Happy Homemaker Monday

To see other Happy Homemaker posts visit Diary of a SAHM.


The weather in my neck of the woods: very cool and fall like! I love this weather.

One of my simple pleasures: being at the lake with my family.

On my bedside table: Love and Respect (a book I'm reading for a review) Bible, cell phone

On my TV: nothing

On the menu for tonight: not sure yet, something very simple because we got home late last night from camp.

On my To Do List: unpack from camp, schooling, clean, work on scrapbooks, make some cards.

New Recipe I tried last week: This is one I made up. I'm not sure of the measurements.

Buffalo Chicken French Bread Pizza
1 pound ground chicken or turkey
garlic powder
1 onion finely chopped
2 ribs of celery finely chopped
hot sauce
butter
blue cheese
mixed Italian shredded cheese
1 loaf of french/Italian bread

Cook ground chicken until no longer pink. Add garlic powder, onion and celery and cook until just tender. Add butter (I think I put in 2 tablespoons of butter) and hot sauce (I probably added about a 1/4 of a cup maybe more we love hot stuff) cook until well combined. Remove from heat and add blue cheese stir until melted. Place on sliced loaf of bread (slice length wise) Sprinkle cheese over the top and bake at 350 until cheese is melted. Serve a blue cheese dressing on the side for dipping.

In the craft basket: scrapbooks and cards

Looking forward to: fall

Homemaking Tip for this week: when you get home from vacation or a weekend away take the dirty laundry right down to the washer! It makes the next day's work so much easier.

Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other): I do not really have a favorite.

Favorite photo from last week: Hannah just loves sitting down by the lake where we camp. My husband and I were walking around and could here her singing. This is where we found her. She was singing hymns. Brings tears to my eyes.

Lesson learned the past few days: do not be afraid to try new things. Step outside of your comfort box, you might be surprised, you might like it!!

On my Prayer List: family, our friends in Russia, our church, a young man we met at camp, his wife just up and left him with their 4 small boys. No reason at all given.

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:

James 1:2-4 "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials. knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."

New Layout

I am going to try and post a lot of the layouts and cards that I create. Here is one I did today for a challenge. I love the way it turned out.

All the products I used are Close to my Heart they are:

Textured Cardstock-Chocolate (X5747)

Back Country Level 2 paper pack (X7110B) 3 strips in various sizes

Back Country Level 2 My Stickease Assortment (X7110C)

I used a plate to trace the circle onto the textured cardstock. Then I glued the strips of paper to the circle. Add pictures and stickers and your all set. I'm going to make a couple of more of these.

Contact me for more information on these products.

Corn Cob Jelly

I have to say that when I read on the Keeper of our Home blog about this jelly I was a bit aprehensive! But I'm willing to give almost anything a try. Especially since we get a lot of corn here. I do agree with her....it tastes a lot like honey! I was very surprised.

I tried to search the corn cob jelly to find out where it came from but had no luck. I'm thinking it came to be around the time of the Great Depression when everyone used what they had. I called my grandmother to see if she remembers anything like this. She said she kind of remembered it but was not really sure. She agreed with me as to where it came from.

I have to say....TRY IT!! Click on the link it will take you to an amazing blog full of wisdom!

Slow Cooking Thursday

It has been so long since I've consistently blogged anything! The month of August was just crazy!! With graduation parties, picnics, weddings ect who can find time to do anything?! Well I'm back...I hope...!

With fall approaching us pretty fast we start looking forward to some fall favorites around here. Our very favorite...well my families favorite....Hot Chocolate. I do not care for chocolate. It is my birth defect! LOL!

Hot Chocolate

4-5 cups nonfat dry milk
3/4 to 1 cup sugar
1/2 to 3/4 cup baking cocoa
2 teaspoons vanilla
11 cups water

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low heat 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally.

Serve with whipped cream sprinkled with mini chocolate chips.

To see other Slow Cooking posts visit Diary of a SAHM.

Happy Homemaker Monday

The weather in my neck of the woods: Hot, muggy, hot, muggy...did I say Hot! I do not like it when it is hot and muggy. I'm a cool/cold weather gal!

One of my simple pleasures: lighting a candle and reading a book on the couch.

On my bedside table: Love and Respect (a book I'm reading to review for Nelson publishers) my Bible and sewing stuff

On my TV: National Geographic Channel, the kids are watching a show about killer bees.

On the menu for tonight: Ham, mashed potatoes, green beans from the garden

On my To Do List: clean, get projects ready for my home gathering (I'm now selling Close to my Heart scrapbooking and stamping products. I'm mainly teaching people how to make greeting cards)

New Recipe I tried last week: I did not really do much cooking last week, it was so muggy.

In the craft basket: scrapbooking items and cards

Looking forward to: our nephew's wedding this Saturday. It will be nice to see family from my Husband's side. It is even better now that my Husband and his eldest brother have patched things up. Up until about April they had not spoken for about 5 years.

Homemaking Tip for this week: When you have a pet who sheds, invest in a good vacuum cleaner to get all the fur. We recently purchased a Shark vacuum cleaner designed just for pet fur. I LOVE IT!!

Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other): My post about Laura Ingalls Wilder Days

Favorite photo from last week: Another view from the village.

Lesson learned the past few days: When life feels out of control God is ALWAYS there to get you back on track. My brother in law filed for divorce of my sister who has the brain injury. That is not the shocking part. He had her served at her apartment where it pretty much blind sided her. It sent her into a downward spiral and she ended up in the hospital again. Jeff plain and simple did not think of anyone but himself!! He lied to everyone including my parents who do so much for him. I try to remember he is unsaved, but I'm having a really hard time with it! My Dad and I have an appointment on Friday with a Christian attorney I use to work with to find out our options and to get an honest opinion. Jeff has told my parents they do not have to do anything just let it go the 20 days and all will be taken care of. Well I do not like the fact that he and his attorney are trying to push this through in less than 20 days. Maybe this is why the Lord had me go through all the schooling to get my paralegal degree.

On my Prayer List: see above, my family, service men and woman

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses: Proverbs 15:1 "A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger."

I have been saying this verse over and over in my mind this weekend. It taking all I have in me not to confront Jeff on my own. Please pray for guidance in this situation.

To see other Happy Homemaker Posts please visit Diary of a SAHM.

Slow Cooking Thursday

To see other slow cooking recipes visit Diary of a SAHM. Also for those of you who have been waiting for my Laura Ingalls Wilder Day post it is finally finished! It took me a few days. Does anyone else have trouble getting pictures onto your posts? They upload fine its arranging them on blogger that is taking forever!

We love this recipe. The first time I made it, I wrinkled my nose at the ingredients. But surprisingly it tasted very good!!

Lemonade Chicken

5 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can frozen lemonade, thawed
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/4 cup ketchup

Place chicken in greased slow cooker. Stir lemonade concentrate, brown sugar, vinegar, and ketchup together. Mix well, pour over chicken. Cover and cook on high 3-4 hours or low 6-8 hours.

Come sit with me a while in the 1800's

This is a little bit of our day at the Genesee Country Museum on Laura Ingalls Wilder day. We had a great time. There were many hands on activities that we did. Although I did not get pictures of everything we did I did capture many of them. There were SO many people there it was difficult to get a spot to do the activity let alone take pictures. You will see that in many of the pictures we did get.

The activities we did were: Making soap and sifting ashes, pounding corn, rope making, wooden peg making, finding a button in a haystack, making a corn husk doll, weaving straw hats, wheat threshing, milk a cow, shelf paper cutting, churning butter, making popcorn, sawing logs, pickling, wool dyeing,laundry, stuffing a mattress, games from the 19th century, kneading bread, churning ice cream, nine patch quilt square, button bracelet.

As you enter the village, the first place you come to is the toll house. This building was built in 1850 it was near Lima, New York. As you came to this toll house you were to pay much like you do today to drive on toll roads. Sorry this is an old picture but I forgot to take one this weekend. As you enter the toll house you start smelling all of the fires used through out the village.

Our next stop was seeing how Laura would of done the laundry. The kids were very excited to see how this was done. Katrina even asked if we could do our laundry this way from now on. Sure I said you are in charge of it. That lasted about 1 minute. But how simple this time was. It would be fine in the summer but winter would be a different story.

This is Karen Grassle, who played "Ma" on the series Little House on the Prairie. She is a very soft spoken woman. She is kind and down to earth. Although, she admits to being a feminist, I really enjoyed listening to her speak. She talked for about 20 minutes about how she was cast into the roll of Ma. She was asked to come in for an interview with Michael Landon to read for him. After she did he was very excited to give her the roll right on the spot. Then she opened up the floor and took questions from people. Some questions she graciously refused to answer, but I do not blame her because I couldn't believe someone would ask her, "Who did you not like on the set of Little House?" She also said she was nothing like Ma, but she does have the grace of her!

This woman is a direct descendant of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Her Great Grandfather was Charles Ingalls. She just happened by the museum on a bus tour the day before and one of her family members brought her back for the day. Wonderful lady.

Next it was onto making ice cream. The children were able to turn the crank and see how the ice cream was formed. Then we were able to sample it. But because of NYS laws we had to sample some made in the museum kitchen by "professionals". It still tasted very good!!

We then moved on to the baseball field. Where we enjoyed a 19th century baseball game. It was great because Friday nite we went to a modern baseball game with our church. Andrew loved watching it and seeing how different it was from today's baseball. One thing he noticed was that they didn't use gloves in the 19th century because the ball was much softer. They also pitched underhand, like in softball of today. This is a threshing machine, much like the one use in "Little House in the Big Woods" Laura Ingalls Wilder's first book. Except the one in the book used horses. This one used man power. Up on top of the "wagon" was a type of treadmill. The man would climb up on top and start walking backwards, this moved the threshing machine to separate the wheat from the stalk. Then they collected under neath the machine and you then had to toss them to separate the wheat berries. Whew! What work it must of been just to be able to grind the wheat into flour.

This is Hannah and I working on our corn husk doll. It was so muggy and hot and here we were shoulder to shoulder with many people trying to make these dolls. But Hannah had fun doing this! LOL!

This is a picture of green beans drying in the pioneer cabin. I love seeing all the fresh vegetables drying this time of year at the museum. From veggies to herbs, the smells at the museum are just wonderful. I could stay there forever!!

There are SO many more pictures, but I need to get some work done. So I promise I'll post them later! If you are ever in the Rochester, NY area please do not miss this museum!

Slow Cooking Thursday

BURRITOS

1 lb. ground beef-cooked and drained

2 cans (16 oz.) refried beans

1 envelope taco seasoning (I use homemade)

1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce

1/2 cup water

flour/corn tortillas

Combine all ingredients except tortillas in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 6-10. Place on tortillas and top with favorite topping.

You can't get any easier than this recipe!! This is a Sunday favorite around here.

To read other Slow Cooking Thursday posts visit Diary of a SAHM.

Happy Homemaker Monday

The weather in my neck of the woods: very sunny outside this morning. We are supposed to be around 80 today, with a lot of sun.

One of my simple pleasures: sitting out on our deck watching the birds.

On my bedside table: Bible, fan, Idea books from Close to My Heart.

On my TV: nothing...today is our first day of school.

On the menu for tonight: we always have something special to celebrate the beginning of school. So this year the children have chosen Mexican pizza that my Husband makes. I might surprise them with an eclair cake.

On my To Do List: finish lesson plans for the month, library and prayer meeting on Wednesday, baseball game on Friday (Rochester Redwings-farm team for the Minn. Twins), Laura Ingalls Wilder day at the museum on Saturday, and supper with a good friend on Saturday for my birthday..which was last Sunday.

New Recipe I tried last week: I have not really tried many recipes this week. I've been trying to use up my zucchini. So I shredded them and made fritters out of them. Just like corn fritters but with zucchini. Just make sure you dry them very well first. I spread them on a cookie sheet on paper towels.

In the craft basket: card making and scrapbooking

Looking forward to: Laura Ingalls Wilder day on Saturday

Homemaking Tip for this week: when remodeling do not stress over the dust all over....I have to keep reminding myself of this...LOL!! I'm not doing very well convincing myself.

Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other): have not really read many. But go on over to our home school blog Homeschooling with heart, as often as I can I will be talking about our day/week regarding schooling. Since this year we are using the Prairie Primer it will all be related to Little House on the Prairie books and the pioneer era. I will include our crafts and recipes we have tried. I am SO excited about this year.

Favorite photo from last week: My Husband and I went to the museum on Saturday and just strolled through the museum on our own. I always find myself in the Jones Farm house because I just love to stand there and watch her cook. Saturday she was making cheese. I was so interested in the process. In the silver bucket with the "ladder" over top is the cheese curd that is separating from the whey. On the front of the stove is corn fritters she made. The interpreter was telling me that she offers a cheese making class in early May...WOOHOO!!! I asked if I could sign up now..LOL!

Lesson learned the past few days: I love living a simple life. I would love to have a cook stove like this one in our home. Not only would it provide heat but a source of cooking as well.

On my Prayer List: service men and women, my family, our school year.

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses: Proverbs 31:15 "She also rises while it is yet night, And provides food for her household, And a portion for her maidservants."

To read more Happy Homemaker posts visit Diary of a SAHM.

Week Happenings

This week has been a very busy one. I've been preparing for our school year to start on Monday. We are beginning our 4th year of home school. I am very excited about this year. We will be using the Prairie Primer this year.

This curriculum goes through all 9 of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books. I think I am more excited about this than the children are! Not only that but next weekend there is Laura Ingalls Wilder day at the museum we go to. There is going to be a guest appearance there of Karen Grassle, the actress who played Ma. I am SO excited to be able to meet her.

Now for some more exciting news. I've mentioned it hear before but I have signed up to be a Close to My Heart consultant! Thursday I got my kit delivered! I even took a picture of the UPS man delivering my package...LOL! Poor guy...I felt like a stalker!!

Sorry about the quality of the picture, I was taking it through the window. It was like Christmas day here for me. I shut myself in our bedroom and tore into the box. The kids came in and said, "Can we help?" No it's mine mine mine all mine...LOL!! Of course I let them help...a little bit. I will be teaching people how to make cards and scrapbooks using stamps. I love the products better than anything I've used before.
I am so excited about this adventure I can hardly contain myself. I'm just waiting to get my first gathering scheduled so I can get this under way!! I will be posting many pictures of my art work that I finish. There are so many things for each person. No matter what your level of scrapbooking or card making you can create beautiful things with our products. OK the commercial is done. Many of you who read my blog are from across the country, so eventually if any of you are interested, I am thinking of a way to do a virtual workshop or a virtual gathering. I'm going to do it right here on my blog. I'm just working out the details in my head.