This Past Week~

This past week has seen us through Easter and was quiet and uneventful  (in terms of any stressors happening.  If anyone happens upon this blog looking for excitement and fast livin', they surely won't find any satisfaction, lol!)

I tackled a small pile of mending that has been taunting me for a good while now.  As good as that feels, there's still some to do.

I've also been really focused on (and yes I say this often but it is, admittedly, an ongoing endeavor and probably always will be) utilizing leftovers, pantry and freezer foods that we already have on hand to come up with creative meals, sweets and treats.  Being that it's mainly just my hubby and me left at home to consume food on a regular basis, we don't go through as much food as when there were hungry teens at home.  So, try as I may, there is still sometimes food that goes to waste, which I REALLY hate.  My daughter still lives at home, but between her job and social life, she isn't home on a regular basis.  So, she eats very little of what we have on hand, choosing instead to buy her own groceries, order in take out, or go out to eat.

A few things I've made this week:

•  since I buy canned pumpkin to add to my dog's meals, and she is a small dog that can't eat that much pumpkin before it goes bad, I always have plenty to spare for making recipes with.  This week I made (my own free wheelin' version*) of this Chewy Pumpkin Blondie recipe.  *I doubled the recipe, used butter instead of coconut oil, regular white granulated sugar, three whole eggs total (remember, I doubled the recipe, so instead of two whole eggs and two egg yolks, I used three whole eggs. I hope that makes sense.), all purpose white flour and white chocolate chips that I did have on hand, just not as much as the recipe called for~ maybe 3/4 cup-ish.  The final result was more cake like than chewy (probably because of all my tweaks OR I baked it too long) but totally flavorful and delicious!  (Made even more decadently delicious when I whipped up some cream cheese frosting and slathered it on top!)
Since that recipe didn't use much pumpkin puree, even with doubling it, I still have some left to cook with.  I'm thinking I might use some to make this muffin recipe from Amy Dacyczyn's Tightwad Gazette book that my sweet blogger friend Miss Jeannie from Get Me To The Country blog reminded me of (thanks Jeannie!).

•since I recently snagged ten pounds of potatoes at Aldi for pennies on the pound, I baked up a pan full (along with a couple of sweet potatoes also bought on sale).  A couple were had as loaded baked potatoes the first night they came out of the oven, piping hot, using butter, sour cream, cheese, bacon bits (I snipped bacon strips and cooked until crispy) and green onions sprinkled on top.  All toppings were bought on sale, in multiples, with the exception of the green onions, which I grow.  The next morning, I took a small potato, diced it up and cooked it until browned & slightly crispy in a bit of butter and olive.  Then I plunked a few eggs on top, scrambled it all together, added some cheese and leftover bacon bits, and then tucked all that goodness into warmed flour tortillas for breakfast burritos.  And one night, while hubby had another loaded baked potato for dinner, I ate the sweet potatoes with just a bit of butter, salt and pepper-plain, simple & delicious!  There's still baked potatoes left for more quick meals in the days to come!  Where will they take me (recipe wise😅)?

•combining my "I'm kinda over slaving away in the kitchen" attitude and my stockpile of chocolate chips (yeah, we have a sweet tooth *blush*) I made a pan of Toll House Bar Cookies. With warm weather fast approaching, I have made the quality decision 😉to stop making individual cookies, when at all possible, and instead make bar cookies.  I surmise it will get the job of cookie making done in one batch and won't keep the oven heating up the kitchen and house for as long a period of time as making sheet after sheet of individual cookies.

•bowls brimming with popcorn made from the gourmet organic kernels bought when marked down 50 percent, that have been sitting, neglected and overlooked, on our pantry shelf.  Hits the spot when that salty, crunchy, snack-y craving hits.  And since we have this popcorn popper, there really is no excuse not to enjoy hot, buttery popcorn!

my grandsons Easter basket~all items were a dollar each, with the exception of the chocolate bunny and the batteries I included for the hand held fan~we always keep fresh batteries on hand so I took two and taped them on the back of the fan package

On Wednesday, I got to visit with my son and grandson and give him his Easter basket that I put together for him.  In addition to what's in the photos, I included two pool noodles for him to enjoy when he goes to the pool.

I used packing tape to secure these two items in the frisbee

I tried to include a few items that would encourage outdoor play with friends

Of course, there were the usual errands, homekeeping and gardening tasks!  

I hope you are enjoying your Springtime activities! 

Thanks for stopping by! ~TJ

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