Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

The Health Benefits of Fermented Vegetables

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It likely doesn’t sound good to most of us. Fermented black radishes? Really?

Admittedly, fermented black radishes aren’t my favorite side dish. But sauerkraut (which is fermented cabbage), served alongside my steak? It’s really not too bad. Especially when you realize how much eating them benefits your digestion. And fermented carrots are a delicious addition to a salad. 

So what’s so great about fermented vegetables?

Well, for one thing, they are raw. And when you make them with unpeeled veggies, they contain all sorts of wonderful nutrients, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and enzymes. But the fermenting process gives them a huge jump in the additional health benefits regular vegetables offer. Once fermented, these veggies contain live, healthy bacteria that helps strengthen your immune system, helps heal your gut, aids in digestion, regulates the sugars contained naturally in the vegetables, and so much more. You can read more about specific benefits to fermented vegetables at Wise Choice Market. 

Through the years, I’ve experimented with making my own fermented vegetables. Since I haven’t figured out the “perfect recipe” yet to share with you, I did a little online searching and found another great post to send you to which gives a great “how to” on making fermented veggies. Or, if you want to give them a try but aren’t ready to make your own yet, Wise Choice Market has them ready made for you. Their Grated Carrots are our favorite.

What has been your experience with fermented vegetables? Tried them? Like them?

 

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Menu Plan for the Week

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Wow, I missed my menu plan last week. If you recall, we planned some big meals to feed the York College Ladies Soccer Team that my husband helps coach. So while I thoroughly planned those meals, I was too busy to plan meals for my family for the rest of the days of the week. 

It’s not like I follow  my menu plan religiously each week anyway, but wow, having nothing planned threw me just a little bit. Case in point:  By Friday night, I was pretty  much worn out and didn’t feel like cooking. Nothing sounded good. I had no meat thawed. All I had in the fridge (aside from the ever present milk, ketchup, and pickle relish of course) was two big containers of leftover mashed potatoes from feeding the team earlier in the week.

So for dinner Friday night? We had mashed potatoes, with mashed potatoes…and sliced tomatoes. I should have taken a picture to share with you (not). The “meal”, such as it was, didn’t taste too bad, especially since the tomatoes came from our garden. But here’s hoping putting together a menu plan this week will offer us a little more excitement. Although we do still have a lot of mashed potatoes to eat up. :)

Biscuits and Gravy – one of my family’s favorite meals!

Sunday, August 19
Oatmeal, fruit
Bbq meatballs, cheesy sour cream mashed potatoes (how’s that for a creative way to use the leftovers?!), green beans, tossed salad, brownie sundaes (with homemade hot fudge sauce) 
Chicken Burritos, grapes, strawberries

Monday, August 20
Whole wheat waffles, blueberries
Grilled burgers, baked beans, watermelon, carrot sticks
Baked three cheese chicken pasta, tossed salad, steamed broccoli and carrots

Tuesday, August 21
Simple sourdough biscuits, turkey sausage gravy, grapes
Tuna salad on tomato slices, chips and salsa
Alfredo sauce with pasta, tossed salad, green beans

Wednesday, August 22
Creamy orange cooler, scrambled egg sandwiches
Easy noodle stir fry with broccoli, carrots, and zucchini
Grilled salmon, brown rice, peas

Thursday, August 23
Coconut flour muffins, apples
Whole wheat calzones, raw veggies, fruit smoothies
Barbecue brisket, cream scalloped potatoes, tossed salad, green beans

Friday, August 24
Easy breakfast casserole, orange slices
Creamy mac and cheese, carrot sticks, peas, cantaloupe
Tacos

Saturday, August 25
Giant breakfast cookies, applesauce
Leftovers
BLTs, watermelon, raw veggies

If you’re looking for a little assistance getting started on menu planning, be sure to check out Plan to Eat!

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Swimming – A Different Kind of Workout

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I suppose it’s a little late in the season to be sharing this oh-so-inspirational fitness thought with you, and truly, it’s not like you probably haven’t already thought of it yourself. In fact you’ve likely been doing it all summer. But I’ll just share my recent experience with you anyway.

Jen (from Getting Fit With Jen) and I have been walking, doing specialized resistance training circuits, and lifting weights regularly now for eight months. I absolutely love it and continue to feel so much healthier. 

Recently though, I’ve been getting a different form of exercise and it is so great! During the past three weeks, we’ve been going to our friend’s swimming pool where Jen has been giving our kids and another friend’s kids swimming lessons. (Yes, she is multi-talented.)  :)  It’s been awesome! The kids have all come so far and have loved being in the water. That’s saying a lot for our younger boys.

And what have I been doing while the younger kids have learned the fine art of going under water without sucking water into their lungs, and the older kids have been learning to dive? I’ve been getting a water workout!

Water definitely provides a different variety of “resistance training” than what I’ve been doing otherwise. Plus, being in the water has felt incredible during the crazy heat wave we have had. I didn’t even think I liked to swim! But I guess I just proved myself wrong. (Of course, no one is allowed to watch me as I have completely improper form…)

I’ve made it a point to just “keep moving” in the water for a good 30-45 minutes each time we’re there. I swim up and back and up and back in the pool over and over. I tread water. I swim up and back again. I do “standing crunches” in the water. It all feels sooooo good!

Anyhoo…just wanted to encourage you, if you’re taking your kids to the pool anyway, to try to get a little exercise in while you’re there. It’s the perfect opportunity!

You sure won’t be seeing pictures of me showing you how it’s done, but my boys were happy to show you some of their new skills!

Malachi is getting ready to go underwater without holding his nose…

Looks like Asa and Justus were finished with their “lesson” for the day and were just goofing off at this point.

And then there’s Elias. He’s our most timid and hesitant boy. Now he can float on his back and his tummy, and swim underwater all the way from one side to the next. So proud!

 Are you a swimmer? Have you found yourself getting some exercise in at the pool this summer?  What’s your favorite thing to do at the pool?

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A Little Marriage Tip from the Peaches

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Last week it was time to harvest all of the peaches from our tree. They were tiny bites of heaven, full of sweet drops of gold that dripped down our chins as we indulged several times a day while supplies lasted.

As my husband and I worked together to slice and freeze what our family couldn’t eat right away, we once again proved how God made us different.

Matt is a perfectionist.

I am not.

We figure that no matter how different we might be in how we go about our work, together, we’ll still be able to make some great smoothies, and even better cobblers.

Look deep. There’s a little life lesson in there somewhere. :)

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Food Pictures From This Week and Some of My Scattered Thoughts That May or May Not Make Sense

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Below you will find a random assortment of pictures for the past three days of feeding the YC Ladies’ Soccer Team. I wasn’t able to take pictures of everything, simply because there wasn’t time. But here’s what I was able to capture:

Sunday night I made a big roaster oven full of roast and carrots. This container was empty at the end of the night. :)

Here we have an almost overflowing pot of Cream Cheese Corn. This is always a hit when I feed a crowd. Although with this and the mashed potatoes and the rolls, it was a compete carb overload. Not sure what I was thinking!!? Especially since the team had to run three miles a few hours after eating this meal. ;)

But speaking of rolls…uh…funny story. I made these during the afternoon, but got the “brilliant” idea to put a lid on them and put them into the fridge to stop the rising so that I could bake them later at meal time. This plan didn’t quite go as I intended it to go. The rolls didn’t stop rising in the fridge like I told them to. Therefore, when I pulled them out at 5:00 to bake them, I saw, much to my dismay, that they had all grown up together and “burst” at the top of the lid. I baked them anyway, hoping for the best. The girls walked into our house, smelled the rolls baking and got ever so excited. I gave them a half grin and told them not to get their hopes up because the rolls were quite…scary and that they were having severe issues. Well, one pan turned out not looking so bad (the pan on the right in the pic below) – but then they sunk when I pulled them out of them oven and were very doughy in the middle. Sad.  The others (the ones on the left) looked like a big 9×13 cake. Good grief. I ended up slicing them like corn bread and the girls gobbled them up. They even gobbled up the doughy rolls. Wow, they are the sweetest girls ever. Love them.

Look at these pitiful rolls…

Here, would you like a little peak at these delightful girls of whom I speak? I love them all and am so thankful to have this opportunity to get to know them and to treat them to home cooking.

We served the meal at our house Sunday night, and they overflowed into our yard and porch. (Monday and Tuesday we fed them in our church fellowship hall so I’d have more oven space.)

Well now, speaking of the ovens in our church kitchen/fellowship hall (and of my cooking goof-ups this week)…

It is never fun to try to use a new oven for the first time when you are feeding 35 people. But alas, I decided to try the cool convection oven at church for the first time, supposing it to be an efficient way to make four pans of Crunchy Ranch Chicken.

The meal was to be served at 6:00. The chicken, according to my calculations, should have been done at 5:59. I stared at it. I glared at it. I screamed at it. None of these tricks helped it to cook quickly enough. But hey, you can see my picture-taking-reflection in the oven, so that’s kinda fun, even if I was mad at the oven for taking so long to bake my chicken.

 

The girls were very sweet and patient while they waited for the meal to be served, munching on grapes and relaxing their tired muscles. I believe we were finally able to serve the meal at 6:25. They felt like it was worth the wait and came back for seconds and thirds.

I was excited to discover that Rice and Veggie Stir Fry is a very easy dish to make for a crowd. I had made the rice that afternoon at home. I had also stir-fried the veggies that afternoon at home. I simply rewarmed it all together with soy sauce once I got to the church kitchen. SO easy. And it’s a perfect dish to serve with the (slow cooking) Crunchy Ranch Chicken.

 Here are the Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies I made for the gal who can’t eat gluten. 

Tonight I made a double batch of Butterscotch Bars which are a favorite of the team.

The girls were thrilled to see all the loaves of homemade bread to go with tonight’s Lasagna, Italian Salad, and Green Beans. 

I loved every minute of cooking for these girls and I can’t wait to watch them play ball in a couple of weeks. Go Lady Panthers!!

And now I’m going to put my feet up for a while, maybe sleep in a little in the morning, and enjoy some leftovers while I take a day off from cooking. :)

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Gratituesday: Anniversary Date

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It’s been a few years since we’ve been able to make this happen, but today, on our 18th Anniversary, Matt and I got to go out on a date!

Why have we not gone out on an actual anniversary date in years? Because our anniversary always falls right during the busy part of soccer season. It’s pre-season for the college team he helps coach. That means there are three practices per day right now. And sometimes, he’s not even in town on our anniversary because he’s with the team on a retreat.

I am definitely not complaining. I know Matt loves me and we always try to find time later (like in November once soccer season is over!) to do something special in honor of our anniversary. Hey, remember what he did for me last year on our anniversary? Sweetest thing ever!

Well, last week, when we were talking about our anniversary, Matt said, “I think we just may be able to go on a date that day.” Fun! Between morning and afternoon soccer practices, and before I got very busy prepping the meal I was feeding the team tonight, we headed to the nicest restaurant in town for lunch together. (And he wore my favorite shirt. Not that you needed to know that. But it made me smile. It’s his black shirt. And it looks really, really nice on him. I’m done now.)

The boys stayed home by themselves and made tuna. So exciting for them. Matt and I? We had sirloin. Oh yeah.

And then we ran some errands together, because nothing says romance like delivering a library book and making a trip to the post office. 

He dropped me back off and home, and headed off for soccer practice number two. That hour and a half I had him all to myself (in his black shirt)? Perfect.

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(Soccer) Menu Plan for the (First Part of the) Week

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I have been busy this weekend, so haven’t had time yet to figure out a menu plan for our family for the entire week. (You can look back at my archives of healthy Menu Plans for ideas for your family!)  But here is what I plan to feed the YC Ladies Soccer Team this week. There will be between 30-40 at each meal.

Sunday Night:  Roast, Carrots, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Cream Cheese Corn*, Homemade Whole Wheat Rolls* with Butter, Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches

Monday Night:  Crunchy Ranch Chicken**, Stir Fried Rice and Veggies (with broccoli and carrots), Grapes, Fudge Brownies with Fudge Frosting

Tuesday Night:  Lasagna***, Italian Tossed Salad, Green Beans, Honey Whole Wheat Bread, Butterscotch Bars

Here’s a little play-by-play of what I was able to get done this weekend to get ahead.

On Friday evening, I put together four big lasagnas, plus one small “meat free” one and one small “gluten free” one. Here’s hoping I’m able to accomodate some of the special diets for the girls!

While prepping the lasagnas, I also got a double batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies going so that I could get the Ice Cream Sandwiches made the next day. Once the cookies cooled, I put them into the freezer so they wouldn’t melt the ice cream as I assembled them.

On Saturday morning, I made a huge pan of Crunchy Ranch Chicken and put it into the freezer. On Monday, I’ll spread them all out on big baking sheets and bake them. Having these ready ahead of time makes this meal so very easy!

I then grabbed the frozen cookies and put together the Ice Cream Sandwiches. I may have also eaten one of the cookies that had become deformed in the freezer. Hey, somebody had to do it.

Saturday night, I peeled eight pounds of carrots, cutting some up with broccoli to be ready for the Stir Fried Rice and Veggies, and leaving about six pounds for today’s roast.

As of right now (Sunday afternoon), the roast and carrots are cooking, 20 pounds of potatoes are peeled and waiting to be cooked, and the first double batch of homemade rolls is rising. Why yes, my kitchen is starting to smell good. :)

I’m planning to make some Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies and some Coconut Flour Muffins to treat the gluten free girls. I’ll do my best to continue to take pictures throughout the week of my food prep and buffet lines. I’m not always good at this since it does become rather hectic, but we’ll see how it goes!

*Both the Cream Cheese Corn and Homemade Whole Wheat Rolls recipes can be found in our Heavenly Homemaker’s Guide to Holiday Hospitality eBook.
**The Crunchy Ranch Chicken recipe can be found in our What To Do With the Chicken in Your Kitchen eBook.
***My Lasagna recipe is in our What To Do With the Cow in Your Kitchen eBook.

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Berkey Water Filter – The Reason We Had a Water Drinking Party at Our House

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It was an exciting day at our house. It was a day in which we were standing in the kitchen, drinking water, exclaiming phrases such as, “Wow!” and “Seriously!” and “Can I have some more?!”

Don’t you wish you could be here partying with us? Oh you know you do.

Water is something we don’t typically have a party over. Milk? Maybe. Homemade lemonade? For sure. But water? Well water is just…water. Until today.

This week, More Than Alive sent us a Berkey Water Filter. Today when we tried it for the first time, well…we stood in the kitchen celebrating water. It can only be described as delicious. Smooth. Soft. Clean. Pure. Wow.

You’ve gotta love it when I go on and on in a post about something as simple as water. But well, I’m pretty sure you’d feel the same if you tried it.

What’s incredible about a Berkey Water Filter is this:  It filters out all the contaminants, while leaving in all the good minerals our bodies need! It is powerful enough to purify raw water from lakes and ponds, making it a great choice for campers and overseas missionaries. Amazing. It reduces heavy metals. It rids your water of chemicals. This is all done with gravity – no electricity is necessary.

To say that I am impressed with our new Berkey Water Filter is an understatement. Head over to the More Than Alive site to learn more and to see what a great investment this is.

Guess what? If you come back in a few days, we’ll be having a giveaway for a Berkey Water Filter. Don’t miss it!

 

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It’s That Time of Year Again!

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It’s time to feed the York College Ladies Soccer Team again! 

My husband is an assistant soccer coach at our local Christian college, something he loves and is very gifted at doing. Each year, I am privileged to feed the team several meals when they come into town for pre-season workouts and practices. Having me cook saves the soccer budget quite a bit, as reimbursing me for my food expense costs less than feeding the team in the cafeteria.

This has become somewhat of a tradition that the girls look forward to each year, and I love being able to bless them in this way with home cooked meals and special treats. 

Today and tomorrow, I’m getting a jump start on all the work since the fun begins on Sunday evening. Today Elias, Malachi, and I went to the store to get all the groceries. Two full carts later, we were ready to check out.

Why no, we weren’t finished yet at this point. Still had to hit the frozen food section!

Can I just say how nice it was to have the boys along to help? Last year I went by myself, thinking that it would be easier. But, no, it was not easier. I am not capable of driving three carts, which is what I had after checking out. (Thankfully a kind man from church happened upon my poor struggling self and helped me to my van!)  This time, Elias and Malachi helped push carts, fill carts, load groceries onto the check-out counter. And don’t forget unloading once we got home! That was an entire family affair. Phew!

With that, I’m off to start making lasagnas. I’ll share my entire soccer team menu on Sunday, and as much as possible, I will take pictures to share with you. 

Now you know why it was so important for me to try and get ahead a few weeks ago! :)

 

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A Toenail and a Prayer

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Remember these?

Those were the toes my cousin painted for me over a month ago at our family reunion. I loved them, enjoyed them, and felt all kinds of pretty with them. I am sad to say that toenails are made to grow. Therefore, I finally had to remove them last week. (I removed the pretty painted flowers, not the toenails. Wow. Someone should edit that sentence to make it clearer and less disgusting.)

While I enjoyed the pretty toenails very much, what I enjoyed even more is how looking at them reminded me of the cousin who painted them for me. I only see her once each year now that we’re all grown up, and shucks, I miss her. And so, each time I saw my toes, which was quite a few times each day, I would think of Carie, and say a prayer for her. Yes, my toes would bring her to mind. (Should she be honored…or mortified?)  Each time I thought of her, I would immediately breathe a prayer for her. Prayers for her as she raises her daughters. Prayers for her marriage to continue to be strong. Prayers for the business she and her husband own and run. Prayers for her health. Prayers for her parents. Prayers for her siblings. Wow, it was a great month of praying for Carie. Of course, now I miss her more, but that’s okay. God’s got her covered, and I’ve got my great memories. 

It just so happens that I also say a prayer each time I start a load of laundry. Why? Because filthy socks all bunched up in a wad always turn my thoughts to all things spiritual…obviously. (How I wish.)  Actually, the real reason is because I order my laundry detergent through my sister-in-law, Kari. Instinctively then, seeing the laundry box makes me think of Kari. And thinking of Kari makes me pray for Kari. Here’s hoping that Kari feels uber blessed, because goodness, I do a lot of laundry each week. That’s a lot of prayer, my friends. (If you’re wondering, the detergent I use is Shaklee – the only kind I trust for my family, especially with Malachi’s sensitive skin. Ask me more if you want info. Then you can pray for Kari while you’re doing laundry too. How ’bout that?)  :)

I pray for my cousin Deb each time I do dishes (again, that’s a lot of prayer!). I pray for friends as I drive by their homes. I pray for my children when I trip over the shoes they once again failed to put away in the closet.

Oh wait. No. I don’t. I should, but I tend to mutter (or holler) something other than a prayer when I trip over their shoes. I guess I need to work on that one. (She says, sheepishly.)

We’re all busy. We say we’ll pray for our friends and loved ones, especially while they are going through tough times, but do we always remember? I’m afraid I don’t always.

Having a physical reminder is always helpful, and sometimes necessary, for me to remember to pray specifically for someone. Who knew that God could use crusty socks for his purposes? :)

Oh, and hey, if you need prayer and you want to come over and paint my toenails, I wouldn’t say no.

What helps you to remember to pray for others?

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