Heavenly Homemakers

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Big Family Food and Fun: December 1-7, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: December 1-7, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: December 1-7, 2024

We had traveled to Kansas over the Thanksgiving weekend to be with my side of the family. I didn’t get to share last week, so I wanted to highlight some of the special times we shared while we were there!

One of the kids’ favorites was that we all met at the Skating Rink on Friday afternoon. We loved that there were plenty of skate training aids for everyone. This made the experience so much fun!

Even Auggie got out there with confidence and loved it!

Malorie was already a pro and Elias picked it up pretty quickly.

Malachi rocked it, with Anna, Acacia, and my nephew coming in behind.

Most of the grown ups sat and watched and visited. I didn’t attempt skates, but I was out on the rink visiting with my sister and helping pick up kids after spills.

Afterward, we met at a church building in town so that there was room for all of us to eat and for the kids to play. Altogether, there were 31 of us. We are so thankful we made the trip!

We made it home Saturday night in time to unpack and get kids to bed. Sunday morning, I got a loaf of Applesauce Bread out of the freezer for breakfast.

While the kids were eating, I got out and washed all of our Christmas mugs so that we can use them this month!

After church, friends joined us for lunch, making 28 of us in all. I had made a big pan of Simple Creamy Layered Enchiladas and frozen it before our trip. I baked it that morning while we were at church. Friends brought chips and dips, refried beans, grapes, and cake to share.

Kiya put make-up on all the girls that afternoon. :)

That evening, Matt took our little boys with him to Menards to pick up a few items. I was left at home with our four girls. This was rare and special for us! First, we did some cleaning so that we could enjoy some game time.

Then we got out games and played together.

The evening was really calm and quiet for most of the time. I was thankful for the chance to actually enjoy playing with the kids. Matt’s time with the boys at Menards went well too, so now we know we can have special times like this occasionally.

The littler girls were starting to scatter game pieces so we put everything away and went into the kitchen to make Peanut Butter Honey Puffs. The boys got home soon after and we got everyone to bed.

Monday morning we were all excited to see a few snow flurries outside. Acacia quickly ran to put on at hat, gloves, and boots so she could build a snowman. Precious darling.

We spent the morning unpacking from our trip and doing laundry. Once the girls got on the bus for school and Auggie went down for a nap, Malachi came over and he and I headed out to do some Christmas shopping!

This was a lovely three hours with him, even if we didn’t check many gifts off of our list. By the time we finished at Marshalls, grabbed groceries at Aldi, and made it to Costco, Malachi was hungry. Did he make a meal off of several little bites of free samples? Yes, he did.

We got home in time for Matt to run pick up school kids. Then Keith went into our boys’ room to “help” Matt figure out the new light they had bought at Menards. (The past few months, our boys have been displaced to a different room while Matt has been replacing their ceiling. I’m so thankful he is so handy with house projects like this!)

For dinner that night, we ate Simple Cheeseburger Casserole with Caesar Salad and Corn.

Kelsey and Little Sweetheart came over for a while that evening. Our housemate/friend Kermit hung out with us too as we played in the living room.

We attempted a game of Headbands before heading upstairs to get everyone to bed. It would have been much better had the little girls not told everyone what was pictured on their card, haha.

Tuesday morning, I had to be out the door with Auggie for Speech Therapy by 7:35. I got out Peanut Butter Honey Puffs with Yogurt and Fruit for kids to eat with Matt after I left.

Auggie’s appointment took us half-way to Walmart/Sam’s so afterward, we went to get some groceries.

Back at home, Justus had dropped off Little Sweetheart while he had a meeting. Auggie tried taking care of her, you know, since he’s so much bigger and older. You can’t see her face, but let’s just say she was not impressed.

After school that day, I took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to had out food at our weekly Food Distribution site.

Before leaving home, I got a package of Homemade Burritos out of the freezer for Matt and Elias to warm up for dinner. We enjoyed those when we got home.

Wednesday morning was especially sweet. All four girls woke up early and were in pleasant moods. They piled into the kitchen with me and wanted to help with any job I could give them. So we went to work!

I started a Roast like this in the crock pot for our dinner. We all worked together to make both chocolate and vanilla Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eaters for breakfast.

I got a pot of Warm Vanilla Soother started on the stove for our breakfast. The kids were very excited that they were given the privilege of drinking this in (breakable) Christmas mugs!

Next, the girls crushed cornflakes in bags for me. I had gotten a great deal on chicken breast when I was out shopping the day before, so we used them to make Crunchy Ranch Chicken Strips.

Breakfast was a feast that morning with both Vanilla and Chocolate Pumpkin Eaters (with spinach blended into the chocolate ones). I made sausage links, plus we had our Warm Vanilla Soother. Somewhere in there, I’d made a blender full of Smoothie for Matt and me.

After breakfast, I finished putting together the Crunchy Ranch Chicken Strips, I had enough chicken to make four pans – one for tomorrow’s dinner and the rest for the freezer for easy dinners in the future.

It turned out to be a HUGE kitchen morning for me. I was on a roll and the girls and Auggie were playing nicely in the living room after we got the other kids off to school. I had a lot of eggs on hand, and some ham that needed to be used before it expired. So I made a Simple Egg Casserole for the freezer.

I baked a sheet pan with 24 eggs, then turned them into Breakfast Sandwiches. Our household goes through a lot of these sandwiches so they are great to have in the fridge and freezer!

Arrow spent the afternoon with us. This was the scene in the living room after all the kids got home from school and Eva came to pick up Arrow. Everyone wanted to be with Eva while she was feeding Arrow – so I tried to get everyone to move away from the couch to give them some space so he wouldn’t be distracted. :)

Dinner that night was SOOOOO GOOD – if I do say so myself. I’d slow cooked a Roast all day, so by evening it was falling apart and juicy. We’d also made Mashed Potatoes in the crock pot, and those turned out super tasty. We had Salad and Green Beans to complete our meal and this meat-and-potatoes-girl was very happy!

Thursday morning we baked several pounds of bacon to finish off a box we had in the fridge.

Kiya was ready for school in plenty of time so I asked her to go to our laundry room to get three outfits for her little sisters. She was happy to do that because picking out outfits is fun for her. When I found the clothes in the living room later, they looked like this. Kiya took her job very seriously and had the piles just so. This photo shows her personality!

I made a crock pot full of Chili that afternoon so we could warm it while we are at church on Sunday.

Dinner that night was a pan of the Crunchy Ranch Chicken Strips we’d made the day before. I boiled a pound of noodles, which is boring for the adults but the kids love them plain with butter and salt. (I warmed up some White Queso for adults to drizzle on their noodles.) We  made a salad and that was dinner!

Friday I spent a lot of time in the kitchen working on food for an upcoming “event” here at Heavenly Homemakers. Watch for details in a few days!! We ate some of the results of my recipe experiments for dinner that night, along with sliced pears.

I made a batch of Vanilla Ice Cream to go with one of the desserts for the event. I’m always pleasantly surprised when this ice cream comes together so quickly and easily!

Saturday morning, we made a double batch of Christmas Spice Cookies to enjoy with our Sunday Lunch.

I froze some to pull out and serve throughout the month as Christmas comes.

Mid-morning, Malorie and I left all the kids with the guys and headed to Heartlands Church for a Ladies’ Brunch. It was a wonderful morning!

We got home in time to help feed kids lunch, put Auggie down for a nap, and clean up the kitchen. The kids played outside all afternoon because the weather was beautiful! We cleaned the living room, gave kids baths, then headed into our time of Sabbath rest.

And that was our week!

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Big Family Food and Fun: November 24-30, 2024

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Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: November 24-30, 2024 post!

Big Family Food and Fun: November 24-30, 2024

Saturday evening, November 23, we kicked off our family Sabbath where we set aside 24 hours to focus on doing less and enjoying more. I had a dish of Chicken Cheeseballs in the freezer that I thawed and baked that evening for our dinner. I made tator tots for a special treat and got out spinach for everyone to eat with our meal.

After dinner, everyone got completely ready for bed and we spent the last part of the day sitting in our cozy, decorated living room watching Little House on the Prairie.

Sunday morning for breakfast we enjoyed Breakfast Cookie Bars that I’d made a week ago and frozen. I forgot to take a picture until after they were almost gone!

We love enjoying community on our Sabbath, so I prep our Sunday Lunch food on Saturday morning. After church, we had many friends join us and several contributed to the meal. We had Pulled Pork, Baked Potatoes, Salad, Fresh Fruit, Rolls, Cole Slaw, Potato Salad, Mac and Cheese, Chips, and Desserts. It was a feast!

Thirty of us gathered around our dining table and living room table.

The weather was nice enough that kids could play outside and grown-ups could visit.

After lunch, our friend Megan was sweet enough to let Anna paint her fingernails. Later, Megan sent me this picture. Anna had had a rough day on Saturday and needed this special time more than Megan knew. We are so thankful for community.

We enjoyed time with friends all afternoon. Then at dinnertime after everyone left, we reset our house and made a simple dinner of French Toast and Sausage with Applesauce.

Monday morning after we got the older four kids to school, I spent time getting ready for our trip to Kansas later in the week. I packed baggies of snacks and put them into a basket with other items we might need. Matt spent the entire morning on the phone trying to figure out some issues we were having with our van. Yikes – it was not great timing to have van troubles as we were prepping to go on a trip! But we were thankful the issues manifested before driving on the interstate with a van full of littles!

When the girls got home from preschool that afternoon, they were all eager to show off what they’d been working on.

Keith was super hungry while I was making dinner, so he ate an entire pear and then several slices of another.

Altogether, we ate through a three pound bag of pears that evening. I used leftover baked potatoes from the day before along with cooked hamburger from last week to make Taco Potato Skillet.

After I worked on dishes in the kitchen, I walked into the living room to find Daddy reading to a pile of kids.

Tuesday morning I scrambled 15 eggs with sausage and cheese. We ate them with an assortment of bagels, fruit, and Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Bars.

Ready or not, I had to head out the door that morning for an 8:00 Speech Evaluation for Auggie. Malorie helped Matt get the other kids ready for school and out the door – not an easy job! Auggie did great with his new therapist, and now we get to go to speech therapy every Tuesday bright and early. Sorry, Malorie. Thanks, Malorie.

When Auggie and I got home, we witnessed the girls doing a kid exercise video. Well, Anna and Josie were doing it. Acacia just wanted to sit and watch, ha.

Auggie found Malorie’s sunglasses and thought he was very cool.

That afternoon after school, I took Brayden, Kiya, and Keith to hand out food and clean up at our weekly Food Distribution site.

Matt held down the fort at home while we were gone. Before I had left, I’d put a bunch of chicken legs into pans and dumped on some barbecue sauce. Exciting? Not really? But tasty? Yep. And so easy! Matt baked the chicken at dinner time, steamed broccoli, and buttered/toasted some rolls. It was a great dinner to come home to!

The kids’ Thanksgiving break started that Wednesday. We spent the day getting ready to travel on Thursday. Unfortunately, we’d learned that our van needed a major repair and couldn’t be driven to Kansas. So we made plans to rent a van so that we could still go see family.

The kids were pretty antsy on Wednesday as we prepared for our trip. This was also the day our Bonus Buddy was moving out and we all had a lot of feelings about it.

So we tried to keep them busy with different activities. We made a batch of Buttery Almond Cookies.

Then we gathered around the table in the living room and made a couple of crafts.

Late morning, Eva dropped Arrow off to hang out with us for the day! He was a perfect distraction for all of us with his sweetness and smiles.

We warmed up leftovers for lunch and Brayden made a salad to go with our other meal choices.

Josie devoured her salad and went back for seconds.

After Arrow napped, he got to enjoy more Auntie and Uncle time. Oh so sweet.

We said our good-byes to Bonus Buddy, with plans to have him come for visits in the future, praise God. We sure do love this little boy.

I was pretty emotional, and also busy packing and prepping for our trip. So we ate a simple meal of Frozen Pizza on paper plates for dinner.

After we ate, we spent some time packing our travel lunches for the next day. Brayden was very proud that he made a TURKEY sandwich, stating that while we weren’t having a regular Thanksgiving meal, he would still be eating turkey, ha! :)

Thursday morning we finished getting ready and loaded up to head to Kansas for the weekend. I had made a huge Lasagna, so we grabbed it from the freezer to take with us for one of our meals there.

I gave myself permission to unplug and take some days off from trying to juggle in work during our vacation. I might try to share some pictures of our weekend in next week’s post if I’m able! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with family!

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Big Family Food and Fun: November 19-25, 2023

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Here’s our Food and Fun: November 19-25 post!

Here’s what we ate and what we did all week!

Big Family Food and Fun: November 19-25, 2023

Saturday night I started a pork roast in the crock pot to cook overnight to eat after church the next day. Here’s my pork roast recipe. Here’s the overnight cooking method.

To go with our roast, I made a big pan of Party Potatoes. I had intended to make Honey’d Carrots, but left the carrots steaming too long and burned them, ugh. So we steamed some peas instead.

For dinner that night I pulled out some leftover taco meat we had in the fridge and stirred it into a triple batch of Creamy Mac and Cheese. We ate it with baby carrots, easy peasy.

It’s been in my head for weeks to work with the kids to put together Fall Treat Bags for our neighbors. Sickness and the craziness of life has derailed us. But we’re finally finishing our project and packaging up goodies! We had stickers from Delight Design to put on our brownie and muffin bags – so cute!

We had set up our tree with lights the night before and on Sunday night, the kids added ornaments.

Monday morning after Brayden and Kiya got to school, we put BabyBoy#11 down for a nap, left the three little girls with Daddy, and Keith and I headed to the Food Distribution site to help set up for the Tuesday giveaway. Our goal is to help our kids learn to serve and help others. The one-on-one time with Keith is so good too. Here he is, admiring the table of snacks we set up.

For dinner that night we made Tuna Melts with Tomato Soup and fresh pineapple.

I had made a bowl of Easy Pumpkin Whip that I intended to serve for dessert. But I saw several almost-empty containers of ice cream in the freezer that I wanted to get rid of and forgot all about the Easy Pumpkin Whip. Goof. So we had the Whip for breakfast on Tuesday instead. It’s only lightly sweetened, has protein and pumpkin in it – so it made for a good breakfast!

Our friend Paula had dropped off this loaf of Pumpkin Bread and we enjoyed it that morning too! So good!

I had sausage patties and a lot of English muffins, so I scrambled some eggs and put together 14 Breakfast Sandwiches to have on hand.

Three of the kids put on swimming suits that morning, haha. Josie stayed in her jammies. Meh, it was Thanksgiving week and I was extra busy. Regular clothing was optional. The three little girls had a get-together in our playroom saying over and over, “So nice to see you!” “So nice to see you!” in their preschool and toddler language. It was so sweet.

I had two appointments that morning and the second one was right by Sam’s. So I took advantage of being kid-free and ran in to get as many groceries as I could. I got a couple of special items for Thanksgiving – Martinelli’s and fancy whipped cream. Otherwise I got the regular needed items – milk, produce, peanut butter, sliced cheese, grass fed hamburger meat, and our favorite beef smoked sausage.

After school, Brayden, Kiya, and I went to hand out food at the Food Distribution site. When we got home, Matt had started warming up the casserole I’d put together from Sunday’s leftovers plus leftover peas.

Wednesday, Matt and Elias headed to York to work on our properties. Kelsey had the day off so she came over to help with kids and Thanksgiving prep! We had a huge day in the kitchen, getting a lot done for the holiday and then some.

I had picked up this 10-pound box of bacon at Sam’s the day before. It was highly discounted and ended up being just $3.40/pound so I was pretty excited! We baked several cookie sheets worth of it that morning, eating it for breakfast and then putting the rest in the fridge for easy-t0-warm-up breakfasts or sandwiches during the next few days.

Kelsey took the three littlest girls into the living room to color while Kiya, Keith and I worked on Pumpkin Pies.

Kiya did most of the “work” of adding ingredients to the blender and Keith helped push buttons on the blender. ;)

Our pies turned out great! Here’s our easy, real food Pumpkin Pie recipe.

Next, Kelsey got the kids involved in potato scrubbing and carrot peeling/cutting.

So far, we hadn’t let these two use knives, but Kelsey talked them through it and they did great!

Meanwhile, we browned 6-pounds of hamburger meat to use that night and through the weekend.

I used half of the cooked meat to make Sloppy Joes for dinner. We ate them with grapes and salad.

Thursday morning Justus showed up at 5:20 to get the turkey on the smoker. I had coffee and God time, then got mashed potatoes in the crock pot.

Mid-morning I made these rolls – first time I’d made rolls in a long time! Kelsey snagged this photo. :)

We’d FINALLY finished our “take fall treats to neighbors” project and were determined to deliver before our Thanksgiving meal. Our bags were filled with frosted brownies, muffins, and oatmeal cookies.

Matt loaded up all the bags plus six kids and walked around the neighborhood handing them out and wishing people a Happy Thanksgiving!

Meanwhile, guests started to show up and we finished the meal prep. Justus’ turkey turned out amazing!

Here are all of my Thanksgiving meal recipes.

Here’s this year’s crew! It included all of our family plus one of our housemates (who is now part of our family). Plus a dear friend from York and two YU soccer guys we’ve come to know.

After the feast, the guys played a game in the living room and we gals rested for a while on the couches.

I packaged up a plate of food for a friend who wasn’t able to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal that day, then we started getting kids ready for Eva to take our family photos.

UGH. It was then that Anna came down from her “nap” with styrofoam stuffing all over her. Which meant that something had busted open and the filling was also all over her bedroom. Praise God for sweet daughters-in-law who cleaned it all up for their tired mother-in-law.

Eva is a rock star who took individual photos of all of us, plus one big family photo. (I’ll share them with you when we get them!) We came home and put together a Nacho Bar for dinner.

Then, we turned on a Christmas show for the kids to watch while we adults played Stuff Happens before bedtime. THAT was my favorite part of the day!

Friday I got zero pictures, hahaha. I was so tired that day I wasn’t on my top game. We picked up our Bonus Boy for the weekend (age 4, former foster son and half sibling to some of our kids), ate leftovers, we made mac and cheese, I took a nap. That’s about all I remember. :)

Saturday we loaded up all 8 kids and took them to the Children’s Museum for the morning. It was a great and needed outing!

We ended our time at the museum with the kids all “working” at Runza. It was one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen them do as a group. They had on hats and aprons, flipped burgers, took orders, filled drinks, made fries – goodness it was sweet.

Elias had started lunch for us so that we could eat right away when we got home – Cheese and Spinach Quesadillas with Tomato Soup and apples.

For dinner that night, I baked whatever chicken tenders and patties I found in the freezer. Plus I put waffle fries in our air fryer, steamed broccoli, and opened up cans of fruit. It was a fun, easy meal and a great way to end our week!

And now – Christmas time!!!!! Here’s to a great new week!

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How to Have an Easy Thanksgiving

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Want to have an easy Thanksgiving? I’ve shared these tips for years, but every year I feel like they need to be shared again!

How to Have an Easy Thanksgiving

The key is to get ahead. Start making food ahead of time (yes, even the turkey!!) so that you can enjoy people on Thanksgiving day instead of spending so much time in the kitchen. Here are my tips and tricks, and of course, recipes!

One Week Before Thanksgiving

Two Days Before Thanksgiving

One Day Before Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day

  • Enjoy a large cup of steamy coffee in my recliner for a very long time (because I can)
  • Everyone on their own for breakfast (probably cereal)
  • Mix dry ingredients together for Stir-and-Pour Rolls (for easy, no-brainer mixing about an hour before meal time)
  • Put Cranberry Apple Cider into a crockpot to heat (this is a huge hit with guests!)
  • Set out butter to soften for rolls
  • Plates, silverware, cups, and napkins set out

About 1 1/2 hours before serving time, I will bake or re-heat prepared foods. Then I will make gravy and bake the rolls. Easy peasy!

Here are the quick links to all the recipes you’ll need:

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How to Prepare Your Holiday Meal BEFORE the Holiday

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I’ve been talking about this for years, and with good reason. It truly is possible to prepare your holiday meal BEFORE the holiday. I love using these methods so that I can enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas just as much as everyone else!

For several years, I’ve been sharing how to easily make most of our Thanksgiving or Christmas dishes ahead of time. Truly! You can get ahead, then when the big day comes, you don’t have to spend hours cooking and cleaning. Imagine actually savoring the turkey and side dishes you slaved over. (Except that you don’t have to actually slave over them because I’ll show you how to make them the easy way!)

Enjoy the following recipes and preparation guide to help you get ahead this holiday season!

How to Prepare Your Holiday Meal BEFORE the Holiday

One Week Before Thanksgiving

Two Days Before Thanksgiving

One Day Before Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day

  • Enjoy a large cup of steamy coffee in my recliner for a very long time (because I can)
  • Everyone on their own for breakfast (probably cereal)
  • Mix dry ingredients together for Stir-and-Pour Rolls (for easy, no-brainer mixing about an hour before meal time)
  • Put Cranberry Apple Cider into a crockpot to heat (this is a huge hit with guests!)
  • Set out butter to soften for rolls
  • Plates, silverware, cups, and napkins set out

About 1 1/2 hours before serving time, I will bake or re-heat prepared foods. Then I will make gravy and bake the rolls. Easy peasy!

Here are the quick links to all the recipes you’ll need:

Get our FREE Holiday Prep Guide!

We’ve got a fabulous freebie for you today!

Grab our Holiday Prep Guide Packet filled with 9 fun printables to help you get ahead for the holidays! Sign up here to receive it for free!

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Easy, Low Sugar, Mini Crustless Cheesecake Recipe (and an amazing Blendtec Giveaway!!)

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This has got to be one of my most exciting giveaways to share with you! Why? Because ever since I invested in a Blendtec my kitchen life has become soooo much simpler! I wish I could give one to every person reading this.

I haven’t splattered cream all over my countertops and walls in months. Why? Because I don’t have to whip cream using my hand mixer anymore. Instead, I pour cream into my Blendtec and it whips it for me in less than 30 seconds. It is so, so easy.

I use my Blendtec for homemade applesauce now, throwing cooked apples in peel and all, and it makes beautifully smooth sauce. I use my Blendtec to mix muffin batters, cake batters, cheesecake, and so much more. Of course I use it for smoothies and all the normal blender needs. I use it at least once every day if not three times.

But about the cheesecake! Please allow me to introduce you to one of my favorite new recipes to make:

easy-mini-crustless-baked-cheesecake

I throw the five ingredients into my Blendtec, whip it for a few seconds until it is smooth, pour it into muffin cups, and bake. The stevia sweetens it, the small amount of maple syrup takes away any stevia aftertaste, and I’m left with the most delicious treat!

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Here’s the recipe, and check out the wonderful giveaway below!

Easy, Low Sugar, Mini Crustless CheesecakeYum

5.0 from 12 reviews
Easy, Low Sugar, Mini Crustless Cheesecake Recipe (and an amazing Blendtec Giveaway!!)
 
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Author:
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, softened
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
  • 2 full droppers of liquid stevia
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Blend all ingredients together until smooth.
  2. Pour into 12 muffin cups.
  3. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.
  4. Turn off heat, open the oven door, and leave the cheesecakes in the oven for an additional 20 minutes. (Cheesecakes will puff up during baking but deflate while continuing to sit in the oven.)
  5. Transfer cheesecakes to the fridge and chill for at least two hours before serving.

easy-low-sugar-mini-crustless-cheesecakes

My family likes pouring homemade fruit sauces over the cheesecakes!

Check out Blendtec options here.

 

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Thank Goodness I Got Ahead for Thanksgiving!

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Thanks to the Getting Ahead for the Holidays series, I was super motivated and had all the food cooked for Thanksgiving by Tuesday night. I did this so I could enjoy the holiday. As it turned out, I appreciated it even more because I came down with a cold on Tuesday night. Booooooo. I was so frustrated!!!

All day Wednesday I sat in my recliner blowing my nose, trying not to talk, watching Netflix, and being thankful I did not have to cook. I prayed that I’d be able to enjoy Thanksgiving. I took a bath with Epsom salt and essential oils. I drank hot tea by the gallon. I rested.

Thank you, Lord, for make-ahead meals – especially a make-ahead Thanksgiving meal.

Come Thursday morning, I was slightly better, though quite stuffy and low on energy. Matt and the boys cleared out the living room and set up tables and chairs. Brittany worked her magic to decorate. I worked on warming up the prepared food.

thanksgiving 20151

My mashed potatoes (which had been prepared and frozen) turned into soup on my crock pot. Now that wasn’t supposed to happen.

I transferred them to a pot on the stove to steam off some of the liquid. It took about 30 minutes, but it worked great! Below, you’ll see that while I was sick, I wasn’t too sick to take an ugly picture of mashed potatoes steaming in a pot for you. Now that is blogger dedication.

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Meanwhile, all the other dishes sat warming in the oven. It took longer than I had planned. The more you load your oven, the longer food takes to heat up. Imagine that.

thanksgiving 20153

I helped myself to another cup of hot tea while the food heated and we waited for our guests to arrive. We had super icy weather that day (still do, actually), so a few of our guests weren’t able to make it. :(

thanksgiving 20154

When it was all said and done the tables were beautiful, the food was delicious, and we had a wonderful time with all our guests. If you look closely, you’ll see that I cheated and used rolls I had bought from Bountiful Baskets.

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What you see there in that 9×13 pan is my friend Maureen’s famous Pumpkin Bars. I need the recipe. We all need the recipe. Maureen? We need the recipe. ;)

Since Thanksgiving day, we’ve eaten more delicious food, watched a couple of movies, and played a 6-hour game of Settlers of Catan. Only the Coppinger family can make Catan last 6-hours. In our defense, we had added several variables, which always adds time – even if you aren’t a Coppinger. But let’s just say that some of the people in this family are verrrry thorrrrrough with their turns. (Don’t look at me. I am a short turn-taker.)

Kleenexes and sore throat aside, this has been an awesome week of Thanksgiving break. Tonight we’re having Lasagna, tomorrow we’re having a new soup recipe Brittany and I came up with, and tomorrow night Asa and Brittany move back to the dorms. School commences, along with all the normal real-life stuff like work and chores. Ooh, but it’s Christmas season, so there is much to look forward to!

Tell me about your Thanksgiving! Was it a good one?!

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Thanksgiving Break Fun ~ and My Butter Famine is Over

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My butter famine is over! But first:

Now I know how my mom felt when my brother and I came home from college for holiday breaks. Never mind that Asa has only been five minutes down the road in the dorm since August. Looking forward to and preparing for him to be home for a week has made me so excited! Brittany is joining us this week too because she has to work all week. Yay for me! Another girl in the house! (We have made plans to do our nails, make crafts, and watch some girly Christmas movies. Yes!!!)

In preparation for Thanksgiving break week and Thanksgiving day itself, I think I have bought out all the grocery stores from here to Lincoln. I have two full refrigerators, a full pantry, many full freezers – there is food everywhere. After standing on my head to find places for the last of my (many) grocery purchases yesterday and completely filling every space in both refrigerators, I realized we’d be getting our Bountiful Basket order today.

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Thankfully, most of the order didn’t have to be refrigerated. And of course, we’re already doing a great job of beginning to eat our way through all the food, thus creating more refrigerator space. It doesn’t take long for food to disappear around here.

How blessed are we? Plenty to eat, plenty to share.

Do you want to hear about the end of my butter famine now?

Remember how we talked about the high cost of butter and how my supply was running low? Many of you shared the same situation occurring where you live. So have you been able to find some good butter deals now that it’s holiday season? I hadn’t until this week. Wednesday when I was in Lincoln, I made a stop at Aldi and bought 12 pounds for $2.49 each since that’s the best I’d seen it in a very long time. Back home two days later, I found a $2.49 price match for Challenge Butter (a great brand which is normally $5 a pound!). Plus I had a couple of 50¢ off coupons. I bought another dozen pounds, and then I saw that there are 55¢ off coupons inside each box!

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I’m pretty sure I am going to be weird and open every single box, cut out all the coupons, then go back before the sale ends to get another dozen with the coupons. It’s Challenge Butter that I can get for $1.94!! So what if I’ll have 48 loose sticks of butter in my freezer? There’s nothing weird about that. Nothing at all.

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Those pictures don’t do my butter-filled freezers justice. They only show part of my madness. Basically, I’ve just stuffed butter boxes in every nook and cranny of any space in my freezers that I can find. It feels so good to have an abundance of butter again. The holidays can now commence.

We started off our Thanksgiving break with little gifts. I couldn’t help it. Our boys are into crazy socks, and Elias and I found some fun Christmas socks in Lincoln after a follow-up doctor appointment for him Wednesday. (You can guess that those cat socks are for Malachi.) I found a free printable Thanksgiving candy wrapper which I prepped to go with the socks. Here’s the link if you want to make some (candy wrappers, not socks).

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The boys have their first homeschool basketball game tonight. I can’t wait to see them play, but I’m almost more excited to see all the moms I rarely get to see except for during basketball season. I love how God has provided these families and the friendships that come with them. 

The rest of the week, we have plans to watch movies, play Settlers of Catan, eat loads of food, kick back, and unfortunately, do a few math lessons that we’re behind in. With tiny bit of school work and a big bit of fun, hopefully the math won’t seem too bad! I even bought take-and-bake pizzas to make my load easier.

Are you taking a break during Thanksgiving week? Traveling? Staying home? Buying lots of butter?

Have a great weekend!

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2-Ingredient Cranberry Sauce ~ It’s Too Easy

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cranberry sauce

Why? Why do we make it hard? And the most important question of all, who loves how the cranberry sauce from the store plops out of the can and remains forever in the shape of the can? How do they do that, anyway?

Don’t answer that. I already know. It’s made with gelatin. I could make my cranberry sauce with gelatin too, if I wanted. It might be kind of fun, actually. I could use a tin can to make a cranberry sauce mold and I could plop it out on Thanksgiving morning. It would bring back fun memories of my childhood, because that was one of my favorite holiday jobs. I could re-live that suction sound it made as the jellied variety of cranberry sauce came out of the can. That would be way, way, way better than my memories of the sound a can of biscuits makes when it opens. I can’t even handle thinking about that one. (I’m a canned biscuit big baby scaredy cat chicken.)

So homemade cranberry sauce. It is so easy. I’d never even made it before last week because I figured it might be hard. Really, Laura? You put cranberries and sugar in a pot and you cook it for a few minutes to create cranberry sauce. Well, I had no idea.

This recipe is a total no-brainer. It’s as easy as Stir-and-Pour Bread. In fact, this sauce tastes very good on top of a slice of that particular bread. I promise to continue to make all of our real food cooking as easy as possible.

Please note though that while this is easy and made with real food – this recipe is very full of sugar. I tried to cut down the sugar – you know – to prove like so many other recipes that all the sugar is ridiculous. Unfortunately, this dish mocked me to my face. (Literally, to my very puckered up face.) It was like, “I dare you to cut the sugar down and not make weird faces. Go ahead. Try it. Heh. Nice face.”

Fine. My face was unbecoming. Make this cranberry sauce of the low sugar variety at your own risk. Keep your camera handy. Your cranberry sauce face photos will be a delight for years to come.

Whatever your sugar content choice, I promise you will love how ridiculously easy this side dish is to make. I will be making mine a couple days before Thanksgiving so that I can simply pull it out of the fridge to serve. I got my fresh cranberries for 99¢ so I was very excited. You probably wanted to know that.

2-Ingredient Cranberry Sauce

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2-Ingredient Cranberry Sauce ~ It's Too Easy
 
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Ingredients
  • 1½ cups fresh cranberries (12 ounce bag)
  • ⅓ to 1 cup sucanat or sugar
Instructions
  1. Rinse cranberries.
  2. Combine cranberries and sucanat in a small sauce pan.
  3. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes. Your work here is done.
  4. Place cranberry sauce in a serving dish, cover, and refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.

Ten Minute ~ Two Ingredient Cranberry Sauce

Make this several days before serving if you wish. Yes! It is another make-ahead dish to save you time on Thanksgiving or Christmas (or some Friday in February). Add this recipe to your Getting Ahead for the Holidays Check-List.

Have you tried making Cranberry Sauce? Ever tried it low sugar? Whoa. Who loves the canned, jellied cranberry sauce suction plop? Ah, the memories.

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While I’ve got you, I am pleased to announce the three Getting Ahead for the Holidays winners of the $25 Gift Certificates good toward any of our eCourses or downloadable items in theHeavenly Homemakers Shop!

  • Jane J.: bnwalker@
  • Shelby: sixforemans@
  • Karen: kloumc21@

Winners, email me (laura at heavenlyhomemakers.com) and I’ll send you a certificate!

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

Getting Ahead for the Holidays ~ My Food Prep Timeline and Checklist

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If I think about it too hard, I will realize that prepping for a holiday meal is an enormous amount of work to put into one forty-five minute eating session. Thankfully there will be fellowship, gratitude reflection, and best of all: leftovers. This work is all worth it because of the leftovers. (I mean fellowship. I only do this for the fellowship.)

Getting Ahead for the Holidays means that most of my hard work is complete by Thanksgiving morning. I can simply rewarm food, put together last minute dishes, and enjoy all my people. That’s the point, after all. Enjoying our people. Reveling in all God has given. Totally being thankful for leftovers. (I can’t help it.)

This year, we will be hosting Thanksgiving with some dear friends, gathering as many into our home as can fit (and then some). I’ve been looking forward to this for weeks. I’ve already started cooking. Sharing the Getting Ahead for the Holidays series with you has helped with my own planning – so thank you! This has been fun!

Getting Ahead for the Holidays Food Prep Timeline and Checklist

Below, I’ve outlined my ideal plan for knocking out everything on my to-do list. Will it all happen exactly according to plan? It never does. At least the list helps keep all my thoughts in one place!

One Week Before Thanksgiving

Two Days Before Thanksgiving

One Day Before Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day

  • Enjoy a large cup of steamy coffee in my recliner for a very long time (because I can)
  • Everyone on their own for breakfast (probably cereal)
  • Mix dry ingredients together for Stir-and-Pour Rolls (for easy, no-brainer mixing about an hour before meal time)
  • Set out butter to soften for rolls
  • Plates, silverware, cups, and napkins set out

About 1 1/2 hours before serving time, I will bake or re-heat prepared foods. I will make gravy. I will bake the rolls. I will speak complete sentences and have actual conversations while doing this. I will. (Well, I’ll get back to you on that.)

Here are the quick links to all the recipes we covered in this series:

I would love to hear what all you are planning to prepare ahead this holiday season!

Getting Ahead for the Holidays

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