I Can Try That: Confessions of an (Apprentice) SAHM

What Happened This YEAR?

2011-07-13T19:29:00.000-07:00

Sunset

SHOW ME THE RAIN!

Week one of Getting My MOJO Back is DONE!

2011-06-27T20:27:00.000-07:00

So here is the low down on my little group I joined.....

You have to do these things

1. Drink 48 ounces of water a day.

2. 30 minutes of exercise (Everyday but Sunday). - This needs to be dedicated exercise...meaning I can't coun't swimming with the kiddos, or vacumning, or weeding the garden. It needs to be real, good old fashion sweatin' to the oldies type exercies.

3. No soda (Kill me now!)

4. No sweets (desserts, pastries, candy, or sugary snacks) Sugar-free alternatives are okay.

5. No fast food, or unhealthy snacks.

6. Consume 4 servings of any fruit/veggie combination that works for you!

7. No eating after 9 p.m. For the pregnant mommy's to be or breasfeeding ladies, if you do have to eat after 9 PM, just make sure its healthy. Does that sound good?

8. Read 15 minutes of spiritual or uplifting text

9. Write in your journal (Daily blogs count, too.)

10. Personal goal- each week make a personal goal for everyday or make a goal for the entire week. (Like getting to bed each night by 10 PM, do an art project with your kiddos each day, organize your master closet)

Okay,
So pretty easy right????? I have to keep on telling myself that because...YES I want to do these things....and I mostly do....but what I hate the most about trying to get back into shape is that my weight fluctuates like 5 pounds up or down a DAY! This makes it hard to see progress!
So far this last week went pretty well, although it was my birthday so I got a free day for that....wish me luck on the next 7 weeks.

Birthday Cakes

2011-06-21T21:17:00.000-07:00

Getting My MoJo Back

2011-06-20T21:11:00.001-07:00

Today I start a challenge online with some friend to get my mojo back.

Wish me luck and you should see more of me on here.

Have You Ever Tried FD Strawberries?

2011-04-17T05:44:00.000-07:00

FD STRAWBERRIES on sale at SR this month.
#10 Can $20.02, 25% off!
Case (6 - #10 cans) $102.98!

E-mail or call me to get on the Q and get this deal!

I am copying this from another blog, because I thought it was a really good article.

If you are interested you can find the original post at: http://www.livestrong.com/article/280942-freeze-dried-strawberries-nutrition/

Freeze Dried Strawberries Nutrition by Andrea Cespedes

Overview

Freeze-dried strawberries are sliced strawberries that have had most of the water removed. This concentrates their flavor and nutrients while extending their shelf life. They may be rehydrated in water, tossed into cereal or baked goods, or eaten on their own as a snack.

Calories and Macronutrients

One oz. of freeze-dried strawberries, about 1 1/4 cups, contains about 90 calories. Of the 24 g of carbohydrates, 12 g are from natural fruit sugar. Freeze-dried strawberries contain no fat and 2 g of protein.

Additional Nutritional Benefits

One oz. provides 316 percent of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Recommended Daily Allowance, or RDA of vitamin C, based on a 2,000-calorie-per-day diet. As noted by the USDA, values may be higher or lower depending on total calorie intake. In addition, an ounce of freeze-dried strawberries contains 4 percent of calcium needs and 8 percent of iron.

Flavonoids

Compounds in strawberries called flavonoids have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that can reduce cardiovascular disease risk factors. In the "Journal of Nutrition" issue from September 28, 2009, researchers from Oklahoma State University tested freeze-dried strawberry powder's effects on cholesterol and markers of stress and inflammation. After four weeks, women with metabolic syndrome who consumed 25 g of the freeze-dried strawberries two times a day experienced significant decreases in total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol -- the bad kind.

Method

Unlike conventional dehydration methods that allow the texture, flavor and appearance of fruits deteriorate, freeze-drying maintains fruits' appearance and flavor. The method of freeze drying strawberries begins with partially freezing the strawberries at a temperature that breaks down their cellular structure and freezes 25 to 45 percent of water within the fruit. The strawberries are then sliced and frozen completely. They are dehydrated in a vacuum, resulting in a product with a moisture content of approximately 3 percent.

Considerations

Freeze drying does not affect the nutrition content of strawberries as do other preservation methods like microwave drying notes a study in an issue of "Food Science and Technology International" published in February 2006. Many companies sell bags or cans of freeze dried strawberries. They are also found in packaged cereals listing "with real strawberries."

References

Article reviewed by Norah Crowley

About this Author

Andrea Cespedes is a professionally trained chef who has focused studies in nutrition. With more than 20 years of experience in the fitness industry, she coaches cycling and running and teaches Pilates and yoga. She is an American Council on Exercise-certified personal trainer and has degrees from Princeton and Columbia University.

Shelf Reliance

2011-04-04T12:28:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Many of you know that I love to cook, save money, and organize things. So, after hosting a Shelf Reliance Home Party I decided to become a Shelf Reliance Consultant. Which means I get to sell products that I love, and the best part is I get to save people money by offering the products at a party price.

Since I am brand new to this consultant thing, I am still learning a lot, but would love for some of my family and friends to host a party for me. It can be a physical party at your house or an on-line party. I may be able to schedule a party for you that coincides with a trip to your city. As a party host, you do earn benefits based on the amount sold at your party, so you can earn benefits from just hosting the party.

There is absolutely no pressure for you to host a party for me, but I just wanted to let you know that I am a consultant. So if you don't want to host a party but are interested in placing an order, just let me know and I can get a price list sent to you. (Also, if by chance you already have a consultant that you are ordering through, then I am not trying to take you away from them...)

If you are interested you can email me at loveforfoodandoils (at) gmail dot com or call or text me at (646) 481-3736 or my cell phone number if you have it ( I made a new email for this and the essential oils that I am a consultant for as well (which is a new development as well).)

Thank You and let me know if I can answer any questions for you. Hope you have a great week!

April Larcher

More Cakes

2011-04-04T12:04:00.000-07:00

Soup, Soup, Soup, Yum, Yum, Yum! Olive Garden Copycat.

2010-01-31T16:46:00.001-08:00

Zuppa Toscana Soup from Olive Garden is probably one of two FAVORITE soups. Both the hubby and I love it so I decided to find a copycat recipe. I really do love copycat recipes since you can enjoy good food at a fraction of the price.

You should be able to click on the recipe and print it. Let me know what you think of this mouth watering soup. My next recipe will be for Copycat Pizza Hut

Bread sticks. Yum, perfect combo...well.... Olive Gardens bread sticks probably go better, but so far I haven't mastered those yet. So stay tuned!

P.S. This picture as you can tell is a picture of the soup that Olive Garden made....I didn't take a picture the last time I made it. =)

Finding a Hobby

2010-01-17T15:28:00.000-08:00

Sorry I have been MIA...I wish I had an excuse, but I really don't. I guess I have been pretty unmotivated and I just couldn't ever think of anything to post. I will probably post some more recipes this week. But until then....

So one thing I have learned since being a SAHM for about 4 and half years is that you should do some kind of hobby or something you enjoy. We all have different talents or things that interest us and we should take time to do those things. We all should take some me time.

Something I enjoy is cake decorating. I am in no way talented, but I enjoy doing it and I think they look okay. I really want to take a class about using fondant, but so far I haven't been able too. I love to search on the Internet for ideas so I thought I would post some of my cakes just in case someone was interested.

Belle- (Second Princess Cake (the first one isn't as pretty as this one, but I used a whole doll the first time and the advantage to that is then she got to play with the doll, this one is just a cake peg and now is is up in my cupboard collecting dust.)

Cinderella- (First Princess Cake...Almost a little embarrassed now.) So with both cakes you use Pampered Chef Batter Bowl as the dress part (basically a tempered glass large measuring cup).

Cake for my sister... the edge decoration is a duel color bag (not the special bag, but you just put one color on one side of the bag and another on the other side).

Cake for my decorating class.

Red Hat Cake for my MIL's B-day. Same batter bowl used for the top layer.

Transformers cake for my nephew. Wilton cake pan and instructions. Whew, that was a lot of stars, and come to find out, Wilton makes a triple star tip, to make jobs like this one easier.

Thomas the Train Cake for my DS. The Thomas is made from a Wilton train pan and I changed the colors to match Thomas. Got the idea for the cars on-line, the wheels are made from oreos and the track was made out of Kit Kats and crushed oreos and the grass is colored coconut.

Hannah Montana Guitar- My first cupcake shaped "cake". Again got the idea on-line searching for Hannah Montana ideas. I had to modify from the one I found on-line. Also, used cream cheese frosting for the first time, found it a little harder to work with since you can't get it (at least I couldn't) to a stiff consistency.

Find what you enjoy doing and take time out to cultivate your talent. Not only will you benefit from it, but so will your kids (no matter what it is, if they don't directly benefit, the will since you are taking some me time).

Storing Medicine

2009-10-22T11:12:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-17T08:11:00.001-07:00

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

2009-10-15T19:29:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-14T16:26:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-05T08:12:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-10-04T08:42:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-03T17:05:00.001-07:00

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!