Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

5-Minute Crock Pot Chicken

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Can you really make 5-Minute Crock Pot Chicken in only 5 minutes? Try it and see! Maybe you can make it in only 4 minutes? :)

Meals like this are my very favorite:

  1. Throw chicken in a crockpot.
  2. Dump something on top of the chicken.
  3. Turn on the crockpot and come back at dinner time.

Add a simple vegetable, a salad, some fruit, and your meal is complete. It’s so easy and delicious and perfect for summertime right?

That’s why I’m going to share several days worth of 5-Minute recipes in the coming days! I’m always looking for quick meals in the summertime that don’t heat up the house. As much as I love to cook, I don’t enjoy it as much in the summer. So if we can have meals that both:

  • Take very little prep time and
  • Don’t heat up the house

We love it, right?!

Right.

So subscribe if you haven’t already so that you don’t miss any of these 5-Minute recipes!!! And now for our first one:

5-Minute Crock Pot ChickenYum

5-Minute Crock Pot Chicken
 
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Serves: 4-6 servings
Ingredients
  • 4-6 boneless chicken thighs or breasts
  • 2 cups Italian dressing
  • ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
  1. Place chicken pieces in a crock pot.
  2. Pour Italian dressing over the chicken.
  3. Sprinkle cheese over the top.
  4. Cook on low for 8 hours.

I try to keep Homemade Italian Salad Dressing on hand if I can, which works great in this recipe! But any Italian dressing will work. So open a bottle and pour it on!

More 5-Minute Recipes coming. Stand by!

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Easy Homemade Chocolate Milk

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It really is easy to make Homemade Chocolate Milk! And it tastes better than any store-bought chocolate milk you can find. What a treat!

Recently, someone gave us 5 gallons of milk. FIVE! I mean, we have a big family, but it’s still hard to get through five gallons of milk before it goes bad.

I had fun figuring out ways to use up the milk. Pudding ranked high on the list:

Mac and Cheese is also a great way to use up milk, especially this amazing recipe. And then, making Chocolate Milk as a special treat always makes my family happy!

I don’t love for us to drink much sugar. So I made this Easy Chocolate Milk to share with college students when they came over so that the gallon of fun could be spread throughout many of us, not just our family. :)

Ready for the recipe? Keep this one in your back pocket for a fun treat to serve guests on a hot day!

Easy Homemade Chocolate MilkYum

5.0 from 1 reviews
Easy Homemade Chocolate Milk
 
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Serves: 1 gallon +
Ingredients
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ½ cup water
  • 1 gallon milk
Instructions
  1. In a large pot, mix together sugar, cocoa, and water.
  2. Cook on low heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is well combined.
  3. Turn off the heat.
  4. Stir in the milk with a whisk until the chocolate is evening mixed throughout.
  5. Pour chocolate milk into a gallon-sized serving jar.
  6. Chill for at least two hours before serving.

Try this and let me know what you think? Best Chocolate Milk you’ve ever had? That’s what many of our guests tell me when they try this. :)

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Best Leftover Mashed Potatoes You’ve Ever Had In Your Life

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Is it true? Are these really the best leftover mashed potatoes? Tasha says so, and after reading this, I agree!

Best Leftover Mashed Potatoes You’ve Ever Had In Your Life

By Tasha Hackett

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

The best leftover mashed potatoes. Okay! Sure. But the best? Lofty claims. I stand by my statement though. If you make the best mashed potatoes to begin with, which I do, reheating them is a breeze. Let me share my secrets with you. And yes. I know. Laura already told you six years ago. But dude, I’ve birthed three kids since then, it’s likely you could use a refresher as well.

Make leftovers on purpose.Yum

Yep! That’s my not so secret master plan to feed the people. I shared some stories on my Instagram about how food was really hard that day. I was sitting in the kitchen at 12:04 eating a homemade chocolate bar and the kids were running amok. There was no food. My kitchen was full of ingredients, but where was lunch?! This only happened because I lost my meal plan. True story. I wrote it all down on a scrap of paper. I went shopping for the ingredients. And then I lost the paper that was supposed to tell me what to do with those ingredients. (If only Laura had provided us really cute printout meal planning guides. Oh wait. She did!)

What’s the point? Yeah. The point is I had a pan of mashed potatoes in the fridge. I reheated it with a handful of cheese tossed on top. Opened a can of green beans and stirred in some bacon grease. Of course I gave them a handful of nuts for a smidge of protein and then I told them to eat and be thankful because Mom didn’t know what else to feed them.

mashed potatoes

You’re welcome, kids. Eat your leftover mashed potatoes.

Meh. It happens. Ain’t nobody going to starve today. Honestly, I shared because I felt the need to confess my homemaking woes. Like… Laura seriously makes food simple for us: Make a simple meal plan. Feed the people. I’m still the silly one who’s standing in the kitchen at 12:04 wondering what in the blazes I’m supposed to feed the people. Good, now that we have that confession out of the way. I will share with you the wisdom of leftover mashed potatoes.

First, make mashed potatoes. A lot of them. So many that your family can’t eat them all in one, two, three, four, or even five meals. Please tell me you’re following this train of thought, right? Make all the mashed potatoes. Do this when you have some spare time. On purpose. Your future self thanks you. Laura makes mashed potatoes like this. Easy peasy. If you want to do them the old fashioned way, peeling and chopping and boiling, just do yourself a favor and remember that you don’t need to chop them small! Big ol’ chunks of potatoes cook just as well when you are doing this well in advance of when you want to eat these.

mashed potatoes

You’ve a mountain of mashed potatoes. Now what?

Store them in baking pans. 9X13, 8X8, pie pans… anything that you can put in the oven for later. Sorry, back up–When you make your mashed potatoes, please, please, please add in all the butter, salt, and pepper. A touch of garlic is my standard and if you’re not on a dairy-free diet, be sure to add in cream cheese, and/or parmesan. Season them well, butter them well. Okay. Moving on. Your potatoes are cooked, seasoned, buttered, cheesed, and mashed. NOW separate them into meal sized portions in your extra baking dishes. You do have a plethora of extra dishes you’ve picked up at yard sales, right?

pan of mashed potatoes

Cover and freeze these leftover potatoes.

When you pull out the chicken to thaw for dinner, set out the pan of mashed potatoes. When you put the chicken in the oven, slide the potatoes in next to it. Boom. Done. Don’t ever serve cold mashed potatoes to your family again because you failed at getting everything on the table at the same time. Some people claim reheating these from the freezer makes them watery. I’ve never had this problem—perhaps because of the extra butter, cream cheese, and garlic powder… Either way. My preseasoned, prebuttered mashed potatoes from the freezer are a crowd favorite.

Is this clear to everyone? Yea? If you like to live on the edge like me, you will add more butter to the top of your pan of leftover mashed potatoes before you reheat it.

Please don’t ask me complicated questions like, “What temperature do you set the oven?” or “How long do they need to bake?” Girl… I put it in the oven and I cook it until it’s hot. (Sometimes I even put it in the microwave, don’t tell Laura, when it’s 12:04 and the people are hungry yesterday.) Count on at least half an hour if the pan is from the fridge, at least 45 min to an hour or more if it’s from the freezer. The size of your pan will make a difference. Stir it every 15 minutes if you want it to heat faster.

This works well if you’re serving it with something else that needs to go into the oven, like simple broccoli and bacon chicken. I would be sure to put it in the oven right away, don’t bother waiting for the preheat.

It’s not a 7 or 10 minute meal (unless you use the microwave) but it IS simple and doesn’t leave a mess and it’s GREAT for holidays or events and for Laura’s put-it-in-the-oven-leave-the-house-come-back-later trick.

Tell me. What’s in your potatoes?

What do we want? Mashed Potatoes!!!  When do we want it? Yesterday!!! Good job. Now you have a freezer well-stocked with yummy leftovers and you can have comfort food from scratch without the mess in your kitchen.

Tasha HackettTasha Hackett, friend of Laura and author of Bluebird on the Prairie, spends most of her time with four chatty children that she homeschools and her incredibly supportive husband. They give her the kind of love people write books about. Connect with her on Instagram @hackettacademy and learn more about her historical romance novel at www.TashaHackett.com. Sometimes, Tasha and Laura even catch a glimpse of each other across the soccer fields while they try to keep their toddlers from blowing away in the Nebraska wind.

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Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix + 24 Ranch Recipes!

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Today, I’m resharing the Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix that has been so popular here for so many years. Plus I’m sharing 24 recipes I use with my Ranch Mix. Gotta have this on hand at all times!

First, here’s the delightfully wonderful recipe for Ranch Dressing Mix. Make this in bulk. Fill huge jars of it. Use it to make salad dressing. Use it to make veggie dip. Use it for the 24 recipes below…

Homemade Ranch Dressing MixYum

Recipes with Ranch Dressing Mix
 
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Ingredients
  • 1 cup dried minced onions
  • ½ cup parsley flakes
  • 4 teaspoons sea salt
  • 3 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
  1. Mix together ingredients for Ranch Dressing Mix and store in an air tight container in a dry, cool place.
  2. For dressing: Mix 2 Tablespoons dry mix with 1 cup mayonnaise and 1 cup buttermilk or sour cream.
  3. For dip: Mix 2 Tablespoons dry mix with 2 cups sour cream or kreme fresh.
  4. Mix up a few hours before serving, so the flavors all blend nicely.

Now that you have a big jar of Ranch Mix, you can make any of these super delicious main dishes or side dishes:

Main Dishes

Snacks and Side Dishes

All of these recipes: SO GOOD. Make you some Ranch Dressing Mix. Keep it on hand for the rest of these recipes. You’re going to love it!

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Simple Ranch Cucumber Bites

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In just a few weeks, this Simple Ranch Cucumber Bites recipes is going to come in very handy. Why? Because people will be anonymously leaving cucumbers from their garden on our doorsteps and running away. This is how it works every summer when cucumbers grow in abundance in people’s gardens!

I love how simple this recipe is! And if you peel the cucumbers before making these, your seven-year-old might forget that he’s eating cucumbers, eat the entire plate of Ranch Cucumber Bites, and ask for more.

Want more awesome Summer Snack ideas? I have brand new recipes here:

  • They don’t require a stove or an oven
  • They don’t take much time or energy to make
  • They’re healthy, but nobody will notice
  • Each of these recipes calls for 5 or fewer ingredients
  • The whole family will love them!

You will love these as much as my kids do (and my kids don’t usually eat cucumbers!).

See how to get this Perfect Summer Snacks recipe eBook here!

And now for our Ranch Cucumber Bites recipe. So easy. So good. Such a good way to eat all the cucumbers growing like crazy in everyone’s gardens!

Simple Ranch Cucumber BitesYum

Simple Ranch Cucumber Bites
 
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Serves: 6-8 servings
Ingredients
  • 4-ounces softened cream cheese
  • 1 Tablespoon mayonnaise (I use Hain Safflower)
  • 3 Tablespoons Ranch Dressing mix
  • 2 medium-sized cucumbers
Instructions
  1. Mix the cream cheese, mayonnaise, and ranch dressing mix together until smooth.
  2. Cut cucumbers to create ⅙ inch slices.
  3. Spread ranch mixture onto cucumber slices.
  4. Refrigerate for an hour before serving.

Want another great idea? Try subbing the Ranch Dressing Mix with our Italian Dressing Mix! This is also super delicious and fun.

Wondering what to do with the other half of your cream cheese block? Here’s an entire post that shares recipes that call for cream cheese. I heart cream cheese and feel that it makes everything taste better!

 

 

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Simple Ranch Taco Chip Dip

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This Simple Ranch Taco Chip Dip can become a super-fast lunch or supper for your family!

Well now. It’s been a hot minute since I’ve created and posted a new recipe. I blame these people:

And also these.

This picture features the gorgeous people of college students and friends who joined our family for Easter this year. Our home is full and so are our hearts. And I suppose that it goes without saying that our hands are a little bit full too. So lately, I’ve been sticking with my favorite tried and true recipes just to keep life as simple as possible in the kitchen.

How amazing is God, by the way? (Well, so amazing, of course.) But specifically, I love how a few years ago, while He was very well aware of the turn of events that would happen in our home, He started me down the road of creating the simplest recipes ever. It all turned into a cookbook, and these recipes are how I survive now!! I love this.

But all that to say, sometimes I still itch to be creative in the kitchen. And sometimes I have a few minutes to tinker. This recipe is the result of such tinkering! It’s simple and can be stirred together with only one hand (while holding a baby in the other, ask me how I know). Enjoy this dip as a snack, a side dish, or a meal with a side of fruit!

Simple Ranch Taco Chip DipYum

Simple Ranch Taco Chip Dip
 
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Serves: 6-8 servings
Ingredients
  • 3 Tablespoons Ranch Dressing Mix
  • 2 cups sour cream
  • 15-ounce can black beans, drained
  • 10 ounce can Rotel (diced tomatoes with green chilies), drained
  • 1 cup shredded cheese (we prefer Colby jack or cheddar)
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder (more or less to taste)
  • Your favorite tortilla chips
Instructions
  1. Mix all ingredients together until well combined.
  2. Cover the dip and chill for at least an hour before serving.
  3. Or just eat it right away, because who can wait an hour?

This is one of those delightful recipes that allows you to quickly dump everything into a bowl and stir it up. All of our kids – even our pickiest eaters – enjoy this dip! See how easy? Dump it in, stir it up, get out the chips. :)

I love dips that can turn into a simple meal for our families!

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Homemade Chocolate Bar

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Want to make a Homemade Chocolate Bar?! And here’s a fun new treat recipe from Tasha!

homemade chocolate

Homemade Chocolate Bar

by Tasha Hackett

This homemade chocolate bar recipe is everything I ever thought it could be. I tend to eat it all and so I make it small batches. Apparently, I have the self-restraint of a two-year-old near a puddle. Which is none-at-all. In case you haven’t been around two-year-olds lately, they pretty much do what they want. Thankfully this homemade chocolate is a good source of calories and protein.

 

Yum

A now a word about our homemade chocolate bar sponsor.

Laura once shared a recipe about Fat Bombs and we all said, “Ew, no.” Every now and then she talks about how hungry she is and is she ever grateful for these amazing goodies and we say, “Ew, no.” Initially, she explained how fat is good for our bodies because woman cannot live on salad alone. Secondly, she tried to be sneaky and change the name of these treats to “Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups.” Nice try, Laura. I can still read and the recipe is the same and know it consists of butter, coconut oil, peanut butter, cocoa powder, and a drizzle of honey. And I said, “Ew, no.” 

And Laura shook her head and thought, “Oh ye of little faith.”

When I was literally starving after switching to a paleo diet (not for weight loss, but for other health reasons) she said, “Tasha, you have to make the chocolate peanut butter cups.” I can’t decide if that’s hyperbole or not about the starving. I was ravenously hungry all the time. If you’ve ever cut out sugar and grains, you know how your body freaks out for about a week. I’ve been eating a paleo diet for over four months and chocolate is life. Except, you know, after Jesus. Obviously. He’s literally life and light and I hope we know I’m speaking superfluously here. But figuratively . . . chocolate is life. I can honestly say that I’ve used significantly more cocoa powder the past four months than I ever have in my life before. 

Why buy the chocolate when I can easily make the chocolate? 

I confess, when Laura shares a recipe, I glance at it and then I take it cruising through the backroads. Is anyone else guilty of this? Therefore, keep reading Laura’s post if you want simple. If you want mostly simple and a heck of lot more ingredients, then also read my posts . . . Whew. Glad I got that off my chest. 

It is here. The chocolate bar that beats all chocolate bar cravings. Come one, come all, and enjoy the gluten-free, dairy-free, honey-sweetened granola chocolate snack thing that will make you wish I was your favorite aunt. 

I have been known to eat these in public and then share the bounty with my fellow mom-friends. (Living the dream over here. There are friends, and then there are mom-friends. #ifyouknowyouknow) This homemade melty chocolate bar has been met with surprise statements of, “This is really good!” As if they, clearly, didn’t think homemade paleo “sugar-free” chocolate would be any good. Oh ye of little faith.

Boy, we showed them! 

I mean, eh-hem, I am modestly pleased when others enjoy the food that I make. So how’s about it? You ready for me to quit gabbing and give you the recipe to my honey-sweetened granola chocolate bar thing?

Okay, it is practically Laura’s Honey Sweetened No-Bake Cookies. Except I took her recipe, skipped off the highway, and drove through the country roads and a few corn fields. Figuratively. Literally, my car would be ruined and there would be no chocolate. Maybe a huge fine. Possibly jail time. Is there chocolate in jail? If so, it wouldn’t be as wholesome as this one.

homemade chocolate bar

This is a huge batch I made to share.

A word about the ingredients in this chocolate bar:

I replace all peanut butter with almond butter. Thankfully, I find it at Sam’s Club for a reasonable price or I make it myself. I go through about a tub a week. Yet I continue to lose weight. Figures. Feel free to use a natural (thick) peanut butter.

Butter is not technically paleo. Use ghee or make your own ghee by warming the butter and scraping off the white foamy stuff. But I’m not concerned about butter. Also, ghee is expensive and I always have butter in the freezer because I buy all of it when it goes on sale. (That’s a hyperbole, I don’t literally buy it all. That would be ridiculous. And rude. And against the rules. I have a heart.)

Where to get Cocoa Powder

Remember that cocoa powder is not all created equally. I buy Better Body Foods Cacao Powder from Amazon and it’s yummy. Actually, I subscribe to it and it shows up on my porch. *Voila* But I’m not going to tell you how many bags I’ve used since January. Mind your own business, mmk? Whatever you do, do not buy the cheapest store-brand variety, it’s not as good. Laura recommends this kind and it’s her favorite. (<— use the code home to get 15% off your purchases at Olive Nation!)

If you’re a rule-keeper and legalistic, there is sugar added to dried cranberries and cherries. If you can find some without sugar, the more’s the merrier. Dried cherries are my all-time favorite, but they’re expensive. I hoard them. Therefore, I share less frequently with my children. Literally. 

Always buy unsweetened coconut flakes. There are tons of varieties all over. (Figuratively. There are literal tons of coconut flakes. But only a figurative ton of brand varieties because brand names cannot be weighed.) I subscribe to Terrasoul on Amazon and get six bags at a time and they’re squirreled away in the basement pantry. 

A homemade chocolate bar blessing

May your homemade chocolate be as delightful as watching your toddler march his new rubber boots into a puddle.

Go ahead, bless your neighbors, your friends, your family, and your mom-friends.

chocolate blessing

Typing this out at the library and chuckling to myself every now and then has been a delight. But now I’m going to mosey around the bookshelves and look for a new historical romance to enjoy. Before I go to bed tonight, I will make myself another batch of homemade chocolate because somebody ate the last of it a few days ago and now that somebody is going to do something about it. Literally. 

chocolate bar recipe

Homemade Chocolate Bars

5.0 from 2 reviews
Homemade Chocolate Bars
 
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Ingredients
  • ½ - ¾ cup honey
  • ⅔ cup natural almond butter
  • ½ cup butter or coconut oil
  • ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3-4 cups total of a combination of dry ingredients such as: pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chopped pecans/walnuts, dried cranberries/cherries, unsweetened coconut flakes.
  • Suggestion: 1 cup pumpkin seeds, 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes, 1 cup dried cherries, ½ slivered almonds, ¼ cup sunflower seeds
Instructions
  1. In a medium-sized saucepan, stir together honey, almond butter, butter or coconut oil, salt, and cocoa powder,
  2. Melt and stir ingredients over medium heat until well combined and slightly bubbly.
  3. Remove from heat.
  4. Add vanilla extract and dry ingredients and stir until coated.
  5. Scoop 1-2 Tablespoons of mixture onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet OR pour into a parchment paper lined 9X13 for a granola bar OR pour into one or two parchment paper-lined cookie sheets for chocolate bark.
  6. Chill Homemade Chocolate Bars in the refrigerator until they are set, about 1 hour. Cut into bars.

Go forth and make a homemade chocolate bar!

Thanks for sharing and blessing others with this recipe! Finally, be sure to let us know when you take a recipe and cruise through the backroads. Take us on the scenic route with you.

Tasha HackettTasha Hackett is a friend of Laura and author of Bluebird on the Prairie, a Christian historical romance releasing Spring 2021. Sunshine, homemade chocolate bars, or hot chocolate—whichever is more readily available is her fuel. While she often pretends to be a ballerina while unloading the dishwasher, her favorite thing is writing with hope and humor to entertain and encourage women. 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. You can connect with her at www.TashaHackett.com or Instagram @hackettacademy

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

Simple Spaghetti Squash for Delightful Sapiens

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This is a regular (albeit amazing) spaghetti squash recipe. It’s intended for all people, mankind, and sapiens. However, WordPress informs me that titles with uncommon words perform better. Sapiens fits the bill. Ha!

Simple Paleo Spaghetti

I’ve been eating a paleo diet for over three months! Simple meals are slowly making their way back into my life. I spent the first month floundering and relearning how to use my kitchen. The second month I discovered all the “junk” food I could make with honey and maple syrup and and ate an insane amount of homemade chocolate. But I’m rocking this new diet now. My crowd-pleasing, feed-the-people meal is either a ginormous salad with Almond-Orange Dressing or spaghetti squash. (Or both.)

The spaghetti squash topic has already been covered by Laura. 

spaghetti squash

Yum

If you search on this sight you will find multiple spaghetti squash posts. Like how to cook it in an instant pot. (Highlights: Gut it. 5 minutes. Or leave whole and 20 minutes.) But, I had more information to share. I’ll see your spaghetti squash and I’ll raise you sausage. At first I was afraid this idea was too simple to even bother sharing, but after our great dinner last night with friends, they encouraged me to please share. Mostly because she wanted the “recipe.” 

Make it now. Eat it later. It’s a no-fuss dinner. 

Here’s how it went down. One morning I remembered I had a meeting scheduled at my house the next day. This meeting would last until suppertime. Therefore, I wanted to make something I could pop in the oven at four o’clock and then feed the delightful sapiens at five o’clock. No prep. No mess. 

While I was overseeing third-grade math and language arts I baked two spaghetti squash in the oven (In short, slice in half, gut, bake “bowl-down” at 350* for 40-50 minutes. Or use the instant pot. Or bake whole and gut later). I chopped romaine leaves and other vegetables for a nice salad and put it all-together in a bowl in the fridge to be served with the amazing Almond Orange Paleo Dressing. Next, I cooked two pounds of pork sausage. 

When the squash was thoroughly cooked, I pulled it from its shells with a fork. This next part is where it gets exciting. THEN I mixed it with the sausage and a can of pasta sauce and spread it all into a 9X13 pan. Done. Mostly. 

A pre-made simple meal!

The next day, I simply popped the pan into the oven and re-heated it at 350° for an hour. At five o’clock the smell filled the dining room and I remembered I had completely forgotten to extend the invitation to dinner to our friends. “Oh, hey. You guys wanna stay and eat with us? Dinner’s already in the oven. We’re having squash and salad and stuff.” Haha. Who could turn down an invitation like that? They stayed. A good time was had by all indeed. Especially by my four-year-old, who cleaned his plate and spent the majority of the meal explaining, in detail to fresh ears, everything he knew about dinosaurs. 

looking at books

Simple meal prep is the best kept secret for the ease of serving other sapiens.

I want to be able to host and feed the people at a moment’s notice. When I first switched to paleo, I wasn’t able to do this. How could I bless others when I was following detailed recipes that included ingredients I wasn’t used to and only had enough on hand for four servings? After weeks of learning new skills, I’ve been able to put Laura’s good advice to work with my new diet requirements. I have pre-formed Salisbury steak (fancy burgers) in the freezer. I have riced cauliflower and shrimp on hand for quick and fun stir-fry. My fridge is usually full-to-bursting with fresh vegetables for snacks and salads because that’s fast food around here. Homemade chocolates, almond flour muffins, and green smoothies are a new staple. Whatever your diet needs, there are ways to make it simpler. I’m sure of it! 

Premade Spaghetti Squash Dinner
 
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Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 8 servings
Ingredients
  • Two Spaghetti Squash
  • Two Pounds Pork Sausage (or regular ground beef or pork)
  • 24 ounces of pasta sauce of your choosing
  • If using a plain pasta sauce, add salt, pepper, garlic, and Italian seasonings to taste.
Instructions
  1. Slice the squash down the middle to make two bowls and discard the seeds with a spoon.
  2. Oil the cut rings and place bowl-down on a pan with edges. Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes.
  3. To check for doneness, a knife should easily slide into the squash.
  4. Brown the sausage in a skillet, pour off the extra grease if desired.
  5. Mix the squash, sausage, and sauce together. Add any extra seasonings to taste (salt, pepper, garlic, etc.)
  6. Serve immediately, or spread in a 9x13 and refrigerate up to three days.
  7. To reheat, put the cold pan in the the oven and then set to 350 for an hour.

Have you ever given spaghetti squash a chance? 

I double-dog dare you to make it for dinner this week. Only mix in some great sausage and pasta sauce and voilá: Simple dinner for the masses. Just to be clear: viola is a musical instrument (played by skilled sapiens). Because I already knew that, I did not *ahem* need to search the web for the proper spelling of the French term “to suggest an appearance as if by magic.” Ya learn something new every day!

Tasha HackettTasha Hackett, friend of Laura and author of Bluebird on the Prairie, a Christian historical romance releasing Spring 2021, is fueled by sunshine, paleo pudding, or hot chocolate—whichever is more readily available. Though she often pretends to be a ballerina while unloading the dishwasher, her favorite thing is writing with hope and humor to entertain and encourage women. Her time is spent with four chatty children and an incredibly supportive husband. They give her the kind of love people write books about. You can connect with her at www.TashaHackett.com or Instagram @hackettacademy

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

How to Make Quiche for a Crowd

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Making quiche for a crowd is a great and easy meal option. I’ll show you all my tricks for making this as simple as possible!

Yum

On the particular day I chose to serve quiche to my family and a living room (I prefer to call it my loving room) full of college students, I took about half an hour to put together six quiches. Truly, that’s all the time it took!

Cut into eight pieces each, this makes 48 servings and in our case, fed about 13 people. (We had a couple of pies leftover.)

I loved how easy it was to make this meal, and all of our guests felt like I was serving them something extra special!

Now, if you don’t have your very own 2-year-old to help you crack all the eggs, I’m very sorry because this endeavor will be less of an adventure and much more predictable. Egg cracking is one of Keith’s greatest kitchen pleasures. Thankfully, only 1 out of 36 eggs landed on the floor on this particular day.


Along with a helpful two-year-old, I also utilized another fantastic resource: frozen pie crusts. From the store. Someday maybe I’ll make pie crust again. Though when making this many quiches at once {Laura pauses to look up if quiche is plural of quiche}, I may always enjoy the ready-made crusts that the store provides so that I can instead use my time to love people rather than floury countertops.

Here’s another trick I enjoyed: I put all the eggs into my Blendtec and let this appliance do the work (in 7 seconds, thank you very much) to whip all the eggs for me. This was extra helpful because once whipped, I could then easily pour the eggs from my blender into my prepared pie crusts. Oh! Because I’d already filled each crust with a variety of quiche ingredients. Then I added eggs and stirred it all around.

How did I fill my quiche? Quiches? (Turns out, either one works as a plural form of quiche. Ya learn something new every day, thank you Google.) I filled them with a variety of goodies to give our guests lots of options. Some were filled with veggies like broccoli, sweet peppers, and onions. Some had ham and cheese. Some just had cheese. All of them had salt, eggs, cheese, and cream.

But I loved that I could set the crusts all out like an assembly line and fill them quickly with whatever I intended to put in them. Then after the eggs were prepared, I poured it in and stirred it around, then boom. They were ready to bake!

How to Make Quiche for a Crowd

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How to Make Quiche for a Crowd
 
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Author:
Serves: 8 per pie
Ingredients
  • Per Quiche, which makes 8 pieces:
  • 1 unbaked pie crust
  • 6 eggs
  • ⅓ cup heavy whipping cream
  • sea salt to taste
  • ¾ cup shredded cheese
  • 1½-2 cups other fillings like diced ham, cooked sausage, cooked bacon bits, broccoli, onion, sweet peppers, spinach leaves, etc)
Instructions
  1. Place fillings into each pie crust.
  2. Whip eggs, cream, and salt together in a bowl or blender.
  3. Pour egg mixture over the pie fillings and stir.
  4. Bake quiche in a 425 degree oven for 45-55 minutes or until a knife poked into the middle comes out clean.

Quiche is great served with a salad and fresh fruit. :)

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Almond Orange Paleo Salad Dressing

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Tasha’s here again with an awesome new recipe just in time for spring!

Almond Orange Paleo Salad Dressing

by Tasha Hackett

What’s with the Paleo, Tasha? Okay! Sorry, just read this instead: Sugar-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free Salad Dressing that will make you and your family cry tears of joy. Better? Hmm. But really, I can hardly describe the level of happiness this paleo salad dressing makes me. I never knew a salad dressing was capable of bringing forth such an emotion. Almond butter and orange juice? Who knew! Don’t be scared. This paleo salad dressing is delicious on, wait for it, SALAD, but also works great as a veggie dip. In fact, it is even edible straight from the table as pictured below. Not recommended. But acceptable.

toddler messes

Yum

My salad dressing is better than your salad dressing.

The original recipe that I adapted had a few more ingredients and it only made one tiny serving of dressing. I don’t know about you, but if I’m going to go through all the trouble of making a salad dressing from scratch to eat with my paleo food . . . I’m making more than one tiny serving. Clearly, the chances are high that I will be eating salad again in the near future. I’ve made some version of this dressing at least 5 times in the last month. If you’re drinking your salad, skip the dressing and add some fruit. **Insert puking face if you just envisioned drinking a garlic and olive oil flavored smoothie.

Almond Orange Paleo Salad Dressing

Make as directed for a typical dressing consistency. Though if you want it thicker, just add more almond butter. My salads are usually quite epic. I will rarely just eat lettuce, but this dressing has enough going on, that I have eaten it on plain old leaves before. My kitchen hack with this paleo dressing is to make it in my almond butter jar when there’s about half a cup left. Saves times scooping almond butter AND I don’t have to wash any jars just yet. Sometimes I’m pretty smart like that.

My new favorite salad includes the following:

  • Mixed greens (heavy on the spinach)
  • Chopped romaine hearts
  • Pumpkin seeds
  • Sunflower seeds
  • Chopped avocado
  • Slivered almonds
  • Dried cranberries or cherries
  • Chopped cold meat of some kind (ham, chicken, salmon, tuna, or even boiled/scrambled eggs, etc)
  • Chopped dill pickles (tricks me into feeling like I’m having a sandwich)

Yes. My toddler eats salad. What can I say? I think it’s the dressing.

Toss it all with Almond Orange Paleo Dressing and my kids fight for the last serving.

I’ve been serving my family made-from-scratch salad dressings for years and I absolutely love how freely we use them. No worries here about what we’re smothering our vegetables in. As a result, we don’t skimp on the dressings for health reasons. Everything in this dressing is Food. For. Fuel! Go make ya some and tell all your friends about how amazing it is and then invite them over for salad. I dare them to go home hungry.

Salad for dinner! Again! #paleohasmelike #sorrynotsorry #iheartsalad

Almond Orange Paleo Salad Dressing
 
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Prep time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: Dressing
Serves: 2 Cups
Ingredients
  • ½ Cup Almond Butter
  • ½ Cup Red Wine Vinegar
  • 1 Cup Olive Oil (Can use part MCT oil or other oils)
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • ½ tsp Black Pepper
  • ½ tsp Granulated Garlic Powder (Or two fresh cloves, minced)
  • Juice of two Oranges
Instructions
  1. Mix all ingredients and stir or shake vigorously.
  2. Taste and adjust to preference.
  3. For a thicker dressing, add more almond butter.
  4. For a sweeter dressing, add a splash of apple juice.
  5. Store in the refrigerator.

 

Quick! What’s your go-to salad dressing? Store-bought or make your own?

Lastly, be sure to check out some of the other dressings on our site.

Tasha HackettTasha Hackett, friend of Laura and author of Bluebird on the Prairie, a Christian historical romance releasing Spring 2021, is fueled by sunshine, paleo pudding, or hot chocolate—whichever is more readily available. Though she often pretends to be a ballerina while unloading the dishwasher, her favorite thing is writing with hope and humor to entertain and encourage women. Her time is spent with four chatty children and an incredibly supportive husband. They give her the kind of love people write books about. You can connect with her at www.TashaHackett.com or Instagram @hackettacademy or for Laura @heavenlyhomemaker.

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