Category Archives: Recipes

Instant Oatmeal Mix Ins

Although I prefer making oatmeal from scratch, usually in the crockpot, I have to admit that I do keep a supply of instant oatmeal packets on hand for busy mornings or when a child wants a hot snack. The packets tend to have a lot of sugar and food coloring in them, so I often go for the ones that are plain. The problem is that my kids don’t like them so much when they are plain. Nothing surprising there of course. To solve the problem, I usually add my own mix ins to the instant oatmeal, such as cinnamon … Continue reading →

1 Recipe 2 Ways: Chocolate Chip or Cinnamon Scones

Photo credit: momtastic.com I always thought that scones were too hard to make. Then I discovered that it is okay to cheat a little bit. You can produce yummy scones that take just a few minutes to produce. No one will ever know, unless you tell them! I started with a basic chocolate chip scone. My family loves chocolate chips in everything. Having chocolate chips somewhere in breakfast is a real treat. While we don’t do it all of the time, we will have the occasional chocolate chip muffin or chocolate chip pancakes. One time I even incorporated them into theme … Continue reading →

Creamy Baked Ziti

I’ve been trying to do much better at meal planning this month, including a variety of inexpensive meals that are also packed with nutrition. I like to include a pasta dish during the week, and I selected this one because it is packed with extra tomatoes. Since my kids won’t generally eat tomatoes on their own, I though this would be a great way of getting some of this healthy vegetable (fruit) in to their tummies. Normally when I make baked ziti, I use ricotta cheese. It is part of my Italian heritage, and it is hard to image it … Continue reading →

Almost-from-Scratch Cooking

Almost-from-scratch cooking can be the best of both worlds. It is less expensive than buying food already prepared, but it is quicker and easier than starting completely from scratch. You can serve good food with basic ingredients, but still have the time for all of the other things you need and want to do. Plus, if you use coupons and sales to get some of the ingredients, you may actually save more money than if you did things totally on your own. Here are some ways that you can practice almost-from scratch cooking. Use a Baking Mix Your standard baking … Continue reading →

5 Italian Staples You Should Have in Your Pantry

Stock the following five ingredient staples of Italian cooking, and you will be all set to go with cooking Italian or adding a bit of Italian flavor to any dish. I’ve listed them in the order of my favorite ingredients. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil I used extra virgin olive oil in almost everything, from sauteing to baking! It has a wonderfully fruity taste that makes even boxed brownies taste rich. It is the purest form of olive oil and the healthiest, full of good fat. Fresh Mozzarella There are very few Italian dishes that wouldn’t benefit from fresh mozzarella cheese. Put … Continue reading →

Lunch Box Winners

How can you prevent boxed lunches from becoming boring? Fill those lunch boxes and bags with some winners, and you’ll have your kids happy to be back to school. My kids rarely want to buy lunch at school, which is good on the budget, but bad on me because I have to keep coming up with new choices that will keep them interested. Here are some of the favorites in my household that are sure lunchbox winners. Tortilla Wraps and Salad Wraps Take a flour tortilla or a large piece of lettuce, add your favorite meat, cheese and vegetables and … Continue reading →

Back to School with a Hot Breakfast

Back to school means crazy mornings, but that doesn’t also mean that you can’t serve your kids a hot breakfast. Although we do have our share of cereal mornings, I enjoy knowing that I got them out the door with something warm and filling most of the time. It also helps me control the ingredients and cut down on the preservatives and other additives that go into pre-prepared breakfast food. One of the tools that I use to help serve a hot breakfast despite a busy morning is my crockpot. I can either fill it with ingredients in the quite … Continue reading →

How to Make Kettle Corn at Home

Kettle corn is a fun summer or fall treat that everyone in my family enjoys. We used to have to wait for a trip to Lancaster, Pa, in Amish country, in order to indulge. They make the best kettle corn, complete with a real kettle, and you can watch them cooking it. We would discuss which size tub we should purchase, which depended on whether or not we were also going to make a trip to the homemade ice cream stand next door. Fortunately, I discovered that this treat can also be made at home, with or without a kettle. … Continue reading →

Squash Ratatouille

There are many ways to make Ratatouille, a french peasant dish that takes advantage of the summer bounty of vegetables such as zucchini and tomatoes, sometimes eggplant or other vegetables. Here is a recipe that uses squash, a vegetable that is plentiful right now. The entire dish is pretty cheap to prepare as well as being nutritious. The fresher your ingredients, the nicer the meal will be. Unlike baked ratatouille, this dish is cooked entirely on the stove, so it goes together very quickly. The recipe is also flexible. Add in other favorite vegetables as they become available in your … Continue reading →

Natural Banana Cherry Yogurt Popsicles

Oh my children love their homemade popsicles. Oh yes they do. The natural frozen treats are going so fast that we had to go out and get a second set of popsicle molds, BPA free of course. Even with a double set of molds, I usually have a little left over, or I sacrifice one pop, so the kids can drink the “smoothie” before it is frozen. They just can’t wait the four to five hours that it typically takes before the popsicles are solid. Here is my latest creation. I made it today in order to use up some … Continue reading →