Sisterhood

About a year and a half ago I got to go see my parents in Spain on their mission. One of the things we did while there was visit the Prado Museum, a very large and famous art museum in Madrid. This painting was displayed there, and I will forever remember my feelings as I sat and looked at it with my parents. I really believe there is something special about looking at original art created by the actual artist, especially centuries old art, that helps you see and feel the thoughts and emotions that go into a piece.

This painting is called ‘The Visitation’ by Raphael. It depicts Mary coming to visit Elisabeth after finding out she would be the mother of Jesus. Their story together is shared in only a few short verses in the first chapter of Luke from the Bible, but this painting depicts a much deeper relationship that probably did exist and meant so much to these two women. 

I can’t help but think what a tender mercy it was for Mary, when the same angel who told her she would be the mother of Christ, also told her that a woman she trusted and knew was also pregnant and going through a similar experience. It says in the scriptures Mary went ‘with haste’ to visit Elisabeth. Even something as glorious and beautiful as being the mother of the Son of God must have felt so overwhelming, and Mary had someone she could go to immediately to express and talk about those feelings. 

I love the tender look on Elisabeth’s face as she puts her arm around Mary. Elisabeth is older, she is wise, and has seen and experienced much more of life.  I’m sure Elisabeth had some good perspective and support to offer Mary as she took on this responsibility. I wonder if there were also the normal pregnancy talks between them, the kind I have had when I am pregnant with my sister. Sharing the struggles of pregnancy, but also sharing the joy and anticipation and beauty of carrying life inside you, together. 

Elisabeth isn’t usually thought of as part of the ‘Christmas’ story, but she is part of Mary’s story. She’s part of her ‘tribe’, to use a modern word many women like to use nowadays.  I wonder if there were times Mary looked back and thought, ‘I don’t know how I would have been able to do all that I did during that time without Elisabeth. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for putting her in my life at just the right time and letting us have that experience together.’

If I renamed this painting I would call it ‘Sisterhood’ or even ‘Relief Society’, because to me it encompasses so much of what that is…women finding comfort and solace in each other through the challenges, responsibilities, and wonderful blessings that life brings. This painting makes me think of all the women in my life who have been placed at just the right time to give me comfort, solace, and advice. Many times, it is women who have lived life a little more or have gone through what I am experiencing, and the comfort that comes from their love and counsel have certainly been tender mercies. I am thankful for the gift of ‘sisterhood’ and ‘Relief Society’ in my life and I hope I can be an ‘Elisabeth’ as much as I have also been a ‘Mary.’ I hope I can offer love and comfort as much as I have received it.

"We are all in this together. We need each other. Oh, how we need each other. Those of us who are old need you who are young, and hopefully, you who are young need some of us who are old...We need deep and satisfying and loyal friendships with each other. These friendships are a necessary source of sustenance. We need to renew our faith every day. We need to lock arms and help build the kingdom so that it will roll forth and fill the whole earth." --Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Roasted Summer Garden Vegetables and Sausage

It's back-to-school season! My three oldest kids have all started school, and we are all happy to be back in school and on a regular schedule around here. Back-to-school also means canning season and finding other ways to use up all the vegetables my garden is producing.

I have a few recipes I pull out this time of year that are tried and true favorites with my family, but each year I still like to try and come up with new ideas to use my garden produce. I came up with one that I tried several weeks ago, and I think I have found another keeper recipe! The idea isn't groundbreaking, but it was something new for me.

I have roasted potatoes and carrots in the oven many times for my family, and served them alongside a meat loaf or roast. Last time I did this, I thought why not do the same thing with our garden veggies? So I tried this out with some vegetables a couple times, and also threw in some sausage to make a complete meal. It turned out great and also makes for easy cleanup.

I have found similar recipes on the Internet for this idea...here's how I decided to make it. (Amounts will vary depending on how much you want to make for your family):

First, chop up all your vegetables and add them to a large bowl. For this particular batch I did yellow crookneck squash, zucchini, broccoli, red potato, and green, red, and yellow bell pepper. There are a variety of vegetables you could try and add to the mix. I personally would not recommend green beans. When I tried this recipe with green beans, they came out a little too tough for my preference.

Next, chop up some smoked turkey sausage and add that.

 Next, add some olive oil to the bowl and stir until all the vegetables are nicely coated with oil. Then sprinkle on some Lawry's Seasoned Salt and Garlic Powder until everything is seasoned.

Next, prepare some cookie sheets with tinfoil, and spray the tinfoil with cooking spray. (Don't forget that step, they will stick to the foil and be hard to peel off after they are done cooking if you do.)

Then, spread out the contents of the large bowl on the cookie sheets. You can have a good amount on the sheet, but you don't want to pile them up too high. Make sure it's a thin enough layer so it can all cook evenly. For the amount I made, I had to use two cookie sheets to spread my vegetables out enough.

Then cook them in the oven on 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30-40 minutes. I switched the two cookie sheets halfway through cooking time, again so they could cook evenly. I knew the potatoes would take the longest to cook, so that's what I checked to make sure it was done cooking.

And that's it! A great dinner for your family all ready to go! You could serve it with rice, but I served it to my family as is and it was filling for all of us.

Any other ideas for how you use your garden produce?

You Belong!

Every year at Christmastime I try to get the ‘perfect’ Sunday picture of my kids after church. I had planned to do it today, and then the baby had an epic blowout at church and ended up in his PJs. I almost decided to just forget about getting my ‘perfect’ picture, but then I thought a jammy clad baby wasn’t a good enough reason to give up on it all together, so we still made it happen and ended up with this cute photograph.

In this picture, my baby is surrounded by his siblings in their Sunday best. He most definitely isn’t dressed like them, he can’t really talk to them (yet), and you can see by the look on his face that he’s not even sure he wanted to be part of this picture. But as you keep looking, you can also see that his siblings love him. Every one of them said they HAD to be touching him for this photo. Every one of them expressed the desire to be the one to get to hold him. Every one of them tried their best to get a smile from him.

I know there are times when all of us have experienced the equivalent of our own ‘epic blowout’ in life, the kind that leaves us feeling like all we are doing is managing and cleaning up the crap. As we try to get through and recover we feel like the best we can do physically, mentally, and emotionally is just ‘put on our PJs’ and go through the motions. It’s time like this that make it hard to do things like go to church on Sunday, because we look around us and all we see is everyone in their Sunday best…and all our struggles and shortcomings and imperfections seem to clamor loudly and proclaim to us that we don’t belong here.

But how could you look at this sweet picture of my kids and say my baby doesn’t belong? He does! He most definitely belongs, and it is evident he is surrounded by people who love him, even if he isn’t fully aware of it himself.

I want to say to anyone in my church family today…you belong! Despite whatever struggles or imperfections you feel you have, you most definitely belong and there are people to surround you with love and compassion. Most importantly, I know the Savior, Jesus Christ knows you and loves you and wants you to feel of His love. Not just during this Christmas season, but all year long.

“If you expect to find perfect people here, you will be disappointed. But if you seek the pure doctrine of Christ, the word of God “which healeth the wounded soul,” and the sanctifying influence of the Holy Ghost, then here you will find them. In this age of waning faith—in this age when so many feel distanced from heaven’s embrace—here you will find a people who yearn to know and draw closer to their Savior by serving God and fellowmen, just like you. Come, join with us!”

  -Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Come, Join With Us”, Ensign, November 2013

How I Do Freezer Meals

Before my little mister was born I posted this picture on Instagram...

...all my freezer meals ready to go! With a new baby, it is so nice on those days when I am feeling worn out to be able to pull a nice, healthy meal from the freezer to easily defrost for my family.

When I was pregnant with my second, I knew I wanted to do some freezer meals before my baby came. But the last thing an eight month pregnant woman wants to do is spend hours in the kitchen prepping extra meals. At least that's how I felt! I remember feeling discouraged about how I would muster up enough energy to make all those extra meals , when suddenly it came to me. I did not have to spend hours and hours in the kitchen. I could just take what I was already fixing my family for dinner and make double and then freeze the extra. It takes no extra effort or energy to fix a double dinner, just more food. I'm sure I wasn't the first to come up with this idea, but at the time I thought I was a genius. :) I have done this for my last three babies. About a month before they are born I start making double dinners and stocking up my freezer.

What's great about this idea though, is it's not only good for when there is a newborn in the house. It is good for any crazy, busy time. I frequently make double dinners so that I always have one or two freezer meals on hand, ready to use for any chaotic day that it is just too hard to get dinner prepped.

Here are some of the kinds of dinners I have done:

Sauces and Soups
These are super easy for me to freeze, because the recipes I have always make much more than my family eats. Examples include: taco soup, tomato soup, spaghetti sauce, and a cheese sauce I use for potato bar or fancy nachos.
Make sure any of the soups you choose to freeze don't contain noodles. For me, noodles in soups come out mushy when I try to freeze them.

"Fillers"
What I mean by 'fillers' is recipes I have to combine with something else after defrosting. They require a little more prep, but still make dinner quick and easy. Examples include: burritos (make the filling, defrost and stick in the tortillas and bake), beef stroganoff (I have to cook noodles to serve it on), and sloppy joes (these are pretty easy, just defrost and throw the filling on some buns).

Pancakes or Waffles
This was a new idea this time for me! My kids love breakfast for dinner, so one night I made a huge batch of pumpkin pancake batter. My awesome husband stood at the griddle and cooked up all that extra batter after dinner, and I froze the pancakes to use later. They froze great and tasted great, so I think I will be doing this one again for a freezer meal.

And as for containers to freeze your meals in...I go to the dollar store and can find almost any size or variety of plastic container, or you can easily find Ziploc containers like these ones at your grocery store.

That is quick rundown of how I do freezer meals! Any favorite freezer meal recipes you like to use?

Friday Favorites

It's Friday...yay! Sometimes on Fridays I feel like this...

Because it's a little too true sometimes, right? :) But I get excited about Fridays too. Especially this weekend. This weekend is General Conference weekend, which means that Mormons like me look forward to listening to our church leaders speak to us. You can learn more about General Conference and see ways to view it here.

Here are some more favorites I am loving to send you into your weekend:

Anybody else out there have a front loading washing machine? Are you always trying to clean the front part of it and make sure it doesn't smell mildewy? Yeah, me too. Recently I found LemiShine Washing Machine Cleaner at my Wal-mart. You dump the stuff in and run your washer on a full cycle. I bought the one with the wipes that come with it and I use those to wipe down the rubber part on the front. It seems to work pretty well so far and makes my washer smell great.

I have a little baby boy in the house again. He is my third baby boy and we have all loved snuggling and cuddling with him. One thing I have always loved about baby boys is dressing them up in their Sunday clothes. They just look like little men to me and are so cute. When I had my first little boy, someone gave me one of these little oxford onesies from Gap. It has worn so well through each baby and when I put it on them with a little tie or bow tie I just love the cuteness.

Here is my first little boy wearing it with a bow tie at my brother's wedding. So cute!

And yes, this picture is nine years old. :) I am ready to pull out that little shirt now for our next little guy.

And speaking of our cute little guy...here he is, two months old already!

We sure love him. :)

Happy General Conference weekend!

Mexican Brown Rice Casserole

It's fall and with it comes the first crispness in the air I love to feel! The arrival of fall means the end of gardening season. I like to can produce each year, and I usually wrap that up as September nears its end. We also begin thinking about cleaning up the garden and getting it ready for the winter. Before that happens, I like to cook with some of my fresh produce one last time. I have a few recipes I pull out so I can use the last of the garden before the first freeze comes and kills off the plants.

This Mexican Brown Rice Casserole is one of those recipes. It's easy to make and is also a crock pot meal, which comes in handy for those busy days and nights at the beginning of the school year. To make it you will need:

1 medium white onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups diced tomatoes
1 cup water
3/4 cup brown rice
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
1 pound ground beef, cooked and seasoned with taco seasoning

First I cook up my ground beef and season it with taco seasoning.

Then I put all the ingredients together in the crock pot. I made a double batch this day so I could freeze some for a later meal...so it's a lot.

Stir it all up, cover with the lid, and cook on high for 3 hours or low for 5 hours.

I always think it looks so pretty. :)

You can garnish with cilantro, sour cream, and cheese. I serve it with tortilla chips.

An easy, tasty recipe to use up some of that last produce from your garden. Happy fall!

New Baby Essentials for Mom

Hello blog of mine! I know it has been a little while since I have posted here. Life has been busy...most especially with the addition of Baby #4 to our family! He is now almost two months old and I feel like we are finally getting into the swing of things around here...well at least most days. :)

Since we have had a newborn in the house the past little bit, today I wanted to share some of the things I love using as a mom with a new baby around. This list doesn't include things you use for baby (although those lists are helpful too!), but the things I have needed for myself to help me navigate all the changes that come with having a baby. So here we go!

Comfy and cute pajamas or lounge pants
My pajamas and lounge pants were severely lacking before this baby was born. It had been awhile since I had updated that area of my wardrobe. After a baby and with a changing postpartum body, it takes a little while before I am dressing in normal clothes again. But I still want to feel at least a little put together. With cute lounge wear, I can stay in it all day but not be embarrassed if visitors come over to see the baby. And honestly, as a mom there are days long after my baby is a newborn that I need a day here and there to stay in my comfy pants and still feel OK answering the door! I purchased these ones on sale during the Nordstrom Anniversary sale, and I have loved them. They are soft, comfy, and cute. With cute lounge wear, you can pretty much find good options in almost any store. It's so nice to have a few for when baby comes!

Secrets of the Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg
This is my favorite baby book by far! Tracy writes about how to work with your baby and know how to interpret and understand their cues and cries. She gives practical advice and information for feeding, playing, and sleeping with her EASY routine. I was given this book by my sister before I had my first baby, and it helped me so much I have read it again and again before I have had my other babies. I also occasionally refer back to it when I need a refresher about something or have a question pop up with my baby. It is a really great resource!

A good nursing bra
If you are nursing this is pretty much a 'duh!'...but I wanted to share a little tidbit I discovered this time around. I have a hard time finding good bras that are my size and fit well...add in needing it to be a nursing bra and it can be almost impossible for me to find one that works. Well, a few weeks before my little guy was born I decided to go to Nordstrom and have them size me for a bra. I was getting so discouraged though with all the nursing bras the lady in the store kept bringing me, they just didn't fit right or look good! Then she told me that for an extra $16.00 Nordstrom could turn any bra into a nursing bra. Really? I had no idea! After that we were able to find a bra that fit perfectly, and I paid the extra fee to have it altered into a nursing bra.

Now...is that bra more than I have ever payed for a single item of clothing? Yes, it is. But I have never been so happy with a nursing bra after having a baby. It is wonderful! And given that a bra is pretty much the only item of clothing I wear every single day, I feel like I will certainly get my money's worth out of it.

So if you are like me and find it almost impossible to find nursing bras that fit and work for your body...here is one more option you can look into.

Speaking of nursing...

Another must-have for me is Newman's Ointment.
Here is an article I found explaining a little more about it. I know some people haven't heard of this. It is an ointment to put on sore nipples while breastfeeding. My doctor prescribed it for me after my first was born, and it was a lifesaver! You can have your doctor write a prescription for it, and get it filled at any compounding pharmacy. Since having it with my first, I ask my doctor for a prescription a month or so before my baby is born and have it on hand. It makes that transition to breastfeeding so much smoother.

Finally...having some Freezer Meals on hand is essential for me with a new baby! I will be posting another article in a few days on how I prep my freezer meals before baby is born.

Those are a few things I would tell a mom with a baby on the way to do for her! What would you put on your list?