Sunday Snapshots: Memorable Moments from the Week

 

Today is the first Sunday of Advent, and the first big winter storm of our winter. Ugh. Why, again, didn’t we move to Florida? Alas, we did not, so we shall work through the winteriness, and I’ll share some of our favorite memories from this past week!

Last Sunday I had the privilege of sharing the message at church, and then I had the privilege of a proper Sabbath afternoon. Both were extremely enjoyable!

I landed over 16,000 steps on Monday – and they started by hauling dozens of Christmas décor tubs and Christmas tree bags from the church attic to the main floor. I worked up quite a sweat! By the end of the day, I was covered in flocking but so pleased with the start of decked halls at church!

After decorating several more trees on Tuesday, I ended up at the store to pick up the little finishing touches I needed. I was so happy for a mostly clear store and mostly nice weather for hauling the stash back into the church when I was done!

By Wednesday night, Ryan and I were both worn out! We both had long but productive weeks at work, and our Wednesday-that-felt-like-Friday was a sweet and welcomed time of extra rest.

Thanksgiving Day brought a coffee date at the Shaka Shack (our favorite spot AND a stop on the coffee trail…) and lunch with my parents. It was one of the quietest, simplest Thanksgivings we’ve had, and we thought it was perfect.

  

We went out in the beginning of the frigidness to attend a Christmas tree lighting! It was so cold out there, but we completely enjoyed our date!

Yesterday was our first big snowfall, and it was pretty because I didn’t have to drive in it. 😊 We did have to take Miss Lexi to the vet for a double ear infection, but after that, I stayed PUT for the entire day. I worked for several hours and got caught up on all manner of things at home. It was so good.

                Grateful for a good week!

Saturday Suggestions: Inspirations for Your Weekend

                Good morning, friends! What an absolute GIFT yesterday was for me. Ryan and I both had the day off work, and I am so thankful for it. He made breakfast for us, I worked ahead on all kinds of things – scrapbook, blogging, Christmas gifts, you name it. I needed that day more than I knew, and it was a complete joy. I hope your day was also a gift for you!

                Today we are taking our girl to the vet to have her ears looked at. We think she has an ear infection, and we hope she can feel less itchy again soon. Perhaps you’ll have more fun perusing these links than we have wrestling a dog at the vet?

When I worked at WBCL, one of my coworkers loved keeping a tab open on her computer with a webcam of an eagle nest. Rather than scrolling social media, it was her brain break every now and then. She’d flip to that tab, look at the eagles, and return to work. Webcams really are fascinating that way! Not too long ago, one of my friends shared this link to a handful of webcams on Mackinac Island. The tourist season has ended there, but I still love looking at the streets and sights, and now I can absolutely picture it all in reality, since we visited this fall! Can’t wait to see them in the winter!

As you might remember, Ryan and I collect Christmas ornaments from our travels and from significant life events. We both fear that by the time we’ve been married fifty years, we’ll have to buy a whole separate home just to display the ornaments. A few months ago, while scrolling Facebook, I saw this idea to display ornaments on an accordion lattice piece, and I love it! Apparently you can purchase these in larger sizes if you hunt for them, and one of these years, we may just have to do that! I think it would be especially pretty to pick ornaments with similar shapes to make it look more uniform. (Or maybe have multiple lattice pieces featuring different shapes. Now that I think about it, we may still need the whole separate home. Ha!)

Our kitchen is so quirky in size and layout (and color scheme) that it can be hard to find inspiration kitchens online that give me ideas I can actually and practically use. This one is not an exact match, but her style is similar to mine and she has some of the same elements. I am filing this one away for future use!

I have no need (or space) to have so much stored in a pantry, but I find the idea of such a pretty pantry enthralling. (Also, I don’t like beets, so no need to have so many cans of those. Or any cans of those.)

Did you see this story about the eagle that dropped a cat through the windshield of a car? I ABSOLUTELY believe this terrifying turn of events, because not once, but twice, since we have moved to the lake, we have found very, very large fish in the middle of the road in the winter. Some well-versed lake neighbors told us the eagles are likely to drop them in the winter. New fear unlocked when driving around the lake! And now I have to hope they don’t find a cat!

I spent all week decorating, and the name of the game for that entire adventure was to use what already existed – to the fullest – before buying more. I saw Heidi’s post a little too late for my own use, but she has great ideas for using the everyday items to add Christmas to your home!

Updates on Dreams and Goals for November

 

                Good morning, friends! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving yesterday. We enjoyed our day with Mom and Dad at Swiss Village – followed by some much-craved rest.

                I can’t even believe it’s time to report on the end-of-month updates on my goals, but here we are! November absolutely flew by, and today I’m looking over my progress on what I hoped to do this month.

Finish planning the details of our anniversary getaway. This is done – at least as much as it’s going to be done. We have tried to leave some margin in our plan so we can take our time and enjoy more rest.

Hair overhaul. This is also done. I went a little chop crazy and told her to cut off several inches. It just felt long and heavy, and it feels much healthier now. I also had fun experimenting with her wave crimper that she let me borrow for a couple of weeks. 😊

Work on the Adams County Coffee Experience. We have one place left to visit. That’s it! I can’t believe we worked in so many in a month’s time, but we did, and we had a lot of fun doing it.

Wrap up our midweek studies. Ryan finished his semester of GriefShare, and I wrapped up my Wednesday night Bible study group. The Thursday morning group has a couple of weeks left.

Finish prepping my message for November. Done! 😊 I shared it this past Sunday and really enjoyed what I learned while I prepared.

Decorate the house for Christmas. Done! I am so glad I put everything up early. I took some heat for it (not from Ryan) as I always do, but I stand by my decision to decorate early and then enjoy the cozy lights a little bit longer.

Enjoy Thanksgiving. Indeed we did. We were able to sleep in a little, went on a coffee date, had lunch with my parents, decorated their apartment for Christmas, cleaned up/out their storage locker, and still had time to rest. It was a sweet day.

Favorite Recipes from November

 

                Happy Thanksgiving! I know today is a busy day, and you don’t have time to read about recipes. But it feels appropriate to me that today is the day of food…and the day I want to share with you some of our favorites from the month of November! You’re welcome to put this post aside for a day when you have more time…and actually enjoy simply eating today!

White Queso Chicken Chili – I found this Dashing Dish Recipe back when we lived in Kokomo and have made it regularly ever since. While I often tweak recipes to fit our tastes, I follow this one pretty exactly. It is so good. I have made (and like) other white chicken chili recipes, but this one is my absolute favorite. It’s a filling dish – and pretty, too!

Gluten Free Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread – I’ve made other Dashing Dish cornbread recipes before, but I wanted to try this one to fulfill the Arizona recipe for my 50 Before 50 list. Apparently this kind of cornbread is an Arizona staple. To be fair, I subbed in mild green chilies for the jalapenos, because I am not super super fond of spicy foods. Next time I make it, I’ll use two cans of chilies instead of one. I only had one in the cabinet this time. It’s a tasty twist on plain cornbread! (Served this with the white queso chicken chili.)

Spaghetti and Meat Sauce – I made a big batch of the marinara sauce I’ve been making since our Kokomo days. It’s a 21 Day Fix recipe that I still really love. I make it and freeze it in one or two cup servings to thaw and use when I need a quick meal…like this one! I put combine 3-4 cups of the sauce with a pound of browned ground turkey to make the meat sauce. Then I serve it over palmini noodles. They aren’t nearly as heavy as pasta. One bag makes two servings, so Ryan and I can eat a whole meal out of one bag. Top it with a little cheese and…done!

Spinach Feta Frittata – I made this delicious frittata for a few of my breakfasts! I used white onion instead of red, because that’s what I have on hand on the regular. I also skipped the scallions because I forgot to buy them. I also skipped the cherry tomatoes because Ryan only likes them raw, not baked.

Protein Broccoli Cheddar Soup – I do dearly love the broccoli cheddar soup at Panera, so I was excited to find this healthy copycat version. I also loved it that this was a slow cooker recipe! I used frozen broccoli rather than fresh, and we did pull out the broccoli to run it through the food processor at the end to make it a little more authentic to the restaurant version. We both thought it was good – but it does stink. The house smelled rotten for days! For that reason, I may make a replacement soup for this one.

Healthier Hot Chicken Salad – Years (and years and years) ago, my friend Marie shared a hot chicken salad recipe with me and I adored it. It was full of mayo, cheese, and French fried onions, so eventually I reimagined it with yogurt, lighter servings of cheese, and green onions. Ryan and I love it, and I had not made it in quite some time. I decided to put it on the fall menu rotation, and we thoroughly enjoyed it!

Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas – This one was so fast to throw in the slow cooker, and when we both came home after a long, long, long day, dinner was all ready. Ryan ate his over chips, and I ate mine in a bowl, topped with a little cheese, salsa, and Greek Yogurt. So yummy!

No Bake Cookies – Ryan had a craving, so we pulled out this no-fail, no-bake favorite!

No Boil Pizza Pasta Bake – I LOVED THIS!! Anytime I don’t have to mess with boiling noodles ahead?? WIN!! I used the chickpea pasta I love (because it doesn’t make me feel bloated and stuffed) and the homemade marinara sauce I had just made. It was so good. Easy to put together…but start early, because it does have to bake for about an hour.

Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Soup – We love a good mushroom soup, but I don’t think I’ve had a chicken/mushroom combo before. I chose to make this in the slow cooker (busy day) instead of on the stovetop, and it worked out great! I did not run it through the blender, so ours was more brothy than creamy, but it was tasty! Ryan wanted more salt, but I liked it the way it was.

Spinach Berry Salad – I made this to take to small group one night, and it was very well received! I did not make the vinaigrette because raspberries were crazy expensive. I used ranch dressing with ours and liked it. I  also used white onions rather than red, because it’s what we have on hand.

No Bake Berry Cheesecake Dessert – This is one of my favorites to make, though I do mine in a trifle bowl with more layers. I’ve made it many times for many occasions. This month I made it for Ryan to take to the GriefShare dinner.

Big Mac Tacos – I’ve made a Big Mac salad before, but I can’t remember if I’ve done the taco version. This was yummy!! For Ryan’s plate, I also through some tater tots in the air fryer, because he loves those. I made spinach tots (from Aldi) for myself. I buy those in the freezer section, and they’re 100% in the shape of dinosaurs, but I eat them anyway! LOL! They are made of spinach with some potato in them, but they’re at least a bit healthier than regular tots. (I eat five whenever I make them.)

Turkey Pumpkin Chili – Ryan was admittedly not sure about this one at first. Pumpkin in chili??? But it did have a good spicy (sweet spicy, not hot spicy) flavor. It reminded me of the flavor in Skyline Chili, which we both like, so it was good. And the pumpkin made it really thick. We enjoyed it!

Chicken Enchiladas – I ate mine in a low carb tortilla shell. Ryan ate his over chips. We both loved the flavor, and I loved how easily it all came together in the slow cooker. Perfect for a busy day!

Drop Sugar Cookies – I made these for a carry-in Ryan had at work and a party I had at church. Since I knew I needed to take dessert to both, this seemed like a win. Cookies are easy to divide! I love the flavor of sugar cookies, but I hate the process of rolling them and cutting them out. So this was the perfect compromise! I think I’ll make these again next month for another carry-in I’m hosting.

Chicken Alfredo Bake – I like alfredo, but I do not like all the calories that come with it. This was a much healthier spin on the alfredo flavor. I used palmini noodles in place of spaghetti squash, and by doing so, this was a really fast and easy meal. (Also…I made it before a night meeting at church and totally failed to get a picture of it!)

Baked Potato Soup – I stopped making loaded baked potato soup years ago because I hated messing with hot baked potatoes. For this recipe, I decided to buy a bag of cubed hash browns and pull out the equivalent of the potatoes in this recipe. I also used riced cauliflower in it. It came together quickly and was tasty.

Sloppy Joes – I did not make these in the slow cooker – just did them on the stovetop. While I always have cans of tomato paste in the cabinet, I somehow ran out, so that was missing from this one. I also added in a little lime juice instead of Worcestershire, because that’s what I always like about Mom’s sloppy joes – the tang of the lime juice.

Green GoddessSalad – I have never had the viral Green Goddess Salad mentioned in this recipe, but Ryan and I did really like this version. To save time, I bought a bag of coleslaw mix, rather than shredding a head of cabbage. This has good tang in the dressing – between the white vinegar and lemon juice!

Feta, Sausage, and Orzo Bake – This came together SO quickly. You dump all the ingredients in a baking dish, and the pasta cooks while it bakes. LOVE THAT. I had left this with directions for Ryan to put together while I was at a baby shower, just in case I didn’t get back in time, but I did! I threw it all in the dish, and it was yummy!

Slow Cooker Lasagna Casserole – This was so easy to throw together (once you brown the ground meat, of course) but Ryan didn’t love it. I’ll be striking this one from the list and looking for a replacement dish!