Christmas Notebook

menu plan monday ~ february 10, 2014

February 10, 2014 – 10:22 pm

“Dear Lord, afford our souls a spring,
Thou know’st our winter has been long;
Shine forth, and warm our hearts to sing,
And Thy rich grace shall be our song.”

That’s the last stanza of the poem “Waiting for Spring” by John Newton. The entire poem has a much broader spiritual meaning, but this last stanza strikes a more earthly note for me right now. I want spring to come! I’m sure I’m not the only one. DH brought seed packets home from the store this weekend. We want to plant!

We still have a parsley plant and a basil plant on the kitchen counter. They are slowly putzing along, but only offer up enough leaves for a recipe now and then. They are tired of winter, too. I do chop a few basil leaves into my salad now then. Nothing better than fresh!

Here’s the menu for the week.

Monday
Hamburgers with Cheddar Cheese
Green Salad
Celery Sticks

Tuesday
Pork Chops with Mustard Sauce
Cauliflower with Bacon and Mushrooms
Steamed Sugar Snap Peas
Spinach Salad with Orange Slices and Pecans

Wednesday
Italian Sausage and White Bean Stew
Celery and Carrot Sticks

Thursday
Asian Flank Steak
Stir Fried Broccoli and Mushrooms

Friday
Pan Seared Tilapia
Oven Roasted Aspragus
Creamy Dilled Cucumber Salad

Saturday
Fridge Food

Sunday
Roasted Chicken
Mashed Potatoes
Steamed Green Beans
Green Salad

You can find more menu and recipe ideas at Menu Plan Monday. Check it out!

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in menu | Comments (0)

menu plan monday ~ february 3, 2014

February 3, 2014 – 3:54 pm

Here’s the menu for the week. The Chicken Capri was a big hit yesterday and DD took the leftovers home, so we are having it again this week by mutual consent. Also, we had the Asian Flank Steak last Wednesday and we liked it so much we are having it again this week. Thursday is our youngest daughter’s birthday and she requested Veggie Lasagna. God willing, she will be getting her driver’s license that day, too. I’ll be happy to have the extra shopper at hand! We’ll celebrate her birthday again with family and cake on Saturday afternoon.

I can’t believe she is old enough to drive. Time passes so quickly. Here she is in 2006 when we acquired her cat, Buttercup. Where did this little girl go?

On to the menu:

Monday
Foil Baked Fish
Green Beans
Yellow Squash
Salad

Tuesday
Shrimp with Garlic and Parsley
Steamed Snow Peas
Salad

Wednesday
Chicken Capri
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pine Nuts
Salad

Thursday
Veggie Lasagna
Salad
Bread Sticks

Friday
Asian Flank Steak
Stir Fry Sugar Snap Peas, Edamame and Broccoli
Salad

DH made the flank steak last week and it was delicious. It would be great served over rice or buttered noodles.

Saturday
Sausage and Bean Soup
I’ll be leaving out the bell peppers as DH will not eat them or anything that includes them. ::sigh::

Sunday
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Garlic Mashed Cauliflower
Asparagus
Green Salad

You can find more menu and recipe ideas at Menu Plan Monday.

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in menu | Comments (1)

crustless broccoli and cheese quiche with bacon

January 30, 2014 – 3:18 pm

The inspiration for this dish came from the recipe Cheddar Broccoli Quiche. I added ingredients to mine that make it a different dish. Following is my version.

Crustless Cheese and Broccoli Quiche with Bacon

1 tsp. canola oil
3 c. chopped broccoli
2 c. sliced mushrooms
4 oz. Canadian bacon, diced (or use bacon of your choice, cooked and crumbled)
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
8 eggs
2/3 cup half and half (or milk or cream)
2 tsp. dry onion (or use 1/4 cup finely chopped onion, sauteed)
5 fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 T. fresh parsley, chopped
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt

Sauté the broccoli (and onion, if using) in the canola oil, until bright green and still crunchy. Remove from pan and layer in a greased 9×9 pan.

Sauté the mushrooms in the same pan. Use some spray oil, if necessary. Remove from pan and layer over the broccoli.

Sauté the Canadian bacon in the same pan, until lightly browned on the edges. Remove from the pan and layer over the veggies.

Layer shredded cheddar cheese over the bacon and veggies.

Mix the remaining ingredients, whisking until well mixed. Pour over the vegetables, bacon and cheese.

Bake in a 350* oven for 25-30 minutes, until egg is set and top is lightly browned.

This quiche can be made in a homemade or store-bought crust, if desired. When I made the dish, I put part of it in a greased cereal bowl because my youngest daughter wanted hers without meat. If I had put that amount into the main dish, the resulting quiche would have been a bit thicker.

And, yes, you could sauté the broccoli, onion, mushrooms and even the Canadian bacon at the same time, but by doing the mushrooms and meat separately, you can control the cooking time. Mushrooms should be sautéed a few at a time, rather than the entire two cups at once. That way, they will brown and not just steam cook, due to the amount of moisture in them.

You can switch out the veggies for something you like better. Even the cheese can be changed out. Make it any way you like!

Leftovers keep well in the fridge and can be reheated for breakfast or a light lunch.

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Recipes | Comments (0)

menu plan ~ January 27, 2014

January 29, 2014 – 6:04 pm

I suppose I should title this post “back in the saddle again.” Where’s Gene Autry when you need him?

I haven’t been keeping up with my menu planning. The holiday season was hard this year. I didn’t feel well and the weather was not cooperative for some of our planned events. My side of the family had to deal with two cancellations due to weather. We finally had our party mid-January.

But I’m back to work on the menu and meal planning. It is so much easier to feed a family when you know what’s on the menu. No last minute scrambling to find something to eat.

Here’s what we’re eating this week.

Monday
Chicken Taco Chili
Celery Sticks

Tuesday
Broccoli and Bacon Quiche
Garden Salad

We had this for supper and it was very good. I, of course, changed the recipe a little (added mushrooms, used Canadian bacon). I’ll post pictures and how I did it tomorrow.

Wednesday
Asian Flank Steak Skewers
Stir Fried Cauliflower and Broccoli, tossed with freshly grated ginger
Garden Salad

Thursday
Crab Stuffed Mushrooms
Asian Sugar Snap Peas with Radish and Edamame
Roasted Kale Chips

Friday
Chicken Taco Salad

Saturday
Foil Wrapped Fish
Green Beans
Yellow Squash
Garden Salad

Sunday
Chicken Capri
Garden Salad
Stir Fried Zucchini and Summer Squash

You can find more menu and recipe ideas at Menu Plan Monday.

Meanwhile, I’m staying in during this cold, cold weather and dreaming of spring. Can’t wait until this is showing up in the yard…

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in menu, Uncategorized | Comments (6)

postponements and cancellations

January 6, 2014 – 1:55 pm

We spent yesterday watching a major winter storm move through. Our daughter’s friend, who was visiting for the week from Chicago, had to go home a day early to miss the storm. We were afraid we wouldn’t be able to get her to the airport because of the blizzard conditions being forecast. It’s a good thing she was able to go home yesterday, as the airport cancelled most of the flights.

And the family Christmas for Saturday was also postponed. For the second time. Some family members have to drive too far to risk the weather.

The weather was so peaceful the past few days that it was hard to believe we got 10″ of snow with this storm.

DH keeps his bird feeders full year round. We really enjoy watching them from the kitchen window. With the weather turned bad, the birds have been feeding more heavily than ever.

My brother made the bird feeder for us. It is extra tall so it’s easily seen from the first floor windows. Our first floor sits about five feet above ground. The stand holds four feeders and has a handy hooked pole to lift the feeders on and off the hooks.

Home, Sweet Home

Today the snow has passed us. The sun is shining but it’s -6* out there. Even the postal service was cancelled today. Stay warm! Stay safe!

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in family | Comments (1)

happy new year!

January 2, 2014 – 12:16 pm

We wish you joy in the new year!

While areas north of us had a lot more snow, we received about an inch last night. Just enough to make things pretty out the window. Which is fine with me! I’m already thinking spring, and the sooner the better.

Our youngest daughter has a friend from Chicago staying the week and they’ve been busy in St. Louis seeing the sites. My daughter is on the right, her Chicago friend in the middle and one of her best friends since early grade school on the left.

The next few days are quieter, then my family will be here Saturday for our postponed Christmas party. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate this weekend. Here are my parents and my sibs. The picture was taken in August, 2009. Mom passed away two years ago on Dec. 20. Her presence at family gatherings is always missed. Every time we got together, she wanted a picture of the entire family.

Following is the menu for the Family Christmas. I’m making the pork. Everything else is being provided by family members.
Marinated Pork Tenderloin
Roast Beef
Cheesy Potato Casserole
Green Beans
Garden Salad
Jello Salad
Veggie Tray with Dip
Cheese Tray with Crackers
Christmas Cookies
Mississippi Mud Cake

I’m expecting lots of fun. Like these scenes from last year.

We’ll be having fridge food for dinner Sunday, I am sure. Sunday afternoon, my sister Margaret is bringing a few friends over for a house tour. We leave Christmas decorations up until January 6, which is Epiphany, so we’re good to go. We still have a library dinner to host. Then our scheduled holiday events will be done.

I usually start a new year concentrating on some serious crafting sessions during January. I’m looking forward to that. In February, we’ll begin watching for the crocus to bloom. Spring, spring! Can’t wait!

May your new year be blessed with many good things!

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Christmas, family | Comments (2)

stained glass

December 27, 2013 – 1:49 pm

We have a friend, Gary, who makes beautiful stained glass. I recently shared on Facebook the stained glass angel he made for me. I thought I’d share more of his work here. He certainly deserves the credit.

Gary surprised me one day by stopping by with a gift. The stained glass angel! In my absolute favorite color…cobalt blue! The wings are a rippled, shimmery iridescent. I took this picture early one morning as the sun came through the east window.

From outside…

DH asked Gary to make stained glass for our upstairs bathroom, as a gift for me. I received the bottom piece on Christmas Day one year and the upper piece later the next year. It was so nice to take the curtains off that window, once the stained glass went in. The picture shows the ornament mobile that hangs in front of the window. My sister Genny put that together.

From the outside…

Here’s a close up of the bottom panel.

The downstairs bath features Gary’s work, too. I found this antique door in a shop near my sister’s house. The entire thing is held together with square cut nails. Even tiny ones, holding the window trim in place. I designed the windows with irises because I love the flower. Do you see the tiny butterfly in the window to the right? How Gary managed to cut the white glass to fit around the butterfly is beyond me!

A detail from the window:

Here’s Gary, just after the installation.

The room we call the “library” (functions as our family room) was originally a family parlor. In a 1921 remodel of the house, it became a dining room, with a built in buffet. We replaced the very arts and crafts style windows in the buffet with ones I designed and Gary made for us. They fit the color scheme and style of the house better than the original ones did.

Gary, as he installed the windows.

Gary even made ornaments using glass from a hanging lamp a friend made for me when I graduated from high school. The lamp was falling apart, but I loved the glass with its dark shades of blue and green. Now I hang these in the window year round. They remind me of my friend Terry who made the lamp and they remind me of my talented friend Gary who has a generous and loving heart.

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in favorite things, home, Our House | Comments (3)

Christmas Day 2013

December 26, 2013 – 7:33 pm

I hope you had a good Christmas! We had a lot of fun here. Traditions and family, both make the day a good one! We had our older son and his family over. We did miss our oldest grand-daughter. She is out east visiting family there. And we missed our oldest daughter who is also out east, spending Christmas with a friend. Our second son and his wife visited a few weeks ago for a long weekend. It was wonderful to see them again.

DH brought me breakfast in bed. Can’t beat that for starters. We spent the morning getting ready for the family to arrive for lunch. We like to have appetizers and finger foods. Makes the meal easy and also makes for easy snacking the rest of the day/evening. We had:

Bacon Wrapped Smokies
Sausage Cheese Balls (two daughters both requested this)
Spinach and Cheese Strata (OK, had to have a fork for this one…)
Veggie Tray with Three Cheese Spread
Cheese Tray with Crackers
A bowl of clementine slices (Don’t you love the name “clementine” for a piece of fruit? And they are so delicious!)
A brie cheese dish
Freshly ground coffee
Christmas Punch

We used the Christmas china and the Christmas glasses of course. Rose Red was delighted! “My plate is beautiful!” she said. Christmas jams were optional. BTW, she is sitting in a chair I used as a child. More family traditions!

After dinner, DH read the account of the first Christmas from a 150 year old pulpit Bible we have. Snow White asked him the other day if he was going to read the same story from the big book that he read last year. When he said yes, she suggested he read something different this year! I had to laugh. She loves to read. Maybe we’ll ask her to read the story next year and see what she says.

The stockings had been hung on the staircase with care. The twins helped Auntie take them down and pass them around.

I found these very cute Christmas measuring spoons in my stocking! Love them!

SO ready to open presents!

Snow White spent a lot of time in her vet outfit working on her patient, a little blue dog. “What’s wrong with him!? I’ll listen to his heart! He’s too hot! He’s too cold! He needs a shot! He needs a bandage!” Over and over and over!

Chef Rose Red…ready to bake cakes and cookies!

Mama teased her that the chicken hadn’t baked long enough. Bwak, bwak!!

Rose Red stopped opening gifts long enough to read a new story book.

And after the toys and games and books…more fun with the wrapping paper!

It was almost dark by the time we were done. We watched a movie (during which I fell asleep!), then the grands went home. I went to bed. So nice to snuggle down with some stocking treats, some quiet time, and a soft warm blanket!

I hope your Christmas Day was as joyful as ours was!

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Christmas, family, twins | Comments (2)

two sleeps till Christmas

December 23, 2013 – 3:37 pm

Our son called last night and asked if I could watch the twins today while he does some Christmas shopping. This morning I woke to the phone…we’re here! Oops! I scurried around and finally let them in. The girls were excited because they had been allowed to sit in the FRONT seat of the car while they waited for Ma to get her act together. The little things are so exciting to them!

The first thing we did was take a picture for Pa, so he could see what he was missing while at work!

They’re never here long before the girls ask for a snack. And that can mean spills. But they are good at cleaning up! Team work.

Auntie found Christmas cups for the girls. Another exciting moment! All the little things in life are an adventure when you’re six years old!

I am grateful for the luxury of ice and filtered water from the refrigerator. But to the girls it is just plain exciting to get your own ice and water. They aren’t quite old enough to realize what a blessing it is to have cool water at your fingertips.

Snow White likes to keep the chalkboard up to date. Two more days until Christmas!

Rose Red loves, loves, loves this sweatshirt I made about 25 years ago when her daddy wasn’t much older than she is right now. I found material at the fabric store for making a soft cloth book with the story of the nativity. I used those panels to decorate sweatshirts for the four kidlets and one for DH. Bible verses were applied using fabric paint with writing tips. They were worn for years, the younger children growing into the larger sweatshirts that had belonged to their older siblings. Now the grands get to wear them. The girls’ sweatshirts had decorated necklines, so this one was probably the one that belonged to our older son, the twins’ father. I think our other son had a green one. It’s amazing how well they have held up!

After snacks and playtime and lunch and playtime, the girls needed something else to do. It was a good thing we had all those empty amazon.com boxes and a roll of duct tape!

And finally…some bowling!

It’s been a busy day! Who needs TV when we have empty boxes and bottles, duct tape and scissors, toys and books, and a coat closet big enough to serve as a play house? Not to mention butter, which Snow White informed me is the required ingredient for sticking sprinkles on your toast.

Just a note to all my readers who have asked about me lately…thank you for your concern. I can’t believe I’ve gone this long without posting. I haven’t been in great health for a few years and this season has seemed harder than most. I have managed to keep up with our holiday parties and commitments thanks to my family, my sisters and my friends who pitch in to help me have the Christmas I love. Thank you to all of them!! I apologize for the lack of posting and I will try to do better!

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in family, twins | Comments (6)

menu plan monday ~ november 18, 2013

November 18, 2013 – 12:26 pm

It has been a long week. Last week I was very sick for four days. Bad chest/head cold. I didn’t leave the recliner from Sunday night till Friday morning except for necessity. Needless to say, nothing toward Christmas prep was done during that time. Genny came Saturday morning, as well as my dear friends Marsha and Paul. We all worked hard on Saturday. DH and I put the beads and popcorn/cranberry strings on the living room tree. One box of ornaments (of three) was emptied and the ornaments are on the tree. A ways to go there.

Sunday morning, I rested while Genny visited a friend who lives nearby. On her way back to our house, Genny got a call about the tornado that hit Washington, Illinois. Genny’s daughter and her family live there. Meanwhile, we were under a tornado warning, as well! As information came in, we found that Genny’s daughter’s house was hit. Thankfully the family was at church at the time and are all safe. The house needs a new roof and some other work. It was on the edge of the worst damage. Just two houses down from them, Genny’s son-in-law’s mother’s house was also damaged.

We appreciate your prayers on their behalf. It will be a long haul to get everything cleaned up, repaired, and rebuilt.

After all that, it is hard to settle down and contemplate something as mundane as the week’s menu, but here goes.

Monday
Chicken and Rice
Garden Salad

Tuesday
Roast Beef
Mashed Potatoes
Steamed Green Beans
Garden Salad

Wednesday
Spaghetti and Meatballs
Garlic Bread
Green Salad

Thursday
Fridge Food

Friday
Mongolian Beef with Broccoli
Rice

Saturday
Lentil and Sausage Soup
Homemade Rolls

Sunday
Tacoritos
Lettuce, Tomatoes, Sour Cream, Cheddar Cheese
Tortilla Chips

You can find more menu and recipe ideas at Menu Plan Monday.

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in menu | Comments (6)

Christmas Notebook

menu plan monday ~ february 10, 2014

menu plan monday ~ february 3, 2014

crustless broccoli and cheese quiche with bacon

menu plan ~ January 27, 2014

postponements and cancellations

happy new year!

stained glass

Christmas Day 2013

two sleeps till Christmas

menu plan monday ~ november 18, 2013

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