Honestly the BEST rolls EVER!

So I found these on pinterest and they are seriously so so good! I am absolutely the worst at making bread, but these just looked so good I thought I'd try them. Since there's only two I tried to cut the recipe in half and did not turn out. But I've made them twice again in the last month...because they are that good, and if you follow the recipe exact they have turned out perfect each time. My only change, is for the flower I only use about 8 1/2 cups...just to make sure I don't use to much. Then, I just put them in bread bags and keep one out to eat, and freeze the rest until we eat them. And they taste just as good when we get them out of the freezer. :) You can find the recipe here.

--Michelle--

Slow Cooker Creamy Italian Chicken

Rachel actually gave me this recipe when I was going to college. I make it all the time...it easy and SO SO good! I've taken it to a few different people for dinner before...and they all seem to love it too. Here's the recipe:

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup  Italian salad dressing 

1 can cream of chicken soup (or I use cream of mushroom)

8 oz pkg cream cheese

8 oz pkg mushrooms - sliced 

Place chicken in slow cooker. Combine salad dressing. Pour over chicken and cover. Cook on low 4-5 hours. In separate bowl combine cream cheese and soup. Heat slightly to melt cream cheese. Stir in mushrooms. Pour over chicken. Cover, cook 1 additional hour on low. Serve over noodles or rice.

**When I make it I don't use mushrooms because Adam doesn't like them...and it still tastes amazing! :)

--Michelle--

Bagel People

I try to make my lunches creative for my kids.  They seem to eat better when it is not PB&J or macaroni and cheese everyday.  Some of the things that we do for lunches that are favorites are:

quesadillas, pretzels and peanut butter, homemade lunchables (crackers, meat and cheese) bagel people, ants on a log (celery, PB, and raisins).  These are just a few of the fun things we do, and not everyday, we do have PB&J (it's my 4 yr old's favorite lunch of all time).  

Today we did bagel people.  We use plain bagels, cream cheese as a base, and then decorate with whatever we have on hand.  Today we had lunch meat, olives, blue berries, shredded cheese, pickles, strawberries, and string cheese.  You can use any fruits and veggies that you have available (peppers, lettuce, chives, carrots, peanuts, parsley, tomatoes).  

I add a little layer of cream cheese and then let the kids build their own person.  They are very creative, sometimes we have mustaches, glasses (like the bottom pitcure) crazy hair, but whatever they make the kids seems to love.  And they eat them right up.

~Rachel~

Christmas in July

One of the many things we all have on our to-do lists in December is neighbor gifts.  We all take the time and make something nice for our neighbors to thank them for all they do.  Here’s something I came up with for a little gift for friends and neighbors in July or the sometime in the summertime.  I think you can never thank your friends and neighbors enough.

It’s a little bucket with all the needed items for ice cream sundaes.  We took them around to our friends on Sunday with a little tag that said “we hope you enjoy your sundae.”

Items needed:

sandbox bucket (I bought mine at Michaels crafts for $1) or a bag to put it all in
hot fudge sauce
caramel sauce
peanuts

You could be fancy and add an ice cream scoop, bananas, brownies, redi whip, or anything you like to put with ice cream.

I made some homemade hot fudge sauce and caramel sauce and put them in little jam jars with a little tag on them to heat in microwave.  I put some peanuts in cute matching bag.  I put the jars and peanuts on bottom of bucket where it is skinnier with the ice cream on top.

Here’s the recipes I used.  I love them and think they are sooo yummy!  I don’t think it gets any better than these.

The hot fudge sauce is from a family cookbook recipe coming from a cousin and the caramel sauce comes from my favorite cookbook in the world “Our best bites.” 

 I honestly think everyone needs to own this cookbook it really has the best recipes ever in the entire cookbook.  I haven’t tried anything yet that I haven’t liked and it’s especially great if you are doing a party or special event and want really great food.  You will be so happy with it.  Anyways, here are the recipes:

Hot Fudge Sauce

2 cups sugar
4 ½ T. cocoa
1 cube butter
2 T. flour
1 large can evaporated milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan.  Boil 3-5 minutes on medium heat.

Buttermilk Caramel Syrup

¾ cup buttermilk
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup real butter (no substitutions)

2 tablespoons corn syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine buttermilk, sugar, butter, corn syrup, and baking soda in a 4-quart pan.  Bring mixture to a boil and reduce heat to low-just make sure it’s still bubbling.  Cook, stirring very frequently, for 7-9 minutes or until the syrup reaches a rich golden brown.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

                                          
                                                                                      *Heather*

Flavored Water

It is summer time, and I am always telling my kids they have to drink lots of water everyday because it is so hot outside.  Plus, I am prego, plus my daughter and I both are prone to UTI's, and so we need to drink water even more.  Water is boring.  I have tried many things things this summer so far, to get everyone, including myself, to drink more water.  My latest attempt was a water drinking contest.  It was fun and exciting for the kids the first couple weeks, now, boring.  They don't even try anymore.  

But now, I found this awesome flavored water recipe on pinterest!!!  It adds a new element to the water drinking contest.  Once they drink one of their special 18 oz. water cups (with lids and straws, I might add) they get to have the flavored water!  And what a treat that is.  The second cup is always gone much faster than the 1st.  The kids goal is to drink at least 2 1/2 of these a day.  And now, they do, easily.  And they are loving it.  

Pictured is the Blackberry/Sage water.  SO GOOD!  There is a hint of sage, and the combo is wonderful!

Hope you enjoy trying these yummy waters!!

 

~Rachel~

Sesame Beef

During this pregnancy I have been craving, or maybe desiring to eat, Oriental foods.  They always sound good to me.  We even went to a celebration with all kinds of food booths, and I wanted Mongolian.  Oh well, nothing wrong with that!  I have been making all kinds of Oriental food though.  A few weeks ago I ran across this recipe and have been dying to try it.  Finally the broccoli lasted more than a day in my house (my kids LOVE streamed broccoli) and so we tried it!  It was delish!!  The meat was so tender.  And the best part, it was easy!  It took me about 20 minutes total in prep time.  Awesome!

Sesame Beef

Makes 6 servings
Found in LDS Living Magazine

1 1/2 lbs. boneless beef chuck roast, sliced into thin strips
1 1/2 C. beef broth
1/2 C. oyster sauce
1/2-1 lb. fresh broccoli florets
1/4 C. water
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
hot cooked rice (optional)
Toasted sesame seeds (for garnish)

1. In a slow cooker, arrange beef strips, pour beef broth and oyster sauce over the beef.
2. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours, until beef is very tender.
3. Place broccoli in microwave safe bowl with 1/4 cup water.  Microwave 4-5 minutes until broccoli is tender.
4. In a cup, combine cornstarch and 2 tablespoons cooking liquid, stir until smooth.  Add to slow cooker 15-20 minutes before ready to serve.  Stir well and combine.
5. Drain the broccoli and stir into the slow cooker.
6. Cook uncovered on HIGH for about 15 minutes until sauce is thickened.
7. Serve over hot, cooked rice and garnish with sesame seeds.


Ok, a few "Rachel changes":
I steamed my broccoli for about 4-5 minutes.  I just like that better than boiled broccoli.  
And a tip my Mom taught me many years ago, cornstarch needs to be mixed together with COLD water, or you will always have lumps.  Now I have to admit, I followed the recipe the other day, and I was so disappointed with all the lumps, so instead of adding that cornstarch mixture, I got another cup and mixed the cornstarch with 2 Tbsp of COLD water and it was smooth in about 5 seconds.  So just a little tip there.  Cornstarch needs cold water.
I am sorry that I did not remember to take any pictures.  When I did remember, the next day, there was only a little beef left, no broccoli.  I will get one on here next time I make this dish!

~Rachel~

Cookie Monster

This is what I had for my birthday cake this year...it it SOOO good! If you've ever been in Craigo's in Rexburg...that's where we stole the idea from. We used to make this all of the time when we were dating..and I forgot about it until this year. It's so easy...and SO yummy!

You will need:
*1 package Toll House Cookie Dough (or your homemade, I'm lazy so I usually use store bought)
*Whipping Cream
*Vanilla bean Ice Cream
*Chocolate and Caramel Topping
*I use a 6" round cooking pan

You cover the whole bottom of the pan in cookie dough and cook it how you would normal cookies, let it cool off a little, then cover the cookie with your vanilla bean ice cream, then do a layer of whipping cream, and top it off with the caramel and chocolate and enjoy! With the left over cookie dough we made it in the muffin pan so that we just had little single servings so we didn't eat a whole pan! :)

 --Michelle--

Father's Day

This is what I did for Father's Day this year, so Adam could have a picture of Brynlee at work...I think he liked it! :) ...Thank you Pinterest!!

--Michelle--

Pears

So I went to a friends house and we were having pears and this is how we ate it...for some reason it just makes it so much better because it's not so messy when you eat it. Just cut it up with an apple slicer! Wahla!

--Michelle--

Mother's Day/Father's Day

So my brilliant Sis-in-Law came up with this idea to give our Mother-in-Law a quilt with all her kids/spouses and grandchildren's hand prints on it.  So we all passed the quilt along and got our hand prints on there.  We are only missing 2, and they are in the military right now, so it may be a few months.  I thought it was such a good idea when I heard it, and now that I am seeing the final product... I LOVE IT!!!  It has turned out so cute.  As new babies come along we are going to add them with the rest of their family.  Soon the quilt will be totally covered with hand prints! 

My family

So my dear sisters, what do you think?  We start now, we could have everyone on there for next Mother's Day/Father's Day.  Even Dear Uncle Dave,  I think they would love it.  You?

~Rachel~

A Clean House

Now, I am not saying that my house is always in perfect order, or ever in perfect order, but over the last few years I have come up with an order in which I clean and organize my house each week that I find quite nice, and less stressful.  I try to have all my jobs done by noon each day, so that during nap time I can have some time to myself to do what I want.  Then after school I can spend time helping with homework and making dinner.
So here it goes...

Monday:
Sheet day.  Everyone knows they do not make their beds in the morning, instead they bring me their sheets.  By the time the kids get home from school their sheets are washed, dried and ready for them to put on their beds.
Floor day.  I dust before vacuuming (or one of the kids if it is summer break). I vacuum all of my floors upstairs, mop floors upstairs that may need it.  (I vacuum my kitchen floor everyday, but this is the day it gets mopped also along with any other day their is a spill) I move the furniture around in the front and living room about once a month, beds and such once a year (usually during spring cleaning time).

Tuesday:
Toilet day.  Enough said.  :)  I now have 5 bathrooms, so as you can imagine that is all I need to do that day. The kids do help, they each get 2 toilets, or 2 sinks, sometimes they get all the mirrors, or dumping all the garbages.  I have the kids help as much as they can according to their age.  This is the day I also clean the bathroom floors if they need it.  They all get vacuumed the day before, so unless they are really dirty, I usually only mop them once a month.
Towel day.  I wash all the towels, cleaning rags, placemats, and anything else along those lines.  I also really, really try to get them folded and put away!  That is the hardest thing about doing laundry for me!!

Wednesday:
Wash Day.  This day is a very busy day.  I gather all the dirty laundry baskets, sort and start washing.  I usually have about 5 or 6 loads of wash.  I work really hard at only concentrating on doing laundry so that by the time the kids are out of school I have all their laundry done, in their baskets and ready for them to put away.  (sometimes, when I don't get all the towels put away, I will send the towels that go downstairs with the kids that are downstairs, and stick the others in my basket so I have to put them away) I always have the kids put their own clothes away, even my 4 year old (whom I help) and have them return their baskets, that way I know that they put the clothes away and they are not just sitting in their room in a basket all week.
Windows.  I have the kids go through the house and wash all the windows.  With 3 helpers it doesn't take long.

Thursday:
Floor day.  I dust downstairs, then I vacuum downstairs and the stairs.  The kids each vacuum their own rooms.  I also re-vacuum the family room upstairs since it is the most used room in our house.  And I usually get the hardwood floor in my entryway again for the same reason.
This is the day when I can either catch up on other things that have gotten away from me during the week, or I pick a project room or closet to work on.
Bills.

Friday:
Fridge Friday.  I clean out my fridge and get rid of any nasty-ness.  Then I make a menu for the upcoming week, grocery list of what I will need and go shopping.  Obviously, I am not perfect and forget things that I may need and make extra trips into town during the week, but I do try to get all my shopping done on one day.

Saturday:
Free day.  I try to have everything done by Friday so that on Saturday when my hubby is home we can spend that time together as a family doing something fun, instead of cleaning.  When I was growing up Saturday was our cleaning day, and I dreaded Saturday.  It felt like all we did all day was clean, nothing fun. I know that is coming from the mind of a child and it was probably a little better, but that is how I remember it.  I want to be able to go and do things and not be embarassed if someone were to come over on Sunday morning after we were gone playing all day Saturday.  Of course we still have to do the dishes, but that is about it. :)

Now my kids help out a lot.  I have a chore chart for them, actually 4 of them so they can rotate and not get bored with the same thing.  I rotate a lot of little jobs for them that really help out, and everything listed up above is on their charts.  But I have other things like taking out all the garbages the day before garbage day, cleaning the fronts of the appliances, organizing mud room.  My sister Heather taught me that kids can help with the dishes everyday.  I make sure I unload the dishwasher every morning, and every night the kids rotate who washes and who loads.  (On the chart) I am kinda a freak when it comes to how my dishwasher is loaded, so when they are done I fix a few things, but they actually do a very good job of doing the dishes.

Well, I think that is about all.  This routine has been working for me for about 5 years now.  My house is never perfect, but it is clean.  I don't feel stressed during the week because I live in a mess.  Hope that someone can at least use some of this to help them be more organized.

~Rachel~

Melt In Your Mouth Muffins- Gluten Free

So, for the gluten free version of these muffins, you will need to add a little extra milk than the original version, but they really are very delicious too!  I was worried that they would be a poor substitute for the real thing, but that is not the case!  I have NO problem eating this version while the rest of the family eats the real thing!  I also substituted Splenda for the sugar and Silk for the milk to accommodate my dairy free diet.

Muffin Mix-Gluten Free                                                                                                                    

(Melt-in-Your-Mouth Muffins-Gluten Free Version!)

8 C. White Rice Flour (Below)                     2 tsp. Ground Nutmeg

3 C. Splenda                                                  1 Egg  
3 Tbsp. Baking Powder                                1 1/2- 2 C. Silk
2 tsp. Salt                                                       ½ C. Butter or margarine, melted
2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon

For Mix:  In larger bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Mix well.  Put in large airtight container.  Label with date and contents.  Store in a cool, dry place.  Use within 6 to 8 months.  Makes about 11 cups of muffin mix.

For Muffins:  Preheat oven to 400°.  Put liners in muffin pans.  Put 2 ¾ cups muffin mix in medium bowl.  Combine egg, milk, and butter in small bowl.  Add all at once to muffin mix.  Stir until mix is just moistened; batter should be lumpy.  Fill prepared muffin liners ¾ full.  Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until golden brown.  Makes 1 dozen muffins. 

For variation, fill liners only partway; add a teaspoon of jam or jelly.  Finish filling liners.  Can also mash up a banana or two and add to batter with some chopped walnuts; add cup of blueberries or chocolate chips.  Bake as usual.

These are just 96 calories if you make them plain and still as low as 131 calories if you add chocolate chips to them!  Nice!

Rice Flour Mix:

2 C. Rice Flour                                             1/3 C. Tapioca Flour

2/3 C. Potato Starch                                   1 tsp Xanthan Gum

Mix at this ratio until you have the amount of rice flour you would like.  Store in an air tight container.

Regular Melt In Your Mouth Muffin Mix Link

~Stacy~

Melt In Your Mouth Muffins

These are really great muffins.  They taste so delicious.  My family loves them.  My boys eat them up and ask for them often!  You can make them several different ways for a variety or just eat them plain.  I even tried them gluten free today and they were still great, no joke!  I will include a link for that recipe too at the end.

Muffin Mix                                                                                                                    

(Melt-in-Your-Mouth Muffins)

8 C. All-purpose Flour                                   2 tsp. Ground Nutmeg

3 C. Sugar                                                       1 Egg  

3 Tbsp. Baking Powder                                  1 C. Milk

2 tsp. Salt                                                        ½ C. Butter or margarine, melted

2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon

For Mix:  In larger bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Mix well.  Put in large airtight container.  Label with date and contents.  Store in a cool, dry place.  Use within 6 to 8 months.  Makes about 11 cups of muffin mix.

For Muffins:  Preheat oven to 400°.  Put liners in muffin pans.  Put 2 ¾ cups muffin mix in medium bowl.  Combine egg, milk, and butter in small bowl.  Add all at once to muffin mix.  Stir until mix is just moistened; batter should be lumpy.  Fill prepared muffin liners ¾ full.  Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until golden brown.  Makes 1 dozen muffins. 

For variation, fill liners only partway; add a teaspoon of jam or jelly.  Finish filling liners.  Can also mash up a banana or two and add to batter with some chopped walnuts; add cup of blueberries or chocolate chips.  Bake as usual.

These are just 96 calories if you make them plain and still as low as 131 calories if you add chocolate chips to them!  Nice!

Gluten Free Recipe

~Stacy~

Kick Water Ball

 We just had another great Young Women's activity this week.  Since it is summer now, and we live in the HOT south, you have to do things to keep yourself cool, so we played 'Kick Water Ball'.  You could also call it 'Kick Pool Ball'. 

Objects you will need:  3 small plastic pools.  We had a couple of blow-up pools and they did not work well!  You could use a blow-up one for the end though. . .  One large bouncy ball.  You can find this a Walmart for about $4-5 if you don't already own one for your children.  One (or more slip-n-slides), and a fairly large backyard or church lawn.  Hills are fine, so don't shy away from a yard because it has hills! 

Setup:  1st, 2nd, and 3rd bases are the 3 plastic pools filled with water.  The slip-n-slide is then set up from 3rd base to home plate.  If you have more than one slip-n-slide, connect them because you might need extra room, especially if you are going down a hill.  If you are working with hills, have home to first going up the hill and 3rd to home going down the hill! 

Objective:  Each team member kicks the ball and runs to first base and then has to SIT in the pool.  They are not safe until they have done so!  They cannot run onto 2nd until that have done so, even if it is a home run!  They continue around the bases until they reach 3rd, then they slip-n-slide down to home plate.  If the other team throws the ball and hits them, or touches them with the ball, they are out.  If they don't sit in the pool before going onto the next base they are out! 

This was so much fun.  We spent the first half of the night just slip-n-sliding down the hill, but the game was so awesome, we wished we had started earlier!  I would also recommend, if anyone has them, also use personal floatation devices (not the arm floaties but the whole bodies ones or the little boat shaped ones) to cushion as you go down the slip-n-slide.  It really does start to hurt after a while and this helps!  Soap is also fun!

~Stacy~

Family Feud

   We played "Family Feud" last month at church for our youth's joint activity.  It was a blast.  They had so much fun and even the few kids who said they wouldn't play had joined in by the second round and were very active!  I put together this power point for it and it turned out awesome.  You are welcome to use the one I have made or change it to fit your needs.  The basis of the design was hyperlinking between the question slide, the answer slide when the "family member" selects a correct answer showing the points awarded, and finally to the full answer slide.  There are about 12 slides at the end that are all church based questions.  They are not in the same "we survey 100 people" style.  Instead, you can use them as a bonus or speed round and award them so many points for each correct answer.

  What we did was break them up into 4 families, or enough to make about 4-5 people on a team.  We had two games going on at once, one at either end of the gym.  We had both computers connected to a projector, projecting on a white board.  We also had a caulkboard at each end to keep score.  You could use an additional white board for this purpose if you have access to that instead or would prefer it!  To start each question, the first person, or next person in line for each team would listen to the question out loud and the first one to shout their name would get to answer first.  If they answer correct, their team gets to answer the questions until they either answer them all correctly or get three strikes.  If they answer incorrectly, the question is then turned over to the other team for their first member, or next in line to answer.  If he/she got it incorrect, we would continue going down the line until one team had guessed a correct answer.  Once that part was established and the team was answering questions, if they ever got to three strikes, the question would be turned over to the other team who fot to discuss the question and have the person who's turn it was say the answer.  If they choose a correct answer, they steal all of the points from the other team.  If not, we would just move onto the next question and the first team would keep all of the points they had earned.

  We played about 2 rounds with regular point values, then had a round with double points, then a final round with triple points.  Whoever won after the 4th round moved on to the winners bracket and so forth.  I don't know if this is totally the correct way to play it, but it worked for us.  The kids were totally talking smack to each other and everyone got really involved.  It was a lot of fun for everyone.

  I'll give a couple of instructions for changing things.  First, if you want to put what youth group it is, that is the first slide and you should be able to just type without messing anything up.  The second to last slide has the "High Councilor in Your Stake".  This could really be any leader group you want for your area, just change the question accordingly on each slide.  The important part though is on the second through the second to last slide of that group, I just put "Name" on all of the spots.  Make sure not to undo the underline or you have undone the hyperlink.  Just put your curser right at the beginning of the 'N' and type the name you want and then delete the 'Name'.  The last slide is also not as importand but just try not to move any of them or they will be off from the question slide.  I have made it so when you go from page to page they are all in the same spot.  The last thing to be careful of, make sure your curser is right over the box or the underlined answer or it will start taking you to random slides and the kids will be able to see the other answers.  The first slide in each group has and "End" box on the bottom right which will take you to the last page with all the answers and point values!  If you have any questions or want to give feed back, please leave a comment!  I would love to hear from you!

https://skydrive.live.com/view.aspx?Bsrc=SkyMail&Bpub=SDX.SkyDrive&resid=6784ACB8E0ECD580!126&cid=6784acb8e0ecd580&app=PowerPoint

~Stacy~