Because I am dying for Spring

I think it's my favorite season of the year and I can't wait for it to start, matter of fact here in Arizona I already have a lot of flowers coming in, makes me so happy :)

So, new template for Spring!   Hope it makes some of you smile because I know that there are a lot of you out there still suffering with crazy amounts of snow. :)

{ Happy Homemaker Monday - 2012 #5 }

I am moving super slow today, I have whatever my dear husband had and it's really knocking me on my behind, feels like I have a knife stuck in my throat and my sinus is killing me too.  BLECH!


Anyway, here is today's HHM :)

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The weather:::

45 degrees and sunny.  Last week he had highs of 75 and it got quite warm around here.


On my reading pile::: 
The Little Housekeeping book for the little girl
Haven't been able to finish it or read anything else since my Kindle is broken :(  It's not even a month old and it came up with the Needs Repair Error, after talking to Amazon I was told that it's defective and needs to be replaced.....sooooo, hubby says forget it, come pay day he will just buy me the Kindle Fire.  Yay!

On my TV:::

Call the Midwife Episode 3
Birdsong Episode 2
Also have Anonymous to watch :)

On the menu for this week:::

 I only have two days planned as I'm working on the Menu/Grocery List for the next two weeks.  Wednesday is grocery shopping day so I'll have a full Menu for you next Happy Homemaker Monday :)


Monday -  Spaghetti 
Tuesday - Crockpot Steak Soft Tacos
Wednesday -
Thursday -
Friday -
Saturday -
Sunday -

On my to do list:::

Sewing today
Finishing up my Crochet pillow
Grocery Shopping on Wednesday
Lola has another appointment on Thursday to see how she's doing

What I am sewing, crocheting, knitting or creating:::

Finishing up my Daisy Square pillow, decided to make a felt back for it.
Some more sewing today, not sure what yet.

In Homeschooling:::

Jasmine is doing a research report on Fast Food and the progress it's made, whether it's been good or bad.  In Science she'll be studying food particle sizes and if those affect the rate at which they are digested :)
Nicholas is still working on fractions in Math and simplified fractions....and for Social Studies we'll be learning about the first English settlement in the United States.

Looking around the house:::

My coffee machine is noisily working behind me.  My door to the back yard is open for the dogs to go out and I hear birds chirping and some kids talking on their way to school.  I have my sewing machine on the kitchen table waiting for me to work on today and I also have a pile of dishes in the sink waiting to be washed.

From the camera:::

I love this shelf in my kitchen :)

Something fun to share:::

You all know how much I love Period Dramas right?  Well there is a Tumblr account online that is devoted to posting high quality pictures of Period films etc.  I could just sit there and look through it all day :)

On my prayer list:::

My sweet friend Jen's mom.
My family 

Bible verse, Devotional::: 

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.

Psalm 150:6

{ Friday Favorites - #4 }

If you have something special you would like to show, if you have a trinket which has a special meaning for you or maybe something you have just found and own or would like to have. It could be anything, a trinket, a book, a new cookware set, a necklace, a photograph, a project you're working on or finished....anything that you love and would like to show us all.

Take a photo, or two, or three...post it on your blog and come back and link up using Mr Linky.

Please only include links directly to your post and only those pertaining to Friday Favorites. Anything not related WILL be removed.

*******************************

I've shown you a few things already but today's is really one of my favorites, because the items I'm showing you make my house a home.

These crochet doilies are ones which I brought with me from South Africa when I got married.  I actually started collecting them when I was a teenager because I wanted to have as many as my stepmother did.  I just loved how she had them all over the home, in corners here and there.

I've talked about how my greatgrandmother was a big influence on my cooking, how my grandmother was a big influence on my sewing, but the one woman who was the biggest influence in homemaking and everything that went into it, was my stepmom Nela.  :)

She is the reason I Menu Plan, she is the reason my grocery lists still look like a carbon copy of hers, she's the reason I know how to do paperwork, how to make a budget, how to pay bills, how to take care of a home and what to clean and when.
I truly have been blessed to have been raised among strong amazing women.

Everytime I walk by one of these doilies I think of her, and I think of home and as much as it hurts that I'm so far from everyone, it does help in a way, it makes me feel just a little closer.

I know many people don't particularly like doilies, they find them old fashioned, but for me, they give a personal touch, they really do say "Home Sweet Home".

Some days

I have a sick husband at home.  He started feeling like he was coming down with a cold yesterday and by bedtime he was burning up with a fever, had body aches and was just plain miserable.

Unfortunately being military, he can't just call in and say "hey I'm not well, I won't be there today".....unless he wants the SP's knocking at the door.  HA!

So early this morning, I got up with him at 5am, made him some coffee, fixed his lunch, gave him some medicine and sent him off to work.  It broke my heart to see him walk out the door when all I wanted was for him to climb back into bed and rest.

I then cleaned up after his lunch making, made myself a cup of coffee and started the laundry....by then I did start feeling a little peckish so, I decided to make some Cinnamon Roll Toast for breakfast. If you've never tried it, you don't know what you're missing, it's quick to put together and really does taste like a Cinnamon Roll.

Within minutes the kids were up and in the kitchen asking what was smelling so good :)  That's a sure way to get them out of bed right?

I set about my homemaking and around 9:30 am, my hubby comes walking in the door.  He looked so sick, I'm glad he was able to come home and get some much needed rest, I don't know what good he could have been at work while running a fever.

That of course set me into mommy mode and making sure that he was well taken care of. First up a nice hot cup of tea with honey and lemon....

some cold meds and as soon as he was on the couch relaxing I set about making some chicken soup. His favorite? Chicken, bacon and rice. It is SO yummy and sure to knock out whatever bug is ailing him.

While that was simmering on the stove, I had my bread machine going, making some more of the bread bowl dough. The family love it so much and yesterday requested that I make more, lots more because they don't want to share LOL

Unfortunately for me, I have not only the sick hubby, but a little 8 year old who has been sniffling since yesterday, he hasn't gotten sick yet but was complaining that his head hurt, so homeschooling was set aside today in order for all the sickies in the house to get well :)

That gave mommy some spare time to work on my new Daisy Square Pillow. I am loving it so much.

I kind of stepped out of my comfort zone a bit, I'm using colors I don't usually go for, if you've seen my projects I tend to stick with colors that are very close to Cath Kidston's....but I'm so glad I picked these, they work wonderfully together.

I decided to go with two tones of purple and then do a white border on each....really makes them pop doesn't it?

And since this has been a soup kinda day, hubby requested Clam Chowder for dinner, so that's what I made. The recipe I tried had quite a bit of bacon and as much as I love bacon, I just felt that it was a bit too much, it almost completely hid the clam flavor. But, it was delicious, oh my. Next time though, less bacon, or none altogether :)

By the way, both the recipes for the bread and the clam chowder are on the food blog. :)

And now, I have to go apply some more ointment to Lola's eye. It looks so much better, it's almost completely healed but not quite, we have another appointment tomorrow and we've already prepared ourselves to hear that it's not healed and she has to be referred to the Ophthalmologist. *sigh*

Honestly though, it's only been a week and half and she fights us so much that I feel she's not getting as much of the ointment in there as she should, so obviously it will take longer to heal.  Finger crossed for the appointment tomorrow.

Time for this mama to go take care of her animal baby, her human baby and her human hubby and then take herself to bed with a good book.  Hope you all have a great night, and don't forget tomorrow we have the Friday Favorites, would love to see something special that you have :)

{ Cooking Thursday }

Morning everyone :)

So today for our Cooking Thursday, I'm bringing you one of my favorites and also something that takes me back to my childhood in South Africa.  Best street food ever....Bunny Chow!

If you want to use the picture, just click here for the original.

Homemade Bread Bowls

1/2 cup water (70 to 80 degrees F)
1 cup warm milk (70 to 80 degrees F)
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast

In bread machine pan, place the first seven ingredients in order suggested by manufacturer. Select dough setting (check dough after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water or flour if needed).
When the cycle is completed, turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into six portions; shape into balls. Place on greased baking sheets.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool on wire racks.

To make bowl, cut the top fourth off of bread; carefully hollow out bottom of each, leaving a 1/4-in. shell (discard removed bread or save for another use).

I’m keeping mine to make some homemade bread crumbs as I’m running pretty low


Now for the filling, you can find a gazillion different versions out there, it really depends on what you like….but this is how I made mine tonight, just kept it very simple but it was still really good

Bunny Chow Filling

1 lb ground beef
1 small onion, finely diced
2 small tomatoes, finely diced
chopped garlic
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 teaspoons curry powder

In a skillet, add a little bit of olive oil and the garlic, cook for a minute or so, don’t let the garlic burn though. Add the ground beef and cook until brown. Add the onion and tomatoes, salt and pepper and curry powder. At this point I like to add a little bit of water, not much but enough to give it a little bit of gravy and not allow it to dry up.

Cook for about 15 minutes for the flavors to combine well. Check frequently and stir, also remember to keep adding a little bit of water at a time, you want to end with a nice consistency and definitely a bit of gravy in there, just don’t add too much, you don’t want it soupy.

I know I’m horrible at writing recipes, I am such a visual and do-er person that writing it down is hard for me.

Once done, scoop into the bread bowls and serve immediately