Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Big Family Food and Fun: June 11-17, 2023

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Only 1.5 weeks until our big move. Here’s a look at what we ate this week as we clean out freezers and pantries and try to survive!

Food We’re Working With

I’ve put in a couple of Walmart pickup orders for fruits and veggies (we are going through fruit like crazy!). Otherwise, we are working our way through our freezers and pantry in an effort to use up food before we move. You can compare these pictures to last week’s shelves to see how we’re doing. This shelf doesn’t look like it’s emptying out much, but we used quite a bit from our stores this week.

You can tell a big difference in our freezers compared to last week!

I don’t have time to bake that turkey, so he’s likely going to make the move to Lincoln with us. ;)

And now on to the meals we ate last week!

Our Big Family Food and Fun

I had a Breakfast Casserole in the freezer, which was GREAT to have on Sunday for lunch. I slid it into the oven frozen, turned on the oven to 225, and let it bake while we were at church. It was done the minute we walked in the door and we ate it with fruit. SO EASY. I highly recommend putting some of these in your freezer!

Kelsey (Justus’ wife) had come to help us over the weekend and brought frozen Sloppy Joe meat with her. I warmed it for our Sunday evening meal and served it with green beans and watermelon. What would I do without my wonderful daughters-in-law? :)

Monday I had to take BabyBoy#11 in for a medical procedure, so I appreciated having lots of ready-made foods to pull out and serve for breakfast. I set out last week’s Mudballs and Pumpkin Muffins then warmed up leftover Breakfast Casserole to go with those. (Our air fryer warms food up so nicely!) Everyone ate well as Baby and I headed out.

Our fella was a trooper through his morning. I was glad he fell asleep on our way home to take a well-deserved nap! :)

Knowing I’d be gone all morning, I had mixed up Chicken Salad and put it in the fridge before I left. We made quick sandwiches when I got home and ate them with carrots, tomatoes, and watermelon.

For the record, chicken salad sandwiches taste better when cut into triangles. :) Also, this little girl LOVES peanut butter on her carrots. If you struggle to get your kids to eat carrots with other dips, try peanut butter. It works for Kiya!

After lunch, we played outside before naptime. Anna chose her own outfit today: shorts and a swim cover-up. Oh, and moccasins. :)

All three little girls crawled into the wagon, so I took them for a short ride. Then it was naptime – one of my favorite parts of the day after a long morning!

For dinner that night I baked a Meatloaf that I’d made a few weeks ago and frozen. Brayden and Kiya scrubbed potatoes so I could make these amazing Mashed Potatoes, plus I stir-fried some veggies and warmed up leftover corn and beans. Justus and Kelsey came from Lincoln for a church event so they joined us for dinner.

For breakfast on Tuesday I made scrambled egg sandwiches and served them with canned peaches.

I cooked three pounds of hamburger one night, seasoned it like this, then we put together tostadas with some shells someone had given us. I made this Cream Cheese Salsa Dip as a topping option.

This week at the YU campus is a camp called Soul Quest. Malachi is there as a camper for his final year with this amazing group of friends. (Malachi is second from the right.)

On the Wednesday of Soul Quest, they send out their hundreds of campers and staff out into our community for service projects. OUR FAMILY was blessed to receive one of these groups this year! They sent 26 high schoolers and adults over and we handed them all paint brushes!

It was a great, but full, morning. Thankfully, earlier I’d put lunch in the crock pot so it was ready to serve our family as soon as the crew left. This casserole doesn’t look pretty, but it truly was tasty! What do I call it? I have no idea. “Clean out the Fridge Casserole?” Yes, that’s it. I used last night’s taco meat stirred into frozen hashbrowns with the leftover Cream Cheese Salsa Dip, shredded cheese, sour cream, and salt. I cooked it on low all morning and it was delicious with steamed green beans on the side.

I left that afternoon to work for several hours while sitters came to stay with our kids (and Matt kept painting the house). Elias picked up pizza on his way home, using the gift cash we decided to enjoy for our Wednesday pizza night until after we’ve settled into our new home.

We sent the kids outside to eat their pizza because the sitters also did some cleaning while they were here. We always hope to keep the floor clean for at least five minutes after our sitters have worked so hard. :)

I went all out the next morning by getting out cereal and oatmeal packets for breakfast. ;)

In an effort to clean out our freezers, I pulled out this super discounted pork roasts I’d gotten marked down for $1.49/pound.

I put them in my large electric roaster, seasoned them, and poured barbecue sauce over the top. Then I slow cooked them all day to shred and freeze in meal-sized portions.

All day these pork roasts smelled AMAZING!! That evening, I shredded all the meat and scooped up some for us to eat for dinner before bagging up the rest for the fridge and freezer. This made five meal-sized portions for us.

I had two pounds of strawberries so I sliced them and made this Cheesecake Parfait to eat with them.

For lunch on Thursday I made grilled cheese and tomato soup – a funny meal on a 90 degree day but a great way to use up soup from the pantry!

Elias was home on his lunch break from work so he grabbed some grilled cheese to take back to work with him, plus chips and guac.

Friday we had a family of eight coming to help us get our house ready to sell. So in preparation, I had thawed two of these big packages of chicken legs. (Remember how I got these for around $0.75/pound?!?!) What a great way to feed 17 people!

I dumped on some sauce and put these in the fridge to marinate all day while we worked.

Meanwhile, Eva (Asa’s wife) came to help us all morning and early afternoon. We took all the littles to the library for the morning so Matt could paint. For lunch we invited our friend Tori to join us and headed to the backyard. We had a lot of sticks we wanted to burn up in our firepit so we thawed the hotdogs we had left in our freezer for the kids to enjoy. We grown-ups enjoyed the pork roast I had cooked the day before.

Our other friends arrived after lunch and they were a powerhouse, working so hard on our house with us all afternoon. I got the chicken on the smoker and we pulled out some easy side dishes. It tasted so good after working in the heat all day!

We were marveling at our two tribes of kids filling up the kitchen and spilling into the living room. :) We are so thankful for our precious friendship with this family.

Matt and I are feeling pretty worn out (but also very grateful). But this might explain why I said “yes” the next morning when Keith and Anna requested butter for breakfast. Nothing else. Just butter. Here’s a slice of butter, and here’s another slice of butter…

So this is where I’m at right now. Thank goodness I do have plenty of butter in our freezer! :) :) :) I did manage to pull off some Father’s Day treats today, which I’ll share about next week. Hope your week is off to a great start!

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What to Make When It’s Too Hot to Make Dinner

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Sometimes it’s just too hot to make dinner. Here are 20+ ideas for what to make and serve to your family!

I love to cook. I love the heat. I love summer. I love sunshine. I actually love to be hot. But even I get to a point where I don’t feel like cooking when it’s super hot outside.

And while our kids play hard all day and work up big appetites, their food preferences change when they’re hot. None of us want a heavy hot casserole or steamy pot of stew, right?

So if you, like me, need a list of ideas for meals you can serve when it’s too hot to cook, I’ve compiled one. I basically created this on an unusually hot day in April when nothing sounded good. :) I started to brainstorm and THIS LIST is what sounded good!

What to Make When It’s Too Hot to Make Dinner

  1. Cottage Cheese with Fruit (pineapple is our favorite, and peaches are a close second)
  2. Peanut Butter Banana Toast with a side of Fresh Fruit
  3. Yogurt Granola Parfaits (set them up as a build-your-own like this)
  4. Lunchmeat, Cheese, Veggie, and, Fruit Tray
  5. Smoothies and Muffins (if I’m lucky, I have muffins in the freezer so that I don’t have to bake)
  6. Scrambled Egg Sandwich (which requires a little bit of cooking, but it’s not so much that we want to cry, right?)
  7. Beef Hotdogs and Watermelon (again, this takes a little cooking but the meal is easy and refreshing)
  8. Chicken Salad on Crackers with Veggies and Fruit or a Smoothie
  9. Tuna Salad on Bread or Buns with Veggies and Fruit or a Smoothie
  10. Meat and Cheese Wraps with Spinach on a Tortilla with a side of Fruit
  11. Rotisserie Chicken (they cost $4.98 at Sam’s and Costco, and you can make any combination of these 12 meals with them!)
  12. Any of these Salads
  13. Or you can Drink Your Salad like Matt and I do (we do this in the winter too, but oh in the summer these are so refreshing!)
  14. Tortilla Pizzas on the grill with Veggies and Fruit
  15. Guacamole with Chips and Smoothies.
  16. Easy Bean and Cheese Salsa Dip with Chips and Fruit
  17. Fruit Tray (watermelon, grapes, berries) with Cheese
  18. Popcorn, Apples, Peanut Butter, Carrots
  19. Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches with Veggies and Fruit (almost too obvious not to mention)
  20. Turkey and Cheese or Ham and Cheese Sandwiches with Veggies and Fruit

What is your go-to meal on a hot day?

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Great Picnic Food Ideas

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My kids are constantly asking, “Can we eat outside today?” Turns out, a picnic can be made from just about anything. Here are some great picnic food ideas!

If we’re packing a picnic to take to a park, we tend to think about sandwiches and chips. But what if anything and everything can turn into “eat it outside” food? Especially when you just head outside to your own yard with your plate.

Two things about our life right now:

  1. With so many littles, our days can be lonnnnnnng. It can be tough to keep so many small people safe and occupied for so many hours. Yes, I am enjoying them. Meanwhile, our days with the kids start around 6:30am and are very intense until 8:00pm with our littles being 1, 1, 2, 3, 6, 8 – each with some level of special need or trauma. I have to be very intentional about staying on top of keeping our kids busy and occupied, otherwise the meltdowns and behaviors are pretty tough.
  2. So I tend to try to make something fun out of nothing and everything, just to make our days a little bit more enjoyable.

Like eating.

Sometimes food just needs to serve a purpose: to fill our bellies. But if there’s any way I can easily make food fun, the kids love it. Eating a “picnic” outside in our yard always makes them so excited!

Matt was out of town one weekend so the kids and I blew up our tiny baby pool and all seven babes had fun splashing around. (We had seven littles that weekend instead of our normal six because a half-brother/former foster son was visiting us!)

As we toweled off, I had our 6 and 8-year-olds drag our little picnic tables around so we could eat outside after playing. They loved the idea the same as if I’d offered to take them to Disneyland. They sat there loving life and lunch, soggy diapers and all.

I have found that most foods that work well to feed children inside work just as well to feed children outside for a “picnic.” Think beyond sandwiches and hotdogs and simply make any meal a picnic!

Like enchiladas. Weird idea? Well, one evening, Matt was painting a gutter on our house. The kids loved the “show” so as dinnertime approached and I had a pan of these enchiladas in the oven, I simply scooped some onto paper plates and carried them outside for the kids to eat on the trampoline. Again, they thought it was better than Disneyland. (Also, they’ve never been to Disneyland, so…)

Great Picnic Food Ideas

Here are some foods we’ve eaten outside lately:

Bean and Cheese Quesadillas, which I cut into triangles so that the kids could all grab them easily. I washed strawberries and we carried them outside to the table as-is. Then I squirted ranch into a bowl and dumped in some carrots for a community bowl of carrots with dip!

Another day when I was on my own with all the littles, I made a bunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the morning before the babies got up and covered the plate to grab at lunchtime. I put a can of mandarins and a can of peaches into the fridge to chill. I was so thankful I’d prepped ahead because our morning was full! When we were ready to eat, we took the prepped sandwiches, cold fruit, a jar of pickles, and some avocado cups outside and feasted. :)

We have a fire pit in our backyard, and the kids LOVE it when Daddy gets a fire going. We only do this when Elias and Malachi (our 20 and 17-year-olds) are around because it’s a bit intense to keep so many little ones safe when we’re trying to cook hotdogs and feed littles and oh yes, did I mention that Elias got a dog who tries to eat children? (Just kidding. But she does like hotdogs.)

I shared here about how we pack food to eat on a blanket when we go to our older boys’ games. Hamburgers, hotdogs, pizza, chicken sandwiches, burritos – even a container full of hot chicken nuggets! Get more details —>

I didn’t get a picture of any of us eating this particular time, but one spring soccer game day, I made a big batch of Omelet Muffins for the kids to eat while they watched Malachi play. It was easy to transport these and all of us loved them!

Chicken Salad with rolls, croissants, bread, or crackers is easy to take outside or take to a park. Here’s more info about what we took to a fun family picnic when we had time with all of our kids from oldest to youngest this spring.

Snacks to Eat Outside

And how about picnic-y snacks too? If we are outside playing, I often run inside and grab something for the kids to eat outside if I can tell they are getting hungry and need something to hold them over. Eating snacks on the porch is – you guessed it – more fun than going to Disneyland. :)

Apples and cheese fly off the plate when I take them outside.
Why does everything taste better outside?

Here are three of the kids sharing a little bowl of fruit:

We go through a lot of Mudballs at our house, and these are super easy to grab and take outside for kids to eat while they play.

The best thing about eating muffins outside during snack time? All the crumbs fall to the ground instead of under our kitchen table. Here’s a huge list of muffin recipes that I reference all the time.

It’s super easy to grab a container of washed berries or grapes to take outside to eat. Or grab a cutie for everyone and let them peel and eat it as they play.

Sometimes I take out small bowls of frozen veggies or frozen fruit for babies to munch on if it’s hot outside.

Once again I’ll say: If they can eat it inside, they can eat it outside. And if it makes the day more fun with little to no extra effort? I say it’s a win!

Here’s a quick list to reference for easy to grab food to take outside to eat:

What are your favorite foods to feed your family outside?

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One Week of Summer Fun Food Ideas

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After my most recent stock-up day at Sam’s, I made a complete one-week meal plan full of summer fun food!

You can read here to get the specifics of what I bought at Sam’s in May. We ate through much of this pretty quickly as there are a lot of us (currently 10) eating three meals a day at our house.

Then after a week or so, once the kids were out of school, I decided to make a complete list of meal ideas based on what I had on hand. (This proves what I talked about here about how I shop first, then meal plan.)

One Week of Summer Fun Food Ideas

I decided to share my plans with you because you might just find that this list comes in handy for your summer days too. This list includes seven breakfast plans, seven lunch plans, seven evening plans, and seven make-ahead snack ideas. :)

Let us know your email address here so we can send you the list. It includes recipe links too, and almost everything can be made ahead of time so that you can go outside and enjoy your summer with your kids!

 

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Grilled Pizza Tortillas – a 10 Minute Meal!

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I shared a similar idea a few years ago, and it’s good enough that I’m bringing it back! Not sure what to make for dinner? Have everyone build Pizza Tortillas. Then throw them on the grill!

Yum

This isn’t even a recipe. This is all too easy. You can look at the picture and know exactly what to do because it is self-explanatory.

Laura answers the hard questions about making Grilled Pizza Tortillas below:

  • What is the base of this Grilled Pizza Tortilla you speak of? That would be a…tortilla.
  • How many tortillas should we use? However many your family can eat.
  • What should I put on top of my Grilled Pizza Tortilla? Whatever you want. I suggest pizza toppings. Those make the best kind of pizzas.
  • How much of the toppings should I use? As much or as little as you like.
  • What kind of cheese should I use? What kind of cheese do you like? {Laura answers a question with a question}
  • Where do I cook Grilled Pizza Tortillas? On the grill.
  • How long do I cook Grilled Pizza Tortillas? Until they are done.
  • Sauce or no sauce? Now that’s a good question. I mean, they were all good questions. 

But about the sauce…

I skip the sauce on these Grilled Pizza Tortillas. I think they cook better and taste better when they are sauce-less, with the cheese directly on the tortilla, then toppings on top of the cheese. But THEN. After you cook them, you can dip them in pizza sauce as you’re eating. Perfection!

So now you know all about making Grilled Pizza Tortillas. Your family will love this!

Want more super fast food ideas for this summer?

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Stovetop Popcorn is Really This Easy?

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Stovetop popcorn has been my snack of choice lately. So quick to make, so delicious, and everybody is happy.

Stovetop popcorn is really this easy?

by Tasha Hackett

Sometimes I make burgers from scratch with homemade sweet potato fries and avocado dip and caramelized onions with balsamic vinegar. Homemaker over-achiever award, amen? And other nights I toss around apples, cheese, and popcorn and beg the children to eat and be happy while I put myself in timeout. Popcorn is versatile like that. I’ll agree that even though stovetop popcorn is not unhealthy, it doesn’t have much in the way of nutrition. But if you’re going to stuff your mouth with something salty and crunchy, stovetop popcorn is a great way to go about it.

Stovetop PopcornYum

We received an air popper for a wedding present. We used it frequently and poured melted butter over the top. Easy. Yummy. Last year, I don’t know why, I started using my large pot and the old-fashioned method and I’ve fallen in love with popcorn all over again.

Step 1: Pot for the Popcorn

Please use the biggest stock pot you have. I’ve used a smaller one, thinking I was going to make a smaller amount of popcorn. Clearly, it was a foolish choice. Just use the big one.

Step 2: Chose Your Oil

I have successfully used coconut oil (flavored, or flavorless), olive oil, bacon grease, and butter. My go-to is olive oil. Coconut oil is nice, but it’s more expensive. Butter is more likely to burn and I don’t always have bacon grease on hand—it makes a unique crisp type of corn. You should definitely try it.

Step 3: Chose Your Kernel

Truly, I have purchased all different varieties, thinking that I’m going to be scientific and compare the results. Alas, I’m too interested in eating the popcorn and therefore have yet to track any noticeable difference in the popcorn brands. If you have a preference, by all means, let us know. I will say, ten years ago I bought Mushroom Popcorn from a co-op in Kansas and there was a difference. Almost all the kernels popped with a mushroom shape. That was fun. So if you’re looking to make popcorn for gifts or something where you want each kernel to be beautifully uniform… splurge for the Mushroom Popcorn. Otherwise, meh.

And Now the How-To for Stovetop Popcorn

  • Pour (or scoop) a 1/4 cup of oil of choice into the pan. Oil makes things yummy. Don’t be afraid of it. Melt on medium heat.
  • Add 1/2 cup of popcorn kernels.
  • Add a teaspoon of fine salt. (Blend a cup of salt in your snazzy Blendtec for fabulous and cheap popcorn salt!)
  • Put the lid on your pot and wait for the magic. I used to frantically shake the pan back and forth to make sure nothing scorched or burned, but then one time I didn’t do that… and nothing scorched or burned. From then on I was flying free. I haven’t been frantically shaking the pan in months now. Just stand near and LISTEN.
  • Keep the heat on medium. Too high and your popcorn will burn. Too low and the kernels will swell and crack, but not pop.
  • Let it pop while you put away the oil and break the cheese into chunks and yell at the kids for someone to get the toddler out of the bathroom. Do the popcorn dance and when it starts to slow down, that’s your cue. Pop, Pop, Pop, Pop… and Pop, Pop… wait for it Pop… Pop… NOW remove the pan from the heat. Take the lid off.

popcorn

Eat. Smile. Stuff your face with crunchy salty popcorn goodness.

Of course, if you want to be really fancy, check out Laura’s recipes for a large selection of homemade popcorn flavors. BBQ, to Chocolate, to Ranch, and more. “But Tasha,” you say, “I thought you were on a Paleo diet that didn’t include any grains? Isn’t popcorn a grain?” OHMYGOODNESSYES. Stop judging me. Popcorn is a grain. Sadly, it is not included in a strict paleo diet. But it’s been six months and I’ve been trying new things. (Side note, I’ve been MOSTLY headache free for six months!) I’ve learned that I can do small amounts of popcorn. So there.

How do you pop the corn? Ever tried it on the stovetop? Share all your tips!

book cover of bluebird on the prairieTasha Hackett is a friend of Laura and author of Bluebird on the Prairie, a Christian romance set in 1879. She spends most of her time with four chatty children and an incredibly supportive husband. They give her the kind of love people write books about. To connect with Tasha, check out her website at www.TashaHackett.com. Follow her on IG @hackettacademy and find Laura @heavenlyhomemaker.

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

Easy Recipes for the Grill

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Need some easy recipes for the grill? Keep your summer food simple, and make it taste great too! Here are some great recipes for you!

We fire up our grill multiple times per week during the summer! I love how easy the grill makes lunch and dinner, all without heating up the house.

TIP: To put a super simple, healthy meal on the table during the summer:

  1. Cook your meat on the grill
  2. Toss a salad
  3. Slice fresh fruit
  4. Serve and enjoy

There is nothing easier and nothing more nutritious or delicious! The side-dish possibilities are endless during the summer since the garden fresh produce is plentiful!

Ready for our favorite summer recipes?

11 Easy Recipes for the GrillYum

  1. Simple Grilled Tortilla Pizza
  2. Simple Grilled Salmon
  3. The Perfect Grilled Chicken
  4. Grilled Barbeque Chicken Legs
  5. Pizza Boats in the Grill
  6. Simple Make-Ahead Parmesan Burgers
  7. Simple Lemon Garlic Chicken Legs
  8. Simple Cheese Stuffed Burgers
  9. Cheddar Ranch Burgers
  10. Cheeseburger Zucchini Boats
  11. Easy Bacon and Potato Foil Packets

I can’t stress how easy and delicious this Perfect Grilled Chicken is! Simply throw on some sauce and grill. SO GOOD! So simple!

Great Sauce and Dressing Ideas to Marinate The Simplest and Best Grilled Chicken

bbq_sauce

These are our favorite sauces to marinate our chicken in prior to grilling. But just about any of your favorite sauces will work!

How to Make Perfect Grilled Chicken

Here’s my best and favorite tip for making perfect grilled chicken!

  1. Use boneless chicken thighs instead of breasts. This makes all the difference.
  2. Marinate the thighs in something delicious before grilling (suggestions above)
  3. As you can see from the picture below, I blackened the chicken more than I meant to – and the meat still turned out juicy and flavorful! This is because chicken thighs have more fat than chicken breasts so they are much harder to ruin.
  4. We usually cook boneless thighs for 10-15 minutes on each side, turning it from time to time.

TIP: Chop your leftover Grilled Chicken into a fantastic Chef Salad for lunch!

Yum, grilled chicken in a tossed salad makes an awesome meal!

Here are our favorite Homemade Salad Dressing Recipes:

What to serve with your grilled food:

Need some side dish ideas? Here are our favorites…

Oh how I love summer food! What are your favorite foods to grill?

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A Summer Lunch You Can Make in 5 Minutes (Plus 40+ Lunch Ideas)

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Before you get too sick of sandwiches, I wanted to remind you of a great summer lunch idea that you can make in 5 minutes. Then stay tuned, because we’ve got a huge list of ideas that will save you as you feed your family this summer!

5-Minute Summer Lunch

It’s no secret that our family loves chips and dips. We eat them as meals and as side dishes, and of course, as snacks! This dip has become one of our favorites to eat as a meal. We can put it together in 5-minutes, and it is delicious! It’s filled with good protein, and the flavor is fabulous!

This recipe includes only 3 simple, real food ingredients. Blend them together quickly to enjoy for a fast lunch. Eat it along with fresh fruit, and truly, this is an awesome summer lunch!

Simple Bean and Cheese Salsa Dip

Simple Bean and Cheese Salsa Dip
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: 5 cups
Ingredients
  • 16-ounces salsa (any variety)
  • 8-ounces softened cream cheese
  • 15-ounce can refried beans or pinto beans
Instructions
  1. Blend ingredients together until smooth.
  2. Serve hot or cold with corn tortilla chips.

Psst!! Want more easy, real food recipes that include 5 or fewer ingredients? You’ll love this!

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Your Real Food Master Simple Lunch List

Want more easy lunch ideas for this summer? We’ve got huge list of ideas we’ll share below.

OR!!

You can download this entire list here. Download it (it’s free!) and save it to your computer for easy access! I also recommend that you pin it so you can find it quickly as needed!

watermelon

Let’s get started with suggestions for your Simple Summer Lunch:

We’ll begin with fruits and veggies because instead of thinking of them second, let’s start thinking of them first!

Fruits and veggies that can be pulled from the fridge and served immediately with little to no prep (beyond washing):

  • Baby carrots (I like the petite carrots – they are sweeter and easier to eat!)
  • Grape tomatoes
  • Mini sweet peppers
  • Sugar snap peas
  • Strawberries
  • Blueberries
  • Blackberries
  • Raspberries
  • Unsweetened Applesauce
  • Bananas
  • Grapes
  • Oranges
  • Clementines
  • Fresh Spinach or Mixed Greens

Fruits and veggies that take a few minutes of prep but are still super simple:

  • Sliced apples
  • Sliced peaches or nectarines
  • Steamed peas (frozen peas cook very quickly!)
  • Sliced cucumbers
  • Sliced sweet peppers
  • Raw broccoli “trees”
  • Cut cantaloupe
  • Watermelon wedges
  • Sliced pears
  • Pineapple chunks
  • Steamed green beans (frozen green beans take just a few minutes, but can cook themselves while you get the remainder of lunch ready)

If you have Homemade Ranch Dip or Hummus on hand, these can be thrown onto the table quickly to help get the veggies down!

orange

Simple Lunches that can be made ahead of time and warmed up quickly:

Simple Lunches that can be thrown together with little prep time:

strawberry

Simple Lunches that are flexible and can be eaten in more than one way:

Would you like to make this Master List of Simple Lunches even simpler?

Sign up here to receive the entire Master List of Simple Lunches in a free downloadable document! Then you can keep it handy on your computer or print it and put it on your fridge as a super handy reference!

Master List of 40 Simple Lunch Ideas

Grab a free download of the Master Simple Lunch List!

 

What would you add to the list? What are your favorite simple lunches to feed your family?

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

What? I Don’t Need Anything At the Store???

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I went from the craziest, busiest, most exhausting school year yet, followed by a houseful of company celebrating our oldest son’s high school graduation, to an entire week of quiet. I wasn’t sure whether to laugh, cry, do cartwheels, clean the house, take a nap, read a book, watch a movie, or catch up on emails.

I decided to skip the cartwheels (our health insurance wouldn’t have appreciated the risk taking), forget cleaning (at least for a few days), and ignore my inbox (eh, what’s 400 unanswered emails?). I had some uninterrupted writing time (bliss!), took many walks with Malachi while he rode his bike, read Farmer Boy to Malachi, did some special projects in the kitchen (you’ll read about them soon), and found my brain again (mostly, sort of, probably not really).

Why the quiet? Three out of our four boys went to Wisconsin on a week-long mission trip with our church youth group. That left Matt and me with our 10 year-old, plus a college student who had moved in for the week. I missed our older boys, but the week was very refreshing. I mean, our tiny little laundry pile amazed me all week long. (And then the older boys came back with trash bags full of stink, filth, and ticks – pictured below. Not the ticks. Just the laundry.)

laundry

I barely cooked all week because leftovers go a long way when the teenagers aren’t here to make me forget what leftovers are.

I am so used to buying mountains of food that without thinking two weeks ago, I ordered our normal amount of food from Bountiful Baskets which included a regular basket of fruits and veggies, two specialty fruit and veggie baskets, 25 pounds of nectarines, 48 whole wheat hotdog/hamburger buns, and 100 wraps. What? If the boys had all been home it would have just been another day of bringing home groceries for the week (or two). But instead, last Saturday I brought home this:

bountiful basket may 222

bountiful basket may 221

…and then on Sunday all the teenagers left for the week. Thank goodness for friends we could share nectarines with, a freezer for buns and wraps, and a college age young man who stayed with us for the week and was happy to eat whatever we put in front of him.

I will say that having all that great produce – plus the buns and wraps – made it very easy to put simple no-brainer meals on the table this week. I was ready for a kitchen break. I got one.

So now the older boys are back for the week. (They’ll be gone again to a church camp next week – such is our all-or-nothing summer.) I’m eager to cook for them again, and to fill them with green stuff that they likely aren’t getting much of while they’re away from home.

I don’t have an official menu plan made, but I thought I’d share a few dishes I plan to make while they’re home:

Well, that was fun. Hopefully you’ll see some ideas there you can use this summer. I love summer food SOOOOOO much. Mostly because I love summer. And food.

All of that to say that when Matt was heading to Walmart to grab some paint on Friday, he asked if I needed anything. Typically I need a cart full (to go with our Bountiful Basket, Azure Standard, and online orders). This time I just stared at him blankly. I didn’t need a thing.

Oh wait. Yes I did. I keep making the BLT Chopped Salad without the feta cheese because I keep not having any on hand. So Matt got us some feta cheese. It was the most exciting grocery shopping list ever.

Anyway, yay us. We saved a bundle on groceries this week. The boys are back in town (sing it with me…). Let us commence eating enormous quantities of food.

What summer food are you enjoying so far this season? Been grilling much? Have anything to pull from a garden yet?

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10 Oven-Free Summertime Meal Ideas

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You know what’s great about summertime? Pretty much everything, especially the part about it being summer in the summertime.

Summer is my favorite season, mostly because this is when the sun is shining. I heart sunshine.  I also love heat, because here in Nebraska, I spend about 13 months out of the year shivering. Once summer hits, the sun shines daily, and my bones warm up – then I am in my happy place.

While sun and heat rock my world, dripping sweat down my nose and into my cooking pot is not a part of my summertime enjoyment. Well, don’t picture it. It’s just that I remember watching my grandma cook in her 115° kitchen, wiping away sweat before it salted the veggies she was preparing. She never learned to close up the house and use the window air conditioner properly, so all of us almost melted and died from the heat in their house every time we visited during the summer. Her kitchen turned us all into sweaty, sloppy…hold on. Why are we still talking about this? We’re here to talk about great food in the summer that does not heat up the house. Moving right along…

10 Oven Free Meals for Summer

I have so much fun preparing yummy meals for my family in the summer. Why? Because there are so many fresh food options available. Watermelon, peaches, corn on the cob – mmmmm I love the taste of summer. In the sunshine. On a hot day. (Yes, Laura. We get it. You like hot weather. Weren’t you going to tell us some good summer meal ideas?)

Indeed.

Here are 10 great summertime meals that won’t heat up your kitchen:

1. Hamburger patties with cheese, buttered green beans, and tossed salad

Oven Free Summertime Meal

2. Grilled Italian chicken (recipe in Let’s Do This! eCourse), tossed salad, steamed broccoli, watermelon

3. Grilled barbeque chicken, tossed salad, sweet corn, grilled asparagus

4. Baked potatoes in the crock pot topped with slivered ham, shredded cheese, sour cream, and steamed broccoli – cantaloupe on the side

baked_potato_3

5. BLT wraps, sliced sweet peppers, carrot sticks and cucumbers with ranch dip, chocolate whipped cream on strawberries

6. Chicken tacos, spicy avocado dip, pineapple cream dessert

chicken_tacos_2

7. Pasta salad bar with chicken and lots of veggies, blackberries and fresh peaches

8. Taco salad, fresh pineapple

9. Turkey ranch pinwheels, olives, sweet peppers, honey glazed carrots, watermelon

10. Black bean salsa with corn chips, carrot sticks and cucumbers with ranch dip, nectarines

What are your favorite summertime meals that don’t heat up the house? Whose with me in the “I love summer” camp?

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