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Win Beautiful Handcrafted Kitchenware from Polder’s Old World Market

June 12, 2014 by Laura 245 Comments

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

Plain and simple kitchen gadgets are all we really need, right? But how about if those plain and simple gadgets are incredibly beautiful, as well as practical? That’s what Polder’s Old World Market offers. I dare you to click over to their etsy shop and look around. You’re likely to do what I did and fall in love with everything they make and sell.

From start to finish, the Polder family makes each unique piece of kitchenware by hand. This rare art is a treasure to have in your kitchen. I should know. They sent me some of their pieces to review. Wow. That was one wonderful box to open. The pieces are even better out of the box and being used to cook yummy food. But you could have guessed that, right?! :)

Raise your hand if you’ve ever heard of or used a Spurtle. This was a brand new item that I’d never heard of. It is soooo cool! Here’s what they have to say about the Spurtle:

The Spurtle is a traditional Scottish utensil. The Scottish use their spurtle to flip oatcakes and stir porridge (the national food of Scotland), but you can use your spurtles in so many ways! These unique wood utensils are the new rage but it is difficult to find solid wood spurtles like ours. Use them to sauté, stir fry and turn steaks. Flip fried eggs with ease, mix fresh blueberry pancakes and even stir your cold summer beverages.

See this set below? You can win one of these in today’s giveaway. :)  Seriously, I never knew the act of flipping pancakes or grilled cheese sandwiches could be so exciting. These spurtles are the bomb.

polder

Take a few minutes to go drool over all Polder’s Old World Market offers. Leave a comment here on this post for a chance to win the great set pictured above. Want more chances to win? Do any or all of the following and leave a separate comment for more chances.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I’ll draw a random winner on Monday, June 16. Be watching for a post stating the winner as you will be responsible for contacting me if your name is chosen.
Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

You Can Stop Feeling Like a Failure Now

June 11, 2014 by Laura 21 Comments

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

If you woke up to a stack of crusty dishes piled up in the sink, you are not a failure.

If you forgot to put the laundry in the dryer and the clothes all got sour in the washer, you are not a failure.

If your kids threw a fit at the store, refusing to obey you, you are not a failure.

If you said something stupid, hurt someone’s feelings, forgot an important commitment, burned dinner, broke a special plate, spilled an entire bottle of something expensive, lost your phone, or overslept, you are not a failure. You are normal though, so hi! Welcome to the club.

It’s too easy for us to look at what we did or did not do, how our kids did or did not act, and what did or did not happen – letting each act and experience define our success or failure.

Why is this? Is it possible that somehow, even though we all know it isn’t true, we all think that we (and everyone around us) should be perfect? Even if we may not consider ourselves to be perfectionists, deep down, we still want life to be perfect. We don’t want anything to go wrong, to annoy us, or to be inconvenient. We want our spouse, our kids, our friends, our homes, our jobs, our health, and every single person we deal with to be perfect. When they aren’t – yes that’s when, not if – when they aren’t, we feel as if we’ve failed or as if other people have failed us.

Stop it.

Stop Feeling Like a Failure

The truth is, we will never, ever in this fallen world achieve or experience anything close to perfection. There is much good in the world, because God is everywhere around us, showing us His goodness. But there’s also a lot of yuck in the world because Satan wants to win our hearts. He enjoys watching our discouragement and bitterness. He loves it when he can take our focus off God and turn us inward, making us focus on our supposed failures. Ah yes, if Satan can keep our minds thinking selfishly, he wins. That’s his goal.

But guess what? This desire for perfection we all feel so strongly? That is God given. God wants us to seek to find that which is perfect. Why? Why would He give us that desire when clearly there is no way we can achieve perfection on this earth? He gives us this desire because He is perfection and He wants us to seek Him. Jesus. Jesus is perfection. That’s really what we should be looking for.

Keep lovingly taking care of your family and home. Keep yearning to be more Christ-like. But let go of the guilt that comes through your lack of perfection and supposed failure. Focus on Jesus, the One who fulfills that need for perfection we all long for.

Crusty dishes in the sink? Yep, there they are. Gonna be late to an appointment? Sometimes, sure enough. People getting in your way and causing you trouble? Well, of course.

This earth is only temporary. This isn’t it, people.  Perfection? It’s coming! I can’t wait.

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A Reminder: Vanilla Extract For Sale This Saturday!

June 11, 2014 by Laura 6 Comments

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

Don’t forget! We’ve got a big batch of Vanilla Extract ready to sell this Saturday, June 14 beginning at 8:00 CST. Our supply usually sells out quickly, so if you’re interested, mark your calendars and check in here right away that morning.

Would you rather make your own vanilla? You’ll find all the info here that you need so you can get a batch going. :)

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

Icy Cold Milkshake Treats

June 10, 2014 by Laura 7 Comments

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

I’ve been sharing quite a bit about coffee treats lately. Iced Coffee, Homemade Chocolate Frappe, Chocolate Whipped Cream for Coffee…yum. This is great for everyone except for those who don’t like coffee, right? Yes, well. This post should take care of that.

My family definitely fits into the “don’t like coffee” category of people. In fact, they really don’t understand why I’ve suddenly started loving the stuff. Okay by me. It’s the one and only food/drink in this house I get all to myself. Ha! It’s mine. All mine!! (she says, lovingly.)

So for all the “don’t like coffee” people out there, including my family, who thinks my Homemade Chocolate Frappe looks really good but tastes really bad – here’s what I’ve come up with as a delicious alternative. Icy Cold Milkshake Treats.  Instead of starting out with coffee ice cubes, simply start out with regular ice cubes. Instead of adding cold coffee and milk, simply add cream and milk. Instead of adding chocolate…oh wait. We’re still adding chocolate. Unless you want straight up vanilla. That works too.

Icy Cold Milkshake Treats
 
Save Print
Prep time
5 mins
Total time
5 mins
 
Author: Laura
Recipe type: Milkshake
Serves: 3 servings
Ingredients
  • 2 cups ice cubes
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Liquid stevia to taste (I use about 10 drops NuNaturals brand)
  • 3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (omit if you prefer a vanilla milkshake)
Instructions
  1. Blend ingredients together until slushy-like. Serve right away.
3.4.3177

You’ll love how easy this is, how “real food” this is, and how it’s a treat completely void of sugar. It doesn’t get any better. (Unless you add coffee, but we’ve been through this already.)

 

Icy Cold Milkshake Treats

Most of the ingredients in the list are in “give or take” proportions. You’ll figure this out if you actually try to measure 2 cups of ice cubes. Rectangle shaped ice cubes don’t cooperate very well in a round measuring cup.

In addition, you may want your shake to be creamier, smoother, sweeter, chocolatier, or with coffee. Oh wait. This one doesn’t have coffee in it. Well anyway, feel free to add more or less of any of the above listed ingredients to make this shake just what you want it to be.

As for me, I’m going to stick with the Homemade Chocolate Frappe. And I’m going to drink the entire blender of coffee goodness all by myself because no one else in my house likes it so I don’t have to share, so ha! (she says, with kindness.)

What do you think? Which will you like better? And which will your family members like better?

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

My Favorite Brand of Stevia (and How to Get Some For Free)

June 10, 2014 by Laura 9 Comments

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

nu naturals steviaI’ve talked quite a bit lately about my new love for stevia. I’ve always known it was a great choice in a real food diet, but I just couldn’t learn to like it. Now that I’ve figured out how to use it correctly, I really am loving it!

The trick is to find a good brand of stevia, and to avoid using too much. Too much stevia, and your treat turns from sweet to bitter.

I love that stevia is all natural – it’s an herb that is naturally sweet. I love that it provides us with sweet treats that are completely sugarless. And I love that it isn’t an artificial sweetener (like Splenda or NutraSweet – those must be avoided!!).

Many have asked what kind of stevia I like and where I get it. You may not be surprised when I tell you that I order it from Vitacost, one of my favorite online resources.

What is my favorite brand of Stevia?

NuNaturals is the brand that tastes the best to me. I prefer either the NuNaturals Alcohol Free Liquid Stevia or the NuNaturals Clear Stevia. So far, I’ve not experimented much with powdered stevia. Therefore, I’ve only used stevia in liquid recipes, not in baked goods. Once I figure out how to do that well, I’ll definitely pass on the information!

How Can You Get Stevia For Free?

If you are a brand new customer with Vitacost, you can click through these referral links to sign up for an account. Doing so will give you a free $10 coupon code to use on your first order of $30 or more. That makes a bottle of stevia absolutely free to you!

Does Stevia seem expensive to you? It really isn’t. This is because you use just a few drops of stevia to add sweetness to a recipe. A little bit goes a lonnnnnnnggggg way. Sweet! (literally)

Now, go get yourself a free $10 to use on Stevia (or really, whatever else you might like for free). Then you can enjoy making all these guilt free, delicious, real food recipes like Homemade Chocolate Frappe, Chocolate Whipped Cream, and several new recipes that I’ll be sharing in the upcoming weeks that I’ve learned to make with Stevia. :)

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

Gratituesday: Soul Quest Worship

June 9, 2014 by Laura 12 Comments

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

gratituesday[2]

This is one of my favorite weeks of the year.

It’s Soul Quest week at York College, and since we live here in the town of York, we are blessed to enjoy the evening worship times. What is Soul Quest, you ask? It is a church camp held on the York College campus that brings in 500+ campers, including our two oldest boys. It is a week of intense spiritual encouragement, classes, and worship for the campers and staff.

soul quest

I took this picture tonight during worship while standing on a chair in the back of the auditorium.
(Way to break the rules and stand on a chair during worship, Laura. Yeah, I know.) 

Our family has taken part in Soul Quest for as many years as we’ve lived here in York. Sometimes we attend the morning chapel session too, but typically we stay home all day getting our work done, then head to the big assembly each night for amazing singing and prayer time with a room packed with teens and adults. It’s loud and crowded, but you talk about a room full of people on fire for the Lord. This is where it’s at.

We are so thankful our older boys are able to get the full Soul Quest experience (which, of course, includes staying up way too late at night in the dorms). The friendships they build and the mentoring they receive is priceless. It’s a fun perk that they are away at camp, but we can still catch a glimpse of them each evening. ;)

What would you like to share about this Gratituesday? What are you thankful for?

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

Healthy Homemade Chocolate Frappe

June 9, 2014 by Laura 8 Comments

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

This frappe recipe has nothing to do with me and everything to do with: you all totally rock. Thank you for reading my posts and then sharing your great ideas too. YOU are Heavenly Homemakers that I am so thankful to call friends. Plus, you give me more delicious chocolate ideas, so of course I love you.

This recipe is a result of putting several of your comments together from both my Make Coffee Ice Cubes for Iced Coffee post and my Chocolate Whipped Cream – Perfect For Your Coffee post. I took all of your thoughts, advice, and suggestions – put them together with my ingredients and my blender…and what did I get? Chocolate Frappe perfection which is a completely guilt free treat on a hot day. Or a cold day. Or in the middle of the night. Not really. I sleep at night. But I dream of this Chocolate Frappe.

Healthy Homemade Chocolate Frappe

This frappe is stevia sweetened, which means there is no sugar in this – only wholesome, real food ingredients that won’t give you a sugar rush. Don’t like stevia? I didn’t like it either until I learned to use it correctly. I prefer NuNaturals Liquid Stevia (ordered through Vitacost). Use only a few drops – too much and your drink will have a bitter aftertaste. Get it just right and you’ll feel like you’re drinking something naughty. Oh lovely Chocolate Frappe fantastic-ness.

Healthy Homemade Chocolate FrappeYum

Healthy Homemade Chocolate Frappe
 
Save Print
Author: Laura
Ingredients
  • 5-8 iced coffee cubes
  • ½ cup heavy whipping cream
  • ½ cup milk
  • ½ cup coffee (cold brewed or hot brewed then chilled)
  • ½ cup (or more) Chocolate Whipped Cream
Instructions
  1. Mix ingredients in the blender until smooth.
  2. Feel free to add more or less of any of the above ingredients.
  3. Serve and drink immediately.
  4. Pass out from the deliciousness.
  5. Take joy in the non-guilty pleasure.
3.4.3177

Some additional ideas I learned from you regarding the creation of cold coffee treats:

  • In addition to freezing coffee cubes, you can also freeze cream or milk to blend into frappe type drinks.
  • You can cold brew coffee in your French press if you have one. I’m definitely trying this.
  • You can cold brew coffee in jars. Well shucks, I have jars. I can do that.
  • You can freeze tea in ice cube trays so your tea doesn’t get watered down. This has nothing to do with coffee, but it’s worth sharing anyway because, duh. Why didn’t I think of that?
  • We should all get together and drink coffee, or tea, or something because wouldn’t that be so much fun?

Keep on sharing – What are your favorite coffee drinks for summertime?

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

Menu Plan for the Week

June 8, 2014 by Laura 5 Comments

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

Today is our oldest son’s 17th birthday. This is super weird since he was just born last week and two days ago he lost his first tooth. Believe people when they say that little ones grow up quickly. That never made sense to me until now.

Speaking of the birthday boy, Asa arrived home from Ecuador at 4:00 yesterday morning. We’ve had a great time looking at his pictures and hearing more about his experiences. He loved every minute of his time there, and we can’t wait to hear more as he continues to share stories of everything he did. He and Justus, our 14 year old, actually left this afternoon for a week on the York College campus for a camp called Soul Quest. Yep, Asa got back from Ecuador just in time to attend this beloved event. We don’t see much of our older boys in the summer, but we sure do see a lot of spiritual growth in them after all the trips and camps.

So back to today being Asa’s birthday. In his sleepy state yesterday after he pulled himself out of bed, I asked him to come up with some birthday food choices for today. Knowing his birthday fell on a Sunday, he hesitated to ask for Biscuits and Gravy. “Would you have time to make that before church?” he asked. Ah yes. No problem. But only because I had biscuits in the freezer and turkey sausage already made. Get all the details here for how to put a meal of biscuits and gravy on the table within 15 minutes.

Freezer Biscuit Tutorial

All the other males in the family were thrilled with Asa’s breakfast choice, as you can imagine. I loved how easy it was to put together and please my men. ;)

Here’s the rest of our menu for this week:

Sunday, June 8
Biscuits and gravy, raspberries
Lasagna casserole, tossed salad, ice cream with homemade hot fudge
Turkey and cheese sandwiches, carrots, tomatoes, sweet peppers, strawberries and chocolate whipped cream

Monday, June 9
Poppy seed bread with orange glaze (recipe in {Healthy} Make-Ahead Meals and Snacks eBook), scrambled eggs, cantaloupe
Sloppy joes, carrots, cucumber, raspberries, chips and salsa
Pizza, tossed salad, watermelon

Tuesday, June 10
Whole wheat waffles, blueberries, whipped cream
Easy noodle stir fry with broccoli and carrots, cantaloupe
Grilled barbeque chicken, tossed salad, asparagus, green beans

Wednesday, June 11
Honey whole wheat bagels, strawberries
Lamburger patties, cheesy cauliflower cakes, peas, pineapple cream dessert
Easy cheesy bean dip with chips, strawberry peach slushie

Thursday, June 12
Cheesy omelets, creamy orange cooler
Chef salads with chicken, cheese, and lots of veggies
Cheesy salsa enchiladas, green machine milkshakes

Friday, June 13
Strawberry cream muffins, applesauce
Black bean chicken nachos, pineapple, sweet peppers
Pasta salad bar

Saturday, June 14
Whole wheat donuts, cantaloupe
Leftovers
Cheeseburger macaroni, tossed salad, peas

What’s on your menu this week?

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

Want to Give Homemade Vanilla For Gifts This Christmas? Time To Get it Started!

June 7, 2014 by Laura 12 Comments

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

vanilla

Yep, it’s that time of year again. It takes 4-6 months of brewing time to get a really good, pure vanilla extract. If you would like to give Homemade Vanilla Extract for Christmas gifts this year, it’s time to get your supplies together and start a batch!

Here is all the information you need about making homemade vanilla. Be sure to take advantage of the 10% discount offer Olive Nation gives us here at Heavenly Homemakers. Use the code home to receive the discount at check-out. I love their vanilla beans, their price, their quality and their free shipping on this product!

Important Announcement!  We have a batch of our Heavenly Homemakers Vanilla Extract ready to bottle and sell. If you would like to give it a try while you wait for your own vanilla to brew, or if you simply don’t want to make your own, we are thrilled to offer you a bottle of ours! We plan to offer this batch for sale on Saturday, June 14 beginning at 8:00 am CST. It will only be available while supplies last, and the supply typically only lasts a few hours. So mark your calendar and be prepared to stop by our site to snatch some up if you’re interested!

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

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow.

June 6, 2014 by Laura 20 Comments

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

Remember all the lovely pictures of our garden that I took on Monday and shared for Gratituesday? Those pictures are all we have left of our garden.

garden145

Here’s what our spinach and lettuce looked like on Monday.

hail garden 1

Here’s what our spinach and lettuce looked like the very next day.

Tuesday night (yes, the very Gratituesday I had shared those happy garden pictures), a huge hail storm hit our town. It smashed our garden all to bits.  Seeing how this hail storm effected all of our garden areas, we sure hate to think what the farmers around here may have lost.

Can we replant? Probably. Will we? Yes, it’s not too late to replant some of it. Is this the end of the world for us? No, but it is a huge disappointment. It was a lot of work, many hours, and quite a few dollars worth of plants and seeds – down the drain. I know this loss could have been a million times worse. Our home is fine. Our children are fine. Nobody was hurt. Still, waking up to a sad garden mess was disheartening.

hail garden 2
Most of the leaves on our pepper, okra, and tomato plants were broken off.

The moral of the story:  We can make plans, work toward a goal, and look forward to something – but the end result is never really up to us. We just get to sit back and trust God.

We’re thankful that God knows what we need and that He will provide – even if it might look a little different this year. We’ll be grateful for the handful of plants that seem to maybe be surviving. We’ll get back out there and put more seeds and plants into the ground. Who knows but that “Garden…round 2” may be better than ever?!

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