Do You Know Your Family?

Activity:  Do You Know Your Family?

How well do the members of your family know each other?  These questions are great for the dinner table or other family get-togethers with extended family gatherings.  See how well you know your family.

1.  Mother's full name?

2.  Father's birthplace?

3.  Siblings' birthdates?

4.  Mother's birthplace?

5.  Grandfather's job?

6.  Where great-grandparents lived?

7.  Any ancestors from another country?

8.  Resemblance to ancestors?

9.  Location of most of the old family photographs?

10. Famous persons in family?

Find out the answers before it is too late!

Quick Creamed Chicken and Rice

Nothing is more delicious and comforting than creamy chicken and rice.  Keeping a can of cream of chicken soup in the pantry makes Quick Creamed Chicken and Rice a super fast meal.  If leftover chicken is not available, a rotisserie chicken from the store can be used for this and many more recipes that call for chicken.  I like to pick the carcass clean and package the meat in quart size Ziploc freezer bags.  A bag of prepared chicken is ready to go when it is time to make this simple dish.

Quick Creamed Chicken and Rice makes a great gravy for Haystacks, a recipe where you add toppings such as slivered almonds, sliced green onions, pineapple chunks, chow mien noodles, diced celery, shredded cheese, diced tomatoes, chopped green pepper, water chestnuts, coconut and even maraschino cherries.

Quick Creamed Chicken and Rice
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
2 cups cooked rice
chicken leftovers (about 1/2-1 cup)
Optional:  Haystacks Toppings listed below
In a small pan, combine 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup and 1/2 cup milk.  Heat just to boiling point.  Pour over or combine with 2 cups cooked rice.  Add leftover pieces of chicken, if desired.  If you're out of condensed cream of chicken soup, try this easy recipe at Our Best Bites!  (I also included the complete recipe on my Hamburger Gravy Over Rice post).  The recipe originates at TammysRecipes.com

Steamed Rice
In a 2-quart pan with a tight-fitting lid, place 1 cup rice, 2 cups water, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Stir to distribute rice.  Cover.  Bring to a vigorous boil; then quickly turn heat to very low setting.  Continue cooking 15 minutes.  Do not stir or lift cover!  Remove from heat and let rice continue to steam, covered, for an additional 10 minutes.  Makes 3 cups cooked rice.
Note:  To be sure of light, fluffy rice, always measure the rice, salt, and water.  Too much water makes rice soggy and gummy; too little water allows rice to dry out before it is cooked.

Recipe comes from the best 1st cookbook!:  Homecooking on Your Own, by Karine Eliason, Nevada Harward, and Madeline Westover, Shadow Mountain, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Hamburger Gravy Over Rice

It is unbelievable that a leftover hamburger patty crumbled up in a mixture of condensed cream of mushroom soup and 1/2 cup (or can) of milk can make a delicious meal seemingly out of thin air! (You can use more ground beef if you have it).  Mix these three items over medium heat to the point of boiling and then pour over the rice (2 cups cooked rice).  This actually feeds our family of five adults.  The meal can be supplemented with a salad or other fruit &/or veggies.  

This type of recipe works well with rotating my food storage.  If you are using fresh ground beef for this recipe (1/2 lb. ought to do it), adding a little chopped onion and celery while cooking the ground beef gives it a really good flavor.  Some shredded cheese on top is yummy.  I used a blend of brown and white rice.  I'm trying to get my family (and myself) used to the taste of brown rice since it's so much healthier.

I actually ran out of condensed cream of mushroom soup and decided to try Our Best Bites' easy homemade version of condensed cream of chicken soup (most of these soups are interchangeable).  It works just as well!  The recipe made enough to make Hamburger Gravy Over Rice and Quick Creamed Chicken and Rice.

homemade cream of chicken soup

Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup
1-1/2 c. chicken broth (I follow Wyler's chicken flavor with herbs and spices instant bouillon as directed on the label)
1/2 t. poultry seasoning (click for a recipe)
1/2 t. onion powder (or fresh diced--boil w/broth for a few minutes)
1/2 t. garlic powder (or fresh minced--boil w/broth for a few minutes)
1/8 t. black pepper
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. parsley
dash of paprika
1-1/2 c. milk, divided
3/4 c. flour
In medium-sized saucepan, bring chicken broth, seasonings, and 1/2 c. of the milk to a boil.  In a bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 cup of milk and flour.  Add to boiling mixture and continue whisking briskly until mixture boils and thickens.  (Recipe originates at tammysrecipes.com:  she uses the broth from her oven-roasted chicken.  She says to, "Refrigerate broth and then take fat off the top.  If you're using chicken bouillon + water for your broth, you may want to add a little extra seasonings, such as lemon pepper, extra garlic, or seasoned salt, since my broth normally has bits of those in it.  You can also add bits of chicken, but if you have good rich chicken broth, you probably won't need any chicken in it.").

For instructions on rice, see post for Quick Creamed Chicken and Rice.

Christmas in July

Many families have what they call a "Family Night" where they make sure that at least one day each week, the family gets together to spend time with each other.  I'm always looking for meaningful, original ideas to do on Family Night.  I found just such an activity in the Ensign, a religious magazine, to get family members involved in disaster preparedness planning.  This activity helps the family prepare for times of need by having a "Christmas in July" party.  

In the south where I'm from, there is already harvesting and canning to be done in July as a new late crop is planted.  The "canners" in the family can give gifts of canned fruits and veggies.  Others can buy much needed food storage supplies such as a new box of jars.  Many items such as seeds go on sale by this time and would make great gifts that can be stored in Ziploc bags in the refrigerator ready for a future garden's bounty.  The following is an excerpt from the Ensign and shows many other ways to prepare:

In one month--on July 25--we will have "Christmas."  My brother made this announcement as he produced a large paper Christmas tree.  We will surprise each other with gifts for our year's supply.That night we had a family discussion on storing food and other items so that we would be self-sufficient in times of need.  Our family had a testimony of this principle; only a few years before, our home had been damaged by the Teton Dam floodwaters, and we remembered how grateful we had been that we were prepared during that crisis. As our "holiday" approached, each of us worked feverishly on our gifts.  My mother tied quilts.  My sister saved some money from her part-time job and bought a case of soap.  Another sister assembled a first-aid kit.  We grew closer to each other as we worked together to prepare ourselves.In some ways, our family home evening on July 25 was as much fun as Christmas morning.  And what a wonderful feeling to carry those gifts down to our storage shelves and know that we had become more prepared!  ~LaDawn G. Dalton, ("Do Not Open until July 25," Ensign 6/89)