Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Easy Chili Cheese Dip

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Have leftover chili? Make Easy Chili Cheese Dip!

One of my favorite things to do in the kitchen is to clear out leftovers by making something new with them. This Easy Chili Cheese Dip is a perfect example of how to do this.

On the other hand, this dip is delicious enough that you might want to make chili just so you can have leftovers to make this dip. Or make the chili, skip eating the chili, and make lots of dip. OR, cheat as needed and simply buy a can of chili to use in this recipe!

Easy Chili Cheese DipYum

Easy Chili Cheese Dip
 
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Ingredients
  • 2 cups leftover chili
  • 8-ounces softened cream cheese
  • 1 cup salsa
Instructions
  1. Blend all ingredients together until smooth.
  2. Serve hot or cold with tortilla chips.

What’s great about this recipe is that it’s more than a snack. This can be your entire meal along with fruits and veggies on the side.

Serve it hot or cold, whichever you like!

This recipe works great for my family because I blend everything up which makes a smooth dip without chunks. If you prefer a chunky dip, just stir ingredients together instead of blending.

Need some chili recipes? Use one of these:

  • You can keep your costs for this dip to a minimum when you make this Lentil Chili.
  • This Hearty Chili is meatless, but feel free to cook hamburger or ground turkey to add more protein.

Here are more dip recipes to look through and enjoy!

  1. Easy White Queso
  2. Simple Bean and Cheese Salsa Dip
  3. Creamy Chocolate Fruit Dip
  4. Creamy Italian Veggie Dip
  5. Cream Cheese Salsa Dip
  6. Bacon Ranch Chip Dip
  7. French Onion Dip
  8. Bacon Tomato Dip
  9. Black Bean Salsa
  10. Easy Veggie Dip
  11. Healthier Cheese Dip 
  12. Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip
  13. Nacho Cheese Pretzel Dip
  14. Easy Guacomole
  15. Easy Cheesy Bean Dip
  16. Hamburber Sauerkraut Dip
  17. Cream Cheese Fruit Dip
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Quick Crock Pot Spicy Pasta Dinner

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This Quick Crock Pot Spicy Pasta Dinner came about on a day I was cleaning out leftovers. Therefore, this recipe is a winner that happened by accident!

Have you made my Cream Cheese Salsa Dip? It’s incredible, super easy, and our entire family loves it!

However, one of the recent times I made the dip, it somehow got shoved to the back of the fridge and forgotten. I’d just gotten back from a big grocery run, so I was in major “make lunch with whatever food I find tucked away” so that I could make room for all the fresh food.

And there I found Cream Cheese Salsa Dip.

Aha, thought I. This is going to somehow turn into our lunch.

I was just about ready to take our littles out for a long walk, so I dumped some pasta and this dip into the crock pot to see what would happen while we were gone. Sure enough, the results were just like I’d imagined. The pasta was soft and ready to eat in just three hours without any effort from me! I added a shot of cream and stirred in some cooked meat, and we had our meal!

Here’s the easy recipe:

Quick Crock Pot Spicy Pasta DinnerYum

Quick Crock Pot Spicy Pasta Dinner
 
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Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 10-ounces uncooked pasta, any variety
  • 8-ounces softened cream cheese
  • 32-ounces salsa
  • ½ cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 pound cubed ham or cooked hamburger meat (optional)
Instructions
  1. Empty package of uncooked pasta into a crock pot.
  2. In a blender, whip together cream cheese and salsa until smooth.
  3. Pour salsa mixture over the pasta in the crock pot.
  4. Cook on low heat for 3 hours.
  5. Stir in heavy whipping cream and meat if desired.
  6. Serve.

Using up leftovers to create new meals is one of my favorite ways to be efficient in the kitchen!

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The Easiest Spicy Ham and Potato Soup (Crock Pot Recipe)

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I wanted to call this easy Spicy Ham and Potato Soup “Dump Soup.” But that didn’t sound appealing. So I took out the “dump” – good call, right? Still, you should know that all we have to do to make this soup is “dump” the ingredients into the crockpot. SO EASY.

Yum

This Spicy Ham and Potato Soup is basically this soup remade. I cut out some steps and made it in the crockpot. You’ll love how much easier the revisions make this recipe!

Also, you should know that I’m obsessed with this soup. I almost never eat seconds of any meal. But when I make this soup, I eat thirds. Aren’t you proud?

The Easiest Spicy Ham and Potato Soup (Crock Pot Recipe)

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The Easiest Spicy Ham and Potato Soup (Crock Pot Recipe)
 
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Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 8-ounces cream cheese
  • 16-ounces pepper jack cheese
  • ¾ cup sour cream
  • 1 cup half-and-half or whole milk
  • 10-ounce can Rotel (diced tomatoes and green chilies)
  • 1 pound ham, diced or cut into small bites
  • 3-4 cups frozen hashbrown potatoes
  • 32-ounces chicken, beef, or vegetable broth
Instructions
  1. Put all ingredients into a crock pot.
  2. Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours.
  3. Occasionally, stir the soup to help distribute the cheeses.
  4. Just before serving, use a whisk to smooth the melted cheese.

I love eating this soup just as it is. Some in my family love to added shredded cheese and fritos. The pepper jack cheese in this soup gives it a nice, spicy kick that is so amazing!

If you make this soup with frozen hashbrowns (I like Mr. Dells brand as it contains only potatoes) it is extra easy to put together!

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What to do with All the Zucchini

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Trying to figure out what to do with all the zucchini?

what to do with all the zucchini

Yum

It’s zucchini season! I didn’t grow any this year. Sad. But other people did and around this time each year people are giving them away because when a zucchini plant does well, it does well. And when it doesn’t, we all curse the vine-borer grubs in unison and praise God for grocery stores and our friends who somehow fought off the nefarious and disgusting grubs. Ah-hem. Back to the yummy part.

What to do with all the zucchini?

Zucchini might be one of our favorite versatile vegetables. Here’s what I do with it:

  1. Chop it up and pan fry with salt and pepper and other stuff to make a quick skillet dinner: a.) garlic, onions, mushrooms, shrimp. b) garlic, onions, beef, cabbage. c.) garlic, onions, tomatoes, parmesan cheese. You get the idea: cook it and eat it for dinner with some meat and garlic and onions.
  2. Shred (or use the food processor to chop) and bake it into muffins, brownies, pancakes, waffles, breads, etc. Some people freeze the shredded zucchini to use for later. I have done this and I NEVER have good luck with it later. It gets all weepy and soggy and then I get weepy and never use it. Best of luck to you if you decide to freeze it. I’d rather bake the bread and freeze that instead.
  3. Cut in half, scrape out the middle and make pizza boats. (Broil, then melt on your pizza toppings. Dip in pizza sauce.)
  4. Slice in half, or chop, and roast, broil, or grill with oil, salt, and pepper and just eat it!
  5. Use a zoodle thingy and make noodles. Easy Alfredo and shrimp used to be my favorite with this.
  6. Have I ever been tired of zucchini? No, I have not.
  7. This is my announcement: I will take your extra zucchini.

Don’t let all the zucchini go to waste, let’s start baking!

Of course, Laura already put together many of her favorite zucchini recipes, but that was ages ago and you may have forgotten about it. Click through some of those recipes or search “zucchini” on this site for more great ideas.

Are you a zucchini lover like me? I used to only be a zucchini bread (which is usually cake, let’s not kid ourselves) kind of girl. But then I grew up and realized that as a vegetable it can take on the flavor of butter and garlic and I do so love butter and garlic. Here are some great recipes for you to try as the zucchini crop comes in.

Simple Oven-Baked Pizza Nachos

Finely chopped and baked over the nachos is a great way to sneak more veggies into this meal.

Last Minute Stir-Fry

Frozen chopped zucchini will be a little soggier than fresh, but it holds up better than shredded, OR just add a few fresh ones to your frozen veggie bags.

Zucchini Waffles

This is a pumpkin recipe. I know. You can sub one squash for the other. It will be fine. Really. Many popular baked zucchini recipes have so much sugar in them they may as well be cake… try a less-sugar option and top with just a few drops of maple syrup, honey, or nut butter.

Have zucchini for breakfast!

Why have we decided that most vegetables are for lunch and dinner? Here’s a quick breakfast that I’ve made many times already this summer: In a hot skillet I melt butter, fry up a chopped summer squash (yellow or green), add in a can of chicken (because it’s breakfast and people are hungry for the food), salt and pepper and (here’s the secret ingredient), a tablespoon or so of lemon juice. You must not forget the lemon juice. Once the chicken is warmed and the lemon juice has sizzled for a few seconds, we eat and dance and go about our day warm and well-fed.

In hindsight, I will need to make that one into an actual recipe post for you. You will need to be reminded of it again because it is so delicious.

Do tell, what is your favorite way to eat this amazing and versatile vegetable?

book cover of bluebird on the prairie Tasha Hackett is a friend of Laura and author of Bluebird on the Prairie, a historical romance set in an 1879 Nebraska town. Zeke has his sights set for California, but Eloise prefers the quiet safety of her home. Is it possible they’re both searching for the same things? Find this heart-warming romance wherever books are sold.

To find out more about Tasha and her world of historical fiction, 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!

How to Make Biscuits With One Hand

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Why do we need to know how to make biscuits with one hand?

Maybe we don’t. Maybe we actually have two hands to work with in the kitchen. Either way, don’t we all love learning ways to make our kitchen work easier? So whether you have one hand or two to work with in the kitchen, you’ll love how this easy biscuit-making-method cuts out a few steps and makes for a less messy biscuit-making process!

Me? I’m almost always working one-handed in the kitchen these days:

Yum

Who actually even cares about biscuits? I’ll just nibble on her neck all day long. Those pudgy hands!! HER CHEEKS.

But back to the biscuits.

I find that I can do quite a bit with just one hand, but using a rolling pin isn’t one of them. So one morning, I decided to attempt biscuits while holding the baby, and would you believe, it worked? From start to finish!

How did I make biscuits with one hand?

  1. I scooped some Quick Mix into a bowl. I poured in some milk. I didn’t measure. I stirred, kind of. I made dough. The baby used her gummy grin to affirm my abilities.

2. I put the dough directly onto my baking stone. I pressed it down with my one free hand. It looked like this:

Good grief. Are we rolling our eyes together about the fact that while I made biscuits with one hand, I also continued to wash said hand so I could take pictures with my phone of the biscuit-making process? I guess I just really wanted you to see how easy this is.

3. I dug my biscuit cutter out of the back of my catch-all drawer. I used it to make the ugliest-shaped biscuits you’ve ever seen. The baby was still impressed.

4. I grabbed up the excess dough and rolled it into two balls, then pushed them down onto the baking stone.

5. I baked the biscuits. They turned out incredible and delicious.

6. We ate them with butter and honey and jelly and gravy. We were all so happy because it had been over a year since I’d last made biscuits.

This gravy recipe is coming soon!

No matter if you have one hand or two while working in the kitchen:

Skip rolling your dough onto the counter before cutting your biscuits!

Simply press your dough onto your baking pan. Then cut your biscuits on your baking pan.

It saves a step. It saves a mess. Why have I not thought of this before?

Recipes you need so you can make biscuits with one hand:

  1. Quick Mix
  2. Quick Mix Biscuits
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Simple Honey Glazed Pork Tenderloin or Roast (Crock Pot Recipe)

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Here we are with another super fast meal for summertime! This Simple Honey Glazed Pork Tenderloin will wow everyone!

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There’s something about the combination of flavors poured over this pork tenderloin (or pork roast) that makes it so very good. It slow cooks all day, so that makes the meat extra juicy and the flavor extra amazing. Simply put a Pork Tenderloin in your crockpot (these are inexpensive, by the way!), stir together a few ingredients to pour over the top of the meat, turn on your crockpot, and walk away!

What’s great about a meal like this is that well, a Pork Tenderloin or Pork Roast just feels like a special meal. You can serve it with:

  • a salad
  • a steamed veggie
  • and some fresh fruit

and your meal will be amazing!! But you will have worked very little to pull it off.

Meals like this are my favorite. Or have you figured that out about me by now? :)

Tip for choosing a cut of pork:

  • Check for meat mark-downs! Our local grocery store often has a high quality brand of pork marked down when it’s getting close to the “freeze-by” date. When I see these, I grab them! They are usually between $2-3/pound at this point, making for some very affordable and delicious meat options for our freezer!
  • Pork Tenderloin, Pork Butt (he-he-he, Pork Butt…I’m in middle school), and Pork Roast are my favorites. They turn out tender and juicy every time with this recipe!

Simple Honey Glazed Pork Tenderloin or Roast (Crock Pot Recipe)

Simple Honey Glazed Pork Tenderloin (Crock Pot Recipe)
 
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Serves: 4-6 servings
Ingredients
  • 2 pounds Pork tenderloin
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • ¼ cup honey
  • ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
  • ½ cup water
  • 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
Instructions
  1. Place the pork tenderloin in the crock pot.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients.
  3. Pour the mixture over the pork tenderloin.
  4. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or until pork is tender and falling apart.

I hope the recent meal ideas I’ve shared recently have been helpful to you this summer as you figure out what to feed your family when it’s too hot to care about cooking. I’ll keep the recipes coming!

What I’ve shared so far:

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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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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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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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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

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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

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