First of all, Taya came into town last week for a few days, and I can't tell you how happy it made me to see her lovely face! We swam at her place here in town (and fun to discover that it was less than 5 minutes from our new home) and it brought back so many pleasant memories. :) Emma was most happy to get to bring Trevi to our house to play. Thanks for including us in your visit Taya and Tessa! We miss you already.
Speaking of wonderful friends, I've been so glad to get to do some girls nights the last few weeks with so many awesome girls from the ward we recently left (it's definitely nice to not have moved very far and to still have some girlfriends to still see, especially as we adjust to a new ward) We gathered for SYTYCD results shows on Thursdays and when that ended we decided to start meeting up at Sonic so we could still get together and talk about silly stuff. :) As a mommy who recently doesn't get out much, these short get-togethers are so needed! I now have the task of trying to acclimate into a new ward and try to make new friends (so hard!). But luckily, this ward is friendly and outgoing and fun and I'm already quickly getting to know many kind and talented girls. As of late I've been greatly appreciating my associations with the women around me. Between my mom, sister, mother-in-law, sister-in-law, friends, and Relief Society, I feel like I have the greatest support system and resource for being the best mom and wife I can be. It's a good feeling to have people you can learn from and relate to in order to continually improve, yes? .... is it just me, or am I turning into quite the reflective person? I'm delving into some deep stuff lately. Hmmmm... maybe I need to get out more? Spending lots of time in a house full of kids makes for a contemplative susan.
The ice cream truck sings its tingy, merry tune at least a couple times each week down our street... so, it's only a matter of time before we break down and run out there for a treat. Most recently I ran for some quarters and we quickly got out to the truck-o-goodies (kids in bare feet). The girls and I stared at our purchasing options and finally settled on a very large watermelon popsicle. I hadn't grabbed enough coins for more than one, so when we headed inside I was faced with trying to come to a no-fighting solution for how to share the one treat. I settled on using the timer and the girls (surprisingly willing) agreed to take turns. Well, this thing was huge, so in the end, even with them sharing it, I ended up eating half of it. It was good.
This may be embarrassing to admit, but we've never been good at consistent Family Home Evenings. But lately, we've turned a new leaf. We've held FHE every week for the past 2 months.. and I can really tell a difference in the spirit in our home. Emma is definitely to an age where she really appreciates it and looks forward it. She often asks if we are going to do FHE and also what treat we'll eat (that's very important). She's been taking an active role too in deciding on our treat and planning out ingredients we need to buy. She's going to be a good little mommy someday! And now that we have a piano, tonight Ben was even able to pluck out 'Jesus wants me for a sunbeam' while we sang along. I think one of my hangups in the past about sticking to a weekly FHE was my preparation expectations. I would often let it slide because I hadn't taken the time to prepare something well ahead of time. But now, I'm trying to not let my perfectionist tendencies to get in the way. There's been a couple weeks where I didn't plan anything until a couple minutes before we sit down together as a family by whipping out the Friend and quickly finding a little story or message to share from that. We spend most of our Family Home Evening time singing songs together anyway, so the 'lesson' is very short and sweet!
And last, but not least, I will share what I've learned regarding bread making (and tortilla making). Understand that I do not feel like an expert by any means - I've only just started really delving into my kitchen a few weeks ago, so I have so much to still figure out. But I will share anyway, since so many asked. :) I've tried a few bread recipes (all whole wheat) - they vary greatly in the amount of honey/sugar, and oil that is added. This one is on the leaner end as far as sugar and oil (my mom's recipe is even less than this and also good), but still very sweet and a good tecture. Just know that you can use other recipes that have even more oil and honey and I'm sure they will be even sweeter and tastier. This recipe is a good middle ground for me and we all really like it. And like I've said before, the next step will be to grind my own wheat, but first I'll need a wheat grinder... maybe for Christmas!
Click here for the bread recipe.
And now for tortillas - I am currently using this recipe. It says specifically at the top to not substitute the lard for shortening, but I am a rule breaker... I've been using shortening, because I have that already in my cupboard. :) The tortillas turn out great! Some tips however - we learned from Good Eats (a great Food Network show!!) that as you cook your tortillas and then place them on a plate, to drape a semi damp cloth over the top of the stack. From what I have experienced, this is a fool proof way to keep your tortillas from crisping up (because of course you want to be able to roll up your tortillas, whether for enchiladas, fajitas, tacos, etc). If I'm not going to eat them right away I wrap them in foil and store them in the fridge (I'm afraid they may mold if left out at room temp, but I haven't experimented with that myself). They will still be soft even just taking them out of the fridge - and then you zap them in the microwave for a very short time and they warm right up and stay soft - awesome! Also, if you are really into it, you should use a tortilla press. For me that's what takes the longest - is rolling them out with a rolling pin - they rarely turn out precisely round... often amoeba shaped, rather. ;) So a tortilla press will speed up the process and keep them much more uniform and round in shape. I see another Susan Christmas present in the making! :) Last tip - this recipe makes 24 smaller sized tortillas (great for soft tacos or fajitas) - if you want enchilada size, you'll definitely want to make each of your dough balls twice the size, so the recipe will only make 12 enchilada sized tortillas.
So there you go. I've spilled the beans... that's everything I know! (and it's not much). If any of you have your own tips and tricks with bread and tortilla making, please share!
It was so great to see you guys last week! It sounds like we will be back down in October too!! Thanks for the tips I am going to give some breadmaking a go. So lucky to be close to those girls, maybe now that I will be here for more than 10 days straight I can start finding some girls to hang with too...but they will never replace all my wonderful med school friends!!
ReplyDeleteI printed your bread and tortilla recipes. I'll give them a try and see how they compare to my own.
ReplyDeleteI've baked so much bread that I have my recipe well memorized and that's handy in itself.
When you kids were young I felt a big sense of responsibility (even more so on a tight budget)and it was a real learning process. It's not surprising that young motherhood would make you feel reflective. There's a lot to think about.
No child is exactly the same and so you deal with each one a little differently. You just never learn it all.
If you're available and doing your best it's likely that everything will turn out.
You're doing a good job with the kids and the budget. Keep up the good work.
I don't know much more about kitchen stuff... ;) but for FHE, we've been using the new nursery manual-- perfect for quick prep for a substantial short lesson-- plus activity and color page. :)
ReplyDeleteWe have the manual (you can buy them at the distribution center), but the lessons are online, too.
Way to go on FHE! Sounds like you've got a great system, but thought I'd throw out what's helped us out a lot. :)
FHE is one of the few things that my little family is good at. . . and I think it makes a world of difference. so keep doing it!
ReplyDeleteI like a nice short, sweet FHE lesson. I have the same perfectionist problem sometimes too and I'm glad your reached the same conclusion I did - some is better than none. Thanks for sharing. I'm enjoying "contemplative Susan."
ReplyDeleteGood work on the bread and tortilla making. I've been doing bread for years but haven't done the tortillas because the one time I tried it took SO long (and I didn't realize at the time, but our A/C was broken) and I hate sweating in a hot kitchen... But maybe I'll give it a try again since you said it's so easy!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, definitely get a wheat grinder! You will notice such a difference in having freshly-ground flour. Also, I don't know if you do this, but if you use both types of whole wheat flour (red wheat and white wheat), it gives a really nice taste and texture.