Our niece recently started getting Home Chef meals and gave us a code so we could get $30 off our first order.
So ~ we decided to try it.
Our first meal was a One Pot Creamy Chicken Chowder with poblano and crispy tortillas.
The meal itself looks small, i.e. not enough to fill us ~ perhaps because we usually have an entree, a salad and a vegetable with almost all of our evening meals.
That being said, this meal was quite hearty and very very good. It is not dairy free as it uses a light cream and chihuahua cheese.
The recipe states this meal is mild although it uses 1 poblano pepper.
Since I do not like spicy food at all, I used 1/4 of the poblano pepper and half of the chile and cumin rub. It turned out perfect. Just a small hint of the poblano pepper flavor.
Home Chef – One Pot Creamy Chicken Chowder
So ~ I recommend this meal. It was quite tasteful and filling for us.
I’ve been searching for snack-y foods for a friend to munch on that was paleo friendly and came across the Grain Free Paleo Puffs at Whole Foods. Why not try it? I said to myself.
Although they don’t look very appetizing (beige food never does), they actually tasted quite good to me. There’s a small hint of cheese although there is no cheese in them.
Reviews varied though ~ out of four people who tried them at our house, 1 said “quite good,” another “alright,” the third said they weren’t good and the fourth said “okay.”
Grain Free Paleo Puffs
So ~ it will be up to your taste buds as to whether you like them or not.
As I was reading the Sunday paper awhile ago, I saw an article about a barn quilt trail. Hmmm …. I said to myself. Â What is a barn quilt trail?
As I continued reading the article I learned that it’s like a “tour” of barn quilt, and I was inspired to head on out to see it. Turning to my husband I said: “Let’s go for a drive today.” Poor thing.  He didn’t know what he agreed to ~ at least not initially.
My expectation of what a barn quilt trail was is quite different from what it actually is.  First, not all of the barn quilts are on barns. Actually, none of the ones I saw were on barns. Second, although I expected to see real fabric hanging from a “barn” (why would I think that?), the quilts are mainly painted on the side of buildings.
Off we went to the Chisago, Minnesota area.
Below are some of the ones I took pictures of ~
See the first one in the top right corner?
Barn Quilt, MinnesotaBarn Quilt, Minnesota
The colors are so vibrant on this one, eh?
Barn Quilt, Minnesota
Some of the barn quilts were smaller than I expected.
Barn Quilt, Minnesota
This next one seems kind’ve bland to me ~
Barn Quilt, Minnesota
I really like the pattern on this one. I wonder what the story behind it is …
Barn Quilt, Minnesota
This next barn quilt pattern reminds me of many I see on “regular” quilts. This one was located at the Chisago Lakes Area Library.
Barn Quilt, Minnesota
Do you like this blue and yellow pattern?
Barn Quilt, Minnesota
The simple pattern and vibrant colors on this barn quilt make it stand out against the beige building.
Barn Quilt, Minnesota
The one below is one of my absolute favorites.
Barn Quilt, Minnesota
It was a pretty unique way to spend part of an afternoon.
As the end of summer nears, the air has gotten crisp with deep blue skies overhead. A walk today at Afton State Park is the perfect way to enjoy one of Minnesota’s “top ten days.”  The label is given to days that are almost perfect.
The sound of small waves crashing onto the small beach is quite refreshing to the mind ~ a stark comparison to the “noise” in the world that leaves one with a feeling of unrest.
Afton State Park, Minnesota
It’s good to hear the laughter of people on their boats in the water.
Afton State Park, Minnesota
People walking dogs, animated talks among friends as they stroll down the trail, a couple looking out at the water and enjoying a gentle breeze ~
Quite a respite on the Sabbath.
Who could argue that God “got it right” when he said “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the Sabbath day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work … ”
This year we’ve had a bumper crop of acorns in Minnesota.
The last year I remember so many acorns falling was when my mother and aunts were visiting about 5 years ago. We’d sit on the porch and it felt like it was raining acorns.
Minnesota Acorns
The walk to the mailbox down the long driveway is rather crunchy now. I’ve spent many hours sweeping up these acorns and one thing I can tell you ~ in bulk, acorns are quite heavy!
Minnesota Acorns
At first, I thought that perhaps we were the only ones in the neighborhood having the oak babies falling but then I saw a news feature and it’s happening across Minnesota.
According to the article, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says this is quite normal. It’s called masting and means that oak trees are having a bumper crop this year. One thought is that oak trees drop a bumper crop every now and again so that the squirrels (and any other critters who eat acorns) will not be able to eat them all so that baby oak trees can grow.
Perhaps this is God’s way of making sure trees continue to grow in spite of all the trees that are cut down.
About 3 years ago, I had quite a few saplings growing and had them all removed. We already have so many trees that we didn’t more.
Are there other areas that are having bumper acorn crops this year?
I was recently gifted the Instant Pot Duo ~ well, 3 months have past since I was gifted it but that’s another story.
The Instant Pot looks more complicated than my rice cooker but so far it appears to be easy to use.
I did have to deal with a psychological block: when we were at a friend’s for lunch a few years back, she had used a pressure cooker to make her lentil beans and while we were waiting for them to cook, the pressure cooker blew up in her kitchen and we spent lots of time cleaning lentils from the walls, cabinets, ceiling and floors.
So ~ with that small (uh, large) remembrance in mind, I stealthily tiptoed around the Instant Pot making sure I read all the directions.
There is one very small piece of instruction that I believe they left out ~ well, I can’t find it in my User Manual. When you start the Instant Pot (once everything is in the pot and the lid is securely closed), it has to warm up before it actually starts. The “Keep Warm” button was lit when I started my recipe and it didn’t turn off until the Instant Pot reached its desired temperature to begin.
Instant Pot Duo
That made me a little nervous because I assumed I had done something wrong but two recipes later and that seems to be a pattern ~ well, okay, two times is not much of a pattern but it’s what I’ve got right now.
The first recipe I made was one I found on the internet for a beef stew. In our household the reviews were mixed “it was okay” to “it was very good.” Of course, when I make a new recipe I usually introduce it to the family with “you will love this!” I find the brain has a funny way of enveloping what it’s told although quite honestly, my husband’s brain is a little harder to deal with (laughing).
I have to say that I deviated a little from the original beef stew recipe by Damn Delicious. I didn’t add Worcestershire sauce, caraway seeds nor celery. I tend to like my soups less complicated. I also replaced the all purpose flour with tapioca flour (a habit from my paleo days). In spite of that it came out great!
A month or so ago, my son was on the back porch looking through binoculars to see what he could see on our acre of land.
Unbeknown to me, a raccoon had set up house in a hole of a large tree.
Well, raccoons aren’t normally friendly creatures (or so I’ve heard). They also scavenge trash cans and find bird feeders that they can rummage through. Fortunately for us, our trash cans are inside the garage and the bird feeders are quite high ~ even our most ambitious squirrel has not been able to get to our bird feeders.
Every day we watched the racoon as he would scamper down and head to a watering hole on the other side of our back fence. He was quite consistent in his actions.
One day, we noticed that the racoon was not making as much movement as before. It seemed to have settled into the tree hole. Hmmm … I told my son that I thought this was a female racoon and so I named it Germaine.
Raccoon in Tree
Germaine eventually came down to go back to the watering hole in the back. A couple of times it lumbered towards our house and I yelled “Germaine ~ you can’t come this way” and she immediately scampered back to the tree. Of course, I don’t know how often she tried but the two times I saw her she appeared scared enough to return to her place.
One afternoon, my son said “Mom, you have to see this.”
Germaine had had 3 babies.
As the babies grew, we watched as they tried to scamper down the tree only to be pulled back into the hole by mama Germaine. She was quite adamant that these babies were not yet ready to head down the tree. They were persistent but she overcame their persistence.
A couple weeks went by and there were no raccoon sightings. Every morning, afternoon and evening we searched for the little raccoon family but they were not to be found.
A few weeks later, my son (who seems to be looking for wildlife all the time) called out again: Mom!
I hurried over and walking along the edge of our property was Germain with, not three, but five baby raccoons behind her. She lumbered along and passed the tree that she at one time had made her home ~ onward to the back of our property.
Since then, we haven’t seen her although there have been sightings on some of our neighbors properties.
Raccoon in Tree
This was the first time we had raccoons on our property. People I spoke with told me it was probably a female who would give birth then move on. They were right.
I was looking for a quick and easy pattern so I could make a baby quilt for my niece who is expecting her first child the end of July. So, I headed over to Craftsy.com and looked to see what kits they might have and found one called Like A Charm Bear Mountain Expand-A-Quilt Kit.
The quilt is made up of 5″ squares and then pieced together which means it was not very difficult and could be put together quickly since the material arrives in the correct size.
I mainly stitched in the ditch and decided to “tie” the quilt together but instead of the usual tying method which uses knitting thread, I used a stitch on my Janome sewing machine that made two hearts and sewed those randomly throughout the quilt.
Like A Charm Bear Mountain Baby Quilt
With this baby quilt I also decided to use flame retardant batting called Quilters Dream Angel that I purchased through Fabric.com.
Like A Charm Bear Mountain Baby Quilt
I really liked the ease of making this quilt and plan on making another baby quilt for a another niece who is having a baby in November.
Like A Charm Bear Mountain Baby Quilt
I’m on the hunt for a different pattern. This next baby is a girl.
