Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Meals to Take Others and Getting It All Done – Podcast #4

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Somehow in between drywall going up and all the other living room mess, I was able to find a quiet(ish) moment to record a podcast. And somewhere in between putting up the drywall, going to work and catching a few winks, Matt was able to put it all together for you. He is SO the greatest.

Several of you have requested that I upload my podcasts to iTunes and I think it’s a great idea. Unfortunately, after spending several hours the past two weeks trying to get that all set up for you, I have hit a brick wall. It’s either really, really hard to do this, or my gifts lie more in the area of chocolate, beef and homemade vanilla. I’m having a very hard time getting it figured out and the tutorials I’ve found to help me are NOT written in my language. And so, I will be calling for back up.  My podcasts WILL be on iTunes soon, but I don’t think it will be me getting them there. Maybe there’s something simple I’m missing? We’ll get back to you on that. Thanks for your patience! In the meantime, they are currently an mp3 file and hopefully most of you are able just to click the link and it will begin to play for you right away on your computer.

I’m not sure if I ever told you this or not, but we live very close to train tracks. If you didn’t know that before, you will definitely know that after listening to podcast #4. Two trains in 17 minutes.

Also, feel free to enjoy the irony of the moment when JUST as I am saying something like “we like to do everything as a family”, the door creaks open and in comes Malachi to poke me and try to get my attention (because apparently we even like to record podcasts as a family). I TOLD the kids that when Mama is recording, the door is SHUT and we do NOT interrupt her, but it would appear that he didn’t think that statement applied to him. It has now been reinforced to him that the statement does in fact apply to him, but shucks…won’t that be cute to listen to for years to come?

Today, I will be addressing a question regarding food/meals that are easy to take to families with young children…plus I’ll tell you just how I “get it all done”. Just in case you don’t catch it in the podcast, I never get it all done. Ever. And just wait until you hear what time I’ve been getting up in the mornings lately. :)

Heavenly Homemakers Podcast Four

Links referred to in the podcast:

If I forgot any links, please let me know and I’ll add them. Be sure to leave a comment suggesting questions for a future podcast!

So, what time do YOU get up every day?

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Chicken Noodle Soup – with homemade broth and noodles!

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You know how I sometimes almost forget to put the bananas in my banana bread? It probably goes without saying, but I think I may have issues, because sometimes I almost forget the chicken in my Chicken Noodle Soup. It’s an easy mistake, I think. (nod and smile)  I am usually so excited about the rich broth and the yummy homemade noodles that adding the cooked chicken sometimes slips my mind. Either that, or the Nerf bullets whizzing by my nose while I’m cooking temporarily distract me from the task at hand. At least the soup is still good without the chicken (as opposed to bananaless banana bread).

I love making Chicken Noodle Soup no matter what, but I really love the simplicity of it when I have both Chicken Broth and Whole Wheat Homemade Noodles already made…then all I have to do is put it all together into a quick soup. 

Chicken Noodle SoupYum

8 cups Chicken Broth
1 recipe of Whole Wheat Homemade Noodles
3 carrots
Sea salt
2 cups cooked chicken (optional, apparently)

Peel and chop carrots into bites. Place broth and carrots in a large cooking pot. Bring the broth and carrots to a boil. Boil for about five minutes, then add noodles and chicken (if you remember). Salt liberally. Place a lid on the pot and turn the burner down to simmer for about 15 minutes or until your noodles have cooked up fat and tender.

Chicken Noodle Soup tastes fantastic and comforting with a hot,
fresh Whole Wheat Soft Pretzel (on a drizzly fall evening as you sit around the table with your family…)

In a pinch, I have skipped making Whole Wheat Homemade Noodles and just added about three cups of purchased whole wheat pasta to make this soup. It works great and is an awesome quick meal to throw together. (Remember to add chicken.)

You’re welcome to throw other veggies into your soup…whichever veggies your family would enjoy (or the ones you would like to forcefully insist that they eat). You’re also welcome to add herbs and spices beyond sea salt.

Do you make homemade chicken and noodles? What herbs and veggies do you use? Do you ever forget to add the chicken?

Print Grocery List

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Three Reasons I Love My Sourdough Starter

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Please welcome Katie from Kitchen Stewardship, sharing with you a fantastic opportunity to learn more about the wonderful art of sourdough! I never knew you could make so many delicous foods from sourdough! I think you’ll be as excited as I am as you read on…

“I have captured YEAST!” I cried, in the midst of my sourdough happy dance, the day I first saw bubbles in my starter. (You can picture the scene if you overlay it with Tom Hanks in Castaway screaming, “I have created FIRE!”)

I used Laura’s photo tutorial to help me get started, but I was so nervous that I would fail, I refused to even take pictures for my own blog. I had zero confidence.

Fermentation and, you know, helping bacteria to grow and proliferate, is my hardest challenge as a real foodie. Sometimes I just need to see and experience something to really ‘get it’ and wish for someone to hold my hand a little. I wish the GNOWFGLINS Sourdough eCourse would have been available last fall to encourage me and ease my fears. I might have jumped in with both feet instead of stewing about sourdough for a year before trying a starter.

Now that I have a jar of flour and water bubbling away on my counter, I’ll never go back. I love my sourdough.

 

3 Reasons I Love My Sourdough Starter

  1. It’s More Forgiving Than a Fish. When someone overheard me explaining the care and feeding of my sourdough starter to someone with whom I was sharing a jar, she said, “Goodness, it sounds like you’re talking about a goldfish!” She’s not too far from the truth.I feed my starter some whole wheat flour every day and stir it well, adding water every other day or so. The starches give the natural yeasts something to eat, and they produce the bubbles that will make a lovely sourdough loaf.The difference between feeding my sourdough starter and feeding my son’s goldfish is simple: The starter doesn’t mind being forgotten in the refrigerator for a week. Sometimes we all need a break, and our kids goldfishes won’t “rise up” without constant TLC!
  2. I’m “in the club.” With my sourdough starter, I get to rub shoulders with sourdough masters Wardeh Harmon and Erin VanderLugt as they share 20 weeks of recipes. I tried to count how many actual things these women can make with their sourdough starters, but I lost count. From tortillas to spice cake, pita bread to cinnamon rolls, I quickly realize I’m a little fish in a big sourdough pond.Plus, I get to throw around terms like “active, domed state” and sound important!


Mmmm, cinnamon rolls. I think I know what’s going on the menu plan for Saturday morning!

3. I Make the Healthiest Bread on the Planet. Did you know whole grains can cause mineral absorption problems? God wisely created seeds to be difficult to digest, which is for the good of the seed and the proliferation of that species.

For the good of ourspecies, however, we like to eat the bread of life. To be most life-giving, whole grains need to be properly prepared to neutralize the enzyme inhibitors and phytic acid that hinder digestion. There’s much talk of soaking vs. sprouting vs. sourdough, but in my research, sourdough is the most traditional and Biblical form of bread. It’s also the most backed by scientific research on human beings. Added bonus!

Click HERE for more information on the art of sourdough baking via video, downloads, and recipes for everything you can imagine using sourdough.

The unique Pay What You Can philosophy allows you to preview the course and pay a fair price according to your means, and you can choose which lessons interest you the most and skip the rest without feeling like you’ve wasted a registration fee. Get a free thank-you gift every month when you make a payment! Enrollment never closes.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by GNOWFGLINS eCourses.

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Gratituesday: My Father-in-Law

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gratituesday

I realize that I appreciated my father-in-Law last Gratituesday when I told you that he had come from California to help us insulate our living room…but after watching him work and work and work all week long I can’t think of anything or anyone else that deserves a shout out again this Gratituesday. Prepping walls so that you can insulate them is NOT easy work. Prepping walls to put drywall up after insulating them is NOT easy work. 

Matt has, of course, had to go to work most of the days his dad has been here. I am unable to help because plaster dust is the last thing my asthmatic lungs need. My father-in-law (if a girl can say such a thing about her father-in-law) has been a rock star. He has put in so many hours of hard labor that he will for sure need a vacation from this vacation. Oh, and in between jobs in the living room…he’s been thoughtfully working to get the drains in our bathroom to work better.  I feel so cared for.  Have I mentioned that he’s the one responsible for the fact that we have a working dishwasher?

Both Matt and I agree:  This project would have never happened without him. We are so very grateful.

We’re a little bit farther along than this now…but here are the walls with insulation sprayed in. 
Just when you think the room can’t get any messier…  :)

On a slightly random note (because random is what I do best), Matt and I have been SHOCKED that our tomatoes are STILL producing. This has been one warm and lovely fall. Rarely are we still picking big loads of tomatoes in mid-October, but would you look at that:

Looks like another round of tomato sauce is in the works.

It sure is a good thing my kitchen is not as messy as my living room right now, huh? :)

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!

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please copy and paste the following sentence into your post! Thanks!

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Whole Wheat Hot Dog Buns

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I’ve admitted it here before: I love me a good beef hot dog. Do I love them because they are so very good for us and so highly nutritious? I wish.  But, at least I’ve been able to find some from our local meat farmers that are better than regular dogs from the store. I also often buy Shelton Turkey Franks from Azure Standard.

I had perfected my whole wheat hamburger bun recipe, but never took the time to make the dough into hot dog buns. In the past when I’d tried to make hot dog buns (from other recipes), they turned out as big as a baseball bat and about that heavy. (We’ve already talked about how none of us want our buns to be heavy.)  This time, when I tried to make hot dog buns, I focused on making the buns small. The smaller the buns, the better…right? :)

Using this whole wheat hamburger bun recipe, I rolled out the dough to about 1/4 inch thickness and cut the dough into circles using a wide mouth jar. A wide mouth jar isn’t going to make a very big circle, and you might think that the bun isn’t going to be big enough…but keep in mind that these rolls will rise and we do not want a bready bun. No indeed.

hotdog_buns_1

Yum

Take each circle and roll it up gently…

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Almost finished…

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And…done. Look at the cute little unbaked hot dog bun. Kinda makes you wish you were a hot dog so you could lay down in there and take a nap, doesn’t it?

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Put all the cute little rolled buns in a baking dish. Allow them to rise for about 20 minutes.

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Bake the buns for about 25 minutes at 350°. If they aren’t golden brown, leave them in there just a little bit longer. I kinda think it would be fun to bake the hotdog right into the bun, but I haven’t tried it yet. And just for the record, I don’t really wish I was a hot dog, no matter how inviting these buns look.

hotdog_buns_7

Carefully slit the buns open at the top with a knife and pop in a cooked hotdog.

hotdog_buns_1

Add all your fixin’s and you’ve got a tasty hotdog on a bun that has just a little more substance than the airy ones we find at the store, but they aren’t so bready you feel like you’re eating all bun and no dog.

So what do ya think? Should I try baking the hot dog right into the bun to make a sort of “pig in a blanket”? I think my kids would enjoy that surprise. Although since these hot dogs are made from beef or turkey, can we still call it a “pig in a blanket”? Sometimes life just throws us these difficult questions, ya know?

So humor me will ya? Are you a hot dog lover or not? Am I the only weird one who really appreciates eating real, whole foods…but still likes the occasional hot dog?  :)

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Menu Plan for the Week

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chocolatechocolatechipmuffinssm

My living room is still a big, big mess…but we’re getting there. The insulation is in, now let operation drywall begin. Instead of showing you pictures of the mess, I decided to show you a more appetizing picture of Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins because pictures of plaster all over the floor does not inspire you to plan a lovely menu, does it? I’ll post a whole lot of living room pictures once I have more to show!

My father in law will only be here until Wednesday, so here’s hoping he and Matt get most of the drywall up in the next two days. They have been SUCH hard workers and I am just so appreciative. 

Here’s what we’ll be eating this week:

Sunday, October 17
Oatmeal, apples
Chicken and Noodles, carrots, honey wheat muffins
Turkey cheese melts on biscuits, pears

Monday, October 18
Chocolate chocolate chip muffins, fruit-kefir smoothies
BBQ meatballs, baked squash, green beans
Tacos (on homemade tortillas and using the last fresh tomatoes of the season)

Tuesday, October 19
Honey whole wheat bagels, applesauce
Tuna salad on toast, cottage cheese and peaches, carrot sticks
Italian roast wraps with tomatoes and kreme fresh, strawberry-peach slushies

Wednesday, October 20
French toast, peach syrup, whipped cream
Popcorn chicken, ranch potato wedges, green beans
Cheesy beef and rice, tossed salad, corn

Thursday, October 21
Creamy orange cooler, peanut butter honey toast
Egg and turkey sausage casserole, orange muffins
Lamb chops, baked potatoes, peas

Friday, October 22
Fried eggs on toast, applesauce
Corn dog muffins, carrot sticks, fruit-kefir smoothies
Homemade pizza

Saturday, October 23
Whole Wheat Donuts
Leftovers
Fall Party at church

If you’re having a hard time coming up with good lunch ideas, you may want to listen to this Podcast…as well as download this free Healthy Lunch Ideas cheat sheet to stick on your fridge!!

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Favorite Field Trip? Question #72

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It has been one big week of field trips! No one should ever worry that homeschoolers don’t get out enough or get enough social interaction. (That is totally another post for another time.)  I can guarantee you that no homeschooler in my house is deprived of cool activities. I can also guarantee you that the mother of said homeschoolers is very much whipped from all the comings and goings of the week.

Yesterday, we spent the whole day at The Scarecrow Patch. (Okay, not the whole day. We left home a little earlier to get those basketball shoes I mentioned that he needed. I am happy to report that we were able to get a great deal on Niki High Tops at the FIRST store we went to, and we got the FIRST pair he tried on. Thank you God!)  Anyway, after we found the shoes, then we went to the The Scarecrow Patch. And you’d think that I’d have some great pictures, but indeed, right as I went to snap the first picture I found that our camera battery was dead. :(

Maybe you can just look at these pumpkin Patch pictures from two years ago and just imagine them all happening yesterday with my boys each being several inches taller and with Asa’s teenager hair being several inches longer. Oh my, look how little Malachi was. Aw, now I’m getting all weepy. My sweet babies.

I didn’t join my kids on the zip line this year like I have in years past. Not sure why. I guess I was having too much fun visiting with the other moms this year.

Oh yeah, there I am two years ago. It’s an awful shame you can’t see me very well in this picture.

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After spending the entire day at the The Scarecrow Patch yesterday, today we got to go to Wessels Farm, a local living history museum, where the younger boys were able to experience a school day in the 1920’s. It was SO cool. They even got to pack a lunch and carry it in a tin bucket. (Again, camera battery dead. This time because under all my dust and rubble I couldn’t find the charger.  sigh )  (I finally found it by the way, AFTER both field trips.)

Our older boys were taught all kinds of facts and information about Western Expansion and the Lousianna Territory and wow, Wessels Farm is a cool place!

Most weeks we don’t even have one field trip, much less two. But, since this was a heavy field trip week and field trips are on my mind, I thought I’d throw out a field trippy question:

What’s your favorite field trip memory, either with your kids…or from when you were a kid and went on a field trip?

I will say that I have very fond memories of my mom packing a Twinkie and a Grape Pop for me to drink with my field trip lunch. We NEVER got Twinkies except for field trips. Aw, too bad I know what Twinkies are made of now or I’d carry on the tradition. I guess I’ll just carry that memory forever in my heart. :)

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It’s About Time I Went Random On You

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It has been ages since I wrote a random post so tonight since I have a wide variety of thoughts running through my head, I thought I’d break out some randomness. 

~Malachi (5 1/2) has been having SUCH a hard time going to his Bible classes for the past several weeks. I know this is a normal phase – all my kids have gone through it at one time or another and all of them have gotten over it and have happily gone back to class without fear (and without kicking the teacher) eventually. But Malachi seems to be having a tougher time and nothing I’ve tried is helping. He said he wants to be with me forever and he’s too sad when he’s not with me and he’s never going to get married or go to Bible class ever again. You’d think after four kids I’d have this parenting thing all figured out.  If only.

~Just when we thought we got Asa’s shoes figured out (you remember that awesome deal we got right?)…we need to turn around and buy another pair of shoes. He’s decided to join our local Home school Basketball team this year and we’re excited to branch out of our soccer thing for a season…but shock upon shock, you are not allowed to wear soccer cleats on the basketball court. And so, on our way to the pumpkin patch field trip this week, we will be basketball shoe shopping. We’re making him pay half. I’m not sure if he’s buying the left shoe or the right shoe…I guess I’ll ask him which one he prefers. (That may have been one of the dorkiest jokes I’ve ever tried to write.)

~Never, ever, ever try to sort and reorganize your summer clothes and winter clothes in the middle of having company and putting insulation in your living room. I started the big clothing switch out (you know, that one you do every fall when you realize your kids need a sweatshirt instead of a swimsuit?), but then got busy getting ready for company and tearing apart our living room and all my organized piles got trampled. Then Legos got dumped into the piles. Yesterday, I decided to just close the door and walk away. I’ll figure it out eventually but for now I’m going to choose to be in denial about the insanity of that room.

I can’t even look at it.

~After I posted the initial pictures of our big living room insulation project, several of you commented about our beautiful window. You’re right…it’s old and antique and beautiful! But, Matt and I decided that maybe you’d better have a closer-up picture:

Nice huh?

One day several years ago, one of our boys was whacking a wooden sword on the couch directly in front of the window. The handle suddenly detached from the “blade”. The handle stayed in his hand. The blade flew up and banged against the window. I’m not sure if he was upset that he broke the window, but he sure was sad about the sword.

Yesterday, Matt finally took out the spider web window and took it in to be replaced.  I know…we should have done it long ago, but it was a part of that whole antique beveled glass window and we had a hard time doing it (we were able to leave the top part – the pretty part). Plus, it’s been a great conversation starter. You can never have enough broken window conversation starters, right?

The weird/sentimental part of me had a bit of a hard time parting with the broken window. I never got around to putting together baby books for my kids, so that window was a part of some baby boy memories for me. Really Laura, just get out the photo albums already.

It’s okay, I’m over it.

More pictures of the living room project to come, but let’s just say that I would not be surprised if some of the dust from our plastered walls (that are now all over our floor) may have reached as far as your home and settled there. If so, please accept my humble apologies. One hundred year old plaster really does stir up the dust.

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What My Husband Needs (I mean your husband, well…you know what I mean)

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help meet

You’ve read many of the books or heard much of the “good wife” advice that I’ve heard right? That advice that states that I need to greet my husband at the door each night when he comes home from work looking refreshed and lovely because otherwise I’m not showing my love for him. Apparently I’m supposed to be wearing the sweater he loves (always) and have my hair curled and pretty (at precisely 5:05)…the house is supposed to be clean and if I’m not mistaken, I am supposed to kiss my husband for a full minute (One Mississippi, Two Mississippi…) immediately when he walks in from his hard day at work. I also need to train my children to run in and greet him (what, in the middle of our kiss?!) so that they can show their Daddy how much he means to them.

But wait, there are other books that tell me that when a man comes home from work, he needs a good bit of time to wind down before he is to be bothered. He should be allowed to go “into his cave” all by himself with no one to touch him or ask him how his day went and I am certainly not to begin telling him how my day went until he has had exactly 47 minutes (or whatever) alone in his cave and is ready to give me his full attention.

I’m not sure if I’m supposed to kiss him in the cave or not. 

Is it just me, or is there a little bit of contradictory marriage advice out there? And while I think that so many of the aforementioned ideas are great and possibly valid, I can often feel overwhelmed with all of the “good advice” and feel like I just don’t measure up because I can’t do all of those things.

I would like to suggest that each of us, as wives, need to look at what our individual husband’s needs and desires are and focus on meeting those needs.

My husband personally doesn’t care if my hair is curled and lovely when he walks in the door. (Thank goodness, since as we all know, I rarely have time to curl my hair and you will often find a good bit of flour in the wisps falling into my face.)  He actually appreciates the fact that although I do care to keep myself clean and neat (flour in the hair being an exception), I don’t spend much time primping in front of a mirror every day. He doesn’t expect the house to be perfect and he doesn’t really have a cave. He would probably love it if I kissed him for 60 whole seconds (…Twenty-Four Mississippi…) when he walks in the door, but there are usually four loud and excited children who beat me to the door and if all I’m able to do is look up from my biscuit dough with a crooked smile…he still knows I love him.

Because I show him in ways that HE needs. 

It doesn’t matter what all the other husbands need.  All that matters to me is what MY husband needs. 

It’s good to listen to advice from Godly people and to read good Christian books on marriage. There are some fantastic words of wisdom to learn from. But take that advice and communicate with your husband about what he needs from you. Knowing that you’re doing just what your husband needs feels a whole lot better than trying to meet the needs defined in a book.

And now…just because I just really want to…I’m going to find my husband and practice the infamous 60-second kiss. (…Forty-Seven Mississippi…)

How about we call it “The Kississippi”?

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Gratituesday: Our Living Room Without Walls

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gratituesday

Never have I been so excited to see furniture in disarray, thick dust everywhere and junk all over the floor. 

Matt’s dad is here for a couple of weeks, helping us tear off our living room walls so that we can insulate them!!! Do you KNOW what this means??? This means that we will not freeze in our own home this winter. This means that we will not fight for space around the fireplace, since that typically is the only warm spot in the house. This means that I won’t feel like telling company to “Come on in…I’d encourage you to keep your coat on and would you also like a blanket?”

As Matt and his dad have torn off the lathe and plaster we were not surprised to see that there was NOTHING on the other side but the siding of our 100 year old house. NO WONDER we’ve been so cold. Woohoo, it’s going to be so nice this winter!!!

Here they are this morning in the very beginning stages.

During the next two weeks or so, we’ll be living in a mess. Matt will be working on the living room in every spare moment he’s home from work and Matt’s dad will certainly be earning his keep. I’ll do my best to feed him well.

Shucks, I guess there is no pressure right now to keep my house clean, huh? I do believe I’ll take the next couple of weeks off from housecleaning.  Sort of.  There are still the bathrooms and dishes.

This picture is a little dark, but take a look at that progress. 
Never before have ugly walls looked so beautiful to me!

I am so thankful that Matt’s dad was kind enough to make a trip here (from California I might add) to help us with this big project. The truth of the matter is…if he hadn’t come…we would not have been able to get this done. What a blessing!

I’ll try to post more pictures of our progress along the way if you’re interested.

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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