Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

How to Pack Snacks and Meals to Take on the Road

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Are you planning to travel this summer? Here are some great tips for how to pack snacks and meals to take on the road!

Yes, sometimes we eat out when we’re traveling. But here are some great ideas that we’ve used through the years to save lots of travel money. It goes without saying that we feel a lot better when we do this because we’re eating more wholesome foods!

How to Pack Snacks and Meals to Take on the Road

tourney food4

This picture shows an example of food we packed for a road trip a few years ago. Here are the specifics. We used jars, baggies, and lidded containers to keep our food safe:

  • Strawberry Cheesecake Parfaits
  • Turkey Sandwiches
  • Chef Salads with Homemade Ranch and cooked shredded chicken
  • Homemade Pizzas (that we ate cold)
  • Breakfast Sandwiches that we heated and ate during our first stretch of the trip
  • Sliced cucumbers, sweet peppers, and kiwi
  • Summer Sausage and Sliced Cheese (protein in case hotel breakfasts are all empty carbs)
  • Peanuts, Cashews, Crackers, Blueberries, Applesauce, Peach Cups, Pear Cups, Clementines

Here’s another example from a different road trip:

bball food 1

This trip included:

And how about these fun ideas:

Always fruits and veggies!

Apples, carrots, clementines, and containers of berries travel well. These are so refreshing to snack on in the car!

travel food 1

What are your favorite meals and snacks to take on the road when you travel?

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7 Meals in Minutes (Grocery List Included!)

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Is it really possible to make meals in minutes? Yes!!! All of these meals I’m about to share can be put together and served on super short notice! No thaw. No fuss. No problem. My family loves these meals, so I think yours will too!

By the way, these are all perfect for summertime when we need something fast on a hot day. And guess what? I have some amazing summer snack recipes ready for you too, so stay tuned!

You’re going to want to keep all of this information handy!

These recipes and ideas are for:

  • the days we forget to thaw meat.
  • the meal times that come around that leave us feeling stumped as to what to make.
  • the times nothing sounds good but the family is getting hungry.
  • the days we don’t feel like cooking.

7 Meals in Minutes

I’m going to give you 7 complete meal ideas plus a quick-grab grocery list. The grocery list will help you to be able to have every ingredient on hand at all times, giving you the ability to make any of these meals in minutes! To make this even easier, I put all of this great info into a (free!) eBook so you can download it and print it to use all the information super easily!

None of these Meals in Minutes ideas are fancy. But for some reason, my family considers them all to be a treat. And so do I, because they are all effortless to make!

When I was putting together the grocery list for these 7 Meals in Minutes, I got extra excited! As it turns out, it only takes 20 ingredients to make all 7 of these meals. And you probably already have most of them on hand!

Get the grocery list and recipe eBook:

Here’s how 7 Meals in Minutes works:

I try to keep every single one of the needed ingredients on hand so that at any time, on any day, I can put any of these seven quick meals together. This is so helpful to just “shop in my own pantry/fridge” for our fast meals!

There are 7 complete meal ideas here. These are great all year ’round, but I’m putting this together now so that we can use them during the summer for lunches when everyone is home from school. And for quick supper ideas after everyone has spent the afternoon at the pool and comes home starving. :)

7 Meals in Minutes

Ask us to send you our complete grocery list and free 7 Meals in Minutes recipe eBook here. Here’s a quick rundown of the ingredients I keep on hand and the meals I can make with them:

  1. Cans of Chicken and Tuna to make Chicken Salad or Tuna Salad for sandwiches or wraps
  2. Refried Beans, Salsa, and Cream Cheese to make Bean and Cheese Salsa Dip
  3. Nitrite-Free Hotdogs and cans of Baked Beans to make Simple Beanie Weanies
  4. Pizza Crust, Pizza Sauce, Shredded Cheese, and Pepperoni to make Pizza or Pizza Boats
  5. Pasta, Milk, and Cheese for Creamy Mac and Cheese
  6. Pasta, Sauce, Shredded Cheese, and Pepperoni to make Pizza Pasta Bowls
  7. Eggs and Cream for Crepes

In addition to the ingredients needed to make the above meals, I always keep a supply of fresh or frozen vegetables, and fresh, frozen, and canned fruits on hand so that I have easy, healthy side dishes to go with all of our meals.

Here is my Go-To Grocery List for fast fruit and veggie side dish options:

  • Canned pineapple
  • Applesauce squeezies
  • Peach, Pear, and Mandarin Orange Fruit Cups in 100% Juice
  • Gala Apples
  • Grapes
  • Bananas
  • Fresh Fruit that is in Season (Berries in the summertime!)
  • Frozen Fruit to make Smoothies
  • Mixed Greens
  • Avocados
  • Fresh Broccoli
  • Petite Carrot Sticks
  • Frozen Green Beans
  • Frozen Peas
  • Frozen Corn

What do you think? Will your family eat all or some of these simple, tasty meals? You will love how quick they are to put together! And if you have all the ingredients on hand? All you have to do is run to the pantry and grab a few items to throw a quick meal together!

Let us email you a full, fun (FREE!) pack of resources so you can get your pantry ready! Get it here.

Bonus!

I’d love for many more people to have access to this fun and helpful information. So I created one more fantastic freebie for you! If you share this post with your friends on social media so that they can come to grab the resources too, we’ll send you this brand new recipe eBook! You will love these recipes!!

Perfect Summer Snacking is filled with brand new no-bake recipes. I’m super excited to share this with you because I’ve been recipe-testing these with my kids and the treats have been a huge hit. These are going to be so wonderful to have on hand this summer! OH! And all of the recipes in this eBook only call for 5 or fewer ingredients. So easy!

Here’s a list of some of the great no-bake recipes included in our free Perfect Summer Snacking eBook:

  • Chocolate Chip Energy Bites
  • Strawberry Cheesecake Pops
  • Snickerdoodle Fruit Dip
  • Frozen Yogurt Meltaways
  • Tangy Lemon Yogurt Cups
  • Perfect Peach Sorbet
  • No-Bake Brownies
  • MORE!

All of these recipes include real food ingredients and very little sugar. But the kids won’t care about the fact that they’re eating healthy snacks. They’ll just think their summer treats are amazing! Perfect Summer Snacking even includes a set of gorgeous printable recipe cards for even easier use!

Let us give you Perfect Summer Snacking bonus for free when you help us spread the word about our resources!

Ready to make your kitchen life simpler than ever?

  1. Sign up here so we can email you our fun free 7 Meals in Minutes eBook and grocery list resource packet. (There’s even a big surprise coupon inside this packet. You want this!)
  2. Share this post with your friends on social media so they can enjoy this too.
  3. Email me a screenshot of your social media share. I’ll email you your bonus Perfect Summer Snacking ebook! (There’s another big surprise coupon in this ebook you’re going to love!)

Get all of this for free!

Thank you for joining us, for sharing the fun freebies, and for putting your family first this summer!

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

Easy Food to Pack for a Game or Picnic

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On the go a lot? Want to avoid concession stand prices? Here are some fun and easy ideas for food to pack for a game or a picnic!

What’s tougher than caring for and keeping up with a bunch of littles day after day? Juggling their needs in with all the big kids’ activities and needs too.

Worth it? Yah. Times a million. Doable? Yes, with help. :) Always say yes to help.

This lovely picnic happened on the sidelines of Malachi’s high school soccer game this spring. With mouths full of burgers, we cheered for “Bubba” and tried to keep Keith from running into the street. Good times.

—-> Not pictured: The second-story window Keith broke right before we left for the game. That pretty much scared this mama out of her flip-flops. <—-

Right after that game, we dropped Keith and Baby Sissy off with sitters, and the rest of us headed to the college campus for Justus’ final choir performance of the year. I had to be very organized with food that day. But hey, what’s new? And I’m sure most of you can relate to the chasing and the events and activities and trying to keep everyone fed while doing it all.

The food list I’m about to give you is great for games, park days, and picnics too!

As spring and summer activities have ramped up, I’ve found myself trying to be a little more creative with the food I pack up. The kids (and the parents) get tired of sandwiches pretty quickly. And while many of the foods I’ve been packing to take along with us aren’t the healthiest of all of our meals, they are at least cheaper than buying concession stand food.

So, maybe this post is more about saving money than it is about eating healthy. And if you’re like me, you’re also happy to have all the food in one bag on the sidelines to avoid taking a parade of small children to the concession stand and dripping ketchup all the way back. After all, we can get ketchup all over ourselves without that added walk to concessions.

Ready for the grand food list I’ve come up with? These ideas are easy, tasty, inexpensive, and fun!

Easy Food to Pack for a Game

1. Hotdogs

While these are cooking on your stove or grill, prepare buns by putting condiments in the fold of the bun. Place cooked hotdogs on top of the condiments (this keeps the ketchup and mustard from seeping out!). Wrap them individually or put them all into a sealed plastic bag. Place them in a thermal lunch bag to stay warm. (Ignore the picture below. It’s trying to be cute, but if you’re packing food to take to a game, you really want that ketchup and mustard UNDER the dog.)

2. Hamburgers

I find that these stay hot for up to two hours or more when I wrap them individually in foil, then place them in a thermal lunch bag before toting them to a game. If I do this, I can also use a sharpy to label which burger is for who, in case there are any picky burger people among us.

3. Quesadillas

These travel best on a paper plate covered with foil. Make them easier to eat by cutting them into triangles with kitchen shears.

4. Pizza

If your family likes cold pizza, make this ahead, slice it and then throw it in the fridge until time to go. (Or, simply take leftover pizza if you have it.) Otherwise, a hot pizza from the oven, sliced and packed with napkins and paper plates works great.

5. Smoothies

I have a cabinet full of cups with lids and straws. I have these big ones and these small ones and I highly recommend them – especially for smoothies on the go! Smoothies are a great way to get some nourishment into all of us while cooling us down on a hot day.

Worth noting: When you put your kids’ smoothies in cups like this,
you can hide the fact that you’ve snuck fresh greens into the blender.
Ask me how I know.

6. Corndogs

Bake a bunch, throw them in a ziplock, then cart them to the game in an insulated lunch bag.

7. Chicken Sandwiches

I buy a big bag of frozen chicken patties for outings like this. Bake or air fry some breaded chicken patties. Prepare buns (we like these with mayo), place hot chicken patties on the buns, and either individually wrap the sandwiches or slide them into gallon-sized ziplock bags, then into an insulated lunch bag.

8. Tuna or Chicken Salad

Pack this in jars and take along crackers for “spoons.” This keeps the kids busy for a while, which is kind of fine with me so that I can watch my sons’ games a little more easily. :)

9. Burritos

I love to make big batches of these Easy Burritos. Individually wrap these in foil before putting them into the oven to heat. Grab the hot burritos and put them into an insulated lunch bag.

10. Chicken Nuggets

Bake or air fry a package of nuggets (or make them homemade), then throw them into a ziplock bag (or individual baggies if that makes it easier to hand them out at the game or picnic). Everyone can enjoy munching on chicken while watching the game! Consider taking small paper plates and some ranch dressing for dipping. And if you’re taking ranch, you might as well take carrots. Which leads me to…

But what about nutrition?

Well, like I said. This post is a little bit more about saving a buck than it is about eating well. However, it is super easy to throw fruits and veggies into to-go bags as well! These travel well and are simple to grab and go:

  • Apples
  • Containers of Washed Berries (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, strawberries)
  • Containers of Washed Grape Tomatoes
  • Bags of Petite Baby Carrots
  • Oranges
  • Grapes
  • 100% peach, pear, pineapple, or mixed fruit cups
  • 100% fruit applesauce cups or squeezies
  • 100% Fruit Leather

Other fun food on the go:

Your turn to share! What are your favorite foods to take to games and picnics?

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Foods to Purchase and Have on Hand for Busy Days

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Here are some of my best tips for foods to purchase and have on hand for busy days!

If you haven’t already, go check out all these amazing ideas for ways to get ahead in the kitchen!

Beyond homemade food, which of course we all love best, it’s nice to have some healthy convenience items on hand for busy days.

Foods to Purchase and Have on Hand for Busy Days

You know I’m going to start with this one:

1. Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

Just do it. These are so easy to purchase and so easy to serve and eat! Eating lots of fruits and veggies is the biggest, best way to be sure we’re getting lots of nourishment. And when we’re talking about busy days and maybe eating on the fly, we can feel good about what we’re eating or serving our families if we are making sure we’re/they’re eating an apple with their frozen pizza (or whatever). ;)

Great fresh fruit and veggie ideas that can be easily eaten on the run:

  • Apples
  • Bananas
  • Berries
  • Oranges or Clementines
  • Carrots
  • Mini-Sweet Peppers
  • Sugar Snap Peas
  • Pears
  • Peaches
  • Grapes
  • Grape Tomatoes
  • Cucumber Slices
  • Prepared mixed greens for quick salads

Regarding fresh veggies? I’m all about the dips. If ranch dip helps you or your kids eat the veggies? SERVE THE DIP. Veggies with dip is better than no veggies at all, am I right?

Need some dip ideas and recipes?

2. Frozen or Packaged Fruits and Veggies

These are great because they can be eaten or prepared quickly!

3. Whole Grain Breads

I prefer to make this Simple Stir-and-Pour Bread. But lately, since I haven’t had time to bake, I find that having 100% whole grain breads and bagels on hand has been very helpful.

These give us breakfast, lunch, and snack options from simple bread and butter to peanut butter sandwiches or lunch meat sandwiches.

Sometimes, on my busiest days, all I have time to serve is a peanut butter sandwich with one of the fruits or veggies listed above. It fills their bellies and offers nourishment too. I call it a win!

4. Boneless Chicken or Chicken Legs

My favorite is boneless chicken thighs. My second favorite is a package of chicken legs. If I have these in the freezer and I don’t have time for anything else, I can easily dump some sauce on some chicken and put it into the crockpot, into the oven, or onto the grill.

I serve the chicken with a steamed veggie (from the frozen veggies mentioned above) and a fresh fruit and we have a fantastic, healthy meal that hardly took any time to prepare!

5. Potatoes

I am not a fan of russets, but we love Yukon Gold or Red Potatoes! We can make so many fast meals with potatoes, specifically:

Baked Potatoes in the Crock Pot – which can be topped with anything we have in the fridge! Ham, leftover chicken or hamburger or taco meat, cheese, sour cream, broccoli, peas…

Baked potatoes make quick meals or side dishes.

6. Frozen Hashbrowns

This Mr. Dell’s brand of hashbrowns contains only potatoes, which I love! I buy them in 5-pound bags and use them to make so many of these recipes. Fast, easy, good for us!

7. Packaged Convenience Foods??!

Yep, I just said it. This is where I’m at now that we have so many kids and so much going on. Loving people is more important than standing in the kitchen. So some days, we eat the packaged nuggets and the frozen pizza. I feel no guilt about this. We eat salad with our pizza, we still have energy to smile at each other. It’s a win!

What do you purchase to help you get through busy days?

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5 Easy Ways to Get Ahead in the Kitchen

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Want to try to get ahead in the kitchen this month? It’s a great idea! After all, April and May are typically a pretty busy months as we wrap up a school year and head into summer.

Here are 5 ways to get ahead in the kitchen. If you do even some of these, you’ll find your days just a little bit less hectic on extra busy days!

5 Ways to Get Ahead in the Kitchen

Ready for lots of links, recipes, and lots of ideas? We are going to have a lot of fun getting ahead and making our lives easier!

1. Make and freeze some breakfast foods.

All of these recipes can be made the day before and served right away in the morning!

You can make these cereals to make for super fast breakfasts:

If you have these in your freezer, you can thaw and rewarm in the oven or toaster oven!

This super easy Stir-n-Pour Bread takes practically no effort, but turns out a delicious loaf of bread. When I have this on hand, we can slice it and make:

  • Peanut Butter Honey Toast
  • Fried Eggs on Toast
  • Cinnamon Toast
  • Scrambled Egg Sandwiches
  • Simple Buttered Toast

2. Make and Freeze Muffin Batter

This could have fit up in the breakfast bullet point above. But I wanted to feature it separately because it deserves a headline of its own! We can make and freeze muffin batter!

\silicone muffins 2

I like to do this with silicone muffin cups like these. Then I pop out the frozen batter and can bake muffins any time I need them for snacks or breakfasts.

With so many little ones in the house again, we go through a lot of muffins! Read more here about making and freezing muffin batter.

Need some muffin recipes? We have a couple:

3. Make Salad Dressing Mixes

Our house favorites are Ranch Dressing Mix and Italian Dressing Mix.

If I have a jar of these mixes on hand, I can quickly make Ranch Salad Dressing, a Ranch Cheese Ball, Ranch Potato Wedges or Cheddar Ranch Burgers.

ranchdressin2sm.JPG

With Italian Dressing Mix I make the obvious Italian Salad Dressing. And I use it for these easy recipes: Italian Cream Cheese Chicken, Italian Roast Wraps, and Italian Stew. It also makes a great marinade for grilled meats.

So many great salad and meal options to be made when we have these mixes on hand!

4. Make some Bacon

I love having pre-cooked slices of bacon and pre-cooked bacon bits in my freezer.

With homemade bacon bits I can make simple Bacon Cheesy Eggs, plus recipes like Bacon Cheese Muffins, Bacon, Egg, and Avocado Salad, BLT Chopped Salad, or BLT Wraps.

Pre-cooked sliced bacon in the freezer means that we can have a side of bacon with our pancakes and eggs with just a quick bacon warm up!

5. Cook hamburger meat for quick meal prep

Here’s how I cook 5-7 pounds of frozen hamburger meat in my Instant Pot in 30 minutes. This is a game changer at our house! Having pre-cooked hamburger meat means I can put together any of these meals (plus many others) super quickly:

Coming up next, I’ll share some great foods to purchase and have on hand for busy days!

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Almond Orange Paleo Salad Dressing

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Tasha’s here again with an awesome new recipe just in time for spring!

Almond Orange Paleo Salad Dressing

by Tasha Hackett

What’s with the Paleo, Tasha? Okay! Sorry, just read this instead: Sugar-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free Salad Dressing that will make you and your family cry tears of joy. Better? Hmm. But really, I can hardly describe the level of happiness this paleo salad dressing makes me. I never knew a salad dressing was capable of bringing forth such an emotion. Almond butter and orange juice? Who knew! Don’t be scared. This paleo salad dressing is delicious on, wait for it, SALAD, but also works great as a veggie dip. In fact, it is even edible straight from the table as pictured below. Not recommended. But acceptable.

toddler messes

Yum

My salad dressing is better than your salad dressing.

The original recipe that I adapted had a few more ingredients and it only made one tiny serving of dressing. I don’t know about you, but if I’m going to go through all the trouble of making a salad dressing from scratch to eat with my paleo food . . . I’m making more than one tiny serving. Clearly, the chances are high that I will be eating salad again in the near future. I’ve made some version of this dressing at least 5 times in the last month. If you’re drinking your salad, skip the dressing and add some fruit. **Insert puking face if you just envisioned drinking a garlic and olive oil flavored smoothie.

Almond Orange Paleo Salad Dressing

Make as directed for a typical dressing consistency. Though if you want it thicker, just add more almond butter. My salads are usually quite epic. I will rarely just eat lettuce, but this dressing has enough going on, that I have eaten it on plain old leaves before. My kitchen hack with this paleo dressing is to make it in my almond butter jar when there’s about half a cup left. Saves times scooping almond butter AND I don’t have to wash any jars just yet. Sometimes I’m pretty smart like that.

My new favorite salad includes the following:

  • Mixed greens (heavy on the spinach)
  • Chopped romaine hearts
  • Pumpkin seeds
  • Sunflower seeds
  • Chopped avocado
  • Slivered almonds
  • Dried cranberries or cherries
  • Chopped cold meat of some kind (ham, chicken, salmon, tuna, or even boiled/scrambled eggs, etc)
  • Chopped dill pickles (tricks me into feeling like I’m having a sandwich)

Yes. My toddler eats salad. What can I say? I think it’s the dressing.

Toss it all with Almond Orange Paleo Dressing and my kids fight for the last serving.

I’ve been serving my family made-from-scratch salad dressings for years and I absolutely love how freely we use them. No worries here about what we’re smothering our vegetables in. As a result, we don’t skimp on the dressings for health reasons. Everything in this dressing is Food. For. Fuel! Go make ya some and tell all your friends about how amazing it is and then invite them over for salad. I dare them to go home hungry.

Salad for dinner! Again! #paleohasmelike #sorrynotsorry #iheartsalad

Almond Orange Paleo Salad Dressing
 
Save Print
Prep time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: Dressing
Serves: 2 Cups
Ingredients
  • ½ Cup Almond Butter
  • ½ Cup Red Wine Vinegar
  • 1 Cup Olive Oil (Can use part MCT oil or other oils)
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • ½ tsp Black Pepper
  • ½ tsp Granulated Garlic Powder (Or two fresh cloves, minced)
  • Juice of two Oranges
Instructions
  1. Mix all ingredients and stir or shake vigorously.
  2. Taste and adjust to preference.
  3. For a thicker dressing, add more almond butter.
  4. For a sweeter dressing, add a splash of apple juice.
  5. Store in the refrigerator.

 

Quick! What’s your go-to salad dressing? Store-bought or make your own?

Lastly, be sure to check out some of the other dressings on our site.

Tasha HackettTasha Hackett, friend of Laura and author of Bluebird on the Prairie, a Christian historical romance releasing Spring 2021, is fueled by sunshine, paleo pudding, or hot chocolate—whichever is more readily available. Though she often pretends to be a ballerina while unloading the dishwasher, her favorite thing is writing with hope and humor to entertain and encourage women. Her time is spent with four chatty children and an incredibly supportive husband. They give her the kind of love people write books about. You can connect with her at www.TashaHackett.com or Instagram @hackettacademy or for Laura @heavenlyhomemaker.

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

How to Use a Cast Iron Skillet like a Pro

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I’ve loved and recommended using a cast iron skillet for years. Today, Tasha will tell you how to use one like a pro!

How to use a cast iron skillet like a pro

by Tasha Hackett

I didn’t know how to properly cook with a cast iron skillet until very recently. 

Even though I have prepared food almost exclusively on my cast iron skillet, I continually burned food or the food stuck so badly I spent far too long scraping it off the bottom and reseasoning again. 

I burned the pancakes on my cast iron again and I was sad. As I served my family I said, “I know it’s burned. Sorry. It is what it is. This is the last of the flour, I’m not making anything else. Sorry. Just eat it. I know it’s burned. Sorry. Don’t ask me why it keeps burning.” 

I burned the zucchini patties and I was sad. “I don’t know why they’re burning! The bottom is burned before I can even flip them without it falling apart! I turned it down and they’re still burning.” 

The scrambled eggs stuck to the bottom of the pan so badly I felt like I sacrificed two whole eggs to the cast iron gods. 

Please tell me I’m not the only one who struggles with the cast iron skillet? 

Figuring out how to use a cast iron skillet shouldn’t have taken me this long.

 

With all my struggles, you may be asking, “Why do you even use it if it causes so much trouble?” A few reasons. 

Now that I know how to use a cast iron skillet, I love it even more.

Foremost, I like the simplicity of it. I use this one pan multiple times a day. I clean it after each meal and it lives on my stovetop. The nostalgia that this is the same type of pan the pioneers used hundreds of years ago speaks to my author soul. I don’t wear 1800’s dresses, or travel by horse or train or write letters with an inkwell, but by golly I can cook with the same pan! (In theory, except I was disproportionately burning everything.) Another main reason I like to use it is that I don’t trust modern technology when it comes to our health. Teflon is bad for you–correction, teflon is bad for you when heated. HA! 

I know there are other non-stick pans out there today that claim to be non-toxic, but I haven’t had the time to look into them yet. (I’ve been far too busy wondering why I keep burning the Simple Tuna Patties.)

cast iron eggs

Here are my how-to tips for using your cast iron skillet:

  1. Start with a well-seasoned cast iron skillet. Which I have. Many times. Keeping it well-seasoned was my problem. Seasoning a skillet is simple: Clean. Dry. Rub a teaspoon of vegetable oil or lard all over. Top, bottom, outside, underneath, and the handle. Bake upside down in a 350* oven for an hour. Let it cool in the oven before putting it away.
  2. Be patient. Let the pan preheat at a low temperature for up to five minutes before cooking on it. A drop of water should immediately sizzle and then you may add the oil. If the butter, oil, lard, etc., is smoking, that means your skillet is too hot. Heating a cast iron skillet/pot/pan on high heat right away, especially on an electric stove, causes the iron to expand and heat unevenly and can cause warping. This is one of the only things that will ruin your skillet.
  3. Preheat the oil. Do this after the pan is preheated. Again, if the oil smokes or burns, this is a bad sign. If the butter is burning, the pancakes will soon be burning. (You’d think I could have figured that out sooner.) On my gas stove, I do most of my cooking just above Low or directly between Low and Medium. On my stove, the butter burns at Medium. Once the pan is heated, if you turn the temperature down it will not immediately make a difference. One of the pan’s strengths is the ability to hold heat. Therefore, adjusting the temperature up and down while you’re cooking isn’t going to work well for your food or your taste buds. Or your family’s trust in your cooking abilities. Have patience while preheating, and you will quickly learn where to set the temperature and can leave it there.

  4. Do the sizzle dance.

  5. The food should sizzle as soon as it touches the pan. Food that doesn’t sizzle means your pan wasn’t preheated enough and now your food is going to stick and then probably burn. (Preheat the skillet even if you are baking cornbread in the oven. The sizzle as you pour in the cornbread batter will create a delicious crust and keep the wet cornbread from sticking to the pan.)
  6. A properly seasoned cast iron skillet is easily cleaned with a wipe-down of a paper towel or hot water and plastic scraper. Boiling water in the pan, using soap, or not properly drying will cause your pan to rust and this is bad. If the pan rusts, you get to scrub it off with a steel brush and do the reseasoning thing again.
  7. Whenever dry spots appear on the pan, it’s time to reseason. If you use enough oil while cooking on the pan, you shouldn’t have to do the reseasoning thing more than a few times a year. If that. But… if you were anything like me and frequently burned the food and then had to scour it off with hot water, reseason it as often as necessary until you’ve perfected the patience that is required for preheating your pan. 

And that’s how to use your cast iron!

cast iron onions

This pan was not preheated. There was no sizzle when the onions were added. The butter wasn’t melted and then it will later burn.

I’m curious, how many of you have skillets passed down from your grandma? Years of history and thousands of meals prepared in a pan that is still in great use today? Amazing!

I love to invest in things that will last. Cast iron is just one of those things. Now that I know how to really use mine, I foresee some delicious pancakes in my family’s future. 

Tasha HackettTasha Hackett, friend of Laura, is fueled by sunshine or chocolate, whichever is more readily available. Recently embarking on a paleo journey to combat some chronic inflammation, she is still finding ways to eat chocolate. Though she proudly sings every word of the Wee Sing Silly Songs albums and often pretends to be a ballerina while unloading the dishwasher, her favorite thing is writing with hope and humor to entertain and encourage women—specifically young moms. Most of her time is spent with four chatty children and an incredibly supportive husband. They give her the kind of love people write books about. Her debut novel, Bluebird on the Prairie, a heartwarming Historical Romance will release spring, 2021. You can connect with her at www.tashahackett.com or on Instagram @HackettAcademy. 

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Tips and Tools to Make Menu Planning EASY

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

It really is possible to make menu planning easy, even if it’s a task you’ve never enjoyed. Here are my best tips and recommended resources to help. :)

Tips and Tools to Make Menu Planning EASY

Let’s just dive right in, shall we? Here are some of the tips I’ve found that are really helpful for simple menu planning. After I share these, then I will present you with some really great tools. :)

When it comes to figuring out food for your family…

1. Decide to have a good attitude about menu planning.

If you’ve always hated figuring out what to feed your family every day, keeping a good attitude about it can be tough. Even if you don’t mind or even actually enjoy menu planning, the daily grind of it can sometimes get old and tiresome. But the truth is that we all need to eat every day; therefore we do need some sort of plan so that we don’t become stressed out over food.

It’s possible you hate menu planning because you don’t plan your menus. (Eh?) What I mean is, if you don’t decide on a simple meal plan before it is mealtime, you’ll find yourself trying to figure out food for your family at the point in which they are all hungry, you are too hungry to think of good ideas, and you’re trying to make plans AND make food in the middle of ALL THE HUNGER.

This is no fun. It does not work. And it gives our brains the message that meal planning is hard and awful.

Take a deep breath. Pray. Choose joy over stress and angst. Menu planning can become easier. Learn what works for you (lots of ideas below), and decide to believe the truth that YOU CAN DO THIS.

2. Recognize that there are many ways to plan – so figure out what works for you!

Some people make a menu plan for an entire month. Some for each weeknight. Some for every single meal and snack of the day. Some subscribe to a menu planning subscription. Some make a plan each morning to carry out through the day. Some write down all the specifics on meal planners. Some make plans on a marker board. Some don’t write anything down at all.

These are only some of the methods and options – which proves that there are many ways to plan and that no one way fits the needs and preferences of every person or family.

If I was a once-a-month menu planner (which I am not, but if I was), and I told you “you should do it just like I do it!!” and then you tried it and it didn’t work for you, you might decide that menu planning isn’t for you. But the truth is that while once-a-month menu planning (and all the other methods) works for some, it doesn’t work for everyone. Menu planning is definitely not a one-size-fits-all thing. Toy with ideas, use resources that are available – and there are many! – and find a method that works for you.

3. Keep it simple.

Unless you really love gourmet cooking and creating elaborate meal plans, there is no reason to make menu planning and cooking for a family more difficult than it needs to be.

Discover simple recipes that you know your family will enjoy and that will not take long to prepare. Keep them in your back pocket (literally, if it helps; see below for details!). Jot down meal choices in a notebook, in your daily planner or calendar, or on pretty printable menu planning pages to keep on your fridge.

Think about and decide on your main dish, then consider simple fruit and veggie side dishes to round out your meal with nourishment.

We’ve all gotta eat. But we do not all gotta spend hours every day to make this happen!

Now I’m going to show you some wonderful tools that can make menu planning much easier.

Tools to Make Menu Planning Easier

We’re going to look at some tools that:

  • Show you how to budget when grocery shopping
  • Provide kid-friendly menu and snack planning ideas
  • Give you hundreds of recipes that are both easy and healthy
  • Walk you through how to get started with menu planning
  • Offer printables and planners to make the job easier
  • Teach you about basic nutrition, weight loss options, and special dietary needs
  • Help you get organized, actually, easily :)

I have somewhere around 60 resources to tell you about, but first, take a look at one of my new favorite menu planning tools!

The Easiest Recipes, in a Flipbook!

A few weeks ago, I took the recipes from my High Five Recipes eCookbook (recipes that all call for only 5 or fewer real-food ingredients!) and I turned them into a super handy Recipe FlipBook. Man, I am loving this – and this is what I was referring to when I said, “Keep simple recipes in your back pocket!”

I formatted each recipe to fit onto a  color-coded 4×6 card – then I sent them all to Walgreens to be printed. Just a few dollars later, I had all 86 recipes printed onto cards. I punched a hole through them, put a ring in the corner to hold them together, and tada! A High Five Recipes Flipbook!

This little tool is really handy (and fun!) because I can just grab it and start flipping through it for easy meal or snack ideas. Each section is color-coded to make it easier to go directly to the section I need: Breakfast Ideas, Main Dish Ideas, or Snacks and Treats Ideas.

The cards make it easy to see at a quick glance which few ingredients I’d need if I chose that recipe. Annnnnd since all of the recipes call for just 5 or fewer basic ingredients, I likely have most of the ingredients on hand and I know that the recipes will all go together quickly too!

I just added this new resource to my shop, so be sure to check it out!

And look what else!

We just added our brand new 52-Week Simple Meals Planning Packets Collection 2!

Sometimes you just need someone to make the plan and tell you what to get at the grocery store, you know? We’ve been offering our Simple Meals Subscriptions here for several years to help with this – and they are awesome and well-loved! This collection includes 52-weeks worth of these Simple Meals planning packets – categorized in Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall sections to make your job even easier. They tell you what to make, what to buy at the store, and how to make the food in the easiest ways possible.

If you prefer the entire collection of 52-weeks worth of menu plans, you can grab those here!

How to get these fun resources for FREE!

For two days only (January 26-27) they’ve brought back the Healthy Meal Planning Bundle I love so much. Many of you took advantage of this offer in August. But if you missed it, you can get it again if you hurry!

It includes 60 amazing resources to help you easily plan meals for your family. And then after you purchase, email me your receipt and I’ll send you the High Five Recipes Flipbook file (worth $15) and 52-Week Simple Meals Planning Packets Collection 2 (worth $52) for FREE!!

  1. Get your Healthy Meal Planning Bundle here before midnight, January 27.
  2. Email me your receipt and I’ll send you the High Five Recipes Flipbook and 52-Week Simple Meals Planning Packets Collection 2! (These are both digital so you’ll get them right away!)
Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

What Should I Bake?

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As much as I love summer the best of all the seasons, I sure love fall so I can get to baking again! In case you’re in the baking mood too, I thought it would be fun to give you some ideas if you’re asking yourself: What should I bake?

What should I bake?

I organized 111 of our favorite baking recipes into Yeast Bread Recipes, Muffin Recipes, Quick Bread Recipes, Cookie Recipes, Bar Recipes, and Cake Recipes. You’ll love how simple, yet how delicious these recipes are!

Get ready to bake up a storm and share with your neighbors. Wondering “what should I bake?” Wonder no more!

And by the way, if you don’t have a Bosch Mixer, I do highly recommend one. That has made my baking endeavors so much easier!!! (Read about why I invested here.)

Yeast Bread RecipesYum

  1. Chocolate Swirl Bread
  2. Cinnamon Swirl Bread
  3. Honey Whole Wheat Bagels
  4. Honey Whole Wheat Bread
  5. Monkey Bread
  6. No Knead Whole Wheat Bread
  7. One Hour Whole Wheat Yeast Rolls
  8. Pita Bread
  9. Stir-n-Pour Bread – So Easy!
  10. Soft Pretzels
  11. Soft Pretzel Bites
  12. Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns
  13. Whole Wheat Hot Dog Buns
  14. Whole Wheat Butterhorns
  15. Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls

Muffin Recipes

  1. Almond Flour Muffins
  2. Bacon Cheese Muffins
  3. Banana Muffins
  4. Blueberry Streusel Muffins
  5. Breakfast Cake Muffins
  6. Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins
  7. Chocolate Swirl Muffins
  8. Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
  9. Cinnamon Nectarine Muffins
  10. Coconut Flour Muffins
  11. Coconut Flour Banana Muffins
  12. Cornbread and Cornbread Muffins
  13. Cream Cheese Pumpkin Muffins
  14. Easy Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins
  15. Easy Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Muffins
  16. Easy Banana Cheesecake Muffins
  17. Easy Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins
  18. Eggnog Muffins
  19. Honey Cinnamon Muffins
  20. Orange Muffins
  21. Pancake Muffins
  22. Pancake and Sausage Muffins
  23. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins
  24. Peanut Butter Muffins (gluten free!)
  25. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
  26. Snickerdoodle Muffins
  27. Strawberry Cream Muffins
  28. Sweet Potato Streusel Muffins
  29. Whole Wheat and Honey Zucchini Muffins
  30. Whole Wheat Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Quick Bread Recipes

  1. Applesauce Bread
  2. Banana Bread
  3. Chocolate Chocolate Chip Bread
  4. Lemon Bread
  5. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread
  6. Whole Wheat and Honey Zucchini Bread
  7. Zucchini Carrot Bread
  8. Strawberry Bread

Cookie Recipes

  1. Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cookies
  2. Giant Breakfast Cookies
  3. Chocolate Chip Cookies
  4. Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookies
  5. Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
  6. Christmas Spice Cookies
  7. Coconut Macaroons
  8. Flourless Fudge Cookies
  9. Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
  10. Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
  11. Oatmeal Butterscotch Chip Cookies
  12. Orange Cream Cheese Cutouts
  13. Snickerdoodles
  14. The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
  15. Super Soft Chocolate Cookies
  16. Sweet and Simple Butter Cookies
  17. Sweet and Simple Cranberry Cookies
  18. Low Sugar Cream Cheese Cut-Out Cookies
  19. Buttery Almond Cookies
  20. Simple Oatmeal Cookies
  21. Honey Sweetened No-Bake Cookies
  22. Easy {Low} Sugar Cookies
  23. Low Sugar Lemon Melt-Away Cookies
  24. Low Sugar Almond Melt-Away Cookies
  25. Low Sugar Orange Melt-Away Cookies
  26. Low Sugar Lime Melt-Away Cookies
  27. Low Sugar Chocolate Fudge Cookies
  28. Low Sugar Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
  29. Low Sugar Flourless Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
  30. Pumpkin Spice Cut-Out Cookies

Bar Recipes

  1. Apricot Breakfast Bars
  2. Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
  3. Butterscotch Bars
  4. Cheesecake Brownies
  5. Chocolate Chip Brownies
  6. Coconut Flour Brownies
  7. Honey Peanut Bars
  8. Monster Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
  9. Peanut Butter Apple Cookie Bars
  10. Peanut Butter Honey Bars
  11. Pumpkin Pecan Pie Squares
  12. Zucchini Brownies
  13. Low Sugar Chocolate Brownies
  14. Low Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Cake Recipes

  1. Banana Cake
  2. Blueberry Coffee Cake
  3. Breakfast Cake
  4. Peanut Butter Breakfast Cake
  5. Pumpkin Breakfast Cake
  6. Carrot Cake
  7. Chocolate Cake
  8. Lemon Pound Cake
  9. Peanut Butter Cake
  10. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cake
  11. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake
  12. Red(less) Velvet Cake
  13. Strawberry Shortcake
  14. Zucchini Cake
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More Healthy Food Convenience Foods

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A few years ago, I shared 10 of my favorite pre-packaged foods that are still a healthy option! I’ve since discovered even more! Here are several more healthy food convenience food options…

Healthy Food Convenience Foods

I’ll begin by reminding you of the 10 I shared in the former post. Then I’ll add the new ones I’ve discovered!

1. Mini Sweet Peppers

Oh my goodness, have you tried these? They are deliciously sweet, perfectly crunchy, and wonderful all by themselves or in a salad. We take these on the road trips, munch on them for snacks, add them to our lunch plates, and argue about which color tastes the sweetest. I can’t get enough of these.

packaged convenience 1

2. Fresh Berries

Without a doubt, you can not compete with fresh berries picked and eaten right out of the garden. But during the times those are not available, we look for the best deals on strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries at the store. Wash ’em and eat ’em. It doesn’t get any easier than pulling out berries for a snack or a side dish with a meal.

packaged convenience 2

3. Grape or Cherry Tomatoes

Again, these are best fresh out of the garden. But since ours won’t be ready for another month or two, buying these pre-packaged works great for us.

packaged convenience 3
 4. Baby Carrots

There is some controversy over buying packaged baby carrots because of the information many have heard about baby carrots being soaked in chlorine before being packaged. Read this info and do with it what you wish. As for me, sometimes buying a package of baby carrots is a huge help in my effort to provide my family with extra veggies during a meal.

packaged convenience 4

5. Mixed Greens

Think making salad is too time consuming? Oh for Pete’s sake. Just buy a container of mixed greens and throw it on the table. It’s pre-washed and ready to eat. We go through a couple packs of these each week.

packaged convenience 7

6. Pickles

Open a jar, put it on the table, your work here is done.

packaged convenience 6

 7. Cheese Sticks

These can be a little pricey compared to buying a hunk of cheese and slicing it yourself. But when we’re talking about pre-packaged convenience foods, this one is a winner. Cheese is great for an on-the-go protein snack. Yay cheese.

packaged convenience 5

8. Larabars

Yes, you can made these homemade. I’ve done it myself many times. But sometimes my family needs something to stuff in a pocket to eat in between soccer games. I watch for great sales and coupons through Amazon and buy these by the case. They contain fruit and nuts only – a great healthy snack.

packaged convenience 8

9. Fruit Leather

Again, I make this homemade sometimes too. But for a fun treat, I like getting pre-packaged fruit leather when I find it on sale.

packaged convenience 9

10. Raisins

Buy them by the bag or in individual serving sized boxes. This pre-packaged convenience food is awesome for snacking. And really, aren’t those tiny little boxes just the cutest?

packaged convenience 10

What else? Oh, I could list tons. Peanuts, cashews, almonds, bananas, apples, grapes, oranges – think of all the pre-packaged real foods there are to pick from! Never again can we ever claim that healthy eating is difficult. And never again should anyone carry my favorite pen out of my office, put it down, and forget about it.

Here are my favorite newly discovered convenient health foods!

11. Carrot Chips

They are more expensive than whole carrots. But oh my loveliness, they are cut for me. While I juggle and bounce baby/toddlers, opening a bag of these carrots and tossing them into my Stir Fry or Steamed Veggie mixture is such a time saver. Spending a little extra for this convenience is worth it for me right now.

12. Mr. Dells Hashbrowns

I’ve talked about these here and there any time I’ve shared a new recipe that includes hashbrowns. They include one ingredient: Potatoes. SIGN ME UP.

Scroll through these recipes to find all the ways I like to use these when cooking quick meals for my family!

13. Sliced olives

Instead of whole olives. I know. But it saves time when I’m making pizza and that makes me happy.

14. Sliced Mushrooms

Same story as above. Open the package, throw them on our pizza or into our stir fry.

I promise I’m not turning into a lazy cook. Or am I? I prefer to think that I’m still eating real food while spending less time in the kitchen and taking advantage of conveniences such as these as my life becomes more full! Perhaps you’d like to get in on this fun? Save time. Still eat well. Buy the sliced mushrooms. :)

What are your favorite healthy convenience foods?

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