Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting
Yes, seriously.
I tried it last year, and they are incredible!! You can’t even tell that there are mashed potatoes in these.
We can’t really call them a “healthy treat”, because they have a lot of sugar in them. But at least they don’t contain any unhealthy fats. And they make a wonderful gift or party food to share!
Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!From our house to your house. From our kitchen to your kitchen. From our hearts to your hearts. From our piano to your….ears. We bring you this song that our seven year old, Malachi, composed and wanted to play for you today.
We wish you all a Thanksgiving filled with blessings that can only come from our loving Father.
Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!Once upon a time (otherwise known as last Saturday), I headed to the store to get some khaki pants for our son Justus. He was to be Terry the Turkey in our homeschool play that evening, and as we all know, turkeys wear khaki pants (as well as a red felt waddle hooked around a headband).
Like a good mom, I had forgotten all about his need for khaki pants until the last minute. So off I went to the store at 4:00 in the afternoon – just two and a half hours before the kids needed to be in costume.
I decided to make the most of my shopping trip and purchased a cart full of items: food to feed the youth group on Sunday; food to feed the YC basketball team on Tuesday; fruit for my family to eat; and of course, khaki pants.
Oh, and did I mention that I also picked up three gallons of Vodka?
Is it party time at the Coppinger’s house? Ummm…no. Vanilla beans are on sale, and it’s time to start another big batch of Homemade Vanilla Extract. I’m never a fan of buying the vodka – especially three gallons at one time. I know I shouldn’t worry about what people think, but I do always wonder what goes through a person’s head when they see that amount of liquor in my cart. “Focus on the bananas and clementines in my cart, People!” I shout in my head. Yes, I’m pretty sure that’s an effective diversion.
Anyway, I went through check-out with my very full cart full of fruit, youth group food, khaki pants, and vodka. Once I got home, all the boys came out to help bring in the loot. We put away all the groceries, slid the bag of vodka to the side of the kitchen for another time, and hustled to get ready to leave for the play.
But where were Justus’ new pants??
We retraced our steps. We looked through the van. We ransacked the house. There were no khaki pants to be found anywhere. Aaaahhhh!!!
I called the store. Had I left the pants there somehow? Had anyone found them?
They looked. No luck. The khaki pants had vanished.
Flustered, I gave the boys instructions to find some food, get their showers, and get ready (as much as possible) for the play. I hopped back into the van and headed back to the store. Aarrrgg! I did not have time for this!!!
Back at the store, they were gracious when I showed them my receipt, assuming that the mistake was theirs, and told me to go get another pair of pants. I searched until I found another pair, showed them to the nice lady, and then flew out of the store.
Back at home, I threw the pants at Justus, praying that they would fit. They did.
Off we went to the play, where everything went off without a hitch.
Allow me to introduce Terry the Turkey and Horace the Horse.
The following day, as I was finally taking the vodka out of the bag to get ready to make vanilla extract, you will never believe what I found. There, under all those bottles…was a pair of khaki pants.
You have got to be kidding me. I sure never thought to look UNDER the vodka. But indeed, there they were.
See? There they are…
I headed off to the store again, glad to have the mystery solved, and glad to return the pants so that the store didn’t have to “eat” the cost.
The moral of the story is: If you ever lose your khaki pants, don’t forget to look under the vodka.
Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!Yeah, I know. There are likely to be plenty of desserts at your table this weekend.
But just in case you wanted one more idea, I wanted to remind you of my Pumpkin Pecan Pie Squares dessert. We love the combination of pumpkin and pecan. And it is fairly simple to put together.
Hey, if it makes you feel any better – pumpkin and pecans are really good for you.
Now how can we justify the sugar??? :)
Happy Thanksgiving!
Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!
It all happened unexpectedly.
My cousin Kristin sent me a message a few weeks ago saying, “So….I have this really cute, but EMPTY, vanilla bottle here…If I recycle and send it back to you, can you refill and send it back????” To which I answered, “Sounds like you need to make a trip to Nebraska so I can refill it for you.” ;)
And on the conversation went until can you believe it, last weekend, she made the trip! And she brought her two little boys and one of my favorite aunts! (The aunt who made my very special Disney quilt.)
I can’t even begin to tell you how much I enjoyed their visit. The boys played and played. We gals chatted and cooked and caught up on everything going on.
I loved every minute of it. We’re going to definitely need to think of more excuses for them to come in the future!
Oh, and it wasn’t until it was time for them to load up and go home that Kristin realized that she’d actually forgotten to bring along her vanilla bottle for me to refill. Ha! Figures, doesn’t it? No problem though. It just so happens that I was able to find a little jar I could fill with homemade vanilla and send home with her. ;)
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I love how versitile this recipe is. Have a little bit of cooked chicken or beef to use up? Throw it into the pot! Want black beans instead of meat? Perfect. Don’t want any meat or beans at all? Leave them out.
Sometimes I like to stir in one cup of sour cream if I have it. That raises the cost of this meal, so adding the sour cream only happens if I have some that I need to use up. Also, the corn is optional. I love the sweetness that it adds, but two of my boys prefer it without the corn.
Confused yet? Don’t worry. Here’s the actual “recipe” – but just know that this one lends itself to a lot of flexibility. Do with it what works best for cleaning out the leftovers in your fridge. Or make it depending on what you’re hungry for at the moment. No matter how you make it, you’ll be serving a healthy meal without spending much money!
Spanish Rice
3 cups water or broth
1 1/2 cups brown rice
2 cups salsa
1 cup cooked chicken, cooked ground beef, or black beans
1 cup frozen corn
Boil water. Add rice, stir, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes.
Add salsa, chicken, and corn. Cook on medium heat until warmed through and through.
Serves 6
Dollar Menu Cost BreakDown:
Spanish Rice = $5.35* which divides to 89¢ per person. I typically serve this with fruit, so the additional cost will vary depending on what is served with the Spanish Rice. If I serve it with applesauce that I made from free apples – the cost is practically free. If I serve it with smoothies from frozen berries and yogurt or kefir, the prices is going to be a bit more.
*I calculated my cost based on the food sources and prices I have available to me. Most of the ingredients I use are organic. Your cost may be slightly more or less depending on where you find your ingredients.
What would be your favorite add-ins to this meal? Chicken or beef are my favorites, but I’m a meat lovin’ girl, so that probably comes as no surprise. :)
Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!Here’s a picture preview of one of the first simple recipes I’ll share in our upcoming Real Food Dollar Menu series. Spanish rice is one of our favorite meals. Most of it comes from throwing leftovers together. Easy and inexpensive! Recipe coming this week. (It’s a great way to use up a little leftover turkey!)
We have a full week ahead of us! Of course, with Thanksgiving coming, all of you likely have a full week too. I’m praying for peace and calm for all of us as we prepare food and enjoy loved ones.
Before the festivities begin, we will be hosting High School Huddle tonight, then the YC Ladies’ Basketball Team on Tuesday. You may notice a very similar menu on both nights. I figure our family might get sick of it, but Mama’s got to keep things simple in order to pull this off. Two big meals – one exact menu plan. It works for me. ;)
Sunday, November 18
Applesauce bread, bananas
Spanish rice with chicken, tossed salad
Huddle (for about 35 people) – Pulled pork sandwiches, cream cheese corn, baked beans, grapes, baby carrots, homemade ranch dip, butterscotch bars
Monday, November 19
Pancake sausage muffins, applesauce
Tuna salad, crackers, pineapple
Dinner at our friend’s house (Cake Boys will be making the dessert we’ll be taking)
Tuesday, November 20
Oatmeal pancakes (an experiment), applesauce
Cottage cheese, peaches, blueberry muffins
YC Bball Team (for about 24 people)Pulled pork sandwiches, cream cheese corn, baked beans, grapes, baby carrots, homemade ranch dip, butterscotch bars
Wednesday, November 21
Scrambled egg sandwiches, clementines
Grilled cheese, tomato soup
Chili with crackers and fruit
Thursday, November 22
Banana bread, fruit
Big Thanksgiving Feast with family!
Leftovers
Friday, November 23
Pancakes, scrambled eggs
Leftovers
Homemade pizza, fruit
Saturday, November 24
Biscuits and sausage gravy, scrambled eggs, fruit
Turkey sandwiches, veggies and fruit
Taco potatoes
Will you be doing lots of cooking for Thanksgiving, or will you be joining someone else and let them do most of the cooking? :)
Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!The look on my boys’ faces were priceless.
I mean, when I give out orders like, “Fold and put away the laundry” or “Go clean the bathrooms” I usually just get a routine shrug, nod, and a big high five. (Just kidding. My kids don’t like cleaning the bathrooms enough to warrant a high five.) But when I asked my boys to fill the dishwasher with potatoes, they thought maybe I’d finally lost my mind.
Apparently they hadn’t read the same tip I had that stated that if you need to scrub a large amount of potatoes, you could let your dishwasher do the work for you. Mom, crazy? Naw, just efficient.
(Okay, yeah, and a little crazy too.)
Recently, after ordering 50 pounds of potatoes from our food co-op, I had my boys put about a third of them into the dishwasher. I ran the load, without soap, and had tons of potatoes ready to bake and make into Homemade Hashbrowns.
I just wanted to share that tip in case you’re feeding a bunch of people for the holidays, in case you want to make Homemade Hashbrowns…
Or in case you wanted to make your kids giggle when you ask them to do a chore. ;)
Side Note: I typically bake a full roasting pan full of potatoes (with lid on) for about an hour and a half at 350°. Or easier still, I’ll bake them in a crock pot. Read full instructions here.
Ever washed potatoes in the dishwasher?
Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!We’ve talked before around here about how eating healthy food doesn’t have to be expensive. I mean, it can be, if you’re eating grass fed steak every single day. And yes, some “real food” ingredients are more expensive than their lesser quality food counterparts. But hey, I’ve seen a lot of junk food that is rather expensive, and if you’re eating out frequently then you are likely spending quite a bit of money that you could be saving…
Oh good grief. Why am I even going there? ;)
The point:
Real food can be expensive, but so can junk food, and I’m here to prove to you that eating a whole foods, healthy diet can be done without freaking out your pocketbook. That is all.
I’ve spent some time recently adding up the cost of many of the meals I feed my family, then dividing the amount by the number of people that particular meal feeds. Am I doing this because I have lots of extra time on my hands? (Do you really want me to answer that?)
No, I am doing this because I am excited to see that there are many, many healthy meals that can be prepared for around a $1 per plate! And I want to encourage you – if money is what is holding you back from beginning your real food diet – to take heart and know that really…healthy eating does not have to be expensive.
During the next few weeks and months, I am excited to share posts detailing full meals – with recipes – that cost around $1.00 per plate. This is what I feed my family – and trust me – we aren’t light eaters at our house.
Stay tuned. You will be amazed at how many meals you can feed your family that are healthy, real, delicious – and cost you a buck!
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What are your favorite, low cost, real food meals?
Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!
Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!