Life in Lape Haven

Author - Kishona

Tried It Tuesday: Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

February 2, 2016
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Life in Lape Haven: Tried It Tuesday: Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies . A tasty but easy tweak to traditional chocolate chip cookies, this recipe is delicious. Bacon and Chocolate Chip Cookies - genius! Homemade cookies with a hint of gourmet.

One day, about week or so ago, when my hubby came home from work, he said, “Guess what I had at work today?”

Since his office tends to order food in for the employees quite often, it could have been pretty much anything, so of course, I didn’t know.

“Bacon chocolate chip cookies.”

As his words registered, I thought, “That’s genius.” And then and there I told him that I’d be making some…soon.

Because I was sure I could find a recipe for them on Pinterest.

I was right, and I had plenty of options to choose from.

When I realized we had company coming down for the weekend, I knew I had to make these cookies for us all to try out.

Now, I know some people think that bacon in everything is kind of cliché and so overdone, but you know what? There is a reason, people:

Bacon is GOOOOOD! 🙂

Therefore, I set out on Friday to make my first ever batch of bacon chocolate chip cookies. I have to admit that I was pretty excited.

The first step is to cook your bacon, obviously. And while you can do that in any way you like, I prefer to cook my bacon in the oven, per Alton Brown’s method:

“Place the strips of bacon onto a sheet pan fitted with a rack and place into a cold oven. Turn the oven to 400 degrees F and cook for about 12 to 15 minutes, depending on how crispy you like your bacon. Remove from rack and drain on paper towels.”

This is an easy way to get crispy bacon without much effort. 🙂

I let the bacon cool a little, then transferred it to some paper towels to drain. I also poured the bacon fat from the bottom of the baking sheet into a measuring cup. I used a 12-ounce pack of bacon and ended up with about ½ cup of fat.  You need ¼ cup for this recipe.

To make the cookies, I adapted this recipe for bacon chocolate chip cookies. You are basically making a traditional chocolate chip cookie, but you substitute ¼ cup of the butter with the bacon fat and eliminate the usual teaspoon of salt. When you fold in the chocolate chips, you can add in bits of crumbled bacon, too. That’s pretty much it!

Since this was my first time making them, I kind of underestimated how much the cookies would spread out on the baking sheet, so as they baked, the cookies spread into one big connected cookie, plus I think I made them too big. I also let them cook a bit too long so they were a little crunchier than I would have liked.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to worry too much about the presentation of the cookies since I was serving them to my family and very close friends. I did, however, whip out my biscuit cutter to cut out a few round cookies. I did a few with my star-shaped cookie cutter, too, just for the boys. The extra, odd-shaped edges were more like cookie sticks, which made them great for dunking in milk. 🙂

Oh, and despite not being the prettiest cookies I’ve ever made, they were still pretty tasty. Like, really, really yummy. While they are still similar to a regular chocolate chip cookie, they are different enough that they aren’t the same at all.

In fact, I was right. Bacon chocolate chip cookies ARE genius.

Life in Lape Haven: Tried It Tuesday: Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies . A tasty but easy tweak to traditional chocolate chip cookies, this recipe is delicious. Bacon and Chocolate Chip Cookies - genius! Homemade cookies with a hint of gourmet.

I know that you are eager to try these for yourself, so here is how I made them:

The Home Maintenance Idea I Got from a Car Dealership

February 1, 2016
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Life in Lape Haven: The Home Maintenance Idea I Got from a Car Dealership. A quarterly practice of my former employer helped keep his dealership looking great and well-maintained. Now I'm using the same idea to keep up with our home.

A long time ago (about 10 years or so), before I was a wife and mommy, I worked as the Executive Assistant at a northeast Ohio, family-owned Chrysler dealership. I worked closely with the owner and his family, doing everything from tracking salemen’s stats to typing his correspondences, proofing newspaper ads, managing office supplies, planning events, and booking travel for him, his family, or various employees.

I absolutely loved this job, and my boss was great. He was a very good businessman and a generous and kind man. The only reason that I ever left was because I had met this guy named Brad, who lived about 3 hours away, and we wanted to get married.

While I remember those days fondly and think of and pray for my coworkers and boss often, there was something I recalled the other day that I always thought was one of the most simple, but wise practices for taking care of his business that my boss had.

And when I pondered it, I thought to myself, “Why have I never done this for our home?”

Every so often, at least once a quarter, my boss would have me add a “Facility Walk” into his schedule. This meant that on an appointed morning, he, the Lot Manager, and I would be literally walking all over the dealership property, looking at everything, inside and out. I took scribbled notes in my own version of abbreviations and shorthand, as my boss pointed out places that needed maintenance, cleaning, reorganized, and generally brought back up to Five-Star standards.

It could be anything from “replenish the brochures in the showroom” to “replace a ceiling tile by the cashier’s booth” to “bathroom needs repainted” or “Pre-Owned showroom needs retiled.” Anything that needed attention was written down and documented.

We visited every department and room on the premises: finance, service, parts, reconditioning, sales, the offices, the waiting rooms, the break rooms, and the restrooms, as well as the outsides of all the buildings, the entire lot, and all the landscaping and signage.

It usually took us a couple of hours. Once we were done, I took my notes to my office and spent some time typing them out, creating a master checklist for that day’s entire walk as well as sorting out the assignments into individualized checklists for different employees or departments who would be responsible for taking care of each task.

Every task also had a deadline for completion, and believe me, my boss followed up.

His attentive stewardship of his company showed, too, and the customers and employees appreciated the clean, well-maintained dealership.




Fast forward about 10 years, and Brad and I are working to declutter and organize our home. Two little boys make keeping up with it all a bit tricky. During the week, my main focus is keeping them fed, clothed, clean(ish), and alive, and I try to stay on top of laundry, dishes, and dirty floors as much as they allow me.

However, maintaining a home well requires more than that every so often.

So, we’re carving out some time, with hubby using some time off, to really go over our house and attend to areas that don’t always get the most attention.

That’s when I thought of the facility walks.

While I have a few major to-do projects written down and a few more in my head, we need to go through our home, room by room, and make notes, prioritize, and plan.

I know that we won’t accomplish all the tasks this week or even this month, but at least we’ll have a goal to work toward.

Maybe after we accomplish these, we can set a new goal that will require me to dust off my “travel-booking” skills. 🙂

WHAT IS ONE OF YOUR FAVORITE HABITS OR TIPS FOR KEEPING YOUR HOME ORGANIZED?

Pausing to Be Grateful

January 28, 2016
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Life in Lape Haven: Pausing to Be Grateful. My recent participation in an Instagram photo challenge reminded me of the importance of daily counting my blessings and being thankful.

This post contains an affiliate link for the book. At no additional cost to you, I may receive a small commission if you use the link.

Over the last couple weeks, as part of the Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World launch team, I have been participating in an Instagram Daily Photo Challenge with the theme of “What are you grateful for?”

The challenge was inspired by the Gratitude Bracelet we received from the book’s author, Kristen Welch (We are THAT Family). The bracelet is made by women at the Mercy House, the maternity home in Kenya that Kristen founded. (For more on Mercy House, check out this short video.)

It’s a white-bead bracelet with three copper beads. Each copper bead is for a different question that will remind you to be grateful every day.

  1. Who do I appreciate today?
  2. Today, what made me smile?
  3. How was God good today?

Life in Lape Haven: Pausing to Be Grateful. My recent participation in an Instagram photo challenge reminded me of the importance of daily counting my blessings and being thankful.

WHO DO I APPRECIATE TODAY?

So, for the first five days, the challenge was to share “a different person each day who you appreciate.”  I’m pretty sure this was the easiest one for all of us. There were pictures of everyone’s husbands, children, best friends, parents, pastors, and so on.  However, even though we generally KNOW that we’re thankful for our families and friends, it’s something else entirely to pause in our day and really think about why we are so thankful for them and to truly take time to appreciate them. I could probably have filled all two weeks of the photo challenge on this question alone.

 

TODAY, WHAT MADE YOU SMILE?

The next five days, though, were devoted to “something that made you smile.”

To quote Buddy the Elf, “I like smiling. Smiling’s my favorite.”

I’m usually a “pretty positive, find the silver-lining, there’s always something to be thankful for, let’s play the Glad game with Pollyanna” kind of girl. Even when I have those tough days in motherhood, I don’t stay in the yucky too long. I’ll soon be looking for the good, the giggles, and the grins.

Therefore, Question Two was, again, another easy way to count my blessings.

HOW WAS GOD GOOD TODAY?

Then we got to the five days of God’s goodness, and I was stumped.

It was not because God hasn’t been good, but rather because He is SO good that it was hard to narrow it down.

After some pondering, my first photo of “How God was good today,” I took a picture of the Bible I’ve had since 10th grade, opened to a scripture that I’d circled at some point during my youth group years: Psalm 71:17 & 18: “O God, You have taught me from my youth; and to this day I declare Your wondrous works. Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is come.”

Life in Lape Haven: Pausing to Be Grateful. My recent participation in an Instagram photo challenge reminded me of the importance of daily counting my blessings and being thankful.

Having followed God since early childhood, my life has been full of God proving His goodness and faithfulness to me over and over again.

Loving me, saving me, knowing me, keeping me. That kind of goodness is hard to capture in one little Instagram picture. It would be hard to capture with a million.

The rest of my photos for the challenge were maybe less serious, but they still celebrated God’s goodness with joy:

A side-by-side of a cherry pie bar dessert I made and one of Josiah’s recent selfies.  Elijah’s to-do list for Sunday. A glimpse into my preschool Sunday school class. Homemade chicken and dumplings. My Mercy House gratitude bracelet.

 

While the challenge was for fun and to help promote gratefulness and Kristen’s new book, it also served its most meaningful purpose when it reminded me of how important it is to stop in the busyness of every day and appreciate each little detail and blessing that God has placed in our lives and His wonderful lovingkindness, mercy, and goodness in doing so.

Let me challenge you today to pause, take a minute, and think about what you would share: five people you appreciate, five things that make you smile, and five ways that God has been good to you.

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with Whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”  ~ James 1:17

How has God been good to you this week?

If you’d like, you can purchase your own gratitude bracelet from Mercy House, and you’ll be supporting young mothers and their children. That’s one more thing to be thankful for. 🙂

—

If you haven’t yet entered the giveaway to win a copy of Kristen Welch’s newest book,

Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World,

ENTER TODAY!

Life in Lape Haven: Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World Giveaway - You can win a copy of Kristen Welch's wonderful new book.

Giveaway is open until Friday, January 29, at 11:59p.m. US residents only.

See giveaway terms for more details.

A Ridiculously Simple Way to Get Silly Putty Out of Fabric

January 26, 2016
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Life in Lape Haven: A Ridiculously Simple Way to Get Silly Putty Out of Fabric. When I ended up with a pocketful of putty from my 2-year-old, I found a very easy solution for getting silly putty out of the fabric.

Remember that day not too long ago where my day was so epically bad that I had to post about it? Yeah, the day with not one, but two potty-training accidents in an hour, spilled milk and flour, scorched dinner, and general chaos?

Remember how I ended that night with such a sweet surprise of silly putty in my back jean pocket?

Well, good news!

I got all that silly putty out, even the deeply smashed in parts, and it was ridiculously simple.

Life in Lape Haven: A Ridiculously Simple Way to Get Silly Putty Out of Fabric. When I ended up with a pocketful of putty from my 2-year-old, I found a very easy solution for getting silly putty out of the fabric.

First off, as soon as I discovered the silly putty, I pulled out as much as I could. But of course, since I’d sat on it for a while before I found it, it was stuck pretty well.

There was a good bit of silly putty left smooshed into the fabric, and I had no idea how to get it off. I actually waited a day or two before even trying to tackle the mess because I was a little worried that it would require a lot of effort.

Life in Lape Haven: A Ridiculously Simple Way to Get Silly Putty Out of Fabric. When I ended up with a pocketful of putty from my 2-year-old, I found a very easy solution for getting silly putty out of the fabric.

After I pulled out as much silly putty as I could by hand.

However, I also had a few pairs of Elijah’s jeans marked up with dry erase marker, so I decided to experiment on both problems at the same time.

I investigated silly putty remedies on Pinterest and Google, and I found that many solutions called for ice cubes or freezing the silly putty and/or rubbing alcohol and WD40.

*SPOILER ALERT* – None of those are the easy solution that I found!

I did try stuffing the pocket with ice cubes, and I managed to pick a few tiny pieces off after the ice froze the putty, but glancing around at my table, I spotted something else that I decided to try.

Hand sanitizer.

With its alcohol-base but thicker consistency, I had just seen it help somewhat to get dry erase markers out of Elijah’s jeans, and since so many silly putty solutions suggestion rubbing alcohol, the hand sanitizer was worth a try.

I turned the pocket inside out, with the putty-iest parts showing and squirted some sanitizer on it.

Life in Lape Haven: A Ridiculously Simple Way to Get Silly Putty Out of Fabric. When I ended up with a pocketful of putty from my 2-year-old, I found a very easy solution for getting silly putty out of the fabric.

Hand sanitizer on the pocket.

All I did was massage the gel into the putty and use my nails to scrub it in a bit. A few seconds of working it in, and the putty dissolved, leaving the jeans clean.

That was it. A few more squirts of the sanitizer and rubbing it in, and the pocket was done. All the silly putty was gone without a whole lot of effort.

After that, I just washed the jeans as I normally would.*

It was amazingly simple.

*Note: Since hand sanitizer is alcohol-based, it might stain some fabrics, such as silk. As with all cleaners, test an inconspicuous spot of the fabric first.

With boys, I’ve learned how to handle all kinds of stains:

How to Get Dry Erase Marker Out of Clothing

How to Get Grease Stains (even set-in ones) Out of Clothing

How to Get Grass Stains Out of Clothes


Get more ideas & encouragement from this real-life mom as I experience God’s faithfulness through the joy and chaos of motherhood.

Join my email list!  

Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World – Review & Giveaway

January 25, 2016
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Life in Lape Haven: Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World Review & Giveaway - Kristen Welch's newest book is all about parenting upstream against a culture of entitlement, teaching our kids the true difference between “want” and “need,” and encouraging them to be compassionate and responsible. One reader will win a copy of the book in our giveaway.

No one plans to raise a selfish child or spoiled brat. Every parent dreams of their child being selfless, generous, and appreciative. But it’s challenging to raise a grateful child in a culture that has a hard time saying no. We love our kids and want to give them the world. How do we say no to our child when “every other child” gets “everything they want?”

Kristen Welch, author of We are THAT family and founder of Mercy House, is learning the way to give the world to her children is by giving them perspective. She’s discovered the ultimate yes in bringing up faith-filled kids who love God and others.

It’s never too late to raise grateful kids. With Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World, get ready to cultivate a spirit of genuine gratitude in your family and create a home in which your kids don’t just say―but mean!― “thank you.”

Back in November, I read those words as I considered joining the launch team for this new parenting book (which releases tomorrow, Tuesday, January 26). While I felt as though my hubby and I were doing a fairly decent job of raising our boys, who are still young at almost-3-years-old and 5, to be considerate, compassionate, and grateful, I was also excited to discover what advice and affirmation Kristen’s book would hold. Having read her blog, We are THAT Family, I knew it would be full of insightful and Biblically-founded wisdom from her experiences with her family and her relationship with God.

I was right.

Life in Lape Haven: Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World Review & Giveaway - Kristen Welch's newest book is all about parenting upstream against a culture of entitlement, teaching our kids the true difference between “want” and “need,” and encouraging them to be compassionate and responsible. One reader will win a copy of the book in our giveaway.

From the very first pages of the Introduction, I was being challenged and encouraged in my role as a Godly mother, to lay the right foundations for my children, even when it’s hard or they don’t think it’s fair. I was reading passages out loud to my husband and discussing the points that Kristen brought out.

As we got closer to Christmas, I wrote a post, “Why We Don’t Need More This Christmas,” about scaling back on the gifts for our children and ourselves. While this was an idea we’d already been working toward, as I read through the first chapters of Kristen’s book, which deal with the entitlement and self-centeredness of our culture, the idea of tempering our children’s expectations of Christmas became more than just a good idea, it became a starting point for change in our family’s mindset and expectations.

Through other circumstances at the time, I could see a lightbulb going off for my husband. Like me, he began to see the areas in his own life where entitlement had settled in and taken root long ago. It truly surprised him.

As the parents, we were discovering what Kristen did:

“And as uncomfortable as it sounds, parents who want less-entitled kids have to be less entitled themselves, and parents who want to raise more grateful kids need to start by living more grateful lives.”

As I made my way through the rest of the book, which challenges parents on everything from unsupervised or excessive use of technology to “participation awards” and not allowing our children to fail to preparing them to be okay with being different from the world, I noticed something that was pretty impressive.

Life in Lape Haven: Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World Review & Giveaway - Kristen Welch's newest book is all about parenting upstream against a culture of entitlement, teaching our kids the true difference between “want” and “need,” and encouraging them to be compassionate and responsible. One reader will win a copy of the book in our giveaway.

In everyday situations, not only was I more aware of my own entitlement and therefore putting aside more of my selfishness, but I was responding to my children’s entitled or selfish tendencies more intentionally, utilizing the wisdom and tips I’d gained from reading Kristen’s experiences, sometimes without even realizing in the moment that I was doing it.

While I love the many, many take-aways and quotables from this book, the true mark of a great book is when it makes a change in you and when you can easily apply it lessons to your life.

Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World is one of those books, and I wish every parent would read it.

I know that I’m very grateful that I did.

—

You can pre-order a copy of the book, which releases tomorrow, at RaisingGratefulKids.com or from your favorite bookseller, such as Barnes & Noble or Amazon.

Here is an affiliate link for Amazon (which means that at no additional cost to you, I may receive a small commission if you use the link) since it is currently only $10 on their site: Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World.

You can also read the first chapter here on Tyndale’s site, and on Kristen’s We are THAT Family blog, you can download a free journal that goes along with the book.

If you would like to see more of my thoughts on Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World, you can check out “How My Children Remind Me to Pray with Gratitude” and “One Question I’ll Be Asking My Children (& Myself) Everyday.”

For more ideas on cultivating gratefulness in your home, you can follow my Raising Grateful Kids board on Pinterest. 🙂




—

~ GIVEAWAY ~

Because I think Kristen’s book is such a wonderful resource for parents, and I know that so many of you are eager to read it, I’m giving away a paperback copy to one of you!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for entering! This contest is open to residents of the U.S. only and runs from Monday, January 25 (12:00 a.m.), through Friday, January 29, 2016, at 11:59pm EST (I know, specific.).  The winner will be notified by email within 48 hours of the contest ending. Winner has 48 hours to respond before another winner is selected. 

*I received an advanced digital copy of this book from Tyndale House Publishing as part of my participation on the launch team and in exchange for my honest review. My recommendation is based entirely on my enjoyment of the book.*

*Book image courtesy of Tyndale Publishing House.

One Question I’ll Be Asking My Children (& Myself) Everyday

January 21, 2016
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Life in Lape Haven: One Question I'll Be Asking My Children (& Myself) Everyday. Inspired by the book "Raising Grateful Kids an Entitled World" and in an effort to remind my children to think about others more, I'll be asking them this question at the end of each day.

This post contains Amazon affiliate links, which mean that at no additional cost to you, I may receive a small commission when you use the link.

Yesterday when I picked up Elijah from school, I did the same thing nearly every parent does when they see their children at the end of the day:  I asked him, “How was your day?”

I actually hate that question. It’s so cliché, but even more so, it never really invites real conversation since the only answers you are likely to get are “Good” or “Fine.”  Somedays Elijah will be really excited about something that happened, such as when he “clips up” to purple (the best spot on their behavior charts) and gets a prize. Otherwise, he doesn’t elaborate much with that question.

So, I generally try to ask more engaging, open-ended questions, such as, “What was the best part about today?” While that has been a decent question to get Elijah sharing, I wanted to be asking questions that encouraged him to see his day in a new way.

Since reading Kristen Welch’s (We are THAT Family) new book, Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World, I’ve found myself rethinking certain things that I say and do as a mom and how that sets my children’s expectations and attitudes.

For example, asking Elijah if he had a good time or fun day at school (or church or his grandparents, etc), reinforces the idea that he should always be having fun or made to be happy. Hmmmm.

As Kristen shared,

 “I bought into the lie that it’s my job to make my kids’ childhood magical and fun, to guarantee that every day will be an adventure all about them.”

If that’s how we think, that’s what our children will expect. They will think life is 1) all about fun, and 2) all about them. Neither is true.

Kristen explained it this way,

“I think this requirement of being happy all the time is where entitlement thrives. In my parenting poll, when I asked, “What do you want most for your kids?” there were two main answers: I want them to follow Christ, and I want them to be happy. Sometimes both aren’t possible at the same time. Think about it. If we fix every problem, cater to every need, and bend over backwards to keep our kids happy all the time, we are setting them up for a false reality because life won’t always offer them the same courtesy.”

Sure, it’s an innocent question. Will he have a good time and fun at those places? Hopefully. However, he’s not going to school or church to be entertained or amused or comfortable. He’s going to learn and grow. (PS: Adults, church and school are not for YOUR entertainment or comfort, either. That whole “learning and growing” thing is for us, too.)

Spending time with family is not just about him, either. Is Grandpa fun? Yes. Will Grandma feed Elijah? Most likely. Does Elijah have to be the center of attention, or doing just what HE wants to the whole time we are there? No. I want him to be aware of others, even considering others before himself. I hope that I am doing the same.

So, instead of asking questions that make Elijah feel as though everyone else’s world should revolve around him and every day should be super awesome just for him, I want to ask him questions that shift his focus a little bit.

Yesterday, God put this question for Elijah in my heart.

While we were working on his snack, I asked him, “So, did you get to help anybody today?”

He paused for a second, and then his face lit up. LIT UP.

“Yes, well, sort of. I tried to help Harley with her coat, but I had my gloves on, so I couldn’t zip it all the way.”

Today, his answer was, “No,” somewhat sadly. Then, “No, wait! I DID help someone. I helped Julian tie his shoes.”

Do I want him to feel as though he HAS to do good deeds all day long? No. It’s not about works. It’s about awareness and perspective.

What if my asking him this one question each afternoon causes him to look for opportunities to reach out and help others every day? And what if my asking him that question does the same for me?

It’s just a reminder to think of others at least once during our day.

Then maybe one day when I ask him “What was the best part of your day?” and “Did you help someone today,” the answer to both will be the same thing.

That would be pretty cool.

—

For more of my thoughts on Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World:

How My Children Remind Me to Pray With Gratitude

Why We Don’t Need More This Christmas

Life in Lape Haven: One Question I'll Be Asking My Children (& Myself) Everyday. Inspired by the book "Raising Grateful Kids an Entitled World" and in an effort to remind my children to think about others more, I'll be asking them this question at the end of each day.

You can pre-order Kristen’s book, which releases on January 26, by visiting RaisingGratefulKids.com or from Amazon, Christianbooks.com, or Barnes & Noble. If you’d like to read the first chapter, you can find it here.