9 for 2019 wrap-up

It's the very last day of 2019, and I owe y'all an update on my 2019 goals.  Here's how I did:

• Plant sunflowers by the chicken coop--Check!  The chickens enjoyed eating the seeds this fall.

• Make/install chicken swing--Check!  I have since uninstalled the chicken swing, since the girls seemed to be afraid of it, but it's going back out there when/if we ever get new chicks.  I'm hoping that they'll be less afraid if I train them young.

• Make vanilla extract--Check!  I've even used some of it, for muffins and cookies.

• Cover a box that I store things in to make it pretty--Check!  I'm even using it for what I intended.

• Crochet or knit something, like a poncho, a blanket, purple scarves, or a hat -- Check!  I crocheted a purple scarf.

• Four playdates with myself (Ikea, Hobby Lobby, downtown, Arboretum)--Check!  I decided that Home Goods was an adequate stand-in for the Arboretum, and I sneaked the downtown trip in under the wire, but I got it done.

• Replace dish cloths--Check!

• Put together a traveling charger kit--Check!

• Facts of life book--Nope.  And it's not going to show up on next years' list, either (two years was enough), but I will continue to work on it.

All but one, done.  I learned that I need to get most of my goals done in the first half of the year, before my energy and enthusiasm dessert me.  

How did you do on your 2019 goals?

Here are the ten additional goals that I would add if I was doing 19:

• Plant a green bean teepee--sort of!  It was a weirdly shaped teepee, but I'm counting it.
• Grow an amaryllis bulb--nope.  But good idea for next year.
• Light an outdoor tree--again, nope, but I'm considering this for next year.
• Make a sugar scrub--Check!  And now I kind of don't want to live without it.
• Make vanilla mint lip balm--nope, but it's in the running for next year.
• Make a bacon lattice--No.  What was I thinking?
• Make reusable food wrap--Also no, but definitely a contender for next year's list.
• Find a pretty bottle for my mouthwash --Check!
• Schedule an appointment for Bubby with the orthodontist--Check!
• Unsubscribe (from magazines and email newsletters)--Check!

Menu plan for the week of December 30

Hi friends.  I am doing so well on my winter break goals.  I've been sledding several times (it helps a lot that we have two excellent sledding spots on our property), I switched to leggings for a couple of hours on Christmas Eve, but aside from that it's been all PJs all the time, and I painted my toenails on Thursday--they're blue.  I am crushing these goals.

Y'all.  I am so excited about this week's menu plan.  A couple of our people are out of town, including our potato hater, and mashed potatoes are a favorite of the people who are left, so we are having mashed potatoes for (almost) every meal!  I don't even eat mashed potatoes most of the time (I do love them, though.  This might be the week I try mashed cauliflower)!  But this is going to be so much fun!  Even though I have to make mashed potatoes every day because they just don't taste as good leftover!  And according to the Idaho Potato people you can only keep peeled potatoes for about 24 hours!

How do you feel about potatoes, my friends?  Will you be joining us in a celebration of mashed potatoes this week?

Here's what's on the menu this week:

Supper: 

• Shepherd's pie, applesauce, rolls
• Nachos with taco toppings and guacamole
• Meatballs with mashed potatoes and probably a vegetable of some kind (although AKD assures me that we don't need any additional vegetables because potatoes are a vegetable)
• Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli
• Sunday night stew with mashed potatoes
• Mashed potato bar (mashed potatoes, gravy, bacon bits, green onions, broccoli)
• Roast turkey, mashed potatoes & gravy, stuffing, and it doesn't matter after that, because those are the important things.

Menu plan for the week of December 23 (including Christmas!)

Hi friends. 

I have three goals for this winter break:
1. Wear PJs or comfy pants as much as possible.
2. Paint my toenails, and
3. Go sledding.

I'm doing pretty good so far. I went sledding yesterday, and so far I've worn PJs for all except about 2 hours. Yay me!

Here's what's on the menu this week:

Supper:

• Fend for yourself/hockey game
• Nachos, with taco toppings, and of course, guacamole
• Ham, mashed potatoes, rolls, Brussels sprouts, corn
• Spaghetti and meatballs, green beans, garlic toast
• Hot dogs or brats, buns, chips, jello, raw veggies
• Out to eat
• Grilled pork chops, mashed potatoes, mixed veggies

Other:
Nope.



* I posted in December, but wrote the post in November.

Menu plan for the week of December 2

Are we ready to think about food again, yet?  I mean, I am almost always ready to think about food--it's one of my favorite pastimes--but are you all ready?

Well, ready or not, here I go!

Here's what's on the menu this week:

Supper:

• Creamy herb chicken, rice or quinoa, steamed broccoli
• Nachos with guacamole and taco toppings
• One pan sausage and root vegetable scramble
• Copycat zuppa Toscana, rolls
• Hamburgers, buns, green beans
• Pizza, salad
• Grilled pork chops, grilled veggie, mashed potatoes

Other:

• Warm me up sausage quiche
• Sugar cookies
• Muffins

Chicken update and tree hunting

Busy week, probably for all of us, so please enjoy these lovely photos.

 Here's my favorite (and only) lap chicken, Esther, pretending to be a flamingo.  It's always easy to get good pictures of Esther, number one because she's beautiful, and second because she likes hanging out with me.  Her muff and beard are growing back.

 Finally, Toasty Crunch is molting.  She's looking even more spotted than this today, and she's growing those feathers back.

 Indigo and Rocky are laying eggs.  I really thought they wouldn't be laying at this point, due to molt and lack of light.  But I'm not going to complain about receiving eggs.

 Koko is clever and inquisitive.  She has finally started losing feathers.

 I growled, "smile," at them.  And they did.

 Tree huggers.

 Timber!  Bubby didn't give anyone else a turn.

We need one of each: Random Thoughts with Scarlet

Speaking of Just Dance...ok, we weren't.  Just go with me, here.

Y'all!  Not only did I finish 1st in three different songs the other day, I also finished first in a tournament (which is three songs in a row--highest cumulative score wins).  Eek!  My theory is that all the really good dancers have moved on to Just Dance 2020, but that doesn't make me any less geeked when I see my name on top of the leader board. 

So if the really good dancers have moved on, does that mean that there's another World Dance Floor out there, where all the really good dancers are dancing to 2020 songs?  How long will my 2019 World Dance Floor continue to exist?  Dunno.  I'll keep you posted.

*****

People!  Rocky laid an egg.  What. Is. Going. On?  I am not prepared for these already-molted chickens to lay eggs again until spring(ish).  I am not complaining, because eggs are delicious; I'm surprised.

*****

Speaking of chickens, I could spend hours looking at chicken breeds online.  I know that I could, because I do.  Some of them have feathers on their feet and/or legs!  Some of them have crests, muffs, or beards!  Some of them have five toes!  Five!  Some of them lay blue eggs, or chocolate brown eggs, or pink eggs!  Pink!  They're all so wonderful--I'll take one of each, please.

*****

Speaking of wanting one of each, the other day Hubby said we needed more chickens.  I couldn't agree more.  We're gonna need a bigger coop.

*****

I've mentioned that I've distilled my Warm Me Up Sausage Quiche down to the four essential ingredients, and I try to always have those four ingredients in the house.  I almost always have those ingredients, but they're not always in usable form--the sausage is raw and frozen and the cheese is ungrated, in blocks.  Well, yesterday I decided to cook a bunch of sausage and grate a bunch of cheese, so now I have three bags of cheese and sausage in the freezer all measured out and ready to be made into quiche (along with a baked quiche in the fridge).  I'm so excited to have streamlined the quiche process even more!  Batch cooking to the rescue!

Here's my current recipe:

• Mix together 6 eggs, slightly beaten, 8 oz shredded cheese (I usually use sharp cheddar), 6 oz breakfast sausage, cooked and crumbled (about 8 oz raw), and one 7 oz can diced green chilies.
• Pour into a greased 9" square baking pan and bake in a preheated 400°F oven, for about 30 minutes, or until cooked through and no longer jiggly.

*****

The Just Dance 2019 World Dance Floor still exists.  In addition to all of the accolades mentioned above, I've become Dancer of the Week for three songs!  That means that I achieved the highest score for each of those songs in the past seven days.  Of course, my titles were short-lived, but it was super exciting to see my name up there.

*****

I've been making lots of Cricut projects, but I haven't been very good at taking pictures of them.  Whoops.  Here are a few of the projects you haven't seen yet:

 This is actually a reversible sign.  I took the "gather" picture before I put the frame on.

 I love these pantry labels.  Side note: who else has four or more different types of flour in their pantry?  I actually have six, but only four of them are in labelable containers.

My Cricut project list just keeps growing, so stay tuned!

Menu plan for the week of November 18

I bought a turkey.  It is difficult to resist purchasing a turkey at this time of year, when they're such a good price.  Unfortunately, all of the good-price turkeys at my store were around 16 pounds, which is kind of a big turkey, especially when you're a family of five (one of whom lives elsewhere most of the year).  Oh, it's not a big turkey for us to eat.  No, that's not a problem.  It's a big turkey to store in our starter freezer.  So, yeah.  I have a freezer full of turkey, currently.

Speaking of that family member who lives elsewhere most of the year, he'll be home on Friday.  I think he told us Friday.  That's why the menu takes a sudden AKD-centric turn later in the week.  I love feeding that boy man.

Speaking of feeding people, Hubby was talking with some teenagers and they revealed to him that not everyone eats supper with their family most nights.  Or any night.  At least one of these teenagers said that every night is fend-for-yourself night in their house.  That just makes me so sad.  Those families are missing out on precious time together.  I get it, though.  People are so busy.  And it is so tiresome to have to cook every day.  Not just the cooking part, of course, but the planning part.  It's difficult.  As much as I angst*, though, I can never stop.  I just love our family meal times too much.

How about you?  Do you eat meals together as a family?

Supper:

• Pepperoni rolls (this is something we were introduced to in West Virginia (I associate them with our friend Paula, for some reason), basically biscuits stuffed with pepperoni.  So good), raw veggies
• Nachos, guacamole, taco toppings
• Sausage egg biscuits/English muffins, fresh fruit
• Hot dogs or brats, buns, chips, green beans
• Beef barbacoa (from the freezer), tortillas, guacamole, taco toppings
• Shepherd's pie, rolls, applesauce
• Peppered steak with portabello mushrooms, mashed potatoes, grilled green veggie

Other:

• Cookies.  It has been far too long since we have had cookies in our house
• Muffins.  Ditto on the muffins (although far too long, in the case of muffins, is about 4 days)
• Taco bean soup.  I eat it for lunch every day, and supper some days.
• Warm me up sausage quiche.  Modified down to the 4 essential ingredients.

* How d'ya like that verbing, eh?

Why are black olives sold in cans? Random thoughts with Scarlet

I keep having random thoughts that I want to share with y'all.  None of them warrant a post all on their own, so I decided to just start a post, add to it whenever I think of something I want to share, and then publish it at some point.  Maybe Friday.  We'll see.

*****

I bought green olives the other day.  I almost always have black olives in the house, but I don't buy green olives very often.  As I was perusing the shelf, it occurred to me, for the first time ever, that green olives are almost always sold in glass jars, while black olives are almost always sold in cans.  I would really appreciate it if black olives were sold in jars, because then I wouldn't have to transfer them from their can to another container, which inevitably leaks in my refrigerator drawer, to store them.

So I googled it: why are black olives not sold in jars?  And I found an answer that was kind of a non-answer, about jarred black olives causing botulism in the early 20th century.  It's a non-answer, because by now, the world has figured out how to jar low-acid foods safely.  So why is this still common practice?  I don't know.

The good news is, due to my musings, I have finally realized that I don't have to put my black olives into plastic containers to store them in the fridge--I can put them in glass mason jars.  Which are much less likely to spill, and also make me much happier.

*****

I am loving having sugar scrub in my shower!  The current iteration is peppermint: 1 c. granulated sugar + 1/3 c. coconut oil + 1 T peppermint extract (you could use several drops of peppermint essential oil instead).  I use it on my elbows, knees, ankles, and feet almost every day, and I can definitely tell the difference when I don't use it for a while.  No more rough, dry skin for me!

*****

In a surprise turn of events, Indigo has started laying eggs again.  It is so strange, considering that she wasn't laying eggs regularly before she molted, and then she molted (which slows down or halts egg production), and then the days got shorter (which also slows down or halts egg production).

*****

In other chicken news, Toasty Crunch has entered the feathers-fly-everywhere-whenever-she-shakes-her-body-or-flaps-her-wings stage of molting.  There are feathers everywhere.  I really wish she had lost her feathers with the others, because it is cold right now.  It is legitimately January weather, and she's losing feathers.  Silly chicken.  And then there's Koko, who hasn't even started her molt.

*****

I found a (dead) moth in the neck of my water bottle the other day.  How did it get there, and how long had it been there?  IdontknowIdontknowIdontknow!  But I didn't notice it (because I was drinking (water) while driving) until the water was half gone!  Ewww!  Please excuse me while I brush my teeth (again) and gargle with high proof alcohol (again).

*****

Eek!  I got my first 1st place finish on the World Dance Floor!  And it was on my sis' favorite song (or at least her favorite the last time I knew her favorite).  So exciting and gratifying.

A New Morning Routine

Earlier this year, I told you about my new morning routine, which consisted of getting Bubby on the bus, then doing devotions with the chickens, followed by Just Dancing.  I loved that routine, and it worked perfectly for me, for a lot of reasons.

And then this school year happened.  Bubby catches the bus much earlier, and it isn't light out at that time.  I could grab my headlamp along with my Bible and prayer journal, but since the point of doing devos outside with the chickens is to get exposure to early morning sunlight, that would kind of defeat the purpose.

So I was waiting until it was light out to go out, which was about an hour and a half after everyone had left the house for the day.  I started doing other things, and I ended up not actually reading or visiting the chickens most days, which led to not Just Dancing, either.

It made me sad, but I wasn't sure what to do.  The school district is not going to adjust the bus schedule based on my needs.

I wasn't sure what to do, that is, until yesterday.  Why not, I thought to myself, reverse?  Why not start Just Dancing as soon as the others clear out in the morning, in the basement, where it doesn't matter whether or not it's light out, and then go out and read with the chickens?

Y'all.  Why did it take me this long to figure this out?

So we're back in business, friends--morning routine: exercise, God-time, and early morning light exposure--back on track.

Speaking of Just Dance, the 2020 version came out last week.  I wonder how long it'll be until the World Dance Floor switches over to the 2020 songs.  And will I still be able to access the World Dance Floor with my 2019 game after that happens?  I hope so.  At least I think I hope so.  Maybe I'll feel differently when I start not knowing the songs, and not being able to practice them on demand.  I'll let you know what happens.

Menu plan for the week of November 11

Friends!  Did you figure out something to eat yesterday?  I mean, I know y'all rely on my menu plan wisdom to feed yourselves and your families, and I failed you. 

So...better late than never?  Hmm.  That one's kind of like "it's the thought that counts," which is a phrase with which I take issue.  Anyway.  Here is this week's menu plan, a day late (it's a very parenthetical menu plan.  I've taken the liberty of italicizing the parentheticals so it's (hopefully) easier to see the actual menu items). 

Supper:

• Chicken Alfredo (found the Alfredo sauce in the cupboard--Hubby asked me to buy some for him when the kids and I went out of town, and he didn't use it.  The chicken was already cooked and diced in the freezer) with fancy noodles (I bought these to use for a pasta salad when we had guests recently, and we ended up not using them), green beans (from the garden)
• Cauliflower (from the freezer--I used half a head for a recipe and froze the rest) and Kielbasa (also from the freezer.  I probably bought it for a recipe and never used it) stir fry, asparagus (leftover from the weekend)
• Nachos with guacamole (from the freezer.  I've been making it without tomatoes and freezing it.  I used to just freeze the avocados because tomatoes don't thaw well, but then I realized that I can add fresh tomatoes to thawed everything else that is the goodness of guacamole), taco toppings
• Sunday night stew (I'm putting this here, because it's on the menu plan, but I'm pretty sure we're not going to eat it on Thursday because of the after-school schedule.  But just because we can't eat it doesn't mean you can't.  If it does get made this week, it will include tomato paste from the freezer--don't you just hate it when you need a tablespoon or two for a recipe, but you have to buy the whole can?  Two things you can do: scoop the extra out by tablespoons on to wax or parchment paper or a silicone mat, freeze, then store in a bag in the freezer until you need it, or buy tomato paste in a tube, and store the extra in your fridge) and mashed potatoes (leftover from Sunday.  If you don't like leftover mashed potatoes because the texture changes, try adding extra butter and milk or cream to them as you're reheating them).
• Pizza, salad
• Hamburgers, buns, chips, fresh veggies and fruits
• Grilled chicken, salad, raw veggies

Other

• Cookie butter cups (a gift for someone(s) special)
• Chocolate Chip Graham Cracker Muffins (I've been loving the silicone muffin liners that I received as a gift this summer.  They're reusable, so there are fewer paper liners making their way to the landfill from our household)
• Bread (I think we're going to run out before my next shopping trip, which is ok, because homemade tastes better, anyway)
• Warm me up sausage quiche (I have further modified this recipe down to its essence.  Four ingredients, which I endeavor to always have on hand.  I bought 48 cans of diced green chilis last week, so hopefully that'll last us for a while)

Menu plan for the week of November 4

Did y'all notice it's a new month now?  It is.  We're four days in now.

Did you also notice that I didn't post a 9 for 2019 update?  Yup.  I didn't.  I did think about it on Thursday, and then again on Friday, and again on Saturday, but I didn't do it.  I didn't do it, because, once again, I made no progress on my goals this month.  I had planned to execute my final playdate with myself, walking downtown and visiting shops, on a Friday in October.  The weather was gorgeous that day: sunny and around 55°F.  What I had neglected to remember, though, was that the kiddos didn't have school that day.  So I ended up not going.  And, yeah.  No progress on the FofL book, either.  You're not surprised, are you?

So yeah.  I'm a failure.  Let's move on. 

This week, I searched my freezer, fridge, and pantry for items that need to be used up, and planned my menu around those items.  Know what I found?  That's right: I found evaporated milk.  The same evaporated milk that you've been hearing about for (what feels like) years now.  Here's the kicker.  I thought I had used that evaporated milk for something, and I bought more last week for a pumpkin pie!  Yeah.  I did (at least I actually used the evaporated milk that I bought to make the pie).  I'm gonna use that can of evaporated milk as a substitute for heavy cream in the Alfredo Chicken Casserole this week.  I don't want to.  I mean, I really would rather have heavy cream in my casserole, because heavy cream is yummy.  But desperate times call for desperate substitutions.

Here's what's on the menu this week:

• Leftover pulled meats from the freezer (there are two containers.  I'm pretty sure one is pork and the other is chicken, but I don't know how they're seasoned.  Hopefully the fam will eat 'em up), buns or tortillas, green beans
• Alfredo chicken casserole, rolls, applesauce
• Corn dogs, chicken tenders, and French toast sticks (again from the freezer.  We don't have enough of any of them to make a meal, so together it is), raw veggies and fruits
• Meat sauce (leftover) with angel hair, garlic toast (from the freezer!), green beans
• Salsa verde chicken, tossed salad
• Hot dogs or brats, buns, jello, grilled veggie
• Steak, mashed potatoes, asparagus

Other:

• Banana muffins
• Taco bean soup
• Caramel chocolate chip cookies (something like this)

So Judge-y

I try not to be judgmental.  In the past several years I've really taken to heart the notion that my job is to love everybody and it's God's job to judge--God will figure out anything that needs to be figured out.  It's not my place to decide that someone is less or more worthy than anyone else.  You could say that judging people is above my pay grade, because I am not God.  (And thank God for that).

{Source}

I mean, there's the whole judge not, lest you be judged, and ... take the plank out of your own eye before pointing out the speck in another's, and ... he who is without sin, throw the first stone, and ... the greatest commandment is to love God and the second is to love others.  All of those things, and more, lead me to the conclusion that I have no business judging anyone.

Y'all.  We all are guilty, and we all deserve to be judged, but not by each other.  From each other we deserve love and compassion and an effort to be kind to each other.  And I try really hard to live that out in my life.  I've always been pretty good at creating alternate realities and seeing other perspectives, so it's not too difficult for me to imagine that people have good reasons for what they do and say.  Or, at least, reasons.  Reasonable reasons.  I've also come to realize that, no matter how put together we look on the outside, nobody's life is perfect, and all of us are struggling with something.  Which makes it easier for me empathize, which makes it easier to be compassionate, which makes it easier to love.

But there is one area in which I struggle, and that is this: I judge people for being judgmental.

Ugh!  I don't want to, but I do.  I see or hear something (that I judge to be) judgmental, and it just sets my teeth on edge.  How dare they?  How dare they judge another person when God has extended so much grace in their lives?

And then I stop, and realize.  I've done it again.  I am doing the very thing that I am criticizing someone else for doing.  How dare I?  It's definitely a plank in my eye, and I'm not sure how to get it out.

I guess all I can say is I'm working on it.  With God's help, I'm working on it, because this not-judging, I can't do that without God's supernatural intervention.

Menu plan for the week of October 28

Hello, friends.

The football seasons are officially over, although one kiddo will have at least one more obligation to the team.  It is Hubby's opinion that they're allowed to practice for another week past the end of their season, but no one has informed us of the coaches' intention as of yet, so we really don't know what our evenings will look like this week.

So...does anyone have any menu planning tips for me?  I feel like I used to be good at this, or at least adequate.  Now?  It feels really, really difficult.  Maybe I can find a helpful blogger to do my menu planning for me?  My current plan is to just look in the cupboards, fridge, and freezers to see if the food we currently have on hand sparks ideas.  That, and making sure there are tacos, hamburgers, and hot dogs on the menu every week. 

I'm kidding. 

Sort of.

Anyway, here is this week's offering.  I hope you find it inspiring.  And feel free to let me know what you're eating this week.

Supper:

• Meat sauce with angel hair pasta or zucchini noodles, green beans
• Hamburgers, buns, mashed potatoes, carrots
• Fend for yourself
• Nachos with guacamole
• Pizza or stromboli, salad
• Hot dogs or brats, buns, jello, corn (Hubby has requested on the cob--we'll see what I can find)
• Grilled pork chops, mashed potatoes, grilled veggie

Other:

• Chocolate syrup
• Pumpkin pie
• Muffins (maybe these because everyone likes them, but maybe not, because I don't want the fam to get tired of them)
• Taco seasoning

I know the plans

Has anyone around here heard of Jeremiah 29:11? 

It goes a little something like this:

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord.
Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

God, speaking through the prophet Jeremiah, is comforting Judah, telling God's people that after Babylon takes them into exile, which God will allow because of Judah's disobedience, God will deliver them.  God will not forget them.  God has a plan for them.

But even though these words were written at a specific time, in a specific situation, to a specific people, lots of folks, including me, take comfort in this verse.  God, we reason, has a plan for me, too, a good plan.  A plan that we don't always (or ever) understand, but a plan nonetheless.

This verse is a popular one to give out on plaques and paperweights and bookmarks and journals for graduations and confirmations.  It's an appropriate verse to give to someone just starting out in adulthood.  We recite this verse, implying that even though the young adult doesn't necessarily have a plan, God does.  I pray this verse over my boys often, willing it to be true, even though I can't necessarily see the way from here to there.

I recently realized that I've kind of always thought of this verse as a young-person verse, as if God had a plan for more mature adults, in the past, when they were younger, but now that they're 40 or 60 or 80, God's good plan is no longer relevant and true.  But what's true for a recent graduate is also true for me, and what's true for me is also true for the new retiree, and what's true for the new retiree is also true for the person near the end of life.  God still has a plan.  A good plan.  For hope.  For a future.  Whether it is the first day of your life, or the last, or anywhere in between, in each moment, God is working out that good plan for your life.

God has a habit of using the unlikeliest of people to do God's work.  And I think that includes the very young and the very old.  As long as we have breath, there's work to be done.  God has a plan to give you hope and a future, even if you're old, even if you're young, even if you feel useless.  God has not forgotten you.

Source