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Simple Overnight Melt-in-your-Mouth Beef Roast

January 25, 2017 by Laura 9 Comments

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

Remember the Simple Overnight Saucy Crock Pot Chicken recipe I shared? That’s becoming one of my new go-to recipes to help me feed my family on busy days. This, of course, led me to experiment more with the idea. What else, I wondered, could be cooked in the crock pot overnight to make my day simpler tomorrow? Well. One result this Simple Overnight Melt-in-Your-Mouth Beef Roast.

Simple Overnight Beef Roast

Just like the chicken, you can put your roast into your crock pot directly from the freezer. It thaws and cooks overnight. The next day, the meat will fall apart and melt in your mouth!

Why would we want to cook meat in our crock pots overnight? Let me count the ways:

  • When we wake up to cooked meat, we have something good to pack for lunches if that is a need.
  • We can turn the crock pot to the “keep warm” setting and have meat waiting for us later at lunch time at home.
  • We can turn off the crock pot and cool the meat to eat in big chef salads at lunch time.
  • We can put the meat in the fridge to pull out any time we need it during the next few days.

The concept is so simple, and it presents so many easy meal options!

Simple Overnight Melt-in-Your-Mouth Beef Roast

5.0 from 2 reviews
Simple Overnight Melt-in-your-Mouth Beef Roast
 
Save Print
Author: Laura
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 3-4 pound beef roast
  • 3 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 3 Tablespoons Onion Soup Mix (recipe below)
  • ½ cup water
Instructions
  1. Put roast in the bottom of a crock pot. (Roast can be frozen or thawed.)
  2. Pour Worcestershire sauce, Onion Soup Mix, and water over the roast.
  3. Cook on low for 10-12 hours.
3.4.3177

Here’s my Onion Soup Mix recipe.

Simple Overnight Melt in your Mouth Beef Roast

This roast is delicious no matter if you serve it with mashed potatoes and veggies or if you serve it in a chef salad. The flavor is incredible!!

Have you tried cooking meat in a crock pot overnight? What has your experience been like?

Here are more Simple Recipes you’ll love!

  • Simple Baked Salmon and Asparagus
  • Simple Crock Pot Chicken Soup with a Kick
  • Simple Skillet Taco Pasta
  • Simple Sweet and Sour Baked Chicken Legs
  • 20-Minute Taco Soup
  • Simple Cheesy Baked Chicken
  • Simple Creamy Chicken Stew in the Crock Pot
  • Simple Italian Beef and Broccoli Skillet
  • Simple Bacon Ranch Chicken
  • Simple Hawaiian Crock Pot Chicken
  • Simple Taco Rice Dinner
  • Simple Last Minute Nacho Plate
  • Simple Chicken Cheeseballs with a Kick
  • Simple Beanie Weanies
  • Simple Crock Pot BBQ Spareribs
  • Simple Pizza Chicken Bake
  • Simple Italian Chicken and Green Bean Bake
  • Last Minute Creamy Bacon Spaghetti
  • Simple Hamburger Soup
  • Simple Parmesan Broiled Fish
  • Simple Overnight Saucy Crock Pot Chicken
  • Simple 15-Minute Meal

It’s recipes like this that makes Simple Meals such a life saver for families. We’ll provide the plans. We’ll provide the recipes. We’ll provide the grocery list. All you have to do is take a deep breath and enjoy how simple your life in the kitchen has become! Join Simple Meals!

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

Simple Pizza Chicken Bake

December 13, 2016 by Laura 6 Comments

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

Once again, a Simple Recipe saves the day. Three cheers for Simple Pizza Chicken Bake! (Hip, hip…okay, let’s just get to the recipe.)

pizza-chicken-bake

Truth: I have been too busy to cook lately. Why? Well, for one thing, I’ve been quite occupied by writing about how to put simple meals on the table.

Do not miss the irony of this.

Oh my dears. We hosted people for Thanksgiving, then turned right around and traveled to Kansas. We arrived home a few days later happy and tired, and very behind on all of our work. We began to play catch up while getting ready for Christmas and finishing up our kids’ semester of school work. Our youngest has been in our big downtown Christmas play, so we’ve been running to practices and performances and hosting family who came into town to watch. We hosted Christmas parties for two groups of college students, and enjoyed a big basketball triangular in town with the team our two middle boys are involved with.

Did I mention we’re getting ready to drive to California to see family at Christmastime?

All this fun in the midst of trying to keep up with everyday life has threatened to push me into the next level of crazy-head. (No one wants to see what that looks like.) So when Matt got home from his current job site one day last week and asked how he could help with dinner, I looked up from my computer (where I was editing a post about keeping dinner simple) and said, “I’ve been too busy writing about how to put food on the table easily to actually get food on the table. I love you. I’m hungry. Malachi needs to leave for practice in 15 minutes.”

Fun times. I have no recollection of what we actually ate that night. But no one starved, and I think I’m back on track this week to at least have the brain power to throw something in the crock pot or oven at a reasonable time.

Keep this new Simple Recipe in your back pocket. It truly is a no-brainer, and maybe it’s just me, but I think we can all use no-brainer recipes this time of year and always.

Simple Pizza Chicken BakeYum

5.0 from 2 reviews
Simple Pizza Chicken Bake
 
Save Print
Author: Laura
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 3 pounds boneless chicken breasts or thighs
  • 14 ounces pizza sauce
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 6 ounces sliced pepperoni
Instructions
  1. Cut chicken into thin strips and spread them into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
  2. Spread pizza sauce over the chicken.
  3. Sprinkle with cheese.
  4. Top with pepperoni.
  5. Bake, uncovered in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.
3.4.3177

simple-pizza-chicken-bake

I’m happy to report that the work I was behind on is almost caught up, and the work I’m trying to get ahead on is coming along at a nice pace. I got to a good enough point a few days ago that I told Matt, “Hey, I think I’ll be able to go to California with you for Christmas after all.” Now here’s hoping he gets all his work done so he can go too.

Other Simple Recipes I’ve Shared Recently:

  • Simple Baked Salmon and Asparagus
  • Simple Crock Pot Chicken Soup with a Kick
  • Simple Skillet Taco Pasta
  • Simple Sweet and Sour Baked Chicken Legs
  • 20-Minute Taco Soup
  • Simple Cheesy Baked Chicken
  • Simple Creamy Chicken Stew in the Crock Pot
  • Simple Italian Beef and Broccoli Skillet
  • Simple Bacon Ranch Chicken
  • Simple Hawaiian Crock Pot Chicken
  • Simple Taco Rice Dinner
  • Simple Last Minute Nacho Plate
  • Simple Chicken Cheeseballs with a Kick
  • Simple Beanie Weanies
  • Simple BBQ Spareribs

If you haven’t joined Simple Meals, we invite you to come aboard! We’ll provide the plans. We’ll provide the recipes. We’ll provide the grocery list. All you have to do is take a deep breath and enjoy how simple your life in the kitchen has become! Join Simple Meals!

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

Simple Chicken Cheeseballs With a Kick (naturally gluten free)

November 17, 2016 by Laura 15 Comments

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

I experimented with these Chicken Cheeseballs on a whim. It was a simple recipe and I figured chicken and cheese – sure, they’ll probably be pretty good. Pretty good? I should say so! I turned right around (did the hokey-pokey) and made these again three days later. These cheesy little meatballs are incredible!

simple-chicken-cheeseballs1

The first night I pulled a batch of these out of the oven, one by one my men came into the kitchen, took a look at the meatballs, and popped one into his mouth. I think each one, in turn, said the same thing, “Whoa. What are these? These are amazing! You can make these again!” (Don’t mind if I do.) I wouldn’t say my family is very picky, and yet, when every single person in the family likes a recipe, this is a huge score.

simple-chicken-cheeseballs2

You might be wondering, like I did, “What holds these meatballs together? Don’t we need flour or bread crumbs or a bisquik type baking mix to make this recipe work? Nope. They stay together just fine even though they are made with only ground meat, cheese, and a few spices. They take only a few minutes to mix up and scoop into a pan. You can make the side dishes for your meal while they bake. AND, if you have time, you can make a double or triple batch to freeze so that all you have to do at mealtime is grab out the amount you need and bake them!

I used a scoop like this one to make these meatballs. Whoa, does that little kitchen gadget come in handy!

Simple Chicken Cheeseballs with a Kick

5.0 from 1 reviews
Simple Chicken Cheeseballs With a Kick
 
Save Print
Author: Laura
Serves: 6-8 servings
Ingredients
  • 2 pounds ground chicken
  • 4 cups shredded cheddar or Colby jack cheese
  • 1½ teaspoons onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 Tablespoons hot sauce (I use Cholula)
Instructions
  1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl until well combined.
  2. Scoop mixture into 1" balls into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
  3. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until balls are nice and brown.
  4. Pour off excess grease that has accumulated before serving.
3.5.3229

simple-chicken-cheeseballs

Use ground sausage or ground beef if you prefer in this recipe. You can use these Chicken Cheeseballs on a holiday snack buffet table, serve them for breakfast, or serve them as a main dish at dinner – they are perfectly versatile. I’m looking forward to keeping these in my freezer for quick, simple meals in the future!

More Simple RecipesYum

  • Simple Baked Salmon and Asparagus
  • Simple Crock Pot Chicken Soup with a Kick
  • Simple Skillet Taco Pasta
  • Simple Sweet and Sour Baked Chicken Legs
  • 20-Minute Taco Soup
  • Simple Cheesy Baked Chicken
  • Simple Creamy Chicken Stew in the Crock Pot
  • Simple Italian Beef and Broccoli Skillet
  • Simple Bacon Ranch Chicken
  • Simple Hawaiian Crock Pot Chicken
  • Simple Taco Rice Dinner
  • Simple Last Minute Nacho Plate

Simple Meals is where it’s at.

Let us do your planning for you, and don’t worry, we’ll keep it simple!

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

Want to Eat Healthy? Then Stay Away From This…

October 2, 2016 by Laura 8 Comments

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

Let me guess. You assume I’m going to say something about margarine. Maybe high fructose corn syrup. Crisco, perhaps?

Aww, you know me well. You know I yell about avoiding those harmful ingredients. But that’s not actually what I want to talk about today.

want-to-eat-healthy-stay-away-from-this

Today I’m not going to give you a list of do’s and don’ts about eating. Today’s advice is much simpler. It’s this:

If you want to consistently eat healthy meals and snacks, stay away from complicated recipes.

I can’t emphasize this enough. Every once in a while I meet someone who truly thrives on challenging recipes with multiple steps. But mostly I find that complicated recipes make people frustrated and overwhelmed, then they quickly give up on healthy eating and fall back into patterns of eating out and grabbing cheap, empty, convenience food.

I don’t even blame them. When I see a recipe with a long list of ingredients and a bunch of detailed instructions, my brain explodes. This, from someone who loves to cook.

Here’s a little example of what I’m talking about: Do not tell me to separate my egg whites from their yolks, whip them until they are frothy, then gently fold them into my waffle batter. No. I will not. The people need their waffles! There is life waiting for us just on the other side of breakfast and taking time to froth my egg whites is something I only do at Thanksgiving when there is meringue for a cream pie involved. Instead, I always quickly whisk my waffle ingredients together all at once – whites and yolks and all – and would you believe it? The mixture still turns out amazing waffles.

belgiun_waffles

If the kitchen is intimidating to you, if you have a busy schedule, and if you want to eat consistently healthy, day after day…

Relax and make your meals as simple as possible.

If I hadn’t figured out how to make healthy meals simple, I would have given up long ago. There really is too much to do outside the kitchen. Through the years, I’ve pared down and reshaped my cooking style so that most often our healthy meal is on the table within just 15-20 minutes. But it’s amazing how much variety we get and how nourishing our meals are.

Oven Free Summertime Meal

I credit this to the fact that I’ve restructured most of our meals to look like this:

  1. Simple main dish (often made ahead of time; sometimes quickly thrown into the crock pot earlier in the day)
  2. Tossed salad, straight from the container
  3. A steamed veggie, which at most, took five minutes of  prep work
  4. Fresh fruit, washed and if necessary, sliced

enchilada meal

See how pretty? See how simple? Not to mention all I’ve done is set out the food (still in their pans) and salad fixin’s and everyone fills their own plate. We work together to cook it, we work together to clean it up.

This is what Simple Meals are made of. They are delicious and stress-free. They are balanced. They aren’t messy. They do not require you to froth your egg whites.

If you’re into healthy eating and want to do this consistently, stick with me here. I’m constantly working to simplify my recipes and menus to save all of us time (and money, which is a lovely bonus). Find all of the hundreds of recipes I’ve shared so far here. And…

Introducing Simple Meals!

simple-meals

 

Get all the details about Simple Meals here. You’ll be amazed at how these meal plans with simplify your kitchen life, help you be efficient, and take away stress over what to feed your family each night.

Each week your Simple Meals Planning Packet contains recipes and a grocery list for these categories of Simple Meals:

  • No-Thaw Night Forgot to thaw meat? No problem, this is the meal you can fall back on!
  • No-Trouble Night Limited on time? This one will come together quickly!
  • Crock Pot Night Start this one earlier in the day, then sit down and eat, simple as that!
  • Made-Ahead Night This recipe was simple to make ahead of time, so all you have to do is heat and eat!
  • Build-It-Yourself Night This weekly suggestion will give you a fun idea of how you can put together a quick “buffet” for each person to build a plate or bowl to their liking!
  • Savor-It Night This recipe is for the night you have a little extra time to cook, but don’t worry. The recipe is still as simple as can be!

The seventh night you can plan your family’s favorite, leftovers, or a night off from cooking.

Want to see a sample Simple Meal Plan to be amazed at all it includes each week? Grab a fully week’s sample here!

Breathe New Life into Your Meals!

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Since we launched Simple Meals last October, we’ve loved hearing your feedback about how it’s been helping your families breathe easier.

Allison “I can’t thank you enough for your meal plans! They have literally breathed new life into our meal time!”

Anne “What a brilliant idea. We are so impressed!”

Kim “We love getting your Simple Meals plan every week!”

Knowing that Simple Meals truly is helping people win back family time, spend less time planning and cooking, all while still putting great real food meals on the table is so very encouraging to us!

Family time comes first, and I’m excited to make it even easier for all of us to make this a reality!

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Subscribe to Simple Meals here —>

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

16 Simple Recipes You Can Make in 5 Minutes

September 29, 2016 by Laura 1 Comment

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

Good things come to those who wait. But good things can come to those in a hurry too, so let’s hear it for a few great recipes we can make in about 5 minutes!

Now, making these is all dependent on the fact that you have these ingredients on hand. But the ingredients are all pretty basic, so I’ll bet you do have these ingredients in your kitchen most of the time. (Cream cheese is a staple food, right?)

Let’s say you have last minute company stop by and you need a quick snack to share. Or maybe you have only a few minutes of work time before you have to head to the next thing. Here are some recipes you can quickly throw together for your favorite people to enjoy.

16-recipes-you-can-make-and-serve-in-about-5-minutes

Yum

First a quick list of recipes you can make in 5 minutes:

  • Homemade Nesquik
  • Cream Cheese Salsa Dip
  • Caramel Apple Dip
  • 5-Minute Stove-Top Granola
  • Coconut Fudge Bars
  • No-Bake Chocolate Fudge Bites
  • No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookie Bites
  • No-Bake Snickerdoodle Bites
  • Pineapple Fluff Salad
  • Pineapple Mango Smoothies
  • Chocolate Whipped Cream for Coffee or for a Bowl of Fruit
  • Strawberry Cheesecake Parfaits
  • Chocolate Cheesecake Parfaits
  • Easy Fruit Dip
  • French Onion Dip

And now a list with all the tempting pictures that will make you want to lick your computer.

Homemade Nesquik

This is a great one because you can use it to make both chocolate milk or hot chocolate!

Homemade Nesquik

Cream Cheese Salsa Dip

supersimplechipdipsm

Caramel Apple Dip

Cream_Cheese_Apple_Dip

5-Minute Stove-Top Granola

Stove-Top Granola

Coconut Fudge Bars

Coconut Fudge Bars

No-Bake Chocolate Fudge Bites

No-Bake Fudge Bites

No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookie Bites

Peanut Butter Cookie Bites - No Bake!

No-Bake Snickerdoodle Bites

snickerdoodle bites2

Pineapple Fluff Salad

Pineapple Fluff

Pineapple Mango Smoothies

pineapple_mango_smoothie

Chocolate Whipped Cream for Coffee or for a Bowl of Fruit

Chocolate Whipped Cream - Perfect For Your Coffee

Chocolate Whipped Cream on Strawberries 2

Strawberry Cheesecake Parfaits

Low Sugar Strawberry Cheesecake Parfait 1

Chocolate Cheesecake Parfaits

chocolate cheesecake parfait

Easy Fruit Dip

strawberry_dip
French Onion Dip

french onion dip

What are some of your go-to recipes to make when you only have a few minutes to throw something together?

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

Cook Your Breakfast ~ Money Saving Monday

January 18, 2015 by Laura 7 Comments

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

Money Saving Monday Banner

Boxes of cereal, boxes of granola bars, boxes of poptarts, boxes of donuts, boxes of muffin mix – there are so many boxy choices. You’re probably assuming that I’m about to tell you that all the food that comes from a box is not very good for you. But I won’t say that. Nope, I’ll just purse my lips and produce a forced smile because I’m not going to tell you about the dangers of eating all those preservatives and additives and empty calories that give you no energy and keep you from concentrating all morning. After all, that would be a run-on sentence.

Instead, I’m here to express the joy of how making your own healthy, real food, preservative-free breakfast will save you lots of money.

I spent about 10 minutes on Saturday making 20 cups of Homemade Instant Oatmeal. This is huge money savings, in about 10 minutes. (It’s also healthier than what comes in a box, but we’re supposedly not talking about that today.)

I spent about 30 minutes on Saturday mixing up three different kinds of wholesome muffins for the freezer. This is huge money savings, in about 30 minutes. (It’s also healthier than what comes in a box, but we’re supposedly not talking about that today.)

My family can polish off 2-3 boxes of cereal in one sitting, easily. That can add up to being a $12 breakfast, and that doesn’t include the milk and fruit. Plus cereal only keeps them full for about two hours.

See, making a homemade breakfast does more than just save money. It satisfies my family’s need for nourishment, so they are full longer and are able to concentrate on their school work all morning. This must be because the breakfast is healthier, but we’re supposedly not talking about that today.

TIP:  Make breakfast the night before. I do this almost every day, making our mornings go so much more smoothly!

100+ Money Saving (and Healthy, shh!) Breakfast Recipes

You will find 90 real food breakfast recipes on my Bread and Breakfast page. I add more to it all the time. There are so many great breakfast options!

90+ Real Food Breakfast Recipes

We also have a free eBook for you:  Healthy Breakfast Made Simple. Download and enjoy!

breakfast_e-book cover_sm

Or, it’s as simple as scrambling or frying an egg, making a smoothie, or spreading natural peanut butter on toast. Make a homemade breakfast!! You will save all kinds of cash (and feel better too, but we’re supposedly not talking about that today).

What are your favorite homemade breakfast foods to make?

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