11/10: Books

that are so good, you can't put them down long enough to blog!

Chicken Pot Pie

(Sorry for the truly mediocre picture. All of the camera batteries in the house were dead at the same time, and by the time they were charged the food was just about gone...)

Last night's dinner was Chicken Pot Pie. I love chicken pot pie because it's total comfort food, very flexible, and everyone in the family loves it. (Although Rachel won't eat the biscuit part.) When considering this for one of my food storage meals I compared the price of canned chicken (which I never buy because it seems so expensive) and freeze dried chicken. I do have a couple of #10 cans of freeze dried chicken, but I think I will include canned chicken too. I did the math and you'd have to get great sale on freeze dried chicken to make it the same price as the canned chicken.

Chicken Pot Pie

2 c. chopped cooked chicken, lightly salted
3 c. cubed potatoes
1 c. chopped carrots
1 c. frozen peas
2 cans cr. of chicken soup
2 1/2 c. milk
biscuits

Boil the carrots for a few minutes, then add the potatoes and some salt and boil until tender. Stir the peas in for the last minute, then drain out the water. Mix with the chicken. In a separate bowl mix the soup and milk and then add to the veggie/chicken mix. Mix together carefully; you don't want to smash your little potato cubes. Put all of this in your casserole dish.

Obviously, since this is called "Chicken Pot Pie," you can encase all of this in a pie crust. Sometimes we do that. But more often we eat it with biscuits instead because they're a lot quicker. If we have bisquick I use that, but last night I just made the basic Betty Crocker recipe. I always roll the biscuits out thinner than you would for a normal biscuit because they take quite a while to bake on top of a pot pie, and there's really nothing grosser than an unexpected bite of doughy biscuit!

This whole recipe is very flexible. Most people don't put potatoes in their pot pie but I like potatoes and they definitely stretch the meal. My sister in law uses a bag of frozen veggies. I love to add broccoli (to many recipes) but sadly the broccoli left in the fridge last night was nasty. You can also make your own white sauce, although that adds quite a bit to the prep time.

Bake at 425 for 35 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden brown and all the way cooked underneath!

11/9: The Colors of Fall

Especially when they're all together in the same tree!

Man's Way vs. God's Way

Every time I read Mosiah in the Book of Mormon I relearn an important lesson: how much better it is to just do things God's way rather than trying it Man's way.

In Mosiah 19-22 we read about Lemhi's group living in bondage to the Lamanites. The Lamanites had begun to treat Limhi's people badly; smiting them, bossing them around (I assume that's a reasonable translation of "exercising authority over them"), putting heavy burdens on them and driving them like animals.

The people, of course, were not happy with this treatment. They began tell the king that they wanted to go to battle against the Lamanites and eventually he allowed it.

Here is what happened, from Mosiah 21:

And they gathered themselves together again, and put on their armor, and went forth against the Lamanites to drive them out of their land. And it came to pass that the Lamanites did beat them, and drove them back, and slew many of them. And now there was a great mourning and lamentation among the people of Limhi, the widow mourning for her husband, the son and the daughter mourning for their father, and the brothers for their brethren. Now there were a great many widows in the land, and they did cry mightily from day to day, for a great fear of the Lamanites had come upon them. And it came to pass that their continual cries did stir up the remainder of the people of Limhi to anger against the Lamanites; and they went again to battle, but they were driven back again, suffering much loss. Yea, they went again even the third time, and suffered in the like manner; and those that were not slain returned again to the city of Nephi.

And they did humble themselves even to the dust, subjecting themselves to the yoke of bondage, submitting themselves to be smitten, and to be driven to and fro, and burdened, according to the desires of their enemies. And they did humble themselves even in the depths of humility; and they did cry mightily to God; yea, even all the day long did they cry unto their God that he would deliver them out of their afflictions.

And now the Lord was slow to hear their cry because of their iniquities; nevertheless the Lord did hear their cries, and began to soften the hearts of the Lamanites that they began to ease their burdens...

This story always breaks my heart as I read it. It is understandable that they wanted to go to war against the Lamanites--they were being treated terribly. So they went to war, and were beaten badly and there was great mourning in the land. They went to war a second time, and again a third time. At that point they were defeated so badly that they had no choice but to submit to the Lamanites.

Only then did they remember to ask the Lord for help.

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Contrast that narrative with the account in Chapters 23 & 24, which tells of Alma and his people.

Alma and his group of followers established a city called Helam which was prospering peacefully when they were discovered by the Lamanites. The Lamanites set guards around Helam and give an old acquaintance, Amulon, power over Alma and his people.

In chapter 24 it says:

Amulon began to exercise authority over Alma and his brethren, and began to persecute him, and cause that his children should persecute their children....and put tasks upon them, and put task-masters over them.

Their afflictions were so great that they began to pray to God for help. When Amulon made it illegal to pray and told them that anyone who prayed would be put to death, Alma and his people stopped praying vocally, instead they

did pour out their hearts to him; and he did know the thoughts of their hearts.

The Lord's response to prayers of these faithful followers was an amazing promise.

And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage. And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

And then the really beautiful fulfillment to that promise:

And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.

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It is so easy to respond to any situation like Limhi's people did — relying on my own plans and the arm of flesh. Fortunately the results in my own life don't usually involve brutal wars and lots of widows, but they usually are ineffective and leave me frustrated.

Time and time again, it is only after I turn to the Lord for ideas, help, and strength that I find myself able to either live with a problem or see a solution to the problem.

I'm trying to learn this lesson better; hoping that maybe one day my first response will be praying instead of pulling out my weapons and going to war.

It's definitely a work in progress — but at least there is progress...

That Which Was Lost Is Found

proving that if you're cleaning off the island while looking, it's best not to leave that stack of bills and paper in the center!

P.S. They were gone for 5 whole days!

11/8: Mommy Moments

Today in sacrament meeting was one of those moments where it is all worthwhile. Rachel and Jenna sang the first two verses of "Beautiful Savior" together and my heart was just about full enough to burst. We recorded it so that Cindy Lynn can see it too...

P.S. I'm convinced that Heavenly Father sent me these cute kids to remind me for the rest of my life that He is smarter than me, and that His ideas are better than mine.

Book Review: The Dragonfly Pool

A couple of years ago Cindy Lynn introduced me to Eva Ibbotson. I have no idea where Ibbotson came from or why we had never heard of her before, but we love her now. So when Jason told me he had a new Ibbotson book I was excited to read it.

Eva Ibbotson's books all have common elements. They are all beautifully written. She writes of places that she obviously loves (Vienna, England, Brazil) with lyrical beauty. Ibbotson's heroines are all similar--they are all far too good to be true. You want to dislike them because they are too perfect, but you can't resist and before too long you love them too.

The particulars of the individual books are almost unimportant. What is important is that, once again, you're left sighing with satisfaction at the end of the book, happy to have spent a couple of hours in her world.


(Ibbotson has written some books that are appropriate for children, and some that contain more adult relationships. Nothing explicit, just probably also nothing you want your 8 year old to read!)