Thursday, October 30, 2014

God Is a Hands on God and He Loves Us

Raggedy Ann's Wishing Pebble

God is a hands on God and he loves us, and He hears and answers our prayers. 

When I was little, Nana Pills had read me a bedtime story and then it was time for me to say my prayers. The story had been about Raggedy Ann and Andy getting some magic wishing pebbles from a tin soldier or something like that. 

So when I said my prayers I asked Heavenly Father for a dozen magic pebbles so all of my wishes would come true.  

Nana assured me that I wouldn't be getting those magic pebbles and it was selfish to pray for them.

More recently I have learned that to pray for a good wind for myself might mean a bad wind for my neighbor.

So praying for the best wind for all concerned and to have the Lord's will be done is the best.

Love,
Grammy T.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Google Plus Ate My Photo's - Pinterest to The Rescue

Nobody's Perfect not even Google+

My pictures got eaten by Google+ and now I am having to try to find them. It is very sad to loose years of blogging images in one fell swoop. 
The Flirty Blog shares these insights. And She is smart!

I am so glad that I posted almost all of my blogs to Pinterest because I am finding some of the hard to find pictures there. 

Whew!!

Pinterest to the Rescue

Flirty says:

If you haven't already joined Google+ but intend to do so you need to be aware that if you are using the image uploader provided by Blogger to add photos to your blog posts those photos are being stored in a Picasa web photo album associated to your blog.

I believe it's the second item in the screenshot image above that people are concerned about. It's the one that says:

"Your album's visibility settings aren't changed, but people they're shared with can now share them with others."

You read this and decide you don't want to let your friends on Google+ share your images with their friends.

This means if you:

  1. Remove images from your blog's Picasa album
  2. Delete the album completely
  3. Delete your Picasa account
  4. Assume the album you see in Google+ is a duplicate (it's the original) and delete it (ETA: I read online the Photos Community Manager Brian Rose said in a Google Group that Google will ". . .make it clearer that your Picasa photos themselves are displayed on Google+ and not copied" which should solve this problem.)
  5. Create a new Gmail account and move your blog to the new account then delete the original Gmail account (This is the only non-Google+ issue)
You will lose all of your blog images hosted in the associated Picasa photo album(s) meaning they will disappear from your blog. Forever. 

This is what we get now if we want to delete some of the pictures from Google+.

This is what is suggested that Google+ should do to sufficiently warn people of the risks. The Flirty Blog is really good right? 



So be very careful!

Love, 
 Grammy T.

Monday, October 27, 2014

Tweaked Chicken Tortilla Soup

My Tweaked Chicken Tortilla Soup 
And guess what? 

It was fast and delicious and I feel like a Rock Star 

because I used what I had on hand.

Trisha's Chicken Tortilla Soup


Chicken Tortilla Soup by Trisha Yearwood

Tweaked meaning I don't have all this but I want some.

And guess what it was delicious. 


So how did I do it?

Here is the original and my changes:

Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter - same
1 teaspoon minced garlic - dried garlic granules and garlic powder
1 medium onion, finely chopped - dried minced onion
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour - same
Three 14-ounce cans chicken broth - Knorr's chicken broth granules
4 cups half-and-half - one can evaporated milk
One 10.75-ounce can cream of chicken soup - same
1 cup prepared salsa, mild or spicy - 2 cups salsa
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, boiled, drained and shredded 
- 2 cans shredded chicken from my years supply
One 15-ounce can black beans, drained - 4 cans pinto beans
One 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained
One 15-ounce can whole kernel corn, drained - 2 can corn undrained
2 teaspoon ground cumin - same
One 1.27-ounce packet fajita seasoning - left out
One 16-ounce bag tortilla chips - same
8 ounces Monterey Jack, grated - no
8 ounces sharp Cheddar, grated - same
1/2 cup sour cream - no
I added -1 tsp. cayanne pepper 
1 Tbl. chili powder 
I didn't saute onions and garlic because I used dried. I just put them in all the wet mixture.

Directions
Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the garlic and the onion and saute until softened, 5 minutes. Add the flour and stir well, cooking for 1 minute more. Add the broth and the half-and-half. Stir in the cream of chicken soup, salsa, chicken, beans, corn, cumin and fajita seasoning. Continue to simmer over low heat for 15 minutes.

Crumble the tortilla chips into individual bowls and top with a ladle of soup. Sprinkle each serving with cheese and add a dollop of sour cream.

Recipe adapted from Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen by Trisha Yearwood (c) Clarkson Potter 2008

Love,
Grammy T. 

Saturday, October 25, 2014

The Serendipity Quilt by Missouri Star Quilt Company


Serendipity


I am going to make this quilt today. 

My daughter Christi wants another quilt for her bed
for winter 

and 

I have scraps. 

Of course I have scraps!  

And I have a challenge from The Nebo Modern Quilt Guild to do 

so here I go. 

Watch this video from The Missouri Star Quilt Company and from 3 Dudes. 

This is really a darling quilt. I love it. 
I am using scraps from the Centenial Quilt I made and from others I've made. 

This will be so fun. I can't wait. 
To save time Christi is having it quilted by 
Janika from Around The Block. 

Bye for now. 

Love,
Grammy T.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

It's Fall Y'all - Apple Dip Recipe


Yummy Apple Dip
When Papa T. and I were serving our mission 
to The Jacksonville Florida Mission I came across this fabulous recipe 
and our students at 
The University of Florida Institute of Religion 
in Gainesville, Florida
loved it. 

They loved it so much they would snitch it away from the buffet table and hide with it in a corner somewhere. 

So I am sharing the recipe with you because 
it is the best.

Enough For A Bunch

4 – Boxes Cream Cheese
1 – Bag Heath Toffee Bits
1 – Cup Brown Sugar
1 – Cup White Sugar

Mix

Pre Sliced at Publix for the lazy :)

 

Cut it in fourths for a smaller group 
or for yourself:

1 - Box Cream Cheese 
1/3 - Bag of Heath Toffee Bits 
1/3 - Cup Brown Sugar 
1/3 – Cup White Sugar

Mix 


 Serve with sliced Granny Smith Apples or 
both red and greens. 

You will LOVE this.

Love,
Grammy T. 

Monday, October 20, 2014

What The Heck Ever Happened To Modesty?

Three of My Granddaughters

Michael Hyatt  developed some really good Modesty Guidelines 
and asked that we pass this message on. 

I thought they were great and as a mom of four girls 
and a grandmother to eleven granddaughters 
I would love to pass this message on. 

Modesty Guidelines:

1. If you have trouble getting into it or out of it, it is probably not modest.
2. If you have to be careful when you sit down or bend over, it is probably not modest.
3. If people look at any part of your body before looking at your face, it is probably not modest.

4. If you can see your most private body parts or an outline of those parts under the fabric, it is probably not modest.

Michael also said:
Where are the fathers of these girls?

I love that he said fathers. Fathers get bashed to pieces now days and it's just not right. 

The other night at the football game my darling cheerleader granddaughter was very concerned about her modesty. I assured her she was covered up just fine and not to worry about it. 

She also is trying out to be water girl. I know that's what I thought too but she would like to be a Trainer as in fixing boboos at the games. It is a good occupation, well maybe. Time will tell. She's only 14. 

Well back to the water girl thing. One of the players gave her some strong lip. Her daddy told her to tell the coach. Guess who got benched and couldn't play for two games? Yep and guess who the coach told to watch their mouths around the girls? All the players. Yep!!! 

I love it!!

Love,
Grammy T.

Friday, October 17, 2014

Every Time I Felt Defeated

Dear Readers, 
My Good News Minute today is about 
a story;
File:Lange-MigrantMother02.jpg
"Migrant Mother"
Florence ThompsonSeptember 1, 1903 – September 16, 1983
In the 70's we lived in Idaho in a 
small farming community.

Every time that I felt defeated, 
I'd get out this story and hold my head up high 
and bake my bread and make yummy food 
with the bulk items I had on hand.  

It was a very difficult time for my husband 
and myself financially. 

My fifth baby was only six weeks old when I decided to babysit two extra
little boys to help out a little with the budget. 

They were the age of my oldest boy so I thought it was a fabulous idea 
until my stomach screamed that it was not. 

The doctor gave me medicine and said that I needed to take away some of my stress. 

Well I couldn't take away the bills and I couldn't take away our other concerns 
so the only thing I could think to take away were 
those two little boys that I baby sat. 

One of the little boys would stand at the window and stare with a broken heart 
because of his parents were getting a divorce. 
It was too much for me. 

My husband asked permission from his boss to work at 
a potato plant on a shift that started at
four in the afternoon. 

So he taught Seminary until three thirty and then loaded box cars with frozen spuds 
of all kinds until 12:30 in the morning. 

He would bring me home frozen hash browns that went so good with the 
home made bread toast, bacon and eggs that I fixed for him to eat at 
1:00 o'clock in the morning.

I would put my little one's to bed all comfy cozy and I'd keep my house spotless 
so that when he walked in the door at 1:00 o'clock he could feel at peace 
and comfortable and was better able to get up at 
6:00 o'clock the next morning and 
start all over again. 

He did this for four months until we could get on our feet again. 

As I look back on those times I realize that if I would have gone to work 
and been gone all day we would have had a dirty messy house with a 
mad husband and sad little children. 

it turned out just right. 

So read the story young mommy's 
and see if it might help you get through 
a little better too. 

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

What A Mess - Get A Rake

What a Mess - Get A Rake 

As a mommy of seven children I learned 
a few things about messes. 

We lived in small houses and the front room was 

the main play area. 

1. Rake up the toys 


I got a carpet rake. 

We had shag carpet in those days and 
a carpet rake worked great. 

2. Put a basket behind the couch or

 someplace inconspicuous. 

3. Then take the rake and rake everything to the basket. 


4. Now the little people get to play vacuum and pick up the toys 

and put them in the basket. 

I used to set the timer and we would see if we could pick up 

twenty things each and get them in the basket
before the timer went off. 

And then we had a Happy Helper Treat for all of 

our fun work and a pretty room. 

One more thing that really helped.

I kept playdough, puzzles, and crayons, etc.  
UP high on a shelf that only I could reach. 

That really helped a lot.


Happy Raking.


Love,

Grammy T.