thing that happens in medical drama where the patient looks in the mirror to find that their face has turned a troubling shade of yellow overnight. It occurs when waste material builds up in the body, and it’s just as gross as it sounds.
  • January 8/9 – KITSCHY (adjective) In poor taste due to excessive garishness or tackiness. What you might call the section of your grandmother’s living room that’s blanketed in collectible windmill statues.

I’m still loving the colder weather with highs in the 40’s and lows in the 30’s allowing me to enjoy my mock turtleneck and flannel shirt combos with comfy Levis and UGGs.

I’m relieved that hubby’s surgery is over and he’s finally feeling more like himself. He has another week until his follow up appointment where we find out the next step with physical therapy. I’m also relieved that my stepson and his wife finally turned the corner this past weekend from their COVID breakthrough infections and are also on the mend finally. It’s been really hard to be so far away and not able to help at least drop off prescriptions or food. They will have to wait 3 months now before getting their boosters. I pray that everyone stays safe and continues to protect themselves from this horrible pandemic.

Hot water and a banana

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
    • LAUNDRY & CLEANING I spent a good deal of last week mainly tending to hubby while he recuperated and didn’t get nearly as much done as planned. I did get the Christmas tree down, the decorations sorted and stored and will now do a deep clean this week. AND Why is it that doing one thing leads to 13 or 14 others? This all started when the fluorescent light fixture died and we installed a new, much brighter one making it all quite obvious. The shelf in the laundry room that WAS level before we did the new floor last year was no longer level after we did the new floor. Of course we leveled the floor so obviously the original flooring was the culprit, but now we needed to redo the shelf. In order to do that we had to disconnect the washer and dryer and move them out of the way. After doing that we realized that we needed to seal the floor and baseboard with silicone to eliminate the “winter” ants – you know the little black ones that come in search of warmth, but don’t get into food. With that done the quick half paint job done last year before the new washer was put in made the rest of the room look shabby now that it is so well lit so I had to paint the whole room. While doing that we realized that the cabinet door above the washer needed adjusting…etc…
    • GROCERIES & ERRANDS I did the grocery shopping last Friday when I was in town and errands are up to date so no plans to go very far.
    • RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I started the BIG sort each evening to eliminate the recipes from the tote that I will NEVER make, at least based on my likes and dislikes today! I’m even making an effort to downsize recipes and use ingredients back to back to cut down on waste.
    • PROJECTS, PAPERWORK, & PHONE CALLS I’m considering a couple of new paintings. The gnome is one my girlfriend sent me a picture of – even though LOL 😀 we said we would do NO more gnomes. She’s our Eagles Auxiliary president and is going to have one more fundraiser before her term is up. It will be a painting class at the post, but she hasn’t yet chosen the painting. I’m hoping for something floral and springy. And I just fell in love with this little giraffe. I MUST paint him. 😀

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
 CABLE 1883, YELLOWSTONE, KID’S BAKING CHAMPIONSHIP, ALEX VS. AMERICA, GUY’S GROCERY GAMES, BEAT BOBBY FLAY, NEXT LEVEL CHEF, Judge Steve Harvey is so funny

I did make a reading list for the month and tried to make it a bit diverse. At the rate I’m going so far this will also be the list for February.

  • Return to Sender by Jennifer Peel If Ariana Stanton has learned anything in life, it’s that men leave. She’s been taught this lesson well from the father she’s never met, who sends her a mysterious letter once a year, to her ex-fiancé, who left her for another woman.
    Dr. Jonah Adkinson has one regret–that he let Ariana remain convinced that love never lasts.
    Now, not only does Ariana have to face the man she’s still in love with, but she must confront the mystery of her father’s letters, forcing her to reevaluate the past and her choices.
  • The Cottage at Hope Cove by Hannah Ellis Lizzie Beaumont has it all: a great career, a wealthy fiancé, and the wedding of her dreams just months away. But when her fiancé puts work before her again, she sets off for a week in the picturesque town of Hope Cove. She’s hoping for time away from the chaos to find herself.Instead, she finds Max. One week with Max has left her questioning her life choices. Is her fiancé the man of her dreams, or just the man who asked? Now Lizzie must decide what her life will be. Will she go for the safe and predictable route, or take a chance on a man she hardly knows?
  • The Cape May Garden by Claudia Vance Margaret Wilder’s life is about to be turned upside down…when her husband of fifteen years abruptly leaves without explanation.Now as their young daughters struggle to understand why their dad has been gone for a month without so much as a phone call, Margaret begins to uncover her husband’s secrets while unraveling her own long-buried feelings about their marriage.As she forms an unlikely friendship with her handsome coworker, Dave, things take a turn when she is offered a great opportunity to build the garden of her dreams on a piece of land by the beach.
  • The Secrets We Left Behind by Soraya Lane Occupied France, 1940. When the staff at a field hospital draw straws to find out who will join the evacuation from Dunkirk, Nurse Cate is left behind. But when the Nazis arrive to claim prisoners of war, she takes her chance and flees into the night, taking one patient with her.Fifty miles away, the surrendering soldiers of the Royal Norfolk Regiment are shot dead by the advancing Germans. Beneath the pile of bodies two men survive, crawling to the safety of a nearby farmhouse, where sisters Elise and Adelaide risk their lives to take them in. When Cate, too, arrives at their door with her injured soldier, the pressure mounts.The sisters are risking everything to keep their visitors safe. But with the Nazis coming ever closer and relationships in the farmhouse intensifying, they must all question the sacrifices they are willing to make for the lives of others. How far will they go for family, friendship, and love?
  • Fanny Bower Puts Herself Out There by Julia Ariss Fanny Bower is not a joiner. She leads a quiet existence – keeping to the sidelines, avoiding high jinks, living in her head and waiting for something momentous to happen… whatever that is. Her new “butterfly wings” are tested as they flutter incessantly between mystifying small talk and mortifying gaffes in a bid to unleash a charm offensive… whatever that means. At the very height of her confusion, she is spurred to action by the plight of a friend. She plunges headlong into a situation fraught with uncertainty and risks everything, including the alienation of the one person she’s managed to captivate in the process.
  • Hidden in the Keys, Longboat Key Island by Sage Parker Julia Masterson has high hopes for a new beginning. Her husband, Frank had promised to dedicate the rest of his life making their marriage work. Both newly retired, in their little beach cottage in Longboat Key, Florida, everything started out just as she imagined. Until he didn’t come home that night. Or the next. What began as romantic walks on the beach had quickly become a desperate search to find her missing husband. When local detective Brody Barker steps onto the scene, he’s determined to solve the case quickly and move on. But every lead is a dead-end. The closer Julia gets to finding out the truth, the further away she gets from wanting to know the answers. And just as the faith in her marriage starts to crumble, Brody realizes he is the only thing standing in the way of her and disaster.

Just 3 months ago this sign right next to the road was HIGH & DRY on a stake about 18 inches tall. You can see where it is now. Fortunately, the water floods over the driveway to the left and into a drainage ditch, that while full, is functioning for runoff. I thought it was a poignant picture of how quickly things can change with a month of rain followed by a foot of snow that melted when followed by another 5 inches of rain.

Hangers make a GREAT recipe stand holder.
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
DINNER
ROAST PORK and using the leftovers for this week’s menu
PORK ENCHILADAS
PORK STREET TACOS & CHIPOTLE RE-FRIED BEANS
C.O.R.N. CLEAN OUT REFRIGERATOR NIGHT
SHREDDED PORK GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICHES AND TOMATO SOUP
PORK STUFFED PEPPERS
PORK SLIDERS & COLE SLAW
DESSERT
COCOA OATIES

  • BRAISED LAMB SHANKS
  • APPLE PANCAKE
  • ITALIAN BOLOGNESE STUFFED PEPPERS

HAPPY HOMEMAKER & MENU PLAN MONDAY week 1 of 2022

Doing Happy Homemaker Monday so extensively helps keep me on track as it summarizes the past week and lays out a fairly concise plan for this week.

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

Do you do new year’s resolutions? I quit years ago because I felt they were always too short lived. Instead I try to make lifestyle habit changes that are longer term and I try to adjust regularly.

I was gifted several planners this year so I have the unique opportunity to try them all out and see what really “fits”. One of the planners is a menu planner and habit tracker. I’m just not sure quite yet what is going to work best with my organizational style.

I did spend most of the snow week working on cleaning up my digital files and updating my computer so I could start the new year a little “cleaner”.

I was also gifted The Illustrated Compendium of UGLY English words which I’m finding quite amusing. We all have those words that just make us cringe and this calendar appears to be going to touch on all of them 😀

A Compendium is a collection of concise but detailed information about a particular subject, in this case UGLY English words.

I thought it would be fun to keep track of these each week as a source of amusement. They did cheat a bit and only give us one word for the whole weekend. 😀

  • January 1/2 – ACRID (adjective) – Deeply bitter; corrosive; so unpleasant in taste or odor that it causes people to retch instantaneously and shriek the word into the air like a pained battle cry: “ACKKKKK-RID.”
  • January 3 – BACKWASH (noun) – A backward current; the moving of waterin a reverse direction; the liquid that flows from a person’s mouth back into the bottle when they remove it from their lips. Or, rather, the spit water that a younger sibling uses to prevent you from stealing swigs of their drink.

I decided to join in with many others and choose a word for the year and make a list of things to accomplish also. If you’re interested that post is here.

The cold and snow lasted through yesterday so I really got my wish for Christmas snow! A new storm, a bit warmer HA HA 40’s instead of 30’s, started pushing in just after lunch. We’re supposed to get close to 5 inches of rain in 5 days with this storm front. Oh, and now it’s windy – REALLY windy!! They said the wind advisory was from 4pm yesterday through 4pm today, but it showed up early with a vengeance. Before it began we did at least get the outside Christmas decorations put into the garage to dry out a bit before being packed away for the year.

I actually wish it was snow since we are already so wet and now have huge puddles of run off water EVERYWHERE and 5 inches more will just turn that all into mud puddles and slick roadways. Plus with the wind it will still feel just as cold 😀 But, at least we’ll be worrying less about frozen pipes.

I’m feeling extremely anxious and concerned. My prayers go out to everyone suffering, in whatever way, from anything, but especially from this pandemic. Seems like no matter how hard we try to stay safe, life happens around us leaving so many susceptible.

We found out just before new years that our vaccinated step son and his wife have COVID and are really quite ill with breakthrough infections. We have several other friends who while also vaccinated have just healed from bad breakthrough infections.

Thank god they were vaccinated if the severity of their breakthrough infections is any indication of how much worse it would have been had they not been. But, they are not out of the woods yet and prayers would be deeply appreciated.

Hot water and peach yogurt

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • LAUNDRY & CLEANING Hubby is having some surgery tomorrow and will be home and “out of commission” this week so I’ll be staying close. I’ll use that time to take down the tree, finish sorting the ornaments and put away ALL the Christmas decorations. Truth be told I’m loving having the tree still lit up and glowing during the dreary weather.
  • GROCERIES & ERRANDS I did the grocery shopping and errands last Wednesday before the craziness of the holiday set in. We were isolating and preparing for hubby’s surgery tomorrow so avoided everyone and every situation out of precautiion.
  • PAPERWORK, PHONE CALLS & PROJECTS End of the year paperwork sort and clean up and preparing the files for 2022.
  • RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I’ve planned as many of my January recipes around cleaning out the pantry and freezer as possible. I’m also concentrating reworking any new recipes I make into meals for two so we don’t have any leftovers and adjusting recipes as necessary.

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
  • NETFLIX
  • CABLE The Rose parade while shorter at least happened this year. We missed the first season of Yellowstone when it began because we were in the middle of the BIG move back here and just never were able to catch up. And then Paramount ran a marathon this past New Years and since we were home isolating waiting for hubby’s surgery, we’ve been binge watching to catch up to last night’s season finale. Several new cooking shows started last night and this week that I want to try. And regular TV programming began again too so now I find myself right back in catch up mode 😀 And Mike Rowe’s Dirty jobs began again – I’ve always loved this show and learning about all these horribly dirty jobs.

I just finished State of Grace from Marie Force and am looking forward to the next installment in September, but in the meantime she’s branching off again into a 3rd series that will expound on the characters even more, but that book doesn’t come out until February.

In the meantime I will be reading Ava Miles Beside Golden Irish Fields of another series for this author with characters that I also love.

I’m anxious to begin the Hidden Child by Louisa Fein and When the Nightingale Sings by Suzanne Kelman. I’m hoping they both write in similar style to Gill Paul who writes stories about today that began during WWI or WWII and leave their footprints along the way tying the present to the past.


We had a wonderful, but quiet Christmas and New Years with just over a foot of of snow which was quite beautiful making it a true Winter Wonderland. A few friends are “blaming” me for all the snow because I kept wishing for a Christmas snow. LOL I did wish for it, but I just didn’t plan on it being quite so much or lasting through the end of the year!

The neighbor boys made a “toppled” snowman and tried their hand at “pool sledding” 😀 Fortunately I was able to take all these pictures without even stepping outside!

While I do most of this twice a year or even some it quarterly, I “start” my year with the following list. Doing this makes it easy to remember when it was done last 😀

  • Change the smoke detector batteries
  • Change the refrigerator filter
  • Change the kitchen water filter
  • Wash the cold air return filter
  • Clean behind the refrigerator
  • Clean behind the stove
  • Do a vinegar clean in the coffee pot
  • Do a vinegar clean in the washing machine
  • Do a baking soda/vinegar clean on sink basins
  • Turn the hangers around! I do make an exception for things that are obvious exceptions like special dresses to wear to formal events. weddings or funerals etc…

I’m trying a new menu planner and habit tracker for 2022 that will hopefully streamline my menus. I’m also still including the links to last week’s posted recipes, featured party links for the week and upcoming recipes to be posted soon. I’m really hoping to get caught up on indexing recipes for the blog which is a monumental feat! After last week’s recipes all revolving around either prime rib or turkey I’m ready for a little more adventure.
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
DINNER
*STUFFED MEATBALL PIES
*ULTIMATE CHICKEN CASSEROLE
*INSTA POT POT ROAST & VEGGIES
C.O.R.N. CLEAN OUT REFRIGERATOR NIGHT
CLAM CHOWDER & CRUSTY SOURDOUGH BREAD
CHICKEN BLT CASSEROLE a remake from the blog to get a better picture
*BACON CHEESE BURGER BALLS & ONION RINGS
DESSERT *new recipe I’m trying this week
*something chocolate