Wordless Wednesday Ham and Potatoes Sarladaise For Dinner

Ham and Potatoes Sarladaise for Dinner. Click for Recipe Link.

Cravings by Chrissy Teigen 5qt Stainless Steel Saute Pan with Lid Review

We received this product free to facilitate this review and also posted this review on Target as well.

The Cravings by Chrissy Teigen 5qt Stainless Steel Saute Pan with Lid is a gorgeous pan that will become a favorite in your kitchen. It is polished stainless steel which makes it very attractive. It has lovely champagne gold accented stainless handles on both the lid and pot that are corrosion and wear resistant. These are riveted to the pot and lid for extra security. These distinctive touches give it, and other pots in this collection, a certain charm that is unique in my kitchen. I love how stunning it looks on my stovetop.

Bottom of pan has the Cravings by Chrissy Teigen logo stamped into it.

Five quarts is a wonderful size to cook all sorts of food. This is a versatile pan that you can use to sear, sauté, deep-fry, braise, etc. It has a great weight and depth to it as well. I love its clear glass lid that I can view through while I am cooking. The handles stay cool to the touch for safe and easy handling. I can pull off the lid to stir the food or take the pan off the burner straight to the table without hot pads and without getting burned. After Thanksgiving I had a lot of turkey that I decided to make into Turkey Tetrazzini, one pot style. I used this pan to make it in. I found that this is the perfect pan to use for one pot meals, especially for my family of 6.

Turkey Tetrazzini in the pan.

It has an aluminum core which ensures great heat conduction and it cooked everything evenly. It comes with use and care instructions and a delicious looking recipe that I cannot wait to try. In the instructions it says it is dishwasher safe, but hand wash is recommended. The pan has a nonstick coating that will not react with foods so it is tremendously easy to clean. I did notice that it had burn marks on the bottom of the pan after I cleaned it, but in the instructions it gives ways to combat this as well as to maintain luster. It also has a limited lifetime warranty.

Burn/scorch marks from cooking in the pan. These will shine up with the recommended additional methods of cleaning.

I think this pot will become my go-to cookware. It is a lovely addition to my kitchen. I highly recommend it!

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received this product for free to facilitate this review. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review.

MyFreezEasy MyFreezEasy.com Freezer Meal Plan Membership Review

My family had the privilege of trying the MyFreezEasy.com Freezer Meal Plan Membership from MyFreezEasy for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum and family/farm life. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family. Affiliate links are in this post. Thanks for supporting this blog.

Erin Chase, $5 Dinner Mom, is the brains behind $5 Dinners, $5 Meal Plan, Grocery Budget Makeover, FreezEasy, and now MyFreezEasy. She puts out a free weekly email newsletter that I subscribe to where she shares recipes, tips and tricks for getting the grocery budget under control. I have loved these valuable emails and delicious recipes throughout the months. I also follow her blog where she posts recipes, coupon matchups and deals, printable coupons, and more to help save you and I money. Her Grocery Budget Makeover I cannot really vouch for myself as I have not taken this 10-week course, but from reviews I have read it sounds like it really works in cutting your grocery spending in half. FreezEasy is her freezer cooking meal plans that will help you prepare 10 delicious meals to load into your freezer in under an hour. MyFreezEasy is new. It is similar to Basic FreezEasy, but gives you even more control to personalize the plan.

The MyFreezEasy Premium Annual Membership gives you access to the online program and website for a whole year. Each month members have access to all eight meal plans to download: Traditional, Gluten-Free, Slow Cooker, Clean Eats, 20 Meals, All Chicken, All Ground Beef, All Pork Chops. The majority of the months meal plans have 5 recipes that have been hand-picked by Erin for that month. With these plans you make two of of each meal to freeze so that you get a total of 10 meals. These premade meal plans are all set for only 4 servings...so if you need more or less it is wonderful that MyFreezEasy Premium plan has the opportunity to Build Your Own Meal Plans unlike the Basic FreezEasy that only lets you purchase premade ones.



Along with the freezer cooking plan downloads you get a number of bonuses. First, you can also get a overview of the program by going to the How MyFreezEasy Works Resources and Instructions page which includes a how-to PDF, a Favorite Side Dish Recipes E-Cookbook to download, and a link to the Freezer Cooking Workshop videos to get you started. You can also download printable labels for each meal plan (that she recommends be printed on Avery #6874 sticker paper). Each month, they release highlights & tips videos for all 8 new meal plans, along with 1 assembly instruction video for the Traditional Plan in the Video Library. These assist with the production of making the freezer meals.

From the Build Your Own Meal Plans area you could select the recipe by three different aspects on this page: Type of Protein, Cooking Method, and Dietary Preferences. In each of these search categories they have the recipes further narrowed down. In Type of Protein you could pick from Chicken Recipes, Ground Beef Recipes, Other Beef Recipes, Pork Chop Recipes, Other Pork Recipes, Seafood Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes. In Cooking Method you could pick from Slow Cooker Recipes, Dutch Oven or Saucepan Recipes, Baked Recipes, Skillet Recipes, Grill Recipes, and One Dish Meals. In Dietary Preferences you could pick from My Favorites, Gluten-Free Recipes, Dairy Free Recipes, Gluten Dairy Soy-Free Recipes, Paleo/Whole30 Recipes, and Top 8 Allergy Free Recipes.

MyFreezEasy: 1. Search Categories, 2. Select Your Recipes, 3. Print/Download Your Meal Plan

Once you select one of these categories you can pick from the recipes listed in that certain one. You can click on each recipe title to see a popup of the actual recipe and also choose the serving size (2, 4, 6,or 8) in the drop down menu. You can then either drag and drop 5 recipes you want to prepare in the drop box or add them to it with the + sign from the popup of the recipe. You can go back to the main menu and select a different category as well for more recipes. You can also clear the whole drop box list or drag the recipes you don't want out of the box one by one. After you have selected 5 recipes total for the My FreezEasy Recipes drop box with the correct serving size you can hit the Review and Print button. This will take you to another page to see the 5 that you picked for one final look over before you press Print My Meal Plan and Print Labels (which actually downloads 2 separate printable PDF files onto your computer). You can also select Email which emails you the Complete Shopping List by Recipe with handy check boxes beside each item to take with you to the grocery store.

Each meal plan PDF for 5 recipes is laid out for easy instruction. Each one has the Recipes, Shopping Lists (Complete Shopping List by Recipe, Complete Shopping List by Store Section/Category, Freezer Meal Prep Day Shopping List by Recipe, and Freezer Meal Prep Day Shopping List by Store Section/Category), and Assembly of Meals (Assembly Prep Instructions and Meal Assembly Instructions).

Each recipe is laid out well. At the top of each recipe you have the title, yield, active time, cook time, and a small summary. Then it goes into Ingredients for Single Meal, Cooking Directions for Single Meal, Assembly Prep Directions for 2 Meals. Under that there is Freeze & Thaw Instructions, Special Notes, Dairy-Free Modifications, and Gluten-Free Modifications for each recipe.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

We received the MyFreezEasy Premium Annual Membership which gives us access to the online program and website for a whole year! We started the membership back in September and also got access to October's meals this month so far. I made two of each of the 5 meals that I chose for September for the freezer so far. We have access to each month's meal plans as they become available every month. These were easily customized and I really loved that fact.

Freezer Meals -1 that we made for dinner that same night.

Having a family of 6 I couldn't really just go with the premade meal plans because they were all set for only 4 servings. So, I opted to make my own freezer cooking meal plan from the available recipes in the Build Your Own Meal Plans area. For September I made a list of 5 recipes that sounded good to me at the time: Baked Honey Mustard Pork Chops, Ranch Chicken & Baby Potato Bake, Roasted Cod with Pesto, Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Tacos with Mango Avocado Salsa, and Slow Cooker Taco Soup.

I had a few problems with MyFreezEasy...

1. When I went to change the serving size to 6 I think things got a little jumbled. The canned ingredients didn't really convert well and so when the ingredients lists were read, we had things like: 3/4 x 1 15 oz. can(s) black beans...of which I thought was quite awkward and to me really didn't make sense. Also some of the ingredients in the different sections had different amounts, for example, Slow Cooker Taco Soup for 6 says 1/2 cup(s) beef broth in the Ingredients for Single Meal, but for the Freeze & Thaw Instructions it says 2 cups beef broth. This is inconsistent and quite confusing.
2. The My Favorites online didn't seem to work for me. I couldn't add any recipes to it by dragging and dropping them into that section and when I hearted them from the popup recipe they didn't seem to go to that section either.
3. After I baked the Ranch Chicken & Baby Potato Bake I noticed that the potatoes in the dish didn't taste right. From what I am told certain ingredients including raw potatoes need to be blanched before freezing so they maintain their integrity and correct texture. The recipe never mentions blanching and so instead, the potatoes turned out gritty and watery...inedible in my family's opinion. The Ranch Chicken & Baby Potato Bake also took me the longest to prepare for the freezer because of all the chopping of chicken and potatoes (because I couldn't find "baby potatoes"). It also said to get bacon crumbles and I couldn't find these so I made actual bacon and crumbled it myself. This recipe took the longest and was a big disappointment, so I will not be making it again.

Roasted Cod with Pesto (top) and Slow Cooker Taco Soup (bottom)

All in all most the recipes that I prepared and tried were really good. I especially loved the Roasted Cod with Pesto (we made this recipe the same night we put the ingredients for all the recipes together) and the Slow Cooker Taco Soup. These didn't take me long to prepare for the freezer and they were delicious and easy to cook. I am excited to still try the Baked Honey Mustard Pork Chops and the Slow Cooker Shredded Beef Tacos with Mango Avocado Salsa of which were both also very easy to put together for the freezer. I am also excited to try even more meals in the months to come.

The MyFreezEasy MyFreezEasy.com Freezer Meal Plan Membership is well worth the investment in my opinion. Even with its quirks it definitely takes the edge off of finding something delicious for dinner and getting a meal thrown into the oven/crock pot/skillet/grill etc. quickly. The freezer meal prep doesn't take too long either and you can get 10 meals prepared in an hour although I do admit that it took me longer. I highly recommend this to busy parents everywhere.

BUY IT
Basic Monthly is $7 a month. Basic Annual is $77 per year with 1 month free. Premium Monthly is $10 a month. Premium Annual is $95 per Year with 2+ Months Free!! Get Started!

Follow Them on Social Media:
Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/freezeasy
Instagram:  http://www.instagram.com/freezeasy
Pinterest:  http://www.pinterest.com/5dollardinners/freezeasy 
Hashtags: #hsreviews #freezeasy #freezermeals #5dollardinners #freezercooking 

Read other TOS Crew reviews for MyFreezEasy MyFreezEasy.com Freezer Meal Plan Membership...

Weight Watchers Smart Ones Fajitas Meals Review

We received 3 Weight Watchers Smart Ones Fajitas Meals free to facilitate this review.

The Smart Ones Weight Watcher meals have the PointsPlus values right on the packaging so it is easy to know what to watch for. With the PointsPlus program you are encouraged to use those points wisely by maximizing your point allowance. By eating more foods rich in protein and fiber like whole grains and lean meats you will feel full faster and still have all the healthy benefits of a nutritious meal. You are also encouraged to eat more fruit and non starchy veggies. These are low in calories and high in nutrients.

The Principals of Weight Watchers: 

1. Portion control so you can eat the foods you love.
2. Don't skip breakfast! It will start your day out right and manage hunger.
3. Eat a variety of protein rich foods.
4. Whole grains, fruits, and non starchy veggies can help you stay full longer.
5. Choose smarter snack and dessert choices.
6. Have support and knowledge at your fingertips.

I received 3 different Weight Watchers Smart Ones Fajitas: Chicken, Steak and Portobello Mushroom. I wasn't sure how to prepare the Portobello Mushroom one because it had a blank box with a sticker on the side that said what it was and the ingredients, but not the other information. I looked at the other two boxes and they had the exact same preparation on them, so I figured I would also follow these instructions for the Portobello Mushroom ones. These are microwaved meals and the directions were very easy to follow. You even cook the tortillas for 25 seconds to get them warm and yummy to wrap the meat and veggies in. One of these is supposed to be a portion controlled meal. If I just ate one of these meals I would not feel full. I cooked all of them and shared them each with my husband so that I could taste them side by side and see which I liked the best. All of these I think need more tortillas with them because I ran out of tortillas and had to eat the rest with a fork. These were also all very drippy, bring napkins.

The Weight Watchers Smart Ones Chicken Fajitas were the best tasting in my opinion. I loved the grilled chicken flavor. These have grilled white meat chicken with seasoned peppers & onions and a side of rice and beans. Two tortillas are included. This one has 290 calories, 5g fat, 5g fiber, and 16g protein. It is a 7 PointsPlus value.

The Weight Watchers Smart Ones Portobello Mushroom Fajitas turned out too runny in my opinion and weren't cooked all the way through. The juices didn't get properly soaked up in the mix. I zapped them in the microwave for a minute longer and then the veggies, mushrooms rice and beans looked better. The mix was a little tasteless and could have used some extra spices. These have Portobello mushrooms, bell peppers. onions, black beans and corn served with rice and beans. Two tortillas are included. This one has 300 calories, 5g fat, 7g fiber, and 10g of protein. It is a 7 PointsPlus value.

The Weight Watchers Smart Ones Steak Fajitas were really yummy, but I would have liked more steak with the meal. These have beef steak with seasoned peppers & onions and a side of rice and beans. Two tortillas are included. This one has 300 calories, 7g fat, 5g fiber, and 16g of protein. It is a 8 PointsPlus value.

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received product for free to facilitate my review. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review.

Foodie Friday Dinner in a Pumpkin

Dinner In A Pumpkin
This recipe has been a tradition around the time of Halloween or Thanksgiving for my family since I was a very little girl. I love squash in the fall and autumn. Pumpkin is a autumn/winter gourd-like squash and is perfect for this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 large pumpkin (however, needs to be small enough to fit in your oven)
• 1 lb. hamburger (ground beef)
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 3-4 stalks celery chopped
• 1 green pepper chopped (you can also do a mix of equal value green, red and yellow peppers if you have them for extra color)
• 1 container chopped mushrooms
• spoonful minced garlic
• spoonful mined ginger
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 cups cooked rice (can use white, brown or mixed)
• basil for garnish (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut off the top of the pumpkin and scoop out seeds. Save the seeds for yummy roasted pumpkin seed recipes. In a large skillet brown hamburger and add onions, celery, peppers, mushrooms, garlic and ginger. Mix and sauté. Add cream of mushroom soup, soy sauce, brown sugar and rice to other ingredients. Mix well. Add all ingredients to the inside of the prepared pumpkin. Place stem top back on the pumpkin. Put a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet and and put the whole pumpkin on it. Bake for about an hour or until the pumpkin is soft on the inside.

*if you want to make it a Jack O' Lantern as we did for a festive table you can by carving only the top layer of pumpkin skin off in your design and then pealing it off to show the face.

Creative Slow-Cooker Meals: Use Two Slow Cookers for Tasty and Easy Dinners [Spiral-Bound] by Cheryl Moeller FWCT Book Review

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!




You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Cheryl Moeller

and the book:

Creative Slow-Cooker Meals:
Use Two Slow Cookers for
Tasty and Easy Dinners [Spiral-Bound]

Harvest House Publishers; Spi edition (February 1, 2012)

***Special thanks to Karri James, Marketing Assistant, Harvest House Publishers for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Cheryl Moeller is a seasoned mother and a standup comic. She is also a syndicated columnist with her own blog (www.momlaughs.blogspot.com) and contributes monthly to several online parent websites. Cheryl has coauthored two books on marriage with her husband and has written for www.mops.org and Marriage Partnership. Cheryl does comedy for parenting classes, MOPS groups, wedding or baby showers, church retreats, women’s conferences, and those in line at the grocery store.

Visit the author's website.

SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:

From the celebrated coauthor of The Marriage Miracle comes a new kind of cookbook and a new attitude toward planning meals. With an eye toward the whole menu, not just part of it, columnist Cheryl Moeller teaches cooks to use two crockpots to easily create healthy, homemade dinners.

Don’t worry about your dinner being reduced to a mushy stew. Each of the more than 200 recipes has been taste-tested at Cheryl’s table. Join the Moeller family as you dig into:

• Harvest-time Halibut Chowder
• Salmon and Gingered Carrots
• Mediterranean Rice Pilaf
• Indian Chicken Curry
• Apricot-Pistachio Bread
• Shrimp Creole
• Rhubarb Crisp

... and many more! Perfect for the frazzled mom who never has enough time in the day, Creative Slow-Cooker Meals gives readers more time around the table with delicious, healthy, frugal, and easy meals!

Product Details:

List Price: $14.99

Spiral-bound: 272 pages

Publisher: Harvest House Publishers; Spi edition (February 1, 2012)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0736944915

ISBN-13: 978-0736944915

AND NOW...THE FIFTH CHAPTER (click on pages to enlarge):

The "What's for Dinner?" Solution by Kathi Lipp FWCT Book Review

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Kathi Lipp

and the book:

The "What's for Dinner?" Solution

Harvest House Publishers (October 1, 2011)

***Special thanks to Karri | Marketing Assistant, Harvest House Publishers for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kathi Lipp is a busy conference and retreat speaker, currently speaking each year to thousands of women throughout the United States. She is the author of The Husband Project and The Marriage Project and has had articles published in several magazines, including Today’s Christian Woman and Discipleship Journal. Kathi and her husband, Roger, live in California and are the parents of four teenagers and young adults.

Visit the author's website.

SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:

For many women, dread turns to panic around 4:00 in the afternoon. That’s when they have to answer that age-old question, “What’s for dinner?” Many resort to another supermarket rotisserie chicken or—worse yet—ordering dinner through a drive-thru intercom.

In The “What’s for Dinner” Solution, popular author and speaker Kathi Lipp provides a full-kitchen approach for getting dinner on the table every night. After putting her 21-day plan into action, women will

* save time—with bulk shopping and cooking
* save money—no more last-minute phone calls to the delivery pizza place
* save their sanity—forget the last-minute scramble every night and know what they’re having for dinner

The book includes real recipes from real women, a quick guide to planning meals for a month, the best shopping strategies for saving time and money, and tips on the best ways to use a slow cooker, freezer, and pantry.

With Kathi’s book in hand, there’s no more need to hit the panic button.

Product Details:

List Price: $12.99
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (October 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0736938370
ISBN-13: 978-0736938372

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Girl Meets Kitchen, or Not

Necessarily a Love Story

“Happy and successful cooking doesn’t rely only on know-how;
it comes from the heart, makes great demands on the palate and needs enthusiasm and a deep love of food to bring it to life.”

Georges Blanc, from Ma Cuisine des Saisons


I was not the kind of kid who grew up at my mom’s knee, helping her chop carrots for Sunday night’s chicken soup. I never really helped with any meal preparation, preferring to turn my attention in the kitchen to baking. There was always some social event with friends or a youth group party where I needed to bring brownies. The one memorable time I tried to make instant potatoes? Instead of the specified one-quarter tablespoon of salt, I used a quarter cup salt. That incident happened over twenty-five years ago, and I have yet to stop hearing about it from my loving and encouraging family.

Suffice to say, I was a bit ill-prepared for the cooking adventures that lay ahead as I lived on my own for the first time. And to complicate matters? My first apartment was in Uji, Japan, approximately seven thousand miles from my mother’s loving embrace and her pot-roast recipe (as if I could afford beef in Japan).

The recipe cards were stacked against me. No cooking skills to speak of, living in a foreign land where most of the time I couldn’t identify what I was eating much less figure out how it was prepared, a kitchen the size of my coat closet back home, and an oven so small it made me long for the Easy-Bake one of my childhood.

I was terrified going to the supermarket without an escort and a translator. I didn’t speak the language (as a short-term missionary teaching conversational English, speaking Japanese was actually a disadvantage in my job), and as unfamiliar as I was with food shopping in the U.S., shopping in Uji was like watching a foreign movie without subtitles and then having to write a paper on the plot.

Oh, and eating out? So not an option. While my cooking skills were limited, my food budget was near nonexistent.

A few things were easy to recognize. The bread in Japan was amazing. It was buttery and flaky and perfect. And there was some really lovely cheese and ham. So, for the first three months of exploring this exotic new culture, I ate ham and cheese sandwiches every single night for dinner.

As I started to get to know some of my students and coworkers better, I had this urge to invite them over to hang out with me. But I had a sneaking suspicion they would want to be fed. I knew that my students would love some authentic American dishes. The question was, Who would I get to cook them?

Another short-term missionary, Diana, had a cookbook called More-With-Less. This wonderful little book produced by the Mennonite community had tons of recipes that used simple ingredients most cooks would have in their kitchen. While I didn’t have a lot of pantry staples in my four-story walk-up, I was now armed with a grocery list as well as an English-to-Japanese dictionary for my trips to the store.

I started to look for simple things I could make: salads, sandwiches, curries, and mini-pizzas out of English muffins and ketchup. (I promise, my culinary skills and taste have gotten better over the years.) As I grew braver in all things cuisine, I started to ask my mom to send some of my favorite recipes from back home.

In fact, when I threw a Christmas celebration with my friend Spenser in my micro-sized apartment, we managed to make a fondue-potless version of my mom’s Pizza Fondue. Shopping for the ingredients proved challenging, even for Spenser who spoke near-fluent Japanese. After several attempts to translate cornstarch into the native language (One would think corn + starch = cornstarch, right? Wrong. It’s pronounced korunstarcha.), we headed back to my kitchen and made one of the best meals I have ever eaten—lots of tomato sauce, some ground beef, loads of cheese, and just the right amount of korunstarcha.

Pizza Fondue
(Connie Richerson)

½ lb. ground beef

1 small onion, chopped

2 10½-oz. cans pizza sauce (I use marinara sauce)

1 T. cornstarch (or korunstarcha, if you prefer)

1½ tsp. oregano

¼ tsp. garlic powder

2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 loaf French bread

Brown the ground beef and onion; drain. Put meat, sauce, cornstarch, and spices in fondue pot. When cooked and bubbly, add cheese. Spear crusty French bread cubes, then dip and swirl in fondue. This is also delicious with breadsticks. Serves 4 to 6.

From that point on, I was hooked on collecting my favorite recipes. I bought my own copy of More-With-Less when I got back to the States, and when I got married a few months later, I received my very first copy of everyone’s favorite red-and-white-plaid Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, with every recipe an emerging home cook could want.

I think most of us home cooks have a similar story to tell. OK, you probably didn’t have your first significant cooking experience in Uji, Japan, but I bet the first few times you got dinner on the table all on your own, you might as well have been in a different country.

Maybe your mom had you peeling potatoes before you could walk. Maybe you have a rich heritage of recipes passed down from your grandmother. None of our cooking histories are going to look the same, but we do have one thing in common: We all need to get dinner on the table.

I am not a professional cook. Tom Colicchio will never be critiquing my braised kale and chocolate with bacon foam on Top Chef. But over the past twenty years I have put dinner on the table almost every single night. And while my family still likes a pizza from the neighborhood shop, our kids who have left home really look forward to coming back for a home-cooked meal.

That is all the reward I need.

Why This Book?

So, you discovered my deep dark secret—I’m not a professional chef. I don’t have my own show on Food Network, my own brand of spatulas, and I’m not going to be appearing on any morning show making a frittata for Kathie Lee Gifford.

Still, I’m required to feed our large family almost daily. So when I come across a cookbook, I have an unnatural need to own it. I’m always looking for new recipes to keep dinner interesting at our house. I have an entire bookshelf in my kitchen for my ever-growing collection.

But to be honest with you, most of the money I’ve spent on those cookbooks could have been better spent on a good set of knives or a heavy iron skillet.

I have found that most cookbooks are aimed at the fantasy life many of us aspire to—entertaining regularly, having unusual and exotic ingredients on hand, and hours and hours in the kitchen to create these masterpieces, from scratch.

And then there is my reality. Yes, sometimes I like to spend a Saturday afternoon cooking up a big feast for friends and family. But most days? I want to get a delicious, healthy meal on the table quickly.

My test when I’m purchasing new cookbooks? I flip to a half dozen or so recipes throughout the book and ask myself, Can I imagine cooking this recipe in the next couple of weeks? If most of the recipes fail the test, the book stays at the store.

I want the reality. I want dinner on the table every night without being seduced by pictures of stylist-arranged food that—let’s be honest—I’m never going to prepare.

While those books offer up a lot of grilled-chicken-in-a-peanut-sauce-in-the-sky dreams, I need some reality. It’s not just about the recipe; it’s about all the aspects of getting dinner on the table.

By the end of this book, my hope for you is that you will be able to:

save time, money, and energy when it comes to
preparing meals
have less stress when it comes to shopping
get your kitchen prepared for battle
learn some stress-free ways to get dinner on the table
get out of your cooking rut
This book is all about the process, the how of getting dinner on the table. It reflects the collective wisdom of hundreds of women who don’t have prep cooks or a crew of interns trying out new recipes. We are the women who spend a significant part of our days thinking about, shopping for, and preparing dinner. And all these wise, wonderful women are going to show you a better way to get dinner on the table no matter what your cooking background or skill level.

This is the book I wish I’d had when I first started cooking, as well as when I was raising my brood of pint-sized food critics.

Don’t worry, there will be plenty of recipes. We all love to find that one recipe that is going to become a family favorite! But this book has much more than that. My hope is that you will be able to use the recipes you already have, the ones in this book, and the new ones you find along the way to set a big, bountiful table for your family.

Old El Paso Review and Giveaway

I received a kit from MyBlogSpark with Old El Paso taco seasoning in it for free to try out and review. I made the tacos pictured here with it. Old El Paso taco seasoning comes in a packet to use if you want to quickly make a Mexican meal and either don't have all the right taco seasoning mix of herbs and spices at home or don't want to mess with searching for them in your cabinet. Sometimes you just want to make a quick and fairly simple meal for your family. Old El Paso taco seasoning is great for just whipping out a yummy Mexican dish. However; it has Monosodium glutamate (MSG) in it which for some people like my mother isn't a good thing because of being allergic. I really don't think that the MSG is a necessary ingredient. Although the tacos I made with the seasoning turned out really yummy and were quicker to make I think that I will be making them again with my own taco seasoning blend from home next time. While the seasoning blend from Old El Paso isn't as healthy as I'd like I have tried other Old El Paso products like their salsas and taco shells and I love them!!

I did have a lot of fun with my "family taco night" and I will definitely be doing it again really soon. This was my very first time making taco shells myself with just regular corn tortillas. I think they turned out very well :) I just learned how to do it myself on YouTube! Isn't the Internet wonderful!

If your family already loves tacos, why not put "family taco night" on the calendar at least once a month? With a variety of seasonings and other complementary products, Old El Paso offers everything you need for fun nights with the family. Their line up of products includes chilies, dinner kits, dips and sides, enchilada sauce, refried beans, seasoning mixes, shells, taco sauce and salsa. The Old El Paso taco seasoning mix selection includes flavors like Burrito, Cheesy Taco, Chili, Fajita, Taco, Mild Taco and even a seasoning with 40% less sodium.

For a fun twist on taco night, be sure to try one of the delicious recipes below.

* Easy Fish Tacos - Old El Paso taco shells, seasoning mix and taco sauce and battered fish fillets make easy fish tacos.

* Tarantula Tacos - These spook-tacular tacos are great for a Halloween party!

Here are more recipes.

And to keep your family laughing at the dinner table, have some fun with El TacodorTM, the world´s only family taco night game. With El Tacodor, your family can share a special night at home by challenging one another to quick fire trivia, wordplay and pantomime. Visit www.ElTacodor.com today to download instructions, a score card, and a challenge sheet for even more fun on family taco night!

Visit Old El Paso for news and great tips, recipes and more. Take a minute to share family fiesta photos and videos from family taco nights on the El Tacodor Family Spotlight!

In addition, you can visit http://www.myblogspark.com/uc/main/b069/ to download a printable coupon for $0.60 off any two Old El Paso products today!

WIN IT:
Amanda from MyBlogSpark has generously offered another Old El Paso "family taco night" prize pack (includes a packet of Old El Paso Taco Seasoning, a Cactus Chip & Dip Serving dish, a set of 3 Fiesta Chili Pepper serving dishes and a $10 gift card to purchase your taco fixings) to one of my readers to win.

Mandatory:
1. Go to the Old El Paso website and tell me by commenting on this post something that you learned.

Additional entries:
1. Subscribe to my blog by feedburner or by email and let me know which way. (2 extra entries each)

2. Fan/Like me on facebook and write something on my wall. (1 extra entry)

3. Blog about this giveaway on your blog and provide me with the link. Make sure you have the link to this post and Old El Paso in your blog entry or it won't count. (2 extra entries)

4. Grab My Button (see sidebar to the left) AND/OR Put My Blog URL in Your Blogroll - Leave Your Link. (1 extra entry)

5. Technorati my blog and let me know your link. (1 extra entry)

6. Fave me on Momfaves. (2 extra entries)

7. List this giveaway on any giveaway listing website or blog giveaway linky and tell me where you listed it. (2 extra entries)

8. Post this on your Facebook wall, Kirtsy, and/or StumbleUpon. (2 extra entries for each)

9. Comment on one of my regular (not giveaway) posts. (1 extra entry per post you comment on)

10. Follow me on Twitter. (1 extra entry)

11. Tweet this: @finamoon: @oldelpaso WIN Old El Paso "family taco night" prize pack #giveaway #myblogspark http://bit.ly/dCLzNJ (Daily Extras are Available)

12. Fan/Like Old El Paso on Facebook. (1 extra entry)

13. Follow Old El Paso on Twitter. (1 extra entry)

Make sure you leave me your email in all posts so that I can contact you. If you subscribed, blogged about this, listed it, commented on another post, or faved me on Momfaves leave 2 entries saying you did. This contest ends on Friday November 26, 2010 at midnight (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada). This Giveaway is open to all 18 years and over in the U.S. Only!!

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: Old El Paso "family taco night" prize pack, coupon, information and the prize package for giveaway were all provided free by Old El Paso through MyBlogSpark. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review.

Foodie Friday Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts and Guacamole Pasta

I never knew how yummy water chestnuts could be until I had tried bacon wrapped ones that my husband made me when we were newly married. I have made these before as appetizers and love to top different dishes with them as well.

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

Ingredients
8 ounces whole water chestnuts, drained
1/4 cup soy sauce
8 slices bacon, cut in half
toothpicks

Directions:
Marinate water chestnuts in the soy sauce for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375º F.
Wrap each chestnut with ½ strip of bacon and secure with a toothpick. Place the bacon-wrapped chestnuts on a baking cookie sheet.
Bake 25 minutes or until bacon is done and crisp. Remove from oven and drain off excess drippings. Remove toothpicks if topping another recipe with them.

Guacamole

Ingredients:
2-3 ripe avocados
1 onion, minced
2 ripe tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, finely chopped
1 whole fresh lime or lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
A dash of Lawry's Seasoned Pepper
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions:
Cut avocados in half. Remove seed. Scoop out avocado from the peel, put in a mixing bowl. Throw peel away or compost. Using a fork, mash the avocado. Add the chopped onion, chopped tomato, cilantro, lime or lemon, salt, pepper, garlic and cayenne and mix. Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole to prevent from turning brown. Refrigerate until ready.

Meal Directions:
Cook Angel Hair pasta by directions on the package. Top plate or bowl with angel hair pasta, then spread guacamole on top and place 3 bacon wrapped water chestnuts on top of that. Top all that with shredded cheddar cheese. Serve. Enjoy!

Foodie Friday Tostadas

Tostadas

Ingredients:

• A package of Large flour, corn, or wheat tortillas (about 12)
• 2 15 ounce cans refried beans
• 1-2 lb.(s) ground beef
• 2 onions, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp. chili powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped or 2 cans of drained diced tomatoes
• 1-2 chopped or sliced peeled and pitted avocados or guacamole
• 8 ounces grated cheddar cheese or other cheese of choice
• 2 cups of salsa or 1/2 cup sliced jalapeños or diced green chilis
• A handful of chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 large tub of sour cream

Directions:

1. Drain the refried beans, then add them to a skillet mashing them as you heat them. Add water to them as necessary to keep a creamy consistency.
2. Brown ground beef, onion, and garlic in a large skillet and drain well. Stir in spices and heat all throughout.
3. I make my tostada shells from large tortillas in Tostada/Tortilla bowl/shell bakers/makers. These are a lot healthier that frying the tortillas in oil and they make the tortillas a great bowl shape (just follow the instructions on the box).
4. To serve, place toppings in separate bowls, with a larger serving dish for the beans and meat. Spread equal amounts of the beef and bean mixture in each tostada shell. Layer and spoon in toppings as desired. Don't load the tostada too much or you might find it difficult to eat.

Foodie Friday Cube Steak With Stewed Tomatoes

Cube Steak With Stewed Tomatoes

Ingredients:
3 to 4 tablespoons flour
salt to taste
Lawry's Seasoned Pepper to taste
Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic to taste
1 pound lean cube steaks (we used pork, but beef would be yummy too!)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 can stewed tomatoes, diced

Directions:
Combine flour, salt and pepper, garlic garlic seasoning in a bag (I use a shakable covered bowl from Tupperware). Place cube steaks in one at a time and shake to lightly coat. Brown steaks in oil on medium low heat in a large skillet. Pour tomatoes over steaks; simmer, covered, 1 1/4 hours.

Place over noodles, mashed potatoes, or rice and serve.

Foodie Friday Sausage Cornbread Stuffing

Sausage Cornbread Stuffing

Ingredients:
1 pkg corn muffin mix
1 lb. ground pork sausage
1/2 to 2/3 of a stick of butter
4 medium onions, chopped
4 stalks celery, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon sage
1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
1 teaspoon salt
dash pepper

Directions:
1 pkg corn muffin mix, mixed and baked according to cornbread directions-do this in plenty of time for it to cool. I usually make it the night before. Don't cover it when it's setting overnight--slightly dry is better.

Fry sausage over low heat until cooked thoroughly. Take sausage out of drippings. If their is very little fat in the sausage (very few drippings) add butter to the drippings so there will be something to cook the onions in! Cook chopped onions in fat until golden and translucent.

Crumble the cornbread and toss together with sausage, finely chopped celery, sage, ground thyme, salt and pepper.

If you opt to stuff a turkey, stuff it loosely in the turkey--don't pack it. You can also drizzle some of the turkey drippings over the stuffing before baking it, but in my opinion the stuffing's fine just as it is, and then there are more drippings to use for gravy.

Foodie Friday Yellow Squash and Zucchini Casserole

Yellow Squash and Zucchini Casserole

Ingredients:
2 yellow squash, sliced into thin rounds
2 zucchini, sliced into thin rounds
2 carrots, sliced into thin rounds
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream
garlic salt to taste (I used my Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic seasoning blend)
1 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
3 slices toast; buttered, garlic salt sprinkled on them, and ripped into bite size pieces

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sauté sliced yellow squash, zucchini, carrots, and onions in some vegetable oil or butter over medium heat until onions are see through.

Place sliced yellow squash, zucchini, carrots, and onions into large bowl and fold in cream of mushroom soup and sour cream. Sprinkle garlic salt to taste and also fold into mixture.

Butter a casserole dish with lid large enough to hold everything. Place mixture into casserole dish and top with Parmesan cheese and toast. Bake with lid on at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes taking lid off for last 5 minutes.

Foodie Friday Hamburger Stroganoff

Hamburger Stroganoff

Ingredients:
1 box/bag wide egg noodles
1 1/2 lb. hamburger meat
1 medium to large onion, diced
Garlic powder/fresh garlic, to taste
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 pint sour cream

Directions:
Salt water and cook egg noodles according to package directions in a large pot. Drain and set aside. Brown hamburger in large frying pan. Add onion and garlic. When hamburger is completely cooked, add cream of mushroom soup and simmer for 15 minutes. Add sour cream to stroganoff. Mix all ingredients together and serve.

My Notes: I like to add curry in mine just to add some spice and sometimes I add some sliced sautéed mushrooms or some diced celery to the mix.

Foodie Friday Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna

Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna

Ingredients:
1/2 lb. lasagna noodles, uncooked
2 tablespoons butter
1 (8-ounce) pkg mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, diced
1 lb. fresh spinach leaves, washed and drained
1 large container cottage cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon Lawry's seasoned pepper
1 jar prepared spaghetti sauce of your choice
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions:
Salt water and cook lasagna noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Heat butter in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Sauté mushrooms, garlic, and onion until onions are see through. Set aside.

In a large bowl mix cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, and herbs & seasonings together.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Arrange lasagna noodles in bottom of baking dish. Spoon a layer of spaghetti sauce on top of noodles. Top with a layer of spinach and a layer of mushroom mixture. Continue with a layer of cottage cheese mixture. Repeat layers.

Cover and bake at 375° for 40 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with the 1 cup of mozzarella cheese. Bake 10 minutes more. Let stand 10 minutes to cool before serving.

Foodie Friday My Chili For A Crowd

 
My Chili For A Crowd
This recipe is adapted from tasteofhome. 

We have found for our crowd that this recipe doesn't last and is devoured the same night. 😋 Over the years of making this chili we have, I believe, perfected it with different additions to the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds ground beef
• 1 pound Johnsonville brand hot Italian sausage
• 1 pound Johnsonville brand smoked kielbasa, halved and sliced
• 2 cans (28 ounces each) diced tomatoes with green chilis, undrained
• 6 cans total (15-16 ounces each) one can each of: black beans, pinto beans, great northern white beans, dark red kidney beans, light red kidney beans, small red beans; rinsed and drained
• 2 large onions, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 6 fresh jalapeño peppers, seeded and sliced
• 1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce
• 1 can (12 ounces) tomato paste
• 2/3 cup hickory-flavored barbecue sauce
• 1-1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground mustard
• 2 teaspoons instant coffee granules, dark roast if you can find it
• 1 teaspoon each dried oregano, thyme and sage
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Directions:

1. In an 8-qt. pot or Dutch oven, cook ground beef over medium heat until no longer pink, drain the fat.
2. In the same pot with the ground beef cook the spicy Italian sausage until no longer pink.
3. Stir in the remaining ingredients.
4. Bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat and cover with lid.
6. Simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
7. Enjoy!

Tips:

In my opinion this chili is good all by itself, but if you want to add more to it here are some additions that are also good.

• You can add sour cream to make it less spicy, if you like. It also makes it more creamy.
• I like to add fresh diced avocado.
• You can add shredded cheese too. Sharp cheddar, pepper jack, or Mexican style are my favorite.
• Corn chips sprinkled in it give it an added crunch.
• If you have some left over chili you can add it to Mac n' Cheese for Chili Mac or over corn chips with cheese for Nachos.

Foodie Friday Sausage Mushroom Wild Rice

 
Sausage Mushroom Wild Rice

Ingredients:
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup uncooked wild rice
1 pound ground pork sausage
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tbsp. minced garlic
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 can water chestnuts, sliced
1 sprig fresh rosemary

Directions:
In a saucepan, boil broth and wild rice over high heat. Cover and reduce heat to medium low. Simmer for 40 minutes, or until rice is done.

Cook sausage in a skillet. Add onion, garlic, mushrooms and water chestnuts. Mix and sauté until mushrooms and onion are done. Stir together with wild rice and add rosemary. Serve. Enjoy.

Foodie Friday Taco Bake

Taco Bake

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb. ground beef
1 med. onion, chopped
1 heaping tablespoon garlic, minced
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 (10 oz.) can diced tomatoes with green chilies, drained
1 tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 lb. pkg. corn tortillas
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
In skillet, brown beef, onion, garlic and drain off fat. Stir in tomato sauce, tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, and garlic powder. Heat through. Pour half the mixture into baking dish. Break up corn tortillas in smaller pieces and place on top. Repeat layering adding cheese to the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until heated thoroughly and cheese melts on the top.

Other Extras To Top Your Bowl With:
shredded lettuce
avocado
guacamole
olives (green or black)
green onions
sour cream
hot sauce
salsa
re-fried beans

Getting Dinner Ready in a Flash Samsung Contest

TwitterMoms and Samsung is asking you what your 3 valid tips for getting dinner ready in a flash. Today is the last day to enter for your chance to win a Samsung Refrigerator (RFG297AARS).

With 4 children, a blog, and a husband I can get really busy sometimes. It is really easy for me to procrastinate and put dinner off until the very last minute. Sometimes prepackaged meals are the fastest dinner option at the time. Other times I find myself wanting to make a homemade meal for my family. To do this sometimes preparing a meal plan ahead of time needs to occur. I have to tell you that setting aside time to do a meal plan is one of the hardest things for me. Here are my 3 tips...

1. Pick a quick recipe 30 minutes or less including prep. time that you have all of the ingredients for. (Homemade soups, casseroles, or pastas are some of my favorites. One dish or one pot meals are the easiest.)

2. Use a crockpot. This is a lifesaver to getting dinner done fast. Just throw your ingredients in the night before or morning of and let it do the cooking. (Same goes for a rice cooker, bread maker, etc. These devices are supposed to make our lives easier.)

3. Use prepackaged, precut, preshredded, precooked ingredients in your cooking. (Stuff like pre-cut precooked frozen meats, preshredded cheese, precut veggies, boxed already seasoned grains...like couscous or rice, canned beans, etc. can really speed the cooking time.)