family friendly Archives | Heavenly Homemakers

Easy White Chocolate Chip Muffins

February 10, 2019 by Laura Leave a Comment

My Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffin recipe has been a family favorite at our house for years and years. One day I decided to make them extra special by subbing regular chocolate chips for white chocolate chips. It’s a simple, genius idea, taking these muffins from something special to something even more special! Ahh, life’s simple pleasures. Get ready to give these Easy White Chocolate Chip Muffins a try!

Not all white chocolate chips are created equal. Some are full of hydrogenated oils, so I avoid those. Allllll of them are full of sugar. That’s what makes them taste good. That and the cocoa butter. Therefore, just don’t eat the whole batch of muffins by yourself and all will be well! :)

I like to order my White Chocolate Chips in bulk from Olive Nation. (By the way, use the code home and they’ll give us a 20% discount!) The white chocolate chips freeze well, so I keep them on hand and pull them out to use as needed. (Yes, because white chocolate is apparently a need. It ranks up there with coffee and other essentials.)

Easy White Chocolate Chip Muffins

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Author: Laura

Serves: 12

Ingredients

2 cups Muffin Mix** or...
1½ cups whole grain flour
⅓ cup brown sugar or sucanat
⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 egg
½ cup milk
½ cup sour cream
¼ cup melted coconut oil
½ cup white chocolate chips

Instructions

Scoop Muffin Mix or measure dry ingredients together in a bowl.
Add egg, sour cream, milk, and melted coconut oil, stirring until ingredients are combined.
Fold in chocolate chips.
Scoop batter into 12 prepared muffin tins.
Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

**Do you have our Simple Mixes to Save the Day eBook yet? Grab it so you can save time and energy by using the Muffin Mix for this recipe!! I LOVE having these mixes on hand!!!

Simple Mixes that Save the Day

Get our 7 amazing whole grain, low sugar mix recipe - from brownies to breads! Use them to make 22 varieties of delicious, simple baked goods for your family and guests!

Price: $7.95

Be sure to grab white chocolate chips from Olive Nation and take advantage of the 20% discount they offer! (Use the code home at checkout for the discount.) And while you’re there, pick up some of their cocoa powder to go in these muffins. It is so good!!

Some of these links are my affiliate links.

Simple Cheeseburger Noodle Crock Pot Dinner

February 7, 2019 by Laura 1 Comment

Ready for a deliciously easy Crock Pot meal? This Simple Cheeseburger Noodle Crock Pot Dinner is a hit for everyone at our table. But mostly it is a hit with me because it’s so very easy to make!

The more I put my mind to learning simple, real food cooking methods, the better my kitchen life has become! I’ve stopped peeling potatoes (Yukon Gold, baby). I’ve quit thawing meat (I’ve stopped trying to remember). And if at all possible, I’ve stopped boiling noodles (life’s too short). What kind of lazy cook have I become, anyway? Ah, no. I prefer to call it being a smart cook!

I think it is delightful to drop dried pasta into my crock pot along with a few other ingredients, then come back a few hours later to a dinner that’s ready to be served. The creaminess of this recipe is what makes it so popular. And if you want to save a few dollars, skip the meat in this recipe. It’s delicious either way!

Simple Cheeseburger Noodle Crock Pot Dinner

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Author: Laura

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

1 pound hamburger meat
1 small chopped onion OR 3 Tablespoons dried minced onion
12-ounces UNCOOKED whole grain egg noodles
2 cups sour cream
30-ounces tomato sauce (2 cans)
1 cup water
Sea salt and pepper to taste
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon parsley flakes
2 cups shredded cheese (we like cheddar or Colby jack)

Instructions

In a skillet, cook hamburger and onion together until meat is no longer pink. Drain if necessary.
Stir cooked meat along with all other ingredients into a crock pot.
Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours.

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Simple (Mostly Real Food) Tator Tot Casserole

January 31, 2019 by Laura 12 Comments

Is it possible? Am I actually going to present you with a Tator Tot Casserole? Yes, and I feel no shame. I have purchased the tator tots and I have put them onto a casserole and I am sharing the recipe with you here today.

I was able to simply adapt the original recipe I was given many years ago to turn it into a mostly “real food recipe.” No cream of mushroom soup here! Still just as delicious. Everything in this casserole is wholesome and good. But the tator tots on top? I dumped them right out of the bag and I ignored the ingredient list and well, that is all. I just did.

Remember that one time I experimented and came up with a way to make Homemade Tator Tots? Who even was that girl anyway? She sure was ambitious! And fun and creative. But now? Well, I just don’t spend my time making tedious recipes anymore. And typically I don’t use packaged ingredients in recipes. But I got a hankering for my childhood favorite Tator Tot Casserole and I just went for it!

Tator tots aside, everything else in this recipe is created from whole foods and great ingredients. They are likely ingredients you already have on hand, which makes this a simple and fun meal to serve your family.

This recipe freezes well, so while you’re making one Tator Tot Casserole, you might as well make two or three. Then you can freeze the extras for a meal on a busy day!

Simple Tator Tot Casserole

Simple (Mostly Real Food) Tator Tot Casserole

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Author: Laura

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

1½ - 2 pounds hamburger meat
1 medium onion or 3 Tablespoons dried minced onion
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Sea salt to taste (we find it takes quite a lot of this good salt to provide good flavor in this meal!)
4 cups cooked green beans
3 cups sour cream
3 cups shredded cheese (we use Colby jack)
3 cups tator tots

Instructions

Brown hamburger meat with onion, garlic, and salt.
Mix cooked meat with green beans and sour cream and spread mixture into a 9x13 inch casserole dish.
Spread shredded cheese over the mixture.
Top with frozen tator tots.
Bake in a 425 degree oven for 30-40 minutes or until bubbly.

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Easy 4-Ingredient Peanut Butter Truffles for Valentine’s Day

January 29, 2019 by Laura 3 Comments

Not that we can’t make a treat like this any day of the year. It’s just that these Peanut Butter Truffles seem best served as a special Valentine’s Day treat. Perhaps we should make a trial batch here in January though? And maybe remind ourselves how to make them sometime next April? Then again in August. All that to say, who am I to tell you when to make these truffles? I totally and completely support your truffle-making choices.

I love how easy these are to make. I love that the only sugar in them is what is already in the chocolate chips. I love the peanut butter-chocolate combo. I love…well, love. So see? These are perfect to make for Valentine’s Day!

Easy 4-Ingredient Peanut Butter Truffles

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Easy 4-Ingredient Peanut Butter Truffles for Valentine's Day

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Author: Laura

Serves: 18-24

Ingredients

2 cups milk chocolate chips
½ cup heavy cream
2 Tablespoons butter
½ cup natural peanut butter (I used homemade peanut butter*)
⅛ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (optional)

Instructions

In a saucepan stir together chocolate chips, cream, and butter over medium heat.
Just as the chocolate chips have almost melted, add peanut butter and stir until smooth.
Spread mixture into a pie pan and chill for about two hours.
Cut and roll mixture into 1 inch balls.
Dip balls into cocoa powder if you like.
Place on parchment paper and chill until set.

*I use homemade peanut butter from one of the following recipes:

Peanut Butter (just peanuts!)
Peanut Butter (super creamy – like Skippy or Jif)

Roll these truffles in powdered sugar for a fun variety. And place them into holiday colored mini-muffin liners to make them festive!

Here are many more Low Sugar Treats for you to enjoy!

Low Sugar Treats, the Real Food Way

41 recipes, all made with real food ingredients but without loads of sugar. Learn to make delicious treats that are lightly sweetened and big on flavor and fun!

Price: $6.95

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High Five Recipes

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Simple Cheesy Salsa Chicken – 2 Minute Prep!

January 27, 2019 by Laura 3 Comments

What has kept me from thinking of this idea Simple Cheesy Salsa Chicken before? After all, I’ve been on a grand mission to use the same basic, real food ingredients in all different ways to create a variety of easy-to-throw-together meals. And yet, it never occurred to me to put chicken and salsa together, then stir in some cheese?

It’s like the idea was too simple to even become an idea. But aha! We have thought of it, it has become a wonderful idea, and now we can put dinner together with 2-minutes of “work.”

You may recall the Simple Crock Pot Salsa Shredded Beef idea, in which we put a frozen (yes, frozen!) roast into the crockpot and dump salsa on top. It cooks itself, falls apart like magic, and tastes amazing in tacos, burritos, salads, or simply on a fork. Now let’s take that same idea and use chicken instead.

Frozen chicken, to be exact. Unless you are the type to actually remember to thaw your meat. Thawed meat works well too. Some of us are underachievers who cannot handle thinking of and walking to the freezer hours before meal prep time. We feel ridiculous about this weakness, but it is what it is. Dinner arrives at the table just the same because we have learned ways to compensate for our lack of meat-thawing skills. We have accepted that thawing meat is not our gift. We have moved on.

Therefore, we take frozen, boneless chicken and put cook it with salsa until it falls apart. We eat it with joy, and because of this, we are never motivated to remember to thaw meat again.

Simple Cheesy Salsa Chicken

Simple Cheesy Salsa Chicken - 2 Minute Prep!

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Author: Laura

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

2 pounds boneless chicken thighs or breasts
2 cups salsa
1 cup shredded cheese (we like Colby jack best, but any will work!)

Instructions

Place chicken and salsa into a Crockpot, Instant Pot, or cooking pot.
Crockpot: Cook on low for 7 hours.
Instant Pot: Seal and cook on manual at high pressure for 10 minutes.
Stove Top: Cover and cook over low heat for 20-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked thoroughly and shreds easily.
Once meat is cooked, shred or cut into chunks and serve with cheese on top.
Serve over cooked rice or tortilla chips or a bed of lettuce.

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Simple Meals Yearly Subscription

Your yearly subscription equips you with a 52 week's worth of meal plans, grocery guide, recipes, and bonus tips! Your Simple Meals plan will arrive in your inbox each Thursday morning.

Price: $52.00

3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Treats

January 15, 2019 by Laura 4 Comments

I will admit to you that I find it silly to write “3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Treats” as a title. Why? Because all three ingredients are listed in the title, so the title is basically the post.

There’s nothing else you will possibly need to know since obviously, to make 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Treats you need peanut butter, honey, and Rice Krispies. My job here is done.

Ah, but wait. You still don’t know how much of each ingredient to use to make these fine treats. I guess you still need me after all. Phew.

I had a lot of fun playing with this idea to try Rice Krispie Treats without the marshmallows. It all made sense and tasted delicious in my head, but recipes in my head and recipes in real life don’t always turn out the same.

Would they be gooey chewy like I was hoping, or would they turn out hard like bricks and crumble everywhere? Would they be sweet enough? Or maybe too sweet? Would they even stay together, or would they just fall apart and turn into peanut butter honey flavored Rice Krispie cereal?

One never knows until one tries the recipe inside one’s head while hoping for the best. How delighted was I when this recipe came out chewy gooey good on the first try! (It helped that I stirred in cereal just a little at a time until I reached my desired gooeyness level.) The peanut butter – honey – crunch combo reminds me of a childhood treat that included ingredients I no longer use. So I am perfectly thrilled with these awesome 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Treats and can’t wait for you to try them too! (Bet you can’t guess what the 3 ingredients are…)

3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Treats

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Author: Laura

Serves: 12

Ingredients

1 cup natural peanut butter*
⅓ cup honey
2½ cups Rice Krispies (the off brand works great!)

Instructions

In a large saucepan, stir peanut butter and honey over low heat until runny and smooth.
Remove from heat and stir in Rice Krispies.
Press mixture into a 9x9 inch baking dish.
Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

*I use homemade peanut butter from one of the following recipes:

Peanut Butter (just peanuts!)
Peanut Butter (super creamy – like Skippy or Jif)

Want more great recipes that call for 5 or fewer ingredients? Grab our most popular eBook!

High Five Recipes

Price: $9.95

15 Family Favorite Real Food Soup Recipes

January 13, 2019 by Laura Leave a Comment

I shared this list last year, and felt it was worth sharing again! I added all the latest to this list, so here are 15 Family Favorite Real Soup Recipes!

Before we talk soup, first, let’s talk Broth. Here’s my tutorial on making Chicken Broth on the stove-top. In addition, here’s my tutorial on making Beef Broth on the stove-top. I actually like making Beef Broth more often, simply because it doesn’t require the tedious task of boning a chicken. But that’s just me trying to save time in the kitchen. :)

UPDATE: I’ve started making broth in my Instant Pot, which truly is easy and a great time saver! That has become my go-to method of broth making!

And now, who’s ready for some awesome soup recipes?

15 Family Favorite Real Food Soup Recipes

Hospitality and Soup

As much as possible, we enjoy inviting college students over on Sundays after church. We tell our sons (our oldest two are students at York College) to invite whoever they want, so we never know who might show up on our porch. It’s a blast! Of course, we now also have several regulars who come every Sunday that they are available, and now they are inviting their friends too! So when I make soup for such gatherings, my soup pots are large. :)

In case you’re curious, and I’m sure you must be, the favorite soups our local college students enjoy are:

These are the simplest to prepare, and they are always a hit. As an added bonus, the Chicken Soup with a Kick and the Twenty Minute Taco Soup are allergy friendly (if I leave out the cheese), so everyone can enjoy them without issue.

What to serve with the soup?

I’m glad you asked. When we have guests, here are some fun ideas for what to serve alongside our soup!

Love, smiles, and good conversation – Not to be cheesy, but if we serve nothing but soup, and spend time loving our guests, that truly is all that matters).
Muffins – Here are many ideas and recipes!
Fresh fruit, with or without dip – Grapes, strawberries, apple slices, and oranges are always a hit; our favorite fruit dip recipe is this one.
Fresh veggies with or without dip – Find several great dip recipes here.

Enjoy soup. Enjoy hospitality. And take advantage of this!

Winter Survival eBook Package

Save money, get on track with real food eating, get your kitchen organized, and enjoy super family-friendly recipes! You can't pass up this awesome package deal!

Price: $27.75

Price: $20.00

Winter Survival eBook Package 6 for $6!

January 11, 2019 by Laura Leave a Comment

It had to be done. Christmas is over. School is back in session. Sports seasons are in full force. Some of us (who shall remain nameless) actually look forward to washing the dishes so that we can warm up our hands in the hot water. Baby, it’s cold outside. We need a Winter Survival Package!

So we came up with this…

I’m pretty giddy over all that this package offers, so let me dive right in to show you all you will get for just $6.00, total! (Take note that this offer is only good for 6 days. Winter, however, is there to stay for a while.)

What’s in the Winter Survival eBook Package

1. Do the Funky Kitchen, $4.95 value

Hoping to be a little more organized this year? Can’t find the lids to match your favorite Pyrex dishes? Have too many plastic cups falling on your head when you open the cupboard?

Do the Funky Kitchen was one of the very first eBooks I wrote, and the basics of creating a functional kitchen hold fast. Let this fun guide help you get your kitchen organized and ready for simple, real food cooking!

2. Eat Right Away Collection, $8.00 value

This collection is actually a set of four books in one! Each of these mini eBooks walks you through putting together 5 meals in 1 hour for your fridge or freezer. Then you can pull out your prepared food and have a meal in minutes! 20 meals in all, these books not only give you recipes, but they provide you with grocery lists, bonus tips, and instructions to help you be efficient as you quickly put these tasty meals together!

3. 1-2-3 Meal Planning, $5.95 value

Hate meal planning but not ready to join Simple Meals yet? 1-2-3 Menu Planning walks you through the simplest of steps to help every person plan easy and nourishing meals your family will love. Then it gives you 100s of meal plan ideas. Whoa!!!

4. What to do with the Cow in Your Kitchen, $3.95 value

Here’s another of Heavenly Homemaker’s original eBooks from 2007! Have beef? It’s what’s for dinner. What to do with the Cow in Your Kitchen is filled with basic and delicious beef recipes that have been family favorites for years!

5. 30 Real Food Money Saving Tips, $2.95 value

If you’re like me, after the holidays, I’m ready to cut back on spending and use up the great food we already have on hand. This handy eBook contains awesome tried and true ideas from Heavenly Homemakers readers that not only save money, they make real food eating doable and fun!

6. Totally Tortillas, $2.95 value

If you’ve never eaten a homemade tortilla, you are missing out! Totally Tortillas provides you with my family’s favorite whole wheat tortilla recipe, then it gives you recipes and ideas for fun ways to use them. Truly, this tortilla recipe is a must-have and the extra recipes included in this book are a huge bonus. Every family needs this one!

Get all 6 eBooks for $6.00!

Today through Wednesday, January 16 these eBooks (worth $27.75) are packaged together for just $6.00! Total. For all of them. Because winter is upon us and we are cold, broke, and hungry. Or because we simply look forward to learning more about saving money and eating well!

Winter Survival eBook Package

Save money, get on track with real food eating, get your kitchen organized, and enjoy super family-friendly recipes! You can't pass up this awesome package deal!

Price: $27.75

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This $6.00 offer is good through Wednesday, January 16. Purchase your package then watch for an email which contains all 6 books for quick download!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars (Low Sugar, Whole Grain)

January 6, 2019 by Laura 1 Comment

Who needs sugar when you can eat butter? What I mean to say is, these Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars taste lightly sweet and deliciously buttery. What else can we possibly need? (Chocolate chips.) Ah yes. Chocolate chips. Well, I guess we’ve thought of everything.

As many of you know, I’m not much into sugar anymore. But I do like a barely sweet treat to enjoy with my coffee. I’m not terribly picky. I think something is plenty sweet when it is only barely sweet. Much more sweetness than that seems like much too much these days.

My kids think I’m weird about this (and at least a couple of other things) and have become a bit leery of my homemade “super low sugar treats.” If Mom is eating it, it must be one of those weirdo stevia sweetened things and it probably won’t taste as good as a candy bar. I beg to differ, but I also remember being a teen and liking my Twix and Pepsi.

Now then, I guess it’s my job to confess that because of the aforementioned, I have learned to wait to eat my low sugar treats until AFTER I have served some to my sons. The two sons still living at home are the pickiest of our four. (And now we have an almost-adopted son, so I’ll be learning to say five sons instead of four, oh my goodness!)

My picky kids aren’t always willing to try new foods, so I must be wise in how I present them. I am MOM, therefore I know more than they do (about everything except Fortnite). I know very well that they will like the treat if only they try it with an open mind. After all, did I mention the butter? And the chocolate chips? And there’s actual sugar in it, not stevia. It’s just that I cut the sugar from 1 1/2 cups all the way down to just a 1/2 cup.

Just eat the cookie bars, kids.

So they did. And they like them. Shocker.

I snuck one later with my coffee, which made them second guess for a moment if they still liked them. Silly boys.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars (Low Sugar, Whole Grain)

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Author: Laura

Serves: 9

Ingredients

1 cup melted butter (2 sticks)
½ cup brown sugar or sucanat
2 eggs
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole grain flour (I use freshly ground soft white wheat)
¼ cup mini chocolate chips

Instructions

Stir together melted butter and brown sugar.
Add eggs, baking soda, salt, and vanilla, stirring well.
Stir in flour until well combined.
Fold in chocolate chips.
Spread dough into an 8x8 inch baking dish.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
Allow bars to cool for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Are your kids leery to try any of your “healthier foods” for fear you might be serving them something weird? Silly kids.

Here are many more Low Sugar Treats that I promise my kids like, so yours will too!

Low Sugar Treats, the Real Food Way

41 recipes, all made with real food ingredients but without loads of sugar. Learn to make delicious treats that are lightly sweetened and big on flavor and fun!

Price: $6.95

Simple Crock Pot Chocolate Peanut Butter Lava Cake

December 18, 2018 by Laura Leave a Comment

I shared this Simple Crock Pot Chocolate Peanut Butter Lava Cake with you many years ago! Christmas is the perfect time to bring it back, don’t you think?

This recipe looks rather involved, but would I be sharing it if it was difficult? Of course not. :) Putting this together is very simple, and worth every bit of your (small amount of) effort!

Simple Crock Pot Chocolate Peanut Butter Lava Cake

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Author: Laura

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup sucanat or brown sugar
1½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup milk
2 Tablespoons melted butter (or coconut oil)
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup natural peanut butter
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
TOPPING:
3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
½ cup sucanat or brown sugar
1½ cups boiling water

Instructions

Combine flour, cocoa, sucanat, baking powder, and salt. Mix well.
Make a well in the center and add milk, butter, and vanilla.
Stir well, until batter is smooth.
Stir in peanut butter (heat if needed, to thin).
Stir in chocolate chips.
Spread the batter evenly into a well greased slow cooker.
Make the topping:
Mix cocoa and sucanat, whisk in boiling water until smooth.
Gently pour over batter in crock pot, but don’t stir.
Cover and cook on HIGH until puffed and the top layer is set, about 2- 2¼ hours.
Turn off crock pot and let stand, covered for at least 30 minutes.
Serve the cake (which is now on top) with ice cream or whipped cream and drizzle the fudgy pudding from the bottom over both.

Top this awesome cake with freshly whipped cream!

How to Make Fresh Whipped Cream

Want to go a little chocolate and peanut butter CrAzY? Try this on top of your cake: