When Life Jumps the Track . . . . .

Yesterday, I had this . . . . . .














Now I have this . . . . . .


And one very pathetic old cupboard.


Hang in there folks, I will make those foilies for lunch, since I can't use my kitchen very well right now!!!

FOIL DINNERS . . . . A WRAP . . . & SOME RECIPES

Need to work outside before it hits 100 degrees . . .  wish I was kidding.  Any way, I will post some of my favorite recipes, mostly that I mentioned HERE and also show how to wrap a foilie so that it doesn't leak.

I also bought some more charcoal yesterday so I can do them up in the back yard so that I can discuss "How hot are your coals?"  This will be under shade back there of course.  Do I sound like a big old wimp . . .  I am when it comes to HEAT.  And guess what . .  I'm not ashamed . . . I figure with this hair, I've earned it!

"See" ya later this afternoon.

WONDER BOX HAM & BEANS

I tried making pinto beans in the wonder box today.  Last time I lost track of time and they set there for 8 hours. . . . too long!!

1.  Cook ham bone in crock pot from morning to afternoon.
2.  Drain the broth into a container and put it in the fridge to chill.
3.  Clean beans and put on to soak overnight.  Reminder is HERE
4.  Next morning, drain and rinse beans.
5.  Pull meat off the ham bone and add to beans.

6.  Scoop fat off the top of the broth.

7.  Add broth to beans, making sure the pan is good and full.  The level of the liquid is very important.  Always have the pot very full for using the wonder box! 

8.  Boil the beans for half hour with the lid on.  This is longer than I usually do, but I am finding that it will help to get the beans soft enough.  

9.  As soon  as you take the pot off the burner, get it into the WB.  

10.  Since this pot has a long handle, I made sure the bag wrapped up around it for a tighter fit. 

11.  As soon as you have it nestled into the bag, get the cover on it.  speed is important.  Every second that it is exposed, you are losing heat!

12.  After 4 hours, the temperature was 180 degrees.  The beans were very tasty but still had just a little "crunch".  At 5 hours, it was 175 degrees and still had that little "crunch".  At this point, I took the pot out and simmered them for awhile until they were completely soft, all the way through.

13.  I happened on this great box that is just the right size.  It is a definant improvement.  It has kept the little critters of all kinds off of the WB.    It gives me something to grab if I need to move it.  It holds the hear in even better.

The dimensions are 19" X 19" and 17.5" tall.  It could be just 14" tall and be fine.  Wal-mart carries these baskets, so if you wanted to get one, they could probably help you out.  They usually are pretty good about saving boxes for customers.

GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE . . . . DUTCH OVEN OR BBQ GRILL STYLE

Finally, here is the promised post!
Topping Ingredients:

• 1 - Egg Yolk (save white for cake)
• 1 C - Canned (evaporated milk)
• 1/2 C - Butter (I used to use margarine in the old days, it was OK)
• 1 C - Chopped Pecans
• 1 1/2 C - Flaked Coconut
• 1 t. - Vanilla (oops! not in the pic!

1. Melt butter or margarine in a pan sitting on the coals.  
2. Pour that into a bowl or one cake pan.  
3. Add canned milk, sugar.   Stir it up good.
4.  Add coconut,chopped nuts and vanilla.  Stir it up good again.
5. Divide between the two cake pans.

Cake Ingredients:

• Cake Mix- - -from the store
• Oil (amount called for on package)
• 1-white from egg
• Water

1. Dump the cake mix into a bowl.
2. Add the water, oil, and egg white.
3. Beat it by hand for a few minutes.  Like that clear precise direction?  I ten to over beat cake when using a mixer.  Makes a  very embarrassing DRY cake.  so now, I take out my whisk and beat it good by hand.  When my hand gets tired, I figure it has to be just right.  Make sure it is nice and smooth with no lumps, this a cake, not a biscuit after all.
4. Now to "spread" it over the topping.  Kind of tricky.  I plop dollops (spoons full) all over the topping. 
5. Now gently spread the dollops with the back of a spoon by lifting a little while spreading.  That helps the topping stay in place.

Baking These Babies!  - - - In Coals

1. Place the cake in the dutch oven and put on the lid.  
2. Sit the dutch oven on top of a layer of hot coals.
3. Put coals on top of the lid.  I usually put on six to eight coals.
4. Bake a little longer (five to ten minutes) than the package says to.    The topping is adding a lot of moisture and some insulation on the bottom, so it does take longer to get done.

Baking in the BBQ

1.  One of these really helps!  My hubby lit ours the other day for our foilies  It hit 500 degrees even though  the burners were all on low.  Probably need to use only one of two of the burners.  Our three burner ended up just keeping one on to lower the temp enough.  As you would indoor oven, preheat the BBQ.  I did use one of the little oven thermometers like you would find in the kitchen ware dept at the store before I had one built -in.

2.  Now you can bake the cake in the dutch oven, in the BBQ or just place the cake on the grill like you would indoors.  My best one was baked in the pan, in the dutch oven.

3.  You can check for "doneness" by poking the top with your finger and seeing if it springs back or stick a toothpick in it to see if it comes out clean.

4.  If you leave it in the dutch oven to cool, plan to wait a while!  They do hang on to the heat for a long old time.

5.  Loosen the sides with a spatula or knife, whatever is handy.

6.Tap the cake out onto a plate.  This has been the trickiest part so far.  I usually forget to set a timer and let it cool too long  ;-]   It did help when I rewarmed he bottom a little on a stove burner.

7.  If all else fails, scrape the topping out and reapply to that half naked 

cake!!

8.  Serve with a lovely, tall, dripping, ice cold glass of milk!! 

DUTCH OVEN GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE

I made this today . . . . now I need to get the veggies, fruities and dips ready for a get-to-gether tonight.  I'll post the pictures, instructions and all that later tonight!!  It was baked in the dutch oven in the BBQ.  No way was I doing the coal thing in this heat!!


In fact, this is is what the thermometer read when I went out there.


Think this will be a wonderful place to let the bread rise tomorrow.  What do you think?

IS IT STILL THERE . . . . . IN OUR HEARTS?

Yesterday, I was thinking about celebrating our Independence Day on the Sabbath.  It is so appropriate. When you read about the signers of the Declaration of Independence, you find out that many of them were wealthy family men who really weren't financially troubled by the taxes and other restrictions placed on them by England.  They had all that they needed in that respect.  They had not much to gain and so much to lose by that one action.  Many of them did just that, lost a lot, in some cases, even some or all of their family members.  Were they saints, no, but who among us are.  How many of us would have the courage to risk so much for others?  I love and appreciate these men and look up to them.

I appreciate that they were God fearing men who began all of their meetings with prayer, calling on God to assist and guide them as they set  into motion the events that would establish our country.  I thought of this as I sang our national anthem as Sacrament Meeting started this morning.

This is a blessed nation.  It was even before it's conception by man.  They were driven by worldly riches so many times and unknowingly set the stage for this Promised Land to be brought to fruition.  Yes, in the long run, many riches were discovered.  Gold and silver to start with, later other natural resources that have enabled us to grow and lead in the industrial period that brought so much wealth, incentive to think out of the box. To improve what men needed to make their lives easier or even just possible.  So much vast land that is so fertile.

I thank our Heavenly Father every day that I was so blessed to live in this land.  That I was sent to a pretty humble family who taught me to work hard to meet my own needs and the needs of my family.  I thank Him for a mother whose faith was unshakable.  She didn't always have the greatest understanding of Gospel Principles, but she taught us to search prayerfully and never, never give up.  To draw on any and all resources to find the eternal based answers that He had for me.  To be patient while waiting for those answers.  By waiting I mean "productively waiting".  Continuing to do all that I can.  God and Christ will know when I really have done all that I can, and then they will step in to give me what I need to accomplish or understand.

I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior.  I know that he experienced all the pain, anguish, and regrets that I would some day experience as He atoned for my sins and mistakes.  I also know that he rejoices with me in those moments when I and my loved ones celebrate the the happy times.  I know that by sending me here,  they expect much of me.  I am thankful for that blessing and embrace the responsibility that comes with it.  I also know that They feel the same way about every person on this earth. 

This whole thought process began during the opening song in Sacrament Meeting this morning.  I lose my emotions every year when we sing patriotic songs at church.

Please take the time to read all of the words in our national anthem..  Please open your minds and hearts as you read them.  Try to put yourself in the shoes of Francis Scott Key as he was being held prisoner on a British ship and asked repeatedly, "Is it still there?"

The Star Spangled Banner Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,  What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?  Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thru the perilous fight,  O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?  And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,  Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.  O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave  O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,  Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,  What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,  As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?  Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,  In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:  Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave  O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore  That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion  A home and a country should leave us no more?  Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.  No refuge could save the hireling and slave  From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:  And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave  O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,  Between their loved home and the war's desolation!  Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land  Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!  Then conquer we must, when our cause. it is just,  And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"  And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave  O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

History: In 1814, about a week after the city of Washington had been badly burned, British troops moved up to the primary port at Baltimore Harbor in Maryland. Francis Scott Key visited the British fleet in the Harbor on September 13th to secure the release of Dr. William Beanes who had been captured during the Washington raid. The two were detained on the ship so as not to warn the Americans while the Royal Navy attempted to bombard Fort McHenry. At dawn on the 14th, Key noted that the huge American flag, which now hangs in the Smithsonian's American History Museum, was still waving and had not been removed in defeat. The sight inspired him to write a poem titled Defense of Fort McHenry. The poem was eventually set to music that had originally been written by English composer John Stafford Smith for a song titled "The Anacreontic Song". The end result was the inspiring song now considered the national anthem of the United States of America. It was accepted as such by public demand for the next century or so, but became even more accepted as the national anthem during the World Series of Baseball in 1917 when it was sung in honor of the brave armed forces fighting in the Great War. The World Series performance moved everyone in attendance, and after that it was repeated for every game. Finally, on March 3, 1931, the American Congress proclaimed it as the national anthem, 116 years after it was first written.

Foil Dinners . . . . More Of the Story

I made these with my girls and the grand kids yesterday.  With all that we were trying to do in one day, I didn't get quite the set-up to photograph that I wanted so I will share a little of the results and try to do some on "dressing them for success"   (wrapping). . . man was that just too corny?  You will see why in a few lines   {:-D

We set out all the choices for every one to pick from.  Each mom had one child at a time come in to make their "foily".

I used several ingredients from my food storage.   Every thing that has an * came from the can.  ** means it was dehydrated!

This is an easy way to keep the fat content in your foods way down.  I cut away all the fat I can while chopping the meat.  It makes the veggies so tasty that kids will usually eat them better than they do at other times.



GOOD STUFF FOR FOILIES

• 3 - 4 oz. cut up meat/foily (we had chicken and fajita beef)
• **chopped mushrooms
• **minced onions
• **diced bell peppers
• *pineapple chuncks
• zucchini, chopped
• **carrots, sliced
• ** diced potatoes
• chopped celery

Seasonings:

• **Lawry's
• **Mrs. Dash 
• **Spike
• **McCormick's Salt Free All Purpose
• Salt & Pepper

Sauces--

• **Magic Mix + Beef Broth mixed with water
• Sweet & Sour --  I'll put the recipe for this with the recipe later tonight with the Pineapple Chicken Foily instructions.  You'll love it!

Little warning--  These sauces are runny unless you cook them first to thicken them.   You can turn the edges up around the foil to hold it until it in until you wrap it up, but it is still a little tricky.  My sauce poured all over the table because I really didn't pay attention.  The kids seemed to think it was a pretty good show. . .  BUT . . .

Notice something that I didn't put out there?  Cabbage leaves.  Yes, I had half a head in the fridge and didn't put it out.  Silly me, decided to break my own rule since we were going to be cooking them in the BBQ grill so I thought it would be controlled enough that we shouldn't have a problem.  So hopefully, others will learn by the experience of me and mine!





Most were able to salvage most enough for lunch, but we did a lot snacking since there was so much loss.





I guess I kind of cheated, I made the Sweet & Sour Chicken with lots of sauce.  It did turn out heavenly.  I will put that whole recipe on later tonight or tomorrow.






Planned Posts for the next few days :

• Sweet & Sour Pineapple Chicken
• Spice Cupcakes in an orange rind or foil cup cake liner
• German Chocolate Cake in the dutch oven

I hear these went over big at  Girls' Camp . . .  don't miss them!