Celebrating Cozy Autumn Days

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And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, 

shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

 Philippians 4:7

Last day of September ~ only 31 days until November

Thank you, one and all, for your good wishes. Yes, I had a wonderful trip and delightful visit with my mother and nine of my siblings.

I took my camera but did not take even ONE photo. Can you believe it? I was having too good of a time and just did not feel like spending any of it behind the camera.

I left home in late summer and returned in early fall. It is amazing that September has already come to an end. And guess what. It is only eight short weeks until Thanksgiving Day ~ my favorite of all holidays.

  ~~~♥~~~

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Packing My Bags

  I am flying to my sister's house. From there we will drive 1,170 miles to pick up another of our sisters. After that, we will be off to see our mother, driving another 332 miles.~ 1,449 miles one way ~~ 2898 miles round trip ~ I love road trips! I will be gone for several weeks.I hope you all have a lovely September. 

Summer Memories

 This is back when all my children were still living at home.

Greetings From Lake Tahoe

 Midweek we headed up Highway 50 to South Lake Tahoe

a two hour trip there, two hours back.

It is a great day trip destination,
especially when It is 100 degrees in the valley and only 83 degrees at the lake.

We planned a picnic at Pope Beach (above);
 however, the yellow jackets were as thick as flies,
so we ate our lunch on the run.
Our picnic was not the highlight of our day, anyway.
The highlight was enjoying a beautiful day as a family.

Walking Across the Golden Gate Bridge

 In the 34 plus years I have lived in California, 

I have never walked across the Golden Gate Bridge...

Until this weekend.

 My nephew is visiting California for the first time.

We thought it was a good time to make this walk.

 It was a foggy morning.

 It is a 1.5 miles one way -
from the parking lot on one side to the visitor center on the other.

 View from Fort Point National Historic Site.

Low Carb High Fat Diet - A Few of My Favorite Recipes

I love the Low-Carb-High-Fat Diet. However, I don't use it all of the time. I usually take Saturday to enjoy favorite carbohydrate meals and treats with my family.

I began with Suzanne Somers’ Fast & Easy. I read or skimmed all of here books, but I like Fast & Easy best of all.

Here are three of my favorite recipes from Fast & Easy. These are all super delicious.

~ Beef Stew ~
 From: Suzanne Somers’ Fast & Easy (page 269)
 Old Fashioned Beef Stew 

~~~♥~~~

~ Cheeseburger Pie ~

Cheeseburger Pie

Butter, for greasing baking dish

1 pound ground beef or turkey

1 small onion, chopped

1 cup cream

3 eggs, beaten

4 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a 13 X 9-inch glass baking dish (I used a cast iron skillet; I think that it looks prettier on the table). Set aside. 

Brown ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook for 3 more minutes, stirring constantly. Remove pan from heat. Add cream, eggs, and 3 cups of cheese. Stir well. Season with salt and pepper. Pour mixture into baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until cheese begins to brown. 

From: Suzanne Somers’ Fast & Easy (page 268) 

~~~♥~~~

~ Eight-Minute Creamy Tomato Soup ~
 From: Suzanne Somers’ Fast & Easy (page 207)

 ~~~♥~~~

The Diet Doctor is a great LCHF website with lots of free information, encouragement, and recipes. I now use this more than Suzanne Somers’ plan.

I have not made many of the recipes here, although, I have made this Low Carb Pizza and loved it. It was even great cold the next day.

The Diet Doctor

Low-Carb Recipes

• Meals
• Breakfasts
• Sides
• Condiments
• Snacks
• Bread

Housecleaning is the Best Exercise

This week I am super cleaning my house.  

  Some things I have already finished and crossed off my list. Kitchen: Paint under kitchen sink Wash all shelves Wash wallWash light fixtures Clean hutch doors Clean refrigerator Clean oven Mop floor and clean baseboards with toothbrush  

 Living room: Dust: books, shelves, mantel, behind furniture Wash glass on entertainment hutch Vacuum lampshades and polish lamps Polish wood-stove Vacuum ceiling  

 Bathrooms: Clean everything, from ceiling to floors Wash light fixtures Paint cupboard fronts   Bedrooms: Wash comforter covers Vacuum under beds and behind dressers Clean out closets  Other: Wash all doors Scrub and paint screen door Wash all windows Wash all screens Clean all blinds Organize linen closet  Studio: Spray down outside Wash windows and screens Wash curtains Dust and vacuum  

  Housecleaning is a great workout. I have lost 3 pounds this week. ~~~♥~~~Update on  My exercise goal for July :My goal was to walk and average of 10 miles a day.I Walked 308.55 miles, averaging  9.95 miles a day; however, I also "walked" 33 miles with Leslie Sansone's Walk Away the Pounds.for a totals of 341.55 miles.

Plum Goodness

I cooked up a lot of plums this week. 

I tried a no pectin plum jam recipe.

It used 12 lbs sweet ripe plums

4½ cups white sugar 

to make 8 pint-sized jars. 

The recipe said to cook the plums with sugar on the stove uncovered until it boiled (stirring occasionally) and then simmer for 10 minutes and turn off the heat. Cool. Repeat. This recipe says to bring the plums to a boil a total of 4 times.

Well, it took a very long time, and I have to say that for all that work, I was not thrilled with the results. (pictured above).

I also tried making Jello Jam. This turned out quite deliciously. I used watermelon Jello which gave the plums a very pleasant flavor. This one is a keeper!

And then I made a batch of Plum Butter. I have always loved apple butter and am very pleased to have learned that I can make plum butter with all my plums (we have two plum trees).

Yesterday I made yogurt. I bought this yogurt maker  in 2010, and I love it.

The plain yogurt is very tasty with a bit of plum jam stirred into it.

 

Now, all I have to do is keep from eating all this yummy plum goodness!

This Just In

Oh happy day, my youngest son just got his high school exit test results. He passed! He is now graduated from high school!   He took the test June 18. Up until then, we were busy with studies. So, summer did not officially begin for us until Sunday June 19.   In all the years of home schooling my five children (it all began in 1992 when my first child was nearly five years old), we never took off more than two solid weeks of summer. Over the past month, I have been enjoying summer more than ever. Finally, so much time to relax in the pool to my heart’s content and go for long walks.  Boy, am I one happy mama!

Vintage Camping

This Delicious Easy to Make Bread Makes Any Meal Better

~ Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day ~

I have posted about this amazing bread recipe before.
It is truly delicious and easy.

One more happy summer meal enjoyed

Winnemucca Lake

 On Thursday, we and our two youngest children took a two hour drive up to
Carson Pass (elevation 8,652 fee)

for a 5 mile round trip hike to
Winnemucca Lake (elevation 9,000 feet).

Soaking our feet in the icy-cold stream -
Oh, that is so refreshing!

A cool place to go when the temperatures in the valley are 104 degrees.

~ Brilliant mountain flowers ~

It was a lovely day.

Luscious Apple Cake

I made banana bread and had doubled the recipe.

And then, to my disappointment, 

I found that I had forgotten to add the melted butter.

So, there I was with two sticks of melted butter.

I decided to make luscious apple cake.

It uses the same amount of butter (as long as I doubled the recipe).

~~~♥~~~

This recipe from my sister notes -

This cake serves 25 hungry men or 35 slender women.

Luscious Apple Cake

2 cups flour

2 cups packed brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

2  cups finely chopped tart apples 

Vanilla ice cream - optional

Preheat oven to 350°
Lightly grease a 9" x 13" baking pan.

Combine first 3 ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Mix until crumbled. Stir in nuts. Press 2 cups of mixture into bottom of baking ban. (This step is what makes this cake so luscious.)

To remaining mixture, add cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Blend well. Beat in egg, sour cream and vanilla. Gently stir in apples. Spoon batter evenly into baking pan. Bake until cake begins to pull away from sides of pan and knife inserted in center comes out clean, about 35-40 minutes. Let cool completely in pan. Cut into squares. Top win ice cream, if desired.  

~~~♥~~~

By the way: 

It turned out that the banana bread tasted delicious even without the butter. 

No one even noticed the missing ingredient.