Monday Monday

yep it's Monday..
I should be thinking about my menu for the next 2 weeks...
I NEED to be thinking about my menu for the next 2 weeks...
I also have to start working on some schedules for church...
some curriculum for church...
and I need to run today...
I REALLY NEED to run today...
...
oh, and the laundry that DIDN'T get touched last week...the laundry REALLY NEEDS to get done this week...my boy is OUT of shirts....
...I also need to blog about the open house this past weekend...I did promise I would...but that means I need to get all the pictures off of the camera...and then edit the pictures...and then need to get creative with my blogging...
...
but I really just want to paint some signs, maybe do a little sewing on a project that's been bouncing around in my head...
...I also want to call up a few friends that I haven't talked to in ages and talk for a bit...
I think I might need to talk to some friends...I haven't called the Mean Jean in a good few months and facebook isn't her thing, and we're going up to visit them in about 3 weeks...so I really do NEED to call her...
and my friend Ms. Sara...I feel like the last time we talked was last spring break when both families happened to be at Disneyland at the same time...
yeah...
it's a Monday in March...and I NEED it to be a lazy Saturday morning in mid-June with no kids in school and no laundry to worry about and no schedules to schedule and no running cuz the triathlon is OVER!!!

yeah...
I think I need to call some friends...I can fold laundry and talk at the same time...

Five Question Friday

1. Have you ever had a celeb sighting?
Gina Davis in the bathroom @ Disneyland's California Adventure

2. What temperature do you keep your house?
okay, brace yourself...we have a 70+ yr old home & we don't have central heat and air...we have a monitor heater that we keep around 68 in the winter and a swap cooler that is too old for a thermostat so we have two options cool or not cool in the VERY hot 120 degree summers in Redding, CA 

3. Do you notice dust at other peoples homes?
yes, and it makes me happy since I NEVER dust my own home (I let my kids think that it's a huge deal and I "let" them do it every once in awhile)

4. What's the worst job you ever had?
not sure...worked in the copy room at the college, small room large equipment no heat in the winter no air in the summer...

5. What is your most sentimental possession?
I collect all the family Bibles...I have my grandmothers, and two from the different sides of my husbands family.

I'm a Woman Sconed!

I fell in love a few years ago...

the problem was I was already married...

and I had kids... (very cute kids)

and having those kids had put a few extra lbs on my hips
...tummy
...& various other regions...

and I had fallen in love with...
...Scones...

I love them...but they aren't good for my hips, tummy & various other regions...

but, well love is blind...
so my love affair has continued...
and my love grew deeper when I realized how easy...
seriously easy...
scones were to make...
if you can make a biscuit...and you can...
you can make a scone!

and I just discovered a recipe for blueberry scones...
and when I say "just"...I mean this morning...
and "discovered" I mean I googled "blueberry scone recipe" and it appeared on my  desktop...
(magic!)

But because I can't just leave enough alone...and I had NEVER even tried this recipe...I decided to change it up...why...well,
1-for necessity (I ran out of regular flour)
2-I like to change things and be the boss!
3-I like blueberries so I added more!


Blueberry Scones
2 1/2 cups regular flour
1 1/4 whole wheat flour
3/4 c. sugar
1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
6 Tbs shortening
3 tbsp. cold butter
1 1/2 c. blueberries (fresh or frozen...I used Trader Joe's Frozen)
3/4 c. milk
2 eggs

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in the shortening and butter using a pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add blueberries and toss lightly to distribute.

I had a blueberry thief in my house

caught red blue handed

 In a separate bowl using a fork beat together the milk and eggs until well blended. Using a large spoon gently stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture. With floured hands gather the dough up and place on a floured surface. Sprinkle the top lightly with additional flour and pat the dough out to a thickness of about 1/2 inch.  Depending on the size of your work surface you may need to do this in two batches (I did).
Using a 2 1/2-inch fluted or rounded cutter, cut the scones out and place on an un-greased baking sheet.

...the smaller the better...

they just seem so much better for me cuter that size

Gather up the scraps and cut additional scones until all the dough is used. Sprinkle the tops of the scones with granulated sugar and bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Do not over bake or scones will be dry.

I can hear the blueberries sizzling in the oven...can't wait

Serve warm, with blueberry green tea (also from Trader Joes) or with coffee...

or with a handsome blue-eyed boy!

You're just dying to try one, right...
stop by our open house and boutique today and you can have one!!!

1057 Coggins St, Redding CA

No Tom-Foolery Here

I had planned to blog about all the mischief and Tom-Fooler that the Leprechauns brought to our house early this morn...
and was going to share with you some of our St. Patrick's Day family traditions...
and I was going to go blog public with my history geekness and share with you my LOVE for St. Patrick and why we celebrate him...
but I don't have lots of time to sit here today...busy busy...

so instead I'm going to tell you why my menu planning was a bust!

Beef Stroganoff on the menu for last night...the husband is sick so that goes out the window, replaced with Chicken Noodle soup...oh well...

and then...
well, when planning the menu on Monday I forgot that today was St. Patrick's day...
so rather than grilled chicken salad...menu was changed to
Potato Soup and Soda Bread...
(What NO Corned Beef and Cabbage?!?  tried that a few years ago and I was the only one eating dinner, so I've changed my St. Patrick's menu to the Potato Soup and Soda Bread...)...
I've posted the recipe to the soup before...potato soup...but here is the soda bread recipe...the kids LOVE this and I ALWAYS say, "why don't I make this more often?" and then I put away the recipe for another year!
Irish Soda Bread with raisins

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour or whole wheat or 1 cup of each...
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup raisins (optional)
1 cup buttermilk
butter
1.  Into a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and soda. Stir in raisins, then stir in the buttermilk, stirring just until mixture is blended. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead about 8 times.
2.  Shape into a 6-inch round; place on ungreased baking sheet. Cut a cross on the top of the loaf. Bake at 375° for 40 minutes, or until golden brown. Brush hot soda bread loaf with butter; break apart or slice.
Serve warm.

...
hope your St. Patty's day was great...

Menu for March 15-21th

Yeah, so I did it again...
I totally dropped the ball on the whole meal planning last week, wasn't in the mood and was pretty busy...
guess what happened?
Craziness...
Okay, so add no meals planned to an already busy week...lets just say I've learned my lesson, sure it might be a lesson I have to learn a few times, but it made last week so much harder that this morning I was laying in bed planning me meals because I didn't want a repeat of last week!  Nothing is worse than waking up at 6 am and going hard all day then 5 pm hits and you have no idea what you have to feed the kids...makes for cranky kids, cranky mom and cranky dad!

so here's the plan so far...

Monday March 15th

     Lunch-Tuna Melts

     Dinner-Grilled Chicken and Fettuccine Alfredo w/ steamed asparagus 

Tuesday March 16th

     Lunch-Egg Salad sandwiches

     Dinner-Ground Beef Stroganoff w/green beans

Wednesday March 17th

     Lunch-nachos

     Dinner-grilled chicken salad

Thursday March 18th

     Lunch-peanut butter and jelly sandwiches...but with sunflower butter (just bought yesterday, the kids said they loved it when they tasted it at Trader Joes)

     Dinner-pork chops and applesauce in the crockpot

Friday March 19th

     Lunch-Fried Egg Sandwiches (or whatever else Beau decides to make!)

     Dinner-Chili and cornbread (chili in the crock pot since I'm @ the open house all day)

Saturday March 20th

     Lunch-dad's in charge because I'm doing the open house so I'll let him figure it out

     Dinner-I'm guessing Beau will probably order Pizza at this point!  

Sunday March 21th

     Lunch-I'm now too tired to make meals since I've been gone from my house since Friday morning and now I've just worked with 15 kindergarten's so I say we eat out

     Dinner-Potato Soup!

Closet Update

Okay, so the closet is still in the making...but it looks like it could be a closet at some point in the near future...
here are the stats...

*Move Electrical Outlet-Check
...with no shocking experiences either...
unless you count Beau letting me use a saw-sall to cut a hole in the wall...

    ...or that I might not have put the hole in the exact spot I should have...
but, it's moved...

*Build and install closet wall frame-Check

...with only a few minor adjustments here and there...
special note for all home owners with a house older than they are...
...(ours is 40 years older than me!)...
at some point you must choose between building a level closet or having the closet level to ceilings and walls in your house that leans to the south!
(which is a weird lean since the hill our house sits on goes down in the north, so our house SHOULD lean to the north...)
our choice in the level department...we chose level closet....

*Drywall closet ceiling and walls-Semi Checked
we "hung" the drywall on the ceiling of the closet, and decided to call it a day/weekend...not too bad when we probably only put in maybe 5 hours solid of closet work this weekend...

We'll put in a few more hours a few nights this week...
...oh, and return the doors, we bought the wrong ones...

and then maybe next Sunday I can write a blog about our finished closet!!!

Another "Weekend Project"

so the goal is to finish the closet this weekend...
one reason...we want it finished...

another reason, I can't help with the project next weekend because I have a different sort of weekend project planned....
Yes, I know...am I crazy...
probably so...

the weekend project that I'm talking about is
TheSmithHotel's First Open House and Boutique
that my friend Mrs. Smith is hosting at her home...

She has turned her home into a store...

and she is selling tons...

tons of vintage things...

of cute things...

...and stuff that she's made...don't you just love this tea towel?!?

Mrs. Smith has invited me and another friend to join her at her open house selling some of our things...

so Rayna from Gotcha Covered is selling her aprons (adult and kids)

our monkeys modeling Rayna's boy aprons

and hootie hiders (for nursing mom's)....sorry no pictures...for some reason Rayna (who's not nursing) didn't want to model these...

I have a few aprons for sale
and some "art" work... for kids rooms...I use the word "art" very loosely...

and other stuff that you need around your house...

key holders

magnets

also since I'm selling stuff I had to work on the ChambersMade logo...check it out...I think it turned out cute...

anyways...
I hope that if you're in the Redding area next weekend

March 19th & 20th

you will stop by and support us or just check out our stuff...
theSmithHotel's First Open House and Boutique
Friday, March 19th noon-8 pm & Saturday, March 20th 9am-8pm
1057 Coggins Rd. Redding, CA

we made the times a little later at night so you can make it a girls night out and leave the kiddos at home with dad and come browse our store...
please invite friends and let them know...