Happy Homemaker Monday

Hello beautiful Friends!

How are things looking in your part of the world? 

It's a gray and rainy one here this morning and it's been that way all weekend. I can't say I'm mad about that. We really needed the rain and it's been kind of chilly and cozy. It is supposed to get warmer today though (80's). But this past weekend it was rainy and chillier 60's each day. A bit of Autumn preview heaven that's perfect for the beginning of September tomorrow. Last night I fell asleep to the sound of a thunderstorm outside. Is there anything better than falling asleep to that sound? A bit of lightening brightening the room now and then. Soft rumbles and the calm tapping of rain on the window. Blissful 💗

This past weekend flew by. Friday we went and helped my Mom and step Dad with some chores at their apartment and got out their Fall decorations for them. We also brought dinner and played some cards with them. I treasure the time with any of our parents as it is precious as they are all basically in their 80's.  I'm so grateful for the gift of them all!

My Mom got a new little Christmas tree recently. They only had a table top one and she decided she wanted more of a real tree this year. She's already had it up with just the white lights at night. Well I surprised her with some cute little Fall ornaments I had picked up and dolled it up for her. She just LOVED it! I wish I had taken some photos. I found some cute knit pumpkins in different Autumn colors. And some glass looking (but they are plastic) little Fall ornaments that are things like acorns, pinecones, squirrels, pumpkins etc. It's adorable! 🍁🎃

Then Saturday we went to church and then met up with our besties the Conleys for dinner. We saw them at their daughter's wedding - but only briefly. We have all had busy summers and so we hadn't seen them much. So it was so nice to get a great night of gabbing and catch up! Then they came back to our house and we played cards until the wee hours. It was awesome!! We're going to one of their daughter's volleyball games this week. Back to school and back to sports time. 😊

Yesterday was a nice lounging day. We got some things done around the house but then we just snuggled in and hung out, played cards, watched shows and it was wonderful. :) 

Sorry for the long intro so let's get straight into the week ahead (& bring on the BER months, yay!!).....

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

 

hot coffee today and a bowl of cereal I got in our thrive box - seven sundays cocoa cereal (it's all natural and organic and high in fiber and low in sugar) I had it with banana on top and my protein milk and a little bit of natural almond butter mixed in. Tasty and healthy 😋

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

groceries, errands, watch volleyball game, home projects, hospice work

THINKING ABOUT: 

All things Fall and BER months to begin! I sent Annie some boxes of goodies with some Fall decor and useful things for her new apartment. She loved it! :) 

 I have been planning some crafts projects as some Fall gifts and have some to begin for Christmas gifts. I haven't gotten out my Fall decorations yet, other than some Fall soaps and some sunflower things. I will get to decorating soon though! 

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY:

seeing my old Ruby girl (she is 14 &1/2 already!) still run for the frisbee and get excited to play and the way she loves to snuggle. I know my time with her is precious and she sleeps so much nowadays.

CURRENTLY READING

Lately some magazines and Fall cookbooks

 

ON THE TV TODAY:

Big Brother (& still old seasons too), Ted Lasso, I am watching Sanditon, I think we're going to get back to House of the Dragon. We may start a new series soon too, but not sure what yet?

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY - roast chicken, pasta salad, veggies

TUESDAY - sheet pan chicken fried rice(new recipe), cukes from our garden, fruit

WEDNESDAY - beef stroganoff over noodles, steamed veggies

THURSDAY - probably eat up leftovers ahead of the holiday weekend

FRIDAY - out for dinner 

*for the holiday weekend I think we plan to get some time out on the water. For food I think we're going out for brunch one day, making tacos with fun dip and fixings one day, and grilling brats and having fun sides (probably do that Monday). 

I also plan to bake up some monster cookies 🍪

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

work on projects/craft

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

I found this cozy Anne of Green Gables ambiance recently (always loved those books so much) and thought I'd share 💚

This is someone I follow on youtube and have for a while now. She is an American pastry chef, that trained in Paris, and lives in a cute little apartment in Paris with her French hubby and adorable dog. Many of you know I have always loved Paris (and been fortunate to visit a couple of times) and I passed that love on to my daughter. As Annie has also had many years of french language classes and has been to Paris a few times as well. This pastry chef is named Ainsley and she shares cooking and baking videos, tours around different parts of Paris and France and shares history & info about it, and also lots about going to flea markets and finding treasures. I just love her channel!

 

FROM THE CAMERA:

I made a yummy new recipe this past week for a slow cooker honey garlic chicken over rice. I sauteed some broccoli and some green beans from our garden as a side dish. It was so good and I'll share the recipe later this week. Along with a fun little thing I made with the leftovers for our lunch the next day. 

There was also a cool clear evening last week we played some ladderball in the yard and enjoyed the glimpses of Autumn around our yard and listened to some geese honking on our bay.

Our cozy rainy weekend. Yesterday while Matt was downstairs in the media/gamer room for a while, and the pets were napping.... I was snuggled up with my ipad and some hot tea and pretty ambiance on the tv in the background. 

I tried the cranberry hibiscus and it was delightful ☕️

Then later Matt and I were sitting at the dining room table playing cards and I was staring out our kitchen window and he asked me what I was looking at...so I took a pic and then showed him. Lol Just like I see things in the clouds - I make out things in the trees too. Do you see the dinosaur in the first photo? Or am I just a weirdo? 

(wait, maybe don't answer that😂)

PRAYER LIST:

 For an end to the conflicts all over the world and anyone living in war & fear, especially everything going on in the middle east right now. 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 a neighbor friend that recently went through a break up. For the kids to have a safe, healthy and happy start to the school year. 

For the Lord's love and peace to fill all ❤️'s.

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

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

Happy BER months beginning to you dear Friends. 💛🍁

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

Cooking Thursday: Fish Slider Sandwiches and Caprese Chicken Pasta

Hello Friends and happy Thursday to you! 

We are currently dealing with a windy snowy day. And it looks like it's going to continue for a few days and we may end up with a foot of snow before it's done. Ugh! 🙈 I'm just hoping it all clears up in time that everyone can be plowed out and still get here for a lovely Easter Sunday together. Guess we'll have to play it by ear. It's where we live so it's truly not surprising...just crummy timing. 

In anticipation of the weather Matt & I ran and got the groceries last night so we didn't have to deal with trudging through snow and ice to get them later in the week. So at least while it's snowing and blowing outside I can just focus on cleaning projects and some cooking and baking. A lovely perk of getting groceries with my Honey is that he bought me some sweet Easter roses. 😍🌸. I put them on the piano, as Bubba is less likely to mess with them up there. Aren't they beautiful? Love that soft pastel color for Easter.

 

 But today I thought I'd share a few recent recipes I've made. We've been enjoying fish on Fridays during this Lenten season. So the first recipe I wanted to share is for these fish slider sandwiches with homemade tarter sauce. The tarter sauce was so good and made them taste like McDonald's. I found the recipe at fedbysab.com I definitely recommend this if you like fish! They were easy and so tasty and nice to have them smaller sized. We ate the leftovers up the next day. The recipe is below.

INGREDIENTS:

Next up is this one pan chicken caprese pasta dish with balsamic glaze. This dish was also so very yummy, and easy as it's cooked all in one pot. I found this recipe at reciperunner.com 

First I gathered the ingredients, as it made it easier to prepare because once you're done with one step (like browning the chicken) you take it out and add in the next ingredients. So it was nice having it all ready to go. I would also highly recommend this dish as it was so flavorful!! You can find this recipe below as well. We had ours with a side salad and some bread our neighbor had made and left for us. So good! 😋

If you try these dishes I sure hope you enjoy them! xoxo

Wishing you all a very safe, healthy and joyous Easter weekend. 

✝️🐰🌸

Cooking Thursday: Homemade Granola and a Fun Treat

 

Happy Thursday Friends!

I thought I had shared this recipe with you already, but I was looking back and I see that I never did. It's one I'd like to have in my recipe tab so I'm sharing it today, even though I made it a month or 2 ago. 

I think I found this in either a Taste of Home magazine? Or maybe my Country Living magazine where I have a subscription? As I mentioned, I made it a few months ago and I had taken a quick pic of the recipe... so I'm not certain. But it was really good and we used it in our desserts or for breakfast for a few weeks. 

The recipe was for this maple coconut granola. It was an easy and straightforward recipe. I mixed the ingredients, poured them on the sheet pan and baked it half way...took out the pan and added the coconut and then put in to finish baking. Then added in the chocolate chips and craisins when it came out of the oven and cooled a few minutes. I think I used whatever nuts I had on hand (sunflower and pumpkin seeds at the time). Then stored it in an airtight container and it stayed good for weeks. I had also halved this recipe and it still turned out great and lasted us a while. If you're not a coconut person I think you could easily omit it too. 

Here's the recipe:

With the yummy homemade granola we had this apple pie inspired yogurt treat for several nights. I don't remember where I saw inspiration for this recipe I sort of made up - maybe pinterest. I chopped and peeled a large apple and put it in a bowl. I then sprinkled the apple chunks with some cinnamon, ginger, ground clove and nutmeg. I drizzled all with some maple syrup and tossed it. I measured everything with my heart and no set amounts. I would guess a tbsp of syrup, a 1/2 to 1 tsp of cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp each of the rest. Tossed it all together and microwaved it until it was warm and softened. Maybe a minute - every micro is different so check as you go. Then I put the warm cinnamony apples on vanilla greek yogurt and sprinkled on some granola. So good and gave apple pie/apple crisp vibes for less sugar and calories and added protein. It was delish! 

If you try these recipes I sure hope you 

enjoy! 

xoxo

Happy Homemaker Monday

Happy Monday Friends!

It's sunny but there is a very chilly breeze in my neck of the woods. How is yours? Thankfully a lot of snow has melted. Although, we still have some snowbanks around. We're going to have coolish temps this week...but so it goes for March in the northwoods. 

It was kind of a crazy weekend around here. My Annie had been home on her Spring break but on Friday she either had food poisoning or a bad stomach flu as she became very sick to the point of needing to go to the ER at 4 in the morning. Thankfully they were able to give her meds to help and IV fluids. She has since been slowly getting better and finally on her travels back to FL today. My poor baby Girl. There's nothing worse than feeling helpless to help your kiddo. But I was so grateful for her visit and that we were able to get quality time with her. I miss her already. 

Of course I lysoled and bleached her bedroom and bathroom within an inch of their lives. Lol I actually lysoled all around the house too. And on the warmer day I had the windows open for 2 hours airing everything out. 

Aaron and Jill were up for the weekend for some events in Jill's family but we got a lot of time with them yesterday and had dinner and played games. Aaron was able to spend some time with us Friday (before Annie got sick). Thankfully no one else has gotten sick. 🙏🏻

Now on to the week ahead...

 

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

small bowl of cereal, coffee

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

my dentist appt, groceries, clean out some closets - take to Goodwill, projects, hospice work

THINKING ABOUT: 

How grateful I am for answered prayers that Annie is better. 

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY:

the sun streaming in the windows and the ways it makes shadows that Bubba likes to chase

CURRENTLY READING

I still need to go back to Rebecca, but I started jumping into Coming Home to the Comfort Food Cafe by Debbie Johnson (the next book in that series I had been reading)

 

ON THE TV TODAY:

  Jeopardy, old seasons of big brother & the office, the Pitt, Survivor, Outlander, Virgin River, Call the Midwife, The Forsytes, Best Medicine, a Shark Tank taped

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY - dill pickle grilled chicken salad on keto toast, side salad

TUESDAY - slow cooker pork roast with garlic and lemon, roasted veggies with balsamic glaze

WEDNESDAY -  leftovers

THURSDAY - caprese chicken pasta with fresh basil and balsamic glaze

FRIDAY - filet o fish sliders I plan to make, seasoned roasted red potatoes and sweet potatoes, salad

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

read, craft, play cards with Matt

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

FROM THE CAMERA:

Ruby got her haircut on St. Paddy's day and alway looks so cute when she is done. We enjoyed some warmer days in the sun this past weekend and now there is no snow left on the deck. Yay! In the third photo spot the Bubba. Lol 

At least Annie was able to finish her puzzle before she got sick! Such a pretty Spring one. Some more Spring moments including Annie did my nails with gel nail polish system and a curing tool I got. Love the Springy pink! I grabbed several different colors so it will be nice to do my own gel mani once in a while. It has definitely held up longer than when I paint my nails with regular polish.

Last week while here, Annie got another piercing in her ears. They're called stacked piercing and it's the little diamond one in between 2 of her other piercings.

Matt refilled the bird feeder this weekend and a pretty cardinal couple came to visit. Also, I saw my first robin!! But I didn't grab a photo. 

That's a true sign of Spring for me though. 

There was an article about stained glass in my new Pioneer Woman magazine for Spring and it mentioned St. John's Abbey in Collegeville MN. I actually had a photo of the stained glass there. My Aunt lives near there and we visited her a few years back and we went to mass at that church. The bottom 2 pics are the ones I took there - the first one being Matt looking up at the window. 

PRAYER LIST:

 For an end to the conflicts all over the world and anyone living in war & fear, especially everything going on in the middle east right now. 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 Annie's safe travels back to FL. 🙏🏻

For the Lord's love and peace to fill 2026. ❤️ 

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

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

Blessings to you always Friends. 

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