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5-Ingredient Sour Cream Drop Biscuits

January 25, 2016 by Laura 10 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Sour Cream Drop Biscuit

My friend Emily is the one who told me about these Sour Cream Drop Biscuits as we stood in the church foyer solving all the world’s problems and talking about recipes. (The two go hand in hand.) She told me these included only four ingredients and that sour cream was one. “Let me guess then,” I said. “Sour cream, flour, baking powder, and salt?” Yep! With some butter drizzled in for flavor.

Well, yeah. Of course. Butter. Butter drizzled in for flavor, and a large pat of butter melted onto both halves of the biscuit immediately following their removal from the oven.

She promised to send me the recipe, and I was planning to wait patiently. But the next morning, all I could think of was how much I wanted a Sour Cream Biscuit. Surely I could figure out the correct proportions of the ingredients in these biscuits. So I got out the goods and experimented. How hard could it be?

Not hard. (Would I be sharing these with you if they were?)

The trick is that you’re going to need to get your hands messy. The ingredients get tossed in a bowl all together, then you can begin to stir. After a short while, the stirring spoon will likely be thrown into the sink and your hands become your greatest kitchen tool. Mix and squish, friends. Mix and squish.

Since your hands are already messy, use them to pull out bits of dough (whatever size you want your biscuits). Roll the dough in your hands and press the ball down gently onto a baking sheet. This is so much easier than rolling and cutting and cleaning up the mess afterward. I mean, you will have to wash your hands.

5-Ingredient Sour Cream Drop BiscuitsYum

2.0 from 1 reviews
5-Ingredient Sour Cream Drop Biscuits
 
Save Print
Author: Laura
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 3 cups whole wheat flour (I use freshly ground hard white wheat)
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3 Tablespoons melted butter
  • 2 cups sour cream
Instructions
  1. Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt.
  2. Mix in sour cream and melted butter.
  3. You may need to use your hands to get the ingredients mixed thoroughly.
  4. Roll dough into balls with your hands, then flatten slightly and place them side by side on a baking sheet.
  5. Bake at 450° for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
  6. Serve with butter, honey, jelly, or gravy.
3.4.3177

Please don’t ask if you can sub buttermilk for the sour cream. There are plenty of Buttermilk Biscuit recipes out there. But these are Sour Cream Biscuits, so subbing another dairy or non-dairy item would make them a Not Sour Cream Biscuit.

5 Ingredient Sour Cream Drop Biscuits

Tall and Fluffy Biscuit Tip:

Put your biscuits onto the baking sheet side by side – rubbing shoulders, getting cozy. This way they have no choice but to bake up, not out. See, biscuits need their friends to come along side them to help them grow. This is, of course, a perfect and wonderful analogy to help you and I see our need for friends to come alongside us to build us up. Thank you, Fluffy Biscuit Tip.

Ever tried stirring sour cream into your biscuits?

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Three Meals on the Road – Thanks to Family Teamwork

January 24, 2016 by Laura 4 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Basketball (or soccer) season has us on the road many weekends. Sometimes we eat out with the team, but if possible, we prefer to pack our food to take along.

Saturday was going to be a huge day – leave the house by 7:20 am, drive all the way to Iowa (about three hours), then either play or watch basketball games all day long before driving three hours back late at night. A look at the schedule told us that eating out wasn’t really a possibility, and while concessions were available, we really prefer our athletes to eat something more substantial. So on Thursday I asked the boys for input on meals to pack.

I’m sly so I decided to try and sneak salads onto the menu. I figured the boys would say things like, “Nah” or “That’s not going to fill me enough to play games.” But hey, it never hurts to ask, right?

chef_salad (1)

Me: A couple times last year, Dad and I packed chef salads to eat at lunch. They were amazing. I could make some good chicken to put in… {braces self for teenage salad rejection}

Elias (14): Hmm. Sounds good.

Justus (15): Great idea. It’s good food but not too heavy so we won’t get a side ache when we play after we eat.

Wow. Well I didn’t see any of that coming. Salads it is.

I asked their input on breakfast and dinner options too since we’d need to pack all three meals for the road. We made a plan, I offered to make them special coffees, and we checked our homemade Gatorade supply. Friday rolled around nice and busy. I got started on the chicken for the salads (chicken breasts cooked in a skillet with a honey-mustard-barbecue concoction). I made some granola bites. But I was coming down with a sinus infection, so my energy started to wane very quickly.

Around 4 in the afternoon, I called out for all hands on deck. I can’t tell you how thankful I am for my family. There was a lot of work to be done. I started handing out orders and between the five of us, we knocked out everything we would need for Saturday plus our dinner Friday night (Homemade Pizza).

bball food 1

That picture doesn’t show our completed food stash as we were still in the process of making burritos and sandwiches and salads when I snapped it. Everyone built their own chef salad according to their preferences. Everyone made their own sandwiches for dinner after the games. Justus and Elias tag-teamed making a huge breakfast burrito for each of us. I made coffees and gatorade. Matt sliced peppers and helped with pizza prep.

Basically we were stepping all over each other because while we have a pretty big kitchen, five people (four of them with adult-sized bodies) all working at the same time filled every last bit of counter space and had us running into each other from time to time. When it was all said and done, I was so relieved and thankful. If I had to do that all myself?? Just, no.

Food we packed for the road:

  • Breakfast Burritos
  • Chef Salads
  • Sandwiches
  • Homemade Applesauce Cups
  • Peach/Pear cups
  • Carrots
  • Sliced Sweet Peppers
  • Apples
  • Clementines
  • Blueberry Muffins
  • Granola Bites (I’m working on this recipe for you)
  • A Jar of Homemade Ranch for the Salads
  • A Jar of Pineapple Fluff for Mom
  • Coffee Mocha (it pays to save bottles to reuse for fun drinks!)
  • Homemade Gatorade
  • Chips
  • Peanuts and Cashews

Friday night, I started feeling pretty crummy, slept terribly that night, and decided I better stay home Saturday while Matt took the boys to play. SAD!!!! Missing their games is a big bummer for me. Sure, they play hundreds of games in their life. Sure, I’ll see plenty more. But shucks I hate missing. :( Malachi stayed home with me, we ate the food we’d made for ourselves the day before, and Matt was great to text me updates on the games throughout the day.

One of my friends sent me this with a “Miss You Today!” text. That’s Justus and his great friend Jacob all dressed up before the varsity games.

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I rested, took a bath in salt and essential oils, watched netflix, played a couple games with Malachi, and went to bed early. I’m on the mend today!

Do you have fun travel food ideas? Please share!

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Christian Prints I Love for just $3.00!

January 22, 2016 by Laura 9 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

I have been so excited to show you these instant downloads from Stephanie at Loved Unrationed!

They are beautiful, inspirational, encouraging, and I love them! Stephanie offers them in her Etsy shop as instant downloads for just $5. Annnnd, she’s giving Heavenly Homemakers readers an additional 40% off!! (That bumps each print down to just $3 each, which makes it hard not to put every single one of them in my cart.)

The download is inexpensive, then we can grab a simple frame to complete it. We all need truth, scripture, and encouragement in our lives. How fun that these are gorgeous too!

Here are some of my favorites:

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christian print2
christian print5

christian print8

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This one is my favorite, favorite:

christian print6

I dare you to look through her shop and not find at least 10 prints that you love. What a fantastic business!

Use the code HH40OFF for a 40% discount on your order.

You’ll find the Love Unrationed Shop Here.

Love Unrationed is one of our January sponsors here at Heavenly Homemakers. A huge thank you to Stephanie for the work she’s done and the wonderful discount she’s offering.

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

Easy Cheesy Cauliflower Hashbrowns

January 22, 2016 by Laura Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

cauliflower hashbrowns

Let me just say that it’s hard (for me) to take a good picture of hashbrowns while they are steaming on a griddle.

Below is a picture of the original recipe for these hashbrowns. I worked a little harder, added a few extra ingredients, and made them into Cheesy Cauliflower Cakes. My family loves them and the recipe makes us actually like cauliflower.

Cheesy Cauliflower Cakes

This is all well and good, except that:

  • the cakes don’t always stay together
  • they have bread crumbs in them which I don’t always have available
  • the bread crumbs mean I can’t serve them to anyone who can’t have gluten
  • making them into cakes is one more step in the cooking process

I act like that’s a huge ordeal. It’s not. But I wanted you to know that you can cut out a few ingredients (eggs and bread crumbs), then pour the entire mixture onto a griddle or skillet and fry them like hashbrowns. They taste the same if you ask me, and they are easier!

Cheesy Cauliflower HashbrownsYum

Easy Cheesy Cauliflower Hashbrowns
 
Save Print
Author: Laura
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 1 head cauliflower
  • ¾ cup shredded cheddar or Colby jack cheese
  • 2 Tablespoons dried minced onions
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • Palm shortening or expeller pressed coconut oil for frying
Instructions
  1. Cut cauliflower into florets.
  2. Steam for about 10 minutes or until tender.
  3. Drain.
  4. Mash with a potato masher. (I found that this created what looked like shredded potatoes.)
  5. Stir in shredded cheese, minced onions, and salt until well combined.
  6. Melt 1-2 Tablespoons of palm shortening or coconut oil in a skillet or on a griddle.
  7. Pour cauliflower mixture into hot oil.
  8. Fry over medium heat until brown and crispy – about 5 minutes on each side.
  9. Serve right away.
3.4.3177

 

Easy Cheesy Cauliflower Hashbrowns

Yesterday when we made these Cheesy Cauliflower Hashbrowns, I served them with cantaloupe, peas, blueberry muffins, and fried turkey sausages. It’s was a super easy – fruit and veggie packed meal. (I keep finding coupons for Oscar Mayer preservative-free, uncured turkey sausage. We’re loving it for quick additions to our meals!)

Have you tried the Cheesy Cauliflower Cakes recipe I shared a few months ago? Try this hashbrown variety. It’s even easier!

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

A Day in the Life ~ Homeschooling Older Kids and Teenagers

January 20, 2016 by Laura 12 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Many have requested that I share what life is like for our family now that our kids are older. What is our homeschool routine? How is it that as the kids got older and more independent, Mom actually got busier? What does a day in our life look like?

Today, I took pictures and notes all day long. I’ve documented our Wednesday as best I can. Why today? I chose today because I finally remembered the post request this morning and decided to started taking pictures (and you thought I was so organized). You’ll notice that most of the pictures don’t include the kids. It’s a teenage thing and I respect it. I now present to you over 20 {mostly} kidless pictures.

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After all, what could be more fun than looking at a picture of our overflowing compost bucket??

First I’ll fill you in on who we are – then I’ll share the specifics of our life today:

Matt and I are self-employed. I’m a writer-blogger (hi!); Matt runs a variety of businesses from snow removal/lawn care to rental property management to handyman/construction. Every work day is different for us based on the current deadlines and to-do lists. We tag-team the needs of the kids and needs of the household.

Our boys are now 18, 15 (almost 16), 14, and 11.

Asa (18) is a college freshman, living on campus at our local Christian college and juggling a very full academic and social life. Justus (15) is a high school sophomore; Elias (14) is an eighth grader; Malachi (11) is a fifth grader. So in summary, we have one in college, one in high school, one in middle school, and one in elementary. (And I question why I can’t keep up.)

Family Christmas Pic

For me, today began as it usually does with a cup of coffee and my Bible. I got up later than I meant to (whatever though, I needed sleep) – so that cut into my quiet time as Matt got the boys moving for the day.

life1

The boys are typical teenagers, which means the first thing they like to do in the morning is grab their ipods from the living room table to see what they missed while they were sleeping. Sometimes I hate ipods and want to run them over with my car (like when the boys are so zoned into them they don’t hear me telling them to load the dishwasher or that the house is on fire). But this is our culture and this is how they keep up with their people and make plans, so I try to be okay with this (while still setting boundaries). After a few minutes, ipods stayed in the living room as the boys headed to the kitchen to find breakfast.

life2

Everyone warmed up their own leftover French toast or pancakes and grabbed applesauce and/or blueberries. Matt read to us from the book of Romans as we ate. Today we ate in a hurry because Justus and Malachi had to be at their piano lessons at 9:00.

life3

Teeth brushed, the two boys packed their piano books along with some school work so that while one boy was having his lesson, the other boy could read or do English. In the meantime, Elias tried to sneak back onto his ipod (as I pictured it being crushed under the van tire) and then got scooted upstairs to do his English lesson. Then, since he was the only boy home, he got on the computer to do his Algebra.

I used the quiet time to start writing this post, then shopped online to order Justus’ birthday presents and made a grocery list off Pricematcherz.com.

Matt took his truck to have the tires worked on, and they finished just in time for him to pick up the boys from piano. Good thing since I was still in my jammies. ;)

life9

Once home, Justus went straight back to the school computer to work on his music. Malachi and Elias started playing soccer in the living room. (It’s winter. I don’t own knick-knacks. THEY WERE GETTING ALONG. Carry on, boys.)

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What? Don’t you have a soccer goal by your front door?

I sent Elias in to empty half the dishwasher. Malachi played the piano for a while, then I sent him off to do his reading. Elias and Malachi began working on a video project together, while still getting along. Justus was working on Geometry on the computer. I finished tweaking an article to send into our local newspaper (I write a weekly column) and suddenly needed food. It was only 11:00, but I am always hungry for lunch earlier than anyone else. (I eat an earlier breakfast, plus I’m more of a five-meals-a-day kind of eater.)

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I warmed up Taco Soup (working on a recipe for you!) and got out guacamole, carrots, and clementines.

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Around noon, everyone else was hungry too, so they dug in. They chose kiwi instead of clementines. While they ate, I read aloud from our latest missionary book.

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Lunch over, I had to head to Walmart to get ink for my computer so I could get a printed curriculum in the mail. I grabbed some price-match items while I was there, then ran to pick up Malachi’s buddy to hang out for the afternoon. While I was out, Justus completed his Physics and did some English and History reading. Elias read English and Science. Malachi completed his math assignment.

life17

Once I got home, Justus finished cleaning out the dishwasher, Malachi loaded it with dirty dishes, and the rest of us put groceries away.

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At 1:55 Matt, Elias, Malachi, and his friend headed out the door for an indoor soccer session. On the way, they dropped Justus off at the college campus for the 2:00 MWF Psychology class he’s taking. (You can read here about how we get dual high school and college credits for our kids.) I settled in for exactly 45 minutes of quiet work time before I needed to leave to pick Justus up from his class.

Everyone was back home by 3:15. I spent a silly amount of time on the phone tracking down a package that hadn’t been delivered. The boys found snacks to eat. Elias and Justus did their Spanish lessons on the computer. Malachi hung out with his friend. I closed my office door to write this post. :)

I checked on the boys a while later and found the door to the back room closed up tight. Why?? Usually it’s open a crack, but when it’s closed like this, it usually means “I’m recording so don’t walk in until I’m done or you’ll ruin everything!”

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What are the boys working on in there? Well, Justus and Elias currently have four big music/video projects they are working on with their church friends. Our church is hosting a Youth Rally coming up in February, and videos are a must; plus the boys need to complete some videos for LTC – a leadership event coming up in April. They’ve spent hours the past few weeks (some on their own and some with as many from the youth group who can help out) writing lyrics and scripts, creating beats and tunes, recording voices, videoing the action, and editing their work to put it all together. I can’t tell you how much I love them doing this.

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I snuck into the room later to take a picture of what is our “recording studio”/school-computer room/Matt’s office/guest room. The boys invested in that fancy microphone you see there, and Matt and I got them the mic stand and pop filter for Christmas.

The rest of the afternoon passed with me hiding in my office trying to get some work done. I hollered out at one point for each boy to scrub four potatoes for dinner. I came out of my office around 5:00 and made a big pot of Potato Soup. I had the boys work together on sides of sweet peppers, olives, raspberries, and pickles.

We headed out the door at 6:20 for Wednesday evening Bible study. At 8:15 we were back home, joined by a young couple who is getting married this March. Matt and I visited with them (pre-marital counseling/mentoring) until around 10:15. During that time the boys were sent upstairs to fold and put away the huge laundry pile. Once they finished that, they hung out in the back room and watched netflix until 10:00 when we headed them up to bed.

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Now it is 10:54 and I am wrapping this up and calling it a day. Thursdays usually require a little less running around compared to Wednesdays, though the two middle boys have basketball practice tomorrow night. Never a dull moment.

So how was your day? Have you found your schedule changing as your kids get older?

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Provide and Protect ~ a Prayer For My Children

January 19, 2016 by Laura 13 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Provide and Protect - a Prayer For My Children

It used to be me. Or so I thought.

When they were little, I was the one who provided everything they needed and protected them from anything that might hurt them. I set up their routines and walked them away from situations that were too much for their young hearts to handle. I set the boundaries, set the stage, set out the activities. I said yes, said no, said too much, said too little, said things wrong, said things right, and said it will all be okay. I was in charge. I was in control. I was the one.

Or so I thought.

They’re big now. They are amazing and skilled and smart and fun, and one by one, they are launching. Their steps are becoming their own; their thoughts and behaviors are less and less a result of my commands and instruction and more and more a brave leap of their own long-legged independence.

My prayer is no longer crafted out of the ideas on my own heart. Recognition of truth has left me with very few words. I know little about tomorrow. You are the One who knows your Kingdom plans for my kids. I’m simply the one whose heart longs for their good and for their walk to be on the path you’ve carved for them.

I’m not who I once thought I was.

I’m not their provider. I’m not their protector. I’m a huge part of their life on this earth, but I’m only their mother. I’m the one God gave them to show them love and guidance. But you, God. You are the One who knows what they need and how to provide.

This is what I ask of you:

Protect

Protect them, Lord. Protect them from people who do not have their best interests in mind, from people who are self-seeking and heartless, from people who will hurt them.

Protect them from apathy. Protect them from becoming self-centered, self-seeking, self-deprecating, and self-motivated. Provide them the heart to lay aside self in order to seek You.

Provide

Provide for them, Lord. Provide people to encourage and hold them accountable, to build them up and make them stronger, to inspire and challenge them to be more like Christ. It takes a village. Build it strong and high and full.

Provide my children with confidence and skill, tools and words to get themselves out of any situation that would be harmful to them in any way. Provide them with the confidence to do right and strength to flee from wrong.

Provide everything they need, because You are the One who knows precisely what that means.

Do what I cannot do. I trust you with my children.

Thank you for the blessing and honor of being Mom to my sons. How cool of you to give me my four favorites. How wise of you to grow me along with them. How gentle of you to hold us so gracefully. How perfect of you to love us so consistently.

To my boys:

“I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,  may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,  and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:17-19

 

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Easy Low Sugar Almond Melt-Away Cookies

January 18, 2016 by Laura 19 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

This Almond Melt-Away Cookies recipe is a direct result of me sharing my Low Sugar Lemon Melt-Away Cookies and several of you saying, “Sounds good! I think almond extract would be a great idea to try in these cookies too!”

Easy Almond Cookies

Thanksgiving and Christmas happened in the meantime – so three months later, it took me five minutes to try your idea. No sense rushing into anything. 

I was also waiting to see how my attempt at Homemade Almond Extract would turn out. What a bummer. Making Homemade Vanilla Extract is a total no-brainer so I was hoping almond extract would be the same. I soaked the nuts in vodka as recommended by several sites, then I even simmered off some of the alcohol – but it didn’t turn out extract like I’m used to using. Then I looked at the ingredients on my purchased extract and there is “almond oil” included. Is that what gives my purchased extract the yummy smell and flavor? If any of you have successfully made Almond Extract, will you please share all your secrets?!

In the meantime, taking my basic Easy {Low} Sugar Cookie recipe and adding different flavors has been super simple and yummy. Here’s a quick link list for you:

  • Easy {Low} Sugar Cookies
  • Low Sugar Lemon Melt-Away Cookies
  • Low Sugar Orange Melt-Away Cookies
  • Low Sugar Lime Melt-Away Cookies
  • And now these…

Low Sugar Almond Melt-Away Cookies

Yum

Easy Low Sugar Almond Melt-Away Cookies
 
Save Print
Author: Laura
Serves: 24
Ingredients
  • 1 cup melted butter
  • ½ cup sucanat or raw sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons almond extract
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3 cups of whole wheat pastry flour (give or take)
Instructions
  1. Stir together melted butter and sugar.
  2. Add eggs, extracts, and baking powder.
  3. Stir in flour until a solid ball of dough forms.
  4. Drop teaspoon-sized balls of dough onto a cookie sheet, about an inch apart.
  5. Bake in a 350° oven for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned.
3.4.3177

Low Sugar Almond Melt-Away Cookies

I learned on accident that you can forget the eggs in these cookie recipes and while they are a bit more crumbly, they are still great! Just a little bonus for those of you who have to avoid eggs.

I love it when I can cut the sugar so drastically in a recipe and my kids can’t tell a difference. These are perfectly sweetened and the almond extract makes them taste fancy with no additional effort!

I should also mention that these lightly sweetened cookies taste amazing with a steamy cup of coffee or a cold glass of milk. Ah, life’s simple pleasures. :)

I’d love any other flavor suggestions to try with these cookies. And if you’re an almond extract maker, please tell me how you do it!!

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

This Week in Food ~ the I Bought Out Aldi Edition

January 17, 2016 by Laura 35 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

This week was a huge grocery purchase week. We are now well-stocked on just about every staple, we have oodles of fruits and veggies, and if I want to, I can make my Real Food “Velveeta” and Rotel Dip every day for a month.

Real Food Velveeta and Rotel Dip

You want this recipe.

Who goes to Aldi and buys several cases of food? This girl. (And also this girl’s 14-year old son because he was in Lincoln with me for doctor appointments and was therefore stuck shopping with his mother. At least it was food-related shopping.)

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I hardly ever get to go to Aldi. I price-match from their ad every week, but actually going to the Aldi store is rare for me since the nearest store is an hour away. Therefore, I get a little bit ridiculous when I do get to go. I bought two cases of their version of Rotel. It’s a must-have so I can make the above mentioned dip, as well as this amazing Spicy Mac and Cheese. I also bought a case of pasta sauce and a case of tomato sauce. It was a cart full of tomatoes.

Spicy Mac and Cheese 3

You want this recipe too.

In addition, I bought several cans of beans, peaches, and some specialty coffees for my family as a treat. I bought grilled chicken and prepared soup for Asa’s dorm fridge. I grabbed sliced cheese, apples, grape tomatoes, raspberries, and blueberries. Oh, and that sparkling water? It was a great price so we bought a case of that too! The boys have had fun lately making this Sparkling Juice Drink, so we took advantage of the price. You’ll also see brown sugar in the picture. You can read more about that here.

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I had just come off an enormously busy weekend, then made this trip to Lincoln – so had made plans to take Tuesday off to rest and refresh. Therefore…pizza. It’s a fun treat, we ate fruits and veggies with it, and I’ve determined that if you don’t read the ingredient list, it isn’t nearly as harmful to your health. (Don’t listen to a thing I say.) Resting on Tuesday was marvelous. The pizza was so-so.

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Later in the week, I went to Walmart to do some price-matching because I can’t not stock up when there is a good price on food we love. I bought no less than 18 boxes of cream cheese. Dude. It price matched for $1.18 and I had nine coupons to get $1.00 off two. 68¢ for cream cheese? Yes. Times 18. We will easily use it all before it goes bad.

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Pineapple Fluff Salad is a favorite cream cheese user-upper at our house.

Pineapple Fluff

It goes without saying that Stevia Sweetened Cream Cheese Frosting is amazing.

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Enough about cream cheese. You want to see my 11-year old chef. He doubles as an FBI agent, thus the suit.

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He and I ate up (kind of but not quite literally) the free Knife Skills for Kids course. Then we started working our way through Katie’s Kids Cook Real Food Course.

I will admit to you that when Katie from Kitchen Stewardship emailed telling me about her new eCourse, I got a little sad. Wait! thought I. I wanted to put together a kids’ cooking eCourse! But then I quickly turned around and realized, Dude! Katie did all the hard work! Your job here is done. Boom diggity, check that off the to-do list.

In short, it took about 7 seconds for me to go from sad to excited. I’ll move on to other projects on my list and do the simple work of saying, Look what Katie made! Her eCourse is more amazing than I could have, would have created. It’s thorough but basic, detailed but simple. It covers every age group and cooking skill level from beginner to intermediate to advanced. It includes 45 professionally created videos, 2 recipe eBooks, and 250+ pages of downloadable material, flash cards, and lesson plans.

So Malachi, who still fits in my lap (barely), has been joining me at the computer where we are working our way through the Kids Cook Real Food course. Inspired, we head to the kitchen to take selfies.

malachi cooking2

We’ve also gotten to work on Malachi’s kitchen skills. From start to finish, this kid turned out a double batch of his favorite Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins (while his hot stuff dad rinsed some dishes).

malachi cooking3

I fully intended to give a shout out for the Kids Cook Real Food course earlier last week, but cream cheese and rotel bulk purchases detained me. So you should know that today is the final day to sign up for the class. It’s rockin’. Work yourself out of a job while your kids take over your kitchen and find themselves prepared for cooking success in the future.

Saturday morning we headed out the door while it was still dark for basketball games out of town. I made Ham and Egg Breakfast Bowls to go with Malachi’s muffins. There were only four of us home at the time, so only making 9 Ham and Egg Bowls seemed really strange. The picture quality is terrible since the kitchen was fairly dark, but I highly recommend you checking out this easy breakfast idea.

aldi9

We arrived home to our wonderful Bountiful Basket order which had been dropped off by a sweet friend. We are so set for this week!!

aldi8
Would you believe, after all these grocery purchases, my brain actually had the audacity to think, “What do I need at the store?!?” when it started snowing heavily on Saturday night? I must be crazy. Relax, Brain. I’m pretty sure our family can eat for months with all the food we have on hand right now. Getting snowed in would not be a problem.

As it turns out, it snowed beautifully but we are not snowed in. It takes a lot to keep a Nebraskan from getting out and about after a big snow.

Here’s to a great week!

Do you get to shop at Aldi often (or ever)??

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The Easiest, Healthiest Side Dishes

January 15, 2016 by Laura 5 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

After I finish detailing my favorite healthy side dishes to serve my family, you are going to be so unimpressed and bored that you will fall asleep on the spot. This post is like a lullaby, sung sweetly to you after you’ve had a warm bath and a mug of milk. Pin this post. You will want it to refer back to on the nights you’re anxious to relax and have a good night’s sleep.

See, the thing is that I’ve simplified my real food kitchen life so much during the past few years that I barely think about or plan ahead for side dishes anymore. Do I serve them? Absolutely! In fact, I serve at least 2 if not 4 side dish options at almost every lunch or dinner. But here’s my trick:

I set out a variety of fruits and vegetables based on what I have and what will offer healthy options for my family to choose from.

That’s it. I rarely mash a potato anymore. For me, side dishes are no longer something that require much work. There is no time!! The main dish gets my attention and the side dishes are a variety of fruits and veggies that make our plates pretty and offer oodles of nourishment.

side dishes1
Every once in a while I go all out and steam some broccoli and carrots. Phew. Big day. Otherwise, I do something like wash some berries, slice some pears, and throw some frozen peas in a pot to cook (which they do all by themselves in about 4 minutes).

side dishes4

More often than not, prepping the side dishes is the job I hand my boys. “Peel 6 clementines.” “Cook some green beans, please.” “Wash the raspberries.”

Do you see how easy this is? Side dishes at our house get pulled out of the fridge or freezer just a few minutes before the meal is served. They take very little prep, yet they are the most nourishing part of our meal. Side dishes are almost always served in the container they came in or the pot they were steamed in. In case you’re wondering why I ask a boy to peel clementines when we could all just peel our own (which we do sometimes) – it’s this.

You might also be interested in another post I wrote recently about How to Easily Add Fruits and Veggies to a Meal.

Easily Add Fruits and Veggies to Your Meal

Healthy, easy side dishes come down to these three rules at my house:

  1. Buy fresh fruits and vegetables that are in season and affordable. (You can’t serve ’em if you don’t buy ’em.)
  2. Keep frozen veggies in the freezer ready to steam quickly before a meal.
  3. Be intentional about offering a variety of these goodies with every meal.

Every week, I buy big containers of mixed greens and fresh baby spinach. Boom. We have salad.

I buy whatever berries are on sale, which we wash and plop on the table. I buy grape tomatoes in season (or grow them when it isn’t -3°). I buy apples and pears, which can be washed and sliced in 30 seconds. I buy heads of broccoli, big bags of carrots, and lovely cucumbers – all of which can be prepared for cooking or served raw in just a few minutes. I always have jars of homemade applesauce or homemade pickles to pull out.

Below are some pictures I came across that show the variety of easy side dishes I serve. Notice how little prep these took:

multitasking6

alfredo leftovers 2

Cream Cheese Chicken

beef15

food week may 96

colorful plate

And there you have it. Nothing terribly exciting – just simple side dishes that our family eats regularly. We get a variety, we get plenty of nourishment, we don’t wear ourselves out making the prep work tedious. That works for me!

So what works for you? What are your favorite side dishes?

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How to Clean Cast Iron

January 14, 2016 by Laura 26 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Today you will have the honor of seeing my cast iron skillet covered in a layer of crusty scrambled egg residue. This is so special. Thank you for sharing this fine moment with me.

cast iron5

In describing how I clean my cast iron, I’m also going to reveal to you what is, in fact, my favorite of all the gadgets in my kitchen. It’s something I use many times each day (even more than my blender, and that’s saying something). I use this little gadget on cast iron skillets, on stoneware, and on my counter-tops to easily clean up flour or dough. My friends, allow me to introduce you to my BKFF (Best Kitchen Friend Forever) –

The Rubber Scraper

rubber scraper

It’s the best six dollars you’ll ever spend. Or if you already have the little brown ones that came with your Pampered Chef stoneware, you’re golden.

If you are one who hates cleaning your cast iron and even avoids using it entirely so that you don’t have to mess with cleaning it, I have two words for you: Rubber Scraper.

You guys. Cleaning cast iron is about the easiest job there is when you:

1) Soak the skillet or pot for a few minutes in hot water and
2) Use a rubber scraper to scrape all the food away.

If I didn’t have a rubber scraper, I would also hate cleaning my cast iron. I don’t even know how I would do it otherwise. Truly. How did Grandma clean her awesome skillets and griddle? I have no idea. Rubber scrapers rank up there in modern conveniences as high as cell phones and flush toilets. They are the exact same in their ability to improve life.

Allow me to present a step-by-step tutorial of my easy cast iron cleaning system:

1. Run hot water into the dirty, crusty skillet or griddle.

cast iron6

2. After a few minutes, use a rubber scraper to scrape away all the food residue.

cast iron2
3. Rinse the cast iron with hot water.

cast iron 1

4. Allow cast iron to air dry, or rub it dry with a tea towel.

cast iron 3

Before taking the above picture, I had just rubbed my skillet down with some coconut oil (or palm shortening – I can’t remember which). I rarely need to oil it down, but if you find your cast iron looking rusty or dry, rub in some coconut oil or palm shortening. They likes these fats as much as you and I do. Can you blame them?

Something to note:

Do not use soap on your cast iron.

It isn’t necessary and you don’t want it to absorb soap which will leech into your food. Hot water is all it needs. That and a rubber scraper.

Seriously, how did Grandma clean hers??

How to Clean Cast Iron

My favorite and most used cast iron pieces are…

A large skillet like this one:

cast iron 1

This big griddle:

cast iron 2

 

 

 

 

Those babies get used all the time at our house. Eggs, pancakes, meat, hashbrowns – my skillet and griddle make all of these naturally taste so much better!

None of you need to fear using your cast iron since you now know how to clean it easily! Rubber scrapers to the rescue. Who knew such a small, simple square piece of rubber would play such an important role in the kitchen?

Have cast iron? How do you clean it?

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