Food Storage Dinner Menu

Consumed. I have been consumed with finishing my food storage menu. I want to have a list of what we can consume.

My dinner and dessert menu for food storage is complete! It was hard doing the recipes, so I erred on the side of being generous with spices, etc. as I usually just go with the flow and don't stick to the recipe. I still have to add up all the ingredients for all the meals to get the grand total of each item. Then I will be ready to start looking for those deals and shopping!

Up next, breakfast menu! Send any quick and easy breakfast ideas my way.

My list so far: cereal, oatmeal, pancakes, rice cereal.

Not her day

Today is not Ember's lucky day.

This morning she got into the fridge without asking (she likes to just open and look) and out fell the pineapple upside down cake we won last night (cake walk). Now it is a pineapple right side up cake, minus the whipped cream topping, and two tiers instead of just one. She cried for a good 10 minutes even though she wasn't in trouble and no one was mad. It was an accident.

After dropping off Jaxen I stopped by Fry's to get some more milk while it is still on sale. Ember helps scan at the self-check out lane. Afterward, I take her out of the cart. I have one foot on the cart while I am trying to do the payment. She starts shaking the cart. I tell her to stop, but of course she doesn't listen. The cart starts falling in s.l.o.w. m.o.t.i.o.n. Owen is in the cart, unstrapped. I grab the cart with my one free hand and manage to control it enough so the cart lands softly. Owen bonks his head, but not anything worse than at home and Ember had her foot under the basket. I am still under control. I get Ember's foot out and pick up Owen who stops crying immediately. I think it was just a shock. Ember is crying, but she is OK. She cries really hard when she thinks she is in trouble or when she knows that she made a not-so-good choice.

I talk to her calmly, and she says she isn't hurt. They call the manager totally freaking out. I explain she is fine and so is Owen, I softened the blow so it wasn't that bad. But it could have been! One of the ladies asks if she can give Ember a piece of candy (because she was so upset). I told her no that would be rewarding bad behavior. I wasn't mad at Ember, but her actions (after being told not to do something) did not warrant a reward.

I stopped outside and we talked about it. I told her that when I ask her to do something (like stop shaking the cart) it is usually because mom knows something bad can happen. I told her I was glad she and Owen were OK, but next time no shaking or standing on the sides of the cart. Hopefully, this lesson will be one that she will remember.

I asked her when we got home if I got mad at her at the store. I wanted to see what her perception of the incident was. She said no. That made me feel good, because I wasn't mad. I am trying hard not to get upset with my children for the choices they make. More often the choices they make are good ideas to them. We need to look at everything our children do and look for the positive intent behind their actions/behavior. Working through each situation as it arises gives us teaching moments, where we can both learn, and remain calm, so they can make better choices on their own as they grow up. Allowing natural consequences to happen, and not adding additional consequences to them. I know Ember was horrified. I don't think me getting upset with her (second consequence) was needed. How she felt about the situation was appropriate, and she learned something. I hope that makes sense.

Debating whether I should post this, or wait....it is still early, might be more adventures left in the day!

P.S. Cart toppling is dangerous...and it can happen to you!

P.S.S. For a good book on discpline read, Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline by Becky Bailey

What to eat

I need recipes! I wanted to come up with 14 different recipes for dinners we could have for our year supply food storage. Each meal being made 26 times in the course of the year. Hence, saving up the supplies to make said meal and have on hand. This would be storage that would not be rotated on a regular basis, but essentially left alone and checked once a year. Rotating only when expiration is nearing.

I have a ton of recipes my family loves...so why is it so darn hard to come up with 14 recipes for the year supply menu? Hm, could it be many of the recipes call for fresh or frozen vegetables? or heavy whipping cream? or tortillas? or cheese...lots and lots of cheese? (I guess I better get cracking on my tortilla making skills).

I can think of a lot of crap (for lack of a better term) food I could use in my food storage. It would be easy to buy 12 boxes of Hamburger Helper and 12 pounds of ground beef and call it good. (I could even by different flavors!) While I am at it, I will grab 12 tuna helpers and 12 chicken helpers (never even tried those). I make these once in a blue moon. But I am sure they can sustain life for a year, can't be too picky right? Hm, OK, that takes care of 3 recipes. Three down, nine to go. Unless I decide to buy 12 of each flavor, and then I may not need to worry about any other recipes. I have fish, beef and chicken...what more do you need?

Seriously though, I would appreciate thoughts and or suggestions on meals. I have some easier recipes: spaghetti, chicken w/black beans, chicken and rice, maybe beef Manhattans. That is about it on the "easy ingredient" ones. Still trying to figure out my way around some of the other more "ingredient rich" recipes and how/if I can store what I need to make it.

Haven't even thought of breakfast or lunch! Deep breath, deep breath. Someone toss me a life raft, I'm drowning.

One good reason to live in AZ

I knew there was a reason I live is sunny Arizona! I have spent a lot of time lately wondering what I am going to do for energy if something were to happen to our standard forms. I thought alot about propane (and propane accessories...think King of the Hill). I have thought about gasoline. Storage space, storage life, and safety are the issues I am grappling with.

I have been spending more time and money lately on food storage (no time like the present to prepare for the inevitable future), and then it dawned on me that if I don't have power, I have no way to cook all this food. Can anyone say hard pinto beans and wheat?

Crystal was nice enough to loan me a DVD forever ago on a food storage presentation given by DeWitt. DeWitt mentioned the solar oven briefly in her presentation. That was the answer. I knew I needed one. Granted, this pretty thing wasn't cheap, but with sunny weather 360 days of the year, what better way to cook/bake/broil and have a back up enery source to use that food storage during tough times. (That, and it came with a roasting pot, two loaf pans, and a water purification indicator. Nice perks.)

Tada ---------> (Isn't it cool!)

I can't wait to try it out! No more hot kitchens in the summer (and less money on cooling the house down after cooking those meals). No burnt food. From what I hear, incredible flavor. Hmm, any volunteers to come use it with me?

Ok, you know you all want one now. *wink, wink*

Soccer Mom

It is wasn't official before, it is official now. I am a soccer mom. I spent time over the last week making a banner for the soccer team. I finally put it all together last night.

We are the Super Shark Flames...a combination of what all the kids came up with.

Each shark was handcrafted out of the finest felt, and manipulated so they can be removed as keepsakes for the children on the team.

Garden Update

My garden looked all nice and green. I was excited about the prospect of eating something out of my garden. Then. It dawned on me. Those sprouts are not really growing where I planted them. They seem to be clustered together. Hmm. Which reminds me, they sure do look an awful lot like what grows in the compost bin.

Cantaloupe. We are growing nothing but cantaloupe. OK, exaggeration...kind of. We do have some beans growing and the tomato plants survived the transplant. I already ate one juicy cherry tomato. At this rate, I won't get to use them in anything, they will just go into my mouth as soon as they turn red. I sure hope they grow and ripen faster than one at a time.

One of the lavender plants survived too. I also have some cucumber sprouts. That's it. Just when I thought my thumb was turning green.

Oh yea, speaking of that. My wonderful looking watermelon didn't make it. I looked just the other day and it has a big black soft spot. :(

I will keep watering and hoping for some growth.

I have little tiny green sprouts in the flower bed. I think they might be the flowers? I am tired though, of going out every morning to water to find a "present" from the friendly neighborhood cat. I have a whole front yard of dry dirt, but no, they have to go in the wet two foot strip that I am trying to grow stuff in. I despise cats...at least the outdoor do-what-ever-I-want kind.

Signs

All signs of bug life (in all it's stages) is a negative. Today's morning looksie brought to light no lice, no eggs, no nothing! Here is to finding (or rather, not finding) the same thing when I do the check tonight!

Nothing says Fall Break like...

Lice infestation!

Is it Ember? Nope. Jaxen? Nope.

It's Owen. Yes, my one year old has lice. My kids have never had lice, so this is a new (and gross) experience!

I was laying in bed with Owen and I saw something crawling in his hair. I took it out and called Shaun to confirm my worst fear. It looked like lice. (We went online to check...and the fear was 100% confirmed.)

So I spent yesterday afternoon picking a bit (I was in denial and thought it was a one lice deal). I picked a lot last night, and just finished up this morning. I really don't want to use chemicals in his hair, so I am hoping if I can do a thorough job each morning and evening they will be gone within the next few days. I was very detailed this AM, so hopefully I don't find anything tonight when I check again. But, it is extremely hard to entertain a one-year-old to sit still long enough to go through his hair inch by inch checking for lice and eggs.

I keep checking Ember and Jaxen's hair, just to be sure there isn't anything there.

Paranoia has set in.

Yes, this is exactly how I pictured my Fall Break! (Is anyone else itchy?!)