Checking In

Good morning Y'all!!!      How's everyone  doing amid this pandemic?        It is a little scary, I must admit.      But we have to remember that God is control.      No matter how bad the situation looks, He is still in control.      We have our part to play and that is to do what is requested of us.      Such as wear masks if we must be out in public.     How hard is that to do?      You may be one of the fortunate folk that won't get this monster disease, but what if you carry it to someone you love?     Or a whole bunch of "someone's" you love?      How would you feel?      How would you feel knowing that you could have prevented a loved one's death simply by wearing a mask?     That is the question we must ask ourselves.      I haven't seen my Momma in 2 months now, because I love her enough to stay away until travel bans have been lifted and the numbers are on the down hill slide instead of still charging up the hill getting higher each day.      Most people don't care, till it affects their family.    When it hits your own family, that's where rubber meets the road and that's when it hurts.    Experience is a teacher that teaches a lesson you never forget.     So, be kind and do the right thing.  WEAR A MASK OUT IN PUBLIC!!!!!!      Please!!!!!     

This is all I have today.     I pray that you will do the right thing and wear masks when out in public.    I pray that you trust God to get us thru this ordeal that has shaken the world.      I pray that if you haven't had an experience with the Risen Savior, that you will take the time to learn about Him and what He has done for you.       I pray that you will acknowledge that you're a sinner in need of a savior.     That's what it's all about.      Knowing we are lost and bound for hell without Jesus.      God has provided a way for us to be in right relationship with Him and that is through our Risen Savior, Jesus Christ.     Praise His Holy Name!!!     That's how God loves you!!      He's waiting for you seek Him out.    I pray that you will do just that.       In the mean time, just know that God loves you and I do too.    love and hugs, patty

Thought for the Day

What will be your greatest lesson learned from this ordeal; what will be your greatest sacrifice through this ordeal; and what will be your biggest blessing on the other side of this ordeal?       These are just 3 things to think about in the days ahead.     Think about these and come back here some time and share with me what your answer to these are. 

In the days ahead, remember that God wants us to be in right relationship with Him and the only possible way for that to happen is for us to know His Son, Jesus Christ.     Think about that too.    Now is the time.  This is the day of salvation, there may be no other day and no other chance.     Today is the day we have.    Remember God loves you and I do too.    hugs, love, and blessings, patty

The Challenge

Good afternoon Y'all!!!      I hope and pray that wherever y'all are today that you are blessed and happy and safe.      It seems like this world we live in is getting crazier by the second.      That's my take on it anyway.      What are the answers?      I don't know.      Well, I do too, but it seems if it involves admitting that we have an issue with sin in our lives, no one wants to deal with it.      If it involves asking God to come back into all the places we have removed Him from, that's not gonna happen.     If it involves acknowledging Christ is Savior and Lord, well, that just isn't gonna happen in a lot of places.      This is the same issue over the whole planet, it always has been.      People serving their greedy lusts and pleasures.      Not serving and ministering to those who need it.      Sometimes we think it takes a massive movement to bring about change.      That's not necessarily so.      One person may not be able to change the whole the world, but one person, you, can change the world you live in.     You can change what takes place in your own home and that is changing the world for those living under your roof.      You can change how you behave around others that need need a good influence.      You can change how you treat others when you're doing your daily tasks.       Those things DO change the world for those who happen to be in YOUR world.      And that's a great change.      I said all that to share what I'm gonna share below.      Please read it with an open heart and see if it's something you might be able to do.

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 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 whats 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.

Thru it all, remember that God is in charge of it all!!!      He loves you and wants to be in relationship with you thru the shed blood of Jesus Christ.      Make sure you are in a good relationship with God thru Jesus.      He sure loves you and so do I.      hugs, love and safety, patty.

Dilly Dust!!! What's that?

Good morning Y'all!!!     Sorry I haven't been around much, but I haven't much to share.     Maybe I've had more to share than I realized after sharing what I'm getting ready to share with y'all.     I've gotten out my food dehydrator and started using it here lately.    It's fun, so I thought I would share that with y'all.    This post first appeared on my face book page and I thought it might be fun to share it here too.   When I share stuff like this on my fb page, I call it "2 minutes cooking with me" or something like like that.      I need to work a name out for good and call it that every time.     hahaha

I think it's time for another 2 or 5 minute "in the kitchen" with me today.      Have you every heard of "dilly dust"?      Don't feel bad, I hadn't either, until I made it!!      Yes, that's right, I made dilly dust. Before I tell you how to make it, you might be saying, "why would I" want to make it?         Well, I like potato chips, but I don't buy them anymore.      I make my 5-6 minute microwave potato chips that are DIVINE!!!         Now, think "dilly dust".      You got it, dilly dust on my potato chips, or sprinkled on deviled eggs, or sprinkled over a salad, or a taco plate and the imagination gets lost out in left field thinking of all the applications of my "dilly dust".       Ok, I got you hooked and you want to know how to make it, now that you know why to make it.  hahaha

I bought a cheap jar of dill pickles.      I drained them and washed them really well.       Trying to get as much vinegar and salt off them as possible.       I bought a small snackmaster dehydrator back in 1994.      Yes, waaaaaaaaay back then.     hahaha      I thought it was time to get it out again and use it. When you dehydrate food, it amps up the flavors with the finished product. that's why I washed the vinegar and salt from the pickles.      I don't care about the vinegar, but the salt is the main reason I rinsed them.       If salt isn't an issue for you, then don't even do it.     Let the pickle chips drain good and then start filling your trays with the pickle chips.      You can also take big whole dill pickles and a mandolin and slice then yourself.     That's actually what I did the first small batch I made.       For this batch, I got 2 trays crammed full of dill pickle slices.      I then sliced an organic lemon as thin as I could and got tray of lemon slices, so I can make lemon dust and then I had 2 organic roma tomatoes and I cut those up on the 4th tray.     So I have it full and going right now.      It will run all day and night, until it's completely bone dry.

I'll store them in Ball jars with desiccant packets to keep any moisture down.      Then, when I want "dilly powder", "lemon powder" or "lime powder", I'll use my coffee grinder dedicated to spices to make my powder to use as a seasoning on our potato chips or popcorn.    YUM!!!    And BAM, just like that you have "dilly powder".

Got a few pictures of the process and will share more next week when I get these done and may grind a little and see if I can get a picture of that too. I sure hope you enjoyed this 2 or 5 minute "in the kitchen" with me today. hugs and be blessed y'all, patty

***********It's about 6:40 pm and thought I would update y'all on the dilly dust, lemon dust, and dried roma tomatoes saga.      All is good and all is dry.     I even have "dilly dust" made right now!!! take a look.      It's funny, a 32 oz jar of dill pickles condensed down to about 2 tablespoons of "dilly dust".      It's soooo good too.      I can't wait to make some homemade microwave potato chips and sprinkle it on them!!

This is the pictures of the process.

So, this was my pickles washed in my strainer and draining.     I just started placing them on the trays.     I got 2 trays crammed jammed full of pickles.

This is the organic lemon that I sliced myself with my chef knife.     I tried to make as uniformly thin slices as I possibly could and it filled this try up.    Yay!!!

For this one, I was just trying to show how thinly I had sliced the lemons.      In my last experimental session I had sliced organic limes and dried them, and wow, did they ever smell decadent, and the lemons do too.     I am anxious to get these ground up into "Lemon Dust"!!!!      The "Lime Dust" smells like the most wonderful lime dessert you have ever tasted!!!!!      I can't wait to dehydrate more citrus fruits.

This was the 2 organic roma tomatoes sliced.      These weren't the best quality and not the best looking, but WOW, I'm telling you they were fantastic with my supper!!!!    Like I said earlier, when you dehydrate food, it really amplifies the flavors soooooo much and these were like eating candy, almost, only better for you.

This is what the 2 dried trays of pickle slices looked like.     Someone said they wanted to try this for a keto snack.     My suggestion would be to not let them go this long and use a better quality pickle.    This was the cheapest 32 oz jar of pickles in the store.    I will try some bread and butter pickles and also sweet pickles at some point in time.    But you cans see how they really shrank up, which is exactly what I expected.

This is the 2 trays put on one tray in a pile.    Not a lot for sure.    hahaha

This is the finished product!!!!!      2 tablespoons of "Dilly Dust"!!!!!      This is some spectacular flavoring!!!!     I will be watching for pickles of all kinds on sale now, for sure!!!!!      The next time I do this and take pictures, I will be sure and get a shot of my coffee grinder that is dedicated to my seasonings and spices.     It comes apart easily to wash and get cleaned up, so if I ever wanted to grind coffee with it, I could and I would.   If you don't have a coffee grinder, just watch for them to go on sale.     I think I got mine at CVS or Walgreen's for about $6 or $7 a few years ago.     So, just keep an eye out and you can find one somewhere for a good price.

Something else I wanted to share y'all is this.    If you notice on my dehydrator trays, you'll see something on top of it with a smaller mesh size.     That is crafting canvas.     When I unboxed my dehydrator, after many years of being dormant, one of my trays was busted.    The bottom had  place where some of it broken out and wouldn't, of course, hold anything that I wanted to dehydrate.     My friend and I were at the Goodwill store and the was a brand new pkg of plastic canvas, 14 x 12 sheets, I think that's the size.     There were 12 sheets in and I snatched that up quicker than a duck on a June bug!!!!   hahahaha     I took the fruit leather tray that came with my dehydrator and traced the outside of it and the inside hole on all 12 layers of plastic canvas.     And these work like a dream!!!!!      They are non stick and they work wonderfully on the one that has a big hold in bottom of it.    Plus, if I get another round dehydrator, I'll be able to use these in it also.     So be on the lookout for cheap plastic canvas too, to make dehydrating easier for you in the future.

Here back, I dehydrated some celery and carrots.     If I get an abundance of some particular veggie or fruit, that's what I will do to prevent waste.      It's fun and it saves money.      The celery and carrots will be wonderful in soup.     I did par-boil them for about 5 minutes to maintain the color after they are dehydrated.    After removing from boiling water, plunge them into an ice water bath to prevent further cooking and then they are ready to dehydrate.     You can par-boil some of your veggies and some don't have to be par-boiled.     Just do a google search and if you find any kind of a chart, print it out and you'll be ready to start doing some dehydrating too.     Also, watch for sale on dehydrators.  I would not suggest you get one at Goodwill or the thrift store, just because this is something that really is hard to keep all the parts cleaned and you won't know how the previous owner used it or cleaned it.     Just to be on the safe side, watch for them on sale in your favorite stores or online.     If you have an Aldi, you may find one there this Spring or Summer.     

Anyway, I hope this has given you an idea of some of the fun things that you can do with excess food and a dehydrator.     The imagination just runs wild and it's an exciting time.     You can also waych for canned foods on sale and dehydrate that too!!!      Watch for fruits, such as strawberries, and any of the berries, and bananas, coconut, mango, and my mind is racing out of my skull.    hahaha      The one thing you want to watch out for is foods high in oils.    DO NOT try to dehydrate something like an avocado.      You can also google some of the things that might not be best suited for dehydrating.  Just do some research before you get started and you will have success.      If you have any questions, do not hesitate to leave me a question and I'll get back to you with an answer.  

I had another batch of celery that I was gonna dehydrate, but I decided to make some celery soup.   It was delicious.     If you decide to make to celery soup, you want to "de-string" the celery as well as you possibly can.     I have a thing about stringy celery.   hahaha      But, if you want to, just make sure to cut your celery in very short pieces.      I cut mine in about 2 inch pieces and that was my mistake and where all the visible strings came from!!!    So, don't do as I did, cut your pieces really short.    Season it with whatever spices  and seasonings you wish.      I cooked mine in the electric pressure cooker.     It cooks it quickly and easily.  

This is what my celery soup looked like once I got all the celery strings out of it.   hahahaha      I just could not go the stringiness in it after I used my stick blender, so I strained it thru a small strainer.    After I got it strained real good, I put some chopped ham in it and it was really good!!

This a bowl of the celery soup and a piece of bread stick toast with garlic powder on it.    We like it crunchy and well toasted.     This was a really yummy and hearty soup and well worth sacrificing one whole celery bunch to make.     The garlic toast was a cheesy bread stick that I got at Kroger and I split it down the middle, put a little bit of real butter on on it and sprinkled on some garlic powder and popped it in the toaster oven.     We really enjoyed this.    I didn't really have a recipe.     Just wash and cut one whole bunch of celery, a couple of small potatoes, an onion finely diced, some bell pepper and just saute all of this in the electric pressure cooker for 20 or 30 minutes till it starts smelling really good and then stop the saute and turn it back on to pressure cook, and add 4 or 5 cups of chicken bone broth, for about 15 minutes and let it natural release and then use your stick blender, submersion blender as some call it, and blend it till it's smooth.     If you find it a little thin, just turn the saute back on and let it cook down to the thickness you like.      You can also add salt and pepper and other seasonings to your taste. 

Well, I hope you have enjoyed your time in the kitchen with me today.   I hope to bring more sun stuff like this in the future.     If you have something that I just have to try, please leave me a message.     

I hope you will take the time sometime today to thank God for all the necessities He has provided for us to live healthy and productive lives.      It is by Him and for Him that we live anyway.     So, I thank God today for the rich and bountiful blessing He has provided for me, not because I deserve them, but because of His great love for me and you!!      Yes, let me just tell you that God loves you too.     I can honestly tell you that He doesn't sin  and He can't look upon sin.      That is why God provided Jesus Christ as the ONLY way to be in right relationship with Him!      When we have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, then we can be in full relationship with Him.     That is praise worthy today y'all!!!!    

I pray you have a blessed rest of the day and tell someone you know that Jesus loves them.     Tell someone about what you saw here today too.     See you right back sometime in the near future.    Just know that God loves you and so do I.    hugs and love and be blessed today, patty

Happy New Year, just a wee bit late

Hello one and all.    Hope this finds everyone of y'all doing well and enjoying first few days of the year.    It has finally turned winter in my neck of the woods.    I'm kinda happy about that in one way.  It kills off insects.   But the down side of it, huge utility bill.    But, by the grace and love of God, we'll manage and survive and thrive.    The cold doesn't bother me as much as it does my husband.   I really feel for him during the cold weather, he's so cold natured.     And I know lots of other people are too.     Check on anyone you know who could use a little extra help during the cold weather.

It's has been an eventful year so far, and it's just got started.   hahaha     My fridge, that has been in this house longer than we have, just went belly up 2 weeks ago.    It moved into this house 2 days before my husband and I did, and that was Dec.19th, 2000.    I had been very pleased with it and my husband had already said that we may need to consider a fridge this year, so we was thinking about it already, we just wasn't ready for it to happen without having one ready to move in to the house.   So we was without a fridge for a week and living out of coolers with ice in them.  UUGGHHHH!!!!!!!  Yeah, you heard me, UUGGHHHH!!!!!!!    hahahaha     I never want to do that again.    But I thank God for His help and provision. 

Do you know that NO ONE carries a storehouse of refrigerators?   All they have are the floor models or returns.     My, how things change!!!!!      And, I don't like change!!!!     They don't realize that it's not only people buying new homes, building new homes, people moving that needs fridges, but also people who have had a refrigerator to quit on them!!!!     If we had known  it was gonna quit, we would have ordered one sooner, BUT, we didn't know, so we had to wait a week.    It was very frustrating to say the least.    It was very stressful and my body has been paying for the stress.    It is so nice to have a refrigerator setting in the kitchen now.     I know there are people on the planet that would love to have our old one, they would get it fixed or something.   And I wish and hope someone does do something with to get it work again.

The main thing I hate about losing the other one is all the food I lost when it stopped working.   The freezer was full of food and a lot of it had already thawed.   I guess I threw away 3 or 4 hundred dollars of food.    Plus all the stuff in the fridge that had gotten warm too.    Now, I have been in the process of restocking my fridge.   I had quite a few extras to go ahead and put in the fridge, but there is a few things I still need to get.

In the process of the getting new fridge, I have started cleaning my kitchen cabinets out.   Wow, how stuff accumulates!!!!     My problem is this, I have a very hard time getting in the floor to see what's at the back of the bottom cabinets!!!   And that's what it takes, is getting down in the floor to drag it all out and I did that to one on my cabinets.   It's all clean now,   My main problem is figuring out how to maximize my storage without forgetting whats back there and still being able to get to and use it.    I need to put my thinking cap on for that.   I know I'll get something figured out.     That has always been my major problem in all the kitchens in the past also, not enough usable storage space.   I've never had a lot of cabinet space to begin with, in any of my kitchens, but I've always managed.   On the other hand, it was easier to manage back then, because I could get up and down without the help of the fire department!!!!   hahahaha     That was just a joke, but it's almost that bad.    Anyway, I do have a great start on having a cabinet cleaned out and ready to maximize the use use of it.    Need to start on the cabinet above it now.   That won't be too hard, as I cleaned it out sometime last year and got it more accessible.    Neatness used to my strong point.   Now my strong point is hoarding!!!!    hahaha

My husband and I was talking about that the other day.    My parents were children of the Great Depression.   My grandparents lived and worked and managed to make it thru that time.    They used what they had or done without.    They really knew what it was like having to live from one day to the next.    I remember the stories and I remember reading about how people barely survived and some didn't even survive.    So, with all that in mind, it's hard to just get rid of something that I may need or someone else may need.     So, we moved stuff from house to house.    We have bought more stuff to add to what we already had, and then we buy even more and the next thing ya know, you keep expecting to see the people that make the tv show "Hoarders" at your front door wanting to do an episode on you!!!!   Maybe a little extreme, but not by far!!!   hahahaha

Anyway, it does feel good to have the new fridge and the starting of a cleaned out kitchen to cook in.   I do love to cook and I do love my kitchen appliances, large and small alike.    My first electric pressure cooker quit on me between Thanksgiving and Christmas of 2019.    I think I did tell about it in maybe the last post of the year or the next to the last one.    But I have an Instant Pot and an Insignia EPC now.    I like them both equally. 

The Instant Pot has yogurt setting on it and I do love that.   I have my first batch of yogurt and it is the best greek yogurt I have ever eaten!!!    So, I would encourage anyone to use that function of their Instant Pot, if it has it.    You can't make yogurt if it doesn't have that function. 

I love to take a box of pasta noodles and a can of salsa and water and cook the pasta with the sauce already in it and then add a pouch of Velveeta cheese and stir stir stir.   What would also be delicious would be to add a bag of mixed veggies in this!!!     Some of the smoked turkey sausage or kielbasa would be delicious in this too.   As a matter of fact, it is delicious!!!!

I make a rice dessert too that is fabulous.   I cook a batch of rice with a can of coconut milk.  When the rice is cooked, I stir in a can of cherry pie filling and a small can or sweetened condensed milk.  This is a very delicious dessert.   I don't give us much at a time because it's so starchy and unhealthy, but it does help curb a sweet tooth.   We can eat on a batch of this all week.

Of course an old standby is pinto beans or great northers in the EPC.   Quick and easy.   99 minutes for me to a wonderful batch of beans!!!    Collard greens is also a favorite of mine in the EPC!!!!!  Wow, they are so delicious.    They taste just like you cooked the low and slow all day!!!

Most of it simple foods, but with a heart warming memory and comfort foods.   

I have started making fire cider, kombucha and elderberry syrup.  All for the health benefits.  There is no telling what else I will get into making, especially if it has wonderful benefits.   There are lot's of recipes on the internet for all the wonderful elixirs and home made medicines.   I wouldn't tell y'all how to take them, but you can certainly google and find out how to make and take anything.

I am looking into making ricotta cheese with the whey left over from making my yogurt.   Did I say how good my yogurt is?    Well, I'll tell for the 40 eleventh time, it's delicious!!!   I don't even put any sugar or salt, that's how good it is. 

I recently got a small greenhouse to set up on my deck when early spring gets here.   I am hoping to fill it with lettuces, onions, radishes and other smallish things that can be raised in containers and in the greenhouse.   I don't know if it will be a waste of time or now, I am certainly praying that it won't be.   I am hoping it begin my growing time earlier and make it last later in the season.   We'll see.

Well, that's about got me caught me caught up what's been happening with us in our neck of the woods.    I hope that wherever y'all are, that you have fun plans in the works and that you get to see the fruits of your hands.    I pray that God will bless all of our efforts and He will our efforts are pleasing to Him.    Take your daily struggles directly to Him.   He opened the door to Him, by the shed blood of Jesus Christ.   So if you have a relationship with Christ, then you certainly have the ear the Father and you can call on Him any time, any where, for any reason.    While He doesn't love our sin, He is very offended by our sin, but He loves us and His desire is for us to love Him enough to lay the burden of sin down and start asking Him for direction and guidance.   I pray that if you don't know Him, today will be that day that you decided to call on His son, Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of your life.   All it takes is for you to admit you're a sinner, confess your sins and ask Christ Jesus to come and live in you and help you with your daily walk.    I want to say, "that's all there is to it", but in reality, that's just the beginning.    When you learn to do better, you will do better.    But until you fully commit to Christ and let Him be active and alive in you, you may not see a change.   A change in a persons life is proof that Christ is in you.   If you keep doing the same things, going the same places, using the same language, then that's not much of a sign that you accepted Christ as your Savior.   It's up to us to accept Christ as our Savior, for real, and seek Him in every way, every day.    I will say this, Jesus loves you more than you could possibly know. 

Be blessed and have a wonderful rest of this day that the Lord has made!!!  God loves y'all and so do I.   love and hugs, patty