Happy Homemaker Monday

Hello and happy Monday Friends ~

And happy Martin Luther King Jr. day. It's so nice that Matt doesn't work today, so it feels like an extra long weekend. Starting a Monday sipping coffee and watching morning news together was a treat. :) 

I hope you had a cozy and restful weekend. We did over here. We mostly cozied in because of the cold weather (teens below zero) other than to go to church and run some errands.  On Friday night we snuggled together in the living room in front of the fire listening to music by candlelight and fire flow and reading. It was so wonderful! 

Saturday night was fun as we scratched off one of our date night ideas that was one you could do at home. (Matt gave me a fun date book for Christmas a few years ago) It's fun for shaking it up now and then. It suggested to revisit our youth and for dinner to eat one of our favorite childhood snacks or meals and watch a favorite childhood show together. So we did just that and it was so fun and filled with lots of laughs! Matt's snack was "chips & cheese" which he said was where he would grate cheese onto a plate of doritos. Then microwave it a little. And dip the cheesy chips into salsa. And he picked the show Saved by the Bell - so we watched an episode of that. My snack was cereal (cap'n crunch to be exact) and I chose an episode of the Muppet Show. It was one of my absolute favorites in grade school! Lol It was all pretty hilarious and brought back so many other childhood memories we both enjoyed sharing with one another. 

We also watched lots of football. I bet you're happy about those Chiefs Jean! Wow, was that a nice TD by Travis! And always nice to see Taylor cheering him on. 😉 Matt and I are already talking about and making fun plans and a menu for the Super Bowl ahead. Do you watch the Super Bowl and like to make fun plans for food or time with friends?

**And just a reminder that I'm doing my 10th Blogaversary Giveaway Wednesday and you only have through tomorrow to leave a comment.  Please go back to that post, check out the prizes and enter! You can find it if you click here.

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

 Coffee with protein creamer and some almond milk, a little piece of kringle. We grabbed some to be a treat throughout the long weekend. It's so good! 

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

errands, home projects, help my Mom with some things, dinner with a friend, grief work from home and at the facility, home projects

THINKING ABOUT:  

What we're going to do this afternoon for some fun together. Probably play some cards and maybe watch a movie, as it's still so cold outside....which is a bummer because it would have been so fun to go walk on the frozen bay.

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE

It's nice and clean and always looks so empty without the tree up. Listening to some Celtic music and I'm going to head into the kitchen soon and make up some chicken salad for our lunch.

CURRENTLY READING

not sure of my next book yet?

ON THE TV TODAY:

When Calls the Heart, Virgin river, All Creatures Great & Small, The Rookie , Miss Scarlet, Shifting Gears, some movies taped & HGTV shows

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY - leftovers from the weekend (meatballs, chicken, veggies & protein dip)

TUESDAY -  pinwheel pork chops, roasted sheet pan of veggies with balsamic glaze

WEDNESDAY - pho soup with chicken, crackers, fruit

THURSDAY - cheese pierogis with grilled onions, salad

FRIDAY - maybe out for dinner?

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

 work on our wedding scrapbook I'm making, watch a movie, maybe bake up something?

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

❤️❤️❤️

FROM THE CAMERA:

pretty sunset:

clean and bright living room and no more Christmas tree :(

our cozy night by the fireplace when the wind was howling outside (it has been SO COLD here)

That night I made us mugs of homemade cocoa on the stovetop. I'll share the recipe later this week. 

We got in some snuggly naptime over the weekend too :) 

Feeding the birds brings other critters too. 

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:

Have a great week ahead Friends! I'm sharing this with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.

Slow Cooking Thursday Christmas Edition - Snow Cocoa

I love finding fun recipes. And I've always loved using my slow cooker. I plan to get an instant pot one of these days...but I will probably still use my slow cooker for a lot of my favorite recipes. My friend Sandra at Diary of a SAHM blog used to do a Slow Cooker Thursday linking post. She decided to bring back a holiday version for folks to share their slow cooking Christmas recipes. You can find her link here.

 So even though I'm a day late, I thought I would share my snow cocoa recipe today. It's been a favorite around here for the holiday season. And especially when my besties get together each year and do our girlfriend Christmas (we've been doing it around 30 years now!). And many of those years we enjoyed ladling this creamy concoction into mugs and adding a little bit of mint bailey's irish cream, or some other spirit. 😉 Pop in a candy cane and you're instantly in the Christmas mood! ☕️ 

SNOW COCOA

This was also fun to make a batch of, and leave on warm, when we'd go out as a family to sled or skate on a rink. On a chilly, maybe even snowy day, is there really anything better than a cup of cocoa? 

Blogmas Day Six: Pot Simmer Recipes

It's late and I'm tired - but I still wanted to play along for today!   I had a busy day followed by going out with my Aunt, my Mom, my Girlfriend and her daughter and my Annie for an early dinner and then the most wonderful Christmas concert! Our local college's music department puts on a beautiful Christmas concert each year in the bigger Cathedral church in our area (which also happens to be the church I belong to). It was a performance by the acapella choir, chamber choir, woodwinds, strings and brass instruments. As well as a guest soprano soloist. To use the acoustics of the beautiful Cathedral and sing songs - like my favorite O Holy Night, it gave me goosebumps and filled my soul completely. There's just something about live music like that....well anyway. Let's just say I'm tired but so happy and filled with Christmas spirit and so I want to share some of it with you tonight dear Friends. So here goes - a quick version:

BLOGMAS 2016 PROMPTS

Day 1 - The Christmas Tag 
Day 2 - Christmas Movies on the Must Watch List
Day 3 - Christmas Wishlist
Day 4 - Christmas Playlist
Day 5 - Pictures and Memories of Christmas Past
Day 6 - Pot Simmer Recipes
Day 7 - Cookies to be Baked (can be a recipe you make every year, or some you want to try)
Day 8 - Favorite Family Christmas Recipe
Day 9 - How do you decorate?
Day 10 - Real Tree or Artificial Tree
Day 11 - Stocking Stuffer Ideas
Day 12 - Quiet Christmas or Family Filled Loud Party Christmas?
Day 13 - Christmas Cards (do you send them, show us your favorites this year, or tells your favorite cards to send whether vintage, or bright and colorful)
Day 14 - Advent Calendar
Day 15 - Christmas Party Food Ideas
Day 16 - Winter Tag
Day 17 - Christmas Wishes
Day 18 - Homemade or Store Bought (What are you giving this year)
Day 19 - Recap of Christmas 2015 in pictures
Day 20 -  Christmas Decorations Reveal (show us your tree, your home decor, your mantle, anything you want)
Day 21 - Holiday Family Traditions
Day 22 - Preparing for the big day (show us your wrapping skills, are you making lists, getting the house ready for guests?)
Day 23 - Post whatever you wish
Day 24 - Christmas Eve (Are you opening presents tonight, is this your big celebration, what are you doing)
Day 25 - Christmas Day 


I'm joining in with my Friend Sandra from the blog Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for the Blogmas of Christmas this season. You can check her out here and come play along! Here's day 6:

Day 6 - Pot Simmer Recipes

Pot simmer recipes makes me think of slow cooker recipes so a few holiday time favorites for me are yummy hot beverages:

This also happens to be a recipe by the Aunt I was out with tonight. ;) Another way I sometimes do wassail is simmer it in a slow cooker with apple cider, a little orange juice, a little bit of brown sugar, and then I stud some orange and lemon slices with cloves and float them on top. You could add a little brandy and you have one nice hot toddy!

I cannot tell you enough how incredibly yummy this is - extremely decadent, but delicious!! Perfect for after an afternoon of skiing or sledding (however, minus the mint Bailey's irish cream for the kids of course).  

And then of course just some yummy wintery dishes like:

Slow Cooker Ham and Scalloped Potatoes

You can find the full recipe and way I make it here.   This is comfort food at its best. So perfect when it's cold outside.

And I also love any simmering pot of soup this time of year!  Here's an easy one that's always a yummy favorite:

CHICKEN AND RICE SOUP

You can find the full recipe for this soup at the end of the post found here.  Enjoy the cozy Friends! xo

Hot Cocoa Bar

Happy cozy holiday season Friends!  

I'm a Gal that loves my iced beverages in the summer and I LOVE hot beverages in the winter.  It's been such a mild winter here so far, but I'm still loving my hot drinks. I have my coffee in the morning and then I like to have some chai tea, or other hot tea later in the day. Sometimes I'll change it up and have a cocoa or hot cider instead. My kiddos also love hot cocoa or cider as soon as Fall rolls around, and they continue to love them all through our "cold" season. 

So last year I started putting out a hot cocoa bar and it was hit! Not only with the grown-ups, but especially with my kiddos and their friends. However, I'm still conscious of their sugar and they need to ask about having some - I don't leave it as a free-for-all. I just love the convenience factor - that if they ask and I'm okay with it, I don't have to go get all the items out for them. Plus, it looks pretty cute out in my kitchen. ;) 

Just the looks of it makes me feel festive and cozy. For the moment I have out apple cider and swiss miss cocoa cups for my keurig. The keurig is so nice because it's so easy for the kids to operate as well.

Come and help yourself - I'll give you a nice big holiday red mug. Then chose some cider or cocoa and grab a vanilla or peppermint candy stirrer or a caramel spoon (great for the apple cider!). 

The candy stick stirrers are from kits I found at Michael's that included these snowflake or snowman marshmallow candies. Please grab some of those as well!

I gave my snowman cookie jar a festive update with some battery powered wire lights. 

He looks so sweet smiling over all of the fun!

I've got my mug all set - please enjoy yours and happy cozy holiday season to you!! 

I'm joining with Brenda of Cozy Little House for Tweak it Tuesday. 

And with Andrea of Scrapality for Scraptastic Saturday.