California Trip (Wordless Wednesday)

Our family loves the beach.  Allison and Sarah comb the rocky areas for crabs while Joey dives right into the waves and gets soaking wet, no matter what the weather or what he's wearing.  Lillian favors finding a quiet spot to read, while Katie and Harmony let the waves tickle their feet.  Cami loves to be a part of it all.

There was a kind couple there on our last day who let Joey use their paddle board.  He had a great time.

 

I turned around and Katie had decided to strip to the buff.

 

Disneyland was also a big hit. 

This is always happening to Cami -- Asian tourists can't resist her blue eyes and quick smile.

I got to spend hours in Fantasyland with the littlest three while DH took the biggest six on more wild rides.

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Favorite Bread Recipes

After testing a lot of recipes, here are my current favorites.

French Bread  

* Amazing French Bread from Keeping it Simple This one has a nice texture and tastes just a tad salty (in a good way).  The best part about it is that it only takes about 70 minutes from start to finish.

    1/2 cup warm water (not hot)

    2 Tbsp of yeast

Mix these two things together and let yeast dissolve in water for 10 minutes.  While you wait add these ingredients into a large bowl:

    5 Tbsp oil

    2 cups warm water

    3 Tbsp sugar

    1 Tbsp salt

    3 cups flour

Mix the ingredients with a large spoon. 

Add yeast mixture and stir.

Add another 3 cups of flours into mixture and stir.

Place dough on floured surface and then knead with your hands for 10 minutes, until the dough isn’t sticky anymore.  Add more flour if it’s too sticky.  Divide the dough in half and roll into rectangles (or as close to rectangle as you can), about 9x12 inches.  Roll the dough onto itself (like as if you are rolling a cinnamon roll) starting at the long edges (so the width of the roll is about 9”).  Grease a cookie sheet and then put the seam of the dough down, facing the sheet.  Then with a little water, close the ends with your fingers.  Cut three diagonal slits on the top using a knife.  Let raise for 30 minutes.  Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Rolls

Tanya Killian's Dinner Rolls

½ c. sugar

2 T. yeast

2 ¼ c. warm water

Mix, then add:

2 eggs, beaten

¼ c. butter, softened

2 t. salt

2 cups flour

Mix, then gradually add 4 more cups of flour.  You want a soft dough, but not runny.  Let rise for 1 hour in a greased bowl.  Roll inot 24 or 30 rolls and place on a greased jelly roll pan.  Let rise, covered with tea towel, for one hour.  Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes or 350 for 20 or so minutes, until the bottom has browned.

 

Bread Bowls

* Italian Bread Bowls by Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast (use 1 tablespoon instant yeast)
• 2 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 7 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon cornmeal

Directions

1. In a large bowl (or bowl of an electric mixer), dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. (You can omit this step if using instant yeast.)
2. Add salt, oil and 4 cups flour to the yeast mixture; beat well. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well with an electric mixer at medium speed after each addition until a soft but not sticky dough is formed (you may not need to use all 7 cups). This bread bowl dough needs to be a bit firmer than a roll/bread dough so that the bread bowls rise up instead of out.
3. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes (or let knead in an electric mixer). Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Punch dough down, and divide into 6-8 equal portions. Shape each portion into a round ball. Place loaves on lightly greased baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal (or use silpat liners or parchment paper). If desired, slash the top surface of the bread bowl several times with a sharp knife or razor. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in bulk, about 35 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake in preheated oven for 15-18 minutes until golden brown and baked through.

Whole Wheat Bread

I'm still searching for more recipes to try in this category (suggestions), but the best one I've found so far is from my friend Ana Blake:

Ana Blake's Oatmeal Wheat bread

3 T yeast

3 T gluten flour (I get mine at a local health food store)

4 1/4 cups warm/hot water

7 cups wheat flour (I grind about 25 lbs once per month and keep it on hand)

Add the above ingredients to your mixer, let it go for about a minute, then turn it off and let it sit for 15-20 minutes to "sponge" or until it is doubled in size.  (On warm days it goes faster.)

After it has risen, turn the mixer on to punch the "sponge" down and add the following:

4 cups oats (quick or regular, it doesn't matter)

2 T salt

1/2 cup sugar (or honey)

1/2 cup oil

2 cups white flour (adding some white flour, along with gluten flour helps the consistency and flavor of the bread A LOT)

Mix for 9-10 minutes.  Spray four loaf pans, shape the loaves (I just use a sharp knife to quarter the dough and roll each loaf a few times with the heels of my hands, tucking the ends in) and add them to the pans and let rise for 30 minutes or till double.  Put pans in oven, turn oven on to 350 (DON'T preheat first).  Bake for 15 minutes, then rotate pans from bottom shelf to top and bake for 15 minutes more.  Butter (or spray) the tops to make them soft.  Makes four loaves.

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Monday Musings #7: Almost March

*  I had one day last week -- Friday -- when I woke up feeling rested.  It was an unfamiliar feeling, and it was wonderful.  I was able to use naptime to exercise and run on the treadmill instead of needing to lie down myself.  An extra two hours in my day?  Wow.  I would love it for that to continue.  I woke up tired again today, but at least there's an external cause -- Katie came crawling into bed with me at midnight and kicked me a good part of the night.  Maybe if my brain was functioning in the middle of the night, I might have been smart enough to walk her back to her bed?

* This little cutie turned one year old on Valentine's Day.  She delights us all with her quick smile and cheerful heart.  Everyone adores her.  There's something wonderful about the influence a baby has on her older siblings.  No matter how cranky or moody they might  be, she can always brighten their day. 

*  I've been doing fairly well with my goals for the year, particularly with the "learn to enjoy cooking" one.  Too bad my kids aren't doing so well in the "learn to enjoy eating mom's cooking" department.  Oh, most of them are fine.  It's just two who are extremely picky and refuse to try anything other than pizza, lasagne and peanut butter sandwiches.  We've been making them eat a small amount of everything anyway, in the hopes that a more balanced diet will allow them to live long enough to afford their therapy someday. 

*  Fridays, I've been making soup every week and I've found some really yummy soups.  One of our favorites is this Chicken and Dumpling soup.  It tastes divine, though the dumplings aren't as thick as I wish.  I tried a Lion House cookbook recipe for the same kind of soup last week and while also good, it wasn't quite as tasty and the dumplings weren't any better.

*  I've been making bread or rolls once or twice a week as well.  Even my picky eaters don't complain about that.  I made these bread bowls on Friday and they were fantastic, though if you make them, I recommend dividing them into 8 or 10 bowls.  I made six and they were way too big.

*  I've been frustrated and discouraged by my *very* slow progress in weight loss this time.  In the past eight weeks, I've lost 5.5 lbs.  This is the first time I've tried losing weight when I haven't been nursing and it is much harder.  And I think I'm just mentally having a harder time feeling motivated to watch everything I eat.  This is my third winter/spring in a row where I've hit it hard and I'm just tired of it.  I want the weight to just melt off this time without me having to do much more than run.  But that's not how my body and appetite works.  I am determined, however, to do much better in March. 

*  Though the weight isn't coming off like I want, I am making progress on the running.  I ran 32 miles in January and I'm on target to run over 50 for February.  I've found a wonderful running partner who influenced me to join her team for the Wasatch Back Ragnar this summer.  It's a 24-hour race from Logan to Park City.  I'll have three legs.  The first is a very tough, 6.5 mile jarring downhill run.  Then I have 8 miles straight up.  I finish out with an easy 3 mile run through the streets of Heber.  I'm excited for it, and especially to be training differently.  Instead of going for distance endurance, as I have in the past, I'm going to be adding lots of hills and other terrain.  I signed up for the Thanksgiving Point Half Marathon on April 27th and after getting up to that distance, I'll focus the next two months on pushing up and down the hills.  It should make me an overall better runner.   I'm going to switch from the Utah Valley Marathon to the half distance so I can focus on running quality rather than quantity. 

*  I'm getting faster at running and it feels great.  Friday, I took to the treadmill for a mile to see if I could beat my fastest time, 10:03 from last summer.  My most recent fastest has been 10:34.  I got 9:30.  It about killed me, though, so I don't think I'll be running that fast over long distances any time soon.  Still, I've been doing more 11-minute miles instead of 11 and a half or 12 on my longer runs, and I love seeing the progress.

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Monday Musings #6: How many more weeks 'til spring?

*  We got home Saturday from a week in sunny Southern California.  It was lovely.  The view from our room was divine, but even more lovely was the fresh air and warmth.  

Utah's inversion where we live has been especially awful this year, with snow lingering on the ground since Christmas and very few days in January above freezing.  We try to go to a warmer place for a week every winter, but I think this year we craved it more than usual.  We had a great time at the pool, at the beach, and at a little place called Disneyland.  I'll share more photos later, but doesn't this one of Harmony say it all?

*  I want to write more, but often I feel tired and uninspired so I don't.  I was reading this article about Brandon Sanderson yesterday, though, and I was struck by his advice for writers:  "Sit in a chair and write.  Ignore this thing they call writer’s block. Doctors don’t get doctor’s block; your mechanic doesn’t get mechanic’s block. If you want to write great stories, learn to write when you don’t feel like it. You have to write it poorly before you can write it well. So just be willing to write bad stories in order to learn to become better.”  So, if you find my posts boring at times, just know I'm taking his advice to heart.

*  I found this article in the Wall Street Journal about the consequences of America's falling birthrate interesting.  Among the middle class, our birthrate rivals China:  "Chinese women have a fertility rate of 1.54. Here in America, white, college-educated women—a good proxy for the middle class—have a fertility rate of 1.6. America has its very own one-child policy. And we have chosen it for ourselves."   I don't know if I agree with the article that more incentives are the way to encourage more children as I tend to think that government programs mostly are a bureaucratic nightmare.  I also thought it was interesting that the average birthrate for a woman in 1800 was supposedly 7 children. There was a woman I met on the beach last week in California who seemed amazed that I had birthed 9 children, as if it wasn't physically possible. So it's interesting to me to note that in an age where the medical care was so primitive, and women died more often in childbirth and in general, the average was so high.

*  I lost five pounds in January.  I came home from our trip and stepped on the scale to realize I'd gained six on our trip.  Six pounds in one week?  Ick.  I didn't think I'd eaten that much, though maybe the homemade cookies and the rice crispies with peanut butter and nutella on top were a contributing factor.  I did go for three runs near and on the beach, though, and they were great.  I've got to get motivated to lose the weight and get my fitness back.  I'm starting the first week of marathon training tomorrow, though I'm thinking I might switch to the half-marathon because I just don't know if I'm motivated or ready for the longer distances by June.  I'm supposed to run 6 miles on Saturday.  My longest run in the last few months has been only 4.25 miles so I'm a bit intimidated by that distance.  


*  We don't have channel television at home, so I'm always fascinated by what's showing when we go on a trip.  If you were an anthropologist trying to infer what Americans are like based on what's on television, I'm afraid you'd figure we were all either superficial brats or crazy loons.  From people obsessed with weddings (why is Say Yes to the Dress still on?  Do people really watch that?) to mothers subjecting their kids to screaming dance teachers or enrolling their toddlers in beauty pageants to people out in the wilderness spending eight hours digging for $15 worth of gold, we're a strange bunch.  Then you have shows like Doomsday Preppers, where guns and ammo are just as important as MREs and freeze-dried tomatoes.  Weird.

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Monday Musings #5. Still Cold, Still January

*  Though slightly better than last week, it's still cold and miserable here.  Some of my kids are sick and throwing up, which only adds to the sense of claustrophobia while winter is closing in around us.  I'm looking forward to our trip to California in a few weeks.  I even spent some time mapping out a run I want to take along the beach.  Yep, I'm finding my happy place and it's a nine-hour drive away.

On a lighter note, perhaps I should feel sorry for my poor friends in Southern California:

* Much as I try to instill civilization into the minions, at times I feel it might be futile.

Case #1: Yesterday, while helping (i.e. hurrying) one of my daughters into the car before Church, I made the discovery that said daughter had failed to put on any underwear. She tried to deny it but she was marched back inside and ordered to dress appropriately. I wish I could say this was one of my younger children but let's just say she is older than 6.

Case #2: My kids love to visit several older people who live on our street. Last week, Allison, Sarah, and Eliza worked their hearts out making cards and cutting pictures and writing their love for one couple, the Hatches. On Saturday, I told them they could take their stack of love over. They walked out all bundled up and with their arms overflowing (they get a bit carried away with the artwork stuff). They came back twenty minutes later with suckers in their mouths and the piles of artwork still in their hands. When I asked them about it, they said, "Oh yea, Brother and Sister Hatch weren't there, so we went to Sister Bulldog's. She gave us these suckers." Great. And I'm sure the pile of cards intended for another neighbor went unnoticed while she handed out suckers to my greedy beggars.

*  I lost 3.8 lbs my first week on Weight Watchers.  On my second week, I gained one.  No surprise there, as I didn't stick to the plan.  This week, I'm determined to get back on track.

* I had a pretty great week last week.  I've been working harder at our family meal plan, cooking some new, fun recipes, baking bread on Fridays, and giving more time and attention to the other meals.  I've been hitting the treadmill on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6:45, while DH is still home to tame the masses.  No big failures on my part last week, unless you count the one pound I gained (after losing 3.5 the week before).  But I still hit a low point Thursday.  Though my health is mostly better, I still feel like I'm running on empty.  Even on nights when I go to bed early and don't wake up with sick kids, I still wake up tired.  I'm tired of being tired and feeling like there's not much I can do about it.  I'm tired of needing a nap most days.  I was pretty discouraged that day (it didn't help that DH called at the last minute cancelling our date night because of a work obligation).  And that's when I made the mistake of surfing some blogs I haven't visited in a while.  I hopped on one where the shiny perfection and happy faces and constant over-the-top traditions and happy life just made me feel worse.  I should have stayed away, but as I read more and more posts, the fake mommy guilt piled up.  I started to berate myself for not doing fancy Christmas traditions with a fancy elf or printing up fancy scriptures for my kids to memorize or creating a work of art as a family to display prominently in my home.  I don't stay up all night playing the Easter bunny or  . . . and so on.

But then I realized . . . who does?  The trappings of modern day life and the constant barrage of other people's talents on display in the modern age give us a distorted picture of what ordinary, happy life is.  How many good mothers have there been throughout the history of the world who mothered like that?  Probably not very many.  I think of the simplicity of the Little House series, where the children were happy to play with their few toys and to get a penny and a peppermint stick for Christmas.  Somehow, I think that a hundred years ago, if a mother stayed up all night, it was out of necessity, not because she was helping the Easter bunny leave his fancy clues all over the house for her darling kids to enjoy.  The work of life and the demands of every day meant a lot more work and less free time than we have today.

Even if I had the energy, I don't want my home to look like a magazine spread.  I spend extra time on things that are important to me, like photography or keeping a family history or (lately) cooking, but mostly, I crave simplicity.  I like the happiness of working together in our simple traditions.  I just need to keep it in perspective better.  Either that, or  be more careful about what blogs I read.

* While I wouldn't wish health challenges on anyone, there are things you learn, especially about priorities and what is really important. Sister Julie B. Beck, former Relief Society president, spent ten years of her life with diminished capacity.

It was after the birth off her third child that Sister Beck began more than a decade of illnesses that taught her lessons she hopes to share with women today. During this time, she was PTA president, a Primary president and helping on her parents' farm after her father was called as an Assistant to the Twelve Apostles and later as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy.

With emotion, she recalled moments of despair. "This is my life?" she would ask herself after attacks would send her to bed for days at a time. "I was in a wrestle with the Lord, like Enos, and the answers came in little pieces, in drips and drops, line upon line."

She said she learned to prioritize, to scale down to the bare essentials — make time for personal spiritual growth and for family. The family had daily devotionals and scripture reading; the children received piano lessons and were allowed one other activity. Sister Beck laughed when she related one of the most important lessons she learned during her illnesses. During one particularly challenging day, she expressed the feeling that she just could not accomplish anything. Her daughter replied, "You can smile."(source)

 I think about that and wonder how much of that experience when I read things like this amazing address that Sister Beck later gave.  In it, she shares how to prioritize:

Years ago I began using a system that works for me, and maybe it will work for you. There was a time when I needed to prioritize, and in one of those sacred meetings between me and the Lord, He gave me three categories that I have worked from, and they have been a guide in my life. The categories are the essential things, the necessary things, and the nice-to-do things. I started writing those things down. I asked, “What has to go in the category of essential?” What things must be taken care of, and if I don’t take care of them, the blessings of eternal life won’t be mine nor will they be my family’s. 

I wrote at the top of the essential list revelation. I have to be able to know the mind and will of God. Therefore, I have to do the things in my life that put me in a position to hear His voice.  Reading the scriptures then became an essential for me because the scriptures contain the mind and will of God, and by reading and studying from them, I can hear His voice and receive His guidance in all aspects of my life. I came up with a simple rule that was easy for me to keep:  Every day I will spend some time in the scriptures. The accumulative power and learning of that commitment has changed my life and helped me learn daily the mind and will of God.

Personal prayer took on new meaning when I knew that I needed to know the mind and will of God. I have taken a paper and pencil with me most of the time since then to my prayers. I don’t always receive an answer or instruction, but I am ready. I want to be ready to learn what the Lord would have me do in my day. Who needs my help? How can I increase my faith this day? How can I strengthen my family? What things do I need to correct in order to be worthy to receive His Spirit? He will tell me.

Taking time to ponder and fast with sincerity took on added meaning when I knew that
revelation was an essential for me. Making covenants and keeping covenants is on the essential list. Going to sacrament meeting and repenting every week took on added meaning. Going to the temple and fulfilling that responsibility frequently became an essential. Sharing the gospel is something the Lord tells us is an essential, and we are charged as part of the house of Israel to share that message. I need to open my mouth and find ways to share and express my testimony.

Service took on added meaning. The Lord said if you want eternal life, give all that you have and follow me.  So those things went on my essentials list. The list wasn’t very long, but there were essential things that I could see to and make sure that they were taken care of.

*  I love watching the wonderful people my older children are turning into.  Sure, Michael is a clown and a jokester.

But he also knows how to lighten the mood and is the first one to call us to task when we raise our voices or are unkind to each other.  He really cares about everyone and will never let us leave someone behind.  He instinctively counts and makes sure everyone is accounted for when we're headed somewhere and he worries constantly when, for instance, we send Joey off to get FastPasses somewhere else at Disnelyland while we're in line.  He holds our family together.

*  Joey is quite loving and very capable.  He also looks pretty sharp in a tie.

* Lillian is wonderful.  She's thriving in her advanced 8th grade program and is becoming quite a musician with the piano and violin.

*  I love these pictures of my oldest and youngest together.  Cami looks just like Lillian did at her age and it's easy to see the resemblance remains, especially in the beautiful eyes.  Where did the time go?  I remember when Lillian was the delightful 11-month-old running around everywhere.

 

* Cami's learned to climb up stairs, but not down yet.  We've filled our landing at the top of the stairs with an assortment of little people, little animals and houses and such.  She loves to climb up there and play, but she doesn't have a huge attention span.  She climbs up, plays for a bit, and then screams until one of us goes up and carries her down.  She gets upset when we try to turn her around and show her how to get herself down, but I'm sure in a few weeks, she'll catch on.

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