Happy hump day all. This week seems all messed up - holidays do that to me. Oh well, it is what it is! Have you all calmed down and cleaned up after the holiday crowd left? I had no mess (not for now), that will come later for me. I ate somewhere else, so no big cooking mess here either.
I think many will be eating leftovers for a few days - then comes the big cook for New Years. I plan on making the family (my family) traditional dinner of corned beef, cabbage and black eye peas. I love it and look forward to having a Rueban sandwich the day after!
Today I am going to make up a bunch of chicken breasts. They are out and thawed, and I am going to cook them for different applications. So many ways to use chicken in a meal. As is, nuggets, strips, soup, casseroles, enchiladas, shredded and BBQ'd, etc.
I think I may get out grapes from the freezer as well this week and make jelly!
I am now in the mode to try to get back to somewhat normal - whatever that is! I can start now and slowly get into the hang of it for the new year!
January seems to be the month that we all slow down a bit and BREATHE after a hectic holiday season.
It is usually cold and gloomy (who knows this year), and we all tend to hole up for a long winter's nap!
The books, throws and hot chocolate all seem to come out. Aaahhhhhhhh
Whatever you do today - do it well and happily. Smile, laugh and just enjoy this day you have been given.
Have a wonderful Wednesday!
Seeing the holidays go by is a relief to some, to others a letdown. You still have an event to come , which sound like fun with family. I'm wondering how long it will take folks in the neighborhood to deflate and put away all their outdoor decorations. Some houses were really decked out.
ReplyDeleteIt's really handy to have protein ready to go for a meal. We froze the rest of the pot roast and put it into bags. Need to go through the freezers and see what needs to be used.
Enjoy your day! Snuggles to the bitty-kitties!
Cold this morning but the sun looks like it will make an appearance. Looks like we will have some precipitation Thursday and Friday.
Yes there is good and bad with the holidays winding down. I do have family coming on the 7th - but that is such a joy when it happens. We snack and catch up and of course there are some gifts! (goodies)
DeleteI like having things ready to go. Chicken is just so easy to use in different dishes, and I do bacon that way too.
Kind of what I am doing - going through the freezer.
It is sure bright and sunny for the moment. Love it.
Happy Wednesday! The coffee just finished brewing. We have an icy dawn today, but (like yesterday) it should be sunny and 40s later. At this altitude, sunny days feel warmer than they are!
ReplyDeleteLove that you pre-prep for meals! I've started doing that before meat gets tucked into the freezer; something I did when our sons were growing up, and am doing again. There are a few cookies left. Today Hubs will pick up cupcakes with sprinkles for my birthday. Have to decide what I want him to pick up for dinner. Zach will join us when he gets off of work, but restaurants here close at 8pm--dinner at home it is! Maybe a rotisserie chicken?
I'm odd in that getting older doesn't bother me. I was happy to turn 40, tickled to be 50, and on my 60th (we did go out to dinner), told the staffer taking our picture, "I made it!" And I meant it. Being 62 now means S.S. kicks in. I have a simple, comfortable home. I have love of family & pups. Life is GOOD. :-D
--Elise
Happy birthday, Elise and many many more. Cookie
DeleteThank you, Cookie!
DeleteIt is frosty here but sunny. That is great to me.
DeleteHope you have a great birthday and enjoy the cupcakes and dinner! Nice to pick up something and eat it in the comfort of your own home. Cozy.
Enjoy your day and hope you have a great year ahead. Ye, getting older is a gift - not everyone is so fortunate, and we should enjoy each and every day!!
Thank you, Cheryl. Son just called awhile ago and will bring homemade enchiladas after his work day. :-)
DeleteWell, Happy Birthday Elise!!! Sounds like a wonderful and peaceful day!
DeleteI'll be 63 this week. : ) It's never bothered me either.
God is good.
Thank you, Amelia, and Happy Birthday to you, too!!!
Delete(((Hug))) --Elise
I'm still at my daughter's house, but will be heading home later this morning. It's been a lovely time, and the weather has been good so the drive home should be an easy one.
ReplyDeleteShe's sending me home with Christmas goodies, butter tarts, caramel bar and others to share with C. I'm sure he'll be happy to get the treats.
We had leftovers last night, and I suspect she'll finish off what is left over the next couple of days. We never had a special meal for New Years and I suspect it will be something simple...I have time to decide. :)
Enjoy the peace and quiet of post-Christmas.
Have very safe travels home and I am happy the roads are clear.
DeleteSounds you will not have to cook for a few days - at least as far as goodies. Your son will love the goodies!
Be safe and look forward to hearing more about the trip.
Yes, we took down the outside lights yesterday and the blow ups are in the garage drying out. I took all the ornament off the tree but we still have the tree itself up. Just love the lights.
ReplyDelete# We have been talking again about putting a fireplace in, that will be a summer time thing since it's so cold here now.
# I love Christmas but am so glad the craziness is over.
# So on your meal prep are you going to be cooking the chicken up and then freezing it. Inquiring minds want to know!
WOW you are getting things down in a jiff. I love the lights too - I could do lights all year long! Decorations not so much.
DeleteOh, a fireplace would be lovely. So cozy and warm on a winter's day! That will be nice.
Yes, I cut up the chicken breast in various ways - I did fillets for todays dinner, cut big breast in half, and made strips and nuggets. They were big and that will make several meals. I will bag for various uses, and then they will just need heated up or thawed to add to something. I like having it pre-cooked. I do bacon that way too!
I see you are having some cold temps that way - hope you get snow! I know you love it.
I don't think we'll be getting snow down at my elevation 983ft but up much higher 2000 ft or more. Right now it's just pouring buckets. I could have done the lights for a bit more but Butch was in the mood to take them down, usually it's not till August LOL.
Delete*Why don't you put up a string of the small white lights around your bookcase or entertainment center? Mood lifting!
* Your chicken ideas sound good.
I have thought about putting rope lighting on top of the bookcase or twinkle lights. Bummer on no snow for you.
DeleteSurprised he wanted it all down so soon.
Thanks!
Yes, the white lights are so wonderful! They are half price right now at Wally. We have *all* of our Christmas stuff up and I'm sure it's going to stay that way, it would break my heart to strip it down now. Our youngest daughter who lives here loves the little trees everywhere too....It's mood lifting. Yes, even strings of white lights here and there are lovely.
Delete~Amelia
LaurieS, I do take the glass look bulbs down later (clarifying) ; ) , and then leave the doggy ornaments, maybe mix some hearts for valentines, then later take some of the icicles off, but save those because they are getting so hard to find now-a-days. and then....the white lights are left. But I just take my sweet time. As I wrote on one of the other comments here, my mom always left everything as is until Jan. 6, Epiphany. She always would tell me that that was the day that the Wisemen came to see Jesus. (I know I already replied here just wanted to clarify) : ) ~Amelia
DeleteHi Cheryl. I roasted a chicken last night because I am craving chicken noodle soup. The carcass is simmering in the crock pot now. I usually make the noodles but was gifted a bag of local Amish noodles so they should be tasty. We're supposed to get rain/snow so it should be a good meal for tonight. Enjoy your day my friend!!
ReplyDeleteGreat minds! Chicken noodle soup is on my agenda this week too! I always keep some Amish noodles on hand - I really like them.
DeleteI think we are to get some more wet stuff and maybe flurries by Friday morning. Nothing sticking.
Thanks!
We had a lovely very low key Christmas. I mad a roast pork loin with potatoes, carrots and onions roasted in the same pan, waldorf salad and ice cream sundae's for dessert along with cookies. Left over pork was packed up into meals and put in the freezer. I make my own "healthy " hot fudge sauce. Everyone says it far surpasses anything you can buy.
ReplyDeleteHealthy hot fudge sauce -- makes about 1 cup.
'3/4 cup dates
1/2 cup cacao powder or coco powder
1 cup of canned coconut milk
1 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of sea salt
Heat the coconut milk and place the cococonut oil in it to melt.
Place everything in a high speed blender and process until smooth. You're done.
I usually just put it in glass jar and just reheat it in boiling water.'
It's full of fruit, good fat, antioxidants. What could be bad!!
No after Christmas shopping. Yesterday while Hubs watched the games I cut out aprons, soup bowl cozies, hot pads, and pot holders to be sewn at a later date. The New Year is upon us and we will celebrate our 47th wedding anniversary on New Years Eve. Where did the time go? It's cold and raining here today and will be like this for the rest of the week. Cream of zucchini soup is looking good for dinner tonight . Have a blessed day. Cookie
Glad you had a lovely low key weekend. Your meals sounds yummy. THANK YOU for the recipe - so healthy sounding!
DeleteNo after Christmas shopping here either.
Oh in case I forget Sunday - HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! That is wonderful - 47 years! It goes by quickly, doesn't it?
Oh yum - cream of zucchini soup sounds divine. Haven't made that yet this winter. I will add it to my list!
Thank you for that recipe, Cookie! And Happy Anniversary! Ours is Jan. 5th (39 years), and we'll go out for dinner for that. The local steakhouse, probably: it's Hubs' favorite. --Elise
DeleteP.S. The only after Christmas shopping I did was online using rewards "cash", so no cost to me. Very practical, too... a 2 qt. crock pot. One goal this year is to learn NOT to cook so big. LOL!
Happy Anniversary, Cookie!!! That is great! I hope your week is a nice peaceful one and it already sounds like it is, just peacefully cutting out things like that. That sounds so happy.
DeleteWe'll be married 44 years in June. : )
~Amelia
I need to try to make some cream of zucchini soup, that sounds so good...
Attention AZ Shoppers! We didn't get fliers in the mail, but I looked them up online. Hubs will be heading out soon for the following at Safeway:
ReplyDeleteDigital coupons for pork ribs, $1.97 lb., limit 2 bags, Signature Select ice cream, $1.77 ea. limit 2, 8 lb. bags of naval oranges $4.99 ea. limit 2. No coupons needed for Sanderson Farms split chicken breasts, 97 cents lb.. I'm also having him pick up frozen or dried black eyed peas to cook with ham broth.
Basha's will be visited on Friday:
59 cents lb. cabbage, 88 cents lb. Honeycrisp apples, 3/99 cents green onions, radishes or cilantro, 2/$5 Idaho potatoes in 5 lb. bag (we'll just get one if possible), and more pork back ribs $1.47 lb. limit 3. Optional... Fri.-Mon. Lobster tails are $4.77 ea. Those are only 3-4 oz., so we'll likely take a pass. --Elise
P.S. Has anyone made Orange Marmalade? Oranges keep in the fridge a long time, but I'm thinking of 2 - 8 lb. bags so I can make marmalade.
Those are some good prices. Cabbage is .49/lb. here, but chicken breast is 1.99/lb. Decent price on lobster - even if smaller.
DeleteI'm ready for 2024! Excited for changes to come!
ReplyDeleteChristmas here was 50F and it was lovely being outside.
Wishing you a rocking New Year!
I think I am ready as well - time for some different things!
DeleteIt was 60 here on Christmas and then the rain started.
THANK YOU!
Wow, that's hot there too. I enjoyed it because I got to be outside. Took the trees down today. Wanted to do them last weekend only I couldn't get to it. Was nice though to wake up and take everything down. Love me some holiday decorations. And I also love taking everything down. Cheers and boogie boogie.
DeleteHi Cheryl! It's cool here today, I took a very long walk and enjoyed the sunshine but tomorrow it's going to be cold!
ReplyDeleteIt's so true, it's hard to get our bearings after Christmas! I couldn't believe today was Wednesday. I'm trying to just wander around picking up gift bags and putting things away. Got a laundry basket cleaned out of old keepsakes, I'm so embarrassed, some of the things were from our secondborn's wedding in '17 and some before. Washed a big load of darks, including some new fleece pants. yay! Love cozy fleece pants when it's cold!
We did make a trip to the very nice uso town Wally and I did get some wraps for 50 off, some pale pink poinsettias too, vintage look for probably 69 cents a piece. Tissue paper, all that jazz. I even got an "ugly" Chritmas sweater for 9 dollars, I thought it might come in handy for fun sometimes, it has a cute doggy face on the front.
I'm doing a vegetable, lentil, spinach and asparagus soup over pasta, (spaghetti). I need something healthy after all the heavy foods, tomorrow I'll bring out more heavy foods from Christmas but oh how we needed something a bit more soothing this evening.
Cabbage sounds good, I'll have to pick some up soon. Yes, January is a long month, a good time to stay inside and be cozy.
I'm so glad you are doing well, enjoyed the visit here! ~Amelia
P.S. I also made a dish of baked pasta with tofu-ricotta, pasta gravy, and dabs of sauteed spinach and put that in the freezer for my b-day, I'll top it with vegan mozarella before I finish it in the oven. Hubs and I will go to the city probably as usually one day and maybe go to one of the museums etc. so the real bday I'll be piddling in smalltown with our youngest daughter who lives here, and when we come home I'll have my casserole to put in the oven. We live so far out, and the way I eat, there's not much to pick up around here, but I will be happy being quiet, eating our baked pasta, maybe chocolate mint popsickle that I can eat and watching an old 40s movie. Suits me fine, nice, quiet and peaceful! : )
DeleteAmelia, I always think of the week between Christmas and New Year's to be a wash. Since we didn't put much Christmas out this year, it was very easy to pack away today. I'll leave the many gnomes up over the kitchen cabinets for winter, though. I'm glad you're leaving yours up awhile; your decorations are beautiful!
DeleteSounds like you got some good buys! And the soup sounds delish! Hubs says he couldn't find Black-eyed Peas, so brought home a bag of navy beans for a soup with scallions, celery and spinach in broth. Or as he calls it, "stoup". LOL! That's for another day, though. Tonight our son is bringing beef & bean enchiladas he made. --Elise
Happy (almost) Birthday!! We're almost the same age, I turned 63 in October.
Delete--Frances
Amelia yes it is always hard to get back to normal during the holidays - the days are all mixed up. I am still not straight!! Then we do it again next week. Oh well, after that things slow down for a long while.
DeleteGlad you got some new fleece pants - always comfy. Sounds like you have stayed busy.
All your food sounds good. Today I will make a small batch of chicken noodle soup - that sounds good.
You sure do get creative with your vegan foods! It always sounds good.
ELISE - I find black eye peas in cans, frozen and dried. I have all 3!!!! I do like them!
Frances, Happy Belated birthday to you too! : )
DeleteThank you for the birthday wishes, that is great that we are so close in age. It looks like we have a lot of nice ladies here similar in season of life. What a blessing!
Hello Elise! That 'stoup' sounds good! I buy the black eyed peas with snaps in a can sometimes by Allens brand. And also the frozen section has them too! : )
ReplyDeleteI'm sure your gnomes will be adorable in your kitchen for however long. In our families growing up we always had our Christmas tree up for New Years Eve, and my mom would not take anything down until Epiphany, January 6. For us now, the darker days in winter, we love the trees lit up sometimes til far after Valentines. My Italian uncle left his small fiber optic tree up year round he loved it so.
Thank you for the compliment on my decorations, Elise, that is so thoughtful and encouraging of you. I have some pics of our guest bathroom, I have all kinds of old photos and old movie posters in there as well as contrasting modern pitbull art, along with other shots of famous hero dogs, Sergeant Stubby and General George Patton's dog, Willie, mourning Gen. Patton's death. Old as in the 40s. I have old antique Christmas cards tucked in behind the photos too at this time. I have a few pale pink and gold bulbs in there with a Wonderful Life Christmas card too. Love that vintage pink. I try to make our home a place that ministers to my heart, a little eclectic, makes me happy. My German grandfather and dad were a lot like that too. I had a light-up moon sphere on the angel's lap for Christmas! So fun....
That is so thoughtful of your son to come by and bring supper, how sweet is that? : )
Sorry about the novella, I became carried away with my hot tea here. Have a sweet evening, Elise! ~Amelia
(Little Penpen) I am ready for something fresh and new and some different food! I’ve been sick for most of the month and started antibiotics for diverticulitis yesterday. I’ve been eating too much and the wrong foods. My cleanup really hasn’t begun, but I hope to undress the mantle and foyer table today. I am really enjoying my tree this year and will pray leave it up until after the first of the year!
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry you have been ill. I bet you are ready to start fresh. I sure hope the antibiotics are working for you.
DeleteI think we all eat too much of the wrong things this time of the year - sadly they affect some more than others. Get back on track so you can start the new year healthy.
The clean-up can wait. Leave the lights up as long as you enjoy them! I never used to take the tree down until after new years. Feel better!
Cheryl, I love the fact that you're taking the blog back to its roots. Hubs got his last stitches out yesterday but was cautioned that he still had to take it easy because it will take another 4 weeks for the internal ones to dissolve. As we approach NYE and our 47th anniversary we've been reminiscing and have had some good laughs. I told him we were actually celebrating the best decision he ever made. Life sure has been interesting. Some NYE's when he had to work I would go on a ride-along with him and his partner. Other times we went out with friends. Those were the days. Staying home is now more our style.
DeleteAmelia, it's been interesting reading about your small town. It's funny in some small towns around here too, although they don't call people outsiders. They're called the "come heres". There is definitely a division in a few towns. There are the "from here's and the come heres". Most "come heres" find their friends among other "come heres. Me -- I'm happiest working in my studio. Love to sew, paint, make cards and gift packaging, embroider, knit. etc.
It's been raining here for the past 3 days. I have some cream that needs using so I think I will probably make scones for NYD breakfast, start sewing up a birthday gift for my niece and plan a simple dinner for watching a late football game. Have a blessed day. Cookie
COOKIE - I hope your hubby continues to heal nicely. Tell him to be careful. It is amazing the ride we have all shared over the years with spouses. Ups and downs, laughter and tears. Enjoy each and every moment!
DeleteI think being home on NYE is more common as we get older. I remember going to parties and get togethers - not my thing today!
Funny how small towns are. Definitely cliques. I guess that is probably to be expected.
Enjoy your anniversary!