"Qu"ick, Ch"ea"p and Ea"sy" meals

good morning beautiful friends.          I hope it's a lovely day where ever y'all are today.          I'm thinking that maybe winter is trying it's best to make to my neck of the woods.        it will show up and hang around for a while soon enough, so I'm hoping for a few more warmish days.        we took a drive up to Ky yesterday and most of the trees are bare and the farmers have gotten all the crops in and I must say that it's a little desolate looking now.          but everything has to rest, soil does the land and the trees.      we wait for the rebirth when spring approaches.        I'm always ready for spring.

oh, I got a couple of my seeds catalogs, one on saturday and another one yesterday.        so I'll be placing an order very soon and I look forward to that.         just hoping everything I want will still be available.        they'll start putting out seeds to sell pretty soon in the stores too.        and I'm always browsing them when I can.       a very dear friend of mine sent me a TON of herb seeds and I'm so excited to have those and to see what I can grow.       so with that bunch of seeds she sent me, I didn't even have to look at herbs in the catalogs.        I'm looking forward to spring and all the opportunity and promise that it has with it.        in the mean time, I'll try to enjoy each day as it comes and thank God for every day that He gives me.        

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so, let's take a look at some of the simple easy meals we eat on a regular basis.        as I do different things, I'll share them.

this is what I had for supper the other night. shrimp and grits!!!       it was "slap your neighbor" delicious!!          it truly was.        I used lots of garlic and butter and a liittle bit of amino acids.       just like I like it.       and I made the grits using lots of chicken stock.        lots of flavor going on in this dish.         ok, no drooling, it's really not very becoming.    😂😂      oh, I don't care if you drool, go ahead, drool away.        may have it again tonight.       hahaha         hubby had something different.

another meal we had here back.        it was pretty delicious if we do say ourselves.        I took 2 cod filets and cut them into 6 bites each.       I coated the cod bites in pecorino romano bread crumbs and wowzers!!!!         I popped 2 potatoes in the microwave and then I cut them into 6 wedges each.        I spritzed them with avocado oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper.         I put the cod poppers in the freezer for a few minutes once I got them breaded and then put them in the airfryer, after I spritzed them with avocado oil, at 400F for about 15 minutes.        after about 6 minutes I flipped the cod poppers and then I put the potatoes in and let them go for a few minutes.        then I put the hushpuppies in the last few minutes.         it really was a delicious meal.  

this is another yummy dish.       I made these greenbeans wrapped with turkey bacon and airfryed.       I've been making these for a while and I finally got a picture the other day.       these are so good!!!!        I do love the turkey bacon on them.             this is wellshire farms turkey bacon, eight slices split down the middle and then wrapped around the previously steamed greenbeans and airfryed the bacon for at least 10 to 13 minutes or until the color is what you want.         I did sprinkle a dash of cavendars greek seasoning before airfrying. these are so yummy and so easy.         2 ingredients, that's it.         we also like this with asparagus and dill pickle spears.          wrapping them in bacon and airfrying them is the way to go.      this is a great "snacky" type meal and it's really filling.      we really enjoy this.     if you haven't tried it yet, please do.        it's delicious.

this is one of our fav meals. air fryer teriyaki salmon.         I put a little salt and pepper on our salmon and then brush on some treiyaki sauce, both sides.          put it in the air fryer on fish setting or 400* for about 10 minutes and flip it, and brush on a bit more teriyaki sauce, and let it go for a few more minutes to get both sides cooked and the teriyaki sauce kind a carmelized.        also toss in a few hushpuppies and heat those in the air fryer while whipping up a salad to go with it.        I try to keep stuff prepped in the fridge for easy meals and having veggies for salads prepped, sure makes it easy.         

I try to do "batch cooking" of some things and keeping potatoes for the mister and sweet potatoes for misses in the fridge is a must for me.         so this is how I do it.            I fix two sheet pans, one of each.         for the mister, his potatoes gets a ranch seasoning or some other seasoning on them and for me.              I just put a little cinnamon on mine and bake them in the big toaster oven till they are done.          this is what we had for supper the other night with the tuna patties and little side salad.        it was just so good.          when we get ready to have more potatoes, I'll just toss them in the air fryer to crisp them up a little bit.         they are as good if not better than hash browns.         hubby loves them and of course, I'm all about the sweet taters.         hahaha         and by the way, the sweet potatoes are delicious cold.         they're almost like eating candy, but it's just sweet tater and cinnamon.          there's also some tuna cakes in this picture  and I'll talk about them next.        then the storage box in the bottom right corner has both our taters in it.           when it's meal time, I can our tuna cakes and taters in the air fryer and in about 6 or 8 minutes, we're having a delicious piping hot meal.

these are tuna patties made from a little 5 oz can of tuna with the water drained.         I added about 2 or 3 tablespoons chopped onion, the same with chopped bell pepper, the same for diced celery, 1/4 cup flour, 1 egg and 1/4 cup of romano pecarino bread crumbs.        mixed well and divided into 2 portions and patted out 2 patties.           I sprayed both sides with a little avocado oil and put in the air fryer on fish setting.           if you don't have fish setting, 400* for 10 mins and then flip and go for another 6 or 7 minutes to get both sides browned.         the avocado oil helps it to brown.        these were very good.     I quit skillet frying fish cakes years ago when I started using my counter top oven (a really large toaster oven) to bake everything.          then along comes the air fryer and it's actually better in the air fryer.   you can put what ever you like in yours, this is just what we like and they turned out so good.         I do this with canned mackreal too.            I just pick out any bones and remove and of the skin and dark places in the meat when removing the skin.        the darker meat on mackreal and salmon has a strong fishy funky taste to me, so I take all that off.       and then they are so yummy and delicious.

everything I've share here in this blog are some of our favorite meals.         and I also like to do big batches of stuff we especially enjoy.          if makes for some of my "now famous" queasy meals.        hahaha    quick, cheap, easy meals.        and delicious!!!!        I make up my own words or give new meaning to already existing words, such as this one.        hahahaha        

blessings from my kitchen to yours.    

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that's about it for today.         I spend a lot of time in the kitchen and sommetimes I take pics and sometimes I forget.          I hope you seen something here that you want to  make.       if you have any questions, be sure and leave a question for me.         I hope and pray that you all have a blessed day today.         let us all try to be servants of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ as we go about our days.       bless others as we have been  blessed.         than God for allowing us to be a part of His grand plan today.        let us not take this time He has given us for granted.        

as we approach the day traditionally celebrated as the Birth of our Savior, let us also contemplate what His birth means for us.        if you have ever read any of the Old Testament, then you've read about all the animal sacrifices and everything that had to be done.       when I read all that, I'm so thankful that God's plan was for a Savior to be born.        I can't imagine how difficult it would have been to live back in that time.        the Old Testament shows us just how sinful we are and how we sin willfully all the time.        even at out best, we're still wicked and evil.         so we can see how we need a Savior.       I'm so thankful that God already had the plan of salvation designed, long before He created the heavens and the earth.        as the time approacches, may we stop and thank God every day for His blessed provision.        Thank You Jesus, that chose to be "The Way Maker" for all of us that have accepted You as our Lord and Savior!!!!

blessings of peace and joy be yours today, patty         

Country Drive and Trees

good morning y'all.       it's another nippy morning here.          I don't like looking at the weather apps any more.         last night, when the weather app said it was supposed to be about 50 degrees, it was already down to 34 degrees!!        and the same this morning because it was supposed to be 42 degrees but it was actually 35 degrees.        so I don't know what's happening with the weather apps, but it's a little frustrating.      they don't know what they're doing but my regular plain old thermometer outside is more trustworthy than the new fangled contraptions and all the fancy cell phone apps.      I'm done with them.       I'll just set my trusty rock out and deal with my weather that way.        if I touch it and it's hot, it's hot.      if I touch it and it's cold, it's cold.       if it's wet, it's raining.       if it's white, its snowing.      if it's gone, the wind has blown.        I'm good with that.        hahahaha

I think we're gonna take a trip up to Ky this morning, so this will be short and sweet this morning.

I hope you all have a wonderful day.

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here's a quick little funny that I found and shared and thought I would share it with y'all.         just something to put a quick smile on your face this morning.        hahaha          hope you like it.

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what do you see when you take a country drive?         this is what I seen back on Dec. 13th, 2020.        I hope you enjoy this read.        

Country Drive and Trees

we went for a little country drive this afternoon.        as we was going along the country roads, I took a few pictures of the trees.         some were large and majestic, others were young and just getting started in their career at being a tree.           I don't think of trees as often as I should, I guess.          but this afternoon I did.          with each tree, comes it's own set of growth pains and scars.   

this time of year, the pain they have lived thru is more evident.        in the late spring, all summer and early fall, the trees are completely dressed out in their beautiful raiment.       the trees are evident in size, but we can't see a lot of the distress and brokenness that their foliage covers.         also, because of their beautiful raiment, we can't see all the beautiful creatures that take shelter in the canopy of the fully dressed trees.         creatures of all sizes and shapes are at home on the branches in the tree tops.  

if we are fortunate, we may see a squirrel running up a tree.        or we may see a wise old owl setting high.          we may even see other birds and a world of insects that we can't even imagine.        then too, we may even hear a wood pecker drilling for insect larvae.          we can't imagine the storms of life that some of these vast trees have lived thru and I don't even think about it, until the trees drop their beautiful raiment.           then, there they stand in all their bareness, for us to see.           most of the time, I don't even notice, but today, I noticed.

it's clearly evident, that even some of the smaller trees have weathered some storms.       maybe some of the storms that blew thru this year could have damaged some of the limbs.         some of the older trees bare scars and brokenness from 50 to 75 years ago or longer and clearly, more recent scars.  

every scar tells a story.        wouldn't it be awesome to know some of those stories?        but then again, they might not want to tell those stories, even if they could.        some things are painful to remember.  as I thought about the trees, I was reminded that the trees are very similar to human beings in that respect.        some of us have weathered a lot storms.         some of us have a lot of scars.       some of us don't like how we look when we don't have our beautiful raiment on, or our smiles or our makeup, or what ever it may be that we hide behind to keep our scars and brokenness from showing.        just like the trees, with each passing year, we collect more scars and possibly even more brokenness.        but just like the trees, the birds and animals and insects keep coming back to those trees to be a shelter from the storms, to be a place of comfort when the breeze blows, to listen to peaceful sounds of the rustling of the beautiful raiment on each tree.  

I also think of all the uses that trees have had down thru history and even today.        I wonder what kind of tree was used to make the manger that Jesus was placed in when he was born and I also wonder what kind of tree was used for the Cross that He bore for my sins.       He was a carpenter, so as creator of all the trees, you would have to think that He appreciated all the scars and brokenness that He seen and noticed on all the wood that He worked with.

just like with the trees, Jesus notices all of our scars and brokenness that we have as a result of all the storms that we have withstood.         but just like the animals that still love the trees, Jesus loves us so much more.          He finds us very useful, even with all the scars and brokenness that may have come over the years.          some of our tears may have watered some of those trees thru the years.       some of our scars may have been the very thing that someone else needed to see in order to help that person thru their storm.         some of our brokenness may have been what helped someone find a way to survive their own brokenness.

with each year, we grow mightier, we grow more fragile in ways, we learn new things, we share more with others, all the while, with each new year, our roots are growing deeper and stronger.       deep and strong roots is what causes a tree to stand tall and keep providing shelter from the storms and comfort as the scars are healing.          just as a tree needs to have deep and strong roots in the soil, we need to have deep and strong roots in Jesus.          He alone can make something from our brokenness and scars.

look at each tree and and see how beautiful the structure actually is.       you can see where limbs have been broken.         you can actually see some of the scars as far off as you can see the trees, but the birds still take shelter in the trees.         regardless of what the tree of your life looks like, just know that it is beautiful and is needed in the landscape of life and that your tree will keep on being remembered and loved well past your days.

this came about from a short little drive thru the country side, looking at the beautiful structure of bare trees standing tall and beautiful and the Lord helping me make sense of what was actually running thru this noggin.       sometimes it's a little scary, this time it wasn't.      hahaha 

I hope that as you look at each tree in your life, that you can see some of the beauty, some of the brokenness, and some of the healing.          I pray that what ever you do see, that it's covered with the beautiful ramient of the blood of Jesus Christ.           just like these trees will be covered and dressed up really beautiful in the spring and summer with all their glorious leaves, we can be covered by the blood of Jesus all the time.         Thank You Jesus for coming into all my broken places, all my mess, all my sinful places and covering me with Your Robe of Righteousness.         

I'm thankful for all the trees that I get see from time to time and I take notice of them more since this particular day.          it opened my eyes to just how much we are like trees.           the storms early this year brought down a lot of trees around us and it was by the Hand of God, that our lives and property was spared.          in looking at the trees that came down, it was clearly evident that those trees didn't have much of a root system.         the roots were shallow.            we can be like trees, we can have a shallow root system that won't stand up to the storms of life.         Lord, help me to establish even deeper roots to serve you better when the storms of life come through again.       there are a lot of things that I don't even want to think about having to deal with.        but I pray that I'm rooted deeply enough in You, that when they do come along, You can help me withstand these storms as the come.   

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I leave you with the knowledge that God loves us enough to provide a way for us to be in right relationship with Him thru the shed blood of Jesus Christ.        if you don't know Jesus as your personal Savior, why not?        now is the day of Salvation.       Jesus Christ is the only means of salvation.      He is waiting for you.         blessings, hugs and love to you all today, patty

My Christmas Tree

good morning beautiful friends.           I pray that this day finds you well rested and ready to face this most precious day that God has given us.         we get to make from this day, whatever we choose.        I pray we will chose to be the hands and feet of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ today and every day.

you know, as I share a story below, it got me thinking that there are a lot of people on this planet that don't believe in God or Christ.      and it's not they just haven't been led to Christ, they fight against Him and curse Him and whatever else they can do to slander and bad mouth Him.        yet, they participate in Christmas and Easter.         the story of Christ; His birth and His death.        why is that?          if I didn't believe in Christ, I sure wouldn't celebrate a day devoted to His birth or His death.      I would give back all the money that corporate jobs have paid me for time off to celebrate the birth and death of Christ.        I wouldn't be out fighting the frenzy of finding the perfect gifts for people that won't care what I do for them.         I just wouldn't be supporting something that I don't believe in.

having said all that, the way my husband and I celebrate Christmas and Easter has changed drastically to what we have done in the years past.          our hearts are in a different place with our relationship and service to the Lord.         we no longer fall into the frenzied catagory and decorate for Christmas and get Easter baskets.        we enjoy the serenity and peacefulness of acknowledging the birth of Christ and being thankful and grateful for all He's done for us in the last 44+ years of marriage and in our lives before we met each other.        so, we celebrate His birth quietly and peacefully.       however you celebrate the birth of Christ, I pray that we all keep Him first and foremost in our celebrating.        when I think of all that Christ has done for me, I can't help but fight and choke back the tears.        I know me.           He knows me too, and yet He chose me before I ever even knew I needed Him.           so that's where my praise and adoration comes from.          He knows me and yet He chose me.        Thank you Jesus for cleaning up the mess of my life.        

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I don't remember when I wrote this originally, (below, it says that I wrote this in 2015) but I know I shared it at some time, maybe several times.            the last time I think I shared it was on  dec 24, 2017.          if you haven't read this, I hope you enjoy it.        if you have read it, I hope you'll read it again and remember some of the things that make you unique and maybe bring back fond memories of days gone by.

This is long, but I hope you will take the time to read it sometime over the next day or so.   I wrote it back in 2015 and I share it every chance I get.          It describes my "mental image" of the perfect Christmas tree for me!!          I hope you enjoy it.

My Christmas Tree

What if I asked you to decorate a Christmas Tree and put only things on it that would describe you, your relationship with Jesus and your relationship with others.          Could you do it?           Would you do it?             Do any of y'all ever get that mental picture that you just can't get out of your head?         I do.           Sometimes mine is an all out comedy skit.           I just have say that I know God has a very good sense of humor, because He gave me a pretty good one, if I do say so myself.         So, I can actually blame it on Him, right.          hehehe          I kept seeing a Christmas Tree in my mind.       I finally just had to ask God what that was.           Well, it was a Christmas Tree that was decorated with things that represented my relationship with Jesus and the people in  my life.           I didn't get a really clear image of it though.            I was so intrigued by the idea that I thought I would try to mentally decorate a Christmas Tree for y'all and describe it as I go.

So, first off it would have to be a Cedar Tree.         A Cedar tree never looses it branches and it stays green all the time.           It will grow in places that a lot of other trees can't.         It has a smell that only the cedar tree has.         I love the smell of cedar.           As a small child, I would pick up cedar shavings and smell them.          I would actually rub them on my nose and sleep with them and get them tangled in my hair.           Anyway, that's what we always had growing up and I remember all the fun I had when I got to help decorate it.          Sometimes, I would get to decorate it more than once if it fell over.     hehehe         Redecorating is not as fun as it was to decorate it the first time.        So, Cedar Tree it is. 

Next I would put lots of colored lights on it.     I do love the clear lights, but I am a colorful person and I love lots of color, so colored lights it is.    God didn't say anything about colored lights or clear, He just said to let our light so shine for others to see.    And we are not to put our light under a bushel, but to have it out and shining bright.   So, I do believe a lot of colored lights on my tree would be seen.    So, colored lights, it is.

Next, for garland, I might string some popcorn and put that on my tree.          Most everyone likes or loves popcorn.            It does smell wonderful when it's popping.          What is the first thing you smell when you go to the movie theater?            Yeah, popcorn.            The smell of it is inviting and pleasing.            Have you every thought about popcorn?          It takes a lot of heat, to make that kernel of corn transform into something that is so delicious.          It has to "go thru the fire", so to speak, for it to be transformed into something that we love so much.           Guess what, we have to "go thru the fire" also, to be transformed into something useful for God's purpose.        Notice I said "go" thru the fire to be made into useful.         If popcorn stays in the fire too long, it goes from delectable to detestable in just a matter of seconds.         Sometimes we take our eyes off the popcorn and it burns.         God will never take His eyes off us , He never leaves us in the fire to long and He always goes thru the fire with us.         We are never alone.          So, popcorn it is.

Next comes the decorations.          First, I think I would want a box of crayons.        They represent the big box of 64 that I had as a child.         I loved those crayons and the many hours of pleasure they brought me.         They also represent the fact that it's ok to color outside the lines.         Our artistic skill, love and abilities come  from God, so I will embrace my artistic side with the crayons.        Next, I think there would be some big beautiful colorful buttons scattered about on my tree.          I have always loved buttons.        I learned to count with buttons.          I always loved to play with buttons while Mom was sewing.         Buttons are very useful.          They hold stuff together.         They can be plain and be useful.         They can be very ornate and still be just as useful.        So, a few buttons goes on my tree, just to make sure I stay buttoned up and together.           Next, I would want at least eight different cookie cutters hanging on my tree.           Six to represent the guys in our house; dad and five brothers. Then two to represent mom and me.          Cookies was always a special treat.         I would want them all to be different, because we are all different.         God made all His children different, so mine would have to be different too. 

Next I would want some glass ornaments.        Glass ornaments of all different shapes colors and sizes.    God made us in His image in all different shapes colors and sizes, but none the less, all still in His image.         The glass represents how fragile we are.       If not handled correctly, the ornaments shatter.     So do we, when we are not handled correctly.    

Next, I would have 38 small gold wedding rings hanging on my tree for all to see.         Those would be as a reminder of the all the Christmases my husband and I have spent together.         Representing all the good times and the bad, knowing that God was in the midst of it all.         With the hopes of adding many more as each year rolls around.        The circle also represents the un-ending love that God has for His children.         Yes, a few gold wedding bands it is.     

Next, I would want a few beautifully decorated acorns.          Those remind me of times when my husband and I have gone on acorn hunts and found some really big acorns.        I bake them in a low temp oven (to kill any insects or eggs that may be in them) for a couple hours, and turn the oven off, leave them over night and the next day they are ready to decorate.         From a small acorn comes the mighty oak.         They grow tall above ground.         Below ground, where we can't see, they put down really deep roots!           So, I want to represent Jesus Christ well when you see me, but I also want to know that I am firmly rooted in Christ.        The roots are very important when the storms of life come thru, they determine whether you survive it.        Everything above ground can be damaged, but as long as the root system is ok, the tree can come out of it.        I may be shaken, but if I'm rooted in Christ, I can survive any storm.

Next, I think I would like to have some trumpets on my Christmas Tree.         I have a few now, and when I do decorate, I love using them.        I love the sound of the trumpet.       Of course, I couldn't make a sound come out of one if my life depended on it.        But, I do enjoy the sound of them.       And I do keep my ear pealed, listening for the great trumpet blast that will take place when Jesus comes again.         So, yes I will have a few trumpets.           Next, I would have to have one small broken ornament on my tree.          Why that, you ask?           I  f we are honest with ourselves and with God, we are all broken, in some way.           That's what sin does, it causes brokenness, and "we" can't fix it.     God can and does when we come to Him with our sin.          So, that one small broken ornament would be a reminder to me, that although it is broken, it is still loved and useful.         God can use each and every one of us, even with our brokenness, to His benefit and glory.

Next, y'all know I love me some purple!           If you don't, it's not because I haven't told ya!  hahaha     Yeah, I think I would have some purple scraps of fabric on my Christmas Tree.         Why just scraps of fabric?         I am reminded of Lydia.        The lady from the Bible.          She was a seller of purple cloth and she also loved the Lord.          Purple is a symbol of royalty.          Since I am a daughter of the Most High God, I think just a few purple scraps would do me well on my tree.         Next, I think I would have to have me some pearls on my tree.         Pearl is my birthstone and fittingly so.          Pearls are the result of an irritation that takes place in the oyster.          Think about how bad an ulcer hurts, that's about similar to the kind of irritation that produces a pearl.         The Bible speaks of pearls as having great value.         The gates of Heaven will be made from pearls.        Each gate will be made from one large pearl.          That's one large source of irritation for each pearl!!!          One of my very dear friends and I have special names for each other.         She is Pearl Love, because she is the epitome of Love, Gods love!!!!          I am Pearl Joy.         My Joy comes from the Lord.          There is also scripture that says not to cast your pearls before swine.          So, pearls it is.  (Pearl Love, you are loved and missed by Pearl Joy every day)

Next I would have to have to have a ladybug on my tree.         The red one, that is.         Who doesn't love a ladybug.          Scientists done an experiment on ladybugs a few years ago and found out they are possibly the strongest creature on earth.          They can pick up over 600 times their own body weight with those little suction feet of theirs.         Pretty amazing, huh!         They are very strong little buggers.          The ladybug would represent my mom, one of the strongest people I have ever known.    That's what I call my mom sometimes too.          Next, I would have to have a little sweet pea flower on my Christmas Tree.          They are a small, dainty flower; everything that I ain't!      hahaha        The wild ones found in nature are usually purple, woohoo.          They do smell good.     They are considered to be a good gift.          They represent "good fortune", so I say that my good fortune can be found only in what Jesus Christ has done for me.         This is what my mom calls me sometimes too.        So, sweet pea it is.

Next, I love to have candy canes shaped like a shepherds staff.        The shepherds staff reminds me that the shepherd looks after his sheep.         Shepherds were the lowest of the low, but God chose them to announce His plans to that night in the fields while watching their sheep.        Wow, talk about a chosen group of men that night!          The shepherds staff was a useful tool to.         Sometimes he has to use his staff to get one of the sheep that may have fallen in a crevice or something like that.      He would also use his staff to fight off any wolves or other animal that tried to get to the sheep.       He can just reach out and pull a sheep back to where it belongs.         But the shepherd always has his sheep's best interest at heart.          The sheep knows the shepherds voice, the shepherd knows the voice of his sheep.         So it is with Christ as our Shepherd, He always has our best interests at heart.     

Next, I think I would need a few heart shaped ornaments on my tree.       The heart represents great love.         We see the heart of Christ form the beginning to end of the Bible.         We also have learned to love, because Christ loved us first.         Sometimes it is hard for us to love as Christ loves.       But He has taught us to love others, even our enemies.          So, I will have a few hearts on my tree as a reminder to love others.  

When I get it all decorated with all the different ornaments and items I want on my tree, there's just a couple of things left.         I would take a few hands full of glitter and toss it on my tree.         Why glitter?         It sparkles, it shines, and it shimmers!!!!        It makes you smile when you see it.        If you get close enough to someones glitter, you get it on you.         It's a reminder that you was with that person and enjoyed time spent with them.           I can just imagine how the streets of gold are gonna glimmer, sparkle and shimmer.       So glitter, it is.

Last but not least, by any means is the tree topper.         My tree topper would be a Cross.         The symbol of what Christ has done for me and who I am in Him.         It would not have to be the finest Cross ever made.           I'll gladly take a rough cut, precariously nailed cross for my tree topper.       The Cross was not ever meant to be a thing of beauty.            The only way the Cross becomes a symbol of beauty is when it represents the transformation that has taken place in my life as a result of the finished work of Christ on the cross.        If you see someone wearing a cross, ask them what it means to them.     See if it means the same thing to them that it means to you.        If not, share with them what the cross represents to you.        So, a Cross it is for my topper.

There you have it.         A Cedar Tree, colored lights, popcorn, crayons, buttons, cookie cutters, glass ornaments, acorns, gold wedding rings, small broken ornament, trumpets, purple fabric scraps, pearls, a lady bug, a sweet pea flower, shepherd staff, candy canes, hearts, glitter and a cross.        These are the things that would make up my Christmas Tree to describe who I am.

What would you use to describe who you are?          Think about it.         When I got done putting everything down to describe my tree, then it all came into focus and this is exactly what I had seen in my mind.        I do have to say that I am quite pleased with my Christmas Tree.        I hope you will do the same thing this Christmas season and share your Christmas Tree with those around you.

there you have it.        what would your tree look like?       I hope if your read this, that you could visualize my tree.         I can see it clearly in my mind ever time I read this.          if nothing else, I hope this helps you look at what Christ has done for us.          I'm so thankful foor His birth, the life He lived and for His death which changed the lives and eternal destination of those who love Him.

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I think I'll leave it at this today.          I hope that you have fond memories of Christmas past.      I hope you keep Christ first and foremost in your celebrating of the Christmas season this year.          share the Christmas story from the bible with your family and friends this year.        I hope my Christmas tree will inspire you put a lot of things into perspective.  

blessings of love, peace and joy be yours all throught the season, patty

2 batches of bread = Done and Breakfast made easy

good morning y'all.        it's another pretty dreary day here in my neck of the woods, but that's ok, because there's always stuff to be done inside.       yesterday, my goal was to get at least 2 batches of bread done and I did!!!       so, yay me!!!        I got the 2 main batches done that require the use of the bread machine and that was my main intention.         I didn't get the cornbread wedges made with my lodge wedge pan.        it just didn't happen and that's ok.       I aim high sometimes, but it's always good to have a goal.        I could have gotten them done, but I have learned to put myself on my list too.      so when I realized I was beat, I said the wedges can wait and I rested.       yes I did and I'm not one bit ashamed to say that.      I got a good nights rest last night, better than I've had in a while and I believe that's partly because I didn't put myself over the edge.     

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I just now took another bag of dehydrated cranberries off of my dehydrator, and a container of cherry tomatoes.           that's how easy it is to start building a stash of dehydrated goods.          just adding to jars a little bit at a time will quickly add up.          I have 3 more bags of cranberries to get dehydrated, so I'll probably work on getting those cut up today too.       I'd really like to get them done and outta the way.         we'll see what I get done.

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so yesterday was my bread baking day using my bread machine.        I made a batch of my cornbread swirls and a batch of rolls/buns from a basic bread recipe.        I always add whole wheat flour, wheat germ and a little vital wheat gluten to rolls/buns.         we love bread, what can I say.         I'll also make a batch cornbread wedges in lodge wedge pan.     (this didn't happen, but who knows what today brings.)         so I'll have a little bit of bread on hand for about a week.          I store all my bread in the fridge and when we're ready for it, I'll pop it in the counter top oven and heat it while I'm fixing everything else and it's as good as fresh!!!         storing it in the fridge, I never have any bread that goes bad.   

I took pics as my breads got done.       one of these days, I'll try to remember to take pics along each step of the way.         but I just forgot to take pictures until after they were done.  

   

yummy!!!!!           this was 17 or 18 cornbread swirls from my batch that I made up in the bread machine.          it sure makes easy work of a "hard for me" task.        I'm so thankful that I have it and I sure do use it.          it's a Cuisinart brand, if anyone is interested.

these are so good with the corn chowder that I make, I make these on a weekly basis.         I'm still tweaking my cornbread swirls recipe, trying to get it to perfection.         these done better this time than they have in a long time, so I hope maybe I'm getting them to be a little more consistent.          I'm almost thinking that the ap flour I've been using is not as good as some that I've used in the past.        that's the only thing that changes and when I use a certain brand, they don't do as well.       but these done better, so I'm hopeful.        we just love them.         I may have already shared my recipe on here somewhere.       if I have, you should be able to find it with the labels that I use to tell what ever I have talked about in the blog posts at the end of the blog.

this is the second batch that I made in my bread machine.         this a just a simple recipe for a loaf made in the bread pan of the machine.         we liked the bread well enough that I just make rolls/buns from it and they turn out delicious.           I recently got the red silicone pans that you see.        there is only 1 in the picture, but I got 2 from amazon.        each bun measures 4 inches across.

so I get the dough made up and take it from the bread pan and put it on my scales and weigh the dough in grams and then I portion it out in 16 to 18 equal size balls in grams.        this particular batch made 12 buns and 4 rolls.          I usually just make the dough balls round and then flatten them with the palm of my hand.          but with these pans, I put a dough ball in and flattened it out as good as I could and then let them rise till they doubled in size and then baked them.          as you can see, they are really uniform in circumference.

don't they look pretty nice?             I was really happy with the outcome.           when the bread is done, just let them cool in the  pans for a few minutes and then I just turn them over on the clean stove top and they fall right out.          if they don't fall out, they are easy to push right out of the pans.  

in this picture, there are 2 rolls on top of each rack of buns cooling.           I plan on the buns being for breakfast for my husband.

so after a little bit, I'll get in the kitchen and bring out those red pans again and start working on my "breakfast made easy" for my husband.          my husband eats an egg, cheese and sausage on a homemade bun every morning.       he loves it, so that's what he gets.        so I plan on making both of these full with the eggs, cheese and sausage cooked together.         I've already done an experiment and he had one yesterday morning and this morning and it's a 2 thumbs up from him.           so I'll get several of the eggs, cheese and sausage patties made up and pop them in the freezer, 2 at a time and then it will be easy to pull 2 out.         one for one breakfast and then one for the next morning.           it will also be good to have them on hand for a quick lunch too.        

anyway, that's what I've done and also what I hope to do.          I'll try to remember to take pictures of the finished product and share.        

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let's do a little bit of story time.         

I just took a sack of garbage out to the dumpster behind out garage.     when I came back up on the deck, I seen the inside door had eased itself shut.        when that happens, if you just grab the stormdoor handle and open it, that will form a suction and shut the inside door.         if one has regular doors with regular locks, that's ok.        but it's not ok if you have set the regular lock set to actually lock when the door shuts.         that's what I had happen previously on the incident I'm about to share with y'all.        this happened about 13 or 14 years ago.

I had been cleaning house all day, at least ever since my husband had left for work that afternoon.        it was in the summer and it was hot and I was sweaty and stinky and soooooo looking forward to getting in the shower and getting all the dust and grime and itchies showered off me and getting my head of hair washed too.        understand this, I was a fright of a sight!!!!!!         I was!!!!!!!        I had put on the cruddiest clothes I had because I was gonna be doing a cruddie job, so I wasn't looking to win any best dressed prizes.          my hair had not been combed or brushed since I started the job, just pushed up and clipped.      on top of all of that, I smelled a little bit foul.      hahaha    work and sweat equals foul, and I had even used deodorant.      hahaha

well, I was wrapping up the cleaning and I had said to myself, just take the garbage out and then a shower!!!        I was 2 minutes away from a lovely, hot, awesome smelling shower.        I picked up the bag of garbage and bounded down the steps and ran to garbage can just like someone anticipating a wonderful hot sweet smelling shower.         dropped the garbage bag in the dumpster and ran back to the deck and I ran upon the deck like a 10 year old waiting for a present.         I grabbed the storm door handle and pulled and at the same time, I heard this thud of the interior door pulling too!!!!!!         it was previously set so that when it shuts, it automatically locks and to get in, you need a key.        you know where my keys were, NOT in my pocket, but in my purse, inside.       yup, that's right. 

panic quickly set in.         I didn't know what to do.         finally I prayed about it and I got calm and I thought, well when I was inside just now, it was almost 6pm.           by this time, it was a little past 6pm.         so I sat down in the deck chair and just started thinking and looking around.        I thought my husband gets off work at 11pm, he'll be home in 15 to 20 minutes, so I can set here for 4 and a half hours.         I can do this.      

I started focusing on the back yard and looking at all the trees and suddenly, there was 3 or 4 rabbits playing.         ok, I can sit here and watch rabbits playing all night.          I can do this.         next thing I know, just like it would have been in the Garden of Eden, 2 little deer came out of the woods and was playing with rabbits.         they was hopping and playing and I was smiling and thinking to myself, I can do this.      

all of the sudden, something scared the deer and the rabbits and they scurried back into the woods and I was still thinking, I can do this, I got this.          all of the sudden the evening and night time insects got really bad and I was swatting and knocking at them and I was still thinking, I can do this.

well, my area is noted for bats.         not only was I swatting and knocking at insects, I was now ducking and dodging bats!!!!          a bat swoops down from the left and then another one swoops down from the right, all within a foot and a half of my head!!!!!         then 2 turns into 4 and quickly there was 8 or 10 and I thought to myself, oh heck no, I can't do this!!!!          hahaha

what I haven't told you up until this time is that my neighbor was deaf.         she could sign, and I could sign enough to ask for paper and pencil to write on.         but........she couldn't hear someone knocking on the door and they didn't have anything that would let her know someone was at the door.       she did have a dog and took it out frequently.         so I had to start stalking her and when she took the dog out, then I got her attention without startling her too bad.       I'm sure my appearance was more frightening than anything.       

I asked if she had some paper and a pen and she got some.         I told her I had locked myself out of the house and I couldn't get back in and the bats are swarming and wondered if I could come inside.      she was very warm and welcoming and always was.     she very kind and sweet.       her sister worked at the local hospital.         she said she would call her and have her take me to where my husband worked at the time and get the house key for me.       so, her sister came and picked us both up and we went to where my husband worked.         I told her sister that there was no way I could go in there looking and smelling like this and we all laughed.        so the sister said she would go for me.          so  she went to the breakroom and told someone who she was looking for and asked if they could get him, that it was an emergency.           so he came to the breakroom and she relayed to him what had happened and he gave her his house key and then we was on the way home.  

I thanked them both profusely and she went back to work and I walked on over to my house and got in.  it was about 7:30pm by now.         I got in the shower and got all the stink and funk washed off me.     it wasn't too long before the clock rolled around and my husband was home and he got his shower and we was off to bed after a good laugh at the events of the evening.

the very next morning we went to lowes and looked at locks.       we got a new door handle with a keypad on it and it automatically locks by itself after about 10 or 15 seconds.      but.........it's easy to open with the keypad.         as long as my memory stays pretty good, I'll be ok, hopefully.        

the worst thing about it, is that it has a deadbolt on it.       we are in the habit of using the deadbolt.      the problem comes in if one of us forgets that the other one is outside and we deadbolt the door.        so we are always trying to make sure that one of us doesn't lock the other one out.         hubby is the one that locked me out and I had to wait for him to get out of the shower to let me in.         hahaha  

so, now you know the story.        just beware of doors and locks.        oh yeah, and stash an extra key somewhere    hahahaha

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well, I think I will call it a wrap for today.          I hope you all have a wonderful day.        don't forget to thank God for allowing you to be a part of His creation.         also thank Him for the shed blood of His son, Jesus Christ which allows us to be in right relationship with Him if you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior.         blessing, hugs and love to you all, patty

Cran-Orange Dehydrating = Done,

good morning beautiful ones.         it's a little bit of a dreary day here in my neck of the woods.         it's a perfect day for making bread.        and that's whats on my agenda today.          a batch of rolls and buns and a batch of cornbread swirls.         I have all my dry goods mixed and waiting for me to get started.   it won't be long till it will smell wonderful up in here.

I'll tell you a little funny story before I let you all get started on your day.         fridays is my day to go krogering.         I'll get up early and get back home early.        so I was up and ready to leave, went to the garage and the garage door wouldn't open.        I tried latching the cord hanging down, but it's so tall and I'm so short that it was a no go.         so I just came back in and got out of my street clothes and back in my comfy clothes.       when hubby got up and came thru, he asked me if I didn't feel well this morning, if that's the reason I didn't go krogering.        I told him I felt fine, I just couldn't get the door open and his eyes got really big.       "REALLY???", he said.       then, all the sudden, the light bulb off and he knew why.          he had been working on the garage door last evening and forgot to reset it where it would open when you hit the button as the side of the entrance to the garage.       he was so apologetic for that.         I told him not to worry about it, because I had already thanked God for sparing me from what ever could have and would have happened this morning had the garage door opened.       maybe nothing would have happened, but I really wasn't looking forward to the trip, but had the garage door opened, I would have went.        while it's kinda funny, it's also a praise item for me.        there really wasn't anything that I needed.        I've talked about how I try to stay stocked, and this is just one more reason why.       you never know when the garage door just might not open.        hahaha        yes, I laugh about it, but I also thank God for what He spared me from this morning.         praise Him!!!!!

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let's do a "2 minutes in the kitchen with me".    

ok y'all, so yesterday I think I talked a little bit about what was on my dehydrators.          this is the 4 trays that was in one of my dehydrators.        the smaller of the 2.          it had one tray of oranges and 3 trays of cranberries making one 12 oz bag.         splitting the cranberries takes a lot of time up front, but it's so much nicer in the end.        and I slice my oranges a little less than 1/8 of an inch.    

the oranges close up.       these were actually kinda small, but they are so good.

a good closeup of the cranberries.     that really makes me happy to see them.      I love those colors!!!

I added about an inch and a half to the cranberry jar.       I hope to get it full with the other four bags.

I also finished filling 2 of these jars with all the orange slices and then filled another 2 jars with what I took off the dehydrator.        I have 6 or 7 jars of oranges now. 

this is what my cran-orange powder looks like.         it has a little bit of monkfruit sweetener in it.         this was before I sifted it and put the large pieces back in to be ground up more.

I think I had mentioned my breakfast inn yesterdays post.          this is what my jars look like and you can actually see that 2 of the front jars have some of my cran-orange powder in them.        I love it so much that I put it in all of my jars the last time I made them up.           when I get one for breakfast, I'll put a tablespoon of coconut milk in it and stir it real good and it makes it so wonderful.

I hope you enjoyed seeing how I do my cranberries and oranges.        it's a great way for me to get more fruit in my diet each day.          I hope you will consider something like this.     

I have another bag of cranberries to take from the dehydrator sometime today.       yesterday I was getting ready to cut  my cranberries and I wasn't particularly looking forward to it.       so I'll share my new "how to" for cutting cranberries.       I always stand by the sink and it just kills my back.         I said ok Lord, show me what I can do.         I already had my cranberries in my collander, washed and ready to start cutting.        I got one of my largest mixing bowls and put my collander in it and got my favorite paring knfe and plopped myself in the recliner closest to the kitchen door from the living room and poppeed the foot rest out and started cutting those cranberries in half and it didn't take but about 10 minutes at best.      standing by the sink at kitchen counter, it takes me 35 or 40 minutes at least.       because I'm always stretching my back or doing sommething to keep my back from hurting.        I'm just so thankful that I finally figured something out.       so I just had to thank the Lord for helping me come up with a way to do a simpe task and it not hurt my back.       I look forward to the next 3 bags of cranberries.

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this one is short and sweet this morning.         if I remember to, I'll share pictures of my bread when I get it all done.         blessings, hugs and love to you all, patty