Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

How to Keep a Good Attitude While Being Debt-Free

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Sometimes being debt-free isn’t much fun.

When I look around at the world driving nice cars and eating at nice places and going on nice vacations I can get discouraged. But then I remind myself that I am choosing this! (And then I also remind myself that 80% of Americans are in credit card debt.)

“I’m choosing this!” is more than just semantics. That little phrase can change your life. Hear me out: If you’re on some kind of diet that doesn’t allow cake, it’s only because they didn’t know about Laura’s cakes. (Like this Low sugar Strawberry Cream Cheese Cake or this Low Sugar Banana Cake.) But let’s pretend you’re not eating cake because a diet book told you not to. So now you’re sad about not eating cake, and you sigh and feel bad for yourself because you really want cake and it’s all somebody else’s fault for deciding that high sugar and processed fats and carbs are unhealthy and you struggle with attitude problems every time you are put in a cake situation.

Let’s not blame the cake.

What if you turned the whole thing around and told yourself, “I’m choosing this!” Nobody is forcing me to give up anything. “I am choosing to make better food choices. Eating healthier options is my choice! I don’t even want all that cake because I know what’s in it, and it’s nothing good!” And then you can use your freshly ground flour to make your own densely nutrient cake and you can choose to have your cake and eat it too.

What if you wanted a new car instead of cake?

Something my husband and I have embraced the last few years of paying off debt is “We’re choosing this!” We are choosing to not spend money so that we can use it for other things. We could choose to not pay our bills, but then the electric company could choose to turn off our lights. If we choose to ignore our mortgage payment, the bank will choose to take our house. See how this works?

There are exceptions to everything.

I do understand there are times when life spirals out of control and things you had carefully planned fall apart. My sister was in a car accident years ago and was left with over $40,000 in uncovered medical bills. Sometimes the job situation doesn’t work out, I get it. But for the vast majority of Americans we have put ourselves in our own financial messes. We made the choice to move out of our tiny apartment to buy a house we really couldn’t afford. And we had such fun in that house! But if you give a man a house he’s going to want a dog to go with it… and a lawn mower and snow shovels and two cars and another phone and the internet and a video streaming plan and a grill and… and… before you know it, the $9/hour secretary job just isn’t enough.

We absolutely love being debt free.

I haven’t always had a great relationship with money. I would get so mad at people who said, “I can’t afford…” and yet they lived a lifestyle that said differently. But then I found myself saying, “I can’t afford…” and I realized it’s all in perspective. We made a combined total of $8000 our first year of marriage. As we worked more and made more we bought more and being debt-free wasn’t as much of a priority because we didn’t even know where the money was going. When I sit down and look closely at the choices we’ve made the past 12 years of marriage I can see huge financial mistakes we made that put us back. With each raise we started living just a little more comfortably. And that’s okay! That was OUR CHOICE. But to then go and say, “Well, I can’t afford…” doesn’t really make sense.

Being debt-free sometimes means making the choice to nail shingles on your own garage.

I’m choosing this.

When I say, “I’m choosing this.” It brings ownership back on my shoulders. Playing the victim isn’t possible with that phrase. I am choosing to save money! I am choosing to pay extra on the mortgage! I’m choosing to do family birthdays differently. I am choosing to live beneath my means because I have something better in mind for later. Here are some choices we’ve made and continue to make because we absolutely love being debt-free: Paying the internet bill instead of keeping chips on hand. Putting gas in the car instead of going out to the movies. Finding extremely loved used vehicles instead of buying new clothes for everyone in the family. Living in a 600 sq foot home until we got a better paying job in another state.

Being debt-free sometimes means making the choice to watch the sunset on a beautiful date on the prairie.

You get to choose!

I am giving you a phrase that has the power to completely change your outlook on life and money whether you are debt-free or not. “I’m choosing this!” You get to choose and you don’t have to be ashamed about it either. I am (97% of the time) not ashamed about the vehicles I drive because we bought them on purpose. We used to buy them on purpose because it was that or nothing. Now we buy used vehicles on purpose because we have really exciting plans for our money.

What are you choosing? Are you pleased with your choices?

My intention is most definitely not to make you feel bad about yourself or your money, but the opposite! If you find yourself feeling sad and thinking, “I can’t afford…” try pepping yourself up with a little “I’m choosing this!” attitude change. It could rock your world. And then go make cake. Because cake is yummy and actually quite affordable.

Laura’s friend Tasha is passionate about encouraging women. She’s a homeschooling mamaX4 who loves to make silly faces in the mirror with her toddler. She and her husband Ben have worked hard to be debt-free (except for their mortgage) and try to choose people over things everytime. She can be found playing on Instagram @hackettacademy and @heavenlyhomemaker and has too many hobbies to name. Most recently she’s been making chocolate cake for breakfast and sending her kids out to pick asparagus for lunch.

 

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Ways Eating Healthy Foods Actually Saves Us Money

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This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

I’m very serious. Never buy into the lie that eating healthy is expensive. And in fact, I am coming to realize more and more that eating healthy foods actually saves us money.

I’ve been working at this nourishing food thing for 14+ years now, and while our food budget has increased substantially during these years, I’m certain the blame goes to growing appetites and an increased number of family members, not to the cost of apples.

Today I am here to present a few simple ways eating healthy foods saves us money:

1. Eating Out is a Budget Buster

When our family of nine (or seven or however many of our crew is around at the time) goes out to eat after church, even fast food costs a minimum of $40, but usually somewhere around $60. I don’t even want to talk about how much it costs to eat at a sit-down restaurant.

Meanwhile, I can take 5-minutes to throw together a Crock Pot Pizza Casserole before church. It’s ready when we get home, we can get out salad stuff and a bowl of grapes, and when it’s all said and done, the cost of our meal was around $15. The cost difference is enormous, the workload is minimal, and the taste? Well, have you tried making this pizza casserole? It’s incredible.

So except for when we’re traveling or for the very occasional splurge, we eat at home. It’s obviously healthier and saves thousands of dollars for our big family.

And yeah, I know we all know that, but it seemed worth mentioning again and comparing the cost! ;)

2. Nourishing food satisfies; junk food…doesn’t

Your honor, may I present as evidence the bag of potato chips?

I will admit that chips are my junk food of choice and I splurge on them sometimes. But when I do, we plow through them in about five minutes and are then ready for an actual meal. Why? Because chips only fill a hole; they do not nourish. So while our bodies are craving substance, we fill it with the nothing that chips provide, then we go in search of something to satisfy our bodies’ needs (protein, vitamins, minerals, etc).

So in essence, chips are tasty but kind of a money waster. The dollars I spend on chips could be used to buy actual food that leaves us satisfied.

The only exception to this, in my experience, has been corn chips. We almost never eat corn chips by themselves but instead use them as vehicles to eat nourishing dips. Long live the corn chips. They help us eat avocados. :)

Here are our favorite corn chip dips:

3. Real food ingredients cost much less than pre-made boxed foods.

This is a fact. As we’ve added foster children to our lives, I’ll admit it: I’ve splurged more on processed foods than I used to. I’ve needed it for survival some days, and I have no guilt over it.

But goodness do those boxed foods cost more!! And they almost always include ingredients I don’t feel great about. (I just don’t read the box. If I don’t know there’s MSG in there, it can’t hurt us, right? Heh.)

Most of the time, while taking care of all the kids, I try to fall back on all of our Simple Real Food Recipes that are just as convenient but made completely with real food ingredients.

When I fill my grocery cart with ingredients – yes – the cost adds up. It takes a lot to feed a large family with big appetites! But the cost is still lower – much lower – than filling my cart with corndogs and pizza rolls. It goes without saying that the real food ingredients I buy nourish us as opposed to whatever it is those pizza rolls do. Yikes.

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Want to easily learn more about healthy eating, saving money, and more? Our brand new Healthy Eating Jumpstart Class is fun, practical, and simple. Work through it on your own or work through it as a family.

Get the Details and Join Here!

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So there you have it. These are the most basic ways that eating healthy foods saves money. These are no brainers, but I think it’s good to be reminded and encouraged that eating healthy and saving money is easier than we often think!

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How Your Entire Family Can Learn About Eating Healthy!

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Looking for a simple way for your entire family to learn about eating healthy? It doesn’t get any easier than this!

We just rolled this out, and it’s packed with great information while being as simple as can be!

What is the Healthy Eating Jumpstart Basic Nutrition Class?

You won’t believe all that you’ll get in this fantastic online class! Healthy Eating Jumpstart includes:

  • 10 easy lessons to walk you through the basics of eating well
  • 10 fun videos to watch and use with each lesson
  • A practical packet full of worksheets and printables to use with each lesson
  • A beautiful bonus Jumpstart eCookbook filled with 51 easy recipes that will jumpstart your entire family on a journey to healthy eating
  • A Lesson Guide and Checklist packet to walk you through completing each lesson

How can you best use this Healthy Eating Jumpstart Basic Nutrition Class?

  • Work through it as a family and set goals together toward taking steps for healthier eating
  • Work through it on your own and start making small changes in your kitchen for your family
  • Hand it to your older kids to work through as part of their homeschool lessons or life skills learning
  • Hold on to it and utilize it again and again for yourself, your kids, and your entire family as needed

Your Entire Family Can Learn About Eating Healthy!

Here’s a peek at the Lesson Book intro page so you can get an idea of what this class will cover…

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Ready to begin your Healthy Eating Jumpstart Class?

GREAT NEWS!!!! If you are a Heavenly Homemaker’s Club Member, this fantastic product is already yours!!! Find it on your eCurriculum page (because this is a great educational resource for your family!) and on your Kitchen Tips page. Then dive right in!!!

Not a Club Member yet? It is WORTH IT to be a member so you’ll have access to this amazing new Healthy Eating Jumpstart resource plus ALL of our eBooks, eCurriculum, printables, and so much more (over $1000 worth!) for just $10/month!

Join us here! You won’t believe all you get for such a low monthly cost!!

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If you prefer, you can purchase this online class separately. Ready to get started? Purchase here:

Healthy Eating Jumpstart Nutrition Class
Healthy Eating Jumpstart Nutrition Class
You won't believe all that you'll get when you sign up for this class! Healthy Eating Jumpstart includes 10 easy lessons to walk you through the basics of eating well, 10 fun videos to watch and use with each lesson, a practical packet full of worksheets and printables to use with each lesson, an eBook filled with all 10 lessons to read through again and again as needed, and a beautiful bonus Jumpstart Cookbook filled with 51 easy recipes that will jumpstart your entire family on a journey to healthy eating! Work through this on your own, work through it as a family, or even hand it over to your kids as part of their life skills training! This class is packed with information, yet simple as can be. Nutrition doesn't have to be difficult - this class proves it!
Price: $27.00

Make healthy eating EASY!!!!! This class will help!

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

What to Eat When You Don’t Have Time to Eat

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You don’t have time to eat? But we’ve all got to eat! So here’s what to eat when you don’t have time to eat…

I’ve never understood how people will say things like, “Oh, I forgot to eat lunch!” What?? You forgot to eat lunch? How did your body let you forget? My body never lets me forget. Long before lunchtime, my body is like, “Yo. I would very much like a double cheeseburger.”

So hunger isn’t an issue for me, nor is the desire to eat every meal of the day, plus snacks. I’m kind of a six-small-meals-a-day kind of a gal.

But what has become an issue for me now is finding the ability to eat every time I’m hungry. Now that we’ve got the little ones again, I’ve found that keeping up with their needs – plus the needs of my older kids and husband while trying to meet my own needs – has become more difficult. (Rest assured, my husband and older sons are incredible help and support – we’re all just busier than busy!)

So sometimes, lunchtime comes and goes and I find that while I didn’t forget to eat, I never found time to stop and eat.

Obviously, there are seasons in our lives that are busier than others, and for me, this is one of them. I mean, if Laura didn’t eat, something really important must have kept her from it (babies!), because we all know that food is a high priority for Laura. :)

What to Eat When You Don’t Have Time to Eat

But having said all of that, I know as well as you do that skipping meals and letting oneself be hungry is not a healthy pattern to begin or lifestyle to maintain. So after experiencing too many days of being hungry and not being able to eat as I needed to, I found that I HAD to get organized and be pro-active about food.

And it probably goes without saying that making sure the food I’m eating is nourishing is extra important right now. Yes, I’ll sometimes snack on chips (organic ones, because that makes them healthy, ha). But focusing on putting as many nutrients in as possible is absolutely necessary so that I can keep up with all these delightful ones God has put in our care.

So here’s a quick run-down of food I either try to buy and have on hand or food I make quickly to have on hand for grab-and-eat snacks. Yes, many of them require some prep time. But it’s easy prep, and just a few minutes of work can produce several wonderful snacks to grab and eat on the fly. It’s worth the effort to be sure we all take care of ourselves!

Fruits and Veggies – the easiest and healthiest!

  • Fresh Greens (I do know it’s weird, but I just grab the container out of the fridge and eat a few handfuls. It doesn’t taste especially delicious, but I don’t mind it plain. It allows me to get some good nourishment on the fly. And that’s all that matters!)
  • Berries or Grapes
  • Oranges or Cuties
  • Petite Baby Carrots
  • Little Sweet Peppers

Any variety of these Fat Bombs:

Any variety of these Cookie Dough Bites:

Berries and either of these Cheesecake Parfait cream whips:

I whip up the parfait in my Blendtec super quickly, then keep it in a bowl in the fridge to eat with berries.

A Flourless Brownie:

Mini Crustless Cheesecake:

Dollar Club Drinks:

It is worth noting that I keep a supply of Dollar Coffee Club (formerly known as Javita) drink sticks on hand at all times. I drink several each day, simply because I know they benefit my health and give me what I need for immune system support, digestive support, detoxing, and ease of inflammation. Plus they taste really good, so every drink is like a treat! My favorites:

  • Peach Mango Fiber, for digestive support
  • Burn and Control Coffee, for cleansing and detox
  • Strawberry Lemonade Flex, for inflammation
  • Mixed Berry Defend, for immune system support

These don’t take the place of meals for me, but in many ways, I feel like these drinks keep me going, keep me healthy, and offer my body much of what it needs during this busy season. I’m so thankful God introduced me to these two years ago. They have met many needs!

Here’s more information I’ve written about Dollar Coffee Club products. They’ve revamped their business model to be MUCH simpler for all of us, so buying the drinks and sharing them with your friends has become tremendously easier and less expensive!

Simple Recipes and Meals

All the above snack foods and drinks are fantastic to help me get through until I can eat a solid meal. I’ve learned to be more intentional about eating plenty at mealtime. AND I am incredibly thankful that God put it on my heart a few years ago to start creating Simple Recipes to share here. These recipes have been life-changing as they take so little time to prepare but still offer us all nourishment and deliciousness. SO. THANKFUL.

You can see a huge list of Simple Recipes listed here, and of course, you can join our Simple Meals menu planning subscription service at any time.

Ready, set, eat.

Too busy to eat? Make yourself some of the above simple recipes and pick up some already-prepped fruits and veggies at the store. Grab and eat as needed. Here’s to our health!

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

Real Food Money Saving Tips

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Want some simple real food money-saving tips? Is it possible to eat healthy food and still stay on a budget? It’s like the best of both worlds! And it really is doable for everyone.

First, I should let you know that I found myself having this discussion with myself (tell me you do that too?). My self discussion sounded something like this:

  • Laura, why do you always feel the need to put the word “Simple” in front of everything?? “Simple Meals” “Simple Recipes” Simple Money Saving Ideas…”
  • Because it is…it’s all simple.
  • Well, I guess that’s simple enough.

And then one of my kids interrupted my self discussion and I moved on. This is probably a good thing.

But truly, I don’t do anything unless it’s simple. Life is hard enough. Why make food difficult?

With this in mind, we put gathered all of our best and simplest real food money-saving tips, and we put them into a new and fun little eBook. Obviously, we had to use the word “Simple” in the title. It’s all about switching to real food and it’s all about saving money – but all of the tips are SIMPLE.

You wouldn’t want it if it was difficult, am I right?!

  • “Buy complicated ingredients!”
  • “Shop at weird stores!”
  • “Stand on your head whilst straining the strange liquid thing into the never-before-heard-of dry thing.”

No. Not here. Not now. Not ever. {Sobs just a little bit thinking about it.}

Here’s the book we just completed, and would you look at that? The word “Simple” is right there in the title.

Notice that the word “Challenge” is also in the title. But don’t let that scare you. The challenges are our way of giving you simple (of course) goals to strive for throughout the book so that you are actually motivated to make some changes! Easy peasy.

We’re not ready to put this new book into our Shop yet, but we are ready to give it to you today for free!

See, here’s what we’re thinking: We kind of think everyone should invest in the Healthy Living Bundle because it’s cheaper than a doctor visit and gives you way more help and information than one doctor visit ever could give. (Not that this replaces your doctor, and blah, blah, all the other disclaimers, please go to the doctor as needed, you heard it here.)

We just really like the information we have learned and continue to learn from the bundle (read the specifics here if you don’t believe me) and want you to have all the information too. As a “thank you” for purchasing the Healthy Living Bundle through our links, we’ll give you this pretty new eBooklet for free!

Simple Real Food Money Saving Tips

What’s inside this book that’s worth reading? Well, I hate to give it away, but it probably talks about:

  • Why switching from fake margarine to real butter will actually save you money, even though butter costs more than margarine. Crazy, but true.
  • How adding spinach to many different recipes won’t even shock your family, but will add a lot of nourishment.
  • Leftovers. And how you should use them instead of waste them (thus wasting money). And how you can use them creatively even if your family doesn’t like leftovers.
  • The fun of actually cleaning out the pantry and freezer, making meals with food you already have before they go bad.
  • Packing food for road trips and outings so that you eat healthier and save money

Did I mention there are all kinds of wonderful links to inexpensive real food recipes throughout the book? We’ve got you covered.

How to get the Simple Real Food Money Saving Challenge eBook for free:

Purchase the Healthy Living Bundle through our links. Email me a copy of your receipt and I’ll thank you by emailing you this book. Easy and fun!

Or shall I say…simple. Yes, probably.

Be sure to email me after your purchase so I can send you this free book! Bundle sales close on Monday, September 9. This free book offer ends that day too!

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

How to Cut Back on Sugar

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We all know too much sugar isn’t good for us. Oh, but why must it taste so goooood???? It’s ok! We understand and we’re here to help. Here are some suggestions for how to cut back on sugar that are actually not terribly difficult!

How to Cut Back on Sugar

I’ll give you a step-by-step. BUT!!! If the order of these suggestions is too difficult for you, don’t give up and walk away! Instead, pick just one thing from the list that you feel is doable and go for it. Then once you’ve mastered that one thing, go on to another one. Put these in any order that works for you!


1. Wean yourself off of sugary drinks.

Are you drinking your sugar? Oooof, guzzling down the sugar in the form of soda or juice can be really hard on your body and your teeth. It’s amazing how much sugar is in just one cup of juice or soda. Work on weaning yourself back. You can do it!

Consider enjoying sugary treats only in the form of food instead of drinks. That way you can enjoy your sweet treats more, but will consume less sugar!

Suggestion: These Javita drinks are delicious, healthy, and help provide a sweet drink that actually benefits your health!! My favorites are the Peach Mango (I drink one every morning to help with digestion), the Defend (I drink one every day to keep my immune system strong), and the Flex (I drink one every day to help with inflammation). I love that they taste sweet and are FUN!!! (Get more details about these drinks here.)

2. Put less sugar in your tea and coffee.

My southern sweet tea drinker friends are not gonna like hearing this one. ;) But what if, when making a gallon of tea, you start gradually cutting back on the amount of sugar you add? Your taste buds probably won’t even notice the difference if it’s just a little bit at a time.

And your coffee? Can you gradually start spooning in less sugar or pouring in less sugary, flavored creamer? If you like your coffee to be creamy and the idea of cutting back on creamer doesn’t appeal to you, I’d suggest still cutting back on creamer, but adding heavy whipping cream or half-and-half to provide the creaminess and even some natural sweetness!

Suggestion: Try adding a squeeze of this Stevia Sweetened Chocolate Syrup, plus some heavy whipping cream into your coffee! From college kid to adult to teen – everyone I’ve made coffee for like this has LOVED it and had no idea there was no added sugar!


3. Only eat candy on special occasions, or work to give it up altogether.

This is a tough one if you have some candy favorites that you consider staples for traveling or game watching or TV watching. But I’ve found that eating candy really ruins a persons desire for real fruit and other naturally sweetened foods. (Right? Who wants a real strawberry after eating licorice?)

Try to cut back on making candy a snack, and maybe only treat yourself on a special occasion here and there. Or stop eating it altogether so you can enjoy other sweet treats that aren’t so high in sugar!

Suggestion: Buy something fun like a box of this variety of Fruit Leather and let it become your “candy.” Now that I’ve stopped eating so much sugar, these really taste like candy to me – but they are 100% fruit!

4. Gradually add less sugar when baking homemade treats.

A few years ago I decided to start experimenting with regular cake, cookie, and muffin recipes to see if cutting back on the called-for amount of sugar would still turn out a good baked good. I have been so pleasantly surprised and pleased with this experiment! It doesn’t take nearly as much sugar as a recipe typically calls for to turn out a delicious cake, cookie, or muffin!

Don’t want your family to rebel against your cookies? Again, I recommend cutting back gradually until everyone’s taste buds have adapted to the lower sugar content. After a while, you’ll find that a treat made with full sugar will taste too sweet! How about that?

Suggestion: Check out this Low Sugar Treat list of recipes we’ve shared here!

Why cut back on sugar?

Here are my top reasons to encourage a smaller sugar intake every day:

  1. Sugar kills our immune systems. It’s so much harder to avoid catching illnesses when we’re eating sugar!
  2. Sugar can make us fat. Boo, I know. Our bodies only need a small amount of sugar each day to help us function properly. After that small amount is used up, any extra we consume has no use inside our bodies, so it goes to our fat reserves. Yuck.
  3. Sugar wrecks our teeth. But we already knew that.
  4. Sugar tricks us into not eating other more nutritious foods. As I mentioned before, who wants a real fresh strawberry after you’ve eaten licorice? When we eat sweet treats, we are less hungry for nourishing, whole foods. So our bodies become depleted of nutrients, and we are more likely to get sick (see #1) or fat (see #2).

Well, that wasn’t much fun to read, was it? Never fear…

Cutting back on sugar is possible!

If I can do it, you can do it! Set some small goals for yourself and get started. You’ll be surprised by how one change can lead to another! Ready, set, go!

 

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Two Simple Tricks to Get Your Kids to Eat Green Beans

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Well now, isn’t this interesting? I’ve been feeding kids green beans since 1997. All my bio-boys love them because of the “bacon grease trick” my mom taught me years ago (more details below). But I just learned a new trick to add to my back pocket, which has finally helped our 5-year old Bonus Boy learn to love green beans too! Without further ado, how to get your kids to eat green beans…

How to Get Your Kids to Eat Green Beans

1. First, let’s talk about green beans and bacon.

Bacon makes everything better, of course. And you know me. I’m not afraid of fat if it is from a natural, real food source. Our family enjoys plenty of real butter and coconut oil, whole milk and red meat, real cream and yep – bacon.

All of these fats are recognized by our bodies, and are therefore easily digested and utilized for nourishment and energy. (Low on energy? Eat butter and bacon. You heard it here, folks. Now who’s your best friend??)

You can throw a slice or two of bacon into your green beans as they cook – or you can do what I believe is easier and faster! Drum roll please:

Save grease from cooked bacon to add to green beans anytime you need it!

Each time I cook bacon for my family, I let the bacon grease cool, then put it into a jar. I store this in the fridge, then add a scoop of bacon grease to a pot of green beans along with a little water (or chicken broth!) and Redmond Real Salt. Then I steam them to perfection. The bacon grease adds wonderful flavor to the beans, and of course, the fat makes the vegetable so much more appealing!

How do I cook my bacon?

oven-bacon-1

I’m so glad you asked. Here are my two favorite, most efficient methods of cooking bacon:

  1. Bake bacon in the oven. Then I freeze it to use as needed. This is so easy and helpful to have on hand for all your bacon needs! ;)
  2. Cut it into Bacon Bits. Once cooked, I put the bacon bits into a bag to freeze and pull out for salads, scrambled eggs, or BLT Wraps.

bacon bits 1

2. Now let’s talk about what kind of green beans seem to be the most appealing!

My family LOVES fresh green beans from our garden in the summertime. But alas, we live in Nebraska and can only enjoy these for a few months out of the year. If we grow enough, I blanch and freeze them to pull out and use during the cold months. But the past few years, we’ve been eating them as fast as they grow, leaving no reserves for the freezer!

Therefore, I typically buy frozen green beans in bulk from Azure Standard. Frozen green beans are much more flavorful and nutritious compared to canned beans. Still, even when cooked in bacon grease as described above, our Bonus Boy wasn’t very interested in this veggie side dish.

But, I’ve recently discovered a simple new trick! Instead of buying frozen “cut green beans” as I had been doing, I picked up a back of frozen “whole green beans” one day. I steamed them along with bacon grease and salt, and wouldn’t you know it? Bonus Boy ate them, and ate them, and ate them! We all did!

Who knew that simply switching from short and stubby beans to long and skinny beans would somehow make green beans taste so much better!

Now I stock up on frozen whole green beans and we all devour them!

So there you have it. Long green beans apparently taste better than short ones; and bacon grease makes beans taste amazing!

How do you and your family enjoy green beans?

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Use Chicken or Beef Broth Instead of Water

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Today let’s talk about using Chicken or Beef Broth instead of water when cooking!

Around these parts, I am a little bit famous for making all the people drink water.

  • Not feeling well? Go drink water.
  • Feeling run down? Go drink water.
  • Cramping up? Go drink water.
  • Can’t lose weight? Go drink water.
  • Don’t feel like doing an Algebra lesson? Go drink water. (And then go do your Algebra.)
  • Feeling bored or unmotivated? Go drink water.
  • Haven’t had any water yet today? For the love, go drink water.

Little sips, here and there, all day long. Go drink the water.

I preach this to my family, to all the college students in and out of my house, to all the dear ones I’m reaching out to in our community, to everyone who has a complaint. It’s a simple start to anything that needs fixing.

I say it so often that people tease me about it when something happens – like when my shoe comes untied at a soccer game. “Well, Laura. It looks like you need to drink some water.” Touche.

Drinking water is necessary and vital and crucial (my thesaurus and I could go on and on). Our health depends on it.

But do you know what is even better than water? Bone Broth. Indeed.

Bone broth is made with water, but also with vegetables and sea salt. Vitamins and minerals AND water? Yes. And also gelatin from the bones, which is awesome for our skin, teeth, bones, digestive system, and more.

Use Broth Instead of Water

I say all of this to encourage us – if possible – to use broth instead of water while we are cooking meals for our families.

  • Cook rice in broth instead of water.
  • Cook pasta in broth instead of water.
  • Cook potatoes in broth instead of water.
  • Steam vegetables in broth instead of water.
  • Drink broth instead of water. (And then go do your Algebra.)

Not only will we enjoy many more nutrients when using broth instead of water, but we will also be enjoying an incredible boost in flavor. Rice cooked in broth is incredible! Veggies steamed in broth are many notches above.

Make the broth. Or buy the broth. (I do both. I buy broth to have on hand in a pinch so I can use it often. I make broth as much as possible so I can be ensured of maximum nutrition and flavor!)

How to Make Super Nutritious Bone Broth

Confession: Lately I’ve been making pot after pot of Beef Broth instead of Chicken Broth. Why? Because it’s much faster BECAUSE THERE ARE NO CHICKENS TO BONE!!! Taking meat off chickens is not my favorite job. You already know this about me. So instead, I almost always make broth with Beef Soup Bones. Then the meat falls off the bones and my job is done. Amen, hallelujah.

My latest broth-making-thrill is that I’ve started making it in my Instant Pot. Boy does that save time! How to Make Broth in the Instant Pot…post coming next!

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How Your Family Can Eat Healthy Food That Seems Like Junk Food

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Long ago I decided that eating healthy food tastes ridiculously better than eating junk food. I mean, have you ever slathered real butter over a whole grain chocolate muffin made with all real food ingredients? Ever enjoyed a Strawberry Cheesecake Parfait made with fresh, real food ingredients? So much yum! You can’t pay me to trade those in for a poptart from a box after enjoying such delicious real food.

Still, I think we all have our junk-food-guilty-pleasures, right? While I love so many nourishing dishes – a steaming pot roast, cheesy potatoes, fresh from the garden green beans, tossed green salad with homemade ranch – I do have my moments that I get an absurd hankering for Lays potato chips. The Stax kind. These are dangerous in my hands and I forget all things wise and nourishing when I have some {hangs head and shrugs sheepishly}.

What I’m here to share with you today (besides my Lays Stax confession – but I don’t want to talk about that anymore) is that there are many super fun, super nourishing foods I make regularly for my family and they really make us feel strangely like we’re eating junk food. Among them are our two favorites:

  1. Guacomole
  2. Sweet Potato Fries

I’m sorry, but is there any better way to eat vegetables? (Yes, I know avocados are fruit. But they are green so in my head they will always be a veggie, not that it really matters.)

Our family can stand in the kitchen and eat an unbelievable amount of sweet potato fries. We feel zero guilt and 100% joy over this because I make them with healthy oils that can withstand high temps, so we don’t have to fear the fried food. We salt them with Redmond Season Salt and we eat and we eat and we eat. There is nothing bad about these and everything good. Sweet Potato Fries. Best “junk food” ever.

Unless we’re talking about Guacomole. This gives Sweet Potato Fries a run for their money. Yes, we eat Guac with chips, but c’mon now. We’re eating avocados and salsa. Happy, happy health food. (I get chips like these with are a step above, but also, tortilla chips in general aren’t too bad with their three or so ingredients.)

So there you have it. There are many real foods that taste awesome and feel like a treat to eat. Cream Cheese Corn? It’s like eating a bowl full of candy. Strawberry Cheesecake Parfaits? Wowza. Homemade Chicken Nuggets? It doesn’t get any better than this.

What are your favorite healthy foods that taste like you’re eating junk food?

Want to learn more about making your favorite foods the healthy way?

Grab our free Simple Real Food Substitutions printable!

This printable shares all our favorite real food substitutions that makes food tastes so delicious without compromising good health! Get yours here.

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The Easiest (and Fastest) Way to Cook Spaghetti Squash

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I just learned to cook spaghetti squash in ten tiny minutes, from start to finish. Unbelievable!

Is it just me, or is it incredibly fun that God created a squash that once cooked, shreds out like noodles? He did all the work. We simply have to cook it. (There is a deep spiritual parallel here we should adopt and live by: God does God’s work. We simply get to be His glorious tools to be a part of His work as we listen and obey Him. I love this.)

So God’s spaghetti squash. It’s always been easy to prepare in the oven, but I just learned how to make it in my Instant Pot. It cooks at high pressure for 5 minutes and just like that, the spaghetti squash is ready to shred and eat!

First, use a sharp knife to cut the spaghetti squash into four rings like this:

Use a spoon to dig out the seeds.

Place the spaghetti squash rings onto the metal trivet inside your Instant Pot. Put 1 cup of water under the trivet.

Put the lid on the Instant Pot and seal. Set it to manual, for 5 minutes at hi pressure.

The cooking process will be barely over this 5 minutes because the Instant Pot won’t come to full pressure or need to release. So in just these few minutes, the squash is cooked and ready!

Use a fork to pull the squash apart into “noodles.”

So delicious as-is!

Or, my personal favorite: we mix leftover spaghetti sauce with leftover Alfredo Sauce and pour it over the spaghetti squash. What a nourishing meal!!

Warning: Spaghetti Squash doesn’t taste like regular pasta. I consider spaghetti squash to be a pasta replacement, but only as a vehicle to hold my sauce. I LOVE spaghetti squash covered in sauce, and in fact, I love it more than wheat pasta. But it doesn’t taste the same. It tastes like a mild vegetable covered with delicious sauce. Bring it on!

The Easiest (and Fastest) Way to Cook Spaghetti Squash

The Easiest (and Fastest) Way to Cook Spaghetti Squash
 
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Author:
Serves: 3-6
Ingredients
  • 1 Spaghetti Squash
  • 1 cup water
Instructions
  1. Slice the squash into four rings.
  2. Remove the seeds with a metal spoon and discard.
  3. Pour one cup water into the Instant Pot.
  4. Place the prepared squash rings onto the metal trivet in the Instant Pot.
  5. Place the lid on and seal.
  6. Cook for 5 minutes at high pressure.
  7. Remove the cooked squash and pull the insides away from the rind with a fork.
  8. Serve as is or smothered in sauce.

Don’t have an Instant Pot? Here’s what I think about mine. (Spoiler alert: I love it.)

How to Cook Spaghetti Squash in the Oven

  1. Slice the squash into four rings.
  2. Remove the seeds with a metal spoon and discard.
  3. Place the prepared squash rings into a 9×13 inch baking dish.
  4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes.
  5. Remove the cooked squash and pull the insides away from the rind with a fork.
  6. Serve as is or smothered in sauce.

Are you a spaghetti squash fan?

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