{This post is part of a series called, “Maria’s Dine-In Challenge.” For details on the challenge click here.}

Having the right tools in the kitchen can make all the difference. Cooking can be fun or it can be a chore. Over the years I have found that certain tools and products make cooking faster and more enjoyable for me. ‘I have also found that it is easier to involve children in the cooking process if you have the right tools. Take a gander at this list and see if these are items you have in your kitchen. If not I seriously recommend that you consider adding them to your arsenal.

No one is paying me to say any of this. These are the items I use in my own kitchen. I find each of them very helpful and vital in getting dinner or anything else on the table for my family.

In no particular order, here we go:

• A Good Knife: I can not stress this enough. If you hate cooking, take a look at your knives, it might be why. A few years ago I went to help my sister while she was on bed rest. I was cooking all of the meals and two days in I found myself dreading chopping anything. Chicken, vegetables, anything. Her knives were horrible. Dull, cheap and flimsy. I couldn’t believe that I was not enjoying cooking. It really was the knives, everything took twice as long and it was harder to get the desired shape and size I wanted. A good knife will last forever if you take care of it and sharpen it well. I have had mine for 9 years and they are still going strong. I have three knives that I love.  J.A. Henckels 8″ Chef’s Knife, J.A. Henckels 4″ Pairing Knife, Pampered Chef 5″ Santoku Knife, I have this Sharpener. If I had to grab just one if the house was on fire and I couldn’t grab all three, I would probably grab the Santoku knife.
• Crock Pot: I think it goes with out saying that every kitchen should have a crock pot. Especially if you are a busy mom, you need to be armed with a few great crock pot recipes and a crock pot that is the right size for your family. I have a 5 qt size crock pot that works well for our family. We got it for our wedding, it looks sort of like this, but blue.
• Rice Cooker: Oh how I love my rice cooker. I tease my husband that it is one of the main reasons I married him. He lived in Korea for two years and got addicted to rice. The first thing he did when he got home was buy a rice cooker….a really  nice one, and lucky me I married him and get to use it all the time. Not all rice cookers are created equal. when he picked his he bought it because it was the same brand that he had seen while living in Korea. Our rice cooker is 10 years old and still going strong. I think he paid about $70-80 for it. This rice cooker is just like ours but the newer addition and is $50.00. I also like to cook quinoa in my rice cooker.
• Food Chopper: I reach for my food chopper all of the time. It is so helpful. I can chop things up in a jiffy. Onions, and other veggies I want in tiny pieces. Chocolate and nuts in baking. It can also chop up cooked chicken breast in a hurry. I have The Pampered Chef Food Chopper, but I have seen many other versions, I can only vouch for the one I have….I love it.
• Veggie Peeler: Veggie peelers are not all created equal. If you have a bad one, you can probably peel your carrots and potatoes faster with a shoe. If you have a good one, cleaning and peeling veggies is a breeze and a great job for one of your kids to help with. I have a J.A. Henckels peeler. It came with my J.A. Henckels knives that I got with a cooking class I took in college.
• Cutting board: Everybody needs a good cutting board or two. I prefer plastic cutting boards so I can throw them in the dishwasher to be disinfected after using them to cut up meat. I have a large cutting board and a medium size cutting board as well as a flexible cutting mat. I like being able to cut up things and move them to one side of the cutting board and still have space to chop up the rest of my ingredients.
• Large skillet with a lid: A large skillet is a must. They are great for one skillet meals and making sauces, as well as browning and frying meat. I use mine almost everyday. I would suggest at least a 12″ size. Just picture how much your family eats and make sure that it could fit in the size of skillet you pick. Mine is Pampered Chef, It came in a set of pans I bought about 5 years ago. If you purchase it separately you have to by the lid as well.  William Sonoma also has a nice one.
• Covered Baker: I have a pan I call my special pan. It is a Magnalite round dutch oven. I have had it for 11 years. I actually bought it at a Good Will in Ohio when I was visiting my sister. Best six bucks I ever spent. I love that pan. It feels like a member of the family. I use it all the time. I use it on the stove top for cooking dry beans, making soups/chili and sauces. I use it in the oven for cabbage rolls, roasts, potato dishes, to cook juicy and tender chicken and countless other recipes. It cooks things sooo well! I love it. I recently bought Pampered Chef Covered Baker and have been very impressed with  it as well. I like it because I can also use it in the microwave. It cooks things very evenly and everything I have made in it has come out delicious!
• 9×13 pan: Everyone needs a good 9×13 pan for casseroles, lasagna, and all kinds of desserts. I like my 9×13 Pyrex dish and my 9×13 Pampered Chef Stone.  My Pyrex one is especially cool because it has a lid which makes it great for transferring things or storing leftovers.
• Large cookie sheets: Everyone needs a good cookie sheet, but they are not just for cookies. (I actually prefer to make my cookies on my Pampered Chef stones because they cook more evenly.) But My large bar pan stone is a little two small for some of my favorite desserts. Large batches of brownies, strawberry shortcake, giant éclair dessert and many other crowd size desserts work better in a large cookie sheet. They even make the large cookie sheets with lids now. I want one so bad. I need to ask Santa for one this year. What ever kind of cookie sheet you have you can use it for many things. Baked fries, baking pork chops or other meats, bread sticks, rolls, roasting veggies, drying out bread for breadcrumbs or croutons…..I could go on and on.
• Blender: Whether it is a blender, an emulsion blender or a food processor, you need something in the kitchen that can help you blend things up. I use mine for salad dressings, turning pinto beans into refried beans, smoothies, salsa, Pina Coladas, applesauce and to obliterate many other things. I am dying to get a Vitamix or a Blendtec but for now mine is doing fine, it’s comparable to this one.
• 2 quart mixing bowl: A 2 quart size mixing bowl is perfect for mixing almost anything. I grab mine at least once a day for pancakes, waffles, roll dough, scone dough, cake mixes, scrambling eggs, tuna salad, energy bites, and many other family favorites. I have two I use all the time. One is stainless steel and the other is the Pampered Chef batter bowl. I love it because it has a lid.
• A good spatula: A good spatula in the kitchen will be your best friend. Some people call them mix and scrapers. What ever you call it, you need a good one. It helps you get every last drop out of the peanut butter canister or the last blob of cookie dough for one more cookie. Very important.
• Cheese Grater: I use my cheese grater for much more then just cheese. I like to grate carrots, zucchini and other veggies to put into casseroles, meatloaf, soups and  other dishes. It is a great fast way to add a little more nutrition to many of the dishes you are already making. And, of course I also use it for grating cheese. I got mine at Ikea
• Measuring Spoons and cups: Measuring cups that are clearly marked make for faster and easy measuring. They also make it easy for kids who know their numbers to help with dinner and other cooking/baking. I like my stainless steel measuring cups and spoons. I also think it is important to have a two and four cup liquid measuring cups of some sort. They come in very handy.
• Cookie scoop: Cookie scoops make lots of jobs faster, making meatballs, cookies, energy bites and anything else you need to make in a small circle. My kids also love to play with it in our wheat box. Remind me to tell you about the wheat box sometime.
• Basting brush: You might be saying basting brush, what is so important about a basting brush. Well having a good one will make your life easier, whether you are putting bbq sauce on chicken on the bbq or buttering bread sticks. I use mine when I lightly fry corn tortillas for many of our Mexican dishes and meals. Which is more often then I might be willing to admit. I love my silicone basting brush because every other basting brush I have ever had sheds it bristles and also never really seems like it gets all the way clean. I got my silicone basting brush 5 years ago from Pampered Chef and it still looks new even after hundreds of uses.
• Kitchen Shears: Oh man, you need some good kitchen shears. My mom never had them growing up, so I never even considered getting any until I saw a friend using them all the time. I decided I needed some and boy did I. How did I ever live without them. They are not all created equally though, I would suggest paying a little more for a good sharp pair that will last a long time. I feel like a broken record, but yes I bought mine from Pampered Chef. What can I say, they know what they are doing when it comes to helpful kitchen products.

Okay there are more then 18: These aren’t exactly nessesities, but boy they make cooking more fun.

• Salad Spinner: We use this to clean all kinds of lettuce for salads, chopped or shredded cabbage, and all kinds of berries. Very helpful and the kids LOVE to spin it for me.
• Manual food Chopper: I just got this a few months ago and use it for making pico de galo, crushing graham crackers and all kinds of other things. My kids think it is the greatest. They beg to help cook when I get it out. I like it because it is easier for them to use then the manual food chopper and has no slip grips on the bottoms so it stays in place on the counter while they are using it.
• Small sauce Pan: We got a small sauce pan when we got married that has been my little (no pun intended) right hand man over the years. I love it. It is just the right size for all the small jobs.
• A large pot with a steamer or strainer: I have a large pot with a steamer/strainer feature that is so handy for making pasta and steaming vegetables. It also works great for large batches of soup or chili. I love it because I can steam green beans while my pasta is cooking. Love killing two birds with one stone.

I get a little passionate about kitchen tools/products. I really do think that more often then not, peoples dislike of cooking is a combination of the wrong tools and lack of confidence. I have found that the right tools and knowing how to use them brings confidence and pushes you to take risks and try new things in the kitchen.  When you feel confident in your cooking skills you will get faster and faster and be able to get dinner on the table even quicker and you will have more patience for letting your kids help you cook.

What are your favorite kitchen tools that help you include your children or make your life easier in the kitchen. I would love to hear about them.

Thanks for reading!

Maria

{This post is part of a series called, “Maria’s Dine-In Challenge.” For details on the challenge click here.}

Menu planning doesn’t have to be stressful, it’s all about finding the approach that works best for you. Like I mentioned in this weeks video, I feel a little bit like the pot calling the kettle black with this post. I am not the worlds best menu planner, not even close actually.

Luckily I have found a few menu-planning approaches that work well for me. For me, the key to feeling more confident with meal planning has been finding an approach that fits my personality and lifestyle. Today I want to share three different ideas. Two that I use and the other is one a friend of mine uses. My friend Alberta is an organizational master. She has an awesome system for menu-planning that saves her a lot of time and headache in the meal planning department.

I think we can all agree that having a menu plan frees our minds to focus on the more important things in our busy lives and takes the stress out of one of our many never ending tasks. Plus, I find that when I have a menu plan it has a positive effect on how I approach grocery shopping and organizing my kitchen.

Alberta’s Rotating Menu Plan

I met Alberta about five years ago when we were living in New Jersey. I have had the pleasure of eating in her home (she is a great cook) and seeing her awesome menu-plan in action. Alberta has a gift for organization and believe me when I say you could learn a lot form her, I sure did in the few short years I lived near her.

Alberta uses a rotating menu plan, and has managed to create it in a way that still allows for a great deal of variety. You will love her menu planning approach. While you are over on her blog make sure to check out her families Thanksgiving Eve Tradition, and her post on eating Quinoa for Breakfast. Alberta and her sisters have many other awesome, creative and resourceful ideas on their blog. Her sister just made the cutest skirt ever out of an old bridesmaid dress.

On the Calendar Approach

One of the two ways I have had success with menu planning is by sitting down on Sunday evening with my calendar and writing in a meal for each day of the following week or sometimes two or three weeks. I take into account what is going on each day so I can decide if I should do a quick meal, a crock pot meal or if I have enough time to do something a little more time intensive.

I usually keep the same groceries stocked and most of my meals can be planned from those items. This is the perfect approach for busy weeks. Putting the menu plan right on the calendar helps me make sure I am being realistic about what can be prepared on our busiest days, and if I feel like something other then what I had planned on a specific day, it isn’t too big of a hassle to pull a switch-a-roo.

This takes me about 5-10 minutes on Sunday night and saves me a lot of stress during the week.

Note Card Meal Planning Approach

My Friend Rebecca taught me how to meal plan this way. She kept a note card on the side of her fridge with meals listed that she had all the ingredients for. She would decide each morning which one she wanted to make and then cross it off that night after she made it. I remember thinking, “Now, why didn’t I ever think of that.” This approach was made for me, food rules my life, and there is no guarantee I will wake up craving what I have on the menu plan for that night. I have used her meal planning approach often and have found a way to make it really work for me.

I take the Rebecca’s note card approach a step further by making lists of things I have on hand for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. I keep them on the side of the fridge or taped inside the pantry. I have found that by keeping these other lists where I can see them and where the kids can see them, it takes the stress out of the frequently asked, ”What’s for lunch?” “What can I have for a snack?” questions.

I like the note card approach because it is simple and works well for the stage of life I am in. It really helps me to eat out less, because in those common moments of hunger and stress trying to figure out what we will eat when we get home form running errands or whatever we are up to that day, I already know there is a whole list of ideas on the side of the fridge and it keeps me from throwing in the towel and heading for the nearest drive-thru. I also love having a reference for the kids to pick what they want for a snack or for breakfast and lunch.

If we run out of something I have listed on the snack list I cross it off, or if I make something like banana bread or energy bites I add it to the list. When the cards start looking too ratty I make new ones. Keeping these list of what we have in the house really helps me use up what we have and cut out waste. I do a similar list system to help me keep track of what I have in the freezer and pantry. I will be posting about soon.

Like I said, I am far from a perfect meal planner, and there are plenty of times at our house, when organization goes totally out the window for a while, but I always come back to these two meal planning approaches that have worked for me over the years. Don’t forget to check out Alberta’s Rotating Menu Plan, It is AWESOME! I hope you can find something here that will help you in your own attempts at meal planning and being intentional about feeding your family. After all, that is what this whole Dine-In Challenge was meant for.

How do you do your menu planning? Do you use any special apps or computer programs for your meal planning? I would love to hear what works for you.

Stay tuned for a post on my favorite kitchen tools!

Maria

When date night is boring…or non-existent…

you know that something needs to change.

From the early days of our 19 years of married life our date nights have been non-negotiable.

Mike and I go on a date every Friday or Saturday night.  Dates help me through the rest of the week.  I love them.  Can’t live without them.

People ask me how I manage to go out on dates…I wonder how they can manage to NOT go on a date.

I believe dating your spouse is marriage insurance.  They protect your marriage and save you money…in therapy.  We get to talk, have fun, be together without our kids, let our kids know that we love each, keeps us sane, and we have fun…oh wait!  I already said have fun.

And it’s romantic and exciting and living to have fun!

I’m going to be fast posting this because, well…we’re not done having fun tonight.  Mike just took our babysitter home…and the kids are all asleep…

We went to a five-and-dime store in town and got some fun (and politically incorrect) games.  It was raining like crazy so we found a newly built strip mall and played undercover of their awning to keep us dry.  We had fun laughing, being silly, and acting like kids.  We played capture the bowling ball pin and used our guns to defend our bowling ball pins (after we had already bowled using every possible silly stance we could think of to throw our balls down the lane…).  We made playdoh sculptures that looked like nothing and then made up what we thought they looked like…crazy imagination stuff.

Competitions galore with the pink bouncy balls.  We tried to see who could do the most bounces, then who could do the most bounces without moving their feet, then who could bounce back and forth between hands without missing a catch, then we tried to beat a brick wall by seeing how  many times we could bounce the balls off the brick wall to each other.  Good times.

It was a great date!

We’ve also gone mini golfing and then played skee-ball.  The winner got to pick what we buy with our tickets.  I chose the whoopee cushion (and who can resist invisible ink?)  I can almost never pass up a photo booth.

Dating the person you love most in the work can revive feelings that feel like they passed out from no oxygen years ago.  Get dressed up beyond yoga pants and treat your spouse like you want to impress them.  It’s the second date, you already know you’re totally diggin’ their awesomeness and you know that this is the make or break date for seeing them again.  Treat your dates together like this is your chance to really let them know that they are the sun to your moon and when you think of true they are your Kip to your LaFawndah.

Most of all have fun! Ditch the dinner and a movie and have a date on only $5 or go to a field and paint a portrait of each other or don some roller skates and skate around the roller rink to 80s songs and hold hands under the light of a colorful disco ball.

When dating is fun, you want to get out of the house as often as possible.  We have a little theme each week to keep it fresh.  This week was a date for under $10.  Our next date is sports and fitness (maybe we’ll go roller skate and do the limbo).

So get out, get a babysitter, and go have some fun together.

Don’t forget the Big League Chew and make sure to stick that  folded up package of gum in your back pocket for full-kid-fun-effect.

And kiss…a lot.

What kinds of things keep you from dating your spouse each week?

I secretly have been dying to get school over for the last month just so I can make a Summer Care Package for my kindergartner.   It’s been long days (7:45 to 3:00) every week and he’s tried so hard and done so well.  He has just now started the “but I don’t want to go today” talk in the morning, and I have to remind him with a calendar that we’re almost to the Summer months.

The post covers all sorts of ideas of what to use as the “basket” and lists of filler ideas for different age groups.  I am going to use a big sand pail and fill it with goggles, a beach towel, flip flops, sunscreen, NGC kids magazine, sunglasses, and whatever little tokens I can find in the Target $1 isles…I love those isles!

I also included two cards you can download and print for writing a little note to add to the care package.

Hop on over to the Make a Summer Care Package for more ideas and the free printable!

Who wants a doughnut for snack time?  Me and my girls do!  I’ve been working on doing healthier snacks for my girls and these yummy little apple doughnuts were born.  :-) My intention was to make these Apple Sandwiches  but for some reason the top of the apple sandwich didn’t make it on.  My girls think it is pretty cool to eat a “doughnut” that they get to help make for a snack.  Catch me after the jump for more details.

Apple Doughnuts

Supplies:

• apple
• knife (cutting and spreading knife)
• large pastry tip
• creamy peanut butter
• toppings (sprinkles, raisins, chocolate chips, coconut, granola)

Begin by cutting the apple crosswise.  

Then take the large pastry tip and punch the center out of each apple slice.

Next, spread each slice with peanut butter and then sprinkle with preferred toppings.

Then enjoy!  Quoting my 6 year old it is, “Easy peasy lemon squeezy!”  :-)

Do any of you have any great ideas for fun healthy snacks for kids?  Please share in the comments below.  Thanks for reading!  Make it a great day!

Aubrey

My mom made these brownies all the time growing up. Often times she would just give them a dusting of powdered sugar to finish them off, but when we were really lucky she would make this delicious fudge-y frosting to go on top. The frosting is so delicious, I loved it when there was a little leftover I could eat with graham crackers.

It is my Great Aunt Vera’s recipe so everyone on that side of the family has the recipe. One year at the family reunion my Aunt Jan made a pan to share with everyone. I couldn’t stop eating them and eating them, there was something different about these brownies then the ones my mom made, and even as a teenager I was really into food….so, of course I had to ask her what her secret was. I’ll tell you after the jump.

Aunt Jan was like, “What do you mean, secret ingredient?” I told her they tasted different, (cough, cough…better) then my mom’s. ”Well, I did make them will all whole wheat flour and butter instead of margarine this time.” she said. I was super surprised that whole wheat flour could actually have a positive effect on brownies, but I have been making them that way ever since. I like the consistency it gives the brownie. Don’t get me wrong they are super delish with all-purpose flour too. Try ém both ways and let me know what you think.

This recipe makes a large cookie sheet pan of brownies, you can half it for a 9×13 size pan, just reduce cooking time by 1-2 minutes.

Aunt Vera’s Brownies

Ingredients:

3 cups flour, I like whole wheat
3 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups butter or margarine, softened(3 sticks)
6 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
can add chopped walnuts if desired ( I never have)

Directions:

• Stir sugar and cocoa together thoroughly.
• Stir in flour and salt.
• Add softened butter, eggs, and vanilla. Beat for three minutes. Add walnut, if desired, during last minute.
• Pour into a greased and cocoa powdered (put a tablespoon or two dry cocoa powder in greased pan and shake around until it is covered) cookie sheet pan.
• Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
• Frost with Old-Fashioned Fudge Frosting

Enjoy!

This frosting recipe is simple and the perfect additions to my Aunt Vera’s Brownies. It also taste great drizzled over a chocolate or yellow Bundt cake. My other favorite use for it is on Texas Sheet cake. It is definitely a must have frosting recipe to keep in your arsenal.

Old-Fashioned Fudge Frosting

Ingredients:

3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
5 tbsp evaporated milk or cream
4 tbsp cocoa

Directions:

• Bring butter, evaporated milk, and cocoa to a boil
• Beat into powdered sugar
• Add vanilla
• Spread on cake or brownies while warm

Enjoy!

One from the archives…

Love this little post about letting kids play and work out their own problems together.  Awesome! Take a look here.

I love button thread for hand sewing.  Especially when sewing on any type of fastener – it’s much stronger and heavier than all purpose or quilting thread, so you can take fewer passes with the needle.  It’s great for decorative stitching on appliques too, the stitching really stands out.

I like to use a cotton with polyester cover thread – it glides through the fabric easily and no knots form when trying to get those buttons on.  I hate it when that happens ;).

Looking for some more sewing quick tips, like how to pre-wash your fabric without ending up with a ball of fray in the dryer?  Hop on over to the Sew Be It Quick Tip Page!

Destri

{Don’t forget to enter the Help Whip Cancer Giveaway, it ends tomorrow.}

Last week was supposed to be the final week of our Dine-In Challenge, but then “real life” happened. Computer issues, a baby girl getting tubes in her ears, purchasing a new car to replace the one I totaled a few weeks ago, and a birthday party  thrown in with all the regular everyday craziness made for plenty of “real life.” So, I sided with saving a little sanity and pushed the final week of our challenge back a week.

I have been waiting for this portion of our challenge. I am so excited about the things we will be discussing this week. We will be talking about menu planning, getting organized in the kitchen and what kitchen tools can make life easier and more fun in the kitchen. I really believe anyone can enjoy cooking with the right tools.

I made the video last week, before all the craziness broke loose, so the recipe I refer to in the movie is the one I posted last Tuesday. You have got to try it. You will love Ecuadorian Carne Asada! The video explains a little more about my plans for this weeks challenge and reviews what we talked about two weeks ago….remember that was the eating healthy portion of the challenge.

Meal planning and cooking do not need to be overwhelming or something we dread. Getting organized and having the right tools can make all the difference. No matter where we are at with this area of our lives we can all work to get even better and more confident. I know I definitely have room for improvement. Lets work on it together!

Maria