Wheat, and other things...

I had an interesting conversation this last Sunday in my Sunday School class. There were some of the men that mentioned that they want to learn how to cook with their food storage. One thing they want to learn is to make bread from wheat. I thought I'd talk to the lady in our ward that is called to help us with our food storage and see if she can set that up.

Have any of you made bread from wheat? I have made bread before, but not from my own ground wheat. I'd like to learn to do that. But I guess first I have to get a wheat grinder. And some wheat would be a good idea too.

Do any of you have a manual wheat grinder? Does it work well? Which one do I buy? I imagine that they might be hard to use if you have wimpy arms like I do. Is that true?

I remember when mom used to make cracked wheat cereal and whole wheat cereal. Mmmm. I loved that. Here is a website I came across while looking into using wheat. It has ideas about how to use it everyday in more than just bread. Wheat-More Than Just Bread

This next website isn't exactly on the subject of just wheat. I came across this while I was snooping around on the internet. It is about cooking with your long term food storage. I thought it had some great ideas for what to store, and ways to use it too. It even has recipes. Cooking from Long Term Food Storage

One final thing. Here is a link where you can find a nice new updated list of foods at our local dry pack cannery. LDS.org Longer Term Storage On the side of the page there is a place to click on that says "New Home Storage Center Order Form.


I guess that is enough rambling on this. Let's keep working on what we can with food and water storage now while we have plenty.

What's up with us...

Here is Kayla with Max

I posted this on my family site too, so if you've already read it there, just skip it here.

Hi family, I just thought I’d do a post and tell you about what my family has been up to lately.

For the most part, it is just life as usual. We get up, and go to work (or school), we come home, we make dinner and work around the house or in the yard. And then we go to bed and do it all over again the next day.

Kayla is growing up way too fast. It is kind of freaking me out that she is almost 18. She is almost done with school. She started a new job a few months ago. She got a job doing collections for Gold’s Gym. She has done so well there that they are promoting her on Monday to a receptionist and giving her a raise. Kayla is dying to buy a new car. I am trying to steer her towards economical cars, but she really wants a fancy new jeep.

Travis is doing well in school. He is getting good grades, and he is attending seminary. He likes seminary. (I remember I used to love seminary too, when I wasn’t sluffing it.) Travis and Bryan have been taking long bike rides around the neighborhood. They are way too long for me to go on. I’d probably die. The other day they rode from my house all the way to Copper Hills High School, they ran around the track, and then rode home again. Copper Hills is probably about 4 miles away from my house.

We trying to spruce up our home here and there. We replaced some floors that needed replacing. I did a little painting. And you should see the back yard now! We dug up a bunch of our grass and made a “patio” type area. It has small pea gravel and is lined with blocks. We also bought some hanging plants for our backyard. It looks pretty. Supposedly, we are buying a hot tub.  We’ll see if that happens later. It might be kind of fun to have a hot tub.

Nikki and TJ and their kids are doing pretty good too. TJ has been doing some schooling along with his job. And Nikki just got a new job too. She is working at the same place that Kayla works. Nikki is not as outgoing as Kayla is, so she is having a hard time adjusting to the new job. But I hear she is doing a good job. Nikki is a bit shy when it comes to talking to strangers. I hear Sharaya is walking how! I can't wait to see that. And Gabriel is a smart little handful as usual.

Lane and Darcel are expecting a baby in September. Poor Darcel has been pretty sick with this baby. They have an apartment that is not very far from my house. Darcel has a little girl named Kaylee Ann. She is a very cute 5 years old bundle of energy. They make a cute family. I’ll post their picture when I find where I put them. Lane and Darcel will find out if their baby is a boy or a girl in a couple of weeks. I can’t wait to find out. I’m crocheting him or her a baby blanket. I couldn’t wait to hear what gender to make it for, so I picked a color that I thought would work for either one. With this baby, and now Kaylee Ann, I will have 4 grandbabies! Whoo Hoo!

Well that is all I can think of for now. I love you all!

Almost Resting

This is Maximus and Chloe' resting in the sunshine. Max, as you can see can fit nicely in the chair. Chloe likes her food, and she is a bit more of a couch potato than Max. So it is harder for her to curl up in a small circle. She didn't quite get on the chair enough to let her head rest on the chair. I was watching her head bob up and down as she was falling asleep, waking up, falling asleep and waking up again. I've seen kids do that before when they fall asleep sitting in a chair. But this was the first time I noticed it with a dog.
A few hours later, Chloe got smart and moved to this bigger and more comfortable chair. She is a pretty princess!

A Rare Treat

Look at my sweet little mini iris. Isn't it pretty? Well actually it is much prettier in person. I'm not the best photographer. The flowers on these irises only last for a couple of days a year. The plant is only a about 4 inches high. I think the flower will open up a bit more over the next day. But I had to take a picture now. I didn't want to miss it all together.

I was given a start for it about 8 years ago by an older lady here at work. When she gave it to me, she told me it was from her grandmothers plants and that was over 100 years old. The first few years I had it, it was multiplying like irises do. But then last year I didn't see them at all! I was worried that they were gone, and I wouldn't be able to get another one since the lady that gave it to me doesn't work here anymore. But this year this lone one came up! Whoo Hoo! I think I will transplant it to a pot after it is done flowering, and then replant it after the summer is over. I'm afraid something will happen to this one over the summer. Someone might think it is a weed and pull it out.