Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

The Benefits of Eating Out Less

by 25 Comments

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

simplesteps

If you’re looking for a simple way to save money while eating a healthy, real food diet, I thought you would be inspired by this comment left this week by Sile. Once she read my Eat Out Less post, this is what she had to say:

We didn’t eat out for the entire month of October. My husband thought it was to save money. While that was half my goal, the other half was to give him a taste of REAL food without the distraction of all the horrid stuff you can get from restaurants.

I will admit to having cravings for burgers and fries. However, I soon found that making a meatloaf and baking some potatoes fulfilled the craving! (and meatloaf freezes great even after cooking!) Just one month out and I really don’t miss eating out. Sure, cooking everything from scratch at home is more work, but I’ve been endeavoring to do extra cooking on the weekends to alleviate some stress (since I’m still working until the babies start coming). Mostly it’s just been getting breakfast food cooked and frozen (mostly whole wheat carrot waffles), but at least I don’t have to rush to make us a breakfast in the morning. It’s great that my husband hasn’t even reached for cereal in a long time. He was such a cereal junkie. One more thing to cross off my ‘let’s not buy that anymore’ list.

But I’m rambling. Not eating out = saving money + eating better!

I love this! Thank you Sile for sharing your experience with this, and kudos to you for taking on (and sticking with!) the challenge of not eating out during the entire month of October!

Homemade Pizza saves money, tastes incredible, and is much healthier!

How often do you eat out? What challenges you most when it comes to eating out (or rather, eating in?!)

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

Real Food Recipe Makeover: Heavenly Homemakers Edition

by 35 Comments

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

You’ve heard of the show, Extreme Makeover:  Home Edition right? I’ve only seen it a few times, but I enjoyed seeing the amazing changes a crew could make in a home – changes that would improve a family’s quality of living in an extreme way. 

Well, this new feature on our site may not change your life in an extreme way. Nor will we be all standing together to shout, “MOVE THAT BUS!” each time a new recipe is revealed. (Although that would be way too much fun.)  There are likely to be fewer tears at the end of each of these posts compared to the tears typically shed at the end of each Extreme Makeover television episode. 

But, since I am constantly receiving email requests from people, asking me to take an old family favorite recipe and remake it into something a little less “processed” and a little more “real food” – I decided to add this fun new feature. 

Now introducing:

Do you have a recipe in a cookbook or in your recipe file that you haven’t made for years because it calls for ingredients you just don’t feel good about using anymore? Have you seen something fun online that you’d love to make, but it’s too white sugary, white floury, canned cream of soupy, or corn syrupy for your liking? Send it this way and we’ll see what we can do.

I’m not going to make any promises that I will be able to fix every single recipe out there and make it into a wholesome, nutrient filled delight. But hey, I’ll do my best. And we’ll all have loads of fun in the process!

Shucks, maybe we will actually shed a few tears. (Or maybe my family will if/when I try to makeover a recipe that just doesn’t work out the way we might all hope. Yikes. God bless the taste testers.)  ;)

In order to make this process a bit easier for me, if you have a recipe you’d like to submit for a Real Food Recipe Makeover, please use the form on the submission page, following the link below:

Submit your recipes on this Real Food Recipe Makeover Submission Page. 

I’m wearing my apron. Bring on the recipes!

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

Gratituesday: Last Minute Getaway

by 17 Comments

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

Wow, what a whirlwind.

On Wednesday of last week, my husband was informed of a soccer recruiting trip in St. Louis…and was asked by the head coach, “I know this is late notice, but is there any chance you can go?”

It was a great opportunity for Matt to watch and visit with potential players for York College (where he coaches). And since soccer game season ended last week, we actually had the weekend fairly open. For the next few hours, we went over and over details – deciding whether or not he should go, and if so, who he should take with him.

Should Asa go so that he could have one on one time with Dad? Or maybe one of the other boys? Or maybe both older boys? How about all the boys? Or maybe none of the boys?

I didn’t even consider going. I am crazy far behind on work since this fall has been so busy, plus I have several big projects in the works (now don’t you just wish I could tell you what those are?!). Matt figured if he took some or all of the boys, I could get some focused computer time in, and it would be great all around.

The only problem was – while we discussed it, prayed about it, and slept on it…none of the options sounded good to me. Thursday morning, I was weepy, irritable, and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why. For goodness sake, having all or most of the boys gone for the weekend would give me hours of quiet time to work! It’s just what I’ve needed during the past few months!

It wasn’t until Thursday afternoon, when Matt was looking over more of the details of the hotel accomodations, and other aspects of the trip, that we realized what a family friendly trip this would be. Suddenly, without thinking, I said, “Why don’t I just go too?”

At that moment, every single bit of anxt I had about the weekend fell away. Wouldn’t you know it…all that yuck I was feeling about sending my boys off for the weekend wasn’t sadness over potentially missing them – it was lack of peace! God was trying to give me an answer, but I wasn’t listening. At least it only took a few hours this time for me to figure out what God wanted. (Sometimes he has to tell me things for years before I hear Him. I’m sure glad He’s so patient.)

Long story longer – after a whirlwind of packing and tying up loose ends, all six of us left for St. Louis Friday morning.

While I thought going on a trip would stress me out, I felt nothing but calm the entire time we were gone. (It was that peace God was waiting to give me.) Matt went to dozens of soccer games, spoke with players and parents, and made many great connections that will be great for upcoming soccer seasons at the college.

In the meantime, the boys and I swam, worked out in the fitness room, watched movies, and played basketball at the hotel court. (Why yes, it was a very nice hotel.) Believe it or not, I was even able to work a little on my projects on the laptop. And we all got to hang out with Dad when he came back in the evenings.

Here we all are out for dinner on Saturday night. So much fun!

God always knows just what we need, doesn’t He? I sure do love it when I listen.

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!

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

by 5 Comments

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

Is that a pretty picture or what? Matt put that lunch together last week with some of the last of the peppers and tomatoes from our garden. It was awesome!

Here’s what’s on our menu this week:

Sunday, November 4
Breakfast cookies, fruit
Italian pasta bake, tossed salad
Huddle

Monday, November 5
Pancake sausage muffins, pears
Meat and cheese burritos, fruit salad
Oven baked bbq chicken, tossed salad, green beans

Tuesday, November 6 (Matt’s bday!)
Peach cobbler – made with healthy ingredients, it’s the perfect bday breakfast!
Easy noodle stir fry with broccoli and carrots
Cheesy turkey sausage stromboli, tossed salad

Wednesday,  November 7
Chocolate chocolate chip muffins, applesauce
Cheeseburger macaroni, peas
Creamy chicken and rice casserole, green beans

Thursday, November 8
Honey whole wheat bagels, creamy orange coolers
Tuna salad on homemade pitas, fruit, raw veggies
Chicken fried steak strips, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas

Friday, November 9
Biscuits and turkey sausage gravy, fruit
Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup
Tacos

Saturday, November 10
Omelets, smoothies
Leftovers
Chicken and noodles

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

High Five Recipe: Easy Breakfast Casserole

by 9 Comments

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

High Five Recipes 2

I don’t believe I had originally categorized my Easy Breakfast Casserole as a High Five Recipe. But as I put the recipe together one night, preparing to bake it the next morning, it occurred to me that the way I typically make this for my family – it has just four simple ingredients.

I love how easy this is to make:  Eggs, cream, bacon, and cheese – that’s it. You can add more to it (it’s great with peppers!!), but our boys like it best when it’s made with very basic ingredients. Every time I’ve fed this to guests, it’s been a hit. And it could not get any easier to put together!

I like mixing it up the night before, then getting up and putting it in the oven to bake while I get dressed and ready for the day.

Easy Breakfast Casserole

Quality recipes, five ingredients or less. Does healthy cooking get any easier?

P.S. I used bacon that I get from a very trustworthy farmer. Sometimes I use turkey bacon from the store or from my health food co-op. I think this recipe is healthiest when made with Homemade Turkey Sausage. Since I usually make up a big batch of Turkey Sausage, brown it, and freeze it in meal sized portions, that makes putting together this casserole a piece of cake! Um…a piece of casserole. Well, you know what I mean. ;)

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

High Quality Recipes – Five Ingredients or Less

by 4 Comments

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

High Five Recipes 2

It’s been a while since I posted a new High Five Recipe. Just in case you’re new here, or have forgotten about this feature on my site – I wanted to take a minute to draw your attention to one of my favorite sets of recipes!

You all know that I try to keep life in the kitchen simple. But I also try to keep it as healthy as possible. I’m trying to prove to all of us that simple, inexpensive, and healthy are words that can be used in the same sentence!

It doesn’t get much easier than a recipe with five or fewer ingredients. And all of these recipes call for real foods that are very basic. Most likely, you have many of these ingredients in your kitchen just waiting to be used.

You want simple, healthy, inexpensive, and delicious? Try a High Five Recipe. Scroll through all these pages of High Five main dishes, side dishes, and desserts. I had forgotten about half of those recipes. I just finished looking through all of the ideas once again. Now, I’m feeling the need for some Popcorn Chicken and Peanut Butter Honey Fudge.

With some vegetables, of course. :)

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

Using Stale Homemade Bread To Make Bread Crumbs

by 29 Comments

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

Well, if this isn’t the most boring blog post ever, I don’t know what is. 

Although, I suppose I could tell you how to fold wash rags. That might be even boringer. I mean – more boring. I was just trying to sound like the seven year old in my household, who is just now finally getting the hang of some of those grammatically correct statements. But I tell you what – he could not be more cuter if he tried. :)

I’m warning you now that the above paragraph was one of the most excitingest in this whole post. Making bread crumbs is seriously a no brainer. I guarantee that finding something else to do besides reading this would be much more funner.

Oh look at me, getting carried away. And you thought you came here for a little bit of grown-up conversation. ;)

Anyway, as I cleaned out my fridge a few days ago, I found several bags with a few straggling pieces of my Honey Whole Wheat Bread. No one was ever going to eat them because they were dried out and stale. What to do? Feed the birds? Sure, maybe. But I find that having bread crumbs on hand for making Meat Loaf or Salmon Patties is very handy.

Therefore, I got out my food processor, obliterated the stale bread, and within 30 seconds I had a jar of bread crumbs in  my freezer.

I bet after reading this, you feel so enlightened and encouraged, you’re going to search high and low in your kitchen until you find some stale bread – just so you can try this incredibly exciting and useful tip. 

Your day just got a whole lot gooder, didn’t it? :)

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

Gratituesday: A Change in Seasons

by 12 Comments

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

Now that soccer season is over, our family should now have all kinds of free time on our hands.

Haha, that may be one of the funniest sentences I’ve ever written.

But compared to the busyness of soccer season – now that Matt isn’t scheduling his life around college practices, games, and road trips – and now that our days aren’t dictated by which boy has a game to play or referee at what time – I find myself taking a relaxed sigh of relief.

Some of the projects that have taken a back seat to the soccer schedule can now be pulled out and worked on. Some of the ministries we have felt called to do can now be executed. The people we have wanted to have over and spend time with? We might be able to fit that in a little more easily now.

Soccer season is fantastic – and because of our involvement with soccer in the community and at our local Christian college – we feel that soccer in and of itself is a ministry that our family is blessed to be a part of. We love being able to be around so many families and college students. Matt’s ability to coach young kids and young adults alike  is quite a gift. (I love watching him coach.)

But today Matt was able to help an elderly friend pack his home to move – and since he didn’t have to be back in time for soccer practice – he could stay until the job was finished. Tonight we got to go to the college to support our men and women’s opening basketball games – just because we wanted to. This Sunday, we get to start hosting High School Huddle again.

I love how different seasons provide different opportunities. And I love how the changes bring refreshment. Are we going to be less busy now? Probably not. But our involvement with people will be a little different than it has been during the past few months, and I find myself looking forward to it.

And maybe, just maybe, I am just a little bit relieved not to have to make any more trips out to the soccer complex to drop off, pick up, or cheer on a team…until the spring season starts. Then I’ll be all over it!

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!

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

by 13 Comments

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

I have two things to tell you:

1. Soccer is officially over for the season. 
2. My kids are sick of oatmeal for breakfast on Sundays.

The boys had one last game today, and York College (where Matt coaches) finished yesterday. It’s been an awesome season, and now we can hang up our stinky shin guards. 

Actually, I’ll wash them and then we’ll probably play a pick-up game in the yard tomorrow. Soccer never really ends around here.

And about the oatmeal – Typically oatmeal is our standard Sunday breakfast. But every once in a while the kids decide they just can’t eat another bowl. I decided to give those spoiled kids my darling offspring a break, and serve them Breakfast Cookies on Sundays for a while instead. It will actually be an easier breakfast than making oatmeal (not that making oatmeal is the least bit difficult) – simply because I can make the cookies the night before. Then, everyone can just help themselves to cookies and a glass of milk once they are dressed and ready for church. :)

Here’s our menu plan for this week:

Sunday, October 28
Breakfast cookies, fruit
Leg of lamb, potatoes, carrots, gravy
Huddle at our friend’s house

Monday, October 29
Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, applesauce
Chicken and noodles, carrots
Shepherd’s Pie, tossed salad

Tuesday, October 30
Whole wheat waffles, blueberries
Teriyaki chicken and rice with veggies
Hamburger steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas

Wednesday, October 31
Easy breakfast casserole, oranges
Pizza boats, fruit salad
Tuna casserole, peas

Thursday, November 1
Homemade poptarts, bananas
Taco potatoes, yogurt smoothies
Alfredo sauce with pasta, tossed salad

Friday, November 2
Mini apple pies, cheese slices
Tuna salad on crackers, pineapple with cottage cheese
Homemade pizza, fruit

Saturday, November 3
Oven baked pancake, fruit
Leftovers
Tacos

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

Warm Pumpkin Custard Drink (and my typo confessions)

by 45 Comments

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

I’m about to share my Warm Pumpkin Custard recipe with you, but…

Just so you know, it is very hard for me to type the word “pumpkin” without automatically adding a “g” to the end – making it “pumpking”. This is what happens when you type words ending with “ing” frequently.

For the record, because of my blog name, I also type the word “heavenly” so often that I can’t tell you how many times the word “have” first comes out “heave”. For instance, every time I’m sharing about my ebook “Have Your Cookie…and Eat it Too“? I almost always first type “Heave Your Cookie…” It is a huge problem. But you probably didn’t even want to know that, did you?

And ultimately, that was a terrible thing to write about when I’m posting a new, delicious recipe. Try not to think about heaving your cookies, and instead, focus on the pumpking. Um, pumpkin.

Warm_Pumpkin_Custard

Yum

We have a friend who absolutely loves anything pumpkin. Since he was coming for a visit on a cold, drizzly day – I was brainstorming as to what I could quickly mix up that would satisfy his pumpkin craving and warm us all up.

Turns out, I didn’t have to think very hard. I simply grabbed my trusty Warm Vanilla Soother recipe and pumkinized it. Easy and delicious! Our friend loved it and had two huge mugs full!

This is a great dessert – or because it’s so full of rich, hearty, nutritious ingredients – I think it will be great for breakfast. As a matter of fact, it would be heavenly. (See? Told you I use that word a lot.)

Warm Pumpkin Custard Drink

Warm Pumpkin Custard Drink (and my typo confessions)
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: 3-5
Ingredients
  • 3 cups whole milk
  • 4 egg yolks
  • ⅓ cup real maple syrup
  • 1 cup canned or pureed pumpkin
  • 2 Tablespoon arrowroot powder or corn starch
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. In a medium saucepan, whisk together milk, egg yolks, maple syrup, pumpkin, arrowroot powder, and spices.
  2. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly (I use a whisk) until mixture begins to thicken.
  3. Remove from heat and add  vanilla.
  4. Stir until creamy.
  5. Pour into mugs and serve warm.

Am I the only one with potentially embarrassing typo issues?

Don’t even ask me about the time I accidentally left out the “r” when I was writing about how I store bulk grocery items in my “pantry”. Worst typo ever. Kinda makes you want to heave your cookies, doesn’t it?

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