Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Gratituesday: World Cup 2014

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gratituesday[2]

With the exception of the fact that watching soccer games was a perfect Father’s Day gift for Matt, clearly, this week is not a good time for our family to enjoy the World Cup. After all, we’re leaving on a long trip tomorrow. As it turns out, we’ll miss several games while we’re on the road, plus we have a million things to do before we leave. We have to finish packaging up container after container of vanilla to ship out…

world cup 1 (1)

The older boys were at Soul Quest last week, which means there are several loads of laundry to finish up so we can pack. Indeed, we have a huge, long to-do list. World Cup soccer games???

world cup 1 (2)

Yeah. We’re making time.  It’s ridiculous really, how much our family loves soccer. :)  We don’t have cable, so we’re having to go elsewhere to catch games. (The college apartment lobby has been working quite well for us.)  It’s been a fun break in between all the work. When possible, I’ve been throwing together quick meals like fruit and tuna salad to take with us and eat while we watch.

world cup 1 (4)

Ah, family and futbol. It’s too much fun. Laundry, packing, cleaning, vanilla packaging, mowing, gardening, and all the rest? Eh, we’ll get it done. ;)

What would you like to share about this Gratituesday? What are you thankful for?

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No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake {Stevia Sweetened}

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Yes, it’s another recipe with stevia. You know you can sub real maple syrup for stevia, right? As for me, I’m loving the non-sugar treat options. :)  If you’d like to grab some stevia for free, here’s how to do it.

no bake chocolate peanut butter cheesecake

How did this No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake recipe come about? It went a little something like this:

  1. It was a hot day and I didn’t want to heat up the oven to bake.
  2. I had some Chocolate Whipped Cream in the fridge and wondered what would happen if I stirred cream cheese into the bowl.
  3. I decided it would surely be great.
  4. And that peanut butter stirred in would be even better.
  5. And that all of these ingredients together would actually create a delicious cheesecake.
  6. And really, that’s about it.
  7. So that’s the end of my story.

By the way, it’s a pet-peeve of mine to see a sentence begin with the word and. And that’s why I rarely do it. And I feel that my 7th grade English teacher, Mrs. Heaton is surely proud of me for this. And I’m sure you agree.

I also don’t like writing sentence fragments, but the above story made me do both. Yes, I wrote sentence fragments that began with the word and. I must need another piece of cheesecake.

So, No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake. We made this for Father’s Day. I promise that making it won’t change your grammar skills for the worse. Worst. Worser. Never mind.

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake - Stevia Sweetened

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter CheesecakeYum

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 8-ounce package cream cheese
3/4 cup natural peanut butter (I use homemade)
1/3 cup cocoa powder
Liquid stevia to taste (I use 4 droppers-full NuNaturals brand)

Whip all ingredients together until smooth. Spread mixture into a pie dish (with or without a crust). Place pie in freezer for at least one hour before serving.

We found that no crust was necessary with this cheesecake, mostly because I was too lazy to make a crust. Laziness should never help us make decisions, just like sentences should rarely begin with the word and. But a cheesecake without a crust is still delicious. And that’s all there is to it.

Did you make anything special for Father’s Day? And am I the only one who doesn’t like seeing sentences begin with the word and?

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The Three Day Menu Plan…Then We’re Hitting the Road (Plus, Want Some Vanilla?)

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As I mentioned last week, we’re heading to Nashville this week for a family reunion. I can’t wait to hug my Nana, hold the new babies, see all the cousins, watch the kids get reacquainted and play together…it’s going to be great!

On the way, I’m very excited to meet some of you!! If you live in the St. Louis or Nashville areas, please stop by our Meet and Greet locations so we can have a chance to hang out and visit. Get all the specifics here. I look forward to meeting many of you!

Fruits and Veggies On the Go

We don’t mind the treat of eating out here and there while we travel, and enjoy our fair share of burgers and fries on the road. But to keep our stomachs from rebelling too much, we try to take along some fruits and veggies too. :)

Doing any traveling this summer? Here are some posts you might enjoy.

Our menu this week is short and sweet since we’re taking off on Tuesday. It’s been fun to celebrate Father’s Day with Matt today – making many of his favorite foods.

Sunday, June 15
Peach cobbler (recipe in Oh, For Real cookbook)
Grilled steak, baked potatoes in the crock pot, grilled asparagus and sweet peppers, cantaloupe
Tuna salad on tomatoes and lettuce, watermelon

Monday, June 16
Banana bread, blueberries
Chef salad with leftover chicken, watermelon
Italian roast wraps with tomatoes and lettuce, peas, fresh pineapple

Tuesday, June 17
Scrambled eggs, pineapple mango smoothies (with fresh spinach thrown in)
Pasta Salad Bar – before we hit the road, we’ll each build a big pasta salad to eat on the way for lunch. Easy and nutritious!
Dinner at my cousin’s house – can’t wait!

pasta salad bar 3

One last thing:  We actually made enough Vanilla Extract this time to avoid selling out within a few hours! If you want some, come get it now as we’ll only be offering it for sale through Monday or until supplies last. :)

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Heavenly Homemakers Homemade Vanilla Extract – For Sale Today While Supplies Last

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As you know, we very much encourage everyone to try their hand at making  Homemade Vanilla Extract. It saves money and produces the purest, most delicious vanilla possible! For those of you who don’t care to make your own, or who are currently making some but waiting for it to finish up, we are excited to once again offer a big batch of our Heavenly Homemakers Vanilla Extract for sale today.

Keep in mind as you see the price that this amount covers our expenses, including shipping – and the most important thing:  You can use half the amount of vanilla called for in recipes because this vanilla is so pure and strong. Therefore, this bottle of vanilla will last you twice as long as a typical bottle! Read more here about how to make your own vanilla extract.

We have a limited supply, so this is being offered while supplies last. Typically, we sell out within just a few hours – so act fast if you want some! These prices include shipping, so what you see below is the total you’ll pay. We are only able to ship within the U.S.

4 ounce bottle (only 2 left)
$16.00  
Add to Cart

8 ounce bottle
$29.00 
Add to Cart

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Do You Live Close to St. Louis or Nashville? I Want To Meet You!

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Our family is hitting the road for a reunion next week. Along the way, we’d love a chance to meet you if you live in the St. Louis, Missouri or Nashville, Tennessee areas.

We just have a small window of time while our boys are between church camp obligations, otherwise we’d make more stops along the way to meet even more of you. We have loved our time meeting up with you when we travel!!

denver_m&G

You realize, don’t you, that it was at last year’s Meet and Greets I started liking coffee?  :)

Soooooo, can you come, can you come??? Here are the details:

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St. Louis Area Meet and Greet:  Panera Bread (actually known as St. Louis Bread Company) located at 2079 Zumbehl Rd, St Charles, MO 63303

Our family will be there on Wednesday, June 18 from 10:00 am to 11:30 am

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Nashville Area Meet and Greet:  Panera Bread located at  2534 Powell Ave, Nashville, TN 37204

Our family will be there on Thursday, June 19 from 10:00 am to 11:30 am.

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Come if you can so we can hang out and chat. You are welcome to bring your kids along.  I love meeting them too!

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It’s been so much fun to watch your kids interact with my kids during the Meet and Greet times.

A couple of notes:

  • If you live in one of these areas and think it will work for you to be there, would you mind shooting me a quick email? I’d love to have a point person for each location, just in case I need to call and say, “We’re late but we’re coming – watch for the scatter-brained lady with frazzled hair.”
  • If you don’t email me, you can definitely still come. Just show up – it will be so fun to see you!
  • I’ll be bringing along some Oh, For Real cookbooks and printed Learn Your Letters, Learn to Serve curriculum in case any of you are interested in buying them without having to pay shipping costs.
  • Sorry for the late notice. I’m just now getting the details of this trip figured out because I’ve only known about this upcoming trip for 8 months. {rolls eyes at self}
  • I promise to talk about more than just the subject of butter when we’re together. Wait. What else is there?
  • Can’t be there on time? Just come whenever you can before 11:30.

St. Louis and Nashville friends – I can’t wait to meet you!

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Win Beautiful Handcrafted Kitchenware from Polder’s Old World Market

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Plain and simple kitchen gadgets are all we really need, right? But how about if those plain and simple gadgets are incredibly beautiful, as well as practical? That’s what Polder’s Old World Market offers. I dare you to click over to their etsy shop and look around. You’re likely to do what I did and fall in love with everything they make and sell.

From start to finish, the Polder family makes each unique piece of kitchenware by hand. This rare art is a treasure to have in your kitchen. I should know. They sent me some of their pieces to review. Wow. That was one wonderful box to open. The pieces are even better out of the box and being used to cook yummy food. But you could have guessed that, right?! :)

Raise your hand if you’ve ever heard of or used a Spurtle. This was a brand new item that I’d never heard of. It is soooo cool! Here’s what they have to say about the Spurtle:

The Spurtle is a traditional Scottish utensil. The Scottish use their spurtle to flip oatcakes and stir porridge (the national food of Scotland), but you can use your spurtles in so many ways! These unique wood utensils are the new rage but it is difficult to find solid wood spurtles like ours. Use them to sauté, stir fry and turn steaks. Flip fried eggs with ease, mix fresh blueberry pancakes and even stir your cold summer beverages.

See this set below? You can win one of these in today’s giveaway. :)  Seriously, I never knew the act of flipping pancakes or grilled cheese sandwiches could be so exciting. These spurtles are the bomb.

polder

Take a few minutes to go drool over all Polder’s Old World Market offers. Leave a comment here on this post for a chance to win the great set pictured above. Want more chances to win? Do any or all of the following and leave a separate comment for more chances.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I’ll draw a random winner on Monday, June 16. Be watching for a post stating the winner as you will be responsible for contacting me if your name is chosen.
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You Can Stop Feeling Like a Failure Now

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If you woke up to a stack of crusty dishes piled up in the sink, you are not a failure.

If you forgot to put the laundry in the dryer and the clothes all got sour in the washer, you are not a failure.

If your kids threw a fit at the store, refusing to obey you, you are not a failure.

If you said something stupid, hurt someone’s feelings, forgot an important commitment, burned dinner, broke a special plate, spilled an entire bottle of something expensive, lost your phone, or overslept, you are not a failure. You are normal though, so hi! Welcome to the club.

It’s too easy for us to look at what we did or did not do, how our kids did or did not act, and what did or did not happen – letting each act and experience define our success or failure.

Why is this? Is it possible that somehow, even though we all know it isn’t true, we all think that we (and everyone around us) should be perfect? Even if we may not consider ourselves to be perfectionists, deep down, we still want life to be perfect. We don’t want anything to go wrong, to annoy us, or to be inconvenient. We want our spouse, our kids, our friends, our homes, our jobs, our health, and every single person we deal with to be perfect. When they aren’t – yes that’s when, not if – when they aren’t, we feel as if we’ve failed or as if other people have failed us.

Stop it.

Stop Feeling Like a Failure

The truth is, we will never, ever in this fallen world achieve or experience anything close to perfection. There is much good in the world, because God is everywhere around us, showing us His goodness. But there’s also a lot of yuck in the world because Satan wants to win our hearts. He enjoys watching our discouragement and bitterness. He loves it when he can take our focus off God and turn us inward, making us focus on our supposed failures. Ah yes, if Satan can keep our minds thinking selfishly, he wins. That’s his goal.

But guess what? This desire for perfection we all feel so strongly? That is God given. God wants us to seek to find that which is perfect. Why? Why would He give us that desire when clearly there is no way we can achieve perfection on this earth? He gives us this desire because He is perfection and He wants us to seek Him. Jesus. Jesus is perfection. That’s really what we should be looking for.

Keep lovingly taking care of your family and home. Keep yearning to be more Christ-like. But let go of the guilt that comes through your lack of perfection and supposed failure. Focus on Jesus, the One who fulfills that need for perfection we all long for.

Crusty dishes in the sink? Yep, there they are. Gonna be late to an appointment? Sometimes, sure enough. People getting in your way and causing you trouble? Well, of course.

This earth is only temporary. This isn’t it, people.  Perfection? It’s coming! I can’t wait.

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A Reminder: Vanilla Extract For Sale This Saturday!

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Don’t forget! We’ve got a big batch of Vanilla Extract ready to sell this Saturday, June 14 beginning at 8:00 CST. Our supply usually sells out quickly, so if you’re interested, mark your calendars and check in here right away that morning.

Would you rather make your own vanilla? You’ll find all the info here that you need so you can get a batch going. :)

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Icy Cold Milkshake Treats

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I’ve been sharing quite a bit about coffee treats lately. Iced Coffee, Homemade Chocolate Frappe, Chocolate Whipped Cream for Coffee…yum. This is great for everyone except for those who don’t like coffee, right? Yes, well. This post should take care of that.

My family definitely fits into the “don’t like coffee” category of people. In fact, they really don’t understand why I’ve suddenly started loving the stuff. Okay by me. It’s the one and only food/drink in this house I get all to myself. Ha! It’s mine. All mine!! (she says, lovingly.)

So for all the “don’t like coffee” people out there, including my family, who thinks my Homemade Chocolate Frappe looks really good but tastes really bad – here’s what I’ve come up with as a delicious alternative. Icy Cold Milkshake Treats.  Instead of starting out with coffee ice cubes, simply start out with regular ice cubes. Instead of adding cold coffee and milk, simply add cream and milk. Instead of adding chocolate…oh wait. We’re still adding chocolate. Unless you want straight up vanilla. That works too.

Icy Cold Milkshake Treats
 
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Prep time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: Milkshake
Serves: 3 servings
Ingredients
  • 2 cups ice cubes
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Liquid stevia to taste (I use about 10 drops NuNaturals brand)
  • 3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (omit if you prefer a vanilla milkshake)
Instructions
  1. Blend ingredients together until slushy-like. Serve right away.

You’ll love how easy this is, how “real food” this is, and how it’s a treat completely void of sugar. It doesn’t get any better. (Unless you add coffee, but we’ve been through this already.)

 

Icy Cold Milkshake Treats

Most of the ingredients in the list are in “give or take” proportions. You’ll figure this out if you actually try to measure 2 cups of ice cubes. Rectangle shaped ice cubes don’t cooperate very well in a round measuring cup.

In addition, you may want your shake to be creamier, smoother, sweeter, chocolatier, or with coffee. Oh wait. This one doesn’t have coffee in it. Well anyway, feel free to add more or less of any of the above listed ingredients to make this shake just what you want it to be.

As for me, I’m going to stick with the Homemade Chocolate Frappe. And I’m going to drink the entire blender of coffee goodness all by myself because no one else in my house likes it so I don’t have to share, so ha! (she says, with kindness.)

What do you think? Which will you like better? And which will your family members like better?

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My Favorite Brand of Stevia (and How to Get Some For Free)

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nu naturals steviaI’ve talked quite a bit lately about my new love for stevia. I’ve always known it was a great choice in a real food diet, but I just couldn’t learn to like it. Now that I’ve figured out how to use it correctly, I really am loving it!

The trick is to find a good brand of stevia, and to avoid using too much. Too much stevia, and your treat turns from sweet to bitter.

I love that stevia is all natural – it’s an herb that is naturally sweet. I love that it provides us with sweet treats that are completely sugarless. And I love that it isn’t an artificial sweetener (like Splenda or NutraSweet – those must be avoided!!).

Many have asked what kind of stevia I like and where I get it. You may not be surprised when I tell you that I order it from Vitacost, one of my favorite online resources.

What is my favorite brand of Stevia?

NuNaturals is the brand that tastes the best to me. I prefer either the NuNaturals Alcohol Free Liquid Stevia or the NuNaturals Clear Stevia. So far, I’ve not experimented much with powdered stevia. Therefore, I’ve only used stevia in liquid recipes, not in baked goods. Once I figure out how to do that well, I’ll definitely pass on the information!

How Can You Get Stevia For Free?

If you are a brand new customer with Vitacost, you can click through these referral links to sign up for an account. Doing so will give you a free $10 coupon code to use on your first order of $30 or more. That makes a bottle of stevia absolutely free to you!

Does Stevia seem expensive to you? It really isn’t. This is because you use just a few drops of stevia to add sweetness to a recipe. A little bit goes a lonnnnnnnggggg way. Sweet! (literally)

Now, go get yourself a free $10 to use on Stevia (or really, whatever else you might like for free). Then you can enjoy making all these guilt free, delicious, real food recipes like Homemade Chocolate Frappe, Chocolate Whipped Cream, and several new recipes that I’ll be sharing in the upcoming weeks that I’ve learned to make with Stevia. :)

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