The Ways of Her Home

Embracing the homeward call

Swiss Family Robinson Feast

For a summer read aloud with my son, I chose the unabridged Swiss Family Robinson. I LOVE this book. The unabridged version includes so many amazing details that abridged versions omit. It is packed full of inspiring adventure and countless character-building lessons. I’d need a week of posts to cover them all! We read this with my girls one summer when they were younger and concluded the reading with an island party that included a seafood feast, oceans crafts, silly lobster hats, and watching the Disney Swiss Family Robinson movie. We’ve held such fond memories of that summer read aloud with our girls, that I knew I wanted to read it again with my son. Of course, we repeated the ... Read more

One Week. Six Meals.

I love menu-planning! But sometimes I get into ruts and find it helpful to look at menus posted on other blogs and Instagram. Seeing what other women are cooking really inspires and motivates me to get in the kitchen. Last month I participated in the 31-day "Happy Homemaker Challenge" on Instagram, hosted by Whitney at Come Home for Comfort, and one of the photo prompts was called "On the Menu". So after posting my menu for the week, I thought I might as well snap a photo of each night's meal and post them here. Our weeks are pretty busy, but I still want to put healthy meals on the table. These are a few of my easy go-to's for quick, healthy weeknight meals. Monday~ Greek turkey ... Read more

Summer Farewell Tea

It seems so hard to believe that summer break is drawing to a close. My kids and I have been trying to get in all the last bits of summer fun with individual groups of our friends and family before school schedules start. We make a point to get together with my niece and sister-in-law, and another mother/daughter duo a few times a year to enjoy artsy teas, outings, and lessons for the purpose of indulging our inner hopeless romantics, haha. Realizing we'd not yet managed to work in a summer activity with them, we quickly pulled together a back-to-school tea. We all homeschool (except for my oldest daughter who is in college), and both my niece and our friend are beginning their senior ... Read more

Communion Bread Recipe

The pandemic has definitely changed many of our normal activities, and I can say with all certainty that what our family has missed most has been meeting in person with our church family each Sunday. We are at least blessed to gather remotely for Sunday morning worship, and a special part of those online gatherings is the inclusion of the Lord's Supper. When isolation first started back in March, I made a batch of communion bread, freezing much of it and never imagining the pandemic would last long enough for us to use up the whole batch, but I've already made two batches since we've been home. I know many of you already have your own recipe for communion bread, and for that reason I had put ... Read more

Mexican Pizza {On the Lighter Side}

When I was a teenager, my favorite thing to order off Taco Bell's menu was a Mexican Pizza. To me this was the ultimate fast food treat! Two fried tortillas with a layer of refried beans in between, and then topped with taco meat, cheese, and taco sauce. Add to that my soft drink of choice in those days--Dr. Pepper--and oh, it was such a good meal! There have been a couple of times I've replicated this delicious Mexican treat at home, and while it's pretty easy to put together, it's not so healthy. So I've come up with a healthier recipe for Mexican Pizza! Rather than frying the tortillas, they are toasted, and I only use one tortilla instead of two which helps cut the carbs back a little. ... Read more

Summer Shrimp and Peach Salad

I'm a salad girl. Any time, any season, any meal. My kids have joked that I will even make breakfast into a salad, ha! Summer is the most salad-friendly season of all. Fresh greens, fresh veggies, and fresh fruits, all waiting to be chopped, tossed, and going in my mouth! And then there are peaches. Sweet summer peaches. They're one of life greatest pleasures from June through August. Truly! So I've been seeing these salads that pair shrimp and peaches, and I knew I had to try it. I looked through several recipes, taking inspiration from each to come up with my own that would suit my family’s taste. We tried it last night and really enjoyed it! I'll definitely be making this again ... Read more

Homemade Yogurt and Granola

We are a household of yogurt eaters which can quickly add up on the grocery bill. With this recipe, I can make FIVE quarts of organic yogurt for less than $10! If you don't care about using organic milk, it's even cheaper. I originally found the recipe on the Titus2 blog, and I can't remember exactly how long I've been making it, but I know we were living in our previous house when I started so that was at least 7 years ago.  I always seem to measure time according to the which house we lived in or how old my children were at the time, ha! Anyone else? We love this yogurt! If you’ve never made yogurt, you’re going to be surprised at how simple it is! Homemade ... Read more

Easter Eats 2020

Hello again! I'm back today with the Easter menu I prepared this year. So, from breakfast to dessert, here goes! I'd been saving this recipe for Strawberry Bread since last spring and decided to make it for breakfast. Definitely making this again! It was so good and moist, and more like a poundcake than a bread. I put out a bowl of chocolate eggs to go with it. After breakfast we had a meaningful time of worship and then finished up lunch preparations.***** Easter Menu Brown Sugar Glazed Ham (recipe below) Cheesiest Mac and Cheese Bacon and Pea Summer Salad (With one change: I cooked and crumbled the bacon because I didn’t have packaged bacon ... Read more