A Peek Into Last Week (August 20-26)~

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~livingsimply~

It was one of those weeks around here. We all have them. Nothing major, just enough wrenches being tossed into gears to throw me off balance a bit. A leak in the laundry room that had to be sorted out. Sir Galahad our kitty had to be taken to the vet for some skin issues (and I am, and always have been what some would call a "nervous mother", even with my fur babies). The truck window decided it would not roll back up again. Ya know, life stuff. I know it could always be worse. So, I did what I could around here despite feeling wayyy off kilter, and let the loose ends fall where they may. They will still be there when I can get to them.

And even during those days and weeks when I'm feeling a bit jostled...

"There's nothing half so pleasant as coming home again."

~ Margaret Elizabeth Sangster

Errands ~

On my way to the pharmacy and grocery store where I only picked up a few sale items.

What I'm cooking, baking and eating (besides the usual) ~

Italian herbed baked chicken (that we had for several meals) to go with sauteed cabbage or pan fried green beans (different nights), Toll House cookie bars, banana bread snack cake, tuna salad (that we had with crackers), devil's food bundt cake, a loaf of white bread, easy blender salsa (I'm more than happy to make a meal of chips & salsa!)

I made, and will freeze in ice cube trays, our Dollface's food. I only have to do this every two or three weeks.

Homekeeping ~ 

This past week's focus was the bathrooms. There are two and a half that I need to tend to, the other is our daughter's responsibility. 

In addition to the usual cleaning, I focused on decluttering the powder room cabinet and it is practically empty now. Only a couple of rolls of backup tp. It was so packed at one point, I would squint my eyes when I opened the doors to the cabinet, as I never knew if things would come tumbling out!

In the upstairs bathroom, I dove in under the sink, wiped it down and tidied it up.

Garden ~ 

a tiny bud from "rose" readying to unfurl

I am experimenting with propogating my old girl "Rose" (🤭) by ground layering a couple of stems. Fingers crossed in hopes they take off. I would love to be able to plant her babies in our front garden beds. She has been a faithful bloomer for close to twenty years now and was one of the first plants we brought home after we moved here. She was a lone rosebush with no tags or markings so I don't know her origin. It was her pretty pink bursts of blooms and wildly intoxicating scent (interestingly, not everyone can smell it like hubby and I can🤔) that won me over.

I harvested a bit more swiss chard annnd...I know you're tired of hearing about the growing-in-overdrive sweet potato leaves, so I won't mention them again until they die off.😆 (But I am still squirreling them away for the winter as fast as I can!)

What I'm watching/reading ~

This past week I was feeling a bit nostalgic and watched Baby Boom with Diane Keaton. That movie always reminds me of around the time my middle child was born. 💕

I also watched Edie on Hulu. I can relate to the character of Edie in several ways, and found myself boohooing😥 within the first few minutes of the movie.

Two great movies that I would watch again and again!

Highlight ~

L👀K  what arrived from my from my Amazon Wish List! 

I am so excited to use it to continue my watercolor adventures!

You MADE. MY. DAY! 🥰 (Yes LOTS of exclamation marks but that's just how excited I am. 😊) Thank you.

Now, that the week's end is here, I shall resume sipping tea and reading other's blogs. Won't you join me?

Thanks for stopping by! ~TJ 

A Peek Into Last Week (August 13-19)~

beginning attempts at watercolor 

Another week has flown by! Even though we lead a quiet, slow life, when you love what you do, the days still zoom by in a blur. This past week was a low energy week for me. I'm guessing it was the heat that got to me but I did what my energy level allowed, and made peace with the rest. 

What I'm cooking, baking and eating~ homemade refried beans that were used for burritos and nachos for several meals, Mexican rice (can you tell we love Mexican food?), chicken salad, pineapple cake, white bread, corn dog casserole (I used this recipe for the filling and this recipe for the cornbread topping as I didn't have a cornbread mix on hand).

This week was a very noshy, snacky kind of week, as I wasn't up for much cooking or heating up the kitchen and house. Thankfully, hubby and I are both more than fine with that.

I'm focusing on using foodstuffs that we have put by in the freezer for snacks and meals before buying more that would need to be frozen. I have begun to fear an avalanche when I open the freezer door. That is not bragging. It is more a matter of disorganization, and things being put in there quickly and haphazardly when putting groceries away after coming home from the store.  I would love to spend time organizing the space but the upright is in our garage which is a very hot space right now and I don't wish to bake myself to death. That project can wait for cooler days ahead.

What I'm watching/reading~

Hummingbirds on Prime Video was so fun and informative to watch (I did not know bees were red/green color blind!). The little creatures lead a fascinating life that I was totally unaware of before this video.

I've been enjoying a variety of watercolor tutorial videos on YouTube.

Homekeeping~

This week's homekeeping focus is the kitchen (yes again-theres a lot to be done in my kitchen and I like to give myself some wiggle room in case I need more time to tackle projects), dining room, and breakfast nook. 

I edited the contents of, and wiped down one section in, the buffet in the dining room. 

I had a charity shop donation pickup. It feels great to get those boxes out of the house but I have already started another one. Decluttering is never ending!

"The ordinary arts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest."

~Thomas Moore 

Garden ~

I'm still harvesting sweet potato leaves! 

I am experimenting with smothering a tree that we had cut down but is determined to live and grow again. I don't like to use harmful chemicals if I can avoid them, so I cut it back as much as possible and covered what remains with a tarp held down by bricks. We shall see...

Create~

first strokes

I prepped more pages in my traveler's notebooks. I love to use up bits and pieces of all sorts of things-that might normally end up in the trash-to decorate my pages. I was able to disassemble the packaging that my Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds order arrived in to decorate several pages. I also continued playing with watercolors which I am enjoying very much. Considering I am using brushes I have on hand and Crayola Washable Watercolors (that I bought to see if I would stick with the new hobby before investing in proper tools and paints), I am pretty pleased with my beginner attempts. I will be researching and adding painting goodies to my Amazon wish list and will purchase what I can, when I can, because I am hooked!

Highlight of the week~

So. Many. Days. Of. Rain!

And cozy, rainy day morning Dollface snuggles. 

How was your week? I hope this upcoming one is wonderful for all of us! 

Thanks for stopping by! ~TJ 

Ginger Shots~

I'm always highly intrigued by the specialty beverage section in our local supermarkets and equally as taken aback by the prices for them. On my recent shopping trips, I've noticed teeny tiny little bottles of ginger shots costing two dollars and more. Each.

And, as one does (okay...me. As I'm prone to do), I began to research ginger shot benefits and decided I would like to try them. (Another article on the benefits of ginger shots is here.)

 I found lots of diy versions online but many of the recipes I ran across called for a juicer. Well, I don't have a juicer, nor am I in the position to buy one. So, what's a juicer-less girl to do? Just as I was beginning to give up on the idea of making them for myself-hip hip hooray!-I ran across this blender ginger shot recipe!

The ingredients were easy to locate at my supermarket (I found all mine at Walmart) and the process was fairly straightforward. And...OH BOY, what an eye opening way to start the day! Whoooooh! 

I doubled the recipe, kept it all in a glass canning jar to pour my daily "shots" from and then saved and froze all the ginger-cayenne "goodies" (fibers) that were filtered out to add to smoothies at some point. #wastenotwantnot

bts: fresh ginger, lemons, Zatarain's Cayenne Pepper and C2O Pure Coconut Water

Since it was easy to make (you don't even have to peel the ginger!), and the ingredients were inexpensive enough to justify adding to our grocery budget, I think this will be a good little addition to my immune boosting repertoir! (I say "my" because, as much as I would love to get hubby on some of my healthy kicks, he just isn't having any of it. He likes his "little boy food" (if a toddler would love it, so does, he, lol) thank you very much.

Have you tried ginger shots? I would love to know what your experience is/was with them. Do you buy them or make them yourself? Do you have a favorite recipe or two (easy and blender-able preferred 😁) you wouldn't mind sharing?

Thanks for stopping by for a ginger shot! ~Tj

A Peek Into Last Week (August 6-12) The Daily Edition~

 

I thought it would be fun to change up my APILW post by taking the week day by day. Sooo...let's get started shall we? 

Saturday~ 😪 

Well, I know how to start things off with a bang, don't I, lol? I observe Saturday as the Sabbath. I don't do any work on Saturday. Mostly, I spend time relaxing, enjoying my family, listening to music, playing in my journals/traveler's notebooks and reading or listening to inspirational messages or sermons. It's a day for me to recharge and refresh. Ahhhh~~~

nums~We had baked lemon garlic chicken for dinner (I followed the recipe for the ingredients, marinated the chicken in everything in a Ziploc bag, except the butter-which I added right before baking by putting it as pats on top of each piece of chicken - dumped it all in the baking pan, arranged the chicken pieces & baked at 375°F for an hour and a half) served over rice.

Note: I'm not listing breakfasts in this post or most snacks as they tend to be repetitive and on replay week after week.

Sunday~ 🌱💅👣🛀

I try to do the things on Sunday that I like to call, "take time to make time". To pamper my houseplants and me.

take time to make time...for yourself 

Now, Sundays aren't allll about lazing about & eating bonbons! I also like to take the time to inventory our fridge, freezer and pantry to dream up meals and goodies I can make for the upcoming week. I also review the upcoming week on the calendar, so that I am prepared for any appointments or other necessary things that need to be tended to. And then there is laundry to catch up on. And to round it all out, it's our unofficial popcorn🍿 day which came about because hubby loves to have popcorn while watching football (or any sport).

nums~ Today I cooked up a pound of pinto beans in the multi-cooker to have on hand for my latest noshy obsession:  bean dips. (Oh...and for other dishes too ☺️.) We ate leftovers for dinner.

Monday~

My homekeeping focus this week is the kitchen. I spend 15-30 minutes each day doing a little "extra" in the cleaning, decluttering and organizing departments. Today I moved the easily movable things (Sparkletts water cooler, microwave cart, recycling bins. etc.) and swept and mopped behind them. 

“The humblest tasks get beautified if loving hands do them.”

~Louisa May Alcott, Little Women 

I have been enamored with Tasha Tudor and her lifestyle for quite some time now. As I was flitting about in my apron today, happily tending to hearth, home and garden, I thought of these two favorites that I like to watch (on Tubi) from time to time. So, at the end of the day, that's just what I did!

They give me the warm fuzzies and I feel all cozy inside when I watch them. I can pretend I'm in the cool lushness of New England instead of the sweltering swampland of my area, lol.

.

nums~ Hubby and I had a simple dinner of black bean dip and tortilla chips and The Midnight Baker (me! 🙋‍♀️) made Chewy Sugar Cookies right around...you guessed it, midnight! 

(I am, by nature and bad sleeping pattern habits, a night owl and do many things that need to be done in the evening. It's cooler and I just have more energy then. I COME ALIVE at night! 🧛‍♀️😉. Thus, The Midnight Baker was born.)

Tuesday~

Homekeeping kitchen focus~ washed kitchen rugs 

Garden~ I harvested and froze more sweet potato leaves. (I can't keep up!)

nums~ leftovers of lemon garlic chicken served over rice 

Wednesday~

Homekeeping kitchen focus~ Washed out trash and recycle bins. I wiped down our stand up grill (which I consider to be a part of the kitchen).

Garden~ I sowed chamomile, tarragon and carrots seeds. I cleaned and refilled the birdbath.

We had some wonderful rain showers. 

nums~ pinto bean dip and tortilla chips (I have converted hubby. He's lovin' these simple app style suppers! We find they are just enough in the heat of the summer. The pasta dish was too spicy for him🔥👉), garlic and chili pasta.

I made a new batch of vanilla extract. I go through a lot of it baking and just broke out my last bottle. I may have to resort to buying it from the store before it will be ready. The cost of procrastination...le sigh~🙄

I trimmed my bangs.

Thursday~

Homekeeping kitchen focus~ I cleaned the window panes inside and out on our kitchen door leading outside

I picked up (some of) our groceries at Walmart.

nums~ I started a new batch of kombucha. I look forward to trying the finished product! I used to regularly make my own, as I enjoy the healthy benefits, but find the cost of store bought to be prohibitively expensive for our budget.

Friday~

My DD and I went together to a couple of nearby grocery stores and I shopped the sale items I needed to fill in some "holes" in our freezer, fridge and pantry. 

For the homekeeping kitchen focus, I cleaned out the large freezer drawer, tossing a few things that were freezer burned and beyond edible. It strengthened my resolve, once again, to be more diligent in utilizing the food that we spend our very limited and hard earned money on.

nums~ leftovers 

Highlight~

Spending time with my daughter. 💕 

I hope you had as much fun with this new, experimental, APILW format as I did. As always, thanks for stopping by! ~TJ 

Sweet Potato Leaves~

 

♡♡♡

Ahhh the sweet potato! Sweet, delicious, nutritious along with its many other attributes. 

I was happily minding my own business one day, scrolling Facebook, and happened to notice this post by Merriwether's Foraging Texas . Intrigued, I set out on a quest to purchase an organic sweet potato the next time I had to go to the grocery store. No luck. They were out of organic ones, so I thought I would roll the dice and purchased a conventionally grown one. 

I got that baby home, stuck it in a glass of water and waited. In the meantime, the next grocery shopping trip, I struck gold! (Or should I say orange? 😉) I bought two organic sweet potatoes and ferried them home to join their step-sweet potato siblings on my windowsill. And I waited for the first tiny slips to sprout. 

And waited. Patiently at first, but as each passing day went by and my hopeful expectation every time I walked into the kitchen to gaze upon my (non existent) crop turned into exhasperation, I began to research. And I found Deep South Homestead. Danny suggested planting the sweet potatoes in the ground, not in water to get the slips started. AND BOY WAS HE RIGHT! I took the three tubers that had been languishing in glasses of water, plated the two organic ones in a large container filled with soil, and the non organic one in a garden bed, just for comparison of the two methods (garden soil vs container planting). I'm not surprised at how much more prolific the garden grown plant is compared to the other. But I am surprised at the abundance of leaves I am harvesting. I am SO excited! (Especially about the money we will save by not having to buy so many greens for our diet. It has particularly been a godsend in combating high food prices.)

Note: I am specifically growing them for the leaves, but hey, if we get some sweet taters outta the deal too...win-win! 

So far I have only used the leaves in smoothies, but I do plan on using them as one would with spinach or other similar greens. Hearty winter soups, stir-fries, sautéed with garlic and anything else I can come up with!

I have harvested some leaves from this organic sweet potato, but not many

If you are hungry (😉) for more info on sweet potato leaves here's an interesting article, and another.

Do you grow sweet potatoes for the leaves? I would love to hear how you use and prepare them.

Thanks for stopping by! ~TJ 

A Peek Into Last Week (July 30-August 5)~

Errands~ It's been a busy week for me! Usually the most I get out is to buy groceries. This week I had to take care of that, plus a few more things: Dr appointment, groceries, pharmacy, vet grooming appointment, orthodontist appointment.

What I'm cooking, baking and eating~

white and cinnamon raisin breads

oatmeal coconut cookies 

breakfast burritos, fried egg sandwich using a lone leftover hamburger bun (one of hubby's favorites. He's the breakfast eater, I don't eat my first meal until later in the day. I have never been  much of a breakfast eater,  I guess I was an "intermittent faster" before it was cool, lol.), fruit and veggie smoothies, oatmeal coconut cookies, "wacky" cake, black bean dip and tortilla chips, chicken and broccoli fettuccine (using thin spaghetti noodles, as that is what we had on hand-I freeze pasta when I buy it in bulk on sale, and jarred Alfredo sauce I bought on sale this past week at Kroger.), cinnamon raisin and white bread.

mix in baking pan Wacky Cake

pouring on the fudgy icing 

finished Wacky Cake! 

What I'm watching/reading~I'm still reading the same books as I was last week, as I only read a few minutes here and there when I can squeeze it in between all the other things I like and must do.

I've just begun a new Norwegian series on Netflix- The girl from Oslo. I haven't watched enough yet to form an opinion but I do enjoy seeing the different decor and layouts of homes in those areas (actually, I have always found that I will sometimes watch a movie or show soley based on the decor or scenery. Does that make me odd?🙃)

Homekeeping~ Along with the daily chores of laundry, dishes and whatever else needs to be kept on top of, this week's focus was the laundry room and storage area (which in my case, could mean the garage or my craft/sewing/office room 😎)

I braved *wink* the heat and went out and swept a portion of the garage that has been in sore need of it. I usually only spend 5-10 minutes at a time doing chores outside during the summer months Heat and I are NOT friends. I also spent some time decluttering a few things out there. Even though hubby has been unable to spend any time in the garage doing anything for years, I am careful to not throw out any of his things without his "ok". 

In the laundry room, I wiped down and reorganized the messiest shelf. I was able to declutter several unused items that had been covertly taking up space (you know, those things that become part of the landscape and manage to hide in plain sight?). 

Garden~ I planted out four more seedling tomato plants (2 Roma and two Jellybean). I harvested some Swiss chard and sowed some cucumber seeds.

Highlight~ More rain! Rain is ALWAYS a highlight for me.

can you hear the rain?!♡

Annnd...my orthodontist only charged me half price to repair my permanent retainer that had come loose. Plus, she squeezed me in three weeks earlier than the first appointment she noticed available, I just had to come in super early, before their business-as-usual day started. WOW! Thank you Lord!

It is my sincere wish that something you read when you visit here gives you an idea or inspiration that you can use! And as always, thanks for stopping by!~TJ