Saturday Weekend Warrior:Cooking Up Meals
photo credit: quinn.anya
Saturday Weekend Warrior
By dedicating a few hours each weekend, I am saving myself a lot of time during the week. This week as we gear up for Back to School, we need to start thinking about meals that are not only simple and quick, healthy and nutritious but also keeps to our weeknight school schedule. Try planning a few meals ahead of time, freezing them, than pulling out and placing in the refrigerator the day you decide to use that meal. It’s that easy. Here’s a simple dish with meat, potatoes and vegetables all in one!
Cooking Up Meals: Make IT Now- Bake IT Later!
Family Dinner For Six
Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef
1 medium size onion, sliced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
6 medium size Yukon Gold potatoes, thinly sliced
1 cup corn kernels
4 Tablespoons Worchestershire sauce
1 large can diced tomatoes with juice
Ketchup
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large skillet, brown ground beef with onions. Add salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Add tomatoes with juices and corn to the meat mixture. Stir until all ingredients are combined.
Lightly spray a rectangular 9 x13 baking dish with baking spray. Layer sliced potatoes along the bottom of baking dish. Spread hamburger mixture over potatoes evenly. Add another layer of sliced potatoes over the top. Drizzle with a little ketchup.
Bake covered for 1 1/2 hours or until potatoes are done. Let cool. Place in freezer, wrapped tightly or in refrigerator if you plan on using this meal within 1-2 days. When ready to bake, defrost in refrigerator. Reheat in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Serve with a green salad and french bread.
Recipe Tip: You could substitute green beans for the corn or even add celery or diced green bell pepper.
As always, my quick and easy recipes for Busy Moms can be found on my website Noel’s Kitchen Tips.com.
Visit my new Amazon Kitchen Store for some of my recommeneded appliances, storage and kitchen needs along with some of my favorite cookbooks and aprons to help you with your family meal planning. For high quality kitchen tools for your kitchen, visit www. NoelsKitchen.com
Would you like to join our growing Family Cooking Club? Share recipes and tips with others? Join the Family Meals Matter Cooking Club on Facebook.
Kitchen Tools For A Busy Mom:Kitchen Tool Giveaway!
Kitchen Tools For A Busy Mom
We all have the basic kitchen tools that make our kitchen functional such as pots and pans, mixing bowls, bakeware, etc. but the right kitchen tools will always make the job easier and quicker for a busy mom.
Part of my business is to share with others that High Quality Kitchen Tools are essential in cooking and food preparation. Here are some of the kitchen tools I use on a daily basis and are considered very basic and something each kitchen should have. It makes cooking for busy moms like us a lot easier.
I recently read in an article,”Home is a very special place for everyone and a kitchen makes a home perfect. No home is complete without a kitchen, and a kitchen is incomplete without the present day kitchen tools and gadgets.”
With the right kitchen tools, you can be well assured of a hassle free cooking.
Some basic kitchen tools include knives and a cutting board. The knife I have shown here is a 5″ Santoku, which has a shorter blade designed for precision tasks like mincing and paper-thin slicing. It fits perfectly in your hand and it’s not too heavy. The other kitchen tool needed is a Large Grooved Cutting Board. It’s two boards in one! One side is flat, the other features a generous capacity groove to catch the excess juices from meat and fruit. It’s perfect for everyday use. The best feature about this cutting board is it won’t dull your knife blades like wood or stainless steel. That’s a plus in my book for keeping your knives sharp. Along with the knife, a cutting board helps you chop the vegetables in precise shape and size.
You often need small bits of things like onions, vegetables, cheese, chocolates, nutmegs,and cooked meats. A Food Chopper is the perfect tool to chop them into small bits without mashing them. You can choose to chop foods directly on a cutting board or in the cap for smaller portions. I like to tell my customers this kitchen tool is the “Transformer” of all kitchen tools. It comes apart very easily for cleaning. It’s handier than a food processor and much easier to clean.
I tell everyone it’s easier to prep your food ahead of time when planning your menus for the week. Prep Bowls are perfect for storing your recipe ingredients and have a snug-fit lid. What I like about these Prep Bowls is they are made from tempered glass and measure 1-cup perfectly. They are perfect for the dishwasher, freezer, microwave and oven safe to 350 degrees. Perfect for making custards, melting butter or chocolate.
Kitchen tools can in fact help reduce the preparation time for any recipe. This particular kitchen tools let you handle your kitchen tasks much more conveniently and with a lesser effort. Here are some other handy kitchen tools I use on a daily basis.
A Stainless Whisk for mixing siffer mixures like batters, a Silicone Scrapper for scrapping clean the sides and bottoms of large stock pots and large sauce pans when making sauces. These scrappers have a great feature: they won’t crack, split or stain, have heat-resistant to 650 degrees F handles and to 450 degrees F dishwasher-safe.
A Mix-n-Chop tool is perfect when chopping hamburger as it cooks or chopping tomatoes while cooking. And of course every busy mom needs a good Slotted Spoon to get into tight corners of the pan and scrape pan bottoms. It’s also heat-resitant. I can’t stress enough how beneficial it is to have heat-resistant kitchen tools in your kitchen.
Every busy mom needs to mix, store, reheat and bake. Batter Bowls are perfect for this. They like the Prep Bowls are made from tempured glass with standard and metric marks for easy measuring. They have a spout and handle for easy pouring, and plastic lids for easy storage. Bowls are dishwasher-, freezer-, microwave- and oven-safe to 350 degrees F.
One of my favorite kitchen tools is my Silicone Basting Brush. I can neatly brush sauces, butter or egg onto foods. It’s stain and odor resistant and has a hanging hook to keep from falling into the bowl and is one of the kid-friendly kitchen tools I share. When making homemade pizzas, it’s perfect for the kids to use.
Lastly, I will share with you what EVERY busy mom needs in her kitchen. A Deep Covered Baker. This is to me like the 20th-Century crockpot. It’s very versatile! You can bake a 5-pound chicken or turkey breast, 4-pound roast, casseroles and so much more! the best part about this piece is you can use it in the microwave or oven. 
How about chicken fajitas for dinner? Throw some veggies on the bottom, a couple of chicken breasts on top with seasoning, toss in the microwave for 30 minutes and your dinner is ready! How’s that for making dinner for your family? This bakeware is similar to the cast iron skillet. You oil it a few times and as you continue to cook with it, it seasons as you cook with it. It becomes a darker brown or black color. It retains heat longer so your food stays hot longer.
Having versatile and multifunctional kitchen tools in your home will help busy moms put together a delicious menu quickly and easily for their family. I’ve just shared with you some of my favorite ones. In future posts, I’ll share with you the benefits of having good cookware and other kitchen tools that might peek your interest.
Kitchen Tool Giveway!
Because I feel every busy mom deserves to have High Quality Kitchen Tools in their kitchen, my Family Meals Matter Cooking Club on Facebook is having a Drawing!
As a special Thank You for joining the Cooking Club, all fans will be entered into a drawing for some High Quality Kitchen Tools from www.NoelsKitchen.com, refer a friend and earn an extra chance to win! 5 Lucky Winners will be chosen on Feb 28, 2010. Good Luck!
As always, my quick and easy recipes for Busy Moms can be found on my website Noel’s Kitchen Tips.
Would you like to join our Family Cooking Club? Share recipes and tips with others? Join the Family Meals Matter Cooking Club on Facebook.
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Cooking Tips For Busy Moms: Weeknight Meal Ideas
Cooking Tips For Busy Moms
In today’s lifestyle, more and more moms are looking for fast afforable meals for their family. The challenge for many busy moms is finding meal solutions. The ideal meal for any mom would be cooked using the freshest ingredients. So how can a busy mom make their family a great nutritious meal while working full-time?
Weeknight Meal Ideas: Plan Ahead
One great way to make sure your family has a good nutritious meal every night is by freezing some of your meals. I choose one day out of my week to plan ahead and cook up a storm. Having a hard time coming up with recipes? Think of all the foods your family loves to eat and prepare enough for a week.
Cooking at home together as a family is always much healthier than buying frozen or fast food dinners. It’s also a great way to ensure your family has a home cooked meal every night.
To help you cook those meals for your family, I highly recommend this Baker made from Stoneware which evenly conducts heat. It’s very versatile, you can use it in the oven or microwave. I call it the 21st Century Crockpot. It will also make some wonderful desserts.
It’s very convenient to use and great for taking on picnics and keeping your foods warm. The night before simply place some meat and veggies or chicken, add your seasonings, broth or water and pop into the microwave the next night. You’ll have a flavorful meal in a matter of 30 minutes or less made in the microwave.
You’ll find this fabulous Baker and more great high quality kitchen tools at Noel’s Kitchen.
The Adventures of Cooking:Everyday Cooking For A Busy Mom
Cooking For Busy Moms
Are you a busy Mom? The summer has come to an end and it’s time to get the kids back in school. That means juggling carpools, PTA meetings, sports, after school activities, and homework help. Do you find yourself looking at the fridge after a busy day thinking “What’s the pizza guy’s number?”
Fast Recipe Ideas For Busy Moms On The Go
If you are on the go, these recipe ideas will fit into your busy life, so put on your aprons busy moms and bring out the spatulas. Wonder Mom is here! Imagine if you were able to cook once and eat all week. Imagine the time you’ll save- the meat is cooked, the recipes are planned and on busy nights, you just tie it all together. Everyday cooking for a busy mom can be challenge but with investment cooking you don’t have to worry about what’s on the dinner menu.
Here’s how it works. Prepare more meat than necessary for one meal, and than freeze the remaining meat for use in later recipes. It’s a life-saver on those extra busy days.
For example, brown 10 pounds of ground beef at one time fo a Hearty Meat Sauce as a base for Beef Tostadas, Taco Salad, Saturday Stroganoff, Chili Bread Bowls, Busy Day Casserole, Sloppy Joes and Pasta Roll Ups.
Choose a day, once a week, during the weekend, or a day that works best, make triple the amount of one type of meat.
Review your weekly grocery store ads, most grocery stores put out their weekly specials on Wednesdays just in time to plan on a your shopping list. Purchase items on sale. Be sure to check your pantry and write down any necessary spices or rubs that your recipe calls for. This help avoid duplicating what you already have.
Shop on one day and do your cooking the next. Set out everything you need in regards to kitchen tools ahead of time. This will save you time when preparing. The day of, chop vegetables such as carrots, celery, onions or mushrooms. Than move on to meat preparation.
Cooking Tip: Try cooking three meats together in a Roating Pan and get a head start on your recipe preparation for the week. all meats should be close in weight to ensure cook times are the same.
Stay tuned for another episode of: The Adventures of Cooking:Dinner Tonight.
One site I also recommend for once a week cooking tips is Once A Week Cooking.
Visit Once A Week Cooking!
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