I Dare You To Eat It Presentation

I have had several friends who were unable to attend Liesa Card's presentation last Thursday ask me for handouts. Here's the thing, she doesn't really do handouts. She feels that they are usually a waste of paper and just get thrown away. Instead she provides everyone in attendance with a half sheet of paper and a pencil so they can write down points that they feel are important (plus she handed out bookmarks with her website address so you can check out some of the recipes that she has up there for free, but I already put the link above). So I thought that I would write down the things that I thought were important here on my blog. Of course what I write here doesn't do justice to her entire presentation, but here we go.

• Using your food storage should consist of 3 things: A one year supply of staples (grains, beans, etc.), a 3 month supply of items that you regularly use in your cooking (sauces, canned vegetables, etc) and fresh ingredients (meat, dairy, produce). Meals that are a mix of these three are far more likely to be eaten by your family.
• Thomas S. Monson has asked us to live in the present. At the moment the present includes the grocery store. The First Presidency has never asked us to stop going to the grocery store.
• Food storage doesn't have to be weird, in fact it's best if it's not. Some examples she gave of food storage meals that her family eats on a regular basis include white bean chicken chili, tuna noodles, sloppy joes, beef borgie and shepherd's pie.
• If you have your ingredients on hand, you can use your food storage to put together meals faster than you can pick up take-out, but they're healthier and cheaper too.
• You can get a year supply of food storage for a family of five for about $1200. Yes, that is not pocket change, but with some planning and some effort it is doable. Find a way to save $100 a month and put that towards food storage. As you use it, it will save you money.
• Food storage can make you a better mother. There is an peace and assurance that come with knowing that whatever the world has to throw at us, at least I have the means to feed my family. "I won't fail them when it comes to food."
• Food storage is not about fear, it is about peace. We have been asked to store food, not in a spirit of fear, but because of the blessings that will come from having it.
• Food storage is almost like a secret blessing from the First Presidency and people don't realize how it can make their lives so much easier.
• If we ever come to a point where we have to use our food storage, we will wish that we had kept the furniture in the garage and food storage in our house.
• If the 'what if' happens, we make adjustments. If a disaster happens we're still having white bean chicken chili. It may or may not have chicken, it probably won't have cheese or sour cream or tortilla chips, but it is close enough to what they are used to that the family will still be comfortable eating it.
• There are three tricks to using your food storage: 

1. Keep 6 open cans of food storage IN YOUR KITCHEN. (wheat, pasta, beans, oats, rice and potatoes)
2. Gather a three month supply of ingredients and keep them in your kitchen. (She uses 30 recipes and buys the shelf ingredients in groups of three. i.e. 3 bottles of spaghetti sauce.)
3. Get a binder and start collecting food storage recipes that your family is actually willing to eat. It doesn't have to be fancy, just a place where you have them together.

 If you want more information I Dare You To Eat It can be found at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Deseret Book. Anyone who reads my blog on a regular basis knows that I mention this book a lot. Liesa does not compensate me in anyway to promote her book. I promote it because it has changed my life, makes my job as a mother so much easier and I believe that it can make the lives of many other families easier too. And if you live near me I do have a few copies that Liesa gave me to sell at a discounted price. I am not getting a cut, I'm just trying to share the good information.

Book Review: Emergency Food Storage and Survival Book

Because I have this thing with food storage, my husband got me the Emergency Food Storage & Survival Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Keep Your Family Safe in a Crisis by Peggy Layton for Christmas. In it she provides a list of what your family would need to survive for a year if their were a crisis and grocery store were not available, this includes food, cooking equipment, medical supplies and gardening needs. She also gives many helpful tips on the logistics of food storage, including finding space and improving the storage life. She talks about the pros and cons of various food storage items, how to grow your own sprouts and how to create a 72-hour kit. And of course like anyone with any sense about food storage she emphasizes the importance of storing what your family with use and rotating what you store.
Now there is tons of information here and it can be somewhat overwhelming, but I like that she has outline a systematic action plan which you can take at whatever pace suits you. And honestly you don't have to take them in the order listed, although I highly recommend taking an inventory somewhere near the beginning. (I personally think that staples are a much higher priority than pet food or gardening equipment.)

Step #1 Organize

• Prepare space in your home
• Build shelves and organize
• Create a 1-week menu
• Take inventory

 Step #2 Water, Survival Equipment and Gardening Needs

• Water
• Basic survival equipment
• Cooking equipment and fuel
• Garden seeds
• Sprouting seeds

Step #3 Medical Supplies and Special Needs

• Pharmacy and medical supplies
• Baby food and supplies (if applicable)
• Pet food and supplies (if applicable)

Step #4 Basic Ingredients for Baking

• Basic baking needs
• Sweeteners
• Fats
• Basic spices and flavorings

Step #5 Soups, Sauces and Spice Mixes

• Canned soups
• Dehydrated soups
• Sauces and spice mixes

Step #6 Staples

• Cereals
• Rice
• Grains
• Legumes
• Pastas

Step #7 Protein Foods and Dried Dairy

• Commercial and home-canned meats
• TVP
• Peanut Butter
• Dehydrated eggs
• Dried dairy

Step #8 Fruits and Vegetables

• Commercial and home-canned fruits
• Dehydrated fruits
• Commercial and home-canned vegetables
• Dehydrated vegetables

Step #9 Fun Foods

• Dry drink mixes
• Canned drinks
• Desserts
• Boxed mixes
• Condiments
• Additional spices

Step #10 Nonfood Items

• Paper products
• Cleansers
• Personal hygiene

I think that this book is good reference, but there were a few things I didn't like about it. There is a huge chunk of wasted paper (60 pages) in middle for you to plot out what your family needs of each item for 1 week, 3 months, 1 year, etc. If I am going to calculate that, I'll just get a spread sheet program to do it for me. I also question the accuracy of some of the recipes in the back. There's a dessert recipe without any form of sweetener and her chart for reconstituting powdered milk just doesn't add up. I'm pretty sure that the laws of physics apply to food storage too. Despite these problems, I think that the book was still worth the read.

Dinosaur Birthday Cake

So Thing 2's birthday was awhile ago and I decided on a dinosaur birthday cake. (Mostly because this cake only required one cake mix, and I was not interested in my family of four eating birthday cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner for a week.) And my son who usually does not eat cake was so excited that it was shaped like a dinosaur, that he actually ate some.

First you bake the cake of your desired flavor in two 8" round pans.I used basic yellow. After the cakes have cooled, cut them as shown below.

Discard (or eat) shaded parts

Cover a piece of cardboard with foil and arrange cakes on cardboard. Then I poured jello on the cake to make it taste better and give it a bloody gruesome dinosaur effect.

Then I cut the top corners off the "rainbow" to give the head a better shape. Refrigerate for 3 hours. Next I made a frosting of chocolate pudding and whipped topping.

I used a tiny piece of fruit roll-up for the mouth, swirled chocolate chips for eyes, and let the kids decorate the rest of the cake with mint and dark chocolate chips.

Food Storage Friday: For The Little Ones

As I have mentioned before, my kids are picky eaters. Ridiculously picky eaters. And just because I feel I have found something that is delicious, healthy and uses my food storage doesn't mean that my kids will try it. I would say that most of my greatest food storage recipes are for things that my kids won't eat. And how useful is my food storage if half my family won't eat it? So we make adjustments. You have to store things that your family is going to eat, or it isn't that useful. I generally make things far less spicy than I would like, in hopes that my kids will try it and then pour the Tabasco on mine. I also have several recipes that call for some kind of meat, sauce and vegetables over rice. My kids turn their nose up at meat, sauce and veggies (unless it's modified Hawaiian Haystacks). So I use this simple recipe to at least get them used to eating rice and let them have fruit on the side. Yes, I know it's not really a complete meal, but it's a starting place for the ridiculously picky and it gets my children familiar with food storage without me having to make a completely separate meal for them. If we're having sweet and sour chicken, this is what they are having.

Cheesy Rice for Kids
1/2 cup prepared rice
1 heaping tablespoon of shredded cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon of chicken broth

1. Mix ingredients together in a bowl. 2. Microwave until cheese is melted. (Approximately 30 seconds) Serves 1.

Other food storage items that I have found to be winners with my kids:

1. Craisins (For Thing 2, but not Thing 1)
2. Popcorn (It's a grain, stores for a long time and if you prepare it right, it doesn't have to be bad for you.)
3. Canned mandarin oranges (which I store anyway for Hawaiian Haystacks)
4. Canned pineapple (Haystacks and smoothies)
5. Canned peaches
6. Canned pears
7. Canned corn (store it anyway for Wheatberry Salsa and Taco Soup, Thing 1 loves it, but not Thing 2)
8. Macaroni and cheese (My favorite is the homemade variety with pureed cauliflower mixed in, but I can only get them to eat that on occasion. They prefer the box variety. I have also come to the conclusion that it is worth the extra money to get the Kraft variety, it just tastes so much better.)
9. Annie's shells and white cheddar cheese. (I generally see organic and think expensive, but these are decently price and everyone in my family loves them.)
10. Ramen noodles (I'm not sure why they love this so much, but they do and it's super cheap and easy.)
11. Cookies made with oatmeal 
12. Muffins made with oatmeal (which I can also sneak powdered milk, dried carrots and dried apples into.)
13. Fresh bread with jam
14. Pancakes/waffles (Recently I made a whole wheat and orange variety that was a hit, I'll have to make it again so I can take pictures and post them.)

What food storage items (or recipes) have you found to be the most effective for you and your little ones?

Food Storage Presentation in St George

Hey friends, readers and food storage junkies- particularly those who live locally, listen up.
Tomorrow my friend, Liesa Card (author of I Dare You to Eat It) will be breezing through town and has volunteered to give a  presentation on food storage. She has great ideas on getting your family to actually eat food storage and has many great stories about how food storage can bless your life.

When: 7 pm MST January 20, 2011

Where: 124 N Valley View Drive St George, UT

Light refreshments will be served. (I'm making wheatberry salsa. :) ) And you are more than welcome to bring a spouse or friend. (Oh and if you shoot me an email if you're coming @ secretsofmomblog@gmail.com, so I can get an approximate count. That would be AWESOME!) Hope to see you there!

Frozen Peanut Butter Pie

When I was in 8th grade, my US History teacher gave a research assignment. We were to make a portfolio about anything that we wanted, but the point was to teach us how to research. I chose The Beatles, but more importantly my classmate Liz Munk chose peanut butter. When presentation day came she made this peanut butter pie and peanut butter soup. The soup was meh, but the pie was amazing. I make it at least once a year, and to me it tastes like comfort food. (Of course I made a few changes to make it little easier and healthier, but still good.)

Frozen Peanut Butter Pie
Crust:
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup white sugar
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup butter melted
Or just buy a Keebler crust, most often that is what I do.

Filling:
8 ounces neufchatel (reduced fat cream cheese)
1 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup sugar
1&1/2 Tablespoons vanilla
1/2 cup white sugar
8 ounce tub of whipped topping
(Mix crust ingredients and press into a pie plate.) 1. Beat cheese, peanut butter, vanilla and sugar until smooth. 2. Gently fold in whipped topping into peanut butter in four additions. 3. Spoon filling into crust and freeze until firm. (About two hours.)

You can serve this with hot fudge sauce, but my kids also like it topped with broken candy pieces and whipped topping.

Secrets to An Argument-Free Marriage

Recently I discovered that my marriage is more unusual than I thought. I mentioned a very minor thing that happened, to a friend and she said "Wait, you guys didn't have fight over that? I totally would have blown up at my husband over that." Honestly, the thought hadn't occurred to me. "We don't fight." "Really?!" Really. In the ten years that we've been together I can only think of a half dozen actual fights that we've had, and three of those were before we were married. So I've been thinking about why we don't fight. It's not because our life is perfect, because it isn't. It's not because we always agree, because we often don't. It's because we have learned a few things along the way and we work at it. Now I am not a licensed therapist, nor have I had many relationships to draw experience from, nor is my marriage perfect, so take my advice for what it is worth. But I thought I would write these down for the benefit of my children when they are older and anyone else who cares to read this.

• Admit when you are wrong. What is the point of denying it? You don't win any prizes for being right when you are actually wrong. You may however cause contention and resentment in your relationship.
• Think before you speak. Recently we returned from a trip the night before I had to work. I told my husband that if he felt inclined to do laundry not to wash my favorite sweater with the regular laundry with a basic description of the sweater. When I came home from work he had done all of the laundry and shrunk my favorite sweater. I was frustrated, but before yelling I remembered a few things. 1. While I was at work he was sick and taking care of both of our sick kids. 2. He didn't shrink my sweater because he was trying to tick me off. He did all of the laundry because he was trying to help me out. 3. He is far more important to me than my sweater. The sweater is not worth hurting feelings or causing contention.
• Remember that you love your spouse. My husband is my lover, best friend, co-conspirator, and father of my adorable children. When he does things that frustrate me, I remember that I don't want to hurt him by saying something harsh. I treat him with respect and kindness and he treats me the same way. (This one encompasses being honest, caring and non-manipulative.)
• Criticize gently and only when totally necessary. My husband is well aware that little girl hair is not his area of expertise. It is totally unnecessary for me to make comments on Thing 1's ponytails when I come home from work. There are things that are worth mentioning to him, but I try not to use a tone with him that I wouldn't want him to use with me.
• If you have something that bothers you, tell your spouse before it festers into a bigger deal than it needs to be. When I noticed that my husband often put his socks in the laundry basket wadded up I said "Honey, if you want your socks to get clean they need to be right side out." He wasn't trying to make my life more difficult, and once I pointed it out he stopped. Problem solved. If we have concerns we let each other know.
• Give your spouse some time and space. Sometimes I feel a little bit jealous of the free time he has to play the piano, exercise and occasionally play computer games with his brothers. But I recognize he needs that time to cope with the stress that comes with taking 18 credits a semester. He also recognizes that I need that time too, and when he can, does things like help with the laundry and dishes so I have time to read a book or go running.
• Your relationship with your spouse creates a mood in your home. When I was growing up my parents fought a lot. It caused a great deal of anxiety, fear and depression for me, and it didn't make them happy either. Things are much better now for them, but the point is fighting with your spouse is not worth the resulting pain and negative energy that results.
• Take time to laugh together. It relieves stress and tension. Every evening, whoever has spent more time with the kids will relate funny things that they said that day. Money and free time for dates are not things that we have in excess, but at least a couple times a month, after the kids are in bed we fold laundry together, sort socks and watch a few episodes of The Office.
• Work together. Maintaining the house is a group project. Dishes (or any other chore for that matter) are not the responsibility of any one person. (Of course when I'm not working full-time and he's not in school full-time, I will probably doing significantly more house work, but I'm ok with that.) Regardless of the situation we both pitch in to make it work.
• Remember that you are a team with common goals. When Thing 1 was tiny, we called ourselves "Team Baby". Our common goal was survival. (We had titles too, based on the amount of baby bodily fluid that we had gotten on our persons. My brother was the Court Jester. Thing 1 was the Princess. My husband was the King and mommy was All-High Empress. Yes, that's right, I was the Empress of  baby vomit.) Since then our common goals have expanded beyond survival, but we still work at it together. When we make significant decisions we consider how the results effect each other and our family.
• Pick your battles. Some things are worth fighting over. But most aren't. Before you decide that you want to start a fight, think about the effects. Is the issue that important?