Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Gratituesday: Wild and Wacky Surprise

by 12 Comments

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

gratituesdaynov09

My husband and I are a little rebellious when it comes to Valentine’s Day. Shouldn’t we show our love every day of the year? Do we really need to spend a lot of money on February 14 to say, “I love you”? 

Last year for Valentine’s Day, I got new potholders and Matt got new work gloves. It was our special way of saying, “I heart you. Will you be mine? Oh wait, you already are mine. Here let me give you a little something you really need.”

This year, I really didn’t expect anything at all. There was nothing either of us needed, Matt was working all weekend…I thought we’d have our special Peach Cobbler breakfast and that would be the end of it.

Imagine my surprise Sunday morning when I stumbled out of bed to grab the church clothes I’d laid out the night before…and there on top of my shirt was this:

valentinegiftsm

How fun is that? Matt found it a few weeks ago on clearance (at a shop downtown where he does snow removal service) and thought it was perfect. I’m not sure how well you know me, but those words? They describe me pretty accurately. Wild and wacky? Yeah…that’s me the majority of the time. Wonderful? Well…thankfully at least my husband thinks so. (I can also be rather dull and dorky…but thankfully those particular ornaments were sold out.)

I got a big kick out of my surprise gift…and it cracks me up every time I look at it. I love it that Matt was sweet enough to get me such a fun gift and surprise me with it! And I’m really grateful that even though I’m totally wacky, he chose me anyway. 
——————————————————

What are you grateful for this Gratituesday?  Write about it on your blog, then come link up here so we can all come read about what you’re thankful for! If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment here letting us know what God is doing in your life!

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

Flash Freezing Chicken Fried Steak Strips

by 28 Comments

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

We’re gonna talk about flash freezing Chicken Fried Steak Strips. This is fantastic!

Chicken Fried Steak Strips

Right after I posted my Chicken Fried Steak Strip recipe last week, I ran into my friend Brenda. Always, after a visit with her I’m usually wishing I would have brought a notebook and pen to take notes. This girl knows stuff. Brenda doesn’t have a blog…so I get to share the stuff I learn from Brenda on mine. Then I get to look smart. Cool. For the record, I have several more “Brenda Tips” for you…most of them involving potatoes. (You’re intrigued aren’t you?)  I’ll share them with you as soon as I get a round tuit.

So here’s the tip Brenda shared with me about the Chicken Fried Steak Strips:

When you get cubed steak on sale (or when you buy several packages of cube steak from a farmer, like I do) make them all up into strips at one time, bread them, flash freeze them, then fry them as needed.

I love this tip, but my first question to Brenda was, “WAIT!  I can’t thaw and refreeze raw meat, can I?” I mean, that’s what my mama always told me.

Nope, Brenda said. That’s an old wive’s tale. (Hey, are you calling my mama an old wife? Just kidding.)  Thawing and refreezing raw meat is okay and it is safe, and Brenda, who’s done it time and again was alive and well and able to stand there in the church foyer telling me about it.

Well, if I’d have known that, I would have been flash freezing these Chicken Fried Steak Strips a long time ago, along with Chicken Strips and Nuggets and Popcorn Chicken. Funny that I never knew WHY it wasn’t safe…I just thought it wasn’t. Makes me wonder what else I’ve been believing to be true that really isn’t. (Is there any chance dusting isn’t necessary? My mama told me it was, but if anyone wants to tell me that it really isn’t important…)

It just so happens that I had a meat order delivered to my door the VERY morning after I had that conversation with Brenda…and it included five packages of cube steak.

Flash Freezing Chicken Fried Steak Strips

I got my big bowl of flour mixture and a big bowl of milk and got very busy making a big mess. See, that’s the point. If you’re going to make a big mess when you’re making these strips, you might as well make a big mess all at once and save yourself the trouble later! Love it!

chickenfriedsteakstripsffsmI cut each cube steak into three pieces then started double and triple dipping.

chickenfriedsteakstripsff2smI laid the breaded strips all out on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper,
then put them in the freezer overnight.

chickenfriedsteakstripsff3sm
The next morning, I popped them off the cookie sheets and into gallon sized freezer bags. Yay! Now I have five batches of Chicken Fried Steak Strips ready to cook up for quick meals. One mess…five meals!  Thanks Brenda!

So, what have you all heard about refreezing raw meat? Am I the last to know this information?

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 + a Giveaway!

by 191 Comments

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

**Be sure to take note of the giveaway at the end of the post!!**

We are having a very heart filled day. I wonder how old my boys will have to be before they start thinking heart shaped food is silly? My 12 year old still likes it (or at least acts like he does), so I think we have a few years left before heart shaped food on Valentine’s day becomes extinct at our house. 

I made Matt (and everyone else) a special breakfast of Peach Cobbler this morning. I figure…it’s fruit and I make it with sucanat and whole wheat. It’s definitely healthy enough for breakfast.

peachcobblerforvdaysmI loved seeing Matt’s face when he came down to breakfast! 
(The boys were in on it ahead of time and kept it a secret from Daddy!)

Here’s what we’re snacking on this afternoon… 

chocolategrahamcrackerheartssmHeart Shaped Homemade Chocolate Graham Crackers

There are still a quite a few truffles left, but someone has been attacking the caramel ones at quite an amazing pace. I have no idea who. {ehem}

Here’s our menu this week:

Sunday, February 14
Peach cobbler with milk
Heart shaped grilled cheese, tomato soup 
Heart shaped pancakes, scrambled eggs, turkey bacon

Monday, February 15 (Justus’ birthday choices)
Southside Grille with Daddy for breakfast
Hamburgers on homemade buns and fries
Cheesy turkey stromboli, tossed salad

Tuesday, February 16
Simple sourdough biscuits with butter and honey, bananas
Corn dog muffins, strawberry-peach slushies
Chicken tostadas, fruit-yogurt smoothies

Wednesday, February 17
Warm chocolate soother, homemade oat cereal
Salmon patties, ranch potato wedges, green beans
Three cheese garlic chicken pasta, tossed salad

Thursday, February 18
Mini breakfast pizzas, oranges
Taco potatoes, pears
Beefy enchilada bake, tossed salad

Friday, February 19
Cheesy eggs, fresh pineapple
Beef and cheese burritos, apples
Cheddar ranch burgers on homemade buns, onion rings, carrot sticks

Saturday, February 20
Mom is great breakfast cake
Leftover buffet
Lamb chops, baked potatoes, steamed broccoli and cauliflower

And now for the giveaway! 

My Peach Cobbler recipe (which was devoured in about 15 minutes this morning) is included in my Have Your Cookie…and Eat it Too! ebook. This ebook is filled with all kinds of healthy treat recipes that include only whole wheat flour and natural sugars such as honey, maple syrup or rapadura/sucanat (dehydrated cane sugar juice). My family loves these healthy treats!

haveyourcookiecoversm

If you’d like to win a free copy of the Have Your Cookie…and Eat it Too! recipe ebook, say something nice in the comments section at the end of this post! I’ll pick a random winner in a few days!

:)
———————————————

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!

Fun with Homemade Soft Pretzels

by 2 Comments

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

In case you’d like to have a little fun with these homemade soft pretzels this weekend, here are a couple of ideas:

Jenny sent me this picture saying,  “My family has really been enjoying your homemade pretzels and I wanted to show you what I made yesterday. We have had the snowiest winter here in Virginia and have been trapped inside for 2 days during a blizzard. Your pretzels have become our “snowday” food of choice! Thanks for the great recipe.” 

pretzelsnowmanIs this guy the cutest? Thanks Jenny for sharing your awesome idea!

And…in honor of Valentine’s Day, shape your pretzels into hearts! Trust me, heart shapes or not, just making these pretzels will show your family that you love them! I get lots of hugs and kisses when my boys/hubby know I’m making pretzels!

heartpretzelssm

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

Special Valentines Day Treats: Peanut Butter Truffles and Chocolate Caramel Truffles

by 52 Comments

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

I have always loved the idea of making truffles, yet it always seemed so daunting to me. Truffles sound so…gourmet or something. I finally decided that this year for Valentine’s Day I was going to give truffles a try.

Delicious Homemade Truffles

I learned that not only are truffles easy to make…they are quite an inexpensive Valentine’s Day treat. Do you KNOW how much truffles cost at the store? Yeah, a lot more than homemade ones. Not only are the homemade truffles less expensive, these treats don’t have high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils in them!

This first recipe is SO easy to make! Try this one first if you want to prove to yourself that you can make truffles.

Peanut Butter TrufflesYum

2 cups milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 T. butter
1/2 cup natural peanut butter (I used homemade peanut butter)
1/4 cup organic, unbleached powdered sugar (optional)

In a saucepan stir together chocolate chips, cream and butter over medium heat.

pbtruffles1smAbout the time the chocolate chips are almost melted,
add peanut butter and stir until smooth.

pbtruffles2smSpread mixture into a pie pan and chill for about two hours.

pbtruffles3smLick the pan while you wait for truffles to chill because…
well…do I actually need to give you a reason?

pbtruffles4smRoll mixture into 1 inch balls.
Dip in unbleached powdered sugar.
Place on parchment paper and chill until set.

This next truffle recipe takes a little more time to make, but it is SO WORTH IT.

Chocolate Caramel Truffles

1 cup sugar (I used sucanat)
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 cup chocolate chips (milk chocolate or semi-sweet)
1 t. vanilla extract
1/4 t. sea salt

carameltruffles1smIn a saucepan, cook and melt sugar, stirring with a fork.
It will clump up at first while it melts, but it will melt if you keep stirring and heating.
(Trust me, use a fork. A spoon doesn’t work.)

carameltruffles2smRemove melted sugar from heat and stir in cream.
Pouring in the cream will immediately create a crazy big blob thing of caramel,
so take it back to the stove and heat and stir until it melts.
It will seem to take forever but don’t worry,
it really will melt eventually (about 15 minutes).

carameltruffles3smSee, it finally melted. Now you have caramel.

carameltruffles4smRemove from heat and stir in chocolate chips, vanilla and salt.
Pour mixture into a pie pan and chill for about two hours.

carameltruffles5smRoll mixture into 1 inch balls and chill on parchment paper until set.
You can dip your truffles in a bit of cocoa powder if you want them to look pretty. They look pretty without the cocoa though, because hello? Chocolate and caramel all rolled into a ball? How could that not be pretty?

Place your truffles into little Valentine muffin papers and you’re all set!

I will present these truffles to Matt on Valentine’s Day, at which time we will have a conversation about whether caramel is pronounced Kare-uh-mel or Car-ml. He will say that he is pretty sure that it is Kare-uh-mel because there’s an “a” in the middle, and I will just sit there eating his truffles.

How do you say caramel, by the way?

It may seem like Matt and I argue over word pronunciation often, but really we don’t. Just KYOOPON vs. KOOPON and the occasional Kare-a-mel vs. Car-ml. And if those two marital issues are among our biggest, I’d say we’ll have a pretty great Valentine’s day.

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

High Five Recipes: Chicken Fried Steak Strips

by 79 Comments

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

You can easily make Chicken Fried Steak into yummy strips which are easy to eat! Now a little tip…

High Five Recipes 2

I do almost all of the cooking around here…not because Matt can’t or won’t cook. I just really, really love to cook and have more time to be in our kitchen.

However, ever since Matt started working at a restaurant, he’s been quite a bit more interested in learning about food preparation – and guess what? My husband has a really great cooking tip for you today.

chickenfriedsteakstrips2sm

Yes indeed, this nugget of Chicken Fried Steak Strip wisdom is brought to you by the Heavenly Homemaker’s Husband! (Maybe you knew this tip already, but I didn’t.)

Here’s what he shared with me the last time I made these Chicken Fried Steak Strips:

If you keep dipping the meat in the flour and then in the milk and then back in the flour and then back in the milk and then back in the flour and then back in the…

It will make an extra yummy, extra crispy coating on the outside of the strip.

My strips were good, but I had just been single dipping. Following Matt’s advice, I am now double and even triple dipping. Now, they are Oh My Goodness Amazing. All thanks to my husband. I love that man. You will too after you try his double/triple dipping advice. But you can’t have him. He’s mine.

Chicken Fried Steak StripsYum

High Five Recipes: Chicken Fried Steak Strips
 
Save Print
Author:
Ingredients
  • 1 pound beef cube steak
  • 1¼ cups whole wheat flour
  • ½ t. garlic powder
  • ¾ cup milk
  • oil for frying (I usually use Palm Shortening)
Instructions
  1. Cut cube steak into 1 inch strips.
  2. In a bowl, stir together flour and garlic powder.
  3. Pour milk into a separate bowl.
  4. Heat oil in a skillet (350° for electric skillet or medium heat on the stove top).
  5. Dip beef strip in milk, then in flour mixture.
  6. Dip, repeat. Dip, repeat. Dip, repeat. (More or less is fine.)
  7. Place strip in oil.
  8. Cook for about 7 minutes on each side. (Salt to taste.)

Chicken Fried Steak Strips

So let’s review: The more you dip, the better the strip. You’ve gotta try it!

Read a great tip about Preparing Ahead and Flash Freezing your Chicken Fried Steak Strips here!

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

Gratituesday: Winter Flowers

by 19 Comments

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

gratituesdaynov09

Last weekend I watched my friend’s two kids while she and her husband spent some time helping her mother as she recovers from a recent surgery.

Keeping her kids was no trouble for me because they are SUCH good kids. They just played together with my kids and kept each other happy for hours. In fact, they were here while I was in the middle of my cooking and baking marathon…and it was EASY. Yeah, they can come over ANY TIME.

Imagine my surprise when my friend showed up at the end of the day with a beautiful bouquet of flowers for me! Seriously…her kids made my day so much easier…I should have given her some flowers!

flowersfromdonnasm

My beautiful pink flowers in the middle of a snowy, cloudy winter have been such a cheerful addition to my kitchen. It’s amazing what something simple like a bouquet of flowers can do to lift a person’s spirits. Hooray for flowers in the winter!
———————————————–

What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Write about it on your blog, then come link up here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re thankful for!

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

Becoming a Better Help Meet: Make Him or Break Him

by 34 Comments

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

helpmeet

You know how the husband of the Proverbs 31 Woman is “respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land”?

Why do you suppose he was so highly respected? Because he’s just that cool? Yeah maybe. I’m sure he was a pretty neat guy.

But here’s what I think:

I think he was respected by others because he was first respected by his wife.

If his wife didn’t respect him…didn’t talk respectfully to him…didn’t talk respectfully to others about him…why in the world would others respect him?

I am not an expert. Nor do I think that the following statement is absolute across the board without exception.

But.

I believe we as women have the power to make or break our man. 

Without a doubt, a big part of who a man becomes is completely up to him. You can not change your husband because ultimately he must make his own choices and decide who his God is.

But.

I believe that the way I treat my husband; the way I respect him, talk to him, listen to him and talk to others about him can have a huge impact on the choices he makes and the man he becomes.

If I am constantly being sarcastic and negative to him…putting down the things he does…rolling my eyes at him…doing things opposite of what he asks of me…questioning everything he says and does…letting him know that he is annoying me…ignoring his needs…

If I am griping to others about him…laughing and joking to my friends about the ridiculous things he does…whining about all the ways he just doesn’t measure up…making fun of him in front of his friends…

I think I could slowly but surely break my man.

But.

If I show respect in the way I talk to him and listen to him…in the way I talk to others about him…and in the way I talk to him when we’re with others…

I can build him up and make him into more of the man and husband God wants him to be.

These are the some of the things I try to consider about how I talk to my husband or talk to others about my husband:

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

Hey…I don’t want Matt to talk to the guys about what a dork I was when I forgot to pick up the stuff he asked me to pick up at the store yesterday. I don’t want him to gripe to his buddies about how annoying I am when I leave cabinet doors open time after time. Why in the world would I think it would be okay for me to whine and gripe about him to my friends?

Now…is it ever okay to vent to a friend and share concerns in your marriage? Absolutely. I think women sharing with women can be healthy and helpful. But I think it is VERY important to pray about it first and consider the outcome of the conversation. You want your friends (and family) to still have respect for your husband after your conversation. Speak wisely.

Share with us:  Not only is it a good idea to NOT SAY negative things to others about your husband, it’s also a great idea to say lots of positive things about him to others! Please take some time to share with us some of the great things your husband does for you and your family. Go ahead…start bragging! If you aren’t in the habit of sharing great things about your husband…this is a great place to start!

Challenge Yourself:  What are some ways you might need to improve when it comes to talking respectfully to or about your husband? Would your husband “be respected at the city gate” (Prov. 31:23)? (You’re welcome to share your thoughts on this too…but please don’t feel like you have to. This is more for your reflection and prayer.)
————————————————-

This post is linked to Works for me Wednesday.

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

by 3 Comments

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

After my cooking and baking marathon last weekend…this weekend seemed so…easy. The only extra food items I made this weekend were a Banana Cake and several loaves of  Applesauce Bread (made with shredded apples instead of applesauce). The great thing about having black bananas and grainy apples is that you can still eat them!! I wish all food that “went bad” had a good recipe to go with it!

Several more inches of snow fell, so we finally made some Snow Ice Cream!! That stuff is so good! (Even if you do sit there with stiff, blue lips while you eat it. It is so worth it!)

snowicecream7sm

Here’s our menu this week:

Sunday, February 7
Oatmeal, applesauce
Chicken fried steak strips (recipe coming this week), mashed potatoes, gravy, peas
Super Bowl Party – German chocolate cake, cream cheese salsa dip

Monday, February 8
Whole wheat waffles with blueberry topping
Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, strawberry-peach slushies
BBQ meatballs, baked potatoes, green beans

Tuesday, February 9
Warm vanilla soother, homemade oat crunch cereal
Tuna salad, crispy cheese crackers, strawberry yogurt fruit dip with apples
Italian roast wraps, fruit salad

Wednesday, February 10
Applesauce bread, pears
Pizza casserole, tossed salad
Chicken noodle soup, carrot sticks, homemade rolls

Thursday, February 11
Scrambled eggs, cinnamon toast, oranges
Chicken veggie quesadillas, fruit-kefir smoothies
Swiss steak over rice, green beans

Friday, February 12
Peanut butter honey toast, bananas
Beef and cheese burritoes, canned peaches
Lasagna, tossed salad, corn

Saturday, Febrary 13
Cheese omelets, fruit platter
Leftover buffet
Chicken and biscuits, tossed salad

Snacks on hand this week:
Apples, graham crackers, Katie’s homemade wheat thins, milkshakes

Upcoming posts this week:

If you haven’t signed up to win $100 visa gift card from V8 V-Fusion, you have just a few more days!! AND, be sure to sign up to win a free Mp3 download from Christian Meditators here!!
—————————————————–

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!

Our Healthy Eating Journey, Pt. 4

by 17 Comments

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

healthyeatingjourney

Catch up on Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of our healthy eating journey.

It was 1998. We had just moved to Colorado Springs where the climate was mild, the mountains were beautiful and there were all kinds of fun and wonderful things to do. Naturally then, upon moving to this great new city, what do I get excited about? The grocery stores there doubled coupons!!!!  

Just before moving, I had started to try out a little bit of couponing. I had begun to realize how using coupons in the grocery store could really save money. But DOUBLE coupons? Be still my heart. (By the way…let’s all be reassured that each time I am typing the word coupon, I am expecting you to pronounce it KYOOPON. You are, aren’t you?)

Our boxes weren’t even unpacked yet when I clipped the few coupons I had and headed out to see what kinds of good deals I could get. I quickly discovered that if I watched the sales very carefully and asked everyone at church to give me the coupons they didn’t use…I could get all kinds of groceries for free or practically free.

I became quite an expert at spending almost nothingat the grocery store. People started calling me The Coupon Queen. I would come home with bag after bag after bag of groceries for $15…total! During the time we lived in Colorado, our family size grew from a family of three to a family of five. I was feeding all of us (plus a constant flow of guests) for only $100 per month. That number included the purchase all of our toiletries and paper products too.

I was awfully proud of this accomplishment. Matt was awfully proud of this accomplishment too, not to mention grateful for how much money I was saving our family.

I remember taking my friend Heather grocery shopping with me one night (because she wanted to see how I did that coupon thing I did). She was amazed at how I used coupons to save money…and also incredibly relieved to see so many processed foods go into my cart. She said to me, “Since you are a stay at home mom, I thought you were one of those people who grinds their own flour or something.” I believe my exact response was, “No way! People actually grind their own flour?!” (Yes Laura, people actually grind their own flour.)

So, what were we eating for $100/month?

Well, since my main focus was spending as little as possible  and using as many coupons as I could, I tended to avoid the produce section. I hardly ever had coupons for fresh fruits and vegetables and those items seemed expensive to me. I watched for meat to go on sale, then used it very sparingly. When a recipe called for a pound of ground beef, I often just used 1/4 to a 1/2 pound instead to make the meat stretch farther.

I did believe in feeding us all fruits and vegetables at each meal, but the fruits and vegetables we ate were almost always from a can since I often had a coupon for those, or waited for them to go on sale 4/$1.00. 

Therefore…my pantry was filled with boxes of Hamburger Helper, Rice-a-Roni, boxed potatoes, spaghettios, mac and cheese boxes, pop tarts, fruit snacks, cereal, canned soup…whatever I could get for free or cheap.

That became my focus. Free or cheap.

I did still make quite a bit of food from scratch (although making food from scratch has a new meaning to me now). 

I was just trying to do the best I could with our small income. By spending so little on food, we were able to put a little money into savings. I was helping my family save, I was feeding others, I was having a BLAST! Using coupons was a really fun hobby!

In 2002…we moved back to Nebraska…the land of NO double coupons. NOW what would I do? What about my fun hobby? How would I afford groceries now?

To be continued…
————————————————-

This post is linked to Frugal Friday.

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