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Big Family Food and Fun: August 20-26, 2023

August 27, 2023 by Laura 5 Comments

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Our big family food and fun this week revolved around our new school routine and extremely hot temperatures.

First, let’s all be blessed to see these two amazing brothers in the matching outfits I found on clearance at Sam’s. Sweet score!

And now onto the food and fun!

Big Family Food and Fun: August 20-26, 2023

Now, if you recall, last week I forgot to plug in the crockpot when I made dinner to leave for Asa, Eva, Elias, and Malachi to feed all the littles when Matt and I went out for our anniversary. So this week, while making a big Sunday Lunch for guests, I was very intentional about plugging in not one but three crock pots. There, my job is done. Lunch will be perfect. I sent this picture to Eva to show that I’d learned from my mistake.

But alas, when we arrived home from church to finish lunch prep, there sat my smallest crock pot. It had been plugged in. But had its owner turned it on? No she had not.

Well shucks. Can’t win ’em all I guess. Lunch that day was a big Nacho Bar, and the cold crock pot was fully cooked taco meat that was supposed to be warm by the time we got home. Nothing a skillet can’t fix in five minutes, right?!

I forgot to take pictures of our fully set out Nacho Bar with it’s chicken, beef, cheese, tomatoes, cilantro, salsa, sour cream, spinach, and chips. It was a tasty lunch! And here’s a picture of the mess after lunch.

Humidity and temps were high that day (and all week) so dinner that night was leftover burgers from last week, rewarmed on the stove plus bowls of cottage cheese with pineapple.

We ate outside, not because the weather was pleasant, but because the kids were all wet. Matt had set up our little pools and a sprinkler for them. We let them all just get wet in their clothes instead of changing to swimsuits. My laundry pile is big enough as it is. :)

Monday morning I made a griddle full of Eggs in a Nest. These are a favorite of our kids! Except for this particular day, two of my kids declared that they didn’t like them. Ugh. I guess these don’t taste good on Mondays?? (Meanwhile, Kiya ate three of them. No one can predict who will eat what.)

I made Beanie Weanies and packed it in Brayden and Kiya’s thermoses for lunch. I left the remainder of the mixture in the pan to rewarm for the four littles at home for lunch.

For dinner that night, I made simple quesadillas with leftover chicken, cheese, and spinach.

We ate them with grapes and we ate in shifts. Everyone was hot and tired after a big, hot day at school. I finished making the quesadillas but then I needed to feed the baby so I just threw food out on the table and let everyone come eat as they realized it was ready. :)

After everyone ate, Matt got the sprinkler set up again so everyone could cool down.

After they played for a while, I brought out some Go-gurts I had frozen. Now, not only were the kids wet and covered in dirt and grass, they were also sticky. Meh, no biggie. We hosed them all down before heading in for the night. :)

Tuesday morning, we ate yogurt and granola before school. After we delivered Brayden and Kiya to the school door, Matt and I walked back with the five littlest and made a plan to find some kind of air conditioned play place so that we could get the kids out of the house. It was 106 degrees that day, but we were going stir crazy. I packed a snack of animal crackers, cheese sticks, and grapes and we loaded up and headed out.

We checked out a fun play place at a church north of town. It’s open to the public all day long. Very cool!

The kids loved running around and playing! Then we sat them down to “snack” on what sort of become their lunch. (Keith and Anna’s bus picks them up for preschool a little after noon, so we feed them early.)

Once we were home and got Keith and Anna sent off to school, Acacia, Josie, and BabyBoy#11 played in the living room while Matt and I dug into the fridge for leftovers for our own lunch. We’ve been given lots of lovely fresh garden produce from church friends and neighbors, and the tomatoes right now are amazing! I warmed up a leftover burger from last week and cut it up with a fresh tomato. Of course we also had our smoothies. ;)

The thought of cooking was not pleasant since it was 106 that day, so I made Chicken Salad Sandwiches with spinach. I cut up a cold watermelon and that was a very refreshing side dish!

After we ate, we took the kids for a surprise treat. We needed another indoor, air-conditioned outing so we found a McDonald’s with an actual Play Place (remember how we tried this before and got let down?!).

We especially loved the cool interactive light table!

Matt downloaded the McD’s app to see what deals we could get. He paid for two cups of ice cream to share and got a free large fry. The kids LOVED this! This amount was perfect for our littles to share, and I think he spent about $5 for everything. And phew, we made it through another hot night with the kids.

Wednesday morning I made eggs, sausage, and toasted buttered bagels for breakfast. Matt headed to York to work on our properties and Elias became my side-kick for the day.

We got Brayden and Kiya to school. Then while Elias stayed in the house with BabyBoy#11, I (bravely or ridiculously?!) took all four of the others outside to “help” me wash our van. It needed a good scrub and getting wet on this super hot day sounded like a good idea.

Keith (age 4) was put in charge of the hose. The girls got washrags to help me scrub. It actually all went quite well for about half and hour. We were all drenched (thank you, Keith) and the van wasn’t perfect but looked better than it did. So we decided it was a win.

We hosed everyone off, changed into dry clothes, drank lots of water, and ate leftover quesadillas cold out of the fridge. Then we put on shoes and went to the library to play with their learning toys. Why did we do this? Air. Conditioning. Plus toys that are different from the toys at our house.

BabyBoy#11 isn’t yet sitting up but this was a good spot to practice.

Three out of five kids melted down before we got all the toys picked up at the library. “Librarian Diane” was absolutely beautiful in how she came and helped. She magically got all three little girls on board to help her pick up blocks while Elias and I dealt unsuccessfully with Keith who was beyond tired. We made it home and tucked all five in for naps. (Preschool was canceled because of the extreme heat. Good timing as these kids needed make-up naps after their big transition into school.)

Dinner that night was straight from the freezer because Mama was tired. I threw nuggets and fries into the air fryer and made a blender full of these smoothies so the kids could drink some spinach with their processed food. ;)

For breakfast Thursday morning, I made this recipe for Chewy Granola Bars x5. These were a huge hit (though we had to eat them in bowls with spoons because I didn’t make them in time to refrigerate/harden them).

Later in the day, after the bars had been in the fridge for several hours, I cut and transferred them to a Pyrex dish for easy-to-grab breakfasts and snacks.

We spent a good part of our morning with one of our Early Development specialists. Our littlest kids, ages 0-3, are serviced by this team for early intervention so that we can get ahead of some of their extra needs. This has been such a gift for our family. Today Keith, Anna, Acacia, and Josie all hovered around the specialist, Bridgette, who had captured their attention with a game. I snuck this picture of them all because they were all being so sweet and fun!

Right after this meeting ended, I had to run off to the elementary school for yet another meeting for another of our kids. As much as we loved our homeschooling years and are prayerfully open to homeschooling again if God leads us to do it, we are so very thankful for all of the necessary resources that the public schools offer for our family to meet our needs right now. We were so cared for in York and we are now being very well cared for in Lincoln.

I got home in time for lunch, frying leftover baked potatoes and serving it with Sunday’s leftover nacho dip and taco meat. I also got out grapes for the kids to ~~squish all over everything~~ eat to their hearts’ content.

The kids are all home from school by 4:00 or a little after, and we sit at the table to get homework done right away so we can get it over with. :/

I’ve found that everyone is super hungry by 4:30 and snacks aren’t going to cut it. So at this point, I’m making very early dinners and then giving everyone a small snack around 6:30 before we start getting ready for bed.

That night I had planned to make a simple meal of this 3-Cheese Spaghetti. But while looking in my freezer for parmesan cheese to go with the recipe, I came across a package of shrimp. Ah, that would be good with the noodles! So I turned the 3-Cheese Spaghetti over to Elias and I made Garlic Butter Shrimp, which was a pretty exciting addition to our meal! I grabbed out bacon crumbles for people to stir into their cheesy spaghetti if they preferred that instead of shrimp, plus made buttered peas and got out watermelon.

Dinner was over by 5:00, haha, so while I worked on dishes, I sent Brayden out to set up the sprinkler for everyone. Today was supposed to be the last of the 106 degree weather, and we knew water was the only way to make it through.

I had corn on the cob in the fridge that we’d bought over the weekend at the farmer’s market and I was concerned that it would go bad if we didn’t get it prepped to eat soon. So after they’d played in the water for a while and cooled off, I took the corn out and had everyone help me get it shucked.

Not understanding that the corn needed to be cooked, Josie and Acacia got excited and helped themselves. ;)

The kids went back to their water play, a neighbor stopped by for a visit, and I somehow managed to give Brayden a much-needed hair cut before we headed in for the night.

Friday morning we had cereal and some of the Chewy Granola Bars I had made the day before. Brayden had to be at school early because he gets to take part in a Ukulele Ensemble – so fun! Lunch was PB&J, which I always forget to add to our menu and always wonder why I don’t make them more often. But then again, the girls get super messy when eating them so…

Dinner was extra fun because some dear friends came and joined us for the evening. We made the corn on the cob plus a big pot of Stir Fry. (We’ve been so blessed with friends sharing their garden produce with us!)

We’d picked up a cantaloupe at the Farmer’s Market and it was extra sweet.

Breakfast on Saturday morning was French Toast made like this – always a hit!

The temps had finally cooled down, so I took advantage by doing some much-needed (or much-wanted, ha) baking. I thawed all the bananas I’d stashed in our freezer and made this Banana Bread/Muffin recipe x4. I also baked a quadruple batch of these Brownies to share at a church fellowship lunch.

We had big plans for an outing that morning, but the plans got derailed by some immediate issues Matt needed to work on at our Castle. It’s such a fabulous place, but it is a historic home, so the age of the house brings with it some issues. Good thing Matt’s so handy!

The change of plans did not set well with our kids, so while Matt was dealing with house issues, I was dealing with behavior issues. Blech. I’m so thankful for God’s provision for us. I have to rely on Him constantly.

Three hours of exhaustion later, and an hour later than planned, we were able to load up and get out the door. Matt and I were both a bit frazzled, but the outing needed to happen so that the kids had a change of scenery. We went to a super cool “Wordstock” literacy event at a park – everything revolved around reading and books.

There were games on the lawn, and of course, everyone got to take home a new book.

They also all got a balloon. Somehow we managed to get all the balloons home without one blowing away or popping?!?!

I had cooked – wait – I had burned some hotdogs in a big pot before we left (who burns hotdogs??). It sort of worked to hide the black parts by putting them burnt-side down. ;)

We ate them at the park after enjoying Wordstock.

Naptime/Rest time was a welcome event for the parents after a morning with extra needs. :) That afternoon, Matt and I worked together to finish that morning’s house issue project while the kids rested and napped.

Oh, but were they napping??? Or were they just dangerously quiet?

Ah, the face of “innocence.”

I used a pizza kit I had picked up at Costco, along with some sausage I had browned to make pizza that night.

I had browned three pounds of sausage, because why just cook what you need for one meal when you can dirty the same amount of dishes and get extra food cooked for the future?

We bathed the three little girls (Anna’s marker turned the water blue), jammied them up, then took a walk to the Sunken Gardens before bedtime.

We got everyone to bed (after making sure all the markers and pens were properly hidden from toddlers and preschoolers). What a week! God is good and faithful. Hope your week was a good one!

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Ways Eating Healthy Foods Actually Saves Us Money

March 5, 2020 by Laura 1 Comment

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I’m very serious. Never buy into the lie that eating healthy is expensive. And in fact, I am coming to realize more and more that eating healthy foods actually saves us money.

I’ve been working at this nourishing food thing for 14+ years now, and while our food budget has increased substantially during these years, I’m certain the blame goes to growing appetites and an increased number of family members, not to the cost of apples.

Today I am here to present a few simple ways eating healthy foods saves us money:

1. Eating Out is a Budget Buster

When our family of nine (or seven or however many of our crew is around at the time) goes out to eat after church, even fast food costs a minimum of $40, but usually somewhere around $60. I don’t even want to talk about how much it costs to eat at a sit-down restaurant.

Meanwhile, I can take 5-minutes to throw together a Crock Pot Pizza Casserole before church. It’s ready when we get home, we can get out salad stuff and a bowl of grapes, and when it’s all said and done, the cost of our meal was around $15. The cost difference is enormous, the workload is minimal, and the taste? Well, have you tried making this pizza casserole? It’s incredible.

So except for when we’re traveling or for the very occasional splurge, we eat at home. It’s obviously healthier and saves thousands of dollars for our big family.

And yeah, I know we all know that, but it seemed worth mentioning again and comparing the cost! ;)

2. Nourishing food satisfies; junk food…doesn’t

Your honor, may I present as evidence the bag of potato chips?

I will admit that chips are my junk food of choice and I splurge on them sometimes. But when I do, we plow through them in about five minutes and are then ready for an actual meal. Why? Because chips only fill a hole; they do not nourish. So while our bodies are craving substance, we fill it with the nothing that chips provide, then we go in search of something to satisfy our bodies’ needs (protein, vitamins, minerals, etc).

So in essence, chips are tasty but kind of a money waster. The dollars I spend on chips could be used to buy actual food that leaves us satisfied.

The only exception to this, in my experience, has been corn chips. We almost never eat corn chips by themselves but instead use them as vehicles to eat nourishing dips. Long live the corn chips. They help us eat avocados. :)

Here are our favorite corn chip dips:

3. Real food ingredients cost much less than pre-made boxed foods.

This is a fact. As we’ve added foster children to our lives, I’ll admit it: I’ve splurged more on processed foods than I used to. I’ve needed it for survival some days, and I have no guilt over it.

But goodness do those boxed foods cost more!! And they almost always include ingredients I don’t feel great about. (I just don’t read the box. If I don’t know there’s MSG in there, it can’t hurt us, right? Heh.)

Most of the time, while taking care of all the kids, I try to fall back on all of our Simple Real Food Recipes that are just as convenient but made completely with real food ingredients.

When I fill my grocery cart with ingredients – yes – the cost adds up. It takes a lot to feed a large family with big appetites! But the cost is still lower – much lower – than filling my cart with corndogs and pizza rolls. It goes without saying that the real food ingredients I buy nourish us as opposed to whatever it is those pizza rolls do. Yikes.

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So there you have it. These are the most basic ways that eating healthy foods saves money. These are no brainers, but I think it’s good to be reminded and encouraged that eating healthy and saving money is easier than we often think!

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Use Chicken or Beef Broth Instead of Water

January 8, 2019 by Laura 6 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Today let’s talk about using Chicken or Beef Broth instead of water when cooking!

Around these parts, I am a little bit famous for making all the people drink water.

Not feeling well? Go drink water.
Feeling run down? Go drink water.
Cramping up? Go drink water.
Can’t lose weight? Go drink water.
Don’t feel like doing an Algebra lesson? Go drink water. (And then go do your Algebra.)
Feeling bored or unmotivated? Go drink water.
Haven’t had any water yet today? For the love, go drink water.

Little sips, here and there, all day long. Go drink the water.

I preach this to my family, to all the college students in and out of my house, to all the dear ones I’m reaching out to in our community, to everyone who has a complaint. It’s a simple start to anything that needs fixing.

I say it so often that people tease me about it when something happens – like when my shoe comes untied at a soccer game. “Well, Laura. It looks like you need to drink some water.” Touche.

Drinking water is necessary and vital and crucial (my thesaurus and I could go on and on). Our health depends on it.

But do you know what is even better than water? Bone Broth. Indeed.

Bone broth is made with water, but also with vegetables and sea salt. Vitamins and minerals AND water? Yes. And also gelatin from the bones, which is awesome for our skin, teeth, bones, digestive system, and more.

Use Broth Instead of Water

I say all of this to encourage us – if possible – to use broth instead of water while we are cooking meals for our families.

Cook rice in broth instead of water.
Cook pasta in broth instead of water.
Cook potatoes in broth instead of water.
Steam vegetables in broth instead of water.
Drink broth instead of water. (And then go do your Algebra.)

Not only will we enjoy many more nutrients when using broth instead of water, but we will also be enjoying an incredible boost in flavor. Rice cooked in broth is incredible! Veggies steamed in broth are many notches above.

Make the broth. Or buy the broth. (I do both. I buy broth to have on hand in a pinch so I can use it often. I make broth as much as possible so I can be ensured of maximum nutrition and flavor!)

How to Make Super Nutritious Bone Broth

How I make Chicken Broth
How I make Beef Broth
Where to buy a case of broth to have on hand. (Truly, there is nothing better than homemade broth. But I do order these cases from Amazon. I also like to pick some up when I have a chance to shop at Aldi.)

Confession: Lately I’ve been making pot after pot of Beef Broth instead of Chicken Broth. Why? Because it’s much faster BECAUSE THERE ARE NO CHICKENS TO BONE!!! Taking meat off chickens is not my favorite job. You already know this about me. So instead, I almost always make broth with Beef Soup Bones. Then the meat falls off the bones and my job is done. Amen, hallelujah.

My latest broth-making-thrill is that I’ve started making it in my Instant Pot. Boy does that save time! How to Make Broth in the Instant Pot…post coming next!

Some of these links are my affiliate links.

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Just Say No to Russet Potatoes and Red Delicious Apples (When Sub-Par Food Doesn’t Inspire You to Eat Well)

June 28, 2018 by Laura 13 Comments

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Could it be that you’ve only been eating sub-par food and have been missing out on what better varieties of real food have to offer? It’s possible that you might actually enjoy healthy eating – you just don’t know it yet!

While ordering a burger with a friend during a dinner out recently, I said, “No cheese please.” The person taking my order teased me by saying, “Ok, but you’re missing out on the best part!”

I agree. Cheese on a burger is fabuloso. But not when it’s fake, American cheese. I just can’t. It ruins the taste of my burger, it sticks to the roof of my mouth, it comes off the bun like a weird piece of plastic. I certainly don’t want to appear to be a food snob. I just like my food to taste good.

This is why I don’t buy russet potatoes any more. I mean, they’re fine. They’re okay. But Yukon Gold potatoes? Now those are incredible!!! They make every potato dish taste better. And they are more nutritious too. Score!

Red delicious apples? I’ve never liked them. They are flavorless and grainy and the skin is weird (bless their hearts). But give me a Gala, a Pink Lady, an Empire apple – oh the list goes on. There are so many fabulous apples choices available to us. Why settle for what doesn’t taste great?

I usually skip Iceberg Lettuce and go for more nourishing greens that are more flavorful and fun. Margarine is a non-food and you already know how I feel about that. But I will say that since I switched over to real butter a few years ago, my baked goods and all food using butter tastes 100% better.

Fresh or frozen veggies vs. canned veggies? There’s no comparison. Real cream compared to commercial creamer? Oh my.

In summary: Real food tastes incredible and when you eat it you will feel that you are eating like royalty.

Stop settling for sub-par food and go for what tastes amazing!

The prices of these great food varieties are only slightly higher (if they are higher at all) than their sub-par food counterparts. (I did a big real food price comparison here. You’ll LOVE the results I found about the price of real, healthy food!!)

Leave a comment to share what some of your favorite real foods are! It’s fun to hear what inspires others to eat well!

Did you get this awesome FREE PRINTABLE yet? It shares all our favorite real food substitutions that makes food tastes so delicious! Get yours here.

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Simple Salad: How I Cheat and Serve Salad Without Actually Making Salad

March 7, 2017 by Laura 16 Comments

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You guys. I am a cheater. I am a cheater, cheater, salad eater.

Simple Overnight Beef Roast

I tell you all the time that I “serve a tossed salad” with my meals. I suggest in almost every daily Simple Meal menu to “serve tossed salad.” I just wrote an entire post about how necessary it is to eat salad every day. I even express frequently how ridiculously easy it is to serve salads as a side dish with our meals as a way to get nourishment without going to any trouble.

But several of you are like, “Hey. It isn’t actually easy and it is a lot of trouble. I hate making tossed salads. All the washing, and the chopping, and the tossing…”

Shoot. I guess I haven’t really told you in detail what I actually mean when I say “serve a tossed salad.” You guys, the only thing I actually toss are these bad boys:

groceries feb 173

I get them from the fridge and I toss them at my boys to put onto the table.

That is how I toss a salad.

If I have grape tomatoes, I wash them and toss those onto the table too. Sometimes I toss over those mini sweet peppers that are so deliciously amazing.

simple-beanie-weanies

The Organic Mixed Greens and Spinach I buy are pre-washed so they take zero prep. Maybe we can’t actually call it a “salad” if we’re not mixing anything into the lettuce or greens, but if you ask me, the point of all of this is that we’re eating greens and that is the most valuable player. Any bonus veggies we eat with the greens are fantastic, but everyone at our house is old enough to add those to their plate or bowl by themselves.

As far as salad dressing? We all like ranch at our house so we keep a quart of Homemade Ranch Dressing on hand at all times. I’d toss that over to the table too, but I think we all know it’s best to place a glass jar full of liquid onto the table with care. But hey, if that’s the most difficult part of my salad making experience, I think I’m doing okay.

How about the cost of buying these ready-to-serve Mixed Greens or Spinach? I get an entire pound of each organic variety for just under $6. One pound is A LOT of greens. For $12/week, the five of us still living at home get around 25 salads out of those packages. It’s some of the least expensive, most power-packed nourishment there is!

So I think that you, too, should be a cheater, cheater, salad eater. I mean, when tossing a salad really is as easy as tossing a container onto the table…

I suppose I should mention that when I have company, I do often take thirty seconds to dump some of the greens from the container into a pretty glass bowl. Then I toss in some grape tomatoes. Maybe chop in some cucumber.

Pre-Packaged Mixed Greens and/or Spinach is THE way to go for tossing salad at our house.

How about you? What’s the easiest way you’ve found to toss a salad? How frequently do you eat salad?

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Want to Eat Healthy? Then Stay Away From This…

October 2, 2016 by Laura 8 Comments

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Let me guess. You assume I’m going to say something about margarine. Maybe high fructose corn syrup. Crisco, perhaps?

Aww, you know me well. You know I yell about avoiding those harmful ingredients. But that’s not actually what I want to talk about today.

want-to-eat-healthy-stay-away-from-this

Today I’m not going to give you a list of do’s and don’ts about eating. Today’s advice is much simpler. It’s this:

If you want to consistently eat healthy meals and snacks, stay away from complicated recipes.

I can’t emphasize this enough. Every once in a while I meet someone who truly thrives on challenging recipes with multiple steps. But mostly I find that complicated recipes make people frustrated and overwhelmed, then they quickly give up on healthy eating and fall back into patterns of eating out and grabbing cheap, empty, convenience food.

I don’t even blame them. When I see a recipe with a long list of ingredients and a bunch of detailed instructions, my brain explodes. This, from someone who loves to cook.

Here’s a little example of what I’m talking about: Do not tell me to separate my egg whites from their yolks, whip them until they are frothy, then gently fold them into my waffle batter. No. I will not. The people need their waffles! There is life waiting for us just on the other side of breakfast and taking time to froth my egg whites is something I only do at Thanksgiving when there is meringue for a cream pie involved. Instead, I always quickly whisk my waffle ingredients together all at once – whites and yolks and all – and would you believe it? The mixture still turns out amazing waffles.

belgiun_waffles

If the kitchen is intimidating to you, if you have a busy schedule, and if you want to eat consistently healthy, day after day…

Relax and make your meals as simple as possible.

If I hadn’t figured out how to make healthy meals simple, I would have given up long ago. There really is too much to do outside the kitchen. Through the years, I’ve pared down and reshaped my cooking style so that most often our healthy meal is on the table within just 15-20 minutes. But it’s amazing how much variety we get and how nourishing our meals are.

Oven Free Summertime Meal

I credit this to the fact that I’ve restructured most of our meals to look like this:

Simple main dish (often made ahead of time; sometimes quickly thrown into the crock pot earlier in the day)
Tossed salad, straight from the container
A steamed veggie, which at most, took five minutes of prep work
Fresh fruit, washed and if necessary, sliced

enchilada meal

See how pretty? See how simple? Not to mention all I’ve done is set out the food (still in their pans) and salad fixin’s and everyone fills their own plate. We work together to cook it, we work together to clean it up.

This is what Simple Meals are made of. They are delicious and stress-free. They are balanced. They aren’t messy. They do not require you to froth your egg whites.

If you’re into healthy eating and want to do this consistently, stick with me here. I’m constantly working to simplify my recipes and menus to save all of us time (and money, which is a lovely bonus). Find all of the hundreds of recipes I’ve shared so far here. And…

Introducing Simple Meals!

Get all the details about Simple Meals here. You’ll be amazed at how these meal plans with simplify your kitchen life, help you be efficient, and take away stress over what to feed your family each night.

Each week your Simple Meals Planning Packet contains recipes and a grocery list for these categories of Simple Meals:

No-Thaw Night Forgot to thaw meat? No problem, this is the meal you can fall back on!
No-Trouble Night Limited on time? This one will come together quickly!
Crock Pot Night Start this one earlier in the day, then sit down and eat, simple as that!
Made-Ahead Night This recipe was simple to make ahead of time, so all you have to do is heat and eat!
Build-It-Yourself Night This weekly suggestion will give you a fun idea of how you can put together a quick “buffet” for each person to build a plate or bowl to their liking!
Savor-It Night This recipe is for the night you have a little extra time to cook, but don’t worry. The recipe is still as simple as can be!

The seventh night you can plan your family’s favorite, leftovers, or a night off from cooking.

Want to see a sample Simple Meal Plan to be amazed at all it includes each week? Grab a fully week’s sample here!

Breathe New Life into Your Meals!

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Since we launched Simple Meals last October, we’ve loved hearing your feedback about how it’s been helping your families breathe easier.

Allison “I can’t thank you enough for your meal plans! They have literally breathed new life into our meal time!”

Anne “What a brilliant idea. We are so impressed!”

Kim “We love getting your Simple Meals plan every week!”

Knowing that Simple Meals truly is helping people win back family time, spend less time planning and cooking, all while still putting great real food meals on the table is so very encouraging to us!

Family time comes first, and I’m excited to make it even easier for all of us to make this a reality!

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Always Go to the Store When You’re Hungry

September 28, 2014 by Laura 7 Comments

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Yep, it’s just like Grandma used to say:

Be sure to go outside with wet hair on a cold day.
If you can’t say something nice, be sure to say it really loudly. While sticking out your tongue.
Sit very close to the TV. It’s good for your eyes.
Always go to the store when you’re hungry.

Best advice ever, right? Good ol’ Grandma. How’d she get so smart?

Obviously, I’m a little mixed up on what I remember hearing from Grandma. Cold day…stick out tongue… I think what she actually said was that when I go outside on a cold day, I should always stick out my tongue to lick the fence post. Yes, that was it.

Before I get any more carried away, let’s set the record straight: Don’t go outside on a cold day with wet hair or stick out your tongue (fence post or not). Never say unkind words or sit close to the TV. There, now you can’t sue me if your kid reads this and says, “That Heavenly Homemaker Lady said I should.”

But going to the store when you’re hungry? Now that’s a different story. Grandma never gave me advice about this, but I’ve heard it from plenty: “Don’t go to the store when you’re hungry. You’ll come out with a cart full of junk food you don’t need.”

I beg to differ. Just hear me out.

Last week, I went to the store before dinner. I wasn’t “passing out hungry” because I do know my limits and realize that the grocery store manager would appreciate it if I don’t faint beside the display of plums. I had snacked, and I was just on the verge of “Mmm, food is starting to sound pretty good right about now.” You know that feeling?

That is when you should go to the store – to the produce section. For the love of Doritos and Dolly Madison, do not go to the cookie aisle, the bakery, the bread aisle, or the potato chip aisle when you’re hungry. But I dare you: Go to the produce section of the store when you’re hungry.

The pineapple, the asparagus, the cucumbers, the mixed greens, the apples, the pears, the fruit you’ve never heard of before much less tasted – it will all look fantastic to you! You will begin to crave it right then and there. You will imagine crisp slices of cucumber, dipped in fresh ranch dressing, and you will think that you might die if you don’t have some this very night. You will long for vegetables roasting in the oven. You will have to fight the urge to bite into a Honey Crisp apple right there on the spot, but for goodness sake, don’t do it because we all know Grandma told us we always have to pay for food before we eat it and that is the absolute truth.

Don’t cross your eyes. They might stay that way forever. But do go fill your cart with fruits and vegetables when you’re hungry. Buy them. Don’t complain about the price. They are cheaper than junk and our bodies crave nourishment- so don’t even get me started. Bring fruits and vegetables home by the bag full, then start crunching. Eat your fill. Enjoy the goodness.

Then wait 30 minutes before you go swimming. Grandma knows best.

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Hit the Restart Button: Eat More Salads ~ Try Our Homemade Salad Dressing Recipes

September 2, 2014 by Laura 17 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

I have homemade salad dressing recipes for you!

Yum

Let’s just say you are hitting the restart button this fall in an effort be healthier. If I could give you just one piece of advice for making one simple change, it would have to be this: Eat more salads.

And also drink more water and cut back on sugar. And eat real butter instead of margarine.

Apparently I feel strongly about more than one aspect of making healthy changes and I just can’t not mention butter in a post about making changes in your diet. But today, I really do want to focus on eating salads. With a big glass of water on the side. Plus you should never, ever eat margarine.

Soooo, salads. We all know they are good for us. The reason I bring them up today is because I think they are a fantastic way for all of us to hit the restart button and fill up on nourishing foods. The possibilities are endless when it comes to building a salad. This means that none of us have excuses as to “not liking” what’s in front of us. You can pick what you put in it, for goodness sake. Green leaf, red leaf, romaine, spinach, cucumbers, peas, carrots, tomatoes, mushrooms, sweet peppers, onions, and on it goes. Then you can put dressing all over it – the kind you like best. You can even put bacon and cheese in your salad. If that’s not a reason to eat a bowl full of green leafy vegetables, I don’t know what is.

It is now easier than ever to make super healthy salads. Do you have these little gems at your grocery store?

They are pre-washed, so all you have to do is throw the greens in a bowl or on your plate. No excuses!

I highly encourage you to make a variety of tossed salads a bigger part of your life. I highly encourage you to make your own salad dressings with pure ingredients to keep your salads healthy. And I encourage you to eat butter.

Need some easy salad dressing recipe ideas? Hit the restart button by making a new salad dressing or two. You’ll find that it’s so nice to have Ranch Salad Dressing Mix and Italian Salad Dressing Mix made up in bulk so that you can quickly mix in liquid ingredients for fresh, healthy dressings.

You’ll find all of our homemade salad dressing recipes on this page (along with many other fun condiment recipes you’ll love). Here are our favorites at a quick glance…

Homemade Salad Dressing Recipes

How many times each week do you eat salad? Could you eat them more often? What is your favorite kind of salad dressing?

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

The “Eating Healthy” and “Save Money” Balancing Act

June 19, 2014 by Laura 15 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

We all want to be healthy. We all want to live frugally. We all want the best for our families. We all want food to taste good. We all want great deals on groceries. We all want delicious food, special treats, our favorite snacks…and if they could be free, cheap, come with a coupon, or be buy-one-get-one free – that would be fantastic.

Yeah, pretty much, we want it all. Is that too much to ask?

Balancing Eating Healthy With Saving Money

Is it just me, or is it tricky sometimes to balance saving money with healthy eating? Especially as our boys get older, I can not believe how much it costs to feed us well. I believe it would also cost a lot to feed us poorly, simply because we eat so stinkin’ much food at our house all the time, every day, all the time. We can not believe the lie that eating well is too expensive. Eating junk is expensive too. I’ve done the math.

I don’t have any wonderful new tips to share today as we work to keep our real food grocery budgets low. I don’t have any great online grocery deals to share. Instead, I just want to encourage keeping a healthy perspective when it comes to balancing saving money with eating healthy.

There really is great, real food out there that is not expensive. It’s amazing all the wonderful combinations of real food ingredients we can creatively put together to feed our families while staying under budget. We do not need to become discouraged, caving in to buy margarine because it’s cheaper than butter, or buying a cheese substitute because it’s cheaper than real cheese. We do not need to skip the fruits and vegetables because we are afraid of the price tag. They are not more expensive per ounce than a box of empty-calorie crackers. I’ve done the math.

God is going to continue to provide for you and your family. I believe the food on your table is as delicious as your attitude dictates it to be. The health benefits of eating the best you can within your means, while trusting God? Priceless.

Tired of the same old cheap real food meals of beans, rice, bananas, and carrots? Ask God to give you more creative ideas, to provide you with what you need, and to give you a heart of thanksgiving. I can almost guarantee that our little Gladis, over in Honduras, has very little variety in her diet, yet all of what she eats is real food and wholesome. She and her family are simply thankful to have food, and they do the best they can. Praise God for his provision!

Remembering her when I look into my refrigerator and pantry keeps me in check. Gladis gives me perspective and offers me a chance to appreciate anew the abundance we have. From thousands of miles away, she shuts my complaining mouth and calms my heart of discontent when I feel like whining about the price of strawberries. How blessed we are to have access to the luxury of strawberries.

I pray we find balance as we seek to eat healthy while saving money. I pray we look at what we have through the eyes of gratitude.

Let’s all continue to feed our families the best we can, while enjoying the blessing of real food – whatever it might look like on our individual tables.

Hoping to get your budget on track as you work to balance healthy eating with saving money?
Be sure to check out BudgetFocus as a wonderful resource!

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

The Three Day Menu Plan…Then We’re Hitting the Road (Plus, Want Some Vanilla?)

June 15, 2014 by Laura 3 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

As I mentioned last week, we’re heading to Nashville this week for a family reunion. I can’t wait to hug my Nana, hold the new babies, see all the cousins, watch the kids get reacquainted and play together…it’s going to be great!

On the way, I’m very excited to meet some of you!! If you live in the St. Louis or Nashville areas, please stop by our Meet and Greet locations so we can have a chance to hang out and visit. Get all the specifics here. I look forward to meeting many of you!

We don’t mind the treat of eating out here and there while we travel, and enjoy our fair share of burgers and fries on the road. But to keep our stomachs from rebelling too much, we try to take along some fruits and veggies too. :)

Doing any traveling this summer? Here are some posts you might enjoy.

Our menu this week is short and sweet since we’re taking off on Tuesday. It’s been fun to celebrate Father’s Day with Matt today – making many of his favorite foods.

Sunday, June 15
Peach cobbler (recipe in Oh, For Real cookbook)
Grilled steak, baked potatoes in the crock pot, grilled asparagus and sweet peppers, cantaloupe
Tuna salad on tomatoes and lettuce, watermelon

Monday, June 16
Banana bread, blueberries
Chef salad with leftover chicken, watermelon
Italian roast wraps with tomatoes and lettuce, peas, fresh pineapple

Tuesday, June 17
Scrambled eggs, pineapple mango smoothies (with fresh spinach thrown in)
Pasta Salad Bar – before we hit the road, we’ll each build a big pasta salad to eat on the way for lunch. Easy and nutritious!
Dinner at my cousin’s house – can’t wait!

One last thing: We actually made enough Vanilla Extract this time to avoid selling out within a few hours! If you want some, come get it now as we’ll only be offering it for sale through Monday or until supplies last. :)

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