Homemade Bread and A Weekend Recap

 

Happy Monday, friends! It's early morning and as I sit here typing, something is rattling on my desk and my dog, Banjo, is snoring on the carpet in my office. So much for a quiet start to the day 😀 But, we shall prevail with the weekend recap, because that's seems to be what I do on Monday mornings. 

This weekend found me cooking on Saturday again. In fact, I was up at 5:00 a.m. Saturday making the dough for homemade bread. I intended on doing it Friday night, but forgot, so I got started bright and early the next day, to give it time to rise before dinner. 

I doubled the batch this time and made one big loaf and two smaller loaves to share. It turned out delicious, as you can see from the picture. 

Then, in honor of my dad's birthday this past week, I made a pot of beans. 

My dad was known for his beans and bbq, so when we cook beans, we think of my dad. 

These went into the crockpot and simmered all day, which is not the way my dad cooked beans.

He cooked them on the stove and no one else touched them. He took pride in watching over the beans, making sure not to stir them too much. They cooked for hours and always tasted the same, every time, with his spice combination of chili powder and I don't know what else.  Here's to you, dad!

Next, I put a big roast in the 2nd crockpot and let it simmer all day in my favorite marinade. If you haven't tried this, grab a bottle next time you want to cook a roast and you will not be disappointed. I use half the bottle and save the other half for next time. 

This is the only spice and liquid you will need and your roast will come out tender enough to fall apart and have all the savory flavor you could want. 

After setting all the cooking in motion for the day, I spent the rest of Saturday deep cleaning my dining, kitchen and living room. Mopping, moving things, cleaning baseboards, rearranging and putting it all back. I love a good Saturday of cleaning and what I call "loving on my home." It just feels good at the end of the day to sit back and enjoy a clean floor and a shiny space. Setting out a nice candle on the table and everything feels fresh and new. 

While I was making the inside of the house shine, David was outside still working on getting the building ready to demolish. He cleaned everything out of his workshop and was able to throw much away that wasn't ours and make room for actually being able to use the workbench for projects. Isn't that what every man dreams of...his own workshop? I've always wanted him to have one and I consider it a little bonus blessing that God gave us, when he led us to this house. 

Saturday evening we sat down to a delicious meal of roast, beans and homemade bread, but just as I was getting the plates ready, I realized I had completely forgotten to cook the potatoes! We always have mashed potatoes with roast and I just didn't even think about it until it was time to eat. Uggg! Oh well. There's always next time. 

Sunday we spent the morning doing some things for David's mom and taking her to lunch. Since she lives in an assisted living, we don't eat with her very often. But she was determined to get out for awhile, so we went to lunch and stopped by Kroger to grab some things she needed. It was a short outing, but hopefully lifted her spirits a bit.

On our way home we got a frozen coffee drink, which I haven't had since David lost his job over a month ago now. I've been watching every penny we spend, so frivolous drinks have not been on the list of what to spend money on. It was delicious, of course. 

The rest of yesterday was spent relaxing, watching tv, reading and eating leftovers for dinner. The perfect way to end the weekend.

Speaking of reading...here's a peek at what I'm getting in the mail these days 😀

Hmmm...are we seniors yet? I don't know but I think I might actually want this book, regardless 😀

And with that I'll say...

Until Next Time...

Blessings!