Christmas Presents

I started making some of my Christmas presents this week.  I decided to focus on preparedness items instead of just "stuff".  I'm making these really cute decorated fabric bags that will be filled with all the items needed for a full meal.  The meals will of course be three month supply meals since all items will need to sit on a pantry shelf.  I'm making a set of three bags, the recipe cards will be included.  The idea is that it's a quick and easy meal in a bag that you can grab and make without any preparation instead of stopping in the drive-thru on the way home because dinner wasn't planned before hand.  It can also be used as a quick and easy meal that your husband or older children can make without supervision or a lot of explanation.  Ideally I'd like to have 5 or 6 bags on my pantry shelf that are always ready to go.  Once you make one of the meals you just replace the food items so that they are always ready for the next time.

Food Storage

I've been working a little each day on getting my food storage into a system that works for me.  Today I went through Costco and updated my pricing on all the items that I purchase there.  One day next week I'll do the same thing at Wal-mart so that my quick glance pricing on all the items I purchase will be updated.  I'm hoping to update it periodically as I purchase things so that the upkeep of the list doesn't take so long as it takes to go through each and every item at one time.

Grilled Pizza and more

I made some delicious pizzas on the grill tonight for dinner.  I made a white pizza with Alfredo sauce, chicken, fresh tomatoes, mushrooms, mozzarella & seasonings.  I made a pepperoni & olive pizza.  I made a Hawaiian with Canadian bacon and pineapple.  For dessert I made a smore pizza with chocolate chips, marshmallows and crushed graham crackers.

Other good meals I've made this week...
Mini meatball subs made out of costco meatballs & rolls.  Just cook the meatballs in a can of spaghetti sauce then top with mozzarella cheese.  Put one meatball and sauce on each dinner roll.
Hamburgers w/grilled onions & mushrooms, I made the hamburger patties with Worcestershire sauce and Montreal seasoning mixed in.  Then topped it off with lettuce & tomato and a mayo and balsamic vinegar sauce.  It was so yummy!

Lunch with Grandma Cope

Grandma Cope took Kailey & I to lunch for her birthday/baptism.  She had been looking forward to it all week!  She took us to In-n-Out, Taylor & Deanna Daniel and Carlie Lane also came.  Kailey had a burger, fries and a shake, she really enjoyed it.
For her birthday Grandma Cope gave Kailey a book on the Holy Ghost, Kailey really liked it and started reading it right away, at the table, then also in the car on the way home.
It was a fun afternoon!

GGI's

Tonight my Mom & Dad came over for dinner and to conduct the first GGI's (granddaughter grandfather interviews) with the girls.  It was a really nice evening!
Kenny conducts DDI's (daddy daughter interviews) with the girls about once a month to see how they are doing in the different areas of their life and talks to them about anything they need to talk about.  About a month ago I was reading in the scriptures where Lehi is counseling his children and their children.  The idea came to me that it would be really neat and special to my girls if they had interviews with their grandfather like they do with their father.  One more person that loves them and wants what's best for them is always a good thing.
We had homemade pizza for dinner, grandpa did the interviews with each girl and we all chatted with grandma.  Then we had apple pie with vanilla ice cream for dessert.  It was a fun and special evening.

Grandma Cope's 80th Bday

We celebrated Grandma Cope's 80th birthday today at Espee park in Chandler.  It was fun to get everyone together in her honor.  We had fry bread, watermelon & birthday cake.  The kids got to play at the park and in the splash pad.  The weather was really nice as the sun started to go down.

Choir Concert

Kierstin is in Choir this year at Franklin (7th grade).  She is really enjoying it, they had a nice concert tonight.  She did a good job, she had a solo line on the humpty dumpty song.

Tennis

Kelsea has picked up tennis so well and is playing great!  She is winning her matches and moving up on the team roster.  I'm proud of her for trying something new and doing her best with it.  She and I were able to play a match together a few days ago, it was so much fun to spend the time together and get to play again.  I really enjoy tennis and am glad we can play together.

General Conference

It was General Conference weekend.  It's so wonderful that we get to listen to our church leaders counsel us on different subjects twice a year at conference.  I really enjoyed the talks and look forward to getting the print version in the Ensign next month.
After the Sunday sessions were over we went to my parents house for bread bowls, soup, salad and fruit pizza.  YUMMY!

Sunday Notes

There is a war going on - What have you done today to strengthen your armor and fight for what is right?  What have you done today to be on the Lord's side?

RS Broadcast & Dinner

This past Saturday was the Relief Society Broadcast.  Mom & Amy came with me & Brittany, it was such a nice event!  The evening started with a dinner served by the Stake Priesthood Leaders.  The dinner and dessert was very yummy!  There was croissant rolls, salad, pumpkin ravioli's (super delish), chicken cordon blue, green beans w/candied pecans & a cream filled donut type dessert w/strawberry & chocolate toppings.  Then we moved to the chapel for the broadcast, the talks were very inspiring just like I expected they would be.  It's so neat that we get to hear so often from a Prophet of the Lord that loves us and shares wonderful messages with us that are just what we need in these difficult times.

Birthday Girl

Today is Kailey's 8th Birthday.  She has been SO excited and looking forward to this birthday for so long now.  Every time the conversation gets brought up she beams from ear to ear.  She has been looking forward to getting baptized with so much excitement!!!  She also can't wait to start going to activity days, so many fun new changes for her.  Her baptism will be on Sat. Oct. 23rd.
Kailey did the FHE lesson tonight on the Holy Ghost, she did the whole thing herself and did such a great job!  At the end she did a game that the kids had lots of fun with where one person's eyes were covered, then one person pretended to be the Holy Ghost and another person pretended to be Satan.  They had to try to listen to the right voice to reach their destination.  It was a very effective game that got the point across.
For Kailey's birthday dinner tonight, I made her favorite - crepes with strawberries & whip cream.  I made two batches, the kids will eat these non-stop until I quit making them!
Before the girls went to bed Kenny took Kailey & Ashlynn out for ice cream.

Crepes
6 eggs
2 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp almond extract
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups flour

Blend everything in a blender until smooth and cook on griddle at 300.  Cook on both sides like a pancake then put sugared strawberries and whip cream up the middle, roll and eat.  YUMMY!  We eat it for dinner, but it's probably considered more of a dessert...

New Beehive

Kierstin is the newest Beehive in our ward.  Proud Mommy moment...
She completed her Faith in God Award and is already on her way to achieving goals in the personal progress program.  She is such a beautiful girl, and has such a sweet spirit.  Still my lovey dovey and so caring of everyone around her.  What a blessing she is to Kenny and I and her sisters.  She is a great example and such a big help around the house, I can always count on her.  She loves to cook, likes plays/drama, and likes to make people laugh.

Don't Eat Frank

Love the game "Don't Eat Pete", brings back great memories of my Grandma Cope's house where she would play that game with us.
Don't Eat Frank Game
Prepared Not Scared (one of my most favorite blogs) just posted a version of that game for Halloween called "Don't eat Frank".  They are super cute cards!  I'm going to laminate some and send them in with bags of M&M's to the girls Halloween parties at school (though I think it's called a "Fall Party" - give me a break...).  Then I'll also play it with my primary kids, they should have fun with that.

Tennis

Kelsea won her tennis match today - Woo Hoo - Taking after her mother no doubt!

Naaman was Healed

Kierstin did FHE this past Monday.  She used the handout I had given my class at church on Sunday.  She had the whole family role play the story of Naaman being healed from leprosy.
I thought it was so creative how she had Naaman (Kelsea) wash in the river Jordan 7 times.  We have this blue play tunnel that has a large spring inside that makes it open to full size.  She had Kelsea step inside the tunnel then she raised and lowered the tunnel 7 times.  What a great idea!

Surfin' the Web

LOVE these...
Prepared Not Scared  check it EVERY day!
SugarDoodle my new favorite thing for help with my new calling!
Livestrong My Plate great way to keep track of what you're eating, your exercise and setting weight goals.
Amazon  what can I say?  I love to shop on this site, free tax and shipping gets me every time.  That and the fact that I can get such good deals on most things.

Goulash

I made this for dinner last night (I made several changes from the original recipe), definitely a keeper, the kids and hubbie loved it and it's a perfect addition to the 3 month food supply - BONUS  

Goulash (recipe from preparednotscared.blogspot.com)

1 pint canned beef

4 cups dry pasta (any kind you prefer)

1/2 cup dehydrated onions, added to pasta to rehydrate)

3 cloves garlic – finely chopped

1 tsp paprika

salt and pepper to taste

14 oz can green beans – drained

11 oz can corn – drained

1 can diced tomatoes (do not drain)

1 to 2 TBS Worcestershire Sauce

Instructions:

Cook & drain pasta (don't forget to add onions or rehydrate in water and add later)

Add everything else and stir well.

Serve!

Cookie Dough

Thanks to Carol Scott's post on FB, I'm now making enough cookie dough to eat some now for a "snack" and have some later so we can have pizzookies for dessert tonight.  YUMMY!!!  Hmmm I think the family will be singing praises tonight...  LOL

Pizzookie
Make your favorite cookie dough
Cook in jumbo sized muffin tins until they're almost done (you want the center to be a little gooey)
Straight from the oven put a large scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and you have perfection!

Chocolate Chip Cookies
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon almond extract (a note on almond extract - I get this from smart & final, it's real extract.  I also add this to pancakes & waffles with a bit of cinnamon a small change with a big taste improvement)
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup nuts
12 oz chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375.  Mix sugars, butter, egg and almond extract.  Mix in baking soda and salt.  Then flour (dough will be stiff).  Stir in nuts and chocolate chips.  Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 8-10 min. or until light brown. (center will be soft).  Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet. 

Just the Weather

What a beautiful day we are having here in Arizona!  LOVE IT!!!