I've Been Cooking Creatively Again

Homemade marinara with tomatoes from the garden. Dressed up with herbs from the herb garden. I am really loving fresh basil! Then I made a salad with baby greens, pears, walnuts and goat cheese. Dressing: 2 tlb balsamic vinegar, 1 tlb oil, a little basil, 1/4 t stone ground or poupon mustard. Very good and low cal.
Tonight's dinner:
grilled chicken
corn on cob - local
salad - listed above
grilled peaches!!!

RoseMary's Freezer Pickles

A little birdie told me that some peeps were wanting my mom's freezer pickle recipe. Tis the season, so here it is. ( I of course have the recipe :) I don't really like cukes but I remember that these are yummy.
Freezer Pickles
5-6 3 inch sliced cukes
2 C sliced onions
4 t kosher salt
2 t water
1 t dried dill weed
1/4 C vinegar
3/4 C sugar
mix cukes, onions and salt. Mix in 2 t water in 2 qt bowl (non aluminum)
let stand for 2 hours. Drain, do not rinse
Return to bowl, add sugar, vinegar and dill.
Let stand until sugar dissolves liquid covers the veggies
Put in containers and freeze.

Did You Know You Lose 8,000 Hairs A Day?

That is what Niki told me the other day. That got me to thinking about the verse in the bible about the matter. It is this. "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of our Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Mt 10: 29-30 Pretty cool huh, that God knows how many hairs on each one of our heads?
By the way losing 8,000 hairs a day sounds extreme to me. I wouldn't even think I have 8,000!
Busy today getting ready for Niki's birthday tomorrow. Having homemade Sloppy Joes and homemade mac-and-cheese.

Gone Again

Making the mad dash~ getting everything ready...
Going Camping for the extended week end.
Be back Monday.
Hope it doesn't snow!!

Didn't Your Mother Always Say

If you don't have anything nice to say then: don't say anything at all.
Some people really need to grasp this concept. Oh yeah, and I think this applies to written communication too.

Ephesians 4.29 ~ "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."

Philippians 4.8-9 ~ "Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-thing about such things." Here's the kicker (my words) the benefit in verse 9. "And the God of peace will be with you."
Yes people I am reading and quoting God's Word. Fan yourself. :-)
P.s. I know this applies to my big mouth as well....

The American Cancer Society:

The American Cancer Society:

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A Packed Fun-Filled Day

My day yesterday started off with a breakfast for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk that I'm doing in October. StridesEastMI@cancer.org Then I went to the Northville Farmer's market with Karen and Riley. That was fun! Got a few veggies and a cool Mexican Pepper plant. Then we shopped at Trader Joe's natural food store. Sure wish we had one here. Then we went back to my sister's house. Karen made some awesome nachos for lunch. Riley and I played Crazy Eights and had a coloring contest. I lost! :( Played with Brady, played Uno, Uno, Uno with Karen and Riley then it was time to go home. Immediately left for pizza and salad with Sarah's parents then off to the "Back to the Bricks" curise. We "cruised" in their 1987 Chrysler LeBaron Convertible. The cruise was on Saginaw Street from Grand Blanc to Downtown. Quit fun car AND people watching. Got home about 9 p.m. and fell into bed sound asleep by 9:30 p.m.

Tick, Tick, My Weight Ticker Finally went DOWN

Finally, whew! Moving in the right direction. Lost a lb and 1/2. Had to get back with the program.Got to stick with it. This is a way of life.
Get with the program
Get on the stick
Run with the ball
Keep on Truckin
Get a move on
Follow your dreams
Please add any motivational sayings as comments! I need to hear them!!

Where'd the Power Go?

Blink, blink, zzzzzzzzzzz, pift! Power is gone. The neighbors all gather out in the road to discuss what was going on. No response from Consumers. Vrmmmmm, vrmmmmm as the generators started one after another. At one point there were 7 going in a small area of our street. When we saw Mr. Yeller dumping buckets repeatedly we offered our second generator to them. They were very grateful. It was crucial to run the sump pumps as we had just gotten 3 inches of rain in the morning. We have a back up sump but alas the battery was dead. Good thing for the generator. After the Renee's grilled some burgers (i think) they came over and we enjoyed some yard games in the front yard. Tom and Sarah went to get gas to run the generators after we heard that it wouldn't be back on until noon on Sunday. Collective groan as we all had heard about the forecast for the hottest day yet ~ 94 degrees. We were enjoying ourselves despite our circumstances despite the noise from the various generators. Sydney kept holding her hands over her ears. Cathy (yeller) came over to say Jennifer (neighbor) just heard from Consumers that the "on" time was moved up to midnight. Mac had gone to get gas for himself and the Yellers. Not 5 minutes later another neighbor (don't know her name) walked down to say, the power was on! Whew! The quiet was immediate as the generators buzzed off one after the other. Ahhh! We stayed outside until the lightening bugs and mosquitoes came out. Had to go in because Renees is scared they Will fly up her shorts. LOL. Staying inside today with the air cranked on.

It's All A Matter of Perspective

"Hey, why don't you learn how to drive?" Shouted the guy out the window he rolled down and then up, just to yell at me. Little did he know that I never drive the work truck and rarely drive the truck with the trailer, never full of roofing material and NEVER the afore mentioned on the expressway! I thought I was doing pretty good. It got a little shaky when I approached an over sized modular hogging up a lane and a half, let alone on a huge curve in the expressway. I started to get mad, then hurt then I thought, how many times have I been frustrated at someone doing something that pissed me off. Maybe I will be more patient next time. Because little do I know what is the situation that exists.

Granola, Gronola Bars & Muffins

My niece Karen called today to get my recipe for homemade granola. Then I told her about my awesome nut-raisin lowfat, low sugar muffins. She took that one too. Then she gave me her recipe for Granola Bars - yum they sound good. I made the granola tonight and plan to make the granola bars for when we go camping on the weekend.
Homemade Granola:
6 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup oil
2/3 cup honey
2/3 cup each of pecans, almonds, walnuts
1/3 cup warm water
1 and 1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cherries
mix together water, oil and honey in small bowl
mix oats and nuts in large mixing bowl
then put oil mix into dry
put in 2 large cookie sheets and bake on 325
bake 10 minutes,, stir, then bake 10 more minutes
let cool completely then add raisins and cherries

The Garden Is A Mess O Weeds

Weeds, weeds, and more weeds! Whew. The garden is not doing so well. One of the farmers at the Farmer's market said it's not been good weather for the plants because we havn't had warm nights. Then with being gone so long the weeds took over. Spent some time this morning pulling out 3 foot weeds. So far we've had 2 cukes, a yellow squash, a zuchinni, and a handful of beans. Got some corn, plums, tomatoes and cantelope from the F.M. Gonna grill a steak, boil the corn and make a fruit bowl for dinner.