An Oldie but a Goodie

 

Hello Friends! 

Today I thought I'd share a recipe I shared several years ago but wanted to revisit it, because it's so good! It's a Pioneer Woman recipe and you know how I love her. 💗

But this recipe is tried and true and I have made it many times. It's a little putzy in that you make homemade meatballs, freeze a few minutes, dredge in flour and brown in oil before putting in a pan to bake. But it's worth it vs using frozen ones (although I'm sure you could do that too in a pinch and they'd be great). But the sauce is what makes this SO delish!! I always double the sauce in this recipe because I like to serve it with mashed potatoes or noodles and I put the sauce on top of those too. 

Here's a pic of my plate just the other night. As you can see I put the sauce all over my sour cream & chive mashed potatoes. The sauce is sweet and tangy and filled with finely chopped onion that gives it so much flavor. 

This sauce is better than gravy on my potatoes in my opinion folks 😉

You can find the recipe under my recipe tab or you can click on this post all about them here.  Or just google PW BBQ Comfort Meatballs and you'll find a link right to her post about them. I just highly recommend you try them when you want some cozy comfort food (and double the sauce!) 

Blessings on your weekend ahead. Enjoy! 

xoxo

Wordless Wednesday

 

Happy Homemaker Monday

Hello and happy Monday Friends ~

I hope your having a great morning and ready to dive into a new week! And I hope you had a lovely weekend too. 

It was a cozy one here. We ran some errands and usual things. But mostly stayed in and played cards, watched football, and did some cleanig and productive projects around the house. One productive job was creating some blessing bags for the car. (I share them below)  We did go out to a movie on Saturday night and saw Flight Risk. An entertaining little thriller. 

And how's about those Chiefs Jean??? I kept thinking of you as we were watching. Lol Congratulations!! Pretty exciting too have them go for their 3rd in a row now and will play against the Eagles in the Super Bowl. It sure was an exciting game vs the Bills and that's always fun! And of course always a bonus for me to get peeks of Taylor & Travis. 😉😁

The temps here, thankfully, have been warmer...but very windy and gray today. Now on to this week ahead!

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

 Coffee with protein and almond milk creamer. A banana

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

my hair appt, errands, a visit to my Aunt (who is basically homebound now) and bringing her goodies, hospice work

THINKING ABOUT:  

that I need to finish the clean out and new organizing job in my closet, but I keep putting it off... this is the week I dive in

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE

I'm still watching morning news. I can see the wind gusts swirl snow now and then out my window. I see trails on the bay as someone has been shoveling paths and we've seen ice skaters down there using it. 

CURRENTLY READING

currently magazines and a new sourdough bread for beginners book

ON THE TV TODAY:

When Calls the Heart, Virgin river, All Creatures Great & Small, The Rookie , Miss Scarlet, Shifting Gears, Jeopardy & Celebrity Jeopardy, The Flip Off on HGTV, Outlander

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY - PW's BBQ meatballs, mashed potatoes, salad

TUESDAY -  protein chicken crust taco pizza

WEDNESDAY - chicken salad sammy's, veggies & protein dip

THURSDAY - protein blueberry waffles, sausages, fruit

FRIDAY - BLT's, sweet potato fries, veggies & protein dip

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

 work on our wedding scrapbook I'm making, coloring app, read

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

FROM THE CAMERA:

Some Valentine moments around the house:

Our spare bedroom/office is my happy place. In there is the bookcase I love, my desk where I work on projects and a big lounger couch that turns into a bed for guests. I LOVE this couch and the view out the deep seated window that looks at the bay. I sit there listening to music and read, journal and just gaze sometimes - especially at the sunsets! The back of our house sits west facing so we get stunners at times as you can see below. Ruby often joins me and Matt snuck this pic of me the other day and sent it to me. 

doing the crossword puzzle in my happy place 

Blessing bags and a pack of water all ready to go in the car. Sadly, we often see people out in the cold on corners with signs asking for help. So I like to be prepared to give something besides money. In there are things like: hand warmers, toiletries, granola bars, food gift cards, chapstick, and an extra special touch I threw in that you can see below. (PS: I 💗 Jesus)

💗💗💗

A sneak peek at pages in the scrapbook I'm working on of our wedding. 

Our furry babies love the weekends that we're around a lot. They snuggled in too. Bubba loves the bird show at the feeder always. And they each have their little beds and love snuggling there when we're watching shows or football. :) 

PRAYER LIST:

 For an end to the conflicts all over the world and anyone living in war & fear. For peace and unity in this country, especially from hate and shootings or violence.  For anyone sick, suffering, in pain, fear, loneliness etc ... that God bring them comfort and peace. For all those affected by the wildfires in CA and for the firefighters working so hard. 

For Christ's Light and Love to cast out the darkness everywhere and help the world find its way. 🙏🏻

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

Wishing you lots of love always Friends!

I'm sharing this with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.

Easy Pantry Stovetop Cocoa & A Couple Healthier Treats

 

Hello my Blogland Besties!

Happy Friday Eve :) 

I hope you've been having a wonderful week so far. It's a bright sunny, but chillier, day here in the northwoods. But whenever the sun is shining it gives me more energy and I love it. ☀️

Thank you to all who entered the blogaversary giveaway and congrats again to the winners! I love sharing with all of you in this space so very much and I hope there will be many more giveaways in the years ahead!!

Now on to what I wanted to share with you today. Since there has been so much chilly weather lately, I thought you might be interested in one of my favorite kinds of homemade cocoas. I always have these items on hand, so it's easy to whip up. However, I only have cocoa as a treat now and then because it does have calories more like a treat. So this is not the "healthier" portion of this post. It's the cozy portion. Yay!✨

 Last week there was such a cold night here that Matt & I decided to spend it in front of a cozy fire in the fireplace. We chatted, I read my book, Matt was on his phone and listened to his book (how he prefers to read) - and it was just so nice and cozy. 

As you can see - Ms Ruby is always at my feet. Lol Well I decided the perfect treat for us that night would be to have a mug of homemade cocoa. Matt had never had stovetop cocoa before, so I thought it extra fun to make it for us. Here are some of the ingredients I used:

I happened to have some half & half to use up - so I included it along with the skim milk I had. Feel free to use any milk, cream etc you would like. For one person the recipe is 1 cup of milk. So obviously I made 2 cups worth. So I threw what half & half I had (which was maybe 1/2 cup) in my 2 cup measuring cup and filled it the rest of the way with the skim milk. I poured that in a medium saucepan and put it over medium heat on the stove. I whisked in some unsweetened cocoa powder (I always have this on hand for baking), some sugar, a pinch of salt, & some vanilla. And that's it! 

Whisk it over the heat until it's all incorporated and nice and hot. 

Pour into a couple of mugs, top with marshmallows, and cheers with the one you love. Matt said it was the best cocoa he's ever had! I think because it gives such a rich real flavor packet or pod cocoa doesn't. Think of it kind of like drinking a rich brownie in a mug. Lol You can look up online and there are a lot of different cocoa recipes out there. You can melt real chocolate with cream and make a homemade cocoa that's to die for too. But this one is quick (maybe 5 mins), easy, and made from things I always have on hand. Not to mention, it's really good! 😋 Here's the full recipe of what I did:

STOVETOP COCOA

1 cup any kind of milk (but creamier if you mix with some half & half or cream or use richer milk than skim)

2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

2 Tbsp sugar (but I add a little extra because cocoa powder can be so bitter - so I add at least an extra 1/2 Tbsp)

pinch of salt (maybe 1/4 tsp)

1 tsp vanilla

Whisk all on medium heat on the stove until warmed through and as hot as you like it. Pour into a mug and top with marshmallows. 

Enjoy!

 *( I doubled this for the 2 of us)

I thought I'd share a few healthier treats we've been enjoying too. It is that time of year you know - when we try to extra focus on health. And for me it's also wanting to lose some of my holiday weight, plus more! 😉 But I truly keep my focus on health and balance - more than any number on a scale. I go with how I feel and wanting my joints to ache less. 😁

I think I've mentioned these before:

We love these date treats that really remind us of a snickers bar. We often find containers of medjool dates in Costco. I slice them in the middle. Take out the pit. Put in a tsp or so of natural peanut butter (or whatever nut butter you like), a couple of peanuts. Close them up and and pour a little melted chocolate over the top with a sprinkle of sea salt. I do this on a wax paper lined plate. Chill in the fridge and enjoy as wanted. They're so good! And they have lots of fiber and less calories than a candy bar! 

These are another tasty option. There are a million recipes for peanut butter energy balls - but the basic start is typically 1 cup of oats, 1/2 c. nut butter, and 2 tbsp honey. Then mix in whatever you like. I did some chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, and a few chocolate and butterscotch chips on top (way Matt loves them). Roll into balls. Again, just keep chilled on wax paper in the fridge and have one as wanted. They are good protein, fiber and a sweet fix. You can easily double this recipe to make more too. 

And I know I've told you about this one. Instead of ice cream at night, I have these yummy light & fit yogurts filled with protein. They have lots of yummy flavors and I will top one with fruit, maybe a drizzle of chocolate, & granola or a few chopped nuts. The cherry and banana cream pie are my absolute faves!! So good!! And I end the night with a perfect sweet fix and lots of protein with a base of only 80 calories. 

 I feel like rice cakes are polarizing. Folks either love them or hate them. I happen to love them for snacks or treats. I've been obsessed with these pickle ones lately! There are ranch and white cheddar ones that are good too. But if you like pickle chips - these are THE BEST! I like them even more than pickle kettle chips I've had. And a lot less calories per serving than those chips. This is a bag of smaller rice cakes - not the big ones.

Another way I love to enjoy them is taking one big butter popcorn rice cake and putting a tiny smear of real butter on top and put in the micro for a few secs to melt in and then top with a little sprinkle of powdered parm cheese. Or take one big caramel rice cake. Top with a little nut butter spread, a drizzle of honey & crushed peanut on top. Tastes kind of like cracker jacks. 

I hope maybe some of these ideas inspire you for some yummy balance and healthier options too! I think the key is to look for flavors you know you already like - or can recreate. Otherwise you're not going to eat those healthier snacks, just because they're "healthy". 

Blessings! 

xoxo

10 Year Blogaversary Giveaway Winners!

 

Midweek hello and blessings wished to you my Friends! 

It's a pretty and snowy one here in the northwoods. Looks like we're getting a few more inches of the fluffy stuff today and it makes inside feel extra snuggly. And it's not nearly so cold today - which is so nice!!

Well last night I gathered up the names. Put them in a dish and my handsome helper Hubby (say that 5 times fast 😂) drew our winners! I just want to thank you all again for all the love and support during these years of my blogging. Many of you have become true friends and I cannot say enough how grateful my heart is for that. And for this wonderful space that I've not only found a sisterhood of support & friendship, but also a space of true artistic expression as a homemaker and a mother. I love it here so much and I hope to have many years of blogging ahead🙏🏻💗

Thank you also for the lovely and kind wishes you expressed to enter the drawing too! They all went to my heart. 😍 Ok, now the moment you really want to know....who are the winners of the 3 prizes??

Here are all of the names and the bowl of them all ready to go:

And here is my adorable helper - all ready to lend a hand. Or at least I told him this had to get done before dinner. 😉

And this is for winner number 1 that will receive these prizes:

The little bookstore kit, the peony bouquet and the starbucks gift card

Here he goes....

And the winner is:

Next up is winner number 2 that will receive these prizes:

the planner calendar, 2025 metal bookmark and a starbucks gift card

He reaches in and grabs our 2nd place winner which is.....

And our final draw which is for these prizes:

the peony bouquet and a starbucks gift card

And that final winner is....

Congratulations to Julia, Jules & Debbie!! 🎉😁

I hope you will love your prizes! Now I just need you to send me an email at: cbeargroup15@gmail.com so I can get your address information to send your goodies!! 

Thanks again for all who entered, and for all of your sweet wishes. I'm so grateful for you all! I hope you have a wonderfully cozy day✨

xoxo