Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Here it is!! Get Your “Best of Heavenly Homemakers” Printed Book!

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The Best of Heavenly Homemakers. In print! It’s here!

It’s better than I expected. The quality, the feel, the gorgeous cover. But the love poured in. That’s what makes this book so special.

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This book is 10 years of Heavenly Homemakers. Your favorite posts. Your favorite moments of laughter. Your favorite moments of encouragement. Your favorite talk about chickens. Your favorite moments of real life shared together here. (The book may or may not share a large picture of an old toilet out on our side porch.)

It’s what we’ve dreamed of here for a long time, but the timing couldn’t be more perfect than today, November 1, 2017, marks the 10th anniversary of Heavenly Homemakers.com. I can’t think of a more fabulous way to celebrate!

This book is in print, at Amazon, and ready for you to order! It will be on your porch and in your lap in just a few days, at which time you can re-live the past 10 years with me from the time my kids were itty-bitty all the way through now, the days of their budding adulthood.

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I am filled with humble realization of God’s goodness through these 10 years. I am overflowing with gratitude for each of you, my dear readers who have become such a meaningful part of my life during this decade.

Thank you. This book is for you. I love you, appreciate you, and can’t wait to continue to do life with you during these next years as God lays out His perfect plans for us.

I now present to you, The Best of Heavenly Homemakers at Amazon:

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The Best of Heavenly Homemakers shares many of the best posts and a few of the most popular recipes from 2007 to now. It’s big – 161 pages. It’s chapters share the Best of Times I wrote about:

  • Parenting
  • Homemaking
  • Food
  • Homeschooling
  • Surrender
  • Marriage
  • Life and of course…
  • Chickens

Get your copy of The Best of Heavenly Homemakers now. 

High fives and happy hugs all around. Thank you for being you and for joining me here. Your friendship means the world to me!

P.S. If you send me a selfie with your book in your hands once it comes in, it will make my day!

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

Spend Time in the Word With Your Family: FREE Packet of Praise Scripture Memory Printables!

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If I could give just one piece of advice to families raising children it would be this: Spend time in the Word together. 

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Do not limit spiritual training to Sunday morning at church. Those are a beautiful two or three hours each week, but what about the other 109 awake hours every week?

(Yes, I did the math. 24 hours a day x 7 days in a week = 168. Take away 8 hours of sleep each night = 112. Take away 3 hours of church on Sunday = 109 awake hours outside of the church walls. You are welcome. Never ask me to do math again unless it involves measurements in a recipe. It’s better this way.)

Through 20 years of parenting, we’ve learned that spiritual training as a family takes place all day long, every day of the week. Through scripture, conversation, prayer, humility, and surrender, together with our kids we learn to trust God, seek Him, listen to Him, and love Him.

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One aspect of our spiritual journey we’ve been especially focused on recently is Praising Him. This is slightly different from being thankful. Thanking and praising go together, certainly, but try this sometime:

Have family prayer time together in which you only praise God.

Don’t ask for anything. Don’t petition Him. Just praise Him.

“God, we praise you for…” “God you are…”

Fill the room with praise. Do this with your family. It is truly glorious!

As we’ve been practicing more praise in our home, I’ve been looking through scripture to find verses and passages that are exclusively in praise to the Father. There are many!

Praise Scripture Memory Printables - free for you!

Here are 10 of our favorites, put onto beautiful printables for us all to enjoy! Not only have we found that it’s important to fill our home with praise, we love hanging scripture in every room of our house.

Please help yourself to this packet of free printables. Enjoy them with your family. Memorize the scriptures together. Spend time praising together. Talk together about His wonders and goodness!

Connect to our Heavenly Homemaker’s Learning Zone! It’s completely free, and well, full of freebies! Simply enter your email address here, check your inbox for a confirmation link, then these scripture printable freebies will be yours, along with dozens of other free printables!

May we all fill our homes with praise to the Father!

P.S. If you’d like to read more about how we have established a Family Bible Reading time, I wrote about that here.

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

The BEST Creamy Mac and Cheese, Made Simpler and Faster

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Back in the olden days of blogging, I shared what became one of my most popular recipes: Creamy Mac and Cheese. What makes this Creamy Mac and Cheese different? It’s made with whole grain pasta and it’s made with a completely different method which gives it the ultimate chance of creaminess. This happens because…

We cook the pasta directly in milk.

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Yes. We dump dry pasta into a pot and we pour in a generous amount of milk (whole milk, because creaminess). We salt it to taste, then we cook and stir until the pasta is tender and the creaminess becomes perfection. We remove it from the heat because we are people who read directions! Then we stir in the cheese and we cry tears of joy as we serve the delicious Creamy Mac and Cheese to our families.

So now, eight years after I first shared this recipe online, I will tell you a fun little tip so you can make this wonderful recipe in an even simpler, faster way. It’s this:

The smaller the noodle, the faster your Creamy Mac and Cheese hits the table.

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It’s kind of a no-brainer. However, I had always used penne or fusilli shaped pasta for this recipe, both of which are similar in size and take about 15 minutes to cook. Fifteen minutes is not a long time to get dinner on the table. But…

One day recently, I used small elbow noodles to make this Creamy Mac and Cheese and boom. The pasta was tender before I’d even cooked the peas or washed the grapes to go with our meal. Sweet! Not only can we make this meal without having to think ahead to thaw meat, we can throw it together even faster if we use a smaller noodle.

I’d say that taking advantage of this tip is really “using our noodle” but then I’d sound like Elmo and I’m not sure that’s how I want you to remember me.

Creamy Mac and Cheese Made Simpler and Faster

4.5 from 2 reviews
The BEST Creamy Mac and Cheese, Made Simpler and Faster
 
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Author:
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 2½ cups whole grain pasta
  • 3 cups whole milk
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt (more or less to taste)
  • 1 cup shredded cheese
Instructions
  1. Mix pasta, milk, and salt in a large sauce pan.
  2. Cook over medium-high heat stirring almost constantly until the pasta is tender (10-15 minutes).
  3. Remove from heat. (IMPORTANT!)
  4. Add cheese and stir until melted.
  5. Serve immediately.

Keep this recipe in your hip pocket for days you need to get a meal on the table quickly. Use small sized pasta so this will cook more quickly. Serve it with a salad and/or veggies and fresh fruit and you’ve just put a super simple meal on the table in record time.

The BEST Creamy Mac and Cheese

My favorite whole grain pasta to use in this recipe:

  • DeLallo Whole Wheat Elbows (quickest cooking pasta for the Creamy Mac and Cheese recipe!)
  • DeLallo Whole Wheat Penne
  • DeLallo Whole Wheat Fusilli
  • DeLallo Whole Wheat Shells
  • DeLallo Whole Wheat Gemelli (this is our all time favorite pasta shape for all the recipes in the world)

I have successfully made this recipe with Tinkyada Rice Pasta, so gluten-free friends, you get to enjoy this recipe too!

NOTE: It is quite important that you remove the cooked pasta from the heat BEFORE you add the cheese. If the pasta is still cooking when the cheese is added, this may cause the cheese to curdle. In addition, I’ve found that using pre-shredded cheese in this recipe doesn’t work as well because of the added ingredients in the packaging. I use cheese we shred at home for best results.

Creamy Mac and Cheese Varieties

Have you tried this method for making Mac and Cheese? What’s your favorite pasta shape?

Psssssst!

Seeing as this recipe is definitely a Heavenly Homemaker Favorite, you can bet that it’s included in my Best of Heavenly Homemakers book!! (There are only a few recipes included, but this had to be one of them!)

I just peeked and the book is up already on Amazon! Be the first to grab it!!

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

When Shaving Becomes an Inexpensive Treat

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When you’re a kid, treats look like ice cream, candy, and presents. When you’re an adult, treats look like time alone, a steamy cup of coffee, and a hot bath. Also a clean house, kids that obey, a pair of matching socks that are actually clean, I could go on forever.

Last May when I said, “All I want for Mother’s Day is for our living room trim to finally get painted” my kids thought that was the most boring gift of all time. For me though? Beautiful. Glorious. Perfection.

It is this mindset that leads us to appreciate a nice razor and a smooth leg. I shared about Rose’s Razors a couple weeks ago, and I’ve heard great feedback from those who already took advantage of their discount and free shipping offer.

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Here’s what Kim K. said about Rose’s Razors:

OK Ladies. I’ve tried them now and all I can say is “wow!” I am impressed. First of all, shipping was FAST. Ordered on 10/13 and received on 10/17. I opened them right away and was MAJORLY impressed by the quality. I have been buying middle grade razors so I wasn’t expecting anything better than that. Boy, was I wrong. This is a REAL razor. The handle is metal and solid. Very impressive. So, I took my shower this morning and had a wonderful shaving experience. Who knew that shaving could be an experience?? The handle feels great in my hand. The razor gives a really good, close shave. I feel like I indulged in a real treat without even meaning to. I am so glad I jumped and purchased and I don’t think I’ll be looking back!!

I wanted to make sure you all saw her comment to confirm that it’s not just me. :)

Razors and me? I haven’t cared that much and I’ve pitifully cut my way through three decades, mostly because I didn’t want to do anything frivolous and actually spend money on a razor.

You guys. Rose’s Razors aren’t even expensive!! Yet they are fabulous and real and so, so good. Kim’s not looking back, I’m not looking back, you won’t look back.

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Rose’s Razors gives us options. You can buy a subscription if you want them delivered to your door every two months. You can select from a variety of subscription options and change it at any time. Or if you don’t want a subscription, you can simply buy a package of razors (with or without a handle) any time you need it.

Best news yet: Shipping is always FREE, no matter what your subscription or order!

Frosting on the cake: Rose’s Razors is giving Heavenly Homemakers readers 20% off our first purchase, no matter the size! Check out all of the Rose’s Razor product options here. Use the code Heavenly20 for the discount to apply. Code expires December 31, 2017.

Treat yourself. Your budget will love it, but your legs and underarms will love-love-love it! :)

Rose’s Razors is a sponsor of Heavenly Homemakers and I am so grateful to be working with such a fabulous company.

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

Simple Overnight Pumpkin Spice French Toast Casserole

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My favorite aspect of this Simple Overnight Pumpkin Spice French Toast Casserole is that I can get it completely ready the night before, then slide it into the oven in the morning without having to think, measure, talk, or care. Allow me to share with you a bit about myself and how mornings work for me.

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I typically get up at least an hour before my family rolls out of bed in the morning. Do you know what that means? That means that for at least one hour every day no one talks to me, asks me questions, makes a request, or assumes I actually know the time of today’s soccer game. Once the people wake up, my brain must be on full power, ready to answer all the questions, write all the sentences, make all the reminders, plan all the meals, and remember to add toilet paper to the list.

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For the first several years of my married-with-kids life, I woke up and immediately hit the ground running. My quiet time in the mornings meant I could actually accomplish something before a small child unraveled my efforts with his sticky but adorable hands. I could get work done without interruption and perhaps enjoy some productivity – in the quiet.

This was all well and good, except that I missed out on one very important aspect needed in life: actual quiet.

I was deceived into thinking that productivity meant checking tasks off my to-do list. Now I know the truth, that productivity can look like rest. Productivity can mean that I’m sitting, savoring, breathing, and simply being loved by the Father in the moments of quiet. Nothing in this world is more productive.

Do I miss out on that precious and much needed hour of work time? No. I absolutely do not. The work is still there. The work still gets done (no it doesn’t). There’s peace in my heart that didn’t exist before I started giving my days to God in the quiet, and this means much, much more than a house full of completed check-lists.

All that to say: Making this French Toast Casserole at night, then effortlessly slipping it into the oven first thing in the morning means that I can still present an amazing breakfast to my family while still enjoying my quiet morning with the Lord. (Though to be clear, sometimes I present a half-hearted breakfast of stale cereal because as easy as this recipe is, I don’t have time to do something like this every night. No one ever died eating the stale cereal and everyone is happier when Mom starts her day with Jesus.)

Simple Overnight Pumpkin Spice French Toast Casserole

Simple Overnight Pumpkin Spice French Toast Casserole
 
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Author:
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 1 loaf whole grain bread
  • 2½ cups whole milk
  • ¼ cup brown sugar or sucanat
  • 6 eggs
  • 8 ounces pumpkin puree
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 Tablespoon Pumpkin Spice*
  • Topping:
  • ½ cup melted butter
  • ¼ cup brown sugar or sucanat
  • ⅓ cup pecan
  • 1 Tablespoon Pumpkin Spice*
Instructions
  1. Cut bread into cubes and spread them into a 9x13 inch baking pan. Set aside.
  2. In a bowl, whisk milk, sugar, eggs, pumpkin puree, vanilla, and pumpkin spice.
  3. Pour liquids over the bread cubes.
  4. Cover the pan and refrigerate overnight (or all day if you plan to make this in the evening for dinner).
  5. Before baking, stir together the topping ingredients.
  6. Sprinkle topping over the prepared casserole.
  7. Place casserole into a COLD oven, then turn it on to 350 degrees.
  8. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until casserole is lightly browned.
  9. Serve with real maple syrup.

*Find the recipe for our Pumpkin Spice mix here. Or substitute: 1 teaspoon ground cloves, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg in this recipe.

Simple Overnight Pumpkin Spice French Toast Casserole

 

Have you been able to find some quiet moments with the Lord in your day? What time of day works best for you to do this?

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

11 FREE Early Learning Tools Worth $100 (This week only!)

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This is only the beginning of all the fun we’re going to have as we hit the big 10-year mark here at Heavenly Homemakers. This freebie offer happened to land in my lap just in time!

If you or someone you know has young children at home, you must take advantage of this freebie! You can get 11 Early Learning Tools worth $100 for FREE – no catch! It’s just free. And it’s full of professional pre-school materials! Share the love!

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I included my Kids Character Charts in this free package, so if you’ve been eyeing that, here’s you chance to get the entire set for free!

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Yep, that’s free right now. Along with all of this:

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We’ve got more freebies to share later this week, and a big giveaway coming up as we celebrate 10 years at Heavenly Homemakers! For today, head over here to get this great Early Learning Freebie package!!

Get the FREE Early Learners package here.

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

Hope for the {Tired} Married Women

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I have something for you today, and it’s rather time sensitive, so I’ll talk fast.

The best resource I’ve found to bless Christian women in the bedroom is Sheila Gregoire’s Boost Your Libido eCourse. It’s scripture based, and professionally, beautifully and sensitively put together. To be sure, because this blesses the wife, it also blesses the husband, which of course blesses the entire household. Not that my teenagers want to think about this aspect of their parent’s lives {shudder}.

boost your libido

I’m bringing up this topic in the midst of the normal recipes and homemaking encouragement I share because if you’re a married gal this, too, is a part of heavenly homemaking.

I mentioned Sheila’s eCourse a few months ago because it was a part of the 2017 Ultimate Homemaking Bundle, which gave us all a big discount on this resource! I’m mentioning it again now to remind all who bought it then to dust it off and take another look for some great encouragement and guidance.

And if you didn’t buy it then, I wanted to let you know that the 2017 UHB is back for a quick flash sale today and tomorrow! (October 23-24).

ultimate bundle 2017

The blessings of this eCourse are many, so take advantage of getting it at a big discount! The course alone costs $39, but you can get it plus 105 other homemaking resources right now for just $29.97. It’s tough to beat!

Truly, buy the bundle just so you can get the Boost Your Libido eCourse for 10 bucks off. The rest is gravy. Frosting. Cream. Apparently I’m hungry.

BONUS

If you buy the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle through my links during this flash sale, I’ll give you my gorgeous Surrendered Heart Mini eCourse for FREE. Yep! It’s worth $12, and I want you to have both of these great resources to bless your marriage! (This is likely the final time I will offer this for free.)

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What great gifts you’ll be giving your marriage!

So let’s review:

Ultimate Homemaking Bundle Flash Sale

Once you purchase the bundle, shoot me an email ([email protected]) and I’ll send you the Surrendered Heart Packet!

The links in this post are my affiliate links.

P.S. This offer ends Tuesday, October 24!

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

Guess What’s Coming November 1? (Besides Tears of Joy, Obviously)

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You know how you look at your kid or your brother’s kid or your dog or even your car, and you think, “How is it that you are this old already? Where has the time gone?”

And then all the happy memories come flooding back because when we get into reminisce mode, we can only recall the joyful, sweet, darling moments and suddenly, everything about our recollections seem to only be perfect.

This is where I am right now. I’m remembering this:

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And this:

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And this:

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And this:

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And this:

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So many memories. So many hours sitting at this keyboard. So many ideas, challenges, learning curves, flops, and successes.

4,450+ posts. 1,000+ recipes. 124,600+ comments. Thousands and thousands of new friends. Joy beyond measure.

My dear friends,

HeavenlyHomemakers.com is turning 10 years old November 1.

It started with this: My very first blog post. It is so pitiful that I’m giggling at what blogging used to be and how little I knew back in the day. But every adventure starts somewhere. Mine started with a thumbnail picture and a few hesitant words all while I was saying, “Wait. What does this button do?”

My faithful friend Charlene patiently and lovingly taught me everything she could about starting a blog after God gave her the vision and she said to me, “Laura, you know a lot of stuff. You should put it out there for people on a blog.”

Of course I eagerly followed her divinely inspired declaration with, “Oh. What’s a blog?”

But the rest is history.

God opened big doors that day, helping me to discover my love of writing and gifting me with the opportunity to share my love of food and family.

My kids ranged in ages from 2-9 back then.

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They loved it that I wanted to share all their fun pictures and daily activities with you.

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You’ve watched my boys grow up. You’ve stuck with me as I’ve navigated these waters of parenting boys turning into men.

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You celebrated with me when God helped my youngest finally defeat his chronic eczema.

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You were there the day my oldest caught up to me and we stood nose-to-nose.

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You were there the day his much taller self left for Ecuador.

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And the day he graduated from high school.

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You’ve walked with me through some of my most challenging days, and many of my flops.

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ranch disaster

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You’ve been my cheerleaders, my sounding board, the ones who have handed me virtual tissues and offered me smiles and hugs. You’ve laughed with me, encouraged me, hung out with me, shared your knowledge with me, and held me accountable.

You’ve met up with me and taught me to love coffee.

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How great is our God that He created this wonderful community back in November 2007? While I sure didn’t know what a blog was then, God did. He knew what we all needed and he created it, right here. He’s such a neat, fun, good God. Aren’t we blessed to be so loved by Him?

So here we are, coming up on November 2017.

Mostly, I want to say, “Thank you!!” Thank you, God. Thank you, Readers. Ten years is a long time to stick around, but I’ll venture to say, “We ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”

What might the next ten years bring in this blogging world? Only God knows, but as long as He gives the green light, I’ll be right here with you.

We’re celebrating this ten year blogging victory with something many of you have been requesting for quite some time. I started this project two years ago, eagerly asking for your input as your vote mattered most in this. The timing couldn’t be more perfect as we hit the 10th birthday of HeavenlyHomemakers.com.

It’s here!!!

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It’s a real book, IN PRINT, and you can order it from Amazon right away! It shares the best posts and most popular recipes from 2007 to now. It’s big – 161 pages. It’s chapters share the Best of Times I wrote about:

  • Parenting
  • Homemaking
  • Food
  • Homeschooling
  • Surrender
  • Marriage
  • Life and of course…
  • Chickens

Obviously there had to be a chapter about God being bigger than a free range chicken, how I fended off mean roosters, how I blackened the chicken on our grill, and well, as it all came together it just seemed obvious that we needed a Chicken Chapter.

I can’t wait for this book to be in all of our hands!!!!

There’s more celebration to come in November as we hit the 10 year mark here at Heavenly Homemakers. Watch for the book launch on November 1, a Nutrimill giveaway, and some super secret fun announcements! While we’re waiting for the big day, I’d love to hear:

How long have you been a Heavenly Homemakers reader?

Whether long or short, I hope you all know how much you mean to me. Your part of my journey is a gift, and I love you for making this site what it is. God is good, all the time.

Grab your copy of The Best of Heavenly Homemakers here.

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

From Burrito Bar to Casserole – a 5 Minute Way to Use Leftovers!

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Allow me to tell you about two of my favorite new Simple Meals tricks! From Burrito Bar to Casserole, here are two meals that go together super easily!

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The first favorite Simple Meals trick is this: Any time I’ve been privileged to feed a large crowd lately, I have been setting up a Burrito Bar. I fed Asa’s soccer team this way (35+ college male athletes, phew!). I fed Matt’s soccer team this way (20+ college women athletes – Matt’s their assistant coach).

It is important, yet frustrating, to note that I took no pictures of either meal because I always get too busy with the food and the fellowship and I forget to take a picture. I regret this every time. But moving on…

What is great about setting up a Burrito Bar is that each person can build a burrito (or three) to his or her liking. And best yet, those who have food allergies can still eat this meal! (My gluten free friends skip the tortilla but can eat everything else. My dairy free friends can skip the cheese and sour cream and eat everything else. It’s so simple!)

Burrito Bar Fixin’s

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And now for my second favorite Simple Meals trick! After I’m finished serving the Burrito Bar, I stir together the leftovers and spread it into a casserole dish. This makes it super easy to put away leftovers! And it makes for a very delicious meal on another day, which takes zero effort!

I fully admit that this doesn’t look super appetizing. For shame. Something so delicious should not look so…blah.

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I will now attempt to give you an idea of measurements so that you, too, can stir together Burrito Bar leftovers and create a new meal of…what shall we call it? Burrito Bar Casserole? Cheesy Mexican Rice? Mom’s Night Off? Yes, let’s call it that.

From Burrito Bar To Casserole

From Burrito Bar to Casserole - a 5 Minute Way to Use Leftovers!
 
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Author:
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • Leftover cooked chicken or hamburger (1-2 pounds)
  • Leftover cooked rice (2-3 cups)
  • Leftover beans (up to 2 cups)
  • Salsa (2-3 cups)
  • Sour Cream (2-3 cups)
  • Shredded cheese (1-3 cups, optional)
Instructions
  1. Stir these leftovers together, not worrying much about the measurements!
  2. Spread the mixture into a 9x13 inch casserole dish.
  3. Top it with cheese (optional).
  4. Cover and refrigerate until ready to warm and serve. Or cover and freeze for up to two months.
  5. When you are ready to serve this meal, cover it with foil and slide it into a cold oven.
  6. Bake a refrigerated casserole at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Bake a frozen casserole at 275 degrees for 2-3 hours or until hot and bubbly.

From Burrito to Casserole - a 5 minute way to use leftovers

Do not get stuck on the measurements for this “casserole.” Simply stir the leftovers together until it looks right for your family. Then your kids might do what mine did, take one bite, and say, “This is actually pretty good.”

Actually?

Yes, because it’s so shocking that my food would taste good. (Okay, but in their defense, it didn’t look super tasty, right?)

More Simple Recipes

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Make life even simpler when you sign up to receive our weekly Menu Planning Packets. One tiny price, loads of weekly help. Read about this and sign up here!

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

An Update on our School Year (Our Schedule, Curriculum, Homeschool, Public School, College, oh my!)

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Way back in August when I shared this very delicious Whole Wheat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffin recipe, I mentioned a bit about our school year and our family Bible time. Several asked for more information, so here I am, a month and a half later, finally getting around to writing a few details about our schedule and curriculum.

schedule and curriculum

The good news: So far, this year isn’t as difficult as the past three years have been. Thank you, God. Our high school aged sons had some tougher classes during those years that threatened to push both student and mother over the edge of sanity. Everything in comparison seems easier this year, even though it’s still hard work. So here we are, not losing our sanity. Mostly.

This year we have:

Asa ~ age 20, a college junior

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Of course he’s not still homeschooling or even living at home, but I thought you might like an update on him anyway. :) Asa lives on the York College campus across town, so we still get to see him from time to time! He’s in the thick of his Business Communications degree plan, is known as “the video guy” on campus, and is well on his way to making a career of videography and photography. He’s paying his way through school with his camera, by studying hard so he can keep his academic scholarship (he has to maintain a 3.75 gpa or higher, phew!), plus he’s got a soccer and a choir scholarship. Somehow he keeps up with all of this, along with heavy involvement on campus, without ever sleeping. Also, he has an adorable girlfriend. Be still my heart.

Justus ~ age 17.5, a high school senior

Justus Senior6600

He is all but finished with his high school graduation requirements, so he is focusing now on getting more college credits under his belt. (We heart dual credits!) He’s taking World Literature on the York College campus, and Intro To Business at the public high school for college credit.

Big News! Nebraska changed their requirements this year for homeschoolers. In order to participate in extracurricular activities at the public school, homeschoolers only have to take two classes (which is much more doable for our family compared to previous state requirements). So Justus and Elias are taking two classes each at our local high school so that they can play soccer with the team in the spring. So exciting!

Justus is taking piano and voice lessons each week, choir at the public school, and produces music on software at home each week too. Perhaps it goes without saying that he is planning to be a music major in college next year.

Elias ~ age 15.5, a high school sophomore 

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This kid is hitting his high school basics hard this semester so that he can begin dual credits next semester (or next year…we’re still working out some of the specifics). He’s taking Choir and Weight Lifting at the public high school for his two required classes which will make him eligible to play soccer with the team. We chose those because there’s no homework involved, seeing as his homeschool academic plate is very full this year (details below).

Elias takes voice lessons each week and has no idea what he wants to do as a career in the future. It will be fun to watch God reveal that to him in the coming years!

Malachi, age 12.5, a 7th grader

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This guy is so full of ideas I can’t keep up. He’d rather ignore all school work and instead develop his ideas all day (mostly with LEGOs and YouTube, both of which he’d like to turn into businesses). Unfortunately, he has mean parents who still make him do his Pre-Algebra. So, he works hard to get his school work done by lunch, if possible, so that he can go with ALL THE IDEAS all afternoon.

He is on both a city team and a club team for soccer this fall and is busy writing two scripts for a church middle school event in the spring.

All three of our boys who still live at home will play for our homeschool basketball team this winter (Malachi’s first year!). They also all referee soccer for our city rec league, and some for club teams too, which has been great money for them through the years. They all work with Matt here and there doing various handy man or lawn care jobs, which is great for their work ethic, skills training, and savings accounts!

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What does our school year schedule look like?

6:30ish I get up and have quiet time with God before the household gets up. The boys wake up to their alarm clocks so they can be ready and at the table at 8:00.

8:00 Our family enjoys breakfast and Bible time together (I explained more about our family Bible time here).

8:40 Justus and Elias leave for Choir at the public school. Elias has Weight Lifting right after that, so Justus hangs out in the library and does school work during that period.

Meanwhile, Malachi and I read World History together (Sonlight curriculum) at home. Then he heads to a computer to work on Pre-Algebra (Teaching Textbooks) in the hopes that he’ll be done with that computer before Elias gets home. I answer emails and do other small blogging jobs while staying nearby to answer any math questions Malachi has.

10:30 Justus and Elias get home from public school. Justus practices his piano, guitar, and does any college class homework that needs to be done.

Elias starts on Geometry (Teaching Textbooks), then moves on to English, Zoology, and Economics (all guided by Sonlight curriculum suggestions, but adapted by Matt and me to fit his needs/learning style/state requirements). He finishes his day with Spanish (DuoLingo) usually around 2:00. We’re trying to squeeze in some ACT practice right now as well.

Malachi does his English, Science, and Reading (all Sonlight curriculum), then moves on to Spanish (DuoLingo). If he’s diligent, he can be finished with his work by noon.

12:00 Justus heads out to his Intro to Business class at the public school.

1:00 Everyone (and by this, I mean everyone but Asa, of course) is home and we eat lunch together, if possible.

1:45 On Tuesday/Thursday, Justus heads to the York College campus for his World Lit class. Elias and Malachi finish any work they have left. This is the point I can usually get a little bit of uninterrupted blogging work done, maybe, sort of. (Not that it matters, but it is 3:47 right now and I have been interrupted no less than 13 times in the past 30 minutes. Working from home is so relaxing and productive.)

The rest of the day and evening involves soccer games, church activities, or ministry opportunities. Often we don’t eat dinner together until around 8:00 pm during the fall. However, our boys’ homeschool basketball season is about to begin, which will mean that they need to eat and leave by 6:30 on Tues/Thurs evenings.

Our School Year - Homeschool, Public, and College

Through each full day, God always provides for our spiritual, emotional, and physical needs. My dirty kitchen though? Well, I’ll get that clean after all the kids graduate.

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