Provident Living

So I have always been a pretty healthy person, and a frugal one at that too, but these last few months have really been a super kick of this. Having my own kitchen and cooking supplies, doing all the grocery shopping and making all of the meals have helped as well.

For starters, I love cooking- especially the eating part. The thing about me is I pretty much live to eat- I love a good meal, and I eat about seven meals a day- Scott always laughs because around 8 or 9 at night I will hop into the kitchen and he will shout- "Second Dinner?" I just have a great apetite, but I also have a very healthy diet.

I have studied several health and diet books, and have quite an extensive knowledge of health- I should have gone into nutrition sciences because I am so knowledgeable and quite excited by healthy eating, but its not really a very broad field, ha ha.

Anywho, for starters, let me say- DO NOT DIET- all of those books are a bunch of baloney- its not about starving yourself, or cutting out carbs or sugars or anything like that. It is about eating the right amount of the right things. It is OK to cut out a few calories from a regular 2000 calorie diet- but no more than 500, and do not do it for any longer than a few weeks to jump kick your system.

I think if anyone is interested enough I may just start a whole blog on healthy eating, because there are so many different topics- grains, meats, sugars, vegetables, exercise, recipes and drinks- breakfast, packing lunches, saving money, preparing food, using fats and oils, etc. I could go on and on- so if you happen to be interested- let me know!

But, my whole point of today's post involves using a staple in your food storage- White Hard Wheat. Usually I just use these to make pancakes with my blender, but yesterday I made a big batch of "wheat berries." They are so easy and taste quite well- PLUS they are super healthy, can be incorporated in hundreds of recipes, and can be stored in the fridge just great for two weeks, or frozen for months!

Here is how to make Wheat Berries:

4 C. White Hard Wheat
8 C. Water
1 t. Salt

Put all of these in a large pan (at least 5 qts).
Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
Once you have reached a boil, place lid on pot, and simmer for 1 hour and 5 min. (or until the berries have a soft chewy consistency similar to brown rice. Some may be slightly cracked and open.)

This amount made me about 14 C. of wheat berries!

And that is it! Now what do you do with these? Today I made a stir fry- so good, and very healthy, plus I made a large quantity so Scott and I can take it all week for lunch.

WHEAT BERRY STIR-FRY
(double this recipe if you want to eat it all week)

4 C. Prepared Wheat Berries (chilled)
2 T. Butter
2 t. Olive Oil
1/8 t. Pepper
1/8 t. Garlic salt
1/4 C. chopped onion
2 C. Chopped Mushrooms
3 Eggs
1 C. Broccoli cut
1 C. Sliced Carrots
1 C. Corn
1 C. Green Peas
1/2 C. Ham (I used chicken for a healthier protein, but you could also omit this for a veggie meal)
3 T. Soy Sauce

1. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over medium high het.
2. Scramble eggs in small bowl, pour into hot oil, and sprinkle with pepper.
3. Cook eggs until they are firm enoug to flip- flip over and cook the other side.
4. Remove cooked eggs (large pancake shape about 1/4" thick) from pan and cut into 1/2" squares.
5. Saute mushrooms and onions with butter and garlic salt. Drain the liquid and set aside.
6. Heat vegetables in the preheated frying pan.
7. Add Chilled whea berries and mix ingredients together.
8. Combine the egg and mushroom/onion mix with the other ingredients in the pan.
9. Add your pre-cooked protein.
10. Drizle mixture evenly with soy sauce and stir in.
11. Season with salt, pepper and additional soy sauce if needed.

I got this recipe out of the book "Discover Wheat and Other Grains" by Cary Ruggles. The book has about fourteen other recipes, but tells you how to make the wheat berries in other ways, and how to also make creamy wheat berries, which have a cooked oatmeal consistency.

I hope this helps everyone- The church has emphasized that it is important to begin using our food storage regularly, and the wheat is one of the most foreign and most important food storage products we tend to avoid, so get adventurous- these recipes are delicious!

Anywho- just thought I would share this- let me know if you would like more of the healthy recipes and tips we use in our home!

DRUM ROLL PLEASE....

I FINALLY got around to loading some pics of our first little home! Enjoy!

Here I am in our little Kitchen!
Scott showing off our chinese lanterns that hide the massive pipe in our cieling!

Scotts Library/The Mudroom/The office/The entryway

Our living room, the loveseat sits in front of the TV

Our bedroom- all from IKEA-woot!

Here is the loveseat I mentioned earlier- and the cute little window? Our Apt was once a hospital, and our kitchen the X-ray room! So the window was for the Dr's- ha ha

Some Pics from our first Christmas (WELL... CALI POST-CHRISTMAS)

So, for our first Christmas, Scott and I spent our time with the Kirby's. Scott's family is a lot of fun, and we get along really well. His parents were so nice to me and really included me in the Christmas festivities. Scott and I both got Ipods, I got the 2g shuffle in the green I wanted! I hate the 3g shuffles- they stink, and apple stopped making the 2g, but they found me one! I was so happy- it is perfect for working out. We opened most of our gifts on Christmas Eve, but there were still gifts from Santa come Christmas morning. Traditionally my family eats crab for Christmas eve dinner, so eating the Kirby Chicken Chili and homemade breadsticks was quite a change, but it was quite good, Gaye has some yummy recipes, although they all involve meat, which I am getting used to...mostly :).

On the 26th we flew out to sunny California to ring in the New Year with my fam, and we spent it, of course, in good old Disneyland. My parents got Scott and I plane tickets and Disneyland tickets for Christmas- it was the best, I love nothing more than spending time with the people I love, I couldn't ask for a better gift. Disneyland was way fun, but I have never been in a more crowded place, than Disneyland on New Years Eve- holy smokes, there wasn't even standing room! But we rocked hard and had a blast- here is proof:

The Wilcocks and The Andersons- trying on our various mickey ears

Here is everyone in our New Year gear! (I hate this picture but everyone else looks good!)

All girls no more! My dad finally has a bud!

On the SUPER exciting Bugs Life "smelly" ride where you travel at 2 mph and get to smell different smells ha ha ha

"It' Tough to be a Bug" 3D show- this was Scott's first 3D show, well his first REAL 3D, Avatar so did not count :D

Scott hijacked this cab and ran me over...I forgave him later

We should become Circus Clowns- we packed six of us in here! I dare you to beat that!

This was our rest after the Tower of Terror. We survived, and couldn't be happier.

All in all the holiday was amazing. Scott and I had such a great vacation, and he was glad to get to know my family a bit better. He fits right in. I think my favorite moments were when I would climb in by my mom in bed to give her a good night cuddle, and Scott would climb right in and cuddle her other side- he is so comfortable and loving with my family, and it is just one of those other little things that let me know what a winner I have married.

I hope you all had as great a holiday as we did, and that this new year brings you lots of joy and fun memories!

Love, the Kirbys

Church Talks and Callings

So Scott and I have had a double dose of Gospel Goodness the last few weeks. First, we were called to teach the 6 year old Primary Class- it has been interesting to say the least. Then we have been asked to speak in Church this Sunday- Christmas Sunday- on Fast Offerings. I have my talk all ready, and I am really excited to give it. I am just one of those crazy Mormons who actually enjoys approaching the pulpit and rambling on for hours! So I have been practicing and I think it will be quite good.

I just feel so blessed this year. I have a wonderful husband, money in the bank, transportation, a lovely family, good grades, one more semester to a degree, clothes on my back, a good job, etc. Scott and I sat down and discussed our Christmas, and came to the conclusion that we were in want for nothing, so we have set a $50 budget for each other, and we won't spend anything else. I think we are in a really good place, we have started a modest savings account, and are rally able to do lots of fun things, but we have our priorities straight, and we aren't spending money if we don't need too. We have chosen instead to help those in our ward through fast offerings, and we feel really good about this decision. I think this is why the bishop asked us to speak on this topic, and I hope we can impress on our ward why fast offerings are so important. I feel very passionate about this, and I hope that I can get a good festive message across.

Perhaps I will make an MP3 of the talk and post it on here for you all the hear :)

Christmas Cards

I made some CHRISTMAS cards for this Thursday's Cache Rendezvous Show.

Aren't they cute?
Here is how to make them:

Because I am a reporter...

Here are some of my favorite pieces I have done! Enjoy!

I've Really Been Slacking!

Well, my last post was forever ago, and I apologize. Life is insanely busy, and I am trying my best to just relax and enjoy my new husband. Scott and I are great. Scott is the top of all his classes, and I have major senioritis, but am still maintaining good grades. I hate my job at Texas Roadhouse, and can't wait to get a new job, because being a waitress is the pits. People in Cache Valley are super cheap, and the main focus of my boss is whether or not I am selling an average of $14.50 a person. I just want to tell him to leave me alone, I am a waitress not a salesperson, but getting fired wouldn't be ideal either. Anyway, I hate my job, end of story.

Besides work and school, Scott and I like to hang out at home. Our little apartment is quite cute, but the environment we are in is perfect for our stereotypical newlywed home.

TOP TEN REASONS OUR HOME IS THE PERFECT NEWLYWED APARTMENT

10. We are the only people who speak english in the whole complex.

9. The building is over 80 years old, and used to be a hospital.

8. Our Kitchen was the radiation room, we even have a window to look into it.

7. We have no washer and dryer, no dishwasher, no disposal, no internet, and no cable.

6. There are pipes all throughout the ceiling, we hide them with chinese lanterns :)

5. Our heating system is an old old heater the kinds that look like this:

4. Our fridge is actually in our living room, because there was no room for it in the kitchen.

3. Our toilet only refills with water if you take the lid off and hit a specific part of the system, I don't know what it is or what it is called, I only know how to make it work.

2. It has a funny smell, so I do everything I can to ensure that we make it as aromatic as possible, we have used candles, scentsy, air sprays, carpet sprays, oils, and potpourri.

1. Despite all of these things, we love it, I will post pictures when I get them, because it really is a super cute apartment, and it is all our own!

Love you all!