Peas and Mayhem

Testing..1..2..3..

2012-01-19T23:07:00.001-07:00

Hello??

Is this thing on??

Can everyone hear me??

Hello??

Oh, there you are! Just wanted to make sure this all worked still. Don't worry, I have a perfectly good reason(s) for ditching the blog for the past few weeks . . . ?

the past month?

2 months?

What?!? 109 days? Are you serious?

Well, it's a good thing you kept track . . . I think . . .

Anywho, here's to a full and joyful (and well documented) 2012!

After Cobbler Comes Peach Pit Jelly

2011-10-02T20:18:00.000-06:00

My neighbor brought over some over-ripe-need-to-use-right-away peaches the other day. There weren't a ton but a big mixing bowl full. So, I set to work cutting them up. All the good pieces of fruit I put into one bowl and all the skins, pits and fruit that was just too mushy I put into another bowl. With the first bowl, I made a most delicious cobbler. This was an eat-for-dessert-AND-for-breakfast-the-next-morning kind of cobbler!

I love to make huge desserts in my 'lasagna' size dish.

This is a recipe I adapted from allrecipes.com.

I cut up the good peaches into chunks and added:
1/4 C sugar
1/4 brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cornstarch
Combine these ingredients well and pour into your baking dish. Put those in the preheated oven at 425 degrees while you get the topping ready.

We are fans of 'toppings' around here, whether it's cobblers, crisps, streusels, or hot fudge. And since I was using such a large dish, I did 2 1/2 times the original recipe, but just doubling it would have done the trick too. The amounts below are the doubled amounts, so cut it back if you are using a smaller dish or up it a bit if you are naughty like us.

In a large bowl, combine
2 C flour
1/2 sugar
1/2 brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 sticks of butter (12 TB) cut into chunks
Use a pastry blender to cut in your butter, then add 1/2 C boiling water.

Stir until blended. Now take your peaches out of the oven. Spoon dollops of your 'topping' onto the peaches. Sprinkle the top with some extra sugar if you want. It makes it extra pretty when you pull it out of the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the topping is done.

As good as that cobbler was and as sad as it was that it only lasted for about 12 hours in our house, the next part was even better! I had seen this type of jelly mentioned before but had never heard of it, never tasted it, and certainly never made it. But, this is definitely going into the 'must-have' recipes in my box and 'must-have' items on my food storage shelves. It's called Peach Pit Jelly and it is a treat indeed.

Again I used the less-sugar recipe and used only a little sugar with my white grape juice concentrate. To get my fruit juice, I put the contents of my second bowl (which had the skins, the pits, and the mushy fruit) in my stock pot with a bit of water and let it boil for at least 20 minutes. So, really this is peach stock jelly . . .

Once it was done boiling down I poured the contents through cheesecloth into a bowl. For a full batch I needed 4 1/2 C of juice. Being limited on the number of peaches I had, I only got 4 C. I just made up the difference with 1/2 C water. Then I proceeded with the jelly making process.

4 1/2 C peach juice (stock)

1 package no-sugar pectin

1/2 C sugar (to combine with the pectin to keep it from clumping)

1 container of thawed white grape juice concentrate (equals 1 1/2 C)

1 C sugar

These are the amounts I used but you can adapt any jelly recipe to your liking - there are detailed instructions in every box of pectin. From lots of white sugar to just fruit juice to Splenda (yuck!) there is something for everyone.

Now, I don't know what it was about this particular jelly but when I brought it to a boil with, first, the pectin and then with the 'sugars', it came right to the top of my stock pot. So, be careful and make sure you use a big pot even though the amount seems pretty small. Even though it expanded so much during the boiling process, I hardly had any foam to scrape off.

Pour into your jars, wipe your rims clean, then put on your heated lids and tighten on your rings. Process in a water bath for 15 minutes. This recipe made me (7) 1/2 pint jars. Take them out of the bath to cool. Check to make sure they sealed and then stand back and admire the fruits of your labor!

All in all it was a pretty good haul from a gifted bowl of mostly mushy peaches!

Food Storage Tip

2011-09-28T22:37:00.000-06:00

I saw a recipe on Pinterest for Penne Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce. I was anxious to try it because I love penne pasta, I love cream sauces, I love sun-dried tomatoes and well, I was hungry. Since I've cut way back on the dairy products I almost never have heavy cream on hand, so making a good cream sauce on the fly is all but impossible. But, when I followed the link to the recipe I was pleasantly surprised to see the ingredients to this 'cream' sauce. It was evaporated milk! No mention of cream anywhere. I don't know about you, but any tricks that allow me to make some of my favorite comforting dishes using my food storage is a win in my book!

Now, the first thing you will notice is that my version isn't as visually pleasing as the photo on the recipe. But, don't worry, it tasted just as good as I imagined. I didn't have just sun-dried tomatoes on hand, but I did have a bruschetta made with sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts, walnuts, garlic and basil. I also didn't have the Italian cheeses it called for but used shredded Parmesan and cheddar. The kids loved it and even called it mac-n-cheese. D said it would've tasted great (he meant to say 'even better than it already did') with a little bacon. What is it with guys and bacon?! But, honestly, bacon could've added another dimension to this dish for sure.

Anyway, I was excited to share this tip. I am eager to get more evaporated milk in my storage. I keep finding more ways to use it.

We're Jammin'

2011-09-22T06:00:00.000-06:00

Once we picked the berries. It was time to make some jam. I was wanting a recipe that didn't use so much sugar. I cringe every time I see how many cups of that 'white' stuff the recipes call for.

First thing you have to do is get the pectin that is made for less sugar. I found it in a pink box.

My favorite store-bought jellies have been ones only sweetened with white grape juice concentrate. So, I bought some of that too. I was afraid of ruining all these berries with an experiment, so I also used sugar but not near the amount called for. I use this sugar (an evaporated cane juice) in my baking and everyday use.

The apple juice was to use as the berries are heated and breaking down. I used about 1 Cup of apple juice to my 7 pounds of berries . . . not much, just a little to have liquid in the pot while it was heating up.

I just used my big trusty stock pot and a potato masher. Keep it on the heat, but not too high, and keep mashing til you get this:

D and the kids are not fond of seeds, so I strained them. That's actually why I bought the cheesecloth, but this sieve I had worked great. Now, be forewarned - I had a lot of 'waste' from the seeds. This batch of berries would have made a lot more jam if I had left the seeds in.

Yum! That looks so pretty. Next, put the strained berries back into the stockpot. I added a splash of lemon juice . . . just because, I guess. Then add your pectin. Mix it with some sugar first to help prevent clumping. Bring that to a boil and then add the rest of your sugar. In my case, the white grape juice concentrate and some evaporated cane juice. Let that boil hard for one minute. There will be foam on the top, just scoop that off. Then use your funnel and a ladle and fill your hot jars. Wipe the rims clean and put on a hot lid and twist on your ring. Process them in a water bath for 10 minutes.

Once you remove them from the water bath, just line them up and wait to hear that much-anticipated 'POP'!

The raspberries and blackberries made some really lovely jam. The color is beautiful and the taste is divine! Don't forget to label and date your jars.

Next time I will venture out and try only the white grape juice concentrate.

Fried Green Tomatoes

2011-09-21T06:00:00.000-06:00

I picked up these lovely green tomatoes from a friend in the neighborhood. Normally I would have left them on the vine and let them ripen to a gorgeous red. But, just the other night a lady in my ward mentioned fried green tomatoes. I've only had them once. It was while D and I were in Memphis a few years ago at Gus's Fried Chicken. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to try my hand at them.

So, I sliced them up. Put a couple of eggs and some milk in one bowl. Then in another bowl I combined flour, salt, pepper and cornmeal. Fried green tomatoes seem like a southern dish and cornmeal seemed like a logical ingredient. First, dip into the egg mixture then cover with the flour mixture and fry in hot oil. Drain well.

I loved them! D was so-so about them. Being the sweet husband that he is, he ate them. But, I could tell this isn't something he'll ask me to fix again . . . ever! The kids actually ate them up. As long as there was ranch dressing on their plate to dip them in. I didn't try the ranch, I loved them plain. But, I really, really love tomatoes - all kinds.

Next time I think I'll try doing a double dip in the dredge. Extra crispy fried green tomatoes - yum!

I'm the guest!

2011-09-20T09:36:00.001-06:00

Today, for the Celebrate Family 2011 event, I am a guest writer for Welcome to the Madness. The post is called 'Being Peas in a Pod' and you can see it HERE.

What are you waiting for? Go check it out!

1000 words

2011-09-15T21:28:00.001-06:00

We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.

All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.

In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.

The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.
We declare the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God’s eternal plan.

Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.

The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.

By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.

We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.

We call upon responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.

Mutant vegetables

2011-09-13T17:00:00.000-06:00

This is D. This is D holding my first cucumber from the greenhouse. That's right. That huge, yellow, mutant-looking thing is a cucumber. What happened? What do we do with it?

Yes, the look on D's face is, "I paid how much for this greenhouse and this is what she's producing?!?"

The crazy thing is that after my issues of powedery mildew in my cucumber bed I had one really great, thriving vine. And this is the ONLY cuke that grew! Yes, I know (now, anyway) that it grew too long. But, nothing else even budded. And to make things even more embarrassing I found another one a few weeks later. Same vine, only cuke on there again! Oh well, what can you do? Probably lots, actually, I just don't know what they are . . . yet.

Here's what we discovered. It certainly didn't look like your typical cucumber, inside or outside. But, the taste was still there. Granted, the skin was tougher and wasn't as pretty as your average cucumber. But, the munchkins still ate them up, leaving only the outer edge. Which made me think.

"Was I too quick to judge this vegetable?" I was ready to totally dismiss it and throw it away. I almost didn't take the time to see what was inside, what was under that rough exterior.

Are there any 'mutant vegetables' in our lives??

What Can We Do TOGETHER?

2011-09-12T21:20:00.001-06:00

D and I have been really concentrating on our family for the last few years now. Not that it wasn't important before, we've just really stepped up our game. What does family mean to us? What do we want for our family in the future? What do we want for them now? How do we want to function as a unit? Those are the types of questions we've asked ourselves, as husband and wife, in 'stepping up our game'. We've made sure to incorporate gospel principles more often and more genuinely. But, we hadn't made an official family mission statement. So, this blog hop was the perfect opportunity to do just that.

There are lots of things I can do, my husband can do, my kids can do - individually. But, we focused on what we could accomplish TOGETHER. There is so much more we can do and be when we pull together, join forces and tackle life as a family. So, with much thought, discussion and participation from everyone we came up with the our family mission statement:

As a family, we will foster eternal relationships and create a home filled with peace, love and happiness.

Now, the phrase 'peace, love and happiness' may be a hippie joke but it actually came out of our mouths - just in a different order. We were discussing what kind of atmosphere we wanted in our home. Right away my oldest daughter said 'Happiness' then I said 'Love' and D said 'Peace'. We all agreed those were all what we wanted. So as we went to write it down, we giggled and changed the order. There are big meanings with those words, such as kindness, charity, helpfulness, loving your neighbors, having the Spirit, etc. But, now it's catchy, making it easy for all the munchkins to remember and it embodies other traits of our family - fun and laughter.

Berry Pickin' Kids!

2011-09-06T12:19:00.002-06:00

This past Saturday I packed up the kids and D (somewhat against his will) and headed to Mapleton, Utah. D was only less-than-excited because he had a lot of work to do in the garage. But, in the end, he was surprised at how much fun he had. Tucked away in Mapleton is the McBride Briar Patch. (that's a link to their Facebook page) A 'pick your own' farm that I found at THIS really cool website. At this particular farm they have blackberries and raspberries. The charge is $3 a pound. I just saw them advertised in a grocery store for $2.50 for 4 oz. - to compare.

It was further away than I thought, mostly because there was construction the whole way and I may have gotten a teeny bit lost . . . But, once we arrived we all grabbed a bucket and took off. Shame on me for forgetting that I packed the camera. So, these are the only ones I got - from the end.

There are row and rows of berries! And there are also several bees, but if you leave them alone they will leave you alone. Once the kids got over being nervous about being stung they all had a blast picking berries. Hayden would pick about 6, then eat 3 of them and start over. D wasn't any better in the blackberry bushes - 1 for me, 1 for the bucket . . . The blackberries were huge, as big as my thumb!

D and the kids really liked picking the blackberries. They were hidden underneath, so you had to lay on the ground and really get in there - but with the size of them and the fact that there were no thorns, it was really fun and so worth it!

Who knew that such a little thing as picking berries together could be so fun? Never mind the heat, the sun, the bees, the thorns - this was some good, ~~clean~~ family fun!!

We will definitely be doing this again!

Check out our haul!

Time to head home and make some jelly!

Men at Work

2011-09-02T05:00:00.000-06:00

WARNING - GORE and CARNAGE straight ahead

D loves to wrench in the garage. There is always a vehicle to restore, something to weld, grind, cut, drain, you name it - he's doing it. His favorite is the Toyota Land Cruiser, hands down. Although there is also a '70 Roadrunner in the garage . . .

Grease, dirt, oil, sweat and even blood are common sites around here. He's had some crazy things happen. Shirts and other miscellaneous items catch on fire, he even had a plastic bag catch fire and then stuck to his hand. Smashed fingers, scrapes, burns, ripped clothes, singed eyebrows - we've seen it all. He's even had to have his toenail removed after an engine was dropped on it. Ouch! Come to think of it - that's the ONLY time we've visited a doctor for any of these mishaps. Not that I haven't tried to get him there, just to no avail . . . "it's only a flesh wound!"

Well, this weekend was no different. My oldest comes running through the house, "Dad needs the Band-Aids and the Neosporin now!" Ummm, who needs just a Band-Aid STAT?? So, I go investigate for myself and find this:

I'm thinking surely he's lost a finger or something. There was blood everywhere! It turns out that is wasn't THAT bad, but it was certainly gross. He was using the grinder and consciously didn't put his gloves on because it was just a quick cut he needed to make. A cut made with the grinder = a shredded fingertip. All I could talk him into was rinsing it with hydrogen peroxide. And then he used the ol' reliable Neosporin with a Band-Aid . . . Men! haha!

Wrencher Extraordinaire sporting his latest injury. (love him!)

Just a note in D's defense. Even though he gets injured and sometimes catches himself on fire - he rocks it out in the garage and does awesome work on vehicles!

Book Club - Atlas Shrugged

2011-09-01T05:00:00.000-06:00

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

I just finished reading a book that was a challenge. It was, first of all, LONG - 1,069 pages in small print kind of long! The second thing was my lack of time. It took me a while to get through it simply because I've had so much going on right now. It's not your typical novel where you can just grab 5 minutes here and there. There is some difficult dialogue - conversations that took some thinking to really grasp. Every time I picked up the book to read, it took me a few minutes to get back into the story and 'focus', if you will. Some parts of the book went on for many, many pages - making it hard to stop in the middle or to try to pick up where you left off without having to go back to the beginning of the part.

Having said that, it was definitely an interesting read. With everything going on in the world, the political unrest and division, the clash between religions, the severe differences between styles of governments, etc., it was fascinating, to say the least. I don't want to get into a political or government discussion here. But, I will say that there were some obvious stands and principles represented in the book that I totally agree with.

I wanted to watch the movie when it was in theaters but wanted to read the book first. Too bad for me that it wasn't in theaters very long. There is a possibility that it will be out on DVD later this year. And it also seems that that was only Part 1 of the movie. Having finished the book, I'm really excited to watch the movie.

It was interesting to match up scenarios in the book with situations in the world today, to see the similarities. It was intriguing to put myself in the different situations, to ask myself what I would do, how I would react, how I would feel.

I would recommend this read, for sure. I am currently without a book club (sniff, sniff), but this is definitely a book I would love to be in a discussion for. Have you read it? Did it strike you the same way? Have you seen the movie? This inquiring mind is dying to know!

Emergency Records Binder

2011-08-31T08:00:00.001-06:00

As a family, we have been taking our emergency preparedness up a notch. After the fire across the street last year I've had 72-hour kits and emergency departure scenarios going through my head. It was difficult deciding what I would be most upset about never having again versus the items we had to have, such as computers (where so many photos and records are stored). So a lot of things I would have liked to take got left simply because there was no more room after the important documents were packed (in all their various forms). But, check this out!

The ladies at Prepared NOT Scared! put together the coolest printable for Vital Records. They thought of everything! That link will take you to their post with the PDF.

Now, I will warn you that it is l-o-n-g, 160 pages. But, not everything will apply to you. So, I took a few moments and went through it only printing off the pages I would need. Some pages I needed enough copies for everyone in the family. Other things like the page "Birth Certificate" I only printed one and plan on putting all of our birth certificates in a vinyl protector sleeve. Other pages like "Fingerprints" I needed six copies, one for each of us.

I also bought a bright orange 3-ring binder to put it all in. Another great thing about this is that it's something I can keep around for everyday, not just emergencies. But, the next time we've got to be on the move I'll have everything together in one easy-to-carry package. So, if it's just our 72-hour kits we are grabbing on the way out the door or if we've got enough time to throw all the food storage and photo CD's we can in the cars before we leave, I know all the important stuff will be with us in that binder. And no more decisions like what do I leave behind so I have room for the big file folder box and computer tower! Whew!

I'm really excited about this! A big thank you to those ladies - providing this was a great service!!

My Favorite Icon

2011-08-30T15:00:00.000-06:00

Have you heard of a "favicon"? I had seen the word but had no clue what it meant. Or how to pronounce it. In fact, when I told D that I just made my own favicon (pronounced with a short 'a' and a short 'i') he said, "a what?!" So, I showed him on my screen what I meant. To which he replied, "Oh, you mean a favicon??" (pronounced with a long 'a' and a long 'i', favorite icon). I had a good laugh about that. It was right up there with the time I asked him what a 'catchy' was (cache), oops. Computer savvy guys just have a hard time hiding their annoyance when you butcher the words of their trade. Who knew?!?

Anyways, back to favicon. I have noticed the different 'symbols' next to certain websites. Surely they have some high-paid company computer guy to program that cool design, right? Wrong, well, maybe they do, but it's something you can do too! I did it, that means it's easy and lo-tech. You don't even have to say it right.

I found out about this from this blog. I was so excited about this. Here's what I did to get my little 'Peas' sign. (see it up next to the web address bar?)

First I went to Favicon and signed up for an account - easy! Then the instructions on their page on how to design it is pretty simple - easy! You'll notice that as you are designing your icon, it shows up in the favicon space on their website address bar - easy!

Now, here's the only tricky part I encountered. Once you have finished and are satisfied with your design you can download it, save it and then plug-n-chug in your 'design' tab in Blogger. After clicking the 'design' tab, you will see in the top left corner where you can edit 'Favicon'. Even though, I clicked on it and put my downloaded design in there and it showed the favicon on my 'design' page, it wouldn't show up on the website address bar. So, I had to go with plan B. (story of my life!)

I'll admit that when I read what was involved in 'the other option' I almost gave up. But, a few minutes of perseverance and it worked - easy! Back on the Favicon site you'll see under the design area where it says "Publish under an open license". Click that. It's fast and easy, you need a couple of things like a password, etc. But, you are then given a code for your design with instructions on where to insert it. Back on your blog, go to the 'design' page and at the top of the page underneath the main tabs is an option to "Edit HTML", click that. To be totally honest, I had a hard time finding exactly where they wanted me to insert the code for the favicon, so I just picked a spot (most of the way down the code) and then checked to see if it worked - easy! Guess what? It worked!

It seems like a lot of work but really it wasn't all that bad. I love seeing the little 'Peas' sign next to my web address. Give it a shot and see what you can come up with. Just another little personal touch for your blog.

Celebrate Family 2011

2011-08-29T20:34:00.000-06:00

Last year I participated in a blog celebration commemorating the anniversary of The Family Proclamation. This year there is another celebration that will take place September 9th - 23rd.

It is hosted by four lovely ladies:

Cocoa from Chocolate on My Cranium

Jocelyn from We Talk of Christ

Jaime from Welcome to the Madness

and Shannon from The Red Headed Hostess

There are going to be blog hops, photo essays, prizes and inspiration coming out of your ears! I will be guest writing one day for Jaime, so be sure to check that out. I will be sure to put up the link when the time comes. You can also grab a button at any of the links above.

So, mark your calendars - this is something you won't want to miss!!

moving?

2011-08-23T21:00:00.004-06:00

I've mentioned before that we've moved a few times over the years. Okay, so it's been more than a few times. We've always had good reasons for our moves - reasons that suited our family. But, in spite of our good reasons, we've gotten the rude remarks and snide comments about our moves. Even though it shouldn't bother me, it has. These people have no idea why we moved, not that they even asked. It was just not what they considered sound judgement and that was all they concentrated on. Oh well, can't please everyone . . . don't want to either!

It's also no secret that we are looking for another move. We are on the hunt for a small farm while keeping D close to his job. Which means we can expect more comments about our 'judgement'. So, when I happened upon this quote the other day I was excited. It fit our situation perfectly and I can't wait to use it against the nay-Sayers. So, to all those who think we are crazy or unstalbe or whatever they may think about us:

"Not all who wander are lost." (J.R.R. Tolkien)

Curious

2011-08-23T16:01:00.000-06:00

Doesn't it seem like there have been an awful lot of earthquakes lately?

Like this ONE and this ONE and even this ONE.

Personally, earthquakes really unnerve me. I've only experienced a few in my life and they all upset me. So, I can only imagine how the people affected must feel. At least these 3 I mentioned seem to be minor in regards to damage and injuries. Here's to hoping I'll only have to read about them.

photos from Fox News

Dilly Beans

2011-08-22T19:17:00.000-06:00

Now, I have talked about Dilly Beans before HERE. I tasted my first dilly bean when D broke into one of the jars from that post. It was pretty good, I thought. My kids eat them like candy! When I did that post I had only made 4 jars. It took them (and D) probably 4 minutes collectively to go through all of those jars! Luckily just as they polished off the last one I got some green beans in my co-op basket. Perfect!

That same morning D and I visited a local farmer's market. (No, I didn't get any green beans from my greenhouse this year. Can we just not talk about it? It's still a sensitive subject. Just kidding, kind of.) One of the farmers had plenty of green beans and dried dill. After we paid, the farmer asked us if we were going to can them. I answered, "Yep, our kids love dilly beans!" He said they were his favorite. So, he made us a deal. He would give us his new Romano beans if we would bring him back a can of them 'dill-ed'. We agreed. He said it was a new bean he had been growing and he was anxious to see if they would make good dilly beans.

As I stated in the previous post, everyone in the family agrees that Aunt Ginger makes the best dilly beans. So, that's where we got our recipe and, so far, it has not disappointed.

Now I have to say that last time I used fresh dill and that got to be pretty expensive because I didn't have any of my own to use. This time around we bought dried dill from the farmer's market and it worked great! It was tons cheaper, which also means I didn't have to feel guilty and skimp on the dill. It was easy to use and added a lot of dill flavor. We will definitely use it again. Until I figure out how to get my own dill to actually grow, that is.

First, cook your beans and drain them. While they are cooking, put dill and a clove of garlic into your jars. I used pint size. My kids actually go for the 'dill-ed' clove of garlic at the bottom of every jar! Once your beans have cooled somewhat, fill the jars.

In a pot, bring to a boil: 2 quarts water, 1 C vinegar, 1/4 C canning salt, 1/4 tsp. alum

Now, you'll have to figure out how many times you should multiply this recipe for how many jars you are doing. To be totally honest, I've made way too much both times, which I guess is better than not enough. But, it still means you are on your own for that part. Just eyeball it and take a guess!

Pour the hot liquid into your prepared jars. Put on your lid, that has been simmering, and your ring. Process in a water bath for 7 - 10 minutes.

Normally you are supposed to let them sit for a few months so the beans can get all 'dill-y'. But, on this last batch, D and the kids waited one whole week before they started opening jars and they were still good. I'm not sure if the dried dill made the difference or maybe Aunt Ginger's recipe really is the best!

Tomorrow

2011-08-21T21:24:00.000-06:00

What if there were a major disaster tomorrow?

Would you be scared?

Would it help to calm you if you knew you were ready for any situation? I know it would definitely help me.

What if you had to suddenly leave your house? What if you had less than 5 minutes to grab whatever you needed to sustain you and your family for only 3 days - could you do it?

Sounds like a perfect scenario to have 72-hour kits ready to go for every member of your family, doesn't it?

What if a disaster came that forced you to stay in your house for an extended period of time? Or what if something happened that prevented you from being able to buy ANYTHING from a store?

How long could your family last?

How long could your pet last? How long will the formula and diapers you have right now last?

What if utilities are knocked out for an extended period of time? Are you prepared to start a fire? Cook over a fire? Keep your family warm?

What if the access to all banks was suspended? Do you have enough money on hand to help you get through a few days? A few weeks, if needed?

Have you made a list and checked it twice? Do you know what resources you DO have? What are the items you should have, but don't?

TODAY is the perfect time to prepare for whatever tomorrow might bring. Because no matter what it might bring, being prepared means you have no need to fear.

Tourists

2011-08-19T05:00:00.000-06:00

A few months ago we took a family vacation in California. We had 2 days scheduled to go to Universal Studios Hollywood. I found tickets online for buy-one-day-get-a-second-day-free. It was still expensive, but it was vacation, right?. I went ahead and bought them just so I'd have everything ready when we got there.

Well, to be honest, we were really disappointed. About 6 years ago we went to the Universal Studios Orlando and had an absolute blast! So, this park was a real let-down, in our opinion. To make matters worse, I spent SO much money on the darn tickets! We were so disappointed that we didn't even use our second day. In fact, we ended up only staying for 1/2 the first day. I can't think about it too much or it ruins my whole day! (I hate wasting money . . . especially that much!)

But, the highlight of that day was definitely the tourists we ran into. As soon as we got to the park we were waiting in line to have our family picture taken:

A lady started 'ooh-ing' and 'aah-ing' and pointing at my youngest. The man she was with said this was her first time in the United States. She bent down talking to Hayden, but we couldn't understand her, of course. Then she picked up Hayden and was giggling and kissing her on the cheek! Don't worry, I was definitely hovering and ready to spring into action. I can be mama bear with the best of them! It didn't last long though because Hayden had a look on her face that was pretty clear to read - "Lady, you have 3 seconds to put me down!" Haha!

D and I laughed about it and went on with our day. A little while later we were waiting in line for a ride. It was a long wait and thankfully we were in the shade. So, Austin and Hayden sat on the ground together. D noticed a group of tourists next to us and one of the ladies was stealing glances at the two of them. As the line started moving D said, 'Can you guys say hi?' Austin did his signature tongue-in-cheek-look-the-other-way-but-wave-at-you and Hayden did a perfectly cute smile and excited wave. As soon as they did that the cameras came out! We couldn't believe it - a dozen or more cameras started just snapping away. It was unbelievable. D just started laughing. But, it kept going and going. They didn't just take one picture, it was like being on set for an actual photo shoot.

One lady was trying to tell them to smile, now wave, look here - but all with hand motions. These 2 pictures are towards the end of the 'photo shoot'. As soon as D and I stopped laughing we started taking pictures of them taking pictures of our kids! Oh, boy, it was one of the strangest things that have happened to us. Austin wasn't very cooperative but Hayden ate. it. up!

Our guess is that they were just enamored with their blonde hair and big, blue eyes. Strange, yet so funny. If I had charged them for a picture with my 2 toe-headed munchkins maybe I could've made up the money from the tickets into Universal . . .

Just kidding - I wouldn't do that. In fact, I made sure to keep a real close eye on them all day just in case someone thought a blonde-headed kid would make a cool souvenir!

Veggie Tales, part 3

2011-08-17T05:00:00.000-06:00

In this next installment of my greenhouse progress, there are some exciting things and some sad things.

Ok, first the sad news. It took me awhile to figure out that something was wrong in my greenhouse. I tried different watering methods at different times - too little, too much, morning, night, once a day, twice a day, etc. But, my cucumber bed (literally overnight) looked dead! One day it was huge and green and overflowing, the next morning everything was yellow and laying down! What I finally decided the problem to be was 'powdery mildew'. I mixed up a spray bottle with baking soda, water and dish soap immediately and started spraying all my vine plants - which were all in sorry shape, but none as bad as my cukes.

Look how sad they are! I finally had to cut out most of the vines. I was left with about 6 vines, 1 of which looked good.

The sad news: some of my onions and leeks didn't start growing. The rest just sort of survived, not growing but not dying either. The good news: my basil was too crowded so I transplanted them and they immediately started to flourish.

The sad news: my potato plants were starting to die. The good news: there were some good-looking potatoes under the soil.

Here are some beans that I was super excited and proud about. These plants started off so well then just went downhill - yes, I know, that seems to be a recurring theme with me and plants . . .

The picture on the left is my bed with sugar pumpkins and green beans. After my powdery mildew treatment and trimming the infected leaves away, the pumpkins started to look revived and started really growing. On the other hand, the beans did nothing but struggle! On the left, my pepper plant actually producing.

These pictures are my carrots - yay! Next, my tomatoes. They have been giving me all kinds of headaches. They come in looking so good then suddenly turn red and dry.

Sprouts from the seeds of a cantaloupe the kids ate, waiting to see if they actually blossom. The next is a pumpkin blossom, gorgeous.

This is a close-up of my dill. I just really like this particular picture.

(Don't be too sad, I think I might have some things figured out. The pics for part 4 are more promising.)

Old friend

2011-08-16T11:27:00.000-06:00

I've never been a huge fan of jeans. They feel really comfortable to me. But, I have come across a few pairs of jeans that I love to wear, no matter what I might be doing that day.

This is what has become of one such pair.

Today is a sad day. Today I say good-bye to an old friend, for they are being "retired". Yesterday was their last day of service.

Farewell, old friend! You will be missed!

Manic Monday

2011-08-15T05:00:00.000-06:00

On this Manic Monday I am thankful for an item I actually bought several years ago. It's just now that we are officially doing homeschool that I get to use it. It's a teacher's lesson planner. Sounds like sanity saver to me!

Maybe I'm a little too excited about it - but it looks like the perfect tool for the way my brain works. There are plenty of places for all the notes, plans, and schedules I want to make. I also like being able to see everything in front of me. I'm a very out of sight, out of mind kind of gal. It allows me to look ahead. I can see the whole week in advance.

I also have a list (who knew??) of things I want to incorporate into our weekly schedule, our monthly schedule and even our whole school year. We probably won't get to all of them but at least I have all my ideas in one place so we never run out of things TO do.

Also, this being our first year, I believe scheduling is going to be key for all of us. This book seems like just the thing to help me keep things straight and to keep a handle on things.

Sometimes it's the small things that make a big difference.

Cherries Jubilee

2011-08-13T16:05:00.001-06:00

I've been excitedly canning anything extra I get my hands on lately. This past week was CHERRIES! Yum!

After I ordered 18 lbs. (through a co-op) I remembered the pits, ugh. I needed a quick way to get the job done. The stapler-looking ones that remove one pit at a time and have to be feed one cherry at a time didn't look appealing at all. So, I bought this little appliance hoping it would make the big job go fast.

This certainly did the job. I can't imagine doing it with any other tool! It was only $20 and it was worth every penny for sure! It claims to do 30 lbs. in an hour. I did 18 lbs. in 40 minutes. But, it was my first try so I expect it to go faster next time.

But, until then, look at these gorgeous cherries. As much as I love looking at the jars all lined up, I'm even more excited to USE them! Cherry pie . . . cherry cobbler . . . cherry crisp . . .

Pizza night

2011-08-11T05:00:00.000-06:00

This summer we've had a Monday night tradition with the kids - Pizza Night. It's been something fun for them to look forward to. And even though the pizza is homemade (this allows me to use the ingredients I want and it's cheaper than ordering out) the kids feel like they are being "treated".

No matter what else is going on on our Mondays, no matter what FHE we are doing, the kids know it's Pizza Night! Even though they love that, I have to say that eating pizza every Monday for the past couple of months is wearing on me. I'll have to come up with a new traditional Monday meal for the next couple of months. Switch things up.

Here's a great pizza dough recipe from Emeril Lagasse that I love:

In a bowl, combine
1 C warm water
1 pkg yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp.)
1 tsp sugar
1 TB olive oil
let sit and get foamy, about 5 minutes

Then add (in increments)
3 C flour
1 tsp salt
* I also add fresh rosemary.

Knead on a floured surface until smooth, 3-5 minutes

Coat a large bowl with 1/2 tsp oil. Place the dough in the bowl and flip over to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and set in warm place until doubled - 1 hour or more.

I divide the dough in 2 parts and roll out on floured surface. This recipe makes enough for 2 jelly roll pans. It ends up being a thinner, but very soft dough. We like that. You can try just doing one pizza or 2 smaller ones if you want a thicker dough.

For our pizza sauce, I use one can of tomato sauce and add garlic powder, salt, pepper, onion powder, and dried oregano until it 'tastes right'. And that is enough for our 2 large pizzas. Then we top with cheese - lots of cheese! They don't take long to bake. Maybe only 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees. I just watch the edges of the dough so it doesn't brown too much and I make sure the cheese is nice and bubbly. Even with the 6 of us, we usually have most of the 2nd pizza left over.

Eggplant Parmesan

2011-08-10T05:00:00.001-06:00

I have been super excited about a co-op we were introduced to since moving to Utah. It is cheap for one thing. But, it also encourages us to get out of our 'veggie' comfort zone. I have been getting one or two baskets every week and then try to center our week's menu around whatever we get in the basket. This has been perfect for our plan to cut out milk and cut down on meat. Every now and then we get thrown a foul ball and get some vegetables that we either don't know what they are or we don't like them. Actually, the only 2 things that apply have been cilantro, which D avoids like the plague, and chayote. To not be wasteful, I gave them both to my neighbor. The one vegetable that I want to like and have tried to like but have been unsuccessful is eggplant. I've sauted it with mushrooms, tossed it with zucchini, served it over polenta and every time we've come to the same conclusion - we just don't like eggplant! Well, guess what was in our basket the other week? Yep, eggplant. And because I bought 2 baskets that week I had 2 eggplants! I decided to try something new this time - Eggplant Parmesan. Guess what? It was really good!!

Now, this recipe is according to our likes, so feel free to change it up. It's a versatile recipe and easy to adapt.

First, we peeled and sliced the eggplants. By we, I mean me and D - my bestest sous chef. D sliced it pretty thin and I think that really made a difference for us. I put the slices in my colander layered with kosher salt. (I love kosher salt!) That helped pull the water out and added some saltiness. Then I patted the slices dry with a paper towel and dipped it in egg then a basic coating of flour and bread crumbs. I didn't coat it very thick - I didn't want the coating to get soggy later. Next, I fried those in olive oil until the coating was brown.

In the meantime, I made the sauce. I used a large can of tomatoes, a regular sized can of tomato puree, about 1/2 C olive oil, salt, pepper and lots of garlic - like 4 to 5 cloves. I mixed that up in my BlendTec. While I was doing that, D shredded mozzarella. I would have preferred fresh mozzarella, but the next best thing is shredding it yourself. It's softer and you avoid the powdery stuff they add to avoid sticking.

Now it was time to start layering. First the sauce (1/3), then the eggplant (1/3), then the cheese (1/2), then fresh basil (1/2) - I was pretty liberal with the basil, yum!, and shredded Parmesan (1/3). Repeat this twice then for the 3rd layer just use sauce, eggplant and Parmesan. Just like lasagna!

I baked it at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, but mostly I watched for bubbling and the Parmesan on top to brown.

Ok, so this picture does NOT do this dish justice, but trust me it was delicious!

Just remember - next time you have a food that is less than appealing, fry it and add cheese! Works every time! Haha!

Here's the rough recipe:

2 smallish eggplants

kosher salt
3 eggs, 1C flour, 1C breadcrumbs for coating
olive oil for frying

for the sauce:
1 lg. can tomatoes
1 can tomato puree
5 cloves fresh garlic
1/2 C olive oil
salt
pepper

1 lb. mozzarella
1C shredded Parmesan
1 1/2 C fresh basil

Say What?!?

2011-08-09T11:44:00.000-06:00

Don't you love how kids say certain things? We have adopted a few of our kids pronunciations as commonplace. For example, "yippies" is our family code word for chapstick. It was my oldest daughter's word. It makes sense if you think about it. 'Yips' are lips and since you put chapstick on your lips . . . viola! "Yippies"!!

My youngest daughter has transformed flip-flops into "sip-sops". A term used by all now. (Don't get me started on the fact that I called them thongs when I was growing up . . . how did that get so out-of-hand??)

And I've mentioned before that my son coined the phrase "a-lish-us", you have to say it excitedly and draw out the 'a'. It means 'delicious'. There is no greater compliment than, "Mom, that was a-lish-us!"

But the word that is causing my 2 little ones trouble (and giving my 2 older ones the giggles) is ONIONS. They both say it the same way too. "Un. Yuns." Something about it makes their mouths work extra hard to say that word, and it still doesn't work. They bare their teeth and open their mouths wide while saying it so it comes out as if its two words and has morphed into "awn - yawns". We'll be using this one for a long time to come!

And, by the way, everyone should have their very own resident super-hero fairy! In her bags of accessories that she keeps on hand is 3 different fairy outfits (blue, pink and green - oh, the mix-and-match possibilities!), her dress-up bracelets and rings, a set of real fairy wings, assorted slippers, pink Tinkerbell glasses, pink swimming goggles and a bike helmet - for when life as a super-hero fairy gets dangerous . . .

Getting changed into 'regular clothes' to run errands is a real drag for this munchkin.

Show the Love

2011-08-03T12:16:00.000-06:00

How many couples do you know or just see as you are out and about that treat each other disrespectfully? How many men put down their wives in front of their friends? How many women ridicule and belittle their husbands in front of their friends? That's so wrong. It's a pet peeve of mine. We need to be building each other up. We need to be each other's biggest fans. We need to know that our spouse is in our corner all the time, no matter what. Don't be selfish - share the love!

I loved listening to Richard G. Scott talk about his dear wife. It was so sweet. And it's a great message.

What do you do to show your love that you love them?

City Beautiful

2011-08-02T19:40:00.002-06:00

From the time I was 11 years old until I was 18 years old (and a couple years after), I was a cast member of the City of Joseph pageant in Nauvoo, IL. My whole family went there every summer for 2 weeks to be part of the show.

I know this picture is terrible quality - it's a picture of a picture . . . But, that's us in our costumes. That was my last year before I left for college.

As a result, I LOVE Nauvoo! I love walking the streets, going into the old houses, looking out over the Mississippi River, and most especially, I love how I feel there.

I remember nights where we had 10,000+ spectators! All the work we put into practices, the heat, the humidity, the dust, the mayflies that came out at night (I've even swallowed one or two . . . yuck!) - it was all worth it! Being on the stage in the bright lights, singing and dancing, running around backstage to your next position - SO fun! I really wish I could take my kids to experience it but sadly, they no longer do the City of Joseph pageant. They do a show called the Nauvoo pageant, I believe. I haven't seen it yet and I'm sure it's great. But, it is just not the same.

I wouldn't trade those times for anything! It helped shaped me as the person I am today. The bend of the river is where I gained my testimony of the Church and Joseph Smith. I love those early Saints! I made some really good friends - long time friends. Those 2 weeks were the highlight of every year!

time to take the reins

2011-08-01T13:03:00.001-06:00

We recently made a big decision. It was a tough decision for us. We wanted to be sure and committed before we 'went down that road.' But, after doing a lot of research and checking a gazillion books out of the library and interviewing several friends, we have decided to homeschool our children.

At first I was nervous about being overwhelmed. I have a 7th grader, a 4th grader, a kindergartner and a preschooler. I was afraid of not covering everything they needed, juggling so many different levels at once and getting everything done in a day that I needed to get done, not to mention the regular day-to-day activities of cooking, cleaning, shopping, etc.

But, I think we've found a good way to transition to homeschool. We may drop it for next year, but it's a good choice for us this first year. It's online but is still considered a public school which means we get our books and supplies just like we would at the local public school. The part I am excited about is the flexibility - I can still "count" learning moments towards our hours and attendance. This means I still get to do all the things with the kids that made me look forward to homeschool while still having the courses and books and online classes to use for the things that made me nervous about homeschool. Sounds like a win-win to me!!

Right now we are 3 weeks from starting so it's organization time. Once I have all my lists in place and books, supplies and schedules ready I think we'll be 'full steam ahead!'

I am thankful that I know so many people that have already taken this road. They have a lot to offer and are more than willing to share. Even with so many people homeschooling their children, I'm still surprised at the amount of opposition and bordering ridicule. But, then again, a lot of things surprise me.

As for me, I am anxious to spend more one-on-one time with my kids. This will give us a unique opportunity to get to know each other even better. It's not going to be all 'rainbows and lollipops', I'm fully aware of that. But, it will definitely be worth it! Kids can have so many things going on with church, sports, music lessons, playtime with neighbors and other friends, extended family activities, etc. that adding SO many hours away at school was too much. There are too many things that we want to do as a family and I want to do as a mother that will never get accomplished on a traditional school schedule. Now, we can have the best of both worlds.

Here's to the new school year . . . the next adventure is just around the corner!!

Road Trip!!

2011-07-27T21:39:00.001-06:00

I've mentioned before that my parents were serving a mission in Washington State. My sister was really wanting to drive up there and surprise them. I agreed at first then had to cancel because we had some things come up that took priority. Those plans changed a week or so before the scheduled trip, but because I hadn't made ANY plans regarding the trip I just forgot about it. Then less than 48 hours before she was leaving my sister called about something, I don't remember what, but I do remember being surprised that she was leaving so soon. The trip seemed so 'in the future'. Well, that night I got stressed out (big time) about . . . who knows what!? But, I was stressed. Period. So, D said, "Why don't you just take the kids and go up there? Go with your sister, go visit your parents and get away for a little bit. You'll have fun and I'm sure a vacation would be good for you." What?? That means I have ONE day to get ready, that's it! So, we did it!

The next day the kids and I ran around gathering everything on my list. (Well, yes!, I had time to write a list - there's always time for a list!) Did I also mention that they were serving at a Church campground? That means adding sleeping bags, ponchos (because it's Washington), easy fixing food for all of us, and snacks for the road (which was to be a 3 day road trip!) among other things.

The morning of our departure I got the van all loaded, had the kids go to the bathroom - TWICE!, put on my sunglasses, made sure everyone was buckled then yelled, "Who wants to go to WASHINGTON??!!" To which they all yelled back, "MEEEE!!"

Runn-nu-nu-nu-nu-nu . . . . runn-nu-nu-nu-nu-nu . . . the car wouldn't start!!!

So, I quickly called D, no answer. Oh yeah, he's in important meetings all day! So, I texted him with our dilemma. He hurried home on his 10-minute-in-between-meetings-break and gave us a jump. Turns out the kids left a door open when they were cleaning out the car the night before. We gave him a kiss and we were on our way, for reals this time.

Our first stop was, fortunately, not too big of a stretch of driving. We met my sister and her kids there for the night. Everyone was already worn out so we just went to bed and agreed to meet up for breakfast at the hotel. Well, as we all filed into the hotel breakfast room - by 'all' I mean, me, my sister, my four kids and her 5 kids - a lady offers us the extra chairs from her table and says, "Wow, what are you guys, like, with the Boys and Girls Club or something?" Umm, no, these are just our kids. Again with the 'wow' but with more staring! Haha!

I'm sure we were a sight to see! My sister with her 5 kids and me with my 4 kids . . . . bathroom stops took for-ev-er!

But, we got there safely. We successfully surprised my parents. And we all had a great time! Here are just a few pics of our adventure. By the way, when we finally pulled back into our driveway we had traveled 2240 miles! That's a lot of relaxation and vacation time with my 4 munchkins!

I have been running behind on my blogging lately, for a few months actually. But, this road trip is what started my absence and my subsequent difficulty getting it back on track. So, hopefully by posting about it I can get over the hump and back to blogging!

Veggie Tales, part 2

2011-07-25T05:00:00.014-06:00

In our journey to learning a thing or two about plants, vegetables and gardening in a greenhouse, we were really excited to see how much all our plants were growing. It really worked! We planted the seeds and they actually grew! Here is the before and after picture of the greenhouse as a whole.

Pretty cool, huh? Now at this time I'm perplexed by my zucchini plant, actually all my 'vine' plants. My cucumber, pumpkin and zucchini plants were acting weird. First, my zucchini - It looked all big and great but had some yellow leaves and would look wilty pretty often. I was under the impression that yellow leaves meant too much water. But, when adjusting the water it was obvious it looked better with more water. So, I thought maybe it was the heat of the greenhouse, so I started putting in the shade during the day - no changes.

Here are two pictures of my zucchini plant from a couple weeks ago.

Here is how my cucumbers and pumpkin plants looked a couple weeks ago. The pumpkins were experiencing the same 'yellow leaves' problem, but they are in a bed so I couldn't take them anywhere. The cucumbers were looking great . . .

Now see that gorgeous pickling cucumber growing there? I was SO excited to take this picture - this wasn't the only one, just the biggest. My MIL came to town a few days later and we were showing her the greenhouse. I anxiously pointed her over to the cuke bed to see the new cukes coming in . . . nothing! We couldn't find any sign that they had ever been there. This picture is all the proof I have now!!

*Notice how great the bean plants look too.

Can you see the broccoli?

And that tomato looks SO good!

I have 8 pepper plants and this is the first actual bud I've had. In fact, of the 8 plants only half or so have had any blossoms. But, all of the blossoms just fell off and no peppers followed. I'm sure there's a good reason for this . . . I just haven't figured it out yet.

The potatoes and beets have basically exploded! There is a watermelon plant in the top left of this bed. But, as of the date of this picture it's been unchanging. No growth, no yellowing, no crispy, dying leaves, nothing. It just sits there and looks the same as the day I planted it. Again, no clue.

So, to sum things up: I am super excited to see that the soil mix I made has done really well and things are actually growing. Though some are doing much better than others. And it's abundantly clear that I still have NO clue what I'm doing . . . if you don't believe me just wait until you see part 3.

Viva Niederbipp!

2011-07-22T05:00:00.001-06:00

Have you read this series? Have you even heard of it?

I hadn't until about 6 months ago. I was visiting ~~home~~ Colorado when my one of my lovely Book Club ladies (who I miss very much!) showed it to me. It was the book they were reading that month and she thought it was something I would like. She was right! (Thank you, Judi!)

I waited until I was finished with some books I had already started to put in a request at the library. I was shocked to find out I was #43 on the waiting list! But the wait was well worth it! I won't go into any specific details because I am not a book reporter - it would end badly for you, I promise. I would either make you NOT want to read the book or I would inadvertently give the ending away. So, to save us both the heartache I will just tell you why I loved reading this series so much. Deal?

This story is about Isaac, the potter of a town called Niederbipp, Pennsylvania. The author is Ben Behunin. I won't go into his story much because he does such a good job of it at the end of the 3rd book. But, HERE is his artwork - he is actually a potter himself! Umm, I'll take one of everything, please. Another lady from my beloved Book Club in CO got one of his bowls as an anniversary gift from her husband! Once you read the books you'll understand why this is SO awesome and SO romantic! I think it would be so cool to have a kitchen filled with pottery that I used every day made by a real potter. Each piece unique and individual, knowing the work that went into making the piece solely for my use and enjoyment. /sigh. Someday.

This series made me want to be a better person. Made me want to make my life be more simplistic. Made me want to move to Niederbipp. Made me want to slow down and appreciate life more. Made me want to nurture the relationships I have with my neighbors. The list goes on and on. It is definitely a feel-good read.

Another thing that I absolutely loved about all the books were the quotes. The books are set up to look like an artist's sketchbook, so they are randomly placed in the book as well as the beginning of each chapter. And there are some really good ones. I'm thinking of buying the set (or waiting in line at the library again) just so I can write down all the quotes.

It is a religious themed book - but not any one religion specifically. Well, except for Quakers. The town was built by Quakers and focuses on the importance they place on simplicity, love, family, happiness, and being true to God. It speaks of God, His love for us, the importance of prayer and the ability to get our own answers to our prayers. It speaks of unselfishness, forgiveness, sacrifice - do I need to keep going?? It's a great story that pulls you in and makes you want to close your eyes and wake up in Niederbipp.

Forget-this-not! Go find these books now, you won't regret it!

Veggie Tales, part 1

2011-07-12T14:38:00.000-06:00

In an effort to MAKE my thumb be green, we decided this was the year to do a garden. But, we are in Utah. It would not stop snowing! The state totally skipped spring this year (and last year too). The weather was only our first obstacle. We also live on the side of a mountain, which creates 2 additional problems. The first being deer. Now, I hadn't actually seen any but I did see . . . evidence that they visited our backyard. The second obstacle being rocks! There are more rocks than dirt here. You stick a shovel in the ground you are going to run straight into a rock - anywhere from the size of kiwi to a Volkswagen Bus, no joke! So, we were faced with the challenges of buying a really good rototiller, that would probably just get mangled doing the first row, and putting up some sort of fence that would keep our long-legged friends at bay.

About that time, D's friend was talking about buying a greenhouse. He had done some pretty extensive research on several models and showed D his findings. We decided it was the perfect solution to our dilemma, so we bought one. It's been plenty of hard work though. Even though the greenhouse itself was pretty easy to assemble, we had to first build and bury a base. This greenhouse is supposed to withstand some pretty hefty winds and some heavy snowfall. This project is not going to "pay off" for quite some time. But, we decided the investment was worth the learning and experience we'll gain in the meantime. For example, the materials for the base alone were about $180. A good portion of it you can't see, it's buried to anchor the greenhouse.

Next, attaching the Rion greenhouse that we had assembled to the side first. As for the planting inside we had two approaches. The first was an idea from the same friend that suggested the greenhouse. The white "beds" are water barrels cut in half. We then drilled several holes in the bottoms and put gravel in for drainage. The dirt mixture is garden soil, top soil, turkey manure and peat moss. The other plants went into pots. I bought some plants from IFA and my seeds from Territorial Seed Company.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures right after I planted everything. But, these pictures are after the seeds started sprouting.

This bed has sugar pumpkins on the left and pole beans in the middle and a green bean plant I bought on the far right corner.

This bed is full of onions and leeks that I ordered from Territorial.

The left top corner has a watermelon plant. The middle is sprouts from German butterball potato 'seeds' purchased from Territorial, and beets on the right.

These are all cucumbers. The plants on the bottom are pickling cucumbers I bought and the ones on the top are regular cucumber seeds I planted.

The plants here are a strawberry and zucchini on the top and red bell peppers on the bottom. In the middle are dill and basil from seed.

The top right is carrots from seed, an artichoke plant, cauliflower and broccoli plants. There are 2 heirloom tomato plants - Cherokee purple? I think. Then there are green bell peppers, cat grass and Swiss chard. The Swiss chard was 4 little plants and they just boomed right away! The plastic cup is holding an avocado seed.

Here's the greenhouse as a whole at this point. I haven't put in any shelves yet. Maybe next year when we try everything from seeds and start earlier in the year.

In the next post I'll show you pictures of how everything has been progressing. Some things have not worked, some have, and some I'm not sure if they are working or not!

Why is all the rum gone?

2011-07-11T10:01:00.000-06:00

Now, I know this was a long time ago, but I'm trying to get caught up on my blogging and back in the habit of actually posting. So, bear with me :)

Awhile ago D and I went to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie for date night. Now, it certainly wasn't as good as the first one, but it was still fun. Johnny Depp isn't one of my favorite people . . . . but Captain Jack Sparrow IS!! (hehehe!)

Also, this movie didn't have the Elizabeth and Will love story, so that was a minus, but it still had the Pirates humor.

I've been really excited to take the kids to see Cars2, especially Austin. He's been giddy since we first saw the previews and learned that a second movie was coming out. In the meantime, there has been talk about what an agenda is portrayed in the movie. So, what to do?? Do I ignore the messages in the film and let the kids enjoy it? Do I talk to them about what it said and explain what we think about it - even though they might not even pick up on any of it? Do I refuse to see it and therefore, refuse to 'fund' their agenda? I haven't decided yet - I may do a combination of all of the above. Talk to the kids about it, if it even registers with them and wait until it's showing in the dollar theater . . . . is that a cop-out??

This picture was taken at California Adventure a couple of months ago. What? I haven't posted ANYthing on that trip yet?? Sigh. I'll get to it . . . . eventually.

Making our own rice milk

2011-06-29T10:40:00.005-06:00

Since reading The China Study we decided to cut cow's milk from our diet. Right now that means no milk, but I still buy cheese and butter. We have just drastically cut down on the use of those. So to have some sort of 'milk' in the house I was buying rice milk, coconut milk and almond milk. But, they were getting pretty expensive - they usually cost $3 - $4 for a half-gallon! I started looking into some alternatives. A friend pointed me a site with a recipe for rice milk - but it was posted more for the purpose of NOT supporting the popular brand that sells rice milk and not just being self-sufficient. I like the idea of being able to make as much of the stuff we need as I can - so this was a great opportunity to add something to the list of "things I no longer need to buy at a store". I tried the recipe but we ended up altering it quite a bit to fit our tastes. So, here is our tried and true, D-approved-2-thumbs-up, recipe for rice milk:

Start by getting 11C of water to boil in a large stock pot. Add 1C of organic brown rice. (I've been buying this at my Costco for around $12 for 12lbs and it's a short grain) Cover and let it simmer (a small boil that allows you to leave it covered) for 3 hours. Once 3 hours is over I turn off the heat and just let it sit and cool. Here's what it should look like. I do lift the lid maybe every 30 minutes during the cook time to stir it.

Now I stir in about 3TB oil - this sounds gross but when you blend it up like you will it leaves it more creamy than if you leave the oil out. I've been using grapeseed oil because it doesn't add any noticeable flavor. Next add 1/2C of real maple syrup and 2tsp. vanilla.

I use a 2-gal. bucket that I got from the local grocery store bakery (for free) and I line it with a paint mesh strainer bag I bought from The Home Depot. (I have the 5-gal. size because this makes 2 gal.)

This next part is anything but scientific. I ladle about 4 scoops of the rice mixture into my blender and fill the rest of the blender with cold water. Then I liquify it (at least that was the setting on my old blender, on my BlendTec I use the 'whole juice' setting). If I'm starting to fill my bucket too fast, I just put more rice mixture and less water in the blender. The point is to not make more than my bucket can hold.

Now I haven't figured out what to do with the stuff left in the strainer bag. D has suggested putting into bread or something. It smells good - maybe it would work if I let it dry out first? I haven't tried it yet though.

Then I pour the milk into a 1-gal. easy-pour pitcher (twice) and pour it into quart jars. I cover the jars with plastic lids (which should be on the list of the greatest inventions EVER, by the way). Because it's such an exact recipe - haha - I usually get between 7 and 9 quarts from my bucket.

D loves this stuff! Between him and my youngest drinking it (like it's going out of style) and then the rest of the family using it on cereal (which I'm not really buying any more) or on breakfast rice (really good!), we go through one batch every 5 days approximately.

I have figured the cost of this at about $2.70 per batch - which yields me about 2-gallons. That's less than $0.70 per half-gallon! Compared to the $3 - $4 per half-gallon I spent buying the stuff at the store - that's a big savings!

Now for some disclaimers: Rice milk cannot be compared to a cold glass of cow's milk - you know the kind that's just begging to have cookies dunked in it?? It does not taste the same. We made the decision to replace cow's milk as a matter of health. Removing cow's milk can be a hard decision (we haven't even committed all the way yet, since we still use butter and cheese) but having something to use in it's place for cereals and such makes it a lot easier. I'm also not sure that this would be a good substitute for cooking because it's so thin and it does have the syrup and vanilla in it. Although you could make a batch without those ingredients and try that. I haven't been using the recipes that call for milk anyways, but if I were I would most likely use an almond milk recipe . . . but that's a whole other post! ;)

Cabbage

2011-05-25T10:52:00.001-06:00

I've been in veggie mode lately. It started when I had 4 heads of cabbage from my food co-op. First item on the menu was a crock pot cabbage casserole - which surprisingly my family loves. But, I'm pretty sure I can only pass it off once every now and then. So, what to do with the other 3 heads . . .

I canned some coleslaw. These are the before and after processing pictures. I haven't actually tasted it yet. I'm just excited about how pretty they look on my shelf, he he. But, that only took 2 heads.

So, what to do with the last head of cabbage??

It was suggested that I make sauerkraut - what?!?

I didn't even know you could do that - it was just something I bought in a can, from the store . . .

So, I looked it up and sure enough. Here are are photos from my 'experiment'. D and my littlest munchkin really liked it. Personally, I thought it was too strong. I think that partly had to do with my cabbage not being sliced as thin as I would have liked, also I'm not sure I had enough water in it. But, it was definitely a learning experience and something I would do again!

I sliced the cabbage and mixed it with some salt (not iodized) and stuffed it in the bottom of this 2-gallon bucket. Then I placed a plate on top (my saucer was a perfect fit. Next, I put a gallon jug of water on top - this kept weight on the 'kraut even while it released it's water and did it's thing. It also kept air out of it. The towel on top kept anything else foreign from getting in there.

I got my info from HERE. I'm still on the wait list at the library for his book.

Oh yeah, we had extra apples, too! Boy, this canning thing has opened up a whole new set of possibilities! I wonder if preserving food is supposed to be this fun . . . .

Annoying Orange

2011-05-16T10:35:00.002-06:00

Have you seen this? My kids love this stuff. Especially my 5-year old boy - something about being annoying to others resonates with him, haha. There are several "Annoying Orange" videos. This particular one is a favorite of all 4 kids though.

Book Club - The China Study

2011-05-09T19:35:00.000-06:00

I was recommended this book by my mom. She was told to read it by her naturopathic oncologist. But, I realized it was a pretty popular book - I was 43rd in line at the library to get my hands on it. And after I had it, I had people pass by and ask what I thought about it, because they had recently read it as well.

The consensus was they were unnerved by what they read and wanted to change their diets . . . but . . .

Wanting to do something and actually doing it are two different things. The changes seemed hard, extreme, maybe even foreign. The more time that passed with them doing nothing made doing anything that much more difficult. So, they went from being passionate to only intrigued.

In short, this book is about a study done to research the links between cancer (and several other diseases) and the amounts of animal-based proteins in one's diet. The results are scary. Mostly because they go against everything we are normally 'taught' about meat and dairy. It's a common belief that the only way to get protein is through meat, calcium through dairy products and so forth. We all know fruits and vegetables are good for us, but why? What vitamins and minerals do they each provide? That's not something that is taught or emphasized. It was something that I felt deserved some attention. I've believed for awhile now that money controls the food, health and medical field - mainly, pharmaceuticals. Money, or profits rather, and even politics make the decisions. And that is really scary.

D and I decided to make some changes to how our family eats. Neither of us felt compelled to go vegan, but we did decide on a compromise. We took the basics of this book (that plant-based protein is not only good for you, but is shown to decrease or eliminate many diseases and animal-based protein has been shown to promote or accelerate those same diseases) and combined it with the Word of Wisdom.

Now, we aren't going vegan all of a sudden. At least not all the way, right away. But, we are definitely cutting back on our meat consumption - to maybe once a week . . . actually, I'm having a hard time convincing myself to fit it into the menu at all. We are done buying cow's milk - which it's a good thing my kids love coconut milk, almond milk and rice milk. I even found some recipes to make it myself! Can't wait to try that this week - that stuff is pretty expensive at the store. Now, I will say I probably won't entirely cut out cheeses. It adds so much to certain dishes, especially veggie ones. And some veggies are just more desirable to my kids if there's cheese on them. My biggest road block right now . . . ice cream! I am definitely a lover of ice cream!! There is rice milk and coconut milk ice cream - I'll have to try it (hopefully figure out how to make it.) Oh, and butter - we love butter, have ever since we cut out margarine several years ago.

So, my newest challenge is finding recipes that the whole family loves that cuts out meat and mostly dairy. But, D and I are on the same page here - we feel better when the refined sugars, meats and such are not in our bodies. It's not only to change our diet but to change our lifestyle - to be more health conscious and, in general, healthier people. (losing a few pounds wouldn't hurt our feelings either)

Now we are even more pumped to get our garden going . . . that's another post. (it's still not done snowing here)

If you've read the book I'd love to hear what your thoughts are on it. Have you made any big changes because of it?

Love not feeling ripped off!

2011-04-14T08:19:00.001-06:00

(actual Redbox advertisement - Redbox.com)

Redbox Movies

Now that is a Simple Pleasure. Easy and convenient. My kids love to watch some of the latest movies since we don't go to the theater often. (Paying for 6 at the movies makes me feel ripped off for sure!) And when D and I are out for date night, having a Redbox movie makes the kids feel like they are having a special night too. See? Everyone wins!

The code on the advertisement is for today too :)

You see other Simple Pleasures HERE.

The Past

2011-04-14T05:00:00.001-06:00

I love this quote by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.

"I plead with you not to dwell on days now gone nor to yearn vainly for yesterdays, however good those yesterdays may have been. The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead and remember that faith is always pointed toward the future."
--Jeffrey R. Holland, "The Best Is Yet to Be", Ensign, Jan. 2010, 22–27

You can read the whole talk that this quote was taken from HERE.

If you're happy and you know it

2011-04-13T05:00:00.003-06:00

The first weekend in April was General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I loved it! You can read or listen to all the talks HERE.

I really enjoy listening to President Monson. Some of my 'favorites' are Elder Holland and Elder Oaks. But, they are all inspiring and thought-provoking. I'm excited for the Ensign to come out next month so I can read through them all again.

It seems to never fail that SOMETHING family related (outside our core 6) that prevents us from seeing Conference in its entirety. But, not this time! We got to watch both sessions on Saturday and Sunday. D even had tickets to the Conference Center for the Priesthood Session. (He was able to take my dad with him, but that's another post.)

As the last speaker finished, the last hymn was sung, the last prayer spoken, I had a feeling of satisfaction. I had listened to every talk, paid attention to the messages, looked for personal answers - I had accomplished something! It was even a bit sad to see it end . . . and then this guy came on the screen!

That made me giggle. He didn't act obnoxious, didn't hold up the peace sign or anything distracting. He just had a huge smile on his face. I think he was as excited about Conference as I was! He just got to show the whole world. Haha!

You should listen to this

2011-03-21T14:55:00.000-06:00

D took me on a great date this past weekend (2 actually - woohoo!) Friday night we got to see a guy named Mark Abernathy perform here in SLC. Such a great concert - we really enjoyed ourselves!

Here's the YouTube video that D came across that got us interested.

Here is his website where you can buy his CD, read about where the different songs come from and such.

He calls the project The Sabre Rattlers.

Anyway, we really enjoyed that evening of listening to him (not to mention he's the spitting image of my brother-in-law!). He did some great songs that aren't on this CD, like "Fly Away" and others reminiscent of the movie "O, Brother, Where Art Thou?" (Great flick, by the way).

Hope you enjoy his stuff as much as we did.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T18:30:00.003-06:00

Yes, the whipped cream is green for the occasion.

Homemade Whipped Cream

heavy whipping cream

vanilla

powdered sugar

Beat in a bowl, preferably with a hand beater, until thick.

Enjoy!

A girl's best friend

2011-03-17T09:25:00.001-06:00

I love my Crock Pot.

I actually have a few of them. This one is the go-to pot for dinners though since it has the timer on the front. The other great thing about it is the fact that the inside comes out and can be put in the dishwasher!! If you've had a Crock Pot that didn't do that, you'd understand what a wonderful feature that really is. My second favorite is my small one that is perfect for dips and sauces.

Nothing quite beats being able to have a hot, scrumptious dinner ready at night and still having your day to yourself to do whatever else you might need or want to do!

For these reasons, my Crock Pot is my simple pleasure.

To go or not to go

2011-03-15T10:45:00.000-06:00

Do you ever have those days when you just want to stay inside your house? You don't want to get in the car? You don't want to go into any stores? I have a lot of those days (a lot!). Even if I'm all dressed and ready, I'd rather just stay inside and do stuff in the house - even clean! I also have days where I'd rather stay in my yoga pants and curl up with a book (and maybe some hot chocolate - ok, not maybe - definitely!).

Today is one of those days.

We are doing a Spring Cleaning of sorts around here. Organizing, cleaning, throwing out, and rearranging (my personal favorite). Part of the organizing involves buying more bookshelves. Someone, who shall not be named, keeps buying books! (By the way - check out the awesome book I picked up yesterday as a little treat for myself:

So excited to delve into it. I made their Chicken Tortilla Soup the other night. It is definitely on my list of soup recipes to hang on to - it was really, really good!)

What were we talking about? Oh yeah, organizing and more bookshelves. Well, as it being 'one of those days', I'm trying to decide how bad I want those bookshelves right now.

I do love to organize . . . .

Wait a minute, there is ice cream on my shopping list, too. Now that's a horse of a different color! Why didn't you say so? Catch you later, I have some "spring cleaning" to do!

*wink, wink*

A Smashing Good Time

2011-03-14T05:00:00.016-06:00

This is Austin with his cousin, Alex. They were born only 5 days apart. They are referred to as the "Muddy Buddies." That name comes from this picture of them the fall of 2008 when they were 2 1/2 years old. They were playing together in Aunt Sammi's backyard and found some water and some dirt . . . the rest is history.

The Muddy Buddies turned 5 this year (much to Austin's relief - being 4 took forever!) Time to celebrate. Ever since we took Bub to Chuck E. Cheese for his 4th birthday, it's been a given that he would go for his 5th as well. It's become a tradition I don't think he ever plans on breaking. So, we geared up for the trek to the epicenter of birthday joys (according to little boys).

But to kick start the weekend of never-ending fun we had his 2 aunts, 1 uncle and 9 cousins join us. (Anytime I forget why I only had 4 kids I just invite over my nieces and nephews and then I remember.) 18 people under one roof (with the majority under 9 years of age) made Uncle D one frazzled guy! It would not have been so bad if he didn't have doctorate stuff going on that he had to deal with at the same time.

But, nonetheless, we caravan-ed to the land of tokens and happiness. And then I remembered - I live in Utah now. Where every store and restaurant is always packed on any given day, but most especially on Saturdays. *sigh* So, we all piled in, got our hands stamped and paid an outrageous amount for bad pizza and germ-infested tokens. Cue the anxiety. Keeping an eye on 13 children in that loud and crowded environment was stress-inducing, to say the least. BUT, the Muddy Buddies (and their entourage) had a smashing good time, so it was worth every cent (and ulcer).


(photo by Gubler Photography - Rachel is my sister's sister-in-law :)

As soon as that party was over (i.e. the adults had had enough 'fun'), my 2 sisters and I headed to our other sister's baby shower (she has grandkid #14 with #15 on the way). This picture is of me and 2 of my sisters. I am waiting for more pictures to post - namely ones including the pregnant sister! But the shower was fun - yummy food, lots of laughs and I even got to stick my nose into some preemie diapers full of melted candy bars . . . if you've ever been to a baby shower, you'll understand.

Next, it was back to home base for the Muddy Buddies monster truck cake.

That truck on the top right is getting ready to have a 'smashing' good time. haha.

The picture didn't show it, but the candles are mini sparklers.

I know it's not a culinary marvel - but it's cars, trucks and dirt (i.e. crushed graham crackers) on top of cake and frosting - what more do 5 year old boys want??? Homemade hats from Nana, that's what!

But, the hit of the night were the Captain Jack Sparrow hats from Aunt Randi. They were complete with a sword, eye patch and a cap gun. (loud noises are the other thing that little boys love.)

Oh, Bubby, you are just growing up too fast. I wanted you to stay little and chubby forever.

The waiting game

2011-03-10T11:34:00.000-07:00

If you know me & D, you know that we are a lot of things, but patient isn't one of them. We can make big decisions methodically, slowly, cautiously. But, more often than not, they are made off-the-cuff.

This past year has been one our most patient. We've thought long and hard about the big decisions. We've prayed, fasted, visited the temple, made pros-and-cons lists, you name it.

And all along the way D and I take turns giving each other "patience" pep-talks.

Sometimes the hardest part is the waiting game. Going on with everyday life. Pretending you're not completely preoccupied mentally. Focusing on the here and now. Avoid letting the "what if's" consume your thinking.

I've got to go fix my kids lunch now. While trying to keep my mind from reeling.

Hmmm, what virtue that I do have would I trade for patience??

The Penny Steward

2011-03-07T05:00:00.001-07:00

Some of our food storage goals for this year include getting our 72-hour kits revamped and more comprehensive, as well as our car emergency kits.

A couple of things that have helped me gather these items are 1.) coupons and 2.) samples.

I love couponing. It's fun and challenging and a rush. (and oh yeah, it's addicting) By using coupons I've been able to acquire things for next to nothing, if not free. (sometimes, I even 'make' money on certain items.)

Here's a tip: Coupons can allow you to get a better deal than usual. But, sometimes you can get a great deal, just for the simple fact that the amount of money you are actually out-of-pocket can be very little. An example is I have a $1 coupon for a certain product, any size. At the store you can get a small bottle of this product for $1.42 and a bigger bottle for $2.08. It would be a good deal to get the bigger bottle for $1.08 but I could get the smaller size and only have to be out 42 cents.

This works out for these kits perfectly because I need the smaller sized products anyway. Some people think that coupons can be a waste of time, but a dollar is a dollar and they add up fast, especially when you look at the list of things needed for these kits.

The second thing I've done is get samples. Companies will often offer their new products in sample size. All you have to do is tell them where to send it. If they ask for your email as well, just make sure to check the box that indicates you DO NOT want advertising emails from them.

Getting free stuff in the mail is fun! You get to open a box AND everything in it was free!

my nephew Carter has his mind on his money and his money on his mind.

D teases me about 'stealing' but really it's just a matter of maximizing the deals the stores and manufacturers offer.

There are some good sites for printing coupons but if you don't find what you want there you can also check that company's website. Facebook has become a very popular avenue for companies to offer coupons and samples. I've known people to open an account with a faux name just to access the coupons offered.

Just a few suggestions to help get that long list of 'items needed' for less.

An investment in my future

2011-03-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

When we travel as a family and need to stay in a hotel, I try to find one that has a good breakfast included. Because with 6 of us breakfast can add up pretty fast. Plus, the hotels that offer a nice breakfast are usually nicer to stay in.

One staple in 'hotel breakfast bars' are the Belgian Waffle Iron. My oldest daughter, Jamyn, makes a bee-line for it every time. She loves those things.

Since she's crazy about Belgian waffles and is really into baking, I bought a Belgian Waffle Iron for her for Christmas this year. I thought that would make her happy and she would have a great time making herself yummy waffles.

Little did I realize that we would ALL benefit from this purchase. She loves to wake up Saturday mornings (or even Sundays now that we don't have church until 1pm) and whip up a big batch of batter. Then she stands at the iron and makes the whole family a big plate of her beloved pastry. And you know what? They are really, really good!

This year, I'm thinking of looking for an omelet maker for her . . .

The Amazing Race

2011-03-04T05:00:00.003-07:00

I don't know if I've ever mentioned before that I love watching The Amazing Race. I would LOVE to be on that show. In fact, I downloaded the application last year. But, D and I only half-way completed it. Life, in general, got in the way, and then we moved and it was packed away . . .

They just started a new season a couple weeks ago. This season is favorite teams from past seasons that didn't win. My favorite team is Margie and Luke. A mother/son team. Luke is deaf and I am so fascinated with sign language. It's on my list of possible degrees to work on when I go back to college someday.

My other favorite team is Jet and Cord. They are brothers and cowboys. They are calm, down-to-earth and usually pretty funny.

They even have a couple players from the Harlem Globetrotters - Flight Time and Big Easy.

They get to travel all around the world, do really cool stuff, sometimes they have to eat really gross stuff, but what a small price to pay for that experience!

Maybe I'll have to print off that application again. Then someday you can watch me and D argue over which way to go and who's going to eat the ox inards and who's going to bungee jump. (I can already tell you what will happen: D will drive, I will navigate. He'll eat the gross stuff. I'll be doing the jumping - and loving it!)

Things that make you go Bahahahaha!

2011-03-03T10:27:00.001-07:00

I love silly pictures of people I love. These are a few that make me smile (or laugh out loud) every time I see them. These are some of the little things that bring me happiness. My simple pleasure.

Brother-in-law, Michael, D and sister-in-law, Monique, after a game we played at Christmas - it's a reindeer thing. Monique didn't win because she got stuck with the control-top pantyhose.

My brother-in-law, Cody, helping with the groceries.

D and my dad being too cool for school.

Austin during a photo shoot I did with him. I love this one because it reminds me of Godzilla terrorizing the citizens.

D in his riding gear.


D and 2 of his brothers at the Renaissance Festival. They had to curtsy for the crowd because they were "Nancy Boys." (they weren't able to make the bell ding at the top of the tower)

Yes, most of these are of my husband, D. And yes, it's very fun being married to him!

I am lovin' these!

2011-03-03T08:00:00.001-07:00

My dad's birthday is the day before Valentine's Day, so heart-shaped gifts are pretty usual. I wanted to send him something baked in his birthday box this year. (My parents are currently serving a mission in WA) I saw these cute things on Our Best Bites and knew I'd found a winner. The pie on the stick is so very cute, but we all had a hard time eating them. Everyone ended up just pulling the stick out and then eating the pie. That could be because I kept my crust a little thick.

I made the bigger ones, about 4", for my dad. I didn't do anything fancy, just a canned pie filling. I made the glaze and put it on pretty thick. It didn't taste too sweet to me (although my sweet threshold is pretty high) but I think that's because it off-set the thick crust.

I did, however, use the recipe for the Homemade Pie Crust. That is one tasty crust, very easy and quick too. Everything they say about it was true. It's fast, flaky, easy to work with, definitely a recipe to hold on to.

I've been a fan theirs for awhile now. I've gotten several good recipes from them. In fact, their new cookbook is just coming out and they are having book signings here in SLC. Hmmmm . . . . I may have to look into that.

Heeeeeere's Bubby!

2011-03-02T15:22:00.000-07:00

Today is our 3rd child's birthday. He is the only boy. He's been looking forward to turning 5 . . . well, ever since he turned 4! It's been a countdown since October (when his sisters started having birthdays). Here are some pictures of our Austin as he's grown. I call him Bubby, but his dad calls him Goose. He was a pretty exciting addition to the family - still is. He is such a happy and lovable boy.

Chilly Munchkins

2011-02-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

These are pictures of my munchkins having a hay day sledding in our last big snow. (I'm not exactly sure what "having a hay day" means, but I'm pretty sure everyone from Indiana uses the term to mean 'really good time.')

This is my munchkin, Austin. I could just eat him up! Those big, blue eyes and chubby cheeks get me every time!

Cora and Austin waiting for their turn at the top of the 'run.'

I caught Cora and Hayden snacking. They must not have been listening during my 'yellow snow' talk.

Then I got this hottie in my sights! Hubba Hubba!

Jamyn and Austin getting pummeled by spraying snow.

Snow Angels, literally :)

Yes, Austin is licking snow off his own cheek! And yes, Jamyn's hat is WAY too big. Fine! I'll admit it - that was one of my first attempts at crocheting. D and his brother made fun of me by putting it on . . . at the same time!

Let them eat cake!

2011-02-25T05:00:00.001-07:00

My two oldest girls LOVE to bake. They look for any excuse to make cookies or cakes. Here is their latest project. Yes, those are fresh strawberries on top. And YES, it was very delicious! Not that D and I were surprised . . . more like pleasantly pleased. (D even had seconds, and he's not a fan of cake.) They keep getting better and better. D and I are thoroughly enjoying the fruits of our labor.

Now, I could tell you that I'm a top-notch teacher of Home Economics to my children, that I started teaching them while they were young so they could grow up to be stellar homemakers . . . but that would be a lie. The truth is . . . I was coerced into sharing the tricks of the trade. At a very early age. Earlier than I had planned.

It all started early one morning years ago. (v e r y early!) I had a munchkin like this one:

wake me up by poking me in the forehead. It wasn't a soft, 'wake up, mom' kind of poke. It was hard and she used the poke to emphasize her words, which were: "Can't you make me some oatmeal?!"

Thus, I started Toast 101.

Simple Pleasures

2011-02-24T19:25:00.002-07:00

Need I say more?

I didn't think so.

Defensive Living

2011-02-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

When we lived in Colorado I worked as a bookkeeper. The man I worked for had an office that was in a row of offices. Next door to his office were a couple of guys that owned a towing service. I didn't know the men very well personally, but we always said hello. And I knew if I needed anything I could knock on their door and they would help me out. I remember them as 'characters', they were fun to work next to and really nice guys.

Today, one of those gentlemen was tragically killed while doing his job. He was in the process of hooking someone's car to his tow truck, because they were parked somewhere they shouldn't have been, when the owner jumped in the car and took off. The chains that were attached to the vehicle caught the tow truck man's legs and he was dragged for quite a distance, over a mile.

What a needless and tragic death. And for what? Someone was THAT worried about their car being towed that they resorted to that kind of behavior. What would've happened if the person had just talked to the tow truck guy? What if they could have paid the fee right there and forgone retrieving the vehicle from a lot. What if they could have seen it as a consequence of their behavior and learned their lesson for the future. What if . . . ?

How terribly sad for the gentleman's family and friends.

What is happening to our society? What is wrong with people these days? Where have the 'good guys' gone? Why don't some people understand that bad stuff happens? That's just the way life is. Rather than looking on the bright side or looking for the lesson in trials, a growing number of people are looking for someone to 'pay' for what life deals them. Fewer and fewer people are willing to hold themselves responsible for their own actions.

Having your car towed is a definite inconvenience. We've had it happen. We lived in Denver for a short time many years ago. It was a little nerve-racking moving to such a big city. After having emptied our U-haul trailer that evening, we kept it hooked to our truck so we could return it the next morning. Well, sometime after we'd gone to bed a tow truck came by and towed our truck. When we woke up the next morning we were freaked out - we thought our first night in the big city our truck had been stolen! The annoying thing was we had permission from the apartment manager to park there overnight. And to make matters worse, the tow truck guy had cut all the wires hooked to the U-haul trailer rather than properly disconnecting them. A couple of calls and a few explanations and things were back to normal. Was it an inconvenience? Yes. Was it life altering? No. Was it worth acting irrational or crazy? No. Life went on and it's a 'remember that time . . .' story, nothing more.

In high school driver's ed. class, we were taught to be 'defensive drivers'. It means take into account what other people may do. Such as, don't stop too close to someone on a hill in case they roll back when letting off their brakes. Or, wait to pull out until you are sure someone is going to turn - don't trust that they will just because they may have their signal on.

Are we living 'defensively'? There are consequences to every action. Are we aware of what they may be? Are we taking the possibilities into account before we act? Think before you act. Regret is a terrible thing.

p.s. D said this post reminded him of this song.

Beauty - Wordful Wednesday

2011-02-23T22:20:00.000-07:00

"What comes to mind when you think of BEAUTY?"

The song "Love at Home" comes to mind when I think of the word 'beauty'.

The words to the song are:

There is beauty all around When there’s love at home;
There is joy in ev’ry sound When there’s love at home.
Peace and plenty here abide, Smiling sweet on ev’ry side.
Time doth softly, sweetly glide When there’s love at home.
Love at home, love at home; Time doth softly, sweetly glide
When there’s love at home.

In the cottage there is joy When there’s love at home;
Hate and envy ne’er annoy When there’s love at home.
Roses bloom beneath our feet; All the earth’s a garden sweet,
Making life a bliss complete When there’s love at home.
Love at home, love at home; Making life a bliss complete
When there’s love at home.

Kindly heaven smiles above When there’s love at home;
All the world is filled with love When there’s love at home.
Sweeter sings the brooklet by; Brighter beams the azure sky.
Oh, there’s One who smiles on high When there’s love at home.
Love at home, love at home;
Oh, there’s One who smiles on high
When there’s love at home.

My mom had us sing this song ALL the time growing up. In fact, one of my sisters had a sign made for my mom that has the first line from the second verse - "In the cottage there is joy."

To see what others have to say about beauty go HERE.

Skin Deep

2011-02-10T05:00:00.002-07:00

I read an article the other day that has gotten my wheels a' whirlin' and I thought I would share my thoughts.

This particular article is about how the media is changing women's views of their bodies and their perceptions of how they should look. But, the interesting part for me was how it related to Utah.

I grew up in Indiana and have spent most of my adult life in Colorado. We have lived in Utah now for less than a year. It has been . . . weird, for lack of a better word.

I have always heard the term "Utah Mormon" and all the negative implications that came with it, but I didn't understand it . . . until I lived here.

Now, to me, "Utah Mormon" has meant several things. One being self-righteous, which there are those 'types' out there, but really you can find them anywhere. Other meanings were the 'holier than thou' mind-set, "I have more money than you because I'm more righteous than you." It seemed foreign to me. Utah should be a grand place to live - surrounded by people that believe and live like you do . . . right?

In Indiana our stake covered almost the whole southern half of the state. A lot of activities required a 2-hour drive. I graduated high school in a class of about 350 and I could count on my hands how many members there were - in the whole school. (D grew up in Montana, where the tiny town still only has a branch.) Living in Colorado seemed great to us. It's a city of about 600K people and there are 4 stakes! That was pretty amazing to us both.

Utah is a different story. You could count on your hands how many homes in our ward boundaries (which only includes a small portion of our neighborhood) are not members. That's a huge change from our childhoods. But, it's not necessarily a good thing. I've always felt (and maybe naively) that I could trust, for the most part, people that I knew were members of the Church. That was simply because I knew what they believed by knowing they were members. That, however, isn't anywhere close to being true here in Utah. I haven't felt secure, in that sense, at all.

The major thing that has bothered me, since arriving in this state, has been the prominence of materialism and, to be quite frank, the amount of plastic surgery. Enter The Article.

I thought maybe it was just me, maybe my mid-western upbringing, something. Was I the only one that thought I was living in the Twilight Zone? Did no one else see that conformity seemed to be the norm? Was no one else disturbed by the plethora of billboards advertising plastic surgery? (i.e. pictures of different sized melons, the fruit - but implying . . . anyways) Did anybody else notice that the stores and malls are packed EVERY weekend? To have them full at Christmas time is one thing, but it's not limited to that season here.

This was the part of the article that has left me reeling:

Salt Lake City, home to the worldwide headquarters of the LDS Church (and where an estimated 50 percent of the population is LDS), was ranked the “Vainest City in the Nation” in 2007 and 2008, and was in the Top 5 in 2009. This ranking is due to the city’s record-breaking amount spent on beauty products and treatments like Botox, an amount that is ten-fold the amount spent in cities of comparable size. If you’ve looked at the billboards along any Utah freeway, you won’t be shocked to hear Salt Lake City has the most plastic surgeons per capita, at six per 100,000 residents, trumping New York City and Los Angeles.

I was bowled over after reading that! So, it wasn't just me. Others have noticed the billboards. I have, in no way, felt the need to become a Stepford Wife, so to speak - to conform to Utah's norm. But, at the same time, I haven't figured out why so many women here have felt that need - and give into it.

I am most uncomfortable with the way that I have to talk to my kids about our standards and morals now. It used to be a lot easier to use the "be in the world, not of the world" talk. It was simple thing to notice a difference between the way their friends at school dressed and their friends at church dressed. It was easy to tell the difference between the way their friends' moms from school dressed and the way women at church dressed. Sadly, that is not the case any longer.

What happened to being a 'peculiar people'? What happened to being happy with who we are? Because we know who we are - daughters of God. When you list your priorities in Good, Better and Best or Rocks, Pebbles and Sand - how can there be time for much materialism?

I do believe that the media is to blame for a lot of misconceptions. Too few women really understand the amount of photoshop-ing and airbrushing that goes into the magazines. But, is that what fuels the need for stuff here? Is that what makes Utah women want to look like someone other than themselves - or someone of a different age? I don't know. I haven't been able to figure out what makes folks here act different than folks from other places I've lived. I'm not entirely sure that people from around here understand how members of the Church elsewhere view them.

I had a friend (who is also fairly new to the state) say to me, "I miss normal people." I knew exactly what she meant.

Do I allow myself to be affected by magazines or other people? Sure, I do. My number one resolution for 2011 was to lose 15 lbs. But, I must not be too affected by the media - I haven't found the time to shed more than 2 lbs. so far. It pains me to spend a lot of money on my hair or my nails because 1.) they don't last long enough to be worth it and 2.) I'd rather spend that money on pizza night with my kids or date night with D. Taking on a major car payment, or any big payment, has become really unappealing to us since we know that will greatly diminish our chances of taking a family vacation every year.

Maybe it's just me, maybe it's the mid-western, old-fashioned part of me that just doesn't get it. Whatever it is.

But, maybe . . . I don't want to.

Pay it forward

2011-02-09T08:49:00.000-07:00

Cocoa at Chocolate on my Cranium is hosting a Wordful Wednesday - "Share a random act of kindness someone showed to you that helped you in turn to be aware of others and spread the kindness."

The random act of kindness that someone showed to me happened over 3 years ago. I was having a bad day. A really, bad day. It was an 'I-can-barely-see-through-my-tears', bad day.

I was in my truck getting ready to make the 1 1/2 hour drive to Denver for my work. On the way out of town I stopped at a Starbucks (Chai Creme Frappacinos are a major weakness of mine! the 'creme' in the name means coffee-free). Drinking something helped the drive go by faster and besides, who doesn't feel better after a stop at Starbucks?! (I always do.)

When it was my turn at the drive-thru window the cashier handed me my drink but wouldn't take my payment. So, I offered it again. To which she said, "The person in front of you already paid for your order."

I was stunned. I just stared at her. How did they know? I'm sure they had no clue. Bad day or not, what a great surprise! But, since I was having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, it was the perfect pick-me-up. Even though it was done by a complete stranger and they weren't around to see my reaction, they changed my day around for sure.

Now, I am ashamed to say that I was so gobsmacked by it all that I just quietly said 'thank you' and drove off. I still wish I'd had my wits about me to do the same for the guy behind me. I was so enthralled by the fact that someone who didn't know me . . . cared. But, I have returned the favor since.

It's a small gesture. It doesn't cost a lot of money. It takes almost no time. But, I know, firsthand, how huge the rewards can be for the recipient. Even if you never really know how it affects whoever is in line behind you, just imagining how the gesture would make you feel is enough of a reward!

You can go HERE to see more posts about random acts of kindness.

Just sayin' . . .

2011-02-04T08:54:00.004-07:00

A scoop of Nutella in your hot chocolate is dee-vine!

(And yay for Costco selling it in big tubs, a double pack even!)

I'm just sayin' . . .

to my heart's content

2011-02-03T10:02:00.009-07:00

I love the library. I love to check out books to my heart's content. (only the limit is 30, that's what I was told last time I tried checking books out and it wasn't registering on my account . . . )

I love that I can go on-line, put a hold on any book I like and it gets delivered to whichever local library I wish. Sometimes I have to wait in line for the popular ones, even for books you wouldn't think to be popular, but it's worth it. I just can't afford to buy all the books that I read.

I also love that my library has a "for sale" section. I check it out every time I go. I've gotten some pretty good ones, too. Most of the time they are reference books that I figure are good to have on hand, other times they've been books that I would love to own. And when they are $.50 for paperback and $1.00 for hardcover, I just can't resist.

Most of all, I love that my kids love the library. It will serve them well, I believe, to have a love for books, whether it's for reading, researching or just learning something new.

Libraries were such a great idea!

Free access to books - that's my simple pleasure.

You can see other simple pleasures at Chocolate on My Cranium.

Homemade Oven Mitts

2011-02-03T05:00:00.000-07:00

I love homemade gifts - especially ones that are practical and get used a lot. So, when I saw this tutorial at The Crafty Cupboard for making oven mitts an enormous light bulb came on over my head. What a perfect gift for the women in your life! And I love that I can customize it to their kitchen decor. (If you are a woman in my life with a birthday coming up, just pretend you didn't read this!)

I honestly didn't realize you could make oven mitts yourself. I had never seen the special insulated batting. But, now, the possibilities are endless!

I used a home decor material so the fabric was thicker. I just love the retro pattern and colors on here! And I also used the 'Warm and Natural' batting, which I usually have on hand and love to use on blankets and quilts.

A note on the pattern included in the tutorial: I will be making my next pattern larger. They didn't turn out as roomy as I would like them to be. But, I do really like the 'thumb in front' design. And it's a really simple, easy-to-do pattern.

The meaning

2011-02-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

Yes, I've changed the name of my blog again. I just haven't found the right 'ring' yet, maybe this one will be it.

Here's a little explanation though: Mayhem is what we started with and I've become attached, so that part stays no matter what. It seems there is always something going on in our lives, whether it's us or our kids or our immediate family - always a new fire to put out. We are always on a new adventure, a new quest, a new chapter - always changing and hectic, but yet, some things - the important things - don't change. That's mayhem to me - can't escape it, might as well love it!

The 'peas' part comes from a commercial that is an inside joke for me and D. I looked online but couldn't find it. A couple is eating dinner, there is romantic music playing in the background, as they are staring into each others eyes a pea hits one of them in the face. Suddenly, the music screeches to a halt and the screen widens to show that they aren't in a romantic restaurant setting, they are actually at home at the dinner table surrounded by their children. "A pea in the face" has become our slang term for "romance interrupted". And that's ok - can't escape it, might as well love it!

Service Boot Camp

2011-02-01T09:27:00.005-07:00

Jocelyn from We Talk of Christ is hosting a Service Boot Camp for February.

I'm pretty excited about this one. It is centered around writing letters to people who have touched your life in some way. Writing letters - what a lost art! This is an excellent opportunity to express our gratitude to someone that deserves to know we appreciate them. You can write just 1 letter in February or 28, one for every day. How hard are you going to have to work to locate certain people that you intend to write to? That's part of the fun and the service of it.

I'm pledging to write one every day in February. How about you? Are there people in your life, past or present, that you've thought of thanking but haven't yet? Now is your chance.

To get started make a list (that's fun all by itself!) of all the people you would like to contact. Then go to work on finding where they are now, their physical addresses. Besides, who doesn't like getting mail?? That kind of mail anyways. Also, check in with Jocelyn for updates, giveaways and encouragement all this month.

Suspicious

2011-01-28T11:11:00.007-07:00

I was reading an interesting article the other day.

(By the way, there are lots of things to say about this article, but I'll save those for another day. Jocelyn at We Talk of Christ did a good job answering the article.)

In it, the author says one way she can tell that a blogger is Mormon is because "They drink a suspicious amount of hot chocolate." That's totally me. I drink a very suspicious amount of hot chocolate! (Suspicious of what, I'm not sure.)

But, I love hot chocolate. I love to have it on my nightstand if I'm reading or writing lists or watching the news. I love to have it in my cup holder in the van while I'm running errands or shopping or picking up the kids. I love it as a treat, as a breakfast meal, as a late-night snack . . . basically, I make up excuses to drink it.

To accommodate my ~~obsession~~ ~~addiction~~ totally normal drinking habits, I bought these fabulous cups. I LOVE them! These are 'mommy's mugs', meaning only I can use them. Okay, maybe D could - but only if he asked really nicely.

Aren't they so cool? They are ceramic so they keep my cocoa hot. And they look super cute in the meantime.

These are a few of my favorite chocolate mixes (not shown is a homemade mix, which is pretty up there on the list). These are better mixed into skim milk (gotta keep goal #1 in mind!) rather than just water. My favorite and my best, though, is Green & Black's organic dark cocoa - now, that is what I call a simple pleasure!

Now a little story. After my freshman year at Ricks College (I don't care that they changed it to BYU-I, it will always be Ricks to me) I got an apartment for the summer terms. I had 2 roommates, who were previously friends, stay for only the first summer term.

As they were packing up to leave for home in Utah, one of them asked me if I liked mint hot cocoa. Why, yes, I do! She then asked me if I had heard of 'Stephen's Gourmet Hot Cocoa'. I replied, "Sorry, I haven't. I grew up in Indiana and I have never seen that brand there." She said, "Oh well, never mind, here's some mint cocoa for you." And she left an unmarked container of the yummy stuff in the cupboards. But, she didn't tell me why she asked and frankly, I didn't think anything of it.

Until . . . I was at the store a couple weeks later grocery shopping. I remembered the name so I looked it up and sure enough there were rows and rows of 'Stephen's' on the shelf. As I picked one up to look at it, I noticed that 'Stephen's' picture was on the back - and he looked just like my roommate!! She was his daughter! She didn't mention that, but it was sure fun to find out later.

If you are out there, Julie, I would like to thank you for that unmarked container of hot chocolate. It sparked the beginning of a beautiful relationship between me and 'Stephen's Gourmet Hot Cocoa'.

I've linked this post to "Chocolate on my Cranium", where Cocoa asked about our Simple Pleasures.

my inner pest

2011-01-26T12:32:00.005-07:00

When I was younger I really enjoyed the Beverly Cleary series about Ramona Quimby. These are the actual books I had then. I've since passed them onto my daughter, Cora. She's had a harder time learning to love chapter books. This was a series she actually enjoyed and read all the way through . She usually gets bored half way through a book and then doesn't finish them.

Part of the reason I enjoyed these was because of Ramona's antics. I was pretty shy as a young child and I couldn't hardly imagine being as bold and outspoken as Ramona. Also, being the oldest child in my family, it was interesting to read about someone's experiences with an older sibling.

There has been a time or two in my 3 daughters' lives where I may have misjudged and cut their bangs a tad too short. But, each time it's happened, the first thought in my head has been, "Ramona the Pest!"

- Speaking of being a pest -

When I was probably 11 or 12, I was cutting my own bangs. I stood in the mirror, grabbed my bangs and placed my finger at a good length to cut, then leaned over the toilet to make the snip. But once I tilted my head over it seemed that I was mistaken, from this angle my bangs looked like they were still going to be too long. So, without looking in the mirror again, I moved my finger up and proceeded to cut my bangs.

When I turned back around to the mirror I was horrified. Now they were way too short! What was I going to do? I had to go to school the next day! As far as I could tell there was only one thing I could do . . . tell everyone that my mom had cut my hair. Like I said, a pest!
Back to books, though, I also read a lot of Judy Blume and The Babysitter's Club.

Even though my first child is a bookworm like myself, my second is not. But, neither is D - except when it comes to books that he really enjoys. He loves reading about our Church's history. And because he is so interested in the subject, he forgets that he is reading, an activity he doesn't particularly enjoy. So, my hope is that Cora will find a subject that enthralls her enough to overlook the reading part.

You can find more Wordful Wednesday posts by other bloggers here.

the pressure is on!

2011-01-25T18:17:00.004-07:00

D came home from work today bearing gifts. Okay, just one gift. But, it was a big, fat, awesome gift!

My very own pressure canner!

Does my man know how to woo me or what?!

I can't wait to get my hands on my first 'victims'. What to can, what to can? Actually I'm looking forward to trying my hand at meats. Chicken, beef, pork - all in a row. That would be nice.

Our food storage plan for this year is coming along quite nicely.

This baby will hold 19 pints or 14 quarts. Be still my heart!

Now, if I could just find canning jars for cheap . . .

Life lessons learned from Snickerdoodles

2011-01-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

When I was younger and learning to bake, I learned a valuable lesson. One that can be used all throughout life, not just in the kitchen.

One afternoon I decided to make Snickerdoodles. I pulled out my mom's recipe book and read this:

Snickerdoodles

1 1/2 C sugar
1/2 C stick butter, softened
1/2 C shortening
2 large eggs
2 3/4 C flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 C sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

So, I mixed all the ingredients in a bowl. I then rolled the cookies into balls and put them into oven.

Only they didn't turn out so great. What could have happened??

I knew the different ingredients used in recipes. I knew how to correctly measure ingredients. I knew how to work the oven.

Then my mom (knowing immediately what mistake I had made) pointed out the rest of recipe to me:

Mix 1 1/2 C sugar, the margarine, shortening and eggs in large bowl. Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Shape dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. Mix 1/4 C sugar and the cinnamon in small bowl. Rolls balls in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place on cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 - 10 minutes.

I had failed to read the instructions. I was in a hurry. I didn't take the time to find out exactly what I needed to do to be successful.

That lesson still sticks with me. I remember it like it was yesterday. If I had slowed down, listened to what I was being told (read the whole recipe) and humbled myself by not thinking I knew enough to ignore those who were wiser and more experienced than myself (the authors of the recipe) I could have gleaned from them the recipe for delicious Snickerdoodles. The secret for success wasn't hidden, it wasn't hard to find. It was right in front of my face - but yet, I chose to be blind to it.

Do we ignore the secrets to success that are right in front of us? Do we fail to read the instructions? People joke that life, marriage, and children don't come with instruction manuals, but they do!

We have the scriptures abounding with examples, lessons, stories and wisdom. All we have to do is read them.

We have modern-day prophets and apostles. We have access to their words, warnings, counsels, and advice through General Conference, The Ensign and even the internet. All we have to do is listen.

We have a loving Heavenly Father, who wants us to be successful and happy. We can talk to Him by praying - at any time! All we have to do is ask.

Success and Happiness is ours for the taking. Are we?

new look, same great taste

2011-01-23T20:26:00.010-07:00

I decided to change the name of our blog. I wanted to take our name out of it. This is what I've come up with - "For Mayhem and All Eternity". It was important to me to keep the 'Mayhem' in there, but it is still subject to change. (I'm a woman, I can change my mind!)

Book Club

2011-01-08T05:00:00.001-07:00

Between everything else that's been going on I managed to squeeze in a little reading. Which is really important to my mental well-being. Reading really soothes my mind and relaxes me. Here's what I read:

This is The Women of Genesis series by Orson Scott Card. I really enjoyed all three. It was interesting to see things from their point of view. Even if a lot of it is fictional, the main story is not. So, there was plenty to re-learn or understand in a different way because of the story being told in a novel. I would recommend these, for sure.

Hit the ground, but no running

2011-01-07T12:53:00.004-07:00

I am having such a hard time feeling as energized and productive as I did in December. I don't know if it's the weather - cold and blah! or that we are still on vacation in our house - my kids are off school until the 23rd! or I'm just still recovering from holidays. Either way, I'm feeling lazy and unproductive in January.

I did do some work towards my resolutions this week though:

* I did my official weigh-in for #1 (NO, I am not going to post it!)

* I learned a basic knitting stitch and started a project for #6

(the starting of a booga bag)

* I read the Book of Revelation for #2

* Made some good progress on #3

* Got all the backpacks gathered for #4

Hmmm, I guess January hasn't been that unproductive, but it sure feels that way.

I've been spending a lot of time working on our food storage, specifically the long-term supply. Lists and calculations galore - just the thing to keep the winter blues away!

Now, that's weird!

2011-01-03T18:31:00.002-07:00

So, I'm sitting on my bed reading through some research on the Book of Revelation for the talk I'm supposed to give Sunday when THIS comes on the news . . . .

"Thousands of dead blackbirds fall from the sky in Arkansas"

Now, that's weird!

Resolutions for the New Year

2011-01-01T05:00:00.001-07:00

Here is my list of New Year's Resolutions for the year 2011:

1.) Lose 15 lbs. before April. (I know - that's so generic and typical, but it's something I really want to do and I'm hoping that by keeping track on here I'll actually accomplish it. And, NO, resolution #2 is not 'write in my journal more.' Ha ha ha!)

2.) Read the New Testament before Easter. (This might sound easy because it's the subject for Sunday School, but D and I team teach Primary so we'll have to do this on our own. And wouldn't you know, as soon as I put this on my list we were assigned to speak on the New Testament in church next week - I'm not big on speaking because I'm terrible at it, oh well.)

3.) Get out of debt. (Now I know we will still have a mortgage and school loans - D is working on his doctorate, so school loans are going to be a way of life around here for awhile :) but anything else will be out of there. This goal also includes having a cash reserve built up to where we would like.)

4.) Put together more complete 72-hour kits for the family. (I'll be using some tips and suggestions from HERE as well as other sources. )

5.) Prepare emergency car kit. (the site linked above will be posting tips on this as well.)

Do you sense a theme here?? . . .

6.) Learn a new skill - the one I chose is knitting. (Would you believe that after I wrote this list a friend emailed wanting to do a craft day every week with women in the ward, including knitting AND she would be willing to teach anyone. Cool!)

7.) Study and learn new skill with the family every month. (I'm open to suggestions for this. Here's our list so far - we are looking for 12 skills. -CPR, -first aid, -making shelters, -using a compass, -making fires, -knots, -navigation/stars, -fishing, -identify trees/plants, -cooking over a fire, -make/use buddy burners, -make/practice family exit/emergency/fire strategies)

8.) Finish at least 1 scrapbook. (I have a mountain of scrapbook supplies, paper, tools, you name it. Every time we move I pack it up, then set it up and organize it in our new place - but, I haven't touched the stuff in over 3 years. This is the year!)

9.) Use my video camera more. (I have a pretty neat video camera and I don't utilize it nearly enough. We did record Christmas this year, though. So, it's a start.)

10.) Acquire a pressure canner and use it! (No, Santa didn't bring me one this year, but it's on the list and on my radar!)

Well, that's my list. It's going to require some active planning on my part to remember everything and keep it up. But, I'll be recording my progress and (hopefully) success on here to keep me motivated (and accountable).

Happy New Year's to everyone! May this be your best year yet!

My mom and dad

2010-12-31T10:57:00.008-07:00

This is my mom and dad. They are currently on a mission in Washington State. They've been gone for about 7 months and we just now got a webcam so we could Skype with them. That's been a lot of fun!

This is the picture and message I got from them recently. (I posted it on their Facebook for them so all their friends could see what fun they are having! :)

"We got new i-Pads for Christmas!"

"Well mom and I just could not wait for Christmas. Isn't technology great! Best Buys didn't have the newest model so we had to make do with these. Love Sister Nana and Elder Papa"

(This picture is going to live FOREVER! haha! Love you Mom and Dad!)

For Today is the Day

2010-12-29T05:00:00.003-07:00

I'm making a list and checking it twice. You better believe it.

The list? My New Year's Resolutions for 2011.

Are you preparing yours?

This year's is probably my longest and most specific ever. AND to help me stick to them (and keep them recorded) I'm going to be sharing my list and my progress on here.

There is going to be a basic theme though - Be a better steward of my time.

I'm positive that if I prioritize, I can find time to do all the "Good, Better, Best " things I want (and need) to do.

Warm and fuzzy on Christmas Eve

2010-12-28T13:08:00.000-07:00

New pajamas! Is there anything quite like it? Especially on Christmas Eve?? I think not.

I remember as a child being able to open 1 gift on Christmas Eve - it was pajamas that my mom had made. Going to bed that night was just that much more exciting.

I've had plans over the years to do the same, but somehow I always run out of time.

Well, not this year! This year, I actually did it. New pajama bottoms for all 6 of us. How cute is everyone?? [I'm not in the picture, but my print is a PB & J :) ]

In fact, I finished them so early that I ran out and bought stuff to make the stockings you see hanging in the background! Even Phoebe the Kitty got one. They are soft and really cute - though the actual sock design is something I'll have to work on . . . . in a few years.

This is one of the many reasons I LOVE the Black Friday sale at JoAnn's Fabric! I love having material on-hand whenever I get a wild hair to make something.

What happens when I don't make a list.

2010-12-27T10:26:00.005-07:00

(my son with the glove dog I made for him with a scarf made from the same material as his new Christmas jammies.)

I've mentioned that this was our first holiday season with only our little family. Thanksgiving was a long day of cooking, but everything turned out delicious and was a great day for us.

December has been packed with crafts and baking and running here and there for parties, school functions, etc. I had lists galore - grocery lists, baking lists, activity lists, calendars, gifts, you name it, it was on a list . . . . somewhere.

I used any and all coupons I had or came across to optimize any shopping I needed to do. We were able to find deals and use coupons on the gifts for our kids. So they had a great time getting something they were wanting and we didn't have any regret for spending too much money or money we didn't have. Nothing is worse than regretting Christmas because you spent too much money - it detracts from the whole spirit of the season!

I think my homemade goodies and gifts went over pretty well. And we only had one mishap with the postal service - the box marked 'fragile' (all over it . . . ) came late and had clearly been run over at some point . . . Guess I'll be spending the extra money on insurance or delivery confirmation next time.

(my girls with the felt and fake flower hair clips I made for them.)

We had our Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve. (Some friends had invited us over for lunch on Christmas Day and we still wanted our own family dinner so we did that on Friday night.) It was still a lot of cooking and everything tasted delicious but we didn't eat as much . . . too many cookies and treats lying around begging to be eaten all day, I guess.

So, far everything on the 'list' had been checked off.

Cooking all the food was a huge list in itself. Timing is EVERYTHING, I have learned. I also learned that I saved too many things for the same day as the cooking. Thus, we didn't get a cake for Jesus' birthday this year. But, live and learn - next year will go smoother (knock on wood).

Cook Christmas dinner (on Christmas Eve) . . . check
Read chosen Christmas books to the kids . . . check
Hang the stockings . . . check
Deliver goody bags and presents, by mail or in person . . . check
Read my new 2010 Christmas book and go over new nativity . . . check
Sprinkle reindeer food outside . . . check
Set out cookies and milk for Santa . . . check
Have a ball with D setting out gifts and filling the stockings while the kids are fast asleep . . . check! and double check!!
Get to bed at a reasonable time so we can function on Christmas morning . . . check

Looks like I had everything written down and completed - almost!

It turns out I didn't put on the list :
Eat Santa's cookies and milk

How could I forget??

I had even suggested that the kids place the plate and glass right by the tree so Santa would see them. And wouldn't you know, that's one of the first things they noticed!

D and I are laying in bed listening to them squeal with delight as they see their Santa gift (which is not wrapped) and try to guess what all the lumps and bumps in their stockings could be, all while trying to be quiet and sneaky. When, in a loud, clear voice, we hear one of them say, "Hey! Santa didn't eat any of his cookies! Or drink any of his milk!"

Oops!

Double oops!! Cue a grimace from Mom.

How could I forget THAT?!?

I know how. I didn't put it on the list!

Oh well. They didn't dwell on it for long. I blamed myself by saying I must have picked a bad spot for the cookies. I think that satisfied them. I am really hoping that I didn't tarnish any of the magic of Santa Claus for my kids just because I forgot to nibble at the cookies!

Boy, being a parent can be a real juggling act sometimes. How do some parents get by WITHOUT lists??

Settle this in your hearts

2010-12-24T11:14:00.003-07:00

(Neal A. Maxwell's quote shown in the picture can be found here.)

May our hearts be full this Christmas as we remember the reason for the holiday season -

the birth of our Savior.

Merry Christmas to all!!

Mexican Wedding Cakes

2010-12-22T21:58:00.004-07:00

When I think of holiday baking I immediately think of Mexican Wedding Cakes. My mom made them every year while I was growing up. They are one of my favorite cookies even though I only have them during the Christmas season.

It's a pretty basic recipe but you can do lots of different things with it. Last year, my mom and sister mixed things up by putting a maraschino cherry in the middle of each one. Of all the nuts you can use in them, I prefer pecans.

1 C butter, soft
1/2 C xxx sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 C flour
1 C chopped nuts
(I prefer pecans that are chopped really small)

Cream the butter and sugar, add extracts. Mix in flour. Stir in nuts. Roll into 1" to 2" balls and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. Once they are completely cool, roll them in more xxx sugar.

Happy Holidays and Happy Baking!

Yoked together

2010-12-21T10:55:00.000-07:00

Today is the 14th anniversary of D and I being married and sealed for time and all eternity in the Chicago Temple.

As we reflect on years past, the ups and downs, and where we are as a couple now, we decided the 'theme' of an anniversary post should be teamwork.

Are you and your spouse on the same team? Do you work together towards the same goals? Is your partner in your corner? Cheering you on? Protecting you? Keeping your best interests in mind? Putting your happiness before their own?

There is a good article that was in the Ensign in April 2005 called "Three Principles of Marriage".

My favorite 'marriage' read is "Divorceless Marriage: Put It First, Make It Last". I would recommend it to everyone, married or not. Even if you are already married and are doing well - you can always learn and improve. (I found it on this website for as low as $0.75!)

I've read several marriage books and we've discussed them as a couple. We even bought the books we felt would benefit our children to read before they got married or even before they became engaged to someone. "Divorceless Marriage" is first on the list.

'The Family: A Proclamation to the World' states: "Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and their children". It goes on to say: "Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work and wholesome recreational activities". And, as pertaining to the rearing of children: "In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners".

Ephesians 5:22-33

“Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and shalt cleave unto her and none else” (D&C 42:22). You can use the word husband in this scripture as well. President Spencer W. Kimball taught: “The words none else eliminate everyone and everything. The spouse then becomes pre-eminent in the life of the husband or wife and neither social life nor occupational life nor political life nor any other interest nor person nor thing shall ever take precedence over the companion spouse.” (This quote comes from 'The Miracle of Forgiveness'.)

Looking for the one

2010-12-20T10:30:00.005-07:00

I am in need of a good homemade marshmallow recipe.

I made some for the first time this year. They went in our homemade goody bags. They look cute, they melt in hot chocolate really well and tasted good - but . . . it wasn't quite what I wanted.

These are actually my third batch just to get the recipe to work. I want something easier and more versatile. A recipe that allows me to add coloring or flavoring without messing up the balance.

Anyone have any good 'tried and true' recipes for homemade marshmallows that they would be willing to share??

Just for fun

2010-12-20T09:28:00.000-07:00

I got this in an email and I really enjoyed it.

No Soup for YOU!

2010-12-18T05:00:00.002-07:00

I can't hardly believe that Christmas is in ONE week! Where, oh where has this month gone? Or this year for that matter?

The weather is still nippy around here and I'm still on the hunt for soups and stews that please the family while filling our bellies. I've got another one that will be put in the box and copied onto a 'real' recipe card.

The recipe originated here. It's a Cream Cheese Chicken and Vegetable Soup.

This was a pretty basic soup that was easy to prepare and fairly fast, too. I used turkey instead of chicken. Gotta use up the Thanksgiving turkey meat before it's time for the Christmas ham!

It is meant to serve 4, but it was enough for the 6 of us.

2 tablespoons butter
1 yellow onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 cup diced carrots
3 cups chicken broth
2-3 potatoes, peeled and finely diced
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons flour
1 (8 oz. package) cream cheese
2-3 (about 1 pound) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced

In a large pot, melt the butter and add the onion, garlic, celery and carrots. Saute, stirring often, for 3-4 minutes, until the veggies are slightly tender and the onions are translucent.

Add the chicken broth and potatoes. Bring the soup to a simmer and cook, partially covered, until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.

In a liquid measuring cup, vigorously whisk the flour and milk together until smooth. Whisk the mixture into the soup, stirring quickly, and cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, until the soup begins to thicken slightly. Stir often to ensure the soup doesn’t burn.

Soften the cream cheese in the microwave until it is very soft/melty. Add the cream cheese to the soup in small tablespoon-size pieces. Let the pieces sit in the soup and warm through then whisk or stir the soup until the cream cheese melts and mixes in well.

Add the cooked chicken and heat through. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.

The recipe leaves room for "lighter" options like using light cream cheese or a skimmer milk. It's a creamy soup with the delicious taste of cream cheese - who can refuse that??

Tastes like Christmas

2010-12-16T05:00:00.004-07:00

I made some cookies the other night for our homemade goody baskets and let me tell you - they tasted like Christmas to me. I'm going to share the recipe so you can taste Christmas too.

I would give credit for this cookie recipe if I had any idea where I got it. I've had it for awhile but just started making them the past couple of years.

. I love ginger cookies . . . when they are soft.

That's what this recipe is for - SOFT ginger cookies.

21/4 C flour
2 tsp ginger
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 C butter, softened
1 C sugar, plus more for rolling the dough in
1 egg
1/4 C molasses

In a bowl, combine flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Set aside. Beat butter for a bit until soft. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Add egg and molasses, beat well. Add 1/2 the flour mixture and mix well. Then add the rest of the flour mixture. Add more flour if the dough is not a consistency that you can roll out balls. Roll dough into 1" balls and coat with sugar.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 8 or so minutes.
Do not over bake!

And the ooey-gooey goodness in the middle?? Oh, well, that's a nutmeg buttercream frosting I made. You don't have to sandwich them if you don't want to - they are plenty delicious all by themselves. But . . . the nutmeg buttercream did help them to taste like Christmas.

See Spot.

2010-12-15T05:00:00.000-07:00

Meet my nephew's new friend, Spot. How cute is he?? I saw the idea for him HERE.

It was pretty easy to do. And he is SO cute and soft. I only made the one, but am definitely going to be making others!

How could you not want to be his friend??

33 reasons

2010-12-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

Today is D's birthday!

He is 33 years old. (finally!)

I made a list of 33 things I love and appreciate about him, but decided not to share it with everyone. Just know it wasn't very hard to think of 33 things!

O, Christmas Tree

2010-12-13T17:20:00.005-07:00

My homemade Christmas ornament for 2010:

It's made of green felt and stuffed with fiber fill. The string that looks like lights? I'm not sure when or where I acquired it - found it in my "sewing/crafting/scrapping" stash. Worked great, though, didn't it?? I love these little trees!

Merry Christmas!

A few of our favorite Christmas songs

2010-12-09T05:00:00.002-07:00

My favorite Christmas song is 'Little Drummer Boy'. Sorry, the first several seconds of this video is introducing Josh Groban.

We love this song. And I really like Alison Krauss' voice. The video is a little weird, but I think it's pretty old.

This is always a great song, especially by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

This is D's favorite - O Holy Night by Aaron Neville.

And finally,

No Soup for YOU!

2010-12-08T05:00:00.002-07:00

This soup is a favorite in our house. Any time the weather changes (which seems to be a good time to get sick) or anyone is feeling sick, I make this soup.

It's good ol' homemade chicken noodle soup. The bowl in the picture though is made with turkey (post-Thanksgiving meal, of course)

I believe in a good bowl of soup healing your body and your mind. I just feel better while eating it, every time. And chicken noodle soup really is good for you when you aren't feeling so hot. (the onion and garlic do the trick)

Now, it's not totally homemade - I don't make my own noodles (I've never made pasta, actually). But, I am picky about which noodles I use. I always bought a certain noodle from Whole Foods Market and then one time they were out of it so I had to go a different direction. This new noodle I use is fairly accessible. It's called 'Country Pasta', I like it because it tastes homemade and it doesn't soak up all the juice. (don't you hate when that happens?)

The ingredients are pretty basic: broth or stock, water, garlic powder, onion, salt, pepper, fresh parsley, carrots, celery, chicken and noodles.

You can play with it, too. I've added rice before and the bowl shown above has fresh mushrooms. (which was actually really good)

The best soup, I think anyways, starts with the whole bird. That makes the best "chicken noodle soup" meat. (I season my bird with salt, pepper, dill, onion and garlic.) But, if not, frozen breasts work too. I'm not a fan of canned chicken, for soup anyways - it's just not the same. (note to self: must can whole chickens so I can have 'real' chicken noodle soup in the middle of a disaster or catastrophe)

Sometimes, I make my own stock, but not very often. Too time consuming for one day and I haven't tried freezing it to see what I think of the taste. But, it definitely tastes really good if you do.

This is just a vegetable stock from all the leftover trimmings I had one week - parsnips, carrots, onion, celery.

Here's my big secret for chicken noodle soup - lots of onion! I use a really big one or 2 medium-sized ones and I dice them up pretty small. Put them in the stock, water and spices and start to boil while you chop your other ingredients. By the time the soup is ready to serve, the onion is so cooked down that they are transparent and go unnoticed by picky eaters.

The onion is really good for helping with the sicknesses and immunity stuff - so I pack it in there!