Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Gratituesday: My Son, My Brother

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With tears in his eyes, Justus, our 11 year old, came to us on Sunday and said, “I want to be baptized.”

Matt and I spent a good part of the next three days discussing and studying with Justus about this decision. Without exception, each time the subject came up, our tenderhearted boy’s eyes welled up with tears. He knew exactly what he wanted and he definitely understood the commitment he was about to make. Justus was ready.

And so, Wednesday night Matt baptized Justus. It was a beautiful evening.

A friend of mine captured the event on video. While it’s difficult to hear much of anything (except for the rejoicing afterward!), we’d like to share the video for you to watch:

He came up out of that water a new man. He let the tears flow while he was hugged by so many of our church family and friends. We are so proud of our son and his decision to follow Jesus.

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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Our Whole Foods Pantry, Freezers and Refrigerator

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Real Food Ingredients Resource Page

After several hours of list making, link finding and price figuring, here is the resource I’ve been promising for such a long time! I’ve tried to include everything that typically can be found in my fridge, freezers, pantry and bulk storage. I obviously don’t have all of these items on hand all of the time, but I do try to keep a good stock of most of these items so that I am flexible to put together a variety of healthy meals, as well as open our home to guests frequently.

I’ve included prices I prefer to spend on each item, but prices vary depending on which site is offering a sale. Keep in mind that prices are going to vary depending on where you live as well. Because I live in a small town with very few whole foods/organic food grocery store options, I buy most of my food from local farmers, from online shops or from Azure Standard, depending on where I find a better deal. (Plus, I try to save up most of my Swagbuck earnings to purchase food occasionally for “free” from Amazon.)

I buy almost all of the listed items in bulk quantities because I know we’ll use it. I also try to purchase just about all of the items in this list in organic form if possible.

Because you are all reading from different locations, I also recommend that you read through the comments on this post in order to find a health food co-op or whole food resources in your area. Also, check out LocalHarvest to find meat, milk, eggs and produce in your area.

Hopefully the linking system I used in each section is user friendly!

And now, without further ado, here is my very long list of grocery items I love to have on hand:

Dairy

In addition to the following products, occasionally I make butter and mozzarella cheese, if I have enough milk/cream/time.

Milk – I am blessed to buy raw, organic milk from local farmers.
Cream – I buy this raw from our milk farmers.
Buttermilk – Homemade
 Kefir – Homemade
 Yogurt – Homemade
Sour Cream – Homemade
Butter – I usually purchase a case of Willow Made Sweet Cream, Salted Butter from Azure Standard if I can get it for $3.50/pound or less. Otherwise, I just buy real butter from the grocery store.
Cheese – I purchase raw organic Landmark white cheddar cheese from Azure Standard. It is $5.50/pound if purchased by the case.

Meat/Eggs/Beans

I purchase most of my grass fed beef and free range whole chickens from a local farm – NorthStar Neighbors. Occasionally, I will get it from Tropical Traditions if they have a great sale.

Hamburger Meat
Cube Steak
Stew Meat
Beef Roast 
Chickens (whole) – I try stretch these to feed my family six meals!
Chicken Breasts – I typically purchase Smart Chicken brand when it’s on sale at our local grocery store for $4.0o/pound or less.
Deer Meat – from local hunters who like to share
Tuna (canned) – I buy Natural Value Yellow-Fin by the case either from Amazon, Vitacost, or Azure Standard, shooting for $1.50/can or less.
Salmon (canned) – Rubinstein’s Wild Alaska pink salmon from Azure Standard or Roland’s from Amazon
Frozen Fish, sometimes – I live in Nebraska, what can I say? We don’t have fresh fish here. I don’t necessarily trust frozen fish from a regular grocery store, but occasionally I will buy some tilapia or salmon.
Eggs – I buy these from my friend who raises free range chickens.
Red Beans –  Azure Standard – $1.00/pound
Black Beans – Azure Standard – $1.40/pound
Pinto Beans – Azure Standard – $0.88/pound
Garbonzo Beans – Azure Standard – $0.85/pound
Lentils – Azure Standard – $0.49/pound

Grains

Hard White Wheat – I buy this in bulk from Azure Standard – $0.83/pound.
Whole Kernel Corn – Azure Standard or Tropical Traditions – $0.68/pound
Popcorn – Azure Standard, Tropical Traditions or Amazon – $1.25/pound
Rolled Oats – Azure Standard, Tropical Traditions or Amazon – $0.80/pound
Brown Rice –  Azure Standard, Tropical Traditions or Amazon – $1.80/pound
Whole Wheat Pasta – Tropical Traditions or Amazon – around $2.00/pound

I sometimes have Kamut, Millet, Buckwheat, Spelt and/or Barley on hand – purchased from Azure Standard or Tropical Traditions – all less than $1.00/pound.

Baking/Cooking

Coconut Flour – Azukar Organics through Amazon (best price!) or Tropical Traditions when it’s buy one get one free – $3.50/pound or less.
Sucanat – Azure Standard, Vitacost, or Amazon – $2.50/pound or less
Raw Honey – I purchase from a local bee keeper – or I buy it from Azure Standard
Grade B Maple Syrup – Farmers Market, Vitacost, or Amazon – $17.00/quart or less
Cocoa Powder – Azure Standard or Tropical Traditions – $4.25/pound or less
Vanilla Extract – I make my own; read how you can too!
Corn Starch – Azure Standard, Vitacost, or Tropical Traditions – $3.20/8 ounce box
Arrowroot Powder – Azure Standard – $2.57/pound or less
Aluminum Free Baking Powder – Azure Standard or Amazon – $2.65/pound
Baking Soda – Azure Standard or Amazon – $1.00/pound or less
Shredded Coconut – Tropical Traditions– $17.50/gallon pail
Chocolate Chips – Homemade, Vitacost, or Amazon – $4.50/package or less
Butterscotch Baking Chips – Homemade
Active Dry Yeast – Azure Standard or Sams

Herbs and Spices

These are purchased either from Tropical Traditions, Azure Standard or Mountain Rose Herbs. I didn’t link to any specific site for these – where I buy these depends on who has the best price at the time.

Redmonds Real Sea Salt
Garlic Powder
Turmeric
Minced Onion
Onion Powder
Onion Salt
Oregano
Basil
Cayenne Pepper
Black Pepper
Chili Powder
Paprika
Parsley
Cumin
Cinnamon
Nutmeg

Condiments and Sauces

Ketchup – I make homemade ketchup or purchase Muir Glen Organic Ketchup from Amazon, Vitacost, or Azure Standard – $2.70/bottle
Mayonnaise – I like Hain Safflower Mayo from Azure Standard or Vitacost – $5.50/jar or less
Mustard – Azure Standard – $2.35/bottle
Worcestershire Sauce – Azure Standard – $5.00/bottle
Soy Sauce – Azure Standard – $5.50/bottle
Liquid Smoke – Walmart  ;)
Salad Dressings – I make my own, recipes are found here.
Jams and Preserves – Azure Standard, Vitacost, or Tropical Traditions – $3.00/jar
Peanut Butter – I make my own, recipe found here

Fats

Coconut Oil, Virgin (tastes like coconut) – Tropical Traditions, Amazon, Vitacost, or Mountain Rose Herbs – $18.00/quart or less
Coconut Oil, Expeller Pressed (flavorless) – Tropical Traditions, Amazon, Mountain Rose Herbs – $13.00/quart or less
Olive Oil – Azure Standard, Vitacost, or Tropical Traditions – $17.00/25 ounces or less
Butter – Azure Standard (Yes, I’d already mentioned this in the dairy section, but it’s also a fat. Apparently, I love butter enough to mention it twice.)
Palm Shortening – Tropical Traditions, Amazon

Fruits and Vegetables

Tomato Sauce, Tomato Soup, Tomato Juice – we grow and can our own supply for each year or I get them from Vitacost when we run out of our home canned goods
Green Beans, Sweet Corn, Peaches, Strawberries, Applesauce – we grow or buy from local farmers and preserve these ourselves each year.
Frozen Peas – Azure Standard – $7.70/5 pounds
All Other Fresh Produce – Azure Standard or local grocery stores

Nuts

Peanuts – Azure Standard or Amazon – $3.70/pound
Pistachios, Cashews, Almonds – Braga Organic Farms 
Dried Fruit – Azure Standard or Braga Organic Farms

Cereal and Chips (purchased rarely)

Cornflakes – Amazon or Vitacost – $3.00/box
Rice Crispies – Amazon or Vitacost– $3.00/box
Corn Chips – Amazon or Vitacost – $4.00/bag

So that you will always and forever have easy access to this resource list, I have added a link at the top of my site called Whole Foods Resources. I’ve also added this pantry button to my side bar, which will link to this post:

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Menu Plan for the Week

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Our peach tree is loaded this year – it’s awesome! We picked peaches for the first time yesterday and you’d better believe we’re going to have peach juice running down our chins all week long. :)


I also picked a lot of produce from our friend’s garden. They were out of town and told me to help myself – and so I did.

I’ve never really been successful with eggplant, so I’m going to do a little searching online to see what recipes I come up with. Do you all have some eggplant ideas?

I finally was able to make tomato sauce last night – so exciting! I’ll share more about that (because I learned a new trick!) soon.

Here’s our menu this week:

Sunday, August 7
Easy breakfast casserole, peaches
Roasted chicken, carrots, potatoes, gravy
Sloppy joes on homemade buns, watermelon, carrot sticks with ranch

Monday, August 8
Simple soaked pancakes, applesauce
Popcorn chicken, fried okra, green beans
Black bean and rice bowls with salsa and kreme fresh, cucumber salad

Tuesday, August 9
Blueberry streusel muffins, peaches and cream
Pizza pockets, strawberry orange smoothies
Tacos (with homemade tortillas and fresh tomatoes from the garden!), death by chocolate dessert (with guests!)

Wednesday, August 10
Scrambled eggs, creamy orange cooler
Sweet bean casserole, corn bread muffins, something with eggplant?, peaches
Taco salad, watermelon

Thursday, August 11
Coconut flour muffins, apples
Meat and cheese burritos, fresh pineapple
Lasagna casserole, tossed salad, sweet corn

Friday, August 12
Homemade poptarts, applesauce
Grilled cheese sandwiches, chips and salsa, carrot sticks
Homemade pizza, watermelon

Saturday, August 13
Giant breakfast cookies, plums
Leftovers
Hot roast beef sandwiches with gravy, peas, tossed salad

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Honor Each Other

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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

My Queen – Matt’s Thoughts

On your wedding day, did you (your name here) promise to honor (your spouse’s name here) above all others for as long as you both live? I’ve heard that phrase at several weddings and whether you said it or not…it is implied. What does that look like in a healthy marriage?

My first exposure to the concept of honor was as a child being taught the commandment “Honor your father and mother.” I was taught that it was by my actions and speech that I honored or dishonored my parents…whether I was with them or not. In the presence of one’s parents, a child often has the fear of punishment that keeps him in line. Thus, there is a greater impression made regarding honoring or dishonoring one’s parents when the child’s parents are not present.

Similarly, it seems to me that one displays the greatest honor or dishonor to their spouse when they are not with their spouse by the way they act and ESPECIALLY talk about their spouse. Therefore, any chance we get, we need to speak positively of our beloved. It is easy to get caught up in negative talk. Yes, your spouse has annoying habits, imperfections and character flaws – just like you and every other married person – but let’s steer clear of the gripe sessions others are having even if we know we can relate. It’s like a pig pen where neither you nor your spouse will get away without getting muddy. Instead, be the one who shifts the conversation from pitiful me to praise for my life-long love. Usually, then, either the crowd disperses or another person pipes in with something positive about their spouse.

Let’s shower our darling with presents when they’re not present by speaking highly of him/her.

I have much room for improvement, but in her presence I try to treat Laura as my queen, and when we’re apart I aim to let everyone around me know by the way I talk about her that she is my queen.

 

Do Unto Others – Laura’s Thoughts

Here’s a question:  What do we possibly have to gain by talking negatively about our spouse to others? Besides the fact that it’s sinful, it actually has the potential to make you look bad. After all – you’re the one who married this person of whom you have nothing nice to say.

There are times I may need to share something about our marriage with another person in an effort to obtain advice on how to handle a situation – but I have to be super careful to do this in a way that still honors Matt. And I have to prayerfully choose the person I confide in.

These are the some of the things I try to consider regarding how I talk to my husband or talk to others about my husband which I adapted from a post I wrote a year and a half ago called Make Him or Break Him:

  • Would I want him/her to talk to me like this?
  • Would I want him/her to look at me this way when he’s/she’s talking to me?
  • Would I want him/her to talk to his/her friends about me like this?
  • Would I want him/her to talk to me in front of other people this way?

If the answer is “no” to any of those questions, then with all due respect, I have to suggest that you just hush.

Or on the flip side, as Matt talked about, if instead you are intentional about saying honorable things about your spouse to others, you will be amazed at what a rewarding experience this is!

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 – Honor

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No-Oven Treats for Summer

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We’re finally experiencing a little break in the heat here in Nebraska – as in – it’s only in the upper 80’s instead of 101° with a heat index of 115°. I know many of you from the south are experiencing drought and intense heat that makes my 115° seem like winter.

Regardless of how it’s cooled off to “only the 80’s”, I still don’t like heating up the house to do much baking if I can help it. Here are a few yummy treats we’ve enjoyed this summer that don’t require the use of an oven:

Peanut Butter Honey Fudge

Homemade Pudding Pops

Healthier Rice Crispy Treats

Mock Frozen Yogurt

Homemade Ice Cream

homemadeicecream3sm.JPG

Add to the list! What healthy, no-oven treats have you enjoyed this summer?!

 

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Homemade Sunscreen (and more)

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We typically put up a new Healthy Marriage Tips A to Z post on Thursday nights, but we’ve had a couple of super busy days which has kept us from writing our newest post in this series for tonight. We should be able to work on it tomorrow, and trust me, you don’t want us to stay up any later tonight trying to compose it. Matt can handle thinking late at night, but I’m personally having a hard time remembering how to spell “marriage” – writing about it would certainly not be a good idea for me right now.

Anyway, watch for that post tomorrow sometime – hopefully. In the meantime, I thought I’d very quickly tell you about this awesome resource from MadeOn.

I was very excited to hear that Renee, creator of my very favorite lotion bar (which is non-toxic and SUPER for dry skin), has recently come out with an ebook that will teach you how to make several awesome products that are healthy for your skin and inexpensive too!

You can learn to make Homemade Sunscreen, Full Body Conditioner, Bug Repellent Bar and more! Each recipe includes only 5 (or fewer) ingredients and all are ingredients you can trust (like coconut oil). Her ebook includes full instructions, as well as resources for finding the supplies needed. She even offers YouTube links so you can watch her making each product.

I’m most excited to try making the sunscreen – how cool will that be?

 

Learn more about My Buttered Life ebook by Renee of MadeOn Lotion.

 

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Homemade Vanilla Extract by Jill

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As you know, for about two years now, I’ve been making my own vanilla extract. This is all because at that time, my wonderful friend Jill sent me some of her homemade vanilla and told me how to do make it. Yes, Jill created this monster of a homemade vanilla craze around here! If you have also made your own vanilla as a result of reading here, you really have Jill to thank for this. I know I sure do thank her! Homemade vanilla is the best!

And so, I wanted you to know about the possilibility of purchasing some vanilla from Jill herself. Every few months, we offer homemade vanilla for sale here at Heavenly Homemakers (for those of you who don’t want to make it yourself), but we won’t have any more ready until October or November. If you’re interested in purchasing some of the finest, most pure homemade vanilla, I’d love for you to support my friend Jill and her family by purchasing from her site.

I won’t go into all the details, but Jill’s family is going through much difficulty right now. Your purchase would be a huge blessing and if I could, I would just hug you for helping. ;)

Click here to visit Jill’s site.

 

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Homemade Butterscotch Baking Chips

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Check one more item off the Heavenly Homemakers Recipe Challenge List! We have Butterscotch Chips!

These are more than just a little bit sweet – wowza, these chips are quite sugary. Therefore, I must advise that you don’t eat the entire pan of butterscotch chips all in one sitting. I’m pretty sure you knew that already. I’m also pretty sure you are planning to eat plenty of vegetables before (and after) you make these. Right?

Here are the reasons I attempted Homemade Butterscotch Chips:

  1. Many of you wanted me to do this. I aim to please.
  2. Every single package of butterscotch chips I’ve seen on the market has hydrogenated oil in them. Bleh. It is very important to avoid hydrogenated oils.
  3. I need some Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies.

You will notice that I used organic brown sugar in this recipe instead of sucanat. I did this because I was afraid that the molasses flavor of the sucanat would effect the flavor of these chips, making them not taste like butterscotch. I had some organic brown sugar on hand, so I used it and was pleased with the results.

Homemade Butterscotch ChipsYum

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup coconut oil (I used expeller pressed so as not to have a coconut flavor)
1 cup organic brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a saucepan, melt together butter, coconut oil and brown sugar. Stir continually until all ingredients are mixed well, bringing the mixture ALMOST to a boil, then turning down the heat. Cook and stir some more on low heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is a liquid.

Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in vanilla extract. Pour the contents onto a parchment paper lined container. I used a 9×13 inch dish.

Place the dish into the fridge for 3-4 hours to allow the mixture to solidify. Cut or break the butterscotch into small “chips”.

Store them in an air tight container in the fridge.

And would you look at that? These homemade butterscotch chips make fantastic Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies! (I’ll share my recipe next week.)

Are you a fan of butterscotch chips? What’s your favorite way to use them?

Read about making Homemade Chocolate Chips here!

 

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Our 2011-2012 School Year Schedule

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If you’ve been reading here long, you know that I keep a very loose schedule during our school days. I like to have a general routine in place, but just about every day looks different depending on the needs of the moment.

For instance, this week our family is helping with our local Meals-on-Wheels. Matt’s been taking two boys with him each morning. We’re just rearranging the schedule a little bit to make this happen. We want our boys to understand that serving others comes first (and that they still have to get the school work done later!).

As is our tradition, we hit the store last week to purchase a few school supplies, then went out for lunch.
We’ve had this before-school tradition for at least seven years and we look forward to this treat every year!

Here, without any specific hour of the day assigned to each line item (because it truly is different each day), is what I’ve outlined for our routine this year. (Read the specifics about the curriculum we’ll be using here.)

1. I wake up first in our household. After beginning my morning with prayer and Bible reading, I use this quiet time to check email and do website work. (one hour)

2. The boys wake up and spend time reading their Bibles while I fix breakfast. (20 minutes)

3. We eat breakfast together and during this time, I read the Bible and a devotional book to everyone. (We’re reading through the book of Matthew and More Than a Carpenter, by Josh McDowell right now.)  We work together to clean up the kitchen. (one hour)

4. Asa, Justus and Elias begin working through their assigned school lessons – doing what they can do on their own (math, English, etc.). I work with Malachi on reading, phonics and math. (one hour)

5. I read History/Geography to Justus and Elias. Malachi does individual work (if possible) or plays legos. Asa continues to work on his own. (30 minutes)

6. Justus and Elias work together on their History/Geography projects (Eastern Hemisphere Explorer, adapted from Sonlight). I read History with Asa (mostly because I want to learn myself!). Malachi does puzzles or magnetics. (45 minutes)

Malachi had a great time working on these Three-Letter Words Puzzle Cards today.
I highly recommend them if you have a beginning reader. I think I got them at Walmart,
but linked them to Amazon if that’s easier for you, and so that you could see what I was talking about.

7. Matt does Spelling with Justus and Elias, then works with Asa on Science, Spelling and/or Spanish (depending on the day). Malachi is assigned to work in his Explode the Code books. I check email and take care of any pressing website work, then I work on fixing lunch. (one hour)

8. Lunchtime! Matt leads us through Bible memory work. While we eat, I read a read aloud. (I eat a little faster than my kids, by the way. That’s why I’m able to read while we have meals. Plus, this helps mealtime be a little more…calm.)  ;)

9. I read Science to Justus, Elias and Malachi, then they work on their Science Animal Project, with help from me as needed. Asa works on his own. (30 minutes)

10. Justus and Elias have their reading time. Asa works on his own. I read to Malachi. (30 minutes)

11. Everyone finishes their assignments for the day and works together to put away books and tidy up the house. (however long this takes)

12. Downtime, Curious George time, trampoline time, mess the house back up time – for the boys. I try to get some writing done or answer emails. (2-3 hours)

13. Work together to make dinner, then eat together. We visit or read aloud while we eat.

14. Evening times look different every day depending on whether we have company, soccer games, Bible class or a free evening. Bedtime is therefore flexible, but always includes family prayer time and sometimes more reading aloud.

15. After the boys are tucked in, I do more website work while Matt gets any work done that he needs to do.

Here are all of my past home school posts if you’d like to read through them to learn more about how this works for us!

I’ll be sure to let you know if ever a day actually goes exactly according to schedule. Don’t get your hopes up.

Do you like to keep to a strict schedule each day, or do you hold a loose routine like we do?

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Gratituesday: A Matter of Perspective

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Our house is over 100 years old. Sometimes it just feels so dirty. And creaky. And high maintenance.

Sometimes I feel like our house is a never ending project. It is huge and the exterior needs painting. Scraping, priming and painting this thing is taking forever and our house looks a little bit dingy while it undergoes the tedious and laborious process.

Inside, Matt’s been insulating several rooms. Plaster comes off, dust forms everywhere, drywall goes up – walls are still unfinished while Matt instead focuses on painting the exterior.

The bathrooms need help. Paint is peeling, the floors need tile. Something weird is going on with the bathtub. The sink has hard water stains.

Most of our walls aren’t smooth, mostly because they’re made of 105 year old plaster. They have chinks and dings in them.

There’s a big draft in our guest room. We don’t have central air conditioning. It’s hard to keep our house warm in the winter.

Do you want me to keep going?

No, you really don’t. I love my house and I’m thankful for my house, but it is very old and takes a lot of constant work to upkeep. I don’t think we’ll ever be caught up on all the home improvement projects we’d like to do.

Sometimes that really bothers me. We love having company, and sometimes I wonder what people think when they stay here. Are they noticing the cracks? The peeling paint? The weird thing going on with the bathtub? Do they see the dangling mini-blinds that our boys yanked down, the gap in the game room ceiling that needs repair, the piece of trim that is missing?

Maybe they do. Some of them surely do. Our house is a work in progress and my prideful heart sometimes cares too much about what other people think. It really shouldn’t matter and it’s not something that should worry me, but sometimes I let it get to me anyway.

But recently, a friend that I haven’t seen for a while came over. She and her family have been living in a tiny home with hardly any yard or living space for her kids to run around and play. She wasn’t complaining, just telling me the latest.

She kept exclaiming over how big my house is, how pretty the living room is, how nice it is that we have a garden, how beautiful my kitchen is, how great, how great, how great.

Really? My house.

Great? Pretty? Nice?

Did you see the unfinished drywall? The varieties of colors on the outside of my house as we go from yellow to bare wood to white primer to taupe?

It seems that it’s all a matter of perspective. And a new perspective is what I need.

What other people see or notice or think doesn’t matter. What matters is that I appreciate the gift God has given me. Even if the gift does have peeling paint.

My house is beautiful and we are blessed.

It’s all a matter of perspective.

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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