Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

My Favorite Things Christmas Giveaway!

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Giveaway

We did this last year and it was crazy fun – so let’s do it again! 14 bloggers are giving away their favorite things. I’m joining. It’s like a Christmas party in our pjs.

Favorite Christmas Things

Thriving Home // 2. Happy Home Fairy // 3. Intoxicated on Life // 4. Mommy Hates Cooking // 5. Nourishing Joy // 6. Kitchen Stewardship // 7. Tried and Tasty // 8. Heavenly Homemakers // 9. Living the Nourished Life // 10. Brilliant Business Moms // 11. Gwen’s Nest // 12. Keeper of the Home // 13. The Nourishing Home // 14. Take Them a Meal

You’ll want to click over to visit all the giveaways to enter for a chance to win! And now….

Heavenly Homemakers Favorite Things Giveaway

If I had one minute to pull some of my favorite things off the shelf and gift them to you – what would I choose? What are some of the things I use at my house daily?

Out of my original list of about 40 things, I narrowed this giveaway down to 6. I mean, you can’t have my Bible, I already drank your coffee, and our cat is staying where she is. But guess what I did decide to include in this giveaway??

My Favorite Things Christmas Giveaway

Isn’t that list gorgeous?! I love all of these items and use them constantly at my house. I mean, while wearing a Flexi-Clip in my hair I will grind flour in my Nutrimill, use that very flour along with either Coconut Oil or Palm Shortening to make something delicious, then wash my hands with Coconut Oil Soap and rub on some BeeSilk. As you can see, not only do I use these products daily, sometimes I use them all at the same time within a thirty-minute time period!

One of you who leaves a comment on this post will have a chance to win a big package of all these products.

That really is all it takes to sign up for this giveaway. Leave a comment. I like to keep things simple around here. :) I’ll draw one random winner for this giveaway on Monday, December 14.

Something for Everyone!

I want to take a minute to welcome everyone who has clicked over here from another blog in this fun giveaway party. New to Heavenly Homemakers? Hi! We want to get to know you better. We want you to stick around. We want to give you free stuff. :)

You’ll soon learn that around here, we like to laugh while eating butter. I mean, there’s more to it than that, but that pretty much covers the basics. Please get your butter sticks and plan to come visit again and again.

We’re handing out these freebies to everyone who signs up for our free newsletter!

breakfast_e-book cover_sm

Free Gift to Subscribers

Get these freebies by subscribing to our free Daily Newsletter here.

OR get these freebies by subscribing to our free Once-a-Week Newsletter here.

More about the bloggers

Be sure to go enter all the giveaways in this blog hop! Allow me to introduce you…

thriving-home-logo-FINAL-WEBAt Thriving Home, Polly and Rachel strive to encourage moms to thrive in every area of home life. They try to keep it real when it comes to sharing about healthy recipes, raising little people, growing in their faith, freezer cooking and various other topics that motherhood and life may bring their way.

 

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

header march 2015The Nourished Life is all about approaching health and wellness from a place of balance. Getting healthy should not be another source of stress in your life! We tackle everything from metabolism to body image to emotional wellness to DIY beauty. If you’re ready to break up with stress and body hate, and embrace a healthier approach to, well, being healthy, then our community might be the perfect fit for you.

TakeThemAMeal.comTakeThemAMeal.com is a free online tool designed to coordinate the delivery of meals to loved ones in times of illness, new birth, loss of a loved one, etc. Meals are a tangible, meaningful way to show support and our website simplifies the process of coordinating so your time and energy can be spent caring for loved ones.

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TriedandTasty.com is a recipe website where fun, conversational writing is paired with top notch food photography. Join Yvonne as she warmly welcomes you into her kitchen and shows you how to wow your tastebuds!

logoLaura Coppinger and her husband have four sons ages 10-18. HeavenlyHomemakers.com is dedicated to inspiring women daily with healthy (and easy!) recipes, homemaking tips, spiritual encouragement, and good ol’ clean fun.

gn_square_logo_nobkgGwen is a busy Mama, a foodie who wants to be healthy, a southern girl, and an artist at heart who blogs at Gwen’s Nest. She shares recipes that taste amazing and also happen to be healthy, her research and experience with home remedies and herbs, ideas and tips on staying creative at home, and insights into life from her nest. Pop over and say hello!

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

Kitchen Stewardship header for newsletterKatie Kimball is on a mission to make real food and natural living possible for everyone. Kitchen Stewardship strives to present healthy living in bite-sized baby steps, challenging people to make positive changes in their kitchens without being overwhelmed, and providing tools to balance a family’s health, budget, time and the environment.

IOL_Header_DesignIntoxicated on Life is about raising strong families—body, mind, and soul. Rich and readable, Intoxicated On Life offers parents timely advice about how to have a healthy family in a world full of unhealthy choices, including books and articles about nutrition, natural remedies, wholesome parenting, and home education.

brilliantbusinessmomspodcastheader300by300Brilliant Business Moms: Sarah Korhnak and Beth Anne Schwamberger are sisters, podcasters, and big dreamers! They interview Mamapreneurs each week who are growing a business while spending time with their families. They’re the authors of Time Management Mama, the creators of the Brilliant Business Planner, and your biggest cheerleaders when it comes to growing an online business.

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

KOTH-logo (1)Keeper of the Home is a community of women in all seasons of life… newly married, young mama’s with babies, teens all the way up to young adulthood and beyond. We are passionate about being diligent and intentional “keepers of our home”. Enthusiastic about natural and healthy living, we are stewarding our health and the earth, as well as our homes, our times, and our families. In doing this we believe we Honor the Lord. We hope you will join us. Pull up a chair, a warm mug of something delicious, and share this journey with us.

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Happy Home Fairy

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

Leave a comment here for a chance to win this Nutrimill, Flexi-Clip, BeeSilk, Tropical Traditions giveaway!

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Low Sugar Frosted Christmas Cookies

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Some might say that Christmas desserts are treats that should not be messed with. Perhaps whole wheat flour does not belong in a Christmas cookie. Maybe “low sugar” should not be included in a Christmas cookie title. It’s a treat, right? Can’t we just leave it well enough alone?

Sure.

But the more I experiment with cutting down the sweetener in my baked goods, the more I’m discovering that treats still taste like treats even with the sugar cut in half or more.

Low Sugar Frosted Sugar Cookies

 

Wait. I don’t know how to write that. “…with the sugar cut in half or more.” Or should it be “…with the sugar cut in half or less.” I’m talking about cutting out even more than half of the originally called for sugar. Less sugar. Cut it by more than half, so that it’s even less. That is what I’m trying to say. Sometimes writing good sentences is so hard. Who decided that fractions would be smaller every time their bottom number gets bigger? Do you know how hard it is to explain to a small child that 1/8 is bigger than 1/16?? It’s the fraction inventors that are making my sentence writing so complicated right now.

Just for that, I’m not giving the fraction people any of my cookies. They can figure out their own half or more or less sugar fraction in their own cookie recipes. Merry Christmas, fraction people.

Well, there’s no good way to segue after this slightly embarrassing but mostly justified outburst. All any of us really needs to know is that we can cut the sweetener in most baked good recipes and not taste the difference. Truly this sugar cookie is still so sweet I can barely eat it. My kids – who love sugar-covered-sugar just like all the other kids – cannot tell that these cookies are low in sugar. I daresay that if we left these on a plate for Santa, he’d be like, “Wow, these are the best cookies I’ve had all night, but without the sugar crash. This mother must have used half or more (or less) of the sugar called for in the recipe.”

Good ol’ Santa. He totally gets it.

Low Sugar Christmas Cookies (That Don't Taste Low Sugar)Low Sugar Christmas Cookies

Low Sugar Christmas Sugar Cookies
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: 24
Ingredients
  • 1 cup melted butter
  • ½ cup sucanat or raw sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3½ cups of whole wheat flour (give or take)
Instructions
  1. Stir together melted butter and sugar.
  2. Add eggs, vanilla, and baking powder.
  3. Stir in flour until a solid ball of dough forms.
  4. Cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator to chill for about an hour.
  5. Roll chilled dough on a well-floured surface and thin or thick as you like.
  6. Cut with cookie cutters and place them about a half inch apart on a baking sheet.
  7. Bake in a 350° oven for about 12 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned.
  8. Makes 20-30 cookies depending on the thickness and size.

If you’d like to frost your cookies but keep them low sugar, I recommend this stevia sweetened frosting.

Stevia Sweetened Cream Cheese FrostingYum

8 ounces softened cream cheese
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Liquid stevia to taste (I use 2 droppers full)

Whip ingredients together until smooth. Frost cookies just before serving.

This frosting is not like regular powdered sugar icing. It’s delicious on these cookies, but does not harden or hold up well for the long term. I recommend only frosting a few cookies at a time, as needed. I use the term “as needed” loosely because we are talking about cookies here. Although these are low in sugar so the half or more or less sugar fraction does the lessen the guilt.

Take that, fraction people.

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Christmas Gifts, Anyone? Vanilla Extract For Sale ~ While Supplies Last

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While supplies last, we have some of our deeeelicious Homemade Vanilla Extract ready to send you! This is perfect for your holiday baking or to give as gifts.

We’ve bottled up several 2-ounce bottles which are great teacher gifts or stocking stuffers! Feel free to gift bigger bottles as gifts too, of course. And speaking of which…

We have a lot of 8-ounce bottles this time since that size is the most popular. Hopefully we have enough to go around, but don’t wait if you want it. We’ve sold out in as little as 4 hours in the past!

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As always, we encourage you to save money by making your own Vanilla Extract. Get the instructions here. You can even get 15% off vanilla beans from Olive Nation through December 5 (use the code VAN15).

If you don’t want to make vanilla, or if yours isn’t finished “extracting” yet – grab some of ours to get you through! We just bottled it up on Wednesday and it smells heavenly!

The prices below include shipping costs, so the price you see is the final price you’ll pay. U.S. only please. :)

Keep in mind that this is super strong, completely pure vanilla extract. You can use half the amount called for in a recipe to make your bottle last twice as long! Double bang for your buck!

Heavenly Homemakers Pure Vanilla Extract

2-ounce bottle
$8.00
Add to Cart

4-ounce bottle
$16.00
Add to Cart

8-ounce bottle
$29.00
Add to Cart

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12 Days of Christmas ~ Seeking Jesus Countdown Printable (How My Family Will Be Celebrating Jesus this Christmas)

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12 days of Christmas3

Christmastime brings out the “kid” in my kids. I guess in some ways it brings out the kid in all of us. I get overwhelmingly giddy about all the Christmas fun, and I’m…not a kid.

This year, my boys suggested that I should make them some sort of advent calendar – you know – the kind that included 25 days worth of candy or presents or money? No biggie. On second thought, knowing how busy I am, my boys were thoughtful enough to suggest that I could just buy one. They are so considerate of my needs. (Just don’t forget the candy, Mom.)

I knew they were (mostly) kidding, but still the idea of creating some sort of special Christmas countdown for them sounded like a lot of fun. I especially wanted to do it because after we had our conversation, they pretty much thought I would forget about it and not do anything. Ha! I’ll show them. It’s fun to be rebellious toward my teenagers. 

Fast-forward to later that day when I saw my sister-in-law’s Facebook post asking people to share what Advent meant to each one. One of her friends mentioned the story “of Simeon and Anna as they wait on the promise of seeing Christ, who would take away the sorrows of Israel…both old, filled with the Holy Spirit…and now ready to die because they had seen the salvation of the Lord.” (Luke 2:25-32)

After I read this, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I mostly focus on the birth of Jesus during the Christmas season. How lovely to think about how Simeon and Anna eagerly sought to meet Jesus on earth after his birth! I opened my Bible and searched for more instances where people sought after Jesus. So many people from so many different situations recognized their need for Jesus. Their stories are beautiful – so filled with faith.

THIS is why Jesus came!! To heal! To cleanse! To bring salvation. To be truth. To meet the needs of each one who seeks Him. To bring peace. To be joy.

During my study that day, an idea for a Christmas count-down began to form. In my excitement, I could think of little else. I wrote down 12 situations in the Bible where people saw their need for Jesus, sought Him out, and encountered His fullness. I decided that our family could read one each day for 12 days, beginning December 13 – counting down the days until Christmas.

One idea led to another as I thought of ways to make this more memorable and meaningful for our family. I turned the scriptures into decorative cards. I attached the cards to 12 lunch-sized sacks. Beginning December 13, we will open one sack each day after we read and discuss the scripture. Inside each sack, I have included an item that relates to the day’s reading. Some will be treats for us to enjoy, some will be something we can share with others, some will simply be symbolic. I’ve written the details below in case you’d like to do something similar with your family.

12 Days of Christmas ~ Seeking Jesus Countdown Cards 3

Ready to download the ~12 Days of Christmas ~ Seeking Jesus Countdown Cards?

Click here to join our Learning Zone.

All members of our Learning Zone will get continual FREE access to these cards and many more seasonal family learning resources!

I keep getting choked up and teary eyed as I anticipate sharing this with my family. I have such a desire to make Jesus a bigger part of our Christmas celebrations, and I can’t think of a better way than to celebrate with 12 Biblical examples of people who came eagerly seeking Him during his time on earth. May we also be inspired to eagerly seek Jesus daily for our comfort, healing, peace, and joy!

Here are the scriptures I chose, as well as details about what I included in each sack.

12 Days of Christmas ~ Seeking Jesus

1. Luke 2:25-35

The story of Simeon seeking Jesus in the temple. I added a Christmas-y candle to the bag. We’ll light it as a reminder that Jesus is “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”

2. Luke 2:36-40

The story of Anna seeking Jesus in the temple. The bag contains a 2016 mini-calendar. This will represent how Anna worshiped in the Temple night and day for years and years. It will remind us that our daily lives are also to be worship.

3. Luke 2:41-52

The story of Jesus’ parents looking for Jesus and finding him in the temple. This sack is empty! Once the boys discover this, they will have to do a search through the living room to find a treat I’ve hidden. This represents Jesus’ parents searching for him on their journey.

4. Luke 5:12-16

The story of Jesus healing a leper. This bag contains a new snowman soap dispenser. This represents “cleansing” as described in the story. Other ideas include fun bars of soap or cute washrags.

5. Luke 5:17-26

The story of Jesus healing the paralyzed man on the mat. I found a fun Christmas place-mat and folded it up (carefully!) into the sack. I also included a small treat we can eat after we put the new mat on our table.

6. Luke 7:1-10

The story of the Centurion seeking Jesus to heal his servant. Because Jesus healed the man’s servant, I’ve included a service opportunity in this sack. I put two muffin mixes along with some Christmas paper liners for the boys to make and deliver to someone.

7. Luke 7:36-50

The story of the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and poured perfume on them. I put two bottles of essential oils in the sack for us to use in our diffuser. All day the smell of the oils will remind of us of this story of forgiveness.

8. Luke 8:40-56

The story of Jairus seeking Jesus to heal his 12-year old daughter, and Jesus healing the woman who had been sick for 12 years. I added 12 chocolate candies in the sack to share as the number 12 is a significant number in this reading. Plus, there was much to celebrate with these two healings! Chocolate seemed appropriate.

9. Luke 9:37-43

The story of Jesus healing the demon possessed boy. This one is a little bit silly, but my big boys appreciate being silly quite frequently. Picturing the joy of the boy who was healed by Jesus, I put some goofy toys in the sack for our boys. Straws with mustaches? Why not?

10. Luke 19:1-10

The story of Zacchaeus climbing a tree to see Jesus. Since Zacchaeus was a tax collector who turned his life around, I put some cash in the sack. Our family will decide together how we would like to donate this money.

11. John 3:1-21

The story of Nicodemus coming to Jesus at night to learn from him. I got a new string of Christmas lights for our boys to hang in their room as a reminder of Jesus words, “But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” Other ideas include glow lights or bracelets.

12. Matthew 2:1-12

The story of the Magi following the star to find Jesus. I found a new star-shaped ornament for our tree. This will be the final bag we open on December 24!

12 days of Christmas4

Christmas Countdown Notes

~ Reading chronologically is nice, but I’m actually mixing up the scriptures and stories and doing them with our family in a different order than listed above.

~ In deciding the order, be sure to start with 12 and work your way down to 1. I know that is obvious in a Christmas Countdown, but my brain had to think through that more than once as I was organizing the best order for our scripture cards and sacks. :)

~ I purchased almost all of these items at our dollar store or used what I already had on hand. I wanted to make this special while keeping the cost down. Win-win.

~ The free download includes number cards if you’d like to use them too. I simply folded over the sacks and stapled on the number card along with a little curly ribbon.

Download Free 12 Days of Christmas ~ Seeking Jesus ~ Scripture Countdown Cards

I’d love to hear about any special advent traditions your family has! At this point, our countdown sacks are under our tree, just waiting for December 13 so we can begin. The sacks look pretty intriguing, so I think we need a special countdown for our countdown. :)

Join our Learning Zone here for free access to these countdown cards and many more family resources!

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Stir-and-Pour Bread Mix ~ a Great $1.00 Gift Idea

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stir and pour bread loaf 4

Wow, Laura. You sure do talk about Stir-and-Pour Bread a lot.

Does this surprise you? Did I or did I not warn you that the Stir-and-Pour Bread would change your life? I did. There’s no way I will ever go back to the “old way” of making bread when this recipe makes a bread just as good with such a tiny amount of effort. I can’t stop talking about it!!!!!

We could talk about the weather if you want. Brr. It’s cold. I could really go for some warm homemade bread.

Well, I tried.

So guess what? All of the dry ingredients for Stir-and-Pour Bread fit in a one-quart jar! This means that you can fill jars with bread mix, tie them up with pretty ribbons, and give the gift that will change people’s lives!

I mean, Jesus is really what changes people’s lives. But Jesus is the Bread of Life, so there is a very deep connection here that we should discuss at length. Perhaps while the bread is in the oven baking???

Stir-and-Pour Bread Mix Gift Jar with Free Printable Gift Tags

This gift idea costs about $1.00 per jar. For a more elaborate gift that is still on the frugal side, how about gifting this jar of bread mix with a new ceramic bread dish? Who wouldn’t love that?? You could include a jar of homemade jelly. Maybe a jug of honey. A stick of butter? Well, that might be taking things too far.

Stir-and-Pour Bread Mix in a Jar

Stir-and-Pour Bread Mix ~ a Great $1.00 Gift Idea
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: 1 loaf
Ingredients
  • 4 cups flour (I use freshly ground hard white wheat)
  • 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 Tablespoons sucanat or sugar
Instructions
  1. Stir ingredients and funnel into a quart-sized jar.
  2. Add gift tag with instructions to add water and bake!

I created a printable with instructions on how to stir together the bread and bake it. Print them, cut them, and tie them onto your gift jar!

Download FREE Stir-and-Pour Bread Tags

Stir and Pour Bread Mix Gift Tags

Check out the other recent low cost gift ideas I shared earlier this week. Tis the season to turn food into gifts, right? Right.

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When All Else Fails (and Is Too Expensive) While Christmas Shopping

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Christmas was much easier and far less expensive when my boys were into Tonka trucks, wooden puzzles, and plastic balls. My teenagers want guitar amps, video recording equipment, microphone stands…

We see these items as useful toward their careers someday, but the price tags are frightening. Doesn’t anyone in this house want a hot wheel or a pez dispenser? Anyone??

Three out of four of our boys need tennis shoes. (Yep, the shoes are going under the tree. I buy all sorts of practical items the boys need this time of year. I have to buy them anyway. Might as well give them the pleasure of opening them as a gift.) My teens have adult feet and need quality shoes for their athletics. Target won’t cut it for my teenager shoes. But for Malachi, who is almost 11, I can still skimp on the everyday shoes. I look for quality, but try to pay less than $20.

This morning I clicked and clicked and clicked over all the sites I typically shop. I mostly shop Amazon, Target, Eastbay, and Kohl’s online – clicking back and forth to compare prices. All the shoes I found were ridiculously priced for kid shoes (or didn’t come in his size). Knowing he’ll outgrow them quickly or bust out the soles, I just couldn’t bring myself to pay $30+.

Finally, I remembered Zulily. I don’t know why I forget to look there. You never know what they might be featuring from day to day, but typically I’ve found our family’s essentials and almost always, their prices are competitive if not really, really good.

Look what I found for $12.99!!

zulily shoes

It’s not the finest shoe on the block, but it’s definitely not the worst either. Perfect for my youngest son. (Hey, Malachi. Probably not but just in case you get on Mama’s blog and see that shoe – that’s not the pair I got you. I posted a different pic just in case. Keep the magic alive, buddy.)

I snatched up the shoes and paid for shipping, which still cost less than all the other shoes I had looked at. Once I’d paid shipping, I qualified for free shipping on every other order today. Therefore, I went back and ordered a realllly nice coat for my oldest son, a pair of silly socks for another son, and this fun t-shirt for my boys to put their grandpa’s stocking when we go visit:

zulily papa

Today I checked Zulily as a “when all else fails” option. It has now bumped itself up on my list of “always check when shopping around.” I can almost always find a steal on something we need. At Christmastime, they always feature even more goodies.

Do you do most of your Christmas shopping online or in stores? Have you shopped Zulily before? 

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Homemade Apple Cider in the Crock Pot

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Once upon a time, my friend Anne and I went to an orchard nearby and picked over 100 pounds of apples. At the time we had 6 children – ages 12 and under – between the two of us. Therefore, I think it is obvious that neither of us had enough to do with our time and we were frequently bored. That’s why we picked so many apples. That, and the fact that the apples were (mostly) organic, very delicious, and wonderfully priced. Most importantly of all though, it is so much fun to take your kids to an orchard to pick fruit. Days like this are some of my favorite memories of time spent with my boys when they were little.

On that very 100-pound apple day, we borrowed the orchard owner’s apple cider press. He kindly came to our house to set it up, promising to come pick it up again when we were finished using it. Our plan was to get all of our kids involved with pressing cider the old fashioned way. Wouldn’t that be fun?! It was a good plan. A beautiful idea, really.

And so we began.

Oh my goodness, I just realized I have pictures. I have pictures!!! 

cider1 cider2 cider3 cider4 cider5 cider6 cider7 cider8 cider9 cider10

Those pictures make me so happy, I cannot stop giggling. Such precious memories!!! I am going to sit here looking at those for the next few hours. After all, five out of six of those kids are teenagers now, so we are more bored than ever.

Well anyway, it didn’t take long for Anne and I to realize that having our small children press 100 pounds of apples into cider all afternoon was probably a bit unrealistic (you think?). Each child took a turn, then they all headed off to play. Anne and I spend the next few hours pressing cider like super-heros. We got stiff. We got sore. We had a blast. We were a sticky mess. But we had gallons of apple cider by the end of the day.

applecider1

It was fresh. It was raw. It was the best apple cider ever to be made or consumed on this planet.

If I may, I encourage you to find opportunities to pick fruit with your children. There is something so sweet about this experience. Make cider in an apple press if you ever have a chance. It is so much fun. You will look back at this and the pictures you took whilst pressing apples and you will be so in love with the memories.

In the meantime, I have another homemade apple cider recipe option for you. Just this year, I learned to make apple cider in the crock pot. It is much less work than a cider press, though obviously not nearly as endearing. Still, this recipe turned out delicious. I added no sugar! It’s just apples, water, and cinnamon sticks. Deliciousness!

Hot Apple Cider

Homemade Apple Cider in the Crock PotYum

5.0 from 2 reviews
Homemade Apple Cider in the Crock Pot
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: about ½ gallon
Ingredients
  • 10-15 apples, any variety
  • 3 cinnamon sticks
  • 4-6 cups of water
Instructions
  1. Wash, core, and quarter apples.
  2. Place them in a crock pot with the cinnamon sticks.
  3. Add water, enough to fill the crock about ⅔ full of water (but not enough to cover the apples and cinnamon sticks).
  4. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until the apples are very soft.
  5. Use a potato masher to mash the apples and release the liquid.
  6. Cover and allow the cider to cook on low for another hour.
  7. Strain the chunky liquid through a thin cloth. (I saved the solids and blended them to make apple bread.)
  8. Serve warm or store in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Homemade Apple Cider in the Crock Pot

This recipe isn’t super specific on measurements. I simply fill my crock pot with cored apples, throw in cinnamon sticks, pour in water to fill about 1/2-2/3 full, then let it cook. Your house will smell like the holidays all day long – an added bonus!

Have you ever made apple cider – using a press or a crock pot or another method?

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Simple {Practical} Homemade Gift Ideas for Teachers, Co-Workers, Ministry Staff, Neighbors, and Friends (For Less Than $2 Each)

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Simple and practical homemade gifts…the only kind I can handle!

lavender tea bags11

My mom was a super crafter. She had entire “craft room” with big shelves of totes filled with fabric, plus two of every craft supply found at Hobby Lobby. I loved looking through all her supplies, and I loved admiring all the detailed crafts she was making for people. She made everything from hand-pieced quilts to elaborate counted cross-stitch. Everything she made was gorgeous.

You’d think I would have the same crafty genes as my talented mother. You’d think. 

Laura only got the cooking genes. These are also good genes to have, but they don’t have the patience or the skill to turn out beautiful crafts. I’ve come to terms with it. I will forever admire the handiwork of others while I set out plates of homemade muffins. It’s a win-win.

Still. Every single Thanksgiving I get an intense hankering to craft something. I absolutely know that this hankering comes from the tradition ingrained in me from all my Thanksgivings with my mom when I was younger. We’d make it through the holiday feast, then she’d pull out the latest craft she had in mind for us to make for Christmas. She did all the tedious parts. I did all the no-brainer parts. (Laura: Place pine-cones in a basket. Mom: Make the pine-cone basket look like it came out of a magazine.)

Once again, this year I found myself needing to make crafts during Thanksgiving break. I even thought ahead and ordered supplies. The ideas I’m about to share truly are “if I can do it, anyone can” crafts. They are so easy, I actually had fun and didn’t want to scream, pout, or throw something while I was making them. (I might have crafting-anger issues. It stems from trying to follow counted cross-stitch patterns. I can’t talk about it.)

So my friends, here are three of the easiest crafts on the planet. As an added bonus, these crafts make great gifts, they all cost less than $2, and they are all practical and fun. Sorry. I just can’t not be practical. (I mean fun. I can’t not be fun. I am always so much fun. Except for when I’m following a counted cross-stitch pattern. Please, let’s not talk about it.)

3 Simple and Practical Homemade Gifts

3 Easy Homemade Gifts for $1.75 or Less

First I made the most adorable Lavender Oatmeal Bath Tea Bags (adapted from The Humbled Homemaker). This craft consists of mixing three simple ingredients, funneling the mixture into tea bags, ironing the tea bags closed, and then tying a ribbon around a few bags for a gift.

Do not the let ironing step throw you off!! This is actually the step I loved the most, and I hate ironing. It’s just that ironing the tea bag closed made me feel like an actual crafter. Plus it was fun to see that the little flap on the tea bag sealed when ironed for 8 seconds. I am now a professional tea bag ironer! I want to make more of these just so I can iron tea bags.

Lavender Oatmeal Bath

1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup Lavender (use the code HOME for a 20% discount)
1/2 cup Epsom salts (purchased at Wal-Mart)

Pulse ingredients together in a blender until they are well combined and in small pieces. Use a funnel to transfer 1- 1 1/2 Tablespoon mixture to small tea bags. Fold down tea-bag flap and press to seal with a hot iron (like a boss). Tie a few tea bags together along with the free printable gift tag below.

This recipe makes about 20 Lavender Oatmeal Bath Bags, which is enough for 5 groups of 4 tea bags. I realize you could have done the math on that yourself, but it is holiday time. We all have enough to think about right now. Today I shall make crafts and do short division. I am on fire!

Make Lavender Oatmeal Bath Gift Packs for Less Than $1.00 Per Gift

Download FREE Lavender Oatmeal Bath Tags Here.

lavender gift tags

After my bath pouches were complete, I spent about five minutes pretending that putting cranberries and oranges into cellophane bags is actually a craft. The “star anise” in this recipe is optional (for those who think anise smells like a jelly bean gone wrong). But if you ask me, the anise stars triple the cuteness value of these pouches.

Christmas Potpourri Pouch

1/2 cup cranberries
1 small orange
3 Cinnamon Sticks (use the code “HOME” for a 20% discount!)
1 Tablespoon Mulling Spice (use the code “HOME” for a 20% discount!)
2 Tablespoons Star Anise

Place all ingredients in a bag. (I used these Clear Cellophane Bags.) Tie up with a ribbon and a free printable gift tag below.

Make a Christmas Potpourri Pouch for $1.75 Per Gift
Download FREE Christmas Potpourri Pouch Gift Tags Here.

Christmas Potpourri Gift Tags

Finally, I found a way to iron more tea bags (be very happy for me). I had a lovely pack of Chai Tea from Olive Nation. I researched how to make the awesome Chai Tea Drink people rave about, then put together some Chai Tea Kits. Total cost per gift set: 98¢. Getting to once again experience the ironing of the tea bags: Priceless.

Chai Tea Kit

Funnel 1 -1 1/2 Tablespoons Chai Tea into a tea bag. Iron flap down to seal(!!!). Place a few prepared tea bags along with 3-4 Cinnamon Sticks (<—use the code HOME for a 20% discount) into a small gift bag. Tie with a ribbon and a free printable gift tag below.

Make Chai Tea Gift Kits for Less Than $1.00

Download FREE Chai Tea Kit Gift Tags Here.
Chai Tea Kit Gift Tags

Supplies List for these Gifts

I had plenty of ribbon on hand, as well as a big bag of Epsom Salt from Walmart. I got most of the remaining (really cool) supplies for these crafts through Amazon or Olive Nation.

From Amazon:

  • Pack of 100 Disposable Tea Bags
  • Pack of 100 Clear Cellophane Bags

From Olive Nation:

As an extra special treat, Olive Nation is giving us all 10% off any size order! Use the code CINNAMONGIFTS for the discount. Plus, if your order reaches $50, you’ll receive free shipping. AND!!! Your order of $50 or more entitles you to a free gift at check-out!! You can choose from any that they offer, but you should know that for this special promotion, they put together an extra big package of free cinnamon sticks – just for us! (It’s a pack of 10!) For all the fun gift-making purposes mentioned in this post, I’d pick that freebie if I were you.

I shall now continue to find more excuses to iron tea bags. I got Oolong Orange Blossom Tea in my Olive Nation order last week, so I’ll probably need to play with that. Beyond tea and tea bags, I made homemade Apple Cider in the Crock Pot last week with my cinnamon sticks and will be sharing the recipe soon. This time of year smells so good!!!

Are you making gifts this year? Are you a crafter?

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Thank Goodness I Got Ahead for Thanksgiving!

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Thanks to the Getting Ahead for the Holidays series, I was super motivated and had all the food cooked for Thanksgiving by Tuesday night. I did this so I could enjoy the holiday. As it turned out, I appreciated it even more because I came down with a cold on Tuesday night. Booooooo. I was so frustrated!!!

All day Wednesday I sat in my recliner blowing my nose, trying not to talk, watching Netflix, and being thankful I did not have to cook. I prayed that I’d be able to enjoy Thanksgiving. I took a bath with Epsom salt and essential oils. I drank hot tea by the gallon. I rested.

Thank you, Lord, for make-ahead meals – especially a make-ahead Thanksgiving meal.

Come Thursday morning, I was slightly better, though quite stuffy and low on energy. Matt and the boys cleared out the living room and set up tables and chairs. Brittany worked her magic to decorate. I worked on warming up the prepared food.

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My mashed potatoes (which had been prepared and frozen) turned into soup on my crock pot. Now that wasn’t supposed to happen.

I transferred them to a pot on the stove to steam off some of the liquid. It took about 30 minutes, but it worked great! Below, you’ll see that while I was sick, I wasn’t too sick to take an ugly picture of mashed potatoes steaming in a pot for you. Now that is blogger dedication.

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Meanwhile, all the other dishes sat warming in the oven. It took longer than I had planned. The more you load your oven, the longer food takes to heat up. Imagine that.

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I helped myself to another cup of hot tea while the food heated and we waited for our guests to arrive. We had super icy weather that day (still do, actually), so a few of our guests weren’t able to make it. :(

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When it was all said and done the tables were beautiful, the food was delicious, and we had a wonderful time with all our guests. If you look closely, you’ll see that I cheated and used rolls I had bought from Bountiful Baskets.

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What you see there in that 9×13 pan is my friend Maureen’s famous Pumpkin Bars. I need the recipe. We all need the recipe. Maureen? We need the recipe. ;)

Since Thanksgiving day, we’ve eaten more delicious food, watched a couple of movies, and played a 6-hour game of Settlers of Catan. Only the Coppinger family can make Catan last 6-hours. In our defense, we had added several variables, which always adds time – even if you aren’t a Coppinger. But let’s just say that some of the people in this family are verrrry thorrrrrough with their turns. (Don’t look at me. I am a short turn-taker.)

Kleenexes and sore throat aside, this has been an awesome week of Thanksgiving break. Tonight we’re having Lasagna, tomorrow we’re having a new soup recipe Brittany and I came up with, and tomorrow night Asa and Brittany move back to the dorms. School commences, along with all the normal real-life stuff like work and chores. Ooh, but it’s Christmas season, so there is much to look forward to!

Tell me about your Thanksgiving! Was it a good one?!

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20 Ways to Use Leftover Turkey and Super Sales on My Favorite Things

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Hello, Dear Ones. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Today I want to share some of my favorite ways to use up leftover turkey.

garlicchickenpastasm

20 Ways to Use Leftover Turkey

You’ll notice that these are many of my chicken recipes. How nice of turkeys and chickens to be interchangeable. Any time a recipe calls for chicken, just use turkey instead. See how easy this is?

  1. Turkey Sandwiches
  2. Turkey and Rice Casserole
  3. Turkey and Noodles
  4. Turkey Salad
  5. Turkey Roll Ups (Spread mayo and/or mustard on a soft flour tortilla, sprinkle on small bits of turkey, cheese, pickle, whatever…and roll it up.)
  6. Turkey Chef Salad  (Greens, turkey, cheddar cheese, boiled egg, carrots, tomatoes, peas…yum!)
  7. Turkey and Biscuits
  8. Turkey Pot Pie
  9. Turkey Tortilla Melts (Make these just like a quesadilla, just add turkey pieces)
  10. Turkey Tacos  (Simmer turkey in a little water with salt and chili powder…serve on flour tortillas with taco fixings.)
  11. Turkey Tortilla Soup
  12. Turkey Stir Fry
  13. Three Cheese Garlic Turkey Pasta
  14. Turkey Enchiladas
  15. Turkey with Spanish Rice
  16. Turkey Alfredo
  17. Turkey Quiche
  18. Turkey-n-Veggie Scramble
  19. Turkey Tostadas (Make like turkey tacos above, just fry your tortillas in olive oil to make them crisp.)
  20. Black Bean Taco Salad

I would have to say that my favorite way to use leftover turkey is in Turkey Salad. To make the most delicious Turkey Salad sandwiches, I make this easy Whole Wheat Stir-and-Pour Sandwich bread. Oh my goodness, that makes for an amazing meal when you add fruits and veggies on the side.

chicken_salad

Turkey and Rice Casserole is also amazing because it is a great way to use the turkey broth you’ve made while baking your turkey. And Turkey and Noodles? Well, this is what the family always requests after the holidays. It’s as much of a tradition as the holiday turkey itself.

What are your favorite ways to use up leftovers after a holiday meal?

 

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