To Truly Love....

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     In the past few weeks I have experienced so many waves of emotion!  Barrett and I decided to move across town to be closer to his work.  There are so many benefits to this, the least of which that we will see Barrett for about an hour more each day.  It was the right move but I did not want to do it!  We have moved about 18 times in our marriage and each time we have moved I have had family to help me, this time I did not.  Who would I ask to watch my kids? Who would help me pack, Who would help me unpack? We moved from a house with a huge yard, to a town house without one.  We moved from a quiet neighborhood, to an apartment complex.  We moved away from neighbors we knew to being next door to strangers.

    I worked really hard to have everything packed and prayed that people would show up to help Barrett load the truck.  I wasn't prepared for what happened!   Enough men came that they had the truck loaded, moved to the new house, and unloaded in 2 1/2 hours!  A friend watched my children for several hours.  Two wonderful women stayed to help me unpack my kitchen. And, last but not least, we had several people offer to bring us dinner.  I felt such an amazing outpouring of love.  It is wonderful how service works, my heart grew to love so many in my ward from one day of service.  I feel a kinship towards them that I didn't feel before.
 
    This is just another experience in my life that reminds me that serving others is truly loving.  Christ is the perfect example of this, in that his life was a service to the whole of mankind.  I am so grateful our church has taught us to serve and that no matter where I live, I will have others I can turn to.  I still miss my family but life on this side of the country just got better!

Blond Marshmallow Brownies

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Ingredients:

1/2 c. butterscotch morsels
1/3 c. butter
3/4 c. flour
1/3 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1 t. salt
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 t. vanilla
1 c. semisweet chocolate morsels
1 c. miniature marshmallows
1/2 c. pecans or walnuts, chopped

Directions:

1.  Combine butterscotch morsels and butter in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until morsels are melted.  Remove from heat.

2.  In a mixing bowl, stir flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.  Add butterscotch mixture, beaten egg and vanilla and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips, mini marshmallows and nuts.

3.  Spread in a greased 9 inch square baking pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  Cool completely and cut into squares.

Source:  Pillsbury Bake Off Contest via Melva Burke (Daily Reflector, June 19, 2002)

Chopstick Tuna Casserole

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In case you don't know this, I love retro.  I went back to the 60s for this recipe that my Mom used to make for us.  I don't know how often we had it but when I was looking through some of her old recipes one day, I saw it and added it to my collection.  When we were compiling a family recipe book I included this one in it.  I don't make it very often because M doesn't like the word casserole and it has celery in it, which is actually one of my favorite parts, along with the cashews.  Well, there just isn't any ingredient that isn't good in this dish.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, and guess what?  It's low fat and healthy.  You can use the healthier version of Cream of Mushroom soup and it is still yummy.




Ingredients:
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
2 cups chow mein noodles
1 can tuna, drained and flaked
1 cup sliced celery
1/2 cup toasted cashews
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup water
Dash of pepper



1.  Combine soup and water in a medium bowl.
2.  Add 1 cup chow mein noodles, dash of pepper and remaining ingredients.  Toss lightly; turn into square baking dish.
3.  Sprinkle with remaining noodles.  Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.  Enjoy the aroma coming from your oven as this bakes.  Seriously.  Mouth watering.



Source:  Patricia D. Brew

Nigella's Breakfast Bars

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Mr. Blue Eyes' parents gave us a Nigella Lawson cookbook a few years ago and there are some fabulous recipes in it. I mean, c'mon. It's Nigella we're talking about. These granola bars are so easy and so good that we eat them morning, noon, and night!

Ingredients:

1 14 oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk
2.5 Cups of Rolled Oats (not instant!)
1 Cup Shredded Coconut
1 Cup Dried Cranberries
1 Cup Mixed seeds* (Nigella suggests pumpkin, sunflower, sesame)
1 Cup Natural Unsalted Peanuts

1. Preheat the oven 250 degrees F and spray a 9x13" pan.
2. Warm the Sweetened Condensed Milk in a sauce pan. Ms. Lawson suggests a Large one; I used a small one. Tomato, Tah-mah-toe.
3. In a Large mixing bowl, mix all the other ingredients together. Pour the warmed milk over the top and fold it over until everything is looking gooey and good!
4. Press the mixture into your greased pan. At Nigella's suggestion I used a latex (or non-latex for all you latex-sensitive people) glove. Make sure you press down fairly firmly and pack it well. We had trouble with crumbling. Not that that makes it taste any less delicious!
5. Bake for 1 hour. After it's cooled about 10 minutes, cut 4x4 length to width and remove from pan to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container. Makes 16.

*Notes:
1. We have used Unsalted Cashews (1/3 Cup); Salted, shelled pistachios--pictured above (1/3+ Cup); Sunflower Seeds (1/3- Cup). They turned out great!
2. When she says natural, unsalted, she means it. Unsalted just seems to turn out better.

Source: Nigella Express:130 Recipes for Good Food, Fast

3 Ingredient White Bean Chicken Chili

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I love a quick, yummy meal, and this is definitely one of them!

One day I watched my friend dump some things in a pot, stir a bit, and then call her kids down for dinner. I was truly impressed because it took 5 minutes from start to finish, and it looked so delicious and healthy too!

3 Ingredient White Bean Chicken Chili

Ingredients:
A few cans of white beans, drained
1 can of chicken 
A cup or two of your favorite salsa

I am not going to give an exact recipe, well, because there isn't one and I have made it differently every time depending on how many I needed to feed and what I had on hand. But basically you just dump those ingredients into a pot, in whatever quantities you want, add a little water if needed, and maybe some black pepper. If you want to get fancy, you can add a can of corn! Let it simmer for a few minutes. Serve with your favorite shredded cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips!

A delicious and quick meal! I hope you enjoy! 

PS - You could also make this in a crock pot.

Source: My amazing friend Kim Jones

Olive Garden’s Pasta E Fagioli Soup

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Olive Garden’s Pasta E Fagioli Souphttp://www.favfamilyrecipes.com

• 2 lbs. ground beef*
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 carrots, shredded
• 1 c. celery, chopped
• 2 (28 oz.) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 (16 oz.) can red kidney beans, drained* 
• 1 (16 oz.) can white kidney beans, drained 
• 4 cups beef stock
• 3 tsp. oregano
• 2 tsp. pepper
• 5 tsp. parsley
• 1 tsp. Tabasco sauce
• 1 (20 oz.) jar Prego traditional spaghetti sauce
• 8 oz. pasta 
• 
  
•  Brown meat. Drain fat. Combine all ingredients (other then pasta) in a large crock-pot.  Cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 4-5 hours.  Add cooked pasta just before serving. 
• *I usually make this without meat and it still tastes great!
• *I have never had white kidney beans on hand when I have made this so I use another can of red kidney beans.

Source: www.favfamilyrecipes.com

Find the Tender Mercies

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This picture just makes me laugh because it is so true! Sometimes you just have to pick yourself up and carry on! Life does not always turn out the way you plan, and you just have to figure out how to take the next step forward. And I've learned that you can be miserable and complain while you do it, or you can be positive and happy, but you are still going to have to do it! 
I have a good friend who was so excited to have her son come home from his mission this past week! He had been serving in Chile for two years, and they anxiously awaited his arrival home. They cleaned the house meticulously, and even rented a carpet cleaner and scrubbed all the carpet in the house. Finally the day of his arrival had come, and they were up early having breakfast, excited to go pick him up from the airport. In the middle of their breakfast they heard a funny noise coming from the bathroom and went to check it out. To their horror, they found both bathrooms overflowing with backed up sewage!!!! Within minutes a foul smelling black sludge covered the floor of every room in their home! 
Here's the short version of the rest of the story - they had to immediately evacuate and find a new place to live! Most of their belongings were contaminated and had to be thrown out.They spent several days wearing face masks, heavy rubber boots, and rubber gloves as they sorted through their belongings seeing what they could possibly salvage (like pictures and artwork on the walls, items in the tops of closets, etc.) What a nightmare! Seeing their home like that, and helping them with the task of saving whatever they could, brought me to tears several times. How depressing and frustrating and horrible!
But my amazing friend and her family (including her son who arrived home to the disaster) just picked themselves up and carried on. They were even cheerful in the process, and so grateful for all the help they received, and thankful to their Heavenly Father for all of the tender mercies He had provided. TENDER MERCIES? Perhaps most people would not be able to see the tender mercies in this situation, but they did. They have a long list of them! They are actually still right in the middle of all of it, still trying to make heads or tails of everything, but a huge snow storm yesterday has haulted their efforts. I'm sure they saw that as a blessing too.
This is a good reminder to me of something I have told my children often, "You can do it kicking and screaming, or you can do it with a happy attitude. Either way, you are going to have to do it! And happy is such a better way!"

Photo Source: I could not find where this originated. I saw several sites that had it and gave permission for it to be shared. What a cute photo!