Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Menu Plan for the Week

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Here’s a picture preview of one of the first simple recipes I’ll share in our upcoming Real Food Dollar Menu series. Spanish rice is one of our favorite meals. Most of it comes from throwing leftovers together. Easy and inexpensive! Recipe coming this week. (It’s a great way to use up a little leftover turkey!)

We have a full week ahead of us! Of course, with Thanksgiving coming, all of you likely have a full week too. I’m praying for peace and calm for all of us as we prepare food and enjoy loved ones.

Before the festivities begin, we will be hosting High School Huddle tonight, then the YC Ladies’ Basketball Team on Tuesday. You may notice a very similar menu on both nights. I figure our family might get sick of it, but Mama’s got to keep things simple in order to pull this off. Two big meals – one exact menu plan. It works for me. ;)

Sunday, November 18
Applesauce bread, bananas
Spanish rice with chicken, tossed salad
Huddle (for about 35 people) – Pulled pork sandwiches, cream cheese corn, baked beans, grapes, baby carrots, homemade ranch dip, butterscotch bars

Monday, November 19
Pancake sausage muffins, applesauce
Tuna salad, crackers, pineapple
Dinner at our friend’s house (Cake Boys will be making the dessert we’ll be taking)

Tuesday, November 20
Oatmeal pancakes (an experiment), applesauce
Cottage cheese, peaches, blueberry muffins
YC Bball Team (for about 24 people)Pulled pork sandwiches, cream cheese corn, baked beans, grapes, baby carrots, homemade ranch dip, butterscotch bars

Wednesday, November 21
Scrambled egg sandwiches, clementines
Grilled cheese, tomato soup
Chili with crackers and fruit

Thursday, November 22
Banana bread, fruit
Big Thanksgiving Feast with family!
Leftovers

Friday, November 23
Pancakes, scrambled eggs
Leftovers
Homemade pizza, fruit

Saturday, November 24
Biscuits and sausage gravy, scrambled eggs, fruit
Turkey sandwiches, veggies and fruit
Taco potatoes

Will you be doing lots of cooking for Thanksgiving, or will you be joining someone else and let them do most of the cooking? :)

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Wash Your Potatoes in the Dishwasher

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The look on my boys’ faces were priceless.

I mean, when I give out orders like, “Fold and put away the laundry” or “Go clean the bathrooms” I usually just get a routine shrug, nod, and a big high five. (Just kidding. My kids don’t like cleaning the bathrooms enough to warrant a high five.)  But when I asked my boys to fill the dishwasher with potatoes, they thought maybe I’d finally lost my mind.

Apparently they hadn’t read the same tip I had that stated that if you need to scrub a large amount of potatoes, you could let your dishwasher do the work for you. Mom, crazy? Naw, just efficient.

(Okay, yeah, and a little crazy too.)

Recently, after ordering 50 pounds of potatoes from our food co-op, I had my boys put about a third of them into the dishwasher. I ran the load, without soap, and had tons of potatoes ready to bake and make into Homemade Hashbrowns.

Wash Potatoes in the Dishwasher

I just wanted to share that tip in case you’re feeding a bunch of people for the holidays, in case you want to make Homemade Hashbrowns…

Or in case you wanted to make your kids giggle when you ask them to do a chore. ;)

Side Note:  I typically bake a full roasting pan full of potatoes (with lid on) for about an hour and a half at 350°. Or easier still, I’ll bake them in a crock pot. Read full instructions here.

Ever washed potatoes in the dishwasher?

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Introducing: Heavenly Homemaker’s Dollar Menu {Real Food Favorites for $1.00 Per Plate}

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We’ve talked before around here about how eating healthy food doesn’t have to be expensive. I mean, it can be, if you’re eating grass fed steak every single day. And yes, some “real food”  ingredients are more expensive than their lesser quality food counterparts. But hey, I’ve seen a lot of junk food that is rather expensive, and if you’re eating out frequently then you are likely spending quite a bit of money that you could be saving…

Oh good grief. Why am I even going there? ;)

The point:

Real food can be expensive, but so can junk food, and I’m here to prove to you that eating a whole foods, healthy diet can be done without freaking out your pocketbook. That is all.

I’ve spent some time recently adding up the cost of many of the meals I feed my family, then dividing the amount by the number of people that particular meal feeds. Am I doing this because I have lots of extra time on my hands? (Do you really want me to answer that?) 

No, I am doing this because I am excited to see that there are many, many healthy meals that can be prepared for around a $1 per plate! And I want to encourage you – if money is what is holding you back from beginning your real food diet – to take heart and know that really…healthy eating does not have to be expensive.

During the next few weeks and months, I am excited to share posts detailing full meals – with recipes – that cost around $1.00 per plate. This is what I feed my family – and trust me – we aren’t light eaters at our house. 

Stay tuned. You will be amazed at how many meals you can feed your family that are healthy, real, delicious – and cost you a buck!

(If you don’t read my blog regularly, you may want to join our Facebook page, or Subscribe by Email or Rss so you don’t miss out!)

What are your favorite, low cost, real food meals?

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Real Food MakeOver: Crock Pot Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cake (and Cake Boys Episode 7!)

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Yum
 
Have a recipe you’d like me to try and make over? Submit your recipes on this Real Food Recipe Makeover Submission Page.
 

Remember that cake I tried to make in a crock pot that ended up being tedious and difficult? After that, my friend Jenny emailed me a recipe for Crock Pot Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cake, figuring that I could surely make over the ingredients to make this a healthier recipe.
 

I was excited, yet given my experience with cake in a crock pot, I couldn’t help but wonder:  Would this cake be a lot of work? Would it be tasty in the end?
 

The answer to those questions are:  No, this cake is not a lot of work…and YES this cake is incredibly tasty.
 

I actually handed the recipe to the Cake Boys (aka Justus and bros) to make this for Matt’s birthday last week. It was so easy for them to adapt that they did it without any help from me. Yes indeed, this Real Food Makeover is brought to you by the Cake Boys. :)

 
You simply pour the batter into the crock pot, then drizzle over a layer of boiling water/cocoa/sucanat. The cake bakes in a crock pot for two hours, and when it’s finished, the cake has baked over the top and a layer of fudgy pudding is on the bottom.
 

This cake is dreamy, rich deliciousness. We all loved it!
 


Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cake

 
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup sucanat
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 Tablespoons melted butter (or coconut oil)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

 
Combine flour, cocoa, sucanat, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Make a well in the center and add milk, butter, and vanilla. Stir well, until batter is smooth. Stir in peanut butter (heat if needed, to thin). Stir in chocolate chips. Spread the batter evenly into a well greased slow cooker. Make the topping:
 
Topping:

 
3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
3/4 cup sucanat
1 1/2 cups boiling water
 

Mix cocoa and sucanat, whisk in boiling water until smooth. Gently pour over batter in crock pot, but don’t stir. Cover and cook on HIGH until puffed and the top layer is set, about 2- 2 1/4 hours. Turn off crock pot and let stand, covered for at least 30 minutes. Serve the cake (which is now on top) with ice cream or whipped cream and drizzle the fudgy pudding from the bottom over both.

 
Makes 6-8 servings

 

 
And now, you can enjoy Episode 7 of Cake Boys, which includes a ridiculous commercial break by Asa. Wow, our boys have tooooo much fun putting these together. Also, I should note:  Justus says that he added “shortening” to the cake. He really added butter. He was just reading the original recipe when he recorded. :)  And then we had a little lesson about what shortening is and why we don’t eat it unless it’s Palm Shortening. But anyway…

 

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Gratituesday: My First Concert

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It seems that last weekend held a lot of “firsts” for me. I participated in my first 5K walk-run. And I got to go to my first concert!

Really…I’d never been to a live concert before. Why? Well mainly because I didn’t think I would really like it. I guess I felt like I’d be paying good money to have my ears blasted out by loud speakers and that I’d feel uncomfortable in a setting like that.

I’ve always really enjoyed Christian music on the radio. But I tend to be kind of private when I’m “belting it out for the Lord”. Now, put me in my mini-van with a CD cranked up when I’m by myself on the way to the store and I’ll jam out, but with others around me – even my family members who I am, of course, very comfortable around – I tend to be much more reserved. 

Goodness, let’s all just pause for moment and have a nice belly laugh that I used the words “CD cranked up”, “jam out”, and “mini-van”,  all in the same sentence. Not that any of you thought I was very cool before, but after that sentence, all of my coolness credibility just flew out my mini-van window.

Hey. I’ll have you know that our mini-van has a very sweet stereo system, thank you very much.

(My guess is that trying to defend my mini-van speakers is not increasing my coolness level even a little bit, is it? I’ll stop now.)

Well anyway, last Christmas, our boys received the “God is Not Dead” Newsboys CD. We have it playing in (you guessed it) our mini-van. The more I heard the CD, the more I loved it. For the first time, I actually found myself wishing that I could go to a Newsboys concert, because jamming out (don’t picture it) with the Newsboys live and in person sounded awesome.

All concerts in our area were sold out, so it seemed that it just wasn’t going to happen. I decided to just be satisfied with enjoying the CD, playing my favorite songs over and over.

And then, a Newsboys concert opportunity came about right around Matt’s birthday. (You’ve got to love it that I planned something I really wanted to do for his birthday. Don’t worry. Matt loved it too and was in full agreement that we make these plans.)

Last Friday night, as a family, we got to experience the best concert ever. I loved it more than I ever thought I would. In fact, when they sang their final song and the lights came on, I looked at Matt and said with incredible disappointment, “Wait. It’s over already? But they just started.” Matt smiled, showed me his watch, and told me that we had been there for three hours. I had no idea that much time had gone by. But I am admitting to you right now that this 39 year old with the not so coolest mini-van in town felt like crying like a baby that it was over already. 

I figure I’ve already solidified your decision that I’m terribly uncool. Might as well let you know that I was also a big cry baby because (wah) I wanted more songs.

It’s all good though. We turned the Newsboys CD on and jammed out as a family in our mini-van all the way home. ;)

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Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

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Menu Plan for the Week (And Cake Boys Episode 6!)

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Remember how we hosted our church’s high schoolers for “Huddle” each Sunday night during the ’11-’12 school year? When school started this year, we were deep in the midst of Matt traveling many weekends for York College soccer, as well as being very involved in our city league soccer (Matt is currently president of the board) and of course our boys play and/or referee. I’ve talked about it plenty – you know our family eats, sleeps, and breathes, and loves soccer from August until November. 

During those months, we still wanted to be a part of Huddle, so we loved it that our friends hosted and fed the kids – and Matt and I just got to show up! Now that life has settled down a tiny bit for us, it’s our turn again! 

This morning I made Baked Oatmeal, using this recipe – baking it in a pyrex dish for about 25 minutes.

Here’s what we’ll be feeding the teens tonight, and what our family will be eating the rest of the week:

Sunday, November 11
Baked oatmeal, pears
Roasted chicken, potatoes, carrots, gravy
 Huddle – Cheesy salsa enchiladas, spanish rice, tossed salad, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

Monday, November 12
Warm pumpkin soother, toast
Tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, fruit
Chicken alfredo with pasta, steamed broccoli and carrots

Tuesday, November 13
Scrambled eggs, whole wheat biscuits, applesauce
Potato soup, zucchini muffins
Teriyaki chicken and veggies with rice

Wednesday, November 14
Blueberry struesel muffins, bananas
Creamy mac and cheese, peas
Calico beans, tossed salad

Thursday, November 15
Coconut flour muffins, pears
Pizza boats, fruit
Cheesy beef and rice, green beans

Friday, November 16
Whole wheat pancakes, fruit
Chicken and noodles, carrots
Taco potatoes, fruit salad

Saturday, November 17
Homemade donuts, fruit
Sloppy joes, potato wedges, peas
Leftovers

And now…Cake Boys Episode 6, in which Justus shares his recipe! And he also uses food coloring. Ugh.  Why yes, we do compromise every once in a while. ;)

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Receive a $20 Amazon Gift Card for Signing up with Carbonite (My Computer Crashing Story…)

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A little over a year ago, a friend told me about Carbonite – a source she trusted and loved for backing up all her files on the computer.

At the time, we had nothing backing up our computer. This scared me quite a bit, because if our computer ever crashed, we would lose thousands of pictures – not to mention the eBooks and other projects I was working on for the website, financial documents we had saved, and who knows what else.

We took our friend’s advice, and signed up. For $59 per year, this seemed like a very worthwhile and reasonable investment. 

Would you believe, that the investment with Carbonite paid off exactly four days later. Out of nowhere, the hard drive on our laptop (which was only one year old) got completely fried. When the “computer guy” who was examining our laptop looked at me and said, “There’s no way I can retrieve any of your information. Your hard drive is gone. I sure hope you have your files backed up somewhere…” I breathed a huge sigh of relief that God had led us to Carbonite just in the knick of time.

And I also wanted to kiss my friend who had told me about it…and maybe could have kissed the Carbonite people if I was in the business of kissing strangers who live in other states, which I’m not, so I just chose to be grateful to them instead.

Anyway.

I just received an email letting me know that everyone who signs up with Carbonite receives a free $20 Amazon Gift Card. (Yay – just in time for Christmas!)  This is a great deal, because receiving that card pays you back for a good chunk of your initial yearly investment. Plus, you can get a free 15 day trial to start with to see if you like it. (I’m pretty sure you will like it. We love it because it is super easy to use. Plus, because our files are on Carbonite, I can get online from a different computer and access anything I need to at any time. Love that!)

I encourage you to look into Carbonite and take advantage of this offer. It may save your neck! Or at least it will save all the information stored on your computer that you don’t want to lose!

P.S. If you sign up with Carbonite’s Refer a Friend program, you can help your family and friends back up their computer too – and you’ll both receive Amazon gift cards. I’m using my Refer a Friend links in this post, because I like Amazon gift cards too! But I love how Carbonite saved my pictures and hard work even more, so that’s why I’m sharing this with you. :)

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My First 5K!

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I am so pumped! I just participated in my first ever 5K Walk-Run Event! I was going to wait until Gratituesday to share it with you, but I’m too excited, so I’m telling you about it now. :)

The race would have been a little much for Elias and Malachi to participate in, so they went with us,
but hung back and played soccer with a college girl. Asa was out of town, so we were bummed that he missed the event.

It was gorgeous outside, so that probably helped us all love it a little more. ;)  The race was set up as a fund raiser for Tiny Hands International, an organization our family loves to support. 

I typically don’t run much because I have found that running is much harder on my knee and hips than power walking. BUT, I was excited and wanted to at least run a little bit of it. We started out all jogging together. After about a mile, Matt and Justus went on running without me, and Jen and I finished it out by doing our typical power walk.

It felt so good!!!

Being able to participate in a REAL 5K event, and knowing that the money we paid went for a great cause we believe in – well, the morning was just awesome.

Then Jen and I were so pumped up, we went and lifted weights when we were finished. We figured we may as well make it a complete workout, right?

Loved it!

Have you ever done a 5K? Half Marathon? Full Marathon?  Wow. 

And don’t forget, even if you never have or never will do any of the above, if you at least do something to get moving, you’re doing great! It pays to be fit!

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How To Replace Cream Soups in Recipes

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Once I announced our new Real Food Recipe Makeover:  Heavenly Homemakers Edition feature, many asked me to come up with a substitute for cream soups in recipes. Well, I can check that one off my list right away, because I already have several options for cream soup substitutes that I can share!

The best part of replacing canned cream soups is that it can be absolutely SO SIMPLE! You can take some time to make homemade cream soup if you want, but if you don’t, there are a couple of very easy substitutions you can make that take no extra effort at all!

Cream Soup Substitution Idea One:

Add sour cream instead. If a recipe calls for one 10 ounce can of cream of ________ soup, you can use one cup of sour cream instead. This is how I make Cheesy Beef and Rice. The sour cream makes the casserole creamy and adds great flavor too. So easy!

Cream Soup Substitution Idea Two:

Add heavy cream instead. If a recipe calls for one 10 ounce can of cream of _________ soup, you can add one cup of cream instead. This is how I make Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole. You won’t miss the cream soup at all!

Cream Soup Substitution Idea Three:

Make Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup. This takes a little more effort than the other two ideas, but you can make up a batch, use it right away, or freeze it for future uses! I use homemade cream of mushroom soup when I make One Dish Meat and Potato Casserole.

For any of these ideas, specificially ideas one and two, you may want to add a few extra herbs or spices to your recipe, since taking out the canned cream soup may also take out some of the flavor. But I have found that taking out the cream soup and replacing it with heavy cream or sour cream – I am then able to taste all the other great natural flavors in the casserole (chicken, vegetables, etc). The result is a fresh, clean taste.

Ah…real food. I love it. :)

Do you have some recipes that call for canned cream soups? Do you think any of the above ideas will work well as a substitute?

If you have a recipe you’d like for me to try and make-over, click here and fill out the form provided.

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The Benefits of Eating Out Less

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simplesteps

If you’re looking for a simple way to save money while eating a healthy, real food diet, I thought you would be inspired by this comment left this week by Sile. Once she read my Eat Out Less post, this is what she had to say:

We didn’t eat out for the entire month of October. My husband thought it was to save money. While that was half my goal, the other half was to give him a taste of REAL food without the distraction of all the horrid stuff you can get from restaurants.

I will admit to having cravings for burgers and fries. However, I soon found that making a meatloaf and baking some potatoes fulfilled the craving! (and meatloaf freezes great even after cooking!) Just one month out and I really don’t miss eating out. Sure, cooking everything from scratch at home is more work, but I’ve been endeavoring to do extra cooking on the weekends to alleviate some stress (since I’m still working until the babies start coming). Mostly it’s just been getting breakfast food cooked and frozen (mostly whole wheat carrot waffles), but at least I don’t have to rush to make us a breakfast in the morning. It’s great that my husband hasn’t even reached for cereal in a long time. He was such a cereal junkie. One more thing to cross off my ‘let’s not buy that anymore’ list.

But I’m rambling. Not eating out = saving money + eating better!

I love this! Thank you Sile for sharing your experience with this, and kudos to you for taking on (and sticking with!) the challenge of not eating out during the entire month of October!

Homemade Pizza saves money, tastes incredible, and is much healthier!

How often do you eat out? What challenges you most when it comes to eating out (or rather, eating in?!)

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