Well folks, she’s off and running! 

This Sister Card has completed week number one in 18 months of missionary service for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We’ve received one letter and one email and can already tell that she’s happy, learning, and growing in new ways. Evidently, the Mission Training Center experience has her ”whelmed but not overwhelmed”. And I was RIGHT about the no time to get ready in the mornings and how much she’d love the bottomless chocolate milk. Told ya!

Sometimes I actually feel a little embarrassed that I’m not in shambles with two daughters currently serving missions. I of course miss them both every day, but there honestly isn’t anything I would rather have them doing. Missions aren’t right for every Mormon young woman but when it fits it’s a completely remarkable experiences! In my mind, this (and marriage and family) is what all the years of hard work and family nights were for. We were trying to get them ready to do BIG things. I’m thrilled that two of our girls have been in a position to accept callings to serve the Lord through sharing His restored gospel in Missouri and Arizona.

And for the record, people are not joining The Church, the world over, solely or even primarily based on the individual testimonies of 19 year old boys and 21 year old women. I mean…really? These kids are great but they’re not that great. People choose to be baptized because they read The Book of Mormon and feel the power of the Holy Ghost testifying of its truthfulness in their hearts. The missionaries’ job is to share that opportunity.

Storage Ingredients

1/2 cup chocolate syrup

1 cup fat-free evaporated milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups ice cubes

Combine chocolate syrup, evaporated milk, vanilla and ice in a blender until smooth. If you want to be as fancy as the restaurant, garnish individual glasses with a dollop of whipped topping and/or sprinkles of chocolate shavings.

Variations: Mexican Hot Chocolate–Add 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Peppermint Hot Chocolate–Substitute 1/4 teaspoon mint extract for the vanilla extract.

Thanks to Joy Bauer, RD, TODAY show nutrition-diet expert, I have a last minute Visiting Teaching gift!

The summer months can be especially difficult to schedule appointments that work for you, your family, your companion’s schedule, work, and the sisters you’ve been called to serve. Believe me, I know. We tried all month long to set up something meaningful but just couldn’t seem to get it  pulled together. Refusing to give up, I copied the visiting teaching message, marking paragraphs that impressed me most, and left it with this recipe and bag of supplies. Clearly, drive-by visits are not ideal, but I think it’s better than nothing. At least my sisters know that they’re on my mind and in my heart. Our efforts don’t have to be perfect in order to be valuable. 

Yesterday was our big family dinner honoring Rosemary before she leaves on her mission and celebrating her 21st birthday. We had the shindig at a local park and it only took 5 crock pots to feed the crowd.

Here’s what we served to sixty: 1-Toasted tortillas, in crock pot #1, keeping them hot off the electric grill. 2-Cilantro Lime Rice 3. Black Beans 4. Durango Corn 5. Sweet Pork

Then there were the usual toppings and sides like chips, pico de gallo, fresh guacamole, grated cheese, chopped lettuce, creamy cilantro dressing, watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, strawberries, and lots and lots of desserts. Big big thank yous to everyone that helped!

Lucky for us, the pavilion had lots of electrical outlets, centrally located. Unlucky for us, the benches hadn’t been cleaned in 100 years. Nothing say’s Haaaappy 21st!!! Today is your special day!!! like having your mom roust you out, bright and early, so that you can help her SCRUB picnic table benches. So thoughtful. My friend, Jeanette, suggested that THAT would make an excellent service project for the Scouts. I want to personally suggest it to everyone. Rosie and I would have LOVED to have enjoyed the nervous energy of a few scouts helping us with the scrub brush action. Maybe she’ll get to sleep in next year. Probably not.

But the weather was great and the food was fine. When Mike was welcoming all the guests he made a joke about how I had been preparing the food for the past year. I was laughing but it sort of felt like that. With everything washed and put away, and having done it once, I can see that I only needed half as much food as what I had originally thought. The cooking/bottling/freezing-ahead-of-time warm-and-serve-in-multiple-crock-pots method worked like a dream! I didn’t have to rent one thing. I simply borrowed a few extra crock pots and the food stayed perfectly hot and ready for hours. No babysitting required.

I’m so glad that we had beautiful weather. (Our whole family was in Southern California last week but I guess some of our mountains had snow, again. That’s Utah.) I’m also glad that we hosted this “open house” on a Thursday night. Plenty of people were able to attend and share in the big family meal before Rosie leaves for her 18 months of service for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mesa, Arizona. With the party behind us, now the biggest thing on my plate is helping her be ready to speak in sacrament meeting this Sunday. It’s a great feeling. And tomorrow (today) I’m going to shower and get dressed.

Provident living really works, especially when there’s lots of work.

Fresh Ingredients

optional garnishes: fresh basil, Parmesan cheese, sour cream

Storage Ingredients

2 cans tomato sauce (14 oz. each)

1 can evaporated milk (12.5 oz.)

1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves

Combine tomato sauce, evaporated milk, and dried basil (or substitute with fresh basil if available) and heat. Serve with grated cheese and a dab of sour cream if desired.

Yes friends, it’s another easy food storage meal that tastes legit! My dear friend, Khaliel, gave me this awesome soup recipe and so far it has been a hit with the 48 year old husband, the 25 and 27 year old newlyweds, AND the 13 year old still living at home. That’s saying a lot. I think that’s success. Best if all, this recipe only takes one minute to prepare. I could weep. For me, food storage isn’t primarily about planning meals for an emergency. It’s about planing regular meals that my family can enjoy RIGHT NOW.

Right now, we’re facing month number THREE of a rather extensive remodeling project in our home, with at least another month and a half to go. Hard to ‘complain’ about a remodeling project (boohoo) but I CAN STILL DO IT! I’m thrilled that we’re finally investing in some much needed home improvements but all this construction has made life a little funky as we contend with workers, tools, machinery, tarps, and the constant layer of dust that covers everything.

Last night, as I opened these three cans…

spicing it up with a bit of this…

or a little of that…

meant I was able serve my family a quick and healthy dinner, in spite of all the chaos.  Thank you!

When I shared my recipe for sloppy-joes Bill was shocked to learn that I didn’t know how to make my own chili sauce. Then he kindly invited me to come to his home so that he could teach me his mother’s famous recipe. As soon I tasted Grandma Marsden’s I was 100% converted, and totally willing to learn!

Fresh Ingredients

5 or 6 medium sweet onions

2 red peppers

2 green peppers

Storage Ingredients

2 giant (1 gallon) cans of diced tomatoes (106 oz. each)

2 cups apple cider vinegar

4 cups sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Grind the onions and peppers on coarse grind in a hand grinder. (Or, chop them into 1/2″ chunks…forever. That little old grinder was an awesome tool!)

Combine all ingredients in a large stock pot.

Cook about 10 minutes or until onions are transparent.

Process 15-20 minutes in a steam processor. (It would be a mistake for me to try to share more detailed instructions because I’ve only done this once. Gulp. But I have to admit, it seemed really easy…as I watched Bill do everything.) 

This recipe made about 20 pints of chili sauce, so almost 3 full batches. (That’s canning talk.)

We’re totally addicted to this stuff. My pot roasts have never been so happy.

Storage Ingredients

1 can crushed pineapple with juice (20 oz.)

1 box angel food cake mix

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray or grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. With minimal mixing, combine entire can of crushed pineapple with angel food cake mix. Pour into prepared baking pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Cake should be lightly browned and center tested done when fully baked. Cool inverted. Frost with sweetened whipping cream if desired.

Refreshing and light as a feather, this is a great holiday dessert! Perfect after a rich meal. Big thanks to dear Linda for sharing such an easy and yummy recipe. With only two ingredients, it’s practically holiday baking for pre-schoolers, and something even I couldn’t mess up. Our whole family loved it. One daughter said, “Dang, this would make a great wedding cake.” That’s a pretty big compliment, especially for a Weight Watchers recipe. Fat free if served without frosting.

I suggest you give this recipe a try and consider adding a few cans of crushed pineapple and boxes of angel food cake mix to your three-month supply. Angels in your home will love you!

Merry Christmas!

and my twelve year old hungry for an after-school treat, I thought this was a perfect recipe for Lizzie to try. Now, you may notice that the apples look a bit odd, after 10 years of storage, but don’t be scared. These babies are supposed to last 30 years…even if their appearance and texture has changed a bit. TMI?

Storage Ingredients

Filling:

4 cups dehydrated apples, firmly packed

4 cups water

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Bring water to a boil in a 3 quart pan. Add apples, stir and let stand for 5 minutes. Add sugar, flour and cinnamon to apples. Cook, stirring constantly until thick and bubbly. Pour into an oiled or sprayed 7 x 11 inch pan.  (We buttered our pan, because we could.) The main difference I noticed about this recipe was that in preparing the apples this way created a very VERY luscious, almost caramel-like, filling.

Topping:

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup butter

Cut butter into flour and sugar until crumbly.

Sprinkle crumb topping over the apple filling.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 55 minutes.

Serve hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or half and half.

WE LOVED THIS DUTCH APPLE PIE!!! If you have dehydrated apples in your storage you should definitely try this recipe. If you don’t have dehydrated apples in your storage,

get some.

I met another dear Laura at one of the Costco signings and she was kind enough to share the recipe for a “practical easy way” to make homemade laundry soup soap. (Such a weirdo.)

5 cups Borax

5 cups washing soda

2 bars Fels Naptha Soap, grated (Grated like cheese? Laura said yes.)

5 cups Oxi Clean or Purex.

Mix soaps together and use 2 Tablespoons per load. Laura said that this should last a long time and is cheap and easy to make.

Lizzie and I worked together to mix up a double batch. Grating the bars of soap was crazy but it worked.

I’m curious to see how this soap works and I’m curious about the cost. Just haven’t had the time to figure it all out. If you have any ideas or suggestions please let me know.

Fresh Ingredients

Romaine lettuce or baby spinach

crumbled feta cheese

Storage Ingredients

1 can pears (29 oz.)

1 cup chopped pecans (These may be lightly toasted with a little sugar, if you like. I like.)

Briannas Poppy Seed salad dressing

If you like, toss pecan pieces  (about 1 cup) with sugar (about 3 tablespoons) in a hot pan just until the sugar begins to stick to the nuts. Remove from heat and allow to cool on a plate. Prepare a bed of torn lettuce, or spinach leaves, on 6 individual salad plates. Drain and slice the pears and then add them on top of the greens. Sprinkle with crumbled feta cheese. Drizzle with salad dressing and top with candied nuts.

Lovely Lynda in Las Vegas shared this lucsiously laid-back salad recipe. It’s been a family favorite for years! Besides tasting great, this refreshing salad is easy to prepare and another creative way to enjoy canned pears from my three-month supply food storage.

Yes, I really  use my food storage and it saves me money EVERY SINGLE WEEK! For example, last week I picked up a Costco roasted chicken ($5.99?) and served it with…something…and something else. I don’t remember. (Dang…where was I headed with this?)

Oh yea! The next day I put the whole leftover chicken, bones and all, in my crock-pot, covered it with water, and set the temperature on high heat. After 3 or 4 hours of gentle boiling, I drained all the broth, returned it to the crock-pot, and separated the juicy chicken pieces from the muck and bones. Then I added about 2 cups of diced carrots and 2 cups of diced celery to the broth and set the heat on low. A couple hours later, when the vegetables were just starting to get tender, I threw in about one and a half cups of dry macaroni from my long-term storage, a few shakes of dried parsley flakes, and a little salt and pepper. As soon as the macaroni was cooked I stirred in 1 cup of dry powdered milk so that the soup would be extra creamy and fresh tasting.

Because the soup took so little effort and time to prepare, aaaaand I happen to have way too much white flour on hand, I experimented with a new bread recipe and was able to serve a simple supper of hot chicken soup and freshly baked bread. http://www.mormonchic.com/recipe/recipebox/pages/bread_yeast.asp

All in all, there was no cost to this meal that easily served my family three times. The chicken was leftover from the night before and the fresh vegetables were leftover from who knows when. The ingredients that came from my food storage were the white flour, oil, honey, salt, you know–for the bread, and the macaroni, powdered milk, and spices for the soup. That seems free because I didn’t have to spend fresh money.

So, eating food storage doesn’t have to be weird! In fact, nothing could be more normal than homemade chicken soup and fresh bread. And I like knowing that I can prepare a satisfying meal from the supplies in my home. Even if I didn’t have the leftover roasted chicken and fresh vegetables I could have made a similar soup using my dehydrated carrots, onions, and canned chicken chunks. No, it wouldn’t be exactly the same, but it would be familiar and something I know my family could enjoy, especially if there wasn’t another option.

Using my food storage right now means I’m also getting a tiny bit better at the whole homemaking gig. I’m still not a fantastic cook but I know how to use the food we’ve got stored and I’m really enjoying the financial advantages that always come from provident living. If you haven’t tried this, just set a goal to cook one dish that uses either wheat, rice, beans, pasta, or potatoes in combination with normal, everyday, ingredients from the grocery store. If you need a little help with finding a recipe you can check out the recipe page on this website for ideas that will get you rolling. I think you’ll discover that using your food storage really isn’t so scary after all! Like I always say, if I can do this, anyone can do it. Just ask my friends.