Small Victories

 

Sunday Blessings, My Lovelies!  

It's been a week, hasn't it!  I've had to take a break from reading the news for my mental health.  I've decided to focus instead on a few small little victories and blessings in my life currently in this post.

For the first time in 26 years we do not have a student in our household returning to classes this fall.  

We are seeing a little progress in the tornado clean-up around the neighborhood: Stump grinders have been on the job this past week, a sound my ears welcome!

The gentleman who will rebuild and replant our property is hoping to get to our project by the end of September.  We've had an incredibly wet summer, hence the delay.  

I haven't really been doing anything that would interest y'all, but I have been enjoying fluffing around the house a little.

I've been drawn to yellow flowers lately.

I set our dining room table for ice cream yesterday.  We ate out for dinner, but we decided to have our favorite Tillamook ice cream for dessert (strawberry) at home.  We love that brand!  It's worthy of a fancy setting.

I chose sunflowers with light centers.  

I've been collecting MacKenzie-Childs so long, all my fluted bowls are Wallcourt.

My library shared a fun craft earlier in the summer: seeds for growing your own herbs.

I decided to give it a try.  This is the first time as an adult I've tried growing plants from seeds.  

I am so proud of myself, LOL!

I have them placed on our kitchen windowsill, from left to right: basil, cilantro, and parsley.

We had a little big issue with our AC, so I lost a couple of houseplants.  I replaced one last week, and I love the color of the leaves.

Now it's time for a crass commercial announcement:  My favorite harbinger of autumn is back!

I do love Starbucks, especially everything pumpkin spice.

The cold brew with the pumpkin spice foam is most excellent for hot afternoons.

I've also bought a few books lately.  I've been BAD!  Very bad.

Bad RJ!

I would like for you to pray for our Gold Star Families, our military, and those in harm's way due to Hurricane Ida.  My sister-in-law and her family have evacuated from New Orleans to Mobile.  Please pray for their safety as well.

It's been a devastating week for our country, but please try to find some joy, Lovelies.

Sunday Scripture

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill

Small Victories

Sunday, August 29, 2021

My Favorite Breakfast Recipe: Overnight Oatmeal with Strawberries and Toasted Almonds

 

Happy Wednesday, My Lovelies!

Today I'm sharing with you my favorite overnight oatmeal recipe (for the moment).  It's still a little hot for hot oatmeal here in Alabama, so I will probably make cold overnight oatmeal through October before I switch to hot.

This oatmeal is fantastic for back to school and for homeschooling, too.  Your children and grandchildren can make their own the night before.  That's the beauty of overnight oatmeal:  It can be made before going to bed, and it's always better to get as much done the night before: picking out clothes for the next day; packing backpacks and purses; and preparing lunches.  Making breakfast ahead of time is just one more thing to check-off your list the night before!

I love that this recipe includes strawberries.

Overnight Oatmeal with Strawberries and Toasted Almonds

Ingredients for one serving:

1/2 c quick cooking oats

1/2 c milk (I like Chobani's extra creamy oat milk)

1/4 t vanilla

1 T honey

1 c diced strawberries

2 T slivered and toasted almonds

Preparation:

Mix together quick cooking oats, milk, vanilla, and honey.  Make sure you get all the honey off the spoon and mixed into the oatmeal.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge.  

You can also cut up your strawberries at this point and keep in fridge.  One full cup of strawberries is usually too much for me, so you can adjust according to taste and appetite.

The next morning, all you have to do is toast your almonds.  The easiest way to toast almonds is to dry toast them.  You can do this with any nuts.  Place a pan (I use an iron skillet) and heat it on medium high heat.  Place the nuts in the pan, and stir occasionally with a wooden spoon until toasted to your liking.  This does not take long, maybe as long as it takes for your coffee to brew.

Scrape almonds on top of strawberries, mix, and enjoy!

TIP:  If you enjoy overnight oatmeal, especially recipes with yogurt, please click on the overnight oatmeal links at the top of this post!

 

If you're a subscriber to my TinyLetter Newsletter, then you were in the know a day early about the return of Pumpkin Spice Latte to Starbucks!  Yay!

I will post a couple more back-to-school posts before I get into all the autumn things. 

Do you like PSL?

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill

My Favorite Breakfast Recipe: Overnight Oatmeal with Strawberries and Toasted Almonds

Wednesday, August 26, 2020