A Morning Treat

Favorite Fruit Smoothie

1 serving

1 small banana

1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup soy milk

*1 cup frozen fruit

Place banana, juice, and milk in blender. Blend until smooth. Add frozen fruit. Blend until smooth. Pour into a tall glass and enjoy!

*I keep 16 ounce bags of frozen fruit in the freezer for smoothies. I like 'fruit smoothie blend ~ strawberries, mangos, and pineapple' and 'berry medley ~ raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries'.

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth,

where moth and rust doth corrupt,

and where thieves break through and steal:

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,

where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt,

and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

For where your treasure is,

there will your heart be also."

~Matthew 6:19-21

illustration courtesy of www.allposters.com

"Springtime" by Claude Monet

Spring Cleaning Day 4

location ~ kitchen

cleaned ~ inside and outside of refrigerator

organized ~ candle cabinet

What did you work on today? Please share! :-)

Fireproof

Supper Menus
April 6th-11th

Monday
skillet chicken parmesan, caesar salad, garlic bread sticks
Tuesday
fajitas, refried beans, spanish rice
Wednesday
garden fresh taco salad
Thursday
out for supper
Friday
pizza, lettuce and tomato salad
Saturday
venison sausage on buns, potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans

my beloved Texas bluebonnets

Show and Tell Friday

There was no doubt in my mind about what I would share for Kelli's Show and Tell Friday this week...

...these precious aprons I recieved as a belated birthday gift!

I told the sweet friend that made them for me she had combined three of my favorites ~

homemaking
Aggies
and
pink!

Love them!

Spring Cleaning Day 3

location ~ kitchen

cleaned and organized ~ under sink

What did you work on? Please share! :-)

Enjoy your weekend! Spring Cleaning will be back on Monday.

I hope to share my lists with you then.

Crock Pot Chicken and Red Potatoes

Chicken and Red Potatoes

4 servings

3 tablespoons flour
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons oil
4 medium red potatoes, cut into wedges
2 cups fresh baby carrots
1 can (4 ounces) mushroom stems and pieces, drained
4 canned whole green chilies, cut into 1/2-inch slices
1 can condensed cream of onion soup, undiluted (I used cream of chicken)
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon chicken seasoning (I used 1/4 teaspoon onion powder and 1/4 teaspoon paprika)1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Coat chicken in flour. Brown chicken in oil on both sides. Place the potatoes, carrots, mushrooms and chilies in slow cooker. Combine soup, milk and seasonings. Pour half of soup mixture over vegetables. Transfer chicken to slow cooker; top with remaining soup mixture. Cover and cook on low for 3-1/2 to 4 hours or until chicken juices run clear and vegetables are tender. Enjoy!

"My little dog - a heartbeat at my feet."

~Edith Wharton

Spring Cleaning Day 2

location ~ pantry

cleaned ~ shelves

organized ~ contents of rubber maid tubs

What did you work on ? Please share! :-)

Pioneer Woman's Meatballs

On the menu this evening were

The Pioneer Woman's

bbq meatballs...delish!

Always love her recipes ~ who can forget her apple dumplings! Not me! ;-)

You can find the meatball recipe here.

I highly recommend them. :-)

Spring Cleaning Day 1

location ~ laundry room

cleaned ~ baseboards, door frames, doors, walls, light switches, and light fixtures with a damp cloth and a little Mrs. Meyers

organized ~ cookbook cabinet

What did you work on? Please share! :-)

Creamy Bow Tie Pasta

Creamy Bow Tie Pasta

6-8 servings

8 ounces uncooked bow tie pasta
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup sour cream

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt butter. Stir in the oil, flour, garlic and seasonings until blended. Gradually add the milk and broth. Bring to a boil; cook and whisk for 2 minutes or until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in cheese and sour cream. Drain pasta; toss with sauce and enjoy!

Tres Leches Cake

Tres Leches Cake

15 servings

1 (18.25 ounce) box yellow cake mix
1 1/4 cups water
1 tablespoon oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup whole milk

2 cups (1 pint) whipping cream, divided

3 teaspoons powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Heat oven to 350°. Grease and flour bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan. Beat cake mix, water, oil, vanilla and eggs with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into pan. Bake 29 to 35 minutes or until edges are golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 5 minutes. Poke top of hot cake every 1/2 inch with long-tined fork, wiping fork occasionally to reduce sticking. Combine sweetened condensed milk, whole milk and 1 cup whipping cream. Carefully pour evenly over top of cake. Cover; refrigerate about 1 hour or until mixture is absorbed into cake. Whip remaining whipping cream; mix in powdered sugar and vanilla. Spread over cool cake. Store leftovers in refrigerator. Enjoy!

I've recently been trying to make a special dessert once a week for my family to enjoy after soccer practice. They usually eat double portions of dinner and are still hungry, so dessert works well on these nights. They all flipped over this tres leches cake! :-)

Linked to Gooseberry Patch Recipe Round Up

Ok! Let's get ready for Spring Cleaning at Heritage Schoolhouse! :-)

I'm a busy stay at home, homeschooling mom with lots of commitments, responsibilities, and wonderful activities as part of my life. I know you are busy, too, whether you also home school, or work full time, or have several children in public school, or are retired and busy with grandchildren, or maybe several of these things at the same time...a busy life is a fun life! But, it also means you realistically don't have a week or two at your disposal to completely spring clean your home top to bottom with no distractions. (If you do - you go girl! :-) Here at Heritage Schoolhouse we are going to spring clean a little bit each day, baby steps, one step at a time! :-) This is doable! I can do it! You can do it! :-)

If you would like to join in, each day we will be cleaning one item and organizing one item. Sometimes your cleaning and organizing item might be the same ~ for example the pantry that needs to be organized and the shelves wiped down. Or you might clean and organize separate items ~ launder all the curtains in one room and organize a drawer. Whatever you do, each day's work should take approximately one hour total and not much more.

Now, where is this extra hour miraculously going to come from?! ;-) You have to create this hour! And you can! The hour can come from getting up an hour earlier than your usual rising time. Or, if you're not a morning person, you can use the hour that you might usually be on the computer or maybe record your television programs, watch them over the weekend, and use that hour. The point is that we all rarely have hours at a time, but we can use a little time every day to reach our goals!

So, today, take a little time, go through your home and make two lists ~ one for things that need to be cleaned. For example ~ windows washed, curtains laundered, ceiling fans dusted, light fixtures cleaned (you can do all the ones in your entire home or just a particular room, depending on how many windows, curtains, etc. that you have.) Make another list of areas (small areas!) that need to be decluttered and/or organized. Examples ~ a specific drawer, a bookshelf, a cabinet. You can assign these items to a particular day or just leave your lists as is and tackle one item of your choice from each list each day.

Now we have a plan! So much of the success of getting things accomplished is in the planning part. Plan the work ~ work the plan! :-) We will only be working on weekdays, taking the weekends off for fun time (or catch up time if you need it!)

Who's in?? How many items do you have on each list? I don't have the technical savvy to have a Mister Linky ;-), but please feel welcome to share your progress in the comments each day or share a link to your blog in the comments, if you are blogging your progress. I will post a spring cleaning update each evening. Tomorrow, April 1st, will be Heritage Schoolhouse Spring Cleaning Day 1. What will you be working on tomorrow?! :-)

Working up a plan for Spring Cleaning ~

let's start April 1st! :-)

"He is the happiest, be he king or peasant,

who finds peace in his home."

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

illustration courtesy of www.allposters.com

"Spring" by Max Weber

Potato Ham Bake

Potato Ham Bake
12 servings

2 cans cream of chicken soup
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 cups cubed fully cooked ham
1 bag (32 ounces) frozen cubed hash browns, thawed
for topping
4 tablespoons butter, melted
3/4 cup breadcrumbs

In a large bowl combine first four ingredients; mix well. Stir in ham and potatoes. Spread in a greased 9x13" baking dish. Combine topping ingredients; sprinkle over casserole. Bake uncovered at 350° degrees for 1 hour or until potatoes are tender.

This was quick, easy and good! It's great for a comforting supper, and it would be equally delicious for a holiday breakfast or brunch.

The recipe came from a friend of mine that has four little boys - so she knows what boys like. ;-) My guys loved it and my big guy (who was out of town over the weekend, and missing his home cooked meals) had three servings! A hit. :-)

We interrupt your regularly scheduled Muffin Monday...

to bring you

~cinnamon bun scones~

My mother brought me this wonderful plate stand when she and my daddy came for a visit over the weekend. I love it! It looks so nice on the hutch, and it has just been begging to display some baked goods. ;-) This morning I thought I would give Kelli's cinnamon bun scones a try. They were delicious! You can find the recipe here! Thank you Kelli! :-)

Supper Menus
March 30th-April 4th

Monday
potato ham bake, lettuce and tomato salad, dinner rolls
Tuesday
mexican lasagna, guacamole, tortilla chips, tres leches cake
Wednesday
italian chicken breasts, creamy bow tie pasta, caesar salad, homemade bread
Thursday
bbq meatballs, creamy mashed potatoes, broccoli with cheese sauce, homemade bread
Friday
chicken and red potatoes, green peas, homemade bread
Saturday
french fried onion chicken breasts, caramelized green beans, baked potatoes

Pleases visit the Organizing Junkie at Menu Plan Monday to enjoy more menu plans.

And don't forget to stop back by throughout the week
for recipes posted each evening! :-)