Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

  • Home
    • About
    • FAQs
  • Recipes
    • Bread and Breakfast
    • Condiments
    • Dairy
    • Main Dishes
    • Side Dishes and Snacks
    • Desserts
    • Gluten Free
    • Instant Pot
    • Crock Pot
    • Heavenly Homemaker’s Weekly Menus
  • Homemaking
    • Real Food Sources
  • Store
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Disclosure
    • Privacy Policy
  • Simple Meals
  • Club Members!

What to Eat When You Need to Lose Weight. Or Gain Weight. Or Maintain Weight.

March 22, 2015 by Laura 11 Comments

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

My appetite has been silly for about a month now, many thanks to the rounds of flu and whatever else that has hit our household this winter. (Yes, I realize that it’s now spring, but until I can plant a garden…)

I’m not the only one with an abnormal appetite. None of the boys felt like eating when they were sick, and a couple of them caught two different varieties of the crud. All that to say – some of us are on the scrawny side right now. It’s not a big deal. We’ll be back to fighting weight in no time. But while thinking about what foods we should focus on eating as we gain strength, this occurred to me:

When people ask me what foods they should be eating in order to lose weight – and when people ask me what foods they should be eating to gain weight – and when people ask me what foods they should be eating to maintain weight…my answer is the exact same.

What to Eat

How can this be?

This can be because I always recommend eating real food.  I always suggest that we focus on eating many fruits and vegetables. That we focus on eating plenty of healthy fats like coconut oil and butter. That we eat plenty of good proteins like eggs, meat, and nuts. That we eat nourishing broth and a few whole grains. That we avoid empty foods that don’t contain nutrients.

So those are the foods I recommend people eat when they need to lose weight. Or gain weight. Or maintain weight. How about that? When eating the right amount of the right foods, in balance, according to your body’s needs – most of us will find our healthy weight.

Now, there are other things to consider like allergies and body types and exercise and age and chronic health issues and what size shoe you wear (except not really about the shoes). Not everyone loses or gains weight in the same way and not all of us can eat the exact same diet. I’m not trying to write a perfect prescription for perfect weight for all.

I’m just saying that intentional nourishment is the biggest key to helping each of us find a healthy weight. Not dieting. Not binging. Not depriving oneself. Not being extreme.

So let’s all eat real food. No matter what size you are or need to be. Real food is tasty, satisfying, nourishing, and you can spread butter on it. It’s a win, win, win, win. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey, quick reminder about this great eBook deal, which expires Monday, March 23 at midnight.

Heavenly Homemaker’s Guide to Gardening and Preserving ebook
with FREE Eat Your Fruits…and Veggies Too eBook

$5.00

Add to Cart

 

(When you put the Gardening eBook in the cart, it automatically comes with the Fruits and Veggies eBook too!)

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

Garden Veggie Chicken Skillet Recipe {Quick, Easy, Healthy, and Delicious}

March 15, 2015 by Laura 10 Comments

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

Garden Veggie Chicken Skillet 2

Several of you have commented that you would love more one-skillet-meal recipes. Tell you what – me too. I have very few recipes like that, especially those that fall under the healthy, real food, easy categories. So I tinkered last week and hoped my family would like what I came up with.

Did they like it?  Well, would I be posting it here if they didn’t? We were six for six on this one. Sweet! (Actually, it’s savory, but you get the point.)   So now I present to you a recipe which:

  • Takes only a few minutes to prepare
  • Takes only a few minutes to cook
  • Will help you stretch the meat, saving you money
  • Is full of tasty veggies
  • Is a complete meal in one dish
  • Tastes amazing (my family said so)

This recipe filled my large electric skillet, feeding six of us. If you have a smaller family, you may want to cut this recipe in half. Also, while this recipe covers all your nutritional bases, I still recommend serving this with a salad (more veggies!) and/or some fresh fruit.

Garden Veggie Chicken Skillet Recipe

Yum

5 medium potatoes, any variety, cut into small cubes
1 pound uncooked boneless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into small bites (I use thighs because they taste better to us)
4 cups chopped veggies – any variety or combination (zucchini, asparagus, sweet peppers, mushrooms, and onions recommended)
1/2 cup Italian dressing (I use my simple homemade Italian Dressing recipe)

Combine all ingredients in a large skillet. Stir dressing around to coat veggies, potatoes, and meat. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 12-20 minutes or until veggies are tender and meat is cooked thoroughly.

Garden Veggie Chicken Skillet

Garden Veggie Chicken Skillet Recipe {Quick, Easy, Healthy, and Delicious}
 
Save Print
Author: Laura
Ingredients
  • 5 medium potatoes, any variety, cut into small cubes
  • 1 pound uncooked boneless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into small bites (I use thighs because they taste better to us)
  • 4 cups chopped veggies - any variety or combination (zucchini, asparagus, sweet peppers, mushrooms, and onions recommended)
  • ½ cup Italian dressing (I use my simple homemade Italian Dressing recipe)
Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a large skillet.
  2. Stir dressing around to coat veggies, potatoes, and meat.
  3. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 12-20 minutes or until veggies are tender and meat is cooked thoroughly.
3.4.3177

The Italian Dressing is the rock star in this recipe. It gives the meat and veggies awesome flavor, plus the oil in the dressing helps in the cooking process. Delicious and super simple!

 Think your family would like this meal?

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

Menu Plan for the Week – Feel Free to Steal Ideas!

March 14, 2015 by Laura 7 Comments

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

Here’s a peek at my grocery store run this week. I was excited to get 2-pound packs of butter for $3.97, so I bought enough to build a tower on my table. There were quite a few price-matches for cheese that I took advantage of. Then I loaded the rest of my cart with fruits and veggies!

groceries march 14

We keep our meals simple at our house. All real food (at least as much as possible) and heavy on fruits and veggies – but simple. Take a look through the following lists and grab some ideas for your week!

Breakfast

  • Blueberry Streusel Muffins
  • Ham and Egg Breakfast Bowls
  • No Knead Whole Wheat Bread
  • Scrambled Cheesy Eggs with Spinach
  • Whole Wheat Waffles with strawberries
  • Warm Vanilla Soother
  • Banana Bread

Lunch

  • Bacon, Egg, and Avocado Salad
  • Taco Salad
  • Ham and Cheese Pasta Salad
  • Pizza Boats
  • Meat and Cheese Burritos
  • Spanish Rice
  • Taco Potatoes

Dinner

  • Grilled Hot Dogs (for High School Huddle)
  • Alfredo Sauce with Pasta
  • Popcorn Chicken
  • Sloppy Joes
  • Barbecue Brisket
  • Cheesy Salsa Enchiladas
  • Chicken Noodle Soup

Fruit and Veggie Side Dishes (I serve 1-4 with each meal)

  • Green Beans
  • Broccoli
  • Strawberries
  • Apples
  • Applesauce
  • Peas
  • Sweet Peppers
  • Homemade Pickles
  • Mixed Greens
  • Spinach
  • Blueberries
  • Blackberries
  • Clementines
  • Mushrooms
  • Asparagus
  • Zucchini
Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

The Easiest Cheesecake With The Lowest Amount of Sugar

March 5, 2015 by Laura 12 Comments

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

I push and I push when it comes to eating fruits and veggies. (We call these “freggies,” by the way. I’m determined to get this word into the dictionary. Freggies. Freggies.  Freggies.  Keep saying. Keep writing it. Pass it on. Freggies is a word because we all say so.)

So I highly encourage us to all eat an enormous amount of freggies each day. Our bodies need them and love them. I also encourage us to cut way back on the sugar. Our bodies need us to. Therefore this recipe, and all my recent healthier treat recipes are:

1) Your reward for eating so many freggies.
2) Your opportunity to enjoy a dessert that won’t give you sugar overload.

See, we can have our cake and eat it too. We just need to use wisdom. Sweets are a treat, not a food group.

I encourage you to read:  Breaking Free of Sugar Addiction ~ Should We Be Eating Stevia? for more of my thoughts on this subject. Then, I would like you to file this newest recipe away for the next time you need to make an easy treat to share. It is very low in sugar, but you’ll still be enjoying a rich, delicious treat!

When I posted the recipe for this Chocolate Cheesecake Dessert, several asked, “How can I make this without chocolate?” Ah…very simple. Just leave out the cocoa. And while you’re at it, if you’d like a pumpkin variety of this dessert, you’ll find it here:  Low Sugar Pumpkin Cheesecake

Easiest Cheesecake Recipe

Easy Cheesecake DessertYum

Shortbread Crust:

3 cups whole wheat flour (I use freshly ground hard white wheat for this)
1/2 cup sucanat (or brown sugar if you prefer)
1 1/2 cups melted butter

Stir flour and sucanat together in a bowl. Add melted butter, combining well. Press mixture into a 9×13 inch baking pan. Bake in a 350° oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Cheesecake Filling:

2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Liquid stevia to taste (I use 30-40 drops)
2 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
Baked and cooled Shortbread Crust

Cream together softened cream cheese, vanilla, and stevia. Set aside. Whip cream until soft peaks form. Fold in cream cheese mixture until smooth. (I actually throw all ingredients together in my BlendTec and let it do all the work of whipping and blending at the same time.)  Spread mixture over cooled Shortbread Crust. Cover and chill for about two hours until set. Makes about 18 servings.

So freggies first, low sugar cheesecake second. It’s a win-win.

Which of the cheesecake recipes will be your favorite? The plain, the pumpkin, or the chocolate?

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

What is Price Matching and How Does it Work?

February 8, 2015 by Laura 21 Comments

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

What is Price-Matching and How Does it Work

I’ve recently learned the art of “price matching.” Where has this been all my life? (Right under my nose. I just never looked into it before.)  This new practice has been saving me $10-$40 per week. That’s $40-$160 per month. That’s big savings for my family of big eaters!

What is Price Matching?

Wal-Mart offers an Ad-Matching Guarantee. This means that if another store within 50 miles is offering a specific food at a lower price (shown in their weekly ad), Wal-mart will honor that price. Read all the detailed information about their policy here.

It is important that you pay attention to the details of the grocery store ads. Price matching is only valid on items “pound for pound,” “ounce for ounce,” etc. I try to be very diligent about making sure I don’t accidentally pick up the wrong size item.

How Does Price Matching Work?

Sound complicated? It really isn’t. It took me exactly one shopping trip to work out all the kinks and learn how easy this practice is.

Before going shopping each week, I spend a few minutes looking at all relevant grocery store ads online. We have very few stores in my town, so I am thankful I can price match with the stores in our nearby cities which have 6-7 stores to price match with. I find the lowest prices from each store (mainly focusing on the produce), and make my list.

This week, my list looked something like this:

Aldi

~ Strawberries, 16 ounces, $1.29
~ Onions, 3 pound bag, 99¢
~ Red Potatoes, 5 pound bag, 99¢

Alert

~ Carrots, 2 pound bag, $1.19

Super Saver

~ Grape Tomatoes, 1 pint, 96¢
~ Blueberries, 18 ounces, $3.48 (our Walmart didn’t have this size, so I scratched that off my list)
~ Gala or Yellow Delicious Apples, 3 pound bags, $2.50 each

Wal-mart employees have been trained to quickly adjust the price of the items you are price matching. You simply tell them the price you found that was cheaper, and they ring it up at that price. Easy! I try to separate my price-match items from my other items to make it easier on the cashier.

Here is a sample conversation between the cashier and me…

Cashier:  You have such beautiful hair.
Just kidding. For some reason, the cashier never says that. Here’s the real conversation:
Me: These are my price-match items.

Cashier:  Great, we’ll start with the pears. How much?
Me:  99¢ per pound.
{Cashier rings up my pears at 99¢ per pound}  

Cashier:  Okay, now how about these onions?
Me:  99¢ for each bag

And so it goes until we work our way through all of my price match items. :)

How Much Can You Save?

Here’s an example of everything I bought and how much I saved through price-matching last week.

price matching

  • 2 bags of Yellow Onions priced at $2.98 for a 3 pound bag – I got for 99¢ each (saved 3.98)
  • 3 bags of Red Potatoes priced at $3.47 for a 5 pound bag – I got for 99¢ each (saved 7.44)
  • 1 pound containers of Strawberries priced at $1.99 – I got for $1.29 each (saved 5.60)
  • D’Anjou Pears priced at $1.67/pound – I got for 99¢/pound (saved 3.69)
  • 2 bags of Halo Clementines priced at $4.97 for a 3 pound bag – I got for $3.99 each (saved 1.96)
  • 2 bags of Carrots priced at $1.48 for a 2 pound bag – I got for $1.19 each (saved .58)
  • 2 bags of Gala Apples priced at $3.47 for a 3 pound bag – I got for $2.50 each (saved 1.94)
  • 2 bags of Golden Delicious Apples priced at $3.47 for a 3 pound bag – I got for $2.50 each (saved 1.94)
  • 2 pints of Grape Tomatoes priced at $2.98 per pint – I got for 96¢ each  (saved 4.04)

Price matching saved me $31.17 this week.  It took me about 10 minutes to sit at the computer and find the prices I wanted to match and make a list. Saving over thirty bucks in 10 minutes to feed my family real food? Yes, I think that’s very worth my time!

Watch that you don’t fall into the trap of snatching up good deals on processed foods. Those are out there too, so of course, I had to remind us all that those are just not worth the “price” we pay later. You’ll be surprised though at the great deals you can get on fruits and vegetables, meats and cheeses, often organics too!

One last note:

I try not to price-match from my hometown grocery stores. My town is small, so it doesn’t take much extra time to run into our local grocery stores to pick up the food I need. I like to support our local stores. Where price-matching really works well for me is offering me big city sale prices from bigger stores that would cost me an hour’s drive and a half tank of gas. :)

Share with us! Do you take advantage of Wal-mart’s price matching policy? How does it work for you? Have any other great tips to share about this?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Want a recipe eBooklet full of my Top 10 Money Saving Recipes? Join our Heavenly Homemakers Savings Club, and we’ll send it to you for FREE! (Joining means we’ll also keep you informed of all the latest money saving groceries and homemaking items we come across. A win-win!)

Top 10 Money Saving Recipes

Sign up to join our Heavenly Homemakers Savings Club here.

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

Easy Ham and Egg Breakfast Bowls – a Quick and Filling Breakfast To-Go!

February 5, 2015 by Laura 15 Comments

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

Oh man (lady – whatever). You are going to love this idea! Unless you don’t like eggs.  But for those of you who love eggs, and for everyone who wants an easy, real food meal that will pack a punch with nutrition and keep you full until the next meal…

Please allow me to introduce you to these delightful little Ham and Egg Breakfast Bowls:

ham and egg cups1

See that? The ham is the bowl. Isn’t that clever? I didn’t think of this myself, but was enlightened by my friend who was excited to tell me about her fun breakfast of the day. She knew I’d need to know about this idea. She knows me (and my hungry crew) well, don’t you think?

Everyone get out your muffin tins and get ready to have some fun.

How to make Ham and Egg Breakfast BowlsYum

You will need:

Muffin Tins
Thin Slices of Ham
Eggs
Shredded Cheese
Sea Salt
Garnish like Fresh Spinach, Green Chilies, Mushrooms, Peppers, Onion, Broccoli, or Salsa

Push a piece of thinly sliced ham down into each muffin cup.

ham and egg bowls 4

Crack an egg into each “ham bowl.” Poke each egg yolk with a fork and carefully scrambled it around inside the bowl. Sprinkle with salt, top with cheese, and garnish however you like. Bake in a 350° oven  for 10-20 minutes or until the eggs are cooked through.

You can make these ahead of time, then rewarm them for a quick, ready-made breakfast or lunch! (That’s my favorite part, of course.)

You can also scrambled up your eggs in a dish, and then scoop some out into each ham bowl if you prefer. My kids like the texture of these better if I do it that way.

5.0 from 1 reviews
Easy Ham and Egg Breakfast Bowls - a Quick and Filling Breakfast To-Go!
 
Save Print
Prep time
10 mins
Cook time
20 mins
Total time
30 mins
 
Author: Laura
Ingredients
  • Muffin Tins
  • Thin Slices of Ham
  • Eggs
  • Shredded Cheese
  • Sea Salt
  • Garnish like Fresh Spinach, Green Chilies, Mushrooms, Peppers, Onion, Broccoli, or Salsa
Instructions
  1. Push a piece of thinly sliced ham down into each muffin cup.
  2. Crack an egg into each "ham bowl."
  3. Poke each egg yolk with a fork and carefully scrambled it around inside the bowl.
  4. Sprinkle with salt, top with cheese, and garnish however you like.
  5. Bake in a 350° oven for 10-20 minutes or until the eggs are cooked through.
3.4.3177

 

Easy Ham and Egg Breakfast Bowls

Is this idea genius, or what? You must try this! :)

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

The Groceries I Bought This Week and Why I Bought Some Junk

January 31, 2015 by Laura 18 Comments

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

Well, I can’t really say that I blew the grocery budget plan that I had this month – but I did end up spending over the $400 I thought I’d spend this month during my freezer/pantry challenge. It’s food, and we need it, so all is well. Since I stayed right around $500 for the month, this is still huge savings for our big family. My hope is to get back at it and continue through the month of February with this challenge. We have plenty of meat to work with and plenty of pantry items. Sticking with purchasing only produce and dairy should work for one more month just fine!

Here’s a peek at what that extra spending went into:

Our Azure Standard order came in, which is always fun. I ordered sweet potatoes, frozen peas, carrots, chicken thighs (love these!), and roasted peanuts.

azure order jan

I filled my cart at the grocery store – mostly with produce. But as you can see, I also bought some junk. Be glad you can’t see the frozen pizzas hiding behind the chips.

jan 28 groceries

 

Why did I buy junk, you ask? Our church hosted a big youth rally this weekend, and our family signed up to host several of the boys for two nights. Many of the boys who came to town (from 5 different states) are good friends with our boys, having become acquainted at church camp the past few years. Youth rally weekends like this are like reunions for them! All that to say, we housed 17 teenage boys Friday and Saturday nights. There is no shortage of great friends for our boys, that is for sure!

Their meals were all taken care of at the church building, but once at our house for the night – they  needed snacks. I laid out huge bowls of fruit for the boys to help themselves to, and I also provided chips and a little bit of pizza. Homemade food was out of the question this time as Matt and I have been teaching classes at the youth rally all weekend.

Surely you’re wondering:  How was it housing so many extra teenage boys? Oh my, it was so much fun. We know most of the teens at the rally. So having the boys in our home was awesome. It always sounds like a lot – having so many extra teens. But truly, they are so nice, so polite, and so enjoyable.

I will say, with much affection and a bit of a cringe:  My entire house smells like a 3,000 square foot sock. Whoahoho. I love these boys and will gladly fill my home with them. But 34 teenage boy feet is something else. There are no words.

I should also let you know about the um…interesting situation with our bathroom remodel. All is well really – but as is typical of home improvement projects, this one is taking longer than expected. Matt had been working and working to at least get a working shower in before all the boys (and their feet) showed up. He was up until 4:30 this morning finishing it. (And then he taught Bible classes all day today at the rally. He is a Rock Star.)

bathroom 3

 

Everything else looks pretty disgusting in the bathroom right now, but hey, how about that pretty shower?!!!

Fun as all this is, I am one tired mom. Sleep isn’t on the agenda much during youth rally weekends. I’ll nap after they all go home on Sunday afternoon, you can bet on it. Writing out a menu plan for this weekend to share with you isn’t within my physical or mental capability. Maybe you can leave some yummy meal ideas in the comments for me this time? Aw, aren’t you sweet. :)

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

15 Delicious Dips for Your Super Bowl Party

January 30, 2015 by Laura 6 Comments

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

As is always the case this time of year, I have absolutely no idea who is playing in the Super Bowl. If it mattered to my husband it would matter to me. But it doesn’t, so it doesn’t. Make sense?

What does matter to me is the fun night of fellowship we will have at our friend’s house during the game. Matt and I actually do enjoy watching the occasional game of football. The big buffet of fun foods never hurt my feelings either. I’m all about the dips at a Super Bowl party. I have several I’m thinking of making to share. Here are some of our favorites:

15 Delicious Dip Recipes

Yum


Black Bean Salsa
 – Five healthy ingredients, it’s like a flavorful meal all by itself.

Cream Cheese Salsa Dip – This is the easiest dip on the planet (2 ingredients!) and everyone loves it.

Easy Veggie Dip – Oh my cucumbers. This is the very best way to enjoy raw veggies. It stirs together in about two minutes.

Healthier Cheese Dip (a Velveeta/Rotel Knock-Off) – Who needs “processed cheese product” when you can have the real deal?!

Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip – Just like the kind you pay too much money for at a restaurant.

Nacho Cheese Pretzel Dip – Just do it. This is amazing.

Spicy Avocado Dip –  My family devours avocados when we quickly mix this up. Hello, healthy goodness.

Easy Cheesy Bean Dip – This also only includes five delicious ingredients. Easy and healthy – that’s how I roll.

Hamburber Sauerkraut Dip – Even if you don’t like kraut, you will love this. It is incredibly good.

Cream Cheese Fruit Dip – This is like whipped heaven in a bowl, perfect with apples and strawberries.

strawberry_dip_2

But there’s more! A big part of healthy snacking is healthy dipping. I love that dips can add nutrition as well as help us get the veggies down. In our newest eBook, 227 Healthy Snacks, we’ve included several new dip recipes like:

  • Super Easy Hummus
  • Green Chili Dip
  • Fresh and Quick Salsa
  • Spicy Sausage Chip Dip
  • Spicy Lentil Dip

227 Healthy Snacks

Not only will you find these 5 awesome new dip recipes, you’ll find 222 more healthy snack ideas and recipes too. From bars to muffins to hearty cookies to fruit and veggie snacks, you will be totally equipped with loads of healthy snacks to keep your and your family full and nourished! Get all the details about this book here.

227 Healthy Snacks 2

Grab your copy and start putting together these easy, healthy recipes!

227 Healthy Snacks
$7.95

Add to Cart

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

The Recipe That Didn’t Make the Cut – and What I Did With It

January 27, 2015 by Laura 12 Comments

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

With all the recipe experimenting and inventing that goes on at our house (especially recently as we’ve been working on our new Healthy Snacks eBook), you can be certain that we have some fails and flops from time to time. Sometimes a recipe idea turns out tasty but ugly, sometimes a recipe is not tasty in the least, and sometimes it’s both not tasty and it’s ugly. Bless its pitiful little heart.

A few weeks ago I was excited to try out a recipe for Cinnamon Quick Bread. Sounds good, right? My men thought so. It looked like a recipe I could adapt easily to make with healthier, real food ingredients. But I ended up cutting the sugar down too low, and I didn’t adapt the baking soda amount, and I’m not sure what else I should have done differently – but not even Matt (who eats anything) could make himself choke it down. It tasted like bread full of baking soda. Can you say bitter? Bleh. (It was almost like the time I was at someone else’s house and I used salt instead of sugar while making cookies. Wow, wow, wow.)

Now silly me. I know better than to double a recipe experiment. But indeed, I thought for sure this Cinnamon Quick Bread experiment would turn out fine. So double it I did. Brilliant.  Not only did I come away with one bitter loaf of quick bread – I came away with four. {shudder}

Like I normally do with “leftovers,” I put the bread into the freezer. I’m not sure why I did this, because dare I remind you of the nastiness? It’s just hard to throw away food and hard work. Maybe I thought the freezer would settle down the bitterness and bring out the sweetness – as if my freezer has a magic wand. Hey, I figure if lasagna and spaghetti can taste better the next day, surely bitter bread can find a way to taste good. I realize none of this makes sense.

Several weeks after baking and freezing the pitiful bread, I cleaned out my freezers. Wouldn’t you know it? Shoved in the back I found a bag with two of these delightfully gross loaves of bread. It had been in there too long, so not only was it likely to still be bitter, it was also freezer burned and crumbly. I’m telling you, I really nailed this one.

I walked to the trash can. “Just do it,” I said to myself. I could bury it under the other trash. No one would ever know.

Ugh, I just couldn’t do it. I decided that my family had by now forgotten how terrible the bread had tasted, so they wouldn’t be afraid to try it in a “re-purposed” breakfast. Maybe? Hopefully?

Guess what? Nasty, bitter, crumbly quick bread – when soaked in egg and milk and cooked in butter on a griddle – makes a wonderful (yet more than slightly messy) French Toast breakfast. Without blinking, my family ate both loaves of this interesting looking French Toast. Butter and real maple syrup make anything better, right? Well, at least in this case it worked.

cinnamon french toast mess

I’m sure your life is enriched by hearing that inspiring story. I have no recipe to share this time (for obvious reasons, you’re welcome). I can’t even give advice based on my bad experience. But if at all possible, I do encourage you to try to make use of a recipe flop. There really is likely a good way to use up the food so you don’t have to throw it away.

But one more thing:  Never stir 2 cups of salt into your cookie dough. Paula Deen herself wouldn’t be able to figure out a way to repurpose that one.

Have a “recipe gone wrong” story to share with us? Do tell. :)

Here are all the recipes that DID make the cut! Get our 227 Healthy Snacks eBook while the price is still cut in half!

227 Healthy Snacks 2

 

$7.95
Get your 227 Healthy Snacks eBook for just $4.00!
(price good through January 31, 2015)

Add to Cart

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

Menu Plan for This Week and a Freezer/Pantry Challenge Update

January 24, 2015 by Laura 7 Comments

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

Well, with my huge stock-pile of food, we are still doing just fine with only purchasing fresh produce, eggs, and dairy. Confession:  You will see a little package of Hormel’s Naturals lunch meat in this grocery shopping picture from this week. I needed some slivered ham for a fun breakfast idea my friend Brenda told me about at Bunco. I had to have it, yes I did. You’ll be thankful she told me about this and that I veered off course just enough to buy it. Just wait until I share the recipe. :)

jan 22

This isn’t everything, by the way. I had to make a mid-week run to the store since we were almost out of everything fresh.
I got cabbage, tomatoes, peppers, and I can’t remember what else because it’s gone already.

Can you believe I bought strawberries in January?? I can’t even believe it. Somehow, they were a great price and actually looked good. This never happens in Nebraska, but seeing as we are having 50° weather, it does sort of feel like spring. Even if these strawberries aren’t as delicious as they are in the summertime, I figure that at the very least we can choke them down with some Chocolate Whipped Cream. Yes, that shouldn’t be a problem.

I bought three packages of blueberries this week – woohoo for price matching! I also price-matched broccoli, cauliflower, and apples. This price-matching thing has been saving me a bundle.

Speaking of which, I am excited to share that our family has seen some significant grocery budget savings this month since I’ve bought only fresh food and have avoided buying anything for our freezers or pantry. We will be ending the month with spending at just a tad over $400. This number is fantastic for my family in this season of life. (Oh my, I remember the days I spent less than that for everything including meat and pantry staples. Hello, teenage appetites.)

I have also found it interesting to note that it takes between $100-$130 per week to keep us in fresh produce, eggs, and milk. Seem like a lot? I beg to differ. That amount goes a long way toward awesome nutrition so it is very, very worth it. I also love thinking about how our preserved garden produce helps keep that amount as low as it is. I also (how many times can I use also in the same paragraph?) realize how blessed we are that our fresh milk and eggs are priced so very reasonably.

And now, here is our list of menu items for this week. What a blessing to have so much variety and so much good food!

Breakfast

  • Flaky Cream Cheese Pastry
  • Instant Oatmeal Packets
  • Grape Nuts Cereal
  • Scrambled Eggs with Spinach and Cheese
  • Quick Mix Pancakes
  • Pumpkin Donuts
  • Peanut Butter Breakfast Cake

Lunch

  • Bacon, Egg, and Avocado Salad
  • Beef Summer Sausage
  • Cheddar Ranch Burgers
  • Spanish Rice
  • Salmon Patties
  • Taco Corn Fritters
  • Pizza Soup

Dinner

  • Italian Cream Cheese Chicken
  • One Dish Meat And Potato Casserole
  • Homemade Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese
  • Easy Noodle Stir Fry
  • Chicken Tacos
  • Tuna Casserole
  • Potato Soup

Fruit and Veggie Sides (I serve 1-4 with each meal)

  • Clementines
  • Strawberries with Chocolate Whipped Cream
  • Steamed Broccoli and Carrots
  • Cheesy Cauliflower Cakes
  • Cucumbers, Carrots, and Broccoli with Easy Veggie Dip
  • Creamy Coleslaw
  • Apples with Cream Cheese Fruit Dip
  • Pears
  • Applesauce
  • Pickles
  • Green Beans
  • Peas
  • Mixed Greens
  • Spinach
  • Blueberries
  • Cantaloupe
  • Tomatoes
  • Sweet Peppers

If you are also taking an “Eat from the Pantry and Freezer” Challenge, I’d love to hear how it is going for you!

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

Join Our Community!

 Facebook Twitter E-mail Instagram Pinterest

Popular Posts

~ Will All of the Real Moms Please Stand Up?
~ Easy! Stir-and-Pour Whole Wheat Bread
~ How to Make Gatorade
~ 31 Real Food Breakfast Ideas
~ Dear Teenage Girls...
~ When Mom Takes a Step Back
~ The Inexpensive Health Insurance We Love!
~ Let's Talk Real Food Grocery Budgets

Check out our latest posts!

  • Big Family Food and Fun: June 7-13, 2026
  • Big Family Food and Fun: May 31-June 6, 2026
  • Big Family Food and Fun: May 24-30, 2026
  • Free 7-Day Summer Menu Plan
  • Big Family Food and Fun: May 17-23, 2026
Home  ~  Simple Meals  ~  Club Membership  ~  Shop  ~  Privacy Policy  ~  Disclosure  ~ Contact

Copyright © 2026 · Beautiful Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in