Happy Homemaker Monday

Hello Dear Friends ~  

Sorry I'm doing HHM the Tuesday edition. Yesterday my kiddos didn't have school for MLK day and Annie and I had her ortho appt (she got her braces off!) - and then we ran errands and had fun shopping. Then she had hockey last night. But I thought I'd still pop in to keep my week organized and say hello...

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

Today was a bit overcast and we had some snow (got a few inches overnight) and 20's to 30's. But going to get colder as the week goes on to single digits again

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING

toast and coffee

RIGHT NOW I AM:

watching the news

AS I LOOK OUTSIDE MY WINDOW

lots of snow everywhere - see photos below

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE

Looking cozy and warm - my big fuzzy blanket is on my lap ;) 

ON THIS WEEK'S TO DO LIST:

had Annie's appt (yay no more braces!), helped Mom today and pop in every day still, errands, Annie's hockey practices and a game this week, food for FIL, hospice volunteering, more January clean out and organizing, daily workouts

 

CURRENTLY READING

Betweeen Heaven and the Real World by Steven Curtis Chapman

ON THE TV TODAY:

The Resident, AGT, The Good Doctor, Outlander, The Bachelor, The Rookie, New Amsterdam, This is Us, Kids Baking Championship, Greys Anatomy, Big Brother

 

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

MONDAY:  we had leftovers

TUESDAY: thinking summer thoughts: polish, baked beans, pasta salad, corn on the cob

WEDNESDAY: crepes, bacon, fruit

THURSDAY: hockey game - easy night 

FRIDAY: maybe out to dinner?

WHAT I AM CREATING AT THE MOMENT

lots of project catch up now that life is slowly getting back to normal

NEW RECIPE I WANT TO TRY THIS WEEK:

Nothing new this week, but I will share the one pot veggie pasta I made last week as it was really yummy!

TIP OF THE WEEK:

FROM THE CAMERA:

photo from this morning - new snow

Before and after photos of my girl yesterday getting braces off ;) Say cheese!

We watched our girl play hockey over this weekend. I love this pic I caught of just her lining up agains the big bad other team. Lol

And then we had comfort food because I made chili, cornbread with honey butter glaze, and mississippi mud brownies that I hadn't made the previous weekend.  Nice and cozy and watched some football

If you're on instagram have you found the "golden hour" filter? It's wonderful for taking selfies that make you feel good about yourself.  Lol xo

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:


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

Recipes

Happy weekend to you Friends ~ 

Sorry I'm later this week sharing these recipes then I meant to be. But I thought today I'd finally share a few of those fun recipes with you all. Several of you seemed especially excited about the butter brickle bread so I'll share that one first ;) 

This bread recipe was given to me by a fellow volunteer at the hospice house where we both help out. She volunteers as a baker only and she makes some pretty wonderful things every week!! When she baked this that day family members kept coming back for 2nds and 3rds. It's really light and fluffy for a sweet bread. More cake like. She let me take a pic of her recipe and here it is:

The toffee apple dip is so easy - but so good! Take a brick of cream cheese (softened). Put it in a small bowl and mix in about a tbsp or 2 of sugar. Take a jar of ice cream caramel and pour just a little bit in the cream cheese. Blend the cheese well. Spread into bottom of a dish (this one was a square 8x8 one) Then drizzle more caramel over the top. And sprinkle on some toffee bits. Chill for at least an hour and serve with apple slices. Yum :P This is a favorite of my girlfriends and they ask me to make it almost every year

I have made this wassail many times through the years and it's always a hit. You can put it all in a slow cooker on low. Or do in a big pot on the stove. Take a gallon of good apple cider (not juice), add in anywhere from 2 tbsp to about 1/4 c. of brown sugar depending how sweet you like it. Dissolve in cider. Then take an orange and a lemon. Squeeze in the juice from both - but I always make sure there is more orange than lemon. I usually grab 2 of each kind of citrus as I take the prettier ones (not squeezed in cider) and cut into slices to float on top. I put cinnamon sticks in the bottom of the pot. And stick cloves in the orange slices. Let simmer a while and enjoy. For an adult party feel free to pour a little brandy or rum in each cup too ;) 

 

These fun ranch garlic pretzels are my kiddos favorite.  Take a one pound bag of pretzels and I pour mine into a big 9x13 pan. Take butter flavor oil (like orville redenbacher) and pour about 4 oz of it into a measuring cup. Add in a 1 oz package of ranch dip mix and 2 tsp of garlic powder. I also add in some dillweed powder too. Mix well.  Then pour over the pretzels and stir to distribute. You can mix all in a bowl and then pour onto a baking sheet to sit and dry out. But I just keep and do it all in the 9x13 pan I serve them in. If you stir the pretzels every 1/2 hour over the course of 2-3 hours you'll notice the liquid just absorbs into the pretzels. Caution - they are addicting and sometimes referred to as "crack" pretzels. Lol 

Have a wonderful weekend and happy munching xo

Happy Homemaker Monday

Hello Dear Friends ~  

Happy Monday to you. I'm actually here posting an HHM - yay! I hope you had a great weekend. It was an extra fun one here as I was able to have one more Christmas. I have close girlfriends that I have been friends with forever. Some from childhood and grade school and one from high school. They were all in my wedding and we are all still very close. They are the family I chose. And every year now for 30 years - yes 3-0 years (since we were 16!!)we have been getting together to celebrate Christmas together once the holidays calm down. It's a chance for us to really get together and catch up too. One of my besties has been living in California for many years now - but we always give her a call to include her a bit too. The rest of the gals either live close by or only a few hours away.  Didn't want the weekend to end - but on to the new week ahead....

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

Cloudy and not too bad - in the 30's for today and tomorrow. But then colder the rest of the week and single digits by the weekend

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING

a piece of leftover butter brickle bread from the weekend and some amaretto coffee

RIGHT NOW I AM:

Listening to George Ezra station on pandora

AS I LOOK OUTSIDE MY WINDOW

Everything is still draped in white as we still have about 4 to 5 inches of snow on everything. It's gray and cloudy and makes me want another cup of coffee

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE

I did a lot of tidying up this morning and now headed over to my Mom's this afternoon to help her with some of her chores too. Our house is so bare now that Christmas was taken down over the weekend. But it's nice to be starting fresh into 2019 

ON THIS WEEK'S TO DO LIST:

helping my Mom, Annie's hockey practices and a game this week, errands, groceries, meal for FIL, hospice volunteering, home projects, Annie's religious ed

 

CURRENTLY READING

Betweeen Heaven and the Real World by Steven Curtis Chapman

ON THE TV TODAY:

The Resident, AGT, The Good Doctor, Outlander, The Bachelor, The Rookie, New Amsterdam, This is Us, Kids Baking Championship, Greys Anatomy

 

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

MONDAY:  english muffin breakfast sandwiches, fruit 

TUESDAY: one pot veggie spaghetti, garlic bread, veggies

WEDNESDAY: religious ed - easy night honey wheat wraps, chips and fruit

THURSDAY: hockey game - easy night either leftovers or grab dinner out

FRIDAY: baked potato and salad bar 

**this weekend making chili and cornbread muffins for FIL and my Mom too, fruit, veggies and mississippi mud brownies

WHAT I AM CREATING AT THE MOMENT

lots of project catch up now that life is slowly getting back to normal

NEW RECIPE I WANT TO TRY THIS WEEK:

I will share recipes later this week from new year's (fun pretzels, wassail) and girlfriend gathering this past weekend (toffee dip for apples and butter brickle bread)

TIP OF THE WEEK:

FROM THE CAMERA:

yummy toffee apple dip from yesterday - will share recipe this week

also the recipe for this butter brickle bread (kind of like butterscotch bread - so good!)

we have a theme for our girlfriend gathering each year  - can you guess what it was this year? Lol

And I love that this was the memory that came up on my FB yesterday! So we had gotten together this same weekend date 7 years ago. Lol Again, only 4 of us in the first photo as the bestie gal that is the 2nd one in from the left in our high school grad photo now lives in California

and the bestie that hosted the party yesterday has a new adorable puppy - Franklin - and he posed pretty just for me ;) 

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:


I'm linking with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday

Happy New Year

Hello Friends! 

I'm back, and first of all want to wish you a very blessed and happy 2019.  It's been a crazy ride these past several months. Life took over and I was feeling overwhelmed. I don't want this to be a space where I go into a lot of those kinds of things - as this is a space I enjoy for fun and connection with others who have similar interests and hobbies. But I will share that my Mom had surgery and there were complications and so I have been very involved with helping her and giving her a lot of my time.  She's doing better and getting stronger everyday. So I will just request if you'd like to that all prayers are welcome. ;) 

A really fun thing that has happened is that my brother and his wife moved back to our area! He is officially retired from the military and it's been so wonderful to have them home. It was great having them here for the holidays and to help with my Mom as well. I thought I would share a few photos from my holidays. And then I plan to come around and say hello when I can and join back into the fun with my blogland family. I still may not be able to blog a lot but I'm hoping to at least once a week. My word this year is J-O-Y.  I'm not sure if you're one of those folks that chooses a word ...but I find that it helps me. Maybe self fulfilling prophecy and all that.  Do you do a word for the year? I think we all search for a bit of joy in our daily lives. But I'm actively choosing to seek it out in each day this year. To thank God each day for the wonderful gifts and blessings I've been given and keep my focus on family, friends, my volunteering, new passions and endeavors - but all with the mindset of how it can bring joy to not only me...but how I can bring joy to others and to this world. In even the tiniest of ways. 

Here are a few pics of Annie with my Bro and with my SIL. I'm so thrilled to have them home!

Of course some of the holiday glow - that's my favorite

And this was too funny not to share. I love the Pioneer Woman (as many of you know) and my kiddos got me PW Barbie! I think it was kind of a joke - but the kid in me was so excited. Lol Is that wrong? It even came with food and gadgets! Like the mixer mixes and toast pops up in the toaster. Ha!!

And for those of you missing Ruby - I had to share this cute pic of her with my step Mom. Don't tell Ruby she's not a human baby. It would really confuse her ;) 

And of course wonderful foods of the season. Annie and I made snowflake belgian waffles for Christmas morning for all of us. And we baked up my Gram's best cut out cookie recipe cookies and her homemade cream cheese icing

And of course the beautiful bay continues to share gorgeous winter sunsets

And we had a lot of fun ringing in the New Year. And lots of good eats again. Including Annie's falalala-lama cupcakes :P

And yummy garlic ranch pretzels and slow cooker wassail to drink (the best!) I will share recipes next time I post. Nice to be back 

xoxo