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Confessions of a Chocolate Shake Addict

July 11, 2021 by Tasha Hackett Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Hey, it’s Tasha. Remember me? I’m Laura’s friend. The one who fell off the cliff and didn’t die. I homeschool a few kids and eat chocolate, AND I DRINK IT. Eating paleo took a turn for the better once I discovered some amazing chocolate tricks, but today is the day for the confessions of a paleo chocolate shake addict.

Chocolate Shake Confessions:

I drink a chocolate shake every day. Sometimes more than one.
Secretly, not so secretly anymore, I am happy a few of my kids don’t like my chocolate shakes—more for me.
16 oz of cacao powder barely lasts me one month = that means I eat approximately 3 Tablespoons a day.
Once, mid-shake preparation, I was ravenous. Hungry, grumpy, starving. The cacao powder was not where it was supposed to be. I searched frantically through the cupboards to no avail. Mean Tasha came out. I yelled across the house to my husband and kids, “WHO MOVED THE CHOCOLATE STUFF??” No one answered Crazy Mama. Climbed up on the counter and searched the top shelf while yelling at my family that there was a crisis upon us. Turns out, the almost empty bag was found behind the Blentec. Right where I’d left it I’m sure.
No, I’m not misspelling Cocoa. Cacao is a real thing.

Cacao vs. Cocoa?

Cacao is the name of the tree that grows pods with beans that are harvested and roasted like coffee to make cocoa powder and chocolate. But—woah—if you don’t roast the beans, it’s called cacao instead of cocoa. Unroasted beans are raw and contain significantly higher levels of minerals, fiber, and even some protein. So that’s what I chose to eat. Please check out the Subscribe & Save options available for Organic Cacao Powder.

Paleo Chocolate Shake RecipeYum

Clearly, Laura’s salad-drinking habits are commendable. But, another confession: I’m not a grown-up enough human to submit myself to such torture. What I meant to say is that Laura is a super human blessed by the Almighty with taste buds of steel. Hmm. Okay, how about this: I’m so deeply in love with chocolate shakes and I see no reason to give them up.

Sorry. The recipe(s).

I mostly make it the same every day, but has been evolving over the year. Therefore, I will give you two recipes. The first is when you only have 30 seconds to spare. The second is when you have 2 minutes.

Quick Fix Chocolate Shake

8 oz. coconut milk
2 Tablespoons cacao or cocoa powder
2 pinches salt
1/2—1 teaspoon Super Sweet from THM or stevia/blend sweetener of choice
Large handful of spinach
3 cubes ice
Blend until smooth
Drink

The above smoothie has approximately 4 grams of protein and 92 calories. It is enough to satisfy a chocolate craving and sweet tooth. If you want to trick your mouth into thinking you’re having a treat, and you’re in a hurry, give it a try. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of nutrients in the spinach, cacao, and coconut milk, but I wouldn’t recommend replacing a meal with this shake. Unless you’re planning to starve yourself to death, which I highly discourage.

Paleo Chocolate Shake with more stuff…

8 oz. coconut milk
2 Tablespoons cacao or cocoa powder
2 pinches salt
1/2—1 teaspoon Super Sweet from THM or stevia/blend sweetener of choice
2 Tablespoons integral collagen (paleo friendly dairy/soy-free protein)
half of a banana (sliced and frozen is nice)
1/2 cup frozen fruit (blueberries or sweet cherries are good options)
1 Tablespoon almond butter
Large handful spinach
3 cubes of ice
Blend until smooth
Drink in secret or make double to share with all the toddlers

This is the shake I drink daily. If we’re heading out and I’m not sure if there’s going to be paleo food for me, then I make a shake. Sometimes I drink with breakfast, or later in the day if I’m hungry and there’s no food in front of me. The full recipe is approximately 320 calories and 17 grams of protein.

What do you eat everyday?! Does it make you ask happy as this shake makes me? If not… maybe you should make this shake instead.

Paleo Chocolate Shake

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Author: Tasha

Recipe type: snack

Ingredients

8 oz. coconut milk
2 Tablespoons cacao or cocoa powder
2 pinches salt
½—1 teaspoon Super Sweet from THM or stevia/blend sweetener of choice
2 Tablespoons integral collagen (paleo friendly dairy/soy-free protein)
half of a banana (sliced and frozen is nice)
½ cup frozen fruit (blueberries or sweet cherries are good options)
1 Tablespoon almond butter
Large handful spinach
3 cubes of ice

Instructions

Blend until smooth
Drink in secret or make double to share with all the toddlers

Tasha Hackett is a friend of Laura and author of the Christian Romance, Bluebird on the Prairie; available wherever books are sold and from her website, www.TashaHackett.com. She spends most of her time (drinking chocolate shakes) with four chatty children and an incredibly supportive husband. They give her the kind of love people write books about.

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Homemade Chocolate Bar

April 11, 2021 by Tasha Hackett Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Want to make a Homemade Chocolate Bar?! And here’s a fun new treat recipe from Tasha!

Homemade Chocolate Bar

by Tasha Hackett

This homemade chocolate bar recipe is everything I ever thought it could be. I tend to eat it all and so I make it small batches. Apparently, I have the self-restraint of a two-year-old near a puddle. Which is none-at-all. In case you haven’t been around two-year-olds lately, they pretty much do what they want. Thankfully this homemade chocolate is a good source of calories and protein.

Yum

A now a word about our homemade chocolate bar sponsor.

Laura once shared a recipe about Fat Bombs and we all said, “Ew, no.” Every now and then she talks about how hungry she is and is she ever grateful for these amazing goodies and we say, “Ew, no.” Initially, she explained how fat is good for our bodies because woman cannot live on salad alone. Secondly, she tried to be sneaky and change the name of these treats to “Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups.” Nice try, Laura. I can still read and the recipe is the same and know it consists of butter, coconut oil, peanut butter, cocoa powder, and a drizzle of honey. And I said, “Ew, no.”

And Laura shook her head and thought, “Oh ye of little faith.”

When I was literally starving after switching to a paleo diet (not for weight loss, but for other health reasons) she said, “Tasha, you have to make the chocolate peanut butter cups.” I can’t decide if that’s hyperbole or not about the starving. I was ravenously hungry all the time. If you’ve ever cut out sugar and grains, you know how your body freaks out for about a week. I’ve been eating a paleo diet for over four months and chocolate is life. Except, you know, after Jesus. Obviously. He’s literally life and light and I hope we know I’m speaking superfluously here. But figuratively . . . chocolate is life. I can honestly say that I’ve used significantly more cocoa powder the past four months than I ever have in my life before.

Why buy the chocolate when I can easily make the chocolate?

I confess, when Laura shares a recipe, I glance at it and then I take it cruising through the backroads. Is anyone else guilty of this? Therefore, keep reading Laura’s post if you want simple. If you want mostly simple and a heck of lot more ingredients, then also read my posts . . . Whew. Glad I got that off my chest.

It is here. The chocolate bar that beats all chocolate bar cravings. Come one, come all, and enjoy the gluten-free, dairy-free, honey-sweetened granola chocolate snack thing that will make you wish I was your favorite aunt.

I have been known to eat these in public and then share the bounty with my fellow mom-friends. (Living the dream over here. There are friends, and then there are mom-friends. #ifyouknowyouknow) This homemade melty chocolate bar has been met with surprise statements of, “This is really good!” As if they, clearly, didn’t think homemade paleo “sugar-free” chocolate would be any good. Oh ye of little faith.

Boy, we showed them!

I mean, eh-hem, I am modestly pleased when others enjoy the food that I make. So how’s about it? You ready for me to quit gabbing and give you the recipe to my honey-sweetened granola chocolate bar thing?

Okay, it is practically Laura’s Honey Sweetened No-Bake Cookies. Except I took her recipe, skipped off the highway, and drove through the country roads and a few corn fields. Figuratively. Literally, my car would be ruined and there would be no chocolate. Maybe a huge fine. Possibly jail time. Is there chocolate in jail? If so, it wouldn’t be as wholesome as this one.

This is a huge batch I made to share.

A word about the ingredients in this chocolate bar:

I replace all peanut butter with almond butter. Thankfully, I find it at Sam’s Club for a reasonable price or I make it myself. I go through about a tub a week. Yet I continue to lose weight. Figures. Feel free to use a natural (thick) peanut butter.

Butter is not technically paleo. Use ghee or make your own ghee by warming the butter and scraping off the white foamy stuff. But I’m not concerned about butter. Also, ghee is expensive and I always have butter in the freezer because I buy all of it when it goes on sale. (That’s a hyperbole, I don’t literally buy it all. That would be ridiculous. And rude. And against the rules. I have a heart.)

Where to get Cocoa Powder

Remember that cocoa powder is not all created equally. I buy Better Body Foods Cacao Powder from Amazon and it’s yummy. Actually, I subscribe to it and it shows up on my porch. *Voila* But I’m not going to tell you how many bags I’ve used since January. Mind your own business, mmk? Whatever you do, do not buy the cheapest store-brand variety, it’s not as good. Laura recommends this kind and it’s her favorite. (<— use the code home to get 15% off your purchases at Olive Nation!)

If you’re a rule-keeper and legalistic, there is sugar added to dried cranberries and cherries. If you can find some without sugar, the more’s the merrier. Dried cherries are my all-time favorite, but they’re expensive. I hoard them. Therefore, I share less frequently with my children. Literally.

Always buy unsweetened coconut flakes. There are tons of varieties all over. (Figuratively. There are literal tons of coconut flakes. But only a figurative ton of brand varieties because brand names cannot be weighed.) I subscribe to Terrasoul on Amazon and get six bags at a time and they’re squirreled away in the basement pantry.

A homemade chocolate bar blessing

May your homemade chocolate be as delightful as watching your toddler march his new rubber boots into a puddle.

Go ahead, bless your neighbors, your friends, your family, and your mom-friends.

Typing this out at the library and chuckling to myself every now and then has been a delight. But now I’m going to mosey around the bookshelves and look for a new historical romance to enjoy. Before I go to bed tonight, I will make myself another batch of homemade chocolate because somebody ate the last of it a few days ago and now that somebody is going to do something about it. Literally.

Homemade Chocolate Bars

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Author: Tasha

Ingredients

½ - ¾ cup honey
⅔ cup natural almond butter
½ cup butter or coconut oil
⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3-4 cups total of a combination of dry ingredients such as: pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chopped pecans/walnuts, dried cranberries/cherries, unsweetened coconut flakes.
Suggestion: 1 cup pumpkin seeds, 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes, 1 cup dried cherries, ½ slivered almonds, ¼ cup sunflower seeds

Instructions

In a medium-sized saucepan, stir together honey, almond butter, butter or coconut oil, salt, and cocoa powder,
Melt and stir ingredients over medium heat until well combined and slightly bubbly.
Remove from heat.
Add vanilla extract and dry ingredients and stir until coated.
Scoop 1-2 Tablespoons of mixture onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet OR pour into a parchment paper lined 9X13 for a granola bar OR pour into one or two parchment paper-lined cookie sheets for chocolate bark.
Chill Homemade Chocolate Bars in the refrigerator until they are set, about 1 hour. Cut into bars.

Go forth and make a homemade chocolate bar!

Thanks for sharing and blessing others with this recipe! Finally, be sure to let us know when you take a recipe and cruise through the backroads. Take us on the scenic route with you.

Tasha Hackett is a friend of Laura and author of Bluebird on the Prairie, a Christian historical romance releasing Spring 2021. Sunshine, homemade chocolate bars, or hot chocolate—whichever is more readily available is her fuel. While she often pretends to be a ballerina while unloading the dishwasher, her favorite thing is writing with hope and humor to entertain and encourage women. Most of her time is spent with four chatty children and an incredibly supportive husband . They give her the kind of love people write books about. You can connect with her at www.TashaHackett.com or Instagram @hackettacademy

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

Almond Orange Paleo Salad Dressing

March 8, 2021 by Tasha Hackett 2 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Tasha’s here again with an awesome new recipe just in time for spring!

Almond Orange Paleo Salad Dressing

by Tasha Hackett

What’s with the Paleo, Tasha? Okay! Sorry, just read this instead: Sugar-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free Salad Dressing that will make you and your family cry tears of joy. Better? Hmm. But really, I can hardly describe the level of happiness this paleo salad dressing makes me. I never knew a salad dressing was capable of bringing forth such an emotion. Almond butter and orange juice? Who knew! Don’t be scared. This paleo salad dressing is delicious on, wait for it, SALAD, but also works great as a veggie dip. In fact, it is even edible straight from the table as pictured below. Not recommended. But acceptable.

toddler messes

Yum

My salad dressing is better than your salad dressing.

The original recipe that I adapted had a few more ingredients and it only made one tiny serving of dressing. I don’t know about you, but if I’m going to go through all the trouble of making a salad dressing from scratch to eat with my paleo food . . . I’m making more than one tiny serving. Clearly, the chances are high that I will be eating salad again in the near future. I’ve made some version of this dressing at least 5 times in the last month. If you’re drinking your salad, skip the dressing and add some fruit. **Insert puking face if you just envisioned drinking a garlic and olive oil flavored smoothie.

Almond Orange Paleo Salad Dressing

Make as directed for a typical dressing consistency. Though if you want it thicker, just add more almond butter. My salads are usually quite epic. I will rarely just eat lettuce, but this dressing has enough going on, that I have eaten it on plain old leaves before. My kitchen hack with this paleo dressing is to make it in my almond butter jar when there’s about half a cup left. Saves times scooping almond butter AND I don’t have to wash any jars just yet. Sometimes I’m pretty smart like that.

My new favorite salad includes the following:

Mixed greens (heavy on the spinach)
Chopped romaine hearts
Pumpkin seeds
Sunflower seeds
Chopped avocado
Slivered almonds
Dried cranberries or cherries
Chopped cold meat of some kind (ham, chicken, salmon, tuna, or even boiled/scrambled eggs, etc)
Chopped dill pickles (tricks me into feeling like I’m having a sandwich)

Yes. My toddler eats salad. What can I say? I think it’s the dressing.

Toss it all with Almond Orange Paleo Dressing and my kids fight for the last serving.

I’ve been serving my family made-from-scratch salad dressings for years and I absolutely love how freely we use them. No worries here about what we’re smothering our vegetables in. As a result, we don’t skimp on the dressings for health reasons. Everything in this dressing is Food. For. Fuel! Go make ya some and tell all your friends about how amazing it is and then invite them over for salad. I dare them to go home hungry.

Salad for dinner! Again! #paleohasmelike #sorrynotsorry #iheartsalad

Almond Orange Paleo Salad Dressing

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Prep time

5 mins

Total time

5 mins

Author: Tasha

Recipe type: Dressing

Serves: 2 Cups

Ingredients

½ Cup Almond Butter
½ Cup Red Wine Vinegar
1 Cup Olive Oil (Can use part MCT oil or other oils)
1 tsp Salt
½ tsp Black Pepper
½ tsp Granulated Garlic Powder (Or two fresh cloves, minced)
Juice of two Oranges

Instructions

Mix all ingredients and stir or shake vigorously.
Taste and adjust to preference.
For a thicker dressing, add more almond butter.
For a sweeter dressing, add a splash of apple juice.
Store in the refrigerator.

Quick! What’s your go-to salad dressing? Store-bought or make your own?

Lastly, be sure to check out some of the other dressings on our site.

Tasha Hackett, friend of Laura and author of Bluebird on the Prairie, a Christian historical romance releasing Spring 2021, is fueled by sunshine, paleo pudding, or hot chocolate—whichever is more readily available. Though she often pretends to be a ballerina while unloading the dishwasher, her favorite thing is writing with hope and humor to entertain and encourage women. Her time is spent with four chatty children and an incredibly supportive husband . They give her the kind of love people write books about. You can connect with her at www.TashaHackett.com or Instagram @hackettacademy or for Laura @heavenlyhomemaker.

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

Decadent Simple Paleo Pudding

February 22, 2021 by Tasha Hackett Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Decadent Simple Paleo Pudding

by Tasha Hackett

I was Surprised by my Love of Paleo Puddings

I’ve been eating a paleo diet since December 20th. Do some math there—it’s been a few days! And for most of that time, there was no pudding. Truthfully, I was blindsided at first: No sugar of any kind, no grains of any kind, no legumes of any kind, and no dairy of any kind. Quickly I discovered a whole new world of food that has brought delight to my family as well. One of our favorites is Salisbury steak with a mushroom gravy and mashed potatoes and asparagus. I’m drooling just typing about it.

Yum

And Then There was Coconut Vanilla and Pumpkin Pudding

Most winters I make Laura’s vanilla and other flavored soothers for my family. Instead of hot chocolate when they come in from the snow, they get a protein packed healthy version.

My paleo version, I believe is even healthier, doesn’t have any dairy, hardly any sweetener, and a solid amount of healthy fat for growing kids and all of us using up so much energy trying to stay warm this winter.

Dairy-Free Paleo Pudding Special Ingredients

Coconut Cream

I ordered a case of this from my local grocery store for a small discount. It’s not cheap. But I found I can get it for much cheaper from Azure Standard. (Currently $2.30/can.) Though I haven’t tried the Azure ordered cans yet, it will be coming on the truck in a couple weeks! Canned coconut milk has a higher percentage of liquid and less of the fat/oil. You can use that in this recipe instead of canned coconut cream, just factor in the extra liquid. You may need to add more thickener.

Coconut Milk in a jug

I buy the jug in the cold aisle and go through about one a week. Be sure to buy unsweetened and check labels if there are options at your grocery and get one with the fewest amount of added ingredients. I use this in my coffee, smoothies, baking, and pudding! It is much yummier than almond milk. I’m just going to pretend I didn’t even mention almond milk, because I like to pretend it doesn’t exist. Almond Milk in my opinion is one of the most disgusting . . . blech. So, don’t even. Get yourself some unsweetened coconut milk from the jug.

Egg Yolks

You can make this recipe with whole eggs, but I’ve had better luck just using the yolks. Egg whites will curdle and get chunky if you heat past 165* and nobody in my family wants to eat curdled pudding. Save the whites in another bowl because you can use them in baking or scramble with a few other eggs. Go ahead and store them in the fridge for a few days.

Arrowroot Powder

I ordered a bag of this years ago and use it in place of cornstarch. If you’re not on a restrictive diet, cornstarch will work. Or you can skip this entirely if you want to drink your pudding. A healthy gelatin powder, or collagen works to thicken puddings, but they thicken upon cooling. To recap: if you use gelatin to thicken pudding, it will not thicken on the stovetop!

Sweetener

My preference is maple syrup. For the vanilla pudding recipe, I only used one tablespoon. I think the natural coconut cream is quite sweet. The vanilla extract needs the sweetener, I think. If you wanted to try this with NO syrup, I suggest going very easy on the vanilla extract. The pumpkin recipe calls for two tablespoons to counter the spices and vanilla. Start with less, you can always add more. Feel free to experiment with honey or stevia or other sweeteners of your choice.

Simple Paleo Vanilla Pudding

Four egg yolks
One 13.6 oz can of coconut cream
13.6 oz of coconut milk from the jug (use empty can to measure)
A couple dashes of salt

Mix those three together in a pot and then turn on the heat. Be careful not to boil.

Scoop out a ¼ cup of pudding and mix a slurry with ¼ cup of arrowroot powder and stir it back in the pot.

Once it begins to thicken, turn off the burner and add in:

One teaspoon of vanilla extract
One tablespoon of maple syrup.

Taste and adjust sweetener if necessary.

Either drink warm or chill for pudding.

Frequently I serve this chilled for breakfast with toasted shredded coconut and pecans, blueberries, sliced bananas, apples, or any other toppings to create a full breakfast. We love this for a make-ahead breakfast. My kids can’t get enough.

Simple Paleo Pumpkin Pudding

The same as the vanilla pudding, except add in:

A can of pumpkin,
2-3 teaspoons of pumpkin spice
An extra tablespoon of maple syrup to counter the spices

I poured this one in a paleo pie crust and pretended I was eating pumpkin pie for breakfast and had enough for six small servings for the next day. (No, it wasn’t as thick as a traditional pumpkin pie. But it was just as good!)

Psssst! All of these great ingredients can be purchased from Azure Standard!

Paleo isn’t a Prison

Clearly I’m not saying everyone must eat the way I do, but I have found it to be more freeing than I ever expected. My motivation for staying on this diet is different than most. If you’re curious about that, ask any questions you have! I’d love to chat about it. I’ll just briefly explain, though some people have found great success losing weight with this meal plan, that is not my goal. I’ve suffered headaches for over a decade, and recent lab results show evidence of chronic inflammation and infection among other things. In a nutshell, the paleo diet eliminates all foods that are prone to causing inflammation, as well as cutting out any processed foods that add toxins that prevent my body from healing itself.

God is Greater than Paleo

While I 100% agree that love is better than food and who even cares about free-range chicken anymore? I know I’m on the right path. Laura spent years developing simple recipes and then they were there for her when she needed them! I believe the same has happened to me, for the first time in my life I have the budget to purchase more meat, vegetables, and nuts, to fill in the extra calories I’m no longer receiving from grains and beans and other “cheap” fillers.

Honestly, two years ago I fed my family on $200 a month. Six months ago it was about $450 a month. Paleo food for six (thankfully three of them are still tiny) is costing me $900 a month. If a doctor had told me to eat this way three years ago I would have cried. Point is: Food isn’t everything. Do what you can. Love your people. Love yourself.

Right now, for me, loving my people and myself means spending more time in the kitchen figuring out how to make paleo simple. For Laura, it means spending less time in the kitchen and more chicken nuggets. And we are not trying to confuse you. Ha!

toddler messes

And just in case you think I have my act together, this salad-dumbing disaster, in some form, happens daily. Canned chicken on salad is a go-to lunch for us and that is not the face of a repentant toddler.

What’s your greatest struggle in the kitchen right now? Are you spending more or less time in the kitchen these days? Have you ever been put on an elimination diet of some form?

Paleo Coconut Vanilla Pudding

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Prep time

2 mins

Cook time

8 mins

Total time

10 mins

Author: Tasha

Recipe type: Breakfast

Serves: 6

Ingredients

4 egg yolks
1 13.6 OZ can of coconut cream
1 13.6 OZ of coconut milk from the jug (use empty can to measure)
A couple dashes of salt
¼ C arrowroot powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon real maple syrup

Instructions

Mix egg yolks, coconut cream, and coconut milk, in a medium-sized pan.
Add a few dashed of salt.
Heat mixture on the stove being careful not to boil. Stir constantly.
Remove ¼ cup of the mix and make a slurry with the arrowroot powder. Mix it all together in the pot.
Keep stirring and just as the mixture begins to thicken, turn off the burner and add in the vanilla, and maple syrup. Taste and adjust sweetener if necessary.
Drink warm or chill for pudding.
Serve chilled pudding with a variety of toppings for breakfast or snack: sliced apples, bananas, cherries, blueberries, toasted coconut, pecans, etc.

Try both and tell us your favorite!

Paleo Pumpkin Pudding

Save Print

Prep time

2 mins

Cook time

8 mins

Total time

10 mins

Author: Tasha

Recipe type: Breakfast / Snack

Serves: 6

Ingredients

4 egg yolks
1 13.6 OZ can of coconut cream
1 13.6 OZ of coconut milk from the jug (use empty can to measure)
1 can of pureed pumpkin
A couple dashes of salt
¼ C arrowroot powder
3 teaspoons of pumpkin spice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon real maple syrup

Instructions

Mix egg yolks, coconut cream, and coconut milk in a medium-sized pan.
Add a few dashes of salt.
Heat mixture on the stove being careful not to boil. Stir constantly.
Remove ¼ cup of the mix and make a slurry with the arrowroot powder. Mix it all together in the pot.
Keep stirring and just as the mixture begins to thicken, turn off the burner and add in the vanilla , spice, and maple syrup. Taste and adjust sweetener if necessary.
Drink warm or chill for pudding.
Serve chilled pudding with a variety of toppings for breakfast or snack: sliced apples, bananas, cherries, blueberries, toasted coconut, pecans, etc.

Tasha Hackett, friend of Laura and author of Bluebird of the Prairie, a Christian romance releasing Spring 2021, is fueled by sunshine, paleo pudding, or hot chocolate—whichever is more readily available. Though she often pretends to be a ballerina while unloading the dishwasher, her favorite thing is writing with hope and humor to entertain and encourage women. Her time is spent with four chatty children and an incredibly supportive husband. They give her the kind of love people write books about. You can connect with her at www.tashahackett.com or Instagram @hackettacademy or for Laura @heavenlyhomemaker.

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

Top 5 Birthday Budget Tips

April 8, 2020 by Tasha Hackett 1 Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Ready to read Tasha’s Top 5 Birthday Budget Tips?

Can you have a great birthday on a budget?

Duh! Of course. Okay, but really, when your family is used to something and things and times are changing (like being stuck at home during a pandemic), how do you have a great birthday? Perhaps you’re starting a new budget that doesn’t include extravagant gifts, what do you do?

Peter is one

My youngest just turned one. (Yay!) We celebrated him ALL DAY. Peek-A-Boo was played as often as he wanted. We snuggled and snuggled and snuggled. We served pasta (his favorite) with Easy Chocolate Fudge Pie (his favorite). Lighting a birthday candle was a highlight. (He loved it, we blew it out and lit it multiple times). We gave high fives (his favorite) and Pound It! (his favorite), we sang Happy Birthday at least 20 times throughout the day. We danced with him (his favorite); the kids and I got down and crawled on the floor. We cheered and laughed and clapped when he took five steps! He is loved and he knows it.

This is how much he loves homemade chocolate pie!

Oh, and did I mention, we didn’t buy him a thing. Not a single thing. It was a great example to my other kids how we can have birthdays without presents.

“He was one, so it doesn’t count,” you say.

What about the big/little kids?

Another turns eight this month, his day will look entirely different. He can play a mean game of Peek-A-Boo, but it’s not his favorite. He might notice if he doesn’t get any presents. For him, I’m thinking Lego challenges as a family (he will win because he’s amazing), a one-on-one donut (take out) date with Dad (his favorite), a walk around town just the two of us (his favorite), charades, crazy-silly LOUD dance party (his favorite), hide-and-seek (his favorite), tag, all the popcorn he could possibly eat (his favorite), a show, and a family slumber party in the living room (his absolute favorite).

Notice a favorite trend here?

We’ll talk in advance about some of our plans so he’ll know what to look forward to. His siblings and I will pick out one gift together, (new drawing pens and notebook) but we don’t want that to be the focus of the day.

Here are the top five things I’ve learned about money and stuff and birthdays.

1. Budget, Budget, Budget.

Fancy word for: Set aside. Take some money each payday specifically for buying gifts and throwing a party and set it aside. Budgeting doesn’t mean not spending money, it just means you know where your money is going. Budget whatever makes sense for your family. If you love to buy expensive gifts, that’s your choice! (And can I be your friend? I’m super into kitchen appliences and tennis shoes with super cute summer dresses. In case anyone was wondering.) Just make sure the money is there for it.

2. Kids are stronger than you think.

They don’t need stuff to be happy. (And neither do we, except for blentecs and robotic vacuum cleaners. *Ahem*)

My oldest was crushed after a hard conversation about what he wasn’t getting for Christmas. I felt terrible. The thing he wanted just wasn’t in the budget, it wasn’t something we wanted in the house, and it didn’t fit with what we were trying to make Christmas about. He was sad for half a day and he got over it. Whoop-De-Do.

Therefore, I give you permission to not feel guilty about not buying more stuff. Permission granted to feel wonderful about making great memories. You know your child better than anyone, let the day be about him, not about what you bought. Decide ahead of time something to do instead.

3. Plan ahead.

Talk about expectations of the day as a family well before the event. “We are going to celebrate you by…doing all these fun and awesome things that are your favorite… so there won’t be many wrapped up presents this year.”

Focus on what you will be doing, not what you’re not doing. What does she like to do with you? Can you spend the whole day just enjoying her? Brainstorm with the whole family ways to celebrate and make memories. This can be extravagant budgeted excursions or completely free. (Mamas, unless your man is really into planning things, I give you permission to plan your day and let your family know what you expect of them. Be Specific. If you want breakfast in bed, it might be a good idea to make it ahead of time and show your people where to find it. I recommend something good eaten cold, like this Straweberry Bread.)

4. Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. (Luke 12:15)

Can I get an Amen!? I need a large poster with this verse. After living a few (many) years on a spending lockdown, when we finally had a bit of cash, I fell into the habit of buying all the things I thought I needed. Remember my Amazon addiction? I did the same for the kids. Suddenly because I could buy stuff, I did. And you know what? They weren’t any happier with the stuff than they were without it. More stuff doesn’t change our hearts and our relationships with others and our relationship with God. We know this, and yet we all fall into a consumerism trap from time to time.

5. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. (Luke 12:23)

Not to take this passage out of context, Jesus wasn’t talking about birthdays OR WAS HE? It totally relates! A child is more than a party, and the birthday more than presents. A present does not a birthday make. (Does everyone hate me yet?) Planning fun activities is more work than buying stuff. (It can be so. much. work.) Trust me, I know what it’s like to have zero energy to organize and throw a party. Sleeping through the night is a luxury these days. Homeschooling little ones who can’t even read?! You’re 5 already, get with the program! (Kidding. I’m kidding.) Whew. I do have to keep this house from falling apart, too. Laundry and dishes and sweeping. Sometimes we even mop! (You know, when somebody brakes a glass full of milk.) How am I supposed to plan a party for a bunch of 3-year-olds?!?

And then I am reminded that life is more than food and the body more than clothes. Being happy is better than being perfect. Last December, my 7 year old was SO FOCUSED on what HE was going to GET, that he could hardly enjoy anything else about Christmas. We are making some changes in our house this year and not because we can’t financially afford to buy presents.

I still want birthdays to be something special.

Truthfully, I used to worry about birthdays because I wanted them to be special and wonderful, but I couldn’t afford to buy nice things. Now that we’ve paid off a bunch of debt, we can afford stuff and I realize we don’t need ‘em. Most of the time I don’t even want it! (Correction. I want new shoes. Shoes are great. I bought three pairs this month and I’m ecstatic. First new shoes I’ve had in 18 months. Somebody send help!) More stuff is often more mess and therefore more work. Then we have to spend even more time clearing out our junk and decluttering.

If you are a Heavenly Homemakers Club member, Laura has put together so many great ideas for celebrating your people. Look under FAMILY TIPS and browse her ideas that make sense for your family. Trip ideas, experience ideas, party ideas. You don’t have to come up with a plan for your family all on your own. Much of the work has been done for you!

I challenge you to find ways to really celebrate and love your people individually. You get to decide what that means. You can spend lots of money, or none of it, but in my experience, I have found the price tag doesn’t correlate with the success of the day.

Answer in the comments: What do you like about the way you celebrate? What would you like to do differently? Do you have a favorite childhood birthday memory?

tasha Tasha, friend of Laura, and fellow homeschooling mama, lives in the middle of America and does her best to keep the floors clean. Hahaha. Her kids are currently one, three, five, and seven. When she’s not writing for Laura she can be found on Instagram @heavenlyhomemaker, sneaking Jalapeno Cheetos, painting with her kids, pretending she likes to garden, and watching Star Wars with her husband.

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How to Make Healthier Corndogs for the Freezer

September 18, 2016 by Laura 6 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Of all the recipes I share, this one is not the healthiest. Just whatever though, because corndogs taste amazing. (With a salad. And fruit. And digestive enzymes.) I’m providing a homemade option so that at least we’ll know these are better than store-bought.

Homemade Corndogs

Yum

First – try to find hotdogs that are nitrite free. Also, beef. Always beef hotdogs. Fine, turkey is okay too. Just try to avoid the hotdogs that are only pretending to be meat. I can’t even believe I’m still trying to convince myself that any form of a hotdog is healthy. But for real, at least try to find some that aren’t terrible. Why I like hotdogs is beyond me.

Now that we’ve covered the sacred topic of the hotdogs, allow me to share another compromise I make. This. We bought this fun corndog maker for one of our sons a few years ago as a gift because he is the ultimate corndog lover. (I have no idea where he gets this.) I think having dozens of appliances that only do one task each is fairly ridiculous. But shucks if having a corndog maker isn’t a lot of fun, so there. We’ve used it for more than just corndogs (like muffins and cookies – who knew?!) so hallelujah for an appliance that is actually multi-functional.

I will tell you that this machine makes the effort of creating homemade corndogs so easy and mess free that a few days ago, I made 48 corndogs in less than an hour – while I was making tomato sauce, French toast, and frozen yogurt. The corndog maker allows me to multitask while making food for my freezer. And here you thought that appliance was pointless.

Anyway….

The long and short of making homemade corndogs is that you simply use your favorite cornbread recipe, add a bit of extra milk so the batter will coat the dogs, then you either fry them in oil or bake them in the above mentioned corndog maker.

What about sticks?

Life is too short to poke sticks into hotdogs. Do the stick poking if you must, but as for me and my house, we will skip the sticks and just eat the dogs.

How to Make Healthier Corndogs (in Bulk) for the Freezer

How to Make Healthier Corndogs for the Freezer

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Author: Laura

Serves: 24-48

Ingredients

2⅔ cup Homemade Jiffy Cornbread Mix*
2 eggs
1½ cups milk
4 Tablespoons melted butter
24 hot dogs

Instructions

In a mixing bowl, whisk together cornbread mix, eggs, milk, and butter.
If using a corndog maker, cut hotdogs in half.
Dip hotdogs in batter to coat thoroughly.
Fry until golden brown, or cook in a Corndog Maker**
Serve right away, or cool and freeze in freezer bags.
Rewarm corndogs by placing them on a baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes or until heated through.

*Homemade Jiffy Cornbread Mix recipe

I put these homemade cornbread mixes together and have them on hand for convenience. I highly recommend this!

** I cut my hotdogs in half, then cook my corndogs in this fun Corndog Maker. It saves a lot of time and mess!

Homemade Corndogs for the Freezer

If you make these to freeze, all you have to do at mealtime is pull them out and warm them up while you’re getting out all the actual nutritious parts of the meal (fruits, veggies, and more veggies with a side of another vegetable).

‘Fess up. Do ya like hotdogs?

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Whole Wheat Quick Baking Mix

July 20, 2016 by Laura 178 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

I’m at church camp this week, loving life, swatting bugs, and trying to stay hydrated. While I’m gone, you can enjoy a re-posting of some of our most popular time-saving, money-saving, healthier eating mix recipes…

Originally posted February, 2013

Over the past few years, I have had many requests for a mix recipe which will replace boxed “Bisquick”. I had never used bisquick very much before we started our healthy eating journey, therefore I didn’t know that I’d have much use for a healthier version. And so, this recipe request continued to get pushed to the bottom of my “to-do” list.

Whole Wheat Quick Mix

For shame. I didn’t know what I’d been missing! Last summer, I finally gave this recipe a try. Once I figured out the right combination of ingredients, I learned that it takes just a few minutes to put this mixture together. And the recipes you can quickly whip up once you have this convenience food on hand? Every single one we’ve tried has been a hit! I love this! It is inexpensive, is made with real ingredients I feel good about feeding to my family, it saves time, and the food prepared with it tastes great. Does it get any better than that?

Whole Wheat Quick Mix

Yum

10 cups whole wheat flour (I use flour made from freshly ground hard white wheat)
1/2 cup baking powder
1/4 cup sucanat (optional)
2 teaspoons sea salt (I use Redmond Real Salt)
2 cups organic palm shortening or butter

In a large mixing bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, sucanat and salt. Thoroughly cut in palm shortening until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Store Whole Wheat Quick Mix in an air tight container in the fridge or freezer.

Here are several of the recipes you’ll find here at Heavenly Homemakers to use along with the lovely mixture you just put together. Think of how much time and effort you’ll save!

Quick Mix Biscuits

Quick Mix Fruit Pizza

fruit_pizza_3

Quick Mix Honey Cinnamon Muffins

Quick Mix Very Vanilla Cookies

Quick Mix Pancakes

Beyond those, I’ve come up with a pie crust, waffles, and more muffin and cookie recipes. I’m telling you, this mix is so versatile and easy.

It’s recipes like this that make my Oh, For Real! Real Food, Real Family, Real Easy book so much fun. It’s all about making your life healthier and easier. Anytime you can take one recipe and adapt it to make many other healthy food recipes, we have a winner!

Like what you see here? We’d love to get to know you better!

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Homemade Onion Soup Mix (with No MSG!)

July 18, 2016 by Laura 207 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Save money and use real food ingredients when you make Onion Soup Mix!

Originally posted March, 2011

So far in this Heavenly Homemakers Recipe Challenge, we’ve come up with recipes for Homemade Tator Tots, Healthier Chocolate Milk and Teriyaki Sauce. I attempted a recipe for corn tortillas and while they tasted pretty good…they were NOT easy to make, they fell apart and looked ugly. I’m going to keep working on that one until I come up with a corn tortilla recipe that doesn’t take the whole afternoon to make. :)

This new recipe in The Challenge was super easy to put together! Vicki, one of our readers, sent me an Onion Soup Mix recipe to try and WOW is it simple! I tweaked it a teeny tiny bit, but really, this recipe is more Vicki’s than mine.

What I love about this recipe is that I didn’t have to look high and low for the ingredients. Many onion soup recipes I found call for some sort of bouillon. Almost always, bouillon has MSG. There are MSG free bouillon varieties out there, but what if they aren’t easily accessible to you? And so…I was very happy to see this recipe that contained just dried herbs and spices!

Onion Soup MixYum

Homemade Onion Soup Mix (with No MSG!)

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Author: Laura

Ingredients

⅔ cup dried, minced onion
3 teaspoons parsley flakes
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons turmeric (optional)
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon sucanat (or sugar if you prefer)
½ teaspoon ground pepper

Instructions

Mix all ingredients in a jar, then give the jar a good shake.
I'd recommend shaking the jar to mix the ingredients well before each use.
Use 4 Tablespoons Onion Soup Mix in a recipe in place of 1 packet of onion soup mix. (I actually found that 2 Tablespoons was plenty in a beef stew recipe I tried.)
Store this in a dry, cool place.

I used the Onion Soup Mix in this simple, one dish stew and YUM!
Find the recipe for Simple One Dish Meat and Potato Meal here.

And with that…I have to ask:

SO many of you requested this recipe that I’m guessing you all must have tons of wonderful ways of using Onion Soup Mix? I would LOVE for you to share what you do with this mix!!! I have exactly two recipes that call for Onion Soup Mix. I’m so excited to use this mix in those recipes because I’ve not made them for years. But what else??? What do you make with Onion Soup Mix??

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My Adventures in Making Homemade Nutella

February 24, 2016 by Laura 5 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Homemade Nutella, anyone?

Nutella

It all began at Asa’s graduation party with two other graduates last May. The moms and I planned it together and they decided to go all out. One of the items on our menu was “crusty bread with different topping options” like meats, cheeses, and nutella (though probably not all at the same time). My friends and I set out a lovely buffet. I was the one in charge of purchasing the condiments, sauces, and Nutella.

grad party 4

Not knowing how many hundreds of people might show up and how many of those hundreds would want to spread Nutella on their bread – I bought four enormous containers of it. We went through exactly 1.5 of those huge tubs, so guess what we’ve been eating since May?

My boys have been so sad about this.

We finally finished them off, and now the boys are having Nutella withdrawals. I can’t stand to buy more, so I determined to figure out a healthier option that I can feel better about. Some of you might remember that I attempted Homemade Nutella a few years ago. That was tasty, though still had quite a bit of sugar. I had a terrible time actually finding Hazelnuts this go around – but part of my problem was that the price was throwing me off.

The good news is (now that I’ve attempted this recipe and learned a few tricks) – it takes only a few hazelnuts to make a batch of nutella. So my purchase will go a long way to providing a healthier nutella option for the fam.

nutella2

Malachi’s been my chef-in-training the past few weeks and was very excited to enjoy Nutella again. He joined me in putting together this recipe. Here he is pushing a button. (Cooking is so hard.)

I’m excited that this version of Homemade Nutella is lower in sugar than most. If you prefer, use expeller pressed coconut oil since it is flavorless and won’t effect the taste.

Make Your Own Nutella

My Adventures in Making Homemade Nutella

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Author: Laura

Serves: half pint

Ingredients

⅔ cup hazelnuts
¼ teaspoon sea salt
½ cup cocoa powder
½ cup melted coconut oil
½-2/3 cup real maple syrup

Instructions

Lay the hazelnuts on a cookie sheet and toast them in a 350° oven for about 10 minutes.
Remove skins if necessary.
Whirl toasted hazelnuts in a food processor until smooth.
Add remaining ingredients and blend until creamy.
Store in a half-pint jar for up to three weeks.

Have you tried making Nutella before?

It’s fun, easy, and yummy – and unlike Homemade Peanut Butter Captain Crunch – this one is worth the small time investment. :)

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Stir-and-Pour Bread Mix ~ a Great $1.00 Gift Idea

December 2, 2015 by Laura 24 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

stir and pour bread loaf 4 Wow, Laura. You sure do talk about Stir-and-Pour Bread a lot.

Does this surprise you? Did I or did I not warn you that the Stir-and-Pour Bread would change your life? I did. There’s no way I will ever go back to the “old way” of making bread when this recipe makes a bread just as good with such a tiny amount of effort. I can’t stop talking about it!!!!!

We could talk about the weather if you want. Brr. It’s cold. I could really go for some warm homemade bread.

Well, I tried.

So guess what? All of the dry ingredients for Stir-and-Pour Bread fit in a one-quart jar! This means that you can fill jars with bread mix, tie them up with pretty ribbons, and give the gift that will change people’s lives!

I mean, Jesus is really what changes people’s lives. But Jesus is the Bread of Life, so there is a very deep connection here that we should discuss at length. Perhaps while the bread is in the oven baking???

Stir-and-Pour Bread Mix Gift Jar with Free Printable Gift Tags

This gift idea costs about $1.00 per jar. For a more elaborate gift that is still on the frugal side, how about gifting this jar of bread mix with a new ceramic bread dish? Who wouldn’t love that?? You could include a jar of homemade jelly. Maybe a jug of honey. A stick of butter? Well, that might be taking things too far.

Stir-and-Pour Bread Mix in a Jar

Stir-and-Pour Bread Mix ~ a Great $1.00 Gift Idea

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Author: Laura

Serves: 1 loaf

Ingredients

4 cups flour (I use freshly ground hard white wheat)
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 Tablespoons sucanat or sugar

Instructions

Stir ingredients and funnel into a quart-sized jar.
Add gift tag with instructions to add water and bake!

I created a printable with instructions on how to stir together the bread and bake it. Print them, cut them, and tie them onto your gift jar!

Download FREE Stir-and-Pour Bread Tags

Stir and Pour Bread Mix Gift Tags Check out the other recent low cost gift ideas I shared earlier this week. Tis the season to turn food into gifts, right? Right.

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