Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

How to Make Perfect French Toast

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Want to know the secret ingredient that makes Perfect French Toast? How about two secret ingredients? Mhmm, these ingredients are about to become not-so-secret…

I realize that these tricks may be what you’ve been doing all along to make Perfect French Toast. Still, it’s fun to share, just in case. Nothing like taking a delicious and easy breakfast, brunch, or dinner and making it just that much better!

How to Make Perfect French ToastYum

Here are the two tricks I use to take our French toast up a notch:

1. Add Vanilla Extract to the egg mixture.

2. Use Cinnamon Swirl Bread.

The vanilla adds a wonderful flavor to your French Toast. And using Cinnamon Swirl Bread instead of “regular ol’ bread” is a huge game-changer for the better. THIS MAKES FRENCH TOAST SO GOOD!!

I used to always make Cinnamon Swirl Bread at home. I started using:

  1. This Cinnamon Swirl Bread Recipe, then switched to an easier method which turned into:
  2. This Stir-and-Pour Cinnamon Swirl Bread Recipe

But now that we’ve added little ones to our home again and I find myself juggling my bigs, my littles, my marriage, my home, my work, court dates, case worker visits/meetings, appointments, my own health – well…

I happily and un-guiltily buy the cinnamon swirl bread.

Does it need to be said? Ok. Let’s review:

God is bigger than store-bought bread.

Amen.

Hallelujah.

However you would like to make your Perfect French Toast, with whatever bread works best for you, go for it and enjoy! But oh making it with Cinnamon Swirl Bread does make it so much better!

Perfect French Toast

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How to Make Perfect French Toast
 
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Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 10 slices of Cinnamon Swirl Bread
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 Tablespoons cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Butter for cooking French Toast
  • Fruit and Real Maple Syrup
Instructions
  1. In a bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, and vanilla extract.
  2. Heat butter in a skillet until melted.
  3. Dip bread into the egg mixture, coating each slice entirely.
  4. Fry each coated slice of bread in the buttered skillet until both sides are golden brown.
  5. Serve with real maple syrup and fruit

What about making homemade vanilla? Goodness I would but is the price of vanilla beans ever going to go back down?? C’mon beans. We need you. And we need you to cost less than our sons’ college tuition.

Have you tried using Cinnamon Swirl Bread when you make French Toast? And do you add a little shot of vanilla? Mmm, so good.

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The Easiest Chocolate Fudge Recipe

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This Easiest Chocolate Fudge recipe is for real. I’ve never made an easier fudge recipe! (And you’ll love that these ingredients are REAL!)

You may notice that this Chocolate Fudge recipe looks strangely similar to our Chocolate Fudge Pie recipe. That’s because it is the exact same recipe minus the pie crust.

What can I say? One recipe always turns into another around here! It something works well for one recipe, it often makes sense that it will work well with a few minor adaptations. So it is with this Easiest Chocolate Fudge recipe.

When I first made the pie variety, I poured a little extra pie filling into a dish without a crust. It cut into pieces just like fudge, tasted amazing just like fudge, and so here we are with a recipe for the Easiest Chocolate Fudge.

Food really isn’t as hard as we like to think that it is. (This Simple Real Food Recipes Cookbook proves it. If you don’t already have it, you need it!! This will save you so much time and energy while you feed your family great meals!)

I figured you might need this fudge recipe this Valentine’s day as you make special treats for your special people. Use any chocolate chips you like best – milk chocolate, dark chocolate, bittersweet chocolate. So delicious!

Easiest Chocolate Fudge RecipeYum

The Easiest Chocolate Fudge Recipe
 
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Serves: 40
Ingredients
  • 10-ounces chocolate chips
  • 4 Tablespoons butter
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
Instructions
  1. In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate chips and butter together.
  2. Once melted, whip the chocolate mixture and the cream with beaters or in a high power blender (like a Blendtec) until smooth and thick.
  3. Pour mixture into a 9x9 inch pan.
  4. Chill for at least two hours before cutting and serving.

Chocolate Hint:

Do yourself a favor and order any of the Cocoa Powders, Chocolate Chips, or Chocolate Chunks from Olive Nation. (And use the code home to get 20% off!) I can’t tell you what a wonderful difference these cocoa powders and chocolate chips 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.

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

Best Dips for Your Super Bowl Party

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Here are the Best Dips for your Super Bowl Party.

I watch football exactly once each year. Scratch that. I eat dip and pretend to watch football exactly once each year.

At our house, we’re a little bit more into soccer (actual futbol, thank you and good night). But we all still love a good Super Bowl party because of the fun it offers with friends. As it turns out, a lot of people really like watching football. They scream a whoop at the TV just like I do when I’m on the sidelines watching a good soccer game.

Sometimes they’re veins bulge at their neck and their faces turn funny colors. Football games bring out a side of my friends I don’t see on a regular day. So perhaps I could say that I like to watch my friends watch football. While I’m eating dip…

Dip is the reason for the season. Super Bowl parties were invented so people could eat dip!! I’m just sure of it.

Football lovers and Chip Dip lovers – unite! This fun event provides a win-win for all of us! (Not that I can guarantee that your favorite team will win. But the dips – we all win with dip. Heh.)

Best Dips for Your Super Bowl PartyYum

  1. Easy White Queso – My Current Favorite!
  2. Simple Bean and Cheese Salsa Dip
  3. Creamy Chocolate Fruit Dip
  4. Creamy Italian Veggie Dip
  5. Cream Cheese Salsa Dip
  6. Bacon Ranch Chip Dip
  7. French Onion Dip
  8. Bacon Tomato Dip
  9. Black Bean Salsa
  10. Easy Veggie Dip
  11. Healthier Cheese Dip 
  12. Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip
  13. Nacho Cheese Pretzel Dip
  14. Easy Guacomole
  15. Easy Cheesy Bean Dip
  16. Hamburber Sauerkraut Dip
  17. Cream Cheese Fruit Dip

What are your favorite Super Bowl snacks? Who loves dip as much as I do?!

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Instant Pot Taco Pasta (Stovetop or Crock Pot Options)

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I’ve already shared my Taco Pasta recipe in both Crock Pot and Stovetop varieties. Recently I created an Instant Pot Taco Pasta variety that is a must-have!

If you don’t have an Instant Pot, I do highly recommend them for the time and energy you’ll save in the kitchen! I love mine!! I have this one…do consider investing!

As you know, I love having hamburger meat cooked ahead of time to pull out and use as needed for super quick meals. You can read here about how I cook 5-7 pounds of frozen hamburger meat in 30-minutes in my Instant Pot.

So, if I have hamburger meat already prepped ahead, it is super easy to throw this Taco Pasta into my Instant Pot and have our meal ready in 10-15 minutes! I usually serve it with a salad (that everyone makes themselves directly from the container of mixed greens).

Fun fact: one of our babies wants to eat everything we eat, so naturally, he recently also wanted bites of salad we were eating. Matt gave him little bites (plain) and he gobbled it up and kept asking for more. This, with 7 teeth. Not sure how long this will last, but as long as the child eats greens, we shall feed him greens!

But back to this simple recipe:

Instant Pot Taco PastaYum

Instant Pot Taco Pasta (Stovetop or Crock Pot Options)
 
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Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 1 pound ground taco meat (cooked)
  • 16-ounces whole grain pasta (uncooked)
  • 32-ounces salsa
  • 2 cups water
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 cups shredded cheese
Instructions
  1. Stir cooked taco meat, uncooked pasta, salsa, water, and salt into an Instant Pot.
  2. Seal and cook on manual, hi pressure for 4 minutes.
  3. Quick release the pressure.
  4. Stir mixture.
  5. Stir in cheese and serve.

 

Don’t have an Instant Pot? No problem! Here are other options for you!

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Want more Simple Real Food Recipes? We’ve got a beautiful cookbook full of them!

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Quick and Easy New Year’s Snacks and Treats

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Need some quick and easy New Year’s snacks and treats? We’ve got a great list of fun recipe ideas for you!

Yum

This time, we’re going to focus on finger foods. After all, on the final day of the year, who wants to use a fork? We’ve done that for 364 days already this year. At this point, we just.can’t.handle.picking.up.a.fork.

And also? Finger foods are more fun on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Right?

My personal preference is to make several fun snacks and treats, then pull them out onto a buffet so we can all munch and graze while we play games, hang out, and visit. Here are some of the ideas I’m working on for this year:

Quick and Easy New Year’s Snacks and Treats

And for some added fun, may I suggest that you brew some coffee and have bowls of these set out for people to add to their mugs?

For the record, I will be making an enjoying these finger foods, but I will not be staying up until midnight. You?

Happy New Year!

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Super Soft Chocolate Cookies

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If I told you that these Super Soft Chocolate Cookies taste a little bit like an Oreo, would that make you want to try them?

The good news is that they won’t make your teeth all Oreo-y like Oreos do. (Don’t try and picture it. Oh wait, you just did.)

And of course, these are made with real food ingredients and I don’t know what Oreos are made with. So these Super Soft Chocolate Cookies are a win in every way!

My kids found that they like turning them into actual Oreos by frosting them. Well, I guess they’re still not actual Oreos because they are my homemade, real food version. But with the frosting, they taste almost exactly like an actual Oreo.

Tell me I haven’t made you all want to eat Oreos now?!

Just make these cookies, and your craving will subside. They stir up quickly and bake in 10 minutes. So you can have your Oreos – um, Super Soft Chocolate Cookies – in less time than it takes to go to the store to buy purchased cookies!

Super Soft Chocolate CookiesYum

Super Soft Chocolate Cookies
 
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Serves: 20
Ingredients
  • ½ cup melted butter
  • ½ cup raw sugar or brown sugar
  • ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs
  • ¾-1 cup whole grain flour (I use freshly ground soft white wheat)
Instructions
  1. Cream butter, sugar, and cocoa together in a bowl.
  2. Add baking soda, vanilla, and egg - stirring until well combined.
  3. Add flour and mix well. (Start with ¾ cup then add more if needed.)
  4. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place on a cookie sheet.
  5. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes until cookies are barely set.
  6. Remove cookies from oven and allow the cookies to stay on the pan for at least 10 minutes so they will firm up.

What’s on your holiday baking list this year?

Chocolate Hint:

Do yourself a favor and order any of the Cocoa Powders, Chocolate Chips, or Chocolate Chunks from Olive Nation. (And use the code home to get 20% off!) I can’t tell you what a wonderful difference these cocoa powders and chocolate chips 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.

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

Easiest Chocolate Fudge Pie Recipe

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Your holiday season is about to get so much better! Introducing: Easiest Chocolate Fudge Pie!

The idea for this Chocolate Fudge Pie just came to me. The ingredients involved can’t help but be amazing together.

See, I had a baked pie crust sitting empty on my countertop begging to be filled. There seemed no other option but to fill it with something chocolate. College students would be joining us for lunch that day, and I already had Pumpkin Pies prepared.

Basically, I threw these ingredients together and hoped for the best. Hesitantly (but kind of selfishly, because I wanted some, ha!) I didn’t add extra sugar after I melted the chocolate chips. Would it be sweet enough for college kids to enjoy? We were heading to church soon so there wasn’t much time for me to contemplate.

Melt the chocolate and butter, whip in the cream (with the ease of my beautiful Blendtec), pour it into the shell, slide it into the fridge to chill for lunch.

OH MY CHOCOLATELY GOODNESS.

The college students raved about it! Apparently it was plenty sweet enough for them (even though not only did I not add extra sugar, I also used dark chocolate – who knew?!).

Truly, I don’t think there’s a pie recipe that’s as easy as this one. Certainly not one that turns out something so fudgy and rich. You will LOVE this Chocolate Fudge Pie. I highly recommend adding it to your holiday dessert table!

Easiest Chocolate Fudge Pie RecipeYum

Easiest Chocolate Fudge Pie Recipe
 
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Serves: 1 pie
Ingredients
  • 10-ounces chocolate chips
  • 4 Tablespoons butter
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 9-inch pie crust
Instructions
  1. In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate chips and butter together.
  2. Once melted, whip the chocolate mixture and the cream with beaters or in a high power blender (like a Blendtec) until smooth and thick.
  3. Pour mixture into a prepared pie crust.
  4. Chill for at least two hours before serving.

Need some pie crust recipes?

Chocolate Hint:

Do yourself a favor and order any of the Cocoa Powders, Chocolate Chips, or Chocolate Chunks from Olive Nation. (And use the code home to get 20% off!) I can’t tell you what a wonderful difference these cocoa powders and chocolate chips 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.

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

Whole Grain Pumpkin Bundt Cake

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Don’t let the “whole grain” part of this Pumpkin Bundt Cake scare you. If you use the right kind of whole grain, no one is the wiser.

I prefer to use freshly ground soft white wheat when I make cakes like this. The flour is light and fluffy, acting much like all-purpose white flour. I love it! (Here are more posts sharing about grinding flour and choosing the right grain.)

You might notice that this recipe is quite similar to my Pumpkin Breakfast Cake recipe. See, the fun thing about recipes is that you can simply tweak them just a little, pour them into a different type of baking pan, and create a whole new treat!

Need a bundt pan? I have this one, and it sure makes holiday baking more fun!

Whole Grain Pumpkin Bundt CakeYum

Whole Grain Pumpkin Bundt Cake
 
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Serves: 16
Ingredients
  • 3 cups whole wheat flour (I used freshly ground soft white wheat)
  • 1 cup sucanat or brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 cups pureed pumpkin (or one 16 ounce can)
  • 1 cup melted coconut oil (or butter)
Instructions
  1. Whisk all ingredients together until smooth.
  2. Pour into a well-buttered bundt cake pan.
  3. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
  4. Allow cake to cool for 15 minutes before removing it from the pan.
  5. Glaze with any of the tasty frosting recipe options below.

Glaze or Frosting Recipes

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces softened cream cheese
¼ cup softened butter
3-4 Tablespoons real maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

With a hand mixer (or in your blender), whip together all ingredients until smooth. Spread over cooled cake.

Stevia Sweetened Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces softened cream cheese
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Liquid stevia to taste (I use 2 droppers full)

Whip ingredients together until smooth. Spread over cooled Cake.

Orange Glaze

¼ cup orange juice
¼ cup honey
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract

Whisk ingredients together until smooth. Drizzle over cooled cake.

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Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Bread

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Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Bread is a huge hit!

One of my favorite things to do is to text my college-age son and tell him to invite friends to eat lunch with us on Sunday after church. So here’s how this works:

  1. Justus texts friends to invite them for lunch, then he tells his friends to invite friends too.
  2. His friends invite friends, and they are welcome to invite others too.
  3. We never know who is going to show up for lunch, and it is always a blast!

Often I’ll be in the kitchen putting the final touches on the meal while college kids pour into the living room. I walk out to greet them and get to be surprised every time by who was able to come!

I am often asked, “But how do you know how much food to make?”

Well, I don’t. ;) But God does. There’s always plenty, and I can always pull more from the pantry or freezer to stretch out each meal. In addition, if I’ve made lots and lots of food and not many are able to come for the day, that means we have extra food to share with sick or struggling friends throughout the week.

What does all this have to do with Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Bread?

I recently served this fun bread on a Sunday afternoon to our college guests along with Taco Soup and a buffet full of sides. This bread was gone within minutes! The chocolate chips are the main attraction, but if you ask me, the cream cheese is the most valuable player in this recipe. You’ve got to try it!

Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip BreadYum

Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Bread
 
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Serves: 1 large loaf
Ingredients
  • ½ cup melted butter
  • 8-ounces softened cream cheese
  • ½ cup sucanat or raw sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 2 cups whole grain flour (I use freshly ground soft white wheat)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. In a large mixing bowl or in a powerful blender (like a Blendtec), whip together butter, cream cheese, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and milk.
  2. Add flour, baking powder, and salt.
  3. Fold in chocolate chips.
  4. Pour batter into a well-buttered 9" loaf pan.
  5. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Tip: How about making batches of this bread to give as gifts this holiday season?

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

Simple Ham and Cheese Soup

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One of my favorite ways to cook is to turn leftovers into a brand new meal. That’s how this Simple Ham and Cheese Soup came to be.

Did you see the recipe I recently posted for Easy White Queso? I simply took that recipe, added three more ingredients, and turned it into a most delicious and flavorful soup!

But you don’t often have leftovers, you say? Oh, I hear you. That’s why I often double recipes so that I create leftovers on purpose! That way we can have a Taco meal with White Queso one night, then have Simple Ham and Cheese Soup the next night with very little effort!

Simple Ham and Cheese SoupYum

5.0 from 2 reviews
Simple Ham and Cheese Soup
 
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Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 8-ounces cream cheese
  • 16-ounces pepper jack cheese
  • ¾ cup sour cream
  • 1 cup half-and-half or whole milk
  • 10-ounce can Rotel (diced tomatoes and green chilies)
  • 1 pound ham, diced or cut into small bites
  • 3-4 cups frozen hashbrown potatoes
  • 32-ounces chicken, beef, or vegetable broth
Instructions
  1. Whisk the cream cheese, pepper jack cheese, sour cream, half-and-half, and Rotel together in a large pot over medium heat until cheeses are melted and mixture is smooth.
  2. Add diced ham, potatoes, and broth.
  3. Cook and stir until soup is bubbly and potatoes are tender.

For the record, I don’t add garnish because as pretty as that is, who has time for garnish? So when I make this, it looks just like what you see in this picture except for the pretty green garnish. #realmom

Note: If your family doesn’t prefer much spice, substitute your favorite cheese (cheddar or Colby jack maybe?) for the Pepper Jack cheese. You can also skip the Rotel. We prefer both the Pepper Jack and the Rotel for the awesome flavor those add to this soup!

What to serve with Simple Ham and Cheese Soup

Need some ideas for tasty breads to serve with this soup? Here are a few ideas:

Want More Simple Recipes?

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