Heavenly Homemakers

I’ve decided to take a tiny little bloggy break.  Just for a few days. 

In the meantime, I thought I’d give you a whole bunch of links to go check out.  I’d hate for you to come over to Heavenly Homemakers in the next few days…and then be bored. 

• I think these Button and Fabric Barrettes over at Nettacow are SO stinkin’ cute.  All you people out there with little girls in your homes should really make some.
• You can get a free craft ebook filled with lots of fun Fourth of July activities.  Click on the button below to grab yours!

• Kate from Stolen Moments Cooking has just launched Stolen Moments Menu Planning.  If this service is something you need…you can trust Kate to take care of you!

• I’ve been loving the series that Amy has been writing:  Mommy Come Home.  Click on this link, then scroll down and start at the beginning.
     
• Ideal Bite – Sign Up for Fun, Free Eco-Living Tips:  Click Here if you aren’t already receiving their free newsletter.  It’s a blast!  It’s cute!  It’s a good read!  And it’s green!

Okay and with that…I’m am officially not here anymore.  See ya in a few days!  I will for sure be back in time for Gratituesday!

I don’t think I ever mentioned it, but recently some friends of ours moved away (sad) and left us their trampoline (happy) .

The boys have been having a BLAST on it.  On really hot days they put the sprinkler under it, turn it on, and let the water blast through to give them a shower.  It has been SO much fun for them.

Here are a couple of shower-less pics…

Whoa, Malachi is flying on this one.

Now it’s Elias’ turn to fly.

They’ve been begging me to join them sometime.  I’ve been fighting it for a while.  Like…really…the trampoline?  Me?  Naw, you kids go ahead and have fun.  I’ll just watch and take pictures.

But then a few nights ago I surprised them by climbing on! 

I can not believe how much fun it was! 

I also can not believe that all of my internal organs stayed where they’re supposed to stay.  Good Night Nellie…I’m not as young as I used to be. 

Here are a few trampoline jumping tips (just in case you might need them some day):

• Definitely jump on one  if you have the chance.
• Go…to the bathroom…first.
• Swing your arms all around while you jump.  You’ll feel like a kid again.
• Let your kids take pictures of you so that you have proof of your uh…fun.
• Don’t listen to a thing your kids suggest to you while you’re jumping.

Seriously, I had just gotten on the thing and taken about four jumps when they start shouting at me, “Mom…try a Cannon Ball!” and  “Can you do a flip and land it?” and “Can we all get up there with you now?”

I…on the other hand…was shouting things like, “Ohmahgoodness-I-hope-I-don’t-puke.  Do your stomachs feel this weird when you come down off a jump?”  and “No I can not do a Cannon Ball and I am absolutely sure I can not land anything.”  and “No please do NOT get up here with me.  We have really crummy health insurance.”

I also laughed myself silly.

And then I got up there again the next day.

Really…you’ve gotta try it sometime.

Yes indeed.  The four boys and I went into Walmart a few days ago for the sole purpose of buying vodka.  A gallon of it.

I felt the need to tell the check out lady why I was buying an entire gallon of vodka.  She just looked at me like I was a lunatic and shrugged as if to say, “Hey, do whatever you want to with your vodka, girl.”

 And then she wouldn’t let Justus carry it out of the store.  You know…just in case I was buying the vodka for my nine year old minor. 

It made for some good discussion on the way home:  what drinking alcohol can do to your brain…why the lady had to make sure I was over 21 to buy it…why it’s okay to carry a watermelon out of Walmart when you’re nine but not a couple jugs of vodka.

All that to say:  I just started my very first batch of homemade vanilla!!!  I’m super excited.  My friend Jill sent me a beautiful bottle of her homemade vanilla a couple of weeks ago and it’s fabulous!!!  (I guess you could say that I was pressured by a friend into buying alcohol.  “Go ahead Laura…make your own vanilla.  Everyone’s doing it.”)

Now that I’m hooked on the idea…I thought I’d try to influence you too…

You will need:

A gallon jar
One gallon of Vodka (the cheap stuff is fine) (To keep you from standing in the liquor section too long to calculate this…2 bottles of 1.75 liters each will be the exact amount you need to make a gallon of vanilla.)
80 vanilla beans (Premium Bourbon-Madagascar Vanilla Beans – 1/2 lb.) (You’ll need about 3/4 pound to have 80 beans)
Kitchen shears

Begin by slicing through each bean lengthwise, leaving about one inch at the top of each bean uncut so that it stays together.

See?  Like this…

Place all of your cut vanilla beans into your jar.

Fill the jar with vodka.  (I took the following picture with my left hand while pouring the vodka with my right hand.  This proves that apparently…I can really handle my liquor.)

Once the jar is full with beans and vodka, put the lid on…then put the jar in a dark place (like in the back of a cabinet).  It needs to stay there for SIX MONTHS in order to become vanilla extract!  Occasionally, you should get it out and shake it up a bit, then put it back into it’s dark place.

Here’s the cool thing:  If you start a batch of vanilla really soon…it will be ready in time to put into little bottles and give as Christmas gifts.  (Family members reading this…you have exactly six months to forget all about this post and be surprised on Christmas morning.)  If you don’t get it started right this minute…from what I’ve researched…a little less than six months of “vanilla extracting” time won’t hurt anything.

AND…if you don’t want to make a whole gallon of vanilla…you can make a lesser amount:

• 1/2 gallon of vanilla….use 1/2 gallon of vodka (1.75 liters) and 40 vanilla beans
• 1 quart of vanilla…use one quart of vodka and 20 vanilla beans

Well…I know I’ve influenced many of you to eat healthier and plant potatoes in a container.  Is it now possible that several of you are going to run out to buy liquor?  Tell the clerk the Heavenly Homemaker sent you.
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This post is linked to Works for me Wednesday.

Last Saturday it was HOT.  I was feeling rather useless by late afternoon.  All I felt like doing was sprawling out under the ceiling fan in my recliner.  And so I did.

Imagine my joy when Elias and Justus came to me and asked if they could PLEASE make dinner for everyone.  I have no idea what made them want to do this.

Side note:  Saturday afternoons are the hours we’ve allotted in the week for the boy’s Play Station time.  I couldn’t even believe they were giving up those precious minutes to make dinner.  Without being asked.  Or threatened.

So off they went (while I stayed in my cool, useless position in the recliner) to scrounge up some dinner.  They put together the greatest meal!   Seriously, you should (have your kids) make these sometime.  (And I should have my kids write their own ebook.)

Elias spread mayo on the tortillas he found.  Then he topped them each with the cooked chicken leftover from a few days before.

In the meantime, Justus carefully cut up tomatoes….

And carrots…

Then Elias stuck a piece of spinach on each tortilla and some tomatoes and carrots.   Check out his cute little tortilla assembly line!

Now, wrapping them up was a little tricky because they were so full…so I had to get my lazy self off the chair to help.  It’s okay though.  I’d already gotten my lazy self up to snap the above pics. 

For ONE WHOLE HOUR they worked hard on that dinner.  They were amazing and darling little servant-hearted angels.  And they were SO EXCITED to be making dinner for the family.

Hearing their sweetness and joy in the kitchen was all the refreshment I needed on that hot summer day.  (And wow…was my tortilla wrap YUMMY!)

I’m so grateful for precious moments like this with my kids.  (It’s good to have these moments to hold onto when they’re tearing my living room and each other apart.)  And I’m grateful that they are learning to serve.
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What are you grateful for this Gratituesday?  Blog about it, then come link up with us here.  If you don’t have a blog, leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!

I mentioned here that I’m trying to avoid the oven during these hot summer days.  Later this week, I’ll be making Lasagna Casserole, which is one of our family’s favorite recipes (and one of mine because it’s so EASY).

BUT…I don’t want to bake it in the oven right now.  It’s just too hot.

For recipes like this…I “bake” them on the stove top.  Just follow the recipe as normal…but then leave it in the pot on the stove.  Sprinkle cheese over the top and put the lid on.  Let it sit and simmer for a few minutes until the cheese is all melty all over the place…then serve.

This method also works for Cheesy Beef and Rice and Pizza Casserole….and probably a bunch of other casserole recipes you have that are all pre-cooked and then baked for a few minutes.

This summer…skip the oven.  Use the stovetop.  Unless of course you like sweating profusely and passing out.  I’ll use my oven when I absolutely have to.  In the meantime, when I can…I’ll stick to my stove-top.

This post is linked to Tammy’s Recipes for Kitchen Tip Tuesdays.

As you could probably tell, we did some re-arranging around here this weekend.  Undeniably,  by “we” I mean “Char” who is my very wonderful friend…and also my go-to person who knows about all things techie.  I don’t know what I would do without her (on or offline).  If you would all go over to her place and tell her how wonderful she is…I’d appreciate it.

Beyond computer work this weekend, I spent some time figuring out a few meals that don’t require much heat.  I’ve got enough heat now that the one hundred and whatever degree days are upon us…and I don’t feel too much like adding to it with my oven.  Even if it does remind me of Grandma.  We may be going “breadless” for a while.  I think I’ll be making a lot of tortillas instead.

Thankfully we’ve still got quite a bit of lettuce in our garden, so we can eat lots of salads.  (If you live close-by, will you please call and ask if you can come get some, because I’ll say yes.  Seriously…call me.) 

Here’s the menu for this week:

Sunday, June 28
Oatmeal, fruit
Steak on the grill, new potatoes, stir fried veggies
Chicken tostadas, tossed salad

Monday, June 29
Whole wheat waffles
Skillet meatballs, creamy mac and cheese, green beans
Bean dip with chips and salsa, grapes

Tuesday, June 30
Fried eggs, oranges
Black bean taco salad, strawberry-peach slushies
Grilled chicken, creamy cole slaw, fruit salad

Wednesday, July 1
Strawberry bread (from freezer!)
Tuna salad on tomatoes and lettuce, strawberry milkshakes
Turkey ham and cheese egg scramble, cantaloupe

Thursday, July 2
Kefir-fruit smoothies
Lasagna casserole, tossed salad
Quesadillas, grapes

Friday, July 3
Banana muffins (from freezer), apples
Pizza, tossed salad
Cookout

Saturday, July 4
Biscuits and gravy, eggs
Smoked turkey, potato salad, tossed salad
Hamburgers, the works

Here are a couple of FREE Fourth of July Menu Planner for ya! 

Click here for the download links!

Anyone have any special Fourth of July plans?
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Visit Organizing Junkie for more menu planning inspiration.

I used to be a pretty picky eater.  I didn’t really like to try new things…and certainly not new vegetables.  I would usually say, “Oh, I don’t like that!”…even though I’d NEVER tried it. 

I’m really thankful that I finally grew out of that and started trying new things!  Who knew broccoli and asparagus and okra would be so good?  (Oh, and I just bought a kohlrabi at the Farmer’s Market last night to try!)

That being said…for some reason…I just really still don’t like bananas.  Silly, isn’t it?  Of all things not to like.  I can get one down about once a year if I must.  I like banana bread, banana pancakes, banana muffins and banana cake…but I am just not a fan of eating a big ol’ banana.

Maybe some day I’ll get over it.  For now, I’m opting out of banana eating.

So, how about you?  What are some foods you just don’t really like?  (I mean…of the ones you’ve actually tried.)

After sharing the Ranch Dressing Mix recipe, several of you asked for different varieties of healthy salad dressings.  Here you go!

Italian Dressing Mix 

1 1/2 t. garlic powder
1 T. onion powder
2 t. oregano
1 T. dried parsley
2 t. sea salt
1 t. pepper
1/4 t. thyme
1/2 t. dried celery flakes 

Shake ingredients together and store in a jar.  (It doesn’t really have to be a jar…I just really love my jars…)

To make Italian salad dressing:  Mix 2 T dry mix with 1/4 cup vinegar (I prefer red wine vinegar), 2 t. water and 1/2 cup olive oil.

You can also use this dry mix (2-4 T.) to make Italian Roast Wraps!

Thousand Island Dressing

1 cup mayonnaise ( I use Hain Safflower)
1/3 c. ketchup
1/4 c. pickle relish
1 T. minced onion
1 hard boiled egg, chopped (optional)

Mix ingredients, cover and chill.

So…what’s your favorite kind of salad dressing? (mine’s ranch)  Have I come up with enough healthier dressings (aka dressings with NO high fructose corn syrup or MSG) to tickle your fancy…or should I keep playing?
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This post is linked to Frugal Fridays.

Today is the last day to purchase Heavenly Homemaker’s Guide to Gardening and Preserving for only $4.95!

Click Here to Purchase!

As we’ve seen as we go through this series, there are so many things we as women can do to minister to others without neglecting what absolutely should be our main ministry:  our families.  If you haven’t already, be sure to catch up on the rest of this series here.

Today I want to talk about a different ministry opportunity:  Compassion International.  I love this organization for so many reasons…

• I trust them.  If we’re going to give our money “to help children” we want it to help children.  With Compassion International, you can trust that it will.  I love that.
• Not only are they working to meet a child’s basic physical needs…they teach the child (and family) about Jesus.  They are truly feeding the children.
• They make it easy to sponsor a child.  They communicate well and their program is just “user friendly”.  
• This ministry is perfect for you and your family to work at together!

We chose to sponsor a little boy a few months ago (yes go figure…we chose a little boy!).  The entire experience has been delightful for us.  We picked someone who practically shares a birthday with Asa.  That made him seem even more real to the boys. 

We looked on the globe to see where he lives and learned about his country.  His picture is on our refrigerator.  We get to sit down and write him letters together.  We pray for him together.  The boys ask us questions about him from time to time.  I love that they have a “brother” across the globe.  I think they love it too.

If you have a few minutes…take the time to watch this video.

And then consider if sponsoring a child through Compassion International is a ministry that you and your family could take on together.  You won’t regret it.
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If any of you have experiences with Compassion International that you can tell about…please share in the comments!