Author: Julie

Refiner’s Fire

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My life, like everyone’s, has been full of ups and downs.

And every time I thought, “This is it. This is the one from which I’ll never recover.“

Amazingly, I was wrong. Every time. I not only recover but I come out stronger. Every time.

Most recently I was diagnosed with breast cancer. At age 31. With two young children. And that nagging “I’ll-never-recover” thought took on a whole new meaning.

Throughout the first week of my diagnosis the phrase ‘refiner’s fire’ kept popping into my mind, so I took a moment to look into it and found references throughout the Old Testament, 3rd Nephi, and the Doctrine and Covenants.

The phrase refers to how a refiner of metal uses fire to not only rid the metal of impurities but also to make it more flexible so it can be molded or re-shaped.

Symbolically it is referring to the Savior as the refiner and the cleansing of the earth in preparation for the Second Coming. And I know that it applies to us individually as well. That the trials we go through in this life are a refining fire and how, if we let Him, the Savior can rid us of impurities and mold us into His image.

In a 2006 General Conference message, President James E. Faust states, “In the pain, the agony, and the heroic endeavors of life, we pass through a refiner’s fire, and the insignificant and unimportant in our lives can melt away like dross and make our faith bright, intact, and strong. In this way the divine image can be mirrored from the soul.”

The good news is that, once again, I have recovered – emotionally, spiritually and even physically. And I have learned so much through this adversity that I never would have otherwise.

In 2nd Nephi, Chapter 2 we learn that there must be opposition in all things because without it we could not discern the bitter from the sweet. My life has proven repeatedly that the blessings and tender mercies of the Lord far outweigh any trials I may face.

I am a daughter of a loving Heavenly Father who has even more in store for me.

[If they were yours, you’d want to show them off too.]

Sunday Pot Roast With or Without Gravy

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They say that necessity is the mother of invention. Time constraints also bring about “invention”. The browning of the meat step was omitted by accident while trying to get young ones dressed and out the door a number of years ago. The end result… the meat was more tender than when browned. I love it when an oops works out to your advantage.

This is our favorite Pot Roast and works well with beef or Pork.

To my friends who have asked for a good pot roast recipe. This one is for you.

Ingredients:
3# Sirloin Tip Roast or 3# of meat of your choice
Canadian Steak Seasoning
1 1/2# mini carrots – rinsed
5 medium red potatoes scrubbed and cut into 6Th’s – I use Red Skin Golden Potatoes
Garlic Powder
1 medium onion chopped or equivalent in dried onions
1 1/2 cups water

1. Spray roasting pan with non-stick spray
2. Place roast in pan and sprinkle lightly with Canadian Steak Seasoning
3. Place carrots around roast in pan and sprinkle lightly with garlic powder and half of the chopped onions.
4. Place potatoes around roast in pan and sprinkle lightly with garlic powder and rest of onions
5. Add water
6. Cover and bake at 350 for 4-5 hours.

Crock pot directions:
1. Do the same as above through number 5
2. Cook on high for 7 hours or on low for 9-10 hours

Beef Gravy:
2 cups water
1 1/2 tsp Beef Soup Base
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp black pepper

1. Place all ingredients in small sauce pan and turn heat to med high
2. Whisk all ingredients together until smooth while liquid is heating up.
3. Whisk as needed until liquid becomes thick and bubbly.

The gravy can be used two ways. Either add it to the pot roast and it will cook in the gravy – this works best in the crock pot and gravy will be a thinner sauce or use as traditional gravy.

This freezes well after it is cooked. Just place all ingredients together in a zippy bag or freezer safe container. Store for 6 weeks.

Source: A Jennie Original

BBQ Meatballs

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I’m a sucker for appetizers and party food, but when it comes to meatballs, I’m a snob (in addition to buttercream). These are the real deal. My mom has been making them for years and acquired the recipe from a lady that attended church with my grandmother. I’m giving a shout-out to the meatball lady from West Virginia! As you will see from the ingredients, this sauce is sweet.

Ingredients:
Meatballs
1 lb. lean ground beef
1/4 cup celery, finely chopped
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
1/2 T worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Sauce
1 T chopped onion
1 T butter
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 T mustard

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Combine all ingredients for meatballs in a large bowl. Mix together with hands.
3. Shape into meatballs. I roll mine to about the size of 2 tablespoons.
4. Place metballs in a 9×13 inch baking pan and bake, uncovered, for 25 minutes.
5. Drain grease from pan and set meatballs aside.
6. To make the sauce, melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a frying pan and sautee 1 tablespoon of chopped onion for 3 minutes.
7. Add ketchup, brown sugar and mustard. Simmer for 10 minutes.
8. Pour sauce over meatballs. Cover pan with foil and bak an additional 30 minutes at 375.

* These are very sweet and are best served over rice.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

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I had had this recipe written on a random sheet of paper for a few months (okay-actually more like a year). Finally decided to try it out (they are yummy!). Worked great-for the cupcake portion. Under the “frosting” label I wrote “see web site for more”. That could work great too-if you wrote down the website. Which I didn’t do. I’m sure I was thinking it wouldn’t take a whole year for me to get around to trying out the recipe.

Honestly though I liked them without the frosting. So I’d just as soon call it a muffin (since I have no frosting) but you can call it whatever you want.

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp coarse salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
7.5 ounces pureed pumpkin

1-Preheat oven to 350.
2-Line or grease muffin tins.
3-Whisk dry ingredients together in one bowl.
4-In another bowl mix sugars, butter and eggs.
5-Add the pumpkin puree to the sugar mixture and mix.
6-Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix until blended.
7-Fill muffin cups half-way.
8-Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Source: unfortunately unknown.

Pumpkin Crisp

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I thought I had died and gone to pumpkin heaven when I first tasted this recipe! This can be made in (2) 8×8 pans instead of a 9×13. This way you can share a batch with a good friend. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 12 oz. can evaporated milk
2 15 oz. cans pumpkin
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 box yellow cake mix (I like to use cinnamon swirl)
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
2 sticks butter, melted
1 t. cinnamon

Icing:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
8 oz. cool whip

Directions:

1. Grease 9×13 pan. Mix milk, pumpkin, sugar, eggs and cinnamon. Spread in pan.

2. Sprinkle with cake mix and pour butter over this. Sprinkle with nuts. Bake at 325 for 60 minutes. Cool.

3. Combine icing ingredients and spread over cooled cake.

Source: Unknown

Pizza Stromboli

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This is a really versatile recipe (see notes below).  It makes a great lunch and is super easy to make.

Ingredients:
1 package Pillsbury French Loaf (or store brand if you are lucky enough to have it)
1 package pepperoni slices
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Open up the dough package.  Find the seam and unroll the dough carefully onto a greased cookie sheet.
2.  Cover the dough with pepperoni slices to within 1/2″ of edges (use as much as you like).  Sprinkle with cheese.
3.  Roll dough back up and center the loaf on the cookie sheet, seam side down.  Pinch ends and tuck under slightly to seal ends.  Make a few shallow cuts along the top with a serrated knife.
4.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Let rest 10 minutes and slice.  Serve with marinara, pizza, or spaghetti sauce.

Notes:

  • I like to use the extra large pepperoni slices for this.  Makes it easier to roll up the dough because those slices are usually thinner.
  • Variations with other deli meats:  roast beef with cheddar, turkey with provolone, ham with swiss.
  • Serve the deli versions with mustard, dressing, or other condiments for dipping.
Source:  Quick Cooking magazine

The Race of Life

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shutterstock_150366119
 
From almost the very moment we are born, competition lurks around every corner. Even if you find yourself saying, “I’m not a competitive person,” I’m sure there has been some point in your life where you compared yourself to someone else. For example, “Our baby is DEFINITELY cuter than their baby,” “Is our kid as fast as their kid?” “Am I as smart as her?” “Do I talk, sing, dribble a basketball like him/her?” “Am I as skinny or as stylish?” “Is my car as shiny?”
 
Our Saviour taught about the Prodigal Son. I’m sure we’ve all heard the story, but as Elder Jeffry R. Holland points out, sometimes we get so caught up in the plight of the son who loses his way, that we forget the story of the second son. You know who I’m talking about. The son who was ever loyal, never faltered in duty, and was his father’s right-hand-man.
 
The point of the Second Son’s story is that yes, he was loyal. Yes, he was dependable, but when push came to shove, he himself was guilty of comparing himself to his wayward brother. As Elder Holland says, “the older brother lives in some confinement, too. He has, as yet, been unable to break out of the prison of himself. He is haunted by the green-eyed monster of jealousy. 2 He feels taken for granted by his father and disenfranchised by his brother, when neither is the case. He has fallen victim to a fictional affront.”
 
Do we not all fall victim, in some way or other, to these very things? Do we find ourselves saying, “Why does that person get that recognition when WE have done it all along?”
 
Elder Holland asks, “Who is it that whispers so subtly in our ear that a gift given to another somehow diminishes the blessings we have received? Who makes us feel that if God is smiling on another, then He surely must somehow be frowning on us? You and I both know who does this—it is the father of all lies. 3 It is Lucifer, our common enemy, whose cry down through the corridors of time is always and to everyone, ‘Give me thine honor.’”
 
 
It is hard to remember sometimes. I think for most people, if not everyone. It is so easy to find fault with ourselves or others around us. I think one of the most important things we can do is to be generous, uplifting, and supportive to those around us. Remember that we are ALL children of our Heavenly Father, doing the best we can to get back to Him. Our Father in Heaven sees us each, individually, as we TRULY are and loves each the same as the other. And so must we learn to see.
 
We are ALL apart of this race of life, but as Elder Holland so eloquently puts it, “The race is against SIN, not against each other.”
 
 
 
 
*Photo courtesy of sportscience-kathy.blogspot.com
 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Squares

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We love, love, love the classic combination of chocolate and peanut butter at my house.  This particular recipe is probably the most requested treat in our family.

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, melted
1 cup peanut butter
1 (16 oz.) pkg. powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 (12 oz.) pkg. semisweet chocolate chips, melted

1.  Combine butter, peanut butter, powdered sugar, and graham cracker crumbs in a mixing bowl.  Stir together until well blended.  Press into ungreased 9″x13″ pan.
2.  Pour melted chocolate over top, spreading evenly.  Cut into bars when chocolate is set.

Notes:

  • You can speed the process of the chocolate setting by putting the pan in the fridge.  Just remember to take it out at least a half hour before you want to cut it.  When it’s cold the chocolate will crack.
  • We have often wanted to make these bars but not had the graham cracker crumbs.  We’ve experimented with substitute ingredients with pretty good results (All Bran cereal and Honeycomb cereal to name two; pulse in the blender).
  • One of our latest variations on this has been to add coconut into the peanut butter mixture.  SO GOOD!  
Source:  My Mom

Our Most Important Assignment

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“Our most important and powerful assignments are in the family. They are important because the family has the opportunity at the start of a child’s life to put feet firmly on the path home.”
Help Them on Their Way Home

Henry B. EyringHenry B. Eyring

On a recent week-long trip to Western North Carolina, my husband and I were able to introduce our one-year-old to the beauty and wonder of the mountains. She waded in cold pools below waterfalls, collected acorns, stood on a granite cliff, and fell asleep watching a campfire. With joy we watched our daughter discover a new world.
This experience reminded me that I am responsible for providing experiences of discovery not only in the natural world, but within my daughter’s spiritual world as well. It is my “most important and powerful assignment,” because these experiences will shape her life eternally. Helping our children grow in the Gospel should fill us with extreme joy. We can know that we are setting them on a path that will lead them back home to their Heavenly Father.

Grandpa’s Chili

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My Grandpa Davis made the best chili.  I have fond memories of him making it, nursing it on the stove top till it was just right.   He loved to use a LOT of chili powder, so you may want to back off on that a bit if you’re not into spicy.  Mind you, it’s not radically spicy.  I don’t like super spicy food, and this is just about as spicy as I want to get with my food.  (I’ve found that serving some fresh fruit as a side dish can help with that “burning mouth” syndrome.)

Ingredients:
2-3 Tbsp. oil
2 large onions, chopped
2 green bell peppers, chopped*
2 pounds ground beef
1 (2 ounce) can chili powder
2 or 3 (1-pound) cans pinto beans, drained**
3 (1 pound) cans tomatoes, chopped
1 Tbsp. salt
1/2 tsp. red pepper
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. oregano
water

1.  In a large pot, saute onions and green peppers in oil.  Add ground beef and brown.
2.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer 1-2 hours.***  Use enough water to obtain desired chili consistency.

*I hate green peppers, so I always leave these out.
**Use whatever mix of canned beans you like.  Pinto, kidney, and black beans work well in any combination.
***I tried this the other day in the SLOW COOKER.  I browned the beef, then put everything in the SLOW COOKER.  It worked great!

Source:  my grandpa, James Graham Davis