Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Brown Sugar and Ketchup

People want to make simple things not so simple.

There are literally thousands of topics to which that statement would apply but that would be making something simple not so simple. I am going to stick with the original thought.

Last week or so (I don't do dates well), a friend of mine needed to have supper taken to her family. I can't tell you how much she has on her plate and none of it was simple. So to possibly make one evening of her life a little less pressured, I took over a meal of sloppy joes. She has children and it is important to have something they will eat.

We chatted recently and she wondered what was the secret recipe for sloppy joes that made her children eat it for two meals straight and a snack in between.

Equal parts brown sugar and ketchup mixed with browned ground beef and onions.

Not a hard recipe.

It is also the recipe I use for barbeque sauce.

I also use it for pork steaks in the crock pot.

It serves well as a sauce for bacon wrapped water chestnuts.

Meat balls with ketchup and brown sugar over white rice is another welcomed meal.

If I really wanted to think longer, I could probably come up with more uses.

But it is simple. I don't need to add chili powder or other spices although some recipes suggest that. Unless it is an outstanding herb or spice, it just isn't needed. Just go with it.

Like cleaning house. There is no magic potion to getting it done. It just has to be done.

The New Year's Resolution can be done, you just have to do it. It is simple. Don't over-dramatize the issue. Just get with it.

Last year I wanted to read the Bible in a year. It was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done but I put myself on an accountability trip to make sure I did it. I posted daily the reading on Facebook. Every day I posted to my group what was to be read and made a few comments about it. That made me read the assigned text, not just post the scripture. I told myself this year I would do it again but I haven't. I just need simply pick up the Bible and read.

Brown sugar and ketchup.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Stress Buster

When I have had a difficult time with work, personal issues, or too much going on in too little time, I do the absolute worst thing possible. I start reading.

The wallpaper for my blog is chosen deliberately. I like to read. I still put down 'reading' as a hobby even though it is technically not a hobby. I like to read about anything and rarely do I not complete a book, no matter how poorly written. I could tell you a lot about those!

One book that is virtually unknown in the literary world that somehow speaks to me is A Space of the Heart by Patricia Wright. As far as I know she has published few, if any, other books and this one is old--published originally in 1976 by Doubleday. It is described as a 'romantic historical novel of an Englishwoman in 19th century Russia.' That is not typically my type of reading. I prefer non-fiction most of the time, or very well written fiction. It is more a novel about the Englishwoman entering Russia in the 19th century. There is some romance, not really a lot. One year when school had started with too many changes, too little grace, and too much of too much, I read the book 3 1/2 times before I felt I could put it down and move on.

As a matter of fact, when I brought out the book to check for the publication date, it looked so good I decided I might start it again. It would only be for about the 15th time.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

This IS my world.

I have a ton of stuff to do, so what am I doing? Starting a blog. That is what any semi-sane person would do, right?
I don't want to do this, I have resisted for a long time. But there are people who say this is a productive thing to do. We will see. I started one some time ago but didn't continue. I wanted it to be private, which blogs are not. They are meant to be shared, but I like privacy. We'll see how this goes.

I like: my family, food, HGTV (especially House Hunters International), reading, bargains, God, not necessarily in that order.

I'll write about those things and other important matters as time permits. I am so undisciplined that I can't imagine this continuing.

So welcome to my world.