Heavenly Homemakers

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Lunch in a Jar: Burrito Bowl

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Today’s “Lunch in a Jar” idea might sound like a strange one. But trust me when I say that a Burrito Bowl packed in a jar and taken on the road or for a work or school lunch is extremely tasty!

It’s also wonderful because it’s a great change of pace if you’re tired of sandwiches or other “normal” sack lunch foods. We’ve found that a Burrito Bowl packed in a jar tastes great hot or cold. So if you have a way to warm up your food at work or school, go for it! But if not, this Burrito Bowl will still taste great as is!

The beauty of the Burrito Bowl is that it can be made per each person’s preference. Not a fan of olives? (Me neither.) Leave them out. Love extra spice? Go nuts with the salsa or hot sauce! Everyone can build their Burrito Bowl the way they love without any extra effort!

Lunch in a Jar: Burrito Bowl

Here are the food items we like on our burrito bar:

  • Salsa Chicken
  • Seasoned Hamburger Meat
  • Brown Rice (seasoned with chili powder, garlic powder, salt, and a splash of lime juice)
  • Black Beans and or Pinto Beans
  • Salsa
  • Guacamole
  • Sauted onions and peppers
  • Mixed Greens or Spinach
  • Shredded Cheese
  • Tomatoes
  • Olives
  • Corn
  • Sour Cream

Each person can fill their bowls or jars any way they like. Stir it together and you’ve got a great meal. Make several jars ahead of time to pull out and pack to go as needed!

—-> Did you see the fun list of supplies and jars I recommend for packing lunches? <—–

Great add-ins to your Burrito Bowl Lunch in a Jar

We’ve got 10 super fun Lunch in a Jar ideas to share this month – perfect for your Back to School lunchbox! Subscribe here so you won’t miss a post!

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Lunch in a Jar: Tuna Salad & Crackers

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It’s one of the most basic, simple foods. But still, Tuna Salad & Crackers is one of my favorite lunches to pack in a jar and take on the road.

You might remember that I shared our favorite Tuna Salad recipe last month when talking about these Tuna Salad Wraps. I’ll share the recipe again below, just to make it simple for all of us to quickly stir together tuna salad!

Lunch in a Jar: Tuna Salad & Crackers

Lunch in a Jar: Tuna Salad & Crackers
 
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Serves: 1-2
Ingredients
  • 6-ounce can tuna in water, drained
  • 3 Tablespoons mayonnaise (I use Hain Safflower mayo)
  • 2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish
  • Dash of sea salt
Instructions
  1. Mix tuna, mayo, pickle relish, and salt until well combined.
  2. Transfer to 4 or 8 ounce jars to pack in lunches.

Send along your favorite crackers with the jar of Tuna Salad. Crackers are great tuna scoopers! I love this lunch with a side of fresh fruits and veggies!

Our Favorite Ingredients to use in Tuna Salad:

Best Jars to use for Tuna Salad in a LunchBox:

  • 8-ounce wide mouth jars
  • Or these 8-ounce wide mouth jars
  • Tiny 4-ounce jars for smaller appetites


—-> Did you see the fun list of supplies and jars I recommend for packing lunches? <—–

Great add-ins to your Tuna with Crackers Lunch in a Jar

Not a fan of Tuna Salad? Use this same idea but make Chicken Salad instead!

We’ve got 10 super fun Lunch in a Jar ideas to share this month – perfect for your Back to School lunchbox! Subscribe here so you won’t miss a post!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Super Moist Flourless Brownie Muffins – Perfect for a Lunch Box!

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Would someone please stop me from eating all of these Flourless Brownie Muffins?

Just kidding. I’d actually like to keep eating them.

And also, I can let the kids eat all the Flourless Brownie Muffins they want because there is no reason to hold back on these. Want a brownie for breakfast? Sure! Want three more brownies? Okeedokee. Ran out and need to bake more brownies? Shucks, don’t mind if I do.


It’s been so interesting to me since I posted these Super Moist Flourless Brownie and Super Moist Flourless Peanut Butter Brownie recipes. SO MANY people have had trouble with them turning out dry and crumbly. (This is the opposite of moist – what in the world?! I am baffled.)

I’ve been trying to trouble shoot and solve the mystery of this, because these recipes turn out great for me every single time! Is it my oven? It can’t possibly be that my oven works in these recipes and all other ovens don’t. Is it the temp? The time?

I do believe it’s the time. I shortened the baking time in the instructions, hoping that will make a big difference. I believe the trick to turning out perfect Super Moist Flourless Brownies is to pull them out of the oven when they are slightly underdone. If they bake too long, they will become dry and taste like burned nut butter. Meh.

So during my time of tweaking and trouble shooting, it occurred to me that I should try baking this recipe in muffin cups. Perhaps that would turn out Super Moist Flourless Brownie Muffins, I thought. Maybe if this recipe was baked in muffin cups, we could bake them for less time and avoid drying out our brownies.

Well, as it turned out, once again these Super Moist Flourless Brownie Muffins turned out perfect for me! So perfect, in fact, I had a difficult time staying out of them. “I just want one more. I can quit any time…”

As for baking time on these Super Moist Flourless Brownie Muffins, I’m going to recommend 12-15 minutes. They may look slightly underdone when you pull them out. But this is what will keep them gooey and delicious!

Super Moist Flourless Brownie Muffins

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Super Moist Flourless Brownie Muffins - Perfect for a Lunch Box!
 
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Author:
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups (12-ounces) Peanut Butter or Almond Butter
  • ½ cup honey
  • ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
  1. Stir all ingredients together until well combined.
  2. Scoop batter into 12 paper-lined muffins cups.
  3. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 12-15 minutes. (Remove them from the oven when they are just slightly underdone so they come out moist!)

I felt this recipe was worth sharing in the middle of my Lunch in a Jar series simply because these Super Moist Flourless Brownie Muffins are perfect for your Back to School Lunchbox! They are filling, nourishing, and fun!

Other Lunch Box ideas shared so far in this series:

Great add-ins to your Fruit with Dip Lunch in a Jar

We’ve got 10 super fun Lunch in a Jar ideas to share this month – perfect for your Back to School lunchbox! Subscribe here so you won’t miss a post!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Lunch in a Jar: Apples & Peanut Butter (And Other Fun Fruits and Dips)

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It only made sense to follow our Veggies with Dips in a Jar post with this Fruit with Dips in a Jar Post. The most basic idea along these lines: Apples & Peanut Butter.

Apples & Peanut Butter in a Jar

Just like the veggies, place your favorite fruit dip in the bottom of a small jar. Then put in your favorite fruit (apples work best for something like this!). Place the lid on the jar, pack, and take on the go. So, so simple!

—-> Did you see the fun list of supplies and jars I recommend for packing lunches? <—–

First up, if you’re going to pack Apples & Peanut Butter in a jar, you will need links to our favorite homemade peanut butters!

Don’t be intimidated by the idea of making peanut butter. It truly is remarkably easy! And fresh, homemade peanut butter tastes incredible!

Not up for making peanut butter? No problem. Though I do recommend that you avoid purchasing the varieties that contain hydrogenated oils and corn syrup. Choose a natural brand with few, wholesome ingredients.

Next, let’s talk about fruit.

Apples and grapes transport the best and work best for dipping. Bananas might require an 8-ounce wide mouth jar like this so you can spread the peanut butter or other dip on top. Blueberries are a good possibility too. Fresh pineapple, cut into thin slices, is a great option.

And now for the dips!

Fruit Dip Recipes to Pack in Jars

Great add-ins to your Fruit with Dip Lunch in a Jar

Up next, more “main dish” Lunch in a Jar ideas!

We’ve got 10 super fun Lunch in a Jar ideas to share this month – perfect for your Back to School lunchbox! Subscribe here so you won’t miss a post!

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Lunch in a Jar: Veggies with Dip

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Hopefully you’ve already seen this genius idea for putting veggies with dip in a jar and packing it for lunch. This has become one of my favorite ways to eat well on the road!

Do you see that?

  1. You put Ranch Dip or Hummus or any of your favorite veggie dips into the bottom of small jar.
  2. Then you add your favorite raw veggies.
  3. Put on a lid and you’re good to go.

When it’s time to eat, your veggies are already dipped. Pick up a carrot, eat the carrot covered in dip. How can eating well get any easier than this?

—-> Did you see the fun list of supplies and jars I recommend for packing lunches? <—–

Our Favorite Veggie Dips to Pack in Lunches

Our Favorite Veggies to put with our Dips

  • Petite Baby Carrots (so much sweeter and easier to eat!)
  • Sliced Cucumbers
  • Broccoli
  • Cauliflower
  • Sweet Peppers
  • Celery (ok, not really our favorite, but still worth adding it to the list in case it’s one of yours!)

Great add-ins to your Veggies with Dip Lunch in a Jar

We’ve got 10 super fun Lunch in a Jar ideas to share this month – perfect for your Back to School lunchbox! Subscribe here so you won’t miss a post!

Next up, fruits and dips. Wait until you see all the fun ideas!!

Some of these links are my affiliate links.

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Lunch in a Jar: Popcorn Chicken with Ranch

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This month we’re talking about lunches that can be packed in jars to take on the road, to work, or to school. We’re about to get creative. Whose ready to pack some Popcorn Chicken with Ranch Dip?

Silly me. I forgot to pack the chicken in a jar the day I took these pictures. I grabbed a baggie instead. The ranch dip though? Well, it went into one of my favorite little 4-ounce jars. These jars are perfect for transporting dips and dressings!

—-> Did you see the fun list of supplies and jars I recommend for packing lunches? <—–

Here’s the thing about fried chicken: It’s good hot or cold. Therefore, we can make a big batch of Popcorn Chicken, separate it in jars or baggies to send in lunches to be eaten with dip. What a fun lunch!

Our Favorite Dips to Pack in Lunches

These dips can also be made ahead in big batches, then packaged in jars to grab and go. I love how easy this is!

You might remember Popcorn Chicken – one of the first recipes I shared here long ago. I’ll post it for you again here for easy access!

Simple Popcorn Chicken with Ranch

Lunch in a Jar: Popcorn Chicken with Ranch
 
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Author:
Serves: 3-6
Ingredients
  • 3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
  • ¾ cup whole grain flour
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • butter
Instructions
  1. In a medium sized bowl, stir together flour, salt and garlic powder.
  2. Using kitchen shears, cut chicken breasts into tiny bite sized pieces.
  3. Toss chicken in flour mixture to coat well.
  4. Smear a thick layer of butter on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
  5. Pour coated chicken into dish, spreading so that they are in a single layer.
  6. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes. Stir chicken and bake another 10 minutes.

Need your chicken to be gluten free? Use your favorite gluten free flour. (I’ve made these successfully with Brown Rice Flour.)

Need Popcorn Chicken in large amounts (how well I understand!)? Double, triple, and quadruple this recipe without problem.

Want to really get ahead? Make this Popcorn Chicken in huge batches and freeze them. This will make packing lunches so easy!

Great add-ins to your Popcorn Chicken with Ranch Lunch

We’ve got 10 super fun Lunch in a Jar ideas to share this month – perfect for your Back to School lunchbox! Subscribe here so you won’t miss a post!

Some of these links are my affiliate links.

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Back to School Lunch in a Jar: Supplies You’ll Need

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Ready to discover great Back to School Lunch ideas that you can make and pack in jars? It’s time to get your supplies ready!

Why pack lunches in jars? Let me count the reasons:

  1. Packing lunches in jars means you can make great food ahead of time, then grab it from the fridge and take it in a hurry.
  2. Jars protect food from becoming smashed in a lunch box.
  3. Jars are see-through, so you can discover your options with a quick glance in the fridge.
  4. Glass is safe for food storage, so you don’t have to worry about dangerous plastics.
  5. Jars are reusable, so you’ll save all kinds of money in the long run.
  6. You can purchase jars in all sizes, giving many options to put together a perfect lunch box!

I think it goes without saying that jars are cute and beautiful and pretty and delightful. Indeed, I really love jars. :)

Back to School Lunch in a Jar: Supplies You’ll Need

I have jars in a variety of sizes, which comes in very handy depending on whether I’m packing tiny jars with dips for veggies or bigger jars full of soup. Here are my top suggestions for jars to use to pack lunches:

These Basic 8-Ounce Jars are a common household item. They are great for baking quick bread, and for packing berry parfaits and any number of small lunch items.

These 8-ounce jars (with regular lids) are short and squat-y. They are wonderful for packing sliced fruit, homemade pudding, cooked meat chunks, and much more.

I LOVE these tiny 4-ounce jars for packing fruit or veggie dips!


It’s hard to tell the size in the picture below, but these 16-ounce wide mouth jars are a favorite for packing main dish items and salads in lunch boxes.

Wide mouth jars make eating directly out of the jar so much easier! They are also easier to clean. I have a set of these 8-ounce wide mouth jars and use them all the time for packing fruit salads and other side dishes.

My favorite, favorite (because obviously I can’t decide which jars are my favorite) are these 8-ounce wide mouth jars. They are so handy for packing, well, just about any side dish item in a lunch box.

For both wide mouth and regular jars, I keep a supply of these plastic lids. They are the best! Check out wide mouth plastic lids and regular plastic lids.

Did you try Baking Quick Bread in Jars? So fun! We’ve got 10 super fun Lunch in a Jar ideas to share this month – perfect for your Back to School lunchbox! Subscribe here so you won’t miss a post!

Some of these links are my affiliate links.

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Simple Meals for a New School Year!

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It’s almost “Back to School” time and I can’t decide how I feel about it. Mostly I’ve just decided that here it is, ready or not. At least there are books involved, right? Lots and lots of delicious books!

My boys are huge and adultish now,
but I WILL make them pose in the school supply aisle for me again this year.
Oh, baby.

But speaking of delicious, it occurred to me that just like every other year at this time, I am doing everything I can to get ahead in the kitchen so I’m ready for a school schedule and soccer season schedule. Must. Be. Organized!!!

While I love Simple Recipes and the plans that come with Simple Meals all year ’round, I think I like them best in the fall when my schedule is the craziest and my need to be organized is the most important. Ironically though, I don’t always have TIME to get organized when I need it the most. So Simple Meals plans and lists SAVE MY LIFE and feed my family. :)

Simple Meals Subscriptions Include:

  • Complete menu plans for every week of the year
  • Seasonal food ideas
  • Incredibly easy recipes (seriously so, so easy!)
  • Tips to make your kitchen time efficient
  • Complete grocery list for each menu plan
  • Gluten Free adaptations
  • Ideas for meals on the fly
  • Bonus recipes for breakfast
  • Resource guide…

Download a FREE SAMPLE Simple Meals Planning Packet.

As a special Back-to-School bonus, for one week only we’re going to give you $10 off your first year’s subscription. This makes the cost of every Simple Meals plan a tiny little $0.81 each! Incredible!

Ready to get $10 off your first year’s Simple Meals subscription?

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Save time, save energy, save money. Put wonderful, simple meals on the table in the most efficient way possible, thanks to our Simple Meals Planning Packets. They’ll come to your inbox each Thursday morning. You’ll LOVE all they offer each week, from menus to recipes to time saving tips and more.

(Need to eat Gluten Free? The packets include adaptations needed to accommodate you.)

Hurry to take advantage of this discount offer!

Sign up below – While this shows up at the regular $52 price-tag, once you click to purchase you’ll see that the price you pay for your first year’s subscription is only $42! Enjoy the great discount and the wonderful meal plans this year!!

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Offer ends Wednesday, August 8.

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

How to Bake Quick Bread in Jars (With 10 Recipes!)

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I’ve long been fascinated that it is possible to bake quick bread in jars. I finally took a little time to learn the tricks!

Whether we like it or not, it’s time to think about getting back into a school routine. For all who need to pack a lunch (and even for all who don’t!), we’re excited about our new Lunch in a Jar series!

We’ve got 10 super fun Lunch in a Jar ideas to share this month – perfect for your Back to School lunchbox! Subscribe here so you won’t miss a post!

I love the idea of making a batch of Quick Bread in Jars, then grabbing them out of the fridge as needed to pack in lunches!

Why bake Quick Bread recipes in jars and not simply bake muffins to pack in lunches? Simple! Jars keep the breads/muffins from becoming smashed. It’s genius really. Bake them, stash them, grab them, pack them. It’s super fun!

How to Bake Quick Bread in Jars

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How to Bake Quick Bread in Jars (With 11 Recipes!)
 
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Author:
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 1 batch of your favorite quick bread (see recipes below!)
Instructions
  1. Mix up a batch of Quick Bread as directed.
  2. Scoop batter into six buttered 8-ounce jars (do not fill jars over half full).
  3. Place prepared jars on a cookie sheet.
  4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
  5. Place a lid/ring on the jar immediately after removing the bread jars from the oven so they will seal. (This step isn't entirely necessary if you are storing the bread in the fridge. But sealing will allow the bread to keep for an extra week inside the fridge.)
  6. Allow bread jars to cool completely before transferring them to the refrigerator.

Here are 10 of our favorite Quick Bread/Muffin recipes!

Stay tuned for an entire month of Lunch in a Jar ideas!!!

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All the Groceries I Bought for the Beginning of the School Year (Brace Yourself)

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Stocking up is one thing. This time I think I might have gone just a tiny bit crazy. Are you ready to see all the groceries I thought I surely must have to help us survive the beginning of the school year?

groceries august2

Oh, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

I have decided that I got into this crazy BUY ALL THE FOOD mode for three reasons:

  1. My boys had been at church camps or mission trips a good part of the summer and I had not purchased many groceries for the past three months. I was making up for lost time, perhaps? Or maybe I had gone through withdrawal and needed a bulk grocery fix.
  2. I had a chance to go to Lincoln where there is an Aldi. I had to stock up on all my Aldi favorites to help get me through until the next time I have a chance to go there.
  3. I seem to think that if I can have every single food item in stock at my house, I can more easily get through the first couple of weeks of school. Apparently Geometry is more fun when there is plenty of spaghetti sauce in the house.

groceries august4

Most of my thinking is logical, I believe. I have been doing this Fall Semester thing for how many years now? Sixteen? The fall doesn’t just bring the start of school. It also brings soccer season in which my husband is gone much of the time because he is assistant coach of our local college team. The older boys ref games, and our youngest plays on two teams. The fall is simply BUSY and if I can just have enough tuna on hand, then all of life will be easier.

Sure, I live five minutes from a grocery store. But I live three seconds from my storage room that houses all the tuna, so I’d rather go there on a busy day.

Well, speaking of tuna, I bought 24 cans. But after all the buying and loading and unloading, I found myself not particularly excited about setting up a tuna photo-shoot. I think we can all agree that tuna stacked on a table is not terribly thrilling to see. So I left them in the bags under the bagels. Be amazed.

groceries august5

If you think 24 cans of tuna is excessive (it’s not), you might be even more impressed that I got 24 packages of cream cheese. Dude, I was at Aldi and they were only $0.79 each. I will likely not make it back to Aldi for a couple of months, so I filled a cooler. With cream cheese. Who wants to be my best friend now?

groceries august3

The most fun grocery event of this month was definitely the day my Amazon Subscribe and Save order arrived. The bill for this order was not pretty, though I did get good deals on each case I ordered.

groceries august8

groceries august9

Pasta for days. And also Kleenex.

Here’s what I got this time around:

  • Bearitos Organic Tortilla Chips
  • Individual Nut Pouches
  • Muir Glen Pizza Sauce
  • Stubbs BBQ Sauce
  • Delallo Whole Wheat Pasta – Gemelli, Spaghetti noodles, and Elbows
  • Walnut Acres Baked Beans
  • Nature’s Gate Natural Toothpaste
  • 2 Cases of Kleenex (there’s a coupon!)
  • Case of Quilted Northern TP

TIP! If you want to be kept up to date on great Amazon deals I find, sign up to be a member of our Savings Club. It’s free!

groceries august17

If you’re hungry and you know it, clap your hands. I think it is clear that no one will starve at our house during the next few weeks, though you can be sure that we will go through this food faster than one thinks should be reasonable.

Your Turn! Tell me about the crazy things you do before a school year starts!

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