Sometimes knowing that other women, mothers, sisters, friends, and care takers just like us face the same battles of what to make for dinner. Be it our task/chore/burden/or hobby of what to make for our families to eat each day sometimes it just seem easier to bear when you have a good recipe recommended from a "GIRLFRIEND"; they provide us with the boost to get over the lack of motivation or stumbling blocks in our way and get dinner on the table!


The number of those who report that their “whole family usually eats dinner together” has declined 33 percent. This is most concerning because the time a family spends together “eating meals at home [is] the strongest predictor of children’s academic achievement and psychological adjustment.”

Family mealtimes have also been shown to be a strong bulwark against children’s smoking, drinking, or using drugs. There is inspired wisdom in this advice to parents: what your children really want for dinner is you.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks Good, Better, Best (Nov. 2007)

Two researchers at the University of Minnesota investigated the potential benefits of family mealtimes on children and found that families that dine together tend to have healthier, more well-adjusted children. Their studies indicate that the more often children and teens west with their parents—and the happier, more structured these mealtimes are—the more the children gain these benefits:


Better Nutrition

Better language and literacy

Fewer Eating Disorders

Fewer risky behaviors


The national center on addiction and substance abuse at Columbia University (sept 2005) found that compared with teens who dine frequently with their families (Five to seven dinners a week), teens who have fewer than three family dinners per week are:

Two and a half times likelier to smoke cigarettes

More than on e and a half times likelier to drink alcohol.

Almost three times likelier to try marijuana


“….Mealtime becomes a way for families to bond. To show children they have access to a caring adult.” (The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner p. 11)


So as Women, Sisters, Daughters, Wives, Mothers, Grandmothers we can not put a price on the work that we do. Dinner hours and menus can be daunting at times and others it feels like a breeze. As we gather together and share in our love for caring for our families and enjoying the connections we have with them as we sit around the dinner tables of our homes. I hope that each of us can step back occasionally on those hard mommy days and “Believe in what we are doing! Believing in who we are and that we can make a difference one meal at a time.

~ Jill


Sunday, October 18, 2015

Delicious Buttery Dinner Rolls

Delicious Buttery Dinner Rolls- Emily Simmons
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup + 1 tbsp sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp yeast
2 cups warm water
about 9-10 cups flour (I did about 4 cups of wheat flour and the rest white)
at least 1 cup butter
Scald 1 1/2 cups milk, 3/4 cups sugar and 1/2 cup of butter in a microwave safe bowl for about 2 minutes.  Cut the butter into pieces so it will melt faster!  There will probably be small pieces of butter floating, but that is OK.

In another bowl combine your 2 cups warm water, yeast, and 1 tbsp sugar.  Let sit until it gets bubbly.  While it is sitting put your egg and 1 tbsp salt in your butter mixture to help it cool down a bit.  It was also recommended to add about 2 cups of flour to the mixture in order to cool it for the yeast.
Once cooled, add your yeast and mix.  At this point, I transferred it to a bigger bowl.  The recipe said the rolls turn out so much better if they are hand mixed, so that is what I did!

Using a fork or wooden spoon, gradually stir in your 7-8 more cups of flour.  Add about 2 cups at a time and stir in order to not add too much flour.  You may want to knead or incorporate the flour with your hands after a while.  When the dough is no longer too sticky (it will pull away from the sides) place plastic wrap over the top and let rise in a warm place.  I let it rise for about an hour.
Cover your working space with flour and place your dough on your surface.  Next cook your dough in half, and then in half again so you have 4 balls of dough.  Try to make them even, but don't stress about it!

Using 1 ball of dough at a time; roll the dough into a circle on your floured counter.  Once it is rolled out, spread some softened butter all over it.  I had some room temperature butter that I grabbed with my fingers and spread.  You will use about 2 tbsp of butter per circle.
Cut your dough with a pizza cutter into quarters.  Next cut your quarters into 3 pieces.  You should end up with 12 triangles.  Roll each triangle starting at the widest end and then tuck the smallest end or tail underneath.  Place each roll on a buttered cookie sheet.  You will make 3 rows with 8 rolls per row.  You will have 2 pans with 24 rolls per pan.  (Two balls of dough will fill each pan.)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Place the pans in a warm spot and let them rise again.  Let them rise until the rolls are touching each other and full in size.  Cook one pan at a time for 10-15 minutes (My rolls took about 20+ minutes).  Keep an eye on them and cook until golden brown.


When they come out of the oven still hot, run a stick of butter over the tops to give them a wonderful buttery glaze! 
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