Birthday party stuff to follow but before I forget - tomato soup, original recipe from one sister and modifications from the other sister.

LA MADELEINE’S TOMATO BASIL SOUP (original recipe)
4 cups canned whole tomatoes–crushed
12 Fresh basil leaves
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 c. butter
1/4 tsp. pepper

Combine tomatoes, juice and/or stock in saucepan. Simmer 30 minutes. Puree, along with the basil leaves, in small batches, in blender or food processor. Return to saucepan and add cream and butter, while stirring, over low heat.

Modifications - Rebecca said she sautes some garlic and onions in 1/4 cup of butter then adds milk instead of cream and uses dill sometimes instead of basil. So I’m going to try:

1/4 cup butter
1 to 2 t minced garlic
1/4 c diced onions

Cook until onions become translucent, then add to blender with:
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes

Blend, add back to saucepan, stir and simmer with:
1 c milk (to taste)
dill, salt & pepper to taste

Serve with french bread.

It was delicious but I only ate a bit because of the dairy. Becky had experimented with the dill instead of basil and I really liked the dill. I’m wondering if I could try it with powdered milk (reconstituted) because Joseph doesn’t seem offend by powdered milk. In which case you could make an absolutely delicious tomato soup with pantry goods (except the butter) if you used dehydrated onions and garlic powder. You could also use evaporated milk instead of the cream or milk, depends on how much fat you want in your life though milk is so much cheaper (and healthier) than cream. Still delicious, just not as decadent. Seriously, so good - I would serve this with a big salad and crusty bread for guests. (If you come visit, warn me and I’ll make some for you. )

Here is Emily’s version.

I dislike “falling back.” Messes up the internal clocks of everyone around here. Yet, I do not despair. I have more time in the morning to, say, whip up a batch of fresh scones for the kids’ breakfast. Standard scone recipe with a little extra sugar. I divided the dough on this morning and added craisins in half for Heidi and me. The kids get the plain ones — even the kids who like craisins, don’t ask me why.

1/4 C melted butter
2 C unsifted flour
1/3 C sugar
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2 C buttermilk
3 lg. eggs

Mix dry, add wet, knead until it comes to a ball. (You can cut the unmelted butter into the dry mix for best results, but this fast method with melted butter yields good results if you’re in a bit of a hurry, which I was.) I added a handful of craisins. Flatten out to about an inch on a lightly floured baking surface and divide equally, separating the pieces about 1/4 inch from touching. Sprinkle a little sugar over the top for a nice glisten if you desire. Pop into a 425° oven for 10-15 minutes or until GBD (Golden brown & Delicious).

Easy recipe, though not my absolute favorite — my favorite recipe uses way too much butter. But no matter the recipe, the scones are always a hit.

For balance, I served some of our yogurt.

Christopher even opted to top his with Heidi’s crunchy granola. The others took their granola on the side.

Then it struck me while I was watching my kids munch on all the food that they helped make: We’re totally out of control with this, but in a good way. I admit, I like being able to pronounce the ingredients of my dishes.

From Safely Gathered In blog:

“Acquire and store a reserve of food and supplies that will sustain life. . . . As long as I can remember, we have been taught to prepare for the future and to obtain a year’s supply of necessities. I would guess that the years of plenty have almost universally caused us to set aside this counsel. I believe the time to disregard this counsel is over. With events in the world today, it must be considered with all seriousness.”
Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
“If Ye Are Prepared Ye Shall Not Fear,” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 36

You know, in case we didn’t think they were serious when they were repeating the message every single conference for the last several decades.

(Bumping this post since it’s now autumn and pumpkin season!)

These were a hit and I know Kit will need the recipe some morning when I’m sleeping in.

I’m also entering this recipe in a cookbook giveaway at Fairion’s Blog.

Pumpkin Pancakes
2 cups flour (going to try it with whole wheat)
1/2 cup sugar (could use less, or honey?)
1/2 t salt
2 t baking powder
2 t baking soda
1/2 t cinnamon

Mix, in different bowl combine:
3 eggs
1 cup yogurt (says plain, I used vanilla or could use sour cream)
3/4 c milk
1 c pumpkin

Combine wet and dry gently, then immediately put onto hot, buttered griddle. This dough puffs pretty fast! Cook low and slow.

Apple Cider Sauce
In saucepan over medium heat combine:
1 c sugar (maybe try half w/brown sugar?)
2 T cornstarch
1/4 t cinnamon & 1/4 nutmeg, or pumpkin pie spice (this was too much nutmeg for our kids)
2 c apple cider (we used juice)
2 T lemon juice
Bring to boil, stirring constantly one minute or until thickened.

Then add 1/4 c butter - we skipped the butter and it was still GREAT. This would be delicious with apples served over ice cream, drizzled over german pancakes or regular ones, added to oatmeal, etc. REALLY yummy.

Christopher made lunch for all the kids!

Bennett helping make bread for the first time.

Inspired by the book I’m reading and discussions with Kit - we have a lot of food goals and some of them conflict so we have to prioritize. We’ve not decided which is the most important yet but here they are in no particular order:
- Cutting back on meat.
- Locally grown/raised. Checking out farmers’ market.
- Looking for fair trade chocolates.
- Organic when feasible.
- Eating more in season.
- Growing our own fruits, veggies & herbs when possible.
- Homemade of what we can.
- Cost (always a priority.)

And we are attempting to cut out or cut back on:
- Trans fats, focusing on good fats and limiting those.
- White flour, replacing with whole wheat.
- Meats, increasing bean consumption and doing more fish.
- Nitrates and other preservatives. Avoiding cold cuts, sausage, bacon, etc.
- Sugar, trying to use more honey. Cutting high fructose corn syrup.
- Artificial colors.
- Packaged foods in general.
- Milk with BHT and antibiotics, cutting back on milk and doing hormone free (and yes, I know it still has hormones but those are natural cow hormones and not the artificial ones so it makes us feel better.)
- Sodium, cutting out salt we add to recipes and trying to replace with other seasonings/herbs.

I imagine we’ll be coming up with more and even with all these goals we are still not going to be hardcore about it. I will enjoy my Cheetos on occasion and we don’t mind if the kids have candy with artificial coloring sometimes or sodas or Oreos or what not. But if we set good eating habits at home then the occasional venture into unhealthy is not going to hurt. We are striving for overall healthy eating and moderation in the unhealthy here and there. If we make a big stink about it then we may encourage them to view the other foods as treats and we don’t want to make something contraband and therefore more appealing. If we lead by example and they grow up loving and enjoying the healthy stuff and experience how it gives them energy and keeps them well, I think they’ll develop their own love of the good stuff. I admit when we had some store bread and the kids asked if we could make homemade bread instead, that made me feel good that they are appreciating the taste of the healthier option. If we keep soda an occasional drink and not common place, then sometimes having soda and NOT turning it into a big deal will help them view it in a healthy way. I hope.

I’ve been writing about this more and more, because I’m reading about it more and more from our church and other sites (financial blogs, frugal mom blogs, etc…) The leaders of the church have been counseling us to do these things for so long and I had so many excuses for why I wasn’t doing it but now, I really feel like we need to focus on this as a family NOW. Which means you get to read about it.

Thoughts on emergency preparation and general overview, with links.
Food Storage Inventory we did this week.
72 hour kits The Red Cross says we all need these and with the escalation of natural disasters? And don’t those Boy Scouts say “Be Prepared” or something like that? I agree.
Food Storage 101, menu planning and stocking that pantry.

There are great websites and resources out there with far better info than me, I just wanted to consolidate my posts into one spot for my own sake.

We have recently obtained our camping stove w/propane, water barrels, and last year found wind up radio/flashlights. Still need:

a lantern
more long term and short term food storage
pocket knives
a lighter for the camp stove
some long burning candles
inventory of home, video and written
seeds for garden & food storage
wills
copies of Joseph’s birth certificate and other documents
DVD back up of our laptops

And I’m sure a dozen more things I’m forgetting.

Believe me, I realize there are ample reasons to not want to invest the time/money/energy/space into these things and I thought the idea of storing that much food was impossible. Though I did like when my Mom stocked up at those caseload sales with brownies and blueberry muffins and all that fun stuff! But without having faced dire circumstances necessitating the use of food storage, I have still really gained a testimony of it. We had a good amount of food storage when we lived in California and Kit quit his job and we move back to Texas minus a job. That food storage helped when we weren’t sure where we would get a paycheck! For personal disasters, for personal strain but not full blown disaster, for local/community support, for serving others, for the ability to donate to the local food bank, for wide spread problems, for bad weather, for being too lazy to leave the house when you need to make dinner… I think having food storage actually helps your budget, because if you have the items to make a quick and easy meal, you are less likely to go out to eat because you are too tired to make dinner. For the peace of mind that comes from knowing you have the resource there to take care of your family or someone else that may need your help. I believe it’s inspired counsel, and I think it’s good counsel whatever your personal religious beliefs may be.

I know space can be a problem, or budget, or just getting started, or rotating, or finding stuff your family will eat that can be stored long term. I know, there are so many reasons to procrastinate on this. But every day, I am feeling more and more strongly prompted that our family needs to do this and we need to get moving on it now because this counsel has been coming for years and years and years… and even if the rising food prices and economic ugliness wasn’t enough to kick me into gear, the reminder that the prophet has been advising this should have been enough to get me to take it seriously.

And I do not have enough chocolate to share with everyone, so you need to get moving on this, too. Set small goals, right? Baby steps. You can do it. Try it, it feels really good. Check out the Provident Living website or the Red Cross emergency prep site or any of the great sites out there.

It really does feel good to give yourself a cushion of security. Whether it’s the 72 hour kit, or one extra week worth of meal ingredients you get at the store, or just start to save some money each week. It gives you a bit of peace of mind and that’s a precious thing.

Finally, FINALLY (okay, it only took six months) I inventoried our food storage. Except the one box on the bottom that wasn’t labeled that I refused to lift because my arms were aching from hefting the 30+lb boxes over my head. And for the record, Kit tried to help but I told him I was fine and asked him to go play with the kids.

Anyway, this is the bagged/canned stuff that lasts 20 to 30 years, depending on what it is. We’ve got:

513lbs of grains (wheat, oats, rice, flour), 15lbs of beans (whoops), 128lbs of sugar (I am so a Thaden) and various other - 20lbs powdered milk, 6 cans potato pearls, apples, carrots, some pasta, dried onions, etc. But only 9lbs of chocolate chips. Sad. And those don’t last 20 years, but I thought I would throw that in for comparison sake.

We have almost 6 months of grains for our family size now (2 adults, 4 kids equalling 2 other adults) but we’re woefully behind on legumes. And if we add in the stuff in buckets we have not bagged/canned then we have closer to a 9 months supply. So we have about 800lbs of grains (flour, oats, rice, wheat) counting shorter term storage and we do have other protein sources than beans. Peanut butter, tuna, chicken, salmon all canned. But still.

We need more beans and more oil/fats. Maybe some more long term pasta storage. We have lots of canned fruits, veggies, tomatoes and juice. I think we need more:

beans
canned veggies
bagged/canned pasta
oil
honey
peanut butter

Then I’ll feel pretty comfortable. We will add some more white wheat when it comes to the cannery end of December. And we need to wash out and fill our water barrels, for our water storage. And get our camp stove. I’m loving it!

In the spring we’ll plant a garden and learn more how to can fruits. Before then we’ll be canning some jams. If I get a pressure cooker or find someone willing to loan us one then we’ll try canning veggies. I’m excited, this feels good!

I’ll post a picture later of what 158 cans/pouches of food storage looks like, about 800lbs of food. Wow. We have it in cases at the back of our closet and I’m sticking some of the pouches under Emy’s bed. The sad thing being we don’t even have as much as is recommended with the food storage calculator.

My sister needs to start her own blog so you can get her brilliance directly instead if being diluted through my summaries. If you need the Ergo infant insert pattern, let me know and I can get you the details. The science and math through arts books you’ve asked about? Those we found out about from her. The black bean soup? Her. The Thomas Jefferson Education? Her book suggestion. She’s very fun to have around. And handy! And enlightening.

Anyway, another meal idea from her we’re trying this week. Meat alternative (meat wheat) -

Rough grind wheat, black beans and some oats. (I may try without oats?) and simmer with double the water or stock, add beef or chicken base (if not using stock) and then spice and simmer down.

We’re going to try browning everything a bit in oil with onions and garlic then add some beef base and water, worsteshire sauce, then season either mexican or italian. Chili powder and cumin or oregano, parsley, basil, etc. We’ll be trying it with soft tacos & enchiladas and mix in some refried beans and rice. We’ll also try it with marinara sauce and pasta. I’ll let you know how it turns out!

Now that we are trying to do more meatless meals (for a variety of reasons, maybe if I’m feeling like being controversial I’ll write about it later) but that means I’m trying to revamp our menus. Here’s what I’m coming up with and PLEASE, please send me any of your favorite meatless meals. I need ideas. We are still doing fish and chicken and sometimes pork but we’re cutting out red meat (though I’m sure we’ll still eat it sometimes, we just won’t be buying it.) We’re trying to cut out ground meat and use alternatives, trying to not serve meat as a main course - more of a side. Not serving entire hunks of meat, cutting it up so it’s just part of the main dish. Anyway, I need to write down meals that I can do that are not meat centered:

Becky’s black bean soup w/cornbread, sour cream and cheese, avocado
Abby, Beverly & Isa’s bean recipes (on my list to try this next week, though maybe I should space them out and not do them all in a row??)
black bean burgers w/regular toppings
soft tacos or taco salad with refried or black beans (but no ground meat)
tuna casserole & green beans
baked potato soup w/cheese, green onions, sour cream, side salad
tomato soup (basil la madeline’s version)
homemade pizza
calico bean soup w/chips, cheese, sour cream, cornbread
german pancakes
quiche (spinach or regular)
tortilla soup but minus chicken - with rice & beans
tamale pie w/black beans instead of ground meat
alfredo (once I can do dairy again) & steamed broccoli
pasta & marinara sauce, side salad
spaghetti pie & salad
chili w/cornbread, sour cream, cheese
salmon patties w/rice, green beans
tuna patties w/rice, green beans
stir fry w/nuts instead of meat
fried rice w/carrots, broccoli, peas, chopped nuts, scrambled eggs
pad thai w/carrots, green onions, bean sprouts
moo shu w/just veggies (we normally do moo shu pork)
spicy noodles (w/less sausage than normal)
potato cheese enchiladas and salad
cheese enchiladas (again, waiting on the dairy), spanish rice and salad
barnyard stew - C loves, so we just do less meat
veggy soup w/dumplings (instead of chicken)
veggy noodle soup
bowtie pasta salad (minus chicken, w/extra fruits & nuts)
baked potato bar w/broccoli, cheese, sour cream, meatless chili
stuffed french toast & fruit salad
bread pudding & fruit salad
egg frittata & fruit or green salad
broccoli cheese rice casserole
gyros w/chicken
arroz con pollo w/beans instead of pollo
potato mushroom crepes (instead of chicken mushroom) & broccoli or peas
kit’s chili rice w/less chicken, corn
tetrazzini, steamed broccoli
manicotti & salad
skillet lasagna (no meat) & salad
haystacks w/no chicken, peas, pineapple, etc
chicken stuffing casserole (cut amount of chicken) & peas
veggy pot pie
apple pork rice (w/less pork, sliced instead of entire filets) & beans or broccoli
black bean “meat” loaf & corn and potatoes (crash or garlic mashed)
stroganoff w/no meat (sauce & mushrooms w/pasta) & peas or broccoli

We’re still trying to figure out the best way to post recipes, and we’re flattered that you’ve been asking. Until we figure out the best way to do that and get you everything in one place, you can scroll down and on the right side of this page you’ll see a section entitled “Categories.” If you click on the “Food” category it will pull up every post we’ve written with recipes in it. There are, so far, 59 posts. Eeks! So you may have to go back several pages to find the recipe you are wanting.

OR an easier option is use the search feature that is also to the right, just below the cute picture of our kids above. If you type in “yogurt recipe” or “blackberry jam” or “buttermilk pancakes” it will pull up the posts with the recipes. OR if you type in “Crazy Heidi” it will pull up 20 different posts! That’s how we find our recipes when we need to bake, we use the search feature.

But we will be figuring out a way to create a recipe file of some sort, but that means I have to go back and copy and paste recipes from those 59 different posts and that’s going to take me awhile. I’m sorry. In the meantime, please feel free to contact us with any other recipe questions because we are happy to know others are enjoying them.

You do NOT need to purchase pectin to make homemade jam!! And since it’s $2/box, that makes homemade jam much more frugal - hooray!! All you need is fresh fruit & sweetener and a thermometer. Okay, so the thermometer was $20 but you’ll use it constantly.

Fruit, sugar (they say a 1 to 1 ration but we did less sugar) and boil to 220 degrees then store in clean jars and put in your fridge and YUM! I am so excited. The fruit naturally jells at that temperature and you save yourself the $2 pectin purchase. We’ve only tried it with blackberries so far but the jam is delicious and thick and perfect. This works with jam, I don’t know if this would work with jelly since that’s juice instead of fruit so less pectin? Maybe we’ll experiment and let you know.

I love these domestic experiments, so cool. And delicious.