Hello on the last day of summer

Hello everyone 

Sorry about my break- days are busy and not always very interesting so I haven’t really thought to share anything. 

Today was fairly routine but some of you might like seeing what I did.

First,  my to do list for this week was not pretty but I’m thankful so much of it is done,

 

Today was mostly a kitchen day.

I had some ripe bananas so I baked a batch of muffins- half went in the freezer and the other half are for whenever anyone feels like eating some. ‘

Granddaughter Elizabeth ate 2 when she got home from school 😋

My husband’s favorite quick breakfast is a sausage biscuit. 

I cooked these with one roll of sausage and 1 can of biscuits,  the leftovers freeze perfectly and reheat in the microwave

I’ve blogged about sausage biscuits many times.  The new thing in the photo is I’ve been using cast iron.  I’ve mostly used nonstick but I’m tired of replacing them when the nonstick starts sticking. 

My husband had a few pieces of cast iron that he got from a friend way back when our sons were in a church youth group and my husband cooked for the camp outs. 

He showed me the skillets and I did a little research.  One is a Waggoner brand and really old I think.  It was quite an effort but I cleaned them and re-seasoned them and this skillet in the photo cooks so nice,  

I made a batch of taco seasoning, which I have also blogged about many times.  We all still like it! 

I did a grocery pickup from Walmart - want to see what I bought?  

Inflation has me shopping very basically 

Block cheese, milk, In the bags are biscuits.

Onions, apples, oranges, lettuce, tomatoes, grapes

Lots of cheese, Turkey pepperoni, black pepper, bread, tortillas and hot dog buns.  

  —- I ordered Walmart brand bread and tortillas because of their lower price  but they subbed the name brand ones for the store brand price. 

Non food items were pill boxes and hairbrushes  for me,  vitamins for me and husband  and allergy med for one of the grands. 

I repacked the cheese to freeze in smaller portions 

I prefer to use reusable containers but didn’t have enough today.  

Last week I made big batches of lentil taco filling and pasta sauce.  

They are in the freezer  in the rest of my containers so I had to use a few zipper bags for this cheese when I ran out of empty containers.  

Dessert tonight was an apple crisp made with 3 apples that were starting to wrinkle.

It’s a Betty Crocker recipe and it was delicious. 

I had a very happy memory when I was making it.  About 20 years when one of our sons was in college, he came for supper and brought 2 sweet girls.  I don’t remember what I cooked for the meal but dessert that night was also Betty Crocker’ s apple crisp.  Those girls especially enjoyed that dessert.  

I used my cookbook for the recipe but I found the exact recipe here https://lovintheoven.com/betty-crockers-apple-crisp/

Except I used 1/2 cup of brown sugar instead of 3/4 cups and no nutmeg. Just cinnamon 

And here is the room I spent so much time in today.  My kitchen is open at both ends so I took a photo from both angles. 

Good night everyone 

❤️ Rhonda 

BEDA #16 all about Perler beads

Hello everyone 

My grandchildren really enjoy Perler bead crafting.  I think we first started doing them back when Elizabeth and Gavin were 1st and 2nd graders- they are now 7th and 8th graders and still like Perler beads as do all the 7 younger grandchildren. 

Perler beads are plastic and we’ve like the regular size as well as Biggie Perler beads.  

Perlers also come in a micro size, about like seed beads but we haven’t used that kind.  

When you buy new beads, they come in color sorted trays and in bulk mixed buckets.  Either work fine but we all prefer the sorted trays.  

You need a base plate to work the Perlers on.  Plates come in shapes as well as plain square ones.  

Tweezers are not necessary but I prefer to use them and I think all the grandchildren do too. 

After the pattern with beads is complete,  you just cover it with the Perler paper and iron with any regular iron. The iron melts the beads and they whole thing holds together.  

The ironed side will look smooth and the other side will look like the beads. M

After ironing,  we put a heavy book on top and let the designs cool as they sometimes get a little wavy if they cool uncovered.  

These are a few of the grands recent makes - patterns come with the bead sets or can be found online or you can just make up your own art work. 

Below is a 3 dimensional bookshelf complete with books made by Elizabeth.  There is also a Biggie beads project that I will use as a trivet. 

JJ made the pattern himself.  Afterward I told him it looked like a Trip Around The World quilt and he didn’t believe me until I showed him the quilts on Pinterest.  He thought he was first person to ever make this pattern.  

Adults like doing Perler projects.  

In our experience, 3 years up to 6 are best with the Biggie beads. 

Some 6’s can do regular Perlers and by 7, all the kids have mastered the regular ones. 

If your needing a project that multiple ages can all enjoy, or maybe you’re starting Christmas shopping- we all think Perlers are great! 

They are sold at craft stores and big places like Amazon and Walmart. 

You might even find some at a yard sale. 

Our very first Perlers were given to us by a family who’s daughters had stopped using them.  

❤️Rhonda 

BEDA #12-15

Oops!  I thought I missed 2 days of BEDA but it was 3.  

First,  I’m starting Monday with a new to do list for the week.  

Our weekend was both busy and slow.  

My husband smoked a ham and 2 chickens so meals were easy.  

Saturday morning, I tried to do some in store shopping but it was very frustrating.

First I went to Dollar General- I wanted to use their $5/25 Saturday coupon.  It was so busy in there and all the shopping carts were being used by other customers.  It was so crowded,  I just left. 

Then I went to a Walmart.  This store is being remodeled -again!  

Their AC was not working right.  

I live in a college town and the students are retuning so many of them were shopping at Walmart with their parents so many of the aisles there were full with clumps of shoppers.  

After I bought a few things,  I got back in my vehicle.  

Walmart is normally less than a 10 minute drive from home but it took me 30 minutes because so many major streets in my town are closed and/or being redone and because of the all the college traffic.  

I finally got home and told my husband I may never shop in a store again.  Of course at some point, I will.  But Saturday morning was just no fun at all.

And I will NOT be shopping on Saturdays. 

I hadn’t made energy balls in a good while but some the grands asked for them.  

Mix the honey and peanut butter and vanilla.  Then stir in the oats, then the chocolate.

Roll into small balls.  2 of mine probably equal 1 golf ball.  But you can make them any size.  

I have several containers of honey in my pantry but honey has really gone up in price. 

  I think to make these less expensive,  any kind of  maple, pancake syrup would be a perfect substitute for the honey.  I know honey is from a different source than pancake syrup, but they are the same sweetness and consistency so I’m confident it would work. 

 The maple and peanut butter would be a good flavor combination too.  

These energy balls are delicious and much more filling than a store bought granola bar.

They do take a while to roll into balls.  I sat down at the kitchen table and watched a YouTube video while I did them.  

I keep them in the fridge but they would be fine in lunchboxes for a few hours.  

Anyway,  sorry about my absence and for my shopping rant.

I’ve got a list to work on now.

Hope you all have a productive day and no shopping drama 

❤️ Rhonda 

BEDA #11 all kitchen stuff and a movie

Hello everyone 

I stayed home all - did our laundry and a few kitchen things.  

I used the crusts that were cut off for the school lunch sandwiches.  I tossed the crusts with melted butter and just a little garlic salt.  Then I toasted them in this kind of new convection oven. 

We’ve had it a little more than a month and I’m really happy with it.  

It was especially nice for oven cooking things during that bad heat wave.  The oven gets hot but it doesn’t seem to heat up the kitchen like my regular oven.  

I’ve baked cookies, bread, muffins, biscuits, cake, tater tots in this oven all successfully. 

The downside is it’s large - the box of jello is for size reference.  

I do like using it - things are cooking at eye level and so it’s very convenient to keep watch of things while they bake.  

We bought it on Amazon and the brand is Elite Gourmet.  I think it was about $130 but it may be different now.  

Years ago there was another blogger named Lyn who didn’t have an oven.  I’ve thought about her, and so far, it seems this could be a substitute for a traditional oven for most baked things. 

But I’m not trying to convince anyone to buy this.  “influencers” are rather annoying these days.  

I’m just writing about what we are doing. 

But so far, this convection oven-giant air fryer works for us.  

Back to the croutons,  my husband and I had big salads at lunch with croutons and the croutons really made a nice addition to our salads 

Supper tonight was pizza. Leftovers are in the fridge as our son in law is still working and the grandsons have ball practice. 

I expect the late comers will reheat their slices in the new oven.  

I used up some of the leftovers from last night’s Mexican meal and made more burritos for the freezer.  

One of my husband’s friends told him how much he liked a movie called Father Stu.  We rented it from Amazon and watched it this morning. 

Warning -the language is terrible- but it has such a good message about God’s grace and forgiveness.  

It’s main stars are Mark Wahlberg and Mel Gibson.  

We both liked it and would recommend it to adults

❤️ Rhonda 

BEDA #10 kitchen stuff and laundry

Hello - 

There was some smoked pork left from the weekend so I mixed it with cheese and a drained can of Ranch Beans,  

Then I filled tortillas with it

Rolled them up and put in individual bags to freeze for lunches for whoever wants them. 

Ranch beans are pinto beans cooked in Mexican spices and are not to be confused with Ranch dressing - as happened with a grandchild 

I also made 16 sausage biscuit breakfast sandwiches to freeze.  

For the taco filling,  I cubed some beef round steak, added taco seasoning and a little barbecue sauce.  Then it cooked in a crockpot most of the day.  It was tender and delicious! 

Salad topping for the Mexican food

That was supper tonight- served with tortillas and chips.  It was a lot of food and we will have the leftovers for another supper or for lunches 

I don’t normally do the grandkids laundry but I did today 

And that’s all for BEDA #10 

❤️Rhonda 

BEDA #9 a grands day

From yesterday, a storm came through early evening and dropped a lot of rain in short time. It also had some straight line winds. 

This tree is across our street. 

Several  neighbors have fence damage. 

A new house being built, 3 blocks away, lost it’s  trusses.

We had a broken flower pot and a little fence damage.  My husband and oldest grandson fixed our fence this morning. 

I think that broken tree is going to need a professional tree service. It’s a Bradford pear and I’m not sorry it will be gone.  Bradford pears are pretty when they bloom but they stink, give some people terrible allergy issues and they too weak for Oklahoma winds.  

Oklahoma weather is no joke. 

Today 5 of our grands were here for some of the day. 

We got Little Caesar’s pizza and had lunch with their great grandmother in her retirement apartment.

Some of them did Perler beads

Some of us learned to make a sliding knot to make jewelry with no clasps or fasteners 

This video spells it out - it took me a couple of attempts but I’ve got it mastered now 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6Qy5WdSq74

Our fridge has several containers of leftovers so no cooking tonight.

Everyone can heat up their choices. 

❤️ Rhonda 

BEDA #8 cleaning closet

Today I did some housework, including vacuuming and mopping.  

During my blog break, I cleaned and organized several areas in and around our home that were big jobs but I’m so glad I had the time and ability to do them.  

One of those jobs was making a cleaning closet.  

In our garage is a small closet that was not designated for anything so it ended up being a catchall.  

I talked about wanting to make a cleaning closet in this post http://ifyoudostuff.blogspot.com/2022/05/2nd-week-of-may-this-weeks-to-do-list.html

I didn’t take a before photo but that’s the after photo. 

 The vacuum, carpet cleaner and spin mop are in there, along with a regular mop and bucket and some assorted dusters, brooms, etc

It’s a small closet and it didn’t turn out Pinterest worthy but I appreciate it every time I clean. 

When I was thinking about doing this,  I thought I would need to buy a hanging rack but a few nails but in the shelf support work perfectly to hang every thing and didn’t cost a thing.  

❤️Rhonda 

BEDA #7 getting ready for school to start

First,  about subscriptions and following,  I put the subscription gadget back on the sidebar.  I don’t know how it works and I have no control over it.  

Maybe one of you who isn’t subscribed can try it out and let me know if it worked.  

About counts and page views,  I’m not concerned about my numbers.  This blog is not monetized.

I blog to be in contact with other homemakers and it’s also serves as diary for me.  Sometimes I go back and look at my old posts.  I always see things I don’t remember and it’s nice to see them again.  

On to homemaking things……

These pencils are my daughter’s project.  

At the boy’s elementary, it’s a tradition for every classroom to have a personalized pencil around their door. 

This year, there are 4 new teachers so they all needed a new pencil.  They are about 3 feet long.  

She painted them and the letters are cut from scrapbook paper and everything was sealed with Mod Podge.  

The kids and both parents will all pack lunches. 

I baked some fund-raiser cookie dough today.

Some was left out for eating today and the rest was packed in small bags and froze. 

Later when I had helpers,  we made homemade uncrustable type peanut butter sandwiches.  

That’s Elizabeth, I’m sure long time readers will be surprised how grown up she looks.  She’s 12. 

  

Now the cookies and sandwiches are waiting in the freezer.  

There will be lots more lunch ingredients needed but I’m happy there is a start.  

US School lunches were free pretty much since the start of the pandemic but they aren’t free now except for some income groups.  

❤️Rhonda 

BEDA #6 Saturday supper for 9

Hello everyone 

supper tonight was a joint effort

My husband smoked a pork shoulder bought by my son in law 

Yes, the rolls got too brown but they still tasted good 

Sides were a relish plate, fresh salsa made with tomatoes from the backyard, onion dip and my daughter made the Rotel dip- which is velveeta cheese melted with canned tomatoes with green chilis.  

Dessert was Girl Scout cookies and frozen peaches.  

There were a few peaches left so we tried this Pampered Chef gadget, a Quicksicle, that belongs to my daughter.  

I blended peaches with a little vanilla yogurt.  The liquid is poured into the chilled base and it freezes in about 8 minutes.  

The Quicksicles were a big hit and I expect now that we know how to use it,  we will be using it often.  

Did I mention it’s still really hot here 🥵

I’m enjoying all your comments. 

I don’t know about subscriptions but I’ll look into it.  Blogging was a lot simpler before Blogspot changed so many things.  

❤️Rhonda 

BEDA #5 breakfast, junk mail and supper

Breakfast was Banana Pecan muffins. The recipe is from YouTube, Collard Valley Cooks. 

https://youtu.be/WhkiEbBtQqU

I recommend their channel if you’re looking for something fun to watch,  but it might be most  interesting to Southerners, and maybe not to people from other regions 

My husband got our mail today.  He opened this envelope that I would of just thrown away.

It was a survey request and had a brand new $1 bill in it.  

I still don’t like mail from things I didn’t ask for but I guess it would be a good idea to open mail, just in case.  


When our son moved,  we got their kitchen pantry, household stuff  and frozen food items,  

We’ve already used or eaten some of the things.  I especially like a huge bottle of Trader Joe Olive oil with a pour spout.  

Our supper tonight was boiled shrimp - a bag of jumbo and 1/2 a bag of medium shrimp with homemade cocktail sauce, tater tots and Cole slaw.  

It was all delicious! 

And tonight was just hubby and I here for supper.  

This is the Rubbermaid Party Platter that I use so often.  I first bought two  at a Military commissary and have since repurchased more for gifts.  

Walmart sells them too and maybe Target and other grocery chains. 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NPT8REO?ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-reorder-t1_ypp_rep_k2_1_10&amp=undefined&crid=1BC97Q9K5QMNL&sprefix=rubbermaid&th=1

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Rubbermaid-Inc-Party-Take-Along-Platter/118084191

❤️Rhonda 

BEDA #4 Thrifty Thursday - dishwasher tips

Hello everyone 

With 7 people in our home, our dishwasher normally runs at least 2 full loads daily.  

My favorite and cheapest dishwasher detergent is the Great Value powder one.  It gets all the tea and coffee stains off of white mugs and leaves everything squeaky clean.  I fill the soap cup just half full too.  

My dishwasher requires a rinse agent.  Without it, the dishes are so wet after any cycle.  I’ve tried vinegar but it didn’t help at all and generic rinse agent didn’t help either.  

Name brand rinse agents are in small 8 ounce bottles and are about  $5 at my stores.  Then I found the huge 32 ounce bottle on Amazon for about $10.  I’ll keep buying it from Amazon if this price continues.  

I’ve discovered my dishwasher does an excellent job of cleaning everything on the speed cycle.  It’s about 60 minutes and the other cycles are 2 - 21/2 hours.  It’s kind of tricky to set the speed cycle though.  So to remind me and the others in our home,  I marked the buttons with the order to push them to run the dishwasher on the speed cycle.  

That part of the dishwasher only shows when the door is open.  So there aren’t any sharpie marks causing an eyesore in my kitchen.  

  

Thank you everyone who answered about the mystery gadget.  I’m pretty sure it is a no touch door opener. 

I had no idea.  

❤️ Rhonda