A new year and new start.....

In a few hours we will be entering a new year.
For me it is a new start after several years of caring for the needs of an aging parent, that chore ceased when Mom passed away this fall... Then we have a business that has reached a point where I am struggling to handle my responsibilities. It has been wonderful seeing the growth and changes but there are times that a more laid back existence would feel good.

I am trying to keep up with my web sites, learn new things and live life to the fullest.
2007 should be a good one if the number 7 really holds a little luck.

I am making a couple of new years resolutions...I'm going to loose a little of the flab and fat I have been cultivating for the past couple of years. I know all the diet stuff, but food has been a comfort in times of stress.
Second thing I plan on doing is voicing my opinions a little more strongly and using my experiences to expose the good and bad we all experience. I figure I am old enough to get away with being more outspoken. If you don't like it then don't read it.......
This is my soap box and I plan on using it.

Sooooo, you all have a great New Year and if you get bored then stop by and read the newest post.

Gram

How was your Christmas?

Are you suffering post Christmas fatigue, or are you one of those who are in the shopping mode?
I'm one of those who are simply pleased to have survived and even managed to enjoy the day.
The morning was our traditional visit the daughter and take part in family fun and present opening. Of course, there was an obscene amount of money spent but no debts were incurred.

That is as it should be. Buy what you can afford and then do not feel guilty, one or two nice gifts will do as well as a dozen.

We bought our own gifts this year, one major item is the new computer...which we should have this week. This is a necessity as our business is advertised throughout the web and a good fast system is necessary for web development. The second purchase was a bit less necessary but it will provide me with a great tool for the web sites and advertising. I broke down and purchased a digital SLR.
It will probably take me months to learn how to use it but I think it will be a great devise for what I'm going to be using it for. After I figure out some more things I'll post a few photos.

I have wandered enough for now..... I hope you all have a good day. Start resting up as New Years Day is coming very soon.

Christmas - Commercial or simple -What's Important?

Christmas is just around the corner, are you ready? There are people out there that manage to get their shopping done and are prepared for the big day.

I am not one of those people as there is only have one gift sitting in the closet. Not to bad for having 5 people on my list. What happens in my case is a morning of power shopping probably this coming Wednesday. Why then...that's an easy question...I have the day off from all my other chores and the business is on hold till after the Christmas holiday. Yea! Days off!

I do know what I am going to get everyone except the Grandson. I haven't quite decided which thing on his list of 'I wants' to purchase. There is a realistic amount we will spend and it will be in cash. We have found that everyone is very happy with their gifts irregardless what the amount spent.

Before our business got busy I had a lot more time and for a couple of years I made gifts. Afghans and pillows, hand crafted boxes for treasures, baskets of goodies from the oven.
Those special things were so warmly received. I wish there was the time to do this again for my kids and grandchildren.

There is such a commercialization of the Christmas holiday in our modern world that there is a feeling if all the wants and wishes aren't met than Christmas will be a bust. Why? It has to do with the advertisements we are force fed through ever media branches for months prior to the big day.
Every kid needs the newest video game player. Of course, there will also be a stack of new games that goes with this new, super duper, extreme player.
Games are fun but there is such a focus on these expensive toys that the average kid really can't
really appreciate. It is a game for heaven sakes not the key to heaven, irregardless what the manufacturers say. I find the months of hype and promotion of these overpriced toys months creates a a sorry statement about the buying public. Do they realize they have been manipulated and lead around like a bunch of sheep? Nope, not a clue.

There is a similarity to designer jeans, big name sneakers and those boxers that sport that status symbol of KC initials - Fads and the material needs of the generations continues on.
How important are these things in in the real world? Not.........................

Gram

Holiday Frenzy

Ho, Ho, Ho, the Holidays are upon us. Food, gifts and great meals are the focus for most of us this time of year. For many families this is one of the few times during the year when large
get-togethers occur.

For the Mom who is hosting the grown kids and perhaps Christmas dinner, it can be a exhausting time. The house is cleaned from top to bottom starting days ahead of the big event. There is the shopping for all the food and necessary items for a grand meal and cooking usually starts a day or two prior to Christmas. The make ahead items such as pies and goodies are done and stored in the fridge.

On the big day Mom is up very early preparing the turkey for the oven. Starting the giblets and neck to make that fantastic gravy everyone loves. Then the sweet potatoes and white potatoes are started cooking for the mashed and candied potatoes. Way too often our hostess works herself into a frazzle long before all this meal preparation starts, then it goes from bad to worse.

In my case I found that after the meal was eaten and some of the mess cleaned up everyone was content. The kids generally had to make appearances at other family gatherings so they would gather their gifts, give hugs all round and hurry off to the next stop on their list. When the last person was out the door I would collapse in a puddle of fatigue. I know everyone had a great time...everyone except me. I had been so focused on providing a great meal and a good time I missed out on the fun.
When everyone else was watching TV or visiting I had been occupied on making things just so.

No wonder there is such a rise in stress and depression during the holiday season. We expose ourselves to unreal expectations on how things should be. We fuss about buying gifts and making sure everything is perfect.....and usually things are not exactly the way we expected or wanted.
Let down and disappointment rears their ugly head.

How to enjoy the holiday season? Decide just what is important for you. Are the days of preparation on that big meal worth it? If not, find a nice restaurant and make reservations for the family. Spend the day not cooking.
If the eating out is not your bag then have everyone bring 1 or 2 items for the meal. You can even be brave and use throwaway plastic dishes....

What is more important? How your dinner table looks? Or, is it who is there to share the love and companionship of the day? Frankly, I think enjoying the day and those I love is more important than a perfectly set table with the good china and silver and a spotless house.

Think about it...And Enjoy the Upcoming Holiday Season
Gram

Eat healthier and lose weight?

There are options for healthy foods and at the same time you might even lose some of that spare tire you have around your middle.

Oh yea, you already have a diet....and I am going to say diets almost never really work. There are probably tens of thousands of pounds lost while people are on some kind of diet, and there are tens of thousands of pounds gained right back within a relatively short period of time after the diet. Dieting is a demoralizing process.

Granted some of these 'programs' are temporarily successful, especially those that provide your food.
They are also quite expensive and you cannot live your life eating from those little portion controlled boxes that are designed to help trigger weight loss. As soon as you reach your goal and graduate to regular eating again the weight soon starts settling in on the hips or around your middle. Why? Because you have not learned what to eat.

We also have the 'take this fantastic little pill and loose that unwanted flab'. If you listen close to the ads you may hear this statement Take this diet aid, eat healthy and with exercise you can loose many pounds of unwanted weight.
So forget the diet aid and learn to eat healthy, add some good old fashioned exercise and your body will loose weight without anything else.

Eating healthy is simple...Reduce or eliminate sugar...all sugars. That includes the so called natural sugars such as honey.
Start eating whole wheat products. Breads and pastas that are 100% whole grain products are easily available and contain all there natural vitamins, enzymes and fiber. The combination of all these items make it possible for the body to regulate how it metabolizes the calories you are taking in.

Increase fresh fruits and vegetables and if it can be eaten raw then that is a bonus.
Regular white potatoes need to go, the starch in a white potato is just one little step from sugar and the body doesn't have to work to make that change which can result in almost instant fat.
Change the rice you eat to brown rice...again it is full of fiber and vitamins.
The fiber in food slows down the digestion and assimilation of the starches in the various grains and fruits.

You will also need to modify the fats in your diet to be heart healthy.
Learn to read labels and become educated on foods and nutrition.

If you eat a sensible portion of lean meats, high fiber fruits, vegetables and whole grain products you will be on your way to a healthier life. Combine that with some exercise and weight loss as well as better health can be yours.

If you learn how to eat well you do not have to starve yourself or be deprived of your favorite foods. You will have to change things but your meals can still be extremely enjoyable, filling and healthy.

You are responsible for yourself, you need to learn and you will have to put forth effort to succeed.

Sunday wishes

I am wishing that those of you who have family in nursing homes or are alone spend a little time with them. Give the gift of yourself and your time.


I had a nice long post on how families can fail the elderly or those suffering from diseases such as dementia or Alzheimers. Some how I managed to lose it and I'm thinking it was not meant to be published today.

God grant you peace on this Sunday.......
Gram

Food, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

I was going to post yesterday but the internet denied me that with it's almost child like sulking.
As a nation we are so dependent on our technology and 'toys' that when they do not function we are lost. It is a joke on us.

I am going to save the subject on Alzheimer's and family for later.

Here in Washington the day is sunny, beautiful, and cold. Even though it is Sunday it is a work day in our house and that is something that most homeworkers understand.
How do you deal with the meals on those non stop days? Have something delivered, use the slow cooker or actually take the time to cook something up?

Here's a very simple slow cooker recipe. It is tasty, healthy and it really doesn't require much effort...........

Boneless chicken breast and gravy

1/2 breast for each adult.

1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. parsley

Dredge rinsed and dried chicken breast in flour mixture
Brown chicken breast in a small amount of olive oil.

Place browned breast pieces into crock-pot
Add 1 can cream of mushroom soup and 1 can water and
1 can chicken broth over the meat.
(1/3 cup of a light, white wine may be also added)

Cook on high heat approximately 4 hours or until the juices run clear
or all day on low.
Serve chicken and gravy over brown rice.

Add a vegetable or quick green salad, fruit for desert and you have a perfect meal.

………………………………

Some serious thoughts on foods and lifestyle

I am a firm believer much of our physical problems can be linked directly to what we eat or don't eat and how we spend our free time.
Diabetes, heart problems and obesity are running rampant through our nation today. Why? Lifestyle and food?

We are a country that consumes tons of sugar, eats that wonderful soft white bread by the truck load, consumes mountains of pasta, lakes of sugary sodas/drinks and fatty snacks by the box car.
To top off all that we try to figure out how not to do any more physical work than possible. We refuse to walk anywhere, look for parking spots at the store as close to the door and our kids usually get a ride to school....even if it well within walking distance.....

We've gotten lazy, fat and unhealthy. Is there hope?

There are options for easy diet changes that can stop weight gain, help provide better nutrition and in most cases help improve our health.
More on that later.

Happiness passing it along....

Yesterday, I touched on what makes you happy. My thoughts on this - happiness is a very fleeting and short lived emotion. One which is usually dependent on someone else.

It is so much easier to make someone happy, simply a hug and a bit of praise will bring that special feeling. Everyone seems to glow with the knowledge that someone cares. I found this so true this past several years.

My mother became a statistic when she fell victim to a brain wasting disease...essentially Alzheimer's.
She spent 5 years traveling down that scary road of losing her memories, her family and eventually herself to this devastating disease. However, even on her worst days she responded to the touch of a hand, the sound of a familiar voice or a gentle hug.

She might not have known exactly who I was those last years but she responded to the feeling of belonging that caring gives. That attention and contact made her happy, granted the emotion was short lived but her response brought a mirrored feeling to me. Happiness touched my heart and for a short time eased the overwhelming and continuous grief I lived with.

There is so much to this kind of story, emotions of guilt, sadness, fear, resentment and the overwhelming responsibility for another human being. This is not like the responsibility of raising children. Those you love, guide and raise the best you can and they progress down the road to adulthood.
A parent with an affliction such as Alzheimer's regresses back the same road they traveled on many years before....and you cannot stop it.
I chose this responsibility because she and I lived in the same city, because I have always been the 'easy' person in our family structure and because it was destined to be my job.
Out of Mom's three children, I was the one who could or would make the time be make sure she was never really alone on this long journey to death.

Perhaps tomorrow I'll sort through a little more of this subject.

Right now, I want to give you all a recipe.....How to cook up a bit of happiness
give someone a hug, tell them how important they are to you. Finish off this warm feeling with a big smile and a touch on the hand.

Happiness - Life's Heartbreaks and Simple Things

After serious research I have decided that there is not one recipe I'd cook a turkey for just to have leftovers, that's not to say there aren't a few dishes that are pretty good eating....but I could live just as long and die just as happy if I never again ate leftover Thanksgiving fowl.

I am off on another subject here....what makes you happy?

Think about this one, and let's be perfectly honest. Is it a relationship, your children, money or something else? I have grown a lot personally in the past few years and I am going to discuss some personal things that have allowed me to know contentment and in an odd way happiness. This has nothing to do with my relationship with my husband or children. The situation involves other family and aging parents.
I will break this entire situation down and perhaps give the reader an insight on the gift of giving. Finding something good and pleasant in a desperate, heartbreaking situation that allows you to survive and grow personally.
But that all starts tomorrow.

Jobs, Time and Left Over Food

Another day another dollar, or in the working woman's world another 14 chores that didn't get done. I made no post yesterday due to the fact it was one of the 14 chores that just didn't need to be done right now. I'm one of the lucky women, I work from home which definitely has its advantages. Don't get me wrong it also has some big disadvantages but in my case it works.
More about that some other time.....

After a full day of being busy I made supper which was leftover Thanksgiving Turkey.

Do you ever wonder just how many recipes there are for left over turkey besides the usual hot turkey sandwiches, a general rehash of what was left of the original meal and turkey soup? I'm going to do a little research for recipes that make those left overs interesting. My problem is I don't have a very good track record when it comes to those half empty bowls of food that just won't go away.
I'm betting I'm not alone.

A blog for the readers!

I've decided that there are a lot of blogs in this old world, and most of these center around the writer.

I'd like my blog to be more about the reader..Like the working Mother who comes home after a 9 to 5 work day and decides on what to feed the family. Dinner might not be labeled gourmet food but it is down to earth family eating.
Gram’s Recipe Book is trying to provide ideas and recipes for healthy, nutritious food that is quick and easy. This blog will be an extension of the website.

If you want fancy or elaborate foods you may share your recipes or ideas on how to make simple into fabulous.

We can turn that simple meal into something special with a little imagination, a little preparation and usually very little time.

I'll give you ideas, examples and hopefully allow you to go beyond ordinary when it comes to your daily meals.

I’ll also try to provide you with useful information on nutrition and how it relates to the family.
Don’t be fooled, this blog won’t be entirely about foods but will include fun ideas and activities for kids of all ages.

We'll also touch on with how we deal with home, life issues and the changing world. This web blog can become food for thought, and a nutrient for the soul.


Gram might be getting older, but I still love-sharing .....



popdex. The Website Poularity Index