The At-Home Week

This was one of those weeks that occurs so rarely and is therefore embraced so wildly.  There was nothing on the calendar!  We had no appointments, no meetings, no guests expected, and nowhere to go besides the usual trip to the grocery store and a quick run to the library.  

On the rare occasion that I find myself with luxury hours, there are three things with which I fill my time:

cooking

reading

crafting

I managed to fit in all three this week.  (Notice cleaning didn't make the list, though I did do the basics.)

First I'll talk cooking.  Let's just say we ate well this week.  I was able to try several new recipes and repeat a few favorites. 

Monday's meal got no complaints, even from my pickiest eater.  The chicken recipe was a repeat, but I'm  always so surprised at how easy homemade dumplings are to make!  Hearty, filling, and satisfying on yet another snowy March day.  Weekday cakes are unheard of around here.  The dessert was a bit more complicated than the main dish, but worth the effort especially since it was so huge it lasted the rest of the week.  We still have a few slices.

banana cake with cream cheese frosting

homemade chicken and dumplings

On Tuesday, we had soup.  Thanks to my friend, Mary, who sent me the recipe on Monday afternoon, we had homemade breadsticks to go along with it.  The soup was vegetarian, filling, and extremely nutritious, but it was not a favorite among the kids.  All of them ate it, but neither of them loved it.  I halved the recipe, but even after we all had our fill, there was still enough to freeze a portion for another meal.  The breadsticks were divine and I was also able to freeze half of the batch! 

bread machine breadsticks
lentil and black bean soup

On Wednesday, we had breakfast for dinner.  We tried a new pancake recipe.  I doubled the recipe which made a heaping plate of pancakes.  Still, we only had three pancakes leftover! 

IHOP pancakes 

On Thursday, we had our favorite knock-off Chinese food recipe.  No pictures, though, because I plan to share that recipe in another post. 

Today we did a few Friday night errands and grabbed a meal at Dairy Queen, but I'll be back in the kitchen tomorrow preparing bread machine dinner rolls and a coconut cream pie to take to Easter dinner at my parent's house on Sunday.

*****

Moving on to reading... I've had an ongoing saga with my Kindle.  About two weeks ago, my home button stopped working.  After two phone calls totaling close to an hour talking with customer service, we got the problem worked out.  I had to download software updates and reset my device, but I was good to go.  Until Sunday.  The home button stopped working again.  After another call into customer service on Monday afternoon, they decided my device was defective and it would be best to send a new one by 2-day mail.  I actually  received it the next day, but it had an outdated version of the software.  When I tried to update, nothing happened.  I made yet another call to customer service and spent 25 minutes going step by step through the update process...so the guy could confirm that, yes, I was doing everything correctly, but that this new device was also defective so I would need a third device!  The third Kindle arrived on Thursday afternoon and all is well.

In the meantime, I had slowed down on my reading.  I had only completed two books in the month of March: The Midwife's Here!: The Enchanting True Story of Britain's Longest Serving Midwife and Eyes Wide Open.  Since I was only 100 pages into an over-400 page book, I made it my goal to settle in and finish it by the weekend.  On Thursday afternoon, I turned the last page of  All Creatures Great and Small.  I'm already on to the latest Beverly Lewis book which came in at the library for me this week.  Not sure if I'll finish by Sunday night (probably not), but I'll have a good start on my April reading. 

*****

And though I'm listing crafting last, I spent just as much time on that as anything.

I've been obsessed with  Craft-a-Day: 365 Simple Handmade Projects.  In fact, I've maxed out my renewals and it is due back at the library next week.  I really need to buy it!  (Or add it to my birthday list.)  I have mainly focused on greeting cards.  I think I may have a card ready for every birthday this year.  But I also made a cake topper, a few Christmas ornaments (in March-- !), and two T-shirts. 

hand sewing during school time on Wednesday

I've been in the market for a sewing machine.  I had one for several years, but every time I began a project the thread tangled.  I tried everything I knew to do and I got so frustrated, I eventually gave up.  Because of this bad experience and the identical experience of my sister, I was afraid to spend money on another machine, but my friend, Flo, generously gave me one of hers!  We took the day off of school today for a mini Easter break so I finally had time to sit down today and sew.  I made a  placemat in spring colors to use in the center of my table and a paper bunting. 

What did you do this week?