Is it just me, or does anyone else still battle with zit breakouts in their adult life. I mean… seriously???? Haven’t I paid my acne dues?? My teenage years of embarrassment weren’t enough? *sigh*. Thankfully I only have occasional breakouts, but still! The cruelty. I’ve listed this post under physical prep because it’s part of taking care of our bodies, but really, it should probably be under emotional prep since… let’s face it… an acne breakout is at the very least an emotional emergency!

Anyway, I’ve been looking into more natural products in all different aspects of my life lately (particularly diet) and I’ve come across a lot of DIY beauty/skin care products lately as well. I started collecting (read: pinning) a bunch of different DIY face mask options to deal with breakouts, and have finally gotten around to compiling them into a list I can print out and stick in my bathroom (you know… so I can just grab it out and pick something I want to try when I’m in the mood to deal with my face.)

Of course, I thought I’d share the list with y’all as well (just cuz I love ya). Even if you don’t battle breakouts, these are still great for the general cleansing and beautification (big word… I went to college) of your face. And not only are they cheap (in some cases DIRT cheap!) because they’re DIY, they’re also all natural! No yucky chemicals and toxins needed for these baby faces!

Download: DIY Natural Face Masks

There are 7 different types of natural masks/remedies in the list to try. The one I’m most excited about is the sea salt treatments. Have you ever been swimming in the ocean and later realized how nice your skin felt afterwards? Between the salty sea water and the healthy effects of the sun, the beach is a natural beautifier.  I grew up right next to the beach and now I can’t believe I didn’t take advantage of that more while I had the chance! But the other masks sound fun as well and I look forward to trying them too. And just a side note: Everyone’s skin is different and has different sensitivities. These are all proven to work for some people, but likely won’t work for all. If you find something that agitates your skin, don’t use it anymore and try a different one. However, keep in mind that some remedies have to pull all the yucky stuff out of your pores first, making it appear your problem is getting worse instead of better. So give them a fair chance (unless you can tell that it’s obviously a bad reaction).

Anyway… I’m off to give them a try. I hope you enjoy!

This packet is FULL of activities that touch on different Gospel topics (and I tried to keep them related to Conference as well) from A all the way to Z! And yes… I know there are only 26 letters in the alphabet, but some of the activities take up two pages, so yes… this got a bit on the long side. But that’s good! Because there are FOUR sessions of Conference and we don’t want the kiddos running out of things to do in the middle of the first session, right??

Download: The ULTIMATE LDS General Conference Activity Packet

Okay, well, you know the drill. Download, print, give it to the munchkins with a bunch of crayons, scissors, glue, and snacks (for goodness sakes, DON’T forget the snacks). Dress it up, dress it down, make it as fun and fancy as you like, or just chuck it at them as you turn on Conference (okay… please don’t actually CHUCK it at them)  and hopefully you’ll be set to enjoy a few peaceful moments of Conference yourself.

Side Note: This packet has been created with the Primary Age youth in mind (roughly age 5-12). That’s not to say that a 3 or 4 year old couldn’t enjoy a lot of it (I’m certainly going to be trying to get my 4 year old to stay busy with it), but they will probably need a lot more coaching and assistance. Just FYI. They can definitely do the ‘poking’ part, which I think more than anything they would have fun with, but just be sure they take care with whatever poking device you give them. I will NOT be held responsible if your 4 year old leaves pins in your carpet that your 11 month old crawls over! (Not saying that happened in my house or anything…)

But truly, I hope this will help aid in allowing the Spirit to be in your homes as you listen to Conference. Try to help your children understand what they are hearing and feeling as they listen and work on the packets as well so they can foster their own testimonies and know for themselves that what they hear is true. What a great time to be living. What a great time to be raising children. Scary, but great. And there is no greater safety net that I’d prefer my children have than to be able to recognize and understand the Spirit in their lives.

Okay, well so much for keeping this short. But just a reminder that General Conference is on April 6th and 7th this year and if you’d like more ideas for things you can do to make this a special time for your family, check out my older conference posts HERE that have links to TONS AND TONS of ideas and other packets as well. (And P.S. one of the beauties of this packet is it’s not specific to any year or season… so you can use it over and over… or at least until your kids have all the answers memorized )

If you are not LDS, but would like to know what in the world we are all so excited about, feel free to listen/watch as well! You can watch the LDS General Conference online by clicking HERE on Saturday, April 6th and Sunday, April 7th at 10 AM and 2 PM on each day (Mountain Standard Time). (That’s 11 AM and 3 PM for us Texans… )

Best Wishes to you all, and as always Keep Prepping!

Healthy? Check. Delicious? Check. Portable? Check.

All the makings for an awesome breakfast-on-the-go that keeps the waistline slim and trim. And OF COURSE! It’s food storage!

Okay. Honestly you guys… you have GOT to try these. These little gals are so tasty and so good for you, that it would almost be a crime NOT to try them. I eat these as a breakfast, a snack, and even as a dessert (if I’ve been naughty the rest of the day). It’s baked oatmeal, yes, but don’t let that deter you. I am actually not a fan of traditional baked oatmeal. And neither is Hubby. But when he tried these, he LOVED them. Now he even requests them!

They’re gluten free (in case that’s an issue for you), chock full of good-for-you ingredients, and have just enough sweetness to keep you coming back for more… and more… and more.

So give ‘em a try! I promise you’ll be happy that you did!

Chocolate Chunk Banana Baked Oatmeal Bites

Download Printable Version
Ingredients:

• 3 cups rolled oats (old-fashioned or quick oats)
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 eggs (or reconstituted egg powder)
• 1¼ cups milk (or reconstituted powdered milk)
• 1 cup mashed bananas* (about 3 medium)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 to 1½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chunks (or chips)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 ºF. Lightly grease roughly 18 muffin cups with non-stick spray.
2. Combine the oats (note: if using old-fashioned oats, I like to lightly grind mine in a food processor for a bit), brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large mixing bowl and stir together.
3. In a separate bowl, stir together the mashed bananas, eggs, milk, and vanilla.
4. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and give it a good stir until fully combined. Add the chocolate chunks and stir again. {Note: Use 1 cup of chocolate chunks for a regular amount of chocolate, or up to 1½ cups if you like it really chocolatey.}
5. Spoon the oatmeal mixture into the prepared muffin tins. (Note: These will not rise a lot–if at all–so go ahead and fill each cup at least ¾ full.)
6. Bake uncovered for about 18-20 minutes, or until oatmeal is lightly browned and starting to turn dark at the edges (and/or a toothpick inserted near the middle comes out clean).
7. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling. Store at room temperature in an airtight container for a few days, or these are great to throw in the freezer (in a freezer baggie) and have on hand for a quick breakfast/snack/dessert. Just toss one in the microwave (on the defrost setting) for about 1 minute (or about 20 seconds on HIGH) and it’s ready to go!

Yields 16 – 18 oatmeal bites.

*Store bananas in the freezer for food storage. See tips HERE.

If you are new to this site CLICK HERE to learn more about what we do and where to start. If you are here again for the second, third, or gazillionth time, welcome back! At this point, I am not actively writing posts (I need to dedicate my time to my family), however this site is FULL of great information regarding all aspects of preparedness… so use the category buttons above to browse around and work on your preparedness efforts at your own pace.

I do occasionally drop back in to add something new that I’ve learned, or a food storage recipe I’d like to share, and those will be posted below as they come (as well as added to appropriate categories above) so feel free to check back regularly for anything new and to keep your preparedness ambitions up and running!

My best and warmest wishes to you all as you strive to keep your families safe and prepared in these crazy times in which we live!

In two weeks (October 6th and 7th), we have the blessed opportunity to listen to prophets of the Lord speak to us in General Conference to give counsel and commandments needed for our day. What a wonderful time to be alive! I’m truly looking forward to hearing what they have to say and soaking in the peace they have to offer. Whether of the LDS faith or not, I encourage everyone to listen to their words and find out for yourself if the words they speak are true. It is so wonderful to be able to gain a testimony of truth and to have that stability in this world of uncertainty.

As always, I try to do a lot of prep work prior to Conference for my young kiddos (now 5, 3, and 6 months) so that not only they will be able to learn something, but so that I can actually sit and learn something too (without being constantly peppered with little requests).

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about our family garden–how we need to get our fall crops planted soon, etc.– and that gave me an idea for another fun Conference activity for the kids (like the Fall Tree and the Spring Garden from previous Conferences).

This activity is the Fall Harvest Garden. (See below to download.) The theme behind it is: ‘Sew Seeds of Faith, Harvest a Testimony’. The idea is to cut out the different vegetables in the packet, and then while listening to the speakers in Conference, write the theme of their talk on the front of the vegetables and then on the back you write something you can do that you learned from the talk. Then you ‘plant’ your garden on your wall (aka tape it up) and then as you either discuss the talks or apply them (do what’s written on the back), you harvest your fall vegetables and pick them off the wall.  There’s better instructions in the packet, but that’s the gist of it.

This activity will serve not only as a reminder of the things we learn in Conference, but it will also help to remind us to get working on our fall garden! lol.

Click to get the Fall Harvest Garden Activity: Download PDF

In addition to the activity, I also revamped my packets that I created for the kiddos. Nothing crazy exciting or different, just some new coloring pages in the Nursery/Sunbeam edition, some new activities in the Jr/Sr Primary editions, new questions in the parent interview from the Sr Primary edition, etc… Just brushing off some dust from the older versions.

My General Conference Packets

• Nursery/Sunbeam Age Packet
• Junior Primary Age Packet
• Senior Primary Age Packet
• YM/YW Age Packet
• Conference Journal Page for Adults

And just FYI, each packet has the same ‘BINGO’ card in it, but if you have more than one child and they want to compete by having different layouts, here are two extra BINGO cards you could use:  Download Cards

Okay! Well, that does it for me! There are, of course, tons of wonderful ideas on the internet for other activities to get your family involved in General Conference. Here are some links to some great ideas that I’ve enjoyed searching before:

• Packets and Ideas from Sugardoodle: Click HERE
• Primary Age Packet from Jenny Phillips: Click HERE
• Primary Age Packet from Deseret Book: Click HERE
• A BIG LONG Collection of Ideas from 2 Kids and Tired Activity Ideas: Click HERE
• A Collection of Conference Ideas from Prepared, Not Scared: Click HERE
• Activities for Children from LDS.org: Click HERE
• And another Collection of Ideas from LDS.About.Com: Click HERE

I hope you all can enjoy the wonderful Conference Weekend! I’ll try and check in a bit later with some more of my Conference Preps, but until then, Happy Prepping Y’all!

Well, thankfully I know a recipe or two for some healthier treats (i.e. the Bean Cookies) and have been able to work on shedding some pounds while still satisfying my sweet tooth. *whew!* I’ve even tweaked the Bean Cookie recipe to make it even more healthy, and now I seriously don’t have an issue with eating these cookies as a snack or just whenever I please. (And the weight still comes off!) So here is my new recipe for what I like to call my Skinny Jean Cookies (not that you will EVER see me in skinny jeans) …and yes! It’s Food Storage!

Skinny Jean Cookies

Download Printable Version
Ingredients:

• 1 (15 oz) can white beans (I like to use Great Northern or Navy), drained and rinsed
• 1½ cups sugar (white or brown… your preference)
• 5 eggs (or 10 Tbsp egg powder and 15-20 Tbsp water)
• ¼-½ cup applesauce (I just scoop in two big spoonfuls… probably close to 1/3 cup)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4½ cups whole wheat flour (can use half all-purpose if you’re not used to whole wheat)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1¼ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1¼ cups dried cranberries (i.e. Craisins)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º F.
2. Place your drained and rinsed beans in a large bowl (I use my KitchenAid stand mixer), and using a fork, mash them down till they’re creamy and non-recognizable as a bean. Add the sugar and cream them together (you can use your mixer fitted with the paddle attachment now), then add the eggs, applesauce, and vanilla. Mix.
3. Add the flour (a little at a time to prevent flour flying everywhere), baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until well blended.
4. Stir in the chocolate chips and dried cranberries.
5. Drop the dough by small, rounded spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. (Note: These cookies do not spread when baked, so you can pack them pretty close together on the cookie sheet.)
6. Bake 10-15 minutes (depending on the size of the cookie), but DO NOT over bake these. They will not turn golden when done, so try testing them with a light touch on the top of the cookie. They should be barely firm to the touch and will set up more as they cool. (My optimal cooking time for me was 11 minutes.)
7. Remove baked cookies from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Store at room temperature in an airtight container. (Or you can freeze them for later.)
8. Enjoy your healthy cookies!

Yields 4-5 dozen cookies.

This handsome little man joined our family about 2 weeks ago and is absolutely the newest love of my life. He is such a sweetheart.
Hubby can’t wait to teach him all about hunting and fishing. I can’t wait to teach him all about baking and cooking and crafting and sewing. (Hmm… who do you think he’ll like better?? Daddy of course!) But regardless, we’re thrilled to have him in our hearts and home.
So please excuse my extended absence, but I’m needed elsewhere for the time being.
Happy Prepping to you all!

I know I’ve been a big slacker in not posting lately, but I feel I have a valid excuse: I’M PREPARING TO GIVE BIRTH HERE, PEOPLE! Actually, I guess my excuse would be a lot more valid if I had already given birth and was trying to take care of a newborn. But if you really knew me, you’d know that the pre-birth preparations are every bit as crazy as post-birth life. So anyway, posts are obviously going to be rather sparse from my end for the next little while (and by ‘little while’ I mean however long it takes for me to reach the non-comatose state of parenthood again).

However, I have not forgotten that we’ve got General Conference coming up right around the corner (March 31st and April 1st) and I had another fun idea I wanted to share that takes right after the Fall Conference Tree activity I did for last October’s Conference. This one is basically the same thing, except instead of a fall tree, we’re going to grow a ‘Conference Spring Garden’ with lots of beautiful springtime flowers. The basic concept is that you’ll set up a ‘garden area’ on one of your walls, and then you use the Conference flower tops (provided in the download below) to take notes about the topics of the talks in General Conference. Color the flowers, tape them up in your garden, and then apply the talks in your family life as you pick the flowers from the garden. (It’s explained in detail in the download.) I can’t wait to see my wall plastered with a paper flower garden.

So anyway, here are the downloads for that (one for Nursery/Sunbeam age and one for Primary age children), along with my Spring Conference Packets from last year. They all apply pretty much the same (except that the cover page says ’2011′… but with the computer issues I’ve been having lately, I’m not feeling motivated to spend 3 hours to make a change for just that. ) I hope you enjoy the activity, the packets, and most importantly that you enjoy General Conference!!

THE ‘CONFERENCE SPRING GARDEN’ ACTIVITY DOWNLOAD:

• Nursery/Sunbeam Age Activity Download
• Primary Age Activity Download

My General Conference Packets to Download:

• Nursery / Sunbeam Age Packet
• Junior Primary Age Packet
• Senior Primary Age Packet
• Youth Notes Journal Packet
• Adults Notes Journal Packet

And here are some Conference Helps from Other Sites that I love:

• Packets and Ideas from Sugardoodle: Click HERE
• Primary Age Packet from Jenny Phillips: Click HERE
• Primary Age Packet from Deseret Book: Click HERE
• A BIG LONG Collection of Ideas from 2 Kids and Tired Activity Ideas: Click HERE
• A Collection of Conference Ideas from Prepared, Not Scared: Click HERE
• Activities for Children from LDS.org: Click HERE
• And another Collection of Ideas from LDS.About.Com: Click HERE

And in case I don’t check in again soon, I hope you enjoy a wonderful Conference, a Happy Easter, and a lovely Spring!!

Well, regardless of what you call them, these cookies are so delicious, SO easy, and SOOO addicting! (Sounds like a perfect little cookie if you ask me!) The recipe I currently use to make these has been slightly adapted over the years as I’ve found other things to add and enhance the cookie, but it’s mostly true to what I started out loving as a youth. However, I’ll go ahead and give you both versions, since the original recipe is super basic, as well as shelf stable. But the second version is my preferred version. So go ahead and whip up a fresh batch (haha… doesn’t ‘fresh’ take on a whole new meaning when you think of the title?? Sorry. Overly gross. My bad.) and I dare you to eat just one!

{Side note: I’m having computer issues these days and can’t save any PDF files in Word or edit and save my pictures in Photoshop, hence I don’t have any nicely arranged pictures to show you nor a printable version of the recipe for you to download. However I was tired of just waiting to figure out what’s going on and decided to go ahead and post this anyway. But I promise to add the nicer photos and files when my computer is back up to full working status. }

Gorilla Poops – a.k.a. Chocolate Oatmeal No-Bake Cookies {Original Recipe}

Ingredients:

• ½ cup shortening
• 3 Tbsp cocoa powder
• 2 cups sugar
• ½ cup milk (reconstituted powdered milk)
• ½ tsp salt
• 3 cups rolled oats (quick oats is best, but old fashioned will work fine)

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, heat and melt together the shortening and cocoa.
2. Add the sugar, milk, and salt to the saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Once the mixture has come to a rolling boil, start timing for about 1 minute (and continue to stir).
3. At the end of 1 minute, remove the pan from the heat and add the oats. Mix everything together thoroughly.
4. Drop large spoonfuls of the mixture onto a wax paper lined cookie sheet and allow to cool and set up for approximately 30 minutes. Eat and enjoy.

Gorilla Poops {Modified/Preferred Recipe}

Ingredients:

• 1¾ cups white sugar
• ½ cup milk (reconstituted powdered milk)
• ½ cup butter (1 stick)
• 4 Tbsp cocoa powder
• ½ cup peanut butter
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups quick oats

Directions:

1. Measure and prepare all of your ingredients in advance. Prepare 1-2 cookie sheets lined with wax paper. (This makes the process go so much more smoothly since things will start happening quickly!)
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil, stirring frequently. As soon as it reaches a full boil (i.e. the top is all foaming up with bubbles), start timing for 90 seconds while constantly stirring. (Do not overboil the mixture or your cookies will be dry and crumbly. Do not underboil or your cookies may not set.)
3. Immediately remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the peanut butter until melted. Then add the salt, vanilla, and oats. Mix until fully combined.
4. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared lined cookie sheets. (I like to use two spoons for this, since the mixture is really hot. Use one spoon to scoop the mixture from the pot, and the other spoon to scoop the mixture off the first spoon and onto the wax paper.)
5. Let cool until set/hardened (30-40 minutes). Eat and enjoy!

Well, I hope you enjoy your tasty jungle treat! (I know, I know, Mom… that’s disgusting.)

To make fresh-squeezed lemonade, clearly you’re going to need some fresh lemons. We currently have two lemon trees in our yard, but both are pretty young and still in the ‘not really producing much yet’ phase (although we were actually able to use two lemons from our trees that had actually turned yellow and were ready for the pickin’! I cannot wait until these trees produce in large quantities!). Fortunately, however, we have some good friends with a mature lemon tree that produces lemons like crazy and they were kind enough to share some with us. (Thanks Browns!)

So the process starts with picking the lemons, but since that was already done for us, we moved right on to the juicing phase. Cut the lemons in half and then juice, juice, juice those babies until they have no more juice left in them. (Note: an electric juicer is TONS of help when doing any substantial amount of juicing, although not necessary as you can read about below.)

Add child labor whenever possible.

Pour the collected juice into a jar…

and ta-da! You’ve got freshly squeezed lemon juice that is just BEGGING to be made into lemonade. (P.S. Just refrigerate or freeze any lemon juice that will not be used right away.)

Fresh Homemade Lemonade

Download Printable Version
Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 cup sugar
• approximately 2 quarts of water

Directions:

1. In a 2-quart pitcher, add your lemon juice and sugar.
2. Add enough water and ice to make 2 quarts. Stir. Enjoy.

{Note: These amounts are based on personal preference. If you like your lemonade a bit more tangy, use more lemon juice. If you like it more diluted, use less. More sweet, more sugar… you get the idea. This is just a starting point. Also note that different types of lemons (or different levels of maturity) will produce different flavors. So depending on the type/maturity of lemon you’re using, you may end up varying your amounts as well.}

So here’s my funny lemon juicing story… just to keep life real: We have an electric juicer (as you can see from the pictures above), and I put it together to go ahead and use to juice all these lemons. I tried to juice the first lemon and it wouldn’t work. No motor noise, nothing. I’d only used it a few times before and couldn’t believe it was already broken! ‘Piece of junk’ I’m thinking to myself. So my girls and I juice all our lemons by hand. I disassemble the juicer, and then I remember we’ve got two lemons on our tree, so I run out to grab those to add to our spoils. I come back in and put the juicer back together, and this time I notice a little notch in the top that looks like it’s maybe supposed to line up with the seed catcher part. Hmmm… so I line them up, and badda-boom badda-bing, it works! I couldn’t believe we juiced all those lemons by hand due to my user error. (I seem to be pretty good at making extra work for myself based on user error.) DOH! Well, it was a good arm workout anyway.