Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

What to do with All the Zucchini

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Trying to figure out what to do with all the zucchini?

what to do with all the zucchini

Yum

It’s zucchini season! I didn’t grow any this year. Sad. But other people did and around this time each year people are giving them away because when a zucchini plant does well, it does well. And when it doesn’t, we all curse the vine-borer grubs in unison and praise God for grocery stores and our friends who somehow fought off the nefarious and disgusting grubs. Ah-hem. Back to the yummy part.

What to do with all the zucchini?

Zucchini might be one of our favorite versatile vegetables. Here’s what I do with it:

  1. Chop it up and pan fry with salt and pepper and other stuff to make a quick skillet dinner: a.) garlic, onions, mushrooms, shrimp. b) garlic, onions, beef, cabbage. c.) garlic, onions, tomatoes, parmesan cheese. You get the idea: cook it and eat it for dinner with some meat and garlic and onions.
  2. Shred (or use the food processor to chop) and bake it into muffins, brownies, pancakes, waffles, breads, etc. Some people freeze the shredded zucchini to use for later. I have done this and I NEVER have good luck with it later. It gets all weepy and soggy and then I get weepy and never use it. Best of luck to you if you decide to freeze it. I’d rather bake the bread and freeze that instead.
  3. Cut in half, scrape out the middle and make pizza boats. (Broil, then melt on your pizza toppings. Dip in pizza sauce.)
  4. Slice in half, or chop, and roast, broil, or grill with oil, salt, and pepper and just eat it!
  5. Use a zoodle thingy and make noodles. Easy Alfredo and shrimp used to be my favorite with this.
  6. Have I ever been tired of zucchini? No, I have not.
  7. This is my announcement: I will take your extra zucchini.

Don’t let all the zucchini go to waste, let’s start baking!

Of course, Laura already put together many of her favorite zucchini recipes, but that was ages ago and you may have forgotten about it. Click through some of those recipes or search “zucchini” on this site for more great ideas.

Are you a zucchini lover like me? I used to only be a zucchini bread (which is usually cake, let’s not kid ourselves) kind of girl. But then I grew up and realized that as a vegetable it can take on the flavor of butter and garlic and I do so love butter and garlic. Here are some great recipes for you to try as the zucchini crop comes in.

Simple Oven-Baked Pizza Nachos

Finely chopped and baked over the nachos is a great way to sneak more veggies into this meal.

Last Minute Stir-Fry

Frozen chopped zucchini will be a little soggier than fresh, but it holds up better than shredded, OR just add a few fresh ones to your frozen veggie bags.

Zucchini Waffles

This is a pumpkin recipe. I know. You can sub one squash for the other. It will be fine. Really. Many popular baked zucchini recipes have so much sugar in them they may as well be cake… try a less-sugar option and top with just a few drops of maple syrup, honey, or nut butter.

Have zucchini for breakfast!

Why have we decided that most vegetables are for lunch and dinner? Here’s a quick breakfast that I’ve made many times already this summer: In a hot skillet I melt butter, fry up a chopped summer squash (yellow or green), add in a can of chicken (because it’s breakfast and people are hungry for the food), salt and pepper and (here’s the secret ingredient), a tablespoon or so of lemon juice. You must not forget the lemon juice. Once the chicken is warmed and the lemon juice has sizzled for a few seconds, we eat and dance and go about our day warm and well-fed.

In hindsight, I will need to make that one into an actual recipe post for you. You will need to be reminded of it again because it is so delicious.

Do tell, what is your favorite way to eat this amazing and versatile vegetable?

book cover of bluebird on the prairie Tasha Hackett is a friend of Laura and author of Bluebird on the Prairie, a historical romance set in an 1879 Nebraska town. Zeke has his sights set for California, but Eloise prefers the quiet safety of her home. Is it possible they’re both searching for the same things? Find this heart-warming romance wherever books are sold.

To find out more about Tasha and her world of historical fiction, connect with her at www.TashaHackett.com.

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Heavenly Homemakers’ Reader Favorite Recipes (The Best of the Best!)

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Today we’ve got a list of our most well loved recipes!

We’ve been sharing recipes here on Heavenly Homemakers now for over a decade. During that time, we’ve created hundreds of recipes for you to share with your family! Some of you have been reading Heavenly Homemakers since the very beginning, and have incorporated these recipes into your family’s meal plan for the past decade.

Readers are often messaging me, sharing their very favorite recipes that they have made and loved for years! I love this, because it reminds me of recipes I haven’t made myself for quite some time!

Recently we asked our Heavenly Homemakers’ community on Facebook (if you aren’t following us, join the fun here!) what their absolute favorite recipe was from our website. We asked them, what was one recipe that they return to again and again. A recipe that have become a family favorite over the years.

We received so many responses that we decided to share that list with you today! We have SO many fun recipes on our site, but we thought you would enjoy a hand-picked list from other readers.

Top 15 Reader Favorite Recipes

1. Spicy Chicken Pizza

Yum

Says reader Kim: “I made the Spicy Chicken Pizza today and EVERYONE loved it!! Definitely going to be made often in our home!”

2. Chocolate Pudding

Homemade sweet chocolate mouse in the glass,selective focus

Reader Christine wrote: “Chocolate pudding!!! I use it for my pies every holiday season and they always, always get rave reviews. And it isn’t so unhealthy either!”

3. Peanut Butter Cups

Says reader Kim: “The peanut butter cups! Such a healthy, delicious treat”

4. Ranch Dressing

This recipe was mentioned over and over again by readers!

5. Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

Erin said: “Most used (almost weekly for years) would be chocolate chip pumpkin muffins.”

6. Taco Seasoning

Lisa wrote: “Taco seasoning, yes! Fine recipe, but I love to reread it because all the shaking makes me laugh.”

7. Alfredo Sauce

Kristin wrote: “Alfredo…my kids would eat it every week if I made it.”

8. Raspberry Oatmeal Bars

Shannon wrote: “Raspberry granola bars. It was the first recipe I made from you and what made me start following your blog. We are still making them 5 years later (round about).”

9. Creamy Cheesy Chicken Pasta

Rebekah wrote: “I have so many how do I pick. Creamy cheesy chicken pasta, stir and pour bread, breakfast casserole, strawberry fluff stuff. Do you See my problem.”

10. Coconut Flour Cheddar Drop Biscuits

Jackie wrote: “I make the cheddar drop biscuits all the time.”

11. Creamy Chicken and Rice

Teresa had a few favorites: “Italian dressing mix (I use it on so many things) and creamy chicken and rice!”

12. Giant Breakfast Cookies

This recipe was brought up again and again! Stephanie said: “Most used for us… giant breakfast cookies, raspberry oatmeal bars, and several of the muffin varieties. Thank you!!”

13. Sloppy Joes

Several readers mentioned that they make this Sloppy Joe recipe over and over!

14. Warm Vanilla Soother

Perfect for this time of year, reader Tara put her vote in for this comforting drink!

15. Tortillas

Several readers said they loved the tortilla recipe! You can find that recipe in the Totally Tortillas eBook! Gain access to this eBook, and countless others, by joining our Club Membership!

Honorable Mentions

Here is a list of the most well-loved recipes on Heavenly Homemakers!

Several other recipes didn’t make the top fifteen list, but were reader faves all the same! Here are a few more recipes that readers have tried and loved.

Now the only question is, which one are you going to try first?!

Your turn to share! What is your absolute favorite recipe you’ve found on Heavenly Homemakers? Share in the comments!

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How to Make Chicken Wings

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Here’s how to make chicken wings at home. You’ll wonder why you never tried this before!

Truly, this is as easy as the “Just Dump Some Sauce on Some Chicken” idea I shared a while ago. I’ll share a recipe below, but if you don’t even want to read that far let me just give you the simple instructions now:

How to Make Chicken WingsYum

  1. Put chicken wings in a crock pot. Who cares if they are still frozen?
  2. Dump on some sauce. Use whatever sauce you have. The final plops of three different bottles will work just fine.
  3. Cook this on low for a few hours.
  4. Eat the chicken as it falls off the bones.
  5. Smile and wipe yo mouth.

Chicken wings seem to be something we only order at restaurants. They seem like one of those hard-to-make special foods when in fact, all you have to do is dump some sauce on some chicken and let your crock pot do the rest.

I love fun food like this. {Sheds a tear.}

Oh, and if you serve your Chicken Wings with some Homemade Sweet Potato Fries, you will make your family feel like they’ve gone to a restaurant when in fact you’ve all stayed home and spent a total of $5.78 to feed your entire family.

Other great side dishes to serve with your Chicken Wings

How to Make Chicken Wings

How to Make Chicken Wings
 
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Author:
Serves: 4-8
Ingredients
  • 2-5 pounds of chicken wings
  • 8-16 ounces of sauce (barbecue, teriyaki, sweet and sour, anything you like!)
Instructions
  1. Put chicken and sauce in a crock pot.
  2. Cook on low heat for 6 hours or until chicken is falling off the bone.

I wish I could give more specific instructions but truly there are no perfect measurements for such a simple recipe idea. Just put your chicken in your crock pot. Cover it with sauce. Let your crock pot do the rest. You’re going to love this!

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10 Fun Ideas to Try This Year

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It’s too easy to put off trying fun new ideas! So I’ve made it easy for you. I made you a list. Which of these have you already tried? Which have you thought about trying but still haven’t? Now’s the time!! These are all so much fun!

10 Fun Ideas to Try This Year

1. Make Homemade Vanilla. I hear from many of you that you have thought about it many times but still haven’t tried this fun idea. Maybe now’s the time!! Here’s the “old fashioned way” to make vanilla. Here’s how to make Vanilla Extract in your Instant Pot. You’re going to love this!

2. Drink a Green Smoothie. It’s the best way to eat lots of greens every day. Just do it!! (Or eat a salad, whichever you prefer!)

3. Make Frozen Muffin Batter. This idea is so fun and practical that if you haven’t tried it yet, you simply must. Freeze your muffin batter. Pull out batter balls and easily bake fresh muffins with no effort!

4. Make a High Five Recipe. Scroll through these recipes that only call for 5 or fewer ingredients. These are so easy and good!! Make one or two of them. And if you love them (which you will, of course) go get our lovely printed High Five Recipes Cookbook!

5. Make a Five Minute Recipe. Most of these recipes call for very few ingredients also! Most of them take just a few minutes to prepare. Yet they are all made with real, healthy ingredients! Pick one to make soon. They are so good and easy! Here’s our Simple Meals Cookbook filled with recipes that are ridiculously easy to make.

6. Make mashed Potatoes in the Crock Pot or Instant Pot. I’d stopped making mashed potatoes because they felt too messy and hard. Then I learned how to make them in the Crock Pot. Then I learned to make them in my Instant Pot. Life-changing!!

7. Make Stir and Pour Bread. Have you been thinking about trying this but still haven’t taken the time (haha, this hardly takes any time!!)? Go get the recipe and make your family some bread! You will all be amazed at the goodness!

8. Read your Bible regularly. It’s easier and way more amazing than you think. Here’s how.

9. Make one simple, healthy change in your kitchen. It’s as easy as switching from margarine to butter. Truly, there are so many healthy changes that won’t rock your world one bit!

10. Make Coffee Ice Cubes. This is simply too much fun not to try! People are amazed when they find these in my freezer. What a fun way to enjoy iced coffee at home!

Which one of these ideas will you try first?

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Simple Oven-Baked Pizza Nachos

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Ready for a great recipe from Tasha? This is a pretty fantastic idea!

Yum

What happened when Pizza met Nachos? Pizza Nachos. 

by Tasha Hackett

You can probably go on your merry way and figure this one out: Oven-Baked Pizza Nachos. Got it? But wait! Come back! I have a secret tip that takes this to the next level. Dip in warmed pizza sauce!

If you asked my family, “What’s better than nachos for dinner?” They will tell you it’s Pizza. Coincidentally, “What’s better than pizza for dinner?” Nachos. But I bet you can’t guess the newest thing I’m in love with…? Okay, fine, you got me. Pizza Nachos!!

But how simple is simple? Like, do I have to wash a bowl? 

This simple and easy dinner has become one of my favorite go-to meals where I feel like I’m meeting all the food groups (*cough* VEGETABLES) while still pleasing even the picky eaters. I started making this a few years ago, but I limited myself to traditional pizza toppings such as pepperoni, olives, mushrooms, peppers, etc., and mozzarella cheese. But this summer I realized, “I can hide all sorts of vegetables in mozzarella cheese!” (Namely zucchini.) One day, when I happened to be out of everything fresh I pulled canned chicken from my emergency pantry. Because even though I’m pretty talented at life, Laura still is mentoring me on the whole meal-plan-ahead-thing. Thus began the weekly Pizza Nacho extravaganza because even though Stir-and-Pour Pizza Crust is amazing and simple and easy, even that is too much for me right now. (Let’s be real, stirring and pouring I can handle, it’s the waiting and baking and that extra bowl to wash that does me in.) 

Okay, Karen, you can stop scrolling. Here’s how SIMPLE Pizza Nachos are made. 

  1. Spread a baking dish with tortilla chips. I use my large pampered chef jelly-roll pan. But you can use any pan you like that has an edge to keep the chips from falling into your oven and burning and setting off your smoke alarm and will leaving you wishing you had just ordered pizza like Susan does every weekend and then maybe you wouldn’t be pulling out the fire-extinguisher on a busy evening. So… I’ve used two 9″ X 13″ pans before and that works well. 
  2. Sprinkle a very sparse layer of shredded mozzarella on the chips. This is the glue to hold your toppings together.
  3. Add your toppings of choice. Feel free to be creative or not. I’ve been enjoying diced zucchini and green peppers with canned chicken on mine! Garden fresh basil and jalapenos are delightful. 
  4. Sprinkle with just a touch of Italian seasoning, salt, and garlic.
  5. Add the rest of the cheese to completely cover any sneaky vegetables you don’t want certain family members to know about. 
  6. Bake in the oven at 350° until the cheese is melted and just starting to brown. About 8 minutes. You CAN use broil for a couple minutes instead and you will have dinner, like, yesterday. But broil is not for the faint of heart, or the easily distracted, and you may want to go back to step #1 read it through carefully before you ever ever ever use the broil function… you’re welcome. #TashaCantBroil #BurnedFoodGuaranteed #TrueStory #GoAheadAndUseBroilifYoureVeryBrave
  7. While your Pizza Nachos are baking (or not burning under the broiler thing), warm up your pizza sauce of choice and do a little dance, but not too much dancing if you’re broiling. 
  8. Serve with metal salad tongs, because I don’t know any other way, and dip in pizza sauce.

pizza sauce

What are you waiting for? Go forth and make simple food.

And now I’m going to go eat one of those chocolate peanut butter cups that I have stored in my refrigerator because Laura made me do it and now I’m addicted and all this talk about pizza and nachos has me drooling.

Have you ever made pizza nachos before? I feel like I made this up, but I probably did not. Also, serious question: Is it even possible to broil without walking away and forgetting about what’s turning black in the oven? I know I’m a super unique and wonderful individual human person, but I can’t be only one with this skillset. 

P.S. You’re still allowed to plan ahead with this meal and write it on your meal plan that Laura has been teaching us about, and then you can relax that you have one less thing to worry about because you don’t even have to wash a dough bowl. 

tasha

Tasha Hackett is an unpublished Christian romance author who sometimes lives in a dream world of the Midwest 1800s with her characters. Graciously, Laura lets her play on the blog a few times a month! Tasha likes to encourage women, stay out of debt, read wonderful books, and homeschools with her four children. You can find her playing on Instagram @HackettAcademy and @heavenlyhomemaker.

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Simple Salsa Burgers

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Need a fun idea for a tasty new burger to grill this summer? You have to try these Simple Salsa Burgers!

Yum

You know me. I love to make food extra special, but I don’t like to spend a lot of time doing it. I’m simply not a gourmet cook.

But how easy is it to stir a little something special into regular ol’ hamburger meat? So easy. In fact, you might remember these three super easy Burger Recipes I’ve shared through the years:

Not that regular ol’ burgers aren’t pretty awesome in and of themselves.

But now we’ll do something wild and crazy and dump some salsa into our meat before we shape patties. If you want, you can also stir in some shredded cheese. We prefer to leave out the cheese and instead melt a slice of cheese on top of our Salsa Burgers.

And we like to top it with this Easy Guacomole. So good!!!


Simple Salsa Burgers

Simple Salsa Burgers
 
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Author:
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 2 pounds ground hamburger
  • 1 cup salsa
  • 1 cup shredded cheese (optional)
Instructions
  1. Mix together ground meat and salsa.
  2. Stir in shredded cheese if you like.
  3. Shape mixture into 8 patties.
  4. Grill or fry per your preference!

What are your favorite ways to make burgers?

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Psssst! Everyone be sure to grab our Simple Real Food Recipes cookbook full of amazingly tasty and simple real food recipes like this one!

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

How to Make Stick-of-Butter Rice in the Instant Pot

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If you have an Instant Pot, this method for cooking Stick-of-Butter Rice cuts the cook time in half!

Yum

Once I learned to make Stick-of-Butter-Rice, I’ve never gone back to making it the “regular” way again. This recipe is TOO DELICIOUS. My entire family likes this – even the ones who never really cared about rice before. It’s the butter, of course. Also the onion. And the broth. The mixture makes incredibly tasty rice!

If you bake this recipe in an oven, it takes a solid hour. This is fine if you have an hour. If you don’t, and you have an Instant Pot, try it this way instead! It can be done in just a half hour!

I love making batches of rice ahead of time. Typically I’ll make this and use what we need for a meal, then use the rest to stir into recipes like:

Then I can get two meals out of one!

Here’s how we often eat our freshly made rice, served with:

But truly, this rice is so flavorful that it’s perfect as a side dish all by itself. I think you’ll be like me once you try this and never go back to regular rice again!

How to Make Stick-of-Butter Rice in the Instant Pot

How to Make Stick-of-Butter Rice in the Instant Pot
 
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Author:
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 2 cups brown rice (uncooked)
  • 2 cups beef or chicken broth
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 Tablespoons dry minced onions
  • 1 stick of butter, cut into 6 chunks (1/2 cup)
Instructions
  1. Place ingredients in your Instant Pot and stir.
  2. Seal pot and cook on the manual setting at high pressure for 22 minutes.
  3. Allow the pot to release naturally after cooking.
  4. Stir and enjoy!

 

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Easy Crock Pot Fajitas

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Easy Crock Pot Fajitas? Yes!!! The easiest!

Yum

Stand at the stove and fry your fajita meat and veggies if you like. But as for me, I’ve learned to throw all of my fajita ingredients into my crock pot and I don’t think I can go back! I don’t think it changes the flavor one bit, and if anything, since the meat is cooked low and slow, I think these actually taste better!

It goes without saying that throwing everything into a crock pot makes meal prep so easy! And I’ll let you in on a couple of other little time-saving secrets:

  1. I cheat and buy meat already sliced for fajitas and ready to dump into my crock pot. (Yes, it costs a little more. But I’m spending my time with these cuties)
    I’m also spending time with my big kids and our new boys who fall somewhere in the middle, but I don’t usually take pictures of them helping me with laundry. They are still cute too, though.
  2. I found that buying a frozen bag of sliced sweet peppers is incredibly helpful and DOESN’T cost more than buying them fresh and cutting them myself! This is a huge perk and also helpful because:
    The babes have learned to climb on everything, and since there are two of them, it doesn’t work for me to turn my back to them while I cut sweet peppers.

So, now you know. I buy pre-cut meat and pre-cut veggies. Again, let me say that buying pre-cut frozen peppers costs the same or LESS than buying fresh peppers and taking the time to cut them myself. Score!

Now that I have my convenient, but still real-food ingredients, I can throw them into my crock pot, season it quickly, and five mintues later our dinner is cooking. My job here is done. Now I can go chase babies out of the…um, just about out of everything. Phew!

Easy Crock Pot Fajitas

Easy Crock Pot Fajitas
 
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Author:
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 2-3 pounds steak or chicken, sliced in thin strips
  • 16-ounces frozen sweet peppers or 2-3 sweet peppers slicked in thin strips
  • 1 small onion, sliced in thin strips
  • Sea salt to taste
  • ½ teaspoon chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
  1. Mix everything in a crock pot.
  2. Cook on low for 6 hours.
  3. Serve on tortillas or in a bowl of rice with any of your favorite fajita fillings!

See how pretty the ingredients look after you put them into your crock pot, turn it on, and walk away?

We love serving these with this Easy Guacomole, and it gives me great joy that guac is a way to sneak veggies into my kids!

Our kids like wrapping these in tortillas like regular fajitas. But Matt and I have enjoyed putting our fajita filling into a bowl of rice made like this. SO flavorful and good!

Give these easy fajitas a try. You will love how simple and delicious they are!

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Psssst! Everyone be sure to grab our Simple Real Food Recipes cookbook full of amazingly tasty and simple real food recipes like this one!

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

Tips for Making a Gluten Free Diet (or Any Diet) EASY!

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If you eat a gluten free diet, or even if you don’t, you’ll want to check out these tips for making your meal prep easier!

You may recall that a few weeks ago I shared that my husband, Matt, was experimenting with a vegan diet to see if that helped some minor health issues he was having. I personally found that trying to cut meat, dairy, and eggs from his meals was pretty challenging! But that’s probably because I’m such a meat-loving, dairy-loving girl! So I was only able to come up with a few ideas for meat free, dairy free, egg free meals.

The results? That particular diet experiment didn’t really help, but it did boost our vegetable and fruit intake! So we’ve held onto that and been even more determined than we already were to be sure we’re all eating plenty of fruits and veggies!

Meanwhile, we visited our wholistic doctor in Lincoln to see what she might have to offer Matt. We are so thankful to have this resource closeby, and her remedies have been making a difference, praise God! Along with her remedies and treatments, she also recommended that Matt try cutting gluten for the short term to at least give his digestive system a break as it heals.

So our pendulum swung! Matt didn’t necessarily go back to eating lots of meat, dairy, and eggs, but it would be pretty tough to cut out gluten and not at least eat some meat and eggs! So he went cold turkey on gluten (without a complaint, because it truly wasn’t very hard – oh except for that one day someone took hundreds of fresh donuts to his work!) and added back in some meat and eggs, with the occasional dairy product.

My personal opinion is that eating gluten-free is MUCH EASIER than eating vegan. I didn’t have the least bit of difficulty making gluten free meals for Matt, and most of the time, the entire family eats what he’s eating because most gluten free meals are just…normal. Rice dishes, meat and potato meals, tacos made with corn tortilla shells? Normal. Easy. Tasty.

So that I could easily stay on top of our gluten free meal needs, I started making a few naturally gluten free foods in any spare moment so I could put meals together at night without much effort.

You guys, this isn’t just about eating gluten free. I do this any day, any time, and that’s where all these Simple Real Food Recipes  came from. If we all – GF or not! – spend a few minutes here and there getting ahead when we can? We can make are meal prep so much easier!

So you’ll notice that while these are the naturally gluten free foods I have been prepping ahead, these are also the normal foods I prep ahead. These just happen to be normal and gluten free at the same time. (Is it ok that I’m using the word “normal” here?! It’s just that many, many foods we normally eat are naturally gluten free. We don’t have to make this difficult! Let’s just eat normally! And also gluten free. Ok.)

Tips for Making a Gluten Free Diet (or Any Diet) EASY!

1. Make rice ahead of time

I make a batch or two of this Amazing Stick-of-Butter Rice, store it in the fridge, then pull out spoonfuls to make:

This make meal prep incredibly easy, especially if I:

2. Make hamburger meat ahead of time

You know that for years I’ve been cooking hamburger meat ahead of time and storing it in meal-size portions to pull out for easy meal prep. But now that I’ve learned how to make it in my Instant Pot? Wow, is it easy! And such a time saver!

I often have several pounds of cooked hamburger meat ready to grab and use. I can stir it in with the cooked rice as mentioned above, and we can have a meal ready in just 5 minutes! I love this!!

Here are some naturally gluten free meals I can make with my cooked hamburger meat:

3. Put meat in the crock pot early in the day

Then I can just add some fruit and veggie side dishes at meal time and we can quickly sit down and eat! Some of our favorite naturally gluten free meaty main dishes are:

Now, I didn’t tackle gluten free breads or pancakes. Those take special-ish ingredients and I didn’t feel the need to “go there” because Matt was fine with all that we’ve had to offer. I did purchas some gluten free pasta to have on hand and I purchased a gluten free pizza crust for him to eat on days we were making pizza for ourselves. I’m thankful these are readily available to buy!

Gluten Free Snacks and TreatsYum

Oh, and for years I’ve kept Coconut Flour on hand because it’s nourishing and fun to work with! Since it’s naturally gluten free and I have fun recipes we like to make with it, I have tried to keep any variety of these fun treats made and in the fridge:

Tapioca Pudding (which, for the record, makes a great breakfast!) is easy and we love it! So I made a big batch to grab from our fridge to eat as needed…

These Super Moist Flourless Brownies and Super Moist Flourless Peanut Butter Brownies are a favorite of ours also! They are completely grain free and I’ve made them for a couple of years now just because they are delicious and nourishing!

Muffins!

While I’m writing this, I am remembering that I have a fantastic Coconut Flour Muffin recipe that has been on my site since 2011! Time to dust that one off and make it again. They are so good!!

Ha! And I just remembered I have this recipe also for Coconut Flour Chocolate Cupcakes. How have I forgotten about these??!

See, this is why I started a Club Membership Site!! All these fantastic recipes and resources get buried and forgotten. Shucks, if I’ve forgotten them I’m quite sure you probably have. The Club Membership site makes it SO MUCH EASIER to access all of these recipes! Check it out and join us!

What are your favorite tips to get ahead to make meal prep (gluten free or not) easier?

 

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Simple Spicy Cheesy Chicken

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If you sense a theme going on, it’s because I’ve become obsessed with this Simple Spicy Chicken Cheese Dip and I keep tweaking it to make it into different dishes. This one becomes a very Simple Spicy Cheesy Chicken, simply by…well. You’ll have to read the recipe below to see.

Forgive me, friends, for bombarding you with so many variations of one basic recipe. I am sorry – not sorry – for making your meals so delicous without much effort.

Here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to make this dip recipe – but instead of stirring in shredded chicken, topping with cheese, and baking it to eat as a dip, you’re going to spread the cheesy mixture over boneless chicken, and bake it to serve as a main dish.

Incredible. We just took the exact same ingredients and turned them into a brand new meal. Give yourself a round of applause. You just learned a brand new easy recipe and you can make it without thinking or working hard. What did we ever do before figuring out these simple recipes?

Speaking of Simple Recipes – you do you this cookbook don’t you? If not, run with haste to get yourself a copy forthwith (haha, if you watch Blue Bloods, you will laugh with me over this funny choice of words). It is FULL of delicious recipes that are made with real food and take only a few minutes to prepare. You will love it!

And now on to today’s simple recipe:

Simple Spicy Cheesy ChickenYum

Simple Spicy Cheesy Chicken
 
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Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 8-ounces softened cream cheese
  • ¼ cup hot sauce (your favorite)
  • ½ cup ranch dressing
  • 1 cup shredded cheese (we use Colby jack)
  • 2 pounds bone-in or boneless chicken thighs or breasts
Instructions
  1. In a blender or with a hand mixer, mix together the cream cheese, hot sauce, and ranch dressing until smooth.
  2. Fold in shredded cheese.
  3. Place chicken into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
  4. Spread cream cheese mixture over the chicken.
  5. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-50 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. (Shorter time needed for boneless chicken; longer time needed for bone-in.)

We like to fry leftover baked potatoes or Stick of Butter Rice for a delicious and easy side dish. We also serve this chicken with mixed greens and a steamed or roasted veggie!

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