Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Apple Muffin Throw Down

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Remember the Boxed Brownies vs. Homemade Brownies experiment I did? And the Boxed Mac and Cheese vs. Homemade Creamy Mac and Cheese experiment I did? How about my Sunday Dinner Challenge, which took a whopping one minute, forty eight point nine seconds to make? My boys love that I keep making them bring the stop watch into the kitchen for these “races”. It’s that male competition thing they have going on. 

I finally got around to completing another “boxed vs. homemade” experiment in an effort to prove that making homemade food from healthy ingredients doesn’t take a lot of time. I figure that some might still be having a difficult time believing me when I say that it truly doesn’t take a long time to prepare healthy foods. So I’m having fun trying to “prove” my case, and my family is having fun eating the results of my experiments. ;)

This time, I decided to see which took longer to prepare: boxed muffins…or muffins made from scratch. I found some great looking “healthier” boxed muffin mixes from Vitacost. While these were organic, they were still made from white flour and white sugar, although at least I could control the oil I put into them. None of that has anything to do with the experiment necessarily, except just to say that these muffins really didn’t hold much in the way of nutrition. Anyway, back to the point, which I know that those of you who haven’t fallen asleep while reading this post are waiting on pins and needles to hear… 

From the time I opened the boxes, to the time I put the muffin pans into the oven, 6.25 minutes had passed. 

A few weeks later, I mixed up my Applesauce Bread recipe and made the batter into muffins. How long did it take? Right at 7 minutes.  And these had whole wheat flour, honey, and real, unsweetened applesauce in them. Nutrients! For my family for breakfast! What a concept.  This, because I spent about 45 seconds longer making muffins from scratch. 

What other thoughts do you have about what I could experiment with?  My boys are waiting with their stop watch…

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Be Efficient in the Kitchen – {Eat Healthy ~ Save Time}

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I am often asked, “How do you do it all?” 

Oh my. Without a doubt, my answer to that question is always, “Mercy, have you seen my closets?” (or cabinets, or laundry pile, or toilets, or pick your messes depending on the day…)

I don’t do it all. I don’t even do half of it all. In fact, it’s almost 6 pm as I’m trying to write this. I still haven’t done my breakfast dishes and I haven’t started to make dinner. For the first time today, I finally got a chance to sit down and work on my website at 5:35 – and I’ve had three interruptions since I started. I think I forgot to have the boys put the laundry into the dryer, which means that the clothes might start to smell sour soon. I didn’t make my bed this morning. I didn’t hang my dress up after wearing it on Sunday. My hair looks kinda funny. And it seems that I have misplaced all of the pens that are supposed to be in my cute pen basket in the kitchen. (FYI:  It does not work to write a check with a fat sharpie or an unsharpened pencil.)

But for all of my unmade bed and missing pen issues, one thing I feel that I am getting figured out is efficiency in the kitchen. I believe that one of the reasons I am able to feed my family a (mostly) healthy diet while keeping up with a very busy schedule is because I try to make very good use of my time in the kitchen. I’m not sure I could make it work otherwise. (Although some days, no matter what I do, nothing works, of course. Those are my pancakes and creamy mac and cheese fall back days.)

Here’s what works for me:  Hardly ever do I just stand and do one thing at a time. I grind flour while I’m washing dishes; prepare a casserole for dinner while I’m making lunch; bake breakfast muffins while I’m finishing dinner; chop veggies while I’m waiting for butter to melt; shout out spelling words while I’m stirring noodles; get out ingredients while going back and forth to the stove to brown meat…

(And if my boys are capable of doing any kitchen or cleaning chores that need to be done – and at their ages, they definitely are capable of much! – I pull them in with me to help cook or cleanout the dishwasher, or send them upstairs to do some cleaning. It’s multi-tasking at it’s finest! Those of you with little bitty ones, hang in there. It does get easier as your children get older!)

Want to know one of my favorite ways to save time in the kitchen? Make one big mess. (This sounds sooo efficient doesn’t it?)  What I mean is – there are some kitchen tasks that are pretty messy or take a while to clean up after. Take homemade peanut butter for example. Making peanut butter isn’t difficult at all, but I have found that washing my food processor afterward takes quite a bit of time. Therefore, I have begun to make two or three or even four batches of peanut butter while I’ve got the food processor already peanut buttery. It keeps just fine in the fridge, so if I’m going to make a mess, why not make plenty of peanut butter so that I don’t have to wash the food processor as often? Makes sense to me. (Kinda sounds like my lasagna making process, huh?)

Oh, and since we are on the topics of peanut butter and kitchen efficiency, you will be glad to know that while my peanuts are whirling about in the food processor becoming peanut butter, I am busy stirring up a batch of muffins, slicing fruit for a salad, or standing on my head trying to get a pyrex dish out while it sits at the bottom of a heavy (and slightly unorganized) stack of dishes in the cabinet. Why not? The peanuts don’t need help turning themselves into peanut butter. A watched food processor never boils you know. Or at least I believe that is how the saying goes. 

What tasks have you found that you can do in the kitchen to keep you efficient with your time?

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Fruits and Vegetables – The Ultimate Convenience Foods

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No time to eat healthy? I beg to differ.

However, I do completely understand the desire to grab a cookie (or three) on the fly, rather than an apple. What is it that draws us to choose the less nutritious treats, instead of simply grabbing a piece of fruit? Yeah, yeah, it’s likely the chocolate and the sugar. I know. The stuff is addicting and it tastes sooo good.

But we’re deceiving ourselves if we think we don’t have time to eat healthy food when ultimately, fruits and vegetables are the easiest, most convenient food items ever. Really. Did you ever stop and think about that?

We all like food that is fast to prepare and easy to eat. We often need to eat on the run or in a short amount of time. Does food get any easier than a banana? It’s pre-packaged for goodness sake! And the list goes on for dozens of delicious, grab and go fruit choices.

Now vegetables – that’s a different story. Often they take a little bit of time to prepare. But how about baby carrots, sugar snap peas, or grape tomatoes for a grab-and-go snack? And really, it just doesn’t take long to throw frozen vegetables into a pot and steam them to accompany your lunch or dinner.

I would say, in my experience, the most time consuming vegetable preparation involves those that I have to clean, peel, and slice…then steam or stir fry. But even that takes a max of about ten or fifteen minutes of brainless work.

farmers_market

Yes, fruits and vegetables are convenient, easy, delicious, and packed with wonderful nutrients our bodies crave. If you feel that you really don’t have time to eat a healthy diet, I encourage you to at least be intentional about eating several fruits and vegetables each day. You can do it!

~TIP~ Spend a few minutes after you get home from the store washing and preparing your vegetables. Slice, peel, dice, and put in air tight containers in your fridge for easy access all week long. You’ll be amazed at how easy it will be to then add great vegetables to your meals or to grab raw veggies from your fridge for a snack.

This is one of our favorite treats, packed with lots of nutrition –
Strawberry Peach Slushies (with hidden spinach!).
This takes about five minutes to prepare.

What are some of your favorite fruits and vegetables that you like to have on hand?

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How Long Does it Take to Make Sunday Dinner?

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In my effort to prove that cooking healthy food does not have to take a long time, I got a wild hair last Sunday and asked Justus, our 12 year old, to time me to see how long it took me to prepare our noon meal. 

This is what all women think about while getting their families ready to head out the door for church on a Sunday morning, right? “Hmm, I wonder how long it takes me to put our meal in the crock pot? Since Sunday mornings are always so calm and relaxing, we should get out the stop watch…”

Okay, you’re right, this is not typical. At least not at my house. Maybe you do a better job than I do of being organized on a Sunday morning, but I guarantee, my thoughts usually have nothing to do with a stop watch and everything to do with making sure my boys are actually getting themselves out of bed and finding the shoes that should have been placed by the door last night like I asked, but instead ended up on the window sill behind the curtain. (That was, of course, just a fictitious scenario that I made up off the top of my head. Shoes have never been found on window sills at my house as we struggle in vain to leave for church on time…)  ;)

Anyway, knowing that this was a very healthy, yet very easy meal to put together, on Sunday I asked Justus to see how long it took me to make our lunch. I had not done anything ahead of time. The crock pot was still in the cabinet. The roast was still in the freezer.

Still in the freezer? Yes, rock solid frozen it was. (That’s one of the great things about Italian Roast!)

Justus started the clock, and I got to work. Out came the crock pot. I headed to the freezer in our storage room and grabbed a roast. Back in the kitchen, I opened the roast and put it in the crock pot. (In case you are concerned, you should know that after all of this extremely hard work, I didn’t even break a sweat.)

I then dumped some frozen green beans and some baby carrots into the crock pot. (Yes, I did cheat and use baby carrots. It’s all I had on hand and shucks, even I use “convenience” foods sometimes.)

I finished the job by sprinkling on some Italian Dressing Mix that I had already made up and had stored in my pantry. I plugged in the crock pot and turned it on (always recommended). Then, I was done. Justus, how did I do?

One minute, forty eight point nine seconds. Total. To make a complete meal for my family to come home to and eat after church.

Italian Roast with Green Beans and Carrots

Why yes, our house did smell good when we walked in the door. Why yes, this is one of the easiest meals to make. Why yes, we really have found shoes on window sills before when we’re trying to leave and be on time for church. But you probably figured that out already. ;)

What’s one of your favorite, quick and easy Sunday meals?

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Cook Once, Eat Twice (or more) {Eat Healthy ~ Save Time}

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When I make a lasagna, I must cook some meat, add some sauce and spices, layer the noodles with the meat sauce and cheese, then wash a few dishes.

When I make two lasagnas, I must cook some meat, add some sauce and spices, layer the noodles with the meat sauce and cheese, then wash a few dishes.

When I made three lasagnas, I must cook some meat, add some sauce and spices, layer the noodles with the meat sauce and cheese, then wash a few dishes.

I’ve even made up to eight lasagnas at one time. Even then, my job was to (all together now…) cook some meat, add some sauce and spices, layer the noodles with the meat sauce and cheese, then wash a few dishes.

Whether I’m making one lasagna or eight, I dirty the same number of dishes while preparing the food. I take barely any extra time to make extra lasagnas, so for me, it’s a no-brainer. Why would I just make one lasagna when I can make three (or eight)?

(And by the way, I typically only make eight lasagnas at once when I’m feeding a big soccer team. While my boy-filled family does eat a lot, we are not up to eating 1.333 lasagnas each…yet.)

The same “Cook Once, Eat Twice (or More)” concept applies to almost everything I make – Cheesy Beef and Rice, Corndog Muffins, even these Whole Wheat Waffles. Scroll through all of my Make Ahead Meal posts to get some ideas and recipes that will help fill your freezer with healthy convenience foods.

You do realize what will happen though, if you start participating in this “Cook Once, Eat Twice (or More)” system? You will then have a nice supply of healthy, homemade meals to quickly pull out of your freezer and heat up for your family – with little to no effort. Putting a hearty, healthy, delicious meal on the table will become extremely easy. You will no longer be able to use the “I don’t have time to eat or cook healthy food…” excuse.

Just so you know. ;)

Have you tried the “Cook Once, Eat Twice (or More)” kitchen efficiency method? What are some of your favorite healthy foods you like to make for your freezer?

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Keep Healthy Eating Simple {Eat Healthy ~ Save Time}

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Welcome to my new series:  Eat Healthy ~ Save Time. I hope to share many of the time saving ideas that work for me in my efforts to feed my family a healthy diet.

As I began jotting down some post ideas for this series, I was shocked at all the many ideas I came up with to share. It would seem that I am the queen of cutting corners and being completely non-fancy. If it isn’t quick and easy to make, I don’t typically mess with it, unless it’s a special occasion.

And that, my friends, is why the tips and recipes you’ll find here are all simple and basic. Healthy. Tasty. Fun. But simple.

If you want fancy food recipes, you should probably check out a different website. But if you’re looking for easy to throw together, kid friendly, real-food-ingredient recipes…you’re in the right place. Simple is how I roll. My sanity depends on it.

Don’t buy into the lie that healthy food somehow takes so much longer and is so much more complicated to prepare than non-healthy food. It can take longer, but it doesn’t always, especially once you get into a good, healthy food routine in your kitchen. And I hold to my opinion that going out to eat or even going through a drive through can often take longer and be more stressful (when it’s all said and done) than preparing a simple healthy meal at home. (If you feel like you’re resorting to take-out more often than you would like, you can read a list of my “fall back” homemade meals here.)

When planning meals that will be healthy for your family, try sticking with the basics. All you really need to serve is a main dish and vegetables, and maybe a glass of milk. Don’t over-think it. Don’t make it complicated. Just stick with basic, whole foods.

When planning meals and snacks that will be healthy for your family, I believe a lot of stress can be relieved if you simply think about real food. An apple, a slice of cheese, some natural peanut butter on celery, raisins, nuts, a scrambled egg (or three if you are one of my boys) are all great, real food snack options. Are M&Ms sometimes more appealing? Sure. And hey, I’m all for splurging on fun treats sometimes! But don’t tell me that eating a handful of M&Ms saves you time and energy compared to eating a handful of peanuts or raisins. That doesn’t even make sense. See, this is why I think it’s a little silly when people tell me that they don’t have time to eat healthy food. I don’t think it’s always about time. I think it’s often about choices.

Healthy eating can be as simple as buying grapes, baby carrots, and your other favorite nutrient packed foods at the store. Take a deep breath and relax. You can do this!

Coming up next in the Eat Healthy ~ Save Time series…I’m planning to do a little Macaroni and Cheese Experiment. I’m going to make a box of mac and cheese, and I’m going to make my Creamy Mac and Cheese recipe. The stop-watch will be coming out, because we’re going to see how long it takes to make each. I’m excited to see if making Mac and Cheese in a more “real food” way takes much (if any?) extra time to prepare and clean up after compared to making a “convenient” box of mac and cheese. I’ll be posting my results for you in a few days!  What’s your prediction as to how my experiment will turn out?

What are some tips you have for keeping healthy food simple?

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