Monday, September 17, 2018

Happy Homemaker Monday - September 17, 2018

Good morning, Dear Ladies! 


I pray that this post finds each and every one of you healthy, happy, and serving the Lord with gladness! Happy Monday! 💗

How was your weekend? Ours was good here. I worked Friday and Saturday. Friday evening our youngest son and his wife and children came by for a visit. I hadn't had my hands on those grandbabies for almost two weeks and I was aching. I, of course, greatly enjoyed getting in some cuddle time with baby Kira. 👶

Saturday evening, as soon as I got off work, I came home, changed my clothes, grabbed my husband, and headed across town to meet up with family before walking up town to attend our town's 62nd Annual Prairie Days celebration. We watched the parade, then walked the length of the activities on Main Street. Friends from Truman Lake were in the area for a grandson's birthday party, so they joined us for supper at Sweet Creations and we got in a nice visit before they headed home. It was, indeed, a blessing. 💗

Early Sunday morning I went out to the park to help the park manager bring the bison in for Jubilee. It's a daily training exercise and I will share more about that in another post on Life on the Tallgrass Prairie (hopefully, later today). It was a lot of fun though. Real cowgirl work! Yee-haw!!! 🤠

Bringing the Bison in for Jubilee at Prairie State Park
Let's get on in to this week's post, shall we? Today I'm joining Sandra and the other lovely ladies for Happy Homemaker Monday over at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom and I'm inviting YOU to join me! Be sure and check them out! 💗

Today I'm joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom and
all of the wonderful ladies of Happy Homemaker Monday!
Right now I am...

 ... enjoying a cup of tea while working on this post. 
Am thinking...

... about the week (actually, the next two weeks) ahead. Have a lot going on and, if I'm going to make it through without becoming over-stressed, I'm going to have to pace myself. 😳

On the breakfast plate...

 ... turkey, egg, and cheese on toast and Twining's Irish Breakfast tea

The weather...

 Still warm. 79 degrees at the moment with a high of 89 expected. Lower 90's over the next three days, then highs in the upper-70's to mid-80's with good chances of rain and lows in the 60's almost every day after that. Will be glad when the really fall-ish weather arrives. I'm tired of summer! 😠 

On my reading pile...

 I finally finished reading Discover Nature at Sundown by Elizabeth P. Lawlor, but plan to keep using it as a guide for the study of nocturnal creatures and other things talked about within its pages. At present I am reading The Table That Speaks - Bringing Communion to Life by Kenneth W. Hagin.
The Table That Speaks - Bringing Communion to Life
by Kenneth W. Hagin
On the menu this week...

 We're in the midst of our 'Low-Spend September' plan and, while menus are starting to get a little bit different, we're still going strong! 😊

Monday - sauteed peppers, onions, and mushrooms in beef broth served over brown rice
Tuesday -  homemade Italian sausage with roasted potatoes and green peppers
Wednesday - Guatemalan red beans and rice
Thursday - tuna and noodles with frozen peas
Friday - hot dogs and saurkraut
Saturday - breakfast for supper (buckwheat pancakes, turkey bacon, and eggs)
Sunday - leftovers

On my 'to do' list...

- Monday - Plan the week ahead, do my weekly "home blessing", do laundry, wish our oldest granddaughter a Happy Birthday 🎂 (I can't believe that she turned 20 today! 😲) 💗
- Tuesday - Get together with my BFFF, collect leaves for Wednesday's library program, get together with bead-makers in the evening
- Wednesday - 'Looking At Leaves' library program @ 11:15 and 3:15
- Thursday - ?
-Friday - Work
- Saturday - Work (nature bingo)
- Sunday - Church, work in the afternoon

 Last week on those days with a "?" I managed to decorate indoors for fall and go through four totes from the move. Out of that I threw out a trash bag and half of stuff, shifted most of what was left over into yard sale items, and only kept and put away a few things. It felt really good to get that done. Now...if I can just keep going! 😉

In the craft basket...

Am still working on paper beads and will be doing so throughout the month of September. Appreciate all the volunteers that have been showing up on Tuesday evenings to help! 😍

I also received and put this together...
(More About This Coming Up In A Future Post)
Looking forward to this week...

Receiving my very first box of Mrs. Meyer's products EVER from Grove Collaborative! I thought that it would come last week, but it didn't. It is scheduled to arrive TODAY! (More on this later!) 💗

Something interesting I watched...

Quest For The Bay on Amazon Prime. It's a Canadian reality show where a group of eight 21st Century people set out to retrace a 1200-mile,1840's fur-trade route from Manitoba to the York Trading Post at Hudson Bay, while promising to stay period throughout...1840's boat, tools, clothes, food, etc. Lots of adventure and pretty interesting. 

From the camera...
Gettin' Ready
🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁
Scripture passage...

Well, Ladies, that's it for this week! I pray that each and every one of you have a blessed and beautiful week ahead! And I'll see you next week! 
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Thursday, September 13, 2018

Low-Spend, Dollar-Stretching Challenge - Update #2 and A Couple of New Recipes


Things are going well as we continue to move through our 'low-spend September' (at least in the area of groceries). John and I ran to the store on Tuesday to grab fresh things (milk, cheese, butter, eggs, yogurt, and bread), but, as far as meat, canned goods, dry goods, and other non-perishables, we are determined to use up what's on-hand before purchasing more.

 In other areas this past week, I can't say that we've necessarily been 'low-spend', but we have been spending wisely. While in town we purchased items needed to complete several small household projects that needed done before winter and, with the money that we've saved on groceries this month, it has made things like that, not only affordable, but easy to stay within budget. Plus, it feels good just being able to cross some of those projects off our 'to-do' list!

 I have two new recipes to share with you this week. Both of them use ingredients that we don't buy and normally wouldn't have on-hand, but, due to someone giving them to us, we did...canned chicken and a bag of prunes.The canned chicken I wasn't too concerned about, but, what in the world was I going to do with a bag of prunes??? 😲

 Well, I have a saying..."When in doubt, pull out the old Betty Crocker cookbook!" And that's what I did. 😃

 I love my old Betty Crocker cookbook! 😍 (It was printed back in the day before everything came from a box or a can and people still used real ingredients to cook with. I got it for a wedding present back in 1979 and I raised my children on it. In fact, I wore the original one out and had to go online to find a replacement for it! My children were always calling wanting the recipe for this, that, or the other, so, one year for Christmas, I tracked down an original copy for each one of them and gave them to them as gifts. Most of the recipes that they grew up on came from that book.

 Anyway...(sorry...rabbit trial!)...I got out my old Betty Crocker cookbook and looked in the back under 'prunes'. Even though it didn't sound all that great, I decided to try the recipe for Spicy Prune Cake and, let me tell you, it was delicious! In fact, I think it's my new favorite cake (very fallish)! I didn't have the ingredients on-hand to make frosting for it, so I just dusted the top with powdered sugar. I would like to try it, though, with a cream cheese frosting. I bet that that would make it doubly-delicious! 😋 I have enough prunes left to make two more cakes and I'm pretty sure that, after that, we'll be buying prunes on a regular basis. LOL! 😆 

 The other recipe (Cheesy Chicken Pasta) I found online when searching for recipes that specifically call for canned chicken. The recipe was good, but it's not one that I would go out of my way to buy canned chicken for to make again. If I make it again I will do it when I've got leftover fresh chicken that I have cooked and cubed myself and, next time, I'm adding salt, pepper, and a can of mushrooms. This recipe just didn't seem complete without them. I did tweak the original recipe quite a bit, so I will give you the link to the original and share what I actually did with you here.
Cheesy Chicken Pasta
CHEESY CHICKEN PASTA
(Link to Original Recipe)

 8 oz. rotini (spiral pasta noodles)
2 T. butter
1/2 c. red and green bell peppers, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 T. flour
1 1/2 cups almond milk
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 13-oz. can canned chicken
1 T. ranch dressing mix

 Prepare noodles according to package directions and drain when finished cooking. While noodles are cooking, saute peppers and garlic in butter for a minute or two. Add flour and whisk for another minute. Then, add milk to make a rue. When the rue begins to bubble, remove from heat and add cheese. Stir until melted. Add chicken and ranch dressing mix. Return to low heat and stir until heated through. 

 SPICY PRUNE CAKE

 1 c. boiling water
1 c. cut-up pitted prunes
2 c. flour (I used Prairie Gold whole wheat)
1 1/2 c. sugar (I used crystallized cane sugar)
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cloves
1/2 c. oil (I used olive oil)
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

 Pour boiling water over prunes in large mixing bowl and let stand for 1 hour.

 Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease (or spray) a 13 x 9 2 inch pan. Beat prunes and remaining ingredients on low speed for one minute. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour into pan.

 Bake until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes; cool. Frost, if desired, or dust with powdered sugar.

 Until next time,
~Rebecca

 30 Days of Summer - Post #29 - The Waning Days of Summer

Happy Homemaker Monday - September 10, 2018

Low-Spend, Dollar-Stretching Challenge - Update #1

A Low-Spend September and Dollar-Stretching Food Challenge

2019 Planner
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Tuesday, September 11, 2018

30 Days of Summer - Post #29 - The Waning Days of Summer

As the waning days of summer give way to the approaching autumn season, so, too, do the plants that gave us such joy over the course of it.

This is the very tail-end of this summer's sunflowers. I should have
placed something nearby to give reference to the size, because, even
though this blossom looks bright and cheerful enough, in size it falls somewhere
between that of a quarter and a half-dollar. Very tiny, but, oh! So cute! 🌻
For the most part, the purple-headed coneflowers in the front yard have run their course with nothing left to show, but their dried, brown, spindly, spike-like stems and porcupine-like seed pods bulging out on top. We leave them for now because the goldfinches and chickadees are still enjoying them as a food source. That also gives me plenty of seed for next year and extra seed to share with others, as well. 
That is, except for these two! These two, tiny purple-headed coneflowers were found
hiding in the far bed on the south side of the lawn. Just a day or two ago, three more popped up in a bed out front. They are barely five-inches tall and their flowering heads are miniatures in comparison to their mid-summer counterparts. Despite their small size, their color is magnificent and they are a joy to behold! 🌸
The summer vegetable garden, too, exhibits all the signs of end-of-season.
The zucchini are gone (squash bugs took over there at the end and their demise
soon followed), the peppers (green and sweet banana) are still producing,
but the fruits of both are small and not very well developed.

And, as for the tomatoes, we didn't get a ton to begin with and, what tomatoes there
were, were enjoyed in fresh sauce made throughout the summer season.
There certainly weren't enough to put any away for winter and all the tomatoes
we got were very small. In fact, the basket above is only about 8" across the top;
the tomatoes in it range from 1- to 2-inches in length. Not mighty, but very tasty! 🍅
How about you? How are the waning days of summer reflected in your little corner of the world?

 Until next time...
~Rebecca

 Recent and related posts that you might enjoy reading...

Expectations and What They Do to Our Relationships





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Monday, September 10, 2018

Happy Homemaker Monday - September 10, 2018

Good morning, Dear Ladies! Happy Monday! 💗


How was your weekend? Even though I had to work through most it, ours was good here! (And that sounds much more terrible than it is. In reality, I love my job and, after 4+ years, at times, I still have a hard time believing that they pay me to do what I do! 💗)

 John and I had a bit of adventure when we decided to take a hike after work last night. You can read more about that HERE if you'd like. 
John and I Out On The Trail At Prairie State Park
Other than that, the weekend was pretty quiet. 

Let's get right on in to this week's post, shall we? Today I'm joining Sandra and the other lovely ladies for Happy Homemaker Monday over at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom and I'm inviting YOU to join me! Be sure and check them out! 💗

Today I'm joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom and
all of the wonderful ladies of Happy Homemaker Monday!
Right now I am...

 Finishing up breakfast, enjoying a cup of hot tea, working on this post, and, through my office window, am watching the fog bank across the road give way to morning sun.

Am thinking...

...about, and praying over, friends and family members that find themselves facing various trials, troubles, and difficulties this morning. Some have suffered loss, while others are dealing with health, financial, or relational issues. My heart aches for all of them, but, praise God! There is help through the mighty Name of Jesus for all who will turn to Him in their hour of need.

On the breakfast plate...

 Cottage cheese on toast and Twining's Irish Breakfast tea

The weather...

 BEAUTIFUL! It was cool and rainy over the weekend with highs in the upper 60's to lower 70's with nighttime lows in the upper 50's. HEAVENLY!!! Right now it's sunny and a cool 67 degrees. The high today is suppose to be in the mid- to upper-70's, then we return to the 80's for the rest of the week. What gorgeous September weather! I'm lovin' it! And NO AIR CONDITIONER RUNNING!!! (Ching! Ching! Ching! Hear those utility savings adding up???) 😆

On my reading pile...

I finished reading The Name of Jesus by Kenneth E. Hagin last night and am working on the review now. I only have a few pages left in Discover Nature at Sundown by Elizabeth P. Lawlor so, should be finishing that up soon, too. 

On the menu this week...

 We are in the midst of our 'Low-Spend September' plan and I am having to back off on the menu plans a little. With just John and I here, coupled with the fact that I will never get past cooking for a large family, the meals end up stretching further than originally planned and doing us for two or three (or more), instead of just one. So, by mid-week, I had dropped last week's Thursday through Saturday plan and we ate Monday through Wednesday leftovers the rest of the week. After our hike last night we treated ourselves by making a homemade pizza! 😋

Monday - turkey burgers and sweet potato fries
Tuesday - Slow Cooker Beef Enchiladas (will make 1/4 recipe)
Wednesday - Cheesy Chicken Pasta (will make 1/2 recipe)
Thursday - corn chowder and corn bread
Friday - leftover homemade pizza (from freezer)
Saturday - tuna and noodles with frozen peas
Sunday - leftovers

On my 'to do' list...

 Originally, we had planned on having my aunt here this week, but she has decided to come later in the month, so my plans for the week have totally changed. I know what I'm not doing this week, but haven't really decided what I AM doing yet, so we shall see...huh? 😆

 - Monday - Plan the week ahead, do my weekly "home blessing", do laundry, wash bedding, and finish my review for Rhema
- Tuesday - Run to town to get fresh grocery items in the morning and get together with the bead-makers in the evening
- Wednesday - ?
- Thursday - ?
-Friday - Work
- Saturday - Work
- Sunday - Church

In the craft basket...

Am still working on paper beads and will be doing so throughout the month of September. Appreciate all the volunteers that showed up last week and am looking forward to getting together again this week. Also, appreciate the bead-makers that have taken supplies and volunteered to make beads at home in their spare time. If this keeps up we will have more than enough beads come Jubilee! And, if you are local and happen to be reading this, if you are interested in making beads, get a hold of me! 😊Thanks! 💗

Am working on paper beads for a table about Native American trade beads at Prairie Jubilee this year.
The beads will be put into kits that children can turn into a necklace.
Looking forward to this week...

Receiving my very first box of Mrs. Meyer's products EVER from Grove Collaborative! (More on this later!) 💗

Something interesting I watched...

Video from PBS Nature: Cold Warriors - Wolves and Buffalo (Wildlife Documentary) 

 Will be showing this at the park this winter for a popcorn and movie night, so will be looking forward to that!

From the camera...
Another View Of This Morning's Fog Bank Across The Road

Scripture passage...


Well, Ladies, that's it for this week! I pray that each and every one of you have a blessed and beautiful week ahead! And I'll see you next week! 
Be sure to visit our 30 Days of Summer blog series. To find out more check out this post on Jean's site and this one on mine. Jean and I hope you'll join us in our summertime adventure! 🌞

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Friday, September 7, 2018

Low-Spend, Dollar-Stretching Challenge - Update #1


The first week of this challenge did not come off as 'low-spend' as I had hoped it would. We've done great at staying on plan with the weekly menus, and have already used up several things that way, but, it does seem that, in other areas, we've spent much more than intended. 

 - My husband's hearing device developed a short in it, so we had to order a new one.
- We spent more than intended on the trip over the weekend.
- I hadn't planned on making any online purchases this month, but needed a couple of items for an upcoming program, so placed an order through Amazon.
- I ordered a Christmas gift that could have waited.

 Not that any of this was exorbitant, because it wasn't. It was just more than we had intended to spend and we hadn't budgeted for most of these items.

 BUT...all is not lost. It's early in the game and what matters most, in the long-run, is how we do over the course of the entire month. 

 Pushing onward and upward (while refusing to get bogged down in some irrational thought process) and until next time...
~Rebecca

 Recent and related posts that you might be interested in reading...

 Expectations and What They Do to Our Relationships

A Low-Spend September and Dollar-Stretching Food Challenge


Be sure to visit our 30 Days of Summer blog series. To find out more check out this post on Jean's site and this one on mine. Jean and I hope you'll join us in our summertime adventure! 🌞

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Thursday, September 6, 2018

And the Winner is...


The winner of the Homemaker's Friend 2019 Daily Planner is...

APRIL M.

Congratulations, April!!!! I hope that you enjoy this beautiful daily planner designed and donated by Sue Hooley of Homemaker's Depot. I've used them for years and have given many away as gifts. They have become my mainstay. Again...CONGRATULATIONS!!! 💗

 Thank you to all who have entered this drawing! Random Result Generator was used to determine today's winner.

 Until next time...
~Rebecca

 Recent posts that you might enjoy reading...

Expectations and What They Do to Our Relationships




Be sure to visit our 30 Days of Summer blog series. To find out more check out this post on Jean's site and this one on mine. Jean and I hope you'll join us in our summertime adventure! 🌞



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