MockBisquickity Mix

Light, fluffy and perfect! I absolutely cannot get enough of this Biscuit mix replacement. The lactose (milk sugar) adds the perfect amount of sweetness, and the salt isn't overpowering.

You'll need:

• 9 cups of AP flour (or whatever mix of wheat and white flour you want, just know that the more whole wheat you use, the heavier the mix will be)
• 2 Cups of Non-Fat INSTANT Dry milk powder. (I cannot stress the instant enough, if you don't know that difference, then you probably only have access to instant. The non instant is through the LDS Cannery)
• 1 Cup of Coconut Oil (It does not taste like coconuts. It's just very good for you, trust me)
• 1 Tbsp Sea Salt
• 1/4 cup Baking Powder

Mix it up in either a kitchenaid mixer with the whipping attachment or with a pastry cutter (or even a fork, just mix it up thoroughly) until it starts looking a bit like cornmeal. Use where you would use Bisquick. Store in a sealed container (I use a reclaimed #10 can that my freeze dried veggies came in) in the freezer to keep it at it's freshest, or in the refrigerator.

Assertiveness

Definition originally from Wikipedia:

Assertiveness is a skill taught by many personal development experts and psychotherapists and the subject of many popular self-help books. It is linked to self-esteem and considered an important communication skill.
As a communication style and strategy, Assertiveness is distinguished from Aggression and Passivity. How people deal with personal boundaries; their own and those of other people, helps to distinguish between these three concepts. Passive communicators do not defend their own personal boundaries and thus allow aggressive people to harm or otherwise unduly influence them. They are also typically not likely to risk trying to influence anyone else. Aggressive people do not respect the personal boundaries of others and thus are liable to harm others while trying to influence them. A person communicates assertively by not being afraid to speak his or her mind or trying to influence others, but doing so in a way that respects the personal boundaries of others. They are also willing to defend themselves against aggressive incursions.

I was came across an old post of mine on another website, and I have changed my opinion on a few matters regarding assertiveness. We are witnessing a breakthrough in social networking technology. Life is being lived on the internet, in real time. Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and plethora of other networks are becoming the 4th estate, no longer depending on News 'entertainment' anchors to give them information. We witness marriage proposals via YouTube, wedding invitations via TheKnot.com, birth announcements via email, and relationships ending over Facebook relationship status changes.

Men and women today are running into the problem of NOT being assertive, but rather being aggressive and cruel. They are convinced by social conditioning that being assertive means being aggressive but that is not the case. People are running over or being run over by their spouses, other family members, doctors, or perfect strangers and sharing it all online. We are unable to find a balance between being domineering and being assertive. We are unable to see where we end and others begin.

Parents specifically have obligations in raising their children, online. We have responsibility to look at how we are modeling behavior for our children to follow.How can we instill self confidence, and respect in our children if we do not have it for ourselves?How do we show our kids how to interact if we run roughshod over people who disagree with us, or revert to name calling or online threats? If we are unable to stand up and be a conscientious member of society because our family might see it on our Facebook status updates, how will our children have the confidence to stand up for what's right?

I really hope that we can take to heart how toxic both passive and aggressive behavior can perpetuate the cycle in our kids and try to prevent that. It isn't just about us when we are assertive, we aren't being selfish by asserting a reasonable boundary. We are helping our children to learn healthy ways to deal with others and communicate with others. On one hand, if we find ourselves biting your tongue more often than not to "keep the peace" and finding ourselves being used by people,we need to speak up! If we find our tongues are lashing out and wounding others with callousness and coldness, then we need to take a step back and regroup. We can also take a step back and see where we might be modeling wrong behavior in our personal lives, as well.

Cinnamon Sugar

A household staple. What goes together better than cinnamon and sugar? Not much!


We keep ours in a resealable container so it is at hand for sprinkling over oatmeal, buttered toast, cream of wheat or whatever you want.

1/4 cup of granulated sugar
3 or 4 tsps of cinnamon.

You can make even more in bulk! It's fast, simple and jazzs up boring breakfast without taking up any more time.

Easy Corndog Muffins

I can't really take credit for this, a lovely lady named Circe posted her dinner for the evening and it seems just WAY too fun/easy and yummy not to share here. She modified the directions from
hungrygirl.com, and I have to just post it right now.

You need:
1 box of Kruzteaz Honey Cornbread mix (prepared per the directions on the box)
1 package of hotdogs/beef franks/turkey dogs cut into 1/4 inch 'coins'

Preheat the oven to 375 Degrees. Grease a muffin tin with non stick spray or buttter/margarine or line with cupcake paper liner thingies (yeah, that's the technical name for them) . Spoon in the cornbread mix ( spoon 2/3 way to the top, it will rise) and put 3 or 4 little pieces of hot dog into the mixture. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I can't vouch for the taste of these yet, but I can't wait to try them!

Mock French Toast Bake

Mock French Toast base:
4-5 cups of cubed bread (day old works best)
4 eggs (can use powdered)
1 1/2 cups milk(I use non instant powdered and water)
3 tablespoons of white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* Streuesel

Mix all the wet ingredients, using a mixer on medium until it is all a creamy butter color. Put bread in a well buttered 10 inch cake pan in a flat layer. Pour the mixture over the bread and let sit for about 10-15 minutes. Cover with the streusel. Put into a preheated 350 and bake for 50 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Serve with Maple Syrup or eat unaccompanied! :)


Streuesel mixture

1 cup of flour (oat, wheat or all purpose all work well for this)
1/4- 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, or margarine room temperature

I mix mine up in the kitchenaid with the whipping attachment, but you could use your hands, a fork or a pastry cutter. You want it to be in fine crumbs. Try not to sneak it all before you use it. If you have leftovers (yeah, right) you can store it in the freezer in a container for up to 6 months.

Making Coffee Cake :)

So I was thumbing through my copy of the Better Times Cookbook (printed from the website)
and I found a really easy coffee cake recipe. It was about 2 am and my oldest son wasn't going to sleep, so I decided to let him help me bake for breakfast tomorrow.

Easy Very Tasty Biscuit Mix Coffee Cake Recipe

2 cups of biscuit mix
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
2/3 cup milk or 2 Tbsp milk powder plus 2/3 cup water (double the powder if using instant milk powder)

Cinnamon Streusel Topping
1/3 cup of biscuit mix
1/3 cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter/margarine
(I mix this up with my fingers)
*optional 2 Tbsp of Maple syrup (the real stuff, toss out that corn syrup impostor)


Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.Grease up a 9 inch round pan. Mix the cake ingredients together (or let your kid do it) and then pour evenly into pan. I jiggle it around a bit. Sprinkle the topping onto the batter making sure that the entire top is dotted with the yummy streusel mixture. Bake for about 20 minutes. If using syrup, drizzle it on the top when you take the cake out of the oven. Let cake cool before removing from pan.

I am letting it cool off before I put the cover on it. And when everyone is ready to eat, the coffee cake will be an easy thing to pull out! :) Sorry for the blurry pics. All I have is my crappy cellphone camera that is blurry and the color is off. Soon enough I will have a camera again!

Update- I haven't gotten the camera to get pics. (Darn heart issues are tuckering me out) but I made a cute recipe card to go with.

Homemade Laundry Soap

A picture of me grating fels naptha soap for homemade laundry detergent.

Powdered Detergent

22oz washing soda
7.5 oz baking soda
8 oz OxyClean Free
10 drops of Essential Oil of your choice, (Lavender or Tea Tree Oil preferably)

Mix all together in a Jar with a fork and use 1/8 of a cup per load of laundry.

Cost analysis:

$2-1 box of washing powder(55oz),
$0.39-1 box (sm) baking soda
2 cups of the Oxy Clean Free (big tub for $5, it has 56 oz in it)


So about 80 loads for 3 bucks


It doesn't suds up so you can use it in your front loader or top loader, it gets your whites clean!! Good for cloth diapers too!



Sudsing version

1 bar of fels naptha (or ivory) soap finely grated or finely food processed
2 cups of washing soda
2 cups of borax

Use 2TBSP to 1/4 of a cup per large load

You can either leave it like this, or you can make a liquid.

For doing a liquid

Melt the fels naptha in 1 quart of water over low heat. Add the borax and washing soda. Stir until it is free from lumps Either put it into a bucket with a lid or a reclaimed laundry soap bottle. Add enough water to make 1 gallon. Let it sit overnight (it will gel)
Shake gently before use or stir before using
Use 1/8 of a cup to 1/2 of a cup depending on your water hardness.


This DOES have fragrance if you use fels naptha, but not if you use ivory.