The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons
The happier you are with the simple things, the easier it is to be
happy!

	 A friend of mine told me of an incident that happened
recently at her home.  She was out watering her garden when someone
stopped in to visit with her husband.  The man had a small boy
along.  That man started cussing in front of that little boy who
appeared to be about 18 months old, or so, as he toddled around
exploring the world he is just getting to know.
	 My friend, who had never met the man before, decided she'd
had enough.  "What are you doing talking like that in front of that
sweet innocent little child?" she asked.  "You don't have the right
to talk like that in front of that little boy!"
	 As I heard this story, I laughed that she's been watching too
much `Dr. Phil!'  But I'm proud of my friend for taking a stand.
	 The man started to excuse himself by saying that even his
grandmother used worse language in front of the child!  "Then you
ought to tell his grandmother not to talk like that either!"  She was
thoroughly disgusted at the language used in front of this beautiful
little child, and even more disgusted at the thought of a family that
would bring a small child into the world and have no regard for how a
child should be treated.
	 No one has a right to talk trash in front of children (or
anyone).  What has happened to respect and manners in our society?
We lack respect for ourselves and our fellow man when we use such
behavior.  Here in Michigan it is still on the books that you can be
arrested for using obscene language in the presence of women and
children, and not too long ago a man spent some time in jail for
doing just that after his canoe tipped over on a river not far from
here.  All I can say is too bad that law is not enforced more.
	 I've known truck drivers and bikers (both known to be `tough'
dudes) who know how to treat people with respect in mixed company.
We've all heard the words, and just using bad language doesn't make
you tough, or cool.  In fact, most people will not respect you at all
when you choose to use that language – especially in front of
children!  If your family has fallen into this habit, turn it
around.  Put out a dollar jar and warn everyone who comes over that
they will owe a dollar for any foul word that comes out of their
mouth.  If they can't clean it up, send them out the door, and don't
make exceptions for anyone!  This is not funny or cute.  If you love
the little ones in your family this has to be a priority.
             If your family or spouse – or grandmother - can't clean
it up, you need to take action.  Do not let this continue. Set a
boundary.  Even grandmother does not have the right to let trash come
out of her mouth in front of your children, or she won't be allowed
around them. This goes for any dangerous or unhealthy behavior. Our
precious children need to see what is good and right and pure in
life, especially around us.  We cannot fool ourselves by using the
excuse that they will "hear it anyway". Let's set the example for
what kind of person they need to become.  It's that simple.

*     *     *
	 Here in Michigan we could sure use some rain.  As I watered
the garden the other day, I realized I wasn't just watering the
plants, but baiting all the deer and raccoons for miles to the one
green spot left around.  Even the hay fields are turning brown and
the corn is curling right up.  It's a terrible sight.  Every time the
weather report calls for possible showers, it just seems to evaporate
before it gets here.  I can't remember seeing Michigan so dry.
	 And then there are parts of our country, like Texas, who are
literally using canoes to get around where they normally drive.
Yikes.  Let's pray the weather evens out and we all get a share of
that moisture!

	 Simple Seed Starting
However, if you want to get some perennials started for next year
(the drought wont' last forever!)  Start them in a corner of the
house, bedroom, or bathroom.  They don't need bright sun just to get
them started.  Keep them moist until they pot up, and then transplant
them into a bigger pot until they are big enough to plant outdoors.
As long as the drought continues, keep them watered until they can
make it on their own.  If started this year, they will bloom next
year, just like the expensive plants you can buy!  Make sure to plant
them in the conditions they need (shade or sun).  If your soil is
lacking, buy some good bagged or bulk soil or compost to give it a
good start.  Or maybe you have a neighbor, like mine, who lets me
have all the composted manure I can haul!  Hey, it never hurts to ask.

*   *   *

My husband Richard loves to order this when we eat out.  I recently
ran across this recipe and it looks pretty easy.  I think I'll give
it a try soon.

Simple Chicken Fried Steak and Gravy

  4 lb Round Steak 1/2-inch Thick
   1 c  Milk
   1 c  Unbleached Flour
    Salt & Pepper
   Tenderize round steak.  Dip in milk and then flour, salt and pepper
to taste.  Fry in deep fat at approximately 375` until golden brown.
   4 T Fat
   4 T Unbleached Flour
   1  qt Milk
    After steak is done, pour off fat leaving about 4 T in pan. Add 4
T flour.  Stir until smooth.  Add 1 qt milk.  Stir and cook until
until thickened for steak gravy.

Simple Fried Chicken
      Summer is picnic time, and when you think picnic, don't you
think Fried Chicken?  If you have a really good fried chicken recipe
that is easy, please send it in!  I never have mastered the art of
really great fried chicken just right, so please send clear
directions.  We will print the winning recipe!

Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

Please contact me with recipes, questions, comments and simple living
ideas that work for you.  Email: thesimple_life@.... Join the
online newsletter to print recipes and look up previous columns.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thesimple_life/

The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons

The happier you are with the simple things, the easier it is to be
happy!

	 Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes
your smile can be the source of your joy. ~~Thich Nhat Hahn

	 What makes me smile these days (rain would be nice!) is our
fresh from the garden produce.  We had enough cukes to make 12 pints
of homemade pickle relish, and there's nothing like homemade!  We are
just getting the first red tomatoesJ And we are just starting to get
small potatoes and corn will be very soon.  We have our first
eggplant, lots of peppers, and the buttercup squash is making my
mouth water just thinking how yummy in another week or so.

	 Cucumbers make a great salad sliced with onions and some
people like water, vinegar and sugar, but I just put some ranch
dressing on and mix.

	 I slice my small zucchini's up and toss with some salt, flour
and breadcrumbs and onions.  Then I fry in margarine, olive oil or
canola oil.  We really love this.  You can make zucchini cake or
bread from all the extra zucchini, or freeze them in bags for the
winter.

Simple Step-by-Step Sweet Relish

My husband likes to can with me, but you can do this with a friend
and split the batch!  Or if you are really lucky, you might have a
daughter or granddaughter close who would have fun doing this.  I can
thank my mother for teaching me how to can! Even thought I probably
would have preferred riding my bike or playing softball at the park,
I did appreciate the jars we canned up. You need jars, rings and
canning lids for this.  Once in a while you can find a box of these
cheap at an estate sale or even a yard sale.  Once I got some nice
pint jars for a quarter a piece at a second hand store.  You can use
your own cucumbers, or I recommend getting some cukes from a roadside
market or farmers market, if you don't have your own.  I buy my
spices in bulk at an Amish market in our area. They are much cheaper
than those small tins in the grocery store!  They really are better
than the supermarket cucumbers, but if that's all you can find they
will work.

  You need enough to make 4 cups of grated cucumbers. (You will need
to quadruple this recipe to make 12 pints.)  Also grate 4 green
peppers, and 2 small onions.  You don't have to measure exactly.

  Progress has caught up with us.  We no longer use our tabletop
grater than clamps on the edge of a table and you turn the handle.
We used a food processor to grate everything, but I don't think it
was quite as much fun – but definitely faster.

  You could also grate in some red or yellow pepper, and a carrot adds
some color, too.  Or you might want more onion.  Just keep the
measurements approximately close. (of course, that's how I cook
anyway!) Mix with a Tablespoon of kosher or canning salt.  Drain in
an hour.  (You can be washing your jars, and getting everything
ready.)  Put in a large pan (we needed two for our batch. But why not
make a nice large batch while you are at it!)  Add 2 c cider vinegar,
2 c sugar, 4 t celery seed, 4 t mustard seed, and 2 t turmeric. Bring
to a boil.  At the same time have a pan for your lids and jars to
boil.  We just sterilize 3 jars at a time and use tongs to grab the
lids.  (If you have zucchini coming out your ears, you can use them
for relish, but I don't recommend zucchini for bread and butter
pickles because they won't make nice crisp slices.)

When the relish comes to a boil, keep boiling and use a wide mouth
funnel to fill the hot jars.  Wipe the rim of the jar to make sure it
is clean to make a good seal.  Apply your hot lid from the boiling
water and put the ring on.  Turn the jar upside down on a towel to
help make a seal.

  This is called open kettle canning.  It's not recommended anymore,
but for acidic foods like pickles, it works fine for me.  If you like
you can process the jars in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.

Now you have a nice bunch of colorful jars for your pantry and some
really delicious relish for your burgers or dogs and potato salad, or
egg salad to last a year or so!

Here is the same recipe in the short version –

Sweet relish
4 c ground cukes
4 green peppers
2 small onions
1 T kosher salt
Soak one hour and drain.

Bring above to boil with
2 c sugar
2 c cider vinegar
4 t celery seed
4 t mustard seed
2 t turmeric

Pour into hot jars and seal.  Makes about 2-3 pints. This is a very
easy recipe!  I did cut the sugar some.  It's easy to double up this
recipe if you have lots of zucchini or cucumbers.

*    *    *
I found some long plastic window boxes on sale at Home Depot for $1.
each.  These work great for planting leaf lettuce. By tearing or
cutting with scissors, you can have greens all summer.  I really like
the mesclun mix I love the new Moisture Control potting soil from
Miracle-Gro.  I once bought several bags at a reduced price because
the bags had gotten torn open.  This soil already has nutrients in it
(although some people do not like miracle-gro, it's a personal
choice)  There is an organic version of miracle-gro.

Simple Poppy Seed Dressing (for those homegrown garden greens!)
   1-1/2 cups sugar
   1 TBSP dry mustard
   1 tsp. salt
   2/3 cup cider vinegar
   2 cups vegetable oil
   2 TBSP poppy seeds
   1/4 cup grated onion, optional
   Combine sugar, mustard, salt and vinegar in blender. Add oil
slowly, blending until thick. Stir in poppy seeds and the grated
onion. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
   Makes about 3 cups.

"Life is tough but it's tougher if you're stupid." -- John Wayne


Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

Please contact me with recipes, questions, comments and simple living
ideas that work for you.  Email: thesimple_life@....  Join the
online newsletter to print recipes and look up previous columns
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thesimple_life/

The Simple Life

"It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after
all."
~Laura Ingalls Wilder

Simple Summer

	 I hope you let the kids stay up past their bedtimes this
summer – at least once!  Take a walk after dark away from all the
city lights and don't light up the campfire just yet, (this is where
camping comes in handy!)  Watching the August meteor showers has been
a favorite activity of mine since I was in my teens.  It's awesome –
better than fireworks!  Where we live you can hear the coyotes
howling and just enjoy nature after dark.  The sky literally lights
up after your eyes adjust.  Maybe someone will point out some
constellations.  You can tell the kids about how sailors used the
stars to guide their ships.  Ask them what guides their ships.  Talk
about what can happen to a ship that goes off course, and that leads
to what happens when we go off course.  It's easy to get off course
in the dark, when you can't see your feet!  Besides being a great
learning experience, it's fun and simple.

	 I hope you get to take the kids to a beach for the day.  Look
at all kinds of shells, count ships, notice sea birds, seaweeds,
minnows – and watch out for poison ivy (which grows near the beach
around here!). Just use it as a discovery day.  If you take plenty of
sunscreen, and maybe you can find some shade or take an umbrella.

	 I hope you take the kids to the garden and let them help find
tomato worms, potato bugs, and help pick corn.  Let them see nature
at work.  They can pull a few weeds, and help water the plants.  Talk
about rain and sun and how the garden grows, and how we help make a
good garden.  The birds and spiders help by eating bugs.  Show the
kids how some veggies grow up and some grow under, like potatoes and
rutabagas, and radishes.  Give the extras to neighbors who don't have
a garden, or put it for sale by the road.  Sell extra pumpkins and
squash.  And can or freeze what you can for the winter months. Make
corn pancakes for breakfast (using leftover cooked corn). Show the
kids how much the jars cost at the store ($1.00 for a small jar of
applesauce) so they can see how much you save.  Let them see how
fragrant a fresh jar of tomatoes or pickles smells when you take the
lid off – like summer in a jar!

Enjoy summer, and don't ever stop seeing the lessons that are all
around us!
*   *   *
"Every action of our lives touches on some chord that will vibrate in
eternity." ~~Edwin Chapin

"Life is a big canvas, throw all the paint on it you can." ~~Danny
Kaye

"Everyman's life is a fairy tale written by God's fingers." ~~ Hans
Christian Anderson

*    *    *
Simple Buttermilk Fried Chicken Recipe

1 (3 pound) fryer cut up, 2 cups buttermilk or plain yogurt, (or use
2 c milk mixed with 2 t vinegar) 1 large onion, sliced 1/4 cup
chopped mixed fresh herbs (parsley, tarragon, thyme – or your
favorite) 1/2 t paprika 1/2 t cayenne pepper
1/2 t garlic salt, 1/2 t onion salt, 1 t cayenne pepper, 1 c flour, 1
c crushed saltines, Salt and pepper, 2 cups high smoke-point oil such
as canola oil, or peanut oil, or other grapeseed oil

  Soak chicken overnight (at least 8 hours and up to two days) in
buttermilk with onions, herbs, paprika, and cayenne pepper.

  Drain chicken, leaving some herbs on chicken. In a large paper or
plastic (sturdy) bag, mix flour with seasonings and 1 t ginger, 1 T
chicken boullion powder, 2 T brown sugar (don't be afraid to throw in
your own combination of spices – the Colonel uses 11!). Meanwhile,
heat 2 cups oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet such as cast iron
or stainless steel or electric skillet on medium high heat until a
pinch of flour starts to sizzle when dropped in the hot oil (but not
so hot that the pan is smoking, approx. 360`).
Place chicken pieces in zip-lock bag with flour, salt and pepper and
shake until thoroughly coated. Add chicken to hot pan and fry on 1
side for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown, and then use tongs to
turn the pieces over and fry for another 10-12 minutes, again until
golden brown.

Place on a rack over a cookie sheet or broiling pan for the excess
oil to drain.

Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

Please contact me with recipes, questions, comments and simple living
ideas that work for you.  Email: thesimple_life@.... Join the
online newsletter to print recipes and look up previous columns.
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The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons

"The happier you are with the simple things, the easier it is to be
happy."

	 Walk around your house, or look at it the way a visitor would
from the road.  Any eyesores that need straightening up, or a little
beautification?  Maybe there is a utility pole, or other spot you can
use your imagination to hide, or cover.  Any empty spot that would
look great as a patio, or flower bed?

      What would you think about all kinds of new flowers for your
garden next year, and practically for free?  Okay, here goes.  First
find a nice bare spot in the yard or garden, work it up a bit.  Now
grab some perennial seeds.  That's right – next to nothing!  Now just
keep them nice and moist until they come up, and then make sure they
don't get dried out until winter.  Come late fall, or next spring,
you will have all kinds of new plants to move around!  Think –
Hollyhock, Delphinium, Foxglove, or your most exotic favorite!  The
key here is that if you plant them right about now, they will bloom
next year – just as well as those plants you will pay $5. - $10. or
more dollars for next spring!  Saving you probably a hundred or more
dollars!  Many of your perennials have already gone to seed, so don't
overlook spreading them in a new area.  Those seeds, when dry, are
just as good as the ones you buy.

	 Plants like Shasta daisy, yarrow, hosta, - or plants that
keep spreading, are not divided by seed, but by division.  That is
digging part of the plant (don't worry, it will fill back in).  Or
you can dig out the whole plant and divide it in fourths, or so.
Plant one part back, and now you have three more to replant
elsewhere.  If you have any question, just look the plant up online,
or in a book.  It will tell you the best way to propagate.  This is a
great way to get new plants from friends.  Have a fall garden party
and tell everyone to bring at least one plant to trade!  Have hot
cider and cookies, and maybe a bonfire.  You will get lots of
gardening ideas if you trade gardens each year for a new location for
your party.  Plant the plant as soon as possible when you get home.

            Also, for bushes and trees, fall is a great time to plant,
and that's also when the sales are on!  50% or more is usual, but the
selection will be somewhat limited.  But don't be afraid to try new
plants.  You might be the first one in the neighborhood a few years
from now to have the "new" stylish plants, before everyone else.

	 What if you don't have a spot ready just yet?  Start those
seeds in some potting soil in those empty flats you've been saving.
They are really easy to keep watered.  But they will buy you a few
extra weeks before you have to put them in the ground.  Now you have
lots of time to get that spot ready.

	 If you have a favorite annual that you don't need to start
this fall, get your spot ready, and cover with landscape fabric and
mulch (or any weed preventative like old carpet or plastic) so that
you will be easily able to plant it in the spring!  Just uncover and
scatter the seeds.  This will keep the weed seeds from getting an
early start before you can plant the seeds next fall.

	 To save some of your fall vegetable crops until winter sets
in, bend some conduit, or other flexible fencing or wire into a half-
circle to cover with clear plastic on frosty nights and chilly fall
days.

*    *    *

Simple BBQ
Trim fat from pork chops, steak, or chicken – whatever your favorite
cut.  Layer in crock-pot with BBQ sauce, brown sugar, onions, and
ketchup – no need for extra liquid.  Cook on low all day while you
are at work.  Serve with a vegetable or salad.  By dinnertime it will
be fall-apart yummy!

"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes
off your goal." ~Hannah More

Giving is a joy if we do it in the right spirit. It all depends on
whether we think of it as "What can I spare? " or as "What can I
share? "~Esther Baldwin York


Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

Please contact me with recipes, questions, comments and simple living
ideas that work for you.  Email: thesimple_life@...
Join the online newsletter to print recipes and look up previous
columns.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thesimple_life

The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. (Leonardo DaVinci)

Trust like a cake recipe...

       A daughter was telling her Mother how everything was going
wrong.  She's having a hard time in algebra, her boyfriend broke up
with her and her best friend is moving away.

      Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if
she would like a snack, and the daughter says, "Absolutely Mom, I
love your cake."
Here, have some cooking oil," her Mother offers. "Yuck" says her
daughter. How about a couple raw eggs?" "Gross, Mom!" "Would you like
some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?" "Mom, those are all yucky!"
To which the mother replies: "Yes, all those things seem bad all by
themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they
make a wonderfully delicious cake!

      Usually, though, it's not God that puts the bad stuff in, it's
the choices we make.  Would you put a tablespoon of pepper in a
cake?  Or how about worms or dirt?

      But we do it to ourselves all the time.  We let alcohol consume
our lives.  We choose partners who don't have the same values that we
do. We take the lazy way out of life.  We make people around us
miserable and then wonder where our friends went!  We can take a deep
look at our lives and see where our choices are not good ones.  We
can take the simple route and make good choices for ourselves.

       God works the same way. Many times we wonder why He would let
us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when
He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good!
There's always a good lesson to learn.  We just have to trust Him
and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful!

*     *     *
Free Heat!

      A man wanted to burn wood to heat his house for `free'.  His new
woodburner cost him $1500.  His neighbor gave him some free wood.  It
was huge trunks from some trees that had to be removed.  "Great!" he
thought.  So, he bought a chainsaw for $400.  then he needed a pickup
to haul the wood.  Once he began cutting the wood, he realized he'd
need to split it up.  He bought an ax.  Wow, was his shoulder sore
that night.  He saw an ad in the newspaper for log splitters.  The
large one was only $1599!  Then he needed a shed to stack the wood.
How's that for free wood?
*   *   *
Girls (or Guys) Day Out!

	 Call the friends.  Are you around family all the time and
never get a break?  Or maybe you are alone most of the time?  Take a
day and just get out!  Have lunch together.  Go shopping (even if you
don't spend a dime) at thrift stores!  Or just go for a walk.  Or try
something exciting that you've never done.  Go kayaking, or fishing,
or maybe a weekend camping trip!  Go to a really funny movie, or have
a campfire.  They sky's the limit – just do it!

~Fall Apple Crisp~

      If you love apple pie, but don't love all the calories, make
Apple Crisp, instead!  Who cares if it doesn't have a crust?  Like
eating just the filling.
And, it's even easier this way.
      In other areas around the country, it might not be so easy to
find apples, but we have some great apple trees right on our
property.  Or you can just drive along the roadsides and find apples
on almost any country road.  Not even the deer will miss a few of the
apples you picked, and to be sure, ask permission if there are any
houses nearby.  My neighbors just laugh and say, "Help yourself!"
      Peel some apples, and quarter.  Remove the core.  There are lots
of gadgets you can use, but I just use a paring knife and peeler.
It's just as fast for me.
      Fill a bowl and mix together some brown sugar and cinnamon, and
a few tablespoons of flour.  I add a little water too, to make the
apple crisp kind of syrupy.
      For the crispy topping, you can mix oatmeal, a little more
flour, more cinnamon, and some melted margarine or butter.  Add some
walnuts or pecans, if you like.  Sprinkle on top. Bake 45 minutes to
one hour at 350`.  The apple crisp must be bubbling before it is
done, to thicken the syrup.  Serve warm or cold with cool whip, or a
scoop of ice cream! (My dad likes cheese with his apple pie).  This
recipe works great with Splenda brown sugar, too.
      For a fun fall outing, invite some friends.  Have everyone bring
their favorite chili recipe, and have apple crisp for dessert!  A
great fall party.  The kids will love running in the fall leaves with
the dogs.  You can have a hay ride, as well, or go for a walk.

Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

Please contact me with recipes, questions, comments and simple living
ideas that work for you.  Email: thesimple_life@...
Join the online newsletter to print recipes and look up previous
columns.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thesimple_life

The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. (Leonardo DaVinci)


	 A woman was rushed into an emergency room with serious
injuries resulting from a car accident.  Her husband rushed in
minutes later, wearing an expensive suit.  He paced nervously, as he
waited for news.  A filthy, homeless bum who hung around the
emergency room pilfering coffee, offered him cup.
	 The man ignored him. The pacing continued.  A doctor came
into the waiting area and stated that they were having trouble
locating her rare blood type of AB negative.  "There doesn't seem to
be any in the whole city, at the moment."
	 "I have AB negative!" said the bum several times.  The man
looked at the bum with disgust, but his look softened.
	 "How much do you want for your blood?" asked the wealthy
husband.
	 "It's not for sale," but your wife can have it if she needs
it.
	 The doctor himself scrubbed the bum from head to toe.  The
woman began to recover after receiving the blood for her surgery.
	 A few days later the "bum" emerged from a limo with the
husband, wearing an immaculate suit.  "Look at my new clothes!" he
said to the nurse.  She hardly recognized him.  "You look very nice,
sir." Later the man, woman, and former homeless man all entered the
limo and drove off, leaving the staff a little surprised.
*    *    *

Values of Simplicity

Faith in God – Faith will lead you where you never would think.  It
will give you opportunities you never would have otherwise.  Open the
door to faith and you open the door to possibilities that are
endless, and experiences you never imagined!

Frugality – more family problems are caused by overspending than
maybe any other.  What do you really need?  Start there.  You need a
home.  You don't need a large home.  You likely need income, and a
vehicle that you can depend on, so you can get there.  Your income
should get you what you need, or you either need to spend less, or
make more.  The less you spend, the less you need.

Simplistic Values- Why go out for an expensive meal when you can make
a simple and delicious meal at home?  Put that money you saved on
your mortgage, to pay that off early.  Have a rainy day savings
account for emergencies.

Honesty – Be honest with yourself about things.  Is it really a good
idea to spend $4.00 on that Cappuccino every morning?  Do you really
need all those extra calories?  Couldn't you get by with one a week?
Make some good coffee at home.  Get up a few minutes early to pack
your lunch – and make it healthy.

Healthy Agenda - What goes in your body, will show up later.  Eat
vegetables, fruit and wholegrain.  Stay away from smoke, alcohol, and
empty calories.  In the long run, they won't comfort you they will
make you and your family ill.  Care enough to do the best.

Kindness – Families are all about good manners, kindness, and sincere
love, so is the world, whether those around you are doing it, or
not.  Do the right thing and you will never be sorry.

Slow down – The family that is too busy to enjoy each other is in
trouble.  You can't run 80 miles an hour without recharging.  You
know if you are going to fast through life.  Cut out the busy-ness.
Relax.  Go for walks, play soccer in the yard with family and friends
instead of signing up for every activity imaginable.  The kids won't
die if they don't learn an instrument, on the other hand, if they beg
to learn, you need to honor that.  One of my nephews is excelling on
the violin.  He loves it and is very good.  Watch for your child's
strengths and facilitate them.  That is the true art of parenting.
Give them lots of time for reading, playing and learning.  PS- the
television should be the LAST choice.

Love of Learning- There is no end to what you can learn, if you want
to.  You can learn to plant a garden, sew, cook, woodwork, discover
the world.  Much of it is free or inexpensive.

Friendships- We all need friends.  If you don't have one, be one.
Support, love, caring.  If you meet a miserable person, they probably
don't have a close friend.  Friends reach out and you find each other
somewhere in the middle.

Cooperation – since the 40's women have been heading into the work
force.  But needs at home haven't changed.  Laundry didn't magically
disappear.  Meals still need to be made, as do beds.  If your family
is two income, one of you needs to be part-time to take care of kids
and home, or you need outside help.  If you want to pay someone to
take care of your home, fine, but think about cutting expenses
first.  Do you really need everything you are paying for?  Watch
where the money goes and cut where possible.  Often two incomes do
not make more money, they make more spending and less quality of
life.  When mom comes home later than dad, dad better not
say, "What's for dinner?" When she walks in the door, it should be on
the table, or visa versa.  That's cooperation.  Having a family is a
24 hour job.  Even kids need to learn to step up to the plate.  Life
isn't a downhill slide, it's an uphill climb, and it takes hard
work.  When they learn this lesson, you are giving them a gift that
will last a lifetime.  If you don't know how to teach them, ask for
help.  Anyone can learn.
*   *   *
"Do not train children to learning by force and harshness, but direct
them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able
to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of
each."~~Plato



Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

Please contact me with recipes, questions, comments and simple living
ideas that work for you.  Email: thesimple_life@...
Join the online newsletter to print recipes and look up previous
columns.
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The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. (Leonardo DaVinci)

	 Arching over our road is a canopy of brilliant colors.  I
don't know how people could live where fall colors do not bloom
season to season.  They miss out on a beautiful spectacle.
	 Under the canopy, a plume of gold points down the road;
another orange torch flames as sunlight reaches through to set it on
fire.  Another tree, bright red, stands sentry against the afternoon
sky.  Spring is great, summer is wonderful, and fall?  Fall is
amazing.  Daily the colors turn competing with each other for
attention.  And they get attention from me.  I love to drive and see
God's beauty, watching the variations of gold, the reds fading to
pink.
	 Another piece to Autumn's puzzle is the garden produce.  Last
night we had a baked Buttercup squash. When you scoop out the pulp
and mix it with just a touch of brown sugar and margarine, it's hard
to believe that it was just a seed a couple months ago!  No fall
dinner is complete without winter squash, weather acorn, buttercup,
butternut, etc.
	 Whatever are your favorite things of fall, make sure you
don't miss it!  Driving right around our area are some lovely views –
don't let them slip by unnoticed.  There's still time for one last
picnic, one last fall cruise, one last cook out.

*    *    *


Art is collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the
artist does the better. --Andre Gide

Chocolate Chip Streusel Coffee Cake

streusel:

1 c brown sugar
  1/2 c chocolate chips
1/2 c walnuts, chopped
2 T flour
2 t cinnamon
2 T butter, melted

mix all in small bowl and set aside.

coffee cake:

1 pkg. yellow cake mix
8 oz. sour cream
3/4 c water
3 eggs

combine all ingredients, mix well, beat 2 minutes at high speed.
spread 2/3 of batter in greased and floured 9x13 inch pan. sprinkle
half of streusel mixture over cake. add rest of batter and sprinkle
with rest of streusel. bake at 350 degrees for 35-50 minutes. serves
16.
*   *   *

"I have discovered that the people who believe most strongly in the
next life do the most good in the present one." -- C.S. Lewis

"Life is a big canvas, throw all the paint on it you can." -- Danny
Kaye

Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

Please contact me with recipes, questions, comments and simple living
ideas that work for you.  Email: thesimple_life@...
Join the online newsletter to print recipes and look up previous
columns.
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The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. (Leonardo DaVinci)


	 I hope you have had time to notice the awesome fall colors.
I was driving to work the other day, and I noticed that there are
colors out there that don't even have names!  So I tried to name
them.  It was difficult.  The names we have for colors don't even
come close, and it's almost impossible to describe them without using
other color names or fruit names.  You try it!  It's not that easy.
There was peachy pink, hmmm.  I'll call that sunset.  But then I'm
using another word already invented.  Now, what would I do to make up
a name that doesn't exist? Smarly?  Peank?  No, peach and pink don't
really combine to make a good word.  What would you and your family
come up with?  I'm really glad I wasn't Adam, who had the job of
naming things!  No wonder he lived so long.  And did Eve help him, or
did he finish that before she came along?

	 A friend of ours, Carl, has been given a few months to live.
He is told he has inoperable brain cancer.  But he has accepted his
situation.  Every once in a while, I think how fortunate I am.  I
don't have a fatal diagnosis – not yet.  But Carl is happy and going
on one day at a time, putting all his loose ends together.  He has
made all the arrangements that will make life easier for his wife.
But, who is the lucky one?  In our human thinking, we wish we could
keep Carl with us.  We cannot imagine heaven, and so we are often
afraid of it.  But we shouldn't fear it.  Carl will just get there a
little ahead of us.  But Carl reminds me to savor every possible
moment.  When I'm at work I really enjoy the folks I work with.  Work
is home away from home, and I work with exceptional folks.

	 All this to say, spring or fall, no matter when or
where, `Ain't life grand?'  I don't want to ignore fall because I
know snow will follow, and though I'm not a fan of winter, I do love
its beauty.  I don't want to rush through life without noticing the
names of things.

	 A man said to me this week, "Every day is great and some are
better."  I couldn't agree more.  It's fall!  Have a hayride, a
bonfire, a cookout, a bike ride, a hike – go camping – whatever it is
that you love to do and don't miss this beautiful time of year!  It
doesn't last long.

*   *   *
	 "Everyman's life is a fairy tale written by God's fingers." --
  Hans Christian Anderson

*   *   *

SIMPLE PUMPKIN PANCAKES

1 c flour
Pinch baking soda
2 T sugar
1/4 t cinnamon
1/8 t ginger
1/8 t nutmeg
1 egg well-beaten
1 1/4 c milk
2 T melted shortening
1/2 c canned pumpkin or mashed sweet potato, cooked


Combine flour, soda, sugar and spices. Combine egg, shortening,
pumpkin and milk; add to flour mixture, beating until smooth. Bake on
hot, lightly greased griddle, turning only once. Serve hot with
butter and syrup or powdered sugar.

Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

Please contact me with recipes, questions, comments and simple living
ideas that work for you.  Email: thesimple_life@...
Join the online newsletter to print recipes and look up previous
columns.
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The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. (Leonardo DaVinci)

	 The sounds of fall, geese gathering, chain saws, guns being
fired and leaves rustling, signal changing seasons.  The weatherman
tells us later this week we may need jackets.  The shorts go in the
closet where the sweaters were stored away.

	 Fall is my season for a yard sale.  All year, I have a place
where I put things that I realize I don't need any more.  Books that
have been read, dish sets that have been replaced, but mainly just
things I don't use any more; things someone else may find useful.
Oh, I could get rid of more, but who wants a bare house?  Now, with
only a week or so to go, the sorting and gathering begins in
earnest.

	 Now I love going to yard sales just a little more than I love
having one.  "The hunt" for another piece to a collection, for
usually a fraction of an "antique store" price makes it all the more
fun.  Give me a yard sale to an antique store anyday.  Even my
husband loves the fun, often finding a wrench, wheels, hubcaps, - guy
things I know nothing about.  One day recently he had all the "finds"
while I bought nothing.  I especially love it when the kids sell
lemonade and cookies.  I have been buying cookies from two boys in
Wisconsin every year.  We go there for vacation every year, to a
little town called Iola.  There is an old car festival, and each year
thousands of volunteers work together to put on this great event.
The population swells by thousands.  The people in town put on their
yard sales at the same time.  I take my bicycle along – its much
easier to navigate the traffic!  And my bicycle has a basket.  (If I
buy something that is too big for my bike, we wait until evening to
pick it up.)

This year when I got to the yard sale, the boys were not in sight.  I
said, "Where are the boys with the cookies?"  The father called his
son, who had just stepped inside for a moment, from the house.  My
how he has grown!  They are big, burly football players, now.  This
year they were prepared and even had recipe sheets to give to
their "regular" customers!  The oatmeal raisin, peanut butter, and
molasses recipes are now in my recipe binder, back home in Michigan.

  I don't buy a lot, riding a bike, but I visit with the same people
year after year.  It's really fun.  This year I found 4 matching
bentwood chairs for $4 each there.  They are now painted blue and
circle our kitchen table.  What a bargain!
Sometimes we find home-grown produce, honey, or crafts.  You just
never know.

So, while we are driving around noticing all the fall changes, we are
also looking for that bargain.  There's more than one "hunting
season" in the fall!

*   *   *

  Simple Crock-pot Mushroom Chicken In Sour Cream Sauce


6 skinless bone in breast halves
1 can cream of mushroom soup (10 3/4 oz size)
8 oz. sour cream
1/2 C. chicken broth
1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms (or (4) 4 oz. cans)
1/4 t lemon pepper
1 t garlic powder
1/2 t paprika
1 1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper

   Combine salt, pepper, paprika, lemon pepper, garlic powder. Rub
over chicken, place in crockpot and add the mushrooms. Combine soup,
sour cream and broth. Pour over chicken. You can also use chicken
pieces, if desired.  Cover, cook on low 6-8 hours. Serve over
potatoes or rice.

*   *   *
~Extend your Harvest~
	 When frost threatens your tomato plants in the fall, pull
them from the ground and hang them upside down in a garage, or where
ever they won't be touched by frost.  The tomatoes will continue to
turn red until November, or later!  Stretching your harvest saves
dollars at the grocery.  Green tomatoes can also be placed in brown
paper bags in a cool place to slowly turn red.  Darkness is what
turns tomatoes, not putting them on a windowsill.  A friend of mine,
puts all the vines in a pile and covers them with an old blanket.
That works, too.


Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

Please contact me with recipes, questions, comments and simple living
ideas that work for you.  Email: thesimple_life@...
Join the online newsletter to print recipes and look up previous
columns.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thesimple_life

The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. (Leonardo DaVinci)

	 Bread, fresh from the oven, still steaming, melting the
butter.  Is there anything better?


           A few weeks ago I decided to perfect my bread baking.  Rick
had been over at a neighbors while the man put great-looking loaves
into the oven. It just made his mouth water, but he wasn't there when
it came out of the oven.  I've made bread for years, in fact nearly
30 years ago, an older couple that lived near us used to buy my
bread.  They loved it.  I loved it some of the time.  But it didn't
always turn out the best, in my opinion.  Sometimes it didn't rise
well.  Or, it would look fine going in the oven and then it fell
while it was baking. Sometimes it was too crumbly for a sandwich.
Once I forgot the salt.

	 But wasn't it possible to make good bread every time?
Couldn't I turn out a consistent loaf every time, or at least nearly
every time?


	 The opportunity came in the form of a few consecutive days
off in a row.  I searched the internet for the perfect recipe and
found no real secrets.  The basic bread recipe is, pretty much the
same no matter how you knead it!


           The first day – WOW!  The most delicious bread.  Golden
brown and tall beautiful loaves. Rick said it was just as good as his
mom used to make.  Now she was chief bread maker - Ardena Simons.
She had 8 kids and baked bread once a week. She finally assigned one
loaf to each kid, so they would all get their share.  If they ate it
up at the beginning of the week, that was it.

           She didn't own a bread machine, either.  Baking bread the
old fashioned way is hard work.  If it doesn't get the kneading it
needs, it isn't light with even air spaces. (If you ever got a big
hole in your bread, you know what I'm talking about).   My mom had
perfected the bread baking, too.  Now it was my turn.


	 Now my cinnamon rolls, and pizza crust always turned out
fine.  But it was a regular loaf of bread that sometimes evaded me.
So, I found the internet recipe that looked just fine.  It was
called "Mom's Farm Bread."  Now doesn't that sound like a great name
for bread?


	 A neighbor, Deanna Down is the best bread maker, as well.
She told me several year ago, that she keeps 2 bread machines, but
never bakes her bread in the machines.  She just uses them for the
mixing.  When downstate family is up for the weekend, they know they
will have delicious home-made bread.

	 While we were eating that delicious bread on the first day,
Rick said he hoped I could do it again.  That was the plan, I told
him, to make another batch of bread tomorrow and make it just as
good.  So, the next day I baked bread, but disappointment.  It fell!
It was okay for French toast, but not great bread.  Now my high from
the day before was gone.  I wasn't the "Little Bread Baker" now I had
blown it – and it was only the second day.

	 I had knot in my stomach as I tried to find out what I'd done
wrong.  I got out my recipe book, and happened across this
statement "our recipes don't use as much yeast as many recipes do.
We find that this smaller amount of yeast is just right for a good
loaf of bread.  Too much yeast can result in bread falling."  The
lightbulb went on.  I had sometimes used too much yeast, and I knew I
had accidently put in too much yeast on the second day.  So the third
day I gingerly set out to make "perfect" bread again.  And –
Success!  Great bread again.  But could I do it again?  Again the
fourth day I set out to try.  Again – Success.  Now I felt more
confident in my bread baking ability.

Mom's Farm Bread
This makes one loaf.  I mix two loaves (My machine cannot make a
double batch at once) in the bread machine let it rise twice punching
it down in between, in a big bowl. Then form into loaves, rise in
pans and then bake for 30 minutes.  It is about 5 hours from start to
finish, but it is worth it.  If you have a mixer with dough hooks,
you can use that, too.

1 ¼ c lukewarm water, 1 ¼ t yeast 1 T flour, 1 t sugar (mix and let
yeast work 10 minutes).  Now begin adding rest of ingredients – ½ c
oatmeal, 1 c whole wheat, ½ t salt, ¼ c oil, 2 T brown sugar, 1 egg
and finally 2 ¼ c bread flour.  This should not be sticky or crumbly
it probably won't even stick to the edges of the bowl.  If it is too
wet, add a small amount of flour, or too dry add a small bit of flour
until you have a nice ball of dough.  Grease a big bowl and let rise
in a warm place two times.  The last time, form into two loaves.
Place in greased pans. I sometimes add raisins and cinnamon before I
roll it up.  Let this rise until about an inch over the top of the
pan.  Heat oven and bake about 30 minutes until golden brown.  Enjoy!


Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

Please contact me with recipes, questions, comments and simple living
ideas that work for you.  Email: thesimple_life@...

The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons


When you are content to simply be yourself and don't compare or
compete, everyone will respect you. Lao Tzu

Then summer fades and passes and October comes. We'll smell smoke
then, and feel an unexpected sharpness, a thrill of nervousness,
swift elation, a sense of sadness and departure.~~Thomas Wolfe

*    *    *

	 Northern Michigan autumn is fading fast.  Our yard is bare,
even though we still have beautiful blooming roses and petunias.
They haven't given up yet, and there are even some delphiniums in the
yard that are still in bloom (for the second bloom). There are still
some beautiful pockets of color and a short ride around the
neighborhood today brought some lovely golden orange maples into
view.  Most of the reds are gone.  I heard that the colors change 20
miles south, each week, but not sure if I can trust that rumor!
Going near the great lakes also makes a difference with the climate
near the big bodies of water making the weather more temperate, and
fall colors are slower to turn there.  It sure is a beautiful fall,
and outdoor jobs are fun to do.

This week we will give the lawn a final mowing.  Some years I have
cut all the perennials, but recently read that birds love the seeds,
so will keep some of them uncut for the birds.  I can just as easily
cut them in the spring.

	 I have an area I want to make into a patio, but it was full
of plants and some are bulbs.  I can't put the patio blocks down
until I dig up the bulbs.  That got me to thinking that next year I
will put a marker where I have a patch of bulbs, so that when digging
I will know I have a clump of flowers there, hiding underground.
That will be a fun spring project for next spring to look forward
to.  And, I might get some great ideas before then, as well.

	 Just looking around the yard, I see a few things that need to
be put away.  Most things, like lawn furniture, get put away or
covered here.  They might be winter hardy, but they will last better
if they are under cover.  Things like putting hoses away and general
yard clean up are done in a few minutes on a nice sunny warm day.

*    *    *
Simple Cinnamon Rolls

	 Several requests for cinnamon rolls recipes came from last
weeks bread recipe.  I had an early start getting to know cinnamon
rolls.  My mother, and my grandmother were the pros who taught me.
Start with the dough recipe from last weeks column, or go to the
website.  Let it rise once and punch down. Let rest for 10 to 20
minutes.  Pat out the dough into a 9 X 16 (or so) rectangle.  Spread
a layer of brown sugar ( the more brown sugar, it will melt to the
bottom of the pan and make a carmelly glaze), a generous layer of
cinnamon, and various raisins, chopped apples, and or nuts can be
added, as well.  Roll up and slice.  I put this recipe into one 10"
pie pan, or a double recipe into a 9X13 pan.  Let rise again.  They
are ready to bake when you touch them with your finger and the
indentation stays.  If it quickly disappears, it is still rising.
Bake about 25 minutes until golden brown.  Frost and serve ( warm of
course!)
*   *   *

"I have discovered that the people who believe most strongly in the
next life do the most good in the present one." -- C.S. Lewis

We all have but one life.  We choose to make it a fairy tale, or a
nightmare.  What me make of it, comes from our choices.


Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thesimple_life/post

Please contact me with recipes, questions, comments and simple living
ideas that work for you.  Email: thesimple_life@...

The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons


When you are content to simply be yourself and don't compare or
compete, everyone will respect you. Lao Tzu

"Look up, laugh loud, talk big, keep the color in your cheek and the
fire in your eye, adorn your person, maintain your health, your
beauty and your animal spirits.'" ~~William Hazlitt

Even though November winds howl, I still managed to pick a fall
bouquet of late bloomers.  Delphinium and Russian Sage still look and
smell good on my kitchen table.  It was raining earlier, but when I
went outside about 10 am, the sun was climbing and it was warming
nicely.  We decided to go for a walk, and it was beautiful for about
an hour and a half!  When we got home the sun was going behind the
clouds, and now it is raining again.  What if we wouldn't have taken
that window of opportunity?  We'd have missed out on those golden
leaves sparkling in the sun.  You have to take advantage when you can!

*    *     *
Simple Lasagna

12 oz. cottage cheese
2 c (8 oz.) mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 eggs
1/3 c chopped parsley
1 t onion powder
½ t basil
sprinkle pepper
32 oz. jar spaghetti sauce
3/4 c. cooked ground beef or your favorite meat
9 lasagna noodles, uncooked
*3/4 c. water (more or less)
grated parmesan cheese

In large bowl, mix cheeses, eggs, parsley, onion powder, basil and
pepper until well blended; set aside. In medium bowl, mix together
spaghetti sauce and cooked meat.

In 12x8x2 baking dish, spread 3/4 c. meat sauce. Layer 3 uncooked
noodles and top with meat sauce. Spread with 1/2 of cottage cheese
mixture and 1 1/2 c. meat sauce. Layer 3 more noodles on top of meat
sauce. Spread with remaining cottage cheese mixture. Top with
remaining 3 uncooked noodles and remaining meat sauce. Pour water
around edges.

Freezing and Cooking Directions:
Wrap tightly with freezer paper, foil, or place dish in 2-gallon bag.
Label and freeze.

To serve: thaw and bake, covered, at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.
Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes.
Serve with Parmesan cheese. To bake from the frozen stage, add 30
minutes to total baking time.

* If you like your pasta to be firm, decrease the water by 1/2 c per
recipe.

*    *    *
Simple Air Cleaners
	 Did you know that indoor winter gardening can help keep your
air cleaner in your house, by actually absorbing toxins in the air?
Spider plants and philodendron are two of the best indoor plants for
better air quality, but any plant is better than nothing.  You can
even try having a couple plants in each room.  Some plants don't need
much light, so they work no matter what room they are in.

SKUNK SPRAY REMEDY

   1 quart Hydrogen Peroxide 3%
   ¼ cup baking soda
   1 tsp liquid soap
   Mix all ingredients, apply to dog, wait 10 minutes, then rinse.
   Retreat if necessary.
   Do not get in eyes or ears.
   Use immediately; the mixture is unstable and cannot be stored after
mixing.

*    *    *

"Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an
experiment." ~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"To say yes, you have to sweat and roll up your sleeves and plunge
both hands into life up to the elbows." ~~ Jean Anouilh

"I live by this credo: Have a little laugh at life and look around
you for happiness instead of sadness. Laughter has always brought me
out of unhappy situations. Even in your darkest moment, you usually
can find something to laugh about if you try hard enough." ~~ Red
Skelton



*  *   *
Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thesimple_life/post

Please contact me with recipes, questions, comments and simple living
ideas that work for you.  Email: thesimple_life@...

The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons


When you are content to simply be yourself and don't compare or
compete, everyone will respect you.~~ Lao Tzu


"Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness.
It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to
a worthy purpose."~~Helen Keller


           You probably have noticed, as I have, that there are some
very rich people out there who are not happy at all.  One young woman
I know is the manager of a big business.  She makes a great salary,
drives a couple nice cars- one a cute little sports car that almost
anyone would envy.  One Sunday she wasn't at work.  I asked where she
was.  "She's home sleeping". That was how she spent her days off?
Sleeping?  Her family was downstate, she wasn't married, didn't even
have a dog!  Rich- maybe.  Wealthy?  I don't think so.  But for me
there's always been a distinction between rich, and wealthy.  Anyone
can be wealthy, but not everyone can be rich, or would even want to
be.

	 Seems so many strive to be rich.  They throw money away at
casinos trying to get more money.  Or some spend money they don't
even have trying to look rich, while they are not.  But Thanksgiving
Day is a great chance to think about how rich/wealthy you are.  Are
you sitting around a table loaded with food -then you might be rich?
Do you have loved ones to share that dinner with? Then you are
wealthy.  Do you have a warm house, a job, a vehicle to get you
there?  Then you are rich. Do you have kids to drop off at school and
a happy spouse that you come home to at night?  Then you are wealthy.

         That doesn't mean you can't be single and wealthy!  I know
some single people who just reek of wealth.  They come into a room
and everyone just feels it!  They are loving and caring and always
smiling.  A smile has a lot to do with being wealthy.  They are
always cheering everyone else up.  Now that is a wealthy person who
has enough cheer to spread around! Grumpy people are not wealthy.
They might be rich, but definitely not wealthy.  Anyway, how can
someone who is rich be grumpy?

	 But then I know some families who struggle to put together a
nice Thanksgiving dinner.  They have been through some hard times,
but the sun still shines in their world.  They pull together.  They
gather their resources.  They don't take out their fears and
frustrations on those they love.  They may be having macaroni and
cheese for Thanksgiving Dinner, but Thanksgiving Dinner it will be!
These families are living proof that it doesn't take riches to be
happy.  They really are wealthy.  And, the only difference between
these people and the poor people down the street?  Attitude.  May you
have a wealthy Thanksgiving Day!  It's up to you.

*    *    *

"We don't see things as they are. We see them as we are." ~~Anais Nin

"Other people's opinion of you does not have to become your reality."
~~ Les Brown

Simple Thanksgiving Sweet Potatoes

8 average size sweet potatoes – baked, peeled and cubled - or 1 large
can sweet potatoes
1 t vanilla
3-5 T brown sugar (to taste)
1/2 stick butter or marg.
1/4 t cinnamon to taste
1/4 - 1t nutmeg to taste
1/4 c orange juice to taste

Mix all ingredients with some marshmallows and spoon into greased
casserole pan. Bake 30-45 minutes until heated.  Cover with Large
marshmallows and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (opt.). Return to oven
until marshmallows are golden brown. Note – may also add ½ c crushed
pineapple before baking.

Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thesimple_life/post

Please contact me with recipes, questions, comments and simple living
ideas that work for you.  Email: thesimple_life@...

The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons


	 Let your boat of life be light, packed with only what you
need – a homey home and simple pleasures, one or two friends worth
the name, someone to love and someone to love you, a cat, a dog and a
pipe or two, enough to eat and enough to wear… Jerome Parr

…Simple Holidays…

	 Holidays are not always so simple. "I used to hate
Christmas.  I worked full time, there was so much stuff going on with
the kids, and then there was all that extra stuff that goes with the
holidays.  I got grumpy and it trickled down to the whole family.
Everyone wanted to just stay out of my way.  We just barely made it
through, and it was such a relief.  I finally got smart and had a
talk with my husband. I explained about all the decorating, the
baking, the cooking, the dishes to pass, the dressing up for parties,
and the not enough sleep.  Now he and the kids really pitch in and
now we all love Christmas again," my girlfriend told me. She told
them, either you help out, or you've got `grouchy mom' for the
duration. They chose to help.  Now everyone pitches in with the
decorating, and mom arrives with the milk and cookies.  They all have
fun.  No more stress -  well unless you count dad and the untangling
of the lights!

	 Simplify the holidays?  It's easy.
1. Make a list of what is important to you.  If it's not
important, cut it out.
2. Delegate the work.  One person can't do it all.
3. Keep a calendar, and immediately put on it any date that
comes up.  If you need outfits or special gifts, or food, put it on
your list well in advance.
4. For parties, decide ahead which recipes are important.  Do
you really have to do the turkey in the oven with stuffing, or would
a turkey roll do?  Or would you like to buy your meal ready to go
(most of the people I know are great cooks, so this is not an
option).  You could go out to dinner, but what fun is that?  Part of
the family fun is in the preparation!  If you don't have any great
cooks, then by all means, go out or have it catered.
5. If you do decide to cook the meal, do a pot-luck or get
together early and fix it all together!  Plan ahead and everyone
bring their favorite dish.  So what if someone brings a store-bought
pie. The whole idea is just to get together.  And don't do too many
dishes.  That just leads to overeating, anyway, and no one needs
that.  Or you can always go with a real easy meal like sloppy joes,
taco bar, or ham sandwiches and salads.  Keep the main idea the main
idea, it's about low stress and happy families.  Do it your way, the
easy way.  And don't forget the paper plates unless you have hired
help to do the dishes!
6. Having your family parties away from the actual holiday makes
it easier to get everyone there.  How about at the beginning of
December and  Thanksgiving weekend instead of Thanksgiving Day, etc.
7. Don't forget the religious part of the holiday.  It's easy to
leave out the important part when it is getting squeezed out.  Don't
let that happen.  Incorporate the Christmas or other service as part
of the tradition. Read from the Bible, and sing the carols. Go out
for dessert afterward for a treat!
8. Now for the real fun.  Try doing one extra giving thing.
Invite someone who is alone. Or bring groceries to a family in need.
Do something as a family that will teach the kids the values of
giving.  And, give everyone a hug!  That's the simple part.
9. Little ones have a hard time waiting for "the big day".  Have
some simple small gifts for them, just for a surprise, to take their
mind off Santa for a little while.

Take from your best memories of childhood – the special dishes, or
traditions -  and from each of you combine them into a holiday piece
of art that is unique to only your family.

Or, The Short List!
For the cynics who say that the list above is too long, there are
really only two steps to simplifying:
1. Identify what's most important to you.
2. Eliminate everything else.

*   *    *
Simple 7 Layer Salad

Start at the bottom with torn lettuce, layering your favorites of
chopped egg, peas, onions, bacon bits, shredded cheese, etc. Keep the
salad dressing toward the top, with cheese and bacon bits on top!

*   *   *
Life appears to be too short to be spent in nursing animosity or
registering wrong.  The pain we nurture controls us.
                                                                      -
  Charlotte Bronte
*   *   *

Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

Please contact me with recipes, questions, comments and simple living
ideas that work for you.  Email: thesimple_life@...
Join the online newsletter to print recipes and look up previous
columns.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thesimple_life

The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons


"Spiritual values transcend the material artifacts that we can touch
and see. They take us into the realm of beauty, inspiration and
love." ~~ Nido Qubein

"The greatest composer does not sit down to work because he is
inspired, but becomes inspired because he is working." ~~ Ernest
Newman


*    *    *

Simple Impressions

When I was a young girl, one of my uncles came for a visit.  I rarely
saw him, and he was very happy to see us.  When he greeted us, he
reached in his pocket and took out several quarters and gave them to
me.  Wow!  Real money.  I was young enough, maybe 5, so that I didn't
often have money to spend.  He really made an impression on me.  I
never forgot that.  I always looked forward to seeing him.

A young man was recently telling me of being in a situation where an
adult really lost his temper.  He heard the man yelling at another
man.  He was a young boy at the time but even though he is now grown,
he still clearly remembered his feelings from that day, even when it
happened nearly 20 years earlier.  He said he was very embarrassed
and wanted to leave the room, even though he was not the object of
the man's temper.  I realized how long that young man had been
carrying that memory around!  And he will carry it until the end of
his life.  I wonder what that man would think if he knew the memory
the young man had of him.

Sometimes, we only get one opportunity to make an impression on
someone.  It may be a lasting impression. Or, what if we have a bad
temper and our kids have memory upon memory of our flashes of anger?
Once those memories are written, they can't be erased.

A man once told me he couldn't work for anyone, he just never got
along with anyone for very long.  As soon as he ran into a
disagreement, he'd quit or get fired. He always had a hard time
earning a living, instead of learning how to get along with others.

A girlfriend of mine had a father who was an alcoholic.  She could
never have friends over.  And when he came home drunk, she would just
hide if she could.  What a memory of her own father!

I read that our lives are like empty envelopes.  When people do
something kind, it's like making a deposit in a bank account.  When
people do hurtful things, they are taking away from the envelope,
like a withdrawal from the bank.  What kind of memories do we leave?
Deposits of good, or withdrawals in red?

Baby geese will follow whatever they first see that moves after
hatching.  Whatever it is, they think it's their mother, and they try
to imitate it.  People are like that, too.  Sometimes we wish we
could forget, but we can't.

Kind of scary, isn't it?  Remember that bully from school?  Or, what
about something really nice that someone did for you?  Some memories
others have of us cannot be erased.  Make `em good ones.

~Simple Stromboli~

Make Stromboli from frozen bread dough, cold cuts, cheese and fresh
veggies like broccoli, onion, cheese and red peppers to please those
vegetarian guests. Allow dough to rise according to package
directions. Roll into rectangle. Layer meats and cheeses. Roll as you
would a jellyroll. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until a
light, golden brown. Freeze in foil. Thaw and heat before serving.
(You can slice and heat in the microwave or heat in a 350 degree oven
for about 10 to 15 minutes.)

Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

Please contact me with recipes, questions, comments and simple living
ideas that work for you.  Email: thesimple_life@...
Join the online newsletter to print recipes and look up previous
columns.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thesimple_life

The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons


Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it
comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow.  ~Edward
Sandford Martin

	 You will not believe this, but here in our snowy icy winter
weather, we still have two blue birds in our yard, that we are seeing
daily.  I thought they were gone long ago, but we began seeing them
each morning.  I hope they head south soon! (Yes, they are bluebirds,
not bluejays!) But they must be finding enough food to eat.

*    *    *
This Christmas season there is the danger to let the worldliness of
prosperity creep into the joy of Christmas.  With all the busy
activities of shopping, dinners and travel it so easy to let those
things consume us.  It can be the silent thief of the month robbing
the joy that comes on meditating on the significance of Christ coming
to this fallen world.  It can rob you of actually listening to what
the words really mean in some of our most favorite Christmas
carols.~~unknown

*   *   *
Simplifying Christmas!

* Do not go into debt for Christmas.  If you are short on cash now
give gift certificates you make.  How about a golf game with your
grandson (or grandpa) for next summer?  How about dinner and a movie
with grandma (that way you pay when you go, not right now).  Or a
certificate for almost anything (massage for mom and dad, free once a
month lawn mowing, or a shopping trip for after Christmas during
clearance prices!  You will save nearly ½, and have time to shop
around.  The recipient will be thankful you are careful with your
money, and they will be getting double value (if you normally spend
$100, now you might get the value of $200, so your money goes further
just by waiting for after Christmas sales!  The gift could be for
labor, or even a dollar amount of something the recipient will
choose.

* Do only the most important things.  Don't try to cram everything
in.  Take time to sip cocoa and go for a drive to see the Christmas
lights.  Read the Christmas story and have a quiet Christmas.

* Bake ahead and freeze.  Do plates of goodies that you can pull out
in a pinch when friends stop over.  While at it, do healthy snacks no
one will feel guilty to eat, such as veggies and low-fat dip, or
fruit.

* Bake together with a friend or family.  It's so much fun, and a
great way to learn some new recipes!

* In all the extravagance of America, some families do the three
gifts of the Magi idea.  Everyone gets 3 gifts, something to wear,
something you want, something else you need.

* One young mother was telling me how her mother and mother-in-law
always tried to outdo each other with presents for her kids, with out
respecting her and her husband's wishes that Christmas be simple.
They didn't want their kids to get used to the materialism of
Christmas.  Respect your child's wishes for their children. Allow
them to make the decisions for their family that they need to make.
Ask them for ideas.  If you really want to spend a lot of money,
consider a family vacation, or put the money in a bank account for
college. Maybe you can keep special gifts for them at your house, to
play with, but remember that your grandkids won't remember anyway,
but your kids will.  One family I know got a big cardboard box for
their son, and he was the envy of the neighborhood to have a "fort"
in his bedroom – and it was free!

* No matter how young, kids can give gifts.  Even if it's a fancy
little box with a card inside that says "LOVE".  It is a gift, or
maybe you can help them decorate a special cookie for grandpa, or
help wrap a box of warm socks.  They will feel part of the `giving'
that way.  That's what I tried to emphasize with my kids.  Even
though it doesn't have to be expensive, it is the giving that counts.


Pumpkin Pie Coffee Creamer
  4 t ground cinnamon
  2 t ground ginger
  2 t ground nutmeg
  1 t ground cloves
  1 t allspice (opt.)
  1 c non-dairy creamer

Combine well and give as gifts in pretty jars with bows and labels.

Colored Sugar

To make your own colored sugar, add food coloring to sugar crystals.
Let mixture air dry.  Repeat if necessary for the darkness you
prefer. If clumpy break apart with a fork.  Keep in small containers
or plastic baggies.

Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

Please contact me with recipes, questions, comments and simple living
ideas that work for you.  Email: thesimple_life@...
Join the online newsletter to print recipes and look up previous
columns.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thesimple_life

The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons

"The real things haven't changed. It is still best to be honest and
truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple
pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong."~~Laura Ingalls
Wilder

"That man is richest whose pleasures are the cheapest".~~ Henry David
Thoreau

"When you finally allow yourself to trust joy and embrace it, you
will find you dance with everything." ~~ Emanuel

      For nearly 2000 years people around the world have celebrated
Christmas.  Santa and parties, twinkling lights and ringing bells
cannot take away from the `real' meaning of Christmas – the birth of
Christ in the manger of Bethlehem.
     The perfect Christmas is always in the back of our minds with
different traditions and foods, but still the same – with love and
family central to us all.

It's said that most American's cannot even remember their favorite
Christmas present from last year!  The most meaningful things, are
usually free!

Free (or almost) things to do at Christmas!

Make a craft.  Teach someone to knit or crochet, or sew, or do some
woodworking.

Take a walk in the dark on a crisp, cold evening and notice the hoot
of an owl, the stars, a plane streaking across the sky, smoke from a
chimney, shadows on the snow.

Go to the library for some great Christmas stories and some libraries
have books on tape, and videos, as well.

Give the gift of babysitting, while parents go shopping.  The
laughter of children will be a gift to yourself.

Bake together. Or have a cookie sharing party.

Go to a museum.

Have a snow picnic.  Bundle up and roast hotdogs over an open fire.

Remember the 80-20 Rule.  You only use 20% of your stuff.  Getting
rid of the rest will be a gift to yourself.

Help someone.  Does a neighbor need something shoveled, or need a
dinner, or a load of wood?  The warmth in your heart from a good deed
will last through the season.

Attend a Christmas concert – there's nothing like music to help bring
focus to the season.

Go to an outdoor nativity in your area.  Don't forget to bundle up!
This is fascinating, especially to city kids who don't often see
animals up close and personal.  What a great way to make a memory!

Make a cake or cookies and visit a neighbor you don't often see, or a
shut-in.

Make a snowman – don't forget the snow angels!

Have some cocoa and cookies while you decorate the tree.

Have a pot-luck with friends.

Go Christmas Caroling

Have a kiss under the Mistletoe!

Do some family research.  I recently found my great-great
grandparents graves near Mesick at a small cemetery, with the
directions from my Great-Uncle.  I had been by there numerous times
and didn't even know they were buried there.  They were born in the
1850's!  I feel like a piece of a great puzzle has been found.
Hooray!- What a treasure!  The only thing better is if I could have
known them - but in a way, I do.  Their daughter and son-in-law were
my great grandparents and I did know them.  They had a neat and tidy
home, they were loving, they read daily from their Bibles, my
grandfather wrote poetry, they raised four loving daughters.  My
great-great grandparents legacy lives on.

SIMPLE HOMEMADE PORK AND BEANS
1 lb. dry navy beans            1/4 lb. salt pork cut in strips (opt)
1 t dry mustard                 1/4 c brown sugar
2 t salt                         1/4 c dark molasses
1/2 c ketchup                    Chopped Onions (opt)
    Directions:
           Cover beans with cold water and soak overnight. Drain
water. Save for other uses. Cover beans with boiling water and cook
30 minutes. Drain water. Save for other uses. Add salt pork, put in
bean pot adding some of the salt pork to the top. Mix mustard,
onions, sugar, salt and molasses; add to beans. Add ½ cup boiling
water, cover pot and bake at 250F oven for 6 hours. Add more water if
needed, just to keep beans covered. Remove cover during last hour.  I
like to sprinkle French Fried Onion Rings (Dried) on the last ½
hour.  8 servings.

Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

Please contact me with recipes, questions, comments and simple living
ideas that work for you.  Email: thesimple_life@.... Join the
online newsletter to print recipes and look up previous columns.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thesimple_life

The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons


"The only way to live is to accept each minute as an unrepeatable
miracle, which is exactly what it is - a miracle and unrepeatable."
~~ Margaret Storm Jameson

"The world is full of poetry. The air is living with its spirit; and
the waves dance to the music of its melodies, and sparkle in its
brightness." ~~ Percival

"Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind;
the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind." ~~Henry
James

Happy Anniversary!

	 My parents, Neil and Carolyn Sergent, celebrated their 50th
wedding anniversary this past week.  It was also my mother's
birthday, which was the 14th.  The CBS show "Survivor" has nothing on
them, only lasting 39 days at a time.  50 years - pretty good run,
and still going strong.

	 They married in 1957, my mom an LPN, and my dad soon to
become a letter carrier for the US Postal Service, which became his
career.  I remember dad often coming home for lunch, making an onion
and cheese sandwich or maybe meatloaf – something that I always
thought was "yuck"!  There were always the "donut shop" stories
during dinner when dad would recount what hilarious thing happened
with his mailmen buddies. I don't think dad goes on a trip anywhere
without stopping somewhere for a donut!  We still look forward to
them.

          They had a new 1957 Chevy.  Their first apartment, in Flint,
was rented from a family friend.  My dad's mom was taken shopping the
day after their short honeymoon, so she wouldn't be home when my dad
came to collect his things and leave the house for the last time.
They met at my mother's Aunt's house, where my mother was staying
while she went to nursing school and began her career.  Since my Aunt
had four sons, naturally their friends were always bringing home
friends.  After about 6 months of dating, my dad took my mom to
Frankenmuth and they became engaged.  Fifty years later, we
celebrated there again!

	 That `57 Chevy, the only "new" car my dad ever bought, was
sold in 1958 when they found that I was on the way.  The big car
payment (I think it was $25.) was more than my dad thought they could
handle, so they bought a used car, another Chevy.  It was always
important to my mom and dad to provide a nice home, in a nice
neighborhood for their family, which became a family of five with the
addition of my two brothers.  While we were kids, mom and dad always
had remodeling ideas for each home we lived in.  Knocking out a wall
between the living room and dining room, or adding a large screened
in porch, or bay window.  I remember when we got our first
dishwasher!  I thought my dishwashing days were over.  Ha!

            There was always, and still is a basketball court and dad
still finds time for a few lay-ups with the grandkids.  We all had
bicycles and often rode around town together in the evenings.  I
loved hearing the stories of my mom growing up in the "country"
envying her riding horses with friends.  I always begged to move to
the country, but, looking back, the small town life was real nice.
They were always careful with money but always managed to do nice
things.  Dad did most of the work on our houses himself, and mom
always had a vegetable garden and canned all kinds of goodies, like
tomatoes and pickles.  I doubt she ever bought a jar of jam!  Mom and
Dad took me to Fox Theater in Detroit to see "The Sound of Music",
which remains my favorite all-time film.  I could probably lip-sinc
the whole movie.  They recently traveled to Grand Rapids to see the
play, which they loved.  The "Music Man" was another family
favorite.  We loved watching the old TV family favorites -  "Andy
Griffith", "Gomer Pyle", and once in a while I got to stay up to
watch "Bonanza".  Mom and Dad have always loved music and we had a
nice "record" collection.

	 We also became a "camping" family and did lots of canoeing on
Michigan rivers with friends.  After mom went back to school to
become a teacher, spring break usually meant a camping trip south.
We'd go to Tennessee, Kentucky, Vermont, and Florida.  Once we were
in Washington DC, right at Cherry blossom time.  And we have the
slides to prove it!

	 There were hard times, like any other family, with sicknesses
and loss of parents.  My dad met what would become one of his best
friends during a hospital stay, and their family became camping
buddies of ours.  Faith was always apart of our lives and memories of
attending church together are just as real as the homes we lived in.
Holidays brought family to our house, or theirs. Alternating between
my mother's family, or my father's family, or both, until we got to
be too many!  Family and friends numbered nearly 200 at my
grandfather's 100th birthday party 3 years ago!

	 There were disagreements over the years, but Dad was always a
gentleman with my mother, holding doors, helping around the house.
Neither had "his" or "her" jobs, if it needed doing, it was done
whether diapers or yard work.  I've never heard either call the other
a name.    There was, and still is, kindness and respect – a
thoughtfulness that rarely is seen today. They worked together, it
didn't happen by accident.

	 Congratulations, Mom and Dad, on a journey well lived.

*   *   *
	 Keep from gaining extra pounds over the holidays, by sticking
with fiber-rich foods - baked beans, raw veggies, whole grains and
fruit!

Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

Please contact me with recipes, questions, comments and simple living
ideas that work for you.  Email: thesimple_life@...
Join the online newsletter to print recipes and look up previous
columns. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thesimple_life

The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons

"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put
words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first
chapter is New Year's Day." ~~ Edith Lovejoy Pierce

"This bright New Year is given me
To live each day with zest…
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity
Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs!"
~~ William Arthur Ward

"The truest view of life has always seemed to me to be that which
shows that we are here not to enjoy, but to learn."~~Frederick
William Robertson

	 The new year is here, and so are our Bluebirds!  I couldn't
believe it until we saw them again the other morning.  There is a
male and female.  They must be finding enough food around here.  If
we see them, it is usually about 9 am on a bush right in front of our
bay window, or on some nearby maples.

	 I'll take it as a good sign that spring is on the way, even
though there are inches of snow, and a layer of ice thrown in just
for fun.  The terrible weather that California is getting now, will
probably be here in a few days, (hopefully watered down!), but for
now, we have a reprieve and a few days of weather in the 30's and
40's.  Nice to see the sun again.

	 What are you looking forward to this year?  Maybe 2007 wasn't
all you dreamed.  Make it happen this year, by making good choices.
You are in charge of the year, for the most part.  See how you can
save money, eat healthy, get more exercise, be a better family, a
better couple, a and even a better worker!

Better things for your family – make a menu of healthy meals and post
them a week at a time.  Whoever gets home first will know what is
cooking and know what to start.  Post the recipe, right there, if
there might be any questions.

Better things for the garage – does your car need tires, oil change,
or other service?  Schedule it, and put it on the calendar to keep it
up.  Don't drive an unsafe car.  Clean up the garage, while you are
at it.  Get rid of things you don't need, or haven't used in a couple
years.  Put up some storage shelves and get things organized.

Better things for the house – start one room at a time and get it
organized.  Clean it out and get rid of the clutter.  Dust, vacuum,
clean or paint everything.  Whatever you can get rid of, you won't
have to ever touch again.  Keep only your favorites, and it's less
junk your family won't have to get rid of someday.  Start at the main
entry door, and work your way through.  Donate the good stuff to
really feel good about it.

Better things for the car – clean it up!  Spend an hour cleaning the
junk out of your car.  Keep only a few needed things for
emergencies.  Dust, vacuum, and wash it inside and out.

Simple Stuffed Cabbage – you can use this for your first healthy new
recipe!  Serve with hot rolls for a great dinner idea!

    Ingredients:
12 large cabbage leaves          1/8 t pepper
½ c cooked rice           1 jar spaghetti or tomato sauce
½ t salt                         1/4 t crushed thyme & oregano
chopped onion and green pepper
1 lb lean ground beef or ½ beef & ½ Italian sausage
    Directions:
       Wash cabbage leaves. Boil 4 cups water. Turn off heat. Soak
leaves in this water for 5 minutes. You can soak entire head and then
remove the needed leaves after soaking. Remove, drain and cool.
Combine ground meat, rice, salt, onion, Green pepper, pepper and
thyme. Place 3 tbsp meat mixture on each loaf and roll firmly. Place
in electric slow cooker. Pour tomato sauce over stuffed cabbage.
Cover and cook on low setting for 8 - 10 hours.


Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

Please contact me with recipes, questions, comments and simple living
ideas that work for you.  Email: thesimple_life@...
Join the online newsletter to print recipes and look up previous
columns.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thesimple_life

The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons

Thinking Small in the New Year!

	 Instead of thinking bigger, let's think smaller and better in
2008!  Let's think eat at home and eat healthy, keeping that extra
money in our wallets.  Why pay someone to put a meal in front of our
family when we can do a better job ourselves?  At least when we eat
at home we know what's in there.  Let's think have a garden.  Let's
think about putting up some good home-grown vitamin-rich organic food
in jars or the freezer.

        Let's think small comfy home, instead of big, cold and too
much upkeep and payments that are too high.  A house that's paid for
is security.  And peace of mind is worth a lot.

	 No one is impressed anyway.  We can only impress ourselves
when we actually have more money at the end of the month after the
bills are paid.

         Let's think healthy exercise to keep in shape instead of
shopping and spending.  There will always be things to tempt us, but
we don't have to buy.   Let's cut out pop and chips and eat milk and
vegetables – good
wholesome food.  Make your own soups and stews.

	 Do you know what it feels like to not "owe" anyone money?  No
one! Just imagine at the end of the month all your bills are paid and
you owe not a dime! You can.  Buy a home you can afford, and pay
extra on your mortgage to pay it off early.  And don't fall into the
scam of home equity loans.  They just keep you from your long term
goals of paying off debt. Put several month's income in the bank for
emergencies.  And there always are – emergencies, that is.  Also,
have a policy that you don't buy what you can't pay for in cash.
And, most importantly, if you borrow money, pay it back!

	 Computers are great for the family, but you don't have to
have all the latest video games.  Play a board game or go outdoors.
Teach your kids how to play.  They love it when mom and dad play with
them, and it doesn't cost a dime.  Think simple. Football anyone?

	 An added bonus is that when mom and dad don't owe a bunch of
money, someone can be home with the kids.

	 Sew your own curtains.  And if you don't know how to cook or
garden, ask someone to show you.  They will be glad too.  Gram and
Gramps come in handy here.

	 Family can chip in together when labor is needed.  When my
son recently bought a house, everyone chipped in to help with
roofing, and odd jobs that his "fixer upper" needed.  Actually it is
a nice house in a very nice neighborhood, that just needed some TLC
and didn't cost an arm and a leg.  He is always quick to chip in when
someone else needs a hand, too. Free labor saves a bundle when you
have several people to lend a hand.

	 Think of ways you can save money in your neighborhood.  One
group I know went in together to buy a truck with a plow.  A smaller
neighborhood uses a snowblower.  They enjoy helping each other out,
rather than worry about who's turn.  There's a single mother with a
couple kids, and they like to keep her driveway clean, too.

	 Maybe you could put together a neighborhood co-op.  How about
trading babysitting?  Or picking up a few extra items when you go to
the store, or taking a neighbor to the doctor.  How about just
getting to know your neighbors by taking them a plate of cookies, or
a cake and stay for a visit?  It's a nice way to start.

	 Here in America, it's time to put on our thinking caps and
start doing what makes sense, as well as cents.  Let's work together
instead of trying to out buy each other.  The one who lives with the
most debt, really loses!

*    *    *
Wisdom is being true to our inner self  - thus bringing harmony and
peace
into our lives.  It's discovering a new idea or solution that meets
everyone's needs. Wisdom is also honoring people and caring about
their rights. It is reflected in the courtesy with which we treat
others.

* Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and
let each new year find you a better man.  ~~Benjamin Franklin

* We will open the book.  Its pages are blank.  We are going to put
words on them ourselves.  The book is called Opportunity and its
first chapter is New Year's Day. ~ ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce


Easy New Year's Dip

Take a softened cream cheese. Cover with Cocktail sauce and a half-
can tiny shrimp (drained).  Serve with assorted crackers.

Happy Simple New Years!

Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

Please contact me with recipes, questions, comments and simple living
ideas that work for you.  Email: thesimple_life@...
Join the online newsletter to print recipes and look up previous
columns.
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The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons

We can stay young by focusing on a dream instead of on a regret.


Simple Good Oatmeal Muffins

1 C Old-fashioned Oatmeal
1 C Milk
mix and let sit for 5 minutes
Add:
1/4 c unsweetened applesauce
1/3 c brown sugar
½ t salt
¼ c oil
1 egg
1 c flour
1 t cinnamon
1 T baking powder

scoop into greased muffin cups. Makes about 8 muffins.  Bake @ 425
for 20 minutes until golden brown.
*    *    *
Special Delivery

When you wish to give a plant to someone in the hospital, put
together your own and take it to the hospital to the volunteer desk
with the patient's name and room number. It'll be "delivered" by the
volunteers just like the florist shop items! This can save a lot of
money because you use your own container purchased from a thrift
store or garage sale and your own plant and make your own delivery.
The patient just knows that you were thinking of him/her, and then
you can make a visit later that day or the next day if you are in the
same vicinity. Try it. No one questions your dropping off a gift to
be delivered.  This also gives you incentive to repot those `extra'
plants, like those extra baby spiders plants, or take cuttings from
your philodendra.  Even orchids make baby plants you can get starts
from!  When you get them established, you can get them potted up in a
nice pot for a birthday or "cheer –up" gift. You could also look for
clearance plant sales, just to get a start! When a friend gave me an
orchid, she also gave me a note card with instructions for care, and
the likes and dislikes of the particular plant.  It's easy to look up
plant names on the internet and make your own little plant cards and
keep them in a filebox for your own reference.

*    *    *
I try to get out every day and get some fresh air, and go for a
walk.  Even though I don't often feel like getting out, especially
when the wind can be so frigid, but I really enjoy it, once I get out
there.  The past few days 6(!)Bluebirds have been entertaining us
right in front of our bay window.  I was watching them this morning,
and the thought crossed my mind that maybe we were the ones being
watched.  Maybe they feel sorry for us, thinking we are stuck in the
cage called a house?  Who knows who is the watcher and the watchee!
They flit about and sing, and ruffle up their feathers to look
bigger, and now that there are 6 instead of 2, and even though there
is about a foot of snow still, there they are.  If they can stand the
cold and the snow, just maybe I will make it too. While they have
cheered me up this morning, who can I cheer up today?

*   *   *
I have been spending a lot of spare time working on our family
history this winter.  There are a lot of free sites you can access
from the Internet, just by searching genealogy, family history sites,
etc.  I am combing through family photo albums, and notes as far back
as I can find.  The other day I was able to add my Great
grandmother's middle name (Nora), and some other details, all one at
a time.  It's like adding more and more pieces to a puzzle.  I hope
to just keep adding more and more.  I even found a cousin Sue, that I
have never met on the internet.  We share a great-great grandfather!
If you are looking for a simple, and yet meaningful hobby, family
history is really fun, and it can get creative and artistic.  You can
find lots of ideas at libraries, and most local libraries have
genealogical societies, that will be glad to lend you a hand, and
point you in the right direction.

*    *    *
Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

Email: thesimple_life@...
Join the online newsletter to print recipes and look up previous
columns.

The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons

We can stay young by focusing on a dream instead of on a regret.

	 A woman recently said that she was going to vote for
president this year, for the first time, because we had a women
running for president.  Hmmm…

	 When Jennifer Granholm ran for Governor of Michigan, my boss
at the time, said to me, "Isn't it great to be able to vote for a
woman?"  I couldn't believe that she thought I would vote for someone
just because she was a woman!  I had a lot of respect for her before
that, but when she made that statement, I had to wonder about her.

	 Nothing wrong with voting for a woman as long as she has the
values that you have, or voting for a man who's ideas you admire, but
to vote for someone simply because of their race, or sex is
unthinkable to me.

	 I am interested in the political process because I feel
strongly about issues.  I care about family values, unemployment, and
our jobs going out of the country because of greedy companies, global
warming, and alternative energy.  Michigan is in last place when it
comes to jobs.  We were a strong state, but we seem to have learned
nothing from our mistakes.  The autoworkers didn't think about their
kids needing a job someday, when they wanted white-collar wages for
blue-collar jobs.  They wanted the big houses, the boats, and the new
cars, but they priced themselves out of jobs for future generations.

Whoever leads our country and our state must be chosen carefully.
Our choices must be based on their performances of the past.  If they
were in congress, what were they voting for?  If they voted for the
war, are they backtracking now?  Is it okay to vote for something and
then do a "take back" later?  You can't take back a vote.  Sure,
everyone makes mistakes, but when you admit that you made a mistake,
you can't just throw the blame on someone else.
And, was the war such big mistake?  I am not so sure.  I believe that
we "I want it now" Americans are feeling frustrated by some of the
fiascos that have happened, stupid, humiliating mistakes made with
prisoners, and huge funds going to contractors that made their way
into off shore accounts.  But we cannot say that the nearly 5,000
American service personnel who gave their lives were lost in vain.  I
feel heartened when I see children playing in Iraqi streets once
again, and families returning to their homes who had escaped before
the war.  Some Iraqis feel that the war was not in vain.  Only
history will tell the whole story.
I do know that when times are tough, we need to do our part.  We give
lip service to "Buy American" but do we care?

And our mortgage fiasco was caused one family at a time who bought
something they could not afford to buy.  We can blame the banks for
loaning out too much money, but we walked into the offices and asked
for it.

We did not ask, "What if I lose my job?"  So we are essentially
losing something that was never ours in the first place. It's not
yours until you own it! That means paid off!  It's easy getting used
to the "good life" when the money is rolling in, but what happens
when layoffs, or sicknesses occur.  We needed two incomes to get by,
but when one or both change, we are stuck with too much owed at the
end of the month.

This is America, the greatest nation in history.  But history will
tell if we as individuals allowed out great country to slip out of
reach.  We need to get back in the black.  We need leaders who will
lead, and are not just one of the "good ol' boys" who are filling
their own pockets at our expense.  The best way I know to do that is
to find out what our candidates really care about.  Do the homework
we would expect of our grade-schoolers.  Because if we don't care
enough to vote, we have no right to complain!

*   *   *

"Happiness must be cultivated. It is like character. It is not a
thing to be safely let alone for a moment, or it will run to
weeds."~~Elizabeth Stuart Phelps

When you are angry with someone, you judge them.  Good anger is when
you find what you can do to make a change in a circumstance you
cannot tolerate.

Monster Cookies

3 large eggs,1 c brown sugar,1 cup granulated sugar, 1 t vanilla
extract,
1 t corn syrup, 2 t baking soda, 1 t salt, 1/2 c healthy margarine,1
& 1/2 c chunky peanut butter, 4 & 1/2 c rolled oats, 1/2 c all-
purpose flour, 3/4 c semi-sweet chocolate chips, 3/4 c butterscotch
chips, 3/4 c walnuts

Mix marg. eggs, sugar.  Mix in rest.  Bake 350 until golden brown.
(I substituted unsweetened applesauce for ½ the marg to make them
even more healthy.  You can substitute splenda or just cut down on
sugar, and add any options, such as coconut, of your choice.  For
more fiber, use old fashioned oats.

*    *    *
Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

Email: thesimple_life@...
Join the online newsletter to print recipes and look up previous
columns.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thesimple_life

The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons

We can stay young by focusing on a dream instead of on a regret.


We make our world by the life we lead,
By the friends we have, by the books we read,
By the pity we show in the hour of care,
By the loads we lift and the love we share.
~Alfred Grant Walton

Winter Weekend

	 The weather was so bad this past weekend, that we only left
the house when absolutely necessary.  We did go out to get a movie.
It was quite frigid, and not an animal could be seen outdoors.  Even
the dog went upstairs to sleep, just for a change of scenery.  We
played several games that we like to play.  And there are always a
few chores that need doing.  Oh, and I made donuts.  I just made my
regular bread dough, with just a bit extra sugar.  I fried them in a
saucepan on medium heat after they rose for about 20 minutes.  They
really were great.  Look out Krispy Kreme!
	 And just when I had had enough reading, and movie watching
and game playing, and organizing, Monday came along.  The plow when
through before 10 am.  Boy was I glad to see him!  And then after
almost a week of not seeing the little fellows, the bluebirds were
back!  Just when I thought for sure they were gone.  Nice to see you
guys.  Now I know spring is on the way!

"The greatest day in your life and mine is when we take total
responsibility for our attitudes.  That's the day we truly grow up."
~~Dr.
John C. Maxwell

Since we are all trying to eat more fiber, and cut calories, and
fiber is a great way to do that, here is a great recipe you might
want to try.  Crusty homemade bread goes well with this.

  Simple Black Bean Soup
  2 T vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped (about 2/3 c)
1 T ground cumin
½-1  t crushed red pepper flakes
  4 t Garlic
3 cans (16 oz.) black beans, undrained
1 ½ c chicken broth
1 large jar thick and chunky salsa (spicy to your taste) or  1 Qt.
Home-canned tomatoes and 1 t chili powder
1 carrot, chopped
2 T lime juice
½ c non-fat plain yogurt (optional)


In large pan over medium heat, cook onion, garlic, cumin and
pepper flakes in oil until onion is tender, about 3 minutes; remove
from heat.

Blend 2 cans beans and their liquid in batches with chicken broth;
add to pot.  Stir in remaining beans, salsa and lime juice.

Heat mixture to boil; reduce heat to low.  Simmer for 30 minutes.
Top with yogurt and chopped green onions, if desired.


Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

Email: thesimple_life@...
Join the online newsletter to print recipes and look up previous
columns.
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The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons

We can stay young by focusing on a dream instead of on a regret.
Oh, the comfort - the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a
person - having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but
pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain
together; certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep
what is worth keeping, and then with the breath of kindness blow the
rest away.  ~~Dinah Craik (These friends are rare! Being married to a
person like this, is a true blessing. SAS)


"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things
that you didn't do than by the ones you did do.  So throw off the
bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in
your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -~~ Mark Twain

Planning Ahead to Your Garden

	 Right now, before the last frost is even a thought here in
mid-Michigan, is time to plan your garden before it is too late to
give it enough thought.  A plan is your friend.  If you are rich with
time on your hands, it might not be so important, but if you are busy
with work and hobbies, a plan is your best friend.
I've made many a mistake when it comes to the garden.  But I guess
the mistakes are what life is about.  Learning experience.  And I'm
not done – even with the mistakes.  In the end, tho, I always ended
up with produce, which is a good thing, but lack of planning was
probably my worst fault.

         Last year, for instance, I thought I would be smart to plant
most of my small-space crops in black plastic to eliminate weeding.
However, it turned into an interesting experiment.  My tomatoes and
onions and peppers did well, however the black plastic heated the
soil too much (in a hot summer) for cabbage, and squash vines.  I
still had quite a few cucumbers, but the vines were stressed in the
heat.  Note to self: cool crop veggies and vines don't do well on
plastic.
         I can warn you about a few ideas that might prevent some
mistakes. Do you want a few tomato plants, or do you want to can or
freeze and dry enough for a winter?  Consider the cost.  A few
tomatoes through the summer may not be worth the dirt they are
planted in, compared to buying them in the store.  Even the higher
priced organic brand.  I hear some of you gasping in surprise!
Remember, this is all about keeping your life simple.  If you work
40+ hours per week, and don't have any aspirations to have jars of
fruit and vegetables lining your pantry, skip the garden unless you
really want to invest a few hours planting, weeding, and watering
each month. If real live home-grown flavor is your goal, I can
relate!  Nothing beats a tomato, still warm from the sun, and
straight off the vine. If you do go the small garden route, go for a
potted garden.  You can use whiskey barrels, or even bags of dirt
with holes in the bottom.  (that is my easiest garden idea)
        Where is your garden?  When time is a priority, something
close to the house, really helps.  When you can just step out the
back door to pick an onion or tomato, or salad, you will use more of
that healthy stuff.*** Next week, more garden ideas!

Creamed Spinach

1 pound curly spinach, well washed, thick stems removed, water still
clinging to leaves Coarse salt and ground pepper, 2 T butter, 1
shallot, minced, or 2 T minced onion, 1 T flour, 3/4 to 1 c milk
Place spinach in a large saucepan (3 to 4 quarts) over medium heat
(it will be extremely full), and season with salt. Cover and cook,
tossing occasionally, until wilted, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a
colander, and rinse under cold water until completely cooled; squeeze
out as much liquid as possible. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, heat butter over medium-low; add shallot, and
season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until soft but not
browned, 3 to 5 minutes.

Add flour; cook, stirring, 1 minute (do not let brown); add 3/4 cup
milk. Simmer gently over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally,
until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Thin with additional milk, if
necessary. Remove from heat; stir in spinach. Season with salt and
pepper. Note: to substitute cabbage, chop, cover with water, and
bring to boil until tender. Drain, then follow remainder of recipe.
Serve.

Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

Email: thesimple_life@...
Join the online newsletter to print recipes and look up previous
columns.
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The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons

We can stay young by focusing on a dream instead of on a regret.

Planning Ahead to Your Garden pt. 2

	 Make a list of exactly what you want to grow.  We love corn
and potatoes, but potatoes are very time intensive, unless you want
to use chemicals.  Those little rascal potato beetles, can be an
awful nuisance.  If you use powder to keep the bugs away, you have to
re-apply every time it rains.  I tried row covers last year, without
any luck.  Actually, it made more work.  Those little buggers got in
there anyway, so I had to open the row covers, to pick off the bugs.
I really hate to use chemicals, but I may have to resort to desperate
measures.  And, the cost of the chemical that is safe for vegetables,
must be factored in.  We do love digging those potatoes, tho, and
probably feel like the effort is worth the result.  But there is a
potato farmer nearby, who deals with all the trouble for us, and we
can buy bags of seconds pretty cheap in the fall, and that is
important to keep in mind.  That is a good thing to think about, if
you have lots of great farmer's markets, and the prices are fair, why
bother with a garden at all?  You have to love gardening, have the
time, and the equipment.  You have to know what your goal is.

	 Now, if you want to can, the easiest things to can are
tomatoes, applesauce, pickles, relish, chili sauce, and grape juice.
Peaches and pears aren't too bad, either.  When you can process 50 or
so jars in one day, that is pretty cheap food.  If you have a
pressure canner, you can do beans, corn, and other low acid
vegetables, but I can buy cans for less than 30 cents a can in the
fall at the canned goods sales that last the winter, so that is the
route I take with them.  We grow beans and corn just for the table.
And, there is nothing so good as a fresh ear of corn straight from
the garden!  Who needs dessert!  I love self-sufficiency, but only to
a point that it makes sense.  When you can buy a good product
cheaper, then why go to the trouble?

	 I like to grow a few hills of winter squash, because you can
keep them in a cool place and they will last a long time, without any
special treatment.

	 I also like to grow summer squash and zucchini.  They make
great summer vegetables, and there is hardly and care to them.  It is
easy to throw a couple bags in the freezer for winter, but I don't
think freezing a lot of vegetables to be eco-friendly.  I save the
freezer for mostly meat and fish.  You can can meat, such as venison,
with a pressure canner, also.

	 Another thing to keep in mind.  If you plan a big garden,
unless you have a lot of time on your hands, equipment is a big
factor.  Will you need a tractor, or roto-tiller?  How important is
it that no weeds come up in your garden?  I've been in gardens (there
are a couple) where weeds disappear before they hardly see the light
of day.  But there are always a few weeds in my garden.  I just never
can keep up, and it isn't so pretty, but, summer is too much fun to
keep my garden weed free.  And, it takes quite a few weeds to
actually hurt the harvest.  And, even if you have a perfectly weed-
free garden, weed seeds will still blow in, so you are never really
ahead of that game.  So don't worry about it.  The corn you pick
doesn't care if there were a few weeds between the rows.  Sometimes,
weeds can be a good thing.  I actually read an article once about a
man who didn't even try to weed his garden.  He just planted, and let
things come up through the weeds.  He was of the idea that the weeds
were like a living mulch.  That is true, to the point that the weeds
could be too much competition, and steal the moisture from the
vegetable plants.  When we think about nature, even a bare spot in
the grass, will fill in of its own accord.

	 One year, a neighbor asked to plant some tomatoes at the back
of our garden.  Since we had extra space that was all ready to plant,
we agreed.  Those poor tomatoes had very poor care. Forget about
weeding! They would get watered just a tiny bit, when they were
absolutely wilting! And this was a drought year. Even if I wanted
more work, I had enough work to take care of my own plants.
However, those plants went on to produce a bumper crop.  There were
way to many tomatoes.  And the neighbor who planted them, decided it
was too much work to come pick them.  So I was giving bushels of
tomatoes away to anyone who would take them, and canned some myself,
even though I had enough of my own.  But it was an interesting thing
to watch.  We laughed, thinking those tomatoes would never amount to
anything, but nature got the last laugh, since there was a late
frost.  I've rarely had a harvest compared to those tomatoes that
refused to die.

	 So, even if you don't think you have any green thumb at all,
think again.  A few small plants or seeds, and nature is just about
all you need.

*    *     *

Simple BBQ Chicken

4 skinless boneless chicken breasts or thighs, or legs
1 c. catsup
12 oz. can diet  or regular coke
Put chicken in non-stick skillet.  Mix catsup and cola, pour over the
top. Bring to boil.  Cover, reduce heat and cook for 45 minutes.
Uncover,turn up heat and continue to cook until the sauce become
thick and adheres to the chicken.  It turns into the most delicious
barbeque sauce.

	 Send me your favorite simple recipe!  I would really like to
share it with our group!

Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

Email: thesimple_life@...
Join the online newsletter to print recipes and look up previous
columns.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thesimple_life
We find comfort among those who agree
with us - growth among those who don't.
~Frank A. Clark

The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons
Isn't it amazing how fast a child who is afraid of the dark becomes a
teen who wants to stay out all night? Unfortunately, they have about
the same amount of maturity!
*   *   *
	 Days are getting longer and brighter, and some early birds
are heading back from the south to begin nesting.  We are so happy to
see the sun around here!  Try to take several 10 minute walks a day,
if you can't fit in more.  Any exercise is better than no exercise.
It also helps you have a healthy heart and sends oxygen rich blood to
your brain to keep your brain cells rejuvenated!  What's not good
about that?
	 Check out your seed supplies that you might want to get
started early indoors.  Heat loving plants such as tomatoes and
peppers do better when the soil is warm.  To pre-heat the soil, cover
the area to be planted with black plastic for solarization.  This is
the #1 way to get earlier fruit in cooler climates, unless you have a
greenhouse.
*   *   *
Simple Thots
No one ever says "It's only a game" when their team is winning.
*   *
When you have a toddler, nap time is happy hour!
*   *
Why is it that at class reunions you feel younger than everyone else
looks?
*   *
A sense of humor is the best sense to have!


Simple Oatmeal Raisin Spice Cookie Mix
I love this recipe because you can have a cookie mix all ready to go
if the grandkids drop in.  In 15 minutes, you can have warm cookies!
What's not to like about that?  Or, you can give this in a jar for a
gift with a nice tag, for Christmas, birthdays, or just because.  If
you rather, use your favorite recipe, and follow these directions for
a different favorite cookie mix.  I like to keep these in tin.  If
you want to make a recipe in bulk, make one regular recipe first,
measure how big a scoop of dry ingredients, and you could have a big
tin full.  If you leave out the spices, you could add chocolate
chips, nuts, coconut, peanut butter, or any flavor and spice you like
when you are whipping up a batch.  Just remember to keep only the dry
ingredients and add all the wet or extra ingredients, later.  I use a
small ice cream scoop (from Pampered Chef) as a cookie scoop when I
put them on the pan.  I once got a brownie mix in a jar as a gift, so
just about any baked good will work great!

Simple Oatmeal Raisin Spice Cookie Mix

Makes 3 dozen (36 servings)
Mix together:
1 c flour, 1 t ground cinnamon, 1/2 t nutmeg,1 t baking soda, 1/2 t
salt. Layer flour mixture in jar, or use zip lock bag.
3/4 c raisins,2 c oatmeal, 3/4 cup packed brown sugar, 1/2 c sugar,

1.  Mix together flour, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, baking soda
and salt.  Set aside.

2.  Layer ingredients in the following order into a 1 quart, wide
mouth
canning jar:  Flour mixture, raisins, rolled oats, brown sugar, white
sugar.  It will be a tight fit, make sure that you firmly pack down
each layer before adding the next layer.

3.  Attach a tag with the following instructions:

Oatmeal Raisin Spice Cookies

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  May line cookie sheets
with parchment paper.

2.  Empty jar of cookie mix into a large mixing bowl.

3.  Mix in 3/4 c butter or margarine, softened.  Stir in one slightly
beaten egg and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.  Mix until completely blended.
You will need to finish mixing with your hands.  Shape into balls the
size of walnuts.  Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet 2 inches
apart.

4.  Bake for 11 to 13 minutes in preheated oven, or until edges are
lightly browned.  Cool 5 minutes on cookie sheet.  Transfer cookies to
wire rack to finish cooling.


Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

Email: thesimple_life@...
Join the online newsletter to print recipes and look up previous
columns.
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The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons
"We find comfort among those who agree with us - growth among those
who don't."~~Frank A. Clark

Simple Gardening – pt.3

	 Do you want to grow flowers, or vegetables?  Are there any
predators for your produce? A couple rabbits, deer or raccoons can do
a lot of damage to a garden.  That means you also might have to
invest in a fence.  Having a dog helps, but the predators come around
at night.  We do not have a fence, but I think about it every year.
But we usually don't lose enough to pay for a fence.  The worst year
my own chickens got my tomatoes right before I was going to pick
them – so that was a learning experience!  I have had chickens
before, but they never bothered my garden before that.  Fortunately,
I found some bushels of tomatoes that year to can that were not too
expensive, so it worked out okay.  But when you put all that time
watering and pulling weeds, only to have your own chickens get your
tomatoes, that is disappointing.  I haven't had chickens since!

	 Fences can be expensive, so that entails deciding how close
to the house your garden will be, as well.  I've heard people say
they had a dog chained near a garden, and the deer walked right past
the dog.  I've had really bold raccoons that came right up on the
deck, so just having a garden near the house, wouldn't work for me,
if I thought that would eliminate a fence.  A small chicken-wire
fence might keep out a rabbit, but a deer would just hop right in, if
he wanted to.

	 Last year we had a nice large patch of corn about 50 or so
yards from the house, no fence, and only lost a few ears of corn.
Since there was a huge field of corn across the road, the animals
probably were not too interested in our small garden.

	 Flowers and small tree plants also need to be guarded,
especially before winter.  Rabbits and rodents can strip the bark off
a tree during winter, when they are really searching for food, so
some protective measures are needed.  I had a small crab-apple tree
that was doing fine, and the third year, the rabbits destroyed it.
Since they hadn't touched it before, I never gave it a thought until
it was too late.  Now I wrap or fence all my small trees.  Lesson
learned.

	 Not all of my gardening experiences have been bad, though.  I
have lost a few, but most of my plants are just as hardy as always.
Luckily rabbits are picky, and only destroy a few things!
You can't go wrong with planting annual flowers from seed.  They will
grow well with a little water, and weeding. All you have to do is
remove the sod from the area you want to plant, add compost if
necessary (if its too sandy, etc) and work it up a bit.  Plant the
seed, cover it lightly, and keep it moist.  Usually within 2 weeks or
so, you will begin to see small plants emerging.  Thin if needed, and
water when needed.  Unless you have very poor soil, no fertilizing
will be needed.

        You can start seeds indoors, 6 to 8 weeks ahead of time.  Big
box stores have gotten way too expensive for buying plants for a
typical garden.  They are charging nearly $2 for a small seedling
that is only a couple weeks old.  You would be better off waiting and
planting your own seeds in the garden!  They are charging more per
plant than one whole packet of seeds will cost.

        The other alternative is to find a local nursery that sells
garden plants by the flat.  Around here they are $8-10 for up to 48
plants!  That is usually the way I go.  There is a great little
nursery I like and their plants are tall and healthy.  They have a
better start than I can give them!  I usually buy tomatoes, peppers
and a few other plants this way.  I do have time to plant some things
from seed, so corn, pumpkins, squash, zucchini, cukes, beans,
lettuce, peas and onion sets go directly into the ground. (The
shorter season plants.)  Since you don't want all your corn to get
ripe at the same time, it is nice to stagger your planting time, say
every 4 days or so, to plant more corn.  A small area of corn is best
planted in a block, rather than long rows for better pollination,
since it is wind-pollinated.  That way you will have full ears of
corn.

"To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take
nothing for granted ...  Nothing that is done for you is a matter of
course. Everything originates in a will for the good, which is
directed at you. Train yourself never to put off the word or action
for the expression of gratitude."~~Albert Schweitzer

"This world is intended as the place in which we shall show that we
know how to grow in the stature of manliness and of
righteousness."~~President Woodrow Wilson

"The greatest day in your life and mine is when we take total
responsibility for our attitudes.  That's the day we truly grow up."
~~Dr. John C. Maxwell

Simple Crock-pot Chicken In Sour Cream Sauce

  1 1/2 t salt, 6 skinless bone in breast halves,1/4 t pepper, 8 oz.
sour cream,                         10 3/4 oz. cream of mushroom
soup,1/2 c chicken broth,1 t garlic powder, 1/4 t lemon pepper,1/2 t
paprika,1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms (or (4) 4 oz. cans optional)

   Combine salt, pepper, paprika, lemon pepper, garlic powder. Rub
over chicken, place in crockpot and add the mushrooms. Combine soup,
sour cream and broth. Pour over chicken. Cover, cook on low 6-8
hours. Serve over potatoes or rice.


Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

Email: thesimple_life@...
Join the online newsletter to print recipes and look up previous
columns.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thesimple_life

The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons

Science has never drummed up quite
as effective a tranquilizing agent as a
  sunny spring day.  ~~W. Earl Hall

	 Robins and red-winged blackbirds are back!  If that isn't
spring, I don't know what is.  Even the sand hill cranes are back,
waiting for just the right temps to get started on a nest.  Soon
their fluffy little yellow offspring will be following along behind
them.  Sand hill cranes are fun to watch.  We always have a pair
nearby, with either one or two babies.  They are very protective,
usually staying in pairs.  Almost as soon as the babies hatch, they
follow along.  They cannot fly for at least a month, so the parents
must be vigilant to watch over them with all the predators that would
like to have them for dinner – and they are.  We have watched the
older hatchlings play tag with fawns when the families get together
in the cool evenings, and it is a sight to see.  It is so interesting
to watch all the parents keeping an eye on the babies, as they play.
*   *   *

Simple Letting-Go

	 Have you had someone in your life that you are so frustrated
with you hardly even know how to talk to that person?  We all have.
We stand by helplessly as they hurt themselves or the ones they
love.   We see the consequences that they don't choose to see, coming
their way.  We can do nothing to stop that freight train that
threatens their lives, and some of their innocent victims.  They
continue over and over to make bad choices.  Sometimes there are ways
to help their victims – sometimes there are not.

	 We get stomach aches, and head aches just thinking about what
we wish that person would do, if they would only see the light – our
light!  Sometimes we are wrong.  Sometimes we have no idea what would
really be good for that other person.  Whatever the case, this person
is taking up our waking, and sometimes our sleeping hours even though
there is nothing we can do!  We don't trust God to work in their
lives – that is pretty obvious.

	 But what if we could just let go of the situation?  Sounds
way too simplistic, doesn't it?  What if instead of thinking of all
the problems when we think of that person, we do what we can, by not
thinking of the problems we define them by, but just by simply who
they are?  She is my girlfriend.  He is my brother.  He is my father,
friend, co-worker, neighbor, uncle, etc. This is someone I love.
That's it.  When we think further about that person, we focus on the
good things, maybe things that have happened in the past that were
good.  That's it.  When bad thoughts threaten to invade our minds, we
substitute the good thoughts.

	 We still need to protect ourselves; we don't have to allow
ourselves to be treated poorly in any way, but we may be able to be
around that person without letting all that anxiety conquer our
feelings.

	 This past week, I reread an old standby, "Co-dependants No
More" by Melody Beatie.  There are other books out there, too that
encourage us to "detach" from all those thoughts that try to control
us.  Not too many pages into the book, I was able to shift my
thinking from anxiety about a situation, to nearly peace. But we are
in charge.  We just push those thoughts out. I say nearly peace,
because there are still small negative thoughts that try to invade.
The subtitle of Melody's book is "How to stop controlling others and
start caring for yourself".  In some families, the reverse is the
norm.  We feel compelled to "manage" all the little pawns in our
lives so we can all be happy.  Ha!  It only works to backfire – on
us.  We give ourselves more stress than we can handle.

      But what if the victim is an innocent child?  If they are not in
physical danger, there is probably nothing you can do, except be a
positive force in their lives.  Get involved by spending as much time
as possible. Pray. Have fun with that person.  Dwell on the
positive.  Since we cannot really control others, we are only
paddling in sand when we try to "manage" things.  Only when they ask
for help can we offer a suggestion, and that won't be often.  Quit
butting in and let life teach them the hard way.  That's how they
want it!  That is how you can get through the day in a happy way.
For more ideas read Melody's book!  Beware – you might see yourself
in there.

*   *   *
This is a really great recipe!  I made it for my hubby's birthday and
it is our new favorite cake!  I used old fashioned oats, so I know
they work.  The cake takes about 35 minutes – then I tested it with a
toothpick.  It is a moist cake and the topping only takes about 3
minutes in the broiler.  I cut down on the sugar, and I think you can
cut down by ¾ cup at least.  In fact, I used brown sugar Splenda, and
it was really good.

Simple Oatmeal Cake
Stir together: 1 c quick oats, 1-1/2 c boiling water
  Set aside. Cream together: 1/2 c butter or oleo, 1 c light brown
sugar, 1 c sugar, 2 eggs.
  Sift together: 1-1/3 c flour, 1/2 t baking soda, 1 t cinnamon
  Add to cream mixture and oats. Bake in 350` degree oven in greased 9
X 13 cake pan.
  Topping: On stove top mix: 1/2 c butter or margarine,1 c brown
sugar, 1 c nuts, 1 c coconut, 5 T evaporated milk. Bring to boil till
sugars melt. Pour over cake, put under broiler till coconut is
toasty, about 3 or 4 minutes. Really good served warm.

Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

Please contact me with recipes, questions, comments and simple living
ideas that work for you.  Email: thesimple_life@...
Join the online newsletter to print recipes and look up previous
columns:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thesimple_life/

The Simple Life
By Sheryl Simons


The best things in life are nearest:  Breath in your nostrils, light
in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of
right just before you.  Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's
plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily
bread are the sweetest things in
life. ~~Robert Louis Stevenson

Simple things to look forward to this Spring:
Washing the windows
The first rain (today)
Hearing the birds sing in the morning
Cleaning off the deck
Getting out the outdoor furniture
Digging in the dirt
Watching the birds gather nesting materials
Having our first cook-out and eating outdoors on a warm afternoon
Making the house look like spring, instead of winter (taking down all
the snowmen decorations!)
Opening the windows for the first time!
Putting a spring quilt on the bed
Hanging the laundry outdoors and that outdoor fresh scent
Putting the snow shovels away for a few months
Weeding out the flowerbeds
Green grass!
The first hummingbird
Saying good-bye to mud
Flowering trees
All the firsts -The first daffodil bloom, the first lamb, the first
foal, the first leaf to unfurl, hearing the frogs (still a few weeks
away, here), the first yard sale!
	 At dinner your family can talk about all the wonders of
nature that are happening right before our eyes.  Bring the first
dandelion, put daffodils on the table – make spring a celebration!
*   *   *
If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did
not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.
~~Anne Bradstreet

April comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.~~ Enda St.
Vincent Millay

All through the long winter, I dream of my garden.  On the fist day
of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth.  I can feel its
energy, and my spirits soar.~~ Helen Hayes

*   *   *
CHICKEN & VEGGIE STIR FRY

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into thin strips
1/2 cup stir fry sauce
1 tbs each vegetable oil and cornstarch
12 oz bag broccoli, carrots and cauliflower blend
1 medium sweet red pepper, cut into strips
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
Ramen noodles (without seasoning)

In a bowl, combine chicken and sauce, set aside. In a skillet, heat
oil. Add vegetables, pepper and onion. Cook 8 min. or until slightly
tender. Remove from skillet, set aside.

Add chicken mixture to skillet and cook until cooked through. Return
vegetables to skillet with chicken. Stir together 1/3 cup water ,
cornstarch, 2t brown sugar and add to skillet. Let cook 1 min. Serve
with cooked noodles. MAKES 4 SERVINGS.*


Simple Stir-fry Sauce
1/2 c cornstarch
1/4 c brown sugar
1 T grated ginger root
2 t  minced garlic
1/2 t ground red pepper
1/2 c soy sauce
1/4 c cider vinegar
2 c chicken or beef broth
1 c water
Combine first 5 ingredients. Add soy sauce and vinegar. Shake until
blended. Add broth and water. Shake. Store in refrigerator for up to
2 weeks. May be frozen.

Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

Please contact me with recipes, questions, comments and simple living
ideas that work for you.  Email: thesimple_life@...
Join the online newsletter to print recipes and look up previous
columns:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thesimple_life/

4-2
The Simple Life
by Sheryl Simons

All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day
of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its
energy, and my spirits soar. ~~Helen Hayes

Is it so small a thing
To have enjoy'd the sun,
To have lived light in the spring,
To have loved, to have thought, to have done...~~ Matthew Arnold

	 Yeah, Spring!  Have you been out raking yet?  The road plow
threw lots of gravel on our lawn, so we've been raking it off.  Not a
bad job, actually fun after the winter!  We are so glad to be out of
the house and enjoying the sunshine for a welcome change.  Bears are
coming out of hibernation in our area, and deer are finding the new
green growth that they missed all winter.  Everything seems like a
new experience, now that the snow is almost all gone.  I can't wait
for our first daffodil.  Even our Rhubarb is peeking up from the
earth.
	 But even while raking really be in the moment.  You are not
just raking, you are out in the sunshine.  Or you may be hanging
clothes, or doing yard clean up, but enjoy everything around you.
Feel the breeze.  Notice the wildlife; the birds, the bugs, and
especially the flowers.  Teach your kids to do this too.  It's all
around us, and we take it for granted, but nature won't wait.  Those
narcissus won't be here for long.  And the Trillium – those beautiful
wildflowers in the woods, you won't see them if you don't go for a
walk in the woods.
	 Don't let life squeeze the wonder out our your wonderful life.

A Really Simple Steak

	 A butcher(sorry, I don't know who it was)  who has been able
to try all the expensive cuts of meat, recommends a Chuck Steak!
They are often tender, and less expensive.  Here is a great sauce to
use for a marinade.

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar (or cider vinegar and your favorite herb,
like Rosemary)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
1 chopped onion
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Mix all ingredients together and place one large (1/2 to 2 pound)
boneless chuck steak in the mixture and refrigerate overnight, making
sure meat is submerged in mixture. Grill on medium to low heat for
about ten minutes each side. Cook a little less for medium rare and a
little more for well done. Warning: This marinade is quite tasty and
may not be suitable for all. It might be a little salty for some.
Back off on the soy sauce if you have concerns.

Save for Gardening:
Save leftover pieces of window screen for the bottom of your pots.
They keep the dirt from going out the holes in the bottom, but do
allow for drainage. Also, those little plastic knives that you use at
picnics make great plant markers!  Write the plant name on with
permanent marker and stick in the pots, seed starter containers or
the ground.


Keeping it Simple,
Sheryl

Please contact me with recipes, questions, comments and simple living
ideas that work for you.  Email: thesimple_life@...
Join the online newsletter to print recipes and look up previous
columns:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thesimple_life/