My Favorite Appliances and Updates

   I can't believe that tomorrow is D.E.C.E.M.B.E.R.!!  Really?? Time has been buzzing by.  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. We spent a lot of time with family and did very little shopping!  Jeremiah, the kids and I ran out and got a few items like bird seed, bird suet and then ran to Wal-Mart and got Christmas cards, a calendar and the boys picked up some hunting supplies.  Madi got a few little items she wanted but nothing we got were Black Friday special items. 

   Jerm and the kids have been battling some head colds.  Nothing serious but tissue use has been up!  :-)  Jeremiah was able to go to work but Madi had to call in sick on Monday.  I have been drinking lots of water and staying consistent with my vitamins and so far I haven't gotten sick.  I have two diffusers and I have been diffusing essential oils.  I ordered another one on Monday because I didn't have enough for each of our bedrooms.  I diffused two different kinds of oils.  One was for respiratory and the other blend was to boost the immune system and fight off the germs.  I also put some lavender in to help with sleeping.  I also put the oils on the bottoms of the their feet and behind their ears.  I'm not going to say it "cured" them but it helped their symptoms.

 

   Since everyone has been feeling icky I have decided to stick with easy foods. One of my favorite appliances is my crockpot.  I have quite a few of them.  I'm thinking like 7/8 or so- maybe a few more.  I really don't know. I like how easy it is to throw some simple ingredients in it and let it cook!  I end up with a healthy dish to serve and I know what ingredients are in there. I use my crockpots for soups, stews, whole chickens, roasts, meat and to keep foods warm like pasta dishes.  I think the crockpot is pretty versatile so I try to use it often.

   I use my bread machine weekly also.  I make my own pizza dough and we eat pizza frequently.  I prefer homemade pizza to store bought or the local pizza shops.  As you can see in the picture I also use it for bread.  I have a bread recipe that I found online years and years ago.  I made quite a few changes to that original recipe until I finally got one my family likes.  The kids can eat half a loaf as soon as it's cool enough to slice.  Ryder likes butter and strawberry jam on his slices, Madi likes butter (the one and only time she likes butter) and I will occasionally eat mine with butter and honey, otherwise just butter. 
   
   I need to get some stuff ready for tomorrow and finish loading the dishwasher. I had to let the crockpot cool and the insert will go into the dishwasher and the leftovers need to go into the fridge.  I will have some leftover chicken to make into something for lunches for tomorrow.  Have a great evening!  

 

 

 

  

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. What takes you out of your comfort zone? Teaching Ryder math. I hate math and There is just something really wrong when you mix the alphabet and digits!  I did ok with Algebra in high school but this isn't pleasant.  I'm really glad I have a good math curriculum that helps aide in teaching him. 

2. Your least favorite spice?  I would have to say sage or nutmeg.  I like the smells of those spices but as for flavor a little goes a LONG way!

3. What's a small change you'd like to make?  I would like to do better at using up leftovers.  I don't like having to pitch food to the chickens but my creative juices at using up leftovers is waning.  I need to do better with that.

4. Do you enjoy visiting historic homes? If so, of the homes you've visited which one was your favorite? What historic home near you is open to visitors? Have you been? Southern Living rounded up eleven of the best in the southern part of the US and they're as follows-

Monticello (Jefferson's home in Virginia), Nathaniel Russel House (Charleston SC), Swan House (Atlanta), Ernest Hemingway's home (Key West), The Biltmore (Vanderbilt home in Asheville NC), Mount Vernon (Washington's home in Virgina), San Francisco Plantation (Garyville, Louisiana), Windsor Ruins (Port Gibson Mississippi), Longue Vue House and Gardens (New Orleans), Whitehall (Palm Beach FL), and Pebble Hill Plantation (Thomasville GA)
Have you been to any on the list? Of the homes listed which would you most like to visit?  I haven't been to any of these homes.  I would like to go to Monticello from this list.  One of my favorite homes to visit is at a historical center.  They have a 1830's Farmstead cabin.  They have some really awesome buildings there.  I am into history so this is a happy place for me. The kids even enjoy going there! 

5. What's something you think will be obsolete in ten years? Does that make you sad or glad?  I figure land line phones will be gone. I'm not sure how I feel about that... Last night we had company and we were talking about when credit cards came about.  I worked as a secretary/receptionist at a local animal hospital and we accepted credit cards.  I had to place the card in a holder and slide an arm over the card to make a carbon copy on the CC forms.  Madi just looked at me like I was crazy!  She also had a hard time comprehending that the stores were closed on Sundays and you couldn't get gas on a Sunday either! I can remember that some stores started to open on Sundays when I was around 10 years old. 

6.  Insert your own random thought here. Ryder has been learning some new guitar songs so I have been serenaded daily for several weeks.  The latest song he's learning is Eric Clapton's Tears in Heaven.  He plays it beautifully.  I'm am truly blessed with some talented children!

First Snow of 2017

  Last night we received our first snowfall.  When we got up this morning our little forest was covered in the fluffy, white stuff.  The sun hadn't come out yet and the world still had the dark, forlorn look from the storm. 

   The wind picked up and blew some of the remaining leaves from the trees all around.  I didn't think to take a picture this morning to document the first snow.  I just looked at it and enjoyed it from inside. 

   Both kids went out and enjoyed it.  They rode the golf cart and 4-Wheeler around in the snow.  It wasn't much but they enjoyed the little bit we got.  There is more to come! 

   As I write this; the wind is gusting around 40-50 mph. The sun is on "full shine" 😊 and the snow has pretty much melted.  The temp went from the 30's last night to the mid 40's. 

   I had been using the oil furnace to keep the house warm but this morning called for a wood fire.  I started a fire and the house is toasty warm again. 

   I decided that I needed to put something in the crockpot to give the house a savory smell.  I put chicken breasts in with some small, whole potatoes, corn and some seasonings.  I have some homemade bread to go with it also.  I may make another side dish and/or serve it with some red beets.  Depends on what we want to eat tonight.

  I used to menu plan on a regular basis.  I found that I didn't want to eat what I had scheduled for that day.  I decided to just have a list of foods handy that we all like and could be make rather quickly.  This system seems to work best for us.  I keep the freezer and cabinets stocked with all the basic items I need to make those meals.  This is the way my mom cooks so I guess I'm just used to that style.  Plus, I don't do so well following recipes.  I like to change things up and add in leftovers.

   That's it for now.  I started this post to talk about the first snowfall and ended up on a rabbit trail that has me talking about menu planning!  Oh, this will make Madi happy when she reads it.  She says that I write like I talk and apparently, I don't stay on subject!  HaHa!

   Have a blessed day and enjoy the weather you are receiving today! If you don't want to enjoy the weather, make a menu!  😊

  

Pumpkin?? Fall Only??

   Are you a person who only craves pumpkin in the Fall?  I enjoy pumpkin all year long. I have a pumpkin sheet cake recipe that is so good you have to eat it whenever you want, no matter what season it is!  I understand the whole eat in season thing but I don't care when there is canned pumpkin on the shelf!

   Jeremiah requested pumpkin gobs back in the middle of summer.  I made two batches of those gobs!  They ate it them so quick that I only got two out of both batches.  I found that recipe when the kids were little and I wanted a recipe to supplement our Thanksgiving studies.  They were called Pilgrim Pies and I couldn't pass that up. Perfect!

   Since I am a person who can eat pumpkin any time I am all about eating Aldi's Pumpkin Tortilla Chips!  Oh! My! Gosh!  They are so, so good!  I could eat them anytime.  I got this bag two weeks ago and I ate almost every single chip myself!  I don't even feel slightly guilty about eating all of them either. I wish they had them more often than in the Fall but I will get them when I can. 
 

   Do you like these chips?  Have you ever tried them?  I hope I'm not the only one. 

 

 

From My Front Porch

I haven't posted a Front Porch post in a bit.  I feel like its kinda like a repeat from last year but... here it goes!  ;-)

 

 

 The leaves have stared to turn.  I took these pictures last week so the leaves have changed a bit more since then.

 

A local farmer made some round bales this year.  I snapped this picture late in the evening to capture bales and I am so glad I did. 

 

 

The farmer came back early the next morning to load them up and haul them to his farm.  I tried to get a couple pictures of that but I was facing the rising sun and it was just too bright to get a good photo.  They used a red and blue twine this year to secure the hay.  I like it.  It matches my house!  :-) 

 

Well, that about sums it up for today. Have a great day!

Where, oh where has the Johnson Family been?

   Oh boy!  Have we been busy.  Crazy days for us.  I'm not sure when I posted last but we started school for the new year in August.  I was really sad about the thought of starting this year because it is the last year of homeschooling for Madilynne. However, I am enjoying this year because when you have older kids you can really have some good discussions about the topics they are studying. They have some really good thoughts and sometimes challenge my thinking! 



View of VA Beach from our room balcony.

   We have been traveling a lot lately also.  As much as I like getting on the road and being together making memories, I am so glad the traveling is done.  The last trip was to Virginia Beach, Virginia.  I loved the trip even though I am not a huge water fan.  I loved waking up every morning to seeing the ocean, the surfers and dolphins while drinking my tea!  I was really surprised at how well Madi and Ryder got along.  When you have two teens, well, they can kind of get on each others last nerve.  Both kids were awesome to travel with....most of the time!  ;-)  The trip to the beach took us 7 hours to drive to.  That's a long time in the car.   

   We were at the beach while Hurricane Irma was bearing down on FL.  My brother J lives in FL and he hightailed it out to safety in NC.  I am so glad that he was safe and as far I know right now, his home didn't sustain any damage. 

   I have been busy getting the produce from the garden canned for the last month.  Our garden gave a lot of produce but the wildlife around here ate their fair share this year.  I was able to can several batches of salsa and some jars of green beans.  I froze some zucchini and green peppers too. I bought some carrots and my mom helped me can 29 quarts today.  That was a lot of chopping!  Jeremiah grew two nice pumpkins.  He brought them to the front porch to use as fall decorations. 

   Speaking of fall... some of the trees are starting to show their colors!  My dad has a saying that "The colored leaves are the flowers of fall." 

    I think that I will finish with that for the evening.  I hope to post more later! Blessings to you all!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Growing up, were you close to your grandparents? Tell us one or two specific things you remember about them. I was close to my grandmothers more than my grandfathers.  My mom was one of 12 kids so there were a lot of us grandkids running around.  I think there were 33 (?) grandkids.  My grandma always made us feel special though.  I went to visit my grandma before she passed of Alzheimer's and I was prepared for her to not know who I was.  I walked up to her bed and I greeted her and asked her if she knew who I was.  She looked me and said, "Yes, I know who you are.  How could I ever forget you?"  She proceeded to tell me who I was and different things about me.  I forgot about that day until I started to type this. Now I have tears streaming down my face so hard I can hardly see to type!  
On my dad's side; I never knew my biological grandfather as he passed several years before I was born.  I was close to my grandmother though.  She had Parkinson's disease and I helped my dad and uncle take care of her until she was too sick for us to take care of at home.  I spent a lot of my growing up years with her and my grandpa (her second husband).  I can remember one time when he took me fishing and I caught a brook trout and thought that it was the biggest fish of my life!  I don't think he got much fishing done that day! 

2. What's an item you were attached to as a child? What happened to it?  I don't think I was ever attached to any particular item.  I had several dolls that I played with though.  I kept those dolls and thought that Madi would like them when she was little...nope! She wasn't into my old dolls so they are currently in storage! :-)

3. When you look out your window, do you see the forest or the trees (literally and figuratively)? Explain.  I see a forest and trees!!!  I try to see the whole picture in things and I also know that in every situation there is two sides and the truth.  :-)   I also like to look for the light at the end of the tunnel!

4. Do you like sour candies? Which of the 'sour' foods listed below would you say is your favorite?

grapefruit, Greek yogurt, tart cherries, lemons, limes, sauerkraut, buttermilk, or kumquats 

Have you ever eaten a kumquat? What's your favorite dish containing one of the sour foods on the list?  I do not like sour candies!!!  Of the foods listed I will say lemons.  I really like a slice of lemon in my water.  I have tried kumquats before and I can't say that I particularly liked them.

5. July 1st marked the mid point of 2017. In fifteen words or less, tell us how it's going so far.  It has been a rollercoaster ride but I love it!

6. Insert your own random thought here.   My mom came over to visit yesterday afternoon and we flipped through some old photo albums I have.  I am so happy that I have those photos and not just pictures on a computer.  It has encouraged me to print off more and fill some more albums!  I am so excited to print more photos.  Am I the only one who likes to look at actual photos instead of digital ones?