Heavenly Homemakers

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How I Get Ahead and Make Mealtime Less Stressful!

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I have discovered lots of tricks through the years for putting meals on the table quickly and simply. But this is by far the best one I’ve found for how to get ahead and make mealtime less stressful!

How I Get Ahead and Make Mealtime Less Stressful

Ready for the tip? It’s simply this:

Make as much of your meal as you can before you actually need to serve it.

Eh?

Here’s an example: While my family was finishing lunch today, I made tonight’s Sloppy Joe Meat. Then I got out a couple of cans of pineapple, olives, and buns and set them on the counter. Carrots and ranch are already ready in the fridge to pull out. When dinner-time rolls around, I’ll simply warm up the Sloppy Joes and we’ll sit down and eat.

sloppy_joe_1

Why do I try to do this?

Well, right now we have eight kids living in our home. Five of those kids are high maintenance and some are even labeled “intensive.” So most of my time is spent caring for and chasing babies while helping traumatized teenagers learn better coping skills. Or I’m talking to case workers, or making therapy appointments, or changing diapers, or trying to help my older boys with whatever they need, and hey! I’m even trying to take care of myself too. Ah, and my hubby/favorite teammate. (UPDATE: I wrote and scheduled this post in April. We’re back down to just 7 kids for now. Praise God, he found other homes for the traumatized teenagers!)

All this – plus there’s all the normal laundry, food, and other homemaking tasks that need to be done.

So now more than ever, I’ve found that I must both keep our meals simple AND prep food ahead of time if possible. Otherwise meal prep is quite stressful.

I don’t always get food made ahead.

Not even close. Sometimes I’m throwing food together at the last minute. Sometimes I haven’t even had a chance to think of a plan for a meal before it’s actually meal time.

But if I possibly can, I try to think ahead and do as much prep as possible (and of course, I get every capable boy involved in helping with this prep!). Making food ahead is about the only way I can stay functional in my kitchen right now because we never know when someone might have a melt-down or a blow-out or another big need.

Ways to make food ahead of time

1. Make part of dinner during and/or after lunch. 

While the family is still at the table or still in the kitchen after lunch, it works wonderfully to get veggies chopped, meat browned, or at the very least needed ingredients rounded up for the evening meal. Our Take Ten Challenge books give you great options and tips to help with this!

2. Make breakfast after dinner.

This is the same concept as making dinner during lunch – but I find it’s key for being able to get ahead on all of our meals the next day. If I have an ounce of energy left after a long day, it’s nice to mix up tomorrow morning’s muffins or pancake mix or breakfast bars in preparation for the next day. Even if we’re just going to have cereal, I can have one of my kids get the boxes out along with bowls and spoons so we save a few minutes the next day.

There’s something really refreshing about waking up and knowing I don’t have to do much work before feeding everyone the first meal of the day.

3. Start a crock pot meal cooking right after breakfast.

This is even better than making dinner at lunchtime because the meal prep has been done before I day gets started!

4. Do some sort of meal prep any time you find a few minutes to spare.

Sure, sometimes we might feel like there’s not an extra 5-minutes anywhere in the day. Or it might seem like 5-minutes isn’t worth much. But I find it to be amazing what I can do with a spare 5-minutes here and there. That’s when I’ll grab ingredients for the next recipe I’m planning to make. Or throw meat into the crock pot and dump on sauce. Or wash some grapes and put them into a bowl for later. Or stir together a loaf of Stir-and-Pour Bread. Or start grinding wheat so that I’ll have flour ready to bake with another time. Or give instructions to my big kids about what they can put together for a meal.

What are some helpful tricks that help you get ahead in the kitchen?

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How to Make Nutritious Stir-Fry QUICKLY!

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Stir-Fried Veggies are one of our favorite ways to eat veggies! Here’s how you can make a nutritious stir-fry quickly!

We’ve been eating a lot of stir-fried veggies lately! It’s been a great way to up our veggie intake as stir-frying them gives them such an incredible flavor!

Not that it’s terribly difficult or time consuming, but cutting up veggies for a meal does take more time than simply opening a bag of frozen veggies or grabbing mixed greens out of the fridge. So here’s what I’ve tried to do if I have a few spare mintues (read: if the babies are in their high chairs eating breakfast, safe from running in two different directions, and therefore safe from climbing precariously on the furniture while my back is turned)…

How to Make Nutrious Stir-Fry Quickly

The advice is a no-brainer really. Simply spend a few minutes – when you can find a few minutes – washing and cutting a bunch of veggies for stir-fry. Mix them all in a large ziplock bag and pull them out to cook at meal time!

Recently, I spent about 15 minutes washing and cutting sweet peppers, onions, broccoli, asparagus, and carrots. We then had a 2-gallon bag of prepped veggies in the fridge! So for the next few days, we have delicious stir-fry meals or stir-fried veggie side dishes with our meals!

Here are three ways we like to eat stir-fried veggies:

1. As a delicious side dish to go with whatever meat we are eating.

2. Stirred into cooked spaghetti noodles like this. Sometimes we add cooked meat, sometimes we don’t.

3. Stirred into Stick-of-Butter-Rice. Again, sometimes we add cooked meat and sometimes we don’t.

The Easiest and Most Flavorful Way to Stir-Fry Veggies

How to Make Nutritious Stir-Fry QUICKLY!
 
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Author:
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 2-4 cups fresh or frozen veggies of your choice (broccoli, carrots, peas, peppers, corn, zucchini, squash, etc.)
  • 3 Tablespoons olive oil, coconut oil, or palm shortening
  • 1 clove minced fresh garlic or ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • Soy sauce (to taste)
  • Sea salt (to taste)
Instructions
  1. In a skillet, toss vegetables, garlic and olive oil together - cooking on medium heat until veggies are tender.
  2. Add soy sauce, stirring until the veggies are barely coated.
  3. Add sea salt (and more soy sauce) if desired.

 

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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:

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

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Meatless, Egg Free, Dairy-Free Recipes

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Yes indeed. Here’s a list of Meatless, Egg Free, Dairy Free Recipes that are still fun. Mostly.

Is it possible? Is this meat-loving, dairy-loving mama going to share some Vegan recipes with you?

Well, funny story. (Yeah. So, so funny.)

Twas the night before Christmas Eve, 2019, and my darling husband decided to watch a documentary. Why, Matt, why? You couldn’t have just watched Elf??

But no. He watched the one about why we should probably not be eating as much or any meat, eggs, or dairy. The next day, he stood in the kitchen telling me about it – you know – while I was cooking seven pounds of hamburger meat in my Instant Pot and whipping cream for pies. Dude, you have got to be kidding me. No meat or dairy? Do you even know me at all?

But alas, the documentary had convinced him. Not that we should all go vegan (BECAUSE MAMA NEEDS HER BUTTER!!!!!). But he wondered if he might need to cut out animal products as an experiment to see if the change helped some of the minor health issues he’d been experiencing.

I almost got mad (she admits, sheepishly). It’s just that with two one-year-old babies toddling around and crawling on the floor eating food I hadn’t found time to sweep up yet, and a 6-year old who constantly demands attention and needs a lot of re-training, and all the others and everything else plus a freezer full of MEAT  – I didn’t know what to do with the words he’d just spoken.

It’s a Wonderful Life, Matt. Now THAT’S a great Christmas movie. Documentary, schmocumentary. Stop trying to learn new things.

So after the 5-minute tantrum I had inside my head, I half-smiled and told him that after Christmas I’d consider thinking about thinking about how I could possibly accommodate this idea. But for today, we were eating meatballs. God bless us, everyone.

Anyway, after Christmas was over and we started to settle into a new routine, I became intrigued by the challenge of figuring out tasty ways to feed my favorite guy. After all, man cannot live on peanut butter alone.

And that, my friends, is the story of why I’m sharing this list of Meatless, Egg Free, Dairy-Free Recipes. Mind you, I just ate a slice of homemade pizza that was heavily topped with cheese and two kinds of meat. (I don’t watch documentaries that tell me things I don’t want to hear. Heh.)

Meatless, Egg Free, Dairy-Free Recipes

Here are some of the recipes I’ve adapted by leaving out ALL OF THE GOOD STUFF. (I mean, by excluding potentially harmful ingredients in an effort to bless my husband’s health.) I am so proud that the recipe links in this list made it into the double-digits. I wasn’t sure I could do it. Because have you seen my recipes??!! Cream cheese rules! Butter and beef for days!!!! But not in these recipes:

Can you believe it? Out of the hundreds of recipes on my site, this tiny list is all I could come up with. Send help!

Or not, because Matt’s not living and dying by this lifestyle. He’s just experimenting to see if it makes a difference. Meanwhile, he’s making lots of veggie stir-fries for himself, spreading peanut butter on bread or apples or bananas, and really focusing on eating lots of veggies and fruits in general.

Long live the cow. And all of the cow’s friends. I like beef. The end.

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Groceries I Order From Azure Standard

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Curious about what groceries I regularly order from Azure Standard? Today I’ll share what’s often on my list!

Real Food Groceries I Buy From Azure Standard

First, let’s review.

Here’s a post to share what Azure Standard is and why I shop with them regularly. (Spoiler: They’re a food co-op that delivers even to small towns all over the U.S. Their prices on whole foods are fantastic!! More details here.)

Real Food Groceries I Buy from Azure Standard

  • 5-Pound Bags of Frozen Organic Peas, Green Beans, and Corn

We usually go through two bags each of frozen green beans and peas each month and one bag of corn. These are fabulous to have on hand!

  • 5-Pound Bag of Dry Roast, Unsalted Peanuts

I (used to) buy one of these each month to make several jars of Creamy Peanut Butter for my family. If you want to make your own peanut butter, I highly recommend buying nuts here!

  • 10-Inch Tortillas

Yes, I used to make them. But during this season in our lives, I am so grateful to have ready-made tortillas in our freezer! I buy them by the case and use them for Meat and Cheese Burritos, Breakfast Burritos, and Quesadillas. My favorite brand of tortillas from Azure is Stacey’s.

  • Frozen Potatoes

I have been getting 30-pound boxes of Frozen Hashbrowns, Southern Style, and I use them in so many ways! They are wonderful in casseroles like this and in my Easy Breakfast Casserole. Recently I realized I could even make them into these Mashed Potatoes and wow! Game changer! They are also a favorite in this Awesome Potato Soup.

  • Hard and Soft White Wheat

I used to grind our wheat fresh in my Nutrimill, so I liked to buy 25 pounds of hard white wheat and soft white wheat every month or two from Azure so I can always make whole wheat flour as needed. Read more about grinding wheat and which flour works best in various recipes here.

UPDATE: I don’t have time to grind flour anymore. So instead, I buy Azure’s flour: Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (for non-yeast baking) and Hard White Wheat Flour (for yeast recipes).

  • Oats

It’s so nice to buy a 25-pound bag of rolled oats to have for Homemade Instant Oatmeal, Breakfast Bars, Granola, and Cookies! I keep the oats in our extra freezers to pull out as needed. (Here’s a list of other great food I make with oats!)

  • Brown Rice

Just like oats and wheat, I like to buy 25-pound sacks of rice (if I still have room in my freezer!).

  • Active Dry Yeast

It’s awesome to buy a 5-pound bag of yeast to keep in the freezer and use it for baking as needed!

  • Fresh Produce

Some of their organic fresh produce is too pricey for my budget. But I find that most of the time their yellow potatoes, varieties of apples, peaches, and pears are usually super reasonably priced! And depending on the season, other produce options are a great price too!

  • Sale Items

Azure runs monthly discounts so I always scroll through them to see what is marked down 20% or or more and take advantage if I feel it will benefit my family!

I used to always buy butter and cheese from Azure Standard also, but the prices on those have gone up so now I just get those at a regular grocery store.

How Azure Standard works:

  1. Become a member. It is completely free.
  2. Join a local drop point (or start one).
  3. Order online each month according to your needs. There is no obligation to order if you don’t need or want anything. Just shop any or all months of the year as needed.
  4. The drop coordinator for your group will be informed of the truck delivery time each month. He/she will send information to let you know when/where to meet.
  5. Meet at the designated pick-up time and location to help unload the truck and take home your order! This unloading and sorting process usually only takes 15 minutes.

Are you a regular Azure Standard customer? What do you like to buy?

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

The Best Hot Drinks for Fall and Winter

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Spring isn’t here yet! It’s the cozy time of year that calls for hot drinks. Here are our favorites!

The Best Hot Drinks for Fall and Winter

1. Homemade Hot Cocoa

It’s pretty hard to beat Homemade Hot Cocoa. Well, unless you top it with fresh whipped cream. Then it’s even better!

Homemade Hot Cocoa

2. Warm Vanilla Soother

If the idea of drinking warm pudding appeals to you, then you are going to love this. This is fantastic comfort food, er drink. So nourishing and comforting!

warmvanillasoother2sm

3. Warm Chocolate Soother

How about drinking something that tastes like a brownie? That’s how amazing this Warm Chocolate Soother is. Drink it for breakfast and your day is off to a perfect, chocolaty start!

4. Chocolate Mint Soother

How soothing are these soothers? Truly.

5. Warm Pumpkin Custard Drink

This hot drink will blow your mind. What do you think about drinking what tastes like pumpkin pie? Yup.

Now let’s talk coffee. It’s probably no surprise that coffee is my favorite hot drink. :) Here are some great ways to sweeten up your mug of hot coffee!

6. Chocolate Caramel Coffee Creamer

This one is super sugary, so drink it at your own risk. :)

Chocolate Caramel Coffee Creamer

7. Chocolate Whipped Cream for Coffee

Now THIS is where it’s at. I make it with stevia so it is a completely sugarless and healthy option for sweetening your coffee. And it’s chocolate. So that means we can all survive even the coldest winter days with a genuine smile on our faces.

Chocolate Whipped Cream - Perfect For Your Coffee

8. Peppermint Cream for Cocoa and Coffee

Bookmark or pin this one to during the holidays. Or tomorrow (isn’t every day a holiday?). SO GOOD.

While cocoa and coffee are always a favorite, let’s now take a moment to look at a recipe for the best apple cider!

9. Crockpot Cranberry Apple Cider

This is extremely easy to make and makes your house smell incredible! Everyone I’ve served this to loves it!

What are your favorite hot drinks for fall and winter?

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

Why I Shop Azure Standard

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It’s been a while since I’ve talked about why I shop from Azure Standard. Maybe you were wondering if I still did? What is Azure Standard anyway?

Azure Standard is a food co-op that has been one of our main food sources for years! They are based in Oregon, but ship to hundreds of drop points all over the U.S. every month.

If you aren’t already a member of Azure Standard, I highly recommend giving it a try if a drop point is available in your area. (If there isn’t one currently, you can look into starting one. That’s what I did many years ago, and now they deliver right to our town!)

See, I don’t live near to a Whole Foods or any of the fun natural food markets. Nor do I live close to Costco or Aldi. But even if I did:

I would still shop Azure Standard.

Azure Standard prices are much, much lower than most grocery store prices. Yet they still carry almost everything a natural food store would carry. I love it and consider myself very blessed to have Azure deliver directly to our town once each month!

In addition:

  • Azure has great customer service.
  • Their truck drivers are always super nice and helpful.
  • Any time I call Azure for any reason, they work out my issues (which are rare and infrequent) without problem.
  • They carry a huge variety of groceries from fresh to frozen to boxed to canned.
  • The quality of their food is top notch!

How Azure Standard works:

  1. Become a member. (It is completely free.)
  2. Join a local drop point (or start one).
  3. Order online each month according to your needs. (There is no obligation to order if you don’t need or want anything. Just shop any or all months of the year as needed.)
  4. The drop coordinator for your group will be informed of the truck delivery time each month. He/she will send information to let you know when/where to meet.
  5. Meet at the designated pick-up time and location to help unload the truck and take home your order! This unloading and sorting process usually only takes 15 minutes. Easy peasy!

I’m working on a new post to share what items I frequently buy from Azure Standard. Be watching for that in the next few weeks!

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

How to Serve a Snacky Meal That’s Still Nourishing

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It is entirely possible to serve your family a “snacky meal” that is still nourishing. Here are some ideas!

During this busy holiday season, I think it’s especially fun to think of “Snacky Meal” ideas. There are programs and parties to attend, there are gifts to buy and to wrap, there are travel plans to make and big meals to prepare for. So feeding our families a quick meal of finger foods here and there is a great idea!

I also think it’s fine to think of these meals as actual meals. So what if you didn’t cook? Who doesn’t love a plate of fruit, cheese, meat, and crackers?

Did you read my friend Tasha’s post about a Dry Crust? We should take it to heart. A quick meal of popcorn and apples served with love tastes better than a gourmet meal served with stress.

Especially as we’re preparing for Christmas, I think we should recognize that we want our kids to remember the season as joyful, not stressful. If mom is stressed out with holiday preparations, our families won’t fall in love with the idea that Jesus is at the heart of Christmas.

Well, all that to say – in order to stay sane and happy at Christmastime, sometimes you just need to cut some cheese.

I mean…

;)

How to Serve a Snacky Meal That’s Still Nourishing

Who’s ready for a list of Snacky Meal ideas to serve your family on busy days? Here are some ideas I pull out from time to time to throw on the table, depending on what I have on hand:

  • Summer Sausage
  • Lunch Meat
  • Leftover Ham
  • Variety of cheese
  • Carrot Sticks with Ranch or Hummus
  • Cucumbers
  • Celery and Peanut Butter
  • Sweet Peppers
  • Olives
  • Pickles
  • Apples
  • Grapes
  • Bananas
  • Oranges
  • Strawberries
  • Blueberries
  • Cantaloupe
  • Raspberries
  • Pineapple
  • Peanuts
  • Almonds
  • Cashews
  • Crackers
  • Bread and Butter
  • Peanut Butter Honey Toast
  • Chips
  • Guacamole
  • Salsa
  • Smoothies
  • Popcorn

This list may not include roast beef and mashed potatoes, but these foods are fun, filling, and nourishing too.

What are your favorite snacky meals to put together at the last minute on a busy day?

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Does Family Really Come First at Mealtime?

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Does family really come first at mealtime? Or are we more concerned about perfect nutrients and working hard? Both are important, no doubt. But I’m excited to share some insights into this, given to me by my friend Tasha.

Remember The Cooking Guy? He’s the adorable one featured in this video. More importantly, his MOM is the one behind the super popular Stir-and-Pour Bread!

That bread recipe has been life-changing for many of us! Today, I’m sharing a super fun and insightful post she wrote and sent me. Enjoy this, then share your thoughts!!

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Does Family Really Come First at Mealtime?

by Tasha Hackett

“See this!? This is feasting with strife.” I all but yelled at my family. 

“This isn’t my favorite,” the four-year-old turns up her nose in disgust. The toddler pokes into the meat, scrapes it across his plate, onto the table, and off onto the floor. Then he looks up at me, “Uh-Oh.” No, Son. That phrase only works for an accident AND I SAW YOU DO IT ON PURPOSE. 

“I need a napkin.” I hop up to grab the family their napkins. The seven-year-old spills his water because he was trying to grab the ketchup before his sister could. I hop up to grab another towel to throw down on the mess. “Stop kicking me.” “I wasn’t even touching you!” “Would you please, both of you, just eat your food.” 

We’d been gathered around the table for ten minutes and I’d had two bites. The bickering goes on. I thought I was in a great mood before this family came in here and ruined it! Then it happens, “Mom, is there anything else for supper?” I stood up so fast my chair fell over backward. The crash of the chair falling got everyone’s attention. I brandished my fork at all of them, husband included: “See this?!” gesturing to the amazing spread of food I had prepared, and looking at each of them in turn. “This is feasting with strife.” I all but yelled at my family. I pointed to the verse, Pro. 17:1 I have taped to the wall and threatened, “Tomorrow, we’re having a dry crust.” 

Proverbs 17:1 “Better a dry crust with peace and quiet, than a house full of feasting with strife.”

I looked at my husband. “I’m going to time out.” And I left.

I sat down in the rocker in my room and looked at the fork in my hand and cried. Why couldn’t they all just be nice to each other!? Why couldn’t they eat the stupid food that I made? AND IT WAS GOOD FOOD! I had been in the kitchen since 3:30 pm. First I peeled sweet potatoes, diced them into cubes, I oiled and salted them and set aside. I prepared a salad with fresh romaine and leaf lettuce, chopped a cucumber, a pepper, and sauteed fresh green beans. I made my own Greek salad dressing with Dijon mustard and lemon (SO GOOD), sprinkled on feta cheese.

When the husband came in from work I smile and kissed him and said something like, “Get excited, supper is going to be super good!” And then kept working. Rush rush rush. I was running out of time, the kids kept coming in to ask me questions and tell me stories about their legos and blocks, and to watch them jump on one foot and the baby really didn’t want to be in his play yard anymore. At 5:30 I called in the family to set up the table and I served this amazing and well balanced, whole food, nutritional meal. As I often did many times a week! And by then I was so tired, I had ZERO energy left to enjoy my family. 

I had nothing left for them. 

As I sat in a self-imposed time out, I heard my family out there eating, they were hushed now… maybe a dry crust would be better. 

The next day was Tuesday. At 1 pm I whipped up a double batch of Stir-and-Pour Bread. I let it sit on the counter all afternoon. At 5:00 pm I preheated the oven. I dumped the dough on two large baking stones. Baked at 450* for 20 minutes. While it was baking I set the table with plates, butter knives, napkins, and water. I also set out butter. 

“Sup’s up!”

When they came to the table, you would have thought it was Christmas. Bread!? Just Bread!? I didn’t even cut it. They had to rip off their own chunks and butter their own “slices.” This has now become a regular meal… not every week, and when I make it as the main dish I usually serve a few carrots and apple slices. I know it’s not the most nutritional and well-balanced meal… but there is peace. And there is quiet (at least peace and joy if not quiet.) And best of all is getting to enjoy my family. I enjoyed them all afternoon, and I enjoyed them through the meal. And you know what? They certainly enjoy being with me when I’m not tossing chairs and brandishing forks on my way to time out.

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Your turn: Share your thoughts!

What’s more important, a perfectly nutritious meal or a peaceful family mealtime?

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

How to Make Food Easy!

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It’s time for a brand new challenge! Ready to learn how to Make Food Easy?!

Our Take Ten Challenges were so fun and popular that we decided to create a brand new challenge – this time with a twist!

The Make Food Easy Challenge offers this:

  1. A complete Make Food Easy eBook full of everything you’ll need to easily complete this two-week challenge! (We’ll send it to you right away after you sign up to join!)
  2. Two weeks worth of menu plans and grocery lists.
  3. Simple instructions for spending just a few minutes prepping meat for each week so that you can easily and quickly put your weeknight meals together.
  4. Daily weekday emails during the two-week challenge, telling you just what you need to do each day to quickly prepare your evening meal. (With bonus ideas and recipes!)
  5. Guidance to help you see how one meal leads to another!

Here’s how we’re making food easy:

One meal will lead to another. Like this…

If you’ve made meat for one meal, you’ll set some aside to use for another meal later in the week. If you bake potatoes for one meal, you’ll save the extras to use for a brand new meal later in the week. If you’ve prepped potato toppings for one meal, you’ll pull them right back out later in the week to use for tacos. See how easy and wonderful this is!!?! One meal truly does lead to another, making your daily meal prep incredibly simple and your family meals perfectly delicious!

Once you sign up to join this challenge, we’ll give you the complete eBook, grocery lists, recipes, and everything you need so you’ll be guided through these great ways to learn how to Make Food Easy. Here’s a peek at the first week’s menu and prep-ahead guide:

Here’s a little “map” to help you see how one meal leads to another:

Clear as mud? Don’t worry! The eBook and daily guides walk you through everything you need to know, step by step. Like this example for Day #3 of the Make Food Easy Challenge:

You’ll use the leftover baked potatoes from Day #3 to make a delicious Ham and Potato Skillet on Day #4. You’ll use the leftover Potato Toppings from Day #3 to fill your Tacos on Day #5. Your meat will have already been prepped ahead so that all you have to do each night is pull out what you need and create your quick meal.

See how fun it is to Make Food Easy?!

The Make Food Easy Challenge comes with two entire weeks’ worth of grocery lists, menu plans, prep-ahead guides, daily to-do pages, serving suggestions, recipes, and more.

And I suppose I should mention: Today through October 20 it’s completely FREE!! ($17 value!)

Yep, as we launch this brand new challenge, we want to make it accessible to everyone!

Here are the simple Make Food Easy Challenge details:

  • This Make Food Easy Challenge will run October 21-November 2.
  • Sign up for FREE by Sunday, October 20 and we’ll send you your brand new Make Food Easy eBook, grocery lists, prep guides, and everything you need to be prepared for this challenge.
  • Share this post with your friends so they can sign up too!! Email me a screenshot of your share on any form of social media and we’ll thank you by sending you a FREE copy of our Let’s Do This! eCourse. It’s worth $10 and it teaches you how anyone can get ahead in the kitchen! You’ll love it!!
  • Stick around through the entire two week’s Make Food Easy Challenge. Take pictures of each day’s meal prep or final meal. At the end of the challenge, send me all 10 meal pictures and I’ll send you ANY one eBook from my shop that you want. Yep, you can pick from any of them. (There are 21 to choose from!)

Get this for FREE when you share our new challenge on social media!

Notice how the free stuff just keeps on coming!

We’re giving every one of you up to $52 worth of free products here – are you amazed!?

  • FREE Make Food Easy Challenge package ($17 value)
  • FREE Let’s Do This! eCourse when you share this challenge on social media and send me a screenshot ($10 value)
  • FREE eBook of your choice from the Heavenly Homemakers Shop when you complete the entire challenge and send me picture proof (up to $25 value)

Ready to get started with the fun?!

Sign up here and watch for an email with your Make Food Easy eBook and getting-started instructions. Then watch for emails full of all the simple details you need throughout our Make Food Easy Challenge October 21-November 2.

We’re going to head into the holiday season stress-free and with all kinds of simple recipes and meal plans at our fingertips!

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