Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting
Here’s our weekly menu! See anything that sounds good?
Come get your free downloadable menu planners!
Be sure to register for my bloggy give aways…one here…and one here! You’ve got to come see!!!
See what others are planning this week here.
Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!Hey, I’ve been tagged by Shalee! How fun is that?!
So now you get to learn four things about me in several different categories!
Four jobs that I’ve had:
1. Waitress at a small town diner
2. Elderly caretaker
3. First Grade Teacher
4. Mom to four boys (job description: cook lots, hug more, and duck when the light saber is swinging at you)
Four movies you would watch over and over:
(over and over, really? hm…none, but for the sake of filling in the blanks…)
1. Any Veggie Tale
2. Return to Me
3. While You Were Sleeping
4. One of our few home videos of the boys that we’ve actually had time to record
Four of my favorite foods:
1. Chicken Fried Steak
2. Chocolate Pound Cake
3. Cheesecake
4. Lasagna
Four TV shows I love to watch (or used to watch):
(you’ll probably notice that these were “used to watch”)
1. Webster (remember that show?)
2. Mad About You
3. Full House
4. Wheel of Fortune
Four Places I’ve lived:
1. Isabel, KS
2. Pratt, KS
3. Colorado Springs, CO
4. York, NE
Four places I’ve been on vacation:
1. Silver Dollar City
2. Colorado Springs (on our honeymoon, before we knew we’d live there someday!)
3. DisneyLand
4. Wal-Mart (hey, we just don’t go very many places, okay?)
Four websites I visit daily:
1. HeavenlyHomemakers
2. Biblical Womanhood
3. Rocks in my Dryer
4. Gmail.com (I know, how exciting!)
Four places I’d rather be right now:
1. Under a blanket reading a book
2. At the table eating cheesecake
3. Working in my garden in 70 degree weather
4. I’m at home right now, and there’s really no place I’d rather be :)
Five people I’m tagging:
Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!
You can make your own yogurt and cream cheese, and it is not hard! You don’t have to have any fancy equipment (and when you see my pictures, you’ll believe it!). Not only will this save you money, you’ll have yogurt and cream cheese that is very good for you! Try making this yogurt, then add your own fruit, sweetener (I recommend stevia or real grade B maple syrup) and a touch of vanilla. YUM!
Here’s what you need to do to make yogurt:
1 quart of whole milk (I use unpasturized milk from a farming friend)
3/4 cup plain yogurt or this yogurt starter
Pour the yogurt into a quart jar (using a glass container is important). Heat the milk on the stove in a saucepan until it is just under 100 degrees.
Pour the milk over the yogurt in the jar and shake.
Place the jar into a cooler of hot water, cover and leave in the cooler for seven hours.
There, you just made yogurt!
Now, you can eat the yogurt as I mentioned before, or you can take your yogurt and make cream cheese (and impress the socks off of someone!).
To make cream cheese, line a strainer with a tea towel. Pour the yogurt into the tea towel.
You need to secure the tea towel full of yogurt and hang it for 7-10 hours (I usually do this overnight) so that the whey can drip off. I’m sure there must be a more impressive way to hang your yogurt, but what we’ve come up with works just fine!
Here are the secrets to my effective cream cheese-hanging-whey-dripping process (I know, you’re on the edge of your chair!):
I fold over the top of the tea towel and hold it closed with a couple of rubber bands. Then, I use several more rubber bands to attach a long wooden spoon to the wadded up tea towel. Then, I use a rope to dangle the tea towel from a cabinet door. And, of course I leave a bowl under the whole contraption so that whey doesn’t drip all over the floor (because then, my process would not be nearly as cute).
Then, after you can tell that the whey has all separated from the cream cheese (you can tell it’s finished if it isn’t dripping any more), then you pull the whole thing down and scrape the cream cheese into a jar. And that’s it. It is so simple.
Sure, you can tell people that it took you hours and hours to make yogurt and cream cheese (because technically it DID take hours to make), but the part you actually played in it took about 10 minutes.
Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!Since this is my very first post for Thursday Thirteen, I thought I would introduce myself for those of you who haven’t visited my blog before!
1. I got married on August 13 and have been married for 13 years (aw, how appropriate for this post).
2. I have 13 sons (actually I only have four, but it seems like 13 sometimes…).
3. I feed my four sons 13 times a day. (but it’s okay because I love to cook.)
4. I homeschool my kids.
5. I have a website to encourage families (www.heavenlyhomemakers.com).
6. I don’t like spending money.
7. I LOVE chocolate.
8. I have a big garden (well, right now, I have a big field of snow…).
9. My favorite color is pink (and I wear it as much as I can).
10. Jesus is my Savior.
11. I know how to make mozzarella cheese. (I know, that was random, but I do, and I thought you would like to know.)
12. My maiden name was Hamm. (Yes, there was teasing..sniff…sniff)
13. I didn’t know what a light saber was before I became a mother (oh, but I know now, trust me).
Thanks for stopping by! You can see more Thurday Thirteen here!
Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!
Today, I am especially thankful for the ways He is providing for our family, and for the ways He is teaching me to trust Him.
Several months ago, I began a journal, recording “extras” God was giving us. When I pulled it out to write yet another surprise blessing this weekend, I couldn’t believe how long my list was!
While I’m sure that Satan will keep working on me to make me stop trusting God, and He’ll keep telling me lies so that I’ll worry about how God will provide for us…God just keeps proving over and over that HE is in charge and that HE is going to take care of us.
Please, please join me this Gratituesday and share with me something that you are grateful for…
Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!
I decided today to hop onto Monday Meanderings…check it out! It’s a great way to help get you organized and start your week off with a plan.
Here are the five areas of focus:
1. Bible Study:
*We are reading as a family through the book of John and helping the boys memorize John 1:1-14.
*We are also soaking in the words of John the Baptist in John 3:30, “He must become greater, I must become less.”
2. Must Do:
*I MUST bake bread and make granola early in the week.
*All of our sheets need to be washed.
*I’ve got to baby proof the house (I started babysitting for a 10 month old each morning, and I’m quickly learning that we have way too many marbles in our house.) (and legos) (and game pieces…)
3. Cleaning Zone: This week my zone will be the kitchen.
*I need to clean out the fridge because somehow maple syrup spilled. I’m actually less upset about the sticky mess than I am about wasting good organic maple syrup! Do you think it would be too weird if I swiped my pancake over the spill tomorrow morning? (I’m pretty sure I’m kidding.)
*I also REALLY need to clean my oven. Last week, a casserole spilled over and made a big stinky, smokey mess. I’m tired of running over to the smoke alarm to wildly fan my dishtowel in front of it to get the thing to stop screaming. Hey, at least we can be confident that it works!
*My kids could write their spelling words in the dust on the top of the fridge (please don’t tell them this…I don’t need little boys climbing up there to give it a try). So, I need to clean it off before someone really tall comes over.
4. Train Them Up: We are working on “obeying the first time…without arguing or whining”. Time for Mama and Daddy to enforce this a little better.
5. Menu Plan: You can see what we’re eating this week here. You’ll also find a link to some fun, FREE new menu planners here!
So, what do you have going on this week?
Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!Here’s what we’re planning to eat this week!
You’ll find recipes for my Breakfast Cookies and Cornbread here.
Come see HeavenlyHomeMaker’s new FREE downloadable Weekly Menu Planners here!
Find this and five more designs…all free to you! Enjoy!
And, check out I’m an Organizing Junkie to see what other families are eating this week!
Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!For birthdays around here, we keep things pretty simple. Simple presents (see here), simple party (see here) and simple day (we cleaned house…yawn).
But the one thing we always do (and the kids LOVE) is let the birthday boy choose all three meals on the day of their birthday. Anything they want to eat.
My boys look forward to this SO much that they begin planning their birthday meals months in advance (and I am not exaggerating).
Here is the conversation with Elias as we were making the real plans for his birthday (not the plans dreamed about and talked about back in November):
Mom: Elias have you decided for sure what you want to eat on your birthday?
Elias: Oh yeah!
M: What would you like for breakfast that day?
E: Donuts!
M: The kind Mama makes?
E: No the unhealthy kind from the store with the frosting and sprinkles.
M: All right. (since it’s your birthday) What would you like for lunch?
E: Can we go to Country Kitchen?
M: No, sorry not this year. Can I make you something from Mama’s Kitchen?
E: How about hamburgers and french fries?
M: Done. ( The hamburgers and french fries from Mama’s Kitchen are mostly healthy, just don’t tell Elias.) What about dinner?
E: Pizza!
M: Fun. Your friends will be here then for the sleep over. Do you want everyone to make their own personal pizzas?
E: No, can we have the unhealthy kind? I don’t mean the kind you order. Just any unhealthy kind would be fine.
M: Okay. What kind of cake would you like this year?
E: Um…a vanilla one with vanilla frosting. The unhealthy kind. From a box.
M: I can make you a homemade one that’s vanilla and vanilla (with organic flour and sugar). Would that be okay?
E: I really want a box cake.
M: Okay. Would you like me to make a fun snack for you and your friends to eat while you watch a movie (since we’ll surely need a snack after pizza, cake, ice cream…)
E: Oh, how ’bout chips?
M: What kind of chips would you like?
E: I think Cheetos. The big swirly kind cause I had those at Lincoln’s once.
M: (gulp) Okeedokee. I’ve got the list all set. Do you want to go on a date with me and help me pick all this stuff out?
E: (eyes lit up) Oh yeah!
And so we shopped and filled our cart with frozen pizzas, cake mix and frosting tub, ice cream, donuts and Cheetos. (I also bought organic apples and lettuce while I was there but they somehow looked out of place in the cart.)
Now as you’re reading this, you might be thinking, “Oh, those poor boys are so deprived. They never get junk food so they crave it and have to wait until they either go to someone else’s house or have a birthday to request it. All she gives them is whole wheat homemade donuts. How can they possible taste good? They probably weigh two pounds each and taste like whole bran.”
But you’d be wrong (just this once). My homemade donuts are soooo good and they taste like real cake donuts only better (someday I’ll post the recipe). And my homemade pizza is delicious to and the boys LOVE it!
It’s just that some kids get excited because their mom bakes homemade cookies once a year at Christmas, but normally their mom buys packages of cookies from the store.
And my kids get excited because their mom normally makes most things homemade and this time for this special occasion will treat them to a frozen piece of round cardboard crust with meat bits and fake cheese on top. (and it’s a grand day at our house)
And so, Elias got his unhealthy birthday and loved it. Today, we’ll have unhealthy birthday leftovers (with apples).
And tomorrow, it’s roast beef, potatoes, carrots and gravy.
Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!Elias chose to have a sleepover for his birthday party this year. It was his very first.
He started his night out with pizza and a movie.
Then, everyone came in to decorate their own small cakes. Two things you should take note of here: 1) There are six boys in this picture including one three year old, three six year olds, one seven year old and one ten year old. All wanting to use frosting and sprinkles at the same time. AND I was babysitting a 10 month old who REALLY wanted a bottle right now (Matt was holding him, so I could capture the moment). It was five minutes of total chaos fun. 2) Elias apparently used his shirt as his napkin while he ate his pizza. Please know that it was clean before we started this whole birthday party thing.
Here is Elias in his greasy sweatshirt with his cake all decorated. Here also is Malachi’s tuft of hair in the bottom right corner. (please take your focus to the cake)
Ah, all six candles blown out at once, followed by, “Malachi…you’re not supposed to help me.” (hear the whine in the voice)
Opening present number one…spiderman boxing gloves!
Present number two: Popcorn, candy, soda and a movie rental gift card. The mother of the one who gave him this knew about Elias’ “unhealthy birthday” plans and wanted to add to the fun. Thanks, Kami. :)
And the rest of the evening and the following morning were spent playing Play Station 2.
Oh, and also having conversations that only boys can appreciate (“Hey, wonder what would happen if you TOOTED so loud that you flew up in the air and then landed on the cat next door…”)
Ahhhh the joy. Well, I’m off to see what I can do with that greasy sweatshirt…and the sprinkles all over the kitchen…and the cat next door…
Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!I’m telling you, I could not think of ANYTHING to get Elias, our third son, who turned six today. He doesn’t need any more stuff and I certainly didn’t want to spend any money on more stuff. (I’m trying to get rid of stuff around here!)
The ONLY thing I could think of that he might like for his birthday was bubble bath. He has asked me for bubble bath several times in the past because he knows it is soooo much fun. But I’m not a big fan of the kind from the store (even though they are so cool cause they have Buzz Lightyear on the bottle!). Many of us have very sensitive skin at our house and soaking in a bathtub full of colored chemicals scared me (sorry, Buzz).
And so, I went online and looked for a recipe for homemade bubble bath. I found a great one here! It was super easy to make, cost VERY little and was so much fun to do. I even found this empty maple syrup bottle to put it in! (I knew I was saving that bottle for a good reason!) Then I made a fun label with HIS name on it which he thought was the greatest! (even better than Buzz!)
Here’s the recipe:
Homemade Bubble Bath
1/2 cup shampoo
3/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
In a bowl, mix the shampoo and water until well combined. Add salt and stir until it thickens slightly. Use a funnel to pour it into a bottle.
And that’s it!
This bubble bath costs pennies to make and makes a wonderful gift or stocking stuffer. Add a personalized label to make the gift even more special!
Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!