Ugh!

I can't seem to get rid of that lovely photobucket block that says an image has been moved or deleted. I can't find the code that's causing the problem. If any of you have an idea why it's happening or what I can do to fix it, please let me know!

I found the solution! It was some little bit of fluff but it's gone now. :)

Not by choice...

For World Diabetes Day last year, @ninjabetic (George), a Type 1 Diabetic I know from Twitter, wrote a song about his life with Diabetes. It's called "Not By Choice" and it's now available on iTunes. Way to go George!

Readers, you really should watch the video of him singing the song. Even if you're not diabetic you probably know someone who is. Living with Diabetes isn't easy and George eloquently relates what a lot of us feel...it's here with us but not by choice.

Give George a listen, if you would, and leave him a comment.

Handcrafted clipboard giveaway

Sara over at Be Still and Know is hosting her first give away. She's giving some blessed person a hand crafted clip board. If you'd like to have a chance to win this gem for yourself or another person, just enter the giveaway.

A few sites to recommend

Okay, I've not mentioned the TYWKIWDBI blog before but that's because I just recently found it! How I could have missed this gem is beyond me (like I have 100 hours a day to do nothing but find great blogs), but miss it I did. However, now that I've found it I've been perusing the older entries and am just overwhelmed by it all. And impressed in a major way.

I found this blog by doing a Google search for information on New Madrid County, MO, where my paternal grandmother grew up and that search led me to this entry. It made such an impact on me that I started reading other entries. Now I'm hooked.

If you haven't read TYWKIWDBI, you should. Trust me.

Also, if you're interested in food storage, take a good look at Food Storage Depot. The site is well designed and the prices, though they might seem high, are pretty good. We do our food storage the old fashioned way by gathering a little here and a little there but for those that would rather have it done for them, Food Storage Depot is a great choice. By the way, I'm going to try and review their bread mix soon so watch Plain Ol' Food for that!

Depression era recipes & help with leftovers

I'm something of a collector of recipes, especially really thrifty ones. I suppose it comes from raising kids on a very limited income but even though it's just me and the man person now and we're doing okay financially (thanks to YHWH, Dave Ramsey, and our own hard work) I still cook frugally and collect recipes for very inexpensive dishes. In light of that, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite Depression era recipes with y'all. Some of these I've found on the web and where I know the site, I note that by making the name a link. Enjoy!


Depression Cake

1 cup shortening
2 cups water
2 cups raisins
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups white sugar
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda

In a saucepan combine the shortening, water, raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves and sugar. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand until cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease one 9 x 13 baking pan.

Stir the flour and baking soda into the cooled raisin mixture and mix until just combined. Pour batter into the pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

This is actually a very good cake and it's excellent when frosted with homemade icing.


Another Cake Recipe

1 cup water
2 cups raisins
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup lard (shortening)
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Place water, raisins, cinnamon, cloves, brown sugar, lard, nutmeg and salt in a saucepan and mix. Bring to a boil. Cook 3 minutes. Allow to cool, then sift together the flour, baking soda and baking powder. Stir into cooked mixture. Place in a greased loaf pan and bake at 350 for one hour.


Rice Pudding

Grease a glass 9" x 13" Pyrex dish with solid shortening. Preheat oven to 300.

½ cup long grain white rice
½ cup sugar
1 can evaporated milk, diluted to make one quart
1 cup raisins
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
Cinnamon to taste

Place all ingredients except cinnamon in pan. Generously sprinkle top with cinnamon. At least once during the baking, stir cinnamon crust into the rice and sprinkle the top with cinnamon again. Let bake until rice is tender, approximately 1 ½ hours. Cool and serve or refrigerate and serve cold.


Meatless Loaf

1 cup rice
1 cup peanuts crushed
1 cup cottage cheese
1 egg
1 Tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon salt

Combine all the ingredients together and bake in a loaf pan for 30 minutes or until loaf is set.

Meatless loaf sounds like a very odd dish and it is but it's tasty!


Homemade Dumplings
This is how my paternal grandmother made dumplings

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons shortening
3/4 to 1 cup milk
2 quarts broth or more

Sift flour, salt, and baking powder together. Add shortening then milk until thick batter is obtained. Drop by teaspoonfuls in boiling broth cover and cook covered 10 minutes. Do not lift the lid while cooking.


Bread For the Poor
That's what the same grandmother called this fried bread

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Water

Stir in enough water to make a batter and pour into greased cast iron skillet. Fry like you would a pancake until brown on each side. Spread with butter and jelly and enjoy. Its also nice when sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.

And there's a new blog, Not Just Leftovers - Brand New Meals, about creatively using leftovers. Kudos to Janelle for starting it up!

Saturday stuff

I have the weekend off. I didn't ask for it but someone must have decided I needed it and I won't look a gift horse in the mouth!

Speaking of mouths, mine is slightly better today, which is very good news. I can actually eat something other than soup now and plan to do a little cooking this afternoon. I'd like to make a loaf of bread and perhaps roast a chicken and make stew. I also need to work up our menu for the coming week.

Thrilling Thursday! Just stuff...

I read a great blog entry at Oh My Aching Debts and thought I'd share it with y'all. I don't know if you're guilty of any of these things but I have been. I don't do them anymore (well, not often and not on a large scale) and it's horrifying to think that I ever did any of them as often or as large scale as I did! But it goes to show that we're human and even Dave Ramsey fans like me can fall off the wagon. I really do try to stick with the program and for the most part my man person and I do a great job. But we could always do a better job and we're working toward that.

My youngest son (age 24) is back in town, hopefully permanently. He just got a job working for a local soft drink distributing company. The work is hard and the pay isn't great but it's better than what he made driving a truck and he's home. For that I'm very glad. I think there's some good potential for him with that company and I'm very proud of him for wanting to budget and save money. In light of that, I loaned him Dave's Financial Peace Revisited book. He really needs to read The Total Money Makeover but he's listened to me espouse the glory of Dave and his principles enough that he knows a lot about the basics. He definitely comprehends the envelope system and, in my opinion, that's the place to start.

This morning I see a periodontist. Yuck. My dentist wants to know how much, if any, bone loss I have so off to see this new Doctor I'll go. I have to be at work at 4 this afternoon so I'll have a little time before and after the dental appointment to relax before work.

I haven't had a chance to play with my new toy yet but hope to do that over the weekend. I'm off Saturday so I should have plenty of time that day. I can't decide if I should try cornbread first or something savory like garlic bread. Regardless, I'll post about it here.

What if your next meal was also your last?

What would you request for your last meal?

I read Dead Man Eating regularly and find the entries to be oddly and gruesomely fascinating, very much akin to the books and sites I read about medical anomalies. Reading what people about to be put to death ask to eat before they depart from this world is a little unsettling and sad. I can't seem to stop myself from peeking, though!

I checked it today to see if there was a new entry. Alas, there isn't. But each time I look at that site, I wonder what I'd order for my last meal. Oh my, what a tough choice that would be!

Diabetes be damned! Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, and corn on the cob with chocolate cream pie for dessert?

Porterhouse steak, 2 inches thick and barely cooked, with a sour cream, cheese, and green onion topped baked potato, and pineapple lemon cheesecake?

Crispy turkey bacon, eggs scrambled with cheese and bell pepper, and grits?

I might ask for my granny's apple cake, the aforementioned cheesecake, and a bag of fig newtons!

Honestly, I haven't a clue what I'd request.

What would you request for your last meal on this earth?

And would you actually be able to eat it? That's the real question.

A shameless plug..

My other half has started a pro-Macintosh blog. You really should sneak a peek at it, even if you aren't into Macs. It won't take long and you might like it. No, really! It won't take long and you might find something interesting or useful or even amusing! Go on, you know you want to!

Chocolate and Zucchini

I occasionally read Chocolate and Zucchini and today I found a great sounding recipe there. It's for Carrot and Peanut Muffins. It sounds great and the picture really makes it look so tasty! I think I'm going to try to make a blood sugar friendly version of this muffin this week and will see how it turns out from the Better Baker Bowl Maker. I think it will do fine but we'll see. I might also use some almonds in it, also, or maybe walnuts since those are so good for those of us with blood sugar issues.

At any rate, if you like carrots and peanuts, you might go to Chocolate and Zucchini and see what you think of that recipe.