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Menu Plan for the Week

June 19, 2011 by Laura 9 Comments

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

peachcobblerforvdaysm

Peach Cobbler, our special Father’s Day breakfast!

Here’s our menu plan for this week:

Sunday, June 19
Peach cobbler, milk
Lasagna, tossed salad, corn, chocolate chip cookies
Beef brats, “angeled” eggs, cream cheese salsa dip, corn chips, fruit, homemade ice cream

Monday, June 20
Simple soaked pancakes, blueberries
Spanish rice with chicken, mock frozen yogurt
Sourdough pizza (using the no-knead dough in the Sourdough A to Z eBook), tossed salad

Tuesday, June 21
Scrambled egg sandwiches, oranges
Black bean taco salad, cantaloupe
Cheesy beef and rice, green beans, watermelon

Wednesday, June 22
Creamy orange cooler, cinnamon toast
Meat and cheese burritos, fruit salad
Salmon patties, ranch potato wedges, peas

Thursday, June 23
Blueberry streusel muffins, bananas
Homemade pizza pockets, carrot sticks with ranch dressing, apples
Chicken fried steak strips, mashed potatoes, gravy, asparagus

Friday, June 24
Easy breakfast casserole, oranges
Taco corn fritters, watermelon
Hamburgers on homemade whole wheat buns, baked potato fries, raw veggies with ranch dip

Saturday, June 25
Homemade funnel cakes, fruit
Leftovers
Lamb roast, carrots, potatoes, gravy

And now, a quick shout out to some of our sponsors:

  • Lilla Rose – my favorite hair clips ever!
  • Azure Standard – I can’t say enough good things about my favorite Food Co-op!
  • Paula’s Bread – THE place to find grain mills and all kinds of other wonderful kitchen equipment!
  • MadeOn Lotion – My favorite, non-toxic lotion that actually works and keeps my skin healthy!
  • Your Ad Here – Want me to work hard to promote your product or business? Read about our advertising options here.
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Appreciate Your Spouse

June 16, 2011 by Laura 15 Comments

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

Welcome to our first post in this 26 week series, written by my husband Matt and me. We’re excited to be working together on this and in case I haven’t mentioned it lately – my husband is awesome.  ;)

Appreciate Each Other

Show and Tell – Matt’s thoughts

In grade school Show and Tell was when the boys brought cool toys from home and told us about them. I could hardly wait for recess to play with them. The girls brought items that I thought were silly and boring. Obviously, there were differing perspectives involving Show and Tell.

In marriage we need to show and tell our spouse of our appreciation. This isn’t necessarily what I would appreciate my spouse to do for me. We need to crawl into the mind of our beloved by asking, “What could I do for my sweetie that would make him/her feel loved?” If I’m unsure then I need to ask my spouse how he/she would like for me to show and tell my appreciation.

If we aren’t doing this, we take for granted the roles that our spouse plays and the holes that our spouse fills in our life.

We all know Laura enjoys cooking. Bonus for me – she is good at it. Amazingly efficient too. I, on the other hand, measure everything out precisely and find it challenging to prepare more than one item at a time. I sure appreciated Laura’s work and proficiency in the kitchen…meal after meal. How did she know I appreciated it? That’s where I needed to show and tell. Eventually, I learned that she enjoys cooking even more when I express my gratitude for her work and help with the clean-up. She really feels loved and appreciated when I say, “Thanks! That was great,” and then I hop up and start rinsing dishes and/or get our boys going on their clean-up chores. In a healthy marriage, the husband and the wife both seek out ways they can show and tell their appreciation often.

When we practice this, we empower our spouse to continue doing the action or having the attitude that we praised them for. In our case, neither of us enjoy doing our taxes, but Laura thanks me profusely for taking care of that. My motivation for doing our taxes comes directly from her words of appreciation. When I’ve finished I can’t wait to tell her and receive some appreciation.

How Could You Not Appreciate Seeing My New Stuffed Pink Bunny During Show and Tell? – Laura’s Thoughts

You know why I feel appreciated by Matt? Because he’s intentional about showing and telling me what he appreciates. Appreciation doesn’t just happen. I’m not sure any element of a healthy marriage just happens without being intentional. Showing and telling our appreciation takes thought and work – which means we often need to do things we don’t necessarily love doing. What, you think Matt really just loves rinsing dishes? C’mon. But he does the job cheerfully, because he loves and appreciates me. And boy do I appreciate the way he appreciates me. After all, we have a lot of dirty dishes at our house. ;)

Now regarding grade school Show and Tell and the adorable toys I would bring to bore the boys – here’s something else I think we need to appreciate:

God made men and women different – on purpose. Instead of scoffing at our differences, I believe we need to appreciate how God created us to complement one another’s strengths and weaknesses. Then, we need to show and tell our spouse how we appreciate that they are different from us.

I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that Matt can handle doing the taxes when I’d never make it through the first line of instructions without my eyes glazing over. Yep, God knew what He was doing when He made us with differences. 

And now, I believe I will go show my appreciation to Matt by making one of his favorite meals. Which he will then show me his appreciation by rinsing the dishes I dirtied. Ah, the appreciation never stops around here. :) 

What are some ways you can show and tell your spouse you appreciate him/her?

Ladies, we know you’re reading here more often than the guys. ;)  We’d love husbands to read this article as well. Please send the link to your husbands, or if it’s easier, we’ve created a downloadable article for you to quickly print off and share. Print Healthy Marriage Tips A to Z – Appreciate.

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Why I Love Coconut Flour (but not sky diving)

June 14, 2011 by Laura 47 Comments

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

Between playing with my sourdough starter, making lots of fizzy bubbles with my water kefir and experimenting with all the cool things you can make with coconut flour, I’ve been incredibly adventurous in the kitchen lately. Who needs bungee jumping or sky diving when you can get adventurous with bubbles and coconut flour? Oh, I’m so wild and crazy – just try and keep up with me.

(Hey, did you fall asleep already? Wake up. The post just started. I’m not that boring. Really, I’m adventurous. Just wait until you hear about the mayonnaise experiments I’m gonna write about next week.)

coconutflour

It’s one of my newest loves, coconut flour. Coconut flour is the fiber taken from the coconut meat after coconut oil is extracted from the coconut. How cool are these people to use the whole coconut! It’s hearty, it tastes incredible and it’s full of many nutrients that our bodies need. Since I tend to almost always bake with whole wheat flour – baking with coconut flour offers our family a nice variety and change of pace. Change is good. Our bodies like and need variety.

Coconut flour is also gluten free. Gluten free or not, I encourage you to try coconut flour as a new source of nutrition!

Why Coconut Flour is Good for You

  • It is a great source for natural fiber.
  • It is high in protein.
  • It is low in carbohydrates (not that all carbs are bad, but many of us tend to get too many of carbs – or empty carbs – in many of our baked goods).
  • It has a natural sweetness, which means you don’t need as much sweetener in recipes that include coconut flour.

The complaint I hear most often about Coconut Flour is that it is expensive. Yup. I can’t deny that. The stuff isn’t cheap. However, the more I use coconut flour, the more I realize that while it costs quite a bit more than wheat flour, you use quite a bit less coconut flour in most recipes. So maybe the cost isn’t so bad after all?

For instance, I typically use 3 cups of whole wheat flour to make 24 muffins for my family’s breakfast (I told you we eat a lot of muffins!). However, when I make muffins using coconut flour, I use only 1 cup to make the same 24 muffins. I find that I don’t go through the coconut flour very fast because ultimately, it just doesn’t take as much per recipe.

Coconut Flour is a dry flour – it usually requires a lot of eggs to create a recipe using coconut flour. Well how ’bout that? Now we’ve just added tons more protein because we’ve added more eggs. Have you tried these Basic Coconut Flour Muffins or Coconut Flour Banana Muffins yet? Wow, they’re good – and full of protein and great nutrition because of the coconut flour and eggs.

Where to Buy Coconut Flour

I buy my Coconut Flour either at Tropical Traditions, Azure Standard or through Amazon, depending on who has the best price at the time. Tropical Traditions often runs their Coconut Flour with a Buy One Get One Free sale. I never pay full price – I wait for the sale! I also watch Amazon to see if they have any specials going on. If they have Azukar Coconut Flour in stock, that is by far the best price I’ve ever seen!

I store my Coconut Flour in the freezer and just pull it out as I need it. I’m having fun learning how best to use it and since we love these Coconut Flour Muffins so much, I’m having fun experimenting with other recipes using the same idea. There’s a full page of coconut flour recipes over at Tropical Traditions that I’ve been looking over. Today, I tried their Gluten Free Coconut Flour Chocolate Cake.

?


If I didn’t know this cake was gluten free and made with coconut flour, I wouldn’t have known this cake was gluten free and made with coconut flour. Make sense? My kids didn’t know, so they didn’t know – and they liked it. Make sense? Mmm-hmmm. That means the cake was really good – and nobody knew it wasn’t “normal” but that it was packed with protein and nutrition.

Yep, much healthier than sky diving, these adventures of mine. You should get wild and crazy with me and make bubbles and coconut flour cake. Buckle your seat belt. It’s a wild ride.

{yawn}

Want to share some of the adventurous things you’ve been trying in your kitchen lately?

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My “Bulk” Natracare Order (And Possibly Too Much Information?)

June 13, 2011 by Laura 33 Comments

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

Well, speaking of buying in bulk and having everything you need on hand so you don’t have to panic and run to the store…let’s just say that this concept isn’t limited to food, my friends. There just so happens to be a bulk order I needed to make today and for some strange reason, I decided you should know about it. You’re welcome, or I’m sorry – depending on how much information you really want to find here at Heavenly Homemakers. ;)

I’ve talked in the past about “healthy punctuation products” and the importance I feel that it is to avoid regular feminine products at the store. Read this post to know more about what I’m talking about. 

I’ve come to LOVE all Natracare Products, finding that they make a world of difference in my “punctuation life“. Many of you have recomended the Diva Cup or Cloth Pads – call me lazy – I just haven’t gone there yet. (Silly, I know.)

Here are my Natracare Products of choice:

  • Natracare Ultra Long Pads with Wings (for heavy days)
  • Natracare Natural Ultra Pads with Wings (for lightish, but not yet panty liner days)
  • Natracare Organic Cotton Panty Liners (for oh good, I’m almost done days)  :)

The biggest reason I order cases of these products (beyond the fact that it saves money) is because I don’t ever, ever want to run out and have to get the regular kind from the store. I could break out into a rash just thinking about it.  {shudder} Regular products practically made me sick. I don’t ever want to use them again ever, ever, ever.

So there you go. In a few days, I’ll be receiving my bulk order of Natracare Products.

This makes me happy, although not nearly as happy as big bulky bags of oats. And I promise not to stand and stare at my box of Natracare Products like I stare at my bulk groceries. ;)

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Menu Plan for the Week

June 12, 2011 by Laura 9 Comments

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These were our breakfast muffins this morning, Blueberry Streusel and Chocolate Chocolate Chip
I’ll share the Blueberry Streusel muffin recipe this week!

You know what I just can’t get enough of this time of year? Watermelon. This is the time of year you can typically find me standing at the sink, eating a wedge of watermelon, letting watermelon juice run down my chin. And my neck. And down to my elbow. 

It’s cute. You should try it sometime.

Here is our menu plan for the week, which (surprise, surprise) does include some watermelon:

Sunday, June 12
Chocolate chocolate chip muffins, blueberry streusel muffins, pears
Italian pasta bake, tossed salad, green beans
Grilled cheese sandwiches, watermelon

Monday, June 13
Sourdough English muffins (from Sourdough A to Z eBook), scrambled eggs, pears
Corn dog muffins, peas, cantaloupe
Lasagna casserole, tossed salad, corn

Tuesday, June 14
Whole wheat waffles, blueberries
Chicken veggie quesadillas, fruit salad
Popcorn chicken, ranch potato wedges, steamed carrots and broccoli

Wednesday, June 15
Coconut flour muffins, applesauce
Meat and cheese burritos, strawberry orange smoothies, carrot sticks
Chicken fried steak strips, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas, watermelon

Thursday, June 16
Creamy orange coolers, hashbrowns, fried eggs on toast
Salmon patties, strawberry peach slushie, carrot sticks
Cheesy salsa enchiladas, tossed salad, watermelon

Friday, June 17
Applesauce bread, bananas
Chef salad with homemade dressings, apples
Shepherds pie, peaches with cottage cheese

Saturday, June 18
Whole wheat donuts
Leftovers
Lamb steak, baked potatoes, asparagus

What’s your favorite summer fruit?

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If you haven’t made your free Father’s Day card, be sure and do that before the end of Monday!

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Free Shipping at Tropical Traditions ends Monday night.

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Baking Day (Ugly) Photo Shoot

June 11, 2011 by Laura 34 Comments

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

We’ve had some unusually cool days this week, so beginning Thursday, once I realized the temps weren’t actually going to even reach 66°, I decided to take advantage and get some baking done. Once those 90 and 100 degree days come back, I’m going to be very thankful I did this (if there are actually any baked goods left by then!).

I always get a little bit tickled at my baking day pictures. They aren’t the prettiest pictures in the world, you know? Take for instance this picture of my big roasting pan of baked potatoes:

Ugly, isn’t it? Does it inspire you to bake potatoes? Eat potatoes? Cut black spots off of potatoes?

Well, anyway, I took that picture to show you that we (as in the boys) scrubbed 26 potatoes and baked them so we can make Homemade Hashbrowns. I LOVE doing this, but certainly don’t love baking potatoes when it’s hot outside. Now we’ve got a nice stash ready for Hashbrowns!

Moving on to the next (ugly?) picture, we have my bowl of bubbling sourdough starter:

Now, deciding whether a picture of sourdough starter is ugly or not depends on whether or not you get a kick out of making sourdough bubbles. The picture itself looks a little strange, but I happen to really appreciate sourdough, which means that I think those bubbles are beautiful. But what do I know? I think armadillos are cute.

I made a batch of Corn Dog Muffins and snapped the picture while the hot dogs were still exposed. Not the most appetizing picture, but the end result is always yummy!

So how about we quickly follow those pictures up with a picture of a big batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies I made to put in the freezer? I’m always needing cookies to take somewhere, so I decided to bake some and stash away to be prepared for later.

It was almost dark when I took the following picture, so the shot looks a little bit yellow. I made a double batch of Honey Whole Wheat Bread, a batch of Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns and a double batch of Pancake and Sausage Muffins.

That should hold us over for a while (in theory).

One last picture – I’m excited to show you my container of Cocoa Butter that I ordered and just received from Mountain Rose Herbs. I want to use them to try a different variety of Homemade Chocolate Chips, and maybe Homemade White Chocolate Chips. Wouldn’t that be fun?

Is it baking weather at your house, or are you more in the mood to sit in a swimming pool while sipping lemonade?

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Healthy, Homemade Baby Food

June 7, 2011 by Laura 41 Comments

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

(No, this post is not a hint toward what our boys’ surprise was. Oh my. I simply get a lot of reader questions regarding what to feed baby. That’s it. Our surprise was much less exciting than a baby announcement – I’ll post about it tonight!)  :)

Pureed Bananas:  Ripe bananas run through my food processor until smooth – great for baby!

Ah, the memories. I used to always make food for my babies, back when my babies were babies. I still make food for my babies, but my oldest baby is 14 now. He prefers steak to pureed veggies. He’d also like to know when I’ll stop calling him my baby. (The answer is never, but I do try to avoid saying it in front of “the guys”. I’m not that uncool.)

Before I talk about making baby food, first I’ll quickly share what I don’t recommend feeding babies (but keep in mind I’m just a mom, not a doctor):

  • Any kind of sugar before age one and really, do they need much after that?
  • Salt, unless it’s a very pure form of sea salt and then, very little
  • Grains, even the baby cereal that’s usually recommended. It fills ’em up, but their little tummies have a hard time digesting rice, oats and other grains, which can cause digestive issues now or later. I say wait on the grains if you can.

Making baby food is super simple, very inexpensive and takes very little time. One of the easiest foods to make for baby is Pureed Squash. You can read how to make pureed squash here. Making sweet potatoes is just as simple:

To Make Sweet Potatoes: Scrub them, stab them, bake them in a covered dish for about an hour, then peel them and puree them. So easy!

Pureeing green beans or peas are a little trickier as the “skin” kinda hangs around and keeps the food from being smooth. After failed attempts at making pureed green beans and peas, I found it easier to wait a little while before offering these to my babes. They made the perfect “finger food”. Frozen peas, by the way, are yummy and great if Baby is teething!

The one way I found to get green beans and peas into my little guys before they were old enough for “finger food” was to use a Kidco Baby Food Grinder. Man, I loved that thing. Whatever I had cooked or fixed for the rest of us to eat – green beans, peas, potatoes, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, apples, pears, bananas, peaches, nectarines (do I need to keep listing them?) – I’d stick it in my Kidco Baby Food Grinder and have instant baby food that my boys would eat faster than I could make! The “skin” or any difficult to eat part of the food would be “ground out” and the soft baby food would rise to the top. If you have a baby and you don’t have a Kidco Baby Food Grinder, I really, really recommend getting one!

Also, one of my very smart cousins told me about the BabyCook, which appears to have been invented after my babies needed pureed food, hmph. I’ve seen the BabyCook in action and it’s about as cool as they come. With the BabyCook, you can very quickly steam veggies, reheat food – even defrost food to make a healthy, quick meal for baby. Once the food is steamed, you can use the BabyCook to puree it to any desired consistency. Babies nothin’. I’m thinking I need one of these for me!

I used to always freeze pre-made baby food in ice cube trays, pop them out and re-warm them for a quick meal. It worked pretty well, but I’d love to hear if anyone else has a more efficient method of making baby food ahead of time?!

And, while we’re on the subject of baby food, I wanted to mention what another smart cousin showed me last week. Homemade baby food is great, but sometimes a little convenience on the go is a good thing. Have you seen these cool little Baby Food Pouches from Ella’s Kitchen? (Or here are some other ones I found from HappyBaby). Really, where were these things when my babies were babies?

Share your favorite baby food making, freezing, storing and serving tricks!

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Should I Eat Organic Food? (part four)

June 5, 2011 by Laura 42 Comments

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simplesteps

Be sure to read Part One and Part Two and Part Three of this mini-series if you missed them!

If you’re new to healthy eating, I’d probably recommend that you SKIP this post! :)  It can be a bit overwhelming to think of making all these changes. Instead, I encourage you to follow this link, then scroll down to the very beginning of this section of posts where you will find very basic tips on starting to eat a healthier diet!

Today, I’d like to share the foods I feel should be a higher focus for organic purchasing and eating. Please be reminded of my Organic Food Disclaimer and how I don’t think non-organic farmers are evil and all that stuff.

First let me share the list of Produce I try to purchase organically if possible. According to Organic.org, the produce which contains the HIGHEST amounts of pesticides are:  Peaches , Apples, Sweet Bell Peppers, Celery, Nectarines, Strawberries, Cherries, Pears, Grapes (imported), Spinach, Lettuce and Potatoes. Fruit Wash does help remove some pesticides, but it is my understanding that the pesticides are not only on the skin of the fruit or vegetable, but also inside the fruit or vegetable, especially in the above listed foods.

Other fruits and vegetables I do purchase organically if possible, but if I don’t have a ready source, I don’t sweat it. I almost never buy organic bananas, avocados, watermelon, oranges or pineapple because their skins are so thick and they are quite low on the pesticide list!

Beyond produce, I highly recommend that you look into organic Milk and Meat and Eggs from sources you trust. Our family prefers to drink raw milk from cows that are pasture fed. We also prefer our meat and eggs to come from animals that are allowed to roam freely on pasture.

chickens1sm.JPG

Why? Well, most conventionally raised cows are fed a less than stellar diet of GMO grains, when really, their stomachs were designed to eat grass. In addition, they are usually raised in crowded feedlots and given several rounds of antibiotics to help them survive those crowded feedlots. They are often also given steroids to make their meat more tender. Those antibiotics and steroids become a part of the milk or meat, which means that if we eat (or drink) from these sources, we are ingesting them too. (Here is an article with great information about why Grass Fed is best.)

annesfarm3sm.JPG

Conventionally raised chickens are usually cooped up in tight quarters and never allowed to free roam and peck around and do all the normal things God created chickens to do (including but not limited to attacking their egg gatherer – ah, what a memory). Chickens are also often given antibiotics to protect from infection due to their living conditions. (source)

annesfarm1sm1.JPG

Last but not least, let’s talk about Grains. If at all possible, I encourage you to find organic or “chemical free” grains. Conventionally grown grains are almost always genetically modified (GMO), making them a completely different food than their original little selves. Legumes fall into this same category. Of all the organic food I place as a priority, Grains are the highest. Organic grains are not GMO, making them much safer to eat. I found this page on Seeds of Deception to be very helpful in talking about which foods are usually GMO and best to avoid.

It’s important for me to note that not all organic farmers have an organic certification. The farms around here where I purchase my milk, beef, chickens and eggs are actually NOT “certified organic”. It costs quite a bit of money to acquire and maintain an organic certification, so some farmers choose not to go that route. However, after visiting with these farmers I purchase from, I know that all of them are truly organic, just without the label. It saves them money and it saves me money for them to not have the “organic label”. Does this make sense? (Local Harvest is a great resource for finding locally raised, healthy animals.)

This wraps up my Should I Eat Organic Food? series. I’ll now be moving on to share more about my pantry and freezers, compiling big lists of all my favorite foods to buy. Plus, I plan to share more about how I buy food in bulk, store my bulk food and afford bulk food.

Are there some other questions you have regarding organic food that I forgot to talk about? Did you ever read about my very scary  free range rooster encounter? I’m still not over it.

 

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Menu Plan for the Week + a Little Garden Update!

June 5, 2011 by Laura 11 Comments

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

If you’ve been wondering if I really was going to plant a garden this year like I said I was, I’d have to say, “You and me both.” Never has the weather been so uncooperative with our schedules like this year. I really was beginning to wonder if we’d have any kind of garden at all since it’s been so cool and rainy this spring, making it very difficult to get anything into the ground. Finally we have now had the chance to get most of our garden planted.

We skipped the potatoes this year – I know…sad! We just didn’t get to it in time. We used our extra garden space to instead plant a few more rows of corn. And, as normal, we have lots of green beans, tomatoes, several different kinds of peppers, okra and lettuce. Here’s our first bit of lettuce that’s almost ready to be eaten:

Matt and the boys worked very hard this week putting a fence around our garden areas to keep out the adorable, but not at all cute, bunny rabbits. I know it’s “just a fence”, but I’m so excited about it that I had to take a picture. There’s nothing I love more than watching my boys work with their daddy (unless it’s eating chocolate while I watch my boys work with their daddy.)

I thought you’d also like to see the volunteer onions I pulled up yesterday. They smell SO good.

In other news, we have a little surprise planned for our boys early this week. I am so excited (even though really, it’s not that extravagant of a plan)!!! The beauty of not frequently taking vacations or not eating out much is that when we do some of these things it is special. I think the boys will be pretty thrilled, especially tonight when we tell them to “pack a backpack and put it by the door to take with you in the morning – and don’t forget your swimming trunks”. ?????!!!

I’ll be filling you in on the surprise too, not to worry. But it just wouldn’t be fair to tell you now since the boys don’t even know yet, would it?!

Here’s our somewhat vague menu plan for the week:

Sunday, June 5
Strawberry orange smoothies, toast
Breakfast for lunch – fundraiser for church youth group
Taco salad, watermelon

Monday, June 6 – Tuesday, June 7
Well, I’m not exactly sure  :)

Wednesday, June 8 (Asa’s birthday, which has nothing to do with the surprise, it just coincided with his birthday!)
Homemade donuts
Grilled burgers and homemade fries, watermelon
Cheesy turkey sausage stromboli, fruit salad, birthday cake

Thursday, June 9
Simple soaked pancakes, blueberries
Chef salad with chicken
Salmon, steamed broccoli and carrots, mock frozen yogurt

Friday, June 10
Fried eggs on toast, oranges
Cheddar ranch burgers, potato wedges, peas
Nacho bar

Saturday, June 11
Whole wheat cinnamon rolls, cantaloupe
Leftovers
Grilled steak, baked potatoes, corn, tossed salad

If you have a garden, fill us in on how it’s doing!

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Coconut Cupcakes (Dairy Free!)

June 1, 2011 by Laura 21 Comments

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My adorable little nephew isn’t able to eat dairy, which means his (favorite) Aunt Laura had to do a little bit of experimenting before his visit last week. I came up with a very delicious and healthy Coconut Cupcake recipe that all of my kids loved! Coconut Milk is awesome stuff and works very well for baking. (I had purchased a case of Thai Kitchen Coconut Milk to experiment with and to have on hand.)  We don’t need to eat dairy free at our house, but I will be making these cupcakes again!

Coconut CupcakesYum

3 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups sucanat
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 can (13. ounces) coconut milk
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs

Mix all ingredients together with beaters. Spoon into 24 paper lined cupcake pans. Bake at 375° for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcakes comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

Frosting

1/2 cup palm shortening (I buy palm shortening from Tropical Traditions or through Amazon.)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar (I use organic, unbleached powdered sugar or I make powdered sugar myself with sucanat and a blender.)
1-2 tablespoons coconut milk
shredded coconut for garnish (optional)

By the way, this Coconut Milk also works great for making these pudding recipes and these whole wheat donuts. Yes, Aunt Laura does like to spoil her nieces and nephews, what can I say? Don’t worry. I also gave them protein and vegetables. :)

Ever done any cooking or baking with Coconut Milk? I’m excited to experiment more with this great product!

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