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Showing posts from March, 2019

Have you tried an InstaPot? Why I choose one and a delicious meal.

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About a month ago I decided to add an Instapot to my kitchen arsenal.  I had been looking at alternatives to my Cuisinart electronic pressure cook and my little electric rice cooker.  The reason for the search - teflon.  Both of these appliances have teflon coated cooking pots.  It has been noted that teflon and such nonstick surfaces once they begin to break down, become a true health hazard! " According to the Environmental Working Group, teflon and PFOA (which is the chemical used to make teflon) are some of the most persistent chemicals in the world. Their toxic legacy will outlive every one of us, and the next 25 generations of our offspring. Ironically, it may shorten each generation’s lifespan, as well.  PFOA’s effects  include liver damage, immune dysfunction, thyroid dysfunction, and a decreased ability to fight infection"   If you would like to read the rest of this article, click here . I haven't rushed into this, I have had both pots for 4+ years and I hav

How to Make and Pressure Can Carrot Ginger Sweet Potato Soup.

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I love soups, all kinds, any weather any meal.  Some of my favorites are also what I call 'healing soups' .  These soups are not only packed full of flavor, they are packed full of nutrition. Most of my soups start with homemade Chicken Bone broth.  Bone broth is on a continual production cycle here, I use organic chickens and pure water.  If you have auto immune issues or any chronic health problems bone broth will help nourish and heal your body ( sorry I am not vegan or vegetarian- not yet anyways). I also keep veg broth in production for soups and cooking . Today's recipe is a wonderful antioxidant rich soup that will energize  you, and for a bonus I am going to share a favorite breakfast soup Most of my cooking is using what I have in my pantry, what I have found on sale and what is is season - during the growing season, The ingredients are listed but you can adapt this to your taste, this is a highly flavored soup!  Use organic if you can! 4 quarts Chicken B

WOYWW #510

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Hello to my Work Desk Weds friends!  Just a peek at work desks around the world starting here at Julia's' blog .   I have been super busy the last 4-5 months doing everything but card making!  It feels good to be at my desk again.  Here it is for a card I made today for a swap. If you would like the full details of this card battle   click here .  Thanks for stopping here and join in the fun at Julia's! Ginny M

How not to make a card, and making it work and freebie.

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I have a card to share with you today, however  I'm not sure if it is a disaster!  But that is how card making goes, not every card is a masterpiece.  I am sharing  it because in  the end I feel like I won the battle.   This card was for the one card swap group I belong to, the theme was 'living room colors'. My living room is warm yellows some deep orange, browns, a little black and cream. I wanted my card to be a get well card - seems I never have enough of those, so I though my swap partner might like one. Here is the card and if you are interested , read on for the process  As I often do, I picked out my background paper first and then dry embossed and added a little distress ink to make the design pop. Next the stamp I stamped the image using Gina K amalgam ink on water color paper I noticed this on the image -I don't like it So I grabbed the stamp and removed the offending line Stamped again and bega

Tattler Lids and Tomato Sauce, with Recipe.

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After a busy morning and early afternoon yesterday I wanted to "put up" a batch of meatless spaghetti sauce.  I purchased a large quantity  of # 5 28 oz canned tomatoes recently and would like to have them turned into sauce before the warm weather gets here. These cans were 66 cents each. Normally I would be doing this at the start of the winter not the end.  My family requires 75 quarts of sauce a year. Some have meat and some don't.  Right now I am at 45 in my pantry along with a bunch of pints.  Having a years worth on hand just works for my family and our system of cooking. I hope to have a garden that turns out tomatoes this year and I won't be looking for sales on canned products, but if that doesn't work I will resort to the old faithful method of using canned.  Now you might think this is kinda gross using canned tomatoes and reprocessing but it is not, it is delicious and tastes very fresh!  If it is telling, I get asked for this recipe a lot and I hav

Word Art Wednesday

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It is a cold, cold  Central New York Morning, and I woke up thinking about all the wonderful friends I have made in my Christian walk. As I began to pray for some of my friends, many I have not seen in a long time I thought how someday we will all rejoice together and what a day that will be!   I  also needed to make a birthday card.  Word Art Wednesdays' verse is just so perfect for that card! Here is my card  For some reason the photo makes it look warped but it isn't.   This is actually the first card I have made in 3 months and bout did I feel rusty! I have gone through a lot of my stampy stuff in order to down size and keep only the things I am using and really love  and this stamp may be on the list to go, it did not stamp well I colored with colored pencil, water based marker and an alcohol blending pen. Clear sparkly nail polish on the butterfly and microbeads on the flower centers. It took four tries to get a decent image and I don't like th

Prv 14:1 Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.

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  I certainly want to be a wise woman.  I have lived long enough to see this verse come to pass both in the positive and negative light.    The first time I read this verse I was 20 and single and a new Christian.  This verse became a one of those guiding light passages for my life.   Since I am into "doing" I wanted and want to make sure I built good things.  I built a legacy of faith for my young kids and together with Steve we built a house of faith and stability  that all the generations of our family could find shelter.   We are still building, still influencing and still praying for our "house"and will continue till the day we  see Jesus face to face. In my reading this week I have been focusing on this verse in Galatians: I have been thinking about the  application  of this verse in my walk and in turn how this affects my world.  Do I frustrate the grace of God in my life, do I deny it's power in my circumstances? We all have circ

Worship, Word, Rest, Sundays: The Best Way to Start Your Week!

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Yesterday was such a great day We had wonderful worship and Word at our church, followed by a sweet time at home.  We brought our friends Dolly and Paul home for dinner.  We talked about the Bible,  and some of the Christian adventures in our lives.  Before we ate, Steve gave thanks  the food and we sang Amazing Grace.  I had mentioned To Dolly they were going to have to 'Sing for thier Supper', I wanted to bring a little of that sweetness to my mom.  We sang four part harmony and it was beautiful! We ate a yummy meal, healthy and nourishing, Talked more, sharing chapters of grace in our lives . After Dolly and Paul left, I cleaned up the kitchen and pulled out my Carey Canner - I purchased this canner for it's ease of use.  I had 2 Quarts of Chicken Spaghetti sauce ( I served it on Zoodles) left over and wanted to can it for future meal  - The Carey is perfect for this!  Jar it up, set the buttons and go relax!  Now I could freeze it,  however, long time ago before I st

My canning Kitchen and Selecting Pressure Canners

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One of my favorite things to due in a few spare minutes is take a peek at other peoples centers for creativity, and that is what today's post is.  My kitchen and pantry.  I always appreciate tips and tricks of my experienced friends in their paths of creativity!  Yesterday I blogged about why I can, today It is about how. One thing to remember, the old saying - Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will your kitchen! I am very blessed in this time of my life to be able to carefully purchase the tools that I need, and I haven't rushed this.  It took a few experiences to figure out what works best for my family with our resources. An important factor in building your kitchen is what to you want to over all accomplish?  Of course eating is right up there, but what type of eating?  For us it is no processed foods - I process my own. Economy, we don't want to go broke doing this, Organic - which goes back to not going broke. I watch the Aldi's flyers, and loc