Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Big Family Food and Fun: July 20-26, 2025

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: July 20-26, 2025 post!

We enjoy a Sabbath rest from Saturday evening through Sunday evening – so I turn off my computer on Saturday afternoons and miss posting some of these pictures. I’ll catch up on our last Saturday activities before launching into our new week!

Saturday, July 19

We had just brought Brayden and Kiya home from camp, so all day Saturday we stayed home in an effort to help them to transition calmly. This was the best choice, though Matt and I had to work extra hard to keep everyone “entertained and happy” all day.

We hadn’t filled our little pool in a while, so we did that, plus we hooked up the hose to a little Twister sprinkler.

Keith had been begging to use the Spiral Slicer to cut apples, so this was a great activity when the kids needed a snack. We went through an entire bag of apples because they really do taste better this way. I loved that the mess these created happened outside in the yard. :)

I made a simple dinner of Orange Chicken and Steamed Broccoli. We went through two entire Sam’s-sized boxes of the chicken, and not all of the adults in the house even ate with us. This meal is a favorite, for sure.

Big Family Food and Fun: July 20-26, 2025

Sunday morning, we ate Breakfast Cookie Bars while getting ready for church.

Our friend, Hector, had asked if he could Grill Chicken for our Sunday Lunch, which was so awesome! He also made a delicious Rice dish to share with us. I cooked 28 Hotdogs in a small crock pot to stretch the meat, and I made Pineapple Fluff. Other friends who joined us brought Veggies, Fruit Salad, Chips, and Desserts. As always, it was an amazing feast with very little effort.

I didn’t get a lot of pictures of our time together because I enjoyed visiting instead. :) There were 32 of us gathered that day.

Lots of costumes were enjoyed by all the kids that day.

That afternoon we sent the kids downstairs to watch a movie with Elias and Matt and I took little naps, praise God. Matt woke up feeling awful, yikes.

During the late afternoon, we took the kids outside to play in the water. There was both joy and screaming/fighting all evening long, Jesus be near.

Brayden and Kiya had brought home MP3-Players from camp, preloaded with all their special camp songs. They enjoyed music time while the others played in the water.

I made four Frozen Pizzas  for dinner, plus got out some leftover Salad. The kids all also ate a Banana.

Monday morning, Matt was very sick. I was, thankfully, feeling somewhat better after being sick last week (with a different illness). We canceled all of our morning plans that involved people coming to our house. Then Elias helped me take all the kids to a park to play for the morning so that Matt could rest.

I had warmed up Pizza from Sunday night’s dinner, plus packed Fruit Cups and an assortment other food like Veggie Straws and Cheese. We picnicked at the park after playing for a good long time.

After everyone was covered in sand, sticky from fruit cups, and had run out their morning energy – I dropped the little girls off with Ms. Kathi and the bigger three had Sib Time with Elias. (Today Kiya and Anna were supposed to go to Kelsey’s, but Justus and Kelsey were sick too – boo.)

That evening, Acacia and Josie helped me make Spinach Cupcakes.

Please appreciate how accurate I am, how uniform my cupcakes, and how I always bake like a perfectionist. ;)

For dinner that night, I used leftover Pulled Pork that I’d put in the freezer after last week’s Sunday Lunch to make Meat and Cheese Melts. We ate them with Carrot Sticks and Watermelon.

Only Keith had ABA that night because Anna’s and Auggie’s technicians were unavailable. Here’s a shot of what is a rare and sweet moment when I found these four playing and listening to music in the playroom. I love that Auggie is learning how to play. :)

Matt was still very sick on Tuesday. Whatever this virus was, please do not get it!

I canceled going to Acacia’s Tuesday speech appointment, plus I reached out to the coordinator of our weekly Food Distribution to let her know that we couldn’t come – knowing that Matt would not be able to hold down the fort while I was gone. Auggie had ABA therapy that morning, then all seven kids went outside with me to help me clean out our little pool.

As hard as our days often are, when I look at this picture, I see hope –>

So frequently, much of what Matt and I do is “put out fires” and get screamed at and argued with. These kids’ brains are traumatized, and parenting looks so discouragingly different this time around. But this particular moment, pictured above, when I asked the kids to fill containers with water from the pool, then go water different areas of our lawn – they all did it. At the same time. Without complaint.

Parden me while I look at that photo and cry because it shows what their hearts really hold: love, peace, sweetness, and a desire to work together as a family for good. Who knew sour cream containers full of dirty water would be my joy-breaking point that day? It was a much needed, precious ten minutes of our day. :)

Then, back in the kitchen, we had meltdowns. I mean – we had lunch. I turned Sunday’s leftover hotdogs into Beanie Weanies. We also finished off the leftover Pineapple Fluff and I made some Peanut Butter Graham Cracker Sandwiches.

Our friends Christina, Clara, and Calvin showed up right after lunch to give this mama some blessed rest and relief. Their servant hearts are huge, and they insisted on coming to help with the kids since they knew that I’d been sick and that Matt was now sick.

With Christina and kids there, I left everyone behind and went to grab a Walmart pick-up order with groceries and some electrolyte drinks to hopefully help Matt with recovery.

Before leaving, I put a pan of Stick of Butter Rice into the oven (made plain with just water to make it easier on Matt’s stomach). When I got home, I took an electrolyte drink and some rice up to Matt, then I  hid upstairs and rested until our friends needed to leave. What a gift to have the down time!

Christina left us a fabulous dinner of Meatball Sliders, Steamed Green Beans, and Fruit Salad.

We told Auggie that the long green beans were like French fries, which made him willing to try them. Then he had three helpings!

Wednesday morning, I fired up our smoker and grilled a bunch of chicken for an upcoming church service project.

Matt was slightly better that day, though very weak and slow. He stayed in bed while I had a meeting with our ABA therapist. Auggie was with his ABA technician and the other kids hung in there, playing during my meeting. Our therapist is very gracious about the kids’ needs and didn’t mind several interruptions during our scheduled time together.

After the meeting, I cut all the chicken into small bites. We were planning to put together 75 lunches to serve on Monday, and the lunches were to include Chicken Veggie Wraps.

Elias helped me start cooking another round of chicken on the smoker. Then we got the kids fed some lunch – Sandwiches, Pickles, Fruit, and Chips.

Elias finished the chicken for me, and later, I got it cut and put away.

For dinner that night, I had slow cooked some Seasoned Chicken that I’d bought at Sam’s that had been greatly marked down. That sure was easy! To go with it, I made a pot of Three Cheese Spaghetti  (<– so delicious!) and Brayden put together a Caesar Salad.

We went to our fourth Popsicles in the Park Wednesday evening church event. This was only made possible because our church family helped me wrangle kids all evening since Matt couldn’t be there.

In this shot, our friend, Elizabeth was entertaining the girls as Trent raced Keith to the van and while Robin and I followed with Brayden and Auggie. We are so thankful for all the people who help support our family.

Thursday morning, Keith was very interested in making Applesauce Muffins. He insisted that they needed chocolate chips.

Kiya helped me make a double batch of Breakfast Cookie Bars for upcoming Sunday breakfasts.

After they baked and cooled, I cut them and put one plate into our extra fridge for this week and the other into the freezer for the next Sunday.

That afternoon, I made two huge Lasagnas for this Sunday’s Lunch.

I was so impressed with how the kids’ played that afternoon! Keith, Anna, and Auggie all had ABA therapy, so having their technicians with them helped keep behaviors in check. Brayden had started reenacting all the events of a typical “Hamm Bash” weekend, from our family’s traditional pinata, auction, and staying in a hotel. He got all the kids involved in the fun. The auction was a hoot!

Keith’s ABA tech was amazing and helped the kids make a paper mache pinata with a balloon, watered down glue, and paper. Then they hung it up and started to whack away!

All of this kept the kids entertained for the entire evening. AND, once when Keith got upset, his technician was able to help him apply the coping skills he’s been learning – a huge win!

For dinner, I’d used leftover chicken and leftover rice to put together Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole. I warmed up leftover green beans and got out some shredded lettuce that needed to be used up. And I cut up two pounds of strawberries. Also, Christina had given us a container of Golden Kiwi to try and we finished off all but two!

Friday was a pretty chill day, thankfully. Matt was feeling well enough to mow our lawn – amazing! After ABA therapy, Auggie got out his mower to help Daddy.

We ate leftovers for lunch, had some therapy sessions for a couple of kids, then farmed everyone out for the afternoon with Eva, Ms. Kathi, and Elias so that Matt and I could rest.

Each time these “farm out” sessions end, the kids come home bubbling over, excited to tell us all they did with their special people. This is such a gift in every way!

Elias and Malorie packed up that evening and headed out to start the trip toward Texas to spend time with her family for a week. They always stop and stay with our Kansas family on their way, which makes me so happy and also a tiny bit jealous. ;) Malachi had flown to Florida for his work on Wednesday, so we were now down three adults for the rest of the week!

For dinner that night, I added salsa to Thursday night’s leftover Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole and turned the mixture into Burritos. This was a simple way to feed us as we headed into our weekend.

The kids had drug our picnic tables to the front yard, so they all ate outside. This week’s play has included a lot of tree climbing! We’ve had some very muddy legs and feet (and floors in the house) at the end of each night. But when they are playing nicely, I don’t care how muddy they get.

Saturday morning, we ate cereal as we prepped to go on an outing with our church family kids’ ministry. I made a quadruple batch of Oatmeal Cinnamon Yogurt Muffins to take to eat on the way and to share with our friends.

I also made a big pan of Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Bars to have on hand for snacks.

Then we loaded up and drove to Platte River State Park to meet up with our church friends. There was a super cool playground there that we enjoyed.

Zip lines!!

Then we ate a big lunch together with Hotdogs and lots of side dish options.

I captured this shot in which Kiya had captured a frog and lots of friends were gathered ’round. But by the time I made it over to the group, something else had distracted them. :)

Lunch and frog drama over, we all headed out to Take a Hike!

It was a perfect trek toward the river, which was really a tiny trickle at this point. We got nice and muddy and had lots of fun. As always, we are so thankful for church family who helps us manage outings like this with all of our kids.

Around 2:00 pm, we loaded up our dirty, overtired kids and headed home. We played, cleaned up, and headed into our time of Sabbath rest. And that was our week!

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Be Warm and Well Fed? How to Actually Help Feed People in Need…

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Want to help feed people in need? Let’s move beyond an attitude of “be warm and well fed…” and actually help!

We all have different gifts given to us by our Creator. One of my gifts is food. I LOVE FOOD and I’m good at food.

You may not be good at food. That means you’re good at something else, and I bet it’s something I marvel at! I love this about God’s people. But even if you don’t love food as I do, or if you don’t consider yourself to be “good at food” – what we are all called to be good at is:

Loving our neighbor.

Every one of us. We can show this love in various forms, especially according to the gifts God has given us. This is so beautiful!

But today I am going to talk about loving our neighbor – with food.

Those of us who have never experienced food insecurity probably don’t think about those who suffer from it daily. How will we feed our family tomorrow? How will I make this food last until the next paycheck? How many meals can I skip so that my kids can eat?

I CAN’T EVEN.

Those of us who have plenty? We have to share.

First, Ask God

My food-loving heart is on high alert for those who don’t have enough to eat and feed their families. (Just like your gifted heart jumps on needs according to what God has blessed you to know and to do!)

If you don’t know anyone in your community who might be experiencing food insecurity or have needs in other ways, please prayerfully begin to get to know more people. Expand your circle.

If you only hang out with people who live like you, act like you, look like you, talk like you – you might be resting in a place that is comfortable instead of doing what Jesus did. He spent most of His time with the least of these. Walking with the marginalized. Seeing the poor and the lonely and the hurting and showing them love in the ways they needed love.

So my gift is food? Your gift might be something else. And WE ARE ALL CALLED TO LOVE.

Don’t tell me that you’re shy. (Laura used to hide behind that too.) Don’t explain what it’s like to be an introvert. (Laura laughs out loud at this as she hides in her quiet alone spot to refresh her introverted self and write this post.) Most importantly: Don’t be afraid.

God will be in every effort you make as you listen to His direction for reaching out to those around you who have needs of all kinds. This is very much something you’ll do with God. Not because it’s a nice thing to do. Not because good deeds are cool. Loving God and loving others is the only thing that’s cool. His way. Actually loving them.

So back to how to feed people in need.

Whatever your gifts, please be alerted to the fact that many in our communities face constant food insecurity. And many are hesitant to reach out and ask for help. I am learning this by painful experience, and friends, I live in York, Nebraska. This is a middle class, lovely small town of 8,000 and while it seems like everyone in our town is doing just fine, God has opened my eyes and heart and taught me that many people around me have big needs.

Thanks to Him, I now have multiple families or widows that I check in with regularly to make sure they have enough food to get them through until the next check or the next community food distribution.

If you don’t know anyone who is lacking – ask God to show you. He is faithful and He will do it. I know this from beautiful experience.

Then He will also show you what to do about it.

It starts with relationship. Love is more important than even a bag of groceries. So keep that in mind as you serve. People need food, but they need God’s love more. Looking into people’s eyes and learning more about their lives and sharing genuine laughs and tears and care? It is life-changing on all sides.

Bags of groceries are nice too.

Or prepared casseroles or a bucket of soup.

Ask God to show you. He is faithful and He will do it.

Soon, seeing the hurting and the hungry will become easy. Having conversations and reaching out and meeting new friends and getting to know people needs? Natural. It’s God’s way, after all.

What does this look like?

Well, I don’t know what God will do through you, but I can’t wait to hear!

Here are a couple of examples from my neck of the woods:

This week I took a fully prepared meal to a family in our community with six kids. One parent is sick. The other is trying to hold down the entire fort. They didn’t even care what food I prepared – they were just thankful to check “cook dinner” off the list for the night. This is meeting a different need compared to sharing groceries with people who have nothing. But it is still a need, and God will show you who and how. (Yep, ordering pizza for someone counts. There are no bonus points in heaven for making homemade meals. Just obey God and love people.)

Later in the same week, I babysat for a single mom so she could have a tiny break. When I dropped off her daughter later, I learned that she had cereal. As in…that’s it. She had in her house – cereal – to get her and her daughter through nine more days of the month before the next check.

NOT ON MY WATCH.

I went home and filled some bags and took them back to my friend. Thank you, God, for helping me learn of this need! 

Friends, ask God to show you who needs food. Money. Clothing. LOVE.

He will show you. And He will provide.

We are not called to be saviors.

Jesus. Is. Savior. But we are called to let the light of the Savior shine through us as we love those around us in any way He calls us to love.

Often, I show love with food. I do this because it meets a real need and provides the opportunity to share the Real Source of Strength.

How can you love? How can you serve? How can you see the needs of those around you and care for them?

Ask God. Then watch Him work – while you get to be a part of the delivery!

How to Help Feed People in Need…

Here is what works for me as I help make sure people have enough food to eat:

  • I ask what people like. Sure, sometimes if a person is hungry, they’ll eat anything. But I also know that a mama has to feed picky kids sometimes and I want to make that easier. I try to get a good idea of what families eat so that when I pick up groceries for them (or grab from our well-stocked pantry and freezers) I give them what I know will bless them and help them most.
  • I regularly buy more than what we need. Thankfully, we can afford this, and we want to use what God has given us to share with others. I always have a nice supply of just about everything from groceries to kleenex. This makes it easy to grab some boxes or bags and fill them from our own food supply. I especially appreciate this right now because, with all of our little ones, it’s hard for me to go to the store right away when I learn of a need. So shopping my own well-stocked food supply and dropping it off to our friends can happen regularly when I over-buy, on purpose.
  • I don’t give away weird stuff. As in, I don’t grab the can-of-whatever-no-one-in-my-family-likes and give it away. Nor do I give away crazy-organic-mega-health-food-no-one-has-heard-of. My goal is to bless people, not to give away our cast-offs or to make life hard because I’ve given them something confusing called “maca root…” Stick with the basics; bless people with what’s easy and what tastes good!

What have you found that works for you? How do you help people around you who are in need?

One more tip: Consider the times you have been the one in need. How have people helped you? What would have been helpful during those times? Tuck these thoughts away in your heart as you consider how you can help others!

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The Day I Got Mad at Groceries, Part 2 (Is Balance Possible?)

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

Read Part 1 – The Day I Got Mad at Groceries and Food in General here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

groceries 411

After processing with you some of my frustrations with being able to achieve balance when striving to…

  • Save money on groceries
  • Fill us with nourishment
  • Satisfy my teenage sons’ huge appetites
  • Not spend hours in the kitchen
  • Keep up with life during a busy season

…I headed to the grocery store.

I had my list ready to go. I also had our full calendar in mind, knowing all too well what the next two weeks held for my family. Which was bigger – my grocery list or my to-do list? Oh, now that’s a tough one.

So I prayed for a balanced approach to my shopping. God is not above me asking for help in selecting food for my family. God cares about every detail. He knows my desire to be a good steward and also my need to not over-burden myself in the kitchen. He knows what’s on my calendar. He knows how much my boys eat. He knows we need a new vehicle. He knows.

groceries june 17

At the store, I filled my cart with a wonderful variety of fresh produce from strawberries to peaches to zucchini to peppers to apples to asparagus to watermelon to avocados. I got all the produce at wonderful prices thanks to price-matching.

Then I compromised and bought a few loaves of bread, even though I know how to make it myself. I bought pre-made frozen hashbrowns, even though I know how to make them myself. (By the way, the only ingredient in the Mr. Dells brand frozen hashbrowns is potatoes. The lack of fillers made me add three bags to my cart!) I bought several packages of nitrite-free, uncured beef hotdogs for fast and fun lunches on the grill. I bought bottled BBQ Sauce, even though I know how to make it myself.

Truth: Everything I bought was still real food. (Yes, I realize I’m pushing it when talking about hotdogs. Work with me here. They’re trying. Really they are.)

I got good deals. I was careful about everything that went into my cart. But doggonit, when I want to make Grilled Chicken this week, I’m gonna open up a bottle of pre-made BBQ Sauce, dump it on, and go about my day.

I think we all have to:

  • make decisions about what works for our family and what doesn’t.
  • realize that just because something had been working for our family, sometimes a change is in order.
  • ask God for clarity, peace, and help in all areas in our lives.

My conclusions about groceries…today

Actually, I have no conclusions. I conclude that what I conclude today may be different from what I conclude next week. Right? Often if it’s best if we just think about today. I trust God to make it all clear to each of us when it comes to saving money, eating well, and saving time.

Today’s conclusions are:

  • I will continue to follow Simple Meals plans because without them, I’m lost and frustrated at dinner time. The recipes and every aspect of these plans are so easy I barely have to work and I rarely have to think. This is how I’ll continue to do dinner.
  • With that, when a recipe calls for BBQ sauce, spaghetti sauce, salsa, or beans – it’s coming out of a jar, bottle, or can because it is still real food, the price is still reasonable, and I don’t have time to make every single ingredient from scratch right now.
  • Lunches and Breakfasts might need to be some of the same choices over and over for a while. This will cut down on my need to think so hard, and make it easier for the boys to help themselves.
  • As long as I always have plenty of fresh or frozen fruits and veggies to fill the table, I can relax about the occasional hotdogs or pizza.

Balancing Nourishment, Time, and Cost When Grocery Shopping

What have you found helps you most when trying to find balance in saving money, eating well, and saving time in the kitchen?

Freebies for you!

Did you get these yet? Here are two free ebooklets Top 10 Money Saving Recipes and 30 Real Food Money Saving Tips!

Join our Heavenly Homemakers Savings Club, and we’ll send it to you for FREE! (Joining means we’ll also keep you informed of all the latest money saving groceries and homemaking items we come across. A win-win! It costs nothing to be a member.)

Top 10 Money Saving Recipes

Sign up to join our Heavenly Homemakers Savings Club here.

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Better Than Costco? I Think So. Get $15 Off Boxed!

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

************UPDATE************

Unfortunately, my good feelings toward Boxed lasted about one day. Their website promised that you would get $15 when you signed up through my referral link. However, only five of you were allowed to use that code, even though there is no place on their site that says there is a 5 referral limit.

This turned into a big hassle. I emailed and emailed and emailed them. Some of you emailed them. I asked them to please make this right for you. They did not respond.

I am so very sorry, readers. I know you trust me to only share great options. I thought this was one but I no longer feel that way. They didn’t follow through on what their site promised. I no longer recommend that we support this company.

Thank you all for your patience as we tried to get this figured out. You are all dear to me.

************UPDATE************

Last night I came across Boxed – ever heard of it?

boxed

Boxed bragged that it was “better than Costco.” Seeing as the nearest Costco is about 100 miles from me, I clicked over to check it out.

If I had a Costco in my back yard, I’m sure I would love it. But I don’t, and even so, I really love the convenience of shopping online at home. Anything that is a good price and delivered (for free) to my porch? That’s pretty hard to beat.

So…Boxed.

  • There’s no membership fee.
  • Your first order ships free (plus you get $15 if you click through my referral link). Shipping on subsequent orders are $5.99 or FREE with an order of $49 or more.
  • Orders ship within 1 business day.
  • They carry items from grocery to office to babies to household cleaners – all at great prices!

I did some checking before I jumped on board, and certainly before I shared this with you. I found almost all of the prices to be very, very good – less than I pay locally. Free shipping makes shopping with Boxed more than worth it because it saves time and gas money.

There are plenty of processed foods to avoid, but quite a few healthy choices too. And don’t forget to look beyond the food. My favorite grab in my first order was batteries!! They were a very good price and they’ll get dropped on my porch. I got some Mrs. Meyers soaps and some La Croix Sparkling Water. Their office supply choices was impressive.

I decided that Boxed is definitely worth being a part of (since there’s no membership fee!) and worth telling you about. I’ll be using them from now on to save money on food and other items I don’t want to mess with picking up at the store!

Then get your own referral link to share with your friends and family! They’ll get $15, you’ll get $15! (Boxed did not follow through on this beyond 5 referrals. Please be aware of this if you do choose to refer friends.)

What do you think? Had you heard of Boxed before?

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

My Grocery Store Dilemma and Our New Pet (Yes. Really.)

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

I’m not sure how you think about grocery shopping but here are the three main things I focus on:

  1. Price
  2. Nutrition
  3. Time

But not in that order.

Except for sometimes.

See, all of those are important to me when planning a menu and grocery shopping. We eat a ton of food at our house now, so cost is definitely a biggie to watch so that I can put the best possible food on the table without going over our already enormous grocery budget.

But I don’t want to compromise on nourishment just for the sake of keeping the cost down. And then there’s the time factor. Time to prepare the food and time to shop for the food. I find my schedule is so full now that I don’t have as much time as I used to for comparing prices, clipping coupons, price-matching, etc. I still do all of these as much as I can, but it sure does take time!

You know what else? I’m finding that price-matching has almost ruined me for buying produce full price. So guess what has started happening? Sometimes I don’t buy enough produce. Me. The one who preaches to everyone about eating lots of fruits and veggies eighteen times a day.

All of this blabbing to say – yesterday when I was grocery shopping, my “eat nourishing foods” won out over my “keep the cost low” arguments in my head. There are actual conversations going on in spite of me up there in my head. They go on and on (“whoa that’s expensive” vs. “dude, you need broccoli”); meanwhile I’m walking up and down the grocery store aisles thinking of our Christmas menu and making a mental note to reply to an urgent email when I get home and also I am wondering if I can make it home or if I should pee at the store before I leave.

No one. No one wants to be inside my head.

Seeing as my “eat nourishing foods” voice won out over my “keep the cost low” voice, today I decided to price-match the few produce items that were a great deal, and then buy a bunch more fruits and vegetables whether they were on sale or not. I did draw the line at strawberries. They were $5/pound and looked like they would taste like red Styrofoam. No thanks.

groceries12-14

I got four bags of Halo’s for a super low price match (plus I had a coupon!). I got three pineapple for just $1.29 each because of price-matching. That’s where my savings ended. I’m over it though. My countertop looked so happy with all the fresh produce that my “eat nourishing foods” voice gave my “keep the cost low” voice a haughty little smack down. My “keep the cost low” voice gave a little shrug, but not before reminding the “eat nourishing foods” voice that ultimately she would be keeping our doctor bills lower so she wasn’t the ultimate loser here, thankyouverymuch.

So now would you like to hear about our new pet? (I know. It’s hard to keep up here. Voices in my head, produce on my counter, goldfish in my living room. Welcome to my world.)

I did not ask for a fish. Of course, I didn’t ask for a cat either. I never wanted any pets. But now there’s Wiggams, the cat, who has won us over with her catness – so much so that sometimes we take play-by-play pictures of her catly activities. For instance:

Malachi went out to feed her one morning, but dropped the bag. (I write fascinating stories to keep you on the edge of your seat.)

wiggams food1
Wiggams considered that perhaps she didn’t need food scooped into a dish this time.

wiggams food2

Indeed. Step back everyone. She’d take it from here.

wiggams food3

Ah Wiggams. Just wipe your mouth when you’re finished.

So now. About the fish. It happened like this:

Last Thursday, Matt needed to go to basketball practice with Justus and Elias. I had Bunco with the ladies. This left Malachi, our 10-year old, without plans and all alone for several hours. I texted Asa (our college-age son) to see if perhaps Malachi could hang out with him on campus for the night. Asa said sure, except that he had a Christmas party to attend. No problem. Malachi would just go with him to the party. As a matter of fact, it was decided that Malachi would be Asa’s white elephant gift.

Therefore, while other college students were wrapping up odds and ends of candy and ugly sweaters for a gift exchange, Asa put a bow on the head of his 10-year old brother. Malachi was thrilled.

malachi white elephant

He was, as expected, a huge hit at the party! Everyone loved him and fought over him like all nice college students do during a gift exchange. Later that night, I got home from Bunco and let Asa know that I was available whenever the party was over. An hour later, he texted back that Brittany would be running Malachi home. I eagerly welcomed them when they arrived. But wait. What was this?

Brittany breezed into the house with Malachi and sat a small fish tank on my kitchen counter. “Merry Christmas!” said she. Um. Thank you?

finnley

Well, my friends. Meet Finley. (name brilliantly chosen by Justus)

Apparently Asa wasn’t the only college kid to take a living gift to the white elephant party. White elephant; gold fish. It all makes sense I guess.

So now we have a cat…and a fish. (But not in the same location.) This pet accumulation thing has got to stop.

We began our fish care adventure by putting too much food in his tank and completely polluting his water. I take all the blame. I am, after all, used to feeding teenagers in bulk quantities. We quickly learned how to most efficiently change water in a fish tank without killing a fish. Later that day, Malachi eagerly reported that “Finnley is pooping!!” So we all got to watch. Whatever did we do with our time before we started having pets?

Have any fish? Have any cats? How many voices do you hear in your head while grocery shopping (cost low! save time! eat well!)? 

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Always Go to the Store When You’re Hungry

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shopping cart 2

Yep, it’s just like Grandma used to say:

  • Be sure to go outside with wet hair on a cold day.
  • If you can’t say something nice, be sure to say it really loudly. While sticking out your tongue.
  • Sit very close to the TV. It’s good for your eyes.
  • Always go to the store when you’re hungry.

Best advice ever, right? Good ol’ Grandma. How’d she get so smart?

Obviously, I’m a little mixed up on what I remember hearing from Grandma. Cold day…stick out tongue… I think what she actually said was that when I go outside on a cold day, I should always stick out my tongue to lick the fence post. Yes, that was it.

Before I get any more carried away, let’s set the record straight:  Don’t go outside on a cold day with wet hair or stick out your tongue (fence post or not). Never say unkind words or sit close to the TV. There, now you can’t sue me if your kid reads this and says, “That Heavenly Homemaker Lady said I should.”

But going to the store when you’re hungry? Now that’s a different story. Grandma never gave me advice about this, but I’ve heard it from plenty:  “Don’t go to the store when you’re hungry. You’ll come out with a cart full of junk food you don’t need.”

I beg to differ.  Just hear me out.

Always Go to the Store Hungry

Last week, I went to the store before dinner. I wasn’t “passing out hungry” because I do know my limits and realize that the grocery store manager would appreciate it if I don’t faint beside the display of plums. I had snacked, and I was just on the verge of “Mmm, food is starting to sound pretty good right about now.” You know that feeling?

That is when you should go to the store – to the produce section. For the love of Doritos and Dolly Madison, do not go to the cookie aisle, the bakery, the bread aisle, or the potato chip aisle when you’re hungry. But I dare you: Go to the produce section of the store when you’re hungry.

The pineapple, the asparagus, the cucumbers, the mixed greens, the apples, the pears, the fruit you’ve never heard of before much less tasted – it will all look fantastic to you! You will begin to crave it right then and there. You will imagine crisp slices of cucumber, dipped in fresh ranch dressing, and you will think that you might die if you don’t have some this very night. You will long for vegetables roasting in the oven. You will have to fight the urge to bite into a Honey Crisp apple right there on the spot, but for goodness sake, don’t do it because we all know Grandma told us we always have to pay for food before we eat it and that is the absolute truth.

Don’t cross your eyes. They might stay that way forever. But do go fill your cart with fruits and vegetables when you’re hungry. Buy them. Don’t complain about the price. They are cheaper than junk and our bodies crave nourishment- so don’t even get me started. Bring fruits and vegetables home by the bag full, then start crunching. Eat your fill. Enjoy the goodness.

Then wait 30 minutes before you go swimming. Grandma knows best.

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Forget Everything I’ve Ever Said About My Low Grocery Budget

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How to Handle an Increasing Grocery Budget

Well, please don’t forget everything – just the parts I shared a few years ago about how I can feed my family of six a whole foods diet for less than $500 each month.

See, I thought my kids ate a lot of food at that time (2011)…because they did. They’ve always been very active and have had hearty appetites. But now? Well, we can polish off 2 pounds of meat, 2 pounds of strawberries, 1 pound of frozen vegetables, 5 pounds of potatoes, and a half gallon of milk – in one meal. An hour later they’ll need (and I do mean need, not want) more food, so we’ll eat a bowl of apples, four bowls of popcorn, and a hunk of cheese.

The boys who used to look like this:

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Now look like this:

GG_8

The little one who loved dressing up in costumes and climbing on my bulk groceries…

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Can now eat his weight in bulk groceries. And he’s the youngest one of the bunch. You should see his 6’3″ brother eat. Those 50 pound bags just don’t stretch as far as they used to.

The food portions we put on our plates at meal time still look like this:

fruits and veggies 11

But that’s just a warm-up. An appetizer. A teaser plate. They polish that off and go back to heap more onto their plates, twice, or maybe three times – if there’s anything left. I typically have to act quickly if I want seconds (or firsts as is the case at times).

I love this. Feeding people is fun for me, watching my family eat great food is a joy, and observing healthy appetites does my heart good. Bring on the food, bring on the appetites, bring on the healthy eating!

But it does come with a price tag – an ever growing price tag that sometimes shocks me, especially when see the shopping cart, the bulk co-op purchases, the cases of food delivered to my door – and I know how long the food will (won’t) last.

grocery cart

This is what my grocery cart usually looks like (weekly) – filled with fruits and veggies to go with the farm fresh meat, eggs, and milk – plus all of our bulk food purchases.

Do I really mean for you to forget everything I’ve ever said about how to keep a low grocery budget while still feeding your family a whole food diet? No way. All of my tips and tricks still hold true. Our grocery budget would be increasing whether we were eating whole foods or not. I don’t even want to think about how much I would be spending every month if we were eating large amounts of processed food. I believe eating healthy whole foods is what is keeping our food budget as low as it is right now.  Therefore, we’ll continue to:

Our grocery budget increases, but only because we’re eating more food, and there’s not much I can do (or want to do) to change that. If they are hungry, let them eat.  Just save some for me, boys!

To accommodate the changes in our grocery budget, we’ve had to shuffle some numbers around in our overall budget. Eating is not an option. The money has to come from somewhere, right? So where has it come from?

Well, as we’ve taken a look at all the line items in our budget, it can look at first glance as if there is no flexibility. After all, we try not to spend money on anything we don’t feel is necessary, so what can we possibly cut out? Nothing, really. And while I’m on the subject, can I tell you how nice it is to have a clearly itemized household budget so that we can put a name on every dollar we earn and spend? There is so much comfort in this, even if there are sometimes question marks about how to adjust those numbers.

What has worked for our family is this:  Our boys are now able to earn money by doing various jobs such as mowing lawns, raking leaves, shoveling snow, babysitting, and other miscellaneous jobs people call on them for. Our two oldest boys are licensed soccer officials, which means that in the spring and fall they are called to the soccer fields 4-5 days/evenings each week to referee games. They are good at what they do, they enjoy the work, they earn nice paychecks, and they are good savers. So guess what? In an effort to both help our household budget and teach them how to manage money, our boys have become more responsible for purchasing many of the items they need.

As a result, we’ve been able to shift some money from our clothing budget over to our grocery budget. We let the boys pay for their own outings with friends, church youth functions, part of church camp costs, etc. Aha! It’s a win-win. The boys get to continue eating (you’re welcome, children), plus they learn about budgeting for themselves.

I’d love to hear how you manage your grocery budget, how you cut food costs, and how you teach your kids about managing money.

Also, I want to encourage you to take advantage of what BudgetFocus offers in the area of setting us a specific (but simple!) household budget. I love this resource! Through Mother’s Day, they knocked down the price of an annual plan to just $19.95 – a super deal!

Now let’s talk grocery budgets. How are you holding up with growing appetites at your house?

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Buying in Bulk – Do You Have the Space?

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Before I can talk about the foods I like having on hand and the foods I purchase or preserve in large quantities, I think it’s best to let you know a little bit more about our family’s storage capabilities. God has blessed us with a large house that has a large storage room. We have (through the years) invested in not one, but three large freezers. We have a large pantry and a large kitchen and after you’ve typed the word large this many times in the same paragraph, it begins to sound funny in your head. Large. Large. Is it just me, or does the word large sound funny now? (It’s largely possible that it’s just me.)

I say all of that (in large part) to let you know that I’ll be sharing what works for our family – then you can take that information and do whatever will work for yours. Even if your house and storage abilities aren’t as large as mine, you still may be able to swipe some of my ideas (or learn something from all the brilliant minds who leave comments and share what works for them!). But make adaptions based on what God has blessed you with. If you have a small home with minimal storage, you’ll have to get more creative. For instance, you could sell your couch and build your own living room furniture from your bulk purchases. Fifty pound bags of wheat and oats would make very cushy chairs. Five gallon buckets full of rice and beans could serve as your end tables and you could use jars of coconut oil and canned peaches as book ends. Bags of pasta would be fine accents on your “wheat and oat couches” – you know, like pillows? Adorable. 

Or not.

Don’t ever ask me to come help you decorate your home. It’s clearly not my strong suit. Moving on…

Why do we have three large freezers? Well, we’ve found that it’s an investment that has saved us hundreds of dollars each year. We bought them used, and if you recall, they are as ugly as can be – one of the reasons we got them for such a low price. Having them has enabled us to purchase high quality meat in bulk quantities. Even more exciting, when we’ve been blessed to get our hands on free strawberries or peaches – when our garden has been producing bumper crops of green beans – when we are able to get a great deal on a year’s supply of corn to put up for the winter – we’ve got the freezer space to handle the quantity. By the end of summer, our freezers are crammed full of produce, much of which we’ve grown ourselves or purchased for a very reasonable price from local farmers and gardeners.

So, what if you don’t have large freezers or a large pantry or storage space? I was kidding earlier (mostly) about building furniture with your bags of oats, but there really are some great and creative ways for you to make good use of the space you do have. Take a look at how beautifully Jodi has decorated her home with her canned produce. 

I think this is gorgeous:

A colorful close-up:

Think about the usable areas of your home. Can you slide some food containers under your beds? Are there some closet floors that could house some buckets of dry goods? Can you think of a cute way to stack a few containers in a corner of your kitchen? Any chance you have an open wall somewhere that you could purchase an inexpensive shelf that you can decorate with food like Jodi did?

While you may not have the space to store 500 pounds of wheat (our year’s supply!) like I can, I bet you do have a few (or more) bulk storage possibilities in your home.

I’d love for you all to share your tricks and strategies for food storage in your homes. Share what type of home you live in and how you make good uses of your storage spaces.

And really, can’t you just picture the coconut oil jar book ends?  Adorable.

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My Exciting Grocery Posts for the Week, Part 1

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I made a big mistake this month in the grocery shopping arena. I completely missed my April Azure Standard Food Co-op ordering date, which means that I was unable to order groceries for my family and I can’t order again until May so in the meantime my family will have nothing at all to eat for four entire weeks!!!!

Okay, not really.  Not even close.  I did have to talk myself down from a panic once I realized I’d missed ordering, though. I have ordered from Azure Standard every single month for the past four or five years. My menus revolve around what I’m able to order and I very much rely on them for fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables.

But as you may recall, I always order in bulk, keeping a nice supply of food on hand at any given time. Plus, we still have quite a bit of preserved garden produce we canned or froze last summer/fall. Our freezers still have plenty of meat. So, just because I made a big goof-up this month, are we gonna starve? No.  I would imagine that even if I forgot to order from Azure for several months in a row, we’d still have plenty to eat (although we might have to get very creative with our tomato sauce and flax seeds after a while).

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I also still have a lot of fruit leather.
So we’d have tomato sauce, flax seeds and fruit leather.  :)

As I began to look around at all the food I have stored to get us through until our next Azure Standard order, I realized two things:

  1. We really have a lot of food.
  2. My storage room is a complete and total scary mess.

And so…this week I have decided to clean and reorganize our storage room and my pantry and all my food storage places, because enough is enough already with all the disorganized messes, and because without my normal Azure Standard grocery order this month, I’m going to have to be a little more creative.

I take this as a challenge to myself.  I don’t get to rely on having absolutely everything in stock like I usually have. I didn’t get to order the yeast I needed or the frozen broccoli I like to get or the white cheddar cheese I am almost out of.

And yes, I could go get some of this stuff at the store (because wow, we do have grocery stores around here), but how about I just work on using the abundance of food that we have been blessed with and what I have in storage?

Therefore, I hereby declare that I am going to get a shovel and dig out my storage room. Then I will reorganize it and make it nice and workable again.

What you need to know is that I hardly let ANYBODY into my storage room. It’s completely embarassing and a total disaster, and I’m not one bit proud of that room.

But if you scream loud enough, and say some really nice things about how you’ll still like me even after you see that my storage room looks 200 times worse that a boy’s dorm room…I may get over myself and take a picture to show you.

And then I’ll update you with my progress throughout the week and show you before and after pictures, as well as share with you some of the tasty things we’re eating with our stored food.

So, whatdoyasay? You wanna see the room? (Please say no.)

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Whole Foods Couponing…and a Thank You!

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As you may remember, I used to be a Coupon Queen. I was the one who would be in front of you in the check out line with 47 coupons and a cart full of groceries. After the cashier spent ten minutes subtracting out my coupons, my receipt total would be somewhere in the $24 range for a cart full of food.

If indeed we can call it food. I wasn’t exactly using coupons to get fruits and vegetables, you know?  But shucks…most of it was free! Free poptarts are great, right?

Learn to make healthier, homemade poptarts if you need a poptart fix!

Well, as you know, we’ve changed our ways a little bit entirely and now I shop completely differently. (You can read this post to learn how I grocery shop. And you can read this entire series to learn about our Healthy Eating Journey.)  I now recognize that spending money on good, whole foods is a perfect investment in our overall health.

But I still love finding great deals on great groceries!

This is where the “Thank You!” part of this post comes in. Remember how I mentioned that if you sign up for Shop it to Me…I could earn free gift cards?  Well…several of you signed up, which means that I earned several free gift cards. I appreciate it so much!  There were several gift card choices…but of course…I chose the cards for Whole Foods!! Who can pass up free groceries at Whole Foods??!

Matt and I were able to hit a Whole Foods store while we were away for the weekend at the Weekend to Remember conference. (Yes, part of our romantic weekend was spent shopping for asparagus. You know your relationship is solid when you can lovingly gaze at organic produce together.)

Not only did I have a few Shop it to Me Whole Foods cards to use…I had been doing my homework and had put together some coupons to use during our outing. It brought back memories and I have to admit that I felt quite giddy as I actually put coupons into an envelope again. I really haven’t done that (to this extent) for a long time. (Yeah I know…I’m a geek.)

The kids were pretty happy to see us when we got home…especially when they saw we had brought home cereal and yogurt!! (Hey guys…didn’t you even miss us just a little bit?)

We stocked up on chicken wings and boneless, skinless chicken breasts because I just don’t have a great source for those nearby. We found great deals on lettuce, asparagus, apples, pears and zucchini…Larabars, yogurt, butter and cheese.

And then, because they were on sale, because I had coupons and because they are gluten free…we splurged on a few items I lovingly call “organic junk food” that we’ll save for a rainy day. Cereal and chips…woohoo! Malachi sure does look disappointed with our loot, huh? :)

I had also been sent a Brat Hans Sausages coupon so that I could try them for free! We cashed in on that and WOW, you should have seen the boys when they found those in the bag! I thought they were going to eat me when they saw them! They must feel they have a brat deficiency or something?

So thank you to all who signed up for Shop it to Me …you made our Whole Foods shopping trip very fun!! If you haven’t signed up for Shop it to Me , you certainly can and it wouldn’t hurt my feelings even a little bit. :)  NOBODY  has to spend any money unless you want to – that’s the beauty of it!!! AND, more importantly, after you sign up, you can tell YOUR friends and family about Shop it to Me  so that YOU can receive free gift cards!!!

I did want to note:  I normally do the majority of this type of shopping through Azure Standard…Whole Foods is two hours away and I’m blessed to have an Azure Standard drop point right here in my town!! Azure is much less expensive and has everything I need. This Whole Foods trip was a fun splurge, gave me a “grocery store shopping fix” and well…I had gift cards. And coupons. And needed to get Brats, apparently. :)

Do you shop at Whole Foods? Do you have one close to you, or do you have to drive pretty far like I do? What do you like to get at Whole Foods?

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