Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

High Five Recipes: Roasted Italian Potatoes

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High Five Recipes 2

It’s been months since I posted a High Five Recipe, so just in case you’re new around here…let me introduce you to this special recipe feature we have going on. Are you ready?

It is a fact that there are lots and lots of healthy recipes you can make which only take five or less (healthy) ingredients! I’m talking about REAL INGREDIENTS too…not just “add a packet of this and stir in a can of that”.

Real ingredients, real easy recipes. I LOVE High Five Recipes! You can scroll through all of these posts to see the other High Five Recipes I’ve posted so far!

This Roasted Italian Potatoes recipe comes courtesy of my friend Anne. Remember last year when I put some of my homemade Italian Dressing Mix in her stocking? What, you don’t remember? Yes, my friend Anne and I exchange Christmas stockings. Grown-ups needs stockings too ya know. And because she and I love to live on the wild side, we put items in each others stockings that are incredibly outlandish like paper clips, pot scrubbers…and yes…Italian Dressing Mix.

Yes indeed, Anne and I create one great big rowdy party when we come together.

Anyhoo…after Anne tried the Italian Dressing Mix I had given her, she fell in love with it and keeps coming up with yummy things to make with it. She is out to prove that Italian Dressing goes way beyond tossed salad. See? Told ya she was a crazy one.

Roasted Italian PotatoesYum

3 pounds red potatoes, scrubbed (or dirty, whichever way you like ’em)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons Italian dressing mix

Cut potatoes into bite sized pieces. Toss ingredients together in a bowl until the potatoes are covered with olive oil and dressing mix. Pour potatoes into a baking dish. Bake uncovered in a 350° oven for 20-30 minutes or until potatoes are tender. If you like, you can broil them for a few minutes at the end of their baking time to brown them up a bit.

Now, I am creatively thinking about what I should put in her stocking this year. Maybe some other great ingredient so she can come up with another high five recipe? Perhaps something to do with, I don’t know…chocolate???

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Menu Plan For the Week

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We had a bunch of company all weekend long and I’m a little bit on the tired side. Do you ever have that “let down” feeling after you’ve looked forward to company and prepared for company and enjoyed the company….and then they leave and all you can do is stare into outer space and try as you might, you can’t remember your own name? Weird.

As a result, I was having SUCH a hard time coming up with a menu plan for this week. After all my planning and prep for last weekend, a part of me didn’t feel AT ALL like planning for this week. Ah, but people are still waking up hungry around here…go figure. This time so that I didn’t have to think very hard to plan our meals, I just opened up a window with my Bread and Breakfast recipe ideas….and opened up another window with my Main Dishes recipe ideas. Then I just grabbed ideas off of each page that looked good and would be well balanced. That worked very well for my slow moving brain. 

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Sunday, October 10
Oatmeal, apples
Chicken veggie quesadillas, applesauce
Homemade pizza, tossed salad

Monday, October 11
Simple Soaked Pancakes, raspberries
Taco Salad, peaches
Turkey & Biscuits, tossed salad

Tuesday, October 12
Sweet Potato Streusel Muffins, bananas
Chicken Tortilla Soup, raw veggies with ranch dip
Salmon Patties, peas, oven fries

Wednesday October 13
Peanut butter honey toast, applesauce
Lasagna Casserole, tossed salad
Whole wheat waffles, blueberries

Thursday, October 14
Breakfast Burritos, oranges
Spicy Avodado Dip, kettle chips, cantaloupe
Veggie Egg Scramble, strawberry milkshake

Friday, October 15
Pumpkin Pancakes, apples
Sloppy cornbread muffins, green beans
Tacos

Saturday, October 16
Fried eggs on toast, fruit
Leftovers
Swiss Steak with rice, steamed broccoli

Visit Organizing Junkie for more menu planning inspiration!

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Remember to download your free Fall Menu Planners here!

 

 

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Crumb Topping – Premade!

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I LOVED Christy’s comment/suggestion that she left on the Healthy Fruit Crisp post regarding how she makes a Crumb Topping ahead of time:

I melt the butter, then make a huge batch of crumb topping, pop it in a freezer bag, and stick it in the freezer. It is great to have on hand since a basic crumb topping will work for coffee cake, muffins, quick breads, and fruit crisp. I figure if I already have the crumb topping done, then I am half way to a great breakfast/dessert item!

Is she the smartest or what??!

Just in case you hadn’t read that comment, I wanted to make sure you all knew of that wonderful tip. When I was making Mini Apple Pies last week, I went ahead and made a big batch of crumb topping for future use. LOVE. IT.

Yum

Here again is how I make Crumb Topping:

1/2 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup sucanat or brown sugar
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1/4 cup butter (MELTED, if you recall)
1/4 cup chopped nuts or coconut flakes (also optional)

Mix together oats, sucanat, flour and cinnamon. Stir in melted butter and joy upon joy, it creates crumbs with little to no effort. Add nuts or coconut flakes.

Just double or triple or quadrupal…or whatever…the recipe and have it ready to go!

I’ve learned so many great ideas from so many of you. I sure am glad all of you are so smart!

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Hospitality Made Simple (ish) – Podcast #3

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Right this minute I have a houseful of company and I LOVE IT. While it can be hard work, there are some ways to keep hospitality simple so you can enjoy your guests.

You see, the key to relaxed hospitality is…

Oh wait, you’ll have to listen to the podcast to hear what I have to say. :) 

Heavenly Homemakers Podcast Three

Links I referred to in the podcast:

Please feel free to leave comments and suggestions concerning a future series on hospitality. Remember, it will probably take me a while to get around to writing this series…but your suggestions will help me know what to focus on when I DO get around to writing it!!

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Cooking Ahead for October

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Why does it always feel funny writing the phrase “cooking ahead…”? Have I just lived with boys for too long, or does it sound like I’m actually cooking-a-head? Yuck. I promise I’m not.

Yes, I know you were all concerned about that.

Now that we got all that cleared up, I’ll show you some pictures of the progress I’ve made over the past few days getting food made up to have on hand for this month. Like I mentioned here, we will have a lot of company this month. In an effort to ENJOY my company, I’ve got the majority of our main dishes and a few miscellaneous food items all made up and ready to pull out when needed. (More about hospitality and enjoying company in my new podcast Friday!)

You are all aware that my house has been run over by an apple truck, right? About the time I think I’m finished making applesauce and apple pie filling…more apples fall from the sky. My fingers are all brown in their crevices. It’s attractive.  I went real nuts one day and made two pans of Mini Apple Pies, a big apple pie and some Apple Pie Pockets. Oh, these are SO well worth the effort!!

I made a triple batch of Sloppy Joe Meat as Sloppy Joes are a wonderful quick meal to feed company. As long as I remember to get the dish out of the freezer to thaw, of course.

Mmmm, fresh whole wheat tortillas. We ate half of these right off the skillet as tacos, then I put the rest in the fridge for a quick meal of quesadillas.

There is something VERY not cute about the following picture. Raw meat in a pot…not so appetizing. However, I’m showing it to you anyway because you NEED to know how wonderful it is to make up a huge batch of Turkey Sausage to have on hand for breakfast casseroles or sausage-egg scrambles, or especially now for these Pancake-Sausage Muffins. The thing is, making this Turkey Sausage is a little tedious because you have to get out about 40 herbs and spices (give or take). If I’m going to do it in the first place, I’d rather do a bunch…and all the work of emptying and reloading my spice cabinet is worth it.

There it is…all browned up. I did six pounds of Turkey Sausage, then froze it in ten different containers. TEN meals ALL ready to go. Oh yes, that was time well spent.

I used some of the cooked turkey sausage to make a double batch of Pancake-Sausage Muffins. I think we may be addicted to these little treasures. Only a few of them actually made it into the freezer…

I plan to serve several salads to my guests, so I made three jars of salad dressing:  Italian, Ranch and Thousand Island. Can I have three cheers for easy, healthy dressings that don’t contain any HFCS!!! But hey…what happened to all the  Italian?

Because having cookies on hand when you have company is a must…or simply because I wanted one…I made a batch of Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I still have to finish putting together a lasagna. I have the meat browned, so all I have to do is layer it up and put it in the fridge. And I didn’t get Mudballs made like I had planned. I DID get a triple batch of BBQ Meatballs made, but the pictures turned out scary so I won’t post them.

Now, I need to go vacuum my ceilings and walls.

I wish I was kidding.

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Gratituesday: Miraculous Healing

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gratituesday

Two weeks ago Chip, a friend of ours from college, was found unconscious in his car, two hours after he’d suffered a heat stroke. His body temperature was over 107°. It was absolutely horrific and I didn’t think he was going to make it.

Oh me of little faith.

For several long days, it seemed that he might not wake up, and I was terrified for his family.

Oh me of little faith.

Even if he did wake up, I feared that he may not have brain function.

Oh me of little faith.

Even if he did have brain function, I feared that he might never be able to breathe on his own again.

Oh me of little faith.

Even if he could breathe on his own again, I feared that he may not be able to communicate.

Oh me of little faith.

Even if he could communicate again, I feared that he may not have his memory or even recognize his wife and little girl.

Oh me of little faith.

We don’t know what Chip’s future holds, but one thing is for sure:  God can work miracles and I absolutely believe He worked a miracle in our friend Chip. Every day  he makes wonderful progress. It truly is amazing (and I don’t use that word lightly). GOD is amazing.

Chip’s wife Lisa has been an absolute ROCK through this trial, completely relying on her Savior for comfort and hope. I have learned so much from Lisa during the past two weeks. I believe all of us who are blessed to be able to call Lisa our friend have learned something about strength through Jesus as we watch her cry out to Him and place her trust in Him.

I have cried and prayed over her facebook page every night as I check in to see how their day has gone. I have been so absolutely grateful to her local church family and friends who live close by and are feeding her, taking care of their little girl, holding her, praying with her, worshipping with her – doing what I can’t do physically because we live too far away. 

I continue to cry each time I check Lisa’s facebook page. But this time, the tears are tears of joy. My prayers are prayers of thanks and praise. God truly has worked a miracle in the lives of our friends.

I have once again been reminded that no matter what I might fear, God is bigger. I have seen once again that even if a situation looks impossible, with God all things are possible. My faith has been shaken. Shaken and stretched. Shaken and stretched and made stronger.

Today, I’m not sure what I’m more grateful for:  the fact that Chip is on his way to healing…or the fact that I now understand more about having faith that moves mountains.

Or how about I’m just extremely and humbly grateful for both?

What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Write about it 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!

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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Another Reason to Make Homemade Vanilla

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vanilla

If you’ve been hanging around here for a while, you’re quite familiar with my obsession with love of Homemade Vanilla Extract. If you are new to Heavenly Homemakers…just so ya know…I LOVE Homemade Vanilla Extract. I think it’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever done in my kitchen…and the easiest.

Making your own vanilla saves money, tastes incredible, is super simple and creates a fantastic gift!! But I’ve shared all of this already. I’ve also shared that using imitation vanilla is kinda like eating used paper.  Tasty.

BUT, I’ve just discovered another reason to make your own vanilla extract. I’m not sure how I missed this fact, but I was doing a cost comparison at the store the other day and decided to turn the bottles over to look at the ingredient list on store-bought “Pure Vanilla Extract”.

It was all I could do to remain quiet in the baking aisle. Do you KNOW what is in “pure” vanilla extract?????

One brand which shall remain nameless but is familiar to most of us includes:  Water, alcohol, vanilla beans, corn syrup

Uh-huh. Water is the first ingredient…which means that this vanilla extract is watered down. And corn syrup? REALLY? Please don’t call yourself pure.

The vanilla extract I found at the store with the fewest ingredients had “only” alcohol, vanilla beans and glucose.

NONE of the bottles of pure vanilla extract I found were what I would call pure. As we all know because of my homemade vanilla extract obsession…all it takes to make vanilla is alcohol and vanilla beans. That’s it.  Why in the world would you add corn syrup? Why must corn syrup be added to everything? Why? WHY?!???

I would apologize for my outburst but I don’t want to. Stuff like this makes me mad. We can not only read the label title…words like “pure” and “natural” are quite deceiving. We really must turn the label over and read the ingredients.

And then when we get frustrated, we must make our own vanilla extract. The pure way. The very cool way. The way that will make all of your family and friends impressed when you give it to them as a gift and the way that will make your hands smell really vanilla-y for several days.

As a reminder, Olive Nation agrees with my rants about making homemade vanilla and has offered all of you a 15% discount on their vanilla beans, plus FREE SHIPPING on orders over $50!!! I love my vanilla beans from Olive Nation!! You can read more about my experience with Olive Nation here. Use the coupon code home for your 15% discount.

You know what I feel like making right now? Warm Vanilla Soother. Yes, I truly do have a vanilla obsession.

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Pancake and Sausage Muffins

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Pancake_Sausage_Muffins

Here’s what you need to know if you ever send me a recipe request:  I do get around to it eventually.  I don’t even remember WHO emailed this idea to me, but I do know that it was MONTHS ago. It went on my list…the long, long list of reader recipe requests, post ideas, questions to be answered. But see, lookie…here it is! I finally got a round tuit!

The original suggestion (from the reader who shall remain nameless, not in an effort to protect her privacy, but because I have misplaced the note with her name) was to use this Corn Dog Muffin idea, but do a breakfast Pancake – Sausage Muffin instead. Brilliant!!! After experimenting and making these last week and watching my family devour them in about five minutes, I did have to ask myself why I took so long trying this idea.

Now, we don’t do much pork at our house, but I do have this killer turkey sausage recipe . I make it up in big quadrupal (or more!) batches, cook  it up, then freeze it until we’re ready to eat it. Having cooked turkey sausage on hand for recipes like this one is a huge life saver!! So easy! If you choose, you could use sausage links instead, making the muffins like these Corn Dog Muffins. Instead, I just stirred cooked turkey sausage right into the batter:

Pancake-Sausage MuffinsYum

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cups milk or buttermilk
2 eggs
1/3 cup melted butter
1/2 pound cooked turkey sausage (or nine sausage links, cut in half)
Real grade B maple syrup

Mix dry ingredients together. Add milk or buttermilk, eggs and melted butter. Stir in browned turkey sausage.

Pour batter into 18 buttered muffin tins. (I don’t recommend paper muffin liners for this as it will stick.)  Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes or until the muffins are lightly browned. Serve with a lovely drizzle of maple syrup!

This is a great recipe to bake up ahead of time, freeze, then pull out and rewarm in the oven or toaster oven at breakfast time!

Now, don’t wait months to try this like I did. This recipe is SO easy and my whole family LOVED them!! You can never have too many easy breakfast recipes!

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Menu Plan for the Week

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I’ve been doing quite a bit of cooking and freezing ahead for the month of October…especially because we’ll be hosting several rounds of company this month. I LOVE having company, and I really like to ENJOY my company, which is why making food ahead of time is such a great idea! In a few days, I’ll share pictures of my cooking adventures.

Here are some of the recipes I’ve been working on:

Here’s our menu this week (company coming over the weekend!):

Sunday, October 3
Oatmeal, pears
Spaghetti, tossed salad, corn
Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup

Monday, October 4
Crepes with jelly, strawberry milkshakes
Cheddar ranch burgers, steamed broccoli and carrots
Chicken and rice, green beans

Tuesday, October 5
Breakfast cake, bananas
Homemade pizza, tossed salad
Beef Stroganoff, squash, green beans

Wednesday, October 6
Baked oatmeal, apples
Popcorn chicken, ranch potato wedges, peas
Chicken Veggie Quesadillas, fruit-kefir smoothies

Thursday, October 7
Whole wheat waffles, blueberries
Sloppy joes, angeled eggs, black bean salsa with corn chips, fruit salad
Dinner out at Southside Grille

Friday, October 8
Scrambled eggs, bacon, fruit
Sandwiches, raw veggies, chips, fruit
Lasagna, tossed salad, corn, honey whole wheat bread

Saturday, October 9
Fried eggs on toast, applesauce
Leftovers
Build your own taco – buffet

Visit Organizing Junkie for more menu planning inspiration.

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Clean Car? Question #71

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I don’t think about it very much…until someone else rides in our van with us. THAT is when I realize that there are muffin crumbs, little rocks, a few papers from the boys’ Bible classes, a fruit leather wrapperand a little lego head on my van floor.  And that’s on a good day.

I WISH I were better at managing the messiness inside our vehicles. On the other hand, I have so many other things to do that cleaning the inside (or outside for that matter) of our van is really a low priority for me. Therefore, I don’t think about it very much until someone hops in for a ride. Suddenly my van interior gets a whole lot filthier in my eyes. 

Aah, and the other day I got into Matt’s truck because we had traded vehicles for some reason. Once I adjusted the seat so that I could reach the pedals, I looked up and was shocked to see that a bunch of birds seemed to have recently had a big poop fest all over his windshield. Yowza!

Anyhoo…I know that others are much more concerned than we are about the cleanliness inside (and outside) of their vehicles. While ours aren’t trash cans…neither are they what anyone would consider clean. I NEED to send our boys out there with our very powerful vacuum…and yet I never seem to remember. I guess as long as we can see out of our windshields, we really don’t care that much about taking time to clean our vehicles. (Which means, of course, that we did remove the evidence of the bird splatter competition.)

My question for you today is….

Are you good at keeping the insides of your vehicles clean? Do you have them detailed? Or are you like us and have vehicles that allow you to write notes to each other in the dust on the dashboard?

Okay…it’s really not that bad. 

ehem

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