Homemaker Happenings #4 (8.08.25 – 8.14.25)
Welcome to Homemaker Happenings! I am so happy you’re here.
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And, I am officially on the road!! Well, not currently, but on Tuesday, I began my trip from Colorado to Pennsylvania. On Wednesday, I arrived in Mansfield, Ohio, the hometown of my husband’s grandfather. I’ll be here through Saturday, and I’m so excited to spend time with my husband’s family, even though he’s in Korea. If you’ve never done a solo cross-country trip, I definitely recommend it. It’s just you and the road with whatever you choose to take with you. I’ve been listening to an amazing audiobook, and it’s been keeping me great company.
This week has really had me thinking a lot about family. They are truly so important. I lived in my hometown for basically my entire life until I got married last year. My extended family is huge (Dad has 11 siblings and my maternal grandpa had 13), so we spent a lot of time together. I don’t get to go home too often, but when I do, I sincerely cherish the times I get to spend with my extended family. We make it a point to have dinner, play games, and just chat at least once. I urge you to keep your family close. End old grudges and forgive others if there is tension in your family. The Bible urges us to forgive one another! If you have a loved one you haven’t reached out to in a while, do it. Let the person you know are thinking about him or her. Spend time with your family and love every minute of it. They are times you can never get back.
Weekly Menu
I equate family with Sunday Dinners, so this week, we are focusing on cozy comfort food recipes that will make you want to put on some stretchy pants. Maybe not quite to that extent, but some of these dishes are ones I remember eating with my own family. Enjoy!
Breakfast:
- This farmers’ market frittata sounds like just the right balance of late summer and early fall.
- I’m thinking this cheesy ham, corn, and grits bake will perfectly highlight local corn.
- Maple pecan baked oatmeal is definitely giving me fall vibes without needing pumpkin.
- Peach cobbler cinnamon rolls, anyone??
Lunch & Dinner:
- Cabbage rolls (also known as golumpkis in Polish) were a staple in my grandma’s house.
- We used canned Hanover’s baked beans as our base, but this baked beans recipe is pretty akin to the one my family uses.
- With a few tweaks, this chili recipe would taste just like my dad’s!
- At every Musser family reunion on Labor Day, you were sure to find this spaghetti salad.
Sweet Treat:
Every year at our Musser family reunion, my aunt (who is technically a cousin) always brought these three-ingredient peanut butter Cheerio bars. It’s the only time I ever eat Cheerios, and it’s well worth the wait!
My Weekly Agenda
The Weekend
This weekend will be a whirlwind of travel and getting settled. My husband was living in State College when we started dating in 2022, and it’s on the way home from Ohio, so I plan to make a stop at our favorite burger place, The Field. On Saturday, I’ll go to church with my mom and spend time getting set up and ready for the week ahead, which includes a 10-mile run. We’ll see how ready I am for that!
The Week
I don’t have too many solid plans for this week yet, except for breakfast with a friend and spending time with my cousin, Emily, who’s more like a sister. Every time I come home, we always spend half a day running around our home county (Lancaster County) enjoying the scenery and local products. In my opinion, there is nothing better than Lancaster County produce and products. They are top-notch, and a big reason is due to the abundance of Amish and Mennonites in our county. At some point, I’ll run 10 miles, and I will be sure to post a sweaty selfie!
Books of the Week
Fiction Recommendation: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Wow, wow, wow!!! I cannot recommend this book enough. This is the audiobook I picked for my trip, and it has not disappointed. I just reached the halfway point, and it’s so good that I’m sad to know it’ll come to an end. I cannot describe to you how amazing this book is. You’ll just have to read it yourself.
Synopsis: Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.
Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.
All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.
His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.
And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.
Or does he?
An irresistible interstellar adventure as only Andy Weir could deliver, Project Hail Mary is a tale of discovery, speculation, and survival to rival The Martian—while taking us to places it never dreamed of going.
Nonfiction Recommendation: Deep Nutrition by Cate Shanahan
This book is an incredible look into how our genes play a role in our health and how epigenetics affects generations of our families. Dr. Shanahan presents this scientific book in a very approachable way that the average reader can understand.
Synopsis: Physician and biochemist Catherine Shanahan, M.D. examined diets around the world known to help people live longer, healthier lives―diets like the Mediterranean, Okinawa, and “Blue Zone”―and identified the four common nutritional habits, developed over millennia, that unfailingly produce strong, healthy, intelligent children, and active, vital elders, generation after generation. These four nutritional strategies―fresh food, fermented and sprouted foods, meat cooked on the bone, and organ meats―form the basis of what Dr. Cate calls “The Human Diet.”
Rooted in her experience as an elite athlete who used traditional foods to cure her own debilitating injuries, and combining her research with the latest discoveries in the field of epigenetics, Dr. Cate shows how all calories are not created equal; food is information that directs our cellular growth. Our family history does not determine our destiny: what you eat and how you live can alter your DNA in ways that affect your health and the health of your future children.
Deep Nutrition offers a prescriptive plan for how anyone can begin eating The Human Diet to:
*Improve mood
*Eliminate cravings and the need to snack
*Boost fertility and have healthier children
*Sharpen cognition and memory
*Eliminate allergies and disease
*Build stronger bones and joints
*Get younger, smoother skin
On the Hunt
Tip of the Week
Find something you enjoy doing and do it on a regular basis! Whether you are single, newly married, or have many kids, it’s so important to invest your personal time in something you love. For me, some of those things include baking, writing, cooking, running, and socializing with my friends. Whatever that is for you, make sure you fit it into your time on a regular basis.
