Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Apple Muffin Throw Down

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Remember the Boxed Brownies vs. Homemade Brownies experiment I did? And the Boxed Mac and Cheese vs. Homemade Creamy Mac and Cheese experiment I did? How about my Sunday Dinner Challenge, which took a whopping one minute, forty eight point nine seconds to make? My boys love that I keep making them bring the stop watch into the kitchen for these “races”. It’s that male competition thing they have going on. 

I finally got around to completing another “boxed vs. homemade” experiment in an effort to prove that making homemade food from healthy ingredients doesn’t take a lot of time. I figure that some might still be having a difficult time believing me when I say that it truly doesn’t take a long time to prepare healthy foods. So I’m having fun trying to “prove” my case, and my family is having fun eating the results of my experiments. ;)

This time, I decided to see which took longer to prepare: boxed muffins…or muffins made from scratch. I found some great looking “healthier” boxed muffin mixes from Vitacost. While these were organic, they were still made from white flour and white sugar, although at least I could control the oil I put into them. None of that has anything to do with the experiment necessarily, except just to say that these muffins really didn’t hold much in the way of nutrition. Anyway, back to the point, which I know that those of you who haven’t fallen asleep while reading this post are waiting on pins and needles to hear… 

From the time I opened the boxes, to the time I put the muffin pans into the oven, 6.25 minutes had passed. 

A few weeks later, I mixed up my Applesauce Bread recipe and made the batter into muffins. How long did it take? Right at 7 minutes.  And these had whole wheat flour, honey, and real, unsweetened applesauce in them. Nutrients! For my family for breakfast! What a concept.  This, because I spent about 45 seconds longer making muffins from scratch. 

What other thoughts do you have about what I could experiment with?  My boys are waiting with their stop watch…

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The Night of the Bat

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 The clock had just struck midnight. Why were Matt and I still awake? I’m not sure, but we were not to be awake for long. We were both right at that blissful point of drifting off to a peaceful sleep.

Suddenly Matt said, “Did you see that?”

Um no, I did not see that. I’m not sure if any of you are aware of this, but my eyesight without contacts or glasses is quite poor. Some might say I’m as blind as a bat, which is oh-so-punny since Matt then sat straight up in bed and said, “I think there’s a bat in our living room!” 

For real? Right now? We were both so tired. But what were we to do when indeed, there was a bat in our living room? Matt got up. Team player that I am, I stayed under the covers. We discussed a strategy for getting the bat to go outside, none of which really sounded effective, but all of which involved a box, a broom, and a bath towel. What? You think you could have come up with a better idea?

By the time Matt got to the living room, the bat was nowhere to be found. He decided to go upstairs and close all the doors so as to contain it, and more importantly, keep it from going into the room where the boys slept. Ahhh – there it was! In the upstairs hallway! He slammed all the doors closed quickly, then attempted to watch the pattern of the bat flying back and forth between the hallways walls – you know – like a video game – so he’d know just when to swoop in with the broom. Or the dust pan. Or the box. Or whatever in the world might be the most effective way to get the bat outside.

In the meantime, I was still under the covers, praying for Matt to get rid of the bat quickly. And – I am ashamed to say this – I also found myself dozing off from time to time. It’s okay though. The good wife in me woke up each time I heard the broom hit the wall upstairs and I’d jolt awake to start praying again. Ain’t no one can call me unsupportive. ;)

Back upstairs, Matt had the broom in readyness for swiping. His intent was to “stun” the bat, scoop it into the box, then take it outside. You’ve got to love a man with a plan.

Ah, there it was – the opportunity! Swipe! Oh wow, and not only did it stun the bat, the bat actually fell directly into the box. How very convenient. Matt breathed a sigh of relief, then bent over to close the box. Oh but wait! The bat had a better idea. Up he flew, right toward Matt’s face! 

Whap! Instinctively, Matt swung the broom again. Success! And the bat was put into the box and taken outside. Ending score:  Bat 0—My Hero 1.

Matt was more than a little bit pumped up with adrenaline at that point, and as you can imagine, had a difficult time going to sleep, even if it was almost one in the morning by then. Me? Once I knew he had the bat outside, I gave my courageous husband a groggy “Great job, Babe”, then promptly rolled over and conked out. I figured that at least one of us needed a decent night’s rest in order to take care of the kids in the morning. 

Told you I was a team player. ;)

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Covenant Ranch Trucking – Delivering for Azure Standard. Can You Benefit From Their Services?

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You have hopefully noticed this nice ad over in my sidebar:

Proudly delivering for Azure Standard

If you’ve been reading here long, you know how much I love ordering groceries from the health food co-op, Azure Standard.

I just wanted to take the time to explain a little bit about what Covenant Ranch Trucking is to see if they are able to benefit you where you are.

Covenant Ranch Trucking is a family owned, family friendly business that delivers many Azure Standard routes such as:

  • To CO (on the 70 and south of the 70 coming down the 25 into NM).
  • To NM ( north of the 40 heading east into TX)
  • To IA (eastern IA is covered by us. The rest of IA is another family)
  • To TX, KS, MO, AR, OK, IL, IN, and TN
  • One drop in LA (Shreveport) and one drop in OH (Cincinnati)
  • If none of these locations matches where you live, you can read more on this post to see if Azure delivers to your area.

Here is what Mrs. Joseph Wood, who has been working with me on this to get the word out about her family business, has shared with me.

Let me share with you some of the ways we are hoping to be a blessing to others as well as grow the routes and spread Azure Standard.

We would like to give 5.00 GC to those that are willing to share five referrals with us. They can be friends that are interested in Azure, Health food stores, Chiropractors, Homeschool groups or anyone else they would like us to share with. We only ask that they first ask permission to share the persons information with us. We only want to share with those that are truly interested in hearing more. We will also give each of their five friends a GC for five dollars off. (Contact information:  mrsjosephwood at gmail.com)

Azure Standard is unable to compensate drop managers due to federal tax regulations. However, as a company, Covenant Ranch Trucking, we are offering all our drop managers free shipping for their order for each month they meet our average drop total of 3000.00 (that is the average drop on our routes). We will help advertise a drop on FB, on the blog, send catalogs, flyers or assist in any other way. We hope that it is  a blessing to those that volunteer their time to serve in their community. Also, if they refer someone who starts a drop that drops total goes toward their 3000.00 as well! It really is easy to do. Again this is coming from Covenant Ranch Trucking so it is only available on our routes.

We are also always looking for men with integrity who have their CDL to drive for us. We can’t expand without the drivers. We a family friendly company and give our drivers one week off every month to be at home with their families. We also pay extra on our insurance so children and spouses can come along on the routes.

Hopefully many of you will be benefited by their services. I’ve never once been disappointed with Azure Standard, and love that so many of you will have the delivery service of Covenant Ranch Trucking.

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

Gratituesday: Freezer Food, Which Was Made to Be Eaten (A Little Post That Laura Wrote To Herself That You Are Welcome To Read If You’d Like)

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Ah, Freezer Food…

I have a blast thinking through which meals will be helpful to have on hand to pull out with a moment’s notice. I spend hours preparing it. I experiment with new recipes that will keep nicely in the freezer. I store the healthy, prepared food carefully away for the “busy days”. I keep note of it in the back of my mind, thankful that it is there in the freezer if I need it. 

And then I hoard it.  I hesitate to use it, even on busy days, knowing that there just may be an upcoming day that’s even busier when I will need that particular frozen meal. So I quickly cook something else, even if I don’t have time, saving the frozen, prepared meals for a “busier day”.

Hello, Laura?!!? Every day right now is a busy day!!! You’ve found yourself coming and going every day for the past three weeks. You’ve barely had time to sit at the computer and you are getting more and more behind on your work. Apples are coming out your ears, waiting to be made into applesauce and canned for the winter. You desperately need to go check the garden to see what else is ready to preserve. God continues to put people in your life to serve, there is school work to be done, phone calls to return, and you haven’t been able to keep up with the nasty dishes crawling out of the kitchen sink since the end of July.

Exactly what kind of busy day are you waiting for that will qualify as a “good day to pull out some freezer food”?

Um…apparently I have been waiting for the days when we are chasing ourselves off to six soccer games, or well…I don’t know. There truly will be days that are busier than those which I am experiencing right now. But barely. 

On a day when I feel overwhelmed with everything on my “must-do” list – that is the day for the Freezer Food to come out. That is what it is for, after all. 

Here’s a picture of today’s BBQ Chicken Sandwich right before I threw it at my husband
when he came home for ten minutes between soccer practices. 
Fresh tomatoes and sweet peppers from our garden made this a great meal,
all of which I put together very quickly since I utilized my frozen food stash of BBQ Chicken.

Today, I am incredibly thankful that I spent the time a few weeks ago to stock my freezer with ready-to-eat foods. And today, I hereby give myself full permission to USE THEM!

Oh, and if you were worried, I didn’t really throw the sandwich at Matt. I handed it to him carefully so as not to fling bbq sauce and tomatoes, and I even managed to slap a kiss on his cheek as he headed out the door again. 

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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Menu Plan for the Week…Plus Cake Boys Episode 3!

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Here is our menu for this week. But more importantly, below you will find Cake Boys Episode 3! (Watch Espisode 1 and Episode 2 if you haven’t already.)  This time, the boys made a cake for Matt and me as we celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary. It was so very sweet. Be sure to admire my very messy kitchen and cluttery countertops as you watch. Yikes. ;)

Sunday, August 26
Oatmeal, fruit
Cheeseburger macaroni, tossed salad, green beans
Potluck picnic – taking drinks, veggie tray, and Texas sheet cake (made by the Cake Boys – Episode 4 coming up!)

Monday, August 27
Whole wheat pancakes, blueberries
Taco salad
Creamy chicken and rice casserole, carrots

Tuesday, August 28
Honey whole wheat bagels, cantaloupe
Tuna salad on tomatoes, pickles, olives, watermelon
Grilled bbq chicken, corn on the cob, zucchini

Wednesday, August 29
Crepes with jelly, applesauce
Italian roast wraps, tomatoes, lettuce, sweet peppers, green beans
Chicken patty sandwiches, ranch potato wedges, peas

Thursday, August 30
Fried eggs on toast, creamy orange cooler
Hamburger patties, steamed broccoli and carrots
Pizza casserole, tossed salad

Friday, August 31
Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, apple slices
Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, carrots
Tacos

Saturday, September 1
Whole wheat donuts, grapes
Leftovers
Steak on the grill, creamy cole slaw, corn on the cob

And now, Cake Boys Episode 3!

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Serving Trumps a Pity Party

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We had finally reached the end of what is typically one of the busiest weeks of the year. 

It was now finally Saturday, and we had been gone all day long at one of our son’s soccer games out of town. The kitchen was a picture of chaos, with coolers and leftovers from our packed lunch sitting in the perfect place for me to trip over while I tried to throw together a late dinner. The crusty dishes from breakfast were still piled high in the sink. Fruit gnats had found our compost bucket, which, I might add, was beginning to smell nasty and fermented. The tomato sauce splattered all over the stove when I poured it into the pot to make spaghetti. 

In the meantime, I was moving super slowly. I felt very, very tired. Plus, for some unknown reason, my left knee – the knee I’ve had trouble with off and on for 22 years since I injured it in high school – was causing me a lot of pain. I wrapped ice around it while I cut up veggies for dinner and just kept moving. Slowly I focused on finishing dinner, getting everyone fed, and getting the kitchen in decent shape so that I could just go to bed. 

Oh yes, and I also concentrated very hard on feeling sorry for myself. All I could think of was, “I’m sooo tired. My knee hurts. I just want to go to bed.” I couldn’t have smiled if you would have paid me, and I really didn’t feel like answering questions or talking to my family.

And then, someone showed up at our door. 

Oh yeah.  I had forgotten that we had told a young friend of ours he could spend the night with us. But there he was, and what could I do but find some sort of pleasant look to greet him with? I pulled a lopsided smile out from way down deep inside my toes, and welcomed him in.

This friend of ours has some disabilities and special needs, which meant that heading to bed any time soon just wasn’t going to happen. But he is incredibly delightful to have around, and he needed to be served.

I invited him into the kitchen with me (scooting the coolers out of the way as best I could) and began to serve him dinner and visit with him. He shared a fun story about something that had happened earlier in the day, which made me laugh in spite of myself.

Several minutes later, as I fed him and helped him with various needs, it occurred to me that I wasn’t quite as tired as I had been. I had forgotten all about my aching knee. The mess in the kitchen didn’t look so terrible. And in fact, I was feeling quite joyful and energetic.

This young man has taught me many life lessons, and this time was no exception:   If you’re down, feeling sorry for yourself, and otherwise choosing to throw yourself a pity party…consider who you might serve. Looking outward toward meeting the needs of others will take the focus off of “self” every time.

Disclaimer:  Obviously, we all need to make sure we’re taking care of ourselves before we serve others, otherwise we have nothing left to give. The point of this post isn’t suggesting that you give of yourself until you pass out. The point is to stop feeling sorry for yourself. And if you’re having a hard time doing that, find someone to serve. It works every time.

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Get $35 Worth Of Organic Groceries For Just $25 With Free Shipping At Vitacost!

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I am excited to see that today through August 29, Vitacost is offering free shipping on all grocery orders over $25! Plus, if you are a new customer with Vitacost and you first sign up through this referral link, you will receive an email with a $10 credit code which you can use to make your purchase.

Therefore, if you put $35 worth of groceries into your cart, then apply your $10 credit, with the free shipping, you’ll be getting a lot of bang for your buck!

If you’re already a Vitacost customer, the Free Shipping for grocery orders over $25 is still a great deal. Recently, I’ve been watching for and taking advantage of Vitacost’s sales to have some of our favorite foods and ingredients on hand this fall. I love Vitacost’s reasonable prices, and I’m so thankful for online buying options like this since so many of these products aren’t available to me in our small town. :)

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Victorio Food Strainer – Makes Awesome Tomato Sauce!

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After learning how great my new Victorio Food Strainer is at making homemade applesauce, I was super excited to use it to make Homemade Tomato Sauce. I was finally able to experiment with it a couple weeks ago.

The easiest way I’ve found to prepare tomatoes for sauce is to roast them in the oven. Then, instead of running them through the blender like I have in the past, this time, I put them through my Victorio.

Or rather, I had my friend Piper run them through my Victorio. She and her brothers had spent the day with us, and she was happy to come into the kitchen and help me. You know what this proves? It proves that in a house that holds seven boys, sometimes we women need to stick together. And it also proves that the Victorio is easy enough for an eight year old to use! 

She had that tomato sauce strained in no time. And look! It’s so pretty it looks like it came directly out of a jar from the store. Except that it didn’t. It’s homemade and it’s organic and it’s made from fresh tomatoes from our garden!

A few days later, I made some awesome spaghetti sauce (um, if I do say so myself). I really meant to be bragging about the Victorio’s capability to make incredibly smooth tomato sauce, not on my ability to make delicious spaghetti sauce. Really.

 I know several of you have shared that you also decided to invest in a Victorio Food Strainer. Are you pleased with it so far?  I let my friend Jenny borrow mine and she loved it so much she bought one for herself. I’m telling you – it’s an incredible tool for the kitchen if you do a lot of canning!

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Dear God, Where Are You? {A Guest Post from Lysa Terkeurst} Plus a Giveaway!

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 I am very honored to welcome this guest post by Lysa Terkeurst from Proverbs 31 Ministries… 

“Mom, I didn’t make it. Please pray for me. I just feel confused about God.”

I felt my daughter’s deep hurt as clearly as if it were my own. I know what it feels like to want something so badly and have that dream shut down. That door closed. That opportunity slipped away.

She had been talking about trying for this special achievement at summer camp for 3 years. But she wasn’t old enough to try until this year, her 4th year at camp.

She met every challenge and could see the goal in sight … until it was time for her to light a large campfire with only three matches, one small square of newspaper, and a few sticks of wood.

She struck the first match and held it to the newspaper but it didn’t ignite. She struck the second match and held it to the newspaper. It still didn’t ignite.

She stared at the third and final match. Knowing a big part of the challenge was teaching the kids how to communicate with God and fully rely on Him, she’d been praying through every stage. But now, she didn’t just pray—she cried out to God.

“Please help me, God. Please,” she mouthed as she struck the third match. She held the flame to the paper and watched in complete disbelief. The matchstick burned but the paper did not.

As the final match burned out, she lowered her head in defeat.

Nine girls tried for this highest honor of finishing the challenge. Three girls didn’t make it, including my daughter.

When I picked her up a week later, she asked if we could process this situation. What bothered her most wasn’t not getting the camp honor. What bothered her most was not experiencing God’s power like the other girls.

They all had stories of God answering their cries for help in amazing ways through the challenge.

“Mom, I didn’t get that with God. Why?”

It was one of those questions you don’t want to mess up in answering.

I asked her to recall every step of her challenge so we could intentionally look for God’s hand. I listened intently for anything unusual and unexplainable.

When she got to the fire, I found it. There was no reason her newspaper shouldn’t light. None at all. Everyone else’s paper lit.

“Honey, that can only be explained by God intervening. He was there. He was listening. And we just have to trust there was some reason you shouldn’t have continued that challenge. We may not know that reason, but we can certainly trust God was protecting you … loving you … revealing His power to you.”

She put her head on my shoulder, “You really think so Mom?”

I whispered, “I know so.”

I know so because I trust the truth God has given me. Truths like these are anchors that hold me to the reality of who God is.

He is the One in whom I find comfort and reassurance: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 (NIV)

He is right here with me in the midst of my trouble, I am not alone: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1 (NIV)

He is the One who can use my tears to water the soil of my heart so that it can one day be a harvest of joy: “Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.” Psalm 126:5 (NIV)

Yes, I know deep hurt. But I also know deep hope. So, I whispered it again, “Yes, sweetheart, I know so.”

Sometimes God’s power is shown as much in preventing things as it is in making them happen. We may never know the why. But we can always know and trust the Who.

About Lysa:

Lysa TerKeurst is a New York Times bestselling author, National Speaker, and President of Proverbs 31 Ministries. You can read her daily blog at www.LysaTerKeurst.com or hear her encouragement through the Proverbs 31 Ministries’ radio program played on over 1200 outlets. She loves that the first four letters of Messiah spell a “mess.” All of the messages Lysa speaks and writes about come from her awareness of what a mess she can be. Most days you can find her writing from her sticky farm table in North Carolina where she lives with her husband Art, her five priority blessings named Jackson, Mark, Hope, Ashley, and Brooke, 3 dogs and a mouse that refuses to leave her kitchen.

Sometimes it’s hard to understand why God prevents something when we want Him to provide it. If you’re looking for a friend to help you process your emotions in the hard times, Lysa does this in her gut-honest new book, Unglued. Click here to get your copy today. Or, leave a comment on this post for a chance to win a free copy of the book! I’ll draw two random winners on Friday, August 24. Please watch here for a post stating the winners as you will be responsible for contacting me if your name is chosen!

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Gratituesday: The Fridge Is Clean

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I know. It sounds like a silly thing to be grateful for. But my fridge sees a lot of food coming and going from its shelves and drawers. It is usually quite full and cluttered. If you recall, last week was incredibly busy, and my fridge was bursting at the seams. Yesterday we had company all day long, and I had a blast keeping up with feeding everyone! 

By last night, I really began to notice how junky the inside of my fridge was looking after weeks of neglect. The shelves and drawers were covered with crumbs, crusty milk rings, and all sorts of sticky, icky something-or-others. 

So today, I decided we were cleaning out. I changed our menu plan today so we could have leftovers for lunch, even if it did mean that the meal before us was super random and not at all exciting. I pulled out everything from meatballs to kiwi and we had a “crazy buffet meal”. In the meantime, I scrubbed down shelves and rearranged the remaining refrigerator contents. 

Ahhhhhhhhh….

If you didn’t already know that I love jars, I guess you do now.  :)

I didn’t even think about taking “before pictures” until after I was finished. I was simply on a mission. When this happens, there’s no stopping me. You just have to eat your random plate of lunch and not get in my way. ;)

How long will my fridge stay that clean? Probably for about a half a day. But tonight I’m thankful to be going to bed with a clean refrigerator. It’s the simple things in life, you know? :)

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!