Heavenly Homemakers | Page 195 of 444 | Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

150 Jars of Applesauce With the Victorio – You Go Girl!

September 26, 2014 by Laura 19 Comments

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Once you get a Victorio to use in making applesauce and tomato sauce, you’ll wonder what you ever did without it.

I got mine two years ago (after many of YOU recommended it to me!) and fell in love with it right away. It makes the process of “saucing” so much easier than anything else I’ve tried. I loaned my Victorio to my friend Jenny, who also fell in love with it right away. She ordered one of her own, and the rest is history. We are now both crazy for applesauce and tomato sauce making.

This fall, Jenny made it a goal to stock her pantry with 150 jars of applesauce. Yes, her family is serious about their applesauce consumption. Anytime either one of us heard of a good source for fruit, we were on it.

It was fun to hear her applesauce updates. I was super impressed when she hit 71 jars, and she just kept going. This week, she emailed me with this celebration picture, stating that they had done it! They had 150 jars of applesauce preserved for this winter!

Tsauce1

I asked if she minded me sharing the picture with you. I think this is super inspiring, plus, those are some of my very favorite people in that picture. And that applesauce all over their countertop? Well, who doesn’t want to stare at that, ooing and aahing for several minutes? It is SO PRETTY!!!

Another word about the Victorio: Jenny’s little guy, who is barely 3 years old, loves helping make applesauce with the Victorio and is very capable, even at his young age, to turn the crank. See this is how easy it is to use a Victorio.

Tsauce2

Check out this next picture. Here’s what Jenny emailed about this one:

Did you catch the sibling with their hand in the shoot that spits out the skins and seeds? (bottom left corner) They like to eat the skins–nothing goes to waste! And, I discovered that the Victorio was a little tougher for a lefty; he did fine switching to his right hand.

Tsauce3

If you want to make your own applesauce or tomato sauce, I really encourage you to look into a Victorio. The investment is soooo worth it and will save you money in the long run when you have homemade applesauce to feed your family!

Have you done much preserving this fall? I’d love to hear what you’ve stashed away in your freezers and pantry shelves!

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A Great Deal on Rice, Recipes Using Rice, and How to Cook Brown Rice

September 25, 2014 by Laura 42 Comments

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You know why I love brown rice?

It is a real food
It is wholesome
It is affordable
It can help stretch a meal, saving lots of $$
It can be eaten plain as a side dish, or stirred into a casserole, or made into a pudding
It’s naturally gluten free – a perk for those who need to avoid gluten
It tastes good

So blah, blah, blah…rice. An entire post about rice. Life does not get much more exciting than this.

Unless there’s a sale on rice!!! Now this is turning into an exciting post! (Not really, Laura. We’re still talking about rice. Keep trying.)

I told you this was exciting!

{snore}

Well, while I’ve got you, I would like to share that cooking brown rice is very easy. Here’s a full tutorial if you’re new to brown rice.

Below you’ll find many of my family’s favorite recipes that include rice. Admit it. This post is making you giddy. Talk of brown rice is as exciting as talking about vacation plans and chocolate cheesecake. Yes, it is exactly like that.

Our Favorite Rice Recipes

Cheesy Beef and Rice
Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole
Creamy Crock Pot Chicken and Rice
Spanish Rice
Swiss Steak
Teriyaki Chicken and Veggies
Turkey Sausage and Red Bean Stew
Rice and Veggie Stir Fry
Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole (recipe in {Healthy} Make-Ahead Meals & Snacks eBook)

What are your favorite rice dishes? Chime in by leaving a comment. This conversation is clearly shaping up to be the most fun we’ve all had in the past three minutes.

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Banana Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting ~ Share Your Story

September 24, 2014 by Laura 2 Comments

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Stories of how you are using the recipes you find here have been coming in rapidly, making my day every time I get one! Do you have a story to share? Take a picture or two, then email me with the details of how you use your favorite Heavenly Homemaker recipe. Share your story!

Today’s story comes from a gal who loves cream cheese as much as I do. Check it out:

Laura,

We use your recipes A LOT! And LOVE them…especially the ones with cream cheese as an ingredient. :) Recently I made your Banana Cake for my littlest girl’s first birthday. You can tell it went over well by the photo.

Thank you for sharing,
Charla

I declare this baby to be sweeter than the cake she’s eating.

You’ll find our Cream Cheese Frosting recipe on the same page as our Banana Cake recipe. :)

Now your turn! Use our recipes, take a picture or three, send them to me along with your story. I love this!

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How the Story Ends

September 23, 2014 by Laura 28 Comments

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Ephesians 210

I am the mother of a high school senior. Can you guess what the question of the year is from every family member, church friend, grocery store employee, neighbor, and person we just met five minutes ago?

“So Asa, what are you going to do next year?”

Mmmhmm. It’s a fair question. People are curious, and in fact, I appreciate that so many care enough to ask.

It would be nice if we had an answer. It would be great if there was plan in place. But right now, the answer is a solid, “I don’t know yet.”

Not only does he not know, I mean – he does not know. The options are pretty much without limit, which makes the decision both very exciting and occasionally very overwhelming. The months building up to this school year as I was figuring out his senior year curriculum just about did me in. What should we focus on? How much should we work to improve his ACT? How should we guide him? What will be best for him?

All are valid questions. But when I started losing sleep and noticing a shortage of oxygen at the very mention of Asa’s future, I recognized that I had taken this all upon myself and landed myself in a pool of worry. I hate it when I do that. I know better.

So I’m wrestling. I’m walking a brand new path and learning as I (let) go. I started to tell someone recently, “Hopefully, this time next year we’ll have a great story to tell about how God opened and closed doors to lead Asa to whatever he’s going to be doing.” Then I stopped myself. Hopefully? Hopefully?!!? Have I not experienced God at work before? Do I not know the truth from Ephesians about God preparing works in advance for us? How about we switch the word “hopefully” with “definitely”? Definitely, this time next year we WILL have a great story to tell about how God opened and closed doors to lead Asa to whatever he’s going to be doing.

He will. God will do it. We will have a story. Our job is to trust. And maybe to cry a little here and there. Hey, he’s my firstborn. You want to try and tell me it’s easy to think of launching this fantastic kid out of the nest a year from now? (I know. 11 months from now. Hush.)

One particularly weepy day for me last week, God put a dear friend in my path whom I haven’t visited with in several months. I didn’t tell her I was wrestling with this. In fact, I didn’t use many words at all. I didn’t need to. Just sharing the words “senior year” was enough for her to read my mind and heart. See, she’s done this before…four times. Her youngest graduated last year. She knows. She knows. God used her to bless me, encourage me, and to remind me of what I already know to be true:

God already has this figured out. He will make it happen. Our job is to listen and walk with Him.

She told me about a fun card someone had given her last year when she was going through a difficult time with her dad’s illness. I loved what it said and decided to recreated it for you (and me).

I hate to spoil the ending...

Yes, yes, yes! We know this. We’ve experienced this.

The end of the story? We already know how it’s going to turn out. We might not know the specifics, but we know it’s going to be great, because God is in charge, not us.

Oh, God. You’re so good. You know what we need, and you bless us constantly with your truth. Help us to hear it. Help us to live it. Help us to accept your continual gift of peace. We trust you.

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If you’d like, feel free to download the images on this page to print and use. Click the links below:

I Hate To Spoil the Ending ~ Create a Card

I Hate to Spoil the Ending ~ Full Size Wall Print

For We Are God’s Handiwork ~ Full Size Wall Print

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Gratituesday: The Library

September 22, 2014 by Laura 10 Comments

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gratituesday[2]

Confessions: I took a few years off from going on regular library visits with my kids. What kind of homeschool mom am I, anyway?

A busy one. One who works from home and finds that when she’s not home, it’s very easy to get behind on work. (Imagine that.) Something had to give, and committing to go to the library regularly was one of them.

Sad, I know. But we have full bookshelves in five different rooms in our house. Trust me – we are not without books. Purchasing books to have for easy school access became much easier than going to the library once a week to get what we needed for assignments. Books are a great investment, after all. I don’t mind spending money on good books that we’ll use over and over again.

So here we are, with our full bookshelves, saving a fair amount of time each week on the chore of finding our resources at the library. I’m grateful to check that off my list of jobs I need to do. But what about activities we want to do? Well now, that’s become a different story.

library books2

The past few months, the younger boys and I have started going to the library more frequently again. We go because we want to. We go because the boys are older now and have new and varied interests. We search the shelves, finding books that seem intriguing, and we go home with a big pile. I love that these books are used in addition to our school books. These books are “just for fun.” (You know, because for some reason, we can’t call school “fun.” Oh please.)

We’ve learned new recipes, become experts on volcanos, tried our hand at drawing comics, learned new card tricks – and by “we” I really mean “they.” I love watching the boys take off with a book and come back full of new ideas and knowledge.

Today was a library day for us. Looking at all the amazing books available to us made me pretty excited. Yep, today I’m thankful for the library – one of the most basic perks of life there is.

And how about you? What are you thankful for this Gratituesday?

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Menu Plan for the Week ~ Lots of Apples and Dip

September 21, 2014 by Laura 2 Comments

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We are loving all the apples available to us right now! We are now completely stocked with homemade applesauce for this winter, plus we’re eating a lot of apples for snacks and with meals. One of our favorite ways to eat these apples is with Cream Cheese Fruit Dip. If you haven’t tried this recipe yet – do it. It’s amazing. My kids think it’s kind of like dipping your apple in cheesecake. :)

You’ll notice in my menu plan below that I am serving this dip twice today – once this morning for a college age Bible class Matt teaches at church; and again tonight for the teens who come to our home for Bible study and fellowship.

Hope your week is full of blessing! Here’s what our menu looks like:

Sunday, September 21
Easy breakfast casserole, apples with cream cheese fruit dip
Lamb roast, potatoes, carrots, gravy, peas
High school huddle – Pizza boats, tossed salad, apples with cream cheese fruit dip

Monday, September 22
Dark chocolate almond granola, grapes
Taco salad, fresh pineapple
Sloppy joes on cornbread muffins, peas, apples

Tuesday, September 23
Scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, creamy orange cooler
Tuna salad on lettuce and tomatoes, strawberry ice cream, sweet peppers
Baked three cheese chicken pasta, tossed salad, green beans

Wednesday, September 24
Green machine milkshakes, honey cinnamon muffins, apples
Bacon, egg, and avocado salad, honey whole wheat toast
Chicken fried steak strips, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans

Thursday, September 25
Grape nuts cereal, blueberries
Taco quesadillas, raspberry lemon cream cups, carrot sticks, olives
Easy noodle stir-fry with broccoli, zucchini, and carrots

Friday, September 26
Pancake and sausage muffins, applesauce
Easy cheesy bean dip with chips, fresh pineapple, sweet peppers
Chicken nuggets and french fries, carrot sticks, grapes

Saturday, September 27
Bacon cheesy eggs, raspberries
Leftovers
Italian cream cheese chicken, tossed salad, asparagus

Be sure to download our free new Fall Menu Planners here.

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Planning Next Week’s Menu? Here’s Some Guidance, Plus Fun Free Printables!

September 19, 2014 by Laura 9 Comments

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I always spend time over the weekend planning our meals for the upcoming week. I write down most of the specifics from main dish, to fruits and veggies. But I almost never stick with the menu plan completely. In fact, just last week there was a day I fed my family grapes even though I had planned to feed them blueberries. I bet you didn’t know I had that kind of crazy in me. Oh honey, you have no idea.

Once, I forgot to thaw chicken, so we had tuna. I was going to make Fruit Pizza on Monday, but in fact, I didn’t make it happen until…wait for it….

Tuesday.

So hi. Let’s all learn to have some sort of plan so we save money and time. But unless serving Wednesday’s Pasta Salad Bar on Saturday totally messes with you, ditch the idea that you have to follow your menu plan perfectly. It really is okay to pull out leftovers on Thursday if you don’t feel like making the planned Taco Corn Fritters. I have done this and lived to tell about it.

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Are you hitting the restart button with us this fall? If so, you might want to try your hand at planning some simple, real food menus. You’ll find that it will help you stay on track with putting nourishing food on the table more often.

Want some ideas?

I post my menu plan every single week. Look through all my menu planning archives here.

Want menu planning resources in your hands?

Grab our 40 Real Food Menu Plans Downloadable Packet here. You might also like the mix and match approach of our 1-2-3 Menu Planning eBook. (That one is actually still free if you subscribe to our daily newsletter. I wasn’t planning to offer it for free this many weeks, but I haven’t had time to take it down, so hurry, grab it up!)

Additional articles you may find helpful:

How to Stretch a Meal When Extra Company Comes
Need a last minute meal idea? Try these Black Bean Chicken Tacos
Cooking Healthy Meals When the Menu Plan Fails
Want to Eat Right? Plan Ahead!

Have ingredients you’re not sure how to use?

Use our handy “Search By Ingredient” Tool on the sidebar. You type in the ingredients you want to use, our search box will pull up recipes from our site that might work for you. It’s fun to see what comes up!

Be inspired with our new, free, downloadable Fall Menu Planners:

A piece of scratch paper, a document on the computer, a dry erase board – those all work just fine for writing down your menu plan. But if you want something a little more cheerful and fun, we’re excited to offer you three new printable menu planners that are perfect for this fall!

Take as many as you want, or if you want to just print once and reuse? Print a planner onto cardstock and laminate it. You can attach a magnet, place it on your fridge, then use a dry erase marker so you can clean it off at the end of the week and use it again next week!

Click on the links or images below to download.

Download Fall Butterflies Menu Planner

Download Good Eatin’ Fall Menu Planner

Download Fun Fall Menu Planner

Do you typically plan your menus? What works best for you as you make plans?

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Pamper Yourself Naturally With Perfectly Posh ~ A Giveaway

September 18, 2014 by Laura 166 Comments

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We learned several years ago with our youngest son Malachi’s chronic skin condition that what we put on our skin goes directly into our body, which means we need to be very careful about what we put on our skin. I’m not much into pampering products. After all, usually they are full of chemicals I’d rather avoid putting on my skin. But what about a fun product that can brag this:

posh 1

Well, now maybe I’ll listen.

Laura A., an independent consultant with Perfectly Posh sent me two of their most popular products to try out. Taking time to relax and pamper myself? Yes, that is a good thing. My family appreciates it when I take care of myself. ;)

Here’s what I got to try:

posh 2 Best Face Forever (BFF) – Millions of microbeads scrub and gently exfoliate with a naturally cleansing blend of grapefruit and peppermint. Essential oils soothe and freshen. Gently enough for everyday use. BFF makes me feel like I am having a mini spa experience every day.

posh 3

Night and Day – Moisturize with lavender and glycerin plus natural olive oils. It’s nourishment you need to have your skin be your best. Smooth over your clean face morning and night.

These products left my face feeling clean and refreshed. I like that there are fun products available we can feel good about.

You might also want to check into the Perfectly Posh business opportunity to see if this is a good match for you. Maybe you just want to check out the products a little more. And maybe, just maybe, you’d like to win a fun package with Best Face Forever and Night & Day like I got to try.

If so, leave a comment on this post! I’ll draw a random winner on Monday, September 22. Be watching for a post stating the winner as you will be responsible for contacting me if your name is chosen.

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10 Easy Real Food Meals for Less Than $1 Per Plate

September 18, 2014 by Laura 6 Comments

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You’re excited to hit the restart button this fall. You’re making healthy changes in your kitchen and you’re likely finding the sticker shock to be a bit painful. (By the way, what is up with the price of butter lately?)

I feel ya. Healthy food costs more than processed “food.” That’s because real food is…real. It’s whole and it’s good, and it is the result of hard work and careful practices. (Go farmers!) Chemicals and fillers in processed foods are cheap to make in factories. You get what you pay for. But ugh, must feeding our families eat up (literally) so much of the pay check?

Always remember that the food you buy is an investment in good health. It helps to keep this in mind when you’re tempted to save money by filling your cart with cheap processed foods that won’t nourish.

Be encouraged! There are so many great meals you can make that are real, completely nourishing, and still very inexpensive. Phew! You’re not going to go broke. You just have to learn a few tricks to making this work.

I’m here to help. I am feeding teenage boys, after all. I really would go broke if I didn’t work to keep our real food costs down. After all, some of the darling children can eat half a casserole each. (And you wonder why I have so much Pyrex.)

Here are ten real food meals that cost less than $1.00 per person. Not only are they super inexpensive, these are some of our favorite meals. Score!!!

10 Easy Real Food Meals for Less Than $1 Per Plate

Sure, several of my boys eat 3-4 plates full of these meals. But that’s still only $3-$4 for each of them. I’ll take it.

What are your favorite, inexpensive real food meals? Share your best tips for saving money while eating real food!

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cake ~ Share Your Story

September 17, 2014 by Laura 2 Comments

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Shaela sent in this one, which included none other than old episodes of our boys’ Cake Boys videos (a spin-off of the TV show, Cake Boss). Our boys were a few inches shorter and a few shoe sizes smaller when they made these. :) They’ve moved on to other types of videos now, but if you haven’t watched the Cake Boys series, you may want to – just for fun!

Here’s what Shaela wrote:

Our kids love to watch Cake Boys episodes and I about die of laughter watching your boys’ commercials on the episodes (Asa’s elbow guard was hilarious). We decided to make Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cake today and watch Cake Boys. I loved that the cake was done in the Crock Pot since it’s 95 degrees here in Colorado today. Thank you for sharing those Cake Boys videos, we enjoy them and your recipes.

Here are the pictures of her family making the cake together. Love, love love!

cake boys story 1