Monday, October 14, 2024

Master To-Do List and Menu Plan Monday - October 14, 2024

It's a beautiful, Monday afternoon here in southwest Missouri and, as I've said before, life is moving so fast and furious that it's hard to keep up!



I hope you're having a wonderful holiday weekend! Here in America, we're celebrating Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples Day, while our neighbors to the north (Canada) celebrate Thanksgiving! There's a whole lot of celebrating going on all over the North American continent today! Plus, we have two family members and a close friend with birthdays today, so, wow! 



Indian summer is upon us as warm days and cool nights have finally arrived, and I'm loving every minute of it! 



Had a great day yesterday afternoon when my goddaughter and her family came to visit. We met in Joplin for lunch, then went exploring a bit before they had to head home. 



Last Tuesday I finally got to meet my great-granddaughter and spend some time with her, her mom (my granddaughter), her brother (my great-grandson), and her grandma (my daughter-in-law). Both children are absolutely adorable and it was wonderful finally getting to hold the new baby (she's so tiny)! 💓



I don't think I posted about it last week, but the weekend before I went with the kids up to Blue Springs. We met up with family at Missouri Town to attend their annual fall arts, crafts, and music festival.



Afterwards, we went to Lake Jacomo and sat on the dock at Sailboat Cove for awhile, before meeting my son-in-law's parents and sister and one of my husband's cousin for supper. It was a great day!



Okay...the day is getting away from me and there is much to do. Let's take a look at the week ahead...shall we?



This week's master to-do list...

- Clean house
- Do laundry
- Celebrate family members and bff's birthdays
- Work
- Enjoy a couple of days exploring with Amanda and her family
- Finally meet my long-time, online friend, Bev, in person



This week's menu plan...

Tuesday - Grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup and apple slices
Wednesday - Turkey Italian sausage with potato, pepper, and onion
Thursday - Fish sandwich with potato wedges
Friday - Homemade pizza
Saturday - Out
Sunday - Leftovers



Well, that's all for today! Have a nice rest of your day and a great week ahead!

Until next time...
~Rebecca

P.S. - There's only a couple of days left before selecting a winner in the giveaway for a Homemaker's Friend 2025 Planner! Get your entry (or entries) in today by clicking HERE

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Wednesday, October 2, 2024

SURPRISE!!! 2025 Homemaker's Friend Daily Friend Free Giveaway

I first became acquainted with Sue Hooley's Homemaker's Friend Daily Planner when my husband bought the 2015 edition for me for my birthday. After familiarizing myself with the planner, it became my closest friend. It went with me everywhere! (It still does! Only it's whatever year's planner we happen to be in at the moment!) 😉


I have used the planners for ten years now and what a blessing they have been! I not only buy a copy for myself each year, but I usually buy several extra copies to give away, as well.

Speaking of giving copies away, I am so excited to announce that I will be giving a 2025 Homemaker's Friend Daily Planner away right here on this blog!

That's right! I will be giving away a FREE copy of Sue Hooley's 2025 Homemaker's Friend Daily Planner to one of my precious readers. Will it be you? 

Several years ago Sue graciously invited me to be an affiliate for her product. I was (and still am) very excited about that, too, because this is a product that I am familiar with, use on a daily basis, and absolutely love!

In a hurry? Don't want to wait to see if you win? To order planners for yourself or for copies to give as gifts (Christmas is just around the corner!) click HERE.



The giveaway will run for two weeks. It will start today (Wednesday, October 2, 2024) and will run through Wednesday, October 16, 2024. One winner will be selected on Thursday, October 17, 2024 and the planner will be mailed to them no later than Wednesday, October 23, 2024. To enter for your chance to win choose any or all of the following:

- Leave a comment in the comments section below (or on Rebecca's HEARTH AND HOME's Facebook page) telling me why you would like to win a copy of Sue Hooley's 2020 Homemaker's Friend Daily Planner.
- Share the link to this post on Facebook.
- Share the link to this post on X.
- Share the link to this post on Instagram.
- Pin the link to this post on Pinterest.
- Become a public follower of Rebecca's HEARTH AND HOME on Blogspot or comment letting me know that you already are one.
- LIKE Rebecca's HEARTH AND HOME on Facebook.
- Follow me on X (jkswife).
- Write a post linking this giveaway to your own blog. (This is worth 3 entries. Please leave three separate comments.)
- Subscribe to Rebecca's HEARTH AND HOME by e-mail.

Please leave one comment in the comments section below for each entry (and if you're having trouble leaving comments on this blog please email me at proverbs31heart@yahoo.com).
 One winner will be selected by drawing on Thursday, October 17, 2024. If I am unable to reach the winner within 48 hours, an alternate winner will be selected and contacted. Your entry is only valid if you include a way for me to contact you. 

Until next time...
~Rebecca




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Morning Catch Up, Master To Do List, and Menu Plan - Wednesday, October 2, 2024

It's Wednesday morning and, here we are, the 2nd of October already! The windows are open and it was deliciously chilly when I woke up...41 degrees!



I have no idea where September disappeared to...work mostly, I suppose...but time is flying and it's flying way too fast for my liking! 



Since October is my favorite month/season/color (and it has nothing to do with Halloween, because I no longer partake of Halloween), I am hoping that I can slow down mentally and purposefully relish it much more than I was able to the month of September. 

Last week's focus on the homefront centered around updates concerning the newest great-granbaby. 



Laykyn Mae wasn't due to arrive until early November, but she decided to make her appearance a few weeks early. She had a bit of a rough start, but, praise God, she is doing well and is already home with her family! 



Most of the work week's focus was on preparing for and hosting Prairie Jubilee on Saturday at Prairie State Park. I was presenting prairie tours most of the day so, unfortunately, didn't get many photos.



I'm still recovering from the weekend. Did my grocery shopping and bill paying yesterday. Today my focus is on home...house, laundry, finding supplies for upcoming programs at work, and delivering an order of cards



I'm really pleased with the quality of the products coming out of my Zazzle store! This bison mug was purchased and given as the grand prize for Saturday's bison chip-throwing contest and the winner was delighted! (So was I!) 😄



Well, I should be going. I have much to do today, but, since I missed Monday's post completely, I thought I'd drop in and catch up with you a bit. 



I hope your week is going well and that you have a wonderful day!

Until next time...
~Rebecca

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Wednesday, September 25, 2024

Recipe: Beef and Celery Stirfry

I had my menu plans made for the week when I discovered a bunch of celery wilting and on it's way out in the fridge. In order to use it up quickly I made a beef and celery stirfry today, and it was delicious!


Here's the recipe...

BEEF AND CELERY STIRFRY

 - 1 lb lean stew meat
 - 1 1/2 tbsp Bragg's aminos (or soy sauce)
 - 1/4 tsp salt
 - 1/4 tsp black pepper
 - 1 tsp ground ginger
 - 2 tsp corn starch
 - 1 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
 - 1 beef bullion cube dissolved in 1/2 cup        water
 - pinch of Super Sweet (or 1/4 tsp sugar)
 - 1/4 chopped onion
 - 2 cloves garlic
 - one bunch celery cleaned and cut into       half-inch slices

I slow-cooked the meat first to ensure tenderness. After draining most of the liquid, I added the rest of the ingredients, turned up the heat, and stir-fried until the celery was tender. I did add a little extra water a couple of times during cooking. Serve over rice or cauli-rice.

Until next time,
~Rebecca

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Tuesday, September 24, 2024

Master To-Do List and Menu Plan: The Tuesday Edition - September 24, 2024

Yesterday was one of those days...cool...rainy...totally fall in all its glory. I was missing my husband and I was missing home. I wrote a big, ol' long, depressive post about it, but, thankfully, didn't post it. I have deleted the depressive parts and am just going to post the meat and potato parts and move on.

Last week fairly flew by. I ran errands, got a few things done around the house, and worked; a couple of the grandsons mowed and took care of the yard work, 



On Saturday I worked the Liberal town fair and won a couple of ribbons with my photography and craft projects.




Sunday afternoon I went to the Plaza Theater in Lamar and watched The Forge. The characters are closely linked with those in War Room (which is my favorite of all the Kendrick Brothers films) and the storyline stresses the importance of discipleship. It was good!


Let's get on with the week ahead...shall we?



This week's master to do list...

- Clean house
- Do laundry
- Transplant baby spider plants
- Get letters printed and ready to be mailed out to help get the vote out (to find out more check out WriteNow2024.org)
- Work
- Attend (and work) Prairie Jubilee 2024
- Attend great-grandson's first birthday party



This week's menu plan...

Monday - Turkey Italian sausage, baked potato, and cabbage
Tuesday - Grand Greek Salad 
Wednesday - Crispy Chicken Cheese Quesadilla
Thursday - Low carb pizza    
Friday - Freezer meal or leftovers
Saturday - Freezer meal or leftovers
Sunday - Italian sausage stuffed peppers with pasta, sauce, and garlic bread 



Well, that's all for today! Have a nice day and a great rest of the week ahead!

Until next time...
~Rebecca

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Sunday, September 22, 2024

Sunday Evening - Trip Photos - Cape Girardeau Day 2, (World's Largest Fountain Cup, Trail of Tears State Park) and More

It's the first day of autumn and, after a miserably hot last day of summer, cooler temperatures have arrived. I'm so thankful! I hope you and yours had a lovely last weekend of summer! Before another busy week starts, I thought I'd get on here and share a few more trip photos. 

Day 2 of our trip started with breakfast at our hotel. 


Aaron's sister, Kate, from Illinois met us at breakfast and spent the day with us. We had a ball!





The first stop on our way out of town was to see the 'World's Largest Fountain Drink Cup' in Cape Girardeau. It was just around the corner from our hotel.



The cup stands 15 feet tall and holds 
605,556 regular size cups of whatever the nearest convience store would care to put into it.



Next we headed to Trail of Tears State Park near Jackson, Missouri.







We toured the visitor center, got to observe several reptiles along the rock wall, and shed tears while learning about the forced removal of the Cherokee Nation from the southeast United States. I am sharing the movie that we watched here...



We enjoyed a picnic lunch on the grounds and the beauty of the surrounding river bluffs. 







Trail of Tears is a beautiful park and one I'd like to visit again and spend more time at in the future.

Until next time...
~Rebecca

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Monday, September 16, 2024

Master To-Do List and Menu Plan Monday - September 16, 2024

It's Monday morning and I'm chomping at the bit to get started on a very long list of projects that, due to too much recent activity, have been put on hold for far too long. The week and weekend were great and the late-summer prairie absolutely gorgeous!



Last Monday evening I was invited to guest-speak and present a program on Missouri's 'wild dogs' for the local 4-H group. I had a great group of children and they enjoyed the touch table and, especially liked, getting to touch the animal pelts (fox, coyote, and wolf). 



This coyote picture was sent to me by the mom of one little girl that, when she got home from the program, watercolored. I love the contrast in fur color that she exhibited!



I had a great group of folks turn out for Friday night's 'spider sniff.' 



We learned a lot of really cool stuff about spiders before going out on the prairie to see if we could find some in their natural habitat.



We walked the prairie at just the right time of evening. All along the trail tiny spiders were busy spinning their webs in hopes of catching another meal before the night was through. 



As darkness fell (holding our flashlights close to our foreheads) we shined our lights into the edges of the grasses to discover tiny, glittering, blue and green eyes peering back at us...each set belonging to a spider. It was amazing!



We saw several female wolf spiders carrying egg cases on their backs. 



After our explorations were over, I read the 'by-laws', administered the 'oath', and issued 'certification' to all in attendence as they became members of the 'secret society' of 'Missouri Spider Sniffers'...all in silliness and fun, of course! 


It was an awesome experience and I'm pretty sure that everyone in attendance had a great time! (I hope so anyway!)



Saturday granddaughter, Audrey, and I worked 'Prairie Day' at George Washington Carver National Monument in Diamond, Missouri. 


It is such a beautiful place and the atmosphere there is so peaceful!



Fall was in the air and we met, and made connections with, some really amazing people. It was quite a blessing to a part of!

After church yesterday, I met Amanda, Aaron, Lisa (Aaron's mom), and the girls at Butler for a very late lunch. They had pototoes on sale up home for an incredible price, so they picked up, and delivered, several bags of them for me on their way down. It was great getting to spend some unexpected time with them and it's always nice having extra potatoes on hand!

Well, here I am, rambling away while the day goes speeding past. Let's get on with this week's post, shall we?



This week's master to-do list...

- Clean house (with focus on the Van Gogh room/office/spare bedroom/catch-all room...it's a mess!)
- Do laundry
- Clean the microwave
- Clean the fridge
- Repair toilet (new flap and handle)
- Repair ceiling fan (replace blades)
- Go over finances and figure mid-month budget (it's time to put the brakes on!)
- Pay mid-month bills
- Purchase stamps
- Divide and pot baby airplane plants
- Work/present library program on raccoons
- Get projects ready to enter in upcoming fair (photos and crafts)
- Attend and enjoy fair (Liberal, Missouri 'Prairie Days')
- Celebrate the first day of autumn



This week's menu plan...

I've made too many new recipes lately and, although they've all been quite delicious, I'm finding that they're way out of my league. Some of them I will make again, but most I will not. There are elements from some of them though that I do appreciate and will incorporate as much as possible into my regular meals...like using riced cauliflower as a substitute for brown rice. I really like that! I'm finding that, for me, it's best to stick with simple foods that I truly enjoy and try not to mix stuff up too much too often.

Monday - Turkey Italian sausage with baked potato and cabbage
Tuesday - To be decided and filled in later
Wednesday - To be decided and filled in later
Thursday - To be decided and filled in later
Friday - To be decided and filled in later
Saturday - To be decided and filled in later
Sunday - Leftovers



That's it for today, Ladies! I hope your Monday is off to a great start and that you have a wonderful week ahead!

Until next time...
~Rebecca

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