HHM 8/31/2015

You know, even though I'm not a SAHM I'm still a homemaker.  I have a family to take care of and a home that should be kept it neat and clean.  I do also have the responsibility of 2 businesses to keep neat and clean, and a multitude of customers to care for as well.  Wow!  So....I've decided it's going to be Happy Homemaker Monday, because my home AND my businesses are my home.  They are where I spend my time, with my family none the less, 24 hours a day.

The weather..... 

Where did the cool weather go?  90 Isn't too bad I guess.

Right now I am.... listening to KLKC, our local radio station.


On my Kindle.... I couldn't sleep last night so I downloaded In the Presence of my Enemies by Gracia Burnham *affiliate link*   I Think this will be the 4th time I've read this book.  So it must be good, right?  Yes it is very good and it is very hard to put down.

TV on my Computer..... Switched at Birth again tonight.  I'm looking forward to that. I won't watch it live, but will watch it sometime this week online.

What I found while surfing the net.... I can't say I've done much surfing the past week.

Favorite Find on Pinterest...... Believe it or not I've not pinterested a lot this past week either.  Hubby has though.....Here is what he was looking at this morning. (don't worry it is appropriate unless you're not a fan of Halloween)

My Menu.... I think the Kielbasa sounds good for tonight.

I've kept my side bar updated as to what I have on hand to make, or what's in the freezer.  I don't haven't a menu/list made up for this week.  Something I will work on tonight and tomorrow.  Hopefully we bring in enough money this week co I can go to the store.

This is the Jalapeno Popper Chicken  I made last Tuesday.  Holy smokes it was AMAZING!  I made 6 for our supper and was asked to make more right away.  Hubby said it was the best thing I've made so far.  Definitely a keeper.  Next time I think I will add a bit more jalapeno, it was good but not real spicy.

For sunday lunch I cooked up one of my bags of Chicken Fried Steak.  This one was much better than my last attempt.  I used crushed up oyster crackers for the breading.  It was so good that it's right up there equal to my favorite steak house's CFS.  CFS is one of my favorites, and if it's on a menu and not ridiculously prices I will usually get it.

On my to do list this week....

• make menu
• make grocery list
• clean bathrooms
• work on flowers for my flower power curtain for the bottom of my window upstairs (i've not been doing this I've either been busy or working on other things)
• sweep living room
• pre-make a few freezer meals if I have ingredients to make them
• sweep upstairs
• sweep kitchen

In the craft basket....

I still haven't made any more flowers for my curtain.  I haven't had much hook time this past week for some reason.  Oh, I probably had the time I just wasn't in the mood is more like it.  I did make another potholder....here's front and back of it:

I'm needing to add another ball of yarn for my pattern dishcloth.  Here is the pic from last week, It's about double that size now.  It's going to look like a cat when it's all done.

BUT what I'm working on, and will hopefully finish today is a 3 color spiral slouchy.  It's been a while since I've made one, but cooler weather is coming, and every time I make one this color it either sells before it's finished or shortly after I finish it.  SO, I guess I'm hoping for some "quick cash" with this one.

Looking forward to this week.... The moonlight madness I mentioned last week wasn't too bad.  Since we're on the side street now instead of  Main street I think it helped cut down on the chaos. Seen lots of new faces though, so maybe they will tell their friends and people will realize we didn't go out of business, just moved half a block away.   

We are going to start opening on Thursday night this week, which gives us 3 days open for games and gaming. Hopefully another day will equal another dollar. :-)  Also Wednesday nights pick back up at church this week.  They provide supper, which is a cook out this week, before Bible study.  It's one less meal I have to plan for.  They will also be putting out the clothes for the free clothing exchange this weekend, after bible study Wed. evening,  so I plan to rummage through them to see if there is anything I just can't live without.
Also I am looking forward to the Portal kids on Friday night.  They are an awesome bunch of kids (actually they are young adults....18 to early 20's).  Yarn Therapy Saturday night....hope my fellow "hookers" can make it, we always have fun.  MTG players Saturday night, another good bunch of kids (ok they aren't all kids, some are older than me).  So much to look forward to and be thankful for this week.  And it's a holiday weekend, so that means we get next Monday off.  YEA!

Looking around the house....

I added this bit of sunshine to one of my upstairs windows.  It is a damaged product that we can't fix to be sell-able so I decided to use it.  One of the tabs to hold the sun in the middle has broken off.  I used a rubber band and stretched it across from ray to ray to hold the sun in place.  You can't really see it or tell what it is from outside, but it looks kinda cool upstairs.  Last night I got all my dishes washed, except for a few I found after I was done *sigh*.  The front doesn't look too bad either, the kids did a good job of cleaning up after themselves this past weekend.  My bed is made and my bear is sleeping on the bed (see pics of Bear here).  And lastly for now the AC is off, I shut it off Saturday night when we left.  Since the temps are going up to 90 this week, chances are it will have to be turned back on.

From the camera....

Cotton yarn haul from a Flea Market we went to yesterday.  Unused cotton yarn $1 a ball!!!!!!!  Holy smokes I sure couldn't pass that up.  I already know what the brown wavy balls will be used for.

On my prayer list.....

• Business to pick up so we aren't scraping to pay bills
• my youngest son can find a job
• that the 90* weather this week isn't as hot as it could be
• We are able to find some scaffolding to borrow so we can work on the kitchen area

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

A Peek into My Day

Here's a peak into my day, Wednesday, 8/26/2015

First full night of sleep in about 2 weeks. Bar next door was quiet for the first time since opening about 3 weeks ago.  No we're not thrilled with it and yes I think it has prevented some business, but we're hoping things work out, which I think they will after the newness of a new bar in town wears off..  We've known the owner since he was a kid.  Also I woke up with a sore neck.  I slept wrong.  I knew I was, but just couldn't make myself move, if that makes sense.

*all times approximate, and I got a few pictures*

6 am got up and closed the curtain.  We live upstairs of our building (the castle, it's an arcade/gaming store while we work in the kitchen so we can serve food as well) and there are businesses upstairs across the street.  I'm paranoid people can see in. I  Can also hear the trash trucks picking up businesses trash downtown.

7:00 construction resumes at the building 2 doors down. They are renovating a motel into senior apartments. Sounds like they are removing walls.  I can hear what sounds like a sledge hammer hitting concrete and lots of loud talking and yelling (not mean yelling but giving instructions over the noise yelling).

7:45 alarm goes off.  *sigh*

8:15 get up, get dressed,  make bed.

8:30 walk across the street to the lock shop (it's half a block away). Get ready for day.

8:50 open lock shop

9:00 walk back across to castle to get kindle to charge and my Tunisian crochet project. Actually it was more like 9:15 cause I got distracted reading emails.

9:20-10:00 worked on my Tunisian crochet and had a couple customers

11:05 walked across to get lunch

11:30 helped finish with customer and ate lunch

12:00 went to Walgreen's to get batteries hubby needed for a job

12:30 hubby off on a job me back to crochet and Customers

3:00. Went to grocery store for a few things.

3:40 Put things away and started supper. Jalapeno popper chicken

4:00 checked Facebook

4:15 back to supper prep

4:30 supper prep stopped. Had to run over to shop hubby had phone call

4:40 back to supper

About 5:30 supper was finally ready. It was amazing!  I ended up making a total of 12 of these (2 pans worth).  I ate 2, we took 1 to a friend, and there are 2 left.  Obviously it is hubby and son approved.  I will share the recipe soon.

5:45 phone call! Customer is nice enough to let us finish supper. Also I made another pan of the chicken.

6:20 went to unlock a vehicle for customer

6:45 stopped back by castle to switch vehicles and get some of the chicken to take to a friend

7:00 did a drive by to make sure the friend was home then went to get our happy hour soda before delivering the chicken

7:30 back to the castle. Got on Facebook for a while

8:00 got dishes soaking and got back on Facebook

8:20 started dishes

8:35 soaking more dishes. I'm almost done. Back to Facebook and the internet for a few

8:55 back to finish the dished and make tea. Made up 2 freezer meals, Crockpot Philly's and a new recipe, Candy Chicken.

9:45 took the trash out and walked over to shop to do a few things

10:00 back to castle to charge my phone and work on this post, visit with friends on facebook, browse pinterest, etc.


11:15 phone chrged good enough for now....off to the Gym.

12:15 am finally got to bed. The bar next door was quiet. Yea!

I was awake around 3:30 am. Don't know why. Probably because youngest son came in around 4.

6:00 am we had storms rolling in. I was up long enough to check windows and went back to sleep.

7:45 am.   It all starts over.  Another day another dollar.   No early morning trash trucks or construction this time.

Hope you enjoyed my day.  I had fun keeping track of everything.


***an after thought.....goodness it sounds like I'm a Facebook addict. Its how I communicate with customers and friends though so its almost always available .

MUST TRY Recipes

http://www.mrshappyhomemaker.com/grilled-cheese-fries/

http://www.mrshappyhomemaker.com/bacon-jalapeno-popper-grilled-cheese-sandwiches/

http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2015/05/slow-cooker-ritz-chicken.html

menu

Ok, it's done, and I will be heading to the store here shortly.  I need to get more pork rinds (they ended up being a snack. LOL!) for the Jalapeno Popper chicken I am making tonight.

• Spaghetti and Meatballs (all from store)
• Spiced Hot Dogs (fix it & forget it cookbook)
• Continental Chicken (fix it & forget it cookbook)
• Super Easy Chicken (fix it & forget it cookbook)
• Kielbasa
• Crockpot Chicken Tacos/Burritos

Just some Pics

Here is the finished bag that I made for a friend.

Here is the tunisian crochet knit pattern I am making

Seen this duct tape in home depot the other day.  Not sure what I would use this for....it'd probably make my hungry every time I looked at it.

I got my bear back!!!!!!  He has been in our storage room over at the oldest boy's house.  He sleeps on my side of the bed by day......

and sits by my side of the bed by night.  I missed mr. bear.  

HHM 8/24/2015

You know, even though I'm not a SAHM I'm still a homemaker.  I have a family to take care of and a home that should be kept it neat and clean.  I do also have the responsibility of 2 businesses to keep neat and clean, and a multitude of customers to care for as well.  Wow!  So....I've decided it's going to be Happy Homemaker Monday, because my home AND my businesses are my home.  They are where I spend my time, with my family none the less, 24 hours a day.

The weather..... 

Loving these temps.  No complaining yet.

Right now I am.... listening to KLKC, our local radio station.  Also the AC just came on so it's drowning out the radio. *sigh*  I am getting ready to head home and check on my crockpot.  Supper is in it and it may be done here in about 15 minutes or between then and an hour.

On my Kindle.... Not reading anything right now

TV on my Computer..... Switched at Birth comes back TONIGHT!!!!!!!.  I'm looking forward to that. I won't watch it live, but will watch it sometime this week online.

What I found while surfing the net.... Been surfing a lot of Tunisian crochet patterns.  Can't find one I really like for a dishcloth, so I'm converting a knit pattern into a Tunisian crochet pattern.  SO far it's looking good.

Favorite Find on Pinterest...... I spend a lot of time on pinterest, off and on during the day.  I found this pin for Viking Naalbind Thigh-Highs.  These would be perfect for me in winter time.  I really need to work on learning naalbinding. I know the basic concept, but not well enough to create anything with it.

My Menu.... I have the Cheesy Chicken Tater Tot Bake in the slow cooker for tonight.  It looks yummy in the picture.  Hope mine turns out as yummy as the picture.

I've kept my side bar updated as to what I have on hand to make, or what's in the freezer.  I don't haven't a menu/list made up for this week.  Something I will work on tonight.  I did go borrow a [real] book from the library today.  I borrowed a Fix It and Forget It cookbook.  *affiliate link*  I have found several recipes I will be writing down and trying.  mostly chicken recipes as chicken is still fairly cheap.

I've been busy this past week and haven't gotten time to post much.  Here are the new recipes I tried and our decision about them:

Spaghetti & Meat Balls.  Yes, yes and yes.  I heated store bought meat balls in the crockpot.  Amazing.

This was the Round Steak Casserole.  We didn't care for it.  If I make it again, which I probably will, instead of the tomatoes and tomato soup, it was a general consensus to use cream of mushroom soup or something similar instead.

This was the Peach Dump Cake.  It was delicious, however it needed to cook a bit longer than what I cooked it.  It was a bit doughy. I'll make it again.

On my to do list this week....

• make menu
• make grocery list
• clean bathrooms
• work on flowers for my flower power curtain for the bottom of my window upstairs
• sweep living room
• pre-make a few freezer meals if I have ingredients to make them
• sweep upstairs
• sweep kitchen

In the craft basket....

I still haven't made may more flowers for my curtain.  I did finish and give the tote to my friend, they really liked it.  I have also started creating a tunisian stitch dish cloth following a knit pattern.  It's not too hard, just takes some thinking. I'll share it when I get it finished.  Hopefully this week.

Looking forward to this week.... well for once I'm NOT looking forward to Friday night.  Well, I am, but I'm not.  Friday night is the moonlight madness downtown.......they bring the kids down after the soap scrimmage......and have little or nothing for them to do.  The stores that are open usually have sales and such, but high school kids could care less.  *sigh*  We will have the Castle open.  Thankfully this year though everything is all in one room so it will be easier to watch and keep things under control.  I hope anyway.  However I am looking forward to the Portal kids on Friday night.  They are an awesome bunch of kids. The Portal is a get together sponsored by some friends of ours, for the young adults....18 to early 20's.

Looking around the house....
It's dark....can't look.  LOL!  As always, when you have people over it gets messy and always needs picked up.  Maybe if I do little bits here and there it won't be as much on Thursday evening.

From the camera....

Here are a couple of my favorites.....fresh brewed espresso.  It's gotten cooler and I've been making a cup a day.

 This was taken during our storm early Sunday morning.  It started raining and rained in the windows.  As soon as I got them closed it really came down, literally in sheets.  It's hard to tell from this picture, but it was raining pretty good.  (the light in this picture is from the street light right outside our window)

This picture was taken during the same storm, just a few minutes before.  I was trying to get a lightening picture, but I guess my phone wasn't fast enough.  Sure did light up the sky though.  Looks like it's daytime, but it really was around 3:30 am, shortly before it started raining.  Notice the window is open here and not in the pic above.

On my prayer list.....

• My sister
• Business

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

HHM 8/17/2015

You know, even though I'm not a SAHM I'm still a homemaker.  I have a family to take care of and a home that should be kept it neat and clean.  I do also have the responsibility of 2 businesses to keep neat and clean, and a multitude of customers to care for as well.  Wow!  So....I've decided it's going to be Happy Homemaker Monday, because my home AND my businesses are my home.  They are where I spend my time, with my family none the less, 24 hours a day.

The weather..... 

Look at those cooler temps coming mid week.  And it's going to stay cool?  I'm excited!

Right now I am.... listening to KLKC, our local radio station.  It recently had a change in ownership and the old DJ is back :-D

On my Kindle.... Just about finished with Mail Order Bride..Blinded by Love (which happens to be  FREE for kindle today) *affiliate link

TV on my Computer..... Switched at Birth comes back next Monday night.  I'm looking forward to that.  I did watch another episode of Airwolf this past week.  If I get a chance I may watch more.

What I found while surfing the net.... Been surfing a lot of Tunisian crochet patterns

My Menu.... or what I'm buying for/making this week.  You can see my complete freezer meal selection and meals I can make on my sidebar.

•  Pizza with homemade sauce.
• Jalapeno Popper chicken  *new recipe
• Slow Cooker Philly Cheesesteak
• Crockpot Chicken Tacos/Burritos
• Round Steak Cassreole  *New Recipe
• Spaghetti & Meatballs (all from store)

On my to do list this week....

• make menu
• make grocery list
• contact landlord about AC not working
• finish rich cables tote for my friend (I'm almost done with it)
• clean bathrooms
• work on flowers for my flower power curtain for the bottom of my window upstairs
• sweep living room
• pre-make a few freezer meals

In the craft basket....

I made these Saturday.  Next I'm going to work on flowers for a curtain.

Looking forward to this week.... Friday night MTG draft.  I hope there are a lot of players show up.  Also the cooler temps.

Looking around the house....
Not too bad.....there are dishes that need washed.  The rug needs vacuumed, the upstairs room swept,

From the camera....
Oh the joys of not having regular screens for my windows upstairs.  Our biggest concerns were to keep the cat in and the birds out.  This little guy came to visit last night.

On my prayer list.....

• My sister
• Business
• Friday Night MTG Draft to be a big success

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

Catch-Up Again

Just a head up, this post is photo heavy.  After reading you will know why I've not been around this week.

Monday night we did some floor repair in the "gaming loft" at The Castle.

 We went to the Gym

Who knew an Ab workout could be so fun.  Basketball?  Seriously!  I was pretty tired from my other workouts by the time I got here so I didn't get to "play" much.

Tuesday I finished the afghan for my sister.  Just need to weave in my ends, still.

 We also started painting the walls in the bathroom at The Castle. Out with the nasty purple, in with the Real Teal!

I stepped out to get something and came back to this on the wall.  Awwwwww so sweet!

 I also started some zucchini chips and tomato slices drying in my dehydrator.  I had the thing FULL!

Wednesday, thanks to the cooler temps we're having, we moved the bed back upstairs.  We don't have AC up there and with 100*+ heat index there was no way we would have survived.  It's nice to have the mattress up off the floor and to be able to properly make it again.

We moved Fuzz back upstairs too, and she knew right where she belonged.  

My dehydrator goods finished drying also.  Here's my tomatoes.  They are my favorite from this week.

and I had a quart and a half  (zip  bags) of zucchini chips.  These are strange, but I think they are growing on me.  Kinda taste like salted straw.  LOL!

 I WAS going to make the no boil slow cooker mac and cheese, but the day was chaos and I didn't get a chance to get it started.  Hubby was out of town on a job and didn't get back until about 5:30, so thankfully I found a regular homemade mac and cheese recipe that used the same ingredients!  This was ok, but it needed some spices or something.  Rather bland.  I don't like all the salt in store bought mac and cheese, but right now it's still the favorite.

 Last night (Thursday) I made the Cream Cheese Chicken, and OH MY WORD was it good!  It was a little on the rich side, but yah, it was good!

Since most of the promised crochet projects are nearly done I did some Tunisian Crochet.  Learned another new stitch in making this wishy washy dishcloth.

So now I'm trying to finish up a Rich Textures Cable Tote for a friend.  I hope to have it done by tomorrow night when they come over.  I should have it done I only have 6 more rows and the handles to make and sew on.

See you again on Monday unless I find some time this weekend to sneak in a post.  Have a good one Everyone!

I'll be working on another menu this weekend as well.....looking forward to sharing it on Monday.  You can see what's currently in my Freezer and what I have on hand to make on the sidebar.

Kielbasa and Potatoes

This was pretty good but I got in a hurry and didn't get the spices added and the potatoes needed to cook a little bit more. My excuse: I was hungry.

If you want to give it a try you can get the recipe HERE.

Joanna commented on my HHM post from earlier today on how I prepared my potatoes.  Well.....I roughly chopped them (chopping vegetables isn't something I'm good at) and pre cooked them in the microwave for about 8 minutes on high.  Next time I think  maybe more like 10 to 12 minutes would be better.

I cooked this in the skillet and my kielbasa didn't produce much grease to cook the potatoes in, so I added a couple heaping tablespoons of shortening to my skillet.

I did get salt added, at least I added that.  LOL!  I'll try this again.  Maybe next time I can get good fried taters (not good at that either) by microwaving them a bit longer and remember to add the rest of the spices.

HHM 8/10/2015

The weather in my neck of the woods:

Wondering if we are getting our Fall already.  Even next week's forecast looks similar. Cooler days and much cooler nights this week.

Things that make me happy:
My Fuzzy kitty.  She comes running when my alarm goes off, for some morning loving. At night, if I'm sitting down doing something she has been laying at my feet.

Menu for this week:
Most all my menu items are make ahead crockpot dishes

Not sure what order we will have them, or if I will add something to the menu

In the Freezer

Crockpot Beef and Gravy
Honey Garlic Chicken
Sriracha Honey Chicken Legs

Slow Cooker Cube Steak

Simple Pork Chop Dinner

Chicken Fried Steaks

To Make Up this Week

Some of these are prep on the morning er eat them.  Pretty simple to do in a few minutes.

• Kielbasa and Potatoes
• Chicken Fried Steak  My Dining on a Dime Cookbook P. 183 (older version)  mashed taters, homemade white gravy (dod cookbook P 183) Crockpot Creamed Corn 
• Cheesey Chicken & Tater Tot Bake  
• No Boil Mac and Cheese  
• crockpot Ravioli  
• Candy Chicken  
• Slow Cooker Peach Dump Cake
• Cream Cheese Chicken 

What's on my TV today:

probably nothing much.  I'm anxiously awaiting Monday the 24th, Switched at Birth is back for another season.


Looking around the house:

Living room: little vacuuming and straitening, but not bad

Kitchen: few dishes soaking in and on the sink waiting for me to wash them tonight

Bathroom: needs cleaned

Bedroom: not too bad

On my To Do List:

• Print out any new recipes I've chosen to make
• make ahead some meals on this weeks list
• work on my crochet projects

New Recipe I tried or want to try soon:
The crockpot Beef and Gravy was AMAZING!  In fact I actually have 2 more in the freezer, only 1 is under a different name.  The Cincinnati Chili was a bit much when it was fresh made, but the leftovers were pretty good (and I'm not a leftover person)

In the craft basket:
I'm still working on the afghan for my sister. I'm getting close to having it finished.   I volunteered to make a rich textures tote for a fellow yarn club member.  It's almost done as well. I got the rest of the yarn from her Saturday night.  I got my new tunisian crochet hooks so I've been crocheting with them.  Here's what I made Saturday night.  It looks knit, but it's really crocheted, honest.  It's the tunisian knit stitch.  It's big enough to fit my android phone.

Looking forward to this week:
getting a lot accomplished and both businesses doing well.

Tips and Tricks:
keep powder milk around.  I use it instead of milk most of the time in cooking.  1/3 cup powder to 1 cup water makes 1 cup or 8 ounces of milk.

Currently Reading

I haven't been reading a book this week I've been doing my best to listen to the Bible.  I finished up the book of John, finally, and am working on Psalms.


No words needed (favorite photo or picture):

Our latest project at the castle....part of the "garden" and it's also helping to block that hot, hot, afternoon summer sun.

The road signs are vinatage and many are hand painted.  They came from what used to be the local army ammunition plant

Lesson learned the past few days:

One of the Friday night "young adults" said something that just made complete sense.  I can't remember exactly how she said it, so this is my interpretation.  "It doesn't matter if you're fat or skinny, tall, or short.  It's all a matter of your own self confidence in yourself.

On my mind:

I was given some fresh homegrown veggies over the weekend.....I think I'll dehydrate them.  

Linking up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Happy Homemaker Monday
and
Organized Junkie for Menu Plan Monday