To Be The Best Parent

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Recently, I was having one of those spells where I thought I was doing a sub par job as a mother.  (I am just assuming that many other mothers have those feelings at one time or another.)  On one particular evening, as I went to my bedroom to retire for the night, I noticed some papers tied up with ribbon and a handwritten note on my pillow.  It was from my daughter. The following is an excerpt from that note:  “Hi Mommy!  I read this talk for Personal Progress…….and it made me think of you……….You are an amazing mother, whether you realize it or not.  You may not feel like it, but you’ve taught me a lot.  No one expects perfection from you.  You’re doing a great job. Thank you so much for being spectacular you.  I love you!”

The talk she was referring to is by Elder Holland entitled,
“Because She Is A Mother”.  In this talk, one mother wrote, “I am deeply moved that God finds His ultimate purpose and meaning in being a parent, even if some of His children make Him weep.  It is this realization that I try to recall on those inevitably difficult days when all of this can be a bit overwhelming.  Maybe it is precisely our inability and anxiousness that urge us to reach out to Him and enhance His ability to reach back to us.     Maybe He secretly hopes we WILL be anxious and WILL plead for His help.  Then, I believe, He can teach these children directly, through us, but with no resistance offered.  I like that idea.  It gives me hope.  If I can be right before my Father in Heaven, perhaps His guidance to our children can be unimpeded.  Maybe then it can be His work and His glory in a very literal sense.”

Elder Holland says in this talk the same thing my daughter was trying to tell me, “In the name of the Lord, you are magnificent.  You are doing terrifically well.  The very fact that you have been given such a responsibility is everlasting evidence of the trust your Father in Heaven has in you.  He knows that your giving birth to a child does not immediately propel you into the circle of the omniscient.  If you and your husband will strive to love God and live the gospel yourselves; if you will plead for that guidance and comfort of the Holy Spirit promised to the faithful; if you will go to the temple to both make and claim the promises of the most sacred covenants a woman or man can make in this world; if you will show others, including your children, the same caring, compassionate, forgiving heart you want heaven to show you; if you try your best to be the best parent you can be, you will have done all that a human being can do and all that God expects you to do.”

I feel to wish you all an early “Happy Mother’s Day”.  You are doing better than you think you are!

Lemon Curd Cheesecake

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We served this cheesecake on Easter. It was unbelievably good! The lemon curd was so fresh. Homemade tastes so much better than jarred. It’ll be worth your time to make it. It is the perfect Spring or Summer time dessert. Enjoy!
Lemon Curd Cheesecake
Ingredients:

Crust
2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup butter, melted

Filling
3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Glaze
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons grated lemon peel
6 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions
1. Combine the cracker crumbs, sugar and butter. Press onto the bottom and 2 in. up the sides of a 9-in. spring form pan. Place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until set.
2. Place pan on a wire rack (leave oven on).
3. For filling, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
4. Add eggs; beat on low speed until combined. Stir in the lemon juice, lemon peel and vanilla just until blended. Pour into crust.
5. Return pan to baking sheet. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
6. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen, but do not remove ring; refrigerate overnight.
7. Remove the ring when you are ready to glaze.
8. For glaze, in a small heavy saucepan, whisk the eggs, sugar, lemon juice and peel until blended.
9. Add butter; cook, whisking constantly, until mixture is thickened and coats the back of a metal spoon. Transfer to small bowl; cool for 10 minutes.
10. Cover and refrigerate until chilled. Spread glaze over cheesecake.

Refrigerate leftovers or freeze individual slices.

Source

Baked Halibut Cakes

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Hi all. My name is Becca and I am new to the Mormon Mavens in the Kitchen! I am so excited to be a part of this blog. 
The first recipe I am sharing is a twist on my mom’s Halibut Cakes. I lived in Alaska growing up and we had a lot of fresh fish. One of my favorite dishes was my mom’s halibut cakes. Lately my husband and I have been working on losing weight and so I wanted to try and lighten up the halibut cakes by baking them instead of frying them. To make sure they had a nice crisp crust, I used Panko breadcrumbs instead of the original breading of crushed saltine crackers.

Halibut Cakes

1 lb. halibut or other mild fish chopped into small chunks
2 large celery stalks-diced
1 small onion-diced
3 slices white bread-cubed
1 egg-beaten
2 Tbsp. mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. chopped parsley
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. salt
1-2 tsp. old bay seasoning

For breading:
1 1/2 C. panko crumbs
S&P to taste
Old bay seasoning

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Or you can set it to broil on low.
2. Saute onion and celery until tender.
3. Mix chopped fish, bread, mayo, parsley, lemon juice, egg, sauteed veggies and seasonings. Shape into patties.
4. Coat patties in breadcrumbs, place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Broil/bake about 3-4 minutes per side, or until the crumbs are golden and patties are cooked through.
Serve with tartar sauce and lemon wedges.

Ratatouille

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For last week’s family movie night, we decided to watch Ratatouille AND make ratatouille for dinner. It was my first time making it.  My verdict: it’s tasty and healthy.  You can’t beat that!

Ingredients:

1 package ravioli or some kind of pasta (optional)  
Olive oil
2 diced onions
5 cloves minced garlic
1 diced yellow pepper
1 diced red pepper 
1 diced eggplant
1 diced zucchini 
1 can crushed tomatoes (I used the basil, oregano, and garlic flavored kind)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Instructions:

  1. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add in olive oil, then onions and garlic; cook until the onions are tender. Add in peppers, and cook until the peppers are tender. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Remove and keep warm.
  2. Heat another pan over high heat, add in more olive oil and saute the zucchini until tender. Remove from pan and add to the pan with the onions and peppers mixture.
  3. Return the pan to high heat, add in the remaining olive oil and saute the eggplant until browned and softened. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer; add the onions, pepper, and zucchini mixture.  Mix everything together well and continue to simmer for 3 minutes.
  4. Serve over cooked ravioli/pasta (follow cooking instructions) and then top with parmesan cheese.







Recipe adapted from www.pastaprima.com  

For Peace at Home

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A photo of my children several years ago. 


I had 5 children in 7 1/2 years. When my 5th child was born, my children’s ages were 7 1/2, 6 1/2, 4, 2 and newborn. Yep, I even did that on purpose!  Life was definitely crazy, but OH SO MUCH FUN! But I’m not sure I would have called it PEACEFUL! 
At General Conference this past weekend, Elder Richard G. Scott gave a wonderful talk titled “For Peace at Home”. I really loved it, and it has made me think back on those years when my children were young and being a mother was exhausting. But I look back at that time in our family and have such happy memories. Those were very good times, and even though our home may not have been quiet and peaceful (because we are a loud and crazy family), it was a time of wonderful peace and happiness in our lives. 
Then my children grew up to all be teenagers at once, and we still actually had a happy home with good, respectful children who loved us and they really loved each other too. (Of course, we had your typical teenage moments, but overall, they were really good kids.)
So I have been thinking about what made the difference. And I am convinced it was the little things we did on a daily basis, not the big grand events that have made the difference. 
One of my favorite scriptures is Alma 37:6. “By small and simple things are great things brought to pass.”
It was the seemingly small things like having family prayer together every morning and night. It was reading the scriptures together every morning, even if one or two kids were wiggly or falling asleep. It was supporting each other in church assignments. It was having family dinner together as much as possible. It was having a fun Family Home Evening each Monday night where we had a short gospel lesson, did crazy “special numbers”, played hilarious games, and had yummy treats together. Those are some of the things that I know have helped make a happy family. 
But you need to know that “special numbers” may have consisted of a spitting contest, or burping a song, but sometimes was something more dignified like playing a piano piece, or reciting a memorized scripture. I rarely had lessons truly prepared in advance. Many times we read articles out of the Friend or New Era, discussed a needed topic, or read a section out of For the Strength of Youth. Games could be anything from Duck Duck Goose, Hide and Seek in the Dark, Buckle Buckle Beanstalk, or having a rubber band war shooting army men off a Lincoln Log fort. And many times treats were whatever we could scrounge up from the pantry because we did not have time to make something really good. Those crazy made up treats were some of our favorite and most memorable.
Nope, everything was definitely not always perfect, cause that’s not real life. But it was consistently doing these things that bound our family together in love and unity, that still exists today. Just a little note – I used to keep a Family Home Evening journal where I wrote down each week what we did. One entry said how fussy and whiny the kids were being, so I put them all to bed early and enjoyed a truly peaceful evening. Yes, life happens, but the happiness comes as you keep trying.
Here is a little excerpt from Elder Scott’s talk: 
Many voices from the world in which we live tell us we should live at a frantic pace. There is always more to do and more to accomplish. Yet deep inside each of us is a need to have a place of refuge where peace and serenity prevail, a place where we can reset, regroup, and re-energize to prepare for future pressures.
The ideal place for that peace is within the walls of our own homes, where we have done all we can to make the Lord Jesus Christ the centerpiece…Regardless of your circumstances, you can center your home and your life on the Lord Jesus Christ, for He is the source of true peace in this life.
I’m sure you can identify the fundamental principles that center your home on the Savior. The prophetic counsel to have daily personal and family prayer, daily personal and family scripture study, and weekly family home evening are the essential, weight-bearing beams in the construction of a Christ-centered home. Without these regular practices it will be difficult to find the desired and much-needed peace and refuge from the world.
As you center your home on the Savior, it will naturally become a refuge not only to your own family but also to friends who live in more difficult circumstances. They will be drawn to the serenity they feel there. Welcome such friends into your home. They will blossom in that Christ-centered environment. Become friends with your children’s friends. Be a worthy example to them.
One of the greatest blessings we can offer to the world is the power of a Christ-centered home where the gospel is taught, covenants are kept, and love abounds.

Strawberry Lime Jam

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I LOVE STRAWBERRY JAM!  I love that freezer jam tastes so fresh which I haven’t found in a canned jam.  Well I haven’t had a freezer so last year I added lime juice hoping it would help maintain the fresh flavor.  It did!  I love the lime and strawberry flavors together, so this year I added the zest.  It is so yummy. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
Low-Sugar Pectin (Sure Jell)
6 cups crushed strawberries (about 6 pints)
4 cups Sugar
1 tsp butter
Juice and zest from 1 large lime

-Wash 5 pint jars, and screw bands in hot soapy water (or you can run them through the dishwasher which is my preferred method).  Place flat lids in small saucepan and cover with water. Put saucepan on the stove.

-Measure sugar into a bowl.  MAKE EXACT MEASUREMENTS!  I slide a butter knife across the top of my measuring cup.

-In another small bowl  mix 1/4 cup of sugar, from the sugar you have already measured out, with a package of low sugar pectin (again I use Sure Jell).

-Clean strawberries and lime.  Crush strawberries in a food processor or smash with a potato masher.  DO NOT PUREE!

-Measure Strawberries into 6 or 8 quart sauce-pot.  Again MAKE EXACT MEASUREMENTS.

-Mix lime juice and zest into the mashed strawberries.

-Stir pectin-sugar mixture and butter into the strawberries.

-Bring mixture to a full roiling boil (doesn’t stop boiling when being stirred) on high heat stirring constantly.

-Stir in the rest of the sugar quickly, bring back up to a full roiling boil stirring constantly. Boil for exactly 1 minute, again stirring constantly.

-At this point turn on the hotplate to the flat lids to high.

-Quickly ladle jam into jars, filling to the thread for the screw bands.

-Wipe the jar rims and threads with clean damp paper towel.

-Drain water off of flat lids and place on top of jars with screw bands, tightly.  Turn jars upside down for 5 minutes, then place them right side up.  Let stand for 24 hours.  Store unopened jam for up to a year.

Yields 4-5 pints

Chicken with Tropical Barbecue Sauce

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It was late in the day on Sunday and I really just wanted to throw something in the slow cooker for even later.  What did I have on hand?  First I checked my trusty Fix-It and Forget-It  Cookbook and right there on page 176 was the answer.  Thank you Lois Stoltzfus from Honey Brook, PA.  It was just a simple, no fuss meal but I was grateful to have it cooking away as I watched the afternoon session of our Church’s world-wide conference.  Love my slow cooker.  Seriously.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup molasses
2 T. cider vinegar
2 T. Worcestershire Sauce
2 t. prepared mustard
1/8-1/4 hot pepper sauce (I used about a teaspoon of Sriracha sauce, but that wasn’t spicy enough)
2 T. orange juice
3 whole chicken breasts, halved ( I used about 5 boneless, skinless breasts)

1.  Combine molasses, vinegar, Worcestershire Sauce, and orange juice.  Brush over chicken.
2.  Place chicken in slow cooker (I poured the rest of the sauce mixture over the chicken).
3.  Cover.  Cook on Low 7-9 hours, or Hight 3-4 hours.

I served this with rice and some canned tropical fruit, chilled.  Yummmm….

Source:  Lois Stoltzfus, Fix-It and Forget-It, p. 176.

Mango-Strawberry Masque

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This clarifying, hydrating masque unclogs pores and helps reduce acne.   Of course, you are certainly welcome to use it as a super healthy snack .                                                                                                                                                                                       Ingredients:

4 slices of mango (an antioxidant)
1/2 c. plain yogurt (an exfoliant)
4 strawberries (collagen boosters)

Directions:

1.  Mix all ingredients in a blender until you’ve got a paste.  Then massage onto skin.  Leave on for 10 minutes.

2.  Rinse off and shield your eyes from the glow you’ve unleashed!

 Source:  cosmoforlatinas.com

AMAZING 100% Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes!

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You are going to LOVE these pancakes!!! They are delicious and made with wholesome ingredients. I like to make the batter a little thinner so I can get crunchy edges. 

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes

1. Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl:
2 cups whole wheat flour (I like to use Hard White Wheat and grind it fresh. Hard Red Wheat tastes really good too!)
1 cup oats (you can use instant or old fashioned rolled)
1/4 cup dry milk powder (mix in with flour)*
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder

2. Now add the wet ingredients:
1/4 cup of oil (I like canola oil)
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/2 cups water (I use 3 cups to make the batter thinner so it makes those crispy edges! Yum!)

You can add in blueberries, chocolate chips, apple dices and cinnamon, some pumpkin and cinnamon, nuts, or whatever your heart desires!

3. Whisk batter until mixed well. Let sit for a few minutes. Do not stir again. It will flatten the batter.

4. Pour some batter onto a very hot and buttered griddle or frying pan. Let it cook on that side for a minute or so until edges start looking done and bubbles start to pop. Flip pancakes once and let finish cooking.

5. Serve with butter and syrup, fruit, or whatever you like on pancakes. My husband doesn’t like to put sugary syrup on them, so he eats them with homemade applesauce. I’ll stick with maple syrup! : )

These freeze well. Delicious and healthy!

*Notes: 
1. If you do not have dry milk powder, you can omit that and use 2 1/2 cups of milk in the place of water. The milk helps them brown nicely, so you at least need some. You could just use 1 cup of milk and 1 1/2 cups of water if you prefer to use less milk. 

2. I have a friend with a sweet tooth who said he added a few tablespoons of sugar to the recipe. I think he’s crazy because then he drowns it in syrup, but whatever! Ha ha! If it makes him feel better, he can add sugar with no objection from me!

Source: Me : ) 


General Conference

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I think my 2 favorite weekends of the year happen the first week in October and the first week of April.  What a miraculous time we live in, that, in all corners of the earth we can hear a living prophet speak! I was so excited yesterday when they announced a new temple would be built in my home town of Cedar City Utah!!! But, I believe that the talk by Sister Elaine S. Dalton was what I needed to hear most.  Often times I find myself worrying more about what others think of me and forgetting that I am a daughter of God!  I know that the messages are inspired, and that we each will hear something that touches on something that we, individually, need.  
 

 

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