Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Have You Written Your Sponsored Child(ren) Lately?

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This is one of those tasks that falls into the same category as “shake your vanilla extract,” “dust your ceiling fans,” and “sort the piles of paper on your desk.” We know we need to get around to it, but other pressing to-dos – like “make sure everyone has clean underwear” – keep pushing those down on the list.

Here’s a friendly reminder and challenge for us all this weekend:  Write a letter to your sponsored child.

It will only take a few minutes. It is always enjoyable. Your kids can be involved. And you know, without a doubt, that your letter will bless the child who receives it.

Here’s our little girl, Gladis, holding a package from us last summer. How excited she must have been to know that everything in that envelope was hers!

gladis with package

We’re so thankful to know that One Child Matters is taking such good care of these kids. Our monthly donation plays a big part in that. But simply throwing money at someone isn’t enough. We want to communicate with our sponsored child how much we love and pray for them. A few simple words on paper, along with a colored picture or photo of our family means the world to these kids. Write your sponsored child this weekend! (Next week, I’ll share some ideas for little gifts to include with your letter.)

If you’re not yet sponsoring a child, please join our ministry here at Heavenly Homemakers! You’ll be amazed at what your monthly donation of $39 can do to meet the needs of a child. And your prayers specifically for them are huge. Let’s all be a part of this rich ministry together.

Now, to all of us who already sponsor a child, go start writing your letter – before you forget or become distracted. Then, after you finish, dust your ceiling fans and shake your vanilla. We’ll all feel so accomplished. ;)

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Homemade Liquid Hand Soap

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Have you tried making the Liquid Hand Soap recipe I have here on my site? It will save you a lot of money, and it’s very easy to make! Your kids can help. Who wouldn’t love grating a bar of soap? :)

Homemade Liquid Hand Soap

Homemade Non-Toxic Liquid Hand Soap

4 ounce bar of natural soap (I used a bar of coconut oil soap from Tropical Traditions. Any natural bar of soap would work.)
1 gallon of water

Heat the water in a pot, just long enough to steam. Grate the bar of soap with a cheese grater. Take the steaming water off the heat. Immediately pour the grated soap into the water. Stir the mixture, then let it sit for about 15 minutes. Use a hand mixer to blend the soap and water mixture well. Let it sit overnight. The next morning, use the hand mixer again to blend well. Pour mixture into a soap dispenser for use. Save remaining hand soap in a gallon jug.

You can check out the entire picture tutorial here.  You’re well on your way to saving lots of money on non-toxic hand soap!

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Cheesy Cauliflower Cakes

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If it looks like a cheesy hashbrown and tastes like a cheesy hashbrown, it must be a cheesy hashbrown, right? Right. Unless it’s actually cheesy cauliflower cakes.

cauliflower cakes 2

Hey, I wasn’t trying to trick my family. Really, I wasn’t. I was planning to be completely up front and honest about the platter of cauliflower on the table. Is it my fault they just assumed I’d fried up some hashbrowns? And would you believe, when I told them that in fact, there were no potatoes in these – only cauliflower – some of my boys didn’t even believe me? Then my pickiest boy helped himself to seconds. Who am I to argue?

I’ll admit that as hard as I’ve tried, cauliflower is still not at the top of my favorite vegetables list. We all eat it steamed or roasted, but our reactions are usually something like “eh” when it comes to eating cauliflower fixed in those ways. When I found this cauliflower cake recipe and decided to play with it, I was hoping it would at least be just a little better than “eh.” To my surprise, I found myself unable to stop nibbling as I was cooking these for our dinner. These are way, way better than “eh.” I mean, my pickiest boy ate seconds. That is worth stating twice.

I believe these will be a part of our normal veggie rotation. Not only are they tasty, they’re quite easy to put together.

Cheesy Cauliflower Cakes (adapted from this recipe)Yum

Cheesy Cauliflower Cakes
 
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Ingredients
  • 1 head cauliflower
  • 2 large eggs
  • ¾ cup shredded cheddar or Colby jack cheese
  • 2 Tablespoons dried minced onions
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • Palm shortening or expeller pressed coconut oil for frying
Instructions
  1. Cut cauliflower into florets.
  2. Boil for about 10 minutes or until tender.
  3. Drain.
  4. Mash with a potato masher. (I found that this created what looked like shredded potatoes.)
  5. Stir in eggs, shredded cheese, minced onions, and salt until well combined.
  6. Melt 1-2 Tablespoons of palm shortening or coconut oil in a skillet.
  7. Scoop 2 Tablespoons of mixture into the melted oil, pressing down into a cake.
  8. Fry over medium heat until brown and crispy - about 2 minutes on each side.
  9. Serve right away.
  10. Makes 12-15 cakes.
  11. (To save time, you can skip forming these into cakes and simply fry them up in a skillet in a big batch like you would do with hashbrowns. )

Cheesy Cauliflower Cakes

Even if you don’t like cauliflower, you’ve got to try these. Pretend they’re hashbrowns if it helps. It worked for us!

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101 Pre-School Projects – Free Download!

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It’s warm, it’s cold, it’s windy, it’s raining, it’s cloudy…yes indeed:  It’s March.

I’ve had fun this week pulling out some project ideas that have been buried throughout my website. Did you make some Homemade Bubble Bath? That’s a super simple idea your kids can have fun making with you.

In an effort to shed some sunshine upon all of us struggling with a touch of spring fever, I opened up a freebie I had put together a few years ago, tweaked a few things, and redesigned the cover to make it available to you again. If you and your kids are going stir-crazy, I believe you’ll find an activity or twelve to do together in this free eBook.

Yep, there are over 100 ideas, recipes, games, and activities for you to read through and pick from. Kids older than pre-school age are sure to have fun with these ideas too. These ideas came from moms and grandmothers – all Heavenly Homemaker Readers. All of you are so creative, which is what makes this eBook so much fun!

You’ll be able to use this eBook year round, as it has fun ideas for outdoors too. Help yourself to this fun, free eBook. Spread the word to your friends so that they can come get their free eBook too! Together, we will survive this crazy weather!

101 Preschool Projects Free Download

Grab this FREE 101 Pre-School Projects book here!

I’m excited to share that signing up for these freebies will connect you to our new Heavenly Homemaker’s Learning Zone. It’s free, of course. You can unsubscribe at any time, your info will never be shared or sold, and being on this list means that you’ll be the first to know of the other fun (yes, FUN!) educational tools we’re putting together!

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Easy Fruits and Veggies On the Go

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Last weekend, we headed out of state to a weekend-long basketball tournament for our boys. It was two and a half days full of hotel continental breakfasts, fast food, and other treats. Weekends like that can be a lot of fun. At the same time, we knew our stomachs would start to rebel after a meal or two of white flour, white sugar, and grease. In an effort to give us some good nutrition in the midst of ice cream cones and burgers, I packed as many colorful fruits and vegetables as I could.

While I was getting it prepared the morning we were to leave, it occurred to me how pretty it all was. Out came the camera.  After all, I had plenty of time for food photography in the midst of laundry, packing, and making last minute preparations, right?

Fruits and Veggies On the Go 2

I made good use of my Pyrex dishes with lids. These travel well, and keep fruits and vegetables from getting squished. They all stack nicely together in a cooler, and keep the food fresh. I simply stuck a few ice packs in and around the food containers, and it all stayed chilled and nice all weekend long.

My encouragement to you with this post is to think outside the box a little bit as you pack fruits and veggies for travel. Before just a year or two ago, I didn’t really think beyond packing apples and carrots. Those got old after a while. Then I started noticing what other families had packed to eat during games. Oh, there are so many great options!

For this round of travel, beyond apples and clementines, we washed, prepared, and packed 2 pounds of strawberries to munch on, grape tomatoes, sliced cucumbers and ranch dip, and sweet peppers. We also had a few applesauce and peach cups packed with spoons.

Fruits and Veggies On the Go

While we enjoyed our fair share of restaurant food, we were able to counter it with nutrient-filled food too. This was especially important, we felt, for our boys who were playing hard and sweating all weekend long. They needed energy and nourishment!

Here’s a list I created so you can get some fruits-and-veggies-on-the-go ideas at a quick glance:

  • Apples
  • Oranges or Clementines
  • Pears
  • Grapes
  • Cherries
  • Blueberries
  • Raspberries
  • Strawberries
  • Sweet Peppers
  • Grape or Cherry Tomatoes
  • Carrots
  • Celery
  • Cucumber Slices
  • Applesauce Cups
  • Peaches, Pears, Mixed Fruit Cups in 100% Juice
  • Fruit Leather

I would add bananas to the list, but have found that they get squishy quickly while being carried in bags from car to gym. What fruits and vegetables would you add to this list?

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Homemade Bubble Bath

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I’ve had this Homemade Bubble Bath recipe on my site for over six years. Since it’s become buried among all the food recipes, I decided to pull it out and share it again. I first made this when Elias turned 6. As far as I can remember, his 6th birthday was about twenty minutes ago. But in fact, Elias is now 12 – and not so much into bubble baths. (He is learning some great card tricks, though!)

Why make homemade bubble bath? Well, because it’s fun. Because it is very inexpensive. Because you can personalize it if you want to give it as a gift. And because you can use ingredients you feel good about.

I think making this together with your kids, then letting them enjoy using it might just be a very helpful way to get through these spring/winter/warm/cold/rainy/windy/crazy days many of us are experiencing this March!

Homemade Bubble Bath

1/2 cup shampoo (I use this shampoo)
3/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

In a bowl, mix the shampoo and water until well combined. Add salt and stir until it thickens slightly. Use a funnel to pour it into a bottle.

Homemade Bubble Bath
To use this Bubble Bath, pour a few Tablespoons into the bath water as the tub is filling. Have fun!

Want more fun activities to do with your kids?

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Gratituesday: Just What We Needed

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gratituesday[2]

I have been craving sunshine like crazy! Maybe you can relate? Those of us who live in colder areas have been deprived of warm rays and Vitamin D for quite a few months. Just about the time I thought I might go stir crazy for lack of sunshine – God gave us a hint of summer!

It hit the 70’s outside both yesterday and today. We opened up our door and curtains, brightening up our house with sunshine. We set up a table outside to eat our meals. We took our math book and read-alouds outside. We put on shorts and short sleeved shirts to get as much sun on our skin as possible. We pretty much didn’t come into the house all afternoon. The warm weather and sunshine was too hard to resist.

Tonight we fired up the grill to make Italian Chicken (Let’s Do This eCourse, Lesson 1  ). Mmm, that grill and the chicken smelled so good! Don’t worry, that little chunk of chicken you see on my plate was just my first helping. :)  —>

cauliflower cakes 2

The entire day was glorious. It was just what we needed. Maybe, just maybe, we can all survive the remaining few weeks of crazy winter-to-spring weather. Praise God for sunshine!

Now your turn. Share what you’re thankful for!  Leave a comment on this post letting us know how God is working in your life. If you’ve written a blog post about what you’re thankful for, leave the link in the comments so we can visit your blog to read about it. We love sharing and reading about God’s blessings!

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Do You Use the Cash Envelope System?

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Set your budget. Pull out cash each month. Separate it into envelopes. Spend only cash, according to the set amount allotted to each envelope category. When it’s gone, it’s gone. Voila, you’ve stayed within your budget. It’s an awesome budgeting strategy. Matt and I love the idea behind the Cash Envelope System. Great as it is, I have to admit, we are cash envelope rebels.

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Is it possible to have a well managed household, avoid credit card debt, and stay within your budget even without putting cash into envelopes each month? I’m happy to share that it is very possible. It takes discipline, for sure, but a cash-only policy is not the only way to have a well managed budget.

Let me stop here to say that if you are new to budgeting and a cash envelope system is helping you get and stay on track – you keep at it!  Do what works for you! But if it’s not working for you, or if the idea of pulling out cash, dividing it into envelopes, and paying with cash everywhere you go is preventing you from budgeting wisely – allow me to introduce the lovely Online Envelope Budgeting system from BudgetFocus.

Seeing this online envelope option on the BudgetFocus website is what really pushed me over the edge to love what they offer. They agree that assigning a dollar amount to each spending category each month is the way to go. But they also understand that cash isn’t always a convenient option. Sometimes swiping a card at the grocery store saves time. Paying for gas outside at the pump instead of heading inside to pay with cash is super helpful when you have little ones in the car (or when it’s freezing outside). Shopping online can save both time and money – but you can’t use cash when you do this.

So how can we use the envelope system without cash? Once you have an account set up at BudgetFocus, you simply input your dollar amount into each “Envelope.” As you spend from each envelope, you transfer that money to keep track of where you are for the month. It is so easy!!

budget focus envelopes

I give a huge thumbs up to BudgetFocus for creating this simple online tool for all of us. This way, we create a workable budget. We set up envelopes. We keep track of spending. We transfer money from one envelope to another as we spend. We stay on track, we don’t overspend, we save time and effort, and we are in control of our money!

Thank you, BudgetFocus, for keeping this process simple and workable for us. Have you signed up for your 14 day free trial yet? I think you will love all BudgetFocus offers as much as I do.

So tell me – do you use a cash envelope system? Does that work for you?

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Basketball, Daylight Savings Time, and a Menu Plan. Wait, What Menu Plan?

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This has been such a fun weekend! We’ve been in Kansas since Thursday night with our homeschool basketball teams at our final tournament.

This tournament is always such a blessing. The fellowship with families on our team, plus families and friends we get to meet up with while we’re there is priceless. Having hundreds of homeschool athletes together in one place makes for a wild and crazy weekend. It’s a highlight of our year. We watched so much basketball this weekend, I was dreaming basketball last night. As if the weekend of games wasn’t exhausting enough. :)

After little sleep, hundreds of miles, and loads of basketball games, I’m not sure if/when I’ll get around to creating and posting a menu plan to share. Instead, I thought I’d share some photos of the weekend. By the way, who decided that daylight savings time should coincide with a night we were getting home in the wee hours? Ah well…

Here’s our girl’s team. They played better than I’ve ever seen them play – going up against some super tough teams and holding their own. So proud of them and grateful that these young ladies are in our lives!

Falcons 20146

Here is our boys’ team, just before the tournament started Friday. Asa is #23; Justus is #32. Asa got a lot of playing time this season. Justus is an eighth grader, so this was a big learning year for him. His time is coming. :)

Falcons 20145

All three games our boys played were nail biters. They have got to stop doing that to us. Parents and fans can only handle so much stress, you know? Phew.

God bless the younger siblings of these athletes. They’ve been dragged to game after game after game – almost every weekend since the beginning of January (and a few in Nov. and Dec. too). They have so much fun playing with each other on the sidelines during games.

At the end of the day Saturday, our boys played in the championship game in their division. We are so proud of them! They played hard, worked together better than ever, and pulled out the win against a tough team. It was so much fun watching them work as a team to pull out the win.

Falcons 20142

Here’s Asa receiving his 1st place medal:

Falcons 20141

And our entire boys’ team posing after the championship game:

Falcons 20147

Now we’re home again, catching up on work and laundry, and getting ready for a new week. Praise God for all the fun and friends He gives us!

Just for giggles, I’ll leave you with this gem. We went out for dinner Friday night, and found this among the drink choices. Read it carefully:

natural flavors

Awesome marketing. “Naturally flavored with other natural flavors but probably not the ones you would expect so we would rather not post them here. Instead we’ll print words that don’t really make sense, along with a delightful picture of some fresh raspberries. Drink me.”

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Our Light and Momentary Troubles

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Rarely do our trials feel light or momentary. We know in our hearts that God is in control, but living peacefully in that truth is hard when we are focused on what is seen on this earth. After all, much of what we experience on this earth is challenging.

While praying for some friends of ours, God led me to this passage in 2 Corinthians this week. I was so encouraged by these words from Paul. Truth:  We are being renewed daily. We fix our eyes on Jesus, knowing that our eternal glory outweighs everything we struggle through on this earth.

Praise God for His truth and promises! Knowing my tendency to rely on myself and on the things that are seen, I printed this verse out so that I could post it on my fridge and be reminded of these truths.

Being Renewed Image

I created a printable of this passage to share with you.

Download the Being Renewed Passage for your encouragement.

Hold on to truth!

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