Photo of the Week: Spring Training Games Start TOMORROW!

Is anyone else this excited? I know they won't be playing at Busch Stadium, but I've never been to Florida. This is the best picture I could do for now. Good luck, Cardinals! I can't wait to start watching games!

Recipe: Stuffed Hot Dogs

Don't let the title scare you away. This is a dish my mom used to make when I was little. It was my favorite. I haven't had it in years and decided to make it for my husband this week. It's super fast and easy and can be customized in a million different ways. I still love it. I can't wait to make it for my kids someday. 

When my mom made it, she would boil the hot dogs, cut them open and stuff them with boxed mashed potatoes and top them with grated cheese. Then she would toss them in the oven long enough to melt the cheese. Done. I made a couple of changes when I made them this week. I also forgot to count the carbs, and I am not going to make a printable because these are just that easy.

Stuffed Hot Dogs

Hot dogs (Use any size/variety)

Caramelized onions (Use any toppings that you want. Sautéed peppers, bacon, hot sauce, chorizo, 

  sautéed mushrooms, chili, etc. Use your imagination... and your leftovers!) 

Garlic mashed potatoes (Boxed, flavored, regular. Use any variety of potato.)

Grated cheese (Again, be creative. I used cheddar because I had some on hand.)

1. Boil the hot dogs for about 4 or 5 minutes. (Depending on the size.)

 2. Take them out of the water and put them on a baking sheet  (or on a grill pan so they don't move around.) Slice them about 3/4 of the way through and push them open a little for the stuffing.

3. Spoon the caramelized onions into the hot dog. (These don't have to be warm if the hot dog and mashed potatoes are already heated through.)

4. Add the mashed potatoes. (If these are warm it takes less time in the oven.)

5. Top it with cheese.

6. Bake it until the cheese melts and the stuffing is heated through. 

7. Eat it. These are super filling and delicious.

I love the memories associated with stuffed hot dogs. I loved when my mom made them. She told me yesterday that she thinks she saw this recipe in a magazine somewhere, but I am giving her credit for creating them. It's genius. Thanks, Nom.

Variety Tuesday: 10 Things to Smile About in February

I like the idea of finishing the month off remembering the best parts. I think it makes the beginning of this next month even better. So, for today's post, I want to look back on my 10 favorite moments from February.

1. The best part of February was getting to eat at Thai Chili in Gilbert, AZ for Valentine's Day. We drove most of the day so I went to dinner in pajama pants, a t-shirt, flip flops, and a hat. I love that my husband likes when I am comfy. (Yes, I wear real clothes sometimes, but some days it is nice to not worry about putting makeup on and fixing my hair. Haha - who am I kidding? That's most days.) The food was better than I remembered. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

2. Seeing the Gilbert temple comes in second. I remember going to the groundbreaking early one Saturday a couple of years ago. To see the BEAUTIFUL finished product was breathtaking. It is a great reminder that families can be together forever.

3. I hadn't been back in the Phoenix area since my last day of culinary school. I left from my last class to start the drive back to Utah. It was so nice to drive around with Joe and show him my favorite places. The important ones like where I lived and worked. My favorite Jack in the Box, Long John Silvers, and Blue Wasabi. I am sure he loved seeing all my favorite restaurants. It took some time convincing him I lived there because the only things I know about the Phoenix area are where to eat. Oh, and he got to see my favorite palm trees and my favorite type of cactus. Lucky guy. It made me smile.

4. The moment the last chocolate dipped strawberry was carefully placed in the box for our YW fundraiser. It was such a great fundraiser, but I had been stressing over it for weeks! I was so grateful that our YW leaders and girls did so much work that night. We had 474 dipped strawberries boxed and ready to be delivered in less than an hour and a half. They were rock stars. Now we don't have to worry about paying for girl's camp and I don't have to dip another strawberry in chocolate unless I want to.

5. Knowing that the St. Louis Cardinals are all in Florida for spring training. I mean, of course I wish they were in Utah training, but as long as they are training somewhere it means that baseball season is on its way!

6. We got the announcement months ago that our community was getting Google Fiber. It has finally made its way into our neighborhood and we should be hooked up with crazy fast internet by the end of the month. SO excited. With this change comes a change in our TV provider. We are getting DirecTV and will have access to MLB TV. (See number 4. My neighbors are the only ones who will hear from me on the nights the Cardinals play. I like cheering for my team. Sorry, neighbors.)

7. Ok, this one is one that makes me laugh more than smile. Church was cancelled on Sunday after we'd been there for just over an hour. Someone clogged a toilet and it was flooding the bathroom. Rough day. The only other times I've had church cancelled was for blizzard-worthy snow.

8. Another one of my favorites from this month hasn't happened yet. I am getting my hair done on Thursday. I love getting my hair colored and cut. I never decide the color or cut. I leave it up to the professionals. It is so relaxing and I love the change! I can't wait to see what happens this time!

9. Getting to relax. I got a cold at the same time that the Kraken came for a visit. I slept more the last couple of weeks than I did anything else. I am super grateful I have that option.

10. I wish I could put watching the Olympics on here, but I really got sick of it. I think the best part of the Olympics was the interview after figure skating finally ended. Ashley Wagner makes me laugh so hard. Gracie Gold seems so conceited. I loved watching the two interact. It was probably the best part of the Olympics this year.

Bring on March. I am so ready!

Cooking Tips & Tricks: Caramelizing Onions

There are a couple of things that you learn in culinary school about adding flavor to food. The first is that the most basic flavoring combination (the one used most often) is the combination of 50% onion, 25% carrot, and 25% celery. It is used in everything: a base for roasting meat, stocks, sauces, soups, etc. The next thing that they teach you is that the stuff that sticks to the pan when you are cooking is gold. It's called fond. (I don't know why. I think it's stupid, too. Ok, so my editor just informed me that it means "bottom" in French. All this time I thought he was making weird comments about my cooking...) You use it for sauces. If you don't, you are missing the best part. (Unless you burnt it to a crisp. Thank you for not using it when you do that.)

I've decided to share a way to use both of these tips (in a way). Today we are caramelizing onions. I love onions. I love them as onion rings. I love them as the bite in my salads. I love them in or on just about everything. I love them even more when they are caramelized. That just means that we are slowly pulling the sugars out of the onion and letting them coat the onion and transform them to an almost sweet addition to... you guessed it. Just about anything.

The first step is to learn to cut the onion. Onions, like meat and wood, have a grain. Once you peel them and cut them in half, you can see the grain. There are two ways to cut the onions at this point. (In addition to dicing them, that's for another day.) If you cut against the grain, you are using what is called a salad cut. The slices are easy to separate and is what you would use if you wanted onion slices in your salad (you do, by the way). If you cut with the grain, you are using the sauté cut. I use this cut 95% of the time.

The next step is pretty easy. There is one really important part to this step! TAKE IT SLOW. Caramelized onions were not meant to be done in 15 minutes or less. They need time to relax in the pan so they feel comfortable enough to release all of their sugars. You don't want them panicking and holding out on you. Trust me.

Heat your pan to medium low heat and add butter. (You can use cast iron or stainless steel - I prefer cast iron because I am more comfortable with it. Stainless steel seems to get too hot for me even at a low temperature.) Throw in your onions. Let them sit there. Stir them about 5 minutes later to make sure your pan isn't too hot. If they are browning too quickly, turn down your heat. Stir them every 5 or ten minutes after that. Every time you stir scrape up the fond on the pan and let it mix in with the onions.

I did both cast iron and stainless to show you the difference in color. (*See note)

The first photos will be of the cast iron.

And now the stainless steel.

(I know this last one looks burnt. It's not. Just read on.)

They will go from raw onion to translucent to blonde to light brown to dark brown to black. Don't let them get to black. It's that easy! If you are me, you're tasting the onions every time you stir them to make sure they are turning into what you want. (The sugar content is different in onions because of their ages, and you will want to know that in a little while.) Fine. I taste them because they are delicious and I want to.

After your onions are between light brown and dark brown, you are going to want to salt them. This brings out the moisture and helps transform the fond to a liquid that coats the onion. When they brown another 5 minutes or so, you can add chicken stock, balsamic vinegar, or water. The onions will lighten in color once you add the liquid. Don't be scared. Everything will work out. Let the onions soak up the flavor. There are times that I've used old onions that just aren't sweet enough at this point. That's what brown sugar is for. Just a little. Once the liquid has reduced to coat the onions, you are done.

I used chicken stock in the cast iron pan and balsamic vinegar and chicken stock in the stainless steel pan. Just so you can tell the difference in color. Come on over if you want to taste the difference.

Use caramelized onions as a topping for burgers or sandwiches. You can add them to stir fry or soup. You can add them to pizza or casseroles. They will make an excellent layer of flavor to just about any dish.

*Note: I should apologize for the photos. I forgot about doing my blog post so I hurried through the process to get pictures that would be close to what you would be experiencing. Don't judge. It's after 3 AM and I am caramelizing onions for you. You're welcome.

Friday 5: Suggested Improvements for 2018 Olympics

It's that time again. The Winter Olympics are on everyone's mind. We all watch the athletes from our country and cheer them on as if they were our dearest friends. (Pretty sure Ashley Wagner would be my friend if we met.) It's just funny to me. I don't watch any of these events when it isn't the Olympics. I bet you probably don't either.

There are so many things about the Olympics that I just don't understand. (Curling, really?) For example, there are world competitions every year and a champion is named. Can't we just pick the last world champion and give them the gold medal? No? Okay. As you were then. I just thought I would check. I do have some ideas (I narrowed them down to 5 for today's post.) I think we should consider for 2018.

1. Barefoot speed racing. The skis/skates that they are rocking now seem dangerous and they make it a little too easy. I feel like we would really weed out some of the competition by going barefoot.

2. Blindfolded ski jumping. Another event I think is a little too easy. The skis are set in tracks so there is no maneuvering before the jump. I think the least we can do is make it more difficult for the athletes to know when to jump and when they are supposed to land. Talk about trusting your coaches!

3. Randomly exploding hockey pucks. If the hockey puck disappears randomly and a new one is dropped from an unknown location, we even up the playing field a bit more.

4. Loops on the bobsled tracks. I don't think you need an explanation on this one. They would be a lot like roller coasters on ice. It sounds delightful.

5. Ice Dancing. I had several ideas for this one, but I think my favorite is to have baby polar bears chase after the dancers. I think you will see them move quicker and more efficiently than normal. Injuries wouldn't be fatal, but they would keep things very interesting. Plus polar bears are so cute you could watch them instead of the skaters if you got bored. You're welcome.

I hope these ideas are taken seriously for 2018. I think they would take the Olympics to the next level. I'm sure you'll agree. I'm not so proud as to think these are the best ideas for upgrading the Olympics. If you have better ideas, please share them in the comments.

Photo of the Week: Gilbert Temple

While we were in Arizona, we got to drive by the beautiful new temple in Gilbert. We didn't have time to go to the open house because the line was so long, but we will go back someday. I got to go to the groundbreaking a couple of years ago. It's the only temple groundbreaking I've ever attended. Now that it is finished, I can't wait to go inside.

Recipe: Slow Cooker Refried Beans

I don't think anyone can say they hate slow cookers. Mine gets the most use on Sundays so I don't spend all day in the kitchen. It's perfect. I put the ingredients in, turn it on, and leave it until I am ready for it. I knew today wasn't going to be a day of me spending hours in the kitchen making things and taking pictures for you. I knew it was going to be a slow cooker day.

Refried beans are delicious. I love them with salsa. I love them with cheese. They go in or on just about any Mexican dish (not desserts, sicko) and make easy dips. They are great to add to soups as a thickener. I am sure we all have a couple of cans for that very reason. Until now. Now you can buy the dried variety and not be scared. It's cheaper and couldn't be easier. Plus you can make a large batch and freeze them.

Slow Cooker Refried Beans

2 lbs dried pinto beans

9 cloves of garlic

1 jalapeño (leave the seeds in if you want a little heat)

1 onion, cut into large pieces (or if you realize too late that you don't have onions, use onion salt)

Optional: 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tsp chili powder

1. Rinse the beans, take out anything that isn't a pinto bean.

2. Put them in a large sauce pan and cover by 2 inches of water. Boil, covered, for 15 minutes. 

3. While the beans are boiling, smash your garlic cloves, cut your onion and jalapeño, and add to the slow cooker. Add seasoning.

4. When the beans have boiled for 15 minutes, drain the water and add the beans to the slow cooker.

5. Add water to cover the beans by 2 inches of water. 

6. Cook on high for 6-7 hours. (I stirred them every couple of hours. Check them at 6 hours. You want them to be tender, but not overly mushy. It took just over 6 hours for mine to get to that point.)

7. Once they are tender, use a strainer to move them back into the sauce pan you used to boil them. Add some of the cooking liquid and use an immersion blender to blend them. (Don't remove the garlic, onion, and jalapeño. Blend them up in the beans. You'll thank me later.) Add liquid as needed. Season as needed at this point. This is when I added my salt. I also added a little more onion salt, probably wouldn't have needed to if I had an onion. 

8. Let it cool and put into quart size freezer bags and flatten them to store in the freezer. When you need them, you can put them in the fridge if you know a day in advance or defrost them in the microwave. 

Yes, I know these are called "refried" beans. You can fry them in a little oil or bacon grease at this point, but you don't need to. It's up to you. 

When you are ready to use them, refer to this list of ideas:

Tacos

Taco salad

Nacho topping

Burrito filling

Enchilada filling

Tostada topping

Dips

Quesadilla filling

Taquito filling

By themselves with rice

Enjoy them! You will be amazed at the flavor they take on compared to canned refried beans. I like them better than what restaurants offer. I'm sure you will too!

Carb Count

Pinto beans - 162 g - 41 g fiber = 121 g 

Jalapeño - 1 g

Onion - 10 g

Garlic - 9 g

Total 141 g

(I got a request to make these recipes easy to print. Didn't happen this week - I'll try next week.)

Variety Tuesday: Road Trip Fun

We drove over 22 hours last weekend. Normally, we have a book on CD to listen to or we put music or talk radio on to pass the time. It's usually a good system because it keeps the driver awake and makes the time pass by pretty quickly. Well, we changed it up this time. We listened to about 45 minutes of talk radio just as we started our journey. That was it. The rest of the time we talked and laughed and played car games. (Remember those? The games your mom would make up just as you started fighting with your sibling. You would fight her efforts to keep peace in the confinement of the car for as long as you could and then you would give in because you wanted to win the game. At least that is how I remember them...)

Anyway, we drove home on Sunday and I wanted to make sure it was as holy as possible. My game idea was to take the letters of the alphabet and name things for which we were thankful. (Imagine a mix between "I'm going to the moon..." {minus the repetitive nature of the game} and the moments just before Thanksgiving dinner.) It was a great way to pass the time and made it a peaceful drive home. I want to do the same thing for today's post because today hasn't been easy and one of the best ways to combat the Kraken is to force feed it a list of blessings.

(Don't worry, I am thankful for enough things that I won't just repeat the list we made while driving. No, I am not going to elaborate on these. Just take them at face value. Also, I typed out the alphabet before starting my list. When I was little, I learned the alphabet backwards - long story - and I still struggle typing it out correctly. My mind wants to reverse it all. Just thought you would like to know.)

I am thankful for...

A - Atonement of Jesus Christ
B - Baseball
C - Cars
D - Desserts
E - Elisabeth
F - Family
G - Gospel of Jesus Christ
H - Home
I - Internet
J - Joe
K - Knowledge
L - Love
M - Music
N - Night
O - October (Fall, anniversary, and world series)
P - Priesthood
Q - Quiet
R - Rain - sound and smell
S - Stars
T - Temple marriage
U - Unknown (it's not easy, but it helps my faith grow)
V - Voice
W - Words with Friends
X - Examples (it's my game, and it counts...)
Y - Yesterday
Z - Zite

Try it. Put some thought into it - this took me longer than I will admit.

Cooking Tips & Tricks: Five Common Meat Cooking Mistakes

I spend a lot of time learning about things about cooking. Sometimes I have to remind myself that not everyone likes to read up on it as much as I do, not everyone has parents that let them help cook while they were growing up. So today I want to talk about 5 common mistakes when you are cooking meat and easy fixes that will make an incredible difference in your cooking. 

1. Turning it too often. Have you noticed that when you turn the chicken in the pan, you leave little pieces of the chicken behind on the pan? These little pieces are great to season the sauce you want to make in that same pan, but if you start turning too early, those little pieces are going to burn. To make things worse, your chicken isn's going to have that gorgeous golden color you are looking for. So now your chicken is pale and tastes burnt because of those little pieces left behind in the pan. Yum, right? Remember to be patient while you are cooking. The food is going through a reaction. Trying to speed it up or slow it down is going to alter the result. 

2. Not letting it rest. I know you just rolled your eyes and said something like this, "I have 7 kids who all need something as I cook and will all need to eat dinner at the same time before we start the fight to get them in bed. You want me to care about something like letting my meat rest? Really?" Yeah. I do. Hear me out though. In order to have food finished at the same time, we start by cooking the thing that will take the longest and finish with the food that takes the least amount of time, right? Well, let's all start pretending that meat takes 10-15 minutes longer so it can be cooked and rested and still finished at the same time as everything else that needs to be cooked.

3. Overcooking it. Well done doesn't mean black. I understand wanting your food to be cooked all the way through. I am going to recommend getting a meat thermometer. You get to know that your food is safer to eat and you don't have to eat burnt meat. Don't know the temperatures you are looking for? Let me help.

Beef will continue cooking as it rests. Expect about 5 degrees higher after it rests. I recommend medium-well. 

Medium - 140-145 degrees

Medium-well - 150-155 degrees

Well-done - 160+ degrees

Pork will also continue cooking as it rests. Expect about 5 degrees higher. I recommend medium. 

Medium - 140-145 degrees

Well done - 160+ degrees

Poultry is easy to talk about. Get it to 165 degrees. 

Seafood. If you cook seafood this long, I now know why you don't like it. If you want to know about a specific fish or cut, please look it up.

One final thought about temperatures, reheating is a different story. Aim for 165 degrees the second time.

4. Under-seasoning it. I already told you about salt, so I know you are using it to season your meat before you cook it. Good job. Now I am going to tell you that seasoning can't just be in the breading or marinade. You should be seasoning those things, but you also need to season the meat directly. Your taste buds will thank you. Then you will thank me. Everyone wins. 

5. Room temperature. Remember a couple of tips ago when you rolled your eyes at me? Get them ready to do that again. (At least I put a couple of tips between these two so you could give them a rest. You're welcome.) Get your meat out of the fridge and let it rest for a while. I will give you an analogy. When you are coming in from playing in the snow, what happens if you jump into a hot shower? Panic, maybe some yelling, definitely jumping back out of the shower and getting water everywhere. The point is that the extreme difference in temperature causes an adverse reaction. Well, your meat does the same thing, it just can't jump back out of the pan once you forced it in. Seems mean, doesn't it? (Okay, I know the meat has no feeling, but it is going to change the texture and that is just bad for you.)

Friday 5: Valentine's Day

I know it isn't Friday. I also know that I missed my first blog post and it made me a little sad. I was out of town, didn't have a computer or a charger for my phone. (They got left at home on accident.) So I didn't have a way to share with you my list of 5 things for Friday. I wrote my list on Friday though, so it still counts. 

I decided to pick 5 of the reasons I love my husband and share them with you. (This was harder than I thought. Maybe we make it Friday 50 next year. Yeah, I just like him that much.) These aren't in any special order. 

1. He sees the value of me being a homemaker before we've been blessed with children. He works really hard so I can stay at home. 

2. He treats me like a queen all of the time. (He still brings groceries up the stairs for me, opens my door, kisses my hand, listens to me, and brings me Tuesday presents.) 

3. He takes his callings seriously. I want to break them down and talk about them for a second. I want to have these written down so our grandkids can look back someday and know how important this aspect of life was to Joe. 1: Priesthood holder. He takes this very seriously as he presides over our home. Mondays very rarely pass without family home evening. He makes sure that we pray often and read the scriptures every day. Any disagreements or misunderstandings are talked through and fixed right away so the Spirit can always dwell in our home. 2: Home teacher. He loves the families he visits each month. He offers babysitting (and has actually done it) for couples to go on dates or go to the temple. He sends messages to them at random and offers assistance when it snows or knows they have special needs. He really becomes their friend. I love that. 3: Mission leader. I love how he looks at this calling. It's an opportunity to share the love of Christ with those in our ward. He is great at getting things organized and is even better about making things about people and not numbers.

4. He makes me laugh every day. We drove over 22 hours this last weekend and didn't listen to the radio. We talked and laughed the whole time. It was great. 

5. He reads my blog posts every day. It's not something he would normally read, but does so to show his support. He encourages me to be myself and catches my mistakes. What a good guy.

Hope you enjoyed your Valentine's Day. I got to go to my favorite Thai restaurant. It was perfect. 

Photo of the Week: Strawberries and Chocolate

I don't think I will look at strawberries for a little while. I washed 24 pounds of them today. That's a lot of strawberries. I also played in 50 pounds of chocolate. Note to self: don't believe websites that say you will need about 50 pounds of chocolate for 474 chocolate dipped strawberries. They lie. I have about 40 pounds of chocolate sitting on my dining room table in case anyone wants to buy it... haha! Don't worry, the kraken wants to come for a visit next week... I'm sure I'll need every last piece.

Leave it to me to not get a single picture of a chocolate dipped strawberry. I promise it happened.

Wednesday

I want to talk to you about today. I have been stressed for weeks about a fundraiser I am in charge of. We are making chocolate covered strawberries to help the girls in my ward attend camp this summer. The number of orders doubled from what we expected. We're dipping 450 strawberries... tomorrow. I haven't made this many chocolate dipped strawberries ever. Plus I couldn't do all the shopping or preparing until today, and I can't do most of the work until tomorrow. I fall asleep every night and wake up every morning worrying about the chocolate seizing or blooming. I worry about the decorations falling off the chocolate. I worry about the tempering of the chocolate. I worry about the number of people who will show up tomorrow to help. I worry about having enough strawberries/chocolate/decorations. I worry about anything I could possibly worry about. Pretty sure I get that from my mom. Thanks, Nom.

Can I share with you how I am keeping my sanity? My husband is speaking in Mesa on Saturday, so we are leaving early Friday morning for this super exciting road trip. I have a list of places I want to show him and another list of places I want to eat. We definitely won't hit them all, but as we all know, I am willing to get sick trying. Weird, I know. Worth it? Almost always. Back to my sanity, when I have been stressed out the most, my husband tells me he has three words that will make life better. Ar-i-zona. Haha! I know those aren't three words, pretty sure he does too, but it makes me laugh every time. I would go crazy without him. He's keeping me sane.

So my cooking the past week as I worry has been simple. Spaghetti (twice). Peanut butter sandwiches. Bear Creek Soup (from a mix). Chili (from a can). I actually cooked one thing I haven't showed you yet and remembered 3/4 of the way through that I should have been taking pictures. (I will make it again, don't worry.) Tonight, we got street tacos. It's just been one of those weeks. Please tell me you understand.

Truth be told, I was super excited to tell you about a new healthy snack you can make at home. I made it last night and the texture was terrible. So I decided that while I was preparing everything for my fundraiser I would try again. So in my tiny kitchen, I made colored sugar in pink and red. (Yes, after I made it, I realized I could have taken pictures. Don't rub it in.) I made Duo crumbs. (Duos are Western Family's Oreo. They are way better.) And I made a second batch of baked chickpeas. Epic fail times two. I like the flavor, but if you bake them as long as all of the recipes I found say, they are half mushy and half crunchy. If you leave them in longer, they are dry and gross. So, instead of sharing the pictures with you and pretending like they are good, I am going to take a pass on today. I've been so good about blogging every weekday that I didn't want to miss a day, so please find some humor in my stress. I will laugh about it on Friday. Promise.

I will take a picture of the strawberry and chocolate mess I am probably going to make tomorrow. Wish me luck. I am going to need it.

Variety Tuesday: Salting the Earth

I read an incredible article last month about one of my favorite topics. It's a quick read and makes you think. You'l like it. I wanted to share some of my thoughts about the Savior calling His people the salt of the Earth. I studied this topic not long after culinary school because I developed a healthy fascination with salt. (Could you tell in yesterday's post?)

My first thought was that salt is so often called the magnifier of flavors. So, the Savior is saying that His people magnify the Earth. What a compliment. Have you seen the beauty in different parts of the Earth? It's incredible. The mountains surrounding my house are gorgeous. The trees in the eastern part of the US are breathtaking. Think about it. Ocean views. Sunsets. Rain forests. Desert skies. Flowers. Snow. I could go on, but I think you get my point. The Earth is a phenomenal creation. To have the Savior of the world say that people are here to magnify the glory that is already here is humbling.

To think of people as the preservers of the Earth, I think back to the instruction given to Adam as he left the Garden of Eden. He was responsible for taking care of the Earth. We are now. In order to grow gardens and crops, we have to take care of them. If we don't, bugs and weeds will kill the produce and flowers we are trying to grow. It's more than just caring for the ground though. We are responsible for preserving the purpose of the Earth. We were sent to Earth to be tested and to prove that we would use our agency to follow Jesus Christ. It's our responsibility to ensure we can do that. It's our responsibility to ensure our children and grandchildren have that same privilege.

After declaring that we are the salt of the Earth, the Savior talks about salt losing savor. In order for us to fulfill those responsibilities, we must remain pure. (Salt doesn't do the same thing if you replace half of it with mud.) It isn't just avoiding things that can taint us though. If we leave the salt on the table, it does no good. If we refuse to use our time and talents to actively obey, we are just as worthless.

As we fill our roles as the salt of the Earth, as disciples of Jesus Christ, we will find that the bitterness that comes with mortality will have less of an effect on us, leaving us with the sweet delightful parts of life. The easiest way to do this is to be obedient and do so willingly with a happy heart. Think about the way the Savior sees you the next time you are unsure or get blinded by someone else's views.

Cooking Tips & Tricks: To Salt or not to Salt?

I have had this on my topics to talk about since I started writing this blog. Everyone loves having an opinion of salt. Have you noticed? There is an impressive spectrum of opinions. We have those who would consider including a salt lick on their dining room table and those who don't even speak the words sodium chloride in their homes. Plus we have the rest of us in the middle somewhere. (Unless you are on one end of the spectrum - not judging.)

I want to start with a couple of stories about salt. First one is from the time I was little. One of the things I helped make on occasion was boxed mashed potatoes. (Yes, I ate potatoes from a box. I'm not ashamed. Sometimes we were in a hurry. Plus they are a type of potato. I would eat just about anything that had potato as an ingredient. Moving on...) So I made some boxed mashed potatoes and my sister and I tried to prove to each other that we liked salt more. We each had a little bowl of it and kept adding salt. And we added some more. And we would take bites. Even now, my taste buds are revolting. It was borderline salt lick. So gross. That's not what salt is for. Believe me.

Next story comes from years and lots of practice later. I was in culinary school. The first chances I had to make something that the chefs actually ate were mayonnaise and gazpacho. (We cut things a lot at the beginning - potatoes, turnips, zucchini, carrots, celery, etc.) Well, I remember what the chefs said about both of those things. THEY ARE UNDER-SEASONED. It kind of broke my heart a little bit. I thought they were good. That's when a wise chef seasoned my gazpacho and showed me the difference. He was right.

This is how my opinion of salt was formed. First, salt is meant to magnify the flavors of your food. Second, you shouldn't add so much that you just taste salt. In fact, in most dishes, you shouldn't be able to taste it at all. It's easiest to describe salt as a magnifying glass. It is meant to bring out the flavors in your food. It magically suppresses bitter flavors, enhances sweet and savory, and turns up the dial that controls aromas from our food. That all being said, these things are only true when applied to food during the cooking process. If you add salt to a cooked meal at the table, you are just adding an aftertaste of salt.

The best part of the phrase "to taste" in any recipe is that you get to find that line separates where salt transforms the dish to flavorful and where it changes the dish to "salty." It takes practice. Start with a little salt at a time because once you cross that line, it is hard to go back. Once you are familiar with the way salt reacts to certain foods, you will know how much without a second thought.

Here are a couple of tips for salting certain foods:

1. When you are sautéing foods, salt brings out their moisture. That's the purpose. (If it draws out the moisture of food, the flavor of that food is more condensed. See how that works?) If your purpose is to brown the food, don't salt it right away because that steams more than sautés. This is especially important for mushrooms because they are mostly water and will shrivel up and die.

2. There is an exception to that first tip. If you are sautéing meats, you want to salt it before you cook it because it draws out the moisture before it is cooked so it can brown evenly. Salt it and let it sit for a minute. (You can blot it with paper towels before you sauté it. It actually takes away some of the salt so don't be afraid to use some salt.)

3. If you are salting water to boil pasta or potatoes, be generous with your salt. You aren't drinking the water, it is just meant to add flavor to two ingredients that benefit greatly from the use of salt. It should taste like salt water. You won't believe the difference. (Note: If you are using some of the pasta water for your sauce, just remember to not salt your sauce before you add the water and taste it.)

4. People are always trying to get super flavorful food without using a lot of salt. That's great, we shouldn't use a LOT of salt. However, it is important to note that it is important to have some salt for two reasons. 1: Nothing acts the same as salt as a seasoning. 2: The human body is composed mostly of water. Salt helps to balance our water retention. Our bodies are designed to rid themselves of salt to help keep that balance. It's up to us to replenish it. (Don't think it is that important? Ask dairy farmers why they have salt licks available for their cows. Spoiler alert, they could die without it. Worse case scenario, so could we.)

5. If you are deep frying food, it is important to salt immediately after frying so the salt has something to stick to. We've all had under-seasoned fries. Don't do that to people. It's considered cruel and unusual punishment.

6. If you are hesitant to add salt to your food, my advice to you is to check out the nutritional information on your favorite processed snacks. The sodium is probably past that line we already talked about. Since you are going to find that line for the food you make, you already know it is better than the processed food.

I think it is important to note that most restaurants are taught to limit the amount of salt in their food. They have to define their line based on who will be eating their food. That includes young children and older people who don't tolerate salt in the same way. That is why you will find restaurants with salt on the table. You can add a little to help bland flavors, but you don't want to go crazy because you are just adding an aftertaste.

There are so many varieties of salt, it is hard to count. We had a day in culinary school that we tasted different varieties. They all add something special to cooking, but we aren't going to talk about them because I only have 2 kinds on hand. That isn't a very fun experiment. Instead I will tell you the salt that you can use in all your cooking. Kosher. You're welcome.

Do yourself a favor and read more about it (instead of just listening to current diet fads about not using salt ever). You will be surprised at how much you can learn about it. People are publishing scientific finds with salt all the time. I hope I have helped teach you about the importance of learning to use salt correctly. I don't want you to be scared of it. Like everything else in life, it's all about finding balance.

Friday 5: Redbox Duds

I couldn't post about my favorite Redbox movies last week and not share the ones you should avoid. That wouldn't be fair. The majority of this list includes movies that, based on the previews, I was super excited to watch. I hate when movies use all the good lines in the previews and the actual movie is yawn-inducing. Just so you know, this list isn't in any particular order.

1. Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters - I loved the first Percy Jackson movie so my expectations were pretty high going into this new movie. I didn't like it as well. It seemed slow moving and the writing wasn't that clever. I would say watch it if you want to see the next one just so you get to know the new characters, but don't expect much.

2. Lone Ranger - I was so excited about this movie! It looked so funny and it has Johnny Depp playing an Indian. How bad could it be? The first 3/4 moves so slowly. There were very few funny lines. It was pretty gruesome and Johnny Depp keeps trying to feed the dead bird on his head. It's weird. I started watching this movie one night and got so bored that I turned it off and went to bed. I finished watching it the next day just to say that I'd watched it, but it was rough.

3. Turbo - I love animated movies. I love seeing people share their talents in that way. I was excited about Turbo because it seemed different from other animated shows. (It had the same underdog-turned-winner theme as a lot of movies, but it seemed like they had new ideas to incorporate.) Well, spoiler-alert, they didn't. I actually fell asleep during this movie. I don't fall asleep in movies. If I don't want to watch them, I either turn them off or just force myself to stay awake. That should tell you something. Plus I just kept craving tacos while I watched and my taco place is 25 minutes from my house.

4. Jobs - I wasn't looking forward to this movie. There were some good aspects of the movie. The story was interesting, but I kind of hated Steve Jobs by the end of the movie. I don't like documentaries that do that. Before the movie, I was just grateful that he had something to do with creating my cute phone. Now I feel bad for his family, co-workers, and friends for having to deal with him. So in my mind, I just pretend I didn't watch it and don't know anything about him. It's safer that way.

5. Girl Most Likely -  Kristen Wiig is so funny. This is a classic "all the funny parts are in the preview" movie. It was so rough to watch. The story was okay but didn't warrant an entire movie. Maybe a commercial.

(Dis)Honorable Mention: Grown-ups 2 - Not every movie has to have a sequel. Come up with new ideas. The end.

Enjoy your weekend! Come back Monday for one of the most controversial topics regarding health.

Photo of the Week: Pitchers and Catchers

Today's picture is in honor of something spectacular that is taking place next Wednesday. The St. Louis Cardinals are sending their pitchers and catchers to report for Spring training! I am so excited for baseball season. It's the best time of year. I am glad to have a team to cheer for - and I am super glad I married a Cardinal fan. (I don't think I would have liked a different team as well. I mean seriously, do the Cubs win like 4 games a year? What a depressing season!)

I should start by telling you that I know that Matt Adams isn't a pitcher or catcher. (He plays 1st and hits home runs.) He's also one of my favorite players. He bats the same way I used to: He will either hit a home run or he will strike out trying. But this picture does two things. It shows the big smile on my face when I went to the store at Busch Stadium. And it does something that I never do: I never share pictures of my self. I am trying to get over that.

Recipe: Oatmeal M&M Cookies

My grandpa's brother was one of the cutest old men ever. He was my favorite. Like his brothers, he loved baseball and trap shooting. (I guess we know which side of the family I take after.) He loved gardening and had gorgeous lilac bushes lining his driveway. We used to play baseball in his back pasture when we had family reunions. He ate oatmeal every day for breakfast and lived to be 90. So when I add oatmeal to cookie recipes, I feel like they are a little bit healthier and it always reminds me of Uncle Vaughan.

Today's recipe is a balancing act of healthy oatmeal and not-so-healthy M&Ms. They are easy, delicious, and who doesn't love to see the colorful M&Ms in a cookie?

Oatmeal M&M Cookies
1 c butter
1 c sugar
1 c brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 1/4 c flour
2 c oats
M&Ms

1. Cream the butter and sugars. You shouldn't see streaks of butter and it will lighten in color. (It should remind you of cookie dough at this point.)

2. Add eggs, vanilla, salt, powder, and soda. Mix well.

3. Add half of the flour and mix until combined. Add remaining flour and oats and mix until combined.

4. Stir in M&Ms. Yes, I used my mixer. It does break up the M&Ms a little bit, but I was in a hurry. We all make sacrifices.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

6. Wait until the cookies cool, put them in gallon-size baggies, and put them into the freezer. You can eat them once they are completely frozen.

The next time you have a craving for sugar, adding oatmeal to your recipe will ensure your treats are healthy too. (Can you imagine? Oatmeal creme brûlée, oatmeal banana pudding, and oatmeal mint brownies. Oatmeal is going to change the face of desserts. I can feel it.)

Variety Tuesday: If I had a Million Dollars...

I love random questions. (I'm sure my family likes them a lot less because I ask them all the time. That, and I ask "Why?" all of the time.) So today's post is going to be one of my favorites. Feel free to answer in the comments! I'd love to see what you have to say!

The question is...

If you were given $1,000,000 (and let's pretend it is tax-free), what would you do with it?

Here's my breakdown. I don't have the numbers figured out just right, but it is a start.

1. The number one answer in this scenario is always the same. I would pay tithing. I'm down to $900,000, and I know that the first $100,000 is being put to great use. That's the easy part.

2. I know that this next number is high, but it is going to build my dream home. That includes a couple acres of land, a house that meets my requirements, a smokehouse, a swimming pool, and furnishings. My house will have 4 or 5 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, a custom kitchen/dining/living room (I'm still working on the design... I do know there will not be granite or stainless steel. So overrated to me.), a fabulous food/cold storage area, a beautiful office/library with built-in bookshelves, and a large open family room for playing games. I also want a killer garden. I am going to allocate $500,000 and put any extra into savings. I need a killer garden. Down to $400,000.

3. I would take $50,000 and do a lot of traveling with my husband. We would go wherever we wanted while our house is being built. I would want to go on a couple of cruises and see the places in Europe where my husband grew up. I would also see LDS church history sights and family that lives back East and down South. (You didn't think I would take a vacation and not stop for good BBQ, did you? If you did, you don't know me as well as you should. We'll work on it.) Down to $350,000.

4. I would take $10,000 and build up my food storage with food, a generator, and anything else we might need for a rainy day. Down to $340,000.

5. The next amount goes to Lasik for my husband and me. I'll guess another $10,000. Down to $330,000.

6. I would give $30,000 away to people that actually need it. Down to $300,000.

7. I think that the remaining amount can go into savings since I can't think of any other immediate needs. I know. A little boring. I'll just let it earn interest and keep giving to people in need and save for missions later in life.

Couple of things I will NOT spend the money on:

1. College for my kids. They will get scholarships and pay for it themselves. I think you appreciate it more that way.

2. Clothes. I hate shopping. It's the worst thing ever.

3. Electronics. I have everything I need. (Pretty sure my husband will disagree and say we need an amazing sound system for the house. It's already included. I didn't forget.)

4. A pony. I keep telling people that I want a pony, but I wouldn't know what to do with it.

That was fun! Hope you post comments so I can see if you would do something different!

Cooking Tips & Tricks: Breading Technique

Think back to the last time you were at a restaurant and you ordered something that was breaded. Was it chicken? Pork? Cheese sticks? Toasted ravioli? Shrimp? Onion rings? Did you notice that it was perfectly coated in breadcrumbs? Was the breading flavorful? Was it crispy on the outside and soft on the inside? Did you ever wonder how they managed to consistently hit those marks? Did you ever think you could recreate it at home?

Now think back to the time you tried breading anything at your house. Were your fingers so completely coated in breadcrumbs and eggs that you could barely move them? Did the breading fall off before they made it to your plate? Did you throw things and promise you would never try breading things at home ever again? (Okay, so maybe that last one was just me. I throw things when I get upset at myself for failing.)

If that sounds familiar, then I have some good news for you! Today I am going to teach you all about BREADING things. Once you learn the process you can bread pretty much anything you want to. (No, not ice cream or carrots or weird things like that. If you try those things though, please send pictures. I could always use a good laugh!)

First, it is important to have everything ready. You are going to need a container with flour, one with eggs, and one with breadcrumbs. (I've been noticing that those people on Food Network say February to remember the order. Flour, Eggs, Breadcrumbs. Clever, right? If it helps, it helps.) You will need whatever it is you are breading (I breaded ravioli to show you, so that is what I am going to reference in this post. It's easier than saying "whatever it is you are breading" over and over again). You are going to need a deep fryer or a pan with oil it in. You will also need a plate or cookie sheet with paper towels to hold the ones that are finished. 

I am going to walk you through this step by step to make it easier on you. 

SEASONING

Flour

Flour tastes gross. Have you tried it? Make sure you season the flour. I don't go crazy. I stick to salt and pepper. Taste it. You should barely be able to taste the salt.

Eggs

Beat the eggs really well. You don't want to be able to tell the whites and yolks apart. I usually do this part first so they can warm up just a little. 

Breadcrumbs

This is the fun part. I used part Panko, part Italian breadcrumbs, and parmesan cheese. You can use your own variety. Just make sure it is seasoned. Taste it. It should taste good to you. If it is too salty, add more regular breadcrumbs. If you are adding cheese, don't add a ton of salt because then you will have to add more regular breadcrumbs.

Before we start breading, we are going to talk about your hands. You don't want them to get clumpy and gross. It messes up the breading process and is gross. From now on, use your dominant hand for the dry ingredients and your inferior hand for the eggs. Don't forget and don't mix them up. It's a rule. Also, some people like using different utensils to help so their hands don't have to get dirty. That makes things so much harder on you. Don't worry. Your hands won't be super dirty to begin with, and they wash pretty easily and completely.

BREADING

Flour

The flour helps dry the ravioli. (Water and oil don't mix well. You should probably know that.) You don't want a heavy coating, but you want it to coat every part of the ravioli. so move it around in the flour and then pat the excess off. 

Eggs

The whole point of the eggs is to give something for the breadcrumbs to stick to. Just like with the flour, you want a thin coating, but you want to make sure you coat it completely. (If you miss a spot, the breading won't stick and it will look ugly and your guests/family/friends will laugh at you. Trust me.) After you have it coated completely, let the excess egg drip off. You don't want that egg in the breadcrumb bowl. 

Breadcrumbs

We're almost done. Stay with me. This is one of my favorite tricks. While you are holding the ravioli with your left hand, letting the excess egg drip back into the bowl, use your right hand to pick up a small handful of breadcrumbs. Put the ravioli into the bowl with the breadcrumbs with your left hand and cover it with the small handful from your right hand. This helps you cover the ravioli without having to touch the egg with your left hand. At this point, move the breadcrumbs around the ravioli until it is lightly covered. 

Did you notice I used the wrong hands in the picture? Bonus points for you if you did. I can't take pictures with my left hand. This was the only ravioli I did wrong. Don't worry. As I finish with the breadcrumbs, I make a pile and wait until I have them finished before I start frying them. Also, it is important to use the fanciest paper plates you have. Don't forget this part.

You want the oil to be around 325 or 350 degrees. Don't overcrowd the pan because each time you put anything in the oil, you lower the temperature. The lower the temperature, the longer the ravioli sits in the pan cooking. (At that point, it is mostly just soaking up oil. Not appetizing at all, right?) It only takes a couple of minutes to fry and then you can put them on the plate you prepared at the very beginning. The only thing left to do is take a picture to show people your mad breading skills and then eat it!

I know this seems long and complicated, but that is only because I was explaining everything as specifically as I could. Breading things isn't difficult and it goes by so quickly if you keep your hands where they should be and they don't get crazy dirty. I wanted to show you a picture of my breading bowls after I was finished to show you that they look pretty close to what I started with since I followed the hand rule. (Okay, so as many times as I tell my left hand to stay over the bowl so the egg drips in the bowl, it doesn't listen. I had egg all over the counter by the time I was done. Better on the countertop than in the flour and breadcrumbs, I've always said.)

I hope this helps you with your breading endeavors in the future. Don't be afraid of it. It's easy and makes people think you spent a lot of time taking your food to the next level. Everybody wins!

Friday 5: Redbox Recommendations

I love movies. They are so great. While it is so fun going to the movie theater, I refuse to pay for movies that I am not sure I am going to love. So I usually wait until they are at the dollar theater (which costs like $2.25 so I don't get the name - just saying) or hit up Redbox. So today I want to share with you five of my favorites that are at Redbox right now. These are not in any order.

1. Captain Phillips - It's based on a true story. It's intense and worth the watch. The story is interesting. Tom Hanks killed it. Get this one if you are in need of a good movie. It's not a comedy or love story, but it has good action and was very well done.

2. Despicable Me 2 - I love Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2. They are hilarious. The characters are my favorite. I love the little girls. I love Gru. I love the minions. I got this one for Christmas because my husband knows that I will watch it enough to make Redboxing it not make sense. (When did Redboxing become a verb?) Great for kids and adults. Get this one if you need a laugh.

3. The Internship - Have you seen this one yet? Hilarious. I love Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson together. The only downfall is that now my husband calls it "on the line" instead of online. He thinks he's SO funny. (Okay, he is, and I laugh every time.) Anyway, watch this one if you need to laugh a lot. You won't be disappointed.

4. White House Down - If you ask my husband, I liked this because Channing Tatum was the star. Not completely a lie. (Did you see Step Up?) Good looking leads aside... the story was good. The action was intense and really well done. The little girl was adorable. I would watch this one again.

5. Star Trek Into Darkness - This is another one I purchased because I loved it so much. The characters are perfect. I like everything about this movie. Not kidding. Please watch the first movie first if you haven't seen it. You will be a fan. (You won't have to call yourself a Trekkie, don't worry.) Watch this one when you want a really good movie. It has good action and Sherlock Holmes is a bad guy. Gotta love it.

Hope this helps you decide on a movie for the weekend! Let me know what you think! Also, let me know if I missed something worth mentioning!