Brownies with Peppermint Frosting and Ganache Glaze

For those of you who were at the ward Christmas party, these are the brownies with crushed peppermint candies on top.  I have had several requests to post this recipe so here it is, yummy!

Brownies w/ Peppermint Frosting and Ganache Glaze

Brownies:

4 cubes margarine or butter, softened
1 c. cocoa powder
4 c. white sugar
8 eggs
1 t. salt
3 1/2 c. flour
1 c. nuts (optional), chopped
1 T. vanilla

Soften margarine or butter and place in a large bowl or mixer.  Add the cocoa, butter and eggs and beat until smooth.  Add remaining ingredients and mix together until incorporated.  Pour into a large greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 29 - 32 minutes, or until the brownies are cooked through.  DON'T OVER BAKE, you will want your brownies a little under done.  Let brownies cool and then frost with peppermint frosting.

Peppermint Frosting:

1 cube of butter, softened
1 lb. powdered suger (3-4 c.)
3 - 4 T. milk or heavy whipping cream
2 drops of peppermint extract (I use my Peppermint doTERRA Essential Oil)
1 t. vanilla
Dash of salt
Red food coloring (to make pink frosting)
3 - 4 mint candy canes or a hand full of peppermint candies, crushed and set aside for topping the brownies)

Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth.  Add enough milk to make the frosting a smooth and soft texture.  Add the extract, vanilla and dash of salt.  Add the food coloring and beat until frosting is ready to spread over brownies.

Ganache Glaze

1 (12oz) bag of milk chocolate chips
3 - 4 T. heavy whipping cream or canned evaporated milk

Put chocolate chips and whipping cream in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 40 - 60 seconds, or until chips are melted smooth.  Stir together until smooth and the consistency of hot fudge.  Poour ganache over the mint frosting on top of the brownies.  Sprinkle the crused candies on top of the ganache and let cool.  Cut into squared one the topping has cooled.

ENJOY!!!

Mardi :)

52 Week Food Storage Plan - Week #2

For the 2nd week of Jan (9-15)

Week # 2: 50 lbs of Wheat (white or red)
(If you can’t accomplish this in 1 week, don’t worry, just take your time and do it in baby steps.)

Baby Steps:

1. Choose location for storage
2. Purchase containers (#10 Cans, Buckets, Jars, Bottles…) for wheat or purchase pre-packaged wheat.
3. Purchase your wheat for containers.
4. Fill and date your wheat containers. (Leave some extra wheat out in order to test it some recipes.)

10 Reasons to love Whole Wheat:

1. It’s more nutritious, providing several more minerals, vitamins (18 more to be exact!), and natural photochemicals than white flour.
2. Relax! It has More B Vitamins which are known to help with nerves & stress.
3. Get cleaned out. Whole wheat provides more fiber, preventing constipation & diverticulosis. The American Dietetic Association recommends 20-35 grams daily, the average American consumes only 12 grams.
4. Lose weight and keep it off! Whole wheat has a lot of fiber which has almost no calories, keeps you fuller for longer, absorbs 3x it’s weight in water, cuts absorption of calories, cleans out impurities, requires more chewing, and takes 1/2 as much to fill you up and takes longer to digest.
5. Reduces your risk of colon cancer & other diseases.
6. Lowers blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and risk of adult on set Diabetes.
7. Cheaper! It will lower your food costs by at 30% to 50%!
8. Lowers doctor visits, bills, & medications.
9. Lowers Dentist Bills by cutting down on tooth decay.
10. Eating Whole Wheat keeps your body both emotionally and physically used to wheat.

Differences between White & Red Wheat:

“The main difference between hard red wheat and hard white wheat is color genes. Both have similar fiber and protein levels. But whole-grain bread from hard white wheat is less bitter–some say sweeter–than whole-grain bread from hard red wheat. That’s because white wheat’s outer kernel contains fewer tannins and phenolic compounds.” (Scientists redesign white wheat Agricultural Research, June, 1994 by Linda Cooke)

They also taste different. Red wheat has a more “nutty” flavor while white wheat’s mild flavor makes it easier hidden in bakery items.

Recipes with wheat:

If You ONLY Have: Water, Wheat, Salt, Shortening or Oil You Can Make:

• Sprouted wheat
• Cooked cracked wheat
• Cooked whole wheat
• Wheat grass
• Gluten (a strange bread-type food that has a very high protein content)
• Tortillas

Just Add: Powdered Milk, Powdered Eggs, Honey or Sugar, Flour And You Can Make the Items Above PLUS:

• Wheat pudding
• German pancakes
• Crepes
• Pasta

Just Add: Yeast, Baking Powder, Baking Soda And You Can Make the Items Above PLUS:

• Puddings/custards
• Pancakes
• Some varieties of cookies
• Waffles
• Muffins/English muffins
• Breads
• Biscuits
• Some varieties of crackers

Just Add: Tomatoes, Powdered Butter and Cheese, Unflavored Gelatin, Canned Milk, Canned Fruits And You Can Make the Items Above PLUS:

• Meatless dinners
• Meatless casseroles
• Cream sauces
• Jello salads
• Whipped cream desserts
• Baby formula

Just Add: Rice, Legumes, Beef/Chicken Broth, Canned Meats, Dried Potatoes, Dehydrated VegetablesAnd You Can Make the Items Above PLUS:

• Lots of great chunky soups
• Chili
• Refried beans
• Rice dinners
• Rice puddings
• Sandwiches
• Many different dinners and casseroles

Just Add: Extras such as Oats, Raisins, Nuts, Spices, Juice, Peanut Butter, Cream of Tarter, etc.And You Can Make the Items Above PLUS:

• A wide variety of almost any type of food you would want to cook

As you can see, with a bit of planning (and a fabulous food storage recipe book on hand - Marlene’s Magic with Food Storage), you can be confident that you will be able to create healthy, filling, comforting meals for your family should a true emergency occur. It will also be helpful to start using and rotating through these foods in your every day cooking so that you can find the recipes your family likes, get them used to eating these foods, and ensure that all of your storage retains its maximum freshness.

Shelf life of wheat?

30+ years if low-moisture foods are properly packaged and stored at room temperature or cooler (75°F/24°C or lower) remain nutritious and edible.

How can I store Wheat?

Recommended containers for longer-term storage include the following

• # 10 cans (available at Church home storage centers)
• Foil pouches (available through Church Distribution Services)
• PETE bottles (for dry products such as wheat, corn, and beans)

These containers, used with oxygen absorber packets, eliminate food-borne insects and help preserve nutritional quality and taste. Oxygen absorber packets are available at Church home storage centers or through Church Distribution Services.

Under certain conditions, you can also use plastic buckets for longer-term storage of wheat, dry beans, and other dry products.

Types of Wheat Grinders:

Manual Wheat Grinders

Pros

·  Inexpensive

·  Can be used with no power source

·  Small to store

Cons

·  SLOW to grind (mine took 6 minutes to grind one cup of flour)

·  Except for the very high-end models, you cannot grind a fine flour

·  Inconvenient (messy and hard to fit a large bowl underneath)

KitchenAid Attachments

Pros

·  Less expensive than an electric grinder

·  Small to store

·  Convenient to use and then mix bread in the same machine

Cons

·  I have heard from multiple sources that these units will BREAK your KitchenAid mixer

·  Not as fast at grinding as electric grinders

Electric Wheat Grinders

Pros

·  Grinds very fast

·  Useful for many types of grains, beans, nuts, etc.

·  Easy to select how coarse or fine to grind, and has a large range

Cons

·  Fairly expensive, even for the lower-end models

·  Must have a generator or battery pack to use with no electricity (unless you buy a high end model that comes with a manual crank)

·  A large appliance to store in your kitchen

Prices of Wheat Grinders

Manual Wheat Grinders

·  Low: $20-30 models will not grind flour, only coarse corn meal, etc. Not very useful.

·  Medium: $75-$175 is a good price range. Back to Basics Grain Mill is $75. It can grind fine enough for bread flour but not for very fine cake flour. Wonder Junior is higher-priced at $169 but it can grind into cake flour.

·  High: Up to $400 for the Country Living Grain Mill. It is quicker than other manual grinders and is able to grind a fine cake flour.

KitchenAid Attachments

·  $100-120, some may be used on any stand mixer.Electric Wheat Grinders

·  Low: Under $200 for grinders such as the Blendtec Grain Mill. Its drawbacks are it is very noisy and cannot do very coarse grinds.

·  Medium: $200-$300 can get you a great grinder. The two most popular electric grinders are the WonderMill and the NutriMill. In my tests I found the WonderMill to be faster, quieter, cleaner, and easier to store. And priced at $239 it is even cheaper than the NutriMill which is $269.

·  High: Over $300 is an unnecessary amount to spend in my opinion. There are heavy duty models out there but you can get the job done with the mid-range models.

Sample Wheat Grinders:

Click here http://beprepared.com/category.asp_Q_c_E_462_A_name_E_Wheat%20Grinders ) to see sample wheat grinders or here (http://kodiakhealth.com/catalog/default.php/cPath/25_36) to view a detailed comparison chart.

52 Week Food Storage Plan - Week #1

For the first week of Jan (2-8)
Week # 1: 30 Gallons of Drinking Water

(If you can’t accomplish this in 1 week, don’t worry, just take your time and do it in baby steps.  But don’t put it off indefinitely!)

Why store water?

• Storage of water is one of the simplest but most neglected areas of emergency preparedness. Many people store dried storage foods such as powdered milk, beans, rice, etc. which required water for eating.
• One gallon of water weighs 8 lbs.
• Water is MORE essential than food in sustaining life.

How much water do I store?

According to the Red Cross and Civil Defense, you need a minimum of 14 gallons per person for a 2 week period. That is enough for:
1 gallon per person per day, which is bare minimum survival.
3 gallons needed for enough water for personal hygiene, doing dishes.
4 gallons to have enough for more personal care, to wash clothing and minimal cleaning.
If you have pets you need to remember to include about a gallon a day per dog and a pint per day per cat.

Shelf life of water?

Water must be stored in clean containers and out of sunlight. If stored properly water should have an indefinite shelf life. It is advised that you trade out your water every 6 to 12 months. (Suggested every Oct. Conference or when you change your clocks.) After sitting for a while water will taste flat. You will need to pour it between containers to aerate.

How can I store water?

• Gallon of filtered water
• 1 or 2 liter pop bottles
• juice bottles
• mouthwash bottles
• V-8
• punch
• Gatorade
• Pedialite bottles
• Any bottles that come with food liquid in them can be used.
• DO NOT USE Milk and oil containers!
• barrels designated for water
• coke barrels
• food barrels, as long as the food doesn’t have fat in it
• DO NOT use metal containers!
• 5 gallon plastic water containers are available at army surplus, sporting good stores, discount stores and preparedness stores.
• Dish washing soap bottles, liquid laundry soap bottles & dish washing soap, liquid soap bottles too. After you use it all up, don’t rinse it out. Fill with water and label it soapy water. That way you will have it to use for sanitation and not have to use precious drinking water Cooking, washing dishes, cleaning, personal hygiene, etc.

Where can I store water?

Water is bulky, but in smaller containers you can tuck here and there.

• bathroom cupboards
• in the outer darkness corners of kitchen cupboards
• in the backs of closets
• corners of upper closet shelves
• book shelves
• Behind beds and under beds.
• Food Storage Room
• You can tie a piece of twine or rope around the neck of 2 liter containers, mount a 2×4 along storage walls and hook the liter bottles over nails on those boards. These can be run high next to the ceiling to use otherwise wasted space in storage areas.

Warning: Be sure and keep water out of sunlight, heat and off of concrete floors.

How do I treat water?

It is not necessary to treat water from a public water supply if it is already chlorinated.
Clorox - Amounts according to civil defense guidelines. Double if water is cloudy. After adding proper dosage, stir and allow to stand about 30 minutes.
Quart - 2 drops
½ Gallon - 4 drops
1 Gallon - 16 drops
5 Gallons - 1 tsp
Boiling - Most water can be purified for drinking purposes by boiling it for 5 to 10 minutes.
Purification Tablets - Tablets that release iodine may be used safely to purify drinking water.
Essentials of a water treatment kit -
1 bottle Clorox (Clorox will loose it’s “umph” after about 18 months, so this needs to be rotated.)
1 tsp measure
1 medicine dropper
1 funnel
Coffee filters (these would be for filtering water with debris)

Good luck!

:) Mardi

Uinta County Code Red

Now is the time to sign up for the Uinta County CodeRED if you haven't already.  CodeRED is a high volume high speed communication service that will alert county residents of any emergency in the area. 

I signed up for CodeRED shortly after school started this year.  I received a call when they had the school closures just before Thanksgiving this year.  The funny thing was that the call wasn't received until about 12:30pm on the first day.  A little late but maybe they are trying to get the system tested for future use.  If you have caller ID make sure and imput the number 866-419-5000 in your contact list as CodeRED.  That way you will know who is calling. 

Go to http://www.uintacounty.com/ and click on CodeRED to get signed up.  You never know when they might need to get important information to us for our area.

Mardi :)