Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Gratituesday: My {surprise} Gift in a Jar

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Do my friends know me or what? I mean, true friends are the ones who give gifts in jars, right? ;)

I’m not sure how she did it. I’m guessing somewhere between greeting me and hugging me after church on Sunday, it would appear that my (sneaky) friend Lisa put this into my purse:

Turns out, it’s a jar full of wonderful dried mint, that Lisa grew herself! So that’s why my purse felt a little heavier when I was leaving the church building on Sunday!! (You’d think I would have figured it out sooner.)

What a fun surprise. It kinda makes me want to figure out ways to sneak gifts into people’s purses at church too. Gifts in jars, of course. What a fun way to make some-one’s purse heavy surprise someone with a little extra love! This idea is totally making it into the Gifts in a Jar eBook (after Lisa gives me all the details on how she made this, of course).

I’m thankful for friends and fun surprises. What are you thankful for?

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!

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Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole (with no cream soups!)

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I am a canned Cream of Fill in the Blank Soup rebel. I have avoided canned cream soups since we began Our Healthy Eating Journey. Why? Because their ingredient lists scare me. (As in, I literally scream out loud, from deep in the back of my throat, when I pick up a can and read it at the store. Not really. But I wonder what my boys would do if I did? Maybe I’ll do that sometime. Not really.)

The ingredients in a can of Campbell’s Cream of Celery Soup, according to the Campbell’s Food Service Website are (and do try not to scream when you read this):

Water, Celery, Vegetable Oil (Corn, Cottonseed, Canola, and/or Soybean), Wheat Flour, Modified Food Starch, Contains less than 2% of: Salt, Soy Protein Concentrate, Monosodium Glutamate, Cream Powder (Cream [Milk], Soy Lecithin), Yeast Extract, Flavoring, Beta Carotene for Color.

Well, at least the first two ingredients are water and celery. ;)

There are all kinds of recipes which share how to make homemade cream soups. I’ve tried some of them, and I’m thankful that the recipes are available. For some reason though, I just haven’t had a loving enough relationship with cream soup to try to keep the homemade varieties on hand.

The question is then, how do you make a casserole without a cream soup? Ah, very simple:  I use cream.

Cream of what? No, just cream. Cream. The stuff that rises to the top of your raw milk. Or the thick, white liquid you can buy in the dairy department of the store, usually labeled Heavy Whipping Cream. If you use cream, along with a few spices that enhance your casserole, your dish will be tasty, easy and surprise, surprise:  creamy.

Here is how I now make my Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole with real, whole food ingredients:

Creamy Chicken and Rice CasseroleYum

4 cups chicken broth (I avoid canned broth or bouillon because they are also loaded with MSG.)
4 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 medium onion, diced
2 cups brown rice
2-3 cups cooked chicken, cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 teaspoon (or more) garlic powder
Sea salt, to taste
1 1/2 cups cream (heavy whipping cream, or fresh cream which has risen to the top of whole, raw milk)

In a large pot, bring chicken broth, carrots and onion to a boil at high heat. Add rice, stir, and place the lid on the pot. Reduce heat to low and cook the rice and vegetables in the broth for 45 minutes. (To avoid sticky rice, don’t stir the rice while it’s trying to cook – just walk away and ignore it for the entire 45 minutes. You can do it.)

When the rice is done, stir in cooked chicken, garlic powder and cream. Shake in liberal amounts of sea salt for best flavor. (I use Redmonds Real Sea Salt, which is unbleached and full of natural minerals.)  Cook ingredients for about five more minutes to heat the chicken and cream. Serve directly from pot, or pour into a 9×13 inch baking dish. This meal can be prepared ahead of time, refrigerated and reheated in the oven at serving time. Cover and heat in a 350° oven for 20-30 minutes or until hot through and through. Serves eight.

(You can also freeze this meal. To reheat, simply put the frozen, covered casserole into the oven, turn the oven onto 350° and cook for about 1 1/2 hours or until it is heated thoroughly.)

Creamy Chicken and Rice

Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole (with no cream soups!)
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: 8-10 servings
Ingredients
  • 4 cups chicken broth (I avoid canned broth or bouillon because they are also loaded with MSG. Here's my easy homemade chicken broth recipe, which includes frighteningly ugly pictures of a chicken carcass. Again, try not to scream.)
  • 4 carrots, peeled and sliced
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2 cups brown rice
  • 2-3 cups cooked chicken, cut into bite sized pieces
  • ½ teaspoon (or more) garlic powder
  • Sea salt, to taste
  • 1½ cups cream (heavy whipping cream, or fresh cream which has risen to the top of whole, raw milk)
Instructions
  1. In a large pot, bring chicken broth, carrots and onion to a boil at high heat.
  2. Add rice, stir, and place the lid on the pot.
  3. Reduce heat to low and cook the rice and vegetables in the broth for 45 minutes.
  4. When the rice is done, stir in cooked chicken, garlic powder and cream.
  5. Shake in liberal amounts of sea salt for best flavor.
  6. Cook ingredients for about five more minutes to heat the chicken and cream.
  7. Serve directly from pot, or pour into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
  8. Cover and heat in a 350° oven for 20-30 minutes or until hot through and through.

Cooking your rice in the chicken broth gives this dish a wonderful, naturally delicious flavor. And in case I didn’t mention it before, the cream makes this dish…creamy.

Where have you landed on the Cream of Fill in the Blank issue? Have you given them up yet? Have you ever screamed out loud when reading the ingredient list on a can of soup at the store? Do you make your own cream soups? Or do you use another substitution? (Sour cream works well too, in some recipes!)

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Menu Plan for the Week (And a Week Full of New Recipes!!)

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I’ve had sick kids all weekend and a Daddy out of town for soccer games, so we’ve tried to keep things calm and quiet around here. The boys and I watched a couple of Adam 12 episodes on Hulu while they were coughing and resting. (We’ve chosen not to have cable, but I love having the option to watch shows online occasionally.)  Adam 12 was a blast from the past, that’s for sure. I was thrilled with how clean the show was, and how the intensity was quite un-intense. Yep, the worst language I heard was, “Let go of me, you…you big pig!” Ahahaha!! I accidentally chuckled out loud a little bit at that, so as a good mother, I quickly reminded the kids that we don’t call people names. But for that to be the worst thing said in the show? Let’s bring back TV from the 70’s. (This has nothing to do with recipes or a menu plan, but apparently I thought it was worth saying.)

Because we’ve had a houseful of sickies, I made a big batch of Chicken Broth and Chicken Noodle Soup. There’s no better way to get lots of needed nutrients down sore throats than good, rich chicken and veggie broth.

I have several new recipes to share this week, so during the next few days you can expect to see several tasty new dishes and treats. I’ve got an exciting giveaway lined up too – just you wait!! In the meantime, here are a couple of pictures of food I made last week that I felt just sure you’d like to see…

We got to go to a pumpkin patch last week with our home school group – very fun! I packed up some homemade Chewy Granola Bars for the boys to eat on the way home. I made two varieties, as you can see in the picture. It seems that each time I add chocolate chips to a batch, they melt and create peanut butter chocolate granola bars. Nobody seems to mind. ;)

I helped provide some of the food for a baby shower last week, making mini sized Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins. If you haven’t tried this recipe yet, you’re missing out! (If I do say so myself.)

We won’t be feeding the high schoolers for Huddle tonight like we usually do. There’s an “All Things Pumpkin” fellowship night at church, so I’ve got the “night off”. :)

Here’s our menu for this week:

Sunday, October 30
Marriage Class treat – Diva Entertain’s Peanut Butter Apple Bars (adapted), coffee
Lunch – Baked potatoes with sour cream and cheese, green beans
Dinner – Eat leftovers before going to the Pumpkin Fellowship night at church

Monday, October 31
Applesauce bread, bananas
Tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches
Beef stroganoff, tossed salad

Tuesday, November 1
Scrambled egg sandwiches, creamy orange coolers
Quesadillas, pears
Teriyaki chicken with veggies

Wednesday, November 2
Honey whole wheat bagels, oranges
Pizza casserole, peas
Meatballs, cream scalloped potatoes, green beans

Thursday, November 3
Mini crustless quiches, applesauce
Taco potatoes with lettuce and tomatoes
Swiss steak over brown rice

Friday, November 4
Giant breakfast cookies, bananas
Chicken tortilla soup, raw veggies
Hamburgers, homemade fries, grapes

Saturday, November 5
Whole wheat donuts
Leftovers
Venison steak, ranch potato wedges, tossed salad

Stay tuned for an exciting week filled with food and food related posts!!! And if you haven’t started working on your Gifts in a Jar ideas to send me, read the details here, then get started!!

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Selfless

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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

Symbiotic Relationships – Matt’s Thoughts

Just a reminder in case you forgot: The universe does not revolve around you…It revolves around me. HaHa and Ouch because that’s what I’m constantly fighting. I need the reminder found in Philippians 2:4, “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

When the universe revolves around me, then the relationships I form are self-serving. I befriend someone who is an encourager in order to stroke my ego. I spend time with another so that it will make me look good. I get married for what I’m going to get out of it. God’s design is best, where a relationship sharpens both people (Proverbs 27:17).

At our family trip to the Omaha Zoo this summer I learned about the three different symbiotic relationships – parasitism, commensalism and mutualism. Symbiosis is “the living together in more or less intimate association or close union of two dissimilar organisms” (from merriam-webster.com). (It makes me laugh when I connect symbiosis to marriage as the “union of two dissimilar organisms.”)

Let’s each evaluate our role in our symbiotic marriage relationships while defining the three types. Does your role fall into the category of parasitism where you are living entirely for yourself to the detriment of your spouse? Maybe commensalism sounds more like the way you treat your spouse. You obtain benefits from the other organism in your more or less intimate association while you neither damage nor benefit them…even roommates should perform better. If you are, instead, selflessly laying your life down for your spouse and your spouse is doing the same, then you are practicing mutualism- a mutually beneficial relationship. Healthy marriages are mutualistic relationships where you serve and sharpen one another because you are selfless.

True Joy – Laura’s Thoughts

I have found that when I am truly seeking to live selflessly, that is when I am most joyful. Ironic, isn’t it? I would think that my happiness would overflow each time I am able to get my own way and do things exactly the way I want to do them, thankyouverymuch.

It is okay to allow yourself to be served, to be encouraged by others, to spend time with people who will make you a better person. But if your heart is focused on self – getting, doing and having things your way – and not on what you can give, do and share with others, you will never experience true joy.

It’s a beautiful thing when a husband and wife both seek to serve one another selflessly. Needs are met, bitterness and anger fade away, and true peace and joy fill the home.

Selflessness begins with you. Who are you living for?

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 A to Z – Selfless

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

Announcing: Gifts in a Jar! {A Group Effort}

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I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned this here or not, but I really, really love  jars. Oh, I’m sorry, it seems that I have spoken of my jar obsession one or forty-eight times.

Doesn’t it just make sense then that we put together some posts and even an eBook featuring Gifts in a Jar? Yes, it really does make perfect sense. We’ve decided, since you are all full of so many wonderful ideas, to make this a group project. Come closer my friends – let me share the details.

During the next two weeks, I’ll be compiling any and all (okay, not necessarily all – see the rules below) of your Gifts in a Jar ideas. (I will give you full credit in the eBook for your idea.)  While gifts of food and baking mixes are perfect for this project, I’d also love to see your ideas go beyond food. Do you have ideas for natural bath and body or household products? Know any fun ways to decorate jars or use jars for home decor? Oooh, and does anybody have a great tutorial on making liquid soap dispensers out of jars? I’ve seen those before and they are SO cool!!!

The possiblilites are endless for gifts we can put together in jars. With Christmas coming up, the timing couldn’t be better. (Although, I’d love for this eBook to be full of ideas that can be used any time of the year – not just Christmas.)

You may recall a post in which I shared Teresa’s Gift Certificate in a Jar idea. This, of course, will be featured in the eBook.

Here are the rules and guidelines for Gifts in a Jar submissions:

  • You may email me up to three ideas. One idea is fine though, or yes, even two.
  • Email your ideas to laura @ heavenlyhomemakers dot com no earlier than yesterday and no later than midnight on Thursday, November 10, 2011. I’ll probably be asleep by that time though, so as long as your idea is in my inbox by the morning of the 11th, you’re good to go.
  • So that I can keep your idea email separate from other emails I receive, please type the words Gifts in a Jar in the subject line of your email. You could also type Wow Laura, Your Ponytail is Stunning as the subject line, but be aware that your idea may get lost among all of my other hair related fan mail.
  • Each idea submitted must be accompanied by at least one nice picture. Not a picture of your kids, although I’m sure I’d enjoy that too. I am referring to a picture of your finished gift in a jar. An entire picture tutorial is fine too, but only if necessary.
  • Some of the ideas sent to me will be posted here on my blog, with credit (and blog link if applicable) given to the sender. I won’t be able to post all of the ideas though because knowing how clever you all are, your Gifts in a Jar ideas would probably take over this website, leaving no room for Gratituesday, Crock Pot Recipes or other important posts in which I share about the times birds fly into my face while I’m putting decorations away in the attic.
  • I’d prefer the food gifts and baking mixes to include whole food ingredients – as much as possible. Since these are gifts, I’ll compromise a little on this. But I really shy away from ingredients such as margarine, Crisco and I can’t think of the name of it right now, but it’s that stuff I can’t pronounce. You know what I’m talking about? Yeah, let’s avoid that one.
  • Please include thorough instructions with your idea. For example, if you send me a brownie baking mix in a jar idea, please let me know what exactly is to be included in the jar, the size of the jar needed, as well as clear instructions for the recipient so they know how to actually make the brownies after they take your gift home.
  • Since we all enjoy saving money, I’d appreciate it if the gift ideas you send cost just a few dollars or less. If that’s not an ambiguous amount, I don’t know what is.

Just as soon as I begin to receive your emails, I will begin to compile your wonderful ideas into a Gifts in a Jar eBook, which will be offered FREE to everyone.  This eBook will be ready for release just as soon as I have it finished. If that’s not an ambiguous time frame, I don’t know what is.

Let the creative Gifts in a Jar ideas begin to flow – I’ll be watching for your emails!

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Healthy Crockpot Recipes: Apple Butter

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Many of you offered suggestions as to how to make Apple Butter – thank you!

My house smelled wonderful for hours, thanks to all of you! I decided to experiment with my friend Leesa’s apple butter method, and found it to be very simple and delicious. I only made a small amount this time, since I was experimenting – so you’ll want to double or triple this recipe if you want a larger amount. When I started with one quart of applesauce, I ended up with two and a half – half pints of apple butter. However, it is very clear to me that writing half – half just looks weird and confusing. It may make more sense for me to say that one quart of applesauce resulted in 2.5 half-pint jars.

Or we could say that I ended up with one full pint plus a half of a half pint of apple butter. This is, of course, the same as two and a half cups of apple butter, which is otherwise known as five half cup portions of apple butter, better known as ten – 1/4 cup portions, which we all know is precisely 20 – half of a half of a half of a half of a half pints of apple butter. Give or take a half of a half of a pint.

I’m done now.

Homemade Apple ButterYum

Healthy Crockpot Recipes: Apple Butter
 
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Author:
Ingredients
  • 1 quart homemade apple sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons sucanat
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
  1. Stir ingredients into a crock pot.
  2. Cook on low for about six hours on low setting, with LID OFF, stirring occasionally.
  3. Store the apple butter in the refrigerator - or process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes to seal.
  4. If the jars are sealed properly, you can store your apple butter in the pantry until you're ready to serve.

Find my Homemade Apple Sauce recipe here. Read information on how to process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes to seal your jars here.

apple_butter

Caution:  Contents cooking in crock pot are hot. Refrain from sticking a finger into the crock pot for a lick, even though the delicious smell will create a major temptation. Dipping in with a teaspoon is obviously a much better option. No double dipping allowed. In addition, be aware that partaking in too many licks from the crock pot will result in a smaller amount of finished product, which will mean that all of the math I labored over above, rounding carefully to the nearest half of a half pint, will be null and void.

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Gratituesday: The Fall I’ve Always Wanted

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No, I didn’t fall. Well, actually I did stumble down a few stairs a couple of days ago, and managed to look perfectly ridiculous in front of my teenager, without hurting myself (thankfully). Eh, it was good for a laugh.

The fall I’m referring to in this post is the season. Just about every Autumn I can remember in Nebraska has seemed to only last for a grand total of 20 minutes. We typically go from very hot to very cold with a very short time of “perfect fall weather” in between.

This year has been absolutely gorgeous!!! We’ve had day after day after day of beautiful weather that is in the 60’s or 70’s. I’ve been so thankful for this, and was reminded again today of the blessing of such pretty weather. Even after the sun started to go down tonight, it was still warm enough for us to play outside comfortably. In fact, we all headed out for a little trampoline time (which I am likely to pay for tomorrow – but shucks, it sure was fun).

Here is Elias in mid-flip, which I have to say, was not easy to capture forever on camera. I think I finally got this picture after about seven tries. It’s a good thing he enjoys doing flips.

Brace yourself for the next one. We found that if Malachi would lie down in the middle of the trampoline while I jumped in circles around him “bouncing him” for a few minutes, a little static electricity action began to take place. We laughed so hard at this, I almost fell off the trampoline. But I didn’t. That’s not the kind of fall I’ve always wanted. ;)

I’m grateful for this wonderful fall, and all the joy and fun that has come with it.

What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Write about it 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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Leaving the Skins on Homemade Applesauce and Apple Pies

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Slowly but surely I’m getting a few things figured out with this applesauce-making business. Many of you left comments sharing that you were shocked that with all the canning I do, I don’t have a Victorio. Others were shocked that I take off the apple skins. Yep, I’m just learning along with the rest of us here. I didn’t grow up doing any canning, so I’m learning as I go. I’d never even heard of a Victorio or a Squeezo before last week, so I’ve appreciated your ideas and suggestions!

Since I don’t have a Victorio strainer, nor do I know anyone who has one I can borrow, and since I’ve got apples that need to be put up right now, I went ahead and tried yet another applesauce method. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner! (I think we will probably end up investing in a nice strainer, especially for tomato sauce. But for apples, can you all reassure me that the bad, wormy parts in the apples really do get strained out? I’m still hesitant about that since the apples I work with aren’t always pretty once I cut into them. Really – do I just quarter them and throw them all into the pot, worms and all?)

This time, I followed the advice of leaving the skins on and blending them up along with the apples. I hesitated with this idea at first because I figured there would be little bits of apple peelings in the sauce and that my family would rebel. Well, what’s a mother to do, but to try the idea and not tell her family what she’s done?

Sure enough – I cooked my apples, ran it all through my food processor, served it up, and would you believe – not one boy or husband knew that there were apple peelings in the applesauce!

Not only did this method save lots of time, we’re getting a healthier applesauce. Plus, there was much less waste – so I got several more quarts of applesauce for my efforts!! Ahhh, I’m so happy about this.

Applesauce Instructions:

Quarter and core apples, cutting out bad spots. Cook apples in a large pot, following these directions. When the apples are soft, run them through a food processor until smooth. See, the peelings just get blended up in there! (I don’t have an immersion blender, but according to many of you, sticking the immersion blender directly into the pot saves yet another step. I may ask for one for Christmas.)  :)

Yum

I used some of my “special” jars this time, because this applesauce is so pretty. These jars came from my late friend Lorna Mae. I miss her. :(  I think she’d be thrilled that her jars are being put to good use for my family.

I also made a bunch of mini apple pies, a big apple pie and an apple crisp – all with apple skins left on. I may never peel another apple again.

 

So there we have it. Leaving the skins on the apples when making applesauce and apple pies saves time and adds nutrients. Now, on to the Apple Butter…

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Menu Plan for the Week

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Tonight for High School Huddle, I made three big dishes full of Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole. I also made a big whole wheat chocolate sheet cake plus 24 cupcakes.

Funny story (or maybe boring story, whichever way you want to look at it):  As I was planning tonight’s huddle meal (for 35 people), I consulted my high schooler to see what he thought I should serve with the chicken and rice. Because he has two hollow legs, he suggested that rolls would be good, but I got overwhelmed with that because I was already making cakes and casseroles. Brilliant child that he is, my son said, “Maybe you could just buy some rolls this time.” Oh duh. I forget these things are an option. Therefore, everything else is homemade, but I bought rolls to feed the group tonight. This afternoon, instead of baking rolls, I’m going to take a nap. I like this plan. ;)

Here’s our menu for this week:

Sunday, October 23
Marriage Class Treat – Apple crisp, coffee
Easy noodle stir fry with broccoli and carrots, grapes
Huddle – Creamy chicken and rice casserole, green beans, homemade dinner rolls, whole wheat chocolate sheet cake and cupcakes with fudge frosting

Monday, October 24
Angie’s pumpkin waffles (can’t wait to try this new recipe!)
Taco corn fritters, applesauce
Three cheese marinera with spaghetti noodles, tossed salad, corn

Tuesday, October 25
Chocolate chocolate chip muffins, bananas
Homemade  beef summer sausage, crispy cheese crackers, carrot sticks with ranch, apples
Roast, carrots, potatoes, green beans, coconut flour muffins

Wednesday, October 26
Scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, creamy orange cooler
Popcorn chicken, steamed broccoli and carrots, cottage cheese
Bbq meatballs, baked potatoes, peas

Thursday, October 27
Breakfast burritos, pears
Pigs in a blanket, apples or bananas
Chicken noodle soup with carrots, fruit salad

Friday, October 28
Peanut butter honey toast, applesauce
Bean and cheese burritos, raw veggies
Homemade pizza, apples

Saturday, October 29
Whole wheat cinnamon rolls, fruit
Chicken alfredo, tossed salad
Attending a baby shower – taking Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins and Apples with Caramel Apple Dip

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Read Together

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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

Being on the Same Page – Matt’s Thoughts

Variety in marriage is fun. So, when it comes to reading together, mix it up, taking into consideration what would be good for the two of you. Laura and I have never gone wrong by reading books, articles, posts or other material that is written to help marriages. Even if it is not insightful for our context, at the very least we are side by side trying to align ourselves with each other. We have read from the Bible and discussed it and we have read material that is just plain fun…like a joke book. We don’t read together every night, but we talk about what each of us is reading separately. I urge you to read at least one book together every year that is specifically for marriage relationships written by an author(s) who has a Christian worldview. Whether you borrow it from your local library, church library, or a friend, or whether you purchase it so that you can own it and reference it, the key word here is TOGETHER. If only one of you reads the book, then you’re not on the same page…pun intended. Make it happen TOGETHER.

If you are like us, we have good ideas like reading a book together and then we blink and 2011 is almost history. This “good idea” of reading together probably won’t take place unless you agree on the book and schedule it TOGETHER. Of course life happens and schedules need to be rearranged on occasion, but our experience has been that the time together and discussion that follows connects the two of us.

Yes, it needs to be intentional, but beware of the checklist mentality and the critiquing spirit – as in critiquing the author. Speaking from experience, I have needed to choose to have the right attitude when it is reading time. I remember one particular couple’s devotional book that I was counting down the pages ’til it was complete. It just wasn’t doing anything for me. The reason it wasn’t doing anything for me was because of my attitude. Once I stopped the countdown and ceased being critical of the writer’s style, then the discussion about its relativity to my marriage improved.

A suggestion if you are having trouble deciding: Visit with other couples who have healthy marriages and see what they would recommend reading and ask them why they would recommend it.

Yeah, What Matt Said – Laura’s Thoughts

I think Matt said all of this wonderfully. The only thing I’d like to add is this:  For those of you who don’t enjoy reading, try books on CD. (I almost said “books on tape”, which like totally tells you that we grew up in the 80’s and that I used to have big hair.)  You may not love every book or concept you read together, but be sure to ask yourself if you don’t love it because it’s difficult to hear. Sometimes the truth hurts. Allow God to stretch you and challenge you with books that enrich your marriage.

Books That Have Benefitted Us or Other Couples (alphabetical order):

Created to Be His Help Meet by Debi Pearl
His Needs Her Needs by Willard F. Harley Jr.
Intended for Pleasure by Ed Wheat MD and Gaye Wheat
Love and Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs
Loving Your Marriage Enough to Protect It by Jerry B. Jenkins
Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus by John Gray
Night Light by Dr. James & Shirley Dobson
Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts: Seven Questions to Ask Before (and After) You Marry by Les & Leslie Parrot  (This is what we are currently reading and it’s good for us even after 17 years of marriage)
The 5 Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman

What have you and your spouse read together that you would recommend?

 

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 A to Z – Read Together

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