Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Gratituesday: Nap in the Sunshine

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The past few weeks have brought too much sickness to our family. The six of us passed around influenza, then some got round two of it, then some got the stomach stuff, then once we all started feeling better, I got a respiratory infection. Blech.  It goes to show – we can do all we can to stay healthy, but we live in a fallen world. Sickness happens and it is not fun.

I’m still not back to 100% so today after school work was (mostly) completed with the boys, I needed a nap. The sun was beaming outside, and you know me – I love sunshine. It’s the perfect medicine for a sicky, right?

Matt and the boys, who all know how much I love sunshine, got me this gem for Mother’s Day last year:

nap outside

Today I took it outside and took a delicious rest in the sunshine. I didn’t actually nap, I think because I was enjoying the feel of the warm sun beaming on my face. But it was perfect – just what I needed.

Hope your family has stayed healthy. This winter’s sicknesses have been tough on almost everyone I’ve talked to. Hang in there, everyone!

What are you thankful for this Gratituesday?

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Vanilla Bottles and Beans – Free Shipping, Plus a Vanilla Bean Discount!

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How’s your batch of Homemade Vanilla Extract coming? You are making some, aren’t you? It’s too fun and too delicious not to try!

How To Make Vanilla Extract

Here is a picture tutorial on how to make homemade vanilla. I always buy my vanilla beans from Olive Nation because their prices and quality are the best. So here’s this week’s scoop on bottles and beans:

~~ Olive Nation loves Heavenly Homemakers readers, so they give us an exclusive discount. So nice! If you buy vanilla beans from them and use the code home, you’ll get a 10% discount. Shipping is always free on their vanilla beans.

~~ Through March 18, Olive Nation is offering free shipping on everything else in their shop. This means you can buy the vanilla bottles you need to finish your homemade vanilla project and save big bucks on what it typically costs to ship them to you. For this, use the code MARCHFREE.

$$$$$BONUS MONEY SAVING TIP$$$$$

You can only use one coupon code per order. If you need both bottles and beans, I suggest placing separate orders so you can get free shipping on your bottles plus 10% off vanilla beans (which come with free shipping anyway). Make sense?

Enjoy making (and using) your homemade vanilla!

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Garden Veggie Chicken Skillet Recipe {Quick, Easy, Healthy, and Delicious}

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Garden Veggie Chicken Skillet 2

Several of you have commented that you would love more one-skillet-meal recipes. Tell you what – me too. I have very few recipes like that, especially those that fall under the healthy, real food, easy categories. So I tinkered last week and hoped my family would like what I came up with.

Did they like it?  Well, would I be posting it here if they didn’t? We were six for six on this one. Sweet! (Actually, it’s savory, but you get the point.)   So now I present to you a recipe which:

  • Takes only a few minutes to prepare
  • Takes only a few minutes to cook
  • Will help you stretch the meat, saving you money
  • Is full of tasty veggies
  • Is a complete meal in one dish
  • Tastes amazing (my family said so)

This recipe filled my large electric skillet, feeding six of us. If you have a smaller family, you may want to cut this recipe in half. Also, while this recipe covers all your nutritional bases, I still recommend serving this with a salad (more veggies!) and/or some fresh fruit.

Garden Veggie Chicken Skillet Recipe

Yum

5 medium potatoes, any variety, cut into small cubes
1 pound uncooked boneless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into small bites (I use thighs because they taste better to us)
4 cups chopped veggies – any variety or combination (zucchini, asparagus, sweet peppers, mushrooms, and onions recommended)
1/2 cup Italian dressing (I use my simple homemade Italian Dressing recipe)

Combine all ingredients in a large skillet. Stir dressing around to coat veggies, potatoes, and meat. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 12-20 minutes or until veggies are tender and meat is cooked thoroughly.

 Garden Veggie Chicken Skillet

Garden Veggie Chicken Skillet Recipe {Quick, Easy, Healthy, and Delicious}
 
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Author:
Ingredients
  • 5 medium potatoes, any variety, cut into small cubes
  • 1 pound uncooked boneless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into small bites (I use thighs because they taste better to us)
  • 4 cups chopped veggies - any variety or combination (zucchini, asparagus, sweet peppers, mushrooms, and onions recommended)
  • ½ cup Italian dressing (I use my simple homemade Italian Dressing recipe)
Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a large skillet.
  2. Stir dressing around to coat veggies, potatoes, and meat.
  3. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 12-20 minutes or until veggies are tender and meat is cooked thoroughly.

The Italian Dressing is the rock star in this recipe. It gives the meat and veggies awesome flavor, plus the oil in the dressing helps in the cooking process. Delicious and super simple!

 Think your family would like this meal?

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Menu Plan for the Week – Feel Free to Steal Ideas!

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Here’s a peek at my grocery store run this week. I was excited to get 2-pound packs of butter for $3.97, so I bought enough to build a tower on my table. There were quite a few price-matches for cheese that I took advantage of. Then I loaded the rest of my cart with fruits and veggies!

groceries march 14

We keep our meals simple at our house. All real food (at least as much as possible) and heavy on fruits and veggies – but simple. Take a look through the following lists and grab some ideas for your week!

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

Fruit and Veggie Side Dishes (I serve 1-4 with each meal)

  • Green Beans
  • Broccoli
  • Strawberries
  • Apples
  • Applesauce
  • Peas
  • Sweet Peppers
  • Homemade Pickles
  • Mixed Greens
  • Spinach
  • Blueberries
  • Blackberries
  • Clementines
  • Mushrooms
  • Asparagus
  • Zucchini
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Build a Fruit Salad Bar

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Create Your Own Fruit Salad

Yum

Sometimes fruits and veggies just need to be served in an exciting way to make them more appealing. That – and some people in my house just won’t eat bananas.  If there are bananas in the fruit salad, one of my kids will refuse the apples, strawberries, and pineapple too. “I’ll just put the bananas on the side,” thought I, as I prepared to make a fruit salad for dinner. But then I got the better idea to put everything “on the side” so each person could fill their bowl as they like. Fun!

As it turns out, I got all the boys involved in prepping a fruit. The result was a beautiful spread of choices that everyone was excited to dig into.

Build a Fruit Salad Bar

Justus (our 15 year old) built his salad and took this picture. Beautiful!

There’s nothing complicated about this:  Simply slice or chop whatever fruit you have on hand and set it out for people to pick from as they fill their bowl. Lay out shredded coconut, dried fruit, and nuts if you like. Real whipped cream or cottage cheese added to the spread wouldn’t hurt my feelings.

This was a perfect side dish with our pasta and mixed greens tonight. I’m thinking it would be fun to serve for breakfast some time soon, too!

What are your favorite fruits to add to a salad?

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Quick Note!

I made a mistake on yesterday’s Visit Omaha giveaway post. Durham Museum IS NOT free. my bad  It’s the Joslyn Museum that’s free. I made the correction on the giveaway post, but wanted to make sure you got the update!

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Live in Nebraska or Visiting Soon(ish)? You Should Check This Out!

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Logo_Omaha_ribbon_CMYK

Hey fellow Nebraskans (and those who want to come visit our wonderful state)!

I’m excited that I get to present an opportunity for you to enjoy some of the finest we have to offer. I mean, you’ve heard of our Omaha Zoo, right? We’re listed in the Top-10 zoos in the United States. (You like how I said “we” – like I can somehow take credit for our amazing zoo? Maybe because my household is often a zoo, so I assume they used me as a model for how to do it.)

Here is a picture of our boys at the Omaha Zoo four years ago when I was still taller than all of them:

vacation_14

We also visited the Durham Museum several years ago. Very fun and lots to learn! (Take note that there is no charge now to visit the Durham Museum!)

vacation_3

Here’s what Visit Omaha has to offer for free to one of you:

Nice, huh?! Plus, you can go to the Joslyn Museum and enjoy the following exhibits for free:

  • American Moderns, 1910–1960: From O’Keeffe to Rockwell (through May 17, 2015)
  • Art Seen: A Juried Exhibition of Artists from Omaha to Lincoln (June 21 through October 11, 2015)
  • Go West! Art of the American Frontier from the Buffalo Bill Center of the West (November 15, 2015 through the end of 2015)

So who wants this fun prize package? Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win. I’ll draw one random winner on Tuesday, March 17. Be watching for a post stating your winner as you will be responsible for contacting me if your name is chosen.

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Soup or Smoothies? I Can’t Decide

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pineapple_mango_smoothie_2

March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. I learned that in Kansas in first grade when my teacher Mrs. Howell explained the concept, then gave us paper plates to make lion and lamb faces. We hung them on the wall in the back of the room above the coat rack. (I remember pointless things.)

I’ve since learned that typically in Nebraska, March comes in like a lion and acts like a lion all month and goes out like a lion and greets April like a lion and once in a while a little lamb pokes it soft little head out just long enough to tease the lion. But this year the lamb appears to be a bit more feisty than the lion because the sun is shining and we’re having some unusually warm weather. The boys have been going outside in shorts because they can. We’ve been shooting hoops in the driveway with the sun in our eyes. Awesomeness.

For the first time in months, a smoothie sounds good, especially after playing or working outside. But then we come back into my house and guess what? Brrrrr! The house hasn’t caught up yet with the outside weather. What should we expect? It is still getting pretty cold at night.

So sweaters or shorts? Flip flops or boots? Iced coffee or hot? Soup or smoothies?

I’m thinking both. Lions and lambs can be friends, can’t they? Here’s what I’m celebrating during this fun collision of lion and lamb during the month of March:

1. THE SUN IS SHINING, even during the cold parts of the day. I heart sunshine.  I’ve probably mentioned that here before.
2. I can enjoy baking and grilling at the same time. This doesn’t happen in the winter or the summer.
3. There are no bugs yet because they haven’t yet realized that it’s warm enough to come out and crawl on us.
4. Soup and smoothies taste good together.

Cheeseburger Soup

Today I present to you, in honor of The Month of Crazy Weather, our favorite soup and smoothie recipes. You just never know when you’ll need one or the other or both at the same time.

Soup

Smoothies (and other fun, cold drinks)

While looking through my archives, I realize that I actually have very few smoothie recipes here. That’s because I just throw in whatever fruit we have, which makes smoothies at our house “non-recipe” items.

What are you experiencing at your house? Lion or lamb? Soup or smoothie? Boot or flip-flop?

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Don’t Forget! Free Au Chocolate Lotion Stick Today Only!

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Here’s your reminder that today is the final day you can pick up your free Au Chocolate Stick from MadeOn.

made on chocolate stick

This is my very favorite lotion, in the form of a stick, and with the scent of chocolate. Thank you, Renee, for this awesome free gift!

Simply type in your email on this page and go from there. (Renee’s newsletter is always beneficial, providing many DIY recipes for awesome skin related products.)

We do have to pay for shipping on this free product. In order to get more bang for my shipping buck, I added a few additional products to my cart. (The BeeSilk Lotion Bar is what I always have on hand in large supply.)

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You Will Never Please Everyone (And That’s Perfectly Perfect)

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Some readers request that I share more recipes. Some suggest that I share too many recipes. Some don’t like that I post spiritual content. Some wish I would post more spiritual content. Some roll their eyes at the deals I share. Some cheer and do flips for the deals I share. I always listen to what my readers have to say because I love offering content that will bless you in your homemaking efforts. I also know that what one person really needs or desires isn’t necessarily what the next person needs or wants. So it is with pretty much all of life, right?

You Will Never Please Everyone
It happens around my dinner table every single live long day. Someone is bound to not like what I served while others are gladly taking thirds. It happens during a every Sunday worship service. Some love the song selection and others find them to be too slow or too fast for their liking. Some find the sermon to be super meaningful and others find it to be irrelevant. I could think of other examples but some might prefer that I get on with my point.

Here’s the truth that we need to learn down to our very core:

1. You can’t please ’em all

2. You can’t be pleased by all

I’m not sure which is more important to know and which is the hardest to remember. Both involve the need to surrender self. It’s hard and it hurts but this is what I’m beginning to understand:  Trying to please all and expecting others to always rise to my occasion is harder and hurts worse than choosing to surrender self. Selfish living is completely empty – not to mention absolutely exhausting. Trying to constantly please others leaves me feeling defeated and discouraged. Thinking others must always please me leaves me frustrated and let down. No thank you, no thank you, no thank you.  I surrender, Jesus. What do you have for me that is better? What about this? What if we understood these two simple truths:

1. God is the only One we should seek to please.

2. God is the only One who will sufficiently meet all of our needs.

I think that pretty much covers it.

When I seek to please God, letting go of others’ (real or imagined) expectations of me, I will likely still be pleasing others. I won’t please them all, but God never asked me to and for real – if I was pleasing everyone why in the world would people ever recognize their need to seek Jesus? Okay then.

When I recognize that God is the One who meets my needs, suddenly that which is petty becomes irrelevant and that which matters turns into a Christ-centered passion. That’s how it works when one is listening to and letting the Holy Spirit work. So, my friend, remember this:  You will never please everyone. Also, people will sometimes frustrate you, especially when they do things differently than you would do them. This is life.

Instead of wallowing, I suggest we use our energy to seek Jesus and live as He calls each of us. Doesn’t that just sound refreshing? If this is something you struggle with like I do, might I suggest that you read (your whole Bible and also) read Hebrews 12? Being disciplined hurts, but it makes us more holy. Yes, holiness! Bring it.

 

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Gratituesday: Basketball, New Toilet, and McFarland USA

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What should I talk about first – our basketball tournament or our new toilet? Both are so very exciting. We’ll go with basketball since that involves my boys and as much as I love my new toilet, I do love my boys more.

I always enjoy our big end-of-year homeschool basketball tournament in Kansas. This year there were 7 states represented and 74 teams. It is so great to be a part of this! This year was just a little bit more special as it is Asa’s final year to play. I might have been teary-eyed all weekend. Shoot. I’ll probably be teary-eyed from now until we drop him off at the dorm in August. It’s a mom thing. I’m just trying to avoid doing the ugly cry in public. This was not easy when he came off the court for the last time on Saturday.

bball tourney 2015

No doubt, Asa was feeling it too. He has loved being on this team. What a gift from God this has been – in so many ways. A friend of mine captured this after our last game:

bball tourney 20152

 

 This man I used to read Curious George to is an entire head taller than me.

Since we got home, Matt has been finishing our (grueling) tax paper work, working on the FAFSA (gag me), and continuing work on our bathroom. Ladies, I have a new toilet.  It flushes. It is white. It makes me smile. (I also have a sink, but I do not have a faucet. No matter. That makes me smile too.)

bathroom 7

 

Knowing that the toilet will never again be this clean, I might have lingered a bit, just staring at the clean. Stay clean, toilet. Stay clean. (If you look real close, you might notice that there is a ladder inside the shower. This came as a surprise to me when I tried to slide open the shower door and the door fell over. Shucks, I forgot that it’s not attached. Matt’s been pulling it back and forth as he works on tile and as he needs to get it out of the hallway. Do I really need to explain this? Just whatever. My toilet flushes!!

One more item of note. Our family pretty much never goes to the movie theater. Cha-ching, right? BUT, all six of us went to the theater tonight to watch McFarland USA. We were happy to pay the fee. Why? Because this movie was made about a man who is a friend of Matt’s family. In fact, for one week during the summer of 1990 Matt was privileged to train with coach Jim White’s cross country team. Seriously. We highly recommend this movie and love that Disney made a movie about a Christian man like this. (Christianity wasn’t brought into the movie, but the goodness of this man was.)

So basketball, toilets, and a movie. We’re celebrating it all this week! How about you? What are you thankful for this Gratituesday?

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