....another post Today....

Last night after dinner, I got a phone call, which in turn I neglected my kitchen~~~Oops, anyway, I finished tiding up the kitchen this morning, wiping down appliances, etc.

Then I vacuumed and now I am going to start tonight's dinner: Spaghetti:) So I will cook the ground beef and then simmer the sauce.

When I was at Walmart the other day, I picked up this little air freshener~~~~>

I only bought one, because I never used them before. This one is lavender and it smells delightful. I love my house to smell clean, but I also like it to smell pretty:) This pretty little freshener cost about 2.50. I will be getting more.

It's Friday~~~~~YaY!

Friday is here already~~~this week went by fast.

I don't have any set plans, so we shall see what is in store.

What are your weekend plans?

I am such a homebody, I love just staying at home with my family!

Happy Friday everyone!

Thursday!

Good Morning.

Thursday, what are the plans for Thursday. I am going to run a few errands and then I am going to come back home and bake a pie:)

I have chicken in the fridge for dinner, not quite sure how I am going to fix it yet.

Remember I told you it had been warm here~~~well it got so warm that my candle started to droop, isn't that funny....LOL. We have had to turn the a/c on here and there to cool off the house.

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Jon and Kate Plus Eight!

Every time my news screen pops up, it has something new everyday about Jon and Kate. What are your thoughts on all this~~~Thoughts?

Will you be watching the new season coming up?

Plans For Wednesday!

Today, I will be doing some housework and tiding up the home. <-----I guess those are the same thing...LOL.
My bread machine will be going, my laundry will be going, my vacuum will be going too, and I will be giving Alexis hopefully her last treatment for the lice, what an annoying little bugger those lice are.
It has been really warm here, so I have been able to wear some of my pretty sundresses. Nothing makes me feel more feminine then wearing a sundress with my apron.

Anyway, this is one of my favorite kind of days, just puttering around the home front and taking care of my family~~~~Happy Wednesday everyone!

Wordless Wednesday!

Happy Tuesday!

Kevin bought me a bouquet of flowers for Mother's day~~~I broke up the bouquet and put some in my kitchen, on my nightstand and in the bathroom:)

Happy Tuesday!!!

Making My List!

I am making my shopping list for tomorrow's grocery day. A few recipes had caught my eye the last couple of days on The Food Network. One recipe was an oldie--Tyler made his recipe for Chicken & Dumplings, and it looked awesome, so I will be making that this week. Sandra made donuts, so that will be on my list and Ellie, made a really good looking Grilled Cheese. Recipes I am sure we have all made over and over but just a new way or a few different ingredients.

On my shopping list I have also added fresh fruits and veggies. Lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes are always a must. Avocados should be added to my list of staples too. I will pick up as much as I can afford, I look for things that are in season and on sale. Remember last month Asparagus was on sale~~~I bought so much of that it took over my drawer....LOL.

I need cheeses and some fun snacks for the kids to eat~~Yogurt, string cheese, granola bars, goldfish, and things like that:) ...and of course some really fun snacks like Doritos, Cheetos, popcorn and cookies~~~~~The cookies I have to be extremely careful with~~I either have to make them myself or only buy Chips Ahoy, that is one brand that has no trace of any kind of nuts on the package.

Buttermilk is on my list for making Ranch Dressing.

Oh, I was looking through my cookbook and found Paula's Easy Roll recipe that I want to try too:

EASY ROLLS
butter for greasing muffin tins
2 cups self-rising flour
1 cup milk
2 tbsp sugar
4 heaping tbsp mayonnaise
preheat oven 350.
Lightly grease a 12 cup muffin tin with butter. In large bowl, combine flour and milk, blending with a rubber spatula. add the sugar and mayonnaise and stir until just combined. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin. bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Chicken and Dumpling Recipe

Grilled Cheese Recipe

Donut Recipe

...and one last recipe, I almost forgot. It was Fajitas. I really liked this recipe, because it takes a really inexpensive piece of meat that is usually tough, but if you slow cook it all day it will be super tender. Also, the beer in the recipe can be substituted with water!!!

Beer Beef Fajitas

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day
XOX

Happy Friday!

My washer has been going non-stop since Tuesday. I have to stop now and then and do regular wash instead of keep re-washing everything. My husband was running out of socks. I am just so thankful I have a washer and dryer to do all this. I don't know what I would have done if I had to go to the laundry mat~~~I guess I would have to bring a cot and just live there....LOL.

Alexis now has a cold, her poor nose is so stuffy. For breakfast Little Kevin had cinnamon toast and Alexis had a hard boiled egg and some toast. I started the wash at 6:15 this morning, so now after this post I will check that. I need to vacuum everything down again and go through her hair with a comb (Everyday)

Tomorrow I am going to dedicate part of the day to baking~~~~I have not been able to do really any sort of baking all week. So in between laundry I am going to do some baking. Wash and Clean on Friday and Bake on Saturday! It has been quite lovely outside, the kids have enjoyed running in the fresh warm air~~~Little Kevin is so fun to watch as he explores everything. He was waiving and saying hi to a bug...LOL.

Tony has guitar lessons today, he has been going for awhile. He was taking guitar in School, but it was not challenging. He can hear a song and then play it, it is really quite amazing!

Last night for dinner we had Nachos for dinner. Tonight, will be chicken. I have some nice chicken thighs defrosting.

When ever I make dinner, I try and make things that compliment each other. I am sure you all do the same. An example would be: If I make Spaghetti, I will make spaghetti with meatballs, garlic bread and a salad. If I make a steak, it would be steak, baked potato a steamed veggie and a salad. If I make pork chops, a starch ( mac and cheese, steamed rice, potatoes, etc) a steamed veggie and a salad. I like to make a meat/poultry/fish with a starch, cooked veggie and a salad. If I make nachos, it's just nachos, all the lettuce and tomatoes are all on the nachos, so we skip the salad. Also, I would not serve a dinner roll with Nachos, but I would serve a dinner roll with the steak dinner:)

Have an awesome Friday!

Here We Go Again.....

YEP!!!! Lice has made it's way into my home, once again. A neighbor called me yesterday and said she had found lice on her little girl~~~I check Alexis and sure enough, those little buggers were there too! Then my friend next door, I told her and yep, her daughter too. I washed my daughters hair, combed it, picked it, etc~~Washed bedding. I am doing all the vacuuming and washing again now this morning~~~So, you all know what I will be doing for the next 10 days!

Have a great Wednesday everyone.
Dinner will most likely be pork chops:)

Tuesday...

Remember in December my friend who was down on her luck was staying with me. Well, she was here for 5 months and moved out this past week. She had lost her husband, her home and her job, and was about to lose her car~~~~Well, I am hoping and praying she can make it, but I told her she can always come back if she needs more time. The day after she left, I had left the house to wish another friend a Happy Birthday, I come home and she is sitting in my kitchen, she said she came by, because she missed me~~~I told her she could come by any time, my door is always open. She wasn't the perfect house guest, but she was/is my friend.

.....so, I have spent the past two days getting the room she stayed in back in order.

Here are a few pictures of Kevin's birthday, he turned two:)

Tonight's dinner will be Baked Chicken, Fresh Corn on the Cobb, Fried Rice and a Green Salad:) Have a wonderful day, and thank you for visiting!

New Posts Coming...

It has been a busy fewe days ...new posts coming....:)

Things on Hand

There are certain items in my kitchen that I try to always have on hand. I think things like that we call staples. When I was about 20 and learning to stock my kitchen, someone called them staples---I thought to myself, *Staples?*...so I immediately called my grandmother and asked her what staples were. At that time, we did not have the Internet and Google.

(However did we manage back then...LOL)

Okay, so in my kitchen I try and always have on hand:

Yeast~~~I keep this in the freezer.
Bread flour
All purpose flour
butter/margarine
Oil
Rice~~~White/Brown/Jasmine/ Basmati
Pasta~~an assortment
Spaghetti sauce
I will have a few bags of dried peas~~~~Love pea soup.
Sugar
Eggs are a must!
Milk
An assortment of canned goods~~~I try and buy fresh veggies, but I also have canned veggies too.
Cream of mushroom soup~~~Some of you may think how unhealthy, hey it is a favorite of my husbands:)
Potatoes~~~~There are so many things you can do with potatoes~
Onions
Tomatoes
An assortment of herbs and spices. I will buy things like fresh Dill and Basil and dry them myself with my dehydrator. The dill I use a lot for my Ranch dressing.
Vinegar
Salt and pepper
...and my husband will say Popsicles are a must too...LOL~~~Probably not a staple, but they are always in the freezer....LOL.

Okay so some of these things may not actually be considered a staple, but they are things that make my kitchen happy:)

I am sure I have forgotten a few things but I will add them if I remember!

Is there something that is a must in your kitchen?

Question~~~

Has anyone used the *Topsy~Turvy*?

I am very curious about this. I have read some really good feedback on Amazon.

Wordless Wednesday!

Okay...

My MIL had not been feeling well, so she had been going to the doctors, and she was very persistent in this. Well, they had found cancer and she had to have surgery to have it removed. My husband flew out to Georgia to be with her. I was just not myself while my husband was away, so that is why there was a lack a posting. I did not want to say what was going on until my husband returned. He is home now and the test results showed they had gotten all the cancer, thank goodness, my MIL is the most awesome lady, and I don't know what we would do with out her.

Sunday was also Little Kevin's Birthday he turned 2 and we had a small party--pictures to follow, I took a bunch.

Well that is what has been going on here~~~~Now that my MIL is going to be better, things will be getting back to normal. It is hard when your husband is hurting, I felt so bad for everyone.

Wednesday!

Hope all is well with everyone in blog land. I have lots of things to discuss, but I can not do it until next week, I will explain why too at that time.

The weather here has been HOT~~~we even had to turn on the A/C for a few days to cool off the house, and might I add, I have a terrific sunburn~~~OUCH!! We filled up the little pool and played in the sunshine~~~ My kids used sunscreen, I did not~~~oh did I get red!

I baked some rolls today, did a little grocery shopping too.

I am making fish for dinner tonight, my absolute favorite~~YUM!

You all have a very Blessed day today and please remember to smile, you never know who may be looking at you::::Giggles:::: xoxox

WoW! Monday:)

Today
Mostly Sunny
High 94

Low 54

Hello!

Today is Saturday and I am just about done with my mountain of laundry~~~~I have been working on that every spare moment I had~~~Oh, how glorious it would be to have two washers. Sometimes I feel like just taking all the wash to the laundry Mat and doing it all at once. I remember one time my dryer had broke and I took everything to the laundry mat, I had ten washers going all at once~~bedding, rugs, lights, whites, darks, etc~~I had it all done in under 2 hours.

Okay, I am going to have a big clean today~~~I want this house to sparkle by tonight~

I have my lists going on my kitchen counter~~things I want to get done, grocery list, things I want to make etc.

Lots going on here~~~but I want you all to know, I read blogs everyday~~they help me keep focused, and they inspire and motivate me:) I may not always leave a comment, but I am there:)

Happy Saturday!

Food Post~~Pictures:)

Here are some pictures from Easter
A pretty Candle

I had fresh flowers in every room

A pretty bowl of candy

Deviled eggs

Stuffed mushrooms

Celery with cheese

My rolls ready to be put in the oven

My rolls ready to come out of the oven



A Fresh Green Salad~~Lots of Avocado





The ham out of the oven

The Ham after Kevin carved it

The prime rib roast coming out of the oven

The Roast all cut up

Potato Salad

Cheesy Potatoes

The green Beans and Cauliflower steaming away!




Freshly steamed Green Beans

Cheesy Cauliflower

I did my dinner buffet style, setting the table especially for Holidays has become quite a challenge, because Little Kevin is at a stage where he pulls everything off the table~~So for his safety, I had all the food buffet style out of reach:)

Thank you for looking. We had a really nice Easter~~~I hope all of you did too:)

Ecostore USA

I got an email from Ecostore, and she asked me to let you all know this~~~~~>


Hello,

Please let your readers know that Malcolm Rands will be touring Meijer Stores. Malcolm will be available to answer any questions on Eco friendly products. The first 25 moms or dads that ask Malcolm A question will receive an organic Ecostore T-Shirt. There will be entertainment for the kids while mom and dad ask Malcolm ( Ecoman) questions. Listed below is the tour schedule.

Thank you,

Melissa

Ecostore USA

4/13 Chicago - McHenry (5-7 PM)

4/18 Detroit - Wixom (5-7 PM)

4/20 Fort Wayne - Illinois Road (5-7 PM)

4/21 Indianapolis - Carmel (5-7 PM)

4/22 Cincinnati - Harrison Road (4-6 PM)

4/23 Grand Rapids - Cascade (2-4 PM)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was given to try, their Dish soap, Dishwasher Rinse and their Toilet Cleaner---I have to say all the products worked wonderfully, and they smelled nice too. The rinse for my dishwasher really helped , my dishwasher was starting to leave those water, soapy spots but the rinse aid made them sparkle:)

Hello!

I hope everyone that stops by has a blessed Easter~~~I so enjoy writing my blog, and the comments I get make it so much more enjoyable~~~you truly all help me be a better person!xoxoxoxoxox

Friday!

Okay---they had a super sale at the grocery store this week--there prime rib roast, the same kind we made at Christmas was on sale again and my husband told me to pick one up at the store for Easter Dinner, along with a ham. The roast was originally 45.00--I paid 15.00~~~YaY!
So, my menu is in the making with the awesome sale on certain things---Green beans were on sale and so was cauliflower. I will make potato salad along with Potato Chantilly.

Another thing that has totally made me sad---ALL STORES will be opened on Easter---UGH, what is wrong people~~~~ Jesus is so important~~~Do we not honor him anymore~~~UGH!

Potatoes Chantilly for Easter Dinner

WE JUST LOVE CHEESE IN THIS HOME!!!

Cheesy Potatoes--AKA Potatoes Chantilly

I got this recipe in an Easter edition of Woman's Day magazine--in 1995...LOL--it was in an article about Amy Grant and what she serves on Easter--and these potatoes were one of her side dishes--this recipe is actually on the Internet too--it is a wonderful potato side dish, very rich--and you can use different cheeses too--we love Cheddar so that is what I use.

CHANTILLY POTATOES

6 Large potatoes
2/3 Cup Milk
5 Tablespoons of butter or Margarine
1 tsp Salt
Pepper
1 c. heavy cream
3/4 c. shredded Cheddar cheese

Boil potatoes until tender. Mash with butter and milk. Season with salt and pepper. Whip the cup of cream until stiff. Spread mashed potatoes in a greased 3 quart baking dish. Spread whipped cream over the mashed potatoes; sprinkle with grated Cheddar cheese. Bake until cheese melts and top is golden brown at 350 degrees --the magazine says 45 minutes, I just watch it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have been doing a lot of work around the home, I just bleached down the kitchen, cleaned the master bathroom and I am working on laundry detail too. I was able to walk my mile too~~~I just adore preparing for Easter:)

Happy Thursday!

Wednesday~~~

Happy Wednesday!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week. We are currently on spring break and I am just loving having everyone home.

I made my regular dinner rolls and gave them to a few of my neighbors and then I got inspired and did some research on the Net and found a recipe for
Jalapeno Cheddar Rolls~~~>


Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/3 cup canned jalapeno pepper, minced
50 ml sugar
1 teaspoon salt
5 ounces hot water (105'-115')
1 package active dry yeast
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Directions
1. Follow your Bread machines recipe directions for adding ingredients.

I used my bread machine on the dough cycle and added the directions that my bread machine book says to do---I then made the rolls let them rise and let them bake in my oven for 12 minutes--I have to say they came out AWESOME!!!

Sunday!

Please everyone who may stop by my little blog~~~Have a glorious Sunday~~~God is so absolutely wonderful giving us such a beautiful day today, and everyday. Smile, laugh and make today special~~~breath deep in the beautiful air and know how absolutely awesome each and every one of you are~~~God is sooo good. I lay in bed at night and pray to him and thank him for all that he has blessed me with, I thank God, my husband, children and dear friends~~~Enjoy this day xoxo Happy Sunday:)

Missing Scenes!

I think you all know by now, I am a very big fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder and the Little House shows and books---well, when I heard there were missing scenes out there I just had to find them~~~~> This is a really cute missing scene about Laura getting new shoes with a heel:)





Here is a whole youtube channel full of missing scenes~~~~I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
Click Me

Also, I am just heart broken they not only took the Waltons off of Hallmark, but now they took off Little House :(

Thursday!~~~and a question:)

Happy Thursday everyone~~~This week is almost over and spring break will soon begin--Yay!! I love having ALL my kids home with me. Easter is fast approaching and I am looking through my Taste of Home and other magazines and cookbooks for some special Easter recipes.

I need some ideas--

What are some special dishes you make on Easter?

P.S. I already did two, yes, two loads of laundry...LOL. Chili is in the crock pot for dinner tonight
Happy Day Everyone!

Kitchen Frugality~~

If anyone is reading this from there--where did the message board go? I can see it in my google reader but it is gone when I try to go to the actual board:( Is it gone? OHHH, I think I remember you all started another board just in case, can I come over?
Help!! :)