Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Easy Blender Pancakes

by 1 Comment

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

Blender Pancakes save a step or two. Anything that makes cooking easier is a win!

With so many little ones in our house, I find that I’m often stopping to pick up a baby or toddler while making our meals. So recently, instead of mixing up our Pancake Batter in a bowl with a whisk, I put everything into our blender so that I could use just one hand instead of two!

I love how easy this is and how the blender does the work of mixing the ingredients. I also love pouring the batter directly onto our griddle instead of scooping out batter with an additional utensil. Fewer steps, fewer dirty dishes! And tasty pancakes. :)

This particular day, we turned our pancakes into snowmen because we were enjoying a beautiful snow fall!

You can use any recipe you want to make your pancakes – simply mix them in your blender instead of in a bowl with a whisk. But here’s our favorite whole wheat recipe:

Easy Blender PancakesYum

Easy Blender Pancakes
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 2 cups milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups whole wheat flour (or whatever grain you want)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
  1. Put ingredients into a blender, liquids first.
  2. Blend until smooth.
  3. Pour batter from blender onto a buttered griddle or skillet.
  4. Flip cakes once they begin to bubble.

Here are more tasty pancake recipe varieties:

Mix any of these in your blender too:

Whipped Cream Recipes:

Ever topped your pancakes with whipped cream? Oooh, you should!

Bonus Pancake Topping Recipes:

Sometimes we just spread butter on our pancakes and eat them as-is. Other times we dribble on some Real Maple Syrup or Honey. Other times, Peanut Butter and Applesauce. Here are more ideas…

Every tried Blender Pancakes?

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

7 Days of Low Cost Breakfast Ideas from Costco

by 3 Comments

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

Here’s an entire week worth of low cost breakfast ideas from Costco!

Can you get the ingredients for these breakfasts at any grocery store? Sure. Do whatever works best for you! I have personally found that buying in bulk at Costco and enjoying their high quality mixed with great prices is a great combination to save lots of money on wonderful meals!

Download a free grocery list here.

Get ready to buy the few ingredients needed to make these breakfast ideas! Many of the ingredients can be mixed and matched so you’ll get great bang for your buck!

Download a free grocery list here.

7 Days of Low Cost Breakfast Ideas from Costco

First, take a look at the seven day menu. Doesn’t this all sound tasty?

  1. Oatmeal with Berries
  2. Homemade Granola with Yogurt
  3. Eggs and Smoothies
  4. Biscuits and Gravy
  5. Pancakes and Bacon
  6. Blueberry Muffins and Eggs
  7. Warm Vanilla Soother and Toast

Ready for the recipes and details? Take note as you make a grocery list that many of the ingredients needed in these breakfast recipes can be mixed and matched. So if you buy these ingredients, you can make multiple recipes and have a wonderful variety of breakfast meals!

1. Oatmeal with BerriesYum

What to buy at Costco:

  • Old Fashioned Oats
  • Your favorite Berries

Costco has awesome prices for both. Their oats comes in 10-pound packages so it will go a very long way. (I usually keep some in a canister in my kitchen for easy access, and then freeze the rest to keep it fresh longer.)

Make it easier:

Here are some fun oatmeal recipes that your family might love!

2. Homemade Granola with Yogurt

What to buy at Costco:

  • Old Fashioned Oats (maybe you’re buying it anyway for the above-mentioned oatmeal!)
  • Coconut Oil
  • Honey
  • Yogurt
  • Look through the recipes below to learn about any additional ingredients you’ll need for individual recipes. Remember when you see the ingredients at Costco – you’ll be able to make several recipes worth of granola or other goodies with these ingredients. This makes it worth paying for and saves money in the long run!

Recipes you’ll love:

3. Eggs and Smoothies

What to buy at Costco:

  • Eggs
  • Frozen Fruit
  • Milk
  • Fresh Spinach

Recipes you’ll love:

Scramble or fry eggs to enjoy while you sip your smoothies. You’ll be nourished well and ready to start your day!

4. Biscuits and Gravy

What to buy at Costco:

  • Flour
  • Butter
  • Sausage
  • Milk
  • Baking Powder
  • Salt

Recipes you’ll love:

It’s amazing how inexpensive it is to make biscuits and gravy at home compared to buying it at a restaurant. And it’s hard to beat homemade!

5. Pancakes and Bacon

What to buy at Costco:

  • Flour
  • Baking Powder
  • Milk
  • Butter
  • Eggs
  • Maple Syrup (a little goes a long way!)
  • Bacon

Recipes you’ll love:

6. Blueberry Muffins and Eggs

What to buy at Costco:

  • Flour
  • Coconut Oil
  • Brown Sugar
  • Baking Powder
  • Milk
  • Blueberries
  • Eggs

Recipes you’ll love:

7. Warm Vanilla Soother and Toast

What to buy at Costco:

  • Milk
  • Eggs
  • Cornstarch
  • Maple Syrup
  • Bread
  • Butter

Recipes you’ll love:

I love how simple these ingredients are and how you can use them in so many ways to make great meals. Enjoy these 7 breakfast ideas, and consider making them for dinner too. Breakfast for dinner is a favorite!

Get our free grocery list to make this easy!

Download your free grocery list here.

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

124 Brunch Food Ideas and Recipes

by Leave a Comment

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

Need some brunch food ideas? Here are 124 to look through and choose from!

Recently I decided to host a simple brunch for our Sunday Lunch guests. I had so much fun brainstorming different food ideas that I decided to share them here for easy access.

My initial Brunch Food Ideas list looked like this:

  • Egg Casserole
  • French Toast Casserole
  • Muffins
  • Yogurt-Granola Parfait
  • Omelet Muffins
  • Fritatas
  • Quiche
  • Homemade Poptarts
  • Raspberry Bars
  • Iced Coffee – coffee bar
  • Fruit Tray with dips
  • Veggie Tray with dips
  • Cheesecake Parfait
  • Smoothie Station
  • Bagels and cream cheese spreads

Then I decided to be more detailed and make big lists of recipes in each category. All said and done, I compiled 124 recipe options for you to work with. These are all simple and good. Enjoy!

Egg Dish RecipesYum

Is it even a brunch if you don’t have an Egg Casserole of some kind? :) These are some great options to choose from:

French Toast and Bread Pudding

These are great because you can make them ahead of time:

Muffin Recipes

It might be fun to make several varieties of muffins to set out along with a beautiful, colorful fruit arrangement, quiche, and drinks!

Breads and Rolls

Make a variety of these to slice and serve with an egg dish and fruit:

Other Fun Baked Goods

These recipes will make your brunch extra special:

Cheesecake or Yogurt Parfaits

These are as beautiful as they are delicious!

Fruit with Dips

Prepare a tray filled with any variety of these fruits to go with your fruit dips: strawberries, blueberries, green grapes, red grapes, pineapple, cantaloupe, watermelon, honey dew melon, orange wedges, apple slices

Chips or Veggies with Dips

Veggie platters are beautiful because they add color variety to your buffet. These dips make veggies more fun to eat:

Salads

Here are some ideas for making your salad special:

Smoothie Station

Borrow blenders from a couple of friends, then set out a variety of frozen fruits for people to choose from:

  • Pineapple
  • Strawberries
  • Blueberries
  • Bananas
  • Mango

Along with liquid choices:

  • Whole milk
  • Almond milk
  • Coconut milk
  • Orange juice
  • Yogurt

And some extras like whipped cream and fun straws. Let everyone make a smoothie just the way they like!

Coffee

Your guests will love it if you serve coffee in any of these fun ways!

Hot or Iced Tea Options

These look pretty in glass serving dispensers…

Hot and Cold Drink Treats

These ideas are unique and always go over well:

Share your favorite brunch menus!

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

Simple Bran Muffin Recipe

by 2 Comments

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

Silly as it may be, I think this Simple Bran Muffin Recipe may be my favorite of all the muffins.

And trust, me, there are a lot of muffins. I have over 40 muffin recipes here, and many of them include chocolate chips or a cheesecake topping! So to say that these Bran Muffins are a favorite is saying something.

I believe it stems back to my college days when the cafeteria sometimes featured a muffin like this one. I didn’t love many of the cafeteria foods, but those muffins were a favorite and I always got excited when they were serving them!

These stir together easily and you can use any brand of Bran Flakes cereal you like!

Simple Bran Muffin RecipeYum

Simple Bran Muffin Recipe
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
  • ½ cup brown sugar or rapadura
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1 ½ cups milk
  • 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
  • 3 cups Bran Flakes cereal
  • ½ cup raisins (optional)
Instructions
  1. Mix together flour, brown sugar, soda, cinnamon, and salt.
  2. Add egg, milk, and oil.
  3. Stir in cereal until well combined (along with raisins if you like)
  4. Scoop mixture into 12 paper-lined muffin tins.
  5. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20-22 minutes or until muffins are golden brown.

One of my kids favorite ways to eat a muffin is if I cut them in half, smear butter on them, then warm them in our big air fryer. (We use our air fryer as a toaster oven as it works great to fill it with bread, bagels, or muffins and warm/toast them slightly. YUM!)

These taste great for breakfast, and also as a side dish with soup.

Are you an “add raisins to your muffins” kind of person or a “raisins don’t belong in muffins or cookies” kind of person? (Raisins are a no-go for me, except for snacks for the kids, ha!)

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

Breakfast Cookie Cups – Perfect for Grab-and-Go!

by 5 Comments

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

I turned my breakfast cookie recipe into Breakfast Cookie Cups. This is genius. Plus below I’ve shared several other great grab-and-go breakfast ideas!

Not that Breakfast Cookies aren’t already convenient as a quick grab-and-go breakfast or snack option. But somehow having them in cupcake wrappers and baked in a muffin tin makes them even easier. Maybe they’re less crumbly? I dunno, but I really like them this way!

My kids are loving them, however, for our littlest, I skipped the chocolate chips to avoid extra messes. (How do they end up with chocolate chips melted onto their bottoms every time, I don’t know. So chocolate chip-less Breakfast Cookie Cups for all who are two and under at our house.)

Breakfast Cookie CupsYum

Breakfast Cookie Cups - Perfect for Grab-and-Go!
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: 18
Ingredients
  • 1 cup melted butter
  • ½ cup honey
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • ½ cup raisins or chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Mix butter, honey, eggs, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, and vanilla.
  2. Stir in flour and oats.
  3. Fold in raisins or chocolate chips.
  4. Scoop heaping tablespoons of dough into paper-lined muffin tins.
  5. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

I double this recipe every time I make it simply because these freeze well and they are great to have in the freezer to serve as needed.

TIP: Add 1 cup of peanut butter to these if you want to add some protein. No other adjustments necessary.

Here are a few more great ideas for grab-and-go breakfasts:

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

Hot Cocoa Oatmeal

by 4 Comments

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

Look at this fun idea for Hot Cocoa Oatmeal!

Yum

My 7-year-old daughter found this idea in a magazine and we decided to try it at home. Whoa, but let me just pause for one moment to say: I never knew I’d be able to use “my” and “daughter” in the same sentence. And now I have four beautiful daughters plus two daughters-in-law!! Pictures to come as soon as our little girls’ adoptions are final!

So back to my 7-year-old daughter. :) She found a Hot Cocoa Oatmeal recipe in a Highlights magazine and wanted to try it. I don’t usually keep mini marshmallows on hand, but for this, I picked some up to surprise her. You can certainly make this breakfast or snack without them. I let my kids have four each instead of letting them fill their mugs. :)

This recipe is fun because you can make it ahead of time, then make a mug full whenever you need it. Beyond the marshmallows, this really is a healthy breakfast or snack option. My kids LOVED the chocolate flavor of this!

Hot Cocoa Oatmeal

Hot Cocoa Oatmeal
 
Save Print
Author:
Ingredients
  • 10 cup whole oats (divided)
  • 2 cups brown sugar or sucanat
  • 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoons sea salt
  • Mini marshmallows (optional)
Instructions
  1. Measure 7 cups of oats into a large mixing bowl.
  2. Blend the remaining 3 cups (1/2 cup at a time) until powdery and stir into the mixing bowl.
  3. Add brown sugar, cocoa powder, and sea salt.
  4. Mix well.
  5. Store in a large, airtight container.
  6. When ready to serve the oatmeal, scoop ½ cup of mix into a mug.
  7. Add ¾ cup boiling water.
  8. Stir.
  9. Allow the oatmeal and water to sit for about 5 minutes.
  10. Stir, add marshmallows if you like, and eat.

 

As you can see, this is a big-batch recipe. I love making recipes like this for my family so I can use my time and energy well. Having a large container of this on hand means I can boil water in the morning, scoop oatmeal mixture into mugs, and have a very quick and fun breakfast ready in just a few minutes with very little effort.

 

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

Easy Chocolate Waffles

by Leave a Comment

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

Check it out! Chocolate Waffles!

This recipe is as simple as whisking some cocoa powder into your waffle batter, but suddenly you’ve created a specialty breakfast. Better yet, make these for dinner sometime for a fun, unique evening meal.

What I especially love about this waffle batter is that you can put leftover batter into the fridge to store and use later. This makes prep even easier, as all you have to do is pull out the ready-to-use batter and make yourself some waffles!

Easy Chocolate WafflesYum

Easy Chocolate Waffles
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 3 cups whole wheat flour (I use freshly ground soft white wheat for these)
  • 1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 Tablespoon sucanat or brown sugar
  • 3 heaping Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 4 eggs
  • 2½ cups milk
  • ½ cup melted coconut oil
Instructions
  1. Whisk ingredients together until smooth.
  2. Cook ½-3/4 cup mixture in a waffle iron for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown.
  3. Serve with fresh fruit and whipped cream.
  4. Store leftover batter in a secure container in the fridge.

Serve these Chocolate Waffles with regular (real) maple syrup. Or make this awesome Chocolate Syrup.

Here are more options for toppings:

Have you ever tried Chocolate Waffles?

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

Easy Make-Ahead Breakfast Sandwich Ideas

by 2 Comments

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

These breakfast sandwich ideas are easy and you probably already know how to put these together. But here’s your encouragement to make a bunch of breakfast sandwiches ahead and freeze them for easy meals!

Dare I throw my teenage kid under the bus and tell you about the time I got up early to make him a hearty breakfast sandwich before he left at 6:50 am for a tennis tournament? And how he was so grateful but then he put his hot sandwich in his tennis bag and forgot to eat it on the way to the tournament?? I can’t decide if I should tell you about that or not…

Well. At least I didn’t tell you which kid it was.

But back to how you can make breakfast sandwiches ahead of time.

I like to make a dozen or so at once, then individually wrap them in foil and warm them up in the oven or air fryer as needed when we need a grab-and-go breakfast with protein.

The great thing about making breakfast sandwiches is that you can use any variety of meats, breads, and cheeses that you have on hand and that your family likes!

Easy Make-Ahead Breakfast Sandwich IdeasYum

Start with any bread options you have like:

  • Bagels
  • English Muffins
  • Loaf Bread
  • Croissants
  • Hamburger Buns
  • Tortillas

Make eggs:

  • Scrambled
  • Fried
  • Boiled and made into egg salad

Prepare meat:

  • Sliced Ham
  • Sausage Patties
  • Bacon Strips
  • Sliced Turkey
  • Sliced Canadian Bacon

Add cheese:

  • Sliced Colby Jack
  • Sliced Pepper Jack
  • Sliced Cheddar

Assemble your sandwiches:

  1. If you want to wrap your sandwiches individually, prepare foil wraps according to how many sandwiches you plan to make. Lay them out on the counter.
  2. Place bread on each piece of foil wrap.
  3. Cook eggs – one per sandwich.
  4. Distribute cooked eggs onto each bottom part of the bread.
  5. Top with meat.
  6. Top with cheese.
  7. Place the top sandwich bread over the cheese.
  8. Wrap the sandwich with foil.
  9. Place wrapped sandwiches in freezer bags to store in the freezer or fridge to warm up as needed.
  10. Warm a thawed sandwich in a 350-degree oven or in an air fryer for about 10 minutes.
  11. Eat on the run.

UPDATE: How to make Breakfast Sandwiches in BIG BATCHES

Now that I’ve been at this Breakfast Sandwich game for a few years, and now that I feed so many people every day and need more efficiency, I’ve learned some tricks to share!

1. First, I crack 18 eggs into a bowl and scramble them. Then I spray a cookie sheet with avocado oil and pour on the eggs. I sprinkle with salt, then bake the eggs in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes. They cook from the outside in, so once the middle is solid, they are done. They will likely puff up/bubble, but once out of the oven, the flatten again. I sprinkle with cheese, then let the cheese melt and eggs cool.

2. Next, I cut the eggs into squares. I get 24 squares from this pan.

3. Then I assemble sandwiches. Sausage patties are the fastest because they are pre-made and fit on a bun nicely. But sometimes I used cooked bacon or sliced ham. I usually put some sandwiches in the fridge for easy access, and the rest go in the freezer to pull out as needed!

Do you like to make breakfast sandwiches for an on-the-go option?

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

Easiest Bread Pudding

by 2 Comments

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

Can I claim that this is the Easiest Bread Pudding recipe when, in fact, I’ve never made a different recipe in which to compare it??

Just like any recipe, I wouldn’t share it if it wasn’t easy to make. I’d actually never attempted Bread Pudding until recently when I:

  • Had a bag of leftover pancakes in my fridge and
  • Needed something special to feed a large group.

So I did a little research, then adapted and created this. It’s a huge hit!

Easiest Bread PuddingYum

Easiest Bread Pudding
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 6 slices stale bread or leftover pancakes
  • 3 Tablespoons of melted butter
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 cups milk
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • Topping:
  • 3 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish.
  2. Tear bread or pancakes into small pieces and put them into the dish.
  3. Whisk together remaining ingredients and pour mixture over the bread pieces.
  4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35-45 minutes or until the middle doesn't jiggle.
  5. Just before Bread Pudding has finished baking, whisk the topping ingredients over low heat in a saucepan until melted and mixed.
  6. After removing pudding from the oven, drizzle topping over it right away.

This is truly a great option to make with leftover pancakes. I find that re-warming pancakes isn’t as tasty as serving them fresh off a griddle. So to cut them up and douse them in this milk and egg mixture to make Bread Pudding? Such a perfect idea!

The soccer team enjoyed this treat, as did our family. Are you a Bread Pudding fan?

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

Easy Applesauce Cake

by 1 Comment

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

This Easy Applesauce Cake is turning into our favorite fall breakfast treat!

Breakfast, you ask? Cake, you wonder? Yes, you know we eat cake for breakfast. The way we make cake, it’s like making muffins in a cake pan. :)

—> My Original Breakfast Cake recipe <—

The beauty of this Applesauce Cake is that if you have some apples that are starting to shrivel, making them not so appealing (<—get it?!), you can grind them up and use them in this cake. This leaves behind delightful little apple chunks in your cake.

But if you (or your kids) don’t want chunks, using applesauce to make this cake will be perfect. Apples or applesauce make this moist and delicious. This truly is a perfect fall breakfast cake.

Easy Applesauce CakeYum

Easy Applesauce Cake
 
Save Print
Author:
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups whole wheat flour
  • ¾ cup sucanat or ½ cup honey
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 cup applesauce
  • 3 eggs
  • ⅓ cup melted coconut oil
Instructions
  1. Stir all dry ingredients together in a bowl.
  2. Add applesauce, eggs, and oil, stirring until well combined.
  3. Pour batter into a buttered 9x9 inch baking dish.
  4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

 

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