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Partial Menu Plan for the Week – Plus Some Fun Announcements That I’m Not Announcing Yet

August 18, 2013 by Laura 8 Comments

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

Last week I said that I was taking a two week break from official menu planning since I was focused on the five days I am feeding the York College women’s soccer team. That was a good idea in theory, because at least I had all the meals planned out for feeding the team. However, the rest of the meals needed for my family, in the midst of schooling and cooking for extras? Well, without at least giving it some thought – my overloaded brain had a hard time coming up with anything that didn’t involve simply picking a tomato from our garden and calling it lunch. Since that didn’t go over well, and neither did my creative suggestion to eat their tomato with a side of jalapeno pepper – I decided that at least I should make myself a list to draw from this week. That way, when my mind begins to feel frazzled (I say that as if the frazzle is in the future and not in the present) I will have a cheat sheet to draw from.

I was able to snap a couple of shots right before feeding the team last night (Bbq chicken, cream cheese corn, green beans, carrots with ranch, and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies):

soccer_team_1

See how simple the meal was? No need for fancy. Just meat, sides, a dessert, and water.
soccer_team_2

Here are the final three meals I will be feeding the team (about 32 people each meal):

Sunday:  Roast, carrots, gravy, raw veggies, whole wheat butterhorns, chocolate chip cookie bars

Monday:  Cheesy salsa enchiladas (x4), tossed salad, grapes, brownie fudge sundaes (these brownies, this hot fudge sauce, store-bought vanilla ice cream)

Tuesday: Italian chicken (in the oven), baked red potatoes (in the roaster), steamed broccoli and carrots, watermelon, crustless cheesecake cups

And here are some breakfast, lunch, and dinner ideas for my family the rest of the week, all served with fruits and/or veggies:

Breakfast:

  • Quick Mix Pancakes
  • Muffins from the freezer
  • Eggs, scrambled or fried
  • Breakfast Burritos
  • Creamy Orange Cooler

Lunch or Dinner:

  • Alfredo Sauce with Pasta
  • Chicken Patty Sandwiches
  • Cheddar Ranch Burgers
  • Taco Corn Fritters
  • Pizza Boats
  • Tuna Casserole
  • Spanish Rice
  • Baked Potatoes in the Crock Pot

There, that will at least give me some ideas. Now on to the announcements that I’m not quite ready to share with you.

Just know that there are some really fun and exciting new features coming up here at Heavenly Homemakers, some of which I will be able to share with you as soon as tonight! So check back for the actual announcements. I just wanted to let you know that they are coming. We’re always working to help you in your homemaking efforts. And who is a homemaker? Every last stay-at-home, work-outside-the-home, work-from-home, married, retired, single, home schooling, public schooling, young, not-as-young, beautiful one of us. :)  Check back in soon to learn of the resources we are creating to help you manage your home and love on your family.

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Flourless Fudge Cookies

August 15, 2013 by Laura 30 Comments

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

flourless_fudge_cookies_3

You can’t go wrong with a recipe that has the word “fudge” in its name. These cookies are very easy to make and live up to their name. Mmm, fudgy cookies. Yes please.

Flourless Fudge CookiesYum

2 1/4 cups sucanat powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put 2 1/4 cups of sucanat into a blender. Process until sugar has become powdered. (Here is a post with picture tutorial showing you how easy this is!)  In a bowl, mix sucanat powdered sugar with the remaining ingredients. Scoop teaspoon sized balls of batter onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet (very important). Bake in a 350° oven for 8-10 minutes.  Allow the cookies to cool completely while on the cookie sheet.

If you bake them on a baking stone or try to remove them before they are completely cooled, you’ll end up with this:

flourless_fudge_cookies_2

See below, how the cookies sit patiently and cool on their parchment paper so that they will come off the pan nicely?

flourless_fudge_cookies_1
Ah yes, that is the way to do it. These cookies are worth the wait!

flourless_fudge_cookies_4
Have you ever made your own powdered sugar with sucanat?  It’s very easy – and these cookies are a great way to experiment with that idea!

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Baked Potatoes in the Crock Pot – a perfect, ready made lunch

August 14, 2013 by Laura 8 Comments

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Baked potatoes are the best!

baked_potato_3

The making baked potatoes in the crock pot idea is rocking my world almost as much as the freezing muffin batter idea. I love it when delicious, simple, and healthy all come together in the same sentence (and on our plates).

Now that we’ve started school, I really need easy lunches that don’t take long to prepare. (Which is funny to say, because it’s not like on non-school days I look for meals that are difficult and time consuming. Easy, real food cooking is the way I roll.)  The food I’ve made and put into my freezer has helped a ton. I also decided to try throwing potatoes into the crock pot on “hi” instead of “low” one day so they’d be done by lunchtime. It worked perfectly.

Then, I rewarmed some leftover roast and gravy, thinking that would taste great on the potatoes. (It did.)  We have garden fresh green beans, plus we’ve been picking loads of tomatoes and peppers. This lunch went together so easily, was very filling, and super nourishing!

baked_potato_meal

It was also so pretty that I had to take a picture.

The point of this story: Crock pot baked potatoes are going to be a regular lunch around here. And the other point of this story (or rather, a reminder and encouragement):  It is very easy to add fruits and vegetables to a meal to add lots of extra nutrients. We are blessed to have access to such variety. Don’t hold back on fruits and veggies!

What are some of your favorite, quick, healthy lunches?

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My Coffee Drinking Confessions

August 13, 2013 by Laura 53 Comments

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iced_coffeeI don’t drink coffee. I don’t like coffee. Coffee smells great but tastes terrible. Coffee is super bitter, how could anyone like it? Yuck, coffee, no thank you. All things I’ve said about coffee for years and years.

I then experimented with a Homemade Chocolate Caramel Creamer because so many of you asked for a healthier creamer option. To my surprise, I kind of liked it. But only kind of.

Months went by. I maintained my “I’m not a coffee drinker” status. During the winter I was introduced to Crio Bru, which is brewed ground cocoa beans, and it is delicious. I began enjoying a cup during my God time each morning. Perfectly delightful.

Then, I started holding Meet and Greets. Many of them were in coffee shops. I began to try iced coffee, which were offered in some very tempting flavors. Hmmm, not bad. Not bad at all…

I believe the kicker was my Oklahoma City Meet and Greet. We met at Vintage Coffee, a lovely shop owned by my cousin and her husband. My cousin, Carie, talked me through options she thought I might like, which resulted in her making me a cold coffee with chocolate and toffee or some such wonderful combination. It was so delicious, I guzzled it down, wished for more, and have been craving another one ever since.

I blame my new interest in coffee on Carie. And on those who came to Meet and Greets. You all obviously forced the stuff down my throat, creating a coffee interest in me that I can no longer deny. I have yet to recreate the delicious brew Carie made for me, and that’s probably a good thing. I would be making them way too often.

So here’s my new coffee status:  Don’t like it hot. Can’t drink it black. Tastes great cold with an equal part of milk and a little bit of homemade chocolate sauce. Craving a Chocolate Toffee Cold Coffee drink from Vintage Coffee.

And now you know.

How about you? What’s your current coffee status? 

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Gratituesday: Nineteen Years and Counting

August 12, 2013 by Laura 31 Comments

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It’s our wedding anniversary this Gratituesday!

What I am actually most excited about this year is that while soccer season has usually already started by the time our anniversary rolls around, this year it begins the day after. Wasn’t that thoughtful of the calendar to work with us this year? (Remember our 17th anniversary? While we couldn’t be together that day since Matt was away at a pre-season soccer retreat, I think that still may be one of my favorite anniversary memories.)

This year, we get to be together! And so, we’ll spend our special day schooling the kids, working on our rental properties, painting our house, doing everything we can to get ahead so that our busiest season of the year will go more smoothly. Then come evening, we’ll steal away without the kids to use a gift card at a local restaurant, and enjoy time to eat together and have real and uninterrupted conversation.

matt_and_laura_sm

Soccer season? Bring it on. But the evening before during our special date time? It’s all about us. 19 years and looking forward to many more!

Share how God is working in your life on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for! Please read through the Gratituesday Guidelines so that you understand what kinds of posts you can link up to share here. Posts that are linked but do not fit our Gratituesday theme will be deleted.

If you are linking up a blog post for Gratituesday, please copy and paste the following sentence into your post! Thanks!

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

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I Should Become a Victorio Salesman

August 11, 2013 by Laura 19 Comments

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I think I might just do it.

I love the Victorio Food Strainer so much that I may just go into business. I’ll pack a bunch of apples and tomatoes into my kids’ wagon, then I’ll go door to door, demonstrating to everyone I meet how wonderful the Victorio is for making applesauce and tomato sauce. I’ll show everyone how easy it is to set up, how much time it saves in making these great sauces, and how lovely the finished product is. Once they see it, they will hug me and thank me for sharing this invaluable kitchen tool. Then they will excitedly begin chopping some apples so that they too can easily make applesauce in their brand new Victorio.

It will be beautiful. Can’t you just picture it?

Sure, some will be skeptical. They will say to me, “Thanks anyway, but I already know how to make applesauce. It’s easy. You just have to core the apples, cook them, then run them through a blender.” And then I will tell them that as easy as that is, using the Victorio makes the process even easier and saves even more time! And I will add some exclamation marks to the end of my sentence because of how much time this will save them. !!!!!!!

Yes, it just might be my new career. But first, I’ve got to finish using my Victorio in my own kitchen to make my own tomato sauce and apple sauce…

This message was brought to you by the Heavenly Homemaker after quickly and excitedly finishing a delicious batch of tomato sauce.

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Preparing to Feed the York College Soccer Team

August 11, 2013 by Laura 3 Comments

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The family menu plans I usually share with you each Sunday will be put on hold for this week and next. I have plenty of prepared meals in the freezer that I’ll be pulling from during these busy few days, so instead of preparing and following a menu plan, I’ll simply feed my family whatever falls out of my freezer first. Muffins perhaps?!

chicken_salad_lunch

This was our simple, but delicious lunch today of Chicken Salad, Whole Wheat Butterhorns, and lots of fruits and veggies. I love this time of year!

As is our well-loved tradition, our family will be feeding our Ladies’ York College soccer team several meals beginning at the end of this week. Matt is one of the coaches for this team, and we are blessed to be a part of the girls’ lives. One of my roles is to love on the team by serving them hearty meals during their pre-season days. The athletes come to campus several days before classes begin, and while the cafeteria is willing to feed them, the cost really gives the slim soccer budget a hit. I can purchase groceries and cook for less, plus, what college student wouldn’t prefer home-cooking to the cafeteria?

I’m working on serving yummy, low cost, and simple-to-put-together meals. Here are the plans I’ve made so far:

Thursday (meal for approximately 60)

I’ll be feeding the cross country team along with the ladies’ soccer team for this meal. I’ve reserved our church fellowship hall for this.

The meal plan:  Italian Pasta Bake (x6), tossed salad, French bread (from the store), fruit salad, butterscotch bars (x4)

Saturday

This and the rest of the meals will be for approximately 32 people (our family included). We will serve these meals in our own home, which makes preparing the food much easier than when I have to lug it all to the church kitchen. I have a large roaster, so when I say “crock pot,” I really mean “huge roaster plugged into my wall.”

The meal plan:  Crock pot barbecue chicken, cream cheese corn, green beans, baby carrots with homemade ranch dressing, chocolate chip cookie bars

Sunday

This was a team favorite last year. I’ve added homemade butterhorns to the mix though. I think they’ll love ’em!

The meal plan:  Roast, carrots, potatoes, gravy, whole wheat butterhorns, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

Monday

These enchiladas go together so easily, and freeze well so that I can be prepared in advance!

The meal plan:  Cheesy salsa enchiladas (x4), tossed salad, grapes, brownie fudge sundaes (these brownies, this hot fudge sauce, store-bought vanilla ice cream)

Tuesday

This is a new favorite of ours – chicken breasts marinated in my homemade Italian dressing. So easy and good!

The meal plan:  Italian chicken (in the oven), baked red potatoes (in the roaster), steamed broccoli and carrots, watermelon, crustless cheesecake cups

In preparation, I spent several hours Friday evening baking desserts. Here we have a double batch of brownies, a double batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and a quadruple batch of butterscotch bars. These are all cut, sealed in freezer bags, and put into the freezer to get out in time to thaw and serve for each meal. Easy!

soccer_food_1

Saturday morning, I browned meat, boiled noodles, and put together all the casseroles needed for two different meals. They are now in the freezer, ready to go.

soccer_food_2
Later on Saturday, the boys helped me make the cheesecake cups, which are now in the freezer. I also made a double batch of butterhorns so that all I have to do before baking time is let them thaw and rise. (Somehow I didn’t get a picture of the butterhorns.)

soccer_food_4
Now that so much of the food is prepped and frozen, the rest of the work will be much easier! And since I don’t begin serving the food until Thursday, the beginning of this week can now be focused on getting school work done with our boys. :)

Oh, and by the way. I need to admit that I now have added four more Pyrex 9×13 dishes to my collection. It had to be done. I edited my “how many Pyrex dishes do you really have” post, so you may need to go re-read it with my updated Pyrex numbers…

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Muffin Paper Liners or No?

August 9, 2013 by Laura 31 Comments

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As I have been talking a lot about making muffins this week, many are curious about what paper liners I use, or if I skip these and just grease my muffin tins.

I almost always use paper liners. Why?

  • For easy clean up.  I find that it’s worth spending a little on paper liners to save me much time in the long run scrubbing muffin tins.
  • To protect my food.  My muffin pans are either aluminum or Teflon, and I don’t love either of those touching our food.

What paper liners to I use?

Sometimes I buy cute ones from the store, just because it’s fun. Usually though, I use If You Care brand paper liners that I buy in bulk from Amazon or Vitacost.

What about you? Do you use paper liners for your muffins?

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How To Make Muffins Moist and Fluffy

August 7, 2013 by Laura 43 Comments

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Now that we know we can freeze muffin batter to make muffin baking even easier, let’s talk about how we can make them even more tasty! Today I am going to teach you how to make muffins moist and fluffy!

How to Make Muffins Moist and Fluffy

 

I love baking with whole wheat flour, but sometimes find that my muffins are a little heavier than those made with white flour. They also seem to get dry quickly (which isn’t usually a problem at my house because we eat them all right out of the pan, but still).

How to Make Muffins Moist and Fluffy

Recently I discovered that if I use sour cream in place of milk in a muffin recipe, I get a super moist, fluffy muffin! The switch is very easy. If a recipe calls for 3/4 cup of milk, I simply use 3/4 cup of sour cream instead. Occasionally, I need to add a bit more sour cream to moisten the muffin batter.

The first time I tried this idea (on Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins), I didn’t tell anyone in the family that I’d made a change. (And for the record, these were made from frozen batter that I’d set in the fridge the night before, yay!)  I served the muffins on a Sunday morning, which means that each of us were in and out of the kitchen at different times, grabbing breakfast as we had time. One by one, the boys found me getting ready for church and would ask, “Did you do something different with the muffins? They were better than ever!”

Aha! So they noticed. And they liked the change. Score!

I will be adding sour cream to muffins more often. And of course, I will forever and always be making the batter and freezing it ahead of time. Now I have moist, fluffy, tasty, healthy, and convenient muffins.

Confession time:  Who read the post about making muffin batter for the freezer and promptly went and mixed some up? Ever tried subbing sour cream for the milk in a muffin recipe?

Need More Muffins Recipes?

  • Easy Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins
  • Easy Banana Cheesecake Muffins
  • Easy Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins
  • Easy Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Muffins
  • Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins
  • Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins
  • Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
  • Flourless Brownie Muffins (my very favorite!)
  • Super Moist Flourless Peanut Butter Brownies
  • Super Moist Flourless Brownies
  • Easy Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins
  • Easy Banana Cheesecake Muffins
  • Easy Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins
  • Easy Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Muffins
  • Easy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Muffins

What is your favorite muffin recipe?Yum

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Freezing Muffin Batter for Quick Breakfasts and Snacks

August 6, 2013 by Laura 89 Comments

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

You, too, will become obsessed with muffin batter after you read this.

Muffins.  They are everywhere. I can’t seem to stop myself.

If you could look into my freezers right now, you might wonder if I had an unhealthy fear of an impending muffin shortage. Or that perhaps I was planning to feed muffins to my family every meal for three weeks and then force ziplock bags full of leftover muffins upon the mailman and the unsuspecting neighborhood boy walking his dog . You might wonder if I am planning a bake sale, featuring all varieties of muffins, baked by the happy, grinning muffin lady.

The practical side of you might also wonder if I’d recently found chocolate chips on sale. At our house, muffins and chocolate chips often go hand in hand just because they do.

It is also possible that some of you might look into my freezers and somehow not even notice the muffins while you think to yourself, “What is this unorganized mess and when is this girl going to defrost her freezers to make them more efficient?” To which I would answer, “Who has time to organize or defrost freezers when one is so busy making muffins?”

We shall blame this latest muffin craze on Vicki – a reader who has now changed my life, or at least my breakfast. I’m telling you right now:  Get out your muffin tins, paper liners, and mixing bowls. You will want to partake in this time saving, delicious, breakfast and snack baking activity.

The Great Freezing Muffin Batter Tip

Stir up your muffin batter as the recipe states. (You’ll find many muffin recipes here.)  Scoop the batter into well greased or paper-lined muffin tins. Do not bake. Freeze.  (Not you, the muffins. This is not a hold up.)  Once the muffin batter is frozen, take the frozen batter balls out of the tin and place them in a freezer bag. Store them in the freezer for up to three months.

When you need muffins, do one of two things:

1. Place frozen, unbaked muffin batter balls into muffin tins overnight, set it in the fridge, then bake the muffins as normal the following morning. Or
2. Place frozen, unbaked muffin batter balls into muffin tins right when you need them, bake as directed, only adding a few more minutes of baking time.

Freeze Your Muffin Batter 3

It’s not like it’s hard or time consuming to mix up muffins and bake them. But I’m all for cutting down on dishes, and getting food made ahead of time to make life and healthy meals more convenient. This wonderful muffin batter freezing tip rocks my world  – and fills my freezer with dozens of muffins in many varieties. It also saves me money and effort. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made muffins, stuffed them in the back of my freezer for a busy day, then pulled them out only to find them freezer burned and dry. This freezing method ensures I have fresh, tasty muffins every time – within minutes and without dirtying dishes.

A few additional tips:

If your batter is thick enough, skip freezing it in the muffin tin. Scoop the batter in muffin-sized balls onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Transfer frozen balls to freezer bags and use when needed.

frozen_muffins_2

Label your muffin batter balls so you can easily tell what is available in your freezer. If you have several different varieties of muffin batter prepared and in your freezer, you can pull out a few of each kind and bake an assortment, just for fun or to please picky palates.

frozen_muffins_1

This idea even works for mini-muffins.

frozen_muffins_3
Because I have muffins on my mind, I have more fun muffin tips coming up this week. (Subscribe for free updates if you don’t want to miss!)  And be watching for an awesome Strawberry Cream Muffin recipe too!

strawberry_muffins_2

I have to know:  Is this “freezing muffin batter” a brand new idea to you, or have you tried it before?  Once I tried this and learned how well it worked, I went on a muffin freezing frenzy (as confessed above). I now have Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffin batter, Blueberry Muffin batter, Chocolate Chip Muffin batter (recipe in Kids in the Kitchen eBook), and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffin batter in my freezers. Told you I couldn’t stop myself. What a time saver!

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