My Favorite Recipes - Meet Sheri Sanders, Colfax

Jana Mathia | Sep 22, 20110

When Sheri Sanders decided she wanted to go back to school as a non-traditional student, she started off as a part-timer until she built up the courage to go full-time. Her family was living in Lewiston at the time and she started pursuing her journalism degree at Lewis-Clark State College.

“I really liked broadcast news,” she said.

Nathan, Derek, Rodney, Sheri, Ezra and Reese

That was her original goal, but as Sheri became more involved in her communication classes, she found she liked writing better and getting to know the people and the stories.

“I enjoy people,” she said. “I find people interesting.”

She noted a lot of her favorite authors started out as journalists.

“Other people’s stories inspire me to want to be a better person,” she added.

The daughter of an Army pilot, she met and married Rodney who was the son of a Navy pilot. Both of them grew up moving about every three years. Rodney was on active duty in the Navy as a registered nurse, so they continued the mode of moving every three years.

“It’s hard to say where we’re from,” she said. They have six sons, and all born in different places. Their sons are Brad, 23; Corey, 22; Derek, 19; Ezra, 17; Reese, 14, and Nathan, 10. Another son, Joseph, died in infancy,

Derek will leave for a mission to Brazil in January. Ezra is finishing his senior year at Pullman High School while Reese and Nathan are attending school in Colfax.

“Colfax is the first place we’ve ever chosen to live in,” Sheri said.

The family moved to Lewiston after Rodney’s time in the Navy. He is a nursing professor at LCSC. They lived there for eight years before moving to Pullman to be closer to Washington State University where Sheri continued to pursue her journalism major. After a year in family housing, they decided they wanted to be part of a community, have a yard and a church congregation with less turnover. Colfax fit the bill and was also a central location with Rodney teaching in Lewiston, doing clinicals at Whitman Hospital and Medical Center in Colfax and going to Spokane where he is the commander of a unit of Army reservists.

The family made the move to Colfax on Labor Day weekend.

“Still can’t find stuff,” Sheri admitted.

Sheri said Rodney loves Whitman Hospital, especially the staff which is very generous to the nursing students. As a hospital cafeteria connoisseur, he also says that Whitman Hospital has the best food.

Rodney, in the Army Reserves, commands of about 250 in a CASH unit, which is similar to MASH. The unit can put up a hospital tent and be ready to treat people in one morning.

As the commander, he puts in a lot more hours than the regular reservists.

Rodney and his unit are scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The whole family plans to be together for the holiday and put dad on the plane.

All three boys still at home play football.

“My family gets tortured because I’m vegetarian,” Sheri said. They don’t eat a lot of soy either, she added, but there is no lack of protein in the house. Sheri uses lentils instead of hamburger for taco meat and garbanzos instead of chicken in her recipes. She likes to try out new recipes, especially when guests are coming over. They also eat a lot of dark green leafy vegetables.

With such a big family, Sheri is a jack of all homemaking trades. She has done seamstress work for years and at one time owned her own dress shop. Her seamstress work was moved to the back burner when she started taking classes.

With Rodney and Derek soon to depart, Sheri is taking the semester off from school. She plans to get back into it to finish her degree.

Recipes:

Fresh Tomato Cake

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup shortening

2 eggs

3 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. salt

2 cups fresh ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped

1/2 cup chopped nuts

1/2 cup chopped dates

1/2 cup chopped raisins

Cream sugar and shortening. Add eggs. Add sifted dry ingredients mixing well. Stir in tomatoes, nuts, dates, raisins. Put into greased and floured 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until cake tests done. Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Cream Cheese for Vegetable Cakes

1 stick butter or margarine

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese

2 tsp. vanilla

1 pkg. (1 lb.) confectioner’s sugar

Beat butter/margarine with cream cheese and vanilla. Gradually beat in sugar. If mixture becomes too thick, add a little milk. Spread on cooled cake. Makes enough for layer cake or 2 loaf cakes.

Reese’s Banana Morning Milkshake

2 cups coconut milk

4 frozen bananas, chopped

Dash of nutmeg

Dash of vanilla

Blend in high powered blender.

Chocolate Blueberry Energy Bars

1 cup fresh dates or soaked dried dates

1/4 cup chopped almonds

1/4 cup blueberries

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/4 cup ground flaxseed

1/4 cup hemp protein powder

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1 tsp. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. lemon zest

Sea salt to taste

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

Mix all ingredients.

To shape mixture into bars, flatten the mixture on a clean surface with your hands. Place plastic wrap over top; with a rolling pin roll mixture to desired bar thickness. Cut mixture into bars. As the bars dry, they become easier to handle. Wrap each bar in plastic wrap or wax paper.