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Menu Plan for the Week

September 26, 2010 by Laura 4 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

In case you haven’t checked out Heavenly Homemakers Healthy Discounts Page…I’d really like to encourage you to click on over! There are some great deals posted (and I plan to add more this week)! Eating a healthy diet REALLY is possible for you and the Healthy Discounts Page is here to make your healthy food purchases more affordable. Check out what Serina just wrote on her blog:

I just scored a great deal on US-grown organic almonds. If you have the freezer space and room in your budget to do this, you’ll save a bundle, too. I ordered 25 lbs. of organic almonds from Braga Organic Farms. The cost was $140, plus $10 shipping. Using the coupon code (“home”) for 10% off (found at the Heavenly Homemaker’s Healthy Discounts page), I paid $126 for the 25 lbs. Add the shipping back in and divide by 25, and I only paid $5.44/lb.! If you’ve ever bought (or thought about buying but were scared off by the price) organic almonds before, you know this is a fantastic deal. This is roughly the same as I currently pay for conventional almonds. (Read more of what Serina has to say…)

Almonds, pistachios…and most forms of nuts are a little on the pricey side even if they aren’t organic. But nuts are SO good for you and make a great snack. Buying organic nuts instead of conventionally grown nuts is pretty important in my opinion. I love that Braga Organic Farms has such great prices…and they’ve even provided a Heavenly Homemaker Discount!!

Okay…enough about nuts. Now let’s talk about bamboo. Just kidding. :)  Here’s our menu plan for the week:

Sunday, September 26
Oatmeal, apples
Beef stew with carrots and potatoes, honey wheat muffins
Nachos, peaches

Monday, September 27
Whole wheat waffles, blueberries
Corn dog muffins, kefir-fruit smoothies, green beans
Taco potatoes, pears

Tuesday, September 28
Honey wheat bagels, applesauce
Pizza Pockets, creamy orange cooler, broccoli and carrots with ranch dip
Three Cheese Garlic Chicken Pasta, tossed salad, asparagus

Wednesday, September 29
Scrambled eggs, peach milkshakes
Sloppy Joes on homemade buns, ranch potato wedges, peas
Lamb chops, butternut squash, tossed salad

Thursday, September 30
Giant breakfast cookies, bananas
Salmon Patties, fruit salad, green beans
Shepherds Pie, tossed salad

Friday, October 1
French toast, peaches
Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, carrots
Homemade pizza, apples

Saturday, October 2
Fried eggs, cinnamon apple toast
Leftovers
Chicken tostadas, fruit salad

Be sure to download your free fall menu planners here! And…if you’re looking for some great, easy lunchtime menu ideas, you’ll find a free downloadable “cheat sheet” here.

I FINALLY have another post coming in the Simple Steps Toward Healthy Eating series…stay tuned!
——————————————————————

Visit Organizing Junkie for more menu planning inspiration!

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

A Smoothie Lunch and a Hot Pepper Eye Update

September 23, 2010 by Laura 11 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Just in case you’re interested, I thought I’d let you know that my hot pepper hands finally stopped burning Tuesday and I can now put contacts in my eyes without pain. My eye (for those of you who were worried) really was completely fine as soon as it got the milk swish. It was my hands that continued to burn and for THAT reason there was no way, no how I was going to put a fiery finger in my eye to insert said contacts. All appears to be back to normal with the eyes and hands and I have vowed never to touch another pepper again for the rest of my life (or until I need to cut up another pepper which could really mean…tomorrow). I will however always and forever wear gloves when cutting peppers.

I say all of that to let you know that I have not suffered any permanent damage…and also to let you know that the folks over at Blogher enjoyed my Hot Pepper in the Eye Remedy post enough to re-post it over on their site. This is a great honor and I’d love for you to head over there and check it out!

In other news (in which I continue to send you away from my blog to read my writing elsewhere)…I have posted again over at Deal Moon, sharing yet another quick, healthy and easy lunch idea.

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

New (FREE!) Fall Menu Planners – Downloadable

September 22, 2010 by Laura 25 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Yes, it’s that time of year. The time when apples are ready to be made into delicious apple pies and leaves are beginning to turn colors…school has started and there is a cool crispness in the air. Unless of course you are living in a place that is still 100° with no chance of a break in the heat. Hang in there, my melting friends.

Whether it’s fall weather at your house or you are just pretending that it is…I asked my fabulous designer friend Char to make us some pretty fall menu planners for all of us to enjoy. She did not disappoint! I LOVE these planners (and matching grocery lists)!! They are free to all of you – You are welcome to download, print, share and menu plan to your heart’s content.

Falling Leaves Menu Planner

Falling leaves Grocery List

Fall Apples Menu Planner

Fall Apples Grocery List

Cornucopia Menu Planner

Cornucopia Grocery List

I just can’t get over how much nicer these menu planners look on my refrigerator compared to a piece of paper I rip out of my son’s 2006 assignment notebooks…

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

Apple Pie Filling

September 21, 2010 by Laura 74 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Malachi_apple_pie_1

Yum

What started out as seven grocery bags full of apples to trip over in our kitchen is now down to only three grocery bags full of apples to trip over. We’ve shared some (meaning we’ve begged people to take some off of our hands), made applesauce, dried apple rings and now apple pie filling.

Oh yeah, and we’ve eaten a bunch.

This was my first time to try canning apple pie filling and I am pleased with the results. It’s a little time consuming to make, but it isn’t hard. Will the hard work be worth it in February when I make a quick Whole Wheat Pie Crust, pour out the contents of the jar and bake a pie? Oh yes, I think so.

To make Apple Pie Filling you will need:

About 25 medium sized apples
1 1/2 cups sucanat or brown sugar
3 Tablespoons cinnamon
3 Tablespoons cornstarch, arrowroot powder or flour
1 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice

(This amount makes 3 quart sized jars – enough for three nice sized pies.)

Peel, core and slice your apples.

Add remaining ingredients.

Stir and cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes until
a nice little syrup has formed and your apples are slightly tender.

Scoop apple pie filling into sterilized canning jars.
Hot water bath the pie filling for 25 minutes.

apple_pie_filling_5

To make pie:

Prepare this Whole Wheat Pie Crust and place it in a pie pan. Dump contents of Apple Pie Filling jar into the crust. Use bits of leftover crust to put little cut-outs onto the pie, or make a crumb topping. Bake at 350° for one hour.

Malachi_apple_pie_1

And now a little Q&A…

What kind of apples should I use for this apple pie filling?

I would suggest using the kind you get for free. Those taste best in a pie. Otherwise, granny smith makes a really good apple pie. Some of you want to share your favorite apples for pie making?

Can I freeze my pie filling?

You can certainly freeze this apple pie filling if you’d rather not can it, or if you don’t have canning equipment. I chose to can it because all of my freezers are pretty well full of meat, green beans, corn, strawberries, peaches… Wow God is good!

Can I use this apple pie filling to make an apple crisp?

Oh look – here’s a recipe for a Healthy Fruit Crisp. :)

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

Gratituesday: First Podcast!

September 20, 2010 by Laura 30 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

gratituesday

Yes, this is the announcement I promised was coming. We have been working very hard for the past several weeks to set up several brand new features here at Heavenly Homemakers (the  Homeschool Curriculum Share Forum and the Healthy Grocery Discount Page) but what we’ve really, really been working hard on is preparing our brand new Heavenly Homemakers Q and A Podcasts!!

It was Matt’s idea. He totally rocks.  Not only is he brilliant for coming up with the idea, but he’s spent HOURS of his (spare?) time researching software, learning software, editing and putting together our very first podcast. And by editing, I mean that beyond all of the regular cutting and pasting and splicing work it takes to put a podcast together to make it flow nicely…I say “um” way too much and he has been trying to cut as many “um”s out as possible. I love him.  Here’s hoping I (um) get better at talking into the air and recording myself so that his (um) editing work becomes much easier.

Our goal with these podcasts is to offer all of you an opportunity to hear the answers to my email questions. My inbox is always overflowing and I appreciate so much the wonderful emails you all send and the questions that come with them. If we were to make a “pie graph” of all the different areas of work it takes to make this blog run smoothly, I would say that answering emails would probably be the largest slice of pie on the graph. We figured that if I’m going to take that much time to answer questions…why don’t I answer them so that ALL of you can hear it and make my time more efficient and productive!!

I can not tell you how grateful I am that all of our dreaming and planning and work has finally come together so that today, we are able to debut our very first podcast!! God is good and we hope that this can be the first of many (weekly? biweekly?) podcasts that will be an encouragement to all of you.

And now, I am excited to introduce to you…Heavenly Homemakers Podcast One! It lasts around 12 minutes – grab some laundry to fold while you listen, or simply kick back and relax. Be sure to ignore the imperfections…we’re still in the process of getting it all figured out!

Heavenly Homemakers Podcast One

As mentioned in the podcast:  Download your free Healthy Lunch Ideas cheat sheet, print it out and keep it in a handy location in your kitchen for lunchtime help!

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!

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

Menu Plan for the Week

September 19, 2010 by Laura 19 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

biscuits9sm1.JPG

I’m not sure what it’s like at your house, but at my house today it is potato soup weather. And wear your slippers weather. And oh yeah…don’t forget to take off your slippers and put on shoes before you run to the store weather. I’m trying to retrain my boys to close the big front door when they go in and out…they are very much out of the habit since for the past few months we’ve been leaving it open to let the breeze blow through the house. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve said, “Hey! Close the door behind you!” today, I’d have a nice fat wallet. If they had a dollar for every time they’ve heard me holler and still left the door open, they would also have big fat wallets. As it turns out, neither of us have big fat wallets and the big door is currently standing wide open. ;)

We’ll be feeding the YC ladies soccer team dinner Monday night…lasagna of course. It’s what several of them request (with puppy dog eyes) when I see them and who am I to say no? My boys are also excited that I’m making lasagna…it would appear that I don’t make it enough or something. They throw a party when they hear that lasagna is on the menu. Maybe I should make more lasagna around here? 

Here’s what our menu  looks like for this week:

Sunday, September 19
Oatmeal
Potato soup, raw carrots and broccoli with ranch dressing, honey wheat muffins
Grilled turkey and cheese sandwiches, watermelon

Monday, September 20
Crepes with jelly, oranges
BLTs, peaches, carrot sticks
Lasagna, tossed salad, french bread, butterscotch bars, Lynn’s No-Bake Cookie Bars

Tuesday, September 21
Orange muffins, bananas
Chicken and noodles, carrots
Pizza casserole, tossed salad, corn

Wednesday, September 22
Mini apple pies, cheese
Chili, whole wheat sourdough biscuits
Chicken veggie stir fry with yellow squash, carrots and broccoli

Thursday, September 23
French toast with homemade peach syrup
Cheddar ranch burgers on homemade buns, green beans, fresh tomatoes
Black beans and rice with salsa, corn and kreme fresh

Friday, September 23
Giant Breakfast Cookies, applesauce
Homemade pizza pockets, pears, raw veggies
Chicken Fried Steak Strips, gravy, ranch potato wedges, peas

Saturday, September 24
Scrambled eggs, peaches
Leftovers
Swiss Steak with rice, tossed salad

I hope you’ve taken the time to check out our new Homeschool Curriculum Share Forum and the new Healthy Grocery Discount Page! Coming up in just a couple of days…another fun announcement!

(One of my boys just came in and asked for a some cheese. And I said, “Sure I can cut you some cheese.” Ahahahaha…cut the cheese. Yeah we’re having a big laugh at our house now because Mama is going to go cut some cheese….)

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

Favorite Apples (Question #70)

September 17, 2010 by Laura 70 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

It’s apple season and I LOVE it. I’d been holding back on buying apples both because there were no organic apples available and the regular ones at the store were a crazy high price. I was feeling quite apple deprived, especially since I had bought the wonderful treat of Gjetost cheese and I NEEDED apples to go with it.

Finally a friend of mine called to say that the apples in her orchard were ready to be picked! I grabbed my bags and ran to her house (okay, I drove) and started picking. She sliced some samples for me to try and I’m pretty sure there were tears of apple joy running down my face. Mmm, they were so good. I was most excited because Gala apples are my favorite, and her Gala tree was the tree ready to be picked! I brought home loads (for only $0.75/pound!!!!). We’ve been eating apples to our hearts content. LOVE GALA APPLES!!!

A few days later, I was able to go pick more apples (red delicious, I believe) from another friend’s tree. She didn’t charge me a thing…in fact she gave us TWO jars of jelly as a THANK YOU for taking the apples off her hands. Um, you’re welcome?

THEN, we got another phone call and went and picked apples for free again. There are so many apples in my house, we are tripping over them. 

I love tripping over apples. Seriously. Apple season is awesome!!

I’ve shared some bags with others…and I’ve used my dehydrator to make apple rings…

I am now in the process of working through all the bags and making applesauce. I’m hoping this weekend to can a bunch of apple pie filling. If I get that done, I’ll be sure to share pictures and a recipe!!

My question for you today is…what is your favorite variety of apple? My favorite is by far Gala…but Pink Lady and Honey Crisp are also nice. Then of course there’s Yellow Delicious and Empire…

It’s a little hard to decide! What’s your pick?

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

What Matters Is My Kids

September 16, 2010 by Laura 49 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

There are many things in my life that are important. There are many things that have to be done. There are great events to attend. There are many people in my life that I love and want to spend time with. There are hurting people everywhere. There are so many hurting people that my heart aches to feed them all, clothe them all, counsel them all and house them all. But I can’t do it all. 

I’ll choose to let go of the guilt.

I have to make choices and above all I have to choose my kids. They are the ministry God has given me and when all is said and done…what matters is my kids.

It doesn’t matter that no matter how hard I try, the laundry is never caught up. It doesn’t matter that the dishes constantly pile up by the sink, even though I’m pretty sure I wash dishes all day. It doesn’t matter that there are dirty windowsills and…what is that stuck to the pantry door? Oh well…it doesn’t matter.

What matters is my kids.

It doesn’t matter that I can barely get through writing this article because my kids keep coming in and interrupting me. They want to tell me about the game they’re playing together. They want to remind me about what happened at the soccer game. They want to ask what I’m making for dinner. I’ll stop what I’m doing and look at their faces and I’ll talk to them because it truly is a joy that they love talking to me. The article can wait.

What matters is my kids.

In the big picture, it really is okay that the emails are piled up even though I hate it that so many people have to wait for weeks for me to respond. It really is okay that I’m never caught up with my work and it really is okay that even though I’m working really, really hard…I can’t do it all. I’ll stop sweating all the details in my life that cause me to worry and get worn out. The details don’t matter.

What matters is my kids.

I’ll let go of the guilt and the pressure I feel about all the jobs around me that are left undone and instead focus my heart on my husband. I’ll cherish him and serve him and meet his needs and enjoy him. I’ll make our very limited time together meaningful because keeping our relationship alive and sweet is incredibly important. 

Because more than anything, it matters to the kids.

And they don’t care that we’re having pancakes and eggs for dinner again or that the living room is covered with boxes and bubble wrap mixed with lego men and building blocks. They don’t care that there are scuffs on the walls (they put them there after all) and they don’t care if the scuffs stay there forever.

What matters to them is the security of knowing that their mom loves them and takes care of them and laughs with them and trains them and prays with them and reads to them and talks to them. What matters to them is their mom understands one very important thing which is…

What matters is my kids.

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

Homemade Pistachio Pudding

September 14, 2010 by Laura 31 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Well, I’m not sure when I last ate a bowl of pistachio pudding (before today). It’s been a decade probably since I last had some, but I guarantee you that the only pistachio pudding I’ve ever had (before today) came out of a little box, was instant and sported the brand name that starts with a “j” and rhymes with wello.

A few weeks ago I got a great box from Braga Organic Farms full of organic nuts, nut butter and trail mix. I’ve been saving their pistachios JUST to make this pudding! I’ve never made pistachio pudding before and while it wasn’t hard to make…it also wasn’t a “throw it in the pan, mix it up and you’re done” kind of recipe.

Oh. My. But it was so worth the little extra effort it took to make. The taste of Homemade Pistachio Pudding is NOT even comparable to the powdery mix of um….bello pudding.

I found a recipe on Cooks.com, but then adapted it to make it a little easier and a little healthier. I’m having this for breakfast tomorrow, oh yes I am.

Homemade Pistachio PuddingYum

1/3 cup pistachios
2 Tablespoons real grade b maple syrup
2 cups milk
1/3 cup real grade b maple syrup
2 Tablespoons corn starch or arrowroot powder
dash of sea salt
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup pistachios (crushed)
1 Tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Get the family busy shelling pistachios… :)

Objects in picture are smaller than they appear.
WOW do those look like giant pistachios, or is it just me?

Just to make life easier, get your two egg yolks beat up in a bowl. Set the bowl by the stove ready and waiting for later. This is going to come in very handy in a few minutes.

Make a “pistachio paste” by running the 1/3 cup of pistachios through a food processor for a minute or two until they are like crumbs. No wait, not until they are like crumbs. Until they are crumbs.

 

Mix the pistachio crumbs with 2 Tablespoons of real grade b maple syrup to make a paste.

 You will want to dip your finger in the bowl of pistachio paste – but don’t! Hold yourself back. This yummy concoction is for the pudding. Be strong.

Use a whisk to stir your “pistachio paste” into the milk (in a saucepan). Heat the milk mixture on medium heat, stirring with a whisk for about a minute.

 

 

 

 

Stir in 1/3 cup real grade b maple syrup, 2 Tablespoons corn starch or arrowroot powder and a dash of sea salt. Continue to stir over medium heat until the mixture thickens.

Once the mixture is thick and bubbly, remove it from the heat. Spoon out 4 Tablespoons of the milk mixture into the waiting bowl of egg yolks (told ya it would be handy to have that done ahead of time).

Stir it around and mix it up well (this keeps the eggs from getting funky in the big pan of hot pudding).

 

Pour the egg mixture into the pan with the rest of the pudding mixture and stir over medium heat for one minute.

 

Remove the pudding from the heat and stir in 1/2 cup crushed pistachios, 1 Tablespoon butter and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Pour into serving bowls (6 servings).

Eat the pudding while it’s warm if you just can’t wait (like somebody I know). Or put the pudding in the fridge to chill for a couple of hours.

 

Sure, it’s kind of a funky color, but what do you expect when you mix brown maple syrup with yellow egg yolks and green pistachios? The taste is fantastic…I will be needing to order more pistachios soon!

I’m very excited to share that we’ve recently teamed up with Braga Organic Farms to work out a nice discount for you, the (lovely, talented, delightful, sweet…) Heavenly Homemaker Readers. If you place an order and use the code home, you’ll receive 10% off. We’ve loved working with Braga Organic Farms and think it’s super cool that they are a family-owned farm/business located in Madera, California…right outside the town where Matt grew up! No wonder their nuts taste so good!

And no, I didn’t just mean to say that my husband is a nut. Although he did choose to marry me…

 

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

Gratituesday: Two Things…

September 13, 2010 by Laura 25 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

gratituesday

I just have to mention how grateful I am that the The Great Curriculum Swap was such a huge success! I’m so thankful to everyone who so generously gave away the books they no longer needed, and for the time it surely took them to sift through all the emails they received! Way to go everyone – because of you many people are being blessed in their home school endeavors!

And here’s something else I’m so grateful for…

Over the weekend Matt took the boys to a church retreat called Dads-n-Lads. I had the whole house to myself for about 36 hours. (I’m thankful to report that THIS year, I did not have a desperate need for a cottage cheese container or a child’s dress shoe to defend myself – yes, you do have to go read this story about what happened to me last year during Dads-n-Lads). 

More importantly, I’m thankful for the time I had in my quiet house to reflect and meditate on the blessings I have as a wife and mom. There’s nothing like sending your family away for the weekend to make you really appreciate them. I did get a lot of work done, and my house stayed clean for the entire 36 hours…but I missed them all so much that I became weepy. By Sunday morning I could not bear to look into the “Lego room” because while it was full of legos…the room was way too empty. (Seriously, they were gone for a day and a half. You’d think I could have handled it better than that.)

Sunday afternoon they returned home filthy, worn out, hungry and happy. They dumped five loads worth of laundry in the bathroom and left a trail of backpacks and sleeping bags on the stairs and hallway. They were waving a wooden arrow they had created together and were all competing for my attention as they told tales of their weekend that had been filled with canoeing, bows and arrows, campfires, friends, paint ball wars, devotionals, and a bunch of other stuff I didn’t hear because they were all talking at the same time. 

I smiled and breathed in all the hubbub and chaos. All was right in my world again…

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!

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