Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Easy Blender Pancakes

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Blender Pancakes save a step or two. Anything that makes cooking easier is a win!

With so many little ones in our house, I find that I’m often stopping to pick up a baby or toddler while making our meals. So recently, instead of mixing up our Pancake Batter in a bowl with a whisk, I put everything into our blender so that I could use just one hand instead of two!

I love how easy this is and how the blender does the work of mixing the ingredients. I also love pouring the batter directly onto our griddle instead of scooping out batter with an additional utensil. Fewer steps, fewer dirty dishes! And tasty pancakes. :)

This particular day, we turned our pancakes into snowmen because we were enjoying a beautiful snow fall!

You can use any recipe you want to make your pancakes – simply mix them in your blender instead of in a bowl with a whisk. But here’s our favorite whole wheat recipe:

Easy Blender PancakesYum

Easy Blender Pancakes
 
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Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 2 cups milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups whole wheat flour (or whatever grain you want)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
  1. Put ingredients into a blender, liquids first.
  2. Blend until smooth.
  3. Pour batter from blender onto a buttered griddle or skillet.
  4. Flip cakes once they begin to bubble.

Here are more tasty pancake recipe varieties:

Mix any of these in your blender too:

Whipped Cream Recipes:

Ever topped your pancakes with whipped cream? Oooh, you should!

Bonus Pancake Topping Recipes:

Sometimes we just spread butter on our pancakes and eat them as-is. Other times we dribble on some Real Maple Syrup or Honey. Other times, Peanut Butter and Applesauce. Here are more ideas…

Every tried Blender Pancakes?

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Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eaters – Chocolate or Vanilla

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I have discovered a new idea and I’ve decided to call these: Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eaters.

I didn’t actually invent this recipe. I happened upon it whilst scrolling Facebook and an ad popped up for Weight Watchers recipes. I don’t care about counting WW points, but I do like the idea of adding pumpkin to goodies. Any opportunity to add nourishment to food – I’m all in.

I was also very attracted to the idea of a two-ingredient recipe. It’s just a cake mix and a can of pumpkin. Easy and includes a vegetable? Yes please.

Now, I didn’t used to buy cake mixes. Those most certainly include ingredients that aren’t great. But alas, here I am, ignoring the ingredient list and paying $0.98 for a box of convenience. Then I add a huge wad of spinach to the cake, declaring that I am somehow still winning the war on food. Can we also  occasionally add an entire can of pumpkin to such a mix? Yes, we can. So now we can cringe as we buy cake mix, then smile as we add spinach or pumpkin.

And if I’m lucky, I might also have time to take a shower. Seriously, I have so many reasons to buy cake mix now. Here are my youngest 5 reasons. Plus Malachi, who is quite low maintenance but does also like to eat.

Why did I decide to name them Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eaters? Two reasons:

  1. Buying a cake mix is sort of cheating, making us sort of cheaters, but again, we like to shower sometimes and this is how we are surviving right now.
  2. These treats are some kind of cross between a cupcake and a muffin. They are too sugary to really be a muffin but too pumpkin-y to really be a cupcake. I couldn’t land on what to call them. A muffcake? Perhaps. But then Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eaters came to mind and I decided I liked it.

Is it possible I spend too much time reading nursery rhymes? Nah.

Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eaters – Chocolate or VanillaYum

Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eaters - Chocolate or Vanilla
 
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Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 1 cake mix, chocolate or vanilla
  • 15-ounce can pumpkin
  • ½ cup water
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon if you'd like!
Instructions
  1. Mix ingredients together until smooth.
  2. Scoop into 12 paper-lined muffin tins (you'll fill them a little bit more full than a typical cupcake or muffin).
  3. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

You can add chocolate chips, but I skip that because I don’t want to add extra sugar. Also have you seen what happens when toddlers eat melted chocolate chips? Oy, so messy.

And there you have it, friends. Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eaters are fun and easy to make. The pumpkin makes these moist and pumpkin is a superfood. Ha. I declare these to be a win.

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Taco Soup for a Crowd

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Here’s Taco Soup for a Crowd – an easy way to feed a lot of people!

What actually is a “Crowd?”

First question: What is considered to be a “crowd” anyway? I’m not sure how to define this.

We currently have 16 people living at our house and we often have guests. So pretty much every meal at our house “feeds a crowd” I suppose. :)

For the purpose of this post, we’ll understand the word “crowd” to be: If you’re feeding a lot of people (any number will do) and want to make it easy, here’s what to make.

Sound like a plan?! :)

Taco Soup for a CrowdYum

This soup is very easy to put together and can be made with either cooked chicken or hamburger meat. When making this for a large crowd, I like to make one crock pot with chicken and one crock pot with hamburger. This helps stretch the meal plus gives everyone the option of choosing their favorite meat.

If you have hamburger meat and chicken cooked ahead of time, then truly all you have to do is put it into crock pots, then dump in a few ingredients and that’s it!


Taco Soup for a Crowd
 
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Serves: 15 servings
Ingredients
  • 2 pounds cooked ground beef or shredded chicken
  • 32-ounces salsa (any variety)
  • 3 cups frozen corn
  • 2 15-ounce cans black beans
  • 32-ounces (1 quart) chicken or beef broth
  • Shredded cheese, sour cream, and fritos for toppings
Instructions
  1. Put all ingredients (except for toppings) into a crock pot.
  2. If you're making this soup for more than 15 people, consider making two separate recipes in two different crock pots.
  3. Cook on Low for 6-8 hours or on Hi for 4 hours.
  4. Serve with cheese, sour cream, and Fritos

 

You will love how easy this Taco Soup is – and it is a crowd pleaser for sure!

Fun Side Dishes to Serve with Taco Soup

NOTE: This Taco Soup can be made in a large pot on the stove instead of in crock pots if you wish. Simply heat until bubbly and serve!

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7 Days of Low Cost Breakfast Ideas from Costco

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Here’s an entire week worth of low cost breakfast ideas from Costco!

Can you get the ingredients for these breakfasts at any grocery store? Sure. Do whatever works best for you! I have personally found that buying in bulk at Costco and enjoying their high quality mixed with great prices is a great combination to save lots of money on wonderful meals!

Download a free grocery list here.

Get ready to buy the few ingredients needed to make these breakfast ideas! Many of the ingredients can be mixed and matched so you’ll get great bang for your buck!

Download a free grocery list here.

7 Days of Low Cost Breakfast Ideas from Costco

First, take a look at the seven day menu. Doesn’t this all sound tasty?

  1. Oatmeal with Berries
  2. Homemade Granola with Yogurt
  3. Eggs and Smoothies
  4. Biscuits and Gravy
  5. Pancakes and Bacon
  6. Blueberry Muffins and Eggs
  7. Warm Vanilla Soother and Toast

Ready for the recipes and details? Take note as you make a grocery list that many of the ingredients needed in these breakfast recipes can be mixed and matched. So if you buy these ingredients, you can make multiple recipes and have a wonderful variety of breakfast meals!

1. Oatmeal with BerriesYum

What to buy at Costco:

  • Old Fashioned Oats
  • Your favorite Berries

Costco has awesome prices for both. Their oats comes in 10-pound packages so it will go a very long way. (I usually keep some in a canister in my kitchen for easy access, and then freeze the rest to keep it fresh longer.)

Make it easier:

Here are some fun oatmeal recipes that your family might love!

2. Homemade Granola with Yogurt

What to buy at Costco:

  • Old Fashioned Oats (maybe you’re buying it anyway for the above-mentioned oatmeal!)
  • Coconut Oil
  • Honey
  • Yogurt
  • Look through the recipes below to learn about any additional ingredients you’ll need for individual recipes. Remember when you see the ingredients at Costco – you’ll be able to make several recipes worth of granola or other goodies with these ingredients. This makes it worth paying for and saves money in the long run!

Recipes you’ll love:

3. Eggs and Smoothies

What to buy at Costco:

  • Eggs
  • Frozen Fruit
  • Milk
  • Fresh Spinach

Recipes you’ll love:

Scramble or fry eggs to enjoy while you sip your smoothies. You’ll be nourished well and ready to start your day!

4. Biscuits and Gravy

What to buy at Costco:

  • Flour
  • Butter
  • Sausage
  • Milk
  • Baking Powder
  • Salt

Recipes you’ll love:

It’s amazing how inexpensive it is to make biscuits and gravy at home compared to buying it at a restaurant. And it’s hard to beat homemade!

5. Pancakes and Bacon

What to buy at Costco:

  • Flour
  • Baking Powder
  • Milk
  • Butter
  • Eggs
  • Maple Syrup (a little goes a long way!)
  • Bacon

Recipes you’ll love:

6. Blueberry Muffins and Eggs

What to buy at Costco:

  • Flour
  • Coconut Oil
  • Brown Sugar
  • Baking Powder
  • Milk
  • Blueberries
  • Eggs

Recipes you’ll love:

7. Warm Vanilla Soother and Toast

What to buy at Costco:

  • Milk
  • Eggs
  • Cornstarch
  • Maple Syrup
  • Bread
  • Butter

Recipes you’ll love:

I love how simple these ingredients are and how you can use them in so many ways to make great meals. Enjoy these 7 breakfast ideas, and consider making them for dinner too. Breakfast for dinner is a favorite!

Get our free grocery list to make this easy!

Download your free grocery list here.

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124 Brunch Food Ideas and Recipes

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Need some brunch food ideas? Here are 124 to look through and choose from!

Recently I decided to host a simple brunch for our Sunday Lunch guests. I had so much fun brainstorming different food ideas that I decided to share them here for easy access.

My initial Brunch Food Ideas list looked like this:

  • Egg Casserole
  • French Toast Casserole
  • Muffins
  • Yogurt-Granola Parfait
  • Omelet Muffins
  • Fritatas
  • Quiche
  • Homemade Poptarts
  • Raspberry Bars
  • Iced Coffee – coffee bar
  • Fruit Tray with dips
  • Veggie Tray with dips
  • Cheesecake Parfait
  • Smoothie Station
  • Bagels and cream cheese spreads

Then I decided to be more detailed and make big lists of recipes in each category. All said and done, I compiled 124 recipe options for you to work with. These are all simple and good. Enjoy!

Egg Dish RecipesYum

Is it even a brunch if you don’t have an Egg Casserole of some kind? :) These are some great options to choose from:

French Toast and Bread Pudding

These are great because you can make them ahead of time:

Muffin Recipes

It might be fun to make several varieties of muffins to set out along with a beautiful, colorful fruit arrangement, quiche, and drinks!

Breads and Rolls

Make a variety of these to slice and serve with an egg dish and fruit:

Other Fun Baked Goods

These recipes will make your brunch extra special:

Cheesecake or Yogurt Parfaits

These are as beautiful as they are delicious!

Fruit with Dips

Prepare a tray filled with any variety of these fruits to go with your fruit dips: strawberries, blueberries, green grapes, red grapes, pineapple, cantaloupe, watermelon, honey dew melon, orange wedges, apple slices

Chips or Veggies with Dips

Veggie platters are beautiful because they add color variety to your buffet. These dips make veggies more fun to eat:

Salads

Here are some ideas for making your salad special:

Smoothie Station

Borrow blenders from a couple of friends, then set out a variety of frozen fruits for people to choose from:

  • Pineapple
  • Strawberries
  • Blueberries
  • Bananas
  • Mango

Along with liquid choices:

  • Whole milk
  • Almond milk
  • Coconut milk
  • Orange juice
  • Yogurt

And some extras like whipped cream and fun straws. Let everyone make a smoothie just the way they like!

Coffee

Your guests will love it if you serve coffee in any of these fun ways!

Hot or Iced Tea Options

These look pretty in glass serving dispensers…

Hot and Cold Drink Treats

These ideas are unique and always go over well:

Share your favorite brunch menus!

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Simple Salmon Burgers – $1.00 Meal!

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Do you need a change from regular sandwiches? I made these Simple Salmon Burgers for my family a few weeks ago and they were a huge hit!

Canned salmon is something I always have on hand but almost never use. It’s one of those things that is great to have in the pantry as a backup meal option – yet I forget to actually use it. Silly!

Recently I was challenging myself to use up food we had in an effort to save money so I pulled out two cans of salmon to make Salmon Patties. As I was cooking, I decided that the kids might eat them better in the form of a sandwich. So I spread mayo on hamburger buns, added the cooked salmon patties, and they were a hit!

Here’s a quick picture I snapped on my phone after I’d taken round one of the sandwiches out to the kids to eat. It was a beautiful day so they were enjoying lunch on the porch! Playing outside makes them extra hungry, so I hurried to finish another batch of burgers!

You can add cheese, pickles, extra lemon juice, sliced tomatoes, lettuce, guacomole – whatever you would like – to your sandwiches. I love how mild these taste, so even those of you who aren’t huge fans of fish may still enjoy these as a great meal option!

Simple Salmon BurgersYum

Simple Salmon Burgers
 
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Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 14-ounces canned salmon
  • 1 egg
  • ½ cup bread crumbs or crushed cornflakes
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • oil for cooking (I use palm shortening or coconut oil)
  • Buns and your favorite condiments
Instructions
  1. In a bowl, mix together salmon, egg, bread crumbs and lemon juice.
  2. Heat a small amount of oil in a skillet.
  3. Spoon balls of the salmon mixture into the oil, flatten and cook for about five minutes, turning once.
  4. When the salmon patties are golden brown, serve them on burger buns.

How great is it that you can make these Salmon Burgers for such a low cost! Serve them with fresh fruit and raw veggies and your meal is nourishing and delicious.

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Easiest Crock Pot Pasta (5-Minute Prep!)

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This truly is the Easiest Crock Pot Pasta recipe. Ready to spend only five minutes making tonight’s dinner? :)

Here are the fine details about this Easiest Crock Pot Pasta dish and why it truly only takes five minutes to prepare:

  1. You can use whatever cooked meat you have in the fridge or freezer. Leftover hamburger meat, taco meat, cooked chicken, cooked turkey, diced ham, bacon, sausage…
  2. You can use whatever variety of pasta you like and have on hand.
  3. You throw the pasta into the crock pot UNCOOKED. This is my favorite.

Ready for the “recipe?” Such as it is…

Easiest Crock Pot PastaYum

Easiest Crock Pot Pasta (5-Minute Prep!)
 
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Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 16-ounces uncooked pasta, any variety
  • 1-2 pounds cookied meat, any variety
  • 32-ounces chicken or beef broth
  • 2 cups water
  • 3 Tablespoons dried minced onion
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 2 cups shredded cheese
Instructions
  1. Stir everything except for the cream and cheese into a crock pot.
  2. Cook on low for 3 hours.
  3. Stir cream and cheese into the crock pot mixture.
  4. Serve.

Do you see how easy this is? Do you see how wonderfully this uses up leftovers you have in your fridge or random bits of pasta you might have in your pantry? Isn’t it lovely that you can dump all this into a crock pot and then walk away?

I suggest serving this dish with a steamed veggie or a salad, and fruit as side dishes. Miracle of miracles, all 10 of the people who eat food at our house loved this. This almost never happens, but with this dish, everyone eats it happily!

 

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Easy Make-Ahead Meatloaf

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This recipe for Easy Make-Ahead Meatloaf is going to look incredibly similar to our Easy Meatballs recipe. That’s because it’s the same recipe. Shhhhh.

I grew up eating meatloaf every single week for eighteen years if I remember correctly. My mom made it with baked potatoes and probably green beans (because we didn’t eat a lot of veggie variety when I was growing up, hehe). This was one of my favorite meals. But just like I said in my Meatball post, Matt isn’t a huge fan of meatballs or meatloaf. So this recipe takes a backburner at our house.

I just got a fantastic deal on ground beef though, so I decided to go ahead and make a few meatloaves for the freezer. This is a great meat to serve kids and well, we have a lot of them!

How to make this meatloaf ahead of timeYum

Make this meatloaf and freeze it without the sauce. Then when you’re ready to bake it, thaw it, add the sauce, then bake. It freezes so well! I typically make mine in 9×13-inch dishes, but making it into an actual loaf – in a bread pan – works great. Fun fact: my mom always made ours in a casserole dish so I was a lot of many years old before I learned that meatloaf was supposed to look like a loaf.

If you don’t make your meatloaf ahead and freeze it, at the very least, I recommend making this quickly in the morning, refrigerating it, then baking it later at meal time. This makes dinner prep so fast and easy!

Easy Make-Ahead Meatloaf

Easy Make-Ahead Meatloaf
 
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Serves: 6-10 servings
Ingredients
  • 2-pounds ground beef
  • 3 Tablespoons minced onion
  • ½ teaspoons garlic powder
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ cup milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 Tablespoons rolled oats
  • Sauce for Meatloaf
  • ¾ cup ketchup
  • 2 Tablespoons minced onion
  • ¼ teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
  • 2 Tablespoons brown sugar, molasses or honey
Instructions
  1. Mix first seven ingredients together thoroughly.
  2. Press the mixture into a 9x13 inch glass casserole dish or a 9-inch loaf pan.
  3. Stir sauce ingredients together in a small bowl, then spread over the meatloaf.
  4. Bake uncovered in at 350 degrees for one hour.

 

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Mini Crustless Jelly Swirl Cheesecake Cups (5 Ingredients!)

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These Mini Crustless Jelly Swirl Cheesecake Cups are so easy and only 5 ingredients!

Why are these crustless? Because it’s easier that way and they taste just as good! I love blending the cheesecake ingredients together, scooping the mixture into cups, swirling in a little jelly, then baking as-is. These are such a good grab-and-go breakfast or snack!

Why not dessert? Well sure, they can be a dessert too! I just find them to be filling as a breakfast option also simply because they are low in sugar and high in protein. They are great with a cup of coffee in the morning!

Make a batch of these and keep them in your fridge for easy meal and snack options!

Mini Crustless Jelly Swirl Cheesecake CupsYum

Mini Crustless Jelly Swirl Cheesecake Cups
 
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Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, softened
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 Tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ⅓ cup 100% fruit jelly (any kind)
Instructions
  1. Blend first four ingredients together until smooth.
  2. Pour into 12 muffin cups. (I use a silicone muffin "pan" for this and they pop right out once cooled.)
  3. Spoon a small amount of jelly into each cup and swirl with a butter knife.
  4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.
  5. Turn off heat, open the oven door, and leave the cheesecakes in the oven for an additional 20 minutes. (Cheesecakes will puff up during baking but deflate while continuing to sit in the oven.)
  6. Transfer cheesecakes to the fridge and chill for at least two hours before serving.

How about Peanut Butter and Jelly Swirl Cheesecake Cups?!

Yes, please! Simply blend 1/3 cup of natural creamy peanut butter into the cheesecake ingredients along with an additional egg. Follow the rest of the recipe as directed!

 

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Simple Bran Muffin Recipe

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Silly as it may be, I think this Simple Bran Muffin Recipe may be my favorite of all the muffins.

And trust, me, there are a lot of muffins. I have over 40 muffin recipes here, and many of them include chocolate chips or a cheesecake topping! So to say that these Bran Muffins are a favorite is saying something.

I believe it stems back to my college days when the cafeteria sometimes featured a muffin like this one. I didn’t love many of the cafeteria foods, but those muffins were a favorite and I always got excited when they were serving them!

These stir together easily and you can use any brand of Bran Flakes cereal you like!

Simple Bran Muffin RecipeYum

Simple Bran Muffin Recipe
 
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Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
  • ½ cup brown sugar or rapadura
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1 ½ cups milk
  • 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
  • 3 cups Bran Flakes cereal
  • ½ cup raisins (optional)
Instructions
  1. Mix together flour, brown sugar, soda, cinnamon, and salt.
  2. Add egg, milk, and oil.
  3. Stir in cereal until well combined (along with raisins if you like)
  4. Scoop mixture into 12 paper-lined muffin tins.
  5. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20-22 minutes or until muffins are golden brown.

One of my kids favorite ways to eat a muffin is if I cut them in half, smear butter on them, then warm them in our big air fryer. (We use our air fryer as a toaster oven as it works great to fill it with bread, bagels, or muffins and warm/toast them slightly. YUM!)

These taste great for breakfast, and also as a side dish with soup.

Are you an “add raisins to your muffins” kind of person or a “raisins don’t belong in muffins or cookies” kind of person? (Raisins are a no-go for me, except for snacks for the kids, ha!)

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