This is a recipe from the new crockpot menus cookbook I am working on. It’s one of those recipes that can be used in the dead of winter or on a hot summer’s day because barbecue and your crockpot are both perfect for summer.

Tips:

• Lay the ingredients that will take longer to cook on the bottom of the crockpot. For example, put things like carrots, potatoes and turnips in first. Then place the meat on top of that.
• Even though this is a crockpot recipe, like most crockpot recipes, it can be cooked on the stove. Just set it on simmer or your lowest setting and let it cook all day. Some things that are more casserole-like can be baked in the oven at about 250 degrees for a couple of hours, too.
• Crush a large amount of graham cracker crumbs and store them in an airtight container. This will make future baking easier because all you need to do is scoop out what you need for a recipe.

There is nothing like a piping hot bowl of stew on a cold winter’s day. We love the favorite standbys but here is a different twist on regular beef stew.

Menu:

Barbecue Beef Stew*
Rice or Noodles
Coleslaw
Hello Dolly Cookies*

Barbecue Beef Stew

1-2 lbs. stew meat
1 cup onion, sliced
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
2 cups beef stock
1 can (8 oz.) tomatoes
1 can (4 oz.) mushrooms
1/3 cup barbecue sauce

Saute onion, pepper and garlic in oil. Add salt, pepper, beef stock,tomatoes, mushrooms and barbecue sauce. Cook meat and all of the other ingredients in a crockpot on low heat for 8-10 hours. To thicken, mix 2 Tbsp. cornstarch and 1/4 cup cold water and add to stew before serving.

Hello Dolly Cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup nuts
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix butter and graham cracker crumbs and press into an 8 inch pan. Add coconut, chocolate chips and nuts in layers. Drizzle with condensed milk. Bake 30 minutes. Cutting is easier if you chill for 30 minutes or more.

photo by: jetalone

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I think we are all trying to recover from heavy holiday meals and all the cooking many of us have been doing non-stop so I tried to make this week’s menu simple and easy.

Tips:

• When using canned soup or any soup for that matter, go the extra mile and add a simple garnish to it. It doesn’t take much. A few fresh herbs, cheese, sour cream, green onions or croutons sprinkled on top really can add to it.
• If you need to stretch your croutons or for something slightly different, try crushing them a bit. Cracker crumbs can look pretty and taste good too.
• When cutting bar cookies or desserts you can use a pizza cutter but what I like the best is to use my pastry cutter. Some people call it a bench knife. It’s that flat square metal tool. Just press it down on to the cookies to cut. Don’t pull or drag it like you do a knife. Just go up and down.
• Try something different for grilled cheese sandwiches. Use chicken or ham for meats or try Swiss or Colby cheese. If you usually eat your grilled cheese with ketchup, try spreading it with mayonnaise before you grill it instead.

Menu:

Italian Grilled Cheese Sandwiches*
Tomato Soup
Cereal Yogurt Fruit Dessert*

Recipes:

Italian Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Italian Dressing
Bread
Tomato
Basil Leaves
Provolone Cheese

Spread bread with dressing (in place of the normal butter). Place dressing side down on a pan that you have sprayed with non stick spray. Layer with basil leaves, cheese, tomato and 2nd slice of bread. Grill on both sides.

Yogurt Dessert

5 cups cornflakes, crushed
1 cup pecans or nuts, finely chopped
4 Tbsp. margarine or butter, melted
6 Tbsp. maple syrup
16 oz. plain yogurt
16 oz. vanilla yogurt
2 – 3 cups fresh fruit

In a 9×13 pan, mix cornflakes, nuts, margarine and syrup. Press flat. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Mix yogurts together and spread on cooled crust. Top with fruit. You may halve this recipe and bake in an 8×8 pan. Serve immediately.

Photo By: FotoosVanRobin

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Pancake Brunch Menu

Tips

• Before you brew your coffee, shake a little cinnamon on the grounds for just a little hint of flavor and a special warm and cozy aroma for those cold winter mornings.
• Mix a bag of dry pancake ingredients and keep it ready in your pantry. Then, when you have an urge for pancakes, you can just mix it with the wet ingredients. It will be just as easy to use as pancake mix when you prepare it this way.
• For special occasions, have a pancake bar. Set out different dishes of things to add to each person’s pancakes, like chocolate chips, berries, nuts or granola. Then, just sprinkle their pancakes with the things they choose as you cook it.
• You can also lay out various pancake add-ins along with different flavored syrups and butters so your family or guests can put them on top of their pancakes after they are cooked. Don’t forget whipped cream or even chocolate syrup to drizzle on the pancakes.

Menu

Fluffy Pancakes*
Bacon Sausage Wraps*
Scrambled Eggs
Fruit Cup or Juice
Coffee or Milk

These pancakes are like the big fluffy pancakes you find at your favorite restaurant. Mix the batter first and let it set for a few minutes while you are preparing the rest of your brunch. The batter will thicken and start to bubble. Don’t stir it. You want the bubbles.

Fluffy Pancakes

1 1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp. white vinegar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted*

Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to “sour”.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk egg and butter into “soured” milk. Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.

These are great to freeze and pull out as needed. They’re even better if you can sprinkle them with the sugar and let them set overnight. You can’t use too much sugar on these. The more the better. Sprinkle them with a little more before baking them in the morning.

*If you are watching your fat, you can use less butter or cut it out if you need to.

Bacon Sausage Wraps

Bacon
Little Smokies
Brown sugar

Wrap little smokies with 1/3 bacon strip each and secure with a toothpick. Lay on a foil lined baking sheet and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes, turning once to bake 20 minutes on each side.

Note: You can keep these warm in a slow cooker and drizzle with a little maple syrup, too.

Photo By: Tavallai

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Tips:

• If you are having a potluck or buffet, be sure to place the silverware, napkins and drinks at the end of the food table so your guests don’t have to juggle them while filling their plates.
• If you need a punch bowl, check out your covered cake dish. Many of them are designed so you can turn the base upside down and turn the bowl upside down to make a punch bowl out of them. If you are in a real bind, just use a pretty large bowl.
• Don’t have a dipper? Set a fancy cup (not your husband’s football mug) on a saucer next to the punch bowl.
• Don’t have a gravy boat? Serve your gravy and sauces in small heat proof pitchers. I have seen some really cute pitchers and gravy boats at the dollar stores. This is one item that would be worth buying. Not only can you use it for gravy, but it is a nice way to serve chocolate syrup, caramel syrup, pancake syrup, melted butter, etc.

Menu:

Sausage Stroganoff*
Tossed Salad
M&M Marshmallow Bars*

Recipes:

Today’s main dish recipe is a quick and easy one dish meal for these hectic days. Just mix it up, toss it in the oven and by the time you have your salad made and table set it will be ready. It’s also a great dish to make to use leftover potatoes and peas.

*Sausage Stroganoff

1 lb. bulk pork sausage
1 cup onion, chopped
2 1/2 oz. jar sliced mushrooms, undrained
2 Tbsp. flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups potatoes, cooked, cubed
1 cup sour cream
10 oz. can buttermilk biscuits
1 cup peas, cooked

Heat oven to 375°. In a 10 inch oven proof skillet, brown sausage and onion, drain. Add mushrooms and flour. Over low heat, slowly add milk, stirring constantly. Add potatoes and heat till bubbly. Stir in sour cream. Arrange the 10 biscuits around the outer edge of the skillet and spoon the peas into the center. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until biscuits are golden. Serves 5-6.

Use red and green M&M’s on these bars to make a fun and different Christmas cookie. I haven’t tried it yet but in a pinch you could probably replace the first four ingredients with a brownie mix and just top with the marshmallows, M&M’s and peanuts.

*M&M Marshmallow Bars

1 (18 1/4 oz.) pkg. devil’s food cake mix
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/4 cup water
1 egg
3 cups miniature marshmallows
1 cup plain M&M’s
1/2 cup peanuts

Combine dry cake mix, butter, water and egg and mix well. Press into a greased 13×9 pan. Bake at 375° for 20-22 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Sprinkle marshmallows, M&M’s, and peanuts on top. Bake 2-3 minutes until marshmallows melt. Cool before cutting.

Extra Holiday Recipe

In the following recipe, you can add red or green food coloring to tint for Christmas or add another food coloring to tint for any other holiday you want. You can also add 1/4 tsp. of peppermint extract if you like chocolate and peppermint flavors together.

Cookies While You Sleep

2 egg whites
Pinch of salt
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°. Beat egg whites until foamy; add salt and cream of tartar and beat until stiff. Very gradually add sugar, then vanilla and peppermint (if you are using it). Peaks should be shiny and stiff. Fold in nuts and chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoons on greased cookie sheet. Place in oven, turn off heat and leave oven closed until morning. NO PEEKING! or you will lose oven heat. Store in airtight containers.

It might be fun to experiment with these cookies and replace the chocolate chips with peppermint, butterscotch chips, chopped maraschino cherries or different types of crushed candy.

Make the meatballs from this next recipe and freeze them in a plastic bag. Lay the bag flat in the freezer to help make them freeze individually. They will keep for up to 3 months. They are so handy to keep on hand to take to a last minute activity, whether it is tailgating, a Christmas or New Year’s get together or as an appetizer for unexpected company.

Christmas Meatballs

2 lbs. ground beef
1 pkg. Stove Top stuffing for chicken
1 cup water
2 eggs
1 bottle barbecue sauce
1 (16 oz.) can cranberry sauce

Line 2 – 15 x 10 x 1 pans with foil and spray with cooking spray. Mix first 4 ingredients. Shape into balls the size of walnuts and place on pans. Bake at 400° for 15-20 minutes until done. While they are baking, mix barbecue sauce and cranberry sauce in a large saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Add meatballs to sauce and coat evenly.

Photo By: André di Lucca

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Hamburger, Meatloaf and Meatballs Tips

Buy 5 pounds or more of hamburger and prepare your favorite meatloaf recipe. Then form part of it into any combination of the following:

• 1 or 2 meat loaves

• meatballs
• mini meat loaves (the size that will fit into mini loaf pans)
• portions that will fit into muffin tins
• form the rest into nice sized patties

Lay everything out on cookie sheets and freeze. When frozen, place into freezer bags. When you need something quick for dinner, just pull a bag of something out of the freezer.

Here are some ways to use your frozen hamburger treasures:

• Spaghetti and meatballs

• Mini meat loaves- The smaller they are the faster they cook. The mini meat loaves cook quickly, but the muffin tin size cook even faster.
• Smothered Steaks- Use the hamburger patties and fry them, making a gravy to go over them. Serve with tater tots, a veggie and salad.
• Bacon Steaks- Wrap a piece of bacon around a hamburger patty and then fry it. Serve with French fries, baked beans and coleslaw.
• Smothered Meatballs- Slow cook the meatballs in a can of Cream of Mushroom soup for about 20 minutes. For that extra something, add a little sour cream at the end of the cooking time. These are great over rice or noodles.
• Meatloaf- Last but not least, just have a good old meatloaf dinner. You can serve it with mashed potatoes or better yet toss in some baked potatoes to cook at the same time as the meatloaf.

  When making meatloaf, you don’t have to bake it separately. You can make it a one pan dish by adding potatoes, carrots and onions before you bake it. Add a little brown sugar to any meat loaf recipe to bring out the flavor.

• If you are getting tired of having to carefully form another hamburger patty for the barbecue, here’s an easy trick my mom always used to make hers.Tear some wax paper into squares. I usually tear strips about 6 inches wide, stack them together and cut the strips in half. This doesn’t have to be perfect. You’re just making squares that are just a little bigger than your hamburger patties. Now lay a wax paper square down, set a ball of hamburger on it and top with another piece of wax paper. Take a plate and gently press the ball to the thickness that you would like.
• If a meatloaf recipe calls for a little milk, use buttermilk instead. This will give you a more tender meatloaf.
• Instead of pouring ketchup on top of your meatloaf, try this glaze on it:

  Meatloaf Glaze

  1/4 cup brown sugar
  1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
  1 tsp. cider vinegar.

  Mix and pour on meatloaf about 15 minutes before it is done.

If you use this recipe for any the above, you will probably want to use ketchup instead of the barbecue sauce that is mentioned in the recipe.

Basic Meatloaf

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 tsp. pepper
3/4 cup quick cooking oatmeal or 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1 egg
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup ketchup or barbecue sauce

Mix everything together except ketchup. Put into a loaf pan. Spread ketchup over the top. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until done. Serves 6.

Photo By: floodkoff

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Quick And Easy Home Cooking — Mmmm Good!
(easy ways to make fixing meals at home doable)

OK — There’s no way around it. Just accept the fact that tomorrow your family will eat three meals — again. People have been doing it since Adam and Eve started munching fruit in the garden of Eden. Burying your head in the sand and not thinking about it will not make it go away. I know that even the thought of making a meal at home strikes terror in some of your hearts and the only reason the rest of you aren’t feeling terror is because you are probably so tired you can’t feel terror or any other emotion. But with going out to eat being one of the top 3 causes of credit card debt and child obesity and diabetes on the rise, I think we need to start reconsidering cooking at home. With a little preparation, it’s easy to prepare quick and easy meals at home.

Here are a few suggestions to help you get started:

1. One of the biggest reasons people hate cooking at home is their dirty kitchen. Take the time to clean and organize the kitchen. If you need to get some help, then do, even if that help means hiring someone to help you get it organized. In the long run, it will pay for itself (probably after the first one or two weeks cooking at home).

2. Once your kitchen is clean and organized, keep it that way. When your kitchen is clean it should only take you about 15-20 minutes to clean up after each meal. For the $40 or more you would have paid plus all of the time you would have spent going out to eat, keeping it clean and organized is time well spent.

3. The evening or day before you go shopping for groceries, clean out the fridge and check your pantry. Remember that once it has been organized, if you do minor cleaning and organizing weekly, it won’t take much time. Plan a leftover night that evening (and use up that leftover roast), too. This will help reveal what you have too much or too little of, what you need to use or buy and empty the fridge so you have room for the new groceries.

4. 4. Make a week’s worth of menus. Sit down with grocery ads, your recipe file and your favorite cookbook (hopefully that is Dining On A Dime ). This is a good time to throw in one or two of those new recipes from magazines that you have wanted to try. If you get stumped or you need help to get you started, flip through your cookbooks or recipe files. You will be surprised how much this will help motivate you.

   • In a notebook, write a weeks worth of menus. You only have to do this for 3 weeks, because at the end of that time you will have 21 menus. You now have almost months worth of menus for quick and easy meals (since most people will go out at least once a week to eat and have a leftover night once a week this helps to fill in the days for the rest of the month). You can then just use these same menus over and over.

   • Don’t restrict yourself by saying that you have to have fried chicken on Monday, roast on Tuesday, etc. Instead, list the menus in categories like elaborate (for the days you have more time) and quick menus (for those "nothing has gone right today, so what can I fix when I am blurry eyed and have only 5 minutes" days). I usually make about 3-4 menus in each category.

   • Be flexible. If you get to the grocery store and they have some thing unbelievable on sale then adapt your menus to save money on groceries.

5. 5. Plan what you are going to have for dinner the night before or first thing in the morning.

6. 6. Make sure you have all the ingredients on hand and take out anything that needs to be defrosted from the freezer.

7. 7. Prepare as much as you can the night before or first thing in the morning to make it quick and easy when you need it. Clean carrot sticks and veggies and make Jello, pudding or desserts. Fry hamburger for a recipe or even make a whole casserole so all you have to do is pop it into the oven. It is much easier and less stressful to do as much as possible ahead of time than to try and do it at 5 o’clock — the busiest time of day (when everyone is tired, fussy and needs your attention). Besides, it is easier to concentrate on fixing 2 or 3 items ahead of time instead of trying to take care of 5 or 6 things all at the last minute.

8. 8. Give yourself a break. You will be saving a great deal by eating at home, so use some convenience foods like bagged lettuce or sliced and buttered French bread. Line your pans with aluminum foil and don’t feel guilty about using disposable pans or paper plates. We are funny creatures. We don’t feel guilty spending money to go out to eat (where people throw away the trash for you), but feel awful about buying much less expensive disposable pans and paper plates. Go figure.

9. 9. Don’t forget the meal is not finished until the kitchen is clean and left ready for the next meal.

If you need help making quick and easy home cooked meals that your family will love, check out the Dining On A Dime Cookbook. The print book version is on sale this week for up to 50% off! Go check it out now!

Photo By:  cosmic_bandita

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Quick And Easy Meals For Busy Days

Last night was one of those nights at Tawra’s house. We had one child’s teacher conference and right after it another one had a concert.

As soon as Tawra got in the door with the kids after school, she was in full gear trying to make dinner, get homework done, get everyone dressed and get out the door. Dad didn’t come home from work until just before they needed to leave.

It is important to have some quick and easy meals at your fingertips for these kinds of days.

Make a list of 5 meals on a 3×5 card to keep in your recipe file. They should have all or most of these characteristics:

1. The meal can be made the day before or early in the day.
2. It should have ingredients that can be kept in the pantry or freezer– ingredients that are always on hand.
3. It can be kept warm easily.
4. The meals are one pot dishes (Each menu is a whole meal in and of itself, not needing a lot of side dishes.)
5. The menus should be easily served to different people at different times.
6. The meals shouldn’t require a lot of pans to prepare or dishes in order to eat.

Here are some examples:

• Chili – Homemade chili can easily be made the day before or morning of the day you need it. All the ingredients are kept in the pantry and freezer. Homemade chili uses only one pot to prepare, one bowl to eat and can be kept warm to eat at different times should you need it sooner or later.

• Stew or vegetable soup – These have the same benefits as chili.

• Roast, Potatoes and Carrots – Roast can also be put in the oven or crockpot early in the day and slow cooked. Slow Cooked Roast can easily be kept warm in the crockpot or oven, needs only one plate to serve and roast, potatoes and carrots makes a full meal all by itself.

• Hamburger Casserole – Hamburger casserole is also quick and easy. You can really use any of your favorite casseroles as plan ahead quick and easy meals. Most casseroles seem like familiar dishes but there is nothing wrong with that. Did you know most families eat the same 10 meals over and over because they like the familiarity? Most families don’t really mind.

The main object is to have a meal already cooked that allows you to feed your family while creating very little mess in the kitchen from preparation and from dishes used for eating.

Of course, you can add things like a salad, a vegetable or some bread to the meal if you have time but the whole idea is, if you don’t have time, you don’t have to add anything at all.

For lots more quick and easy meals that you can make ahead of time, check out our Dining on a Dime cookbook. Dining on a Dime includes all of these recipes and hundreds more along with a bunch of other ideas to make it easier to put dinner on the table and get out of the kitchen!

Make your life easier – plan ahead.

      -Jill

Photo By: AMTONIO OMAR PIÑATE

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Tips:

• Cool weather is on its way, which means yummy soups and stews. If your children’s soup is too hot for them, add a few frozen vegetables to it. The veggies cook and, at the same time, it cools down the soup.
• For a quick and different dessert, top a brownie with ice cream. Then top it with chocolate syrup mixed with chunky peanut butter. You can add as little or as much as you want.

Menu:

Potato Flake Chicken Tenders*
Easy Vegetables*
French Fries
Soda Cracker Pie*

With football season here, this recipe will come in handy to serve not only for dinner but while watching the game.

Potato Flake Chicken Tenders

1/2 cup vegetable oil for frying
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 (7.6 oz) pkg instant garlic flavor potatoes
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 lbs. chicken tenders

While oil is heating in skillet on medium heat, beat egg and milk together in a bowl. On a piece of wax paper or a small plate, mix potatoes and seasonings. Dip chicken into milk mix; then roll in potato flakes. Fry 7-10 minutes, until golden. Drain on paper towels.

Note: You can add some Parmesan cheese or other seasonings you might like to the potato flakes. You can use regular instant potatoes and just add garlic powder to season them.

Easy Vegetables

Broccoli florets
Cauliflower florets
Green beans, with the ends trimmed
Red Pepper, cut into strips
Italian Dressing
Parmesan cheese, shredded

Take any amount of first three vegetables you want and drop into boiling water for 2 minutes or until they are bright in color and still crisp. Do not overcook. Drain immediately and rinse in cold water. Drain well. Add pepper strips, cover and chill. Before serving toss with dressing and cheese.

You can serve this pie with just whipped cream or you could leave out the nuts and top with lemon, blueberry, cherry or any other pie filling. You can also use Ritz, graham or saltine crackers in place of soda crackers or add chocolate chips. Someone suggested spreading it with jam and sprinkling with brown sugar.

Soda Cracker Pie

3  egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
20 soda crackers, finely crushed
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup pecans or nuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 325 degrees (165 degrees C). Beat egg whites to stiff peaks. Fold in all the rest of ingredients. Spoon into a greased 9 inch pie pan and bake 25-30 minutes. Cool.

For lots more quick and easy home cooked recipes, check out our Dining On A Dime Cookbook.

Photo By: Robert Banh

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Tips:

• If you don’t have a garbage disposal, place a colander in your sink at the end of your meal before you rinse the dishes. Then all the food scraps are caught in the colander and you don’t need to clean out the drain.
• Keep baggies of frozen cookies and brownies in the freezer for kids’ or anyone’s lunches. Place the cookies or brownies in the lunch sack and, between them and a frozen drink, you don’t need to worry about the lunch staying nice and cold.

Menu:

One Pot Ham Dinner*
Fruit Salad
Apple Streusel Muffins*
Brownie Marshmallow Bars*

Recipes:

One Pot Ham Dinner

1 fully cooked ham slice (1- 1 1/2 lb.)
4 medium potatoes,sliced
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 cups frozen cut green beans
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup water

In a large skillet, brown ham slice over medium heat. Arrange potatoes over ham. Add salt and pepper. Top with beans and onions. Combine soup and water, and pour over everything. Cook 2 minutes. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45-50 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Makes 4 servings.

Apple Streusel Muffins

1 pkg. (6 1/2 oz.) apple cinnamon muffin mix
1 large apple, peeled and diced
1/3 cup walnuts, chopped
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
4 1/2 tsp. flour
1 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

Mix muffin mix according to package directions. Fold in apples and pour into greased muffin cups. Mix nuts, brown sugar, flour and butter and sprinkle some on each muffin. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Brownie Marshmallow Bars

1 pkg. fudge brownie mix
1 pkg. (10 1/2 oz.) mini marshmallows
2 cups (12 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter
1 Tbsp. butter or margarine
1 1/2 cup rice crispy cereal

Mix brownies according to package directions for fudge like brownies and pour into a 13×9 greased pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 28-30 minutes. Top with marshmallows and bake 3 minutes more. The marshmallows will not be completely melted. Cool.

Melt chocolate chips, peanut butter and margarine and stir until smooth. Remove from heat. Add rice crispy cereal. Spread on brownies. Chill for 1-2 hours before cutting.

Photo By: Marshall Astor

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Easy Meal Planning Tips

"What’s for Dinner?" is a question that plagues so many of us from morning to night. In some cases, it even causes us not to sleep at night. Deciding what to make for dinner nags at us all day long, wearing us down.

Reading people’s suggestions that we need to make menus for two weeks or a month can be so overwhelming because many of us can’t even think what to have the next day.

Here are some tips to help you reduce the stress of deciding what’s for dinner:

• At first, only plan 1-2 days of menus. Yes, it does save time and money to plan a week or more ahead of time but if you can’t even get tomorrow’s meal planned then you need to start slowly, focusing on one menu and then working your way to planning farther ahead. At least get in the habit of planning tomorrow’s dinner today.
• Break it down. You only need 7 meals for 1 week. If you make extra food two nights planning for leftovers, that means you only need to plan five meals. If you go to a friend’s house or if you go out to eat once a week you are down to only having to plan 4 meals. You really aren’t making that many meals.
• Make the same meal every Monday night. Make your life easy and make a predictable schedule like, "every Friday we have chicken and every Saturday we have hot dogs." Believe it or not, if you make food that your family likes, most kids love the predictability of knowing what they will be eating each night. Do you remember having fond memories of always having roast on Sunday after church?

• Plan a theme night for each day of the week. This will help jump start your ideas.

  For example:

  • Tuesdays are always Mexican food – tacos, burritos, enchiladas.
  • Wednesdays are always Italian – Spaghetti, Lasagna, Pasta dishes
  • Thursday you always serve Fish – fish sticks, fish in a packet, broiled fish.
• Have the older kids plan and cook 1-2 meals a week. It not only helps you but it helps them to learn how to plan and prepare meals for themselves.
• Ask each child and hubby to make a list of five of their favorite dishes. You could easily have five or more menus right there.
• Keep 10 basic menus. We are all creatures of habit and, in the same way we tend to wear the same 20% of our wardrobe over and over, we like eating the same meals. You can always throw in something new when you have the time or when you feel like it.
• Have a list of things the kids can start cooking if they get home before you.

As I have said a million times before, keep it simple. Our families don’t expect us to be gourmet chefs. Most families are tickled just to have a meal, even if is just hot dogs and mac and cheese.

      -Jill

To make your menu planning easier, try using our Menus On A Dime e-books, which include lots of menus and recipes already prepared for you!

Photo By: Sir Mildred Pierce

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