Homemaker Chronicles

As you can tell, Friday’s Homemaker Moment is taking a summer break!  I hope you don’t mind.  Instead of F.H.M. I think I want to know what your favorite smoothie recipes are.  Is that a fair trade?
Here’s mine:
6 oz orange juice
1 peeled banana
1/3 cup frozen crushed strawberries
1/3 cup frozen mixed berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries)
1/4 cup [...]

For lunch today I had a potato…with everything.  Literally, everything I could think of, that was healthy, I slapped on that puppy.  Then I added some cheese and abra-ca-dabra I had an “everything potato”.  Actually, I should start from the beginning so that you can get the whole story.
Last night for dinner I made baked [...]

The vegetable garden I mean.  I came to take some pictures of our newest arrivals.  You wanna see?

That’s right, we have tomatoes!  Actually, Adia calls them “tornadoes” so that’s what the kids and I say now just because we think she is the cutest thing ever.  Speaking of cute, check out these tornadoes…

Aren’t they cute?  [...]

…and semi-sweet chocolate.
*UPDATE*  semi-sweet chocolate not pictured.  (Thanks for pointing out all my flaws, Robin.  You are welcome to anytime, and I’m sure they’ll be numerous!)

Or, what we consider to be LUNCH!!
I am massively thankful for spring time and I am exuberantly excited about summer!  Just look at all that fruit.  You can’t find plump [...]

It was mozzarella cheese and it was goooo-ooood!  Some friends and I got together and made the cheese then they went on to make strawberry jam.  We are just regular Betty Crockers (who happens to not be a real person at all, according to Regan who had Todd look it up using his i “guy” [...]

Are you are aware of how non-beneficial our grocers’ milk product can be.  On the flip side, are you aware of how wonderfully beneficial raw cows milk is?  Today I am on a bit of a soapbox about milk.  Stay with me here…this is where it gets good.  We’ve been duped guys and gals.  We [...]

It’s been a hectic yet lazy week.  Paradox…I know.  But I feel tired even though mostly I’ve just been thinking a lot.  I mean, I have my fair share of physical activity each day with the kids- on top of exercise- but that’s not what is so exhausting.  It’s the planning and preparing and scheduling [...]

Remember this post I did recently about what foods we’ve been eating since all the snow had kept us cooped up?   In that post I offered to divulge our recipes if anyone requested them and boy was that a winner!
I mean, my inbox was so hoppin’ that Bugs Bunny couldn’t keep up.  Request after request [...]

I just sense that none of you believe that I actually cook…

In your face, unbelievers!

(I didn’t really think that…I know you guys believe everything I say.  And I don’t ever exaggerate or embellish.  But don’t quote me on that.)

~Angie
Homemaker Chronicles

The only reason why winter time is so fantastic is because we can stay inside and bake ALL DAY LONG!  In my opinion anyway. Especially when it’s snowing outside and we live in the smack-dab-center of a state that completely shuts down when a few flurries fall.  (That would be Arkansas, this week, and [...]

…and the winner of the Recipes from the Country Kitchen cookbook is…
……………………………………..drum roll……………………………………….
Holly from Holly-now more than ever!
Congratulations Holly!  (Email me and I’ll tell you how to get your new cookbook)  Now, y’all go over and give Holly a little comment love on her wonderful blog.
If you are wishing it could have been you that [...]

Today, and today only, I am offering a giveaway to my readers that means quite a bit to me.  My grandma, who died at a fairly young age, was quite the homemaker.  She cooked and baked from scratch (churning her own butter and grinding her own flour), she sewed, played and taught piano, had a [...]

A while back I learned, actually when we only had two kids I learned that cooking food all at once is so very helpful for our family.  I don’t know what the real name for this is, but I call it bulk cooking.  Maybe it is or can be helpful for yours too!
Here’s how it [...]

Food…it’s so good isn’t it?  Each turn of the season makes me think of all kinds of foods and this week has been no different what with all the cool weather and rain we are getting here in Arkansas.  I’m not much of a fall person…I mean it’s pretty and all, but I’m a summer [...]

Continuing on with Fruity Pa-Tooty today guys and dolls!  In case you’re new this week, I’m not normally so giddy.  I truly just can’t get enough of the soaring temperatures, sun beating down while I sit outside, and the FRUIT.  We are going fruit-bonkers today and I betcha can’t guess what I will be using [...]

Yes, one could label me a coffee snob
No, I do not take cream or sugar
No, I do not want ice
No, I do not want syrups
Yes, I like it Extra Bold
Yes, Starbucks is my favorite
Yes, I am thrilled at the new way to receive a free cup of joe from said coffee company
Yes, I would love [...]

Baby Legs is having a fun little contest through July 8th.  Go on over and check it out TODAY and grab a chance to win your own pair of Independence Day Baby Legs wear!!
***
For the first time, our family fellowship is in the form of a fish-fry for the Fourth.  (say that 5 times fast!)
What [...]

I put this onesie on Salem in the morning.

I found Salem like this in the evening.

Foreshadowing?
I should have known,what with all the paint we’ve had around over the last week, that he was bound to stumble upon an unmanned, yet completely full, tray.
The world is his dinner plate.
***
This Friday, for Homemaker Moments, here at Homemaker [...]

HAPPY

BIRTH

DAY

TO

YOU

CHA CHA CHA…

HAPPY

BIRTH

DAY

TO

YOU

CHA CHA CHA

HAPPY

BIRTH

DAY

DEAR

SALEM and DADDY

HAAAAAAPPY

BIIIIIIIIRTH

DAAAAAAAAAAAY

TOOOOOOOOOOO

YOUUUUUUUUUUUU

CHA

CHA

CHAAAAA!!!!
~Angie
Homemaker Chronicles

This week has been wall-to-wall going non-stop.  And I like it!  I’m just so sorry for people like my husband who have to get up at the same time every day, go into the office and SIT.  That’s all.  Just sitting for hours.  (Sorry Babe.)
Uh, can you say….Booooorrring!
God knows me better than to coop me [...]

I’ve never had a green thumb.  And by “never had” I mean that I’ve killed every living thing that has the potential to have roots, flowers, leaves, branches, and the like.
All that to say, that it’s quite a miracle that this is taking place in the backyard!
Introducing…our three week old garden…

Okra…

Onions…

The beans actually sprouted up [...]

I’d like to address the subject of buying groceries in bulk.
Raise your hand if you think it’s cheaper to buy things in large quantities, like at Sam’s or Costco…
Okay, now raise your hand if you think it’s cheaper to buy things from the regular grocery store…
Honestly, I’m not so convinced that it’s overall cheaper to [...]

This is a wonderful lunch idea from my great friend Linda B. It’s called, you guessed it-
The Linda B.
In a small skillet add a handful of pecans and 3 tsp. of granulated sugar.  Heat on medium until the sugar begins to melt and stir to coat the pecans.  Once the sugar is clear and pecans [...]

Our favorite night of the week?  Sundae night!!  And tonight was make-your-own-icecream-sundae night.
But, before the sugar rush began we had a little contest.   More like a relay!
Boys….

against…

girls…

(Girls lost!)

The object was for the blindfolded person to get as much icecream in their teammate’s mouth and in the shortest amount of time. We girls neither got [...]

Like I promised, here is a sample menu that I would make for our family for a week.  This is actually this week’s menu too!  (I am going to split them up into Breakfast Lunch and Dinner so that I have more room to go into detail, but normally I would lay it out like [...]

I really don’t consider myself an expert at menu planning…just at planning for OUR family!  For a family of 7 to eat a meal a little planning must take place…and I’ve gotten that down to a science!
I learned right off the bat that I HAVE to make a menu for the week.  One that includes [...]

When we moved to Texas we ended up in a little bity town south of Ft. Worth but we have spent most of our “going out and about” time in a bigger town that is just north of us- Burleson.  As we were driving to Burleson one afternoon Titan piped in matter-of-factly, “Mom…Dad…when I grow up, I’m [...]

*Update*  The prestigious contest winner is….
Upstatemomof3!!!
“Hubby and I are such dorks. Seriously. “Our song” is “A whole new world” from Aladdin. I do not know who sang it because “our song” is not the one on the soundtrack it is the one actually in the movie (minus the screeching bird). It is the song we [...]

The winner for the “What’d she say” contest from this post is….
Elisha!! 
SPONGE BOB SQUARE PANTS is right! 
Listen again- she-said-what_0001 -can ya hear it?  Hilarious! 
Your prize is coming in the mail soon Elisha…
—————————————————————————–
Check out what the home school kids are capable of creating on their very own! (smile)

Huh?
What is it you ask??  
A horse and carriage of course! 
Huh? 
Are they BORED [...]

…today it is 33 degrees and raining outside!  Plus it’s…well…you look for yourself.

and…

Beautiful?  Yes.  But, no outside playing leaves us with a whole lotta this…
Boredom at it’s best.

Which leaves us with only THIS to do…
Make Ooey Gooey SMORES!!!

And Smores can ONLY lead to THIS…

Happy messy happy messy faces!
Some graham crackers, chocolate bars, and marshmallows can [...]

This evening I decided to make some brownies at the last minute.  Luckily I had a box in the pantry.
Cheating…I know.
I thought it’d be a fun surprise and a great conclusion to one of our family favorites- homemade chicken pot pie.  Mmm Mmm.  Besides, we hardly ever make it through an evening without raiding [...]

1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. soy flour (I have also used spelt)
1/4 c. milled flax seed
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. allspice
1 c. apple juice
3 eggs
1/4 c. molasses
1 c. applesauce
1/2 c. raisins or semisweet dark chocolate chips [...]

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup white sugar (substitute with honey)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
6 tablespoons butter, cubed (substitute with 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce)
3/4 cup milk (substitute with soy or almond milk)
1 cup fresh blueberries or frozen blueberries, thawed
1/2 cup [...]