Heavenly Homemakers | Page 414 of 444 | Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Learning to be Flexible

September 4, 2008 by Laura 11 Comments

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

Remember our plans to go to the Oakland A’s vs. the Kansas City Royals game yesterday? Well, as we traveled toward KC yesterday for the game…the rain kept getting heavier and heavier. Yeah, so the game got rained out and cancelled. Big bummer.

However…the game was rescheduled for today. So, we made a few phone calls to get things squared away at home. Now we get to have bonus time with Brad’s family while we’re here hanging out in KC waiting for today’s game. Guess God knew we needed a bit of extended vacation!

And, well…it’s a tough thing for me to be flexible and change my plans sometimes…but shucks…there’s an outlet mall just down the road that I’ll now have time to go check out. See, I’m growing as a person all the time.

It’s good to be flexible.

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

Listen to the Apple Tree

September 2, 2008 by Laura 23 Comments

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

Today, I must draw your attention to the apple tree. Just a common, regular apple tree. The kind that grows in many a back yard and makes…apples. That’s what it does. That’s what it’s job is. To produce sweet, crisp, delicious apples. Every year at almost the exact same time each year.

Most years, an apple tree will produce a pretty decent harvest of apples.

And some years, the apple tree will produce so many apples, that it seems that there’s more apples on it than leaves. It will sometimes be so full of apples that some of the branches will break off and fall to the ground because of the heavy load of apples on it. And we say to each other, “Wow…that apple tree sure had a good year!”

But that very next year, that very same apple tree may not produce even one apple. Not one.

Because guess what? Apple trees need to rest. They can not continue year after year after year to produce tons and tons of apples without occasionally just sitting out a year and letting the other apple trees produce the apples for the people.

And after a year of rest, an apple tree can come back the following year and produce a great crop of sweet, crisp, delicious apples again.

That, my friends, is the way God designed…apple trees. :)

So, for all of us “apple trees” out there who think we must do all and be all and look all and take all and show all and have all – all at the same time – we’re not really being a very healthy apple tree.

If you are at a season in your life that you have more time to do more and be more beyond your home and family responsibilities, then by all means, please be the apple tree that has a bumper crop.

But if you have a husband and/or children, or other family members that need you, then enjoy serving and loving and caring for and being with them. Because that is enough.

And if your “apple tree” needs to take time off to rest…then please do rest. You will be able to produce more apples later, after you have rested.

It is simply not up to you or me alone to make sure everyone always has enough apples to eat. Sometimes, I can sit back and focus on other priorites and let other people produce the apples for a while. And then when it’s my time again, I can let others rest while I produce apples.

And those, my friends, are my extremely profound thoughts about apple trees.

And that, my extended family who live in other states, is why you no longer receive adorable handmade birthday cards from me anymore. (And why you’re lucky to even receive a phone call…four to seven days after your birthday.) ;)

So while I still don’t have a complete understanding of what all I should be doing and what all I should be taking a rest from…I do know that absolutely my most important job and focus is my husband and our four boys and taking care of our home.

I guess I’m “pruning back my branches” so that I’ll be able to give more of the best of me to my family. And God is helping me figure out which branches to prune.

Okay, now I’m going to go eat an apple. Which has nothing to do with my profound thoughts about the apple tree, except for the fact that thinking profound thoughts made me hungry.

Anybody else need to prune back a little? And if so…what kinds of things can you prune back?

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

Gratituesday: Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

September 1, 2008 by Laura 12 Comments

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

There is MUCH excitement going on at our house right now! Tomorrow we’re leaving to go to Kansas City for just a real quick overnight trip…to go watch the KC Royals play the Oakland Athletics (um, that’s baseball, for some of you who might be a little like me when it comes to sports).

And guess WHY we’re going? Because a friend of ours, Brad Ziegler, was pulled up several weeks ago to pitch for the Oakland A’s…and he’s doing awesome…and he’s already broken a major league record…and we decided that if he ever played in a game close enough to us…we’d HAVE to go watch!!

So, we went online to get tickets, and found that there’s all kinds of silly hidden “convenience fees”. Then Matt suggested we check on Ebay. Would you believe we got six tickets (for decent seats I might add) for the grand total of $22!!!! That’s less than $4 a ticket!!! I almost feel bad for the person we bought them from. (Almost)

And of course, not only will we be able to watch an awesome major league baseball game…we’ll be able to see Brad’s wife and baby, and his parents, and enjoy a great visit! (We’re not sure if we’ll get to visit with Brad or not…depends on the night.)

I’m not sure who’s the most excited around here! All four boys are old enough to be able to enjoy the game…and just the experience of being at a major league baseball game. And Matt and I are so excited about the get away and the fun of the game…we’re just giddy!

So…WooHoo for us! We’re headed out to the ballgame!

I’m so grateful for this wonderful, fun opportunity to go on a little trip with my family that is sure to create awesome memories for us all. And I can’t wait to see our friends! And I’m so thankful God provided such a great price for tickets. What a treat!
————————————————-
What are you grateful for this Gratituesday? Read the Gratituesday guidelines here, then come link up with us. I LOVE reading about what you all are grateful for! God is so good!

[blenza_autolink code]

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

Freezing and Canning Peaches for Winter

September 1, 2008 by Laura 142 Comments

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

I mentioned that over the weekend I received millions and millions (okay, maybe not millions) of peaches from a lady in town. I’ve been busy preserving them for winter and thought I’d walk through the steps with you.

Please note: These peaches were so awesome and juicy, and since there were so many of them, I felt that none of us needed to hold back on how many we ate. So, as I was standing in my kitchen peeling and slicing peaches, and peach juice was running down my arms…I was also biting into peaches as I worked, because I just couldn’t resist. Therefore, I also had peach juice running down my chin. But with peach juice all over my hands and running down my arms, it’s not like I could do much about my chin, you know? Not one of my finer moments.

Thought you might like to picture that.

If you remember, I was given four boxes of peaches. (I did share a few with some friends.)

In the past, I’ve always peeled my peaches with a knife…and that’s been fine. But I had so many peaches this time, I went ahead and tried this method of peeling, and whoa was it a time saver! Just put your peaches into boiling water for about 30 seconds…pull them out…

And those skins just peel right off!! It was awesome. Except for when they didn’t peel right off, which happened with a few of them for some reason. (Just thought I’d tell you that so that if not all of them peel right off for you, you’ll know that you aren’t the only one!)

(You don’t have to peel your peaches if you’re going to freeze them. They’ll be more nutritious if you leave the peelings on, and it will save so much time too!)

To freeze peaches, just peel, slice and lay the peach slices on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Put the pan into the freezer until the peaches are frozen, about two hours. (Or longer if you forget they’re in there.) Then put them into a freezer bag and you’ve got great peaches for smoothies and slushies!! And cobblers and crisps! (If you feel like skipping this step and simply just putting your peach slices directly into a pan without freezing them individually like this first, you can…but you’ll end up with one big gallon sized frozen peach-sicle, and you may be very frustrated when you want only part of the rock hard peach-sicle for a smoothie. Just so ya know.)

Now…to can peaches…this is what I do. There are other ways to do it…this is just the way I do it! Please be sure to go back and read Canning 101 for the canning basics!

I make a honey/water solution on my stove…which is 2 T. honey to every 5 cups of water. Heat it on the stove and let it sit warm while you prepare your peaches.

Sterilize your jars.

Take out a hot jar and put in about 1/16 teaspoon of ascorbic acid to keep your peaches pretty. Just dump it into the bottom of the jar. (Some people use lemon juice)

Ascorbic acid is powdered vitamin C. I get mine at a health food store.

Fill the jar with sliced peaches. Then, use a funnel to pour your honey/water into the jar, to about a half inch from the top. Place a sterilized lid and ring onto the full jar.

Now it’s time to give your full jars a hot water bath to seal the lids. Put your full jars into the water. Once the water is boiling, boil the jars for about 25 minutes. (And yes, this is actually a picture of applesauce jars boiling…I forgot to take a picture of the peaches boiling and I’m too tired to go can more peaches just so that I can go take a picture of the jars boiling.)

Oh, and boil your jars with the lid on the water bath pot…I just took off the lid for the picture. :)

After the jars have boiled for 25 minutes, take them out with tongs…or better yet, this cool gripping tool made especially for jars and hot water baths. Then you get to listen for the caps to seal. I can’t think of a way to blog the way it sounds…but after all your hard work, it sure is a cool sound to hear them seal! (Thhhhp!) (Or something like that!) You can be sure they sealed if you can push down on the top and it is down firm. It takes anywhere from 1 second to 30 minutes for the lid to seal after you’ve taken it out of the water.

Then, just leave your canned peaches out on the counter for a few hours or several days so that you can admire them and smile and feel happy every time you walk into the kitchen and see them. (Okay, that’s what I like to do anyway.) (Because I’m weird like that.)

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

Canning 101

September 1, 2008 by Laura 86 Comments

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

Just in case you may be unfamiliar with the beautiful art of canning fruits and veggies…I thought I’d do this post to explain some of the basics. Then later, I can post about the specifics!

Here are some of the basic supplies you will need in order to can food. Some of these supplies are not entirely neccessary…just really, really helpful. Some of these supplies are entirely neccessary.

If you are planning on canning fruits or veggies, you will need jars.
(Oh, how I love jars!) I like having both quart and pint sized…
and my favorites are the wide mouth jars.

You’ll also need lids and rings. The rings you can re-use year after year,
but in order to have your lid seal, you must use new ones each year.

This handy dandy tool is a magnetic wand, which I use to retrieve lids
and rings out of hot sterilizing water. (See below) I love this tool!!

This tool helps me grip the jars as I pull them out of the hot water bath.
Since I’ve had this tool, I have broken fewer jars and burned myself less often.
I SO recommend one of these.

This wide mouth funnel is a lifesaver when you’re trying to get
your produce into the jar without making a big mess.

A water bath pot is pretty neccessary…
if you’re planning to seal your jars in a water bath.

Okay…next…

Here are a few things you need to know if you don’t want to die from botulism…

*Using the hot water bath system to seal your jars is only safe if you’re canning something acidic. Otherwise, food must be sealed in a pressure cooker. Food that I know of to be safe to can in a hot water bath: tomatoes, apples, peaches, pears. If you aren’t for sure what’s safe…please look it up to be sure before you use a hot water bath to seal your lids!

*You need to sterilize your jars, lids and rings before you put food into them. All I do is put my clean jars upside down into a shallow pan of boiling water for a couple of minutes.

I do the same with my lids and rings.

See, this is where that magnetic wand comes in very handy!

*When you put your jars full of yummy fruits or veggies into the hot water bath, I recommend putting them in before you start to boil the water. If your water is already boiling hot, you run the risk of breaking your jars and losing all of the work you put into filling. So, put your jars into the pot of water, then turn it on to begin to get hot. Once it finally starts to boil, then start your timer for the recommended boiling time.

Okay…this will all make more sense with my other posts about canning specific fruits and veggies. But…that gives you the basic information you’ll need so that those posts will make sense. Or maybe none of it makes any sense and you’d rather just come over and watch. (Watch, nothin’. I’d hand over a knife and some apples and tell you to get busy.) :)

Stay tuned…canning peaches and applesauce coming soon!
————————————————-

Find more kitchen tips on Tammy’s Recipes.

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

Menu Plan for the Week

August 31, 2008 by Laura 13 Comments

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

We had a super productive weekend!!! We cleaned and cleaned and cleaned this house!! Whew did it need it!

And I made applesauce and salsa.

And a lady called and asked if I wanted some peaches. Well, of course I wanted some peaches! I told her I’d take whatever she wanted to give me. (She wouldn’t let me pay her either!) Boy oh boy did she give us some peaches.

This was only half of them!

Sunday, August 31
Oatmeal with apples and cinnamon
Roast, gravy, corn on the cob, cherry tomatoes
Peanut butter and honey sandwiches, fruit

Monday, September 1
Whole wheat waffles with peach syrup (I’m going to experiment to make this!)
Beef and cheese burritoes, cantaloupe
Cookout with some friends!

Tuesday, September 2
Scrambled eggs, homemade turkey sausage
Grilled cheese sandwiches, cherry tomatoes, strawberry-peach slushies
Shepherd’s pie, salad

Wednesday, September 3 – Thursday, September 4
We’re going on a quick fun family trip!! I can’t wait to tell you about it on Gratituesday!!

Friday, September 5
Fruit-kefir smoothies, granola
Homemade pizza
Cheesy beef and rice, steamed carrots

Saturday, September 6
Giant breakfast cookies
Hamburgers (on homemade buns), onion rings
Lamb chops, baked potatoes, green beans

This week I’ll post about freezing and canning all those peaches. (If I ever finish freezing and canning all those peaches!) And I’ll show you how to make applesauce!

With all this fruit in my kitchen…you can just imagine the party all the little fruit gnats are having! Anybody have a solution for those pesky little critters? (Aside from “hurry up and get your fruit canned and frozen”?!)

Find many other menu ideas at Organizing Junkie!

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

Answering Your Questions: Our Shaved Ice Business

August 28, 2008 by Laura 9 Comments

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

I recently received these questions about our Shaved Ice Business from Julie…

Does someone work for you? What are the hours? Since you use all natural real foods, what kind of flavorings do you use for your business? What does your establishment look like? How much does a shaved ice cost? ….the list goes on and on… I’d love it if you’d do a blog sometime (with pictures included) that tells about your business now that it’s up and running.

Here are my answers (finally):

1. Yes, we’ve hired three different teenagers to work for us so that Matt can continue to work his regular job. Also, Asa works there sometimes and does a great job.

2. At the beginning of the summer our hours were 11 am to 9 pm every day except Sunday. (Oh, and except for Wed, when we’d close down early for church…and Thurs when we’d close down early to take the shaved ice machine to the Farmer’s Market.) Now that school has started, we’re only open after school from 3:30-6pm.

3. We have both 100% fruit juice for our shaved ice flavors and also sugar filled, dye your tongue a weird color flavors too. We’ve been so glad to be able to offer our customers a healthier option if they want it. Our 100% juice choices are: orange, pineapple, grape, cranberry and apple raspberry. Other choices are strawberry, cherry, lime, blue raspberry, pink lemonade, and bahama mama. (I probably forgot a few in there somewhere.) Many people like to have a combination of flavors. (My favorite is the pineapple/orange mixed. Or the cranberry/grape mix…can’t decide!)

4. We purchased a concession trailer and re-did the sinks to make everything up to code. (Of course I mean that Matt re-did the sinks….I just washed the new sinks afterward.) Our set up is nothing fancy, but it works just fine.

5. We sell a small shaved ice for $1.50 and a large for $2.50.

Overall we’ve been pretty pleased with our new little business venture this summer. We haven’t had as much business as we were expecting/hoping for…but remember all that road construction I talked about? That kinda messed us up a bit. But, it’s been a great experience and we’ve learned a TON about food service.

Now, everyone come on over and have a shaved ice!

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

Great Lunch Idea! Black Bean Salsa

August 26, 2008 by Laura 36 Comments

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

When you’re trying to eat a healthy diet, figuring out exciting lunches can be a challenge. And if you are trying to pack a healthy lunch to take to school or work, it can be even more of a challenge. This yummy Black Bean Salsa is delicious, good for you, and super easy to put together.

Pack it up “to go” with some blue corn chips, some fruit and a Peanut Butter Honey Bar, and you’ve got a great lunch that’s easy to take anywhere.

Black Bean SalsaYum

Great Lunch Idea! Black Bean Salsa

Save Print

Author: Laura

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

1 cup dried black beans
5 tomatoes, diced
1 small onion, chopped fine
1 cup frozen corn, steamed and cooled
¼ cup chopped cilantro

Instructions

Soak beans in water overnight.
Drain and cover with fresh water in saucepan.
Bring to a boil, then simmer for 45 minutes.
Drain.
In large bowl, mix together beans, tomatoes, onion, corn and cilantro.
Stir together.
Store in refrigerator.
Serve with corn chips or baked tortilla chips.

Make this salsa even easier by using canned black beans and canned corn…then all you have to do is quickly throw all the ingredients into a bowl and stir!

Mmmmm…I LOVE this stuff!

Need more “to go” lunch ideas?

The Make-Ahead Lunch Box

Look through all the recipes listed in our Make-Ahead Lunch Box series. Lunch can be so much more than a sandwich and carrot stick! All of the ideas will work great to make ahead, then pull out to pack for a lunch.

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

Gratituesday: The Chipper

August 25, 2008 by Laura 12 Comments

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

During the six years we’ve lived in this house, we’ve had this ever growing pile of brush and sticks accumulate in our back yard. It’s ugly, a nuisance, and it keeps growing.

Yesterday, Matt was finally able to borrow a Chipper from a friend. We were so excited to bring it over and work on making our big brush pile shrink! Bring on the CHIPPER!!

Matt said it’s actually pretty fun to use…which is a good thing since we have such a big pile of fun waiting to go through the chipper.

And when he’s done…we’ll have a big pile of mulch…which means he’s turning a big, ugly, nuisance pile of brush into something helpful and useful.

I was watching the ugly sticks turn into a nice pile of mulch (by this really loud machine that just obliterates those sticks like nobody’s business) and it got me to thinking…

I have some areas of hurt and bitterness in my heart that are ugly and can keep on growing into a bigger and bigger “pile of brush” if I continue to let it. I want to just run all that hurt and bitterness through a big chipper. I want to just stick it in there and let it be torn to shreds so that my heart can be whole again. Because if I don’t…the pile will just continue to grow and become uglier.

And then I want the “mulch” that is kicked out of the chipper to become something useful and helpful. Something with a purpose.

God promises that I can do that. He can help turn my hurt into forgiveness and my bitterness into peace. And for that, I am grateful.

Bring on the chipper.
———————————————————-

Join us for Gratituesday! Read the details here…and come link up with us!

[blenza_autolink code]

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

Unplanned Hospitality

August 25, 2008 by Laura 15 Comments

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

I just finished having a most wonderful visit with a friend of mine who stopped by unannounced.

She needed to drop something off for me, and she was ready to say a quick hello and then be on her way…but I’ve wanted more time with her lately, so I made the quick decision to invite her in to have lunch with us.

Immediately after the words, “Come in and have lunch with us!” came out of my mouth – my head began to spin with all of the reasons I might not should have just hastily asked her into my home. Things like:

*We were almost finished eating, and like usual, there wasn’t much food left!
*School had erupted all over our living room floor in the form of books and pencils and notebooks, and all of Malachi’s toys from the morning.
*I was in the process of making tomato sauce, and all of the dirty dishes from that, plus our breakfast and lunch dishes were ALL OVER the kitchen.
*Dirty tomato sauce towels were hanging out in various places on the kitchen counters and floor.
*Fruit gnats were having a party in my bowl of tomato compost. They invited the whole neighborhood of gnats to join them. And…
*For Pete’s sake – what if my guest needs to use the restroom? I’ve gone way too long without cleaning it (anything longer than two days without cleaning the bathroom when you have four little boys is too long).

It’s amazing what thoughts can go through your mind in the matter of 30 seconds isn’t it?

And yet, I resisted the huge urge I had to apologize for my messes. We’d been working hard all day with school and tomato sauce. I did not need to apologize for doing life.

And my friend didn’t see messes. She saw school. She saw tomato sauce. She saw lunch. She saw our life.

And so, in the next 30 seconds that it took for me to come to grips with that, I relaxed and forgot about the messes and sat down with my friend for lunch. And for two hours we enjoyed one another and shared our lives.

And that is what true hospitality is all about.

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

« Previous Page