Food Storage Wisdom

   

A generation or two ago, families had the good sense to always maintain a good food storage program because they understood that bad things can happen to food supplies. At some point, America became complacent and assumed that there would never be a time when we couldn’t get in the car, drive to the grocery store or restaurant, and find exactly what we wanted in bountiful quantities at cheap prices. That is not a good assumption. Now things are starting to return to a more sane idea that every family should have their own secure food storage plan. Food storage is still viewed as a somewhat quirky, semi-paranoid idea, but anyone reading The Southern Agrarian understands that it is a very wise move.
These are some notes compiled by a relative who spent forty days living entirely off of stored food supplies. I have known him for my entire life. He is a physician, and looks at this from a very analytical and physiological standpoint. I found myself modifying our family’s own food storage program after following his experience during those forty days.

• CANNED GOODS—Canned goods have a limited shelf life and should not be part of a survival food program unless they are rotated as part of one’s regular eating. Older foods may not make a person sick, but they taste funny and stress the digestion.
• FREEZE-DRIED FOODS—Freeze-dried foods have a very long shelf life and are quite palatable and satisfying, both the vegetables and the meats.
• OILS—Oils are not sold as part of a survival package. They must be acquired separately. They are needed for cooking, palatability, and calories. Vegetable oils probably have important essential fatty acid nutrients, too.
• NUTS—Easy to store, and a satisfying supplement to many foods.
• GRAINS—RICE, RICE, RICE. Easy to prepare, easy to store, goes well with other foods. More palatable than freeze-dried potatoes, easier to prepare than breads. (If I had it to do over, I would have bought more rice and less wheat. THIS WAS ONE OF THE BIG LESSONS OF MY EXPERIENCE.)
• LEGUMES—Easy to store, easy to cook, satisfying. (Legumes, along with rice, became the staples to which I added other things.)
• SEASONINGS—Seasonings are critical to making legumes palatable. They are sold as packets in grocery stores next to the legumes (dried beans).
• DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS—Fish oil caps, and hard-coat (i.e. oxygenation-resistant) vitamin pills. Just in case something is missing from the other foods.
• BULK SUPPLEMENTS—Fiber supplements and perhaps mag citrate. Under survival conditions they can make it so you have one less thing to worry about.
• PRESERVATION—Many foods come in large containers and once opened, unused portions are susceptible to spoilage unless properly stored. I use mason jars and evacuate air with a vacuum pump. (Completely filling the mason jar is another way to minimize the amount of oxygen in the jar, too.) Weevils can destroy grain supplies if grains are exposed to oxygen.
• MISC—Salt; sugar; anything you use for cooking. Tincture of iodine, to make drinking water safe. (Think of other supplies.)
• PRACTICE—If you are not experienced, you will neglect supplies that are important and overstock supplies that are unimportant.
• PRESERVATION II—Light, heat, moisture, oxygen. To maximize shelf-life, keep these to a minimum.

MISCELLANEOUS LESSONS LEARNED:

• Old canned goods may taste alright, but leave me feeling slightly queasy for hours.
• Freeze-dried meats and vegetables can be sprinkled onto moist foods and eaten with no additional preparation. This is convenient, and they are more palatable dry than reconstituted.
• Ketchup, mayonnaise, and salad dressings are wonderful for dressing up foods. They have limited shelf life, probably about a year, but they are so good and so familiar it is worth keeping a fresh supply.
• Some freeze-dried fruits are more suitable than others. Raisins are substantial and flavorful, whereas strawberries and blueberries are puffed-up and acidic. The raisins would be more of a staple, and the other berries serve as part of a treat recipe.
• Powdered milk can be sprinkled onto foods (like oatmeal) and taste quite good (add peanut butter and raisins, please) and avoid the nuisance of reconstituting to an insipid, fat-free drink that must be protected from spoilage.
• Beverages will be limited. Coffee, tea, grog, crystallized drinks can be properly stored indefinitely. Liquid concentrates do not have indefinite shelf lives. I favor the fortified orange drink from my supplier.
• #10 cans are much more convenient than 5-gallon pails, unless one has carefully thought out his usage patterns.
• Lots and lots of mason jars will be needed in order to have opened a variety of foods without losing the balance to spoilage.
• The moist, hot, recently prepared rice and legume combo made me feel like I was eating fresh, rather than off-the-shelf survival foods.
• Many “combo-recipe packs” (e.g. beef stroganoff, spaghetti and meatballs, etc.) are very salty and should probably be “cut” with a bowl of rice.
• Pan breads (pancakes, waffles, cornbread) are more practical than firing up an oven to cook loaves or biscuits. Under survival conditions, baked bread will become a luxury item.

Carved Pumpkins - Make Them Last!

If you want your Jack O Lantern Pumpkin to last longer, try this easy treatment on your pumpkin.

After you scoop out and carve your pumpkin, dip it in a large container of bleach and water (use a 1 tsp:1 gal mix). The bleach will kill bacteria and help your pumpkin stay fresh longer. Once completely dry, (drain upside down), add 2 tablespoon of vinegar and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice to a quart of water. Brush this solution onto your pumpkin to keep it looking fresh for weeks.”



Buying Christmas Presents Early

 

Last year I wrote an article on buying your Christmas presents early.  So how is that coming along?  It is 161 days until Christmas, about five months so now is a good time to start your Christmas shopping.  If you start now you can enjoy what you are doing and get the things you want at a good price.  When the Christmas holidays come you can always shop and spend more if you like….

            There are sales now that will probably not beat the sales at the holidays because business is slower so they are pushing merchandise at a good price.

            Just in case you didn’t read my article before, I have a large tote or two I put my presents in when I buy them;  that way I don’t lose them and can find them easily when the time comes for me to start wrapping. 

As I said in my previous post, I had a mother in law who had all her Christmas bought by August and throughout the holidays she would decorate and wrap presents.  To me that should make the holidays more enjoyable because you are not pressured to spend so much money all at once and buy things that you wouldn’t normally buy.  Not that I expect you spend a lot of money, but with the economy the way it is it doesn’t seem that your dollar goes as far as it used to.

Cows on the ranch

This cow is the granddaughter of Matilda, her grandmother Matilda was a cow we bought from a trading post on the reservation many years ago.  Matilda was anything but friendly, but after years on the ranch she became a bit more pleasant although she still wasn’t the friendliest cow around.  We did get some nice calves from Matilda and she lived a good life on the ranch.  After being on the reservation the ranch must have seemed like heaven. 

Her granddaughter has a calf of her own now and is getting ready to go out to the range for the summer.

Each cow has their own personality just like people and they are quite smart.  The older ones will know the trail and lead the younger ones to water although the cows will automatically follow the leader even though sometimes the leader isn’t going anywhere in particular.

We had a cow once that was quite friendly and named her Daisy, but found out later she only liked men.  For some reason she didn’t like women and would actually go after them.  It wasn’t just me, any women with long hair she disliked.  We finally had to get rid of her because she got mean a few times.

Cows can be interesting, but not a good pet like a cat or dog.

How to Dry and Store Mint

Mint tea is the best!  I make my own tea blend and use my mint that I dry during the summer.  I also to make mint tea with fresh mint, it is very refreshing.  I enjoy peppermint tea before bedtime with chamomile, it makes a wonderful tonic to relax me and help me sleep.  I also add mint to some of the tea blends I have bought and you can make your tea and chill it for ice tea in the summer.  If you buy mint tea at the store it can be pricy so why not dry your own.

            If you want to dry your own mint one of the important things is timing.  It is better to wait until it is mature, but you don’t want the mint to start going to seed as you will lose some of its holistic value.

When you feel like your mint is right cut it and put it in a large bowl or platter.  When I cut mint I put all the cut ends facing the same way, you will find it is easier throughout the drying process.

 

 

Put your mint in the sink (all facing the same way) and wash and rinse it well, you want to wash any bird droppings or dirt off so you have clean mint.

            I then put my mint on a towel to drip dry, remember to keep it all facing the same way. 

 

I cut a long piece of string to tie around a bunch of mint, be sure and tie it tight because as it dries it will shrink and you don’t want it falling on the floor.  I have put brads (little nails) in my beams in the kitchen and hang my mint from the brads.  Hang it at different lengths so it will dry faster.  You could also use a fold up clothes dryer or anything else you think might work. 

DO NOT PUT IT IN THE SUNLIGHT TO DRY.

            VERY - VERY IMPORTANT!  You need a fan when you are drying any herbs, fruits or vegetables.  I don’t care how hot it, is you need circulation.  After all that work you don’t want your precious food to go bad before it is dry.

When the mint is dry I put it in a large Tupperwear bowl and let it blend together.  You will find when you dry herbs, fruit or vegetables they don’t all dry the same and this way I keep an eye on it and make sure it is dry enough before I put it in containers.  You don’t want it to spoil.

            When I feel like it is ready to store I put my mint in large glass pickle jars or jars with metal or plastic lids.  You may also use mason canning jars.  I save my nut or animal cracker jars from Costco, they make perfect containers for storing my dried things in and it is great way to recycle. 

 Before I screw on the lids in whatever kind of container I use, I cut a piece of wax paper and screw the lid into it, this creates a better seal to keep your mint fresh.

I would love to hear how your drying went.  

 

 

Healing Herb Chart - Cayenne for Heart Attack?

Long before the prescription drugs available for all our ills they used to use herbs for healing.  They also used to die at an early age so you need to look at that before you throw out all your meds. 

            I came across this chart that I found very interesting concerning using different herbs for health problems. 

            I have a live rosemary plant in my kitchen in a five gallon container that I love.  I use rosemary in my cooking and enjoy having fresh rosemary whenever I need it.  This chart says it is a good anti-oxidant, I have always heard rosemary is good for your memory.  Maybe if you clean out your body you brain will be better?  Just an idea of my own…

            Cayenne is said to stop a heart attack, I have heard it is good for your respiratory so I have always taken it for my veins.  Years ago I was boating on Lake Powell on a first date with my husband and sliced the top of my hand open, it was bleeding profusely.  My husband (boyfriend then) had some cayenne pepper and poured it on my wound instantly stopping the bleeding.  The cut was bad enough that it should have had stitches, but being on the lake in the middle of nowhere this worked wonderfully.  Since then I have used cayenne pepper on many occasions to stop the bleeding, I think it should be in everyone’s first aid kit.

            Cinnamon is supposed to help lower blood pressure.  I keep a  jar of cinnamon on my kitchen table and sprinkle it on my honey toast in the morning for cinnamon toast.    Yeast Infection - In some studies, cinnamon has shown an amazing ability to stop medication-resistant yeast infections. 
Cancer Prevention - In a study published by researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Maryland, cinnamon reduced the proliferation of leukemia and lymphoma cancer cells.  

Now keep in mind I am not a medical professional so this is only my opinion, you should check with your doctor to see if some of these things work for you.

You might want to study some of these herbs; I have numerous books I have used as reference over the years.  Just be careful if you are taking medication that you check to make sure that herbs don’t interfere with your medication and cause other problems.  I myself am a true believer that you can be healthier with the herbs Heavenly Father gave us.



 

 

Zions National Park

This picture was taken right off the road in Zion's Park

 

 

If you want to go to a National Park that is awe inspiring, go to Zion’s National Park in Southern Utah.  If you’re a hiker you can hike, if you’re a climber you can climb, if you’re a rappelled you can rappel, if your one to go on a long hike then I recommend the Zion Narrows.  You will hike through towering walls of sandstone in water.  Just be aware if you are going through the Zion Narrows you need a permit and you might need it for some of the other rappels but you can get them on line before you go on your trip.  If you are none of the above and just want to ride through Zion’s Park in your car you can do that too, you just don’t go off the beaten path.

            The day I went was overcast, on most days it is sunny and blue skies, you might even see one of the long horn sheep or deer as you drive through the Park.  One year my daughter got her truck butted by a long horn sheep who didn’t like the idea of her being in the road (didn’t hurt the truck.)  Just make sure you take lots of water in your water reusable bottle if you go hiking, they prohibit disposable water bottles in Zion's (you can have what you want in your car.)

            You may drive through Zion's Park year round, highway 9 ends at highway 89 and you can go North to Bryce Canyon or South to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  The east entrance of Zion's Park is about ten to fifteen minutes from highway 89.  The winding road in Zion's Park is only around eleven miles long.  There is a road that breaks off the main road in the park that takes you up to Zion's Lodge that you need to take the shuttle in the summer to get to it unless you are staying at the lodge, then you may drive  your car there.   They shuttle you off the main road to Zion's Lodge where you can eat at the restaurant and walk in the Virgin River that  is the ending point of the Zion's Narrow hike. 
           
            There are many things to do in this beautiful park, it is South of Bryce Canyon that is a couple of hours away or Zion’s Park is North of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon (much prettier than the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and not so commercialized but they do have a motel and restaurant.
   
             There is a tunnel in Zion's Park that is a little over a mile long built using horse and wagons built in the early 1900's.  My husband's father and Grandfather helped build the tunnel, it took about a year.  The men started building from both sides and met in the middle.  His father and Grandfather each got paid a wage and their horse and wagon got paid a wage.  They would dynamite the tunnel and then send the men in with there horses and wagon to pick up the rocks and throw them out the windows that were dynamited in for ventilation and light.  It is a beautiful sight going through the tunnel and looking out the windows at the top of the mountain.  My Grandkids always have me honk in the tunnel, to scare away the giant gofer their Grandfather says is in there - although it is just for fun. 

            Zion’s National Park is about four hours away from Las Vegas so plan a trip there next time you go to Las Vegas Nevada, it is well worth it, then head on up to Bryce or the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Old Fashioned Jacks

            I remember I used to play with jacks for hours and I was really pretty good at it.  Pigs in the blanket, horse in the stable, over the jump, games we played with jacks.  My girlfriends or my sister would play with me each wanting to win. 

            I was at a Christmas bazaar a while ago when a women came over and started playing jacks and announced she was the queen of jacks.  Shortly after she left another women came over and started playing with the jacks and told me she was the best at jacks.  I told her the queen of jacks was just here and she then wanted to challenge her. 

            I hadn’t played jacks for many years and the first few times I started playing I was amazed at how uncoordinated I was but alas just like riding a bike I got back on and am now back into the game of jacks. 

            I think it is very good for all ages; it helps with your eye and hand coordination.

            I went to buy some jacks one day and all I could find was some cheaply made “Made in China” jacks.  I wanted made in America jacks.  I searched until I found some old fashioned jacks like I used to have with heavy duty jacks and rubber balls.

            If you want to play some fun jacks like the old fashioned ones we used to have you can find them at http://www.stitchthrutime.com/Old_Fashioned_Toys.html along with other made in American Old Fashioned Toys.

 

Watering Transplanted Plants

You have now planted your tender plants into the garden and are dreaming of the tomato sandwiches you will soon enjoy.  Not so fast, first and foremost you must make sure the plants are watered well.  When you first transplant plants make sure they are watered a lot and often.  This is one of the most important things you can do for your plants.  When they are first transplanted they can go into shock so make sure you give them the water they need. 

            When they start new growth you will be able to cut back on watering.  When they have taken hold you can water them less but make sure they don’t go into stress mode because that takes away from the time period for your tomato sandwich.  Just watch your plants and they will talk to you and let you know what they need.  They may not verbally talk to you but they will show you how they feel.  If you are giving them what they need then they will give you what you want, a tomato sandwich.

Companion Gardening

Many years ago I started gardening using companion gardening and I have been using it ever since.  If you are going to go to all the work of planting a garden you need to make sure you are not putting the wrong plants with each other.

Every year before I start to plant I make sure that I am not putting plants together that share the same bug or lower their resistance to disease.  It takes a little more time to research what you are doing but I think you will find you will be more successful in gardening.

You can pick up books on it or you may search the internet for companion gardening.  I also have on my blog who should and shouldn’t be put together like don’t plant potatoes and tomatoes together but carrots love tomatoes.  You may also go to http://www.stitchthrutime.com/Planting_Your_Garden.html and click on the gardening link for more information on companion gardening.  I think you will find the chart above quite helpful in your planting this year and next.

I also use companion gardening when planting herbs and flowers at my home and ranch so don’t just do it for your vegetable garden.

Teaching Kids to Sew

 

     For Christmas a few years ago I bought my granddaughter a sewing machine, one of those small kitty toy ones.  Save your money, that was a horrible waste of forty dollars, we spent more time trying to get it to sew then actually running the machine, we finally gave up.

     I have a small craft machine that I set up on an old shoe chair from a department store for my granddaughter to practice on.  Right now she is working on straight lines, which is why she is using gingham scraps to follow a straight line.  We are also working on the reverse; next she will be putting two pieces together.  I would like her to make a baby blanket for her dolls to begin with, but first she needs to learn to run the machine.



Planting Strawberries

Supervising how to fill holes with water

Helping Prepare to Plant Strawberries

 

          I planted fifty strawberries about a month ago and bought another fifty at the end of the year sale at Gurneys.  My ground is dry and as I dug fifty holes for the berries my older grandson was filling the holes with water, a job that needed to be repeated a few times because the ground has been so dry.  Usually we plow it again but we couldn’t get the tiller to start and I wanted to get the berries in, they were very dry when they came in and didn’t look very good.

            About three quarter of the way through the filling of holes my grandson had to go use the restroom so he called his younger brother to take over the job while he was gone.  The first picture is of him telling him what he needed for him to do.  In the second picture you can tell the little brother is doing as his supervisor had told him.  When the first grandson came back he went to help Grandpa plant melons so the younger one was still filling holes with water.  As time wore on the younger boy kept telling his older brother he could have his job back; even though he had tired of the job the younger grandson was a good helper and kept on working with Grandma until the job was done. 

            When it came time to plant the strawberries everyone helped as that is the best part of the job, we put a couple of scoops of better dirt in the holes and made sure they were wet; then the plants went in and watered them again. 

I plant my strawberries like I plant my tomatoes except you need a better mulch than tomatoes; you can see a tuitorial at http://www.stitchthrutime.com/Planting_Tomatoes.html
An important thing to remember is don't plant your strawberries where you have planted tomatoes or potatoes within the last three or four years.

            Teaching the next generator is an important part of life, we don’t work in the garden, its we play in the garden.





Ironrite

 

 



“Take a Holiday from hand ironing for the rest of your life” is what is on the front of the manual for my new or should I say new to me Ironrite.  That sounds good to me. 

            I am so happy - I just got an Ironrite from my mother.  I remember a few years ago when she called me excited to tell me she had found an Ironrite at a garage sale by her house.  She told me only the women with money used to have an Ironrite, in other words she always wanted one and was unable to have one when they came out.  I saw the garage sale price tag of $60.00 on the side of the Ironrite, it is missing the cover but to me it is absolutely wonderful.

            The gear oil needs to be drained and replaced; I have already cleaned around the machine as it was in her basement where she seldom used it.  I will use it for fun and for my sewing business.

            Looking over comments on the internet I think Ironrite owners are obsessive about their little machine that was from the 40’s to the 60’s.  The few times I have used it I got into a rhythm as I have rolled the clothes through the iron, using the right petal to lift the roller up and down and the left petal to pause it.  It might become my new meditation time, soothing and it reminds me of using my spinning wheel.  (Something I need to do more of as I haven’t done it enough to really know what I am doing.)  I can see why there are so many Ironrite owners who love their old fashioned Ironrite.

            I will get out my old water sprinkler for the things I will iron, it fits on top of an old fashioned soda pop bottle to sprinkle the clothes and let them set before they are ready to iron.  I showed the bottle sprinkler to my daughter the other day and told her what it was used for; her generation never used them, now they have fancy steam irons and don’t need it anymore – unless you have an Ironrite.  I guess I’m one of the wealthy people now, I own an Ironrite.



Planting Tomatoes

 

 

 

I just planted tomato plants into my clay soil again this year.  If you want to know the best way to plant your tomatoes click on the tomato above and it will give you step by step instructions.  I have been successful when I transplant the tomato plants in this way unless of course it freezes. 

The first twenty-two tomato plants I planted about a week ago got nipped when it got cold and killed one, then the wind blew for two days.  Thankfully the tomatoes are hanging on and look pretty good for a rough start.   

I planted about fifty tomato plants on Memorial Day (I have such a good time on holidays.) 

Check out the instructions at http://www.stitchthrutime.com/Planting_Tomatoes.html on how to transplant your tomatoes, I do it this way for all the plants I put in the ground and have a great success rate.  It is a trick my Grandmother taught me when she used to give me flowers to bring home and transplant many years ago, I still have plants from her that I have moved several times to different locations and they are thriving. 

I also planted my squash Memorial Day and they are doing well, then I went out and bought more to plant this week.  I have a hard time going to a greenhouse, I always come home with more then I planned on, I am sure many of you have the same problem.

 

 





 

 

 

 



Composting

 

 

A couple of years ago I bought a composter at Costco and enjoyed the benefits of this modern day machine making old decomposed dirt and other waste from my home and gardens.  This year Costco came out with a double composter that I bought for Mothers Day.  I have found that sometimes it is a good thing to get what you really want otherwise you will be disappointed.  This year I was extremely happy with my Mother’s day gift.

My sweet husband started putting it together on Mother’s day and got the two drums assembled and for that I was very grateful as it was a lengthy chore.  It was getting late so he put it in the shed to finish later.  We are both busy with jobs and the ranch so it has set there for a while and I decided to get it out and finish it.   I hauled it down to the greenhouse as the drums are quite heavy and I didn’t want us to have to carry the entire composter down to the greenhouse.  My two grandsons age four and six helped with what they could in the transporting of parts. 

Two hours later I had directions in hand and many left over parts.  I was just hoping they had been generous and just sent extra parts.  About that time my husband arrived home and I asked for more help with this endeavor of assembling my composter.  He studied the directions that to my opinion and his also were not very good and we found a place for all the missing parts.

I love my composter and if I were to buy it assembled I am sure it would have been double in price.  I did notice the composter at the store didn’t have all the parts in it, maybe they had a hard time with the directions also.

My new double composter is a great addition to the large one.  The drums on the double composter don’t hold as much as the single one because they are smaller but are easier to tumble than the larger one.  Later I will make an outside composter pile but now I am very happy with the tumbler composters and look forward to many loads of good dirt.

My grandsons were happy to dig up worms from the garden to put in the composter, worms help with the decomposition of the green waste, which doesn’t remain green very long.  I also had them help me with putting in the screws while assembling the composter so they could feel like they were a part of the building process.  It also taught them how to work a screwdriver, something they will have to perfect over time.  We have much to do in the garden this year and I want my grandchildren to feel like this is there garden also while learning how to garden.





Planting Peas and Potatoes

 

All but a couple of rows of the potatoes are planted.  Yesterday I bought some Yukon gold potatoes and will plant them this week.  I have five varieties of potatoes planted and will plant the tomatoes, peppers and other tender plants after Mothers Day to make sure they don't freeze.  That is not a guaranteed they won't freeze because a few years ago I have had it freeze on the 4th of July.  I had some beautiful tomatoes I had planted from seed that were looking great until the afternoon of the 4th - they died.

The peas went in earlier last month but some of our cute little birds (not too cute when they eat your seeds) ate most of the seeds so I had to replant. The peas are planted above the green house so you can't see them but some of the first planting is coming up.  I had read on the internet that if you clip the peas with a toenail clipper they will come up sooner.  I did a test and found the ones that were clipped did not come up any sooner than the ones that didn’t get clipped so in my opinion save yourself a lot of time and work and just plant the peas - then water. . 

 I would suggest investing in a planter when you have a large area, it will save you time and wear and tear on your body.  It is a little expensive to begin with but in the long run well worth the money.  If you want to know what kind of planter I have just ask as it is a good one and has lasted me for years.  I did buy the extra planter plates so I could plant a large variety of seeds.  Every year when I get it out at planting time I am so thankful to have it. 

Old Fashioned Aprons like in a Norman Rockwell Painting

 

It is hard to find an old fashioned apron like the aprons in the Norman Rockwell paintings or Aunt Bee and Lucille Ball used to wear.  There is one place you can find these nostalgic aprons and that is www.stitchthrutime.com

            They have the old fashioned aprons that are comfortable and don’t pull on your neck like the modern day ones.  You may find retro half aprons that are comfortable and pretty also. 

            When it comes time for any holiday just put one of their holiday aprons then you’ll have decorations on not only your home but yourself also. 

            You can also find ones for your little girls and boys so they can help in the kitchen also.  I had an apron when I was little and helped my Mom in the kitchen and loved it.

            Mother’s day is coming up soon and they have mother daughter aprons that are matching.

Jalapeno Popper Cracker Spread

YIELD: 16 servings5.03

Ingredients

2	packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1	cup mayonnaise
½	cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
¼	cup canned chopped green chilies
¼	cup canned diced jalapeno peppers
1	cup shredded Parmesan cheese
½	cup panko (Japanese) bread crumbs
	Sweet red and yellow pepper pieces and corn chips

Directions

In a large bowl, beat the first five ingredients until blended; spread into an ungreased 9-in. pie plate. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese; top with bread crumbs. Bake at 400° for 25-30 minutes

Baked Cheese Potatoes

I made these last night, the family enjoyed them..  They reminded me of funeral potatoes, a full meal.

 For those of you who haven't had funeral potatoes, they are used often in my area after funerals.  The LDS church has a dinner at the church after the funeral for the family.  They call various people in the community and ask them to bring a recipe of potatoes that have come to be known as "funeral potatoes" -  a filling comfort food. 

 Yield:  6 Servings

 Ingredients

 3 large russet potatoes, about 2 lbs.  unpeeled and clean

3/4 cups shallots, I use onions because I usually don't have shallots.

 

2 1/2  cups grated cheddar cheese.  You can use different kinds of cheese for a good flavor.

1 tsp salt

 

Garlic Powder

 

Parsley Flakes

1/4 tsp. pepper, if you have white that is better because of color.

 

1 1/2 cups sour cream, you can use fat free.

 Directions

Bake potatoes until done, I put in a large pan and punch with a fork.  You can wrap them in aluminum foil if you wish but I prefer a large covered baking pan.  Let potatoes cool, put in refrigerator until completely cool.

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees

 Grate potatoes using larger holes on your grader, including skins unless you don't like the skin, I like to keep the skins on.  Put in a bowl and add shallots (or onions).  Add about 1 3/4 cups cheese, garlic powder, parsley flakes and pepper.  I add garlic and parsley because that is something I use in about everything, you can add whatever seasoning you like.

 

 Gently toss mixture then fold in sour cream, don't mix and smash the potatoes.

Put the potato mix into a 1 1/4 quart dish, do not compress.  Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.  Bake until the potatoes are hot and the cheese is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

 

 

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This is the BEST neck heating pad ever.  Try this neck heating pad once and you will never want another one again.  Stitch Thru Time’s neck heating pad is so comfortable the way it fits on your neck and shoulder.  If you turn the neck heating pad upside down it fits your lower back perfectly, and who doesn’t have an ache on your lower back or your sciatic nerve that a heating pad won’t sooth.  As an added bonus it comes with a washable pillowcase so you can keep it clean.

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