Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Journey

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If you haven’t already, you may want to go back and read Raw, Guilt , Beginning, Anxiety, Seek, Stop, Pride, Surrender,  Peace, and Empty before reading this post.

I’ve been learning so much the past 14 months about letting go of self and surrendering my worries and needs to the Father. The scriptures have been speaking Truth into my life and for the first time, I’ve really been listening. Learning to die to self has been both painful and beautiful, and I dare say I’ve even grieved this death of self. But after death comes new life – and I am now able to truly enjoy the fullness of life that God promises us on this earth.

Am I worry free? Not yet, but I have learned the beauty of giving my anxious thoughts over to the Father. Old habits die hard. I have thorns in my flesh that would like to take over my life and force me back into my former way of thinking. I’m on a journey to continue growing in my new walk as I learn more and more about dying to self.

Is my life without hardship? No, that’s not what God promises. But He does promise to carry our burdens and to give us His peace. He can and He will and He does. Living in Jesus is glorious. Allowing Him to be for me what He promises and desires to be in my life is rich and powerful. When I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor. 12). Yes.  In the name of Jesus, yes!

Truth:  We can ask for anything in the name of Jesus and He will do it.

Jesus tells us this over and over. I counted this promise three times in John 14-16 alone. Jesus means it when He says this. Worried about something that you have no control over? Ask Jesus to overrule the worry and fill the hole with His peace. He WILL do it.

Truth:  His yoke is easy. His burden is light.

We can continue to carry our burdens on our own, lugging the heavy weight of worry, anxt, fear, or guilt around everywhere we go. It will wear us out, disrupt our sleep, make us depressed, and get us absolutely nowhere. Or we can gratefully surrender our burden to the One who is already carrying it for us. Why do we try to do what we know we can not do? Jesus asks us to let Him give us rest. Give Him your burden. Then breathe deeply and enjoy the comfort that comes from letting Him carry your load.

Truth:  The only One we need to aim to please is the Father.

Learning this truth has been life changing for me. As I recognize my need to let go of pride, and to focus on doing what God asks me to do – instead of constantly trying to gain the approval, recognition, or appreciation of those around me – I am experiencing His blessed gift of peace like never before. The blessing of seeking to please God alone is that by doing so, others are pleased too. Except for when they’re not.  But that is not my burden to bear. I can love people and point them to Jesus, but I cannot rescue, fix, or change anyone’s heart. I’ll do my job and let God do His.

This post ends this Raw series I’ve been honored to share with you about my journey to emotional healing. The series ends, but the journey continues. I am constantly growing, continually learning, and clearly recognizing my need for a Savior. I long to be whole, and I now realize that the only way to find true peace is to become broken at the feet of Jesus. His goodness overflows. His mercies are new every morning. He is what I can never be. And I am safely in His care.

While this specific series is ending, I will continue to listen to God’s leading and share truths and lessons He is teaching me.
Thank you for your kindness and love as I opened my heart in this series.

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Cream Cheese Pumpkin Muffins

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The first new healthy make-ahead snack recipe idea I am sharing (to go along with our Getting Ahead Challenge) was inspired by Kristen who left a comment on Facebook last week suggesting I make these muffins for a family game night. I experimented a little, and we loved the result! Cream cheese and pumpkin together in a muffin? Can be made ahead of time? Freezable? Yes, yes, yes. Not to mention, you get to learn to make cream cheese coins. Just when you thought life in the kitchen couldn’t be any more fun…

Cream Cheese Pumpkin Muffins

For those of you who notice fine details, you might realize that this recipe is very similar to my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffin recipe. I simply took out the chocolate and added cream cheese. Why think hard when you already have a great pumpkin muffin recipe, right?

Cream Cheese Pumpkin MuffinsYum

3 cups whole wheat flour (I used freshly ground hard white wheat)
1 cup sucanat
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 eggs
2 cups pureed pumpkin (or one 16 ounce can)
1 cup melted coconut oil (or butter)
8 ounces cream cheese

Before mixing together muffins, place cream cheese in the middle of a large piece of parchment or wax paper. Wrap the paper around the cream cheese and shape it into a long rope. Place it in the freezer while preparing the muffins.

Stir together flour, sucanat, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add eggs, pumpkin, and melted coconut oil. Mix well and scoop batter into 24 paper-lined muffin tins. Slice cream cheese into 24 “coins.” Slide one into the middle of each muffin. Bake in a 400° oven for about 20 minutes or until muffins are golden brown.

Cream Cheese Pumpkin Muffins
 
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Prep time
Cook time
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Author:
Serves: 24 muffins
Ingredients
  • 3 cups whole wheat flour (I used freshly ground hard white wheat)
  • 1 cup sucanat
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 cups pureed pumpkin (or one 16 ounce can)
  • 1 cup melted coconut oil (or butter)
  • 8 ounces cream cheese
Instructions
  1. Before mixing together muffins, place cream cheese in the middle of a large piece of parchment or wax paper.
  2. Wrap the paper around the cream cheese and shape it into a long rope.
  3. Place it in the freezer while preparing the muffins.
  4. Stir together flour, sucanat, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
  5. Add eggs, pumpkin, and melted coconut oil.
  6. Mix well and scoop batter into 24 paper-lined muffin tins.
  7. Slice cream cheese into 24 "coins."
  8. Slide one into the middle of each muffin.
  9. Bake in a 400° oven for about 20 minutes or until muffins are golden brown.

These muffins taste great hot out of the oven or cold several days later.

Want a little hint on forming that cream cheese? I found that wrapping it well with parchment paper, then running my hands over and over it easily shaped it into a long rope in just a few seconds. Like this –>

pumpkin_cream_cheese_muffins_3 (1)

I like to refer to this gem of a portrait as “Headless Lady Shapes a Cream Cheese Log.”

 Feel free to sprinkle chopped nuts on top of the muffins before baking. I’m also thinking that adding chocolate chips (like in the original Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffin recipe) would taste incredible.

Which do you like better? Chocolate chips or cream cheese…or both?

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Gratituesday: Baking

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I know it sounds silly, but this week I’m very thankful for the gift of baking.

This is such a fun time of year to stir together yummy baked goods and casseroles. I spent hours today in the kitchen experimenting with new recipes to share and I loved every minute of it! I know not everyone enjoys baking as much as I do, but wow is it a fun activity for me.

I’m thankful for my houseful of men who love to eat. I’m thankful for the blessing of a pantry full of delicious ingredients. I’m thankful for cooler weather, cinnamon, comfort, and well…butter. What can I say? :)

raspberry_bars_8
Just wait till I share this Oatmeal Raspberry Bar recipe I tried today!

Share how God is working in your life on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for! Please read through the Gratituesday Guidelines so that you understand what kinds of posts you can link up to share here. Posts that are linked but do not fit our Gratituesday theme will be deleted.

If you are linking up a blog post for Gratituesday, please copy and paste the following sentence into your post! Thanks!

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

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Let’s Do This! Join the Getting Ahead {Snacks} Challenge

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350x350_Challenge

It’s been a few weeks since I threw out a challenge for all of us. With the holiday season coming soon, I thought we could all use a little practice getting ahead in the kitchen. And not that it’s all about me, but I am feeling a little short in the snacks department at my house. So for this challenge, I decided that we would focus on getting ahead with nourishing snacks.

The Let’s Do This! eCourse has an entire lesson devoted to getting ahead with snacks. Why? Because snacks are a must for many of us, and having healthy options on hand and ready to grab means that we are making better choices for ourselves and for our families. Otherwise, when we get hungry in the middle of an afternoon, we may be likely to cave in and grab a handful of chocolate chips. Not that you or I have ever done that in a moment of weakness. Mmmmhmmm.

Soooo, healthy snacks. I’m really hoping you’ll share some fresh new ideas with me! Here is a list of options I regularly give my kids, but they would definitely welcome something new. I’ve been experimenting, looking all over the internet for new recipes, and am counting on you to give me some ideas and inspiration.  No pressure.  I’ll just be waiting by my computer with my apron on and my mixing bowls in my lap…

My goal by the end of next week is to have several fun and healthy snack options prepared for my family – and to have a great new list of healthy (make-ahead) snack ideas compiled to share with you. In the meantime, there will be new healthy snack recipes coming your way – so be on the look-out. Join the Getting Ahead {Snack} Challenge!

Who’s with me?! Let’s Do This!

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Menu Plan for the Week

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Homemade Grape Nuts

This is a fun time of year for baking. My family thinks this is a fun time of year for eating. So it’s all good at our house. :)  Have you been doing any special baking lately?

Here’s what we’re eating this week:

Sunday, October 27
French toast using leftover cinnamon swirl bread, fruit
Cheesy beef and pasta casserole (from Make-Ahead Meals and Snacks eBook), green beans
Small Group potluck – Chili, peach crisp

Monday, October 28
Dark chocolate almond granola, apples
Chicken patty sandwiches, raspberries, baby carrots
Pizza party with Elias’ soccer team

Tuesday, October 29
Homemade grape nuts cereal, blueberries
Homemade corn dogs, peas, baby carrots
Fiesta chicken with lettuce and tomatoes on tortillas (tortilla recipe in Totally Tortillas eBook and Oh, For Real book)

Wednesday, October 30
No-knead overnight bread, clementines, scrambled eggs
Easy noodle stir-fry with carrots, broccoli, and asparagus
Crock-pot barbecue chicken, potato wedges, peas

Thursday, October 31
Pumpkin pancakes, bananas
Sloppy joes, baby carrots, apples
Lasagna casserole, tossed salad

Friday, November 1
Peanut butter honey toast, applesauce
Creamy mac and cheese, green beans
Baked potatoes in the crock pot – baked potato bar with whatever works from the fridge :)

Saturday, November 2
Pancake sausage muffins, apples
Leftovers
Calzones, fruit salad

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Easy and Delicious – Black Bean Salsa

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You’ve likely seen this recipe on my site before, but I wanted to highlight it as a delicious meal that costs less than a dollar per plate!

Black Bean Salsa is easy to make and has only five healthy ingredients. It tastes so fresh, and the cilantro makes it so flavorful. I serve it with Organic Corn Chips. The total cost for the salsa and the chips costs less than $6 and will feed my entire family. This is also a great, inexpensive snack to share with guests at a party.

black_bean_salsa_2

You’ll find the recipe here.

Looking for more meal ideas that use healthy, real food ingredients and cost less than one dollar per plate? Here’s what I’ve shared so far:

 

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Malachi’s Business Dream

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Earlier this week, Matt saw an opportunity to win college scholarship money for Nebraska kids 8 and younger. We quickly acted on it and would like your support!

He’s been entered into a “Big Dreams” contest that will be judged in November, but we’d like to get people to give it a bunch of thumbs up so the judges will see its likeability. 1st place-$10,000; 2nd-$5,000; 3rd-$2,500.

Asa did the video and editing as part of a school project, and he and Justus collaborated on the original music. Matt and I did next to nothing. It was great to see the boys working together on this project!

If you have a minute, would you go check out Malachi’s Business Dream video and click on the thumbs up for us? You can click it once each day through the end of October.

Thank you for helping us with this fun project!

malachis_big_dream
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Visiting One Child Matters in Colorado Springs

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Remember way back in May when I shared about the trip our family took to Colorado? We were able to spend an entire week in the Denver and Colorado Springs area doing a variety of service projects and ministries together. It was such an awesome way to spend our family vacation! We saw God work in so many ways to make this trip come together, from opening up opportunities for us to hand out food to families in need to joining with some college friends to serve the homeless.

Now that I’ve been able to share the One Child Matters ministry opportunity with those of us here at Heavenly Homemakers, here’s another piece of that glorious week in Colorado I want to tell you about. What you have to know is that our family was already planning to be in the Denver/Colorado Springs area before we made the connection with One Child Matters. We got so excited about the ministry opportunity with OCM, then learned that their headquarters are in Colorado Springs. We asked if we could spend time with them while we were in the area and asked them to please put us to work! They did just that, and they treated us like royalty from the moment we walked through their doors.

It’s one thing to look at the Once Child Matters website and talk to the people on the phone to hear their heart regarding the ministry. That alone had made me fall in love with the children and mission behind One Child Matters. But having the honor of meeting the One Child Matters Team face to face, and then spending the day working with them? It was awesome. These people care about the children they are serving – there is no doubt.

They had our kids feeling right at home in no time.

ocm_1

I loved meeting everyone, but it was a special treat to meet Kate – the one I’ve been in contact with the most. She took our family on a tour of the office so we could meet and get to know what each person did to fulfill the needs in this ministry.

with_kate_ocm

A great bonus is that my cousin works at One Child Matters, so we were able to catch up with her a little bit and steal some hugs.

with_laura_e

After a tour, we got to sit down and work together on the letters people send to their sponsored kids. This experience was so rich and so much fun. I’ll share more details about sending letters to your sponsored children in a future post, but wow if working through these letters didn’t inspire me and make me feel the love between sponsoring families and the children they are serving.

ocm_3

ocm_4
During the late morning, our younger boys headed to the kitchen with some of the OCM team to cook up a Jordanian feast. You’ll notice on the One Child Matters Blog (written by Kate, pictured with me in the second picture above) that they occasionally share recipes from the variety of countries where the sponsored children reside. I love this feature as it can help connect us to the children there. Our boys loved helping prepare this meal and being featured on the One Child Matters Blog. Remember how I mentioned that our boys felt right at home? The pictures in this blog post featuring the Jordanian meal will prove that to you. ;) 

ocm_5
After we ate together, some of us continued to work our way through sponsor letters, while the younger boys headed over to create some masterpieces to send over to our own sponsored child.
ocm_7
I am excited to introduce you to our sponsored child soon. It’s amazing how you can feel connected to someone you’ve never met, and how praying for someone holds so much power. If you haven’t had a chance, head over to the Once Child Matters site and consider sponsoring a child. We are so thankful for the opportunity to participate in this ministry!

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What Are You Putting On Your Skin? Win a Great Package of L’BRI Products

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L'BRI Skincare Set
You all know that I go all out when it comes to my facial cleansing routine, using moisturizer, and applying make-up. And by all out, we all know that I really mean that I’m…out. All out.  I don’t use anything. I wash my face with a non-toxic soap. I use coconut oil for moisturizer when I need it. And I haven’t worn make-up for years. I am as exciting as they come. {yawn}

BUT, I know that there are many of you who prefer a better skin care plan. I’m excited to talk to you about L’BRI products that I was recently able to review. But first, let’s talk about skin.

Since our youngest son was born almost nine years ago, we’ve learned more about skin than we ever wanted to know. His severe eczema helped us understand how crucial it is to care for our largest organ – skin. Whatever goes on the skin is absorbed into our body. This can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on what it is. So many skin care products contain chemical ingredients that might seem fine when applied topically, but what about what happens once it enters our body through the skin?

Don’t let it over-whelm you (good luck). Just be aware that everything from soap to laundry detergent to shampoo to make-up is absorbed into our body through our skin. Therefore, we want to choose products that are less harmful. There are plenty of products on the market now that are working to provide great options that are healthier for our bodies!

L’BRI is a company I found out about that is doing just that. Here is just a small piece of information I found on their website about their products:

  • Are paraben free
  • Never use (SLS) sodium lauryl sulfate or propylene glycol
  • Never use mineral oil, lanolins, or waxes
  • Never use artificial colors or fragrances
  • Are never tested on animals
  • Effective for all skin types: normal, oily, dry, men, and women.
  • Backed by the L’BRI PURE n’ NATURAL 100% Satisfaction Guarantee

Read more about the L’BRI company and products here. From skin care to cosmetics, L’BRI has a high quality line of items that you can trust. I also find it very nice that you can order just what you need and have it delivered to your door. (I’m all about shopping from the comfort of my home.)  I highly encourage taking advantage of the free samples to see how you like the products. Simply pay shipping, and the samples will be on their way to you.

Today, Caroline, an independent consultant with L’BRI is giving away a great package which includes a facial masque and a holiday makeup compact kit. How fun!

L'BRI Facial Masque  L'BRI Holiday Compact Makeup Case - Perfect For The Holidays!

Interested in winning this prize package? Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win. (Subscribers, click the title of this post in your email to come to my website to sign up.)  For additional entries, Like Caroline’s Facebook page and/or subscribe to her blog. Leave a second comment here if you do either of those.

I’ll draw a random winner on Monday, October 28. 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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How to Make Freezer Biscuits

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As with any freezer food, these freezer biscuits are going to make your life easier!

Freezer Biscuit Tutorial

Yum

My family loves biscuits and gravy. But by the time I brown sausage and make gravy, mix together biscuits, roll them, cut them out, and bake them – I end up with a very messy kitchen and a lot of time spent trying to get breakfast on the table. Therefore, I used to only make this meal on special occasions like birthdays and Father’s Day.

But now!! I have unlocked the secret to getting a meal of biscuits and gravy on the table within just a few minutes and with very little mess. My men think I’m wonderful for working so hard when they walk into the kitchen to see the delicious breakfast feast. Little do they know that making biscuits and gravy has become easier than trying to get them to see the laundry that is waiting for them to fold and put away. How can they not see it when they have to step over it to get to their room, I’d like to know. But back to the biscuits…

Making a super fast meal of biscuits and gravy is dependent on two simple tasks:

  1. Have sausage pre-made, browned, and frozen in meal-sized portions.
  2. Make biscuits ahead of time, then freeze them to pull out and bake.

If you recall, I typically make 12 pounds of Homemade Turkey Sausage at one time. It just makes sense. I’m already getting out all of the spices. I’m already dirtying a pot. Might as well just dirty a bigger pot and make a huge batch of sausage, right? Then I freeze the cooked meat in 12 quart-sized freezer bags. The night before I’m planning to make biscuits and gravy, I get out one bag of meat and put it into the fridge to thaw. Easy!

How to Make Freezer Biscuits

Now how about the biscuits? I’ve learned to mix up a triple or quadruple batch of Quick Mix Biscuits, roll and cut, then freeze the unbaked biscuits on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. One mess, lots of biscuits. So easy! Once the biscuits are frozen, I transfer them to gallon-sized freezer bags. The night before I want to bake them, I place the desired number of frozen biscuits on a baking sheet, cover them with a cloth, then let them thaw on the countertop overnight.

The next morning, all I have to do is slide the biscuits into the oven to bake while I quickly make Homemade Sausage Gravy with the pre-cooked sausage. Slice some fruit, and I’ve got a favorite, hearty meal on the table within about 15 minutes.

My family will now be enjoying biscuits and gravy more often, thanks to these quick freezer methods!

Have you tried freezing unbaked biscuits before?

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