Baked Chicken and Stuffing

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

4 sliced Swiss cheese

1 (10 oz.) can of chicken soup

2 c. stuffing mix

¼ c. butter

½ c. hot water

Preheat oven to 325. Grease an 11x7 baking pan. Layer chicken breasts, then cheese, and then soup. Melt butter: stir in water and stuffing. Sprinkle stuffing over soup. Bake covered for 45 min. Uncover and bake 15 min. longer to brown top. Serves 4

Our 1984 Foxfire Camper Update

I wanted to do an update on the renovation of the 1984 Foxfire we bought in November. It’s going great so far. There was a bit more water damage than we initially thought. It looks a mess that’s for sure. We had to bug bomb the camper twice due to carpenter ant. We have everything torn out that we want so far and are preparing to start rebuilding it soon. We are considering not putting as many of the cabinets back into it as it had. We would like it to be more open and do...n’t need to store that much stuff. We won’t be putting the blinds back up and instead I’m thinking of buying sun block curtains that I’d need to cut and sew to fit. We hope to have the money to start redoing it by the end of this month.

It has been interesting to have something that we want to buy things for after very limited spending besides consumables the last 6 years. We haven’t done any projects on the house since we finished the exercise room last February which we furnished mostly with stuff we already had. We have several boxes of stuff in the basement of things we’ve gotten second hand shopping. We are being very careful with what we buy since we don’t want to clutter up our camper. I might share in another post what we’ve bought and why. I’m finding it very interesting how we are thinking.


The front of the camper. We removed the upper cabinets to the left and straight ahead. They will go back up once the wall and ceiling is repaired.

 The kitchen cabinet removed and ceiling.

The drawer needs repaired and we're fixing the heater.

 














 The kitchen area.

We'll replace the wood that goes over the kitchenette seats. The table will go back into place and the cushions.

We took the fridge out. We'll clean and insulate before putting it back.

The ceiling in the bedroom.

The back wall in the bedroom. We had to take the window out temporarily to do the framing properly.

The floor area in the bedroom and the fridge.

 
The bedroom door area.

The side wall in the bedroom.

 The bedroom view from the hall.

The bathroom door. This area didn't change.

The bathroom hasn't changed. We have a few wood pieces stored temporarily.

The wood strips stored in the bathroom.

Salisbury Steak

1 (10 ¾ oz.) can golden mushroom soup, divided

1 ½ lb. ground beef

½ c. dry bread crumbs

½ tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 onion, finely chopped

1 egg, slightly beaten

½ c. water

Preheat oven to 350. Combine half the soup with next six ingredients and mix well; shape into oval-shaped patties. Arrange patties in 9X13 baking pan and bake uncovered for 30 min. Skim off fat. In small bowl combine remaining soup and water and spoon over patties. Return to oven and bake 10 more min. Serves 6

January 2017 Reading List

His Christmas Angel by Gail Sattler

Forever Friends Collection
Amanda by Gail Sattler
Belinda by Colleen Coble
Collette by Kristin Billerbeck
Danielle by Carol Cox

Clutter Busting Challenge January 2017

This month marks 6 years of my project of purging unneeded possessions from my home in a larger volume. I started with purging 7 things per day for multiple months, moved onto multiple rounds of 40 bags in 40 days for a couple years, played the minimalist game for 2 years, and purged 2015 items in 2015 and 2016 items in 2016. My goal this year will be to purge 365 things by the end of the year. I don't have as much stuff anymore, 365 items feels like it will be a challenge for me at this point in my rational minimalist journey. I'm comfortable with the amount of stuff that I own. I have limited the amount of things I have brought into my home over these 6 years. I estimate I have purchased 5-10 items each year beside food, kitchen disposables, toiletries, and heath and beauty aide type items.

We will probably be buying more stuff over the next year that we have in 6 years combined. My husband and I are celebrating our 25th Anniversary in June with a vow renewal and a 3 week trip in the camper we bought in November. We are renovating an old 1984 Prowler camper, buying stuff to repair and furnish it, preparing for the long trip, along with buying stuff for our big day.  It will be a challenge to not purchase too much stuff but we are confident we can do it. We will be on the lookout for things around the house that we can use in the camper too. We plan to stock it to be able to go anytime with out much notice or extra packing. I'll share more on the camper later.


My purge pile for January:

I'm purging 28 items.

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

1 2/3 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed (or canned Veg-All, drained)
1 cup cut-up cooked chicken
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup Original baking mix
1/2 cup milk
1 egg

Heat oven to 400°F. In ungreased 9-inch pie plate, stir vegetables, chicken and soup. In medium bowl, stir remaining ingredients until blended. Pour into pie plate. Bake uncovered about 30 minutes or until crust golden brown.

Chicken a la King

½ c. diced green peppers

1/3 c. chopped onion

½ c. butter

1 (10 ½ oz.) can cream of chicken soup

¾ c. milk

2 c. chicken, cooked and cubed

¾ c. shredded cheddar cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

In 10” skillet sauté green pepper and onion in butter. Stir in soup and milk: blend well. Stir chicken and cheese. Cook 5 minutes more or until heated though. Serve over biscuits, baked potatoes, shredded zucchini, or spaghetti squash.