Girls Day Out

We decided a few weeks ago that us girls needed a girls day out, WOW I think it was in January, so it was a few weeks ago. Anyway, Nakia, Allisa and I took our girls Mya, Brayli, Kinlee and Jerika and of course baby Rylen to the Princess and the Frog. It was a pretty cute movie, even though it scared Allisa (yes she is an adult).


After the movie we went to our favorite place to eat, yes Olive Garden. We had gift cards from Christmas and Birthday, so it was even better!! We had so much fun!!

Thanks guys!! Wow, I look pretty scary in that picture, but I have lost 14.6 pounds since then. Yeah me!!

The article that was written with the recipes.

Okay, here is the write up that was in the newspaper with my recipes.
Some of the locations of interest have been deleted to protect the innocent – aka I don’t want to publish locations on my blog, it really makes me nervous. So, some of the wording is a little different than was actually published in the local newspaper. Which still made ma a little nervous even having it in the paper, I don’t know, I am kind of weird that way. So, here it is…..

Ground Beef is the Key

Our featured cook today, Janel Young of (you know where I live, I don’t want to put it on my blot) has shared several of her favorite recipes to give you a boost in the new year to try something new.

Janel Sharp raised in (hopefully you know where I was raised what school I attended). She met her husband Ray Young at a country dance club in a city nearby. Ray was raised in that same city. Since their marriage we have lived in that city, another city 30 miles South of that city and purchased a home in the city they currently live in now about 8 years ago. Ray drives for Gould Trucking and Janel works at Alliance Title.

Janel can remember well having a good meal nightly made by her mom, Janice Sharp, when she was young. She has taken on the same traits and makes a good evening meal for her family. Her favorite part of cooking is making treats. It seems they always have Rice Krispie treats on hand for her daughters and their friends who visit. Ray and Janel have two daughters. Jerika is in the eighth grade at the local Jr. High. She lives to sing and takes voice lessons. She enjoys being with her friends, texting, laughing and styling hair. Her favorite food is cheese cake.

Kinlee is 9 and attends elementary school. She is in the third grade and likes art and science. She takes dance and loves all parts of it which includes tap, ballet and gymnastics. She loves riding her bike in the summer and Rice Krispie treats is a favorite treat.

Janel cooks from scratch and uses ground beef as a base in many of her dishes. Her family favorites include casseroles, hamburgers and tacos. Janel’s favorite food is steak and shrimp. Ray would choose steak. Ray is the griller in the family and they grill in both summer and winter. Janel uses her cooking as a way of teaching her girls how to share and show compassion to others. They, as a family like to share with friends and neighbors what they cook. Taking treats to work is also another method of sharing with others.

Janel enjoys people and associating with others. She belongs to a Bunco group and also is active with the youth in her church. She likes to have people in her home and entertaining with good food. If she ever gets any spare time, she likes to scrapbook, make jewelry that has become a little business called “Watch Me Bead”, where she makes necklaces, earrings and watches. Shopping is also on the top of her list of things she likes to do.

Ray is a hunter and fisherman. He has a dirt bike and loves biking. The girls like to ride with their dad on his motor bike. As a family they read scriptures together, have family parties, swim, grill outside and camp. They enjoy their home and in the past couple of years have made some exciting additions and upgrades which makes it a fun place to be.

Today we have great recipes from the family of Janel and Ray Young and their girls Jerika and Kinlee. We thank them for sharing.

Okay, there it is. For those of you who really know me, there are a few questionable things in this article. The biggest one is the camping thing. We were talking camping this summer with our friends and that counts, I guess. I guess everything else is on the up and up, but I really wonder if when the lady came to our house to interview us, she was disappointed that we weren’t very exciting, but she had to publish the article anyway. Anything else you may think is questionable, call me and we can discuss it.

The recipes from my one day of fame.....

Some of you have asked for the recipes that were in the newspaper, so here they are.  Enjoy!!!

Chocolate Cake
½ c. shortening
2 eggs
1 t. salt
1/3 c. cocoa
2½ c. flour
2 t. soda
1¾ c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
1 2/3 c. water.
Cream shortening, sugar and eggs together. Mix in rest of ingredients and pour into 9x13 inch cake pan. Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Frosting
2 c. sugar
2/3 c. evaporated milk
Cook until the mixture holds together when dropped into water (approximately 2 to 3 minutes). Take off heat and add 1 c. chocolate chips. Stir until smooth. If too thick, add a few drops of milk.

Sausage & Turkey Casserole
1 pound sausage
½ med. bunch or celery
1 onion (or minced onions to taste)
1 green pepper (optional)
1 pkg. Lipton chicken noodle soup mix
½ c. minute rice uncooked
1 c. turkey or chicken
3 c. boiling water
Brown sausage with onion, celery and green pepper. Add chicken noodle soup mix and rise to boiling water. Mix all ingredients and put into casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Applesauce Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 c. shortening
2 c. applesauce
4 c. flour
1 t. salt
1 t. nutmeg
1 t. cloves
1½ t. cinnamon
2½ t. soda
1 pkg. chocolate chips (I like semi sweet the best in these cookies)
Mix as any cookie dough and drop by teaspoon on cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 10 minutes.

Enchilada Casserole
2 pounds hamburger
1 med. onion
1 can corn
½ t. rosemary
¼ t. oregano
¼ t. Marjoram
½ t. pepper
2 t. salt
2 8-ounce cans tomato sauce
1 large can enchilada sauce
6 tortillas
½ to ¾ pound cheese
Brown onion and hamburger. All corn, rosemary, oregano, marjoram, salt and pepper, tomato sauce and enchilada sauce. Layer tortillas (which have been torn into pieces), hamburger mixture and cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Hot punch
1 c. sugar
1 6-ounce can frozen lemonade
1 6-ounce can frozen orange juice
1 t. vanilla
1 t. almond extract
2 c. water
Mix above together and when mixed add 1 quart water and heat.

Foolproof White Chocolate Fudge
2 11 or 12 oz. packages white chocolate chips
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
Dash of salt
½ to 1 c. nuts
1½ t. vanilla
In heavy saucepan, over low heat, melt chips with sweetened condensed milk and salt. Remove from heat when smooth and stir in vanilla and nuts. Spread evenly into waxed paper lined 8 or 9 inch square pan. Chill until firm.

Frog Eye Salad (easy version)
1 lg. pkg. vanilla Jell-o instant pudding
1 pkg. acini de pepe pasta
2 t. lemon juice
1 large container whipped topping
2 can mandarin oranges with juice
2 cans pineapple tidbits, drained
1 pkg. mini marshmallows
Cook pasta and cool or rinse with cold water. Then mix all ingredients together and chill.

Facebook | In Memoriam: Gary Marc Farwell

The son-in-law of my sweet friend Linda was killed in a helicopter accident in Germany last week. Below is a facebook page set up in his honor. He served our country well!! I am so thankful for our troops and all they do so we can live in a free country. Click on the link below to see what an amazing man he was. He left behind 3 children and a beautiful wife. Please keep them in your prayers!!

Facebook In Memoriam: Gary Marc Farwell

Cook of the week - Yes me....

Our local newspaper has a cook of the week every week and this was just one more thing that I got to add into to my busy January.  But this was something fun to add to my busy month!! 


I know some of you may not think that I cook very much, but when I do, it is pretty good. Anyway, here is the picture that was in the paper of the girls and I. I will do a new post with the article about us when I can find the rest of it. There were 2 pages and I kept a copy of the 2nd page and now I can't find it, so when I do I will post it. And, if anyone is interested in the recipes, which are pretty amazing by the way, leave a comment on my blog with your email address and I will send them to you. And yes, I do use a lot of ground beef!

Happy New Year

In looking at my blog today, I decided I needed to catch up a little. It seems like this week I have a little more time on my hands so it is a good time to do it now. On Sunday my back went out and I am not happy about it at all!! Some of us at work are doing the biggest loser and so I have been exercising pretty consistently the last 4 weeks. Which includes going to Zumba, if you haven't heard of Zumba you should go onto Youtube and see what it is, it is a blast and it doesn't even seem like you are exercising because you are having so much fun. Anyway, since my back has been out, I haven't exercised all week and I can feel myself getting fatter. I started a book on Monday and finished it on Tuesday while I was sitting on the heating pad. I did feel better last night when I went to mutual, which was good, because we ended up trapsing through the snow. But, I still don't think I should be exercising just yet. So, that is why I have a little time on my hands.
Young womens has kept me pretty busy, especially in January. On new years eve Ray and I chaperoned the first half of the Stake dance. Before the dance we went to Carlsons to eat dinner. Then we went to the dance and then went back to their house to play some games until midnight when we went back to pick Jerika up at the dance. The pictures below are some from New Years Eve.
Brandon & Allisa

Mya & Jerika

Mya & Kinlee

Us

Also in January they asked me to speak in Sarament meeting about the 2010 Young Women's theme. Luckily they gave me two weeks to prepare, but I was still so nervous. I really hate to speak in church, but I guess after my 15 year break from speaking in sacrament meeting they are getting even with me. Then we had New Beginnings that we had to plan and do. If any of you know about the young women's program, you know all the personal progress stuff has changed, and we had to incorporate all of that into new beginnings. Anyway, we pulled it off, but I still wonder sometimes why I am the one in charge of these amazing women. I realize that I am not "the boss", but I just really think that some of the women that are in there with me could do a much better job than me. But, I realize that is just satan working overtime on me. Anyway, needless to say Young Womens has pretty much taken over all my free time.
One thing I did't give up though is my Bunco groups, yes I said groups, I have two of them. I have so much fun with my Bunco friends every month and I have made some amazing friends that I will have for a very long time because of that silly dice game.