Tea Cozy

I have enough extra fabric to make a couple of more tea cozies and a pair of napkins for each. I will be posting them for sale on my site, or if you are interested leave me a note in the contact and I will get back with you.

Thank you for stopping by.

Parmesan-Crusted Chicken

Parmesan-Crusted Chicken

½ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

4 tablespoons seasoned breadcrumbs

4 boneless, skinless breasts

            Mix mayonnaise and Parmesan. Coat chicken well with mayo mix, then dredge in breadcrumbs. Bake at 200°C for 20 minutes.

Update on Christmas cards for soldiers

After my post a few days ago about sending cards to Recovering Soldiers, I found out that is not going to work.  Walter Reed gets so many that they cannot handle them, so the Red Cross has a program to distribute cards in many areas.   Following is some information and the address to use.  Please disregard the previous post I made, sorry for the confusion. 

Also note that the cards must be sent by Dec. 10!

Another thought I had was to plan to do something for patients in your local V.A. hospital.

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I have been cooking and baking up a storm!!

Wish you all could have seen the whirl wind of mixing and baking and such that has been going on in my kitchen in the last few hours!!!  LOL  My friends Marcia and Caina came by today to help me get ready for the big dinner party tomorrow, and we got more done in a couple of hours than I might haven gotten done all day long.  Marcia is a slave driver and fast with her hands, so she stepped in to mix everything as I chopped some onions, grabbed utensils and ingredients for her and kept Noah occupied playing in the sink with some soapy water and a few mixing spoons and cups.  (He had a blast and by the time we were done, he was drenched from head to toe and my socks were drenched with water he had flung on the floor too!  LMSO  Now, before you say Why would you let him do this??? Listen people, it is just soapy water, and I changed his clothes before his nap, and well, the floor was going to be mopped after all the baking anyway.  LMSO  Now I have one spot of the floor that doesn't need that uch scrubbing.  LMSO)

The girls needed to go to the store for a few items, and they are bringing back 2 missing ingredients that hubby forgot to get me last night while my Noah (he was getting tired after all the water play! *giggles* naps and I keep my eye on the things in the oven.

So far today we have:

1. Made a double batch of hot rolls (they are baked and cooling now.  I will warm them up for the dinner tomorrow)

2.  Made a double batch of pecan pie muffins (which fell apart when we were taking them from the muffin pan, but man do they taste good.  we may make another batch in muffin papers if we still have time)

3.  Mixed up a batch of sweet and sour meatballs (they are in the fridge with sauce awaiting to be cooked tomorrow)

4.  Made a double batch of wrapped little smokies( they are in the oven now and making me sooooo hungry!!  You take little smokies, wrap them in a small piece of bacon, secure with a toothpick, and then pour a mixture of brown sugar and water over the top..........YUMMO)

5.  Put a large pork loin in the crockpot (with broth and onion soup mix on LOW)

When the girls get back:

1.  Mix up spinach dip and cheeseball

2.  Make cornbread dressing (will bake today and heat up tomorrow)

3.  Mix up green bean casserole (bake tomorrow???)

4.  Make up a seven layer lettuce salad

5. Mix up and pour cheesecakse into a crust

Matthew bought 2 pumpkin pies last night at the store because I told him I had a new recipe I wanted to try on pumpkin dessert in the crockpot.  He wrinkled his nose and said he would buy 2 pies.  LMSO  Isn't he funny?? Oh well, maybe I will try the recipe for Christmas instead.

Well, the smokies in the oven are calling my name.  I think I should go and taste test them before the girls get back. LMSO

See ya later!

Homemade Ideas for a 15 year old: for tcrossland and others

I am having a blast making homemade gifts for my friends and family members this year!!!  How about you guys???  Well recently I posted a blog about homemade Christmas and how our family is cutting WAY back on gift giving.  Some of the reason of course is a tight budget and the seemingly always rise of cost of living expenses.  The other reason??? Because some (not all, don't think I am preaching, because I am not) store bought gifts are thoughtless, and think about it.  Is that person going to use it, or stuff it in a drawer and sell it at their next yard or garage sale?  LMSO

I wanted our Christmas this year to be filled with joy and not fretting over what to give.  I want all the presents we give to be from the heart and for us this year, alot of that means homemade.  I am putting alot of thought into each person's gift and I hope they appreciate all the time and effort I am going into making them as well!!

I had a commenter ask ifI had any homemade ideas for a 15 year old boy, and I thought,  sure, I will just right a blog about it!!

I have a few upper teen and lower twenties guys I am going to be making for, so here are a few of my ideas for them:

1.  A "special pillowcase" with lots of zippered and other pockets in it to carry stuff in.  An ipod shaped pocket of course is a must!

2.  An ipod cozy!!!  You can crochet these, sew them, make them from felt.  Google ipod cozy and you should find many ideas on this one.

3.  A  T-shirt quilt!  This is one I am using for my hubby this year.  He has a collecton of old (and very well worn, little pinholes in them, etc.) Christian T-shirts that he will not let go of.  I have bouught him new ones and he loves the new ones, but he still wears the ratty ones.  To get them out of circulation, I am going to cut the designs out, sew them together with fabric strips and make them into a blanket.  This one will be a 9 t-shirt quilt, but if your boy has many many t's....then make them into a twin sized cover or larger.  (This is an excellent idea for a boy going off to college to display his quilt on his bed at college!!)

4.  A fleece scarf or fleece blanket.  You can buy all kinds of fleece now, some with college team logos on them even.  Find out his favorite team and buy some fleece and sew up a scarf or blanket, or if you don't sew, cut you can blanket stitch or just cut and fringe the ends!  Let him show off his team spirit with a wonderful homemade gift.

5.  A blue jean blanket.  I am making one of these for my 22 year old nephew.  He recently married my neice and he is a farm boy through and through.  I think he will love the blanket and of course I am making it big enough so he and his new wife can cuddle under it together.  I have been collecting jeans from friends and family as they clean out their closets, and buying bags full at the thrift shop for only 10 cents a piece, so this is a cheap present. 

As I said before, some of these presents I have intentions in making before Christmas for presents, so when I get them done, I will post pics of them on my craft blog:  www.homesteadblogger.com/craftypudding

Feel free to visit my posts there anytime to get ideas or inspiration for your own craftiness!!!

Chicken A La Romanoff

Chicken A La Romanoff

4 boneless, skinless breasts

1 ¼ teaspoon salt

¼ plus 1/8 teaspoon white pepper (black can substitute)

1 heaping tablespoon cream cheese

¼ cup sour cream or yogurt

1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon minced fresh chives

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1 cup cooked egg noodles

1 egg

¼ cup milk

½ cup flour

¼ cup butter

2 tablespoons oil

Champignon Sauce (see recipe below)

            Flatten chicken by pounding lightly between 2 pieces of baking paper until thin; sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Mix cream cheese, sour cream, Parmesan, chives , remaining ¼ teaspoon salt, remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper and the garlic powder in medium bowl. Add noodles; mix well.

Spread ¼ of the noodle mixture over center of each breast; fold sides of chicken over to cover filling. Secure well with several wooden pics. Refrigerate chicken 15 minutes. Beat egg and milk in a shallow pan. Dip chicken in egg mixture to coat; the dip in flour to coat. Refrigerate chicken 30 minutes. Heat oven to 200°C. Heat butter and oil in medium skillet over medium heat; add chicken. Cook until chicken is golden, 4-5 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from skillet, reserve. Brush pan drippings over bottom of a baking dish; add chicken. Bake until chicken is tender, 20-25 minutes. Prepare Champignon Sauce. Arrange chicken on serving plate; spoon about 1 cup of sauce over chicken. Pass remaining sauce. Serve hot.

Champignon Sauce

2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

¼ cup dry white wine

¼ cup butter

¼ cup flour

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup milk

½ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon white pepper

½ teaspoon sugar

2 egg yolks

2 tablespoons whipping cream

            Cook mushrooms and wine in small saucepan over medium heat until all liquid evaporates; reserve. Melt butter in a 1 liter saucepan; stir in flour. Cook over low heat, stirring, until bubbly, 1-2 minutes. Stir broth and mild into flour mixture. Cook, stirring, until sauce is thick, about 5 minutes. Stir salt, pepper and sugar into sauce. Beat egg yolks and cream in small bowl with whisk or fork. Stir about ½ cup of the hot sauce into egg yolk mixture. Blend egg yolk mixture slowly into hot sauce in saucepan; stir in mushrooms. Cook over low heat until hot but not boiling. Serve hot.

Tuckered out

That's what we both are tonight!  Hubby announced this morning that he was going to back a trailer into the shed and we were going to start cleaning it out.  Well all I could say was WooHoo!   I should have taken a picture of the mess we had, but honestly it was a little too bad.  It is a shed that is open to the south and we use it for shelter for the goats.  They have been using the front half, but there was a cattle panel across the middle and the back half was total junk!  When we moved here 71/2 years ago, we stored things we didn't know what to do with there..........well, you know boxes got damp and gave out and stuff just got to be a total mess.  I have had the best intentions every year to get it cleaned out so the goats could use all of the building as well as just getting the junk cleared out.  But everytime I looked at it, it just seemed like too big of a job to start on myself, so I would just walk away.  So when hubby was in the mood to start on it this morning, I was overjoyed!  A lot of work, but a good tired at the end of the day.  I am guessing we burned 10 or more trash bags full, plus some boxes that we just carried to the burn pile.  Besides a trailer pretty full of stuff to haul to the dump tomorrow.  There is a huge pile of used lumber along one side that my Dad had stored there, so we will have to start on that tomorrow too.  We are thinking some of it may be no good, but some can be  salvaged.  Then of course there is a row of "stuff" that we want to keep that will need to find a home before we can say we are finished. I doubt that we can finish it tomorrow, but we sure have made a good start and I am thrilled.

This shed is where we hold the Live Nativity that we host each year.  So that is another reason to be happy to get this project done now before Christmas.  Past years we have just hung a tarp across, covering up the mess.

Today was a perfect day to work outside, we were out of the wind, so not cold, but just right to work and not get hot either.  There was very little wind, so we were able to keep the burn pile going and get rid of the burnable stuff right away.

One more blessing to share with you.  I send out a newsletter from our farm, and in the one I did last week I added a wish list of things we could use here that folks might have laying around and want to get rid of.  Included was a baby monitor,  jelly jars, concrete wire, and pieces of chain link fence to cover gates.  In response, a friend emailed and offered some fencing.  We borrowed a trailer and picked it up yesterday when we were in the area for Thanksgiving.  There was part of a roll of wire, several hog panels, some are bent, but we cut them up and use the pieces for hay feeders, a chain link walk thru gate, some steel posts.  And they also gave us 2 rubber buckets, a rubber feed pan, some metal wash tubs.  I think that is everything........  We were so happy to be blessed with these items and she told me she had wondered for 2 years what she was going to do with this stuff.  So we helped her out as well.  Isn't God Good!!!

I have 2 pies to bake by noon tomorrow.  Being busy all day and worn out tonight, I was very happy that I had made an extra single pie crust last week and put it in the freezer.   I stirred up  the filling for a custard pie in no time and it baked while I got the dishes from the day caught up.  In the morning when I have a little more energy, I will make an apple and be done baking till Monday I hope!

Country Blessings,

Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead

The Day After Dinner: Not What You Would Expect

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my family yesterday.  It was hosted by my brother and SIL, so she did alot of cooking and everyone brought a dish.  Needless to say, I was thrilled I didn't have to cook for all the people that were there, approximately 35!  The house was crowded, and when our Noah walked in and saw everyone, he turned around and walked right back out. LMSO  He was a little overwhelemed with everyone wanting to say hello to him, and was very clingy at first.  But after dinner, everyone cleaned up and the gang spreads out in the basement (the men who watch the football game on the big screen, which usually turns into the men who fall asleep in the recliners. LOL), the kids on the main floor playing Wii and the women in the dining and kitchen area talking and laughibng, some of the littlier kids playing outside on toys or in the sand, or at the table in the sunroom playing with playdough, and a few upstairs playing computer games.  By then Noah found some toys and was making himself at home and visiting with everyone!!

Today, I am making one of hubby's all time favorite meals.  What he doesn't know is that I love making this meal because it is so darn easy!!!  LMSO  We call is Cheesy Potatoes and Ham.  I put one bag of shredded potatoes in the crockpot with 2 cans of cheddar cheese soup and 1 can of milk and stir.  I add chunks of thick sliced ham and let it cook.  I some back every once in a while and stir it, but that is basically it! LMSO  SOOOO easy!  Tonight about supper time, I will pop some crescent rolls into the oven and some peas on the stovetop and we will be done!! TA-DA as Noah would say.

I am making a super easy dinner tonight because I am cleaning today and tomorrow and cooking in the evenings getting ready for hubby's family Thanksgiving celebration this Sunday.  They will be coming to our house (thank goodness....if you have read my blogs any, you know I don't like their messy house and refuse to eat my MIL's cooking due to the uncleanliness and lack of cooking abilities the lady has) and I will be cooking everything.  Matthew's sister asked last night if there was anything she could bring and I said sure, bring some pop and a small bag of ice! LOL  We rarely ever have pop in the house, but his family drinks it constantly.  It is simply something we don't buy and I won't spend money on, so this way she can pick out the flavors her family drinks and I figure before the day is over, we will definately need more ice for drinks.

Tonight (after hubby gets home with a few crucial ingredients from the store.  He is working today, so the house is nice and quiet.  LOL  I can't seem to get my cleaning done when he is here!  Are any of you like that?) I will make the spinach dip and cheeseball and refrigerate.  And sometime today or this evening I plan on making pecan pie muffins (I chate pecan pie, but I adore these muffns!!! YUMMY! ), a bundt cake and a plain cheesecake (toppings will be available). 

Tomorrow will be a day to clean the rooms I didn't get cleaned up today  (LOL), and to prep things for Sunday morning to be popped in the oven.  I will prep some little smokies (we wrap them in bacon, and put them in the crockpot with a little water in the bottom and sprinkle brown sugar over it all....they are delicious!!!!!!!! Addictive!!!), and sweet and sour meatballs (along with the dip and cheeseball and crackers will be appetizers).  Then I will put a pork loin and vegetables in another crockpot.  I also plan on making green been casserole, stuffing, seven layer salad, and hot rolls, several of which I can bake off and reheat or at least prep on Saturday.

For desserts we will have a chocolate cheesecake, a regular cheesecake, the bundt cake, a pumpkin dessert thingy (crockpot), and of course I will eat the pecan pie muffins as a dessert!  LMSO

Sounds yummy doesn't it??? Of course I am making WAY too much food.  But that's ok, because some can be eaten for leftovers on Monday and Tuesday.  Other things will be frozen for a leftover night later on in the following week.  None will go to waste!!!  (Hope it doesn't go to waist either!!)

I was very careful yesterday not to overeat (becky helped by grabbing my fork and pushing the pumpkin roll away as I was practicially drooling on it wanting a second piece! LOL), and I will do my best to do the same on Sunday!!!  So far, since the whole diet thing started, I have lost 22 pounds (took a month off to not push myself so much in October, and I am glad I did!!), and I don't plan on gaining any during the holidays!!!

More Crafty Goodness: A Small Fabric Dollhouse

Hello all.  I have been at it again.  Crafting and sewing up a storm.  LOL  These following things are for a swap in which we craft or sew things for each other's children.  I was so excited to see the tutorial for the dollhouse on my partner's wish list that I decided to make her one as well as one for my neice for Christmas.  The felt items were also on her wish list, one for each child. 

So, here are the pics!!

These are the three felted notebook covers and pencil pouches she requested. 

And here are some pics of the fabric doll house I made for her little girl!!  This is the front of the house with a front door (and a bluebird above it), and window made from felt added on.  The red on the top is the ribbon handles.

Here is the side of the house.  As you can tell it closes with loops (made from small hair ties) and buttons. 

Here is a picture of the house opened up to see the inside.  The green portion is to resemble the garden outside.  How cute huh???

And another pic of the whole house!!! 

Interested in making a fabric dollhouse for a sweet little girl in your family??? Here is the online tutorial I used. http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2008/08/fabric_dollhouse_tutorial.html?CMP=OTC-5JF307375954     In some areas it was a little hard to understand what she was talking about, but I can honestly say I muddled through.  If anyone is interested in making it, and gets confused, please feel free to message me and I can see if I can help!!!

I seriously want to be a littl girl so I can make myself one to play with. LMSO

Our Thanksgiving Day

We had such a nice day today.  We did not get up early and put the turkey in the oven........no, not us.........DIL  Edye had to do that this year!  Just had to do chores, get cleaned up and go to their house.  I am happy to report that DIL did a wonderful job of cooking, the food was very good!  We have a thing about dressing (stuffing some call it), we really like good dressing.  The first bite I took was of the dressing, and it was great!!  Here are some pictures of our day.

The cook of the day and Maddie.

Son, Ryan and my Mom.

Nick and Hubby.

Granddaughter, Lexi.

This is my Aunt Ernie, she just celebrated her 90th birthday last month.  She is amazing for 90!

Country Blessings,

Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead