Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

My Mac and Cheese Solution (Have You Used Your VitaCost Credit?)

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Did you get your free $10 credit from VitaCost? If not, check into how this works here. Here’s one idea for using your $10 credit to receive a good deal for a little bit of “holiday-time convenience”.

You know that I always make a homemade recipe for healthy Creamy Mac and Cheese. It’s easy, inexpensive, and tastes great. It doesn’t take any longer to make than boxed mac and cheese – and it’s healthier.

However, during the next few weeks, life is going to be busy. No matter how I organize my days, December is just full. I decided to use some of my VitaCost credit last week to purchase some Annie’s boxed mac and cheese. Why did I do this, when making homemade Creamy Mac and Cheese takes the same amount of time? I did this because I can hand the boxes of Annie’s Mac and Cheese to my older boys and let them cook it for lunch on a day I’m too busy to stop and fix lunch.

Ah-hah! Yes, these are the times I resort to the occasional boxed convenience food. At least it’s Annie’s. ;)

If you haven’t used your $10 VitaCost Credit – you can put six boxes of Annie’s Mac and Cheese worth $1.75 each, into your cart. This will amount to $10.50. Then, enter the $10 coupon code VitaCost sent you when you signed up, which will take your total down to $0.50. With the $4.99 shipping, you’ll be paying only $0.92 per box of Annie’s. This may not be a good price where you live, but for me, it definitely is a good deal.

How have you spent your $10 VitaCost Credit? If you haven’t received your credit yet, click here to get yours. VitaCost has 35,000 healthy and organic food/supplement/bath products to choose from. They are a great online food resource!

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Thanksgiving Preparations

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Just in case you’re interested in my cooking plan for our holiday meal, here’s a little look inside my brain at how I have organized myself to get the meal on the table for Thanksgiving. I figured I needed to make the lists anyway – might as well bore you with them. ;)  Thankfully, everything from the Saturday through Wednesday lists are completed!

Saturday – Cook Thanksgiving turkey

Monday – Finish all Thanksgiving meal shopping

Wednesday –

Thursday Morning –

  • Make a double batch of rolls (recipe in Holiday Hospitality eBook)
  • Set out butter to soften
  • Cook and mash potatoes – put into crock-pot to keep warm
  • Cook corn for Cream Cheese Corn (recipe in Holiday Hospitality eBook)
  • Bake stuffing
  • Rewarm turkey
  • Bake Green Bean Casserole
  • Rewarm sweet potatoes
  • Make gravy
  • Whip cream for desserts
  • Have boys set up tables and prep plates, napkins, etc.
  • Do whatever else I’ve forgotten to do….

{I’m not really trying to be annoying by  putting (recipe in Holiday Hospitality eBook) several times in the above lists, but many have asked about those recipes and I thought I’d curb more of those questions by letting you know where to find those recipes. If you’re interested in that eBook, great, but – wink, wink – wait until at least Friday to purchase so that you’ll save a few bucks!!}

Here are my cooking and baking pictures from today. I had lots of fun and my feet are a little bit tired from standing so much. ;)

Below, it looks like I made six pumpkin pies – but really, there are just three. I have a big mirror in my kitchen, and I thought it would be fun to take the picture there to make it look like I got carried away with pumpkin pies.

Pictured with the cheesecake in the following picture is a batch of chocolate chip cookies. One college girl that is around town this week isn’t able to come for our Thanksgiving meal, but she really (really) likes my chocolate chip cookies. I made some to serve at lunch today (Wednesday) when she joined us.


It’s not likely that we’ll run out of desserts. I made this chocolate pudding recipe and poured it over a graham cracker crust for a “chocolate pie”. It ended up in a rectangle dish because I was out of pie pans. :)

I am so excited to eat this healthier version of Green Bean Casserole! Why don’t I make this more often?

Peeling and prepping our potatoes ahead of time is a tip I learned from my former hair dresser many eons ago. I love getting this chore out of the way a day early!

I baked three small sweet potatoes and only ended up with a small dish of them to serve tomorrow. I don’t think this will be the most popular part of the meal anyway, so a small amount will hopefully be fine.

Last but not least, I made dressing – for what I believe is my very first time! My sister-in-law has a wonderful recipe, which she shared for my Holiday Hospitality ebook. It is so easy, I’m not sure why I haven’t tried it before.

And now, I look forward to a good night’s sleep before I get up and tackle my Thursday list. How are your holiday preparations coming?

I’m thankful for all of you and pray that you have a wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving holiday!

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Gratituesday: The Growing List

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We intentionally didn’t make big plans for Thanksgiving this year. We’ll do a little traveling during the Christmas season, but for Thanksgiving, we decided to stay home with no plans, and to rest.

Our “no-plan” plan was to just see who needed a place to go for Thanksgiving, and to invite them over. By the end of last week, we had the grand total of one person joining us for the holiday. This was fine, but really, if I’m going to be baking and cooking a big meal anyway, I’d rather be baking and cooking for more than just the six of us plus one.

I mean, you should see the huge turkey Tropical Traditions sent us. (More info on that in a couple of days!)  This turkey needs more than just seven people eating it.

Sunday, Matt and I went to church with intentions of seeking out anyone who didn’t have Thanksgiving plans. By the time we left, we were excited to have made plans with several more college students who previously had no plan except for the possibility of ramen noodles on Thursday. One girl was so thrilled to be invited that she texted her mom right then and there tell her that, yay! there was no need to worry because she now had a Thanksgiving plan. Shucks, I wish I could have given her mom a little peace about that earlier.

This afternoon, our list grew by two more.

I know I’m a little silly about this, but as the list grows, so does my excitement. We’ll have a nice big group of college students joining us Thursday to share our huge turkey, and all the other goodies that must be a part of Thanksgiving.

I am so thankful we can be a part of this blessing to the students. Little do they know that their accepting our invitation and joining us on this special day is a wonderful blessing to us as well.

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!

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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Gifts in a Jar eBook – the FREE Download is Here!

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Our Gifts in a Jar eBook is now complete and ready for download! This eBook is free for everyone and absolutely full of inexpensive and clever homemade gift ideas, inspired by you!

A huge thank you goes out to all of you who took the time to provide wonderful pictures and instructions to include in this eBook. This eBook includes wonderful gift ideas such as pudding mix, bath salts, diaper rash ointment, cookie mix, seasoning mixes, chai mix, soup mixes, facials, hot fudge and much more. Your creativity never ceases to amaze me, and I am very grateful for the help you all gave to make this eBook fun and helpful!

Click the link below to download this free eBook.

Download Gifts in a Jar eBook HERE

 

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Menu Plan for the Week

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For our Marriage Class treat this morning, I decided to make a variation of my Oatmeal Butterscotch Chip Cookie recipe. Instead of butterscotch chips, I used chocolate. And, instead of making the batter into cookies, I pressed it all into a 9×13 pan and baked for 20 minutes. The results were terrific. We have exactly two small cookie bars left. ;)

This week will be a little bit different in that:

  • High School Huddle will be combined with Middle School Huddle, so several of us are combining our efforts to feed the larger group. I feel like I have “the night off” since I’m only taking a few things that I purchased from the store.
  • Our local college has the week off, but some of the sports teams are still in town for a few days. We’re hoping to feed the ladies’ basketball team sometime this week. I’ve “penciled” them into Monday’s lunch, but may need to rearrange this plan once I nail down the extact time with the coach.
  • We’ll be sticking around here for Thanksgiving and have several college students to join us for our big meal.

I’ll try to take a few pictures throughout the week to document our Thanksgiving meal prep – IF I have my act together enough to cook and take pics. I did actually get our turkey baked and deboned yesterday. It’s always great to get that job out of the way! :)

Here are plans for this week:

Sunday, November 20
Marriage class treat – Oatmeal chocolate chip bars
Lunch – Cheeseburger macaroni, steamed broccoli and carrots
Huddle – combined with middle school – taking cheese, crackers, carrots and ranch

Monday, November 21
Multi-grain pumpkin waffles
Bball team? – Sloppy Joes, relish tray (carrots, broccoli, olives, pickles), potato salad, chocolate chip cookies
Chicken fried steak strips, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas

Tuesday, November 22
Coconut flour banana muffins, apples
Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup
Tacos

Wednesday, November 23
Easy breakfast casserole, oranges
Clean out the fridge while Mom preps food for tomorrow!
Chicken noodle soup, carrots

Thursday, November 24
Cereal, so Mom can focus on cooking the good stuff  :)
Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, cream cheese corn, stuffing, sweet potatoes, homemade whole wheat rolls, pumpkin pie, chocolate pie, cheesecake
Leftovers

Friday, November 25
Scrambled eggs with cheese, creamy orange cooler
Leftovers
Hamburgers, ranch potato wedges, carrots

Saturday, November 26
Whole wheat sourdough biscuits with butter and honey, fruit
Leftovers (unless we’re sick of them – or have eaten them all – by now!)
Lamb burger patties, green beans, fried okra

What are your Thanksgiving plans this year?

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake

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pumpkin_chocolate_chip_cake_2

Yum

It could be that I’ve been going a little overboard on the pumpkin recipes recently. I can’t help it. Between the pumpkins we got at the pumpkin patch this year, the awesome home grown pumpkins my friend shared with me, and my newly found easy method for cooking a whole pumpkin – I’ve had lots of pumpkin puree to play with. Yes, my house smells like the holidays. No one seems to mind.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake (adapted from Diva Entertains Blog)

2/3 cup butter or coconut oil, melted
1 1/2 cups sucanat or brown sugar
4 eggs
2 cups pumpkin puree
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup milk or water
1 cup chocolate chips (I use either homemade chips or these these soy free chocolate chips)

Cream together butter and sucanat. Beat in eggs and pumpkin puree. Add flour, baking powder, salt, spices, vanilla and milk – beating until well combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour batter into a well buttered 9×13″ baking pan. Bake in a 350° oven for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Serve as it is…

Or top with whipped cream…

What’s your preference? With cream or without? I’ll take three dollops, myself.

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Vulnerable

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~Appreciate Your Spouse~Buoyancy in Marriage~Consult Your Partner~
~Dream Together Part One ~Dream Together Part Two~Empower Your Spouse~
~Have Fun With Your Spouse~Give to One Another~Honor Each Other~
~Be Intentional~Jubilee~Kingdom Focused~Listen~~Mentor Relationships~Nourish~
~Own It~Pray With Each Other~Quick to Listen~Read Together~Selfless~Teamwork~Uplift~

Vulnerable

Surgery on Your Soul – Matt’s Thoughts

Purposely make yourself vulnerable? Although that flies in the face of the human desire to have the upper hand in a relationship it has been my experience that vulnerability, which is seemingly weak, has made me stronger. Hopefully you can follow my choppy thoughts.

In a healthy marriage two people are so connected that they go beyond commonplace communication into touchy topics that make themselves vulnerable. They allow themselves to be vulnerable yet they are confident that they won’t be attacked. The two talk about everything:  temptations, in-laws, physical intimacy preferences, conflicting opinions and stances, sin in your life, fears, failures, confusing issues in life and in your faith journey, sin in your spouse’s life, and other difficult topics.

The two talk about everything, both shallow and deep because they are friends. Friends listen. Friends build up. Friends even wound when necessary. As a matter of fact, the meaning of the root word in vulnerable is – to wound. The “wound” is truth spoken in love from your dearest friend who wants the best for you. Like the Biblical Proverb says, “The kisses of an enemy may be profuse, but faithful are the wounds of a friend” (27:6). So, part of making yourself vulnerable is allowing your spouse to do surgery on your soul.

But who wants surgery?!? Well, when there is floating cartilage that locks up your knee often enough surgery becomes an option. When a sizable cancerous tumor is detected, then removal by knife will be chosen.

I am a sinner. I want a healthy marriage. I need the knife that removes the floating cartilage and cancerous tumors in my soul. I need the faithful wounds of a friend.

And so, becoming vulnerable by sharing my weaknesses with my wife/friend so that she can gently do surgery has made me stronger.

The Gift of Vulnerability – Laura’s Thoughts

Whether we realize it or not, being vulnerable is a gift we can give our spouse, ourselves and our marriage. Don’t try to put up walls to protect yourself from what you might learn while being vulnerable. Trust your spouse and share your heart. There is great beauty in opening yourself up to hear what you need to hear, to share what you need to share, and to love in a way that is so free you’ll wonder why you ever held back.

My greatest moments of personal growth have come from the times I am vulnerable to Matt and let him help me work through my weaknesses. If I ask, “What can I do to stay calm when the boys are trying my patience?” or if I tell him, “I am really struggling today with my feelings toward xyz. I need to forgive and I’m not sure how,” Matt doesn’t love me less. In fact, when we open ourselves up and share intimately, this is when we grow the most – both in our marriage relationship and in our relationships with the Father.

Ladies, we know you’re reading here more often than the guys. ;)  We’d love husbands to read this article as well. If you feel so inclined please send the link to your husbands, or if it’s easier, we’ve created a downloadable article for you to quickly print off and share. Healthy Marriage Tips from A to Z – Vulnerable

 

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Simple One Dish Meat and Potato Meal

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Now that I have posted my Cream of Mushroom Soup recipe, I will share with you the promised One Dish Meat and Potato Meal recipe. A friend of mine shared this with me years ago, back when my 14 year old was just a baby.

Let us all pause a moment and reflect on how much taller Asa is since the day I received this recipe.

Have I mentioned that he’s jumped three and a half shoe sizes since last winter? I guess that answers any questions you may have had about who is eating half the pan of my simple, one dish meat and potato meals. Good gravy. (literally)

One Dish Meat and Potato MealYum

1 Pound beef or venison stew meat, cubed
4 medium sized potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
1 1/2 cups homemade cream of mushroom soup
2 Tablespoons homemade onion soup mix
2 cups frozen peas

In a 9×13 inch baking dish, stir together meat, potatoes, soup and onion soup mix. Gently stir in frozen peas. Bake, uncovered, in a 300° oven for 2 -2 1/2 hours or until potatoes are tender. If you think of it, give this dish a stir half-way through baking time. Warning:  Contents in casserole dish will produce an enticing aroma during 2+ hours of baking. Make plans to distract yourself during this time so that you aren’t tempted to burn your tongue on a raw potato before product has finished baking.

One Dish Meat and Potato Meal

Serve this with a salad, or serve it all by itself since there’s a veggie included. This recipe serves 4-6 people, unless you’re feeding a 14 year old boy with uncontrollably growing feet. ;)

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Get $10 Free Credit to Spend at VitaCost! (Earn more by referring your friends!)

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*UPDATE*  Vitacost has updated their referral program to state that new customers, get a $10 coupon on your first purchase of $30 or more at Vitacost.com. Still a great deal!

While reading MoneySavingMom yesterday, I discovered this VitaCost deal. Many of you have told me about VitaCost during the past few months, especially since they occasionally have great deals on coconut oil. So, I was excited to see that as a first time customer, I could snag $10 of free credit to their site!

Since I’m well stocked on coconut oil for now, I spent quite a bit of time looking over VitaCost to see what other products they had that I could spend my credit on, and to see if it was worth your time and mine to pass this deal on to you. Wow – you should see the great selection of healthy foods, drinks, snacks, and bath and body products they carry! I found my favorite Giovanni Smooth as Silk Hair Conditioner, put two into my cart for “free” with my credit, then paid a flat $4.99 for shipping. That is a great deal for this usually pricey conditioner!

If you sign up through this referral link, you’ll receive an automatic $10 of credit to VitaCost. I’ll also receive $10 of credit for referring you (thanks!). Then, you can 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 extra healthy grocery cash!

Look around the VitaCost site to see how you could spend your $10 free credit. If you find something for $10 or less, you’ll only pay $4.99 (shipping cost), which means you can score something healthy you need for your family for half price!

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Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup

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Learning to make Cream of Mushroom Soup will be a fantastic tool to have in your real food kitchen tool belt!

Just in case you lose count while reading the following sentence, I used the word “cream” or “creamy” six times, because apparently I like these words and like to overuse them. And also because once I realized I was doing it, I exaggerated on purpose:

When I shared my Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole recipe, I told you that I don’t usually make cream soups to replace the canned cream soups called for in many creamy recipes, but instead substitute straight cream to make the dish creamy.

(Someone give me a synonym for “creamy” to enhance my future sentence writing creativity.)

However, I have a great recipe for an easy one dish meat and potato meal that I hadn’t made for years because I wasn’t sure how to make it without the cream of mushroom soup. For this, straight cream just wouldn’t cut it. I need to make the soup.

Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup

Therefore, for all one of my recipes that need cream of mushroom soup, here is how I make it:

Homemade Cream of Mushroom SoupYum

Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup
 
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Author:
Ingredients
  • ½ cup sliced mushrooms
  • 3 Tablespoons butter
  • ¼ cup organic corn starch or arrowroot powder
  • 4 cups milk, divided
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Begin by sauteing mushrooms and butter until mushrooms are tender.
  2. In the meantime, shake the cornstarch or arrowroot powder in a jar with 1½ cups of milk.
  3. Use a whisk to mix the milk mixture into the sauteed mushrooms, stirring constantly at medium heat.
  4. Slowly add remaining milk, salt and pepper.
  5. Stir with a whisk until smooth and thick.

You probably could have figured out how to do this step without a picture, but when have I ever missed a chance to take a great photo of a jar?

Ooh, Ahh

This recipe will make around three cans worth of cream soup. I haven’t done it before, but I would imagine you could substitute celery for the mushrooms to make cream of celery soup instead. If you have extra soup that you don’t need, this can be frozen.

This recipe tastes great in my One Dish Meat and Potato Casserole!

What recipes do you make that require cream of mushroom soup?

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