Kitchen Disasters and New Successes

Hi everyone. Those of you who follow me on Facebook must know that my life has been turned upside down a bit by a non-tornado weather event this week. My house was really damaged in a storm with some freaky winds which left a 30 foot hole in my roof--near my kitchen of course. We also lost all of our privacy fence, the windows in my van, my favorite tree and my almost new custom made paper bag flooring. Wah. All that work from the spring on that floor.

In the mean time, we have these giant fans trying to dry the house. It is almost unbearably loud in here, and the temperatures are rising fast. I have tried to cook a little, but the breakers blow all the time, it is hot, and insulation keeps falling into the food. Not a good mix, so the insurance promised (as much as they ever "promise") that they will pay for us to eat out. Better than cooking, but I know our healthy diet will suffer some. Even my Diner system can't save us from that. You can only eat so many chicken salads...

I know there are a few other choices, but we have 6 mouths to feed right now, and no up front money from the insurance company. It is getting challenging. Meantime, I am keeping busy choosing new flooring and paint for the kitchen. I think I will even rearrange things a little. Not much I can do with my tiny work space, but I am trying. Have any of you used that new flooring the is a floating floor that is vinyl? We are thinking about that but I don't know anyone with it.

I got a nice comment from a reader who has reinvented the most popular recipe on this blog. The Mr. Peanut Bread. Jen has turned it into a muffin with lots of yummy stuff...blueberries and chia. Since I am not baking these days, I thought I would send you over to Jen to see what she has done. Hope you don't mind I am reposting the photo of the muffins here. Read her variation here. Thanks, Jen. I did  try my regular Mr. Peanut recipe as muffins today in my Babycakes machine and they were great. I made them sweet with a fourth cup of ZSweet. If you don't mind a little yellow fuzzy topping, aka insulation, they were perfect!

If any more of you have great ideas, please let me know because I could sure use some guest bloggers the next couple of weeks. To make it easier to find me, email me directly at moty2000@sbcglobal.net. My computer space was compromised too, so I am not able to check as often. Wish me luck or send up some prayers that this will be an easier fix than they are anticipating....and a cool breeze would be great too.