Saturday, February 20, 2010

Good Times

Well, Lonnie and I went to go look at the new house again this morning. We are so excited and so many little things are already done! The current homeowners are so nice and were so helpful this morning. We were even advised that an appraiser has already been out to the home, which is great! Apparently BOA sends out two appraisers though so they are still waiting for that one to be done. We are just excited that things seem to be moving along!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Overdue Kuddos

So this past weekend we celebrated. On the agenda: My Birthday and Valentine's Day. This year Lonnie decided that he was going to make me a birthday dinner. He made a roast, homemade mashed potatoes, and gravy from scratch! He even got me a delicious ice cream cake! Needless to say he did a great job and it was much appreciated. In honor of my 28th birthday, a little late I know, here are 28 things that have been blessings in my life:

1) My Family
2) My House
3) Lonnie's Job
4) To Stay Home
5) Good health
6) The Gospel
7) The Scriptures
8) The Holy Ghost
9) My Testimony
10) To Be Entrusted with 4 Amazing Children
11) Education
12) Food
13) Desire to Always Learn
14) Service (both giving and receiving)
15) Good Friends
16) The Priesthood
17) Faith
18) Photography
19) The Temple
20) Surgeries
21) Compassion
22) Sports
23) Primary Songs
24) Covenants
25) Chocolate
26) School
27) Special Needs Children
28) YOU

Thanks again Lonnie for an amazing birthday dinner! I am so blessed and I am truly grateful for everything I have. Here's to another great year in my 20's...while I can still say that! :)

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Emergency Kits are DONE!!

A while back I assembled a 72 hour emergency kit for each one of my children. Today I finished one for both Lonnie and I. Also, I made our car emergency kits as well. One for Lonnie and one for me. Now all I have to do is get the clothes together for the 72 hour kits. Hopefully I can to that tomorrow. Just in case you would like to go get a couple at the Walmart in El Mirage in their bag section they have totes that are nice sized on clearance for $2. I purchased 6 of them. Two for the car emergency kits, one for the clothes for the girls, one for the clothes for the boys, one for mom's clothes, and one for dad's clothes.

In each of the adult kits there is: nutrigrain bars, pudding, beefaroni, applesauce, soup, craisins, tuna salad, trail mix, peaches, fiber one bars, granola bars, peanut butter crackers, (3) 24 ounce bottles of gatorade, (6) half liter bottles of water, (14) emergency packs of water, hard peppermint candies, jolly ranchers, wet wipes, toothpaste, toothbrush, deoderant, kleenex, hand sanitizer, pink lemonade sticks, LED keychain flashlight, hairbrush, vasaline, tums, spoons, forks, knives, poncho, fan, pen, paper, packs of gum.

In the children's kits there are: instant breakfast, poptarts, pudding, beefaroni, oranges, applesauce, chicken salad, goldfish, chips, animal crackers, peanut butter crackers, fruit snacks, raisins, hard candies, (10) emergency packs of water, kleenex, washcloths with soap, wet wipes, hand sanitizer, shampoo and conditions, bubbles, toothbrushes, spoon, fan, gum, diapers, and wipes.

In addition to having a 72 hour kit for each member of the family I am also working on assembling 2 family emergency buckets. They will house things such as a shovel, roll of paper towels, waterproof matches, toilet paper, dish soap, small stove with fuel, plates, bowls, napkins, cups, can opener, rope, duct tape, work gloves, trash bags, foil, hand sanitizer, washcloths, etc. That way we have a little bit more that just the basics of what is in our 72 hour kits.

A little side note when I was checking out the man asked if I was planning a beach trip (because of all of the totes I was buying). When I said that they were for 72 hour kits he said WHAT? I said they are for emergency planning. We are a peculiar people! :}

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Homemade Pizza Sauce

I wanted to make pizza for dinner tonight and realized that I didn't have any canned sauce. So I googled it. Here is the recipe I used and it was better that the stuff in the can! Keep in mind I doubled mine for a cookie-sheet sized pizza.

8 oz can tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
pinch of sugar

Mix all ingredients together.

Yummy Cinnamon Rolls

As promised I made these cinnamon rolls this morning and this recipe did not disappoint! Here it is and yes even Mr. Mason approved!!

Dough:
1 Cup Warm Milk (just heat up in microwave for 30 seconds)
1 Cup Warm Water
1/3 Cup Sugar
1 Package Yeast (or 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/3 Cup Oil
1/2 Tablespoon Salt
1 Egg
Flour (about 4 - 4 1/2 Cups)

Filling:
6 Tablespoons Melted Butter
3/4 Cup Sugar
Cinnamon

Icing:
2 Cups Powdered Sugar
2 Tablespoons Melted Butter
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
2-4 Tablespoons Vanilla

In mixer combine yeast, sugar, and warm water. Let sit until slightly bubbly (about 5 minutes). Add milk, oil, and egg. Mix well. Add 2 cups of flour and salt. Mix well. Add 1/2 cup flour at a time until it comes away from the side of the bowl and isn't too sticky. Let dough rise in mixing bowl for 30 minutes. Roll dough on to a floured surface to make an approximate 9x13 inch rectangle. Spread melted butter on dough. Evenly sprinkle sugar over butter. Sprinkle cinnamon over sugar. Roll up like a jelly roll from long side and slice. Place in a greased 9x13 baking dish. Cover and let rise an additional 30 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until rolls are nice and golden. Mix up frosting while rolls are just getting out of the oven. Pour icing over warm rolls and enjoy!

* A couple of things that I did different. First, I used powdered eggs. Second, this recipe made two pans of cinnamon rolls for me! Third, I doubled the frosting recipe because I had two pans of rolls. And last but not least for the second rising period I warmed my oven to 200 degrees and turned it off. Placed the rolls in the oven and cut down my rising time in half! Also I use my convection oven so I only had to cook them for 10 minutes.

I really did like this recipe. Have fun with it!

Friday, February 5, 2010

Corn from 2002

For dinner this evening I am making Taco Salad, for the first time I might add. When getting a can of corn from upstairs I looked at the date and it was from February 2002. Crazy! I love seeing old dates and food is still good. Also, I am always trying to buy in bulk and this includes taco seasoning. However, when a recipe calls for 1 packet taco seasoning I never know how much that is. So tonight I measured it out and it is 1/3 cup. I also found an easy recipe for cinnamon rolls that I can't wait to try in the morning. If it's a good one I'll share!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Bravery or Stupidity

So I have really been wanting to incorporate more of our food storage into our everyday cooking/baking. So here's what I am going to do. Only use store-bought milk for drinking and use powdered milk for baking and cooking. Also, I am going to start using my powdered eggs and, here's a really big/scary one, I'm going to use beans for oil and butter in baking. I also found a place that has recipes for making your own sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and condensed soups. I don't know why but it seems like just about every recipe I use calls for cream of chicken or mushroom soup. I'm excited to try them out.

I'm sure that this will take some getting used to but I really do want to see how much I can save and how easy it is to use "food storage". Hopefully soon I can get everyone drinking powdered milk too! We'll see. Do any of you use your food storage regularly? If so, what have you found works the best for you?