tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58018487305646922472026-06-09T01:38:58.839-05:00Sharing all my eccentricities with you. Cooking, canning, baking, sewing, gardening and whatever strikes my fancy. Simplifying recipes so you don't have to scroll through a long story, making them easier for people with health issues or just don't have time to make elaborate meals. Robinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09261646590739984261noreply@blogger.comBlogger171125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5801848730564692247.post-47784142048463188032022-11-11T10:18:00.007-06:002022-11-11T10:36:41.804-06:00

When you suffer from a chronic illness it can be hard to explain what you are going through. Christine Miserandino came up with a theory. Her story follows below. Now many people with health issues refer to themselves as a "Spoonie." Once I run out of "spoons" you can "stick a fork in me because I am DONE." So now I have spoons and forks in my life. The title of my yet unpublished

Robinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09261646590739984261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5801848730564692247.post-69676705613561446692022-11-08T19:50:00.002-06:002022-11-09T20:47:19.652-06:00

Spoonies use paper bowls. Chicken and Dumpling Casserole3 cups cubed chicken,  cooked (Rotisserie,  frozen or precooked) 1/2 cup butter1 15 ounce can favorite vegetable, drained (corn,  carrot,  peas, etc) 1 cup self rising flour - do not substitute1 cup milk1/2 tsp salt1 15 ounce can low sodium chicken broth1 can reduced sodium condensed cream of chicken soup1

Robinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09261646590739984261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5801848730564692247.post-7809417140353922932017-08-11T20:06:00.000-05:002017-08-11T20:06:04.503-05:00

Injured Heroes, Broken Promises documentary

Robinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09261646590739984261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5801848730564692247.post-6292963453384668272015-02-27T20:34:00.000-06:002015-02-27T20:34:00.480-06:00

This is not the best recording but I'm so thankful to have it. It's not actually a video of anything, I just needed a way to get the song to here so put his picture up and then the music.

Robinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09261646590739984261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5801848730564692247.post-35587635903335982912015-02-22T12:34:00.000-06:002015-02-22T12:34:45.503-06:00

Mikey was never one to put himself first. Even with a terminal illness, his pain was always secondary to his primary mission; taking care of the people he loved. He kept his sense of humor right up to his very last moments. He was loyal to a fault even in adversity. He would repeat a portion of the Soldiers Creed, “I will be loyal to those with whom I serve.” In fact in the eight years I

Robinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09261646590739984261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5801848730564692247.post-54289591565227889002015-02-20T09:10:00.000-06:002015-04-28T17:48:52.854-05:00

HD video on entire service. Condensed pictorial version of the service. (I do not know where the entire clip went, I'll investigate and fix the error as soon as I can.) The songs that were chosen all have very special meaning. Home, the version you hear was one he watched over and over and sang just as often. We made it home honey. Promises fulfilled. 

Robinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09261646590739984261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5801848730564692247.post-12442338186744272662015-02-13T09:12:00.000-06:002015-02-13T09:12:03.990-06:00

Everything and everyone around me sits in this thick fog that I have to cut through. Fake smiles covering overwhelming pain. Emotions that are all over the place. Never knowing exactly how I feel versus how I should feel. I don't know what to do next. Trips to the store for needs and the anxiety that hits me while I'm there to hurry and get back home so I am not away from him for too long and

Robinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09261646590739984261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5801848730564692247.post-84257634796860594652014-09-15T21:27:00.000-05:002014-09-15T21:27:53.023-05:00

  Prickly pears. I had heard of them, never really knew what they were until Mikey insisted on planting cacti in one of the corners of the back yard. It took a couple years but the cacti got beautiful yellow blooms in the spring and then in the fall where the blooms were these pretty purplish pear shaped things appeared. Well duh! THOSE are prickly pears. Sometimes I'm simply not the

Robinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09261646590739984261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5801848730564692247.post-61466904318146952162014-06-06T20:25:00.001-05:002014-06-06T20:25:04.601-05:00

Last week I was asked to make a birthday pie for a friend. She gave me several choices for him but said Dutch apple was his favorite. Okay, that works for me. Pie is much easier to make for birthdays than cake and Dutch apple is really easy because I don't have to roll a flaky crust! So, since I am making one for them why not make one for my husband? He didn't mind a bit. His words regarding

Robinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09261646590739984261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5801848730564692247.post-66266310283970296702014-05-26T07:54:00.000-05:002014-06-22T12:20:30.377-05:00

It is no secret that I love pancakes. Time of day is of no concern to me when I want pancakes either. If I go out to eat I prefer to go someplace that serves pancakes. Pancakes are versatile too. My favorite way to eat them is with peanut butter and hot syrup. Sometimes though I like to have fruit. When you are cooking pancakes for a group of people there are going to be varied taste buds too.

Robinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09261646590739984261noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5801848730564692247.post-77407688758355479962014-04-13T08:20:00.000-05:002020-02-17T17:01:25.983-06:00

I get colds too much. I have my entire life. Not simple colds like normal people get. Mine start out easy then quickly become an infection. Sinus, bronchitis, pneumonia. Yuck!  It's pretty miserable. I don't get sick as often as I used to but when I do there is one simple recipe that can clear you up, even if just for a short time. Whenever we got a sniffle as kids we would get

Robinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09261646590739984261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5801848730564692247.post-17930014072728258782014-02-10T09:32:00.000-06:002014-02-13T14:56:03.543-06:00

In June 2012 Mikey decided to go to the Doctor. He said then that he thought he was getting Alzheimer's. I, like everyone else dismissed it. He had just came back from Iraq. It is PTSD. That's what I thought anyway. Army had different idea's for a while. They finally settled on PTSD. However as a few more months passed I knew that wasn't right. I'm not a doctor, what do I know, right? Then

Robinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09261646590739984261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5801848730564692247.post-36506593511414690472013-09-24T17:53:00.001-05:002013-09-24T17:53:58.341-05:00

Apple Butter No fancy pictures for now. Got the recipe up to share with a friend. I'll make it pretty another time. 3 pounds Granny Smith apples 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar 1 1/2 cups water Sugar - 1/2 cup per 1 cup pulp 1 teaspoon kosher or canning salt 3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice 1 teaspoon cinnamon Remove the stem from apples. Cut them up into chunks, core and all. Put in large pot with

Robinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09261646590739984261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5801848730564692247.post-73481518048467023182013-09-08T18:16:00.000-05:002013-09-08T18:16:09.411-05:00

Thirty years ago I learned that not all chicken and dumplings were alike. Growing up in my sheltered world I only knew of the lovely egg dumplings that my Mom made. To this day I still love them! (One day I will share that recipe too.) When I moved to a different part of the world in my late teens I was served chicken and dumplings for a holiday dinner. I stared at this odd looking dish that

Robinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09261646590739984261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5801848730564692247.post-29954171464150605062013-08-13T17:17:00.000-05:002017-08-13T23:39:33.963-05:00

No, no, not this kind.... Sometimes things happen that absolutely MUST be shared with the world. For those of you lucky enough to have ever heard Mikey tell one of his "stupid Mikey stories" will probably be able to imagine him telling this one. For those that haven't heard one of his stories you are missing out! We have been busy lately. Very busy. We have been just eating when we feel like

Robinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09261646590739984261noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5801848730564692247.post-33715131391589386542013-08-13T09:06:00.000-05:002013-08-13T09:06:20.459-05:00

We recently had a "Welcome Home" party for one of our friends that had just returned from a tour in Afghanistan. It was also a "Going Away" party for my husband that had recently left the company into a wounded warrior unit.  The thing about this group of soldiers is they LOVE their sweet treats. One of the girls in the unit requested a Reese's cake at the party. I wanted to make

Robinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09261646590739984261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5801848730564692247.post-43776322793130679102013-08-06T15:21:00.001-05:002013-08-06T15:21:22.165-05:00

I have been making my own laundry detergent using the same ingredients in the whipped detergent and have been happy with it. The whipped detergent is reportedly better and doesn't use as much. So I decided I would give it a try. You can see the original here from Budget 101. WARNING: If you have lung problems you probably want to wear a mask through the entire process. I didn't and I'm

Robinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09261646590739984261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5801848730564692247.post-38048508203077348922013-08-02T14:13:00.001-05:002013-08-02T14:13:15.945-05:00

Click me to see full sized yumminess. Anyone remember Hardee's? I loved Hardee's and miss them. There are still a few left scattered about the country but they are rare. In our town, Hardee's was a place to hang out in the morning and drink coffee with all your friends. Hardee's had these wonderful fluffy cinnamon rolls that were amazing. Yes, a fast food place actually had something

Robinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09261646590739984261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5801848730564692247.post-16889163776233851812013-07-27T20:45:00.000-05:002013-07-27T20:45:13.958-05:00

My husband and I have different opinions on syrup. I want mine warm he wants his refrigerator cold. No matter, we both like lots of syrup on pancakes, waffles and French toast. Mom always made simple maple syrup when we were growing up which was sugar, water and the maple flavoring. It is good and if you are lacking all the ingredients it will satisfy that sweet maple flavor we need on our

Robinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09261646590739984261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5801848730564692247.post-49019138207659056332013-07-26T10:38:00.000-05:002013-07-29T18:02:56.831-05:00

I'm always on the hunt for the perfect easy dinner roll. Then a picture showed up on Facebook for quick dinner rolls. You can see it here. It seemed easy enough and would go perfect with the slow cooker roast beef slices for dinner. It turned out well enough but to me there was too much flour by the final step. This recipe reflects the lesser amount of flour. I am going to make these again

Robinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09261646590739984261noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5801848730564692247.post-50941241213898357592013-07-22T19:33:00.000-05:002015-07-17T09:06:48.584-05:00

We love peach cobbler around here. It's also super easy to make but we all need some variation once in a while. I saw a picture for these on Facebook I think. I didn't care for some of the ingredients or for the enormous size the original recipe made. No problem. A few simple changes and made it my own. Preheat oven to 350F. 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 cups sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract

Robinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09261646590739984261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5801848730564692247.post-55175273768126157222013-07-20T11:09:00.006-05:002013-07-20T11:09:56.425-05:00

Last week I made applesauce. There was still some left and I didn't want it to go to waste. Second problem was I had milk in the fridge that had gone sour. I found a solution. Spice cake. Spice cake with cream cheese frosting. Let's make this better and not add any egg and reduce the fat and still get a heavy moist cake. Yum! I mixed everything up and the scent from all the spices was

Robinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09261646590739984261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5801848730564692247.post-90856579823440456062013-07-19T10:00:00.000-05:002013-07-19T10:00:45.443-05:00

Sometimes I want to be lazier than others. Sometimes I think that using a crockpot might help me accomplish that. Sometimes I'm wrong. There was prep work in this that didn't make it the easiest dinner but it's still one of those that you can put together early and then not worry about the rest of the day. In the end it was worth it and turned out wonderful. I should add that mushrooms are

Robinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09261646590739984261noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5801848730564692247.post-87438515193767802232013-07-19T09:33:00.000-05:002013-07-19T09:33:09.878-05:00

I hate spending money that doesn't need to be spent. Bread crumbs is one of the items that it seems ridiculous to pay such a high price for. I'm not sure what it costs in the grocery store but at Amazon a name brand Italian Seasoned bread crumbs sells for $4.76 for 24 ounces. Not sure about you but I usually end up with some sort of stale bread. Whether it's the crusts or leftover buns from a

Robinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09261646590739984261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5801848730564692247.post-67831965765019312272013-06-05T14:36:00.000-05:002013-06-05T15:12:58.201-05:00

I see so many recipes that I want to try. Most get filed away to try later. Every so often one jumps out and says "make me now!" Just seeing this apple cake made my mouth water. I scanned the ingredients and directions and decided to make some changes to simplify it and I'm glad I did. It cut out quite a bit of preparation time and I like to think it made the cake moister. Here is the

Robinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09261646590739984261noreply@blogger.com1