Category Archives: Recipes

I remember when I was a kid my mom used to change the arrangement of the furniture and house decor pretty regularly. You never knew when you’d come home to a whole new look.  I liked it!

I guess it really is a woman’s prerogative to change her mind.

I’ve been keeping a journal since I was a kid. Sometimes I look back on the journals and am embarrassed. I keep them to remind myself of God’s grace over all my years of foolishness. But when I started blogging about 7 years ago I basically put my journals out for the world to see. Sometimes I look back at old blog posts and think, “I was a crazy lady!” I don’t delete those old blog posts though, because it reminds me that I am utterly dependent upon the mercy and grace of God. I have been immature and foolish in many of my writings and professions, but God has been faithful and gracious to me!

So I changed the name of my blog today because I’m a woman (smile. sigh. honored). I’m a woman humbled by the merciful refining of my faithful Father. And I’m more aware of the pleasant places the lines have fallen for me in this life. I make a home. I love a husband. I nurture children. I support. I stand by. I feed. I show affection by whipping up something good in the kitchen. I grow in God’s word. I think better when I write. Hence: a homemaker’s meditations.

Here are some good stuff I whipped up this weekend:

Albacore Tuna Fish Tacos

– 4 corn tortillas
– 1 can albacore tuna
– 1 small tomato diced
– 2 T. diced fresh cilantro
– 3 T. diced red onion
– 3 T. mayo
– juice from 1/2 lime

Mix 1 can of tuna with mayo, onion, tomatoes, cilantro and lime juice.  Heat corn tortillas until slightly crisped in a tablespoon of oil.  Scoop 3 T. tuna mix into corn tortilla.  Enjoy!

Gluten Free Chocolate Chocolate Chip Almond Butter Cookies
 (inspired by this recipe at How Sweet It Is)

This is a delicious, rustic, salty, chocolaty, not-too-sweet cookie that satisfies my chocolate craving and is just plain yummy!

– 2 c. brown rice flour
– 1/2 c. white rice flour
– 1/2 c. tapioca flour
– 1/2 c. almond meal
– pinch of xanthan gum
– 3 T. cocoa powder
– 1/2 t. baking soda
– 1/4 t. salt
– 1/2 c. softened butter
– 6 T. creamy natural almond butter
– 1/2 c. honey
– 2 ripened mashed bananas
– 1 egg yoke
– 2 tsp. vanilla extract
– handful of crushed almonds
– 1 pkg semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl. Set aside. Mix butter, almond butter, honey, bananas, egg yoke and vanilla.  Slowly mix in dry ingredients. Fold in almonds and chocolate chips. Spoon tablespoon sized scoops onto cookie sheet. Press to slightly flatten.  Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Rest on cookie sheet for 3-5 minutes before removing to plate. 

Sweet Mashed Yams

WARNING! I’VE NEVER WRITTEN OUT THIS RECIPE BEFORE (except to give to
my sweet sister) SO PLEASE ADJUST TO YOUR PERSONAL TASTE AS YOU GO!

4-6 yams or sweet potatoes peeled and diced into large chunks (about 1 inch
chunks)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 stick butter
a couple dashes of cinnamon
salt to taste

Boil diced yams in large pot of salted water until tender when pierced with
fork (about 20 minutes). While yams are boiling melt together the brown
sugar, cream and cinnamon over medium heat. Drain yams when their
done. Add butter and 1/4c. melted sugar/cream/cinnamon mixture to
yams. Mash to desired consitency. Serve remaining cream/sugar sauce
on the side so your guests can to turn your yams into desert by pouring more of
the sweet mixture on top of their yams! 🙂

Homemade Dinner Rolls

(from Donna West at All Recipes.com)

**I DID THIS RECIPE BY HAND NOT WITH A BREAD MACHINE… IT BAKED A LITTLE
LESS THAN 10 MINUTES**

1/2 c. warm water
1/2 c. warm milk
1 egg
1/3 c. butter, softened
1/3 c. white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1/4 cup butter softened

Place water, milk, egg, 1/3 cup butter, sugar, salt, flour, and yeast in
the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer (I
mixed the yeast in the warm water, milk, and sugar first. Then added the
butter and dry ingredients which I mixed together in a seperate bowl. I
then mixed and needed the dough until it was soft and springy. Then I went
on with the rest of the recipe.)

Turn dough out onto slightly floured surface. Divide dough in
half. Roll each half into a 12 inch circle, spread 1/4 cup softened butter
over entire round. Cut each circle into 8 wedges. Roll wedges
starting at wide end; roll gently but tightly. Place point side down on
ungreased cookie sheet. Cover with clean kitched towel and put in a warm
place (here’s a secret I learned about the “warm place” that I can never seem to
find when I want to rise dough. Boil a pot of water. Put it in the
bottom of your oven. Put the dough you want to rise in a dish on the rack
in the oven.) Let rise for 1 hour. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400
degrees. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until
golden.

I don’t know about you but I start running dry on how many ways to cook chicken legs/thighs about every two weeks.

I use google to search for recipes all the time.

Lately I’ve been on a soup kick. I thought I’d share the links to a few of the recipes I’ve made lately. They’ve been deee lish!

• Banana Banana Bread (I know, that’s not soup! But I had some really ripe bananas that needed usin’) Really, really yummy! The loaf was gone by the end of the day!
• The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies (Okay, I know, we’re still not talkin soup!) My kids always ask for sugar cookies when we go into Walmart so I promised I’d make ’em some. And they were a hit! I’m still a Chocolate Chip cookie gal, but these are really scrumptious too!
• Lentil Soup– I didn’t make this exactly according to the recipe. I used regular canola oil instead of olive oil. I used regular table salt instead of kosher salt. I used a can of chopped tomatoes instead of fresh tomatoes. And I didn’t use any of the grains of paradise (I have no idea where to find that!). But the soup still turned out really well! I loved it. My kids wouldn’t touch it, but my husband thought it was tasty too! I give it 4 stars out of 5!
• Ultimate Great Northern Beans– I also did some substituting with this one. I used canned chopped tomatoes instead of ro-tel. I used have a package of chopped up bacon instead of the pork jowl. I thought it turned out very, very yummy and so did my husband. I thought it tasted like a MUCH better, homemade version of Campbell’s bean and bacon soup. The kids, again, not much for soups I don’t think unless it’s Ramen. I’m gonna have to work on broadening their taste-scape.
• Split Pea Soup– I just made this last night. Here are my substitutes: I didn’t use a leak. I couldn’t see paying $4 for a vegetable! I just can’t do it! Instead of the herb bouquet I used 4 cloves of garlic crushed, 2 bay leaves, 1 teaspoon of ground thyme, and 2 teaspoons of dry parsley flakes. I just took out the bay leaves at the end of cooking. I also used two smoked ham neck bones rather than the two ham hocks. It gave a nice smoky flavor to the soup. But I had to really be sure to strain the soup well at the end to get any floating bones out. My husband hasn’t tried this one yet, he’s not much for split pea, but I’m thoroughly enjoying it! I did get my oldest to try it and, drumroll please… HE LIKES IT!!!

What about you? Got any recipes or recipe links you want to share?