Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Easy Whole Grain Chocolate Pancakes

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This recipe is so easy I’m not sure why we haven’t been making this for years and years. Not to spoil the punch-line, but it is a fact that we can make Whole Grain Chocolate Pancakes simply by whisking some unsweetened cocoa powder into our pancake batter. Yup, it’s that easy!

I’ve always loved fresh berries and whipped cream on my pancakes, but on Chocolate Pancakes? Be still my heart.

Or on another day, I might spread homemade peanut butter over my chocolate pancake for a fabulous chocolate peanut butter combo. You know, for the added protein. Yes, that’s why I do it. ;)

The topping possibilities for these Easy Whole Grain Chocolate Pancakes are endless, and I love the fun and ease of turning regular pancakes into a chocolate surprise.

I always have a big container of Homemade Pancake Mix on hand, so making a batch of these pancakes is even easier! Here’s how I make these:

Easy Whole Grain Chocolate Pancakes

Easy Chocolate Pancakes
 
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Serves: 4 servings
Ingredients
  • 1 cup whole grain flour (I use freshly ground hard white wheat)
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • OR 1 Cup Pancake Mix**
  • 3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 cup cultured buttermilk or regular milk
  • 1 egg
  • 3 Tablespoons melted butter (or oil)
Instructions
  1. Whisk together the ingredients until the batter is smooth.
  2. Cook pancakes on a well buttered, hot skillet or griddle, flipping once bubbles begin to form.
  3. Serve with real maple syrup, applesauce, jelly, fresh fruit, or any of your favorite pancake toppings.

Recipes for you!

Here are our favorite pancake toppings:

Resources for you!

  • Do yourself a favor and order any of the Unsweetened Cocoa Powders from Olive Nation. (And use the code home to get 20% off!) I can’t tell you what a wonderful difference these cocoa powders have made in my chocolate recipes. The quality is MUCH better, and they do not cost more than I was spending on the lesser varieties. Rock on!
  • Do you have our **Simple Mixes to Save the Day eBook yet? Grab it so you can save time and energy by using the Pancake Mix for this recipe!! I LOVE having these mixes on hand!!!
    Simple Mixes that Save the Day
    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

What are your favorite pancake toppings?

The BEST Treats Sweetened with Honey

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Technically, any treat can be sweetened with honey. But here are 20 of our family’s favorite easy recipes that call for honey.

Looking to use honey in recipes instead of sugar? I typically use 1/2 the amount of honey compared to the called for amount of sugar. And depending on the recipe source, I often cut it down even more than that. You’re not a bit surprised, are you?

20 of the BEST Treats Sweetened with Honey

  1. Chocolate Frosting (Honey Sweetened – Low Sugar!)
  2. Honey Peanut Bars (These are like a Payday candy bar, only better tasting and better for you.)
  3. Honey Pecan Pie
  4. Mudballs (Aww, one of the first recipes I shared here at HeavenlyHomemakers.com!)
  5. Peanut Butter Chocolate Granola
  6. Peanut Butter Honey Bars
  7. Peanut Butter Honey Fudge (3-ingredients, and so much fun!)
  8. Peanut Butter Raisin Balls
  9. Stir-and-Pour Honey Oat Bread (So easy to make, and it is HOMEMADE BREAD!!)
  10. Easy Peanut Butter Honey Granola
  11. Honey-Sweetened Flourless Peanut Butter Bars
  12. Chocolate Cheesecake Fudge
  13. Honey-Sweetened No-Bake Cookies (Go therefore and make these cookies!)
  14. Honey-Sweetened Peanut Butter Cups (These are a lifesaver when I need a fast protein/fat fix.)
  15. Honey Cinnamon Muffins
  16. Easy Pecan Pie Bites (Perfect for every holiday, and possibly every other Thursday.)
  17. Honey Zucchini Bread
  18. Honey Whole Wheat Bagels (I haven’t had time to make these for a while, and I miss them. So good!)
  19. Honey Whole Wheat Bread
  20. Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Treats

Have crystalized honey? Here’s how to remedy that.

Need a good source for honey? I love getting it from local sources. But when supply is short, I often order it from Azure Standard for a good price!

Where do you find good honey for your family?

Simple Make-Ahead Parmesan Burgers

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I’m not sure if you’re keeping track or not, but this is the third variation I’ve shared in two weeks using the exact same recipe. Woohoo for easy versatility! Today we’re taking our Simple Make-Ahead Parmesan Meatball recipe and basically smashing the mixture into Simple Make-Ahead Parmesan Burgers. Are we smart or are we smart?

The idea came to me as I was working ahead to make a bunch of Parmesan Meatballs for the freezer. Either I got tired of scooping out meatballs, or I got a brilliant idea. It might have been both. After scooping out about 2 1/2 pounds of meatballs, I decided to abort my meatball endeavor. I took my remaining mixture and formed it into burger patties. I froze them, then we pulled them out to fry another day.

Fantabulous!

Might I recommend that you make these Simple Make-Ahead Parmesan Burgers with a side of Sweet Potato Fries or Simple Seasoned Potato Wedges?

Simple Make-Ahead Parmesan Burgers

Simple Make-Ahead Parmesan Burgers
 
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Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 2 pounds ground beef or turkey
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 Tablespoons dried minced onion
  • ½ cup shredded (or grated) parmesan cheese
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
  1. Mix all ingredients together until well combined.
  2. Press together burger-sized patties.
  3. Fry in a skillet or on a grill for 8-12 minutes or until the meat is no longer pink.
  4. Serve right away, or refrigerate or freeze cooked burgers to easily reheat for a meal later.
  5. OR, freeze the prepared raw burgers, thaw as needed, and fry as directed.

Want Parmesan Meatballs instead? Or would you prefer Saucy Parmesan Meatballs? Nothing like getting 3-meal-varieties from one recipe!

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Simple Saucy Parmesan Meatballs

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If it seems too simple, that’s because it is. Today I am sharing what is so obvious, you probably already thought of it yourself. Still, it is worth taking the time to mention the idea to take the Simple Make-Ahead Parmesan Meatballs, add sauce, and make the meatballs into a brand new meal of Simple Saucy Parmesan Meatballs!

Oh how I love food that is versatile like this. When we can make one recipe, but turn it into whatever we need it to be – now THAT is a recipe to keep in our back pockets!

Like literally. Print this out and put it in your back pocket. Later, you’ll reach in and say, “Oh! I have something in my back pocket. Could it be a $5 bill I forgot about? No? It’s a recipe for Simple Make-Ahead Parmesan Meatballs? Well that’s even better than surprise cash!”

Yes, that is exactly the scenario that will happen when you put this recipe in your back pocket.

Now my friends, watch and see how easy it is to make a delightful (and ridiculously obvious) variation to our newly beloved Simple Make-Ahead Parmesan Meatballs. We shall now add sauce, serve them with our favorite pasta, and make everyone in our family very happy. But no one will quite be as happy as we are because we are the ones cooking the food and we are the happiest about the ease of this recipe idea!

Simple Saucy Parmesan Meatballs

Simple Saucy Parmesan Meatballs
 
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Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 1-2 pounds of pre-made Parmesan Meatballs*
  • 16-ounces of our favorite pasta sauce (red or white!)
  • 12-ounces cooked pasta
Instructions
  1. Reheat or bake meatballs* as directed.
  2. Pour sauce over meatballs and simmer until heated through.
  3. Serve over your favorite prepared pasta. OR
  4. Serve with rice or potatoes if you like!

* Here’s our recipe for Simple Make-Ahead Parmesan Meatballs.

Another of our favorite ways to enjoy these Simple Saucy Parmesan Meatballs? With this 10-Minute Instant Pot Mac and Cheese. Along with a salad and veggie, of course.

Want More Simple Recipes?

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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.
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Simple Make-Ahead Parmesan Meatballs

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Who gets excited about something silly like Simple Make-Ahead Parmesan Meatballs? This girl. Indeed, I get very, very excited.

I like beef. I like meatballs. I like anything that can be made ahead of time. No. Scratch that. I LOVE anything that can be made ahead of time. And if it’s also made from beef, well, that makes me one happy girl!

You can make this recipe ahead and store the meatballs in the fridge or freezer UNBAKED. Or you can PRE-BAKE up a huge batch and pull out a few as needed to reheat quickly. This recipe is flexible to meet your family’s needs!

Simple Make-Ahead Parmesan Meatballs

Simple Make-Ahead Parmesan Meatballs
 
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Serves: 16-20 meatballs
Ingredients
  • 2 pounds ground beef or turkey
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 Tablespoons dried minced onion
  • ½ cup shredded (or grated) parmesan cheese
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
  1. Mix all ingredients together until well combined.
  2. Scoop any size balls out onto a cookie sheet (I use a large scoop).
  3. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes or until the meat is no longer pink.
  4. Serve right away, or refrigerate or freeze baked meatballs to easily reheat for a meal later.
  5. OR, freeze the prepared meatballs UNBAKED, thaw as needed, and bake as directed.

I love serving these Simple Make-Ahead Parmesan Meatballs with:

Meals like this are truly satisfying, extremely delicious, and still very simple to put together!

Want More Simple Recipes?

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Join Simple Meals!

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Simple Meals Yearly Subscription
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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.
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Simple Popcorn Chicken Tacos

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Here’s an idea for you. Make extra Popcorn Chicken to serve in tacos for a super simple meal! Popcorn Chicken Tacos are surprisingly good and of course, super fun.

Here’s our very easy, very delicious Popcorn Chicken Recipe. I love making a double, or triple, or quadruple batch of this chicken and then freezing it to reheat at another time for a super easy meal. As an extra fun variation, I reheat it and we use it to build tacos any way we like!

Simple Popcorn Chicken Tacos

Simple Popcorn Chicken Tacos
 
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Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 1 pound pre-made popcorn chicken*
  • 8 whole grain flour or corn tortillas
  • Fresh taco fixins like tomatoes, lettuce, black beans, sweet peppers, corn, cilantro, onions, salsa, olives, etc
  • Shredded cheese
Instructions
  1. Rewarm popcorn chicken.
  2. Prepare taco fixins and set out a buffet for each person to build Simple Popcorn Chicken Tacos per their preference!

*Find our Simple Popcorn Chicken recipe here.

Want toasted tortillas? Simply warm them in a skillet over low heat for about 1 minute on each side until they turn lightly brown and barely crispy!

Want More Simple Recipes?

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Join Simple Meals!

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Simple Meals Yearly Subscription
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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

Simple Popcorn Chicken

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There is no popcorn involved in the making of this Popcorn Chicken. You can simply pop it into your mouth as if it is popcorn, and it is definitely coated in butter. But otherwise, it is nothing like popcorn. So sorry for any confusion.

This Popcorn Chicken recipe was one of the very first I shared here back in 2009. I’m sharing it again today and adding it to our Simple Recipes list because this is one of those recipes we all need in our hip pocket!

You can make these ahead and freeze them. You can eat them in a variety of ways. They are super kid-friendly, which is a plus whether you have kids or not. (What? Some grown-ups really like kid-friendly recipes, am I right?)

This Simple Popcorn Chicken tastes good hot or cold. I do prefer it hot, but made ahead and packed cold in a lunch box? Still great!

We love eating this Popcorn Chicken as-is with a few fruits and veggies on the side. But it’s also amazing in a tossed salad!

Simple Popcorn Chicken

Simple Popcorn Chicken
 
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Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 3-6 large boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
  • ¾ cup whole grain flour (I use freshly ground white wheat, but you can use any flour you like!)
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • butter
Instructions
  1. In a medium-sized bowl stir together flour, salt, and garlic powder.
  2. Using kitchen shears, cut chicken into tiny bite-sized pieces.
  3. Toss chicken in flour mixture to coat well.
  4. Smear a thick layer of butter on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
  5. Pour coated chicken into the dish, spreading so that they are in a single layer.
  6. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes. Stir chicken and bake another 10 minutes.

Need some dipping sauce to go with your Simple Popcorn Chicken? Here are our favorites:

Want More Simple Recipes?

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Simple Meals Yearly Subscription
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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

Simple 5-Minute Shredded Chicken

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Just in case you have forgotten this truth, here it is again: Cooking meals for our families does not have to be a difficult job. This Simple 5-Minute Shredded Chicken is going to drop-kick the “cooking is hard” lie straight out the window.

Even if you don’t enjoy cooking, you can make this. Even if you don’t have time to cook, you can make this. Even if you can’t afford to spend much on groceries, you can make this. Even if you forgot to thaw meat, you can make this. Even if the idea of making a homemade meal brings tears to your eyes – wipe your tears, find 5-minutes, and make this. Even if you’re allergic to poultry…oh wait. That one is for real. If that is the case, please don’t make this.

To sum up, unless you are allergic to birds, there is no reason you should not make this (overuse of negatives, anyone?). Just make the chicken.

Let’s take a moment to get excited together about why making this Simple 5-Minute Chicken is a fabulous idea:

  • It takes 5-minutes of “work.” This was obvious, but worth shouting about because no one can even go through a drive-thru in 5-minutes.
  • You can make several meals worth of this chicken at the same time, storing it in the fridge or freezer, then pulling it out to add to meals as needed. This means that if you make 3-meals worth of this chicken at once, your 5-minutes of effort turns out 1.6666-Minute Chicken. #mathintherealworld
  • If you have made this chicken ahead of time and you are storing it in your fridge, you now have ready-made chicken which has now become 0-Minute Chicken.
  • Simple 5-Minute Chicken tastes really good and it is real food. We can’t say that about all convenience food, now can we?

Please note that the following recipe is barely a recipe. I am here to make your real food cooking life EASY. Simply get out chicken and get out spices. Place in crock pot, sprinkle, plug in, walk away, enjoy.

Simple 5-Minute Shredded Chicken

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Simple 5-Minute Chicken
 
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Serves: 2-3 meals
Ingredients
  • 3-pounds boneless chicken thighs or breasts
  • Any seasonings you like (I use garlic powder, sea salt, paprika, and parsley flakes)
Instructions
  1. Place chicken in a crock pot and sprinkle with any herbs or spices you like.
  2. Cook on low for 4-5 hours.
  3. Shred chicken to use in any of your favorite recipes or to serve in tacos, or even as a main dish as-is!

How to use your 5-Minute Chicken

Add it to:

Or eat it plain with veggies on the side. So easy and delicious!

Having Alfredo? Just add Simple 5-Minute Shredded Chicken…

Want More Simple Recipes?

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Join Simple Meals!

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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

 

Real Food Recipes That Include Natural Peanut Butter

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Peanut butter is a great source of healthy fat and protein, but also, it just tastes delicious. Pair it with chocolate, and all we need is a glass of milk and a smile. Today we’ve got 40+ Real Food Recipes that Include Natural Peanut Butter. But first, let’s talk about making homemade peanut butter. It’s incredibly easy!

Real Food Recipes That Use Natural Peanut Butter

As my life has become more full (ha, I didn’t think that was even possible!) – I’ve stopped making every single food from scratch. I’m looking at you Homemade Ketchup and Homemade Hashbrowns. But Homemade Peanut Butter? I can’t not make it. The homemade version is just too incredible. So I take 5-pounds of peanuts and spend the time turning them all into peanut butter. One mess, 6ish jars of homemade peanut butter. Fast, easy, and WORTH IT.

Here are the tutorials for making peanut butter. Be amazed at how easy!

Now we’ll take that peanut butter and turn it into any of these 40+ recipes!

Real Food Recipes That Include Natural Peanut Butter

See that recipe up there for Homemade Peanut Butter Captain Crunch? Ha! I’d forgotten about that one! If I’m not taking the time to make ketchup or hashbrowns anymore, I’m certainly not taking the time to make Peanut Butter Captain Crunch. But you’ve gotta admit: It’s fun to see how it’s possible. And it is super delicious.

What are your favorite ways to use Peanut Butter?

Easy Low Sugar Peanut Butter Cheesecake Balls

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I served these Low Sugar Peanut Butter Cheesecake Balls to a group of college kids, wondering what they would think since they were made with stevia. Five out of five college students were none the wiser, and declared this treat to be delicious. After all, how can we go wrong when cream cheese, peanut butter, and chocolate chips are the main ingredients?

I love having several jars of Homemade Peanut Butter on hand to use in quick recipes like this one. And of course, I like having several packages of cream cheese in the fridge, seeing as cream cheese makes everything better.

By the way, have you tried this Simple Cream Cheese Corn yet? Just when you think sweet corn can’t taste any better than it already does, you add cream cheese and it turns into a plate full of amazingness!

But back to the Peanut Butter Cheesecake Balls. Our 5-year old Bonus Boy and I were looking through Pinterest (a dangerous idea when you’re hungry) and found a recipe similar to this one. Since I had all the ingredients on hand to tweak it into a healthy treat for us, he and I got started mixing these up right away. Success! And according to college kids who didn’t know these were on the healthier side, no one can tell these are low in sugar. Double success!

Easy Low Sugar Peanut Butter Cheesecake Balls

Easy Low Sugar Peanut Butter Cheesecake Balls
 
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Serves: 15-18
Ingredients
  • 8-ounces softened cream cheese
  • 3 Tablespoons creamy natural peanut butter
  • 20 drops liquid stevia
  • ½ cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Stir cream cheese, peanut butter, and stevia together until well combined.
  2. Scoop out small balls of the mixture and roll the balls into a bowl of chocolate chips to coat them.
  3. Chill balls for at least one hour before serving.

Here are some quick links to some of the finer ingredients in this recipe:

Want more Low Sugar Treat recipes?

Low Sugar Treats, the Real Food Way
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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