1) No parents in the world have as much patience and calm as Cailou's parents, especially for such a whiny, horrible child.
2) Dora's parents should be ashamed of themselves for letting her go off on adventures ALONE.
3) Bob the Builder can build anything in a day.
4) Using adult voices for kid voices is SO not okay, Fireman Sam.
5) Yo Gabba Gabba has some weird power over children even though it's simply psycho... maybe it's a form of brain washing?
6) Ornithomimus is the fastest dinosaur that ever lived. Thank you, Dinosaur Train.
7) Thomas the Train never learns and always causes "confusion and delay."
8) That completely wordless animated penguins are nevertheless entertaining to my kid and very very annoying to adults. I detest you Pingu.
9) Penguins are blue, Ladybugs are pink, Hippos are yellow, Moose are orange, and Kangaroos are purple. If you don't believe me, check out The Backyardigans.
10) The girl cow was the worst addition to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse EVER.
I never knew that children television could be so educational for an adult.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Friday, January 4, 2013
One of my Favorite Things
So when we moved into our home, there was no place next to the sink to put a towel. No bar or hook, nothing. And since my husband refused to put any holes in our beautiful cabinets, I had to come up with a different solution.
Thankfully my sister introduced me to Command Hooks. If you haven't heard of them before, they are hooks that you can attach to almost anything that goes on with a sticky strip. You can buy them in varying size/color/weight capability. And they're easy to put up and take down, without damaging the surface you put it on!
And they can sustain a lot of weight. My next use for these handy hooks was on another side of my cabinets. I put my magnet board on it with my calendar and appt cards or invitations. This has been up for over a year and hasn't fallen once. They're pretty darn strong.
Let me give you a quick tutorial so you can see how easy they are:
When you buy them, they come with the command strips, a backing for the hook, and then the hook itself. The strip is sticky on both sides. You peel off the red side and stick it to the back of the backing (haha) for the hook (making sure to have the tab of the strip on the same end as the ledge that the hook sits on.
Then when you've decided where to put your hook, peel off the wall side and stick to the wall, holding it in place for at least 10 seconds to adhere.
Then you slide your hook down onto the ledge. It's as easy as that. Then if you ever get sick of it or want to move the hook all you do is take the hook off and then pull down on the tab slowly like so:
And then it comes off! You can buy replacement strips to re-hang the hooks at Wal-Mart or Target or wherever you bought your hook. They're relatively inexpensive in my opinion.
And like I said they have them in all sizes! I bought these little ones for my Christmas stockings. We don't have a mantel or anything and up until now I'd been using little pins to hang them up on the wall (which makes my husband cringe). So to hang them on the wall, I used my handy dandy little Command hooks!
Then after Christmas, I just take the hooks down and use them again next year.
And the last place I've used them: in my entryway closet. I got sick of my little boy throwing his coat on the floor in the closet because he couldn't reach to hang it up. So I put up one of the hooks at his height so he can hang it up and get it himself! It's been perfect!
So go check them out! I love them and will continue to use them in places where I don't want to drill into the wall or if I don't want the hook there permanently. It's a great solution!
Thankfully my sister introduced me to Command Hooks. If you haven't heard of them before, they are hooks that you can attach to almost anything that goes on with a sticky strip. You can buy them in varying size/color/weight capability. And they're easy to put up and take down, without damaging the surface you put it on!
 |
| Problem solved! |
Let me give you a quick tutorial so you can see how easy they are:
When you buy them, they come with the command strips, a backing for the hook, and then the hook itself. The strip is sticky on both sides. You peel off the red side and stick it to the back of the backing (haha) for the hook (making sure to have the tab of the strip on the same end as the ledge that the hook sits on.
Then when you've decided where to put your hook, peel off the wall side and stick to the wall, holding it in place for at least 10 seconds to adhere.
Then you slide your hook down onto the ledge. It's as easy as that. Then if you ever get sick of it or want to move the hook all you do is take the hook off and then pull down on the tab slowly like so:
And then it comes off! You can buy replacement strips to re-hang the hooks at Wal-Mart or Target or wherever you bought your hook. They're relatively inexpensive in my opinion.
And like I said they have them in all sizes! I bought these little ones for my Christmas stockings. We don't have a mantel or anything and up until now I'd been using little pins to hang them up on the wall (which makes my husband cringe). So to hang them on the wall, I used my handy dandy little Command hooks!
Then after Christmas, I just take the hooks down and use them again next year.
And the last place I've used them: in my entryway closet. I got sick of my little boy throwing his coat on the floor in the closet because he couldn't reach to hang it up. So I put up one of the hooks at his height so he can hang it up and get it himself! It's been perfect!
So go check them out! I love them and will continue to use them in places where I don't want to drill into the wall or if I don't want the hook there permanently. It's a great solution!
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Our Rare Show Of Original Creativity
For some of our neighbor/friend Christmas gifts this year, my husband and I had a moment of creativity and came up with an idea that I've never seen before (but I'm sure we're not the first to think it up).
Last year, my husband won a sweepstakes where he got at least 14 bags of Halls Cough Drops (for tips on doing sweepstakes from Ryan, click here). So since there was no way we needed that many cough drops, we decided to give them away for Christmas. Well, really, my awesome husband says it better than I do (although it didn't QUITE happen this way). Here's his side of the handout we made for our gift:
Isn't my husband so creative? Most people don't know it, but he is pretty talented with rhyming. Although I won't tell you that it took him a half-hour to write this (I never thought he'd get so involved in neighbor gifts!). So then I took 5 minutes and came up with this for the "flipside".
Then we punched a hole in the cough drop bags, tied the handouts to the bags with cute ribbon and wah-la! We were done! No spending hours cooking goodies (although we did do that for a few gifts) and stressing out when they weren't home to receive the goodie plates. It was so NICE!
I'm pretty proud with the way they turned out and we got quite a few laughs when we handed the gift to them. Then they read Ryan's poem and laughed even harder. I told all of them not to expect such creativity out of us next year... because who knows what we'll be doing then!
Last year, my husband won a sweepstakes where he got at least 14 bags of Halls Cough Drops (for tips on doing sweepstakes from Ryan, click here). So since there was no way we needed that many cough drops, we decided to give them away for Christmas. Well, really, my awesome husband says it better than I do (although it didn't QUITE happen this way). Here's his side of the handout we made for our gift:
Isn't my husband so creative? Most people don't know it, but he is pretty talented with rhyming. Although I won't tell you that it took him a half-hour to write this (I never thought he'd get so involved in neighbor gifts!). So then I took 5 minutes and came up with this for the "flipside".
Then we punched a hole in the cough drop bags, tied the handouts to the bags with cute ribbon and wah-la! We were done! No spending hours cooking goodies (although we did do that for a few gifts) and stressing out when they weren't home to receive the goodie plates. It was so NICE!
I'm pretty proud with the way they turned out and we got quite a few laughs when we handed the gift to them. Then they read Ryan's poem and laughed even harder. I told all of them not to expect such creativity out of us next year... because who knows what we'll be doing then!
Sunday, November 18, 2012
FHE lesson: Understanding Those Who Are Different
For those of you who are not LDS, in my church we are encouraged to
spend one night a week as a family in which we do wholesome activities
together and/or learn more about spiritual topics. It's called Family Home Evening, or FHE. To learn more about
this, go here. Even
if you are not of the same faith, I encourage you to start this with
your own family. It is a great way to bond and make memories!
We had a great FHE lesson a few weeks ago. My four-year-old absolutely loved it. My hubby and I had just read an article on ESPN an hour earlier, found here, that was an amazing testimony of being kind and loving to those who are different than us. Then I found this lesson and decided that we should continue the theme with Kaleb since the article had touched us so much.
He loved it and all because of this animal:
He still talks about the lesson and remembers the story perfectly. Goodness, I even remember the Zelmgid from when I was a kid. My mom used it in a lesson as well.
So, if you are interested in finding this lesson about Understanding Those Who Are Different, go to the LiveCraftEat link by clicking here. She also has great information on making your own FHE kit if you are interested!
Enjoy and have fun with your family!
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Helping Yourself or Others With Anxiety
And you all thought I had forgotten this blog... I haven't. And the reason for my almost-3-month hiatus is a very personal one that I would like to share with all of you:
In September of 2010, I started to have panic attacks. I had struggled with anxiety a little in high school and had a few panic attacks back then, but this was different. I had panic attacks every morning and they were so bad that I'd throw up and be sick to my stomach for most of the day. I felt like I was losing control of my life. I couldn't even take care of my son because I would get so sick.
The hardest part was that I had no clue why I was having anxiety. I would wake up in the morning and be in the middle of a panic attack. It wasn't something that had a trigger or a reason (that I knew of). I went to the doctor and they put me on some preventive medicine, but told me it would take 4 weeks to start working. So basically I just had to deal with it and just take Xanax every morning (but it would only get rid of the anxiety and not the sickness). I had to change medicines one more time before I found one that worked and put my life back in order.
September through December of 2010 are three months that I never want to live over again. It was really hard to feel so debilitated and scared and sick. It honestly made me so different that when I finally "recovered," multiple people who are close to me said, "It's so good to have you back."
It took months of different drugs, counseling, praying, and health-evaluations to get me back to where I was before. And I thought I had "beat" it. I was on a medicine that worked, I had coping strategies from counseling, and I tried to keep unnecessary stress out of my life. And by April of this year, I felt like I was doing so well that I went off my medicine.
And I was fine. Until August. After one of our trips, my anxiety came back in full force. Again, I was waking up with panic attacks every morning and severe nausea. I immediately went back on my medicine, but it takes (like I said before) at least 4 weeks to start making a difference. So in the meantime, I did the best I could to cope with it. I lost the 15 pounds I had gained over a 6-month period in less than 2 months (the amount of time it took for me to "get better again" this time around). That's how sick my anxiety makes me.
But honestly, this time around it wasn't as bad because I was armed with knowledge about what was chemically and mentally happening.
And that is the exact reason I'm sharing this with you. Because I wish that 2 years ago, someone would have educated me like I am attempting to educate you so that I didn't feel like I was going crazy and there was nothing I could do.
Biologically
First of all, I want to explain the biological reason for anxiety. I think most people know about the natural fight or flight response in our bodies. When it is exposed to stress or danger, your body either reacts by fighting or fleeing (in a way). This is directly related to anxiety.
But what most people may not know is that you have a hormone called serotonin in your body that helps regulates your mood. When you confront stress for a long period of time, your body actually starts to produce less serotonin or your brain absorbs too much of it so that the rest of your body is not getting enough. There are two responses in the body to this: depression or anxiety. Usually, it is anxiety because your body goes into fight or flight mode.
That is a very watered-down version of what is happening biologically when you have anxiety or panic attacks. Now usually, our bodies will bounce back. So you may have some anxiety for a little while but then the stress-inducer is over with, and your body starts to produce enough serotonin again.
But for some people, especially those who have genetically inherited a deficiency in the production of serotonin, the anxiety is magnified into an anxiety disorder and it takes medicine to help their body start producing more serotonin or prevent the brain from absorbing it from the rest of your body.
For four generations on one side of my family, we have mental illness related to the deficiency of serotonin. Anxiety and depression has affected at least half of my family members on that side, including at one time or another, all of my siblings and me. My sister and I like to joke that "we're crazy by genetics".
Stigmas about anxiety and depression in general
Which brings me to my next section: the stigma associated with anxiety and mental illnesses. I can't tell you how many times I have heard, "it's all in your head" or "you're just working yourself up" or "snap out of it". Gratefully, I never heard this from family and friends. They were more than supportive. But I have heard all of these comments in association with depression and anxiety.
This is NOT TRUE. Yes your thoughts can help (I'll get to that in a minute), but you have a hormone deficiency or decreased-production that is out of your control. And that's why you need medicine. When we hear of someone who has diabetes, do we think: "It's all in your head" or "You're just working yourself up"? Of course not. And yet they have a deficiency of insulin. It's about what's going on biologically, not mentally.
So please, if you don't get anything else from this, just remember this: depression and anxiety is a true biological thing. The person is not really crazy and they can't just "get over it." They have to have outside help in the means of medicine and counseling.
Counseling and its benefits
I resisted going to counseling for a long time. The mental image I had in my head was straight from Hollywood (you know the one I'm talking about) and I thought, "There is no horrible secret in my past that makes me have anxiety. I don't need counseling." And if I'm completely honest, I thought, "Only crazy people go to counseling. People will think of me differently if I go to counseling."
But after some encouragement from my sister who reassured me that counseling is nothing like what you see in the movies and that it is so helpful, I decided to brave it. The most important thing to me was that the counselor not try to dig into my childhood and not tell me how I should be feeling. Leading up to that first appointment, I seriously had so much anxiety about going to counseling for anxiety.
It was nothing like I pictured. I had a great counselor who validated how I felt, gave me a new way of thinking about anxiety, and helped me learn coping techniques to get through moments when I do feel anxiety. I can't remember how many times I went to her 2 years ago, but this time around I only needed to go twice in order to feel the reassurance, encouragement, and help that I needed.
Counseling helps. I'm not saying that it might not be awkward at first, because it totally is. And just because you need to go to a counselor doesn't mean that you're broken/crazy or not faithful enough to get over your own problems. They are trained to help you and help is what you need. Anyone who thinks you're weird for going to a counselor is thinking of the movie version and doesn't truly care about you and your health. Bottom line.
Some other things you need to know about anxiety
- It manifests itself in many different ways. When I had panic attacks, I felt like I was having a heart attack with pain in my chest. I would also hyperventilate, shake, and get extremely sick to my stomach. Other symptoms could be dizziness, numbness in hands or feet, sweating, and hot flashes.
- Panic disorder (having panic attacks often) is more common in women than men and usually manifests itself before age 25.
- Anxiety can be caused by a lot of things. If you feel anxiety, try to find the source of the problem and address it (using a counselor if needed), while receiving medical help.
- If you have anxiety, medicine and counseling are not the only things you can do. The following things help increase your serotonin:
- SLEEP (at least 8 hours a night) Sometimes anxiety causes a lack of sleep which makes your body produce even less serotonin, putting you in a vicious cycle. Talk to your doctor about a possible sleep aid if you think you need it. Once you start getting a good nights sleep, it will help your recovery and you can go off the sleep aid once your body is back up to par.
- Take Magnesium/Calcium, B-complex supplements and omega 3 fatty acids
- Exercise 30-60 minutes, four to six times a week
- Eat small meals more often to keep blood sugar up
- Sunlight (30 mins to 2.5 hours a day)
- Physical touch (hugs, massages, etc.)
- Baths, showers, swimming
- Rocking motion stimulates serotonin production (that's why you tend to rock to give/receive comfort)
- Laughter
- Crying
- Creative activities (now you know why I've been a crafting freak... haha)
- It's important to be on medicine that increases serotonin production until your serotonin levels even out. That might take awhile (depends on the person), but there's nothing wrong with that. AND you don't necessarily have to be on medicine forever. We did find out the reason that I had anxiety, and why it came back. Once that stress is gone from my life, I will eventually be able to work myself off the medicine again. But don't go cold-turkey, you need to wean yourself off the medicine so your body doesn't go in fight or flight again.
- It's important to have people you can rely on. Don't suppress your feelings, let them out. Educate your loved ones on all of this. Help them understand what you're going through and tell them exactly what you need from them and how they can help. Even if it's just them telling you, "You're not crazy" or "Everything will be okay."
- If you are religious like me, I also encourage you to pray often for strength. Jesus Christ is literally the ONLY person in the world who knows EXACTLY what you are going through because He has felt it. When He atoned for the sins of the world, He felt every joy and every pain and sorrow as well. Therefore, He knows how to give you comfort. I can testify that I have grown much closer to my Savior through this trial and I know that He will never leave me comfortless. He won't necessarily take the trial away, but He will give us the strength to endure.
_____________________
I hope that all of this helps you understand anxiety better so that you can be supportive if anyone you know goes through this. It's more prevalent in our society than you think. And there are solutions. It should not rule your life or the life of someone you know.
I know that someday I'll look back at this period of my life and it will be a distant memory. Thank you to all of you who were so supportive and who will continue to be. Without you, I couldn't have made it through.
In September of 2010, I started to have panic attacks. I had struggled with anxiety a little in high school and had a few panic attacks back then, but this was different. I had panic attacks every morning and they were so bad that I'd throw up and be sick to my stomach for most of the day. I felt like I was losing control of my life. I couldn't even take care of my son because I would get so sick.
The hardest part was that I had no clue why I was having anxiety. I would wake up in the morning and be in the middle of a panic attack. It wasn't something that had a trigger or a reason (that I knew of). I went to the doctor and they put me on some preventive medicine, but told me it would take 4 weeks to start working. So basically I just had to deal with it and just take Xanax every morning (but it would only get rid of the anxiety and not the sickness). I had to change medicines one more time before I found one that worked and put my life back in order.
September through December of 2010 are three months that I never want to live over again. It was really hard to feel so debilitated and scared and sick. It honestly made me so different that when I finally "recovered," multiple people who are close to me said, "It's so good to have you back."
It took months of different drugs, counseling, praying, and health-evaluations to get me back to where I was before. And I thought I had "beat" it. I was on a medicine that worked, I had coping strategies from counseling, and I tried to keep unnecessary stress out of my life. And by April of this year, I felt like I was doing so well that I went off my medicine.
And I was fine. Until August. After one of our trips, my anxiety came back in full force. Again, I was waking up with panic attacks every morning and severe nausea. I immediately went back on my medicine, but it takes (like I said before) at least 4 weeks to start making a difference. So in the meantime, I did the best I could to cope with it. I lost the 15 pounds I had gained over a 6-month period in less than 2 months (the amount of time it took for me to "get better again" this time around). That's how sick my anxiety makes me.
 |
| My son and me this August before my anxiety came back. |
 | ||||
| Me today, 15 lbs. lighter. NOT the way to lose weight, I'm just showing you the difference. |
But honestly, this time around it wasn't as bad because I was armed with knowledge about what was chemically and mentally happening.
And that is the exact reason I'm sharing this with you. Because I wish that 2 years ago, someone would have educated me like I am attempting to educate you so that I didn't feel like I was going crazy and there was nothing I could do.
Biologically
First of all, I want to explain the biological reason for anxiety. I think most people know about the natural fight or flight response in our bodies. When it is exposed to stress or danger, your body either reacts by fighting or fleeing (in a way). This is directly related to anxiety.
But what most people may not know is that you have a hormone called serotonin in your body that helps regulates your mood. When you confront stress for a long period of time, your body actually starts to produce less serotonin or your brain absorbs too much of it so that the rest of your body is not getting enough. There are two responses in the body to this: depression or anxiety. Usually, it is anxiety because your body goes into fight or flight mode.
That is a very watered-down version of what is happening biologically when you have anxiety or panic attacks. Now usually, our bodies will bounce back. So you may have some anxiety for a little while but then the stress-inducer is over with, and your body starts to produce enough serotonin again.
But for some people, especially those who have genetically inherited a deficiency in the production of serotonin, the anxiety is magnified into an anxiety disorder and it takes medicine to help their body start producing more serotonin or prevent the brain from absorbing it from the rest of your body.
For four generations on one side of my family, we have mental illness related to the deficiency of serotonin. Anxiety and depression has affected at least half of my family members on that side, including at one time or another, all of my siblings and me. My sister and I like to joke that "we're crazy by genetics".
 |
| My siblings and me, November 2011 |
Stigmas about anxiety and depression in general
Which brings me to my next section: the stigma associated with anxiety and mental illnesses. I can't tell you how many times I have heard, "it's all in your head" or "you're just working yourself up" or "snap out of it". Gratefully, I never heard this from family and friends. They were more than supportive. But I have heard all of these comments in association with depression and anxiety.
This is NOT TRUE. Yes your thoughts can help (I'll get to that in a minute), but you have a hormone deficiency or decreased-production that is out of your control. And that's why you need medicine. When we hear of someone who has diabetes, do we think: "It's all in your head" or "You're just working yourself up"? Of course not. And yet they have a deficiency of insulin. It's about what's going on biologically, not mentally.
So please, if you don't get anything else from this, just remember this: depression and anxiety is a true biological thing. The person is not really crazy and they can't just "get over it." They have to have outside help in the means of medicine and counseling.
Counseling and its benefits
I resisted going to counseling for a long time. The mental image I had in my head was straight from Hollywood (you know the one I'm talking about) and I thought, "There is no horrible secret in my past that makes me have anxiety. I don't need counseling." And if I'm completely honest, I thought, "Only crazy people go to counseling. People will think of me differently if I go to counseling."
But after some encouragement from my sister who reassured me that counseling is nothing like what you see in the movies and that it is so helpful, I decided to brave it. The most important thing to me was that the counselor not try to dig into my childhood and not tell me how I should be feeling. Leading up to that first appointment, I seriously had so much anxiety about going to counseling for anxiety.
It was nothing like I pictured. I had a great counselor who validated how I felt, gave me a new way of thinking about anxiety, and helped me learn coping techniques to get through moments when I do feel anxiety. I can't remember how many times I went to her 2 years ago, but this time around I only needed to go twice in order to feel the reassurance, encouragement, and help that I needed.
Counseling helps. I'm not saying that it might not be awkward at first, because it totally is. And just because you need to go to a counselor doesn't mean that you're broken/crazy or not faithful enough to get over your own problems. They are trained to help you and help is what you need. Anyone who thinks you're weird for going to a counselor is thinking of the movie version and doesn't truly care about you and your health. Bottom line.
Some other things you need to know about anxiety
- It manifests itself in many different ways. When I had panic attacks, I felt like I was having a heart attack with pain in my chest. I would also hyperventilate, shake, and get extremely sick to my stomach. Other symptoms could be dizziness, numbness in hands or feet, sweating, and hot flashes.
- Panic disorder (having panic attacks often) is more common in women than men and usually manifests itself before age 25.
- Anxiety can be caused by a lot of things. If you feel anxiety, try to find the source of the problem and address it (using a counselor if needed), while receiving medical help.
- If you have anxiety, medicine and counseling are not the only things you can do. The following things help increase your serotonin:
- SLEEP (at least 8 hours a night) Sometimes anxiety causes a lack of sleep which makes your body produce even less serotonin, putting you in a vicious cycle. Talk to your doctor about a possible sleep aid if you think you need it. Once you start getting a good nights sleep, it will help your recovery and you can go off the sleep aid once your body is back up to par.
- Take Magnesium/Calcium, B-complex supplements and omega 3 fatty acids
- Exercise 30-60 minutes, four to six times a week
- Eat small meals more often to keep blood sugar up
- Sunlight (30 mins to 2.5 hours a day)
- Physical touch (hugs, massages, etc.)
- Baths, showers, swimming
- Rocking motion stimulates serotonin production (that's why you tend to rock to give/receive comfort)
- Laughter
- Crying
- Creative activities (now you know why I've been a crafting freak... haha)
- It's important to be on medicine that increases serotonin production until your serotonin levels even out. That might take awhile (depends on the person), but there's nothing wrong with that. AND you don't necessarily have to be on medicine forever. We did find out the reason that I had anxiety, and why it came back. Once that stress is gone from my life, I will eventually be able to work myself off the medicine again. But don't go cold-turkey, you need to wean yourself off the medicine so your body doesn't go in fight or flight again.
 |
| My son and me in December 2010. Him and my hubby were such a support. |
- If you are religious like me, I also encourage you to pray often for strength. Jesus Christ is literally the ONLY person in the world who knows EXACTLY what you are going through because He has felt it. When He atoned for the sins of the world, He felt every joy and every pain and sorrow as well. Therefore, He knows how to give you comfort. I can testify that I have grown much closer to my Savior through this trial and I know that He will never leave me comfortless. He won't necessarily take the trial away, but He will give us the strength to endure.
_____________________
I hope that all of this helps you understand anxiety better so that you can be supportive if anyone you know goes through this. It's more prevalent in our society than you think. And there are solutions. It should not rule your life or the life of someone you know.
I know that someday I'll look back at this period of my life and it will be a distant memory. Thank you to all of you who were so supportive and who will continue to be. Without you, I couldn't have made it through.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
How-to: Canning Green Beans
Right now is canning season for me. Unfortunately it comes at the hottest time of the year and I don't have AC. It can be a little miserable, but I consider it worth the sweat.
I learned how to can from my in-laws. Ironically, my mom does can as well, but I guess in my teens I never had the patience to learn. The most important thing to know in canning is that you have to follow the instructions to the letter. If you don't, the best that can happen is your stuff doesn't seal right, the worst that can happen is you get very very sick eating what you canned.
Now that I've totally freaked you out about canning, I'm here to tell you that I've canned for 6 years now and I've never gotten sick. Or any of my family. If I can do it, you can do it.
So, without further ado, here's a look at canning green beans.
First of all, you'll need a pressure canner (the big pot to the right that has a pressure gauge lid, it's pictured below in its entirety if you have no clue what I'm talking about), a big stock pot, a little pot for lids, jars, lids, a funnel, a ladle, salt, and of course green beans.
Fill your stock pot full of water and turn it on high so it will be boiling by the time you need it. Also fill the pressure canner with water until it's a couple inches deep. I add a little vinegar to the water as well because we have hard water. This prevents my jars from being covered in a white film that you can get from canning with hard water. Turn this burner on high as well.
Now onto the beans. Start out by snapping both ends of your green beans. You'll also need to snap them into about 2-in pieces so they fit better in the jars and so you can eat them easily of course. Then wash your green beans well. I wash them at least twice. These lovely green beans came straight from our garden.
After they are washed, fill your jars with the beans. Make sure you shake the jars while you're filling them so you can get as many green beans in there as possible. When they cook they shrink a little and you don't want your canned jars to be half-water.
Fill the jars to the bottom ring with the green beans. Then add 1 tsp. salt per jar (if you're using quart jars. If they are pint jars you'll need 1/2 tsp salt per jar). Now would be a good time to fill your little pot halfway with water and put your jar lids in it. Turn it on medium heat to get your lids hot and ready.
Using a funnel, fill your jars with boiling water, leaving at least 1/2 inch of space between the top of the water and the very top of the jar.
Put your jars in the pressure canner and put on the lid, making sure to twist it so it's completely closed and tight. By the way, my canner is big enough that if I'm canning pints, I can stack them on top of each other and fit 20 pints. If I'm doing quarts, only 7 fits like in the picture above. So just so you know, if your canner is big enough, it's okay to stack them on top of each other.
Now you wait and watch carefully. The thing circled above is the steam valve. Note that there is no weight on it yet. Once steam has been coming out of this valve steadily for a few minutes, put the weight on. Then the pressure inside the canner will start to rise.
I learned how to can from my in-laws. Ironically, my mom does can as well, but I guess in my teens I never had the patience to learn. The most important thing to know in canning is that you have to follow the instructions to the letter. If you don't, the best that can happen is your stuff doesn't seal right, the worst that can happen is you get very very sick eating what you canned.
Now that I've totally freaked you out about canning, I'm here to tell you that I've canned for 6 years now and I've never gotten sick. Or any of my family. If I can do it, you can do it.
So, without further ado, here's a look at canning green beans.
Fill your stock pot full of water and turn it on high so it will be boiling by the time you need it. Also fill the pressure canner with water until it's a couple inches deep. I add a little vinegar to the water as well because we have hard water. This prevents my jars from being covered in a white film that you can get from canning with hard water. Turn this burner on high as well.
After they are washed, fill your jars with the beans. Make sure you shake the jars while you're filling them so you can get as many green beans in there as possible. When they cook they shrink a little and you don't want your canned jars to be half-water.
Now take a knife and run it down periodically around the jar's insides. This helps get any air bubbles out so the greens beans fit in the jar better. After you do that, make sure you wipe the lip of your jar with a paper towel to get off any water or salt you may have gotten on it (if you don't, there's a possibility your jars won't seal).
Now grab one of your hot lids (I love my little canning magnet!), put it on and then tighten your ring on. Interesting enough, it's better if you don't tighten it the tightest it can go. My husband helped me once by doing the tightening part and half of those jars didn't seal. We figured out it's because he tightened them so tight that there wasn't room for the lid to pop. So from now on, weak sauce here is the one who tightens the rings. :)
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| The weight |
Now this is important: The pressure you process your jars by depends on your altitude. The chart above shows you what pressure to keep it at for your altitude and for how long (depends on the size of jar). For my altitude, we process everything at 13 lbs of pressure.
**It's good to get your canner pressure gauge checked every few years at least. Gauges can become slightly off over time. I've had mine for 4 years now and it's about 1/2 lb off now. Not too big of a deal, I just process my stuff 1/2-1 lb. higher than 13 lbs.
Once your gauge is up to pressure for your altitude (this will take 5-10 minutes to achieve), turn the heat down until it remains steady at that pressure and start your timer for 20 or 25 minutes (depending on whether you're using pints or quarts). YOU MUST WATCH YOUR GAUGE THE ENTIRE TIME YOU ARE PROCESSING. If you don't, your pressure could rise to a dangerous level and your canner could explode. With that said, if it gets 1 or even 2 lbs over what you're supposed to process it at, it's okay. It's better to go 1 lb over than 1 lb under (because your jars may not seal if you go under). But that doesn't mean you can just walk away. It can change pressure quickly if you're not watching and monitoring the heat.
When your timer goes off after 20-25 minutes, pick the canner off the burner and move to a cold burner. DO NOT OPEN THE LID OR TAKE OFF THE WEIGHT. Let your canner sit until all the way down from pressure (gauge is at 0) AND the pressure pop up falls down.
Then open your lid away from you (so the steam and water doesn't burn you) and pull out your jars with your canning gripper (again, I don't know the technical word for it). Put your jars on a towel to cool so your counter won't be ruined and let them sit for at least 12 hours (if you move them within this time, they could not seal). Within an hour of taking them out of the canner, you should hear them pop which means they sealed! If after 5 hours they still haven't sealed, put them in your fridge and eat them within a week. If you do it right, you shouldn't have very many or any at all that don't seal.
And you're done! It's hard work, but believe me, there's nothing more rewarding than seeing those finished jars. You feel like the domestic superwoman. :) Even if you're a sweaty mess afterwards like me...
**It's good to get your canner pressure gauge checked every few years at least. Gauges can become slightly off over time. I've had mine for 4 years now and it's about 1/2 lb off now. Not too big of a deal, I just process my stuff 1/2-1 lb. higher than 13 lbs.
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| Almost there |
When your timer goes off after 20-25 minutes, pick the canner off the burner and move to a cold burner. DO NOT OPEN THE LID OR TAKE OFF THE WEIGHT. Let your canner sit until all the way down from pressure (gauge is at 0) AND the pressure pop up falls down.
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| The pressure pop up... I'm sure there's a technical word for it, but that's what I call it. :) |
Sunday, August 19, 2012
FHE Lesson: How The Birds Got Their Colors
For those of you who are not LDS, in my church we are encouraged to
spend one night a week as a family in which we do wholesome activities
together and/or learn more about spiritual topics. To learn more about
this, go here. Even
if you are not of the same faith, I encourage you to start this with
your own family. It is a great way to bond and make memories!
Here's another of my favorite FHE lessons growing up. It's a story to teach about patience, something I'm still in desperate need of learning. :) My son loves this story and I'm sure your kids will too. Just print it out and cut out the birds!
Here's another of my favorite FHE lessons growing up. It's a story to teach about patience, something I'm still in desperate need of learning. :) My son loves this story and I'm sure your kids will too. Just print it out and cut out the birds!
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