Freezing Fresh Fruit

Good evening and come in for a visit.  Another great Spring Day in South Georgia which leads me to planning a trip to the beach.  We are ready for a little trip to Jekyll Island for toes in the sand time and soaking up some sun, sea and beauty.  Have to check our calendar and find a couple of days.

We drink smoothies for breakfast several mornings a week and sometimes for a snack in the afternoon in which we like to use frozen fruit.  My recipe for our smoothies and one way to freeze fruit is found in this posting "Smoothies". 

I have found another way to freeze fresh fruit which I like better.  You begin with fresh fruit and I like to use strawberries and bananas most of the time.  As you can tell from the picture above, I buy the overripe bananas for they are sweeter and usually on sale.  When they are this ripe they also have more antioxidants.  Strawberries are usually available year around and are less expensive than most fruit.

Wash and stem the berries, let dry and slice thinly.  Place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper, parchment paper or freezer paper with waxed side up. Arrange in one layer.

 If you have bananas, peel, slice thinly and place them on paper layered over the strawberries.

 

I have put 5 layers of fruit on a sheet then place freezer or waxed paper on the top and press lightly to adhere it to the fruit.  Place in the freezer until frozen.

Remove the fruit from the tray with paper.  Begin crinkling the paper and the fruit will fall off into a bowl or tray then place in large freezer bag.  When frozen this way, they are in separate slices which make them easier to measure.  I usually use about a cup or cup and a half in a smoothie for 2.

I add other fruit as I freeze it.  I add mango chunks, blueberries, blackberries, peaches and sometimes I add cantaloupe.  You can add whatever fruit is on sale and would taste good in a smoothie.  If you find frozen fruit on sale, you can buy several kinds of fruit and mix them with your frozen fruit.  A great way to use bits and pieces of fruit.

Another way to use this fruit is to put about 2 cups of the frozen fruit in a food processor and process until smooth.  Add some yogurt, process until mixed, and you have a great soft-serve "ice cream".  This can be frozen and eaten later. 

These slices make good snack as frozen fruit slices.  The bananas are especially good but the strawberries come in a close second. 

Try this and let me know what combos you like and how you use the fruit.

Ya'll take care and come back to see me.

Nuff said,

The Georgia Peach

 

Good evening from South Georgia on a beautiful, Spring night.  I know it has been quite awhile since I wrote my last posting but I am finding that being a care giver is quite tiring physically, mentally and emotionally.  Most days I am ready for bed quite early and mentally I am drained but I hope writing my blog again will be an energizer. 

The biggest adjustment for us has been realizing we cannot take care of ourselves without help.  We don't have any family here in Adel so we turned to friends who have a help for those of us who need it.  Our sweet lady from Comfort Keepers comes twice a week and helps with everything from laundry to helping Roy exercise and this allows me to go to town and take care of shopping, mail, etc.  She is not only a comfort to us but has also become a good friend and I hope she will be with us as long as we need someone.

Enough about us for I have begun to cook more and have several recipes and ideas for you.  The one for today has been around for quite awhile but I am just now trying it and today I tried a new method with it.  As you can tell from the pictures it is a biscuit recipe.  Now I have been making biscuits for umpteen years from scratch and biscuit mix but I had not tried this one until last week and it is the 7-Up Biscuit. 

This is the blog where I found the recipe using a Pinterest search and please check here for the recipe: http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/07/easy-7-up-biscuits.html.

The only change I made was using Sprite and not 7-Up but it did not make any difference.  Last week I made a single recipe but doubled it today and it was fine. 

This is 14 that I baked today and I froze some unbaked ones to bake later.  I will let you know how those taste.

This morning I cooked sausage patties to go with the biscuits.  I always bake my sausage patties using a baking pan and wire rack to hold the patties.  This allows the fat to drip down into the pan and they have less fat. If you cover them with foil they stay moist and not dry.

 

These are the beautiful biscuits which are light, fluffy and very good. 

I took split some of them in half and put a sausage patty between the layers, put each one in a zip lock bag and froze them for latter. 

 

 

When I get ready to eat them, I will let them thaw and heat them in the oven or microwave.  I think these will be delicious and plan to try them Monday morning, heated and a little strawberry jam added. 

 

Many of my friends declare they can't make a good biscuit but I can guarantee that you can make a good biscuit with this recipe and impress your family and friends.   One of my friends said they taste like Cracker Barrel biscuits but I think they are better.

 

I plan to make a recipe soon, cut them smaller and thinner and put slivers of ham between the layers for a snack.  This would be a quick snack to freeze and heat for unexpected company.  Let me know how you use this recipe and I will post again soon.

 

Nuff Said,

 

The Georgia Peach

 

 



Walking Together

Good morning and I think I am back to write in my blog.  I have been contemplating how to continue with communicating with our family and friends and those who will become our friends through this blog. This has been a difficult decision for we are rather private but here goes.

Our lives have changed since we took this picture several years ago at a family wedding and we are going to share with you how we are travelling this new road and prayerfully it will help those of you who will travel it with us.  I will still post recipes, my crafts, and pictures of our grandchildren so you can see how our family is growing and how I am keeping busy with my hobbies. Now as to why I am changing my blog.

About 4 years ago we had an appointment with a neurologist for Roy was having some balance problems and his walking was becoming slower.  Our wonderful family doctor sent us to him to see what was causing these problems.  When Roy walked into the exam room we heard, "Has anyone ever told you that you have Parkinson's?"  These words didn't mean a lot to us for we didn't know a lot about this disease so we listened and waited for more information.

After a long day of every test imaginable and some we couldn't imagine, we were told it looked like Parkinson's but that is is difficult to diagnose.  It is more of ruling out other problems and treating it as Parkinson's in the meantime. 

We are also finding out there are many different symptoms and you may have some but not all.  We are blessed in that Roy does not have the tremors and the medication is keeping most of symptoms under control.  We are also blessed to have good insurance which helps us with the costs of these medications.

Now as to how we are doing.  The road gets a little more difficult with passing of time but we are coping rather well and that is what we want to share with you.  How do you cope with a debilitating disease and other illnesses?  Each posting will take a step we are are walking, how we are coping, resources you can use and other information we can share.

It will not be morbid, unhappy and sorrowful for we are not any of these.  You see, we have a Heavenly Father who walks each step with us to guide, encourage, give strength and joy to use each minute of every day.  Come walk with us and become a part of our journey, if you like, and share with us how you may be coping with similar problems and we will encourage each other.

By the way, we are going to have another great- granddaughter in December and we are rejoicing!! Our clan is growing.

Ya'll come back to see us and happy trails with us.

The Georgia Peach

Gulf Shores Birthday



Gulf Shores, AL 2012

 

Good evening I know it has been awhile but have not had the time or inclination to write anything.  Haven't been cooking much so I don't have any new recipes and haven't been doing much so nothing to talk about.  We have had 2 events this past month which we enjoyed - our annual trip to Gulf Shores Alabama and celebrating my 70th birthday while we were there.

 These are 3 of our GREAT nieces from Houston which we met for the week and we always have a wonderful time with them.  This is Morgan, Taylor and Katelyn and they are a total joy. 

This year I taught them to knit on their fingers and I think lots of people will get beautiful scarves for Christmas.  It is amazing how quickly they learned the skill and were soon busy making long scarves of colorful yarn.  I love to pass on a skill to them and next year I hope to teach them how to crochet or knit so they will have another valuable skill and hobby.  They are soooo smart.



  
 This is Martha, my sweet sister-in-love who is the MeMaw for the sweet girls.  She and Taylor spend a lot of time together and when MeMaw is present, the rest of us do not exist.  They are making the first of 2 banana puddings for us to enjoy and it was delicious.  I think Taylor is going to be a good cook like her grandmother for she is getting lots of good instruction.

We have known Martha most of her life for she is from my home town and was my brother's girlfriend in the 4th grade and on and on.  They were happily married for many years before lung disease took him Home  but she is my sister and we love each other and wish we lived closer together.  Houston is a long way from Adel, GA but at least we see each other once a year at the beach.

This is my niece and her family which we have met in Gulf Shores for the last 2 years for a vacation.  This is Beth, Gregg, Katelyn, Morgan and Taylor from Houston, TX.  It has been a complete joy to meet them at the beach for that is our favorite place to go and this beach is where we went when we were children and teenagers growing up in Camden, AL.  Beth used to go occasionally when she was a little girl and now we are continuing the Polk tradition of enjoying a little piece of heaven here on earth. 

Our daughter, Becky was able to come down for a few days to relax and help celebrate my birthday.  You notice there are no candles for we didn't want to burn the house down and not sure they would have all fit on the cake.  We ate supper at our favorite seafood restaurant in Orange Beach and my daughter made sure the waitress knew it was my 70th birthday which was announced to about 1/2 the restaurant and they all sang "Happy Birthday" and I got a delicious slice of real key lime pie which we all shared.  Good food, good time and lots of fun and love to share.

 

This was one of my favorite moments with Becky for we are doing what we both love - standing by the sea, watching the waves, and just enjoying being together.  Love the beach and love that girl.

 

 

Turning 70 was not that bad and I think I look pretty cool for a 70 year old!! It is the beginning of a new decade for me and it has its perks.  You get discounts without asking and your taxes go down.  Best of all, you have learned who you are, what you want with the years you have left, and you can live how you want to and not worry about what other people think.  These "other people" will overlook forgetfullness, unusual behavior, strange outfits, and other weird behaviour for they will just shake their heads and say, "Bless her heart, she is getting old."  Freedom is mine to be who I want to be, act like I want to act, say what I want to say and mix plaids and polka dots without worrying if it matches. 

 

I look forward to the coming years and without sadness realize they may be many or they will be some, and they may be few but that's OK for I plan to live each day fully and enjoy what I have.  Life is good and thank you Beth, Gregg, Martha, Becky, Katelyn, Morgan and Taylor giving me a great birthday.  Love ya'll. I just hope more of the family can come next year for it was wonderful but we missed those who were not there. 

 

Nuff said,

 

The Georgia Peach