Heavenly Homemakers | Page 395 of 444 | Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Gratituesday: The Promise of Spring

March 2, 2009 by Laura 19 Comments

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If I keep talking about spring coming…will it actually happen?! I thought a new spring Gratituesday banner was in order…since it’s March now and spring will be here somewhere between 10 and 109 days.

What’s the weather like where you live? Are you looking forward to spring like I am?

I love the change of seasons. I’m glad I live in a place where we have a definite four seasons. (Although sometimes it seems like we only have two seasons…Summer and Winter…with two days of fall and two days of spring sandwiched somewhere in between).

Usually by now, I am so sick of winter I can hardly stand to be around myself. Guess what? I haven’t felt that way this winter!

And that’s what I’m grateful for this Gratituesday.

God blessed us this winter with several days of reprieve here and there from the harsh, bitter cold. Some of the days this winter…the SUN has actually been shining. Some of the days, the boys were able to play outside in light jackets. Some of the days, we haven’t even needed to build a fire.

One day this winter (I think it was in January) I actually took a book outside and read on the porch. In January.

Just so you know, that’s really unusual in Nebraska.

So, while I’m very excited that spring is coming soon full of all the green and loveliness that comes with it….I’m so grateful for the coziness we’ve had this winter and that God gave us a little taste of warmer weather here and there to bring relief.
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What are you grateful for this Gratituesday? Read the details here, blog about what you’re grateful for, then come link up here with us. If you don’t have a blog, please leave a comment telling us what you’re grateful for!

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High Five Recipes: Lunchtime Salmon Patties

March 2, 2009 by Laura 71 Comments

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High Five Recipes 2

As I’ve been developing this idea for High Five Recipes…I am AMAZED at how many yummy dishes you can make with five ingredients or less. Cooking healthy food really, really is simple. I have a big (and ever growing) list of recipes to share with you ranging from main dishes to side dishes to desserts and snacks…all that only require FIVE or less high quality ingredients!!

I mentioned here that we’re trying to add more fish to our diets. A friend of mine told me about how she makes Salmon Patties and what an EASY lunch they are. Ooh, she was right.

These Salmon Patties are SO easy and super delicious. I used Rubinstein’s Wild Alaskan Pink Salmon. (This is a very inexpensive dish to make!)

Not only are these a perfect lunch idea…it’s a great “rescue me” dinner too if you’re on the run in the evening since you don’t have to plan ahead to thaw meat for this dish!

Lunchtime Salmon PattiesYum

14 oz can salmon
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 t. lemon juice
oil for cooking (I use palm shortening or coconut oil)

In a bowl, mix together salmon, egg, bread crumbs and lemon juice. (You can mix the bones from the salmon in if you’d like…they cook right in and are good for you. However, I get a little wigged out about them and take out the biggest ones.)

Heat a small amount of oil in a skillet. Spoon tablespoon sized balls of the salmon mixture into the oil, flatten and cook for about five minutes, turning once. The salmon patties should be golden brown.

If you’re not a big fan of fish…I encourage you to give this simple recipe a try. I think you’ll probably be surprised!! And…this is one of those recipes that not only takes five ingredients…it only takes about five minutes to prepare. Yay!

Grocery List

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It is a Fact That Plastic Drawers Bring Me Joy

March 1, 2009 by Laura 31 Comments

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It doesn’t take much to make me squeal.

Just provide me with some rubbermaid totes with snap on lids and you’ll be my friend forever.

We recently acquired several new (to me) big rubbermaid totes…AND some of those cool plastic drawers. (It’s a long story of how we acquired them.)

The plastic totes are SO gonna help me get a handle on all the wonderful hand-me-downs we receive for the boys.

And the sets of plastic drawers? I gave those babies (and myself, by default) a good scrubbing, then Malachi and I headed into the school room with them.

Do you think we needed to?

Oh, I’m sorry. Maybe I should have told you to be sure you were sitting down before you looked at that. Scary isn’t it?

Want another view?

And you ask, “LAURA?! How could you possibly let your school room turn into such a disaster?!”

And I’d say, “Well, it was really quite simple.” ;)

We don’t really do our school work in the school room because it’s so much cozier to read history on the couches in the living room and to do math on the rug in front of the fireplace. Our school room has now just become a “hub” where we keep our books and stuff.

Therefore, after the boys are finished with a book or an activity, they go put it in the school room. And slowly but surely the idea of putting the book or activity in it’s place just didn’t hold any appeal to little boys who would rather go-play-with-legos-because-they-finally-got-all-their-work-done!!!! Plus, I’m pretty sure that room is full of hot lava.

My coping strategy was to simply close the door and walk away.

But seriously, I can hardly stand that much insanity in a room for so long before I begin to break out in a rash.

I finally sent the big boys in to put their books where they belonged. Then, Malachi and I used the new plastic drawers to organize his activities and fun pre-school stuff.

Here he is putting his little counting frogs into his “Counting Tools” drawer.
He’s counting them as he goes of course…

Ah, the joy of organized little plastic drawers. WITH labels on them. Doesn’t that just make you want to go get some beads out of drawer number four and string ’em up in a pattern?

Now. We’re starting a new week of school work. Hot lava or not…I think we’ll try to do a better job of keeping the school room looking like this!

Does anyone else get a kick out of plastic storage containers as much as I do?
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Menu Plan for the Week

March 1, 2009 by Laura 6 Comments

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Thank you so much for being understanding about my taking a bit of time off last week from “normal blogging”. I had a VERY productive week. I met the deadlines for the extra writing I was doing…made significant progress on couple of ebooks I’ve been working on (for like, over a year) and I fine-tuned the new ideas I wanted to unleash for you. I’m really looking forward to hearing your ideas for The little Green Project…and I can’t wait to start sharing some High Five Recipes!

And now, I’m energized and ready to start a new week. Here’s what we’ll be eating this week:

Sunday, March 1
Oatmeal, toast
Fundraising dinner for Youth Missions
Oven mac and cheese, steamed carrots

Monday, March 2
Simple sourdough pancakes
Popcorn chicken, strawberry-peach slushies
Italian roast wraps, tossed salad

Tuesday, March 3
Fried eggs on toast, clementines
Melting snowflakes, pears
Steak, baked potatoes, green beans

Wednesday, March 4
Pumpkin bread, bananas
Stir fried rice and veggies (with chicken)
Shepherd’s pie

Thursday, March 5
Sourdough biscuits, applesauce
Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup
Creamy garlic shrimp pasta, tossed salad

Friday, March 6
Peanut butter honey toast, peaches
Black eyed peas, apples with strawberry yogurt dip, cornbread
Hamburgers on homemade buns, onion rings

Saturday, March 7
Mom is Great breakfast cake, oranges
Beefy vegetable soup
BBQ chicken, peas, steamed carrots

And now…I’m gonna go make Malachi some chocolate pudding because he’s been asking me to make it for a long time and well…I like me some chocolate pudding too. :) And then, the two of us are going to re-organize the school room and his “school supplies”.

Psst….watch for a post on making Mozzarella Cheese in the next few days!!

I hope all of you are thinking about your little Green Projects!!!
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Visit Organizing Junkie for more menu planning ideas!

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Introducing…High Five Recipes

February 27, 2009 by Laura 22 Comments

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Would you give me a high five if I told you that I’m planning to share more healthy recipes that are super simple to make? (Or would you bowl me over with a big bear hug? ‘Cause that would be okay too.)

Beginning next week I’ll begin to share some new recipes with you that I’ve labeled: High Five Recipes.

High Five Recipes are…

High Quality Recipes that include FIVE Ingredients or less!!

High Five Recipes 2

I hope you’re as excited about it as I am.

Not only are there only five basic ingredients….most of the recipes only take five minutes to put together.

Simple and healthy…and low in cost.

Cooking healthy has never been easier.

Ah, skip giving me a high five. Let’s all have a group hug.

:)
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Help me out here! What kind of recipes are you most interested in me posting? Is lunchtime a challenge? What kinds of High 5 Recipes would help you out the most?!

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Gratituesday: Mother/Son Banquet

February 23, 2009 by Laura 23 Comments

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On Saturday night our church hosted a Mother/Son Banquet. I took four very handsome dates with me. (Although when I was making Elias put on church clothes for the event on a SATURDAY…he whined, “Ah Mom…why do you want me to look handsome?” He much preferred the holey sweat pants he was wearing.)

The banquet included a nice meal (which included plenty of food since there were so many BOYS at the event), a music video, and a couple of ladies sharing some stories about raising boys (I was one of them). To end the evening, they asked any of the sons who wanted to share something about their mom to come on up to the microphone.

That was my favorite part. Some of the little boys shared some pretty sweet things about their moms.

But here is my favorite. The little guy got up to the mike and said,

“Once my mom and I went to a movie when I was really little. I fell asleep in her lap and she didn’t leave me there to go to the bathroom or let me fall off of her lap. That’s how I know she loves me.”

Is that the cutest?! :)

The night ended with the boys bringing roses to their moms. Because of the volume of boys I am mother to…I ended up with a whole bouquet! Yay for me!

I was a little nervous to be speaking during the banquet…therefore I left the house without my camera. (I was concentrating on leaving the house with my notes and the four boys who are my sons.) So…the pics of the flowers are all I have to show you for now! A couple of others took pictures of us though and hopefully I can show them to you soon!

Even though I don’t have pictures to prove we were at this wonderful event..I’m very grateful for the opportunity to make special memories with my sons!
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Share what you’re grateful for this Gratituesday! Read the details here then come link up with us! If you don’t have a blog, please leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!

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The Craziness of Cooking with Kids

February 23, 2009 by Laura 15 Comments

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Welcome to the Week of Repeats. This post was originally published March 13, 2008. Ooh, my boys have grown so much in a year. (And cooking with them is sometimes still crazy…)
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Let’s all just take a moment to pause to recognize what most of us feel most of the time in regard to cooking with our kids:

*It’s easier to cook without the kids in the kitchen. You can get it done faster…and it also doesn’t take nearly as long…and you don’t go so slowly.

*It’s not as messy. Not NEARLY as messy.

*You can think more clearly when they’re not helping you.

*Using only your two hands seems so much easier than having all of their extra hands trying to reach over and dump in extra flour…especially when the recipe doesn’t call for flour.

*It just takes more work to include the kids in the kitchen. It does.

Yesterday…all four of mine were helping me make monkey bread.

Do you know how many hands that is?! Do the math. Four boys, one mom…I think it comes out to something like two hundred and forty seven hands. All needing the butter bowl at the same time.

I found myself at one point…as the noise level rose in the room and as the excitement level over monkey bread rose…and as more and more hands were covered with butter and cinnamon… and they kept licking their hands and then sticking them back onto the dough…and almost touching my nice shirt with their grimy hands…and the phone rang…and we needed more butter melted…and the first pan was full and we needed a second one…

AND I WAS TRYING TO TAKE A COUPLE OF NICE PICTURES FOR THE BLOG SO I COULD SHOW YOU HOW WONDERUL HAVING YOUR KIDS IN THE KITCHEN CAN BE!!!!

I was like, “WHOA GUYS!! Can you just relax and have fun with this? Instead of making it such a crazy event where we’re all getting messy and touching things we shouldn’t? Just relax and have fun, okay?!”

And they all looked at me for a second…and then got back to rolling dough in butter and cinnamon…

‘Cause I’m pretty sure they were relaxed and having fun and didn’t know what my problem was.

So, yeah.

Just because I’m writing this series on Kids in the Kitchen doesn’t mean I wouldn’t sometimes rather write a series called, “How to cope with all the quiet time you have as a mother alone in your kitchen while your kids are happily playing in the next room…”

Or…”How to get your kids to watch more TV so that they will hurry up and get out of the kitchen…”

Okay, so having said all of that…and establishing that it’s not always easy to have our kids in the kitchen helping us…I do have some tips for making it easier to have 247 small and grimy hands in the kitchen at once:

1. If possible, have ingredients and kitchen tools out and ready before you call in the troops to help.

For instance, if we’re making individual homemade pizzas…it is SO much easier to have all the pizza fixin’s out and ready to go first.

2. Instead of having all of your kids in the kitchen at once to help…let them take turns.

If we’re rolling out cookie dough and cutting it with cookie cutters….only one guy at a time gets to come in and roll and cut. This gives me special time with each one, and makes for a lot less chaos.

3. Keep it short for the short people.

If they’re little, they don’t need to be there for the whole process of watching you knead the dough for ten minutes, and then watching the dough rise…. Spend five minutes pouring and mixing…or tearing up lettuce for a salad…and call it quits. Short time segments and short jobs for the little guys.

4. Accept that it will be more difficult.

When you have your kids in there helping you, just realize that it’s going to be messier, take longer and in general be more difficult than it would be if you alone were throwing the meal together. If you plan on it being perfect and blissful every time, you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

5. Laugh.

Sometimes, the beaters go a little crazy in the hands of the little people…flinging batter all the way to your neighbor’s house. Sometimes flour gets flung all over…giving mom a mustache and white hair (in more ways than one). Work to teach your kids how to cook without making big messes…but learn to laugh with them when silly things happen.

6. Keep trying.

Even though it is a little hectic (a lot hectic) at times…keep pulling your kids in there. The more you cook with them…the easier it will be…and the more they’ll be learning.

7. Remember your purpose.

What is it all about anyway? We want our kids in the kitchen with us. They need to learn the art of cooking. You are making sweet memories with them. Focus on why you’re spending this time with them in the kitchen…and know that you are doing a great thing!

Now, go get those kids and bake something delicious. And then, go soak in the tub so that you can relax… (And so that you can get the honey out of your hair. How did THAT happen?!)
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Visit Tammy’s Recipes for more kitchen tips.

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Menu Plan for the Week

February 22, 2009 by Laura 15 Comments

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We’ve been trying to learn to eat more fish around here to go along with our cow, chicken, deer and lamb.

Last week we tried salmon patties and shrimp. Matt actually was the one who experimented with the shrimp because I seriously had no idea what to do with it. It was so delicious I thought I might fall over. All the boys thought so to, and the stuff was gone in five minutes.

It’s the perfect time to get fishy. Tis the season for fish to be on sale.

This week we’ll be eating catfish and pollock. And maybe more shrimp because that stuff was seriously SO GOOD.

Sunday, Feb. 22
Oatmeal, toast, fruit
Chicken and noodles, applesauce
Chili, cheese and crackers, apple slices

Monday, Feb. 23
Whole wheat waffles
Catfish nuggets, potato wedges, peas
Potato soup, carrot sticks, fruit salad

Tuesday, Feb. 24
Scramble egg sandwiches, orange slices
Pizza casserole, tossed salad
Lamb chops, creamy scalloped potatoes, green beans

Wednesday, Feb. 25
Orange muffins, bananas
Homemade chicken strips and fries, strawberry-peach slushies (yay spinach!)
Cheesy beef and rice, steamed carrots and broccoli

Thursday, Feb. 26
Blueberry coffeecake
Lentils, cornbread, fruit plate
Pollock (don’t know how I’m fixing it yet), baked potatoes, salad

Friday, Feb. 27
Giant breakfast cookies, pears
Beef and cheese burritoes, kefir and fruit smoothies
Homemade pizza, tossed salad

Saturday, Feb. 28
Whole wheat cinnamon rolls (I found some in the freezer!)
Beans and rice on tortillas with salsa and kreme fresh
Spaghetti, tossed salad, corn

Now…let’s talk about the blogging menu for this week.

First…you need to know that VERY SOON I will be telling you about an amazing giveaway I’m doing for an iPod Touch!!!!! Seriously!! Come back and check for details!!!

Next…you need to know that this week’s posts will be called, “The Week of Repeats”. I am working on several projects (one or two of which I can reveal to you this week)…and I’m doing some extra writing (the deadlines for said writing are fast approaching)…and the boys in my life still want food.

Instead of posting as normal…I’ll be pulling some of my favorites from the archives and re-posting them for you. Sorry if you find that boring. If you’re too bored…please come over and fold my laundry.

But there’s nothing boring about an iPod Touch giveaway…so if for no other reason…you must stop back by this week to find out how to enter!

Oh, and Gratituesday will carry on as normal this week…because I’m NOT too busy to take time to be grateful!! :)

Thanks for understanding…and I will make it up to you NEXT week by finally posting about how I make mozzarella cheese. How does that sound?
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Visit Organizing Junkie for more menu plan ideas.

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Feeding the Family: Food Co-ops and Resources

February 19, 2009 by Laura 41 Comments

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Catch up on the rest of this series here.

By the way…I think this post holds the record for being the absolute longest I’ve ever written. Maybe? Well, brace yourself.

It’s field trip day again! If you you were absent the day we went on our other field trip to meet my favorite cow, you can check it out here.

Today, I want to take you with me while I pick up my food co-op order.

I live in a smallish town that has two nice grocery stores and a Super Walmart. If I wanted to go to a Whole Foods store or something like it, I’d have to drive almost two hours one way. Therefore, I order most of the food we can’t grow or get from local farmers from Azure Standard .

I usually place my order online and I almost always order in bulk. It’s less expensive for us to buy in bulk…I have enough room in my kitchen to store bulk groceries…and there are six of us so we eat…a lot.

Ready? Field trip time…

The delivery truck meets us in the Walmart parking lot. And don’t think I didn’t feel a little bit silly taking these pictures because I did. Who else whips out the camera to take pictures of people getting boxes of food off of a truck but the Heavenly Homemaker? Ah, but I did it for you anyway…and my Azure Standard friends just smiled and nodded like they would expect nothing less from me than to take pictures of this fine activity.

That long of a truck can hold a LOT of yummy food!

Thank you, Mr. Nice Truck Driver.

Here are our nice piles starting to form while we wait for everyone to show up and take their food home. The whole process only takes about ten minutes. And…many of us squeal a little bit when our pretty boxes of apples come off of the truck. Mr. Nice Truck Driver just looks smug because he has what it takes to make grown women squeal.

Then, as all of you know…I bring it home and unload it onto the counter so that I can stare at it for several minutes. Looking at my groceries (and thinking about how I’ll make the food into yummy meals for my family) makes we very happy. All that you see here cost me $168, by the way.

Then, I take many of the bulk foods (honey in the case of this picture) and break them down into small containers for easy use and storage.

Thank you to everyone who is still reading this post and has not fallen out of your chair from boredom. (And if you DID fall out of your chair, I’m sorry to say that you need to get up and sit down again because the post isn’t done yet.)

I KNOW not everyone has the luxury of Azure Standard delivering in your area (like say…my readers from Turkey). I’m sorry that I just went on and on about something that is not relevant to you…I just have a lot of other readers (like say…my readers from the 17 states that A.S. does deliver to) who have been asking about this.

There are other food co-ops to check into. Try United Buying Clubs. Or…take a look at this Coop Directory Service. (Again, that won’t help you folks in Turkey.) :( If you’re from Canada you can do what Stephanie does and order from Spud.

(If there isn’t a co-op nearby…you CAN get one started as long as there’s a company that delivers to your area. Azure Standard didn’t deliver in my town until I made a phone call three years ago. Now, there’s about 20 of us who are a part of this group.)

And also…if you have absolutely no way of ordering some of these fabulous foods from any of the above mentioned places…try Amazon. (Does Amazon deliver to Turkey?) I am amazed by what you can order from Amazon and often you can even qualify for free shipping which is so cool. (Psst…if you’re gonna order from Amazon and you want to do it by clicking on the little Amazon button in the right hand column of my blog, that would be very nice of you.)

Since you managed to read through to the end of this and live to tell about it, the least I can do is listen to you tell me where you find most of your groceries! Do you have cool grocery stores where you live? Are there some neat markets where you shop? Are you a part of a food co-op? How many of you really are from Turkey?

and last but not least…

DID any of you fall out of your chairs while reading this?

More Frugal Friday posts here.

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Women with a Mission: When You’re at Church

February 18, 2009 by Laura 18 Comments

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Here’s a topic that I feel very strongly about. Very.

There are people all over the place within your church walls on a Sunday morning (or any other time you meet together) that need something. They might need encouragement. A hug. A smile. An acknowledgement. A prayer. A conversation.

Someone to just notice them. Someone to say hello to them. Someone to help them find their way to a Bible class. Someone to sit with. Someone to hold their baby for them. Someone who needs to hold your baby for you.

Someone who needs to cry with somebody. To pray with somebody.

I don’t care how shy you are or how much of an introvert you are. I. Don’t. Care.

The people who need you don’t care…if you’re shy…they just need you.

Challenge yourself, practice and learn. Pray for courage and strength. Let God be strong for you when you are weak.

Look around you and notice who needs you. Pray for God to show you who needs you. Then, GO. Just go. You can do it.

Don’t leave it up to your ministers or elders. Don’t leave it up to the “greeting committee”. That’s hogwash. <wow, laura. why don’t you tell us how you really feel?>

It takes an entire church body to meet the needs of the people God loves.

Break away from your comfort zone of friends (the ones who are easy to talk to and hang out with). You can call them and get together with them later. (For that matter…take your friends with you and reach out together.)

Focus instead on the people who may not come back again unless they receive a warm welcome. The people who may be lonely. The people who are hurting. The people who God puts on your heart if/when you are listening.

Sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes it’s not. But it does take practice. And hard work. And sometimes you will be worn out from the effort. Ah, but it’s a good tired. And I promise you that the more you do it, the easier it will be for you.

Can I challenge you to work on this one if it is a hard task for you? I really, really think it’s important. Showing God’s love to newcomers is important. Listening to someone who is hurting is important. Letting God use you as a part of his body is important.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 Jesus said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Guess what? When you move beyond the fear and shyness (or just plain ol’ indifference) that is holding you back and let God’s power work through your weakness…you will be amazed at what you can do. God’s power is made perfect in your weakness.

And in mine. He’s proved that to me over and over.

I LOVE it when God proves his power.

Do you consider yourself to be introverted or extroverted? Is going up to newcomers at church hard for you? Do you feel like it’s easier to hang around your closer friends than to step out and visit with others? Or, does this idea come naturally to you? In what ways can you improve when it comes to reaching out to others when you’re at church?

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