Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Why I’m Excited About Homeschooling After a Challenging School Year

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malachi_bug_3

This was Malachi a couple years ago during a math lesson. 
You’ll want to read the entire story.

As much as I love schooling our kids at home, I will admit that the past homeschool year was one of the most challenging of all the previous 12 years. Some years are just tough – and this one was a doozy.

God is bigger than all of it, proven by the fact that we not only survived – we graduated our oldest child successfully. He ended his high school career with 24 college credits, persevering through some very difficult online courses with overwhelming expectations. There were many learning curves this year with the ACT, FAFSA, scholarship applications, and weighty decisions to be made. Praise God: we did not die (not even a little bit). There were several times I thought we might. But here we are, kicking and smiling and half passed out on the couch.

It goes without saying, then, that the thought of school coming again in the fall has made me feel a bit woozy. School books? I couldn’t stand the thought. Educating children? Not today, please. Bring on summer break! Yesssssssssssssssss!

While I am praising God for the next several weeks of refreshment and revival – I am also thanking Him for what He just provided. This is actually making me excited about taking on another school year. (After a lovely break, of course.) I wasn’t sure it was possible. But what was I thinking? God always provides the encouragement and resources we need so that we can do what He has called us to do.

I just had a chance to look through all of the packages being offered in the 2015 Biggest Homeschooling Sale of the Year (available this week only). It definitely helps awaken my school book interest simply because all of these are marked down up to 90% off. But it’s not just that. These packages contain so many great items that will bless our 2015-2016 school year.

The 2017 sale is here. Take your time. Have a blast. Equip your family and home with all sorts of learning opportunities at a huge discount! Sale ends May 30, 2017. :)

Praise God with me that He always provides exactly what we need, exactly when we need it. He is faithful.

Are you enjoying summer break? Still, does it just make you a little bit excited for next year when you see all these great resources?!

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Favorite Things for Summer Giveaway

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favorite summer things 2

Want to know my favorite thing about summer? Well let me think…SUNSHINE!!! (You know I love it when I interrupt myself to blurt out my answer.)

I love sunshine coming in through my windows. I love sunshine beaming down on my face. I love warming up in the sunshine. And I love laying in the sunshine, soaking up Vitamin D. (Responsibly, of course. Don’t go all “harmful UV rays” on me. God made the sun, the sun is good, we need Vitamin D from the sun, amen and amen. I don’t overdo it, but still, sunshine is my very favorite thing about summertime.)

Now, women shall not live on sunshine alone. (I mean, we also need butter. Duh.)

In celebration of summer (and sunshine!) (and sure, butter. why not?) – I’ve teamed up with 11 other bloggers to share many chances for you to win some of our very favorite things for summertime. What’s included in our Heavenly Homemakers favorite summer things giveaway?

  • A “Night Owl” Flexi-Clip from Lilla Rose (valued at $14.00)
  • A Half-Tee Tank from Deborah and Co. (valued at $17.99)
  • 1/2 pound of Vanilla Beans from Olive Nation (valued at $39.95)
  • Bug Block Bar, BeeSilk Stick, and Peppermint Lip Balm from MadeOn (valued at $29.10)
  • Stainless Steel Fruit Slicer, Pastry Blender, and Mini Slotted Turner from Paula’s Bread (valued at $24.99)
  • My very own Oh, For Real Cookbook (valued at $25.95)

Altogether, that’s over $150 worth of my favorite items for summertime. You can win all of it!

summer giveaway4

Why are these my favorite things for summer?

  • I keep my hair pulled back in my Lilla Rose Flexi-Clip all summer long.
  • I wear my Half-Tee Tank from Deborah and Co. under my summer dresses and tank tops for modesty and comfort.
  • I start a batch of homemade vanilla extract with Vanilla Beans from Olive Nation in June so that it will be ready to give as gifts at Christmastime.
  • I safely protect my family from mosquito bites with MadeOn’s Bug Block Bar – and I use BeeSilk Stick, and Peppermint Lip Balm every single day of the year.
  • I use a Stainless Steel Fruit Slicer, Pastry Blender, and Mini Slotted Turner from Paula’s Bread for fresh summer produce and fun summer dishes.
  • I use my Oh, For Real Cookbook pretty much alllllll the time.

Simply leave a comment on this post for a chance to win this entire package. I will draw a random winner on Monday, June 1. Be watching for a post stating the winner!

Are you new to Heavenly Homemakers? Sweet! I have the greatest readers ever, and I’d love for you to be one of them. Subscribe (for free!) to receive our daily(ish) newsletter which includes everything from easy real food recipes to encouragement in your marriage or parenting to really ridiculous thoughts that you should read at your own risk.

Here’s my latest craze: coming up with recipes that are delicious but low in sugar. Check out the low sugar treats I’ve come up with so far, then be watching for this Low Sugar Strawberry Cheesecake Parfait recipe coming within the next week or so. It is incredible!

UPDATE: Here’s the recipe!

Strawberry Cheesecake Parfait - Coming Soon

See you back here soon!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Want a chance to win even more of these wonderful Favorite Things for Summer Giveaways? Click around on all the blogs below to see what they love about summer and to enter their giveaway too!

1. Thriving Home // 2. Happy Money Saver // 3. Happy Home Fairy // 4. Heavenly Homemakers // 5. Kitchen Stewardship // 6. Nourishing Joy // 7. The Nourishing Home // 8. Intoxicated on Life // 9. Tried and Tasty // 10. The Frugal Girl //11. Mommy Hates Cooking // 12. Stephanie Blue

 
 favorite things summer 1

Here’s a little bit about each of these bloggers:

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Thriving Home

Friends and stay-at-home moms, Rachel and Polly, began Thriving Home in 2012 as a way to encourage and equip moms in several areas of home life. They share healthy kid-friendly recipes, evangelize about freezer cooking as well as documenting many other topics relating to running a home and family including a few spectacular parenting failures from time to time. Swing by to join in on their crazy journey through parenthood.

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Tried and Tasty

TriedandTasty.com is a premium and well established recipe blog with a friendly, conversational writing style paired with magazine quality food photography. The recipes are typically very health conscious, with rich and decadent desserts occasionally included for good measure. TriedandTasty.com has a loyal following of ‘foodies’ and is gaining new followers every day thanks to its recipes being featured on the websites of high profile magazines, news outlets, popular Facebook pages, Pinterest boards, and more.

logoHeavenly Homemakers

Laura Coppinger and her husband have four sons ages 10-17. HeavenlyHomemakers.com is dedicated to inspiring women daily with healthy (and easy!) recipes, homemaking tips, spiritual encouragement, and good ol’ clean fun.

logoMommy Hates Cooking

Mommy Hates Cooking is a national cooking and lifestyle website that encourages families to take back the dinner table. Through her easy-to-prepare (yet looks like you spent all day in the kitchen) meals and her knack for breaking down meal planning, Kristy has become the busy-mom’s resource for the modern family.

Kitchen Stewardship Chalkboard Logo - BlackKitchen Stewardship

The mission of Kitchen Stewardship is to present healthy living in bite-sized baby steps, challenging people to make positive changes in their kitchens without being overwhelmed, and providing tools to balance a family’s health, budget, time and the environment. Katie Kimball and her team share family-friendly whole foods recipes, weekly challenges, and science-geek research on what’s healthy and what’s not.

logoNourishing Joy

Nourishing Joy is dedicated to real food and natural living. We’re on a mission to equip and inspire parents like you with the tools to make intentional, thoughtful decisions that work for YOUR family easy. Or at least easier.

happyhomefairy facebook pageHappy Home Fairy

Julie Brasington is the creator of Happy Home Fairy, a popular blog focusing on encouraging and equipping moms to choose joy on the parenting journey. She shares easy craft ideas, FREE printables, simple recipes, corny jokes, holiday fun, thoughts on raising her 2 boys, and honest, heartfelt messages to uplift the weary mama. bbb

Happy Money Saver

Happy Money Saver is a website that has a growing population of readers who are passionate about saving money, homesteading, gardening, cooking from scratch, freezer meals, DIY projects and embracing their dreams.

logo3Stephanie Blue

At Stephanie Blue, I blog about my passions: natural living and essential oils. My purpose is to bring hope to moms and help them discover ways to strengthen their families physically, emotionally, spiritually, and financially.


frugal girlThe Frugal Girl

The Frugal Girl is all about living cheerfully (and well!) on less. Get recipes, DIY tips, painting ideas, photography tips, green living inspiration, and more from Kristen, a homeschooling mom of four.

IOL_Header_Design_no_taglineIntoxicated on Life

Intoxicated on Life is a resource for families who are looking to raise healthy families – body, mind, and soul. They cover a wide range of topics from healthy gluten-free recipes, to godly parenting, homeschooling resources, and more!

TNH Grab buttonThe Nourishing Home

The Nourishing Home provides family-friendly GF recipes, free weekly whole food meal plans, helpful cooking tips and techniques, and lots of encouragement to help you in your journey to live a more nourished life.

Leave a comment on this post to enter to win our $150 package of my favorite things for summer. Now let’s all go outside and get us some sunshine. Woohoo…summer!

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Cinnamon Sticks for Summertime ~ 10 Great Uses and 10 FREE Cinnamon Sticks (Through Wednesday Only!!)

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I have had the most fun day today. We bid farewell to the last of our graduation guests yesterday (sniff), then I spent the entire day today playing with cinnamon sticks.

cinnamon sticks flower pot 2

Say what??! Trust me. I’m pretty sure you’ll want to spend a couple of hours playing with cinnamon sticks too after you read this.

Olive Nation Cinnamon Sticks

My Cinnamon Sticks came from Olive Nation. I could tell a big difference in the quality of their cinnamon sticks – so big a difference that I took a picture of them side by side. Olive Nation’s sticks are bigger, more fragrant, and just overall much, much nicer than others I’ve purchased from other sources. This doesn’t surprise me. Olive Nation products always rise above the rest. (Yet their prices are still reasonable. I love this. Plus they give us all a 15% discount when we use the code: home.)

I typically think of cinnamon sticks as something to use in the fall. This led me to do a little research. What can we do with cinnamon sticks in the summertime?

THIS is the part where I become giddy. I have found so many awesome uses for these this summer! Not to mention I’ve discovered that cinnamon sticks are wonderful for our health. Cinnamon can help lower cholesterol levels, aid in pain relief,  help with digestion, help us avoid bladder infections, and help regulate blood sugar levels. And that’s just the beginning.

10 great ways we should all use Cinnamon Sticks this summer.

Special thanks to my son Asa who used his talent with his brand new camera to help me get some wonderful shots of our cinnamon projects today.

10 Great Uses for Cinnamon Sticks - The Summer Edition

10 Ways to Use Cinnamon Sticks in the Summertime

1. Use Cinnamon Sticks as a Natural Insect Repellent.

Insects don’t like the smell of cinnamon (silly little bugs). Plus they don’t like the feel of powdered cinnamon. Grate a cinnamon stick then sprinkle it around any place (inside or outside) you’re trying to get rid of ants or other annoying bugs. You can even sprinkle it around your kids’ sandbox to keep the bugs away. Brilliant!

Want to avoid mosquitoes? Put a small citronella candle inside a jar. Tie or clue cinnamon sticks around the outside of the jar. Light the candle outside while you’re sitting around visiting and enjoying the summer weather. Insects are turned off by the smell of the cinnamon and citronella, and you can enjoy the scent plus the freedom from bugs!

Cinnamon Stick Citronella Candle

2. Treat an insect bite.

Bugs already got to ya? Mix up a little bit of honey and ground cinnamon. It will alleviate pain and itching. At the same time, this honey/cinnamon combination will disinfect the area while moisturizing and healing. Amazing.

3. Make a Cinnamon Stick Flower Pot

This is not only a great way to repel bugs inside and outside – it is super adorable! Hot glue 25-30 cinnamon sticks around a flower pot. Tie a ribbon around the cinnamon sticks to complete the project. I can’t stop staring at my flower pot in all its cuteness!

Cinnamon Stick Flower Pot

4. Make Cinnamon Apple Infused Water for a refreshing detox drink on a warm day.

Or use fresh or frozen pineapple with cinnamon sticks instead. Either way, you’ll have a cool, refreshing drink that is good for your system. Simply slice one apple (any variety) into a quart jar. Add 1-3 cinnamon sticks. Fill jar with water. Allow mixture to sit for a few hours to infuse. Chill and serve.

Refreshing Apple and Cinnamon Infused Detox Water

5. Start a batch of Cinnamon Extract for Christmas gifts.

I am so excited about this one!! After all my years of making Vanilla Extract, I’m venturing out to make other extracts – beginning with Cinnamon Extract. (Watch for other fun extract recipes soon!)

How to Make Cinnamon Extract: Place three cinnamon sticks in one cup of brandy, rum, or vodka. Store in a dark place (such as a kitchen cabinet). Shake the jar about once each day for two weeks. Voila. Merry Cinnamon Extract Christmas to the family this year. (Don’t tell them how easy and inexpensive this is.)

Homemade Cinnamon Extract

6. Make All Natural Cinnamon Orange Cleaning Spray.

Here’s a fresh idea for non-toxic cleaning!

Fill a quart jar about 3/4 full of distilled white vinegar. Add 3-4 cinnamon sticks and 1-2 oranges worth of orange peel. Secure lid. Store in a dark place (such as a kitchen cabinet) for two weeks, then strain out cinnamon sticks and orange peel to transfer liquid to a spray bottle. This is so simple and inexpensive!

And here’s another great cleaning option: Put a Cinnamon Stick into a cleaning bottle with attached sponge (like the purple one pictured below) for a fresh, cleaning fragrance.

Cinnamon Orange All-Purpose Cleaner

7. Grate a piece of cinnamon stick into yogurt or add it to a smoothie for a refreshing summer meal or snack.

What a great way to add deliciousness to a cool treat! You can also grate cinnamon into your coffee or tea.

8. Make Cinnamon Pancake and Waffle Syrup

Yes, yes, yes. Make this. Bottle it up for gifts or enjoy it at your own breakfast table. It is super easy to make and crazy delicious.

Cinnamon Pancake and Waffle Syrup Recipe

1 1/2 cups water
3 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
1 cup sucanat

Place all ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Cover and allow mixture to steep for 15 minutes. Remove cinnamon sticks. Store Cinnamon Pancake and Waffle Syrup in a jar in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Cinnamon Pancake and Waffle Syrup

9. Make Cinnamon Infused Sugar

It does not get any easier than this. I’ll be including a jar of this sugar with my Christmas gifts of Cinnamon Extract. I should also include a loaf of bread and a stick of butter – then my recipients would be set.

Cinnamon Infused Sugar Recipe

1 cinnamon stick
2 cups sugar, brown sugar, or sucanat

Put the cinnamon stick into a jar. Cover it with sugar. Secure a lid on the jar. Shake the jar once each day for two weeks. Use cinnamon infused sugar on buttered toast, in coffee, or any way you would typically use cinnamon sugar. Continue to refill the jar with sugar as the cinnamon stick will continue to flavor it for quite some time.

Cinnamon Infused Sugar

10. Boost your energy!

Feeling tired, lethargic, or low on energy? Pull out a cinnamon stick and give it a whiff. It’ll help you find your focus. Who knew? Easiest energy boost ever. From now on, I’ll be keeping cinnamon sticks at my desk. Hmmm…just took a whiff of one right now. Perfect.

You Can Reuse Cinnamon Sticks

Save $$. Get more than one use out of your cinnamon sticks!

To reuse your cinnamon stick, simply rinse it under hot water then allow it to dry. Run the stick over a grater a few times to release the flavor. Do this up to 5 times before discarding. Way to get a lot of bang for your buck!

A Discount Option:

For high quality, reasonably priced cinnamon sticks, I recommend Olive Nation. They are great to work with us here at Heavenly Homemakers. Here’s what they offer:

  • Use the code home to receive 15% off your entire order.
  • Get free shipping automatically if your order is over $50!

A Freebie To Go With These Cinnamon Stick Ideas!

Download a page of free printable labels to go with the gifts you might choose to make: Cinnamon Extract, Cinnamon Sugar, Cinnamon Orange All Purpose Cleaner, and Cinnamon Pancake and Waffle Syrup. Attach them to your jars and bottles, tie with a ribbon, and you’ve got an adorable, inexpensive, and useful gift!

cinnamon printable

Download Your Free Cinnamon Labels Here.

Leave a comment to tell us what you’re going to make first!

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Graduation Party A’ La Awesome

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You know how boring I am when it comes to picking paint colors for my walls? (“Eh, should we go with white…or off white?”) That’s pretty much how I think when it comes to throwing parties.

For our son’s graduation party last week, I was thinking of serving something exciting like eh…cake and punch? Thankfully, I teamed up with two other moms for the occasion, celebrating our three graduates together in our church fellowship hall. This meant that the buffet table was amazing and if you can believe it – since mine wasn’t the only brain involved in the planning – the tables featured none other than…decorations. (I mean, I would have at least pulled out some table cloths. Though I would have had a very difficult time choosing between white or off white.)

Aside from pitching in on the overall cost and the work involved in putting something like this together, my only food assignment was to order a cake and cupcakes and to arrange for a popcorn machine.

Check out these cupcakes! We were soooo pleased with these – and would you believe, they were made by a 10 year-old girl who is already running her own business? These trays were completely empty within 30 minutes of the party starting. Obviously, I didn’t order enough. They were incredible cupcakes!

grad party 1

We chose to put a scripture on the cake instead of the graduates names. Asa’s biggest request was that he didn’t want a freaky frosting color that would turn all the guest’s teeth freaky colors. Therefore we went with white frosting with a white border. Hmm. Now I’m wondering if we should have gone with off white. (Relax. I’m kidding.)

grad party 2

The popcorn machine was running the entire two hours of the party, and our friends set up a fun stacked oreo cake.

grad party 3

The most amazing part of the food buffet was the Crostini Bar the other moms came up with. I’d never seen anything like it. It was gorgeous!

grad party 6

The table featured crusty breads, meats, cheeses, dips, spreads, grapes, and meatballs.

grad party 4

See how much better that is than a simple table of cake and punch? Though I will say that I’m noticing several lovely shades of white and off white in the bread baskets there.

grad party 5

Last but not least – my favorite part of our graduation party: Our very own godly graduate:

grad party 7

Asa was so honored by all the people that showed up to celebrate with him that day. Over 200 people came and went. It was every kind of awesome.

I cannot tell you how much we loved this day. God is so good to bless us with such a wonderful celebration with so many wonderful people. I’ve been reveling in the memories all week long (in between taking naps).

So, what’s your favorite: white or off white? (That is soooo not a real question. I just couldn’t resist.)

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A Surrendered Heart: It’s a Choice

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Welcome to A Surrendered Heart: A Wife’s Journey to Love the Jesus Way. Click on the “Leave a Comment” button on each post to add your thoughts, experiences, and suggestions to the discussion. If you are a newsletter subscriber, please click through to this post on my website to add your comments to the discussion to be read by everyone. I look forward to hearing what you have to say! God be praised for the gift of marriage and for allowing us to grow in Him.

Read Lesson 1:  Why I Married This Guy
Read Lesson 2: So, What Does Your Husband Do?
Read Lesson 3: How Selfish is Your Prayer?
Read Lesson 4: Serve Because I Want To

Surrendered Heart Lesson 5

My husband is not perfect. (Beginning first with the fact that he chose to marry an imperfect woman. That would be me.)

Every day I have to choose how I respond to each imperfection displayed in my husband. When he is forgetful, how will I respond? When he isn’t working within my time frame, how will I respond? When he doesn’t see things from my point of view, how will I respond?

It is way too easy to respond to imperfections with annoyance and frustration. If you’re like me, you’ve found that if you’re annoyed at one thing, it’s very easy to become annoyed with twelve other things too. I certainly don’t need to be a “shrug everything off” wife, offering a giggle and a kiss each time my husband’s human side shows. But nothing justifies my ugly and sinful response. Nothing.

You and I have some choices to make. We can choose to love the Jesus way – in complete surrender – letting the Holy Spirit be at work; or we can take a nice long soak in an ugly puddle of selfishness. Why we would ever choose the latter is beyond me. But because of our human tendency to look inward as we try to problem solve without the help of Jesus, I fear that you and I too often find ourselves plopped right down in that muddy pit.

Too often we can find ourselves in a state of fear, worry, and frustration as we refuse to give up the control that ironically – we don’t even have in the first place. As we make our choices, we need to recognize this truth: When we refuse to let go of control, we are very much out of control. When we let go, surrendering our hearts to Jesus’ control – everything suddenly becomes peaceful. Problems may not vanish, but the peace is there, even if it passes understanding.

So how do we do this? How do we choose the right way? How do we make the choice to love our husband the Jesus way?

Luke 92324

Download Follow Me Printable Here

Two key points come from this verse:

  1. We must deny self.
  2. We must take up our cross daily.

Today. Then again tomorrow. And also the day after that. We have to deny our selfish thoughts and actions daily. Jesus commanded this because He knew that Satan would see to it that our selfish side would constantly fight to win our mind and heart focus. We must make the choice daily to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus.

The result? Peace. Joy. Love. The fruit of the Spirit at work in a surrendered heart.

Take some time now to put your godly choices in writing.

Today I Choose

Download Today I Choose Printable Here

If you and I choose to let the Spirit work in our hearts – loving our husbands (and others) the Jesus way will be a peaceful and joyful effort. It is a choice. Which choice will you make?

Up For Discussion…Share With Us!

  • Share some ways you find that it is easy to love your husband!
  • What does it look like to “deny yourself and take up your cross daily?”
  • What ways can you choose to love your husband in a more Christ-like way?
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Low Sugar Lemon Loaf ~ a knock off of a Starbucks knock off

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Ever had the Starbucks Lemon Loaf? Me neither. But I’ve seen it in their display case and it looks divine.

Recently I came across a recipe knock-off for the famous loaf. Therefore, I decided to make a knock-off of the knock-off. I’m guessing that by now, this recipe barely even resembles the Starbucks variety – except for the part about it being a loaf and being lemony. But yay for recipe inspiration! My family agrees that this recipe is a keeper.

Pucker up, by the way. This bread packs a wonderful, lemony punch. I don’t recommend that you eat this Lemon Bread with Lemon Water unless you want to make funny faces at your family all through breakfast. Come to think of it – definitely do eat the lemon bread with the lemon water. Take selfies. Report back to me.

Or you could just have this bread with coffee or milk. But that would just be sooooo normal.

Low Sugar Lemon Bread2

Low Sugar Lemon LoafYum

Low Sugar Lemon Loaf ~ a knock off of a Starbucks knock off
 
Save Print
Author:
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
  • ⅓ cup sucanat or brown sugar
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ⅓ cup lemon juice
  • 2 Tablespoons melted butter
  • ½ cup melted coconut oil
  • Lemon Glaze
  • 3 Tablespoons honey
  • ⅓ cup lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Stir ingredients together in a small saucepan over low heat until well combined. Pour over warm bread.
Instructions
  1. Stir together dry ingredients.
  2. Add eggs, vanilla, lemon juice, melted butter, and melted coconut oil.
  3. Mix well and pour into a buttered loaf pan.
  4. Bake in a 350° for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Poke hot loaf of bread with said toothpick several times, then pour lemon glaze over the top to coat completely.
  5. Allow the loaf to sit in the pan for 10-15 minutes before removing. Cool on a plate.

Low Sugar Lemon Bread

Ever tried the Starbucks Lemon Loaf? (P.S. I don’t even like the taste of Starbucks coffee. Is it just me?)

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If I Only Had a Brain

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Hi!

I miss you. How are ya?

Me? Well – I’m wonderful, relishing in all the goodness of our weekend. Our company is wonderful. Graduation and all the celebrations were wonderful. I loved it all so much and I can’t wait to tell you all about it.

However, I am so tired I can’t finish my…

(sentences)

Just ask my family. I’ve been saying the dumbest things ever since the graduation party ended yesterday. I’ve been giggling over pretty much nothing. And today I drove us across town to Malachi’s piano mini-recital only to realize that once we were inside the building – I had taken us all to the wrong retirement home. So just picture me completely brainless and loopy. That pretty much sums it up.

We’re eating leftovers, playing games (that I’m definitely not winning), and visiting with the four guests that are remaining after all the hubbub of the weekend. It is awesome and I love it!

I have pictures to share, so as soon as I find my words and a smidgen of energy, I’ll be back. Happy Gratituesday!

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My Favorite Cheesecake Factory Salad Makeover

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Who loves a Cheesecake Factory BLT Chopped Salad more than cheesecake???? This girl. I’ve only been there a few times, but I found a salad there that I love soooo much. This begs the question: A salad? At cheesecake factory? Why?

See, here’s the thing. When one goes to the Cheesecake Factory, one wants to enjoy the cheesecake right? Therefore, eating a salad as a meal preceding the cheesecake makes perfect sense. One must save room for the cheesecake! That is how I discovered this salad. Or a salad much like this.

I believe the salad I ordered at Cheesecake Factory had chopped apples and some chicken in it too (but it’s been about a year since I’ve been there so I can’t remember all the specifics). Add those to this if you like. All I know is that this salad is so good that our family devoured a huge bowl of it – two days in a row. And I want to make it again tomorrow.

Helpful hint: Want to get your kids to like salad? Add BACON.

BLT Chopped Salad with Feta Cheese

BLT Chopped Salad with Feta CheeseYum

5.0 from 1 reviews
My Favorite Cheesecake Factory Salad Makeover
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 6 cups chopped mixed greens, lettuce, or spinach (any combination you like)
  • 2 chopped tomatoes
  • ½ pound bacon, cut into bites, cooked, and drained
  • 1-2 cups sweet corn, cooked and cooled
  • 1-2 chopped avocado
  • 4 ounces feta cheese crumbles
  • Dressing:
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • Juice of one lime (about 2 Tablespoons)
  • salt and pepper to taste (I put in a few shakes of each)
Instructions
  1. Toss salad ingredients into a large bowl.
  2. In a small jar, shake together dressing ingredients.
  3. Pour over salad and toss.
  4. Serve right away!

This is a perfect spring or summertime meal. I think I could eat this every day. And believe it or not, I don’t even have to have cheesecake afterward. :)

I can’t tell you how delicious and flavorful this is. You MUST try it. Every bite is delicious.

What’s your favorite thing to get at Cheesecake Factory?

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

A Surrendered Heart: Do To Others…

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Welcome to A Surrendered Heart: A Wife’s Journey to Love the Jesus Way. Click on the “Leave a Comment” button on each post to add your thoughts, experiences, and suggestions to the discussion. If you are a newsletter subscriber, please click through to this post on my website to add your comments to the discussion to be read by everyone. I look forward to hearing what you have to say! God be praised for the gift of marriage and for allowing us to grow in Him.

Read Lesson 1:  Why I Married This Guy
Read Lesson 2: So, What Does Your Husband Do?
Read Lesson 3: How Selfish is Your Prayer?

Surrendered Heart Lesson 4

Let’s begin with today’s scripture focus right away. It’s a verse we’ve all likely heard since we were little, yet I find that it’s one of the most difficult to obey.

Luke 631

Download “Do to Others” Printable Here

I love this simple admonition. But more often, I live this out instead: “Here’s the deal. If you treat me nicely, then if I’m having a good day, I’ll be sure and be nice back. However, you should know that sometimes I’m just not feeling it. Sometimes I’m frustrated with you, so I don’t really feel like being nice. You’d better be nice to me, though.”

My thinking is so backward and messed up sometimes.

Do you know how many times I have said something to Matt that if the tables were turned and he had been the one to have said it to me, I would have been all indignant and thought, “Well. I didn’t deserve that.” It’s ridiculous. Why do I think I am justified at a “roll my eyes” comment but would feel incredibly hurt if Matt responded this way to me?

He called me on this one day a few months ago. I was pretty much in a state of frequent annoyance with him, so when he said something about who knows what, and I didn’t understand what he meant, I acted like he was an idiot and yuck, I really just hate even talking about how I responded to him. It was ugly. He (sweetly, somehow) told me as much. I needed to hear it.

I can feel justified all over the place with how I respond to Matt when I’m frustrated. But if he were to treat me like that? Well, I’d think he was acting like all kinds of a jerk.

The good news is, he is better at “doing to others as he would have them to do him” or however that should be written since I switched out the “you’s” with “he’s and him’s.” I’m the one who has been struggling with this recently. That’s why I need this scripture focus.

So now that we have been reminded that our hearts need to surrender to treat our husband the way we would love to be treated – how can we put this into practice?

Considering this verse (Luke 6:31) changes how I serve Matt. Service comes in all forms. It’s barely about folding his laundry and mostly about showing him love with my words, face, and actions. I am finding that taking time to reflect on how I can serve my husband better – while focusing on “doing for him as I would have him do for me” is humbling and rather lovely if I truly give up my self. It makes me want to serve. It brings me joy to serve.

Imagine that. When I take the focus off myself, and instead serve in God’s way – it works. I should stop being shocked by this.

Take time to consider Luke 6:31. Listen to what God has to say to you about how you are treating your husband, how you should be treating your husband, and how you can serve him with a surrendered heart, loving your husband the Jesus way.

How I Can Serve Him Better

Download “How I Can Serve Him Better” Printable Here

I found that it was beneficial to write down what I want from Matt (such as, I want him to really listen to me and hear my heart), and then flip it around to truly understand the “Do to others…” passage (I need to really listen to him and hear his heart). Some of his needs are different from mine, but I found that this was a great start in recognizing ways my heart needed to change.

Now here’s the truth: If Matt doesn’t live up to my expectations of what I want/need from him? It can’t change the way I treat him. My response, my service, and my care for Matt is not based on his performance. They are based on my obedience of scripture. I choose to love Christ, therefore I choose to love and serve my husband the Jesus way.

This takes surrender of self. Surrender of my heart. There is no way to do this unless we are each choosing to let the Spirit of God work in us to be holy. Let’s let Christ do His work in us! Then, serving our husbands? Well it will be surprisingly delightful.

Up For Discussion…Share With Us!

  • What are some things you do for your husband that you know he loves?
  • How have you found that spending time with Jesus and reading the Word makes it easier to love and serve your husband?
  • What other scriptures come to mind as you consider serving your husband and loving him the Jesus way?
  • How can you serve your husband better this week (and next week)?
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Getting Food Ready For Asa’s Graduation and What We Plan to Eat This Weekend

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Here we go! After weeks (months really) of planning and working toward this weekend – we are here. Our oldest son, Asa, will be graduating on Saturday and will have a big reception on Sunday afternoon.

How does a home-schooler graduate, you ask? I don’t know how others do it, but our plan is to have a simple “Time of Blessing” for Asa in our living room in which family members who have been able to join us will share a blessing, a memory, a scripture, a piece of advice – whatever each person would like to share. We’ll pray over him. I’ll use kleenexes. He’ll open gifts. We’ll have a meal and dessert together. We’ll give him his diploma. (And then we’ll go to a soccer game for our third son – because yes, we still have soccer games even on graduation day) :)

Then on Sunday, it will be “Senior Sunday” at church. That is always such a blessed event, and I’ll be sure to use more kleenexes. That afternoon, we’ll have a joint reception with some fellow graduates in our church fellowship hall. It’s going to be so much fun!! We’re planning on a lot of people coming through that day!

Asa bball 2

Before and after these events, we’ll be having about 18 people at our house (not all staying here, but all eating here) from Friday night to Monday morning. We are looking forward to this so much! I let Asa pick most of the meals we’ll be eating, with the suggestion to “please keep it simple so that I don’t die that weekend.” He obliged. :)

I’ve been making and putting some food in the freezer as I’ve been able. Beyond the homemade food, we’re going with some “less than healthy but who cares because it’s celebration time” options. This is what splurges are for, right?

Here are a few pictures of what I’ve been working on in the kitchen. A few weeks ago, I made three lasagnas, three pounds of taco meat, and three pounds of sloppy joe meat. They are in the freezer waiting for the weekend.

freezer cooking graduation 1

Yesterday I baked a loaf of banana bread and two loaves of blueberry bread (using my muffin recipe). Then I mixed up  a double batch of both chocolate chip muffins and pumpkin muffins. I didn’t bake them, but froze the batter for fresh-baked muffins this weekend. Read here to learn how that awesome little method rocks my world.

asa grad food 2

You have to know how many times I pulled out my trusty Oh, For Real Cookbook for all this food prep. I know many of you have told me how much you use yours. Let me tell you, I use mine like crazy too. It is a kitchen must-have. :)

Today I made a bowl of Black Bean Salsa to go with our lunch. I made enough to serve over the weekend too. Such a great taste of summer in that bowl!

asa grad food 1

Below is a little breakdown of what we’ll be eating with our house full of guests this weekend. Some of the notes are really for me, but now you get to read them too. :)

You’ll notice that I asked a few people to help out with the food. ALWAYS say yes to help during a busy time like this. If someone offers, say yes. It’s as simple as that. There’s too much to do during an event like this to try and get it all done by yourself. Plus, it is really important to enjoy these moments. I look forward to being hostess this weekend, but I really, really look forward to being MOM.

Friday, May 15

Dinner ~ Grilled Italian Chicken, corn on the cob, asparagus, tossed salad, cantaloupe

Saturday, May 16

Breakfast ~ Muffins, fruit, yogurt, bacon cheesy eggs – grab and go before Elias’ soccer game

Lunch ~ Family Time of Blessing for Asa and Presentation of Diploma

  • Hamburgers and hotdogs
  • Salads from Sharon
  • Chips
  • Veggies and dip
  • Dessert following Time of Blessing – Brownie Sundae Bar

Dinner after soccer game ~ Lasagna, salad, green beans, Michele’s Italian bread, fruit

Sunday, May 17

Breakfast ~ Muffins, fruit, yogurt – grab and go before church

Lunch after church before reception ~ Sub sandwich bar with leftover sides from cook-out (Michele is in charge of setting this up for me at our house while I set up for the reception.)

Reception ~ (help in keeping up with food and drinks on serving tables, popping corn, etc – Tim, Mayra, Morgan, Asher, Robin, Andrae)

  • Meatballs with dipping sauces (Teriyaki, BBQ, Marinara, Honey Mustard, Sweet and Sour)
  • Italian Artisan Breads
  • Cold Cuts and Cheeses
  • Spreads for Bread (Nutella, Mayo, Butter, Mustard)
  • Fruit Salad
  • Popcorn Machine with variety of salts and seasonings
  • Cake/Cupcakes
  • Variety of Drinks

Late Dinner after the reception (IF we need food) ~ Nacho Bar (Tacy is in charge of setting this up for me while I clean up after the reception.)

Other meal choices I plan to feed additional family and friends who have come into town before and after the weekend events:

Well friends, those are my scattered thoughts for the day as I type with paint on my hands. (The sun finally came out so I’ve been out painting our porch all day!) I’ll try to pop on from time to time with other posts this week because I do have a few in the works.

senior pic 19sm

You know what I’d love? If any of YOU have a word of blessing to share with Asa, would you leave a comment for me to share with him? While many of you have not met my boys, you’ve heard a lot about them and watched them grow through the years. Your prayers for him and words of wisdom would mean so much. :)

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