Let's talk about the struggle of trying to cook healthy, delicious meals in the middle of moving.
That is what I am dealing with right now. It's hard. Last Saturday PH and I moved into our new house! I am so happy to be in it, and I love it! So many people came to help us and we got all the boxes and bins inside the house. We are currently going through the process of unpacking those boxes and bins and figuring out where things should go. It takes awhile. Impatient me wishes I could take a week off work and get it all done. I can't though, so slow going it is! Then, PH got sick, which has set us back in unpacking since I'm mostly doing it myself right now. Plus we've had some family gatherings come up. To top it off, we didn't have running water in the house until Tuesday night. It's hard to live somewhere without running water. This isn't the Garden of Eden after all. I need water! So, making a meal has been pretty rough. HOWEVER!!! I want to share with you something that I find quite amazing...Dream Dinners!
So, if you aren't a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints let me explain something to you. We have the largest women's organization in the world: The Relief Society. Everywhere that you move to in the world where the church exists (which is most countries... if not all at this point) you can find a congregation, called a ward or branch, and the Relief Society will be there. Each ward/branch has a Relief Society President who is in charge of her ward's group of women. It's a big job, overseeing the welfare of the group of women in her ward, as well as their families. They don't have to do it alone obviously, there is a whole structure set up.
Well, when we were moving we contacted members of our local ward to ask for help moving. One of those who came to help is the daughter of the Relief Society president. She brought us two Dream Dinners from her mom. These dinners are pre-packaged, frozen dinners, will ALL the ingredients and directions right there in the bag. When you're ready to make it, you take it out and defrost it and cook it right up! I made one on Sunday night. It was a chicken dish and it came with a side of asparagus. PH was amazed at how quickly I made the meal. We were both impressed by how delicious and tasty the food turned out! They divide their bags up into portions, so we were given two meals that were made for a family of 3. (Hence the large 3 in the photo up there). Tonight I am making these pork chops. I really love life saving tools like this that make meal planning easier. Here is their website. You can find a store near you, or order online! Tonight I am going to make these Pork chops and I'll update you on how they turned out! So remember my mom's post yesterday about menu planning? You can definitely use those sheets off Etsy and plug in some of these meals for those especially busy times! Or those times where you have no running water, but you just want a home cooked meal. So check out the website, and don't forget to buy your menu planning sheets! Fill in all the other blanks with previous recipes (as well as the forthcoming ones. I promise I will cook again! ) and get your dinner on!
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My recipe Pinterest Board is getting really full! Actually, there is more than just one food board, there are many different categories of food. Not only that, there are a ton of recipes on Panna that I want to try. So many choices, and to top it off, each week we post Renny's Recipes and many more delicious and/or healthy food ideas! How do I get organized and plan it all into my weekly menu plan? Well, today we are teaming up with a talented creator on Etsy who can help us with these problems and more! Rhiana Jones has an Etsy shop called Delightful Grace where she has designed menu charts and shopping lists that are easy to print and use each week as you plan your family meals. Here is my method.
This is my well used coupon system. I don't get as many newspapers now since my numbers at home are dwindling, but this method still comes in handy. I use baseball card protectors to hold the coupons and the pages are lined up according to the way the store is organized. The shopping list fits right in the front pocket of the binder.
Rhianna has many other awesome printables, from budgeting to baby showers! Look at some of these fresh ideas!
You really should check her shop out! And then, start making some of those recipes you've always wanted to try, don't just leave them on your Pinterest Board. Oh, and save a spot for tomorrow's Renny's Recipe that Lindsey will be posting! See you tomorrow.
Happy Pi Day everyone! I thought about reviewing a roundup of favorite pies today, or maybe just 3.14 of them, but I realized that all you have to do is click on our Pies Category, and you will be able to see our entire Pie Series that we did back in November, and more! This week, I am going to be making the Avocado Key Lime Pie for St. Patrick's Day. In the collage above, you can see that I included a picture of this delicious Blackberry Pie, one of my favorites! There is even an"Eat Your Pie" free printable! (Man! My decorative writing is improved since then!) Anyway, I think I have given due diligence to pies already!
I couldn't wait to share this quick bread recipe I came up with. That is the real reason I didn't share another pie recipe today. On Saturday morning, there was a Market On The Move Event down at the church on the corner from my house. You can read about it at that link. But, basically, you can get about $60 worth of produce for $10! It is a heaven for those of us who can and bake, and it helps the community. This month, I was able to get a lot of yellow squash! Yellow squash is much like zucchini, only yellow. It doesn't keep long, like some of the winter squashes will, so I need to use it up quickly. I got to thinking that since zucchini makes such a great bread, why not yellow squash? I wanted a springtime loaf because the temperatures here in Phoenix are starting to climb, so I didn't want the warm cinnamon flavors of fall and winter. Since I am also on a lemon kick and I got some of those at the event as well, I wanted to incorporate a little lemon. Then I thought that I needed something to add color and texture to the bread and I decided on carrots because they seem sweet, colorful and perfect for Spring. Here is what I came up with:
Grate the squash and carrots in your food processor, it is so much faster! (Yes, I used the one I have to stick a fork in! You could use this one if you need a new one!) I used the same icing recipe that I used for the Lemon Bundt Cake. You can get the recipe there.
This would make a nice breakfast loaf for Easter, or any Spring Day. I hope you enjoy it! I will be showing you some of the other vegetables and what I am doing with them in later posts, so stop by and see!
My car has a glitch in the starter switch. Sometimes, in warm weather, it won't make the proper connection to engage the ignition. It hadn't happened all winter, and I had kind of forgotten about it. But, on Saturday, Madalynn and I were getting ready to leave for home after having lunch with Lindsey and her PH. It hit 90 degrees on Saturday, while we were moving Lindsey, and that did the trick for my car. It wouldn't start. It just went, "click" and nothing happened. When this had happened in the past, Maddy and I have this weird little tradition of going off and getting something to eat. By the time we would get back to the car, it would start. In this case, we had just eaten. My son-in-law tried starting it, but nothing. He and Lindsey had to be somewhere to finish taking care of the move. I assured them all would be well and Maddy and I headed over to a bundt cake shop behind where we were parked. I thought, "I will pick up a cake for tonight's dessert since Lindsey and Austin are coming over for dinner." Well, it was a cute shop and the samples that we ate were delicious. But, a full sized cake was $40! We bought a couple mini sized bundts, went back out to the car and it started. Then I went home and baked a lemon bundt cake!
I actually made 2 cakes over the weekend, because I felt the first one just wasn't lemony enough. I was only using real lemon, no extract. So, it takes quite a bit of juice and zest to get the lemon flavor to come through. The second problem was I realized that I was out of baking powder half way through the cake and I wasn't going to risk taking my car to the store, so I had to get the rise a different way. (Can you tell that I have been watching "The Great British Bake-Off" on Netflix?") So, I ended up using a couple of different recipes, here and here, and blending them together into my own version of this Lemon Bundt Cake. Both cakes were very successful, even though the first wasn't as lemony, the texture and moistness were delicious. Everyone went back for seconds! Just click on the button below for the successful recipe.
I am so happy that I purchased a new bundt cake pan a while ago. Here is a similar one. Remember the blackberry bundt cake that I made? Bundt cakes really whip up pretty quickly!
I hope you give it a try and enjoy it! Now I have to go find a part for my car!
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Creators of Hot Cocoa Bombs! (copyrighted)
Author
Helen Reynolds: Mother of six children , grandmother to eleven! I love to cook, craft and create things and I especially love doing that with my family, So, when my lawyer daughter, Lindsey, my artist daughter, Madalynn, and I came up with the idea of Hot Cocoa Bombs, this blog was born. Then, one more daughter, with her technical and science skills, plus creativity has joined in to round us out! Read more about us here! Archives
April 2024
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