Wednesday, December 7, 2022

Headlights & Engines

https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/9f1b6eaf-0e2f-416d-894a-bfe39c9158ec_1.6fc80ab813dd2116cdc3ae002528de3a.jpeg?odnWidth=1000&odnHeight=1000&odnBg=ffffff

  Recently I had my headlights repaired. I have a 2009 Chevy crew cab I drive everywhere. Would love to have something new but I am not about to pay the biggest prices in history then have a part go out and can't get it replaced leaving me with a vehicle that can't function and a absolutely huge monthly payment!
     The headlights on this truck and my husbands single cab are really really cloudy. We have tried some of the internet methods and bought kits at the automotive stores with absolutely no luck at all. Now that it's getting dark earlier and I am having to drive after dark more I am having problems seeing where I am going more. I figured either age was catching up on me or my headlights are really that bad. I refused to admit anything to do with a age issue! LOL
    I called the Chevy dealer where I get things done. They said to replace the headlights would cost about $1000! Well that ain't about to happen! They said they can polish the headlights with a kit they use and it was just about $230 or so for both. Well golly gee and all those good things people say! It worked!!! They absolutely look totally new! You would never know they were ever so bad you could hardly see the lenses all the way through!
    The name of the stuff they used was called BG Headlight repair kit.I looked it up on the net and it costs in the $50 something range. Much cheaper than what I paid for getting it done. I DO NOT advise even the most advance shade tree mechanic to tackle this on their own! The polished the lenses of the light inside and out. Put some kind of sealer on it and all kinds of things. Still just to let you know if your in a replacement is too expensive situation you can get it taken care of reasonably.
   On the engine front! They said the new engine is to be shipped this week. We all know that doesn't mean much now days. It isn't totally in the ship it too me system yet. It's in the We Found What You need and have it handy to ship it to you and will do it soon stage.
    So instead of having a new $50,000 + auto with the extremely high possibility of having a part go out and not being able to replace it I will have a almost new crew cab for $10,000 + the $225 headlights and no payments! Once I get the engine in I may have some chips on the front end around the hood fixed and the passenger seat belt replaced that is messed up.
    The headlights made a huge difference when driving at night! See I told you it wasn't old age! I can't believe how bad the lighting was before we repaired it but you can sure see the difference now.

Love
Ranchmama
( Who has 16 confederate veteran uniform cookies done and about 1/2 of the dinosaur cookies painted for granddaughters birthday)
 

Sunday, December 4, 2022

Healthy DIY Gifts

 As everyone knows I am all about desserts! Sweets are the feel good put a smile on most peoples faces. I was talking to my daughter about how her family doesn't like sweets.  I told her she must not be my daughter! LOL  She said at the collage she works at the the lady next door to her probably hasn't had anything sweet in years! She runs the Boston marathon every year. She said most of the other professors are super health people and avoid all the fad bad things also. 

   So I got to thinking about if you wanted to make a gift for some of those "CRAZY" healthy people you can make granola or trail mix to give in a nice package. Got to looking around for recipes and boy have those changed! It's all about buying that expensive high protein powder and mixing it all in to get the protein higher. Well not everyone has those kinds of expensive things in the cabinet! So I finally found some that don't have the protein powder in the recipes. 

     Now me....? Give me some sweat stuff with the oat meal and all that! 

    Remember these recipes are high in nut content and not everyone can eat nuts so be careful who you give it to. 

    Seems like I remember there used to be some breakfast cookies that were high protein but I haven't looked for them yet. 

Love

Ranchmama


Vegan High Protein Granola
https://www.sarahsvegancoaching.com/vegan-high-protein-granola/#recipe

vegan-high-protein-granola-with-strawberries

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Homemade Protein Trail Mix
https://masonfit.com/protein-trail-mix/

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Keto Trail Mix Recipe
https://organicallyaddison.com/keto-trail-mix/







Saturday, November 26, 2022

My Cookie World

 I have been baking again!  Having soo much fun. Everyone Seems to enjoy them and I have people I see in town now that sees me wanting to know if I have a cookie for them! Since I have been sharing my bakes I have learned that people really really do get a kick out of someone actually being nice an sharing a homemade goodie with them. Some even tell me how it just makes their day. So while I am having fun it is spreading Joy to others that need a little pick me up in our upside down world.
   These pictures are 14 batches of cookie dough recipes! I think that is also 7 batches of Royal icing I made also.  I started out with one single recipe to see how many cookies it would make then after that I decided to just start making double batches since that seems to be my average amount of cookies I was baking.
The grand total seems to be .............
About 1 cup of vanilla since October but that was for all the cooking not just cookies.
14 cups of shortening (instead of butter due to allergies)
14 cups of granulated Sugar
14 eggs
42 cups of flour
8 lb. powdered sugar
8 oz  meringue powder
20 fl. ozs water

    I have been having great fun! Time to work around normal life and energy seems like it takes 3 days to make a batch of cookies.
1 to mix dough and frosting
1 to cut and bake
1 to decorate

  Here is the place I got the cookie recipe from: ( I changed it up a little for me)
Best Sugar Cookie Recipe
https://www.inkatrinaskitchen.com/best-sugar-cookie-recipe-ever/

This is where I got the royal icing recipe from. (This one I stuck with the original recipe)
The Best Royal Icing for Decorating Cookies
https://www.thehoneyblonde.com/royal-icing/2016/02/the-best-royal-icing-for-decorating-cookies

Here is the little 16 year old girl  Mimi's Baked Goods that got me going on all this ! Watching her has been expensive! LOL
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCypmBzC_b4P3FmQ_CcU98UQ

This was my anniversary present of 47 yrs it was $ 59.99 !!!!! For a rolling pin!! But it is terrific and is perfect for rolling out stuff at a consistent thickness. Mimi's Baked Goods was kind enough to tell me what kind or rolling pin she was using and where to get it.

The Cookie Countess Precision Rolling Pin - 1/4"
The Cookie Countess Precision Rolling Pin - 1/4" - The Cookie Countess
    Now I am getting myself a Christmas Present. I am paying for half of it with gift cards ! 2 of them for $50 for taking a health insurance survey and one for $25 for test driving a car at a local car dealership that had promotions going on. I don't feel so bad about spending the money when I managed to get half of it with mailbox money. LOL

https://www.thecookiecountess.com/products/max-airbrush-bundle?_pos=1&_sid=4e5e9744b&_ss=r
Bundle: Airbrush Max
Save 20% Original price $ 310.79   ( Black Friday Deal )  Current price $ 248.63 See $125 of this is the gift cards

I forgot a picture of the Paw Patrol cookies grandson wanted.

This is the Nathan Bedford Forest Confederate Battle flag I took these to the Sons of Confederate Soldiers meeting. Supposedly when the North saw this flag coming with the star missing in the middle they knew who was coming and they better run because this guy could really do the damage on the battle field.  This was a first try. I might be able to do better next time.

  

These are Halloween cookies I made and shared with family and friends. Some even got shipped off to family in Texas and Arkansas. My favorites here were the Voo Doo Doll and the Frankenstein Cookies
 

I saw a President Trump cookie cutter on Amazon. I thought it would probably be a collectors item. More than anything it was just too fun! I told folks if you like him lick him if you don't break his neck! Most people didn't break his neck. LOL
 

    Thanksgiving cookies! I learned a new technique on those turkeys to get the colored tails. I gave the turkeys blue eyes and found out later when you start eating them from the feet the darn blue eyes are looking at you making you feel weird. So I told folks they may want to start eating from the tail feathers first.! LOL
    My Favorite here was the pumpkin pie cookie look alike and the yellow turkey tails. These were a big hit at the Thanksgiving parties with most people. Kids for sure couldn't get enough of them.