Tag: BLOG 366

HAM & POTATO SOUP ~ BLOG 366.88

HAM & POTATO SOUP
1 3/4 pounds golden potatoes, peeled and large diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 bunch green onions, sliced
3 1/2 cups homemade chicken stock
FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper, to taste
5 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons WONDRA flour
2 cups WHOLE milk
2 cups diced cooked ham steak
FRESH chopped Italian parsley
Shredded cheese (optional)

  • In a stock pot stir together the broth, potatoes, celery and onions.
  • Bring to a SLOW boil.
  • Reduce heat to medium low and cook 10-15 minutes until potatoes are tender.
  • Stir in seasoning, to taste.
  • In another pan melt butter.
  • Whisk in flour, stirring constantly until flour is smooth and golden.
  • Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly, until smooth and thickened.
  • Add in stock mixture, stirring until blended.
  • Add ham pieces and simmer 4-5 minutes.
  • Ladle into bowls and garnish. enjoy

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY week 13 of 2024 ~ BLOG 366.85

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 my friends. I’m so glad you are joining me in my corner of blogland. Pour a cup of coffee and grab a slice of my Lemon Blueberry coffee cake (the recipe will be posted next week) while we chat. This is going to be a super busy week to end March with. And Easter will be the topper.

I’m mostly recovered from my month away, but still dealing with a few issues I haven’t unpacked mentally yet. Some things after I’ve finished unpacking them will not see the light of day and for that I refer you to my inspiration category this week. 😀

It may be spring where you are, but here we’re still having mostly winter. Spring pops in for an hour here or there, but has yet to make a notable appearance. This week is full of rain with highs near 50°.  So I have yet to put away flannels, turtlenecks and UGGs.

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • LAUNDRY & CLEANING I’ll finish with the deep clean this week, but am caught up on laundry. I’m trying to clean out drawers and the closet as spring approaches.
  • GROCERIES & ERRANDS I have an appointment in town tomorrow and will pick up just a few things after.
  • PAPERWORK, PHONE CALLS, PROJECTS & TRAVELS I have so much paperwork to catch up on! This week will be jam packed with so much to do!
  • RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I’m looking into some spring recipes that are a bit lighter.

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
 We’re ALMOST caught up with the things that recorded while we were gone – TOURNAMENT of CHAMPIONS, CSI, FBI’s, CHICAGO SERIES, GOOD DOCTOR, YOUNG SHELDON, GHOSTS

I have never stopped reading a book before, but I’m about to if I can’t get done this week with THE ALICE NETWORK.

BREAKFAST is always a work in progress for me – it will generally be hot water and a fruit yogurt 😀
MONDAY 3/25
TUESDAY 3/26
WEDNESDAY 3/27
THURSDAY 3/28
FRIDAY 3/29
SATURDAY 3/30
SUNDAY 3/31
DINNER
 RANCHERAS CHICKEN FRIED STEAK
HERB ROASTED CHICKEN with MASHED POTATOES
 TEXAS STYLE STEAKS with CHEDDAR RICE
 FRIED CHICKEN SALAD
 working the cribbage event at the Eagles so not cooking at home
 working the cribbage event at the Eagles so not cooking at home
 HAM, SCALLOPED POTATOES, GLAZED CARROTS
DESSERT
 
 LEMON BLUEBERRY COFFEE CAKE
 
DUTCH APPLE PIE (HUBBY’S REQUEST)

It’s mating season at the Peacock Farm 😀

that said I’m loving my new shirt: 😀

Easter is upon us so here are a few color combos that I’m in love with 😀

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY weel 12 of 2024 ~ BLOG 366.78

I hope you’re having a wonderful start to the week. I’m off and running as I have a ton to get done today. Be sure to join us for Happy Homemaker Monday and link up with our host, Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

We got home last night and it was absolutely gorgeous – 68° and sunny! Today is supposed to be the same, but the as the weather page said “Drag The Jackets Out Again; Winter Isn’t Done“! Tomorrow is supposed to dip to mid 50’s and then by Wednesday we’re back into the 40’s and really wet. Today is Levi’s and a lightweight flannel with tennies.

There is A LOT for me to “UNPACK” both physically AND mentally from the past 3 weeks. I’m not really ready to go there yet here on the blog, but I am glad I did the “right” thing.

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • LAUNDRY & CLEANING I have 3 weeks worth of laundry to do and some general cleaning.
  • GROCERIES & ERRANDS There is literally NOTHING in the refrigerator so my first stop will be the grocery store.
  • PAPERWORK, PHONE CALLS, PROJECTS & TRAVELS It will take a few days to get all my ducks in a row and get back on track. At least they are all in the same pond this week.
  • RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING This week is planned, but I’m going to start some spring recipe research for some lighter versions of our favorites.

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
  • We have a mess load of shows to catch up on the DVR. We watched a few movies while we were gone though. A couple I’m surprised I didn’t catch the first time – UPGRADED, The OTHER ZOEY, ALIENS ABDUCTED MY PARENTS, HITCH, OVERBOARD, THE PROPOSAL…

I’m about half way through THE ALICE NETWORK  by Kate Quinn – I’m really enjoying books about WWII, especially about women spies. And especially when it covers multiple time periods in history as in this case both WWI AND WWII.

“1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She’s also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie’s parents banish her to Europe to have her “little problem” taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister. 

1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she’s recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she’s trained by the mesmerizing Lili, code name Alice, the “queen of spies,” who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy’s nose.  

Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. That is until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn’t heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth . . . no matter where it leads.”

BREAKFAST is always a work in progress for me – it will generally be hot water and a fruit yogurt 😀
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
DINNER
SPAGHETTI & MEATBALL SOUP
 TOMATILLO CHICKEN
 CHICKEN FRIED STEAK RANCHERAS
 CABBAGE BEEF SOUP
 HAM & BEANS with BUTTER BISCUITS
 POT ROAST & VEGGIES
 LEMON HERB ROAST CHICKEN
DESSERT
 
 BUTTERMILK DEVILS FOOD SHEET CAKE
 

I still have a bunch of pictures to edit from the trip, but a few of my favorites are from The Cadillac Ranch.

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY week 11 of 2024 ~ BLOG 366.71

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 past week was extremely warm (mid 80’s) and very humid for March in southeast Texas, but then the weekend turned almost cold and windy bringing back out the sweatshirts we started the trip with. Fortunately we’ll be leaving here later today before the warm weather returns. So I’m starting today in Levi’s, a favorite t-shirt, sweatshirt and some tennies that I should have broken in better before the trip.

I’m glad we came to help my cousin and be here for the memorial. My aunt passed several years back so now both of my god parents are gone. I know my aunt and uncle are looking down and proud of my decisions. That said, I’m glad to be heading home having done all I can do to help and be leaving it in my rear view mirror. I’m going to leave the rest of my thoughts mulling over in my brain until next week 😀

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • LAUNDRY I got caught up on laundry yesterday so we’ll start the trip home will ALL clean clothes.
  • RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I ran across a few of my aunt’s old recipes that were wonderful as a child, but will need to be converted to scratch now. Who really knows what this week will bring for a menu. The one thing I do know is a lot of eating out for our main meal.

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
  • Not much as it’s all at home on the DVR, but we did watch a couple Amazon movies – UPGRADED, THE OTHER ZOEY and ALIENS ABDUCTED MY PARENTS

I just began THE ENEMY at HOME by Kevin O’Brien, a WWII historical suspense novel. I’ve really been enjoying historical WWII novels.

BREAKFAST is always a work in progress for me – it will generally be hot water and a fruit yogurt 😀
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
DINNER
DIL’S CHOICE
DIL’S CHOICE
 OUT
 OUT
 OUT
 OUT
 OUT
 
 
 
 

Other than a few outings to favorite haunts for some long missed meals our week was spent working on clearing out my uncle’s house – throwing away the trash from the shed, house and garage, packing up the donations for his favorite charity and helping my cousin pack what she is taking home with her to Kansas. We’re exhausted and ready to start heading home!

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY week 10 of 2024 with MENU PLANS ~ BLOG 366.64

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

Snowing at home and a balmy mid 70’s here. A real toss up for me! I LOVE the snow and cooler weather, miss my friends and volunteer projects, but so love the restaurants, shopping and things to do here! But, like they say, you can’t go home again. We’ve been gone from here a few years now and in that time the traffic has gotten even more absolutely horrendous, the people are absolutely EVERYWHERE and it seems like a lifetime ago since this was my hometown.

For the past year I’ve been working with a girlfriend on estate sales and have loved doing it. We just finished one right before we left to help my cousin with her father’s estate. I have to say this is so much easier when you don’t personally know the person 🙁

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • LAUNDRY & CLEANING I’ve been doing some laundry and cleaning here at my uncle’s as we begin “THE SORT”. My cousin will be here on Friday to begin going through things and loading her van and trailer to take things back home.
  • GROCERIES & ERRANDS There are a couple errands I need to do while we are here in the city that I can’t do elsewhere and I’ll bring in a few groceries at that time.
  • PAPERWORK, PHONE CALLS, PROJECTS & TRAVELS we’ll see what I can get accomplished from afar.
  • RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I’m trying to get caught up on posting for Cooking Thursdays.

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
  • Not sure what this week will bring.

BREAKFAST is always a work in progress for me – it will generally be hot water and a fruit yogurt 😀 Since we’re still on our trip dinners will consist of some of our favorite old haunts
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
DINNER
GRACES KITCHEN
 RAZOOS CAJUN
CHUY’S
 PAPPASITOS
UNCLE JULIO’S SCRATCH MADE KITCHEN
TORCHY’S TACOS
 IRMA’S CAFE
DESSERT
 
 
 

I put a few photos on Instagram and Facebook this week from our journey before deleting them, but saved the “ODD” ones for here 😀

  • HOT CHICKEN SALAD
  • PINEAPPLE LEMON CHICKEN

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY week 9 of 2024 ~ BLOG 366.57

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

We’re beginning our LONG journey to my uncle’s funeral today so this will be quick.

I think the weather will change hourly for the next several days. I am starting with a turtleneck, flannel, levis and Ugg’s. It is supposed to be exceptionally cold and snowy here this week with the latest storm moving in.

I’m feeling a little melancholy about what this weekend will bring emotionally. I also feel bad for hubby as Saturday is a BIG birthday for him, and no matter how we tried, we couldn’t arrange the service at any other time to accommodate everyone. As much as I LOVE to travel I’m not thrilled about traveling during this time of year, but you know my motto – IT IS WHAT IT IS! 😀

The weather on the other end of this trip will be much warmer so that also increases the amount of packing and layers necessary.

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • Nothing to do this week or next, but will do a bit of recipe research while I’m gone. I will also visit my favorite spice shop and farmer’s market while I’m gone.

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
  • Whatever is on in hotels for the first few nights.

BREAKFAST is always a work in progress for me – it will generally be hot water and a fruit yogurt 😀
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
DINNER
 We’ll be on the road for the
 next several days so there
 is no menu except visiting some
 favorite old haunts along
 the way.
 Hubby’s birthday dinner is being set up by my cousin since we’ll all be together for the funeral.
 I’ll take hubby someplace special tonight – just the 2 of us for his birthday.
DESSERT
 
 
 
chocolate cake of course

I found this fun alien #RailArt near the local lumber yard the other day and I planted a crocus, but it was a bit too soon. This is the prettiest it will ever be 🙁 Herbie on the other hand has mainly artificial flowers planted in it so looks absolutely adorable.

HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY & MENU PLANS week 8 of 2024 ~ BLOG 366.50

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

The weather this week is supposed to be all over the place – anywhere from the high 30’s to the high 50’s during the day and in the 30’s at night with primarily gray, cloudy, foggy and rainy off and on ALL week. Hoodies and Levis are the uniform of the week 😀

I’m trying to get better organized! Things are still a bit jumbled and chaotic with so many repairs and issues going on. It has truly been Murphy’s Law around here. Hubby replaced the parts for the kitchen sink drain and all is well on that front again, but we have black ants now (the kind that are looking for warmth or water) that are a pain in the winter. They hang out in outlets and shower drains and such. We’re having issues with rim leaks on a specific tire that is the issue of the day, for multiple days now. If it isn’t one thing it’s another.

The roofers came last week and said they fixed the leak (AGAIN) in the relatively new roof. Unfortunately, they didn’t 🙁 but fortunately the new project manager is a good and reasonable guy. He brought a small crew over last Saturday and took up the less than 2 year old section and changed all the flashing and laid new roof. They checked inside and out, but I’m leaving the bucket in place for a week or so just to be sure since they claimed to have fixed it many times before. There is still a lot of back and forth with my uncle’s passing. He lived in Texas, my cousin lives in Kansas and I’m in the Pacific North West. We have been having multiple conversations for weeks about everything and taking care of things from a far. It is all still a work in process, but obviously weighing heavy on my mind as we prepare for all this entails.

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • LAUNDRY & CLEANING Laundry is up to date and ironing is on today’s to do list!
  • GROCERIES & ERRANDS I have a haircut on Wednesday, but not much more this week on this front.
  • PAPERWORK, PHONE CALLS, PROJECTS & TRAVELS Tomorrow will be the day for phone calls and they are the kind that will require A LOT of time on hold unfortunately.
  • RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING I’m hoping for a weather change to update the menu soon, but for now will be focusing on soups, chilis an stews for March.

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
  • AMAZON PRIME We’re almost done binge re-watching GRIMM.
  • PARAMOUNT+ We’re almost done with re-watching CHEERS at night.
  • CABLE We need to get caught up on the DVR now that the new season has begun.

I’ve been so busy lately that I fall asleep quickly and have gotten very little reading done! I’m hoping to finish Canary Girls this week. It’s a very good book and I’m leaning so much!! I’m really sad it’s taking me so long to read.

BREAKFAST is always a work in progress for me – it will generally be hot water and a fruit yogurt 😀
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
DINNER
 HAM & POTATO SOUP
 HOT CHICKEN SALAD
 CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
OUT with a CLOSE FRIEND for hubby’s upcoming BIG birthday
 BURGERS
C.O.R.N.
 C.O.R.N.
DESSERT
 
 
 

This is Miss Maya, a sweet little cat at a recent job we were working on. This has been such a wet winter that the moldy moss and grass growth is REALLY bad this year! I took these pictures downtown near a business we frequent. BUT, there is hope! These daffodils made a brief appearance on a sunny day.

BUFFALO CHICKEN SLOPPY JOES ~ BLOG 366.

BUFFALO CHICKEN SLOPPY JOES adapted from Rachel Ray
1-1 1/2 pounds ground chicken
3/4-1 cup Frank’s original Buffalo Wing Sauce
3/4-1 cup homemade ranch dressing
1 carrot, FINELY diced
2 celery stalks, FINELY diced
1 SMALL Vidalia onion FINELY diced
1/4 cup of brown sugar
Hawaiian or Egg Buns
Bleu cheese crumbles, optional

  • In a large skillet melt 1 tablespoon avocado oil.
  • Add carrots, celery and onion, sauteing 3-5 minutes.
  • Add chicken, cooking until browned and veggies are softened.
  • Add in wing sauce and ranch dressing stirring to blend flavors.
  • Add in brown sugar. If sauce is too spicy, add another 1/4 cup 😀
  • Serve on a bun with crumbles if desired.
  • Add extra ranch as needed.

NOTE: Bleu cheese dressing substitutes well for the ranch if you prefer.

ORIGINALLY POSTED JULY 31, 2011, updated for content and photo