Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

A Word of Buttermilk and Blender Dispenser Advice

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When you are using your cool new blender with a dispenser…always, always be sure that the dispenser handle is in the downward position before pouring in buttermilk to make Creamy Orange Coolers. Always.

I was in the middle of giving spelling words, frying potatoes and yes, making Creamy Orange Coolers when I had this lovely mishap this morning. I wasn’t sure whether to cry…or take a picture.

I’ve heard somewhere that you should never cry over spilled buttermilk, so I chose to take the picture.

The buttermilk not only got all over the counter and down the front of the drawer and cabinet and all over the floor…it even got inside the cabinet. 

But I still didn’t cry. 

I may have let out one little sob.

It wasn’t even about the mess as much as I hated wasting all that good, homemade cultured buttermilk.

So let’s review:  If you have a cool new Hamilton Beach Wavestation like I have and you’re so excited to make something in it so you can use the cool little dispenser…what do you need to do first? (Let’s all say it together, shall we?)

Always, always be sure that the dispenser handle is in the downward position before pouring in buttermilk.

It blesses my heart to be able to offer such wise advice on this blog.

;)

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Kitchen Therapy

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Would you like to hear about how I was on the phone all morning, mostly on hold listening to horrible elevator music because I was trying to resolve an insurance issue? And how after all of that, I’m right back where I started because insurance keeps telling me to call the billing company and the billing company keeps telling me to call insurance? And how while all that was going on my breakfast dishes sat dirty and my laundry sat unfolded and my littlest kids scattered without doing their schoolwork? And how I almost cried while talking to Greg, the billing guy?

No, you really don’t want to hear about all that.

But what I will tell you about is how after such a frustrating morning of feeling incredibly unproductive…I was very much on edge. My kids were at each other, some of them had bad attitudes about their school work, and three out of four didn’t want what I was making for lunch. It is times like this that I struggle with showing my kids how to be godly in the face of frustration. I would never allow them to scream and throw things when they are angry, so in a effort to be a good example, I decided against using their lunch plates as frisbees, and resisted the urge to wad up school papers and shove them onto the floor. 

I pretty much told them, “Guys, I’ve had a really frustrating morning on the phone so please work very hard not to cause more frustration. That school work needs to be done whether it’s your favorite thing to do or not, so you’re gonna need to just deal. This is lunch, eat it. And no one…NO ONE will touch each other right now. Is that understood?”

It was understood. In fact, I think we went through an entire five minutes without anyone touching anyone.

After lunch, everyone left the kitchen to finish work or make messes elsewhere and I decided that I needed something to help me get out of my funk. Trust me, I’d been praying since the phone calls began…now I needed to exert some energy on something positive. I flipped on my very much needed Christian radio station and did what I always do for therapy:  I cooked.

I had been feeling like we didn’t have any snacks and I was out of some basic stand-bys (like peanut butter) so I got out bowls and started taking out some frustration on bread dough. 

Now, not only do I feel like a new woman…I have food prepared for my family. I can’t think of a better therapy session, can you?

I ground some fresh flour in my Nutrimill and got some Honey Whole Wheat Bread started.

In the meantime, I made Peanut Butter, Rice Crispy Treats (with chocolate chips!), 
Cream Cheese Salsa Dip and Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins.

I had found a good sale on cream cheese, plus I’m getting a lot of apples in my
Azure Standard order this week, so I made a big bowl of Caramel Apple Dip.

And then the Honey Whole Wheat Bread was done. And I felt better.

Now, when Matt gets home from work, not only am I going to be a lot less grumpy, the house is gonna smell like I’ve been baking.

The moral of the story is this:  When you are frustrated, work very hard not to take the frustration out on your family…do something productive with that energy instead. And then go eat some fresh bread with butter. Lots of butter.

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Where to Buy Vanilla Beans

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I’m often asked where I recommend you buy vanilla beans to make homemade vanilla extract. You have checked into making homemade vanilla, right?! :)  Ooh, it’s so delicious…and easy…and can save you a lot of money!

I recently began a new batch of homemade vanilla extract but since I don’t purchase vanilla beans very often, I didn’t have a “go-to” source for them. I did a little research, and liked Olive Nation as they appeared to have a high-quality vanilla bean for a very reasonable price, plus they offered free shipping on orders over $50 and 15% off when we use the coupon code home. So I ordered a pound of vanilla beans from Olive Nation.

When my vanilla beans arrived just a few short days later I was very, very impressed. The beans were shipped very promptly. They were packaged very nicely. The beans were excellent quality.

I thought to myself, “I like how these people do business. I’m going to contact them.”

So I did….and they agreed to give all of you a discount on vanilla beans!!! They already offer free shipping and reasonable prices, so for them to offer a 15% discount on top of that for Heavenly Homemaker’s readers is awfully nice, wouldn’t you think?

If you order your vanilla beans through Olive Nation and use the code:  home you’ll receive a 15% discount on any size order of vanilla beans. Plus free shipping on orders over $50. Plus receive prompt service. Plus receive excellent quality vanilla beans.

When I did the math on how much it would cost me to make a big batch of homemade vanilla using beans from Olive Nation and inexpensive vodka from the store…it ended up saving me more than 50% over store-bought vanilla. So, yes making homemade vanilla does save money. Plus the homemade vanilla you make using this method makes very strong vanilla…so you can use half of what a recipe calls for! More savings!!!

The process I use for making homemade vanilla takes about six months, but if you want to start a batch now and have it ready for Christmas gifts…it will still work (if you hurry and get it started!!)…it just won’t be quite as strong as if you’d given it the full six months to “extract”. I say go for it! Your family and friends will love it and you will have made them a wonderful gift at a very low cost to you. If you do, check out these pretty labels! They are customizable, and come in several fun designs!

I’d like to thank Olive Nation again for offering the coupon code (home) to all of Heavenly Homemakers readers. Be sure to check them out…I was very pleased with their service and prices and I think you will be too!

OliveNation banner 460x60

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When to Compromise on Healthy Foods??

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I always try to make my guests feel like I went out of my way to “treat” them to some good home cookin’, but I will let you know that I do compromise a little on some of the ingredients I use when I’m feeding a very large crowd. Hey, when you’re feeding 40 people five different meals within a week’s time, can you expect a girl to make all the mozzarella cheese and tortillas and bread for every meal? 

Also, I’m not always willing to share some of my home-canned produce. I’d run out of our home-canned tomato sauce real fast if I used six jars to make enough lasagna to feed everyone one meal.

Is this selfish of me? Is it wrong of me to compromise? I don’t think so, but you may (kindly) disagree with me. My own family comes first and while I am very willing to share our good, healthy food on most occasions…I know that my resources are somewhat limited. I can’t just run right out and replace our home-grown organic produce once it’s gone. I have to ration it for the year and be wise with how I use it. 

I still use real butter and in general “real ingredients” when I’m cooking for large crowds…I just don’t always whip out my stash of real maple syrup or sucanat.

I find that in general, people are so used to eating processed foods, that even my homemade food made with what I consider to be compromise food is a treat for them. 

I also don’t feel like eating the occasional “less than the best” foods are going to kill my family. We eat very well at almost every meal. Eating the occasional store bought tortilla or white french bread from the bakery is okay. Really, I think it is.

I think that if I felt like I had to feed all of the extra people we feed our grass fed meat and homemade bread made with freshly ground flour…I would probably drop the whole thing and NOT FEED ANY EXTRA PEOPLE EVER. So what’s the trade off? Should I serve others, or be so worried about compromising ingredients that I never serve ever? 

I will say that in our day to day company…the times that we have just a few people over at a time…I DO tend to stick with our normal way of eating and I do it without a problem. We’ve budgeted in extra knowing that we feed a lot of company, therefore I buy extra meat and can/freeze extra produce to accomodate. But that’s just enough for “regular” company. Its a little different when we’re feeding 34 extra people at one time!!

Oh, and I will also admit that during these days that we’re feeding all these extras…we’re using paper plates. :(  I HATE using paper plates (both because of cost and because of waste) but seriously I don’t think I could stay sane if I was washing all those extra dishes. I’m still trying to get through a school day at home too, ya know? I bought a bag of Solo cups, had the girls write their  names on them and we’re using them all week long. And I did NOT buy styrofoam anything…but still. I hate using disposable and I’m doing it anyway. I know my limits.

Alrighty, well this was a choppy and poorly written post. Let’s blame it on the fact that my week is VERY busy and I don’t have time to concentrate or edit. :)

I’d love for you to share your thoughts on when you compromise on healthy foods and when you don’t. And when do you pull out the paper plates? ;)

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Cooking for a Crowd

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I often feed large crowds, whether it’s just a couple of families joining ours for dinner…or whether I’m feeding an entire soccer team like I’m doing this week. I think it’s rather fun, because apparently weird things like this make me happy. Big pots of food…lots of smiling people eating from the big pots of food…what could be more fun than that? 

Cooking for a big crowd doesn’t have to be stressful. I think the keys for avoiding big crowd feeding freak out are:

  • Make a thorough plan including very detailed lists
  • Prepare as much food ahead of time as possible
  • Keep the menu simple

You don’t have to make a four course meal with fancy dishes to make the crowd happy. I’ve actually found that less is more, both for my sanity and for the joy of the people I’m feeding. 

Like take today for instance. For lunch today, I fed the team Tammy’s Chicken Pasta Salad (a big hit, by the way!) and a big bowl of cut up watermelon. That’s IT. The pasta salad was the main dish, the side dish and the vegetable all wrapped up into one big pot of goodness. The watermelon was a perfect compliment to the salad and the girls raved about it all (like I had made the watermelon all by myself or something?).

Then I pulled out the homemade fudge brownies, homemade ice cream and hot fudge sauce…which I’d made five days before and stuck in the freezer. They LOVED it. It was easy to make ahead of time and wow was it a crowd pleaser. They all left our house patting their tummies and saying, “Thank you SO much for lunch…it was amazing…wow I can’t wait until tomorrow” and all that good stuff. 

You wouldn’t have to serve homemade ice cream…or even offer any ice cream at all. Simple brownies would have been fine too…I just really wanted to give the girls a great treat. And since I could make it all ahead of time it wasn’t at all hard.

Okay, here are some pictures of my cooking preparations last week. I did the majority of the cooking for the five soccer team meals all in one day. It is making my life SO much simpler this week!!! 

Please take note of all the messes in the background. There’s not really a good way to cook a huge amount of food without making big messes. Oh yeah, and my stock pot is my friend. We have SO gotten our money’s worth out of the stock pot.

I got groceries on Wednesday morning then dumped it all over the kitchen floor…

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This is actually only part of the groceries. Probably only half of it actually. But you get the idea.

I got to work then right away browning 18 pounds of hamburger meat. (Actually, I believe Matt was home at the time and he got all the meat in the pot for me.)  Once it was in the stock pot cooking, I started the ice cream machine with homemade ice cream. 

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Once the meat was finished cooking (18 pounds took forever by the way!), I separated it and seasoned some of it for the nacho bar, set aside some of it for beef enchiladas and made the rest into lasagna sauce.

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After the hamburger meat was finished, I cut up bunches of chicken breasts and cooked the pieces in olive oil for Tammy’s Chicken Pasta Salad and for chicken enchiladas.

Then, I began to assemble chicken enchiladas, beef enchiladas and lasagnas.

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Assembly lines rock. 

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I borrowed two huge pans from our church kitchen for the lasagnas. 
Now that is a lot of lasagna!

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I baked a gignormous amount of brownies. I allowed them to cool, then I cut them…

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…and froze them in pieces. 
When I served them, I just popped one into a bowl, topped it with ice cream and hot fudge. 
Easy!

It took several hours of work on Wednesday (with a lot of other things squished into the day like reading to the kids and checking handwriting books while meat cooked) but now all I have to do each day is pull food out of the freezer and make the sides to go with the meal!!! 

Now tomorrow, let’s have a little chat about how I compromised a little bit on some of the ingredients I used, shall we? Stay tuned…

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My First Trip to a Whole Foods Market!

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The closest Whole Foods Market is about two hours away from me in Omaha….and we almost never go to Omaha. This is why I have never, ever been to a Whole Foods Market. Until Monday!!!  We decided to stop there on our way home from our trip and I was (like the nerd that I am) very excited. Who needs a shopping mall or a theme park when you can go to a really cool grocery store while on vacation?!?!

Judging from all the previous posts…it would appear that all of the fun parts of our trip centered around food. What is it with us, anyway?! Blueberries…Peaches…Chocolate…and a Whole Foods Market. THIS is what family vacation memories are made of…apparently.

Do you want to see what I got? (Yeah, just humor me.)

whole_foods

See, I had to get some sparkling mineral water because it’s a special treat that gives me “the burn” I miss. Plus I needed the dark green bottles to give my friend for when she makes kombucha for me. Ah, a twofold purpose for purchasing the mineral water.

And I had to get cherries, because I had to get cherries. Do I need another reason?

I got cheddar cheese because the last time I ordered cheese from Azure Standard, it didn’t come in and I was completely out of cheese.

I got hotdogs and lunchmeat because we’re in the middle of a very busy season with gardening and canning and soccer and school…and a girl needs a little convenience sometimes. (At least these are healthier versions.)

I got yogurt because I was out and I need to start a new batch.

I got organic apples and then I HAD to get Gjetost Cheese…because have you ever had Gjetost Cheese?!?!? It’s only THE BEST CHEESE EVER to eat with apples. We call it “caramel cheese” because it looks like little slices of caramel and it tastes sweet somehow. I bought not one, but two Gjetost cheese blocks because it’s almost apple season, and Gjetost with apple slices makes the BEST snack ever. They cost $5.95/block…but we can make it last quite a long time. You just need a tiny little piece of Gjetost with a slice of apple. Seriously, I think it may be one of the happiest snacks I’ve ever eaten.

And there you have it. I paid $35 for what you see in that picture. (I would have paid $55, but I had a $20 Visa Gift Card and – like the nerd that I am – it made me happy to use my gift on special groceries.)

While I LOVED my Whole Foods Market experience…I do have to say that I am VERY thankful for my health food co-op. Not only does it give me much easier access to organic and whole foods…it also saves me a lot of money.

And now, I do believe I will go treat myself to a little juice mixed with mineral water. Ahhhh…the burn….

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Laura, Are You In the Kitchen ALL the Time?!

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It’s a question I’m asked frequently. Especially from women who:   a) are new at working to feed their families a healthy diet…or b) don’t enjoy cooking at all.

Does eating a healthy diet mean that I am now going to be a slave to my kitchen?!!

It’s a fear that makes complete sense if you’re transitioning toward eating more whole foods. Do I have to make EVERYTHING from scratch? Isn’t there ANYTHING convenient about eating healthy? How am I supposed to find the extra time in my already full schedule to make healthy meals and snacks? And what if I hate cooking?

I addressed this topic quite a while ago in this post entitled Getting it All Done. In that post, I discuss the importance of menu planning, keeping food simple, cleaning the kitchen as you go, making breakfast while you’re making dinner and a few other helpful tips.

Today, I’d like to talk more about freezer cooking as a way to get ahead and save yourself some precious time in the kitchen. And, to answer the original question, nope…I’m not in the kitchen all the time. I do happen to be one of those people who loves to cook…so I may spend more time cooking and baking than the average person. But that’s just my choice. I love to feed my family, and I love to feed extras. I could spend less time in the kitchen and still feed my family a healthy diet…I just choose to tinker with recipes and hang out with my bowls, spoons and grain mill a little more than others. It’s my hobby.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to fill my fridge and freezer with healthy convenience foods. I spent a few extra hours in the kitchen over the course of three days. The result of my efforts? All kinds of healthy, grab and go foods! Hours of time saved! Dirty dish messes out of the way!

Did it take a few extra hours of time during those three days? Sure. I was in the kitchen a lot during those days. But now all I have to do is go snag something out of the freezer and re-warm it for a quick meal. I LOVE it!

Here are the results from my last “cooking ahead” days and the time it took me to prepare each item…

freezer_cooking_june_1

I baked up several pounds of potatoes one night (10 minutes of scrubbing), then chopped them and froze them overnight for future fried potatoes (following this Frozen Hashbrown method). The next day, I mixed up a double batch of cornbread and made Corn Dog Muffins and Sloppy Corn Muffins (20 mintues). Both went into ziplock freezer bags. Somewhere in there, I also mixed up and baked some Chocolate Chip Cookies (15 minutes, not including bake time). It seems like we always have events that I need to take cookies along. Having some already made in my freezer is so helpful!

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The next day, I made a big double batch of  Whole Wheat Tortillas so that I could grab them out for an easy lunch of quesadillas or tostadas. I also baked a double batch of Orange Muffins and a bunch of Porcupine Meatballs (the recipe for which I will share as soon as I perfect it). It just took me a little over an hour to do all of this (not including baking time)…and look at all the time it saved me for later!

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The next day I made about four pounds of Venison Sausage – using this Turkey Sausage recipe (15 minutes, not including cook time). Because it takes so many different spices to make the Turkey Sausage, I love making it ahead like this. I froze it in about six small baggies to pull out for a fast breakfast casserole, or for biscuits and gravy. This pre-cooked Sausage is a great combo with the pre-made Frozen Hashbrowns, by the way!

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I also mixed up a quick batch of Mudballs. Although, since one of my boys can’t have peanut butter…I used sunbutter to make these this time. (about 15 minutes)

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Later that afternoon, I decided to make some Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns to freeze and have on hand. (about 30 minutes of work time)  Those will last us for about two meals worth of Hamburgers or Sloppy Joes.

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Last but not least, I made some homemade peanut butter (3 minutes)…

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And used it to make a pan of Chewy Granola Bars to have in the fridge. (10 minutes)

It was fun. It was productive. I was exhausted.  :)  But the few extra hours I put in preparing the extra food has saved me more than a few hours of work during the past few weeks. 

What are some of your favorite foods to prepare ahead of time? 

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Start Making Homemade Vanilla for Christmas!

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vanilla_beans

About a year ago, I told you about my vodka buying adventures. Fun times. It’s always neat to be carded when you’re in your 30’s. I was so honored. And also embarrassed. Hey, I was buying an entire gallon of vodka at one time. I looked like I was going a little overboard. Like a crazy lady who took her four children to the store with her at nine o’clock in the morning to buy a gallon of booze.

Well anyway, it was well worth it as I handed out nice bottles of homemade vanilla for Christmas last year. And as I continue to pull out bottles of homemade vanilla for our own use. Mmmmmm…it’s so delicious!

I know it’s a little bit early to be thinking about Christmas. Never mind – it’s never to early to be thinking about Christmas gifts. Starting now and planning ahead can save a lot of money. That’s why I’m writing this little post.

It takes six months to make good, strong homemade vanilla. If you’d like to give homemade vanilla to family and friends this Christmas…you’ll need to purchase vanilla beans and start making your vanilla soon! If you get all of your supplies in order now and get the vanilla started in June, you’ll be all set for Christmas!

Here’s what you need to do:

  1. Read this post about how to make homemade vanilla. (By the way, making vanilla is so completely easy!)
  2. Order Vanilla Beans (You’ll find details on the amount of beans you need here.)  If you order vanilla beans through Olive Nation you will receive free shipping, PLUS if you use the code home you will receive 10% off your order! I’ve been very pleased with the beans I ordered through Olive Nation!
  3. Buy some cheap vodka. (You’re on your own with this one. Best wishes.)
  4. Get ahold of a big jar to make your vanilla.
  5. Get your vanilla beans and put into your vodka (as directed here) to start extracting.

Then…in the next few months, you can

  1. Start thinking about purchasing small bottles for your vanilla gifts.
  2. Look into these fun Vanilla Recipe Cards to add to your gifts.
  3. Check out these pretty labels! They are customizable, and come in a variety of designs.
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Healthy Make Ahead Meals for March

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Remember my Cooking and Baking Marathon last month? Encouraged by Jessica and Crystal, I’m at it again (although this time my list is quite a bit shorter).

Based on many emails and comments I receive regarding your desire to eat healthier foods…I’m convinced that more of you would take the plunge if preparing healthy food was more convenient for you. So, I’m working hard to figure out more healthy meals and treats that can be prepared ahead of time, frozen, and pulled out to eat in a hurry. Scroll through these posts to read through the ideas and recipes I currently have on my site.

Hey, as nice as it may sound that I’m doing this for you…really and truly my family and I are the ones benefiting. ALL the food I made and froze a few weeks ago has been SO nice to have on hand on days we have places to go and people to see. I actually STILL have Pizza Pockets, Cheesy Beef and Rice, Beef and Cheese Burritos and Whole Wheat and Honey Zucchini Bread  in the freezer from the last Cooking/Baking Marathon. I also have three bags of Chicken Fried Steak Strips made up and ready to cook up quickly! 

My favorite benefit of having convenience foods in the freezer is how it helps with the challenge of trying to get school work done and feed hungry boys at the same time. Ready-to-heat-up healthy lunches have been WONDERFUL to have on hand!!

So…Here’s my new list of freezer foods to try:

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  • Breakfast Burritos  (I make lunch type burritos…why not make some sausage-egg-cheese burritos while I’m working up the sausage?)

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  • Whole Wheat Tortillas  (Okay, these aren’t new for me to try, but if I’m going to make burritos…I’ll need to make a batch or two of tortillas. Also, it’s ALWAYS nice to have extra tortillas on hand for quesadillas – especially these Melting Snowflakes this time of year! Therefore, I’ll probably go a little Tortilla Crazy and make four or five batches of these awesome tasting tortillas this weekend.)

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Beyond these foods…I’m planning on making Peanut Butter to have in the fridge for next week. (If you haven’t ever made homemade peanut butter, you HAVE to try it and see how EASY and DELICIOUS it is!!). 

I’m also going to keep working on making homemade ketchup. I’m still not entirely pleased with the recipe I’ve come up with…which, if you have been wondering, is why I haven’t shared it yet! I’m still tweaking. And tasting. And tweaking some more.

I’ll share with you early next week how the weekend of cooking and preparing went!

Are you doing any cooking/baking this weekend?

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Flash Freezing Chicken Fried Steak Strips

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We’re gonna talk about flash freezing Chicken Fried Steak Strips. This is fantastic!

Chicken Fried Steak Strips

Right after I posted my Chicken Fried Steak Strip recipe last week, I ran into my friend Brenda. Always, after a visit with her I’m usually wishing I would have brought a notebook and pen to take notes. This girl knows stuff. Brenda doesn’t have a blog…so I get to share the stuff I learn from Brenda on mine. Then I get to look smart. Cool. For the record, I have several more “Brenda Tips” for you…most of them involving potatoes. (You’re intrigued aren’t you?)  I’ll share them with you as soon as I get a round tuit.

So here’s the tip Brenda shared with me about the Chicken Fried Steak Strips:

When you get cubed steak on sale (or when you buy several packages of cube steak from a farmer, like I do) make them all up into strips at one time, bread them, flash freeze them, then fry them as needed.

I love this tip, but my first question to Brenda was, “WAIT!  I can’t thaw and refreeze raw meat, can I?” I mean, that’s what my mama always told me.

Nope, Brenda said. That’s an old wive’s tale. (Hey, are you calling my mama an old wife? Just kidding.)  Thawing and refreezing raw meat is okay and it is safe, and Brenda, who’s done it time and again was alive and well and able to stand there in the church foyer telling me about it.

Well, if I’d have known that, I would have been flash freezing these Chicken Fried Steak Strips a long time ago, along with Chicken Strips and Nuggets and Popcorn Chicken. Funny that I never knew WHY it wasn’t safe…I just thought it wasn’t. Makes me wonder what else I’ve been believing to be true that really isn’t. (Is there any chance dusting isn’t necessary? My mama told me it was, but if anyone wants to tell me that it really isn’t important…)

It just so happens that I had a meat order delivered to my door the VERY morning after I had that conversation with Brenda…and it included five packages of cube steak.

Flash Freezing Chicken Fried Steak Strips

I got my big bowl of flour mixture and a big bowl of milk and got very busy making a big mess. See, that’s the point. If you’re going to make a big mess when you’re making these strips, you might as well make a big mess all at once and save yourself the trouble later! Love it!

chickenfriedsteakstripsffsmI cut each cube steak into three pieces then started double and triple dipping.

chickenfriedsteakstripsff2smI laid the breaded strips all out on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper,
then put them in the freezer overnight.

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The next morning, I popped them off the cookie sheets and into gallon sized freezer bags. Yay! Now I have five batches of Chicken Fried Steak Strips ready to cook up for quick meals. One mess…five meals!  Thanks Brenda!

So, what have you all heard about refreezing raw meat? Am I the last to know this information?

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