Fruit Cobbler

1/2 c butter – melt in bottom of 9×9 pan

1 c flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 c sugar – mix these three ingredients in a bowl

3/4 c milk – add this to the dry ingredients, mix, and pour into pan

3-4 c berries – spread across the top of the batter (I use different kinds of berries – this last time I used the triple berry blend from Aldi)

1/2 c sugar – sprinkle over the top of the berries

1/2 c water – pour over the top

Bake @ 350 degrees for 50 minutes.  YUM! 

I’ve really liked this system and it’s worked really well for me.  If you need help in this area, save my list to your computer and tweak it to fit your house.  You might just love it! 

Deep Cleaning List

Kitchen

Clean refrigerator

Clean freezer

Clean/organize pantry

Clean plate cabinet

Clean spice cabinet

Clean pitcher cabinet

Clean under sink

Clean pot/pan cabinet

Clean extra dish cabinet

Clean pot/pan drawer

Clean oven

Clean stove

Dust top of cabinets

Clean toaster oven

Clean glass/cup cabinet

Clean Tupperware cabinet

Kids’ rooms

Clean closets

Clean shelves

Clean desk

Office

Clean out desk

Clean top of desk

Clean off table

Clean under desk & table

Clean bookshelf

Clean closet

Clean out file cabinet

Laundry Room

Clean under washer

Clean under dryer

Straighten top shelf

Clean bookshelf

Clean game shelf

Clean top of dryer

Dining Room

Clean trash can

Clean buffet

Clean chairs

Clean spoons/spoon rack

Clean movie stand

Clean TV stand

Headboard

Clean under bed

Master Bedroom

Clean under bed

Clean out chest

Clean under couch

Clean TV unit

Master Bathroom

Clean out cabinet

Clean out medicine cabinet

Wash shower curtain

Clean out basket

Master Closet

Go through clothes/shoes

Clean out drawers

Clean top of chest

Clean under/around chest

Straighten stuff on shelf

Hall Bathroom

Clean out cabinet

Clean out medicine cabinet

Wash shower curtain

Clean basket

Living Room

Clean out desk

Vacuum under furniture

Clean coat closet

Clean TV stand

Vacuum furniture

I have several great cookbooks that I really like:

Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book, 75th Anniversary Limited Edition

This is my favorite cooking magazine EVER!  It’s awesome!

Cake Mix Bible Cookbook

Better Homes and Gardens New Junior Cookbook

As I was working on my post for the Chocolate Revel Bars, I was looking at the website for Better Homes & Gardens and discovered some neat features. They have a a tab called “summer suppers” and under that tab I liked these two:  20 minutes suppers and 7 ingredient (or less) suppers.  I’m anxious to try out some of these recipes!  I’m always looking for quick and easy meals – especially in the summer! 

Has anyone made any of these before?

Directions

1. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the butter or margarine. In a large mixing bowl beat the remaining butter or margarine with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar; beat until well mixed. Beat in eggs and 2 teaspoons vanilla. In another large bowl stir together flour and baking soda; stir in oats. Gradually stir dry mixture into beaten mixture. Set aside.

2. In a medium saucepan combine the reserved butter or margarine, the sweetened condensed milk, and chocolate pieces. Cook over low heat until chocolate melts, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Stir in walnuts and the 2 teaspoons vanilla.

3. Press two-thirds (about 3-1/3 cups) of the oat mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 15x10x1-inch baking pan. Spread chocolate mixture over the oat mixture. Using your fingers, dot remaining oat mixture over the chocolate.

4, Bake in a 350 degree F oven about 25 minutes or until top is lightly browned (chocolate mixture will still look moist). Cool on a wire rack. Cut into 2×1-inch bars. Makes about 75 bars.

Recipe is from Better Homes & Gardens cookbook.

A Poem to Encourage Mothers
by Nancy Campbell

There are those who would spurn the vocation of mothers
And say of careers, it’s inferior to others,
I’ll have to admit that it’s not easy work,
It’s relentless and from it you cannot shirk.

It takes all of your energy being a mother and wife,
Requiring daily commitment and a disciplined life,
It demands all your resources of patience and love,
Long-suffering and wisdom from the Father above.

It takes self-control and continual endurance,
It needs constant faith and great perseverance,
It means total sacrifice, forgetting your self,
Sometimes you think that you’re left on the shelf!

And what about time? It’s no longer yours,
It belongs to all those who come in your doors.
Claim your own rights? No, they’re all gone too,
Like your right to sleep the whole night through!

It’s not so easy to crawl into bed with a book
Or go off and dream in some quiet little nook.
It seems like you’re totally losing your life
To be a good mother and a submissive wife.

But oh, faithful mother, please do not despair,
In God’s perfect plan you do have a share,
To fulfill your destiny planned from creation
Which is to nurture children and BUILD A NATION!

You’re walking in the footsteps of Jesus your Lord
Who sacrificed all, His life He out-poured,
He didn’t cling to His rights with selfish futility
He didn’t claim any privilege but walked in humility.

He gave up His life to save millions of others,
This principle works in the lives of all mothers,
When you lose your own life you’ll find it again,
A rewarding life, without guilt or shame.

So lift up your head, embrace your calling so high,
You’re in God’s perfect will, there’s no reason to sigh!
You may often feel worthless – don’t listen to this lie,
Your influence goes higher than the clouds in the sky!

As you nurture and train your God-given seed,
As you sharpen these ‘arrows’ by word and by deed,
You shape the nation – you determine its course,
Your mothering’s not wasted, it’s a great mighty force!

As your children leave home and go into the world
The proof of your training will soon be unfurled
You’ll influence countries where you’ve never been,
And down the generations its effect will be seen.

Your work is so powerful, no wonder it’s tough,
But God is behind you, He’s the GOD WHO IS ENOUGH,
His strength and His wisdom He will give to you,
He stands by His promises which are totally true.

He’ll always be with you right through to the end
As you follow His leading and deny the world’s trend,
Each morning you wake, your strength He’ll renew.
He’ll fill your home with His presence and His blessed peace too.

Laundry:

1. Run one load of laundry a day if possible so that it doesn’t pile up and you don’t have to spend an entire day doing it.

2. The expensive detergents are really better.  I know some people have allergies and such and have to buy certain kinds but if you don’t you can use the cheapest detergent and it works just as well.  That’s what I do! 

Grocery Shopping:

1. Make a menu and grocery list before you go

2. Saving Dinner and Kraft have great ideas/menus that you can use for meal planning.

3. Keep a notepad hanging on the side of your fridge and as you run out of things write it down so that you remember to get them all next time you go to the store.

Gifts:

1. Keep a list of what your family/friends like so when it’s time to buy a gift for them you can refer to the list for good ideas.

2. Stock up on good generic gifts when you see them on sale and keep them on hand for when you need them.

Car organization:

(I loved these ideas!  It has made it very handy in the car!)

1. Keep grocery sacks in the car for trash bags or muddy feet.

2. Keep a small basket with items like wipes, hand sanitizer, pens/pencils, etc. for quick and easy use when you need them.

3. Keep insulated grocery bags in the car for when you need to grab things at the store that are cold while running errands.  They usually keep things cold for a couple of hours or more.

Kitchen organization:

1. Keep a large decorative in your kitchen to hold recyclables until they are ready to go outside to the recycling bucket.  It takes up less space than a trash can and looks nicer too.

2. If you are limited in drawer space, get a cute little basket for your potholders – then you have freed up a drawer plus your potholders can sit on the counter in the basket in very easy reach of the oven!

³Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. ⁴Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, ⁵to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

and on the other weeks we had a lesson on some type of homemaking skill.  One of the ones that I loved was on household management.  It gave me some really great ideas for taking care of my home.  The verses for the skill sessions were Proverbs 31:10-31.

One of the most important things we can do is make sure that our husbands feel loved and appreciated when they get home from work.  My husband is a neat freak so one of the ways that I try to show him that I love and appreciate him is by having all of the clutter picked up in the living room and our bedroom before he gets home.  When it was colder outside I would even light some candles to give the house a nice smell and ambiance for when he walked in the door.  Now that it’s warmer outside and still light when he gets home I try to have the windows open for fresh air rather than the candles burning.  I also try to have dinner ready or almost ready by the time he gets here.  That way we can all sit down and eat dinner together and he doesn’t have to wait long if he’s really hungry.  In your home this may look completely different.  You just need to figure out what would make your husband feel loved and appreciated and then do that.

The really cool thing about all of this is that when I started doing all of these things my husband didn’t actually see me doing most of them since he’s at work but he did notice all the little things here and there and I could tell he was happier and more relaxed all the time.  It really did make a difference between us – for the better. 

Another thing they talked about in this lesson was meal planning and grocery shopping.  Many of the things they talked about were things I already put into practice but I did learn a couple of new things.   One important thing to do is always have a menu and meal plan.  Even if you don’t think you can stick by it every day, if you have it there to consult it makes meal time go so much smoother.  One of the ideas that was new to me was using 3×5 index cards and listing breakfast, lunch, and snack ideas on them.  I did that and hung them on the fridge and now I can look at those to get ideas for those meals when I’m not sure what to make.

One more area that really helped me in this lesson was chores for my kids.  They suggested a wonderful idea of having zones for the kids.  I broke their room into seven zones and each day they are responsible for cleaning that zone.  That way, when their room is really messy, they don’t get overwhelmed at the thought of having to spend hours and hours cleaning their room.  If they tackle each area a day it only takes a little bit of time and the room never gets completely out of control.  I will say that I can see a big difference in my daughter’s room on the day that her zone is her floor!    She definitely doesn’t take after her daddy. 

And I actually have a couple of other ideas for posts so you may even see me on here again soon!