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10 Healthy and Easy Peach Recipes

August 27, 2013 by Laura 17 Comments

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

If only the peaches on our tree would ripen a few at a time so that we could enjoy this juicy candy for weeks at a time. But instead, they seem to be ready all at once. Therefore, over the past few days, our family could all be seen with peach juice running down our chins as we enjoyed the most tasty peaches of the year!

peaches

Matt brought in this big bowl full, plus two more boxes. See the little bite marks taken out of some of the peaches? Dear Squirrels, You are very naughty. You are not cute when you are eating our peaches. Go play in someone else’s yard and come back after we pick all of our peaches. Sincerely, Laura and the hungry crew

Over the weekend, we made two of our favorite peach recipes:  Peach Syrup and Peach Crisp. We ate peach syrup on pancakes, then froze the rest for another treat another day. The peach crisps also went into the freezer for a quick dessert when we have company.

peaches_august_13

With the rest of our peaches, here are some fun recipes either on my site or that I’ve found while doing some peachy online searches:

  • One of our favorite ways to eat frozen peaches is Strawberry Peach Slushies.
  • Don’t forget Peach Fruit Leather! It’s so easy and fun.
  • Here’s my tutorial on Canning Fresh Peaches.
  • Fresh peaches on a Fruit Pizza? So good!
  • Tammy’s Peach Mango Salsa looks incredible.
  • Check out this very healthy Creamy Peach Smoothie recipe at NoDietsAllowed.
  • I want to try this Peach Iced Tea recipe – only I’ll use sucanat or honey for sweetener.
  • My kids would love these Fresh Peach Popsicles – again with sucanat or honey instead of white sugar.

Now your turn! What are your favorite peach recipes?

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Gratituesday: Pruning

August 26, 2013 by Laura 11 Comments

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

For my post today, I really want to type the entire chapter of John 15 and say that those words are what I am thankful for. Instead, I’ll encourage you to open your Bible and read them, chew on them, and let them teach you whatever it is you might need to learn.

I’ve been experiencing a lot of pruning in my life recently. It hurts. But it hurts in a way that brings joy. Never can I experience true joy until I let God pull from me what is keeping me from being whole. The pruning is painful. The end result is beauty.

Every time I try to serve, love, or make a decision on my own, God reminds me (with his gentle pruning) that without Him, I am a frustrated, exhausted, confused mess. “…apart from me you can do nothing” is what Jesus tells us in John 15:5. Yes, Lord, you are right.

And so, because I continually need to learn so that I can become more fruitful, I am very thankful for the pruning I receive. Is it unfruitful, Lord? Then please chop it off, cut it out, throw it away. I know it will sting. I will likely be sore. I may have to rest while I heal. But get rid of it. I just want to be fully yours.

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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Free Printables from Heavenly Homemakers ~ Galatians 6:9 Wall Hanging

August 25, 2013 by Laura 11 Comments

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

freeprintables2

It’s one of my favorite verses. I quote it to myself often. It gives me strength, and helps me know that what I am doing as a homemaker, mother, wife, servant, friend, and child of God is not without purpose. It reminds me of my calling for God’s kingdom. And it encourages me to continue to seek Christ for my strength and focus.

Galatians69color_sm

This week, our free printable is this beautiful wall hanging for you to print, frame, and hang in your home. There are two different options – blue and black, or gray and black.

Galatians69pr_sm

Download Galatians 6:9 in Blue and Black here.

Download Galatians 6:9 in Gray and Black here.

Wanting to bless someone else too? For just a few dollars, you can print and frame this and give it to someone who needs encouragement.

I printed this, put a piece of coordinating blue cardstock on the back, then framed it (for two bucks). I LOVE having this in my living room!

galatians69_3

Looking for more free printables that will benefit you and help you to bless others too? Here are our Free Encouragement Cards printable from last week. Check back each Monday as we offer a new free printable option each week!

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 (a real one this time)

August 25, 2013 by Laura 3 Comments

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

Yay, this week I’m making an actual meal plan! The past two weeks have been a blur of fun and hard work as we fed the YC ladies soccer team, had them help us paint, sent Matt off for three practices each day with the team – all while trying to keeping up with regular daily work and school.

I’m tired.

But, we are now able to settle back down into a routine, and as long as I continue with my morning quiet time, all will be well. I’m also really focusing on asking my boys to help more. Sometimes I find myself in a rut of feeling that it will be easier if I just do a job myself instead of calling a boy to help out. Why do I do that? Silliness.

traders_joes_aug

The end of last week, a couple of us headed to Lincoln for appointments. While we were there, we got to go to Trader Joes. See the bread?? And the hamburger buns? While I usually make those myself, picking some up at Trader Joes will help me put together some easier meals since this week is very full. (Let’s see, quiet time with God or kneading bread this week? I’m picking God time. Thank you Trader Joes.)

And now on to our menu plan for this week:

Sunday, August 25
Breakfast cake, raspberries
Sloppy joes, strawberries, baby carrots, green beans
Picnic with church youth group families at park

Monday, August 26
Creamy orange cooler, toast
Spicy avocado dip, chips, strawberries
Bbq meatballs, crock pot baked potatoes, peas

Tuesday, August 27
Baked oatmeal cups, blueberries
Easy noodle stir fry with carrots, broccoli, and zucchini
Taco salad

Wednesday, August 28
Quick mix pancakes, peach syrup
Tuna salad sandwiches, fresh tomatoes, strawberries, carrots
Italian cream cheese chicken over pasta, asparagus, tossed salad

Thursday, August 29
Breakfast burritos, clementines
Taco corn fritters, fresh peaches
Homemade pizza, tossed salad

Friday, August 30
Scrambled eggs, fruit salad
Salmon patties, steamed broccoli and carrots
Grilled burgers, sweet potato fries

Saturday, August 31
Homemade grape nuts cereal, blueberries
Leftovers
Baked three cheese chicken pasta, tossed salad, green beans

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Why We Are Buying a Freezer Alarm

August 24, 2013 by Laura 23 Comments

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

freezer_1

It was our fifth day to feed the YC ladies soccer team. Everything had gone as perfectly as it could possibly go when feeding 30+ people dinner night after night.

I had planned Italian chicken, baked potatoes, and some veggies – and by 1:00 in the afternoon, we had the chicken in one big roaster oven and a bunch of potatoes in the other. So as to avoid heating up our house, we put both roasters outside, plugged into an outlet right by our storage room.

The storage room holds our freezers. Two freezers. Two big, full of meat, full of vegetables and fruit, full of all the food I had recently prepared ahead for busy days freezers. You can probably see where this story is going.

Around 3:00, I went and checked on the chicken and potatoes to see how they were coming along. As it turned out, they weren’t coming along at all. The roasters had both stopped working. Raw potatoes anyone?

We’ve had trouble with those outlets before, so without thinking about any other option, I blamed the issue on the outlets and had Asa help me get those heavy roasters full of food into the kitchen so that our house would be a pleasant 400° by the time a bunch of already sweaty soccer girls came for dinner. Hey, at least the food would be ready. I was so thankful I had discovered that the plug wasn’t working in time to crank up the roasters and get the food cooked.

One would think that I would have considered that a fuse had been blown. But what can I say? I had been feeding lots of people lots of food for lots of days. All I was thinking about was successfully getting through that night’s meal.

From 3:10 on, all roasters, potatoes, and chickens cooperated just fine. Dinner went great, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Fast-forward to the next morning. I decided that I would treat my family to bacon. This rarely happens, and I knew the aroma would help everyone get out of bed cheerfully.

We shall always be grateful for this random bacon desire. It was as I went into the storage room to grab said bacon from the freezer that I noticed the light didn’t turn on. Burned out bulb? Maybe. I tried the light on the other side of the room. Nope, that didn’t work either.

And then a big ball of panic hit me in the gut. Not only were the lights not working, but the freezers were not humming. “Hum, freezers, hum!” I screamed to the silent white boxes. I opened the freezers. Nothing but icy cold silence.

This was not a pleasant way to begin my day.

I ran to the basement, looked for the offending fuse, found it, switched it, and prayed for humming freezers. Back upstairs and into the storage room – the lights went on and the beautiful chorus of freezer music greeted me.

All was saved – the freezers had kept our food frozen solid all night long. But I tell you what – this freezer alarm is looking mighty good.

Relief. Gratitude. Bacon.

Do you have a freezer alarm? When I shared this on facebook, many shared that they wished they did since they had lost freezers full of food! Any thoughts on whether this cheap one will do, or if we should spend a little more for a wireless one?

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

I Can Now Accomodate Picky Muffin Eaters

August 23, 2013 by Laura 8 Comments

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

Some like their eggs fried. Some prefer them scrambled. I am not a short-order chef. So if anyone in my family wants his eggs fixed differently than the way I have prepared them for today’s breakfast, he is welcome to go get eggs from the fridge and prepare them himself.

But what about meal options that are not so quick to make – like muffins? Well, now that we have all discovered this awesome “freeze your muffin batter” trick, it is easy to make muffins to please the masses. Or at least try to please the masses. Why is it that food they love one day they do not want to touch the next day? Oh, let’s not even go there.

Anyway, last night in preparation for this morning’s breakfast, I got out my muffin pan and filled it with ten Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffin batter balls, and two Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffin batter balls from the freezer. One of my kids really does not like peanut butter. In the past when I’ve made the peanut butter muffins, I would search the fridge for a leftover something-or-other for my non-peanut butter kid. But now? Everyone can have their muffins and eat them too.

muffins

I love this.

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My Discovery Kids Fabric Map Story

August 22, 2013 by Laura 18 Comments

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

While I could just say, “We got a Discovery Kids Fabric Activity World Map. It is neat.” I figured I’d give you way too many unnecessary details instead:

One day I went to the toy section of the store, which I never do, but for some reason that day I did. I found a Discovery Kids Fabric Activity World Map on clearance, and was intrigued. But then I passed it up, deciding that it was likely one of those “oh we’ll use this so much!” items that would end up getting stuck in the back of a closet and forgotten. But back at home, I couldn’t stop thinking about all the ways we could use it if we had it.

(So Laura? You saw it, almost got it, didn’t get it, decided to get it, went back for it, got it, and we all lived happily ever after? Cool.)

Well yes, except for the went back for it got it happily ever after part. Not that I’m not happy with or without a map. Because my joy comes from Jesus. But anyway.

I went back a few days later, and there were no maps left. None.  I cried a little. Not really. I simply wheeled my empty cart to the produce section to pick out some raspberries.

Then, I went back to the store another day, because if you can believe it, we needed more raspberries. Or toilet paper. Or something. I decided to check the toy section again – just in case more of the maps were there, even though I felt sure that there wouldn’t be because clearance means they had clear-anced them out of there.

But to my great excitement, they had not one, but four Discovery Kids Fabric Activity World Maps, still at a clearance price. And so I got one. And also some toilet paper.

discovery_map

The three younger boys have gotten great use out of this map so far. I’ve especially used it with Malachi. He has been labeling the continents, finding countries and learning what continents they are a part of, and learning about oceans. Soon, we’ll tackle rivers. Every day, we get out the map to practice and learn more. I have been thrilled with how much he’s learning.

And the best part? While we could hang the map on a wall, it has instead been very handy to simply lay out on the floor, then roll up and stow away when we’re finished.

So there’s my story. We’ve also made good use out of the toilet paper, but those are, again, more of those unnecessary details that you don’t need to know.

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Do The Funky Kitchen – Now on Kindle!

August 21, 2013 by Laura Leave a Comment

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

Feeling unorganized? Wish the gunk stuck to your refrigerator shelves was cleaned off? Want a more organized pantry? Hoping to create a healthy kitchen that your family can enjoy together?  Like reading books on Kindle?

We have exciting news —>  Do The Funky Kitchen: How to Have a Functional Kitchen is now available on Kindle at Amazon!

funky_kitchen_amazon

I do have to warn you that simply reading this book will not be the magic cure to saving your dysfunctional kitchen. You still have to do the work. (There should be an app for that…)

But Do The Funky Kitchen will give you the jump start you need to get your kitchen fresh and organized for the fall season. Or any season.

Prefer the ebook version? You can grab it directly from our shop. But if an eReader is what works best for you, we’re so happy to offer this option for you! (Check out the introductory price!)

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

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins Become…Chocolate Chocolate Chip Bread

August 20, 2013 by Laura 13 Comments

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

It happened last week as I was mixing up a triple batch of Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffin batter for the freezer. You’ve tried that by now right? Putting muffin batter into the freezer to help save time and so that you can have easy, fresh muffins? (Nope, I just can’t let it rest.)

Making a triple batch of the muffins was a great idea, as we eat at least 18 muffins at one time. However, a triple batch requires 3 muffin pans that hold 12 muffins each. I only have 2 muffin pans. Therefore, I filled my two muffin pans and put them into the freezer. I then poured the remaining batter into a bread pan, baked it for 50 minutes at 350°, and we ate it for breakfast the following morning. Update: I’ve since purchased these little gems, but still, this bread idea is a great one.

chocolate_bread_1

Yum

Find the Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffin recipe here.

It was a tasty experiment. I figured – banana bread makes good muffins. Apple bread makes good muffins. Surely chocolate chocolate chip muffins would make good bread. And so it did.

I used sour cream instead of milk, which if you recall, is a great substitution to make muffins and breads more moist. So very good. And even better when eaten with fresh berries.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Bread
 
Save Print
Prep time
10 mins
Cook time
45 mins
Total time
55 mins
 
Author: Laura
Serves: 1 loaf
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups whole wheat flour
  • ⅓ cup sucanat
  • ¼ cup cocoa powder
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ cup melted coconut oil or butter
  • ⅔ cup milk or sour cream
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Stir together dry ingredients.
  2. Mix in coconut oil, milk and egg.
  3. Fold in chocolate chips.
  4. Pour into well-buttered loaf pan.
  5. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes.
3.4.3177

 

chocolate_bread_2

Which do you prefer – muffins or quick bread loaves? Do you find that most recipes work for either/or?

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

Into the Dishwasher Go the Potatoes

August 20, 2013 by Laura 17 Comments

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

Tonight’s soccer team dinner includes a baked potato (or two) for everyone. When cooking for a large crowd, I always wash my potatoes in the dishwasher. Never heard of that idea before? Read more about it here. It’s a huge time saver.

And while we’re on the subject of potatoes, I should let you know that after I wash them in the dishwasher, I’ll throw them into a crock pot to cook. (Or in this case, a huge roaster oven.)  Love how easy it is to feed baked potatoes to a crowd!

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