Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Coconut Flour Banana Muffins

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I’ve been having so much fun playing with this Gluten Free/Dairy Free Muffin recipe! We’re on the home stretch of the Gluten Free Experiment we’ve been conducting at our house (more on that soon), but I guarantee you we’ll continue to make these muffins and all the fun variations I’m coming up with whether we’re gluten free or not. What a healthy little muffin (that just so happens to taste like cake).

Coconut flour is high in fiber, high in protein, making it a wonderful addition to your diet. I find coconut flour at Tropical Traditions or Amazon. I’m so in love with this stuff that I might just write a post all about it someday soon.

I don’t recommend substituting whole wheat flour in this recipe. Coconut flour and wheat flour are not created equal. If you want a Whole Wheat Banana Muffin recipe, check out this one! We love it!

Coconut Flour Banana MuffinsYum

1/2 cup Coconut Flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
6 eggs
4 Tablespoons Coconut Oil, melted
1/4 cup honey
2-3 ripe, mashed bananas
1/2 cup nuts (optional)

Mix all ingredients together, then pour batter into a well greased (or paper lined) muffin pan. Bake at 350 for 15-25 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

coconut_flour_banana_muffins[1]

I never put nuts in muffins because 5 out of 6 of us don’t care for them in our baked goods. How ’bout you? Are you a nutty kind of person? (I really mean to ask if you like nuts in your muffins…not if you consider yourself to be nuts, but feel free to answer according to how you’re feeling today.)

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Mini Crustless Breakfast Quiches

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crustless_quiche
You know how I mentioned that we go through a lot of eggs at our house? Six dozen last week to be exact.  This week I was able to get my hands on 11 dozen farm fresh eggs and I am so very excited. It’s obviously the simple things in life that make me happy…proven by the fact that having 11 dozen eggs available this week for my cooking pleasure has made me almost giddy.

What do we do with all those eggs you ask?  Well, there are six of us, five are male and four of those five male people can’t seem to get enough food right now. We also have extra people eating at our house quite often, so our six turns into eight or more on just about any given day. I bake a lot, so I stir them into whatever I’m baking. We easily go through an entire dozen for breakfast if I’m making scrambled eggs or a casserole, and more than a dozen if I make crepes. These Coconut Flour Muffins are incredible…and they take up quite a few eggs. And, I often put eggs in our smoothies or “milkshakes” for added protein and nutrients. (Again, let me reinforce that we ONLY eat them raw if they are organic, free range, farm fresh…otherwise I’m afraid of them.)

If I have lots of eggs available to me, I go for it and I don’t hold back! Eggs are brain food.  I pay between $2.00 and $2.50 for a dozen farm fresh eggs, depending on my source. For the quality of eggs I’m getting, I consider this to be a great price. So even though we go through a lot of eggs…what an economical source of nutrition!!! How else can I feed my family an entire meal for just over $2.00??? (Okay, yes, they eat fruit and stuff with their eggs…you see my point though, right?)

If you haven’t tried our Easy Breakfast Casserole, please go get yourself some eggs and try it. It’s the simplest little breakfast casserole I’ve ever made and my family eatsthe whole pan. Actually…they don’t eat the pan. Hungry boys though they are, they do have their limits.

I  have now adapted the Easy Breakfast Casserole recipe to become an easy, make-ahead Mini Crustless Breakfast Quiche recipe. You can make these and serve them fresh, or you can bake them the night before and re-warm them in the oven the next morning for breakfast. You can even bake them and freeze them to have available for future grab and go meals. You can make them for lunch or brunch. These little quiches are super versatile!

Mini Crustless Breakfast QuicheYum

12 eggs
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1  cup shredded cheese (I use white cheddar, but you can use whatever cheese you want!)

Begin your quiches by whisking together the eggs, cream, salt and cheese in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle in any “add in” ingredients you wish (a total of 1 cup of add-ins). Stir them around with a fork. Scoop mixture into 24 well buttered regular sized muffin tins. Bake in a 350° oven for 20-30 minutes, or until the middle of each quiche doesn’t jiggle.

Add In Ideas:

Cooked sausage (I have a wonderful recipe for turkey sausage here.)
Chopped ham
Chopped and cooked bacon
Leftover baked potatoes, cut into chunks or shredded into hashbrowns
Sauteed veggies
Raw spinach
Cooked chicken
Taco seasoned meat

Obviously, you can cut this recipe in half to make 12 regular sized muffins sized quiches!

Mini_Quiches_2

I’m curious, just because I’m fairly certain some of you might be shocked about our egg consumption…how many eggs does your family go through in a week?

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Teriyaki Chicken and Veggies

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 I think I’d make this dish every other day if my family would let me get away with it. It is the perfect combination of flavors and I LOVE IT. It’s great because you can use leftover chicken if you have it, any veggies you have on hand…and if you have fresh pineapple? Well, be still my heart.

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I don’t have an exact recipe for this dish. It’s more of a “throw food together” kind of dish, depending on what you have on hand. Then, make some brown rice and whip up some Teriyaki Sauce to pour on and you’ve got a great meal! So, forgive me for not putting exact measurements on this “recipe”. Just make enough for your family!

Here’s what you need:

Here’s what to do:

Get your brown rice cooking. (I have easy directions for cooking brown rice here.)  Mix up Teriyaki Sauce and have it ready to go when chicken and veggies are done.

Chop up your veggies and stir them around in a skillet over medium heat with olive oil until they are tender. If your chicken needs to be cooked, throw that in too. (See what a fancy cook I am?)  :)  If you want, you can season your veggies and chicken with garlic.

Toss pineapple into the veggies to cook for just a few minutes.

Serve rice, veggies, pineapple and chicken with Teriyaki Sauce poured over the top!

Teriyaki Chicken and Vegetables

What veggies would you throw in to create this meal?  I know my menu plan said something different, but I think I’m making this tonight anyway. :)

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Homemade “Larabars” for a Gluten Free Snack!

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Ready to learn how to make homemade Larabars?

larabars_remade

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Ever since I got to try some Larabars for a review back in March, I’ve been hooked. They are amazingly yummy, incredibly healthy and what do you know…they are gluten free!

I’m amazed that they contain so few ingredients…my favorite Cashew Cookie bar is made of only dates and cashews…that’s IT. And it really does taste like a cookie. Only better.  :)

Since doing that review, I’ve done two things regarding Larabars:

1)  I used some of my Swagbuck earnings to order more from Amazon. I wanted to have these awesome snacks on hand for grab and go moments. They have come in very handy!
2)  I used Katie’s Healthy Snacks to Go eBook to make my own.

You have GOT to try your hand at Homemade Larabars.

I can’t believe how easy they are, and the homemade bars taste even better (because homemade always tastes better, right?)!

Malachi is not a big fan of nuts in any form, mostly because he really just hasn’t given them a chance. :)   This has been a challenge during our Gluten Free Experiment because I would really like to be able to feed him nuts as a snack. So…I didn’t call these Larabars. I told him that these were a “gluten free bar” that I had made. He didn’t ask what was in them. I didn’t tell. He saw the chocolate chips. That’s all he needed to know. :)

He gobbled one right up, exclaiming over and over how good it was. (yay!) I think we may be going through a lot of nuts and dates while I continue to “play” in the kitchen. :)

Regarding nuts, be sure to check out Braga Farms as a wonderful source for organic nuts! Braga Farms is a fabulous family farm to purchase organic nuts from. You can not beat their quality or their prices! I just placed an order and I can’t wait to get my great box of organic nuts!

Ever tried making your own Larabars?  I think we’ve decided to call our homemade bars “Mamabars”. And wow, there’s only one left so I’m going to have to make another batch! :)

Homemade Larabars

Homemade "Larabars" for a Gluten Free Snack!
 
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Author:
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups raw cashews
  • 8 dates (remove pits)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 Tablespoons water
  • ¼ cup add ins like mini chocolate chips, dried fruit, or fresh fruit like blueberries (optional)
Instructions
  1. Grind cashews in a food processor until fine.
  2. Slowly add dates, vanilla, and water and pulse until the mixture forms a dough.
  3. Fold in chocolate chips or fruit.
  4. Press mixture into a parchment paper-lined 8x8 inch pan.
  5. Refrigerate for about one hour.
  6. Cut into 12 bars.

Homemade Larabars

 

Need more healthy snack ideas? You’ll love this wonderful and helpful eBook full of 227 Healthy Snack ideas and recipes!

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Gluten Free Peanut Butter Honey Balls

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Yum

If you haven’t made this Peanut Butter Honey Fudge…you are missing out on one of the easiest treats ever! For a little variation this time, I decided to roll some of the squares into balls. 

It may be fun to roll these balls in coconut flakes too!

Okay…Peanut Butter Honey Fudge – you have to try it! Three ingredients, that’s it! Peanut butter, honey and chocolate chips.  Find the recipe here!

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Mock Frozen Yogurt

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High Five Recipes 2

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Can I now offer you the perfect little side dish to go with your Taco Corn Fritters? This Mock Frozen Yogurt is so very easy and really, really tasty too.

I have no idea why I felt the need to say that. It really is sort of a “duh” statement because if I didn’t feel like it was tasty, would I actually post the recipe on my blog? How would that look…”I don’t really like eating this dish, but I thought I’d post it for you anyway so you could be grossed-out along with me. Feel free to stink up your kitchen and tell your kids that the Heavenly Homemaker made you do it. Be sure to come back and share your gag stories.” I would never do that. And yet I still felt the need to point out that the recipe tastes good. Duh.

So yeah, this recipe is really tasty! You should try it sometime! Anyway…

My favorite thing about this recipe is that it works great as a side dish or snack, but is also sweet enough to be a dessert. And in case I failed to mention it, this Mock Frozen Yogurt is really quite tasty. :)

Mock Frozen Yogurt

3 cups any varieties of frozen fruit (I used blueberries, peaches and strawberries)
1 1/2 cups plain yogurt
1/4 cup grade B real maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place frozen fruit in a food processor.

Add plain yogurt, vanilla and maple syrup.

Blend until all ingredients are well mixed. Easy as that!

Serve right away as a side dish, snack or dessert! I LOVE it when desserts are this healthy!!

And there you go. Come back for more tasty (and gluten free!) recipes all week long!

What are your favorite frozen fruits to use in treats??

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Taco Corn Fritters

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When Matt and I were at Whole Foods recently, we saw that they had some sort of Jalapeno-Corn fritter for sale on their hot bar. They looked SO GOOD, and while I didn’t figure our kids would appreciate the jalapenos, immediately my brain started thinking through how I could create something like this for a quick lunch that would be a little more kid-friendly. Feel free to add jalapenos to this recipe if you want. Just don’t touch your eye after messing with jalapenos. Or at least have milk handy if you do. But really…just don’t touch your eye.

Taco Corn Fritters

I kind of wanted an “all in one” meal, which is why I put taco meat in our fritters. Then, since it had taco meat, I figured it needed cheese. Those items are optional…but wow are they good! Of course though, I’m the girl who needs her beef. ;)

Taco Corn FrittersYum

1/2 pound cooked hamburger meat seasoned with taco seasoning mix (Many commercial taco seasonings contain gluten! I highly recommend making and using this wonderful homemade recipe!)
2 cups cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup melted butter or coconut oil
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups frozen or canned corn
oil for frying (I used palm shortening)

Brown hamburger meat and add  taco seasoning mix to taste. Mix together remaining ingredients, stirring in the seasoned meat. Melt palm shortening in a skillet. Scoop 1-2 Tablespoons of corn mixure into the hot oil and press down to form a “pattie”. Fry for 5-7 minutes on each side until cooked through. (I had my electric skillet set to 350°.)

The great thing about these Taco Corn Fritters is that they even taste good cold, which means they would make a great grab and go lunch or snack!!! I haven’t tried freezing these (because we eat them too quickly!), but I’m pretty sure you could make up a big batch and freeze them for “fast food”.

So would you put jalapenos in these, or not? How would your family like them best?!

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Homemade Chocolate Chips

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After talking about the Enjoy Life Dairy, Soy, and Gluten Free Chocolate Chips on sale at Amazon the other day…I decided to make a batch of my own Homemade SF, DF, GF Chocolate Chips to have on hand while I wait for the others to come in the mail.

Homemade Chocolate Chips

I made these chips with coconut oil this time. (You can use butter instead, but coconut oil is a great option if you can’t have dairy. Read more about coconut oil here.)

Can I just say…these chunks of chocolate taste incredible sprinkled into a bowl full of peanuts. Or all by themselves if you need a quick chocolate fix. Or mixed into these easy and healthier Fudge Brownies. Or in these Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins. Or with a glass of milk. 

Or on a Friday afternoon at 2:47 just because.

These homemade chocolate chips make yummy Chocolate Chip Cookies too…but they don’t hold together when baked as well as commercial chocolate chips. They’re just too “pure” I guess, and tend to melt into the cookie. This isn’t a problem with taste…but can be a problem with appearance. 

Just send the ugly cookies to my house. They’ll get eaten. :)

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Homemade (Healthier) Chocolate Milk

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I have not one, but two recipes to share with you today in regard to making a healthier variety of chocolate milk. If at all possible, I encourage you to stay away from commercial chocolate syrup, as it is full of high fructose corn syrup and corn syrup. (You can’t tell, but I’m making a “blechy” face right now and it isn’t pretty.)

This first recipe for Chocolate Syrup is from a friend of mine right here in town. {hi, Nancy!}  It’s the easiest recipe ever, making it a perfect solution for those of you who really want your chocolate syrup but want to avoid HFCS.

Homemade Chocolate SyrupYum

1 cup sucanat
1/2 cup cocoa
dash of sea salt
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix sucanat, cocoa, sea salt and water in a medium sauce pan. Whisk ingredients together and cook on medium-high heat until the mixture begins to boil. Boil for one minute. Remove from heat. Allow mixture to cool for just a few minutes. Stir in vanilla extract.

Add Homemade Chocolate Syrup to your glass of milk to taste. Store syrup in the refrigerator.

If you look real close, you can see a reflection of me with my camera
in the round part of this cute little pour bottle.
Try to focus on the chocolate syrup. I wasn’t having a good hair day.

Homemade Chocolate Syrup

The boys have declared this Chocolate Syrup to be quite delicious.
It will be a special treat every once in a while at our house!

Now for recipe number two.  This is how I’ve been making chocolate milk for the past several years. (Makes you wonder why it took me so long to share this, huh? I have lots of excuses.)

Now don’t freak out or anything, but I often add a few raw, farm fresh eggs into the blender when I’m mixing these up. I don’t worry one bit about getting sick from raw eggs that come straight from my friend’s farm. Their chickens are allowed to roam free all day long and eat all the healthiest chicken feed and you know…bugs. Healthy chickens means healthy eggs, and we eat them free of fear. Raw eggs are great brain food.

Okay, this post is not about the safety of raw eggs. But I did just want to let you know that if you want to add farm fresh, free ranged eggs to this Quick Blender Chocolate Milk recipe, you’ll find that the nutrition level goes WAY up, as does the creamy-richness of this chocolate milk! (I really don’t recommend putting raw eggs into this – or into anything – if the eggs are not organic, free range, farm fresh eggs. Please do your own research about this to determine what you feel is safe.)

Quick Blender Chocolate Milk

6 cups of milk
3 Tablespoons cocoa
4 Tablespoons real grade b maple syrup (give or take, depending on your taste)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put all ingredients into your blender and mix well.

Chocolate Milkshakes

Malachi LOVES the job of serving the Chocolate Milk out of our fun blender.

So there you go. Many of you were screaming for a healthier chocolate milk recipe, so now you have not one, but two to choose from!

And now, the Heavenly Homemakers Recipe Challenge continues. I’m in the process of figuring out a healthier Onion Soup Mix recipe and have played a little bit with Angel Food Cake. The Angel Food Cake I tried first completely sank and went from four inches tall to 2 inches tall. I’m still working on it. I guess that’s why this is called a “challenge”, huh? :)

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Cheeseburger Macaroni (A Hamburger Helper Make-Over!)

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I’ve been meaning to share this recipe with you forever!!! It’s really become one of my favorites because it tastes so good and is SO easy to make. When I threw out the Heavenly Homemakers Recipe Challenge, a few of you mentioned Hamburger Helper make-overs. Isn’t there one that’s like a “Lasagna Skillet” or something like that?? You might want to try Lasagna Casserole as a very tasty alternative. And now…this Cheeseburger Macaroni!

Here’s the background information (that you may or may not care about) for my Cheeseburger Macaroni recipe:

Back in my good ol’ Coupon Queen days, I used to buy oodles of boxes of Hamburger Helper anytime they went on sale for 99¢ and I had a coupon to get them for less than that. Sometimes I’d have cabinets full of them that I’d found for just a few pennies each. I’d enjoy them for a quick and easy meal (and I’d drink a Pepsi or two with it, you can be sure).

My favorite variety of Hamburger Helper was Cheeseburger Macaroni. I LOVED it. I’d save it for special nights. Yes, special nights with Hamburger Helper, Cheeseburger Macaroni style. Wow.

Gone are the days of having a stockpile of Hamburger Helper (and my beloved Pepsi)…and I’ve gotta say that now that I’m used to eating more whole foods, the idea of either one makes me feel a little bit woozie in the tummy. But I still crave that hamburger-cheesy-noodly taste, you know?

So one day, I had some leftover taco meat and just for fun, I stirred it into the Creamy Mac and Cheese I was making for lunch. Wowza!!! My Cheeseburger Macaroni days were back…only better! Here’s how I make it:

Cheeseburger MacaroniYum

1 Pound (give or take) Ground Beef or Turkey
1 Tablespoon Taco Seasoning
1 Recipe of Creamy Mac and Cheese (pasta, milk, cheese)
Sea Salt to taste

The directions are super complicated…are you ready? Make the Creamy Mac and Cheese. Meanwhile, brown the meat. Once the meat is fully cooked, sprinkle in the taco seasoning. Stir the seasoned meat into the Creamy Mac and Cheese. Done.

If you feel like it, you can mix in about 4 ounces of cream cheese, 1/2 cup of sour cream, or 3/4 cup of tomato sauce…this recipe is very flexible. It’s super kid friendly, and very easy to throw together on a busy night.

Now, it’s been several years before I’ve made a “convenient” box of Hamburger Helper, but I’m going to venture to say that this healthier variety of Cheeseburger Macaroni doesn’t take any longer to fix than making a box of Hamburger Helper. How ’bout that?

Were you (are you?) a Hamburger Helper lover? If you currently are…is there anything more I can say that will help you stay away from the pretty little box?

P.S. I have a Tater Tot recipe almost ready to share with you!! :)

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