Freezer Jam

There are a couple of signs that let us know when spring is here at the Mag Pad.  One, is when the flowers on our front hill are in bloom. (click onto the picture to get a better view of the flowers)

Another sign of spring is when we replenish our strawberry jam supply.

Making homemade freezer jam is so easy. Just follow the directions that come in the Sure-Jell Fruit Pectin box for freezer strawberry jam. I buy the Sure-Jell Fruit Pectin box from Smart and Final along with the 8 oz plastic containers that I put the jam in. You can be sure we always make enough jam to last us until next the spring.

Please pass the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. (made with homemade strawberry jam, of course!)

March 18, 2024

The last few times I bought the Sure-Jell package, the paper with  recipe isn't included inside the box, so I found the recipe online here.  

Ingredients

• 2 cups crushed strawberries (buy 1 qt. fully ripe strawberries)
• 4 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 pkg SURE-JELL Fruit Pectin 

Instructions

Step 1

Rinse 5 (1-cup) plastic containers and lids with boiling water. Dry thoroughly. Remove and discard strawberry stems. Crush strawberries thoroughly, 1 cup at a time. Measure exactly 2 cups prepared fruit into large bowl. Stir in sugar. Let stand 10 min., stirring occasionally.

Step 2

Mix water and pectin in small saucepan. Bring to boil on high heat, stirring constantly. Continue boiling and stirring 1 min. Add to fruit mixture; stir 3 min. or until most the sugar is dissolved. (A few sugar crystals may remain.)

Step 3

Fill containers immediately to within 1/2 inch of tops. Wipe off top edges of containers; immediately cover with lids. Let stand at room temperature 24 hours. Jam is now ready to use. Store in refrigerator up to 3 weeks or in freezer up to 1 year. (If frozen, thaw in refrigerator before using.)

Easter Eggs Post #2

Our neighbor, Rebecca, invited Sam over to dye eggs with her boys the other day. Sam came home with these beautiful eggs. (see picture above) She had Sam use electrical tape to make square cutouts and then he placed them on the eggs. Then he dipped the egg in a light color dye. Next, he removed a few of the cutouts and patted the egg dry. Then he dipped the egg a second time in another color. The eggs I just described how to make are the bottom two in the picture above. The top egg was made to look like a cracked shell. He cut the electrical tape in a jagged shape and wrapped it around the egg and then dipped one half of egg in one color and the other half of the egg in another color.

Rebecca reused the electrical tape by placing the used tape on wax paper in between doing each egg.

The homemade dye recipe Rebecca used is:

1 cup water
2 Tlbs vinegar
6-8 drops food coloring

She made the dye in the 8 oz plastic containers with lids that you can get at Smart and Final. She kept the dye in these containers and saved the dye to use for several different egg coloring sessions.

Rebecca got the idea off of Matha Stewart's Living Magazine. You can watch these eggs being made on a how to video on her webpage: marthastewart.com/dyeing-eggs
or you can click here to go to the web page.

Rebecca's husband, Landon, was REALLY cleaver and figured out how to make this egg:

Now that is a manly Easter Egg!

Easter Eggs

About 15 years ago Virginia Teater taught me how to color Easter eggs using all natural materials. We have been doing our Easter eggs this way every year since she taught me this method. I have taught the children in my kids' elementary classes, teenagers in my seminary class, neighbors, ladies in my church, and now the blogging world how to do this. Every egg is beautiful and unique.

Material needed:

Raw eggs
An old pair of nylons
String
Onion Skins
Flowers or leaves with space between the petals*

We have Marguerite flowers growing in our yard, which work great.

Put a flower in the toe of a nylon sock - facing toward you.

Put a raw egg on top of the flower in the stocking.

Bring the nylon over the egg

Twist the stocking and tie a piece of string in a knot at the top of the egg.  This step holds the flower against the egg.  This is a two person job.

One person holds the nylon with the egg and the other person ties the string.

Repeat the above procedure several times up the stocking.

Put a layer of onion skins on the bottom of a pot.  (I go to my local grocery store and gather up

all the stray onion skins in the onion section of the produce department)

Lay the eggs that are in the nylon on top of the onion skins

(remember these are raw eggs at this point.)

Cover with water and boil the eggs for 10 to 12 minutes. (You are basically hard boiling the eggs at this point. The onion skins are coloring the eggs a beautiful golden brown color.)

When the eggs are done boiling, lift them out with tongs.

Cut the stockings.

Reveal your beautiful Easter egg

Happy Easter!

Lisa used leaves to make the designs on these eggs
(The middle one is from a celery leaf that is found in the middle of a celery stock)

Deseretnews.com had an article about using onion skins to color Easter eggs. One of their last steps was to "Finish the eggs off with a light coat of olive oil." I tried doing that this year and it added a nice shiny touch to the eggs.

Spring time is a reminder of the Resurrection
" Behold, my soul delighteth in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ;... and all things which have been given of God from the beginning of the world, unto man, are the typifying of Him. (Christ)"
2 Nephi 11:4
Book of Mormon

*2017 update:  We moved to Utah this winter and I've been on the lookout for petals type flowers and haven't found any.  That is until I went to the garden department at my neighborhood Walmart.  I found this plant which worked great as I made the eggs with my grandchildren this weekend:

I plucked every other petal off to make space in-between which makes a prettier design on the egg.  You could also use a fern type plant with space in-between the leaves.  

Red Velvete Cake

Click onto the above recipe to see a larger view.

I'm de-cluttering my piles of papers and came across this recipe I wanted to make, but haven't had a chance to yet. It looked yummy, so I thought I'd post it. If anyone tries it, let me know how it turns out.

Fruit Biscotti

Click on the above picture to see a larger version of the recipe.

I got this recipe from my Sister-in-law, Lynn, when I asked if she had a good "healthy appetizer". When she sent this recipe, she said, "It tasted yummy and wasn't very hard either. It was a little card we get in the mail, every so often, from our Real Estate guy."

I just made this recipe and in the section for the top/filling I replaced the 1/4 cup sugar with 1/2 cup powdered sugar. It made the white top/filling a little more light and fluffy.

How Long Will This Food Store and Stay Fresh?

You've got questions. There are answers.

Moms always have all the answers and my mom has proved it once again.

(This is a picture of me and my mom that was taken this past Christmas time.)

She sent me an email with a link that has all the answers - thousands of them. Check it out by clicking here.

Below is a cut and paste of the email she sent.

How long can that bottle of ketchup stay in your fridge before it goes bad? I'm thinking 5 or 10 years. But if you want an expert opinion, go to the web site below. This site lists all kind of foodstuffs and how to keep them fresher, longer: As well as when to get rid of them. If you have a question, just click on the particular picture, and a whole list of great things appears!! WHAT A GREAT SITE THIS IS!!

www.stilltasty.com

How to Prepare for Financial Emergencies

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a great web page on providentliving.org about how to handle handle family finances. This web page has many links that will take you to topics on:

• Paying Tithes and Offerings
  
• Avoiding Debt
• Using a Budget
• Building a Reserve
• Teaching Family Members

I like what our First Presidency has to say on the topic:

"We encourage you wherever you may live in the world to prepare for adversity by looking to the condition of your finances. We urge you to be modest in your expenditures; discipline yourselves in your purchases to avoid debt. . . . If you have paid your debts and have a financial reserve, even though it be small, you and your family will feel more secure and enjoy greater peace in your hearts."
—The First Presidency

Click here to go to that web page.

Here's another post on how to handling financial emergencies from:

www.LivingOnADime.com

Click here for the link that was posted on March 9, 2010 on how to be financially prepared. Below is a cut and past of the article.

How to Prepare For Financial Emergencies

The best way to survive unemployment or any financial challenge is to be prepared ahead of time. Many of us prepare for all kinds of emergencies -- keeping an emergency supply of food, first aid kits and other emergency supplies. Here in Kansas, we keep one room prepared where we can go in case a tornado hits. But few of us prepare for something that is almost guaranteed to hit every one of us at some time-- unemployment.

I hope that today's ideas will inspire you to prepare for a financial emergency that is sure to happen at some point in your life in the same way you prepare for other emergencies.

As hard as it was at the time, I can honestly say that I'm glad I had the various experiences that I had with unemployment. I really wouldn't be the person I am now if I hadn't. At the time, you wonder why God is allowing these things to happen in your life and think it is so unfair but, years later, you find out many of these things taught you something that really helped you in the long run.

If my husband hadn't been laid off the first time, we wouldn't had started a business he loved. That business enabled him to be at home with the kids and me. I restarted that same business years later, which helped me save my home and helped us avoid living out on the streets. In fact, this web site wouldn't exist if it hadn't been for the job losses I experienced in my life and the things I learned from them.

The best way to rid yourself of fear and panic is to be prepared for a situation. I love the story of Joseph in the Bible (Gen. 41) where God told Joseph that there was a famine coming. What did Joseph do? Well, he didn't pay any attention to the news of the day, nor did he worry about what others were saying. He also didn't just sit there knowing that tough times were coming and say, "Que Sera Sera, what will be, will be".

He started preparing-- preparing in a big way. Maybe we don't have grain elevators to fill like he did (Well, on second thought lots of people in Kansas do :) ), but we can take practical steps now to prepare in case a "famine" should come in our lives.

I am so tired of listening to people moaning and groaning about what is going to happen to the world financially. Stop complaining about it! Take the time and energy you are wasting pointing out how awful things are and do something constructive about it in your life.

Here are a few things you can do to insulate yourself against potential financial emergencies:

• Get rid of credit card debt. I know I sound like a broken record, but credit card debt is something that can make or break you when money is tight. Once we had a gas card and furniture card, both of which were maxed out for a total of $500. The thing that hurt us the most when we had a job layoff was that credit card debt. We could have paid most of our bills with a part time job, but each month we had to make that credit card payment. It almost broke us-- and our debt was nothing compared to some others.
  
  Don't take this lightly. You can lose everything just because of that debt. I don't care what you need to do. Get serious and aggressive about paying if off. Visit our web site and refer to our books where we give you thousands of ideas about how to do it.
  


• It may seem impossible but stop buying on credit now. Lots and lots of people don't buy on credit and do just fine. You can too. If you don't have cash to pay for something, live without it until you can save enough for it. We can live without most things that we think we can't live without. My daughter and I have each gone through a winter without a refrigerator until we had the money to buy one. It was a pain keeping the frozen stuff in the cold garage, but we survived.
  


• Pay off your mortgage. If you are barely making your house payment, you may have to consider buying a less expensive house in order to accomplish that goal. The thing that saved me more than once was never buying a house I couldn't reasonably afford. Also, except for a couple of years after losing a lot of money on one house sale, I have had my house paid off since I was in my middle 30's. You can usually make enough money for minimal food and utilities in tough times, but it is the house payment that can make or break you. Pay it off and you won't have to worry about that anymore.
  
  During the depression, the people who survived the best were the ones who had their homes paid for and had no debt.
  


• Save. It's a toss up when it comes to deciding whether to save first and then pay your mortgage or visa versa. For me, having my mortgage paid lifted more of a burden from me. Additionally, the interest I made on my savings was so much less than the interest I paid on my mortgage that I was better off getting rid of my house payment.
  
  Different people feel differently about their situations so do what is most comfortable for you. The most ideal thing, of course, is to pay your house off and have a small nest egg.
  
  Don't panic when you hear the word "savings". It is so easy to think "there is no way I can save" but even if you save only $5 a week, that is something. Most people waste significantly more than that each day. I found out that having even an extra $25 helped because it could buy an awful lot of bread and bologna to feed us.
  


• Stop worrying about things like college funds until you can get your finances under control. Those are nice to have but they aren't as big a necessity as most people think, especially when you're trying not to lose your home. If your child wants to go to college, he can go to a community college, get a scholarship or even work to pay his own way (What a concept).
  


• Learn useful skills. Learn how to do basic sewing, home repair, car repair, cooking and yard work. Learn to grow a garden. You may not have a need to do these things now, but someday you could find yourself thinking "I wish I knew how to ____, because it would save me so much money." Teach your children life skills as well.
  


• This last suggestion may seem a little odd but install a wood burning stove in your home if you don't have one. For those of you in colder climates, this can save significant money on your heating bill.
  
  When we were in our toughest times, I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't had a wood burning stove to heat my home (or at least part of my home). The heating bill would have eaten me alive, but I could always find free wood. Even when I had to have the heater on to keep the pipes from freezing, I could keep it low enough to save me huge amounts of money.
  
  

There are so many things in our lives that we have no control over. Life happens, but there are some things we can prepare for and unemployment is one of them.

Get serious with your money and stop being foolish with it. God didn't give us prosperity solely to satisfy our "wants". It is important to use it wisely, to provide for your needs in good times and bad. Use the money you have to build a strong foundation for you family so, when the storms come, your family will be safe and can ride it out better.

Don't be selfish, spending too much of your money on things that give you instant gratifications and pleasure for the moment. Yes, you do enjoy that big screen TV, that golf game or those expensive shoes and purses, but what will you feel like further down the road when you have lost your job and have no clue on how you are going to save your home or feed your kids?

People who aren't prepared react very badly to losing their jobs. They play the blame game. It's the fault of the boss, the company, the government, the bank or these hard economic times. We play the blame game when we are caught doing something foolish or wrong. You may say, "but I did nothing wrong by losing my job." No but did you do something foolish by failing to prepare in case you did lose it?

I'm not saying any of this to judge or condemn anyone. You know your own circumstances. I'm just telling you this to try and open your eyes to the importance of being prepared, and not just because of what is going on now. Unexpected things happen all the time, but the more prepared we are, the better equipped we are to handle any financial challenge that presents itself.

Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls

I ran across this recipe this morning. It look so good, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to post it.

Click here to get the recipe.

Lentil Soup

INGREDIENTS:

6 cups chicken stock 2 cups dry lentils 3 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1 large onion, chopped 2 tsp ground cumin (more or less to taste) Other assorted chopped veggies - carrots, celery, potatoes, yams, etc. 1/2 cup chopped cilantro Lime or lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Bring chicken stock and lentils to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
2.	Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in garlic and onion, and cook until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 3 minutes.
3.	Stir onions into the lentils and season with cumin and cayenne. Continue simmering until the lentils are tender, about 10 minutes. You can also add other chopped veggies like celery, carrots, potatoes, canned tomatoes.
4.	Stir in cilantro and lime/lemon juice to taste before serving. Lentils are low in fat, high in protein and fiber and CHEAP. This soup is especially yummy if you eat it with cooked rice.

BYU Mint Brownies

Brownie layer

1 c. margarine

1/2 c. cocoa
2 Tbsp. honey
4 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. chopped walnuts

MINT ICING
5 Tbsp. margarine
dash of salt
3 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
2 1/3 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. mint extract
1-2 drops green food coloring

Chocolate Icing (can also use a can of store frosting)

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup margarine, softened

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla

approximately 2 TBS milk

1. Melt margarine and mix in cocoa. Allow to cool. Add honey, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Add nuts. Pour batter into a greased 9-by-13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool.

2. Prepare mint icing: Soften margarine. Add salt, corn syrup, and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and fluffy. Add mint extract and food coloring. Mix. Add milk gradually until the consistency is a little thinner than cake frosting.

3. Spread mint icing over brownies. Place brownies in the freezer for a short time to stiffen the icing. While waiting, mix up the chocolate frosting (dump all ingredients in bowl except milk and beat with mixer. Add milk to consistency desired - not as stiff at mint layer). Remove from the freezer and carefully add layer of chocolate icing.

YUMMY!

Some people don't like mint brownies because the mint flavor is overpowering. Who wants to think of toothpaste when eating dessert?? Not so with these - it's minty,but not overkill. Although I'm a BYU grad, I don't know if I ever had a BYU mint brownie in Provo.

Informational booklet on Emergency Survival

(Click onto above picture to be able to read about what you can learn from the booklet.)
Can you tell I'm betting ready to do another class on emergency preparedness? There is such a wealth of information out there on the Internet. I came across a booklet from the Los Angeles County, Office of Emergency Management that has simple short ideas that a family can go through to get themselves emergency prepared.

Each chapter has a simple 1-2 paragraph explanation of what to do. On the next page they have a check list of how a family can get prepared in that area.

Here is a list of the chapters:

Step 1. Family Emergency Plan
Step 2 Supply Storage
Step 3 First Aid Training and Supplies
Step 4 Drop, Cover and Hold On
Step 5 Car Kit and Office Kit
Step 6 Emergency Cash and Important Documents
Step 7 Camping Out Earthquake Style
Step 8 Freshen up your Water and Food Supplies
Step 9 Focus on Children
Step 10 Learn not to Burn
Step 11 Emergency Lighting
Step 12 Gifts of Life

This is an excellent booklet to go through as a family to set some goals for emergency preparedness. They have thought of everything in this booklet in a simple uncomplicated way.

Earthquake Preparedness

For some reason, earthquake preparedness has been on my mind. I wonder if this news story has anything to do with my thoughts?

A massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Chile early on Saturday, February 27, leaving hundreds of people dead, destroying parts of southern Chile and triggering tsunami warnings for the entire Pacific basin. cnn.com

I found a blog post from Emergency Essentials on earthquake preparedness that is worth reading. click here to read the post.

Kristine's first hand experience with emergency preparedness

tsunami:  are you on high ground?

By Janelle Anderson

My sister Kristine is in the yellow shirt below.

She lives in Laie, Hawaii and goes to BYU-Hawaii.

Her house is right on the beach...

...and Saturday morning, she evacuated with her roommates

because of the tsunami warning triggered by the earthquake in Chile.

They decided to go to "higher ground."

How appropriate that that "higher ground" is the hill the temple is on

(see middle right of the picture).

Quote from Kristine: "It was really interesting seeing everybody on the hill, all the families, my professor’s families, students, and the Polynesians with their full on tarps, BBQs, and music. A lot of people had tents which I thought was really smart."

I think this picture is cool: there were men on top of the temple with cameras looking for the waves to start.

Kristine was prepared well by our mother (mom is the emergency queen). Kristine said all her roommates were teasing her about bringing so much "stuff." Kristine said, "but I didn't mind because it was true, I brought a TON of stuff but I knew if we were stranded up there we would use everything."

Having "stuff" is smart! She brought a pillow, quilt, chairs, tons of water, boatload of food, journal, school stuff, laptop, cell phone charger, $100 cash, can opener, pocket knife, first aid kit, soap, washcloths, camera, flashlight, clothes, and a tarp.

I bet she's smiling so big cuz she knows she's prepared :-)

There was even opportunity to "play." The sprinklers went off on their "campsite" and so they cooled off a bit.

So, what ended up happening? Where was the tsunami?

It didn't come. The water levels at Laie rose about a foot.

Kristine went home about 2:30pm.

But the experience was still valuable.

Kristine says: "I must say I am really grateful for this experience, seriously. I want to tell you all I have a testimony of food storage and flee bags, amen.

Dave's brother, Matt, and his family also live on the island.

They were prepared with 72-hour kits and extra water.

After the warning was lifted, they headed to the beach "to surf the big tsunami waves."

Matt says, "It was exciting, but kind of anti-climatic in a good way that there was no damage or injuries... unless you count a few fist-fights at the gas stations when people were trying to "stock up."

Good point for Matt to make: anti-climatic if you're prepared.

If you have food storage, water, a car full of gas, why fear?

When an emergency comes, will you be standing in a two hour line for food? Looking for bottled water on a shelf that's picked clean? Waiting to fill up a car at a station jammed packed?

Kristine's and Matt's experience taught me to be prepared.

Because even if a tsunami doesn't come, I'll have peace of mind.

And part of being prepared--spiritually--is getting to that higher ground.

The temple.

Laie, Hawaii temple

Hot Punch

2 quarts orange juice
2 quarts apple juice
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 cinnamon sticks and a little bunch of cloves and allspice in a cheese cloth.

Simmer all together for a hour or two.

French Chocolate

3 *unsweetened baking chocolate squares.  
1/2 cup water

Mix together in pot and simmer 3 minutes while stirring.

Add:
1 cup sugar. Cook 3 minutes and cool

Whip 1 cup whipping cream that's been sweeten with a little powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla

Fold two mixtures together.

Use about 1 TBS + chocolate mixture per cup of hot milk. Chocolate mixture can be frozen.

This is my favorite hot chocolate recipe . When my mom's friends gave her a baby shower when she was pregnant with my youngest brother, they served this drink. (He was born in November). When it's cold outside, this is the drink to serve. I always make at least one batch of this during the Christmas holiday season.

(If you don't have unsweetened baking chocolate squares you  can do this for a substitution.  I used butter instead of shortening)

Lasagna Spinach Roll-Ups (Vegetarian dish)

Ingredients

1 (16 ounce) package lasagna noodles

2 tablespoons butter

2/3 cup chopped red bell pepper

2/3 cup chopped fresh mushrooms

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 cups small curd cottage cheese

2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach

2 eggs, lightly beaten

6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, divided

1 teaspoon black pepper

2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce

2 teaspoons dried marjoram

1 teaspoon white sugar

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

2/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add lasagna pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain and pat dry.

In a large skillet saute in butter the red bell pepper, mushrooms and onion until tender. In a bowl combine the sauteed vegetable mixture, cottage cheese, spinach, eggs, 4 tablespoons of the Parmesan cheese and pepper; mix well.

In a large skillet, heat tomato sauce, marjoram, sugar and garlic powder for 5 minutes.

Spread 1/3 cup filling on each noodle. Roll up and place in greased 9x13 baking dish. Pour tomato sauce mixture over lasagna rolls. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and remaining Parmesan cheese. Cover and bake in a preheated oven for 40 minutes.

I got this recipe off of allrecipies.com. I served it for dinner last night because we had someone for dinner who is a vegetarian. It was delicious! The only downside to this recipe is that it was very labor intensive to make. Luckily, I allowed plenty of prep time and so it turned out fine.

I didn't use the frozen chopped spinach. I used a package of fresh spinach. Before I added it to the cottage cheese mixture, I cooked it in the microwave for 1 minute. Then I chopped it up.

I also always like to use Knudsen cottage cheese. It's not runny like the cheap store brands and it has a good flavor.

Winter gardens are one of the blessing of living in So. California.

Winter gardens are the best!

There's nothing like a fresh lettuce salad for dinner.

For the lettuce, you just pick the outer leaves and they grow all season long until the plants start to go to seed. If you have home grown lettuce a salad spinner is a must. You can pick a spinner up at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Target or Walmart might also carry salad spinners.

In the front row are carrots, then lettuce and then peas. (The peas are growing up a wooden frame with fishing line going from the top to bottom for the peas to climb up.) I also wanted to plant broccoli, onions, and cilantro but I just didn't get around to planting them this year. ...maybe they will make it into my spring garden.

Lunch Sack Ideas

• Buy paper sacks and baggies for sack lunches at Walmart or Smart and Final. It’s cheaper.
• Look for good deals on boxed drinks and stock up.
• Buy reusable box drink containers (Rubbermaid makes one) and fill with Koolaid or Crystal Light.
• Make your own fruit cup: Buy 5 ½ oz disposable container with lid from Smart and Final. Put in fruit from #10 can, available at Costco, Sam’s Club, or Smart and Final. Our favorites are applesauce or pineapple. Put in freezer. When ready to use, put in zip sandwich bag (in case it leaks in lunch bag). Don’t forget the plastic spoon. Smart and Final has small cheaper plastic ware.

• Fold corner of napkin and cut heart shape to let your kids/husband know you love them.
• Include a note in lunch sack to brighten someone’s day.
• Use large heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out brownies or rice krispy treats
• Make “carrot coins” by cutting carrots circles for a lunch treat.
• Make ‘orange smiles” by cutting oranges in circles and then in half.
• Roll up ham slices with grated cheese in a flour tortilla
• If a microwave is available put leftovers from the night before in a container to be heated up for lunch the next day.

My daughter, Janelle, wrote a college essay about the power of lunches.

“This I Believe”

I believe in the power of lunches.

My mom has six children and a husband, all of who needed a lunch for school and work. And so mom made seven lunches every day for twenty five years. That’s over 63,000 lunches.

Love seems to be expressed in two ways: word and action. Over the years, I began to realize that mom’s lunches were full of love. Every day, my brown paper bag held basically the same thing: a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, apple, tortilla chips, and water bottle. But it also held something more.

Each and every lunch held time. Mom’s day began earlier than mine. She would be up early in the kitchen, spreading peanut butter and washing apples while in her pink robe. Making lunches only took a few minutes, but those were precious minutes that I could use putting on makeup instead of bagging my own sandwich. Mom never called attention to this time she spent serving. She just did it because she loved me.

Each and every lunch held acknowledgment. Mom wrote our individual names on all the paper lunch sacks. Kind of elementary, I know. But mom liked writing our names. She would say them out loud as she wrote, writing them phonetically: “Janelllllllllllllllllle” for Janelle. “Li-a-sa” for Lisa. There is love in a name spoken and heard—something so personable and individual. Sometimes kids at school called us names, or made us feel as if we did not have one. But at lunch time, there was our name in front of us. It was a mother’s acknowledgment of who we were. And we knew that it was spoken and written with love; because of that, nothing else mattered.

I think I first began to realize what lunches meant to me in elementary school. Some kids brought things like “lunchables,” which was the unspoken “cool” lunch to bring. These included yummy treats like candy and mini pizzas, and they didn’t come in brown paper bags. I remember sometimes wishing I could walk into the cafeteria with a “cool lunch.” But then, my brown paper bag occasionally held homemade cookies or rice krispy treats. All of a sudden, I was the spoken of bringer of a cool lunch! My friends would “ooo” and “ahh” over my good fortune of a mom who would actually make treats for me. And then my cookie would get split into eight different shares and passed around the cafeteria table.

Love is spoken through acts of service, and my mom served me every day of my school career. Not only did her lunches fill me nutritionally, but I was also daily filled with reminders of her love. Now I live away from home, and so I make my own lunch every day. What do I make? Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Though they aren’t spread with a mother’s love, I don’t think I will ever eat a sandwich again without thinking of my mom.

Strawberry Salsa

SALSA:

2 granny smith apples

1 kiwi

1 cup strawberries (fresh is best, frozen will work)

2 TBS jam (raspberry/strawberry)

2 TBS orange juice

Chop fruit into tiny pieces. Mix in jam and orange juice. Let set in fridge for at least one hour.

CHIPS:

10-15 medium sized flour tortillas

butter

cinnamon sugar

Butter entire tortilla. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top, covering entire tortilla. Cut into chip-sized pieces. Place on cookie sheet. Heat in oven at 375* for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool completely before serving.

Oh my heavens! If it's this delicious in the middle of January when the fruit is out of season, I can't wait to try it during the summer!  I found this recipe in my former roommate's family cookbook. (Thanks, Nancy!)

German Chocolate Bars

2/3 cup butter softened
1 pkg German chocolate cake mix
1 cup chocolate chips
1 tub coconut pecan ready-to-spread frosting
1/4 cup milk

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350
Grease/spray bottom of 13x9 pan
Cut butter into cake mix in medium bowl using pastry blender or fork
Press 1/2 of mixture (2.5 cups) in bottom of cake pan
Bake 10 min
Sprinkle chocolate chips over baked layer
Drop frosting by tablespoonfuls over chocolate chips
Stir milk into remaining cake mixture
Drop by tablespoonfuls onto frosting layer
Bake 25-30 min or until cake portion is slightly dry to touch
Let cool, then cover and refrigerate until firm

This is another treat that was on the Simmon's goodie plate. Yum, Yum! Thanks Melody!

No-Bake Rocky Road Chocolate Bars

1/2 cup butter
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup peanut butter
4 cups rice crispy cereal
3 cups miniature marshmallows

DIRECTIONS:

In stock pot over low heat, combine butter, chocolate chips & butterscotch chips.
Stir constantly until melted (4-6 min)
Stir in peanut butter until well blended
Remove from heat
Stir in rice cripies and marshmallows until well blended
Press into bottom of buttered 13x9 pan
Refrigerate until firm (about 30+ min)
Store refrigerated

The Simmons family gave us these bars on a Christmas goodie plate along with other tasty treats. These bars were so good I asked Melody for the recipe so I can put post it.

Chinese Chicken Salad

I found a great recipe for Chinese Chicken Salad. The blog page where I got it from is copyrighted so I'll post a link to the page instead of copying the recipe onto my blog. Click here for the link.

The blog page is called, Make It and Love It. Click here for the link. It is a very interesting blog. The author is very creative. Browse around her blog pages and get inspired for some pretty cute projects.