Obedience Brings Blessings

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) have been counseled to prepare for future times of need by storing food and other essential items. This counsel has been repeated many times over the years. Here is a story of the blessings that came to one family as they were obedient to the counsel.

Sister Cherry Lee Davis and her family gained a testimony of home storage through experiencing an emergency firsthand. Brother and Sister Davis were converts to the Church and knew about home storage, but they did not intend to start their own program for a while. Because they planned to move a long distance to a new home, they felt it would be foolish to bother with home storage at that time. However, Sister Davis often fasted and prayed for guidance. Without realizing it, she began a food storage program. Each time she went to the store, she bought a little extra of some foods. Before long the kitchen cupboards were full, and she had to store foods in the bedroom. When her husband asked her what she was doing, she replied, “I guess I am storing food.” When he asked why, all she could reply was, “Because I have to.” She could not give any more reason for her actions than that. She said, “The more I prayed about it, the more of a compulsion I had to buy groceries. Deep inside me was the comfortable, rewarding feeling that I was being obedient.”

Sister Davis learned ways to prepare some of the foods she stored by attending demonstrations, by reading, and by practicing making various recipes. When at last she felt that these foods were well prepared, another impression came to her to buy more and more food. She described her reaction: “‘Why?’ I asked in prayer, but there was no answer. I just had to get more. So I did, confused and bewildered, but obedient. I could just see the space this food would take in the truck we intended to rent [to travel to our new home].”

When the Davis family finally moved to their new home, all their furniture and some 15 or 20 boxes of food just barely fit in the truck they rented. By the time they paid for the truck, rented a small home, and paid all their other expenses, they had very little money left. On top of all this Brother Davis had difficulty finding a job. When he did find one, it paid so little that after they paid the bills they had nothing left for food. Then Sister Davis knew the reason for all her food storage—it was actually their food supply for the roughest months of their marriage.

Looking back on those months of eating their stored food, she says: “I smile. I had fought so hard not to store food, and yet the Lord in his infinite wisdom and love had guided and taught me a very valuable lesson in this small miracle of being prepared” (“Our Small Miracle,” Ensign, Aug. 1978, 2)

Scalloped Potatoes

This recipe relies on my white sauce mix that speeds up the preparation of many meals.  They are my Sarah's favorite potatoes! Fresh potatoes can store for many months so can easily be part of your 3 month menu plan. For more info on storing potatoes, click here. Whisk sauce ingredients together in a pan. Stir and heat until thick. Layer sliced potatoes, dried, minced onions and chopped ham (optional) in 9x13 pan. Pour sauce over the top. Make sure potatoes are evenly coated. Cover with foil. Bake at 325° for about 2 hours or until potatoes are tender. Remove foil and serve. We cooked up some frozen veggies to serve on the side. Scalloped Potatoes
Creamy and delicious—great as a side dish or add some chopped ham to make it a meal.
7–8 large potatoes, peeled and sliced	3 Tbsp mayonnaise
½ cup dried, minced onion	1 tsp salt
¾ cup white sauce mix	¼ tsp pepper
3 cups hot water	Paprika, optional
1 Tbsp chicken bouillon	Cooked ham, optional
Layer potatoes and onions in a greased 9x13-inch pan. You can use dehydrated potato slices that you have soaked in boiling water for 15–20 minutes. You can also add precooked ham pieces if you'd like. Whisk white sauce mix, water, bouillon, and mayonnaise together in a saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened. Stir in salt and pepper. Pour sauce over potatoes. Sprinkle with paprika if desired. Cover and bake at 325° F for 2 hours or until potatoes are tender. I also cook this in the microwave. It always cooks faster on the edges so you have to stir it a few times when you use the microwave. You can also do it in the crockpot. Cook on high for 3–4 hours or on low for 6–8 hours.

Protein Filled Pumpkin/White Bean Pie

Some of the best recipes arise out of the need to pinch hit in the kitchen. By "pinch hit," I am referring to when you need to substitute one ingredient for another. This pie is a perfect example. I was short on frozen pumpkin by about 1/2 cup so I thought about what other ingredients I had that would take on the flavor and texture I wanted. "Aha," I thought, as I opened the freezer, - "white bean puree!" It was as delicious as ever and no one even noticed I added all that protein and fiber.

Begin by rolling out your pie crust. I happened to have one in the freezer - it made a quick dessert to prepare! My family loves just about anything made from pumpkin. For my favorite pie crust recipe, click here. For pictures of how I roll it out, click here. Place the prepared pie crust in the fridge to keep it cold while you mix up the filling. A cold pie crust will cook up more flaky which is what everyone loves!

Whisk all the filling ingredients together.

Prepare a piece of foil to place around the edge of the pie, covering the crust so it won't burn while the filling cooks. Fold a square piece of foil in half and cut as pictured above.

Open it flat.

Place a baking sheet on your oven rack to catch any spills. Place your prepared pie crust on the baking sheet. Pour your filling into the crust.

Carefully cover the edges - it doesn't need to be tightly crimped down. Just shape it enough that it will stay on while you slide the pie in and out of the oven.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove the foil.

Bake an additional 20 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow the pie to cool before serving.

Pumpkin/White Bean Pie

Prepared pie crust

1 1/2 cups pumpkin or squash puree (canned or frozen)

1/2 cup white bean puree

2/3 cup sugar

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

3 eggs, slightly beaten

6 Tbsp dry milk powder

2/3 cup hot tap water

Whisk together the hot water and milk powder until no lumps remain. Add remaining ingredients and whisk well. Pour filling into prepared pie crust. Bake at 375 degrees for 45-55 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cover the edges of the crust with foil for the first 25 minutes of baking to prevent over browning.

Wiener Wraps

These are a favorite of my kids. They bring back memories of school lunch for me since that is when I remember discovering them as a kid. We ate a lot of hot dogs growing up - even on pizza since they were an inexpensive meat. But, I don't remember my mom making wiener wraps. As odd as it seems, my siblings and I looked forward to when they made it on the hot lunch menu. They really are simple to make.

Begin by making a batch of your favorite bread dough or pizza dough. You can even thaw out some frozen Rhodes dough if that is the way you do things at your house. One batch of pizza dough should give you enough for 8 wiener wraps. Break the dough into 8 equal-sized portions. Then flatten into long ovals.

Place hot dog on dough.

Use your fingers to wrap the dough around the hot dog and pinch to seal the seams.

When it is fully enclosed, place on a greased baking sheet.

Here are all eight dogs. Allow to rise for 10-15 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.

Brush the tops with butter once you remove them from the oven and allow to cool slightly on a wire rack. This keeps them from going soggy on the bottom.

Here's one where the hot dog is poking out just barely. Enjoy dipped in mustard or ketchup. Serve with French fries, if desired. For my homemade version of French fries check here. To round out the meal, you can add some fruit and vegetables. My kids wanted bottled pears and peaches. They were looking forward to dinner all day!

Crockpot Teriyaki Chicken

This recipe is so quick and easy. I just throw in the chicken frozen and it cooks all afternoon. It's versatile too, since it works with about any meat. If all I had was canned meat, it would still be delicious. To use canned meat, I would heat the sauce until thick on the stove and then add the meat before serving over rice. It's delicious any way you serve it!

3 Tbsp cornstarch
2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 - 1 tsp ground ginger, depending on how much kick you like
1/2 tsp pepper
4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Mix all the sauce ingredients together in the crockpot. Add chicken and turn to coat. Cook on high for 3-4 hours. Turn the chicken over a couple of times during the cooking process to make sure it is all well coated with sauce. Serve with rice and stir-fry veggies for a full meal.

This sauce is also great on pork or beef. I think it would be fabulous on salmon as well. I like to freeze the leftover sauce to drizzle over rice or stir-fry another time.

If you don't have a crockpot, you can bake this in the oven. Prepare as above in a 9x13 pan. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or so, until the chicken juices run clear and the sauce has thickened a little.

Note: To do this as a freezer to crockpot meal, mix all the sauce ingredients in a gallon ziplock bag except for the cornstarch. (It breaks down when stored in the freezer and does not end up working right as a thickener.) Add the chicken breasts to the bag and freeze. When cooking in the crockpot, cook on high for 3-4 hours. Mix the cornstarch with a little cold water and add to the pot during the last 30 minutes of cooking time or thicken to desired consistency using Ultra Gel or Ultra Sperse.

Fabric Gift Bags

Here's a great wintertime project - these fabric gift bags save me soooo much time during the holidays. They also save me money over the course of time. A few years ago, I was ready to come up with a new way to wrap all of the Christmas gifts we gave to each other. I wanted my young children to help with the wrapping and it was getting too complicated, taking lots of time, and more frustrating than it was fun. Then I came up with this idea and it has been wonderful!

After Christmas the holiday fabric goes on sale. I bought a few different fabrics and had the ladies at the fabric store cut them in 1/2 yard pieces for me. I took them home and sewed the sides up like a pillowcase. I just used the salvage edge as the top without even hemming it on most of the bags. (If the salvage wasn't printed all the way to the edge, I turned it under and sewed a quick hem.)

On one of the side seams, I sewed a piece of ribbon that would be used to tie the bags closed once we had placed a gift inside. They really just look like small pillow cases. There are so many cute holiday fabrics that it is easy to pick out a few that you like. They are very easy to sew together also. It would be a great beginning sewing project. Once you are done sewing them, be sure to press them well for the sharpest look.

I then bought pre-printed gift tags that are done on cardstock weight paper so they are a little heavier. Punch a hole in each tag and then they are ready to just slip onto the ribbon before you tie the bag closed. 

Over the years, I have made quite a collection. They fold very compactly for storage. I have made a few that are a little smaller and a couple larger bags, but for the most part I do the 1/2 yard size.

We slide the gift tags off when we open gifts and save them in a baggie until next year when we can reuse them. This year I helped the kids wrap gifts and we had 42 gifts wrapped and under the tree in less than half an hour! (With 7 people in the house giving to each other the # of gifts adds up quickly.) It was a huge time saver and the kids were excited that they got to help.

When you think about provident living, you have to think about being provident with your time as well as your resources. This project will help you be provident in both areas.

Everyone who has ever seen them agrees that it is a great idea - hopefully you will to.

Happy sewing!

"Spending Freeze" Periods Reduce Our Wants

New Year's Day comes with resolutions - even if we don't write anything down, we think about things that we want to do better.

I've had a few people ask me recently for suggestions on areas to save money. Spending less is definitely a resolution that many of us make. I thought I'd share a few tips that have worked for James and I over the years.

The biggest tip is to figure out "spending less" not "saving more." We have always been able to save more by focusing on "spending less" instead of focusing on "paying ourselves first." When you pay yourself first and move extra money into savings, you are giving yourself permission to spend the rest of the money. When you focus on spending less, you don't have permission to spend anything beyond bare essentials - we've called these periods of our life a "spending freeze."

During the "spending freeze" periods of our life, it became my job to be creative with what we already had at home so we could put as much as possible towards building our emergency fund or paying medical bills -we had 5 preemie babies who stayed in the NICU, we understand how quickly medical bills can grow. Sometimes these periods lasted a few months or even a year or more before we felt ready to "splurge" again.

James and I had great examples in our parents when it came to stretching a dollar since we both grew up in large families where money was tight. We had parents who were committed to not spending more than they earned - and they didn't always earn that much. It helped to know we could call and visit with them when we needed some encouragement.

So some of what we did to not spend money -

- no purchased gifts - everything had to be made or put together with what we had at home

- no large grocery runs - we bought just the few items we needed to supplement the food storage we had at home

- trade babysitting - we found friends with similar aged children and traded babysitting so we could have a night out (walking in the park or something else just as free for the activity)

- Library runs - we made great use of the book mobile that stopped just behind our neighborhood. We always had plenty of books to read and movies to watch

- borrow what you need - we borrowed camping gear so we could have a vacation, fancy cake pans to give us something fun for a birthday, tools to make needed repairs, etc. Many people are willing to let you borrow items if you just ask

- carpool - my husband put a carpool together to get to work to save gas money - he became good friends with the men he carpooled with.

- alter clothing to fit - I added ruffles to  my daughter's skirts so she could wear them longer. I also cut off pants to make capris and shorts when warmer weather came. A little bit of embroidery can turn an old pair of jeans into something fun and different.

- throw a pot luck - when we were ready for a social event, we invited other families over for a pot luck. It didn't have to be fancy - we just enjoyed the people.

These are just a few of the things we have done over the years. The hardest part of the spending freeze is the first couple of weeks as you are transitioning into it. It is also more difficult as your children get older and want to do more things. My oldest ones are getting good at being creative and finding "free" fun. I hope that means they are learning something.

We have learned some valuable lessons during these periods of our life.

Happiness and joy do not come from having money. Quality of life and relationships cannot be purchased. Relationships comes from spending time together and these relationships build our quality of life.


Discipline is important. It takes a lot of discipline to not spend money.

We don't really "need" a whole lot. True needs can be met for less than we think most of the time.

Pulling together for a common goal builds unity. Our family grew closer during the times we were so focused in this way.

You learn to focus on what you do have instead of what you are missing. There is great power in perspective.

Even now that money is more available to us, we have built good habits and don't spend "just because." Our wants have stayed in line with what we can easily afford which makes each month so much less stressful.

Hopefully, these thoughts can encourage you or someone you know to hang in there. Sometimes "spending freeze" periods seem to last forever. My advice is to stop window shopping and looking at all you don't have, instead focus on what you do have and count your blessings. On the hardest days, I even wrote my blessings down and hung the list on the fridge to be my constant reminder.