Happy birthday to me!

This year for my birthday I wanted to go to my favorite restaurant, a local Thai food place. Since it was a weekday, the kids and I picked Jack up from work and took him to lunch there with us. Skeptics, all of them. Jack wasn't sure the kids could behave in a "nice" restaurant. The kids were convinced that any known restaurant would be better than the new unknown I was forcing them to go to, so they asked if we could go to every restaurant and fast food joint they saw on the way, over and over again.

Elijah whined and cried and repeated loudly, "I don't like this place!" for the first ten minutes after we got there. We ordered for the kids because there were no kids' meals or American food whatsoever on the menu. Pad Thai, Sweet Rama, and fried rice are always delicious options, they just didn't know it yet. I got my favorite green curry. 

Then the soup arrived. The yummy ginger-onion-chicken-carrot soup in a clear broth that makes everything better. Everyone tried the soup, everyone loved the soup, and everyone wanted more soup. Then the food came. By the time we were ready to leave, Ellen, Rose, and Elijah had all repeatedly declared that they wanted to eat at my favorite restaurant for their birthdays, too. Happy birthday to me! 

I really need to remember this when I feel life taking me to a new unknown. Rather than go kicking and screaming, maybe I should trust that by the time it's all over, it will turn out to be a place that I really do love after all.

61

When I was eleven, my mom was the Young Women's president of our ward. For one Wednesday night activity she taught the twelve to seventeen-year-old girls to make bread. She took dough ready to bake, dough ready to knead, and ingredients so they could actually make the dough. When she got home she commented that the girls really got into the kneading part, and they kneaded the bread so much that my mom thought it might have been too much. When the bread rose again and was baked, it turned out to be the "lightest, fluffiest, most delicious bread" in my mom's words.

                            

When I was in elementary school, I would get out my homemade lunch in the cafeteria and look around at the other kids' lunches and just ache for a white, store-bought, Wonder bread sandwich instead of my homemade wheat bread sandwich. When there were so many of us kids that my mom couldn't keep up with the baking, she switched to buying discounted Mrs. Baird's bread at their outlet (day old) store in town.

My mom kept baking bread, though. The first kind of bread she taught me to make was her "Easy French Bread" recipe. Few ingredients, minimal kneading. It was perfect for Saturday morning chore day because you had to set a timer and stir the dough every ten minutes for fifty minutes. We would race to see what we could accomplish in ten minutes. I took the French bread recipe with me to college and amazed roommates, ward members, and other friends.

Once I turned 18, I was my mom's go-to partner for many, many visits in connection with her leadership responsibilities in Relief Society, visiting teaching, and serving others. Most often she had a loaf of bread to take along with the spiritual message. Who wouldn't welcome a warm loaf of bread? Meals to new moms and the sick or elderly included a loaf of bread.

A few years ago I started making most of my family's bread and began a quest for homemade whole wheat bread to rival the soft white bread I had so pined for as a child. Assisted by a stand mixer, I regularly mixed up loaves of bread for us and to share. I was so used to making bread that when the mixer wouldn't knead the bread anymore and just died one day, I figured I might as well finally learn to make bread completely by hand. It turns out that it's not that hard, but it does take some effort, and it's very therapeutic.

As I knead, I think about my mom raving over those teen girls' kneading skills and wonder to myself if you can really over knead bread. Every. single. time. (I have since googled it and resolved the question in my mind.) I feel a sweet connection to my mom and an entire family heritage when I make bread. I get sentimental that way, and it's one of the reasons I continue to do it.

On my mom's birthday the year after she died, my husband recognized that I was having a hard time and asked if I would like to go to the cemetery and visit her grave. The thought hadn't even occurred to me before then, but in that moment I realized that I did want to, and that I wanted to plant some flowers there since the cemetery encourages it. The following year we did the same thing. This year I was thinking about it several weeks before the date, and I felt impressed to do something different to celebrate her 61st birthday.

We live in the same ward as my parents, in the same neighborhood as my parents, my kids go to the same school my siblings went to and where my mom sometimes worked as a substitute teacher. We know lots of people who knew and loved my mom, so I decided that over the course of the two weeks until my mom's birthday, I could bake 61 loaves of bread and give them away. I didn't tell many people what I was doing, but a few asked and were touched to find out. It was a lot of baking. Most of them were mini loaves. I tried to make a special effort to give bread to people who knew my mom, but I didn't limit it completely.

My daughter Ellen was my partner in crime and extremely excited about the whole idea. She asked me daily what the bread count was, and how many more loaves we needed to reach 61 by grandma's birthday. In the end it was a beautiful and emotional couple of weeks. I cannot begin to describe how it felt to deliver gifts to unsuspecting friends and family. I absolutely felt like the messenger, the deliverer. I had to consciously stop myself from saying "this is from my mom" as I handed over a loaf of bread, but that is what it felt like every time. It's the kind of gift I think my mom would have loved since she was a giver her entire life.

Happy birthday, Mom.

New Year and Chinese New Year

We had two New Year parties to ring in 2014, one on December 31st and another at the end of January to celebrate the Chinese New Year and the Year of the Horse.

On December 31st we invited lots of friends with kids to come early and bring food to share. We turned our clock forward to Canary Island (Spain) time and played a few games, ate, and then got ready to ring in the new year Spanish-style by eating twelve grapes with the twelve strokes of midnight. I tried my hand at creating a Spanish turron, which tasted amazing, but I had to cut with a knife and a hammer. Spanish tortilla and seafood were also on the menu, along with lots of finger foods.

Our second countdown included confetti (shredded paper!) and balloons. Everyone was partied out by about 8:30 Texas time, and the kids were elated to be able to stay up until waaaaaaay past midnight (wink, wink) so Jack and I had time to still get kids to bed, clean up a little, and hang out with his sister Jenny, who stopped overnight on her way back home to New Mexico. (It is now May, and I swept up a little piece of confetti a couple of days ago. The party continues...)

We had so much fun at our New Year's party, that we decided to host another party for the Chinese New Year at the end of January. The kids made paper lanterns, origami balloons, and toothpick umbrellas. We pulled out sparklers once it got dark, and we made lots and lots of sushi. I asked the H-E-B sushi stand folks about a bamboo rolling mat and nori, and I read a bunch of internet tutorials. Honestly, I may never buy sushi again. Yum!

We had fewer friends over, but just enough kids for the sparklers. Again, a success!

Time for another party...

My own little happiness project

Last year my book group read The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I started out 2014 reading her follow up book, Happier at Home. I really, really like reading this kind of book. The whole time I am reading, I feel like I have little aha moments and epiphanies and "I'm definitely going to do that!" And then I put the book down and realized that (1) I could not accomplish in a few hours or a few days what Ms. Rubin spent a year doing full-time, and (2) the things that made her happy did not necessarily make me happy.

I realized that rather than read the books as self-help books, I should have been reading them like I read novels: invested while I read, able to walk away when I'm done. But I love the premise of the books, that recognizing what makes us happy in the long term and making small changes in the short term really can make us feel happier now and later. So I decided that rather than embark on a year long self-improvement project, I would just recognize what makes me happy and do those things (but not too much, because going overboard does not make me happy).

So here are a few things that make me happy.

Walking my kids to and from school everyday. We have made new friends, honed our biking skills, had funny conversations, worked up a sweat, looked for the moon, and saved money. And it turns out that all those plants at the edge of the school grounds that I thought were weeds all year long actually bloom and attract migrating monarch butterflies. Who doesn't love a butterfly garden?


A rainbow in my closet. I while back I started doing a load of laundry every single morning, just to keep up with six people's dirty clothes. Since my washer and dryer are in the garage, once the laundry comes out of the dryer, I try to get it folded and put away as quickly as possible. I figure if I have to do laundry every day, I might as well see a rainbow every time I walk into my closet. It makes me smile every. time.


Oatmeal for breakfast. When I was growing up, I hated oatmeal mornings. I have been making oatmeal for breakfast regularly for the past five and a half years, and I am still surprised at how much my kids like it. Part of the attraction for them is the "make your own" process. I always use old-fashioned oats cooked in water and an assortment of add-ins: milk, frozen peaches, frozen strawberries, frozen blueberries (all the frozen fruit cools off the hot cereal), cinnamon, maple syrup, shredded coconut, craisins, crystallized ginger, almonds or pecans. They pick what goes in, and sometimes they even ask for seconds.


Exercising at home in my pajamas. (I own an assortment of exercise DVDs, and YouTube is free.)
Reading scriptures in the morning. (Colored pencils, mini composition book, actual paper books of scripture)
Letting the kids watch a show so I can get chores done.
Kids helping with the after dinner chores (or the any time chores. There will be more of that this summer.)
Early to bed, early to rise.

And so many other things.

“So much in life depends on our attitude. The way we choose to see things and respond to others makes all the difference. To do the best we can and then to choose to be happy about our circumstances, whatever they may be, can bring peace and contentment. We can't direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. For maximum happiness, peace, and contentment, may we choose a positive attitude.” President Thomas S. Monson

Whooooo needs a cookie?

I got some grief from Jack for volunteering to help with a baby shower without knowing exactly what it would entail. I don't often make involved desserts, but when I do, I remember how much I love all things crafty and homemade, and how addicting and life-consuming this hobby could be. It's so fun to make something and have it turn out so cute!

One hundred

A few weeks ago I was asked to make 100 rolls for girls camp. I was really, really surprised. I make bread for my family almost every week, and I give away lots of loaves of bread, but I never make rolls.

I used the same whole wheat recipe I use for bread, and it was nice to finally figure out how much I spend for ingredients. These three-ounce rolls turned out to be about 22 cents each.


After an entire day of mixing, shaping rolls, and baking, I am extremely grateful that I have an electric mixer and an air-conditioned kitchen. I used to think I would like to be a pioneer and travel like Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family. Now I realize that they spent almost all day every day procuring food, preparing food, and cleaning up after eating food.

I hope the girls enjoy their rolls at camp this week!

Mediterranean

Last night I made something for dinner that I love, and that I haven't made in over ten years. I'm a little ashamed to admit that while I learned to make a Spanish tortilla while on my mission in Spain, after a few failed attempts upon returning home, I gave up altogether. So when I received a new cookbook as a gift, I marked the page with the recipe for tortilla española and determined to introduce my family to the most typical Spanish dish I ate as a missionary.

A non-stick pan is helpful, as is lots of olive oil and keeping the heat at medium or lower. Fry a chopped onion in olive oil. Add two chopped potatoes and fry until soft and a little golden. Remove from oil, let cool, beat six eggs, stir into potato and onion, add salt and pepper, return to the oil and cook until golden on the bottom. Here is where it can get a little sketchy. When the bottom is done, cover the pan with a large plate, flip the tortilla onto the plate and slide it back into the pan to cook the other side. This part scares me. A lot. But I did it, and I managed to get most of the tortilla in the pan where it belonged and cooked all the way through. 

The reason I will probably make this again is the same reason I told Jack we needed to install a camera to record our dinner conversations with the kids. Every time I try a new recipe from my cookbook, I tell the kids we're "eating Mediterranean". This often involves several "courses" and gets lots of dishes dirty, but they are generally willing to try what I've made. Our hard and fast dinner table rule is "Mom chooses what goes on your plate. You choose what to eat from your plate."

So back to last night. I explained that I was serving the family a Spanish food from my mission, and we discussed the differences between the Mexican tortillas and a Spanish tortilla. Then I served tiny pieces, told the kids not to worry if they didn't like it, but that they could have as much as they wanted if they did like it. Everyone tried it. Everyone had seconds and thirds, and as they were eating the kids made comments like, "This is delicious! Can you make this every night? I love this Spanish food, Mom. You are the best cook ever. Can I have some more? I didn't think I would even like this, but I love it! This is my new favorite food. I'm going to have this for my birthday dinner instead of [my other favorite food]" I promise, I am not exaggerating.

What's not to love about fried onions, potatoes, and eggs?

Since we've been "eating Mediterranean," we've tried several new things. I may never buy pasta sauce in a jar again. I've experimented for weeks with sourdough. My husband has happily eaten several items he has specifically prohibited me from making in the past (I just ignored him). I'm surprised at how willing my family has been to try it all, and how much they actually like. The biggest changes have been an increase in fruits and vegetables, especially tomatoes and greens, prepared in various ways, and the amount of olive oil I am using at a rapid pace.

Our favorite dishes (the ones the kids and husband ask for) so far have been:
-Broiled fish (fish fillets topped with minced garlic, fresh lemon juice, olive oil, then broiled in the oven)
-Hummus (tonight we had roasted garlic hummus, roasted red pepper hummus, and spinach hummus!) So, this was actually a favorite before, but now I serve it at dinner with some toasty homemade whole wheat bread.
-Homemade pasta sauce (saute carrots, onions, garlic, and parsley in olive oil. And any other vegetables you feel like. Squash, cauliflower, greens :). Add a large can of diced or whole tomatoes and some dried oregano and simmer until the sauce has a "jammy" consistency. I always puree it with my immersion blender at this point, because my kids' patience with my experimentation only goes so far, and this makes it look like the familiar sauce they know and love. Only it tastes so. much. better. Mix with cooked pasta and top with some freshly grated parmesan cheese.)
-Bruschetta (I was floored to learn that it really is just chopped fresh tomatoes, salt, minced fresh garlic, and olive oil. Served with toasted wheat bread.)
-Tabbouleh (not new. I grew up eating this: cooked cracked wheat or bulgar salad with chopped tomatoes, cucumber, green onion, parsley, and lemon/olive oil dressing.)
-Baba ghanouj (roasted eggplant with salt/garlic paste and lemon juice. This is only my favorite. It's a little spicy for the kids' taste.)
-Olives, olives, olives. Black California, Spanish manzanilla, Greek kalamata.

So, seeing as how the closest I've ever been to the Mediterranean is the northern coast of Spain (Cantabrian Sea and Atlantic Ocean, people), and an Italian friend named Massimo during my college days in the Foreign Language Housing Program at BYU, this is far from authentic. However, this little experiment has increased my desire to plant a large section of our yard with lettuce, chard, kale, spinach, onions, garlic, and tomatoes. For now, we'll have to make do with dandelion greens. Ha.

By the way, this is the cookbook, and I never would have bought it for myself, but it has been fun to try new things!

Gingerbread houses

Waaaaay back in December we made gingerbread houses. When I was making the pieces, I lost count and cut an extra roof piece instead of a front door, so Jack and I improvised and made a stable, with a star on top and a manger with a baby inside. I'm still not sure how I feel about turning a sacred scene into an edible explosion of sugary color, complete with a little ginger baby Jesus resting his candy head on bubble gum wrappers. I didn't really think that one through.


Rose and Ellen went with a more traditional design, using all the dumdums available for trees, lampposts, and tasting. Good thing Uncle David has his candy shop, which definitely came up during this activity.


All the pictures of Ellen are action shots. She could not be bothered to stop and pose, since she was so busy covering every surface with a layer of royal frosting followed by a layer of coordinating candy. This is exactly what decorating gingerbread houses with children is about.


I had to work really hard to suppress my conservation instinct, which I dutifully inherited from my Mom, back when we were a little gingerbread house factory, creating little masterpieces to sell to teachers and kids at school. We couldn't use up all the candy on the first house we made, right?

Seeing as the goal here was to get rid of all leftover Halloween and Veteran's Day candy, Ellen did more than her part for the cause.

It was so fun that we did it again the next week with some friends, and then we smashed them and ate them on New Year's Eve when we got back into town afterwards. Nothing like starting a new year with a sugar rush. Mmm.

Clean house and healthy body

Lately when I ask Rose to help me with some household chore, especially picking up her toys, she tells me that I should do it because her arms hurt, or she's so tired, or because "you like to clean, Mommy." I usually respond that I do not like to clean, but I like to have a clean house, and there's only one way to get it.

As any visitor to our house will tell you, we don't live in a magazine house, and there's a reason the playroom has a door. So I can close it. But I'm better at doing chores that I used to greatly dislike. I start a load of laundry every morning, wash all the dishes every evening right after dinner, wipe down the bathroom periodically, and sweep the kitchen floor.

Soon after we moved in to this house, looking out the dirty kitchen window was bugging me so much that I decided to clean it, inside and out. Just looking out that window now still makes me feel happy. every. single. time. I like having a clean house.

Recently a friend of mine told another friend, "Lorraine actually likes eating carrots and celery all day." What I really like are Doritos, dark chocolate, lemon squares, and cheesecake. I also like feeling healthy and having the energy to attempt staying one step ahead of my kids, not to mention being able to button my pants. I also want my kids to like good food, so I try to make our meals as clean and simple and unprocessed as possible.

The good news is that healthy habits are also delicious. Fruits and a lot of vegetables are naturally sweet. My kids call frozen corn "candy corn" and they love plain carrots and cucumbers. When I got kale in my food co-op basket a few months back, I googled a few recipes. I decided to try kale chips. All the recipe descriptions and comments went on and one about how much kale chips taste just like potato chips.

That is a lie. Especially if you have just eaten potato chips. I have an unpublished post exposing kale chips, but I kept making them and I have somehow become addicted to kale chips. Elijah likes them, too.

So... clean house, healthy body, there's a spiritual principle here as well, but I think I'll just wrap up with this recipe.

Kale chips
1 bunch fresh kale, washed, dried, thick stems removed, and torn into bite-sized pieces.
Drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.
Bake in a 275 degree oven for 15 minutes, turn with a spatula, and bake till crispy.

And a bonus: Pineapple Pomegranate Pistachio Salad
Fresh grapefuit, mandarin oranges, pineapple, pomegranate, pistachios

It's a rainbow in your bowl.


And this story. Today I picked up Elijah who was crying "Mommy, Mommy," and I changed his diaper and said, "you're so tired. Let's take a nap." And without missing a beat his cry changed to "Daddy, Daddy." Ha.

Two days until Christmas!

We've been counting down with our nativity calendar. A friend gave me a foam nativity kit from the Oriental Trading Company the first year I was married, so I put it together and made pockets for all the pieces. We've been using it ever since, and the kids really look forward to putting a new piece up each day.

My mom made a block countdown that displays how many days until Christmas that goes up with the other decorations at the beginning of December, and whoever wakes up first gets to move the numbers. They also get to plug in the Christmas lights on the tree, the mantel over the fireplace, and in the kitchen. I looked for an outside plug to hang some lights on the front door, but I didn't find an outlet so we had to make do with a wreath on the door.

We've been singing Christmas songs and carols and listening to Christmas music on the radio. Current kid favorites are "Jingle Bell Rock," "Feliz Navidad," and "Picture a Christmas." I love, love, love this version of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and "Angels We Have Heard on High" by the a cappella group Straight No Chaser.

This year when we set up our decorations and nativities, I told the kids about how I got my Mexican nativity, and the tradition they have of starting the wise men far from the scene and moving them closer each day. They were excited to do the same with ours, so I've let them be in charge of that, after telling them to be careful because they break easily. I found one wise man on my vanity countertop a couple of days ago with a severed head. When I asked the kids what happened, Rose told me Elijah played with it. How could Elijah get it? He's not that tall. Rose answered, "Maybe I gave it to him." Okay. Thanks for letting me know, and next time, please tell me if I need to glue something back together.

We've made treats. I'm not that great at English toffee, and I definitely prefer peanut brittle made in a pan on the stove to the "easy" microwave recipe I tried, but we've had some yummy gingerbread cookies, and the Reindeer Treats were a hit at the family Christmas party yesterday. 1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1 package butterscotch chips, melted, remove from heat and stir in 1 plastic canister of dry roasted salted peanuts (make sure they don't have garlic powder on them!) and then stir in 1 package mini marshmallows. Drop spoonfuls onto waxed paper and let cool completely, and then make sure you have someone to share with, because you may just end up eating them all on your own.

The kids and I made a small army of ornaments from green and red fabric circles sewn into yo-yos and stacked to make mini Christmas trees to give school teachers and Primary teachers. We also made and decorating gingerbread houses with friends, which was so much fun. I took Rose and Elijah with me to make special gift deliveries to the ladies from church that I visit teach.

We took a weekend to visit cousins in Houston, and then spent the next weekend having cousins visit us in Waco for the first annual Jackson family Christmas party. Oh, and I spent some time organizing said party. It was really neat to have 39 of us at Dad's house to act out the nativity. Since most of the kids wanted to be angels, we had no problem assembling a heavenly host to visit the shepherds. We plan to make the nativity and dinner a standing family tradition, so let us know if you'll be in Waco around the holidays and want to participate!

We have been generally enjoying the season (and not blogging about it). As I told the kids today, they get two weeks out of school and we haven't even started counting that down yet, so there's lots of fun and family time to go.

I did write a guest post for my friend Sheila over at Pennies of Time, so check it out if you're interested in her amazing project to teach children about serving others and providing children of any age meaningful opportunities to serve others. Perfect for the Christmas season and always.

Company chicken salad

I used to just make chicken salad for girls' nights, book club, baby showers, and lunches with friends over. Then Jack asked why I never make it for him, because he likes it. So I started making it for dinner, too, with homemade bread and lettuce leaves so you can have a sandwich or a wrap or both.

My favorite secret ingredient for chicken salad is leftover fried chicken. You know, Bush's, KFC, grocery store deli: the crispy, salty, deep-fried, fatty chicken that is not good for you at all. It makes really, really awesome chicken salad.

We went to a family gathering last weekend and ended up coming home with a bunch of fried chicken, which we ate for dinner once, and then I deboned the rest, including removing most of the crispy fried skin (awww, but that's the good part!), and made a gigantic chicken salad. Yum.

So, sorry the recipe has no measurements. It depends on how much chicken you have and how much sweet and crunch you like, but ratio-wise I probably make mine with equal amounts of grapes and celery, a fourth as much onion and parsley, and twice as much chicken. Then I start with a scoop of mayo and stir. If it sticks together, it's good; if it's too dry, I add more.

Fried Chicken Salad

several deep fried chicken legs, thighs, and breasts, bones and skin removed
red grapes, quartered
celery, diced
green onions, sliced
fresh parsley, minced
a scoop of mayonnaise
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Mix well, serve with fresh baked bread and lettuce leaves.

Slow food

I'm grateful to have so many good food choices for my family. Making my own bread and yogurt takes a little time, and fixing dinner isn't as fast as getting take out or driving through, but I like being able to eat well and feed my family well.


Sometimes I'm a little off in my estimation of how long it will take to have dinner ready to eat. On Monday afternoon I took out a whole thawed (I thought) chicken and discovered that it was still frozen in the middle.



I put it in to bake with potatoes and vegetables, and when it was supposed to be done I checked it. Still raw in the middle.



The table was set, the potatoes were baked, and everyone was sitting and waiting to eat. We had some cheesy baked potato appetizers, and then I suggested having Family Home Evening while we waited for the chicken.



Maybe the novelty of having FHE before dinner kept everyone in good spirits, but it was so nice to have a song, a(nother) prayer, a lesson on the Sermon on the Mount from the picture reader, a game, song, prayer, and treats. Yep, we ate dessert first.



By then, the chicken was done, so we ate chicken and vegetables, and then got ready for bed. I'm glad my kids are still young enough to have very few evening activities outside of home, and that we can eat dinner together as a family every night.

About this time a month ago...

...when I was writing blog posts in my head but not actually typing any of them, I took this picture:

We had talked about what the schedule would be for General Conference weekend, including meal plans, so I woke up Sunday morning to breakfast made and ready to go into the oven. I am sooooo grateful for my kids.

Pumpkin Pie and Mini Pies!

Monday afternoon when I asked Jack Jack what he wanted to make for Family Home Evening treats, I offered him several options and he picked pumpkin. I actually had everything I needed to make pumpkin pie filling in the cupboard, including a can of evaporated milk that has been there for who knows how long. I did not have the ingredients or the desire to make a regular pie crust, but I found an unopened bag of gingersnap cookies and threw together something.

The pie itself was just okay, but I still had half a bowl of pie filling. The gingersnaps fit almost perfectly into the circles of my muffin pan, and there was just enough pie filling to make a dozen mini pumpkin pies with gingersnap "crust." Jack and I may have eaten them all for lunch straight out of the refrigerator the next day. The only thing lacking was a dollop of whipped cream on top.

Mini Pumpkin Pies

Filling (from the can of pumpkin)
Mix ingredients in the following order:
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 can (12 fl. oz.) evaporated milk

Grease muffin tin, place 1 gingersnap (I used Stouffer's, I think) in the bottom of each circle and fill mostly full with pie filling. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 15-20 minutes, or until a knife inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool and top with whipped cream. Cover and refrigerate leftovers. Eat for lunch the next day.

Filling makes 1 nine-inch pie and 12 mini pies, or 2 dozen mini pies.

Baking bread

I sometimes go several months without buying a loaf of bread from the store. I've made loaves of bread, rolls, pizza dough, buns, pretzels, corn tortillas, and pita bread at home with varying levels of success. My kids get really excited when I'm making bread and beg for dough to make pretzels out of or to just eat out of the bowl. I love baking bread because it makes my house smell so good. I also like knowing exactly what goes in my food, and I like being able to make things "from scratch,"  or at least from basic ingredients I keep on hand.

It wasn't until my husband got me a Kitchen Aid Mixer that I ever had consistent success with baking sandwich-type bread. It takes a lot longer to knead by hand, but I hear it can be done.

I regularly make whole wheat bread with a recipe that I've tweaked so it makes sandwiches without being crumbly. It originally came from the side of a bag of King Arthur Flour. I always double the recipe to make two loaves, or one loaf to give away, or one loaf and pretzels, or one loaf and rolls, or. . . (you get the idea). I like to call it my food storage bread recipe, because all of the ingredients can be stored long term.

100% Whole Wheat Bread
1 1/3 cups warm water
1 pkg instant or active dry yeast (1 tablespoon) dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup powdered milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
vital wheat gluten (follow instructions on gluten package, usually add a certain amount per loaf or per cup of flour)
3 - 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

I am a wheat flour snob, and I like King Arthur flour best. I've tried lots of different kinds, with lots of different results. You can use white wheat flour for a softer bread, but red wheat works great, too, and has more protein.

Mix all the wet ingredients in the bowl of your mixer and let stand until the yeast starts to get bubbly. Add all the dry ingredients and mix using the dough hook for 8-10 minutes. The dough can be a little sticky, but it should come away from the sides of the bowl and form a ball, so add more flour as needed.

Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover and let rise til double or for about 1 hour.
Transfer dough to a lightly oiled work surface (or grease your hands), shape into a 8-inch log, place in a lightly greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan, cover loosely with lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow bread to rise for about 1 hour, or until it's crowned about 1 inch above the edge of the pan. A finger pressed into the dough should leave a mark that rebounds slowly.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes, tenting it lightly with aluminum foil after 20 minutes. (I usually bake for 15 minutes and tent and bake for 15 more minutes.) Remove bread from oven, cool on a wire rack before slicing.

If you happen to have any bread left after cutting thick slices and slathering it with butter and honey, serving it to your kids and calling it a meal, store it completely cooled in a plastic bag at room temperature. Wal-mart has these great gallon sized storage bags that come with twist-ties that just barely fit a whole loaf. The gallon zip top kind aren't big enough.

Mmmmm. Typing this up has made me hungry for bread.

Celebrity

My cousin is a celebrity. At least in my mind she is. She grew up in Idaho, and I grew up in Texas, so we only saw each other during the few summer family vacation trips we made to visit grandparents and relatives. One year she was my younger sister's roommate at college, and she came and spent several weeks with us one summer. That was when I realized that she was really more like our long lost sister. We girls had lost the family gender race 5-6, but she evened everything out. We seriously would have kept her.

A few things about my cool cousin:
-She introduced me to Harry Potter.
-She taught English in Russia.
-She is one of my few girl cousins who, like me, served an LDS mission. Austria, German speaking.
-She introduced me to blogging (xanga, anyone?).
-Her husband was deployed to Afghanistan shortly after they were married when the National Guard was called up to active duty
-She and her family lived in San Leandro, CA, where my husband served for part of his mission.
-She has her own food blog and is a regular contributor to the Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen Food Blog. (This, in my mind, sealed her celebrity status. I've been writing this post in my head for several years.)

Natalie's Perry's Plate is my go-to food blog. I have used so many of her recipes and ideas that I don't know where to start. It has been fun watching her go from posting recipes between pictures of kids on her personal blog to creating her stand-alone food blog. Her food philosophy has changed along the way, and this is what I love most. I used to consider my eating habits pretty healthy, but she has far surpassed me as she has had children and had her husband go through chiropractic school and begin practicing.

Most recently, she's working on a series of articles about clean and healthy eating, and she has the resources and recipes to match. A while ago, one of my sisters accused me of complimented me on being the closest thing to vegetarian in our family. I never would have considered that myself, but I do love my vegetables. So Nat's progression to kid friendly and vegetable heavy recipes is right up my alley.

Seriously, I wouldn't be surprised to hear that she has her own cookbook coming out and her own cooking show in production. Until then, click over and enjoy her blog yourself. Happy cooking and healthy eating!

Two mixes

I have recently discovered the beauty of muffins for breakfast. The variations are endless, the kids love them, and they are quick. I have also recently discovered the beauty of getting up and taking a shower before my kids get up. Mornings go a little smoother, and I am more motivated to get to bed at a decent hour.

A friend gave me a homemade oatmeal muffin mix with a recipe recipe over a year ago, and I recently found the recipe again and tried it out on my kids. They love it, and I love that I can add things like raisins, blueberries, and banana. I want to try pumpkin, applesauce, cranberries, and nuts.

Oatmeal Muffins (makes 2 batches)
3 cups whole wheat flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup sugar
3 cups oats (I used quick cooking oats)
1 cup brown sugar

To make 1 dozen muffins:
Mix 3 heaping cups of mix, 1 egg, 1 cup milk, and 1/2 cup oil until moistened and spoon into muffin tins. Bake at 400 degrees F. 15-20 minutes

**********

I recently needed a can of cream of mushroom soup for a recipe, and I don't usually use cream soups or keep them on hand, but I did have a recipe for making a mix from scratch, and I had all the ingredients. So now I have a mix in my pantry in the event that I make another casserole soon. Not likely, but now I know what's in my soup.

Condensed Cream of Soup Mix
2 cups nonfat dry milk powder
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup instant reduced sodium chicken or beef bouillon granules
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed basil
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper (I used black)

Combine all ingredients and mix well with wire whisk until blended. Store mix in an airtight container.

To prepare as a substitute for one can of condensed cream soup in recipes, stir together 1/3 cup dry mix and 1 1/4 cup water in a saucepan. cook and stir until thickened.

Mix makes a total of nine cans condensed soup substitute. Use instead of condensed canned cream soups in recipes. Just add the ingredient that forms the basis of the soup. Chop mushrooms, saute in a bit of olive oil and add for cream of mushroom soup. Add chicken for cream of chicken soup. You get the idea!

Comfort food

I read this book last summer and loved it. I kept it so long I had to pay a fine at the library. I copied several pages of recipes to try. One soup recipe sounded delicious, and I have made it several times since then. There is something about the combination of flavors in a warm broth that I could just keep eating and eating.

So after spending a couple of hours this morning at the dentist's office having several teeth filled and a root canal done, the dentist said I could eat anything I wanted. That's right. No "eat soft foods for 24 hours" or anything. I was really, really surprised. I had already planned for chicken soup knowing I had an appointment, and it was a cold, cloudy, drizzly day anyway, but when I got all my regular chicken soup ingredients out, I realized I could make pho soup instead. Yum.

Vietnamese Soup in a Teapot

For the Pho Broth:

8 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 whole onion, peeled and cut in half

4 cloves garlic, smashed

2-inch chunk ginger, peeled

2 whole star anise

1 cinnamon stick

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed

2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce, or to taste

Juice of 1/2 lime

Salt and pepper to taste

For the Garnishes

1 package flat rice noodles soaked in hot water for 15 minutes and drained (or angelhair pasta cooked according to the package)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

a bunch of fresh leafy herbs, washed (for example: mint, basil, Thai basil, and cilantro)

1 cup fresh bean sprouts, rinsed and drained

2 tablespoons sliced scallions

2 medium carrots, peeled and grated

1 fresh red or green chile, sliced very thin.

Lime wedges

2 thinly sliced shallots or 1 small red onion, sliced (optional)

Asian chili sauce, more fish sauce, hoisin sauce

To make 6 servings:

In a large pot, bring the chicken broth, onion, garlic, ginger, star anise, cinnamon stick, and brown sugar to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the chicken and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until it is done. Skim the scum off of the surface of the soup. Take out the chicken and shred or cut it into bite-size pieces.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil for the rice noodles. Cook them in the boiling water, stirring, for 45 seconds. Drain the noodles in a colander, and rinse under cold water. Toss with the vegetable oil and put in a serving bowl.

Arrange the herbs in a glass of water as if they were a flower arrangement, and put them on the dinner table.

Put the chicken and remaining garnishes into individual serving bowls.

Bring the broth back to a simmer. Stir in the fish sauce and lime juice; add salt and pepper if needed. Strain the broth into a teapot. keep the remaining broth hot on the stove.

To serve, give each person a bowl, a spoon, and chopsticks. Let everyone fill their bowl with the noodles, adding chicken, squeezing lime, tearing off bits of herbs, then passing the teapot to pour the hot broth over.

Finally, adjust the flavors of your own soup to taste with the sauces and fresh chiles.

I've used both fresh ginger and ground, and replaced star anise with anise seed. I use a pitcher instead of a teapot. My kids love to put the noodles (any kind of pasta or rice), chicken, herbs, shredded carrots, and lime wedges in their bowls before I pour some broth over. Today I used leftover cilantro lime rice from last night, and leftover whole wheat macaroni from Sunday, straight from the refrigerator. The cold cooled off the boiling broth perfectly for my kids. They all asked for seconds, and Elijah liked it, too.

The recipe says that in Vietnam this soup is traditionally eaten for breakfast. I probably will. Yum.

White chili soup

I couldn't have been more shocked when I asked Ellen what she wanted to eat for her birthday dinner and she enthusiastically replied, "PINTO BEANS!!" I make pinto beans and cornbread for dinner about once a week, and I knew she liked them, but I had no idea they were her favorite.

Pinto beans are not my favorite, and in an effort to branch out to other varieties of beans I tried a white chili recipe a couple of months ago and then completely forgot about it until a few days ago. I searched my favorite food blogs to find the recipe again. No success. Then I thought to look in my cookbook.

Sure enough, that's where I originally found it. The recipe calls for canned beans and pre-cooked chicken, but I'm way to lazy to add any extra steps where crock pots are concerned, and I only had dry beans. I usually start crock pot dinners right after breakfast and don't think about them again until it's almost time to eat.

White chili soup (lazy style)

1 lb. dry white beans (I used navy), sorted and rinsed (no soaking necessary)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (mine were frozen)
1 large chopped onion

1-2 chopped red bell pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. crushed dried oregano

6 c. chicken broth

2 c. water

Place all ingredients in crock pot and cook on high for 6 hours. When the chicken shreds easily, turn the heat to low until ready to serve. Ladle into bowls with shredded Monterey Jack cheese and tortilla chips.

This recipe makes enough for my family of 6 plus some leftover for lunch the next day. Yum.

Cranberry orange muffins

Soon after I returned home from my mission I became friends with the mother of a seven-year-old and two-year-old triplets. She invited me to stop by whenever I wanted and I often went by their house on my way home from teaching school and stayed most of the evening to visit and help with the kids.

One day she was just finishing up with a batch of cranberry orange muffins with real cranberries and mandarin oranges in them. Delicious. To this day, they are the best muffins I've ever had.

A couple of years ago I was craving orange cranberry muffins and thought it would be no problem to Google a recipe. I discovered that there are hundreds of orange cranberry muffin recipes made with orange juice and orange zest, but it took a while to find one with both cranberries and oranges.

I made them again Sunday afternoon (while fighting off my kids who would eat nothing but mandarin oranges all day long if they could). The recipe made 36 mini muffins and they were the first to go. You might like them, too!

Cranberry Orange Muffins (from here on the Internets)

Yield: 1 dozen regular muffins or 3 dozen mini muffins

Ingredients:

2 c. flour

2/3 c. sugar

2 1/4 tsp. baking powder

scant 1/2 tsp. salt

5 T. butter, melted

3 eggs

2/3 c. orange juice

1 T. grated orange peel
1/3 c. dried cranberries or 6 oz. fresh, quartered, cranberries
1 11 oz. can mandarin oranges

Instructions:

If using dried cranberries, soak overnight in juice from mandarin oranges.

Combine dry ingredients. Melt butter and whisk in eggs. Stir in orange juice and orange peel and beat well. Stir liquid into dry ingredients and mix until just moistened. Add drained cranberries and halved mandarin oranges. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 min (large muffins) or 15 minutes (mini muffins).

Yum!