Hello, friends! Happy Monday and the last day of September. How fast this year is going!
I have had this magazine to show you for several weeks now and finally got around to photographing it. So here is HGTV magazine from July/August 2018.
Isn't this doggie sweet? And here is the door of the month.
Do you have a blue door? If you do, what is the main color of your house? I don't think a blue door would look good with my brick walls. It looks so patriotic with the red and white striped rug. I don't think I would put a rocker on the front walk though. I like the planter and the flowers, but the light is not my taste at all. Let me know what you think of this entrance.
I'll have another magazine for you next week. I have two more that I've finished.
Happy October tomorrow.
Kathy
Hello, friends, and Happy Harvest Day. This is the annual celebration we have at church every year to kick off the fall events. Some years it is huge and wonderful and some years it is small and intimate. Today was a small day. It was so small that I didn't even take pictures.
So many people went home or were sick today. Alice, Carole, Rose, Joe, Debbie, Rusty... to name a few. I took Debbie and Rusty home and when I got back 30 minutes later there were 6 people there. A half hour after that my friends Carol and Donna showed up. So with me that made 9 people. Last year we had about 35 or 40.
But... we had a really good time. Tons of food and so good. Rick grilled hot dogs and hamburgers outside. I had only one other burger cooked on the grill this entire summer. It was really good and so big! Dorothea made the most delicious potato salad and green salad. There was apple pie and a vanilla bundt cake but I was so full that I couldn't eat it. Maybe we'll have the left overs on Tuesday morning before Bible Study.
It was a lot of fun and we had time to just relax and talk to each other. So many times we just rush on with our lives with a "See you next week" as we leave.
Now on with all of the fall activities!
Kathy
Hello, friends! Hope you are having a good weekend. I thought I would start another now and then series on recipes I have made and enjoyed. You might like to try them too. Although I prepare quite a variety of food, everything I make is easy and quick. With all my health problems I can't stand at the stove very long.
Tonight I made Conchitas con Carne. It is so easy anyone can make it. I will give you the recipe here, but it is also on my food blog under the subheading "ground beef."
CONCHITAS CON CARNE
1 lb ground sirloin
2 cups uncooked small pasta shells (or any pasta you would like - I usually use whatever I have on hand)
8 oz can of tomato sauce
1/4 small onion chopped
1/4 bell pepper sliced
4-5 cups water
1 beef boullion cube
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Brown the beef over a medium heat in a Dutch oven. Drain, then add the shells and stir it around a bit. Let them fry a little with the beef. Add all the remaining seasonings along with the onions and bell pepper. Add the tomato sauce and stir. Add the bouillion cube and cover with water. Simmer for 5 minutes, then cover and simmer for about 10 minutes until the shells are tender. Serve and enjoy!
I am unable to eat bell peppers so I leave them out and it's still good. And I usually don't use as much water as the recipe calls for. As long as the pasta is covered so that it cooks, it is fine.
Here is a picture of my bowl of dinner tonight. Sorry it's a little foggy. The steam coming off of the bowl fogged up my camera lens.
And here's what I had for dessert. Nothing says fall quite like spiced wafers. Yum! It's the taste of fall to me. And you can get them only during September, October and November. I usually buy an extra box to have in December.
Hope you have a great Sunday tomorrow.
Kathy
Hello, friends! Thank you so much for your well wishes while I was under the weather. You are all so kind. I am feeling better now. Maybe I ate something that didn't agree with me? Maybe it was the virus that's going around here? I don't know what it was, but I sure was not feeling good. Today is the first time I am feeling back to myself.
And speaking of weather... what is it like by you? I am so enjoying the summer like temperatures we are having and the beautiful sunshine. I know the temperatures will get cooler very soon, so I am thanking God for the heat while we have it. Winter is not my friend. I have so many cold-related health problems. So this is beautiful!
Because I haven't been myself lately, I thought I would go through my photos and show you some that I haven't posted yet. A nice "This and That" for you.
Here's my honey at dinner the other night. He had just gotten a haircut which I thought was too short but hey, it's his hair and he doesn't tell me what to do with mine. And after all hair grows. See my red pan on the stove? It's the Pioneer Woman collection that Joe bought me. I love using them, just wish they could be put into the dishwasher instead of being hand washed.
Here is Jack, the boss of the house. Or at least he thinks he is. He's so handsome. Ignore the background. I was in the midst of cleaning and you know it always has to get worse before it gets better.
I don't have an office at church, so I use the library. Here is my computer and a Bible I was using to write my study for the following Tuesday.
Here's a picture of me coming into the room. Joe asked me who took the picture. I told him I had put the camera on the timer, of course. Just proof that I really was there.
The next few pictures I took from the car when we experienced the tail end of Hurricane Dorian. I am so thankful that we didn't get the full brunt of it. I prayed for all the people in the south and in the Bahamas who had to live through this devastating storm.
So glad it is bright and sunny today.
And now I have to get myself together and get over to church. I am not going to stay long today because I am not up to it, but I know there are a few things I need to do.
Hope you all have a wonderful day.
Kathy
Hello, friends! I'm afraid I have succumbed to the dreaded stomach virus. At least I think I have. I will be back as soon as I feel better. Right now I'm going back to bed.
Kathy
I hadn't realized how long it has been since I did a What's for Diner post until I looked back at my blog. An entire month. So I decided tonight was a good time to give you some meal ideas. So let's get to it.
On Labor Day we had our friend Frank over for dinner. Joe made a pork roast, green beans, applesauce and mashed potatoes. It's nice that every once in awhile Joe decides to give me a break and makes dinner.
The next day we called out for Chinese food. The restaurant is one block from our house. Joe walked down and got it for us. It has been a long time since we did this. I had moo goo gai pan and an egg roll. Joe had chicken chow mein and fried rice. This is a picture of my plate.
On the fourth we had spinach and cheese tortellini and garlic bread. It's hard to see, but I put mozzarella cheese on top of my tortellini.
On the fifth we had a ham slice, mashed sweet potatoes and a salad.
We had grilled chicken thighs, mashed sweet potato, and spinach and mushrooms on the 9th.
Last night we had breaded flounder, corn on the cob and a salad.
I had another picture from the 6th showing our dinner of poached salmon, but when I went to send it over to my email, it disappeared. I had already deleted it so I guess that's it.
We also had fried rice one night and macaroni and cheese on Thursday. Tonight we had spaghetti and meatballs with tomato sauce.
It's hard for me to think up dinners. I think I am losing my creativity in that area. What are you having to eat? Give me some ideas.
Thanks for stopping by. Have a good night.
Kathy
Can you believe another week is almost over? The month is just flying by.
Today we had to go to Target to get Joe's medicine. While he was doing that, I looked around the Dollar Spot. If I had enough money, I would have bought a LOT of the things there. As it was I got some new fall items. Like I don't have enough fall decor. Fall is my favorite season of the year and I love decorating for it. Here's what I got.
I just couldn't resist this cute little pillow. It's on the sofa and supporting my poor sore back right now.
There were all different kinds of kitchen towels with various sayings on them. I had another set, gray, white and black, that said "My favorite color is fall." Then I saw these towels and knew I had to have them. So cute. And I love the truck with the pumpkins on the one.
In fact, I liked the truck so much that I got a little ceramic one that I'm going to put on one of the counters in the kitchen. I picked it up and put it down three times. Finally I decided that if I liked it that much, I should get it. I also got some really cute little pumpkin plates. That reminds me that I should get out my fall plates and cups this weekend.
I also got some fall flowers, berries and wheat stalks to put in a vase. Since these are fake they will last all season. They are so pretty.
Then we headed to Rite Aid to pick up my medicine. While we were there we were looking at the half-price fall items. Joe saw the scarecrows and wanted to get the pair for the front window. Being half price they were very affordable. And so cute.
I also got a drying mat for the dishes for $1.
And finally Joe found and bought for me Halloween peeps. I am not one for monsters and ghosts so I will have to eat them first. *wink*
With so many nice fall decorations I think I have to get to work and clean up things so I can display them. Have you gotten new decorations for this fall?
See you tomorrow.
Kathy
Do you like morning glories? They are such a pretty flower but so invasive. They have taken over my yard, covering all the fences, the lawn furniture, and the bird feeder.
But they are pretty. And when I saw them growing on my neighbor's gate the other day, I just had to get a picture of them.
If only they would stay where they belong, I would like them a lot better.
Kathy
Hello, friends! Here it is the middle of the week already. It was a busy day today.
I went to work this morning and completed everything that Pastor had left me to do. It took a little over an hour but that was good because then I also had time to sort some toiletries that was donated to us to give to homeless people and was there when two ladies came to drop off food for our food pantry. We have a very small pantry that we use to help out those who are hungry in our neighborhood.
Joe was with me this morning and Rick was there for awhile too. Joe and I came home for lunch and then we were both so tired that we took naps. But we got up in time to go food shopping this afternoon before we headed out to Bible Study.
Let me show you what I got at the store.
Bananas, mushrooms, brussels sprouts (I was going to get spinach, bout saw these and changed my mind) and chopped onion flakes. I use these a lot to give just a hint of onion flavor. I also put them in my potato salad these days instead of big chunks of raw onion.
I had just finished up the lemon juice, so it was time to get a new bottle. We were getting a little low on milk so I got another carton. The lactose free milk lasts much longer than regular milk, so this will be fine for a week or even longer. And I had only two eggs left, so it was time for another carton.
Joe went to get the bagels and came back with cinnamon raisin. Yum! We got hot dog rolls and lactose free cheese. It was on sale today for $1.99.
Treats for everyone: Chips for me, M&Ms for Joe, and Temptations for Jack. 😉
Bird seed and cat food so that the birds aren't the cat food.
Frozen fries, bacon, stewing beef (it's getting to that cooler weather where a stew sounds good) and smoked sausage. We had the sausage for dinner and it was good. We were looking for hot dogs and couldn't find them so got this instead.
Paper towels and quart sized bags. I had only two bags left and was down to my last roll of paper towels.
The Bartlett pears were so good last week that we got some more. I got some pancake mix that was on sale. I haven't had it in over a year. And then we got little pies for 99 cents. Sweet potato pie for me and chocolate eclair pie for Joe.
I went to get fish and there behind the counter was my favorite fishmonger from the other Shoprite I used to go to. She is such a sweetheart. She pointed at me and said, "You're at the wrong store." I pointed at her and said, "No, you're at the wrong store." Then we both laughed. I got breaded flounder filets and she made sure they were frozen and wrapped separately because I wasn't going to use them tonight. So nice! The ground turkey was on sale for $1.99/pound. A nice change from ground beef. And margarine. I was down to my last stick.
I love it when you tell me that I have given you ideas for dinner or that I've shown you a product that you've never heard of. It's amazing how differently we eat in different parts of the country and around the world.
I need to end this and go to bed. I have work tomorrow and then a doctor's appointment. It never ends. I will see you later in the week.
Kathy
Hello, friends. Hope you are having a wonderful day. I thought I would tell you how we celebrated our anniversary yesterday. It was a very low-keyed day.
I didn't sleep in, although it was later than most days. But I hung around getting caught up on my vlogs and the news. I was still in my nightshirt at 11:00 a.m. and had to get a move on to get ready to go out to the nursing home.
We stopped over at church to pick up Rick and headed to the home where Joe was preaching today on Psalm 1. Eight ladies showed up -- twice what was there last week including another new lady who is there because she sprained her ankle and then fell and broke her other leg. Such a sweet lady who came with her Bible and was so excited to find out there was a Bible Study.
We took Rick home and then headed for dinner. I didn't feel like driving a lot so we decided to go to East Coast Wings and Grill because it was near home and we both like it there.
We started off with their Pub Pretzels. Hot (and I mean hot -- I could barely hold them) soft pretzel stick and honey mustard dipping sauce.
Joe got a 50/50 burger which is half Angus beef and half Applewood smoked bacon with barbecue sauce and white cheddar cheese. It was messy to eat but Joe said it was wonderful. He got fries too.
I got five wings with honey barbecue sauce and tortilla chips.
We were going to go see a movie but decided to come home instead. So we didn't do much, but had a really nice day.
Back to real life today. I'm getting ready to teach Bible Study this morning. So I have to run. See you tomorrow.
Kathy
