Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

What To Buy at the Store to Get Through a Busy Week

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As if all weeks aren’t busy weeks…

But some weeks are busier than others.

Like the week our oldest son got married. We had to juggle in all of our normal daily chores (caring for kids, changing diapers, doing laundry, working for a living, silly things like that). Plus we had company trickling in and all the last-minute wedding prep.

There were a lot of people and we went through a lot of food. Here’s how I managed our kitchen…

What To Buy at the Store to Get Through a Busy Week

Here’s what worked for me and what always works for me when our week is extra busy:

1. I bought a lot of fruit.

When there are a lot of people to feed and not there is not much time for cooking or baking, stock your house with fruit. Make it easy to see and easy to grab. These will be your busy-week snacks. Here’s what I bought for our wedding week:

I left fresh fruit in bowls on two different countertops. There was an additional bowl full of applesauce squeezies and fruit cups. People helped themselves all day long for snacks and for something to go along with their meals. We pulled out big bowls of cut watermelon and sliced strawberries for lunch and dinner side dishes. It was easy and tasty and crowd-pleasing!

2. I bought a variety of bagels and cream cheese.

This made breakfast feel special without any effort on my part. Everyone could pick their favorite (I bought cinnamon, blueberry, and plain). They could toast them and add cream cheese or butter. And hey, they could eat them with fruit. :)

Remember when I used to make Homemade Bagels?! :)

3. I bought a lot of boneless chicken thighs.

They are inexpensive (usually $3/pound or less). You can marinate them in whatever sauce or dressing you like. You can grill them, smoke them, or bake them. They are always a hit.

4. I bought hoagie buns, lunch meats, and cheeses.

This way, people could make sandwiches the way they liked, but “making subs” felt more special than making a plain ol’ sandwich.

5. I bought baby carrots and cheese sticks.

Again, for snacks. Or to go with meals. They are easy to grab and take no prep. Petite baby carrots are our fav!

6. I bought ice cream.

Because of the company. And because it’s fun. And because I wanted some.

7. I bought high-quality hotdogs, burger patties, and buns.

Grilling burgers and dogs is such a great way to feed extras and the meal always comes together fast. Most people love this meal so it’s easy to feed kids and adults this way.

8. I bought frozen vegetables.

I always buy these. But it is especially nice to have frozen green beans, peas, and corn in the freezer to supplement our meals.

9. I bought pizza fixings.

I set out all the toppings and people built their own. Easy and fun for all!

  • Pizza crust
  • Pizza sauce
  • Mushrooms
  • Olives
  • Cheese
  • Pepperoni
  • Sweet peppers

10. I bought cereal.

If all else fails, people could grab a bowl of cereal for themselves or for a little one. We went through several boxes during wedding week and it saved us from several meltdowns!

What are your favorite foods to have on hand during busy weeks?

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Snacks I Like to Make When I Have 10 Extra Minutes

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Whenever I can find a few extra minutes, here are the snacks I like to make!

I barely have time to eat these days, much less cook or bake. But therein lies the problem: all these kids who are taking up so much of my time need good snacks that I can grab quickly for them. And since I mostly have to eat on the fly, anytime I have something easy to grab for myself I appreciate it so much!

Current count: 10 kids. Our two oldest are missing from this picture!

Also? I. Love. To. Cook. And. Bake.

When I’m so busy with all of our kids and the appointments and meetings that come with foster care, I actually find that I miss my kitchen. Creating food for people truly feeds me (haha, it’s kinda punny). So if and when I find a few extra minutes, I find it to be so fulfilling and relaxing if I can stir some muffins together for the oven or roll out a batch of Cookie Dough Bites.

What a win, huh? I get my kitchen therapy, and then we end up with snacks for the family!

OH! But this only works if the recipes are simple and quick. I’m an instant gratification kind of a gal. I’ve never liked spending extra time on any task. I prefer to get it started, get it finished, and have a fun, fast result!

Snacks I Like to Make When I Have 10 Extra Minutes

Here are the recipes I go back to over and over that can be put together quickly and grabbed and eaten by our family as needed:

Muffins

40 + Real Food Muffin Recipes

So. Many. Muffins. We eat them by the dozen and we love all varieties. Sometimes I make mini-muffins, but regular-sized muffins can be made faster, so that’s my usual style. Muffins make great breakfasts or snacks, and with this many little ones, I’ve found that they are the baked good I try to keep on hand at all times.

Crustless Cheesecake

I can throw the ingredients for these into my Blendtec, whip it all for 30 seconds, then it’s ready to pour and bake. When I need a pick-me-up, I can grab one of these from the fridge and eat it on my way to grab a diaper for a baby. They are low in sugar and full of protein. I love them!

Flourless Brownies

We can stir these together quickly and they are incredible for breakfast or snacks! If you pull them out of the oven when they look slightly under-done, they will be super moist and amazing. Make them with almond butter or peanut butter and you will love these!!

No-Bake Cookie Dough Bites

These call for nut butter and coconut flour, so they are high in protein and fiber, filling, and tasty (sweetened with honey!). I have several recipe varieties, which really means I use the same ingredients with a few tweaks depending on what I have on hand and what sounds good. All my kids love to snack on these!

Fat Bombs

I can quickly melt all the ingredients together on the stove for these, then pour them into silicone cups for the fridge. These stick with us for a while and taste like a peanut butter cup!

Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

What are your favorite quick snack recipes?

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Groceries You Can Buy for $35 (This is Exciting!)

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I’m very encouraged to see and the groceries you can buy for $35. Check it out!

Groceries You Can Buy for $35

Keith and I went to the store recently, on a mission to get as many fresh fruits and vegetables as possible. We got:
  • Bananas
  • Broccoli
  • Blueberries
  • Raspberries
  • Pears
  • Clementines
  • Mixed Greens (organic)
  • Bag of Spinach (x2)
  • Grapes
  • Potatoes
  • Apples
And it was only $35.
Groceries can really add up. Our family spends a lot on food because there are so many of us. But I love that fruits and vegetables – the best foods we can put in our bodies – can be bought so reasonably.
Sometimes I think we have in our heads that produce costs too much, so we hold back and don’t buy enough. The picture above proves otherwise.
Look at the variety! Look at the meal and snack options! And beyond the health benefits, I’ve found that having all that great produce handy makes life easier because I can quickly grab fruit for the kids’ snacks.
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Need more fruit snacking ideas? This post is full of them!

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Now, obviously, we eat more than fruits and vegetables. This $35 purchase didn’t last us more than 2-3 days (because we feed 11 people daily).
But I wanted us to be encouraged! We can get a lot of bang for our buck when we buy fruits and vegetables!

Challenge:

  • Go to the grocery store.
  • Go when you’re hungry. :)
  • Head directly to the produce department and fill your cart with everything that looks good. (It’ll all look good when you’re hungry!)
  • Make your purchase and be amazed at all you got at such a reasonable price.
  • Go home and eat your produce.
  • Eat it again the next day.
  • Offer it as snacks to hungry kids.
  • Enhance your meals with easy fruit and veggie options.

Ready to get a lot of bang for your buck at the grocery store?! Head over and fill your cart with produce. It’s delicious, reasonably priced, and so, super good for us!

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My Current Favorite Places to Grocery Shop (and My Current Grocery Budget)

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Life is ever-changing (said the mom who suddenly has ten kids). I’ve evolved and adapted the way I grocery shop to make it work better for our family situation. Here’s an update on our grocery budget and on my favorite places to grocery shop!

First, my favorite places to grocery shop right now:

1. Costco

Costco is an hour away from us, so I have to make a plan for all the kids, then I go stock up once each month. Read here about what I like to buy at Costco. I typically spend about $600 each month here.

2. Walmart Pick-Up

I’m not sure how I ever lived without this!! I absolutely love that I can shop online for any of the groceries we need, schedule a time, then all I have to do is go pick it up! This has been a tremendous help during this season of our lives!

I spend around $250 each month using Walmart Pick-Up. Most of this is fresh fruits and vegetables to get us through until I can make it back to Costco. And also ice cream. #priorities

3. Azure Standard

I only get a few items now from Azure Standard, but I do like ordering from them what I have a hard time finding from other places. And I love that it is delivered right to my town!

I spend about $60 there each month on average. Here are some of the items I like to buy from Azure!

4. Amazon Subscribe and Save

Costco is typically less expensive than Amazon, yet I still really love that cases of groceries can be delivered to my door! Here’s what I often include in my Amazon Subscribe and Save order. I spend about $100 each month this way.

5. Local Farm Meat, Eggs, and Milk

We are blessed to have friends with a farm a few miles away. They supply us with our milk each week. We also buy half of a cow from them each year. Our eggs come all the way from across the street where our neighbor enjoys raising chickens!

When I average out our cow purchase, then add in our milk and eggs each week, this comes out to $170 per month.

Our Total Grocery Budget

If you add all that up, you’ll see that we are currently spending around $1,200 for groceries every month. This does not include what we spend on diapers and other household items. This is only food. For these people:
  • 2 parents
  • 3 teen and adult children
  • Many of their friends and lots of college students
  • 4 small children
  • 2 babies (Who don’t cost us much because they are supplemented by the WIC program, praise God!)
Asa and Justus are missing from this picture. But here’s the rest of us!

And that’s that! How about you? What are your favorite ways to shop for groceries?

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Nourishing Smoothies My Kids Actually Love

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You’ll read in this post about how I have to cheat just a little bit in order to make these smoothies for my kids. But at least these are still nourishing smoothies, and my kids all love them! Even my high schooler.

As you know, Matt and I drink our salads – loading our smoothies with a huge amount of greens, then blending in frozen fruit and milk. We don’t add any sweeteners, and we are good with that. The fruit sweetens these enough for us, and at the end of the day, we are simply trying to get as much nourishment as possible during these days that it’s very difficult to even find time to eat at all.

Our kids though? They aren’t huge fans. Who can blame them? They like their smoothies sweeter than we do. And the truth is the amount of greens that I put in “the adult smoothies” is pretty substantial. Spring mix in that amount does change the taste of the smoothie and indeed, green (greens) and red (fruit) make brown. So our smoothies aren’t pretty. :)

When there is this much sweetness going on at our house,
why would Matt and I need to add sweetener to our smoothies? Ok then.

How to Make Nourishing Smoothies that are Kid Friendly

Back when I “only had four kids” who weren’t all babies at the same time, I took the time to add separate ingredients to my smoothies. Goodness, somehow I even had a freezer full of fruits that we had picked, prepared, and frozen ourselves!! (How in the world did I ever have time to do all that work!?) I sweetened those smoothies with maple syrup or honey, and my kids guzzled them down.

But now.

I know it may sound silly, but as I’ve shared so many times lately, I’m often preparing food with just one hand as I am almost always holding one of our babies. So getting a bunch of different ingredients out of the fridge or freezer to add to the blender? Well, I’ve just found that I have to keep everything to a minimum.

The solution I’ve found is a bit of a cheater method. I buy frozen mixed fruit in bulk from Costco (which is totally not cheating – those good fruits are there to save us all, amen!). Bags of mixed fruit make it easier to give us a variety without pulling out several different bags. One bag. Two or seven fruits. Beautiful!

But here’s the cheat part: I use containers of Vanilla Yogurt. I add around 16 ounces to our blender, along with milk. This covers three ingredients with one grab from the fridge (vanilla, yogurt, and sweetener), so the vanilla yogurt sweetens the kids’ smoothies and flavors them too. Yes, it adds sugar to their smoothies. I’ve decided that I don’t actually care. THIS IS HOW I GET MY KIDS TO EAT SPINACH.

Oh yeah. Because I put fresh spinach into my Blendtec when I make these too. Not as much as I do when I make smoothies for Matt and me. But enough to be sure they all get a nice serving of fresh greens. Between the tasty fruits and the sweetened yogurt – every single one of my kids will drink a big cup full of smoothie and some of them ask for more.

They even know there’s spinach included and I think they are kind of proud. (And probably relieved that they aren’t being forced to eat a salad with dinner.)

These cups hide weird smoothie colors

If I add greens to the blender along with frozen blueberries and strawberries, the dark color of the berries hides the greens. But if I add greens to the blender along with bananas and peaches, the smoothies turn out…not pretty. No matter! All the kids drink their smoothies better from cups with lids and straws anyway. These cups make it fun (except for when they argue about who gets which cup, oy).

Nourishing Smoothies My Kids Actually Love

Here’s “the recipe” even though we all know that measuring ingredients into a smoothie isn’t a real thing. So add the words “give or take” to any of these as you make smoothies based on what you have and what you can put into your blender with one hand.

Nourishing Smoothies My Kids Actually Love
 
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Author:
Serves: 5 servings
Ingredients
  • 2 cups fresh spinach
  • 3 cups frozen fruit (any combination of blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, bananas, peaches, pineapple, oranges, or grapes)
  • 2 cups vanilla yogurt
  • 2 cups milk
Instructions
  1. Blend ingredients together in a high power blender until smooth.

 

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How to Eat Healthier While Traveling

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paleo while traveling

Remember when I shared how I survive road trips while eating paleo? We can eat healthier while traveling by planning ahead, eating before we leave the house, and pack our own homemade delicious snacks… but sometimes we are just hungry and we’re miles away from resources and a kitchen and there are business all about with their flashy signs and great deals and what’s a girl to do but order a medium potato óle? Again, I urge you to set your boundaries and know why you chose to eat the way you do. If you’re doing the Whole Thirty challenge. You can not afford to go off-plan. One sip of a milkshake will set back two weeks of the dairy and sugar cleanse you are on. It can take 30 days for your body to fully rid itself of the dairy and up to 90 days for gluten. But if you’re just trying to lose 5 pounds, you may give yourself a treat here and there. I get it.

If finances are tight, eating out ever can wreck your food budget.

I’m not here to talk you into anything. But I’d like to encourage you in your healthy food journey! Let’s hear it for REAL FOOD! Where can you get real food while traveling? There are some ways to eat healthier from fast food. Some offer salads that aren’t half bad. But if you’re counting calories, you’ll be surprised what you find in the dressings or add-ons. I don’t count calories, but I do avoid most commercial dressings.

The #1 way I eat healthier while traveling is to “eat out” at the grocery store.

Go to the grocery store! Just pretend the grocery store is a huge buffet. Grab a cart, bring all the kids inside and walk around the outer edge of the store and buy lots of things that you can eat immediately. Get some fruit. A few vegetables. Some protein. I promise this will save you money and keep you feeling great. My husband will argue that he doesn’t get full this way, but I argue it’s because he just didn’t eat enough—and next time he will need to get a rotisserie chicken or some other hot meat.

What do we actually buy to make a meal for the family?

Anything we want! And we don’t just do this for traveling, we swing by the grocery store to grab food for picnics, parks days, play-dates, etc. Here are a few meal suggestions that I’ve bought in the past:

Romain lettuce, lunch meat, guacamole, bell peppers, dill pickles, grapes, oranges, carrots. My total was $23 and we had enough for two full meals. We used the lettuce to make wraps with the guac, meat, peppers, and pickles and ate the fruit and carrots on the side. (Hint: I usually have a knife handy to slice bell peppers, cucumbers, etc.)

Last time we splurged and spent a whopping $45 dollars. We bought oranges, apples, bananas, guacamole, Nuthins, Ritz crackers, salt & vinegar potato chips, 12 pack of Lärabars, lunch meat, almonds, and a jug of water. Oh, and The Wonky Donky.

My kids are currently 9, 6, 5, and 2 years old. The six of us generally eat paleo, but nobody but me reacts to gluten, dairy, or sugar, so they’re allowed to eat whatever they want. I prep them before we go inside the store: “Don’t ask for a bunch of things you know we’re not going to buy. I will let you know when it’s time for you to pick something out. You will stay with me and not run off down the aisles. Let’s go get some yummy lunch!”

Here’s a $12 dinner: Small jar of peanut butter, jelly, loaf of bread, bag of oranges, and a 6-pack of ice cream sandwiches. Even though it’s still processed food, it goes better for my family than buying a meal’s worth from a fast-food joint. And you will probably have leftovers of everything but the ice-cream sandwiches!

A few grocery store recipes to eat healthier while traveling:

1) Single serve apple sauce, yogurt cups, deli meat and cheese, Hawaiian rolls, carrots, grapes.

2) Hot chicken from the deli, clearance French bread, sliced cheese, rocket apples, dill pickles.

3) Premade salad mixes, a $1 bowl, can of chicken, small bottle of dressing, ask for forks at the deli counter.

4) Fruit/veggie pouch for the toddler, variety of Naked or Bolthouse Farms juices to sample, bag of chips and jar of favorite dip, box of Lärabars, container of mixed nuts.

5) A protein, a vegetable, a fruit, some add-ons to make the meal fun.

6) Yes, sometimes I still find myself munching down on a handful of potato óles and I have no shame in this.

healthier food while traveling

Don’t make food while traveling harder than it has to be. Just . . . pick out some yummy healthier foods and eat.

My favorite is to let each kid pick out something. One kid will get to pick out his favorite vegetables, while another is in charge of the fruit, one helps decide which type of meat or nuts. You get the idea. They’re much happier this way and so am I.

Is this something you have ever done? Can you bypass the fast-food and grab lunch at the grocery store and eat at the park? Or the trunk of the suburban? Or your friend’s backyard?

Tasha Hackett Tasha Hackett is a friend of Laura and author of Bluebird on the Prairie. When Eloise and Zeke meet under an extremely embarrassing circumstance, Eloise is fine with pretending the whole thing never happened. But they continue to be thrown together when Zeke lands a job working for her brother and it appears God has other plans for this couple. Find a copy of this touching romance wherever books are sold.

To connect more with Tasha and her historical fiction writing, you can find her at www.TashaHackett.com.

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Easy Fruit Choices I Give My Kids Every Day

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We go through a lot of fruit at our house! But I don’t have time or enough hands to cut up fruit for my kids. Here are the easy fruit choices I try to keep on hand to give my kids every day.

Currently, we have six little ones and four of them are in diapers. Therefore, I had to stop buying cantaloupe and fresh pineapple, simply because they would sit neglected on the counter and I would never, ever get around to cutting them.

Six minutes. Ten maybe. That’s how long it takes to prep a cantaloupe. And yet, there are not ten minutes to be found these days. Awww, these babies!

I have started to rely on other fruits that take no prep, or maybe just thirty-seconds of prep. Wash-and-serve fruit like berries. 100% fruit cups like peaches, pears, and mandarin oranges. Applesauce squeezies by the case! Bonus points if there are vegetables in them! (Like these.)

East Fruit Choices I Give My Kids Every Day

Here’s a quick list for us so that you and I can easily reference when we need ideas and inspiration for fruit we can grab and hand to our kids. Better yet, if they’re old enough, they can reach in and grab it themselves!

Some Fruity Tips

~ Usually my kids eat apples and pears better if they are sliced or cut into small bites. So if I have two hands-free, I’ll quickly prep those fruits to hand my kids for snacks or a side dish to our meals.

~ They really love apple slices dipped in peanut butter, so sometimes that turns into our lunch!

~ I usually drain the juice out of our fruit cups before serving them, simply because our toddlers will spill the juice everywhere while trying to eat the fruit.

~ I teach my little ones to peel their own clementines as soon as they are able. So even at their very little ages, if I get the clementine started, they can take over and peel it on their own.

~ I like to cut strawberries into small pieces to make them easier to eat, but when there’s no time, I try to make a big deal of how fun it is to eat a great big strawberry while holding onto the green part.

~ I keep a bowl of prepared 100% fruit cups in our kitchen for our kids to grab as needed.

~ Watch out for the prepared fruit cups labeled “no sugar added.” That’s code for “fake sweetener added” so I always avoid those. Go for the cups prepared in 100% fruit juice.

Some day, I’ll slice cantaloupe, pineapple, and watermelon again! As for now, these easy fruit choices work best for us!

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Breakfast at School: SO MUCH SUGAR

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Hey, breakfast at school? You sure are sweet.

Today I’m taking a moment to process my thoughts about the school’s tasty donuts. Also, the chocolate milk. Then I’m going to tell you what I’m trying to do at our house to help our kids avoid sugar overload.

I am all about offering a fun breakfast. But I try to keep the sugar level down if I expect any of us to be productive. Here babies. Eat these fruity pebbles. Now go sit still for a long time and calculate numbers and sound out words.

First day of school, 2021. Keith had to get in on it too!
And how dare they get on the bus without him?!

School breakfast is free this year, so I decided to check something off my morning list and let the kids eat at school when they got off the bus.

I have no idea what the kids ate on their first day. It was the first day. We survived it. That’s all that mattered.

On the second day of school, our kindergartener came home with precious, sweet chocolate cheeks. She proudly told me that they all got chocolate donuts for breakfast! I celebrated the fun with her, and then gently suggested that maybe tomorrow she pick something less sugary to start her day.

Bless her little five-year-old heart. On day three, she told me that today she’d had cereal – so that was much less sugary, right? Good job, said I. What kind of cereal did you pick?

Her happy reply was, “The chocolate kind. OH! And then I poured chocolate milk into it so it was double chocolate!”

Oy. Well, what would any of us have chosen as kids? The chocolate cereal with the chocolate milk? Well, yeah! (Ok, fine. I would have chosen the fruit loops.)

Yes, of course, the school always also offers fruit and protein. But Mom isn’t there to make them take it and eat it, ha. And it’s easy to overlook it when there lie the donuts. So.

I fight enough battles with our kids.

Our seven and five-year-old babes have plenty of other more important needs for me to focus on. I feel like I am constantly re-training and re-directing and re-teaching them. So for me to say, YOU MAY NOT EAT SUGAR AT SCHOOL! would not be an ok thing. This isn’t a hill I’m going to die on. It’s not their fault that there are so many fun sugar choices. And the school has a lot of kids to feed in a short amount of time. They can’t make omelets to order. Sweet items are easier to dole out!

Chocolate Milk…times three

This one is maybe the hardest for me. When given the choice, of course, our kids are going to take chocolate milk. That’s what I did as a kid!

I’ve tried to encourage white milk, but they don’t like how it tastes out of a carton. Then there was the day Brayden proudly told me he’d chosen a different carton of milk at school. “White milk?” I asked. “No, the pink kind!” Ahhhh, strawberry. Hahaha. Bless.

If the kids just got one sugary milk each day, I would just shrug and move on. Again, I’m not dying on this hill. But in fact, they get chocolate milk three times every day. One at breakfast, one at snack, and one for lunch. My stomach hurts just thinking about it.

So we decided to skip breakfast at school.

Maybe once in a while, I’ll let them go through the breakfast line for a special treat. But I feel like I need to start their day of learning on a better foot so that they can focus better.

  • I feed my kids before they get on the bus. This is tough because they leave the house at 7:05. But it’s worth the extra effort in the morning.
  • I focus on protein and fresh fruit at home before sending them off for the day. If I can get some eggs or sausage on their plates and tummies, I feel so much better about whatever else they might choose to eat or drink at school. Before rushing out the door, I know they have some good nourishment in them.

Some high protein at-home breakfast ideas:

Here are a few of the menu items I’ve given my kids before sending them off. Keep in mind they only have about 10-minutes to eat before leaving to meet the bus (because I let them sleep as late as possible). So the portions are small and easy to eat (and I don’t allow any chattering between bites because oh my goodness that…sloooowwwwws…themmmm…dowwwwwnnnn).

  • Fruit. Any Fruit. Just pick one and eat it. Then I give them something like:
  • Scrambled Cheesy Eggs
  • Apple Slices and Peanut Butter (this gives them both their fruit and their protein!)
  • Apple Slices and Cheese
  • Banana with Peanut Butter
  • Sausage Patties or Links
  • Peanut Butter Toast
  • Bagel with Cream Cheese
  • Fried Slices of Ham
  • Ham on Toast
  • Sausage Sandwich
  • Egg Sandwich
  • Summer Sausage and Cheese

It’s actually been pretty fun to come up with ideas for this. One day I thawed six pounds of meat and made a huge batch of Homemade Sausage.

I froze the patties, uncooked, on paper plates separated with parchment paper. These have been great to pull out and fry quickly while the kids are waking up and getting ready.

Get my Homemade Sausage recipe here. The recipe calls for ground turkey, but I use other ground meats too! Also, you’ll save time making Homemade Sausage if you follow this great recipe for making Sausage Seasoning. I keep a big jar of it, then just stir it into a large batch of meat!

Reference this too!

This simplified breakfast menu idea is my go-to! Sneak peek at the skeleton plan:

Monday – Muffins
Tuesday  – Toast
Wednesday – Oatmeal
Thursday – Eggs
Friday – Granola or Cereal

Details and recipes here.

What do you feed your kids for breakfast before school?

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The Easiest School Morning Breakfasts

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I can barely get my kids dressed on school mornings. So breakfast? Good luck. School morning breakfasts have to be the easiest of the easy.

Last year I shared a basic plan for how to make breakfasts simple on school mornings (no matter if your kids school at home or away). I’m reworking these ideas and reposting them because these ideas come in so handy!

Basically, to save me from having to think too hard, I have created a basic breakdown of what I now make or serve each weekday:

Monday – Muffins
Tuesday  – Toast
Wednesday – Oatmeal
Thursday – Eggs
Friday – Granola or Cereal
WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS – Protein Bars (because some days there’s no time to stop and eat so I have to send the kids out the door with one of these)

With this skeleton plan, I can now make fun adaptations each weekday to keep our menu fresh and fun! (I save pancakes or waffles or other special breakfast ideas for Saturdays.) :) And now I will give you more specifics about how this works for us…

The Easiest School Morning Breakfasts

Monday – Muffins

I can choose from these 40 recipes so that Mondays are never boring. I shall call this “Muffin Monday” because cuteness in the kitchen is underrated.

Tuesday – Toast

Let’s hear it for “Toast Tuesday.” Though now I have to admit, my cute names for days of the week have now run out. Anyway though, we can make this Stir and Pour Bread (or buy bread from the store, can I get an amen?) and then top it however we like. Peanut butter and honey is a favorite for most of us.

Wednesday – Oatmeal

I try to keep this Homemade Instant Oatmeal on hand, but I often now splurge and buy these too. Either way, this makes for a fast breakfast!

Thursday – Eggs

We mostly prefer scrambled cheesy eggs, but occasionally we’ll fry them. I love how easy eggs are to make. And all my kids love them and eat them so well.

Friday – Granola or Cereal

We like different kinds of homemade granola like:

Or, I can make these Homemade Chewy Granola Bars for a fun change of pace. Or I buy granola or cereal at Costco to keep on hand for quick breakfasts. If I have these Giant Breakfast Cookies in the freezer, even better!

Always serve fruit

Fruit at breakfast is a given at our house. So with all of the above day-of-the-week breakfast ideas, everyone can choose what fruit they like best. I try to keep a variety on hand, depending on what is in season. Our favorites for breakfast are:

  • Applesauce
  • Blueberries
  • Apples
  • Oranges/Clementines
  • Bananas
  • Pears
  • Strawberries

What do your school morning breakfasts look like?

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How to Eat Paleo on a Road Trip

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How to Eat Paleo on a Road Trip

by Tasha Hackett

Hi everyone! Before you skip this because you’re not a fan of paleo diets. WAIT!! STOP!! This is still for you. Just pretend you like to eat fresh, wholesome foods. Foods that give you fuel and energy and build you up instead of tear you down. Paleo, or any special diet, or budget, or lifestyle that includes not eating fast food junk can be overwhelming at home. But eating paleo on a road trip? Is it even possible? Yep. It is. I’ll show how!

Here’s how I survive road trips eating paleo:

paleo road

Eat a solid breakfast and plan ahead.Yum

If you’re anything like me, you might be used to making sure all the kids have breakfast and snacks available, but you forget to feed yourself? Okay! If you’re on a special food plan, that’s not going to work anymore. I fry up a great skillet of eggs and fresh onions, toss in a few cups of spinach at the end to wilt, mix in an avocado and salsa… yes, it takes at least 15 minutes. But so totally worth it.

No chance of stopping for donuts on the way out of town because I have great food for fuel in me and I feel great! I plan ahead when possible. Am I going to still be on the road for the next meal? Where can I get food? The answers to those questions will guide what I bring with me and where I plan my longer stops.

fruit

Stop at grocery stores and canned meat is OK!

If I’m going to be on the road during the next meal and I haven’t already packed food, then I stop at a grocery store! Ben and I started doing this for budget reasons when we were first married and we loved it. We could spend $25 on “luxury” food items, and it would last us a meal and snacks or more. We’d grab fresh deli meat and cheese, fruits, veggies, and other fun snacks. But now that I’m driven by my health and not by the budget, grocery stores are still the place for me to go to find food. (Pre-made salads, guac, Nut-Thins, meat, fruit and veggies, Larabars.) And here’s a neat tip… canned meat. Though it’s not amazing, it’s protein and calories and energy. Ever tried opening a can of chicken and digging in? I dare ya. It’s a meat source that you can bring along that doesn’t need refrigeration.

Travel with the blender.

Likely, you’ll be traveling to a place to stay for a few days and you’re going to get hungry while you’re there. If possible, I bring my Blentec with me. Working in the kitchen at a camp earlier this summer was a blast. Baking with everything I needed was purchased for me and staff to wash dishes and someone else to hold my babies? Yes, please! But I knew I’d be surrounded by traditional camp food, and I didn’t want to be grumpy and hungry. Obviously, I needed my chocolate. Therefore, I brought the Blentec and whipped up my go-to chocolate shake for the meals I needed to avoid. (Pizza, lasagna, pancakes, pot pie, etc.)

Know your boundaries and don’t make excuses.

If you’re eating paleo because you want to lose weight… well, you get to decide how strict you want to be. If you’re celiac and you will break out in a terrible rash or be sick the rest of the day if you eat pizza, that requires more careful planning. Road trips can be difficult for elimination diets. I eat paleo for a lot of reasons, but the easiest to explain is the migraines. When I switched to a paleo diet, I very quickly stopped being in pain. They went from 17 days a month to 3-4 days a month. I tolerate oats and other gluten-free grains in moderation. I don’t react to corn chips or small amounts of cheese. But ice-cream? No way. Because the headaches are so severe I don’t even crave tasting the “banned” foods anymore. Clearly, I’m human—I have my moments when I’m sad about not being able to enjoy a cinnamon roll, but then I remember the amount of pain I used to be in and I go make myself a batch of homemade chocolate and all is right with Tasha’s world again.

paleo

Know your WHY.

If you’ve been following Laura for a while you’ve seen the progression from homemade foods, low-sugar foods, organic or non-organic, simple meals, we love people more than food… and it’s all wonderful! And Laura knows her why. If I was on a diet for the fun of it… I would have a hard time following through. But knowing that I’m on a “diet” for very specific health reasons makes a huge difference. Otherwise, why would I bother with paleo on a road trip? Whatever the reason you’ve made it this far into this article: Do you know why you eat the way you eat? Why do we stop at a fast food restaurant? Do we think it’s going to be cheaper? Faster? Tastier? I challenge you to think about why you eat what you eat and what you might want to change. Depending on your why, you might be able to splurge and have a treat on a road trip! Have a treat and enjoy every bite of it.

Traveling soon? Whatcha gonna eat?!

book cover of bluebird on the prairieTasha Hackett is friend of Laura and author of Bluebird on the Prairie. Tasha spends most of her time with four chatty children that she homeschools and a fun-loving, supportive husband. They give her the kind of love people write books about. Find out more about her and her historical Christian romance at www.TashaHackett.com. Her novel is available wherever books are sold and she loves to speak about the novel at libraries and other bookish events.

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