Season Your Life

There’s an older couple in Pleasant Grove that I helped home teach for a number of years.  One time when visiting, we were exchanging ideas for cooking, which we all enjoyed.  I shared with the sister my use of and the recipe for “house seasoning,” which I had acquired from a Paula Dean cookbook some time before.  In our next visit, she chastised me for not sharing the recipe years earlier.  She apparently thought it was a real treasure for cooking. 

So, for all you cooks out there, here is the simple but sublime recipe:

House Seasoning

4 parts salt

1 part pepper                          Mix well and keep handy in a shaker.

1 part garlic powder

I know it doesn’t sound like much, but it is wonderful to season almost any meat, vegetable, or casserole dish during its preparation, or after if it needs a little more kick.

As many people know, I like to garden.  In the winter, I constantly sprout a mix of seeds to help replace the fresh produce of summer.  One of my favorite snacks is to top cottage cheese with a mix of chopped fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, and green peppers.  In the winter, I often use the sprouts instead of the other vegetables.  I season the vegetables with a variation of “house seasoning” as follows:

Pop’s Seasoning

2 parts salt

1 part onion salt

1 part celery salt

1 part pepper                      

1 part garlic powder

Mix well and keep handy in a shaker.

Life is to be relished but, too often, we find ourselves in bland ruts.  I hope these recipes will be useful and bring a little extra season to your lives.

Lindon Parks 

Around the World

Meet my new friends. I'm sure they told me what their names are but, as many of you know, I am not good with names - especially with ones I can't write, let alone pronounce. I met them while recently doing some traveling. If there is one thing I've learned from traveling, it's that people all over the world want what we want: peace in the world, a happy family, to make new friends, etc.

As we go through the coming summer and into next fall, many of us will have the opportunity to meet new people and make new friends. Let us open our hearts and minds to new acquaintances and help others feel welcome in our lives. What a blessing it is to get to know more of Heavenly Father's children and perhaps help them along their way to achieving their exhaltation as we strive to achieve ours as well. May the Lord bless us in our journey.

-Bishop Nay

The Purpose of Life

Babies and The Jimmer.  Can life get any better?  Both with sweet little innocent baby faces.  Both at the beginning of an important lifelong journey.  Both with infinite potential.  Both at very different stages of life.  As most of you know, I am very proud of our new little Bronson.  I am also an avid basketball fan and a disciple (in the "follower of" sense of the word) of The Jimmer.  I've been pondering much about life and it's wonders in the last couple of months, and I've come to realize some very important things.  

One, we are all so special.  We all started out as completely helpless individuals that were 100% dependent on those who cared for us.  Two, we never stop being special.  Just because you may grow up and not become nearly as cute as you used to be (like me), we still are doing very important things and have undiscovered potential.  You may be thinking, "How can the drudgery of eeking out my mundane living as a college student be all that important?"  Well, take a step back and think of how far you've come.  Think back to the person you were in high school and who you are now.  Think of all the amazing things you are learning every day, and the wealth of knowledge that is at your fingertips.  Whether you realize it or not, your life is blessed and will continue to be blessed as you live the gospel.  

You are the difference maker in someone's life.  Am I ever going to be as deadly as The Jimmer on the hardwood (fingers crossed)?  Probably not.  But I am important to my baby boy and more importantly, to my Heavenly Father.

-Bro Jeffs

Doing the Basics

I have an outline of ideas I frequently review.  One of them is, “Do the basics daily.”

The basics are things I attempt to do before work every morning, which include the following:

1. Prayer (the first priority)
2. Pills (vitamins and supplements)
3. Sprouts (my year-round garden)
4. Food (healthy nourishment to get the metabolism going)
5. Water (at least a pint, often hot with lemon, lime, or as herb tea)
6. Scriptures (currently, the Book of Mormon in Spanish)
7. Meditation (some quiet reflection to seek insight)
8. Reading (help for mind and motivation)
9. Planning (priorities for the day)
10. Exercise (MWF – running/weights, TTh – pushups/situps/etc., S – Bball)

I have found that, if I do the basics daily, I feel a sense of accomplishment that gives me a positive outlook for the rest of the day, regardless of whatever else happens.

I realize that my “basics” are going to be different than those others may choose.  But, I believe that everyone should have a list and try to “Do the basics daily.”  Such practice brings satisfaction, inspiration, and self-worth.

Lindon Parks