Moms Play A Serious Role In The Family

  We have all heard the saying 'The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world", yet, it hasn't seemed to register with most of us. Either that, or we really do not believe that to be true.


  Does media control the ideas of society, or is it the other way around? Is there advertising that is making women believe that it is more admirable to have a career than it is to stay home with the children?


  Years ago, I remember reading something written by the 'experts' who would say that children who live in a home where parents are divorced are not affected by the divorce. Why would they not see the effects of divorce? Could it be because there are lawyers and attorneys who capitalize on people who do not get along with each other? Instead of helping a man and woman take steps to reconciliation, there just seems to be this drive to provide the divorce. After all, lots of money comes from a divorce. Nobody wants that kind of income to be threatened.

  Well, the point of what I am writing is this; today we have a society made up of people who don't seem to know their left hand from their right hand. People do not appear to have been taught how to think for themselves. No one ever taught them how to regard what is right. They were not taught how to separate the truth from the lies. They may not have been taught how to balance a check book. They might not even been taught how to get ready to have a career and to provide for themselves and their families.

  I see people crossing the street without even looking for oncoming traffic. Something is wrong with this picture. I believe it is due to the fact that adults do not want to do hard things. Society, along with the lies of the media, tell women that they need that career to be a complete person. I am not personally against women working or having a career. But I am concerned when a woman becomes a mom, and chooses to leave her baby with someone else in order to keep up with her career. (I know many have to work to help pay the bills. I am referring to those who choose to work vs. needing to work).

   A mom's value and role is serious. The Bible says that a child left to himself brings his mother to shame. The Bible has a lot to say about the roles of parents.

   How easy it is for us to skip over the part of mothering. We listen to the media and think that being at home is boring and a waste of time. There are reasons why this happens, but we need to look at the Scriptures and see what the word says.

   The question isn't is it wrong for a woman who has children to have a career? The question should be, is the woman who is a mother, taking time to train and nurture her children? If she can do that and have a career at the same time, more power to her! If she has to make a choice between her job or staying home with the children, which would she take if she had to decide on either one or the other?

   We have mindless adults living around us today. No one took the time to prepare them for life. Where was mom? Sure, some children were orphaned and have only a father to care for them. He has to provide for the family and can't take time with the children. But that is not usually the case. Many parents today are simply irresponsible.

   The alternative for many, sadly is to go to the clinic and get an abortion, when the pregnancy test turns out positive. But is this really an answer to the dilemma?

   God asks us to do hard things. But He gives us the power, strength, and wisdom, if we want it. If we resist God and want to continue to be irresponsible, then we will suffer. But it will not only be us, it will be our children as well. And our grandchildren, if they should ever arrive.

   God commanded us to procreate. He also gives us His word, and His Spirit, so we can know how to raise our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. God can help us and give us wisdom in every situation. He will be with us and desires to help us. But if we want to be in control, we will not have God's wisdom and strength to do what is right.

Here is a description of an ambitious woman, blessed by God:

An excellent wife who can find?*
She is far more precious than jewels.
  The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
  She does him good, and not harm,
all the days of her life.
  She seeks wool and flax,
and works with willing hands.
  She is like the ships of the merchant;
she brings her food from afar.
  She rises while it is yet night
and provides food for her household
and portions for her maidens.
  She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
  She dresses herself with strength
and makes her arms strong.
  She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
Her lamp does not go out at night.
  She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her hands hold the spindle.
  She opens her hand to the poor
and reaches out her hands to the needy.
  She is not afraid of snow for her household,
for all her household are clothed in scarlet.
  She makes bed coverings for herself;
her clothing is fine linen and purple.
  Her husband is known in the gates
when he sits among the elders of the land.
  She makes linen garments and sells them;
she delivers sashes to the merchant.
  Strength and dignity are her clothing,
and she laughs at the time to come.
   She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
   She looks well to the ways of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
   Her children rise up and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
   “Many women have done excellently,
but you surpass them all.”
   Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
   Give her of the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the gates.

  This is not a woman who is 'out to lunch' so to speak. This woman is intentional. She has goals. She loves her family. She even does work outside the home! Her children are well taken care of. They will not grow up to be mindless adults. They will have wisdom that only comes from God when they grow up and have their own families. 

    We are a generation of foolish people. We do not fear God. We listen to what society thinks and what society expects. We can only do what is right, if we have the 'mind of Christ'. That is what we need to have, then we will have an eternal perspective. We will see that there are consequences for wrong decisions. We will pass that on to our children and they will pass that on to their children.  

* Proverbs 31:10-31 ESV

How To Make Whipped Cream

Some of you will probably think this is redundant, for anyone who knows anything should know how to make whipped cream. But does everyone really know how to make whipped cream? Maybe someone eyes up the luscious topping on ice cream and puddings but is afraid (or embarrassed) to ask.

Well, if you are just starting out in your homemaking skills or if you are a veteran homemaker of many years, here is something you may never have thought of making yourself. It is fairly easy to make whipped cream too!

Homemade Whipped Cream

1 pint heavy cream (or whipping cream)
Powdered sugar

For better whipping, freeze heavy cream for no more than 20 minutes. You can freeze the mixing bowl too, if desired.

Take the whipping cream and put it in a mixing bowl. Beat it on high speed until stiff peaks form. However, be careful to not let it go too long for it could turn into butter!

Add powdered sugar to taste. You can also make your own powdered sugar by putting granulated sugar in a blender and blending it at a high speed.

I always use organic products, and it might be hard to find organic powdered sugar, although I did see it somewhere for sale. It is not necessary to use organic products to make whipped cream with though. You can just use the confectionary sugar sold in the stores, if you prefer.

I think you would probably use around 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, but again, it is what your taste buds prefer. You don't need a whole lot to sweeten the whipped cream.

Place on item you are making or put in a bowl or jar and place in the refrigerator. Use when needed. You may also want to cover the whipped cream if you are storing it in the refrigerator. If the whipped cream is not mixed well enough, it will probably turn to liquid again.

Whipped Cream adds a nice touch to desserts
and drinks

Why Your Kitchen Is Too Small

I hesitate to write this because I know it will be long. But it has been on my heart for many years, even before blogging became popular.

You see, your kitchen is small because of a philosophical reason, tied in with cultural preferences. I will attempt to explain with as few words as possible. I promise.

We were talking about things we complain about in a group last Sunday. One of the women said she complains about her kitchen being too small. I had to agree. That was my complaint as well. I'm sure it is a common complaint among women in America today.

But why are our kitchens so small? Let's go back several years, like 60+ years or more.

Back in the olden days, when people still feared the Lord and respected His word, women took on the task of being homemakers. Women had a lot of work to do and were very responsible in their careers of building their homes. They took their 'job' very seriously.

I don't intend on making a case against women working outside the home. Many women today, have to work outside the home for a number of reasons. But, a couple of generations back, it was not so. Women stayed at home with the children. They didn't just babysit their kids until the kids were grown. The moms spent a lot of time teaching their children about life. They taught them right from wrong. Children got spanked when they did wrong. Training children and serving our husbands was a lot of work. But then something happened in the mid to late 20th Century.

I don't know who to blame and the point isn't to put the blame on anyone, and there were probably a multitude of different reasons for this happening, but, women in more recent generations, grew weary of staying home with children and cleaning house. They wanted something more 'meaningful'. They wanted to bring an income in too, so they could add nice things to the home and their children would be assured of having nice clothing and lots of toys to play with.

The moms got tired of the 'housewife' stigma. Many went to college and got a degree. We were becoming a prosperous nation and people were having two or three cars now. No more need for carpooling or having to take the husband to work so she could have a car for the day. People were putting in pools. All these nice things were requiring an added income to the family. There was not so much a need for a job or career as much as there was the desire for one. Plus, some moms just could not stay inside a house. It drove them crazy!

So, we have a generation of people who wanted more, wanted prestige, and didn't want to sit at home playing games and reciting nursery rhymes to children. Instead, we would pay someone else to do the housework and babysit the children while mom goes to work. But what was the trade-off for all this?

Today, to live in a home or apartment, it requires the income of both the man and the woman. Couples aren't able to have children simply because they can't afford them. It is too expensive to live. It requires both the man and the woman to have jobs to pay for the bare necessities, many times.

What does this have to do with small kitchens though? When a house is being built, before the building process takes place, the plans have to be made. An architect has to be consulted and he or she has to come up with the design of the house. They have to keep in mind what people want and need. Now, there are homes that are custom made and that is ideal. The drawback is, someone else may not want the home you designed out of the needs of your family. So, when a house is being planned, they have to consider what people want. Do people want big kitchens? Would people even know what to do in a kitchen today, if they had one?

Because women have to have jobs and careers today that are outside of the home, it creates a difficult situation for her at home. Because society so strongly emphasizes convenience, it is easy for a woman to go to a store on the way home from work, and pick up dinner. Or, she can just get the meal out of a can or some boxes of prepared food.

I believe this is how most of America works today. Take for example, making spaghetti sauce or mashed potatoes. Did you know you could make your own spaghetti sauce? It is not necessary to buy it in a jar. Many have no idea that a person can actually make their own food instead of buying it already made and packaged. What's the trade-off?

Canned and boxed food lacks nourishment, plus it is full of additives, many of which are harmful to our bodies. We were not designed to eat packaged food. We were designed to eat fresh food from farms or even our own back yards.

A couple of generations back, people did not have supermarkets to go to. There were meat markets and vegetable stands, which is where many got their food from. It takes a lot of room to prepare all this food though. Plus it takes time. There is very little recognition of how much work goes into preparing a good, healthful meal. But if we want our family members to be healthy, we must work at preparing food that is nourishing.

This is why I believe that our kitchens are small today. We basically don't need them because there are enough fast food restaurants and even delis in the stores where we can pick up our meals today. We can just throw the cans and boxes away when we are finished, and we don't need to store extra items on our shelves because everything is already in the box, except the water or milk, if that is even needed. Cleanup is a lot easier as well.

So, with that in mind, with all the trade-offs, which do you prefer? A small kitchen that is used mainly as a place to store prepared foods that are picked up at the grocery store or fast food restaurant, or, a large kitchen with enough room to store appliances and ingredients to make healthful meals with? You be the judge.

The way houses are built today, we would not have enough
room to store all this food.

Homemade Gingerbread Cookies

Here is a recipe I originally found in a magazine many years ago. I make these cookies, mainly at Christmas time, but I also make them periodically throughout the year. Instead of using white or brown sugar in my recipes, I use coconut sugar. Feel free to use whichever one you desire.

Homemade Gingerbread Cookies

3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
3/4 cup coconut sugar*
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
Red hots**, licorice strings, currants, raisins, crushed candy canes for decoration (optional)

  Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in a small bowl. Set aside.   Place sugar and softened butter in a mixing bowl and mix until creamy and smooth.*** Add molasses and egg and continue to blend until well combined.
   Remove dough from bowl and form into a flat disk. Cover with plastic wrap or parchment paper. Chill for at least 2 hours.
   Remove dough from refrigerator and preheat over to 350 degrees. Lightly grease baking sheets.****
   Roll out dough to about 1/8" thickness on a floured board or countertop. Cut out cookies according to desired shapes and decorate as desired. Place cookies on baking sheets about an inch apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool. Carefully remove from cookie sheets onto waxed paper or a plate.

Homemade Gingerbread Cookies

* Use whatever sugar you prefer or have on hand. The original recipe calls for brown sugar. If you do not have brown sugar on hand, you can make your own by adding molasses to white sugar. Add about a teaspoon or two to a cup of sugar. Add more if you want darker brown sugar.

** I get my Red Hots at Dollar Tree. I'm sure that you can find them in other places. Some brands do not have the same quality of cinnamon heat in them so try the ones you have available to you first. If you are pleased with them, just stick with that brand.

*** I used a hand mixer when I first made this recipe and just about burned the motor out. I would recommend using a stand mixer if you have one. 

**** I always keep a little crock of butter out for greasing pans and bowls with. Another good product is a shortening put out by Nutiva. I use this one a lot.

These cookies go fast. They are not hard to make and are sure to please everyone who looks at them!

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My New Waffle Iron - Safe And Easy To Use

I got this waffle iron a while ago, so I can't really say that it is all that new, but, it is the newest one I have, plus the best one I have ever had.

This one is easy to clean and the ceramic coating is the special feature I like about this waffle iron. No more Teflon in my food!

I got mine from amazon.com. I noticed that there are other ceramic waffle irons as well. I had been looking for something that doesn't have the non-stick coating on it. Someone suggested ceramic and I found this one. It works very well too.




This one is almost identical to the one I have. I love it and would recommend it to anyone looking for a decent and safe waffle iron. It is easy to clean.

There are many recipes for waffles on the Internet if you do a search for them. You can even find sourdough waffle recipes!

Never Put Water On A Grease Fire

House fires used to be way more common than they are today, but they still happen. Houses still burn down, even today, with all our technology that is supposed to protect our homes.

Here is a video explaining what happens when you put water on a grease fire.

Just saw this and thought it was pretty awesome. Also, it provides another good 'in the way guy' moment. If I was any good at video editing, I would totally edit him into other people's gifs.

Not all fires have the same reason for starting. We have electrical fires, grease fires, and fires due to carelessness. Occasionally, a fire can start when the lint is built up inside the lint filter.

If your oven catches on fire, shut the oven door and turn the oven off. You may be able to contain the fire inside the oven.

Make sure you take the lint off the lint filter in the dryer. I have seen 2 houses that burned down because the owners left the dryer going while they were gone.

If the fire is in the kitchen, I have heard that using flour can help put the fire out. I have also heard of using salt, but I don't know how you would do this.

Besides serious burns from a fire, the most destructive thing about a fire is the smoke. Birds are very sensitive to anything that is irritating to the lungs. They must never come in contact with smoke, but neither should we. Smoke inhalation is very damaging if not fatal, even to human beings.

If a fire is spreading quickly in your home, the best thing to do is call 911 immediately. Never leave cooking appliances on while not at home.

If you have a live Christmas tree in the house, use cool lights on it and make sure the tree is well watered.

Have a safe holiday season this year.

Tip On Protecting Glass From Breaking While Cooking

This might seem a little silly, but maybe it really isn't. I was taught from a young age, never to pour hot liquid into a cold bowl or cup, if it is made out of glass. Of course, I didn't always remember this and I have to be honest and tell you that I did break a couple of glass items simply because I forgot at the moment!

This rule obviously will also apply to the reverse; never pour cold water into a glass bowl or cup that is hot. The same thing will happen. The glass item will break.

Some of us have to learn the hard way. Not everyone was taught this. But now you have no excuse if you decide (or forget) that differing temperatures can cause glass to break! Keep this in mind next time you are tempted to pour hot or cold liquid into something made of glass.

Even a slow cooker you have to be careful with. I was doing that today, and did remember that there is a possibility that the crock could break if the cool water hits it. I poured the water on the items that were cooking so at least the water would hit the food before it gets to the crock. Everything turned out fine and the crock did not break.