Love as a sense-memory of our Pre-Mortal Life.

Elder John H. Groberg of the Seventy wrote: 

"What is it about true love that touches every heart? Why does the simple phrase "I love you" evoke such eternal joy?  Men give various reasons, but the real reason is that every person who comes to earth is a spirit son or daughter of God. Since all love emanates from God, we are born with the capacity and the desire to love and be loved.  One of the strongest connections we have with our pre-mortal life is how much our Father and Jesus loved us and how much we loved Them.  Even though a veil was drawn over out memory, whenever we sense true love, it awakens a longing that cannot be denied." 

Supreme Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients: 

2 cups of flour

1/2 tsp of baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup of butter (melted)

1 cup of brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tbsp vanilla

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 cups of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325.  Mix flour, baking soda, and salt. In larger bowl mix butter, both sugars, and beat in vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until creamy. Add dry ingredients until just blended then add chips. 

Scoop with 1/4 cup and keep around 2 inches apart. Bake for 15-17 minutes. 

Biscuits and Gravy

Biscuits:
2 cups of flour
1 tbsp of baking powder
.5 tsp of salt
1 stick of butter - melted
1 cup of buttermilk

Gravy:
.5 lb of breakfast sausage
4 tbsp of flour
2 cups of milk
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Stir dry ingredients then add melted butter and milk.  Drop biscuits. Cook for approx 12 min or until golden.

Cook sausage, add and cook flour, stir in milk: a little at first and then the rest. Add S&P to taste.

Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps

I took this recipe from here:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/thai-lettuce-wraps.html

But I changed it just a little bit. (Side note: I got really into writing this one down, so apologies for the novel. Feel free to ask any questions you have.)

The recipe calls for 2 chicken breasts but this marinade can stretch a bit farther than that, so if you're making more chicken than that you can still stick with this. 

Marinade:
1/3 cup of hoisin sauce
1/3 cup of soy sauce
2 tbsp of grated ginger
1/3 cup of honey
1 tbsp of Sambal Oelek chili paste (You could probably use Sriracha instead, but I definitely prefer this. Also, this isn't that spicy, if you want more kick you can definitely add more.)
1 tbsp of rice wine vinegar
3 cloves of minced garlic
3 tbsp of peanut butter

I think this may be considered unconventional in terms of marinades, but in order to have the peanut butter melt you need to cook this just for a little bit. And that's not really a bad thing. You get to wake up the flavors and they all get to mix and mingle. It's a good thing, really. So really you just need to cook this in a small pot long enough for the little pb chunks to go away, and maybe for a little bit of bubbling just to make things exciting.

Now that need to cool enough so that it doesn't poach your chicken if you put it into the marinade too soon. It doesn't need to be chilled, just not cooking capable. So really it makes for a nice time to work on your breasts. (SCANDALOUS)

I like to have my meat bite size, so I would cut my chicken into like maybe 1.5 in. cubes? Really the most important part is to keep it as uniform as possible so you don't have a bunch of both burnt and raw chicken. Moral of the story: whatever floats your boat.

So now you just put your chicken into the marinade and stick it in the fridge for as long as your comfortable. I'd say at least 30m.

After you have waited until you can wait no longer you get to cook your perfect little chicken babies. You want your pan on a decently high heat, but not too hot to burn the marinade before cooking the chicken. You don't need any oil or anything. What you're aiming for is a heat that will lead to a beautiful caramelization of your chicken that will turn the stuck-on marinade into a delicious glaze over each individual piece.
A NOTE: You're going to have to scoop the chicken out of the bag or bowl or whatever you had it sit in, with your hand. I don't know about you, but I get over zealous with my meat cooking and I dump all of what I have into the pan and I end up steaming instead of glazing or crisping or what have you. With my family we had to do a few batches of chicken cooking to get it all cooked. That's okay!

Now when it comes to the actual lettuce wrap, I prefer iceberg. I like the crunch and the sturdiness it has. As for the add ons, you can put what ever you like. I think the rice noodles are a terrible idea. They're so cumbersome to work with and add nothing to the dish. Mostly I preferred the cucumber. SO GOOD with the chicken. And then we also got little wonton strips that people sometimes get on their salads. They add that next level crunch that I'm really into.

SUPER YUMMY. Love you, bye!

Scripture References

Here's a list of scriptures I have had on my computer for a while now.  I don't know where I got it, but I think it's nice to share.

When you need to feel loved........................John 15:13

When you need to resolve conflicts.................Matthew 18:15

When you need help in school.......................D&C 136:32

When it seems like your problems will never end....D&C 121:7-8

When you need the right answer.....................James 1:5-6

When you need to make a decision...................D&C 9:8-9

When you need confidence...........................Proverbs 3:5-6

When you want blessings............................D&C 130:20-21

When you are afraid................................D&C 6:36

When you need comfort..............................Isaiah 49:15-16

When you need to receive revelation................Alma 26:22

When you are stressed out..........................D&C 10:4

When you need to develop a testimony...............Alma 32:28

When you need strength.............................Ether 12:27

When you need to know how the Atonement works......Alma 42:22-25

When your prayers aren't being answered............D&C 98:1-3

When you need a role model.........................Alma 53:20

When you want to be treated better.................3 Nephi 14:12

When you are feeling judgmental....................Matthew 7:1-3

When you are unhappy with a leader.................Mormon 9:31

When you need a testimony of the Book of Mormon....Moroni 10:3-5

When people disappoint you.........................Luke 23:34

When you need to win against Satan.................D&C 10:5

When you need faith in the Prophet.................D&C 21:4-5

When you need proof there's a God..................Alma 30:44

When you need courage to share your talents........D&C 60:2

When someone has wronged you.......................D&C 64:9

When you need a sign...............................Ether 12:6

When you need to correct someone...................D&C 121:43-44

When you need mercy................................3 Nephi 9:14

When adversity is overwhelming.....................D&C 122:3-8

When you want to please God........................Mark 12:33

When you need to get more out of your efforts......2 Nephi 32:9

When you need to know the purpose of life..........Moses 1:39

St. Patty's Liquid Gold

Today is St. Patrick's Day!  I have no affiliation with this holiday!  I didn't even wear green.  I don't have much of it.  But today I was invited to a lovely St. Patrick's pancake party.  We went a little crazy with the green dye pretty much coloring everything that could be colored.  We even colored...  the buttermilk syrup that I brought!  Holy deliciousness.  I have always loved buttermilk syrup.  I've only had it a couple of times in my life.  I thought it was a rare thing that nobody really spoke of.  NOT ANYMORE.  I will be the missionary that spreads the good news that is buttermilk syrup.

I had never made it before, but it worked out quite nicely.  I used this recipe:

½ cups Butter
1 cup Sugar
½ cups Buttermilk
1 Tablespoon Karo Syrup
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Vanilla

In a LARGE pot, combine butter, sugar, buttermilk, and Karo syrup, and bring to a boil for about 2 to 3 minutes. Add baking soda and vanilla. Mixture will fizz to TWICE THE SIZE or more, so make sure you use a good-sized pot! Set it aside to thicken while stirring occasionally.  Consume.

I would like to try and make it again with out the Karo Syrup and see if it turns out just the same.   If so, I would totally omit it because it seems redundant.

To give you a feel for size, I doubled this and it was perfect for 12 people.

But seriously, guys. LIQUID GOLD.  Really.

Super delicious.  And SUPER easy to make.  The only problem is that now I have a bunch of buttermilk and no ideas for how to use it.

An Entire Life Update

I made a post a while while back mentioning majors and life choices and all that terrible, awful jazz.  WELL.  I'ma gonna tell y'all what's up.  What's REALLY up.

I'm a Liberal Arts major.   The intent is to become a teacher.  4th or 5th grade is best.  Do I know how I'm going to do this?  NOPE.

I'm a junior now and life is creeping up.   I'm not gonna lie, I didn't really plan for after college.  You know, you're a kid and you plan on going to school and then going to college. But then what?  You tell people what you want to be when you grow up, but that's not for another seven years, right?  NO.  NOT EVEN CLOSE.  That's like a year from now.  I still tell people what I want to be when I grow up.  But guess what. I am grown up.  Technically.

Ruh roh.

Nahh, it'll work out.  I just got to make a couple of phone calls, right?  RIGHT?!

Vanity Post

Lately I've really wanted to get a nice perfume.  One that wasn't some cheep, tweeny body spray.  Something that would last.  One spritz and you're good.  So whilst in the mall we walked into American Eagle.  Not really my store, never go in by my choice.  But, you know, people go in, ya gotta follow, look at the jewels, sunglasses and whatnot.  Well today the whatnot was PERFUME!  Quite fun.  I got a little excited and smelled quite strongly for the rest of the night.

Long story short I picked one and purchased it.  I really like the smell.  Picture:

Good stuff.  And I smell good.  Gotta have a scent, ya know!  That's what everybody says!

Git yo smells.

Creamy Italian Chicken

At this VERY moment I am attempting to make a pretty easy recipe in my crock pot.  It's a creamy Italian dressing chicken sort of deal.  It only has chicken, Italian dressing mix, water, cream cheese, and cream of chicken.  I'm using this recipe as a sort of road map.

Now I woke up quite late today due to the fact that it's spring break.  So I didn't start defrosting the chicken until one this afternoon.  Whoops.  And I put everything together at around five so... dinner at ten!  Also I feel like I may have used the wrong dressing mix, so we'll se how it works out.

I'll keep ya posted!


- - - Update: 7:15

So far so good.  I took the chicken out and shredded it.  And then I added like a cup of milk.  'Cause I felt like it.  I was hoping it would maybe dilute it cause it was pretty salty.   But soon I'll start to cook the noodles and we'll taste the final result!


- - - Update: 830

Well we ate it.  I thought I had a box of bowtie noodles but it turns out I only had like a third of a box.  So I took some of my roommate's angelhair noodles... I need to go shopping.  But anyway, it was pretty good!  I don't know if I should have put that milk in.  It was pretty soupy and I didn't let it cook long enough to boil that away.  The chicken was good.  Other times I have had this dish the chicken was totally in pieces.  So I think the fact that I didn't cook it very long made it so the chicken was still pretty solid.  Next time I'll actually get up and defrost early and then have the whole thing cook for much longer.

I love crock pots!

Hakuna Matata

Oh... oh hey.   This is awkward.   It's been a while.   No excuses.  I suck.  My b.  Let's quit the chit chat and get right down to business.   

I'm in a ward.  In college.  This evening we had a Priesthood appreciation dinner and though I'm not part of the Relief Society Presidency, I got emergency roped into writing a song for the dinner.  

Let us share, shall we?  It's to the tune of The Lion King's "Hakuna Matata"

Chorus:

The Priesthood power!  - What a wonderful phrase! 

The Priesthood power!   - Aint no passin’ craze! 

---------

You hold the Lord’s power - for the rest of your days! 

It’s an honorable...... responsibility! 

The priesthood power....

Person 1: When you were a young deacon - 

Person 2: When you were a young deacooooon!!! 

Person 3: We found your aroma lacked a certain appeal

                  You could clear the chapel after every ordeal

Person 4: You’re a sensitive soul - though you seem thick-skinned

                 But now, we can call you Whenever! - on a whim!!!

Everyone: And ohh the blessings -- Presidency: oh what’s in a blessing?

Everyone: We praise the Lord’s name -- Presidency: Oh what’s in a name?

Everyone: When we need some comfort -- Presidency: What did ya feel???

.............

THE PRIESTHOOD POWER!   - What a wonderful phrase! 

The Priesthood power!  - Ain’t no passin’ craze! 

------

You hold the Lord’s power - for the rest of your days! 

It’s an honorable...... responsibility! 

The Priesthood power! 

Whisper:

The Priesthood - the power,  The Priesthood - the power,

The Priesthood - the power, The Priesthood - the power,

 The Priesthood - the power, The Priesthood - the power,

The Priesthood...

You hold the Lord’s power - for the rest of your days! 

It’s an honorable...... responsibility! 

The priesthood poweeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrr....

Yup.  It was cute, it was fun, it was written in half an hour.