Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Menu Plan for the Week

by 10 Comments

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

French Toast made with Cinnamon Swirl Bread

The no-good flu bug has hit our house. Fever, body aches, coughing, no energy, no appetite, no good. Elias and I were down for several days last week and are just now starting to feel almost normal(ish)…just in time for Malachi to wake up with a fever today. :(  Matt’s been holding down the fort. What would I do without him?

Since Elias and I have been lying around together for days (being pitiful), he helped me with our menu plan for this week. Ah, it would appear that our appetites are coming back. :)

Sunday, February 6
Breakfast cake, fruit
Italian pasta bake, tossed salad, corn
Super Bowl Party at friend’s house – sending Seven (or Nine) Layer Dip and chips  (I’ll be staying home with the sick ones tonight. Someone let me know who wins, will ya?)

Monday, February 7
Simple soaked pancakes, blueberries
Quesadillas, peaches
Venison steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas

Tuesday, February 8
Mini breakfast pizzas, orange slices
Hamburgers, ranch potato wedges, green beans
Chili with cheese, smoothies

Wednesday, February 9
French toast, pears
Salmon patties, creamy mac and cheese, steamed broccoli
Chicken and rice stew, fruit salad

Thursday, February 10
Orange muffins, fried eggs, applesauce
Nachos, apples
Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, steamed carrots

Friday, February 11
Crepes with jelly
Beef and cheese burritos, clementines
Homemade pizza pockets, carrot sticks, apples

Saturday, February 12
Homemade poptarts
Leftovers
Lamb roast, carrots, potatoes, gravy

——————————————————————–

Take advantage of Say Mmm’s free menu planning service!

———————————————————————

Wait till you see what’s in store from CK Bakery Shop this week!!

——————————————————————-

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

by 38 Comments

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

Every Sunday morning for the past…I don’t know…forever or so, I’ve been making oatmeal for breakfast. It’s one day out of seven that I know exactly what I’m making without having to think…and it’s the easiest, most filling breakfast I can make on a Sunday morning. Sunday  mornings are a little bit nuts, are they not? Or maybe they’re just nuts at my house. Somehow making it out the door on a Sunday to get to church by 9:15 with hair combed and shoes on the right feet for all six people (myself included) is quite a chore. Therefore, oatmeal has been my go-to meal on Sunday mornings. 

Suddenly though, there seems to have been A Big Oatmeal Rebellion. Okay, I’ve got to admit…it’s not actually come on all that “suddenly”. The Rebellion has been coming on slowly…I’ve just been working very hard to pretend it’s not there in hopes that it will all go away. In other words, I’ve been ignoring the more and more frequent whiny oatmeal complaints and have lovingly replied to any oatmeal rebels that THIS is breakfast so hurry up and tuck your shirt in and get downstairs and eat some of it so we can try to be on time to church for once.

This week, I decided that before this Rebellion gets ugly I should do something really shocking and make something completely different from the traditional Sunday Oatmeal.

So check me out. I changed our normal Sunday breakfast plan…

Sunday, January 30
Oatmeal  Giant Breakfast Cookies (Mwoohaha…they still have oats in them. And, I made them last night so that I actually had less cooking to do than a typical Oatmeal Sunday morning. Everyone was SO happy to see these cookies.)
Cheeseburger Macaroni, green beans
Sloppy joes, creamy cole slaw, carrot sticks

Monday, January 31
Simple soaked pancakes, blueberries
Tuna salad on toast, peaches and cottage cheese
Chicken fried steak strips, potato wedges, peas

Tuesday, February 1
Creamy orange cooler, soft pretzels
Hamburger patties, steamed broccoli and carrots
Venison steak, baked potatoes, tossed salad

Wednesday, February 2
Vanilla muffins with cinnamon crumb topping, bananas
Black bean taco salad, apples
Oven fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas

Thursday, February 3
Scrambled eggs, oranges
Stir fry with chicken, veggies and rice
Homemade pizza

Friday, February 4
Breakfast burritos, oranges
Creamy mac and cheese, green beans
Tacos

Saturday, February 5
Homemade whole wheat donuts
Leftovers
Lamb chops, spaghetti squash, fruit salad

What is your go-to Sunday morning breakfast??!   :)

———————————————————–

Be sure to check out Say Mmm…our sponsor specializing in making menu planning simple!

———————————————————–

Also…take note of our two new sponsors:  No More Bricks Bread Class and A Coupon Chick!

———————————————————-

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 and How to Find Recipes on HeavenlyHomemakers.com

by 8 Comments

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

I’ve been having fun the last few days working on some new recipes for the Heavenly Homemakers Recipe Challenge!! Some of you added Homemade Barbeque Sauce to the challenge list…so I thought I’d post the link here and say, guess what? I already have a Homemade Barbeque Sauce recipe on the site! It’s incredibly easy to make. Now, if I could just figure out a good ketchup recipe to use in the Homemade Barbeque Sauce (I’ve been just using an organic, no high fructose corn syrup variety) to make the BBQ Sauce even better!

bbqsauce2sm.JPG

I’ve categorized all the recipes on my site to make them as organized and as easy as possible for you to find. If you’re new here, I wanted to be sure and point out my RECIPES link across the top of my site. If you put your cursor over that button, you’ll see a big list of recipe categories drop down (Main Dishes, Side Dishes, Gluten Free, Dairy, Condiments, etc.). Then you can click around for hours and find yummy food to make for your family! :)

Here’s our menu for this week:

Sunday, January 23
Oatmeal, apples
BBQ Brisket, cream scalloped potatoes, green beans
Going to a baby shower with ladies and girls – taking Baby Carrots with Homemade Ranch Dip and Baby Pickles, Peanut Butter Honey Fudge, Baby Quiches, Tiny Meatballs; Dads and boys all coming to our house to hang out and eat Beefy Vegetable Soup and Crispy Cheese Crackers! Maybe I’ll leave them a little bit of Peanut Butter Honey Fudge. Maybe.   :)

Monday, January 24
Pancake and sausage muffins, applesauce
Lasagna casserole, tossed salad, corn
Chicken tostadas

Tuesday, January 25
Fried eggs on toast, oranges
Spicy avocado dip, chips, fruit salad
Cheddar ranch burgers on homemade whole wheat buns, potato wedges, carrot sticks

Wednesday, January 26
Giant breakfast cookies, bananas
Chicken tortilla soup, strawberry-peach slushies
Lamb chops, spaghetti squash, steamed broccoli and carrots

Thursday, January 27
Whole wheat and honey zucchini muffins, scrambled eggs, pears
Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup
Venison steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas

Friday, January 28
Fruit, yogurt, toast
Meat and cheese burritos, oranges
Chicken stew, soft pretzels

Saturday, January 29
Apricot breakfast bars, applesauce
Leftovers
Chili, fruit

Take advantage of Say Mmm’s free menu planning service!

You’ll find a fun Menu Planning link-up every Monday at Organizing Junkie. If you post your menu plan, you may enjoy linking up your menu there, as well as taking a peek through what others have on their menus each week!

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

Cooking Week Recap (Complete with Ugly Corn Dog Pictures)

by 26 Comments

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

Well, I got a lot of cooking done last week. I don’t have a lot of food to show for it, as we did our fair share of eating last week too. But, eating is a good thing, and I was able to stash a little bit in the freezer for quick meals later on too.

I am happy to report that I was able to make everything on my list (except for the Ranch Dressing), plus a few extras. What I’m not so happy to report is that with some of the cooking…I got a little bit lazy.

Take for instance these Corn Dog Muffins. They’re so easy to make and are great to have in the freezer for a grab and go meal. My problem though came when I just didn’t feel like taking the time to cut the hotdogs to the right size. I was in a hurry and just cut them all in half (instead of into thirds). This means that the dogs did not fit into the muffin cups at all and instead just sort of sat on top of the cornbread. 

Thankfully, my family doesn’t mind eating ugly little Corn Dog Muffins, but let’s just say these fellas wouldn’t win any prize at the fair.

Nor would my Honey Whole Wheat Bread this time around. Want to know what happens when you’re too lazy to knead your bread for as long as you should knead your bread?

It get’s all funky in the oven and comes out looking like this:

Again, my family doesn’t mind funky looking bread, especially if I slice it before they notice. While making our bread, we took a little extra time to make some loaves of Cinnamon Swirl Bread – always a favorite. My kitchen helper loaded it up with cinnamon…the more the better right?

And again, I have to say…if the bread is ugly, slice it up before anyone can see it. It doesn’t look nearly so ugly when it’s toasted and has butter melted all over it…

For a snack while the boys were having an art lesson (because drawing and eating at the same time is a great way to creatively sketch animals), we had Cream Cheese Apple Dip with sliced apples. That stuff tastes SO good.

I made six pounds worth of Turkey Sausage, browned it and bagged it up for future use with Pancake Sausage Muffins and Easy Breakfast Casseroles. I can’t tell you how nice it is to have pre-made Turkey Sausage on hand to grab out of the freezer for a quick meal!!

Of course, while I was at it, I went ahead and made two batches of Pancake Sausage Muffins. We ate a batch the next morning and froze a batch for later.

Again, my lazy side took over and instead of making Mini Apple Pies, I made one big apple pie and an apple crisp. The boys decorated the top of the pie using cookie cutters with the leftover pie crust dough.

I made a batch of Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns, which is probably one of my favorite foods to have in the freezer! They’re great to have ready to pull out for Sloppy Joes or Ranch Burgers or just plain sandwiches. 

Because I had talked about stretching one chicken to make six meals…I decided I’d better cook a chicken to prove it to myself and to experiment with the best way to get six great meals from one chicken. After eating some of the chicken and broth, we still have some chicken and broth in the fridge for future meals. I’ll be working on the “How to Stretch Your Chicken” post, and in the meantime, I hope you are all picturing us in the kitchen with a raw bird, seeing how far we can stretch him…kind of like a tug of war. Just kidding…don’t picture that.  And please, whatever you do, do NOT give my children any ideas.

I made Warm Vanilla Soother one morning to go with our breakfast, so with the leftover egg whites, I made a batch of Coconut Macaroons for a friend who can’t have wheat. We did a little “quality control” before sending the cookies off, and we declared that the cookies were certainly fit to eat.

The Poptarts finally got made toward the end of the week…and there is exactly one left. These Poptarts are a hit…and I’m just sure they freeze well…but in my house, they have yet to make it to the freezer.

So what do you suppose is the loudest activity in our kitchen? Give up? It’s making Homemade Peanut Butter. Peanuts flying around in a food processor is really, really loud. Of course, then it gets even louder because my kids tend to like to try yelling over the noise. It’s a highly effective way to communicate.

With our fresh Peanut Butter, we made some Healthier Rice Crispy Treats for snacking. Then we made more (loud) Peanut Butter to fill our jar for the fridge.

So let’s see…what did I learn from my week of cooking? Don’t be lazy. Cut the hot dogs smaller, knead the bread dough longer. Don’t try to draw animals while eating apples and dip because you’ll end up with a very sticky horse. And never tell your kids you’re going to see how far you can stretch a chicken, or they’re likely to grab the bird and yank the legs off.

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

by 12 Comments

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

One thing I forgot to mention in my Ways to Stretch the Real Foods Grocery Budget post is MEAL PLANNING!! I have found it so helpful for my sanity and for keeping the budget down if I try to stay organized and make menu plans each week. 

I’ve mentioned before but I’ll mention it again, if you’re new to meal planning or would just like a little  help with menu planning organization, Say Mmm is a great FREE resource!

Here is our menu plan for the week. If you’d like to come over for some of the Cinnamon Swirl Toast pictured above, we’ll see you Thursday morning! :)

Sunday, January 16
Oatmeal, bananas
Potluck – taking Fudge Brownies, Cream Corn Casserole
Chili with shredded cheese, raw veggies

Monday, January 17
Snowman pancakes
Popcorn chicken, ranch potato wedges, peas
Italian pasta bake, tossed salad

Tuesday, January 18 -Elias’ birthday choices!
Donuts
Homemade corndogs, carrot sticks (yes, I added those myself – we needed at least one veggie today!)
Hamburgers, french fries, homemade lemon cake

Wednesday, January 19
French toast, blueberries
Tilapia, tossed salad, fruit-kefir smoothies
Egg and sausage casserole, orange muffins, apples

Thursday, January 20
Scrambled eggs, cinnamon swirl toast, oranges
Chicken noodle soup, carrots
Venison stew, whole wheat sourdough biscuits

Friday, January 21
Mini breakfast pizzas, applesauce
Tuna salad on toast, cottage cheese and peaches
Bean and rice bowls with salsa and kreme fresh, fruit salad

Saturday, January 22
Homemade honey oat crunch cereal (found in our Breakfast ebook)
Leftovers
Taco Potatoes

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

Lots of Food…Nothing to Eat

by 19 Comments

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

I stood in my beloved kitchen last Thursday looking around, trying to get reacquainted with this “long, lost friend” after being away for almost three weeks. There was plenty of food in my pantry and freezers…but it seemed there was nothing to eat. Ever felt that way? 

There are plenty of ingredients to be found, but unless my family is willing to chew on some grains of wheat with a side of coconut flakes for dinner this week…I’m going to need to get busy.

I’ve had a hard time deciding whether to spend several hours cooking…or several hours (days?) wading through all the emails I  have now become so much more behind on after being “on Christmas vacation“. 

Slowly but surely, I’ve been doing both. That’s why there may be a little bit of coconut oil or ketchup on your emails when I finally get back to you to answer your questions. Here’s a napkin just in case you need it.

After this week, I’m hoping my kitchen will be re-organized and functional again. The Christmas dishes will be put away until next year, the fridge will get a good scrubbing…and I’m gonna cook and bake and fill my fridge and freezer with some healthy convenience once again!

corndogmuffinssm.JPG

Here’s a list of what I have in mind to make. I’ll share the results of what I actually accomplish later in the week.

I created the following video of my kitchen and pantry and posted it for you to see a couple of years ago…but I thought you might be interested in me posting it again for several reasons:

  1. Some of you are new here and probably haven’t seen my kitchen. I’d love for you to “visit” the kitchen I spend so much time in!
  2. Malachi popped in a time or two while I was recording and he makes the kitchen so much cuter. Ah, he was so little then…
  3. My kitchen was really, really clean when I shot this video. It’s not nearly that clean right now. I really need to get busy.  If I show you this video, maybe I’ll be motivated to get the kitchen that clean again.
    Feel like telling me something fun about your kitchen?
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

by 5 Comments

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

We were blessed to be able to pick this beautiful box full of oranges from Matt’s aunt and uncle’s tree in California. Yes, we had to pack a box of oranges and an elephant on our way home. When you’re used to eating oranges that have been trucked all the way to Nebraska…a fresh orange right off a tree in California tastes like heaven! We brought them back, dirt and leaves and all. It doesn’t get much better than that! I’m letting the juice run down my chin and lovin’ every minute of it.

Matt’s grandma has a small orange tree in her yard too, so we helped ourselves. :) 
You might see oranges quite often on our menu plan this week!

Sunday, January 9
Oatmeal, pears
Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, peas
Creamy mac and cheese, green beans, orange slices

Monday, January 10
Pancake and sausage muffins, applesauce
Sloppy joes, creamy orange coolers, carrot sticks with homemade ranch dip
Venison steak, hashbrowns, tossed salad

Tuesday, January 11
Scrambled eggs, orange muffins, bananas
Chicken veggie stew, homemade bread and butter
Spaghetti, tossed salad, corn

Wednesday, January 12
Breakfast pizzas, oranges
Alfredo sauce with pasta, steamed broccoli and carrots
Beefy enchilada bake, tossed salad

Thursday, January 13
Honey whole wheat bagels, apples
Chicken veggie quesadillas, fruit salad
Italian roast wraps, raw veggies with dip

Friday, January 14
Warm chocolate soother, toast
Potato soup, carrot sticks
Hamburgers on homemade buns, ranch potato wedges, peas

Saturday, January 15
Whole wheat cinnamon rolls (Elias’ birthday party)
Leftovers
Veggie soup, cornbread muffins

Now that we’re back in Nebraska…the snow is falling. Looks like we might get to have that Snow Ice Cream soon! (With oranges on the side.)

Take advantage of Say Mmm’s FREE menu planning services!

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

by 2 Comments

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

garlicchickenpastasm

We’re taking one more week off before starting school up again. We’ve been traveling, so I feel the need for a little catch-up time. I’m anxious to tell you more about our travels…once I’ve had that catch-up time. Wow, we’ve had a lot of fun!

Here’s our menu…

Sunday, January 2
Oatmeal, apples
Pizza
Cheddar ranch burgers, potato wedges, green beans

Monday, January 3
Scrambled eggs, toast, clementines
Turkey and cheese melts, fruit-kefir smoothies
Potato soup, raw veggies with ranch dip

Tuesday, January 4
Whole wheat waffles, fruit
Cheesy salsa enchiladas, tossed salad
Chicken fried steak strips, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas

Wednesday, January 5
Chocolate chocolate chip muffins, bananas
Black bean taco salad, oranges
Three cheese garlic chicken pasta, tossed salad

Thursday, January 6
Baked oatmeal, blueberries
Baked potato with broccoli cheese sauce, carrots
Lamb chops, rice, green beans

Friday, January 7
Fried eggs on toast, oranges
Popcorn chicken, ranch potato wedges, peas
Spaghetti, tossed salad, corn

Saturday, January 8
Funnel cakes
Leftovers
Beefy vegetable soup, homemade bread and butter

Be sure to make good use of the Say Mmm website to help you with menu planning and recipe organization!

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

by 8 Comments

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

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas! I’m looking forward to a little “down time” this week hopefully. Maybe a little bit of after Christmas shopping, a little bit of visiting with family, a little bit of taking it easy. Aaahhh Christmas break…how I love you.

Here’s our meal plan for the week:

Sunday, December 26
Oatmeal, apples
Christmas day leftovers
Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup

Monday, December 27
Whole wheat waffles, blueberries
Homemade corndogs, green beans
Out to dinner with family

Tuesday, December 28
Giant breakfast cookies, applesauce
Chicken tortilla soup, fruit salad
BBQ chicken sandwiches, potato salad, raw veggies

Wednesday, December 29
Pancake and sausage muffins, oranges
Snowflake quesadillas, tossed salad
Chicken noodle soup, carrots

Thursday, December 30
Scrambled eggs, clementines
Cheddar ranch burgers, potato wedges, asparagus
Italian pasta bake, tossed salad

Friday, December 31
Orange Muffins, bananas
Sloppy cornbread muffins, peas
Finger food buffet…maybe some food from the Holiday Buffet list?

Saturday, January 1
Whole wheat donuts, apples
Creamy mac and cheese, steamed broccoli and carrots
Leftovers

Are you all looking forward to a restful week ahead like I am? Do you take a Christmas Break…or do you get to “hit it hard” again tomorrow?

——————————————————

If you’re looking for some menu planning help, I highly recommend checking out Say Mmm! 
It’s a wonderful free resource to help you get organized and on your way to great menu planning!

——————————————————

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

by 15 Comments

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

sloppy_corn_muffins_4

Well, my baby is turning six on Monday. He is incredibly excited and has been counting down the days for months (not an easy thing to do). I showed Matt a pair of new jammies I had bought for Malachi for Christmas and he said, “Is our baby really that big?” At least it’s not just me. Sigh….

Incidentally, I started this blog about a month before Malachi turned three. I wrote (way back then) about My Baby Turning Three if you’d like to take a look at how little he was (and read about what an issue I have with my baby having birthdays).

You can imagine that now that he’s (almost) six, he just loves it when we call him “our baby”. 

Aaah, I call all of our boys “my babies” every once in a while. The thirteen year old especially appreciates it. ;)

Here’s our exciting Christmas week menu! Be sure to download your free Christmas Menu Planners!

christmasmenuplanner4sm2.JPG

Sunday, December 19
Oatmeal, peaches
Taco potatoes, applesauce
Pizza casserole, raw veggies

Monday, December 20 (Malachi’s birthday choices)
Cereal
Hamburgers, chips, apples
Pizza (yes, the kind you buy at the store…it’s a Christmastime compromise)

Tuesday, December 21
Mini breakfast pizza, applesauce
Chicken veggie quesadillas, clementines
Toasted sub sandwiches, carrot sticks, fruit salad

Wednesday, December 22
Honey whole wheat bagels, bananas
Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas
Dinner with friends

Thursday, December 23
Monkey bread, pears
Sloppy cornbread muffins, green beans
Chicken alfredo, steamed broccoli and carrots

Friday, December 24
Whole wheat waffles
Leftovers
Soup and sandwiches, relish tray, cookies

Saturday, December 25 (MERRY CHRISTMAS!!)
Applesauce bread, fruit
Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, bread, pie
Leftovers

—————————————————————-

If you’re looking for some menu planning help, I highly recommend checking out Say Mmm! 
It’s a wonderful free resource to help you get organized and on your way to great menu planning!

—————————————————————-

Learn here about how to earn free gift cards…for free! 
Don’t you love it when I’m redundant? You get that for free too. :)

—————————————————————-

Please be sure to join us all this week for a Christmas Brunch!! 
There will be fun new recipes, craft and gift ideas and presents!!

—————————————————————-

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