Cards by Prairie Chick --- find my Card Shop!

Here is the link to my Etsy shop  Cards by PrairieChick -- Link  here to Online Shop

If you don't see what you are looking for in the shop or want to make substitutions to the sets just let me know... I am happy to work out custom orders just for you!

    

Apple Pear and Romaine Salad

One of my favorite salad recipes is one shared with me by my grandmother.  She was a wonderful cook and I have lots of awesome recipes from her.  This salad is so colorful and tasty that it has become one of my all time favorites!  I hope you will give it a try soon.

Apple Pear and Romaine Salad

1 pear and 1 apple, chopped

1 cup salted cashews, chopped

1 head romaine lettuce

4 oz shredded swiss cheese

1/4 c. dried cranberries

Mix all together

Dressing - 

1/2 c. sugar

1/3 c. lemon juice

2 tsp finely chopped onion

1 Tbsp dijon mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp poppy seed

2/3 c. oil

Mix together and pour over lettuce mixture (use whatever amount you desire ...this seems like a lot of dressing to me!) Chill salad 1/2 hour before serving.

Hope you enjoy this taste of Spring!

~ Connie

A little trail thru the woods...

While we have been on the quarantine lock down, we have been trying to spend some of our outdoor time reestablishing a trail thru our woods to the pond.  At one time there was a trail but it has had numerous years of neglect ...so it has been a challenge to cut back the trees and the under story plants.  That however is the 1st step to creating a neat trail thru our property that we hope the kids and the grands will enjoy in the future!

I hope this summer and in years future to add some cool artwork and signs along the trail.  Maybe a fairy village, a fishing bridge at the pond and a playhouse in the woods will pop up in the next few Springs!  John and I have some fun ideas in mind so slowing down, and staying home because of COVID-19 are prompting us to act and enjoy our outdoor spaces.  Stay safe and quarantine on!

~
Connie

Thinking outside the grocery cart ...

With all the panic shopping related to the Covid-19 pandemic, grocery shopping was a bit challenging for me this week. We are about ten miles from town (population 9,000) where we have a Walmart, 2 chain grocery stores and 1 local grocery.  I visited all of them on Tuesday in search of items to provide meals for my family for  the next two weeks.  While there were certainly shortages on some items, I came away with enough food for meals and a challenge to myself to use up some miscellaneous ingredients I already have on hand.  This recipe accomplishes that challenge.

I have an abundance of homemade salsa and frozen sweet corn from my last years garden bounty!

I also had picked up cornmeal when I couldn't find any flour this week. An onion, a pepper, grated cheddar and hamburger were the other necessary ingredients for this new recipe.  Perhaps it can help fill a need in your meal plans too.  It was filling and YUM!

Mexican Cornbread Casserole 

This made an 8 x 8 baking dish, which was at least 2 supper meals for myself and hubby. (and 1 lunch!)

1/2 c flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup corn

2 eggs 

1 cup cornmeal

3 Tbsp sugar

1 cup buttermilk (or milk w/ 1 Tbsp lemon juice)

Mix the above ingredients for the cornmeal batter. Set aside.

Dice up an onion and a pepper. Brown with ground beef and drain.

Add taco seasoning packet and cook as directed.  Grease an 8x8 baking dish.

Pour in half of batter mixture.  Spoon meat over the batter and sprinkle with grated cheddar.

Top with rest of batter and bake at 350 for 1 hour.  Serve with salsa, sour cream or Ranch dressing and any other taco fixings you enjoy!

Grandma's chocolate chip cookies

This cookie jar is a twin to one my Grandma always had in her kitchen.  It was always stocked with homemade cookies ...usually chocolate chip which were my Grandpa's favorite!  I searched for quite a few years to find this Pig. So every time I see him in my kitchen I am instantly reminded of my wonderful Grandma Catherine.  I have tried many chocolate chip cookie recipes over the years but never found one that seemed like her cookies.  I even have her exact recipe but they never turn out like hers always did!!?? I don't know what her special secret was.

I have however found one that I love ... and it seems like they are a close taste and texture match!

So I am pleased to stock my Pig with these yummies!  If you like to bake give them a try soon.  Your family and friends will appreciate the results.


Chocolate Chip Delights

1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 stick margarine (softened but not melted)
1/2 cup canola oil
1 egg
1/2 tsp milk
2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips or mint chips

In a stand mixer cream sugars, margarine, oil, egg, milk and vanilla.
Add dry ingredients until mixed in.  Add chocolate chips.

Bake on parchment lined baking sheets at 350 for 11 minutes.
Let cool for 3 minutes before removing from trays.  Makes about 3 dozen.


Hope these are memory makers for your family too!

~ Connie

The Long Winter ...

This has been a rough season for me.  Two long months of physical therapy, the post wedding and post holidays let down, financial struggles, family relationship stresses, concerns over an ill parent, winter cold, snow and ice ... it has all just really piled up and sent me down a lonely dark path. The worry and the depression have ground me down too often.  There are too many days where I focus too much on the things I haven't done right or well.  There are still times where I struggle to adjust to our empty nest.  As much as I love to see my adult kids grow and flourish in their own independent lives ... I sometimes really miss those days of messy kisses and toddler storybooks!  Moving far from my best girlfriend in Illinois when we relocated back to Iowa 2 plus years ago and the moving away of a new dear friend here (when her aging parents required help) are also tough turns of life to navigate.

Such is Life.  Nothing is ever storybook perfect.  Nothing is ever as it appears on social media.  The sun will rise tomorrow and offer us all the possibility of a fresh new day.  Savor the small blessings and pray through the tough stuff.  And forgive yourself and others often.  No one is perfect.  I have to remind myself of these things often as I look into the next new day.

Here are some words I read that seem timely as we begin the season of LENT.

"The Lord does not ask for perfection, but for a heart that longs to grow closer to His.  There is no wrong way to offer our prayers or our days.  The Lord delights in our efforts.  What parent scoffs at their child's repeated falls while learning to ride a bike?  They encourage and assist, knowing this task takes time and practice." 

Peace and Prayers

~ Connie

Playing it loose ...

Sitting around recovering from my broken leg has certainly given me more hours to work on the lessons for my style and fashion class!  I have shared a couple of easy fashion tips in previous blog posts and I thought it was about time that I featured another one.  The change of seasons is usually a good excuse to go thru my closet and take stock of what I have hidden in there that I have not worn in a while.  I like this idea of shopping my own closet and coming up with a new outfit or two!  So if you are doing the same at your house, keep this latest style tip in mind.

Style Tip # 3

Fashion proportion is key!  (In other words, pair loose & flowing with tight)
Very few people on earth can pull off head to toe baggy or top to bottom form fitting.  So take a cue here and team your flowing tops and sweaters with something body conscious on the bottom.  Or the opposite with a very form fitting top and a loose and full skirt!  No matter your shape or size this is a basic fashion principal that can work for all.

Above are all great examples of loose or flowing on the top paired with something slim on the bottom.

(Think skinny jeans, pencil skirts and leggings)

Just as these close fitting tops are the perfect go to with these full and flowing skirts.

(This dress also shows this principal in it's wonderful styling!)

I am sure there are some new combinations lurking in the clothes you already own...so go have some fun and put this style tip into action today!

~Connie