I Dare You To Eat It

Good news!

Go to www.sunoven.com and receive a $50.00 discount on your order when you enter I Dare You. The discount will be in effect until July 31, 2011.

I spoke with Paul, the owner of the company in IL, and he suggested that I experiment with cooking a whole chicken with onions, potatoes, carrots and celery, in my driveway. Doesn’t that sound good? I’m thinking that sounds like a nice Sunday dinner, cooked entirely by the sun.

Somebody pinch me!

You’re going to need a pair of these for this next little provident living trip. And it is a trip.

Almost a year ago, Paul Munsen, the owner of Sun Ovens International, Inc. sent me a product sample to test. I was scared, completely intimidated, and sure a sun oven would be way too complicated for ME to use, so the generous gift was carefully stored in my garage. Not cool.

But the snow is finally beginning to melt around here (too quickly) and the skies are finally sunny again. This week I suddenly felt a burst of courage and promptly phoned my sweet neighbor Venna so that she could hold my hand during the first pass.

Turns out all you have to do is open these reflectors and let the sunshine pour in. Now, that’s MY kind of cooking. Check out these initial efforts…and I didn’t even have to take time to read the instructions or view the DVD tutorial! (still me)

This is exactly how the Creamy Bean Soup recipe turned out, sans stick blender, and after about 5 hours in the driveway. The beans were not pre-soaked. I just threw all the ingredients into a big pot, closed the plexiglass lid on the sun oven and adjusted it a few times during the day so that it stayed in direct line with the sun. SO EASY! 

Next, I thought I would try cooking in my black crock pot pot. Black is the preferable color for sun oven cooking pots because black doesn’t reflect the sun’s rays as heat is focused into the center of the oven.

Using olive oil, lentils, canned tomato puree and a handful of dried spices I launched into a sun over version of my favorite lentil soup.

Wow, that a lot of fresh veggies! I was afraid it wasn’t all going to fit.

And I was right. I’m sure the DVD says something about first making sure your cooking pot fits inside the oven. Yahta-yahta-yahta

Oh well. I’m just learning…by experience…which seems to be my gift.

Would you look at that? I cooked our dinner on the CEMENT!

When the vegetables and lentils were cooked I stirred in the whole giant box of baby spinach…

and we enjoyed a healthy hearty meal, using both long and short term storage ingredients, plus loads of fresh ingredients, and it didn’t add a spec of heat to our home!

After such a big success, I decided to take it down a notch and try cooking a couple of my basic grains.

Wheat, of course, and I will point out that these pans are not exactly right for a sun oven, BUT THEY STILL WORK. I have a 24 year old set of Magnalite. Originally they were jet black with silver lids. Now they’re medium gray with medium gray lids? No idea.

I poured in about 2 cups of white wheat and covered it with a generous 4 cups of water. A little salt, a lid on top, out in the oven, and I left for a work appointment.

“Bye, sun oven!” (The wheat turned out perrrrrrfect.)

And then I wanted to try brown rice. This is a couple cups in a non-reflective casserole, with a tablespoon of olive oil, a little dry minced onion and dried garlic flakes, and a touch of sugar. I didn’t even take time to heat the water or preheat the sun oven. It’s like using an Easy Bake.

And the brown rice turned out fine!

My last experiment for this week was baked yams. These pups look big but it always feels wrong to heat an entire oven for so little food. Venna told me that Sun Ovens bake THE BEST potatoes so I wanted to give it a try. I placed both yams in a smallish pyrex cake pan and left them in the oven for an hour and a half.

Just like Venna said, the yams were wonderful. I served them with grilled halibut topped with a cilantro lime butter sauce, and sides of steamed asparagus, and the sun oven brown rice with added cilantro and lime. Maybe everything just tastes better when it’s cooked in the sun.

Sun Ovens International is involved in serious work around the globe and this is an excellent emergency preparedness tool. It’s also a boat load of FUN. Maybe I don’t get out enough but it’s CRAZY cooking your meal with zero fuel or electricity. It’s like opening a suitcase, placing a pot or pan of raw food inside, closing the lid,and  mostly forgetting about it for the day. It’s like the Chia Pet of cooking! I can NOT believe how easy it is to use! And I was successful FIVE TIMES IN A ROW! Such a blast. Everyone should buy one, no two! Can’t wait to try baking bread next week.

If you’re ready to try something really fun, and actually pretty funny, you can reach Sun Ovens International at 800-408-7919. Tell them that Liesa Card, from I Dare You to Eat It sent you, and see if they don’t extend some type of discount. The last deal Paul mentioned to me, ahem back in December, was $274 with discount code: I Dare You. The package included:

1 Global Sun Oven (retail price $299)

2 stackable black covered round 3 qt. pots (retail price $10.50 each)

1 set of two loaf pans (retail price $11.35)

1 set of two cookie sheet/brownie pans (retail price $12.85)

1 water pasteurization indicator-WAPI (retail price $8.00)

Free shipping within continental U.S. (a $29.85 value)

A CD with over 80 Sun Oven recipes, cooking tips, and FAQs, written & video operating instructions, a video on how the Sun Oven works and emergency preparedness tips

It’s never too early to start planning for Christmas…

Lizzie’s happy because she graduated from Middle School. I’m happy because she graduated with FLYING colors.

As one of the valedictorians, Lizzie was invited to speak at her graduation ceremony and of course felt she needed the perfect dress.

So here’s where the provident living kicks in. We went shopping in our closets.

Shoes from Sarah, dress from Rosie, lace top (modesty) from Sam, and shrug from Hailey, we begged borrowed and stole our way through to completion on this little ensemble.

I know from experience that young girls may have many opportunities where they NEEEEEEED the perfect dress. My philosophy and strategy has been to start early in teaching, by example mom, the “make-do” skills.

None of our five daughters ever had a special baptism dress. Gasp! I know. (It’s actually a part of “local” Mormon-culture that I, respectfully, reject.) I sewed their few Easter and Christmas dresses, and believe me, there weren’t that many. When it came time to find formals for dances, the girls already knew they needed to get creative. Some of the dresses were borrowed and some were sewn. One or two were purchased with their own money.

Paying for a new dress probably isn’t the biggest financial challenge. The challenge may be in learning how to distinguish between wants and needs. We’ve learned that the little choices, all along the way, really do add up!

Summer is finally here! And here’s to all the people who have saved their pennies and now plan to do a bit of vacationing.

My favorite daughter, Sam (one of five favorites)

and her adorable lovable wonderful husband, Chas

have worked really hard during their first 18 months of marriage. 

They’ve carefully saved their money, (notice the second car) paid down college debt, and even managed to enjoy some R&R this past week. I think it’s a story that needs to be told.

With almost every presentation, at least one senior citizen in the audience shares how they grew up eating cooked whole wheat berries for breakfast. Once, the woman who shared this favorite breakfast cereal was amazingly, no…ridiculously…well preserved. I mean she was GORGEOUS! Looking 30 years younger than her peers, she gently explained how every single day began with a bowl of wheat berries.

(hmmmm)

I cook my wheat in the crock pot and then freeze smaller portions in sandwich baggies for later use.

A few almonds add additional nutrition and crunch.

A dash or two of cinnamon, some frozen blueberries, and 1% milk give plenty of flavor without extra sugar.

A quick spin in the microwave and this lovely little breakfast is warm and ready to go.

Mmmmmm. Health and beauty tips from ”The Greatest Generation.” Someone with real knowledge is welcome to speak to the specifics on nutritional benefits. I’m hoping it’s magic.

or…

JUST ANOTHER BUDGET BIRTHDAY

Thanks to Market Square/NPS, both are true.

Our missionary daughter is turning 22 in just a few weeks. Way, way, way, before her call to serve in the Mesa Arizona mission, Rosie dreamed in cowboy. When I found these deluxe kicks on clearance at NPS, I knew exactly what had to be done.

Then,

and here’s the part that could easily/inexpensively be duplicated, we painted giant, crazy, birthday cards.

Each person wrote their personal message and birthday wishes on the back of their card. And yes, I did find the poster boards at NPS and they were priced 6 for $1.00. Let me hear ya say, Hooow-deee!

Obviously, a big chunk of our Memorial Day was spent gathered around the dining room table, painting.

Maybe that works for our family because my mother and my husband’s mother were professional artists. These crazy cards actually celebrate three beautiful lives. Sharing in an activity both Grandmothers loved so much made our trip to the cemetery, delivering bouquets of flowers, more meaningful.

It’s almost time for Memorial Day but the weather around here still looks sketchy.

If you need an indoor and inexpensive solution for your standard celebration, I highly recommend viewing Masterpiece Theatre’s production of Bleak House by Charles Dickens.

My husband typically refers to this particular genre as “bonnet movies” but with this series he was hooked and intrigued after the first 15 minutes. Anxious for each consecutive episode and more than willing to stay up way past our bedtime, five nights in a row, Mike completely agrees that this is fabulous entertainment.

Another cold, rainy, almost the end of May day here in Utah and I needed something BIG, quick, and hearty to feed the masses.

Fresh Ingredients

8 oz. fat free cream cheese

1 lb. mild Italian sausage

Storage Ingredients

4 cups dry macaroni

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

1 cup dry powdered milk

1/4 cup dry minced onion

1 cup water (Plus another cup of water reserved from the cooked pasta.)

2 cans white beans (15 oz. each)

1 large can marinara/pasta sauce (32 oz.)

1 cup cooked whole wheat berries

Start by heating a large pot of salted water. Boil macaroni for 7 minutes.

In another pot, heat the cream of mushroom soup, powdered milk, dry minced onion, cream cheese, and 1 cup of water.

Brown the sausage (remove casings first), drain fat, and add the cooked whole wheat berries and pasta sauce.

The macaroni should be ready by now but reserve 1 cup of the salted cooking water before draining the pasta. Add this cup of hot water to the cream of mushroom cheese sauce so that it’s not too thick.

Drain beans and combine with the drained macaroni and mushroom cheese sauce.

Lightly butter a large dripper pan and layer both mixtures just as you would for lazagna. Using half of the pasta and bean mixture, begin with a layer of white. Then add half of the sausage wheat marinara for a layer of red.

Repeat.

“Card, party of 50? Your table is ready.”

Today was a doozy so I prepared this casserole in the morning, covered it with foil and refrigerated until later. Finally returning home, I heated it, still covered, for 2 hours at 350 degrees. Of course you normally wouldn’t need to heat it so long. I’m sure it would even microwave well if layered in 2 or 3 glass pie pans.

I served it with pan seared carrots and zucchini and a real simple spinach salad. Everyone said it was great and enjoyed two big servings. SIL Chas (served his mission in Italy) helped himself to three servings. Guess it hit the spot on this cold soggy day. The big girls couldn’t believe it was so creamy-cheesy with only 1 cup of fat free cream cheese, and no other added cream, butter, or cheese. Samantha said the white beans were yummy. Everyone agreed that the wheat virtually disappeared into the sausage mixture. Hearty, healthy and happy. That’s my story, and I’m stickin’ to it.

If you need to feed the Young Men or the Young Women or just the neighborhood this one might do the trick. Lots of yummy food for very little money. Using pasta, beans, wheat, soup, sauce, powdered milk, and dehydrated onions from my food storage. No biggie.

Remember how excited I was, a couple of weeks ago, to have purchased my very first load of pre-canned white wheat? Of course you don’t. Trick question. But I DID purchase 12 cases of pre-canned white wheat and now it’s going to be stored in a place of honor.

12 cases = 72 cans = 410 pounds = $262.80  Grouping six cases on each side of our pumpkin jelly bean sofa, the wheat will be the foundation for two end tables. That’s right! Start laughing.

Next, I had Home Depot cut two 3/4″ thick particle board tops for a completely consistent surface and crisp corners.  $21.61  I like the top to be slightly larger than the base so that the fabric for the table skirt will drape nicely down the sides without any bumps or lumps.

I already had this lovely gray velvet on hand from a previous job but I did pay my seamstress for some help with the lining. $60.00

Then, I added two custom mirrors made from 1/4″ stock, with flat polished edges and a 1″ bevel. The pair of them cost $81.21

Last of all, we add the lamps…and accessories…eventually. (My job is always the last one to get any real attention.)

So my new end tables turned out to be $212.81 each, or $425.62 for the pair. 90% edible too!

And here’s one more sample, while we’re at it. This layered table look (below) may also be built over a tidy stack of food storage.

For the record, a lateral filing cabinet is what’s really hiding under the skirt, but it could have been wheat,  rice, beans, pasta, potatoes, or oats. Stay with me.

Pretending  it’s another 6 cases of wheat in order to get a total cost, a rectangle of almost exactly the same size, would have been $262.80.

The celadon raw silk for the table skirt was $38.00 and it didn’t need to be lined. The accent table layered over the top was on sale for $75.00. Add a final $8.00 for the gold spray paint and the total cost for one of these end tables, $383.80.

So yes, these covert storage examples do cost a bit of money, BUT SO DOES REGULAR FURNITURE. Looking for, creating, and even investing in workable storage options is not a new concept. I just prefer these types of solutions to fancy/expensive shelving systems. Five, to ten, or maybe fifteen years from now, I’ll swap out the original cases for fresh stock. That’s not a big deal. Four end tables, similar to these, equal almost one third of a year supply of basic grains, for a family of five adults. THAT’S a big deal.  Besides, I like it when my food storage multi-tasks.