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Start the Day With a Healthy (Quick & Easy) Breakfast {31 Days of Real Food Reality ~ Day 13}

January 12, 2014 by Laura 20 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

I’m almost as passionate about eating a healthy breakfast as I am about eating lots of butter. They’re both super important. Therefore…feel free to spread butter all over your breakfast. Oh yeah.

breakfast_casserole

But wait. You don’t have time to cook a healthy breakfast every morning? Me neither.  I mean, if I felt like losing an hour of sleep, skipping my much needed Bible time, foregoing my morning work-out, or beginning my day by being glued to a griddle while flipping countless pancakes – I could make the time to cook a healthy, hearty breakfast every morning. But well…I don’t.

breakfast_cake_3

That’s what scares us away from making a healthy breakfast isn’t it? Time. Effort. School. Work. Schedules. I get it. I’m with ya. I have plenty of other things to do in the morning and I like sleeping. I don’t like the stress of trying to get everyone going in the morning while trying to keep breakfast from burning on the stove. So does that mean we take the easy way out and buy boxed, convenience foods for breakfast? Sure, if you want to feel like junk all day and start your kids’ school day off with a big, blurry bang that ends in a sugar crash by morning recess. But what if there is a way to have a nourishing breakfast without the morning stress?

breakfast_2

Oh yes. There is definitely a way. I am loving this real food reality which includes a hearty, healthy, no brainer breakfast each morning.

I do everything possible to make healthy breakfast foods ahead of time so that all I have to do in the morning to get a nourishing breakfast on the table is open a container. Or boil water. Or maybe, just maybe, I’ll “go to the trouble” of scrambling or frying eggs, which takes about five minutes. (Or better yet, I assign that task to one of my boys. Hurray for kids who are old enough to use a stove!)

tourney food1

How do I put a healthy breakfast on the table without much effort each morning?

  • I make breakfast the night before. Or…
  • I make breakfast foods for the freezer. Or…
  • I set out the Homemade Instant Oatmeal and let the kids make a bowl when they get up.

Seriously, making a healthy breakfast is not hard. We do not have to resort to boxed food. It’s just a matter of planning ahead and focusing on food that is real and nourishing. Real food – it is amazing.

Here are some of my favorite healthy, make-ahead breakfast ideas:

  • Prepare an Easy Breakfast Casserole and simply take it out of the fridge and bake it in the morning.
  • Make Simple Whole Wheat Pancakes or Whole Wheat Waffles, allow them to cool, freeze them, then toast them to warm them up for a convenient breakfast just like an Eggo Waffle…except cheaper and healthier.
  • Mix up and roll out biscuits, freezing them for a quick breakfast.
  • Cook bacon or Turkey Sausage, then simply reheat in the morning or cook it up with some eggs.
  • Throw yogurt and frozen fruit into the blender for a smoothie.
  • Make muffin batter and put it in the freezer for fast, fresh muffins in the morning (one of my favorite freezer cooking tips!).
  • Bake breakfast bars in the evening before closing up the kitchen.
  • Make a batch of Easy Granola, Dark Chocolate Almond Granola, or Grape Nuts Cereal to grab and eat in the morning.

And always, always serve fruit with breakfast.  That’s the healthiest convenience food there is. :)

As soon as we start making some healthy foods ahead of time, and stop assuming that eating healthy food is difficult, we’ll be well on our way to saving money and keeping our lives so much simpler in the kitchen! Plus, when we begin our day with a nourishing breakfast, we get our body off to a great start – setting the pace for a great day ahead.

add fruits and veggiesAnd there’s more!

Need some easy, healthy breakfast inspiration? We have a freebie for you!

To help us all along in this effort, I created a downloadable chart with 31 Days of Real Food Breakfast Ideas. It is internet linked, so all you have to do is click to find the recipe referred to on the chart.

Eggs and smoothies. Smoothies and eggs. Cereal. Cereal. Cereal. Snore. Need a change of pace? Want some fresh ideas? We’ve got a free printable for you that includes 31 Days of Real Food Breakfast Ideas!


All 31 ideas are recipe linked. Every recipe is made from real food: Whole grain, healthy fats, wholesome sweeteners. It’s all simple, it’s all delicious, and it will inspire you with fresh ideas for ways to feed your family each morning.

Unless you enjoy eating breakfast at night for dinner. (For some reason, waffles taste better at night. We don’t understand it. We just go with it!)

Mix it up. Substitute your favorite fruits – whatever is in season! Be sure to add protein to each meal if needed. There’s no right or wrong way to use this free printable full of ideas. We just hope you use it!

 —> Want some simple real food dinner ideas too? Check out this huge list! <—-

By the way, want to eat cookies for breakfast? With bacon? Strawberries and cream? Life is good, and so is your health. Real food for the win! (Seriously. Stop being afraid of bacon and cream. It’s real food, our bodies can utilize it for nourishment, and when we eat real food in balance, we can be healthy!)

We’re happy to share this 31 Days of Real Food Breakfast Ideas printable with you to use in whatever way works best for your family. Adapt it, pick and choose what works for you, and enjoy!

BONUS: Using these recipes will save you big bucks! How? Well, have you seen the price of a box of cereal? Making a homemade breakfast is quite a money saver. We love it!

Get your free printable 31 Days of Real Food Breakfast Ideas. Signing up to receive this will connect you to our Savings Club, providing you with relevant money-saving tips, recipes, ideas, and inspiration!

There you go – 31 healthy, make-ahead, family friendly, money-saving, real food breakfast ideas!

What are your favorite ways to get a healthy breakfast on the table quickly in the morning?

It’s here! Check out our amazing Simple Meals program!

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Menu Plan for the Week {31 Days to Real Food Reality ~ Day 12}

January 12, 2014 by Laura 3 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

This post is sponsored by Great Homeschool Conventions. I am honored to be working with them to spread the word about the wonderful conventions they offer!

Homeschool Convention 450X150

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How have you been enjoying the 31 Days of Real Food Reality series so far? I pray it’s been helpful to you!

My Real Food Reality Tip for you today has to do with organization:  When planning what meals to serve to your family, keep it simple. Pick a main dish, then choose one or two veggies to go with it. Easy as that! You’ll see in my menu plan below that there is nothing fancy about our Real Food Reality. Don’t make eating a healthy diet difficult! Remember…it’s just food. :)

On another note, I have to give a big shout out to the Homemade Instant Oatmeal recipe. A healthy breakfast (or snack) does not get any easier than this. It takes about five minutes for me to mix up a double batch of this oatmeal. I store it in a jar in my pantry, then scoop it out and add boiling water when we want it for breakfast. Better yet, my kids can make a bowl of oatmeal for themselves. Love this!

Instant Oatmeal in a Jar 2

Here is my very non-fancy, but still very real food and family friendly meal plan for the week:

Sunday, January 12
Homemade instant oatmeal, dried fruit
Cheesy pasta bake, already prepared and in the freezer, ready to bake! (Recipe in {Healthy} Make-Ahead Meals and Snacks eBook), tossed salad
Small group – Chicken pot pie, with side dishes provided by others

Monday, January 13
Bacon cheese muffins, oranges
Baked potato with broccoli cheese sauce
Roast, carrots, gravy, green beans

Tuesday, January 14
Cinnamon swirl bread, apples
Black bean salsa with corn chips, pineapple
Chicken burritos, tossed salad

Wednesday, January 15
Oatmeal breakfast bars, applesauce
Chicken salad on pita bread, cottage cheese with peaches
Cheesy salsa enchiladas, tossed salad

Thursday, January 16
Pumpkin chocolate chip bread, pears
Chicken noodle soup, carrot sticks
Lasagna casserole, tossed salad, steamed broccoli

Friday, January 17
Pancake and sausage muffins, applesauce
Pizza boats, green beans, olives, blueberries
Shepherds pie, tossed salad

Saturday, January 18 – Elias’ b-day!
Still waiting for him to decide his birthday meal choices. :)

What’s on your menu this week? 

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What Healthy Food Should I Have On Hand? Where Do I Buy Them? {31 Days of Real Food Reality ~ Day 11}

January 10, 2014 by Laura 7 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Not sure where to start when it comes to shopping for healthy, real food ingredients? No problem! I have an entire page on my site dedicated to sharing what foods I buy regularly and where I usually purchase them.

Real Food Ingredients Resource Page

Click the image above to head over to our
Real Food Ingredients Resource Page

Many people assume that you either have to live on a farm or live in a big city in order to find sources for healthy food. Not true at all! I live neither on a farm, nor in a big city. I live in a small town with two locally owned grocery stores and a Wal-mart. The nearest Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Natural Grocers stores are about an hour away – which means we are only privileged to shop in those stores a few times a year when we happen to be in the city for appointments or soccer games.

So what are my options? I buy from farms close-by, I buy from a food co-op, I buy online, and I buy the rest from our local grocery stores and Wal-mart. When I do happen to be in the city and can shop at a more specialized whole foods store, it’s a blast! But since those opportunities are rare, I sure do love having access to the internet and my food co-op!

What food do I often buy to have on hand to prepare healthy meals and snacks? You’ll find that detailed list here. Even better, I have a printable Real Food Grocery Check-List included in my Let’s Do This! eCourse, which is very helpful to have in your kitchen as you transition to real food cooking. (That eCourse is a part of our amazing Real Food Reality Resources Package. Did you get yours yet?!)

Let these detailed lists offer you guidance as you transform your kitchen. Anytime I find online sales on these whole food ingredients, I always share them with you within a post so that you can benefit too. The ability to order healthy food ingredients online is a wonderful blessing!

Head on over to our Real Food Ingredient Resource Page to learn more about how I shop.

What are your favorite places to shop for real food ingredients?

 

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Cheeseburger Soup – for $1 per person {31 Days of Real Food Reality ~ Day 10}

January 9, 2014 by Laura 33 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

How about some Cheeseburger Soup for less than $1.00 per person?

31 Days 300

It’s a real food recipe that most everyone will love. It’s full of nourishing goodness. After all, there’s chicken broth and carrots in it, not to mention delicious beef, cheese, milk, and sour cream. It’s a full meal all on its own. Just like all of the recipes I share, this one won’t appear to anyone as “health food.” It’s simply delicious food. Comfort food. And yep, it just so happens to be healthy.

I found that this recipe yielded six hearty servings. I did the math on it, and can declare it to be a Dollar Menu Dish. Technically, it cost me just over a dollar per person to feed this to my family. I decided, eh, it counts. :)  So what does it mean that this meal costs about a dollar per person? It means that healthy eating doesn’t have to be expensive! I love it that there are so many economical ways to feed a family well.

If you don’t mind adding a little extra expense to this soup, and you really want to make it appealing to those among you who just might be afraid of anything healthy – try adding 1/4 – 1/2 pound of chopped, cooked bacon. Then it becomes Bacon Cheeseburger Soup, and who wouldn’t want to eat that? By the way: Bacon is real food.  Hallelujah!

Cheeseburger SoupYum

Cheeseburger Soup - for $1 per person {31 Days of Real Food Reality ~ Day 10}
 
Save Print
Author: Laura
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • ½ pound ground beef
  • ½ cup chopped onion
  • ¾ cup shredded carrots
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley
  • 3 cups chicken broth
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1½ cups milk
  • 5 cups potatoes cut into chunks
  • 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
  • ¼ cup sour cream
Instructions
  1. In a large pot, brown hamburger meat with onions, carrots, basil, and parsley.
  2. Once thoroughly cooked, add chicken broth and potatoes.
  3. Salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium while potatoes cook, about ten minutes.
  5. Once the potatoes are tender, add milk, stirring and cooking until bubbly - about two minutes. Remove from heat.
  6. Add cheese and sour cream, stirring until melted. Serve.
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Cheeseburger Soup

Looking for more meal ideas that use healthy, real food ingredients and cost less than one dollar per plate? Here’s what I’ve shared so far:

  • Hearty Chili
  • Spanish Rice
  • Pasta Alfredo
  • Crock Pot Barbecue Chicken
  • Crock Pot Beef Stew
  • Easy Chicken Pot Pie
  • Chili Mac
  • Breakfast Pizza
  • Dark Chocolate Almond Granola
  • Black Bean Salsa

Have you found ways to keep real food eating within a reasonable budget for your family?

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Stop Calling It Health Food {31 Days of Real Food Reality ~ Day 9}

January 8, 2014 by Laura 14 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

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We were at a friend’s house. The dear lady had been brave enough to offer to feed a meal to our family of six big eaters. As she got pulled a pizza out of the oven, one of my boys (who was pretty little at the time) proclaimed, “Uh-oh, Mama! She made us the unhealthy kind!!”

I shrugged, smiled, and responded by doing what any wise mother would do: I slunk down under the table, never to return.

At that point, it became clear to me that I had created a monster. Four monsters actually, but thankfully the littlest one couldn’t talk yet.

See, when we were transitioning to a whole foods diet several years ago, my kids, who were used to being served meals from a box or a can, found themselves with a freaked-out sort of mama. I swung our food pendulum from one side to the other, and became afraid of anything that wasn’t organic, grass fed, soaked, fermented, and free of all additives, dyes, flavorings – and felt that I would certainly be poisoning us all if even a morsel of it crossed our lips. I did exactly what I now encourage you all NOT to do as you baby step your way toward real food cooking and eating. In an effort to educate my kids as we were making seven hundred changes all at one time, I spoke way too often about what was healthy, and what wasn’t.

Part of this was good. I believe we need to make our family aware of the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to healthy eating. They need to understand why we’re opting to make changes in the kitchen. It’s only fair.

But particularly if you have kids or a husband who is not excited about making healthy changes, and definitely so that your kids won’t throw you under the bus when someone feeds you something that might just contain a bit of Velveeta or MSG – it’s a very good idea to chill out with the “we are now eating health food” family conversations. There is no need to make a big shebang at each meal as you announce that: “The healthy, real food meal is now on the table, and it will nourish us all so much better than the processed food we used to eat, especially since it contains leafy greens and abundant antioxidants…” I mean, maybe that will make your family come running to the table with eagerness, but I’m pretty sure if you just place the nourishing, well balanced meal on the table and holler, “The pot roast is ready!” they’ll be much more relaxed as they join you for the feast.

See, here’s the deal:  The healthy food we should be eating? All of this real food I’m always talking about and encouraging you to focus on? It’s all just…food. When my grandma served her chicken soup, pickled beets, homemade bread, and real butter – while it was all very healthy, in her mind, she was simply serving food. It was food in its whole form, so without even trying, she was serving us “health food.” But it would have made her chuckle for someone to call it that.

Do make your family aware of how they can make good choices when it comes to healthy eating. And definitely don’t be deceitful or sneaky in your food preparation and efforts to get nutrients into your family. But it might be a good idea to avoid making a huge deal about how “we’re going to be eating really healthy now.”

Create yummy dishes. Make tasty snacks. Use real food while you’re cooking and baking. Know that you are putting together delicious, real, whole, healthy food for your family, and that it can be as simple as Grandma’s fried chicken.

To give an example of this, tomorrow’s Real Food Reality post includes a recipe for Cheeseburger Soup. It’s a real food recipe, filled with wholesome goodness, but no one would eat it and declare, “Oh, what wonderful health food we are eating.” They’ll just devour it and call it wonderful. Oh how I love recipes like this. Can’t wait to share it with you!

Have your kids ever embarrassed you by proclaiming someone else’s food to be unhealthy? Come….come join me under the mortified mom’s table.

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Real Food Reality Resources Package – Wait Till You See This!

January 8, 2014 by Laura 5 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

31 Days 300

It’s everything you need to gently walk through your journey to a Real Food Kitchen. Don’t know where to start? Can’t even find your kitchen? Hoping to save money and time? Need as many menu planning ideas as you can get? Check, check, check, check, and then some. This package covers it all!

Reality Resource Sale 2

This package includes five wonderful resources to make your transition to real food cooking a reality. I’m so excited to package these up and knock a bunch of money off the price in an effort to save you money coming and going. Yep, while you’ll be saving a nice percentage off the regular price of the eBooks and eCourses in this package, you’ll also be amazed at the money you’ll save by following the steps and tips described in these eCourses and eBooks. Here’s what this package includes:

Do the Funky Kitchen

Having an organized, well equipped kitchen isn’t a must, but well, it is very helpful. Spend a little time following the suggestions in this eBook, and have a functional (funky!) kitchen that you’ll love! Read more here…

Heavenly Homemaker’s 40 Weekly Menu Planning Ideas Packet

You’ll receive 40 simple, real food, family friendly, easy recipe menu plans in this packet. It is internet linked so that when you see a meal idea within a menu plan that you like, you can click the link directly from the eBook to find the recipe online. Be inspired and receive countless meal planning ideas! Read more here…

You Can Do This! The First Five Steps to a Real Food Kitchen

It’s an eCourse that includes five thorough but simple lessons to walk you through transforming your kitchen into a real food kitchen – one little step at a time. Work at your own pace. Work at it in your jammies. Love where this journey takes you! Read more here…

Let’s Do This! Getting Ahead in Your Real Food Kitchen

My favorite way to serve real food to my family is by making food ahead of time so that I have healthy convenience foods ready to grab and go. This five lesson eCourse teaches you how you can not only keep up in your real food kitchen – you can actually get ahead! You’ll love these methods and find that getting ahead in your real food kitchen is easier than you think! Read more here…

{Healthy} Make-Ahead Meals and Snacks

It’s an eBook full of easy, real food recipes that can all be made ahead of time and frozen for easy use. This includes many of my family’s favorite casseroles and snacks. This eBook will save you time and money, and the recipes are delicious too! Enjoy getting ahead with these fun recipes! Read more here…

Bonus!

The You Can Do This! eCourse automatically comes with a free set of What To Do With the Chicken in Your Kitchen Recipe Cards, which includes 24 delicious, real food chicken recipes on cute, printable cards. Enjoy this free bonus worth an additional $6!

Get your Real Food Reality Resources Package

$19.95

click to purchse

And one more thing…

I must also encourage you to purchase my Oh, For Real: Real Food, Real Family, Real Easy printed cookbook. It’s a wonderful resource to have in your hands and in your kitchen. Consider adding the book to this purchase and we’ll get it sent out to you right away.

ForRealBookCover6

Oh, For Real: Real Food, Real Family, Real Easy 

$25.95
Price includes shipping – U.S. only

Add to Cart

Just want the Real Food Reality Resources Package?
Get it here for $19.95.

click to purchse

Our goal is that these resources will be a blessing to you as you venture on this real food journey!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

A Real Food Package Giveaway From Tropical Traditions (31 Days of Real Food Reality ~ Day 7}

January 7, 2014 by Laura 484 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Here’s a fun feature in our 31 Days to Real Food Reality:  Tropical Traditions, one of my favorite sources for real food, has put together a great whole food package to give away!

Why do I love Tropical Traditions? Because I can count on every product they carry to be the highest quality available…anywhere. Their site offers only food that nourishes.

Their prices are fair, considering the amazing quality of the food and the work it takes to produce such food. But that still sometimes means that their prices are outside my budget. I’ve found that the best way to afford their products is to wait for a free shipping weekend and pair it with sale prices. They offer free shipping every few weeks, with great buy one get one free sales and other discounts at the same time. When I shop that way, I score big time. I’ll be sure to continue keeping you updated on their free shipping and sale items as they come along!

You know how I’ve talked about coconut oil being an extremely healthy fat? Tropical Tradition’s coconut oil is one of the best around. (Read this article to learn lots of uses for coconut oil.)  And check out this great package they’ve put together to give to one of you:

  • 1 quart of Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil
  • 1 quart of Coconut Cream Concentrate
  • 1 Gallon of Organic Palm Shortening
  • 1 Bag of Organic Coconut Flour
  • 1 jar of Organic Raw Honey

Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win this package. They also request that the winner of this giveaway is on their newsletter list, so head over there and sign up!

I’ll draw a random winner on Friday, January 10. Be watching for a post stating your name as you will be responsible for contacting me if your name is chosen.

This post contains affiliate links.

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Food Is Nourishment. What a Concept. {31 Days to Real Food Reality ~ Day 6}

January 5, 2014 by Laura 10 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

31 Days 300

It was way back in my “eating low-fat” days as a college student and young married gal. I would eat a bowl of low-fat cereal with skim milk for breakfast. Lunch might be a turkey sandwich with low fat mayo on “light” bread, and a side of fat free chips (aka salted cardboard). For a snack, I’d have Pepsi and Twizzlers, which are both fat free. Dinner would be any variety of food made with skinless chicken breast, white pasta or potatoes, and maybe a salad with fat free dressing. At the end of the day, I would feel great about how I’d eaten for the day. “I’ve had hardly any fat today!” I would say to myself.

That’s what I thought it meant to eat healthy.

There is a common truth in the way I used to think about eating and what I know believe about eating:  I need to be aware of what I’m putting into my mouth because it is important to eat a healthy diet.  What I didn’t recognize then, however, was that food isn’t just meant to fill a hole. Food is meant to nourish us.

Nourish.

I was getting very little nourishment when I ate a low-fat diet. Why? Because nourishment wasn’t my focus. My focus was on avoiding fat, not on consuming nutrients. Somehow, candy and soda made it on my “healthy” list.

Is It Nourishing

Whether eating low-fat or not, I’m going to venture to suggest that there are many who are consuming very little nourishment. Even people who over-eat. How can this be? Well, there are many edible products on the market that fill a hole, but offer very little nourishment. What nutrients are found in a bag of chips? A slice of white bread? A box of crackers? A box of cereal? A slice of American cheese?

Please don’t hear me heaping on guilt to those of you who are still eating many of those foods. Hey, I eat chips, cereal, and crackers sometimes too. It’s fun, it tastes good, and we enjoy the occasional treat. But I also know that if that’s all we were eating, we would not be receiving much nourishment – I don’t care how fortified the box claims its contents to be.

When making healthy food choices, we must always consider how much nourishment it will give our bodies. Crackers are a fun snack and may hold our kids over until dinner, but are they doing much to give their bodies needed nutrients and fuel?

A well-balanced diet of healthy fats, lots of fruits and vegetables, meats, dairy, rich broths, nuts, and few whole grains will give our body what it needs to thrive! When not given foods filled with nutrients, our bodies can make do for a while, but then we become depleted and sick. Sickness takes on many forms, from sluggishness to disease to everything in between.

So when making food choices, ask yourself, “Is this going to nourish me?”

Fill your body with food meant to nourish! What’s great: Nourishment comes in all forms of deliciousness. Our list of options for real food nourishment is longer than my leg, because God is good to give us wonderful variety! This real food thing just keeps getting better all the time, doesn’t it?

What’s your favorite form of nourishment? When you picture foods that fuel the body well, what foods comes to mind?

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Menu Plan for the Week {31 Days of Real Food Reality ~ Day 5}

January 5, 2014 by Laura 8 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

During our 31 Days of Real Food Reality, I’ll be including my normal weekly menus as part of the series. Why? Because these menus are very much a part of my family’s real food reality. I want them to show you how simple it is to put together real food meals!

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None of these meals cost a lot of money. None of these meals takes much time to prepare. I rebel against difficult-to-make recipes, knowing that while I love to cook, I really only love it when it is easy and fast. And delicious, of course. :)

Here’s another part of my Real Food Reality:  I don’t always stick to my weekly menus. Sometimes what I have planned on Sunday doesn’t sound good by Thursday. Sometimes I forget to thaw the meat. Sometimes I just don’t feel like being tied down to a menu. And sometimes we have leftovers I wasn’t expecting, so we ditch the menu in order to clean out the fridge so that food doesn’t go to waste.

I consider my menu plans to be a guideline to follow…and that’s it. Feel free to use my menu plans to give you ideas, suggestions, and inspiration to make real food a reality for you!

raspberry bars small

These Raspberry Oatmeal Bars have become one of our favorite snack and breakfast foods.
I love that they can quickly be made anytime I have some spare minutes, then eaten when we need them.
They are perfect to make in the evening to serve for a ready-made breakfast!

Sunday, January 5
Instant oatmeal, fruit
Bacon cheeseburger casserole (from {Healthy} Make-Ahead Meals and Snacks eBook), tossed salad
Small group fellowship – Nacho Bar with all the fixins

Monday, January 6
Chocolate chocolate chip muffins, apples
Chicken noodle soup, carrots
Calico beans, tossed salad

Tuesday, January 7
Easy breakfast casserole, clementines
Cheeseburger macaroni, green beans
Creamy chicken and rice casserole, tossed salad, steamed broccoli

Wednesday, January 8
Cream cheese pumpkin muffins, applesauce
Homemade tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, carrots
Fiesta chicken, homemade tortillas, lettuce, tomatoes, avocados, olives

Thursday, January 9
Raspberry oatmeal bars, bananas
Easy noodle stir fry with broccoli and carrots
Barbecue brisket, baked potatoes, green beans, cream cheese corn

Friday, January 10
Homemade grape nuts cereal, blueberries
Calzones, apples
Chicken pot pie, tossed salad

Saturday, January 11
Homemade poptarts, pears
Leftovers
Sandwiches on the road

Tell us your thoughts on how menu planning fits in with your real food reality!

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God is Bigger Than a Free Range Chicken

January 3, 2014 by Laura 38 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

31 Days 300

I love our farm fresh eggs. Raw milk from our neighbor’s cow is fantastic. I go out of my way to bring home grass fed beef, free range chickens, and you should have seen the pastured turkey we ordered at Thanksgiving. Well here, let me just show you again:

huge turkey 1

I believe we can all agree that this fella was one of the healthiest, meatiest, happiest little (giant) free range turkeys around.

There is no question that free range, grass fed, pasture raised animals with college degrees produce a more nutritious food compared to that which is produced from animals raised in less healthy environments. There is also no question that these food products can be very expensive and/or difficult to obtain.

Sometimes, buying these farm raised products is just too far outside of the budget. Sometimes, there’s not a free range critter to be found anywhere close to where you live. So if you are someone who is not able to put free range food on the table, will you please stop feeling bad about it?

God is bigger than a free range chicken, yes? This means that He is also bigger than a chicken that is raised in less than perfect circumstances. By golly, He’s even bigger than the turkey that wouldn’t fit in my pan at Thanksgiving, and that was one huge turkey.

Not able to make a meatloaf with grass fed beef? Raw milk too far outside your budget? Stop feeling guilty. Stop worrying. God knows your desires and your ideals for your family. He will bless your efforts to feed your family nutritious food.

Continue seeking out healthy options that will work for your family. Maybe an affordable free range chicken will find its way to your front porch someday soon. In the meantime, know that just because you don’t have access to the healthiest meat, eggs, and milk in town doesn’t mean you should throw your hands in the air and give up on eating real food. A store-bought egg scrambled up in butter or coconut oil is still loads better for you than any processed food that comes in a box which contains 62 ingredients. Loads better.  It’s still an egg.  That means it’s a real food. Relax.

God is big, bigger, biggest. Take all the complicated details out of the process of switching your kitchen to a real food kitchen, and just focus on going back to the basics – whatever that may look like for you right now.

So what does that look like for you right now? Have you found peace in your circumstances with food sources?

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