What to Do With Overripe Bananas

March 9, 2022 by Laura 1 Comment

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Need any ideas for ways to use your overripe bananas? Here’s a quick list of our favorite banana recipes!

We love it when our bananas become over-ripe. Otherwise, how could we make these great recipes?

What to Do With Overripe Bananas

Look through these and try them all!

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The Easiest Way to Make Hamburgers

March 6, 2022 by Laura 5 Comments

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This really is the easiest way to make hamburgers. I’ll grill them in the summertime, otherwise I will forevermore do this!

The Easiest Way to Make HamburgersYum

Short answer: Bake them.

Not because we’re afraid to fry them. But because we don’t want to stand at the stove to fry them. It’s messy. It takes maintenance. We don’t have time to maintain our patties, am I right? The patties must maintain themselves.

I love buying a package of hamburger patties at Costco. I set them out all afternoon and they are semi-thawed by 4ish. I cover two cookie sheets with parchment paper and place the partially thawed patties on the pan.

I bake them at 350 for about an hour. If I remember, I flip them all over halfway through their baking time. But if I don’t, I don’t. Why? Because we don’t have time to maintain our patties. Our patties must maintain themselves.

Now. My pictures are ugly. These patties do not look done, but they are done and you’ll be able to tell that your patties are done with they are sizzly and brown.

Right out of the oven, I put some sliced cheese on the hot patties for those who prefer cheeseburgers. Some in my family like Colby jack. Some like pepper jack. I like mine cheeseless.

Dinner is served with burger fixins, fries in our air fryer, carrot sticks, pickles, and baked beans.

Leftover patties (if there are any) warm up quickly for lunches, and I’ve been known to pull one out of the fridge and eat it cold when I simply need sustenance. Apparently, not only do I have time to maintain my patties, but I barely have time to maintain myself. So a cold leftover burger patty fills my belly. With a glass of this, of course. :)

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Flourless Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins (Big Batch!)

January 30, 2022 by Laura 12 Comments

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Flourless Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins: When you create a muffin that the entire family loves to eat, you make a big batch and you share the recipe with the world!

Now, of course, I always put together a “big batch” of whatever I’m making because we have a large family. But even though we have a lot of kids, not all of them have teeth or eat much yet. So we don’t need as big of batches of steak and broccoli at this point. Muffins though?

Must. Make. Muffins. In. Big. Batch.

We go through muffins like crazy around here. Our just-turned-one-year-old only has a few front teeth, but she is good at gumming her little nibbles of muffins and she loves them! Our 2-year-old and 3-year-olds LOVE muffins. Our six and eight-year-olds love muffins. Our teens and adults love muffins. Well. We go through a lot of muffins around here.

Here are more muffin recipes!

Muffins Freeze WellYum

So that’s why I’m giving you a Big Batch recipe for these Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins. If we’re going to dirty up some dishes, why not make a big batch of something that freezes well? When I make these muffins, I set them out for today’s snack and tomorrow’s breakfast. Then, whatever is remaining goes into the freezer to pull out for another day!

I love that these muffins are flourless. I love that all of these ingredients go into a blender and are mixed up so easily. And of course, I love that these are moist and taste so delicious!

You can make them gluten-free (if you use GF oats) and dairy-free (if you use coconut oil and coconut or almond milk).

Flourless Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins

5.0 from 2 reviews

Flourless Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins (Big Batch!)

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Author: Laura

Serves: 24

Ingredients

4 eggs
½ cup milk
4 overripe bananas
½ cup melted butter or coconut oil
3 cups whole rolled oats
¾ cup brown sugar or sucanat
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ cup chocolate chips (optional)

Instructions

Put all ingredients (except for the chocolate chips) into a blender, beginning with the liquids.
Blend until smooth.
Fold in chocolate chips.
Pour into 24 paper-lined muffin tins.
Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

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EASIEST Bean and Cheese Quesadillas Our Family Loves

January 12, 2022 by Laura 5 Comments

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Our family loves these Bean and Cheese Quesadillas even though they thought they wouldn’t!

This idea is not new or innovative. No one will actually be very impressed. But it is still worth sharing because we all need to be reminded from time to time of the best and easiest lunch or snack ideas!

We’ve always been a simple cheese quesadilla family.

Cheese quesadillas are no-brainers. Tortillas. Cheese. Melted together. In a skillet. That is all. Cut them into triangles. Dip them in salsa. Serve them with fruit. This is lunch.

But in an effort to figure out:

how to get my toddlers to eat more protein
what other soft foods our barely-has-any-teeth- 1-year-old baby can gum
more ideas for easy lunches, suppers, or snacks our whole family will like
inexpensive ways to feed our army of children

I decided to open a can of refried beans to smear on our tortillas when I made quesadillas one evening.

Yeah. Wow. I opened a can. It’s so easy I’m wondering why this hasn’t always been my go-to meal idea?? We can always wonder about this.

How my kids first respondedYum

When my kids asked what we were eating for dinner and I said “Bean and Cheese Quesadillas” my 6-year-old said, “Ok, but can you make mine with just cheese and no beans please?” And then my 17-year-old asked the very same thing. Because change is hard? Beans are hard? We don’t know. The bean version just didn’t sound good to them.

Fair enough. But I told them that I wanted to eat the bean version first and then if they really didn’t like it, I’d make them a plain cheese version.

Man, this story is not that exciting. Laura told her kids she was putting beans in their quesadillas. They were nervous. She made them try anyway. Thank you for sharing.

How my kids liked the Bean and Cheese Quesadillas after trying them

Well, I couldn’t keep up. I stood at the skillet and kept making quesadillas until the entire package of tortillas was gone. I cut the quesadillas into triangles and kept throwing them onto plates. I cut the babys’ quesadillas into tiny bites and kept throwing them onto the high chairs.

The 6-year-old forgot about the beans. She just ate her first quesadilla triangle and asked for another. And then another. And then another. So there you have it.

The 17-year-old? Same story. He ate his fair share and was like, “Wow Mom. These are actually good.”

Meanwhile, the 8-year-old, the 2-year-old, the 1.5-year-old, and the nearly-toothless 1-year-old ate and ate and ate.

I served the quesadillas with these smoothies, therefore we also loaded up on greens and fruit:

Bean and Cheese Quesadillas are a WINNER!

But you probably already knew that. This is old news. Everyone already makes these. Laura is 24 years behind.

Just in case, here’s how to make these:

5.0 from 1 reviews

EASIEST Bean and Cheese Quesadillas Our Family Loves

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Author: Laura

Ingredients

Whole Grain Tortillas
Shredded Cheese
Can of Refried Beans

Instructions

Smear beans on a tortilla.
Sprinkle shredded cheese on top.
Top it with another tortilla to make a "sandwich."
Heat it on low in a skillet until the cheese is melted, turning from time to time to heat both sides.
Cut the quesadilla into trianges and serve as-is or with salsa, sour cream, and/or guacamole.

Add Bean and Cheese Quesadillas to your go-to fast meal idea list!

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Spiced Holiday Tea

December 19, 2021 by Tasha Hackett 2 Comments

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Tasha made this Spiced Holiday Tea for us one day and we fell in love with it!

Spiced Holiday Tea

by Tasha Hackett

Or as I like to call it the drinkable potpourri. I’ve been simmering water with lemon rinds and a cinnamon stick for the past month just to enjoy the smell, but why only use it for the smell when you can drink it, too?

This spiced tea was introduced to me the first time I went home for the Thanksgiving holiday with my then boyfriend. He’s now my husband, and I won’t claim this drink has brought us together because for some odd reason, he doesn’t like it. Which is completely fine with me and his mother, because that means more for us. My mother-in-law always has a pot of this drink simmering on the stove over the holidays.

Sweeten your spiced tea to taste!

I have stayed true to my mother-in-law’s recipe in all except the sugar content. The original recipe that she used calls for a full cup. But I’ve decreased it to 1/2 cup in year’s past and nobody noticed. This year I will add even less, but please don’t tell them!

To get started, first boil a full gallon of water in a large pot on the stove. Then turn the burner down and add the tea bags. Please never boil the tea! Follow the directions on the package of your tea to brew a full gallon—I use decaf so we can enjoy anytime of day and share with the kids without any caffeine messing up our sleep.

Once you’ve removed the tea bags, add in 5 cinnamon sticks, 10 whole cloves, and one of each limeade and orange juice concentrate. (Not straight lime juice, but the sweetened limeade in the freezer section with other fruit juices.) Basically you just used tea instead of water to mix the juice. You do not need to add extra water with the juice concentrates. Add in the sugar to taste, approximately 1/2 cup more or less. Wait to taste for sweetness until the juice concentrates are mixed in.

Let the holiday spiced tea simmer—but not boil—for at least an hour.

This tea is better tomorrow.Yum

After we’ve all enjoyed a cup, we store the rest in the fridge overnight, keeping the cloves and cinnamon sticks in the pitcher and the tea gets a stronger spiced flavor throughout the holiday weekend. We enjoy it cold or reheated. I can’t really tell you which is my favorite because I like it both ways!

What’s your favorite holiday drink?

Tasha Hackett is a friend of Laura and has officially been writing since she asked for a journal for her 10th birthday. Her first novel, a historical Christian romance, Bluebird on the Prairie was released just this year, 2021, and she looks forward to sharing many more of her stories with the world. For now, you can read more about her and her fiction from her website: www.TashaHackett.com.

Holiday Spiced Tea

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour 15 mins

Author: Tasha

Ingredients

One gallon of tea brewed to instructions on tea package (regular or decaf)
Limeade concentrate
Orange juice concentrate
5 cinnamon sticks
10 cloves
½ cup sugar (more or less to taste)

Instructions

Brew the tea in a large pot on the stove.
Once the tea bags are removed, add the rest of the ingredients.
Simmer for a minimum of one hour, being careful not to boil.
Enjoy warm or cold.
Store leftovers in the fridge.

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Simple DIY Coconut Milk

November 24, 2021 by Tasha Hackett Leave a Comment

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Simple DIY Coconut Milk

by Tasha Hackett

Dairy-free milk is good to have on hand these days. This simple DIY coconut milk is going to wow you, I’m sure of it. Even if you’re not on a special diet, the chances are high you know someone who is! Of all the nut milk options, coconut milk is the one I’ve landed upon for all my dairy-free baking and cooking. After almost a year of eating paleo to combat migraines, I’m embarrassed at how long it took me to try to this simple method. (Hi! Tasha, here.) If I wanted a yogurt or cream substitute, I used canned coconut milk or coconut cream. If I wanted simple coconut milk for smoothies and baking, I bought the jugs and ignored any added ingredients.

I finally tried making my own coconut milk.Yum

Don’t get too excited. I’m not out there foraging coconuts and shredding the meat into milk. #aintnobodygottimeforthat. But I am side-stepping buying water in a jug. I had convinced myself that making my own was going to be too complicated. Silly Tasha. Once I mustered the proper sense of adventure and ingenuity, there’s really been no turning back.

Not only is this simple DIY coconut milk unadulterated with added ingredients, it is significantly cheaper, and saves the landfill and the factories from dealing with those obnoxious plastic/cardboard jugs. And because I Subscribe and Save my canned coconut milk from Amazon, I don’t even have to think about buying it. It just magically appears on my porch. Poof!

Simple Coconut Milk Recipe

I’m really stepping out on a limb here to call this a recipe. But if Laura can tell you to pour salsa on the chicken in the crock pot and call it a recipe, than we’re calling this a recipe.

You will need a half gallon glass jar and a can of coconut milk. I currently use this brand. I’ll go over all the steps very slowly for you, just be sure you can keep up: Open the canned coconut milk. Pour it into the jar. Fill the jar the rest of the way with water and leave an inch or so at the top. Put the lid on the jar. In case you missed it, that last step is very important. A lidless jar is hazardess. Shake your lidded jar before using the coconut milk in smoothies, pancakes, muffins, and any recipe that calls for milk! As it happens, I pour a splash of it into my coffee each morning.

DIY Coconut Milk Recipe in Pictures

Because this recipe is very complicated, I decided to go the extra mile and show you the process step-by-step. I hope this clears things up for you.

Set out your supplies.

Open the canned milk and pour it into the half gallon glass jar.

Fill the remainder of the jar with water.

I hope you don’t mind, but I combined a step in this picture. See how the lid is on the jar?

Store in the refrigerator and give it a shake before using. That’s all, kids! I hope you enjoyed learning a new skill that will impress all of your friends the next time you’re at a party in need a parlor trick.

Tasha Hackett is a friend of Laura and loves to eat homemade chocolate bars, potato chips, and yes, even salsa on chicken. A homeschooling mom of four, author, and recovering DIY addict, she loves to take a walk on the prairie as time allows. Her debut novel, a historical romance set in 1879 Nebraska released Summer 2021: Bluebird on the Prairie. (Print and Kindle options available.) Though Tasha likes to do All The Things, most of her time is spent with four chatty children and an incredibly supportive husband. They give her the kind of love people write books about.

To learn more about Tasha and her works of fiction, find her at www. TashaHackett.com.

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The BEST Pumpkin Bars

November 17, 2021 by Laura 4 Comments

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Are these really the BEST Pumpkin Bars? I guess you’ll have to try them to see!

I love how moist these are! And how cool is it that they are made with whole grains and no one can tell?! (I use freshly ground soft white wheat, which is a whole wheat pastry flour, to make these.) I love that they are lightly sweetened instead of loaded with sugar. And this:

I LOVE THE CLOVES.

There’s something about the flavor that the cloves gives this recipe that makes is so very good. Cinnamon? I’m always all in with the cinnamon! Sometimes I skip other spices just so I can enjoy the cinnamon in a recipe.

But don’t leave out the cloves in this one. Oh, it makes the Pumpkin Bars – well – it makes them the BEST Pumpkin Bars.

The BEST Pumpkin BarsYum

The BEST Pumpkin Bars

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Author: Laura

Serves: 15

Ingredients

2 cups whole grain flour
¾ cup brown sugar or sucanat
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
4 eggs
16-ounce can pureed pumpkin
1 cup melted coconut oil

Instructions

Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and cloves.
Add eggs, pumpkin, and oil, stirring until batter is smooth.
Pour batter into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Here are more Pumpkin Recipes you’ll love. Twenty more to be exact!

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The Best Chocolate Pumpkin Cake

October 27, 2021 by Laura 2 Comments

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This Chocolate Pumpkin Cake is so good, I decided to repost it so you would be sure to see it and try it this fall!

I love any treat that includes ingredients healthy enough for us to serve for breakfast.

What? Cake for breakfast? Oh yes. All year long. And since this one includes pumpkin, it’s a step above. #veggiecake

Of course, the pumpkin in this recipe makes it super moist. And the chocolate in this recipe? Well, that makes it chocolate. Need I say more?

You’ll love that this cake is topped with a thin layer of Honey-Sweetened Chocolate Frosting. Sigh…while I sure do love summer best, NOTHING can beat fall baking!!

Chocolate Pumpkin CakeYum

The Best Chocolate Pumpkin Cake

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Author: Laura

Ingredients

1 cup melted coconut oil
1 cup water
4 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup sucanat
dash of sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 eggs

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, sucanat, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda.
Set aside. In a saucepan, bring oil, water, and cocoa to a boil.
Pour liquid mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredient mixture.
Stir well.
Add pumpkin puree and eggs, mixing well.
Pour batter into a 9x13 inch baking pan.
Bake in a 350° oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow cake to cool completely before frosting.

Low Sugar Chocolate Frosting

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Author: Laura

Ingredients

½ cup butter
4 Tablespoons cocoa powder
2 Tablespoons milk
2-4 Tablespoons honey (sweeten this to your taste)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

In a small saucepan combine butter, cocoa, milk, and honey.
Cook and stir over low heat until ingredients are well combined and mixture begins to thicken slightly.
Removed from heat.
Stir in vanilla.
Spread over cooled cake.

Do you love fall baking like I do? Will you be eating this cake for breakfast? :)

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Easy Lemon Chicken Zucchini for Breakfast

October 24, 2021 by Tasha Hackett Leave a Comment

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As promised, in the What To Do with All the Zucchini post, here’s the actual recipe to one of my new favorite breakfasts. Since I have to give the thing a name, I settled on Easy Lemon Chicken Zucchini. But really we call it the “lemon zucchini thing.” Is it easy? Or is it simple? Is it simply easy? Or easily simple? No matter which way you want to look at it, it’s real food that fuels my body and gets me ready for another awesome day. Bonus: It’s paleo! Gluten free, dairy free, soy free, sugar free… but not boring or complicated.

Chicken and zucchini for breakfast?

Do you have to eat it for breakfast? Duh, no. But for some reason I do. That’s about all I have to say on that. Eat it for any old meal you like, but I needed more grain-free breakfast food ideas. The paleo diet is not at all restricting once you get the hang of it, but the western culture has this idea that breakfasts are for all the sugar and carbs, or either all the protein and fats… and as it turns out, there is no authority that says you can’t have chicken and zucchini for breakfast, therefore I do.

Easy Lemon Chicken ZucchiniYum

We used a yellow summer squash for this one!

If you’re using a cast iron skillet, remember to slowly pre-heat it so it’s ready to go. (Check out this post for tips on how to use a cast iron skillet.)Pre-heat for a few minutes and then melt 3-4 tablespoons of butter. While the skillet is heating and the butter melting, chop a summer squash—a yellow summer squash or a zucchini both work interchangeably in this recipe. OR A CUCUMBER. It sounds nuts to me, but my dear, sweet husband accidentally chopped a cucumber for this recipe instead of a zucchini and I could smell that it was a cucumber and I could see that it was a cucumber and by-golly I could taste that it was a cucumber, but it was surprisingly delicious. (He did not believe me that it was a cucumber until he tasted the final product for himself.) So we laughed and then ate our breakfast, but now we know… a cucumber fried in a bit of butter in place of squash is still yummy.

Okay, the skillet is pre-heated and the butter is melted, now toss in the squash. (I like to scrape out the middle if it’s a larger zucchini because I think it gets soggy and I don’t like it. ) Let it cook for two minutes and then flip and stir it about. When it’s right on the edge of being done add in a can of chicken. Season with salt and pepper and pour 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice over the top. It will sizzle and smell amazing.

Lemonize at your own risk.

Ben made this recipe the first two times. (Once with the cucumber in disguise and once with a zucchini.) When I made it, he wasn’t around to ask how much lemon juice to use. Thankfully I’m a pretty smart gal and I used two tablespoons. I even measured it out on purpose to make sure I could tell you exactly how much I used. Two tablespoons was the perfect amount for me. As long as you stir it up well. If you’re scared, just start with one and see how it goes.

What are your thoughts on squash for breakfast?

Tasha Hackett is Laura’s friend and author of the Christian romance Bluebird on the Prairie set in 1879, Nebraska. Though she used to be a closet Cheeto eater, she’s been on a strict paleo died for months to help fight migraines (with great success). She often pretends to be a ballerina while unloading the dishwasher and has a hard time going more than a few days without any homemade chocolate bars. Her favorite thing is writing with hope and humor to encourage and entertain women. She spends most of her time with four chatty children and an incredibly supportive husband; they give her the kind of love people write books about.

To find out more about Tasha and her fiction writing, connect with her at www.TashaHackett.com.

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

Easy Cinnamon Crumb Cake

September 29, 2021 by Laura 2 Comments

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This Easy Cinnamon Crumb Cake is a lovely treat with coffee or tea.

You may notice that this cake recipe is very similar to my Strawberry Shortcake recipe. One of my favorite things is to take a tried-and-true recipe, then tweak it to turn it into something new and delicious.

That’s how this Easy Cinnamon Crumb Cake came to be. Take a simple cake recipe, add cinnamon, then top it with cinnamon and brown sugar. SO GOOD.