Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Keeping Little People Busy

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Since I asked for some help in this post and received SO many wonderful suggestions, I thought I’d ask you again for some ideas. You’re all such smarties. I love ya.

Some friends of ours have three children (4th grade, 7th grade and 10th grade). They just recently committed to taking on three more children (family members who need a loving home). These new little ones are ages one, two and three. 

Yeah. Talk about changing up your household a little bit. This all came up rather suddenly so they didn’t have much time to prepare.

We’re really proud of our church family who has been generously coughing up all kinds of car seats and diapers and clothing and sippy cups and EVERYTHING else a person needs to help care for three babies.

One of my friends suggested that we put together a list of fun ideas of projects to do with little ones…you know like “How to make Playdough” and stuff like that. I thought this was a great idea so that they’ll have a handy resource to grab in a pinch.

And then I decided that we could all use this handy resource. Yes?

How about if you leave comments and/or email me with your fabulous “keep the little ones busy” activities/ideas/recipes. Then I’ll compile them into a nice down-loadable resource for everyone. Depending on the amount of ideas I receive, it may even become another free ebook. Cool.

I’ll give you each full credit for your idea. Include pictures if you have them. 

Just think, we could all soon be surrounded with bubbles and playdough and flubber. Sounds like a preschool paradise! :)

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Guest Post: Healthy Eating for Wimps

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I’m so grateful for this guest post from Amy at Finer Things. Not only can I now go spend time finding a shovel so that I can dig out my kitchen and once again have a clean dish to cook with….this post is just so well written and helpful. Thank you Amy! And just so you know…I don’t think you are a wimp.  :)
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I’ve learned a lot about healthy eating over the past few years. Mainly, that healthy eating isn’t what I thought it was! While soaking my grains and making my own yogurt and buying everything organic still seems a bit out of reach for me, I am making strides. 

You can, too! Feeling wimpy about your healthy choices? Overwhelmed about a 180°  turn in your eating habits? Here are some of the things I’ve done; painless baby steps if you will.  

  • I make all of our own bread in the bread machine. The machine does the work, then I shape and bake the loaves.
  • I’m gradually increasing the amount of whole wheat in my recipes, rarely making anything with just white flour. We are all adjusting beautifully to the heartier taste and texture of whole wheat, and find it very difficult to eat plain white.
  • We only eat natural peanut butter. That’s an easy fix. It doesn’t cost much more than the partially hydrogenated scary stuff, and it tastes great!
  • I work constantly to reduce the amount of sugar in recipes, especially muffins and sweet breads. Substituting applesauce or mashed bananas for some of the sugar (and oil) works nicely. I also add other fruits to the mix, cutting the sugar nearly in half. We don’t miss it!
  • No more margarine or shortening in my house. It’s all butter here. After I got over the price shock, it was an easy switch. I’ve learned to stock up and freeze butter when it’s on sale.
  • We recently found a farm for our eggs and milk. It completely blechs me out to eat a pale yellow store-bought egg now, and the milk? No more infertility-causing skim milk for us. I had no idea! Did you?!
  • While I still buy the occasional granola bar or box of cereal, those items are stored in our basement “out of site, out of mind.” They are saved for our ballgame bag (can’t be any less healthy than concession stand food!) or spur-of-the-moment road trips.

 

See? Small changes can lead to healthy strides in your wimpy eating! 

What changes are you ready to make?

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Gratituesday – a Guest Post

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FYI – this is a GUEST POST…  Laura is SUPER BUSY this week, so I volunteered to write her Gratituesday post. It was selfish on my part, because I have been wanting a chance to gush a little about my best friend, and what better place than ON Laura’s blog…bear with me! -Char

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So, I got an email the other day reminding me that it’s time to renew the Heavenly Homemakers domain name. (I keep up with some of the “technical” aspects of the site). I shook my head a bit, because it’s hard to believe that another year has come and gone.

In fact, it’s been almost exactly 2 years since the day Laura and I were on the phone and the seed was planted that became an idea that eventually turned into the Heavenly Homemakers website/blog.

Of course, when she and I first started talking, there was no name yet… just a small idea that took shape pretty quickly and a gut feeling that this was something Laura could do. And not just something she COULD do… but something she NEEDED to do.

It’s fun to think back a bit… to all the “what if’s, maybe you could…, do you think THIS might work…” conversations. (And quite frankly, we still have these types of conversations regularly).

I often tell Laura that in all my years working with websites and clients and friends and churches – this Heavenly Homemakers website has been the most successful.

There are some days that it simply blows my mind.

The amount of e-books Laura has written in two years… the encouragement and advice she offers regularly… the passion with which she cares for this website and her ministry…not to mention how stinkin’ FUNNY she is.

It’s astounding to me when I think about the far reaching effects that this blog is having (you only have to check the stats or get a peek at Laura’s email in-box to know she is making a difference in hundreds… no, thousands… of lives).

And of course, the truth is that even though this Heavenly Homemakers idea was a GOOD idea… God is who turned it into a GREAT one. GOD knew that out of those first conversations between two friends… and then the conversations between Matt and Laura… and of course the conversations between all of us and HIM… that HE could make this “website thing” something fantastic.

And He so has…

He has taken Laura’s knowledge, passion, love and concern, her skills and her talents, and He has turned it all into this fabulous gift that IS Heavenly Homemakers.

And for that… I am so very, very thankful.

What are YOU thankful for today? Won’t you share it with everyone?

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Menu Plan for the Week

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I tell you what. A girl asks for a little advice and help around here…and she gets it. Thank you SO much for all of your wonderful meal suggestions for this week!! 

If you missed this post then please go read it for this to all make sense. The long and short of it is that I’m cooking for 21-31 people every night this week (except for Saturday). If you want some GREAT bulk meal ideas, go read all of these comments!

You have no idea how helpful you all were with your food suggestions! Made me hungry all weekend. If I didn’t choose to make your meal idea…it is likely because I needed to plan around what the team would be eating on other days when I wasn’t the one doing the cooking. You can rest assured that I will be looking back at all the comments in the future whenever I will be cooking for a large crowd!

Okay…here’s what I’ll be feeding the team (and what I’ll be feeding my family for breakfast and lunch too if I remember to feed them). I’m typing the dinners out in detail. That’s for my sake, not yours…but feel free to enjoy it (or be bored by it). The meals for the team begin with bold text.

Sunday, August 16
Whole wheat and honey zucchini bread, apples with caramel dip
Friends took us out for lunch as a “thank you” gift
BBQ beef sandwiches, corn on the cob, carrot sticks with dip, apple crisp, homemade ice cream

Monday, August 17
Whole wheat waffles with strawberries and whipped cream
Taco potatoes, applesauce
Salad bar:  greens, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, cubed ham, shredded cheese, hard boiled eggs, peas, dressings; homemade soft pretzels, fresh pineapple and cantaloupe, chocolate chip cookies

Tuesday, August 18
Scrambled eggs, hash browns, clementines
Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, grapes
Lasagna, tossed salad (mixture of what’s left from salad bar on Monday) with dressing, french bread, orange wedges,fudgy brownies

Wednesday, August 19
Vanilla custard, bananas
Hamburger patties, green beans, strawberry-peach slushies
Grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, relish tray (carrots, broccoli, olives, celery, dip), angeled eggs, pickle spears, cherries, Lynn’s no-bake cookie bars

Thursday, August 20
Peanut butter honey toast, applesauce
Homemade corn dogs, carrots, nectarines
Tacos (Matt’s special cooked beef, corn tortillas, salsa, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, sour cream), spanish rice, watermelon, chocolate sheet cake

Friday, August 21
Homemade oat cereal, dried fruit
Grilled chicken, ranch potato wedges, zucchini
Breakfast for dinner:  Pancakes with homemade peanut butter (if I get around to it) and syrup, sausage, scrambled eggs, grapes and whatever fruit is leftover from earlier in the week

Saturday, August 22
Cereal, leftovers, clean out the fridge, take a nap :)

In case you’re wondering…many items I’m making from scratch…but some things I’m going to just buy pre-made. Like the french bread and the buns for bbq sandwiches and the salad dressing. A girl has to have her limits, you know? :)

Oh and also…I usually do a lot of my writing for the upcoming week during the weekend. But between having a houseguest and then having more company over the weekend and doing a lot of canning and freezing and preparing for all these soccer meals…I have had about five extra minutes this weekend to work on posts. (It takes me a little bit longer than five minutes to write a post, usually.)  :)  I’ll try really hard to get some good things written for you this week, but thank you for being understanding if I can’t. I WANT to because I have so many subjects waiting to be written about. 

If all else fails, I’ll try to take a few pics of my cooking insanity marathon and do a little play by play for you. And…I’ll work very hard to come up with something better than “Oh I’m so thankful that I own a lot of 9×13 inch baking pans” for Gratituesday. :)
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Visit Organizing Junkie for more menu ideas.

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Feeding a Group – Question #43

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I need some input.

My husband helps coach the women’s soccer team for our local college. The players arrived last week to start practices and training. The dorms don’t open for another week and the cafeteria is charging a hefty amount to feed the teams. To help save the soccer budget some money we (coaches and spouses) decided to serve dinner to the girls in others ways. 

Long story short…I offered to cook dinner for 21-31 people each evening next week, Sunday through Friday.

If you know me very well, you know these two things:  1) I’m a little bit crazy and 2) I love to feed people. 

I’m pretty excited about the opportunity and will really enjoy this. I think it will be fun to treat the girls to a great meal after they’ve been working hard for hours. They are all super sweet and this will give me a chance to get to know them a little bit better.

SO…here’s where you come in. I am working hard on the menu planning and food prep this weekend. I have a few ideas of meals that will work well to feed a large group, but we’re talking about SIX meals here and I’d love a few of your meal suggestions.

Here are a few details: 

  • Some of the meals will be at a park…some will be in my home…and some will be in the church fellowship hall. 
  • The girls are going to be having THREE practices a day this week. They’ll need nourishment and a lot of it!
  • On the flip side of that…a couple hours after dinner the team will have a big run. I don’t want the meals to be incredibly bulky if I can help it.
  • I want the meals to be simple to prepare in large quantities, yet I really want to “treat” the girls to some good eatin’. I’d love for them to feel like I really cared enough to feed them well.

So, bring on the meal ideas. What do you like to feed to large crowds? Feel free to give me recipes and links if you’ve got ’em. 

You’ll see my choices on Sunday afternoon when I post my menu plan. THANK YOU in advance for your input. You have no idea how helpful this will be for me. 

Also, if you could come wash a few dishes while I cook, that would be great.

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Make Your Own Funnel Cake!

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What comes to mind when you think of funnel cakes? I think of two things:  Greasy and Expensive

Okay…three things:  Greasy, Expensive and Yummy

Funnel cakes are one of the most popular items at the fair. People stand in long lines for them. But I never can make myself buy one (because of the greasy and expensive part).

Recently my kids asked me, “Mom can you MAKE a funnel cake at home?”

Oh wow…I never thought about trying that. Sure, why not? And so I did.

Do you know how EASY it is to make a funnel cake? I whipped some up in just a few minutes. (And the family wolfed them down in just a few minutes too…)

Homemade Funnel CakesYum

1 1/4 cups flour (I used freshly ground whole wheat)
2 T. sucanat
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. sea salt
1 egg
2/3 cup milk
Oil for frying (I used coconut oil)
Organic powdered sugar or raw honey

Whisk together flour, sucanat, baking powder, salt, egg and milk. Heat oil in a skillet.

There are different ways to create your funnel cake. You can pour your batter through a funnel…or you can do what I did:  Use a cake decorating tip (the one with the biggest hole) and a plastic baggie.

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Squirt batter into hot oil (I used my electric skillet heated to 350° with a few tablespoons of oil). Cook thoroughly on one side, then flip and cook the other side (about two minutes per side).

Sprinkle with powdered sugar or drizzle with honey!!

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With these few ingredients, it is amazing what you’ll save by making these treats yourself at home. Now if I could figure out how to recreate the rides at the county fair so that allowing our kids to ride on them won’t require taking out a second mortgage. Any suggestions? :)

 

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That’s So Random

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I don’t know why I don’t do these random posts more often. Random is often how I think and have conversations. Sometimes I wonder how people (on and offline) can keep up with me. Brace yourselves. Here we go:

  • One night last week when I was tucking the boys into bed I looked around at the mess that is their bedroom and had to ask myself, “Why in the world is there a sucked-on lemon wedge sitting on that library book?” 
  • I really need to re-paint my toenails but I have no idea when I’ll ever get around to it. I think that by the time I have a free minute, it will be winter and I’ll be wearing socks anyway.
  • Today, my friend gave birth to TWINS!! A boy and a girl. The doctor had estimated that the twins were going to be eight pounds each…but they were each just under seven pounds. STILL. I’m so proud of her. Good job Melissa!!!!
  • We’re really enjoying the okra we’re getting from our garden. Anyone else out there like okra? 
  • Speaking of garden…my tomato plants are looking pitiful. I’m getting some tomatoes, but you’d think with 23 plants I’d be overloaded. Not so. I’m mooching tomatoes from anyone who has extra so that I’ll have enough to make and can sauce this year. I’m bummed about my plants, but thankful that God is providing through others.
  • Remember how I talked about my friend who is staying with me this week? May I just reiterate how lovely it is to have another female in my home with me if only for a few days? Last night while I was putting the kids to bed (Matt was at a meeting) she noticed the stuff all over the living room and picked it all up. I live with a bunch of people who don’t SEE things that need to be picked up. They will step over it and trip over it and get a bloody nose by it without ever seeing it or thinking that it should be picked up and put away. But she saw things. And picked it all up. I love her. 
  • A few days ago, Malachi took a battery operated action figure toy into the bathtub with him. After getting wet, that toy is now acting possessed. It has pretty much been talking non-stop since it’s unfortunate dunking. It found it’s way into a pile of clothes in the bathroom and last night while switching laundry, I accidentally stepped on it. In response to being stepped on it said (I kid you not), “You want a piece of me?” Of course I answered it with a confident, “Bring it on”. Matt watched the whole woman-to-toy interchange and just shook his head. It must be fun living with possessed toys and a crazy wife. I think it’s time for that toy to go. At least the wife gets to stay.

Feel free to add a random thought of your own…

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Zucchini Recipes: Zucchini Brownies

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If you know me very well, you know I love brownies. These fudgy brownies to be exact. So while coming up with zucchini recipes, of course I experimented to come up with a zucchini brownie recipe. 

Zucchini BrowniesYum

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sucanat or rapadura
1/3 cup cocoa
1 cup shredded zucchini
1 egg
2 cups whole wheat flour

Mix butter, sucanat and cocoa. Stir in zucchini and egg. Gradually mix in flour until well combined. Pour batter into a 9×13 inch pan. Bake in a 350° oven for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

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Since I’m getting vegetable in every moist, chocolaty bite…do you think I can justify eating twice as many?

Just wondering. :)

Be sure to check out these zucchini recipes also: 

AND, if you want even more zucchini recipes, check out Tammy’s Recipe swap today! We really might just all turn into zucchinis.
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This post is linked to the In Season Recipe Swap and Works for me Wednesday.

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Gratituesday: My Houseguest

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gratituesdayspring

Shannen is a friend of mine who moved away a few years ago when she was a freshman in high school. She is now getting ready to enter her senior year of high school and I miss being a part of her life. She comes to town occasionally, but I always wish I could be with her more.

shannenandlaurasm

Last weekend when the opportunity came up for Shannen to come stay with me for an entire week, I have to admit to feeling a bit overwhelmed. I was in the middle of running like crazy back and forth from our county fair, school has started for us, plus this is big-time canning and freezing and preserving season at our house (read:  my kitchen looks like an explosion of green beans, corn, potatoes and tomatoes).

Of course I wanted time with Shannen, so I only hesitated for two seconds before saying, “Sure!”

Looking at it now, I don’t even know why I hesitated for two whole seconds. Um hello? Having a 17 year old girl in my house for an entire week when I am slammed with work? Thank you God for this wonderful blessing sent  from heaven!

Needless to say, Shannen is learning a thing or two about freezing and canning and green bean snapping and potato digging and apple picking. Working side by side has been wonderful. I’ve been able to catch up on the details of her life while we work together. She helps with the kids, helps me fix dinner, helps me with whatever in the world I ask her to do. 

I think I may keep her forever.

I’m so thankful that God knew just what I needed this week. I highly recommend that everyone borrow a sweet 17 year old girl during preserving season. (But you can’t borrow the one I’m borrowing…she’s busy…sorry.)  :)
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What are you grateful for this week? 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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Digging Up and Storing Potatoes for the Winter

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Remember how I talked about planting potatoes? Now it’s already time to dig up the potatoes! It’s one of my  very favorite things to do!

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Here are a few tips for digging up and storing potatoes:

  • Once the plant turns crispy and brown and dead, the potatoes under the ground are finished growing. ( I suppose this is obvious.)
  • When the plant is crispy, you can leave the potatoes under the ground for several more weeks and they will be fine. This will toughen them up a little, which is good.
  • On the other hand, if you’re experiencing a lot of rain, you want to get the potatoes out of the ground so that they don’t rot. Rotten potatoes don’t make good french fries.
  • Use a big spade or potato fork to dig up your potatoes. Look for the base of the plant, then dig several inches away from the base. There are likely to be four to eight potatoes with each plant.
  • Occasionally you will stab a potato with your spade or potato fork. This is a bummer…and also kind of funny. Throw those stabbed potatoes into a separate box and eat these potatoes first.
  • Green potatoes can make you sick. Potatoes turn green when they are exposed to light. Some people say to throw away any potato that has even a little green on it. I just cut off the green part and eat the rest. I have lived to tell about it.
  • Russet or kennebec potatoes store the best for a longer period of time. We usually eat up our red potatoes and yukon gold potatoes first and keep the brown potatoes in storage longer.
  • To prepare your potatoes for storing, lay them singularly on a newspaper or old sheet in a darkish room. Cover them with another newspaper or sheet and let them sit this way for about a week. This will help “harden them off”. Their skins will toughen up, which will help them keep longer.
  • After your potatoes have been hardened off, put them into covered boxes or baskets. We usually put about 15-20 pounds in each box. 
  • It is VERY important that the containers for your potatoes do not allow any light in. Light will cause the potatoes to sprout. Without light, potatoes will not sprout for months.
  • Place your containers in a dark, cool room. We have a room in our basement that has been great for storing potatoes. It doesn’t have windows to allow any light in. It is cool but not cold.
  • Cold potatoes will “sugar”. That’s why you don’t put potatoes in the refrigerator.
  • You may want to occasionally sift through your potatoes to check for any that may be rotting. One rotten potato can cause the whole box to rot. It stinks (literally).
  • Potatoes will keep well for several months if stored correctly. Ours usually last until about March, at which time we use the remaining potatoes for our seed potatoes!

Sometime in the next few weeks we’ll be dumping out our potato container to see how it did! I can’t wait to see if we have a whole bunch of potatoes in our bucket (and I’m trying not to get my hopes up just in case they didn’t grow well). I’ll share pics of that experience when we get around to it!
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This post is linked to Kitchen Tip Tuesdays.

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