Yep, it’s been way too long since my last post.  Life.   And I simply chose to not pressure myself to get in that perfectionism state of mind.  Maybe I’m learning that it truly is ok to take care of me.  That’s HUGE!

I’m feeling a bit under the weather today, so I’m home from work.  With all the craziness in the world right now and being home, it’s given me time to think a bit.  I definitely feel that we all need to stay informed and take precautions to stay healthy.  But I refuse to get in the toilet paper, bottled water frenzy.  Can I put this out there?  I haven’t been to the grocery store in over a week and am not stock piling anything.  Is my family prepared to stay home for an extended period of time?  Yep.  My dear mother in law used to say, “We’ve got canned pumpkin and sauerkraut.”  We’ll be just fine.”  She basically was saying that we’ve got food, it may not be our favorite, but we certainly won’t starve.

There were many times when our kids were young and our budget was very tight, that we simply could not afford all the groceries that we would normally buy.  I had to get creative.  There was nothing wrong with having baked potatoes for dinner, eggs and pancakes, grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.  Did the kids notice?  Yep, but we always viewed it as a great opportunity to have a conversation about being frugal, that it wasn’t a crisis that we didn’t have meat for dinner, and learning to eat what we had was a great learning experience.  Sometimes it wasn’t their favorite and they choose to not eat what we had.  But they would always have options to fill their tummies;  PB&J, etc…  You get the idea.  And many times I’d get them involved in figuring out what we can do with this can of pumpkin, this can of tomatoes, etc… I’m kinda weird, but I actually really enjoy figuring out how to make things work if I don’t have.

My dear hubby and I bought our first camper a couple of years ago.  I grew up camping and he’s an Eagle Scout.  Sounds like it would be a breeze for us, but not always.  We knew we didn’t want all the bells and whistles.  Our little Happy Camper has a bed, small frig, little table that we both can barely sit at and a small bathroom.  There is hook up for a TV, but we rarely have it on.  We love unplugging and learning to live without.  After 35 years of marriage, we are still learning patients and new things about each other.  Yeah, I’m a planner, but there have been times when I’ve forgotten to pack something.  I get huge satisfaction of figuring it out.  Forgot shampoo?  Use soap.  It truly is not the end of the world if you don’t have all the creature comforts of home.

I’ve talked about having a bread machine before and making your own pizza dough.  In fact, we’re having homemade pizza tonight for dinner.  Anyway, my bread machine gets a workout and I love having fresh homemade bread anytime I want.  Another benefit is that our bread doesn’t have unrecognizable ingredients in it and is less expensive than store bought bread.  I’m never throwing out bread  because it tastes great!  In other words, I don’t have to stock up on bread when there is a snow storm or a yucky virus going around.

There is a lot of good that can come out of the insanity that is happening in our world right now.  Remember that your kids pick up on how you handle things.  Show them strength, how to stay calm and address their fears.  Believe me, they are watching you.  It’s a great opportunity to help us focus on what is important; the well being for our family and those we love and to take some time to really appreciate what we already have.

Yeah, it’s March.  We are definitely not thinking of all things pumpkin.  But why not?  Here’s my go to pumpkin bread recipe.  I make a lot of this in the fall right through Christmas.  The recipe makes two loaves.  Maybe share a loaf with a neighbor or a friend.  Let them know that it’s ok to eat pumpkin in March.  I like sauerkraut too, but that’s for another time.

Dear Lord, Help Us Be Nice, Amen!

Amish Pumpkin Bread

3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1 15oz can pumpkin
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt (scant)
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp nutmeg
2/3 cup water

In a very large bowl, mix sugar, oil and eggs together.  Add pumpkin and mix.  Add dry ingredients, then water, stirring until just mixed.  Pour batter into 2 greased and floured loaf pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour.  Insert a toothpick in center.  If it comes out clean, the bread is done.