The Gourmet Mama

We all know that kids aren’t the only ones who need to have snacks throughout the day. Here are a list of easy to pack snacks that you can take with you for when you are waiting for ballet class or soccer practise to be over, so that you can make it through the day. I don’t know about you but I’m awfully grumpy by dinner if I don’t have a snack halfway through the afternoon.

1. Yoghurt cups

2. Veggies - one of my favorite way to pack veggies is to chop up a bunch the night before and put them in a little tupperware container with a drizzle of salad dressing. Then you shake it all up so that they are all coated and by the morning its mixed with the juices for a scrumptious and delicious treat.

3. an apple

4. granola bars

5. grapes - these stuck in a little ziplock bag are perfect for taking with you places.

6. leftover pizza…ok, I know its not the healthiest, but thats what I had for a snack today so I’m putting it in here.

7. banana

8. muffin

9. mixed nuts

10. A V8 juice…very tasty and very healthy!

Happy snacking!!!

To save time when you are making buscuits, don’t worry about cutting them out with a round cutter. Just roll them out and use a knife to cut them into squares.

Whenever you use lemons, oranges or limes, save the rinds and freeze them. When they are frozen solid, they grate easily and its always good to have some citrus zest on hand.

To save time when cooking, try combining salt and pepper in one shaker. The best ratio is 3/4 cup salt to 1/4 cup pepper.

If you ever want to find a quick and easy dessert to whip up last minute to impress company or just your kids, Banana Cream Pie is the best way to go. You can get most of the supplies way ahead of time and have them waiting there for you when you need a quick sugar fix and you can get it all put together in less than five minutes! How’s that for a fast dessert? Here’s what you need.

1 pre made crumb pie crust

1 package instant banana pudding (you can substitute chocolate pudding if you are a chocoholic)

1 cup milk

1 large or two small bananas

1 can of whipped cream (if you are ambitious, you can make it from scratch instead)

optional chocolate syrup for decoration

Now all you have to do is put it all together. Mix the milk and pudding mix together as described on package.  Pour into pie crust and even out with a spoon…only use your tongue to even it out if the pie is to be consumed only by you.  Peel and slice banana and sprinkle over pudding. Top with whipped cream and drizzle chocolate syrup over top. Ta Da!!! A perfectly quick and easy Banana Cream Pie.

Photo by Noonch

There is a potluck lunch at work tomorrow and being as busy as I am, I completly forgot about it until late tonight. I have the reputation of always coming with one of those dishes that everyone wants the recipe for so I had to come up with something that they would all love. After a quick stop at the grocery store, I decided on my famous quick and easy bruchetta.

Bruchetta is a salad that consists mainly of tomatoes and feta cheese and makes a great appetizer, side salad or a topping to anything bland such as a lettuce salad or chicken. There are many complicated recipes out there but mine has been tried and tested and developed into a super simple recipe…mainly from lack of money, ingredients and patience, but nevertheless, it is one of the best bruchetta’s around!

Quick and Easy Bruchetta

3-4 medium tomatoes

1 clove garlic chopped

small handful cilantro, chopped

1/2 cup feta cheese, drained and crumbled (I like to use sundried tomato feta but plain works too)

Chop tomatoes into 1/2 inch dice. Add garlic, cilantro and feta cheese. Mix together. Yup…it’s that simple! You can serve on toast, as a salad, spoon onto chicken or pork chops.

Image by thebittenword.com

Making stuff from scratch isn`t always what it`s cracked up to be, but that doesn`t mean you have to forfeit good taste and great food. Today, you`ll learn how to take an ordinary packet of premade spaghetti sauce and turn it into something that everyone will swear is homemade.

What You`ll Need:

1 package (about 1 cup) of pasta sauce, any kind

1 onion, diced

1 tablespoon fresh basil

2 tomatoes, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. beef consomme

Fry the onions up in a little oil in a large frying pan until they are transluscent. Add the remaining ingredients. Heat through and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve atop pasta!

Pretty simple, right? Well, it gets even better. If you`re feeling adventurous, add some ground beef (1/2 lb. is perfect) to the onion cooking stage and once it`s brown, you can add the remaining ingredients.

Your kids hate veggies, but will eat pasta with sauce? Get sneaky and use the finest holes on your grater to add a carrot into the sauce. Once it`s cooked in, they`ll never notice. You can also wilt a cup of spinach, chard or other green in a little water and then blend it into a puree which can be stirred into the pasta sauce. Extra nutrition that doesn`t show up!

Other variations:

• Chunky Veggie Sauce: Add cubes of carrot, chopped cauliflower and broccoli, etc. to the onion cooking stage. You may need to add a little water to keep the veggies from sticking. Once they are semi-tender, add the remaining ingredients.

• Tofu Delight: Start the recipe by mixing the packaged sauce with the consomme (you could also use vegetable consomme for a vegetarian dish) and crumble half a package of firm tofu into the mixture. Let it marinate while you cook the onions, then dump everything into the frying pan.

• Dollar Stretcher Pasta Sauce: Make the pasta sauce go further by adding a can of tomato paste, plus two cans of water. Instead of fresh basil, use dried basil, thyme or parsley flakes, one teaspoon is fine. You can also use garlic powder instead of fresh garlic, if you don`t have it.

• Creamy Tomato Pasta Sauce: Cook as directed above, but just before you take the sauce off the heat, stir in half a cup of cream. You may dilute this with milk, if you find the sauce is too thick.

Using a premade food item as the base of a meal is something that makes life a lot easier. While you could make pasta sauce from scratch, it isn`t always possible and to be honest, it might even intimidate some women. But don`t worry, with this method, you can have several different “homemade” sauces that will delight friends and family and it`s super simple!

Cooking can be one of the messiest jobs out there…especially if you have a little helper with you. There are quite a few different tips and tricks that can help you keep your kitchen nice and tidy without having to slave for hours in it. There is no reason why the majority of the cleaning shouldn’t be done by the time the meal is ready to eat. Here are the top ten kitchen cleaning tips and tricks!

1. Invest in some dollar store tin foil and use it with all of your baking and roasting. You know how all the juices of the meat turn into that sticky brown goo at the bottom of the pan that takes forever and a day to soak and scrub off? Well, if you line your pans with the cheap tin foil from a dollar store, you can simply wrap it up and throw it out when you are finished. The most your roasting pan will need is a little rinse!

2. When you first start cooking a meal, fill your sink with hot soapy water so that you can rinse or wash you dishes as you go or at least throw them into the water so that they don’t dry and get crusty food bits on them. It makes clean up time a snap! 

3. Pull the garbage can out from under the sink for easy access. That way you can easily throw away peelings and wrappers as you go instead of letting them pile up on the counter beside you. 

4. Keep a wet cloth close by so that you can wipe up spills as soon as they happen. The faster you clean them up, the less you will have to scrub later. 

5. Use your downtime to tidy. While the oven is heating or the water is boiling, quickly load the dishwasher, wipe down the counters or sweep the floor. Every little bit helps.

6. Minimize the use of dishes. When making cookies with kids, one of the best ways to minimize the mess is to dump all of the ingredients into large zip lock bag and securing it firmly. Then let them squish and play with it as much as they want until everything is all mixed together! Its great fun for them and it sure saves a lot of mess for you! 

7. put down a piece of tin foil or parchment paper when you are rolling out cookie dough or making biscuits. This will save you having to scrub down the counter. 

8. If you roll dough onto the counter and end up with some stuck to the counter, the best way to clean it up is by scraping it with a pancake flipper. This does a great job and doesn’t scratch the counter top. 

9. To keep things from sticking to the bottom of the frying pan, warm up the pan before you put in the oil. 

10. Make it into a game and get the kids to help you clean up. Give them each a job and make it a race to see who gets it done fastest! The winner can get to choose the first cookie out of the oven or their choice of seats at the dinner table!

Photo by Mandydale

They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day…and I agree, so long as it comes shortly after rolling out of bed around noon-ish. The problem for most mothers is that there is never enough time in the day…or at least in the morning to make sure that the kids get a good breakfast into them before running out the door for work and school.  There is one way that you can get some hot pancakes into them though, without having to rush around and make a huge mess and what mother would argue with that?

The first step is to eat ketchup…ok, let me explain. A great way to make pancakes is to store the batter in an old cleaned out ketchup squeeze bottle. Its perfect grab out of the fridge and pour strait into the hot pan without having to mix it and dirty dishes. Just make the batter up when you have the time, use a funnel to pour it into a washed out ketchup bottle and store it in the fridge for up to 3 days. Then in the morning, heat up the pan, throw in some butter and squeeze the batter out into the perfect pancakes. The only dishes you will have is the pan and the plates!!! So how do you make the batter? Here is a simple recipe that works every time and goes by the rule of ones.

Simple Pancakes

1 cup flour

1 cup milk

1 egg

1 teaspoon baking powder