What do you mean we're out of instant oatmeal?

Growing up, this iconic paper canister was always in the cabinet. I don't recall ever using it as a cereal though, an ingredient in meatloaf and cookies, yes, cereal??? Nope






If I actually did eat oatmeal, it was out of a box/packet. All I had to do was add hot water, wait a few minutes and there you have it, breakfast.

I got a little older however and the instant oatmeal I was familiar with was just too sweet. My kids loved it (except that one who only ate Cream of Wheat, some peoples kids) anyway, I just didn't eat it any more. I began making oatmeal from scratch, you know on the stove, in a pot, way too much for one person to eat, but if you cook less than the recipe it never comes out right oatmeal. Yeah, that kind. I could put whatever I wanted in it, make it as sweet as I like, but the mess is always daunting, so I made it only on weekends, once a month, maybe.

I did find an oatmeal that was a bit more my speed, not as sweet, had flax seed in it, the fruit was real (not apples dyed to look like strawberries or peaches), yes sir, I like this brand better.




Now, just what does this have to do with being out of oatmeal? Well, like I said we are big oatmeal eaters, him 2 packets per meal, me 1 packet, 10 packets per box, 3 days of instant oatmeal. (there I go with that math again) Needless to say we run out fast. Also, my most favorite flavor in the world is getting harder and harder to find. Neither store near my home carries it (slow mover). So, the only recourse I have is to make my own, but just how does one go about making instant oatmeal packets at home? Ah, the internet, it can be a blessing.

I found several recipes, but decided to go with Monica Matheny's recipe as my base. I did leave out the chia seeds, just didn't have any, or flax or any seeds for that matter (I don't believe celery seeds would have worked). Then I had to find the "spices" in Raisins & Spice and Cinnamon & Spice. I did find them eventually, every recipe had cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice but quantities differed...a lot. It's all a matter of taste I suppose, anyway this is my adapted recipe that I used for the "spices"

Oatmeal Spices
2 tsp ground Cinnamon
2 tsp Pumpkin pie spice*
1/2 tsp ground Nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground Allspice
1/2 tsp Cardamom (optional)

Mix all spices together. Use 1/2 - 3/4 tsp per individual packet. Store as you would any spices. (don't forget to label it) Makes 8 packets worth.

*Don't have any pumpkin pie spice in your cupboard, never fear...

Pumpkin Pie Spice

4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

I expected more

 

I like to think I'm an observant person. I like to think I read nutrition labels and choose the right foods for my family. I like to think I save money and time (eventually) by purchasing items on sale and preserving them in a fashion that means it will be available to use weeks or months later. I like to think all that, but then *slap* something happens to wipe that smug look right off my face. 

 

The other day I got what I thought was a great deal on 93/7 ground turkey (Foster Farms). Normally $5.00 at Safeway for 20 oz., but with my club card and Just for U pricing, I picked it up for $3.56 per package. I was excited, let me tell you. I grabbed a dozen. I also picked up some bulk breakfast and Italian sausage (1lb tubes) for substantially less than I normally pay.

In the past, I usually came home and popped the packages that I didn't plan on using in the next few days straight into the freezer. Then in a week or three I would forget to take it out of the freezer and call out for pizza. So the plan was to can the meat so that it was ready to use when it was time to cook dinner.

 

I popped over to the National Center for Home Food Preservation and found the instructions for canning ground meat. So, I get out my big fry pan and brown up the bulk sausage (separately of course). Out of each 16 oz. of raw bulk sausage, I got 12 oz. of cooked bulk sausage. Each 12 oz. filled one pint jar. Since pork has a good bit of fat in it, this was an expected result.

Using my fantastic math skills, 240 oz. of ground turkey should fill 16 pint jars. This is of course making the assumption that I will lose 4 oz. per lb.

(12 pkg.*20 oz. = 240 oz. - 48 oz. water/fat=

192 oz. /12 oz. per jar=16 pint jars)

So I start the browning process and cook half the meat, my canner only holds 9 pints. I brown up 120 oz. which by my calculations should fill 8 jars. What it actually filled was only 6 jars. WHAT???? Yes you heard me correctly, 6 jars. After cooking up the meat in the fry pan, for every 20 oz. of raw ground turkey, I got only 12 oz. of cooked ground turkey. So I asked myself, was there really 8 oz. of water and fat in 20 oz. of ground turkey? Ah...maybe it was the way I cooked it. So I get out my handy dandy microwave dish that I use for cooking ground meat and pop 20 oz. in the microwave, cook it for 5 minutes and got...wait for it...12 oz. of cooked ground turkey. Huh? In the end I got only 11 pints or 132 oz. (8 oz. didn't make it into a jar) of canned ground turkey. That is correct, out of 240 oz.  (15 lbs.) I ended up with 140 oz. (8 3/4 lbs.) That is 100 oz. (6 1/4 lbs.) of water and fat in the ground turkey.

Figuring that it may be the brand; I purchased 3 - 20 oz. packages of Jennie-O. Again, using my marvelous math skills:

 

(3*20 oz.=60 oz.-12 oz. water/fat =

48 oz./12 oz. per jar = 4 pint jars.)

Out of this batch of ground turkey, I lost 23 oz. to water/fat. Can we say 38% loss? Seriously??? 

Of course I had to compare it with 93/7 ground beef.
Guess what? I only lost 3-4 oz. per lb. All the meat was cooked the same way (except for my little microwave experiment) and drained the same way and weighed before putting it in the jar and man am I disappointed.

 So here's the breakdown.

20 oz. raw ground turkey cost $5.00, after cooking 12 oz., $0.42 per ounce

20 oz. raw ground beef cost $5.10, after cooking 16 oz., $0.25 per ounce

20 oz. raw bulk sausage cost $4.98, after cooking 16 oz., $0.24 per ounce

 

After figuring this part out, I got out all the nutrition labels and compared them...there are as many grams of fat in turkey as there is in ground beef (1 g of trans fat). There are higher sodium and cholesterol levels in the turkey than the beef. There is more iron in beef than turkey. So, by my understanding, with the exception of the 1 g of trans fat in the beef, the ground beef is actually better for you than ground turkey, guess I'm not buying ground turkey anymore, my husband will probably be glad to hear that.

I encourage you to investigate the nutritional value of anything you eat, sometimes what we've been told is "bad" for us may not be as "bad" as those things which are supposed to be "good" for us. This whole thing started because I wanted to save some time and money. Guess you can't believe everything you hear.

What to say when your spouse says "What do you want to do?"

You have a night in the immediate future where you have no sick kids or no kids at all. You have a babysitter lined up or the little munchkins are with nana and papa. Now you begin to think of what you would like to do with those few hours of blissful quiet (besides napping) and draw a blank. You've been there, done that.

Date night should be something fresh, exciting and interesting for both of you, so how do you get there. Below are a few ideas on how to get started. These ideas work great for newly weds, but even better for the old timers (since we've run out of ideas).

The Date Jar: Each partner writes approximately 26 ideas (that gives you 52 total). Of course see a movie, go to dinner, the standards, but also include things like walking at the park, take a workshop together (there are free or inexpensive ones out there), wash the cars, plan your ideal vacation, rent bicycles (if you don't own any) and ride, ride a city bus route you've never been on and site see, visit a flea market or spend a day garage sale-ing or go to discount/thrift stores. volunteer, donate blood, I think you get the idea. When Date Night rolls around, draw an idea from the jar. You don’t like the idea you drew? Well, the rule is you HAVE to do it! …however if your date involves an outdoor activity and it’s pouring down rain, well, i think that gives you a redraw.

Ran out of ideas? Try 50 Great Date Nights or Autumn Date Ideas or Cheap and awesome date ideas or 31 cheap and fun date ideas or simply search the phrase "Date night ideas" on Google I got about 130,000,000 results (0.76 seconds), add your town afterwards and you may be surprised. I found a local blogger who shared 81 Frugal Date ideas for my hometown but the list is so general, you could probably do all of them in your hometown.

In addition to designated "Dates" it is important to participate in what is important to your partner. Even if you find the activity not to your liking (say...watching NASCAR). I spent much of my youth in North Carolina and at one time I could tell you who drove what number, the make of the car, how many wins they had and all that, but not anymore, nor do I care to know these things. And I can guarantee that my love finds getting a mani/pedi a waste of time and money since he is perfectly capable of taking care of his own nails. Having said that, I sit with my spouse when he watches the races, he sits with me when I watch bull riding. He will drive me to and read a magazine while I get a mani/pedi. I will accompany him to car shows or the auto parts store. We both like building supplies so that doesn't place a burden on either of us. The point is, hang out with your lifemate, you know, like you did before you were married. 

A Look Back

This post has been sitting in my drafts folder since Dec 2014...it was a look back at the beginnings and well here it is 7 months later and I have yet to post this so here it is.


My first blog on this site was a recipe to extend the usefulness of your butter.
First Blog: Butter Spread

A really great site for food storage information is found at LDS.org Longer-Term Food Storage, additionally, there is a lot of information at www.providentliving.org, another LDS site.

One of the first sites I started following was myfoodstoragecookbook.com This site is so full of information, tips, and ideas, I can only wish I was that good.

I located a great CDC blog on the Zombie Apocalypse and printed several copies to hand out at one of our week-night Relief Society meetings. The younger women got a great laugh, the older women, not so much.

These useful topics are covered in the All is Safely Gathered In, basically, 3-month food storage, water, financial reserve and long term food storage.

Some of the most favorite requests for information have been on water storage, cooking with food storage, and gardening.

Yes I've been doing this a while and I love it. I can only keep what I have by giving it away. If you have any suggestions or requests for information, be sure to let me know.

Disaster Plan for Your Pets

We pamper our pets with all kinds of silly items, I even crocheted a reflective safety vest for my dog. 

Not so shiny inside

Very shiny outside

They become members of our families, yet when we make our disaster plans, those very same pets are often overlooked. We don't do it on purpose, it just happens.  

These animals rely on us for food, shelter, love and protection. We have taken on the commitment to care for them. Sounds just like our responsibilities to our children. 

Hurricane Katrina brought about the glaring need for creating a disaster plan for our pets as well as ourselves.

Photos from Animal Rescue New Orleans

A quick trip to the Humane Society of the United States website will take you to a Disaster Plan for Your Pets

Additionally the following websites also contain plans for pet/animal owners. Check them out, find a plan that works for you or take bits and pieces and make your own plan. Either way, keep your furry friends in your thoughts as you prepare.

Cats and Dogs living together. TEOTWAWKI.

Oh and there might be a few sites with information about disaster preparedness for humans too.

American Red Cross

Ready

ASPCA

CDC

FEMA

Christmas Goodies

So my list of Christmas goodies goes something like this

Mary's Sugar Cookies

This recipe was in the 1963 Betty Crocker Cookbook. It is the recipe I grew up with. When I moved out on my own and got my first Betty Crocker Cookbook (1980) the sugar cookie recipe was different. I tried the recipe and hated it. I memorized Mary's Sugar Cookies recipe and have been using it ever since. 

There is only one alteration I have ever made to the original recipe, I didn't have almond extract one year, so I used orange extract instead. My mother absolutely loved the change and I always made hers with the "new" recipe.

Frosting for Sugar Cookies

My mom taught me to use a butter cream frosting, but it didn't harden and when the cookies were stacked on a plate, the frosting from the cookie below would stick to the back of the cookie on top. Now this is not necessarily a bad thing, but when I've put so much effort into decorating I don't want them to get messed up.

I've shared this link with you for the frosting recipe only. I wouldn't recommend the sugar cookie recipe, too close to Ethel's for my taste, but hey, it's your cookie, use whatever recipe you want.

Sweet & Saltines (aka Christmas Crack)

Last year, my daughter introduced me to this. I made pan after pan after pan. Yes a pan or two did make it out the door, but I ate more than I shared. It is truly addictive.

Fantasy Fudge (original recipe)

Who in the last 40 years hasn't had Fantasy Fudge? I have it every year, I even make it in the spring, summer and autumn (why wait until once a year to eat fudge?). Apparently, Kraft Foods has changed the recipe for Fantasy Fudge. I'm guessing...because Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chips are not owned by Kraft Foods, where as Baker's semi-sweet chocolate is, go figure. If you'd like to try the new recipe for Fantasy Fudge, go here.

Each family has it's own list of Christmas goodies, I thought I would share mine to help get you in the goodies mood. Happy cooking!

The Foray into Pinterest

Pinterest, as all users know, is addictive. You start out looking for a crochet pattern and end up an hour or so later creating a board full of "Honey Do's". You know what I'm talking about. I avoided Pinterest like the flu for the first couple of years that it existed (I still don't have an instagram account). It sounded like a waste of time to me and well...

I've been on Pinterest for a year or two now. I've even pinned items from this blog, but I only had a personal account and not one associated with Shadle Park Provident Living, so I decided to create an account just for this blog, only because I'm pretty sure that if you read this blog, you don't want to see pins about Scouting, crocheting, or Wood Badge. If you do, you can always look me up and follow me, otherwise at least check out some of the boards I've created specifically for SPPL.

I'm am going to try to sort the boards by subject matter, such as food preservation, emergency preparedness, you get the idea. I will tell you now that as with all other things found on the internet, some things may not be a good idea (such as oven "canning" perishable foods) and I will try to weed out those pins as I go along. I will also check the links as I go. No sense in repinning something that goes no where.

So here you go, if you would like to follow SPPL boards, you'll find the widget just under the blog archives to the right. Have fun, see you in a couple of hours. LOL.

Compassionate Service Cookbook

A few years ago, I had a medical event and the sisters in my ward were wonderful delivering meals while I recovered. My husband and son were not reduced to eating PB&J tortillas, mac & cheese, and hamburgers. When asked what I could eat now, I replied no salt, low fat foods. We got lasagna (of course), breads, spaghetti with chicken, green salads, and a variety of other pasta dishes. I am very grateful for all the sisters did for our family during this time. Unfortunately, I couldn't eat most of the foods these sisters so loving produced. I give them an A for effort, but most don't understand the nature of commercially processed foods.

This led me to an idea, a Relief Society Compassionate Service Cookbook. The idea was that the sisters were to share recipes specific to medical dietary needs such as diabetes, celiac disease, hypertension, etc. I would compile these recipes into a booklet that could be shared so that when certain people needed meals, the sisters could be more prepared with ideas. Our R.S. president was very excited and she told the Stake R.S. president who contacted me and asked that I share with her when it was complete. Wow, this must be a great idea. Anyway, to make this very long story shorter, I got a few recipes, but not enough...so the idea kinda died off.

Every once in a while, I run across this file on my computer that has the layout, design, some recipes all for this cookbook. I glance at it, even might put a new recipe in there, but nothing much happens after that. This past week I made a trip to the library and was in the cookbook section. There were cookbooks for ADD/ADHD, diabetes, autism, hypertension & cardiac disease, pregnancy, on and on. And even though I collect cookbooks, recipes and the like, I don't have cookbooks specific to each of these diseases. I don't think anyone does, nor do I intend to.

          

These books are all available at www.amazon.com

I got to thinking again about this cookbook and I've decided to go ahead and write it. It will be a compilation of recipes found all over the internet. No recipe will be included if I have not tried it out on my family first. I know that the pictures may look fantastic, but the dish tastes like _____. Or the dish is more complicated to make than it should be. I can also get the opinions of my husband and son who have very different likes and dislikes.

If you have a recipe you think would be great to include in this book, please share.
Send the recipe to shadleparkpl@gmail.com