Inspiration from Grandma!

WARNING...this turned into a longer post than I intended, but if you stick with it you will be rewarded with a yummy pie recipe!!

First off,
I just wanted to say that we are all in different areas of our life with the way we do things, our likes and dislikes, the way we were raised, the goals and dreams we have for the future, etc....I just wanted to say that I hope I don't say something to offend anyone and the way I do things is definitely NOT the perfect or the best way, it is just what works for me and my family at this point in our lives.
And I celebrate the differences I have with others, because where I am lacking you have wonderful skills and I learn SO much from all of you whom I associate with!

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So, the 2 things that inspired me to do this post are a photo I saw on the following Blog for Vanilla Cream Pie (click here)
Tracy thought it looked SO good and wanted me to make something like it.
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Second, there has been a “couponing craze” in our local area going on.

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I was always inspired by my grandparents;
their knowledge with gardening and cooking was amazing.
I was sad because I lost my paternal grandma to Cancer two weeks before I turned eight and so I’m sad that I didn’t have as much influence from her in the “kitchen” as I would have liked to have had. Thank goodness for her recipes so her yummy-ness can still be enjoyed in her kids and grand-kids kitchens today.

Well the following year my grandpa got remarried to a wonderful woman and little did I realize she is who would be inspiration to me in the kitchen in my adult years!

Tracy has got wonderful grandparents as well!

I don’t know about you, but when we opened the cupboards at our grand parents houses we NEVER found jello, pudding mixes, cake mixes, brownie mixes, biscuit mixes, pancakes mixes, or mixes of any kind. They just had “staples” (flour, sugar, salt, yeast, honey, spices, beans, legumes, dried fruit from their fruit trees, bottles of fruit they canned, bottles of jam and the list goes on)
and they NEVER had cold cereal.
If we spent the night at their house you could expect that for breakfast you would get a nice bowl of hot cereal with dried fruit, or some kind of eggs with a slice of homemade toast, or homemade bread with a bowl of canned peaches, pears or cherries.
If they made something they pulled out their containers of staples and made pudding, pies, cakes, brownies, cookies, muffins, biscuits, stuffing, bean dishes/soups, casseroles, etc...
(Tracy's and my wedding day with our parents and grandparents)

As I have women all around me buzzing with excitement with the “good deals” they are getting from this coupon craze that is going on right now, it kind of baffles me. People are amazed at how many "boxes" of things they have in their food storage, but most packaged goods only have a 3 to4 month expiration date and it is easy for things to go stale, let alone most of the stuff is nutritionally bankrupt and is packed full of all kinds of chemicals, additives, extra sugar, salt, etc....that I sure don't want to put in mine or my children's bodies.

People that know me know that I LOVE to get a good deal on things and I also try to be as thrifty as I can in making our every dollar stretch as far as I can.

Manufacturers have coupon deals to get people to “try” their products and most generally the things that coupons are for are ‘Processed foods and snacks”, which are full of added sugar, salt, preservatives, artificial flavors and colors, nitrites, MSG. I like to control the amount of “preservatives and sugar” that my kids eat and I try to avoid “high fructose corn syrup”! (I've even scouted out and find some yogurt choices that aren't sweetened with this) (click here)
(Tracy's grandparents pantry in Feb. 2007)

So, in the end I would rather spend a little bit more on REAL food with real nourishment then boxes and bags of things that I don't trust all of the ingredients that are in them.
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(Just for the record....we're not radical...I just don't enjoy buying or eating these types of foods, however, we do eat LOTS of yummy treats in our home, I just would rather make them and know what ingredients are in them than to buy them from the store.)
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I take mine, my kids and my husband's health seriously and only want to put things in our bodies that will nourish and strengthen us and try to avoid pollutants and chemicals that can lead to health problems, allergies, etc... with some additives that even have side effects that don't show up for years.
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BTW...both Tracy's maternal grandpa and my paternal grandpa both lived into their 90's and were on NO medications at all. Amazing! We attribute this to the great lifestyle that they lived with eating simple foods, fresh garden produce and avoiding a lot of processed foods. (I'm sure genetics played a big part as well).
Tracy's maternal grandma is in her 80's and is also NOT on any medications. I hope we are as lucky as they are to make it into our golden years and not have health problems!
So, this brings me to my statement:
"What would grandma do?"

Well, to make a vanilla pie I pulled out flour, sugar, salt, cornstarch, milk, eggs, vanilla and a dab of butter to make the pudding
and I used butter, flour, salt, baking powder, water, powdered milk and a touch of sugar to make the pie dough.
VOILA....
we had a wonderful pie and I also made a
berry sauce from frozen berries, sugar, cornstarch and water to put on the top of it.
It was SO yummy that Tracy ate 1/3 of the pie in one night!

It's amazing how basic simple ingredients
make such wonderfully delicious food!

Here is my pie crust, pudding and berry sauce recipes.
The possibilities with these are recipes are probably endless!

Thank goodness for the inspiration of wonderful women in my life that have given me more inspiration then they will ever know!

VANILLA PIE!!

Basic Pudding (This was my Grandma's recipe)
3 ½ cups milk
2 beaten eggs
¼ cup flour
¼ cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
½ cup sugar
Little pinch of brown sugar
Put flour, cornstarch, flour, salt and sugar in sauce pan.
Beat eggs with milk and add to dry mixture.
Cook on stove until mixture boils and thickens stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and add
1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 Tablespoon butter.

(this is a great filling for cream puffs) or anything where you need pudding---
You can also add sliced bananas and and put in a pie filling—top it with whipped cream and have “Banana Cream Pie”. There are endless possibilities with the creations you can make with this!

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Pie Crust
½ cup REAL butter
2/3 cup shortening
1 Tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
1-teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon dry milk
3 cups flour
½ cup cold water
Mix butter and shortening together.
Add half the flour and all of the dry ingredients.
Mix.
Add the rest of flour and water. (Makes 2 double crusts)
Roll out very thin with plenty of flour.
Carefully put in pie plates and prick with fork all over.
Bake 400 degrees for 8 minutes, or until lightly browned.

*****(OR you can use ALL butter instead of butter and shortening---if you choose this option it is 20 Tbsp. of butter or 2-1/2 sticks)

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Berry Sauce
2 cups berries
(any mixture of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, boysenberries)
¾ cup water
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/3 cup sugar
Combine all ingredients together in sauce pan and
cook over medium heat until thick.
Let cool and enjoy over pie, angel food cake or on top of cheesecake.