Monday Notes at My House
Happy Groundhog Day! Welcome to my lifestyle post called Monday Notes at My House.
You can see here that we are certainly seeing shadows in West Texas, and it was great to be back outside for today’s Monday Notes at My House.
However, there remains several piles of ice at businesses and around yards…so careful walking is required.
I hope all of you are well on this lovely February 2 day.
Today, I have an update on my eyes, on the blog, and a What’s in the Pantry? Recipe.
So, let’s get started….
MONDAY NOTES AT MY HOUSE : CATARACT UPDATE
My followup appointment with my optometrist on eye #1 went very well last week.
Eye #1 has perfect vision and may only need occasional readers…it depends on what happens this week with #2.
Everything I had felt, off and on, was normal…Whew!
For example, occasionally it feels like an eyelash is in my eye and occasionally it flutters with lights. Both normal…both will eventually subside.
She said from last Weds to this Thursday is the most difficult time with one really good eye and one not so good…and she is right.
I am using a pair of old glasses, but reading and working are still a challenge.
Surgery for eye #2 is this Thursday and I will be so glad to have the whole process coming to an end.
When I look through eye #1, I get very excited for the final.
Thank you for all of the support this group of wonderful ladies have offered. It has been a joy to go through this with you.
MONDAY NOTES AT MY HOUSE : BLOG UPDATE
Thank you for your patience as I go through this process…it is really difficult for me to take pictures without my eye makeup….it doesn’t feel right.
It has also been hard to get out and about with eye makeup…but I did it…even went to church yesterday.
Of course, several days of ice and snow kept us all home and that helped.
I realize that most of my posts are doing personal shopping through brands for you….again I appreciate the patience.
Hopefully soon, I will be back to more posts with me.
I have really enjoyed wearing this J.JILL WEAREVER DOUBLE BREASTED SWEATER BLAZER.
It has been an excellent layering piece for our current weather.
Something new that began last week is the addition of a new affiliate company for my blog.
The addition of MY SHOP enables me to offer you some brands I have not been able to in the past…such as Soft Surroundings.
It would help me so much if you would go spend some time there…I have changed over most of my shopping links page to the brands on this location.
Shopping with my links is the main way I fund all of the expenses around the blog. Your support keeps me here.
I will be feeding the collections and some posts into My Shop that may not appear on the blog, so you might check it out at least once a week…or I will notify you.
Right now, there is a new collection called EARLY SPRING STANDOUTS with several mid to high end brands.
I have copied high end styles my entire life, so I always look to see what they are showing and sometimes gain personal inspiration from it.
Or you may find special pieces that you know your cost per wear will be lower on….so it is worth it to you to purchase.
I also hope to have at least one of your more affordable favorites up before I go for eye #2…we will see.
I hope you will like this better than what I have been doing and you can always let me know what you are shopping for and I will do a collection for you.
Let me know what you think. I want you to enjoy visiting MY SHOP ..so keep in touch with me as to what you are looking for.
Also, sometime this spring, I plan to have new announcements about email.
There is alot going on in my head once the eye surgery is over.
MONDAY NOTES AT MY HOUSE: PANTRY UPDATE
The winter storm sent me pantry diving…which is always a good idea.
I like to find foods I had forgotten were in there…such as a large bag of spinach fettuccine.
Mr. B loves chicken fettuccine, so I looked up a recipe and thought…I can work with this.
I did not have all of the exact ingredients, but my version turned out good.
The last time I cooked Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas. I had some of the sauce leftover, so I froze about four cups of it in the freezer containers for soup.
I did not have any cream on hand, so I believed sour cream mixed with chicken stock , flour and butter was close enough.
In a crockpot, I put a box of chicken bone broth, two tablespoons of butter, a chopped onion, four garlic cloves, 1 1/2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning, 2 pounds of frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts, and two frozen cups of sour cream sauce.
It slow cooked overnight. The next morning, I used a fork to shred the chicken into the sauce.
When I was ready to make the meal, I poured that into a soup pot and re-heated on the stove.
Then, I cooked the spinach fettuccine in salted water with a dash of olive oil.
Drained the cooked pasta and mixed it with the overnight chicken sauce. Stirred it all together well with a teaspoon of cracked black pepper.
I served it in a bowl, with chopped parsly, a teaspoon of sliced olives, and some shaved Parmesan cheese.
Mr. B was amazed that I pulled it together from what I already had on hand. This is always fun…and I think this is my best dish from playing Pantry Diving at my house.
It is a great game for when you are snowed in!
Between the winter storm and the eye surgeries, I have not been on my Weight Watchers Diet entirely for a couple of weeks. I also have not been able to go to the gym.
I will return as soon as I have the green light to go…and hopefully return to WW this week. It is easier for me to do WW when I am not cooking often.
Well, let’s see what Mr.. Groundhog says about the weather!
Thanks for joining me today for Monday Notes at My House….I will be here tomorrow…and hope you will be as well…until then….
EMBRACE TODAY & KEEP SMILING!
By Pamela Lutrell
For all your shopping, please use the links on my SHOPPING PAGE…thank you, thank you to all who shop this way and show support for this blog. It means the world.
AND…visit my NEW CURATED SHOP where I will be adding my finds on a regular basis.
My favorite photo I took one morning just after the snow storm.
Pam, how does your new My Shop site work for those based outside the US? I know you have several readers from Canada and elsewhere and I’m wondering if we can use this site to support you in your blog? Some of the retailers you showcase unfortunately do not ship outside the US.
Glad your first cataract surgery is so successful and hopefully the result will be the same on eye #2. It has been enlightening to read about your journey and those of other readers. It will be interesting to see if you start seeing colours differently. My husband has had cataracts from birth (not big enough for surgery), but everything he sees has a tint of green! Good luck on Thursday! Let me know what brands you would like to see there!
Hi, Pam. You are on a good path with your eye procedures. Congratulations! I think we will need more explanation on the MY SHOP site. Is it better to shop from there? Or from your links? We certainly want to do it right and support you.
Hi Barb, in answer to your question, I think it is just the same…on a brand by brand basis…some will work for you and some will not. I so appreciate your desire to support me and I hope that occasionally we hit some of these brands you are interested in that will work outside of the states. The other way to support me is to read the blog every day and when you like something I share…share it with others. Thank you so much …happy Monday.
Lovely picture of the snow with that rising sun sky…I do love morning sun rises and evening sun sets. Funny to me how some of you, my son included, can take this and that from the pantry, and make a dish. I suppose it’s the scientist in me that makes me need to follow a recipe as if I were doing a lab experiment…which is all cooking really is! I’m happy your newly “ refitted” eye is feeling good. Hoping the second eye also gives you no problems! I personally struggled too with the “ no makeup” part as I think my eyes are my best feature, but I was thankful for the surgery.
My SHOP and my links are the same…shopping with the links is always a good way to go. However, MY SHOP enables me to put more selections and brands in a collection for you. So shopping either way is beneficial. You will see some items in My Shop that you will not see on the blog. Thanks For asking Marcia.
I cannot think of a recent time that I went this long without eye makeup…I do miss it…but am looking forward to the end results. I am one of those cooks who often just tosses in ingredients without measuring and some of my best recipes happen that way…there are fails, but that is part of experimentation. One of the reasons I do not post everything I cook is because sometimes I have no idea what amount of an ingredient is that I tossed in!
Wow! Perfect vision. What a wonderful result. Best of luck with the other eye. I hear you on the eye makeup, that little bit of extra security when we face the world. I also hear you on finding it difficult to stick to a healthy eating plan when nesting and cooking … around here, everybody diets in the spring to fit back into bathing suits. It’s natural for the body to want heavier food and a cozy cuddle up. One brand I wish you would look into is Varley. I mentioned to my House of Colour stylist that once these last 20 pounds are off, and I’m starting a bit from scratch, I wanted to have a very curated closet with more elevated, high quality, versatile clothing. She sent me to have a look at Varley, and though the prices are in the Eileen F territory, they are not as expensive as some and I think I would get a low cost per wear. They seemed to fit my “natural classic” style (HOC determination, which I find more limiting and inaccurate than our adjectives). What I could see on line looked beautifully made. Are you and readers familiar with it?
Hi Linda…I am familiar with Varley but have not visited their site in a long while. I just checked and I can feature Varley in my new shop! So I will post something for you soon….maybe this evening. I do love it when everyone tells me their favorite brands!
Linda, I just added Varley to my Shopping Links page…refresh your browser and go to that page and find Varley there…I will still curate a new arrivals collection for you to see in my shop.
Sending good thoughts for your second cataract surgery. And I have scarf just like the one you are wearing in the photo—I bought it last fall in Germany.
I love this scarf so much…love the length and the colors. Enjoy yours, Susan!
I saw the olives topping the fettuccine dish and thought, yes please! When making dinner one night last week, I grabbed what I thought was a brown gravy packet to whisk up and put over roast chicken and mashed potatoes. When I looked more closely I saw it was a packet to make Bernaise sauce. I thought, why not? Made that and it really took the meal up a notch. 😊
I am so pleased about your great outcome with eye #1, and will be praying for a matching result this week.
Happy Monday to all! 💕
Thanks Connie…I love to hear about our cooking “mistakes” that take something up a notch. Gets us out of our boxes and helps use what is in the pantry!
I’m so glad your first surgery was successful & will be praying for the second to be so as well.
As a lifelong Midwesterner, I try to keep things in the pantry & freezer for just in case. It’s good to know that they are there for me when I need them.
Your recipes are great but a word of caution. According to the USDA “It is best to thaw meat or poultry before putting it into a slow cooker. Frozen pieces will take longer to reach a safe internal temperature and could possibly result in foodborne illness. Frozen or partially frozen foods can also cool everything else in the slow cooker.”
Beautiful photo to close your post today. We will be praying for your on Thursday for your second surgery.
You are smart to do that, Becky. We are not that prepared but this really worked out.. Thanks.
Thanks Maggie…I always make certain that my chicken is well cooked and this was. I have cooked chicken in my slow cooker for years and so far no problems. But, I do appreciate your concern.
Thanks so much Audrey.
That’s so good that your first surgery went well and soon your second one will be behind you! I hadn’t realized cataract surgery involves no eye makeup for a month! I had laser eye surgery in my forties and couldn’t wear eye makeup for seven days. I had my lashes and brows dyed beforehand and that made it bearable for me to step out of the house, go to work every day and generally not want to hideout for the duration.
Hi Carolyn, the reason it stretches out longer is that I am doing both eyes. I was told I could wear makeup now on my left eye….I laughed and asked if they seriously thought I would only go out with one eye made up! But after the next two weeks, I hopefully will get the green light on the right eye and go both once again…which I am super excited about. I have been touching up my brows before going out…but we are almost there.
Glad your eye surgery went so well! I have a question about your shop- I saw some beautiful bird pillows shown there but the link just takes me to Amazon. I have searched for them on Amazon but can’t seem to find them. Any tips…thank you!
https://go.shopmy.us/p-41245195
This link should take you directly to those pillows Joan.
Hi Pam,
Yea, so happy for you that your first eye surgery had been successful. Now onto number two. You will do well. Congratulations on your excellent vision.
Thank you, Katherine. You are amazing…I hope the excellent vision continues and I will be discussing glasses as soon as I know more.