Good morning, friends. I've been loving all the snow we've been getting. We're still below average for the year, but we've had more this winter than we've had for the last few winters. I figure, if it's going to be cold, there might as well be snow, so we can play in it.
Easy beef stroganoff is one of AKD's favorite meals. In fact, he once challenged his uncle to a beef stroganoff eating challenge. Mostly because AKD enjoys eating it so much--he wanted to have an excuse to eat a whole lot of it all at once.
This shows up in our menu plans often enough that I thought it was time I finally posted the recipe. One warning: it looks hopeless when you add the sour cream and cream of mushroom soup, but just keep stirring and heating--it'll come together.
Hey friends. Here it is, January 26, and I'm just now getting around to articulating my goals* for 2018. They've been rolling around in my head for long enough. It's time to get them out onto paper. Or screen. Whatever.
*Remember: I don't do resolutions for the new year; I do goals.
I'm operating under this theory this year:
I've decided my 2018 will start
on February 1st;
January is a free trial month.
I like to listen to podcasts while I'm cooking or cleaning, and one of my favorites is Happier with Gretchen Ruben. Inspired by a listener, Gretchen and her sister Elizabeth decided to make a list of 18 things they wanted to accomplish in 2018 (you can listen to the podcast, and check out Gretchen and Elizabeth's lists, here).
When I first heard about it, I loved the idea, but I thought 18 was probably too many for me. I decided I would make a list of 8 things to accomplish in 2018, but as I was thinking of things I wanted to do, I kind of got on a roll, and ended up with 18. Actually, I keep thinking of things, so I'm at more like 25 now, which is most definitely too many.
** Send friend mail 8 6 times (if you'd like to receive friend mail from me, use the contact link above to give me your address--unfortunately, you need to live farther than 50 miles away from me for this one)
Obtain and begin using a to-do notebook--this has already been so useful! I have a running to-do list now, instead of having to start fresh every day. It's a lot more difficult to misplace than a random piece of paper.
** Purge file cabinet and create paper organization system--Ugh! We have so.much.paper. Half of me wants to get rid of it all. The other half is afraid I'll shred something we'll need later.
** Create a household binder/legacy box--I think my boys would be lost if something happened to me.
Delete saved electronic mystery shop screen shots and receipts--yep, I've got every screen shot and almost every receipt from every mystery shop I've done in the past four years. It's a lot.
** Buy desk task light--I've already tried once this year, but I didn't like it, so I need to try again.
Buy phone charging cords for each of our vehicles--I told Hubby I was going to do this, and he was like, but we have charging cords in all the vehicles, don't we? Well, yes, we do...for his phone, but not for AKD's and mine.
Make a chicken sign--It's going to have the silhouette of a chicken, and say something along the lines of, "Danger: Dinosaur Area."
Take a class through community education or a local craft store--I used to do this fairly often, but somewhere along the line, I stopped.
** Finish valances for master bedroom. I've only had the material for...3 years? 4? A long time.
** Get the boys' picture taken--the place I used to take them to closed, so I need to find a new photographer.
Send Christmas cards in 2018
You may notice that some of my 18 items are crossed off. That's because I did them already. Whoohoo! Yay me! You may also notice that some of the items are double asterisked. Those are the eight that I would have chosen, if I had only chosen eight. I figure as long as I get those done, anything else is bonus. And, since I've already done two of the non-asterisked things, I'm already in bonus points! Yay me, again!
I'll try to update y'all on how I'm doing once a month. In the meantime, what are your goals for this year?
Sorry I'm a day late with the menu plan. I usually write these on Sunday evenings, but it was just so cozy sitting on the couch under a blanket watching football, that I couldn't bring myself to go get my laptop. And then after watching football it didn't really feel like life was worth living, so...
OK, that's not true, but it was a devastating loss for my team, and I didn't feel like typing, and I told myself I'd do it in the morning. And then in the morning, my bed was really cozy, and then the kids kept asking me to help them with things, and now, here we are, finally getting to the menu plan sometime on Monday afternoon.
I have to tell you, I'm definitely out of practice in the meal-planning arena. It was so, so nice to not plan these past few weeks. But, all good things come to an end. I'm easing back into meal planning by just planning main dishes. Rest assured, there will be vegetables--they're just not on the list.
Hi, friends, and happy Friday. I promise my 2018 goals are coming. Soon. Ish. Next week? But in the meantime...
I signed up for a Six Week Declutter Challenge through Our Home Made Easy. I am all about decluttering, and I am all about someone else telling me what to do (when it comes to clutter and cleaning), and it was free, so why not?
By the way, if you're all about someone else telling you what to declutter, you can still sign up. You can jump in any time, and she'll just start you off at week 1.
Y'all. It's been kind of useless. Well. I mean, I did go through our pencil and pen drawer (y'all. We don't have a junk drawer) and throw out all the pens that didn't work and the pencils that annoyed me. And I went through our "pantry" (we don't have a pantry) and found some food that, if I'm honest, we will never eat. Two things. Both of which were free. But for the most part? I've already decluttered the spaces that Brittany is telling me I need to take 15 minutes to go through.
Today, the challenge is "adult stuffed animals," which is what Brittany calls blankets and throw pillows in the living room. I don't think I need to declutter any of my three blankets or two pillows. Yesterday, it was "what's in your drawers?" Brittany said:
Today is all about opening ALL the drawers and cabinets in your living & dining room. Quickly move through the cabinets and toss any items that are no longer useful. If you don't love something, but it does have some value for someone else, place it in a donation box!
I have, um, zero drawers and two small cabinets in my dining and living rooms. And guess what? We went through those two small cabinets (they're not even cabinets, but ok), the day before, when we were supposed to go through our remotes and DVDs.
So the question here is, why do I still feel like I need to declutter, when clearly (at least according to Brittany's "challenges"), I do not?
The answer that I keep coming up with is, I feel like I need to declutter because I actually do need to declutter.
But is that true? Or am I delusional?
I guess I'll just keep reading Brittany's emails over the next 4 weeks, and hopefully I'll figure it out. I might keep you posted.
Know what? Getting supper on the table is so much easier when one is using processed convenience foods. And bonus, no one complains about the food (at least, not in my house). I liked last week so much, I'm going to do it again this week. Whoohoo!
Of course, I don't want to serve processed foods to my family forever, because that's kind of gross. I guess the key is to make real food just as convenient as processed food. Any suggestions? Yeah. Freezer cooking, batch cooking, meal prep. I don't have the energy. But maybe I will, after another week of not actually cooking.
I decided to make cookie butter cups this week. Like peanut butter cups, but with cookie butter. 'Cause, remember when I said that cookie butter would taste good that way? I thought about just shipping the leftover cookie butter to my sis ('cause she likes it, and I'm unlikely to eat the whole jar), but then I thought, why not make cookie butter cups, first? So, yup. That's happening. And then I'll send the leftover cookie butter and some cookie butter cups to my sis. I'm so lucky to have someone to send cookies and other treats to :)
Welp, I guess that's all for now. I'll probably have an actual menu next week. Probably.
So here it is, 2018, and I'm sure you're wondering how my 2017 goals turned out.
Well, in October, I tried Trader Joes Cocoa Glazed Roasted Almonds.
You may recall that I had planned to make my own cocoa roasted almonds, but I never got around to it. So when I saw these at TJs, I decided to give them a try. I really liked them. They were chocolaty, but not too sweet. Now that I have tried the TJs version, I'm thinking I'm more likely to make them myself.
In November, I finally tried TJs famous cookie butter.
It's a "deliciously unusual spread reminiscent of gingerbread and made with crushed biscuits." I thought it was pretty good, although I doubt I will be buying any more of it. It did taste gingerbreadish--spicy and sweet. It's best consumed in small quantities, and I bet it would taste really good with chocolate, a la Reese's peanut butter cups.
In December, I bought Trader Joe's Chocolate Coconut Almonds.
These were really delicious. They consisted of an almond, enrobed in a layer of coconut infused white chocolate, and the whole thing was dipped in dark chocolate. It tasted like an almond joy bar, with a more favorable almond to coconut to chocolate ratio.
For better or for worse, I found these at Aldi the other day:
They taste about the same (that is to say, they are really yummy), and cost a little bit less per ounce. The danger is that I go to Aldi every week, versus once a month (and less now that I don't have this goal anymore) for Trader Joe's. Uffda.
Anyway, just wanted to let you know the TJs goal is complete. Stay tuned for my 2018 goals.
Hey everybody. The girls have been with us for eight months. Eight!
There's not much to report. The girls weathered our recent cold snap just fine. We had temps down to -17°F, and a couple of days where the temp didn't get above 0. I closed the pop door at night, but other than that, the girls just went about as normal.
We're currently experiencing a heat wave, and I let the girls out. They've been cooped up so long, they didn't even mind the snow. Of course, within minutes of being outside, we saw a hawk swooping nearby, so that ended quickly.
Toasty is still giving us an egg almost every day. Rocky and Esther are still not laying. I looked up the amount of daylight we had on the last day that Rocky laid, and we will have the same amount of daylight again in several days, so maybe she will lay again then. Of course, there are so many factors affecting egg production, so I'm not holding my breath.
In other news, we humans have been enjoying the snow, although we wish there were more.
I had to do a double-take as I was typing that title. January 8? Um, how did that happen? Wasn't it just new year's eve yesterday? I feel like I'm so behind on this whole new year thing. Like, wasn't I supposed to make goals? Wasn't I supposed to set up new and better systems for all the things? Wasn't I supposed to feel more ready?
Anyway.
Hi. Did you miss me? It's all right if you didn't even notice I was gone. I mean, these past couple of weeks have been kind of a blur, right? Why would you notice?
We had visitors the last few days of winter break, and it was just so lovely to have them. Low-key and loud, relaxing and renewing.
I've decided I'm done cooking for a bit, partly due to having to plan and cook for our recent guests, and partly due to having to plan and cook for my family every. single. day. So it's processed and convenience foods for us this week. Maybe next week, too. Hooray for us!
I have it in mind that I want to make granola and yogurt this week, so I'll obtain the ingredients, and maybe I will make them, or maybe I won't.
Oh! I promised I'd tell you what additional treats I made. I made no bake chocolate peanut butter bars (actually, these were made several times) and snickerdoodles. And I got Buckwheat's cookies out to her last week. I'm still on the look-out for clearance mini snickers to finish up that dough. I suspect I shall be waiting a while. I suspect I shall be waiting a while for the little cookies as well. Maybe Hubby has finally realized that they're not really worth the effort required. Or maybe he's hoping I'll crack and make them myself. Nope. Not gonna happen.
Y'all. I am so sick. Although I forced myself to get up and make supper last night, and it had turmeric in it, so I'm sure I'll be feeling better any time now... Maybe.
The turmeric-containing dish was the Moroccan chicken couscous from last week's menu. I had half a box of couscous that I wanted to use up, and I remember the dish that I used to make using couscous being called Moroccan chicken and vegetables with couscous. That Moroccan chicken had eggplant in it, and it had some kind of tomato in it (diced, sauce, paste...can't remember. Our friend Amy gave us the recipe probably 20 years ago. I couldn't find that recipe, but this one was really good. So good, in fact, that everyone ate it. I also have some barley I want to use up--got any ideas for me?
I ended up making sugar cookies last week in addition to the Santa's snickers surprises that I told you about. This week, I am purchasing supplies to make little cookies, but it's up to Hubby to decide whether those actually get made. I think I might also make buckeyes, since the auxiliary refrigeration unit is up and running. Well, and because buckeyes are yummy. I'll let you know which treats actually come into being.
I got the turkey stock canned on Monday. I went out in the morning to get lids, and decided to do my weekly grocery shopping at the same time. While I was at it, I picked up a mystery shop that was available in the area. After I grabbed the lids, I started to wonder if I had enough jars... I ended up with 20 quarts and 6 pints, which is one quart short of my estimate. And we did have enough jars, although I think we need to eat some of this food before we do much more canning.
As the jars were coming out of the canner, I placed them on top of our fireplace, like I usually do with my newly canned foods. Except this is December, so my Willow Tree Nativity is on the fireplace right now. So, Mary & Joseph had 15 quarts of turkey stock in their front yard. It was all very festive.
Canning the stock required staying up late (well, late for me, that is), but by the time I got to the last two canner loads, there was no way I was willing to stop and then do it all again the next day, so I finished it up. I started around 1:30 p.m., and ended around 10:30. Usually, after time is up, I turn the burner off, wait for the pressure to drop, and then remove the jars (to the fireplace). For the last load this time, I just turned the burner off, and when I got up in the morning, the jars were still warm to the touch.
Last weekend, I got out our cookie jar for the first time in ages, and put cookies in it (not very many cookies), for probably the first time ever. And then yesterday, Hubby was making his lunch and the cookie jar was empty. And nobody launched into a rousing rendition of, "who stole the cookies from the cookie jar," but at least one of us thought it.
Hubby was very sad about the lack of cookies in the cookie jar, so I made cookies yesterday: Santa's Snickers Surprises. See? I told you that you'd probably find out what cookies I made this week. My sis said she remembered SSSs being quite tasty, but hasn't made them in over a decade due to an unfortunate condition, so I said I would save some for her. I wrapped some up, and put them in the freezer labeled, " Buckwheat's cookies. Do not eat."
I froze an additional dozen so that we don't run into an unfortunate situation of our own--that is, an unfortunately empty cookie jar or, even worse, unfortunately stale-before-their-time cookies in the jar. These are labeled, "not Buckwheat's cookies. Still don't eat."
There's something I don't understand about this recipe. It says it makes 2 dozen, but following the directions, the pertinent part in this case being to scoop out tablespoonfuls of dough, I always make 3 dozen, or however many mini-snickers are in the package, and I always have leftover dough. I'm pretty sure there's enough dough this time for another 2 dozen, at least, so instead of making the rest into peanut butter cookies, as I usually do, I froze the extra dough until such a time as I obtain additional mini snickers.
The girls turned 7 months old on Saturday. I know. That means they've been with us for less than a year, even though it almost feels like they've always been with us. When last I posted (about chickens) I mentioned that the chickens were doing well with the cold so far, but their water wasn't. I am happy to report that we now have electricity running to the coop, so the water has remained liquid. So nice to not have to carry water out several times a day!
Not much has changed with the girls. Esther still hasn't laid an egg, and Toasty still lays one just about every day. Unfortunately, Rocky has stopped laying, probably due to the shorter days (hopefully due to shorter days and not due to something nefarious, like disease or stress). She'll probably start up again in February, which is when I hope Esther will decide to join in.
They're doing really well with the cold, and they still don't like walking in the snow. The other day, I figured there was enough bare ground around the coop that they might like to get out for a bit, and they did go out, but they followed me more closely than usual, and had no problem at all going right back in to their snow-free run, when I gently suggested they might like it in there better.
I don't know why people don't believe me when I tell them that chickens don't need supplemental heat. They do just fine in the cold. They're wearing down coats. And...they're not human.
About a week ago, we had a close encounter with a hawk. And when I say close encounter, I mean that hawk swooped down and landed about 2 feet away from where Rocky had taken cover under a pine tree. I ran toward that hawk, yelling, "BAD hawk! Go away," and waving my arms over my head. Uh huh. I actually did. The hawk looked at me for a few looooong moments, shot a glance at Rocky under the tree, and then gave me this look like, ok crazy woman, I leaving, and then it flew away. Unfortunately, I had too much adrenaline running through my bloodstream to appreciate his beauty from my vantage point about 6 feet away. In hindsight, considering that the hawk could have ripped my face off, I'm not sure why he left without making another attempt at grabbing one of my hens, but I am thankful they're all safe.
I discovered that the girls like raisins. I brought some out for them the other day, and they were just slurping them right down. I feel like I need to make a special effort to make sure Esther gets her fair share, since she's at the bottom of the pecking order, so I was hand feeding them, and I had to literally shove Toasty and Rocky out of the way, and block them with my body, so that Esther could eat hers in peace.
I haven't been taking as many pics of the girls lately, but here's one of Esther sunbathing on Thanksgiving.
I'm still trying to get a video of Esther flying. The key is to walk away from her, and get the other two to follow, while she's not looking. Then when she notices we're several yards away, she'll run and fly to catch up.
I think I mentioned that Esther likes to perch on my boot while I'm sitting? Well the other day she jumped up onto my arm to perch! While I was standing! I was so startled when she launched herself up in the air so close to me that I put my arm up by my face, and she still made it, about 5 feet up. Oofda. She was eyeing my head, as if she wanted to jump up there.
And...I guess that's it for now. Take care, friends.
Good morning, all. You may recall that last week, I was regretting my decision to freeze our turkey carcass. Well, I finally got it into the stock pot this weekend. Actually, it was so big, even stripped and crushed (the boys stomped on it, I think, to get it to fit in the freezer), that I had to use two stock pots. I estimate I've got a total of about 24 quarts of stock to can today. That seems like a lot. More than past years, I think. It's at least 5 canner loads (more if I decide to can pints). I think I can get it done in a day. The Ball Blue Book of Preserving recommends 25 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure for quarts, but adding in the heating, venting, and cooling/returning to 0 pressure time means I'm looking at around 1.5-2 hours per load. Of course, I don't have enough lids...so that makes it difficult to finish today...
In other news, we're preparing for guests again in a couple of weeks, so I'll be doing as much cooking ahead as I can. Although for the recipes I've chosen, there isn't as much I can do ahead this time. And yes, I did think about reusing the same menu, but decided instead to customize based on this group's preferences (breakfast and lunch ended up the same, so there's that).
In other, other news, it's Christmas month, so I'll be making some treats. Last week, I made Grinch cookies (cake mix cookies, dyed green, with candy hearts on them), Rolo pretzels (like this, only instead of using a nut on top, I use a second pretzel), and Mint m&m Oreo cookies. I'm not sure what's on tap for this week. I've been in the mood to make dipped things, like buckeyes and Oreo truffles. I think I might make sugar cookies this week, and I just noticed the Santa's Snickers Surprises recipe when I was looking for the sugar cookie recipe, and it looked enticing. I guess we'll find out. Or, at least, I will. You probably will, too.
OK, I didn't actually make them, but I did decorate them. I am so pleased with how they turned out. Want to make some? Here's what I did.
Online consensus is that cheap mugs are best, probably because they're not glazed as well as more expensive ones, so I just grabbed these from the dollar store. I used graphite to transfer the design onto the mugs, as explained here.
All you need to do is create or find a design, then print it out on regular paper. Cut out the design and turn it over. Using a pencil, shade over the entire design on the back side of the paper. Tape it, graphite side to the mug, then using a pen (or pencil), trace over the entire design, pressing firmly. When you remove the paper, you will see that the design has transferred over to the mug.
I know. I could hardly believe it, either (sorry I didn't take pictures--I wasn't sure it would show up on camera, and I was anxious to move on to the next part of the process).
I made this one for someone who could use some hope, which comes from faith, which means one must believe. I gave her some vanilla syrup, as well as some instant flavored coffee.
Next, I used an oil based sharpie to trace over the design. Here's the one I used:
The fine point was perfect for "Believe," but I found myself wishing for an extra fine point on "All is calm; all is bright." The important thing is that it needs to be oil based--regular sharpies will wash off. You might want to keep some rubbing alcohol and cotton swabs handy to clean up any oopsies.
I'm kind of shaky when I'm trying to trace, but even so, I think they look great.
Next, I let them dry overnight, then I was ready to set the paint. There is all sorts of advice out there about how to do that. I've seen suggested temperatures as low as 250°F and as high as 450°F, and suggested times as low as 30 minutes, all the way up to 2 hours. The internet disagrees on whether the mugs should be placed in a cold or preheated oven. Most of the blogs I found suggested baking at 350°F for 30 minutes, so that's what I did. Sort of.
I put the mugs in the cold oven, set the temperature to 350°F, and then when the oven was preheated, I set the timer for 30 minutes. When the timer rang, I turned off the oven, and left the mugs in the oven until they were completely cool. According to lots of bloggers, baking will make the design permanent. I'm not sure how many of them tested that theory for longer than a couple of weeks before posting about it, though, and I would definitely recommend hand washing.
I made this one for someone who has had an anxious sort of year. She could definitely use some calm in her life, and next year is looking brighter. I filled it with hot chocolate mix, mini-marshmallows, and a couple of candy canes to stir.
In the meantime, I realized that I hadn't put supper in the slow cooker that morning, and had a moment of panic trying to think of something easy to make that we had all the ingredients for, and didn't require use of the oven. Breakfast for dinner to the rescue!
Tragedy averted, I wrapped the mugs and goodies in tissue paper, and sent them off to their new homes.
What do you think? Ready to make some of your own?
You made my day, heck, maybe even my year, on Sunday. Not just because of the win, although a Vikings win always makes for a good day.
And not because of an amazing touchdown celebration, although those are always fun, too.
By the way, that was duck, duck, gray duck, not goose.
No, Mr. Keenum, you made my day because for years, I have been poking fun at announcers and analysts who spend hours on end discussing the key to the game. They say the key to winning is all sorts of things: capitalizing on this or that, neutralizing one thing or the other, passing yards, time of possession, injuries or lack there-of. And while all of those things are factors, they are not really the key.
I have known for years that those are not the key, and on Sunday, on the sideline after the game with Pam Oliver, you proved that you know it, too. The actual key is scoring more points than the other team. That's how you win games. And you, well, you said it. Finally.
Thank you, my friend, for finally setting the media straight on this point.
Sincerely,
Scarlet B.
Hi everybody. How's your December going? Ours, so far, has not felt very December-ish. The unseasonably warm temperatures have been wreaking havoc on our auxiliary refrigeration unit. In fact, today thunderstorms are in the forecast. It's supposed to get colder after that, but there still isn't really a good chance of snow in the near future. I've heard that we're supposed to have an unusually snowy winter this year--hope that's true, but it's sure not looking like it at the moment.
I'm kind of regretting my decision to put our turkey carcass in the freezer, because now I'm having a hard time motivating myself to actually make the turkey stock. If it had stayed in the fridge, the stock would be done by now. It's not difficult, not at all--just time consuming. And it definitely helps to have the auxiliary refrigeration unit up and running. This week? Maybe?
Hi everyone. How was your weekend? My parents were visiting for Thanksgiving, and we had so many leftovers from guests who had arrived earlier in the week that they only got to eat three original meals. Out of eight. The rest were leftovers. On the up-side, they didn't seem to mind, we still have enough leftovers for Hubby to take to work this week, and we actually have room in our refrigerator for new food.
I'm exhausted, y'all. We had a houseful of people, and I realized for the first time that introverts don't just get emotionally drained by being with gobs of people; we become physically drained as well. Cheers to learning new things (although one would think I would have learned this earlier in life--I guess I never noticed before)! Not that I don't love visiting with family--it just happens to be a lot of exhausting work, too.
Another thing I learned is that Bubby's bedroom is much more conducive to sleeping-in than mine is. I thought I was no longer capable, after years of children waking me up before 6 a.m., of sleeping past 7. But the combination of sleeping in Bubby's bedroom, along with the people-induced exhaustion, proved me wrong. I'm thinking of asking him to switch with me.
You would think, after feeding up to 11 people three meals a day for 7 days, that it would be difficult to think about food. You would be right. This week, we will have even fewer people around than normal. Hopefully it'll be a good recovery week. Here's what's on the menu:
Chicken broccoli braid (we use 1/2 t each celery salt, garlic powder, dill seed, and dill weed instead of 2 t all purpose dill mix), mandarin oranges
Nachos, guacamole, taco toppings (what toppings to you like on your nachos?)
Hamburgers, buns, chips, carrots
Chicken nuggets, mixed vegetables, pears
Beef stroganoff, green beans, applesauce
Other (I'm not really sure I'll feel up to making anything extra, but just in case I do, I wanted to get these down, so I remember what the extra things I wanted to make are):
Happy Thanksgiving, friends. This stuffing is my favorite part of Thanksgiving. Well, aside from spending time with family, watching football, and watching the fam play ultimate Frisbee during halftime. I got the recipe from my mother in law, but I've tweaked it a little to make it slightly healthier and less likely to cause food poisoning. This year I'm doubling the recipe, since everybody seems to like this (and our turkey is huge).
1 loaf whole wheat bread, torn into small pieces (we like to let it stale a bit so it can soak up all those yummy juices, so we tear it the night before and let it sit overnight)
2 t. salt
1/2 t. ground black pepper
1 t. poultry seasoning
1 small onion, chopped
1 egg
1 lb. pork breakfast sausage, cooked, crumbled, and cooled
1/2 c. butter
2 c. milk
Instructions
Mix together first seven ingredients.
Combine butter and milk, and heat until butter is melted and the milk is warm (we use the microwave, but you could do this on the stove)
Gradually add the milk mixture to the bread mixture and mix until combined.
Stuff mixture into your turkey and cook turkey according to instructions.
Extra stuffing that doesn't fit in the bird can be placed in a covered casserole dish in a 325-350° oven until heated through, about 30 minutes.
It's Thanksgiving week here in the U.S., friends. Thanksgiving is the holiday where we give thanks by making a huge meal and eating until we can't eat anymore. Seems like it might be more effective to eat less and give away more. Thanksgiving is, of course, AKD's favorite holiday, because of the food.
A couple of weeks ago, I asked my Facebook friends what their favorite vegetable Thanksgiving side-dish was. In response, I got a redskin potato dish and a "spinach and cheese casserole" that looked suspiciously like quiche. And stuffing, because there are veggies in that, right?
A couple of days ago, I asked the same people what their favorite Thanksgiving side dish was, and I got all kinds of answers, including corn casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberries, green bean casserole, rolls, wine, and German potato salad, served warm. The overwhelming response, given by almost everyone who answered, was stuffing. Stuffing is my favorite, too. In fact, I would be perfectly happy, thankful, even, to just have stuffing for my Thanksgiving meal. After all, there are veggies in that.
This week's menu was easy to plan, since I've been working on it for weeks. As I've mentioned, we'll have guests this week. so I've tried to plan meals that are easy to get on the table, and I've done a lot of prep work ahead of time.
This week, I'm continuing to prepare for guests. Luckily, the children have an aversion to getting anything out of or putting anything into the freezer in the basement, so I can hide the things that I'm making ahead down there. Like cinnamon rolls. Mmmmm. Also luckily, there's an almost-twenty-two pound turkey in the downstairs freezer, which means once I take it out to thaw, I'll have plenty of room for cinnamon rolls. And, you know. Other things. But, cinnamon rolls. Mmmmm.
You read that right, friends. Today is the girls' half-birthday, and tomorrow they will have been with us for six months. Wowza, y'all. Some days I feel like they've always been with us, and others, it seems like the blink of an eye.
The girls are doing well with the cold so far, although I can tell you they really don't like snow all that much. The waterer is not doing as well with the cold--the nipples freeze whenever temps drop below freezing. This is disappointing, since when I was researching watering options, I read that horizontal nipples are less likely to freeze than vertical nipples. Hopefully a water heater will solve the problem (as soon as we get electricity out to the coop), but in the meantime, I'm swapping out waterers each morning.
Toasty continues to lay about an egg a day. I can't really remember when she last skipped a day. Her eggs are getting bigger, too. They're just a skosh smaller than the typical large eggs from the grocery store. Toasty is the most verbal of the girls--she's always squawking about something. Toasty Crunch is Bubby's favorite chicken to pick up.
Rocky's egg production has slowed to about one every other day. The other day we were out in the yard when all of a sudden Rocky took off toward the coop. Looked like she was on a mission. Turns out she was--when I got over there, she was ensconced in the nest box, awaiting the arrival of an egg.
Still no eggs from Esther. I have theories, but no conclusive, evidence-based reasons for the continued drought . That's all right. We will continue waiting, with varying degrees of patience. Esther is the smallest of the girls and really likes to be up high--the other day, she flew up on to the outside roof of the nest box. She also seems like the most nervous of the girls. If the rest of us happen to wander away from her, when she notices, she flies and runs over to join us.
Speaking of wandering, I like to take the girls on walks around the perimeter of the yard. Bubby says we need to get leashes (yes, there actually is such a thing) so we can walk them, but I've found leashes are not necessary. They follow me. I am amazed and amused by this behavior. The girls dictate the schedule, but I'm definitely in charge of the route.
I never get tired of looking at those fluffy chicken butts.
Hi everyone. You've grown so used to me reporting on my Trader Joe's goal that you probably forgot I had other goals for 2017. Yup, I did/do. My first 2017 goal was to make reusable cleaning wipes. Well, I'm pleased to report that I succeeded, and I'm ready to share my recipe? method? how I did it.
I did use the washcloths for the first couple of attempts, but they were too big and fluffy (I could barely fit the six of them in my container), and actually didn't work very well for what I wanted to do with them.
The next order of business was to find a cleaning solution that I liked. I tried 4 or 5 different recipes, but settled on this simple but effective combination:
Combine 1 cup water, 1/2 c. rubbing alcohol, and 1/2-1 T dawn dish washing liquid.
That's it. Mix it up and throw your cloths in there. You can scale up or down based on how many cloths you have (I have 8).
Now I will say that this mixture can get quite sudsy during use, so if I'm cleaning something shiny, I add the extra step of buffing/drying it off, but for the most part, I just let the things I clean dry on their own. I will also warn you that rubbing alcohol can have a drying effect on skin. so you might want to wear gloves (which you might be doing anyway) when you use these, or just make sure to moisturize.
I mostly clean bathrooms with these wipes, but they work really well for general cleaning, too (pro tip: to avoid cross-contamination, use one color of cloths for the bathroom, another color for the kitchen, and a third for general cleaning (here's a set of 24 microfiber cloths: eight in each of three colors)).
Welcome back to standard time! Yesterday, I managed to remain sleeping until 5 a.m., and didn't see any children until 6:11 a.m. Well, actually, I didn't see him then; I heard him. I remember the first time we made the switch back to standard time after AKD was born. I got together with some women from my Baby and Me exercise class a few days later, and one of them asked if daylight savings had messed up our babies. Nope, not really. He woke up at the same time, it was just that we were calling it something different.
This week, I'm continuing to prepare for our guests, who will be arriving in a couple of weeks. I'll be making a couple of varieties of muffins to stick in the freezer for quick and easy fend-for-yourself breakfasts, and I might get the sausage, that I planned to prep last week, cooked. The warehouse store was completely out of stock when I was there last week.
First, I need to tell you because I don't think you would notice if I didn't tell you. You know, considering y'all aren't here in my house and all.
Second, I need to tell you because it's a rare occurrence. It's a lot of work to wash windows. And it's frustrating because they always end up streaky. Urgh. It's true that something is better than nothing, but as a perfectionist*, I'd rather not do it at all if it's not going to be perfect. This is also why I don't like sweeping, by the way. I can never do it perfectly. There's also the matter of TPAD, which makes me think that cleaning the windows is going to take a really long time.
And finally, I need to tell you because my windows are so sparkly. No streaking! I just keep staring at them, mesmerized by their clarity. And I need to tell you how that happened.
So for the outside of the windows, I use the Windex All-In-One Window Cleaning Tool. I bought it years ago on clearance, and this summer I found the refill pads on clearance, too. I bought four, which at my current rate of window cleaning is about a 15 year supply. I'm happy with how it works, and I'm ecstatic that I don't have to make a difficult job even difficult-er by having to haul out the ladder and carry it around with me.
On the inside of the windows I used a recipe I found online. Unfortunately, I did not write down quantities, nor do I remember where I stumbled upon this window cleaning recipe, so y'all are going to have to wing it, like I did.
OK, if you insist on more specific quantities and instructions, I'd say I used about one tablespoon of concentrated dish soap, about one cup white vinegar, and about two quarts of water in a bucket. I soaped up the windows using a microfiber cloth, and then I dried the windows using a dry microfiber cloth. Yes, it smelled like vinegar while I was washing, but the smell dissipated quickly. I'll link to some microfiber cloths here, but I bought mine from The Dollar Tree.
I'm genuinely surprised by how well this worked. Yippee for clean windows! Let me know if you try it.
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* It's true. I'm a perfectionist, and it can be paralyzing. I bet you didn't know that about me. I'm much more of a don't bother if you can't do it perfectly perfectionist, though, as opposed to a get all things perfect at all costs perfectionist, so that's probably why you didn't realize. Now that I know this about myself, I'm learning to be OK with something, even if it's imperfect, being better than nothing.
