I Dare You To Eat It

Did you know that you can now purchase cases of white wheat that’s already neatly canned, packaged, and ready to load into the back of your car?

Priced at only 5 cents more per can than if I had done all the work myself, today’s haul felt like a total victory!

Notice how I’ve resisted publishing recent articles that discuss wheat shortages? Well. That’s because I don’t believe in being motivated by fear. But, I’m not stupid.

My next wheat experiment is going to be meatballs made with wheat, or some portion of wheat. Still shopping suggestions. Please share if you have a favorite recipe. For now, I’m still buying the frozen meatballs from Costco.

Last Saturday we were surprised with a last minute chance to feed two of the young missionaries serving in our area. With exactly one hour to have their meal on the table, my food storage saved the day.

First, I threw together my favorite oven rice, using rice from my food storage of course. Good stuff.

Next, I microwaved to jump-start the last of the frozen meatballs. Then I tossed them into a hot crock pot while I stirred up a little ketchup, mustard, honey, and nutmeg. With the glaze drizzled on top the main course was ready to go in 5 minutes. The crock pot managed the temperature until it was time to serve. Who needs a warming drawer?

I have this theory that 19-21 year olds don’t eat enough veggies so it was a good thing I had purple cabbage and green beans on hand. The steamed cabbage was topped with my killer cheese sauce. I made it with powdered milk, thank-you-very-much, instead of whipping cream. It looks pretty intense but the Elders seemed happy. One young man said that he had never tasted cabbage. Despite that crazy purple color, he helped himself to three servings.

See? Emergency meals don’t have to be scary.

Hey friends!

Honeyville Grain has invited me to come speak at their main store TWICE on this coming Saturday. You’re invited to attend, once or twice, if you like. Come be “under-whelmed” as you learn how a slacker has tackled the food storage nut. Provident living really does have the power to make everyone’s life…

so

much

EASIER!

The address for Honeyville’s Salt Lake City, Utah location is 635 Billy Mitchell Road and their phone number is 801-972-2168. My presentations will begin at 11:00 and 1:00. Bring a friend! Signed copies of the book will be available for $8.00 each.

Hope to see you~Liesa

Almost six years ago, a really generous client gave me 24 sets of my favorite flatware as a thank you present when I completed the design work on her home.
“Like vintage silverware collected over time, each of our Maxfield Flatware settings combines five different designs united by their 19th-century English origins. Made of substantial nickel with a durable 10-micron-thick silver-plated finish. Tumbled by hand to achieve the warm patina of timeworn heirlooms.” (coooool)

I have loved using these utensils! Supposedly dishwasher safe, but the years of harsh chemicals and extream heat have really done a number on their finish. It’s getting to where I feel embarrassed when I set the table.

So, in the spirit of Spring cleaning, I decided to research the easiest way to polish badly tarnished silverware. Finding lots and lots of tried and true ’expert’ suggestions, I settled on the method that supposedly came from a real retired butler. I mean, if you can’t trust the butler…

1. Line a glass bowl or cake pan with aluminum foil and fill with tarnished silverware. 2. Sprinkle on 3 + tablespoons of baking soda. 3. Cover with 2-3 quarts of boiling water.

4. Cover with another piece of aluminum foil and allow to soak for at least 10 minutes.

5. After about 30 minutes of soaking, I scrubbed each piece with this type of sponge and a little dish detergent. Then I rinsed them with clean water and dried/polished each with a soft towel.

And this is how they turned out! (And I didn’t have to go shopping/hunting for the polishing pastes and cleaning creams that were advertised!)

CLEAN! SPARKLEY! ALMOST NEW AGAIN! You know how I struggle with basically all homemaking tasks so THIS is a major success story!

I explained to the family that from now on we should wash the utensils by hand instead of tossing them into the dishwasher with everything else.

Hailey just started laughing at me and said she was going to buy a cheap/D.I. set of her own utensils. Turns out she’s “not the hand-washing type.”

Sometimes I want to cut her hair while she’s sleeping.

Shout out to my daughter, Rosie, serving her mission in Arizona and my darling son-in-law, Chas, who did the filming for this piece. Go team!

How’s your visiting teaching coming for this month? Need some motivation? Check out this current events article from  Japan. Slow clap for msnbc senior reporter, Kari Huss! Really nice when the truth is reported.

So friends,

A few weeks ago, Hannah and Abby contacted me regarding an upcoming bit, sharing where people are storing their food storage. They’ll be posting my little piece of the action, this coming Wednesday, March 16th.  Check it out if you’re interested in seeing how we’re currently managing our stash. 

In the Spring of 2008, the Brigham Young University magazine published an article titled, New Tips For Old Food. As the lead researcher of BYU’s Long-Term Food Storage Research team and chair of the Department of Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Science, Oscar A. Pike answered a question about where we should store our food supply by stating, “If you ever have to eat your food storage, you’ll wish you had stored the food in the house and the furniture in the garage.”

In my job as an interior designer, I work primarily on giant homes, but my family lives in a relatively small home. In fact,  we raised all five daughters, ages 4-16, together, in ONE BEDROOM. They did not love it. But it was one of our provident living choices and it did, in a freakish way, seem to encourage college. Our girls wanted to get those scholarships and get out of that room! Trust me, I understand the space dilema.

Most of us don’t have enough room in our homes. One of my friends told me she was reconsidering miscellaneous items she had stored for years, (old toys, clothes, decorations, and craft supplies) in order to make room for food storage. Most of us will have to evaluate how we’re using the space in our homes, and that’s a good thing.

With big thanks and a hug for the good women of www.safelygatheredin.blogspot.com  some new ideas will soon be coming our way!

Meet my new cleaning friend, Dawn.

She does bathrooms!

Some time ago, a sales woman working in an expensive designer bath supply house, suggested that Dawn dishwashing liquid was the best product for safely cleaning tubs and showers. At first I thought that seemed too weird, like the product wasn’t strong enough, or something. But then I remembered that Dawn is typically used to wash dishes…and we EAT off our dishes. I also remembered how much I hate to spray, and spray, and spray those toxic bathroom cleaning chemicals.

Now, I just squirt out one big zig-zag of detergent.

Suds up with a wet scrubbing sponge,

and rinse! I bet the whole process takes me less than 5 minutes.

The tub and shower walls dry beautifully, completely free of streaks or spots, and the whole rooms smells like apple blossoms.

Because Dawn is “ultra concentrated” her once a week bathroom duty is very economical. Really, you’ll be surprised at how long a single bottle will last. When I finally do run out I fill the bottle with water and Sharpie-mark the outside “Soapy”. It’s an easy way to recycle the container and create a little extra storage water that would be perfect for basic washing during an emergency.

Nothin’ says “I LOOOOOVE YOU” like saving money! Or maybe that’s just us.

This year, for Valentine’s, I shopped at  my all-time-favorite-store-on-the-planet: Market Square. The place actually has another name, NPS, and I don’t know why. Been meaning to tell you about it forev’s but be warned, this place is not for everyone. In fact, when my friend, Carin and her daughter Angela, took it for a spin they sent me a text that said, and I quote, “NEVER SEEN SO MUCH CRAP IN ALL MY LIFE”. They brought me home this lovely gem to prove it.

Plastic cigarette case. I keep it in an antique lawyer’s chest. Don’t want to loose that puppy. The price on the back says $2.99 but C and Ang were able to score it for 70% off! Bank. Totally worth it. Really, such a treasure.

I deeply love this store so it seems like the perfect thing to share in honor of Valentine’s Day. It’s sort of like an indoor swap meet without all the wacky vendors. Just miles and miles of shelving, actually two warehouses full to the ceiling, with miss-directed or unclaimed freight. Does anyone else hear the music? Take a look at what I found for Mike.

J.CREW blue and white seersucker pants. Originally about $40.00, marked down to $19.99 and then 40%off. $11.99! He’ll veto these for sure but I just couldn’t pass them up. SO CUTE!

Next: A money pillow! Bet you’ve never even seen one before! I KNOW! Me too!!! Had to have it.  $2.24  This pillow’s perfect for Mike because, well, it’s a hundred dollar (thank you) money pillow and he’s pretty serious about money.

THEN, I found this awesome GIANT starfish Valentine’s Day card! A. MA. ZING. Of course our last name is Card which makes it even more perfect (?) This will make him weep.

And just so you don’t think it’s all “crap”, check out my living room area rug. I bought it a few months ago and IT came from Market Square. With the original tag still attached, I could see that the rug had launched from a shop in the heart of New York City. Mind you, I’ve purchased rugs from this vendor in the past (excuse me) and only for clients’ homes. Originally $1,600.00, this little lost 8′ x 11′ wool/cotton chenille was $240.00.

So that’s why I go to Market Square/NPS, and that’s why I love it. It’s not so much about shopping as big game hunting.

I don’t care where you live, if you have a suggestion for awesome shopping deals, we would LOVE for you to share.

This little NUT has officially danced her last…

‘CRACKER.

And what, exactly, does one Lady In Waiting have to do with…

the price of beans?

Weeeeeeeell.

A bit of a stretch, but check out this closing portion of a beautiful conference message from October 2009.  A powerful invitation to come unto Christ, Elder Robert D. Hales, of The Quorum Of The Twelve Apostles, explains the steps we may take,

when we’re ready to stop waiting.  True nutcracker.

*********

Seeking to Know God, Our Heavenly Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ

The light of belief is within you, waiting to be awakened and intensified by the Spirit of God.

Brothers and sisters, you may already know, deep in your soul, that God lives. You may not know all about Him yet and do not understand all His ways, but the light of belief is within you, waiting to be awakened and intensified by the Spirit of God and the Light of Christ, which you are born with.

She just barely returned from serving an 18 month mission in Missouri and Kansas. It was the night before Thanksgiving and you wouldn’t believe how THANKFUL we were.  We welcomed her home with the gift of a lifetime.

Almost 24 years old and THIS

(Bddddddddddddd)

is the very first time she’s ever had her own bedroom!

Provident living, living within our means, meant that our children had to go without some stuff. Good stuff. Stuff they really really wanted. For a lot of years.

But it was only stuff.

Welcome home Hays! We love you!!!