My mother's mental health has been declining for years. She is at a point where she has difficulty remembering how to do the simplest things. The move will allow me be closer to two of my siblings and many nieces and nephews, who, I anticipate, will help me from time to time with my mom.
Over the next six weeks, I will need to dejunk my house and determine what I need to take with me and what can be sold, given away, or thrown out. An intense cleaning of the house will begin ASAP, and it will be put on the market this week. Hopefully it will sell quickly.
Another decision I made, not quite as difficult as the move, was what to do with the Orca Bay layout. I took a recommendation from I can't remember who (thanks quiltvillechat ladies for all your input!) that I needed a larger layout than just a few blocks to get the real picture of what might look the best. While the dark blocks looked great on a small scale, I couldn't see the design when they were laid out large-scale. So, I'm keeping the light & dark star blocks in the quilt. And, I'm going with the light stars where Bonnie put the dark ones. The top is half-way sewn. I hope to finish this week before I'm in the thick of house-cleaning. A picture of the finished top will be posted soon!
Since one of my goals before the move is to use as much food storage as I can, so I'll have less to move, I'm going to provide some recipes for using those items.
Blender Wheat Pancakes or Waffles:
In your blender, combine 1 cup wheat with 1 cup milk. Blend until a batter forms (about 5 minutes - batter will be thick). Add in 2 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 Tb. honey or sugar, 1 Tb. oil, and 1 egg. Blend until mixed, adding a little more milk if batter is thicker than you like it. Heat griddle or waffle iron. Cook as any other pancake or waffle recipe.
Homemade Syrup:
I really like making berry syrup, but if you don't have the berries, just make maple syrup.
1 cup light corn syrup
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1-2 cups berries (depends on what I have as to how much I throw in)
Bring to a boil. When berries are soft, mash them up (or blend them before you start). Add 1 Tb. maple flavoring (I use Mapeline). Syrup is ready to use. Strain if you want, but I don't mind chunky syrup. Keep any leftovers in your refrigerator, and use up within 2 weeks.
Fresh Fruit Smoothes:
I keep a good variety of fruit (thanks to Bountiful Baskets) in my freezers (we have 3 freezers - so yes, I need to get those cleared out too!). I have bananas, mangos, pineapple, peaches, apricots, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and kiwi. I even have bags of fruit combinations ready to go. I just pull out a bag and go with it.
Now for the recipe:
2-3 cups frozen fruit
1 cup yogurt (doesn't matter if it's plain or flavored)
2 cups orange juice OR milk (or you can mix them)
Blend until smooth and pour into several glasses. Enjoy!
