I am pretty bad when it comes to menu planning. What’s for dinner is a question asked to often around our house. For the most part during I am good when I remember to cook my crock pot meals. But I wanted to add something else to the mix. A while ago, I decided to try my hand at make ahead meals (a.k.a freezer meals).

The first step I took was searching around the internet. I was looking for recipes that included regular ingredients I would normally buy. What is the use of having a freezer full of premade meals that no one is going to eat?  I also used this time to read the advice of other people who have done freezer cooking quite a few times.

When I found out what I wanted to make a made a big grocery list. It is nice to have everything you need at one time.

This is what we made:

• hamburger patties
• sesame chicken
• honey mustard baked pork chops
• meatball subs
• orange chicken
• cheeseburger cups
• parmesan crusted pork chops
• meat loaves
• taco meat
• honey mustard chicken
• sweet and sour pork
• chicken and bacon subs

I found a majority of these recipes in a book called The Everything Freezer Meals. I got it all the library to see if it would be worth buying.  It is worth it. The recipes are easy to follow and include reheating instructions. I know it is something I would refer back to over and over again.

I have to make a big point of saying that I could not do this without the help of my entire and family. This is no walk in the park and requires different things going on at once and a lot of standing.

I was browning pork chops

pork loin in the slow cooker

cheeseburger cups ready for the oven

Prepped mini french bread pizzas

I got most of my supplies at Sam’s Club. That is where I found the best deals on spaghetti sauce, french bread, pizza sauce and all the different meats. I stocked up on Ziploc freezer bags and plastic gloves there too. I can’t stand it when meat touches my hands.

As I mentioned before this is far from easy but definitely worth it. It saved a lot time, especially when it comes to thinking of something  for dinner or lunch. I also found out that make ahead meals make it much easier to serve a meal because my kids are very picky. If needed everyone could have something different without any extra work from me.

Have you ever tried make ahead meals before?

No matter how much I try, there are times when dinnertime comes around and I have no idea what to cook. I forget to start the slow cooker in the morning or draw a blank when it comes to meal ideas. A few weeks ago I was introduced to No Name Premium Meats.

One of my favorite stores to do my grocery shopping is Pick & Save and I have seen No Name products in the freezer section.  Recently my husband and I had the opportunity to try two products from the No Name brand: No Name Steaks – Petite Cut and and No Name Superb & Simple – Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breasts.

We had the Petite Steaks with baked potatoes, biscuits and corn on the cob. I would have loved to have them grilled, but  Wisconsin weather was not agreeing with us. My husband ended up broiling the steaks. I have heard the best way to broil steaks is to bring them to room temperature. The Petite Steaks were frozen so he wasn’t able to do that. He added a little steak seasoning and put them in the broiler. We like our meat well done,  it took thirty minutes for them to be cooked just how we like them. We don’t eat a lot of steak because I am always afraid I will not cook them correctly. Seeing how easy it was to take them out of the freezer and broil them.

 The meat was simply delicious, tender and juicy. The cost was not bad either, I thought it would cost much more that $16.99.  It was a nice change from our usual meals and didn’t require a lot of planning.

I saved the Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breast for “date night”. I made a caesar salad and angle hair pasta with it. We had a very nice dinner and a movie at home. The flavors of the chicken breast were different but good.  For $6.99 we were able to get two Parmesan Crusted Chicken breasts. These definitely made date night affordable and no fuss.

No Name meats is something I will try to keep in my freezer. They would make great go to meals when I have no idea what  to make for dinner. When I visited the No Name Steaks website I was surprised at just how many products they make. There is bacon, meatballs, burgers, salmon, ribs, pulled pork, summer sausage and more. My local grocery store didn’t carry all of these, but I am going to check some other stores because I want to try some No Name Maple Cured Bacon!

You can find No Name Meat products at stores near you by using their store locator. Connect with No Name Premium Meats and Seafood on Facebook.

The products for this review were provided for free from the company or its PR agency. Opinions are 100% my own as always.

I had a few pounds of boneless and skinless chicken breasts last week and I decided to try something different, homemade chicken nuggets. I didn’t look for a recipe (I was being lazy). I just looked for what I had in the pantry. I had a box of Baking Miracle in there. I usually just bread chicken breasts, add a little seasoning and throw it in the oven. This time I decided to try making some chicken nuggets. I cut up the chicken into small pieces, dipped in seasoning mix and baked in the oven.  It is easy, makes a lot of nuggets, and can be easily adjusted with different types of seasoning.

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

• 3lb Skinless boneless chicken breast
• Box of Baking Miracle
• Lawry’s Seasoning Salt
• McCormick Rotisserie Chicken Seasoning

Cut chicken into small pieces. Add 1 cup of Baking Miracle to a bowl or large baggie. Add a little bit of Lawry’s Seasoning Salt. Mix it up. Coat the pieces of chicken and add to a foiled lined baking sheet. I used a big bowl to coat my chicken. Then I scooped out the pieces using a slotted spoon to shake off any extra mix. After all the pieces are on a baking sheet, sprinkle on some McCormick Rotisserie Chicken Seasoning . Bake 20 minutes at 375 degrees.

The kids and my husband liked these better than the ones I buy in the store. Next time I am going to try to make some with some lemon pepper seasoning.

We love to eat tacos, especially the ones we make at home. It is something about controlling what is added and having control over our portion sizes that makes it so appealing. My husband and  I don’t have a preference when it comes to what type of taco, hard or soft shell. The kids however always vote for soft tacos.

Tacos are very versatile and can be made with any type of ingredients.  Of course when it comes to meat you have so many options:

• ground beef
• chicken
• shrimp
• turkey and more

The options for toppings is endless. If it tastes good to you, I say add it on!

I thought it would be fun to share some different taco recipes

• Grilled Shrimp Tacos
• Fish Tacos with Smoky Slaw
• Bison Tacos

courtesy of Betty Crocker

• Double Layer Tacos
• Korean Short Rib Tacos
• Slow Cooker Smoky Chipotle Soft Tacos
• Grilled Salmon Soft Tacos
• Breakfast Taco
• Korean Style Tacos with Kogi BBQ Sauce

If you like tacos with a twist you can always try making them in other forms.

• Taco Fries
• Tater Tot Tacos
• Raw Tacos
• Tofu Tacos
• Ice Cream Tacos
• Taco Chicken
• Taco Salad
• Cheesy Taco Pasta

Would do you like better soft or hard tacos? What are you favorite taco ingredients?

There is something about Fall that makes me want to bake. The cooler air has me wanting to feel the house with the warm feeling and mouthwatering scents that come from freshly baked treats. I have mentioned before how I like to get something from Entenmann’s whenever I want a treat. Imagine how happy I was to find out that Entenmann’s decided to come out with a cookbook.  On September 20, 2011, Parragon books released this collection of recipes.

I was not sure what to expect when saw this huge cookbook, it has over 315 pages. I was happy to see that it has recipes that don’t include tons of steps. While I enjoy baking, there are times when I like to keep it simple.

The Entenmann’s Big Book of Baking is broken into 10 categories :

• Almost Homemade
• Donuts, Danish and Puffs
• Crumb Cake
• Muffins
• Loaf Cakes
• Brownies and Bars
• Cookies
• Pies
• Indulgent Cakes and Desserts
• Party Cakes

I found something in every category I want to try making. My favorite is the Almost Homemade category. These recipes let you use Entenmann’s products. With a few ingredients added in, you can have a tasty treat that is “almost homeade”. It never crossed my mind to use any of their baked products other than the way are. Some of the options include:

• Berry Cakes -made with Entenmann’s Glazed Buttermilk Donuts, strawberries, raspberry jam, whipped topping and confectioner’s sugar
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups – made with Chocolate Fudge Cake, chocolate bars, peanut butter, confectioner’s sugar and peanuts
• Cookie Milk Shake – Chocolate Chip Cookies, vanilla ice cream, vanilla extract and milk

Any of these will be perfect for a quick and easy treat.

Now I love loaf cakes but have never attempted to make them on my own. I don’t even own a loaf pan. After checking out some of these recipes and looking at all the pictures, I am inspired to make a Poppy Seed, Chocolate Peanut Butter or Banana loaf cake. I can just see all the money I would be saving. Even the kids had fun looking through it and picking out what they wanted.

I love this cookbook, it is full of great recipes. I honestly could not find one thing I did not want to try. I can’t wait to show it to my grandmother, she loves to bake and I just know she will like it too.

You can grab a copy of Entenmann’s Big Book of Baking over at Amazon.com for $11.68. It is also available as an e-book for $6.99 . Then you can view it on your computer, iPod Touch or iPad.

Connect with Entenmann’s on Facebook and on Twitter. And don’t forget about Parragon Books, they are on Twitter too!

I don’t think there is a person anywhere who is not familiar with Sesame Street.  My grandmother still mentions the memories she has  of me eating my snacks and watching my favorite characters Big Bird and Mr. Snuffleupagus. I continued the tradition with my own children once I became a mother. Of course by that time a few new characters have been added which include Zoe, Benny Rabbit and Rosita. Without a doubt the love was still there for the residents of Sesame Street.

On September 12th, a new cookbook was released called Sesame Street B is for Baking: 50 Yummy Dishes to Make Together by Susan McQuillan. As a parent, I could not wait to see what was inside, of course Kayla beat me to it. As soon as the book arrived, she grabbed it and started looking through it.

B is for Baking is a cookbook which helps families to bake together.  Each and every recipe provides at the very least, one step that your kids can do. These steps are highlighted with a red circle and a picture of Elmo. I thought that was pretty creative and a great way for kids to spot what they are able to do to help.

Each recipe includes the name of one of the beloved characters of Sesame Street:  Elmo’s Pizza Party, Cookie Monster’s Cookie On a Stick, Ernie’s Corny Corn Pudding and Rosita’s Skillet Cornbread. That would be fun for kids to make something named after their favorite character.

This cookbook covers a lot when it comes to kids and cooking. One part of the book give parents an idea of what type of skills kids in different age ranges should be able to complete.  While this is different for every child, it is a good starting point. Baking safely is also mentioned in a easy to read format for kids. I liked that some how to’s were included like how to cut butter into flour and separate an egg. Kayla learned what it meant to fold ingredients. She had read those words in instructions before but was not sure what that meant. Ingredient and pan substitutions were explained too. It is not something I expected to find but definitely good to know.

B is for Baking breaks the recipes into six different categories:

• Breakfast Bake-off
• Quick Breads and Biscuits
• Main Dishes and Sides
• Puddings and Pies
• Cookies and Bars
• Celebration Cupcakes and Cakes

Every recipe includes a color picture of the finished product. There were also cooking tips and a little information mixed in. For example, there is a recipe for Elmo’s Berry Delicious Blueberry Muffins. One of tips that is shared is about berries. If you use frozen ones, don’t let them thaw. You should toss them with a little flour before adding them to the batter. Elmo even gives examples of animals that eat blueberries; birds, deers and bears.

We liked this cookbook. It has a nice variety of recipes which give you the opportunity to bake something you might not have had before. The ingredients include things like wheat germ, fresh basil, carrots, zucchini, brown rice and soy milk. I have to admit I don’t use foods along these line a lot. B is for Baking makes it easy to introduce healthy options and a variety of flavors while teaching the versatility of different foods.

You can find Sesame Street B is for Baking: 50 yummy dishes to make together for $11.55 over at Amazon.com.

A copy of this book was provided for review purposes. The opinions given are 100% my own as always.

After reading that title you are probaly are thinking ”What”? I came across a recipe for Peanut Butter and Corn Chips No Bake Cookies over at Skip to my Lou. It caught my attention because my kids love peanut butter. I love to try recipes that involve no bake snacks.

I went to the store to grab a 10 0unce bag of Frito Lay’s Corn Chips, chocolate chips and white corn syrup. We already had peanut butter in the pantry.

The snack was delicious according to the kids. It was a little too sweet for me, but I love the way the sweet and salty taste together. This recipes calls for 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of corn syrup. I am going to try to cut that down the next time I make it.

There was a lot of butter sauce, I thinking I could maybe divide it among two pans of corn chips.  This recipe suggested boiling the sugar and corn syrup for 1 minute. Then remove it from the heat and mix in the peanut butter. For us it did not mix well so I set the pot back on the stove even though it was off. The peanut butter mixed in smoothly then.

We love the melted chocolate chips drizzled over the entire pan. The next time we make this I going to try some different chocolate chips, maybe butterscotch or white chocolate. I just thought about trying some of those Smucker’s toppings poured on the pan, hot fudge or caramel.

I would love some other suggestions for toppings to try on this.

 It does not matter what time of year it is, you can always find someone in my family eating oatmeal. It is one of our pantry staples, we never are out of it. Since July is National Blueberry month, I was happy when my family was given the chance to try some blueberry instant oatmeal. It called mmm..Muffins Blueberry from Better Oats.

mmm…Muffins packaging stands out from traditional instant oatmeal. The box takes up a lot let space and is 100% recyclable. The pouches are easy to grab and actually can be used to measure the water you need to prepare the oatmeal. That makes oatmeal even easier to take on the go. We don’t just eat oatmeal for breakfast, it is a good snack too!

Nannah did not like the oatmeal but she definitely agreed that the smell was like we just made a batch of blueberry muffins! Kayla and TJ both loved it and asked me to buy some more. They enjoyed pouring the water out of the pouch. It held the water with no leaks or anything.  We were really happy with mmm..Muffins Blueberry Instant oatmeal, especially the texture. The next flavor I want to try is Maple Streusel.

Right now at Pick n’ Save/Roundy’s stores, Better Oats oatmeal is on sale, 10 for $10. It is the perfect time to stock up and try a few of their 28 different varieties.

Product was provided to facilitate this review. The opinions given are 100% my own.

Without a question kids love to snack. As parents we need to help them make the right decisions when it comes to snacking. There are times when it is not so easy. I can admit it. All the snacks in my house are not 100% healthy all the time. I am a work in progress. The funny thing is my kids actually gravitate towards healthy food. They like veggies and fruit and go through it pretty fast. Another snack favorite is cheese sticks. There are always on the grocery list and the small packages I buy usually do not last very long. Well Sargento came up with a solution for that problem, Sargento Fridge Packs. Summer break is coming up and this is the perfect time to spring clean your fridge.

There have been many times while cleaning out the fridge I have found cheese sticks buried under other food in a drawer. The Fridge Pack makes it so my family never has to say ” I thought we were out of cheese”. Each box holds 18 sticks and comes in four flavors: Mild Cheddar, String Cheese, Colby-Jack and Light String Cheese.

Mom Central sent my family three flavors to try. I put them in the refrigerator and waited. One by one when the kids asked what could they have for a snack I told them to look in the refrigerator. The Fridge Packs immediately caught their eye.  The boxes make the cheese sticks stand out and super easy to grab. Everyone in my family seems to be grabbing one flavor or another throughout the day as a snack. My nephew AJ likes to munch on them too.

The not just great for snacks but to throw in lunches too. We are actually eating more cheese and this has easily become the go to snack. Check out these tips to make healthy snacking a little easier for the entire family:

I will be switching to the new Sargento Fridge Pack. My family already loves their cheese and the Fridge Pack is perfect for my family of six.  The only complaint was from my husband, he says a variety Fridge Pack would be great. A mixture of everything from mild cheddar to Pepper Jack. I think that is a good idea!

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Sargento and received product samples and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

June is Dairy Month and thanks to the California Milk Advisory Board, I will be sharing a dairy tip every day of this month.

Today’s tip is looking for a way to have your calcium and Omega-3′s too? Try grilled salmon topped with Greek yogurt whisked with fresh dill, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

I love the taste of Salmon and I am always looking for new ways to try it. I found this recipe over at Pillsbury for Grilled Salmon with Lemon-Dill sauce that would be perfect to make.

INGREDIENTS:

Marinade

1 tablespoon canola or olive oil

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill weed

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons honey

1/2 teaspoon garlic-pepper blend

1lb salmon fillets, cut into 4 pieces (4 oz each)

Lemon-Dill Sauce

1 container (6 oz) Yoplait® Greek Fat Free plain yogurt

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill weed or 1 teaspoon dried dill

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon pepper

DIRECTIONS:

• Heat gas or charcoal grill. In small bowl, mix all marinade ingredients except salmon.
• In 8-inch square (2-quart) glass baking dish, arrange salmon pieces skin side up in single layer. Pour marinade over salmon; turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate 20 minutes.
• Heat gas or charcoal grill. Brush grill rack with oil. Remove salmon from marinade; discard marinade. Place skin side down on grill over medium heat. Cover grill; cook 10 to 15 minutes or until salmon flakes easily with fork.
• Meanwhile, in small bowl, mix sauce ingredients. Serve with salmon.

courtesy of Pillsbury

Doesn’t that look good?  When the weather is warmer, sometimes a light meal is all you need. You also get a great reason to pull out the grill!