Fruitful Homemaker

03/30/2022

Here’s another reminder to make time for quiet time with the Lord. A reminder I need quite often.

In Elisabeth’s book Keep a Quiet Heart she writes, “...you have to plan it. It won’t “just happen.” We’re all much too busy. Early morning is best…If you meet the Lord before you meet anybody else, you’ll be “pointed in the right direction” for whatever comes.” Set a goal to go to bed earlier and it will be . helpful to rise early!

An encouragement from Elisabeth, “Make up your mind to stick with it. Make it short to begin with-fifteen minutes or so, perhaps. You’ll be surprised at how soon you’ll be wanting more.” Later she writes, “You’ll be amazed at what a difference a quiet time will make in your life.”

Work on making this a priority in your life. Waking up early takes discipline, it's a challenge. Pray for strength and determination to do this knowing it is one of the most profitable things you can do for you and your family.

03/25/2022

This bread recipe from Nancy Wilson is splendid. It has been used mostly as sandwich bread in our household and the batch makes so many loaves that it is great to give to friends too!

At the end when putting the dough into pans I was nervous there would not be enough dough to last for six of them but the bread rises so wonderfully you can easily make six good sized loaves.

When we are having families over to our house, I usually try to make extra loaves of bread to give to each family when they leave! I will either bake the bread the day before or the morning of the meal. It’s been my way of saying thank you to those who come and spend their time with us fellowshiping! This recipe makes it easy to have enough loaves in one batch for everyone!

Enjoy!

03/22/2022

New podcast episode with Mary Beeke available now wherever you listen to podcasts and also on video on YouTube ♥️ 🎙

Do your children exhaust you? Have you found yourself finishing their chores because it’s, well, easier than getting them to do them? If so, this book will give you new energy, and your household new harmony. This book will help your children develop a good work ethic.

https://fruitfulhomemaker.buzzsprout.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcpRqCq0TVs

03/17/2022

You can’t fake kindness for too long.

This verse reminds me of Matthew 15:18, “...what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart…” We find it much easier to be kind in public when our reputation is on the line but at home our families see our genuine hearts most often.

In Mary Beeke’s book, The Law of Kindness, she writes “Our children must feel our love and affection. As parents, we need to express it in words and actions. The manner in which we display our love changes with the age of our children, but affection is life-long. Start young and never stop.”

The way we engage and talk to our children and spouse shows a direct line to our heart. How easy it is to snip and say something cruel or react unlovingly when we are angry or hurt inside. It takes much effort to not speak or act in the way we are feeling at the moment but to have words of wisdom and kindness pour out.

Mary writes, “From the thoughts flow the words and actions. You can’t say “I love you!” too much. It is a good thing to get used to. If you don’t get in the habit of it at a young age, it will be very difficult to say even when you really want to. Let your hugs and kisses and cuddling flow as well.”

What a good reminder. Let’s pray for kindness to be on our tongues and most importantly in our hearts.

03/15/2022

Recently I was asked about what idols are in the Christian life..what they are, how to spot them, and how to turn away from them but I really had no good answer because I honestly wasn’t sure myself.

We all have idols but how do I acknowledge and turn from idols in my life and help others if I don’t have a solid understanding about them. Christina Fox’s book Idols of a Mother’s Heart has been a wonderful resource along with Idols of the Heart by Elyse Fitzpatrick.

In Christina’s book she writes, “...We put God in a hierarchy. We often worship God plus something else. We put our hope and trust in God plus a better job. We seek after God plus a fulfilling relationship. We find our meaning in God plus motherhood. But God alone is the one true God. He will not share the throne of our heart with anything or anyone else.”

An idol can be in the form of seeking an unhealthy relationship with a person with the hope it fills something inside yourself you feel God cannot at the moment. Control is another. How often do we want something to go exactly the way we plan in our minds to feel safe and comforted, forgetting that the Lord is the only one truly in control of the situation regardless if it turns out the way we want.

As we begin to recognize idols in our lives, we can give them to the Lord and ask Him for growth in this area so we may worship Him alone and not in things of this world.

03/08/2022

What a joy it was to talk with Kathy Reeg, the President of The Elisabeth Elliot foundation. She is a wealth of knowledge and has such a warm, kind spirit. The first time we had a conversation on the phone we spent over an hour and a half talking not just about Elisabeth but she gave such wonderful advice on mothering and raising children in the faith.

I hope you enjoy this episode where we discuss Elisabeth’s life as a whole and how helpful she is to women pursuing biblical womanhood.

We did have a technical issue where only a small portion of our interview was recorded so the episode is shorter than our normal episodes. I hope to do another episode on Elisabeth Elliot soon!

03/07/2022

Here is the recipe from the podcast episode with Ms. Kalen! I will be honest this one has taken many tries to get right and still sometimes it doesn’t turn out the way I’d like.

Sourdough takes a lot of trial and error so try not to get frustrated if it takes a few more tries to get right. What I like to do is right down the exact measurements and steps I took with the bread and then see what I could change here and there to try out next time.

So far I have added a fourth cup more of starter, one and three-fourths cup of water, and I sift my bread flour when adding it to the bowl to help with any clumps that can form.

The taste and texture of this bread will be different from your typical sourdough recipe. This one is baked in loaf pans, the inside is moist, and outside is soft and buttery.

Watch the video and/or join me on my Instagram stories to see how to make the starter and dough! The starter is saved on my highlights to my Instagram page!

03/03/2022

There is nothing like the time spent during the calm and peaceful mornings in prayer and scripture before the day begins. You don’t realize how needed this time is until you start with it each day. Whether you are preparing for work or for taking care of your children, time with God beforehand is essential.

Jerry Bridges writes in his book, True Community, “The morning quiet time lays the foundation for our all-day communion with God because it tunes our hearts to commune with Him for the rest of the day. It is a time when we can concentrate all our faculties on worshipping Him in reverent adoration. It is a time when we can give undivided attention to His Word and talk to Him in prayer. It is significant that the Lord Jesus, who was the only one to ever experience unbroken fellowship with the Father, deemed it important to begin His day in prayer. If He felt the need of it, how much more should we!”

There is a need for children to have rest or quiet time during the day. It is a time to unwind, relax, and prepare for the rest of the day. Without it, children tend to be more prone to exhaustion. At least mine do! I feel that way if I don’t get quiet time with the Lord. I am more likely to be impatient and short tempered.

Aren’t we already prone enough to our sinful nature? Jerry writes, “Intense, organized prayer alone with God in the morning prepares us to breathe those quick, silent prayers that are needed so often during the day.”

The short silent prayers reminds me of a chapter in Karen Andreola’s book, Mother Culture, where she writes about a mother who would leave a bible open in the house on a buffet she walked past often. During the day, she would glance and read while on her way to do whatever was needed.

That is how I desire to be mindful of the day. By giving the Lord my full attention in the morning and doing small but impactful things like leaving a bible open to read, praying prayers to help through difficult moments, and praising God for the blessings during the day.

I hope this encourages you to set your day up focused on the Lord and it would be a blessing to you!

03/01/2022

Our hearts and minds can be so easily distracted by what the world seems to offer us. Paul reminds the Colossians that they used to live by the world, as we did before the Lord saved us, but they must put away things like sexual immortality, anger, obscene talk, slander, lying, etc and put on their new self made by God.

In Colossians 3:12-14 he writes, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

We have the strong pull to do good works out of selfish ambition and pride. Paul writes in Colossians 3:17, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

In your patience, kindness, and good works remember to do them for the Lord. Remember they are His good deeds and His fruit bearing in your life. I encourage you to read over this chapter, study it, and pray for the Lord to enable His good work to blossom in your life for your good and His glory.

02/25/2022

It took me 3-4 tries on my own before I finally got this recipe right and the bread tasting good.

This is not your typical sourdough bread. It is made in loaf form and is moister than regular sourdough. This recipe comes from Kalen’s grandma’s old church cookbook made from a woman named Betty. Kalen’s family believes this recipe is over 100 years old and have changed some ingredients and amounts. Kalen’s grandparents have made it for many years and now Kalen makes it on a weekly basis.

This starter is pretty simple but takes some effort in planning when to feed it and when you can make your bread. I usually write down each feeding date in a notebook I keep in the kitchen and keep track of when I need to feed it next to keep the starter alive! Tomorrow I will be making this starter on my Instagram story if you’d like to follow along!

The potato flakes are found from packaged instant mashed potatoes! You have to get the original, non flavored flakes. I keep them in a storage container in the pantry so they will stay fresh longer.

I will be posting the bread recipe on March 4th so that should give you the time needed to complete the starter beforehand!

02/22/2022

I have been so excited to share this episode! Kalen has been such a wonderful friend in my life since moving down to Arkansas with a lot of wisdom and recipes to share.

One of my goals with this podcast is to not only share biblical wisdom from ladies in the faith but also share practical homemaking tips, ideas, and recipes so I hope you enjoy this episode!

I will be posting the recipe for the starter of this potato flake sourdough this Friday with the recipe for the dough next Friday because it takes nine days total for the starter to be ready for bread-making.

Saturday morning of this week I will post a story of making the starter and will go through the entire process so you can see it done in real time.

I hope you enjoy!

In this special episode, I learn how to make Potato Flake Sourdough Bread with a good friend from my Church. We walk through all the steps from making your f...

02/11/2022

One of my favorite breakfast foods is quiche! This is another recipe where you can add in many different elements to your liking. The amount of eggs, the type of cheese, veggies, and pie crust are up to you and your family’s taste.

I labeled this with the prep level of medium because of the time it takes to cook the meat and veggies but it is very simple! If you buy gouda cheese in the block form you will have to take the time to shred it but the last time we made this we used shredded colby jack and it was equally as good (and took less time)! Goat cheese adds a unique flavor as well!

The cooking time is right, 42 minutes. My husband doesn’t like when the top is too crisp so it has been trial and error to find the right cook time after taking the tin foil off. 12 minutes has been the sweet spot between not too crisp but not too jiggly. The egg amount took time to figure out as well. With using a pie crust, 10 eggs hit right below the top of the crust and doesn’t flow overtop. 12 eggs was too much. If you are making a crustless quiche the less eggs you use the more dense it will become. One of my friends' husbands does not like moist eggs so 6 eggs works best for them. It might take a few tries to get this one right for you but once you do, it will be a favorite!

Also, I forgot to add, adding a 1/2 cup to 1 cup of half and half or heavy cream makes your quiche nice and fluffy!

My dear friend Elysia showed me how to make a quiche a while ago and I remember she said, “just add in whatever veggies you have in the fridge, it will turn out great!” She recently made one with artichoke and it was amazing, try it! We have made quiches multiple times for families that have stayed overnight because it can be prepped the night before and popped into the oven in the morning. I hope this recipe may be a blessing to you, enjoy!