Kitchen Management Hints

Mommy and countless others

When preparing food, it's best to start with clean kitchen and an empty dishwasher.  It makes clean up so much easier and quicker!

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Pull all ingredients out for a recipe.  As you use the ingredient, put it away before adding the next ingredient in the recipe.  Papa taught me to always “clean as you go”.  This makes clean up and snap and it also helps forgetting to add an ingredient to your recipe as you can see at a glance which ingredients are still on the counter.  

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The MOMYS taught me this one.  When adding multiple scopes of an ingredient, put the ingredients in the bowl in a clockwise direction with one scoop per pile.  If you are interrupted while cooking you can count the piles to see where you were before the interruption.  :)

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Use Sign Language counting on fingers while scooping flour, wheat berries, etc. so you don't lose your place in a recipe due to interruptions.  

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FlyLady taught me to soak baked dishes for 5-10 minutes in hot water and then wash them.  Leaving them overnight does not make it easier.  The water still needs to be warm when you wash them for the best benefit.  I was very amazed when I tested this out and found out she was correct!

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Grandma Durst taught me to lay a paper towel soaked in water over food cooked onto the stovetop.  Let is soak for awhile and you will be able to come back and wipe the food right off.  Just don't leave it so long that the paper towel dries on the stove.  :)

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It is cheaper to run dishwasher, washing machine, and dryer at night to save money.  You can check with the electric company to find out when the energy is the cheapest.  The dryer is a huge electricity puller.  Running that at the cheap times will make a big difference in your electric bill.  Better yet, install a clothes line and dry the clothes in the sunshine.  ;)

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Baking soda and lemon juice will shine up stainless steel.  Make a paste with baking soda and lemon juice.  Spread the paste all over the surface to be cleaned.  Allow it to set for a few minutes.  Use hot water to scrub and rinse well.  This works great to shine the sink.  I love a shiny sink!!!

GOOT

Sheri Graham

3 TB coconut oil
3 TB olive oil
3 TB fresh chopped garlic

GOOT Garlic Oil Treatment

Anti-infective/Anti-fungal/Anti-parasites

MAKING GOOT

Warm coconut oil over stove until melted and add olive oil. Remove from heat and add fresh chopped garlic. Blend at slow speed, then at high speed for two minutes. Use a blender or coffee grinder. Pour mixture through a screen to remove chunks of garlic that the blender may have missed. Pour into a wide mouth jar and label it “GOOT.” Place in a refrigerator.

Freshly made, the mixture is a milky color and runny. GOOT turns into a thick soft paste after one hour. After being in the fridge for several hours, it is just hard like a salve easy to spread.

MEDICINAL PROPERTIES
GOOT, rubbed into the skin, transfers raw garlic oil directly into the blood stream.

Apply on the feet of children or infants to fight infections. Rub on chest for chest colds, pneumonia or rub into nostrils for sinus infections. Place on cotton swab for ear infections. Apply directly to sores inside the mouth. Rub on Athlete’s foot or genital area for jock itch. Insert GOOT into affected area for yeast or other related infections. Apply on rashes any place. GOOT kills Candida, parasites, bad bacteria and virus by direct application. Also can be applied on bug bites.

In addition, it treats systemic infections by absorption through the skin into the blood supply and travels throughout the body. After two weeks, make a new batch of GOOT.

Garlic is an amazing powerhouse created for our use by our loving Creator!  This works well on the bottoms of the feet before bedtime.  Cover the feet with socks to keep it from getting all over the sheets.  Learn how to use this amazing gift from the Lord!

Love Always,

Mommy

Chewy No-Bake Granola Bars

Money Saving Mom

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 ½ cups Rice Krispies (if you want to make these healthier, you can use plain puffed rice cereal)
• 1 ¾ cups quick oats (regular rolled oats work too)
• ¼ cup wheat germ (or ground flax seed, wheat bran, or additional oats)
• ½ cup additional mix-in ingredients, optional (i.e. shredded coconut, chopped nuts, raisins or other dried fruit, sesame or sunflower seeds, etc.)
• ½ cup honey
• ½ cup brown sugar (or sucanat)
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup mini chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

• Combine first 4 dry ingredients in a bowl.
• In a saucepan, mix the honey, brown sugar and salt. Over medium-low heat, stir until the mixture comes to a complete boil for 30-60 seconds.
• Remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter and vanilla until smooth.
• Pour over the dry ingredients and mix well.
• Let cool for 15-20 minutes before mixing in the chocolate chips.
• Press into a greased 9×13 pan and let cool before cutting into bars.

These freeze well!!

Mommy made these for the first time tonight and they were so good!  I used wheat germ and raw sunflower seeds as my options.  Man, they are good!  I can't wait for you children to try them (they weren't finished before you headed to bed).  Daniel came in and said, "You aren't eating all those tonight are you?  Oh, no, it's 10:00 and you couldn't eat a whole pan by yourself tonight!".  You are right, Buddy.  Don't worry.  I'll save some for you!

Love Always,

Mommy

Buttercream Frosting

1 lb (app 4 C) powdered sugar
1/2 C butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 TB milk
food coloring, optional

In a large bowl, beat together sugar, butter, vanilla and milk, until smooth.  If necessary, add more milk until frosting is spreading consistency.  If desired, add a few drops of food coloring.  Stir to blend.  Makes enough to fill and frost a 2 layer cake or 9x13 inch sheet cake or 2 dozen cupcakes.

This is the buttercream frosting recipe from the Wilton cake decorating class I took in Utah.  It's a very yummy frosting and it works well for smoothing out and using to decorate.
Love Always,
Mommy 

Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 1/2 C powdered milk
2/3 C sugar
1/2 C boiling water
1 tsp vanilla

Using a blender, mix all the ingredients together.

In Turkey, Nette Mireles and I were trying to make something and we didn't have any condensed milk but we found this in one of her cookbooks.  It worked great!  I love having a good substitution for items in my pantry.  
Love Always,
Mommy

Chocolatey Raspberry Crumb Bars

1 C butter
2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C packed light brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 C (12oz) chocolate chips
1 1/4 C (14oz) condensed milk
1/3 C seedless raspberry jam
1/2 C chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 9x13 inch pan.  Beat butter in large mixer bowl until creamy.  Beat in flour, sugar and salt until crumbly.  With floured fingers, press 1 3/4C crumb mixture onto bottom of prepared baking pan; reserve remaining mixture.  Bake for 10-12 mins or until edges are golden brown.  Combine 1C choc. chips and condensed milk in small, heavy-duty saucepan.  Warm over low heat, stirring until smooth.  Spread over hot crust.  Stir nuts into reserve crumb mixture; sprinkle over chocolate filling.  Drop teaspoonfuls of raspberry jam over crumb mixture.  Sprinkle with remaining choc. chips.  Bake for 25-35 mins or until center is set.  Cool in pan on wire rack.  Makes 3 dozen bars.

Have no idea where this yummy recipe comes from but these are amazing bars!  Just make sure and use seedless raspberry jam!  Chocolate and raspberry- one of Mommy's all time favorite combinations.  So delicious!  Yum!
Love Always,
Mommy 

Daniel's Birthday "Cook"

A.K.A. McCormick's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
From McCormick's

3 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/3 C butter, softened
1 1/4 C sugar
1 C brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
4 tsp pure vanilla extract
12 oz (2 C) choc. chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.  Beat butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla until creamy.  Gradually mix in flour mixture.  Stir in choc. chips.  Drop by rounded tablespoons about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake 8-10 mins or until bottoms are browned.  Makes 5 dozen.

Variation: Bar Cookies
Grease 15x10 inch jelly roll pan.  Prepare dough as above.  Spread into prepared pan.  Bake for 16-25 mins or until golden brown.  Cool in pan on wire rack.  Makes 4 dozen bars.

Daniel didn't want a cake for his birthday.  He wanted a cookie.  A big, huge cookie!  So, we made these.  Daniel has continued the tradition and still requests a birthday "cook", cinnamon rolls, or chocolate pie for his birthday.  I think he is caked out after all the birthdays and appreciates something different.  These are very good and they come together quickly since you can cook all the cookie dough at one time instead of waiting on multiple batches of cookies.  
Love Always,
Mommy