Storing Medicine

http://www.shelfreliance.com/blog/index.php/2009/10/20/zeroing-store-medicine/
Great article, just cleaned out the old cabinet...now if I can just remember what some of the prescriptions were for...guess those will have to go.

Zucchini Bread

I love this Zucchini Bread it is so moist and yummy. I have used 100% whole wheat and it was very good. Extra points for using powdered eggs...just make sure to add water. You can also substitute bean puree for the oil (that will have to be another post).

So, I had a friend suggest putting the recipe in a format that you can download or copy.....Not too sure how to do that....so I tried doing it as a jpeg in a 4 X 6 format. I think you should be able to click on it and print it. If you have problems let me know.

Thanks!

Food Storage and Storage Solutions

For anyone looking for a great way to store your food storage you should check out www.shelfreliance.com . I love my shelf and would love to get another one. They are kind of pricey but well worth the cost.

Spanish Rice

Growing up my Mom always made this Spanish Rice and it was so flavorful compared to the stuff at the restaurants that I can't even eat the other stuff. A friend of mine wanted the recipe so I thought I would post it on here. Unfortunately it is one of my few recipes that I don't have exact measurements for. So play with it a little. This is a perfect food storage recipe since it uses rice and tomato sauce, which are common food storage ingredients.

Spanish Rice
1/2 cup of rice
Diced onions
Diced Garlic

Bullion

2 to 3 cups water
Tomato sauce (big can or two small)
Black Pepper
Italian Seasoning
1 can of Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies or diced tomatoes

1. Brown rice, onion and garlic in oil in pan.
2. Add tomato sauce, water and seasonings.
3. Place lid on and simmer stirring often.
4. The rice and tomato sauce with be absorbed/cooked off. Add the can of diced tomatoes when it is almost all absorbed.
5. You can tell it is done, when the rice is soft. (maybe about 30 minutes).

So I used even more food storage because my family isn't too fond of onions so I just re hydrated about 1/8 of a cup of dehydrated onion flakes. Happy Cooking!

Since pictures sometimes are a great tool in understanding I have included some pictures below.

Browning rice, onions and garlicAdded sauce, water and seasonings.Simmer with lid on.What it should look like before adding diced tomatoes.After adding diced but before it is done...when it is done it should look like the before adding diced picture. Serving suggestion...or Green Enchiladas...Extra points for using Cannery Refried Bean Flakes!

I usually throw some Quinoa in too, but I didn't have any cooked and I already had too many dishes to clean....

Next POST...my favorite Zucchini Bread recipe

Activity for General Conference

I had a success with making a few activities for the kids to do during General Conference, and I thought I would share them with you.

The First Presidency and 12 Apostles Activity

So if you search online for General Conference activities you find a lot of activities geared toward children who can read. So I found a site that had all of the General Authorities and made this activity. Basically your child puts the picture of the speaker in the right place on the board. I only did the First Presidency and the 12 apostles since you know they will speak, but don't know who else they will select to speak. Now I made this pre-schooler friendly by putting a small picture of the apostle next to their name on the name card. So if they can't read they just have to match the pictures. You can also see that I made the name cards removable too, so when they get older they have to put them in the correct order and so that when an apostle dies then you can just add a new one by printing a new picture and name card. I did laminate the cards and put Velcro on the backs to make it stick.

My 4 year old daughter loved this activity and she was able to do it with little instruction. She also learned some of the names of apostles that she didn't previously know.

If you like this idea I would love to share it with you. I can save it in PDF format and send it to you in an email and you can print it out and get it ready for the next conference. Let me know if you want a copy.

We also did a word Tally game (the words were pictures on the sheet, since she can't read), they got a treat for each word they tallied. My 2 year old son was also able to do this with some help as well. I found this online, but laminated it so we could use one sheet for each talk and wipe off the dry erase marker each time.

Then when the word Tally game wore off, we just had them listen for key words and they received a M& M for each time they heard the key word and told us. For example, the key words might have been...Christ, Lamanites, Love, Heart....etc. The kids loved this one of course. We used one key word per talk or sometimes I would use two.

Another activity that only the 4 year old could do with help was this match game below where they drew a line from the name to the picture of the apostle. I would read the name and she would draw a line to the correct apostle. She enjoyed this game as well.

This is the first conference that I think my 4 year old has paid attention too. It was such a success I had to share and if you want a copy of the first activity just let me know.

Celebrating 1 Year!

Here is to one year of bread! The picture above is my first attempt at grinding and making my own bread. I really didn't get into making it on a regular basis until about 6 months ago. I have learned a lot and it now looks better than this picture and has a better texture. So many things just take trying them out for me and of course changing it until we find what we like.

So here is my recipe (now this is for a BOSCH so if you have a kitchen aid, I would GUESS that you would only be able to do a small batch!).


FOOLPROOF BREAD (Bosch)
Grants NM Stake
Small ******************Regular
Batch ******************Batch
4 ***********************6 Cups- Warm water
1 ***********************1 ½ TBSP- Salt
1/3********************* ½ Cup- Oil
1/3 *********************½ Cup- Honey
1 ½ *********************2 TBSP- Dough Enhancer
2 ************************3 TBSP- SAF Yeast
7 ************************10 Cups- Wheat Kernels
3 ************************4-6 4x8 Pans

Freshly grind wheat into flour (medium setting).
Add water and several cups of freshly ground whole wheat flour to Bosch mixing bowl with dough hook in place. Mix using a few short bursts of the spring-loaded jogging switch (‘M’).
Add the SALT, HONEY, OIL, DOUGH ENHANCER and INSTANT YEAST and jog briefly. (If the quality of your wheat is suspect try adding 3-4 TBSPs Gluten also.)
While Bosch is kneading at speed 1, slowly add WW flour until dough pulls away from the side of the mixing bowl. This normally will take most of the WW flour you have ground. It is better to add too little flour than too much flour.

Allow Bosch to knead the dough until the gluten in the WW flour is properly developed. This takes about 10-12 minutes.
Turn oven on to pre-heat to 150. Shape into loaves and place in pans (previously well greased- we suggest Vegelene).
Turn oven off and put loaves in warm oven to rise until double in size (this will take approx. 25 minutes). When loaves are double in size, set oven to 350 and turn it on (leave loaves in oven).
Bake for 30-35 minutes. When loaves are done, immediately remove from pans and let cool ion wire rack. (Hint: So pans won’t stick, wipe out while hot and don’t wash them.)

******************************************************************
I love this recipe and I am going to try to make my own dough enhancer, next time I make bread (and when my vital wheat gluten comes in...). I will let you know how that goes. The reason I love this recipe:

• It is a quick recipe (for bread).
• It uses honey instead of refined sugar.
• It is pretty foolproof (even though I have gotten better at making it, it was still good in the beginning).
• It tastes good.

Some tips I have tried and like to do:

• Use a mixture of White and Red Wheat..more white than red
• When shaping the dough slap in on the counter or board 5 times before making it into a loaf shape (gets some air bubbles out).
• When measuring the honey use the same measuring cup you used for the oil (same amount required) and then the honey will easily slide out of your measuring cup.

So here is to many more years of bread making!

White Chicken Chili

So I can't ever recall cooking white beans before. A friend gave me this recipe and it looked good, then another friend made it for us around the birth of Pearce and it was yummy...so I though "I CAN TRY THAT". I cooked my beans in my pressure cooker (quick soak method on the stove since I forgot to soak them over night), then cooked the rest on the stove although I am sure I could have done it all in the pressure cooker (I am still getting used to using that thing).

Here is the Recipe:

Cha Cha’s White Chicken Chili (modified)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 onion chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 (4 ounce) can chopped green Chile peppers

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth

*3 cups chopped cooked chicken breast

3 (15 ounce) cans white beans

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions:Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat.Slowly cook and stir the onion until tender. Mix in the garlic, greenChile peppers, cumin, and oregano. Continue to cook and stir themixture until tender, about 3 minutes. Mix in the chicken broth,chicken and white beans. Simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove mixture from heat. Slowly stir in the cheese until melted.
Serve warm.

***************************************************************'

In the spirit of food storage rotation, I used dried onion flakes, and 1 lb of white kidney beans (cooked in the pressure cooker). OOOHHH and I also added 1/2 cup of cooked Quinoa.

This is now a Family Favorite!