I Dare You To Eat It

Today, Lizzie won the costume contest at her middle school, sporting a costume I sewed over 20 years ago! Everyone thought she was Kevin the bird from Disney/Pixar’s Up.

Hilarious because this costume was originally made for our oldest daughter, Samantha, when she was in kindergarten. I threw it together from scraps of fabric, making up the pattern…on the fly (kmfg) and making sure everything but the feathered headdress was washable, and the dumb thing just keeps going and going and going. I think all five of our girls have used it, one wacky SIL, cousins, friends, and even my mom wore it, bless her heart, when she was about 70 years old and still working at the University of Utah. Mom just loved to dress up for Halloween

This year Lizzie added the rubber gloves, stuffing the toes (fingers) with cotton balls to create the perfect (free) bird feet.

So, for all those moms who have lost sleep sewing costumes, here’s a hug from me! Sometimes things just turn out better than we expected.

Check out Samantha’s blog for her creative costume and latest news! Weeeeeeeeeee!

A friend, with a lactose intolerant husband, sent in a message today asking if I had any suggestions for substitutions in recipes that call for cream of whatever soups. I shot back something I read only last night about using instant potato flakes prepared with chicken broth as a general thickener, gravy base, or soup substitute.

Then, I told her I would ask YOU.

Fresh Ingredients

1 small onion, finely diced

2 tablespoons butter

Storage Ingredients

1 can cream of mushroom soup (10 3/4 oz.)

1 can whole kernel corn with liquid (15 oz.)

3 cups water

1 cup dry powdered milk

1 cup instant potato flakes

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Saute onion in butter until soft. Combine all ingredients and heat through. Serve garnished with grated cheese and a pinch of paprika, if you like.

My dear friend, Martha, shared this easy, yummy, soup recipe. It’s another one that was served to all the women in the stake prior to the Relief Society broadcast. Again, the goal was to give sisters the opportunity to sample a simple pantry meal, one that could be ready in a flash and shared with someone in need. Basic but wholesome recipes like this can help us use our food storage and save money in the monthly grocery bill.

My daughter, Hailey, just dropped by and needed some dinner. Living with roommates, I KNOW that she’s not eating enough vegetables, so I decided to throw in about 2 cups of steamed broccoli. (Not one word about the powdered milk.)

Her exact words were, “Ooooo this is GOOD!”

Try this recipe and see if you agree with Hays

Fresh Ingredients

cilantro, chopped (optional)

Storage Ingredients

1 can beef chunks (12 oz.)

1 can coconut milk (13.5 oz.)

1 can sliced, or diced, potatoes (15 oz.)

1 can sliced carrots (15 oz.)

1 can peas (15 oz.)

2 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon curry powder

1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup mix

In a medium-sized pot combine beef chunks with broth, coconut milk, drained vegetables, flour, and spices. Simmer for 10 minutes and serve over hot rice, garnished with fresh chopped cilantro.

Prior to the General Relief Society broadcast a couple of weeks ago, my previous stake served this and two other recipes. I’ll share those next but can you believe it? (gasp!) CANNED VEGETABLES AND EVEN POWDERED MILK AT A STAKE EVENT!!!

With the Utah Food Bank begging for donations, our focus was on rescueing and goods from our food storage were the tools. Besides encouraging the women to participate in a mass food collection, we served them a simple ‘pantry meal’, and shared one woman’s personal testimony of being rescued.

What I learned, again, was that it truly doesn’t matter what we bring to a friend in need. If we don’t have time to make our mother’s famous lasagna, with homemade noodles (oh please) we can still help! We can quickly reach out, show up, share what we have, and try to lift one another. Having a few extra cans in the cupboard will help us to be ready to respond.

And if our budgets happen to be hurting, simple pantry meals can be just the help we need. A yummy curry dinner made with these basic ingredients costs less than $10.00.

One recipe makes enough to feed a family of six!

And, my favorite part is that this recipe can be ready in 10 minutes! Who doesn’t need THAT kind of help?

My mother never cooked with canned vegetables so I grew up thinking they were BAD. But because I want to have some amount of canned vegetables in my food storage, I want viable recipes for disguising using canned vegetables. Let me tell you, the sisters at this last stake event had no idea that I had contributed one of the recipes, but I heard comment after comment about the tasty curry dish. So…

If you’ve never cooked with canned vegetables, I suggest you give this a try. Don’t tell your family. Just surprise them with an interesting Indian stew, for an international treat! Marketing is everything.

And maybe the bigger question is, do you need help writing it?

One thing I learned from writing my own book was that it was a ba-jillion times more difficult than I thought it would be. I assumed it would be easy to just “tell my story” and I was so so wrong. Thankfully, and miraculously, I had awesome help and THAT made all the difference!

Maybe that’s why I think these friends are offering THE PERFECT writing opportunity. The term FAMILY VACATION takes on a whole new meaning when you’re working with Tom and Alison Taylor. You’ll stay in a swanky resort, enjoying incredible surroundings and incredible food. But you’ll also receive expert coaching and personalized assistance in writing your individual story. You will enjoy plenty of time for rest and relaxation AND return home knowing that your personal history will be compiled, professionally bound, and mailed to your home in a couple of weeks. I think that sounds like the ultimate in truly meaningful luxury.

Reading through their information, you’ll see that this ”family vacation”, like all vacations, does cost some money. This is the only vacation I’ve ever heard of that guides participants through the process of COMPLETIING a book. It gets done! If you’re not in the market, maybe you know someone who is. Could this be just the sort of help your parents need? Maybe you should suggest that copies of a loved one’s personal history would be more valuable than sweaters at Christmas time. Maybe it’s a gift they can give to themselves and then share for generations. I think this is a fabulous opportunity and worth every penny of the investment!

Our family stumbled into a real estate deal we couldn’t resist, so we’ve bought the farm.

Decided to trade in a little of that for a lot more of this.

This section of the web site is where I share what I’m learning about provident living. To me, provident living means living SMART, with better options and better opportunities. Today I want to share what I’ve learned about provident living from my new neighbors. These people have been fantastic examples of choosing the better options and creating better opportunities.

#1. It’s smart to just drop by and offer to help when you see people unloading a truck at a home that was recently for sale. First night we pulled in with a rented U Haul, we had two families, with children of all ages, just drop by to help us unload the very first truck load. We also had a number of cars pull right into our driveway so that they could say hello and welcome us to the neighborhood. That’s such a better way to live!

#2. It’s smart to drop by a new neighbor’s home and introduce yourself. The first couple to knock on our door brought a dozen of their fresh eggs and took the time to stay and chat with us. So basic and yet so generous.

#3. It’s smart to make phone calls and welcome new members to the ward, youth organizations, RS, and priesthood quorums. It was so nice to have someone from our congregation call just to say, “Hey! You’re on our team and we’re glad you’re here!” It was really difficult to leave our previous ward family. The warmth and caring welcome we’ve experienced from this new group of people has been absolutely wonderful. 

#4. It’s smart to welcome a new child/teenager with open arms. Lizzie’s YW leaders knew her name before she was even introduced. They were leaning over the bench in the chapel and extending their hands backed by a posse of girls designated to help the newcomer find the appropriate Sunday School class. On the night of the first Stake Dance, when Lizzie was crying and saying that she wasn’t going to go, her cell phone rang and a new friend from the ward was offering to come pick up Lizzie so that she that she wouldn’t have to brave the crowd on her own.

#5. It’s smart to think about planning some type of simple event to welcome a new child to the neighborhood. Before we even moved in, one of the new neighbors left me a kind phone message where she offered to host a back to school party so that Lizzie could meet more of the youth before the first big day.

#6. It’s smart to invite a new couple out to dinner. Meeting people at church is always a great opportunity. Taking the time and making the extra effort to organize a group date night is so much better. THREE DAYS after our first week at church, two couples invited us out to dinner on a Friday night. We met at a casual little sandwich shop in the neighborhood and enjoyed visiting. We all took turns sharing little bits from our past and laughing at the history.

#7. It’s smart to encourage our children to reach out to the children that move into our neighborhoods. Beyond the big invitation to the dance, Lizzie has received a number of phone calls where girls have invited her to go see a movie, play night games, or just hang out. Each invitation was appreciated so much more than we can say.

#8. It’s smart to organize a little luncheon gathering, inviting all the women in the immediate area, so that the new “sister” can make some new friends. Just yesterday I met about a dozen or more women who had taken time, on what was the first day of school for many of them, to bring their own lunch and hang out for a couple of hours. So simple and so great.

Obviously, we feel very blessed to be here. These people have already taught us so much. It’s smart to reach out and broaden the circle, welcoming people into our lives. It’s a better way to live!

Hey friends! I’ve stumbled onto a really great way to enjoy the super health benefits of purple cabbage and mixed peppers combined with a few items from my three month supply.

First, dice 3-4 peppers, in any combination of colors. I usually go for 1 green, 1 yellow, 1 orange, and 1 red. Then add maybe a quarter, more or less, of a purple onion. This picture shows sliced green onion but the purple or red onion is better. The pepper and onion mixture can be stored in the fridge for days, which saves a ton of time. Next, shred or chop about a cup of purple cabbage.

Mix about 1 cup of cabbage with 1/2 cup of the pepper/onion mix in a small mixing bowl, or simply layer on a plate if you’re in a hurry. Doesn’t that look pretty? I love all the colors in fresh vegetables!

Next step, select a protein option from your pantry storage. Some days I go for a half can of tuna and other days I go for beans. Sometimes you feel like a nut. Sometimes you don’t.

Add 2 tablespoons of your favorite salad dressing and toss.

I figure that this nutritious lunch has only about 5 or 6 Weight Watchers points. (Notice the variety of light dressing options?) This chopped salad is both filling and fun. I KNOW food is not supposed to be a reward, but this one is. Hope you like it!

Today I was sifting through piles of old files and came across a note I had written almost four years ago. In November of 2007, having been invited to participate in the taping of a marriage and family seminar by Dr. Stephen R. Covey, the take away message I had saved for so long was, “Love is an action, not a feeling. Love is an empty box that you choose, and agree, to fill.”

Then, later tonight, one of my daughters sent me this link to the newest Mormon Message. Watch and maybe you’ll recognize one of the couples. I sure did!

(…and those Sloppy Joes he mentions are made with added wheat berries, from food storage. Yup. Recipe’s in the book!)

Our very first grandchild arrived safe and sound! Banks Matthew burst onto the scene at 9 pounds 1 oz. and we couldn’t be happier.

Children are the very best reason for investing in food storage. No way can we fail these little ones!

From The First Presidency: “We ask that you be wise as you store food and water and build your savings. Do not go to extremes; it is not prudent, for example, to go into debt to establish your food storage all at once. With careful planning, you can, over time, establish a home storage supply and a financial reserve.”

Just so you know, ordering these starter kits is a WISE way to build a reasonable, highly useable and totally economical food storage. They cost only $31.00 each and can be shipped anywhere in the United States.

Sleep well!

Wow. That’s a mouthful.

But I have a question. Does anyone know why my WWANKB tastes like coffee? I tried this recipe but didn’t add the optional herbs, rosemary and thyme. Just wanted to have 100% whole wheat, straight up.

I baked this early this morning in my regular oven instead of my Sun Oven, hoping to give the recipe a fair chance.

The texture was nice and I was happy with the crispy crust and big holes but…it really did taste like coffee.  What’s up with that? I actually like the smell of coffee, even though I’m not a coffee drinker, but I would rather not have that fragrance and flavor in my bread. The bread tastes more “normal” if slathered in butter and honey. (yup)

I enjoyed a slice for lunch with some fresh mozzarella, tomato slices, basil and balsamic drizzled on top. It was good. Very European.

So, I guess what I’m asking is, “do YOU make no-knead bread using 100% whole wheat flour” and “do you like it?”