Enjoy-Your-Food-Storage Chicken Salad

Do you ever wonder if something truly good can be made from your food storage? Like, so good that if you didn't know it was from food storage you never would have guessed it? Well, the answer is yes. This chicken salad was made at a Shelf Reliance party featuring their Thrive products and it was soo tasty! You don't even have to worry about cooking the chicken if you have Thrive's freeze-dried chicken...

Ingredients:
1 1/4 C freeze-dried chopped chicken
1/2 C freeze-dried celery
1/3 C dehydrated minced onion
3 C water
1/2 C mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine chicken, celery, onion, and water in a saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low; simmer until the mixture is rehydrated. (This should take about 10 minutes.)

2. Pour mixture into a colander and allow to drain for another 10 minutes, then cool in the refrigerator.

3. Combine the cooled chicken mixture with the mayonnaise. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy atop crackers or as part of a sandwich--whatever tickles your fancy!

Source: Lightly adapted from the Thrive Cookbook--Food That Fits Your Lifestyle (The only adaptation was the onion because we didn't have Thrive's freeze-dried onion.)

Special thanks to my mom, Anna, for her help with this post. :)

Mormon Morsels--Mind the Gap

Image By David Bleeker

Several years back, our parents took us four girls on a trip to Great Britain.  It was a good trip and so interesting!  I loved soaking in local culture and learning new words and phrases.  One of my favorites was "mind the gap."  This was an important phrase when riding the Tube (subway in London).  There is a gap between the train and the platform and you definitely do not want to step there!  You are probably wondering why I would name this post Mind The Gap.  Well last night my husband and daughter and I were having a discussion as we knelt for family prayer.  He was talking about the gap between where we are and where we think we should be.  Ladies, you know where I am going with this.  We all compare ourselves to others, thinking that we will never measure up and that we will never make it back to live with our Heavenly Father.  And you know where that discouragement comes from--the Adversary who wants to use that gap to his advantage.  However, Christ, with His infinite Atonement takes care of that gap and if we let the Atonement work in our lives the way it's meant to, we can accept where we are and know that as long as we are keeping the commandments, living the gospel to the best of our ability, then that gap is bridged by our Savior.  He is minding the gap for us.

Have a wonderful Sabbath. Enjoy your church meetings and your families.

Snicker Doodles

Every time I make Snicker Doodles, I always wonder why I don't make them more often. They don't take long and they are super tasty! Cooked right, these have that perfect crunchiness around the outside edge with a soft middle. Mm-MMM!

Ingredients:


1 C Shortening
1.5 C White Sugar
2 Eggs
2 3/4 C All-purpose White Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Cream of Tartar
1/2 tsp Salt

 3 Tbsp White Sugar
2.5 tsp Ground Cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2. In a Medium bowl, cream together the Shortening, Sugar (1.5 Cups), and Eggs. I have a superstition about beating the sugar/egg/shortening mixture for five minutes until it's good and fluffy. I do this with all cookies (or try to) and have no idea it it does anything special, but I like to think it does.

3. In a Small bowl, sift together the Flour, Soda, Tartar, and Salt (or not. Sometimes I add them separately.). Gradually add the dry mixture into the Sugar mixture until nice and incorporated.

4. In a cereal bowl, mix together the Tbsp Sugar and tsp Cinnamon.

5. Taking a heaping teaspoon full, roll the dough into a little ball and then roll it around in the cinnamon until the entire ball is coated.

6. Place on an unprepared cookie sheet two inches apart.

 7. Bake for 7 - 10 minutes. I do mine for 7 minutes and they're perfect! Cool on a wire rack.

8. Share them. Or DEVOUR them. Whichever you prefer.

Source: LKUEHL, on All Recipes.com, a little personal variation added

~Kara

Brownie Bites

I think I found this recipe on Pinterest way back in February.  I used it then to send in for a Valentine party at school for one of my girls.  But, this would be a great end of school party treat!  This is soo easy!

Mini Muffin pan
Pam
Box of your favorite Brownie Mix
Reese's Peanut Butter chips
Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Peanut Butter

Set oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin pan. Mix up the brownie mix by the box directions. Fill the muffin pan cups to about 3/4 of the way up. Bake until done...about 15-20 min (depends on how chewy you want them) When they come out of the oven use the back of your spoon, or something rounded that you can press down into the brownie, to form a little cupped space for the peanut butter. (This step must be done immediatly after you remove them from the oven.)  Then let them cool for a bit, and dump them out to finish cooling.  Melt your peanut butter in the microwave until you could pour it!  Then spoon into the brownie cup tops and quickly add the chips.  As they cool the peanut butter will stiffen back up and the chips will be set!

Pretzel Dogs

Happy Memorial Day to all my fellow Americans!

Years ago, when my husband and I were newly married and still attending Brigham Young University, we had some great friends who shared a great pretzel recipe with us.  We've made it countless times in the last twenty years...sometimes plain, sometimes cheese-stuffed, always good.  But a couple of years ago we decided to try using our favorite Nathan's Hot Dogs as a filler.  It was a tasty experiment and has turned out to be one of my favorite ways to eat pretzels!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 Tbsp. yeast
1/3 cup brown sugar
4-5 cups all-purpose flour
coarse kosher salt
1 egg white, beaten
Nathan's Hot Dogs (8)
2 cups water
2 Tbsp. baking soda

1.  Mix water and yeast until dissolved.  Stir in brown sugar.  Slowly add flour, stirring constantly.
2.  Knead dough till stretchy and smooth.

3.  Divide dough into 8 equal pieces.  Shape each piece into a log 1" longer than the hot dog (the dough will stretch as you pull it over the ends).  Flatten the log and place the hot dog on the dough.  Fold in the ends, then fold one long side over tightly.  Roll the whole thing over onto the remaining flap.  Pinch edges to seal, getting out as much air as possible.

4.  Fill a pan with the water and baking soda and bring to a simmer/gentle boil.  The pot should be wide enough to allow for the pretzel dog to sit "comfortably" inside.  (They get cranky if they're not comfortable.)  Carefully lower one pretzel dog at a time into the water, making sure to gently move it around a bit at first so it doesn't stick to the bottom.  Allow it to bathe for 30 seconds, then carefully lift it out of the pan and onto a cooling rack.  Continue until all 8 have taken their baths.

5.  Brush each pretzel dog with the beaten egg white and sprinkle with the coarse salt.  Grease a cookie sheet and sprinkle it with the salt also.  Place the pretzel dogs on the cookie sheet and bake in a 475 degree oven for 8-12 minutes.

Makes 8 pretzel dogs

Source:  Kari Hafen
Incidentally, if any of you know Kari Hafen from Alaska, PLEASE let her know I'm looking for her.  We lost touch after BYU.

God Doesn't Grade On The Curve

God does not grade
On the curve,
I'm sure of it.

But we sit around
Like high school students
In an important class,
Whose teacher has drawn
On the blackboard
The tiny wedges
For the A's and E's.
And the great bulge
For the C's.

We sigh in veiled relief
As the person down the row
Messes up,
Because it makes us
Look better
And probably means an E
For him, which is good,
Because while we have
Nothing against him personally
It means an A is more
Available to us.

And we secretly sorrow
When the person in front of us
Does really well,
Although we like her okay,
Because there goes another good grade,
Darn it and we're looking
Worse and worse
And slipping further down the curve.

And God, I think,
Sits at the front of the class
Holding A's enough for all,
Watching us
Working out our salvation
In fear and competition.

          -Carol Lynn Pearson

That last stanza really gets you doesn't it?  I've read this poem a hundred times and it still hits me just as hard as the first time I read it nearly 30 years ago.  I'm still learning how meaningful AND powerful AND so very individual that the atonement really is.  Let's try to visualize Him at the front of the class holding A's enough for ALL and see if we can't let some of the competition fall by the wayside.

Succulent Steak Marinade

This is a mild, yet sweet and tangy marinade!  Yum!

Ingredients:
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup pineapple juice
3 gloves garlic, crushed/pressed

Wisk all ingredients together in a bowl and use as a marinade.  For types of steak and their marinating time, check out THIS page.

We used only half of the marinade for one HUGE steak.  We're going to try marinating a few chicken breasts in the leftovers.

Source:  Mel's Kitchen Cafe