Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Last Chance to Join our Take Ten…Again Challenge!

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If you haven’t signed up yet, it’s not too late! We’ve got a fantastic two weeks in store for all of us, and it all begins Sunday night, September 15.

Read all the details of our Take Ten Again Challenge here. We’re going to walk you through taking ten minutes each morning to do some simple meal prep so that all you have to do at supper/dinner time is put on the final touches and serve your meal. Your family mealtime is going to be SO EASY!!!! All because you decided to:

Take Ten…Again

Click here to sign up for the Take Ten Challenge!

Watch your inbox for a confirmation email, then you’ll receive a complete Take Ten Again Grocery List and information to get you started. The challenge officially begins on Monday, September 16! Sign up for free ($17.00 value!) by Sunday, September 15.

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

UPDATE: Do I Like Amazon Prime Pantry?

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So I bet you’ve been wondering, “Does Laura still like her Amazon Prime Pantry membership?” Oh hey, thanks for asking.

I’ve been Prime Pantry-ing for almost two months now, and not only do I like it, I probably like it too much.

It makes my life so easy!! Well, at least it makes life easier. Especially the parts of life that involve baby wipes, canned pineapple, and ketchup.

Unfortunately, it has me so spoiled that when I have to actually go to the store for fresh food I’m like, “Waaaa!!! Why can’t Prime Pantry bring me frozen chicken and fresh greens? I can’t believe I actually have to go TO THE STORE and GET A CART and PUSH IT AROUND and SELECT MY BANANAS.”

So yeah. Amazon Prime Pantry and I are becoming best buds. And she is completely spoiling me by dropping so many of my groceries directly onto my porch two days after I order them.

What I love about Amazon Prime Pantry

  1. The membership gives free shipping on any pantry order over $10. This means that every time I think of just a few items we need, I put them in the cart, complete my order, and have the groceries delivered for free in just a couple days. This is faster than I can keep up with laundry, and it keeps my Walmart list from taking up an entire notebook.
  2. Regarding the Walmart list, I’ve found that if I can possibly get it from Amazon at a comparable price (or sometimes less, wooo!), I will absolutely get it at Amazon. I prefer this for one huge reason: taking little ones to the store is sometimes difficult and my shopping cart has very little room for groceries after filling it with a diaper bag, a kindergartener, and a rolly-polly baby.
  3. Amazon Prime Pantry has almost every non-refrigerated food item I could possibly need, and I even found napkins with jokes on them, so wiping our faces is much more hilarious. Score.
  4. The prices are pretty much the same as I was getting at Walmart, sometimes even cheaper.

How to save money with Amazon Prime Pantry

I will admit that while I really, really love to save money, my primary reason for joining Prime Pantry really was the convenience it provides during this season in life. But all the convenience wouldn’t appeal to me if the prices weren’t reasonable. AND, there are some really fun ways to save extra beyond the already reasonably priced offers.

  1. They offer “Buy 5 Save $5” items. There’s a huge selection of these 5 for $5 off goodies, so I click through them all, choose what we need, and when the total of those items equals 5, a beautiful $5 gets knocked off my order total.
  2. They offer those fantastic little green clicky coupons. Oh how I love the green clicky coupons. They give an extra % off, or a dollar amount off, and it turns into a lovely little bonus at check-out.
  3. Sometimes there’s a green clicky coupon INSIDE the “Buy 5 Save $5” section! So I can save a % off that product and I’ll get an extra dollar off too if I get a total of 5 of those items (which I always do, because why wouldn’t I?).

We all have different needs, but if you feel that Amazon Prime Pantry might be a help for you as it is for me, I do recommend it! You can check it out here.

Also, you might find this post helpful: Why I Decided to Have an Amazon Prime Pantry Membership. In that post, I wrote more about how their program works and why I decided to give it a try. Now that I’ve been using it for a couple of months, it’s fun to report back and share that it’s working so well for us!

Try it for free?

Regular price for Prime Pantry is $4.99/month, a price I am finding to be very worth it to pay! But it’s pretty cool that Amazon offers a free 30-day trial period so you can check it out without the fee to see how it works for you! —>

And with that, I will sign off and go get my newest Prime Pantry boxes off the porch. Wooo!

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

Ready to Take Ten…Again? Join our New Take Ten Challenge!

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Our first Take Ten Challenge went so well and was so much fun that we decided we definitely wanted to offer another one. So here we go! Let’s Take Ten…Again!

You can take ten minutes each morning to prep your meal for the evening. Ready to learn how? Let’s Take Ten…Again!

We’re going to walk you through everything you need to know to get 10 meals on the table FAST! We’ll give you a grocery list, recipes, instructions – everything you need. It is so simple, so fun, and your family will love these meals!

The Take Ten…Again Challenge

Right after you sign up, we’ll immediately send you a complete grocery list plus all the information you’ll need to know as we launch the challenge.

We’ll also include this Ingredient Quick Glance sheet so you know what you need to have on hand or thaw before each day’s challenge. Easy peasy!

Each evening of the 10 day challenge, you’ll receive an email with the details you need. Watch for the first Take Ten Again Challenge email to arrive four days after you sign up to get started. It’ll look something like this, telling you what to do in 10 minutes each morning to get a head start on your evening meal prep:

Then, each evening for the next 10 days, you’ll receive the next day’s challenge details. See how simple? You won’t have to think about what to make for dinner for two entire weeks! We love how fun and helpful this is!

When each email arrives, plan to spend about 10 minutes (or less?!) the following morning doing whatever the Take Ten challenge suggests that you do. That evening, complete the final preparations, then enjoy an easy meal around the table with your family!

Not a morning person?

If you prefer, complete some of the meal prep tasks at night before heading to bed!

A note about food intolerances:

All ten of the recipes used in the Take Ten Again Challenge can be made gluten-free. ALL OF THEM, without any extra work on your part!

Everyone who joins the challenge and sticks with us until the end will receive a copy of our beautiful brand new Take Ten Again eBook, filled with all of the Take Ten challenges and recipes, plus oodles more time-saving ideas and recipe links! That way you’ll have these ideas and instructions forever. :)

Ready to join our Take Ten Again Challenge? We can’t wait to do this with you!

Our Heavenly Homemaker’s Club Members have access to this amazing resource plus ALL of our eBooks, eCurriculum, printables, and so much more – for one very low price! Join us here!

Or purchase this separately:

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Once you’ve purchased, watch for an email asking you to sign up to receive all of your Take Ten Again information. Sign up, then confirm that you’d like to receive our Take Ten Again Challenge information. Then you’ll receive our free Take Ten grocery list and other important challenge information.

Looking forward to saving time and money with you while we put great meals on the table!!

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

Real Food Money Saving Tips

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Simple Real Food Money Saving Tips

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

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

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

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

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

Or shall I say…simple. Yes, probably.

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

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

Take Ten Minutes To Prep For Tonight’s Meal!! (Take the Challenge!)

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Who’s ready to make dinner time easier and less stressful? Who’s interested in saving money and eating healthier? Join us for our fun and easy Take Ten Challenge!

Take ten minutes each morning to make dinner prep in the evening much easier! Ready to learn how?

What’s great about this “challenge” is that it’s really not so challenging at all. In fact, all the tips, suggestions, and challenges we’re going to offer should really make your life much, much easier. If you ask me, the actual dinner challenge really comes in not being prepared, in giving in to spending extra money on take-out, in feeling sluggish after eating a less-than-wholesome meal, and in becoming discouraged because we just don’t like cooking or just don’t know how to “get it together” in the kitchen.

The Take Ten Challenge is here to help.

Here’s how it works:

The Take Ten Challenge

Cost: $17.

What: You’ll receive step-by-step instructions and recipes to help you put meals on the table with an easy 10-minute morning prep! You’ll receive a complete grocery list to get you started. Then each evening of your 10-day challenge, you’ll receive an email containing tomorrow’s Take Ten Challenge information.

When: As soon as you sign up, you’ll receive an email with full grocery list for the Take Ten Challenge. Plus you’ll receive all the other information you’ll need. Two days later, your Take Ten Challenges will begin to arrive in your inbox. You’re going to love how easy this is!

How it works: After you sign up, we’ll immediately send you a complete grocery list and all the information you’ll need to know as we launch the challenge.

What you need to do: Read the simple information, grab the (inexpensive, basic, real food) groceries, and be ready to dive in two days after you sign up. (Hint: For the first meal and challenge, you only need 2 simple ingredients. Hooray!)

Then what: Watch for the first Take Ten Challenge email to arrive at 7:00 pm CST two days after you sign up. It’ll look something like this:

When each email arrives, plan to spend about 10 minutes (or less?!) the following morning doing whatever the Take Ten challenge suggests that you do. That evening, complete the final preparations, then enjoy an easy meal around the table with your family!

Not a morning person?

If you prefer, complete some of the meal prep tasks at night before heading to bed!

Watch for your Take Ten eBook!

After you complete the 10-day challenge, you’ll receive our complete Take Ten eBook, full of all of the challenges you completed plus much more great information!

Ready to join the Take Ten Challenge?

Our Heavenly Homemaker’s Club Members have access to this amazing resource plus ALL of our eBooks, eCurriculum, printables, and so much more – for one very low price! Join us here!

Or purchase separately below:

Once you’ve purchased, watch for an email letting you know how to access your Take Ten Challenge information. Then you’ll receive our Take Ten grocery list and other important challenge information. Looking forward to saving time and money with you while we put great meals on the table!!

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Back to School Freezer Cooking Plan 2019

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It’s this year’s Back to School Freezer Cooking Plan!

Back to School Freezer Cooking Plan, 2019

I have to do it every year. I can’t not do it. I make all the food and I stock up on everything under the sun. My brain somehow cannot handle thinking that we might have to go to the store for toilet paper on the third day of school, so I make sure we have three…cases. Every year. Apparently, we need toilet paper to get us through until Christmas, as if I won’t go to the store for other things before then?

Even though I do think that in some ways my brain is crazy, there is much to be said for my desire to get ahead a little and stock-pile food and essentials before a new school year begins. With a new school year comes fall soccer season, which for our family is intense as we have players, referees, and a collegiate coach under our roof. We live, eat, breathe soccer from August until November. This year we added a brand new 5-year old soccer player to the ranks.

When we found his first pair of soccer cleats on clearance this summer, he was beyond excited. Finally, he can be a soccer player like his big brothers!

And let it be noted that this year we are also toting a Boy Babe to all the games with us while trying to keep him from eating electrical cords and climbing into the fireplace during a homeschool history lesson. So now who’s making fun of my three-case stash of Northern?

I’ve been working since mid-July to fill the freezer and stock-pile essential ingredients and household goods. I’ve taken wonderful advantage of Amazon Prime Pantry and Subscribe and Save. Amazon brings me joy…and groceries. And yeah, lots of toilet paper.

Here’s what I’ve been working on so far to get ahead:

Chicken Cheeseballs with a Kick

I got three pounds of ground chicken on mark-down, so I quickly added this recipe to my freezer-cooking list. These mix up quickly, and having them in the freezer ready to bake for a quick lunch or dinner will be perfect during this busy time of year.

Meat and Cheese Burritos

Burritos. Always burritos. I cannot tell you how good it is for me to have burritos in my freezer for my boys to warm up when they need one (or two).

Pancake and Waffle Mix

This isn’t actually in my freezer, but I did make a huge batch so we can pull it out for quick breakfasts or easy dinners. Man, I love this mix.

Simple Muffin Mix

I also mixed up a huge batch of Muffin Mix so that all we have to do is add liquids and whatever add-ins we want before baking up a batch of muffins. It’s so easy!

Bacon

One of my favorite tricks for saving time is baking several pounds of bacon, then freezing it to pull out and rewarm on the stove. When I do this, we can have hot sizzling bacon with our eggs or pancakes in just 30 seconds.

I also love cutting up bacon and making several pounds of bacon bits to use in salads and in scrambled eggs.

Lasagna

It’s our family’s favorite meal, so having a couple in the freezer will be great!

Hamburger Meat

I cooked 7 pounds of hamburger meat in my Instant Pot. So now I have meat to use quickly as needed. You can see a list here of 33 meals that can be made quickly once there’s meat already cooked and ready.


Cheesy Beef and Rice 

This is one of our favorites. If I have it in the freezer, I can slide it into a 250-degree oven before a game and it will be baked and ready to eat a few hours later when we get home!

Cheesy Salsa Enchiladas

This is also a favorite, and I can do as I mentioned above – bake it while we’re at a game and have dinner ready immediately when we get home!

In addition to all these prepared foods, I have worked to stock up on a supply of most of our essential ingredients so I can “shop from the pantry, fridge, or freezer” as much as possible instead of going to the store.

Want a cheat sheet full of Simple Ingredients to help you have all the real food basics on hand too? It’s free – grab it here!

Also in the freezer:

  • Strawberries, bananas, mango, pineapple, and peaches for smoothies
  • Green beans and peas for quick sides
  • Chicken nuggets and hotdogs #noshame
  • Homemade Ice Cream

Why the Homemade Ice Cream? Because it is as essential as toilet paper. Obviously.

What’s in your freezer these days?

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Is it Worth the Money to Buy a Blendtec?

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Today’s the day I discuss with you whether or not I feel like it is really worth the money to buy a Blendtec. (You probably already know the answer.)

What is a Blendtec?

Well now. A Blendtec is a regular blender – but it is NOTHING like a regular blender. I used to regularly spend $25 to purchase cheap blenders at the store, only to have them burn out on me in less than a year. Not only would a regular blender die quickly, but its capabilities were also very limited. Not so with a Blendtec!

Regular blenders make sort-of-smooth smoothies. Regular blenders take a long time to sort-of mix ingredients. But a Blendtec??? This beauty of a blender is such a high powered machine that cream goes from liquid to whipped in less than 20 seconds. I can put big pieces of frozen fruit into my Blendtec and have a perfectly smooth smoothie in just a few seconds! And, the seeds from berries? They get blended in too! So picky kids (and adults, ha!) don’t have to worry about chunks or seeds in their food!

Ultimately, a Blendtec is a regular blender with many more capabilities and much more power. After so many years of using a Blendtec, I still am amazed at how much time it saves me and at how beautifully it blends or whips or purees our food!

How do I use my Blendtec?

I use my Blendtec multiple times each week, and sometimes multiple times each day.

I mix batter in it, whip cream in it, make smoothies in it, whip mini cheesecake filling in it, the list goes on and on. From cakes to muffins to pancakes – the Blendtec takes away my need to stir and mix. Cream goes from liquid to perfectly whipped in less than 30 seconds. Recently I dumped in all the ingredients for these Mini Crustless Cheesecakes and had them in the oven within a grand total of 5 minutes. Beautiful!

Here are some of the recipes I use my Blendtec for regularly:

In addition, I’ve started using my Blendtec to make our Homemade Applesauce. Once the apples are cooked down, it takes 30 seconds to blend them into super smooth sauce – peelings and all!

Why should I spend more money on a blender, bite the bullet, and buy a Blendtec?

In so many ways, my Blendtec makes my cooking and baking so much easier. It is extremely high powered, which is reflected in the price. A $25 blender gives only $25 of effort (and in my experience, lasts less than one year in my kitchen). The Blendtec, though much higher in price, comes with a warranty and is so high powered that it turns frozen fruit into liquid in just seconds. Unbelievable!

I highly recommend saving up and investing in a Blendtec. Oh the time and energy you’ll save! I acquired a Blendtec several years ago, and it is still going strong. So my larger money investment has already saved me $25 many times over and will continue to save me for years to come!

While money saving is nice – I consider the time and energy saved even better. The fact that I can dump ingredients into my Blendtec and whip or blend them so quickly and easily truly is a refreshing help in my kitchen. I LOVE not having to spend extra time whipping or stirring. Lazy? Absolutely not. Efficient? You bet!

So is it worth the money to buy a Blendtec?

Oh yes. So very worth it. The Blendtec has changed my kitchen life, and this is no exaggeration. Because I make so much food from scratch, while still striving to keep our recipes as simple as can be, I find the Blendtec to be invaluable! I don’t know how I ever lived without it, and that’s the truth!

What is your blender experience? Have you invested in a high power blender like a Blendtec yet?

Sidenote: My understanding is that a Vitamix is of the same quality as a Blendtec. So while I don’t have experience with those, I do recommend them also!

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Why I Decided to Have an Amazon Prime Pantry Membership

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Until recently, I had never really looked into Amazon’s Prime Pantry. It came with a monthly fee, after all. But here’s what made me decide to take on an Amazon Prime Pantry membership.

There are several reasons really. But the first and most important reason is:

1. Groceries placed right on my porch.

I absolutely love groceries being delivered right to my doorstep. What a blessing!!

For years I’ve taken advantage of Amazon Prime and Subscribe and Save. I order many food and household items by the case, saving at least 15% and maybe more if there are coupons. Since I don’t have a Sams or Costco closeby, this has been a fantastic option for us!

But I kept ignoring all the Prime Pantry offers, mostly because I didn’t want to take the time to figure out how it worked (silly). Also, since I usually buy by the case, I wasn’t sure it would be beneficial. Then on Prime Day, there was a sweet Prime Pantry offer which made me decide to give it a try. Aha, I realized! Having a Prime Pantry membership would greatly help me with the fact that…

2. I don’t have any room in my grocery cart anymore!

With a squishy baby in the front and a stocky 5-year old in the big part of the cart, there’s not much room left in my grocery cart for actual groceries. We go through lots of food, so typically I need to fill an entire cart to the max.

This has become very challenging, phew!

When I realized that Prime Pantry would save me a trip to the store for all the odds and ends I typically get (applesauce squeezies, granola, chips, condiments, nuts, etc.), it made me very excited. If most of what I needed at an actual store was fresh fruits and veggies, chicken, and frozen food – well THAT I could probably fit into the cart along with cute little boys. :)

3. But what about the $4.99 monthly fee?

Worth it, worth it, worth it.

I like avoiding fees just as much or more as the next guy. But goodness, there’s a lot to be said for keeping life calm and simple when so much going on in life is far from calm and simple.

With Prime Pantry, I’ll now be able to order whenever I need to and have it delivered for free (on orders over $10, which is basically the amount of food we eat in five minutes). That $4.99 fee saves me all kinds of time, energy, and effort so I feel it is money well spent. Plus it will probably save me money in the long run.

Nope, no room for little boys in that cart!

4. Also, my sanity.

God bless little boys who talk non-stop and ask all the questions up and down every aisle. I absolutely love how inquisitive, fun, and aware our 5-year old is, and taking him to the store is so good for life skills training.

But I find it very difficult to compare prices and think about specific ingredients we need or make an actual good decision about my purchases while answering, “Mom, why is that box blue? Why isn’t that box blue? Are your eyes blue? Do you like blue? Blue is my favorite color. But green is my favorite. And every color of the rainbow is my favorite. Remember that rainbow we saw? I want to see another rainbow. Why can’t we see another rainbow today?”

Oh precious one. Be five forever. But sweet as it all is, that doesn’t help me think and shop at the same time.

So Prime Pantry will help me out with this and give us fewer aisles to travel during shopping trips. I guess I’ll have to come up with other excuses now for losing my sanity.

So Amazon Prime Pantry for the win.

If at any time I find that I’m not getting my $4.99/month worth out of this membership, I’ll let it go, no problem. But for now, I’m finding this to be quite wonderful and helpful!

Want to try it for free?

This is pretty exciting! If you click on the banner below, you can sign up for a free trial for one month to see if it benefits you and your family!

Are you a Prime Pantry member? What do you like about it?

 

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One Simple Trick That Helps Get Dinner on the Table FAST

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I’ve shared it before (more than a few times), but I find that I must share it again. Everyone should know about this one simple trick that helps get dinner on the table fast!

My Simple Trick that Helps Get Dinner on the Table Fast!

It’s simply this:

Brown several pounds of hamburger meat ahead of time. Store it in your fridge or freezer in meal-sized packages. This is a beautiful thing!

It doesn’t take very long to cook hamburger meat when prepping a meal, but still, if it’s already cooked and ready to use, then all we have to do at mealtime is add it to the dish we’re making. Somehow, having pre-cooked meat in my fridge takes away a lot of meal-making stress. How?

Well, I often have very little time for cooking. Mealtime comes up quickly (and many times each day, for our entire lives, oy!). But if I am able to pull out meat that’s already browned, that means I don’t have to worry about thawing meat or cooking meat. I simply add it to pasta or potatoes, or we make Tacos or Nachos, or…

33 Meals to make with Cooked Hamburger Meat

Here are a few more ideas. :)

My current favorite is this Simple Creamy Pasta in the Instant Pot. Not only is it incredibly delicious and a huge hit with everyone I’ve fed it to, with pre-cooked meat, I can have dinner on the table in only 10 minutes!! That is 10 minutes from start to finish, truly. It is amazing! (While it’s cooking in my Instant Pot, we get out salad fixins, and our meal is complete!)

My Favorite Instant Pot Hamburger Tip

Speaking of the wonders of an Instant Pot, you should definitely click over to read this:

How to Cook 5 lbs of Frozen Hamburger Meat in 30 minutes

Amazingly, I cook 5-7 pounds of frozen hamburger meat in my Instant Pot, and it is browned and ready to use for meals for the next two weeks for my family – just like that! (And yes, we eat a lot of meat. We are a family of many, many athletic men and a beef-lovin’ mama.)

Don’t have an Instant Pot?

I have this one and I absolutely love how much time it saves in the kitchen. So do consider investing! This 10-Minute Mac and Cheese is another good reason to buy an Instant Pot!

But, if you don’t have one and don’t want to invest, you can still easily cook several pounds of hamburger meat in a large pot on the stove. You’ll just need to thaw it first. :)

How to Store Pre-Cooked Hamburger Meat

Once you’ve got several pounds of hamburger meat cooked and cooled, what should you do?

I usually separate mine into meal-sized portions (1-3 pounds) and put it into these bowls with lids. Or if needed, I’ll put portions into ziplock bags.

I store these containers of cooked meat in my fridge for up to two weeks, and then pull them out as needed to prep meals. You can also store it in the freezer, of course. Just remember to thaw ahead of time!

Do you cook meat ahead of time? What are your favorite kitchen time-savers?

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Quick Meals I’m Making for My BIG Family This Summer

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Who needs quick meals for summer? I do, and you probably do too! Today, I’m happy to share several of the quick meals I’m making for my big family this summer!

For what may be the last summer ever, ALL of us are under one roof. Asa graduated from college and moved home to earn and save money before moving on. Justus completed his first year of college and moved home to earn and save money before heading back to school in the fall. Elias and Malachi are in and out between work, activities, and summer camps. We’ve got two littles again (one soon-to-be-adopted boy and one foster babe). There are eight of us in all, and seven of them are male. (Fine, one of them is just now starting solids, but still.) :)

We need food. We need a lot of it. And it needs to be quick and easy!

I’ve been amazed at how much food comes and goes in this house! Asa and Justus are our biggest eaters, so having them back in the house has been FUN because they love all the good food they get to enjoy! Just adding the two of them back into the mix has meant that I’m back to doubling and tripling recipes again. Here’s how I’m keeping us all fed – for three meals every day!

Oh, and never fear! All the big boys are playing a huge role in getting these meals on the table. Eating well is a team effort around here!

Quick Meals I’m Making for My BIG Family This Summer

Here are some of the meals that our table sees regularly!

1. Pancakes and Eggs, with fresh fruit and lots of bacon

How to make this meal quick and easy:

2. Grilled Chicken, with mixed greens, veggies, and fresh fruit

How to make this meal quick and easy:

3. Tuna Salad, with fresh fruit, grape tomatoes, and lettuce

How to make this meal quick and easy:

  • I almost always have my kids grab 4-6 cans of tuna and mix it up for the family while I’m doing something else that needs to be done.
  • We serve our Tuna Salad on whatever odds and ends of bread, tortillas, or crackers we have around. (Or if I’m in a hurry, I just grab a fork and eat it as-is!)

4. Baked Potatoes in the Crock Pot or Instant Pot, with whatever toppings we have available

How to make this meal quick and easy:

  • I have each of my kids scrub a few potatoes early in the day so they can cook in the crock pot and be ready for lunch or dinner.
  • We grab leftover ham, taco meat, or roast beef from the fridge and warm it up to serve on our potatoes along with butter, sour cream, and cheese.
  • I almost always steam frozen peas to serve with Baked Potatoes, which takes about 2 minutes.

5. Grilled Hamburgers or Hotdogs

How to make this meal quick and easy:

  • I like to make patties ahead of time, then throw them on the grill for a quick lunch or dinner. Our favorite recipes are Make-Ahead Parmesan Burgers or Cheddar Ranch Burgers.
  • I buy several packages of Nitrite-Free Beef Hotdogs at the store to keep in the freezer so I can grab them out and grill them quickly for summer lunches.
  • I set out fixin’s and everyone builds their burger or dog the way they like!

6. Beanie Weanies

How to make this meal quick and easy:

  • I have a supply of Nitrite-Free Beef Hotdogs in the freezer so I can grab them out and thaw them in hot water when we need a quick meal.
  • I have a supply of Organic Baked Beans in my pantry so that if I don’t have to make Simple Baked Beans from scratch, I can grab a few cans and make a meal!
  • I slice fruit and get out carrot sticks to complete this simple meal.

7. Tacos

How to make this meal quick and easy:

8. Instant Pot Meals

Take a look through all the Instant Pot Recipes we’ve posted so far! I have been amazed at how much time my Instant Pot has saved me. Whatever I make in my Instant Pot, I serve with a quick salad and veggie and food is on the table so quickly! During the summer, I especially love that using my IP keeps from heating up the kitchen!

Our favorite Instant Pot Recipes so far:

9. Special Salads

Salads are great because we get so much nourishment from them, we can use garden fresh veggies, and we avoid heating up the house! But salads are only great as meals if they are hearty and filling.

Here are our favorite Hearty Salad Recipes:

How to make this meal quick and easy:

  • I try to have Homemade Bacon Bits cooked and in the freezer to grab out for easy salads.
  • During all the months of the year that fresh lettuce is not growing in our garden, I keep a package of Organic Mixed Greens in the fridge. Then, when we want to make a salad, we just grab the greens and add whatever we want!

10. Stir Fry

How to make this meal quick and easy:

  • I make a large batch of this Stick of Butter Rice so we can stir it into our fried veggies. (We often serve our stir-fried veggies with whole wheat spaghetti noodles, but we love rice with them too!)
  • I use whatever veggies we’ve picked from our garden, received from Bountiful Baskets, or purchased at the farmer’s market to make super flavorful, nourishing Stir Fry! And I usually throw in a big handful of fresh spinach too. :)

11. Grilled Salmon

How to make this meal quick and easy:

  • If I haven’t thawed our salmon ahead of time, I dunk the package into hot water and they thaw super quickly!
  • I serve a simple salad and whatever fresh veggies and fruit we have on hand to complete this simple meal.

12. Pizza on the Grill

Cooking pizza outside on the grill keeps the oven off and the house cool!

So we’re eating well and we’re eating a lot! How about you? What are you feeding your family this summer?

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