Tag Archives | family dinner

Making Family Dinner Fun: SheKnows.com

The Organized Cook was recently mentioned in a great article from SheKnows.com about making cooking fun for the whole family.

The article “How To Get The Whole Family Involved” talks about the benefits of having children involved in the planning, shopping for and cooking of family dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here was our tip for getting children involved:

Cooking together makes it all the more meaningful and gives busy moms some assistance in hectic family schedules, says Toni Spilsbury of Organized Cook.com. “Start by planning a menu — with family input,” suggests Spilsbury.  Assign one course per person (Tommy makes the tacos and  read more

 

 

 

 

 

 

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What’s For Dinner This Week

Subscribers to The Organized Cook don’t have to worry about what to cook for dinner this coming week, we’ve done the planning for them!

So, what’s on the menu for your family this week?

Day 1: Chicken Under A Brick with Risotto & Hope’s Garlic Greens



Day 2: Herb Baked Salmon with Garlic Herbed Mashed Potatoes & Glazed Baby Carrots



Day 3: Spanish Paella



Day 4: Traditional Meatloaf with Cheesy Twice-Baked Potatoes & Buttered Green Beans



Day 5: Salmon Salad Croissants &Warm Spinach Salad

These recipes are simple and delicious. They’re also a perfect example of the time-saving cooking method created by The Organized Cook. The leftover chicken you have from our Chicken Under A Brick tonight will be one of the main ingredients for our Spanish Paella on Day 3…yummy!

What’s even better, is this menu only costs about $100 in groceries for the week.  If you’re not already a subscriber to The Organized Cook, check out our introductory offer.

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Nature’s Cold Remedy: Supercharged Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

There may not be a cure for the common cold, but I can’t deny the healing effects of homemade chicken noodle soup.  Other natural immune boosters include shiitake mushrooms; so, during cold and flu season, I like to supercharge my soup.  If you’re thinking that making homemade chicken noodle soup is difficult, think again.  Try my supercharged recipe:

Toni’s Supercharged Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Nature’s Cold Remedy: Supercharged Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Nature’s Cold Remedy: Supercharged Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients

  • chicken breasts- 1 1/2 lbs (2 trimmed breasts), diced into 1-inch cubes
  • poultry seasoning (a good poultry seasoning will include herbs like rosemary and thyme, like Lawry’s Perfect Blend)- 3 tablespoons
  • chicken broth- 1 quart
  • white onion- 1/2, minced
  • carrots- 2, peeled and diced
  • celery- 2 leafy stalked, diced including leafy part
  • shiitake mushrooms- 8 oz. (1 small package), diced
  • egg noodles- 2 cups uncooked
  • STAPLES:
  • olive oil- 2 tablespoons

Instructions

  1. In large soup pan or dutch oven; heat olive oil over medium-high heat
  2. Add chicken, and while seasoning with poultry seasoning, saute until just cooked (not thoroughly)
  3. Add broth
  4. Add onions, carrots, celery and mushrooms
  5. Bring to boil over medium-high heat
  6. Once boiling, cover and let simmer until vegetables are tender, approximately 15 minutes
  7. Once vegetables are tender, raise heat to medium-high and bring to boil
  8. Add noodles and boil until tender, approximately 4 minutes
https://tonispilsbury.com/natures-cold-remedy-supercharged-homemade-chicken-noodle-soup/


Natural vs. ….well, Not

Ingredients are the tell-all when it comes to how nutritious something is.  Even without the mushrooms, this soup is so packed full of natural vitamins; I can’t even think about reaching for the canned condensed stuff.  Let’s see how they stand up side-by-side with this sampling of ingredients:

Homemade                                    Condensed

  • Chicken                               mechanically separated chicken
  • Onion                                   onion powder
  • Carrots                                monosodium glutamate
  • Celery                                  soy protein
  • Shiitake Mushrooms      yeast extract
  • Egg Noodles                     sodium phosphates

 

If you want to include this recipe into your menu planning, my Classic Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup is also part of The Organized Cook Weekly Meal Plan System!

Be well!

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Escape dinner re-runs and runaway grocery bills

How would you like to get out of the dinnertime rut, feed your family a balanced, tasty meal each night, and slash your dinner grocery bill by up to 50%?

Never worry again about what you’re going to make for dinner. Cut your grocery shopping and dinner preparation time buy up to 70%.

Take back the family dinner.

Dear Busy Mom, It’s true. You can stop worrying about what to make for dinner each night. You can always have a shopping list ready AND reduce your family grocery bill. You can eat out less and eliminate those costly last-minute trips to the grocery store and unhealthy impulse buys. You can feed a family of four to five dinner for about $100 a week, and as low as $67 a week! If you’re like me, you’re a busy mom, and… You’re juggling schedules, roles, kids, work—the list goes on. And if you’re like I was, what to make for dinner is a constant struggle. Maybe it feels like you’re in a dinnertime re-run, always making the same three dishes over and over again. It feels like you can’t get unstuck. And maybe you’ve tried other recipe books that were hard to follow and ended in with not-so-hot results.

So what is The Organized Cook™ and what can it do for you?

The Organized Cook is a Weekly Meal Plan that comes to your email inbox and  takes the headache out of planning, shopping and preparing weekly diners—so you can save big money, eat great and spend more time at the table with your family. Once you discover this system it can effectively save you 30%, 40% even 50% on your grocery bill starting with the first week you use it.

All you’re missing is a simple, organized tool that does the all planning and cost saving for you.

When it comes to spending quality time around the dinner table, you want to prepare a meal as efficiently as possible that’s delicious and healthy. You want to make it simple, make it quick and spend less time in the kitchen cooking and cleaning.

So how does it work?

Don’t waste time planning out a weekly dinner menu and making shopping lists. The Organized Cook™ has already done it for you.

  1. Sign up for your low monthly subscription at introductory rate
  2. Download your first week’s Meal Plan
  3. Print the grocery list and take that list to the grocery store
  4. Each week you’ll get a new Meal Plan in your email box

It’s that simple! You’ll also get new coupons and tips for saving money and time. Lock in the special introductory rate of just just $4.99 a month (less than $1.25 a week!). And you can cancel your subscription anytime.

Fact: Children and parents spend only 3.5 minutes a week in meaningful conversation

The Organized Cook Weekly Meal Plan makes it super easy to protect your family meal and conversation time. Statistic: A.C. Nielsen Co., California State University, National Harris Poll survey

Save, Save, Save

Did you know that daily trips to the grocery store increase your exposure to impulse buying by 60%! With The Organized Cook™, you’re saving money by only grocery shopping once a week. And the daily cooking and food storage directions are so simple. The Organized Cook™ gives easy-to-follow directions on preparing the entire meal at once. With recent changes in our economy, many moms are looking for ways to reduce their overall spending. By using The Organized Cook™, you’re not only eating out less and eliminating those costly last-minute trips to the grocery store; you’re also maximizing the use of groceries that you do buy. By following The Organized Cook™, you can feed a family of four to five dinner for about $100 a week, and as low as $67 a week! That’s about what it costs to take your family out to dinner one night!

Simply Better, Healthier Meals

The recipes in The Organized Cook™ are my versions of delicious classic and contemporary recipes, specifically designed to fit into my meal plan, and give you the perfect balance of proteins, grains and vegetables. Each week you’ll find a fusion of American, Asian, Italian and Mexican foods as well as healthy portions of beef, chicken, fish and pasta. Here’s just a sampling of the easy-to-make recipes you can enjoy:

Week 1 (just $97 in groceries!)

Day 1:  Lemon Pepper Pork Chops with Rice Pilaf & Vegetable Sauté

Day 2:  Swedish Meatballs, Spinach Pasta with Tomatoes & Buttery Garlic Rolls

Day 3:  Pork Fried Rice with Thai Shrimp Pizza & Crisp Asian Cucumber Salad

Day 4:  Hot Meatball Sub Sandwiches & Green Onion Garlic Chips

Day 5:  Shrimp with Penne Pasta & Garlicky Garlic Bread

Week 2 (only $89 in groceries!)

Day 1:  Italian Sausage & Peppers with Mushroom Cheese Farfalle

Day 2:  Ratatouille Pan-Simmered Steak with Steamed Brown Rice

Day 3:  Balsamic Chicken & Walnut Gorgonzola Salad

Day 4:  French Dip Sandwiches & Creamy Tomato Soup

Day 5:  Tortellini Soup & Spinach Chicken Pizza

My menus are organized to reuse key ingredients throughout the week. For example: you may use half of a chopped onion on Day 1, and store the remaining onion to use in a casserole on Day 4. You may sauté more chicken breasts than you need to use for Chicken Madeira on Day 2, and store the remaining sautéed chicken breast to use in a Chicken Curry on Day 5. You’re not just maximizing ingredients – you’re actually reducing time. Think about it … you’ve already reduced the time it takes for those two preparation items by half. You’ve also reduced the number of knives, cutting boards and sauté pans to clean by half. Now apply that method throughout the entire week, and the savings just keeps adding up. By planning weekly family dinners, and giving you all of the tools to bring those healthy dinners to the table including your grocery shopping lists and easy-to-follow directions, The Organized Cook™ makes it easier for you to keep your family eating healthier so you eliminate the pressure and eliminate the guilt.

So what are you waiting for?

This special introductory rate is only good until December 31st.  Start eating great dinners and save tons of time, headaches and money preparing them.

Sign up for The Organized Cook Weekly Meal Plan subscription at introductory rate of $4.99 a month

I look forward to hearing from you! Toni

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