Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Bread

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Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Bread is a huge hit!

One of my favorite things to do is to text my college-age son and tell him to invite friends to eat lunch with us on Sunday after church. So here’s how this works:

  1. Justus texts friends to invite them for lunch, then he tells his friends to invite friends too.
  2. His friends invite friends, and they are welcome to invite others too.
  3. We never know who is going to show up for lunch, and it is always a blast!

Often I’ll be in the kitchen putting the final touches on the meal while college kids pour into the living room. I walk out to greet them and get to be surprised every time by who was able to come!

I am often asked, “But how do you know how much food to make?”

Well, I don’t. ;) But God does. There’s always plenty, and I can always pull more from the pantry or freezer to stretch out each meal. In addition, if I’ve made lots and lots of food and not many are able to come for the day, that means we have extra food to share with sick or struggling friends throughout the week.

What does all this have to do with Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Bread?

I recently served this fun bread on a Sunday afternoon to our college guests along with Taco Soup and a buffet full of sides. This bread was gone within minutes! The chocolate chips are the main attraction, but if you ask me, the cream cheese is the most valuable player in this recipe. You’ve got to try it!

Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip BreadYum

Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Bread
 
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Serves: 1 large loaf
Ingredients
  • ½ cup melted butter
  • 8-ounces softened cream cheese
  • ½ cup sucanat or raw sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 2 cups whole grain flour (I use freshly ground soft white wheat)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. In a large mixing bowl or in a powerful blender (like a Blendtec), whip together butter, cream cheese, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and milk.
  2. Add flour, baking powder, and salt.
  3. Fold in chocolate chips.
  4. Pour batter into a well-buttered 9" loaf pan.
  5. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Tip: How about making batches of this bread to give as gifts this holiday season?

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Simple Ham and Cheese Soup

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One of my favorite ways to cook is to turn leftovers into a brand new meal. That’s how this Simple Ham and Cheese Soup came to be.

Did you see the recipe I recently posted for Easy White Queso? I simply took that recipe, added three more ingredients, and turned it into a most delicious and flavorful soup!

But you don’t often have leftovers, you say? Oh, I hear you. That’s why I often double recipes so that I create leftovers on purpose! That way we can have a Taco meal with White Queso one night, then have Simple Ham and Cheese Soup the next night with very little effort!

Simple Ham and Cheese SoupYum

5.0 from 2 reviews
Simple Ham and Cheese Soup
 
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Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 8-ounces cream cheese
  • 16-ounces pepper jack cheese
  • ¾ cup sour cream
  • 1 cup half-and-half or whole milk
  • 10-ounce can Rotel (diced tomatoes and green chilies)
  • 1 pound ham, diced or cut into small bites
  • 3-4 cups frozen hashbrown potatoes
  • 32-ounces chicken, beef, or vegetable broth
Instructions
  1. Whisk the cream cheese, pepper jack cheese, sour cream, half-and-half, and Rotel together in a large pot over medium heat until cheeses are melted and mixture is smooth.
  2. Add diced ham, potatoes, and broth.
  3. Cook and stir until soup is bubbly and potatoes are tender.

For the record, I don’t add garnish because as pretty as that is, who has time for garnish? So when I make this, it looks just like what you see in this picture except for the pretty green garnish. #realmom

Note: If your family doesn’t prefer much spice, substitute your favorite cheese (cheddar or Colby jack maybe?) for the Pepper Jack cheese. You can also skip the Rotel. We prefer both the Pepper Jack and the Rotel for the awesome flavor those add to this soup!

What to serve with Simple Ham and Cheese Soup

Need some ideas for tasty breads to serve with this soup? Here are a few ideas:

Want More Simple Recipes?

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Simple Pumpkin Waffles

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I highly recommend enjoying a fall brunch with these Simple Pumpkin Waffles. These are light, fluffy, flavorful, and perfect!

When I told our 17-year old that I was going to make Pumpkin Waffles he saw right through my “add a veggie to breakfast” scheme. Still, he went back for seconds and even ate homemade applesauce on the side. It was a perfect fall breakfast – or brunch as was the case that day as we tried to squeeze in a hearty meal between high school/college classes, kindergarten homeschool, babies’ naps, a college soccer game, and tennis meet.

It’s rare that I have time to stand at the waffle iron these days. So it only made sense that I double the recipe and make a huge pile of waffles so we can easily toast and enjoy them another day soon. If you’re going to make a mess, you might as well make a big one, right? :) So now I have a freezer full of Simple Pumpkin Waffles to pull out and serve as needed!

I highly recommend whipping some cream to serve on top of these waffles. A huge dollop of whipped cream along with real maple syrup drizzled over the top of these waffles makes an incredible meal. Sausage, applesauce, and coffee too? It’s breakfast heaven.

Simple Pumpkin WafflesYum

Simple Pumpkin Waffles
 
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Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 2 cups of whole grain flour (I use freshly ground soft white wheat)
  • 1 teaspoon of baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
  • ½ teaspoon of sea salt
  • 1½ cups of milk
  • 1 cup of canned 100% pure pumpkin
  • 3 eggs
  • 4 tablespoons of melted butter or coconut oil
Instructions
  1. Whisk all ingredients together until smooth.
  2. Scoop about ½ cup of batter into a hot waffle iron.
  3. Cook until waffles are golden brown.

What is it about pumpkin and cinnamon in the fall that just doesn’t taste the same any other time of year?

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Easy Whole Grain Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

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Sure, banana bread is delicious. But why not take it a notch above and add some chocolate chips? I’m guessing that no one would argue if you made Chocolate Chip Banana Bread…

Even if you made it with whole grains, who’s gonna know? No one. You know why? Because it still tastes delicious. It’s still moist. And there are chocolate chips in it. It’s an amazing treat!

How many times have I said that I wished more food could be made from “spoiled” food. What I mean is – after bananas turn black, we can use them to make fantastic treats like this Chocolate Chip Banana Bread. Why can’t everything be made into something wonderful after it’s past its prime?

Everything should be like a banana.

By the way, this recipe is made millions of times better simply by adding sour cream. Mmm, always add sour cream. :)

Easy Whole Grain Chocolate Chip Banana BreadYum

Easy Whole Grain Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
 
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Serves: 1 loaf
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups whole wheat flour (I use freshly ground soft white wheat)
  • ½ cup sugar, brown sugar, or sucanat
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 cup mashed over-ripe bananas (about 2-3 bananas)
  • ½ cup sour cream or plain yogurt
  • ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or butter
  • 2 eggs
  • ⅓ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. In a large mixing bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
  2. Add mashed bananas, oil, sour cream and eggs.
  3. Stir until ingredients are well combined.
  4. Fold in chocolate chips.1
  5. Pour mixture into a buttered bread pan.
  6. Bake in a 350 degree oven for one hour or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

 

Lately, Brayden and I have been making lots of loaves of this Chocolate Chip Banana Bread to share with friends. He’s becoming quite the chef and loves delivering treats to friends.

It sure is fun to share pictures of our son. Here are more photos of his big adoption day in case you missed it. :)

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How to Make Easy Fruit Cobbler

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Hopefully, we’ve all been taking advantage of summer and fall to pick and preserve all the fresh fruit we can get our hands on. Now let’s learn about how to make Easy Fruit Cobbler!

Almost 12 years into sharing recipes here with you, I am shocked that I have yet to post our favorite fruit cobbler recipe! This is, hands down, Matt’s favorite dessert. And who am I kidding? Sometimes we make it and eat it for breakfast. It’s fruit and bread, am I right?

What fruits work best for Easy Fruit CobblerYum

In our experience, with the exception of melons and citrus, just about any fruits will work. Our favorites are:

  • Peach (our favorite, favorite!)
  • Strawberry
  • Raspberry
  • Blueberry
  • Boysenberry (Matt’s favorite since he grew up in California – but we don’t have access to these berries in Nebraska!)
  • Blackberry
  • Apple
  • Pear
  • Cherry

You can buy fresh or frozen fruit at the store or farmer’s market to use in these cobblers. Our favorite and most economical option is to use whatever fruit we’ve been blessed to pick and preserve. We grab peaches or berries that we’ve frozen during the summer and quickly make an Easy Fruit Cobbler to enjoy!

Use as much or as little sugar as you prefer. Through the years, I’ve cut the sugar content down in this recipe (so we can eat it for breakfast, you know?). And of course, I use freshly ground wheat flour. So our cobblers are made with whole grains, healthy fats, and amazing fruit!

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 —- > Want to know more about grinding fresh flour and using whole grains? Read these posts! <—–

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I love that using whole grains in dessert and treat recipes takes them up a notch on the healthy scale! Yes, these are still sweet treats to be eaten in moderation. But when we cut down the sugar content, use whole grains, and use all wholesome, real food ingredients – we’ve got ourselves a dessert that is actually nourishing!

Easy Fruit Cobbler

How to Make Easy Fruit Cobbler
 
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Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • TOPPING:
  • 1 cup whole grain flour (I use freshly ground soft white wheat)
  • 2 Tablespoons brown sugar or sucanat
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ cup melted butter
  • 1 egg
  • 3 Tablespoons milk
  • FRUIT:
  • 6 cups fresh or frozen fruit, washed and sliced if needed
  • ¼-1/2 cup brown sugar or sucanat, depending on your taste
Instructions
  1. In a medium saucepan, cook fruit and sugar until soft and syrupy.
  2. Pour fruit mixture into a 9x9 inch baking dish.
  3. Mix together topping ingredients, beginning with dry ingredients first.
  4. Add melted butter, egg, and milk until well combined.
  5. Spoon mounds of topping over the fruit filling in the baking dish.
  6. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until cobbler is bubbly and topping is golden brown.
  7. Serve as-is, or topped with ice cream or milk

If you prefer a crunchy topping instead of a cake topping, try this awesome Fruit Crisp Recipe instead!

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Can Simple Meals Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half??

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I’ve shared over and over how our Simple Meals plans can make your kitchen life much easier! But is it possible that they would also cut your grocery bill in half?

Can Simple Meals Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half??

I always love hearing how Simple Meals is a blessing to you as it is to us. So I wanted to share this feedback I got from Lori. READ THIS!!!

I just had to send a huge THANK YOU! I’m not really one to use someone else’s menu plan, because I usually end up changing so much that it ends up being counterproductive. However, we have been clean eating/cutting out sugar for the past 2 years, which meant more meal planning and meal prepping for me, since we couldn’t always just grab take out or go out to eat. So needless to say, by the time I found you, I was burnt out! Lol!

When I saw your offer on build your bundle (a few weeks ago), I thought here’s the answer to my prayers! We have just started with our first week and have only tried 2 meals so far, and I’ll be honest, while I was making the recipes, I was doubting the simplicity and wondering if my kids would even like the meals, but I WAS SO WRONG, they LOVED both recipes we’ve tried so far!

The even better part, our grocery bill this week was almost cut in 1/2, by following your plan!! I am a homeschooling mom to 6, with 2 graduates and 4 still at home. We added in some outside classes this year, along with some extra, extracurriculars, haha, so you have saved my sanity, my food budget, and most importantly my time. I can’t wait to see what future menus bring.

Lori’s encouragement was so wonderful that I wrote her back to thank her and to get permission to quote her. Lori’s response?

You absolutely can quote me! I have the 3 cheese pasta in the crockpot for dinner and am still amazed that it took me literally 5 minutes to put together, and all I have left to do for dinner is throw together a salad, like what?!?!?

How cool is that? Simple Meals really makes life simple, and it saves lots of money too!

Here’s a reminder that now through September 4, your one-year Simple Meals is 50% off! To think, our subscription is 1/2 off and you can cut your grocery bill in 1/2 too!!

Get all the details here.

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Last Chance to Join our Take Ten Challenge!

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If you haven’t signed up yet, it’s not too late! We’ve got a fantastic two weeks in store for all of us, and it all begins Sunday night, August 18.

Read all the details of our Take Ten Challenge here. We’re going to walk you through taking ten minutes each morning to do some simple meal prep so that all you have to do at supper/dinner time is put on the final touches and serve your meal. Your family mealtime is going to be SO EASY!!!! All because you decided to:

Take Ten

Click here to sign up for the Take Ten Challenge!

Watch your inbox for a confirmation email, then you’ll receive a complete Take Ten Grocery List and information to get you started. The challenge begins on Monday, August 19! Sign up for free ($17.00 value!) by Sunday, August 18.

 

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Take Ten Minutes To Prep For Tonight’s Meal!! (Take the Challenge!)

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Who’s ready to make dinner time easier and less stressful? Who’s interested in saving money and eating healthier? Join us for our fun and easy Take Ten Challenge!

Take ten minutes each morning to make dinner prep in the evening much easier! Ready to learn how?

What’s great about this “challenge” is that it’s really not so challenging at all. In fact, all the tips, suggestions, and challenges we’re going to offer should really make your life much, much easier. If you ask me, the actual dinner challenge really comes in not being prepared, in giving in to spending extra money on take-out, in feeling sluggish after eating a less-than-wholesome meal, and in becoming discouraged because we just don’t like cooking or just don’t know how to “get it together” in the kitchen.

The Take Ten Challenge is here to help.

Here’s how it works:

The Take Ten Challenge

Cost: $17.

What: You’ll receive step-by-step instructions and recipes to help you put meals on the table with an easy 10-minute morning prep! You’ll receive a complete grocery list to get you started. Then each evening of your 10-day challenge, you’ll receive an email containing tomorrow’s Take Ten Challenge information.

When: As soon as you sign up, you’ll receive an email with full grocery list for the Take Ten Challenge. Plus you’ll receive all the other information you’ll need. Two days later, your Take Ten Challenges will begin to arrive in your inbox. You’re going to love how easy this is!

How it works: After you sign up, we’ll immediately send you a complete grocery list and all the information you’ll need to know as we launch the challenge.

What you need to do: Read the simple information, grab the (inexpensive, basic, real food) groceries, and be ready to dive in two days after you sign up. (Hint: For the first meal and challenge, you only need 2 simple ingredients. Hooray!)

Then what: Watch for the first Take Ten Challenge email to arrive at 7:00 pm CST two days after you sign up. It’ll look something like this:

When each email arrives, plan to spend about 10 minutes (or less?!) the following morning doing whatever the Take Ten challenge suggests that you do. That evening, complete the final preparations, then enjoy an easy meal around the table with your family!

Not a morning person?

If you prefer, complete some of the meal prep tasks at night before heading to bed!

Watch for your Take Ten eBook!

After you complete the 10-day challenge, you’ll receive our complete Take Ten eBook, full of all of the challenges you completed plus much more great information!

Ready to join the Take Ten Challenge?

Our Heavenly Homemaker’s Club Members have access to this amazing resource plus ALL of our eBooks, eCurriculum, printables, and so much more – for one very low price! Join us here!

Or purchase separately below:

Once you’ve purchased, watch for an email letting you know how to access your Take Ten Challenge information. Then you’ll receive our Take Ten grocery list and other important challenge information. Looking forward to saving time and money with you while we put great meals on the table!!

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30 No-Bake Treat Recipes

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Avoiding the oven this summer? Me too! To help us out, here are some awesome No-Bake Treat Recipes for us to make!

Allow me to highlight some of my favorites for you. As you can imagine, I had a hard time narrowing it down. Ah, the difficulty of choosing ones favorite treats…

As far as “cookie bars” go, this Easy No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars recipe is my current favorite. Can you blame me?

As for drinks, you already know that this Chocolate Frappe is my very favorite in the summer.

When strawberries are in season, I feast on these Strawberry Cheesecake Parfaits. It’s like heaven in a bowl.

Or I mix things up a bit and make Chocolate Whipped Cream to put on my strawberries.

I super love that I have figured out how to make No-Churn Ice Cream varieties! These recipes only take 5 minutes to prepare, and they are so good! See #26-#29 below for all the recipes, but here’s the Low Sugar Chocolate Ice Cream recipe to get you started!

These Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Treats are so very simple, and I love the sweetness with the crunch!

Last but not least (because I have an entire list of No-Bake Treat Recipes below!), I must highlight my two favorite “jello salad” knock-offs. Spoiler: There is no jello involved in the making of these recipes. Simple real food ingredients, plus delicious fresh fruit make these awesome salad treats!

Here’s my Pineapple Fluff Salad…

And my Strawberry Fluff Salad…

Ready for the entire huge list? Here you go!

30 No-Bake Treat RecipesYum

  1. Easy No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars
  2. Simple No-Bake Granola Bar Bites
  3. Honey Sweetened No-Bake Cookies
  4. Chewy Granola Bars
  5. Chocolate Frappe
  6. Coconut Fudge Bars
  7. Stevia Sweetened Fat Bombs or Honey Sweetened Fat Bombs
  8. Frozen Yogurt Cups
  9. Honey Peanut Bars
  10. Mudballs
  11. Nectarine Cream Cups
  12. No-Bake Chocolate Fudge Bites
  13. No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookie Bites
  14. No-Bake Snickerdoodle Bites
  15. Pineapple Fluff Salad
  16. Raspberry Lemon Cream Cups
  17. Strawberry Cheesecake Parfait
  18. Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake Parfait
  19. Americana Cheesecake Parfait
  20. Chocolate Whipped Cream for Coffee or Fruit
  21. Strawberry Milkshake
  22. Strawberry Peach Slushie
  23. Pineapple Mango Smoothies
  24. No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake
  25. Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Treats
  26. Low Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream
  27. Low Sugar Chocolate Ice Cream
  28. Low Sugar Strawberry Ice Cream
  29. Low Sugar Peanut Butter Ice Cream
  30. Strawberry Fluff Salad

Have fun making these great No-Bake Treat!

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Quick Meals I’m Making for My BIG Family This Summer

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Who needs quick meals for summer? I do, and you probably do too! Today, I’m happy to share several of the quick meals I’m making for my big family this summer!

For what may be the last summer ever, ALL of us are under one roof. Asa graduated from college and moved home to earn and save money before moving on. Justus completed his first year of college and moved home to earn and save money before heading back to school in the fall. Elias and Malachi are in and out between work, activities, and summer camps. We’ve got two littles again (one soon-to-be-adopted boy and one foster babe). There are eight of us in all, and seven of them are male. (Fine, one of them is just now starting solids, but still.) :)

We need food. We need a lot of it. And it needs to be quick and easy!

I’ve been amazed at how much food comes and goes in this house! Asa and Justus are our biggest eaters, so having them back in the house has been FUN because they love all the good food they get to enjoy! Just adding the two of them back into the mix has meant that I’m back to doubling and tripling recipes again. Here’s how I’m keeping us all fed – for three meals every day!

Oh, and never fear! All the big boys are playing a huge role in getting these meals on the table. Eating well is a team effort around here!

Quick Meals I’m Making for My BIG Family This Summer

Here are some of the meals that our table sees regularly!

1. Pancakes and Eggs, with fresh fruit and lots of bacon

How to make this meal quick and easy:

2. Grilled Chicken, with mixed greens, veggies, and fresh fruit

How to make this meal quick and easy:

3. Tuna Salad, with fresh fruit, grape tomatoes, and lettuce

How to make this meal quick and easy:

  • I almost always have my kids grab 4-6 cans of tuna and mix it up for the family while I’m doing something else that needs to be done.
  • We serve our Tuna Salad on whatever odds and ends of bread, tortillas, or crackers we have around. (Or if I’m in a hurry, I just grab a fork and eat it as-is!)

4. Baked Potatoes in the Crock Pot or Instant Pot, with whatever toppings we have available

How to make this meal quick and easy:

  • I have each of my kids scrub a few potatoes early in the day so they can cook in the crock pot and be ready for lunch or dinner.
  • We grab leftover ham, taco meat, or roast beef from the fridge and warm it up to serve on our potatoes along with butter, sour cream, and cheese.
  • I almost always steam frozen peas to serve with Baked Potatoes, which takes about 2 minutes.

5. Grilled Hamburgers or Hotdogs

How to make this meal quick and easy:

  • I like to make patties ahead of time, then throw them on the grill for a quick lunch or dinner. Our favorite recipes are Make-Ahead Parmesan Burgers or Cheddar Ranch Burgers.
  • I buy several packages of Nitrite-Free Beef Hotdogs at the store to keep in the freezer so I can grab them out and grill them quickly for summer lunches.
  • I set out fixin’s and everyone builds their burger or dog the way they like!

6. Beanie Weanies

How to make this meal quick and easy:

  • I have a supply of Nitrite-Free Beef Hotdogs in the freezer so I can grab them out and thaw them in hot water when we need a quick meal.
  • I have a supply of Organic Baked Beans in my pantry so that if I don’t have to make Simple Baked Beans from scratch, I can grab a few cans and make a meal!
  • I slice fruit and get out carrot sticks to complete this simple meal.

7. Tacos

How to make this meal quick and easy:

8. Instant Pot Meals

Take a look through all the Instant Pot Recipes we’ve posted so far! I have been amazed at how much time my Instant Pot has saved me. Whatever I make in my Instant Pot, I serve with a quick salad and veggie and food is on the table so quickly! During the summer, I especially love that using my IP keeps from heating up the kitchen!

Our favorite Instant Pot Recipes so far:

9. Special Salads

Salads are great because we get so much nourishment from them, we can use garden fresh veggies, and we avoid heating up the house! But salads are only great as meals if they are hearty and filling.

Here are our favorite Hearty Salad Recipes:

How to make this meal quick and easy:

  • I try to have Homemade Bacon Bits cooked and in the freezer to grab out for easy salads.
  • During all the months of the year that fresh lettuce is not growing in our garden, I keep a package of Organic Mixed Greens in the fridge. Then, when we want to make a salad, we just grab the greens and add whatever we want!

10. Stir Fry

How to make this meal quick and easy:

  • I make a large batch of this Stick of Butter Rice so we can stir it into our fried veggies. (We often serve our stir-fried veggies with whole wheat spaghetti noodles, but we love rice with them too!)
  • I use whatever veggies we’ve picked from our garden, received from Bountiful Baskets, or purchased at the farmer’s market to make super flavorful, nourishing Stir Fry! And I usually throw in a big handful of fresh spinach too. :)

11. Grilled Salmon

How to make this meal quick and easy:

  • If I haven’t thawed our salmon ahead of time, I dunk the package into hot water and they thaw super quickly!
  • I serve a simple salad and whatever fresh veggies and fruit we have on hand to complete this simple meal.

12. Pizza on the Grill

Cooking pizza outside on the grill keeps the oven off and the house cool!

So we’re eating well and we’re eating a lot! How about you? What are you feeding your family this summer?

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