Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Confessions of an Applesauce Maker

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I’m not making any applesauce this year.  Not even a little bit. As much as I love making and preserving applesauce for my family, and as easy as it is to make applesauce with my Victorio – I am very happy to take the year off from this endeavor.

Why am I not making applesauce? Because I counted up jars I have leftover from the stash I made last year, and I found that I have plenty of applesauce to last us through the winter. I don’t need any, so I’m checking that task off my list. Yay!

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For those of you who don’t have a pantry full of applesauce, I did want to remind you of what I learned last year:  Making applesauce with a Victorio is by far the easiest method I’ve found.

So how about you? Are you making applesauce this year?

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One Child Matters – A Ministry Partnership Opportunity with us at Heavenly Homemakers!

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Remember several months ago when I told you I had a special service opportunity that we could all participate in together? I’ve been so excited to share this with you – but there has been one delay after another…technical difficulties. Finally, after months of hard work on the part of the One Child Matters Team, I am able to announce a ministry I’d love for you to join me in!

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The more I get to know you, whether it is “in real life” or through your emails and comments, the more I feel like we are all on a journey together. A journey toward healthy living, a journey toward raising godly families, a journey toward making our homes heavenly, and ultimately, a journey as we all strive toward our heavenly home. The whole concept gives me chills, that through this blog, we can all be working toward so many positive goals together.

That’s why I’m so excited to share this opportunity with you. Together, we can work to make a difference. The best part of this opportunity is that it isn’t just something you and I can do. It is something our families can be involved in too! (Selfless, servant-hearted focus, here we come!)

There’s been a lot going on behind the scenes here at Heavenly Homemakers, and I can’t tell you how excited I am to finally announce this new ministry opportunity to you!

Actually, the opportunity itself isn’t new. One Child Matters has been around for quite some time. (You may have known them as Mission of Mercy.)  What is new is a partnership I’m eager to share with you – a partnership between my family, your family, and One Child Matters.

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First, let me tell you a little bit about this ministry.

One Child Matters is an organization based out of Colorado Springs that truly cares about kids on a holistic level. They work to help children in 16 countries in the world, meeting their spiritual, physical, socio-emotional, and mental needs. At this point, they are serving over 40,000 children. What a blessing!

All of these children live in poverty. Many of them are on their own much of the day – even the little ones – as their parents work away from home for hours to put food on the table each night. One Child Matters provides schooling, guidance, nourishment, medical care, and most importantly – they teach these children about Jesus!

If you spend some time at the One Child Matters website, I guarantee you’ll be drawn in and begin to fall in love with these children, just like my family has. Together, we’ve spent time learning about the One Child Matters mission, how they work, what they do, and how much they care. Above all, we’re seeing the faces of the children they care for as more than just pictures. These are kids – just like yours and mine. They have needs – and together, we can help One Child Matters meet these needs!

How can you help?

Well, this isn’t a ministry that you’ll decide to jump into on a whim (unless after these few minutes you already feel called to participate!). This is something that I encourage you to pray about with your family. Study this ministry to see if its something you might feel called to be a part of. How cool to think that we can all be a part of this ministry together – your family and mine!

After prayer and discussion, Matt, the boys, and I have signed up to sponsor a child in Honduras. (I’ll share more details soon. I can’t wait to introduce you to our adorable new “family member!”)  Our sponsorship involves a $34 per month donation, as well as a committment to connect with our sponsored child, and most importantly, a pledge to pray for our child.

This is something all six of our family members have chosen to be a part of. The $34 monthly donation? Well, we’ve talked to our kids about the fact that while it may mean we need to give up something we want – doing so will help our sponsored child receive the basic care needed each day. Our kids are on board, and we couldn’t be more excited.

Please consider joining my family in a ministry that will surely be a blessing to all involved! We can make a difference in the lives of children around the world – and in doing so, we will be teaching our families more about being like Jesus. If that’s not a win-win situation, I’m not sure what is.

Please head over to the One Child Matters site and spend time in prayer about joining with us in this ministry. I’ll be sharing more in the upcoming weeks about how we can all work together in this!

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Win a $50 Gift Certificate from Lilla Rose

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lilla_rose_octLilla Rose Flexi-Clips are my favorite hair accessory! They are pretty, functional, and easy – perfect for those of us who are busy and need a quick hair solution.

Today I have fun news:

1)  Paula from Lilla Rose is giving away a $50 gift certificate to one winner of this giveaway.

2)  From now through Sunday, October 20 Lilla Rose is offering 10% off all items and 15% off select items.

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If you have girls on your Christmas list, or you simply want to invest in high quality hair accessories for you or someone else, this is a great time to stock up! Before I started wearing Flexi-Clips, I went through tons of hair bands. They stretched out quickly, allowing me to only use them a few times before they started pulling my hair. But my Flexi-Clips have been going strong for several years now, making them a great money-saver. Plus, they never pull my hair. I love ’em!

Go check out all that Lilla Rose has to offer. Take advantage of the 10-15% off sale! And come back here to leave a comment letting us know what items you’d pick if you win the $50 gift certificate.

I’ll draw a random winner on Monday, October 21. Be watching for a post stating the winner as you will be responsible for contacting me if your name is chosen.

Want extra entries? Like Paula’s Facebook page and/or subscribe to Paula’s newsletter – then leave an additional comment here letting me know that you did.

And by the way, I don’t just love their Flexi-Clips. I often wear their Bobby Pins. And I finally figured out how to wear their Headbands. (I’m challenged when it comes to hair.)  All their products are great. Having fun shopping with the discount!

 

 

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Easy Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

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What’s great about these Easy Oatmeal Breakfast Bars?  You can eat them in a house. You can eat them in a rush. You can eat them in a car. You can eat them near or far. Inside outside upside down. Sam…I am.

We’re in the process of trading in Seuss for Shakespeare at this point in our lives, so apparently I felt the need for a Dr. Seuss flashback. I mean, I could have gone with Macbeth or Romeo and Juliet and said, “All that glitters is not breakfast” or “An oatmeal bar by any other name would smell as sweet” but those didn’t make nearly as much sense within the context of this post. And as all of us who have ever come across a nooth grush on our tooth brush can attest to, Dr. Seuss always makes perfect sense.

You might look at this recipe and ask, “How is this one different from your Breakfast Cake, Giant Breakfast Cookie, and Oatmeal Cookie recipes? I would answer by telling you that they are all similar, except that this recipe uses the fewest ingredients and is easiest to throw together. It’s also a little gooier and chewier and at this point in my life, since it’s so fast and easy, it has become my favorite of them all.

I usually try to make these at night before going to bed so that when we get up in the morning, breakfast is ready to eat right away. Which leads me back to how you can eat them in a rush, in a car, with your coffee, wherever you are. Parting is such sweet sorrow. I’ll stop now.

Easy Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

1 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sucanat or 1/2 cup honey
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups whole wheat flour (I use freshly ground hard white wheat)

Stir together melted butter and sucanat. Add eggs, baking soda, salt, and vanilla, mixing well. Stir in oats and flour until well combined. Spread mixture in a 9×13 inch baking dish. Bake in a 350° oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Feel free to stir 1/2 cup chocolate chips or dried fruit to the batter before baking!

To Freeze These Bars:  Bake as directed and allow them to cool completely. Cut into bars, then wrap individually. Place wrapped bars in a freezer bag in the freezer. Thaw for at least one hour before eating.

Who do you enjoy more? Seuss or Shakespeare?

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Peace

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

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I longed to hold onto and remain in control of my life. But the truth was, the control that I longed to hold onto was actually controlling me. It had its grip around my chest and would not let me breathe with all of the fear and panic it created inside of me. Once I learned to surrender my self to Jesus – that is when I was able to enjoy His gift of peace.

Realizing this was glorious, and then I lived happily ever after.

Oh how I wish that happily ever after was the end of the story. I wish that recognizing the need to surrender fully to the Savior, letting go of self, and embracing His peace would keep me always and forever where I needed to be in my relationship with our Creator. But here’s what I am learning:

  • We are to take up our cross daily.
  • We live in a world that fights for our flesh and against all that is good and right.
  • Our journey will never be over – until we meet Jesus face to face.

Learning to surrender myself and my sin to Jesus was a huge breaking point. It was one Satan didn’t like. It was one I was quite inexperienced with. After all, I’d had a solid three dozen years of practice holding on very tightly to control and selfishness. Surrender? I just learned this. Peace? I like it. Now, how do I hold on to this feeling?

Ah, the feeling of peace. It’s great, isn’t it? But what if I told you that my time studying the Word has taught me that peace isn’t a feeling? I always thought it was. “I just don’t feel peace about this,” we say. “Ah, I love how peaceful it feels here.”

God has taught me that peace is not a feeling. Peace is a fruit of the Spirit. Peace is a gift (Psalm 29:11).

When we surrender our sin, our selfishness, our fear, our anxiety to Jesus – He replaces them with His peace. But only if we choose to accept this gift.

See, once we let go of something we’ve been holding onto for a very long time, there is a sin-sized hole in that place in our hearts. This is what I found in myself – a huge hole that had been overflowing with anxiety and fear. God was helping me to recognize this and to rid it from my life, but then what? God said, “Here, now accept this gift of peace that I’ve been longing to give you. Let my peace fill that hole.”

I then had to reach out and accept it. The Spirit fills that hole, and the fruit that bubbles forth out of that space is all that He has been longing to become in our lives.

I loved this. I found myself experiencing the beauty of the Father and the work of the Spirit in my life in ways I had never experienced. It was glorious. But only if I continued to recognize that I could never take my self back. That the hole Jesus had filled left no room for anxiety. That peace and fear can not co-exist. If I chose to grab hold of fear again, my clumsy arms could not also hold onto peace.

I began to struggle with how to juggle. How to hold onto this blessed gift of peace I was beginning to experience. How to continue to surrender myself and not take my self back.

The difficulty then turned to this:  Thanks to God, I was learning, growing, and healing. But now I didn’t know who I was anymore. All my life I’ve been the Go!Go!Go! girl and the anxious person, and the drop-everything-for-friends friend. I understood that I was becoming a new person. But what exactly was that supposed to look like? And how was I supposed to act? And who was I supposed to serve? I found myself crying,  “Who am I, Lord?!”

Continue reading: Empty

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Making Homemade Soft Pretzels

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The recipe is a tiny bit more time consuming that some of my other baked goods, so I find that I don’t make my Homemade Soft Pretzels very often anymore. But now that the weather has cooled off, I’m excited to make these pretzels to go with a pot of soup. I guarantee my family will not argue with my idea.

Have you tried making Homemade Soft Pretzels? Give this recipe a try. They are SO delicious!

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Gratituesday: Hot Drinks

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I feel like this is a silly thing to be grateful for, but hey, it’s the little things, right?

I am typically cold from September until May. Slippers, long johns, wool socks, and sweaters are my best friends during these months. Beyond those, I love my hot drinks. Hot tea, Hot Cocoa, and Crio Bru really hit the spot, and yes, it even appears that I can now add coffee to that list. (Who starts liking coffee at the age of 40? This girl, apparently.)

What I really love about hot drinks is that now I associate them with my Bible reading time. There is something so comforting about enjoying my favorite mug filled with a warm drink while I spend time in the Word each morning. Then later in the day, even if I’m not able to sit down again to read, fixing a hot drink triggers memories of Truths I read earlier in the day and reminds me to keep my focus on the One I’m learning to completely surrender my life to.

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Yep, sometimes I also share my Bible time with a Lego army.

So hot drinks remind me of Jesus? Well no wonder I am so grateful for them. :)  Are you a fan of hot drinks?

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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Surrender

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

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Pride. Fear. Anxiety. Panic. Worry.

I knew I had to let these go. So I kept trying and trying and working so hard to let them go. I prayed and I pounded my fists. I fasted and I cried. I shouted, “I don’t want these sins anymore! I’m tired of being ruled by all of this ugliness!”

Ironically, all the work I’ve put into letting go of pride, fear, and anxiety through the years has left me a bit more prideful (look at what I’ve conquered!), more fearful (but what if it comes back?), and more anxious (I’m still not sure I’m doing this right.). Why? Because I was trying to do the work myself.  I wanted to be better for Christ. So I worked and I fought and I struggled and I worked harder to be a better Christian. I would think:  I’ve got this! I’m going to follow that advice I just heard. I’m going to go by the suggestions in that book. I’m going to just buckle down and work harder. I can do this!

The more I fought, the more difficult my battles became. The more steeped in sin I sunk. The more exhausted and defeated I felt. So frequently I would think, “Why can’t I just stop being so freaked out all the time? Why can’t I just relax? Why? Why? What am I doing wrong?”

The answer came when I finally shut-up. When I finally waved the white flag to the One who has already won the battle for me and was begging for me to be still and sit calmly in his pool of peace.

Surrender.  Oh, sweet surrender. Such a simple, easy answer. Such a basic and quiet act. The very work I had been laboring over had already been done for me. All that was left was for me to stop, breathe, and recognize that I needed to surrender my self to my Savior.

Surrender.

All of this, Lord. I give it to you. All of my yuck. All of my fear. All that threatens to control me and pull me into my self-seeking ways. The only work required, the only action I must take, is the simple task of surrender.

Let go. I had to recognize that my own strength and desire, hard work and determination would not achieve the peace I was looking for.

Peace can only come through surrender.

Lay it down. Give it up.

It is so hard to let go of control. And yet I have found that by trying to hold on to control – I become crazily out of control. While working so hard to be and to do, I accomplish very little.

Surrender.

It has become a theme for me, a newly found word, a beautiful recognition of what God asks of me. Surrender.

God promises, “Let me heal you. Let me make you into what I am calling you to be. Let me. Let me. I’ve got you.”

Peace. Comfort. Joy. The beautiful blessings that follow surrender.

Upon recognizing this and experiencing the peace that came once I surrendered my sins and my self to Jesus, was the battle now over for me? In some ways, yes. But in other ways, my real fight was just beginning.

Continue reading: Peace

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Menu Plan for the Week

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We have had one FULL weekend. Our house was overflowing with company from Wednesday through Saturday. We got to see lots of friends on Saturday and Sunday who had come into town for York College Homecoming. We have had so much fun! Now it’s time to wash lots of sheets and towels and play catch-up. And yes, I had a nap this afternoon. :)

Freezer cooking proved to be a life-saver these past few days. Putting meals on the table for lots of people was super easy since I had made all of the main dishes and many of the baked goods ahead of time. I got to enjoy my company, and didn’t have to worry about trying to hold a sensible conversation while cooking since we all know that doesn’t work for me. :)

Creamy Orange Cooler

We have lots of soccer games this week, but otherwise, I think our schedule slows down just a little bit again. Here’s what we’ll be eating:

Monday, October 14
Oatmeal bars, apples
Potato soup, carrots
Italian pasta bake, tossed salad, green beans

Tuesday, October 15
Easy breakfast casserole, creamy orange cooler
Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, veggies
Chili on crock pot baked potatoes, veggies

Wednesday, October 16
Homemade instant oatmeal, oranges
Creamy mac and cheese, peas
Turkey sausage and red bean stew, tossed salad

Thursday, October 17
Homemade grape nuts cereal, blueberries
Pizza boats, applesauce, baby carrots
Chili mac, steamed broccoli and carrots

Friday, October 18
French toast, pears
Tuna salad on lettuce and tomatoes, fruit salad
Bacon cheeseburger casserole (in Make-Ahead Meals and Snacks ebook), tossed salad

Saturday, October 19
Scrambled egg sandwiches, oranges
Leftovers
Beefy vegetable soup, cornbread

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We Get Milk Again – I Can Finally Make Buttermilk!

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It’s been sort of a crazy few months around where cows are concerned.

You’re picturing it, aren’t you? With that one little statement, you have now conjured up in your mind a scene in which the local cows are behaving in strange ways, perhaps showing up on people’s doorsteps, speaking in full sentences, or maybe climbing onto billboards to paint a message. (Is anybody else now hungry for Chick-fil-A?)

What I’m really trying to say is that our regular milk sources have had unfortunate issues with their milk cows, leaving us without a source for raw milk. Boy have we ever been spoiled for the past few years.

Thankfully, as of last week, we were able to find another source for this liquid gold. What did I do just as soon as we picked up our milk? Well, I took a picture, of course. Then, I shook up a jar of milk and had a glass. And then I made buttermilk. And yogurt. And kefir.

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Besides drinking it, making homemade dairy products is what I’ve missed the most about having raw milk. (Here’s what we did in the meantime, in case you’re wondering.)

Doesn’t it take a long time and a lot of work to make buttermilk, yogurt, and kefir? Only if you consider five minutes a lot of time and shaking a jar a lot of work. Seriously, making homemade, cultured dairy products is so easy – and think of the money it saves!

So there you have it. My fridge is now full of great milk, fresh cream, and all the cultured dairy products I need for baking and making smoothies. You’ll find all the links and instructions for making these products here.

Do you make any homemade cultured dairy products? If so, which ones are your favorites?

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