Happy Homemaker Monday

Happy Monday my Friends! 

The sun is currently shining on some fresh snow we got over the weekend. Spring where are you?? 🙈

And unfortunately we have a little snowstorm in our forecast for this week too. Maybe even getting 6 or more inches. Sigh.

The good thing is that we know the sun will come out again soon (probably by this weekend) and melt it away. It's always the case in the northwoods this time of year. Dealing with cabin fever and wanting to be gardening and enjoying Spring sun and flowers....and instead to be dealing with flurries. I guess it's part of what makes us hearty folks up here in the north. Lol

How are things in your world? I hope you're getting the sunshine and green growing things. And that you had a nice weekend. We had a pretty quiet one here overall: ran errands, church time, played cards, talked to our folks on the phone, watched movies, and just continue to love newly married life together. ❤️

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

a 30 calorie wasa cracker with some mashed avocado sprinkled with lime, salt & hot honey as a lower calorie avocado toast,  coffee with some protein creamer 

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

we're taking some things to goodwill & running some errands tonight, bring my car in to get an issue fixed, visiting an Aunt to bring her some banana bread & something to help her read (her vision has gotten pretty bad), trying to finish scrapbooking our wedding album so I can work on some mother's day projects, start getting paperwork for legally changing to my married name, hospice work

THINKING ABOUT:  

How fast the time flies and how sweet these pics are of my little Annie and baby Ruby. I was going through pics on my shutterfly account as I upload pics at the end of each month (for that month), so at the end of the year I can create a keepsake book. And when I was looking at what I loaded for this month I happened to look through some old files and saw these. Precious memories for sure. 💗

 

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE

I'm listening to some Celtic harp music. The sun is so bright with the snow outside. Matt had just popped up from his office downstairs to chat with me about our plans for running around later. I can hear the dishwasher finishing up as I'm at my dining room table right now. Both the furry babies are napping in the next room. Feels like a quiet and content Monday morning. 

CURRENTLY READING

I had picked up one of those "blind date with a book" - where a gently used book is wrapped in brown craft paper and had pockets on the front with cute items (tea, a bookmark, stickers etc) and I opened it up yesterday to see what the book is and it sounds pretty fun. It's called Little White Lies by Jennifer Lynn Barnes and it says it's a mystery with wit & humor. 

ON THE TV TODAY:

 The Rookie , Jeopardy, Shark Tank, Survivor, TWD catch up, Grey's Anatomy,  cooking shows, We started watching Designated Survivor, some Outlander episodes I hadn't finished

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY - leftover cabbage roll soup (made it again this weekend since I knew it was going to be cozy weather & we loved it so much the first time)

TUESDAY -  crispy rice sushi bowls with crab, carrots, cucumber & avocado & drizzle of yum yum sauce or sriracha mayo (new recipe I found on social media & sounds so good)

WEDNESDAY - sesame ginger chicken crumbles over a broccoli slaw & topped with chopped peanuts

THURSDAY -  stuffed chicken breasts,  steamed mixed vegetables

FRIDAY - maybe out for dinner?

*Going to try to bake a lower calorie high protein banana bread recipe I found on social media (but I'm baking my regular sweeter one for my Aunt to bring her this week)

*I also have a recipe for a healthier version of rice krispies bars....I'll share all the recipes we like if they turn out 😉

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

read, scrapbook, do some yoga

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

I also wanted to share this adorable idea I found on social media that I think I'm going to make at Easter. You take baby peppers & cut in half. Fill with a yummy flavor boursin cheese spread and put sprigs of dill for the tops. 🥕

 

FROM THE CAMERA:

Matt & I continue to work on our lifestyle change with our diet and exercise etc. I've lost about 12 lbs so far. Matt is only weighing himself monthly and this weekend he weighed in and had lost about 16 lbs.  

But on the weekends we let ourselves indulge a bit more, however, we still count all of our calories. And one morning we had some yummy gruyere cheese & bacon egg bites, and some raspberry kringle danish. Matt also made us these dessert iced coffees but did use healthier brown sugar sweetener & vanilla unsweetened almond milk (he whipped instant coffee with the brown sugar, sugar-free vanilla syrup, & hot water until frothy and poured over the almond milk) so good! 

We recently got a few new pieces of furniture in our bedroom  and I put up some new drapes too. We have some new artwork in there and I plan to hang a different decoration above the bed too. I'll share a post on all of this later on, but here's a peek at the drapes and I think I did an okay job matching with our painted walls and trim? They sure brightened the room and I LOVE how everything is turning out in there. 

I do some hospice work from home (calls and paperwork) and sometimes it sure is difficult getting anything done with this guy around. 😂

I took this photo yesterday. Sigh. And the pic below it is what I wished it looked like right now. 

Some sweet feathered visitors this morning. 

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 a neighbor that recently went through some health trials and continues to heal. For a bestie of mine who has a parent in hospice. 

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

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

I pray you have a beautiful week ahead filled with light and love. 

I love and appreciate the time with your here so very much! I'm sharing this with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.

Friday Catch Up with some Recipes

 

Happy Friday to you Friends

I hope it feels like "Friyay" to you because you have such a wonderful weekend planned ahead! 😉

I'm not sure what we'll be getting up to around here. We plan on church time and have errands to run, but the weather might get snowy and slippery...so we'll wait and see. 

I'm sharing this Friday Catch Up with Cathy at the blog Our Creative Life and you can find her and link up yourself here.

Here's a bit of what I've been doing along with some fun recipes....

One day for lunch this week I tried this unique sandwich method I saw on social media. Instead of bread you use slices of apple as the ends of your sandwich of choice (in my case pepper turkey and cheddar). I added a little bit of sriracha mayo too (love that stuff!). You just cut the apple horizontally instead of vertically. And you core out the middle seeds. 

It was so good as it was savory, spicy, crunchy and sweet. I guess it's not that unusual as they have "picklewiches" at Jimmy John's where your sub meat and veggies is sandwiched between halves of a giant pickle. Or an "unwich" where you have your sub fixings wrapped in lettuce. They are all just a healthier higher fiber alternative to bread. And don't get me wrong, I still eat bread, but to have a lighter moment I really liked this option. I want to try a picklewich next! 😋

Would you try something like this?

When I was journaling the other day I started doodling too. I made a Spring bucket liist that included things not so fun like specific Spring house cleaning jobs. But also lots of fun things like: go to the farmers market, go on a hike, visit some botanical gardens, get a pedicure, and make sourdough bread to go with a Spring soup. And then I added some little drawings on the next page with other ideas. It's fun to draw and dream. 

While the kiddos were here I made a dessert I've always wanted to try. I had peaches from last summer I had frozen and I wanted to make them into a cobbler along with some blueberries. I had been holding on to this recipe that my friend Billie Jo of the blog Afternoon Coffee and Evening Tea had shared in the past. I love all the family, faith, holiday and recipes she shares. Especially her love of Autumn like me! :) 

You can find her blog here.

This recipe was a hit and so good warm with a little ice cream! You make a batter for the top....and then make a kind of simple syrup with lots of cinnamon and you pour it over the top before you bake. Thanks Billie Jo - it was great! 

Her recipe is below. 

I have been loving my 40 oz hydro jug so much (it helps me get at least 120 oz of water in a day) So I ordered a 2nd one and it came the other day and isn't it the most adorable thing you've ever seen?? It's called "Farmer's Market" - how sweet is that? I love the pattern and bright pink and yellow. So Spring 🌸💛

Another fun recipe I thought I'd share are these little parfaits I've been making as a little dessert for Matt & I. I was craving strawberry pretzel salad (if you're from the Midwest you know). And so I made sugar-free vanilla pudding with skim milk (next time I might through some protein powder in there too). And then I added some sugar-free strawberry jello on top. I didn't have strawberries at the time or I would have cut some up to throw in there too. And then I took some pretzels and put them in a baggie with a little sugar and crushed them up and sprinkled them on top. It really fed the "fix" and we thought they were very tasty. You could really up the protein if you used greek yogurt as half along with half milk  to make the pudding...but I don't care for the aftertaste of the plain green yogurt. Maybe a vanilla one would be ok. 

That's my Friday recap Folks. I'm almost done with our wedding album and I'm making some unique pages I really like and I'll share more about it when I'm done. Also, if we get groceries this weekend I have some new healthy recipes to share for next week too. 

I hope you have a very blessed cozy weekend ahead 💗

xoxo

Spring This or That

 

Hello lovely Friends!

Happy Wednesday to you. ☀️✨

We're almost over the hump and on our way to Friday. The sun is shining here today and it may be close to 50* this afternoon...so for this time of year in the northwoods it's basically glorious! 😍

It makes me think about Spring ahead and Easter right around the corner. And I've always loved the posts of others where they ask "this or that" questions. So I thought I'd do a Spring related one today as I'm curious to see where your preferences lie. 

SPRING THIS OR THAT

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

1) Tulips or Daffodils?

2)April Showers or May Flowers?

3)Chocolate Bunnies or Cadbury Cream Eggs?

4)Easter Brunch/Lunch or Dinner?

5)Gardening or Porch Sitting?

6)Lemon Bars or Lemon Merengue Pie?

This is how my answers would go:

1) This is a very tough one because I love them both so much for Spring - but I think I sway to DAFFODILS. They are the most cheerful flower to me and I always see a smiling face when I look at them (the trumpet part is the nose - Lol) Am I crazy for that? But they sure make me happy. 

2)I'm completely a MAY FLOWERS kind of Gal. The showers around here make it muddy and gross. And to me that's different than a good summer thunderstorm. I love that! But bring me flowers in Spring all the way!

3)CADBURY CREAM EGGS are a weakness - that is all.

4)I host EASTER LUNCH here after Easter morning mass. 

5)GARDENING for this girlie. I'm so itching to dig in the dirt already!! 

6)I live for lemon desserts so this is tough -but I don't anything can beat a great LEMON BAR! My favorite recipe for them is my former MIL's and you can find it if you click here. They are the best! 

I would love to see what your answers are my Friends so thank you if you play along. :) Are you a Spring lover? As many of you know, Autumn is my absolute favorite...but the older I get the more Spring truly has become my 2nd favorite. I can't wait until it shows up here!! 

Blessings 🌸💚

Happy Homemaker Monday

Hello dear Friends ☀️💛

Happy Monday and I pray it's already a wonderful start to your week!

I know I was more absent on here last week, but I truly focused on kiddo time and soaking it up. My son came into town Friday so I had him here too and it was wonderful. I will come around and catch up and visit with you when I get a chance. My daughter heads back tomorrow morning so I'm going to treasure this day with her. 

We had a really fun weekend. My son's significant other - our sweet Jill, was in town too but had a lot of family things going on so we didn't get to see as much of them. 

And Annie's bf Kris went back during the week last week. So it was a lot of just Matt & I and the kids hanging out and I just loved it so much. I love how even my kiddos expressed how much they love hanging out with us and Annie always says it's so hard to leave again. Makes my Momma heart feel so full. We played a lot of board games, Mario party nights down in the media room, went to a fun hockey game, went out for lunch and shopping at an antique store and some gamer stores, had good food and so much laughing! Just the best. 

Kind of sad, but tomorrow it will be back to normal life so let's get into this week ahead...

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

a light and fit greek cherry yogurt, coffee with cafe latte protein creamer

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

running some errands today, financial paperwork, hospice calls from home & paperwork, groceries later in the week, cleaning up kiddo rooms (stripping bed etc), time up at the hospice facility

THINKING ABOUT:  

How ready I am for Spring and deck life. It's still too cold to take out our deck furniture, flower pots, grill, lanterns, wind chimes etc. But I dream on Spring around the corner and being out there a lot. It's truly our other living space all summer. 

And I dream on sitting out there reading a book while rocking back and forth on the glider bench. Soaking up sunbeams while listening to the birds sing away as I watch sparkles on the water. Hearing the wind chimes add to the chorus now and then. Slow lazy wonderfully dreamy days in my little bit of paradise are the best!!

 I'm so ready to dig in the dirt! To go to the greenhouses and pick out flowers, veggies, herbs and plant green growing things. To see the grass be bright green and filled with robins digging for worms while bunnies bounce across their paths. 

And I can't wait to take a pontoon ride with friends and then come back to sit around the fire and chat and solve all the world's problems. It just feels like life slows in our backyard. It's the most peaceful place and brings us both so much joy. 

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE

I have classical violin music playing and the sun is streaming in (although it will be chilly today). We got a little snow over the weekend but not too badly, and the bay is still completely covered. We're still kind of in hibernation mode, but I know it won't be too much longer. Matt just popped up here from his office to refill his mug and to give me a kiss and wish me a good day and tell me he loves me. Such a nice perk of a work from home Hubby. ❤️

CURRENTLY READING

I haven't picked out my next book yet. I recently picked up more Spring magazines and will finish them first. 🌸

ON THE TV TODAY:

When Calls the Heart, The Rookie , Jeopardy, Shark Tank, Survivor, TWD catch up, Grey's Anatomy,  The Graham Norton show, cooking shows, We started watching Designated Survivor not too long ago. We both had never watched it when it was out years ago and we really like it so far. I think we may dive into Severance eventually too. 

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY - cardamom bread french toast, breakfast potatoes, bacon and fruit (an Annie fave meal) & Matt & I will eat some leftover veggie egg bake.

TUESDAY -  

WEDNESDAY - 

THURSDAY - 

FRIDAY - 

*We need to get groceries but I will try to get creative with some things around here to use up some items in the freezer & our produce. Not sure of menu but thinking I'll use up a salad kit with leftover grilled chicken and make a taco salad situation. We have bare nuggets in the freezer and I think I'll make wrap sandwiches with low carb tortillas. We have marinara to use up & some chicken sausages  - so may do an Italian sausage and veggie skillet (lots of spinach left and will wilt that down in there too) Or make a bake of it as I have protein pasta too and some shredded cheese to use up. 

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

Annie & I have been enjoying coloring so maybe more of that today, read my Spring magazines, work on some craft projects (one is a Mother's Day gift for Matt's Mom)

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

 

And along with this calming kind of zen theme I thought I'd share this sweet youtube channel I sometimes put on as background when I'm reading or crafting.

It has sweet woodland critters sitting by a fire reading or having tea (each video is different) and includes crackling fire sounds and calming music and it's called forRest Mind & Ambiance

They are animated and in the most recent it's a bunny family and they read, knit and pour tea. How adorable is that? 

FROM THE CAMERA:

We had a nice warm stretch and the bay was starting to open up, but with the recent cold snap it's currently not the case. But soon!! We also had a little visitor in our driveway (I think it's a muskrat)

Annie with her very tall sweet boyfriend.

🖤🖤🖤

Of course with kiddos coming home Momma had to bake something. I had wonderful peaches last summer that I had cut up and froze - and so I made a peach & blueberry cobbler. I'll share more on that later in the week. 

Fun time in our local area called Canal Park (& that's a big lift bridge on Lake Superior). We had lunch & did some shopping. Everyone found a treasure at the antique store. :) 

A night out at a local hockey game. 

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 safe travels for my baby Girl. 

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

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

Raising them has been the biggest honor and blessing in my life. So proud of them and so grateful to God for the gift of them. 💗🙏🏻

I hope you have a wonderful week ahead my Friends and I will come over for a visit soon! I'm sharing this with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.