Grandma Mary Martha: Do Share the Flowers !!

Grandma Mary Martha: Do Share the Flowers !!: Have you ever read Gary Chapman's book, The Five Love Languages  ?  You should read it unless you have NO interest in reading to le...

Making Gravy is Gravy, Since Aunt Pearl Taught Me

I was past 40 years old before I learned to make gravy !!  Oh, I tried, prior to my game changer lesson from Aunt Pearl, but until she taught me how, I was never successful.

Aunt Pearl came to visit me (7 hours away) to see my son perform in a high school play. She was 80 years old then. I told her I couldn't make gravy, and asked her to help me.  She showed me how, and talked me through it.  Since then, I am quite the gravy making expert, yet still the process quite mystifies  me.  I always ew and aw when my gravy is forming, and declare it a miracle, because I really don't understand it.......... So little oil, butter or grease, and so little flour, and so much milk, and so much delicious thick gravy is rendered !!

I will try to share Aunt Pearl's helpful hints:

I like to put a thin layer of fat in the bottom of my cast iron frying pan, with my electric stove on medium until all is hot enough to make a sprinkling of white flour fizzle.  

Then have your milk and flour out, ready to access quickly.  Hm, that is interesting.  I did not realize until now when I look back on the pictures, that I used FAT FREE on this day.  I used canned milk because we live 50 miles from good shopping, and my refrigerator was OUT of milk.  FYI, it actually tasted really good.

I like to put about a spoon of white flour into the frying pan in a fast even sprinkle and then lightning speed like, have your spatula and begin to stir it around and blend evenly.

 Before it gets too thick and clumpy, when it still looks slightly wet versus clumpy, add your liquid slowly so that it does not become too thin, while you are  frantically stirring  to blend with your spatula again.  You will see it quickly thickening again, and thus begins your fun balancing game, where the object is to not let it get too thick, or too thin.  This is somewhere how I had always messed up before.  Aunt Pearl said, "Be sure your pan is hot enough for the liquid to dissolve the flour when  you pour it in."

If it is looking just about right, something else I will do is mix a couple spoons of flour in a jar of milk and vigorously SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE until frothy and all flour is dissolved again.  Then pour it in to the bubbly gravy slowly, while stirring with the spatula to again mix and prevent clumps.  Yes, if you see any tiny clumps, usually you can smash and break up to dissolvable...

Add your salt and pepper. Simmer it and give it love, until it is just the right texture and thickness. Keep in mind that as it simmers, it will thicken.  Enjoy it your favorite way!

On this day, we served it on top of our ground turkey, rice and green pea hash, using up what was around.  Everyone should have an encourager like my daughter.  She says she likes these home-cooked meals better than eating out!

We are very good at SIMPLE around here, and since Aunt Pearl gave me a lesson, I can make GRAVY!  Yippee !!

Quick Tips on Cleaners

It's no big big deal, I guess, but I do wish I knew when I was younger......... Now, 'need to give credit to MY Grannie.  From my Grannie, I learned that a plenty fine GLASS CLEANER is white vinegar as the liquid, and yes it's true:  NEWSPAPER as the towel.  Newspaper is almost a novelty now, so I will let you go figure on that one, but I will add that in recent years, I have learned that for cleaning the surface of my counter and painted wooded table, a MIXTURE of white vinegar and water works (instead of the some of the leading surface cleaners, which should be out of the reach of children................).  I probably use the mixture about 50%/50%.  Honestly, I might do it more like 1/3 vinegar, 2/3 water.  If it works, it works, and you don't have to worry about dangerous chemicals, and it is ECONOMICAL.

The thing my Grannie did not teach me, which I have learned along the way, is that hydrogen peroxide works super good as a spray cleaner as well !!  In the bathroom, I spray it on the mirror and wipe with a clean washcloth (no wasted paper towel), it makes a fabulous fresh clean eye glass cleaner.

See how clear my glasses are !!

OK, next quick tip is BAKING SODA, is cheap and non-toxic, and makes a GREAT surface cleaner for the tough jobs.  All I used was baking soda, and here is my kitchen sink before, during, and after:

Honestly, bleach or vinegar would get every-bit of the dingy color out, and I do that occasionally, but for common cleaning, baking soda does wonders, and you need to know because it is cheap and non-toxic.  Happy cleaning gals!

By the way, there is no shame in being the "cleaner" of the home.  I get really sick of people making a big awful deal about gender specific roles.  I said "gals" here because I imagine that is the audience that would most often be my reader. Period.  Personally, I am HAPPY to get to do traditionally female roles even though I have contributed fairly in EVERY realm of domestic life (financially as well) and when something fleshly like selfishness, lust, covetousness, or greed, has snuck in to my being and made me resentful or angry when I compare what I do vs what my husband does, or what I contribute vs what my husband contributes, then our relationship got messy and peace was disturbed.

I lean heavily on the Lord and most of the time I am just happy for what is done, accomplished, or contributed my whoever....and more funny stories about that, later.  Be looking for more please, and maybe see more where I am cultivating my  Grandma Mary Martha blog.

Gettin' My Green on............ and other Healthy food to go....

Here is what we have had for lunch lately.  If only I didn't bomb my intake in the evenings.  Mornings and lunch, I do pretty well.  It is in the evenings, after workday, that I make my  monumental menu mistakes (let's not discuss that here now.)

 To the left was my lunch:carrots, celery, green onions, yellow pepper, sunflower seeds, and dressing not pictured.............
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Below, is my daughter's lunch.  She has carrots, apple, sunflower seeds, Ranch dressing, and because "she likes it, and she CAN,"  (I can't), she also gets two slices of cheese.

This is how I enjoyed mine:

Dip veggie in dressing, and then sunflower seeds........... Apples for dessert!

Below, are another day:

Another day, I had roast beef wrap with side of carrots and apple. I enjoyed this very much!  (Like my Grannie S. said, "Waste not. Want not."  I don't peel my carrots, I scrub them instead. Peels are wasted if just trashed.)

You can put whatever meat and veggies that you want in your wrap bread or tortilla.  I did a thin layer of roast beef slices, then green onion and ranch dressing.  It was yummy yummy for ME.  The peanut butter apple slices was for a stashed snack at work.  I haven't eaten it yet. It's a classic ya'll !

Now above was an interesting school lunch:

To the left was my daughter's.  She had apple slices, a wrap with nothing in it but a smearing of cream cheese, and the mystery ingredient is HONEY ROASTED PEANUTS.  My lunch was carrot, green onion, celery and boiled egg.  

The price advantage of these choices should not me missed.  A large reason why we do it:

Eating lunch out (or in our case "at school," or from delivery restaurant) costs from $4 to $10.  The lunches we packed, probably cost around $2 each!!  The savings adds up, and is appreciated here, and the nutrition is wholesome and wise.

Life is Like Jellybeans.........Most Days are Beautiful.........

I had a rough day recently.  I recounted the rough parts to my special friend Jean, and the quintessential teacher (15 years retired) she got back with me to share an idea that she wanted me to use with my daughter (who calls her Aunt Jean) to illustrate a healthy perspective on the bad stuff that happens.  We discussed pretty marbles vs. black marbles, red checkers vs. black checkers but when the idea of jellybeans came, I knew THAT was the option I would go with.  

Aunt Jean's life lesson plan was that I start with an empty jar, and recall the events or observations for the day with my daughter, careful to cover the wonderful and good points, and each time a positive remark is made, drop a pretty color in the jar.  I had told her black was my least favorite color, so when I recalled or reviewed a negative from our day, I was to drop a black in the jar.  Lastly I should summarize to my daughter that life is like that....filled with good and bad, but usually more good than bad, if we look carefully, and what are we going to choose to focus on? ...the beautiful colors, or the black??

I now have a new affection for jellybeans.  And yes, I am aware that black can be beautiful, and as a matter of fact, I wore a black shirt proudly, all day today.

 Also I am aware that some people like the black jellybeans.  My mom does.  Fine.  I love the pretty colors.  I love to remember that most days are beautiful.  Most days are filled with good stuff.  All the more for Christians, who are just passing through in this world.  We are Heaven bound. Looking at events of my day, or jellybeans in a jar, I choose to look at the pretty ones.  May your days be colorful and beautiful.  

Gratitude with my Coffee

The bible says that every GOOD and PERFECT gift comes from ABOVE.  I take the Bible for what it says.  God gets glory and honor and THANKS for everything good about my life, and everything good that I see.

I am grateful for more than I can document.  His presence, His WORD, His present HELP, His strength, His creation, His plan of salvation and provision of JESUS as my loving and gracious savior, the perfect, and holy sacrifice that purchases my soul unto eternity, and ANSWERED PRAYERS.  

Let me pause there, to recall a few answered prayers:
My son was born 6 weeks early, low birth weight, and couldn't "suck."  Something was wrong with his blood count.  He stayed in the hospital for 9 days (or was is 11?) and I heard the nurses discuss that were only letting him come home with me at that point, because they knew I could handle it and would be attentive and on top of it.  You see, the whole time that my baby was in the neo-natal intensive care unit, I spent ALL DAY at the hospital with him, and came home only to sleep and shower.  The nurses convinced me that was the right thing to do, because after all, I was trying to "make milk."  You might be wondering why, if he couldn't suck?
Well, I was self pumping to get what I could, for a special, "preemie-bottle," which had a special hole in the nipple from which milk would drip or stream out at the perfect rate.  Also, my baby was comforted by the skin to skin close contact as I held him for hours and let him "try to suck."  He surely got a few drips of Mama's milk that way.

My baby boy was vulnerable and at high risk for something to go terribly wrong.  I prayed, "God preserve his brain.  Let him grow to be big and strong and wise.  May he use his life for YOU."

When my son was growing up, (I don't know if he remembers this.) I used to tell him, "It is more important to me that you serve God.... than the profession you choose.  I don't care what profession you choose, as long as you serve God with your life."

He graduated with honors, and scholarships in his future, and biggest in his class.  I know genetics helped here, but I will always give God glory and honor and gratitude for answered prayers.
In the truck on the way to his freshman college orientation, I began my focused prayer for God to send (spiritual) ENCOURAGEMENT in to my son's life.  His spiritual gas tank running pretty low.

His sister and I prayed for him everyday, for God to send people into his life to speak, "Love and truth and wisdom," and for God to move in his heart to grow his faith and draw him closer in fellowship.  Guess what God did?

He sent Sara.  An old friend and acquaintance from his summer job a few years ago, may I say that he was smitten early on by her friendly demeanor, crystal blue eyes, and sweet girl charm, but when they started seeing each other summer 2015, there were fiery sparks.  She let him know that she was looking for a man that would join her in passion and dedication of serving her Lord.

The Holy Spirit and the WORD went to work, through Sara, in my son's life.  She got him in church three times a week, and in a regular Bible study.  My son fell in love with Sara and grew leaps in bounds in his faith walk and wisdom.  More prayers answered for this Mama !!  December 2016 they married 💞  

Now, they live everyday, grateful for each other and their life together.  They work hard, and strive to serve God.

Gratitude tastes delicious, with my coffee.  I would enjoy reading in comments, what you are grateful for. 

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A Secret from my Beloved Grannie, and More Great Simple Food

Pure nutrition served here !!  (and maybe a little butter and sugar😄)

Thought this was worth sharing:  Folks, you need to know, something that I learned from my grannie.  You can make your own breakfast sausage and have more control of the content (restrict fats, and meat cuts).  I do this with lean ground turkey, or beef.  Just add olive oil if the cooked meat is too dry because it is low fat......... Add salt and pepper as you usually would, and secret ingredient, SAGE, and walaa you have yummy sausage.  Here is one of my daughter's favorite healthy breakfasts and it is not expensive.  (Convenience foods are expensive.  Cooking from basic whole foods- not processed foods, is affordable and better for you !)

steel cut oats, cooked with butter and sugar added

The way we like it !!  Way better for us than some of the processed or more sugary alternatives!

Another healthy simple, non-processed dish here = economical.  I can still eat it when I have a part-time income !!

 The crockpot is the perfect way to cook squash, and many other foods.  I honestly don't recall anyone in my family cooking hard skinned squash, growing up.  Somewhere along the line, I discovered that the uncooked veggies and their skins that are so so tough........ just cook it/them washed and whole in the crockpot and then they are tender and SUPER EASY.  I actually find that cooking hard veggies this way, reduces need to butter or oil.  Butternut squash, acorn squash, spaghetti squash and sweet potatoes cooked like this, are moist and tender.

 I add just a little butter, drizzle of honey, and often walnuts and in this case cranberries, and it is a Mama and me please-er.  (My mom is a squash and sweet potato fan, like I am.)

No, I don't only eat brown stuff.  I am definitely gettin' some green in this blog soon!  Also, I am gonna go listen more this             savvy mama.

Thanks for stopping by, and I wish YOU some healthy, simple cookin'.