Provident Living Tidbit for June 26, 2011

Because of space in the announcements I cut out some passages in this article.  You can read it in entirety here:  "Resolutions" by Joe J. Christensen, Ensign, Dec. 1994, 62.  This is part 3 of 4 in the announcements.

Let’s turn to the fourth resolve, the one mentioned by nearly everyone in the poll: I will grow spiritually—I will increase in favor with God.

A few items are essential to our spiritual growth. Let’s start with the one that is most difficult and universally applicable. If we are to increase in favor with God, we must resolve to overcome as much as possible the sin of pride. ....

Resolve now that you will read from the scriptures daily...

Next, resolve to really pray and not just say prayers...

For all single young men who have not yet done so, resolve now that you will prepare yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, and morally to serve as a full-time missionary. ...

Next, if you are really serious about growing spiritually, then “remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Ex. 20:8; emphasis added)... President Spencer W. Kimball suggested many things we can do to make the Sabbath special: meditate; serve others; read the scriptures, conference reports, Church publications, and uplifting literature; study the prophets’ lives and teachings; prepare Church lessons and family home evenings; visit relatives and friends; write in our journals or to missionaries and others; enjoy uplifting music and sing Church hymns; read with a child; do family history research; develop appreciation for the cultural arts; friendship nonmembers; and visit the sick, the aged, and the lonely (see Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 217).

Make Sundays special, and they will help make you special in the sight of the Lord.

REI Classes

Every once in awhile REI sends me an email with classes they will be holding.  I've never been - yet- but some of these might help you with your emergency preparedness. This are all at the Sandy location

Camping Basics June 23 at 7pm.

Backyard Campout June 29 5-7pm.

GPS Basics July 12 at 7pm

Camp Cooking Basics July 14 at 7pm

Bike Maintenance Basics July 21 at 7pm

Fitness Monitor Basics July 28th at 7pm

Provident Living Tidbit for June 19, 2011

Because of space in the announcements I cut out some passages in this article.  You can read it in entirety here:  "Resolutions" by Joe J. Christensen, Ensign, Dec. 1994, 62.  This is part 3 of 4 in the announcements.

Now to the third major resolution: I resolve to be a truer friend and to become more socially acceptable to people of high standards. Learn to be the kind of person with whom others of high standards enjoy associating. We all would like to have more friends. More than fifty years ago, Dale Carnegie wrote How to Win Friends and Influence People (rev. ed., New York: Pocket Books, 1981). You should read and reread the entire book. Among his suggestions that are equally valuable today are these time-honored principles for making friends:

• Become genuinely interested in other people.

• Smile. (Remember, the Lord commands us to “be of good cheer.”)

• Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.

• Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.

• Talk in terms of the other person’s interests.

• Make the other person feel important—and do it sincerely.

Honey Recipes

I went to the honey class put on by the Relief Society of another ward in our building.  I loved how they made it about working together as ward members (bees) to create something, not just a straight honey class.  I thought I would post one of the recipes from it. These were so yummy.

Honey Roasted Nuts
3 cups nuts
1/2 cup honey
2 T butter
1/2 tsp grated orange peel
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Combine all ingredients.  Mix well.  Microwave on high 4-7 minutes or until nuts are toasted, stirring halfway through cooking time.  Spread nuts on foil to cool.

Provident Living Tidbits

I keep forgetting that I have wanted to post the Tid Bits from the announcments in case you missed them so I am just going to post today's tid bit plus a few from the past.

For Sunday May 1, 2011

What Should I Plant

• Choose varieties that do well in your climate.  If you live in a cooler northern climate, do 
   not try to grow long-season crops like peanuts or sweet potatoes.
• Plan for only those vegetables that your family will eat, and only in quantities you can 
   use, preserve, give away, or sell quickly, while fresh.
• Single-crop varieties like lettuce, broccoli, and cauliflower mature all at once, and so 
  must be used quickly.  Don’t grow too much of these!
• Ever-bearing crops like pole beans, cucumbers, eggplant, peppers, squash, and 
  tomatoes mature a little at a time, feed you all season long, and have a high value for the 
   amount of space used, especially if grown vertically.
• Single-crop varieties that are grown for storage may be important for your winter 
  emergency preparedness. Consider fall potatoes, cabbage, onions, winter squash, and 
   carrots.  Cool storage (40–50 degrees Fahrenheit) will preserve these vegetables.
• You can grow two crops of many single-crop varieties if you learn to grow and 
  transplant healthy seedlings.

For Sunday May 8, 2011

Viva Vegetables Newsletter from USU extension on asparagus

For Sunday, May 15, 2011

“Set your houses in order. If you have paid your debts, if you have a reserve, even though it be small, then should storms howl about your head, you will have shelter for your wives and children and peace in your hearts” - To the Boys and to the Men Ensign, Nov. 1998, 54). - President Gordon B Hinckley

For Sunday, May 22, 2011

Low-Fat Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
4 eggs (1/4 c. dry egg powder + 1/2 c. water)
2 cups sour cream
1/2 c. + 2 T. bean puree
2 cups light brown sugar
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups blueberries (1-1/2 c. freeze dried blueberries, hydrated and drained)
2 tbsp. sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two 12 cup muffin tins with paper liners. (This recipe won’t work without them.) In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the sour cream until thoroughly combined. Add bean puree and brown sugar. Stir in the oats. Fold in the flour mixture and then, very gently, fold in the berries. Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full. Drop a generous pinch of sugar onto the top of each muffin.

Bake the muffins for 25 to 28 minutes, or until the edges are medium brown and the tops are firm. Cool for 5 minutes; then remove muffins (in their papers) and finish cooling them on a rack. Makes 2 dozen muffins. From EveryDayFoodStorage.net

For Sunday, May 29, 2011

Because of space in the announcements I cut out some passages in this article.  You can read it in entirety here:  "Resolutions" by Joe J. Christensen, Ensign, Dec. 1994, 62.  This is part 1 of 4 in the announcements.

I am convinced that if we make and keep resolutions in those four areas, we will have a happier and more successful new year this coming year and every year for the rest of our lives. Let’s consider the nature of such resolutions and the benefits that can be ours if our resolve to improve ourselves is firm.

Resolution number one: I resolve to expand my intellectual horizons, to increase in wisdom. This year, commit to read good books throughout your life. Some people learn to read but don’t read very much. A few years ago, a disturbing poll indicated that 56 percent of college graduates never read a book all the way through after their schooling. We might ask ourselves, Are we reading? Are we growing in wisdom?

The scriptural commandment to us is to “seek … out of the best books words of wisdom” and “become acquainted with all good books, and with languages, tongues, and people” (D&C 88:118; D&C 90:15; emphasis added). What we choose to read will make a huge difference in the development of our minds and character.

We cannot justify mentally shifting into neutral and failing to exert our efforts to progress intellectually. In 1838 Sidney Rigdon, a member of the First Presidency, addressed a group of relatively new members of the Church, some of whom apparently thought all they had to do was be baptized, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and then just sit back and wait to receive the celestial glory. He said: “Vain are the hopes of those who embrace the gospel, and then suppose … they have nothing more to do. … The great God … never thought of … raising up a society of ignoramuses, but of men and women of intelligence … as high as human nature was susceptible” (Elders’ Journal, Aug. 1838, p. 53).

So the challenge is the same for us all—to continue learning throughout our lives, and especially learning more about the gospel.

.... Even if we read continually, we could not read more than the smallest fraction of the books in print. Therefore, we should not waste time reading anything that is not uplifting and instructive...In our day, immoral entertainment is one of the most effective tools Satan has to pacify and lull us into carnal security, cheat our souls, and lead us carefully down to hell (see 2 Ne. 28:21). 

For Sunday, June 5, 2011

Because of space in the announcements I cut out some passages in this article.  You can read it in entirety here:  "Resolutions" by Joe J. Christensen, Ensign, Dec. 1994, 62.  This is part 2 of 4 in the announcements.

Now for resolution number two: I will be resolute in preserving and strengthening my physical health. It is impressive that more than 160 years ago the Lord revealed a health code, the Word of Wisdom, that can make all the difference in how we feel and perform. With good health, we can be happier and more successful. Without it, we are curtailed in almost every way.

Resolve to get an adequately balanced diet. Getting healthful nutrition is another area where it is hard to perform to the level of our knowledge. Follow the do’s in the Word of Wisdom: eat plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, and grains. Discover that meals need not feature the meat dish every time in order to be enjoyable and that a healthful diet will also benefit your budget. It really is a “win-win” situation.

Also, avoid completely the don’ts—tobacco, alcohol, coffee, and tea, as well as drugs and addictive stimulants in any form—and you will be blessed in a multitude of ways. What an improved society we would live in if the whole world were to make a similar resolution!

Resolve to get adequate physical exercise. Choose a sport or other vigorous physical exercise consistent with your situation and physical condition, and be regular in pursuing it. Get the blood circulating, and give your major muscles a workout. An appropriate amount of time and effort spent in exercising will help you to be more effective in all other areas of your life.

Resolve to get adequate rest. Really follow the counsel of the Lord to “cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated” (D&C 88:124).

Are you getting the rest you need, or are you habituated to going to bed late and sleeping much longer than your system really needs and thus missing out on some of the personal inspiration you could be receiving? Great value can come to you as an early riser. Years ago, President Marion G. Romney, First Counselor in the First Presidency, told me that after receiving his call to be a General Authority in 1941, he went to Elder Harold B. Lee for advice on how to be successful as a General Authority.

“If you are to be successful as a General Authority,” Elder Lee said, “I will give you one piece of advice: Go to bed early and get up early. If you do, your body and mind will become rested, and then, in the quiet of those early morning hours, you will receive more flashes of inspiration and insight than at any other time of the day.”

President Romney said to me, “From that day on, I put that counsel into practice, and I know it works. Whenever I have a serious problem, or some assignment of a creative nature with which I hope to receive the influence of the Spirit, I always receive more assistance in the early morning hours than at any other time of the day. Following that counsel has helped me a great deal through the years.”

You can have a similar experience in your own life. You can change, even if you consider yourself a “night person.” Experts say that you can set a new habit in twenty-one days. When it comes right down to it, it is a matter of strong resolve and “mind over mattress.”

For Sunday 6/12/2011

Viva Vegetables Newsletter from USU Extension on peas

Recipes

I was just told about a link to recipes for the 1 month kit from the cannery and from the Mesa cannery (may have posted that before) .  You can find them here.  Consider printing them out because if you have no power you won't be able to access them online.

Cheesecake

I briefly reviewed I Can't Believe It's Not Food Storage on Good Reads the other day and someone commented that they like the cheesecake recipe.  I got to thinking about it as I was sitting here and thought I should see if it is on the Everyday Food Storage site.  Now I don't know if it is the same since this post was just made in April, but it sounds promises.  A cheesecake that is low fat and made from powdered milk.  And here is the recipe.

To make it you have to use yogurt cheese made from yogurt.  After having made it on my own I can say I like homemade yogurt with powdered milk much better than store bought yogurt.  I was really surprised at that.  You can find the directions along with a yogurt making handout at the same link.  Or check out the directions from my milk class near the end of that post.