Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Menu Plan for the Week

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Pasta Alfredo

Here’s our menu plan for this week!

Sunday, September 11
Oatmeal, pears
Cheesy beef and rice, green beans
Leftovers

Monday, September 12
Whole wheat waffles, blueberries
Taco Corn Fritters, cantaloupe
Cheeseburger macaroni, peas, tossed salad

Tuesday, September 13
Scrambled egg sandwiches, creamy orange cooler
Chicken salad, apples, homemade ranch and carrot sticks
Taco potatoes, watermelon

Wednesday, September 14
Pancake sausage muffins, pears
Popcorn chicken, strawberry-peach slushies, peas
Lasagna casserole, tossed salad, sweet corn

Thursday, September 15
Breakfast burritos, peaches
Salmon patties, toast, strawberry milkshakes
Lamb chops, mashed potatoes, gravy, zucchini

Friday, September 16
Giant breakfast cookies, pears
Chicken burritos, fresh pineapple
Hamburgers on homemade buns, ranch potato wedges, carrot sticks

Saturday, September 17
Fried eggs on toast, oranges
Leftovers
Chicken pasta alfredo, steamed broccoli and carrots

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How To Leave a Comment on this Blog (and How to Enter Giveaways)

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I often receive emails from people asking me how to leave a comment on my blog. Most feel silly about asking – but don’t! If you’re new to the world of blogging, these things take a little bit of time to figure out. Plus, every blog is a little different!

I decided that instead of continuing to email each person individually, I’d save a little effort and type it here so that I can simply refer people to this post! Here is how to leave a comment on a post here at Heavenly Homemakers:

  1. Look at the top and the bottom of each post and you will see the word Comments with a blue number in parentheses beside it. Here’s a screen shot of what this looks like:
  2. In the case of our example above, you see that the number is (985). Click on that blue number (whatever it happens to be for that post) and a form will pop up for you.
  3. Fill in the form by putting your name (or a user name like “MomofFour” if you’d rather be anonymous), and then your email address. If you have your own blog, you can put the URL to your blog in the space that calls for “Website” – otherwise you can just leave that spot blank. Type your desired comment into the big space provided, then click on “Submit Comment”. If you are a first time commenter, I will have to “approve” your comment before it will appear on my blog. Once approved, your comments should automatically show up once you type and submit them!

Here’s what my completed form might look like just before I hit submit:

Take note: You can click on “Notify me of followup comments via e-mail” ONLY if you want to receive an automatic email every time someone leaves a comment on this particular post. This is a helpful feature if you are enjoying the discussion on the topic of this blog post. But if you click that on a giveaway post, you’re likely to get hundreds of emails full of comments saying “I’d love to win vanilla beans” and it may get annoying after a while. (If you run into this problem, no worries. You can email me and I can fix it!)

So there you go – that’s how to leave a comment here at Heavenly Homemakers.

I also wanted to take a moment to clear up any confusion on How to Enter a Giveaway here at Heavenly Homemakers. Often I have subscribers who simply click “reply” on the daily email newsletter that comes to their inbox and tell me via that email that they’d like to win. Unfortunately, I am unable to count those responses because they get lost in my full inbox.  To enter a giveaway, you MUST click over from the email newsletter to the actual post on this website and enter a comment as directed above.

Any questions? Leave a comment (it’ll be good practice!) here and I’ll try to give you an answer!!! :)

 

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Listen

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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

Synchronized Staring – Matt’s Thoughts

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie…that’s absurdity. When you look into your spouse’s eyes and truly listen…that’s amore.

Here’s a question for self-evaluation: Is my beloved’s voice mixing with all the other noise in my life? If so, something needs to change.

Healthy marriages consist of two people listening to each other. My best listening is achieved when my eyes are on my prized one. So, I say, if at all possible, look at your spouse in the eyes when he/she is communicating to you. Okay, when you are changing a diaper, your focus needs to be there, but pause or turn off the media and give your full attention to the most important person in your life; the game or show – or gameshow – really isn’t important.

Remember when you first looked into each other’s eyes and your hearts raced with adrenaline? Maybe your story didn’t quite happen that way, but think about other instances when you would have competed for gold in the Olympic Event of Synchronized Staring. Practice that again right now. If your “Romantic” is not with you now, then at your next opportunity look lovingly into his/her eyes and listen. We can’t help but smile when we do this. We smile because we know we are being heard. We smile because we know we are loved.

I’m Sorry, Did You Say Something? – Laura’s Thoughts

It is a fact that if I’m working at the computer, Matt has learned that he has to say, “Are you in writing mode or are you able to listen for a minute?” Yes, when I write, I go into a zone. (See like right now – I’m typing and I can’t hear a thing you’re saying.)

Sometimes that’s okay – we all have to learn to be selective about when we share something important with our spouse. If he/she is in the middle of balancing the checkbook, that may not be the best time to share a deep, heart-felt need or request. Just as important as listening is being thoughtful about when we’d like to truly be heard.

Do you know what I love about the way Matt listens to me? He just listens. He doesn’t talk, he doesn’t interrupt, he doesn’t jump in with ideas of how to fix my situation. Usually, I just need to share and to be heard and cared for. When he’s sharing something with me, he also appreciates if I just let him talk. Sometimes I like to try to finish his sentences for him. That’s not nice and I’m working on not doing that. He can finish his own sentences quite well without my help.

If you’re a good listener, your ears and heart are open – your mouth is not. And yes, like Matt said, it’s best to look into your spouse’s eyes when he or she shares. You can really hear better that way.

And that’s why, at the end of the day after I’ve taken out my contacts, I have to say to Matt, “Will you hand me my glasses? I can’t hear you very well.” Either I’m a weirdo or eye contact is just that important in order to be a good listener.

Or maybe it’s a little bit of both. ;)

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 – Listen

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Homemade Beef Summer Sausage

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My personal Funky Fresh Kitchen “Make it Yourself” Challenge was to make Homemade Beef Pepperoni, using a recipe I found at Tammy’s Recipes. I read through all of her reviews before trying the recipe and many of them suggested that this tastes more like Summer Sausage than Pepperoni. I completely agree – it does taste much more like Summer Sausage. But no matter what you call it, we all really loved the flavor.

I kept having to remind myself while we were eating (one entire log of sausage in one sitting) that we didn’t need to feel guilt or hold back on eating this. We have, on occasion, purchased beef summer sausage from the store to eat on the run. The boys love it, but I’ve always been hesitant because the store-bought sausage is so full of MSG and who knows what. To now have this recipe in my hip pocket to make as a healthy, convenience food for my family is super exciting!

And did I mention that it is crazy easy to make? Yes, practically effortless. I used our healthy Grass Fed Beef and made five pounds of this wonderful meat, which tastes good with cheese and crackers or on sandwiches. I put our leftover meat in the freezer to use later. This is going to be a perfect grab and go snack to take to soccer games this fall!

Making this summer sausage was a three day process (although not time consuming or difficult). On the third day, after we got to smell it cooking on low heat all day, we were thrilled to eat it with cheese and fruits and veggies for dinner. Awesome!

Next, I’d like to try Tammy’s Spicy Pepperoni, which sounds like it has more of a pepperoni flavor. Score! Now we can have healthy summer sausage and healthy pepperoni too!

Does your family like summer sausage and pepperoni? You’ve got to try Tammy’s recipes!

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Healthy Homemade Pigs in a Blanket

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Pigs in a Blanket

Have I ever told you about the trophy I won back when I was in high school? I’m not very athletic, so I hope you aren’t imagining some sport trophy. If so, you’re going to be rather disappointed, although amused, I’m sure.

My trophy proudly displayed a golden pig. Don’t laugh. It had a wooden base and stood about 15 inches tall and there at the top was a golden hog that was probably around 3 inches long. Oh how I wish I still had it so that I could take a picture to show you. Wait – what did I just say? Do I really wish I still had my pig trophy? Why? So that I could use it to decorate my living room? (Precious Moments figurines, family pictures, pig trophy…)  Yes, I think I’m glad my golden swine got misplaced.

In case winning pig trophies aren’t common where you’re from, let me explain my prize. I was a farm girl and we were involved in 4-H. Each year, we raised pigs to take to the fair. One year, my pig won Reserve Grand Champion. It was a proud moment – and also a little embarrassing because well, what teenage girl do you know that can truly appreciate being awarded with a trophy of a pig? The only one at the fair more excited/embarrassed than me was my brother. His pig took the Grand Champion prize, so his pig trophy was even bigger than mine. Yep, those were some pigs.

Kind of makes you want to read Charlotte’s Web again, doesn’t it?

I say all of that to say: “I had a pig trophy and you didn’t, neener-neener-neeeeeener.”

Just kidding. (Even though it’s probably true – neener-neener.)

But really, I just wanted to share a new idea I’ve come up with for making a healthy variety of Pigs in a Blanket. I don’t want to get all “farm animal technical” here on you, but even though these are called “Pigs in a Blanket”, there’s actually no pork in these. I prefer my hot dogs to be all beef, no nitrate, no nitrite, no nootrote (I made that one up) and otherwise as healthy as a processed meat can possibly be. But to call these “Cows in a Blanket” – well, that just does nothing for me. It doesn’t sound nearly as cute. And really, these treats do look like little pigs wrapped up taking a nap. As we all know, pigs are always willing to be swaddled. I know my 4-H pigs always went directly where I told them to go. (bah)

Healthier “Pigs in a Blanket”Yum

3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup melted butter
1 cup plain yogurt
16 beef hotdogs, cut in half (I buy Applegate Farm Beef Hotdogs from Azure Standard)
32 small pieces of cheddar cheese (optional)

That dough recipe may sound a bit familiar. It’s my go-to recipe for Homemade Pizza Pockets, Homemade Poptarts and a variety of other goodies that require a flaky, buttery crust.

Mix flour, salt, butter and yogurt together. Knead ingredients together on a floured countertop until the dough is ready to be rolled out. Use a floured rolling pen to roll the dough to a 1/8 inch thickness. Use a knife to cut the dough into 32 rectangles.

Place one piece of cheese (if desired) and one hotdog half on each rectangle.

Roll it up and place it on a well buttered baking dish. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned.

My kids especially like the Pigs in a Blanket made with cheese. These warm up great as leftovers and can be frozen. (I’d bake them first before freezing, then pull them out and rewarm them in the oven for a few minutes.)

I’m posting this recipe as a part of our Funky Fresh Kitchen series to remind us all that you can make all kinds of great dishes that are kid friendly and fun AND healthy!

Tell me all about your trophies, pigs, brothers, athleticism (or lack thereof), carrot sticks, or anything else remotely relating to this post. Your comment is your entry for a chance to win one of five $10 gift certificates to the Heavenly Homemakers Shop.

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Funky Fresh Kitchen – The “Do You Really Need It?” Challenge

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What is all that stuffed crammed in the back of your utensil drawer? When’s the last time you used that fancy Blitzamachoppit that promised to make your life easier? And how many used twist-ties and drinking straws does it take to change a light bulb?

Oh wait. I think I just mixed two unrelated questions.

But still – I do believe it is time for some of us to take control of what is lurking in our kitchen drawers and cabinets. If you took advantage of the Do the Funky Kitchen ebook sale, you may have already started plucking unused items out of your kitchen and worked at finding them a better home (like in someone else’s kitchen – mwoohaha!!). If not, let me suggest to you that your kitchen will be a lot more fun and a lot more functional (funky!) if you get rid of items you are not using.

Here is a check-list of questions to ask yourself as you clean out cabinets and drawers in your kitchen (taken from the Do the Funky Kitchen ebook):

  1. Do I use it often?
  2. How many do I have?
  3. How many do I need?
  4. Did someone special give it to me?
  5. Does it work?

If you don’t use it, get rid of it. If you have too many, the extras need to go. If it doesn’t work, what is it still doing there anyway? And if you don’t even know what it is, you won’t miss it after you say goodbye. Keep only items that you use or items that are special to you.

If you are having a hard time deciding if you should get rid of something, do this:  Put the item in a potential “Garage Sale” box for a few weeks, but don’t get rid of it yet. Next Tuesday, if you’re preparing some food and suddenly remember the reason you had the Ultimate Onion Slicer (with built in tissues for inevitable tears, batteries not included) then by all means, go get it out of your box and put it back into your kitchen for future onion slicing and tear wiping needs. But if in fact you see that gadget in your “Garage Sale” box three months later and have to stand on your head while holding a flashlight so that you can try and figure out what in the world it is, I’m pretty sure you never needed it anyway and you can feel free to give it away or try to sell it.

Your Funky Fresh Kitchen Challenge today is to clean out at least ONE cabinet or drawer. Get rid of all items that are not useful to you. You’ll feel so much better, I promise!!

Leave a comment on this post letting us know one thing you can throw out or give away that will lessen any kitchen clutter you may have. Your comment will serve as your entry in the giveaway for one of five $10 gift certificates to our Heavenly Homemakers Shop.

 

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Gratituesday: Short But Sweet Visit

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My dad can rarely get away from his work (one draw-back of being self-employed and being a work-a-holic). ;)  As he and his wife are coming up on their fourth anniversary, he actually took a few days off to get away. I was so grateful to hear it. I was even more grateful to hear that they were going to spend part of their get away time with us! (Side note:  In case you aren’t aware, I lost my mom seven years ago and my dad remarried four years ago this month. You can read a little bit more about this here.)

“Papa” bought the special breakfast he likes to get to spoil the boys. Here are the leftovers.
Not pictured:  Chocolate Long John. Don’t ask me what happened to that one.

Dad and Tacy got to be here to watch our boys play in their soccer tournament over the weekend, then today, we visited and enjoyed down-time together. They watched the boys jump on the trampoline and do “their flips and tricks”. Tacy and I took a walk. We all just relaxed. Their visit was short but sweet and we treasured it all.

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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Funky Fresh Kitchen Giveaway from Tropical Traditions!

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I’ve got several new recipes, plus another challenge or two planned for our Funky Fresh Kitchen series – but with company here visiting us and because I have been busy getting my face fried by the sun watching my boys play all weekend at a soccer tournament – I’ve just not had time to get any writing done. While you’re waiting for me to find the time to write something thought-provoking, witty and altogether life altering, I thought maybe I would offer another wonderful giveaway. You have signed up for our Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Cultures for Health and Nutrimill from Paula’s Bread giveaways, right?

Oh, and regarding the upcoming post that will be thought-provoking, witty and altogether life altering – I’m pretty sure you shouldn’t get your hopes up about that one. After all, I’m the one who has sleeves and therefore does not always use complete sentences. (You have to read this post to interpret that one.)

Anyway, did I mention that my face got just a tad bit sunburned this weekend? I am very happy for the wonderful dose of Vitamin D I received here at the end of summer, but you know your face looks a little bit baked when people start greeting you by saying, “Did Rudolph’s nose just explode all over your face?”

Okay, no one really said that, but I did hear a little snide something or other about Rudolph a time or two. But I’m over it.

So what do I always do when I get a sunburn? I slather coconut oil all over the sunburn, that’s what I do. Coconut oil soothes the burn, provides moisture my skin needs and keeps my face from peeling in scary ways. (And by the way, I am aware that one needs to be very careful about allowing oneself to get sunburned, so I’d like to take this moment to reassure you that frying my face is a rare occurrence.)

thumb-Virgin_Coconut_Oil_Gold_Label_Hair_Treatment[1]So back to the subject of Coconut Oil, my favorite oil for use in baked goods and on sunburns and other skin care needs. I think we are all aware that I love coconut oil. It’s one of the very basic Funky Fresh Kitchen ingredients I feel is important to have in your cupboard. I use it constantly (or sometimes even more). And here you have a chance to win some!

One of my very favorite online health food sources, Tropical Traditions has offered to give away a price package including many basic, healthy ingredients that are wonderful to have in your Funky Fresh Kitchen. This fun package includes all of the following products:

Wouldn’t it just be fun to win that package? Doesn’t it scream Funky Fresh Kitchen?? Think of all the yummy, healthy foods you can make with those ingredients!

Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win this giveaway. I’ll draw a random winner sometime after my face turns a lovely shade of tan, or next Monday, whichever comes first. ;)

This giveaway is now closed, thank you!

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Menu Plah-ah-ah….

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We’ve been involved in a big soccer tournament all weekend – in fact, just now I dashed home quickly in between games to throw a roast into the oven for us to eat after all of today’s games. I thought that while I was home I could maybe get a menu plan figured out to share, but as you can see, I didn’t get very far. I planned exactly one day’s worth of meals. You’re all so inspired, I’m sure. ;)

Sunday, September 4
Applesauce bread, bananas
Sandwiches, carrots, apples, dried fruit
Roast, carrots, potatoes, gravy, green beans

Beyond the tournament, we also have company coming (any minute now) which means that I probably won’t have time to write and share a menu plan later either. (I do know that I’m feeding company Sloppy Joes and Black Bean Salsa for lunch tomorrow before they leave for home.)

blackbeansalsasm.JPG

I’ll try to find a little time later to share new Funky Fresh Kitchen Challenge or recipe. Maybe? In the meantime, I hope you’re all having a lovely Labor Day Weekend!!

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Funky Fresh Kitchen – The Make it Yourself Challenge

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What helped me most during our healthy eating journey was realizing that while we were changing the way we purchased and made food, we were not trading Cheesy Velvetta Dip or Jello Pudding for a boring diet of tasteless rice cakes and bland green things that I’d never heard of. I simply found new ways to create our favorite foods. We didn’t have to stop eating peanut butter, pasta, pizza, tacos, cookies, pancakes, mac and cheese and burgers – I just needed to learn to make them in a healthier way.

pudding5sm.JPG

Homemade Creamy Pudding

Look through all of our recipes (scroll through the drop down Recipe Menu at the top of our site) to find long lists of Bread and Breakfast recipes, Main Dishes, Side Dishes and Snacks, Desserts, Condiments, Dairy Products – so many recipes that are easy to make, kid friendly, and healthy – all at the same time! Life does not end once you’ve decided to throw away your boxes of Partially Hydrogenated High Fructose Corn Syrup Red Food Dye #40 (otherwise known as the cereal that claims to be a part of “this complete breakfast”).

I know that not everyone enjoys cooking and creating in the kitchen as much as I love it. I mean…I love it. That has made this transition easier for me. But even if you don’t love cooking, there are some very simple foods you can make that aren’t difficult at all – and they just might replace (in a very delicious way) some of those “foods” you threw out the other day.

Your Funky Fresh Kitchen Challenge for today includes choosing one food item that you can make from scratch that will replace a less healthy option from the store. For instance:

Those are just a few fun ideas to get you started. Look through all of our recipes, or look elsewhere on the web (or in your favorite cookbooks) for a recipe you can make that replaces an unhealthy variety of one of your favorite foods. I promise you that all of the above listed ideas are super easy to make. You can make peanut butter in five minutes with only a food processor and some peanuts. Making your own salad dressings is one of the easiest changes I made in my healthy kitchen. Take a look at this post called Five Minutes to Cultured Dairy for inspiration on making your own yogurt and other dairy products. Making Homemade Mac and Cheese takes the same amount of time as using the boxed stuff. Let go of the unfounded fears that cooking from scratch means that you’ll rub blisters, break nails and faint from exhaustion.

Pick one (or five!) and make it a project. Leave a comment on this post telling us what new recipe(s) you plan to make yourself. (No, it doesn’t have to be a recipe from our Heavenly Homemakers site – you can pick anything that will be best for your Funky Fresh Kitchen!)  Your comment will serve as your entry in the giveaway for one of five $10 gift certificates to our Shop. Then, after you’ve completed your Make it Yourself project, come back and leave another comment sharing the results. (This will be a second entry!)  Share with us – Did you like the new recipe? Did it work well for you? Was it easy to make? I can’t wait to hear about all your Funky Fresh Kitchen projects!

Let the Make it Yourself Challenge begin!

(As for me, for a long time I have wanted to try to make Homemade Beef Pepperoni – a recipe I found at Tammy’s Recipes. I challenged myself to make that this week and YUM! I’ll share more about it next week. I’m so excited – I made homemade pepperoni!!)

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