- Page 2 of 321 - Good food, good company, good advice from Grandma

Medical Issues That Affect The Quality Of Life

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Nobody wants to have medical complaints, but it’s also true that not all medical matters are created equally. Some can be actively managed and never show any symptoms. Others are only an issue in certain circumstances. And then there are the conditions that have an overly negative impact on a person’s quality of life. These issues don’t even have to be the most dangerous (as in, they’re not life-threatening); yet they’re difficult to live with. Below, take a look at a few examples of body-related matters that diminish a person’s life.

Long Term Chronic Pain

When most people suffer from pain, it’s just temporary. After a couple of days, and with medication, the pain will subside. But this isn’t always the experience that people have. Sometimes, the pain carries on longer than it should — it becomes chronic. The person has to live with the pain, since traditional medicines just don’t work. If the pain is alleviated through physiotherapy, then alternative medicines may be used. It becomes a difficult situation for sufferers to manage and can have a huge impact on his or her mental state.

Sensory Issues Impact Quality of Life

Any illness that fundamentally affects the human experience will negatively impact the quality of life. Take issues related to the senses, for example. A lot of people take their eyesight and hearing (and to a lesser extent, taste) for granted, but some people suffer. Life becomes a lot more difficult to manage if you can’t see or hear properly. Fortunately, there are more and more ways to help overcome these problems. If you have difficulty seeing correctly, then you can use TrySight low vision aids. If you have difficulty hearing, you can work with an audiologist to find a hearing aid solution that’s right for you.

Mental Health Conditions

We don’t know the meaning of life (and likely never will), but there’s every chance that a primary objective is to limit pain and enhance happiness. People feel good when they’re happy and optimistic about the world, right? They can feel on top of the world. Unfortunately, there are people who have the opposite experience. They suffer from mental health conditions, and do not see the world as a light and happy place while they’re suffering from the illness. It affects the quality of life immensely because it makes doing basic things (getting out of bed, cooking food) extra difficult, and makes it so they can’t enjoy life’s simple pleasures.

Stomach Conditions

Many people take for granted that they can go out, take a look at the menu, and eat whatever dish sounds the best. Increasingly, there are people who don’t have that luxury. There has been a giant rise in people from suffering from dietary issues and it’s not pretty — people can be in immense pain all because of something they have eaten. IBS, in particular, is particularly painful, and on the rise too: somewhere in the region of 7 – 10% of people suffer from the condition, which doesn’t have a cure.

5 Appetizers Perfect for Your Holiday Party

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The holidays are an ideal time to plan get-togethers with friends and family members. If it’s your turn to host the next holiday party, you’ll want to focus on planning as early as possible. If you try to throw everything together at the last minute, critical things may get overlooked. For example, you should take into consideration what you’ll have available for your guests to snack on before the main meal is served. These 5 appetizers are perfect for a holiday party.

Cheese Balls

Cheese balls are a great thing to have when you have a get together because there are many ways you can make them. One popular type to make is the bacon, cheddar, ranch cheese ball. This recipe calls for ingredients such as bacon, green onions, ranch, shredded cheese, cream cheese, and pecans. Other popular ways of making cheese balls include:

Sweet and savory pineapple cheese balls
Ham and cheddar
Chocolate chip
Ginger and lemon
Vegan pimento cheese ball
Sweet chili and cream cheese
Pepper jack almond mini cheese balls

Cheese balls are pretty popular at parties, so you can add variety to your appetizer table by making various types.

Holiday Sliders

Sliders are very easy to make and contain whatever ingredients you want. Whatever types of sliders you decide to serve, remember how long you’ve had them out for, and discard them after 2 hours to make sure the food is safe to eat. Some sliders you can try at your next holiday party are:

Sliders with deli turkey meat, horseradish, and cranberry sauce
Pot roast
Honey and ale pulled chicken
Chicken parmesan
Cheeseburger omelet
BBQ chicken
Bacon cheeseburger
Sausage and peppers
BLT waffles
Sausage with cran-apple slaw
Honey buffalo
Stuffed meatballs with sauce
Blackberry sriracha

As you can see, there are many ways you can make sliders. You can make simple mini cheeseburger sliders, or try to make them extra flavorful by being creative and mixing it up some.

Different Types of Dips

Dips can also come in many forms, making it easy for you to add variety to your appetizer table. Dips can be served with chips, crackers, or different breads. Dips that are typically popular at holiday parties include:

Caramelized onion
White bean with herbs
Corn queso
Classic hummus
Creamy spinach
White bean dip

One of the best things about dip is you can make a big batch of it and it generally won’t cost you a lot to prepare it.

Various Breads

There are different breads that work well for just about all of the holiday appetizers. Some of the most popular breads for Christmas include cinnamon tea rings, Czech braided Christmas bread, mini cranberry fruit bread, and powdered sugar monkey bread. One of the most important things about making bread is following the recipe exactly unless you’re an expert. You also want to make sure you have all the correct ingredients on hand, such as guar gum or xanthan gum, especially if you are considering some gluten-free baking. The better quality ingredients make the best tasting recipes.

Meatballs

Cocktail meatballs are delicious and they are very easy to make. Just make sure to follow proper ground beef safety when preparing and serving these so no one ends up getting sick. As with all the other appetizers mentioned, cocktail meatballs can all be made in various ways. You can choose to make the meatballs by hand, or you can buy a couple of bags of the frozen ones to help save time.

Holidays are a fun time to be around people you normally do not see every day. If you get to host the next holiday party, or if you’re asked to bring something, try some of these fun appetizers ideas to help hold your family over before the main dish is served.

Road Trip: Fairfield Inn & Suites Savannah Historic District

Karen · 1 Comment

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Our trip to Savannah, Georgia was courtesy of VisitSavannah.com. They provided lodging at Fairfield Inn & Suites Savannah Historic District, meals, and some activities during our stay. Thank you so much!

Savannah is rich in history, being that it was founded by James Oglethorpe way back in 1733. It was the first capital of Georgia, and when General Sherman burned his way through Georgia during the Civil War, he ended up in Savannah, setting up his headquarters here. The city was spared from the fires of war, so there are loads of beautiful old homes and buildings throughout the Historic District. Abbey and I enjoyed our stay in Savannah so much!

During our time in Savannah, we stayed at the Fairfield Inn & Suites, in the Historic District on Martin Luther King Boulevard. We arrived at about 4:00 p.m., tired from the trip and the heat. The hotel provided valet parking for a fee of $25 per night. You could take your car out as often as you wanted to, or not at all.

Emily was the clerk at the front desk when we checked in. She was very friendly and professional, and in no time at all we were on our way up to our room, one of 140 the hotel has to offer. We unloaded the bare necessities from our luggage, and immediately laid down on the very comfortable beds to take a short nap.

We had a lot of room to spread out in our room. There was a large closet, a dresser, a desk and chair, and a small refrigerator and coffee pot in the room. It did not have a microwave but there was free breakfast in the lobby.

After our nap, we went back downstairs to ask a few questions of the concierge, and I stopped by the front desk to talk to Emily again. I asked her if the person who made my reservation had requested a handicapped accessible room, but she said there was no indication of that. She offered to move us to another room that did have a handicapped accessible bathroom, but I told her that we had already unpacked and were too tired from our trip to move. When we came back from dinner, she told me I would be happy when I got to my room. Upon returning to the room, I found that Emily had found a shower seat and sent it to our room. That did, indeed, make me very happy.

The Fairfield Inn & Suites Savannah Historic District has so many amenities, it would have been impossible for us to use them all in the three days we were there. In addition to housekeeping services daily, there is a gym, an outdoor swimming pool, conference rooms, Concierge desk, and Airline Reservation Desk, coin operated on site laundry, valet dry cleaning service, plus more.

Fairfield Inn & Suites, Savannah Historic District

135 Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard,

Savannah, Georgia 31401 USA

+1 912-236-1777

The hotel offers discounts to Senior Citizens of 15%. They also offer discounts to AAA/CAA, Government and Military, Girl Scouts, and groups of 10+. The Fairfield Inn & Suites Savannah Historic District is a smoke free and pet free facility.

Why The Slow Cooker is The Best Invention For Families Who Live Busy Lifestyles

Karen · 1 Comment

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To say that we all lead busy lives is an understatement. The fact is that we spend a lot of time away from home. Whether you’re a working parent or a full-time student, or even a retiree like me, you know the struggle of finding time to make meals. This is where a slow cooker can make meal-prepping a lot less hectic. With a slow cooker, you can cook delicious and healthy meals while you’re away from home! There are all sorts of meals that can be cooked in a slow cooker, including stews, soups, casseroles, and so much more.

Here’s why the slow cooker is the best invention for those with busy lifestyles.

Ingredients You Can Trust

Have you ever looked at the ingredients in pre-made meals? Serving your family food with ingredients you can’t even pronounce isn’t the best way to keep your family healthy. One of the biggest benefits of cooking with a slow cooker is that you know exactly what’s going into your meals. For example, if you want to make spaghetti and meatballs one evening, you’ll know that you need tomatoes, frozen fully cooked meatballs, spaghetti, and Italian seasoning. Knowing what ingredients go into your meals gives you peace of mind that your family is eating wholesome and nutritious meals.

Save Money by using a slow cooker

Eating out or picking up take-out can be expensive. By not cooking at home, it’s easy to spend hundreds of dollars on food alone. A meal for four people can easily cost well over $60. This means that within a week, you can spend more than $400 on food alone. Another great benefit of crockpot cooking is that you can save tons of money. Delicious slow cooker meals can be made using some of the most inexpensive products such as:

Rice
Beans
Frozen vegetables
Inexpensive cuts of meat

The amount of money you’ll spend on groceries is far less than the money you’ll spend eating out each night of the week.

A Slow Cooker is Super Convenient

Unlike a traditional meal that requires your undivided attention, a slow cooker is much more convenient. By using a slow cooker, you can cook a meal all day without any intervention needed from you. This means that meals can cook while you’re at work, at the gym, or at a doctor appointment. Crockpot meals are convenient in that you can put all of the ingredients in, turn it on, and then go about your day. Slow cooker meals are perfect for those super busy days when you have very little time to prepare a traditional meal.

More Time to Spend with Your Family

Most crockpot recipes require very little preparation. More often than not, all you have to do is put all of the ingredients in the slow cooker, set the right temperature, and then let it cook for a few hours! Crockpot cooking also means fewer dishes and less clean up. You can make using a crockpot even more convenient by using a liner. This way, you don’t have to scrub the pot each time you use it. With less time spent preparing ingredients or washing dishes, you’ll have more time to spend with your family. Family time is especially important if you have children. By giving your undivided attention to your spouse and kids, everyone will be happier.

Healthy, Diet Friendly-Meals

Do you follow a gluten-free or low-carb diet? Are you allergic to certain foods? If so, you know just how hard it can be to find a healthy meal at a restaurant. With slow cooker cooking, you’ll have peace of mind that all of the food you’re cooking is healthy and meets all of your dietary needs. This way you can have peace of mind each time you eat that you don’t have to worry about blowing your daily calorie limit or eating food that will cause a dangerous allergic reaction.

Cook Food in Large Quantities in a slow cooker

Cooking with a slow cooker allows you to cook food in bulk. This means that you can not only cook dinner throughout the week, but you can also take leftovers for lunch the next day. By not buying lunch, you’re able to save even more money. The less money you’re spending eating out or eating take-out, the further you can stretch your hard-earned money. What’s nice is that you can use a crockpot to cook breakfast, lunch, or dinner! There are thousands of recipes online for delicious and healthy meals.

There are all sorts of products that have benefited the household, but nothing has proven to be more priceless than the slow cooker. Slow cooker meals are nutritious and tasty but don’t require hours of preparation! Keep these benefits in mind the next time you want to eat out or order take-out.

How To Care For An Elderly Relative

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Caring for an elderly loved one can be difficult at times. You will have to juggle your own life commitments while taking time out each day to meet their needs. You may have children that you need to look after, as well as a job, and a house to keep. All the while, your elderly relative may need your support when it comes to getting up and dressed, washing, as well as getting the housework and cooking done.

You will no doubt do this with lots of love, and you will not harbor any ill feelings toward them for the exhaustion or the impact that it has on your life. This person is important in your life, and helping them out when they need it the most is the way that you can show how much you care about them.

But, you need to be fair to yourself. Caring for a loved one can have a lasting toll on you and your health. Without taking adequate breaks, and having the emotional support that you need, you may well end up making yourself ill. If this happens, you won’t be able to care for anyone.

Get Support From Your Family

Those immediately close to you will be one of the best places to get support. Ask your partner, children, or siblings to lend a hand. If you can create a schedule of care between you all, then it will lighten the load on you. Having a regular pattern of visitors will create a sense of consistency for your loved one. They will appreciate having so many of their nearest and dearest around them too, and they will benefit from the company that it will bring them.

Hire A Carer

Having a care visitor call in each day will also help out with matters that you may not feel equipped to, such as changing their catheter, or administering drugs. They will also be able to monitor your loved one and keep an eye on their general health for you.

Many carers can help with everything from helping your loved one to bathe and dress, to making sure they are getting a healthy meal each day. Having a visit each day will allow you the peace of mind to know that your elderly relative is always in good hands.

Respite Care

There may be times when you need a break to reset and lighten the load on yourself. This is perfectly acceptable, and you should not feel guilty about putting yourself first from time-to-time. There are plenty of respite care centers that will be able to take in your loved one for a short period while you recharge.

There will be support on hand all day and night, and they will be able to care for their every need. You’ll be able to get the rest that you need so that you can come back and continue caring and giving the best support that you possibly can.

Three Memory Bears

Karen · 3 Comments

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This post contains affiliate links. If you click on the link and make a purchase, I get a small commission. Thank you for supporting me.

I was asked to make some Memory Bears for a customer. She had some clothing that belonged to a deceased loved one, and wanted the bears made out of them. I wish I had taken a photo of the three lightweight jackets she sent me before I cut them up. They were beautiful. It took me two weeks to be able to put scissors to the jackets, because they were that pretty. This project took me a lot longer than it should have to do. First, I my chronic pain flared up, and would not allow me to sit at my sewing machine long enough to accomplish anything. Then, my eyes started hurting and were hard to keep open. Did you know that if you have Rosacea, that it can get into your eyes? I had no idea! My eye doctor gave me some medicated eye drops that helped. Finally, when summer was almost over, I was able to get in there long enough to make these adorable bears.

I made the green bear first. The fabric used was almost too stretchy. It seemed to take more stuffing than I have ever stuffed into a bear to fatten him up, but at last, he was able to sit up all by himself. Then I had to find the right buttons to use for the eyes. (Don’t worry, these bears are for adults, not babies.) Here he is before he got his eyes and nose:

memory bear — Little bear, where are your eyes and nose??

Next, I made the purple bear. The fabric for this one was not as stretchy, but it had a very interesting texture. It was had to cut and hard to sew because of all the textures but he did turn out really nice. He is a unique bear for sure.

The last memory bear is made from fabric that is reversible. Because it is reversible, it made it hard to sew as well. Every seam had doubled fabric due to it being a two ply type of material. I think he was the hardest one to sew. On top of that, even though I marked and measured twice before I started to sew his head on, it came out being turned to the side, like he was perpetually looking over his shoulder! I had to get out my trusty seam ripper and take his head off, not once, but TWICE! I was very frustrated with this one but finally, he came together and turned out looking pretty good.

memory bear 4 — Oh, this little memory bear did not have his head on straight! It took ripping it off twice to get it right!

These little guys have been shipped to their new home in Florida. The customer messaged me the other day and told me they arrived and are so cute! If you would like to have a Memory Bear made from clothing that belonged to your loved one, leave a comment or email me at fabgrandma@gmail.com. I sell them for $35 each, you provide the article of clothing from which it is made and pay shipping both ways. I have two different patterns for teddy bears, which I can send pics of if you decide you want a bear (or bears) made. I stuff them with poly fiber fill and use buttons for eyes and felt for the nose.

Home Improvements: 4 Jobs To Hire The Professionals

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You’ve recently been approved for your home loan and are now the proud owner of the house of your dreams. After the preapproval process, the closing, and every other hoop you jumped through to make your wishes come true, you’re ready to settle down and get started on some much-needed home improvements. However, even if you’re the DIY master, there are a few jobs that are just better left to the professionals, at least for safety’s sake. Below you can find a few of the top home improvements that it’s better to hire the professionals to handle.

Plumbing Installation and Repairs

Plumbing repair may seem like a simple thing to do, after all, it’s just a clogged sink, right? Nope! It’s also a clogged toilet and, oh wait, the bathtub isn’t draining right either! While you might be eager to do it all yourself in your new home, plumbing is one of those jobs that often takes a professional to get it done right the first time. This isn’t to say that you can’t fix a leaky faucet or that one clogged sink should send you running to the phone to call the plumber but if problems persist, you definitely need to hire the professionals.

Roofing Work

There are many different types of roofing out there. Whether it’s asphalt shingles or metal roofing, if you’re not an experienced roofer, you can end up hurt or worse. Whether you’re not afraid of heights or have a steady footing on roofs and ladders isn’t the issue. If you aren’t experienced, there is just too much that can go wrong when it comes to roofing installation and repairs.

On top of that, inexperienced roofers can cause uneven roofing tiles and even more leaks than you had to begin with, which will cost you more money in the end when you have to hire the professionals to fix the mistakes you made while trying to do it yourself.

Any Type of Structural Changes

One of the main reasons to have the professionals deal with any structural changes to your home is the fact that shoddy DIY work can cause untold problems for you in the long run. It’s also important to note that knocking out walls in your home can weaken the entire support system, making it dangerous for you and your family to live there. It’s best to call in the professionals for these types of home improvements, especially if the work done before looks shoddy and unsafe to you.

Electrical Work

The need to have professionals do any electrical improvements in and around your home cannot be stressed enough. A licensed electrician understands the risk and is capable of determining what is safe and what isn’t for your home. Doing it yourself, if you’re lucky, could end up with just some fried appliances, but it could also end up with your home burning down or you being electrocuted as well. There is concrete data showing that every day there is at least one fatality due to the victim trying to do electrical work that they were not qualified to do.

Even something as simple as installing a ceiling fan in the living room can go fatally wrong if you’re inexperienced and don’t know what you’re doing. If you don’t have a license, then it’s best to let a professional electrician handle any home improvements that require dealing with electricity.

These are just a few of the home improvements that you should leave to the professionals when renovating a new home or even an older one. Remember, it’s better to be safe than sorry, and not knowing what you’re doing can cost you more time and money in the long run.

5 Gifts For Your Grandkids They Are Going to Love

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It always feels wonderful to see your grandkids’ eyes light up after you surprise them with a coveted gift. But as most grandparents probably know, finding them the perfect gift is not always easy. Kids these days! While every child is different, here are 5 gifts for your grandkids they will likely treasure for a long time:

1. Buy them tickets for a live show

Your grandkids have probably told you about their favorite singers or other entertainment artists, eagerly sharing why they were so starstruck. What if these famous people or pop culture icons sometimes held live shows? Buying tickets to live performances as gifts for your grandkids will give them wonderful memories that will last a lifetime.

2. Order electric scooters for outdoor fun

The idea of owning an electric scooter thrills many children. While several companies currently provide one-size-fits-all rentals in most cities, specialized electric scooters for kids vary in size, color, and style. They are not only affordable, but you’ll be surprised by how many different models are available. Getting your grandchildren scooters will help them enjoy the thrill of riding around the neighborhood in their own motor-powered vehicles.

3. Give them inspiring books

When you were little, certain storybooks may have made a deep impression on you. Consider sharing the inspiration in these stories with your grandchild by buying them books that you once loved. Even if they still have not yet learned how to read, these books will give their moms a chance to share some inspiring bedtime stories. The funny thing about children’s stories is that they have a remarkable ability to improve character because many of the best ones provide fictional examples of generosity, courage, compassion and other virtues.

4. Get the family an annual pass to a cultural institution

Almost every city has wonderful museums. Consider buying an annual pass to a museum for the whole family, particularly one that your grandchildren would enjoy visiting. It might be a nature center, a dinosaur museum, an art history museum, or a natural history museum. Of course, it doesn’t have to be a museum. It could also be an annual pass to the botanical gardens or the local zoo. Museums make learning fun. Rather than hearing or reading about something, your grandchildren will learn by seeing things. For instance, rather than reading about dinosaurs, a visit to a tar pit will help them see many fossil treasures for themselves.

5. Purchase a subscription to a comic book

Comic books are becoming increasingly popular once more with the release of many movies around comic book characters. In particular, comic book figures like Iron Man, Spiderman, and other larger-than-life superheroes are all the rage on social media. If your grandchildren constantly talk about the latest action-adventure movie they saw, then buying a subscription to one of their favorite comic books will thrill them. The interesting thing about comic book heroes is that they awaken our own inner heroic qualities like persistence, resilience, and self-discipline.

If you’re not sure if a gift idea will appeal to your grandchild or grandchildren, you can always ask their parents. They will help you figure out the best gifts for your grandkids.