Mar 2014 - Sisterhood - Angels Round About Us

I have always loved the idea of angels round about us, to bear us up. In fact, I pray daily that my children will have angels round about them, especially in junior high school! Several years ago my husband Daniel and I had the opportunity to meet one of our angels.

We traveled to China to adopt our daughter in February 2005. We finally had our beautiful girl in our arms and were in the process of getting to know her. One of the things we noticed was that she liked the little mandarin oranges that we found everywhere. We would peel an orange and give her one section at a time. She would suck out all the juice and then stick her tongue out with the membrane for us to take out and throw away. We loved watching her do this and found it was a wonderul way to work on our attachment process.

One morning we went to a market to get a bag of oranges so we could continue our bonding over juicing each piece. We found the oranges, put some in a bag and then looked for the checkout. We couldn't see where we were supposed to go. The market was crowded and loud and the signs were in Chinese, not English. We finally figured we should follow the crowd and noticed a little table with a scale and a small register where a woman looked like she was taking money.

We tried our best that morning to get to that little table. We were being crushed and talked over and shoved by all the people around us. We thought about just leaving without our oranges. Then, out of nowhere, a very small, bent over, elderly Chinese woman came up to us. She looked at us and then began yelling over the masses of people. I don't know what she said, but an amazing thing happened. The market got quiet and the people moved aside. We were then able to walk right up to the table, weigh our oranges and pay for them.  

I turned around to thank the little old woman as we walked up to the table, but she was gone. As quickly as she was there, she had vanished. There was no way she could have moved so quickly to be out of sight like that. As we walked out of the market that day, Daniel and I knew that she was an angel. She parted the crowd so we could purchase our oranges. I know it doesn't seem like much, an angel sent to help us buy oranges, but to me it meant the world.

That one small act by a hunched over Chinese angel reminds me constantly to be ever watchful of angels all around me. As we work our way through the crowds and noise we are up against each day, angels will part those masses, quiet the voices, and lead us to our goals. Our Savior will go before our face, He will be on our right hand and on our left, His spirit will be in our hearts, and He will have His angels round about us, to bear us up (D&C 84:88).

My name is Jennie D and I'm a member of the Kanesville Stake

Home Canned Peaches Peach Cobbler

I have a few bottles of home canned peaches in my food storage. Last night I went down to grab some stuff from food storage for dinner and got wistful about dessert. So I grabbed a bottle of peaches and searched out a simple peach cobbler recipe. I found a very simple, already have the ingredients, recipe. 

Peach Cobbler

1 jar canned peaches, drained

1 stick of butter

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1 3/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup milk

Melt butter in a glass 8x8 dish in the oven (preheated to 350). Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and milk. When smooth, add drained peaches. Pour on top of melted butter the he pan. (Here I added some cinnamon. Yum) Bake for 40-50 minutes. The top will be golden brown. Serve with ice cream!

Yum.

I used Splenda instead of sugar. The peaches were not sweetened. So it came out a tad bit not sweet. Kinda weird. Next time I'll use real sugar I think. But no one at my house complained. So maybe I won't. Enjoy!

Freeze Dried Potato Hash Browns

Daniel and I saw this #10 can of hash browns and bought it. I can't remember where we were. We think maybe Smith & Edwards, but I can't be sure. And I don't remember what it cost. So in that way I am so not helpful. But these are good. So here ya go. 

You soak the dried potato shreds in water for about 30 minutes. They get potato-y. You know, like when you shred real live potatoes and drain them there is a film left over? That's what you get here too.

Drain the potatoes and...

Melt some butter in a pan. Put the potatoes down and let them cook. Turn them once in a while.

My husband usually cooks them so I was so unprepared for how they would stick to the pan. When Daniel came in and scraped the pan to help me, he scraped all the burned potatoes off the bottom. Yuck. So scrape the pan early on. Before they burn. Trust me.

Get 'em good and crispy. They're awesome that way. Serve with breakfast eats and ketchup.

This is a wonderful good storage addition. Once hydrated they are real potatoes! (Imagine that) Just beware: the can will go fast.

Lemony Honey Mustard Sauce

Hi.  It's Jennie D from the Regal Country ward again.  So remember the honey powder I used before? Wonderful for peanut butter and honey sandwiches. Kinda a little very much so strange in powder form in a bread stick recipe. I think I'll just use the already in the honey bear honey for that next time. But I found a great recipe to use with chicken..

Lemony Honey Mustard Sauce.

Since I used the honey made from honey powder I figure I'd share it with ya.

This is actually a recipe from Tone's Lemon Pepper Blend

Lemony Honey Mustard Sauce

Combine and heat:

1/2 cup honey

1/3 cup Dijon Mustard

1 1/2 tsp Lemon Pepper

2 Tbsp Lemon juice

2 Tbsp Margarine

Brush it on grilled chicken and then dip your chicken bites into it. YUMMY!

Have you used the diced broccoli yet?

Hey, this is Jennie D. from the Regal Country ward again. Did you buy the diced broccoli this month?  I got 2 cans of it. So what the heck do you do with diced dehydrated broccoli you ask? Well, how about some Chicken Divan. Okey Dokey. Let's see how the diced dehydrated broccoli does. 

First put 2/3 cup of broccoli in a bowl and boil 2 cups of water.

Add the boiling water to the broccoli.

Cover the bowl and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. While you wait for that, get your chicken ready and get your sauce ready.  Oh, and preheat your oven. 

When the broccoli is rehydrated, drain the water out.

Put it in a baking dish and add the layers of ingredients.

  The broccoli tasted like broccoli. Imagine that! It turned out pretty good for a casserole. Most of us enjoyed it. Some of us (the littler people at my house) are not broccoli enthusiasts.

But if broccoli was needed, especially in casserole form, I would recommend having diced dehydrated broccoli in food storage.

Here's the recipe using diced broccoli from Provident Pantry

Chicken Divan

2/3 cup diced broccoli; add 2 cups boiling water and allow to stand, covered, 5-10 minutes

2 chicken breasts, cooked, shredded or cubed

1/2 can Cream of Mushroom soup

1/2 can Cream of Chicken soup

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 Tbls Lemon juice

1/4 tsp curry powder

Cheese to top

3/4 cup bread crumbs

In an 8x8 in. baking dish, layer broccoli and chicken.  Mix the soups, yogurt, lemon juice and curry powder.  Add over the top of chicken.  Put shredded cheese on top and then sprinkle bread crumbs over the cheese.

Bake at 300 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Honey Powder

Hi.  This is Jennie D. From the Regal Country Ward and I just bought and used some honey powder.  I found it at Winco for under $10, but I noticed that some of the Case Lot prices match that.  This powder is wonderful.  You can use the powder form to add to recipes like you would use sugar.  You can also make liquid honey by adding cold water and then bringing it to a boil.  I put the liquid stuff in my honey bear.  It's darker than the regular store bought liquid honey.  It will store for years and won't crystalize like liquid honey will.  Honey powder is going to make a great investment.

So far I've only used it for peanut butter and honey sandwiches.  My kids love it.  I mean, they don't complain that the honey is weird.  It's not weird.  It's great.  It's honey.  I may just have to bake some bread and use it as a powder and see what happens.  I'll let you know what happens there.

Stuffed Green Peppers - Cooking From Your Garden

Another share from Jennie at With Six You Get Eggroll - THANKS

Green Peppers

Stuffed Green Peppers

Ground Beef

Chopped Onions

Tomato Sauce

Cooked Rice

Green Peppers

Shredded Cheese

Wash peppers and cut them in half length wise and strip the inside. They'll stand up better when cut that way. Start cooking the rice. Boil some water and dip each pepper half into the boiling water with tongs for just a minute. Brown the ground beef with the onions. Add tomato sauce. And, what the heck, add a dash or two of garlic powder! Mix the rice in to beef mix. Put mix into each pepper half. Sprinkle with cheese. Put them in a baking dish prepared with cooking spray. Place them in an oven warmed to 350 for just a few minutes (5-7) until cheese is melted.

The peppers make an awesome bowl and flavor the meat and rice mixture. We had this a lot growing up and I have fond memories. After assuring my kids that they didn't have to eat the pepper, they ate the rice. It was yummy!

 

printable recipe

Scalloped Potatoes - Cooking From your Garden

re posted with permission from With Six You Get Eggroll

Got Potatoes?

Well, if you do, you can make this...

Scalloped Potatoes

I got the recipe from my sister in law, Jennifer. It's to die for!

Mmmm...
You need:
Potatoes, sliced thinly and placed in a 9x13 baking dish.
8 tsp or cubes of chicken base or bouillon, sprinkled over potatoes.
1 pint of whipping cream poured over the whole shebang.
Put in the oven at 350 for about an hour or until the potatoes are cooked.
You won't be disappointed!
Believe me!
You will love this.
I am making it again tonight.

Yummy!

Homemade Hamburger Buns!

  Will you look at this recipes from someone else!!!!  This is a great idea for adding to your repertoire, with this idea you can not only be a bread maker, you are now a BAKER - homemade hamburger buns and cinnamon rolls.  I've always wanted to try making homemade hamburger buns, I love the ones from the bakery so I'm definitely trying this.  

(This idea comes from Jennie D. in the Regal Country ward - originator of "Jennie's Quick White Bread" the bread you can make in a little over an hour.)

 

Make A Meal/Treat

I bake bread. We gotta eat, you know. And today I started to bake bread and thought to myself, "Self, Let's take one loaf worth of the dough and make hamburger buns and have burgers for dinner." I concurred and did it.

Then after school, with everyone home and thoughts of Family Home Evening floating around, I thought of a great idea. "Hey, make one loaf worth of dough and make cinnamon rolls for FHE treat!" I agreed and made another batch of dough. And then made these:
Here's what you do...
Just make your regular bread dough.
For Hamburger buns:
Take one loaf worth and split it into 8 pieces. Roll them into balls and put them on a greased baking sheet. Press them down to about 1 inch thickness. Let rise to triple their size.
Big buns=big burgers. Right?!
Bake for about 17-18 minutes on 350.
Let cool and cut through the middle to place the fabulous fixings on before you place the burger.
For cinnamon rolls:
Take one loaf worth and I split it into 8 pieces. Roll each piece out and then put a brushing of water on. Cover with cinnamon sugar and roll 'em up. Place on a greased baking sheet and let rise to about triple their size.
What can I say? Big cinnamon rolls=happy family!
Bake on 350 for 17-18 minutes.
Spread butter over the tops. You won't be disappointed.
Next time I'll split the cinnamon roll dough into 16 pieces. They were a bit too big for an after dinner treat. But they were oh so yummilicious!
Just so you know...I used 50/50 white/wheat bread dough.

Jennie's Quick White Bread

One of my favorite things to make from food storage ingredients is bread and while this doesn't actually qualify as a "food storage meal" it is so yummy.  This recipe comes from one of my favorite people and is so quick and easy to make it's saved me many times.  (And if it's just me I'm not above having a meal of bread and maybe a glass of milk and of course chocolate).

Bread (Jennie's Quick White Bread)        printable recipe

¼ sugar

1 t salt

1/3 c vegetable oil

2 c HOT water

Add 2 cups flour and mix for 1 min.

Add 1 ½ T yeast and 3-4 more cups of flour. Mix until it doesn't stick to the bowl and then mix on high for 8 minutes.

Let it sit for 5 min. Knead a few times, cut it in half and put in two greased bread pans. Put the bread in a preheated 170 degree F oven for 25 min., then without opening the oven turn it up to 350 degrees F and bake for another 35 minutes. You can butter the tops when they come out. *I have substituted the water with 2 cups of whey and I also usually add 1 heaping Tablespoon of dough enhancer (You can buy it at Kitchen Kneads, it contains, whey, soy milk, soy lecithin, modified corn starch, vitamin C power and citric acid, it seems to make the bread last longer and rise better, sorry no scientific explanation, that's what Google's for. . . ) To make braided bread, shape it into a long loaf, cut it lengthwise in three strips and then braid it, roll the ends under and put in a greased bread pan or you could shape it into a wreath or just bake it in a long braid on a jelly-roll pan.   This bread recipe makes a terrific cinnamon bread too. Braided Bread Cinnamon Bread Cinnamon bread, before it's rolled up Directions for cinnamon bread:  Roll it out into roughly a 10 x 15 inch rectangle, spread butter over the top and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar (brown sugar is nice) then roll it up, starting at the short end, tuck the ends in to fit in your bread pan and bake as usual.

White Chili

In a large pot combine:

2 c water

2 (14 oz) cans chicken broth

1 tsp lemon pepper

1 tsp cumin seeds

Bring to a boil and add:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Remove chicken, cut into bite-size pieces and return to pot with broth.

In a small skillet over medium heat saute:

1 tsp olive oil

1 minced garlic clove

1 c finely diced onion

Add this mixture to the broth.

Add:

1 tsp cumin

3 Tbs lime juice

2 (4 oz) cans diced green chilies

Boil for 10 minutes.

Add:

2 (15 oz) cans great northern or small white beans, drained.

Heat thoroughly and serve with tortilla chips and grated Monterrey Jack cheese

printable recipe

Ceasar Pasta Salad

1 (8 oz) box Penne Pasta, cooked, drained
1 bag Hearts Of Romaine lettuce (Spinach is great too!)
2 green onions, washed, sliced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, washed
Feta cheese to taste
Grilled chicken, cut into strips or bite size pieces
Brianna's Asiago Ceasar dressing, to coat

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Add dressing just before serving. This is a terrific side dish, but also filling enough to be a light meal.

printable recipe

Tomato and Zucchini Pasta

I saw this on Jennie's blog and it just made my mouth water.  If this isn't a good reason to plant a garden I don't know what is.  She graciously said I could post it here for others to see.

Here's what you need:

8 oz linguine

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium zucchini, sliced

1/4 cup parsley

1 Tbs olive oil

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tsp each:dried basil, dried oregano

1/8 tsp each:salt and pepper

1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Cook linguine (I used spaghetti), drain and keep warm. In a large skillet heat olive oil then add zucchini, onion and garlic. Stir fry for several minutes until zucchini is soft. Add tomatoes, parsley, basil. oregano, salt and pepper. Stir gently and remove from heat. Stir in pasta. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top and serve.

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