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Category: inspirational

IF YOU COULD CREATE A PERFECT DAY, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

In most of our lives, we are conditioned to do what is laid out for us. If we work, we normally do basically the same for at least 5 -6 days. We develop routines, what time we wake up, what are our preparation regiments to get ready for work, what we eat or don’t eat prior to leaving. If you wrote down your routine for a week, you would find very little variance as we are mostly creatures of habit. In this blog message, I am going to take your mind out of this routine as it is beyond any of our control but how life determines what and when we do certain tasks. Let’s go down the creative and imaginative path for a detour.

Perfect Day for My Daughter and Her Dad. Outdoors and on Horseback.

First, let’s take work out of the equation so today is a free from work day. What would you do with your time? I made a list of questions to start the creative juices flowing:

  • What are things/hobbies/tasks you love to do? Try making a list of those items for us to review later in the blog.
    • I will start the thought process as I love to bake and cook. I love to write both poetry and books (I actually wrote three novels which I am proud that I didn’t quit and all of my author friends appreciate the effort behind this undertaking). I love to decorate and make florals. I love family and family gatherings and even though the pandemic has placed a dampening on those times, I am ready for this to resume soon. I love some travel but I am not a Traveling Mac for sure so this is a back step priority if you know what I mean.

Second, let’s actually delete things/events we don’t like to do:

  • I don’t like organizing but I love organized cabinets, closets, and drawers. I don’t enjoy lectures, some concerts, or outdoor activities. I don’t like to shop and/or browse. I never have; I probably never will. Yard sales don’t appeal to me at all. The next one will probably surprise you but I don’t like reading books. Ouch, as an author, this sounds ironic. For you to understand my unwillingness to sit and be still long enough to read a lengthy book, it has to be fast action, lots of twists and turns, mystery I feel I can solve quickly, and I have to have a page turner so that I finish it in a flash. That’s me, so what are your dislikes? I ask you to list your likes as well as your dislikes for a reason.

Third, let’s compare what you like and dislike as these lists will define your personality and from here we can move in our imaginary world for a day. If you have listed outdoor activities primarily as what you love, you may want to consider your perfect day doing one or more of outdoor trips, activities, and/or hobbies. If you love traveling, lots of people do, you may on your perfect day plan a trip and include the destination to provide this type of entertainment pleasure. If you love to shop, design a day around shopping and if you are a connoisseur of good restaurants, plan to eat at one of your favorites as an enhancement to your shopping experience.

I think you are moving into the creative realm, imagining what makes you happy and what you would avoid if you had the opportunity to choose. By opening your mind to the perfect day, you can tolerate the routine days much better by planning good activities and keeping your mind in a positive light. Even though you may not be able to actually have a perfect day, you will benefit from going through the mental exercise of planning the perfect day. Dream and the dream may come true. Plan and save for that perfect day as that becomes a precedent of organizing your thoughts, your budget, and your attitude. I wanted to give you some food for thought. Self help and building positive goals and seeing dreams come to reality are the best tools available.

Now for the deeper thought: It is great to dream and I am a realistic dreamer. I see Yes and I don’t see a lot of No’s. What I trust in is a strong faith in My Maker and Creator as God placed the creative side in me but He also placed the ability to realize the work and effort to make those dreams become a reality. Let’s Get Creative and Use those God Given Talents to Live Life; Love Life; and Live Life to the Fullest by Creating a Loving Environment.

(C) Copyright 2012 – 2022 Arline Miller of Sipping Cups of Inspiration and Reinvention Queen with all rights and privileges reserved. Third party material is sourced, if known, to the original location and author for credit reference.

WHAT’S UP WITH GUACAMOLE AND LIFE?

Most of my followers/readers have become acquainted with how my daughter and I love cooking together. Mind you, we are very different styles of chefs with me being more traditional and very in tune with remaking and recreating dishes from the original ones. Missy, on the other hand, has a tendency due to her independent nature to go a little rogue. She may look at a recipe and say to herself, I think I will do this or that, or change the entire recipe to satisfy her individual taste. Both of us love to cook and we love to brainstorm about how we each like this or that and that brings me to the focus of this blog. The title WHAT’S UP WITH GUACAMOLE AND LIFE has to bring questions as to the meaning of this message.

While Missy and I were discussing our upcoming Christmas get together which will be different from previous years of traditional feasts of every Southern dish and most of our families being present, we brainstormed about many future posts but while discussing the idea of Mexican food being a possibility for this meal, the topic of Guacamole came up.

There was a time in my life that I had a personal preference of aversion to the soft consistency of the avocado. Even though I learned the healthy benefits from the green soft ingredient, I shied away from it. It was only after my daughter who used to live in both Colorado and California and thrived on adding avocados in many dishes, made her Guacamole Dip for me and my husband. My response was “this is amazing” with the fresh cilantro and all of the ingredients and seasonings. I was hooked on this green stuff and have asked many times for her to make some.

She said something important while we discussed adding Guacamole to our upcoming menu. She and one of her dear friends, Teresa were discussing food and Missy remarked that as many times as she made this dish, she could not remember two times that it tasted exactly the same. Granted, Missy shoots from the hip, when she is making the same dish. Barring this fact, she told me while she was repeating what she and Teresa were talking about, she said the topic words about Guacamole “It all depends on each ingredient and how they can variate at any given time.” You will see how we think these ingredients can apply to our lives and people/friends/family and the effect the variations can have and what we can do to end up with a successful Life Dip courtesy of the Guacamole effect.

Here is how we know that each ingredient can be different:

  • Avocado can differ in ripeness and texture. No two avocados are exact copies of each other, similar to each of us and our personalities with distinctive flavors and textures. Maybe some of the stiffer ones can use some softening by mixing more (giving more attention to loosen them for a smoother mixture). If they are too soft or already too ripened (experienced or like we say more baggage) we may have to lighten up on the amount of added mayo or additional stress.
  • Cilantro can be stronger or milder at the time of acquisition. It can be a good flavor enhancer or overpower the entire dish. Isn’t this the same with people? Some people are more timid or even bullish. The secret is to smell or sample a little of the cilantro (don’t jump too fast in a relationship but test the relationship to know how much involvement you want to have)and decide how much to place in the guacamole. You can always add more but if you add too much in the beginning, it is hard to adjust later. In other words, in life, take it slow and know how much is enough or too much.
  • Lemon and Lime as both make the best guacamole but one question to ask…Why do we need both? Why wouldn’t either one alone be enough? This one is interesting to me as this comparison is very applicable in life. If we have friends who could be twins, who like the same activities/faith/philosophies, we don’t have that mixture component. Actually the lemon/lime are enhancers of the other ingredient and makes the better flavor. One without the other might be acceptable but together they complete that unique combination. In life, we should welcome the variety and partnership of different interactions.
  • Onions….how could onions play a part in life the same way they add the strong but sometimes sweet flavor in Guacamole? Life needs some spark or excitement. Bland lives as well as bland food can get boring. This brings me back to Missy’s words about how she can used the same ingredients and the finished guacamole, even though quite tasty, can be slightly different in flavor due to an onion being sweeter or stronger, and it even being smaller or larger in size can have an effect. People are different, relationships can be better or worse due to outside factors which we may or may not have control. Unless an onion is super sweet, it is hard to eat raw onions and that is life’s need for us to be able to adapt when something is not the same. ADJUST, ADAPT, OR AVOID!
  • Seasonings are important, more or less, some or none, and taste to see how it blends and what and how much needs to be changed/enhanced to make it delicious. In life, relationships and friendships should be considered to see if we have added the proper seasonings or is it time to change some of the habits or attitudes to make the relationship as attractive and desirable as before. Keep it fresh so that your seasonings of life stay tangy and appealing as you remember the first time you met.
  • Mayo, I purposely left it to the end for a good reason. This is the most important step in making fantastic guacamole. Too much of a good thing or if you want to look at it in a different light, a bad indulgence can spoil all of your prep, all of your selection of the freshest and best ingredients. Too little of a needed ingredient can make for dry and dull and a less desirable dish or as we have referred to the comparison of life. Life and relationships, friend or romantic, work or family oriented, and faith is a recipe and whether you follow all of the instructions, you have to use good judgment in applying the ingredients (people) to maximize the satisfaction of blending all that you do to give you a happy life. Consider the prep, making sure you buy ingredients that blend with your tastes as well as though who will be dining with you, take pride in the process, and give it your undivided attention. Bon Appetit!

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fkeviniscooking.com%2Fsimple-guacamole-recipe%2F&psig=AOvVaw0uSLOPYuSiBB5vP1WiP5Sg&ust=1671470760730000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA4QtaYDahcKEwjQh9X314P8AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQBw

Here is my daughter Missy Haas at my last book signing. The best ingredient God gave me in the form of the sweetest and talented daughter and my friend.

(C) Copyright 2012 – 2022 Arline Miller of Sipping Cups of Inspiration and Reinvention Queen with all rights and privileges reserved. Third party material/photos are sourced if known for credit references.

SWEETS AND SWEET FAMILY TIME

I thought I would double up on the blog and share one of my recipes I created and my family time. This past weekend, we combined both and it was so sweet. Due to so many health issues, work related tasks, and also the confinement atmosphere due to the economy and the COVID reoccurrences, our family time has been limited to the extreme. After a lot of thought and contemplation, we agreed it was time for my sister, my daughter, my husband, and my sister’s great granddaughter to gather at our house and do some cooking, laughter, outings, and good ole talks. Of course GA DAWGS played and we mixed yelling and catching up at the same time.

First, all of you have learned how close my daughter is to me and her stepdad. We share a lot of weekends now that she is closer in proximity. She and I love to cook both separately and together with created dishes that we create. This weekend we took different tasks and then put them together at our house with our guests. On the first day, Saturday, we went out for lunch, seafood at a local restaurant Charles’s Seafood, been here forever but still great food. Since the DAWGS played at 3:30 pm, we chose to eat out and get back to the house to cheer them on to victory. Pizza was delivered later that day with dessert available with ice cream for anyone who had an inch left in their tummies Next, I will go over the dessert recipe I created for a fall treat (or it could be great for any time of the year)

Here is our Pecan Apple Streusel with my recipe to follow. It was a winning dessert.

Top this wonderful fall dessert with some delicious ice cream and the guests will love you even more.

Our family visit was long overdue and we made the most of it. Before they came, I invited God to join us and it seemed we were blessed with the most joy and love we could have experienced.

To add to our fun all of the fur babies including Luna who spotted our uninvited little guests who put on a show for all of us in the backyard. You will see in the next couple of pictures who they were.

You have to look close but two young frisky squirrels were above Luna and she was on point. They played, almost like they were teasing her. Quite the show!

This was a close encounter as Luna was ready and all of us worried about both the squirrel and Luna.

Now for our Sunday dinner, with Missy making her awesome fresh garlic bread and her deviled eggs. I made a chef’s salad with ham and mozzarella cheese, black olives, pickled banana peppers, iceberg lettuce, and of course Thousand Island Dressing. For the main course, I made Lemon Garlic Peppery Pasta. Here is a summary of how it was made:

Our Sunday lunch which as my sister said was Better than Good!

Lemon Garlic Peppery Pasta

1 pkg. Spaghetti or other type of preferred pasta cooked in large pot with oil and salt

1 cup Pasta water (save from spaghetti pot)

Drain spaghetti after retaining pasta water. Allow to properly drain.

3/4 – 1 stick butter melted in large saucepan

1 1/2 T. freshly ground black pepper (I covered the bottom with pepper I ground)

Lemon zest from 1 lemon and the juice from that lemon

Freshly roasted garlic 4 cloves or as much as you like to taste.

1/4 cup chopped chives.

Salt and pepper to taste (I added a little more pepper at the end)

1 1/2 cups Picaroni cheese hand grated from a block

3/4 – 1 cup Parmesan Romano Cheese (freshly grated is best).

In a flat sauce pan, I melted butter with black pepper. Once I blended this together, I added the garlic, lemon juice and zest, and 1/2 cup pasta water. I allowed this to blend and added cheeses. Once this combines into a sauce, I added the chives and the spaghetti. I gauged the sauce and added about 1/4 cup more pasta water. It is done at this point so turn off the burner. Allow to sit for a few minutes before serving. Sprinkle with more Parmesan and chives if desired. Bon Appetit!

My daughter and “my personal chef”Missy Haas, Makenzie Hester, Arline (me), and my sister, Juanelle Fussell. It was a great gathering. My husband was taking the photo, so next photo is Greg.
Greg Miller, my husband sporting his GA Bulldog shirt. Go DAWGS, we cheered you on to victory.

I hope you enjoyed our visit and recipes. One more joyful moment. Later, after Missy, Juanelle and Makenzie had gone, we were blessed again to have Cory, Teddie, Nolan, Mason, and Rubie Miller, more of our great family drop in because the youngest granddaughter kept telling them she wanted Nana. For those of you who have grandchildren know how they will fixate on one name when they are little. Nana made Rubie’s list and I am loving it. Granddaddy kids her but she was sharing a lot of love. They enjoyed Missy’s deviled eggs and then on to the dessert. It was happiness all over again. Mason showed me her pierced earrings and I told Nolan how everyone thought our German Chocolate cake we made was a big hit too. Great times for all of us and that brings me to my final thoughts.

When things try to get in the way of family times, and it seems you will not get to share times with your loved ones…..Stop and make time! It is never going to be easy to fit in time, but it is healthy for your soul and heart. It’s those smiles and laughter that keep us going and loving so fill ’em up and plan for the next visit. Live Life, Love Life, and Live and Love Life by Filling Your Days with Love and Family!

LET’S SLOW DOWN TO GET FAST RESULTS

What do I mean by this title of my blog message? I feel we have gotten into a manic rush form of thinking and doing. Let’s look at the names of appliances and social media such as InstaPot and InstaGram, Snapchat, etc. We have adapted our minds to an Instant Decision Making Process. No longer do we take reasonable time to consider the consequences of our actions. My focus on this message is perhaps on the important matters, we should use the Slow Cooker method to allow our decisions to simmer long enough to obtain the maximum positive results. Let’s dive in, and go over the options of pros and cons of thinking and how our actions can affect our lives.

Photo courtesy of Indeed.com (they own rights to this image)

My Assessment of this Use of Thinking Skills

In my lifetime, not one time but many, I have used impulsive buying as in see something, buy something. Impulsive buying has had a probable result of 50-50 satisfaction. I think if I had exercised 1, 2, and 3 steps, I could have moved my satisfaction meter up to at least 75% or higher. Tags on clothes, that I gave away due to the 50% non satisfied are proof.

Communication #4 has been boggled by social media. The intention of most of our social media platforms was to engage all of us, even though we have different locations, ethnic backgrounds, work diversification, religious and political beliefs, genders, etc. This sounds like a great idea but it also allows for dissension among the social media followers and argumentative actions can be counter productive. Maybe unbiased research and conversations in a private setting may be more productive and less hostile. Constructive criticism (I hate the word criticism as it negates any positivity so I like to use input or feedback) if used in a character building manner can be useful.

Problem Solving #5 is a way of life for me, maybe to a fault. If someone, even someone that I have the highest regard and value their intelligence, tells me of a problem or situation that requires solution and/or resolution I want to offer my opinion immediately. This is not a good thing and I am working on it. Let’s see what I have been working on to help solve problems but not mandate my solution:

  • If I ask questions instead of making recommendations, this gives the person an opportunity to self help of making decisions with a confidence builder for them.
  • Once a person has stated a problem, by asking a question of what they think should or could happen to resolve this problem, it puts the ball back in their hands. It becomes their decision, not yours.
  • Listening instead of talking, asking instead of telling will be more effective and the recipient of any input from me is better received.
  • Caring enough to follow up with someone who has stated a problem on the status, what has been accomplished, what is still outstanding, and if not resolved, ask what they feel is the next step.

I am going to take a step backwards to #2 Analysis. I am learning, WIP, to do what I term as Realistic Analysis. What is the difference by adding Realistic to Analysis? I am a writer and also a very positive person. I see the best, but I have learned that I have to expect realistic results. Prince Charming is not every man or every woman is not a Princess. There are trolls and evil queens outside of fairy tales. Realism is a realistic way of life and we should analyze possibilities in a realistic visual. Some examples are creams help diminish wrinkles topically but they are still part of the aging process and even though the creams help, we can expect this is an ongoing part of aging. We can dream to accomplish what we would love to happen in our lives, but the reality is, can we live without that dream if it doesn’t come to us? We can, we can also dream of other accomplishments we can realistically achieve while we work on the master dream.

Sipping Cups of Inspiration is now in its 10th year with well over 150 countries viewing it.

Let’s slow down, brew a slow brew of delicious coffee bypassing the instant coffee. Let’s doodle, draw, write, sing, dance, exercise, meditate, contemplate, envision, go fishing, watch football, baseball, or even work puzzles, cook or bake instead of take out. We are each going to come to a Stop Sign of Life and that is about as realistic as it gets. LIVE LIFE, LOVE LIFE, AND LIVE AND LOVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST BY SLOWING DOWN TO SMELL THE ROSES!

(C) COPYRIGHT 2012-2022 Arline Miller of Sipping Cups of Inspiration and Reinvention Queen with all rights and privileges reserved. Third party material including photos are sourced, if known, to original location/author for credit reference.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Food For Thought: I have given much thought as to what effect if we knew what was going to happen before it actually happened. Would we change course, would we run as fast as we could, would we accept the inevitable, what would we do? During life, we get hit with unexpected situations, changes, losses, gains, relationships, moves, windfalls and devastations. We question Why and either celebrate or find ourselves wondering how we will overcome this obstacle.

I am not sure we would benefit from knowing. My reason for this assumption is in my life, I have grown from the difficult times. I have learned from my mistakes and yes, from other’s mistakes too. I have learned compassion and empathy from life’s events. I have mourned the losses, appreciated the wins, and have found and lost love. I have learned all friends are not true friends and have learned how to figure out which is which. I have worked for a long time in different vocations and if you asked me which I enjoyed the most I would reply all of them because each one taught me how to use different skills and talents. I have been shocked by so many things that these experiences have taught me not to be shocked and actually expect the unexpected. This taught me how to be flexible. I have learned to not depend on mankind without having the firm faith in God who takes care of us if we trust and believe. I learned from my experiences with mankind an important structural fact…Man is Limited but God is Limitless. Giving things in which we find ourselves limited over to God enhances the possibility of obtaining what is out of our control.

Yes, it seems like it would be an easy life if we had the prior knowledge of things to come. I would like to offer a hint to all who believe in The Holy Bible. It gives us a heads up as to the future. No, it doesn’t give dates but at least we are given a true picture, even those listed in parables, of the possibility of a future in Heaven where it will not be necessary to wonder what is going to happen tomorrow. Just saying, put our faith and trust in God that everything can be all right if we live for God to serve His Truth.

Have a blessed day in Christ and love each other as He Loves Us.

May be an image of sky

This is a short blog post that I placed on my FaceBook Page but I wanted to share with you. I do not push my faith on anyone as I firmly believe we have to find our own salvation. I do wish everyone peace and joy in your lives.

(C) Copyright 2012 – 2022 Arline Miller of Sipping Cups of Inspiration and Reinvention Queen with all rights and privileges reserved. Third party material is sourced to location and author, if known, for credit references.

WHEN YOU THROW OUT THE TRASH, THROW OUT SOME BAD HABITS TOO

Throw out the bad habits and stock up on healthy, adventurous times, and a great life.

I have been busy with my day job and I haven’t had time to post but it has given me some time to think of some bad habits that I, and I am going to say I am not alone, have acquired during the pandemic. That’s it…..I said it! Now, what are we going to do about it?

I will relate this blog to taking out the trash, cleaning out closets and drawers, and oh my, yes, eating. We have become a country of plastic, paper, jars, and those packages that are made bigger to give us less of the actual things we pay for. If you don’t believe me, look at a package of tortilla chips and see how heavy the actual packages have become. We accumulate more trash from the “disposables”. I have thought about this action and realize we can reverse some of the negative results on ourselves by eliminating the “human disposables”.

Photo courtesy of kindpng.com

What do I mean? I prepared a list of what I am labeling Human Disposables, and I am not talking about Depends. Here is my thought provoking human disposables we may have accumulated and which we can remove or throw out with the other trash in our lives:

  • My plan of healthy eating has disappeared and replaced by fast food or unhealthy snacking
  • My hygiene or personal care has changed. Nails and hair are done only if we have mandatory events.
  • My wardrobe has become a vision of the comical Walmart shopper.
  • My entertainment has changed from outdoor activities to become an award winning couch potato.
  • My vocabulary has become a muddled conversation formed from the social media/television/reels/tik tok.
  • My reading list has disappeared to google expertise without any meaningful research.
  • Mental exercises are limited to whatever is the topic of the day and decisions are not based on quality critical thinking but more impulsive and relatable to the popular thought for that day and switchable if the main street media decides to go into a different direction.
  • Finances are a troublesome thought but no hesitancy to stop the spending and become frugal in difficult times.
  • Romance, date nights even if it is simple have been eliminated or have been pushed to the background.
My husband and I on a lunch date.

Having listed what I observe by others and even me on some of these, I wanted to offer some suggestions on how to “throw away” some of the items listed.

  • First, let us return to healthy eating. I personally have returned to mentally focusing on preparation, shopping, and planning meals which are better for our eating plan. Prioritize health first and cosmetics will help complete our physical overall look.
  • Take pride in what we wear and put the sweat pants, yoga pants (unless you are doing yoga or other exercise) in the drawers. This is a good time to clean the closet and organize a “healthy wardrobe”. For those of you who are too young to remember the A-line dress, I will give you an interesting thought. Waist lines went up 1 1/2 inches upon introduction of the looser and no longer defined waist. What happens if we cover our bulges with loose tops, maybe we think we are fooling ourselves and we can get away with a few extra inches. Not really!
  • Mental exercises are as important as physical exercises. Why? If we are mentally sharp, we have more confidence and the more confidence we exert, the more we will concentrate on the total package. Think more, act more, and see more results.
  • Pay attention to finances, learn how to budget or at least set up a budget, and don’t indulge in impulsive purchases out of boredom. Out of control spending only makes your life become out of control. About 6 or 7 years ago, I talked with my husband and showed him how I planned to pay off all credit card debt and we agreed to making it happen. It worked and within a year and a half, they were gone and I am happy to say we only use a card to complete a purchase with cash back points and pay the entire purchase off before any interest charges. You can do this if we can. I think I wrote a post on this subject but may do a repeat for reference.
  • Romance helps everything to better. Choose time for your significant other and even if it is watching a movie with popcorn/snacks, do it. Budget a lunch or dinner and don’t talk about anything but good times and pleasant subjects. The food will digest and so will your love.
  • Find entertainment/reading to be outside of the usual media such as news. Don’t get your education from one news source or biased outlet. This is hard today as no longer is anything composite/round table with lots of different views which is the preferred way to learn. Discuss, not argue, with people of different beliefs, religions, cultures, and listen. You don’t have to change your beliefs, but you may understand why others think differently. Calm composure of thoughts, rather than trying to push beliefs on others, is a positive flow of communication.

Okay, now tie up your collected trash bag and get it out of your life. I am in the process of bagging up useless bad habits acquired during the sagging events of the past few years. I like to think, and no it’s not morbid, if today was my last one on earth, what would I like to leave as a legacy for myself? It is definitely not a big bag of chips. May I leave a positive footprint of creativity, mental inspiration, and some good, loving thoughts? How about you?

Live Life, Love Life, and Live Life to the Fullest by Cleaning Up Your Life Trash and Remember to Recycle by Giving to Others.

Spend time for other’s special occasions like we were honored to attend Wyatt Smith’s 90th Birthday Celebration.

(C) copyright 2012-2022 Arline Miller of Sipping Cups of Inspiration and Reinvention Queen with all rights and privileges reserved. Third party material including photos are sourced to original location/author if known for credit reference.

Reasons Why I Don’t Do Cooking Videos…Reinvention Queen

As much as I love cooking and baking, and yes, after being asked numerous times to do videos, I tried a few and it didn’t take long before I realized I am not cut out to do the step by step, measuring and attempting to work a video camera. My daughter who is a lot more savvy even saw how difficult it is. First of all, let me applaud all of you who have the patience to make them, I am impressed. However, I love to learn new tricks and I am enthralled by kitchen hacks, right? You are too. Here comes the BUT….I see so many mistakes and non preparation in these videos that it is hard not to become a critic. All in fun, but has anyone looked at the videos afterwards to see how they could be improved, or maybe in this time of instant recognition, some have a tendency to grab on to “stardom” and forget people are actually watching these videos.

Cooking comes second nature to me but the appeal of cooking is to grab a spice, or herb at the time of cooking and add it to see if that is the bomb. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t but the talent of cooking is to have that inner talent of “fixing” a recipe. My daughter and I cook and bake a lot when she visits. We talk about what we want to try to make prior to her coming over. Missy and I may look at recipes but we never stick to a “formal recipe” as it is too much fun playing around with some of her preferences and my own take on the good combos of flavors. That kind of spoils a prepared presentation but allows us so much freedom of creating some powerfully flavored dishes.

We eat with our eyes first, so the appeal has to be considered when plating.

If we see the food bubbling or seeing the freshness of the ingredients, the appetite is heightened.

I will see I have a message on my phone and it will be her new version of a dish that she has thrown together for a breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I usually ask what’s in it and she has to stop and think what she added. When we discuss creating a cookbook, we have thought it should be titled, “A Little of This and A Lot of That” because that’s the way we roll. I thought I would give you my reason for not doing cooking videos and that reason may change as time goes on, but now, I would like to throw some pointers to those brave souls who attempt to be the next Paula Deen or Brenda Gantt. Here are my thoughts and they are valued at cents on the dollar and we all know how little that is now. Some of you who love to cook and who watch videos observe the same mistakes or at least I think you have observed these things too:

What to Check before cooking and/or Videoing a Cooking/Baking Show:

  • Check the background in your kitchen before you start videoing. I cannot tell you how much clutter and weird things we see which are distracting. The less that is visible in the kitchen area keeps the viewers’ attention on what you are cooking.
  • Semi-rehearse what steps you are going to take. Repetition of the same steps, over and over make the videos longer and sometimes very boring. The terms, this is how I like to do it, I, I, I, gets old after a while. An outline of the steps might be wise to create and try to mentally follow it. Natural is good but when I watch several of the videos from the same person, I cannot stay with it if it is the same old same old stuff.
  • Prepare a lot of the measured ingredients prior to video. The shows I enjoy the most are the ones who have measured the salt, pepper, seasonings, and the chopped ingredients. It is okay if you have a tip or shortcut for the viewer on chopping, but no one wants to watch five minutes of chopping, slicing, or mincing. I watched a lady peel about six large potatoes and then chop them just to demonstrate how to make potato salad. This may be a time that you pause the video after showing the first one.
  • Have space on counters for what is going to be done. Switching back and forth can work havoc on us ADD folks so keep the video smooth as possible and we know cooking is real and anything can happen so you cannot control every little step but you can control being prepared.
  • Choose non noisy utensils, banging in drawers, pots and pans, and any nuisance should be avoided. I have actually screeched watching videos and if I have, I guarantee it unnerves a lot of people.
  • Be aware of your appearance. I am not saying that only pretty people can cook but hair unkempt is not a good match to food prep, and clean nails, and clothes neatly worn are attractive and not distractive.
  • Conversations of personal stories should flow and should not slow down the cooking activity. We love the stories of the cooks as they allow us to get to know them, but it may be annoying when the cook/chef makes it all about them.
  • Make an impression by creating a good fairly short video instead of making your debut as a wanna be food network star. If people like the way you cook, your creative ideas, and your easy cooking talents, they will watch the next one.
  • I am no expert on this as I said, I don’t do videos unless I want to share the good times I have with my daughter in the kitchen which brings me to my last tip on videos. Just because you love your family and pets, it is not a good idea to have them continually say hello, help cook all of the time, and go over their adventures. Occasionally, this might be cute but if someone has tuned in to see how you make a cake, they are focused on the cake recipe, listening to you and your tips. There is no one that loves her family more than me, but my thoughts are Keep it Simple. As I said, occasionally, but watch overloading the audience with too much traffic during the cooking time.

I say all of this to possibly help some of you who are thinking about videoing. We are in a world of almost thinking it is okay to go with the person when they go to the bathroom and let nature take its course, but I am from the old school of there are moments to share and there are times for privacy. The videos can be entertaining more than educational. I think the combo is the preference for most of us. I have learned a lot of handy ideas and I appreciate someone taking the time to make a video. If you have tried to make one, you realize it is a big effort if it’s done right.

Live Life, Love Life, and Live and Love Life to the Fullest by taking a little time to prepare. Just loving to cook or trying to get it on video is sometimes not providing the full picture. The way I see it, if you don’t keep your kitchen clean, don’t offer to cook for me. Just Sayin’……Until We Cook and Clean Again….Arline Miller, Reinvention Queen.

(C) Copyright 2012-2022 Arline Miller of Sipping Cups of Inspiration and Reinvention Queen with all rights and privileges reserved. Third party material is sourced, if known, to the original author/location for credit reference.

SPEAKING FROM MY HEART

Speaking from my heart, the blog covers why we either show how much we care or why we put our needs ahead of others needs.

This past weekend was a super celebration of several recognition. My birthday was on Saturday, my daughter’s birthday was on Sunday, and we celebrated Father’s Day too. My mind has been collecting thoughts on how special these occasions are, not for presents which are great, but for the precious time for laughter, fun, reminiscing over past celebrations, and emotional tugs for those missing in our wonderful times.

We started out with a normal size family and now, today only my sister and me are still living. We miss those who are no longer with us.

Now, that the days of recognizing the blessings of being granted another year has passed, I wanted to speak from my heart on what I perceive as good qualities in people and what I feel is the loss of a great opportunity to create good memories by either selfish motives and/or ignorance of the importance of living in times that will not be repeated. It is up to people what is important but I felt very much love on my birthday, Missy had time with friends and us and it was great, and Greg enjoyed his Father’s Day too.

My daughter who celebrated her birthday with her Dad who she took care of for over two years who passed away. He was recognized as it was Father’s Day.

Let’s just get this out in the open as I know some people were lonely over this weekend, somehow forgotten on their birthdays, and Mother’s Day and Father’s Day as well as all the other holidays are not recognized with even a phone call or card. In the past, I have seen the good, bad, and ugly actions and have heard of those who are alone and the hurt they feel. Are you guilty of placing your own priorities in front of your parents, children, and other members of your family to do things with friends, play golf or other hobbies?

My husband celebrated Father’s Day with an added bonus of us going to visit the grandchildren with some ice cream. Greg’s son, Cory was cooking on the grill for his family and some of the grands had made dishes. Good going, Nolan, Jonas, and Elias for being helpful on Father’s Day.

Am I A Considerate Person or Am I Selfish?

I thought I would create a list of Dos and Don’ts for us to read and mentally check off this rather candid look in the mirror:

  • Do I check to see what my family members are planning for a holiday/celebration before I make personal plans?
  • How often do I make a phone call or even a text to find out how an elderly family member, friend, neighbor, and/or associate is doing?
  • Do I expect others to check on my health or well being instead of considering others’ health and well being?
  • Do I make plans without any consideration for my family?
  • Do I make the effort to recognize other’s accomplishments, special occasions, awards, or just a feel good text, message, and/or phone call?
  • Do I want to be encouraged by others or do I want to be the cheerleader?
  • Here is the big one….Is it all about me or do I feel better if I have done something special for someone else?

All of us are guilty of any of these at one time or another, or at least I know I have been selfish at times, but I am not proud of that. Let’s take a look in the mirror and start with Father’s Day that was this weekend. Did we go out of our way to recognize our fathers that are living? I can almost without fail say that those who have lost their Dads felt a void, wrote a message, posted pictures, but can we truthfully say we exercised every effort to be with them, take care of them, and show them love. Remember, no one lives forever and all of us will leave this earth. This is not in our control but we can control our actions while we are living and others too.

Nuff said, but I will add one personal note. When Mom was in the nursing home, my sister and I were very good to visit, shop for her, assist in her care when we were there, give her reasons to laugh, and provide all of us with precious memories. I worked all week, lived two hours away, but left each weekend that was possible to stay with her each weekend day, and only leave her for a few hours to sleep after she had gone to sleep. I don’t regret a second of that time. It gave me forever memories. My sister was faithful to go during the week. All this was out of love. When the New Year came near, I dreaded the traffic and thought I would wait until the second day of the new year to go for my usual weekend. I got up early that morning and packing my clothes in the car, ready to go and I received that dreaded phone call that Mom had passed an hour before. I cannot tell you how I replayed that call, that decision, and the cold fact I couldn’t see her one more time. She knew she was loved, but those actions or non actions can be long lasting so I say to everyone, if you can visit or see your loved ones, by all means, DO IT!

I turned 73 and I had the best presents…my daughter and my husband making my day special. I had so many Happy Birthday Greetings I had to group thank everyone.

(C) Copyright 2012-2022 Arline Miller of Sipping Cups of Inspiration and Reinvention Queen with all rights and privileges reserved. Third party material is sourced if location/author are known for credit reference.

Reinvention Queen Is Reinventing How We Cook

Today, instead of showing several reinventions of meals, I thought I would give my readers an insight on how I think in my kitchen. I never think of only one meal when I cook, but how I can reuse the ingredients or even the whole dish in a new way that it takes away the sting of eating “leftovers” but a new dish with different and/or additional ingredients. I am going to list out my reinvention thoughts when I begin to prepare a meal. The list will be broken down into food categories and it may give more insight than showing recipes after recipes. I will continue showing you reinvented meals but let’s start with how it helps from the get go. Here’s the list:

MEATS

  • Seafood
  • Beef
  • Chicken
  • Pork

Each category offers flexibility in multiple uses and we will review how to choose, prepare, and store. I use shrimp a lot in reinvented meals but salmon makes an excellent source for my reinvented dishes.

Seafood such as shrimp or salmon can be cooked in larger quantities than the first dish and stored until it is reinvented. I usually begin with grilled, sautéd, baked and I will prepare the seafood to have at least three meals from the initially cooked meat. I am aware you are thinking why not prepare as you need it. Most certainly, you can do this. Maybe, I am hesitant about the multiple preps and cooking time. It makes sense if I am grilling, grill three times the amount in one grilling event, rather than prep three times and grill three times. When we are really “lazy” we buy the freshly steamed shrimp from our supermarket and work from the larger amount we buy. Salmon is prepped the same way, more quantity is bought, prepped, and grilled either on the grill, the air fryer oven grill, or sometimes in a pan, but always more is prepped and cooked than our initial meal.

The first meal was steamed shrimp topped with my homemade cocktail sauce.
One of the three follow up meals was this delicious Shrimp ala Arline Pasta. The shrimp were added after the cooking and blending and placed on top and covered to allow the shrimp to come to the same temperature as the other ingredients without recooking.

Beef is a common reinvention meat that several dishes are made from the initial prep and cooking. I will make meatloaf and work from that initial dish and reinvent another dish using rice or noodles. I have used my leftover meatloaf to make the best burgers or have used the meat in the base for spaghetti or soup. Beef roast becomes the main ingredient for a sandwich with other ingredients. Maybe the thought behind my reinvention queen mentality is what else can I make from the meatloaf or roast. Build from the first meat dish and I will remove and/or replace some ingredients in the next dish such as potatoes and carrots from a roast and make a pot pie from those ingredients with a different meat, such as leftover baked or stewed chicken. Use your refrigerator as a cold pantry instead of only thinking how many times will my family keep eating leftover meatloaf or roast.

Chicken is one of my favorite reinvention meats. I grill, I bake, I stew, and then I store the extra. If any of you have learned to reinvent, I will say you probably use chicken more in the recreated meals than other meats. I have stewed a pot of chicken breasts or thighs, or even both. I will store what I am not making the first day but don’t put it past me to recreate a new meal from the first dish too. Let’s say I make chicken and noodles the first day. Let’s put our Reinvention Hats on and think what could I make from that initial chicken and noodles? What if I add a crust which can be a store bought crust and use leftover potatoes and carrots from a roast I spoke about in the beef section. Throw in a can of sweet garden peas, even a can of whole kernel corn, some chopped or sautéd onions, and make a chicken pot pie. I would process the noodles slightly to encourage a thickened filling. Add herbs and seasonings to make the pie the preferred taste. How simple can that be? What about taking the breasts and/or thighs and either make a bbq sauce or use a bottled one and wallah, you have bbq chicken in a few minutes. Or what if you chop the cooked chicken and make a great chicken salad, adding celery, mayo, grapes, nuts, and seasonings. The ideas go on and on. The key is in the beginning. Don’t cook a small amount, think of the quantity of three meals/dishes would require. Cook the meat at the same time and a good tip is to invest in quality sealing containers. Never leave the extra meat out, but store immediately as this will give you a freshly cooked meat.

Pork is another great reinvention meat. Ham, oh sweet ham can be a great reinvention queen ingredient. I bake or Greg smokes the ham and I don’t do anything in the beginning as we want the presentation for the first meal. Greg will take the ham pieces off the bone leaving enough meat for a great bean or greens cooking. I make a base from cooking the bone until the flavorful broth is formed. Sometimes, and this is where I think about what can come next. I store some of this ham broth for multiple flavorful dishes. Never use the broth for one reinvented meal, think three if possible. I then will use the ham for breakfast meals with eggs or omelets. Some of the ham pieces can be used for a ham pot pie, or flavoring a soup, sandwiches, and even use in dips, or like deviled ham salad. I think you see what I am plotting and planning when I prep that ham in the beginning. Pork chops are a gift from heaven as they can be grilled, baked, and/or fried. After they are cooked, they can be eaten of course, but if you make enough, you can store the extra, chop and use in Pork and Rice, sau’te some of the chopped pieces with a mustard base with sautéd onions and peppers or a great sandwich and/or even a salad. I can go on and on many other ideas, but now is the time for you to get creative yourselves.

I reinvented the blue cornmeal muffins into my Cornbread Layered Salad and used a lot of the veggies and sauces I refer as my pantry staples. Reinvent, and recreate is my motto!

As a true Reinvention Queen, I found stocking my pantry and refrigerator with what I call filler foods. Mushrooms fresh and canned, onions, garlic, herbs, peppers, cheeses, cream and buttermilk, seasoning bastes, vinegars, balsamic vinegars, seasoning salts, and dried herbs, honey, sugar, cream of whatever soups, broths vegetable and meat, vegetable bouillon as well as better than bouillon, bread crumbs and crackers to make crumbs, flour (I use White Lily) WL corn meal, and specialty mixes for quick breads, and BUTTER as well as EVOO, and even shortening. That is a short list but it helps to have it on hand instead of trying to make a list every time for each meal.

For some of my reinvention meals, Search on my home page search for Reinvention Queen and several blog posts should come up for you to go one on one with me in my world of reinvention. Use What You Have and a philosophy I believe is WASTE NOT, WANT NOT! Have fun, try new things. Mix it up and create your own dish. Until we reinvent again………..Arline Miller, Reinvention Queen 2022.

(C) Copyright 2012-2022 Arline Miller of Sipping Cups of Inspiration and Reinvention Queen with all rights and permission reserved. Third party materials, if known, are sourced to original location/author for credit reference.

Memorial Memories of Honoring The Fallen 2022

Today is Memorial Day 2022 and my heart is filled with love and gratitude for the fallen who sacrificed the ultimate gift to our freedom. I have included the poem and post in 2020 as it touches my heart even though it was my writing. Please join me in a salute and tribute to all of the fallen with respect for those who have served and for those serving now. We respect this day as the one chosen to honor the fallen.

Greg Miller of American Legion Post 21 with two of our grandsons who helped give out the flags to the big group of volunteers in preparation for Memorial Day. Thanks guys!

I was inspired to write a poem and I cried when I read the words I had written.

I don’t express this as an attempt for attention but I felt this one in my soul.

A Soldier’s Last Night

As I woke from a restful sleep, I began to wonder

How a lonely soldier felt about his chosen plight.

In the trenches, so far away from home, so somber.

Did he know the ultimate price he would pay tonight?

As he lay in the muddy hole which would be his last

His heart, did it pound or was he unusually calm?

Did he stay alert, did he pray, and that tear fall fast?

His silent cry, his grip tightened, only thoughts of harm.

Did he think about the protests and why he was here?

Or did he only try to overcome any temptation to run?

Did he find the urge to do his best and to hide any fear?

He may not have known his job on earth was done.

Did those hours before his end seem like a million years?

Was it true that one’s life does indeed flash before the eyes?

We may never know, only a brave soldier’s mind would veer.

We come to pay homage at the cold grave where he lies.

A small flag stands as a symbol of his ultimate sacrifice.

A cross may stand to remind us of his absence of life.

To you, the soldier who stood tall and paid the price

For Our Freedom, let us honor and recognize your strife.

Written by Arline Miller with homage and respect for all of

The Fallen and Gone but Never Forgotten.

Happy Memorial Day, May 25, 2020

This last Friday and Saturday were filled with my husband, Greg Miller, participating in the flag placement activity. He made me so proud of him for posting, calling, asking neighbors and businesses to donate flags to be placed on the graves at Oakridge Cemetery in advance for today’s celebration. Our neighbors, Lowes, and many other organizations, including American Legion, civic leaders and citizens donated and placed about 1400 flags. One of our neighbors, Ike Branch, was active in the placement event right along with Greg and about 40 dedicated participants.

How patriotic and gratitude filled event in Tifton.
Greg Miller, American Legion Member and Ike Branch, local clergyman and neighbor at the flag placement event.

An additional tribute and such a life lesson taught by Greg for and with our oldest grandsons, Abram, Jonas, and Nolan Miller on how to properly respect and depose of the existing flags taken from the cemetery. They readily filled the need to ready the flags for the retiring ceremony to be completed by local scout group. Respect is taught at an early age and continues throughout life.

Abram, Jonas, and Nolan Miller making sure the flags are properly dismantled and taken for the flag retirement ceremony by the Boy Scouts.

(C) Copyright 2012-2022 Arline Miller of Sipping Cups of Inspiration with all rights and privileges reserved. Third party material, including photos, are sourced to origination, if known, for credit reference.

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