Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Announcing!!! Heavenly Homemakers new Gluten Free Summer eBook! (Plus a Giveaway)

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Yum

Okay, first…for all you NON-Gluten Free people out there – don’t stop reading this post before you even start reading!! (By the way, all of us who are “non-gluten-free”, shall we just call ourselves Gluten-Full?) 

Even if you can eat gluten, I think you still may be interested in this new ebook. Let me just say…there are Chocolate Mint Truffles involved. Who said truffle (and salad and dip) recipes were only for the Gluten Free among us? :)

The beauty of this newest ebook here at Heavenly Homemakers is that every single person can enjoy it and benefit from its tasty summertime recipes…but we wanted to make sure that all of you who need to eat a gluten free diet will know that all of these recipes are safe and healthy for you too!!

I’ve teamed up with my friend Kimberlee again, who is sweet, fun and also a gluten free recipe expert! She’s been feeding her family a gluten free diet for eight years and her kitchen is overflowing with excellent recipes. Because our Gluten Free and Good For You ebook was such a hit, I asked Kim to help us all out with her best tasting (and healthy) summertime dishes.

And again, just like with our Gluten Free and Good For You ebook, all of these recipes call for normal, everyday ingredients. I wanted to be sure these were recipes that could be used by everyone at anytime, so that none of us have to turn somersaults to find “special gluten free” ingredients many of us have never heard of. 

This way, even if you aren’t used to cooking gluten free foods exclusively, if you are hosting someone or feeding someone who requires a gluten free diet, you’ve got some great recipes that you know will be safe for them to eat! I love the idea of making hospitality toward our friends or family with this food sensitivity a simple possibility!

Gluten Free Summer will go on sale in the Heavenly Homemakers Shop next week, after my hunky editor (yes, that would be Matt) finishes going through it with a fine tooth comb.

In the meantime, we’ll be giving away three copies of Gluten Free Summer ebook. It contains 35 recipes for cool summertime salads, dips, lunches and suppers, beverages and treats…for the gluten free and the gluten full among us. :)

Want a chance to win a copy? Leave a comment here on this post for a chance to win! I’ll draw three random winners on Wednesday, May 11.

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My Sourdough Has Been Revived!

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Ever since I read through GNOWFGLINS Sourdough A to Z eBook, I have been inspired to make bubbles again. Sourdough bubbles that is. I am excited to report that over the past few days, I have worked to revive my sourdough! (Actually, I just started over with a new starter because my original one was very…dead.)

These are my bubbles. Aren’t they simply gorgeous? (Just nod and smile.)

I shared about making Sourdough Starter about two and a half years ago and was very excited to make sourdough breads a healthy habit in my kitchen. Making a sourdough starter is stinkin’ easy (and by stinkin‘, I mean that the starter really does begin sporting a mildly sour funk after a few days). But I really had no idea what to do with my starter after it was started. I played around with making bread a few times, but never got anything more than a few dense loaves that my family didn’t like. And so, my sourdough starter died a long, slow death in my refrigerator because after a few months, I stopped feeding it or trying to do anything productive with it. It’s a sad story really.

BUT, I’m all excited about sourdough again, which is why I created a new starter.  I love that not only does Sourdough A to Z eBook have very thorough instructions about how to make a sourdough starter, it has loads of recipes and ideas with directions for what to do with your sourdough starter. We’re talking cakes and muffins and pita bread and pizza crust and all kinds of great goodies. I never knew there were so many things to make with sourdough! (Forgive me for sounding like I’m writing an over-eager book review. The GNOWFGLINS ladies didn’t ask me to write this. I’m just excited about my bubbles.)

Here’s the front view of my jar of sourdough starter on day three.
Again, see my cute little bubbles?

Because all of these items are made from sourdough starter, they are so much easier for our bodies to digest. I was kinda hoping you’d get excited with me and try getting a sourdough starter going too, if you don’t already have one. Let’s make bubbles together, wanna? Think of the fun we’ll have!!! (Yes, it would appear that I’ve gone a little sourdough silly.)

If you eat a gluten free diet, never fear – Sourdough A to Z eBook even shares how to create and use a Gluten Free Starter!!!!  Yes, we can ALL play at this game!!!

This happens to be a perfect time of year to get a sourdough starter going, as the weather is warm, making for easier and happier bubbles. :)  I was eager this morning and with my new sourdough starter, made delicious muffins based on a recipe in Sourdough A to Z. They didn’t taste one bit sour, in case you were wondering. My boys didn’t even know they were sourdough and ate their typical three to five muffins each. ;)

 Tomorrow I’m going to follow the eBook directions for making a loaf of bread. I’ll share the results whether it’s pretty or not so pretty. Here’s hoping for a successful sourdough bread making experience!

If you want to create a sourdough starter, but aren’t able to purchase the ebook, please click on this link and scroll down to the beginning of the series of posts that describe day by day instructions for how to make a starter. Since the recipes in the Sourdough A to Z eBook aren’t mine to share, I’ll only be able to talk about them and show you pictures of my results, but not print the recipes themselves. 

Okay, here’s hoping for a lovely loaf of sourdough bread at our house tomorrow!!! What’s been your sourdough experience? 

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Our Gluten Free Experiment Results and a New Hope

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If you recall, the past several weeks we have been conducting Gluten Free Experiment to see if taking gluten out of his diet would help our six year old, Malachi, get his chronic eczema under control. And if you also recall, I had quite a variety of emotions that went along with this experiment. It is so much fun to be an emotional basket-case.  Bleh.

Here’s a quick recap of Malachi’s history:

Here are a few things we learned during the Gluten Free Experiment:

  • Malachi is a trooper.  We knew this already, but we were so proud of how he handled not being able to eat gluten for several weeks.
  • Eating Gluten Free isn’t the end of the world.  Several of you suggested that it’s best to focus on what you can eat, not on what you can’t. I wholeheartedly agree with this statement. There are SO MANY foods you can eat that are naturally gluten free.
  • For  years I’d been wanting to expand the variety of grains we consume, but had either been too lazy or too intimidated to go for it.  This experiment forced me out of my whole wheat comfort zone. I am now having a lovely time playing with brown rice flour, millet and buckwheat, and hope to continue learning more. In addition, I think we all know that I am now addicted to coconut flour, which isn’t a grain at all, but a wonderful, healthy flour with great potential in baking.
  • It really doesn’t have to be expensive to eat gluten free. We simply changed some of the foods we were eating to conduct this experiment, and I did not notice an increase in our grocery budget. Now, if I were going to buy gluten free bread (for $6.50/loaf) and gluten free baking mixes (for $3.50/box), then it would be expensive. But by cooking and baking from scratch, our gluten free grocery budget did not increase.

But the main thing we learned during our Gluten Free Experiment is that:  Eating Gluten Free did not help Malachi even a little bit.

Am I relieved? No, but yes, but no not really. Some answers would really be nice.

In the meantime, we took him back to our trusted chiropractor who has been helping us since Malachi began this trial as a baby. He’s helping to cleanse and strengthen Malachi’s liver, which seems to be showing signs of weakness again (this is something that seems to be the root cause of his eczema). As always, there is no quick fix, but we’re thankful to have a loving doctor closeby that cares for our children.

HOPE

Also in the meantime, we learned of a Bio-Chemist in Wisconsin who has helped treat people with this, and other kinds of illnesses. While we’ve known for many years that eczema truly isn’t a skin issue, but the result of something going wrong inside the body, particularly with digestion…we’ve not really known where exactly to turn. This is one reason we tried the Gluten Free Experiment, to see if that would help his digestion.

We’ve been in touch with the Bio-Chemist and soon we will be going through her program, which is designed, by the grace of God, to heal Malachi’s digestive system so that all parts of his body can work properly and so that toxins can be eliminated the way they are supposed to be eliminated, instead of through his skin.

After six years, and a particularly trying few months, I can’t tell you how good it feels to have hope. This program won’t be easy, it won’t be cheap, but we don’t care. (Well, we do care, but you know what I mean.)  We just want Malachi’s body to heal.

And so, with that, I’ll say thank you to all of you who have emailed and left comments of encouragement. I’ll try to keep you posted as we go along with this and as I learn more. I’ll also ask you to continue to pray for healing for Malachi, and to praise God with us that we have hope and that He always provides the help that we need!

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Coconut Flour Banana Muffins

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I’ve been having so much fun playing with this Gluten Free/Dairy Free Muffin recipe! We’re on the home stretch of the Gluten Free Experiment we’ve been conducting at our house (more on that soon), but I guarantee you we’ll continue to make these muffins and all the fun variations I’m coming up with whether we’re gluten free or not. What a healthy little muffin (that just so happens to taste like cake).

Coconut flour is high in fiber, high in protein, making it a wonderful addition to your diet. I find coconut flour at Tropical Traditions or Amazon. I’m so in love with this stuff that I might just write a post all about it someday soon.

I don’t recommend substituting whole wheat flour in this recipe. Coconut flour and wheat flour are not created equal. If you want a Whole Wheat Banana Muffin recipe, check out this one! We love it!

Coconut Flour Banana MuffinsYum

1/2 cup Coconut Flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
6 eggs
4 Tablespoons Coconut Oil, melted
1/4 cup honey
2-3 ripe, mashed bananas
1/2 cup nuts (optional)

Mix all ingredients together, then pour batter into a well greased (or paper lined) muffin pan. Bake at 350 for 15-25 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

coconut_flour_banana_muffins[1]

I never put nuts in muffins because 5 out of 6 of us don’t care for them in our baked goods. How ’bout you? Are you a nutty kind of person? (I really mean to ask if you like nuts in your muffins…not if you consider yourself to be nuts, but feel free to answer according to how you’re feeling today.)

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Menu Plan for the Week

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I’ve been having a lot of fun experimenting with a variety of grains while we’re doing our Gluten Free Experiment with Malachi. This has been so good for me to learn to branch out and get away from only using wheat in so many of my recipes. Whether or not we’ll need to continue a gluten free diet for him or not, I am so thankful for all I am learning and for how our family has been introduced to new and different healthy foods!

I need to figure out how to make these Pancake Sausage Muffins with different grains. Any suggestions? Millet, rice flour, buckwheat? I should probably just make these Coconut Flour Muffins and add turkey sausage, huh? That would be an easy solution!

Here’s our menu for this week:

Sunday, April 17
Easy breakfast casserole , cantaloupe
Cheeseburger macaroni, green beans
Veggie chicken stew, cornbread

Monday, April 18
Millet-buckwheat-rice pancakes, blueberries
Popcorn chicken, ranch potato wedges, strawberry peach slushies
Lamb roast, carrots, potatoes, gravy

Tuesday, April 19
Mini apple pies, cheese
Turkey sausage , hashbrowns, peas
Stir fried chicken and veggies

Wednesday, April 20
Veggie egg scramble, bananas
Taco corn fritters, mock frozen yogurt
Tuna casserole, roasted asparagus

Thursday, April 21
Coconut banana muffins, applesauce
Hamburger patties, rice and veggie stir fry
Italian pasta bake, tossed salad

Friday, April 22
Giant breakfast cookies , creamy orange cooler
Chicken cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks, apples
Waffles, scrambled eggs, fruit

Saturday, April 23
Sweet potato streusel muffins , pears
Turkey and cheese sandwiches, apples, raw veggies
Leftovers

Say Mmm is a great resource you help you with menu planning!

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Mini Crustless Breakfast Quiches

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crustless_quiche
You know how I mentioned that we go through a lot of eggs at our house? Six dozen last week to be exact.  This week I was able to get my hands on 11 dozen farm fresh eggs and I am so very excited. It’s obviously the simple things in life that make me happy…proven by the fact that having 11 dozen eggs available this week for my cooking pleasure has made me almost giddy.

What do we do with all those eggs you ask?  Well, there are six of us, five are male and four of those five male people can’t seem to get enough food right now. We also have extra people eating at our house quite often, so our six turns into eight or more on just about any given day. I bake a lot, so I stir them into whatever I’m baking. We easily go through an entire dozen for breakfast if I’m making scrambled eggs or a casserole, and more than a dozen if I make crepes. These Coconut Flour Muffins are incredible…and they take up quite a few eggs. And, I often put eggs in our smoothies or “milkshakes” for added protein and nutrients. (Again, let me reinforce that we ONLY eat them raw if they are organic, free range, farm fresh…otherwise I’m afraid of them.)

If I have lots of eggs available to me, I go for it and I don’t hold back! Eggs are brain food.  I pay between $2.00 and $2.50 for a dozen farm fresh eggs, depending on my source. For the quality of eggs I’m getting, I consider this to be a great price. So even though we go through a lot of eggs…what an economical source of nutrition!!! How else can I feed my family an entire meal for just over $2.00??? (Okay, yes, they eat fruit and stuff with their eggs…you see my point though, right?)

If you haven’t tried our Easy Breakfast Casserole, please go get yourself some eggs and try it. It’s the simplest little breakfast casserole I’ve ever made and my family eatsthe whole pan. Actually…they don’t eat the pan. Hungry boys though they are, they do have their limits.

I  have now adapted the Easy Breakfast Casserole recipe to become an easy, make-ahead Mini Crustless Breakfast Quiche recipe. You can make these and serve them fresh, or you can bake them the night before and re-warm them in the oven the next morning for breakfast. You can even bake them and freeze them to have available for future grab and go meals. You can make them for lunch or brunch. These little quiches are super versatile!

Mini Crustless Breakfast QuicheYum

12 eggs
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1  cup shredded cheese (I use white cheddar, but you can use whatever cheese you want!)

Begin your quiches by whisking together the eggs, cream, salt and cheese in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle in any “add in” ingredients you wish (a total of 1 cup of add-ins). Stir them around with a fork. Scoop mixture into 24 well buttered regular sized muffin tins. Bake in a 350° oven for 20-30 minutes, or until the middle of each quiche doesn’t jiggle.

Add In Ideas:

Cooked sausage (I have a wonderful recipe for turkey sausage here.)
Chopped ham
Chopped and cooked bacon
Leftover baked potatoes, cut into chunks or shredded into hashbrowns
Sauteed veggies
Raw spinach
Cooked chicken
Taco seasoned meat

Obviously, you can cut this recipe in half to make 12 regular sized muffins sized quiches!

Mini_Quiches_2

I’m curious, just because I’m fairly certain some of you might be shocked about our egg consumption…how many eggs does your family go through in a week?

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Menu Plan for the Week

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Last week was a blast and I appreciate all the great participation in the Gluten Free Recipe Parade! I got so many great new ideas that I’m anxious to try! Whether your family has gluten free needs or not, I encourage you to look over all of the great recipes shared last week. It’s so good to branch out and learn new recipe ideas!

For your convenience, I’ve put the gluten free button on our side bar (down toward the bottom) so that you can easily click and find all of our gluten free recipes!

I’d like to offer a little something as a “thank you” to those of you who have been sharing your gluten free recipes!! You know I love listening to Christian music in the kitchen!! I’ve been sent Rebecca St. James’ newest CD, I Will Praise You. It’s a fantastic CD, wonderful to listen to while I cook!! Her voice is beautiful, the words she sings are inspiring. She helps draw you to the Father through her music. I love it!

I have a second CD to offer as a giveaway, so as a thank you to everyone who linked to or posted a recipe in our Gluten Free Recipe Parade, I plan to do a random drawing from the list found there! If you haven’t shared a recipe in our parade, and would still like to so that you can be entered in our drawing, you have until Monday night at midnight! :) 

Here’s a look at our menu for this week! In case you’re wondering, while we’re conducting the Gluten Free Experiment with Malachi, I plan to cook normally, making simple GF substitutions for him (or for the whole family when necessary).

Sunday, April 10
Breakfast cookies, pears
Chicken tortilla wraps, carrots sticks, apples
Alfredo sauce with pasta, steamed broccoli

Monday, April 11
Mini breakfast pizzas, oranges
Turkey sausage, ranch potato wedges, peas
Italian pasta bake, tossed salad

Tuesday, April 12
Creamy orange cooler, toast
Chicken chef salad (lettuce, spinach, cheese, chicken, boiled eggs, peas, carrots and homemade dressings)
Corn dog muffins, , cottage cheese, applesauce

Wednesday, April 13
Coconut flour muffins, clementines
Hamburger patties, onion rings, raw veggies with ranch
Chicken fried steak strips, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans

Thursday, April 14
Omelets, oranges
Cheeseburger zucchini boats, fruit salad
Salmon patties, hashbrowns, asparagus

Friday, April 15
Mini breakfast quiches, grapes 
Taco potatoes, fruit
Teriyaki chicken and veggies

Saturday, April 16
Mock frozen yogurt, toast
Leftovers
Taco corn fritters, tossed salad

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Let Say Mmm help you figure out menu planning once and for all!!

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I try to make mention of our site sponsors from time to time in my posts. Here are a few I’d like to take time to give a shout out to now…

  • Scentsy – Wonderful business opportunity!
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  • BreadClass.com – NO MORE BRICKS…you’ve gotta love it!
  • Rachel Ramm Fine Art – If you haven’t taken a look at Rachel’s work, you’ve gotta click over!
  • Mom Answers with Brit – because we’ve all got questions, right?!
  • Pure Miessence – Not only do they carry a fantastic natural deodorant that works, I was also able to try some of their wonderful body wash. Awesome stuff!!
  • Wow, could I possibly use more exclamation marks???!!! It would appear that I really love my sponsors!!!

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Visit Organizing Junkie for more Menu Planning inspiration!

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You CAN Do This Sourdough Thing! (Review and Giveaway from GNOWFGLINS)

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Okay everyone…ONE LAST GIVEAWAY for this week!!! Next week, everything gets back to “normal” around here. Whatever normal is.  :)

A couple of years ago, I wrote an entire series on making Sourdough Starter, walked you through the day-to-day process, took pictures of my little sourdough bubbles and helped you get off to a great start on your sourdough!

Sort of.

I’m just not a sourdough expert. I know enough about it to answer some basic questions, but aside from making a kind of dense loaf of sourdough bread, I have felt a little bit stuck. I knew there was a lot more I could do with my sourdough starter, but what exactly was there, and how should I go about learning?

The GNOWFGLINS (God’s Natural, Organic, Whole Foods, Grown Locally, In Season) ladies just sent me their “hot off the press” Sourdough A to Z eBook and Oh. Wow. Did you know that you can make like a million things with your sourdough starter? Crackers and cakes and muffins and tortillas and pita pockets and pancakes and English muffins and pizza pockets and a bunch of other things that made me want to eat the picture right off my computer screen! Wow.

The Sourdough A to Z eBook walks you through the entire process of making a sourdough from start to finish. Then, once you have your starter alive and kicking…they teach you  how to make all of these wonderful, healthy, easy to digest foods!!!!

AND, guess what!!! While it teaches about all different grains, wheat included, there’s also a whole section in the Sourdough A to Z eBook detailing how you can make a GLUTEN FREE sourdough starter and how you can adapt all the awesome recipes to be GLUTEN FREE!!!!!!!!!

I wasn’t sure whether to giggle or get weepy when I saw that section. I think I kind of did both. Yes, I did the weepy-giggle thing. It was cute.

I can not tell you how impressed I am with the Sourdough A to Z eBook. It is 150 pages of incredible, easy to understand information and recipes and tutorials and tips. The GNOWFGLINS ladies did a fantastic job putting this together! 

In addition, if you are more of a visual person (like I am), they have an online Sourdough eCourse available that will knock your socks off.   If you are interested in creating grain products that are delicious and incredibly healthy, I just can’t say enough good about the Sourdough A to Z eBook and/or Sourdough eCourse.

The lovely ladies at GNOWFGLINS have offered to give away three of their Sourdough A to Z eBook here!  I’m telling you…you WANT this Sourdough A to Z eBook. Unless you want the Sourdough eCourse.  Either way, you’ll recieve a wealth of sourdough knowledge!

Leave a comment here on this post if you’re interested in winning one of the three copies of Sourdough A to Z eBook. 

I’ll draw three random winners for this giveaway on Tuesday, April 12.

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Gluten Free Recipe Parade Link-Up!

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Yum

Wow, has it been a fun and busy week! I’ve loved sharing these new recipes with you, and I can’t wait to read all the great recipes YOU are going to share!!

Here’s a quick link re-cap of all the Gluten Free Recipes shared in this week’s parade:

And don’t forget about the great Stainless Steel Bakeware Giveaway from Paula’s Bread and the wonderful Food Giveaway from Tropical Traditions! Keep in mind that any comment left on ANY post with the Gluten Free Recipe Parade button (pictured at the top of this post) will be entered into a drawing for one of five $10 gift certificates to the Heavenly Homemakers Shop!

Now it’s your turn!!! Please share your recipes that are healthy and free of gluten.  This includes any recipe that does not call for wheat, barley or rye. If it calls for oats, we’ll just know that we need to use gluten free oats, right?!

If you have a blog, link up your recipes below, using the Mr. Linky feature. Please kindly make mention on your blog post that your recipe is linked to the “Gluten Free Recipe Parade at Heavenly Homemakers”…linking back to this post. You are welcome to link up more than one recipe. It is a parade after all!

If you don’t have a blog, please share your Gluten Free Recipes in the comments section of this post.

Let’s all bless each other and be blessed with new and wonderful recipes!

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Teriyaki Chicken and Veggies

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 I think I’d make this dish every other day if my family would let me get away with it. It is the perfect combination of flavors and I LOVE IT. It’s great because you can use leftover chicken if you have it, any veggies you have on hand…and if you have fresh pineapple? Well, be still my heart.

Yum

I don’t have an exact recipe for this dish. It’s more of a “throw food together” kind of dish, depending on what you have on hand. Then, make some brown rice and whip up some Teriyaki Sauce to pour on and you’ve got a great meal! So, forgive me for not putting exact measurements on this “recipe”. Just make enough for your family!

Here’s what you need:

Here’s what to do:

Get your brown rice cooking. (I have easy directions for cooking brown rice here.)  Mix up Teriyaki Sauce and have it ready to go when chicken and veggies are done.

Chop up your veggies and stir them around in a skillet over medium heat with olive oil until they are tender. If your chicken needs to be cooked, throw that in too. (See what a fancy cook I am?)  :)  If you want, you can season your veggies and chicken with garlic.

Toss pineapple into the veggies to cook for just a few minutes.

Serve rice, veggies, pineapple and chicken with Teriyaki Sauce poured over the top!

Teriyaki Chicken and Vegetables

What veggies would you throw in to create this meal?  I know my menu plan said something different, but I think I’m making this tonight anyway. :)

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