Monday Message

Apples are a great addition to food storage and can be used in so many recipes!

 (LDS Church Handbook 2, Section 6.1.1)
“Church members are responsible for their own spiritual and temporal well-being.....To help care for themselves and their families, members should build a three-month supply of food that is part of their normal diet. Where local laws and circumstances permit, they should gradually build a longer-term supply of basic foods that will sustain life. They should also store drinking water in case the water supply becomes polluted or disrupted."

What is your normal diet? Could you store it? Can you fix it for your family? Will it store well? Can you rotate it? Will it last in storage for a year?

It's important that food storage is part of your daily food. Just work storage things into your menu planning. Don’t wait for the emergency to use your storage, your family won’t eat it. Do you know when the church goes into other countries to give aid they ship in food they are used to eating?

It is winter - make oatmeal for breakfast put it in cake cookies and bread, apple crisp... see these are perfectly normal foods, so this makes oatmeal a great storage item.

This is what I am talking about, not oatmeal patties or worse.

When you use your storage it is just like a big pantry, use and replace.

Having dried apples is wonderful as they don’t take much room. Now add some to that oatmeal, use them to make apple crisp any time of year. Dried apples are a great item to store too, drying your own cuts that cost a lot.

This is what I am talking about. Whoever said food storage had to be icky?

I notice prices going up every month on groceries, not only here in the US but outside as well. Having storage helps with the pain of price increases.

I know you are all on Christmas right now but keep working on your storage.

http://www.simplyprepared.com/gifts_from_the_home_storage_kitchen.htm - ideas here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM5XPC1O6eU - part four of the crochet 101 series.

https://blog.colettehq.com/tutorials/21-sewing-terms-every-beginner-should-know - I think this is so helpful in building your sewing skills.

Now for fun I saw these…

http://delightfulemade.com/2014/12/09/penguin-cookies-perfect-holiday-recipe/ - too cute

http://www.simplisticallyliving.com/santa-nutter-butter-cookies/

http://kidsactivitiesblog.com/79620/40-fun-christmas-treats - I love the marshmallow snowman in the hot cocoa. I think you will have fun making and eating these with family. I can see a family night making a pretzel manger and stable - fun!

Mostly keep in mind your goal is stay out of debt. Don’t be that person in cold dark January with excess bills coming in. Stay within your budget! We all want to do things for others, it is who we are, but others you do for don't want you further in debt.

This is a hard time of year for many people, there are so many acts of kindness that cost nothing.

If you are someone having a hard time know That Heavenly Father loves you and is aware of your circumstances and people around you love you too. You are never alone. Pick yourself up, smile in the mirror, I know someone will smile back. You will get through this test in life! Really, we do learn from these times. I am not just saying this. I have had hard times and most have, we learn from them, whether it is to make a cake from scratch to taking a family walk in the snow looking at all the lights - most memories are free.

Let others know you are having a hard time.

http://theprudenthomemaker.com/blog?view=entry&id=88 Everyone should read this.

Instead of feeling bad for your situation, change that to a challenge. Roll up your sleeves and tackle it.

If anyone needs to have a great feeling give service, simple as that. Look for someone to help. They won’t be flagging you down, we tend to suffer in silence so pray who needs my help today.

Remember … don’t feel bad, you may be far from home, you may be struggling to just make it through the month. Whatever the problem, don’t feel less - you are not. Things happen in life. We may not have what others have, that is okay. Not everyone has those things either. Instead, remember why we celebrate Christmas. It isn’t giving or receiving gifts that matter at all.

On a lighter note...

I have a cat named Gus. He lived outside and we brought him in. He at first was skittish with every noise and would run and hide. We would watch a Star Trek movie and he would run and hide. I would watch a YouTube clip, he would run and hide. But as time went on noises don’t bother him and he is addicted to TV and really addicted to YouTube, he comes running to watch it.

But he is a smart cookie too…you have no idea. I will be working on the Monday Messages and out of nowhere comes a paw. He stretches it out and moves my screen. Yes, he has watched me swipe the screen and has learned how. He stretches those toes out and with the pad of his foot slides my screens, a stinker to be sure but he now knows how to start or stop YouTube clips. Sooo if Gus can learn things by gum so can we, so push on and be the best you can be.