Spiced Oat-N-Wheat Pancakes

MIX well:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats
¼ cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ cup dry buttermilk
¼ cup dry nonfat milk
2 eggs
¼ cup oil
2 ¼ cup water

COOK large spoonfuls of batter on an oiled or buttered griddle over medium-low heat.
SERVE with maple syrup.

Family Communications: Set the Stage

Basic suggestions for more effective family communication:
2. A willingness to set the stage. The location, setting, or circumstances should be comfortable, private, and conversation-conducive. Effective communications have been shared in a grove of trees, on the mount, by the sea, in family home evening, during a walk, in a car, during a vacation, a hospital visit, on the way to school, during the game. When the stage is set, we must be willing to let the other family member be front and center as we appropriately respond.
Months and years after the score of a baseball game is long forgotten, the memory of having been there all alone with Dad will never dim. I’ll not soon forget a ten-year-old girl excitedly telling me she had just ridden in the car with her daddy all the way from Salt Lake to Provo and back. “Was the radio on?” I asked. “Oh, no,” she responded, “all Daddy did was listen and talk to me.” She had her daddy all to herself in a setting she’ll not soon forget. Let the stage be set whenever the need is there. Let the stage be set whenever the other person is ready. (Marvin J. Ashton, “Family Communications,” Ensign, May 1976, 52)

Applesauce

COMBINE:
5 tablespoons water
1/4 cup packed brown sugar (may want to use less, depending on apple sweetness.)
2 t ablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 pounds apples, peeled, cored, and halved

COVER AND COOK 1 hour on the stove top (medium-low heat).
STIR every 10 minutes.

Family Communications: Sacrifice

Basic suggestions for more effective family communication:
1. A willingness to sacrifice. Be the kind of a family member who is willing to take time to be available. Develop the ability and self-discipline to think of other family members and their communication needs ahead of your own—a willingness to prepare for the moment—the sharing moment, the teaching moment. Shed the very appearance of preoccupation in self, and learn the skill of penetrating a family member’s shield of preoccupation. Sad is the day when a daughter is heard to say, “My mother gives me everything except herself.”
Too early and too often we sow the seeds of “Can’t you see I’m busy? Don’t bother me now.” When we convey the attitude of “Go away, don’t bother me now,” family members are apt to go elsewhere or isolate themselves in silence. All family members on some occasion or other must be taken on their own terms so they will be willing to come, share, and ask.
It takes personal sacrifice to communicate when conditions are right for the other person—during the meal preparation, after a date, a hurt, a victory, a disappointment, or when someone wants to share a confidence. One must be willing to forego personal convenience to invest time in establishing a firm foundation for family communication. When communication in the family seems to be bogging down, each individual should look to himself for the remedy.
If we would know true love and understanding one for another, we must realize that communication is more than a sharing of words. It is the wise sharing of emotions, feelings, and concerns. It is the sharing of oneself totally. “Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.” (James 3:13.) (Marvin J. Ashton, “Family Communications,” Ensign, May 1976, 52)

Tomato Sauce

HEAT in saucepan:
Olive Oil
ADD and SAUTE:
Onions
Garlic
ADD:
Roma tomatoes, chopped
Italian herbs
Salt and Pepper
Pinch of sugar

SIMMER covered for 25-30 minutes.

Family Communications

“To be effective, family communication must be an exchange of feelings and information. Doors of communication will swing open in the home if members will realize time and participation on the part of all are necessary ingredients. In family discussions, differences should not be ignored, but should be weighed and evaluated calmly. One’s point or opinion usually is not as important as a healthy, continuing relationship. Courtesy and respect in listening and responding during discussions are basic in proper dialogue. As we learn to participate together in meaningful associations, we are able to convey our thoughts of love, dependence, and interest. When we are inclined to give up in despair in our efforts to communicate because other family members have failed to respond, perhaps we would do well not to give up, but rather to give and take in our conversations. How important it is to know how to disagree with another’s point of view without being disagreeable. How important it is to have discussion periods ahead of decisions. Jones Stephens wrote, “I have learned that the head does not hear anything until the heart has listened, and that what the heart knows today the head will understand tomorrow.” (Marvin J. Ashton, “Family Communications,” Ensign, May 1976, 52)

Alfredo Sauce

MELT:
1 cube butter
ADD:
1 package cream cheese
¾ cup parmesan cheese, shredded
1 cup milk
1 clove of garlic

Serve with your choice of cooked pasta.