Posts by Rachel Spoelhof
Trash or Treasure?
I know that it is important to not hold too tightly to our earthly possessions. It can be both healing and helpful to de-clutter and organize our homes, but I wanted to share that there is value in saving a few special items.
My mom is one of those people that likes to keep things. This means that we got to be the fun house with loads of dress up clothes perfect for theme parties and high school dances. I have so many wonderful memories of rifling through our dress up trunks. Over the past 2.5 years that I’ve been a mom, she has been able to give me a few items of clothing from my and my sisters’ childhood. It has been really special to dress Ellie and Hanna in clothes that we used to wear.
A few weeks ago she brought some new treasures to share. Among the bounty was a pair of 1980s jazz outfits that Jess and I wore for a recital when we danced. The girls were so excited when I presented them with the new dress up outfits. We proceeded to have an epic dance party with lots of fun posing for pictures.
I hope this post will encourage those of you that have a few things you want to hold on to. It might seem like trash or clutter, but one day it could be someone’s treasure!!
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Mexican Summer Salad
When the summer days warm up, a great option for an easy dinner is this delicious and nutritious Mexican Summer Salad.
Ingredients
1 (15 oz) can sweet corn, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
½ red pepper diced
½ cucumber diced
2 cloves garlic minced
3 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
¼ cup fresh squeezed lime juice
¼ cup olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
Optional: 1 tomato chopped and 1 avocado cut into small pieces
Drain cans of beans and corn and add all the remaining ingredients. Stir and chill at least an hour or until ready to serve. You can serve this as a side dish with quesadillas or barbecued meat. We cooked up some seasoned ground meat and had a build your own Mexican dinner salad picnic with lettuce, meat, salsa and chips.
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4th of July Strawberry & Blueberry Shortcake
Our favorite holiday treat has become this easy strawberry and blueberry shortcake. I can’t wait to serve it to our family and friends today, this 4th of July. It is simply Bisquick shortcake and fresh strawberries and blueberries, topped with your favorite whipped cream or vanilla ice cream!
4th of July Strawberry & Blueberry Shortcake
Shortcake (made from the back of a Bisquick box!)
serves 6
2 1/3 cups biscuit mix (I used Bisquick brand)
1/2 cup milk
3 TBS sugar
3 TBS butter, melted
Toppings (personally, the fruit is my favorite part, so the more the better!!!)
1 quart (4 cups) Fresh strawberries, rinsed and sliced
6 oz. Fresh blueberries, rinsed
Whipped Cream
If you like your strawberries sweet, mix them with 1/4 cup sugar and set aside.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a separate bowl mix biscuit mix, milk, sugar, and butter until soft dough forms. Drop 6 spoonfuls of dough on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes.
Let shortcakes cool. Split open and top with strawberries, blueberries, and whipped cream. Enjoy your yummy patriotic dessert!
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Read MoreRed, White, and Blue Felt Garland
Just in time for the 4th of July, here is a fun and easy festive craft to decorate your mantle.
I was inspired by this paper garland I bought from Target, and thought it would be fun to make my own red, white, and blue garland for a little USA spirit!
Red, White, and Blue Felt Garland
Supplies I Used:
1 Red 9″ x 12″ felt rectangle
1 White 9″ x 12″ felt rectangle
1 Blue 9″ x 12″ felt rectangle
Ruler
Single hole punch
Fiskars soft touch sewing scissors
Star stencil
3/4in stencil brush
White and glitter fabric paint
Red polyester trim 3/8in/9.5mm
Black sharpie pen for marking
Instructions:
1. Cut out three 4″ x 6″ rectangle from each color felt. You should have a total of 9 felt rectangles.
2. Cut an isosceles triangle shape in the bottom of each rectangle on a 4″ side. The two equal sides should measure 2 1/2″ long and cut 1 1/2″ up.
3. Now you will stencil a star on each of your three blue felt pieces. I arranged my star where I liked it and used blue tape to secure the stencil on the table under the felt piece. Try not to tape on the felt because it will pull. I mixed white fabric paint with glitter fabric paint on a plate and painted the star using my stencil brush. Allow time to dry.
4. Next, you need to punch holes in the felt. I punched two holes at the top of each rectangle 1 cm down from the top and 1/2″ in from each side.
5. I cut my ribbon 84″ long (based on the side of my mantle), and I spaced each felt piece about 3″ apart with 12″ left on each end to secure to my mantle.…
Read MoreSlow Days
I like to fill my time with lots of activities to get us out of the house and tire out the kids. Although a busy schedule does yield fairly consistent naps and tired kids, it also leads to a tired mommy and little spare time to just enjoy each other.
Today I decided not to schedule anything and to just take it easy with the girls. We didn’t rush to breakfast – I let the girls play with each other for a while and we read books until they asked to eat. We didn’t rush to finish breakfast – We took our time and once they were done I let them watch a show while I actually cleaned up!! We had no time frame, so although we did go out to run one errand, I had time to treat them to a little snack after our shopping for their good behavior.
I’m not going to say that this was an easy day. Actually, it was pretty tough. Ellie did not nap at all and decided when I asked her to do things that she would reply, “No, I disobey.” It wasn’t pretty. However, I did really enjoy watching the girls interact with each other and had fun joining in their play time.
I still like my busy days and activities that get us out of the house, but I realized how important it is to balance the busy days and the slow days.
Every time I’m out with the girls someone has to come up and tell me this time when they are little goes by fast.
So let’s try and take the time together to really cherish our kids with no agenda and no schedule. (At least every once in a while!).
What are your favorite activities to do …
Read MoreTidbits of Encouragement
This past weekend my sister invited me to attend her church’s annual women’s retreat. It was a wonderful weekend of encouragement and fellowship. If you have never been on a women’s retreat before I highly recommend it!
I wanted to share a few of my favorite tidbits of encouragement from the speaker, Margaret Ashmore.
The main idea of the weekend was that the joy of our salvation should be on our hearts every day. Margaret said, “the more I have of Jesus on the inside, the less I need on the outside.” We are driven by so many needs: the need for acceptance, unconditional love, and security. Nothing in this world can satisfy these needs, only God can meet our needs!
C.S. Lewis once said, “To what will you look for help if you will not look to that which is stronger than yourself?” We must let our needs drive us to God because only he can satisfy the desires of our heart.
The only way to have more of Jesus on the inside is to spend time with him through prayer, devotions, and quiet times of waiting and listening for his voice. This is the main point I took away from the weekend. I have made a new goal to start every day with Jesus so that no matter what I encounter, I know that he is with me guiding my steps.
I hope that you feel encouraged by these tidbits. I would also challenge you to make time every day for Jesus. Start there. Make the time for him and he will find you!
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Read MoreSummer Strollin’ – Keeping Kids Cool in the Stroller
As the days are getting much hotter in my area, I’ve been searching for ways to keep my kids cool in the stroller during my workout classes or while I’m getting exercise.
I’ve come up with a small list, and I would love to hear things that work for you!!
Keeping Cool in the Stroller:
1 – Make Bekah’s DIY Rice Filled Hot/Cold pack. I asked a few essential oil experts and they recommended a cooling oil like peppermint, any mint oils, sweet orange, or lavender as a calming oil for a cool pack.
2 – A clip on stroller fan. I recently purchased one of these, although I might return it. Many parent reviews said the fans do not work well to move the air around the kiddos.
3 – If you don’t want to craft something yourself, I found an Etsy shop with a variety of cooling products for you (and your pets) to wear.
4 – Spray bottles or Misting Fans. When I think of this idea I imaging it going to ways: 1. Great! My kids love water and would have a blast spraying themselves, or 2. My not-always-loving girls spraying each other, taking each other’s bottles, spraying themselves in the eyes…this list could go on and on.
5 – Cool snacks. Frozen grapes, watermelon, orange slices, melon balls, frozen blueberries, and cold cuties.
6 – Cool Clothing. From my research it looks like cotton, linen, and wicking fabrics get the highest approval rating for summer. Cotton is versatile and breathable. Linen is durable and even more breathable than cotton. Wicking fabrics are man-made to “wick” moisture away from the body.
7 – By far the best product I found was the Stroll-n-Cool. It is a pricey, $46.95 + $9.95 shipping, however, seems …
Read MoreEasy Chicken Parmesan Casserole With Homemade Sauce
I found a great dinner recipe this week on Pinterest (of course) from the blog, “Thriving Home.” It was so simple I had to try it!
You can find the original recipe here.
Easy Chicken Parmesan Casserole with Homemade Sauce
Ingredients for Chicken Parmesan Casserole:
- about 4 cups of diced, cooked chicken
- 1 serving of Growing Weisser “Pizza Sauce with Pizzaz“
- 1-2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- about 1 cup panko or whole wheat bread crumbs
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
- fresh, chopped herbs (parsley, basil, oregano, etc) or 1 tsp each dried herbs
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease an 8×8 casserole dish with cooking spray.
3. Layer the chicken in the bottom. Dump in the pizza sauce and mix with the chicken. Next, top with cheese until all the chicken is covered.
4. In a small bowl, mix the breadcrumbs, olive oil, herbs and a dash of salt and pepper together.
5. Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture on top.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden on top and bubbling on the sides.
7. Serve on top of your favorite pasta or rice.
The sauce will need to cook for 1 hour, so be sure to allow for that time in your planning and preparing. This sauce can be made ahead of time and stored for up to 1-2 weeks in a mason jar in the refrigerator.
Both the sauce and the casserole were so easy to make I will definitely be making this again. I ate my serving on a bed of spinach and the rest of the family ate theirs with pasta. I would also try this with noddles made from zucchini.
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Sweet Success
This past weekend we moved Ellie into her new bed: A big girl toddler bed. We were nervous about the transition since Ellie is such a great sleeper. Nevertheless, we have a new baby on the way in October and only two cribs. It was always the plan to eventually put Ellie and Hanna in the same room, we have just been putting it off.
The transition has been really smooth so far and I thought it would be fun to share what we did. I don’t think of this as advice, just sharing a fun success in our house.
We had a nice time rearranging the room as the girls made a mess of things around us. They of course thought it was quite fun to throw all the books on the ground and sit on them. Once we found the right set up, we introduced Ellie to her new bed. It immediately became the new “trampoline!” I tried not to make too big a deal of it and instead focused on teaching Hanna how to get off the bed safely. She picked it right up and has been doing great.
At bedtime, I wanted things to be as normal as possible. We stuck to our routine until it was time to talk about the bed…
Do you ever have those rare parenting moments when you actually come up with a good idea? Well, today just happened to be my day. We had gone to a birthday party earlier and Ellie was talking all day about presents. I thought this would come in handy to put a small reward system in place for Ellie’s new bed. I decided to tell Ellie that each time she slept in her bed and stayed in bed until I got her she would …
Read MoreNot Your Typical Date
As a parent of young ones, it can be really easy to get in a dating rut. Recently, we’ve even had a few nights where we were so eager to get out we found ourselves out, kidless, with no idea what to do. We once just wandered Target and grocery shopped. Yes, the time away together was still great. However, sometimes dates need some spice to spark conversation and fun that can be hard to find time for while raising a family.
I am very blessed to have local in-laws who are always willing and ready to help out with the girls during the day when I need help and in the evening so we can go on a date. This past weekend, they even watched the girls for the whole day – over 12 hours!!! Don’t worry, we took full advantage of the day.
What did we do with all those hours? Why, we had a wonderful day at Wondercon in Anaheim!
Every moment was just so great. We loved being together, we loved the event, but even more than that it was so nice to just take care of each other – the two of us – for a whole day. We splurged on yummy food and took time to see all the things that looked interesting. We stood in a line for autographs, saw famous people, and went to a panel about one of our favorite cartoons.
Although there were many great parts of the day, one of my favorites was posing with the people in costume. We took a few pictures of character we liked, and then I sent one of me with a princess to Ellie. She liked it and asked for more, so I proceeded to track down every princess I could find. Sometimes …
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