As you can probably tell by my previous posts, I’m all about easy when it comes to cooking.  I don’t mind cooking and I think I would even experiment a little more if I had a little more time.  However, with 5 kids, a husband, a dog, and all of my other responsibilities, there isn’t a lot of time left over for cooking.    I look for recipes that look easy, involve very little time, and hopefully ones that my kids will eat.  Recognizing all ingredients in the recipe is also a MUST!  This is a fabulous recipes for salsa.  The hardest part is chopping the cilantro and slicing the avacados which is actually not hard if you do it this way: 

1.  Cut the avacado in half

2.  Take the pit out of the center

3.  While the skin is still on slice the avacado lenthwise then widthwise (I hope that makes sense )

4.  Take your knife and separate the skin from the avacado – the sliced pieces should fall right into your dish.

I tried all sorts of ways to peel and slice an avacado and for some reason they were all a disaster!  This is easy and fast.

Serve this dip with tortilla chips.  Our favorite chip with this is the lime flavored chips.  It’s delicious!  This is a great appetizer for parties or a great side dish for a summer barbecue.  This could also be made from your food storage.  You would have to do without the avacados and fresh cilantro but it would still be a delicious treat!  Enjoy!

COWBOY SALSA

1 large can diced tomatoes drained

1 can black eyed peas drained

1 can shoe peg corn drained (white corn)

1 pkg. dry italian dressing

2 T vinegar

2 T oil

1 T dry onion flakes

1/4 c. fresh chopped cilantro

3-5 avacados diced

fresh lime juice to taste

Salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients in the bowl and mix them together.  It’s that easy!

You may have noticed that I haven’t posted in a while!  I have been working hard on my calling as the Food Storage and Preparedness Specialist for my ward.  It’s been a lot of fun and a lot of work!  I created a blog – www.preparednotscared.blogspot.com and have prepared a new post for each day of the week.

Each day of the week will focus on a different area of preparedness.  Our goal is to be prepared as a family both physically and spiritually.

Here’s a rundown of what you can expect:

Sunday: Vital Records Pages and Journal Pages

Monday: Family Home Evening Lessons

     Week 1: Primary Theme & Scripture

     Week 2:  Safety & Preparedness

     Week 3:  For the Strength of Youth/Mormonads

     Week 4:  Family History

     Week 5:  Family Service Project or Family Activity

Tuesday: Ark Prep 101 – Preparedness Topics

Wednesday:  Preparedness Project

Thursday:  Family Activities

Friday:  Preserve It . . . Canning Corner

Saturday:  Food Storage Meals & Menu Planning

By the end of the year, you should be well on your way to becoming more prepared!

We have added a link on the left side of the page.  Hope you enjoy! 

Trish

My oldest son was in the mood to fix dessert for the family last night.  I told him he could pick what ever he wanted and he decided on a new recipe.  We REALLY loved it.  Remember to have plenty of vanilla ice cream to serve with this.  One 9×9 pan was enough for our family of 7 for one serving each.  He made two pans so we will some more tonight!  Another reason why I like this recipe is it’s all made in the pan you bake it in.  No mixing bowls to clean up afterward.  This is also a GREAT food storage recipe as it uses everything you have in your storage.  No store bough items.  LOVED IT!!

Hot Fudge Sundae Cake

1 cup flour                         2 Tbl oil

3/4 cup sugar                  1 tsp. vanilla

2 Tbl cocoa                       1 cup chopped nuts (opt)

2 tsp baking powder     1 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp. salt                      1/4 cup cocoa

1/2 cup milk                     1 3/4 cup super hot water

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix flour, sugar, 2 Tbl cocoa, baking powder, and salt in an ungreased 9 inch square pan.  Mix in milk, oil, and vanilla with a fork until smooth.  Stir in nuts.  Spread batter evenly in the pan.  Sprinkle with brown sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa.  Pour hot water over batter.  Bake for 40 minutes.  While warm, sppon into desert dishes and top with lots of ice cream.  Spoon sauce from pan onto each serving.  Note: sauce will thicken as it cools.

I too have been canning up a storm here at the Bybee household, which is why you haven’t seen too many posts from me on our blog. Forgive me.  I too am a greeny when it comes to canning but have chosen to immerse myself in the fantastic art of storing your food that has been homegrown or better yet free from others!  It has been a fantastic journey for me and I would like to share a great recipe I learned from my sister.  Applesauce. 

Yes, most people who heard I was doing it thought I was crazy.  With the help of my sister’s fabulous easy-as-pie recipe, I will do it again and again.  One tool is vital to have during this process, it is called a food mill.  This is what you use to squeeze the juice and pulp out of the apples.  Without this tool I wouldn’t try it, the work is much more labor intensive.  I loved this recipe so much because there is no pealing or coring, just slicing in quarters.  The apples come out tasting so good already you really don’t need to add sugar.  Here you go, enjoy, and happy canning!

 

Canned Applesauce

 12-16 pounds of apples

8 strips of lemon peeled off lemon with vegetable peeler

6-8 tablespoons of lemon juice (strengthens flavor of apple)

6 inches of cinnamon stick

4 cups of water in bottom of pot

 

Wash apples cut into quarters or eighths, no coring or peeling

Put in stock pot with lemon peal and cinnamon stick

Cover and simmer until the apples are soft all the way through

Pick out cinnamon sticks then put everything else through a food mill

Rinse pot then add food mill stuff back into the pot

Sweeten to taste with ½ to 1 cup brown sugar, then add white sugar to taste (Total sugar added should be between 1 cup to 2 cups.) Bring to a boil.

If you want you can substitute 20 percent of apples to strawberries.

 

Pour into prepared jars and process in the water bath canner for 30 minutes.  (This recipe has 10 minutes added for high altitude.  Be sure to take 10 minutes off if you are below 1,000 feet in altitude.  If you are between 1,001 to 3,000 feet take off 5 minutes.)

Tis’ the season when my kitchen is a little too warm and my floor is a little too sticky! I’ve been canning away like crazy these past 3 weeks. Last year was my first year to “get my feet wet” and see what it was all about, and I fell in love. There is no better feeling than seeing the gleaming full fruit jars sitting on your kitchen counter. It truly makes me happy. But this year, I’ve decided it’s a love/hate relationship. I love the end result but hate the time and mess that goes into it. Does this stop me? Nope! I just keep on plugging away, because this winter, when it’s freezing cold outside, I will love pulling out a jar of fresh peaches and eating away!

As a company, we wanted to share some of our favorite canning recipes wtih you. My new favorite this year is Plum Syrup. It truly is to die for! I’m not a big plum fan and didn’t know what to do with all the free plums that were given to me. I did a little research and found this simple recipe. I promise, you’ll love it!

Plum (or any fruit) Syrup
8 c. plum juice
2 c. corn syrup
12 c. sugar

Combine all 3 ingredients into a large pot. Bring to a boil. Boil for 15 mintues. Turn off heat, skim foam, and pour into sterilized jars. Process for 25 minutes (this is for Utah elevation) in a hot water bath.

As you know I am the Food Storage & Preparedness Specialist for my ward.  My committee and I started a new blog with recipes, food storage hints and helps, and emergency preparedness. 

The blog is: www.preparednotscared.blogspot.com. 

We will continue posting on our My Heart and Home blog, but to make it a little easier for the summer, I will just be posting on the ward blog.  Can’t wait to get start posting on the My Heart blog again once the kids are in school.   In the meantime, keep working on your food storage and being prepared . . . canning season is just around the corner, I can hardly wait . . . I’m such a pioneer wanna-be!  Thanks for all of your comments, they make our day!

We all want to work on our food storage but some of us are not even sure what to store.  The whole idea of food storage can be overwhelming when you don’t know where to start!  Then there are those of us who have some of the basics such as rice, wheat, pasta, etc. but we don’t know what to do with it.  It just sits on our shelf in the basement waiting for a disaster.  Don’t get me wrong – at least you have it!  However, there are a lot of books out there that give really good advice on how to use food storage.  One of our favorites is “I Dare You to Eat It” by Liesa Card.  In this book Liesa shares recipes that will help you rotate and actually use your food storage.  

The seven areas of long-term food storage are:
Red Wheat
White Wheat
Rice
Beans/Legumes
Pasta
Potatoes
Oats

We are going to start with wheat this week and go down the list with great ideas on how to use what is in your food storage.  Here is a basic recipe for wheat berries which can be used in recipes that call for wheat.
Basic Cooked Wheat Berries
4 c. raw whole wheat
10 c. water
1 T. salt
Oil a large (4 quart or larger) slow cooker and fill with wheat, water, and salt.  Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.  Cooked wheat may be bagged and stored in the refrigerator for a least a week or in the freezer for months.
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Now that you have the Basic Cooked Wheat Berry Recipe, here is a great way to use it in a recipe.
“S-Wheat” Sloppy Joes
1 lb. ground beef
2 cups. cooked wheat berries
1 can Tomato soup
1 jar Homemade brand chili sauce (12 oz.)
Brown the ground beef and drain fat.  Stir in wheat, undiliuted tomato soup, and chili sauce.  Serve on toasted hamburger buns, with melted cheese if you like.
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This recipe is completely shelf-stable!  The hamburger can be replaced with freeze dried cooked ground beef, ground beef from the freezer, or bottled ground beef.  The buns can be homemade, or from the freezer, and the rest is easy!
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Try it out and let us know what you think!  Be sure to check back each week for more ideas and good recipes.  Next week will be all about rice.

We live in a busy world where not much is homemade anymore.  Who has time for that???  You do!  You can cook from scratch in no time if you have your mixes prepared ahead of time.

Making your own mixes can save you money at the grocery store, save you time (when you have them pre-made), and help you rotate your food storage all at the same time!   It’s simple and only takes a few minutes of prep time. 

Start by making a list of the mixes you use (i.e., pancakes, waffles, muffins, cookies, salad dressings, etc.).  Next, gather the recipes for those that you want to make ahead of time and add any items that you don’t have on hand to your grocery list so you can pick them up next time you are at the store.  (This is also a great way to see what you need to have in your food storage!)  Then schedule some time – it really doesn’t take much – to put your mixes together.  You can store them in a Ziploc or in a Tupperware container.  Add all your dry ingredients and then make a label for the front of the bag with the name of the item and the instructions to complete it (all the wet ingredients, how to cook it, mix it, etc.).  Voila!  You are done and anyone in your house can help you cook because all they have to do is follow the simple instructions on the front of the baggie!

Here is a simple recipe for ranch dressing to get you started:

Ranch Dressing Dry Mix

 

INGREDIENTS

7 Saltine Crackers

2 Tbsp. Garlic Salt

2 Tbsp. Onion Powder

3.4 cup Dry Minced Parsley Flakes

1/4 cup Minced Dry Onion

1 Tbsp. Dry Dill Weed

2 Tbsp. Garlic Powder

Note:  If you would like to use powdered milk instead of fresh buttermilk (Conversion Listed Below) Add 1/4 cup non-instant powdered milk into the mix.

 

DIRECTIONS

Blend crackers in blender on high speed until it’s a powder.  Add parsley, minced onion, and dill weed.  Blend again until it’s powdered.  Pour mixture into a bowl.  Stir in onion powder, garlic salt, and garlic powder.

Store in a container with a tight fitting lid at room temperature for up to one year. 

 

TO MAKE DRESSING

Add 1 cup mayonnaise, 1 cup buttermilk, (1 cup water, 1/4 cup non-instant powdered milk, 1 tbsp. vinegar or lemon juice) and 1 Tbsp. Dry Ranch Dressing Mix. 

 

Note:  Buttermilk can also be made by adding 1 Tbsp. Cider Vinegar or 1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice to a 1 cup  size measuring cup and filling the rest of the cup with milk.  Wisk together and chill for 10-15 minutes before serving.

 

You can use this recipe over salads, on chicken and anywhere that you use ranch dressing.  It’s delicious! 

 

 Because we have water at our fingertips we often put off storing it until they have shut off the water on your street to fix a pipe or some other emergency.  Water is the most important part of your emergency storage and it’s easy to do.  If you purchase 1 extra case of water each time you go to the grocery store, you will see your water storage grow quickly and with little effort.  Plan on having 3 -4 cases of water for each person in your family. A two week supply is 14 gallons per person or 1 gallon per day.  The water bottles are easy to carry and rotate.  Other options for water storage are the 5 and 6 gallon jugs, the 25 gallon barrels, and the 55 gallon barrels.  Make sure that you add clorox or a water purification solution to your jugs and barrels to avoid getting algae or slime in your water.  Rotate your water each year to keep a fresh supply.  If you store water in the barrels, you will want to make sure to get a water pump.  The cost of the pump is about $10.00.  I found mine at Walmart, but you can get one from Emergency Essentials, or any other emergency supply store.  Make sure to check out our post “Water with a Twist.”  The water amounts listed above are specifically for drinking and preparing food.  You will still need water for cleaning and sanitation.