Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Consult your Partner

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~Appreciate Your Spouse~
~Buoyancy in Marriage~

Consult Your Partner

Surprise!!! – Matt’s Thoughts

In Matt’s head about 3pm – Phew, I can’t wait for a little me time tonight. Maybe I could get some guys together to play some games, maybe even soccer! If that doesn’t work out I can always play any multitude of computer games and just relax.

Matt begins making plans with other guys.

In Laura’s head about 3pm – Phew, I can’t wait for Matt to be able to help me with these restless boys so that I can get a few things done around here. I may even see if I can steal away for an hour or two by myself tonight while the boys are with Matt. (I don’t claim to know a whole lot of what is going through her mind so I’ll let her go there.)

Laura has her own agenda in mind.

You can see where this is headed, right?

(Of course, all characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.)

I do have occasional game nights, but I consult my partner first.

In a business partnership before making a decision that would affect the company we would consult with our partners. More importantly, in a life-long committed partnership with our spouse we need to communicate before acting in many instances. Decisions regarding the way we spend our time and money are maybe the most frequent. In healthy marriages spouses consult each other and align themselves on the same wavelength regarding these decisions. Fortunately, Laura and I discovered this early in our marriage. We talk often about how we plan to spend money and time so that we are on the same page and surprises have become rarer. We save surprises for special occasions.

Should I Buy this Watermelon? – Laura’s Thoughts

When to consult…when not to consult? I mean, do I need to consult Matt when I’m at the grocery store to be sure it’s okay with him if I buy the watermelon that’s on sale for $2.50? And I’m thinking that I may want to trim my fingernails tonight after dinner. I wonder if that’s okay with Matt?

(Above examples are as fictitious as the characters in Matt’s story. Except for the watermelon. I did buy a watermelon.)

I don’t need to consult Matt about every watermelon purchase I make or about every detail of my schedule. Know why? Because we’ve already consulted about our overall grocery budget and food preferences, as well as the roles we play. In this case, I am the chief watermelon picker-outer and purchaser. It’s important to be clear about the big stuff so that the little stuff isn’t quite so complicated.

“As far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”  This verse from Romans is one our family works to live by. Respecting our partner enough to consult him/her about purchases or time commitments is one of the best ways to live at peace. Not only that, do I really want the pressure of making major decisions for our family without consulting Matt? I pretty much don’t.

Unless, of course, we’re talking about a watermelon.

P.S. We believe that connecting with your spouse is super high on the list for a healthy marriage, and hopefully that theme will be evident as it is woven throughout the A to Z tips.

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 – Consult

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Teaching Your Kids to Cook: Turkey Ranch Pinwheels

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As I mentioned a few days ago, we’re working hard at our house on a new curriculum/ebook called Teaching Your Kids to Cook. Just like Learn Your Letters, Learn to Serve, this has become a family project. I’m the one writing it, but all the kids get to be a part of putting this all together (and posing for pictures), which makes this task so much more fun!

Malachi (age 6) was eager to help me try a new “recipe” idea – one that requires no cooking – just a little bit of spreading, rolling and sprinkling. In the middle of summer, any recipe that requires “no cooking” is a winner, so we decided we’d give you a sneak peek into this recipe before the book is completed!

Turkey Ranch PinwheelsYum

4 Soft Whole Wheat Tortillas
3 Tablespoons Ranch Dressing (we make our own ranch dressing)
½ cup Turkey, cut into tiny pieces
½ cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Spread Ranch Dressing on each tortilla.

Sprinkle bits of cheese and turkey over the ranch covered tortilla.

See what a nice job Malachi did!

Roll the filled tortilla up as tightly as you can.

Let a grown up help cut the rolled tortilla into pinwheels:

Malachi was so excited that he “made dinner for our family” and he declared this to be the “awesomest dinner ever!” It’s true – these Turkey Ranch Pinwheels were super easy to put together, didn’t require a stove or an oven and Malachi (age 6) was able to do most of the work all by himself (okay, not really, but sort of). We devoured this entire plate – and we had made a triple batch!

Since we had been taking pictures of the entire process Malachi wondered, “Don’t you need a picture of me eating them, Mom?” Well sure. Just in case you aren’t sure what to do once you finish putting your Pinwheels together, here’s Malachi to show you:

Do your kids enjoy helping you in the kitchen? I know it’s usually easier (and less messy) to do the work yourself…how often do you pull the kids into the kitchen to help?

Update! The book is finished – find Teaching Your Kids to Cook and Learn to Cook books here!

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Gratituesday: Board Gaming

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There are a few weeks during our year that offer a little more down time that other times of the year. Recently, since the garden isn’t producing a huge amount yet, soccer is not in season and we haven’t been traveling…we’ve been blessed to have a bit more time at home. We’re taking advantage of this “down time” to scrape and paint our house, invite people over that we’ve been wanting to get together with, and several nights recently, we’ve taken the time for family game time. 

Slowly but surely, we’re getting to the point where all six of us together can play games (that don’t involve Chutes, Ladders or a Candy Cane Forest). I’m loving it. I tend to be so task oriented, focusing on projects that need to be done, dishes that need to be washed, phone calls that need to be made. It’s hard for me to loosen up and really participate in any down time we might have. There’s always so much work to be done. 

The work will always be there. 

But I’m always so grateful for the times I’ve put aside my “to-do list” and just played with my family. We get silly. We laugh. And every once in a while, I actually win a game. ;)

It’s an honor that my kids want to spend time with me. It’s a privilege that my husband is home in the evenings to hang out with. Quiet evenings at home are rare. In just a few weeks, we’ll have produce taking over our kitchen, soccer season will start, schooling will begin and all thoughts of down time will be buried under muddy soccer cleats and buckets of tomatoes. 

For today and maybe even again tomorrow, I will say yes to a rowdy game of Apples to Apples or a lazy game of Traverse. I have yet to regret one moment of board game playing with my family.

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!

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Buying In Bulk – Gallons of Maple Syrup and Honey

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I’m working through a series in buying whole foods in bulk!
If you haven’t read them yet, you may be interested in : 
Why I Buy in Bulk and Buying in Bulk:  Do You Have the Space?

It’s almost Maple Syrup Day!! That’s not a national holiday (that I know of) – just the one Thursday every July that I buy three gallons of maple syrup. Why? Because that’s when the “maple syrup people” come to our Farmer’s Market for their once a year stop in my town. I buy what I hope will last me the year (although this year it didn’t, and I had to grab some from Amazon to get us by).

People have looked at me a little funny as I walk away with so much maple syrup, wondering why I would possibly want so much. Well, because we’re a family of six, because we have a lot of company, because we use it on our pancakes and waffles and french toast and in our milk shakes and soothers and in several other recipes. The maple syrup they bring to the Farmer’s Market is pure – I trust this family. Maple syrup is one of my top sweeteners of choice, and buying three gallons at a time saves me quite a bit of money and time. If I buy my year’s supply of maple syrup in July at the Farmer’s Market, I don’t have to think about maple syrup again until well…this year, it lasted us until May. 

I do the same thing with our hard white wheat berries, buying our entire year’s supply in February when my friend organizes a big truck delivery of the wonderful golden kernels. If you haven’t read my exclusive interview with myself after I purchased 500 pounds of wheat at one time, you may find it helpful – or at least amusing.

Do I buy everything in 365 day quantities? No. But with things like wheat and maple syrup, it just sort of makes sense for me to do it this way.  When I know it’s something we use continually, when I find a great price, when I know I may have a harder time getting my hands on a certain product – I stock up.

Take honey for example (because I thought you might need yet another sweet and sticky example after reading about maple syrup). Our “honey man” harvests a very limited quantity of raw, pure honey each fall. If I don’t buy all the honey I’ll need for the year in September, he’ll likely not have any more for me later. It makes sense for me to buy a year’s supply at once. 

I also do this with produce during the summer and fall. I know we’ll be needing 52 weeks worth of corn, green beans, tomato sauce, tomato soup, applesauce, peaches and pears…so I plant my garden and make my local farm produce purchases accordingly. (I also keep my nose the the ground – or is that my ear? I forget – and snatch all kinds of free produce people are happy to part with when they are feeling overloaded.)  During the months of July, August and September, we are crazy busy with preserving – either canning or freezing – our year’s supply of corn, green beans – all the foods I just mentioned. It just makes sense for our family.

I’m sure some of you are wondering:  How do we afford to buy such large quantities of maple syrup, wheat, honey, etc. at one time?  Here are two posts that might help answer that question:  How I Grocery Shop and Our 2011 Grocery Budget. I’ll be a little more specific about this topic next week! (to be continued…)

I’m curious if you buy a year’s supply of anything, or if you prefer buying smaller quantities?

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Menu Plan for the Week

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bananamuffins2sm

Here’s our menu for the week!

Sunday, June 26
Banana muffins, applesauce
Italian roast, potatoes, gravy, carrots
Cheese, crackers, watermelon

Monday, June 27
Crepes with jelly, bananas
Sloppy joes, carrots with ranch dressing, strawberry-peach slushies
Tacos with homemade tortillas, fruit salad, homemade ice cream with hot fudge sauce (company coming for dinner!)

Tuesday, June 28
Fruit-kefir smoothies, toast
Grilled cheese and turkey sandwiches, green beans
Teriyaki chicken and veggies with rice

Wednesday, June 29
Apricot breakfast bars, applesauce
Chicken veggie quesadillas, strawberry-orange smoothies
Lamb chops, tossed salad, asparagus

Thursday, June 30
Coconut flour muffins, pears
Cheeseburger zucchini boats, carrot sticks
Black bean salsa with chips, watermelon

Friday, July 1
Giant breakfast cookies, oranges
Hoagie sandwiches, fruit, carrots
Pasta dinner with family

Saturday, July 2
Big brunch with family
Leftovers

What’s on your menu this week?

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How to Soak Corn Meal for Better Digestion

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Taco Corn Fritters

I’ve shared how to soak wheat flour or oats to aid in digestion. (I’ve also shared that I’m not a die-hard grain soaker, I just do the best I can.)

I’ve been asked several times recently to share how to soak corn meal for easier digestion. Soaking corn is different from soaking wheat flour or oats. For some reason I’d never looked into it much. What, did I think it would be difficult? FYI – it’s not difficult. I figured it out after about ten minutes of reading my Nourishing Traditions book on the subject of soaking corn. I took a few pictures of the process, but really? They turned out silly. You do not need a full picture tutorial to show you how to pour pickling lime into water. Your five year old could do it.

I said all of that to say, “Sorry I didn’t share this four years ago. It’s not that hard.” 

How to Make Lime Water to Soak Cornmeal:

  1. Pour 1 inch of pickling lime into a half gallon jar.
  2. Fill the jar with water. Put the lid on the jar because next you need to…
  3. Shake the jar.
  4. Let the jar stand overnight until the lime settles. 
  5. The clear liquid at the top is your Lime Water.
  6. Store in a cool place (but not necessarily the fridge). 

To soak your cornmeal using Lime Water, it seems to me that most of the recipes in the Nourishing Traditions book recommend that you stir together 1 cup of cornmeal with 3/4-1 cup of Lime Water and allow it to sit for 7 hours before stirring in the wheat flour and cultured dairy and then continuing to soak for another 12 hours or so.

Now, just so you know, I shared this because I had some requests, and I’m always happy to learn new things in the kitchen. Will I be practicing this soaking of cornmeal thing much?  I’m not sure.  I wanted to share the idea with you in case you’d like to look into it more, but I don’t see the huge, incredible benefits to make this worth my efforts. If YOU see the huge, incredible benefits of soaking the cornmeal each time I make Cornbread or Taco Corn Fritters, please do pass them on. I’d really love to learn!

What all do you make with cornmeal?

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Buoyancy in Marriage

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Are You Buoyant?

Unsinkable…ness – Matt’s Thoughts

Do you remember the little jingle “The unsinkable taste of Cheerios, not a lot of sugar to weigh down those Cheerios”? (The off brands are unsinkable too by the way.)  You push it down with your spoon and it slides to the side and floats to the top in defiance. You cover it with banana slices and BAM it pops up next to the banana slice with arrogance. You struggle to destroy it and all the evil that lies within it by taking it to Mt. Doom in Mordor where the ring was forged and…oh, sorry, wrong ring.

So, Cheerios – and the off brands of it – are buoyant. Seemingly no matter what is done they overcome and rise to the top. Does that describe you? Do you choose to rise to the top, or do you allow circumstances to dictate your mood? This is a mindset in life that has implications in marriage. People in healthy marriages rise to the top instead of fighting each other. We achieve this by recognizing who the enemy is, joining forces with our covenant partner and relying on the faithful Lord – the original rotfl.

The enemy is Satan, the accuser*. We are in the trench side by side with our spouse defending each other by building each other up with appreciative actions and words. Satan wants to tear down our marriage relationship and friendly fire is one of his most effective tactics. In our family a verse we often quote at meal times is, “Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry” (James 1:19). The children think we are directing this teaching at them, but I need this drilled into me to help me keep my aim away from Laura.

On my own I don’t have that unsinkable…ness, but the Lord is faithful and buoys me. It’s a matter of me letting go of my selfishness and living by His Spirit. As with living by the words in James 1:19 this is easier said than done. If we allow, God’s grace changes us to be more like him day by day.

Lord of the Rings – Laura’s Thoughts

Admittedly, I know a lot more about Cheerios than I know about Mt. Doom in Mordor in Lord of the Rings. Four boys and thirteen thousand (off brand) Cheerios later, I’ve seen the buoyancy of Cheerios a few times. And yet, Matt got me thinking about the Lord of the Rings.

Our wedding rings symbolically bind us. They represent the covenant we made with each other and to God on our wedding day.

We have two choices:  We can let God be at the center of our marriage, and let Him give us the grace to react and respond to our spouse in a godly way – or we can let Satan creep in and chink away at the beauty of the bond that our wedding rings represent. We can buoy, even when we don’t feel like it, even when it hurts, even when it’s hard – or we can give in to the selfishness that at the time seems the easier choice.

The question we must ask ourselves is this:  In our marriage, who is the Lord of the Rings? Is it God – or is it the Deceiver? Are we allowing God to help us rise to the top, or are we carelessly sinking into a pit of selfish living?

 *Read Rev. 12:9-12 for insight on the accuser and how to overcome him.

Ladies, we know you’re reading here more often than the guys. ;)  We’d love husbands to read this article as well. 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. Print Healthy Marriage Tips A to Z – Buoyancy.

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Safe Bug Block and Why We Want to Avoid Toxic Bug Block

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Oh, mosquitos. They are horrible, making a fun picnic or outing much less fun. Bug block to the rescue, right? Sure. But is all bug block safe for our skin?

I’m super picky about anything that goes on our skin. Why? Because our skin is our largest organ. Because what goes on our skin goes into our body. Because what goes into our body effects our overall health. Thanks to our son, Malachi, we’ve learned how to treat our skin well so that our overall health will be better. It really is amazing how important it is to take care of our skin.

So while I’m not a fan of mosquitos, I’m even less a fan of spraying harmful chemicals all over my family to avoid bug bites. From Parkinson’s to cancer to behavior issues, I feel that the possible issues that we can face as a result of bug spray are not worth the risk.

I’ve told you all about how the MadeOn Lotion Bar has saved my poor, dry, broken out hands and have made them continually soft and free of pain. I love MadeOn and am so thankful to have learned about their wonderful company and products.

Recently, I had the chance to try the MadeOn Bug Block, which is just as safe, just as non-toxic, just as easy to use as their Hard Lotion Bar that I love. Not that this matters one way or the other with how it works, but can I just say how much I love the way Bug Block smells? Yes, it really smells good. Even my boys said this, and trust me – my boys aren’t so much into caring about how products smell. (Unless it’s bacon…)

made on bug block
Great, so it smells good – but how does it work? Well, here’s my story:

Last week, we sent Asa (our 14 year old) outside with orders to remove all of the green overgrowth on one side of our house – not a fun job, and one that is typically quite mosquito filled. I handed him the MadeOn Bug Block and had him rub it all over his arms and neck and face. He spent a good part of the morning outside with vines and mosquitoes for company. Fun.

Later, I went out briefly to help all the younger boys haul off all the branches and vines that Asa had taken care of earlier. I really only planned to be outside long enough to give some direction, so I didn’t take the time to use the Bug Block. Mistake. I ended up staying out longer and helping more than I had intended, so one hour and several mosquito bites later, I came back inside.

While I tried not to scratch, I asked Asa how the Bug Block had worked. His response was, “Hmm. I don’t think I got bit at all while I was out there. Maybe there just weren’t any mosquitoes?”

Oh no. The mosquitoes were there. I didn’t see them either, but I felt them. Remind me to put on Bug Block next time. It totally kept the mosquitoes away from Asa.

So that’s my MadeOn Bug Block story. It works and it’s completely non-toxic and safe for you and your kids. How wonderful that we can take care of our skin and avoid bugs at the same time. Summer is saved!

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Stop Complaining

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Monday, I was talking on the phone with a friend while simultaneously trying to fit my week’s supply of milk into a very full refrigerator. With one hand holding the phone and the other hand working to rearrange the leftovers and eggs and dressings so that all of the milk jars would fit, I let out an exasperated, “Ugh! Why is my fridge always so FULL!?” My friend, in her loving and wise way said, “Well, when you consider the alternative…”

Huh. No kidding. Was I really just whining about having a refrigerator full of food? Shame on me. 

Why is it so much easier to complain than to have a grateful heart? Why do we tend to complain and whine about things which are actually blessings? 

We complain when the weather is so hot that we feel like we’ll melt and all we can do is long for cooler days – but come winter we’ll be complaining of the cold. If it’s raining, we’ll really want it to stop, but if it’s not raining, we’ll complain that everything is too dry. When the wind blows too hard, we complain that our hair is going to be messed up, but if there’s no breeze at all, we’ll complain about how still it is.

When we stand at our closet, trying to decide what to put on, we complain that we have nothing to wear – then later we’ll stand beside our piles of laundry thinking “woe is me” thoughts about all the clothes that need to be washed.

We complain about all the stuff all over our house that is causing clutter and making a mess – then we complain that we don’t have enough money to buy more stuff.

We complain when the roads are bumpy or full of pot holes, when the snow hasn’t been cleared well and when the streets need to be repaved – but talk to us about the taxes we need to pay in order for this to happen or the detours we’ll have to take so that the work can be done – and we’ll complain again even louder.

We complain that we never have time to ourselves and wish we could just get a moment’s peace without somebody asking us to do something or calling us on the phone – but when the phone is silent and we’re home alone, we wonder why we feel lonely.

We complain about all kinds of things we have no control over and seem to think that maybe complaining might help us feel better, but instead, it just makes us grumpy. We complain about all kinds of things we DO have control over, but really just wish we didn’t have to put forth the effort to make the changes happen.

I’m glad Jesus wasn’t a complainer – can you imagine? “I wish all these needy people would just leave me alone for a change and stop asking for miracles – they’re wearing me out. And this fish – can’t we find something to eat besides fish for a change? And for goodness sake, could someone please get me something other than a rock for a pillow?”

Complaining is an easy habit to get into and a hard one to break. Ha! Something else to complain about. ;)

Or, how about we all work together on being grateful and make a conscious effort to stop complaining?

Think of the peace we could all have if we just decide to stop complaining.

We are blessed! Be grateful!

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