Everyday Food for Busy People
I firmly believe you do not need the latest and greatest in kitchen equipment to be a good cook. However, there are a few essentials and some fun items that are nice to own. Since Christmas is coming, I thought I’d share some ideas with you. Some of these are on my wish list and some are things I own that I think you might like as well.
KitchenAid 4-1/2-Quart Stand Mixer, White
Hamilton Beach 33967 Set ‘n Forget 6-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker
Since Thanksgiving is later this week, I thought I’d share some recipe ideas instead of the regular Menu + Grocery list.
Pumpkin Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Old Fashioned Spice Cake with Caramel Glaze
I had a great time cooking on Saturday and hanging out with some of you who were also getting things done in the kitchen. We gathered on Facebook for a Virtual Cooking Party. It was a lot of fun and now I’ve got a freezer full of cooked chicken, soup, meatballs and more.
If you missed the party on Saturday, but would still like to do a little virtual baking, plan to be part of Liz’s Virtual Baking Party on Wednesday morning. We’ll be gathering on the Hoosier Homemade Facebook page to talk, bake and share ideas.
Today, I’ve got a free printable Holiday Meal Planner for you. If you’re the cook for a Holiday feast this year, this will come in handy. I’m a big believer in using lists when I’m cooking a big meal.
Lists keep me from forgetting to make the sweet tea or finding a fruit salad in the fridge after the dinner is over and everyone has gone home.
Last week, we talked about make ahead party food. Liz posted this cheese ball recipe that can be frozen.
For the first week of the series, I posted 4 snack mixes that require no baking and no cooking. Liz shared Hot Cocoa and Tea gifts in a jar.
How will you celebrate Thanksgiving? Are you the main cook for the day?
I like keeping these seasoned and herb salts on hand to cook with. I’ve shared the recipe for homemade seasoned salt before. This version makes a larger batch and is tweaked just a bit.
Use the seasoned salt just like you would any other seasoned salt. I like using it in pasta dishes, on grilled meats and even on zucchini.
There are two ways to combat the crazy-busy whirl that is the holidays.
We’re going to focus on the second one this week. I’ve got some ideas here for foods that can be made ahead and frozen. And on Saturday, we’re getting together on Facebook for a Virtual Cooking Party for holiday prep. If you’ve got time, I’d love for you to pop in over there to cook and visit with us. We’ll gather on the main Facebook page. I’m looking forward to getting a lot of prep work done myself! On November 16, Liz from Hoosier Homemade is hosting a Virtual Baking Day so you’ll have another chance to get some prep work done for the holidays.
This little tip was mentioned by Loretta, one of my readers.
You can use a timer (the kind you use for Christmas trees, lamps, etc. Find them in the hardware section.) to set your slow cooker. It isn’t quite as good as a programmable slow cooker, but it is very close.
And it’s perfect for slow cooked oatmeal. I set it to start about 3am and at 7am breakfast was ready, without being overcooked.
Another cool tip, mentioned by a reader (I can’t remember who!) – Walmart now has Rival 2 quart slow cookers on sale for just $4! I bought one, especially for fixing oatmeal. It’s a fantastic price. The same thing on Amazon costs $20 or more.
Happy cooking!
So here’s the story – The Prep and Planning series that I’m doing with Liz from Hoosier Homemade starts today and we’d decided to do homemade gift ideas from the kitchen for the first week.
Friday night came and I knew I had to come up with an idea for today’s post. I had nothing. Squat nada. Zilch.
But, a tiny bit of holiday magic happened and I woke up Saturday morning with the idea for snack mix in jars.
Not totally original, maybe, but I think it’s the perfect idea. I had no time to bake or cook. I’m a no-fuss gift giver. I’m not good at beautiful, well planned gifts.
This is perfect for me! Everything looks better in a Mason jar, right?
Ever since I put these together on Sunday afternoon, my family has been munching on them. I had to beat them off with a stick until I could take the photos.
I’ve got 4 snack mix ideas here, but use these just as a jumping off point. Feel free to do your own thing. I really wanted to do a Circus Mix with iced animal cookies, colorful marshmallows, peanuts and…whatever else sounded good. I also think a Coffee Break Mix with chocolate covered coffee beans and other stuff sounds great. Use your imagination and invent your own. Or use the ideas below.
Bonus: There’s a free printable to go with the Hollywood Mix. I bribed my daughter into making it for us and I think she did a great job!
Here are the 4 mixes, all jarred up and looking cute.
Fall is here!
My taste buds are set for anything with apples, cranberries, caramel, or pumpkin. I’m ready to eat soups and stews and chicken pot pie.
In fact, I just couldn’t stop thinking about all of the recipes I love to make at this time of year. So, I’ve gathered them all up into one big, gigantic list of deliciousness that is Autumn!
I hope you find some inspiration here. Make something and celebrate these crisp fall days with your family. [Read more...]
Judging from the comments, this is a series that hits close to home for many of you. Juggling kids, activities and dinner can be difficult. But it can also be done, with a bit of planning.
So far, we’ve covered packing meals, grocery store meals that can be put together in a quick buzz through the store, and rockin’ the slow cooker.
Today, we’re talking super-quick meals you can cook in just minutes.
We all have meals we can make quickly. You know the kind. Your family likes it and you can make it with your eyes closed.
Make a list of those meals. Post it in a visible place, like the inside of your pantry door. That way, when you come in with hungry, frazzled kids you know exactly what you can fix. Minimal thinking required.
Be sure to keep all the ingredients on hand for those meals. If you know you’ve got the makings of a 15 minute meal at home, it will be much easier to drive right past the fast-food places.
One spin through a fast-food restaurant sets my family back at least $20, often a bit more. And that’s with sharing fries and only ordering water to drink. I can make dinner at home for less than half of that and often have enough leftover for lunch the next day.
Once a week = $80 per month = $960 per year!
Twice a week = $160 per month = $1920 per year!
Have you been trying to save for a big ticket item? Are you eating your vacation/new furniture/debt reduction little by little each month?
My fastest meals can be found in my ebook, Feast in 15.
Meals like Garlic Lime Shrimp and Italian Nachos are fast to fix, but taste like you spent lots of time cooking.
Much better and cheaper than drive-thru.
Want to save a little bit more? Use the code DrivePlayFeed for a 20% off discount, bringing the price to just $3.99!
Whoever invented the slow cooker should be held in high esteem, right up there with the inventor of the Ziploc bag.
You can make your slow cooker work even harder for you by choosing the perfect recipe to coordinate with your day. What do I mean by that?
Well, some days you may only have 5 minutes to throw food into the slow cooker.
Some days, you need the recipe to cook all day long. Not every meal will hold up to that.
And some days, not only will you not be home to cook dinner, but some members of the family will need to eat before you get home. I’ve found on nights when Jim or the older kids are going to have to fix it themselves, it needs to be ready to go. No veggies or rice or pasta to cook to go with it. It’s got to be simple and done.
With all of that in mind, here’s a list of meals to fit each category. If you want to check out all the slow cooker meals on my site, click the recipe box at the top of the page.
