I decided today is the day for me to send all of the cards that I’ve been promising people, as I’m great a making the cards but terrible at actually mailing them.  I wrote several cards then decided I also needed to mail my brother-in-law a thank you card and a little job…(I’m thanking him advance for the job I’m giving him…hahaha)   My sister’s son is getting married in September, and I wanted to make a family recipe book for him.  I did call my brother-in-law and ask if he would participate, as my sister has diabetes, and her hands are too shaky to write much now..  Here’s the book I chose, and it was half off at Hobby Lobby, and it’s full of cards…I bought an extra pack to send my brother-in-law..I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to get them.

I talked to the bride, who doesn’t think her family would have any recipes, and that made me even more committed to giving them the recipes that got me through working full-time since both the bride and groom work full time…I’m not a gourmet chef, but I’m a pretty serious “meat and potato” cook…Both of my grandmothers made the best meals, and my mother was a terrific cook as well.  She was committed to sticking to the diabetic diet in our house, so my sister never had to watch us eat things she couldn’t.  I am absolutely sure that the reason my sister is still alive after 57 years with type 1 diabetes, is that my mother fed her as if her life depended on it, and it did.

As for learning to cook, I learned a lot from observation, and went from there.  The one thing that helped me when I was working, was making bigger meals on the weekends, so we’d have a leftover meal or two during the week…and the other meals were whatever we found that we could make and eat standing over the sink…Oh yeah, bet you didn’t see that coming, did you?  I worked forty hours and most of my branches were at least a half-hour drive, so at least 45 hours a week..  Today I couldn’t tell you how I did that, plus laundry, groceries, cooking etc., but somehow I did.  I know Rich helped a lot, and never complained about it–he’s always been a trooper.

The one product I couldn’t live without while working, was the Crock-Pot.  I know a lot of people have the Insta-Pot, and I don’t know if it has a slow cook feature, but I loved throwing frozen meat with broth in the Crock Pot before leaving for work, and coming home to a house that smelled like dinner….from there, it was so simple to add a side dish…don’t knock Instant Potatoes until you’ve tried them…Those little bags of instant potatoes were great with anything that came out of the Crock-Pot.  And there’s nothing better than coming home from work and knowing that dinner is almost ready.

As I said, I don’t know if the Insta-Pot has a slow cook setting, but I would never have been able to wait another 40 minutes for dinner, without eating chips and/or cookies, so the Crock Pot was my answer for everything.

I don’t know how I got off on this tangent, but the bottom line is, I’m going to share my favorite recipes (and Rich’s dad’s recipes) with our nephew and his bride, and hope they find some quick and easy recipes that help them eat at home, eat healthier, and save a ton of money instead of eating out…

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