Spring Is Here

 

Spring has shown its face and I am very happy about this! A week from today (high of 68) will be in the 40's and the days after into the 30's, but that's spring in these parts. The warmer weather is coming!

I opened some windows this morning and am enjoying the fresh air. It was a very cold winter. Along with the cold temperatures we had a lot of grey days. This sunshine is very welcome!

I've begun the process of removing the winter things, like woolen blankets, and lightening up the decor. 

We have guests for dinner tonight. They are the same guests who were going to be here last week, but last minute our friend got stuck having to stay over at work. Tonight's the night!

I'm making poppyseed chicken, and either a salad or green beans. They are bringing dinner rolls. I think I may make my brownies for dessert but use xylitol in place of the sugar. There will still be carbs from the flour, but I am mostly focused on actual processed sugar at this point. It should turn out exactly the same as when I use sugar. 

{Here}is a link to the recipe. Xylitol is a one for one substitute for sugar, and doesn't have a weird aftertaste. However! If you have pets do not feed them anything made with xylitol. It's fatal to dogs and cats. 

(We have a cat but he does not get human food ever. Well, we have given him canned tuna before but that's it. Plus we'd never give him dessert foods. We try not to eat much dessert ourselves!)

Is Spring springing up in the areas where you live? I bought some peony tubers, stock tubers, and begonia tubers at Costco Friday night! I'm eager to get them planted!

Information Friday

 

It's one of my granddaughters’ birthdays today! I wish I were with her, but I know she's going to have an awesome day!

This is incredible! Ken Paxton is building a lot of political good will but also helping to accomplish a huge plan that is needed to save our country!

Kristi Noem is out at DHS. Trump has fired her from this job, but is kindly giving her another post. He values loyalty, but she lied about him. So we'll see.

And because I think it's so important to laugh...

Have a great weekend!

Food Talk, Hospitality, And A Beautiful Sunset

 

These photos are from the previous weekend when we were still in Florida. It was a cold day with wind and we were mostly bundled up. 

Watching the sunset at Apopka lake near Orlando, was a beautiful way to end the day.

We did have a lovely weekend here, but now it is cold and we are supposed to get a wintery mix, but Spring is here and we will be warming back up before the weekend. 

I usually cook dinner every night, but not when we were away. We got home Wednesday, and after picking up groceries, Tim and I grabbed Arby's sandwiches for late lunch/early dinner.

Friday I made a copycat of Cracker Barrel's Grilled Chicken Tenderloins, green beans cooked in a little bacon grease, and biscuits. It was so good! The chicken is easy - 1 cup of zesty Italian dressing, 4 teaspoons of honey, and 2 teaspoons of lime juice. Marinate for at least an hour. Then cook them in a skillet on the stove. I drained the extra marinade out near the end of cooking to get the grilled chicken look.

Saturday, I made subs for dinner. 

Yesterday, we took a young family out to McDonald's. We sometimes take our grands girls there after church. This family has boys that are two of our grand girls ages. The kids had so much fun eating chicken nuggets and playing together!

Tonight our friends Mike and Jen are coming for dinner and I am cooking a ham and making cheesy potatoes. I still need to decide if I am going to make a salad too, or another veg. We shall see. I think I am going to make an English Apple Pie. If I do, I will make it with xylitol, which is a sugar alcohol that does not trigger the glycemic index. Your taste buds say sugar (no weird aftertaste!), but your body doesn't read it as sugar! Win-Win!

I plan to set a pretty table. I switched by dishes out for spring now. The beautiful blue calico by Queen's. I got them for Christmas one year from my son in law!

Do you change things out seasonally? Dishes, foods you cook, decor?

Information Friday

 

Hey friends,

Sorry for no post last week. I was at our dear friend Rick's Military Honors funeral on Friday, and his memorial at church on Saturday.

We spent time with family and friends, and one thing we all had in common was a love of Rick. Heaven is dearer to us all with him there.

Did you watch the State of the Union speech? We watched it in our hotel room on our trip home. It was excellent.

I saw this photo of the Cabinet and was blown away.

Isn't this extraodinary? 

Don't believe people who hate Trump. God is at work using this administration.

President Trump talked about this during his SOTU speech.

Catherine Herridge with staggering statistics of s*xual abuse at public schools by school employees. This does not include students who attack other students.

Great news!

Incredible! 

Why are the left so against protecting American citizens?

The left has so vilified DJT that you have people planning this kind of action. This man is speaking publicly somewhere and is telling them he's bought a weapon and is going to use it to unalive DJT! I hope he's been arrested!

In other news, I am having a friend over today, and we are going to talk about life, family news, and all sorts of good things. Have a great weekend and I'll see you Monday.

Weekend

 We had a very nice weekend.

I did a bit of switching out a seasonal look on my sideboard in the dining area, Tim worked on our van. It needed a few things to be running optimally and it was stuff he can do himself. 

Saturday was Valentine's Day, and we decided that we should all go out for appetizers and desserts. A local diner has amazing desserts, so we decided to go there. Our son Kyle came too, and our friend Denny. Several people ended up getting a meal, but Tim and I split loaded fries and got dessert. 

I have been off sugar and not eating many carbs for over a month and my body did not like me eating those things again. It was a good reminder to not eat them!

On Sunday, we went to church, came home for lunch, had naps and a quiet evening. Today and tomorrow we will be getting ready for our trip, getting things set up for our house sitters.

What did you do this weekend?

Information Friday

 

It is feeling spring like today, so I couldn't resist posting this old photo of a robin's nest in our barn! Beautiful colored eggs.

Sorry for not posting yesterday. I had a hair appointment, and then a grocery pick up, and I had to fill the tank on the van. Then I was working on some things, and make a beef stew for dinner. Wes and Rachel joined us.

I have just one thing to post today. I'm sure I will get some comments, but remember friends, you don't have to come at me if you disagree.

Happy Valentine's Day, Friends!