A few requested recipies!

When I am in the domestic moment, I tend to want to share it. Things tend to end up on my Facebook status. This sometimes generates requests for recipes. So here are a few of the recent picks!

Homemade noodles!
I love the recipe in the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook for homemade pasta. I think it makes my soups and lasagna taste so much better to use fresh or the dried and frozen version of this. Because it is their recipe, I can't post it exactly as is. So here is my slightly modified version. Homemade noodles can be a bit time consuming, so I recommend making a double batch and freezing half for later deliciousness.

You'll need:
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1tsp dried basil ( or oregano or parsley or whatever, but I like basil!)
2 beaten eggs
1 tsp oil
1/3 cup water

Combine two cups of the flour and the salt and the basil in a medium sized mixing bowl. Use a spatula to stir and make a well in the center. (The key to quick breads, pasta and pancake mixing is contained in a hymn... "All is well, all is well..." Corny. I know.) Then, in a slightly smaller bowl or a 2 cup liquid measuring cup mix the water, the oil and the eggs and beat until consistent. Pour this into the well and stir. (The reason I advocate a spatula, (I love the Tupperware one, it comes apart for cleaning, is because this will get super sticky.) Mix until all of the dry mixture is combined with the wet one. Next, use the rest of the flour and knead the pasta for 8 to 10 minutes, or if stressed, until your worry subsides, whichever comes second.  Let the poor dough rest for ten minutes, covered with a wet paper towel. Divide the dough into four roughly equal parts. Roll each out into a ten to twelve inch square. Personally, mine never comes out square or twelve inches. A little thicker pasta tastes just fine to me.  Let rest for twenty minutes, uncovered. This allows your pasta to dry out some before you cut it.
To cut lasagna noodles, measure about an inch or so wide strips and cut down the length of the dough. To make noodles, roll dough loosely jelly roll style and slice down the roll. (Better Homes and Gardens has a really great picture of this).  Let pasta dry for 24 hours on a hanger if you want to freeze. Otherwise, boil some water, add a little olive oil and boil for 3 or so minutes. Homemade pasta cooks fast! Pay attention! Enjoy. I may have just ruined dried commercial pasta for life for you.

The following disclaimer applies to the following recipes. I cannot, to save my life, make a decent cake from scratch. I love cake mix. So, each of these are quick ways to dress up a cake mix. Make it look a little fancy! 
Chocolate Orange Cake
1 box chocolate cake mix ( I like swiss chocolate! or devil's food!)
Ingredients to prepare cake mix as noted on box
1 orange peel
Vanilla frosting

Using kitchen shears, cut orange peel into tiny pieces. Mix into cake mix. Bake as directed on box or.... for super fun quick results, pour into a microwave cake pan, like the Tupperware Stacker Cooker and microwave on medium high power for 7 to 10 minutes. Cake is done in the oven when a toothpick or skewer comes out clean, or in the stacker cooker, when the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Let cool. Frost with vanilla frosting and enjoy! Perhaps garnish with some mandarin orange slices or some additional orange zest.  Enjoy the praise and admiration. ;)

Soda Pop Cake
For more easy, showoff fun.....
1 can soda. Your choice.
1 box cake mix.

Mix soda and cake mix. It fizzles. It pops.. It's so fun to watch! Bake as directed on box or use Tupperware Stacker Cooker.  This would be a fun Family Home Evening refreshment!

To purchase tupperware products

Of bread, belief and bungling

     Sometimes, I am not Betty Crocker. It isn't that I don't want to be the woman whose husband comes home to a sparkling home and a delicious nutritious dinner hot on the table. It isn't that I don't want to stare smiling into my  perfectly organized closet and see linens and clothing neatly hung and folded like little soldiers. My intentions are great. But sometimes, actions and intentions don't fit so neatly together. The bread dough splatters all over the kitchen, then doesn't rise in time for dinner. The cake turns into a pudding. I forget to put tenderizer on the meat. The laundry sits unfolded on the couch. I am not, most certainly, the vision of loveliness I had in mind when I woke up this morning.  Then my wonderful husband walks in the door after a longer, harder day at work. He smiles at me gently. I am too stressed out to appreciate this. 

     After he leaves to deliver dinner to the missionaries, I sit surrounded by all of this. I feel like a failure. He doesn't deserve this. He works hard. He is the kindest, most compassionate man I know. He is so strong and endures trials with faith and trust in God. I sit and think on our marriage and the joy it has brought me. I feel deeply ashamed.  I want so much to do and be better for him. 

     I know I am making efforts. Small, seemingly inconsistent efforts, but efforts none the less. I am trying. My goal is to do one more thing for Greg each day than I did the day before. The rolls now finally ready to bake are filling the house with the smell of baking bread. I am waiting for Greg to return.  I think on the made beds upstairs, on the clean sink and the linen closet. I know I need to do more, but  I am also filled with hope that this is possible.  Through the grace of God and the love of my husband I can become all I am meant to be. It isn't easy, but it is possible. I am ready to get back to the dishes and labor with a smile.  I love Greg for his patience and am grateful to my Father in Heaven for his love for me, even in sending His Son, Jesus Christ, and then his son, my husband to help me be who I am meant to. 

Domestic Dreaming

My wedding was amazing. I am so happy to be married for time and all eternity to the love of my life. He is such an amazing man and I am blessed to have him.

I still want to keep house excellently, to further my education, to serve in the church and to live my life in a way that is pleasing to God and to my husband. I thought, in the back of my mind, that marriage would automatically help me achieve these things. I find, however, that life still goes on and requires work. My heart desires to be at home, but there are so many pressing things and only so much budget. I want to make my home a heaven, to work hard at keeping it nice. My homemaking skills, and more importantly, my sense of discipline, are not keeping up with my dreams and ambitions. Greg doesn't allow me to get discouraged though, rather he reminds me of the sweet fact that we have all eternity to get it right. Some of the things I want to accomplish this week include:

Finishing registering for classes at Richland

Transferring credit hours to both Richland College and UT Dallas

Cleaning and readying my guest room and the master bedroom

Moving my belongings from my parent's home

Engagement

So I have some great news! I'm engaged. Actually, I've been engaged for about a month, but I'm not very good at updating my blog. I just don't feel like I have that much to write about. Life's been really different lately. I just realized I hadn't even posted since I started dating Greg. Hmm... I really do need to improve here.
Well, then, to give you a brief update...
Gregory and I met via a mutual friend, Tiffany. We were just friends for a few months but started to really talk during May. At the end of May we were dating. By the beginning of August, it felt like a forever, this is right moment. We talked about getting married and he felt the same way. So he talked to my parents and we went to look at rings the next day. He proposed on a Sunday. We'd been spending time with his family and on the way out I kissed him and he said, "I just can't take it anymore. Will you marry me?" He got down on one knee and slipped the ring he had picked onto my finger. I was sort of surprised but my immediate reaction was to call my grandmother. (After I said yes, of course!) On the way home, I started this weird, so -happy -I -can't- stand- it- don't- know -whether- to- laugh- or- cry- so -I'll -do -both thing. Wedding planning is going well so far, though we need to hear from the temple regarding their schedule before we can do much of anything else. I have my bouquet done, the dress pattern picked out (Thanks to the amazing sewing abilities of my mother!), bridesmaids dresses patterns, flower girls, veil, head piece, photography (thanks Tiffany!), invitation picked out, etc. So now it's just the date so I can finish refreshments, book the cultural hall, mail out invitations, etc
But honestly, I'm more concerned about being a good wife and homemaker than I am about the wedding. I'm working now, but I still feel strongly tied to home. I'm still working on educating myself to be the best I can, something I think I'll always be doing. Marriage is for eternity. My Wedding will just be one day. I want to make the wedding nice, but the marriage even better.
Cate

LDS.org - CES Fireside - The Reflection in the Water

LDS.org - CES Fireside - The Reflection in the Water

We are children of our Heavenly Father who loves us.

New Rule... Nutrition time!

   It shocks me how basic some of the things in life I miss are. I've been thinking about improving my health and fitness overall, and part of that involves trying to shed a few pounds. I've been taking it slowly, exercising 5 or 6 times per week and improving one meal at a time. Lately, though, it feels like I've been counter productive, thanks to the Easter Holiday and a mild bout of the blues. I think I need to pay a lot more attention to what it is I'm eating. So I've put a new rule into effect, starting today- if it isn't nutritious, I don't eat it. It sounds simple enough, and I can put it into place for the two meals per day I prepare myself, as well as any time I'm asked to fix dinner. I hope to learn a lot more about nutrition and the body, as it has such a powerful effect on both the mind and the Spirit. Hopefully it will go well!

New Education Resource

As readers of this blog may well know by this time, I am an advocate of self-education, of obtaining as much knowledge as possible. I have recently found some great resources for those wishing to pursue their own education at home, or just to enrich their lives. I find that this education is uplifting, inspiring and in general makes me happier. To paraphrase a quote in the McGuffy Reader series, which was popular in nineteenth century education, "If a day passes where you have not learned or done something useful, it is a day wasted and you ought to be very sorry for it."

So, the list of self education websites:

Yale Open Courses:
I like this resource because they have recorded the lectures in a downloadable format. You can listen to the professor, read the transcript, see the assignments in part, as well as the midterm and the answers in some cases and see which textbooks are used. So far I find the recordings to be clear, which is an advantage over some of the other open courses I've found, but the number of classes is fewer.
http://oyc.yale.edu/

U Moodle: provided by the University of Utah
I have to brag a bit about this site, allow me to plug my Alma Mater! Even though I haven't completed this set of courses, there are a few categories such as teaching and learning that I haven't seen on other open course ware sites.
http://my.courses.utah.edu/course/category.php?id=3

Utah State Open Course Ware:
I have used a few of the Family and Consumer Science courses and I loved them! The topics were interesting and the materials clear. There is a fee, as required, for some of the courses but the vast majority are free. Bonus: There are links on the homepage to other open course ware sites!
http://ocw.usu.edu/

John Hopkins Open Course Ware:
The classes here are, as might be expected, primarily medical in nature, but the topics looked interesting. I haven't checked this one out yet, but I hope to soon.
http://ocw.jhsph.edu/

Notre Dame Open Course Ware:
One of the categories that intrigued me here was a Medieval Studies category. They had some courses in categories I didn't see on other sites, including Catholic Tradition, Africana and Theology.
http://ocw.nd.edu/

Harvard Open Learning Initiative:
This one had very few courses but if you've wanted to sample Harvard, this is a great resource for you!
http://www.extension.harvard.edu/openlearning/

MIT Open Courses:
This was the first site I discovered and it has many courses. You can search courses by department, audio video and more.
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm

UC Berkeley Open Courses:
The recordings here tended to be a bit garbled, but the courses are interesting none the less. I especially like how you can search the large number of classes by the term they were offered.
http://webcast.berkeley.edu/

Project Gutenberg:
While not an open course site, I love project Gutenberg for it's reading material. They have great books in classic literature, but also historic homemaking manuals (a favorite of mine!) and even a free CD or DVD download. It's entirely legal and fascinating! Audio book feature is nice for on the go education!
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

And a closing thought on education: "If formal education is not available, do not allow that to prevent you from acquiring all the knowledge you can. Under such circumstances, the best books, in a sense, can become your “university”—a classroom that is always open and admits all who apply. Strive to increase your knowledge of all that is “virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy.” Seek knowledge “by study and also by faith.” Seek with a humble spirit and contrite heart. As you apply the spiritual dimension of faith to your study—even of temporal things—you can amplify your intellectual capacity, for “if your eye be single to [God’s] glory, your whole [body] shall be filled with light, … and [comprehend] all things.” - Dieter F. Uchtdorf