Happy Homemaker Monday

 

Hello and happy Monday beautiful Friends!

First of all, thanks again to all who entered the giveaway. I posted the winners earlier this morning - so go back and look at that post if you want to see who won.

It is freezing in the northwoods today! It was double digits below zero this morning out there. And I need to go out and run errands and go to my mammogram appointment. Brrr! I'm not sure if I'll get this post done before I need to go but I'll post it this afternoon if I don't. 

How was your weekend? The update here was it was a nice mellow one for Matt & I. We went to our usual Saturday mass and went out for dinner. We did things around the house. But we also went out to my Uncle's place yesterday. He's the one that is a retired priest and he recently had surgery. He lives about 50 minutes away. We went to check on him and I had made some soup, banana bread, a pasta meal, and some cookies to bring him. We hung out and visited and played some cards with him. We also did some chores around the house for him - including Matt doing some snow removal and we brought in some firewood for his wood burning stove. It was a lovely visit and he's happily healing up really well. 

Now on to this cold week ahead...

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

yogurt & berries, coffee

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

mammo appt, errands, some home projects and some fun ones, hospice work

THINKING ABOUT: 

how I'm looking forward to snuggling under a blanket with a good book

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY:

the look of big evergreen trees filled with snow ❄️

CURRENTLY READING

Summer at the Comfort Food Cafe by Debbie Johnson

ON THE TV TODAY:

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

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY - leftover creamy chicken wild rice soup (really good with an Italian bent as I threw some cut up red pepper in it too, and added a little pesto. I had also deglazed the roux with some wine too 😋) I will share the recipe in the future

TUESDAY -  

WEDNESDAY -  

THURSDAY - 

FRIDAY - 

*not sure about the rest of the menu this week yet, but with this cold weather it would sure be good to do a little baking! 

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

read, bake, craft

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

we're doing a few trips this year - I've never thought to do this...but I am a list person so it speaks to me :) 

FROM THE CAMERA:

We got more snow over the weekend as you can see from Matt's truck. Lol

With the cold and the snow, Ruby says it's good snuggle in weather. Bubba agrees and loves to hang out in the weirdest places. 😂

On Sunday we brought my Uncle some goodies I made including this homemade creamy chicken wild soup, a slow cooked homemade pasta sauce (with pasta, garlic bread & a salad), and some sourdough chocolate chip cookies I made from my sourdough starter discard. I also made and brought him some banana bread. He was so appreciative and said he felt treated like a king. 💗

It was snowing the day we drove to his place and the trees were so pretty. I love his long driveway lined by evergreens.

In his foyer he still has this little ode to our former pope Francis

And up his stairs I love this collection of family photos. This is my Dad's side of the family and my Uncle and Dad are 2 of 9 kids. 

And you may think that's a lot of kiddos - but here are my great grandparents...Martin and Clara:

And they had 17 children, with only 1 set of twins!! Can you imagine? My Grandpa was one of the oldest of 17 kids. The picture below isn't even all of the kids yet... if you count there are only 16 and she was going to have 1 more! Those good Polish Catholic farm living folks. Lol 😉

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 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:

Wishing you blessings on your week ahead and that wherever you are that you are nice and cozy. 

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

Blogaversary Giveaway Winners!

 

Hello dear Friends! 

Thank you again so much for all of your kind comments and for signing up for the giveaway - which is just a small token of gratitude I love doing each year. Thank you for being here! 

Over the weekend I watercolor painted the cards that I will also be sending to the winners. So here is a peek at them. I had blank cards with floral bouquets sketched on them. I thought that would fit nicely with the Valentines theme. 💝  In the process I mix my own colors, layer the colors to add dimension (so I let areas dry between layers), and I'm learning shading and shadows etc. It's truly a hobby I am loving! I will be putting my initials & the year on the front of the cards and then write a message for each of the winners. :) 

And here is how I got the names together and drew them. It's pretty high tech. Lol

here are all the names written on strips of paper I cut up

here's a closer view so you are sure to see your name in the mix and that I didn't miss anyone 💗

put all the names in a bowl and shuffled them up

Here's a reminder of what the 1st person will receive:

And here's my handsome and sweet assistant drawing the first name and the winner is....

congrats to you!!

And here is a reminder of what the 2nd person will receive:

And that winner is...

congrats to you!!

Congratulations to Karen and to Marilyn! Please email me at cbeargroup15@gmail.com so I can get your address and make arrangements to ship your goodies to you. 😊💗

Thanks again to you All dear blogging Besties! I will be back later with my HHM post for today too. I will be gone some of this week and will be taking a blogging break until next week, but I will post my usual Monday post yet today, so please come back and say hi!

Blessings. xo

Cooking Thursday: Chicken Pot Pie and a Fun Pretzel Treat

 

Hello Dear Friends!

First of all, thank you so much for all of the sweet comments on my blogaversary giveaway. I just love you all so much! And if you haven't seen the post or signed up there's still lots of time, so please look at the prior post and sign up. It makes my heart feel so good to share my gratitude that way (gifts are a love language for me - along with cooking and food! Lol)💗

Next up, please enjoy this gorgeous sunrise photo I took this morning. I love sunsets, but sometimes I forget how glorious a sunrise can be 😍 

God is such an artist!! 

 But on to the main agenda which is to share some Thursday recipes. Today I thought I would share a bit about the chicken pot pie I made the other day. And then I will also share how to make those yummy fruity pebbles white chocolate pretzels I shared recently. 

First up - the pot pie. It's no secret how much I love Ree Drummond aka the Pioneer Woman and have been making her recipes for years! I have several of her cookbooks and watch her cooking show. Every Thanksgiving I make her homemade pie crust for my pecan pie - and some years I make a pumpkin pie too. This year I only made the pecan so I had a leftover pie crust in my freezer. And that's what I used for this chicken pot pie. You can find the recipe for her homemade pie crust here. But I have no doubt store bought pie crust would work great too.

These are the photos I took of the pot pie when I made it. The recipe calls for making a yummy thickened chicken soup type filling. I made a roux with the veggies and then I deglazed the pan with cooking sherry and then chicken stock and finally stirring in the chicken and some half and half in the end. Then pouring it all into a deep pie plate. Topping it with the crust I had let defrost and then rolled out between parchment papers (great hack to keep the counter clean and not need more flour). Brushing on an egg wash to the sides of the pan so the crust would stick Then brushing the top of the crust too, and cutting a few slits for steam. Then baked it up and voila - amazing chicken pot pie! 😋

I had made her chicken pot pie many years ago from the recipe found on her website. And you can get that recipe by clicking here.  But this is her most recent cookbook that I got at Christmas time. And she has her chicken pot pie recipe in it. I love how her cookbooks always have very clear photos for each step too. So if you'd like to check out the recipe from that I will try to enlarge the pages big enough below:

I think this recipe is the best chicken pot pie I've ever had and Matt and my Mom and step Dad agreed! It is a winner - and especially with that decadent crust. But the filling is what is so flavorful. Don't expect it to come out in slices. It's something you would scoop or ladle into bowls. I definitely recommend it  - so comforting and delish.

And finally to share this amazing addictive treat (you've been warned!) I found this recipe from a gal on social media. I made it recently for my girlfriend Christmas party and it was a hit and everyone wanted the recipe. They said how much their kids would especially love it.😊 

WHITE CHOCOLATE FRUITY PEBBLES PARTY PRETZELS

Put a 15 oz bag of pretzels in a big bowl. 

In another bowl put a whole bag of white chocolate chips and add a little spoonful of coconut oil (it would probably be fine without that step but I did what was in the recipe). Melt the chips on high stirring every 30 seconds until completely melted. While that is going in the microwave put 2 cups of fruity pebbles cereal in a large baggie and crush with a rolling pin. After the white chocolate chips are melted pour over the bowl of pretzels. Use rubber spatulas to toss and coat the pretzels. Then pour the baggie of fruity pebbles cereal all over the pretzel mixture. Toss again and keep in a sealed container. Enjoy! 

💗💛💚

Blogaversary Giveaway

 

Hello my Dear Beautiful Blogland Besties!

First of all, thank you so much for being here. I treasure this blogging fun and the wonderful friendships I've made here. I like blogging for many reasons - including a place to keep memories...but the main reason is YOU! Connecting with you friends and sharing our worlds means so much to me. 

Even though my true blogaversary was late last Fall (when it gets so busy for the holidays) - I like to at least do a little something, even late, to acknowledge how much I treasure you being here. It is my 11th year blogging now. I can't believe that's real, as it's gone so fast! 

I thought I'd do a giveaway based on some of my favorite things lately, and that fact that we're whizzing through January with lightening speed and Valentines Day is right around the corner. I finally got Christmas down and kept up some greenery, snowmen, deer (all things we'll be seeing in the northwoods for months to come yet). But I also added some Valentines touches everywhere:

Okay onto the real fun: for this giveaway I'll be giving away 2 separate packages of goodies. For the first name drawn I will be sending you this:

A pop-up floral bouquet. 

I love the pretty vase with it and that roses just say Valentines Day (or maybe I should say Galentines Day😉 💗) It comes with a sweet little card too.

The first person chosen also get this blind date with a book. If I remember correctly it's in the thriller genre. I have been so much more into reading this past year...than I have been in years! So to honor that I thought this would be fun. 

Again, connected to Valentines Day I thought some sweet heart shaped earrings.  I found these crochet ones (& I've just started to get into crochet as a hobby). 

I bought these earrings (& the 2nd pair for the 2nd person drawn) from this small business on Etsy. I love that she included the Jesus stickers with her box. :) 

I forgot to take an individual pic of these - but these are also something bookish + coffee (another of my favorite things!). They are tiny adorable magnets. I thought they might be cute if you had a fridge where magnets work. Or maybe a little magnet recipe holder in your kitchen where you stick a recipe card to follow. Wherever you may find a spot they sure are cute and very detailed! They were also bought from a small business. ❤️

Now on to the 2nd name drawn...that person will receive this:

also a pop-up bouquet, cute book & coffee magnets and a pair of crochet earrings

Aren't these earrings SO cute too? And again, some hearts in honor of Valentines Day coming up. 

*Not seen is that I will also be including my other favorite hobby lately - watercolor painting. I will be hand painting cards for each of the winners plus maybe a few tiny extras thrown in to be a surprise. 

Oh, and I will do the drawing by Sunday and post the winners on Monday. All I will need is an email to reach you and get your address if you win. Thanks dear Friends. See how to enter below:

All you need to do to enter is leave any kind comment below about blogging, or Valentines Day, or your favorite hobby. I will ship internationally as well. And you don't need to be a blogger to enter either. Again, I appreciate you being here as well as your love, support, and friendship all of these years! 

🙏🏻💗

And I need to mention this little Valentine of mine as our sweet Ruby turned 14! Yay!! She is our other baby and we treasure her sweet little soul. Happy Birthday Ruby! 🎉🎂

💗💗💗