good morning to you all from my sunny neck of the woods. it's a quite beautiful day here today. I got up and out early and done some grocery shopping and got that put away. then I fixed our breakfast and now we're getting ready for our walk. after that, we've got a couple of errands to run and then we're back for what ever we need to do. I got to get some breakfast made and in the freezer. that's one of the items on my list today. we'll see if I get it done. what's on your list today?? let's make it a great day y'all!!
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Do you believe in "divine appointments" or coincidences? I guess the way you think about that question will determine your answer. I realized many years ago, for myself, there are no coincidences. The more I learned about God the Father, God in the form of Holy Spirit, and God the Son, there is truly only divine appointments. We never know where or when, but if we are open to the obedience of the calling that God has placed over our lives, there will be divine appointments. Of this, I'm sure.
Only God will know what your divine appointments will look like for you. We just need to be ready in season and out of season, in other words, at all times. The enemy tries to steal our attention away form God. He does a pretty good job too. You can be going down the road praising God and look up and see the price of gas, there goes the praise and worship fest. Right? Sadly, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Every day, on the part of this planet that God has placed us, we have the choice to be a stepping stone or a stumbling block. It is our choice.
About the enemy stealing our attention from God, he also uses the issues going on in this country right now. We all know that is true. Pray earnestly for all these divisive problems in our country! Pray for our leaders in every level of our government, from the local city governments to the highest in the land, which is in Washington DC. Pray expecting God to do something!!! Pray continually.
But, about the divine appointments, do not let issues taking place across this land harden our hearts so much that we lose compassion for those that are in desperate situations. People we know are hurting. We may even be hurting ourselves. But for me, my heart was shut off to that. Until this morning. God showed me something through someone I don't even know. Thru a family in a desperate situation clear across this country. God, through the Holy Spirit, encouraged me to reach out to this family through the only way that I could, prayer. I have been praying for this family as the Lord leads. Even the enemy said my attempt was nothing to them. But, this morning, I found out that my feeble attempt has meant the world to them!
And yes that humbled me!!! While I was very humbled to find out just how much it has meant to them, I was actually blown away, when the Holy Spirit revealed to me that it was actually for MY benefit!!! To break away the hardness that had settled in and around my heart. Do you know that you too, may have some hardness around you heart, in the same way I did? If you do, allow yourself to be obedient to the call of God over your life and that hardness will be chipped away, one heartfelt and earnest prayer at a time. Obedience to God helps others, but it also helps us. Try it. You won't be disappointed.
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let's do a "2 minutes in the kitchen with me". so this has been about a year in the making and I have a lot more to do. my mantra--I will get it done, I will get it done........hahaha
in the first picture, left to right, first jar is leafy greens flakes, any and all kinds. second jar is mushroom powder, this is 6 of those little containers of baby bellas; middle jar is hot peppers of all kinds powdered, jalapenos, fresnos, serranos, poblanos, green cayenne and another one or 2 that I can't remember(it's potent, I had to wear a mask while jarring it up!!!). the last 2 large jars on the right is my ultimate veggie powder. it has: parsley, asparagus, parsnips, green onion, red onion, yellow onion, zucchini, red bell peppers, green bell peppers, turnips, cilantro, rutabaga, jerusalem artichoke, celery, fennel, carrots, and it seems like there was another thing or 2 that I forgot. hahaha I will use that in all different kinds of casseroles and soups and stews and what ever needs a bump of nutrition. also, I will have my own "cup a soup" blend. I'm tickled to try that. but, here's the really great part.
I started with over 25 jars of varying sizes, from pints to quarts and everything in between and condensed it down the 5 jars you see!!! such a great feeling to have that all done. running my dehydrators day after day, week after week and month after month has paid off. I am going to get my citrus fruit done this way too. I do have several jars of fruits that I will leave like they are for baking and snacking. anyway, this is what I done today and I'm pleased as punch to share pictures of it.
I am still using on some of these. and if you keep them in airtight jars with metal lids that have the rubber gasket on it, they will keep for a long long time!!!! the 2 largest canning jars was made from what I call "kibbles and bits", just scraps of vegetables that was left in the bottom of jars after I had used most of whatever it was. I would just dump the last 2 or 3 tablespoons of dehydrated goods in a larger jar and when it got full, I would blend it. I've used and am still using those jars in soups and meat dishes, all kinds of stuff. scrambled eggs and even in homemade bread. it's a very good way to save money too. anything that's tossed in the garbage can is money thrown away. I hope to get more good stuff dehydrated this year.
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This is quite lengthy and something that I wrote back in June of 2018. I forget what was behind me writing it, but I never shared it publicly. I will share it now, but understand, this is my "non-debatable" opinion. And since the time I originally wrote it, I stand behind this even more so.
Musings of what some would call an old "Crazy Lady"
And you know what, I'll take that. I'll take that happily. I wear that hat with pride. Because the way I see, this is an "upside down crazy world" I live in these days.
I had to do a google search. Yes I did. Wanna know what I googled? Snowflake. That's it. I googled "snowflake". Who but a crazy lady has to google such a word?
When I grew up, everyone knew what a snowflake was and we couldn't help but be thrilled at the thought of seeing the first snowflakes fall. Oohhh the possibilities that was in a curious childs mind at the fun we might get to have if enough of them fell. Building snowmen, making snowballs, making snow angels, building an igloo, jumping and romping in the snow, Momma making the wonderful concoction called snow cream..........the possibilities were endless to a curious childs mind.
We knew that each snowflake was totally different too. If you could actually view several under a microscope, you would see that no two were exactly alike. That was part of the beauty of snowflakes. Another part of the beauty was the time and season in which snowflakes appeared. They was always something that appeared in the winter and early spring. The delicate nature of a snowflake assured us they wouldn't be around long, so if you was to enjoy them, you had to enjoy them in the moment. The delicate nature of a snowflake couldn't take the heat of the changing seasons. When the earth does it's thing, the very nature we live in changes, varying the temperatures by degrees that are enough to ward off ice and snow until the appropriate time for the ice and snow to appear again in the form of beautiful and delicate snowflakes.
The one thing that we learned as kids, was to enjoy them while they lasted. The very nature of a delicate snowflake insures a short lifespan. Why is that? Well, as I said earlier, they are delicate in nature and heat from the changing seasons causes them to melt into nothingness. Oh, I must say that as a kid and teenager, oh heck who am I kidding, even as an old crazy lady, I did and still do love to look out and see snowflakes falling into a snow white blanket of absolute beauty. There is no doubt in my mind that God knew what He was doing when He created snowflakes. I think He loves the beauty of snowflakes as much as I do, simply because it brings great joy, for a little while anyway. But if it hangs around for too long, it becomes a source of worry and frustration. But even with the worry and frustration I always know that at some point in time, it will melt and disappear. Sometimes, leaving another blanket of ugliness behind. But, even that is the cycle of the seasons.
So it is with snow and snowflakes. But there is also a curious little oddity about snowflakes. Wanna know what that is? Well, a snowflake is formed around a single speck of dust. Yes, that's so. Curious huh? Well, when all those snowflakes finally melt, we're left with just the dust that the snowflake was formed around. Wanna know what else was created from dust? This crazy lady that wrote about snowflakes and everyone that will read my musings about snowflakes and all the billions of people who will have no idea I wrote anything about snowflakes. Snowflakes and people have a lot in common. From dust they were born and to dust they will return. Because we are as fragile as snowflakes in the way that God made us.
We are here for a season, or a life span, however long that may be. Snowflakes come and go. We are here for a reason. I guess snowflakes have a reason too. Because when a snowflake goes thru all the changes it goes thru in becoming a snowflake when it melts, it actually does put a few different nutrients into the soil. So, again God knew what He was doing when He created snowflakes and making them exactly as He did. Everything that God does is meaningful and purposeful. From giving a snowflake a meaningful and purposeful reason, to giving us, as human beings, a meaningful and purposeful existence. God never intended His most prized creation to act like snowflakes. Yes, He created us with a destructible body. But He also created us with a spirit and soul that will last for an eternity.
This definition was taken directly from wikipedia: Generation Snowflake, or Snowflake Generation, is a neologistic term used to characterize the young adults of the 2010s as being more prone to taking offence and less resilient than previous generations, or as being too emotionally vulnerable to cope with views that challenge their own. The term is considered derogatory. It is one of several informal examples of usage of the word snowflake to refer to people.
I don't know about you, but I don't want to be known as a snowflake. Fortunately, because of my age, I won't or can't be called that. Call me a crazy old lady and I'll gladly and happily accept that. Because as I said earlier, this crazy old lady lives in a crazy upside down world. There's a lot of things I don't like. There's many things that I can't change. There's a lot more changes that this old world will see if Christ tarries. If I live much longer, I will see a lot of those changes myself. I'm sure I will not like them. But as long as it's a free country I live in, I will continue to muse about it from time to time. These are just my thoughts and opinions and since they are mine, they are not open for discussion.
Read it or not, it doesn't matter to me. You can call me what you want to call me, but you can't call me a snowflake. What blows my mind is that recently, I actually read someone refer to themselves, proudly, as a snowflake. Go figure. I've seen too much change and experienced too much heat in that change and I still have breath in me. As long as I do, I will try to use it for good. When the last breath escapes this old lady then I will return to dust, just like the fleeting snowflake. I just pray that I have stood for the right things. I pray that I have made a difference in the part of the world in which I live. When I'm gone, the desire to inspire will be passed on to others. I pray they will have developed the skin to withstand the heat.
And yes, I have to say that I have taken offense over a lot that has been said and done over the last few years. I have taken offense at a lot and for the most part, just kept silent about it. Anyone can call my generation a generation of crazy people, so be it. But this generation of crazy, the people that I know and have known my whole life, have worked hard, supported their country by fighting for it and paying their FAIR share of taxes, respected and saluted the flag and respected those who have fought for this country and recognized that God is the founding Father of this country. This is about to be "done and done" unless people decide that this country is worth taking back from those that are hellbent on destroying it. The decision is ours. We are either crazy enough to see something worth fighting for or we are snowflakes taking offense and not able to withstand the challenge. The choice is ours. Yes, this is the musing of a crazy lady. And I proudly call myself that. But, just how crazy am I, really?
written by: pjg aka rosetresures, June, 2018
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Middle of the front page of the local newspaper, in big red letters, was the word DENIED, written in big red letters. The gist of the story was that a man with stage 4 colorectal cancer was denied by a state contracted doctor, to determine eligibility of disability. That should have been a NO-brainer, but although he was a doctor, he was a greedy SOB (not shortness of breath either). He was reviewing cases every 12 minutes and raking in millions of dollars.
Directly beneath that headline and picture was another headline that read "Death penalty in US near historic low". Now, I'm not a heartless witch as some might think. I didn't even read the rest of that article. The headline said all I really needed to see.
My opinion, that dr needs to be in the electric chair before sundown!! Heartless, cruel, mean spirited.......not as heartless, cruel and mean spirited as the dr who denied a disabled man with a death sentence already hanging over his head the right for disability which he had earned the hard way, by working.
Praise God another dr did take his case and went thru the process and got him the disability he needs and will be going back and covering all expenses, past and present and future!!!!
There are a LOT of problems in this country, on every level and people are getting meaner and greedier every day, because they are NOT held accountable for their deeds and actions!!! That needs to change!! "If there's nothing in it for me, then why should I care" is the attitude. Well, the way I see it, someday you may be the one who needs help, and there may not be any decent people left to help you.
Most days it just doesn't pay to read the paper or watch the news!!!
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let's do a quick "2 minutes in the kitchen with me", ok. we like to take dill pickle spears and wrap them with turkey bacon and air fry them. they are a wonderfully delicious jaw puckering piece of goodness with a piece of turkey bacon wrapped around it. cook it on 400* till the bacon is good and crisp. it actually takes longer for turkey bacon than it does for pork bacon. I've also done asparagus spears too. so with this in mind, think about green beans. I bought a bag of whole fresh greenbeans and washed them. next I put them in my steamer basket in my electric pressure cooker for about 5 minutes. when that went off, I released the steam and took the beans out and let them cool. I had a pkg of turkey bacon that I thawed in the fridge and I sliced each strip of bacon in half length ways making 16 long skinny strips of bacon. I wrapped 16 greenbeans, each with a skinny strip of turkey bacon and I made sure that the wrapped ends was on the bottom when I put them in the air fryer on 400* on the "bacon" setting. when it stopped, I ran it again on the "bacon" setting, keeping an eye on the color of the turkey bacon. when they were the color I was looking for, they were ready to be eaten. and they were. hahaha we really enjoyed them. easy, 2 ingredient meal. I did sprinkle a little bit of greek seasoning on them, but that was all I done to them. they really were delicious. I will be doing these a lot in the future. sorry I don't have a picture, I forgot about getting a picture, but I will the next time I fix them.
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I thought I would show y'all some of what else I have gotten dehydrated this week and last week. you know what, this keeps me busy and gives me something worthwhile to focus on and Lord knows I need that. maybe we all do, so I guess that's why I'm sharing this silly stuff. plus it will be really yummy when we start using it. and I must tell you that I do enjoy seeing these pictures myself. the first picture has baby bell peppers in it. all different colors. some of them are mine that I grew and some of them are store bought and when I dehydrating the ones I grew, I threw in some of the store bought ones to fill a tray. next to the baby bells are cherry tomatoes, those are like candy. sshhhhh, don't tell anybody. hahaha you can never stop learning, even little things. and with these tomatoes, I learned a "little thing". all these years when dehydrating cherry tomatoes, I would slice them from stem end to bloom end and believe it or not, they are harder to dehydrate that way. for some strange reason I picked up one and just sliced it the other way, and all the seeds was exposed so the moisture can easily be dehydrated from them. slicing them from stem to blossom end, most of the time, the seeds aren't exposed because of the membrane holding the pockets of seeds isn't getting cut to expose the seeds. the next time you slice a cherry tomato, slice 2, one each way I described and you'll see what I'm talking about. why haven't I done this sooner???? I will do it this way from now on, for sure. the next jar is my shishito peppers. I do love these peppers and wanted to preserve them. I didn't want to freeze them and I sure didn't want to pickle them. I wanted to maintain the delicious flavor of the pepper itself, and dehydrating them does it. I can just take a half of a pepper and crumble it on something and wow, it's just like the fresh pepper. so good. in the second pic is my jar of carrots. believe it or not, that is 9 cans of carrots. 3 more cans on the dehydrator and the jar will be about half full. these will be great soup additions, plus they will powder up nicely too to make a yummy hot cup of carrot soup and also nice thickener. the next little jar has my chinese 5 color peppers. they are very HOT, but really good. and like the shishitos, I wanted to preserve them without pickling, and these are good too. just pinch up a piece on a sandwich and there is a big punch of heat, with plenty to spare. hahaha I hope to get that little jar filled up, but even as small as the jar is, that will be a tall order, we'll see. the next jar is the potatoes that I just got jarred up. the last jar is the last of my lemon and cue ball squash. it's sad to see them go, but the squash bugs got to them, so they are history.
and I'm happy to report that all of those jars was full by the time my garden season was over. yay!!!
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I hope you seen something here today that inspires you to try something different. I hope you know that you can do anything you set your mind to. even keeping a well stocked pantry with dehydrated goods. it's fun and because I dehydrate, I hardly ever have anything to go bad. I'll dehydrate it long before that happens. even if I don't a specific purpose in mind when I dehydrate, I can always use any and all veggies in soups and stews and in making powders. there's always something that can be done.
I hope you have a blessed day today. remember the season of celebration and why we celebrate. we have a Savior!!!!! is there any greater reason than that to celebrate. this needs to be our daily celebration for the rest of our lives. thank You Jesus!!!!!! hugs and love to all, patty
