Heavenly Homemakers

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20% Off Vanilla Beans and Extracts at Olive Nation!

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If you’re wanting to make Homemade Vanilla Extract for Christmas gifts – this is the perfect time to start a batch. It takes 4-6 months for the extract to “brew” so June is vanilla month at our house. :)

Through Monday, June 15 Olive Nation is offering 20% off all of their extracts and flavorings, which includes their vanilla beans! This is my favorite vanilla bean source, and 20% off makes their already reasonable prices even better (obviously). Plus, they always offer free shipping on vanilla beans. Bonus!

You’ll need 1/2-3/4 pound of vanilla beans to make one gallon of vanilla. Here are the details on how to make vanilla extract. If you haven’t tried this before – go for it. It’s so delicious and fun!

How To Make Vanilla Extract

This 20% off deal is also good for all of Olive Nation’s extracts. They have so many different kinds – it’s amazing and inspiring!

Use the code EXT20 for the discount at check-out. Free shipping only applies to vanilla beans.

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The Right Way to Squeeze a Lime or Lemon (How cool is this?!)

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Brace yourself for the most amazing kitchen hack you’ll ever read between now and precisely three to five minutes from now. When you next see your friends, or you strike up a conversation with the fella bagging your groceries – you’ll be sure to tell them about this, won’t you? I mean, everyone needs to know that the squeezing of limes and lemons has been done wrong for years but you now know the correct way to do it – so you shall therefore enlighten the world on the correct squeezage procedure of limes and lemons.

The Right Way to Squeeze a Lime (or a lemon)

I recently learned this trick, and it’s a good thing. I think I was well on my way to being diagnosed with lime-squeezing-induced carpal tunnel in my right hand. This hack has saved me, no doubt. It’s here to save you too.

All nonsense aside (and by nonsense, I mean completely necessary life-changing information) – this tip is really cool. You’ll need a lime or a lemon (was that not obvious?) and you’ll need a strong pair of tongs.

First things first: Roll the unsliced lime or lemon along the counter-top, pressing it down as you roll. This will soften the fruit and make it easier to juice.

Next, cut your lime or lemon in half. Grab one half with your tongs, like so:

squeezing lime 1

Now (aiming downward, for the love) squeeze that lime or lemon with all your might (I use two hands because I’m a weakling like that). Continue the rolling, the slicing, and the squeezing until you have all the juice you need.

squeezing lime 2

The tong trick helps prevent juice from getting all over your hand and running down your arm and up your sleeve. Not that this would actually happen, but now it most definitely won’t. Plus you won’t get lime-squeezing-induced carpal tunnel, so I think we can all breathe a sigh of relief there.

I first tried this trick while making BLT Chopped Salad, and I’m pretty sure I’ve made it clear that I have been eating that salad three meals a day for the past eleventy days or so because I love it so much. I’ve learned to just squeeze the lime directly onto the salad because life’s too short to squeeze it into a jar for the purpose of making a dressing. Just squeeze it directly, then pour in the oil, and sprinkle with salt.

Then, because you are amazingly efficient, you can use your lime squeezing tongs to toss the salad altogether (thus mixing the lime juice, olive oil, and salt along with all the other ingredients) and then to serve the salad with those very tongs. If by now tongs are not your favorite kitchen gadget, I believe you need to go back and read this post more thoroughly. Or maybe you just haven’t made this salad yet, for reasons I will never understand.

Grab you some limes (or lemons) and grab you some tongs and commence the squeezing.

Now you tell me. Is that not the most amazing kitchen hack you’ve read in the last three to five minutes? And have you made this salad yet? Do it already.

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Weekend Gratituesday ~ And Why Is There a Margarine Container on My Countertop??

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It’s a weekend Gratituesday. Why not?

gratituesday[2]

Tuesdays have been passing right along without a moment for me to post something especially Gratituesday-ish. Therefore, I decided to take the time this weekend to share some highlights from our week that I am grateful for.

(I’m pretty sure the grammatically correct way for me to say that would have been, “highlights for which I am grateful.” But really. Who talks like that? And anyway, at least I didn’t say ain’t or say something like I am more grateful then you know. It’s than. More grateful THAN you know. That one really gets me. Not that any of this matters when we are focused on that for which we are grateful.)

So where shall we begin?

One of the biggest highlights of our week was that we received a surprise visit from my cousin and his family. Their kids are similar in age to our older kids and we rarely get to see them. While traveling, they drove an extra few hours out of their way to see us on Wednesday/Thursday. We grilled chicken and had a feast, followed by Strawberry Cheesecake Parfaits.

june 13

All the kids and the dads spent hours in our yard playing soccer. It was awesome. We moms cheered and swatted mosquitoes on the side line. I love this picture:

june 14

After we sent them off the next day, Asa and I drove three hours to watch his girl compete in the Miss Nebraska pageant. Here she is singing for the talent competition. I teared up as she sang The Revelation Song – proclaiming her faith right there on stage, “Holy, holy, holy…is the Lord God almighty, who was and is and is to come.”

june 19

Tonight (Saturday) is the final competition. I’ll update as soon as I hear the results.
UPDATE: She didn’t win Miss Nebraska. We are so proud of her for her hard work and commitment to staying true to her values and faith during this. Now she can breathe and enjoy her summer counseling at church camps!

Asa and I drove all the way home that night, doing whatever we had to do to keep ourselves awake and safe until we got back at 1:30 am. It was so worth the drive. When we walked into the house, what would be the first thing I saw? This. On my countertop.

june 15

A margarine tub? Who would dare bring such a thing into my home?! Funny that at first I didn’t even notice the Dr. Pepper and Doritos, etc – just the margarine. Turns out, the tub was full of popcorn. That, along with everything else, was the result of Matt having guys over to play games while we were gone. They left their snacks behind. The next day, I had a few Doritos. As opposed as I am to margarine, I choose to ignore the label on the bag of cheesy nacho chips. It makes no sense. 

But back to our week and the real food and blessings that came with it. I attempted to make a healthy version of the Chocolate Lasagna recipe I’ve seen floating around. I thought it would be a perfect Low Sugar Treat to add to our collection here. Yeah. Tasty though it was, my version turned out anything but picture worthy. And yet, here I am, showing you a picture anyway. I don’t know why.

june 12

My grocery store run this week looked like the following. As you can see, we cannot get enough fresh strawberries. Our family has gone through almost all 10 pounds I bought this week. Bet you’re wondering what that Feta cheese is for, right? Right. That’s for my other addiction: BLT Factory Chopped Salad.

june 11
It was a Bountiful Basket week too, so we are set on groceries for a while – especially since our older boys are headed to camp Sunday. (Also, much of what is pictured above and below has been eaten already.)

 june 16
june 17

Hey, what does a person do with Endive, pray tell? That’s a new one to me.

june 18

This week it’ll be just three of us at home with all the teenage boys at Soul Quest (on the York College campus). Matt, Malachi, and I will head to campus each evening to worship – a huge perk to living right here where this awesome camp takes place. It is a highlight of our year, for sure!

So now – your turn! What are you thankful for? It’s Gratituesday over the weekend, after all.

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How to Make Mint Extract

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Homemade Mint Extract!

Homemade Mint Extract 2

It is a fact that I went to the store last week with one purpose: To buy liquor. Not fruit, not vegetables, not butter…but rum. And also vodka.

I grabbed one bottle of each and walked to check-out. I certainly would have taken a selfie to show you all, but obviously that would have been impossible since I only have but two hands and they were both clearly full…of liquor bottles.

I should be used to this by now, but even after so many years of making Homemade Vanilla Extract, I still feel awkward about buying large quantities of liquor. Since I typically make so much extract at once, my cart full of liquor makes it look like I’m hosting a party for half the city.

Whatever. It’s just weird. But the worst (and I do mean worst) part is this:

The past three times I’ve purchased liquor for extracts – I have not even been carded. What?? Do I look like I’m over 21? Sheesh. (says the woman who has an almost 18 year-old son.)

Well, anyway. It seems that I just need to get used to it and deal. Why? Because it occurred to me as of late: Since it’s so easy and so cost effective to make Homemade Vanilla Extract – why have I not tried making other extracts?

Why indeed. Therefore, I bought rum and made Cinnamon Extract – which took a grand total of about two minutes (not counting the time it took to not get carded at the store). Last week I stole some fresh mint from a friend’s yard (and by stole, I definitely mean that she cut some for me, put it in a bag, and handed it to me with the promise that there was more where that came from and to feel free to help myself at any time) – and started a batch of Mint Extract.

This stuff is too easy. Why do we think homemade goodies are difficult? Do we know how to open a bottle of liquor and pour? Well then.

Be watching for instructions for making Orange Extract and Almond Extract. Click on the following to learn to make Vanilla Extract and Cinnamon Extract. And now…

How to Make Mint ExtractYum

1. Cut fresh mint leaves (or buy them at the grocery store), rinse, and pat dry.

2. Pull leaves off the stem.

3. Place about 1 cup worth of mint leaves into a pint-sized jar.

4. Pour in about 2 cups of vodka (the cheap kind is fine).

5. Cover and place in a dark cabinet for 1-2 months, shaking occasionally.

Homemade Mint Extract

Make enough for your family to use, and enough to offer as gifts. Wow your family and friends. They’ll be so impressed, and inside you’ll be thinking, “Well all I had to do is rip leaves and pour vodka. But yeah, I’m awesome.”

Have you tried making extracts? Which homemade extract recipes would you be interested in learning to make next?

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So What Do You Mean “Surrendered Heart?” I Want To, But How?

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Thank you all so much for joining me in our six week class, A Surrendered Heart: A Wife’s Journey to Love the Jesus Way. You’ll find the links to each class listed here:

Read Lesson 1:  Why I Married This Guy
Read Lesson 2: So, What Does Your Husband Do?
Read Lesson 3: How Selfish is Your Prayer?
Read Lesson 4: Serve Because I Want To
Read Lesson 5: It’s a Choice
Read Lesson 6: Don’t Forget

“What does it really mean or look like to surrender? I want to surrender. But how? How do I surrender my heart so that I can stop worrying, nagging, or (fill in the blank) and love my husband and family the Jesus way?”

Surrendered Heart ~ What does it look like

First, what surrender isn’t, learned by Laura, the hard way…

I used to think that surrendering self meant that I needed to try harder and harder and harder to be a better Christian. You know, like I should deny self by not ever considering what was healthy for my self. Self is selfish, right?

I thought surrendering meant that I needed to serve everyone (and I mean everyone) whether I felt like it or not and that if I didn’t feel like it, I must not be surrendering my self. (I’d never heard of setting boundaries, or if I had, I didn’t think it applied to acts of Christian service.)

I thought that being more Christlike was completely up to me. The Bible told me what to do, and it was up to me to get it all figured out, to get my ducks in a row, and to be all things to all people. I was ever so frustrated with this because try as I might I continued to fall short, let people down, be hurt, and dwell on all I wasn’t doing right. This, of course, landed me in a great state of worry and anxiety.

Painful though it was, God brought me to a place where I had no choice: It was either live in frustration and anxiety all the time, or choose to let God be God in my life.

I can’t tell you how to surrender. I can only tell you what God continues to teach me on this journey. I can also tell you that with surrender comes peace. God’s perfect, precious, indescribable gift of peace. I never had peace when I was trying to do all and be all. Only God can be all things to all people. We need not take on that job. Our job is to simply surrender our hearts and let His Spirit work though us!

What is Surrender

What is Surrender? I’ve written the following as if the Father was speaking these words to me. This is how God has been gently leading me to surrender my heart fully to Him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Surrender

Laura, you know what is right. You want to do right. You love Me. You want to please Me and serve Me. Your heart seeks righteousness! But Laura, you are weak. For all your striving to do and to be – you fall short. This is discouraging, because in your heart, you strive for good! But alas, the weakness, the worry, the struggle – it remains.

This is good news! Yes, it really is. Your weakness, Laura, is in place so that you will turn to Me. Where you are weak, then I AM strong. I AM here to be your strength. Let Me be your strength. Let go, and let Me do my work in you. It really is that simple.

I have already won your battle. I know what you’re up against. I know what you need. I’ve already provided for each need. I love you fully. I love you gently. I love you unconditionally. I love you.

Laura, do you trust me? Do you believe all that I have promised in the Word? Do you recognize my constant work in your life?

Then…breathe. Let the tension in your shoulders release. Open your hands to release each thought and to receive my peace. I have already conquered all of your struggles. Rest. Breathe in my peace. Take joy in all I have to offer when you let go and let Me be your God.

Surrender.

In place of your anxt, I fill you with joy and peace.

Each time your thoughts threaten to take you back to that place of fear or doubt or hurt or worry – remember that I am here, ready to gently fill you with My peace as you let go and surrender. Every time.

You are human. You will forget. I love you unconditionally. Take every thought captive (every single thought) and make them obey Me. Release them all to Me. Each time you do this, I will change the pattern of your thoughts toward godliness and trust.

I promise that I will never, ever let you down. When you let go of the control you think you have – which is harming you and instead, putting you in a place that is very much out of control – the peace that passes understanding will fill you.

Every time.

Surrender.

I love you, child. I love you.

Above all, remember my promise to fill you with my Holy Spirit. I was on the earth for only a short time as a man. When I left, I gave you even more – my Spirit which dwells in you to be your guide, your strength, and your comfort. My Spirit is a deposit guaranteeing your inheritance in heaven. Release your self and your thoughts to the work of the Spirit. He will answer every question about what you should do and how you should do it. I promise you this.

I am with you, always. You can trust me. I will never leave you or forsake you. Believe. Let go of self and simply trust Me to do My work in you and through you.

I love you.

Surrender.

Surrender

Surrender

Peace

Peace

With surrender comes peace. God is faithful. He rules. He is our God. Praise Him!

Read Lesson 1:  Why I Married This Guy
Read Lesson 2: So, What Does Your Husband Do?
Read Lesson 3: How Selfish is Your Prayer?
Read Lesson 4: Serve Because I Want To
Read Lesson 5: It’s a Choice
Read Lesson 6: Don’t Forget

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

Why I Rarely Make Big Meat and Potato Meals (Plus 9 of My Family’s Favorite Real Food, Real Simple Meals)

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My true confessions about meat and potato meals…

You know what I love about mashed potatoes? Eating them. Otherwise, I am so over mashed potatoes. Therefore, I kind of stopped making them.

Why did I stop? It’s not like they’re difficult. My family loves them. They make a filling side dish. They are a real food. And above all, we can stir lots of butter into them. Why wouldn’t I make them more often?

Because, this:

why i don't make big meals

I decided to make mashed potatoes a couple weeks ago since I had pretty much avoided the task since Thanksgiving. The family was thrilled. But making a meal of lamb chops, mashed potatoes, gravy, a veggie, another veggie – well by the time it’s all said and done – I had spent a very long time in the kitchen and had a sink and counter full of dirty dishes. That’s just one meal, people. (Except for the muffin tin and probably like, a spoon.)

I’m convinced that this is why so many people don’t enjoy cooking. Am I right? It takes too long. There are too many steps. There’s too much clean up. You know what? I don’t enjoy it either when it looks and feels like that.

Well, I’m not here to tell you what to do (except for never eat margarine). But as for me and my house, we’re only going to make mashed potatoes for special occasions. Otherwise, we’re going to stick with simple meals that don’t require many steps. Fast (real) foods that don’t dirty many dishes. Real food made easy.

Real Food, Real Simple Meal Ideas

Here, I’ll list a few of our favorite Not-So Meat and Potato Meals:

Instead of mashed potatoes, I’ve been making a lot of baked potatoes recently. I love this because they are so versatile and easy. Here’s a post detailing what I do with leftover baked potatoes.

taco potato skillet 3

‘Fess up. How often do you make mashed potatoes? (The real kind, not from a box. Don’t get me started.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you love the idea of keeping your meals simple and good, you will LOVE Simple Meals!!

simplemeals300

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Low Sugar Almond Fudge Bars

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Low Sugar Almond Fudge Bars

almond butter fudge bars 1

I hadn’t spoken to my friend Emily in weeks. This is not because we aren’t getting along (because, grown adults, hello?). This is because I was in the thick of finishing a tough semester with my kids and preparing for graduation for our oldest, not to mention we had to finish our bathroom remodel before all the grad company came (and try to squeeze in this thing called blogging). Emily, as well as many of my dear friends, recognized that if I happened to have any spare time on my hands I should use it to take a shower or scrub the crusted bits of leafy greens off the bottom of my crisper drawer – not answer emails, talk on the phone, or answer questions in the church foyer.

But here and there, I would get a meaningful email or card from Emily. She would start it by saying something like “don’t answer this right now” or “I’m praying for you” because she knew. She knew. (Oh, look at me, tearing up just a little.)

Well one such email – actually – I think it was a quick holler across the church foyer conversation went something like this:

Emily: You know your Coconut Fudge Bars? I really like them but it would also be fun to figure out how to make them a little less peanutty. I wonder if almond butter would work?

Laura: {blank stare}

Emily: Carry on. Maybe I’ll play with it and get back to you.

It’s actually amazing that I remember that conversation at all. God bless all my friends who put up with me during this school year. I am not even kidding. (And all of them nodded in unison as if to say, “Really. She is not even kidding.”)

Not many days after that conversation, I got this email from Emily with the subject line, “Stop the presses!” Here’s what she said,

Okay, you really don’t have to stop anything but I was really excited about this. I felt like it was my DUTY to test out the coconut fudge bar recipe using almond butter instead of peanut butter. Technically I’ve only licked the spoon so far but oh my goodness, it is so good! It really does taste a little like a crunchy almond joy, but more grown up since it’s not too overly sweet. Can’t wait to have one after lunch!

How great is it that she did my recipe experimenting for me? Our family tried the almond butter fudge bar idea on a morning I hadn’t made anything for breakfast and we needed to eat quickly. I mixed these up and found that Emily was very right. These are awesome!

Almond Fudge BarsYum

Low Sugar Almond Fudge Bars
 
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Ingredients
  • ½ cup almond butter
  • ¼ cup honey
  • ¼ cup coconut oil (or another oil of your choice)
  • ½ cup cocoa powder
  • 1½ cup rolled oats
  • 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
Instructions
  1. In a medium sized saucepan, melt together almond butter, honey, coconut oil, and cocoa.
  2. Remove from heat and stir in oats and coconut flakes.
  3. Spread mixture into a 9×9 inch pan.
  4. Chill for 2 hours before serving.
  5. Makes 8-16 bars, depending on how big/small you cut them.

Honey Sweetened Almond Fudge Bars

Hooray for great friends, hooray for a snack/breakfast/treat that can be made in about five minutes, and hooray…just hooray.

How excited are you over this almond butter version of Coconut Fudge Bars? Leave a comment to tell Emily “thank you,” because I can take no credit for this (except for the fact that she’s my friend, which is, of course really because of God, so be sure to tell Him “thank you” as well.)

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What? I Don’t Need Anything At the Store???

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I went from the craziest, busiest, most exhausting school year yet, followed by a houseful of company celebrating our oldest son’s high school graduation, to an entire week of quiet. I wasn’t sure whether to laugh, cry, do cartwheels, clean the house, take a nap, read a book, watch a movie, or catch up on emails.

I decided to skip the cartwheels (our health insurance wouldn’t have appreciated the risk taking), forget cleaning (at least for a few days), and ignore my inbox (eh, what’s 400 unanswered emails?). I had some uninterrupted writing time (bliss!), took many walks with Malachi while he rode his bike, read Farmer Boy to Malachi, did some special projects in the kitchen (you’ll read about them soon), and found my brain again (mostly, sort of, probably not really).

Why the quiet? Three out of our four boys went to Wisconsin on a week-long mission trip with our church youth group. That left Matt and me with our 10 year-old, plus a college student who had moved in for the week. I missed our older boys, but the week was very refreshing. I mean, our tiny little laundry pile amazed me all week long. (And then the older boys came back with trash bags full of stink, filth, and ticks – pictured below. Not the ticks. Just the laundry.)

laundry

I barely cooked all week because leftovers go a long way when the teenagers aren’t here to make me forget what leftovers are.

I am so used to buying mountains of food that without thinking two weeks ago, I ordered our normal amount of food from Bountiful Baskets which included a regular basket of fruits and veggies, two specialty fruit and veggie baskets, 25 pounds of nectarines, 48 whole wheat hotdog/hamburger buns, and 100 wraps. What? If the boys had all been home it would have just been another day of bringing home groceries for the week (or two). But instead, last Saturday I brought home this:

bountiful basket may 222

bountiful basket may 221

…and then on Sunday all the teenagers left for the week. Thank goodness for friends we could share nectarines with, a freezer for buns and wraps, and a college age young man who stayed with us for the week and was happy to eat whatever we put in front of him.

I will say that having all that great produce – plus the buns and wraps – made it very easy to put simple no-brainer meals on the table this week. I was ready for a kitchen break. I got one.

So now the older boys are back for the week. (They’ll be gone again to a church camp next week – such is our all-or-nothing summer.) I’m eager to cook for them again, and to fill them with green stuff that they likely aren’t getting much of while they’re away from home.

I don’t have an official menu plan made, but I thought I’d share a few dishes I plan to make while they’re home:

Well, that was fun. Hopefully you’ll see some ideas there you can use this summer. I love summer food SOOOOOO much. Mostly because I love summer. And food.

All of that to say that when Matt was heading to Walmart to grab some paint on Friday, he asked if I needed anything. Typically I need a cart full (to go with our Bountiful Basket, Azure Standard, and online orders). This time I just stared at him blankly. I didn’t need a thing.

Oh wait. Yes I did. I keep making the BLT Chopped Salad without the feta cheese because I keep not having any on hand. So Matt got us some feta cheese. It was the most exciting grocery shopping list ever.

Anyway, yay us. We saved a bundle on groceries this week. The boys are back in town (sing it with me…). Let us commence eating enormous quantities of food.

What summer food are you enjoying so far this season? Been grilling much? Have anything to pull from a garden yet?

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Low Sugar Strawberry Cheesecake Parfait (With a “To-Go” Option)

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Low Sugar Strawberry Cheesecake Parfait

Low Sugar Strawberry Cheesecake Parfait 1

There is only one requirement for making this recipe: All parties – including the makers and the recipients – must lick the bowl, dish, cup, spoon, and spatula when preparing, serving, and partaking in each Strawberry Cheesecake Parfait. Lickage (oh, it’s totally a word) is not an option. Failure to lick said bowl, dish, cup, spoon, and spatula will result in…you know, the missing out of the enjoyment of every last taste of goodness. It would be devastating, and friends don’t let friends not lick delicious creaminess out of the bowl. This is how you know how much I love you. I insist on the lickage (pronounced lick-uj). You can thank me later.

You know what is so amazing to me about recipe creation? It is that with just a couple of little tiny tweaks, one recipe becomes another – with very little thought or effort. Case in point: I basically took my Low Sugar Cheesecake filling, tweaked the measurements just a little bit, and spooned it into bowls with layers of sliced strawberries. Really. I’m not as smart as you didn’t think I was. It’s simply a matter of changing things up, of taking one idea and forming another, and also of being way too lazy to bake a cheesecake crust.

It’s also a matter of…fresh strawberries are amazing.

If that’s not motivation enough for you to go to the kitchen immediately to make these, then I should let you know that these little parfaits can be put together in a very short amount of time, they have very little sugar, and they are seriously bowl/dish/cup/spoon/spatula lickin’ good.

Low Sugar Strawberry Cheesecake Parfait (serves 6-8)Yum

5.0 from 2 reviews
Low Sugar Strawberry Cheesecake Parfait (With a "To-Go" Option)
 
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Author:
Ingredients
  • 2½ cups heavy whipping cream
  • 8 ounces softened cream cheese
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 Tablespoon real maple syrup
  • Liquid stevia to taste (I use about 20 drops) (Use a few Tablespoons of sugar if you prefer.)
  • 1 -2 pounds fresh, sliced strawberries
Instructions
  1. Place all ingredients (minus the strawberries) into a blender.
  2. Whip until smooth and creamy.
  3. Spoon mixture into bowls or cups - layering them with sliced strawberries.

Lick the blender. Lick the spoons. Lick the spatula that you will use to get every last little bit of goodness out of the blender.

Lick your lips, lick your chin, lick your fingers. That oughta do it.

Low Sugar Strawberry Cheesecake Parfait

And guess what else? I learned that these Strawberry Cheesecake Parfaits are perfect for a treat-to-go! Simply layer the parfait in 8-ounce jars, cover with a lid, and take them with you. (Pack a spoon though, because while licking is good, it is rather difficult to be that good of a licker.)

Low Sugar Strawberry Cheesecake Parfait - To Go!

Feeling more like a blueberry, a blackberry, a raspberry, or a peach? By all means, switch out the strawberries with any or all of the above. See, the choice of fruit is optional. It’s the lickage that is a requirement.

Go therefore and begin fighting over which family member gets to lick the spatula.

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How I Plan To Keep My Kids Reading This Summer

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All four of our boys enjoy reading. However, we often find that summertime lends itself to a more flexible or on-the-go schedule which sometimes makes us forget about important activities like reading books (and combing hair).

Last summer we tried offering a fun reading challenge that worked amazingly well. Why wouldn’t it? There were rewards involved.

How did it work? We kept it simple. For every five hours each child read, they received a reward. These were inexpensive and sometimes even free. But they are rare treats for our kids – so they picked up a book frequently.

Keep The Kids Reading This Summer

This summer, our three older boys will be gone more than they are home (mission trip, church camp, church camp, and church camp). During the few weeks they are home, they will be more than welcome to take part in this. However, it is our 10 year-old that is really diving in and taking the challenge. Summer Reading Challenge

I created a fun chart for Malachi – which he promptly put on the fridge. (Again, the other boys will take part too – they just don’t have enough weeks during the summer to warrant a chart.)

Here are some of the rewards we’re offering for 5 hours of reading time:

  • Pick a movie from Redbox.
  • Get an ice cream cone from Runza (89¢ – yes, I can handle that
  • Pick something from the dollar store
  • Go to Captain Red Beard’s with Mom (this is our local coffee shop)
  • Lego surprise ($4.00 mini-figure) You wouldn’t believe how much this motivates Malachi to get to the 5th week of reading 5 hours (25 hours total).
  • Choose a meal for Mom or Dad to make
  • Choose a dessert for Mom or Dad to make
  • Choose a board game (from our stash) for a family game night

If by chance Malachi reads more than five hours in a week, he will be allowed to move on to “the next week.” This chart is flexible because our summer is flexible.

I created two “open” charts for you to download, print, and fill in with rewards that will motivate your own kids if you like.

Summer Reading Challenge Printable Download and Print Summer Reading Challenge Printable 1

Summer Reading Challenge Printable 2

Download and Print Summer Reading Challenge Printable 2

Below is a chart without the “weeks” filled in so that you can make it work to meet your needs:

Summer Reading Challenge Blank 2

Download and Print Summer Reading Challenge Blank Printable

How do your kids do with reading in the summertime? Do they need extra motivation or do they naturally pick up a book and go for it?

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