Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Easiest Whole Wheat Bread Recipes

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After sharing my thoughts about buying a Nutrimill and grinding fresh flour for homemade bread, I thought it would be fun to make a list of the easiest whole wheat bread recipes I love and recommend.

We’ll start from the “hardest” recipe to the easiest – but I put that in quotes because once you get the hang of making bread, it definitely isn’t difficult in the least. Still, you’ll see that the final recipe I share requires no kneading and is so easy that a three-year-old can make it. There’s video to prove it! So I suppose these recipes will go in order of more detailed to practically effortless. And with every recipe, the end result is amazing homemade bread!

Easiest Whole Wheat Bread RecipesYum

1. Honey Whole Wheat Bread

I first shared this recipe back when my 4th son was little enough to sit on the countertop. He’s taller than me now and has to shave once a week, so that tells you how far our family and this site has come.

Either way, this Honey Whole Wheat Bread recipe is wonderfully delicious, calls for only 6 simple ingredients, and is delightful when made with freshly ground hard white wheat. I highly recommend that you click over to read the recipe and the details as you will find:

  • A step-by-step guide for making homemade bread
  • A video showing how to knead bread dough
  • A video showing how to shape a nice loaf of bread

Get our Honey Whole Wheat Bread recipe here!

2. Monkey Bread

If you want to use the above mentioned Honey Whole Wheat Bread recipe to make cinnamon-sugar rolled Monkey Bread, you should click over to get all the details! Our older four boys were all so small then, helping me and making messes.

Get our Monkey Bread recipe here.

3. Whole Wheat Pita Bread

Want to know how much fun it is to make Pita Bread? You should try this easy recipe! Again, this one calls for just 6 basic ingredients, and it is deliciously fun to watch them puff up in the oven!

Get our Easy Whole Wheat Pita Bread recipe here.

4. Easy Overnight No-Knead Yeast Bread

This is a super fun way to enjoy homemade bread for breakfast without much effort! Mix it up the night before, bake it in the morning. It’s fantastic!

Get our Overnight No-Knead Whole Wheat Bread recipe here.

5. One-Hour Whole Wheat Yeast Rolls

You’re beginning to think I’m lazy, huh? Hey, when we can make homemade bread and rolls without having to break a sweat, who am I to argue? And when we can have homemade rolls in one entire hour without much work? Everyone wins.

Get our One Hour Whole Wheat No-Knead recipe here.

6. Stir-and-Pour Whole Wheat Bread

This is the one I was telling you about earlier – it’s so easy a 3-year old can make it!

I’ve started making this recipe almost exclusively now simply because I don’t have to do any work to have homemade bread for my family! Mix the ingredients, pour it into a baking pan, bake it, and have homemade bread. What could be better or easier?

Get our Stir-and-Pour Whole Wheat Bread recipe here.

As fall approaches, I’m getting pretty excited to start baking again. My family probably won’t mind. ;)

What are your favorite easy bread recipes?

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Is it Worth the Money to Buy a Nutrimill?

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I’ve had my Nutrimill for 14 years now. Have I used it much during those 14 years? Saved any dough (ha, see what I did there)? Have I found that it is worth the money to buy a Nutrimill?

Is it Worth the Money to Buy a Nutrimill?

Nutrimills cost around $249 $219 right now. That’s the cost of around 73 loaves of high quality 100% Whole Grain Bread from the store. So is it worth the money to buy a Nutrimill so we can make our bread instead of buying it?

Well, considering that our family can go through at least all 73 of those loaves of bread in just a few months, I’d say yes. Especially when I consider these reasons:

  • My Homemade Whole Grain Bread only costs around $1.50/loaf.
  • There are only 5 simple ingredients in my homemade bread, and I have those ingredients on hand all the time for ease.
  • I can make this Homemade Bread recipe with about 5 minutes of time and effort.
  • Bread made from freshly ground flour is the most amazing bread on the planet.

So grinding fresh flour in a Nutrimill actually makes our bread healthier, more delicious, and half the price of store-bought.

Is a Nutrimill a Must-Have?

Could I live without my Nutrimill? I guess. Does it save me time in the kitchen? Not really. But do I love having such a great appliance to help me grind fresh grain for our baked goods? Oh my goodness, YES!

I frequently grind hard and soft white wheat in my Nutrimill, which turns out the most delicious flour, which then turns out the most delicious breads, muffins, cakes, cookies, pancakes, and waffles. Now that I’m so used to baking with freshly ground flour, I’d have a hard time turning back. We’re pretty spoiled! ;)

Want more details about using flour ground in a Nutrimill:

Where do I get grain for my Nutrimill?

I order all of mine in bulk from Azure Standard. I keep a supply of Hard White Wheat (for yeast bread) and a supply of Soft White Wheat (for muffins, cookies, and cakes) on hand at all times. Then I grind it ahead and store it in an ice cream bucket in the freezer to pull out and use as needed.

I highly recommend checking to see if Azure Standard is an option near you. I’ve ordered from them for years and would have a hard time getting by without their monthly deliveries!

So is it worth the money to buy a Nutrimill? I say yes! What do you think?

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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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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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How to Make Real Food Easy

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Are you ready to eat real food, but you’re overwhelmed by all the work that seems to be involved? Allow me to introduce you to my friend…the Chicken. And to my other friends: Apples, Butter, and Cream. Don’t forget the infamous Green Bean. Gather ’round. I want to show you how to make real food EASY!

Sure, there’s no such thing as a free {real food} lunch. What I mean is, real food doesn’t just appear on the table by magic – so I certainly can’t claim that making real food for your family doesn’t take any work at all.

But I can tell you how to make the work much, much easier!!

And if you’re afraid of switching over from processed, boxed, pre-made foods or take-out because you don’t even know where to start – I would be so very happy to guide you along in this transition! I PROMISE it is much easier than you think!!! And it tastes delicious and normal. Who knew?

How to Make Real Food Easy!

I want to walk you through taking some very simple, inexpensive first steps toward transitioning your kitchen away from processed foods and settling into enjoying more real food.

The good news with this? You can start with whatever step you’re ready for! Struggling to give up soda? Don’t despair. Just start with something else. Can’t stand veggies? How about learning some new ways to eat them, or just start with fruit instead. If nothing else, start your journey to a real food kitchen by switching from margarine to real butter. There are so many places to start – and you can begin with whatever is right for you!

You Can Do This!

You may remember this eCourse from many years ago. I’m happy to share that we’ve spent the past few months re-working it so that it is brand new and improved!

It includes 49 pages, 5 lessons, printables, worksheets, videos, tutorials, instruction, tips, and recipes. You can use this to baby step or giant step your way toward a real food kitchen – go at your own pace!

You can read all the specifics of this awesome eCourse here.

Let’s Do This!

Oh look! We updated our Let’s Do This eCourse too! It includes 32 pages, 5 lessons, printables, worksheets, videos, tutorials, instruction, tips, and recipes. This eCourse walks you through managing your real food kitchen so that you can simplify and actually get ahead! Fill the freezer, make tonight’s dinner in the morning, get some healthy snacks stashed away for the week.

It actually is possible to get ahead and simplify your life, and this eCourse shows you how!

You can read the specifics about this eCourse here.

Afraid to take an eCourse?

Don’t worry. The teacher is very nice. ;) Upon completion, everyone gets an A. The only homework involved is yours and yours alone, to be done on your own time and for your family’s benefit. Once you purchase, you can keep the course information forever and reference them as needed. Read them on your computer or print the pages you need in your hands. What else?

Oh, these eCourses only cost $10 each. (“Where else can you take an entire class at such a low cost?!” exclaims the mother of many college students.)

It’s kind of too good to be true, except that we love all that these offer and we want to make them accessible to everyone! So it’s good AND it’s true. And there’s something else:

We put them together into a Real Food Kitchen Package!

We packaged up both of the new-and-improved eCourses, and we threw in our Make-Ahead Meals and Snacks recipe eBook because you really need those incredible recipes along with these eCourses!

Total cost for all three of these would normally be $25. But for one week, you can get this entire package of 3 resources for just $12! Total!

Ready to start working your way toward a healthy, real food, easy kitchen life? This time couldn’t be more perfect!

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Summer Activities With the Kids: Go Berry, Apple, or Peach Picking!

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Looking for some fun activities to do with your kids this summer? I’ve enjoyed 22 summers with kids (and counting!), so I certainly have a few ideas to share! Stay tuned during the next few weeks as we provide all kinds of suggestions for making your summer with your kids meaningful. (Subscribe here so you won’t miss out!) Today’s idea: Go Berry, Apple, or Peach Picking!

I have the BEST memories of heading to orchards, farms, and friend’s houses in the summertime with my kids so that we could pick berries, apples, or peaches.

We live in small-town Nebraska, so we are blessed to have many neighbors and friends who have berry patches, gardens, and orchards. (Yes, we have a garden in our yard too. But we don’t have the space for planting in huge bulk like many of our country neighbors.)

For years and years when our kids were little, we’d take advantage of every invitation to “come pick!” that we were able to enjoy.

Allow me to take a walk down memory lane…

We had a friend with a huge strawberry patch, where we would all load our buckets! We got to do this for FREE. What a blessing! (They’ve since sold their farm and moved out of state. Happy for them, sad for us!)

We also have friends with a gorgeous apple orchard! In the late summer, we’d head out and get as many apples as we could, all for a tiny price per grocery bag. It seemed too good to be true!

One year, my friend Anne and I borrowed the orchard owner’s cider press. After picking apples at the orchard, we spent the afternoon with all of our kids experiencing the work and joy of making homemade apple cider!

Oh my babies!

One year, we headed to Michigan for a wedding, at the perfect time for fruit picking! As we drove, we noticed sign after sign advertising “You Pick!” farms. Matt and I decided to stop at several locations on the way and enjoy time as a family picking fruit and enjoying the experience. We all still talk about that trip as one of our favorite traveling memories!

Blueberries don’t grow well in Nebraska, so picking them during that trip to Michigan was a very special treat! (Also, as we ate berry after berry while we continued to travel, somehow I ended up sitting on some and staining/ruining my pants. Hahaha! The boys still remember that too! “Mom, remember how you sat in blueberries and ruined your pants?!” Good times.)

Mmmmm, peaches! While peaches do grow well in Nebraska, we still stopped at a Peach Farm during our Michigan trip to enjoy a wagon ride to pick peaches. Of course, we took advantage of their offer to “eat whatever you like!”

Why Go Berry, Apple, or Peach Picking

Truly, the fun and joy that come with picking fruit on a farm with your family is priceless.

Yes, there are bugs. Yes, it is hard work. Yes, it may be hot. So prepare yourselves, give the kids a pep talk, take water bottles, go before the hottest part of the day, and know that while you’d love the experience to be perfect, someone may still have a melt-down.

Through the years and beyond all the less-than-fun parts, our family found these fruit picking experiences to be wonderful because:

  • The kids got to learn more about where our food comes from.
  • The kids got to learn about the hard work it takes to put food on the table.
  • We got to take home loads of delicious, nutritious fruit to eat in a variety of fun ways. (Details below!)
  • It saved all kinds of money as we either had to pay very small prices per pound of fruit, or we were encouraged to take all we wanted for free!

Beyond Berry, Apple, or Peach Picking

Once the fruit is picked, then what? Well, the fun just keeps on keeping on!

Yes, the fun comes in the form or hard work. :)

After working hard to pick the fruit, of course, we eat as much fresh fruit as we can hold. NOTHING is more delicious than sweet fruit that comes directly off the tree or bush!

But next comes the fun and work of preserving what we can’t eat fresh. The hard work pays off for months as we enjoy homemade applesauce, frozen berries in smoothies, and peach cobblers in the middle of winter. We all work together to wash, cut, and process the fruit.

Here are some ways we preserve our fruit to enjoy all winter long:

What to make with Berries, Apples, and Peaches

You’re sure to come up with wonderful ways to use your freshly picked or beautifully preserved berries, apples, and peaches! Here are some of our favorite ways to enjoy the “fruit” of our labor. (Laura is punny.)

Ready to go pick fruit?

Now that our “first batch of kids” is older, if they are able to join us, we can really pick a lot of fruit since they are able to work like adults. And here we are again, starting the process with new babes God has put in our lives. We are excited to take our Bonus Boy on fruit-picking adventures as we know he’ll love it!!

Here’s to a great summer of fun with our kids! Here are other ideas we’ve shared so far:

Stay tuned for more fun Summer Kid Activity ideas!

 

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My Top 3 Small Kitchen Appliances That Save Hours of Time and Energy

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If my house started on fire, I would grab my family and my Blendtec and get out as fast as I could. Just kidding. I’m not that tied to material possessions. But I felt it was worth a post to share my top 3 small kitchen appliances I feel I can hardly live without.

I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that these gadgets save me hours of time and energy every week. As I’ve worked to simplify my real food kitchen, I have been amazed at how I’ve come to rely on 3 very important appliances.

Could I do without them? Well yes. Grandma survived all her many years of cooking for a large family without any one of the items I’m sharing with you today. But Grandma also didn’t have indoor plumbing for a good many years, and then welcomed it gladly when it became available. I’m pretty sure if she was raising her family now, she would very much enjoy the appliances I love having access to!

My Top 3 Small Kitchen Appliances

If you’ve been reading here long, you can probably guess my top three small kitchen appliances. Just for fun, I added two runners up in my “if I had to choose to keep only 3 small appliances, which ones would I keep?” contest. :)

1. Blendtec

Indeed. If I could only keep one appliance in my kitchen, it would be the Blendtec. I use this 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 5 minutes. Beautiful!

In so many ways, my Blendtec makes my cooking and baking effortless. 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 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!

Recipes you’ll need for your Blendtec:

2. Instant Pot

I stubbornly refused to get an Instant Pot for several years after they became popular (silly me), and now I am one of the biggest advocates for them! This gem saves so much time and keeps us eating healthy too!

I love that it makes wholesome, rich beef or chicken broth with so little effort on my part. I LOVE that I can cook 7 pounds of frozen hamburger meat in it in just 30 minutes!! And I love the many meals and side dishes I can make in it within just a few minutes.

If you can swing it, get yourself an Instant Pot. I have the 8-quart variety for my large family. Here’s the 6-quart Instant Pot if that fits your needs more!

Recipes you’ll need for your Instant Pot:

Psst: I highly recommend that you bookmark our Instant Pot Recipes page for easy access as we continue to update it!

3. Crock Pot(s)

Yes indeed. I have two large crock pots and I often use them both at the same time. My favorite is this 8-Quart Programmable Crock Pot, but I also have this Basic 7-Quart Crock Pot, which works great too!

I’ve learned many tricks through the years that help me throw VERY quick meals into the crock pot so that later in the day, our meal has cooked itself. (See recipe links below.) What a great way to continue putting real, delicious food on the table on busy days!

Recipes you’ll need for your Crock Pot:

Top Small Kitchen Appliances, My 2 Runners Up

Just for fun, I thought it would be fun to add a couple others to my list of appliances I love and use often!

4. Nutrimill

Could I live without my Nutrimill? I guess. Does it save me time in the kitchen? Not really. But do I love having such a great appliance to help me grind fresh grain for our baked goods? Oh my goodness, YES!

I frequently grind hard and soft white wheat in my Nutrimill, which turns out the most delicious flour, which then turns out the most delicious breads, muffins, cakes, cookies, pancakes, and waffles. Now that I’m so used to baking with freshly ground flour, I’d have a hard time turning back. We’re pretty spoiled! ;)

Details about using flour ground in a Nutrimill:

5. Coffee Maker

Last Mother’s Day, at the recommendation of several who frequently drink coffee at our house and help with our babies, we treated our family to this Bunn coffee maker. It is amazing!!!!!! I’ll never go back.

Recipes to go with your coffee:

I’d love to hear what your favorite small kitchen appliances are. Which ones do you feel you can’t live without?

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Back to School Lunch in a Jar: Supplies You’ll Need

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Ready to discover great Back to School Lunch ideas that you can make and pack in jars? It’s time to get your supplies ready!

Why pack lunches in jars? Let me count the reasons:

  1. Packing lunches in jars means you can make great food ahead of time, then grab it from the fridge and take it in a hurry.
  2. Jars protect food from becoming smashed in a lunch box.
  3. Jars are see-through, so you can discover your options with a quick glance in the fridge.
  4. Glass is safe for food storage, so you don’t have to worry about dangerous plastics.
  5. Jars are reusable, so you’ll save all kinds of money in the long run.
  6. You can purchase jars in all sizes, giving many options to put together a perfect lunch box!

I think it goes without saying that jars are cute and beautiful and pretty and delightful. Indeed, I really love jars. :)

Back to School Lunch in a Jar: Supplies You’ll Need

I have jars in a variety of sizes, which comes in very handy depending on whether I’m packing tiny jars with dips for veggies or bigger jars full of soup. Here are my top suggestions for jars to use to pack lunches:

These Basic 8-Ounce Jars are a common household item. They are great for baking quick bread, and for packing berry parfaits and any number of small lunch items.

These 8-ounce jars (with regular lids) are short and squat-y. They are wonderful for packing sliced fruit, homemade pudding, cooked meat chunks, and much more.

I LOVE these tiny 4-ounce jars for packing fruit or veggie dips!


It’s hard to tell the size in the picture below, but these 16-ounce wide mouth jars are a favorite for packing main dish items and salads in lunch boxes.

Wide mouth jars make eating directly out of the jar so much easier! They are also easier to clean. I have a set of these 8-ounce wide mouth jars and use them all the time for packing fruit salads and other side dishes.

My favorite, favorite (because obviously I can’t decide which jars are my favorite) are these 8-ounce wide mouth jars. They are so handy for packing, well, just about any side dish item in a lunch box.

For both wide mouth and regular jars, I keep a supply of these plastic lids. They are the best! Check out wide mouth plastic lids and regular plastic lids.

Did you try Baking Quick Bread in Jars? So fun! We’ve got 10 super fun Lunch in a Jar ideas to share this month – perfect for your Back to School lunchbox! Subscribe here so you won’t miss a post!

Some of these links are my affiliate links.

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Just Say No to Russet Potatoes and Red Delicious Apples (When Sub-Par Food Doesn’t Inspire You to Eat Well)

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Could it be that you’ve only been eating sub-par food and have been missing out on what better varieties of real food have to offer? It’s possible that you might actually enjoy healthy eating – you just don’t know it yet!

While ordering a burger with a friend during a dinner out recently, I said, “No cheese please.” The person taking my order teased me by saying, “Ok, but you’re missing out on the best part!”

I agree. Cheese on a burger is fabuloso. But not when it’s fake, American cheese. I just can’t. It ruins the taste of my burger, it sticks to the roof of my mouth, it comes off the bun like a weird piece of plastic. I certainly don’t want to appear to be a food snob. I just like my food to taste good.

This is why I don’t buy russet potatoes any more. I mean, they’re fine. They’re okay. But Yukon Gold potatoes? Now those are incredible!!! They make every potato dish taste better. And they are more nutritious too. Score!

Red delicious apples? I’ve never liked them. They are flavorless and grainy and the skin is weird (bless their hearts). But give me a Gala, a Pink Lady, an Empire apple – oh the list goes on. There are so many fabulous apples choices available to us. Why settle for what doesn’t taste great?

I usually skip Iceberg Lettuce and go for more nourishing greens that are more flavorful and fun. Margarine is a non-food and you already know how I feel about that. But I will say that since I switched over to real butter a few years ago, my baked goods and all food using butter tastes 100% better.

Fresh or frozen veggies vs. canned veggies? There’s no comparison. Real cream compared to commercial creamer? Oh my.

In summary: Real food tastes incredible and when you eat it you will feel that you are eating like royalty.

Stop settling for sub-par food and go for what tastes amazing!

The prices of these great food varieties are only slightly higher (if they are higher at all) than their sub-par food counterparts. (I did a big real food price comparison here. You’ll LOVE the results I found about the price of real, healthy food!!)

Leave a comment to share what some of your favorite real foods are! It’s fun to hear what inspires others to eat well!

Did you get this awesome FREE PRINTABLE yet? It shares all our favorite real food substitutions that makes food tastes so delicious! Get yours here.

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

My Top Ten Favorite Real Foods (and My Least Favorites Too)

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I’m not such a mystery, am I? When you read the title of this post, I know what you were all thinking. “Obviously, Laura, among your top ten favorite real foods is butter. What else is new?”

Well, obviously. I heart the butter.

But beyond the butter, I thought it might be fun to list my favorite real foods simply to give encouragement that eating a healthy diet really isn’t such a difficult option. In short, every single day I feel like I eat like a queen. I mean, look at this:

Poor Laura. She only eats healthy food. Her life must be so boring. Her food must be so bland. She is stuck eating food like this Chocolate Cheesecake Strawberry Parfait. We must support and encourage her in every way we can.

Have you ever thought about this? About how real food is so delicious? About how rich and nourishing and tasty it is, and about how there is so much variety? About how you can make so many simple dishes with just a few simple, real food ingredients?

Don’t look now, but grilled boneless chicken thighs are one of the most flavorful, juicy meats you can eat. Add a few simple fruit and veggie side dishes and you are also eating like royalty.

I encourage you to think through your list of favorite real foods. Beware: It is more difficult than you would think. I had a tough time stopping at 10 because as I started making a list, I kept thinking of more food that I love!

By the way, if you haven’t downloaded our free printable Simple Ingredients for Simple Meals list, you need to go grab that! It’s a super helpful resource to remind you of all the basic real food options that are great to keep on hand so you can mix-and-match them to make thousands of real food meals!

Also, you will love our High Five Recipes eBook. It’s full of 111 simple recipes, all of which call for 5 or fewer real food ingredients. Amazing!


Without further ado, here’s the list you’ve all been waiting for:

My Top 10 Favorite Real Foods

  1. Butter (you already knew this)
  2. Beef (Here’s my favorite hamburger trick!)
  3. Strawberries (Here are my 16 favorite ways to eat strawberries.)
  4. Cream Cheese (to go with the strawberries)
  5. Peanut Butter (Homemade PB rocks the nation.)
  6. Green Beans (Especially the ones fresh from the garden)
  7. Cocoa Powder (Because chocolate makes the world go round)
  8. Chicken Thighs (I cry happy tears every time I eat chicken like this.)
  9. Yukon Gold Potatoes (They are easier to prepare, tastier to eat, and more nourishing than russets.)
  10. Asparagus (stir fried in olive oil and a bit of sea salt)

Number 10 was a toss up between asparagus and okra. Also zucchini or fresh sweet corn. Ahhh, eating real food is a happy place to be.

Now true confessions: There are some real foods I don’t love. Even the least picky among us has something we don’t like, right?

So here’s my other encouragement for you. Let go of the real food you don’t like. We live in a world with incredible variety. Eat the hundreds of real foods you DO like and let go of guilt over the few you don’t like. I’ve learned that the world did not stopped spinning the day I admitted to myself that I don’t like jicama.

A Few of My Least Favorite Real Foods

  1. Jicama – no matter how hard I tried.
  2. Hot Peppers – I cry enough without help from a pepper.
  3. Pickles – in any form.
  4. Olives – I just can’t.
  5. Bananas – because of the texture.

And there you have it.

Now go get this free printable list to use as a wonderful real food ingredient reference! And leave a comment to share your favorite and least favorite real foods!

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