About gDonna
The photo is my son and myself. Now days you can get a photo made to look old like this one. This photo was taken when this was the new look.

Harry S Truman was president when I was born and world war II had ended. I grew up in a time when lunch was put in a brown paper bag and a sandwich was wrapped with wax paper. There was no such thing as pantyhose, we wore stockings that attached to the rubbery clippy things that attached to the girdle. Convenience stores were not common and when we took a trip we packed a picnic basket because many places did not have fast food. Highways had places to pull over and stop, some with picnic tables. Read more ....
 

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Comments On Article: The Walking Flower

1,691 posts (admin)
Tue Mar 28, 23 9:22 AM CST

If you would like to share your comments for article The Walking Flower, this is where to do it! 

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J
80 posts
Tue Mar 28, 23 10:04 AM CST

I love the "flower".  Did you make the collar?  

We missed the worst of the storms here in North Florida - most of it went north of us.  Our family in Alabama lucked out as well.  I'm glad you did too.  Even without anyone getting hurt, the damage alone can be horrific.

My grandmother sewed on a treadle machine.  Her health was very poor at times, so my dad would tell us of how he would sit on the floor and push the treadle for her.  It had to be boring, but he adored his mom, so he always spoke of helping her as if it was an honor.   

I forgot to add that I don't eat a typical breakfast.  I'm mostly grain-free by necessity, so I eat, most often, roasted sweet potato cubes, pan-fried squash or cut up cooked beets, a green (like spinach, kale or collards) and a meat patty of fresh sausage I make by adding non-nightshade spices to ground pork, beef, poultry or lamb.  Once in a while I eat an egg instead of a meat patty, but I have to be careful about eating too many eggs as well.  I also will sometimes make a very hearty soup with tons of vegetables and pieces of meat in a bone-broth base, and eat a bowl of that for breakfast till I use it up, or make a casserole with lots of vegetables and some ground meat, but no pastry or cheese.  I don't like coffee, so I always have a small glass of raw milk, which I tolerate way better than pasteurized milk.  



Edited Thu Mar 30, 23 10:33 AM by Joan S
43 posts
Tue Mar 28, 23 11:02 AM CST

I'm so glad you all missed the worst of the storms.  They sounded pretty horrific.  Nice that during the "unplugged" time you were able to get something useful done.

Your walking flower is just adorable.  Of course Bernadette is pretty adorable without the adornment.  This is so much nicer and seems it would be more comfortable for her than those ugly cones used to keep dogs from messing around with stitches and sore spots.

A
3 posts
Tue Mar 28, 23 11:37 AM CST

hello Donna, ann lee s here, you ask about what we eat….I am 80 now, settled in routine so breakfast is almost always…cooked  1/3 oatmeal with toppings of walnuts, yogurt, 1/3 cup blueberries then a good splash of milk.  If there is a chance I will miss lunch,  I add a boiled egg for protein.  
we have had a cloudy beginning to spring, heading into a few days of sun, thank goodness!  
ann lee s

D
31 posts
Tue Mar 28, 23 12:03 PM CST

I was wondering how you fared in the storms.  I watched stories on the news about the extreme weather, especially the tornadoes, in the southern states.  We had rain all day yesterday, but nothing damaging.

As to breakfast...my go-to is plain yogurt with either blueberries or raspberries, depending on the price in the stores.  :)   sometimes I switch it up with cottage cheese and berries or applesauce (homemade), or eggs, either scrambled, fried, or mixed with whatever veggies I have that need to be used.  I like oatmeal as well.  My husband likes cold cereal.  Eh.

L
16 posts
Tue Mar 28, 23 12:09 PM CST

I am glad you are safe there.  My brother in law's family is near where the tornado went through in Georgia and they were spared but had a flooded garage.  This has been a wild Spring here in the South!

We are huge breakfast eaters.  When we get up we are starving so we make eggs, grits or potatoes, sometimes a meat and some kind of bread item.  Other days we may make a bagel sandwich with eggs, meat and cheese and some days we have French toast to use up the ends of loaves of our homemade bread.   I keep home baked biscuits on the freezer so we can reheat them and sometimes make sausage biscuits or sausage gravy to serve over them.   We have a waffle maker that makes easy and delicious waffles.  When grandchildren come to visit there are always pancakes for breakfast.

For supper meals my husband loves pasta so that is on the menu at least once a week.   We usually have a fish meal every week of salmon or tilapia with a potato side and veg and salad.  We eat salads with every supper meal and sometimes aa big salad with meat and cheese for supper.  We have a Mexican food night most weeks and on Saturdays we might make pizza or a burger meal.   We like to keep a bag of home grilled burgers in the freezer to just reheat.  I make our burger buns with dough made in the bread machine.   Most weeks I make a meal that will have leftovers for Sunday on Friday night.  We like a meal of oven fried chicken or pork chops some nights along with a potato, sweet potato, rice side and veggies.   I often purchase sweet potatoes when they are on sale around holidays and bake them and freeze them whole  in the skins.  These are simple to thaw and peel and mash with butter and a tad of brown sugar.  I pressure can chili, meat sauce, soup, stew, chicken breasts and chicken thighs.  These are wonderful for quick meals.  The chicken breast makes easy chicken salad for lunches.   I really enjoy seeing your meals!  Please keep posting them!

C
14 posts
Tue Mar 28, 23 1:55 PM CST

Hello GDonna.  We were spared this round of storms but we have had power off and on since the tornadoes blew through back in January.  The lines are not fixed as well as they thought I suppose.  We are learning to live without things, automatically now.  LOL! We did get the roof replaced and the house fixed!  So we are happy for that! I am glad to hear you are good too, through the storms.

I love little Bernadette's collar.  My children all gather around me when I am on your site because they love to know about everything you have going on and to see the pictures of everything, especially the garden and animals. I also love your mother's things displayed.  I tend to keep my treasures hidden because I still have little kids in the home that sometimes don't take as much care with things.  I know they will grow up quickly, because I have grown kids and grandkids as well.  (smile)

We eat a pretty basic menu around here.  Breakfasts are usually some kind of muffin with cheese slices and oranges, or oatmeal or cereal.  Sometimes they have toast and cinnamon toast...with fruit.  Dh always eats a bowl of organic aldi cereal or museli.  I usually eat nothing but drink my coffee.  Lunches are leftover dinners for hubby.  The kids and I eat sandwiches or leftovers on homemade whole wheat bread.  Dinners are always meat, vegetables, sometimes a salad and homemade whole wheat something, bread or rolls, and usually potatoes or rice.  

I loved visiting with you today. Have a great week!

Edited Tue Mar 28, 23 1:56 PM by Christina A
D
15 posts
Tue Mar 28, 23 2:58 PM CST

Over the past few years we have taken to eating just two meals a day.  Breakfast for us is usually pretty substantial with eggs cooked somehow, bacon or sausage, and toast from homemade bread.  Sometimes pancakes or crepes with a meat.  We find we have to have some protein for breakfast or we just give out by 11 am.   We eat a pretty big variety of meals around 2-4 pm.  Lately I’ve been loving doing casseroles or one pot meals of some kind.  Or we may just pop chicken or fish in the oven and have some type of rather plain vegetable.  And I love  to make soups and stews.

Good grief I can’t get over the size of our tomato plants!  I started seeds that are STILL only 4” tall.  But then there are two volunteers in one raised bed that are at least 12” tall…..so volunteers it will be this year.  They aren’t in the exact location I would have chosen.  But since they’re happy where they are and have survived without a whimper through the two cold snaps, uncovered, they know something I don’t.  Do they stay.  I have room for either a Cherokee Purple or a Mortgage Lifter that I will squeeze in beside them too…..IF they decide to move past 4” height


26 posts
Tue Mar 28, 23 5:09 PM CST

Good morning Grandma Donna,

I'm so happy to read your both ok through the storms :)  

To answer your question, we don't eat breakfast (intermittent fasting). My husband may have toast with jam on the weekend. Dinners: chow mien mince and vegetables, chicken stir fry, roast chicken, soup, salad and meat, Mexican in wraps/salad. That's what we mostly eat, and a lot of eggs :) p.s. I almost purchased a treadle sewing machine a few years back, however I backed out of it at the last minute as I was unsure if the sewing needles would still be available to buy? I think I mainly wanted it, as my Nana always used one and it brings back lovely memories whenever I see one, or read about you using yours. I also liked the idea that it is not reliant on electricity,

Blessings to you ~ Linda

A
1 posts
Tue Mar 28, 23 7:04 PM CST

   Sometimes dogs and cats can have a skin irritation to corn and other grains in their feeds. Even some specialty vet recommended brands will have corn ingredients in them. Might be worth trying a grain free option. Best wishes for little Bernadette!

G
362 posts (admin)
Tue Mar 28, 23 7:20 PM CST

Grandma Donna wrote,  hi to everyone, I am enjoying your posts and what you eat at home and all of the other things you have to say.  I am glad that I did the post early because shortly after I did that post we got more bad weather, electrical storms and Bernadette could not be consoled because of the lightening.  Then suddenly a very bright white light lit up all the windows in the house and a boom and the power went off.  Luckily I had everything unplugged by then.  Cable, router, anything I could pull, the lightening hit a power pole and knocked it across the road about 2 miles from us.  A large section of our town went dark. So that was it as far as using the computer today and I could not type the diary.  So I sewed again!   You have all made me hungry and I hope more people come in and share what they eat and chat a bit.

G
23 posts
Wed Mar 29, 23 12:48 PM CST

I cook something in the slow cooker almost every day, even in summer (as it doesn't heat up the kitchen).  It can get a little monotonous, but I love the convenience;  I throw ingredients in the slow cooker in the morning before work, and dinner is ready when I come home tired.  It's usually a stew of (a little bit of) meat, vegetables and maybe beans;  often with different spice blends.  It's amazing how different the same basic ingredients taste when the spices are changed.

For breakfast we almost exclusively eat eggs/bacon/sausage.  We have a small flock of chickens and ducks to help us out with this :)

I'm enjoying reading about others' meals too!

W
27 posts
Wed Mar 29, 23 2:04 PM CST

Donna, I enjoyed this post and the one just before it - actually, to be honest I love each one of your posts.  I'm glad that you will be getting your pacemaker surgery done soon.  It's no fun having something like that hanging over your head.  

Poor little Bernadette!  She looks so sweet in her flower but those allergies are a pain in the neck.  My daughter has a dog that suffers with allergies.  She (the dog) is on a very restrictive diet and with other supplements it seems to help.  

Thanks so much for the cauliflower pizza crust recipe.  I will be making that as soon as I can.  I've looked at buying cauliflower crusts at the store but they are so expensive!

Your tomato plants look amazing!  You are such a good gardener.   I'm glad to hear that you fared well during all the bad weather.  The weather has been so strange this year, hasn't it?  I've never been much of a breakfast eater despite all of the press about how good it is for a body.  I'm not usually hungry until about 10 or 11 most mornings.  Usually I just grab something that doesn't need cooking, such as yogurt, toast or a bagel.  I sometimes have breakfast for dinner and have eggs, a meat, usually sausage, pancakes or some other bread.  

I sold my house at the end of January and moved into my daughters 2nd house which she is selling.  The house went on the market and the first people who looked at it made an offer!  Over the asking price!  So, around the end of April I will be moving bag and baggage from the PNW to California to live with/near my daughter and family.  Whew!  It's been a busy year so far with more to come.

Thanks so much for these posts.  They bring some sanity to me in the midst of a crazy world.  God bless you, Donna and your wonderful readers.

Jackie 

R
6 posts
Wed Mar 29, 23 6:44 PM CST

I wrote down the pizza crust recipe to try. We sometimes buy a pack from the store, but like another commented, it gets pricy. Sometimes I make a cassava crust pizza too, with the same preparation instructions but it has a few more ingredients. 

For breakfast, my husband eats cold o's with milk and coffee during the work week but he isn't thrilled about it. It is a matter of time for him.  I try to make things like baked oatmeal or granola for him to add on top. I really like eggs and often eat one or two with gf toast or a almond flour mug bread I make quite easily. Sometimes a little cheese, or meat, or veggies added to it. Coffee with cream, or dandelion tea, or occasionally a homemade matcha (green tea) latte too.  I grew up on cereal but rarely prefer that as an adult.  On the weekend, I often make gf pancakes or waffles for my family, or baked eggs, or a German pancake on occasion.   I have enjoyed reading what other people eat as well.

T
79 posts
Thu Mar 30, 23 9:27 AM CST

My usual go-to breakfast is oatmeal and flaxseed meal, made real thick, and eaten plain.  I use 3/4 cup water, 1/4 cup regular old fashioned rolled oats, and 1 to 2 Tbsp flaxseed meal, and don't cook it too long - probably only thirty seconds from when it starts boiling.

When I eat lunch at all (which isn't often) it's usually very light - fruit, jerky, a handful of nuts, or leftover's from the previous night's dinner.  

A "typical" dinner changes a lot with the seasons, but often includes chili, venison, potatoes, butternut squash, or blackbeans and rice this time of year, as it's still winter here.

Keeping it simple in the woods of Michigan.
D
31 posts
Thu Mar 30, 23 9:56 AM CST

Wow, that second storm that blew through with the lightening sounds scary!  Also, a good reminder to me to purchase the solar lights that you mentioned in earlier po

J
3 posts
Thu Mar 30, 23 10:44 AM CST

Right now, I am doing a Lenten fast, which I chose to do for the whole Lent period of eating Pescatarian (Vegetarian but also eating seafood/fish).  I don't normally eat a lot of seafood so its been a great way to get more fish into my diet.

This morning,  I had a raspberry smoothie for breakfast.  I'm looking forward to more berry smoothies as I use up frozen berries from my garden.  I'm enjoying little Cuties (tangerines) right now too.  I usually just have coffee and maybe some toast for breakfast.  If I am hungry though, it could be avacado toast, cottage cheese, or a breakfast sandwich.  Sometimes, I make and freeze breakfast burritos or breakfast biscuit sandwiches (egg, cheese, and sausage or sausage and cheese, ham and egg, etc).  Biscuits and gravy or pancakes/waffles are an occasional treat also if I am really hungry.

Occasionally, I eat pot roast, cube steak, or baked chicken.  Right now, I have Seafood Casserole (imitation crab) and I enjoyed a fish fry.  Tomorrow, it will be baked Walleye with lemon, butter, and dill. Fried rice, stir fry or Mexican food is often on the menu weekly or pizza.  Soups and salads or sandwiches often show up too.



L
52 posts
Thu Mar 30, 23 10:45 AM CST

Love the walking flower

K
4 posts
Thu Mar 30, 23 2:22 PM CST

We eat a lot of "Buddha bowls" for dinner, which are piles of lots of different things -- a grain (like rice or quinoa), veggies (we often do roasted cauliflower & broccoli, sauteed zucchini, shredded raw carrots, sauteed spinach/greens, sauteed mushrooms, etc.), protein (chicken, tuna, baked tofu), and some sort of dressing (sometimes I just like mayo). They are delicious, and infinitely variable. And a great way of using up produce from the garden!

Your little flower is darling. Our poor dog has the same problem, but all year round. She is SO itchy all the time, and it's some environmental allergy she has.

k
13 posts
Fri Mar 31, 23 11:06 AM CST

Glad you all came through the storms fine. We're gearing up for them to be on us tomorrow. As far as what we eat for breakfast, we usually don't eat anything but do have coffee. We practice intermittent fasting and only eat if we actually feel hunger, not habit. If we do have breakfast, it would be a small bowl of oat groats ( kept in fridge and used as rice usually) unsweetened, with walnuts and berries. Sometimes eggs as we have chickens. Our main meal is usually between 1pm and 3 pm, and is typical of what I see you posting. Vegetables, sweet potatoes, some kind of protein. We rarely eat desserts anymore because we stay away from refined sugar and as a result, if we are craving something sweet it's a piece of fruit, which seems really sweet now and satisfies the craving. Food is really simple and fresh, which feels right to us. Hope you have a lovely week! 

A
147 posts
Fri Apr 07, 23 1:51 PM CST

I enjoyed reading what everyone else has for their meals. We are big breakfast eaters and lunch and dinner. LOL I think it's because were both high energy and fast metabolisms. Normally it's oatmeal with 2 eggs each with a fruit and raw milk. Lunch is a sandwich if were at the shop with veggies, fruit, cheeses, etc and dinner's a meat with veggies, bread/roll, etc. We do pizza on Friday nights because our son likes to say "That was fill in the blank pizza's ago". He found that out after learning about Navy submariners keeping track of time by how many pizza nights ago that was. We eat chicken, fish, pork, beef and anything we get hunting which some years we don't go due to our work schedule. Oh and we eat a lot of beans! To keep my food budget low I can, have a large garden and cook majority from scratch which truly does help. 

The same storms came thru here and they were packed with 65 mph winds. First time we haven't lost power. So thankful everyone was alright. I also unplug everything in the house.

A
147 posts
Fri Apr 07, 23 1:54 PM CST

One thing about poor Bernadette...our vet gave us this medicine for our cat with terrible anxiety from storms. It's called and ACE pill for short. It has helped and is very affordable and he can actually relax. Our other cat used to get dry skin and eat his fur off because he scratched so bad. They would give him a shot too of cortisone, but normally it only took one and he was good for the year. After his last shot the vet had asked if we moved furniture or any big changes because that does trigger the sensitive ones. Hope this helps!

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