Dehydrated Projects from 2022

Good afternoon my friends!!! I hope that you all are having a most glorious day, Happy Easter!!!!! The tomb is empty this morning and Christ has Risen indeed!!!!!!! That is some of the best news this world has ever gotten!!! The world we live in is filled with evil and we all know it. Our only hope is the Hope that we have in Christ. Scripture tells us just how evil and wicked this world will get and it's gotten there pretty quickly. But scripture also tells us that Christ has overcome the world!!! So if you know Christ as you perconal Lord and Savior, you are an overcomer through Him. Praise His Holy Name!!!!! Again, Happy Easter!!!!! Thank God today for this blessing!!!

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I have compiled several of my dehydrating projects and am sharing them here, all in one long post. Well, a lot of them anyway. It may not be all, because I've done an awful lot of dehydrating and taken many many pictures. Probably way to many, but now you get to see some of them. hahahaha also when I was putting up the pictures, a lot of them got in the wrong order, but I know y'all can figure them out. I am really sorry about that, I tried to fix, but the more I tried, the worse it got, so I just left them alone. again, I'm sorry about that.

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Since I had some produce to put on the dehydrator, I thought I would share how I do it for us. There is 6 serrano peppers on the left side of my dehydrator tray. I split each one down the middle and then split them in half, making 4 pieces. I know when I reach for my serrano pepper jar that 4 pieces make 1 pepper. when I do my shishito peppers, I will just split them down the middle and that's it. 2 pieces will make 1 pepper. They are usually smaller and shorter than my serranos. When I do my fresno peppers, I'll split them down the middle and then split each half down the middle again. They don't get as long as the serranos, but they do get fatter. Again, 4 pieces will equal 1 pepper. It's just an easy way for me to know, without really having to think about it, how many pieces I need when I'm going to be using them. If I can work out a system like this for any of my dehydrated goods, I do. It makes it easier to use. It makes it easier to powder. I can have a good visual of how much 4 pieces of my pepper will make when powdered. Just work on your own system of use and write on your jars any calculations you come up with. Sometimes, my jars look like math projects that went awry. hahaha Just a word of caution, when working with HOT peppers, do wear a glove on the hand handling the cut peppers. If you don't, you will wish you had. hahaha Especially if you rub your eye a week later. hahahaha



This is what I took off my dehydrator, just before laundry took over the house. (Clean clothes are over-rated, but necessary once in a while and my dehydrator lives on my washer. hahaha) The tomato is in a 10 oz jar. It was a big fist sized tomato and I had to cut a couple spots out of it. It dehydrated down to about 2 1/2 or 3 tablespoons, diced. The mixed veggies was a can of Allens 6.6 lb of mixed veggies. Once I poured the liquid off and rinsed, there was 4.6 lbs left. Once dehydrated they weigh in at 0.05.8 lbs. They are in a 16 oz vlasic pickle jar and it's not full at all. I just thought this would be a good visual. About the Allen's mixed veg, my Momma got them and asked me if I would want to dehydrate them. I had never gotten a BIG can like this. From my experience with them, I personally, would not recommend them. The picture shows more color than they have in real life. Everything is in shades of dark green and grays in real life. They are not appetizing or appealing at all. But, this is just my experience. I dehydrated @ 120* for 38 hours. They were ready to be taken off last night when I went to bed. I didn't feel like getting them off and it was easier to just let it run and it assured me that everything was 100% dry. Now, they are conditioning. I don't think I'm gonna give these to my Momma. I want everything I give to her to be perfect, and these are far from it. But it is a good visual as to how thinks shrink and that is to be expected. So, I cry for the rest of the day till my washer is unused.





We went to an amish store on Wednesday and I got a couple boxes of frozen rhubarb. 3 lbs worth. I get it at least once a year. Since it's frozen, I let it thaw in the fridge a couple days and then pressed as much liquid from it as possible. I wish I had taken a pic of the before, but just didn't think about it. 3 lbs went down to 3 oz. But it makes a wonderful powder to use in just about anything. Then I had some mandarins in the fridge that needed to be used. I had already peeled about a lb and a half so I finished filling my dehydrator with them on the top rack. I didn't weigh them before or after. I put some back on just now, because they weren't completely dry in the center. These will be turned into powder and put into something "chocolate" for my hubby. Some of the mandarins are darker than others because of the sugar content in them. Some were sweeter than others. I done these at the same time on 125* and set the machine for 48 hours and forgot about it. When the other mandarins get done, that jar will be full.






more dehydrating projects. BOTTOM pic: jar 1 has mixed veggies from where I cleaned out some of my boxes that I keep prepped veg in. Jar 2 has 3 sliced yellow squash. Jar 3 has green onion blades from my freebie roots that I planted from a batch of green onions. Trying to fill that jar. Jar 4 has 2 zucchini. TOP pic: jar 1 has pea hulls. I'll have more to put in that this afternoon, when I pick peas. Once dehydrated, I'll grind the pea hulls and add it to green powder. Jar 2 has cherry tomatoes. Before I get more at the store, I'll dehydrate what I already have, so nothing goes to waste. Good snacking. Jar 3 is leek greens from the roots of some leeks I purchased and planted the roots. Trying to get that little jar filled too. Sticking to my motto "something is better than nothing". do a little and it adds up. (pictures got mixed up when I uploaded them)






building my stash from unused veggies I prepped earlier in the week. plus, some zucchini and yellow squash for the purpose of dehydrating. I don't do anything on large scale. I mostly salvage what I have in the fridge on a weekly basis. but, it all adds up. "something is better than nothing". pic 1: each jar of squash has 6 in them. I want to get some more dehydrated. maybe mine will kick in and start giving me some to dehydrate. the jar of pepper strips was started last month. and it's just about full. pic 2: that small jar is of my serrano peppers. I split them length ways and then cut them in half, making 4 pieces per pepper. I know it takes 4 pieces to = 1 pepper. the next jar is tomatoes, I filled it up with what I took off this morning and the last jar is mixed veg. I added about a half inch of diced celery. all these little kibbles and bits add up to meals in the future. yay!!







russet potatoes for dehydrating: peeled and sliced in 1/2 inch slabs, then made 1/2 inch sticks and then made 1/2 inch dice (not all are the same length, some a little longer but if thickness of slices and width of sticks are good, the length can be a little off). put in bowl of cold water as I was peeling slicing and dicing. drained water 3 times and refilled with cold water each time. total rinse time was about 45 mins. while rinsing got my boiling pot ready and put potatoes in, let it come back to full rolling boil, started timer set at 5 mins. immediately lifted from boiling pot and put in bowl with ice water. let sit till most of ice is melted. pour off that water and put more cold water over and let potatoes cool completely. I gently stirred them in my strainer so the cold water would reach them all. drain well and put on dehydrator and don't worry about time. I dehydrated at 120F till they were rock hard. plenty of rinsing before blanching washed off a ton of starch. each time the water was almost cream colored just from the starch being washed off. I am thoroughly convinced that plenty of rinsing and blanching for the right amt of time, especially with the starchier potatoes will prevent blackened potato slices. I have another batch of potatoes to get done and I will do them the same exact way. I also cut off any noticeable black spots on the potatoes as I'm peeling them. I think that helps with some of the discoloration too. hope this helps anyone that's having issues.










I was working on some lunch prep just a few minutes ago and while I was, my mind is always pre-occupied with what I'm going to dehydrate next. I was splitting some cherry tomatoes in half. and as I was thinking about what I was doing, I got my phone and a took a pic. when I slice cherry tomatoes, sometimes I'm not paying attention and just want to get the job done. but over the last couple of years I have figured out how to slice them for them to dehydrate a little quicker. notice the picture. #1 is the tomato and you see the stem end. #2 is the tomato sliced from the stem end to the bloom end, north to south. #3 is the tomato sliced around the circumference of the tomato, east to west. #3, east to west will dehydrate quicker because all the moisture and seeds in the tomato is exposed. #2 will take FOREVER because all the moisture and seeds are still enclosed in the meat of the tomato. the purpose of my slicing them this morning was insignificant, but if I was slicing them to put on my dehydrator it would be very significant. slicing them east to west, the seeds are always exposed. my main problem is that I have a hard time remembering this until I have a tray or 2 already full!!





stocking my stash: 3 jars of recently dehydrated produce. onions, bell peppers and potatoes. I also took a pic down in the tops of the jars. the onions and bell peppers are absolutely divine to smell. I can eat them straight from the jars. hahaha the bell peppers are quickly becoming a favorite chip. will be using the onions and bell peppers as a crunch factor on salads. anyone that could come up with a kitchen deodorizer spray that smells like these could make a fortune!! hahaha onions and bell peppers are crispy like a cracker or chip and the potatoes are hammer hard. hahaha I hope to get onion jar full and then get 2 more jars the same size filled with bell peppers and potatoes. this is the finishedd dehydrated potatoes from earlier up in the blog post, they are done now. yay!!















this jar is of zucchini and I weighed some before I dehydrated it and dried it separately so when it was all dehydrated, I would know what it should weigh when I ehydrate it to put in zucchini bread. that's what you see on the jar. 11 grams of dehydrated is equivalent to 2 cups rehydrated. so when I rehydrate it, it should weigh 344 grams for the recipe I like to use this in. this is a good way for you to know what the amount for a recipe should weigh. weigh it before dehydrated and then weigh it after and then you'll know what the rehydrated weight should be.



I finally got my Micro Mini Marshmallows off the dehydrator after 48 hours at 125F. that is my preferred time for most things. I had to keep my spiced pumpkin marshmallows on there until the morning at least. you can't rush the process. time is the one thing that most instructions get wrong and it causes a lot of frustration with people that are new to dehydrating. and people telling their times can also cause frustration. so I always say "set your machine to the highest time setting and leave it alone". if it's dry before the time runs out, then YAY. if not, add more time. when you have to deal with a lot of humidity, that adds a lot of time. when I was testing these to see if they were dry enough, my husband was my tester. he really likes the pumpkin spice ones and he kept saying "I need another one, I just don't know, I really need another one". marshmallow thief!!! I'm down about a quarter of bag when I realized he just wanted to eat my marshmallows even if they weren't crispy. he better be glad Santa has already been around, he would gotten a rock in stocking for such a mean trick.










got another batch of my cornbread swirls made with MORE of my dehydrated and ground up veggies in them. these are so stinkin' good. this jar of ground up goodness come about from having bits and pieces and scraps and dabs left in jars. I couldn't just toss out my hard work, so I emptied about 19 or 20 jars that had the scarps into my nurtibullet and let the good times roll. it smells wonderful and I think I have my new favorite way to make my cornbread swirls. I think the recipe for these swirls are in a post that I made within the last couple of weeks. anyway, just wanted to share that I put MORE (3 heaping tablespoons) of this goodness in this batch and they are the "business".
this is my recipe: I use my bread machine to mix. this is a YEAST bread, so it has to have the rise time. I mix it in my bread machine over the course of an hour and a half. if you use a bread machine, put ingredients in as your brand recommends. otherwise, mix and let rise and mix more and let rise and mix more over the course of an hour and a half.
Cornbread Swirls
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 box jiffy corn muffin mix or a mix of your own
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp yeast
1 tablespoon real butter
mix in bread machine or by hand till dough ball is well incorporated and holds together.
spread a little cornmeal on your work surface and flatten with rolling pin till about 10" by 18". brush top of bread with a tablespoon of melted butter. use a skewer or dowel rod as a straight edge and pizza cutter to cut strips , try to get at least 17 or 18 strips. lightly roll each strip to form a swirl. put on parchment lined baking sheet and let rise for about an hour and bake at 350* till browned the way you like. these are delicious!! I also sometimes make twisted sticks instead of the swirls.
(I also add in 2 tablespoons of vital wheat gluten. you don't have to have use it, I just do. also 2 tablespoons of sugar and a pinch of salt, especially if you are adding in dehydrated produce like I did.)
ATTENTION**************adding the veggies to this mix will make it very sticky. I have hand and arm issues, so I have to use a bread machine to do the mixing of all my doughs and I watch it closely. I had to add a little more flour to this particular batch, because I added 3 heaping tablespoons of my mixed veggies. just add flour 1 tablespoon at a time. if you add too much flour, just add a few drops of milk or water at a time.










cornbread swirls made with 3 heaping tablespoons of what's in the jar, my Master Mix, to cornbread swirls and they are delicious and will be wonderful with soup. you can taste the veggies and they smell so good.
just wanted to share a different way to use our dehydrated goods. this is my master mix of all the veggies on the side of the jar and this is what I put in my bread. all dehydrated and ground up for this purpose. sorry about deleting the picture.










I'm done with marshmallows. just plain marshmallowed out!! the pumpkin spice ones gave me fits, but they did NOT win. I can now make pumpkin spice powder. I think it will be good on sweet potatoes. gonna find out, for sure. anyway, just thought I'd share. blessings on all.



so, I just wanted to share an experiment with y'all. my husband had mentioned "banana pudding". well, I got to thinking about that. I knew I didn't have any bananas, or did I? no fresh bananas, but I did have some dehydrated bananas. challenge on. how do you make a banana pudding with dehydrated bananas? I set out to find out how to do it my way. I had a box of mini vanilla wafers, 4 vanilla pudding cups and a box of cool whip. I got my jar of dehydrated bananas and got about 25 or 30 slices of dehydrated bananas and broke them up in bowl and poured boiling water over them and let them set for a while, then added a little more water. I wanted them to have a little extra liquid so they would thin the pudding down some. I popped them in the fridge to cool them down. I then mixed the pudding cups with rehydrated bananas and then added some cool whip, next I added in the vanilla wafers. got it all mixed up and put it in the bowl, put the rest of the cool whip on top and crumbled a few of the vanilla wafers on top. let me just say this. No, it's not a banana pudding made from scratch, but it is VERY good. no more of the banana slices than I used, it is very banana tasting. it's good and it won't be the last time I make this. I see more dehydrated bananas in the near future. I'm always thinking about ways to use my dehydrated goodies and I hope y'all are always thinking about how to use your goodies too. sometimes we have to think outside the box.










this is some leeks and green onions that I grew from the root balls of of some that I had purchased about a month ago. dehydrated the original leeks and green onions and have them in my stash. stuck the root balls in pots and let them grow. cut them tuesday and got them in the dehydrator on thursday. took them out this morning. my new motto is "something is better than nothing". this is a very little something, but it was free. I'm all over free. I'll see how many times I can cut from the root balls and dehydrate the cuttings. examine everything and see if you can get more than one use from it. do your own experiments about how to build your dehydrated stash. a lot of us look for sales and jump on them. when you're looking at fresh, try to figure if you can do the "cut and grow again" method. I grew carrot greens last year that I dehydrated and also a few beets greens. both from store bought carrots and beets and then I got to add the fresh greens that I grew to my "green stash". "something is better than nothing" and this is my something today. first pic is what I cut off, onions and leeks. second pic is dehydrated, leeks and onions.






I challenged myself to use as many of my dehydrated goods as I could in one dish. this is what I came up with. chicken corn chowder. I used carrots, yellow squash, white onions, mushrooms, sweet bell peppers and celery. I used about a half cup each and in a couple instances I just used what was in the jar. basically, 3 cups of dehydrated veggies. I covered that with 6 cups of homemade chicken bone broth and put in 24 oz of frozen corn, 1 pkg of ranch mix , 1 can of rotel and 2 cups of chicken that I had cooked and made the bone broth. it showed about 9 cups of everything all together. cooked it in my electric pressure cooker for about 40 minutes. once it was done, I added 1/3 of block of velveeta cheese and a whole block of cream cheese. we had it for lunch and my husband wanted to know what was different and that it was the best I had made of this particular dish. been making this for about 3 or 4 years. I told him it was full of my dehydrated veggies. it really is good. I challenge y'all to use what you have to make wonderful meals. I have a few pictures to show the progression from jars to bowl. be sure to click thru and see each picture. start to finish.






























comfort food, grits, made with this particular blend that I call my "master mix". it is made with just bits and pieces and scraps of jars that are still in their jars. I empty them all in the nurtibullet and blend away. there are no measurements to make this, just little bits and dabs. it has parsley, asparagus, parsnip, green onions, red onion, zucchini, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, turnip, cilantro, rutabaga, jerusalem artichoke, celery, yellow onion, fennel, carrots, okra, jalapeno. I put about 3 tablespoons of this particular mix in my grits and it truly is delicious.




this is some of the produce I've been working on here lately. the second picture has carrots, chinese 5 color peppers, yellow potatoes and lemon squash. the next pic with some jars in it are mix of hot and sweet peppers in the first jar, cherry tomatoes and shishito peppers in the other jars in that pic. it's good to have different ways of preserving our foods. dehydrating is my fav way.




























some of my goodies are dry!!! yay!!! the potatoes turned out very nice. 125* for 15 hours. this temp really does work well to maintain the color. you can actually burn some things if you set your dehydrator too high. the temp is one thing that I do watch closely. time is just a number, if it's not completely crispy dry, then time means nothing. you have to keep it going till it snaps when you break one, after it's come to room temp, and these do!! yay!! this will be enough to make what would be the equivalent of 5 store bought boxes of scalloped potatoes. I really hope to get the jar full. the ones I done yesterday are yellow potatoes. but they are translucent, almost like vellum (paper) and that's you want. now, I put them in the jar and keep them out for a week, shaking and checking the jar for any condensation, which there should be none. if you are dehydrating and notice any, then back to the dehydrator they go, because that sets the stage for mold. and, we don't want that. these will also be good to powder and make instant cup of potato soup. they also work good for a thickener in just about anything. you can break up the slices into chunks and toss a handfull in a batch of veg beef soup. you can rehydrate them and make skillet fried potatoes and onions. anything you can do with a fresh tater, you can do with these. I plan on making some shredded potatoes too, for the shredded hash browns and stuff like that. the first pic, tall jar is a gallon sized pickled okra jar. (don't judge me, I like pickled okra
hahaha) that was approximately 4 lbs of potatoes. the second pic is a shot directly down the top of the jar, I do love looking at them. the third pic shows just how see thru they are. when I do some white potatoes, you will be able to see thru them better. so, I still have my carrots and onions on letting them finish up. the humidity will affect dry time, so it may take a while longer for those. anyway, just wanted to show y'all my "taters" and I do have more to share in a hot minute.


and just so ya know, I did get that potato jar filled up!!!!! it took LOTS of potatoes, but I done it!! hahahaha
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well, that's all I have for this time. I hope you enjoy all the dehydrating projects and are maybe inspired to do some dehydrating too. it's fun and I enjoy doing it. it sure beats letting your produce go to waste. it's also great to have a purpose for it and I use it all the time. I can't wait to start replenishing everything now that Spring time is here and the garden will soon be growing again.


I'm so happy you found your way here and I hope you come back real soon. remember that God made a way for us to be in right relationship with Him thru the shed blood of Jesus Christ. He loves us that much!!! He wants to be your Lord and Savior and I pray that you will admit that you are a sinner in need of forgiveness and accept Christ as your savior and repent of your sins and believe on Him. if you do that, He'll be the best friend you've ever had or ever will have. Jesus loves you and so do I. blessings, hugs and love, patty

Happy 2023 Y'all!!!!!

Good evening my dear friends.      I have been absent for a long time.       far too long, I might add.      I really have no excuse other than just not having a desire to post anything.      I'm hoping that with Spring being here, that I can find more to actually post about.      oh, there's been a lot going on, just not stuff that I really wanted share on my blog.      it almost seems like I've lost whatever I had that made me want to do this in the first place.        I used to do alot more crafting than I do now.       as a matter of fact, I do no crafting as of the moment.        oh, I have a desire to every once in a while, but that's as far as it gets.      these days I cook a LOT and that's what takes most of my time and I do enjoy cooking, so maybe I should start sharing more of those pictures and stories.      it seems like I may have already talked myself into sharing more of my cooking adventures.         I do bake a lot of bread too, so that may be something too.      anyway, I have missed coming on here and sharing, I just felt like I didn't have anything to share.       but maybe I do.  

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We've had some serious weather as of late here in my neck of the woods with hurricane force winds ripping thru here about 3 weeks ago and the neighbors pine trees fell on our little storage shed out back where the lawn mower and yard tools and the like were stored and flattened it.       we are so thankful that they didn't fall on the house and garage.      but we are very apprehensive about any upcoming weather now, simply because all the roots of those 80 foot tall trees have been damaged and will be easier to blow over now.       so, at any given moment, we have 5, 80 foot pine trees just waiting to fall on house.        let me tell ya, it's pretty terrifying.   especially after seeing all the news about all the other places that have been devastated.       there's a lot that I could say about this situation, but I'll hold my tongue.         We'll try to be patient and let the Lord fight for us.        He always does.        

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ok, so I have a picture here to share with y'all.        I cook a lot of dried beans.        probably 3 or 4 pounds a week.        we love dried beans and for all practical purposes, they're still a pretty cheap way to provide several good meals for us.       beans and cornbread!!!!!!       that's where it's at y'all!!!   hahaha         we really do love them.        I swap it up all the time too.        great northern, pinto, navy, red, black, kidney, you name it, I cook it.          I grew up watching my Momma fix beans everyday of the week for more years than I can remember.         I'll bet she has cooked at least 25 thousand pounds of beans in her 89 years on this planet.      and after doing the number real quick, that is a very close guestimation.        2 lbs of beans a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year for 30 years, and then all the beans she cooked after all her children was gone from the nest.       it would easily be 25 thousand pounds and then some!!!       and there's no telling how many of those thousands of lbs that I have seen her cook.        being in the kitchen with her, I learned a lot even when I didn't realize I was learning.        I never had to have anyone tell me to sort and wash beans, because that is what I seen my Momma do on a daily basis for many many years.   

when I got married, it was old hat to go to the kitchen and sort and wash beans.        I've washed and cooked quite a few beans myself in the 43+ years that we've been married and I still do it the same way every time.      I sort them, every bean is in my hand, every bean is seen by my eyes.        once sorted thru, then I wash them.         I run the water in the bowl and then I take a hand and go down in the bowl and handfull after handfull is squeezed thru my fingers.         when you're doing that, you can see the dirt and grime come off the beans and the water turns murky and dirty.        I drain the water off and run more over them and do the same thing at least 3 times.        and then they are ready for my electriic pressure cooker.         I dice a whole onion, put a 2.5 oz bag of bacon bits, some ham seasoning base that I get at the Amish store and I set the epc for 99 minutes and when the epc gets done, I release the lid and stir them well and put salt in them, to taste and they are done to perfection.           the picture below is what you can find when you sort and wash them.         some of these are insect eaten, some are rotten, some are floaters and the thing out front, by itself, is a rock as large as my pinky finger, not as long, but certainly as big around.        you know, we could deal with the rotten, bug eaten, floater beans.          but no one wants to get a mouth full of rock.        I have eaten other peoples beans and gotten grit and rock before.        that is not pleasant at all.      sometimes when I sort and wash, I don't have anything.    other times, it's like this and worse.        I have gotten 3 or 4 rocks before.         so, if you're not washing your dried beans, I hope this is encouragement for you to start washing them.   

well, I started this post a little late in the evening and I'm tired, so I'll get off here for the time being.       just know that if belong to the family of God that you are loved more than you could possibly ever know.    this Sunday is Resurrection Day.       we all have a lot to be thankful and grateful for.        the tomb was just borrowed for the weekend and it's empty.       Jesus just needed it for a few hours.       and now we have full access to the throne of God because Jesus opened heavens gates for us when He borrowed the tomb.        God provided a way for us to be in right relationship with Him thru the shed blood of Christ and the borrowed tomb.       that is something that we should not take lightly.      if you don't know Jesus, I pray that you will take the time to get to know Him.        He will be the best friend you've ever had.       don't let this night or this week pass by without Him in your life.       He can and will change your life if you'll let Him.       just know that God loved you that much and He wants to be in right relationship with you, but it all depends on you.       

good night dear loved ones.       till we meet again, may blessings of peace, joy, healing rest and sleep be yours tonight and every night.        God loves you and so do I.      hugs, patty

What If..........

                                                             What If..........

all the things you've worried about, never happened?

all the things you've worried about, do happen?

all the scars you've carried all your life were suddenly removed?

all the scars you've carried all your life were suddenly multiplied?

we can't  change anything?

we can change everything?

we spend our days in fear?

we spend our days in praise?

God doesn't answer our prayers?

God does answer our prayers?

praise really does change things?

praise shifts our perspective from fear and darkness to calmness and light?

we have nowhere to turn in our time of need?

we have Jesus and we know that He is enough?

there was no birth of our Savior?

there was no Cross in His future?

now is the best time to thank Jesus?

now is the ONLY time you'll have to thank Jesus?

what if................what if....................what if..................

These were some of the "what if's" that was like a swirling mass in my mind while I was preparing our meal today.         There was a few I left out, but you get the picture.         We/I spend so many of our/my hours thinking about the "what if's".            "What if" I forget all about those "what if's" and live life thinking "this is the day the Lord has made and I will be glad and rejoice in it."  

I'm so thankful that we have a Savior that made Himself known to the common, plain, ordinary people.  How much more common, plain, and ordinary can you get than sheep herders?          The multitude of angels appeared to them and heralded the birth of Christ.             The multitude of angels appeared to lowest of the low, because sherherds were the lowest of the low in that society.            What if............the angels had went to heads of state and made that great announcement?              Do you actually think we, the common, plain, ordinary, lowest of the low would have ever heard that we have Hope in Jesus Christ?          I can assuredly say, No, we would never have heard about the Good News of Jesus Christ had the angels made the announcement to the heads of state.              Good news though, we know that He came for us!!!          And we know that He knows about every one of our "what if's" and He loves us anyway.   

He knows about every one of your "what if's".              He knows about everyone of my "what if's", those mentioned and all those I purposefully left out.           So, as we continue to contemplate all the "what if's" that come to mind, let's quickly give them to Jesus.         Let's be quick to relinquish anything and everything that we can't do anything about.        Truly, that's most everything we think about.        As we do contemplate those things, I try to be ever vigilant to thank Him for all He's done for me.       "What if"....................He had not been born to be our Savior?       "What if"............He isn't fully God?         "What if"...........the Cross wasn't His destiny?         "What if"............the ressurection never happened?         "What if".............we have no one to help us.

The truth of the matter is this: He was born to be our Savior!!!         He is fully God!!!       The Cross was His destiny from the very beginning of eternity past!!!        The Cross wasn't the end because He is resurrected from the grave and He lives forever and forever!!!         Jesus Christ is our help!!!    

I hope and pray that sometime during this season that we celebrate the birth of our Savior, that we'll think about some of this stuff and that we'll take the time to thank Him for all He's done for us.    He changed the world.          He certainly changed my world.         He changed my world just recently by answering some prayers.          Not just in the way I wanted those prayers answered, because I had done submitted myself to whatever I was going to have to do.        But I poured out my heart and soul to Him, the only One that could make a difference.        He made a difference.        He heard those prayers.       I'm so thankful and grateful to Him for that.          I don't know what's waiting in the future, but He does, because He's already there making a way for those of us who know Him.         If you know Him, thank Him.          If you know Him, praise Him.          If you know Him, share Him.        If you don't know Him, why not?             There's no time like the present.             There's no better gift to give yourself than the Gift of Him, a Savior, Jesus Christ.     

This isn't much of a Christmas celebration, but I hope you can find Christmas in this.       "What if"....................salvation is a gift?             It is!!      It's bought and paid for by the One who's birth we are celebrating.          Merry Christmas!!!!       hugs, love and blessings, patty    (pjg 12-25-22)

Good Morning. New Recipe to share.

Good morning dear friends.       I hope and pray that this finds each and every one of y'all doing great.    I hope that your December is the best one yet.       I pray that in everything we all do, that we keep Christ first and foremost.      There is a lot stuff happening across this globe that we live on and I have to say that most of it is not worthy for Christians to be a part of.      I pray that we all take that into consideration.       We need to try to be the hands and feet of Christ at all times.      It is difficult to say the least with all that's going on.        This is the time to lean in closer than ever to Jesus.       It's also the time to keep your eyes to the eastern sky.       I do believe we'll see Him coming again in the clouds just any time and day.        I pray that we're all ready for that grand event.     

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I like to do what I call "2 minutes in the kitchen with me" from time to time.        That's what we're doing today.       I have been seeing people make a bread replacement from lentils.       Well, yesterday was the day I finally tried it.      I'll say right up front, that this is NOT for everyone.       But, on the other hand, I'll also say that if you happen to be someone that needs a bread alternative for what ever reason, then this is something you may need to try.        It is really simple.        It's basically 2 ingredients, lentils and water.         That's it.      For real, that's it.      So, lets get started.

The recipe I done was 1 cup of lentils and 2 cups of water.      As you can see, it's a one to two ratio.    This is my first batch and I was going to scale it down, but.................I forgot!!!       hahaha        Yeah, I simply forgot.      So, I would definitely recommend scaling it down the first time or two you try it.      Just so you won't have a lot of waste or a lot something that you're not crazy about.      

So, wash your lentils good in a fine mesh strainer.         Then put them in a container of some kind and then measure your water to go over them and let them sit for NO less that 4 hours, overnight would be optimum.       I let mine sit for about 5 hours.         At the time you're statring the blender process, plug in your griddle and get it up to temp.        If you do that, your first batch may look better than my first batch did.        My griddle is well over 20 years old, closer to 30 years old and I know it doesn't heat as well as it used too.        I may need to consider getting another one pretty soon.         Of course you can do these on the stove top in a skillet.         I just opted for the griddle because I can get more done at a time.

This is what they looked after about 5 hours.        You can see they soaked up a lot of water, like they're supposed to do.

                                                 

Next, dumped it all in the blender base.          You can clearly see how much water is left.

                                                                              

This is what it looked like after about 10 or 15 seconds of blitzing in the Nutribullet, in the pic below.        You want the thickness of pancake batter, maybe a touch thinner.                                                                                  

This is with 4 pretty good sized dollops on my griddle.        Do preheat your griddle or skillet.       Just like pancakes do, they will get the bubbles that pop.       Since this was my first batch, I didn't add any extra liquid to the mix, next time I will.  I would love for them to flow and level up on their own.       I had to take my spoon back and level them up as well as I could and I'm not happy with how unlevel they are.        I let them cook for 2 or 3 minutes, and then flipped them.                                                                              

As you can see, there is not hardly any color.          The next batch had better color.           It's very much like making pancakes on the griddle, the first ones are not as dark as I like.                                                                                   

But as you can see below, these have a nice color on them.      Plus, I made these a little smaller and I liked the looks of them much better.         These were my experimental batch anyway.                                                                                                                                                         

For the last batch, I actually put about a tablespoon more of water in them.         I also put about a tablespoon of nutritional yeast flakes for added flavor.         And, I also sprinkled some Cavendars Greek seasoning in them.         That made them very tasty.        And you can aslo see that the color on these are better too.         Not because of any seasoning, but the griddle was completely up to heat.      You can also tell that these are even smaller than the second batch.        This will probably be the size I make from now on.

                                                                                

As you can see, that batch made a LOT of lentil bread.          You can see the stack of the first ones I made and tore pieces from it.           Those were ok.         They were just too thick.       Kinda gummy and really beany tasting.        And that's ok, because that's what it is, lentil bread, so they should taste like beans, well lentils.         The second stack at the upper right of the plate was the second batch that I made smaller, they were better than the large ones.          Getting a good color on the outside definitely adds to the flavor of them.            Then the smaller ones scattered over the plate are the last ones that I done and they were really good.          My sweet hubby even said they were good.        So, that's a definite sign of approval.                                                                                

So my take away and some ideas about this is:   

1. They are worth the effort, because it's actually very little effort and very little expense.  

2.  I would definitely start out with 1/4 cup lentils and 1/2 cup water for my first batch, and that may be the way I do them from now on anyway.

3.  I will replace the water with some kind of stock to see how much that adds to the flavor.

4.  I will add onion and garlic powder and maybe some other spices as I go along.        I wouldn't get too crazy with adding a lot of stuff because we might want to keep this on the healthier, better for you side. 

5.  I will thin the batter down some in order to get the bread to flatten out better on it's own.      The thick places in them was rather unpleasant.

6.  I popped a couple of the smaller ones in the toaster oven and they crisped up a little more and they were so much better.       I'm pretty sure the large ones will crisp up in the toaster oven too.    I'm thinking they will reheat in the microwave to give a softer texture, maybe for a wrap or something.        They are very flexible and don't break like a lot wraps do.       If you try these in the microwave and they don't remain soft, just take out a serving of them and let them come to room temp.   Also, I don't think they  would be good for a wrap after being in the toaster or toaster oven though.    

7.  So for this experiment, I give it 2 thumbs up and so does my husband.

It seems like there was something else I wanted to add, but I don't remember what it was.        That's the story of my life.        hahaha        But, anyway, here we have it, the experiment and my thoughts on it.  

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I hope this is a help for someone who needs or could benefit from a bread replacement.        It was a good experiment.        When I make more, I will try to remember and share with y'all what I do.      It will be a fun, ongoing experiment.      

I guess I'll wrap this blog post up now.         I pray that each one of us will keep Christ first place in our lives and remember all He's done for us.        Remember too that Christmas isn't about going into debt, it's about the love of God for us, so much so that He gave us the ultimate gift, a Savior.        We have to acknowledge we are sinners and repent of our sins.     We have to accept Him as our Lord and Savior.    I hope if you haven't done that yet, today will be the day.       If we have accepted Christ as our Savior, God loves you!!!         So do I!!!!       blessings on all today and every day.     hugs and love, patty     

Resolution, "cut the garbage out"

Good morning beautiful friends.        I hope and pray that where ever y'all are on this big globe that you are happy, healthy and in a wonderful relationship with Jesus Christ!!!         He should be our all in all and He is mine.        I'm sure I don't love Him as perfectly as He would like or as perfectly as I would like.      One thing I know, He's not looking for perfection, He's looking for our heart.      I pray He has your heart and mine.       

While I have ignored my blog, I have been struggling.       Health issues, back issues, arthritis issues, inflammation issues, and a host of other issues.          I have been discovering that my issues are my fault!!!          That's true.        While most of us don't aim to hurt ourselves purposefully, sometimes we do.        Oh, a bite of this won't hurt.         Just a little nibble of that won't hurt.         Here, doesn't this smell divine and one little piece will surely be ok.        Do any of those sound familiar?         Maybe you have others that you could add to my list.        Anyway, the sad thing is that most of us do this and we don't even realize the detrimental affect that these nibbles, bites and pieces are having on our bodies.     

As I was walking this morning in the the 35* weather, I was praying and crying a little too.       Asking God to show me what I need to see.        My health has been a struggle for a long time.        If you're in the same situation, start doing something right now.       If you're a young person, it's imperative that you take control of your life situation right now.        I could not be more serious.        If I had known 30 - 35 years ago, what I know now, I truly don't think I'd be in the mess I'm in now.       

In all seriousness, I've been getting a little healthier over the last 5 to 7 years just by changing a few things in how I cook.         But, there was still LOTS of room for improvement.        Some of the changes I've made over the years is I started making my own greek yogurt.       Beneficial gut health.    I started making my own Kombucha, more beneficial gut health.        I've started making ferments, again, beneficial gut health.       I use my air fryer a lot and cook from scratch in it.      I've gotten rid of all oils except avocado oil.       I use real butter.       I bake all of our bread from scratch.        It's usually just 4 - 6 ingredients and nothing that I can't pronounce or spell.      And other steps have been taken also, to try to improve my overall health and the health of my husband.       I make my own bone broth to cook with, among other things.

While I have helped some areas of my health, other areas are still crying out desperately for health.     That's what I've been trying to listen to here lately.         Doing a little research and I find that there's lots of contradicting info out there.          What one has to do is see what's affecting you, personally.    

So,  while I haven't been 100% compliant with my eating, I have been at least 80% compliant with Whole 30.         I have lost a little weight,  I have no idea how many inches I've lost because I didn't measure anything.          I honestly didn't even weigh myself at home, but going by the scales at the drs office I have lost a few lbs.         No ways near enough, but it's a start and I'll take it.

I had cleared out enough inflammation that it's been making a difference.        My main problem, and this is what I was talking to God about, is that I have a problem with snacks and snacking.        I cave too easily, I give in to the craving too easily.        I asked Him to help me.        I pleaded with Him to help me.         I know He can and I know He will.         Now, am I gonna be ready to take His help?         I pray that I can and will.

So, we have a made a pact, my husband and I, no snacking for a solid month.          Fresh fruit and fresh veggies is always good and it's not including those types of things.         We was out yesterday for a few minutes and we went into a store and I was looking for good healthy buys.        I found some sesame crackers with a honey glaze, I wasn't looking for them and I wish I had left them in the store.         The ingredient list didn't look to bad, so I got them.        Thinking they would be a good snack.           After lunch, I got us about 1/4 cup for each of us and they were really good...........for the moment.          In an hour or so, I could hardly walk, both of my ankles were hurting so bad.         My trigger finger was flared to the point that I could hardly open or close my left hand.         I have a major back issue that I've been dealing with for many many months and within that same hour, my lower back and sides, from one frontal hip bone around to the other side frontal hip bone, was in so much pain that I thought I was going to have to go to the dr yet again!!!!!        I'm telling you, I done that to MYSELF!!!!!          I didn't realize that it was the snack, but it WAS!!!!!!!          

It is so frustrating that we live in a day and age where the manufacturers and the govt are doing everything they can to keep us sick and in desperate need of meds.         Just throwing a med at each symptom instead of getting to the bottom of the problem.          They all know what the problem is, but healthy people doesn't produce a cash cow for the drs and the drug manufacturers and the govt is bought off by big business and all the hospitals have become all about profit.        We want your money, we want it all, and we want it NOW!!!!!!!!!         Yes, that is their attitude.          If I sound a little ticked off, well let me just that I am.         

We live in an upside down perverted world and it won't get any better.         But I've got to do what I can do to ensure that my senior years look as good as they can.          Every time you turn a tv on or watch you tube videos or anything, there's all these commercials for all this food stuff that's actually as deadly as rat poison.       It's just a slow release rat poison so they can get as much money out of you as possible, trying to slow down the "bleed out process" of rat poison.        Read labels and find out what some of the ingredients are that's in our "food".      

So, I'm trying to share a little of my back story here in the hopes that one person will read this and think that some of this sounds like me.         Maybe there is something I can do.         Check out Whole 30 and Autoimmune ways of eating.         Start with whole ingredients.         Nothing processed if at all possible.        Cut out sugars!!!!!       That is the main culprit for most of us!!!      Cut out the terrible, unhealthy snacks.          Prepare as much as possible from scratch.      I wish I had more, real tips and ideas for all of us.         I don't, because right now, I don't trust myself to share the right things.         I guess more than anything, I wanted to share my frustration at how food has made feel for so long and I hadn't made the connection that it's garbage food that has made me feel like garbage and not the wholesome, good food.         So for me, I'm gonna say "cut the garbage out!!!!"         I pray that I can follow my advice of cutting the garbage from my own diet.         I don't want to find myself in a wheelchair someday just because of all the garbage I've filled my body with.         And I truly believe that that's one of the problems  that most of us who partake of the western diet are dealing with.         Let's cut the garbage out and do better and feel better.          That is my resolution, cut the GARBAGE!!!!!!!   

I pray that if you found this something that you need to think about, that maybe you'll share it with someone else that maybe needs a kick in the seat to start them thinking about this too.         I pray that if you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, that today would be the day that you would ask Him into your life.  Believe in Him and repent.      I know that the upcoming days are going to be hard for me and I couldn't do this without Him in my life.       I pray that you have a wonderful rest of the day.        Blessings of love, joy and peace be yours today and everyday.      hugs, patty