Relief Society Birthday Luncheon

On Saturday, March 17th, we commemorated our Relief Society Birthday with Temple service and a luncheon. We had such a wonderful, meaningful time serving together, making us all more aware of the value of sisterhood and friendships. Following is the salad that was served:

                              Book Club Chicken Salad

6-8 chicken breasts
8 oz sliced almonds
4 Tb. sugar
5 heads Romaine lettuce
10 -12 oz spinach
1 pound bacon
1 cup craisins
1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese


Cook chicken breasts on the grill, in the oven, or simmer until cooked through. Cool and cut into small cubes. 
In a small skillet, heat the almonds for a few minutes and then add the sugar and a pinch of salt. (I used less sugar than this recipe calls for). Stir until the sugar is coated onto the almonds and the nuts are toasty.

Dressing:
1/4 red onion
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tb raspberry jam
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup vegetable oil
Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until very smooth.
Toss all salad ingredients together and then toss with dressing.
Serve immediately.

Serves 15-20 

Corned Beef! Yes, you can easily do this yourself!

Our family has made our own corned beef for ages now. It is less expensive than buying it ready to cook and you can control the quality by choosing the grade of meat yourself. Seriously, this is the easiest process and you will enjoy the outcome.

Here is the process:


Buy the meat:
I bought a rather flat three pound chuck roast for $2.99 per pound. If your meat is more square shaped, the curing process will take a few more days.




As you can see, the salt is Morton's Tender Quick. It is very inexpensive and you can find it with the salts in any grocery store. As per the instructions on the package of salt, you just rub the salt onto the meat and then seal it in a plastic bag or container. It needs to cure in the refrigerator for several days. The package states that it just take a few hours, but I have had much better results letting it cure for several days--at least three days for a flat piece of meat. 
After letting it cure, you rinse it off and simmer it gently until tender--3 hours or so. Enjoy!

This is a post from 2009, encouraging each of us to try this new method. How many of us
enjoyed the knowledge that we gained from this post?

Corned Beef--cabbage optional!

We, in our family really enjoy home-made corned beef. It is actually just cured beef. Most meats can be cured, cooked and enjoyed.
The product that you need to buy is very inexpensive. It is Morton Tender Quick and it is sold in the salt section of your grocery store. The directions on the package are very clear and easy to follow. It takes about one minute to prepare the meat, then you refrigerate it for several hours (up to 4 days for larger pieces of meat), then simmer in water until cooked through. You will know, after you cook the meat, if you have let it cure for long enough because the meat will not be cured in the very center and will be a natural meat color, rather than the reddish cured color. We sometimes eat ours with cabbage that has been simmered with the meat or we also enjoy corned beef in sandwiches such as the popular Rueben.

Celebrate Relief Society's birthday in March

This presentation is a wonderful spiritual reminder of the blessings that are ours as we worship and serve in the Holy Temples of our Lord.
To celebrate Relief Society's birthday this month, we hope that each of you will join with your sisters and attend the endowment session at the Temple.

Date: Saturday March 17th at 9:20

A nice lunch will be served in the cafeteria after the 9:20 session. 
Please set this time aside and plan to attend and worship with your sisters in the gospel.

Stake Conference Weekend

Here is the schedule for this weekend's conference:
Saturday
Leadership: 4:00 pm
Dinner for all adult members: 5:30 pm
Adult session of conference 7:00 pm
Sunday
Stake conference 10:00 am   

We look forward to seeing you!

Finding Joy In The Journey

This beautiful message from our Prophet seems appropriate for the month of February.   

If you would like to read President Monson's entire talk, go Here.

Water Storage

Few things are more crucial to life than water. People begin to feel the effects of not having enough water long before a lack of food.  Water storage is important for times when water systems are disrupted or polluted. The rule of thumb is to store 1 gallon per person, per day. One gallon is enough for drinking, cooking, and hygiene. Church and Government guidelines suggest storing 2 weeks of water per person.

There are a few ways to approach water storage, and you may decide to focus on one storage method, or use a combination of systems.

1. Use your tap water.  Water from a safe, pretreated source may be stored in appropriate containers. Store water in clean plastic food containers, such as juice or soda bottles. Do not use milk cartons as they will break down over time and leak. If your water source is not pure, or is questionable, add 1/8 teaspoon bleach per gallon of water.Be sure to use household  bleach that is not scented, thickened, or which has other additives.

2. Purchase bottled water and store away from heat and light. Don't forget to rotate.

3. Use one of the ceramic filtered water bottles available on the market.  This method makes it possible to  have clean water without storing large quantities of water. An added benefit is that they are great for hiking and camping.  Make sure to get the type that filters contaminated water, and not just makes tap water taste better. The church sells the filtered bottle pictured on its website. You can purchase it here.  This bottle will filter 99.99% of pollutants and contaminants. This particular bottle holds about 28 oz, and you can produce 100 gallons of clean, safe, drinkable water for the $22 cost of the bottle.

For additional water storage information go to this earlier post, or read the Church's information found here.

Happy Valentine's Day!

"I am satisfied that happiness in marriage is not so much a matter of romance as it is an anxious concern for the comfort and well-being of one's companion."

-Gordon B. Hinckley
(Read the entire talk here.)

Sisters, may your lives be filled with love of friends and family, but most of all, the assurance of the unfailing love of our Savior.