Quiet Book

Jackie made this and I am totally inspired to make my own. Here is the free pattern.

Suggested Amounts of Basic Foods for Home Storage

Suggested Amounts of Basic Foods for Home Storage
(Per adult for one year.)

Grains (wheat, rice, corn, rolled oats, spaghetti)	400 pounds (181 kg)	72 #10 cans (wheat)
Legumes (dry beans, peas, lentils)	60 pounds (27 kg)	12 #10 cans (beans)
Powdered Milk	16 pounds (7 kg)	4 #10 cans
Sugar or Honey	60 pounds (27 kg)	10 #10 cans
Cooking Oil	10 quarts (9 liters)
Salt	8 pounds (3.6 kg)
Water** (2 weeks)	14 gallons (53 liters)

**It is impractical for most families to store a year's supply of water. Fourteen gallons per person is a suggested minimum reserve.

Source: http://www.providentliving.org/content/display/0,11666,2006-1-1116-1,00.html

Artisan Bread Recipe (5 min. prep)

Annie's Recipe

3 cups warm water
1 1/2 Tbsp yeast (2 packets)
1 1/4 Tbsp (not a typo) salt
5-6 1/2 cups flour

Mix all together with a wooden spoon in a large tupperware bowl that has a lid. Let sit for 2 hours (covered but not sealed). Put in fridge until ready to bake.

Use flour to shape into 4 grapefruit size balls. Place on cookie sheet and let rise for 30 mins. When 30 mins is up turn oven on to 450 degrees and wait for heat up. Sprinkle flour on top of loaf, score with a sharp knife.

Bake for 20-25 mins. Place 1 cup water in a pan in oven on lower rack during cooking.

Dough can stay in fridge for up to 2 weeks. I like to make it then pull out 1 ball at a time to bake when I want it. So easy and so yummy!

In Case of Emergency

Marc and I have done a pretty good job of getting our food storage ready in the event a need may arise so we are now focusing on other items that would be helpful to keep on hand. After brainstorming, we asked ourselves what would be something that if we ran out of it, we would go that day to replenish. The answer quickly came: DIAPERS! Then we tried to think of where we could put all those diapers. The next answer came: CLOTH DIAPERS!

I shopped around and the ones from this website seem to be the best bang for your buck. I know there are much better cloth diapers that exist, but if you're just wanting to get some decent ones "just in case" these with plastic pants (that the site also carries) ought to do the trick. Happy shopping. Oh, we thought about 2 dozen would buy us enough time in between washings if needed.

Snapfish Sale

Snapfish is having a sale on their most popular gifts (40% off). I just went on and made a photo book for David from the day he was born (I made one for Lucy too so I figured I'd better be fair). The code is: POSTLABOR

Protect your kids

I just signed up my family's addresses through a free service provided by the State of Utah called the Utah Child Protection Registry. Like the do-not-call list, once an address has been registered,senders of messages that advertise prohibited products or services (like gambling, tobacco, pornography, and alcohol) are required to remove the contact points from their mailing lists within 30 days. (thanks Norman)

Register HERE

Dress up your mirrors

My friend Jordyn "framed" her mirrors in her bathroom and they look amazing! I have a feeling Marc will soon have a new project on his hands ;)

Before:

After:

Slow the flow

Get a free water survey done on your yard. You can sign up for one here. http://www.slowtheflow.org/watercheck/default.aspx

Thanks, Julie

Jam with A KICK

We made some delicious peach jam last night and then added one tiny sliced habanero pepper to the batch. It was so yummy. My friend, Ellie, uses the jam over a block of cream cheese with crackers as an appetizer. You'll be surprised at the whole new flavor you will get from it.

Go vote!

Primary elections are being held today for various municipal offices. You may find information about candidates, polling locations, and voting hours by visiting http://gva1.utah.gov/elections/polling.aspx . Please pass the word to your neighbors!

Udder Covers

I heard about this and bought myself one. Wanted to get this up before the deal is off:

I found this awesome deal at www.uddercovers.com. You can get a free nursing cover (a $32 value) when you enter the promo code "charm" All you have to pay is shipping/handling ($8.95). Feel free to post it on your blog of ideas.

Bre-

Major Restaurant Discounts

This tip comes from Becky on a way to save big with restaurant gift cards. This is what she has to say about it: "I just used this to buy four $10 gift cards for restaurants in the area, and I paid $1.60 total for the 4 of them. Not bad!"

Click Here for the link. This just might come in handy for Christmas ;)

Yummy homemade spaghetti sauce

Something to do with all your tomatoes:
This recipe is from Karen Noyce, Rachelle Simmons' mother.
This makes 4 quarts, so you'll probably double it or quadruple it like I did, depending on how many tomatoes you have.

12 c blended tomatoes, peeled
30 oz tomato paste
3 chopped yellow onions ( I put these in the blender as well)
3 bay leaves (remove after)
3 tsp oregano
1 tsp fennel
3 tsp basil
3 TBS salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup sugar
4 tsp lemon juice

Mix all together except lemon juice. Simmer 2 hours or more until desired thickness is reached. Put 1 teaspoon lemon juice in each quart jar. Ladle in hot spaghetti sauce. Put on lids and adjust rings. Process.

Canning Peaches

The basic idea (so easy):

1) Skin and de-pit your peaches
2) Place them in quart jars (wide mouth works best)
3) Add warm sugar water to each jar of peaches (like 4 to 1 ration of water to sugar).
4) A boiling bath in your canning pot for 20 mins
5) Remove and let cool
6) ENJOY

Heartburn?

Just a little cap full of Apple Cider Vinegar mixed with a glass of water will do the trick. It tastes awful, but totally works. I learned this from my Mother-in-law back when I was dating Marc and it has saved me through two pregnancies.

Just Bleach It

This post will be way too simple for most, but I think it will come in handy for some. Every time I would stain something, inevitably someone would say, "Just bleach it". I never really knew how this would work. I tried several methods, but was never happy with the end result. I finally came up with the following plan and it works great (if you have a better way please feel free to share).

-Start your washer running with hot water.
-Add about 1/2-1 cup of bleach
-Add clothing you want bleached
-Wash
-Tumble dry
-Enjoy a new looking article of clothing

This doesn't just work on whites. I have been pleased with the results on pastels as well. Good luck!

Potty Training

This tip comes from my friend Danielle. She said that the best advice she got when it came to potty training was, "Don't. Your child will do it when they are ready." With this she stopped a year's worth of struggling with her daughter and when she was ready (at age 3) the process handled itself.

The following 3 things . . .

A good bib

A safe highchair

and a yummy Popsicle

Can buy a mother of a toddler a good 15-20 minutes of time when needed

What I really leanred in college

I think we all could share a story or two from our college day's living conditions. One particular house I lived in was really bad. I could go on and on, but by saying that you couldn't shower when we ran the washing machine, or else you would have backed up yucky water in the tub probably paints a pretty good picture.

Another lovely thing about this house was the mold on the bathroom ceiling. We concocted all sorts of plans on how to get rid of it (one plan included rain jackets and brooms), but then JEN moved in and with the magic of water and bleach in a spray bottle, she sprayed all the mold away! It was amazing. No scrubbing needed.