Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Homemade Chocolate Caramel Creamer

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Disclaimer:  No one actually passed out while the following event took place.

Chocolate Caramel Coffee Creamer

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I absolutely do not like coffee. Can’t stand the stuff. Never have liked it, no matter how I’ve tried to doctor it up. However, as I’ve mentioned before, I’ve always loved the way it smells, which is why, when a friend was over one morning earlier this week, I was excited to brew her some coffee. She actually likes how it tastes – and making some for her gave me an excuse to smell it. I know. I’m weird.

This is why I can hardly believe I’m about to say the following words:  I drank a cup of coffee on Tuesday. And I liked it.

Yes, my husband passed out when he heard the news. As did my children. Thankfully, they have all recovered nicely from the shock. I’m not sure I’m over it though. Seriously. I can’t believe I drank a cup of coffee and liked it.

Here’s how it all went down:  When I asked my friend what she would like for her coffee, she told me that she would usually add a shot of “Chocolate Caramel Creamer”. Since she and I are good at talking smack to each other, I said something very gentle and kind like, “Oh gag, are you serious? Do you know what’s in that stuff?”

(Partially hydrogenated oils, plus a bunch of weird stuff I can’t pronounce – in case you were wondering.)

Well, it just so happened that we had hosted a birthday party for Elias last week. And it just so happened that we had offered an ice cream sundae bar during the party. And it just so happened that I had leftover homemade hot fudge sauce, leftover homemade caramel sauce, and fresh cream in my fridge.

So I said to my friend, “You want REAL chocolate caramel creamer in your coffee? I’ll give you chocolate caramel creamer.” And so, I heated some hot fudge and hot caramel on my stove, drizzled them into her coffee, then poured in some fresh cream.

She took one drink and passed out from the deliciousness. Not really. But she loved it and said something like, “You have got to try this!” To which I reminded her, “Um no. I don’t like coffee”.

(It’s just like you’re a fly on my wall, huh? You’ve gotta love a play-by-play of my first coffee drinking experience.)

I finally gave in to the peer pressure, because shucks, it did smell really good, and I took a tiny, little sip. That was when it was my turn to pass out. Wow, it tasted good. I couldn’t believe it, so I took one more small sip just to see if I had completely lost my mind. I think the question of me losing my mind is definitely up for debate, but yeah – that stuff was good. I therefore made myself my very own cup of coffee with hot fudge, hot caramel, and cream. I sat down at the table with my friend, and together, we drank coffee.

Well now, I can’t say I’ve ever been able to write that sentence before.

The reason I share this with you is not ultimately because I have discovered a super healthy new recipe. I can’t say that this beverage is a must-have because of its stellar nutritional content. However, many of you have asked for an alternative to non-dairy creamers, which are really full of some not-so-good-for-you ingredients. If in fact you are looking for a better option for your coffee, I believe this might be just the thing you’re looking for.

Ingredients:  One cup of hot coffee that smells really good, one teaspoon hot fudge sauce, one teaspoon hot caramel sauce, and a few teaspoons of cream.

Make it. Smell it. Try it. And then, we will all pass out together.

Are you a coffee drinker? Have you found any great alternatives to purchased creamers you’d like to share?

UPDATE:  I love coffee now. Who knew?

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Healthy Crock Pot Recipes: Hamburger Sauerkraut Dip

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All I have to say about this recipe is:  Don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it.

I completely understand if you read the name of this recipe and your initial reaction was to make a face of disgust. I’m with ya. I don’t like sauerkraut. I don’t like the way it smells. I don’t like the way it tastes. I don’t even like the way it looks.

But I promise you, this dip tastes so good that you really might just pass out from the delicious flavor. It doesn’t taste like sauerkraut at all – but instead is a wonderful mix of flavor that is completely addicting. The first time I tried it, I stuffed myself so full, I could barely walk out of the kitchen. It was not cute.

I got the recipe from my friend Jen, who, for the record, does not like to cook. That may tell you something about how easy this dip is to put together. We prepped all the ingredients together one evening, then I threw everything into my crock pot the next morning for us to chow on that night. And did I mention that I stuffed myself? Seriously, whether you like sauerkraut or not, you must try this dip.

Hamburger Sauerkraut Dip

1 pound ground beef
4 tomatoes, chopped
2-3 green peppers, chopped
27 ounce can of sauerkraut, drained
12 ounces sour cream

Brown ground beef until thoroughly cooked. Stir browned meat, chopped tomatoes and peppers, sauerkraut, and sour cream into a crock pot. Cook on low for 5-8 hours. Stir occasionally. Sneak bites often. Try not to eat the entire pot. Good luck.

Hamburger Sauerkraut Dip

I’m very happy to point out the fact that I have posted all kinds of different cheese dip recipes on this site, so you must surely be very impressed that I have climbed out of my cheese dip lovin’ box to post a dip that is significantly different and exciting. See, here they are:  Healthier Cheese Dip; Super Simple Chip Dip; Cream Cheese Salsa Dip; Hamburger Cream Cheese Dip. And here I am posting a dip recipe that does not include cheese – but sauerkraut. How about that?

So, are you a sauerkraut fan, or do you tend to avoid it? Any chance that if you aren’t a fan, I could convince you to try this dip anyway? I promise you won’t regret it. :)

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Homemade Sausage Gravy

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Biscuits and Gravy

Have I ever told you about the time I made a cream gravy for a special boyfriend many years ago? We had reached our six month dating anniversary, and so, to celebrate, I was making him a dinner of hamburger steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, and I can’t remember what else.

Everything was coming along pretty well. I called my mom five or twenty times while I was preparing the food, mostly so that she could walk me through the gravy making process. I thought I had it all figured out and soon, it was time for us to enjoy our meal together.

But the gravy. Somehow between hanging up the phone with mom, calling my boyfriend in for the meal, and serving the food – the gravy (if, in fact, we can call it gravy) had turned into a thick, heavy paste like substance. How could this have happened?

Never fear. My boyfriend was very kind. He simply got a butter knife and spread chunks of gravy onto his meat and potatoes. Then he proceeded to eat heartily, and even complimented me on the great flavor of the food.

Yeah, he was a nice one all right. I shouldn’t have let that one get away. Oh wait. I didn’t. A few months after I made him choke on gravy, that nice boy asked me to marry him. I guess he figured that if he could survive my gravy, we could get through anything – thick and thin. (Ha, get it? Thick and thin? The gravy was thick. Get it? Okay, it wasn’t that funny.)

I have since then perfected my gravy making skills, much to the delight of my boyfriend husband, and all of our darling offspring. Here is my sausage gravy recipe and a picture tutorial that will hopefully spare you all from making the same pasty mess that was once my “gravy”.

Homemade Sausage GravyYum

1 pound turkey sausage (I like using this homemade recipe.)
1 Tablespoon plus 3 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons flour (I use freshly ground white whole wheat)
2 1/2 cups milk
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Begin by browning the sausage with one tablespoon of butter in a large skillet until it is cooked thoroughly.

Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter, stirring it around until is has melted.

Sprinkle in the flour. Stir it around with the meat and butter until it is absorbed.

You should now have kind of a thick, meat mixture in your skillet. Turn the heat on your burner up to “high”.

Pour in the milk, and stir constantly. I find that I must leave the burner turned to “high” in order for the gravy to thicken.

Continue to stir over high heat until gravy becomes thick and bubbly. Remove the gravy from the heat, add salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Trouble shooting your gravy:  If your gravy turns out too thick, simply add more milk, small amounts at a time, continuing to stir, until gravy is the desired consistency.

If your gravy fails to thicken, mix a “paste” of 2 Tablespoons flour with 3 Tablespoons of water. Stir the mixture into your gravy, little bits at a time until the gravy thickens to desired consistency. Do NOT sprinkle flour directly into the gravy. That’s how lumpy gravy is made. :)

We love this gravy served over these Whole Wheat Biscuits.

Have any fun stories about boyfriends or gravy you’d like to share? :)

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Healthy Crock Pot Recipes: Hamburger Cream Cheese Dip

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When I think of New Year’s Eve, I think of chip dip. Of course, I also think of playing games, and spending time with friends and loved ones…just so long as none of those dear friends and loved ones get in the way of me and my chip dip. I have been known to greedily reach across serving lines and yank chip dip ladles out of people’s hands before.

Not really. I only picture doing that in my head. On the outside, I’m smiling sweetly and waiting patiently in line for my turn with the dip. I would never really grab a chip dip ladle from someone or push my way to the front of the line to get my dip. (Except for in my head.)

In case you need a tasty and easy chip dip recipe for a gathering this weekend, you may be interested in trying this Hamburger Cream Cheese Dip recipe. And then, you will want to take care and not invite me to your New Year’s  Eve gathering. If I see this dip at your table, there’s no telling what I might do.

Crock Pot Hamburger Cream Cheese Dip

Hamburger Cream Cheese DipYum

2 pounds ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 can (4 ounces) mild green chili peppers
Sea salt to taste
2 cans (8 ounces each) tomato sauce
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
16 ounces cream cheese, softened and cubed

Brown ground beef in a skillet with the onion. Place cooked meat into a crock pot and add remaining ingredients. Set crock pot on low for two hours. Stir, taste, and add additional seasonings if desired. Serve with tortilla chips. We prefer these organic corn chips.

Do you have any exciting New Year’s Eve plans? Except for eating dip, I’m not really sure what we’ve got going on. But then again, I don’t suppose it really matters, just so long as there’s dip.

I think I need to join a chip dip support group.

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Sweet Pepper Fritata

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I can’t decide which I like best about this dish:  looking at it…or eating it. I love that the red and green peppers make this fritata look festive for Christmas. This is very easy to make and can be put together ahead of time and baked just before serving. If you want to add a little extra protein, throw in some leftover cooked chicken or sausage.

Sweet Pepper FritataYum

1 small onion, chopped
3/4 cup chopped green pepper
3/4 cup chopped red pepper
2 Tablespoons butter
5 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Saute onion and peppers in the butter for 5-7 minutes or until veggies are tender and your family comes running into the kitchen to see what smells so good. Meanwhile, combine remaining ingredients in a bowl. Stir sauteed vegetables into egg mixture. Pour into an ungreased pie dish. Bake in a 350° oven for 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle of the fritata comes out clean. Serves 6-8.

Sweet Pepper Fritata

Which would you rather do – look at this, or eat it? Or maybe you could just really enjoy looking at it while you eat it. ;)

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Caramel Popcorn (no corn syrup!)

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Caramel Popcorn With No Corn Syrup!

For years and years and years (give or take a year or two), I’ve been wanting to find a good Caramel Popcorn recipe that did not contain corn syrup. The recipes I found that didn’t contain corn syrup were either complicated, or they contained other ingredients beyond corn syrup that I didn’t feel comfortable feeding my family.

But just leave it to you all to solve my Caramel Popcorn dilemma. A big thanks goes out to everyone who suggested that this new Caramel Sauce recipe might be able to be used on popcorn. Over the weekend, I decided to give it a try. I figured the outcome may not be blog-worthy, but surely my family would eat it regardless of whether it was great or not. My men are always so good to eat my experiments. Especially if it’s an experiment with Caramel Sauce on top.

This got rave reviews, which came, as you can imagine, while they were chewing. Since they were saying such nice things to me about my cooking, I lovingly allowed them to talk with their mouths full. Far be it from me to scold my popcorn munching children when they are in the middle of boosting my ego.

Caramel Popcorn

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Caramel Popcorn (no corn syrup!)
 
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Author:
Ingredients
  • 1 cup unpopped popcorn
  • 1 recipe of Caramel Sauce*
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
  1. Pop 1 cup of popcorn and put it into two 8x13 inch baking dishes.
  2. Stir together the caramel sauce ingredients, stirring in ½ teaspoon of sea salt.
  3. Drizzle the caramel sauce over the popcorn.
  4. Stir the caramel sauce all around the popcorn the best you can without making too many popcorny messes.
  5. Bake in a 250° for 10 minutes, then stir the popcorn.
  6. Bake for an additional 10 minutes.
  7. Remove Caramel Corn from oven and serve.

Find our delicious, no-corn-syrup Caramel Sauce recipe here!

If there is any left after you feed this to your family, package some up to give as gifts. Yep, people everywhere will be talking with their mouths full. It’ll be a beautiful, Christmas moment.

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Homemade Caramel Sauce (no corn syrup!)

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A few weeks ago, Busy Mom in AL left a comment stating that she’d used my Caramel Frosting recipe to make Caramel Sauce. Then, a little while later, the people at Challenge Butter sent me a package and asked me to come up with a recipe using their butter. Well, what’s a girl to do but make Homemade Caramel Sauce with one of those sticks of butter, and then blog about her experience?

I didn’t think you’d mind. Especially if you think about the possibilities this Caramel Sauce presents. Not only can you make it for your own family and serve it on ice cream or cheesecake – wouldn’t this make a perfect Gift in a Jar?

Why yes, I believe it would.

And then, what if you took it a step further and created a big Ice Cream Sundae Basket to give as a gift? In your basket you could include a jar of this Caramel Sauce, a jar of Homemade Hot Fudge Sauce, a container of nuts, an ice cream scoop, some bowls and spoons – who wouldn’t love to receive this inexpensive, yet thoughtful and fun gift?

Alright, now I’m giddy and need to figure out who I can make an Ice Cream Sundae Gift Basket for.

Here is the very simple – and sort of healthy because at least it doesn’t have corn syrup in it – recipe:

Homemade Caramel SauceYum

2 cups sucanat or brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup cream (heavy whipping cream)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place the sucanat, butter, and cream into a medium sized saucepan.

Cook over medium to high heat until ingredients are melted and well mixed, stirring constantly. Bring mixture to a boil and boil for one minute, while continuing to stir.

Pour mixture into a mixing bowl and add vanilla extract.

Serve immediately or pour into a pint sized jar for a gift. Store in refrigerator and reheat before serving if desired. (This recipe makes one pint jar or two cups of sauce.)

Beyond ice cream, cheesecake, and the Ice Cream Sundae Gift Basket, don’t you think I should come up with some sort of Caramel Swirl Brownie recipe? Or maybe a Turtle Fudge Something or Other? We could even use it as an apple dip I bet!

Homemade_Caramel_Sauce

Interested in giving this as a gift? Here is a fun FREE printable gift tag you can use along with this sauce.

CaramelSauceTag-prev

caramel_dip_with_apples

What do you think? How could you use this Homemade Caramel Sauce?

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Homemade Peppermint Patties

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Yum

This post is all Amy’s fault. ;)  She linked to a recipe for peppermint patties last week and made me very hungry for them. I figured you wouldn’t mind me testing and adapting the recipe, then sharing it with you. These would be perfect holiday treats to make and share with co-workers or neighbors, or to wrap up to take to a gift exchange.

This recipe actually calls for leftover mashed potatoes – how fun is that? Since I had a pound or four of mashed potatoes left over after Thanksgiving, I decided I could spare the 1/2 cup needed to make this recipe.

But before we go any further, I need to let you know that this recipe is a little different from those that I usually share. There is not much about this recipe that is healthy. These peppermint patties consist mostly of sugar. Do not make this recipe and serve it to your family for breakfast. Do not assume that since there are mashed potatoes in these, they can be considered a vegetable to be served as a side dish to your pot roast. Do not sit down and eat this whole batch by yourself. Do not make this recipe very often, for these patties are addicting. I will not be held responsible for you getting sick off of homemade peppermint patties. In fact, I hereby relinquish any responsibility for influencing you to make these. Just because a recipe is posted here does not mean you have to make it. Nobody here is forcing you to get out your mixing bowl. Actually, you really shouldn’t make these at all. No. You should just read through this post, then nod and smile. Then you should promptly move on to read about something less sugary, like this Angel Ornament post.

Yes, whatever you do, do not make these peppermint patties.

Peppermint Patties 2

Homemade Peppermint Patties (adapted from Domesticated)

1/2 cup leftover mashed potatoes
1 Tablespoon melted butter
2 teaspoons peppermint extract
5 cups powdered sugar (told you there was a lot of sugar)
1 cup chocolate chips
1 Tablespoon coconut oil or palm shortening

Stir together the mashed potatoes, butter, peppermint oil and powdered sugar to form a thick dough. Spoon a teaspoon at a time onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. (I was able to form 38 teaspoon sized patties from this dough.)

Press down the dough and shape as small patties. Refrigerate for 3 hours, or freeze for 45 minutes.

On the stove top, melt together the chocolate chips and oil. Dip the chilled patties into the chocolate to cover them. Chill until set. Admire the peppermint patties, but do not eat them. Do not even lick your fingers.

Good luck with that. ;)

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake

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pumpkin_chocolate_chip_cake_2

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It could be that I’ve been going a little overboard on the pumpkin recipes recently. I can’t help it. Between the pumpkins we got at the pumpkin patch this year, the awesome home grown pumpkins my friend shared with me, and my newly found easy method for cooking a whole pumpkin – I’ve had lots of pumpkin puree to play with. Yes, my house smells like the holidays. No one seems to mind.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake (adapted from Diva Entertains Blog)

2/3 cup butter or coconut oil, melted
1 1/2 cups sucanat or brown sugar
4 eggs
2 cups pumpkin puree
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup milk or water
1 cup chocolate chips (I use either homemade chips or these these soy free chocolate chips)

Cream together butter and sucanat. Beat in eggs and pumpkin puree. Add flour, baking powder, salt, spices, vanilla and milk – beating until well combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour batter into a well buttered 9×13″ baking pan. Bake in a 350° oven for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Serve as it is…

Or top with whipped cream…

What’s your preference? With cream or without? I’ll take three dollops, myself.

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Simple One Dish Meat and Potato Meal

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Now that I have posted my Cream of Mushroom Soup recipe, I will share with you the promised One Dish Meat and Potato Meal recipe. A friend of mine shared this with me years ago, back when my 14 year old was just a baby.

Let us all pause a moment and reflect on how much taller Asa is since the day I received this recipe.

Have I mentioned that he’s jumped three and a half shoe sizes since last winter? I guess that answers any questions you may have had about who is eating half the pan of my simple, one dish meat and potato meals. Good gravy. (literally)

One Dish Meat and Potato MealYum

1 Pound beef or venison stew meat, cubed
4 medium sized potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
1 1/2 cups homemade cream of mushroom soup
2 Tablespoons homemade onion soup mix
2 cups frozen peas

In a 9×13 inch baking dish, stir together meat, potatoes, soup and onion soup mix. Gently stir in frozen peas. Bake, uncovered, in a 300° oven for 2 -2 1/2 hours or until potatoes are tender. If you think of it, give this dish a stir half-way through baking time. Warning:  Contents in casserole dish will produce an enticing aroma during 2+ hours of baking. Make plans to distract yourself during this time so that you aren’t tempted to burn your tongue on a raw potato before product has finished baking.

One Dish Meat and Potato Meal

Serve this with a salad, or serve it all by itself since there’s a veggie included. This recipe serves 4-6 people, unless you’re feeding a 14 year old boy with uncontrollably growing feet. ;)

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