Managing My Monday

Yep. It’s been a whiiiiiiile since I’ve done a Managing My Monday post! But I’m just going to jump right in. 🙂

Doug teaches via livestream on Mondays and Wednesdays, so that leaves me here with Isaac and the 2 dogs. Normally, I wouldn’t have to include the “2 dogs” part, but when 1 of those dogs is still a puppy…well, there’s a lot to manage there. So…I included them.

LexaBelle is adorable and growing so fast! She is well over 40 pounds now and super strong for a pup. She has something to “say” about everything – whether she needs to potty, or something outside made a noise, or she can’t find her toy, or she’s hungry…or sleepy…or stuck on the bed and afraid to jump down. You get the picture…she barks at ev.er.y.thing. We’re working on it, but whew – she is so much more vocal than any other dog we’ve ever had, and it’s testing our training ability, I can assure you!

Isaac is a dream to care for. He is so well trained now and understands when I tell him he’ll have to wait for Daddy to come home for something. I can no longer move him up in the bed or change/feed him. Doug does all those tasks. So Isaac has the patience of a saint, as long as I keep the Gaither, Little Einsteins and 3-2-1-Penguins videos rolling.

Every Monday, I handle Isaac’s payroll. I have to approve hours and submit codes via a couple different web sites now. It seems like the process changes every few months. Right now, Isaac only has 2 employees – Doug and Mrs. Julie. That keeps it pretty simple. We’d like to eventually add someone else to the roster for those times when Mrs. Julie can’t make it and Doug already has plans made. It doesn’t happen often, but it’d be nice to have a backup.

Over the weekend I made a yummy, healthy trail mix. I’d been buying a keto trail mix from Wally World, but it was $5 for a small container. I bought my own nuts, included a few extra things they didn’t have and removed stuff I didn’t like. Of course you can tweak it to your preferences. It’s really delicious and keeps me from sending Doug out for chips. 😉

I included pecans and walnuts (sprayed lightly with olive oil, salted and roasted), cashews, cocktail peanuts, and pepitas. I also added Lily’s sugar-free chocolate chips and some golden raisins. I realize the raisins pull it out of “keto” range, but I like them and used them very sparingly.

Monday’s also the day I start to work on our menu and grocery lists for the week. This is a task I am so not good at, but I keep trying. Doug’s at Publix right now, picking up the fabulous BOGOs and all our meat for the week. We shop at Walmart, too, via their Grocery app and website. We splurged for a year of Walmart+, so we get free delivery of our groceries each week. I don’t know if we’ll continue it beyond this year. We’ll wait and see what this next year holds, financially, before making that decision.

I did start my Monday in the Word of God today. It’s a really good place to start. 🙂 I’m going through this book right now. It has short undated devotions, accompanied by beautiful art and painted Bible verses. I’m really enjoying it.

During the holidays, I usually change my phone ringtone to something Christmasy – usually Carol of the Bells by The Celtic Women (because it’s beautiful and tickles my funny bone every time it starts playing.)

But for the New Year, I wanted something a little more meaningful. My phone doesn’t ring often, so when it does, I pay attention. This year, I chose a song by the McKamey’s called “I Keep Praying.”

It has really been a great motivator to me so far. There is so much going on that I need to pray about – in my life, my family, my church, my nation. There are so many things I can’t do anything about – except pray. I’m so thankful I have a Heavenly Father that hears me every time I lift my heart, mind and voice to Him in praise and supplication.

He knows me. And He hears me. What a precious treasure that is – for this Monday, and for every day!

Hope your Monday goes well,

Alesha Kay

Warm & Soothing Oil Blend for the Diffuser

I made a new essential oil fragrance today for my diffuser:

2 drops Vetiver,
8 drops Eucalyptus,
8 drops Ginger &
10 drops Lemon.

I have a huge diffuser, so you might want to half the recipe for a smaller one. It was a very soothing fragrance.

Welcome!

Thanks so much for dropping by our blog!

We’re a family of three here in Florida, where we garden a small croft (a fenced piece of land used for small-scale food production, usually near a house).

We also write Christian devotional blogs, updates on our son, recipes we’ve tried and liked and anything else that strikes our fancy.

We appreciate your stopping by and hope you find something that encourages your heart.

Doug, Alesha and Isaac

Yummy Raspberry Gummies

For the past 6 months, Doug and I have been acclimating ourselves to the Trim Healthy Mama way of eating.  It is a little science-y for me, and so I’m glad he’s been lending his brilliant teacher brain to help with our menus and recipes.

gummies
Sugar-Free Raspberry Gummies

It’s very rare for me to stick to someone else’s written recipe, so when it came time to make these delicious sugar-free treats, I did some tweaking to the original THM recipe and combined it with one I found while strolling through pins on Pinterest.

gummies2
Sugar-Free Raspberry Gummies

Here’s what we finally came up with:
Sugar-Free Raspberry Gummies

  1. Boil 2 cups water.
  2. Add 2 Raspberry Zinger and 1 Wild Berry Zinger tea bags to water and steep 5 minutes.
  3. While tea is steeping, puree 3/4 cup fresh or frozen raspberries.
  4. Remove tea bags, add pureed raspberries to tea.  Strain through metal sieve to remove seeds.
  5. To tea/fruit mixture, add 5 tsp. Gentle Sweet, 2 Tbsp. lemon juice, then using a whisk, gradually add 7 Tbsp. Just Gelatin.  Continue whisking until gelatin is dissolved.  I used the sieve to remove any undissolved pieces of gelatin.
  6. Pour or spoon mixture into silicone or plastic molds.  You could also pour into baking dish, and cut into squares later.
  7. Place in freezer for 10 minutes to set. Remove from molds and store in refrigerator until completely set.

These are not only sugar-free, but full of vitamin C, so completely healthy for you.  The gelatin is excellent for nail and hair growth, and is very soothing to an upset tummy.  It also aids in digestion. Plus they taste SO yummy!!!

Enjoy!

 

Grandma’s Vegetable Soup

This is one of our favorites, especially during winter months when we’re craving something hot and filling to warm us up.

 

Grandma’s Vegetable Soup

Cook roast. (Any kind of roast will do. We prefer Shoulder Roast if we are cooking it in the slow cooker. We usually pop ours into our Nesco roaster to give it a yummy “roasted” flavor.) Save broth. Shred beef to be added later.

1 large bottle tomato juice

1 large bottle water (I use the tomato juice bottle)

1 can kidney beans

1 can corn

1 can green peas

1 can butter beans

1 onion, diced

2-3 potatoes, cubed

2-3 carrots, sliced

3 stalks celery, sliced

1/2 large head of cabbage***

2-3 tsp Better Than Bouillon, vegetable base

Combine all ingredients in large pot, including shredded beef and  broth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer. Cook until fresh veggies are done.

We often do a vegetarian version on this soup. Simply leave out the beef and its broth.  It is still amazing!

I know people can have very strong opinions about cabbage. Or, conversely, they are ambivalent and leave it out, thinking it won’t be missed.  I will tell you, the cabbage is the absolute SUPERstar of this soup.  Don’t leave it out!  You will be disappointed.

You could substitute almost any canned vegetables for the ones listed, but we’ve always stuck with this combination and really like it.

The Better Than Bouillon stock bases are our favorites. We use the vegetable one, almost exclusively.  It is so much tastier than the little cubes in the foil wrappers. 😉

I hope you enjoy this favorite soup of ours.  My husband grew up eating it and I was so thrilled when his Grandma shared the recipe with me.

Let me know if you try it! I’d love to hear from you.

The Best Vegetarian Chili Ever

  

Chili

 

The Best Vegetarian Chili Ever

  • 1 T Extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 large onion (chopped)
  • 2 bay leaves (be sure to remove these when dish is finished cooking)
  • 1 T salt
  • 2 stalks celery (chopped)
  • 2 red bell peppers (chopped)
  • 3 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 2 t cumin
  • 2 t oregano
  • 1 T unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 T chili powder
  • 1/8 t cayene pepper
  • 3 28 oz cans tomatoes (I use whatever combination of tomatoe sauce, diced tomatoes, whole tomatoes that I have available)
  • 2 15 oz kidney beans
  • 2 15 oz black beans
  • 1 15 oz whole kernel corn

Heat olive oil in large pot over medium heat.  Stir in onions, bay leaves and salt.  Saute until onion is translucent.  Stir in celery, bell peppers, and garlic.  Cover, reduce to low and simmer for five (5) minutes.  Add all spices.  Add tomatoes.  Add beans.  Bring to boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes.  Stir in corn and simmer until corn is heated through.

We serve this over jasmine rice.

(Doug made a huge pot of this over the weekend and we are still enjoying it today.  It is so full of yummy veggies and beans that I promise – you won't even miss the meat!!!)

Enjoy!

Alesha

 

 

 

The “Good for What Ails You” Smoothie

 

I am feeling pretty yuck today.  I'm home alone, and nothing in the kitchen looks or smells appealing.  So when all else fails, go for fruit.

 

 

"Good for What Ails You" Smoothie

  • 1/2 honeydew melon, seeded and peeled
  • 1 frozen banana
  • 1/2 to 1 cup frozen strawberries

Place all ingredient in blender and pulse until smooth.

 

 

It's guaranteed to make you feel all better!!!

🙂