The Crafty Survivor: But We Dont Do it That Way ! Thanksgiving Dinner

The Crafty Survivor: But We Dont Do it That Way ! Thanksgiving Dinner: I love mashed potatoes and it has always been a favorite dish at our Thanksgiving dinners. This year, I volunteered to make them.  Since I h...

But We Dont Do it That Way ! Thanksgiving Dinner

I love mashed potatoes and it has always been a favorite dish at our Thanksgiving dinners. This year, I volunteered to make them.  Since I have MS, fibromyalgia, arthritis and  few other things including being pressed for time, I have decided to do things differently.  gasp!  Im not going to peel them. triple gasp!!!

 When it becomes hard to do your normal activities find a different way of doing them.

 Use your slow cooker.  Put a rack in the bottom or use crushed balls of aluminum foil.

 Fill with clean potatoes and add about 1/2inch of water. That is one half inch of water, not 1/2 full!  Put on the lid and cook on high or (250 degrees) until the potatoes are very well done.

 The skins will slip right off or you may leave them on but that's NOT our traditional way . LOL   Let them cool a bit before removing the skins and proceed  with YOUR usual mashed potato recipe .

 

I'll Have a Blue Christmas

Christmas Eve is almost here. That is the day I am supposed to have everything decorated, food cooked, gifts wrapped and be ready to spend the day with family.  Why couldn't my knee have waited another 2 days before it went out??  The gifts are not wrapped. At least the shopping is finished, thanks to my husband.  We are almost finished moving into our smaller house. Unfortunately, the renovating is not done and the dining room and kitchen are still covered with boxes, bags of who knows what.  I did enough decorating.  Im happy with that.   It feels so much better lying down than it does trying to hobble around and find a place for everything. Im stressed. Who am I kidding? Im exhausted.  Ive over worked my body with the moving, downsizing and renovating.  Everything ended up being a bigger job than even I thought it would be.  All I want to do is rest and enjoy the reason for the Christmas season, the birth of Jesus.  Rest is so important if you have fibromyalgia , MS, arthritis or some other chronic pain disease. It seems like everyone, including the medical community, always put the emphasis on exercise, exercise, exercise. There has to be a balance.  There has to be time for you to rest.  Drs ask "What kind of exercise you do?"  They should also ask "What do you do for fun?  Do you get to rest everyday?"  Well I have not had enough of either lately.  Its through no fault of my own.  Just doing what I had to do, like all other women.  I hope you get to rest for Christmas and enjoy time with family and friends.

Organize the Pantry

Glass jars are excellent for long term food storage.  I like the gallon size with the wide mouth opening. I can easily scoop out the beans or rice. Make sure all of your beans, rice are bug free before you put them into a dry jar.
Any dampness inside the jar can cause molding.

Make a Christmas Tree

Downsizing presented yet another problem for me.  My large 9ft Christmas tree wouldn't fit into my smaller house.  I sold the tree but didn't get enough money to buy another tree I liked soooo..... I made my own tree!

It wasn't hard to do. All you need is some thin wood, glue, nails, wire or twine and green garland.  The tree is flat on the back to be hung onto a wall or into a corner as mine is.


Since we were renovating our house we had lots of wood scraps so I didn't need to buy anything.  I decided on the overall size and shape of tree to fit my space.  I used an 8ft piece of flat wood, maybe 1/2 inch thick. Looked good. Decided on the width of the branches and attached them onto the board with wood glue and small nails.  Size and shape is up to you.

When I was satisfied with the arrangement I spray painted the tree green. You can use whatever color you wish.  It will show thru the branches a bit.

 

 

 

 

Wrap and glue the trunk area in burlap, jute twine or leave it as is.

 

 

I purchased some green garland from a thrift store and used some I already had.  I don't recommend using glue to attach the garland to the tree base.  Use a flexible wire, twist ties or I used nylon fishing line, the black kind.

I cut the line into short lengths and wrapped and tied the garland.

 

 

 

 

Go back and forth with the garland until you reach the top.  When done, fluff and make adjustments.  Decide how to attach the tree to your wall.  I put some nails into the wall and used the same line to wrap around the tree and the nails.  Now its almost cat proof !  You could also use a large picture hanger.  Decorate anyway you wish.  Lights can be left on the tree when it is stored away.

 

 

Malone House Creations