Comments on: Cooking Dinner Made Easy

By: Mrs Ash

Mrs Ash — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 18:44:38 +0000

I have used my parchment paper again and again when I am making cookies, with no negative results to the paper or the cookies.

By: Jill

Jill — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:11:58 +0000

What happens Monica is that most people would be willing to cook at home if they didn’t have to spend so much time cleaning up afterwards. They arrive home tired or haven’t figured out what to have for dinner so they go out to get something to eat or grab more expensive convenience foods for dinner. So if using a little foil will help with clean up it will save in the long run.
Plus I can get foil so cheap that I have to consider on some things how much water, SOS pads and soap will it take for me to clean this badly burnt and food stuck on it pan compared to one small piece of foil.
Then I too have always worked at home doing other things so I have to think which earns me more money – me spending 15 mins. scrubbing this pan or working that same 15 mins. on parts making $5 for that 15 mins. worth of work.
I always factor in everything to see if I am really saving or spending more.

By: Tawra

Tawra — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:25:10 +0000

Yes, it would increase your grocery bill but only by pennies. Considering that the average family spends thousands of dollars a year eating out it’s a BIG savings.

By: Monica

Monica — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:39:59 +0000

Honestly, my only problem with the article is that I would increase my bills if I lined everything with parchment, aluminum foil etc. or used paper products. We only order in pizza about once a month and eat out lunch once a month.

By: grandma

grandma — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:18:10 +0000

I am not always up to cooking every night even though I am home all day. So days that I have the energy and my hands work properly I make up a huge amount of macaroni. I divide it into 2 serving packages and keep them in the fridge.
One night it is a macaroni salad with mayo. Another is macaroni vegetable salad. I am big on salads and my husband isn’t so I make several for each meal and they last a few nights and lunches for me when I am by myself and he is working.
I make about 3 types of coleslaws and lettuce salads.
We eat a lot of buffet type meals I have it all on the counter in containers with lids to be put back on to go back into the fridge. Makes clean up easier and we only take what we really want.

There is always meat with every meal except mac and cheese. We eat a lot of fish chicken and beef but in the summer is is all bbq’d no heat in the kitchen and if you do extra you can use the left overs in salads or just cut it up and stir fry it for another meal.

I use those baskets for french fries a lot. They hold a sandwich or two and veggies sticks or french fries and fish.
For something that might leak through I line them with wax paper for dry things I just use a paper towel.
No dishes to worry about. Just empty them and put them back in the freezer.

They also hold toast strips for when you have boiled eggs and toast. I line one with a paper towel and the egg shells go into it. The only dishes are the egg cups and a small plate for each along with a knife and spoon.

When I know that we are going out of town the night before for supper I cook steak or pork chops or chicken. I take the meat and cut it into strips and they make a nice sandwich or just finger munchies for the car on the trip. Healthier than chips or fast food and tastier. Restaurants are few and far between in the winter where we live. A fair number for when tourists are traveling but not so many when tourist season ends.

The other night I did something I have never done when we had friends over for a bbq. We had planned to eat outside so I had paper plates and then it got windy and rainy. We still had the bbq but had to eat inside. I was tired and thought about the clean up after so we used the paper plates. It was such a nice relaxed evening with only coffee cups and wine glasses to wash later. I think we may do this more often.
Yes convenience foods are great.

By: Jill

Jill — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:48:00 +0000

You are so right Elizabeth, I just read a book which said the average person who cooks at home spends 2 hours cooking and cleaning up each meal. I’m not sure what they are cooking but if I spent 2 hours with each meal I would never get out of the kitchen especially when my kids were little and I fixed things every morning like pancakes, bacon etc. There is no way meals have to take that long to prepare and clean up which is why I’m working on another article on how to trim down meal time even more and some of the things I was going to suggest were the same type of things you mentioned.

By: elizabeth

elizabeth — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 00:44:13 +0000

Another awesome article. I would like to be home but following dh’s wishes that I work. I am a teacher and over the summer I stock up on paper goods, foil, etc. When I go back to work it makes my life so much easier on those crazy nights. I want to have as much time as possible with my kids and still save $. I also always have frozen pizzas on hand when they go on sale, it is way cheaper then ordering most times. And faster too. I also try to make part of another dinner each night. Like if we have pasta with sauce one night, I will boil extra noodles to make into cold pasta salad the next night. Chili on one night becomes taco salad the next night. Sometimes we moms think we have to reinvent the wheel! )

By: vagn

vagn — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 05:49:54 +0000

Thanks for your information. This is great

By: meripng

meripng — Fri, 14 May 2010 05:11:59 +0000

I really, really appreciate this article. I did both of the extremes you have mentioned in your article. When I was newly married with no money, I cooked everything from scratch Martha Stewart style. Then I had kids, and my husband got a raised and he started to take me out because I was so tired. I knew I could buy bread, and even frozen entrees, bur I thought if I didn’t make it from scratch it wasn’t good enough, so we started to use too much money on eating out. And the clean up groan, makes me groan to think of it.

This article gave me the freedom to use paper plates if I need to, and to buy prepared food for emergencies. Just having a freezer to stick in teh oven or microwave when I am too tired to make a meal is really helping us so we don’t go out to eat as much.

I think balance is the key word. As you said we don’t have to be all or nothing.

Great article. Thanks

By: Tawra

Tawra — Fri, 07 May 2010 01:29:02 +0000

It sounds like they are dying from too much water. Water them only when the soil is dry. The best way to start seeds is to put them in the milk jug like you said and then water them just a bit. Then put a plastic bag over the top and put them in a warm spot. I put them on the top of the fridge. Then when they sprout take the bag off and water just when they are dry. You will have to check them every day.

With seeds right now I would start them outdoors in a pot. Water everyday if it’s warm and they are dry. If they aren’t dry don’t water them. After about 10 days you should have sprouts.

I hope that helps. Tawra