52 weeks to prepardeness - Week 41

Week 41 - Flour: buy at least 25 pounds for a small family, 50 extra pounds for a larger family.

52 weeks to prepardeness - Week 40

Week 40 - Ready to eat dinners: ravioli, pasta, oriental, boxed or frozen.

52 weeks to prepardeness - Week 39

Week 39 - Peanut Butter! Get as much as you can afford, buy in bulk.

Emma's Garden party

"Emma Smith was the first Relief Society president, ordained on March 17, 1842. She set the model for compassionate service and charity that the sisters quickly followed. She encouraged and inspired the sisters of Nauvoo to do good works."

Please join us for a fun evening celebrating the Relief Society's Birthday. We will begin at 6:30pm with dinner and we will be blessed to have some special visitors come join us! We look forward to seeing you there!

*There will also be a Nursery provided

Recipe - Strawberries & Cream with Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting

Strawberries & Cream
By: I assume this was by Wendy Paul - but if not, speak up and I will give you credit!

Ingredients:
• 1 box strawberry cake mix
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup diced strawberries
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 cup half and half

Method:
Mix together cake mix, eggs, and half and half. Place 1-2 tablespoons of batter in each paper liner. In a seperate bowl, combine strawberries and sugar and toss to coat. Spoon 1 teaspoon onto each paper liner filled with some batter. Fill paper liners with remaining batter to 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes, until cake springs back when lightly touched.

Cool cupcakes completely and frost with vanilla butter cream frosting.

Frosting Suggestions: Cream Cheese Frosting, Pink Lemonade Frosting, Vanilla Butter cream*

*Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting
Ingredients:
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• 3 ¾ cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 3-4 tablespoons milk or cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Method:
Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Beat until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Stop the mixer before adding the sugar or you will have a large mess to clean up. Add the sugar, 3 tablespoons milk (cream) and vanilla extract. Beat frosting starting on slow increasing your speed until frosting is nice and creamy. Add up to 1 more tablespoon of milk (cream) if frosting to too thick.

Recipe - Oatmeal Fudge Revel Bars

Oatmeal Fudge Revel Bars
By: I am not sure who brought this yummy recipe, if it was you - let me know and I will give you credit!

1 c shortening
2 c brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 ½ c flour
4 c oats

Filling:
1 bag milk chocolate chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 Tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt

Directions:
Cream shortening and sugar. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Add baking powder, salt and flour. Add oats and mix well. Press ½ of the mixture into a 9 x 13-in greased baking pan. Melt filling mixture in saucepan over low-med heat until melted and smooth. Pour over cooking mixture. Crumble remaining oatmeal mixture over filling. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-28 minutes.

Recipe - Fudge Topped Brownies

Fudge Topped Brownies
By: Andrea Christiansen

1 c butter, melted
2 c sugar
1 c unsifted flour
2/3 c Hershey's cocoa
½ tsp baking powder
1 (14oz) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporate milk)
2 eggs
½ c milk
3 tsp vanilla, divided
1 (12oz) pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine butter, sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, eggs, milk and 1 ½ tsp vanilla. Beat well. Spread in greased 13 x 9-in pan. Bake 35-40 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides. Just before brownies are done, melt chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in a heavy sauce pan. Add remaining vanilla, mix well. Immediately spread over hot brownies. Cool, chill. Cut into bars.

Tip: You could use ½ c applesauce to replace ½ c butter to slightly cut back on the fat. I often double the brownie part so it is slightly thicker than the fudge.

Recipe - Chocolate No-Bake Cookies

Chocolate No-Bake Cookies
By: Kalley Hardman

Melt together:
2 c sugar
3 Tbsp cocoa
½ c butter
½ c milk

Boil for 1 ½ minutes

Then add ½ tsp vanilla

Stir in:
3 c. Rolled oats
¾ c peanut butter (optional)

Drop cookies onto waxed paper to set.

52 weeks to prepardeness - Week 38

Week 38 - Dry milk. Forty ounces makes 5 gallons. Get as much as you  can afford & need.

Cooking for 1 or 2: Tips

These tips came from our activity in January from Sister Daniels:

- Most recipes can be cut in half or more.
- Split packages of meat into smaller portions before freezing.
- Cook extra meat that can be frozen and used in future meals.
- Tortillas can be used for very versatile: Tacos, burittos, fajitas, sandwiches/wraps, quesadillas, deep fried or baked and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, roll-ups, etc. Let your imagination go wild!
- If you dont' need a whole can or package of something, plan other meals during the week to use the extra food.
- Prepare one dish meals.
- Mix things up and try a nutritious snack instead of a traditional meal when you're short on time or energy.
- Avoid recipes that have rare ingredients you won't use often.
- Share bulk items with another family that only has one or two members.