Pt. 4 of the "Great Tater Caper" and an experiment

good morning beautiful friends!!!!        I hope and pray that this glorious morning finds you all doing great.      it's such a beautiful morning here in our neck of the woods.         I think even all the little birds and frogs that I hear every morning are out enjoying this beautiful day, because they are quiet.      but then again, they could have slept in a little longer, because it's kinda cool this morning and I love it.          the cool mornings are the best.         I feel a little more energetic with the briskness that cool mornings give.          so I hope that wherever you all are, that you are enjoying your morning.

well, you see that title again?         this is pt. 4 of the great tater caper.         you also see the words "and an experiment".           so I done an experiment on this last 5 lbs of potatoes just to show you all why I'm always saying rinse, rinse, rinse, and then rinse some more.          this should be the defining factor as to why to rinse.        there will be another experiment or two along.         but for now, this is the one we have today.

jar of diced potatoes.    

these are the sliced potatoes, 2 jars of thin sliced and 2 jars of thick sliced potatoes.

the two pictures above are perfect examples of what I described in part 1 of this tater caper.        rinse rinse rinse, rinse after each cut.      peel and put in cold water.       slice and put in fresh cold water.    drain water and add fresh cold water.          I do this until the water runs clear when I'm draining it.        if it keeps looking milky and sudsy, I keep rinsing.          then blanch for 3 or 4 minutes depending on the thickness of the slices or dices.          and then back into an ice water bath until they are completely cold.           this is the steps that I took for all 5 of those jars that you see above.        they just couldn't be any more beautiful and perfect.          please don't take this as bragging!!          this is lots of time perfecting what I do with my potatoes.

a lot of people will tell others that you have to dip your potatoes in lemon juice to keep them from turning dark.         I call that out right here and now.          I keep lemon juice in my fridge and cabinet at all times, but I only used lemon juice one time and decided that if I want my potatoes to taste like lemon, I'll add it in the cooking process.         we were not happy with every potato meal tasting like lemon juice.          if that's what you want, then that's great.         really it is.        but if you don't want that taste all the time, then start rinsing rinsing and rinsing more until the water runs clear.        I never even have to think about using lemon juice on my potatoes.          when we learn the proper technique, then we have beautiful potatoes and we didn't have to use lemon juice.

ok, so the next picture I'm going to show you is what potatoes look like when you DON'T rinse, rinse, rinse.          the thing to know here, is that these potatoes are perfectly fine and edible, and we will eat these potatoes.          they will be the first ones we clean up, just to get them out of the cabinet.       hahaha           but, none the less, they are perfectly fine.

something else about these potatoes.         I've heard people ask if you have to blanch them.         short answer is no, you don't have to blanch them.         and that's what these are.         these have NOT been blanched at all.          and they was only rinsed 1 time.            this actually come about because I wasn't feeling too good that day and I just needed to get this done.         I had peeled them and diced them the day before and put them in the fridge overnight.         in the evening I was thinking about what I wanted to do for an experiment and this is what I was going to do anyway.           but since I wasn't feeling to well, this was perfect.         so I got up the next morning and scooped the potatoes out of the starch water and put them directly on my dehydrator.         no rinsing and no blanching.          and yes, these, are perfectly fine for eating.         they will be cooked in soups and stews.          and we won't even know the difference.       ok, prepare yourself for what these looked like.        remember, these have NO rinsing and NO blanching.

compare these to the very top picture.           it's kinda startling to see what the difference really is.      the dark that you see on them is the starch and on some pieces the starches turned dark all the way thru the potatoes.          

this is a side by side comparison of the first 3 batches I done.           I have 2 jars of the thinner sliced potatoes and 2 jars of the thicker sliced potatoes and then the first cubed jar I done.       they were all rinsed several times and blanched.   I done 4 batches in all and these 4 jars represent the 4 batches I done.        and the last jar obviously with no rinsing and no blanching.          I wish I had taken a pic of them before I took them from the water in the fridge, they were beautifully cream colored.      I also wish I had taken a pic of them on the trays.        they had started oxidizing and turning dark before I even got a tray full.        I've seen people ask about how and why this happens.         my experiment showed why and how this happens.

it's quite obvious that rinsing and blanching does some amazing things for potatoes.           this isn't the last of my "great tater caper" experiments.           I will be doing 2 or 3 more in the near future.        and these were russet potatoes.          russets, I find, have a LOT of starch and that starch needs to be rinsed off really well.        but I plan on doing a small test with soaking potatoes in lemon juice and sharing the results.         I wish I had thought this out really well before doing it, I would have done everything I want to do right now with the four 5 lb bags of potatoes.          I plan on buying 3 individual potatoes for these experiments.       hahaha           a russet, a yukon gold and red potato.         and then I'll let the experimenting roll.         I'll take 1/3 of each potato and I'll do 1. no rinsing and no blanching, 2. soaking in lemon juice and blanching, 3. rinse rinse rinse till the starch is gone and blanch.          that will be my 3 experiments, all side by side for comparison.        and we'll see what the results are.    

while we're talking about experiments, this is the second experiment that's taking place right now.  

this is a small bowl that I filled with hot tap water and put a handful of potatoes in to rehydrate and see how much starch will soak out of them.          I've changed the water 2 times since starting this yesterday and I wish I would have taken pics.           I can't remember everything.      hahaha      but the water both times looked like rusty water.         it's unbelievable.         well, it's actually not, because I've done this experiment before just for myself, but I didn't take pics.

anyway, hang with me on this and we'll hopefully some exciting experiments.          I hope this will help some you that may be interested in dehydrating but don't know how to go about it or wondering if all the steps are worth it.          quick answer, yes, the steps are worth it.

well, this is just about all I have today.       I hope and pray that sometime today you'll find time to thank God for all He's done for you and continues to do for you.         every breath comes from God.        every blink comes from God.         every heart beat is God ordained.         Thank You God!!!!!

blessings on you all today.   hugs and love, patty

Pt. 3 of the "Great Tater Caper" and delicious roasted veg

good evening y'all!!         I hope and pray that wherever y'all are that you're having a  wonderful day so far.         it's been a good day in my neck of the woods.         we got out and walked this morning and I praise God for the ability to walk.         it's been a quite fruitful day today.          got my shopping list made for tomorrow and will be shopping to get a few things to help me start on a loose "whole 30" way of eating for about six weeks.          trying to see if that will alleviate a lot of the inflammation I'm having throughout my body.        the last time I did, it helped tremendously.      we'll see.       I say "loose", because I will eat whole food at least 90% for the next couple of weeks and then hit it hard and be compliant for a month.          I've found out that works well for me.       

I had been sharing about the "great tater caper".          hahaha        well, it's still going on.          I got a 5lb bag of them diced and dehydrated and they are quite lovely.          it's all about rinsing the potatoes after every cut and rinsing at least 3 times and more if necessary.          if you rinse them well, you will end up with beautiful potatoes.     

this is a ragu pasta sauce jar, I think 24 oz is the size.            it is stuffed to the brim  and this is what 5 lbs of diced potatoes looks like when dehydrated.          I have one more 5 lb bag of taters to go and I already have them diced and in the fridge for overnight.          in the morning, I'll drain them and put them in boiling water to blanch for 3 or 4 minutes and then they'll go on the dehydrator.             I have really pleased with the amount of time it's taking doing them.           our humidity has dropped quite a bit compared to what it was back in the summer.           so doing this dehydrating has taken less that 24 hours per batch.          I usually don't even tell the times because time means nothing unless or until your produce is completely dry.         "cracker crisp, rock hard and bone dry" is my motto.        and these taters have been all that and more, if possible.          hahaha

well, I told you about planning on doing a loose whole 30 for a couple weeks and then on to firm whole 30 for a month.           my first meal is about to be had with a lot of leftovers.          I put frozen brussel sprouts, frozen butternut squash cubes, a can of drained beets, a diced onion, minced garlic, salt, pepper, avocado oil and balsamic vinegar glaze on a baking sheet and popped it in the toaster oven for an hour and ten minutes and it smells so good.          I forgot about my chicken wings, I was going to roast them with the veg, but they're in the toaster oven right now, as I type.         this will make 3 or 4 good meals for me.          it looks so good!!!!

these first 2 pictures are the pan before roasting them.        lots of yummy stuff going on.

these 2 pictures are after they have been baked.          I'll have some for supper tonight and put the rest in the fridge.        I also have some chicken wings in the toaster oven roasting also.          I covered them with balsamic vinegar too.          sheer delight!!!!!!            this will be on the menu until I get burned out and I hope I don't get burned out on it.           I'll get some zucchini and yellow squash to throw in too just to mix it up a little.         also a little bit of parm will be good.         

well, that's about all I have today.           just wanted to share my dehydrated taters and my roasted veggies that I'll be having for supper.           I just need to get my chicken wings done and I'll be ready to eat in a little bit.         my hubby is easy to cook for, so it won't be a big deal for me to fix 2 different types of meals for a while.    

I hope and pray that you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior.           just know that He loves you so much that He gave His life for yours.          I'm so thankful that God done this for me and I pray that you have accepted this free gift from the Father and the Son.         if you have, then we'll get to meet each other in heaven some day.        that's exciting to me, I hope it is to you too.         

I hope we all have a wonderful, restful night with the intentions of have a spectacular day tomorrow if we are blessed to see tomorrow.           hugs, love and blessings, patty

Pt. 2 of the "Great Tater Caper", hahaha

good afternoon my beautiful friends.         I hope and pray that you all are doing good today.        it's pretty nippy in my neck of the woods.        we went from hot hot hot summer to cold cold cold winter and skipped fall.       well, not really, but it kinda feels like it though.        it's in the low 50's here right now and it's about 2:30 pm.        we was out this morning getting some gas and I got out the car and almost froze my pork chops off.      hahaha         I try not to be one that complains about the weather, so I'll try real hard to enjoy it.      hahaha          because I'm really not a fan of the 100+ temps, so I'll take the cooler temps and try to be real happy.       anyway, I hope wherever y'all are that the weather is near perfect for you.       

so, last update I told y'all about my great "tater caper".        I bought 20 lbs on sale and I'm really wishing I had gotten 25 lbs now.          I'm getting them knocked out pretty quickly.       I got 5 lbs done on friday and the another 5 lbs done on saturday.        I got them all jarred up and they are gorgeous.

so this is what 10 lbs of potatoes look like.       the first 2 jars on the left are the potatoes I done on friday and the the 2 jars on the right are the ones I done on saturday.        the 2 jars on the left were sliced much thinner than the ones on the right.        I don't know if you can tell it or not, but due to the difference in thickness, there is a little difference in the colors of the 2 batches.        that is simply due to the thickness.        the thinner they are, the more almost see-through they are.       the thicker the slices, the more opaque they are.       I sliced the ones on friday with a fixed depth cut mandolin.        I just change out the blades and that the only depth of straight cut that I have.        they are more like the thickness of potato chips.      that's why they're almost see thru.      the ones I done on saturday are 2 times the thickness of the ones done on friday.      

notice the slices in the jar above.         this is friday's taters.  there is one that you can see the side of it real well and it's really thin.         potato chip thin.        these are actually too thin for what I wanted them for, but I'll crumble them in soup, so they will be used.   

the ones above are the ones I done on saturday and I used my adjustable mandolin and cut them twice as thick as friday's taters.         you can see the ones where the sides is showing.        much thicker than the ones done on friday.

I will use these in soups and stews.        for the really thin ones, I'll probably crumble them up when I put them in soup or stew.       that's how thin they are.      I also plan on using some of the thicker ones  as air fryed potatoes.         I'll rehydrate them in some chicken or beef stock for extra flavor.        season them a little more with salt, pepper and whatever else strikes my fancy and spray them with avocado oil and put them in my preheated for 5 minutes air fryer on 400* and air fry them for as long as it takes to get them nicely brown and crispy.        20 to 25 minutes, maybe.        these will be so good.         

a lot of times when I'm rehydrating produce, I'll use chicken or beef stock just to give an extra bump of flavor.         it works well.          if you've never tried it, I'd urge you to do so.         I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.    

so there will, more than likely, be a 3rd part and maybe a 4th part to the "great tater caper".      hahaha   I got another 5 lbs on the dehydrator this morning.        these are 1/2 inch dice.       they should be dried by morning and then I can get the last bag on the dehydrator.         I'll be happy to have the project done, but still wishing I had gotten the 5th bag.     

I had mentioned the other day in a blog post about shopping and being flexible enough to change my plans to accommodate any good sales and this was one of those times when it really paid off to be flexible in my grocery shopping.        so always be on the lookout for ways to maximize your spending power and stretching every last penny you have.       the payoff is always fantastic.        there is always a few things on my list every week, whether I need it or not.       and it's those items where I can be flexible and then next week, I'll get back on track with getting a few things each week just to stay stocked up, even if I'm not running low.    

back on sept 13th, I found 4 red potatoes in my cabinet.        that statement kinda made it sound like I didn't know they were there.        well, I knew they were there, I had just been saving them  and almost saved them a little too long.   hahaha    when I pulled them from the cabinet, every one of them had almost 2 inch sprouts on them.        well, I'm happy to say that I planted 'em.       I'm also happy to say that they have taken off like gang busters!!!

these are 1 month and 3 days in the pots.         I took that picture just before I sat down to write this blog post.   when it's supposed to be cold, I'll move them to the greenhouse and if necessary, we'll move them to the garage.        we're hoping to have potatoes by Christmas.         don't know if they'll make it or not, but I'm sure gonna give it a good try.      when I put them in the pots, I just barely covered the potatoes with soil in the bottom of the pots.      as the sprouts grew up, I added more soil.        I think I done that about 5 times and then the soil was at the top of the pot.        I don't know if they'll make taters or not, but I'm praying they do.          my husband and I have been talking about it and in the spring I'm going to start 2 or 3 pots and and then every 3 or four weeks start 2 or 3 more pots and keep potatoes going all year long if possible.        it would be awesome to not have to buy potatoes at the store.       we'll see if I can do this or not.        I hope it works.

I plan on having more greenbeans this coming spring too.        I'm going to remove the strawberries in my 2 large green stalks and fill them both with greenbeans.        we can't have too many greenbeans.      I'll try to get my garlic in the big container beds before the end of the month and see if I can grow some garlic too.        I'm pretty excited about that.     

well, that's just about it for today.         like I said there may be more "tater capers".         I can't wait to see what 20 lbs is gonna look like all dehydrated and jarred up.       if I get any taters from the ones I planted, I'll be be sure and share pictures of them also.       

I hope and pray that you know that God loved you enough to provide a way to be in right relationship with Him thru the shed blood of His Precious Son, Jesus Christ.       we are living in some troubled times and I'm living in great expectation of our Lord and Savior coming back any day now to claim His own.       there is a saying in the Christian community, "see ya at the house".        so I'll say that while we may never in this life, if you know Jesus as Lord and Savior, then at some point we can say "see ya at the house".        with the wonderful meaning of  "I'll see you in heaven" someday.        blessings, love and hugs, patty

Pt. 1 of the 20 lbs of "Taters" caper

good morning beautiful friends.         I hope and pray that wherever you all are that you're having a most wonderful Saturday morning.        it's pretty nice in my neck of the woods this morning.        the temps have cooled off and for that, I'm so grateful.       as I sit here typing, the community at large is pretty quiet.    there's not even any barking dogs at the moment.         the birds that talk to us in the shrubbery outside the windows must be talking to someone else,  but even they are quiet this morning.       that's ok though, everyone will start stirring in a little while and that will break the silence.

I had mentioned in the last post or two that I was in the process of removing my facebook page.       well, I got so far with it and decided to stop.         I got all the way back to 2016 removing all the posts that didn't have family pictures in them.        I'll stop there and leave the pictures, so I'll still be on facebook but just not nowhere near as active as I once was.         I'm good with that.       I'll no longer be sharing any cooking or kitchen activities of any kind.       I'm very happy with that decision and happy that I didn't delete my whole account.        that was my first intention.        but after talking with a friend about it and her saying she just used facebook to keep in touch with family, I thought that was a pretty wise decision.   so that's what I'm doing.        anyway, just wanted to toss that out there.

ok, so let's go back to that title.       what's that all about, you might be asking.       well, let me tell ya.      my kroger had russet potatoes on sale this week for $1.99 for 5 lbs.       that's a pretty good deal around here since you can't get 5 lbs of any potatoes for less that $5.00.        so I jumped on that sale and got 4, 5lb bags.       we could get up to 5 bags, but I just 4 bags.       so when I got home from the store on friday morning, we ate breakfast and I got the kitchen cleaned up and started with the first bag.       if I'm fixing potatoes for a meal, I'll use the potato peeler.       since I was going to dehydrate them, I just use my paring knife since it was much quicker to peel them with that.   

I have a process for dehydrating potatoes, and that's what I'm going to share, so that you can too, can get pristine color potatoes when you dehydrate.        I start off with a big bowl of cold water.       when I get a tater peeled, in the water it goes.        after all the potatoes are peeled, I swish them around in that bowl of water.        this washes them and washes away starches from the potatoes.        I drain that water because it's full of starch.        it looks like dishsoap and milk.       sudsy and white.        so I drain that and run more cold water on  them.       I get my pot of blanch water ready and on the stove and getting it to a boil.       while it's reaching the boiling stage, I'm slicing my potatoes.        as I slice them, they go back in the cold water.        once they're all sliced, I drain that water off.    because once again, it looks like sudsy dishsoap and milk.        every time you cut your potatoes, they are releasing more starch.     starch is the enemy of dehydrated potatoes.      if the starch is left on them, the starch will turn gray or black during the dehydrating process.    

once all the potatoes are sliced and rinsed again, with more cold water run over them, you can start blanching them.         I have a steamer basket that I use in my electric pressure cookers and it's perfect toe blanch in.         so I'll fill it 2/3 full and drop that down in my blanch water.      once it comes back to a rolling boil, I'll time it for about 2 to 4 minutes, depending on the thickness of the slices.         if I'm making 1/2 inch cubes, I'll blanch for about 5 minutes.       once the blanching is done, I'll lift my steamer basket out of the blanch water and sit it in a bowl of ice water.        this bring the temp down quickly and halts the cooking process.      I'll let them drain in a bowl, then I'll have a floursack towel lined cookie sheet ready and dump them on the cookie sheet.         then I'll refill my steamer basket and start the blanching process again until all my potatoes are blanched.

I'll start filling my dehydrator trays and when I get both dehydrators filled, if there is any left, I'll put them a bowl of water and pop them in the fridge and use them for the next dehydrator full.       as long as they stay covered with ice or cold water, they won't turn dark at all.    

the key to pretty dehydrated taters is lots of rinsing.        rinse after peeling and rinse a couple times after slicing.        I notice that even the ice water bowl will have more starch residue in the bottom when I'm done with all the cold water.        but if I had not have rinsed as much as I did, my potatoes would have been gray and black.        now, if you have done this and you haven't rinsed and you have gray or black potatoes, they are still perfectly fine to use.       they're just not not pretty.       that's all.       so don't think you have to throw them away if the starches turned black or gray, you don't.    

so it took me about an hour and a half to get my dehydrators loaded up yesterday.        it sounds like a very time consuming situation.      but really, it's not.        I just take a few minutes to get as much ready before hand as I possibly can.        get everything as prepared as you can and you can work from one station to the next pretty quickly.     and I keep everything cleaned up between steps.        that makes a big difference.

so I got a bag of potatoes worked up and dehydrated yesterday.         I got another bag worked up and on the dehydrator today.        I have just a few in the fridge.       I'm hoping that when they start shrinking down, I can get those on the dehydrator and get those done.         I'll work up  the other 2 bags come monday and tuesday.       I do have a few pictures to share of my process and when you see the pictures, you'll know what I was talking about when I said the water looked liked sudsy dishsoap and milk.

see that soapy substance around the edge of the bowl, that's starch.       you can't see how milky it is in this picture, but you can in the next picture.

this is what the water looked like after I had removed the potatoes.        really milky and soapy looking.   that's just starch.        if that had stayed on my potatoes, they would have been gray or black when I dehydrated them.

this is potatoes in my second bowl and the rinse water is clear.         even when I removed the potatoes from this bowl, there was starch in the bottom of it.        every time you rinse, you remove more starch.  that's a good thing.

this is the finished product.    there is no black or gray on these.        they are quite beautiful and I'm really pleased with them.           these are a lot thinner than most that I make.        the batch that I'm working on right now is probably twice the thickness of  these.

both of these quart jars are full as of this morning.          these turned out really nice.        I'm really happy with them.

this is looking down in the top of the jar.     

a lot of people will dip there everything including their potatoes in lemon juice.          I done that very early on with a lot of stuff I dehydrated and we did not like everything tasting like lemon juice.     so it's really up to the individual as to whether you dip in lemon juice or not.       and I've never seen better results than what I get with making sure to rinse mine at least 3 times and then blanch and then cool off in ice water bath.

this is just how I finally learned to end up with really nice looking potatoes.       now, the ones, I put on this morning are about twice as thick as these.        these curled up like potato chips.       if I would have thought about it, I would have sprinkled them with some kind of seasoning.       hahaha

well, this is part of of the great tater caper.         I hope I don't forget to share more pictures of the thicker sliced ones.          I'm also going to do 1/2 cubes.         I 'll show and tell how I do that too.   

well, that's just about it for today.         I got a late start at posting this and just about time to whip up some lunch.        I hope y'all have a wonderful afternoon.           just know that you are loved.         God wants to be in right relationship with us enough that He provided the only way and that is thru the shed  blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.        God loved us enough to do that for us.       I pray that you have accepted the free gift of salvation.        blessings and hugs, patty  

I'm working on getting back to my blog

good morning beautiful people.       I pray that your morning is fantastic.       we've had our temps drop over the last few nights and our mornings are pretty nice.       just now, sitting and sipping on coffee, we heard a few sprinkles.    that's a pleasant sound.        I hope we hear more of it today.      it's kinda funny, I usually hear a lot of little birds outside chirping away for us, but not this morning.       I guess they are trying to stay dry, so they're not outside our window.    hahaha       I'm sure we'll hear them soon.    what I have been hearing is the train in the distance and the airplanes flying low.  we live pretty close to the local airport and we hear a lot of airplanes, the small ones.    so that's a morning sound here.

I don't think I have told you all about my latest experiment.   well, I've had to put my "tater experiment" in the greenhouse over the last few nights just so they won't get frost bit.       it got down to 37* one morning.       it probably wouldn't have hurt them, but I didn't want to take a chance on.       I have been wanting to try to potatoes in a pot again.   I had 4 red potatoes in the cabinet that had sprouts on them about an inch and a half long.      so, I got 4 pots and put soil in about enough to cover the taters.  I let the sprouts grow and added more soil, let them grow and add more soil.    kept doing that for about 3 or 4 weeks till the pots finally got full of soil and the then sprouts actually turned into greenery above the pots.    I started them on sept 13, 2023 and they are about a foot above the tops of the pots now.     I'm going to try and keep and them from getting frost bit and or frozen.       we'll move them to the garage if we need too.       so that's the plan anyway.        I'll try to remember to keep y'all posted on what's happening with the "great tater experiment".   hahaha

I've just about put all the garden to bed.      I do have some lettuces, radishes, beets and carrots growing for my fall garden.       I have some peppers that I need to get cut out and be done with them.       I'll also be taking out all my strawberries.        I'm not happy with everbearing.       I just get a few at a time all spring summer and fall.     not enough to do anything with at any given time.        so I would rather have more green beans.        I think that's a fair trade.        hahaha        I also have a bunch of garlic to get planted pretty soon.        another great experiment.      just trying to see if I can grow it and how well it turns out, if at all.   

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I have started removing everything from my facebook page.        I have lost interest in facebook.      so as I take stuff down from there, I will eventually be sharing it here.        so you'll see dates from when I shared it.        so things may not be pertinent to today, but you'll still be able to see where my heart was on that particular day.         nothing will be in order.         just what ever I find to cut and paste and share on here.        so I hope you'll like that.       some may even be stuff that I've shared on here before.      I'm not going back to see if I have, I'm just going to try to keep it moving forward.        so this is the first one I'll share.  

 March 15, 2020

THE CHALLENGE, if you choose to accept

It's been a long dreary dark day here today.      Jesus is still shining in my heart though.      It seems for me, some of the closest times in my life with the Lord is when I'm in my kitchen, doing something.      It seems my mind easily goes to prayer and thinking on the good things He's done for me thru the years.      He has revealed Himself to me in many ways, right in my kitchen, one of the very places that we prove ourselves to be servants.      Now granted, there's just 2 of us, but stuff still needs to get done, it's always better if it's done with a servants heart.

I have had a heavy heart, as I'm sure most of us have.      I soon realized my heavy heart was coming from a place of fear and not love.      When I realized that, I asked the Lord to forgive me for that.    It's hard to admit that, but it's true.       In the midst of this, I asked the Lord to show me how He wants me to respond, act and behave thru this world wide ordeal.      Fear has no place in me, or you, or any one of us anywhere.

What the Holy Spirit showed me, and He has shown me this several times over the years.      It's hard to take ourselves out the frays of what's happening around us, or what can be happening around us, and focus on others.      But He showed me that I need to challenge myself, for at least the next 2 full solid months, until May 15th, at the very least.      How am I going to challenge myself?      By asking God to break my heart over the very things that break His heart.      Be very careful about praying that prayer.      Those are some the most powerful words that you will ever ask God. So don't do if you're not serious.      But if you are serious and want the challenge, go ahead, join me in this prayer challenge.

Lord, break my heart over the things that break Your heart!! 

When He shows us what breaks His heart, then ask how we can make that better, or if we even can make it better, or if it may be something that we just spend time praying over.      Take this virus out of the mix and there is still a tremendous amount of problems on the face of this globe and I believe that God's people can make a difference.

I would love to see this take place all over the world.      Lord, break our hearts over what breaks Yours.      If you will join me in this, I would love it if you will let me know.      Consider it, pray about it and join me in this challenge.      At the very least, the very minimum it will cost you is time in prayer and that is time well spent.

So while we are hunkered down, lets do something positive with our time, praying over the very things that break Gods heart.  Love, hugs and safety to everyone, patty

so that's the first one to share from my soon to be gone facebook page.      I hope there is something you can take away from this and use in your every day life.

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well, I guess that's about it for now.     I really do hope I can get back here on a more regular basis.     facebook is a waste of my time, but my blog is time well spent.

just remember as I leave you today that God loves you enough to provide a way to be in right relationship with Him, thru the shed blood of our risen Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.      I pray you know Him.         love, hugs and blessings to all, patty