Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Pumpkin Breakfast Cake with Stevia Sweetened Cream Cheese Frosting

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If it’s made with whole grain, is low in sugar, includes an entire cup of healthy fat, has 4 eggs, and one of its main ingredients is a vegetable – you can use the words “cake” and “breakfast” in the same title. Of course, nothing is stopping you from using the word “birthday” and “cake” in the same title for this very recipe. After all, who says birthday treats have to be loaded with sugar? I just love that this recipe is healthy and filling enough to be a great breakfast option. I serve this with a side of applesauce and my family loves it!

You might look at this recipe and think that it is surprisingly similar to my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins recipe. That’s because it is.  ;)  I took the recipe, and made it into a cake with a stevia sweetened Cream Cheese Frosting. See? It’s not so hard to be creative in the kitchen.

Pumpkin Breakfast Cake2

Pumpkin Breakfast CakeYum

3 cups whole wheat flour (I used freshly ground hard white wheat)
1/2 cup sucanat
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 eggs
2 cups pureed pumpkin (or one 16 ounce can)
1 cup melted coconut oil (or butter)

Stir together flour, sucanat, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add eggs, pumpkin, and melted coconut oil. Spread batter into a 9×13 inch baking pan. Bake in a 350° oven for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow cake to cool before frosting.

Stevia Sweetened Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces softened cream cheese
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Liquid stevia to taste (I use 2 droppers full)

Whip ingredients together until smooth. Spread over cooled Pumpkin Cake. Store in the refrigerator.

As you can imagine, I will be adding some pureed spinach to this cake next time I make it. Why not, right?

Here’s another Breakfast Cake recipe our family loves. Now tell me: What will your family say when you tell them you’re having cake for breakfast?!

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Cream Cheese BLT – The Best Sandwich You’ll Ever Eat

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We had decided to go on an unplanned road trip. I was determined to avoid the grocery store and instead work with the abundance of food we had on hand to put together a meal we could take along with us and eat in the van. However, I had no bread, no lunch meat, no tortillas, and no cheese. It was time to get creative.

I quickly made a batch of One Hour Whole Wheat Yeast Rolls. Seriously, these rolls practically make themselves. (Although they are terrible about washing their own dishes.)  I almost always have a supply of bacon and cream cheese on hand because those are staple foods at the Coppinger house, along with butter and cocoa, of course. Therefore, I decided to take my BLT Wrap idea and turn them into sandwiches.

What makes a BLT even better? Cream cheese, of course. This “to-go” meal was a hit, though the sandwiches were a tiny bit messy. Eh, that’s what napkins are for, right?

Cream Cheese BLT

Cream Cheese BLT SandwichesYum

8 ounces softened cream cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
8 slices cooked and crumbled bacon
Tomato slices
Lettuce

Mix cream cheese and mayonnaise until smooth. Stir in bacon crumbles. Spread mixture on bread or buns and top with lettuce and tomatoes. Delicious!! This mixture makes enough for 10-12 sandwiches.

The best news of all is that you can add this Cream Cheese BLT Sandwich idea to your Make-Ahead Lunch Box list. Simply make the bacon/cream cheese/mayo mixture ahead of time, prep your lettuce and tomatoes, and put it all together on bread, buns, or tortillas when packing your lunch box. It’s a great change of pace from a regular ol’ sandwich.

You’ll definitely want to check out the inspiring idea behind this recipe:  BLT Wraps. Whether in a tortilla, on a bun, or even simply wrapped in lettuce – these are truly amazing.

BLT Wraps

Need more Make-Ahead Lunch Box ideas? Look through all these posts of yumminess.

These BLT Wraps and Cream Cheese BLT Sandwiches rich and filling, so the sides you’ll want to go alongside these need to be simple and light. Our favorites are:

  • Carrot sticks
  • Sliced cucumbers
  • Apples
  • Sliced sweet peppers
  • Pears
  • Applesauce

Now go get out your cream cheese and bacon. Wait. You do have these staples on hand, right?! :)

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Salted Caramel Apple Crisp

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You know how I talk about my Apple Crisp recipe being so healthy you can eat it for breakfast? This particular version tips the scale from could be breakfast to definitely dessert. This is because of the fantastic caramel sauce drizzled all over the lightly sugared apple crisp, which makes this treat become very sugary and of course, more delicious than ever.

Let us pause right here to smack me in the forehead. How dare I tell you on Monday to cut back on sugar, then post a sugary recipe on Wednesday? I have no explanation or excuse. It’s fall, I have lots of apples, I took this recipe idea to our church fall festival and everyone loved it, this idea is a very easy one to execute, um, um… <— that was me, not giving explanation or excuses. I’m stumbling all over myself here.

Well, do cut back on sugar. But if you have apples, need to make a fantastic dessert to share with others, and want something easy to make, here is a recipe for you. And if you are being a good girl (or boy) and cutting back on sugar like that one lady once encouraged (I have such a sheepish look on my face right now) – just take a couple nibbles of this and hand the rest over to…. See. I can not even finish writing this.

Here’s a naughty recipe for you. I am so, so sorry for posting this.

Salted Caramel Apple Crisp

 

 

Salted Caramel Apple Crisp
 
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This dessert is super easy, especially if you happen to already have Caramel Sauce made. When I made this last week, I had a jar of caramel sauce in the fridge, so I just warmed it up and drizzled it over the top of my fruit crisp. Easy and awesome!
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Ingredients
  • Crisp:
  • 5 cups sliced apples
  • 2 Tablespoons sucanat or brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinammon
  • Crumb Topping:
  • ½ cup rolled oats
  • 2 Tablespoons sucanat or brown sugar
  • ¼ cup melted butter
  • Caramel Drizzle
  • ½ cup sucanat or brown sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons butter
  • 2 Tablespoons cream (heavy whipping cream)
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Stir the fruit together with the sucanat and cinnamon. Place mixture in a small baking dish (8×8 inch).
  2. To make the crumb topping, mix together oats, sucanat, and melted butter. Sprinkle crumb topping over fruit mixture. Bake in a 375° for 30-35 minutes or until fruit is tender and topping is golden brown.
  3. To make the caramel drizzle, place sucanat, butter, and cream in a small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until butter is melted and ingredients are well combined. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Drizzle hot caramel sauce over baked Apple Crisp. Sprinkle with sea salt. Serve warm.

Forget you ever saw this recipe. We’re supposed to be cutting down on sugar. C’mon now.

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How to Make Frozen Hashbrown Patties

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Homemade Hashbrown Patties

I always get my best ideas from you, my adorable readers. A few weeks ago, Camilla left a comment on my Homemade Hashbrowns post asking, “How would I do this if I wanted to make frozen patties?” I left a reply, telling her what I would suggest, then I promptly hollered at my boys to start scrubbing potatoes. What a fantastic idea – to make hashbrowns ahead of time in the shape of patties so that all we have to do is pull them out and fry them up!

25 consumed Hashbrown Patties and 72 frozen Hashbrown Patties later, here I am to share all the fun details with you! This idea is a great one – plus it’s easier than you would think. Don’t you love it when delicious, healthy, and easy all make it into the same sentence?

How to Make Frozen Hashbrown PattiesYum

1. Scrub and bake as many potatoes as you like. We fill a big roasting pot with scrubbed potatoes, cover, and bake for about an hour and a half.
2. Allow the potatoes to cool. You can even refrigerate overnight if you like.
3. Shred the cooled baked potatoes as if grating cheese.
4. Use a large cookie scoop or spoon to scoop out nice portions of shredded potatoes. Put the scoops directly into hot oil to fry OR –
5. Place the scoops of shredded potatoes onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.
6. Freeze the mounds of shredded potatoes on the cookie sheets. Transfer them to a freezer bag once frozen solid.
7. Store frozen hashbrown patties in the freezer in freezer bags until ready to cook and serve.
8. To cook frozen hashbrown patties, heat palm shortening or coconut oil in a skillet or on a griddle. Do not thaw hashbrown patties. Put patties into the hot oil and fry for about 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown and as crispy as you like. Salt and serve!

How to Make Frozen Hashbrown Patties

Do you love this idea?! Let’s hear it for another great freezer cooking idea to help us get ahead!

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Whole Wheat Zucchini Carrot Bread & Natural Value Foods 25% off Plus 20% off at Amazon

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The more nutrients you can stuff into one recipe, the better, right? My friend Emily tried this idea of adding shredded carrots into zucchini bread, then let me know that I should try it. Great idea. Mmmmm, so good!

Zucchini Carrot BreadYum

3 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup honey
1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup melted butter
2 eggs

In a large mixing bowl combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, sea salt, nutmeg and baking powder. Stir in honey, zucchini, carrots, eggs, and melted butter. Mix ingredients until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour into two well buttered loaf pans. Bake at 350° for 45-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

zucchini carrot bread

Slices of this Zucchini Carrot Bread would be perfect in your Make-Ahead Lunch Box! Simply allow the bread to cool, slice, wrap individually, then freeze. Pull a wrapped slice of bread out of the freezer, then toss it into your lunch box for a dessert or snack!

What other veggie combinations have you thrown together in quick breads?

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Whole Wheat Pumpkin Donuts

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After months of trial, illness, starvation, exhaustion, and many other forms of misery (encouraging post so far, Laura) – the Pilgrims and the Wampanoags came together for a great feast on what is now known as The First Thanksgiving. These incredible people had much to celebrate, no doubt.

On their table there was an abundance of lobster, rabbit, chicken, squash, chestnuts, hickory nuts, onions, leeks, dried fruits, radishes, and cabbage – all of the traditional foods you and I always serve to our families on Thanksgiving, right? (I always tear up a little during the carving of our traditional Thanksgiving Lobster.)

Quick question: How did the above First Thanksgiving menu give way to boxed stuffing and canned cranberry sauce that plops out onto a plate? Don’t answer that. But what I do what to know is this:  Where have these Whole Wheat Pumpkin Donuts been all my life? These need to be added to everyone’s Thanksgiving menu: turkey, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, relish tray, mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade rolls with butter, and a big, huge platter of Pumpkin Donuts. Oh, and don’t forget the Lobster.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Donuts with Glaze

These Pumpkin Donuts scream, “Fall is here! Be thankful! Inhale deeply the scent of cinnamon spice! Eat me already!” This is a fall treat that ranks right up there with all things amazing. This donut recipe stirs up quickly, rolls out easily, and fries up into fantastic goodies that might make you pass out. They are great with a cup of coffee or apple cider.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Donuts (adapted from this recipe)Yum

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Whole Wheat Pumpkin Donuts
 
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Author:
Serves: 15-20
Ingredients
  • 3½ cups whole wheat flour (I use freshly ground hard white wheat)
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg
  • ½ cup sucanat (or brown sugar)
  • 2 Tablespoons melted butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ cup buttermilk
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • Oil for frying (I recommend coconut oil or palm shortening for healthy frying)
  • GLAZE:
  • 2 cups powdered sugar (I use unbleached powdered sugar)
  • ⅓ cup buttermilk
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Stir together whole wheat flour, baking powder, sea salt, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and sucanat. Add melted butter, eggs, vanilla, buttermilk, and pumpkin puree - mixing until all ingredients are well combined.
  2. Roll dough on a well-floured surface.
  3. Cut out donuts and donut holes (makes about 15-20 of each).
  4. Fry dough in hot oil for about 3 minutes or until donuts are golden brown.
  5. Whisk glaze ingredients together and drizzle over warm donuts before serving.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Donuts

What are your family’s traditional Thanksgiving foods that are a little different from the norm?  I have to admit, not only have I never had a Thanksgiving Lobster on my table, I’m not sure I’ve ever actually eaten lobster, period. I’m a Kansas girl turned Nebraska girl. What can I say?

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Fresh Peach Milkshakes

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It’s story time, children. Please sit down, criss-cross-applesauce, and listen quietly.

Once upon a time, there was a lady who got a new blender. It wasn’t just any blender. It was the blender of all blenders, the Blend-Tec blender that she’d been waiting patiently to purchase.

She was super excited to make a peach milkshake with the fresh peaches she had in her kitchen, and figured that reading all the fine print in the “blender handbook” would be a waste of time. “How hard can it be?” she thought, “It’s just a blender.”

And so, the uninformed lady proceeded to fill the blender to the top with delicious whole milk, slices of fresh peach, maple syrup, and vanilla. With excitement, she placed the lid on the blender and pushed the on button.

Before the lady could say “one Mississippi” the force within the blender sent the lid shooting right off the top. With a shout that sounded something like, “Aaoourrhheeeewwryeeeoo!” the lady quickly smacked the off button. But no matter. Peach milkshake had been sent to the ceiling, to the floor, to the stack of mail beside the blender, to the casseroles sitting on the countertop, to the side of the refrigerator, to surfaces she found three days later, and I think it goes without saying, to the clothes, arms, legs, shoes, and hair of the befuddled lady.

She stood, quite shocked and motionless, for approximately 8 Mississippi’s, before calling in her 12 year old son. With a chuckle, said 12 year old brought in the camera, as moments such as this should be documented and preserved forever in ones memory and computer picture file.

peach milkshakes 1

This picture does not do the situation justice.
“The lady” was covered, the rug was covered, everything was covered. 

Thus lunch-time was delayed, and the kitchen got a much needed scrubbing. The lady soon smelled sour from being drenched with dairy product, and even though she changed her clothes before going to a soccer game, was surprised to find flecks of dried peach stuck to her knees and ankles during half time.

The moral of the story: Read the directions, do not overfill your blender, and do not be surprised to find crusty milkshake residue four feet away on the front of the silverware drawer next Friday.

The end.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everybody hungry for a Peach Milkshake now? Below you’ll find a recipe, which only makes about 2 servings. Trying to make 6 servings at once, no matter how large your blender, is a bad, bad, bad idea. I’m still not quite over it.

Fresh Peach MilkshakesYum

2 cups whole milk
2 fresh peaches, sliced
1 Tablespoon real maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place ingredients in a blender, making sure the blender is only half-full, trust me on this one. Place lid on the blender, plug it in, and give it a whirl until ingredients are well blended.

Fresh Peach Milkshake

Make this milkshake at your own risk.

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Whole Wheat Pizza Swirls ~ The Make-Ahead Lunch Box

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The Make-Ahead Lunch Box

I’m excited to kick off our new Make-Ahead Lunch Box series with a fun new recipe I recently tried for my family. We all love these Whole Wheat Pizza Swirls.  Here are my favorite perks to this recipe, and why I think this is perfect for your Make-Ahead Lunch Box:

  • You can make Pizza Swirls ahead of time, wrap them individually, and store them in the freezer until you need them.
  • You can fill the Pizza Swirls with any of your favorite toppings, making this recipe versatile and ideal for accommodating food preferences.
  • These taste great both hot and cold.
  • Pizza Swirls are simple to make.
  • Pizza Swirls are filling and easy to eat.

Whole Wheat Pizza SwirlsYum

1 recipe of Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
1 cup pizza sauce
2 cups shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese
3 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
variety of pizza fillings – your choice – like meat, olives, and veggies
2 Tablespoons olive oil (optional)

Mix Whole Wheat Pizza Dough as directed. On a clean, well floured surface, roll dough into a long oval until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Spread pizza sauce over the dough. Sprinkle with cheeses and your favorite pizza toppings. Roll the dough up, beginning on the long side. Tuck the ends under. Place on a cookie sheet. Spread olive oil over the top if you like. Bake in a 375° oven for about 15 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Slice and serve. Makes about 8-10 Pizza Swirls.

Whole Wheat Pizza Swirls

Bonus Tips:

  • Want to pack these Pizza Swirls to go? Once the swirls have cooled completely, wrap them individually and place them in an air tight container in the freezer. Set frozen wrapped Pizza Swirl in the fridge overnight to thaw to pack in a lunch box the next day.
  • Need to eat Gluten Free? Copy the idea and use your favorite gluten free dough recipe.
  • Tired of pizza? Skip the sauce and use turkey or chicken with cheese to make Meat and Cheese Swirls.

Great to Serve with Pizza Swirls:

  • Fresh fruit like apple slices, orange slices, peaches, cantaloupe, pineapple, or pears
  • Carrot sticks, sliced cucumbers, celery, or sweet peppers
  • Olives or pickles

I double, triple, or quadruple this recipe so that I can make lots at once to make my getting-ahead efforts worthwhile. This also means I can make a variety of different Pizza Swirls to have on hand. Our favorites are:

  • Pepperoni and Cheese
  • Combination (meat, cheese, green peppers, mushrooms, olives)
  • Hamburger and Green Pepper
  • Pepperoni and Olive

What kind of pizza swirls do you think your family will like? Have any other ideas you feel would be good to serve with Pizza Swirls (especially ideas that will pack well in a lunch box)?

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Cream Cheese Filling For Your Crepes

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Want a Cream Cheese Crepe Filling that will change your life? I’m not even exaggerating (because I never do that). It doesn’t hurt that my Crepe recipe is super simple and delicious too. Need to eat gluten free? Gotcha covered. The crepes are made without flour and of course the filling is gf too. These are all real food and so, so good!

Quick and Easy Crepes

While Matt and I were cooking out at camp a couple weeks ago, we were blessed to work with a very talented lady who has been cooking for campers for years. One of her specialties? Homemade Crepes with cream cheese filling, topped with berries. You should have heard the kids as they walked by the kitchen and saw we were making crepes. “Is it crepe day tomorrow?!? I’ve been waiting all year for this day!”

Seriously, the campers love them. I believe we cranked out over 300 crepes in preparation for “Crepe Day.” Phew, what a job! But it was worth it. The crepes were amazing! The key to making these so great had to be the filling. Cream cheese filling.  Sooooo good!

We used powdered sugar at camp, but when I got home, I played with the idea to make the filling with stevia or maple syrup. Yum, yum, yummy.

Cream Cheese Crepe Filling

Cream Cheese Crepe FillingYum

Cream Cheese Filling For Your Crepes
 
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Author:
Ingredients
  • 8 ounces softened cream cheese
  • 10 drops liquid stevia or 2 Tablespoons real maple syrup
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Beat ingredients together until smooth.
  2. Place about 2 teaspoons of filling in each crepe.

I whip my cream cheese filling ingredients together in my Blendtec, which takes about thirty seconds.

Here’s my super easy Crepe Recipe.  Wholesome, filling, and delicious. And with cream cheese and berries? Heavenly. :)

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Lasagna Casserole…On the Stovetop

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I mentioned here that I’m trying to avoid the oven during these hot summer days. Later this week, I’ll be making Lasagna Casserole, which is one of our family’s favorite recipes (and one of mine because it’s so easy).

Cook Your Casserole on the Stovetop

Yum

But, I don’t want to bake it in the oven right now. It’s just too hot.

For recipes like this, I “bake” them on the stove top. Just follow the recipe as normal, but then leave it in the pot on the stove. Sprinkle cheese over the top and put the lid on. Let it sit and simmer for a few minutes until the cheese is all melty all over the place, then serve.

This method also works for Cheesy Beef and Rice and Pizza Casserole – and probably a bunch of other casserole recipes you have that are all pre-cooked and then baked for a few minutes.

This summer, skip the oven. Use the stovetop. Unless of course you like sweating profusely and passing out. I’ll use my oven when I absolutely have to. In the meantime, when I can, I’ll stick to my stove-top.

This post was originally published on June 29, 2009.

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