Image from Real Simple
I love the idea behind casseroles — a one-dish yummy, warm, comforting dinner that’s easy to put together. Here are some casserole recipes that updated the traditional idea of what a casserole is. All seem simple and tasty enough and I am planning on trying these out in the next few weeks.
Real Simple: Stewed vegetables gratin
The Kitchn: Modern green bean casserole
My Recipes: Cous cous with chickpeas, tomatoes, and edamame
By Angella of Dutch Blitz and Committed: The Ties That Bond
My husband and I have three kids. Our oldest is in second grade, his brother is in Kindergarten (alternating full days of school) and their sister is on preschool two mornings a week. The boys have swimming lessons all winter and come spring there is baseball/soccer. My daughter has ballet on Saturday mornings and would be in swimming lessons except that when we brought her to her first class she completely LOST IT. We’ll put her in next year. Maybe.
I’ve recently returned to work full-time in an office and my husband works part-time hours around the kids’ school hours. In addition to work, he and I have date nights, fitness classes, church meetings and time spent with our friends. The week gets filled up at lightning speed.
Store-bought roast or rotisserie chickens are a lifesaver. If you get lucky on the timing, you can bring one home that’s still warm, throw together a salad, and get dinner on the table in a flash.
But every once in a while it is SO worth roasting your own chicken. The smell alone is enough to raise the level of comfort and serenity on your home up several notices. You can certainly get very creative with the seasonings, since chicken is the quintessential blank slate of proteins, but you can also make your family a fantastic simple chicken with a very few ingredients. I don’t even truss the bird, since I’m carving it up before serving it anyway — who cares if it isn’t the neatest bird when it comes out of the oven?
I made this chicken along with a salad, some orzo with goat cheese, olives and roasted peppers, and I made a quick pan sauce with the juices from roasting the chicken. It was easy and though it took a little over an hour to cook, it’s not like I was tending the fire or anything, I was going about my business.
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By Sarah from www.saraviz.com
I would dare venture a bet that many working families eat more takeout or fast food than they want to. I know this because that was my family. That is, until my husband and I sat down and came up with a plan that not only cuts down on the amount of money we spend ordering out, but also has helped us to make dinnertime a Family Event:
1. Create a weekly meal plan.
Trust me, our meals are nothing fancy, usually consisting of basic variations of pasta, homemade pizza, tacos, chicken, fish, pork, steak, and my boys’ favorite, Topsy Turvy Night (breakfast for dinner!)
Did you stick to your New Year’s resolutions? Me neither. I think having so many holiday leftovers stuffing the fridge handicapped me beyond repair. So, I’ve already made a pie this year, and what a pie it was. The recipe is inspired by an apple pie from Marcia Adams’ Cooking From Quilt Country. I make a few of them each and every Thanksgiving, and a few other times a year besides, and have been told by more than a few people that it is the best apple pie they have ever eaten in their lives. The apples are blanked and bound up with a custardy coating, and a thick layer of sweet crumbly streusel topping make this like an amazing apple crisp in a pie presentation. The smell of this pie baking could make you cry.
You surely can make your own pie crust, you over achiever, you…but I am quite lazy in this regard, and partial to the rolled up pie crusts you can find in the refrigerated area of the supermarket, using somewhere near the tube biscuits and flour tortillas.
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By Amanda from Kickyboots
I don’t know about you, but parenthood has been more challenging than I ever thought it would be. Everyone always rants that “it’s the hardest job in the world” but I guess I thought they were being melodramatic. Turns out they weren’t. And nothing has pushed me to the brink of insanity, frustration and tears more powerfully than my (dearly beloved) children.
Our eldest child is what one might call “difficult” and as she neared her third birthday I was about ready to box her up and FedEx her to Antarctica. I was at such a loss as to how to parent her, how to discipline her, how to help her grow up to not be a total jerk. Just when I was ready to throw in the towel and inquire about boarding schools for toddlers, I heard about a book called “Connected Parenting” and I don’t hesitate to say that it has transformed both my daughter and my will to live. Here are the steps we’ve taken to connect with our kids:
Image from MarthaStewart.com
OK, so we all ate too many cakes and cookies over the holidays, no big surprise there. For the next few weeks it might be wise to change over to some fruit salad for dessert, don’t you think? That’s what we’re doing at our house and here are a few inventive winter fruit salad recipes to try:
Kalyn’s Kitchen: Winter fruit salad recipe with parsimmons, pears, grapes, and agave-pomegranate vinaigrette
Smitten Kitchen: Winter fruit salad (*I’ve made this and it is absolutely delicious! Great for brunch too!*)
Martha Stewart: Tropical fruit salad
