Monday is a day for .......

It's Monday! I've been up for several hours now and have pork chili/stew in the slow cooker and a pizza in the oven. All at 7 AM! Let me explain...

I'm finding that for me to get a decent rest, it works best for me to follow my work schedule. And since I don't always work the same days every week, or have the same ones off, this helps me to at least feel rested! Crazy, but it helps! I work this evening and will lay down later this afternoon to sleep before getting ready for work.

The pizza....two-fold reason....one, it's breakfast for me (as well as for packing in my lunch for tonite!) and it has helped to warm up my kitchen area considerably! I chose to make a chicken bacon ranch one today, using leftover chicken breast that I had done in the slow cooker previously. I used a store bought crust, put some spicy ranch dressing as my sauce, added the chopped up chicken and topped with fiesta cheese and bacon bits. I forgot the onions! I usually like to add onions to my pizza, but remembered too late! I'm eating a slice now...yummy! Who says you have to have cereal and toast and eggs for breakfast? Not me! ☺

I love using my Pampered Chef stone to do pizzas on - it heats so nice and even and is a breeze to clean up afterwards! I also like the metal carrying thing I use under it - it's a huge help in putting it in and taking that stone out of the oven!

As for my chili/stew...or whatever it is!...I had put the pork stew meat out to thaw yesterday morning, I just didn't know what I wanted to use it for. As I was reading this morning, I thought it would be great to do a bean stew in the slow cooker, but then again, I was really hankering for some chili. I could have thawed out some ground beef and done the chili in the usual way, but I thought, "Hey, why not use up some of the leftover veggies you have in the fridge and mix things up?" So..........

 First up, I added the veggies while the meat was browning up in the cast iron skillet.....I put in a can of corn, a can of northern beans, a huge can of kidney beans, two cans of chili ready tomatoes, leftover celery and carrots (diced up!), a diced up onion, some leftover diced peppers from the freezer......

 Added in the browned pork which I had seasoned with salt and pepper and Worchestershire sauce...

Added some chili powder, stirred it up and called it soup and set the slow cooker on the right setting for chili....it will be ready in about 6 hours from now! I can't wait to sample it! I will then let it cool down before refrigerating and will be eating this pretty much all week. I don't mind....chili only gets better! Wish the pics were a bit clearer so you could see all the beautiful colors! I love a soup with color!

I also put together a little snack mix with some other leftover things I found in the cupboard....I may add some dry Cinnamon Cheerios to the mix later on....

What we have here are leftovers....yeah, I make do with what I have...part of living simply with what I'm blessed to have on hand! In this mix is golden raisins, dried cranberries, slivered almonds and semi-sweet chocolate chips! Yummy! Just a little satisfies my sweet tooth!

Almost done with my laundry for today. I keep blankets on the couch and chair in the living room as Miss Cady likes to spread her fur around! And looooovvvvesss to sleep on the chair, so they were both in sore need of a wash! So two loads of laundry will soon be done! Oh, before I forget...here's a pic of Cady on our enclosed porch yesterday. Please note the cardboard....it's my attempt to keep snow from blowing in and the neighborhood cat from coming in as well! She wanted to go out and help me shovel snow so bad! But I figured her little paws would be cold enough just being on the porch.

Gotta share about the enclosed porch. I think originally it was a wood porch with no roof, just a rail. The trellis you see is outside that. A previous owner enclosed the porch using a lot of glass and windows. Seeing as how I rent the trailer (oh, yeah...I live in a mobile home!), I have no clue how they managed to find all the glass and things to enclose it. It has helped, though, to provide a break from the wind and I feel blessed that it's on the shady side of the home. That will mean nice shade this summer!

One last blessing to share today....see that snowman mug? A friend from church gave that to me for Christmas and I just got it yesterday. (It was my first opportunity to go to an AM service in awhile! Glad I got to go!) It was filled with hot chocolate (they know me!) mixes and the little snow man is holding a shovel that acts as a spoon to stir the hot chocolate. May God bless my friend Marty! I love surprises like that!

I also received some teddy bear items from my friends, the Bishes, yesterday as well. Both Ida and I like bears and have been known to collect a few in our time! I still have some of those items to go look through to see how I can use them. I have an idea for a pair of curtains they gave me....maybe turning them into a table runner for the dining area table....it's just an idea for now!

The sky has turned blue this morning and while it's freezing out there, it looks like a great day. The sunshine was awesome yesterday and just what I needed! Hope for more of the same today!

 I pray you stay warm and that the Lord blesses you beyond measure, not just today, but always!

Thanks for dropping by - come again!

With a heart of gratitude,

Sue