Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

100% Juice Punch {Christmas Brunch}

by 99 Comments

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

Many of you know how much I used to love drinking Pepsi – and how giving it up has been a great decision for my health. But you probably also know how much I miss that “burn”!

For the occasional treat, I like to put seltzer water into a small amount of 100% juice. It’s not too sweet – but just sweet enough to make the fizzy water taste better. And it gives me that burn I love and miss.

For our Christmas Brunch, I wanted to suggest this simple punch idea. It’s 100% juice – no added sugar or corn syrup!

Christmas Brunch PunchYum

12 ounces 100% cranberry juice concentrate, thawed but cold
12 ounces 100% grape juice concentrate, thawed but cold
2 (or 3) liters seltzer water

Mix all ingredients together in a punch bowl or large pitcher. The amount of seltzer water you use is up to you – depending on how sweet or fizzy you like your drinks.

Christmas Brunch Punch {with 100 juice!}

Feel free to add different kinds of juice depending on your taste.

Are you like me – do you like the “burn”?

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

Christmas Truffles and Easy Peanut Butter Fudge

by 10 Comments

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

Need a couple more yummy treat recipes?

Try my recipe for Chocolate Caramel Truffles or Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles. Both of these make great gifts!

Yum

And, you can use the Peanut Butter Chocolate Truffle recipe to make fudge! Simply mix it up and spread the mixture into an 8×8 inch pan. Chill the mixture, then cut it into squares. It is SO easy!

 What are your favorite treats to make (and eat) this time of year?

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

Orange Cranberry Scones {Christmas Brunch}

by 160 Comments

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

Welcome to our Third Annual Christmas Brunch. I decided that I had to begin with this Orange Cranberry Scone recipe. Wow, they are yummy!

My favorite ingredient is the orange juice because of the amazing flavor it gives this treat. But my actual favorite ingredient is the dried cranberries, because no matter how you use those, they are delicious. It is a fact that my real favorite ingredient in these scones is the butter, because I think we all know how much I love butter. Plus butter is what makes these scones so yummy and “pastry like”.

This takes me back to the orange juice (which is my favorite scone ingredient, in case you were not aware) – because this is the ingredient you use to make the delicious glaze that you drizzle over the top once the scones are baked.

By the way – did you know that scones are very, very easy to make? They are especially simple if you have a food processor and let that machine “cut in your butter” for you. I’m all for working hard, but remember how I’m not a butter cutter inner?

Orange Cranberry SconesYum

2 cups whole wheat flour (I use freshly ground flour from hard white wheat)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup chopped dried cranberries
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
3 Tablespoons honey
2 Tablespoons orange juice concentrate
1/4 cup milk

Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt, and dried cranberries. Cut in butter until mixture resembles crumbs. (I use my food processor for this, and to mix the remaining ingredients.)  Add egg, honey, orange juice concentrate, and milk. Stir until a nice ball of dough forms.

Form dough into a ball on a floured surface. Roll dough into a circle about 8 inches in diameter. Place on a cookie sheet or baking stone. Cut circle into 8 equal pieces.

Bake in a 400° oven for 12-18 minutes or until scones are golden brown. While the scones are baking, mix up the glaze.

Orange Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar (I use organic unbleached or homemade)
4 Tablespoons orange juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Drizzle glaze over the scones right after you remove them from the oven.

Orange Cranberry Scones

Which do you suppose will be your favorite ingredient in these Orange Cranberry Scones?  :)

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

Cream Cheese Cookie Cutouts

by 18 Comments

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

In preparation for a Christmas Cookie Exchange with several of my friends tonight, I made our favorites – Cream Cheese Cookie Cutouts. The cookies have cream cheese in them and the frosting is made with cream cheese. Let’s just say these cookies are soft, rich, and I have to work hard to keep myself out of them.

Cream Cheese Cookie CutoutsYum

1/2 cup melted butter
4 ounces softened cream cheese
1 cup sugar (sucanat works, as does brown sugar)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour (I use freshly ground hard white wheat flour)

Stir together melted butter, softened cream cheese, and sugar. Add egg, baking powder, and vanilla. Stir in flour until well combined. (Use a little less or a little more flour as needed.)  Place dough in the refrigerator for at least two hours.

Once dough is chilled, roll on a well floured surface and cut out into desired shapes. Bake in a 350° oven for 10-15 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned. (I prefer mine just barely done so that they stay soft!)  Allow cookies to cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 1/2 cups unbleached organic powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whip butter and cream cheese with beaters until fluffy. Add vanilla and powdered sugar and beat until mixed thoroughly.

Makes about 30 cookies.

My (poor, deprived, starving) boys were not very happy with me when I told them that most of the cookies were  going to the Christmas Cookie Exchange. Not to worry, I told them. They could have all the broken cookies. Considering the fact that I am not a perfectionist, I’d say they made out just fine with a lovely assortment of broken stars, branchless trees, and torn stockings. 

 
If you’d like a printout of the Cream Cheese Cookie Cutouts recipe, you can download it here. I needed to print off the recipe anyway for the cookie exchange, so thought I’d share it with you too!

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

Honey Pecan Pie ~ Real Food Makeover

by 31 Comments

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

Yum
I have had several requests for a healthier Pecan Pie – one that didn’t call for corn syrup. My family was happy for me to try this experiment. I’m excited to share that I was easily able to adapt a recipe to use honey in exchange for corn syrup. Simple as that! (If only all of the Real Food Makeovers were this easy…)
Hey, guess what else? Not only was this recipe simple to figure out – the filling for this pie only has five ingredients. It’s super quick to put together!
Honey Pecan Pie
Honey Pecan Pie
Honey Pecan Pie ~ Real Food Makeover
 
Save Print
Author:
Ingredients
  • 1 cup honey
  • 3 eggs
  • ⅓ cup melted butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1¼ cups crushed pecans
Instructions
  1. Whisk first four ingredients together until eggs are beaten and everything is well mixed.
  2. Add pecans and stir.
  3. Pour mixture into an unbaked Whole Wheat Pie Crust.
  4. Bake in a 350° oven for about 45 minutes or until the middle of the pie no longer jiggles.
Here’s my Whole Wheat Pie Crust recipe.
(My use of the word jiggles proves how professional I am in my use of cooking terms.)
pecan pie bites4
How about another, even easier Pecan Pie idea? Try these Easy Pecan Pie Bites! They are wonderful for your holiday dessert table because people can pop one or two in their mouths and still enjoy other favorite desserts too! Not that we all need more than one dessert. But that’s pretty much a holiday reality, right?
Cinnamon Sugar Pecans
And while you’re working with pecans, you might try these great Cinnamon Sugar Pecans! They are a great gift or snack!
Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Real Food MakeOver: Crock Pot Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cake (and Cake Boys Episode 7!)

by 21 Comments

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

Yum
 
Have a recipe you’d like me to try and make over? Submit your recipes on this Real Food Recipe Makeover Submission Page.
 

Remember that cake I tried to make in a crock pot that ended up being tedious and difficult? After that, my friend Jenny emailed me a recipe for Crock Pot Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cake, figuring that I could surely make over the ingredients to make this a healthier recipe.
 

I was excited, yet given my experience with cake in a crock pot, I couldn’t help but wonder:  Would this cake be a lot of work? Would it be tasty in the end?
 

The answer to those questions are:  No, this cake is not a lot of work…and YES this cake is incredibly tasty.
 

I actually handed the recipe to the Cake Boys (aka Justus and bros) to make this for Matt’s birthday last week. It was so easy for them to adapt that they did it without any help from me. Yes indeed, this Real Food Makeover is brought to you by the Cake Boys. :)

 
You simply pour the batter into the crock pot, then drizzle over a layer of boiling water/cocoa/sucanat. The cake bakes in a crock pot for two hours, and when it’s finished, the cake has baked over the top and a layer of fudgy pudding is on the bottom.
 

This cake is dreamy, rich deliciousness. We all loved it!
 


Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cake

 
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup sucanat
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 Tablespoons melted butter (or coconut oil)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

 
Combine flour, cocoa, sucanat, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Make a well in the center and add milk, butter, and vanilla. Stir well, until batter is smooth. Stir in peanut butter (heat if needed, to thin). Stir in chocolate chips. Spread the batter evenly into a well greased slow cooker. Make the topping:
 
Topping:

 
3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
3/4 cup sucanat
1 1/2 cups boiling water
 

Mix cocoa and sucanat, whisk in boiling water until smooth. Gently pour over batter in crock pot, but don’t stir. Cover and cook on HIGH until puffed and the top layer is set, about 2- 2 1/4 hours. Turn off crock pot and let stand, covered for at least 30 minutes. Serve the cake (which is now on top) with ice cream or whipped cream and drizzle the fudgy pudding from the bottom over both.

 
Makes 6-8 servings

 

 
And now, you can enjoy Episode 7 of Cake Boys, which includes a ridiculous commercial break by Asa. Wow, our boys have tooooo much fun putting these together. Also, I should note:  Justus says that he added “shortening” to the cake. He really added butter. He was just reading the original recipe when he recorded. :)  And then we had a little lesson about what shortening is and why we don’t eat it unless it’s Palm Shortening. But anyway…

 

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

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

by 24 Comments

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

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie
This recipe was given to me many years ago by my dear friend Jill. I typically make this pie once a year, on Father’s Day, as it is one of Matt’s favorites. I would make it more often, but it is a dangerous item to have in our refrigerator. It is rich, incredibly tasty, and I have a hard time controlling myself when it is around.

And here Matt thought I made this pie for him on his special day…

Chocolate Peanut Butter PieYum
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup natural peanut butter (I used homemade creamy peanut butter.)
4 squares of unsweetened chocolate
1 1/4 cup sucanat (or sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs (I trust free range, organic eggs for this pie.)
1 baked pie crust (Here’s my whole wheat pie crust recipe.)

Bake a pie crust. I recommend this recipe. Allow crust to cool.

In a small saucepan, melt butter, peanut butter, unsweetened chocolate, and sucanat together, stirring frequently. Pour melted mixture into a mixing bowl. Beat in vanilla and eggs – ONE LITTLE EGG AT A TIME.

It is very important that you add eggs one at a time, allowing time for each egg to thicken the mixture and to help the mixture to become creamy. I got lazy once and just threw all the eggs in at one time and I can assure you, my laziness did not pay off. Take the extra few minutes to follow directions. We make our kids do it, right? Set an example to your children and for Pete’s sake, follow directions. Your chocolate peanut butter happiness depends on it. ;)

Once the mixture is thick and creamy, pour it into the pie shell. Chill for at least two hours before serving. Lick the bowl before anyone comes into the kitchen to fight you for the beaters.

Oops, did I just say that out loud? ;)


FYI – If you whip some fresh cream and plop it on top of your piece of pie, this amazing dessert, if it is actually possible, becomes even more amazing.

I feel as though I should now give some sort of disclaimer about eating raw eggs, so here is my smallish attempt at it. Because of the research I’ve done, I completely and totally trust the organic, free range, farm fresh eggs that we are able to obtain, and I do not hesitate to eat them raw in our smoothies, milk shakes and this pie. Not only do I not fear that they will harm us, I love them for their wonderful health benefits. I do not feel the same way about conventional, store-bought eggs, but that’s just me. I’m not a risk taker, but neither do I have one little hesitation about eating this pie when I make it with our good eggs. (Trust me, you should have seen me eating this pie, without hesitation, on Father’s Day, with a big chocolaty grin on my face.)  Feel free to make your own decisions about this, and we can all still be great friends. :)

So, how long would this pie stay in your fridge before it got eaten?

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

How My Kids Adapted a Recipe to Make it Healthier, a Brownie Pudding Cake Recipe, and a “Teaching Your Kids to Cook” eBook Giveaway!

by 216 Comments

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

While I do the majority of the cooking at our house, simply because I love it so much, we have slowly but surely been training our boys to read recipes and put simple meals together. Remember how they cooked for me on Mother’s Day? Dad played a big role in that, but still, it was impressive to me (as I sat locked in my office listening and blogging the play-by-play of the action) to hear that our boys know where ingredients are, and how to figure out a brand new recipe.

Most impressive to me, however, is the fact that our boys have learned to adapt recipes to make them healthier. I really had no idea that I was inadvertently teaching them this skill as we’ve cooked together. But as our two middle boys (ages 10 and 12) dug through our Better Homes and Gardens cookbook one day recently and decided to make a Brownie Pudding Cake, I found myself preparing to walk them through how to exchange less healthy ingredients for those that we typically bake with.

To my surprise, my assistance was never needed. I heard them reading the recipe aloud, “1/4 cup sugar – okay, I’ll get out the sucanat.” and  “1 Tablespoon cooking oil…I think coconut oil would be the best one for this cake.”

I stayed out of the kitchen the entire time. They had it under control and knew just what to do. Might they still need my assistance at times while they are cooking? Of course. Not everything about “healthifying” a recipe is as easy as switching out sugar for sucanat, one for one. But it goes to show that if you talk through recipes while you’re cooking with your kids, they will learn an incredible amount, whether you realize it or not!

In case you’re interested, here is my boys’ version of a very tasty cake. They even got a picture…after we taste tested it. :)

Coppinger Boys’ Brownie Pudding CakeYum

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sucanat
1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup milk
1 Tablespoon melted coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup sucanat
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
3/4 cup boiling water

Stir together flour, 1/4 cup sucanat, 1 Tablespoon cocoa, and the baking powder. Add milk, oil and vanilla, stirring until smooth. Spread batter in a 1-quart baking dish. Combine 1/3 cup sucanat, and the remaining 2 Tablespoons of cocoa powder. Gradually stir in boiling water. Pour evenly over batter. Bake at 350° for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Serve warm. Makes 6 servings.

I’ve created a free downloadable Healthy Recipe Substitutions Chart
that you are welcome to print and keep in your kitchen.
Here is more information I’ve written on substituting healthy ingredients.

And now for the giveaway!

I’ve found that summer is a perfect time to give my kids more time and experience in the kitchen. Interested in joining me in this endeavor? (With your own kids, of course. My kids would probably love to come cook in your kitchen, but they’ll be too busy scrambling eggs and making muffins in mine. Sorry.)

Last summer, we finished and launched to new books:  Teaching Your Kids to Cook (written for the parent) and Learn to Cook (written for the student). We’re giving away one of each today (the downloadable version) as a way to encourage you to get your kids in the kitchen with you. And watch closely over the next few days. There may or may not be a sale on those books soon. :)

If you’re interested in winning one of these books, head over to the book description page and look them over. Come back here and leave a comment, letting us know which one would work best for your family. If you’d like extra entries for more chances to win, share this giveaway on Facebook, like me on Facebook, follow me on Pinterest, subscribe to my blog, and/or come mop my floors. I’d be happy to give you extra entries for any or all of the above. ;)

I’ll draw two random winners on Monday, May 28. Please watch for a post stating the winners as you will be responsible for contacting me if your name is chosen.

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

Healthier Cheesecake Brownies

by 43 Comments

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

Warning: The following post is full of calories, sugar, and rich gooey chocolate. Reading this post will not result in any weight gain, neither will you have a sugar crash when you are finished looking at the pictures. However, baking and actually eating these Cheesecake Brownies in real life is a different story – especially if you struggle (like I do) with over-indulging in such things as cheesecake or brownies or a fantastically incredible combination of the two. These are made with healthier ingredients such as whole grain flour and unrefined sugar, but it’s not like these are made of green leafy vegetables. Oh how I wish. Therefore, I recommend that if you make these Cheesecake Brownies, you should plan to take them immediately to a potluck or otherwise heavily populated event where there are many servant-hearted people to help you consume them. Participating in a short time of “quality control” before taking them to an event is acceptable, as long as you don’t feel that you need to test the quality of the entire pan of goodies.

———————————–

Trust me, I am offering this warning from the botom of my sugar-loving heart. I am the girl who, when asked, “Which do you like best? Brownies…or Cheesecake?” I always answer with an definite and enthusiastic, “Yes!!!” I love them both, but put them together and that pan of Cheesecake Brownies and I could have a fine party, just the two of us. But I’m also working hard to get in shape and to eat a healthy diet. Cheescake Brownie binges and my running shoes just don’t go together.

In other words:  Share the love, people.

Cheesecake Brownies

Brownie LayerYum

1 cup melted butter
2 cups sucanat
2/3 cup cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

Cheesecake Layer

2 – 8 ounce packages of cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1/2 cup sucanat
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix together melted butter, sucanat, and cocoa powder. Add eggs and vanilla, stirring well. Mix in flour and stir until thoroughly mixed. Spread the brownie batter into a 9×13 inch baking dish and set aside.

In a separate mixing bowl, cream together all cheesecake layer ingredients:  softened cream cheese, eggs, sucanat and vanilla. Once it is well mixed and creamy, spoon the mixure into about twelve “plops” over the top of the brownie batter.

Use a butter knife to “cut” and swirl the cheesecake mixture through the brownie batter.

Try not to hyperventilate while you anticipate how good these will taste once they are baked. Good luck.

Bake in a 350° oven for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow the Cheesecake Brownies to cool completely before slicing. Makes 24 servings.

I will say it again:  This recipe makes twenty-four servings. These cheesecake brownies are not to be consumed by you alone – not even in 24 different settings. Not even if you first ate a good dinner. These are to be shared. Do not forget this important information.


Oh, but when you do indulge in your Cheesecake Brownie, I give you full permission to thoroughly enjoy yourself. Savor each rich, chocolaty, cream cheesy bite of gooey goodness. Put your feet up, turn on some music, and make it an event. And if you think of it, call me. I like events that include brownies and cheesecake.

What would you answer to the question of:  “Which do you like best? Brownies…or cheesecake?” (“Yes” is an acceptable answer.)

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

Whole Wheat Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

by 26 Comments

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

Typically, I am a regular ol’ chocolate chip cookie girl. I began making chocolate chip cookies when I was about eight years old, and made them almost daily in the summer when we had hired hands helping us on the farm. I can make chocolate chip cookies in my sleep. I don’t have to even think about the ingredients or the measurements while I make chocolate chips cookies. And shucks, if I do say so myself, my chocolate chips cookies taste pretty good.

Lately though, my boys have been asking for something a little different. What!? They don’t want the same chocolate chip cookie over and over and over? C’mon. Change is hard for me. And if I really care to admit it – thinking is often hard for me as well. I’d rather make something that is a no-brainer, thank you very much. Don’t they understand?

Okay, fine. A change of pace in the cookie department every now and then is nice. Which is why I played with a chocolate cookie recipe to make it healthier. We all loved the way it turned out. And if you throw some homemade white chocolate chips in these, you’ve got a fantastic “healthy-ish” cookie.

By the way, if you don’t feel like taking the time to make homemade white chocolate chips, I completely understand. Just know that regular store bought white chips typically have hydrogenated oils and corn syrup in them, which I recommend avoiding if at all possible. I did find some healthier white chips at Whole Foods a few months ago that were “clean”, and I noticed that VitaCost and Amazon had some too – so hey, all is not lost!

Whole Wheat Chocolate Crinkle CookiesYum

3 eggs
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups sucanat (or brown sugar)
1/2 cup  melted coconut oil (butter would also work)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups whole wheat flour (I use freshly ground flour from hard white wheat.)
1 cup white chocolate chips (optional)

Whip together eggs, cocoa, and sucanat. Stir in melted coconut oil, baking powder, and vanilla. Mix in flour until a nice dough has formed. Fold in white chocolate chips. Spoon teaspoon sized balls of dough on to a cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake in a 350° for 8-10 minutes. Allow the cookies to sit on the cookie sheet for about five minutes before removing. Makes about 24 cookies.

The dough just looked too yummy, so I had to take a picture. Kind of makes you want to reach into the computer with a spoon, doesn’t it?

These cookies are soft, sweet, and slightly coconutty if you use virgin coconut oil. (Use expeller pressed coconut oil of you don’t prefer a coconut flavor.)

What’s your favorite kind of cookie? Do you ever get into a cookie rut?

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