Happy Monday friends. Thanks for stopping by the blog today. I hope you had a good weekend and that you are looking forward to the week ahead. I thought I would revisit a Doing, Cooking and Giving Thanks post today. I used to do this regularly but seemed to forgotten about them. Well, let’s start them again…….
DOING – I finished the valentine goody bags. They were super cute, although they did not photograph well. The children really enjoyed receiving them. The heart-shaped cakes, on the other hand, were a bit of a fail. On my part, I used some individual disposable pans. Heart-shaped:) They were cute but I was not familar with using them and totally over-filled them. The cakes baked right over the edge not only making a mess but rather ruining the heart shape. I tried to mask the less than pretty look with lots of icing and some decorations, but I was not thrilled with them. Not sure why I was so concerned as the children didn’t really care about them. It was disappointing but, oh well. I did have some extras that I shared with the neighbor boys…and they were thrilled!
I did not finish my homemade hot cocoa. I had planned to do that on Saturday and then my husband wanted to spend the day out. Was not going to turn that down. However, I was making the cocoa to gift to friends but the cakes have rather dampened my gift giving spirit:( Maybe I will finish those up later this week. I have to, at least, make the cocoa. I have a lot of powdered milk!! And it will not used any other way. Oh boy.
COOKING – I have actually tried a few new recipes this month. And with success (not like the cakes)! I never have success photographing my food. Kudos to those who can do that so well. I will leave some links and the pictures are from the originial site. No doubt their photographs will do their dishes much more justice than mine would. I would highly recommend each one of these.
Potato soup. I tried this one because I had frozen hash browns I need to use. I used a combination of shredded hash browns and chopped/diced ones. I thought it was really good that way. No bacon on ours but that block of cream cheese really made a great addition!
Protein balls. These are so nice to keep in the fridge. Make a great snack (although I really not to stop snacking, which is impossible with these on hand). I added mini chocolate chips but my family thought I should leave them out next time. Would have been just a tasty without them. But, chocolate chips??
Meat Lovers Pizza Casserole. Okay, this one I made for my husband. You lost me at meat lovers. (I am not.) But he sure is and he loved this casserole. Obviously, there was plenty. Made several meals so a win for me, too!
GIVING THANKS – for improved hearing. At least in one ear! My ear appointment (or appt with the ENT) went fairly well last week. I had a tube placed in one ear. Much like a two-year old! The second ear proved a bit problematic as there was/is a scab on my eardrum from the first procedure a few weeks ago. (That procedure proved to be successful for less than a few days (sigh). Hence the need for tubes in order to keep the middle ear open for longer.) So I had “hoorayed” here on the blog for better hearing but that did not last. I didn’t mention it more (or explain it clearly) but several asked when I said I was going back to the doctor. Thanks to each of you who inquired. That said, I go back (again!) later this week and maybe/hopefully we can have success with the other ear (which is worse of the two). All that to say, the ear with the tube is sooo much better. My hearing is much inproved even with just “one ear.” And I am giving thanks! All of this as a result of the flu back in the beginning of December. Who could have imagined??
Also giving thanks for a fun day on Saturday. My handsome valentine and I went out for the day. We spent a couple of hours in our favorite antique mall (where we have not been in many months) and then had lunch at a new to us spot for lunch. We tried to get into one of favorite restaurants. We thought we might get in for a late lunch before all the dinner reservations showed up. However, they closed for several hours between lunch and dinner – to prep, I suppose. We enjoyed the new place. It was not the prettiest restaurant but the food was really good. I had some of the yummiest red pepper soup. All in all, it was a really nice day.
Well that’s it for today, friends. I hope you will come back on Wednesday and/or Friday this week. Thanks to those who played along with last Friday’s Valentine’s Day fun!! I enjoyed reading your answers as well!! Blessings to you –
Wait, chocolate chips with meat? (grin)–who would have thought that? Wishing you a beautiful day, Jennifer. smiles
Thanks Linda!!
Sorry that the cakes did not turn out. It happens!! The meat lovers casserole looks really good. I will check out the recipe. Thanks for the link. You were on my prayer list this weekend- you and your ears/hearing. So glad to hear (no pun intended) that the tube in one ear has helped. It sounds like there´s a plan for the other ear. It must be such a relief to hear better! That is awful that the loss of hearing was from the flu. I´m glad your Saturday was really enjoyable. I hope today is a good one (I love how you like Mondays!) and the whole week ahead, friend :).
Thank you, friend. How special to be included on someone’s prayer list! You were a blessing to me this morning!!
Happy Monday, Jennifer! The potato soup and meat lovers casserole looked delicious. It sounded like you had a wonderful Saturday. I am relieved to hear that the tube placement in the one ear was a success. Hopefully, you will be able to have one inserted on the other side soon. Have a good day!
Both of those recipes were really yummy, Robin. I hope you give them a try. Have a great Monday, my friend!
Thanks for your visit today, Jennifer. I enjoyed your post here and look forward to more visits! Thanks for the recipe links! I am going back to look at a couple of them! Have a good week ahead!! xo
Glad you stopped by today, Terri! Praying for you today!
I’m so glad to hear that you are hearing better out of one ear at least. I’ll continue to pray for your appointment later this week that this time things will go smoothly and you will be able to hear out of both ears a lot better.
Thank you for the links to those delicious looking recipes. I definitely want to give the protein balls a try. I will need to get the protein powder first, but I just added it to my shopping list so that I don’t forget to pick it up. And I know my husband will enjoy the meat lover’s pizza casserole.
What a special way of celebrating Valentines Day on Saturday. It was so thoughtful of your husband to suggest that!
See you on Wednesday, friend. xx
Thank you, Dianna. I hope you enjoy the recipes. You might get hooked on those protein balls!! Happy Monday:)
I hope the next attempt with the tubes go better but I’m glad it seems to have taken well in one ear! Your new recipes all sound really yummy. My boys would probably love that meat lovers casserole too though I often struggle with casseroles as a few of us can’t eat diary (and non-diary cheese just is NOT the same no matter what others say).
I have only tried non-dairy cheese once and it was no bueno! I have always felt badly for those who cannot eat cheese. I would be the most sad one!!
Glad to here there is some improvement in your hearing and praying that it will continue to get better.
I liked the look of the Meat lovers pizza casserole and the protein balls. Both of those look like recipes D and I could try. Shame about the heart shaped cakes , better luck next time.
Enjoy the rest of the week. God Bless.
The Valentines looked great!!! Sorry about the cakes!!! 🙁
I am so glad about the improved hearing but praying for complete restoration.
Jennifer, I missed all the posts from last week, but I hope the tubes help and it all goes well. Sorry about the recipe fail. That’s always disappointing. Especially when it’s a gift. But I bet the kids were thrilled anyway. And I love making the peanut butter protein balls. I do use chocolate chips in mine, but prefer the mini chips. I’m actually preferring those all the time now because the larger ones are harder to eat, if not melted. The casserole looks amazing! The secret to photographing your food is to use the “Portrait” setting on your camera and play with different shots of the dish. I bet you can do it! 🙂 Have a wonderful day! See you next time.
Hi Jennifer. Your blog is so organized. Kids don’t care if the cakes turn out, they’re just in it for the icing lol. Happy your hearing is better. May the next procedure lick the problem. Thanks for visiting my blog.