Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Menu Plan for the Week – {and a little bit of Mother’s Day mysterious dessert making play-by-play}

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1:25 pm Well, I am currently shut into my office right now, and I don’t have permission to come out until the mysterious dessert my boys are working on has come out of the oven. I can hear the beaters running and if my family knows me at all, I expect to smell something chocolatey any minute now… ;)

Matt and the boys have been doing a great job spoiling me today, making Mother’s Day super special. Check out the lunch I just feasted on:

1:46 pm Matt just snuck in with a smirk to say, “Apparently the eggs were supposed to be beat separately before adding the other ingredients. Therefore, they have a bowl with 1 cup of flour, mixed with some baking powder and two eggs. Can you figure out something to do with that tomorrow so we don’t have to waste it?” I have two things to say:  I am both excited and afraid to see my kitchen after today. And, I think I’ll be making pancakes tomorrow from that flour/egg/baking powder mixture. It just makes sense. :)

And now, back to the menu plan for this week:

Sunday, May 13
Cereal
Grilled steak, spinach and mushroom rice florentine, cream cheese corn, mystery dessert  ;)
Nachos and a movie

Monday, May 14
Whole wheat pancakes (apparently)
Chicken nuggets, peas, baby carrots
Cheesy beef and rice, green beans

Tuesday, May 15
Fried eggs on toast, strawberry coconut smoothies
Creamy mac and cheese, steamed broccoli
Lasagna, tossed salad

2:01 pm I hear beaters again. I can not wait to find out what those boys are making. And I also really hope that I taught everyone well enough not to pick up the beaters before turning them off first!!

Wednesday, May 16
Chocolate chocolate chip muffins, apples
Crunch ranch chicken, stir fried rice and veggies
Roast, carrots, potatoes, gravy

Thursday, May 17
Scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, oranges
Pigs in a blanket, green beans
Creamy crockpot chicken and rice, carrots

Friday, May 18
Mini apple pies, turkey bacon
Easy noodle stir fry, milkshakes
Homemade pizza, fried okra

2:07 pm The beaters are still going! What are they making in there????

Saturday, May 19
Whole wheat cinnamon rolls, bananas
Leftovers
Chicken alfredo, steamed veggies, asparagus

2:12 pm Seriously, the beaters…still. How long can beaters run without burning out the motor?

2:13 pm If they don’t hurry up, I’m going to have to sneak out because um…I need to potty.

2:14 pm Ah, the beaters are off! Can I come out yet?

Apparently not.

While I’m still here in the office, I’ll show you a picture of Carrie Vitt’s (from Deliciously Organic) amazing Loaded Baked Potato Soup that we made yesterday.


Wow, that soup was good! Matt added some dehydrated red peppers in his bowl and loved the kick. The rest of us loved it with sour cream and cheese. It was easy to make, and everyone in the family devoured it. I liked that it called for chicken broth, giving me a meatless meal and a new option for stretching a chicken for six meals. If you haven’t yet, be sure to look into the deal Carrie put together for all Heavenly Homemakers readers. Get her amazing cookbook along with some healthy and family friendly meal plans at a great price!

2:18 pm Elias just came in to ask, “I can’t tell you pacifically, but if you were making frosting, would you use brown sugar or sucanat?”

I told him, “Brown sugar, and there’s organic brown sugar in the pantry”, but are you sure it doesn’t call for powdered sugar?”

And ‘pacifically’? Be still my heart. The cuteness abounds.

2:20 pm Elias came back in to say, “If you smell that burned smell, don’t worry.”

Okay, I’ll try. ;)

2:28 pm Beaters again. What in the world???

I’d say this post is “to be continued…” I’ll be back later with an update on what the boys made for my Mother’s Day dessert.

Hope you’re having a blessed day. There’s no doubt that I am. Even if I do have to ignore that burned smell coming from the kitchen. ;)

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Strawberry Coconut Smoothies from Deliciously Organic

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Remember how I told you that I can open the new Deliciously Organic cookbook I received recently, and that I can make just about any recipe in it, since each one calls for the healthy ingredients I typically use and have on hand? Wow, have I been having fun. I love reading (and drooling over) these simple, yet tasty recipes that are full of such nourishing foods.

During the next week, I’ll be sharing some of our experiences from our Deliciously Organic taste-testing. I can’t share the recipes with you because they aren’t mine to share. But remember, author Carrie Vitt has put together some very generous deals for you so that you can get your own copy of this great cookbook for a big discount!

Yesterday, we quickly whipped up her Strawberry Coconut Smoothies to go with our lunch.

The coconut milk in these made this treat so creamy and refreshing. It was only slightly “coconutty” – just right. The kids devoured it, and I suppose it goes without saying that Matt and I did too. ;)

What we’re planning to make next is still up for vote. Our ten year old, Elias, has been pouring over the book, as he often does when he gets his hands on a cookbook with awesome food pictures. Can I again just say how nice it is that I don’t have to look at the recipe and tell him, “No, we can’t make that. It uses too many unhealthy ingredients and I’m not sure how to adapt that one.” Instead, I can look at each recipe he points to and give him a thumbs up.

Now to just find the time to make every single recipe in the book as the kids pick them out… :)

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The Benefits of Exercise (It’s About More Than Weight Loss!)

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I humbly consider myself to be thoroughly kicked in the pants. Good grief – why have I avoided exercise for so many years? Since I began to workout faithfully in January, I feel healthier and more energetic than I have EVER felt!

You know one of the main reasons I avoided exercise? Okay, two of the main reasons? 1) I didn’t really need to lose much weight and 2) I have asthma.

Oh dear – I was really afraid that my asthma would flare up if I exercised? Let me tell you right here and now – and this is the part where I have been kicked in the pants – exercise has made my asthma better, not worse! Beyond that, being at a healthy weight is great, but that’s a silly reason for me to think that I didn’t need to exercise.

Shucks, exercise can certainly help a person lose weight (sweet!), but as I have been working out with Jen, I have learned all kinds of reasons why exercising has been beneficial to me. I’ll let her share about those reasons here in a minute, but first I need to gab and gush about how good I feel.

Here’s the deal:  The past couple of weeks, my family has been passing around a cold  – and I didn’t get sick. This never happens to me. Any time my kids are snotting and hacking, I catch it. Within days, infection typically hits my asthmatic lungs, causing some major issues like bronchitis or even pneumonia.

This time, I began to get a sore throat, then began to fear that sickness and lung congestion would lay me flat. I upped my vitamin intake, drank plenty of water, and worked to get enough rest. And would you believe it? I fought that cold and did not get sick.

You may not understand the significance of this. But trust me, Matt and I are astonished. All of the cardio workouts and the weight lifting I’ve done during the last 4 1/2 months have really built my immune system and strengthened my lungs. I feel strong! I feel healthy. I can fight now!!! (Fight infection, that is – not the children. I do feel strong, but I still don’t feel the need to get on the floor and wrestle, just in case you were starting to picture that…)  ;)

I asked Jen, of Getting Fit with Jen, to give me a bullet list of all the amazing benefits to exercise:

~ Lowers your blood lipid profile (cholesterol)

~ Makes daily living/every day activities easier

~ Reduces your risk for cardiovascular diseases

~ Improves bone health, which helps fight osteoporosis

~ Improves mood and mental health

~ Lowers your blood pressure

~ Transforms your body shape

~ Helps you achieve and maintain a healthy weight

And oh yes, exercise can strengthen your immune system. I realize that exercise isn’t preventing me from ever getting sick again. But I have seen so many improvements in my overall health since beginning our workouts. I’m in this for the long haul!

What benefits have you seen from exercise? If you haven’t been exercising, what improvements would you like to see if you were to start an exercise program?

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Free Shipping at VitaCost on Orders Over $25 (plus $10 Credit)

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Today only, May 10, VitaCost is offering FREE SHIPPING on orders over $25!

They offer over 30,000 vitamins and health food products. We’ve discovered Vitacost to be a wonderful resource for many of the foods we eat on a regular basis. Their prices are usually very reasonable, if not excellent, and the food arrives on our doorstep within just a few days.

If you are a new customer with Vitacost, sign up through this referral link and you’ll receive a $10 credit to use on your first order. (You can also refer your friends through your blog, email, facebook or twitter, and receive $10 of credit for each new customer who makes a purchase through your link! This is a wonderful way to earn some healthy grocery cash!)

Go take a peek around the VitaCost site to see the coconut oil, supplements, and organic foods they offer. I can get lost on that site, for sure! This free shipping deal is a winner – and it ends at midnight EDT.

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The Brownie Experiment – Which Takes Longer to Make, Boxed or Homemade?

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Well, bless my heart. The work I have to do around here for you people is sometimes just too much, you know? I mean, after I labored over the mac and cheese experiment, spending thirty whole seconds of extra time in my kitchen to make the good, homemade, whole grain, Creamy Mac and Cheese, several of you got on your knees and begged asked me to experiment next with brownies to see which took longer – brownies from a box, or homemade brownies. Really. Asking me to bake two pans of rich, gooey, chocolatey brownies? I seriously had to muscle up on this request, you know? Sometimes you all can be soooo demanding.

It’s okay though – {she says, with the back of her weary hand placed pitifully on her forehead} – I love you all enough that I was able to find the strength to serve you in this way. If someone must make two pans of brownies to help prove a point, I will rise to the challenge.

What? I suppose next you’ll ask me to make chocolate cake, or pudding, or fudge or something? Who do you think I am anyway?

Okay. I’m all done pretending to whine now. Seriously, anytime you want to ask me to make brownies, I am alllll over it. I’m happy to “take one for the team” anytime chocolate is involved.

So here’s a little something that hasn’t been in my kitchen for several years now…

Why yes, it did feel a little funny pouring that into a bowl. And then, because I haven’t made brownies from a box for such a long time – I actually had to take the time to read the directions. I felt a little silly and was glad no one was in there watching me struggle to remember and figure out how to make brownies from a box. Except now I just told you about it, so I guess you get to make fun of me anyway.

From box to pan, before going into the oven, it took me right at 4.5 minutes to mix up these brownies. Quick and convenient? Yep, they sure were. (I used Olive Oil in case you were wondering.)

Next, I started to mix up my Homemade Fudge Brownies that I have been making for several years now. I already had some whole wheat flour ground and in the freezer, but I totally don’t feel like that was cheating in this experiment because I almost always have flour ground and in the freezer for brownie emergencies baking. It’s a little something I call “kitchen efficiency” and it totally works for me.

How long did it take for me to mix up the homemade brownies and get them into the pan? 5.5 minutes. Why did it take me an entire minute longer to mix up homemade brownies than it took to mix up the boxed brownies? Because I had to wait for my butter to melt on the stovetop. Yes, the butter was taking its sweet time to liquify. But never fear. While my butter was melting, I got out my other brownie ingredients, washed a few dishes, and talked to my children. All was not lost in that extra minute of brownie preparation time.

Can you tell which pan is homemade and which pan is from a box?

The blue dish holds the homemade brownies, in case you were wondering which pan to dig into first.
Not that you can, however, because they are sort of gone now.

So, did making brownies from a box save me any time? Yes. One whole minute. Score one for boxed brownies.

Did I feel better about using an extra minute of my life to melt some butter and mix up brownies with sucanat and whole wheat flour? Well, of course I did. Plus I got some dishes done while my butter melted.

By the way, do you know why it only took me one extra minute to mix up the homemade brownies? Because I have made homemade brownies so many times that I don’t even have to think about it anymore. Truly, the more you cook from scratch, the easier and faster it becomes. If you’re new to baking and cooking outside of the box, don’t lose heart! It gets easier the more you do it!

And then, it won’t be long until you’re like me and have to cock your confused head to one side while you try to read the directions on the back of a box.

Crazy but true. ;)

I’ve got more experimenting to do, so stay tuned for more fun updates. I think muffins are the next on my list.

So tell me – do you make homemade brownies or boxed brownies? If you haven’t attempted to make them homemade, I encourage you to give them a try. Yes. That’s an order. Hey, it’s chocolate. Who’s going to argue with that? :)

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Gratituesday: Wrapping It Up

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Every year is my favorite school year. This year was no exception.

I love home schooling my kids. I love all the time we get to spend together every day. I love reading piles of incredible books with them. I love having a flexible schedule. I love learning beside them. Seriously, did you know that we have 60,000 miles of blood vessels in our bodies? That’s enough to go around the entire earth almost three times! Yes, I learned that today. I am getting so smart. (It is an added benefit to home schooling that the kids are getting smarter as well.)  ;)

We’ll be continuing to read all summer, but we do usually take a break from “regular school work” for a couple of months. This week, we’re wrapping up our last few math lessons and finishing the final chapters of a few books…

And then? Well, it would appear that we started a new tradition last year on our final “official” school day:  Ice Cream Cones for Breakfast.

And not the healthy, homemade ice cream either. I know. I don’t know how that even came about. But apparently I did it last year, so that’s all the boys have been talking about for the past few days. Hey, why not? We can have broccoli for lunch that day.

I am so thankful for the gift of another great school year with my kids. And…I am amazed at a God who could arrange 60,000 miles worth of blood vessels in my body with such perfection. What an amazing Creator!

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

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This is our last week to host High School Huddle for this school year. :(  We’ll pick back up in the fall again. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed feeding these kids and having them in our home each week for fellowship and Bible study time. What a great group.

In an effort to treat these kids right on our final huddle night, I thought Cheesecake Brownies were in order (along with a big pasta bar). I made three batches of the brownies to make sure there would be enough.

I have noooo idea what happened to that brownie in the bottom right corner.
Weird things like that happen in my kitchen sometimes. ;)

Speaking of brownies, this weekend was apparently the weekend of the brownie. I went through a lot of cocoa in two days! In addition to Huddle, there was a graduation party, and a ministry meeting we needed to go to. I decided to take brownies to those events, and actually made one batch of brownies from a box so I could time myself to see which took longer – homemade brownies or boxed brownies. I’ll share the results of that experiment later this week. :)

Here’s what our menu looks like this week:

Sunday, May 6
Oatmeal, fruit
Ministry meeting – taco bar, brownies
High School Huddle – Pasta Bar with a variety of noodles, alfredo sauce, spaghetti sauce, chicken, tossed salad, bread, and cheesecake brownies

Monday, May 7
Whole wheat waffles, blueberries
Corndog muffins, fruit-kefir smoothies
Italian cream cheese chicken, tossed salad, green beans

Tuesday, May 8
Crepes with jelly, applesauce
Cheesy salsa enchiladas, tossed salad
Sweet pepper fritata, strawberry bread, oranges

Wednesday, May 9
Whole wheat biscuits, turkey sausage gravy, fruit
Popcorn chicken, ranch potato wedges, peas
Shepherd’s pie, tossed salad

Thursday,  May 10
Coconut flour muffins, smoothies
Tuna salad on crackers, grape tomatoes, baby carrots, pickles
One dish meat and potato meal

Friday, May 11
Chewy granola bars, apples
Nachos
Homemade pizza, fruit

Saturday, May 12
Scrambled eggs, oranges
Leftovers
Taco potatoes

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Getting Fit With Your Kids

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My great friend and personal trainer, Jen, of Getting Fit With Jen, has said it to me time and again:  “Sometimes, working in time to exercise can be as easy as getting up and playing with your kids.”

The statement makes perfect sense and ultimately, I agree. But I also have to say that doing this has often been a struggle for me. I’ll admit that I don’t often just stop and “play”. There is work to be done!!! Often, I find that the best time to get that work done is when my kids are off happily playing…on their own. Happily playing children means that I have a moment of peace to focus on other tasks. To take the time to stop my cooking, laundry, website work, house work – and instead go play with my kids? It almost feels as if I would put myself behind in some way. That I would be more stressed out because of the growing “to-do” list that didn’t get finished.

All of that may be true sometimes. There is nothing wrong with taking advantage of quiet moments and content children when there is work to be done. But – I promise you that I have never, ever regretted time I have taken out of my “very busy schedule” to go play with my kids. And when that play involves some sort of exercise? Well, I do believe we can call that multi-tasking. :)

Remember the day I scored five!!?!?!? (Why yes, I did just give you the link to that post so that I could brag some more in case you forgot that story.)  It was a great workout, and wow did we all have fun! A few days after that, while waiting for our seven year old to warm up for his soccer game, I headed over and kicked a ball around with our 10 year old. You should have seen his face light up once he saw me and recognized that I was there to play with him!! Golden. Never will I regret taking advantage of opportunities like this to play with my kids.

Remember how my kids were doing this:

kidsontrampolinesm

And then they talked me into doing this:

lauraontrampoline2sm

I loved every minute of that – and so did my kids!

Jen is right. Now that I’m being more intentional about being active with my kids, I’m finding that there are plenty of opportunities to enjoy spending time with them in this way. And lo and behold – all of my other work still gets done somehow. ;)  After playing, I get right back to the house work or computer work – this time full of extra energy because I’ve just been up moving around!

Here are some specifics Jen had to share on this topic:

Anything that involves moving for several minutes at a time will increase your heart rate and be beneficial for your health. Go outside with your kids. Kick a ball around, chase them, play some sort of tag, play catch, go for a walk or bike ride – the ideas are limitless. Your kids will love this time with you and you will be burning calories, building muscle, and increasing your endurance level.

Do recognize your limitations so that you don’t injure yourself. Don’t break into a full on sprint to chase your kids if you aren’t used to running. Pace yourself, maybe taking short breaks between play times. Remember, even 10-15 minute segments of activity will be good for your body.

Your example to them will encourage them to want to be fit as well. Get out there and be active with your kids!

Be sure to visit Getting Fit With Jen to learn more about how you can make fitness a part of your life.

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Homemade Mac and Cheese vs. Annie’s Mac and Cheese – Which Takes More Time?

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The Macaroni and Cheese Experiment has been conducted.

In an effort to prove that “real food” often doesn’t take more time or more energy to prepare than “processed food”, I made both Annie’s Mac and Cheese, and my homemade Creamy Mac and Cheese – timing myself from start to finish on each – not doing any of the steps ahead of time.

I began last week by making three boxes of Annie’s Mac and Cheese.

I do purchase this sometimes for the very occasional treat. I appreciate that Annie’s brand is at least made with better ingredients. But did it save me time to make this boxed, convenience food?

From start to finish, making a big pot of three boxes of Annie’s Mac and Cheese took me 18.5 minutes. Not bad, plus I was able to wash a few dishes while the noodles were boiling.

And how long did my homemade Creamy Mac and Cheese take???

Many of you suggested that I needed to be sure and count the time it took to grate the cheese for this recipe! I do try to keep some cheese in the fridge that we’ve already grated and put into a baggie to save time while I’m cooking. I didn’t do that this time though, so that I could give you a more accurate time calculation for this recipe. However, as I usually do when I haven’t grated my cheese ahead of time – I simply got the noodles and milk cooking on the stove, then grated a big block of cheese while I waited for the pot to get hot. Multi-tasking is so wonderful! (Plus I even grated extra cheese so that I will be ahead of the game next time I need it!)

I do have to watch the pot and stir more often while I’m making homemade mac and cheese, compared to the boxed variety. However, I have found that I don’t have to stir the pot constantly, and can stir, then do another little job, then stir again, and do something else. As long as I keep going back to it, I am able to get several other little jobs accomplished while I make this dish. This time, I was going back and forth between boys and May Day projects, keeping up without any troubles with stirring the mac and cheese.

Total time it took for my Creamy Mac and Cheese to be finished? 19 minutes. Exactly 30 seconds longer than Annie’s. Woe is me. I am simply exhausted from the additional effort. ;)

From experience, I know that whole wheat elbow noodles cook more quickly than the whole wheat fusilli pasta, so that may have cut my time even more. (Also, if you’re interested, you can use Tinkyada Brown Rice noodles in this recipe, which I’ve found works great and takes only a couple of extra minutes to cook.)

My conclusion:  Homemade Creamy Mac and Cheese is just as convenient and easy as making boxed mac and cheese. I dirtied the same number of dishes for each, and I was able to multi-task while making each of them. (Large pot, spoon, and cheese grater for the homemade; large pot, spoon, and strainer for the boxed. Yes, I did grate the cheese onto a plate, but then I served my food on that very plate, so as not to dirty another dish!)

And the taste? There is no comparison. Boxed mac and cheese is kinda fun, but I ultimately find it to be empty and flavorless. I also have a hard time getting past the unnatural color. Cheese isn’t orange, people! I love that the homemade mac and cheese has more sustenance and more natural flavor. Bring on the nutrients!

While I was having this mac and cheese throw down, I decided to be nerdy and calculate the price difference. It costs around $3.85 to fill my family with Annie’s Mac and Cheese, because yes, it does take all three boxes to fill us. It costs about $4.50 to make a pot of Creamy Mac and Cheese, since I’m using organic, raw white cheddar. That breaks down to be $0.11 extra cents per person to feed my family this healthy, easy meal. I’m pretty sure I can afford that.

So there you have it. Am I completely knocking boxed mac and cheese? Nope. Just stating the facts based on my research and experiment conclusion. Might we still eat the occasional boxes of mac and cheese? Maybe, and we’ll probably even enjoy it a little bit. But do I ever get to say that making a box of mac and cheese saves me time and money compared to making homemade mac and cheese?

Not unless I really feel like I can justify whining about 30 seconds of extra time, $0.65 extra for my entire family of six, and no extra dirty dishes. I think we all know the answer to that. :)

I’m thinking that it might be fun to do other experiments like this one. Any suggestions or ideas for what I should test next?

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Our May Day Fun

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Because I grew up making and delivering May Day Baskets, I just assumed everyone knew what May Day was all about. Seems from many of your comments on my Gratituesday post that May Day is new to many of you! Here, let me share the fun with you…

The way we’ve always celebrated the first day of May is to create some sort of basket, fill it with flowers or goodies, then deliver the basket to someone’s porch. Tradition holds that you are to “sneak” the basket up to the house, set it down, ring the doorbell, and run away without the recipient catching you! It’s a fun way to celebrate spring and a great way to bless others. We’ve never been very good at the “sneaking” part, but it sure is fun to try!

I can’t believe how excited our three younger boys were this year as they were working on this project. (Our oldest may have been excited also, if he wasn’t so busy trying to finish his freshman year of high school. That kid has been working SO hard this year on Biology and Algebra!)

I pulled each boy into the kitchen with me separately to make a treat for the baskets. This made for some great one-on-one time, plus made life less hectic in the kitchen. Justus decided to make Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. (He usually wears glasses, but his are broken right now – par for the course when you have an active 12 year old boy. If you look at his right eye there, you can see that not only did his glasses get broken, he has a nice injury to brag about too.)

He did a beautiful job on the cookies…

Malachi helped me make some mini Banana Muffins…while listening to DC Talk. ;)

One recipe made 36 mini muffins, baked at 400° for about 15 minutes (in case you were wondering how to adapt the Banana Muffin recipe).

Elias helped me make a big batch of Trail Mix, then all the boys set to work making cards to include in the baskets.

In the meantime, I packaged up all the treats.

The “baskets” we used were actually just recycled ice cream buckets my dad had given me. This worked perfectly!

And now, we are heading out to deliver the goodies. I believe I am just about to witness my sons launching themselves off of our friends’ porches – which I’m sure they will do in absolute silence so as to keep our May Day delivery a big surprise. ;)

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