Smoky Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Last weekend I had planned to make BLT's with some leftover bacon, but then realized I was out of tomatoes. I was in a hurry and looking for something quick and I came up with what Doug calls my "GREATEST CONCOCTION YET." Of course he hasn't tried my Hawaiian Fajitas yet, but I did agree this one was pretty good. We still have some Raw Hickory Cheddar Cheese from our last trip to Utah and I thought a grilled cheese sandwich would be quick. I layered the smoked cheese on a slice of wheat bread, crumbled the bacon over it and topped it with more bread, buttered the outside slices as you would for grilled cheese, then grilled it on my panini press. Serve it with some yummy Sweet Baby Rays barbecue sauce as a dip. Don't skip this step.

Next time I am going to spread barbecue sauce on the inside layer of bread and grill it with the bacon and cheese. Its a good sandwich with just the smoky cheese and bacon, but the barbecue sauce finishes it perfectly. Its that good. Your men will love you for it.

Ingredients:
Bread sliced for sandwiches

Butter

Hickory smoked cheddar cheese

Bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

Barbecue Sauce

A few favorites: Strawberries

Pleasant Grove's Strawberry Days are coming up in a few weeks and I've been enjoying the start of the strawberry season and how they are getting more affordable in all the stores. Besides eating them fresh or on any kind of breakfast bread (pancakes, waffles, french toast) or dipped in chocolate, here are a few more of my favorite ways to eat a strawberry.

Nutella and Strawberries:

On any slice of bread, (I like mine toasted) spread Nutella hazelnut spread and load up with fresh sliced strawberries.

Dessert Crepes:

Using the following crepe recipe, roll warm crepes up with vanilla ice cream, fresh sliced bananas and strawberries, and drizzle with a little caramel topping. You could also add some more bananas and strawberries on top. For a little crunch, I like to sprinkle with raw sugar granules (In the picture, I also added chocolate chips).
Crepes:

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

1 cup flour

1 T oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients and blend until smooth. Fry in lightly greased frying pan over medium heat. (I use coconut oil and it gives them such a light, yummy flavor!) Fry on both sides until golden brown.

Strawberries N Cream

At Strawberry days here in Pleasant Grove, you can sample some delicious Strawberries 'n Cream every year, or you can make it yourself, which I do often. For the festivities, the city uses soft serve ice cream, still in it's liquid form and drizzles it over fresh sliced strawberries. If you don't have access to this, you can simply add a tablespoon or two of sugar and a little vanilla to about a cup or less of heavy cream, and drizzle it over your strawberries. You can also substitute plain yogurt or half and half for the cream.

Chicken Salad:

Cook larger bite-sized pieces of chicken your favorite way (BBQ, honey-lime, seasoned, battered, etc.) and add them to a fresh spinach salad with your choice of toppings, and add some fresh sliced strawberries and candied nuts.

Candied nuts:

In a hot frying pan, sprinkle about 1/2 cup white sugar over bottom of pan. Wait until sugar begins to melt to liquid, and add slivered almonds or pecans or walnuts and stir quickly until nuts are coated and slightly brown. Remove from heat immediately and allow to cool enough to break them into smaller pieces. This salad is also yummy with Angelyn's raspberry vinegarette dressing. (Recipe?)

A return to Domesticity

 There is a new trend in society, and I think it's something to embrace and encourage. The return to domesticity. It seems there is a steady upward climb in women who are taking up domestic hobbies. Sewing your own things is now very chic, and taking cake decorating is all the rage. Aprons are the new hot accessory, and cooking blogs are on the rise due to the demand for step by step instructions on how to make the perfect meal. 
 It's nice to know that there are women who are interested in learning these skills. Though it is curious why now? I decided to do a little digging and found a magazine article from moxiemag.com said 
" Dr. Gilda Carle, a relationship expert and professor of psychology and communications at New York's Mercy College. Carle views the return to June Cleever as a natural backlash to the women's liberation movement several decades ago, a complicated response to the notion that they could do or be anything they wanted when they grew up- anything, that is, except become a stay-at-home Mom. 

Carle does not see their desire to stay home as an anti-feminist choice. Feminism plays an obvious part in their decisions and desires. Members of the first generation of grown-up latchkey kids, many of them came home to an empty house after school or spent hours waiting at a daycare for their working parents to pick them up. 

"Women ran into the workplace - almost on a dare - saying yes, we can do it! And who suffered? The children," Carle explains. "These women do not want their kids to feel the way they did, growing up." 

 I had to read this a few times and thought it made a lot of sense. "The generation of grown-up latchkey children" are  trying to ensure they don't do to their families what was done to them. I also think the ability to use your domestic skills at home and still make a profit off those said skills has an effect. With sites like etsy and craigslist you can easily sell your homemade goods and with facebook and other networking sites all of a sudden your items can become well known and sought after.

 It's not just the domestic skills that are coming back but the styles too. Besides the frilly aprons, tea length skirts/dresses are back and even hats probably thanks to the new Princess Kate Middleton. I think this is just great and while I'm certainly not giving up my levis anytime soon, I think the return of a little femininity into everyday is just what society needs.

 Well even the Stout's are returning to domesticity though I think we're ahead of the times (how often do you say that?). Not that we weren't domestic before but with the home grown wheat, and the newly acquired milk cow we're well on our way to returning to the "good ol days" I for one think anything that will make me more like my ancestors is good for me! If it's good enough for my 92 year old grandma it's good enough for me.

singing anyone?

The person in charge of music for Mom and Dad's ward asked if I wanted to pull together a musical number for Crystel's homecoming. I would love to do a two part/choir song with anyone who is interested.
It is beautiful song about being an example and I love how beautiful it is with the two parts.
Here is a link to the song: http://www.defordmusic.com/abelieversprayer.htm
Choose the version with Jessica Nielsen Ebersohl.
If any of you are interested, you can print the music off and try to learn it or we can go through it the weekend of Crystel's homecoming. :)
please let me know! :) Love you all

A traveling and preparedness tip

Last summer we drove to Ohio to visit Lolly and on to Washington DC for a two week family road trip. After staying with Lolly for several days we were in a different place each night. As we packed and unpacked so often it became quite a process and a challenge to get all 10 of us ready and to keep track of all the toiletry and hygiene items from day to day. After one frustrating episode I had a great idea--keep it all in one place! So when we got home I got a large diaper bag and filled it with everything we would need when we are on the road. I bought duplicates of everything so it all stays in the bag rather than getting unpacked when we get back home. I have the various items organized into a few smaller bags within the diaper bag, so I keep all the hair items in one little bag and the first aid and medications in another. I love traveling with this seperate toiletry bag because it is easily accesible when we need some medication or want to brush our hair before arriving at our destination. When we are at home, I keep it stored in the pantry by the garage. That way it is easy to grab in case of an emergency so it has become part of my 72 hour kit as well. And I don't put it away after returning home until I have restocked it with the items that need to be replaced. I love this bag!

Here is the list of items I keep in my family toiletry bag:

Toothbrushes and toothpaste, floss
Shampoo and Conditioner
Travel size hairspray and mousse
Sunscreen
Coconut Oil (I use this instead of lotion)
Soap
Brushes (2), a comb, and hair styling items--hair elastics, clips, bobby pins, and barretts
Tweezers, a nail clipper, safety pins, and Q-tips
Desitin
Sanitary pads
Essential Oils
Herbs, Vitamins, and natural remedies I love like Sambucus, garlic capsules (for ear aches) and Colloidal Silver
Bandaids
Pain reliever, expectorant, and an antihistamine (We are not prone to allergies, but when we were in Oregon last year and Michelle started to swell up with an allergic reaction in the middle of the night we had to drive 30 minutes to the nearest open store to get a few tablets of benadryl. I knew then that I needed to add an antihistamine to my bag!)
Razors (men and women) and shaving cream
Deodorants
Cosmetics
Quarters and a little laundry soap in case we need to do laundry in a hotel
$50
A mesh laundry bag that folds up easily and slips into one of the pockets of the bag

This makes packing for the next trip much easier because I don't have to remember and gather everything again. I just have to grab the bag and make sure it gets put into the car!