Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Lunch in a Jar: Veggies with Dip

by 3 Comments

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

Hopefully you’ve already seen this genius idea for putting veggies with dip in a jar and packing it for lunch. This has become one of my favorite ways to eat well on the road!

Do you see that?

  1. You put Ranch Dip or Hummus or any of your favorite veggie dips into the bottom of small jar.
  2. Then you add your favorite raw veggies.
  3. Put on a lid and you’re good to go.

When it’s time to eat, your veggies are already dipped. Pick up a carrot, eat the carrot covered in dip. How can eating well get any easier than this?

—-> Did you see the fun list of supplies and jars I recommend for packing lunches? <—–

Our Favorite Veggie Dips to Pack in Lunches

Our Favorite Veggies to put with our Dips

  • Petite Baby Carrots (so much sweeter and easier to eat!)
  • Sliced Cucumbers
  • Broccoli
  • Cauliflower
  • Sweet Peppers
  • Celery (ok, not really our favorite, but still worth adding it to the list in case it’s one of yours!)

Great add-ins to your Veggies with Dip Lunch in a Jar

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!

Next up, fruits and dips. Wait until you see all the fun ideas!!

Some of these links are my affiliate links.

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

Lunch in a Jar: Popcorn Chicken with Ranch

by Leave a Comment

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

This month we’re talking about lunches that can be packed in jars to take on the road, to work, or to school. We’re about to get creative. Whose ready to pack some Popcorn Chicken with Ranch Dip?

Silly me. I forgot to pack the chicken in a jar the day I took these pictures. I grabbed a baggie instead. The ranch dip though? Well, it went into one of my favorite little 4-ounce jars. These jars are perfect for transporting dips and dressings!

—-> Did you see the fun list of supplies and jars I recommend for packing lunches? <—–

Here’s the thing about fried chicken: It’s good hot or cold. Therefore, we can make a big batch of Popcorn Chicken, separate it in jars or baggies to send in lunches to be eaten with dip. What a fun lunch!

Our Favorite Dips to Pack in Lunches

These dips can also be made ahead in big batches, then packaged in jars to grab and go. I love how easy this is!

You might remember Popcorn Chicken – one of the first recipes I shared here long ago. I’ll post it for you again here for easy access!

Simple Popcorn Chicken with Ranch

Lunch in a Jar: Popcorn Chicken with Ranch
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: 3-6
Ingredients
  • 3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
  • ¾ cup whole grain flour
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • butter
Instructions
  1. In a medium sized bowl, stir together flour, salt and garlic powder.
  2. Using kitchen shears, cut chicken breasts into tiny bite sized pieces.
  3. Toss chicken in flour mixture to coat well.
  4. Smear a thick layer of butter on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
  5. Pour coated chicken into dish, spreading so that they are in a single layer.
  6. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes. Stir chicken and bake another 10 minutes.

Need your chicken to be gluten free? Use your favorite gluten free flour. (I’ve made these successfully with Brown Rice Flour.)

Need Popcorn Chicken in large amounts (how well I understand!)? Double, triple, and quadruple this recipe without problem.

Want to really get ahead? Make this Popcorn Chicken in huge batches and freeze them. This will make packing lunches so easy!

Great add-ins to your Popcorn Chicken with Ranch Lunch

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.

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

How to Bake Quick Bread in Jars (With 10 Recipes!)

by 20 Comments

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

I’ve long been fascinated that it is possible to bake quick bread in jars. I finally took a little time to learn the tricks!

Whether we like it or not, it’s time to think about getting back into a school routine. For all who need to pack a lunch (and even for all who don’t!), we’re excited about our new Lunch in a Jar series!

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!

I love the idea of making a batch of Quick Bread in Jars, then grabbing them out of the fridge as needed to pack in lunches!

Why bake Quick Bread recipes in jars and not simply bake muffins to pack in lunches? Simple! Jars keep the breads/muffins from becoming smashed. It’s genius really. Bake them, stash them, grab them, pack them. It’s super fun!

How to Bake Quick Bread in Jars

5.0 from 2 reviews
How to Bake Quick Bread in Jars (With 11 Recipes!)
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 1 batch of your favorite quick bread (see recipes below!)
Instructions
  1. Mix up a batch of Quick Bread as directed.
  2. Scoop batter into six buttered 8-ounce jars (do not fill jars over half full).
  3. Place prepared jars on a cookie sheet.
  4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
  5. Place a lid/ring on the jar immediately after removing the bread jars from the oven so they will seal. (This step isn't entirely necessary if you are storing the bread in the fridge. But sealing will allow the bread to keep for an extra week inside the fridge.)
  6. Allow bread jars to cool completely before transferring them to the refrigerator.

Here are 10 of our favorite Quick Bread/Muffin recipes!

Stay tuned for an entire month of Lunch in a Jar ideas!!!

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

Simple Bean and Cheese Salsa Dip (3 ingredients!)

by 2 Comments

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

You’ll love this Simple Bean and Cheese Salsa Dip. But first, wait until you see what we’ve got in the works!

high five cover

It’s a brand new eBook and we’re going to roll it out very soon! It includes a whopping 111 recipes – all of which only utilize 5 or fewer ingredients. This has been one of our most exciting projects! Sharing ways to put simple food on your table is one of our favorite goals, and if the recipe has only 5 ingredients, you can bet it is simpler than ever!

Be on the look out for brand new High Five Recipes I’ll be sharing during the next few weeks, as well as the reveal of our brand new eBook in just a few hours! As for today, you’ll need three simple ingredients and a bag of chips. What used to be a snack can now become a meal!


A few weeks ago when I posted my Cream Cheese Salsa Dip recipe, Kayla left a comment to share that she used the same idea to make Bean Dip. Say no more, Kayla. We got out our cream cheese, salsa, and a can of refried beans and we suddenly had a new favorite!

Do you see how easy real food cooking can be? I had a teen at my house last week devouring my food saying, “I guess I never knew healthy food actually tasted good.” Boom. That is my goal. Healthy food that tastes good. And if it can also be simple to make, then my entire food mission has been accomplished.

If you have time, soak and cook pinto beans for this recipe. But for all who are in a hurry, simply get out a jar of salsa, a package of cream cheese, and a can of beans. Blend it together and your main dish is ready. Eat it hot. Eat it cold. And of course, eat it with fruits and vegetables on the side because this is the 11th commandment. “Thou shalt eat fruits and veggies with every meal.” Amen.

Simple Bean and Cheese Salsa Dip

Simple Bean and Cheese Salsa Dip (3 ingredients!)
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: 5 cups
Ingredients
  • 16-ounces salsa (any variety)
  • 8-ounces softened cream cheese
  • 15-ounce can refried beans or pinto beans
Instructions
  1. Blend ingredients together until smooth.
  2. Serve hot or cold with corn tortilla chips.

**UPDATE**

It’s here! Learn all about our High Five Recipes eBook and grab yours here!

[wp_eStore_fancy1 id=32]

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

The Easiest Way to Make Fruit Leather

by 3 Comments

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

Ever wondered the easiest way to make Fruit Leather? Or did you even know that making Fruit Leather is actually ridiculously easy?!

fruit leather66

Indeed, Fruit Leather is one of the easiest snacks you can make. Many recipes call for added sugar, but in our experience, none is necessary!

Also, making Fruit Leather at home costs only pennies. And it is a great way to use up fruit that is almost ready for the compost pile! Store-bought fruit leather is super convenient, so I definitely take advantage of this option from time to time and buy them for ease when we’re on the road for ball games. But if I can make it at home instead, I do.

Tips for Making Fruit Leather

  • The easiest way to make fruit leather is to spread leftover applesauce on your pan and dehydrate per the instructions below.
  • Peaches, nectarines, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and watermelon are also great choices for Homemade Fruit Leather.
  • I avoid pineapple for fruit leather as it tends to be too stringy.
  • We’ve found that bananas by themselves don’t make a great fruit leather. But blending pureed bananas with other pureed fruit is a winner!
  • Speaking of mixing fruit together, we like mixing a variety of fruit to make more exciting fruit leather options.
  • Use a high power blender to turn your fruit into a super smooth and spreadable puree. Otherwise you might end up with chunky fruit leather. :)

fruit leather55

The Easiest Way to Make Fruit Leather

We’ve got more detailed info below. But here are the basic instructions so you can see how simple this is!

  1. Puree fruit.
  2. Spread mixture onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.
  3. Bake for 4-10 hours at 170 degrees.

fruit leather11fruit leather22fruit leather33fruit leather44

The Easiest Way to Make Fruit Leather

The Easiest Way to Make Fruit Leather
 
Save Print
Author:
Ingredients
  • Approximately 1 cup fruit
Instructions
  1. In a high power blender, puree fruit until smooth.
  2. Spread pureed fruit onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet, making sure the fruit is no more than ⅛ inch thick.
  3. Dehydrate in a 170 oven for 4-10 hours or until the entire sheet is no longer wet.
  4. (Mine tends to dehydrate from the outside in. Once the middle is dry, the fruit leather is done!

The Easiest Way to Make 100 Fruit Leather

Have you ever tried to make fruit leather? What are your favorite flavors and fruit combinations?

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

Make Your Own Real Food Pudding Cups (and Save Money!)

by 9 Comments

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

Perhaps you are excited as I am about the Easy Peanut Butter Pudding recipe I shared a few days ago. If so, you can get even more excited about how you can make different varieties of homemade pudding to create your own transportable Real Food Pudding Cups! Not only are these Pudding Cups made with real food, you will be amazed at the low cost for such a wholesome treat!

pudding cups4

Take note that some people (who shall remain nameless) tried to overfill their cute little cups and then the lids wouldn’t go on. Correction: The lids did go on, but pudding pushed up and over the top through the lid and squished down the sides of the cup, ruining the cuteness and creating a mess. I don’t know who would do this, but some people did this, so don’t be one of these people.

The nameless people who overfilled their cups had to scoop out pudding into an extra cup before placing lids on top. But then look:

Homemade Pudding Cups

Transportable pudding cups!

A couple years ago I discovered these awesome BPA Free Cups with Lids at Amazon and have used them over and over. We’ve used them for applesauce cups and for transporting berries or veggie dip. They come in super handy! And now, we learn that we can use them to make these Easy Homemade Pudding Cups.

Let’s talk Pudding Cup Ingredients and Cost

I recently checked the price and ingredients for pudding cups at the store. First of all, the store-bought pudding cups sit on a shelf instead of in a fridge, so we can be sure there are many preservatives included. The biggest reason to avoid these is that they include two kinds of hydrogenated oils plus vegetable oil, none of which can our bodies digest well or utilize for nourishment. Cost for store-bought is roughly $0.25 for a 3.25 ounce cup.

How much do Homemade Real Food Pudding Cups Cost?

I used all real food, organic ingredients and my cost break down was still surprisingly low! So if you use non-organic ingredients you might find yourself saving even more!

I estimated that one batch of pudding cost me about $1.75. This made six 5-ounce cups of pudding, which breaks down to $0.29 per pudding cup! But since the cups I’m using are slightly bigger than store-bought pudding cups, the price per ounce of homemade pudding is actually less expensive than purchased pudding cups!

How about that? Making Real Food Pudding Cups saves us money and ensures that we’re getting a wholesome, filling snack or dessert!

pudding cups5

You can have fun making pudding varieties and mixing and matching fun flavors! Reuse the disposable cups (they wash up easily!) to save even more.

Easy Recipes for Pudding Cups

Two Great Pudding Cup Tips

  1. Adjust the sugar amount in each of these recipes to your liking. Take note also that you can use any sweetener you choose, from maple syrup to honey, brown sugar, or sucanat.
  2. These Pudding Cups freeze well! Make a bunch ahead of time, then pull out a few at a time to thaw as needed.

What can you do with extra egg whites after making homemade pudding? 

These pudding recipes call for egg yolks as the egg whites tend to create a funny texture as the pudding cooks. I set the egg whites aside, store them in a jar in the fridge, then often add them to our scrambled eggs to use them up. Or you can make Coconut Macaroon Cookies.

Make Your Own Real Food Pudding Cups

What’s your favorite variety of pudding? Do you have any other great ideas for utilizing these reusable plastic cups with lids?

Some of these links are affiliate links.

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

Simple Overnight Melt-in-your-Mouth Beef Roast

by 5 Comments

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

Remember the Simple Overnight Saucy Crock Pot Chicken recipe I shared? That’s becoming one of my new go-to recipes to help me feed my family on busy days. This, of course, led me to experiment more with the idea. What else, I wondered, could be cooked in the crock pot overnight to make my day simpler tomorrow? Well. One result this Simple Overnight Melt-in-Your-Mouth Beef Roast.

Simple Overnight Beef Roast

Just like the chicken, you can put your roast into your crock pot directly from the freezer. It thaws and cooks overnight. The next day, the meat will fall apart and melt in your mouth!

Why would we want to cook meat in our crock pots overnight? Let me count the ways:

  • When we wake up to cooked meat, we have something good to pack for lunches if that is a need.
  • We can turn the crock pot to the “keep warm” setting and have meat waiting for us later at lunch time at home.
  • We can turn off the crock pot and cool the meat to eat in big chef salads at lunch time.
  • We can put the meat in the fridge to pull out any time we need it during the next few days.

The concept is so simple, and it presents so many easy meal options!

Simple Overnight Melt-in-Your-Mouth Beef Roast

Simple Overnight Melt-in-your-Mouth Beef Roast
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 3-4 pound beef roast
  • 3 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 3 Tablespoons Onion Soup Mix (recipe below)
  • ½ cup water
Instructions
  1. Put roast in the bottom of a crock pot. (Roast can be frozen or thawed.)
  2. Pour Worcestershire sauce, Onion Soup Mix, and water over the roast.
  3. Cook on low for 10-12 hours.

Here’s my Onion Soup Mix recipe.

Simple Overnight Melt in your Mouth Beef Roast

This roast is delicious no matter if you serve it with mashed potatoes and veggies or if you serve it in a chef salad. The flavor is incredible!!

Have you tried cooking meat in a crock pot overnight? What has your experience been like?

Here are more Simple Recipes you’ll love!

It’s recipes like this that makes Simple Meals such a life saver for families. We’ll provide the plans. We’ll provide the recipes. We’ll provide the grocery list. All you have to do is take a deep breath and enjoy how simple your life in the kitchen has become! Join Simple Meals!

728x90

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

How to Make Healthier Corndogs for the Freezer

by 6 Comments

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

Of all the recipes I share, this one is not the healthiest. Just whatever though, because corndogs taste amazing. (With a salad. And fruit. And digestive enzymes.) I’m providing a homemade option so that at least we’ll know these are better than store-bought.

Homemade Corndogs

Yum

First – try to find hotdogs that are nitrite free. Also, beef. Always beef hotdogs. Fine, turkey is okay too. Just try to avoid the hotdogs that are only pretending to be meat. I can’t even believe I’m still trying to convince myself that any form of a hotdog is healthy. But for real, at least try to find some that aren’t terrible. Why I like hotdogs is beyond me.

Now that we’ve covered the sacred topic of the hotdogs, allow me to share another compromise I make. This. We bought this fun corndog maker for one of our sons a few years ago as a gift because he is the ultimate corndog lover. (I have no idea where he gets this.) I think having dozens of appliances that only do one task each is fairly ridiculous. But shucks if having a corndog maker isn’t a lot of fun, so there. We’ve used it for more than just corndogs (like muffins and cookies – who knew?!) so hallelujah for an appliance that is actually multi-functional.

I will tell you that this machine makes the effort of creating homemade corndogs so easy and mess free that a few days ago, I made 48 corndogs in less than an hour – while I was making tomato sauce, French toast, and frozen yogurt. The corndog maker allows me to multitask while making food for my freezer. And here you thought that appliance was pointless.

Anyway….

The long and short of making homemade corndogs is that you simply use your favorite cornbread recipe, add a bit of extra milk so the batter will coat the dogs, then you either fry them in oil or bake them in the above mentioned corndog maker.

What about sticks?

Life is too short to poke sticks into hotdogs. Do the stick poking if you must, but as for me and my house, we will skip the sticks and just eat the dogs.

How to Make Healthier Corndogs (in Bulk) for the Freezer

How to Make Healthier Corndogs for the Freezer
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: 24-48
Ingredients
  • 2⅔ cup Homemade Jiffy Cornbread Mix*
  • 2 eggs
  • 1½ cups milk
  • 4 Tablespoons melted butter
  • 24 hot dogs
Instructions
  1. In a mixing bowl, whisk together cornbread mix, eggs, milk, and butter.
  2. If using a corndog maker, cut hotdogs in half.
  3. Dip hotdogs in batter to coat thoroughly.
  4. Fry until golden brown, or cook in a Corndog Maker**
  5. Serve right away, or cool and freeze in freezer bags.
  6. Rewarm corndogs by placing them on a baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes or until heated through.

*Homemade Jiffy Cornbread Mix recipe

I put these homemade cornbread mixes together and have them on hand for convenience. I highly recommend this!

** I cut my hotdogs in half, then cook my corndogs in this fun Corndog Maker. It saves a lot of time and mess!

Homemade Corndogs for the Freezer

If you make these to freeze, all you have to do at mealtime is pull them out and warm them up while you’re getting out all the actual nutritious parts of the meal (fruits, veggies, and more veggies with a side of another vegetable).

‘Fess up. Do ya like hotdogs?

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

Simple No-Bake Granola Bar Bites

by 9 Comments

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

No-Bake Granola Bites
This is a non-recipe recipe. This means that you can sub out ingredient for ingredient as you have preferences, allergies, and stock piles. Love flax seeds? Throw ’em in. Can’t have peanut butter? Use the nut butter you like. Prefer maple syrup? Use it instead of honey. Running low on raisins? Oh well. Don’t like chocolate chips?

Wait. Who doesn’t like chocolate chips??

Here’s how this non-recipe works:

  1. Plop 1/2 cup peanut butter (or whatever butter) and 1/4 cup honey (or maple syrup) into a bowl. I really do mean plop. Just eye-ball it. An exact 1/2 cup of peanut butter is not necessary here.
  2. Stir in 1 1/3 cups total of whatever dry ingredients you want. Oats, flax, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, raisins, chocolate chips, anything else you like.
  3. Scoop the mixture into balls and enjoy.
  4. Store them in the refrigerator.

Here’s the printable version:

Simple No-Bake Granola Bar Bites

5.0 from 3 reviews
Simple No-Bake Granola Bar Bites
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: 16
Ingredients
  • ½ cup peanut butter (or any nut butter)
  • ¼ cup honey (or maple syrup)
  • 1⅓ cups total dry ingredients of your choice (oats, flax, seeds, raisins, chocolate chips)
Instructions
  1. Plop ½ cup peanut butter (or whatever butter) and ¼ cup honey (or maple syrup) into a bowl.
  2. Stir in 1⅓ total cups of whatever dry ingredients you want. Oats, flax, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, raisins, chocolate chips, anything else you want.
  3. Scoop the mixture into balls and enjoy.
  4. Store them in the refrigerator.

Simple No-Bake Granola Bar Bites

As you can see, these Granola Bites are easy to put together in just a few minutes. They are great to take on the road or pack in a lunch. Of course, if you just want to sit right down at your kitchen table and eat them, that’s okay too. You could even make them at night and eat them for breakfast the next morning. Basically, this is one of the most versatile recipes in your whole wide kitchen. Everyone wins!

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

My Favorite Cheesecake Factory Salad Makeover

by 11 Comments

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

Who loves a Cheesecake Factory BLT Chopped Salad more than cheesecake???? This girl. I’ve only been there a few times, but I found a salad there that I love soooo much. This begs the question: A salad? At cheesecake factory? Why?

See, here’s the thing. When one goes to the Cheesecake Factory, one wants to enjoy the cheesecake right? Therefore, eating a salad as a meal preceding the cheesecake makes perfect sense. One must save room for the cheesecake! That is how I discovered this salad. Or a salad much like this.

I believe the salad I ordered at Cheesecake Factory had chopped apples and some chicken in it too (but it’s been about a year since I’ve been there so I can’t remember all the specifics). Add those to this if you like. All I know is that this salad is so good that our family devoured a huge bowl of it – two days in a row. And I want to make it again tomorrow.

Helpful hint: Want to get your kids to like salad? Add BACON.

BLT Chopped Salad with Feta Cheese

BLT Chopped Salad with Feta CheeseYum

5.0 from 1 reviews
My Favorite Cheesecake Factory Salad Makeover
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 6 cups chopped mixed greens, lettuce, or spinach (any combination you like)
  • 2 chopped tomatoes
  • ½ pound bacon, cut into bites, cooked, and drained
  • 1-2 cups sweet corn, cooked and cooled
  • 1-2 chopped avocado
  • 4 ounces feta cheese crumbles
  • Dressing:
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • Juice of one lime (about 2 Tablespoons)
  • salt and pepper to taste (I put in a few shakes of each)
Instructions
  1. Toss salad ingredients into a large bowl.
  2. In a small jar, shake together dressing ingredients.
  3. Pour over salad and toss.
  4. Serve right away!

This is a perfect spring or summertime meal. I think I could eat this every day. And believe it or not, I don’t even have to have cheesecake afterward. :)

I can’t tell you how delicious and flavorful this is. You MUST try it. Every bite is delicious.

What’s your favorite thing to get at Cheesecake Factory?

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