Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

How I Shop for Meat For Our Big Family

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How do I shop for meat for our big family? The larger our family gets, the more creative I have to be. Here’s what works for me…

So long, free range chicken

If you’ve been reading my blog for a long time, you’ve watched my evolution from everything free-range, grass-fed, and organically raised to well, surviving. And being at peace over it. As I’ve shared before:

  1. I used to care deeply about the free-range chicken. (2004)
  2. I began to question if I should care so much about the free-range chicken. (2010)
  3. I started to care quite a bit less about the free-range chicken. (2018)
  4. I couldn’t care less about the free-range chicken. (2021)
  5. I have completely run out of chicken. (Real-time update)

There are currently 11 of us in our household: 4 adults and 7 kids. We go through a lot of chicken. Also beef. Also everything. We eat a lot of food.

2026 UPDATE: 14 in our household: 7 adults and 7 kids

As our family grows and grocery prices rise, I’ve had to find ways to cut back and save – just like everyone has. I’m determined to keep our budget at $1,200/month as long as I can and I’ve been encouraged to find that it really is possible! What I’ve found that has made the biggest difference?

Take advantage of sales and markdowns on meat.

When I find a good deal, I grab it – whether it’s free-range, grass-fed, or just regular ol’ meat from a regular ol’ store.

Yes, I’ve done the research. Yes, I know that grass-fed and free-range is better. But I also know that God is bigger, and I trust Him to nourish and protect us as we do the best we can with what we have. We also focus on eating a lot of fruits and vegetables, because I love the nourishment we get from a satisfying meal filled with meat, veggie, and fruit! (And no, most of our produce is no longer organic either.)

I’ve settled on a $3.50/pound price point for meat.

After having to re-learn how to shop for meat as I adjust to feeding so many people three meals every day, I’ve discovered that I can fill my freezer when I search for meat that is $3.50/pound or less. I’m amazed at how doable this is!

  • I can often find pork loin, pork roast, and pork butt on sale or marked down for around $2.49 or even $1.99/pound. They are usually nearing expiration so I either cook them that night or freeze them for later.
  • Costco usually has boneless chicken thighs for $3.49/pound. I love how delicious these are!
  • I buy ground sausage and smoked sausage at Aldi, stocking up when I’m there, especially when it is a featured sale item. Their sausage is usually around $2.99/pound and can take the place of ground beef in some recipes like spaghetti, lasagna, or other pasta dishes.
  • Sam’s and Costco’s prepared, hot Rotisserie Chicken is hanging in there at $4.98. It’s a great treat to pick one up when I’m grocery shopping and then turn them into an inexpensive and delicious meal in one of these ways.
  • Costco and Sam’s currently have chicken legs for $0.98/pound. We can turn these into delicious meals with no effort, either on the grill or in the oven. A big package like this feeds my entire family when I stretch it like this.

My Beef Exception

2026 UPDATE:

For several months, I stopped buying grass-fed beef and settled for “regular” ground beef so that I could hit the $3.50 or less price-point. But I just can’t feel good about it. The quality of this meat is just not the same. The taste is different. The texture is different. I just don’t like it.

I can find Grass-Fed Hamburger meat at Sam’s and Aldi for $5.98/pound which is a very good price for high quality beef. Roasts are harder to find, but I look for them at mark-down prices. Overall, we don’t eat as much beef as other meats so that we continue to save money. But grass-fed hamburger meat wins the price-point battle. :)

Ask the meat manager

Once recently at a local grocery store, I ran into the meat manager and asked about an item they had on sale. He did me one better and told me that he had meat in the back that he’d frozen because it was reaching its expiration date. He sold it to me for half price and told me to come back any time and check with him to see what he had in the back! Check with your local meat managers to see what they might offer.

Look at this huge package of chicken breasts that he gave me for just $4.00! There are two packages under that one that marked down to $3.00 each. That divided down to just $1.00/pound for boneless chicken breasts – incredible! And all the ground beef in the box was just $2.49/pound.

What doesn’t work for me as I shop for meat

I attempted to buy and use ground turkey instead of ground beef as a way to save money. Not one of us liked this substitution. So I stopped doing that and went back to looking for great sales on ground beef. When the price is right, ground beef can be less expensive than ground turkey. :)

What’s your price point per pound of meat? What is working for you these days?

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Big Family Food and Fun: June 4-10, 2023

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Two and a half weeks until our big move! Here’s what we ate all week as we’re getting ready…

Food we’re working with

I’m dwindling down our food supply, only buying fresh produce and dairy products as needed so that we hopefully have fewer boxes/coolers of food to move later this month. Here’s a picture of my pantry shelf at the beginning of this week. I’ll share a new picture each week as it empties out!

You can see our freezers last week here, and compare them to this week’s pictures:

What we ate all week

My goal at the beginning of the week was to clean out the fridge. I used leftover spaghetti/meat sauce to make Lasagna Casserole on the stovetop. Then I warmed up leftover green beans and that was that.

While Matt was scraping and painting our house one evening, I pulled out lots of random tidbits from the fridge. It was only 4:30 but everyone was hungry, so I decided on an early dinner/snack.

I plated it up, then carried it all out to the porch for the kids to eat “free-for-all-style.” THIS WAS NOT A GOOD IDEA. There were too many little hands dipping into the ranch, too many kids who didn’t want to share a plate, too many people screaming – and by the end of our meal, I might have been one of them. Blech. From now on, I’ll continue to make individual plates for each kid so we can avoid so many food messes and fights. :/

Since we’d eaten so early, around 7 I made some buttered toast from Jaimie’s leftover homemade sourdough (SO YUM) and carried it outside for the kids to eat before getting ready for bed. There were no food fights this time as I simply handed each kid a piece and they munched as they played. (Yes, we ate with dirty hands. I might be tired.)

The next day, I pulled these two packages of chicken breast from my freezer to thaw. LOOK at what a great price I got on these! It pays to ask the meat manager at your local grocery store if he has anything he needs to get rid of. :) I got these chicken breasts for $1.00/pound!!!

I put the chicken into the crock pot to make Chicken Tacos for dinner.

This was our first watermelon of the year so everyone gobbled it up! Josie ate five pieces, even trying to eat the rind. :)

There was a lot of salsa chicken left over because I’d cooked 6 pounds of meat in order to save time later. So I divided the leftovers into bags for the fridge and freezer to use for other quick meals.

I shared last week that Kelsey and I took the kids to a playground one day and had a picnic. Here are some photos Kelsey got of the kids playing. SO FUN!

Acacia and Josie often grab hands as they walk. I pray they are always the best of friends.

Not to be left out, here’s our Baby Boy#11. I wish you could see his huge smile! We were being silly in the mirror one morning and his smiles were so big that I snapped a picture!

Back to the food. :) I made quesadillas for lunch one day with leftover salsa chicken and spinach.

Keith has been asking for Mudballs for weeks and I was finally able to make a big batch with him one morning before everyone else got up. (Ugh, he wakes up EARLY! But I try to appreciate the one-on-one time it gives us.)

We also made a big pan of brownies to take to Asa’s birthday party later in the week.

One day for lunch I made 5 cans worth of tuna salad. We made it into sandwiches and we ate it with chips and guac.

I’m working on a post that shares fun ways that I save money on meat. But here’s another example of a great deal I got. These chicken thighs just cost $2.84/pound, which is fantastic for this high-quality meat. I marinated it to smoke that night.

This chicken is seriously the best ever. I made cream cheese corn, baked beans, and steamed broccoli and carrots as sides. After a long day of packing and chasing kids, this tasted incredible.

I’ve tried to get some baking done in the mornings before all the babies get up. My goal is to put some muffins and bread into the freezer so that we can enjoy them after I pack my baking pans and mixer. I made 2 dozen Pumpkin Muffins one morning (and forgot to take a picture). The next morning I made 2 loaves of Banana Bread and 2 dozen Bran Muffins.

For lunch, I had thawed two packages of Brats that I’d gotten marked down for just $1.92/package. How amazing to feed 11 of us (5 adults and 6 kids that day) meat for just $3.84!! Our smoker was giving me fits so the brats took a while to finish cooking. We ate leftover watermelon and carrot sticks while we (im)patiently waited for them to be ready to eat. :)

We were blessed to go to Lincoln at the end of the week for Asa’s big birthday bash that he and Eva hosted in their yard. Many of these people will become part of our new community after we move. It was great to become more acquainted with some of them!

Saturday we did lots of yard work at our house, so hamburgers really hit the spot at lunchtime.

Half of our family was gone at dinnertime, so I just made two quick frozen pizzas and served them with grapes.

I’ll leave you with this gem: We’ve been cleaning out our basement and came across Matt’s boom box from the 80s. The kids have enjoyed trying to figure out how it works. :) :) :)

We’re ready to start a new week! As the days go on, I’ll have to get more creative as I use up the food we have on hand. I’ll share those pictures next week. :)

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Easiest Crock Pot Pasta (5-Minute Prep!)

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This truly is the Easiest Crock Pot Pasta recipe. Ready to spend only five minutes making tonight’s dinner? :)

Here are the fine details about this Easiest Crock Pot Pasta dish and why it truly only takes five minutes to prepare:

  1. You can use whatever cooked meat you have in the fridge or freezer. Leftover hamburger meat, taco meat, cooked chicken, cooked turkey, diced ham, bacon, sausage…
  2. You can use whatever variety of pasta you like and have on hand.
  3. You throw the pasta into the crock pot UNCOOKED. This is my favorite.

Ready for the “recipe?” Such as it is…

Easiest Crock Pot PastaYum

Easiest Crock Pot Pasta (5-Minute Prep!)
 
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Author:
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 16-ounces uncooked pasta, any variety
  • 1-2 pounds cookied meat, any variety
  • 32-ounces chicken or beef broth
  • 2 cups water
  • 3 Tablespoons dried minced onion
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 2 cups shredded cheese
Instructions
  1. Stir everything except for the cream and cheese into a crock pot.
  2. Cook on low for 3 hours.
  3. Stir cream and cheese into the crock pot mixture.
  4. Serve.

Do you see how easy this is? Do you see how wonderfully this uses up leftovers you have in your fridge or random bits of pasta you might have in your pantry? Isn’t it lovely that you can dump all this into a crock pot and then walk away?

I suggest serving this dish with a steamed veggie or a salad, and fruit as side dishes. Miracle of miracles, all 10 of the people who eat food at our house loved this. This almost never happens, but with this dish, everyone eats it happily!

 

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Big Family Food and Fun: May 27-June 3, 2023

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Here’s a look at the food and fun at our house during the last few days!

We’ve been working this week to finalize getting our house on the market, so the busy level has gone from insane to whatever is BEYOND INSANE. There’s been very little time to cook or to even think about food. Thanks to so many coming over to help us in so many ways, we’ve survived and been so very well loved and cared for.

Food we have to work with right now

I took a look at both of our big freezers to see what all we had to work with to make meals before we move. Both freezers are still very full, which is great because I can avoid going to the store between now and the end of the month. (Our closing date on “the Castle” is in just a few weeks!) My goal is to only buy fresh produce and dairy until after we settle into our new place. Meanwhile, we have a lot of meat and frozen veggies to work with. This freezer is full of hamburger meat, green beans, peas, corn, cheese, flour, pork butt, hashbrowns, pizza crust, tortillas, french fries, and a couple of ready-made casseroles.

This looks like a lot of food (because it is!). But making three meals a day for 10 people will clear this out pretty quickly! This freezer features a lot of chicken, hotdogs, frozen pizza, a turkey, and some pasta.

And now for the meals we ate!

Big Family Food and Fun

Our breakfast one morning consisted of the last of the Bran Muffins I had baked last week. I cut them in half, buttered them, and warmed them in our air fryer. The kids LOVE them this way. We drank some of our fun Azure Standard kefir with the muffins. Fun treat!

Trying to pack while feeding 10 people (plus a baby) is a bit of a challenge. :) It would help if I could ever finish what I start. This is what the kitchen looked like at lunchtime after I’d started packing a few cabinets after breakfast. I got derailed by the kids’ needs and never came back to it. Then we were hungry and I tried making quesadillas in this mess. Oy.

Keith decided to use safety scissors to cut up a box while I made lunch.

For our smoothies that evening with dinner, I used some of the Azure Standard Kefir instead of using yogurt like I usually do. I used an entire 5-ounce container of fresh spinach in these and I just love that the kids get so many greens into their bellies this way!

I made a pot of Cheeseburger Macaroni, steamed green beans, and sliced oranges for a quick dinner one night.

The kids ate outside again, which is so great but so distracting. Josie isn’t pictured here because she took a few bites and then ran off to ride her little scooter. :)

I grilled burgers one night and we ate them with chips and guac.

Anna woke up from a nap one afternoon and enjoyed a cheese stick while she was still just half awake, precious little sweetheart. :)

One morning, Malachi and I took the kids on a LONG walk so that Matt could do work on our house without kids underfoot. When we got home, I made some fast scrambled egg sandwiches and got out peach cups for lunch.

For dinner that night, I put some beef smoked sausage on our grill. While they cooked, I made baked beans, green beans, corn, and fresh strawberries. I pulled some Banana Muffins from the freezer to round out the meal.

Appetites have been pretty big around here because we are all working/playing outside for hours and hours every day! Keith and Josie “helped” Matt clean up the garden one afternoon. :)

The kids took advantage of Matt watering our lawn. I’m not sure how many times that day we had to put dry clothes on toddlers who kept wandering into the sprinkler.

I captured this rare moment when ALL seven littles were in one spot as we wrapped up our day and joined together in our living room for our nightly “Singing and Prayer Time.” Notice Brayden and Josie pretending to talk to each other on the phone from across the room. :)

I love it when the girls sit down to enjoy a book together. SO CUTE!

I had pizza crusts in the freezer so I quickly added sauce, cheese, and meat (some leftover grilled burgers chopped up!) to bake for dinner one night. I grabbed spinach from the fridge as a side dish and that was that.

Brayden and Kiya sat on the porch to eat their pizza. They’d gone to the pool that day so they were extra hungry!

The others ate their pizza at our picnic tables. Pizza sauce mess x4!

Our friend Tasha (you know her because she’s an awesome writer!) came and worked on our walls one day while her husband helped Matt with our porch and other jobs. We are so thankful for friends who are servant-hearted!

Meanwhile, Asa and Eva were also visiting and spent several hours helping us with the house and with childcare.

While everyone was either working on our house or chasing our kids for us, I put together these amazing Bacon and Potato Foil Packs for the grill. (I actually used leftover taco meat instead of bacon and highly recommend it!) I served them with canned peaches and boo, no veggies because goodness I am not keeping up very well right now! :)

I threw together a quick meal of spaghetti with green beans one night. I’ve found that using elbow noodles instead of regular spaghetti noodles makes it much easier for our toddlers to eat this meal!

At the end of the week, we had a photographer coming to take pictures of our house for the realtor’s site since we were soon to get it on the market. Matt and I were exhausted from all the work it had taken to get the house to this point, so I declared it to be a poptart morning. I’d gotten these with Azure Standard credit and saved them for a time like this. It was perfect – the kids were so excited!

That day for lunch, our dear friend Phyllis brought us lunch (because I asked her to, because I was worn out, and because she’s awesome). She brought two of her delicious hashbrown casseroles, veggies, and muffins. It was an incredible blessing to enjoy her food, and even more, her company. She spent some time after lunch reading with Brayden and Kiya, which is just what they needed. Everyone needs a Phyllis in their life. :)

I caught three of the littles (even Acacia!) trying to do Elias’ workout with him one afternoon. :)

We took the kids on an outing to the opening night of our Farmer’s Market and took advantage of their free-will donation hotdog meal deal. Magically, the kids lined up along the wall to eat their dinner and they actually stayed there for at least five solid minutes. :)

Amidst all we had going on with getting our house ready to go on the market, on Friday we also had a huge crew of roofers come to replace our roof after last summer’s hail storm. So there were nails and shingles and people EVERYWHERE outside of our house that day. We decided to take the kids to the library for Story Hour for the morning so they could play without getting hurt in our yard. At lunchtime, we ran home and I went inside to fill a bag with food for us to eat at a park that has a brand-new splash park!

Our lunch that day was turkey lunch meat, cheese sticks, pistachios, peanuts, applesauce, raisins, chips, and juice. By the time we got home, the roofing crew was finished, loaded up, and gone. Phew!

That night, a sweet friend, Jaimie, brought us a most amazing meal of chicken-bacon-tomato-ranch salad fixings with this homemade ranch dressing (that ironically, I haven’t made in forever because of our crazy life!). Plus she supplied us with grapes, applesauce, and made us two super tasty loaves of sourdough bread and chocolate peanut butter bars. We felt so loved and spoiled!

Here’s Matt’s creation – isn’t his bowl pretty!

Keith ate his food before I could feature it, as did Brayden.

But of course, they all got seconds and if I remember correctly, Brayden got fifths. :) :) :)

Kiya is as beautiful as her salad.

The next morning, I scrambled eggs to go with our leftover sourdough bread/toast.


Our daughter-in-law, Kelsey, was able to spend the day with us Saturday so she and I took the kids on a walk to a playground so Matt could work on painting our house. I packed lunch again to buy us time at the park, plus because eating lunch on our outings is just a lot of fun! We ate cheese and crackers, blueberries, applesauce, grapes, and pistachios, and I surprised the kids with cookies. :)

Malachi has in Ecuador on a mission trip all week. WE MISS HIM!! We’re looking forward to having him home next week to learn all about God’s work there.

What a week!! We are so thankful for all the people who have come to our rescue this week with meals and help with home repairs, cleaning, yard work, and child care. It takes a village, and we have an amazing one!

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What to Make When It’s Too Hot to Make Dinner

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Sometimes it’s just too hot to make dinner. Here are 20+ ideas for what to make and serve to your family!

I love to cook. I love the heat. I love summer. I love sunshine. I actually love to be hot. But even I get to a point where I don’t feel like cooking when it’s super hot outside.

And while our kids play hard all day and work up big appetites, their food preferences change when they’re hot. None of us want a heavy hot casserole or steamy pot of stew, right?

So if you, like me, need a list of ideas for meals you can serve when it’s too hot to cook, I’ve compiled one. I basically created this on an unusually hot day in April when nothing sounded good. :) I started to brainstorm and THIS LIST is what sounded good!

What to Make When It’s Too Hot to Make Dinner

  1. Cottage Cheese with Fruit (pineapple is our favorite, and peaches are a close second)
  2. Peanut Butter Banana Toast with a side of Fresh Fruit
  3. Yogurt Granola Parfaits (set them up as a build-your-own like this)
  4. Lunchmeat, Cheese, Veggie, and, Fruit Tray
  5. Smoothies and Muffins (if I’m lucky, I have muffins in the freezer so that I don’t have to bake)
  6. Scrambled Egg Sandwich (which requires a little bit of cooking, but it’s not so much that we want to cry, right?)
  7. Beef Hotdogs and Watermelon (again, this takes a little cooking but the meal is easy and refreshing)
  8. Chicken Salad on Crackers with Veggies and Fruit or a Smoothie
  9. Tuna Salad on Bread or Buns with Veggies and Fruit or a Smoothie
  10. Meat and Cheese Wraps with Spinach on a Tortilla with a side of Fruit
  11. Rotisserie Chicken (they cost $4.98 at Sam’s and Costco, and you can make any combination of these 12 meals with them!)
  12. Any of these Salads
  13. Or you can Drink Your Salad like Matt and I do (we do this in the winter too, but oh in the summer these are so refreshing!)
  14. Tortilla Pizzas on the grill with Veggies and Fruit
  15. Guacamole with Chips and Smoothies.
  16. Easy Bean and Cheese Salsa Dip with Chips and Fruit
  17. Fruit Tray (watermelon, grapes, berries) with Cheese
  18. Popcorn, Apples, Peanut Butter, Carrots
  19. Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches with Veggies and Fruit (almost too obvious not to mention)
  20. Turkey and Cheese or Ham and Cheese Sandwiches with Veggies and Fruit

What is your go-to meal on a hot day?

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How God Used My Cheesecake

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God used my cheesecake in a way that surprised us all…

I’ve always felt that my biggest love language is food. Are you sick? Here’s a casserole. Going through a hard time? I just made fresh muffins. Exhausted while you adjust to having a newborn? Enjoy these frozen burritos. Want to come over and eat with us? I have something like Lasagna, Roast, or perhaps a big pot of Taco Soup. Also coffee, fruit, vegetables, bread, butter, potatoes, salad…

I feed people. It’s one of the ways God uses me to love people, and in return, I am delightfully blessed. God’s people are precious and food is one great way for us to get to know them.

How God used my cheesecake

Several months during this past school year, our family joined with a few other families to host lunches after church for young adults and college students. We invited any and all, and on one particular day in January, there were a few that joined us who had never been to church before. We loved this and were so thankful to prayerfully introduce God’s love and care for them.

I don’t remember what else I made to share around the table that day, but I do know that I made some big Cheesecakes to share.

Later that evening, our new friend J texted the Bible professor who had invited him to church and lunch:

No, you may not buy one, but we sure will make you one!

The next week, I made a cheesecake and Matt took it to campus to deliver it to J. The young man was amazed that people who barely knew him would do something like this. For us, it was easy. For him, it was love. It was “just a cheesecake,” but it was the beginning of a relationship and so much more.

As the weeks went by, we continued to get to know J. He came to church and joined us for lunch a few more times. (There was always cheesecake.) Meanwhile, many others whom he had gotten to know at the York University campus were sharing their lives with him and more importantly, sharing more about Jesus. He was open, he was ready, and a few weeks ago, he decided to become a Christian.

Watching him be baptized and embraced by dozens and dozens of people who had invested in his life was one of the most glorious moments of this year so far. This young man who knew nothing about a life in Christ before this school year had decided to fully embrace it. Our God is amazing.

The cheesecake was just a piece (pun intended)

In the big scheme of things, our family didn’t do much. The cheesecakes were a very small part of J’s journey as he decided to become a part of God’s family. Other people spent far more time with him, helping him study, learn, and grow. We simply found a small way to connect with him and we took advantage of it.

Let God use you

God gave me a silly cheesecake as a reason to reach out and text a new friend. If God can use cheesecake, He can certainly use your great gifts too, no matter what they are.

Listen to the Spirit’s leading and faithfully walk forward. You never know where He might lead!

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Big Family Food and Fun: Meals and Photos from Last Week (May 17-27, 2023)

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Here’s a look at the meals we ate last week! Plus, now that our girls are adopted and I’m free to share, I decided to add a bunch of photos of our family so that you can get to know our kids better.

As the week began, we were on the heels of throwing a huge adoption party and an even huger graduation party. So the first few days of last week consisted of using party leftovers creatively and mom trying to recover. :) Plus, we started focusing even more on our big move, so meals needed to be more simple than ever.

Meals we ate

I used the leftover hotdogs from our adoption party to make a big pot of Beanie Weanies one evening. I served it with spinach (dipped in ranch), sliced oranges, and grapes.

The next night, I smoked the chicken I’d picked up at half price to use with the leftover gallon of “Cane’s Sauce” from Malachi’s grad party. (Do you have Raisin’ Cane’s where you live? It’s our big boys’ favorite restaurant!) See those frozen peas there? I throw those in our kids’ mac and cheese to cool down their mac and to sneak in more veggies. :)

One lunch as I was enjoying my “salad,” Acacia grabbed my glass to finish it off. Usually I make this one for the kids, but actually most of the littles will drink this grown-up version too.

Who doesn’t want to kiss that face?

Not to be outdone, Keith also had a special mustache that day, but his was from digging in the dirt. While still wearing his pajamas. ;)

One day for lunch, Matt warmed up leftover mac and cheese and chicken, and we put out a bowl of leftover watermelon. Acacia and Josie gobbled it up, but Keith and Anna were too busy to sit down. While we love eating our meals outside when the weather is nice, it is a bit distracting. ;)

After our huge weekend that included our big adoption day followed by Malachi’s graduation, my body decided it should get sick from all the over-exertion. Boo. We used a gift card to order pizza for dinner on a night I didn’t feel like moving.

I had gotten a lot of hamburger meat on sale, so one morning after I started to feel better I cooked seven pounds in my Instant Pot.

For lunch that day, we used some of the cooked meat to build ourselves a Taco Salad.

I froze some of the cooked meat, but before I did that, I used some to put together a container of Sloppy Joe meat and another of an Unnamed Casserole. We’ll never have another cassserole like it ever again as I simply grabbed out some leftover this and that from the fridge to build a meal. ;)

We’ve been making these smoothies every few days, which is so perfect on these warm days!

Here’s Keith with our Bonus 4-year old (our former foster son who comes to visit often). They almost NEVER sit still, and in fact, when they are together, we have to watch them constantly. They are like twins who like to get into mischief. So when I spotted them sitting still, I took a picture to document the amazing moment. This has nothing to do with food and everything to do with what I do when I’m not making food. :)

We had more leftover smoked chicken and I cut it into tiny pieces for lunch one day. We had some whole wheat pita pockets so we filled them with chicken and dressings. I was completely out of greens and tomatoes so we didn’t have much else to work with. We ate our pitas with leftover potato salad and cut strawberries.

The first Monday morning of our summer break, I took the extra time to make scrambled cheese eggs, sausage, and fruit.

We are cleaning up all the limbs in our yard from the winter, so we had a fire pit hotdog night. The kids were so excited! (We didn’t make a dent in the stick pile, ha.)

All I made that night to go with the hotdogs was a plate of sliced oranges. We’re just hanging in there right now!

One morning I baked a double batch of Pumpkin Muffins and made a big pan of Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Bars. We had gone muffin-less and bar-less for about a week when I had been so busy getting ready for all of our parties, so getting these ready for easy snacks/breakfasts was a big relief! Too bad they’re gone already.

I used some of the cooked ground beef to make a big Tator Tot Casserole one evening. Our three little girls gobbled this up (right off of my plate of course, because food on Mom’s plate tastes better).

One morning Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and I drove to Lincoln to tour what will be their new school after we move. I decided to run to Aldi after our visit, and friends! Our new house is six minutes from Aldi. (And 13 minutes from Costco, in case you were wondering.) I’m so thankful for all of this and excited about how my grocery-shopping life is about to change and become easier!

I mainly went in to get a bunch of whole milk yogurt and fresh produce. I then picked up four boxes of tube yogurt to freeze for cold treats on hot days, some cheese, apple juice, and smoked sausage. It felt weird not to get a huge cart full! But I’m trying to only buy what we can eat before the end of June so that we don’t have to pack as much food when we move.

When we arrived back home it was lunchtime. So I washed berries and got out avocado cups for the kids to eat. Matt and I prefer these with tortilla chips, but the kids just eat them with a spoon!

For dinner that night, I had premade a Hamburger Hashbrown Casserole. We ate it with steamed broccoli and carrots and Bran Muffins.

We got a nice-sized Azure Standard order this month and Malachi went and picked it up. I love that some of the littles are getting big enough to help unload groceries! I’m realizing that I’ll have to check to see if there are Azure Standard deliveries in Lincoln. Any locals want to chime in on that for me? :)

The kids helped me unload boxes, discovering frozen green beans and peas, frozen bananas, frozen strawberries, a case of tortillas, a case of canned peaches, onion salt, seasoning salt, yogurt, several varieties of Kefir, and a big surprise: Poptarts. If they’re organic, they’re good for you, right?! ;) I had some Azure Standard credit from referrals so I took advantage of it to order some convenience food to help us during move time. OH! And I meant to order a case of canned pears but as it turns out, I only ordered one can. Hahaha, that’ll get us through half a lunch. :)

Food and Fun

That was the food. Now on to the fun!

Here’s Acacia feeding her baby.

Josie chose a butterfly dress one morning and she was so proud.

I came across this photo of Elias and Matt on Elias’ graduation day and LOVE their smiles!

Brayden was getting huge smiles from BabyBoy#11 one morning!

This merry-go-round at one of our local parks is perfect for us because it’s safe for the littles and they all fit on it together.

Keith got a new bike for Christmas and is finally able to enjoy it now that the weather is so nice!

I’m not sure how Matt pulled it off, but as I was still unloading Josie, he headed into church with all these ducks in a row…

Firechief Keith to the rescue!

Here’s Brayden and Kiya on their last day of school. See ya later, 3rd and 1st grade!

Anna and Acacia had the opportunity all school year to go to a pre-preschool hour once each week. The little bus picked them up and they LOVED it! Here they are waiting for the bus on one of their last days.

We were blessed to go to the wedding of some dear friends, and I snapped this of Malachi as he was their videographer.

During the reception, Josie wanted in on the action.

Brayden and Kiya danced their hearts out and were a bit mad at us when it was time to load up and leave. I asked if I could get a picture before heading out and after four tries, they finally smiled. :)

And that’s a wrap! I suppose I should take some pictures of the COMPLETE MESS that is our house right now as we sort and pack to move! Meh, it’s more fun to see our adorable kids. :)

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The Coppinger Castle

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Welcome to Part 2 of The Coppingers are Moving! series. Be sure to read this first so that you will understand what is prompting this transition to Lincoln.

Our search for a house to fit our 11

There are 11 of us in our current household including Matt and me, Elias (pursuing a career in Lincoln), Malachi (growing his Sideline Media Production Company), Brayden (9), Kiya (7), Keith (4), Anna (3), Acacia (2), Josie (1), and Baby #11 (4 months).

We need an updated family picture to feature our new baby. We’ll get to that in our spare time, oy. Here’s our latest from last summer at Justus and Kelsey’s wedding before Baby#11 was born and joined us:

When God made it clear that he was moving us to Lincoln, we looked and looked at properties that would meet our family’s needs and our hospitality desires. Nothing worked. Some had lots of bedrooms, but a tiny kitchen. Others had a sort-of decent kitchen but not enough overall square footage. Still others had a good price but not enough bedrooms. House after house after house  – we just kept looking and praying. If God was moving us, surely He would provide. We trusted this. Plus, He had told me that He had something even BETTER for us than the house we planned to build.

After looking at so many houses that just didn’t work for us, I couldn’t see what in the world God was doing. How could any house be better than one we had designed to meet our unique needs?

I prayed very specifically, yet I felt bad for asking for some of the things I was asking for. I kept trying to stop myself from praying for a house with two dishwashers. What house has two dishwashers?? Couldn’t I just be content with a house – any house that would humbly take care of us?

I kept saying, “God, I want to be content with what you have planned for us. I just want to want what you want me to want.”

He replied, “I have big plans for you and for how I will use your home. Stop feeling guilty for wanting what I want you to want.” So it seemed that He had put a vision on my heart and that I wasn’t being greedy or selfish in my requests. But still. Did such a house exist that would accommodate everything on my list?

Then I stumbled onto this.

We found this unique home for sale, and it meets our needs and more (for less than the cost of everything we had found that was much smaller).

It is a historic building/home that has been run as a Bed and Breakfast. It was so different that I almost didn’t even click over to look at it. But we love brick exterior, plus Matt had always joked about wanting a castle. This house looked like a castle. Sure, I’ll click. Why not?

As I looked at all the pictures of the rooms, I was incredulous. It was everything. It was more than everything. And the opportunities this place could allow for ministry and outreach? Well, we don’t even know yet, but we know God is up to something.

I jokingly told Matt, “Hey, I found your castle!”

Our laughter soon turned serious as we prayed about whether or not this could be the house for us. It’s huge – over 7,000 square feet with 9 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms. Amazing! But how would we keep it clean? Would we lose the children on the third floor? The basement? This house was awesome, but was it too much for us?

Or was it just right?

We prayed. I cried (of course). My biggest prayer was that I wasn’t being selfish or greedy. I truly want a functional home for our family – one that I can set up well to meet our needs, especially in the kitchen. And even more for whatever it is God wants us to do for people beyond our family.

Matt and I made an appointment to walk through it. We walked in and I knew it was what God had for us. Be very proud of me – I didn’t cry. Not even once. Not even when I walked into the kitchen.

It was all I could do to keep my jaw off the floor. Our daughter-in-law, Eva, was with us and we just stood in that kitchen in amazement. It is huge. Big enough for multiple adults and children to work together at the same time. This is what we need.

Dear ones, this kitchen has two dishwashers.

It also has the very same range/oven I wanted to put into the house we were planning to build. The very same one.

It truly is better than what we had planned. I stand in awe and also bow in thanks. We are so grateful.

God is faithful

I wish I could put into words what the last few months have been like for us. We have been in a very deep time of questioning. God made it so clear that He was creating big changes for our family, and we still don’t know all the reasons why. Maybe we never will.

But we know He is faithful. We know He is good. We know God’s plans require us to be visionary, to think outside the box, and to be open to whatever He wants to do with and through our family.

We know that this will be good.

But wait, there’s more.

As we toured the house, we found that there is actually a third dishwasher in a pantry room just off the kitchen (as well as another stove/oven, another sink, two more refrigerators, and lots of shelves). I’ll show you the pantry another day, after we’ve moved and settled in. Today, I can’t stop crying in thanks. :)

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. Ephesians 3:20

P.S. The photos I’m featuring today show what the house looks like currently, as a Bed and Breakfast. Some of the furniture is staying but not all of it. We’ll furnish it to best meet the needs of our family.

P.P.S. I plan to take time to tell you all about how it goes as we move, settle in, and furnish this home. Most importantly, I’ll share what God is doing with this space He is providing for us. It is very clear that He is doing big things and together, we will praise Him and give Him full glory!

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How Our Youngest Became Oldest of 9

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Once upon a time, Malachi was the youngest of four boys. We thought he’d hold that status forever, but God had different plans.

18 years ago when Malachi was born, one of my sisters-in-law made the boys adorable shirts that said:

  • Biggest Brother
  • Bigger Brother
  • Big Brother
  • Baby Brother

Having our four boys was so special, and their friendship grew and became beautiful through the years.

 

Then one day, 13 years after Malachi became our baby, God shocked us by adding a four-year-old boy to our family. A few months later, his baby cousin joined us. Within a year, we had adopted them both and Malachi had two younger brothers.

This transition was full of challenges, but Malachi, like all of our older boys, opened his heart and let God grow him into his new role.

God continued to bring more children into our family, and within five years, we had grown from a family of six to a family of 15 (including two parents, four biological children, six adopted children, one foster son, and two daughters-in-law). In addition, one of our former foster sons still spends time with us and we consider him one of our own.

The day we adopted our four girls, the judge asked Malachi to come to the front and sit with Matt and me and the girls. We thought this was strange, seeing as we had lots of other siblings who were a part of this too. But the judge recognized something special about Malachi as he had been the only one of our older sons living at home during the entire process of fostering the sisters we were getting ready to adopt. So with a grin, Malachi stepped down and had a seat with us as Matt and I testified and as the judge finalized our girls’ adoption.

The very next day, Malachi graduated from high school. At first, I was overwhelmed by having two huge events back-to-back. But as the weekend progressed, I was profoundly impacted by how perfectly timed these events were. You see, we had thought that the day Malachi graduated, we would have launched our last child and become empty nesters. But in fact, just the day before, God officially added four more children. The beauty of God’s timing in this astounded me and I couldn’t get over how good God is in overruling our plans and giving us so much more.

Our graduation tradition is to gather in our living room and speak a blessing over our graduate. Here we are, gathered around, listening in as Malachi FaceTimed Justus who couldn’t join us that day.

My blessing was this. I’m sharing it with you so that you know a little bit more about who this wonderful young man is:

Malachi,

We all got a chuckle yesterday when the Judge asked you to sit up front, but the truth is that she was very right when she said, “You need to be up here; you’ve played a very big role in this.” So true.

Today, your graduation day, looks very different than what we all expected five years ago. Literally overnight, you went from being the youngest brother to being an older brother. Within the past five years, you’ve become oldest of nine. THIS WAS SO UNEXPECTED! It hasn’t always been easy for you, but you’ve turned out to be such a beloved big brother to your little sisters and brothers. What a gift you are to them (and to your older brothers, and to Dad and me).

I think God has used this huge life change to teach us all something so important. First, we can make plans for our life, but God is the One who knows what we actually need. Our job is to be open, to listen to Him, and to trust that what He has for us is best – even if it’s hard.

Second, being uncomfortable is often right where God wants us. You’ve been learning this and I pray that you never stop seeking to be uncomfortable in all the ways God wants you to be. I pray that being uncomfortable becomes comfortable as you continue to walk in obedience to Christ.

Third, remember that your identity is in Christ. Not in where you fall in line in our family birth order or in your Sideline Media career (which is awesome, by the way, and we’re so proud of you) or in anything else – but who you are in Christ is all that matters. You are a child of God – adopted, chosen, cherished, and so very loved. Live your life in that love, and choose to let the Holy Spirit love others through you. What amazing things God will continue to do with and through you when you walk in His love.

Thank you for being my boy, and for loving me through my weaknesses. Thank you for crying with me as we’ve navigated these years together. Thank you for always making me laugh. I love you.

Mom

As Malachi launches into adulthood, he will be working full-time at the thriving production company he created two years ago, Sideline Media. He is so admired by his three older brothers Asa, Justus, and Elias. And by his younger siblings Brayden, Kiya, Keith, Anna, Acacia, Josie, Baby#11, and Bonus Brother K.

We truly don’t know what God has in store for us, but we know that He is faithful and He is good. He is provider and we can trust Him fully.

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May 1- 17, 2023 Groceries and Meals We Ate (Big Family Food!)

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Here’s a look at our groceries and meals from the first part of May 2023 for our big family!

Everything feels a little bit EXTRA right now. We just finalized the adoption of our four girls. Elias and our daughter-in-law, Kelsey, just graduated from college. Malachi graduated from high school. And oh yeah, we’re moving.

I adore this recent photo of Malachi with our youngest babe. It is so significant that Malachi used to be the youngest and as of his graduation last weekend, we would have been empty nesters. But here he is now, the oldest of 8 at home (9 if you count our former foster son who is still very much a part of our lives). Malachi’s life has changed significantly during the past five years. We’re incredibly proud of how he has let God grow him through this.

Food has been abundant around here because we’ve hosted a lot of parties as we’ve celebrated such wonders! But then on non-party days, I’ve resorted to a lot of scrambled eggs in an effort to survive and put food into our bellies, ha. I’ll share more about our meals below, but first, let’s take a look at…

Groceries We Bought

Early in the month, I made a quick run to Walmart to get formula for Baby#11 and a few other WIC items for the little girls. The produce they allow is so very wonderful! While there, I checked for meat markdowns and found two packages of brats for just $1.92 each. How great it will be to feed our whole family meat for less than $4!

In preparation for our Adoption Party, I went to a local store to get hamburger meat that they had advertised to be on sale. BUT, I came home with much better deals!!! They didn’t have any of the advertised meat in the cooler, so I asked the manager if they had more in the back. He replied with, “I do have more, but if you want an even better deal I have a bunch of meat back there that we froze before it expired. I’ll give it all to you for half price.” YES PLEASE.

I ended up with 69 pounds of ground beef and four big packages of boneless chicken for $181!!

Now, I have to say that I wasn’t really planning to stock my freezer before our big move to Lincoln next month. But the prices were too good to pass up!

Costco and Sam’s

Two days before adoption and graduation, I took a day and went to Sam’s and Costco to get ready for two huge parties. For Malachi’s graduation, I splurged on several cases of a variety of individual drinks to serve. We packed them in ice and guests could choose what they wanted. It was a huge hit!

I picked up some of our normal groceries for our family’s needs, plus some convenience items to help us as we pack and get our house on the market. I got triple the produce I usually buy at one time as our menu for Malachi’s party included lots of fruit and veggie trays.

Not only was the back of our van packed on my way home, but the side was full too!

Now let’s look at what we did with all these groceries!

Meals We Ate

The last weekend in April we celebrated Elias and Justus’ wife, Kelsey’s college graduation. We came home and served a Sub Sandwich Station to 15 of us, but of course, I was too distracted with feeding everyone to take a picture!

That night, we hosted a huge reception that filled our living room, kitchen, and front yard.

I didn’t get many pictures, but here’s our “toppings table” as we had another table with a huge roaster full of baked potatoes plus a big bowl of tortilla chips. People could then fill a bowl with baked potato toppings or nacho toppings – however they wanted to enjoy their meal! We also had a lovely dessert made by Kelsey’s mom. :)

The day after graduation I used many of the leftover sub rolls to make 19 Breakfast Sandwiches for the freezer (and for breakfast that morning).

For lunch that day, I fried leftover baked potatoes with leftover nacho/taco meat and served it with steamed green beans.

The next day, Malachi had a soccer game an hour away. We knew it could be his very last high school game, so instead of lugging all the kids there and chasing them instead of watching, Matt and I invited three babysitters to come to our house and help us. We left all seven littles behind – what a gift to know they were well cared for – while Matt and I actually had time to visit on the road and then enjoy watching Malachi’s game! I made six pizzas before we left (some of them with more of the leftover taco meat from the graduation party). We took some to eat on the way to the game and left the rest for our kids and their sitters. :)

One morning I got a huge batch of Vanilla Extract started so we’d have some ready in time for the holidays.

I grilled Chicken Legs for dinner one night (there were a couple of extras joining us), following this Dump Sauce on Chicken method. <— This is such a great idea! Except for when you get the bright idea to finish off random sauce bottles from the door of your fridge and ONE OF THEM IS MANGO HABANERO. Meh, I figured the ranch dressing I added to the bag would cool the spice. I was wrong. Our chicken was super spicy and not kid friendly. We ate it all anyway, though, ha!

We ate our spicy chicken with fried potatoes (this finished off our graduation party potatoes), fresh pineapple, and roasted broccoli and carrots. Brayden’s head is featured in this photo – isn’t he cute?

The first Saturday of the month, we took all the kids to a park in town that was hosting a special free “play in the sand” event. Matt and I decided at the last minute to take a picnic lunch so that we could stay longer on the playground so I threw together everything I could grab quickly and we loaded everyone up.

The kids played hard and were super hungry. So they devoured turkey lunch meat, cheese sticks, bran muffins, peanuts, applesauce, veggie straws, and clementines. I was so thankful I had enough to-go foods on hand to throw a lunch together like that!

Before my big meat markdown purchase, I was in a “clean out the freezer” mode. There were a few homemade frozen Meatballs, so I thawed and baked them one night and made spaghetti to go with them. I grabbed out some leftover fresh pineapple and fresh spinach to serve with it.

I had some Hawaiian rolls left over from Easter that I’d frozen, plus I found some small steak burgers in the back of the freezer that I’d gotten marked down a couple of months ago at Sam’s. We smoked them one night and had Mini-Burgers on rolls with cheese, pickled green beans, and baked beans.

I had a package of bacon in the freezer, so I cut it into bacon bits. Then I made scrambled bacon cheesy eggs and smoothies.

One morning, I took the girls’ snack outside to their little table. Here’s Acacia and Josie enjoying blueberries and peanuts. I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to finally be able to share their beautiful faces with you!

The day I went to Costco and Sam’s I also brought back a Rotisserie Chicken for our dinner. Matt pulled all the meat off the bone for us to eat while the rest of us unloaded all the groceries. I put fresh berries I had bought that day on the picnic table to go with the chicken and that was our simple but perfect meal for that night! To think, our entire family ate that meal for less than $10 and I didn’t have to cook! Using those $5 rotisserie chickens as fast food is fantastic!

May 12, this happened! You can read more about our four girls here. :) :)

After court, we headed to a park for a big party. Around 100 people were there to celebrate with us. It was incredible!

That week, I had pre-made 40 hamburgers so on the morning of adoption, I warmed them up along with 80 hotdogs and put them into a roaster to stay warm. A friend of mine picked it up for us on her way to the park and by the time we got there, everyone had set up a lovely spread of food!

With the burgers and dogs, we served veggies, grapes, watermelon, potato salad, chips, drinks, and desserts.

But the most important part of the day was the people who have been such a beautiful part of this journey with us!

We went home and rested for a while during the girls’ naptime. That night for dinner Matt scrambled eggs and I used leftover buns to make scrambled egg sandwiches. We set out the leftover grapes, some strawberries, and Matt made hashbrowns and sausage. All of our big kids were there, plus Matt’s dad from California. Everyone was fine with a simple, thrown-together meal. :)

The next day was Malachi’s graduation. This post explains how we have a homeschool graduation at our house. This was our fourth time to do this and we have come to love this tradition in which we gather ’round in our living room and each speak a blessing over our graduate. Justus had to miss this so here is a picture of the rest of us (during the girls’ naptime) while Malachi was FaceTiming Justus so that he could still be a part of the day.

For lunch that day, Malachi chose Lasagna, salad, corn, and fruit, plus cookies baked specially by a dear friend of ours. I had made the lasagna two weeks prior and put it into the freezer to make it easier to serve a big lunch during such a hectic weekend.

That evening we threw a huge graduation party along with some friends. Over 300 people came, shocking us all. It was incredible!!! What a gift to see so many people come in support of our children!

We served Chicken Strips with a variety of sauces, chips, veggies, fruit, and a variety of drinks. Elias was the rock star who kept baking the chicken and dumping it into the warm roaster to serve. Most of the food was gone by the end of the night. It was amazing!

The next day was Mother’s Day and I was pretty tired. :) I set out easy breakfast food for everyone, we had leftover lasagna for lunch, then Matt made dinner (which I forgot to get a picture of!). Best of all: that afternoon I took a nap! :)

I was able to capture this sweet moment between Grandpa Coppinger and Acacia during one of our meals during his visit. What a gift it is that he came to celebrate adoption and graduation days with us!

On to something new!

These “groceries I bought and food we ate” posts are super popular and fun to share! So instead of working on it all month long and posting one huge post, I’m going to try posting each week to share what our food looked like the week before. Sound good? We’ll see how it goes! Watch for our first Weekly Food Update coming up in a week or so. :)

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