Author Archives: Crystal Brothers

About Crystal Brothers

Crystal Brothers is a daughter of the one true King, wife to a forest ranger, and homeschooling mama to 2 rambunctious little boys. She is so thankful for God's grace and that His mercies are new every morning. She blogs at Serving Joyfully, where it is her goal to encourage and equip women to serve God and their families with a joyful spirit.

Quick and Easy Delicious Donuts

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Great treat for family night or a weekend breakfast--quick and easy delicious donuts!

 

Our family is on a real food journey. This means that most of what we eat is made from real, whole, quality ingredients and not chemical-laden, processed foods.

However, there are still a few things that just scream comfort, and this is one of those things.

In our family, Fridays are “fun night.” We have something fun for supper and watch a family-friendly show or movie. Sometimes we make something extra fun for dessert like these donuts. “Real” donuts have their place and I love those too, but there is just something special about these biscuit donuts.

If you haven’t tried them, you are in for a real treat!

Quick & Easy Biscuit Donuts

What you need:

  • 1 Can of regular canned biscuits (10 ct)
  • Granulated sugar
  • Oil (for frying)
  • Deep Fryer (worth the investment for the ease, but not required)

What to do:

  1. Preheat oil to 350 degrees. (if you’re using a regular skillet, just fill skillet with 2 inches of oil and heat on med-high heat.
  2. Open biscuits and remove from can. Form biscuits into shapes. For “donuts,” I simply use the round end of a wooden spoon to poke a hole in the middle and then work it a bit to widen the hole. For the “holes,” I simply tear a biscuit into 3-4 pieces and roll them into loose balls.
  3. Once you have your donuts and holes ready, and the oil is thoroughly heated, you’re ready to fry them. Gently place donuts in hot oil (be careful!), cooking them on each side for about 2 minutes, until browned.
  4. Remove cooked donuts and drain onto paper towels, then toss with sugar to coat. We just use plain sugar, but you can also add in cinnamon, use powdered sugar, or make a quick glaze (1 cup powdered sugar + 2 tbsp milk + 1 tsp vanilla).

Enjoy!

signature_crystal

Chocolate Applesauce Muffins

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Chocolate Applesauce Muffins

Earlier this year, our husband gave ourselves a challenge to eat real food only throughout the period of Lent (and hopefully beyond!) We are fed up with the impact that our diets have on our family and health. I was tired of the junk food marketing to kids, and tired of my own disordered eating and food addiction.

So, we decided to do away with processed foods and eat real food only. We’ve had some slip ups during that time, but overall it has been such a wonderful change for our family.

We didn’t cut out sugars, but we limit them and stick to natural ones, which we consider to be maple syrup and honey. This was especially fun since we harvested and cooked our own maple syrup this year!

Anyway, so I have been modifying recipes left and right to accommodate our new eating standards and thought I’d share this one with you today. Don’t let the “real food” or “healthy” labels fool you–these are delicious! They are light, and sweet, but not too sweet.

Chocolate Applesauce Muffins

What you need:

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup cocoa
  • 1 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour (I use white whole wheat)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt

What to do:

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  2. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and maple syrup. Add eggs and beat well. Add cocoa and mix well. Fold in applesauce.
  4. Add dry ingredients to wet mixture and stir until just combined.
  5. Spoon batter into muffin tins and bake at 325 degrees for 25-28 minutes.

Enjoy!

signature_crystal

Slow-Cooker Italian Beef Soup

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Slow Cooker Italian Beef Soup

 

**This post contains affiliate links of our favorite things. At no additional cost to you, thank you for supporting The Busy Mom!**

What you need

  • 1 lb ground beef (I have also used cut up leftovers from a beef roast)
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 small onion
  • 2 can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano
  • 1 package frozen mixed vegetables
  • 2-3 potatoes, cubed
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. pepper
  • 4 cups beef broth (again, I use this from leftover beef roast. If you don’t have that, my favorite is Knorr homestyle concentrated stock)
  • 1 tsp basil
  • 1 tsp parsley
  • 1 cup shell pasta

What to do:

  1. Brown hamburger in a skillet. Mince garlic and dice onion and add those into the hamburger. Cook until hamburger is browned. (If you’re using leftovers, you get to skip this part with the hamburger).
  2. Add all ingredients to crockpot, except pasta.
  3. Cook on low 6-8 hours, adding in pasta for the last 20 minutes and cooking on high.
  4. Note: if you like a “soupier” soup, you can add more broth.

Our whole family loves this soup! I serve it with my as-good-as-Olive-Garden breadsticks.

Love isn’t Just for Valentine’s Day

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Love is not just for valentine's Day | The Busy Mom

I’ll admit it. I am one of those sappy girls. I grew up reading romance novels and Christian Historical Romance is still my favorite genre. I love a good love story.

As you might expect, I love Valentine’s Day. It’s not about the gifts or a fancy date (we sometimes don’t have either), but there is just something heartwarming to me about a day set aside just for that mushy, gushy stuff.

But, there is one teeny, tiny problem with a day set aside just to celebrate love.

For me it’s kind of like Christmas. I love that there is a day set aside to celebrate the birth of our savior. But if we only celebrate Jesus and His birth that one day, we’re doing it wrong.

The same is true for Valentine’s Day. I love that there is a day set aside that we celebrate love, but if I’m only showing my love to my husband on that day, I’m doing it wrong.

I read a post recently about a couple who boycott Valentine’s Day. Now, being that I love Valentine’s Day, I don’t think that’s necessary. We don’t need to boycott the day that has become a celebration of romantic love.

Maybe a better way would be to live it all year long.

When I think about celebrating Valentine’s Day, I don’t necessarily think about fancy dinners and expensive gifts. I think about showing an active love. Being just a little bit more thoughtful, appreciative, and kind to our spouses on that special day.  So, here’s an idea…let’s pretend every day is Valentine’s Day.

What if we took the effort we put into our relationship at Valentine’s Day, and applied it all year long.

Maybe it means that we wake up every morning asking, “What can I do to bless my husband today?”

Maybe it means that I take the time to tell him, “Thank you” for the things he does for our family.  Or give him a kiss goodbye as he leaves for work, or greet him with a glad-to-see-you smile when he comes home from work at night.

Maybe it means leaving him little love notes to find in his car or throughout the house every now and then and not just at Valentine’s Day. In fact, in the resources section of my book, I include a list of 101 little things that we can do to bless our husbands.

But at the end of the day, the specifics aren’t very important. What is important is that we make our husbands feel loved and appreciated–every day, and that we recognize it shouldn’t be confined to special occasions.

We need to be intentional in loving our husbands, moms. What are some of the ways you intentionally love your husband?

signature_crystal

Heidi St John Guide to Romance

Dressing for your {Plus-Sized} Body Type

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Plus-Sized Fashion

 

All the way through high school, college, and a bit into married life I was one of those “skinny girls.” I was a healthy weight. I didn’t think about food or weight. I ate what I wanted and never gained a pound.

But then, seemingly all at once, it caught up with me. I’ve shared a bit about my weight struggles on my blog, but to summarize, it’s a battle I’m currently losing, and it’s one of the things I’m most self-conscious about.

My first reaction to my weightier self was to try and hide. I wore bigger, baggier clothes so that I could hopefully hide those extra pounds. But, sometimes those bigger, baggier clothes actually make the extra pounds stand out instead of hiding them. This outfit isn’t doing me any favors!

tbm

So, I wanted to share a few strategies that I have learned to help you visually slim down, even if the scale isn’t your friend lately.

1. Fitted, not frumpy.

Obviously, you need to use some common sense here. Extra tight clothes with extra pounds isn’t a good combo.

However, sometimes baggier clothes just make you appear bigger. In the photos below I’m wearing a looser pair of jeans on the right and a pair of skinny jeans on the left. I have to admit, I’ve always been scared of skinny jeans, and I only bought these because I needed them to wear with my boots. But, once I got them, I was pleased with them. This picture actually makes them look tighter than they really are.

(Note: The tall boots add a slimming effect as well, since they kind of break things up visually)

the busy mom

2. Add a heel

I’m not really a heel person, but adding a couple of inches to your height can have a slimming effect. If you keep your same weight, but add a couple of inches, *bam* you look thinner.

3. Narrow the Focal Point

Vision is a funny thing. If you add something to break up a “wider” picture–a long necklace, a belt, a jacket, an extra layer, etc. you can draw the eyes inward and create a slimming effect. You can see that effect in the pictures below. Yes, I’m still the same size, the but jacket draws the eyes in for a slightly slimmer focal point.

the busy mom

4. Wear layers.

I started wearing a tank top under many shirts back when I was nursing and it just made things easier. It became a habit at the time, but now I do it because it can have a slimming effect. Adding a longer tank top under your shirt can serve to break up the visual (as mentioned above), but it also visually elongates the torso. And again, same width, but it appears longer and therefore slimmer.

the busy mom

5. Cinch it up (add a belt)

Certain loose shirts hang and pouf just right to make you look 20 lbs heavier than you are. At the same time, sometimes when you’re overweight, your waist can tend to get lost. In either of these cases, a belt can help you out. It breaks up the picture to draw the eye toward a focus (the belt and not the extra pounds). It can also serve to give you the visual of having a waistline, even if you don’t really have one.

What are your best tips for minimizing those extra pounds?

Heidi St John Guide to Daylight

Cheesy Bacon Potatoes

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Loaded Mashed Potatoes

I recently received a review copy of the Gooseberry Patch Hometown Christmas cookbook. As always, I was excited to flip through it and read the recipes, tips, and stories. Yes, I love those books!

I was especially excited to see their recipe for “cheese and bacon party potatoes.”  I have made something similar for a while, but my recipe looked something like this: potatoes + some butter + milk until it’s just right. Season with “enough” salt and pepper.  Then add a couple handfuls (or a generous shake of the bag) of shredded cheese and some bacon. Anyone else cook like this??  It works, but it’s not so great for sharing!

However, the similar Gooseberry Patch recipe included some helpful measurements so I was able to use it for a guideline to share my dish with you.

These are fantastic, and easy enough for an everyday family dinner, but they’re also great for pot-lucks and holiday gatherings. I took them to a church fellowship meal recently and brought home a scraped-clean dish.

What you need:

4 c. mashed potatoes
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used a mix of cheddar and colby-jack, I liked to mix things up!)–Divided
1/2 lb bacon crisply cooked (divided)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 c. green onions/chives

What to do:

1. Combine all ingredients, reserving some shredded cheese and bacon, to sprinkle on top. Mix well. I use a hand mixer for this, it’s one of only 2 things I use a mixer for. (the other is meringue, in case you’re wondering).

2. Spread into a greased 3 qt. casserole dish. Sprinkle the top with bacon and cheese.

3. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, until cheese is melted and the top is golden.

Note: You could also use sour cream or whipping cream in place of the milk for a slight variation.

Yummy!!!

Chicken Pasta with Creamy Basil Sauce

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Chicken Pasta with Basil Cream Sauce

 

Sometimes, some of the best recipes come about by mistake. This was just such a recipe.  Picture this: I had decided on spaghetti for dinner. The pasta was cooking away on the stove and the oven was preheating for the garlic bread. I reached into the cabinet for the spaghetti sauce and there was none. Such a rookie mistake, but there I was with spaghetti cooking and no sauce.

I knew I had everything on hand for a cream-based sauce, and they are surprisingly quick and easy. This dish was the result that night, and the entire family loved it.

Ingredients:

1/2 8 oz. package pasta
1 lb. grilled chicken breast
1/2  12 oz package of frozen broccoli
1 can petite diced tomatoes

For the sauce:
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
2 cups milk (2 % or whole)
1-2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1 tsp italian seasoning
salt
pepper

Directions:

1. Cook pasta and frozen broccoli in separate pans. I used spaghetti since that’s what I already had cooking, but I would probably use penne noodles instead when I make this dish intentionally.

2. Grill chicken in a skillet (Cut into one-inch pieces and cook in oiled/buttered skillet over medium heat, approximately 5-7 minutes per side until done and no longer pink.). I highly recommend batch cooking when it comes to grilled chicken, and freezing the extra for a quick meal option.

3. Meanwhile, make the sauce. In a 2 quart pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and whisk well. It should be very thick, almost clumpy. If not, add a bit more flour.  Cook the butter and flour mixture for about a minute, whisking constantly.  Add milk slowly, whisking briskly while pouring. Continue whisking until mixture is very smooth. Add Italian seasoning, basil, and salt and pepper to taste.  Stir frequently, cooking approximately 5-10 minutes or until sauce is thickened. If your sauce is overly thick, add more milk a couple tablespoons at a time until it reaches the desired consistency.

4. Combine pasta, broccoli, chicken, sauce, and diced tomato into skillet. Heat through.

5. Serve with shredded Parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

What have been your best “mistakes” in the kitchen?