Notes for my sister

November 27, 2017 Okay, let's say that I'm a terrible planner. My main strategy for surviving dinner includes the following tips: If you have a busy afternoon, make dinner at lunchtime!!!  One of my smarter friends recommended this. It's a game changer. If it's 4pm and you still haven't figured out what's for dinner, you can scrape something together if you have some building blocks on hand, in the pantry and in the freezer. Let's say you like to buy cooked chicken at Costco, and you split the package into four portions. This package costs $13 and will feed my family for 3-4 dinners. Once I open the package, I stick the other portions in freezer bags.  Using this cooked chicken, you can make stuff like pasta with alfredo sauce, soups, tacos, salad, etc. Hopefully your pantry is stocked with pasta, potatoes, rice, bread or tortillas. The same idea applies to ground beef.  While the big kids are at school, I make time to cook 2 lbs of grou

November 16, 2017 I can't take credit for this idea.  It came from here .  But I loved it when I found it, and so we tried it.  Usually in the past we've done a Thanksgiving turkey that looks something like this: The main idea is to think of things that make us happy.  So we started on Monday night, and each person had a color.  Just for kicks, I'll give you the gratitude list.  It kind of makes me giggle, to see different personalities come through, in what we're thankful for. Amber is light red: blankie, baby doll, stories, Farm Country Frozen, Daniel Tiger, Barbies stickers, songs, birthdays, pony rides Dad is orange: trees, forests, mountains, rivers wife, smooches, job, root beer lakes, camping, kitty cats I'm dark red:   sunshine, air, fridge, naptime disposable diapers, piano, music school bus, neighbors, Facebook church, bed Karly is yellow: writing, school, nature, hair paper, clothes, family clocks &

I love baking and eating yummy treats, and I have a lot of wheat in my basement.  Growing up, my mom baked a lot, and she had a funny lookin' wheat grinder with three legs.  They don't make 'em like that any more.  Mine looks like this: If you don't grind your own flour, find a friend with a grain mill who will give you some fresh ground whole wheat flour.  Use it or keep it in the freezer.  Here are some of my favorite recipes.  (One small disclaimer.  These work great in Lehi, UT.  Not a lot of humidity, and we're definitely not at sea level.  If you're in a different elevation, you may need to use different amounts of flour.) Bran Muffins From my grandma Beulah Bare To start, mix water and bran  in their own bowl and set aside: 1 C boiling water 3 C bran (Kellogg’s Original All-Bran cereal) Make the buttermilk and set aside, so it can get lumpy: 2 C regular milk 2 T lemon juice  In a separate bowl, Cream together: 1 C sugar

Last weekend, Norm and the kids and I drove to Washington.  We surprised his parents by showing up for their Surprise  50 th anniversary celebration .  Family members planned and invited friends, bought food and decorated… That night, my sweet brother in law asked, “How was the drive?”  “Sooo great,” I lied.  We knew that twelve hours with four kids in the car would be painful, no matter how many movies they watched. We knew that making the trip there and back was a challenge.  We knew it might snow on Sunday and that driving back through the mountains on Monday could be tricky. But in my entire childhood, there are two parties that stand out.  One was when my parents drove us from California to Colorado to be with my dad’s folks for their 50 th .  I remember being squished together in the car on a really long roadtrip.  I remember singing songs for them at the party.  We didn’t see our cousins very often, so this was a big deal.  The other was watching my moms’ fol

I haven't put away Halloween yet, and even with a dozen other things to do, today I have to finish this ballot.  Make time!  For this election, find the ballot in your pile of junk, and mail it in.   Maybe some of you are thinking, "I don't know what's going on, so it doesn't really matter anyway..."  Yes it does!  Five years ago I wasn't paying much attention to politics.  But if somebody had done a bit of research and shared it with me, that would have helped a ton!  I'm taking a risk in posting these opinions, but if you want my two cents on the local election, I'll try to be concise.   (later omitted by the editor) On a completely unrelated note, this little girl was Rapunzel the other night, and she loved trick or treating for the first time.  And because I can't resist, here are my four favorite pumpkins.  I'm a pretty terrible photographer, but I love that each kid is one head taller than the next.   Thanks