Comfort Food: Shepherd's Pie

Sometimes I need to throw all caution to the wind and make something for dinner that is purely a comfort food. This recipe is not going to win any awards for being "low in points, calories, fat or carbs". Its just yummy and easy to love. Its also one of my son's favorite meals. This is the son in particular that has just come home from his two year mission. I can't help but still make his favorites (especially when they're mine, too!)

So.... the other night I made shepherd's pie. This is a basic, no-frills recipe, and there is a really great chance that you have all the ingredients already in your pantry.

Shepherd's Pie
Folks, its obvious I'm not a food photographer
or food blogger.

Shepherd's Pie

1 lb. ground beef
onion powder
10-3/4 oz can of cream of potato soup
1/3 c. milk
1 can green beans
3 c. mashed potatoes
1 c. shredded Cheddar cheese

Brown ground beef in a large skillet, and season with onion powder. Drain off fat and juices and return to heat. Add soup, milk, and green beans to skillet. Mix well. Spoon ground beef mixture into a lightly greased 9X13 casserole dish, and spread out evenly. Spread potatoes on top of beef mixture and sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Serves 6.

May Week 4: Portable toilet and supplies, diapers, feminine products

This week's food storage/emergency prep items are:

May Week 4: Portable toilet and supplies, cloth or disposable diapers and/or Depends undergarments (if needed), feminine products

I love the idea of this little portable toilet. It is basically a five gallon bucket, but the lid, (as you can see in the photo) is a little toilet seat with a lid. It all snaps right into place and would provide the perfect little emergency toilet.

You can also buy these little toilet waste bags, which are brilliant. You fit them right around the bucket and under the seat, which makes it easy to dispose of the waste. Love it! The bags have a waste bio-gel in them, which makes the whole clean-up process easier and neater.

The toilets come with emergency hygiene items (toilet paper, wipes, toothbrushes and paste, soap, etc) stored right inside of them, so there is a compete kit that is easily carried out when needed. I bought my toilet and supplies from Emergency Essentials, but they are surely available through other stores.

This is also the week to buy some extra diapers and/or adult disposable undergarments. For whatever reason, I thought it a good idea to have a package of adult disposable undergarments on our emergency shelves. It seems like a good thing to have in case of illness during an emergency situation.

And lastly, store whatever feminine hygiene items your family might need for the year.

The great thing about this week's items is that from year to year, I shouldn't really have to re-stock (unless there is an emergency and we have used some of the items).

If you are not in a position to spring for one of these little toilets, I would get a 5 gallon bucket, find some bags that will fit over the edge of it, and store the bags and some toilet paper in the bucket. Also include some sort of hand sanitizer or soap. That would definitely work for an emergency!

If you would like the full info on the Week-By-Week Food Storage Plan, just click on the tab at the top of the page. It also has the information as to how you can get a copy of the weekly schedule as well as the complete inventory sheets.

Activity Days Chalkboard Letters

We had a fun Activity Days Mom and Me activity a couple of weeks ago. We had some fun activities, including having the moms and daughters come dressed alike. It was so great to see the lengths they went to to be just alike, including making sure their hair was the same, and they had the same hair clips. It was the best!

We also had the moms and girls work on a super easy craft together. I started out thinking we would have Bob cut out their last name initial in wood, and then the moms and girls would paint their letter in chalkboard paint, let it dry, and then decorate it in chalk.

When we found that Home Depot has wood with the chalkboard paint already painted on, we knew that was a better route. Then we wouldn't have the mess of paint on their cute clothes, and everywhere else within reach.

So, Bob cut out a letter for each of the sets of moms and daughters. If you don't happen to have a magic laser machine, then you could also cut letters out with a scroll saw. I've done many a project on a scroll saw in my time...

They first cleaned off the letter with rubbing alcohol, as the laser machine sometimes can leave a burn mark that easily washes off. Then, they rubbed chalk (using the long side of the piece of chalk) all over their letter, and then erased it, giving it more of a chalkboard look. This also helps so that any chalk writing and drawing can easily be erased instead of leaving a mark. One suggestion is to use a good, high quality chalk. I like this Prang brand. It doesn't scratch the chalkboard surface, like some of the cheaper brands can.

After they "tempered" the chalkboard letters, they went to town decorating them together -- drawing and erasing and drawing and erasing until they had the perfect designs.

They can display them in their home and change the chalk design whenever they want to. It would be cute to draw hearts for Valentines, shamrocks for St. Patrick's, holly for Christmas, etc. They turned out darling, and the girls seemed to be pretty excited about them.

Of course I had to have one for my own house....

May Week 3: Jello and Pudding Mixes

This week's food storage items are:

May Week 3: Jello and pudding mixes

Now, if you don't eat or cook with any jello and/or pudding mixes at all, then you have a week off! I have a few recipes that we use that use jello or pudding mixes in one way or another. So, I will decide how many times I think I'll make my salads and desserts that involve using a jello or pudding. Then, I'll check my inventory and see what I already have on my shelves, and add whatever I still need to my shopping list. Next time I'm at the grocery store, I can pick up a few boxes of jello and pudding, then update my inventory, and get the boxes on the shelves where they belong.

There you have it. Another week's food storage items are easily inventoried and added to the shelves. It truly should only take 10 or 15 minutes to decide how much and what you need. So, so easy, and so, so do-able!

If you would like the full info on the Week-By-Week Food Storage Plan, just click on the tab at the top of the page. It also has the information as to how you can get a copy of the weekly schedule as well as the complete inventory sheets.

A bird in the hand...

The other day, when Wilson and I were walking into the house, he noticed a little "peep" from inside the metal pail on the deck. Sure enough, there was a tiny bird just chirping its little lungs out for his momma. Above the pail is a lantern where we have house finches that build nests every year. Apparently this year one of the babies slipped out of the lantern. I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often... the lanterns are completely open on the bottom. It takes a pretty skilled bird to even get a nest started in the lanterns, let alone keeping eggs and then baby birds in it!

As always, Bob came to the rescue. He put work gloves on and then carefully took everything out of the pail.

Sorry about the blurry photo below, but you get the idea. The little fella didn't have any feathers yet, and was desperately in need of the warmth of the nest, and something to eat.

We took the lid off of the lantern, and deposited the little baby right next to his sibling. Its hard to see in the photo below, but they are snuggled in at the bottom of the lantern, where its nice and dark and full of the makings of a warm nest.

I wondered whether the mom and dad birds would continue taking care of the birds or not, but sure enough... they have both been busy flying to and from the lantern keeping those tiny birds fed.

Don't you love those little miraculous successes? I also love that Bob didn't just shrug it off and say it was just survival of the fittest, or something like that. It was important to me to at least try to give the little guy a chance at life.

I think there are times in life when all of us need a boost from others to get back where we're meant to be.

"New" Aluminum-Leaf Mirror

When I re-did Wilson's room in preparation for him coming home, I tried to re-use whatever I could from his previous room's decor.

One of the items in his room, that I kept, is the mirror in the above photo, to the right. It is one that we bought when a local JCPenney was going out of business several years ago. It is H.E.A.V.Y. and a good, solid mirror.

The only problem was that it had a bronze-colored metal all around the edges. I know that shouldn't be a big deal, but with the color scheme that I was going with, it seemed to really stand out.

I thought about painting it, but that seemed troublesome with how heavy it is, and then trying to figure out a paint that would actually work and be easily applied.

And then I remembered this gem...

I bought that roll of aluminum foil tape a few years ago for a craft, and have used it time and again. It is about 2" wide and has an adhesive backing. It was the perfect thing to help transform my mirror.

First, I cleaned the edges of the mirror.

Then, I took the adhesive tape and cut a piece slightly longer than the first edge I wanted to cover. I laid it over the edge, leaving enough on the front to cover the little bit of frame that showed on the front of the mirror. After carefully applying it all the way down, I smoothed it down on the top edge, and then the front and back edge.

It almost gives it the look of "silver leafing". I love the way it turned out, and I love that it was a project I could complete using things I had on hand!

Next time you're in Home Depot, you may want to pick up a roll of this tape. I've used it in several different crafts, and the roll never seems to get any smaller!

Our missionary son returns!

The big day finally came yesterday! Our boy returned after serving an LDS mission for two years in the California Roseville Mission. I can't tell you how great it was to see him coming down that escalator at the airport.

Oh, what a sweet moment for a mom. I didn't want to let go of him!

Another big hug from Bob.

Wyatt was so excited to meet his uncle for the first time. And vice versa.

After the airport, we walked around Temple Square and had lunch. I love this photo of our two boys catching up.

Lunchtime. No one told me that I had cried (happy tears) all my make up off my eyes. Hmmmm. Oh well. He looks great, though, doesn't he?

Yellow ribbons adorn our house on just about any surface we could find to tie one on!

My soul is happy.