Cooking & Crafting Thursday: Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken & Current Project

 

Hello my Friends!

Happy Friday Eve and officially September. Yay! 

Kids are heading back to school, the nights are cooler, and football starts next week. I can just feel the anticipation of the Fall season ahead. 🍎🍁

If you saw my title, then you see that I thought I'd throw in some crafting on these Thursday posts with you. I always tend to be working on something. So let's begin with the crafting today, shall we? 

I have done lots of cross stitch things through the years...but I never tried my hand at embroidery. I thought it was time I taught myself so, I'm using some friends of mine as guinea pigs. 😂 I found a couple of cute Fall/Halloween kits (they both have Autumn birthdays) and I'm learning as I work on them for gifts. I've just begun on one of them and here it is. I will keep you updated on the progress I make (hopefully). Lol 

Speaking of Halloween, I caught this cute photo of Bubbs this morning. He is such a perfect Halloween kitty, isn't he?? :) 

And I'm SO excited to share this gorgeous gift we recently received in time for our 2nd wedding anniversary. My dear friend Alison made this for us. She lives with her sweet family in England. We met through blogging many years ago and started corresponding here. And then we started sharing letters and packages, and also lots of chatting and sharing photos on messenger too. We share a lot in common as she's about my age, has always been active in Mom life, and she also volunteers in hospice. She has a daughter about Annie's age and for several years they were pen pals too! I treasure Alison and her friendship so much. Matt & I were both touched (and I was so moved 😢) by this sweet and very thoughtful gift that must have taken her hours! We plan to hang it in our bedroom. It matches our wall color in there perfectly! And those sunflowers are stunning aren't they? Just like our wedding day. 🌻💛

I just love this blogland space for that very reason. To feel such a friendship with someone I've never even met in person. I just think it's something so special about blogging. 💗

And I think I may have shared a bit about this - it's a little mixed media piece I made and framed (I used the little black frame you see the edge of at the top). I forgot to take a completed pic of it all put together. But I sent this and a card I painted to a special Aunt for her birthday. That was my most recent completed craft. 

And I have another idea for a little decoration with a cute halloween jack-o-lantern pin I recently found at an antique store. So stay tuned and I will share that on another Thursday. 🎃

Ok, on to the cooking portion now which includes the honey garlic chicken I mentioned earlier in the week. This was such an easy recipe and was so tasty! I found it on social media and I included the person's name in the photo of the recipe below. First I put some boneless skinless chicken thighs in the bottom of the greased slow cooker. Then I made the sauce and put it on top and let it cook. Then towards the end of cooking time, I added a cornstarch slurry to thicken it. We had it with jasmine rice and some green beans from the garden and some broccoli. For the veggies - I just blanched them and then sauteed them in a little oil and with some garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and tiny bit of sesame oil. I then topped them with sesame seeds. 

we had a little sprinkle of peanuts on top for crunch too

The next day I thought it would be fun to make some crispy rice cups for our lunch (Matt works from home) and to have some of the leftover chicken on top of them. So I took the leftover rice and packed it in a sprayed muffin tin and baked them at 400* until they were crispy. About 15 minutes but keep an eye on them. I had jasmine rice which doesn't stick as well as regular rice so I actually added some cheese as a binder. But regular leftover white rice should stick just fine. Just push into the bottom and up the sides of the muffin tin wells.

 Then we put the reheated chicken on top along with some sriracha mayo and chili crunch (our favorite toppings!) They were so tasty and Matt said he loved the crispy rice addition to the leftovers.  

As you can see, I like to experiment and try different things. It's really become a hobby for me to have fun in the kitchen. Do you like to play in the kitchen too? And do you have any crafty projects in the works?? Curious minds want to know 😉

Oh, and last night I made a sheet pan chicken fried rice that was a stellar recipe! We have been on an Asian food kick here as you can see. I will share that recipe soon too! 

If you try - enjoy! 

xoxo

Happy Homemaker Monday

Hello my dear Friends!

Happy Monday. ☀️

The sun is shining away this morning here in the northwoods. It's been sunny and lovely for about 4 days now and the snow has melted a ton. It's been wonderful! 

But of course we know where we live and we don't get too excited for Spring yet. In fact, there is a storm system a-brewin' and looks like we may get 6 inches of snow or more in the days ahead. ::sigh:: But I dream on Spring...even if I can't get excited yet. :) 

We had a nice relaxing weekend here and hope you did too. 💗 We did a lot of the usuals and also watched more Olympics and celebrated a yummy and mellow Valentine's Day together. I hope you had your batteries recharged, are getting lots of sunshine too, and are ready to dive into the week ahead...

 

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

coffee and a yogurt with berries

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

running some things to my Mom, errands, deep clean master bath cabinets, work projects, hospice work

THINKING ABOUT: 

how the sunshine streaming in gives me such energy and life as I listen to some praise and worship music

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY:

the smell of a rose (as I sniff at one that I got this weekend) ❤️

CURRENTLY READING

The Selected Journals of Emma M. Lion vol. 1 by Beth Brower (there is a whole series but I'm going to see what I think of the first one)  

ON THE TV TODAY:

 the Olympics, Jeopardy, old seasons of big brother & the office, Junk or Jackpot on HGTV, Best Medicine, the Pitt, Miss Scarlet & All Creatures Great and Small on PBS, cooking shows and movies

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY - BLT's on keto bread, fresh veggies & dip

TUESDAY - chicken soup dumplings, veggie spring rolls

WEDNESDAY -  I plan to fast most of the day for Ash Wednesday

THURSDAY - slow cooker chicken fajitas

FRIDAY - ? not sure

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

scrapbook, read, watch a movie

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

FROM THE CAMERA:

Still enjoying cozy days here which include some comfort food moments like my Gram's chickie chip casserole (secret ingredient: potato chips) and the recipe is under my recipe tab. Also, coloring on my ipad, doing more watercolor paintings, and when I'm not crafting I am reading my book or Spring dreaming magazines on the couch in my office with a view. I put the tv on in there with some mood music from youtube. I sit on the chaise lounger side of the couch while Ruby takes her nap on the other side. :) 

I have been finding some fun papers and stickers for our travel scrapbook as I catch up on past and current trips we've taken. 

I especially love this set of stickers I found on Etsy of the epic universe park - right down to the butterbeer and the BBQ and mac & cheese cone Matt loved. 

Valentines with my Honey is always the sweetest. We gave each other cards and little gifts - including he got me the cute Yoshi & Toadette plaque. Those are the characters we always choose when we play Mario Party together or with the kids. 😍  He took my out for a sushi lunch date and the restaurant gave me this sweet rose. Then I made my friend Mari's buttery air fryer steak bites for us for dinner (they were phenomenal Mari! That recipe is a keeper!!) And to go with it I made this smashed potato salad (tater tots) that had cukes, pickles, red onion and bacon with an amazing lemony briny dressing. It was so good too!  And then I made us homemade chocolate fondue for 2 for dessert with dippers of course! Doing extra walking miles this week but such a yummy weekend😋 And we snuggled in and watched the Olympics and shows and played some cards and video games. A perfect relaxing weekend with my sweet Hubby. 

This little stinker doesn't like it when I work on my computer and I don't give him enough attention. Lol I just love him though - I mean the cuteness alone. 😉

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 the Olympics to be fun and safe. For Nancy Gutherie to be found 😢

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:

Doing lots of this instead of "doom scrolling" 😊 

Blessings on your week Friends! I'm sharing this with my friend Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.

Vintage Charm Party: Grandma Scrapbook Made With Love

 Happy Wednesday Friends! And welcome to this month of sunshine, flowers and all the promise of summer to come. I hope you're already sipping some lemonade or sweet tea and easing into the lazy days mindset. 

In getting ready for summer's goodness Ruby got her haircut and looked so cute with her little bumblebees. But going to the salon takes a lot out of a girl...so a nap immediately followed. Pretty adorable isn't she?

And speaking of adorable and summer...I need to get the rest of my flower pots planted so I can use this new sleepy fairy and gate I found when out treasure hunting. Any excuse to dig in the dirt some more works for me. It's definitely a favorite past time!

But on to the main reason I'm posting today and that is to share this sweet album I just finished for my Bestie Mrs. C. She became a grandma for the first time recently with her granddaughter, Thea. So I wanted to make a little something special for her with such a big milestone. 

She loves paper ephemera kinds of things too and so I thought how about going old school and making her a scrapbooked brag book. I know everything is on our phone nowadays. But I thought how lovely it might be to have a small decorated album that can be a keepsake too. It's something where she can easily slide new photos in and out of the page's protective sleeves as Thea grows and changes. And then once she has favorites she can stick those baby photos in to keep and it will be a keepsake. 

This is the cover and the spine with sweet little gold flowers on them:

I found a pack of sweet floral papers and used them, along with some precious baby related stickers. Here are pages if you'd like to see them... along with some sweet details highlighted bigger for you. The first page will have a little white box like the one I edited on the pic to give you an idea. It will include Thea's name, birthdate and weight & size. That's the last detail I need to do. I had a few pics on my phone Mrs. C sent me, so I printed them up with my Canon mini printer and stuck them on for her.

Then for the final page I put this cute Mary Engelbreit print on it with a few more stickers. 

All of our schedules have been so busy, but Mrs C. and I are getting together for lunch soon and I'll surprise her with it. There is talk that I may get to see and snuggle up sweet Thea myself soon! Ooohh I can't wait 😍 The next best thing to having my own grandbaby one day💗

Even though scrapbooks can be considered vintage in today's world - I still love holding tangible memories and creating something out of my imagination in that way. So today I thought I'd share this vintage charm with the Vintage Charm Party held by the lovely blogs My Thrift Store Addiction  and Our Hopeful Home.