DOUBLE BANANA CAKE ~ BLOG 365.185

I hope you’re having a WONDERFULLY relaxing and happy 4th of July – Stay safe and don’t forget to hydrate! It’s HOT out there.

DOUBLE BANANA CAKE
18 ounce banana cake mix plus any ingredients to prepare it according to package directions
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 banana, THINLY sliced
4 tablespoons NUTELLA hazelnut spread

  • Preheat oven to 350°.
  • Spray 9 inch deep baking dish.
  • Prepare cake mix according to package directions.
  • Fold in nuts.
  • Spread batter in prepared pan.
  • Dot batter with NUTELLA.
  • Using a knife swirl the Nutella into the cake mix.
  • Layer banana slices in a single layer on top.
  • With your fingers or the back of a spoon press banana slices down into the cake batter.
  • Bake 25-30 minutes or until tester comes out of center clean.
  • Cool in pan 15 minutes.
  • Frost as desired.

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY & MENUS week 27 of 2023 ~ BLOG 365.184

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 warm, but ABSOLUTELY beautiful with a decent ocean breeze. The next few days are supposed to near triple digit, but nothing unbearable compared to the rest of the country!

Toddler squeeze (apple carrot pineapple) and coffee 😀

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • LAUNDRY & CLEANING I was able to get the laundry done last night when I got home, but now have a good sized pile of ironing to do!
  • GROCERIES & ERRANDS I have several errands and groceries to do this week, but will probably wait until Wednesday, Thursday and Friday when I head to town for a haircut and my mammogram.
  • PAPERWORK, PHONE CALLS, PROJECTS & TRAVELS lots to do and will try and get through at least one pile this week.
  • RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING fortunately menus are planned for the next several weeks.

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
  • With working so much I haven’t been watching much TV, but will have to clean out the DVR soon. We did catch Back to the Future last night.

,

I’ve been working so much that I’ve been tired enough I haven’t been getting any reading done at night. I’m hoping to pick up with #6 A Vineyard Vow from the series I’ve been reading. 

MONDAY 7/3
TUESDAY 7/4
WEDNESDAY 7/5
THURSDAY 7/6
FRIDAY 7/7
SATURDAY 7/8
SUNDAY 7/9
DINNER
 MARSALA PORK CHOPS & 3 CHEESE SOUFFLES
CARNE ASADA, GREEN CHILI DIP & CHIPS
 ORANGE GLAZED MEATBALLS & RICE DRESSING
 CHOPPED ITALIAN STEAKS & CAULIFLOWER AU GRATIN
 YOYO YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN
 SOUTHWEST CHICKEN SALAD
 RED BEANS & RICE WITH CHICKEN & SALAD
DESSERT
 
 GRANS APPLE CAKE
 

MID YEAR UPDATE QUARTERLY LIST UPDATE ~ BLOG 365.181

It’s MID-YEAR update time. Can you believe we’re half way through the year already? This year seems to be pedaling by faster and faster!

When I took one of those silly Facebook games last December it said my word was RESILIENCE, but I liked PROGRESS better. So decided both words for RESILIENT PROGRESS were better! Then I saw a meme that spoke to me and decided to add BALANCE! I truly believe all three words work hand in hand to make life easier and happier.

Update to MY list for 2023 is:

  • Do a Happy Homemaker Monday post each and every week and link up with Sandra over at Diary Of A Stay At Home Mom. This keeps me more on track and organized about my home life. 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.DONE TO DATE
  • I have also decided the join Sandra over at Diary Of A Stay At Home Mom for her Blog 365 challenge. A blog post every single day of 2023!  Sometimes the post might be a full one but other times it might simply be a picture. I may not always get the logo in, but I will get the post done! DONE TO DATE except 5 back posts I’m working on to get up to date.
  • Do a devotional every day. I seriously need to get better in this category. When time falls short and there is so much to do, personal time AND pampering time always take a back seat 🙁
  • Follow a nightly skincare regime. DONE TO DATE (pretty well)
  • Complete 4 quilts – at least 1 for each quarter. This year is starting off right with these 2 Christmas beauties being bound. I have several others that are 90% done, but need bindings and I’m hoping to get to them soon.
  • Make a better effort to reach out and connect with friends and family more regularly. Pretty good, but could still be better!
  • Learn YOGA or Pilates or both! I can’t seem to find the time to do these, but will keep working on it.
  • Take at least a 2 mile walk daily. While I USUALLY get this done in just my daily routine, it is something I need to be more conscious of accomplishing.
  • Continue to downsize and declutter EVERYTHING. DONE TO DATE and the garage sale was a GREAT success despite the weather (sun, rain, wind, snow and that was just the first hour). The BIG & HEAVY items are sold and gone which was the most important thing to me. As we continue to go antiquing I have added more questions to my thought process about whether I really need and/or will use something before I buy it. I have a couple boxes of old toys that I’m meeting with my antiques guy to sell.
  • Clean out photo files that date back 13 years! I’m working on it, but it’s really hard. This is a serious work in progress that will ALWAYS take ALL year, EVERY YEAR, mainly because I keep taking pictures 😀
  • Create Shutterfly photo albums for 2022, 2021, 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2016. These have been in the works for awhile, but I’m going to get them done this year.
  • Do more drawing and painting – at least one per every other month. NOT so good this year as it has been filled with working on the estate sales with a friend as well as our own garage sale through the horribly long and cold/wet winter. The remainder of our garage sale items were donated to the Eagles for their yard sale (enough to cover my good deed category).
  • Focus on rewriting more recipes to work for only 2 people with NO leftovers. This is a work in progress, but doing REALLY well so far. It has been seriously complicated by the increase in grocery prices 🙁 A friend loaned me her mom and grandma’s recipe boxes which was fun for some new recipes. It also helped with the “clutter” since I only photoed those recipes I REALLY wanted to make – so I only “rented” them.
  • Volunteer at least once a month for a community project. Since I’ve gotten more involved in the Eagles this is a category I SERIOUSLY accomplish regularly and enough for the both of us. 😀
  • Do a date weekend once a month – exploring a new place we’ve never been before. In February we were going to take a Valentine’s couples painting class that didn’t happen but in March we went for a special romantic dinner to TRUE KITCHEN for hubby’s birthday and it was fantastic. In January we were going to go to the beach antique shopping and a special dinner out at Waterfront Depot, an old train depot on the bay, but weather has been so bad and medical appointments didn’t line up so we will postpone this until later this year. In April we finally made it to the coast and did some antiquing also. Tomorrow night we going to dinner and see a local oldies band.
  • Clean out old files and recycle or destroy old papers. This is still an ongoing work in progress, but I’ve made seriously good progress in 2022 and so far through 2023 and will finish through next winter.
  • Eat at least 1 piece of fruit daily. Good so far.
  • I’m all about leading a positive life and carrying the Christmas spirit year round. There is no better way to do that than to do at least 1 random act of kindness every time I leave the house.
  • Read 36 books. Hoping for double this year over last year! 36 was a realistic goal and I actually reached 59 which makes me REALLY happy!  Here’s a list of the books I have in queue – a baker’s dozen+ to get this year started. When I’ve actually read them I’ll change their number to red. 1) A Fire Sparkling by Juliane Maclean 2) The Honey Bus by Meredith May 3) When It Falls Apart by Catherine Bybee 4) The Brighter the Light by Mary Ellen Taylor 5) The Lost Girls of Willowbrook by Ellen Marie Wiseman 6) The Woman with Two Shadows by Sarah James 7) The Silent Woman by Minka Kent 8) Waking Kate by Sarah Addison Allen 9) Real Bad Things by Kelly J. Ford 10) The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach by Pam Jenoff 11) The D’Angelos by Catherine Bybee 12) Brewed Book #1 in the Cozy Coffee Shop series by Heather Sage 13) Cauldrons Call by Kristen Proby 14) The Resistance Girl by Mandy Robotham 15) Someone to Hold Wild Widows #2 by Marie Force. 16) State of Shock, First Family #4 by Marie Force 17) Summer Magic #1 The Thorne Witches by T.M. Crom 18) Clue Crewe by Jana De Leon 19) Cauldron’s Call by Kristen Proby 20) Find Her by Chris Patchell 21) The Sunrise Cove Inn (Vineyard series #1) by Katie Winters 22) Firefly Nights (Vineyard series #2) by Kate Winters 23) On The Market (Texas BBQ Brothers #1) by Audrey Wick 24) We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker 25) A New Choice (The new Beginnings Series #1) by Michelle MacQueen 26) The Copperfield House (A Nantucket Sunset series #1) by Katie Winters 27) Firefly Nights, #2 Vineyard series by Katie Winters 28) August Sunsets, #3 Vineyard series by Katie Winters 29) Under the Maui Sky #1 Maui Island by Kellie Coates Gilbert 30) Fortune Teller #25 Miss Fortune series by Jana DeLeon 31) State of Denial #5 First Family series by Marie Force 32) The Heart Match by Phillipa Nefri Clark 33) The Menu Match by Phillipa Nefri Clark 34) The Christmas Match by Phillipa Nefri Clark 35) Justice, A Rocky Mountain Thriller by Ann Voss Peterson 36) The Alice Network by Kate Quinn 37) Girl One Murder ~ FBI Suspense Thriller #1 by Maya Gray 38) Lost & Found ~ A Clean Small Town Romance #1 by Lucinda Race 39) A Vineyard Thanksgiving #4 Vineyard series by Katie Winters 40) A Vineyard White Christmas #5 by Kate Winters 41) A Vineyard Vow #6 by Katie Winters 42) A Vineyard Lullaby #7 by Katie Winters
  • I’ve added a “SEASONAL” list too. I started with fall that you can see here. And a simple winter list is here. I’ll work on a spring list if it ever happens 😀 – never got around to the spring list and it turned into the summer list which is primarily figuring out and solving the irrigation and water u=issues around here.
  • Finish indexing the recipes on my Food blog, Savory Kitchen Table. This is a serious work in progress and hold over from 2022 that WILL take ALL year.
  • Finish indexing the recipes on my Life blog, Chasing MY Life. When I merged my old blogspot blogs into this single blog it duplicated many things and added an “ALL” category that I am having to eliminate one by one so it’s taking a LONG time. This is a serious work in progress and roll over from 2022 that WILL take ALL year into the next also.

PAN SEARED CHICKEN with LEMON LIME SAUCE ~ BLOG 365.180

This is a modified recipe reminiscent of RAO’S famous lemon chicken. Everyone cleaned their plates and went in for seconds.

PAN SEARED CHICKEN with LEMON LIME SAUCE serves 4

4 chicken breast steaks, 1/4 inch thick
FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper
1/3 cup flour
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon avocado oil

  • Melt butter and oil in large skillet over medium heat.
  • Add shallots and stir 30 seconds.
  • Generously season chicken breasts with FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper.
  • Dredge chicken breasts in flour, shaking off excess.
  • Add chicken breasts to hot butter. Sear each side 3-4 minutes until cooked through.
  • Serve over noodles, rice or mashed potatoes and drizzle sauce over top.

SAUCE
1 cup FRESH lemon juice
1 cup key lime juice
1/2 cup avocado oil
1/2 cup HOMEMADE chicken broth
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
2-3 cloves garlic, FINELY minced
FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper
1 tablespoon cornstarch

  • Whisk together the lemon juice, key lime juice, avocado oil, red wine vinegar, sugar, garlic, FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper in a large saucepan.
  • Simmer 5-10 minutes until sugar is dissolved and heated through.
  • Put the cornstarch in a small bowl and ladle out about a 1/2 cup of lemon juice mixture to whisk into the cornstarch.
  • Add cornstarch mixture to the saucepan, whisking until combined. Simmer 5-10 minutes until desired thickness.

CHEESY GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE ~ BLOG 365.178

A new twist to the traditional green bean casserole.

CHEESY GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE serves 4

3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons WONDRA flour
1 small shallot, FINELY diced
2 cloves garlic, FINELY minced
1/3 cup WHOLE milk
2/3 cup HOMEMADE chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3 cups (12 ounces) frozen green beans, thawed
FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup French’s fried onions, crushed FINE

  • Preheat oven to 350°.
  • Grease a 8×8 baking dish. Set aside.
  • In a large saucepan melt butter over medium heat.
  • Add shallots and garlic, sautéing 1 minute until soft.
  • Whisk in flour until smooth and golden.
  • Gradually whisk in the milk and chicken broth, simmering and stirring constantly 2-3 minutes until thickens.
  • Stir in Worcestershire sauce and season with salt and pepper.
  • Stir in cheese until smooth.
  • Fold in green beans, stirring to combine.
  • Transfer to baking dish.
  • Sprinkle crumbled fried onions evenly over.
  • Bake uncovered 30 minutes until bubbling and golden.

NOTE: For an even deeper flavor, switch out the chicken broth for your favorite lager beer.

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY with MENUS week 26 of 2023 ~ BLOG 365.177

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

Summer has FINALLY arrived to the Pacific North West. It’s been pleasant and sunny with warmer temperatures during the day, but the night times have bee GORGEOUS with temperatures in the 50’s and a cool ocean breeze.

This is how I’m feeling as I continue to get more organized and get those damn ducks in a row instead of all over the place! This feeling is tinged with some nostalgia and sadness though. Tomorrow marks the 30th anniversary of my father’s death. They say time heals all wounds, but they’re wrong. You do learn to cope with the loss, though it never truly goes away 🙁 But, he is also the man that taught me to get up each day and put one foot in front of the other to carry on, so that is exactly what I have done and (will continue to do) all these years.

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • LAUNDRY & CLEANING Laundry is up to date, but I do have some ironing to do.
  • GROCERIES & ERRANDS I did the majority of the grocery shopping last Friday, but I will be doing the normal shopping for the Eagles on Wednesday as well as the shopping for the Cribbage event we will be hosting next weekend. I’ll pretty much live at the lodge from Thursday through Sunday.
  • PAPERWORK, PHONE CALLS, PROJECTS & TRAVELS FINALLY got the family reunion information straightened out and everyone is getting their reservations locked in. WHEW that was a job! Now I’m working on getting the company that will do the concrete cutting to call me back so we can move forward on the pressure regulator/water problem. Hubby with the help of the neighbor did get the sprinklers all replaced and eliminated the minor leaks.
  • RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I sat and prepared my menus through July on Saturday afternoon. Literally 5 minutes after I finished a girlfriend called with a party invite for yesterday that changed everything 🙂 You know what they say – Man plans, God laughs 😀

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
  • AMAZON PRIME The Wheel of Time, Picard
  • CABLE Some NASCAR and a few odd cooking shows. Other than that it’s summer 🙂 who is indoors anyway?

MONDAY 6/26
TUESDAY 6/27
WEDNESDAY 6/28
THURSDAY 6/29
FRIDAY 6/30
SATURDAY 7/1
SUNDAY  7/2
BREAKFAST
PUREE COFFEE
PUREE COFFEE
PUREE COFFEE
PUREE COFFEE
BREAKFAST BAKE
BACON & FRENCH TOAST
BISCUITS & GRAVY
LUNCH
SALAMI & CHEESE
OUT
OUT
PASTRAMI SANDWICHES
FRIED CHICKEN WINGS w/ MAC SALAD
PULLED PORK SANDWICHES & COLESLAW
APPETIZER PLATES??
DINNER
CAPERLESS CHICKEN PICCATA with LEMON SAUCE & SWISS POTATOES
FRIED CHICKEN WRAPS & CORN SALSA SALAD (EAGLES)
CHICKEN & BROCCOLI DIVAN with JASMINE RICE
YOYO or CORN You’re on YOUR own OR Clean Out the Refrigerator
YOYO or CORN You’re on YOUR own OR Clean Out the Refrigerator
YOYO or CORN You’re on YOUR own OR Clean Out the Refrigerator
YOYO or CORN You’re on YOUR own OR Clean Out the Refrigerator
DESSERT
 CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
 

Jean noted last week that my recipes were already leaning towards Christmas 😀 I’m always in the mood for Christmas and am planning ahead. I have a new book/project that I’m hoping will inspire some new ideas for BLOGMAS 2023 😀

SATURDAY NIGHT BAKED BEANS aka COWBOY BEANS ~ BLOG 365.174

SATURDAY NIGHT BAKED BEANS aka COWBOY BEANS

1 1/2 pounds dried beans (I use a combination of navy, pinto and black beans)
1 smoked ham hock
2 tablespoons salt
8 cups HOMEMADE stock
1 pound QUALITY ground beef
1 LARGE Vidalia onion, small diced
1/2 pound salt pork, cut into small cubes
1/2 bacon, diced
1 can hominy, chopped small
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup PURE maple syrup
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup jalapeño ketchup
1 tablespoon Coleman’s dry mustard (optional)
FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper
2 cups dark brown sugar

  • Soak beans overnight, sort out the bad ones and then drain off the water.

 

  • In a large dutch oven cover the ham hock with 8 cups HOMEMADE chicken stock. Simmer 1-2 hours until meat is falling from the bone and liquid has cooked down to about half. Add meat to the slow cooker.
  • Cover the beans and chopped hominy with the ham hock broth in a large dutch oven. Add 2 tablespoons salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Cook 25-30 minutes until softened. Drain (but reserve liquid) and add beans to slow cooker.
  • Whisk together the molasses, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, salt and pepper, jalapeno ketchup and mustard if using. Pour into slow cooker.
  • While beans are simmering brown the ground beef with the onion pieces. Drain and add to slow cooker.
  • In the same skillet brown the bacon and salt pork until JUST crisp. Drain off grease and add to slow cooker.
  • Stir everything together until well mixed. Add enough of the reserved ham hock liquid to just cover the beans, stirring to combine.
  • Cook on high for 1-2 hours and then on low for 5-6 hours. Stir occasionally, adding just enough water to keep beans from drying out.