Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

The Boy Who Brought Thousands to Their Knees

by 62 Comments

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

You know what I’ve really appreciated the past 8 days? My dirty kitchen. It is so normal. The laundry pile. School work. Soccer practice. Vacuuming. Messes. Sibling arguments. Busy schedules. All of the normal.

When there is a tragedy, normal tasks are a blessing. Does this even make sense? It’s just that the things I might normally complain about (dirty dishes and all of the above) became something I was so thankful to be dealing with this past week. After all, my cousins were in the hospital watching their 16 year old son fight for his life. Just days before, they had been doing all of the normal. How we long for the normal when suddenly nothing is normal.

Friday, September 11 our 16 year old cousin sustained a head injury on the football field. He slipped into a coma, underwent surgeries, became weaker, continued to lose ground. I’ve never been so obsessed with Facebook. It was my link to my cousins in Oklahoma when all we could do here in Nebraska was pray and watch for updates from those who were at Ben’s bedside.

Here’s what I watched transpire: All of us who knew Ben were praying. We all asked others for prayer. Others began praying. Word spread. People who didn’t know Ben began praying. In just a few days, I watched as thousands and thousands of people shared that they were praying. Most were praying for a family they didn’t know and for a boy they’d never meet.

This is love, this is Jesus in the heart of people, and this is powerful.

God answered our prayers, but He didn’t let us keep Ben. He healed Ben fully, but not in the way we all asked. Ben is whole again, but he’s not home with his family. He is in his new home. His forever home.

ben

Should we ask why? It never hurts to ask. Will we ever know? Does it even matter?

God’s plan for our lives, for Ben’s life, for the life of Ben’s family – God’s plan is absolute. Even if it hurts and even if it doesn’t make sense to us. We choose to trust God through the pain.

As we mourn our devastating loss of Ben, we are in awe of the beauty of God and His work in and through His people.

Because of this one boy – this boy and his family who are so loved by so many – thousands and thousands of people got on their knees and talked to the Creator last week.

Because of this one boy and his family, thousands of people are still on their knees, pleading for comfort and peace for Ben’s family. Tears are being shed, love is being shown, and Jesus is being glorified.

Praise be to God for the heart of His people.

May we not wait for tragedy to renew our relationship with our Creator. May we stay humbly and joyfully on our knees as we recognize the truth of the strength this provides.

Praise God with me for the life of this one boy – the one who brought so many into precious communion with others and with the Father this week.

We’re gonna miss you, Ben.

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

Finally! Free Shipping and 45% Off Palm Shortening at the Same Time!

by 19 Comments

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

Man, I’ve been waiting for this one!! It’s hard for me to fork it out for shipping on something heavy like Palm Shortening (because I’m spoiled…and I like to save money). I’ve been needing palm shortening, but I was waiting for it to go on sale and sync up with a free shipping weekend. I waited, and I waited, and I waited…

Here it is! It is a free shipping weekend at Tropical Traditions AND their Organic Palm Shortening is 45% off through Sunday! $26.89 for a gallon…yes please.

palm_shortening

How do I use Palm Shortening?

Well first of all, it’s almost pie baking season. Palm Shortening is a fantastic, healthy alternative to Crisco when making pie crusts (because our bodies can digest it well). I fry foods in it because it can withstand high temperatures without becoming hydrogenated (this is rare for a fat!). I use palm shortening to make my Whole Wheat Quick Baking Mix (like Bisquik), which is then used to make all kinds of goodies.

My Favorite Ways to Use Palm Shortening (and why it's good for you)

Yes, I love palm shortening.

Heard about the deforestation problem that accompanies the harvest of palm oil? This is not an issue where Tropical Traditions is concerned. They practice safe and environmentally friendly methods of palm tree farming. Read more details here. You can trust Tropical Traditions when it comes to healthy, nourishing food and the care of the earth.

Find the Organic Shortening here. Use the code 21159 at checkout to receive free shipping. The sale price is only good through Sunday, September 20. Stock up time!

Do you love palm shortening? How do you use it? Do you like frying food in it or do you prefer to fry in coconut oil?

This post contains my referral link. New customers who purchase through the links in this post will receive a free Virgin Coconut Oil Book!

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

The Easiest Way to Make Muffins, Plus 23 Delicious Muffin Recipes

by 13 Comments

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

The Easiest Way to Make Muffins

I love it when I order something and then I forget about it. When a package comes I get to be surprised! What did I order? What did I get? What’s in the box?

It is especially silly that I do this even when ordering with Amazon Prime two day shipping. There are just too many things to remember from a Wednesday to a Friday, apparently.

Remember when I told you about the fun-shaped silicone muffin cups for a great price? I got me some of those, then I surprised myself with them two days later when the package came. “What’s in the box?” asked the boys. I have no idea. And then this was inside:

silicone4

I think I squealed.

The 12 regular Muffin Rounds together with a set of 12 Stars is still on sale. You, too, could surprise yourself with a package.

Early this week I went with the freeze muffin batter for easy breakfasts idea. The easy idea just got easier with these cups!

silicone muffins 1

silicone muffins 2

silicone muffins 3

See how easily the frozen batter pops out?

silicone muffins 4

To clean these, I simply rinsed them well in very hot water.

silicone muffins 5

I put all of the frozen batter shapes into a freezer bag for another day.

silicone muffins 6

Then I baked a few muffins for a snack. Not only do I sometimes forget what I order online, I also sometimes forget I have muffins baking in the oven. This is what timers are for, Laura. Ah well. So they are only slightly overdone. This is what milk is for, Muffins. But are those cute, or what?

silicone muffins 7

Well, I for one am very excited about my new toys. I also love the bright colors. Silly as it is, the rainbow of muffin cups made the stirring and the freezing and the baking more fun. It doesn’t take much for me, apparently. After all, I’m the one who squeals when I open a package that I ordered for myself.

Did you get yourself some of these? Check out all the varieties I found, along with the coupons some of them offer. (These circles and stars are the best deal though.)

Here’s a list of the 23 wholesome muffin recipes we have listed here at Heavenly Homemakers:

23 Kid Friendly Muffin Recipes

What are your favorite muffins? Please tell me you’ve tried the “freeze the muffin batter” idea. Did you get some of the fun silicone muffin cups? Think of all the fun we’ll have!

This post contains affiliate links.

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

How to Make Refrigerator Cookie Dough – Save Money and Use Healthier Ingredients

by 14 Comments

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

This idea was born out of pure laziness. I was hungry for my Easy {Low} Sugar Cookies, but the idea of chilling the dough, and rolling out the cookie dough, then cutting out the dough…oh it was all just too much.

I don’t want to knead bread dough, I don’t want to roll out sugar cookies…has it really come to this? (Yes.) So here is what I did to save myself some effort and time:

I mixed the dough. I took half of the dough and I rolled it up in parchment paper – just like a tube of dough you would buy at the store, except that mine didn’t have a Pillsbury Dough Boy pictured on the side. I stuck the tube in the fridge. It worked so well, I did the same with the other half of the dough. It was too easy. An hour later, I sliced my cookie dough tubes. I baked my slices (just as the recipe states). I rejoiced that I had avoided the difficult task of using a rolling pin. I ate a cookie.

Sugar Cookie Collage

Just a reminder that these cookies are very low in sugar – kind of like a sweet, buttery biscuit. We don’t miss the extra sugar because they are so delicious just as they are. If you were wanting to try the Easy {Low} Sugar Cookies recipe but balked at the idea of rolling and cutting and getting flour down the front of your shirt – just roll the dough into a tube. You will feel so Betty Crocker-ish, perhaps a little Martha Stewart-y, but mostly you will break in to a Heavenly Homemaker dance. Do not ask me to show you what this looks like. 

One thing has led to another with cookie dough tubes in my kitchen. These are all the other important facts you need to know:

These Cookie Dough Tubes freeze well.Yum

These are so easy and fun to make, that I found that it made sense to make several batches to freeze to have on hand for all the cookie emergencies. To do this, simply place the parchment paper-wrapped dough into freezer bags, label, and freeze. Thaw in the fridge, if you think ahead better than I do. Otherwise, set the frozen dough tube on the counter-top for about 15 minutes, then slice and bake (according to the time and temp as directed in the cookie recipe). Yes, it’s that easy.

These Cookie Dough Tubes cost much less than what you can buy at the store.

I did the math, because I was curious and thought maybe you would be too.

One recipe of sugar cookie dough cost me roughly $2.60. This was using high quality ingredients, most of them organic. I get two tubes of dough out of one batch, each making about 18 cookies. This breaks down to $1.31 for one tube of cookie dough! Take that, Dough Boy! (I’m sorry. That wasn’t nice. You are adorable. You just aren’t good for us. And you are expensive. This is not your fault, because you are imaginary.)

These Cookie Dough Tubes aren’t limited to just sugar cookies.

Obviously, you can use this same idea to make other varieties of cookie dough. Chocolate chip works very, very well.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Collage

Need the recipes? But of course!

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Easy {Low} Sugar Cookies

I haven’t tried yet, but I’m very sure this idea will work with:

Whole Wheat Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Christmas Spice Cookies

How to Make Refrigerator Cookie Dough

Have you tried this idea before? What other varieties of cookies should we try with this idea?

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

How to Freeze Apple Pie Filling – Easy!

by 12 Comments

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

When it comes to making and preserving Apple Pie Filling, you have a few choices. You can can it (can can, can you do the can can, can you…). You can freeze it, which I will describe here today. Or (and this is by far the most novel idea of them all) you can put the filling directly into a pie crust and bake it immediately.

apples

It all comes down to how much freezer space you have, how much pantry space you have, if you love canning produce, if you have plenty of jars, or if you really just want to eat an apple pie after dinner on this very day.

But really most of it comes down to apples. You can’t do any of this if you don’t have apples.

So…do you have apples? I have apples. This year I decided that the easiest way for me to preserve Apple Pie Filling is to freeze it.

If you want to can apple pie filling so that you can store it in your pantry, you can learn how to do that here. You should know that I break out in a sweat every single time I type the word p-a-n-t-r-y. I re-read it four hundred and eighty times to make sure I didn’t leave out the “r” because that would bring a whole new unintended meaning to my sentence.

apple_pie_filling_5

Here’s how to freeze apple pie filling:

1. Wash, core, and slice apples into a large bowl. I leave the peeling on. (Once again I sweat and make sure I added the “l” to p-e-e-l-i-n-g.)
2. Stir in 1/4 cup sucanat or brown sugar plus 1 teaspoon cinnamon per every 5-6 apples.
3. Transfer mixture to quart-sized freezer bags, 3-4 cups of apple pie filling per bag.
4. Label the bag and freeze it for up to a year.

How to Freeze Apple Pie Filling

When you’re ready to make an apple pie, simply thaw and dump the contents into an unbaked pie crust, then proceed as you normally would to make an apple pie. Here’s my Whole Wheat Pie Crust recipe. Even easier, use the filling to make an Apple Crisp or a Salted Caramel Apple Crisp.

It’s wonderful having prepared apple pie filling in your freezer, and yes, even in your pantrrrrrrry.

How’s your apple supply? Have you been able to get your hands on plenty of good apples this year? 

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

Easy No-Knead Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls For the Freezer ~ With Honey’d Orange Glaze!

by 13 Comments

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

No-knead breads are THE WAY to go.

Cinnamon Roll with Orange Glaze

I’m not sure that my dearly missed, hard working grandma would be too pleased with me about this – but I’ve decided that kneading bread dough just isn’t my favorite thing. I mean, I’ll do it if I have to. But I’d rather stir ingredients, smile at the pile of dough (you know, for encouragement), then walk away.

This is how I found myself experimenting with my Whole Wheat Cinnamon Roll recipe. I had all the ingredients mixed together, but then I was like, “Really? Do I really have to knead this now? That just sounds soooo hard and time consuming.” (Really, Grandma. I know you lived through the Great Depression and fed nine children three meals a day from scratch with food that you grew or raised on your farm, that you worked from sun-up to sun-down in your teeny-tiny kitchen, and the only time you rested was to watch Judge Wapner after you turned 80. But do try to understand what I’m up against here.)

I figured that at the very worst, I’d have little hard cinnamon roll hockey pucks we could dunk in milk. So I did it. I walked away from my dough without kneading it.

It looked like this when I covered it up:

cin rolls 10

An hour later, it looked like this:

cin rolls2

Did it work, or did it work? 

Thus, my Whole Wheat Cinnamon Roll recipe is being turned into a No-Knead Whole Wheat Cinnamon Roll recipe because our lives are too full from all the hard work it takes to think about Grandma scrubbing all of the manure-crusted clothes on a wash-board.

What you see here is absolutely not a picture of me kneading the dough. It is simply me working a little flour into the dough after it rose so that I could roll it out without it sticking to the countertop.

cin rolls3

After I rolled it out, I spread melted butter over it and sprinkled a little sucanat and cinnamon over it.

cin rolls4

Then (like a boss) I rolled both ends until they met in the middle and separated the rolled dough with a knife. (Start on the outside, top and bottom, and roll them into the middle.)

cin rolls5

cin rolls6

I then proceeded to cut individual rolls, making a huge mess in the process.

cin rolls7

My rolls went on a pan in a most unattractive way because I leave perfectionism up to the perfectionists. Do not poke fun. They can’t help how they look.

cin rolls8

I froze the dough rolls on the pan, then transferred the frozen rolls to a freezer bag for another day. I will use them when I am busy not having to pluck a chicken for our dinner.

cin rolls9

No-Knead Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls – for the freezer (or for directly into the oven)

Easy No-Knead Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls For the Freezer ~ With Honey'd Orange Glaze!
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: 15-18
Ingredients
  • 1 cup warm (but not hot!) water
  • 2 Tablespoons yeast (active dry)
  • 2 teaspoons honey
  • 2½ cups milk
  • ½ cup butter
  • ½ cup honey
  • 4 teaspoons sea salt
  • 7-8 cups whole wheat flour (I use freshly ground hard white wheat)
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl, mush the yeast and 2 teaspoons honey together with the warm water and set aside. It will begin to form bubbles soon.
  2. In the meantime, stir together milk, butter, ½ cup honey, and sea salt on the stove until the butter has melted and the mixture has reached 120°.
  3. If the temp exceeds this, allow it to cool before moving on.
  4. Pour the milk mixture into the bubbly yeast mixture and stir.
  5. Mix in flour, two cups at a time until a nice dough has formed.
  6. Do not knead. (There is no need.)
  7. Cover the dough and allow it to rise for at least one hour, or until you remember that you were making rolls.
  8. Prepare the innards:
  9. Ingredients for the “innards” of your cinnamon rolls: ½ cup melted butter, ½ cup sucanat or brown sugar, and ½ Tablespoon ground cinnamon
  10. On a well-floured surface, roll the dough to about ¼ inch thickness.
  11. Spread melted butter over the rolled dough.
  12. Sprinkle with sucanat, then cinnamon.
  13. Roll up the dough from the outsides of the "dough circle" as pictured above.
  14. Cut apart the two rolled lengths, then cut the dough into ½ inch thick rolls.
  15. Place the rolls side-by-side on a baking pan.
  16. Allow them to rest/rise for about 20 minutes, then bake the rolls in a 350° oven for about 25 minutes or until they are golden brown.
  17. Glaze and serve!

Honey’d Orange GlazeYum

2 teaspoons orange juice concentrate
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 Tablespoons honey

Whisk ingredients together on the stove until smooth. Drizzle over baked cinnamon rolls.

To Freeze and Bake:

Place the prepared rolls about a 1/2 inch apart on a baking sheet. Freeze for about two hours, then transfer them to a freezer bag. Store in the freezer for up to two months.

To bake, place the desired number of frozen rolls on a baking pan. Cover and refrigerate overnight. (In the winter, I leave them on the countertop overnight.) Place the rolls into a cold oven, then turn the oven on to 350°. Bake as directed above, adding a few minutes of additional time as needed.

Easy No-Knead Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls for the Freezer with Honey'd Orange Glaze

These are deliciously easy, and mostly low in sugar! They kind of resemble those frozen orange rolls you can buy in the freezer section – except that these have a little bit of nutritional value and not nearly as much sugar, so we can all rejoice.

Are you a perfectionist? Did my frozen roll picture cause you to cringe? I’m just a “get the job done and move on” kind of girl…which basically means that I am a mess when I cook.

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

Are Essential Oils a Fad?

by 18 Comments

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

Let’s talk. Are Essential Oils a fad?

Essential Oils - Fad

Chevron decor, tatoos, and skinny jeans – plus a bunch of stuff I’m not aware of because I just don’t keep up very well. Those are kind of fads, right? I mean, chevron is the way to decorate right now – but in a few years we’ll all be sick of it just like we got sick of our peach and teal southwestern wallpaper of the 80’s (raise your hand if you remember this delightful decorating era).

We went from flared jeans to skinny jeans – as if we all sorely missed our pant legs and want to now hug them close. I’m not opposed to tatoos, but I do wonder if people might eventually get tired of looking at the very same thing on their arm for 60 straight years. This is why I didn’t decorate my new bathroom in chevron – because I’d get tired of it eventually. Clearly there is a direct connection in my logic between chevron, bathrooms, and tatoos. It all makes sense.

And then there are diets. I’d love to think that the “low fat” trend is on its way out. I mean, it is if I have anything to do with it. Eat real food fats like butter and coconut oil! Balance this with other real foods! You have nothing to be afraid of! There, I’m doing my part. (Yes, you’ll still fit into your skinny jeans.)

So let’s talk about Essential Oils. They are all the rage. Are they a fad? Or are they the real deal?

It’s easy to discover a product and declare it to be the be all and end all. The product that cures everything. The thing that heals what ails you and cleans your toilets too. Got naughty toddlers? There’s an oil for that. Feeling sluggish? There’s an oil for that. Need to sleep better? Oil!

Are Essential Oils a Fad

Is it for real? This is what I think:

1. Essential Oils aren’t new. We just think they are.

They were the first medicine. There are 188 references to oils in the Bible. Oils were found in King Tut’s tomb. Oils have been around for a very long time, but I certainly never heard of them until just a few years ago. That’s why it seems like they are the latest thing. Perhaps there’s a lot of hype going along with oils now because they seem new to so many of us. But they aren’t new – and I don’t believe they are a fad. I guess to some people they might be – as in they’ll get excited about them for a while, then brush them aside when something else comes along. But I plan on using them forever (she says, as she takes a whiff of peppermint oil).

2. Oils work. I can attest to this.

They’ve helped our family with countless issues. Our family has experienced their work many times over. (That was me, being very vague and non-specific because the FDA doesn’t allow me to say much more.) :)

3. Oils are easy. I love this.

I do not have to run my kids to the doctor every time they have an ailment. Essential oils are a perfect remedy to try first. I love having them in my cabinet so that we can often experience immediate relief when we begin to feel yucky. At the very least, they give temporary relief as our bodies do their job to fight off sickness. And there’s no “wait four hours before using again” like conventional medicines. Need to rub some on fifteen minutes after the first application? No problem.

4. Oils are not the be all and end all. Nothing is. Okay, well – Jesus is. C’mon now.

This summer our 13 year old, Elias, got his shoulder yanked out of its socket at church camp. Unfortunately, we didn’t know that was the problem at first. He just said his “shoulder hurt.” (He is a man of few words.) I oiled him just as Asa always does when he has a sports injury. Whereas Asa usually finds relief immediately, the oils didn’t even take the edge off Elias’ pain. I tried other oils. Nothin’. That’s when I finally looked at Elias head on and saw that his arm and shoulder looked funny (and by funny, I mean so not funny). Off to the chiropractor we went, where his shoulder was put back in place (also not funny). Oils are great, but they couldn’t put Elias’ shoulder back in its socket. There are doctors for this.

What are your thoughts?

I’d love to hear your experiences with Essential Oils! Do you use them? In what ways have they worked for you? Which ones are your favorites?

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

Easy (Make-Ahead) Baked Potato and Bacon Casserole

by 15 Comments

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

It’s a Potato and Bacon Casserole. Life is good.

Bacon Baked Potato Casserole

This is so easy we can hardly call it a recipe. I’m pretty sure my family will be having this every other week for the rest of our lives for the following reasons:

  1. Bacon. Of course. And also, cheese.
  2. We can slather it with Spicy Ranch Dressing, which tastes so good I believe I shall become addicted to it.
  3. I can make several of these casseroles at once and freeze them for later, making this easy meal even easier.

This “casserole” is basically baked potatoes cut up in a dish with bacon and cheese all over it. I’m sorry that I can’t make it more complicated for all of you who would rather spend many more minutes sauteing, braising, and broiling. This time, you’ll have to get your steeping and zesting fix elsewhere.

Everyone else: I lovingly suggest that you go scrub some potatoes. You’re having this for dinner tonight.

Baked Potato and Bacon CasseroleYum

Easy (Make-Ahead) Baked Potato and Bacon Casserole
 
Save Print
8 medium-sized potatoes (any variety) 1 pound bacon 2 cups shredded cheddar or colby jack cheese Sour cream, chives, and/or Spicy Ranch Dressing for topping
Author:
Ingredients
  • 8 medium-sized potatoes (any variety)
  • 1 pound bacon
  • 2 cups shredded cheddar or colby jack cheese
  • Sour cream, chives, and/or Spicy Ranch Dressing for topping
Instructions
  1. Scrub and bake potatoes by putting them into a covered dish in a 350° oven for 1½ hours.
  2. In the meantime, cut bacon into bite-sized pieces and cook thoroughly on the stove-top.
  3. Cut baked potatoes into chunks, spreading them out into a 9x13" baking dish.
  4. Sprinkle cooked bacon over the potatoes.
  5. Top with shredded cheese.
  6. Bake in a 350° oven for about 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

Offer sour cream, chives, and/or Spicy Ranch Dressing to complete this main course. Serve with a salad and another fruit or veggie. It is too easy. Makes 6-8 servings.

Baked Potato Bacon Casserole

To Freeze This Dish: 

Make it as directed above. Allow it to cool completely. Cover and label. Put it in the freezer.

To Reheat and Serve This Dish:

This is my favorite trick. Get the casserole out of the freezer. Cover the frozen dish with foil (somebody needs to invent a 9×13 glass cover for my pyrex dishes). Put the frozen casserole into a COLD oven. Turn the oven on to 250° allowing it to heat up along with the casserole. After one hour, turn the oven up to 350° and bake for one more hour or until the casserole is thawed, heated through, and looks like wonderful cheesy deliciousness.

Let us all add this recipe to our “Reasons to Make Extra Baked Potatoes When We’re Making Baked Potatoes Anyway” list.

7 Ways to Use Baked Potatoes

Switch out the bacon in this casserole for other cooked meats. Switch out the regular potatoes for sweet potatoes. Just whatever you do, try it with the Spicy Ranch Dressing. Ah-mazing.

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

Just Take the Next Step

by 32 Comments

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

Just take the next step.

I shall begin by boring you to death with a history lesson. Yes, the history of me. (Someone thinks highly of oneself, doesn’t someone?)

1. I was born in 1973. Blah, blah, blah childhood memories, middle school drama, high school graduation, college life, tall blond soccer player catches my eye. Nobody needs to hear all the in between stuff about burning barns and stealing candy bars.

2. Matt and I got married in 1994. After a few months he said, “Do you think maybe we could try another vegetable besides canned green beans?” Another vegetable? I’d only read about them in books. I gave steamed broccoli a try. It was so-so.

3. Baby boy #1 was born in 1997. Baby boy #2 came in 2000. I became a coupon queen, buying poptarts and spaghettios for next to nothing. Baby boy #3 came in 2002. Baby boy #4 was born in 2004. Life was a blur. Sometimes we all shared a peach. I’d only ever had the canned kind before. Did you know these actually grow on trees? (Peaches. Not baby boys.)

4. Life took a dramatic turn when Baby Boy #4 was two months old and broke out in eczema from head to toe. One doctor visit, some cortizone and a steroid later – he looked great! Two days after the medicine wore off, he was back to where we started. We had a decision to make. Keep baby on steroids, or no? Even with our zero knowledge of natural alternatives, we just couldn’t choose for our tiny little baby to be on either of these medications.

5. We began to learn about clean eating, clean cleaning (wha?), natural doctors who get to the root of a problem, vitamins, chiropractic, and the evils of margarine. The information overwhelmed my mommy brain, but I desperately wanted my baby to be healthy. Therefore…

6. I freaked out on everyone and tried to change everything at once. Out with the poison (non-organic everything) and in with the soaked grains, fermented vegetables, and kombucha. My family loved all of these abrupt changes and speak so fondly of this time in our lives. {bangs forehead with palm}

7. Months later, Baby boy #4 is still miserable. I’m going crazy. We all hate my sourdough. I get mad at all of America and the government and pharmaceutical companies. I drink Pepsi for breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner because it makes perfect sense to avoid conventional apples but down a liter of Pepsi every day.

8. None of us can live with Psycho Mom – not even (especially not) me. I decide to try a few baby steps instead of taking 817 giant leaps at once. Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

9. We continue to learn more about how to help Baby boy #4, who, as it turns out, has kidney and liver issues. We learn that eczema is not a skin issue, but a gut issue. We brace ourselves for the long haul (and we pray like never before). We don’t sleep much. The Pepsi tries to help keep me awake.

10. I learn that food isn’t something to be feared. I learn that food is nourishment. This makes so much sense. I learn that food is still fun. We buy a grass-fed cow (of the frozen variety).

11. I drink Pepsi with my grass fed cow.

12. We start getting fresh raw milk from local farming friends. It is yummy (unless it is the first few weeks of Spring when it tastes like drinking fresh grass, and then we make a lot of milkshakes).

annesfarm2sm.JPG

13. I keep getting sick because of my asthma. My natural doctor tells me to stop drinking Pepsi. I stick my (imaginary) tongue out at my doctor. She writes “No more Pepsi” on a prescription pad. I put the paper on the fridge at home. I sadly put down my two liter. I begin to grieve Pepsi. I decide that I have to do this. I want to be healthy, and I need to take care of my four baby boys. I pray for strength and sniff my friend’s Pepsi cans when I get a chance. I have compassionate friends.

14. Years go by. Canola oil and margarine are exchanged for Coconut oil and butter. I slowly begin putting new fruits and veggies into our cart (and sometimes they are not even organic because I learned to do what I could with what I had and let God take care of us).

15. It is 2012 and after  7 years of the journey, I still love sugar. I justify my sweet tooth knowing that I’m eating it in the form of honey, real maple syrup, and sucanat – and hey, at least it’s not Pepsi. My body is like, “Whatever. It’s all sugar to me. Bring it.” My migraine headaches get worse. I add exercise to my healthy lifestyle choices. I eat brownies after I work out.

16. I hate migraines and I discover a new natural doctor in a nearby city. She helps me begin to detox all my previous 39 years of…we’ll just call it “stuff.” I feel crummy sometimes because detox is not glamorous. Then I start to feel better. Then sometimes worse. And then a little bit better. I add even more fruits and veggies to my diet, because I am starting to love and crave them so very much.

17. My detoxing body can’t handle sugary foods. Feeling sick after eating a cookie helps break my sugar addiction. I can take no credit for this.

18. I continue to go (and take our family to) our natural doctor. We continue to learn more. Baby boy #4 is now ten years old and has skin that is so soft none of us (even his teenage brothers) can keep ourselves from touching his silky cheeks.

malachi_age_9

I’ve been on this journey for ten and a half years. The journey never ends, friends, because every day we all have to make choices and work to care for the bodies we’ve been given. I wanted to share that timeline with you as encouragement for you on your healthy living journey.

Do you want to make healthy changes in your life, but you feel afraid? Are you feeling like you should change everything at once? Are you overwhelmed?

Take a deep breath and…

Just take the next step.

Let me tell you something profound (oh, just humor me):

The healthier you get, the healthier you will get.

See? Profound.

But it is true, because in my experience – one healthy step leads to another. Once you’ve tackled one healthy change, then your body is ready for another healthy change (with no specific one-size-fits-all-plan). After that, you will be confident to do the next thing. Your body will begin to crave healthiness. It is a natural response to being awakened to the good stuff.

So start with one thing – and it doesn’t even have to be the one thing someone else is choosing. It needs to be your next thing. Maybe you can take a walk a few times each week. Maybe you can get rid of margarine and get butter instead (please do this). Maybe you can focus on drinking more water to stay hydrated. Maybe you can discover a new fruit you love.

Whatever you decide to do, just take one step. And then another.

I will continue to strive, but I will never reach perfection and my kids will sometimes still eat Twizzlers at youth group. But each step I have taken toward better health has led me to the next one.

It’s good to look back on ten years and see how God has brought us to this point. You will (and already) have a story too.

So one step. Which one can you take next?

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

Spicy Ranch Dressing

by 11 Comments

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

I just met something wonderful called Spicy Ranch Dressing.

spicy ranch dressing 1

Remember when I went to the Women of Faith conference with my girlfriends and got super silly? It may have been in part because of the meal we ate across the street from the arena before the event. Yes. I blame it on the specialty pizza. It was that good.

Who knew you could put thin slices of red potato on a pizza and turn out something amazing? The pizza had some sort of red-ish sauce drizzled all over it, and that very sauce is what made that pizza taste so good. Well, that and the bacon. Everything is better with bacon.

Of course I came home determined to replicate the sauce. Every potato needs that sauce, whether it’s on a pizza or not. So I looked it up on the restaurant website. It described the pizza blah, blah, blah “with spicy ranch dressing.” Bingo.

So I played. The result is too easy. Make this and forever drizzle it over your baked potatoes, your chicken, and sure – even your pizza.

Spicy Ranch DressingYum

Spicy Ranch Dressing
 
Save Print
Author:
Ingredients
  • 1 cup homemade ranch dressing (because it is good for you and delicious)
  • 1-3 Tablespoons of your favorite hot sauce like Tabasco, Cholula, or Sriracha
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
Instructions
  1. Mix together, and enjoy.

See how easy that was? You’ll need my homemade ranch dressing recipe.

Want it to be spicier? Add more hot sauce, chili powder, or cumin. Want it to be less hot? Cut down the hot sauce, chili powder, or cumin. Really, it isn’t difficult.

Spicy Ranch Dressing

Later this week, I will share a fun new Baked Potato Casserole I came up with to use with this Spicy Ranch Dressing. You will love how simple it is. And yep, there’s bacon on it. (And all the husbands everywhere said, “Yes. Keep reading that one lady’s blog – the one who gives you recipes that use bacon.”)

Give me more ideas besides potatoes, chicken, and pizza for this dressing. Think it would taste good on a salad? (Yes.) Ooh, maybe with Sweet Potato Fries. Oh my goodness, yes. What else??

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