{ Cooking Thursday }

Good Morning, here is today's recipe :)

Creamy Cappuccino Mix

3/4 cup instant coffee
2 and a half cups of powdered sugar
1 cup of hot water
Beat everything with an electric mixer until it forms peaks, kinda like if you’re beating egg whites.

Pour into mason jars and refrigerate. To use, just put a teaspoon or two into a mug, add some hot milk and stir, sprinkle some cinnamon

Hello everyone

I've been so busy since school started last week.  It's always a little struggle in the very first two or so weeks, trying to get back into the rhythm of homeschooling, of juggling school work with housework and errands and hoping not to fail on any area.

So, I'm here but I'm trying to find my groove, I feel a little discombobulated and then to add fuel to the fire I have a blog that is set up like an automated robot program who has decided to steal my RSS feed and copy and paste every single post I publish on Full Bellies, to their site.

I don't think I need to tell you how angered that has made me but unfortunately it's one of those things that happen a LOT on the internet.

Anyway, long story short, I decided to move Full Bellies to a new site, if you are a follower and want to know the address, you'll have to email me personally for it :)  No it's not a private site but I won't be giving out online.

Let me show you a little of what I'm doing around here, then I have to run and finish planning the lessons for tomorrow and hopefully get some sleep which I've been severely lacking the past few days.....something about it being WAY too hot and the air conditioning unit not working as it's supposed to which makes it very uncomfortable when it feels like your bed is on fire.  YUCK!

 

This is his "I hate Language Arts and don't know why I have to write so much" face.  *snort*

The one thing I do love about homeschooling is that even though Nicholas is in 3rd grade and Jasmine is in 7th, they are for the most part doing and studying the same exact things albeit different levels of difficulty....but we can all sit around and learn together :)

Made some Creamy Cappuccino Mix today.  Sometimes I want more than just a regular old coffee, I want that little special touch and frankly, not only do I not feel like driving to Starbucks for one but I am cheap folks, I don't want to pay for it either when I can make it at home.

The next two weeks my Menus are ALL about Portuguese food which makes me so happy, it's like stepping back in time and picturing myself in Portugal eating at one of the many many wonderful restaurants, or at a friends house or at home as a child.

My kids and husband love Portuguese food it is their favorite and you should just see their faces and hear them when I dish it up, they go nuts LOL

Tonight for dinner I made a simple Chicken dish, just fried chicken strips with some mushroom gravy but served with Garlic Lemon Spaghetti....huge thumbs up from the kiddos.  For dessert, another Portuguese favorite, Pasteis de Nata (Custard Tarts).  YUM!

In between all this cooking, I did manage to crank out 4 loads of laundry which I ashamedly admit that are dried and just sitting in the baskets getting all wrinkled, which means tomorrow while the kids do school work I'll be standing right there ironing. 

When I'm not doing either one of those things, I'm cleaning or doing dishes and I always have my laptop nearby where I can put in a movie or watch something on Netflix....like Sherlock from BBC.  I also watched A dinner of Herbs and it was....well, I don't know, I didn't like it much LOL

But tomorrow while I do laundry, I'll be watching the 2011 version of Jane Eyre, I've heard mixed reviews on this one so I'm eager to watch for myself and decide.

And now my sweet friends, time to really buckle up and get those lessons finished and then bed. 

Hope you all have a great night :)

{ Happy Homemaker Monday }

(New HHM button)

The weather in my neck of the woods:
90 degrees, I am hoping we're over the worst heat of the summer and heading into cooler temps.


Things that make me happy:
Being a homemaker.  I used to get frustrated when it came to the housework because it really is so repetitive isn't it?  But I've long learned to enjoy it and not think of it as work but as a way to make my home a cozy, happy place for my family.


Book I'm reading:
Sarah's Quilt by Nancy E Turner -  Almost finished with this one, only have about two pages and then I am starting the third and last in the trilogy... The Star Garden.  Brilliant series, I'm loving it so much I don't want it to end :)


What's on my TV today:
Eureka
Meek's Cutoff -  Watched about 20 minutes of it the other night and then fell asleep.  Yep I'm old LOL


On the menu for dinner:
Not sure yet, have to get groceries but have to wait for hubby to get home from work with the truck, if I don't make it to the commissary then we'll probably order in some Chinese.  If I do get groceries then it will be Fish Filets with Salad and Fried Green beans.


On my To Do List:
Iron the last load of laundry and put away
Homeschooling
Wash the wood floors
Water the grass out back


New Recipe I tried or want to try soon:
Beer Braised Meatballs

In the craft basket:

Crochet Slippers - I've only done the first row so far, keep getting distracted with other stuff.


Looking forward to this week:
Going to the Butcher to pick up half a cow, it's time to fill my freezer
Getting a hair cut either today or tomorrow, I can't stand my hair long anymore, need it off my neck


Tips and Tricks:
If you have a deep freezer in your home, look into going to a real Butcher and stocking up.  You can usually get half a cow or a quarter of a cow worth of meat, some butcher's like mine, even have prepacked 60lbs or less cuts of meat :)




My favorite blog post this week:
I've been reading a bunch of Portuguese food blogs, can't single just one out.


Blog Hopping (a new discovered blog you would like to share with the readers):
The Homesteading Wife



No words needed (favorite photo or picture, yours or others you want to share):

Lesson learned the past few days:
Not one learned, maybe one that I'm having to RE-learn.  I'm not superwoman, I'm not perfect, I don't have it all together.  I'm human and therefore I err.


On my mind:
My food blog situation, how frustrating it is to have to move it to another platform because people seem to think it's perfectly ok to plagiarize.


Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:
Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near. – Revelation 1:3

Saturday Night

Do you remember the time when Saturday nights were the biggest thing on earth???

The anticipation of waiting all week, pushing and plodding through school or work because you knew that when Saturday night rolled around you would be dressing up, hanging with your friends and going out to party.

Yep, I remember those days vividly actually but to be honest with you, even just the thought of those nights now makes me tired and cranky and I feel like my head would explode if I ever were to be put into the middle of a noisy loud club.

I've come so far since those nights.....cause nowadays, instead of high heels and tight jeans, it's shoeless and wearing my Cath Kidston PJ's.

Instead of Tequila or Rum and Coke, the only thing I'm guzzling is hot tea.........

Instead of crazy, loud, partying girlfriends.....it's a snorting furry girlfriend named Lola, and sometimes to make it really party like I will turn to her and start loudly singing "Her name is LOLA, she was a show girllllllllll, With yellow feathers in her hair and a dress cut down to there. She would merengue and do the cha-cha". HA!

It also used to be that if I was not out having fun with my friends, I would be laying on my bed with a diary in hand and drawing random scribbly pictures or "Sandra loves _______" whoever the crush of the moment was on paper.

Now....this is more my style

Writing menu plans and grocery lists, budgets and bills to be paid. 

Yep, my Saturday nights have completely changed but you know what?  I'm fine with it, cause that's how I roll. 

Oops, it's 9:01pm, I'm usually fast asleep by now, guess I stayed up late *snort* 

I really am a rebel aren't I????

13 Years Ago I said "I Do"

I had no idea what I was getting into.  I was a young girl in love with this handsome Air Force Sergeant and all I could think about was being with him, making a life with him and embarking on a new journey.

I didn't really think about what it meant, the fact that I would be packing up all my belongings, leaving my family, my home, my friends and everything I had ever known, behind me.  It didn't even register at the time, not until I stepped into the airplane and felt like my heart was being ripped in half, one half pulling me to stay and the other half pushing me to go.

13 years ago today.

I said "I do".  

I don't think there is anything I would change about my marriage, even the bad times, the rough patches, the heart break, the difficult task of being married to a military man and enduring the separations, the worries and the hurt it brings with it.

Because it's all just a small part of the big picture, just a little piece of the puzzle that makes the rest of our amazing marriage.  He really is my best friend, my confidant, my rock.  I don't function very well without him, to be honest and when I'm having a bad day or I'm sad, the only thing I can think of is "when will he be home from work, I need his hugs".  

So Curtis, I love you more than yesterday and less than tomorrow.  Thank you for everything, for the laughs, for the joys, for being the best husband and best father I could have ever wished for.  You complete me!

I thought it would be fun to do a little trip down memory lane starting with our wedding.  Are you up for it????   You might want to grab a cup of coffee LOL

1997:::

1999::::   Bringing Jasmine home from the hospital

I can't believe I don't have photos between 1999 and 2003 on my computer, they're all in photo albums.  Oh well.

Let's fast forward to two miscarriages later and our next joy, Nicholas......

2003:::

 

2005::::

2006:::

2007::::

2009:::

2010:::

2011:::

I could go on and on but I think these are enough.  Looking back I am not only amazed at how we've all grown but how the love we have as a family has continued to grow and blossom. 

I really am truly blessed!