How to Save Time at Mealtime by Planning Ahead

If you are a home-based professional parent, chances are that you are always on the lookout for new ways to make things a little easier for yourself and your family. Household duties such as meal planning and preparation are often a part of the daily responsibilities of home-based professional parents. Fortunately there are a few ways that you can make things a little easier in this area – and no, I’m not talking about picking up takeout every night. Cooking nutritious meals for a family does take time and effort. With a little creative thinking and planning ahead, though, you … Continue reading

Pregnancy and Caring for Small Children

Pregnancy is quite the journey for the first-timer, but it can be downright rocky when there’s a toddler running around, or a whole brood for that matter. First time pregnant moms have the freedom to nap when they are tired, rest when they are ill, sit when they are sore, and eat when they are hungry. Pregnant moms with a toddler running around their feet face the challenge of running the house on “empty,” cooking when they are sick to their stomach, chasing kids despite aches and pains, and eating on the go when there is no time to sit … Continue reading

Meal Planning and Freezer Cooking

Well, it looks like this week I’ll be concentrating my freezer cooking on breakfast staples again. Having breakfast in the freezer has really been working out for my husband lately, and it as shaved a bit off of our daily expenses. I was planning on preparing a bunch of split chicken breasts in different marinades and freezing them for the upcoming months of outdoor grilling, but unfortunately, my grocery store was all sold out of the chicken. I’m not surprised, it was an amazing deal. I did get a rain check for the maximum limit and will pick up the … Continue reading

Meal Planning: Ham Today, Chicken Tomorrow

Actually the title of this post is a little deceiving. It actually should read something along the lines Ham yesterday and Chicken today. As I wrote in previous posts, I am making a concerted effort to cut those coupons and match up those sales items, freezer cooking and meal planning to reduce our grocery budget. So far, it has been so good. We have gone from a food expense of about $150 a week to one of about $60 a week, which is more than half off. Plus, during this time we have actually cut down on eating out and … Continue reading

Freezer Cooking Three Ways

Freezer cooking can be intimidating when you first start to contemplate it. There are many good books out there to help you with your freezer cooking, but often they leave you with more confusion than they help. For example, what do you do if a once a month plan includes meals that you know your family won’t eat? Do you make them anyway? Can you substitute and still make use of the ingredient list? What many people don’t realize is that you don’t have to follow one way of freezer cooking. There are actually three main ways you can take … Continue reading

What Husbands and Wive Look for When Buying a House

Now is a good time to buy, especially if you’re buying a first home. Interest rates are down and so are house prices. Before you do, look over your list of requirements. Husbands often tend to want a double garage and perhaps room for a workshop. If it’s a house that’s been built a few years, the husband will look at the condition of walls, ceilings and whether there are any water marks, guttering, drainage etc. Always go and look at the house again when it is raining. This will show up any faults or areas where the water tends … Continue reading

Ideas for Cooking from Your Stockpile

With food prices continuing to rise, stockpile cooking is a great way to stretch out that food budget and minimize food and money waste. Whenever money is tight, you should always start with what you already have. Having a robust pantry allows you to make many different meals, but what if you find your pantry slimming down? With less bargains available, I have been seeing some shrinkage in my pantry. That is why it is so important to get creative and use up what you have. Now, when I mention cooking from your stockpile, I really mean your pantry, your … Continue reading

Freezer Cooking Weekend Preparations (2)

In honor of my upcoming freezer cooking weekend, I thought I’d take some time to share the preparation process up until the cooking day. I am hoping it will be helpful to you to see the steps that one must take to prepare. It takes a little bit of time, but is so worth it at the end. We’re at the new shopping list point. After you have scratched off your original list with the items you have on hand, it is now to re-write the list. You are only writing down the items you need to purchase at the … Continue reading

Food Prep Businesses: A Growing Trend in Freezer Cooking

Have you ever tried once a month cooking or freezer cooking? If not and you’re looking to save time and money, you need to check out the frugal blog, or the freezer cooking recipes here. With few exceptions, most recipes will freeze well. However, there is a growing trend catering (pun totally intended) to the uber busy supermom who wants to have a gourmet home cooked meal every night. . .or at least nearly every night. Known as meal prep businesses, they are cropping up all over the United States. Here’s how it works. You make an appointment with said … Continue reading

Freezer Cooking: Meal Planning Advice (2)

At this point, I was basically looking at one hundred and thirty four meals. That’s thirty chicken recipes, thirty pork recipes, thirty ground beef recipes and thirty turkey recipes. Plus, I had made fourteen meals of pasta sauces, all together equaling 134! Seems like a lot doesn’t it? Looking at that, you probably thought, hey she doesn’t have to cook for three and a half months, but that is not how I looked at it. The very next weekend, I began my normal freezer cooking sessions. I started with the chicken, creating thirty more meals, from ten different recipes. And … Continue reading