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 

BEDA #3 meals this week

Hello everyone 

I like seeing real meals other homemakers serve so I took photos of our recent meals to show y’all 

This was Sunday morning breakfast- hash brown made from left over baked potatoes, scrambled eggs and sausage gravy.

I cook lots of things from scratch but not gravy, I use this 

  

It’s not health food but it’s lots lower in calories and quicker to make than scratch gravy 

Lunch that day was make your own salad and/or sandwich 

Supper was a jointly prepared meal 

Meat grilled by son in law,

Sides of  green beans, corn, watermelon and rolls prepared by me. 

Dessert for a few days was compliments of son in law’s mother, who took them all to buy new school clothes and also a bunch of cookies 

 

And extra sodas from their meal at  Pops on Route 66

Another heat wave came through. I planned ahead and cooked some easy to reheat favorites for the 106 degree days 

  

A big batch of homemade Mexican rice, lentil taco filling, beef taco filling and assorted extras like tortillas, chips, fresh salsa, etc.  

and if anyone gets tired of Mexican, they can have a hot dog.  

These are our very favorite hot dogs. 

Ballpark white smoked Turkey. 

They are no longer sold in Oklahoma 🤷🏻‍♀️ So my husband stocks up on them when he visits his parents on the Arkansas-Texas border.  

And a question for you all 

Anyone know what this gadget is?  

❤️Rhonda