Happy Homemaker Monday ~~ 4/28/2014

Actually writing this on Tuesday morning and pretending I'm writing it on Monday, so it's a mix of Monday and Tuesday stuff.  I feel like I'm in a rut....I do the same things all the time.  Sleep and work, sleep and work, and eat every now and then too, usually the same things over and over.  I'm glad for books and videos so I can escape every now and then.

10:09 am

The weather.....   We missed all the bad weather over the weekend, it all went north or south of us.  We did get a real heavy rain during church, then just wind.  It was pretty windy Monday as well.  Today (Tuesday) it's cold again, only supposed to get in the low to mid 50's, with more weather coming later in the week.

Right now I am....I'm at work (where I always am this time of day).  Monday was a run, run, run day. Today has been a little slower for me so far.

On my Kindle....
I've finished reading Twelve Years a Slave, and I borrowed the movie from the library and watched it.  The book is WAY better!
 








Right now I am reading The History of the Donner Party A Tragedy of the Sierras
I've read other books about the Donner Party.....thought this part of US history was interesting, but this book has more detail than I've read about before. So far in this book, it sounds like this westward bound party was doomed from the start.  That's my opinion anyway. I might change my mind later on, but I doubt it.  They didn't stay together, they were a large party and scattered.



On the menu this week...... Monday night we had hamburgers and chips.  Tuesday last night for homemade chicken noodle dinner (we're going to miss that, I just know it), the rest of the week.....there are still hamburgers and a couple frozen pizzas still to fix, maybe some egg sandwiches.  Who knows, depends on what we want to eat and what I feel like fixing.

On the Radio.... Scanner Radio.....listening to the local police scanner via my computer today (Tuesday).  There is a lot of talk for the tornado clean up in the Baxter Springs area.  Lots of volunteers.

TV on my Computer..... Like I mentioned earlier I did borrow, from the library, and watch Twelve Years a Slave  I also have watched on YouTube: (opens in new window)  Abducted The Carlina White Story , A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story , Daughter of the Streets .   I also just discovered the Android CRACKLE app (which has movies and shows to watch for free, and you can watch online as well) and have started watching Paul Blart: Mall Cop.

What I found while surfing the net.... haven't done a lot of surfing lately.  I have been working on the Cosmic Castle web page though.  Facebook isn't letting our posts be seen by very many, they want us to pay to get people to see them.  I am looking into alternate ways to connect with our customers and fans.

On my to do list this week....
Make chicken noodles Monday night
Work on more bags/boxes to unpack
General cleaning
Laundry 2 loads tonight (Monday) (well actually 3 because I put stain remover on all of hubbys work shirts and washed them separately)  Hubby's and my laundry, Towels from the castle, and bath towels will be done later this week.

Looking forward to this week.... not real sure......

As I look outside the window..... windy....boy was it windy Monday.  Today, Tuesday, its on the cooler side and looks like it may want to rain again, although we aren't supposed to get rain today.

Looking around the house.... The kitchen was NOT clean.  I had to wash dishes before I could start supper Monday night.  This morning there are just a few dishes sitting in the sink.  Now if I actually wash them tonight, maybe there won't be any tomorrow morning.  LOL!

From the camera.......  A little vlog snippet.  If you HATE spiders don't watch this.  I seen this really cool spider while I was sitting on the porch Saturday night.  It looked like a big shiny black pearl. Very elegant. I took a video of it and went in to show it to hubby.  If I knew what kind of spider it really was I would have killed it after I was done filming.  I've never seen a black widow spider in person......until now.  They aren't real common around here, or at least they weren't. After we decided what it was.....you better believe I went out and looked and looked and looked for it.  I got the rake and flung the leaves in the area I seen it out towards the street then scattered them even more.  I sprayed the whole area with bug spray, and even sprayed around the front door and the 3 windows at the front of the house.

On my prayer list.....

• My grandpa (he's almost 95 years old)
• My sister
• My Uncle T
• Business decisions
• Our last Tuesday night to be successful 
• SUMMERTIME to get here
• The spider hasn't laid her eggs yet. 
• Those affected by the tornados

  This post linked to Happy Homemaker Monday over at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

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Recycled Coffee Filters

A "cousin" of mine sent me a sample of some of their homemade honey roasted coffee. I am not a coffee drinker unless it has milk and flavor.  You know....like a latte. I've tried and tried the past couple years and just couldn't do it.  I tried their coffee and loved it.  So since I had coffee filters I decided to try some other store bought coffee.  I got some best choice medium roast french vanilla coffee.  Smells amazing, but has no french vanilla flavor. However after 4 pots I discovered a ratio I can handle.  I have been averaging 2-4 cups a day, which with my mug its more like 4-8 cups a day.  What does coffee filters have to do with it? They are super cheap. I got a package of 100 on sale for 99¢ when I was expecting the coffee from my "cousin". I discovered I could rinse them and dry them and reuse them. I'll make that 99¢ stretch.  Am I strange or are there others who do this too?

Happy Homemaker Monday ~~ 4/14/14

Sorry you get the text version this week.  LOL!  Last week's vlog was fun and I do plan on doing it again sometime.  

10:30 am

The weather.....   well......we got SNOW!  Yes it snowed this morning after a week of 70+ degree temperatures and severe storms yesterday.  Thankfully we didn't get the tennis ball size hail and 70+ MPH winds they were predicting.  In fact we just for a brief downpour and a little wind.

Right now I am....I'm at work.  Kinda having a hard time getting going this morning.  Already checked e-mail and shared free books.  Had a few customers already.....is it lunch time yet?

On my Kindle....
I'm still reading:
 


On the menu this week...... um.......not sure dollars are a little tight right now so there won't be any extra trips to the store.  Will be surviving off what we have for a while.

On the Radio.... Absolutely nothing. All I hear is the hum of the fluorescent lights.   That's music to my ears because I like quiet.

TV on my Computer.....  Nothing special.  I watched Mom at 16 on YouTube. (opens in new window)  If you decide to watch it, make sure you have tissues close by.

What I found while surfing the net.... Lots of yummy food ideas on Pinterest.  

On my to do list this week....
 Make cookies tonight
Make chicken noodles tonight
Work on more bags/boxes to unpack

Looking forward to this week.... does next Sunday count as this week?  It should right since it's before next week's HHM.  Sunday is Hubby and my anniversary.  Also since it's Easter Sunday we are taking the day off.

As I look outside the window..... it's wet and cold.  It just got done snowing a few minutes ago.  Nothing stuck to the ground, it's too warm.  Hopefully we don't get any more.

Looking around the house.... The kitchen is clean.  The dishes are all washed. There is a whole chicken cooking in the slow cooker, it will be done about 4:30 this afternoon.  (It's for chicken noodles the next 3 weeks, then I will not be making them again until fall.)  The bedroom is looking a little better.  I decided I needed to go through bags and get clothes put away and get rid of clothes we don't need.

1:42pm  (had to work....now back to this for a few minutes

From the camera.......  A little vlog snippet of my weekend.  Saturday enjoying the 80* temps.  Sunday a little cleaning fun with Fuzzy and Monday Freezing weather and proof we had snow.  Enjoy!

On my prayer list.....

• My grandpa (he's almost 95 years old)
• My sister
• My Uncle T
• Business decisions
• Tuesday night to be successful 
• SUMMERTIME to get here
• being able to cook on an electric stove and not burn things.  (I hate electric stoves)

  This post linked to Happy Homemaker Monday over at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

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Reecie's Granola

I really want to get back to eating healthy, but time is a factor that slows me down. I don't have a lot of time so I tend to just eat what is quick and available to eat.  I've eaten raw food /vegan style for a while before and I lost weight and felt so much better.  I would like to do it again.  Please, no angry words, I use ingredients I can afford and that are available to me locally.  They may not be the healthiest but they work.

I Love this granola recipe, and I get to use my dehydrator.  Enjoy!

Happy Homemaker Monday ~~ 4/6/14

Happy Homemaker Monday. My first attempt at vlogging. The book I mentioned and the link to the HHM link up are below.  Enjoy!



Twelve Years a Slave....The book I am currently reading:

  This post linked to Happy Homemaker Monday over at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

Reheating Spaghetti

Since moving back to our house, we no longer have a microwave to cook or reheat food. Learning to reheat foods is a new thing for me.  Thought I'd share my success (and any not so successful) attempts.  Probably won't be many as we don't eat a lot at home, or I simply state that it will be cold.

So I fixed a big pot of spaghetti, and we had leftovers.  When it was time to reheat it I had a major dilemma.  How to reheat it.  The microwave we had was furnished with the apartment, and the one we had before moving to the apartment has been dubbed a craft microwave and is all icky.  Besides there really isn't room in the kitchen I have now  for a microwave, so we decided not to replace it.  I asked my friend how to heat it and she suggested water and reboiling the noodles, and heating the sauce in a sauce pan, since it wasn't mixed.  Then I had a bright idea....and was thinking about when we used to make Pasta Pizza.  I put a little Crisco in my biggest skillet and greased the bottom and sides.  I put the cooked pasta in, and added the sauce on top.  I added a little cheese so I could tell when it was heated.  I cooked it at 400* for.....I don't know how long I didn't time it.....but thankfully I remembered to check on it  LOL!  I'm going to say probably 10 minutes or so.  The cheese was melted and the pasta steaming hot.  It tasted amazing too.  Way better than leftovers warmed in the microwave.

Cheap Window Covering

One of our bedroom widows has that frosty contact paper stuff on the bottom window, the other didn't (it's actually on the top),  This bothers me since the window could be a place for peepers.  Yes, it happens.  I don't have any extra money right now to get that contact paper or anything to cover the window with so I used the next best solution.

We ate pizza one night, and the boxes were the right size to cover most of the window.

I needed just a little more so I used the front and back sections of the cracker box.

Add some masking tape and the window is covered.  The peepers can't see in, but they can read the nutrition info and ingredients on the pizza boxes.  :-)

 I hope to have a better solution soon, because it's about time to open windows and enjoy fresh spring air in the evenings.

This post has been linked  to the 

Creativity Unleashed Link Party – No. 14

Food Pictures

We got creative with our pancakes one night.  

My base for spaghetti sauce......italian sausage, red, yellow and green bell pepper, onion and mushrooms sauteed in butter.

MMMMmmmmmm A delicious chicago dog

My first ever attempt at snicker doodles.  They were amazing! 

The other cookies I made....chocolate chip, snicker doodles and sugar cookies.

Flowers in my Yard

You don't realize how much you miss having a yard until you don't have one.  No yard = no flowers.  I missed my yard and flowers.  There will be more, but these are the first ones to come up and bloom.

Enjoy!

Tuesday April 1, 2014

11:50 pm

Today's weather:  Mother Nature played a cruel April fools joke today.  We went from nice warm weather to cold weather over night.  These cold temps are supposed to be followed by some storms over the rest of the week.  Some may be severe.

Right now I am: Sitting on the bed posting this from my laptop/

Currently Reading:  12 Years a Slave (haven't had time to read lately, *sigh*)

On my menu today:  Today I ate peaches and cream oatmeal with mocha to drink.  Caramel rice cakes and another cup of mocha. an all beef hot dog with ketchup, mustard, relish and onions.  A plate of homemade chicken noodles over mashed potatoes with green beans and a roll, which I wasn't able to finish.  I had water, pepsi and tea to drink today

Something that happened today:  Had a couple of different service providers call wanting us to do jobs.  Both jobs we could do, not problem, but because I told them we required credit card number up front before doing the jobs, both said they would have to call me back.  There is a very good chance neither will call us.  One job was for one we got called for a while back.  Same story different day, they both want to bill us, but we don't operate that way.

On the Radio: listening to the local police scanner.

TV on my Computer: Today I didn't have time to watch anything.

What I found while surfing the net: oh my a ton of tasty recipes that I want to try!

On my to do list tonight:  feed and water the cats, wash the dishes wash 2 loads of laundry and dry 1.  The other one will be put in the dryer tomorrow night.  Schedule some blog posts for the rest of the week.

Looking around the house: The dishes are all washed.  That's the good part.  Still have those boxes and bags that need stored or gone through, and the floors need swept.

From the camera:  My first ever batch of snicker doodles

Small Space = Less Waste

Living in the apartment I had a HUGE kitchen compared to my dinky kitchen I have now.  I do but I don't miss the apartment kitchen

Apartment Kitchen.  I LOVED it!

My Kitchen now

This is ALL my counter space.  I have about that much room on the other side.  The other side has a book case that holds spices and baking things. A bakers rack and a wooden table that both serve as additional counter space.

Other side of my kitchen

With a smaller space to work in I have discovered I waste less and make less of a mess.  I still make noodles once a week.  I used to make them on the center island counter in the apartment kitchen. The bakers rack is all I have that my noodle maker will attach to.  The wooden table to the right also serves as counter space.

At first I didn't think I would be able to work in the smaller kitchen again, but it's kind of nice.  Less space to keep clean.  Less space for dirty dishes to pile up.  Less waste.