Snacking and Crafting

Rainy Day in Georgia by frances robson

Good rainy day in Georgia.  We are having a "frog strangler", raining cats and dogs", "It's A Rainy Day in Georgia",  "Singing In The Rain", and any other rain sayings or songs which you know.  It has rained most of the day and both ponds are full and running over and I have a new river running through our front yard.  There have been several tornadoes in the area, flooding, and lots of wind damage but thank goodness we have been safe.  The water deficit is gone , I hope.  There is more on the way and prayerfully there will not be any more damage in the area.

I have a recipe to share with you for a quick and good snack that you or your children can prepare and if you have teens, they can do it by themselves. It is based on a recipe I found on Pinterest using sandwich thins which we always have and after making a batch, I changed the recipe some and I liked it better so try and enjoy.  It will not be written like a recipe usually is written for the ingredients will depend on how many you are making and what you have in the pantry and refrigerator.

Sandwich Thin Pizza

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Take the sandwich thin and divide into the 2 halves.
Place the halves on a parchment lined baking sheet and brush with olive oil
Bake in the preheated oven about 3 -5 minutes to crisp the bread but not browned.
Spoon 1 Tablespoon of marinara sauce, pasta sauce or pizza sauce from a can or bottle.  Sprinkle with Italian seasoning, a little salt and pepper.
Optional: Pepperoni slices, Canadian Bacon, chopped ham, or any other toppings you like. 
Sprinkle generously with grated cheeses - cheddar, Parmesan, mozzarella, or your favorites.  Use at least 2 for a better pizza
Place in oven for about 5 minutes or cheeses are beginning to melt.
Turn on the broiler and finish melting the cheeses and crisping the bread.
Serve whole or cut into halves or quarters. 
These are really very good and you can use whatever ingredients you like or have in the pantry. 

Painted Bobby Pins for Bow or Flowers

I have been making bows and flowers for our granddaughter, Miss Josie, for she has to have one or the other in her hair each day.  The bigger the better pleases her and I am making her some new ones and we like to use the bobby pins rather than the clips.  The brown or black ones are OK but I wanted something a little more glitzy and this is what I did to the pins.

I found nail polish in several colors, including gold and silver glitter at the drugstore on sale for $1.00 to $2.00.  There are many colors of nail polish available including reds, pinks, oranges, black, silver, gold and many others and will stick to metal, plastic and most any other surface.

Paint pens are another good choice for these pins for it will paint metal, glass and plastic and being in a pen, minimizes the mess and no brushes to clean. 

I removed the bobby pins from the card and inserted over a piece of thin cardboard which I cut from a cereal box.  Place this over another piece of cardboard so you can paint the ends of the pins and begin painting. 

The paint pen covered the metal better but I also liked the nail polish for most of the pin will be covered by the bow or flower.  I have a gold glittered one in my hair now without a bow or flower and it looks very pretty so you can use them alone.  The bobby pins were bought at the Dollar Tree, the nail polish was on sale and the paint pens were not that expensive and they last a long time. 

The red and white ones were done with the paint pens and the others with nail polish.  After one side dries, flip and paint the other side and I put a final coat of clear polish on all of them.  Think they turned out pretty well and I am looking forward to adding the bows and flowers for our "little princess."

If you try this, let me know what you think and send some pics.

Ya'll stay dry and come back to see me.

Nuff said,

The Georgia Peach

What's Your Problem?

Reflections by frances robson

Good evening and come on in.  Today has been a different day for me for I have been reflecting on several matters today and I want to share with you.  If you want a recipe or a little humor, today is not the day for I have some thoughts on life to talk through.  Writing them down will help me and hopefully you also.

Not sure why but this morning I was dwelling on some of my "problems" and was feeling a little down so I began to clean house.  This is my way of dealing with problems or what I consider "problems" at the time so part of my house is a little cleaner and so is my mind. 

As I cleaned a verse of scripture kept running through my mind: 



Psalm 46:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”

 

As you know it is almost impossible for my body to be still but as I cleaned, my mind was still and I was so aware of God's presence and began to praise and exalt him as I swept, dusted, washed and dried clothes and other chores.  I began to think about the "problems" which had been worrying me and God began to show me a new perspective on "my problems" that I think is worth sharing.

 

I have friends and family who are coping with "real problems" like these:

• A child fighting cancer with radiation and chemo
• Coping with cancer and facing an uncertain future here on earth
•  Lost their home to foreclosure due to job loss and unable to find another.
• Several of my friends and family looking for a job and unable to find one
• Friends with serious medical problems which will probably grow worse unless new medications can be found
• My sweet husband coping with early stages of Parkinson's Disease
• Some have children who  are giving them heartaches
• Some with heartaches over marriages being torn apart
• Others who are lonely and need a friend to comfort them
• Caring for aged parents who are in bad health and some who have recently lost parents.
• And the list can go on and on.

So asked myself again, "What is my problem?" and my answer was "I don't have any."  What I do have is the blessing and responsibility as your friend to help you carry your problems, comfort you, pray with you, and walk beside you as you carry your burdens and lighten your load a little bit. I can pray for and with you, write you a note, message you on Facebook, encourage, and brighten your day with love and compassion. 

Can I take your problem away?  Probably not but I know the One who knows the future and has been there before us and is ready to walk with us through the coming days.  His steps will match ours as I walk with you and He walks beside us to encourage and comfort.

What is my problem?  Can't remember  for I was still and listened to my Father God and exalted Him from my heart and soul.

God be with each of you who reads this and peace and joy in your soul.

 

Tangy Hot Chicken Salad

Tangy Hot Chicken Salad

Good evening and come on in for a visit and a cold drink for it is almost 70 degrees on a February night.  We have rain coming and thank goodness for we need every drop but I hope we don't get the wind and hail like we did last weekend.  We had 3 leaks in our great room where the rain blew in around a vent and the roofer could not find the hole where it was coming in.  We finally decided it was the strong wind blew it under the vent flashing and now we will have to paint our ceiling but it needed anyway so this will just speed up the process.

Have you ever tried to buy a winter coat in February?  Don't try for they are not there and I looked in 5 stores in Valdosta and could not find a wool, dress coat.  You see I lost my winter coat!!  Don't ask me where or how for if I knew it wouldn't be lost, would it?  I looked everywhere I had been or remembered where I had been and I could not find it.  It just disappeared.

It was not a disaster for I had grown dissatisfied with it but since it was still presentable in public, I wouldn't get a new one.  Now was my opportunity to get what I wanted - a gray, walking length, fitted, wool coat.  It seems according to the fashion experts that a slightly fitted waist makes you look slimmer and I need all the help I can get other than liposuction and a tummy tuck.  The fitted waist coat will be a whole lot less painful and tremendously less expensive so the search began.

After the 5th store and not finding any dress coats at all I just gave up and decided to try the Internet.  That was not very successful either until I remembered there was a company that had "coat" in its name and I thought that sure they would have what I wanted and sure enough I found one, ordered it, it came today and IT'S TOO LITTLE - awwwwww. 

Now I have to go through the process of returning it and that is always a hassle plus I have to pay the postage.  Have you mailed a package lately?  It is outrageous and I have to mail it back, order another size and when they get the coat back they will remove the charge from my credit card.  What a hassle but I am determined to get that coat for it is supposed to make me look slimmer, chic and beautiful - good luck, right?  This is a little difficult to achieve with a dumpy, short, older, white haired lady who wants to look slim, tall and younger.  I want to try though and I WANT THAT COAT so I will jump through the hoops and play the Internet return game and hopefully the next coat will fit.  When it gets here, I will post a picture of how lovely I look in it - time to laugh now.

I cooked a casserole yesterday that I haven't cooked in a long time.  While shopping in Sam's the other day I sampled some chicken salad which gave me a craving for some but I wanted something hot.  I remembered  that I used to make hot chicken salad so I dug out my recipe but wasn't quite satisfied with it so I found another one, took what I liked from both and added my twist and it is really good.

It called for slivered almonds and I wanted the crunch so I toasted them and added chopped carrots for an additional vegetable and increased the finely diced onion to 1/2 cup.  To lower the fat and calories, I used 1/2 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup mayonnaise which also added a little tang which I like.  The addition of the freshly grated Parmesan gives it a little tang also and a twist to the flavor.  The carrots, toasted almonds and celery added a little crunch and texture and since I didn't have any pototato chips I used Cheese Nips for my crumb topping.  I know this tastes better than the chips for there is an additional layer of flavor.  Try it and let me know what you think.

Tangy Hot Chicken Salad

Ingredients :
2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds
1 cup diced celery
1/c cup diced carrots
½ cup finely chopped onion
2 cup cooked chicken meat, cubed (can use 2 cans of canned chicken)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese divided into ½ cup portions
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2/3 cup crushed Cheese Nips
Paprika

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 13 by 9 inch baking dish with vegetable oil cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl combine the chicken, celery, onion, carrots, toasted almonds, salt, pepper, lemon juice, mayonnaise, sour cream and1/2 cheese. Place the mixture in the prepared baking dish. Spread the crushed Cheese Nips and ½ cup cheddar cheese and Parmesan Cheese on top. Sprinkle with paprika . Bake for 20 minutes, or until bubbly.

It was good, cold the next day as a sandwich with a toasted bun.  I am going to try freezing some to see if any of the ingredients break down but I don't think it will.  You can also prepare it the day before leaving off the crumbs and cheese on the top and bake it the next day after adding these.  Enjoy.

I will let you know how the saga of the coat ends and hopefully it will be with me having a gray, walking, nipped in waist coat before next winter.  Not getting my hopes up.

Nuff said,

The Georgia Peach

Comfort Food

Good evening and come on in for a visit.  It has been a beautiful day and unseasonably warm for February but those who know me know this is fine with me.  Flip flops, capris and a t shirt weather is wonderful.  It makes me want to begin planting a garden but I know it is too early for Daddy says until Easter we could have cold weather.  Guess I will have to plan what I am going to do and get ready.

I thought I would share a favorite recipe of our family that we have enjoyed since childhood and still do.  We have carried this tradition right on down to our children and grandchildren and it is still enjoyed by most of us.  It is Hamburger Gravy and is like sausage gravy but we use hamburger or deer burger for the meat.  Mama used to make it using the hamburger for we raised cows and had lots of beef but not a lot of pork for we didn't raise pigs much.  This was a favorite breakfast or supper dish for us and mama would serve it with grits and homemade biscuits and we would eat with gusto. 

A couple of weeks ago our nephew was visiting us at the home place in Alabama and when Delaine said we were having hamburger gravy for breakfast he lit up like a Christmas tree.  He used to ask mama to cook it for him when he was a little boy and still likes it. 

It is also a good way to take a pound of hamburger and feed a whole bunch of people and I even like to eat it cold.  Mama would leave it on the kitchen table and before lunch someone would have taken a cold biscuit and finished it off.  I know you will like it and if you don't have time to make fresh biscuits the frozen ones are just as good and it is also good with fresh, hot toast.  Enjoy.

Hamburger Gravy

1 lb. hamburger - if you use deer burger or ground chuck, you will need to add about 3 tablespoons of oil to make the roux
3 Tbs. flour
2 cups milk
salt and pepper to taste
Optional: powdered garlic, onion salt, a little Worcestershire sauce
You can also use hamburger and sausage meats - about 1/2 pound of each

Begin browning the hamburger meat in large skillet (I like to use a cast iron skillet) and when it has slightly browned add the flour.  I put my flour in a sieve and sift it over the meat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper so it will cook into the meat and stir the meat and flour until the meat is browned and add the milk a little at the time stirring constantly. Use a whisk for easier incorporation of the milk. Stir until it begins to thicken and taste to see if additional salt and pepper are needed.  This is when you can add the optional ingredients and I usually add some garlic powder.  Reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer for about 5 minutes or until thick.  If you like a thinner gravy, add more milk a little at the time. 
Serve over hot grits or split hot biscuits and enjoy.  This is comfort food at its best.

Let me know what you think and ya'll be careful going home and come back to see me soon.

Nuff said,

The Georgia Peach