Setting Up My Storage Shed

 

Initially my plan was to tackle this project in the spring, but I couldn’t stand it so two weeks ago I pulled everything out, went through it all and finished unpacking.  I put together a couple shelving units and then reorganized everything that I wanted to keep out there.  Oh my gosh you guys, it was a job!

 

What a freaking mess!!! 😖

Crap literally stacked to the rafters

The weather was nice so I began by pulling out half of the contents and setting that out in the yard so I had room to work and setup the shelves.

 

One down, one to go

These shelves are a bit fiddly, but easy enough to assemble.  Once that was done my attention turned to the other side of the shed and I began to go through everything on that side.

 

I hauled items inside that belonged in the house, I collected items that needed to go in the trash and then it was time to start putting everything back into the shed.

 

I grouped items together, like with like, because that is what always makes sense to me.  I have a section for camping equipment, a section for tools and a shelf for the canning jars I brought. 

 

The bins that contain my doll rehabilitation supplies and dolls were neatly stacked on the other side as well as a bin with my grandmother’s china.  Right now I don’t have a dedicated space in the house for these things so I’m going to need to do some thinking and make some decisions, I suppose.

 

I was fighting the sun when I took this picture, but OMG, so much better!

I was easily able to fit everything I needed to into the shed and it feels really, really good to know everything now has a home.  It feels even better to finally be done unpacking.  I gathered up all of the flattened moving boxes and filled up my car to haul them away.  I kept a bin of empty bins to see if I needed to use them and so far have found a use for two of them.  I’ll wait until after Christmas and if I’m not using them I will go ahead and get them donated.  Can you believe the mess I started with?  Crazy!

 

 

Pumpkin Waffles

 

When the weather cools, the leaves change and the Fall season takes hold one of the first things I get a hankering for is pumpkin waffles with my own homemade syrup.  I like take out my mini waffle maker so I can make mini waffles and freeze leftovers and reheat them in my toaster for quick future meals.  This recipe will make eight mini waffles and that is four meals for me.

Pumpkin Pancakes or Waffles

 

1 cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

1 Tbs. sugar or sweetener

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 egg, beaten

1 Tbs. butter, melted

¾ cup milk

 

Whisk dry ingredients, add egg, pumpkin, butter and milk stirring until batter is smooth and well combined.  Do not over mix.  Pour ¼ cup batter onto a hot greased griddle or skillet and cook over medium heat until edges are set and bubbles appear on top.  Flip to finish cooking.  Pancakes should be golden brown on each side.  Batter can also be used in a waffle iron.

 

I think these are best served with apple butter, if you have it, or maple syrup.  Absolutely delicious!  To amp up the nutrition and fiber I like to make mine with ½ cup all purpose flour and ½ cup whole wheat flour.

 

Once completely cooled you can fit two mini waffles into a sandwich bag for the freezer.  I take them out, defrost them in the microwave for 30 seconds and put them in the toaster to finish.  Super easy for a simple and quick meal.  Click here for a recipe for gingerbread pancakes.

 

 

My Tireless Retirement - Week 238

 

Hello my friends!  How is everyone doing?  Fall has definitely settled in here and brought with it some cooler temperatures.  The leaves are changing colors and starting to fall from the trees.  It has been sunny and warm during the daytime and much cooler overnight.  I added a blanket to my bed this time when I changed the sheets.  I may need to turn the heat on pretty soon, but true to form I will hold off on that for as long as possible.  In the meantime, I’m easily able to take the morning chill off using the electric fireplace.

 

Last Friday I had to go to town and run a couple errands so while I was out and about I stopped into Pizza Hut and checked out their lunch buffet for only $9.99.  I haven’t had Pizza Hut in ages and it was pretty tasty.

 

Over the weekend I didn’t do a whole lot, just the typical housekeeping, cake baking, cooking and kitty snuggling.  I also did some crafting in preparation of Christmas.  Yes, I actually said that.  I also got caught up watching Elsbeth.

 

The weather Monday was absolutely beautiful with sunshine and clear blue skies so I headed out to rake a small pile of leaves, but even better I raked up my next door neighbor’s leaves and did some weeding as he is recovering from surgery and not able to do it himself.  I was super stealthy about it too, he didn’t even know, but it felt really good to help him out, especially as I was already planning to do my yard anyway.  Our yards are super tiny and it took me less than an hour plus the park staff hauled off the two bags of debris for me.  I was happy not to have to load them into the car and haul them down to the bin.

 

After running a load of laundry I spent the better part of Tuesday paper crafting.  Before long I was on a roll and able to make all of the Christmas cards I am planning to send out this year.  One of my gal pals back home was doing the same thing so we texted pictures of our completed cards back and forth.  It was fun to share our creations with one another.  Wednesday was gray and stormy off and on, complete with flash flooding and lots of thunder and lightning, so I decided to enjoy the day indoors and make it a pajama/TV day.  Our weather continued to by wet and rainy again on Thursday, including a tornado warning, but I did manage a shower and got dressed before noon. 😆

 

It is so nice not to have to venture out when the weather is yucky.  Despite the weather it still proved to be another wonderful week in retirement.  I hope you enjoyed a lovely week as well.  How was your weather?

 

Italian Style Black Bean Soup

 

This soup is easy and delicious and makes just enough for one or two people plus leftovers for another meal.  Not too much that you end up getting sick of eating it, but also it may not be enough that you end up wanting to make more.

 

Italian Style Black Bean Soup 

 

½ cup dry black beans, rinsed and checked

2 Tbs. finely chopped onion

1 carrot finely chopped

½ lb. Italian-style sausage, browned and drained

1 15oz can Italian-style diced tomatoes

1 heaping tsp. minced garlic

½ tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. dried crushed basil

1/3 cup frozen chopped spinach

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Soak beans overnight in cold water.  Drain and place in a small slow cooker.  Cover with warm water and cook on high for 4 hours stirring occasionally and adding water if needed.  Brown sausage with onion and carrot, drain away any fat.  Add to beans along with tomatoes, garlic, garlic powder and basil.  Add one tomato can full of water to the soup, stir to combine all ingredients.  Cook one more hour until beans are tender.  Stir in chopped frozen spinach and serve.

 

This soup goes together wonderfully with a big garden salad and some freshly baked cornbread.  It freezes nicely too.

 

Setting Up My Living Room

 

The living room was the last space I set up and for quite a while it was messy and chaotic.  It was the area where I received shipments, sorted through packing boxes, put furniture together and basically treated like a garage, initially.

 

When I moved in the previous owner had left behind a fairly new recliner which worked out rather well for me because I had no furniture at the time and it was nice to have a place to sit other than the floor.  The recliner isn’t something I plan to keep, but it is serving a useful purpose until I figure out exactly what I want instead.  I have a lot of ideas, I guess I just need to make up my mind.  Sometimes that is harder than it seems.

 

I had brought the TV stand and my great grandmother’s end table from my previous home and they are working very well in the new home.  I also brought the new electric fireplace I had purchased last spring on clearance so I’d have some ambiance here in my tiny home in the mountains.  I was grateful there was the extra space available in the U-box so I could bring these things.

 

I added a new smaller craft cart to hold my paper crafting supplies.  I downsized over half of them before I moved and I also decluttered a grocery bag full of items I no longer plan to use as I was setting it up the new cart.  I was thrilled to discover the printer is the exact size as the top of the cart so it now has a home that is no longer the floor.

 

My shoe rack fits neatly next to the front door to hold my socks, shoes and my purse plus whatever shopping bags I happened to have used last and need to be put back in the car.  The existing coat rack is more than adequate to hang my jackets and keys so I kept that.

 

All in all, it took me a total of six weeks to move in, furnish and arrange my new home and I have enjoyed every minute of it.  It has been so much fun to unpack my treasures and welcome new items into this house.  It is exactly how I envisioned it could be when I very first set eyes on that listing back in late July.  I am so incredibly grateful this home is now mine.

 

What's For Dinner? New House Edition #2

One of the things I love to do when the temperatures start to dip and the Fall season arrives is to put on a pot of chili and bake up some cornbread so that is exactly what I did.  I was able to put away one small container into the freezer for later and I enjoyed the rest.

 

Chili with cheese & cornbread - so good! 😋

Chili over a baked potato and topped with cheese and sour cream is also a favorite of mine.  A hot and hearty meal to carry me through the day.  I added some steamed broccoli on the side.

 

A NY strip steak provided me with two meals.  Meal number one was with a baked potato and steamed broccoli on the side.  Meal number two was to thinly sliced the other half of the steak and serve it over a bed of salad greens with some bleu cheese dressing.  Both meals were delicious.

 

The last time I had fish & chips in a restaurant it was $20.  I decided to make my own fish & chips dinner with frozen fish fillets, some frozen tater tots and my homemade tartar sauce.  A dish of mixed veggies on the side made it the perfect dine-in diner style meal for me.

 

I also made chicken & rice

In that same vein I enjoyed homemade cheeseburgers with homemade steak fries on two separate occasions and a corndog with tater tots as well.  No need to go through the drive-thru and pay top price for mediocre food.  Instead I did it at home and saved myself a bundle.  I think my versions tasted better too.

 

Pumpkin waffles are another Fall favorite of mine

A pot of Italian black bean soup was the next thing I put into the Crockpot.  I had leftover cornbread from when I made the chili so that was a perfect pairing with this soup as well.  I enjoyed two meals and then put the rest into a small freezer container for later.  I’ll be posting the recipe for this soup soon.

 

Quesadillas make for a quick lighter meal in the evenings

Sandwiches are always a win with grilled tuna and homemade tomato soup, egg salad, fried egg & bacon sandwiches making an appearance.  You’ll probably notice a theme here lately with me gravitating toward more comfort foods this past month and you wouldn’t be wrong.  And they were all very tasty too.  What meals have you been making lately?

 

My Tireless Retirement - Week 237

 

It was particularly wet and rainy for me this past week and I took full advantage of the weather, hunkered down and practiced being a bit lazy.  I tidied up here and there, baked some delicious muffins, did a fair bit of reading and writing and just enjoyed some well earned downtime.  As a result I quite literally have nothing to report.  With that I hope you have a wonderful weekend and joyous week ahead.  Take care my friends!