Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Menu Plan for the Week

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This weekend has been a little bit nutso. We sold concessions at our county fair AND made a very fast trip to Kansas City for a baseball game. How did we do both, you ask? I have no idea. I’ll let you know (if)when I’ve recovered.

Oh YEAH…and also I put up six dozen ears of corn and twenty-one quarts of green beans. And dug up several pounds of potatoes. Sometimes, I think I’m crazy. (Feel free to agree.)

And guess what I just realized? Soccer season (Matt helps coach our college women’s team) starts Wednesday. I think my craziness is about to get crazier.

Here’s this week’s menu:

Sunday, August 9
Breakfast cookies, grapes
Sandwiches, chips, baby carrots, fruit leather
Out with family/friends

Monday, August 10
Simple sourdough pancakes
Tuna topped tomatoes, watermelon
Italian roast wraps, fruit salad

Tuesday, August 11
Scrambled eggs, oranges
BLTs, chips and salsa, cantaloupe
Chicken enchiladas, salad

Wednesday, August 12
Applesauce bread, bananas
Chicken quesadillas, peaches
Cookout with the soccer team

Thursday, August 13
Fruit-kefir smoothies, homemade oat cereal
Salmon patties, strawberry-peach slushies
Lasagna, tossed salad, garlic bread

Friday, August 14
Fried eggs on toast, clementines
Hamburger patties, corn on the cob, tomatoes
Picnic with our homeschool group – Taking Hearty bean casserole, veggie tray, fudge brownies

Saturday, August 15
Breakfast cake
Bean dip with chips, salsa and kreme fresh
Grilled steak, corn on the cob, ranch potato wedges

All craziness aside, I have some fun posts in the works for you this week. Like for instance…at the fair I got to thinking about how I could probably make my own healthier (and CHEAPER) version of a funnel cake. And so I tried it. And it was YUMMY! I’ll share that recipe sometime this week. 

I also figure that with all the craziness, I should spit out a random post for you. Random and crazy go well together.

Here’s to another great and busy week!

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Zucchini Recipes: Whole Wheat Zucchini Cake

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With all these zucchini experiments you might think that I don’t have any more huge zucchini in my kitchen any more. Oh but you’d be wrong. There’s still a big huge one on my countertop waiting to be played with. I’ve still got a Zucchini Brownie recipe coming for you…and in case you missed them…here are more zucchini recipes you might be interested in:  Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookies and Bars; Cheeseburger Zucchini Boats; Whole Wheat and Honey Zucchini Bread and Muffins.

This cake was maybe my favorite of all the experiments. It was really, really good (and by was, I mean that every last piece is gone). Of course I happen to think cream cheese frosting makes everything good!

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Whole Wheat Zucchini CakeYum

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups sucanat or rapadura
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups shredded zucchini
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted

Stir together dry ingredients. Mix in zucchini, eggs and butter. Pour batter into a buttered 9×13 inch baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Allow cake to cool completely. Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting. Below are two recipe choices:

Sorta-Naughty (But at Least the Sugar is Unbleached) Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup melted butter
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 t. vanilla
4 1/2 cups organic/unbleached powdered sugar

Cream butter and cream cheese together. Add vanilla. Beat powdered sugar in gradually until you reach the right consistency.

Not-So-Naughty (But Still Really Good) Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
3 ounces cream cheese
1 t. vanilla
4 T. honey

Whip cream until soft peaks form. In a separate bowl, stir cream cheese, vanilla and honey together until smooth. Gently fold in whipped cream.

Either frosting recipe is really good…the latter one is just a bit more natural and healthy.

If you like carrot cake…we all kinda thought this cake tasted a lot like carrot cake. Mmmm!

(If you don’t like carrot cake, then this cake tasted nothing like carrot cake.)  You should totally try it. ;)
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This post is linked to Frugal Fridays.

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Is Agave Nectar Good For You? Should I Soak my Grains? A Bit of Controversy

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We all just want to be healthy and eat healthy, right? (Except for those times we just want to be healthy but eat Cheetos, that is.)

I do quite a bit of research each time I tell you that a certain food is or isn’t good for you. The trouble is that there’s a lot of controversial information out there. 

I know there will always be absolute opposite information about eating butter vs. not eating butter. People creating high fructose corn syrup will try to convince me that their product is “natural” and I will big fat never believe it. But I get SO frustrated about differing information about what I’ve read from sources I’ve believed to be true. (Remember my rapadura vs. sucanat mystery here? I now see that organic sucanat is the same as rapadura even though I originally read and understood that rapadura was better. And sucanat costs less.)

So here are the latest question marks. I bring these up for several reasons:

I think we should all be well informed. I think we all need to eat as healthy as we possibly can. I want to know the truth.  I want you to read it for yourselves. And also I want you to know that I don’t know everything (but you already knew that, right?).

  1. Is agave nectar used as an alternative to sugar good for you?  I thought it was. Because I’d read that it was. And then I read this article from Dr. Mercola. And this article by John Kohler. Shucks. I think I’ll just stick with pure maple syrup instead. 
  2. Is it necessary to soak my grains before making them into bread, pancakes, muffins, etc?  According to my Nourishing Traditions cookbook, soaking grains is a wonderful step to take to break down the phytic acid in grains and make them more digestible. I’ve written a whole post about it encouraging you to do this. BUT according to this article from Bread Beckers, taking this step isn’t necessary. REALLY? I’ve never read any information telling me that it wasn’t necessary!! It’s a long article, but I encourage you to read it. I really don’t know what to think. I have such a hard time wrapping my brain around not soaking my grains. (Thanks Dawn for the emails and links!)

I don’t always take the time to soak my grains, so part of me would love to not feel so bad each time I feed my family “straight” whole wheat. Not to mention the time it would save. On the other hand…I know from experience what my tummy feels like when I eat oats that have not been soaked vs. how my tummy feels when I’ve soaked them. I can tell a digestive difference.

The agave nectar issue isn’t such a dilemma for me. I could take that or leave it since there are so many other healthy and natural sweeteners out there (raw honey, maple syrup, sucanat, stevia). But the soaking grains things has really got me stumped.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and knowledge on these subjects. From your research and learning…What do you know about Agave Nectar? and  What’s your take on soaking grains?

While you’re answering…I think I’ll just go eat a peach. It’s from my own tree and I KNOW it’s good for me.

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The Most Annoying Thing I Ever Loved

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It may have been the best $2.95 I’ve ever spent.

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While we were picking up school supplies last week, I grabbed this handy little kitchen timer. I thought it might be something nice to try while I work to keep four boys on task and productive and happy during school time.

And so far…it’s working. It’s WORKING! I love it when things work!

When the boys need a break between phonics and math, I have them set the timer for ten minutes. For ten blessed minutes, they go shoot things and defeat things and build things and knock them over and do all the things boys like to do when they have free time. In the meantime, I wash a few dishes…look over papers…close my eyes…whatever I need to do with ten minutes of quiet.

When the timer goes off, they run back in and are ready to hit the math books.

We’ve also used the timer while the boys are reading books so that they don’t ask twenty times, “How much longer should I read?” They just read until the timer goes off (and then they read some more if they want to).

In the evenings we’ve started a “Ten Minute Tidy” to see how many things they can pick up before the timer goes off.

I’m SO GLAD this little gadget is working. But here’s what I’d like to know:

Why in the world do the boys respond so well to a little ticky thing that has a VERY annoying ~BZZZZZZZT~ to let them know that their time is up…when they could just come down the stairs when their mother’s sweet, loving voice calls them down to do math?

It’s another one of those great mysteries.
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This post is linked to Works for me Wednesday.

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Gratituesday: New School Year

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It’s official. We have a 7th grader, a 4th grader, a 2nd grader and a pre-schooler. We began school this week. At exactly one day into it, I can say…so far, so good!

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Here we are at our traditional “take your list, get a basket and pick out your school supplies” day. We try to do this the Friday before school starts to keep the excitement alive!

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I spread out all of our books and organized them for the year…

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See that USA puzzle up there in the picture? Last week when we were putting the final touches on the school room and getting supplies put away…I was getting SO frustrated. I was trying to get the boys to put their folders and notebooks away, but instead they grabbed the USA puzzle, dumped it out all over the floor and started working on it. They were up and down looking at the big wall map, talking about which state went where in the puzzle. I couldn’t get anyone to listen to what I was trying to say!

Just about the time I started to scold them…it occurred to me:  Hello Laura! They are learning and loving every minute of it. They can put their glue sticks away later! 

The instant they finished putting all fifty states back into the puzzle, they dumped it out again and started over. Then they started looking at all of their new books on the shelves and getting SO excited. They could hardly wait for Monday to come. (Actually, I saw Elias sneaking into his math book that day and writing in the first three answers and grinning at me like he’d really pulled a big one over on me!)

I love that the boys get so excited about school and learning! We have our moments...trust me.  If the boys really, really had a choice, they’d play computer games all day long. But I wish you could have heard them this morning as we sat on the living room floor with the globe and maps and colored pencils. You would have thought I was throwing them a party. (A loud party.)

Many of you commented or emailed that you couldn’t believe I was starting school on my birthday. It really was the best way to spend my day:  On the floor…surrounded by boys and books. It doesn’t get much better than that!
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What are you grateful for this Gratituesday? Write about it on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, please leave a comment letting us know how God is working in your life!

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Menu Plan for the Week

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We’re all set and ready to start school Monday! I’ve been working hard this weekend to get ahead in the kitchen so that I can focus on establishing a good school routine for the boys. I made four loaves of bread (two regular, two cinnamon swirl), a double batch of tortillas, whole wheat graham crackers, crispy cheese crackers, pizza casserole, bagels and mudballs. I sliced carrots into sticks and dug potatoes from the garden (enough to last us this week).

Books are ready, lesson plans are made, house is clean, and everyone is excited! I’ll share more about gearing up for school on Gratituesday!

Here’s what we’re eating this week:

Sunday, August 2
Cinnamon swirl bread, fruit
Roast, carrots, potatoes, gravy
Nachos, watermelon

Monday, August 3 (Happy Birthday to me!)
Honey whole wheat bagels, clementines
Pizza casserole, sweet corn
Out to dinner, cheesecake made by boys

Tuesday, August 4
Scrambled eggs, oranges
Sloppy joes on homemade buns, potato salad, sweet peppers
Roasted chicken, rice and veggie stir-fry

Wednesday, August 5
Sourdough biscuits with butter and honey, applesauce
Spanish rice with chicken, grapes
Spaghetti, tossed salad

Thursday, August 6
Crepes with jelly
Creamy mac and cheese, steamed carrots, strawberry-peach slushies
Beans and rice on tortillas with tomatoes and spicy avocado dip

Friday, August 7
Peanut butter honey toast, pears
Quesadillas, apples, carrots
Hamburgers, onion rings, tomatos

Saturday, August 8
Homemade donuts
Leftovers
Grilled chicken, okra, yellow squash 

Menu Plan Monday is being hosted this week at The Happy Housewife…go check it out for more menu planning ideas!

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Becoming One with the Airport

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Monday I flew all by myself to California for a few days to be with my CA sisters-in-law. Every other year we work pretty hard to make this trip happen. I’m so thankful that I have sisters-in-law who are my friends.

Matt and the boys dropped me off early so that I’d have plenty of time before my first flight. I had two hours to wait…but no problem…I had books to read and no boys to chase. Then the flight got delayed. And then it was delayed some more. And then I realized that I’d miss my connecting flight in Dallas.

By the time I finally got to Dallas and rescheduled my continuing flight to CA, I was super bummed to know that I’d have to be at the airport waiting for FIVE hours since there was simply no other flight that could get me there. Sigh. I mean…we had plans to go to Cheesecake Factory that night. I spent quite a bit of time feeling sorry for myself and missing my boys and husband. 

Oh…and I was freezing cold in the airport. 

I decided that I could not possibly be freezing and miserable for five hours, so I set out to look in the airport shops for a sweatshirt. I didn’t really care what it said and I almost didn’t care how much it cost because I was THAT cold.

I quickly changed my mind about the “I don’t care what it says” idea when the one and only sweatshirt I could find in the entire DFW airport said, “Texas Brewing Co.” And then it had this handy little pocket pouch in the front to keep your beer bottle in (no I’m not kidding) with a little insert that said, “Keep your hands free…and your beer cold!”

Okay…maybe not.

I finally found a simple long sleeved t-shirt that said TEXAS across the front…for only $10…and snatched it up. If only I could find some long johns and wool socks, then I’d be set.

Once I got my long sleeved shirt on, I set off to figure out how I was going to kill the other 4 1/2 hours of my lay-over. I thought about getting my shoes shined…but no…I was wearing flip flops. I thought about sitting down for a nice meal…but didn’t want to spend my entire CA budget on one burger. 

I had no cell phone and I hadn’t brought my lap-top (was kicking myself over that one). Funny how you can be surrounded by thousands of people for hours, yet feel very lonely.  It made me wonder who else in the airport was feeling lonely.

I started “people watching”. I saw someone with her zipper down. I saw people wearing some very interesting clothes. I saw people wearing hardly any clothes. I thought at one point that I saw my cousin. But no…it was someone else’s cousin.

Hmmm. I got out my journal and a Bible study book and enjoyed that for quite a while. I was feeling much more refreshed and less sorry for myself after that.

Then came the highlight of my day.

I met a couple (who had grandchildren my age) who had been delayed all day like I had been. We were waiting for the same flight (which, by the way, was by then delayed yet another hour and a half). I can’t tell you how this sweet couple refreshed my spirit. They were believers. They were frustrated by the delays like I was, yet trying to be patient. They were on the way to his brother’s funeral. They got me through the last few hours with cheerful conversation and talk about our families. We laughed. We shared. We made the most of our bad situation.

I knew I would be okay when at one point the grandmother lady (why didn’t I even ask her name?) started singing, “This is the day the Lord has made…” 

Seems I found a sister before I was able to make it to CA to meet my sisters.

Isn’t God good?

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Zucchini Recipes: Cheeseburger Zucchini Boats

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You’ve gotta try this fun zucchini recipe! Little boats that you can eat…how cool is that? What a perfect way to get your kids to eat zucchini!

Cheeseburger Zucchini BoatsYum

3 small zucchini
1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, chopped tiny
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. chili powder
sea salt
1/2 cup cheddar cheese (I use raw white cheddar)

Cut off the ends of the zucchini and boil them for about 10 minutes. In the meantime brown hamburger meat, onion, garlic powder and chili powder. Salt to taste.

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Slice cooked zucchini lengthwise.

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Use a fork and spoon to scrape out the “zucchini guts”  (sorry, I live with boys) and add it to cooked hamburger meat.

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Scoop equal amounts of hamburger mixture into each “boat”. Top with shredded cheese.

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Put in oven broiler for a couple of minutes until cheese is melted then serve right away.

Now you can eat them while singing, “Great green globs of slicky, slimy zucchini guts…”

Or…you can skip the sing-along and just eat them.

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Say It Out Loud

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Ever have conversations with people in your head? You know…after you visit with them and you aren’t entirely happy with how you responded? 

If you are anything like me you’re likely to spend several days after a conversation with someone re-hashing the conversation over and over in your head saying what you wish you would have said to them.

I can come up with some wonderful come-backs to say to people two days after I actually talk to them. My head can sometimes be filled with amazing and brilliant conversations in which I totally put the other person in his/her place and make tremendous points and prove how right I am.

Too bad it’s IMAGINARY.

It’s a complete and total waste of brain time.  Satan loves to get in our head and help us waste our thought time on things that are completely pointless and meaningless. Just think of all the time we could be talking to God either in praise or petition…but instead we’re thinking about and worrying about a conversation we had with someone and wishing we would have said this or that instead. Oh yeah, Satan loves that.

While we’re on the subject of wasted brain time…how about all time spent inside our heads comparing ourselves to others? Or criticizing how others do things (because it makes us feel better about how we do things)?

It’s just another of Satan’s tools to pull us away from all the things that truly are important.

Here’s what I’ve been finding that is incredibly helpful:

  • Recognize the sin for what it is. It’s sinful to spend our time worrying about what we said or didn’t say when we can do absolutely nothing to change the situation. It’s sinful to compare ourselves to others so that we can build ourselves up. Yuck…no wonder it feels so bad when we do it.
  • Change the crummy thoughts to prayer thoughts. It sounds easier than it is…and sometimes…I just really don’t want to. But it’s one of the only sure ways to change your thought patterns. Train yourself to pray everytime your brain starts to re-think a difficult conversation or to criticize someone.
  • Say it out loud.  This may sound silly…but I can not believe how well it works. Whenever I have critical or frustrated thoughts going through my head…if I say it out loud I quickly realize how petty and ridiculous they sound. They sound so intelligent inside my head.  Out loud? Ridiculous! 

Bless my poor husband’s heart. He’s the one who usually gets to hear my ridiculous thoughts. I usually get them about half-way out of my mouth when I realize, “Good grief Laura. Are you really going to finish that sentence?” Because it just sounds that ridiculous.

Choose someone who will truly help you work through the situation and not someone who will feed into it and make the situation worse. And then say it out loud. 

It works for me every time.

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Gratituesday: Ho…Hum…

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God is so good. Each week when I think about what to write for my Gratituesday post, it’s never hard to come up with something to be thankful for. Because there is always so much to be thankful for.

And yet, I find myself trying to think of “something big” to tell you about. Some great event or situation that happened the previous week to share about how God is working in our lives.

Somehow it seems a little silly for me to write an entire Gratituesday post about how thankful I am that we have plenty of food in the house. Or that we were just given another box of hand-me-down clothes for the boys. Or that Matt has construction jobs lined up for several weeks.

Or…that we have a working toilet and running water. And electricity. And a computer. And a big kitchen. And beds–lots of them…and they are soft. And we have ceiling fans. And dishes. And soap. And shoes. And soft towels. And a washing machine. And a lawn mower.

Today’s Gratituesday is dedicated to all the little things. All the little things that are really big things when it comes right down to it. 

Because if you’ve ever not had a working toilet or running water…that suddenly becomes a big thing…right?

I’m thankful for all the comforts in life and for how God provides. He just provides.

Hooray for the little things!
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Share what you’re grateful for! Write about it on your blog then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, please leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!

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