Coffee for Breakfast

It's that time of year...again, except this time will be the last time. I'm planning for our last year of homeschooling. My youngest will be starting her senior year. I have many mixed emotions about this. I've known this day would be arriving. I've scrambled my brain with thoughts of, "What will I do with myself when we graduate her?" amongst other frantic ponderings. This has been my life for 20 years. Twenty. TWENTY!!! I have a hard time wrapping my head around this number. Thankfully, I have put some thought into transitioning into another stage in life. Of course, she will still need me. She graduates at 17. Since I have four other children who are grown ups, and they still need me, I know she will also. I'm not completely sad. I'm only somewhat sad. It's actually exciting. I'm excited to see her mature over the next year. I'm even excited to see myself mature. My plan is to enjoy every last moment of teaching my daughter at home...

I have a new addiction...a podcast that my oldest daughter introduced to me. I started listening to Up and Vanished about midway through the season. I frantically binged until I caught up to the current episode.  Now, the season is over. What will I do with myself now on Monday evenings? Seriously. This podcast gripped me from the beginning. Then, just when you thought you had everything figured out, it took a new twist. This is true crime investigation at its best. The most interesting part of this entire podcast is the fact that it played a crucial role in the sovlving/conclusion of a 12 year old cold case. The podcast stirred the pot of an unsolved murder in a small town in Georgia. Questions were raised and people came forward to tell their stories. I'm continuing to follow this case. Arrest(s) were made, a gag order enforced, and more questions raised than answers. The trial should be coming up soon. If you're in to this sort of thing, I highly recommend Up and Van...

A goal I've had for a while is to create a space within my home to truly relax and take a break. I've attempted this at various times in various ways to no avail. Maybe the reason for my unsuccessful attempts was simply the fact of having five children who were homeschooled. This fact can make alone time and space challenging. Of course we had daily rest periods, but a true space of relaxation was not my reality. Through a lot of self discovery and contemplation, I've accepted the fact that I am a true introvert. I love people. Especially my people. I'm the happiest mama in the world when I have the opportunity to have all of my children under one roof. Since they are grown, or almost grown, this is becoming a rare treat. On the other hand though, I've discovered that large groups of people, or a lot of activity exhausts me. For my extroverted counterparts, the above mentioned may energize you. I'm not that person. Activity that involves a lot of other people,...

I'm trying to be more consistent in menu planning. Not only does it save money, it truly saves time.  I try to make my plan over the weekend for the upcoming week. I try to shop my own food supply before making my grocery list. This one thing alone has made all the difference in sticking to my budget. It also causes me to be more creative in my meal planning which also makes the whole daily-ness of cooking much more enjoyable. For example, I only need to spend about $40-$50 this week because I'm using up what I already have on hand. I've planned to try a new recipe this week also.  My biggest money savings this week will come from a couple of meatless meals this week. Monday- Beans and Mexican cornbread✔ This will be our meatless meal of the week. Cornbread will just have some corn, jalapeños, and cheddar mixed in. Tuesday- Cheese Enchiladas, rice, and refried beans✔ This is the new recipe to try this week. I will be making homemade enchilada sauce. I will use a porti...

I've been enjoying my kitchen lately. Unusual in this hot weather, but we have to eat. I've pulled out the crockpot a few times. I also pulled out the bread maker. So far we had crockpot roasted chicken, roasted Brussels sprouts, and crusty bread the first night. I then tossed the bones back in the crockpot with a few veggies and filled with water. This slow cooked overnight to make some awesome chicken stock. After freezing an ice cube tray full, a pint jar, and two half pint jars, I added the rest to my large Dutch oven. I sautéed onion, garlic, celery, and carrot in a little olive oil, then added that to my stock. I threw in most of what was left of the deboned chicken and a half bag of egg noodles. Topped off with some salt, pepper, and a little Italian seasoning, this is a wonderfully flavorful chicken noodle soup. So much is leftover after a Sunday lunch with more of our crusty bread, we will probably have soup again...twice. I still have some deboned chicken that will ma...