Written by Emily McClements, Contributing Writer The holidays are in full swing, and along with holidays usually come guests. It is a blessing to host others in our homes, whether for a week night family dinner, weekend party, or small group Bible study, but sometimes the preparation for guests can become stressful or overwhelming. We…
I grew up eating a “wife-saver” casserole each Christmas morning, with eggs and bacon and Corn Flakes crumbled on top. It was delicious and hearty, and best of all, my mom could make it the the day before and pop it in the oven while we opened gifts as a family. Pancakes and waffles are…
Written by Kate Tietje, Contributing Writer Christmas is coming…soon! It’s a huge, commercial, and expensive holiday. Many families spend well over $1000, and some far more than that, on Christmas presents and paraphernalia every year. For families who are trying to be frugal or have to stick to a budget, it can be hard to…
Out of 239 entries, the winners of In the Kitchen: Real Food Basics are: Elizabeth (lizhull@…) MomOfFour (reaching5678@…) Christine (rivdet@…) Congratulations! For those who didn’t win, Kate is offering a coupon code, KOTH25, for 25% off Real Food Basics. This coupon code has been extended and is good through Thursday, November 4th at 11:59 PM….
**My apologies for taking so long to announce these winners!** Out of 375 entrants, the winner of the Spoonk Portable Acupressure Mat is: Rene (budgetsavingmom@) For those interested, there will soon be a $10 discount available for Keeper of the Home readers who would like to purchase their own Spoonk Mat, and just in time…
The kitchen is probably my favorite room in my house. I spend a lot of time in there every day. After all, with four kids, I have a lot of meals to cook, meals to eat, dishes to wash, and tables and chairs to wipe down. But one day a few years ago, I realized…
We’ve talked about some ways to streamline our meal planning, as well as how to use lists of your favorite recipes for ease of planning and quick reference. Here is the last step of the recent meal planning/recipe overhaul that my own kitchen has been receiving lately: My beloved recipe binder! It doesn’t get much…
My poor hubby. He really dislikes piles, and yet he married a gal who’s just a little bit “out of sight, out of mind”. Thus, I’m a piler. All through the Christmas holidays, there was one particular pile that continued to be moved around from table to table, dresser to desk, and back to the…
I found this year to be one of our most meaningful Christmas seasons so far. It has been such a blessing to begin implementing even a few new things into the way that we celebrate the birth of our Savior. Here are some of the things that we did this year: Daily Advent devotions through…
**I’ve returned from a much needed week-long computer break and I’m glad to be back! We had a very blessed Christmas, rejoicing in our Savior’s birth and enjoying special times with family. I’ll post just a little bit this week and then be more back to normal posting by next week. I hope that you…
Just a few thoughts as I prepare to take a little time for celebration, relaxation and meditation this next week: 1) The picture you see above is Johanna’s birth announcement. It may make some of you feel oddly comforted to know that I picked them up last week. Yes, she’s 4 months old. I figured…
Ever wonder how you can get around the need to soak the flour for baked goods, when you’re baking something that just doesn’t lend itself to soaking? Or what about when you’re short on time and need to bake something to fill a need, but just don’t have the time for soaking? Enter sprouted grain…
Image by ishane For this week’s Celebrate with Joy post, I’m going to take a pause from giving more ideas or activities for adding to your Christmas celebration. Instead, I would like for you to be encouraged and inspired as you press on in learning to make these “holy day” celebrations more meaningful and alive…
Image by ishane It’s Week 2 of making this holiday season more meaningful using the book Celebrate with Joy! How are your Advent activities going? We’ve been enjoying our special devotions (or “learning about Jesus’ names”, as my daughter says) so much. We’ve almost finished making our Names of Jesus garland, and it’s going to…
If you’ve been thinking about purchasing a paperback copy of Healthy Homemaking: One Step at a Time either for yourself or as a Christmas gift, today is the day to do it! I just received a one-day-only coupon to pass on to you (from Lulu.com, the company the publishes/ships the book for us) that will…
Wooden car made by Bajo Why We Care About the Toys We Choose It all started a little over two years ago. Recalls on toys (particularly from China) were coming out left, right and center. Our little guy was about 5-6 months old and just starting to put absolutely everything in his mouth. I found…
And the winner of the fantastic Moukisac Reusable Bag system is: Julie (9julesa5@) Congrats! For all those still wanting one either for yourself or to give as a Christmas gift, you can purchase them directly from the Moukisac site. Also, don’t forget that the Healthy Holiday Eats and Sweets Carnival is approaching quickly! It is…
Image by ishane What is Christmas? It is not a winter festival. It is not the inevitable annual energy drain. It is not a few holidays to give us a break. It is not a time to fill our children’s heads with “visions of sugar plums.” Christmas is a season of holy days (the original…
Image by PhotoVandal There’s something about fall and winter that makes me want to shift gears. To cozy up in my home and just slow down a little in general. Much as I absolutely adore summertime and warmth and sunshine, the change of pace can sometimes be a welcome thing to me. After what has…
I say one mom’s, because we’re all different. We each have different ideas of what natural prevention even looks like. I’m not trying to tell you that I totally understand everything about swine flu and that I know exactly what you should do to prevent it. I don’t. What I do know is that I’ve…
Image by alibree It's been a rough week. This mama has not been feeling her best, that's for sure! Last Wednesday I found myself the unwitting victim to a nasty throat virus that still hasn't realized he's no longer welcome around here. Life has been moving at a sloooow pace around here. I didn't even…
What a great topic! I love it, so I’ll hand it straight over to Jamie without further ado… ******* Guest Post by Jamie Martin of Steady Mom Photo by Milena Mihaylova One Sunday afternoon our family of five headed out to visit a friend. As we drove, my husband was telling the children about his…
As a stay-at-home mama to a highly active 2 year-old daughter, and our “coming into his own” and very mobile 9 month-old son, Jonathan, I know how tempting it can be to reach for the convenience foods while grocery shopping. However, I’ve found that with a little planning I can make many convenience foods from…
Not only are lentils incredibly frugal (as is this entire recipe), but they are nutritionally dense as well! They contain very high amounts of both soluble and insoluble fiber, as well as several minerals (including calcium and magnesium), B vitamins, and of course, they are an excellent source of plant protein. This recipe is so…