Author: Anna

Removing Burnt-on Food from Ceramic Cook Top

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You will have to trust me on this one.  I had a yucky, stubborn black, burnt blob–well, in the shape of a blob but by now it just looked like a stain– on my ceramic cook top.  I have been trying everything to remove that.  Needless to say, the “Ceramic Cook Top Cleaner” didn’t do the trick.  Where do you turn to find everything you need to know about everything?  I mean besides Pinterest.  GOOGLE!!  I found a list of possibilities so clicked on one and watched the YouTube video. Yeah, not too crazy about that one.  Clicked on the next one and BINGO. Tried it out. NAILED IT!!!  For real, with stuff I already had at home.  Sure wish I could have thought to take a BEFORE shot, but who knew this would work so well that I would want to share it with the world?

Removing Burnt-on Food from Ceramic Cook Top
Great way to remove those pesky burnt on food stains from your cook top!
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Ingredients
  1. Small Dish
  2. Baking soda
  3. Lemon juice
  4. Microfiber cloth
Instructions
  1. Mix a paste of baking soda and water in a small dish. It should be the consistency of toothpaste.
  2. Spread the paste over the burnt area and allow it to set for about 12 minutes. Do not allow to sit too long or it will dry out. Really it will.
  3. Pour a little lemon juice (bottled worked for me!) over the paste and let it fizz to help release tougher stains.
  4. After 12 minutes, gently scrub the area with a soft cloth or plastic scrubber. Do not use anything abrasive or it will scratch the surface. Found that out the hard way one time.
  5. Repeat as necessary until food is gone. GONE I tell you! So happy right now.
  6. Clean off surface with a wet cloth or paper towel.
Notes
  1. Once I can find my source again I will include a link where you can get complete instructions. I only included the portion that applied in my situation. You're welcome.
Adapted from from How to Clean Stuff
Adapted from from How to Clean Stuff
Mormon Mavens https://www.mormonmavens.com/

Guava Punch

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guava punch 2One of the great things about moving around a lot is that you get to collect awesome recipes from new friends across the country.  Our 6 1/2 year stint in El Paso, Texas brought me some amazing recipes, collected from many bridal/baby showers, church functions and meals with friends.  This punch recipe was from a baby shower (I think) at my friend Connie’s house.  I could not stop drinking it and finally asked her for the recipe.  There is not an easier recipe on the planet, let me tell you.  And I have served this punch at many functions–like both of my daughters’ wedding receptions!  

Guava Punch
Versatile, tasty punch recipe.
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Ingredients
  1. 1 carton (half gallon) Welch's Guava Juice (Guava Pineapple also works), chilled
  2. 2 liter bottle of Sierra Mist (really, that little taste of grapefruit makes a difference), chilled
  3. ice
Instructions
  1. Pour the guava juice into a punch bowl.
  2. Add Sierra Mist to taste, but it is usually the whole bottle.
  3. Add crushed ice (if you have a Sonic Restaurant nearby, go get a bag of that ice!)
Notes
  1. One cool thing I did for the wedding receptions was to get extra Guava juice and pour into molds and freeze them. They make great "ice rings" and keep the punch cold. Do this in place of the crushed ice. I put the frozen punch in individual gallon or quart size zip top bags and store in freezer until needed.
Adapted from Connie Chesshire, El Paso, Texas
Adapted from Connie Chesshire, El Paso, Texas
Mormon Mavens https://www.mormonmavens.com/

Lemon-Guava Pound Cake

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lemon guava pound cakeMy mother-in-law made some yummy cakes, but this one is my favorite because it is so different from other pound cakes.  Her original recipe (a special shout-out to my sister-in-law Gayle for providing the recipe since Verna Mae kept recipes in her head!) is Lemon-Apricot Pound Cake, but one time I had some guava nectar at the house that I needed to use and I thought I would try it with this recipe.  Oh goodness.  So moist and delicious.  I. Can’t. Even.

Lemon-Guava Pound Cake
A moist, delicious easy cake to share.
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Ingredients
  1. 1/2 cup sugar
  2. 1 Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme Cake Mix
  3. 3/4 cup coconut oil (or Crisco oil)
  4. 1 cup guava nectar (or apricot)
  5. 4 eggs
Glaze
  1. 2 cups powdered sugar
  2. juice from 2 lemons
Instructions
  1. Mix cake, sugar, oil and nectar together. Add eggs one at a time.
  2. Bake in a greased tube or bundt pan at 325 degrees F. for approximately 1 hour.
  3. Mix glaze ingredients and pour over warm cake.
Notes
  1. I had no lemons when I made this today, so I substituted a few drops of lemon essential oil, about a tablespoon of leftover guava nectar and enough milk to get the glaze consistency that I needed. Goodness, that was some tasty stuff!
Adapted from a recipe from Verna Smith Jenkins
Adapted from a recipe from Verna Smith Jenkins
Mormon Mavens https://www.mormonmavens.com/

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

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sweet and sour meatballs

Sometimes I like to share recipes that help me use my Thrive foods from my Home Store.  It is always a good idea to “store what you eat and eat what you store.”  I threw together this meal in record time thanks to the cooked ground beef and some other Thrive ingredients that I had on hand.  This recipe was a huge hit.  I had one serving left, only because I had taken some out to get a picture for the blog.  I didn’t use that one and used my filled plate instead.  

Sweet & Sour Meatballs
Quick and delicious version of a classic recipe.
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Ingredients
  1. 2 cups THRIVE Cooked Beef, Ground
  2. 1/2 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
  3. 1/4 cup THRIVE Instant Milk, re-hydrated (3/4 T. powder + 1/4 cup water)
  4. 2 T. THRIVE Chopped Onions (FD--freeze-dried)
  5. 1 t. THRIVE Iodized Salt
  6. 1/2 t. Worcestershire sauce
  7. 1 THRIVE Whole Egg, re-hydrated (1 T. powder + 2 T. water)
  8. 1/2 cup THRIVE Brown Sugar, packed (I just used brown sugar from the store)
  9. 1 T. cornstarch
  10. 1 20-oz. can pineapple tidbits with juice
  11. 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
  12. 1 T. soy sauce
  13. 1/8 cup THRIVE Mixed Bell Peppers
  14. 5 cups THRIVE White Rice, prepared (I used rice from the store)
Instructions
  1. Re-hydrate freeze-dried meat by bringing 4 cups water to a boil. Add beef and boil for 5 minutes. Drain excess water.
  2. Mix meat, dry bread crumbs, milk, onions, salt, Worcestershire sauce, and egg together; shape into twenty 1 1/2 inch sized balls.*
  3. Place in skillet and cook over medium heat, turning occasionally until brown (about 20 minutes) OR (and this is what I did, so I could be working on something else like setting the table) Bake in an ungreased 9 X 13 pan at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, until light brown.
  4. Mix brown sugar and cornstarch in a skillet. stir in pineapple with juice, vinegar, and soy sauce.
  5. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium, then add meatballs and peppers.
  6. Cover and let simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes. Serve over cooked rice.
Notes
  1. I made my meatballs ahead of time, put them in the fridge, and then baked them when I got home from work. They are quick to come together anyway, because the ground beef comes precooked, but any little thing I can do ahead of time is good when you work until 5:00 and your guests are coming at 6:00, you know?
Adapted from Thrive Cookbook
Adapted from Thrive Cookbook
Mormon Mavens https://www.mormonmavens.com/

Oriental Chicken Salad with Crunchy Noodles

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Oriental Chicken Salad with Crunchy Noodles

Ramen!  I don’t think they had this when I was a poor college student, but it sure has become popular over the years.  My first experience with it was in a delicious salad a friend shared at a church dinner.  I was mesmerized and asked for the recipe.  Which I could not find this week, so I googled and found this recipe.  It’s a little different than my friend’s but it’s a variation on the same theme.  I made some changes to this recipe and it proved to be delish!

Oriental Chicken Salad with Crunchy Noodles
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Ingredients
  1. 2-3 cups chopped cooked chicken breasts (I used Thrive chicken)
  2. 1 head of cabbage, shredded or chopped (I opted for Broccoli slaw, 2 12-oz. pkgs.)
  3. 1 bunch green onion, finely chopped (Thrive chopped green onion)
  4. 2 2.5-oz. pkgs. slivered almonds
  5. 3 T. sunflower seeds, shelled of course
  6. 1 can Mandarin oranges, drained well
  7. 2 pkgs. Ramen noodles
  8. 3 T. vegetable oil
Dressing
  1. 3/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
  2. 4 1/2 T. seasoned rice vinegar
  3. 4 1/2 T. sugar
  4. 2 t. salt
  5. 1 t. pepper
Instructions
  1. Prepare dressing and set aside.
  2. Smash Ramen noodles, removing seasoning packets (save to flavor something else sometime) and brown over medium heat in 3 T. oil--I used olive oil here because I had used all of my canola oil in the dressing.
  3. Once noodles are slightly browned, add the almonds. Brown until noodles are a dark golden brown. Remove from heat and set aside.
  4. Combine cabbage, green onions, chicken, oranges, and sunflower seeds in a large bowl.
  5. Add ramen/almond mixture and stir well.
  6. Add dressing and stir to coat.
Notes
  1. Don't overcook the Ramen noodles and almonds, and stir continuously until the are golden. They will continue to cook when you remove them from the heat.
Adapted from Tulip at Food.com
Adapted from Tulip at Food.com
Mormon Mavens https://www.mormonmavens.com/

Fish Tacos with Lime Sauce

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fish tacos with lime sauce

 

Who doesn’t love a good fish taco?  They can be hard to find–can’t stand when they are too fishy.  The tilapia in this recipe is so mild you will swear you are eating chicken.  I kept snatching nuggets and snacking on them while I was frying up the other batches.  A nice healthy alternative to fast food tacos.  Now, authentic Mexican tacos…that’s another thing all together.

Fish Tacos with Lime Sauce
Que rico!
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Ingredients
  1. 1 lb. fresh tilapia fillets
  2. 3 limes (I used Thrive Limeade powder instead--a tsp. or so should be enough.)
  3. 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  4. 1 t. chili powder
  5. 2 T. olive oil
  6. 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  7. 1/2 t. salt
  8. 8 6-inch flour tortillas
  9. 1 cup shredded angel hair cabbage (I prefer it thin)
  10. 1/4 cup shredded carrots
  11. 1 jalapeno or serrano pepper, thinly sliced
Instructions
  1. Rinse fish and pat dry. Cut into 1-inch pieces.
  2. For lime sauce, juice two of the limes into a bowl (cut your 3rd lime into wedges for serving). Stir mayonnaise and chili powder into juice. Transfer 1/3 cup of the sauce to another bowl; toss fish in this. Set remaining sauce aside.
  3. In a medium to large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Combine flour and salt in a shallow dish. Work with about 1/3 of the fish chunks at a time, toss them in the flour and add to hot oil. Cook for 2-4 minutes or until fish flakes easily, turning to brown evenly. Add more oil as needed. Drain fish on paper towels.
  4. Wrap tortillas in paper towels (loved this. worked great!); heat in microwave oven for 30 seconds. Top tortillas with fish, cabbage, carrots and jalapeno. Drizzle with Lime Sauce. Serve with lime wedges.
Notes
  1. Add lime juice to mayo gradually and to taste.
  2. Thrive Limeade powder is available seasonally, so may not be listed on my consultant site.
Mormon Mavens https://www.mormonmavens.com/

Daughters of Our Eternal Father

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As busy, stressed, stretched–but continually faithful–women, we sometimes wonder if what we are doing is enough and if we are enough.  The Visiting Teaching message for the month of April assures us that we are each “a beloved spirit…daughter of heavenly parents.”  I am glad I get to share this with you today, because in a couple of hours I am going to visit one of the women in my congregation that I have been given stewardship over as a fellow sister in the gospel.

Here is part of the message that particularly inspired me:

“In [the premortal] realm, we learned about our eternal female identity,” said Carole M. Stephens, first counselor in the Relief Society general presidency.

“Our mortal journey to earth did not change those truths.”2

“Your Father in Heaven knows your name and knows your circumstance,” said Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “He hears your prayers. He knows your hopes and dreams, including your fears and frustrations.”3

“We each belong to and are needed in the family of God,” said Sister Stephens. “Earthly families all look different. And while we do the best we can to create strong traditional families, membership in the family of God is not contingent upon any kind of status—marital status, parental status, financial status, social status, or even the kind of status we post on social media.”4

Image from LDS.org

Brownie Cookies

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brownie cookies

 

There is this bakery in town that has some of the most delicious goodies out there.  And their sandwiches and salads are pretty darn good, too.  Anyway, one of my favorites things there is their brownie cookie.  Oh my crispy, chewy goodness.  Yes, very good.  I don’t have a recipe to make them at home, but I do have a box of brownie mix–with a brownie cookie recipe right on the box, baby!  Just thought I would try those out and they did not disappoint.  Try some for yourself with your own brownie mix or recipe.  The only difference is to cut down on the oil.  And of course, you don’t bake the cookies as long as the brownies. That would not be a good thing, at all.

Brownie Cookies
Chewy, crispy cookie
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Ingredients
  1. 1 pkg. brownie mix
  2. 2 eggs
  3. 1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used coconut oil)
  4. 1 T. water
  5. chopped nuts pecans (we always add these to brownies)
Instructions
  1. Make mix according to directions on the box.
  2. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto parchment lined cookie sheet. Definitely use this measurement. The first time I made these I used a small cookie scoop and they were too big and ran together.
  3. Bake at 325 degrees for 12-14 minutes, until the edges have crisped. Don't over bake.
  4. Cool on wire rack.
  5. Enjoy!
Notes
  1. Here's a tip! Melt peanut butter in the microwave and drizzle over your cookie. My son-in-law was at the house when I baked this batch, and he requested the peanut butter.
Mormon Mavens https://www.mormonmavens.com/
brownie cookie with pb

 

More Meaningful Prayer

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meaningful prayer
 
 
I don’t know about you, but I have always struggled with having a daily, meaningful prayer life.  My parents tried to instill regular prayer into our lives as a family, but we were not always as supportive to them and consistent as we could have been.  How do you make time in your life for this vital communication with a loving Heavenly Father?  Please comment and share with us, if you would like to. 

For me, reading over some  highlights from our recent LDS General Conference helped me today as I was trying to figure out a thought to share with you.  This has a lot of truth to it, when you think about how our prayers can be at times, or all of the time.  I am really going to work on this–it’s definitely a crucial building block for increased spirituality in our lives.

 

“We need to pray from our hearts. Polite recitations of past and upcoming activities, punctuated with some requests for blessings, cannot constitute the kind of communing with God that brings enduring power. Are you willing to pray to know how to pray for more power? The Lord will teach you.”

 
 
Image from LDS.org

Country Style Fried Potatoes

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country style fried potatoes

 

I had all intentions of having lovely little baby red potatoes, boiled and buttered, salted and peppered for dinner one night. Those babies sat there on my kitchen counter for a week.  Finally, I just had to peel them (the skins were looking a little rough), cut them up and fry ’em in a pan. Ahhh…..

Country Fried Potatoes
Simple, delish.
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Ingredients
  1. 1/3 cup coconut oil
  2. 1 pkg. of baby red potatoes, peeled and cubed
  3. 2 T. minced onion
  4. 1 tsp. salt
  5. 1/2 tsp. pepper
  6. 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
  7. 1/2 tsp. paprika
Instructions
  1. In a medium nonstick skillet, heat coconut oil over medium-high heat.
  2. Add potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are golden brown.
  3. Add minced onion. Be sure not to put these in too early because they will burn.
  4. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika.
  5. Serve hot.
Notes
  1. These potatoes are kind of plain, but the add-ins are endless! Be creative.
Adapted from allrecipes.com
Adapted from allrecipes.com
Mormon Mavens https://www.mormonmavens.com/