April 2014 - Page 2 of 6 - Yearning to Create

Hamburger Casserole

Here’s a casserole that our family enjoys. This dish is called Hamburger Casserole – very original name I must say!

I know you’re wondering why I’m making two.

Well, the smaller dish contains gluten free noodles for my Jo.

And the larger dish contains the cheaper noodles for the rest of the family.

I’ll give you the exact recipe – which I never follow. I just throw things in and hope for the best. I think I used too many noodles this time – not that the little kids would complain. They’d be happy with only noodles to eat!

Hamburger Casserole

2 cups cooked small egg noodles – spread in bottom of casserole dish

1 lb. ground beef – scramble fry until brown, drain grease

– add the following five ingredients and simmer gently for 15 minutes

1 cup chopped onion

1/4 tsp. garlic powder (or minced garlic clove)

2 – 7 1/2 oz. cans of Tomato sauce

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

– pour meat mixture over noodles in casserole dish

1 cup sour cream – spread over meat, smoothing level

1 cup cottage cheese – spread over sour cream layer

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese – layer over top to cover completely

– bake uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes, until bubbly.

From this picture you’ll notice three things:

1) Cheddar cheese works just fine too!

2) I cook it for more than 30 minutes – we like the cheese crusty!

3) I actually have a set of matching dishes! (and they even have lids)

okay, and bonus item . . .

4) I need to clean my stove!

Hamburger Casserole has a mild lasagna flavour.

Darn – it doesn’t look like there are going to be any leftovers! Jo’s the lucky one – she gets another meal from her dish.

It passed the two-year-old test – she likes it!

And there’s the faithful Lacie, waiting and hoping for a crumb to fall to the floor. Sorry Lace – we like it too much!

Gangsters and Win-A-Lot Game

Craziest sight ever!!! I walked out of my office to find these characters had taken up residence in the family room!

For some reason, some of my girls decided to dress up rather like gangsters from the 20’s, complete with fat bellies and moustaches.

(Hope you put all dad’s clothes back girls!)

One of our gangsters looks rather like a hippie!

The reason for all this? My eighth grader was learning about the Stock Market and wasn’t quite getting how it worked. So my older girls decided to help her out by playing a Stock Market game called “Win-A-Lot”. It’s similar to “Stock Ticker” but I like it better.

My mom had her old NZ edition of this game which was very ancient. I don’t even know if this game even exists anymore, but one Christmas my talented sister made us our very own version.

The game is pretty simple. There are four commodities – Silver, Cotton, Pearls and Zinc – which you buy and sell each round, hopefully at a profit!

At the start of each round, you are each dealt one of these cards:

So the card you are dealt will determine your actions, and by watching what others players do, you can follow their leads too. Obviously if I have a Zinc Up 4 card, I’m going to buy Zinc now and sell it later (and hope someone else doesn’t have the Zinc Down 4 card).

Notice in the top left corner there is a Bear card and a Bull card, which either make everything go up or down.

After everyone has done their transactions each turn, the cards are turned over and the little tokens on the board are moved up and down. Then on to the next round.

The homemade money.

Here are the rules:

So at the end of the game, our gangsters have dressed down a little!

They’re holding up their fingers indicating which place they finished in.

So the eighth grader finished last, but at least she understands a little better how the stock market works!!! Oh, and this is a good math game too – lots of buying and selling at different prices!

Now I feel like playing! Any one up for a game?

Conference Project

General Conference was over a week ago now, but I’ve still got lots of the wonderful messages floating around in my mind. When my Ensign magazine arrives next month, I’ll attack it with a highlighter pen. But if I need to review something sooner, I just go to this General Conference site and read or re-watch all the inspirational messages. Anyway, here’s how much I got done on my cross-stitch during conference!

I have taken it out of the hoop, so anything that is outside of that circle line is new. The sheep are appearing!

For some reason I was drawn to working on the purple flowers – must be a spring thing!!! The purple is all one colour, but do you know how many greens there are? Me either! But a lot of them were: one strand of this colour and one strand of that colour, put together to make one colour. I sure like that the background scenery is just a half cross-stitch – goes so much faster (not that I’m in any rush, I just like it to look like I have done something!).

I watched four sessions of conference – two on Saturday and two on Sunday, and they each last for two hours. Intermixed with the speakers is beautiful singing from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It truly is a spiritual feast!

So back to my project . . .

I have reached the edge by the purple flowers!!! But look at the finished picture and see that I have many years of conferences left to work on it! And look at all that thread! and all that space on the cloth!

But . . . on to a new conference topic . . .

Look at this cute little treat my Visiting Teachers dropped off before Conference.

And this one that Jen’s Activity Days Leader dropped off!

Such a cute idea! Such thoughtful people!!!

“Decide now to make General Conference a priority in your life. Decide to listen carefully and follow the teachings that are given.”

Make Your Own Stencil

Not every project always turns out the way you hope it will! So just ignore my end result and instead, learn how you can make your own stencil.

Here’s a natural coloured wicker basket I got from a thrift store. It’s a nice sturdy box and the perfect size for holding library DVD’s and remotes. I spray painted it Almond and it looked great, but I wanted to add a little more. I really like stars so I decided to paint a little star on one side.

I didn’t have any star stencils that I liked, so I decided to make my own. The first step was to google star clip-art and find the star shape and size that I wanted.

You need Con-Tact paper for this job. I like to get the clear stuff, but any kind would work (this is the type of paper that you would line a drawer with – it’s sticky on one side).

Cut off a small piece so it’s easier to work with.

Put your con-tact paper over your star (or whatever) and trace it on the paper side.

Cutting it out would be the next logical step.

Now, when you peel the paper off the sticky side, you’re left with something that resembles this – a stencil!!!

I stuck my stencil to my basket and then wrapped the blanket all around so I wouldn’t get my dark spray paint on the wicker.

And then I sprayed it Oil Rubbed Bronze – a couple of light coats.

When I peeled away the blanket and the stencil, I wasn’t too thrilled with the results.

The lines weren’t as crisp as I had hoped, and somehow I got dark paint near the top of the basket (didn’t I put a blanket there?).

So then I thought of a new plan . . .

. . . using the inside piece of my stencil.

I put it over the dark spray painted star, and proceeded to spray paint the basket again – using the almond colour! Pretty brilliant I must admit.

And how’d that turn out?

Can you find it?

Let’s zoom in a little . . .

. . . and there it is, not looking too too bad. I could always turn it around, or I was thinking I just might attach a rusty metal star to it.

In our last house we built a beautiful wall unit – cupboards below, TV spot, and bookshelves on each side. Alas, it was attached to the house and had to stay there. But we have something similar in mind for this wall. In the meantime we make do with our $10 dresser that was sturdy enough for the TV and DVD’s. But it will be years before we tackle that wall unit – I think even just some new knobs would make a big difference! Those fancy brass things just aren’t making me happy.

So the star project turned out okay – not great. But now you know a simple way to make a stencil to paint anything on anything!!! Just remember, if you’re doing words or letters, figure it out so nothing is backwards. And obviously, spray paint can get under blankets! I think my problem was simply that the basket weave was too loose so the spray paint could easily get under the stencil because I couldn’t press it down firmly.

New Look for Lamp

I’ve had this lamp for a few years – I have absolutely no idea where it came from! My guy may have got it from a garage sale or something. It works – it provides light, but I’m really not loving the brass anymore. It used to be fine hiding in a corner of the family room, but now, not so great.

(Please imagine a lovely stone fireplace in the left side of the photo – someday that black paper and wire mesh will be covered!)

Close up of the details before I get happy with the spray paint.

Now, this marble base I really like.

So I got busy with masking tape because that’s all I could find. I taped of every last square millimeter of marble. Then off to the garage to spray paint with my Krylon Oil Rubbed Bronze – took about 3-4 coats from various angles.

While the paint was drying, I tackled the lamp shade. I’d like to get a new one, but for now a good vacuum of the shade worked wonders!

Then I took some natural polished hemp twine and started wrapping it around the edges of the lamp – top and bottom. Hot glue gunned it on every few inches. I used four layers to get my edges covered nicely. No burned fingers for this glue gun expert!!!

Ready to see my “new” lamp?

Oh so much better!!! And don’t you love the marble base? And I even remembered to spray paint the little finial at the very top.

Darn! Should have spray painted the cord!

And here are the detailed parts. No brass is showing through – it just looks that way with the flash.

And finally, a shot with the light on.

I love how the edges of the lampshade look so dark when the light is on. Yup, I’m certainly lovin’ the new look of my lamp. And if someday I get tired of the dark base, I’ll go search for a new colour of spray paint!

Ambrosia Fruit Salad

In our house we call this fruit salad Ambrosia. According to Webster, ambrosia means: 1) the food of the Gods, and 2) anything that tastes or smells delicious. This fruit salad qualifies!

It’s an especially pretty salad for spring because of the pastel marshmallows. This one has some white marshmallows too – I was using up opened marshmallow packages! The truth is, I actually prefer using opened packages in this salad – the marshmallows are a little harder and last better, especially if you’re not eating it right away.

It’s super easy, delicious and has coconut in it! And I usually always have these ingredients in my food storage, so it’s easy to whip one up.

Here’s how you do it:

– 1 can pineapple tidbits (drained)

– 1 can mandarin orange pieces (drained)

– mini marshmallows (as many as you want)

– coconut (I like the long shredded stuff)

– sour cream (a couple of large spoonfuls)

And just mix it all together. If it’s too dry, add more sour cream. If it’s too wet, add some more marshmallows or coconut.

(Now, be sure to enjoy a pre-dinner drink of your pineapple/orange juice that you drained out of the cans! Or add it to your punch.)

If you want, you can easily add more fruit to this, like grapes or bananas, peaches or apple chunks. Strawberries might be okay, but I wouldn’t use kiwi or any other soft fruit that might break apart. Another option is all white marshmallows with coloured coconut. The sour cream seems to balance out the sweetness of the marshmallows and makes whatever you put in it taste great.

It tastes best if you eat it pretty soon after you’ve mixed it, although it can wait in the fridge for an hour or two if necessary. Just stir it first because the juices settle.

Napkin Holder

I made myself an apple napkin holder quite a few years back – it’s just two pieces of wood cut the same, with another small rectangular piece nailed between – you can see the three nail holes at the base of the apple.

It’s a very handy apple to have around – just holding those napkins for whenever you need them.

But alas, the red apple just didn’t look right in my new house. I was still using it because I still needed napkins, but it was bugging me!

Until one day, I had a light bulb moment! I realized that apples can be green too! And since I originally painted the red one, I could repaint it green!

And so I did!

Did a little sanding of the edges to shabby it up a little.

And then rubbed on some Burnt Umber Oil Paint to antique it a little.

And there it is – a very useful apple in colours that work with my kitchen (or at least it will someday when my kitchen is finished!).

I love giving things a new look!

Broiled Ham Buns

Broiled Ham Buns are one of our family favourites – just so tasty and easy and usually all the ingredients are on hand.

(Please just ignore my stained cookie sheet – it was a wedding gift so it’s almost 23 years old and still going strong!)

Just look at this instead!

So tasty, crisp yet soft, and warm!!!

All you need is:

1 can flaked ham

3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese

2 Tbsp relish (I use less – my kids don’t like the green stuff!)

2 Tbsp mayonnaise (I use a little more – I like it creamy!)

1 tsp. mustard

Mix it all together and spread on your open buns.

I usually pop it in the oven for a few minutes at 350 to get it all warm, and then I turn on the broil. The broil only takes a minute or two – I just watch it until the cheese starts bubbling a little. This way the only crisp part is the edges – the rest of the buns are soft and chewy.

Oh, and I doubled the recipe to make this many buns.

These would be perfect for any meal – breakfast, lunch or dinner!

Family Scriptures

There are so many ways to “create”. In this post I’m not trying to preach, I’m just trying to share a way that might help you in your family to create meaningful family scripture time. Okay, okay – true confessions time! This picture was posed by models. It really was!!! It’s the dream image in my head of what our family scripture time should look like . . .

. . . everyone is awake, happy, dressed and groomed nicely. And they even have open scriptures on their laps!!!

And now . . . the following pictures were not posed by models. They are a more accurate description of what our family scripture time looks like.

I know, shocking, but true!

In our home we do our scripture reading in the morning. The evenings never worked for us – too much coming and going and just plain forgetting. This was one of those mornings when our 8th Grader had early morning sports (which means 6:30am scriptures for us) – so she’s the one who’s awake and taking the pictures of her sisters. I was still in bed!!!

Let me add that we’re grateful for modern technology that allows dad virtually be with us, even when he’s working out of town, so he can still share scriptures and prayers with us.

So why do we do it? I often ask myself this as my children wake me up for scriptures – yes, they wake me up! (Have I mentioned I have awesome children?)

President Ezra Taft Benson promised,

“When individual members and families immerse themselves in the scriptures regularly and consistently . . . testimonies will increase. Commitment will be strengthened. Families will be fortified. Personal revelation will flow.”

And Marion G. Romney said,

“I feel certain that if, in our homes, parents will read from The Book of Mormon prayerfully and regularly, both by themselves and with their children, the spirit of that great book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. The spirit of reverence will increase: mutual respect and consideration for each other will grow. The spirit of contention will depart. Parents will counsel their children in greater love and wisdom. Children will be more responsive and submissive to that counsel. Righteousness will increase. Faith, hope and charity – the pure love of Christ – will abound in our homes and lives, bringing in their wake peace, joy and happiness.”

And that’s why we do it.

Let me share with you a book that has really improved the quality of our family scripture time.

We have a basket in the living room that holds various scriptures, and this book.

“Scripture Study for Latter-Day Saint Families”

It breaks each chapter into bite-sized pieces – for example, Alma 9 is broken into five segments. Verses 1-7, 8-13, 14-17, 18-23 and 25-28. And then in each segment there are activities, object lessons, stories, quotations, insights and questions. It’s fabulous – I highly recommend it!

We take one segment each day and it usually lasts 10-15 minutes. And it doesn’t require any advance preparation either! When I got this book about two years ago, there were also New Testament and Church History versions. It cost me just over $30.

We are almost finished the book – but we didn’t start at the beginning (we started from where we were currently at in our reading). When we’re finished, we’re going to start again, and then again, and then again . . .

So, I just thought I’d share something that works great in our family.

I think we need to share anything we can that will help us strengthen our families in these latter days.

Coconut Nests

I went to a stage production of “My Fair Lady” last night (fabulous by the way). Now if I could just get ‘I could have danced all night . . .’ out of my head!

Anyway, it was late when we got home, but of course I went to the fridge because I knew there was this dessert left over from Sunday dinner, and it was calling to me! When you get to the picture, you’ll see it there in the top left. I had pinned this dessert to one of my Pinterest boards, and actually made it. And yes, it was very delicious, although I found out that my guy doesn’t really like pistachio pudding (that would explain why there were leftovers!) Next time I’ll make it with lemon pudding instead. You can check it out here at Brown Paper Packages if you want to make it yourself.

Wow! My fridge looks pretty stocked right now – I must have gone grocery shopping recently! By the way, I love the layout of this fridge. It even has a drawer below those two crisper bins at the bottom – it’s a really shallow drawer but wide and fits a ton of things – like the cheese and cold cuts, butter waiting to be used, apples, pies (if I had them) etc. And it’s the perfect height for perusing things because the freezer is on the bottom. Oh, and it has double doors – I like to think that’s more energy efficient as I don’t have to open the whole fridge to grab the milk out of the door!

Anyway . . .

. . . when I opened the fridge (remember, I heard my name being called) I saw these little nests that definitely weren’t there earlier in the evening. I thought it was pretty cute (which is why I snapped a picture).

Lee had made them in Home Ec. that day and went about making some that evening. This morning I asked her for the recipe and she tapped her head and said, “It’s all in here.”

– Butter (she couldn’t remember how much, which would explain the plate of extra melted butter sitting on my counter when I got home!)

– 2 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

– 1 cup long coconut

– 1 cup Rice Krispies

So basically you’re just making Rice Krispy Squares and shaping them into nests. These seemed extra gooey though, which is why they’re so tasty – that and the coconut!!!

Then she spread a little chocolate sauce on top and the eggs. This recipe will make about 15 nests.

So then I had the dilemma of eating the leftover dessert, or eating a nest. What would you do? Have both? I decided to go with the leftover dessert that I had made. I thought Lee might want to be around to see us enjoy her nests (she was sound asleep).