5 thing Friday - cactus, truck, Easter, dinner, clutter

Signs of spring everywhere, including my baby cactus from Highlands: 

This weekend I hope to move the ficus tree back outside, trim the skinny trees next to the garage doors, add a couple of new lantana and some mulch to the area by the mailbox, and weed and feed the grass.  I also would like to go to Highlands and harvest that barrel cactus I saw blooming a couple of springs ago!

The truck hit 100K this week and I didn't notice until I was on my way to work.  Still going strong!  I'm glad I didn't sell it yet - its been a blessing to let Scout borrow my car until he buys one.  I'm thinking of getting one of those portable upholstery cleaners, though.  I told my sister that the truck smelled like a camel's rear, to which she asked how do you know how THAT smells?  It smells like the truck, I said!

I bought the last cute bunny wreath they had at Dollar Tree and some plastic eucalyptus and made a bow from burlap I already had.  I thought I knew what Easter was going to look like this year, but now its up in the air.  I will probably cook a lunch for Scout, Bubbie, and myself.  Maybe a pork roast!

Polenta Lasagna!

I was pretty tired when I got home from work that day, but I was so happy to sit with my feet up in front of a plate of warm, cheesy polenta, Italian Sausage, mushrooms, and marinara.  The leftovers will be a great lunch in future.

I managed to give away all of the coolers and these two very musty old quilts on the Buy Nothing page.  No one wanted the footbath, but I will try again.  Its been very satisfying to clear my home's spaces of things that I no longer want to store or work around.  Little by little, I am conquering the clutter of my home, and bulky trash pick up is in two weeks, so my garage will be emptier, too!

Happy end of March,

Gina

Monday menus #13

 Its spring!  Any bets on how long it will take me to finally mow at Highlands?

Save your money...

Monday - Roast Chicken, brussels sprouts and carrots

Tuesday - Taco Tuesday {dermatologist appointment}

Wednesday - Polenta Lasagna with mushrooms and Italian sausage, broccoli or green beans

Thursday - One Pot Meatballs and rice with shredded kale

Friday - Salmon Patty, couscous, zucchini

Saturday - Kitchen Closed

Sunday - TBD

Gina

I told Scout that I was going to be making simpler meals and only cooking 5 nights out of 7.  I for sure don't mind serving him a plate when I cook, I just want to cook LESS. 

I can never get enough of the bluebonnets!

5 thing Friday - Mother, bluebonnets, memories, wine, cholesterol

When I visited my mother, she had several places she needed to go - the vet, the CPA that does her taxes, HEB...and if you are in front of her at the grocery store, you better move fast, because she is notorious for running folks down!

I am a little worried about her.  Most of the time she's very "with it".  But other times she does things like fall asleep at the kitchen table while filling the dog treats jar.  Then she startles when I knock, even though she knew I was coming.  

Last Sunday I visited Highlands.

I had been putting it off, but I wanted to see the bluebonnets.

Last time I was here (NYE) I had a pipe burst and water was flooding the top of my hill, draining my well.  I panicked, then got in big trouble with The Girl (whom I haven't spoken to much, since).

 

Highlands is a place I still need to reconcile.  One minute I am sure I need to sell it, the next, I am captivated by its beauty and memories.  Mark loved it here yet I know that's not a reason to keep it.

On Sunday, it will be one year since his memorial here.  The Etsy shop I ordered the urn's engraved brass plate from abbreviated his birth year, and not the other.  So this one lives on a cedar up at Highlands.  How is it that's its been a year since I felt ready to have the memorial?  I waited 8 months and it was still so hard I could barely get through the day.  But I did, and I continue getting through all of the days and that has to count for something.

I attended "finishing trials" at my favorite winery.  We sampled Viognier, 2 Picpoul Blancs, a Marsanne, and Aglianico Rose.  Very educational!

The tank room is cool and quiet and has the most wonderful smell to it.  And the size of those tanks is impressive!

I met some people, had some fun, and got out into the world.  Go me!

Sadly, my efforts to improve my cholesterol aren't doing enough so I started on a statin yesterday.  I could be sad about this (and I am) but I also feel empowered to do something for my health that may help me make it as long as my mother has.  Since eggs are no longer considered the enemy, I am enjoying some fresh ones from her chickens.  But I will also get myself back on track with other things I know I should be doing.  I can't be mad at Mark for not doing something I am not doing myself!

Gina

Monday menus #12

We're in that halfway season - winter into spring, where the night and early morning is downright chilly, and the days are so pleasant.
 

Before you know it, the weather will warm up, everything will be green, the air warm...winter will be a distant memory.  Time to think about starting my walking program, working on projects around the house, lots of other "new" things.

Monday - Fajita Quesadillas with onion and red pepper, avocado slices

Tuesday - Taco Salads {early a.m. doc appt.}

Wednesday - Curry Chicken Thighs, rice, spinach {Beer Necessities 6-7:30 pm}

Thursday - Stuffed Bell Peppers, honey carrots 

Friday - Pork Chop, twice baked, green beans {early a.m. hearing appt.}

Saturday - kitchen closed - continue working on yards

Sunday - (Rudy's) Brisket Sammie, potato salad {Mark's memorial one year ago today}

Gina

5 thing Friday - landscaping work, plant babies, Scout, birthday plans, lemon pie

 I took Monday off instead of today, as planned.  I had not done yard work in months, and it showed.  Something always seemed to come up - weather, being on call, going to Brenham or Highlands, etc.

I started by hand pulling as many weeds as I could in the backyard.

Then I edged, mowed, trimmed the backyard lariope and fig tree...

cleaned out the front landscaping and planted a new shrub, trimmed my crepe myrtle, raked, mowed, edged...

bagged leaves and debris, blew the sidewalk and driveway off, then stored all of my tools and called it good enough for now.  I still have lots to do, but Rome wasn't built in a day, ya know.

I also planted a couple of plant babies in the kitchen window.  After the oaks stop dropping pollen and those little crackly things, I will move some of them back outside.  I love this tiny fern!

Speaking of moving...

I can't go into details here, but Scout is back home.

Sometimes life doesn't turn out like we planned, sadly.  But I am happy I can offer him a safe and loving place to rebuild.  No one ever tells you how hard it is to parent adults, do they?

I bought my mother a rose bush for her 93rd birthday.  It says something about her that she believes she will live to see this bush planted and thriving, at the house she intends to stay in.  Who am I to rain on her parade?  Let her enjoy what time she has left, while she looks forward to the promise of spring.

I'm also making her a pie to go with our pizza party lunch.  I don't know if I ever posted this, but it makes a wonderful lemon pie.  You put everything (except the crust) into a food processor and blend until thick, pour into the crust, then bake at 350 for 40 minutes.  Chill for two hours. Serve with Cool Whip and a smile.

Even she loves it and she's a blue ribbon winner for her lemon merengue pie from the South Plains Fair, way back in the 60's. So there. 

Happy St. Pat's!

Gina

Monday menus #11

 Does anyone else out there feel like its suddenly spring?  Here in Central Texas we had two or three freezes, one ice storm, then BOOM...spring is here.

I read a meme recently that basically said you are OLD when you start crabbing about the weather and how fast the seasons change!  Yep, that's me.

Monday - Dr. Martin's Mix, garlic toast

Tuesday - Lemon Garlic Tilapia, mac and cheese, the rest of the kale

Wednesday - Chicken thighs with baby potatoes and carrots, salad

Thursday - Pizza with rest of salad

Friday - Crockpot Irish Stew, garlic toast {going to Brenham}

Saturday - TBD {kitchen closed, yardwork day}

Sunday - Glazed Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans {check on Highlands}

Gina

Managing the stuff

I'm one of those people who find a sense of control when I clean or organize things in my world.  And for me, the garage here at Camp Rustown represents a very messy aspect of my life.  I won't go into details here, but just know that it being jam-packed with things that needed to go has weighed on me for some time.  I can't control that Mark and the kids are not here, but I can decide to let some of this cargo GO.

Making Goodwill runs, recycling paper and cardboard, placing things out for bulky pick-up are all well and good, but its a slow process.  So I put in a request to join the Buy Nothing Facebook group and waited awhile before I was added.  In the meantime, I gathered up the first round of things to re-home.

Coolers, water buffaloes, a giant Jenga game with a table, and this beast of a steel cabinet.  The Giant Jenga went fast.  Each weekend I will aim for re-homing at least two batches of things.  Working off my stress and nervous energy feels good out here.  Slowly, my home is becoming less cluttered from the past and more organized for my future.

I wonder how Mark and I would ever have managed to tackle the process of whittling down our things and getting them ready to move so we could sell Rustown.  There was just so much stuff.  And he was so resistant to parting with any of it.  I will never know, and I try not to think about it too often, because it really doesn't matter now.  With each load of things that leave the house I feel a little more assured that I am on the right track and managing the "stuff".   And it gets a little easier as I go.

Gina

Monday menus #10

My plant babies will soon go back outside to live as I feel like they aren't getting quite enough light in my kitchen window.  However, my olive tree has decided to add new leaves!

In the future I think I will transition over to lighter containers for the olive and the ficus - the terra cotta pots they live in are cracked and so darned heavy.  I have no business hurting my back by hauling houseplants around!

Monday - Deboned fried chicken over chopped salad {starting my no spend month*}

Tuesday - Pork Chop, garlicky rice, kale

Wednesday - Pizza of some sort

Thursday - Roast Chicken Thighs, twice baked potato, zucchini

Friday - Enchiladas, corn, Romaine salad with green onion and tomato {payday, replace air filters, "on call" the next three days}

Saturday - OUT

Sunday - TBD, but maybe the Apple Gouda Chicken Sausage I didn't do last week {Spring forward!}

*this means I am doing NO on-line shopping, or buying anything I don't have to have for the month!

Gina

Easy and thrifty Chicken Skillet

I'll never be a cookbook creator, but I do know how to feed myself a good dinner and this is one of my favorites - we'll call it Chicken Skillet! 

I pull two chicken thighs out of the freezer to thaw the night before.  When I get home the next day, I season them under the skin and pull a bit of extra fat off.  What's in the seasoning?  Salt, pepper, and anything else that sounds good.  For an Italian version, I add Italian seasoning and garlic.  For Greek, maybe some thyme and lemon pepper.  Or even some curry powder.  I make sure to rub seasoning into the chicken all up under the skin and on the bottom of each thigh.  Then I let it sit in the fridge for an hour or so.

Then I heat up my baby cast iron skillet until its very hot and cook them about 5 minutes on each side, without disturbing them.  I pull them out to rest, and add chopped veggies to the hot skillet.

This particular night I used cut up carrots and shredded cabbage.  But I also love making this with potatoes, or bell pepper and onion, or brussels sprouts, sweet potato...whatever I have.  I cook the veggies until they get a bit of color from the chicken fat in the pan, season that up, put the thighs on top and pop the whole thing into a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes or so.

The seasoning stays pretty safely tucked underneath the crispy chicken skin.

The veggies get sort of carmelized and the chicken is tender and juicy.  Just perfect for two servings (dinner tonight, lunch tomorrow) and one of my favorite meals. Plus, bone-in chicken thighs are pretty thrifty right now.  A $6 package is 4 batches of this, and its a little different every time.

After a long day, I really look forward to this easy dinner!

Gina

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Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday