Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

When Family Business and Homeschooling Come Together

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It was really all because of Matt. He’s the brilliant one. 

After breakfast, Bible, history, and math on Wednesday, Matt picked up several boxes of our Oh, For Real books from the printer and got everyone started on putting them into envelopes as we filled orders. Thanks to my friend Jenny, we had many of the envelopes already addressed and ready to go. By the time I made it out into the living room to help, here is what I found: 

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If that isn’t the picture of a family business, I don’t know what is. I was thrilled and grateful. But Matt hadn’t just put the kids to work on preparing orders. He had a geography lesson going on at the same time. Impressive, huh?!

You see, one of the many fun parts of printing off invoices as your orders have come in has been seeing where they are coming from. So, Matt had the younger boys get out our big U.S. puzzle to fill in the states as they showed up on each package. 

Here’s Malachi, looking to see if the state on his envelope has been put into place yet. In the meantime, I was burning lunch. Yep, I had hastily put a frozen casserole into the oven that morning while we worked, but had the oven turned up too high. Good grief. It seems as if I should get out my Oh, For Real book and read it! I’m pretty sure the instructions in the book tell me to heat the casserole slowly at a low temp. Duh. Be glad you can’t smell our burning noodles as you look at our book packaging process.

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By the time we were almost finished with “round one” of book packaging – our map looked like this:

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 I believe by now, it is completely full. How fun!

I want to say thank you to all of you who have ordered so far. We continue to pray that you will be blessed by Oh, For Real: Real Food, Real Family, Real Easy. For those of you who live outside the U.S., if you are interested in a copy of this book, please email me for details! Then maybe we can get out our World Map Puzzle to see where our book is headed… :)

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Cooking Ten Pounds of Hamburger Instead of Just One

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I was a part of an interesting conversation with friends recently in which some of us (including me) were saying, “If you’re going to cook one pound of ground beef, it doesn’t take any additional effort to cook ten pounds.” You know me – I’m always trying to convince people that cooking healthy food doesn’t have to be crazy time consuming. Especially when you practice the Cook Once, Eat Twice or More method.

But one of our friends, who knows a lot about cooking for large groups, said, “Actually – yes it does. It takes very little effort to cook one pound of hamburger. But you get ten pounds or more in a pot, and that’s a lot more muscle power and effort!”

Ha! She makes a great point. 

So what do you think I went home and did? Well, I went to bed, because it was late. But then what do you think I did the next day? No doubt, I got eleven pounds of hamburger out to thaw. I had an experiment to do!

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Yes. I know. I’m a geek. Hey, at least I got 11 pounds of cooked meat out of the deal.

I put ten pounds of meat into two separate pots because I wanted some with onions and some without. I began cooking the meat at 9:52.

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I find that cooking hamburger meat is quite easy. Every once in a while, I’d go stir it and break up the larger chunks. Otherwise, the meat is smart enough to cook all by itself. Therefore, while the meat was cooking, I mixed up Whole Wheat Tortillas and grated some cheese. If I was going to have eleven pounds of meat, well then, I was going to make some Meat and Cheese Burritos for the freezer.

tortillas

This was a quadruple batch of tortillas.
No, I didn’t make them all while the meat was cooking, but I did get a good start.

How long did it take for these ten pounds of meat to cook from start to finish? Drum roll please…23 minutes. I even surprised myself with that one. I thought it would take a little longer than that. By the way, I always took the lids off for the pictures, but I did cook the meat with the lids on. That always helps meat to cook more quickly, and keeps the flavorful juices from evaporating away!

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Next, I put one pound of meat into a pan and began to cook it. Again, in the meantime, I continued to work on that quadruple batch of tortillas I was making.

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From start to finish, it took 14 minutes to cook one pound of hamburger meat.

What did I learn during this experiment? 

  • It takes 14 minutes to cook one pound of hamburger; 23 minutes to cook ten pounds. (Although technically, I suppose I only had five pounds in each pot. But still. Much time saved.)
  • It does take slightly more effort to mush up the meat when cooking a larger amount, but barely.
  • It feels so productive to get so many pounds of meat cooked at one time.
  • I can get all kinds of other work done while the meat is cooking. (I already knew that, but it was worth saying anyway.)
  • All of my friends are smart. (I already knew that too, but it was worth saying anyway.)

What did I do with all of that cooked, ground meat? I made three meals worth of Burritos, two meals worth of Sloppy Joes, and three meals worth of “grab the cooked meat out of the freezer whenever you need it” meat. 

How do you usually cook your hamburger meat? In larger batches or just as needed?

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Can You Lose Weight (or Keep from Gaining Weight) When Eating Whole Foods?

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weight

Before I begin this post, I want to say this:  Being “skinny” is not the goal when it comes to eating a whole foods diet. Our goal is to be healthy, not to have a Barbie doll figure (who, by the way, is made of plastic and is susceptible to having an arm or leg snapped off, just ask my brother). Now let’s begin:

I often receive emails from readers asking me:  “I have some pounds to lose. Can I lose weight while eating whole foods?” or “How do you stay slim while eating such a high fat diet?” or “I want to start eating real foods, but I’m afraid of gaining weight.”

butter

Can I lose weight while eating whole foods?

These questions and fears are very valid and I understand why these emails are coming in. I was afraid of the very same things when I first learned about eating whole foods. For as long as I can remember, we have been told from experts that eating a high fat diet is bad for us. That drinking whole milk and consuming other full fat dairy products is terrible. That butter is a huge no-no. That we needed to eat fat-free yogurt. That we should avoid red meat and focus on lean, white meat. That eggs were horrible and full of cholesterol.

To replace each of these, we were provided with “low fat” and “fat free” substitutes of sour cream, cheese, and milk. We were offered “egg-beaters” to replace eggs in recipes. Margarine became the “healthier choice” because it was lower in saturated fat. And most other processed high fat food companies came out with “low fat” varieties for those who were “health conscious”. (Fat free mayonnaise, anyone?)

I bought into it for years. I think many people did. Most nutrition books on the market still suggest that eating “low fat” varieties of food is the healthier way to go.

Here’s what I learned while eating a “low fat or fat free” diet for many years:  Any time I got into patterns of over-eating – even if it was food that was low in fat – I struggled with maintaining a healthy weight. In addition, I craved more sugar since many low fat foods have sugar added to make up for the loss of flavor that happens when you take naturally occurring fat out of food.

Once I began eating a real food diet, which is higher in real fat – real butter, real cream, whole milk, real sour cream, whole milk yogurt, eggs, beef, lamb (along with whole grains and lots of fruits and veggies) – I found that these foods are so satisfying that my body wasn’t consistently craving what it wasn’t getting! I found that the food tasted so good that I wasn’t constantly disappointed with dry, tasteless food. I found that I had more energy and healthier skin. I found that overall, because I was eating whole food in its original form, I felt so much better than I’d ever felt when I had been eating food that had been stripped of its natural fat.

Cream Cheese Chicken

So can you eat whole foods that are naturally high in fat and maintain a healthy weight, or even lose weight if you need to? Yes!  I’ve watched friends arrive at a healthy weight once they began eating a real food diet. Once they gave up eating processed foods, and even “low fat foods” and began to instead eat a diet of unprocessed, whole foods – the extra pounds just fell off! And I can tell you that for myself, after 15 years of following the latest diet trends (low fat, calorie counting, etc) in an effort to “not gain weight” – eating a diet of real, whole foods (going on eight years now) has been the easiest way I’ve experienced to maintain a healthy weight.

I’m going to say this again:  None of us should have being “skinny” as the goal as we look at this subject. We should be focused on being “healthy”.  Eating a well balanced whole foods diet is healthy. And wow does it ever taste good!

Here are my top five tips (besides eating a whole foods diet) for maintaining a healthy weight:

  1. Don’t Over-Eat: Too much healthy food is still too much food. Eat when you are hungry. Stop eating when you are full. It’s really quite simple. (Except for when it’s chocolate. Then it is difficult. Self control, Laura everyone, self-control.)
  2. Be Balanced:  Sure, I love butter and believe wholeheartedly that it is a healthy fat. But man (or Laura) shall not live on butter alone. Eat a wide variety of whole foods for a healthy balance that will meet all of your body’s needs.
  3. Go Easy on the Sugar:  Yes, even natural sugars like honey, sucanat, and maple syrup. And desserts made with chocolate. But I covered that already.
  4. Exercise:  For so many reasons, just do it. You will not regret it, and your body will love you for it.
  5. Eat Healthy Fats:  Avoid processed, manufactured fats like vegetable oils, crisco, and margarine. Our bodies don’t recognize them, can’t utilize them, and therefore store them in our bodies as fat. Coconut oil, real butter, and palm oil are all fats our bodies can break down and utilize for energy and nourishment.

I hope you will all feel comfortable leaving a comment to share how this journey has been for you. Have you found that eating real, whole foods has helped you achieve a healthy weight? Are you afraid to eat a whole foods diet? Have you been eating a whole foods diet and been happy with the results? 

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Get Your Kids Involved in the Kitchen {You Can Do This! Bonus Tip}

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I am very excited that so many of you are taking part in our You Can Do This! The First Five Steps To a Real Food Kitchen eCourse!

As an added bonus – for those of you who are participating in the course and for those who aren’t – each Monday for the next few weeks, I plan to share a Bonus Tip to encourage you along in your Real Food Journey. Remember though, these are just bonus tips. If you take the eCourse, you’ll get loads more information, guidance, downloads, recipes, and worksheets – all for just $5! (Click here to purchase if you are interested.)

Today’s tip is to get your kids involved in the kitchen with you. This will help them learn how to cook, and learn how to make healthy choices.

Just by helping me in the kitchen, my kids have learned how to adapt a recipe to use healthier ingredients. Case in point…

Elias got a new cookbook in his stocking – and all of the recipes are for yummy desserts, his favorite! Simply by looking through the recipes, he can  figure out how to make dishes and desserts using healthier ingredients. He’s only 11. 

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This it not because I’ve spent countless hours drilling my kids on how to cook and how to adapt recipes. It’s because they learn simply by being in the kitchen with me, and because truly, adapting a recipe to make it healthier is not really very difficult! (Read more about how to do this here.)

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Elias and Malachi (age 8) chose a Mint Chocolate Bar recipe and got to work, with very little help from me. They used sucanat in place of sugar, whole wheat flour in place of white flour, and real butter in place of vegetable oil. These are all one-to-one substitutions. See? not hard at all!

Their special treat turned out delicious. And I love knowing that I’m preparing my kids for a healthy future. (Because yes, they do know how to cook more than just desserts.)  :)

 Interested in learning more about our
You Can Do This! The First Five Steps To a Real Food Kitchen eCourse?
We’d love to have you join us!
And don’t forget to take advantage of our
Buy a $10 Gift Certificate for $5 deal.
With it, you can get the eCourse, bonus recipe cards, and another eBook
– all for five bucks!

 

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What Does it Mean to “Eat Real Food” {More About Our “You Can Do This” eCourse}

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It’s almost time for our You Can Do This! The First Five Steps to a Real Food Kitchen eCourse to launch! It will be available Monday, January 7 – the countdown is on. I am so excited for you to join me in this class that I can hardly stand it!

When I say “real food kitchen” – many of you are wondering what exactly that means. I decided to give you a little more information about the eCourse so that you better understand what you’re signing up for if you choose to join us.

What the You Can Do This! The First Five Steps Toward a Real Food Kitchen eCourse is about:

~  Baby stepping away from processed, boxed foods and toward delicious, healthy, fresh food.
~  Setting personalized goals that will work for you and your family – no matter your situation, location, or season in life.
~  Figuring out how you can make a Real Food lifestyle work for you financially.
~  Walking through the basics of simple, healthy menu planning.
~  Deciding when to compromise your real food diet.
~  Learning how to keep the journey simple and easy.
~  Enjoying balance and grace. Ahhhh...relax. Your Real Food Kitchen will be a breath of fresh air!
~  Having fun. You know I always like to have fun around here. Yes, that is a fact that will be on the test. Oh wait – in this eCourse, there are no tests! Sit back and enjoy the ride!

What this eCourse is NOT about:

~  Eating foods that are all organic, grass fed, free range, fermented, raw, yada yada. All of these truly are great and healthy, and I will eventually encourage you to check into them. But those are not the areas I believe should be our main focus as we take beginning steps toward a Real Food Kitchen.
~  Eating low fat, low carb, grain free, vegan, etc. I’m not knocking those ideas (necessarily), but within this eCourse, we’re working toward eating a wide variety of wholesome real food, in its original form, in balance. 
~  Dieting. This isn’t about losing weight (although some might find that they naturally arrive at a healthy weight while working through this course). It’s about adopting and living a healthy lifestyle for yourself and your family.
~  Adapting to a one size fits all plan of action. No way. Your Real Food Kitchen is likely to look different from mine based on circumstances and preferences. This eCourse will allow you to create your Real Food Kitchen on your time table, around your schedule, and based on your own goals and desires. And guess what? I won’t make you eat okra if you don’t like okra. 

My goal is that as you work your way through the eCourse, you find yourself saying, “Seriously? Is it really this easy? I can do this!”

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Have more questions? Let me know. More information to come about what you can expect in the You Can Do This! eCourse. Make plans to join us beginning January 7 (or any day thereafter). Cost will be only $5 for the entire course. Come one, come all!

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Crock Pot Beef Stew ~ Real Food Dollar Menu

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Yum

Here is another healthy meal that is super easy, quick to make, and low in cost. There is really nothing fancy about this meal. But it’s comforting and warm and perfect for a chilly evening.

Crock Pot Beef Stew with Cornbread Muffins

1 pound stew meat, cut into bit-sized chunks
2 pounds potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
1 pound carrots, peeled and sliced
1 medium onion or 2 Tablespoons Onion Soup Mix
1/2 cup water
Sea salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a crock pot. Cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 3 hours.

The cost of this meal, including the cornbread, added up to $8.29*. It fed 9 people. Cost per plate (um, bowl) =  $0.92. I love this price!!!

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Looking for more meals on our Real Food Dollar Menu? Here are the recipes I’ve shared so far:

Stay tuned for many more recipes and ideas for our Real Food Dollar Menu!

*I calculated my cost based on the food sources and prices I have available to me. Most of the ingredients I use are organic. Your cost may be slightly more or less depending on where you find your ingredients.

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Real Food – Low Cost Challenge: Warm Vanilla Soother and Homemade Poptarts

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Beware – while reading this post, you will notice that I jump all over the place without making my paragraphs flow together and really without pausing to take a breath in between thoughts. All this exercise I’m doing is either giving me a crazy amount of extra energy, or perhaps it is just simply making me crazy. Or maybe it’s a little bit of both.

While breaking down the cost of my real food recipes, I have definitely learned that our breakfast time meals tend to be very, very inexpensive. We can often eat for around $0.50 per person at breakfast, making it easier to spend a little more for our lunches and dinners.

It is kind of funny to me that I break the food cost down per person in my household, when clearly, we don’t actually all eat the same amount of food. I would have to say that Malachi (our youngest at age seven) and I (the oldest at age 38) eat the smallest portions of food these days. Therefore, maybe Malachi and I can eat breakfast for $0.20 and everyone else eats for $0.70? Eh, never mind. I don’t feel like getting that technical. We’ll just keep it at an average $0.50/person for breakfast. I’m pretty sure I don’t want to know how much it costs to feed my soccer playing, basketball playing teenager right now. ;)

So check it out – my Homemade Poptarts cost $3.13 for one batch. I figured that if one batch of homemade poptarts makes about 20 poptarts, that means the cost is around $0.16 per poptart. I haven’t purchased poptarts at the store for a long time, but I’m pretty sure I’m not only feeding my family a much healthier poptart, but I’m saving money too. Sixteen cents for a poptart made with real food ingredients? How about that?

Who is it that said that eating healthy food is expensive??? (Oh yes, that was me a few years ago.)

I should have become a real food calculating geek years ago. This is fun!!

(Pausing for breath. Does reading this post make anyone else tired, or is it just me? And here we go again…)

My Warm Vanilla Soother recipe breaks down to $2.87 per batch. This really only makes about four servings though, so the cost per person is $0.72. Not bad at all for a mug of hot, steamy, delicious, nourishing comfort. I mean really, can you put a price on comfort? No I don’t think so. But just think about the cost of a hot drink of non-nourishment at your local coffee shop. Pretty sure you can’t get that for $0.72, am I right?

And speaking of coffee – because it does appear that all the exercise I’m getting these days is indeed giving me extra energy – I believe it is wise for me to stay away from drinking coffee very often, even if I did enjoy my one cup of coffee with real Chocolate Caramel Cream. I don’t think giving me additional energy from caffeine is really a good idea right now? What do you think?!

Make plans to join us tomorrow for a Real Food – Low Cost Link-Up! Get ready to share your real food, low cost recipes. Cant’ wait to learn about your tried and true family favorites that are easy on the budget!

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Real Food – Low Cost Challenge: Easy Noodle Stir Fry, Chicken Noodle Soup, And My Heart-Felt Free Range Chicken Speech

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It is high time someone stood up and said a word on behalf of the free range chickens. I mean, if I don’t say something, who will? The birds can’t speak for themselves, you know? Bless their little chicken hearts.

Ok, real quick – I’ll interrupt this crazy chicken rant to let you know that it would seem that the Real Food – Low Cost Challenge has sent me over the edge to the land of insanity. You know me well enough to have guessed that this was likely to happen some day soon, and probably saw that the end was near when I was struggling so much last week in my effort to figure out the cost of a (stinkin’) cup of whole wheat flour.

But back to the speechless chickens, and my determination to see that they are no longer misunderstood.

I currently pay $12.50 for one free range chicken. Twelve dollars and 50 cents. Many people think that’s a crazy amount to spend on a chicken when I could instead go the store and grab a whole chicken for $3-$5.

But, I hold firm to the belief that my chickens are not expensive. The chickens I buy are very large – usually around five or six pounds each. In fact, I always, without skimping, get at least four meals out of my chickens, if not six. Read here about how I can stretch a chicken to get six meals. Therefore, my one $12.50 investment in chicken costs me, at the most, only $3.13 for a nice amount of meat/broth per meal.

Based on this figure, and on the fact that making homemade whole wheat noodles is also very low in cost, I was thrilled to learn today that I can make a big pot of Chicken Noodle Soup for only $4.03. Four dollars and three cents!!!!! This, for one of the most nutritious meals on the face of the earth. That is $0.67 per family member at my house. Doesn’t that just make you want to stand up and do the chicken dance?

Well, doesn’t it?!

Okay, me neither. But still, I’m pretty excited. In addition, I learned that a batch of Easy Noodle Stir Fry costs about $8.53, which breaks down to $1.42 per person.

I’m thinking that I need to make chicken meals more often since I’m able to pull them together for such a low cost. It is amazing what all I’ve been learning as I’ve broken down the cost of our favorite, real food meals.

So, tell me about the chickens where you’re from. Have you found a good price for a good chicken? Are you able to find free range chickens where you live? How big are your chickens?

I tell you what, nothing beats a good discussion about poultry. ;)

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The Real Foods Grocery Budget Week Wrap-Up

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Thank you all SO much for the wonderful interaction this week during the impromtu Real Foods Grocery Budget series! I usually have a plan for the week for what I will be writing about, but somehow, with all of your comments and questions after I wrote about our 2011 Real Foods Grocery Budget, I got off course and just kept talking about food and money. :)

What I loved most about this week is how so many of you were reading through each other’s comments and offering suggestions of what works for YOU. While I can write about what works for ME and for our family, I don’t live where you live or have the same food sources you have. It was great to see all the comments coming in from those of you willing to help others find great sources for food in your communities. Isn’t the internet cool?

As I wrap up the week and the series, I just want to encourage you all to be prayerful about how you feed your families and to do whatever you feel God is calling you to do. HE can make it happen!

AND DON’T GET DISCOURAGED!! Some of you have mentioned that you are very new to the Real Foods way of eating. If you’re interested in making some changes that’s great, but changing everything at once can be very overwhelming, as can the idea of increasing a food budget. You may find that you can make Real Food changes and not increase your food budget at all…or you may find that you need to slowly figure out ways to at to your food budget to fulfill the desire you have for feeding your family a Real Foods diet. 

Take small steps.  Don’t feel like you need to change everything at once. Read through my Simple Steps to Healthy Eating posts for some ideas on where to start. There is no order to these steps and no right or wrong way to make changes. Just pick a step and take it! (And guess what, by the way? I really do plan to add to that series soon, even though I haven’t posted a Simple Step in a while!)

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Also, if you haven’t read through Our Journey to Healthy Eating, please click on over so that you can find out more about why my family chooses to eat the way we do and what our journey looked like along the way. 

Just so you know, we’re still on the journey! There’s still a lot I need to learn and some other changes I need to make and shucks…sometimes I still get hungry for Nacho Cheese Doritos. With a beef hotdog.

Anyone else feel like sharing something “not so good for you” that you have a hard time giving up?!

Thanks again everyone for your participation in this week’s series!!

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Do You NEED to Cut the Grocery Budget?

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lettuce

Thank you all for adding suggestions and sharing your various circumstances in my last Real Food Grocery Budget post, Very Limited Income for Real Food Purchases. I think it’s great that we’re all helping each other think of new ideas for saving money on good food.

What I’d like to address now is that while I think it’s great to learn ways to cut down on food costs when you’re going through tough financial situations, I also feel like it is very important to make sure our families are getting the nutrition they need. Again, we are investing in our bodies when we spend money to eat whole, real food. Some foods we can cut back on, but there are some things we really, really need to be eating so that we can stay healthy.

That’s why I had such a hard time sharing what I’d cut back on or cut out of our diets. I have a hard time recommending that many people NEED to cut down their grocery budget. If you’re spending money on processed foods or splurging all the time on specialty items and buying food that isn’t in season or buying stuff to eat that will simply fill a hole but not offer any nourishment…then we need to talk about ways for you to cut your grocery budget.

But if you have $X amount in your grocery budget and you’re carefully spending that amount on real, whole foods that are nourishing your family…I think you should keep doing what you’re doing. Sure, let’s keep trying to find fair prices and good deals and shop wisely so as to be good stewards of what God has given us to take care of our families. But if you have the money for plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables or any of the high quality healthy foods you feel convicted about eating…buy them for your family. Don’t cut out necessary nutrition just so that you can say that you’ve lowered your grocery bill.

In addition – and I’m guessing that I probably don’t really need to be saying this to any of you but I’m going to say it anyway – before you talk about needing to cut your Real Foods Grocery Budget, please make sure you’ve cut every other un-necessary item out of your budget first. My family has always done without cable TV and expensive cell phone plans and frequent eating out and going to movies and expensive clothing and all kinds of other things I can’t think of because we don’t spend money (or rarely spend money) on them so I probably don’t know what I’m missing.  I’m NOT saying that you shouldn’t ever have or do these things. If you have cable TV, I’m fine with that and will probably even enjoy watching the Food Network with you when I come for a visit. I’m just saying that you really shouldn’t complain about not being able to “afford” real, whole food…and then turn around and fill your grocery cart with frozen pizza, soda, twinkies and chips, 24 new pairs of high heeled shoes and a big screen TV for your bathroom. Kapeesh?

My point ultimately is that we all need to be as careful as possible with how we spend our money…but I think that spending money on good, whole food for our families is wise and even necessary. It’s an investment in our health for today and for years down the road. Good food costs money…but I think we need to caution ourselves against feeling like, “ugh, healthy food is SOOOOO expensive.” Is it…really? I don’t look at it that way anymore. I look at healthy food as…healthy. And the price that comes with it?

Well…I’d rather not pay the price of eating cheap, empty food. To me…that is what is costly.
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Off and on all week I’ve said that I would share about some creative ways our family saves, earns and comes up with great sources for food. I’ve sprinkled some of that information throughout these posts, but really and truly I have a whole post devoted to sharing ways to stretch and grow your grocery budget. Other topics keep popping up this week as I’ve written this series, but I promise (probably, mostly for sure, I think) that I’ll post tomorrow about stretching the budget. And sometime soon…I’ll even post about stretching a chicken.
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What are your thoughts about the “cost” of nutrition-void food?

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