Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Menu Plan for the Week

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Suddenly, I’m realizing that there are just a few days left before we leave for our big California trip. (Breathe…breathe…)  I’m working on staying calm and keeping things simple…but we’re talking about a HUGE trip across the country with four kids and well…it takes a lot of work to get ready for it. 

This week, I’ll be making simple meals so that I can focus on finishing up laundry and packing. I am happy to say that gifts are made/purchased and wrapped…and the house is sort of, mostly clean. I’m going to settle for “sort of/mostly”…I think that’s as good as it’s going to get!

Here’s our menu:

Sunday, Dec. 14
Oatmeal, bananas
Company over:  Beef stew, corn, green beans, cornbread, fudgie brownies
Nachos, fruit

Monday, Dec. 15
Whole wheat waffles (already made and in the freezer)
Hamburgers and onion rings
Turkey and noodles, carrots

Tuesday, Dec. 16
Scrambled eggs, clementines
Baked potatoes with butter and kreme fresh, cottage cheese and peaches
Stir fried rice and veggies

Wednesday, Dec. 17
Applesauce bread, pears
Clean out the fridge
Clean out the fridge (in other words…a piece of meat, a pickle, two lemons, whatever that is in that jar back there, and a glass of milk)

Thursday, Dec. 18
Breakfast cookies
Quesadillas on the road
Sandwiches on the road
(I can’t very well pack meals for our entire trip, but I can pack it at least for our first day!!)

We’ll get a few hours down the road on Thursday night and stay with friends…then get a lot of hours down the road on Friday and stay with friends…then go the rest of the way on Saturday. That’s the plan anyway. We felt like breaking it up like this would make it quite a bit easier on the kids…plus…it’s a great way to see friends we don’t get to see very often!

Here’s what I’ve been working on for the blog this week…

One more Christmas cookie recipe:  Peanut Butter and Honey Reindeer Cuties….More Food Gift Ideas….Fun Gift Wrap ideas…..and be sure to join us for Gratituesday!!

How’s everyone doing on your final pre-Christmas activities? Are you staying calm and enjoying the season?!  :)  Have any great ideas for activities to do with your kids while you’re traveling in a van for 4536 hours?! (Okay, I’m exaggerating…but it will be something like 24 hours one way.)
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Visit Organizing Junkie for more menu ideas!

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It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

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I try to keep my Christmas preparations simple. Simple gifts, simple menu, simple plans.

But it doesn’t matter. It seems like this time of year is always crazy anyway. I think it’s because just a normal day in the middle of…say…April is busy. Normal life is full of things to do. Throw a big holiday into the mix and there’s a good chance you’ve got…craziness.

A few years ago, Matt was standing in a long line at Wal-mart sometime during the month of December. Playing on the store speakers was, “It’s the most…wonderful time….of the year….”  He looked at all the people in the line with him…and at all the people walking in and out of the store. Not ONE of them was smiling. Not one of them looked like they were enjoying the season. NO one looked happy. Most people were grumbling…looking at their watches…shaking their heads in disgust at how long the lines were.

If it weren’t such a sad picture, he might have laughed. “It’s the hap-happiest sea-son of all!”

What’s wrong with this “most wonderful time of the year“? What has happened to our focus during Christmas? Why does it become stressful? And why are so many people grumpy?

Might I make a few suggestions for us during the next two weeks? (And by us, I am very much including me.)

  • Since this is such a magical time for our children…could we maybe wipe the flour off of our hands and actually go enjoy our children and their excitement?
  • When we are in a store and standing in an unavoidable line…how about we make a focused effort to be cheerful and smile at those around us. It might just make someone else smile back at you. (And I really bet the employees would welcome your kindness.)
  • Can we let go a little of the pressure of finding the “perfect gift” for each person on our list? Isn’t love more important?
  • This is a perfect time to overdo…get run down…eat too much sugar…and get sick. Focus on drinking enough water, eating fruits and veggies and getting enough sleep. 
  • Take a look at your “to do list”. If it doesn’t really need to be done, scratch it off. Guilt free. Don’t even look back. 
  • Spend time in prayer. Be quiet. Sit. Listen. Let God and the joy that comes from knowing Him fill you with peace.

Now, take a deep breath…smile and relax. It IS a most wonderful season. One that is to be enjoyed. 

Enjoy it! 
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Visit Keeper of the Home today for more post on living simply.

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Inexpensive Gifts to Make and Give, Pt. 3: Food

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As you can probably guess…giving gifts of food are my favorite gifts to give. (Say that five times fast.)

Everyone likes to eat…and food gifts are very likely to be used and loved. (Unlike a big fish on a plaque that has a sensor in it and sings when someone walks by.)  (My apologies to those of you who have a fondness for Billy the Big Mouth Bass.)  :)

Here are some of my favorite ideas for Inexpensive Gifts of Food:

Calico Bean Soup Jar

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Layer in jar:
1/2 cup dried lima beans
1/2 cup dried pinto beans
1/3 cup dried kidney beans
1/4 cup dried minced onion
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup dried lima beans
1/2 cup dried pinto beans
1/4 cup dried kidney beans

Attach a note with the following directions for making soup:

To make soup: Bring Bean Soup Mix and 8 cups of water to a rolling boil in a large pot. Cover, remove from heat, and let sit 1 hour.
Return pot to heat, 2 carrots, chopped, 2 stalks celery, chopped and  2 pounds ham hocks  or beef soup bones. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 2 hours, until beans are tender, skimming fat as necessary.
Remove ham hocks or soup bones from soup. Remove meat from bone, chop and return to soup. Heat through and serve.

Hot Fudge Sauce

 

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1 ½ cups heavy cream
1 cup sugar or rapadura
½ cup cocoa
1 stick butter
1 t. vanilla

In medium saucepan, stir together cream, sugar, cocoa and butter. Cook on medium heat until butter is melted and ingredients are thoroughly combined. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Pie of the Month Club

Someone emailed or commented about this idea back when I was putting together the For the Love of Pie Ebook. I CAN NOT find the email or comment to give credit to whom credit is due. (If YOU were the SMART person who mentioned this idea, please claim it in the comments.)

Anyway, using recipes from the For the Love of Pie FREE ebook or your other favorite pie recipes…you can give a loved one a certificate for a “Pie of the Month Club” or some clever title you come up with. Then, you get to make the recipient a pie every month for a year. Who wouldn’t LOVE that?

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What are some of your favorite food gifts to give? (Or receive!?)

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It’s a Motivated Moms Giveaway!!

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Have you taken a peek at the Motivated Moms website before?! This gal has wonderful planners for an entire year of motivation, organization and get-with-it-ness. The chore charts and planners are all downloadable, affordable, and ready to help you through the year. Some of them even offer a daily Bible reading schedule!

Deann at Motivated Moms has generously offered to give away TWO of her 2009 planners here to TWO of you who leave a comment. And she’ll let you pick out whichever chart best fits your needs! 

Go take a look at sample pages here. Come back and leave a comment letting us know which chart you’ll pick if you win.

I’ll draw two random winners on Monday, Dec. 15.

Oh, it’s so nice to be ORGANIZED!!!!
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Thanks for your participation…the giveaway is now over!!

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“Oh Christmas Tree! Oh Christmas Tree! How We Love to EAT You!”

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That’s the latest Christmas carol we’ve been singing at our house. 

The boys and I have been going a little crazy with our Christmas cookie cutters and oh boy have we had fun. Who says cookie cutters are limited to COOKIES?! My friend Holly (who loves cookie cutters as much as I love jars) even decorated her entire Christmas tree with cookie cutters one year!! What a great idea!

Here are a few of the things we’ve come up with to increase the level of Christmas Festivity around here.

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Christmas Sourdough Biscuits

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Christmas Graham Crackers

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Christmas Pizzas

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Christmas Donuts

The boys also suggested that Christmas Quesadillas and Christmas Grilled Cheese Sandwiches would be good. Sounds good to me!! It’s always fun to eat Santa’s head.  (Yikes, I’ve been hanging around with silly little boys for too long…)

What other ideas have you thought of for using cookie cutters?!
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Gratituesday: Oh Deer!!

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Guess what we brought home with us after visiting my family in Kansas at Thanksgiving? A whole deer!! 

Our family friend, Bert, LOVES to hunt. My dad has many acres of land on which to hunt. My dad doesn’t charge Bert anything to hunt on his land. So, several years ago, Bert told him that he’d give my dad one deer each year in payment for hunting on his land.

My dad doesn’t like deer meat. So guess who gets a deer each year?! We do!! (My dad doesn’t understand why we get so excited about that.)  (Maybe you don’t either. Do you like deer meat?)

We think it’s yummy…and of course we like the free meat part of the deal. Our favorites are the tenderized steaks that I make into chicken fried steak. Yum! And with the hamburger meat, we make chili and tacos and sloppy joes and spaghetti and….you get the idea.

What’s really cool is that Bert acts like WE’RE doing him a favor by LETTING him hunt for us. (You’re welcome, Bert. Glad we could help.)  He is grateful that we appreciate it so much and can use the meat because he enjoys hunting so much. His wife isn’t a big fan of deer meat, so she appreciates us too. EVERYONE wins!!

Bert told us that if he gets another one this year, we can have that too. GO BERT!!

So, this Gratituesday I’m grateful for how God provided us with a whole shelf full of meat in our freezer. And for friends who are willing to share.
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What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Share about it on your blog, then come link up with us here. Read the Gratituesday details here. Don’t have a blog? Leave a comment letting us know what you’re thankful for!

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Smells Like Christmas Cookies: Chocolate Snowballs

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Chocolate Snowballs
Here’s the promised Chocolate Snowball recipe. I like that these aren’t super rich or heavy…just kind of like a little ball of chocolate cake.

Chocolate SnowballsYum

3/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup sucanat or brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups whole wheat flour
powdered sugar

Cream butter, brown sugar, and cocoa. Add milk and eggs and stir well. Mix in baking powder, salt and vanilla. Stir in flour. Chill dough for at least two hours. Roll dough into teaspoon sized balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes until the tops are cracked slightly. Roll balls immediately in powdered sugar.

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Be sure not to miss the recipes for Christmas Spice Cookies and Orange Cream Cheese Cut Out Cookies!

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Menu Plan for the Week

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I’m finally feeling more like my energetic self after spending several days in bed sick. There’s NOTHING like being sick to make you appreciate being not sick. I’m very thankful to be not sick. 

With my energy being back, I spent a good part of the weekend cooking and baking. (And doing dishes.)  What a big floury mess I was. I even went a little over-crazy and made this snowman when I was making whole wheat donuts Saturday morning. 

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He needs eyes and a nose…
but the kids thought he was pretty cute anyway. 

Here’s what’s on our menu this week:

Sunday, Dec. 7
Applesauce bread, clemintines (we’ve all been addicted to clemintines lately!)
Roast, carrots, potatoes, gravy
Veggie soup, bread and butter

Monday, Dec. 8
Whole wheat pancakes
Grilled cheese sandwiches, homemade potato chips, tomato soup
Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, peas

Tuesday, Dec. 9
Breakfast cake, applesauce
Beef and cheese burritoes, cantaloupe
Soccer banquet (A night of NO cooking! Whatever shall I do?)

Wednesday, Dec. 10
Cinnamon swirl bread, bananas
Beans and rice with salsa and kreme fresh
Turkey, stuffing, gravy, steamed broccoli and cauliflower

Thursday, Dec. 11
Sourdough biscuits, canned peaches
Turkey roll-ups, pears
Lasagna casserole, tossed salad, corn

Friday, Dec. 12
Peanut butter honey toast, clemintines
Taco potatoes, fruit and kefir smoothies
Homemade pizza

Saturday, Dec. 13
Giant breakfast cookies, hot cocoa!
Homemade chicken nuggets and fries, raw veggies
Cheesy beef and rice, green beans

On the blogging menu this week:

Fun ideas for using your Christmas cookie cutters creatively…Chocolate Snowball Cookie recipe…More inexpensive gift making ideas…and a GIVEAWAY!!

Check out Organizing Junkie for more menu plans!

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Inexpensive Gifts to Make and Give, Pt. 2

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Today I’m excited to show you ideas OTHERS have come up with!! I love all of these great gift ideas!! If you missed part one of this series you’ll find it here.

Donna posted here about making Simmering Jars. I bet these smell great! What a fun gift idea! I love that you can reuse the contents of this jar over and over!

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Each jar contains approximately:

1/2 a lemon, cut in slices
1/2 a lime, cut in slices
1/2 an orange, cut in slices
1 t whole cloves
2 or 3 cinnamon sticks (you may need to break them for smaller jars)
1 or 2 sprigs of rosemary (or other of choice or home-grown! …or to keep it more frugal, sprinkle in some dry herbs)

Then cover with water and if you like, make a label with instructions to simmer, add more water, and return to jar and refrigerate until next use! The amounts could vary based on jar size.

My friend Summer has a new blog and she’s got several really cool gift ideas!

Here’s an idea Summer shares for making scarves.

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These velvet belts Summer is making are super cute.

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And THESE SUEDE PILLOWS? Summer, no pressure or anything…but those would look great in my living room in say…earth tones. I think they are SO cool. You know where I live. Just drop one off anytime and put it under my tree. :)  (Right now Summer is rolling her eyes at me and saying, “Make your OWN pillow, girl!”)

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In case you’ve been curious, here are some of the simple gifts the boys and I have been making for cousins and grandparents. (If your name happens to be Aunt Kari or Grandma Coppinger…you are NOT allowed to click here to see these gifts!! Not even a peek.)  :)

I’ll continue to share more ideas in this Inexpensive Gifts to Make and Give Series. Here’s what’s in the works right now…

Gifts of Food
Treats for Teachers, Coworkers and Classmates
Wrapping it All Up

If you have ideas to share in any of those categories (or others), please email or leave a comment! 

Between all these ideas to share and all the cookie recipes and other Christmas ideas…I’m not sure there’s enough time before Christmas!! How many days before Christmas anyway?!
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More Frugal Fridays here.

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Schedule Schmedule: Answering Your Questions

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I thought I’d take some time to answer some of your questions from this post. 

What curriculum do I use for Language Arts?

We don’t use one single curriculum for our entire Language Arts program. For spelling, we use Spelling Power. For Phonics we use Explode the Code. For handwriting we are currently using Handwriting Without Tears, but for cursive we use Getty Dubay Italic Handwriting. (Asa doesn’t work out of a handwriting book anymore. His handwriting is better than mine now, and he just practices it when he does normal writing assignments or writes thank you notes, etc.)  As for grammar, I decided to try my own thing this year and it is working pretty well. I’ll write a whole post about it sometime for you. (One in which you is welcome to check for grammatical errors.)  :)

What do I do for exercise and when do I do it?

I LOVE to exercise…about as much as I LOVE to walk around a shopping mall for eight hours in high heels. (I don’t own any high heels.) 

Exercise is not my favorite activity. I’d rather clean toilets. But, I know it’s good for me…so when I do discipline myself enough to exercise (and when my lungs are cooperating and allowing me to breathe like a normal person) my favorite way to exercise is on a rebounder (mini trampoline). We have one in our “game room” and I pull it down sometimes and “jog” on it after I’ve worked on the computer in the afternoons before I start dinner. Sometimes. 

I enjoy taking brisk walks too, but I really, really like the rebounder. It hurts the least of all exercise I’ve ever done….and I like doing things that don’t hurt. I’m weird like that. (Or perhaps I’m just a wimp.)

Plus, I’ve heard that the rebounder is a very healthy way to make your body work well and get rid of toxins. You can read more about that here.

I wish I could tell you that I exercise on my rebounder regularly, but I don’t. Shame on me. Feel free to leave me a guilt trip in the comments section. Does it count that I move 100 miles an hour during the day and that while the boys were learning to sew I ran constantly from boy to boy re-threading their needles? 

When do I clean?

Thankfully, I clean more regularly than I exercise. In fact, I usually work up a sweat while I clean, so I think we can call it exercise. Yes, let’s do that.

We try to reserve Friday mornings for cleaning. The boys are old enough now to really help and I’m so, so happy about that. We also try to do a “pick-up” of the house in the evenings, but seriously, by Friday morning the house looks pretty scary. 

I’m trying to figure out a better routine…and some better discplines for the boys regarding putting their stuff away when they’re done playing with it. After Christmas, I’m going to try some new things to try to keep the house organized and clean for longer than a few short hours. If/when they work, I’ll let you know. 

Okay…there you go…some answers to some of your questions. What do you do to get exercise and when do you clean? And seriously, don’t you think they are one in the same? 

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