Laura, Author at Heavenly Homemakers

Gratituesday: Picking Strawberries!

June 8, 2009 by Laura 17 Comments

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

Apparently it doesn’t take much to make me giddy and excited. Take me to a strawberry patch…and I’m like a kid in a candy store. A STRAWBERRY candy store!

Last week, we had the opportunity to go to a farm and pick strawberries (in trade for some homemade bread and other goodies)!! I had been out there one time last year, but I had forgotten how BIG this patch was and how BEAUTIFUL the strawberries are!!

I could not stop saying, “Thank you God!!!” and “Oh this is SO cool!” for about ten minutes after we arrived. It is the greatest strawberry patch. I had a couple boys who didn’t feel well that morning, so Asa stayed home with them. This meant that Justus and I were on a strawberry picking date. He was just as excited as I was and a super trooper. He worked so hard with me! We chattered the whole time together and talked about bugs and berries and God’s goodness. It will be a date with my boy that I will remember forever.

Somehow, Justus got a picture of me picking strawberries in quite an interesting way. It was like this: my feet were in a good spot and there were strawberries ALL over the place..and I didn’t want to trample any berries or plants…so I just left my feet there and saw how far I could reach and how many strawberries I could pick without changing foot positions. No WONDER I was sore afterward!!

Look at these beauties!!

I’m so thankful for the generosity of my friend who let me come have a party in her strawberry patch. I’m thankful for all the yummy berries we’ve been eating. I’m thankful for all the berries I’ve been able to put into my freezer for slushies and smoothies.

And…I’m thankful for the sweet memory I made with my handsome date. Now that everyone is feeling better, I think I need to make plans to take several more handsome dates back to the patch!
————————————————

What are you grateful for?! Join us for Gratituesday! Read the details here, then come link up with us. If you don’t have a blog, leave a comment letting us know what you’re thankful for!

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

How To Make Sunbutter

June 8, 2009 by Laura 26 Comments

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

I just wanted to share some quick tips about making sunbutter. I mentioned that I would experiment with it after learning to make peanut butter. I’ve been experimenting with it…and have come to a conclusion:

It is not as easy to make as the peanut butter is. :)

Using raw sunflower seeds I tried to make sunbutter just like I had made the peanut butter. Except that I processed it and processed it, and it never turned creamy. It became kind of mealy…and stayed that way.

Yum

I added a few drops of olive oil and processed some more. No change.

I finally gave up. Sort of. I mean…I was determined to figure this thing out because Malachi won’t eat peanut butter (long story). And sunbutter is pricey.

So…I took the mealy sunbutter…and made it into mudballs because that’s one of Malachi’s favorite snacks. I just substitute the peanut butter for sunbutter. Ah-hah! Even though the sunbutter started out mealy…the mudballs came out perfectly! Score!

At least I know that the mealy sunbutter works when you mix it into other recipes!

Then…I added a bit of honey to the rest of the mealy sunbutter and put it into a jar and then into the fridge. The honey didn’t make it smooth and creamy, but it did make it less dry. I think it will work great to spread on toast or a tortilla.

By the way, I did a Swagbuck search and discovered that 1) There aren’t many ideas out there for making sunbutter and 2) Anyone else who tried to make sunbutter ended up with mealy sunbutter. It’s good to know that I’m normal. (At least in the area of making sunbutter.)

Do any of you have any experience making sunbutter or other nut butters?
————————————

This post is linked to Kitchen Tip Tuesdays.

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

Menu Plan for the Week

June 7, 2009 by Laura 14 Comments

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

What a weekend!

We took a bunch of boys on a camping trip Friday night and Saturday to celebrate Asa’s birthday. It was so much fun! Except for the all night thunderstorm that pretty much kept all of us from sleeping and made us wonder if we should head back home in the middle of the night. Other than that..it really was so much fun. Asa has a great bunch of friends.

Back home again…today was going along just fine until Malachi flung himself into a metal bed frame. Lots of tears (Malachi cried too) and three stitches later…we’re back home from the ER with a new stuffed puppy and a very brave and happy four year old.

Ever notice that EVERY picture of Malachi shows him in a different costume? This kid likes to play dress-up. He even took his trip to the ER in his Transformer costume.

I’m hoping that this week will be a little less crazy and that the weekend will bring some out of town guests. (Michele…Jayme…I planned a yummy menu this weekend to make you work even harder to make your way north on Friday.)

If you notice a lot of strawberries on the menu this week…it’s because I have a LOT of them in my house right now. I’ll tell you all about it on Gratituesday! Strawberries make me so happy…

Sunday, June 7
Cereal, strawberries
Chicken stir fry with fresh broccoli and squash
Black bean salsa

Monday, June 8—Happy Birthday Asa!
Cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs
Nachos
Homemade pizza, strawberry chocolate cheesecake

Tuesday, June 9
Chocolate chip pancakes
Bean dip, strawberry milkshakes
Grilled talapia, ranch potato wedges, tossed salad

Wednesday, June 10
Sourdough biscuits, fried eggs, oranges
Hamburger patties, steamed broccoli, fruit salad
Italian roast wraps, tossed salad

Thursday, June 11
Scrambled egg sandwiches, apples
Tuna topped tomatoes, kefir fruit smoothies
Beefy enchilada bake, tossed salad

Friday, June 12
Banana bread, applesauce
Chicken nuggets and fries, carrot sticks
Tacos, homemade strawberry ice cream

Saturday, June 13
Homemade donuts
Grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, veggie tray, fruit
Steak, fried zucchini, tossed salad, strawberry shortcake

I guess we’re having a lot of tossed salad this week too. Our garden is going nuts with lettuce right now! I’ll try to give you a garden tour this week!

Anyone else enjoying lots of strawberries and lettuce (and other great early garden produce) right now?
————————————————-

Visit Organizing Junkie for more menu planning ideas.

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

Women with a Mission: Ministry with Food

June 2, 2009 by Laura 9 Comments

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

Be sure to catch up on this entire series here.

One of my favorite ways to serve is with FOOD. Eventually I’ll share some of the ways I use food as a ministry, but today, I wanted to share these ideas sent in by two of my readers…

Nancy’s ministry: I love to bake bread from scratch. I bought a grain mill a few months ago so now I can even grind my own grain and then bake my bread. =) Anyway, when I bake bread I bake double what my family needs and then give the extra loaves away. I live in an apartment complex and so have lots of neighbors with whom I can share. People really appreciate it and I can sure tell that they are surprised that someone would give them something with no strings attatched. =)

That’s my way of reaching out while I have 2 young children at home and no car to take me out into the big wide world.

Serenity’s ministry (as told by her mother Jill):

Our daughter really wanted to reach out and serve others but felt that her primary ministry was her husband and children. She decided on a wonderful ministry that would give her the ability to reach out but not neglect her young family. She called the local Ronald McDonald house and asked if they could use a homemade meal once a month for the guests there. They were quite happy to receive that call.

Ronald McDonald houses allow families that have a very ill child in the local hospital to stay for a very small fee per night. It is set up like a home. They can come and go as they please. There is a kitchen for them to use while they are there. They are almost always very close to the hospital so the families can walk which is very handy for them. Many of these families are facing lengthy hospital stays with critically ill children.

So, our daughter would make a delicious meal that included homemade bread or rolls, a yummy dessert along with the main course. She is a fabulous cook so she really out did herself. She would cook while the babies were napping. When her hubby got home from work she would pack it all up and take it over to the house. I am so proud of her for finding a way to serve while still having young children. I am certain the families were blessed by eating a good home cooked meal.

What other ways have you been able to serve others with food?

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

Gratituesday: My Boxcar Children

June 1, 2009 by Laura 23 Comments

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

You’ve read The Boxcar Children, right? If not…you HAVE to read The Boxcar Children. Hands down…it is my favorite children’s book series (which is saying a lot, because I love, love, love Little House on the Prairie books. I’m not trying to rub it in or anything…but I did end up having my very own boxcar when I was little. That may have had something to do with why I love these books so much.

This book series isn’t exactly and entirely what this post is about. This post is actually about what I walk into each night when I go tuck my boys into bed. There they all are…lying on their beds…all completely still and quiet for the first time all day. And there is Asa (our oldest) propped up by the lamp reading the latest Boxcar Children Mystery to his brothers.

It is so sweet.

I would capture it on camera for you…but um…the boys’ summertime jammies aren’t quite Heavenly Homemaker website friendly. They resemble a little something close to what I don’t like hanging out on my clothesline…and I’m not talking about their socks (although their socks are not always presentable either).

Oh, and neither is the floor of their bedroom.

Anyway, what I’m grateful for this Gratituesday is for the sweet memories my boys are making. They don’t know they’re making memories. The littler boys just think their biggest brother is reading to them so that they can stay up later. :)

Of course they’re right. It does cause them to stay up later. What like twenty…thirty minutes later? I’ll gladly let them do that while they let these books take them on adventures together. And…while they’re on these adventures…I may or may not stand outside their bedroom door just listening to the sweetness of this time. And feeling proud of my oldest guy who loves reading to his brothers.
———————————————

Join us for Gratituesday! Read the details here, then come link up with us. If you don’t have a blog, leave a comment letting us know what you’re thankful for!

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

Would Someone Please Hand Me a Schedule?

June 1, 2009 by Laura 15 Comments

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

We finished our “scheduled” schooling right about the end of April. In the weeks since we finished, I’ve been pretty laid back about having any kind of routine. I think it’s nice after having nine months of order to kick back and just do whatever, whenever.

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous. We sleep in…we play outside…we work in the garden…

But somehow, the lack of routine doesn’t set well with me after a few weeks. I don’t feel quite as productive. I don’t want the boys to get into a “what? you want me to actually do a chore?” mode. I don’t want the summer to go by and find that we didn’t really accomplish anything.

I need a schedule. I need some routine. I need productiveness. So, pardon me while I kind of think out loud here as I try to create some sort of organization for our summertime. It may not be pretty. Feel free to tune me out.

Projects I want to get done (with the boys help) this summer:

Clean out the house and have a yard sale. (Guard your favorite action figures carefully…I’m in a “get rid of stuff” mood.)
Clean up our storage room.
Organize books in the school room.
Paint the bathroom trim. (oh, I am so not looking forward to this one…)
Paint our porch (?) (four boys with paint brushes? I don’t know)
Teach Malachi to write his name. (more on this another time)

Projects I’m working on for Heavenly Homemakers:

Gardening and Canning ebook (really, really want to have this one finished soon…I’m pretty sure it’s going to happen) :)
Early Learners curriculum/ebook (really, really want to have this one finished soon…don’t think it’s going to happen) :(
Oh so many more ebooks started and half finished
Continue with Eat More Fruits and Veggies Challenge
Catch up on emails and answering questions (does this ever really happen? That’s okay, bring on the emails!)

Stuff we need to work on every day:

Keep up with the garden. (I won’t let the weeds get out of control…I won’t let the weeds get out of control..I won’t let the weeds…..)
Keep up with the housework.
Read the Bible and work on memory work.

Activities we can be involved in:

Library summer reading program (definitely doing)
Wessels Farm Life programs (local farm holding special classes for kids…teaching history…checking into)
Science Museum summer classes (checking into)
Wednesday dollar movie at the theater (every once in a while when there’s a good movie we want to see)
Farmer’s Market (not selling baked goods this year…just selling shaved ice!)

Okay, here’s what I think we’ll do:

Wake up whenever (hopefully I’ll wake up an hour or two before the boys so I can get computer work done) (actually, as it gets hotter, I’ll need to work in the garden during the earlier morning hours instead of working on the computer)
Eat breakfast/read Bible together
Do some daily chores before we start playing (we as in the boys part of we)
Boys play/Mom does more housework…probably in the kitchen…or we all work in the garden together
Lunch
Work on projects mentioned above with boys
Boys play/Mom works on HHM projects
Mom exercises on mini-trampoline (gotta put that into the schedule because I won’t make myself do it otherwise)
Dinner
Straighten up the house
Play or help Daddy with chores he needs help with/more garden work
Bedtime (whenever that is)

Okay, well thank you for putting up with that. Even though it’s a loose schedule, I feel better now.

What do your summers look like? Do you try to keep a schedule?

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

Menu Plan for the Week

May 31, 2009 by Laura 8 Comments

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

Check out this lettuce from our garden!!
I was too excited not to share…
It made a great salad for our lunch today!

If you recall, last week I made the impromptu decision to take a trip to Kansas. I’m SO glad I did. It was a wonderful week. Matt obviously didn’t follow my menu plan last week while I was gone…but sort of scrounged around the fridge and freezers and made do with some things I had stashed away.

So….if it seems like this week’s menu looks an awful lot like last week’s menu…that’s because it is. (Easiest menu I ever planned) :)

Sunday, May 31
Baked oatmeal, peaches
Big chef salad with chicken (with homemade ranch dressing!)
Corn dog muffins, apples, carrots

Monday, June 1
Fried eggs, hashbrowns, grapes
Grilled cheese sandwiches, watermelon, sliced sweet peppers
Beefy enchilada bake, tossed salad, grapes

Tuesday, June 2
Whole wheat waffles
Cheeseburger mac (using this recipe, just with ground beef and chili powder added), steamed carrots
Chicken and rice, mixed veggies

Wednesday, June 3
Fruit-kefir smoothies, homemade oat cereal
Hummus on crispy cheese crackers, strawberry-peach slushies
BBQ meatballs, baked potatoes, green beans

Thursday, June 4
Breakfast cake
Chicken tostadas, fruit salad
Black bean taco salad, apple slices with strawberry yogurt dip

Friday, June 5
Barbara’s puffy pancake
Calzones, tossed salad
Grilled hot dogs, chips fruit

Saturday, June 6
Pancakes, bacon, eggs
Sloppy Joes, chips, fruit
Homemade pizza pockets, grapes, carrot sticks

You may notice that our Friday night and Saturday menu is a little heavy on the junk food (whoa…chips two meals in a row?). Asa’s birthday party is this weekend…and let’s just say that I would rather feed a bunch of adolescent boys chips as a side dish instead of baked beans. Ya know what I mean? ;)

Make plans to join us Thursday for the Eat More Fruits and Veggies Link-Up. Read about it here!
———————————————-

Find more menu plans at Organizing Junkie.

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

My Kansas Trip Photo Album

May 28, 2009 by Laura 12 Comments

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

Here are a few highlights I’d like to share from my time visiting family and friends in Kansas this week.

Monday…

Here’s Malachi taking a turn holding his cousin Austin.
He only dropped him off the couch once.
(Don’t worry…I caught him.)

Here’s my niece Renee.
She looks a LOT like I did as a little girl.
And yes, that is Elias attacking Malachi on the couch.
Glad I could capture that on film for you.

Here is a shot of my dad’s yard and our memorial day picnic.

Tuesday…

I was privileged to be able to meet Amy and Crystal for a visit.
Wish you all could have been there!

I told Amy I would play Rock-Paper-Scissors with her to see who got to hold Silas first…but it wasn’t long before Amy had to take care of a kid with a bloody nose, so I snatched the opportunity to grab him up (first). :) Look how sweet he is.

Here are Amy’s kids…Crystal’s girls…and my boys all sitting around the table eating a picnic lunch. Amy and Crystal were so happy to tease me, the “Heavenly-Homemaker-I-only-eat-whole-foods”, since I was feeding my kids frozen pizza for the picnic. HEY. There was NOTHING else at my dad’s house to fix. Sometimes, you just have to resort to frozen pizza, you know?

Malachi wanted a turn with Silas too.
Malachi could never remember what Amy’s little girl’s name
was and kept saying, “Where did that girl go?”

Wednesday…

I met a few friends, as well as my SIL Michele and her kids at the park on Wednesday. The weather took a sudden turn toward coldness and we all froze since I hadn’t packed warm clothes! After playing (freezing) at the park, we met my dad at a pizza place. (yes, more pizza) My dad’s wife Tacy couldn’t meet us during that time, so that was a bummer. I would have loved for her to be in this picture too.

Here we are waiting for our pizza to arrive.
I wanted a pic with Austin, and of course Malachi had to get in on it too.

Wednesday night after church, we went to see my niece and nephew play baseball. I ran into Amy again (and forgot to watch the rest of the ball games).

Thursday morning we headed home.

Everything about my week…definitely finer things.

Being back home with Matt…the finest thing of all.

This post is linked to Finer Things Friday.

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

Feeding the Family: Buying in Bulk (or…The Promised Post About My Oats)

May 27, 2009 by Laura 28 Comments

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

Thanks for being so patient with me. I know all of you have been dying to look at my bag of oats for the past several weeks and have probably lost sleep over wondering when I would finally get to it.

And now, without further ado (wow, I had no idea how to spell ado…adu?..adoooo?…adew?) Anyway, without further ado…my bag of oats:

I think in this post I called it a 50 pound bag of oats. It is in fact, only a 25 pound bag of oats. (Hopefully, the bag wasn’t offended when I overshot her weight.) Twenty five pounds of oats is quite large enough for me to handle at once. And…it lasts us well over half the year.

Last week, in my Azure Standard order, I got a 25 pound bag of oats…a 50 pound bag of Sucanat…and a 50 pound bag of wheat. Malachi played “king of the bulk purchases pile” until Matt was home and could move them for me.

I LOVE buying in bulk. It makes me feel all “Ma Ingalls-ish”. The only difference is that my bags are made of thick paper instead of cloth…so I can’t use them to make my new bloomers. Yep, that’s the only difference.

Buying in bulk does save money. But actually, that’s not my favorite part of buying big bags of food. My really favorite part about buying bulk bags is that it just makes life simpler for me. I don’t have to buy a little bag of rice or oats or pasta or whatever every month. I have lots of big bags of everything I need, giving me oh so many cooking options.

Yes, big bags of bulk are my friends.

I’m thankful to have the storage space to make buying in bulk feasible. It saves me money, time, energy and brain power.

More about how I store my bulk purchases here and here.

Do you buy in bulk? How do you store your bulk food purchases?
———————————————–

This post is linked to Frugal Fridays at Life as Mom.

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

Homemade Corn Dogs and Corn Dog Muffins

May 26, 2009 by Laura 135 Comments

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

A few weeks ago, Josette asked if anyone had a healthier, homemade corn dog recipe. Yippee! A recipe challenge. I love me a recipe challenge.

And – all my healthy eating talk aside – I love me a good hot dog. Oh, how I wish I didn’t. The icky ones that are made from 14 different kinds of animal leftovers? I don’t love me that kind of hot dog. A big juicy beef hot dog? I could eat three. (Not that I do of course…)

I’ve found some hot dogs from Azure Standard made by Shelton that are pretty good. They are made with chicken, don’t have any preservatives, etc. If you have access to those, give them a try. We like them just fine.

And – hot dog on a stick with yummy cornbread fried all around it? Hello. I am my kids’ favorite mom on days I make these.

**Homemade Healthier Corn Dogs**Yum

Homemade Corn Dogs and Corn Dog Muffins

Save Print

Author: Laura

Serves: 10

Ingredients

10 hot dogs
1 cup whole wheat flour
⅔ cup cornmeal
2 T. honey
1½ t. baking powder
½ t. dry mustard
1 egg
¾ cup milk
2 T. oil
Oil for frying (I use Palm Shortening)
10 lollipop sticks

Instructions

Whisk together all ingredients (okay, except for the hot dogs of course...and the oil for frying...and the lollipop sticks).
Place one hot dog on each stick. (I find lollipop sticks in the cake decorating section at Walmart.)
For frying the corn dogs...you can immerse them in hot oil if you have a Fry Daddy or something similar. I don't have one, plus I'd rather not use that much oil. Here's what I do:
Heat a small amount of oil in your electric skillet.
Holding onto the stick "roll" the hot dog around in the cornmeal batter to coat.
Place the corn dog down onto the hot oil.
Allow the corn dog to cook quite well on one side before attempting to turn it so that the batter won't pull off.
Turn as necessary to cook on all sides.

My corndogs don’t turn out very lovely. They’re sort of triangular in shape. Ah, but they taste delicious!

NOW.

Wait until you hear THIS idea. When Jennifer heard that I was going to conduct a corn dog experiment…she gave me this idea!!! Thanks Jennifer!

These Corn Dog Muffins are a perfect way to avoid the mess of frying your corn dogs and finding lollipop sticks, etc. I LOVE this!

Easy Corndog Muffins

Corn Dog Muffins

This recipe for cornbread, doubled
8 hot dogs
24 muffin papers to line muffin pans.

Mix up the cornbread. Cut hot dogs into thirds. Scoop cornbread batter into the paper lined muffin cups. Place 1/3 hot dog into each muffin.

Bake at 400 ° until golden brown. Serve right away.

Look! You can’t even tell there’s a hot dog in those muffins! You could surprise your kids with these! They’ll think they are only having a cornbread muffin for lunch. Then tada! There’s a hot dog inside!

The best thing about these Corn Dog Muffins is that they freeze well!!! Just thaw and reheat in the oven for a few minutes before serving!

How’s that for an easy lunch idea that you can make ahead of time?!

(Click on our Make Ahead Meals link for more fun ideas of kid friendly, healthy recipes that you can make ahead of time.)

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

« Previous Page

Homemade Healthier Corn DogsYum

Corn Dog Muffins

**Homemade Healthier Corn Dogs**Yum