Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

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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Summer Activities for Kids: Make Smoothies, Milkshakes, and Popsicles!

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Looking for some fun activities to do with your kids this summer? I’ve enjoyed 22 summers with kids (and counting!), so I certainly have a few ideas to share! Stay tuned during the next few weeks as we provide all kinds of suggestions for making your summer with your kids meaningful. (Subscribe here so you won’t miss out!) Today’s idea: Make Smoothies, Milkshakes, and Popsicles!

There are many glorious reasons to make smoothies, milkshakes, and popsicles with your kids. What are these reasons, you ask? Oh, I am more than happy to share:

  1. Smoothies, milkshakes, and popsicles are obviously perfect to enjoy on a hot day because they are so refreshing and cool.
  2. When you make food WITH your kids, they are much more likely to want to eat it.
  3. You can sneak all kinds of nourishing foods into smoothies, milkshakes, and popsicles – so basically, you are making treats that are very healthy!
  4. Making smoothies, milkshakes, and popsicles are a super simple way to get all your kids – from tiny to big – into the kitchen to learn some kitchen skills!

When our 5-year old Bonus Boy first moved in with us, one of the first fun activities we did together was to make “milkshakes.” (They are really considered smoothies, but he “doesn’t like smoothies – he only likes milkshakes.” Call them whatever you want! We load them with fresh greens, frozen strawberries and bananas, farm fresh whole milk, and sometimes even an avocado. He drinks these “milkshakes” right up! And he loves to help us make them, so we aren’t sneaking the healthy stuff in. He puts it all into the blender himself!

Below are 13 of our favorite smoothie, milkshake, and popsicle recipes. Take note that you can make a smoothie and then freeze it into a popsicle – a double good treat! Or look there at #13 – make homemade wholesome pudding, then freeze it into Pudding Pops! Creamsicles anyone? Yep! There’s a recipe for those too!

Make Smoothies, Milkshakes, and Popsicles!

  1. Pineapple Mango Smoothies
  2. Pineapple-Orange Slushies
  3. Creamy Orange Cooler
  4. Strawberry Peach Slushies
  5. Icy Cold Milkshake Treats
  6. Green Machine Milkshakes
  7. Easy Peppermint Milkshakes
  8. Fresh Peach Milkshakes
  9. Strawberry Milkshakes
  10. Strawberry Creamsicles
  11. Mock Frozen Yogurt
  12. Orange Creamsicles
  13. Homemade Pudding Pops

Sky’s the limit on the variety of milkshakes you can make with different fruits and fun combinations. The same is true for smoothies! Use whatever you have in your freezer or fridge. Use up odds and ends of leftover fruit that is starting to go bad. Use milk, cream, kefir, yogurt – whatever you have. There’s hardly a way to go wrong with these ideas!

HINT!

Do you think your kids would enjoy the taste of these milkshakes and smoothies? But they are turned off by the color of these goodies when you add greens to your blender? Yep, I hear ya. We’ve learned to pour the mixture into a solid cup so that it isn’t see-through. We top it with a lid and let the kids choose a fun straw. Ta-da! Problem solved. The kids can’t see the funny-looking mixture – they just know the contents inside their cups are delish!

Looking for the perfect blender?

Any ol’ blender will do. But nothing is amazing as a Blendtec or Vitamix if you want a perfectly smooth smoothie. Your family is much more likely to guzzle down their smoothies and shakes if they are seedless and chunk-less. :) Here are more details on why I love my Blendtec.

Looking for great homemade popsicle makers?

I just invested in the double-set of these. They are fantastic! Why the double-set? Well, because 6 popsicles just isn’t enough. Making 12 popsicles at once is much better, don’t you think!?

By the way, while the above 13 recipes are beyond great and extra full of nourishment, it is worth a mention that I often pour 100% juice into our popsicle molds to make simple fruit juice popsicles. Incredibly easy and a super money saver!

Looking for more help as you pull your kids into the kitchen with you?

And if you really want to go all in and teach your kids to cook this summer, I encourage you to invest in Katie Kimball’s Kids Cook Real Food eCourse. I used this course with Malachi and plan to use it with Brayden too. It is FANTASTIC!!! Get the details here.

Psst! Did you see our other Summer Kid Activity ideas so far?

Stay tuned for more fun Summer Kid Activity ideas!

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Easy Low Sugar Strawberry Cream Cheese Cake

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There are so many wonderful reasons to love the month of May. The school year ends (for most), the frigid weather finally becomes pleasant (in Nebraska), and strawberries are everywhere (in bowls, in plates, in my hand…). I will now introduce you to my most recent recipe experiment involving strawberries: Easy Low Sugar Strawberry Cream Cheese Cake.

This cake is moist. It’s flavorful. It’s low in sugar. It’s whole grain. It offers the wonderful taste of early summer joy. And friends, it is topped with Cream Cheese Frosting. I declare that to be the MVP of this cake – along with the strawberries, of course!

Cutting Back on SugarYum

If you’ve been around here long, you know that I’ve taken the liberty of cutting down the sugar in many recipes, making sure they still taste amazing. I believe a lower sugar ratio is something we can get our taste buds used to! I recommend cutting back on sugar gradually, starting with homemade desserts and muffins.

Hoping to cut back on sugar? Read some simple ideas here to help make that happen!

And now, I reward your cutting-back-on-sugar efforts by giving you this recipe:

Easy Low Sugar Strawberry Cream Cheese Cake

Easy Low Sugar Strawberry Cream Cheese Cake
 
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Author:
Serves: 15
Ingredients
  • 2½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
  • ½ cup sucanat or sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1½ cups fresh or frozen strawberries
  • ½ cup milk
  • ½ cup sour cream
  • ½ cup melted butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.
  2. Puree strawberries until smooth.
  3. Add pureed strawberries, milk, sour cream, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla.
  4. Mix with beaters until smooth.
  5. Pour into a buttered 9x13 cake pan.
  6. Bake in a 350° oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
  7. Allow cake to cool.
  8. Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe options below)

Want to keep the frosting low in sugar too?

Here are my favorite Low Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting recipes!

Stevia-Sweetened Cream Cheese Frosting

2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 Tablespoons softened butter
8 ounces softened cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Liquid stevia to taste (I use about 20 drops)

In a large bowl, whip cream until soft peaks form. Add softened butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and stevia – whipping until well combined and smooth. Spread over cooled cake. Store in refrigerator.

If you prefer, here’s a slightly sweeter but still not too sugary frosting option:

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces softened cream cheese
¼ cup softened butter
3-4 Tablespoons real maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

With a hand mixer (or in your blender), whip together all ingredients until smooth. Spread over cooled cake.

Looking for more Low Sugar Recipes?

Here are just a few of our favorites!

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INCREDIBLE Whole Grain Raspberry Cheesecake Bars

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Stop what you are doing right now and make these Whole Grain Raspberry Cheesecake Bars!! Well, maybe finish reading this post so you can get the recipe. Otherwise though, the making of these bars should become a very high priority. My family is in love with them!

As it happens, one day I decided to experiment with combining my Raspberry Oatmeal Bar recipe with my Crustless Cheesecake recipe. The result is this incredible, layered dish of delightfulness.

The cheesecake filling bakes right into the bars, creating a fantastic moist texture with raspberry cheesecake flavor. Truly, each bite of these bars is full of WOW.

As a bonus to the deliciousness of these Raspberry Cheesecake Bars, we get to enjoy the nourishment of whole grains, healthy fats, and low sugar content. I personally find nothing wrong with serving these bars for breakfast. But they are also wonderful as a dessert!

Whole Grain Raspberry Cheesecake BarsYum

5.0 from 1 reviews
Whole Grain Raspberry Cheesecake Bars
 
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Author:
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups whole wheat flour
  • 1½ cups rolled oats
  • ½ cup sucanat or brown sugar
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 cup melted butter
  • ½ cup 100% raspberry jam
  • CHEESECAKE LAYER:
  • 8-ounces softened cream cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 2 Tablespoons real maple syrup
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Mix together flour, oats, sucanat, baking powder, and salt.
  2. Stir in melted butter until the mixture resembles crumbs.
  3. Press half of the mixture into an 8x8 inch baking pan.
  4. Spread jam over the top.
  5. In a blender or with beaters, whip together cream cheese, egg, maple syrup, and vanilla.
  6. Spread this cheesecake layer over the top of the jam.
  7. Sprinkle remaining oat mixture on top of the cheesecake layer.
  8. Bake in a 350° oven for 45 minutes or until lightly browned.

Not a fan of raspberries? Substitute any of your favorite jams or jellies. And my next experiment will likely include something involving chocolate too! (You are shocked, I’m sure.)

Want more info?

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Two Simple Tricks to Get Your Kids to Eat Green Beans

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Well now, isn’t this interesting? I’ve been feeding kids green beans since 1997. All my bio-boys love them because of the “bacon grease trick” my mom taught me years ago (more details below). But I just learned a new trick to add to my back pocket, which has finally helped our 5-year old Bonus Boy learn to love green beans too! Without further ado, how to get your kids to eat green beans…

How to Get Your Kids to Eat Green Beans

1. First, let’s talk about green beans and bacon.

Bacon makes everything better, of course. And you know me. I’m not afraid of fat if it is from a natural, real food source. Our family enjoys plenty of real butter and coconut oil, whole milk and red meat, real cream and yep – bacon.

All of these fats are recognized by our bodies, and are therefore easily digested and utilized for nourishment and energy. (Low on energy? Eat butter and bacon. You heard it here, folks. Now who’s your best friend??)

You can throw a slice or two of bacon into your green beans as they cook – or you can do what I believe is easier and faster! Drum roll please:

Save grease from cooked bacon to add to green beans anytime you need it!

Each time I cook bacon for my family, I let the bacon grease cool, then put it into a jar. I store this in the fridge, then add a scoop of bacon grease to a pot of green beans along with a little water (or chicken broth!) and Redmond Real Salt. Then I steam them to perfection. The bacon grease adds wonderful flavor to the beans, and of course, the fat makes the vegetable so much more appealing!

How do I cook my bacon?

oven-bacon-1

I’m so glad you asked. Here are my two favorite, most efficient methods of cooking bacon:

  1. Bake bacon in the oven. Then I freeze it to use as needed. This is so easy and helpful to have on hand for all your bacon needs! ;)
  2. Cut it into Bacon Bits. Once cooked, I put the bacon bits into a bag to freeze and pull out for salads, scrambled eggs, or BLT Wraps.

bacon bits 1

2. Now let’s talk about what kind of green beans seem to be the most appealing!

My family LOVES fresh green beans from our garden in the summertime. But alas, we live in Nebraska and can only enjoy these for a few months out of the year. If we grow enough, I blanch and freeze them to pull out and use during the cold months. But the past few years, we’ve been eating them as fast as they grow, leaving no reserves for the freezer!

Therefore, I typically buy frozen green beans in bulk from Azure Standard. Frozen green beans are much more flavorful and nutritious compared to canned beans. Still, even when cooked in bacon grease as described above, our Bonus Boy wasn’t very interested in this veggie side dish.

But, I’ve recently discovered a simple new trick! Instead of buying frozen “cut green beans” as I had been doing, I picked up a back of frozen “whole green beans” one day. I steamed them along with bacon grease and salt, and wouldn’t you know it? Bonus Boy ate them, and ate them, and ate them! We all did!

Who knew that simply switching from short and stubby beans to long and skinny beans would somehow make green beans taste so much better!

Now I stock up on frozen whole green beans and we all devour them!

So there you have it. Long green beans apparently taste better than short ones; and bacon grease makes beans taste amazing!

How do you and your family enjoy green beans?

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Easy Whole Grain Chocolate Pancakes

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This recipe is so easy I’m not sure why we haven’t been making this for years and years. Not to spoil the punch-line, but it is a fact that we can make Whole Grain Chocolate Pancakes simply by whisking some unsweetened cocoa powder into our pancake batter. Yup, it’s that easy!

I’ve always loved fresh berries and whipped cream on my pancakes, but on Chocolate Pancakes? Be still my heart.

Or on another day, I might spread homemade peanut butter over my chocolate pancake for a fabulous chocolate peanut butter combo. You know, for the added protein. Yes, that’s why I do it. ;)

The topping possibilities for these Easy Whole Grain Chocolate Pancakes are endless, and I love the fun and ease of turning regular pancakes into a chocolate surprise.

I always have a big container of Homemade Pancake Mix on hand, so making a batch of these pancakes is even easier! Here’s how I make these:

Easy Whole Grain Chocolate Pancakes

Easy Chocolate Pancakes
 
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Author:
Serves: 4 servings
Ingredients
  • 1 cup whole grain flour (I use freshly ground hard white wheat)
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • OR 1 Cup Pancake Mix**
  • 3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 cup cultured buttermilk or regular milk
  • 1 egg
  • 3 Tablespoons melted butter (or oil)
Instructions
  1. Whisk together the ingredients until the batter is smooth.
  2. Cook pancakes on a well buttered, hot skillet or griddle, flipping once bubbles begin to form.
  3. Serve with real maple syrup, applesauce, jelly, fresh fruit, or any of your favorite pancake toppings.

Recipes for you!

Here are our favorite pancake toppings:

Resources for you!

  • Do yourself a favor and order any of the Unsweetened Cocoa Powders from Olive Nation. (And use the code home to get 20% off!) I can’t tell you what a wonderful difference these cocoa powders have made in my chocolate recipes. The quality is MUCH better, and they do not cost more than I was spending on the lesser varieties. Rock on!
  • Do you have our **Simple Mixes to Save the Day eBook yet? Grab it so you can save time and energy by using the Pancake Mix for this recipe!! I LOVE having these mixes on hand!!![wp_eStore_fancy1 id=27]

What are your favorite pancake toppings?

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Simple Creamy Pasta in the Instant Pot

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Introducing what has become my very favorite pasta meal to prepare: Simple Creamy Pasta in the Instant Pot!

This is one of those recipes you’ll want to keep in your hip pocket for days you have no time to cook. Because guess what? Making this takes less time than it takes to run through a drive through to pick up take-out!

As you know, I love having hamburger meat cooked ahead of time to pull out and use as needed for super quick meals. You can read here about how I cook 5-7 pounds of frozen hamburger meat in 30-minutes in my Instant Pot. It’s a HUGE time saver!

This pasta recipe only takes 10-15 minutes from start to finish!

If I already have meat cooked, I stir it into my Instant Pot with the other quick ingredients, turn on my pot, and have a meal after about 10 minutes. Total. It’s unreal!! (Meanwhile, I get out salad fixin’s and we’re ready to eat this nourishing, very tasty meal!)

If I don’t have meat already cooked, I quickly brown it in my Instant Pot before adding the other ingredients and I’ve only added a few minutes of prep to this dish.

Either way, you can see that this meal is incredibly fast to put together. And everyone in my family loves it. You can’t go wrong with cheesy, creamy pasta!!

Don’t have an Instant Pot?

I have this one and I absolutely love how much time it saves in the kitchen. So do consider investing! But if you prefer, you can mix the ingredients together in your crock pot and cook it on low for 4 hours. Then stir in the cheese and cream, and you’ve got an equally easy meal that cooked in your crock pot with no effort on your part!

Simple Creamy Pasta in the Instant Pot

4.3 from 3 reviews
Simple Creamy Pasta in the Instant Pot
 
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Author:
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 1 pound ground beef, turkey, or venison
  • 2 Tablespoons minced onion
  • 1 pound whole grain pasta, any shape
  • 24-ounces spaghetti sauce
  • 3 cups water
  • Sea salt to taste
  • 1 cup parmesan cheese
  • 1½ cups heavy whipping cream
Instructions
  1. Cook ground meat and onion together until meat is no longer pink. (I usually have meat pre-cooked to stir into this recipe. But you can use the saute function on your instant pot to make this a one-dish meal.)
  2. Stir cooked meat and dry pasta into the instant pot.
  3. Salt liberally.
  4. Pour on spaghetti sauce and water, stirring until barely combined.
  5. Seal instant pot and cook on "hi" pressure, manual for 5 minutes.
  6. Do a quick release of pressure to open the lid.
  7. Stir in parmesan cheese and cream.
  8. Serve!

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40+ Real Food Muffin Recipes

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Muffin lovers, unite! And bring your chocolate chips when you come. Some of the 40+ real food muffin recipes we’re about to share are going to need them.

40 + Real Food Muffin Recipes

For eleven years now, I’ve been posting muffin recipes here to share with you. We decided it would be nice to list them all in one place for you to access! But first, two of my favorite muffin-making tips…

  1. Make Muffin Batter ahead of time!

    Follow this tutorial to easily freeze muffin batter for later. I love this time-saving trick.

  2. Make Muffin Mix!

    Make a big batch of Muffin Mix so you can easily whip up a pan of muffins without getting out all the ingredients!

And now it’s time to share our favorite muffin recipes. These are all either whole grain or grain free!

40+ Real Food Muffin RecipesYum

My boys’ favorite muffins are the Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins. Matt’s favorite is the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffin. My favorites are any that are topped with cheesecake!

What’s your favorite kind of muffin?

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