September 30, 2024

 I got up at 6:25 am. Cliff was already up. We drank a cup of coffee. I prayed, read my Bible, and sent out the verse of the day: 

I fixed sausage, biscuits and apples for breakfast. I forgot to takes photos today of the food that I fixed except the tea and supper.

I texted with Rayen, It is his 11th birthday. I can hardly believe that I have been a grandmother for 11 years, I remember the day he was born, he was almost an October baby.

We were at the hospital in Knoxville awaiting his arrival. Zeb made a video of him while he was in the nursery. When we left the hospital, we went to IHOP and ate an early breakfast and made a donation to the Children's Miracle Network in his honor. We have sinced done that for the other 3, We eat at IHOP and donate to the CMN. I'm sure that we will do it again when grandson 5 makes his arrival this October.

I cleaned up the kitchen and then took Zeb to class. On the way home, I called and talked to Alex. They were good. 

When I got home, I quilted 10 rows on the quilt that I am working on. It’s looking real pretty. I did the laundry, emptied the dishwasher and sanitized the kitchen counter tops.

 I took Dolly out back for a little while. A squirrel was on the deck and she took off after it. The squirrel ran along the back of the house up high on the brick and Dolly chased along below barking like crazy then that wacky squirrel turned around and headed back for the deck. If I hadn’t hurried and shut the door, we might have had a wild new pet.

 For lunch I fixed chicken salad, and fruit (cantaloupe and pineapple). 

Chicken Salad: 

I can of chicken breast 

Some chopped up pickles (as much as you like) 

2 boiled eggs chopped 

3 tablespoons or more of chopped onion (it doesn’t matter what kind you use) 

A little bit of mayonnaise and a little sour cream. 

Mix together and serve with toast or crackers. I added some sliced almonds today. In the past, I have used pecans, walnuts and have even added a handful of craisins or even some sliced red or green grapes. 

 I cleaned up the kitchen and then went and picked up Zeb. We went to Ingles. Their card readers still weren’t working so cash only there. I had some cash and I only needed a few items. I ended up getting some chicken because I heard the butcher telling someone that the delivery truck that was supposed to come on Thursday couldn’t make it because of the Hurricane and it might be 5-7 days before it would arrive. We have plenty of meat in the freezer, but I grabbed a couple of packs of chicken (just in case). We dropped by Papoo and Nanas to give them something. 

I found a recipe for Russian Tea in the Celebrating Appalachia Cookbook that I wanted to try. The one I usually make is made of all dry ingredients and you add hot water when you’re ready to drink it. This new recipe that I found; you make it using juice. It tasted good. It was a lot more trouble and messy to make than the powdered kind. We all liked the flavor and it was not as sweet and the one that I usually make. I’ll share both recipes. I’m sure that the juice one is healthier for you especially if you used less sugar.

 Russian Tea (dry mix):

 2 cups of Tang 

1 cup instant Lipton Tea with lemon 

1 cup sugar 

1 teaspoon cinnamon 

½ teaspoon cloves 

Mix together. When ready to use, add 3 tablespoons to a cup and add 8 or 10 ounces of hot water. You can make it weaker or stronger. It’s up to you. 

Liquid Russian Tea:

In a large pot add;

 1 gallon of water, 

1 cup of sugar

 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of cloves 

1 can of frozen orange juice concentrate

Bring to a boil and let simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add

 6 cups of apple cider (you could use apple juice also)

 4 cups pineapple juice

 ½ cup of lemon juice

2 cups of orange juice

3 cups of tea. 

Once you have everything in the pot, mix it up and serve. 

I put my tea in a pretty cup that Jake got me one year for Christmas. I had a lot leftover so I put it in half gallon jars and put it in the refrigerator. I think that you could probably freeze it in some of those 1 cup cube trays and then just pull out how much you wanted and then heat it up. It was good, but a mess to make and a hassle to put away. 

After I got the kitchen cleaned up from my tea mess, I fixed supper. I fixed us some homemade chili and hotdogs. I didn’t have any buns so we had our wienies on a slice of wheat bread and added mustard and onions. It was a good supper. I had a strawberry popsicle or dessert and Cliff ate a Klondike bar. 

Chili: 

2 cans of Bush’s chili starter 

1 quart of tomatoes (I used some that Cliff and I canned in 2022) 

1 can rotel tomatoes 

1 pound ground beef 

1 cup chopped onions Brown the onions and ground beef, drain if you have greasy meat. Then add the rest of the ingredients and heat through. 

I moved the truck and car forward and then cleaned out Lexigo. There was a pack of Long John Silver’s malt vinegar in the back floor board. I am so very very thankful that it hadn’t busted or been stepped on. That would have been a bad smell in there. I came in and typed up this day. 

For the rest of the evening, I will probably watch a show with Cliff, get ready for bed, read my Bible, and pray. I pray that everyone that I love is safe and sound at home with their families and that everyone has a good nights rest.