Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Finishing the List…Almost

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Today was a beautiful, cool day – something we’ve not had for a long time! It was the perfect day to spend in the kitchen, and as my husband pointed out, it was the last Saturday until November that we will have free to be home getting work done. Ready or not, soccer season – here we come!

I sent two of the boys outside with the shop-vac and some old rags to clean out the van. Wow, did it ever need it! (Pictures not included. It was too scary and I was too embarrassed busy to snap a shot.)  Matt sent the other two boys outside with a bucket with instruction to bring in as many peaches as they could from our tree. We were blessed with a beautiful crop this year! (Amazing, since we’ve had such little rain.)

Matt then spent quite a bit of time slicing the peaches for the freezer. For lunch  today, I had peaches, leftover chicken, peaches, and a side of peaches. Best lunch ever!

In the meantime, I was making several rounds of Homemade Peanut Butter. Remember how I said that typically, when I make one batch of peanut butter, I make three or four – just to be efficient? Yup, the food processor got a work-out that’s for sure. 

Instead of putting the last round of peanut butter in a jar, I used it to make a double batch of Chewy Granola Bars. These are  now individually wrapped and ready to grab to take to games for snacks.

I then made some Corndog Muffins. I often get lazy with these – so they always turn out ugly. Truly, the dog is not supposed to be showing, but there they are, in all their hotdoggy glory. We’ll eat them just the same. But it sure would be nice to have a pretty picture to show you instead of well…this one.

I did not quite finish all the tasks on my Getting Ready for Fall To-Do List. I never got around to the Whole Wheat Graham Crackers or the Whole Wheat Calzones . Why? Because I did everything else on the list and now I’m tired. That’s the simple truth. I just decided to be done. My freezers are full. My jars are re-stocked. My kids’ books and assignments are ready for school. My house is clean (relatively). And several days after we finished organizing it, the Lego Room is still in good shape. It’s a miracle!

Thanks for coming alongside me this week as I worked through my list. School, soccer, gardening/canning season? Bring it on! I’m ready.

Just as soon as I clean the kitchen….

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Victorio Food Strainer and Sauce Maker – Best Investment Ever for Homemade Applesauce and Tomato Sauce!

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applesauce_victorio

I’ve always known all of you were smart. You’ve proven it to me once again.

Last year, while I was making applesauce and experimenting with ways to make the process easier, many of you suggested that I get a Victorio Food Strainer. Before that day, I had never even heard of this gadget. And I’ll admit, I really questioned – would a Victorio really make the process of making applesauce go any faster? I mean, there are apple cores and bad spots to deal with. No matter how easy the process, you still have to prepare the apples. I’m usually dealing with several bushels of apples at one time. It takes time. It takes work. There’s no way around it.

Or is there? (There is! There is!)

I’m so excited after making 13 quarts of applesauce yesterday, I could do flips. And guess what? Since I invested in a Victorio, I still actually have the energy to do flips! (Not that I can or will. I’m not that coordinated.)

But it’s true. The Victorio DID made the applesauce making process much faster and easier. Like hours easier. I can’t believe how much time I saved compared to how long it used to take me to make applesauce.

I’ve tried all kinds of methods of making applesauce:

Yes, I’ve been making applesauce for years, using all varieties of methods to save myself time. This is why I feel like I have a leg to stand on when I say that using a Victorio Food Strainer is by far the easiest, fastest, most efficient way to make homemade applesauce – especially if you are making large amounts! (I’m also very sure this is going to save time while I make tomato sauce, though I don’t have enough tomatoes ready yet to give it a try.)

With the Victorio, you wash the apples, halve or quarter them, cook them down, then run them through the Victorio. You don’t core them. You barely touch them. My hands didn’t even turn brown – and I did loads of apples!! And this is why I want to turn flips.

Here’s a picture of what my new toy looks like:

I even figured out how to put it together all by myself. Aren’t you impressed?!

Here’s a little tutorial to show how easy this process was. You wash your apples (or in my case, you ask your children to wash the apples while you are working on other jobs in the kitchen).

You halve or quarter your apples and put them into a big stock pot. I simply halved mine since they were small.

Add a little water to the pot to keep the apples from scorching, then you cook them for 15-25 minutes until they are soft (while you go do something else!). Then you run the soft apples through your Victorio. The process barely even challenged my arm muscles it was so easy.

All the core and skin comes out the shoot, leaving bowl after bowl full of beautiful, smooth applesauce.

I had enough applesauce yesterday that after we all ate as much as we wanted, I canned 13 quarts using the water bath method. Awesome!

The jars are still sitting on my countertop so that I can admire them for a little while longer before putting them away. You know I always have to do that right? ;)

I have to say that the Victorio Food Strainer was a wonderful investment. Anything that saves me time in the kitchen, especially during the fall season when all the garden produce threatens to overtake my kitchen, is a life saver. It is very reasonably priced for such a handy appliance.

Do you have a Victorio? Do you love it? Do you want to turn flips with me over how great this thing is?

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Mother’s Day Cake Update – Finally

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My apologies that it took so long to give you an update on what in the world my family was baking for me while I was shut into my office yesterday afternoon. As soon as the mystery dessert was finished baking, we headed out to play some “Mother’s Day Soccer”. My choice. As in, I actually chose playing soccer over taking a nap. Go figure.

By the way, if you would have told me a year ago that this year I would suggest that we play a family game of soccer in honor of Mother’s Day, I would have laughed. But indeed, now that I’m getting fit and learning to enjoy playing with my kids, I just can’t get enough. Soccer on Mother’s Day just seemed like the perfect idea. And it was.

So back to the dessert you’ve been waiting to hear about.

Oh, but another reason I couldn’t update you on this mystery earlier is because after we played soccer, we had a nacho and movie night – with popcorn. Yes, didn’t you know that it’s always good to have nachos and popcorn together? Eh, it worked and it made everyone happy.

We are pretty good popcorn makers around here, always using coconut oil to make delicious popcorn. But this time, we used a fun new recipe from the Deliciously Organic cookbook. It was fantastic. However, we did have a wild ride in the kitchen while I was making it because I didn’t use a big enough pot. You know what happens when you don’t use a big enough pot when you’re making popcorn on the stovetop? The popcorn just keeps popping, and the lid comes off the pan, and popcorn goes absolutely everywhere. Jen was over hanging out with us, and Matt was in the kitchen too – both of them being very supportive while I was standing at the stove feeling rather helpless while popcorn started overflowing and flying. Matt offered some suggestions. Jen handed me a bowl for the flying popcorn, but with it, I only managed to make a bigger mess. Oh, you should have been there to witness the madness. ;)

This is the popcorn that managed to make it into the bowl.

But really, back to the dessert you’ve been waiting to hear about.

If you can believe it, the dessert recipe they picked wasn’t chocolate. I know, shocking. But wow, was it good.

They picked a “Hot Milk Sponge Cake” recipe from my old, worn out Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. Then, like good children, they figured out how to adapt the recipe to use healthier sugars, fats, and flours. Is that not impressive? More on that in another post.

So apparently that’s what all the beating was about. Sponge cakes take a lot of beating. Thus, the beaters were running for minutes on end. :)

Then, if you can believe it, they made a “Broiled Coconut Topping” to go on top. I’m telling you, they outdid themselves. Talk about tasty!


This cake was delicious. My family is the greatest. And without a doubt, I will look up the recipe, ask them about their adaptations, and post it for you so that your family can make it for you sometime. Or so that you can make it for them. Or whatever. ;)

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The Brownie Experiment – Which Takes Longer to Make, Boxed or Homemade?

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Well, bless my heart. The work I have to do around here for you people is sometimes just too much, you know? I mean, after I labored over the mac and cheese experiment, spending thirty whole seconds of extra time in my kitchen to make the good, homemade, whole grain, Creamy Mac and Cheese, several of you got on your knees and begged asked me to experiment next with brownies to see which took longer – brownies from a box, or homemade brownies. Really. Asking me to bake two pans of rich, gooey, chocolatey brownies? I seriously had to muscle up on this request, you know? Sometimes you all can be soooo demanding.

It’s okay though – {she says, with the back of her weary hand placed pitifully on her forehead} – I love you all enough that I was able to find the strength to serve you in this way. If someone must make two pans of brownies to help prove a point, I will rise to the challenge.

What? I suppose next you’ll ask me to make chocolate cake, or pudding, or fudge or something? Who do you think I am anyway?

Okay. I’m all done pretending to whine now. Seriously, anytime you want to ask me to make brownies, I am alllll over it. I’m happy to “take one for the team” anytime chocolate is involved.

So here’s a little something that hasn’t been in my kitchen for several years now…

Why yes, it did feel a little funny pouring that into a bowl. And then, because I haven’t made brownies from a box for such a long time – I actually had to take the time to read the directions. I felt a little silly and was glad no one was in there watching me struggle to remember and figure out how to make brownies from a box. Except now I just told you about it, so I guess you get to make fun of me anyway.

From box to pan, before going into the oven, it took me right at 4.5 minutes to mix up these brownies. Quick and convenient? Yep, they sure were. (I used Olive Oil in case you were wondering.)

Next, I started to mix up my Homemade Fudge Brownies that I have been making for several years now. I already had some whole wheat flour ground and in the freezer, but I totally don’t feel like that was cheating in this experiment because I almost always have flour ground and in the freezer for brownie emergencies baking. It’s a little something I call “kitchen efficiency” and it totally works for me.

How long did it take for me to mix up the homemade brownies and get them into the pan? 5.5 minutes. Why did it take me an entire minute longer to mix up homemade brownies than it took to mix up the boxed brownies? Because I had to wait for my butter to melt on the stovetop. Yes, the butter was taking its sweet time to liquify. But never fear. While my butter was melting, I got out my other brownie ingredients, washed a few dishes, and talked to my children. All was not lost in that extra minute of brownie preparation time.

Can you tell which pan is homemade and which pan is from a box?

The blue dish holds the homemade brownies, in case you were wondering which pan to dig into first.
Not that you can, however, because they are sort of gone now.

So, did making brownies from a box save me any time? Yes. One whole minute. Score one for boxed brownies.

Did I feel better about using an extra minute of my life to melt some butter and mix up brownies with sucanat and whole wheat flour? Well, of course I did. Plus I got some dishes done while my butter melted.

By the way, do you know why it only took me one extra minute to mix up the homemade brownies? Because I have made homemade brownies so many times that I don’t even have to think about it anymore. Truly, the more you cook from scratch, the easier and faster it becomes. If you’re new to baking and cooking outside of the box, don’t lose heart! It gets easier the more you do it!

And then, it won’t be long until you’re like me and have to cock your confused head to one side while you try to read the directions on the back of a box.

Crazy but true. ;)

I’ve got more experimenting to do, so stay tuned for more fun updates. I think muffins are the next on my list.

So tell me – do you make homemade brownies or boxed brownies? If you haven’t attempted to make them homemade, I encourage you to give them a try. Yes. That’s an order. Hey, it’s chocolate. Who’s going to argue with that? :)

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Homemade Sausage Gravy

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Biscuits and Gravy

Have I ever told you about the time I made a cream gravy for a special boyfriend many years ago? We had reached our six month dating anniversary, and so, to celebrate, I was making him a dinner of hamburger steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, and I can’t remember what else.

Everything was coming along pretty well. I called my mom five or twenty times while I was preparing the food, mostly so that she could walk me through the gravy making process. I thought I had it all figured out and soon, it was time for us to enjoy our meal together.

But the gravy. Somehow between hanging up the phone with mom, calling my boyfriend in for the meal, and serving the food – the gravy (if, in fact, we can call it gravy) had turned into a thick, heavy paste like substance. How could this have happened?

Never fear. My boyfriend was very kind. He simply got a butter knife and spread chunks of gravy onto his meat and potatoes. Then he proceeded to eat heartily, and even complimented me on the great flavor of the food.

Yeah, he was a nice one all right. I shouldn’t have let that one get away. Oh wait. I didn’t. A few months after I made him choke on gravy, that nice boy asked me to marry him. I guess he figured that if he could survive my gravy, we could get through anything – thick and thin. (Ha, get it? Thick and thin? The gravy was thick. Get it? Okay, it wasn’t that funny.)

I have since then perfected my gravy making skills, much to the delight of my boyfriend husband, and all of our darling offspring. Here is my sausage gravy recipe and a picture tutorial that will hopefully spare you all from making the same pasty mess that was once my “gravy”.

Homemade Sausage GravyYum

1 pound turkey sausage (I like using this homemade recipe.)
1 Tablespoon plus 3 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons flour (I use freshly ground white whole wheat)
2 1/2 cups milk
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Begin by browning the sausage with one tablespoon of butter in a large skillet until it is cooked thoroughly.

Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter, stirring it around until is has melted.

Sprinkle in the flour. Stir it around with the meat and butter until it is absorbed.

You should now have kind of a thick, meat mixture in your skillet. Turn the heat on your burner up to “high”.

Pour in the milk, and stir constantly. I find that I must leave the burner turned to “high” in order for the gravy to thicken.

Continue to stir over high heat until gravy becomes thick and bubbly. Remove the gravy from the heat, add salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Trouble shooting your gravy:  If your gravy turns out too thick, simply add more milk, small amounts at a time, continuing to stir, until gravy is the desired consistency.

If your gravy fails to thicken, mix a “paste” of 2 Tablespoons flour with 3 Tablespoons of water. Stir the mixture into your gravy, little bits at a time until the gravy thickens to desired consistency. Do NOT sprinkle flour directly into the gravy. That’s how lumpy gravy is made. :)

We love this gravy served over these Whole Wheat Biscuits.

Have any fun stories about boyfriends or gravy you’d like to share? :)

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Homemade Playdough Mix

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Here is one of the great ideas you’ll find in our free Gifts in a Jar eBook. If you haven’t downloaded your free copy (no catch!), you can go do that here. This idea was sent in by Kristy at Little Natural Cottage and is a wonderful, inexpensive gift idea for a child, babysitter, parent or friend!

Homemade Playdough Mix

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Mix all ingredients until thoroughly combined. Place in a pint-sized jar and cover. This makes a cute gift for a child when coupled with a cookie cutter or two!

To Make Homemade Playdough:

Dump entire contents of jar into a bowl. With your hands or a wooden spoon, work in 1 Tablespoon olive oil and 1/3 cup hot water. Knead dough by hand until a soft, smooth dough forms. Adjust flour and water ratio until dough reaches desired consistency.

To color the dough with natural, safe coloring – add about 1 Tablespoon of any of the following to the water before you work it into the dough:  beet juice (pink); paprika (orange); turmeric (yellow); blueberry juice (lavender); cocoa powder (brown).

Within the pages of our Gifts in a Jar eBook, you’ll find printable tags you can make so that you can attach these directions to the gift jar.

What ideas do you have for homemade gifts for kids?

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Homemade Peppermint Patties

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Yum

This post is all Amy’s fault. ;)  She linked to a recipe for peppermint patties last week and made me very hungry for them. I figured you wouldn’t mind me testing and adapting the recipe, then sharing it with you. These would be perfect holiday treats to make and share with co-workers or neighbors, or to wrap up to take to a gift exchange.

This recipe actually calls for leftover mashed potatoes – how fun is that? Since I had a pound or four of mashed potatoes left over after Thanksgiving, I decided I could spare the 1/2 cup needed to make this recipe.

But before we go any further, I need to let you know that this recipe is a little different from those that I usually share. There is not much about this recipe that is healthy. These peppermint patties consist mostly of sugar. Do not make this recipe and serve it to your family for breakfast. Do not assume that since there are mashed potatoes in these, they can be considered a vegetable to be served as a side dish to your pot roast. Do not sit down and eat this whole batch by yourself. Do not make this recipe very often, for these patties are addicting. I will not be held responsible for you getting sick off of homemade peppermint patties. In fact, I hereby relinquish any responsibility for influencing you to make these. Just because a recipe is posted here does not mean you have to make it. Nobody here is forcing you to get out your mixing bowl. Actually, you really shouldn’t make these at all. No. You should just read through this post, then nod and smile. Then you should promptly move on to read about something less sugary, like this Angel Ornament post.

Yes, whatever you do, do not make these peppermint patties.

Peppermint Patties 2

Homemade Peppermint Patties (adapted from Domesticated)

1/2 cup leftover mashed potatoes
1 Tablespoon melted butter
2 teaspoons peppermint extract
5 cups powdered sugar (told you there was a lot of sugar)
1 cup chocolate chips
1 Tablespoon coconut oil or palm shortening

Stir together the mashed potatoes, butter, peppermint oil and powdered sugar to form a thick dough. Spoon a teaspoon at a time onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. (I was able to form 38 teaspoon sized patties from this dough.)

Press down the dough and shape as small patties. Refrigerate for 3 hours, or freeze for 45 minutes.

On the stove top, melt together the chocolate chips and oil. Dip the chilled patties into the chocolate to cover them. Chill until set. Admire the peppermint patties, but do not eat them. Do not even lick your fingers.

Good luck with that. ;)

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Gifts in a Jar eBook – the FREE Download is Here!

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Our Gifts in a Jar eBook is now complete and ready for download! This eBook is free for everyone and absolutely full of inexpensive and clever homemade gift ideas, inspired by you!

A huge thank you goes out to all of you who took the time to provide wonderful pictures and instructions to include in this eBook. This eBook includes wonderful gift ideas such as pudding mix, bath salts, diaper rash ointment, cookie mix, seasoning mixes, chai mix, soup mixes, facials, hot fudge and much more. Your creativity never ceases to amaze me, and I am very grateful for the help you all gave to make this eBook fun and helpful!

Click the link below to download this free eBook.

Download Gifts in a Jar eBook HERE

 

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Simple One Dish Meat and Potato Meal

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Now that I have posted my Cream of Mushroom Soup recipe, I will share with you the promised One Dish Meat and Potato Meal recipe. A friend of mine shared this with me years ago, back when my 14 year old was just a baby.

Let us all pause a moment and reflect on how much taller Asa is since the day I received this recipe.

Have I mentioned that he’s jumped three and a half shoe sizes since last winter? I guess that answers any questions you may have had about who is eating half the pan of my simple, one dish meat and potato meals. Good gravy. (literally)

One Dish Meat and Potato MealYum

1 Pound beef or venison stew meat, cubed
4 medium sized potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
1 1/2 cups homemade cream of mushroom soup
2 Tablespoons homemade onion soup mix
2 cups frozen peas

In a 9×13 inch baking dish, stir together meat, potatoes, soup and onion soup mix. Gently stir in frozen peas. Bake, uncovered, in a 300° oven for 2 -2 1/2 hours or until potatoes are tender. If you think of it, give this dish a stir half-way through baking time. Warning:  Contents in casserole dish will produce an enticing aroma during 2+ hours of baking. Make plans to distract yourself during this time so that you aren’t tempted to burn your tongue on a raw potato before product has finished baking.

One Dish Meat and Potato Meal

Serve this with a salad, or serve it all by itself since there’s a veggie included. This recipe serves 4-6 people, unless you’re feeding a 14 year old boy with uncontrollably growing feet. ;)

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Announcing: Gifts in a Jar! {A Group Effort}

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I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned this here or not, but I really, really love  jars. Oh, I’m sorry, it seems that I have spoken of my jar obsession one or forty-eight times.

Doesn’t it just make sense then that we put together some posts and even an eBook featuring Gifts in a Jar? Yes, it really does make perfect sense. We’ve decided, since you are all full of so many wonderful ideas, to make this a group project. Come closer my friends – let me share the details.

During the next two weeks, I’ll be compiling any and all (okay, not necessarily all – see the rules below) of your Gifts in a Jar ideas. (I will give you full credit in the eBook for your idea.)  While gifts of food and baking mixes are perfect for this project, I’d also love to see your ideas go beyond food. Do you have ideas for natural bath and body or household products? Know any fun ways to decorate jars or use jars for home decor? Oooh, and does anybody have a great tutorial on making liquid soap dispensers out of jars? I’ve seen those before and they are SO cool!!!

The possiblilites are endless for gifts we can put together in jars. With Christmas coming up, the timing couldn’t be better. (Although, I’d love for this eBook to be full of ideas that can be used any time of the year – not just Christmas.)

You may recall a post in which I shared Teresa’s Gift Certificate in a Jar idea. This, of course, will be featured in the eBook.

Here are the rules and guidelines for Gifts in a Jar submissions:

  • You may email me up to three ideas. One idea is fine though, or yes, even two.
  • Email your ideas to laura @ heavenlyhomemakers dot com no earlier than yesterday and no later than midnight on Thursday, November 10, 2011. I’ll probably be asleep by that time though, so as long as your idea is in my inbox by the morning of the 11th, you’re good to go.
  • So that I can keep your idea email separate from other emails I receive, please type the words Gifts in a Jar in the subject line of your email. You could also type Wow Laura, Your Ponytail is Stunning as the subject line, but be aware that your idea may get lost among all of my other hair related fan mail.
  • Each idea submitted must be accompanied by at least one nice picture. Not a picture of your kids, although I’m sure I’d enjoy that too. I am referring to a picture of your finished gift in a jar. An entire picture tutorial is fine too, but only if necessary.
  • Some of the ideas sent to me will be posted here on my blog, with credit (and blog link if applicable) given to the sender. I won’t be able to post all of the ideas though because knowing how clever you all are, your Gifts in a Jar ideas would probably take over this website, leaving no room for Gratituesday, Crock Pot Recipes or other important posts in which I share about the times birds fly into my face while I’m putting decorations away in the attic.
  • I’d prefer the food gifts and baking mixes to include whole food ingredients – as much as possible. Since these are gifts, I’ll compromise a little on this. But I really shy away from ingredients such as margarine, Crisco and I can’t think of the name of it right now, but it’s that stuff I can’t pronounce. You know what I’m talking about? Yeah, let’s avoid that one.
  • Please include thorough instructions with your idea. For example, if you send me a brownie baking mix in a jar idea, please let me know what exactly is to be included in the jar, the size of the jar needed, as well as clear instructions for the recipient so they know how to actually make the brownies after they take your gift home.
  • Since we all enjoy saving money, I’d appreciate it if the gift ideas you send cost just a few dollars or less. If that’s not an ambiguous amount, I don’t know what is.

Just as soon as I begin to receive your emails, I will begin to compile your wonderful ideas into a Gifts in a Jar eBook, which will be offered FREE to everyone.  This eBook will be ready for release just as soon as I have it finished. If that’s not an ambiguous time frame, I don’t know what is.

Let the creative Gifts in a Jar ideas begin to flow – I’ll be watching for your emails!

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