Life-Hack #162

Even back when they were just called "tips" I loved life-hacks. In fact, "Housekeeping Tips" is the book I chose to take to the hospital to read while I was in labor.  In between contractions, I read new ideas for removing stains from counter tops and organizing kitchen cupboards.

A life-hack I recently learned is how to chill a drink (say a fruit smoothie).  Wrap the cup in a wet paper towel and place it in the freezer for ten-fifteen minutes.  The drink chills quickly.

But, the best life-hack I've ever learned is found in 1 Nephi 16:2 ". . . the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center."  

When I was in high school (and the oldest girl at home), my mother quit functioning.  Day after day she lay in bed, reading novels or sleeping.  It was down-right depressing.  There were still four or five of us kids at home and much of the homekeeping, cooking, and care of my younger brother and sisters became my responsibility.  I was active in school, church, athletics, and service opportunities and the load felt heavy.  Very heavy.  While I learned a lot of valuable skills during these years, I was frustrated and easily peeved.

One day an older sister who was temporarily home said, "Do you know what your problem is?  You're selfish.  That's what the problem is."

I saw red.  I was so angry.  I mentally ticked off every thing I was doing to take care of hearth and home.  I was certain if she helped more she'd see it wasn't me that was the problem.  I rationalized no selfish person would do what I was doing.

And then this phrase " . . . the guilty taketh the truth to be hard . . ." played in my heart and head.  I argued with its logic, but I knew that my anger signaled my guilt.  It took me time, but I came to realize that while I may have been doing a whole lot of things, I wasn't doing them for the right reason or with a good attitude.  I felt sorry for myself and resentful of others and the situation.  The circumstances never did change, but I like to think I did. That day I learned an important life-hack that I will need my whole life.

Relief-Society-Favor Cute

Last Saturday I made pumpkin-shaped sugar cookies. I wished I could call our grandkids and invite them to come get one, and thought as I often do, “I wouldn’t wish any of them to come back here to live in Moses Lake simply because we miss them; they have wonderful, fulfilling lives where they are, and they followed personal inspiration to live where they live, but sometimes, just sometimes I really wish we all lived on the same mile and the grandkids could walk over to visit and get a cookie.”

The next morning I woke up thinking there had to be a grandma somewhere wishing that her grandchildren lived close to her instead of in Moses Lake.

I packaged the cookies up in cute, little, orange with white polka-dot bags and went to church looking for some children whose grandma lived far away.  At first I saw the Davis children quietly sitting on the pew; their grandma is serving a mission in Australia. Next I saw the Johnston boys, four of them. Max, who is 3, came with his dad to say hello.  His dad said, "Max, tell Sister Payne what you’re wearing today.” 

Max ducked his head into his dad’s chest so I guessed, “Max, are you wearing big boy underwear?” 

He looked at me carefully and slowly smiled. I pulled his pants out a bit so that I could see what character was on them and said, “Ninja turtle shorts?  Oh Max.  Ninja turtles are very cool!” 

His smile got bigger.  

Max reminded me of Eliza and Henry, two of our grandchildren, who are in the beginning stages of potty training, and it just seemed like he and his brothers could use a cookie.  

Thank you to Max's grandma, wherever she lives, for encouraging her family to live in Moses Lake. Her little grandsons filled a void and gave me someone to give cookies to.

Max and his brothers could have cared less how cute their cookies were packaged.

Part of my responsibilities for our Stake Relief Society Leadership meeting tomorrow night was to prepare a favor that would reinforce and remind the sisters of the message taught.  Maybe Max and his brothers didn't care if their cookie came in a cute bag with a cute tag, but women do.  So I put a green tag that says it all on an orange bag. 

Instead of cookies, I thought white chocolate popcorn sprinkled with fall-colored m&m's, candy corn, and oreo cookies would be a festive filler. I was wrong.  It looks u.g.l.y. in the bags.  They need something flat-er and now I'm out of time so there will be no favors at our meeting . . .   

. . . but there will be a lot of happy kids where I work, because, like Max, they don't care about relief-society-favor cute so they'll eat the dishpan full of popcorn.

You win some, you lose some, but should you need orange bags, give me a call.  I've got 200 minus 4.

Homemaking Tip - Frugal Accomplishments

Each week Brandy at the theprudenthomemaker.com writes a post on her frugal accomplishments. She is inspiring and I love to read her posts.  I have learned new ways to cut expenses. She has built a wonderful readership that also share their ideas and frugal accomplishments in the comments section. Taking inspiration from her post, I'm recording our frugal accomplishments for the week in hope that someday it might help a reader of mine, too.

Here are some of our frugal accomplishments this week:

Cooking:

Calvin's Father's Day blackberry pie with berries from the garden/freezer

a triple batch of granola bars  (recipe found here)

22 trays of raspberry-apple leather (raspberries from the garden/freezer)

chicken and dumplings
we ate potatoes, carrots, and onions from the garden

I also made a crock-pot of refried beans (recipe here) and froze 20 bean and cheese burritos for future lunches.


Collecting:

the coyotes ate 25 of our laying hens, but a good friend gave us 5 hens to
keep us in stock until we get a new batch of chicks raised

cut flowers and lavender from the garden to put on the table as a centerpiece

a mouse for our cat to teach her to be a mouser

gathered eggs and fed the pigs scraps from the kitchen along with their grain

picked and froze two+ gallons of raspberries from the garden

Miscellaneous:

We planted more basil so we can make a larger batch of pesto to freeze.  I got some books from the library, and returned an unread book for store credit.  Calvin and I used a gift card for a date to a nice restaurant and only paid $1.16 for the meal. 

We watched programs on Roku.



Canning & Freezing:

We butchered between 40-50 chickens that we raised. After we bagged some whole and cut others up, we boiled the backs (as well as a few older chickens from the freezer) and canned the meat and broth. In addition to 20+ birds in the freezer, we canned about 30 pints of meat and 40 quarts of broth.

Phil, one of Calvin's friends and work associates asked us to raise some birds for him and wanted to help butcher them.  Having three of us really sped up the process.  Here are a few pictures from the butchering process.

1.  Catch the birds.

2.  Bleed them out and then dip them in scalding water to loosen the feathers.

3.  Drop them in the whizzbang chicken plucker.

4.  Eviscerate and clean them, and then cool them in cold running water.  After they are sufficiently cool, cut the birds into pieces or bag them whole and put them in the freezer.

6.  Put all the backs and too-small chickens in a big pot with onions and celery, salt and pepper.  Boil for several hours until the meat falls off the bone.

7.  Debone the chicken and fill jars.  Pressure cook the chicken and the broth.

I really like producing our meat.  Every time I hear a recall on chicken or beef or pork I can safely ignore it.



If you like reading frugal tips and seeing beautiful photography check out Brandy's blog and comment section.

Homemaking Tip -- Why We Do What We Do

In a nutshell, this is what Calvin and I believe. It's why we do what we do and live like we live. I'm grateful to live in a time in history when these truths are on the earth.





The truths in this video, explain why we love home and family so much.  Knowing that Jesus Christ made it possible to see and live with our Eternal parents and family again, and gave us the opportunity to make our little family that we have here on earth a forever family, is why I love making a sweet and safe home where our family can grow and find refuge.

Homemaking - The Dips

Do/did you ever measure your shortening using the water method?

The other day I was making a blackberry pie and used the water method to measure the lard and shortening, for old times sake.  Mom always measured her shortening this way when she made pies . . .  of course she always made pies 7 or 8 at a time, too.  

The way I usually measure shortening is to first put a broken egg (that the recipe calls for) in the measuring cup and swish it around.  Then dump the egg out and put the shortening it.  The egg white coats the inside of the cup and the shortening slips right out with no mess.  

********

Calvin and I have been canning a lot this summer and the other day while we were drying tomatoes we tried drying cucumbers.

After they were brittle, we pulverized them into powder. 

Then, seeing how handy pulverized cucumber powder is, I dried some carrots and did the same thing. Then green peppers.  Then onions.  Then squash.  Then dill.  Nothing in the garden was safe.  

For a long time I've wanted to try to recreate a vegetable dip mix that I remember as a little girl.  I did it!  I finally did it.  I mixed a combination of dried vegetables (cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, onions, and dill) with sour cream.  It was good.  Very, very good.

Feeling successful, I added the vegetable mix to homemade Greek yogurt.  While healthier and good, it wasn't very, very good.  

Feeling even more empowered, I bagged little mix packets.  And, because they looked so pretty in the little bags, I added tags and put them in a cute basket.  

  

It's a winner.

The sad thing is the day before we tried drying cucumbers we pulled up the whole row of them, except three plants, because we had bottled more than enough pickles and were so tired of them. Argh.  So, even though the secret recipe is within reach, the goose that laid the golden egg is dead.  

Next year.

(P.S.  Kathrin thank you for your note from Elder Jackson.  I returned a comment below yours.)

Wednesday Homemaking Tip - Prepare

The scriptures don't really say what the Savior did on this day of what we now call Holy Week, but in the book of Matthew the Parables of the Ten Virgins, Talents, and Sheep and Goats come right before the Passover. It makes sense, knowing He would soon be gone from the earth, that He would spend the day teaching those parables to prepare His followers for His Second Coming.  Regardless of when he taught them, the Parables prepare us for Christ's Second Coming.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins has always been sobering to me.  Being left out of a good thing is serious business.  When I was a girl, I couldn't figure out why the wise virgins, if they were so good and wise, didn't share their oil with the others.  Or, why the girls who didn't have enough oil didn't just latch themselves on to someone who did, or at least walk right in their shadow.  Later I learned there are some things you just can't give to another.  The oil represented their commitment to the Savior and you can't give that to someone else.  You can't give your faith, nor your knowledge. You can't give your experiences or your understanding. You can't give your obedience or your Christlike attributes.  There are some things in life that you can't beg, borrow, or steal, you have to gain them for yourself. So it was with the virgins, so it is with me.

I have come to love and appreciate that message of preparation and self-reliance in this parable. It's practical and applicable in all areas of my life. Spiritually it causes me to seek, emotionally and physically it causes me to grow.  I've especially enjoyed learning to be self-reliant in making a home and caring for a family.  It's why Calvin and I grow a garden and raise chickens.  It's why we butcher our meat and bottle fruits and vegetables. And, it's why Calvin experimented making cheese a year or two ago and I learned to make yogurt a few days ago.

A few months ago I went to help Ande after Ezra was born.  She had 3 jars of homemade yogurt in the fridge. After I tasted it, and she promised it was easy, I was determined to come home and make some myself.

I'm here to say, it's not only very good, it's good for you, it's economical, and it's practical.  Since I leave early every morning for work, a cup of yogurt is an easy breakfast to eat on the way. Today,  imitating the experts, I packed four cups of yogurt.

One cup has caramel in it.  I used leftover caramel ice cream topping made from this quick and easy recipe with a little cup of cashews to stir in.

Two cups have frozen blueberries with little cups of homemade granola (also Ande's recipe) to mix in.

One cup has dried coconut added with sliced almonds and mini chocolate chips to stir in.

There's lots of plain yogurt left for smoothies, baking, making more flavors, and the start for more yogurt.

It cost about $4.00 to make the yogurt and it produced well over 3 quarts.  I estimated the savings to be at least $25.  Not bad.  Not too bad at all.


Zeph's Greek Yogurt

1 gallon whole milk
5 oz. plain Greek yogurt (with active, live cultures)

Put milk in crock pot and heat until it reaches 180 degrees.  (This takes about 2 hours.)  When milk reaches desired temperature, turn off heat and let it cool down in the crock pot to 90-115 degrees.  In a small bowl mix yogurt and 1/2 cup cooled milk until smooth.  Add mixture into crockpot and stir.  Place crock pot bowl (without lid) in oven with the light on for 8-12 hours.  Congratulations.  You just made yogurt.  To make Greek yogurt, place a flour sack towel, t-shirt, or double layer of cheese cloth over a large bowl and spoon yogurt onto towel, careful to leave enough room for yogurt to strain liquid.  Place in fridge for an hour or two while it drains.  Now you have Greek Yogurt (and a giant bowl of whey, which can be used for other things).  Store in jars.  Saves in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks.  To eat, mix in honey or other sweeteners, fruits, etc.  Serve with granola if desired.


Prepare.  Self-reliance.  The Parable of the Ten Virgins.  Good advice for everyday and everyone.

Homemaking Tip - When the Microwave Blows a Magnetron

When you don't have a microwave to soften cold butter, but the chocolate-coconut truffle cupcakes need frosted now, grating it really does work.  Grace and I know this for certain now.  

Homemaking Tip - Thinkin'

Sometimes country music says it all.

♬ “What was I thinkin’?”♬ has come into my mind more than once today. 

You see, we’re painting the whole house, even the ceilings  . . .

. . . in December.  

Granted, someone is doing it for us, but still . . .

♬ "What was I thinkin?"♬

And then, tonight I logged onto Facebook and saw a slew of comments and “likes” to a post on our wall that I don’t even know how it got there. It was one of those requests asking for confirmation that you read our wall. All I could think was, “Caaaalllvvviiiiiin! what buttons did you push?" (You should have seen his Instagram account a month ago. Good grief. He had unknowingly pushed “follow” to 50 random people – most of them souls he doesn't know and others were celebrities he has no desire to know.  He was cursing Instagram until I explained what he'd done and fixed his contacts.)  If only they’d write a song, “What was Calvin thinkin’?” we’d be covered.

But every now and then we think of good ideas.  Like at Thanksgiving.  Calvin grilled everyone a Cornish game hen that each person had seasoned individually (great idea), and then after dinner everyone had a tin to put his leftovers in.  It was a custom TV dinner if ever there was one.  

It was slick.

Back to more thinkin' . . . 

and sniffing paint fumes.

Homemaking Tip - Great Granola

When we went to see Ande this summer she served granola that she had made.  I've made granola for years, but Ande's recipe was far better.  I've since made it and it's good with milk or served with fresh raspberries and Greek yogurt.    

Alton Brown's Granola Recipe

3 cups rolled oats

1 cup slivered or sliced almonds

1 cup cashews

3/4 cup coconut

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1/4 cup vegetable oil (substitute peanut oil . . . it makes a good difference)

3/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.  Combine first 5 ingredients in large bowl and mix well.  Combine maple syrup, vegetable oil, and salt in another bowl.  Pour liquid mixture over dry mixture and stir evenly to coat. Spread on large baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.   (Optional:  add dried fruit after it has finished baking.)

Homemaking - Information Sheet

This has nothing to do with the post, but a couple weeks ago Grace and I made
candy-corn colored gumball jars to decorate our kitchen windowsills.
They only cost us $1 and they're downright cheery.

It seems we're often asked to fill out "Information Sheets." Several months ago I was given the one below.  The questions were quick-to-answer and fun to think about.  

Whether you use these questions for a journal entry of your own or for supper table conversations, they help a family connect. And that's what homemaking is really all about, making a place where family connects.

1.     What’s your dream job?
D-d-d-d-definitely being a homemaker. It has a steep learning curve and requires a little bit of everything – finance, culinary arts, organization skills, carpentry, family and marriage counseling, janitorial, healthcare, and veterinary science. It truly is a dream job. Be warned, the monetary pay is terrible, but the satisfaction is high.


2. What's the most exciting or memorable thing you did in the past year?
Had four grandchildren. At each child’s birth I went and stayed in the homes for at least a week to help the new parents launch their new little human. It’s pretty memorable work.


3. What’s the best gift you’ve ever given?
Forgiveness. Mind you, forgiveness most benefits the forgiver, but there is no denying that the look of relief that spreads across the forgiven’s face after a terrible malfeasance attests that forgiveness is a sweet, and most welcome gift.


4. What's your favorite fast food joint?

Artic Circle because they have fry sauce and 50 cent ice cream cones.


5. If you were a dessert, what would you be?
Berry Pie. I’m not showy. A crust is a crust. But when you open me up, you’ll find there issubstance and a certain vibrancy. But perhaps most importantly, like pie, I’m best when I’m on a team. Pie without ice cream? The ice cream gives the pie depth, and thus it is with me.


6. If you could live anywhere you wished for a summer where would it be? What would you do?
I would really enjoy living on a university campus for a summer, taking classes, attending lectures, occasionally teaching, and eating in a cafeteria. If I could go to the BYU-Jerusalem campus that would be a bonus.


7. If you could have any art object in the world to display in your room solely for your own enjoyment, what would it be and why?
It would be a bronze sculpture, but of whom or what historical event I’m not sure.


8. Who would you most like to have lunch with? Where would you go? What would you eat?
My husband, Calvin, in a talkative mood. I would go to Texas Roadhouse and have the 6 oz sirloin special. Eating in public isn’t my favorite event, so I would choose someone and some place comfortable.


9. What talent would you most like to have and why?
For my own enjoyment, play the fiddle. For the enjoyment of others, a voice in the female range. It is quite distressing to sing in a tenor/bass range (slightly off key) in a Relief Society room of sopranos and altos.


10. What are two of your very favorite films?
Sound of Music. Much as I like many others, I always come back to Maria sewing dresses out of curtains so that children can play and the dance scene with Curt and then the Captain.

The BBC Pride & Prejudice.

(I didn’t realize I was a romantic.)


11. What are the last two CDs you purchased or received?
The Piano Guys. I love the cello, piano combination. 

At our last family reunion everyone submitted their favorite song of the year. We guessed each song’s contributor and everyone received a cd. Listening to that makes me happy. Each song reminds me of a person that I love.


12. What are the last two things you read just for fun?
The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
Whistling Season by Ivan Doing


13. If you were a Disney cartoon character, who would you be and why?
Pluto. He’s not cross like Donald Duck, he’s not mean like Pete, and he’s not an idiot like Goofy.


14. If you could choose your own death, how would you die?
Translated or in my sleep. In short, painlessly.


15. What’s your most irrational fear? What are its origins?
That my children will not like each other. My childhood.


16. What’s your best celebrity sighting?
I would have to recognize and know celebrities to sight them. Often people will mention a singer, sportsman, or actor’s name and I have no clue who they’re talking about.


17. What’s one of your pet peeves?

When I fall into victim-hood.


18. If your life were being made into a movie, what would the title be and which actor would play you?
A Life Just Like Yours. Sandra Bullock.


19. Note which of the following you would want to have with you if you were stranded on a tropical island. (Assume that you have the scriptures & necessary equipment with you already).
Animal: Our cur, Dan. He would let us know when the rescuers came.
Person: My husband, Calvin. He’s resourceful and would keep us alive.
Item of your choice: Fire or chapstick

20.  What question would you add to this survey? What would your answer be?

Q: "If you had the choice of speaking every thought that ever crossed your mind or never speaking another word, which would you choose?"

A: Painful as it would be, I’d have to choose mute. My thoughts need edited too much to go live.

I'd love to read any of your answers to the questions in the comment section . . . 

Homemaking Tip - Making the Most of Mundane

I forgot I had to report for jury duty this morning, I found a sub for the 3 classes I had to teach and then drove the 25+ miles as fast as I could to get to the courthouse.  I got there with 4 minutes to spare.  (If you're late you are given extra days to serve.)

Me and my 50 fellow prospective jurors filled out a questionnaire, watched a video on the justice system, listened to the judge deliver instructions, answered questions by the attorneys, and stared down every inch of the courtroom and each other for three hours.  I was potential juror #29, but the last juror chosen was juror #27 so, with my jury duty duration finished, I came home and peeled pears to dry.

Standing at the kitchen sink peeling and slicing pears takes a very long time.  It's one of the slowest kitchen tasks I know.  As you stand there, peeling and coring and slicing each pear, it's easy to think of all the things you could be doing if pear-peeling didn't take so long.  However, pear-peeling is thoroughly enjoyable, and you don't wish to do other things, if you have a good conversation.  Beings there was no one to talk to, I turned on The Mormon Channel (www.mormonchannel.org). It's like listening to a really good conversation that teaches you something.  I enjoy several of the programs on the channel.  One of my favorites is "Insights"  (http://www.mormonchannel.org/insights) from the archived programs. I've listened to some that explain  (Understanding Islam, Understanding Mathematics, Understanding Money) and some that entertain (Abraham Lincoln).

A positive part of mundane chores, like pear-peeling, is it leaves the mind free to think and learn and make plans.   I'm looking forward to peeling pears again tomorrow.

Thursday Thinking - Rough

Rough has been on my mind the last few days . . .

1.rough rəf/ coarse
While I really doubt that any recipe is original -- with billions (or is it trillions) of people having lived since the time of Adam and every one of them needing to eat repeated times a day to stay alive, I imagine edible ingredients have been mixed and remixed to make the same concoction thousands of times. To claim originality would be presumptuous.  Nonetheless, here's a recipe I mixed this week that I haven't seen before.

*****

Rough Muffins

1 1/2 cups wheat bran (found in the bulk section of health or grocery stores)

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup oil (or you may want to substitute applesauce)

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup chopped almonds (optional)

1/2 cup coconut (optional)

Measure wheat bran into mixing bowl and pour buttermilk over it.  Let it soak ten minutes.  Add coconut flour, wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and brown sugar.  After well mixed, add oil, eggs, and vanilla.  Mix until all is thoroughly moistened.  Stir in almonds and coconut.  Fill greased muffin tins 2/3 full of batter and bake in a 375 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let them set for 5 minutes and then remove from muffin tin and cool on a wire rack. 

****

As you can see, these muffins have an ample amount of roughage in them.  With wheat flour having 3.4 grams of fiber per cup, wheat bran having 25 grams of fiber per cup, and coconut flour having a whopping 64 grams of fiber per cup, each little muffin packs a lot of bulk.  Which means that you feel very full after having eaten only two of these muffins.

Mind you, they aren't the most flavorful muffin you'll ever eat, but they are healthy and I like them, especially because I feel full for such a long time after eating them.


2. rough rəf/violent; difficult; to give a beating to, manhandle, or subject to physical violence

Calvin and I both read Elizabeth Smart's book, My Story, this week.  (Remember she is the 14 year old girl that was abducted from her Salt Lake City, Utah home back in 2002.)   My.  She had it rough.  Really rough. We both appreciated the book and were glad we had someone to discuss it with as we read it.

It was a disturbing read.

It was an encouraging read.

Chapter 40 was plain inspiring.  Best self-help advice I've ever read in a book.

It was a difficult story to tell and Chris Stewart did a good job of untangling a very convoluted, yet repetitious and harrowing account.

Thank you to Elizabeth Smart for teaching us and Chris Stewart for helping her deliver that message.



I literally have been chewing - mentally and physically - on both of these rough things all week . . . as well as the rough news of the missing Malaysian plane and Russia's march.

Homemaking Tip - Seeds&Things

Mother Nature threw us a bone.  She gave us two days of 60 degree weather and I not only went coat-less, but Calvin almost went vest-less, and we both got garden fever.  

Last night Calvin planted Big Jim chile pepper and tomato seeds in starter trays . . .  

. . . while I made seed tape.

We bought seed tape for the first time a few years ago.  If you plant in windy weather and the seeds scatter when you plant, or if you get tired of having crowded, intertwined carrots you would probably love seed tape.  But, seed tape is expensive, hard to find, and has a very small selection.   So I read on the internet how to make our own.

1.  Roll out ten feet of toilet paper.  Fold and cut in half lengthwise.

2.  Put a dot of white glue (colored glue would make it easier to see) wherever you want a seed (for carrots it's 1/2 inch space between seeds)

3.  Place the seed on the dot of glue.

4.  Let the glue dry and then roll the toilet paper strip and put it in a baggie with planting instructions.

5.  Store in a cool, dry place until you're ready to plant.

Be warned, making seed tape is time consuming.  Suddenly it doesn't seem so expensive when you see how long it takes to make your own, but choosing your variety makes it worthwhile even if the cost doesn't.  I've still got a lot of seed tape to make (lettuce, flowers, etc.) so I'll listen to a book on tape while I do.

This afternoon I planted an herb pot with chives and cilantro.  Now that the dining room is rearranged, I think there is a spot with enough sun to keep the plants alive until the herbs in the garden are ready.

If Mother Nature will just throw us another bone we'll start raking, burning, mowing, cutting, and pruning.  

Homemaking Tip - Have a Baby

The best homemaking tip I know is:

Have a baby.

They bring a part of heaven to your home . . . 

. . . and extra laundry, and hunger, and crying, and laughing, and someone to be rocked and bathed, and someone who desperately needs and gives acceptance and love.  

Which makes all those little things we do to make a home worth it.

Have a baby.

Henry Calvin Payne

February 4, 2014

7 pounds 10 ounces

19 1/2 inches

He is absolutely beautiful and just as sweet as he can be.  He is perfectly content as long as he is in his mom and dad's arms.  Abe and Grace are perfectly content as long as he is in those arms.  

Families really are God's masterpiece and grace a home like nothing else does.

Welcome to the world Henry, thank you for coming to our family.  

Homemaking Tip - Soak the Noodles

Last week Ande made us a pan of lasagna for supper.  She soaked regular lasagna noodles for twenty minutes in warm water before she layered the ingredients.  They were just right - not too soggy, not too crunchy.  Move over Olive Garden and Nancirella, Calvin dubbed Ande the queen of lasagna after only five bites.
  

Homemaking Tip - A Dab of Yellow

Splash of yellow in our kitchen.
The other day we were cooking together and Calvin asked me to grab one of these lemons so he could add
 it to whatever it was he was making.  They'd been there four months and he didn't know they were fake.

Daffodils, sunshine, butter, egg yolks, sunflowers, lemons, baby chicks, corn on the cob, a candle flame. Yellow is a great color. It brightens and gladdens. Adding just a dab of yellow to a meal (a lemon slice to a glass of water, a yellow vegetable or fruit, a burning candle, or a yellow flower for a centerpiece) can brighten the meal. A little bit of yellow in a room (a yellow pot, pillow, book on the table, or a bright lamp) has the same effect.

After reading that studies show that babies prefer yellow, I put a yellow, antique, baby quilt on top of a cedar chest in the living room to see if it made a difference. Cali was a teenager then and when she came into the kitchen where I was fixing breakfast said, "You know, I woke up mad this morning and was going to let _______ have it, but when I saw the quilt you put on the cedar chest I thought, ‘Cali, it’s not that big of a deal, let it go.’ That quilt looks nice, Mom.”

Well I'll be - yellow even fights contention. Even Clorox can't do that. Cali's comment only fortified my friendship with yellow.

And then I found a blog a few months ago called Raising Lemons

Lemons are yellow and this blog is a happy spot with lots of great and useful ideas:

Her post on the over-rewarding of children brought a nod and an amen.

Her post on eating healthier was a quick lesson and I shared her philosophy (when our kids were home) on breakfast at our house

She's got posts on manners, teaching ABC's, how to celebrate and give service, as well as thoughts on motherhood.

Yellow. Just a dab can make a difference.

Homemaking Tip - Tried and True

Texas Sheet Cake
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
1/4 cup coca
1 cup water
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp soda
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Mix flour and sugar together in a bowl.  Bring to boil butter and water.  Pour hot mixture over flour and sugar.  Add buttermilk, soda, eggs, cocoa, and vanilla.  Beat until well mixed.  Mixture will be bubbly.  Pour into greased cookie sheet (17x11x1).  Bake 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Texas Frosting
1/2 cup butter
5 Tbsp milk
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
4 plus cups of powdered sugar

Milk butter and add milk, cocoa, and vanilla.  Add powdered sugar until desired consistency.  Mix until smooth.  Spread on warm cake  Allow to cool long enough to frosting.

Hot Fudge Sauce
1 cup butter
5 Tbsp cocoa
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups half and half
1 tsp vanilla
dash of salt

Melt butter in saucepan.  Add cocoa and stir until smooth.  Add sugar and stir until it is all moistened.  Add milk slowly while stirring.  Stir until incorporated.  Add vanilla and salt.  Cook until smooth and cream over medium low heat.

Coconut Ice Cream Balls
Brown coconut by heating a frying pan on medium high heat and adding 2 cups of coconut to the pan.  Stir frequently until all of the coconut is evenly browned.  Immediately remove from heat and transfer coconut to a small bowl.

Soften 1/2 gallon of ice cream until it is easily scooped.  Scoop a large amount of ice cream and quickly form into a ball in your hands.  Roll in toasted coconut (and chopped almonds if desired).  Put on a waxed lined cookie sheet in the freezer.  Continue until you have enough balls.  Makes approximately 12-15 balls.

Homemaking Tip - Frugal Living

A month or two ago I started reading a blog called The Prudent Homemaker.  She and her family have been living from their food storage for many years.  She has incredible, edible flower beds.   Her family has learned to live on less due to the current economic situation and her husband's line of work.  Each week she posts her frugal accomplishments.  I enjoy reading her list and the comments where her readers are encouraged to share their ideas.  I'm sharing a few of my frugal accomplishments with you this week.

Calvin needed a couple dozen hamburger buns for a scout activity.  Store bought hamburger and hotdog buns are a rip-off and homemade buns are quick and inexpensive to make. 

One Hour Buns

5 cups flour
1 1/2 Tbsp Saf yeast
3 Tbsp sugar
3/4 Tbsp salt
3 Tbs oil
2 cups hot tap water

Mix dry ingredients together and stir well.  Add oil and hot top water all at once.  Continue to stir or mix for five minutes.  Let dough rest five minutes then roll out on lightly floured surface.  Place buns on a cookie sheet and let rise for 20 minutes.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until nicely browned.

The secret to making good hamburger and hotdog buns is the can.  I'm not fooling.  Baked bean cans work great.  Just cut the top and bottom out with a can-opener.  If you want to make hotdog buns, squish in the sides of the top of the can into the shape of a long skinny bun. 

Another perk when you make your own buns is that you can make the right amount (instead of buying a bag of 8 buns for your 10 pack of hotdogs).   

 We bought chicken feed with money collected from selling eggs, and fed the chickens leftover food scraps (a moldy squash from the storage room, lettuce core, etc.). 

Made Ray a birthday gift by covering a cocoa can with paper and filling it with a batch of homemade caramels.   

Pureed old fruit and dried it into fruit roll-ups. 

How about you?  What were some of the ways you saved money this week?

Homemaking Tip - Hero Wall

Calvin and I have gone to two movies in the last week.  Not unprecedented, but not normal.  As we watched superhero preview after superhero preview, I thought No wonder kids are confused and feel helpless today . . . our heroes are superheros and if you can't spit webs, conduct electricity, or fly you can't solve the world's problems.

Now I don't know if that really is the case, but I do wish that we put more real life heroes in front of kids than imaginary ones.

My sister Rachel has what her family calls a Hero Wall.  Each person in the family has chosen someone that has qualities they admire and want to emulate.  Rachel's hero is Ulysses S. Grant and she can give you a passionate and heartfelt lesson on him and leave you feeling a kinship to him as well.

As you can see, the Ellsworth hero wall is as varied as its family members.  It is an effective way to teach with the eyes.

I like this simple definition of hero:  "A hero is a kind of person that others want to be like.  He helps them become better people.  They aren't always famous, sometimes they are just regular people, they don't have to brag or boast about themselves they just quietly do the things they should.  They follow Jesus."

Who would you hang on your hero wall?  I'd put Joan of Arc and Calvin's dad and Peter for starters.

Homemaking Tip - Leftovers

Calvin liked the cookies.

He really liked them even though I over-cooked one batch and under-cooked another.

Today was a day for leftovers.

It wasn't planned, it just worked out that way.

Leftover One:

For supper we had homemade TV dinners.
 

chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy
We had this for supper a month ago and I put the leftovers in foil pans in the freezer for a night like tonight.
I baked them for an hour or so at 350 degrees.

Leftover Two:

Tonight I needed a dessert for Young Women's.

There was leftover ice cream in the freezer from Thanksgiving.

There was leftover caramel in the fridge from the scrapbook retreat in October.

There were over-done and under-done cookies from yesterday.

I put them all together.

People asked me for the recipe.

The crust is cookie flops ground up in the food processor and spread into a pan.

Drizzle 1 cup of caramel sauce over the crust.

Scoop softened ice cream over cookie crust.

Drizzle more caramel over the ice cream.

Sprinkle with cookie crumbs.

Pick out the red and yellow M&M's from your leftover Thanksgiving candy and add them as garnish.

Serve on leftover plates that have a turkey in the center of them.

Leftover three:

Kent taught us how to crochet beanies tonight using some of his grandmother's leftover yarn.

I have hopes of making little beanies.

Leftover four:

I have nothing left over.

I have hit the wall.

Good night.