Cooking & Crafting Thursday: Puppy Chow & Monster Cookies and some Progress

 

Hello gorgeous Friends!

How are things looking in your area of the world? Here it is sunny and low 70's and so pleasant out. Little breezes and there are bits of plants and trees just starting to turn colors for Fall. I had an appointment this morning and while I was waiting I saw so many monarch butterflies go by the window. And I looked it up and it's prime migration time for them to begin here in the north. So I got an unexpected bit of beauty in this day. God is so cool. 💗

I thought for some recipes today I would share the 2 sweet treats I made for the lake last weekend. They both turned out so yummy and so, if they are something you'd enjoy, I'd definitely recommend them. And they were both nice to have on hand for the long holiday weekend as they lasted the whole time through and are good for grazing. Taking a cookie here and there...or a handful of puppy chow (some call them muddy buddies) whenever the mood or appetite struck. 

And then I also thought I'd show you the quick progress I've been making on my current embroidery project (I'm addicted)...and a sneak peek at some Autumn decorations as I've slowly been cleaning and putting them up around the house. 

First up, I thought I'd share the 2 recipes. The puppy chow recipe is on my pinterest you can find here. And the monster cookies I found on the site www.tastesbetterfromscratch.com They are both straight forward recipes and I will share photos of each and the recipes. The only changes I made was with the monster cookies in that I used chocolate chunks instead of chips, and also added some butterscotch chips...cuz of course I had to be extra. Lol 

I joked to Matt that this cookie even looked like a monster with his green m&m eyes and chocolate chunk teeth.👹

I actually have a whole pinterest board called "mud buds" for muddy buddies because there are so many different flavor profile recipes. This is the O.G. recipe but next time I think I'll try something new for fun.

And then for the crafting portion of this post I thought I'd share that I have started decorating for Fall. Yay! It's my absolute favorite time of the year and the colors fit our home so well that I think I love how our home looks the most in Autumn. 

I saw this adorable tic tac toe with black cats and had to pick it up for this year. Bubba came over to inspect and I think he was asking me to play it with him 🖤

And I got a few new garlands this year: a leafy one and a felted pumpkin one - I love how they look together. 

So cozy 🍁🎃🧡

And here is the progress I have made just since last week on my embroidery project. I think then I had only completed the spider? I'm learning so many stitches: back stitch, satin stitch, leaf stitch, french knots, and the next stitch I'm going to try is the long and short. I enjoy this so much and work on it some nights when we watch a show. I like that there are different stitches so it's not so repetitive, like cross stitch (which I still like too). I got a cute kit with 4 of these Fall/Halloween themes and I picked the 2 cutest ones to do for each of my gf's Fall birthdays. :) Maybe the next time I'm able to share, I'll be done with this one! I also have a pretty diamond art piece that has a Christmas theme I want to do as a gift ...and will share once I begin. 

Have you been working on any crafting projects? Anything on your bucket list? I still want to get better at crochet and need to give that some real time...eventually. 😂 Not enough hours in the day! Lol

And I'm curious do you call that snack puppy chow? or Muddy buddies? 

Blessings on your weekend ahead. And if you make any of the recipes I hope you enjoy! 

xoxo

Happy Homemaker Monday

Hello dear Friends of my heart!

First of all I need to sing out 🎵🎶 Happy Birthday to You🎵🎶 to my sweet Annie boo!! I can't believe this little Pumpkin (& the baby of our family) is 20 years old today. Please hold me. 😢 I need time to slow down!!

But I'm so proud of this young amazing woman and all that she is working towards. I'm especially proud of the wonderful kind, smart, sweet, genuine human she has become. I pray God's blessings over her everyday. 🎂🎉

Did you have a good weekend Friends? Did you celebrate Mother's Day? 

We had a multiple celebration here this weekend. We had my kiddos over and Jill (my son's partner - Annie's bf is in FL), and my Mom and step Dad over. We celebrated Annie's birthday and my step Dad's birthday (his is the 13th) and Mother's Day. 

Matt BBQ'd burgers and I made sides and the cake Annie requested so we had cake and ice cream as well. It was so wonderful having the kiddos around all weekend to play games and visit and catch up on their lives. And to honor my Mom & step Dad too. And of course I'm so happy my Annie is home for the summer! 💗

I had a lovely Mother's Day too and felt so loved and spoiled. Matt and the kids gave me the most beautiful and touching cards (they always make me cry) and gifts. And the sun came out later in the day and we sat out on the deck and soaked it up. And just a little after we came back in the house some baby bears were running around in our back yard! (pics below) 

It was a great weekend as we also went out to dinner one night with Annie, went to church Saturday evening, and then the wonderful family time. It doesn't get better. And now it looks like warm weather is finally going to be in our forecast and I can feel summer in the air.

 Life is good!🙏🏻

 

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

iced protein coffee

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

spectrum here again as still having some modem or cable lines issues, hospice meeting for education updates, folks coming to give estimates for bathroom reno we are going to do, hang out with my Annie :) 

errands, hospice work

THINKING ABOUT: 

how close it's getting to where I can go pick out flowers and what I want to plant in my little veggie garden - yay!! 

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY:

When my daughter likes to pamper me - like she did this weekend when she did a gel polish job on my nails with a curing light. They turned out so cute...and she used a little tool to make those little summer oranges!

CURRENTLY READING

I received a fun romance book for Mother's Day from Aaron's sweet Jill and I'm excited to dive into that next!

 

But in between I've been reading

The Waiting Place by Eileen Button as well. I just read a chapter a day as almost extra devotional time. It's a group of essays and it's great food for thought and uplifting.

 

ON THE TV TODAY:

  Jeopardy, old seasons of big brother & the office,  Survivor, Outlander,   Ghosts,  Love on the Spectrum (need to finish it)

Matt and I need to go back and finish The Last Kingdom series

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY - leftovers (spending part of the day with Annie but she's doing her bday tonight with her dad)

TUESDAY - cardamom french toast (Annie fave) and fruit, bacon

WEDNESDAY -  pasta, garlic bread, salad (another Annie fave)

THURSDAY - maybe leftovers?

FRIDAY - out for dinner?

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

read in the sun, hang with Annie, craft

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

*This is the company that I was talking about when I shared that I had Matt's wedding ring made with materials I picked out. His was made with Koa wood (sacred to Hawaii a place Matt loves so much), and fishing line and gold to match my ring. 

The company started because a husband and wife started it after they did something unique for his wedding band to represent his likes and they got so many comments from people they knew they were on to something. So they decided to start their own company so others could have what they wanted too. You could have car parts, typewriter parts, deer antler - almost anything you can think of that would represent your partner you can pick. They have women's rings too and standard designs not just men's. And you can pick the metal materials too. 

FROM THE CAMERA:

Scenes from a family celebration. There isn't pics of my son because he doesn't always cooperate about them. Lol

My kids always pick out what cake they want me to make. Annie picked a homemade lime cake (I used real lime juice and zest so I added a little food coloring to make it more green) and homemade strawberry buttercream icing. It turned out really well and everyone loved it. It was really tasty. (I'm always so happy when it turns out! Lol) 

I had found a "hello twenty" sign in rose gold and planned the cake decorations around it. Annie collects sonny angel figures and I put a birthday one on the cake and a gold "20" along with spring flowers and butterflies. She told me she loved it so much and was the prettiest cake ever - so I know I did my job well. :) 💗

cake and vanilla bean ice cream (does it get better?😋)

I hope all of her wishes come true! 

And then some baby bears came and played on our hill. I had just been saying to Matt that I was surprised we hadn't seen bear visitors yet. Lol

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 healing for Matt's knee. For my in-law's safe travels as they head to the lake from AZ.

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:

Have and amazing week ahead Friends!

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

Cooking Thursday: Spring Inspired Recipes I Want to Try

 

Hello my Lovelies!

Today I'm diving right in with some recipes from this cookbook I picked up not long ago. Do you know Sally of Sally's baking addiction website? She is amazing and any of her recipes I have tried have all turned out great! I recommend you try to make at least one of her recipes -maybe even start with her cookbook. 

In her cookbook these recipes particularly said Spring/Summer to me. I didn't try to capture the full recipe - but to give you an idea. If you look online you may be able to find these full recipes. Or if you would like the full recipe of any of them just let me know. 

Annie's birthday cake she wants me to make her this year includes homemade strawberry buttercream. Mmmmm 😋

How adorable do these look and sound?

I've always wanted to try to make a pavlova. They look so pretty and meringues are so yummy!! 

Do you have any special recipes you've never tried, but want to give a go? 🍓💗