A Little of This and That. . .

. . .that’s what this post is going to be about. I have sat staring at my computer for too long now, without a single thought of any one particular thing to write about. So, I’m just going to share a few snippets of my life around here the last few days. Up above you’ll notice “the ladies” – these are our neighbor’s newest hens, recently arrived to replace the old ones who met their untimely demise at the hands mouth of a wandering bobcat (shhh…I don’t think we’ll tell them about that!) These ladies, like their predecessors, seem to enjoy the bugs in our yard better than the ones in their own yard, so I am frequently seeing them scratching around outside.

Today was my last day to hand wash all of our dishes – (wipes brow)! The new dishwasher arrived this afternoon and is running as I write, although I can barely hear it – these new ones are really quiet! I actually didn’t mind the hand washing too much as long as I kept up with it, but it was the hand drying part that I wasn’t crazy about. I did enlist a little help with that when necessary, but I am glad to have a working dishwasher again. And what was the very first thing I loaded into it? – a Mason jar drinking glass. I’m sure you don’t really care, but here it is – documented for all posterity –

I really am not so crazy as to take a picture like that (ahem!) – I believe it was taken by one of the girls – my girls, not the neighbor’s chickens. And while I’m being random, I will admit to taking the following picture – see if you recognize this from your own refrigerator –

Do you ever find this in your refrigerator? I was cleaning our’s out the other day, and came across this grouping at the back of the bottom shelf. I instantly knew who was responsible for this little meeting, as she has been found guilty of calling these meetings before. I took this picture to have evidence to hold over her head. Now I won’t name any names, but I will say that she is certainly old enough to know better. Enough said.

On a prettier note, I spent some time yesterday afternoon with my sewing machine – finally! I put together the above blocks which still need to be sewn together to make a big block for a new quilt Block of the Month that I am making. The finished quilt will look like this –

Yes, I love blue and white! And I also love the beautiful weather we have had the last few days. It has been in the 70’s the last two days and we all went for a walk both days around our neighborhood – well, some of us scooted on scooters, some of us walked, and one of us even “juggled” the whole way around – that was David, who was really jogging, but was so proud about his “juggling”, I just didn’t have the heart to correct him. Sorry I didn’t take any pictures, I was too busy enjoying the warm fresh air!

Oh, and look what arrived in the mail last week! –

I have spent a lot of time looking through this cookbook since it arrived, and am really loving what I see! It is very user friendly and the artwork in it is just lovely. The recipes are good, basic scratch recipes which I can’t wait to try. In fact, I didn’t wait – in honor of George Washington’s birthday today, I decided to try out the pie crust recipe and make a cherry pie for dinner tonight –

How did it turn out? Very delicious!

Enough randomness for one day. I hope you have a pleasant evening, and a great day tomorrow – we’ll be outside again – it is supposed to be 80 degrees! I do enjoy living in Texas!

Blessings,
Nancy

The Simple Woman’s Daybook ~ February 20

Hello! I hope you are having a great start to your week! Here is my Daybook entry for today ~

Outside my window. . .Sun and clouds today, alternating. Jack is playing with our neighbors’ dog – a big white Great Pyrenees who is super sweet. Robins are hopping around the damp yard looking for worms.
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I am thinking. . .about birthday plans for Tommy and Sarah, whose birthdays are coming up in March.
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I am thankful for. . .my new dishwasher that is being delivered this week! The old one finally died, although it deserves a rest after all of it’s hard work.
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In the kitchen. . .Barbecue chicken on the grill tonight with rice and a green salad.
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I am wearing. . .pink t-shirt, jeans, dark blue sweater.
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I am creating. . .nothing, which is why . . .
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I am going. . .to be planning a quilting day for myself very soon.
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I am wondering. . .what to plant in the garden this year.
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I am reading. . .still reading “You Never Stop Being a Parent” (Jim Newheiser and Elyse Fitzpatrick) – enjoying it so far.
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I am hoping. . .to get by the nursery and pick up some onions to get in the ground as soon as possible.
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I am looking forward to. . .visiting my quilt shops this weekend.
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I am learning. . .that I have much more energy when I don’t drink anything but water on a daily basis.
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Around the house. . .blankets laying around on the couches – the kids snuggle up in them all day long, and they seem to always be out, even though we do fold them all up once a day!; Laura and Jeff hauling a file cabinet up the stairs to her room; still a few boxes of toys laying around to go through for Anna and David’s room, but mostly their room is cleaned out and organized (again!).
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A favorite quote for today. . .“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” ~ Philippians 4: 8 one of my favorite verses.
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One of my favorite things. . .painting my nails with mauvy pink nail polish.
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A few plans for the rest of the week. . .shopping, cleaning, schooling, skating, ballet, and Michael’s final basketball game of the season.
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A peek into my day. . .grocery shopping, washing dishes (by hand! – remember broken dishwasher), laundry, and a relaxing evening with my family.
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Our wall of Valentine hearts – we recorded ways that God has shown His love to us.

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Thanks to Peggy at The Simple Woman’s Daybook for this wonderful meme. Visit Peggy to find the February list of participants in The Simple Woman’s Daybook.

Have a lovely evening!

Blessings,
Nancy

Homemade Waffles

I spent most of the day yesterday cleaning out Anna and David’s room, sorting toys and filling 5 trash bags with stuffed animals, toys, and books to give away, and 3 bags of trash and broken toys to throw away! I was glad that I had planned a simple dinner to follow all that effort!

My experience with homemade waffles actually started very recently. We traveled to Austin last December for our nephew’s wedding, and the hotel that we stayed in over the weekend served a wonderful full and free breakfast for its guests. Now I never make it downstairs for these breakfasts, partly because I sleep as late as I can, and partly because I move slowly in the mornings, taking my time showering and dressing for the day. Jeff, on the other hand, is quite the early bird, and got up and organized the troops to head down to retrieve breakfast, which they brought back to the room to eat, bringing me assorted samplings of what was available.

Tommy had discovered a waffle iron and batter all set up for cooking, and he managed to figure out how to cook them himself – impressive for a 14 year old boy with no experience. I must interject here the sad fact that I had never bought or eaten anything but frozen waffles in my entire life – not once had I experienced a homemade waffle, in any restaurant, growing up at home, or since being married. 😦 So, anyway, Tommy made one for himself, and he made one for me that morning. I was an instant convert! This waffle was huge, and fluffy, and warm, and delicious. Tommy loved his too, and announced that weekend that he was going to buy me a waffle iron for Christmas, with no complaint from me!

Christmas came around and not only did I get a nice waffle iron from my boys, but I also came home with a smaller one from the white elephant gift exchange that my family does each year (something we all look forward to, with plenty of jokes and laughing, which is worthy of a separate post sometime). Anyway, I was all equipped and ready to start churning out waffles for my family.

So the week after Christmas, I tried out my new waffle irons. I used a box mix and proceeded to learn the fine art of waffle making. It was truly a learning experience! It took me a few batches to figure out the best amount of batter to put on the iron, and how long to let them cook, but they turned out quite edible, and we enjoyed the meal.

This week I added them to the menu again for last night’s dinner, and decided to make them from scratch rather than a mix. I went online (of course!) and found a simple recipe rather quickly. The recipe I used was from Granny’s Kitchen, which I followed exactly except that I doubled it and added some vanilla, which I think adds a wonderful flavor (I use vanilla in my pancakes, too!). The recipe at the site is for pancakes and waffles, so if you’re wanting pancakes instead, you might pop over to Granny’s blog and read the original recipe. She basically used a pancake recipe, and tweaked it a bit for waffles. I am sharing only the waffle recipe here.

Anyway, these waffles turned out beautifully, and were so delicious! Everyone loved the flavor and we were all completely stuffed when we finished dinner. The recipe was very simple, using ingredients that I (and you too!) always have in my pantry. I took the above picture while I was cooking them, but forgot to take a picture of the full plate of cooked waffles! (well, my brain was a bit weary by then!) So I almost put this post off until the next time I baked waffles. When I just happened to mention that to Sarah, who was sitting nearby when I pulled out the laptop, she said “I took pictures of them.” Really??? So, I uploaded them from her camera, and now you can at least see how they turned out! Well, Sarah’s plate anyway –

Golden, buttery, sweet and delicious. I ate two of these fluffy delights and was totally stuffed for the evening. So, without further ado, the recipe ~

Homemade Waffles

1 1/2 cups flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
4 tablespoons cooking oil
(2 tablespoons vanilla, if desired)

In a large bowl whisk together the egg, oil and milk. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until well moistened. (If overmixed, finished product will be tough.)

Follow manufacturer’s directions for heating your waffle iron. Spray grids with cooking spray and then fill with a little more than 1/3 cup but less than 1/2 cup of batter (experiment to see what amount works best in your waffle iron). Lift lid of waffle iron and check brownness after about 3 minutes; let waffles continue to cook until desired brownness. Yields 6 waffle squares.

Leftover waffles (we didn’t have any!) can be frozen when cool, by popping them in a freezer bag. Toast them as you would a store-bought frozen waffle…but they will taste so much better!

Have a nice day!

Blessings,
Nancy

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day to you all! What a lovely day to share our love with all of the people that God has blessed us with in our lives. And what a wonderful day to remember the greatest love giver of all – our God and Father, who loved us so much that He provided the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, who gave the ultimate gift – His life – to redeem us from our sin, and to bring us back from darkness into the glorious light of His love.

At our house, we are decorating Valentine boxes and bags, making Valentines to exchange, and decorating hearts to put up around the house with ways that God has shown His love to each of us. Dinner tonight will be Spaghetti and Meatballs with Salads and special Valentine Moon-Pie cookies that we will decorate this afternoon. After dinner, we will exchange Valentines with each other, as well as some small treats.

I hope you will have a wonderful day today with your loved ones!

Blessings,
Nancy

The Simple Woman’s Daybook ~ February 13

Good Evening! Here is my Daybook entry for today ~

Outside my window. . .cold, wet, and soggy, after last night’s rain/snow (which melted as soon as it hit the ground, but was pretty coming down!).
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I am thinking. . .about yesterday’s Sunday School lesson in Galatians 3, especially verse 3 – “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” We find it so easy to accept our salvation by grace, but then try to grow ourselves spriritually all by ourselves, rather than realizing that our growth is also by grace.
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I am thankful for. . .my warm, cozy house on a cold winter night.
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In the kitchen. . .Taco Soup with crackers was just right for dinner on this cold and misty evening. “Super Chocolate Cookies” (basically chocolate cookies with M & M’s, peanuts, and raisins) for dessert.
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I am wearing. . .navy shirt and sweater with blue jeans.
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I am creating. . .clean laundry and dishes for my family.
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I am going. . .to be looking for things to get rid of around the house.
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I am wondering. . .if Matthew’s cold is any better today – he was not feeling well at all yesterday. Time for a mommy to son text message.
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I am reading. . .I picked up “You Never Stop Being a Parent – Thriving in Relationship with Your Adult Children” by Jim Newheiser and Elyse Fitzpatrick in the church library yesterday, and will be reading/skimming it this week.
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I am hoping. . .to see the sun tomorrow.
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I am looking forward to. . .celebrating Valentine’s Day with my family tomorrow.
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I am learning. . .that perfection is not a reality in this life, and that my best is good enough.
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Around the house. . .a Mario puzzle is in progress on the table, bags of toys from the littles’ room to go through and organize/pare down are on the living room floor, a pretty fabric Valentines garland is draped on the stair rail.
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A favorite quote for today. . .“How comprehensive is the love of Jesus! There is no part of His people’s interests which He does not consider, and there is nothing which concerns their welfare which is not important to Him.” – Charles Spurgeon
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One of my favorite things. . .playing Tiny Tower on my IPad.
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A few plans for the rest of the week. . .ice skating, ballet, taking Sarah and David to friends’ birthday parties, basketball, a sleepover at our house for Michael and two of his friends, and celebrating Valentine’s Day tomorrow.
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A peek into my day. . .spent most of the day on household duties – finding receipts for store returns, laundry, washing dishes, and precooking and freezing ground beef and chicken for later this week.
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Sleepy Edward snuggled up at Laura’s feet at the end of the recliner.

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Thanks to Peggy at The Simple Woman’s Daybook for this wonderful meme. Visit Peggy to find the February list of participants in The Simple Woman’s Daybook.

Have a good night!

Blessings,
Nancy

Pork Chops on Orange Rice

A few years back I mentioned in my Daybook that we were having these pork chops for dinner, and ended up sharing the recipe in the comments section. Last week, while making this for our dinner I decided to take some pictures and write up a full post on it. The recipe is from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook (you know the one – red and white plaid!) that I bought when we were first married. It is a simple recipe and very delicious. We love the flavor of the orange rice in this dish and how well it complements the pork chops. The ingredients listed below are for a single recipe which should serve 4-6 people. I usually double the recipe for our family, so you will notice more food in the pictures than the recipe calls for. Here we go ~

Ingredients:

6 pork chops, 3/4 inch thick
1 1/3 cups Minute Rice (uncooked)
1 cup orange juice
1 can Chicken with Rice soup
Salt and pepper to season

In skillet, brown pork chops on both sides; season with salt and pepper –

Place rice in 13 x 9 baking dish –

Pour orange juice over rice –

Arrange pork chops on rice –

Pour chicken with rice soup over all –

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, then uncover and bake 10 more minutes –

Delicious!

Okay, confession time – we love the orange rice. . . we love the orange rice so much that instead of doubling, I now triple the rice ingredients in this recipe. This gives everyone a nice pile of rice with their pork chop. Feel free to do the same for your family. They’ll thank you for it – believe me, they will.

Oh, and it simply must be served every time with applesauce around here. On days when I am cooking this, my kids can be heard around the house quoting Peter Brady from the old 1970’s Brady Bunch show saying “Were having pork chops. . . and . . . applesauce” (spoken through their teeth). If you’ve seen it, you know what I mean. If not, well just ignore this paragraph. Except for the part about serving this dish with applesauce – it really is good.

Have a wonderful day!

Blessings,
Nancy

A Day With the Dinosaurs

A week or so ago we spent the afternoon at the nearby nature museum. They were hosting an exhibit of animatronic dinosaurs, which were placed around the park on one of the nature trails. It was a beautiful afternoon to be outside and we enjoyed the outing. Besides moving, the dinosaurs also made noises and were fun to look at. Here are a few of the pictures that I took ~

This cabin is one of my favorite things on the trail. We used to be able to go inside, but it is in bad need of repair now, so the park had it nailed shut. I hope its renovation is on their spring to-do list!

Thankfully there were some dinosaurs that were specially made to be climbed on by the kids, since they could really only just look at the robotic ones ~

The T-Rex was huge as was to be expected. There was water dripping from his mouth for some unknown reason, which made him all the creepier!

A fairly new and growing part of the museum is their collection of live animals. Some of the ones we saw outside were this raccoon and deer ~

The indoor portion of the museum has many hands on activities for the kids, as well as exhibits about nature items of local interest. Something new this time was live animals, some of them on temporary vacation from the outdoor area for the winter. We enjoyed watching the lemurs ~

There was an entire room devoted to snakes – UGH! But it was a good lesson for all of us on what the poisonous snakes in the area look like, so we can avoid them, like this rattlesnake for instance ~

This guy was fun to look at, although I never saw him move at all!

No matter how many times we’ve been to visit the nature museum, it is always interesting each time. We’ll be going back this Spring, when everything starts to come back to life and enjoy the flowers and plant life that was mostly dormant on this trip.

Have a nice day!

Blessings,
Nancy

A Visit from NASA!

Last week we had a fun surprise – NASA came to town with a test model of the new Orion spaceship. I was working on dinner when Jeff called. He had stopped for gas at a nearby truck stop on his way home from work, and he said that there was a flatbed truck carrying a space capsule parked there. I put dinner on hold and we all jumped in the van to go see. When we got there we joined a number of other onlookers who had stopped by to check it out like we did. Everyone had their phones and cameras out taking pictures and I was no exception! Here are a few of the shots that I took –

At first we thought it might be a part of an old Apollo space capsule, but later at home I went to the website written at the bottom of the trailer and found out that it was a test capsule for the new Orion space program. The inside of the capsule was empty – it was really just the framework that was there, as it was used in testing I suppose. The testing had been going on in New Mexico, but the capsule is now on it’s way to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It is making stops along the way in Oklahoma, Texas, and Alabama to give people a chance to see it. We happened to be at one of it’s overnight stops before heading into the Dallas area. You can read more about this at this NASA website.

It was a really neat surprise and an impromptu lesson for the kids on both the Apollo space missions, as well as the new Orion plans. One of the things I love about homeschooling is seeing how many lessons the Lord brings our way when we least expect it!

Have a great day!

Blessings,
Nancy