Happy Homemaker Monday 05/11

Posted on May 11, 2015 by Carrie Ann Alexis

Hope all you moms had a relaxing day yesterday. I had a nice day, but the weather was a bit ridiculous, it was in the 40’s and I was fa-reezing all day, even with my sherpa hoodie on!! I also enjoyed spending some time with my sister, niece, and one of my older brothers as they visited with my mom.

As always Linking-up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:
Rainy, then cloudy, then sunny, then rainy…all within the span of a couple of hours. Looks like we’ll have several rainy days this week, but it will be in the 60’s and 70’s.

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:
Coffee with cream and a chocolate donut, though I was eyeing the leftover chocolate cake and cherry pie. #justwalkaway

CURRENTLY READING/HAVE READ:
Perfect on Paper The (mis) adventures of Waverly Bryson by Maria Murnane. I am only half way through this one, but it is pretty funny. Waverly gets dumped by her fiancé two weeks before her wedding. The story starts from there. Each chapter starts with one of her “Honey Notes”, and are throughout the book. This is the greeting card line she would like to start one day. Honey was the pet name that her ex called her. The first chapter starts with the following Honey Note: Ever felt like spending the rest of your life in bed? Honey, get that sleep. Eventually you’ll wake up, and just think how nice your skin will look when you do. There are four books in the series so far.

ON THE TV TODAY:
The Voice, The Good Wife, and Castle. Last night was the Good Wife’s season finale, I thought it was last week.

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY:
My daughter (she’s 19) posted this to my FB page for Mother’s Day…absolutely made my day!!

Happy mother’s day to the coolest mom 🙂 I love our friendship and how silly we can be! I hope you have great mother’s day! Love you ♥

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:
Still have to prepare it and go grocery shopping.

NEW RECIPE I TRIED OR WANT TO TRY THIS WEEK:
I did try the Roasted Turkey Breast, and it turned out really good. I made mine on a bed of veggies. Very Good. Thanks for sharing Carrie!!

LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS WEEK:
I should be getting my new glasses this week. I have needed new ones for awhile now, but last year I opted for the bifocal contacts (best.invention.EVER), can’t wait to see things clearly again.

Also this weekend, is the Battin’ for Boobies Softball Tournament. Our town has all kinds of Paint the Town Pink events in the month of May to raise money for Breast Cancer. The teams playing in the softball game are one of the local businesses against the Guns & Hoses Team (the Police and Fire Department). Then there are the Alumni teams from the two rival high schools. Should be good fun for a good cause.

MY FAVORITE BLOG POST THIS WEEK:
This was one of the best Mother’s Day tributes I read over the weekend from The Belle Jar, if you get time, you can read it here.

FAVORITE PHOTO FROM THE CAMERA:

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES (PRAYERS OR DEVOTIONALS):

Happy Homemaker Monday 05/04

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Carrie Ann Alexis

Happy Star Wars Day!! Today is the unofficial Star Wars holiday, I know this because my family are Star Wars Fanatics!! Me…not so much. I have seen all the movies at least a couple of times, I do appreciate the creativity and imagination of the whole series. I think George Lucas’ mind is genius in being able to write such a story. But to watch it over and over and over, is not my thing. But the kids love it, and…it is a thing. We have Star Wars mugs, T-shirts, sweatshirts, pajamas, action figures and light sabers. Even my daughter is a big fan, and she is sportin’ her May the Force Be With You sweatshirt today. Anniehow…on with my post.

As always Linking-up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. Hope Everyone has a fabulous week!!

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:
Nice, a little breezy and cloudy. The sun was out earlier, but it looks like this will be the week for us, rain forecasted everyday, but it will help things grow, and I look forward to a good storm!!

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:
Just Coffee today.

RIGHT NOW I AM:
Finishing up this post, and my shopping list.

ON TODAY’S TO DO LIST:
Home school
Laundry
Getting my hair done/touched up – (by my in-house stylist…my mom) 😉
Grocery Shopping

CURRENTLY READING:
Learn to Meditate in 2 Minutes by Sheevaun O’Connor Moran. I have been reading about the benefits of meditation, and find it very interesting. This appealed to me because you would think I could find 2 minutes out of my day to do this…but yeah, reading about it and actually doing it are two different things, not to mention trying to find the time and place where I won’t be interrupted. 😐

ON THE TV TODAY:
The Voice is winding down. I think last night was The Good Wife’s season finale.

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:
Spaghetti and Meatballs, Garlic Bread
Roasted Turkey Breast, Veggies and Crescent Rolls
Hamburgers, Fries and Deviled Eggs
Pork Chops, Rice, Green Beans and Corn Bread
Chicken Bacon Sub Sandwiches

WHAT I AM CREATING AT THE MOMENT:
Nothing at the moment.

NEW RECIPE I TRIED OR WANT TO TRY THIS WEEK:
I am trying the Roasted Turkey Breast that Carrie posted. She hasn’t failed me yet with her delicious recipes. 🙂

I also want to try an Éclair Cake. Saw this posted on Facebook, looks soo good.

I did get a good version of the Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti, here is the recipe, with my changes in parenthesis, I needed to serve 6.

Crock-Pot Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti (Pasta)

If you love creamy, spicy pasta dishes, this Crock-Pot version of my Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti will blow your mind. Cook the sauce for a few hours and then toss with pasta when you’re ready to serve!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup diced yellow onion
1/2 red bell pepper, diced (1 whole)
1/2 green bell pepper, diced (1 whole plus 1 orange and 1 yellow pepper as well)
1 small can mild diced green chiles (did not use this, could not find them)
1/2 teaspoon cumin (1 teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (1 teaspoon)
Salt & pepper, to taste
2 chicken breasts {about 1 lb.} (2 lbs.)
1 can cream of mushroom soup (2 cans cream of chicken)

3/4-1 lb. cooked spaghetti (1 box cooked Rotini)

3 cups grated cheddar cheese (2 cups)

a few splashes chicken stock {optional}

Directions:

Place onion, bell peppers, (green chiles), cumin, garlic powder, salt, pepper, chicken, soup and 1 cup of grated cheese together in a crock-pot. Stir to mix ingredients. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or until chicken is fully cooked. Remove chicken breasts, shred. In a large pot, mix chicken and cook spaghetti/rotini and remaining cheese. Toss to coat pasta in sauce and melt cheese, adding in a few splashes of chicken stock where necessary to get sauce consistency you want. Cook another 5 – 10 minutes on low and serve.

FAVORITE PHOTO FROM THE CAMERA:

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES (PRAYERS OR DEVOTIONALS):

Happy Homemaker Monday 04/27

Posted on April 27, 2015 by Carrie Ann Alexis

Linking-up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

Hey there!! I missed last week’s post, so here we go for this week. Hope everyone is doing well.

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:
Redonkulous!! It’s been in the 30s all last week, and rained over the weekend. We are looking at 50s and 60s for the upcoming week…here’s hopin’.

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:
Coffee with Hot for Cookie Creamer and an Entenmanns’ Chocolate Donut. I can’t seem to get enough of these donuts. It might have something to do with the fact that my 19-year-old son likes to eat THREE of them when he comes home late at night from work.

AS I LOOK OUTSIDE MY WINDOW:
The trees finally have some green on them. I’m waiting for the trees across the street to bloom with their beautiful white flowers. No one seems to know what kind they are, but they are so pretty.

ON TODAY’S TO DO LIST:
Home school – cursive with a left-handed boy #challenges
Laundry
Cleaning I didn’t do this weekend
Writing for this week’s blogbattle.

CURRENTLY READING:
I recently read “The Girl on the Train” by Paula Hawkins. It was good, a bit dark and twisted, but good. I kept reading it just to see how it would all turn out. I’m fascinated by the depths of the imagination of an author when writing a story like this.

After I read that I needed something a lot lighter, so I read “The Best Medicine” by Tracy Brogan. She did not disappoint; again she had me laughing with the things her characters say. A 35-year-old plastic surgeon meets a 27-year-old handsome (of course) guy who is drunk after crashing a stolen jet ski into a dock. She is called to the ER to take care of the gash on the side of his face. Another fun read, as she enters the dating world via a dating web site, yet fighting the attraction to the younger hooligan she stitched up. She has a list of requirements for the perfect man, and just maybe he isn’t the kind of guy she first perceives him to be. This is the second book in the Bell Harbor Novel series and some of the characters from the first book make an appearance, like Fontaine the interior decorator…love him!!

ON THE TV TODAY:
The Voice will be fun to watch. The current coaches are bringing in some of the old coaches to help with the team members that are left. Looking forward to see Cee Lo Green, he was one of the original coaches and always very entertaining.

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:
I need more variety, I get stuck on the same things sometimes.

Hamburger, Fries, Deviled Eggs
Lasagna Pasta, Salad
Cream of Chicken and Rice Soup with Turkey Bacon Club Sandwiches
Chicken Parmigiana, Chicken Flavored Fettuccini noodles, Green Beans, Italian Herb and Cheese Bread
Italian Beef Sandwiches
Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti, Garlic Bread, Salad (trying this one again)

WHAT I AM CREATING AT THE MOMENT:
Doing some creative writing as I have joined #blogbattle. So much fun for me and I am really enjoying it. I always wanted to write fictional stories, but never got around to it, this gave me the nudge I needed to just do it. I was very nervous posting my first story; it was like sending your child out in the world for the first time, scary, but at the same time exhilarating. Plus the #blogbattle community is so encouraging and fun to be a part of.

NEW RECIPE I TRIED OR WANT TO TRY THIS WEEK:
Being that it was cold and raining on Saturday, I made Cream of Chicken with Rice Soup with Turkey Bacon Club Sandwiches. Need to tweak it a bit, the flavor wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. It probably didn’t help that my daughter and I spent a good part of Friday afternoon talking about how we wanted the soup from the little diner in town. We should have gone there for lunch; I still have a taste for it. Anniehow….

I also made the Banana Split Cookies that Carrie shared. OMG…these are like eating a rainbow sprinkled with sunshine…SO good!!

FAVORITE PHOTO FROM THE CAMERA:

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES (PRAYERS OR DEVOTIONALS):

Happy Homemaker Monday 04/13

Posted on April 13, 2015 by Carrie Ann Alexis

Linking-up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

Hey there!! Enjoyed my spring break last week, didn’t do much of anything, read a couple of books (big surprise, lol) I just have to tell you about ;-). This is what I’ve been up to, hope you have a great week!!

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:
Started out a little gloomy, but now it’s sunny and warm, in the 70s. Looks like Mother Nature has decided to stay for the party…60’s all week…that’s what I’m talking about!!

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:
Coffee and an Entenmanns’ Chocolate Donut.

AS I LOOK OUTSIDE MY WINDOW:
I am watching the construction guys put up the siding on the new house behind us. As I mentioned before, my mom has a little contest for all of us to pick the color, the winner gets a Subway gift card. I won last time, and this time I picked the color beige, we had a couple of those, a couple of reds and a blue. And the color of the house is?!?!…gray…the house is gray. (cue the defeating cymbal crash). It’s not even a nice gray, kinda drab. But we will soon try again, there’s another house right next to it.

RIGHT NOW I AM:
Finishing up this post, working on fixing the other laptop and enjoying some bread pudding!! Ahhhh…multitasking!!

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE:
It’s nice and clean, enjoyed cleaning this weekend, with the windows open.

ON TODAY’S TO DO LIST:
Laundry. Also working on trying to get my son’s laptop working again. It says it’s connected to the Internet, but it really isn’t. As we enter in the final stretch of school, I’d like to get it working again, so we can finish out using it, and hold off on getting a new one. Was scouring the Internet yesterday on all the geeky tech sites, tried all kinds of things thinking this has to be it, but no such luck. Going to just restore the whole thing.

CURRENTLY READING:
So here’s the books I’ve read…

It Had To Be Him by Tamra Baumann – Megan has always been considered by her family to be a screw up. When she becomes pregnant and her boyfriend leaves her, she must return home to a town where her father is the Mayor, one brother is the Doctor, another brother is the Sheriff, and her sister runs the very private hotel to the stars. Her boyfriend Josh, comes looking for her and their daughter, and wants a second chance. Meg and her family don’t want anything to do with him. She thinks he left her because she got pregnant, but he needs to let her know the real reason…in time. It gets really interesting and the characters come alive when Josh shows up and gets shot by the shotgun toting grandma, who is an excellent marksman, but only grazes his arm. He finds himself facing the law, (one brother) needing a doctor (the other brother) and needing a place to stay (the sister). I loved Meg’s determination to prove her family wrong about her, and also love how this story actually made me laugh out loud.

Crazy Little Thing by Tracy Brogan. This is another laugh out loud funny book. Recently divorced Sadie finds herself spending the summer along with her two kids at the home of her Aunt Dody. Sadie soon finds out that also staying at the house are her two cousins, Dody’s sons, Jasper a chef at a fancy restaurant, and Fontaine an interior designer. This book is written in Sadie’s perspective, and I found myself reading it fairly fast at times, because that just seems how Sadie’s mind works. Sadie is fluent in sarcasm, and with Dody and Fontaine, you never know what is going to come out of their mouths. Dody likes to use the wrong words when she has a conversation, and is just oblivious to her mistakes. Add in the handsome, house sitting Doctor, and you definitely have a fun read!!

ON THE TV TODAY:
The Voice is in the finals. I really don’t know which team I want to win, so much good talent. I need to finish one episode of The Good Wife. I’m looking forward to June when Devious Maids starts again.

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:
Lasagna Pasta, garlic bread
BBQ Breaded Pork Chops, Rice, Broccoli/Cauliflower and bread crumbs, crescent rolls
Swiss Steak Supper with Hawaiian Rolls
Pork Fajitas
Crock-Pot Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti

WHAT I AM CREATING AT THE MOMENT:
I have a kit to make some stepping stones for the garden out of plaster. Maybe I’ll have the boys help me make them. I won’t have them help me paint them, since they have flowers on them and are very girly, LOL. But the directions say the bottom can be decorated as well, so I might have them put their hand prints in them and design something around that.

Created a new look for my blog. With the warm weather and the spring cleaning, wanted to change it up. That is also a current picture (as in Easter day current). The ones I had up before were from a couple of years ago.

NEW RECIPE I TRIED OR WANT TO TRY THIS WEEK:
My new recipe for this week is Crock-Pot Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti, looks really interesting, will share the results next week.

But I have to mention I made the Lasagna Pasta on Saturday, after a day of cleaning, it was so simple to make, and a good hearty meal without all the fuss. As I was spooning mine onto my plate, I’m thinkin’….hmmm…I bet olives would taste good in this. I had some in the fridge, cut them up and added it to mine. A very delicious addition, I must say, adds a little kick and nice texture. I used green olives.

FAVORITE PHOTO FROM THE CAMERA:
The last time I was at the store, I went ahead and bought this beautiful bouquet of flowers just because. 🙂

There is always a picture to be taken and a moment to be captured

Happy Homemaker Monday 03/30

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Carrie Ann Alexis

Linking-up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

Hey there…Happy Monday. Feeling a little better this week. Hope everyone is doing well.

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:
In the 60’s, but partly cloudy, so doesn’t really feel like one of those nice, bright spring days, but I’ll take it!!

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:
Coffee, cherry turnover.

AS I LOOK OUTSIDE MY WINDOW:
The grass is getting a little bit more color, not buds yet on the trees.

ON TODAY’S TO DO LIST:
Same old, same old. 🙂

CURRENTLY READING:
Don’t Say A Word by Barbara Freethy. I don’t know how I came about this one, but it’s another OMG kinda story!! I really do enjoy a good suspense, and at one point I was like “no. way!!” Russians, unexplainable accidents, romance…gah…so good!! It all starts when a girl sees a photo of a young girl in a Russian orphanage, and the girl looks just like her, and she’s not even Russian!!

Female Brain Gone Insane by Mia Lundin R.N.C. N.P. I just downloaded this one. Yep…as you get older, things start to change. This book helps you understand the changes and offers advice and things to do about it so you don’t feel like you are going crazy…because some days I just feel like that, lol.

ON THE TV TODAY:
The Voice. Caught up on Castle the other day, just love that show!! Would also like to watch the IheartRadio Music awards show that aired last night.

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:
I need to grocery shop for the week again…for the next couple of days we’ll have leftovers.

WHAT I AM CREATING AT THE MOMENT:
I might turn this section into my mini-Pinterest board and things I want to create, I see so many cute things. I will do something this summer, hopefully my loom weaving. With not having school with the kids, I’ll have more time to figure it out. But I did share this with my mom, and we are doing this for our sitting area we created!! So cute!! Her and I both love books, love to read, she works at the library, and the library is across the street from our house!! How can we not?!?!

NEW RECIPE I TRIED OR WANT TO TRY THIS WEEK:
I did try the Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken, eh, I didn’t like the flavor of it, at all.

But I did try Carrie’s Lasagna Pasta!! This was really good, and so easy…love that!! I haven’t spied out anything new, have to go searching for some more recipes.

FAVORITE PHOTO FROM THE CAMERA:
This isn’t from the camera, but it makes me laugh every time I see it.