Monday Message

"The counsel to have a year’s supply of basic food, clothing, and commodities was given fifty years ago and has been repeated many times since. Every father and mother are the family’s storekeepers. They should store whatever their own family would like to have in the case of an emergency … [and] God will sustain us through our trials." (James E. Faust)

I find the last of this quote quite comforting.

It has been so very hot. I am ready to be done with the heat. It makes it very hard to get things done.

A little while back I found some unmounted stamps at thrift store. Every method I tried just did not work like I would like to be convenient, so I did some research. Well, of the options to use, I felt like mounting them would be best. I had no idea it would take all day. I found the scrap wood in the garage. My husband was kind enough to cut it and do some sanding. I took some foam I had saved from some packing material and got to work.

I had just enough foam but the last one was pieced together. They were very inexpensive. All were way less than purchasing one stamp. They are all done and once dried, I washed off the ink on them that you can tell in the picture. The ink was from stamping the image on the block of wood so you can see the image at a glance. My hands were inky looking till clean-up which I used hair spray to get it off. It works great, kind of scary to think what it does to ones hair. I had a sample bottle I save just for ink stains, even on clothes.

So this was a job I did on one of the hottest days.

Someone else is liking the bags as well as Missy...Tippy Longstockings said we all should have a bag to crawl into but I say it's too hot!

One day I spent looking at cookbooks and other books like tatting and watercolor that I had been trying to get to so that was a good activity on a day too hot for much physical work.

Another day I turned the loom and spinning wheel so that all their legs were on the same part of the floor. I originally had the loom turned so that one leg was on wood and three on the carpet. The spinning wheel had one leg on carpet and the rest on wood. So now all of the loom is on carpet and all of the spinning wheel is on wood. It might not make a difference but I did it just in case.

This ended up being a bit more physical than I wanted but I did it in the morning.

Knowing this heat was coming, I got meals lined up. I cooked a crockpot full of chicken which gave us a chicken meal that night, then I made fajitas and chicken salad and hay stacks. We are still enjoying the leftovers, so nice especially when the temps are molten lava by supper time.

Haystacks

I put a can of cream of mushroom soup in the crockpot along with...

A box of chicken broth 

Chicken leftovers or planned overs

And chicken gravy mix (about three Tbsp)

Stir and leave on low all day in the crockpot. Before eating, I thicken with cornstarch till it's like a gravy.

You put some chow mein noodles, the crunchy type, or rice or both in a bowl. Put this gravy on then whatever toppings you want, I like chopped green pepper and onion and celery and almonds and shredded cheddar cheese.

This makes a fabulous meal when it is too hot.

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/ready-gravy-mix/ - this is the gravy mix I used. I keep a jar of each on the shelf always.

Mind you I used all things I had in house to do all this as not wanting to spend extra or go out in the heat, though I did run to the garden for green peppers.

I also fixed a meatless bean burrito. I use a can of refried beans and a can of hot enchilada sauce. Mix together and put in a small crockpot.

My husband likes to have this as burritos and I like to put it over tortilla chips and top with cheese.

So these all made great leftovers.

By the time you read this cooler weather will hopefully arrive.

Today will still be in the nineties but not lava hot. I have been waiting to load the dehydrator with tomatoes so that happens today.

What things are you doing to beat the heat without spending money?

Missy says share what you have with others, even if it is your favorite bag (of which she has two).

Tippy Longstockings says it is okay to take it easy when it is toooooo hot!