Gift Cookbooks: Get Cookin'

Here's my best advice to you.I plan meals nclordiagcy to what is healthy and accommodating to me and my busy schedule. It sounds like you're spending a lot of time searching for simple and easy meals when I can help you out a lot better.What I do is make a plan for the week. I don't necessarily have to follow it but it just helps me to have enough food for the week in case I do cook each meal as planned.I'll pick at least 2 crock pot meals for the week. I'm usually stocked up with the type of ingredients that are called for in the recipes. That should be your first goal; stock up on common ingredients that are needed in several recipes. Then, I figure what type of meat I will need. Normally, I get a few pounds of rib-end pork chops, a whole chicken (for the crock pot), and a lot of ground beef. Ground beef is very versatile which is why I choose to purchase it.You should plan your meals nclordiagcy. I can use ground beef to make burgers, I can make meatballs with it, I can have just ground beef w/ tomato sauce and elbow macaroni, I can use with macaroni and cheese to make beef macaroni, i can use it to make beef with bow ties and hunts gravy, etc. It's helpful.So, your next step should be planning meals according to how they accommodate you.I also believe that Pasta Sides (by Lipton or Knorr) are your friends! They are easily made in just a few minutes and go well with any meat and vegetable. Also, they're very versatile and have so many different flavors and types.I try to take into consideration what everyone else likes when I am cooking. I also like to switch it up so we're not having chicken everyday. I'm hispanic so I usually have arroz amarillo (yellow rice) three times a week. In order to add in the dietary fiber for nutrition purposes, I use gandules which are pigeon peas. It's all about thinking outside the box. There are such easy meals to make without even needing hundreds and thousands of recipes.

If you have 4 kids, then you have been cooking for iwlahe now. To start off easy, I would sit down and make a list of all the things that you have cooked, know how to cook, love to eat. Try to separate the list into catagories, such as soups, chicken, beef, egg, favorites and so on. When you have made your lists, I think you might be surprised what you have and how many things you like and know how to make easily. #2, Look at the schedule or calendar and see how many appointments or commitments you have and on which days. These are days you know you will need something very quick and easy. Start filling the calendar copy with something you know is quick anything at this point (ex, might be: tomato soup w grilled cheese sand, or frozen chicken nuggets or mac and cheese with weiners, nachos, etc.etc) #3 The day the grocery store sales are in the paper are usually the day I make my menu. Ex: if they have pork chops on sale, then one night we have BBQ pork chops, baked sweet or reg potato and green beans, the next night we would have a pork stir fry and rice or pork chops in mushroom soup baked in the oven and served over mashed potatoes or whatever you like. Next night might need to be a quickie breakfast night which is oven baked french toast or pancakes or pigs in a blanket. Write these ideas down, and keep going.After your menu is made, look it over, adjust it etc., write down what you need at the store-the sale items and the items needed to fill in around the main entree, plus reg items such as shampoo, cereals etc. Don't ever throw away this list at least for a few months. You will want to refer to it as you fine tune this and adjust over time. Pretty soon you will know that once a month you need 12 rolls of toilet paper and 2 bottles of shampoo etc. Keep a running list on the fridge so as you take out the last bottle or back-up mayo' from the pantry, you will replace it and by putting it on the fridge list, you won't ever forget something. And so on and on it goes.If the store not only has pork chops but also ground beef on sale, incorporate that into the menu. i.e., meat loaf, spend two hours and with 4 lbs of ground beef, make meatballs which would make about 100 meatballs. Use 25 per meal for that night you make them,(4-5 per person) and freeze theother 75 into 3 packages to use later on (like one meatball recipe once a week for the month you will have 4 meals already ready!) Some ideas to use meatballs would be ; Swedish/strogonaff, BBQ. sweet and sour, Italian w/ spaghetti, meatballs and green bean casserole..Do they have something like green peppers on sale? Use them.Stuffed green peppers if they have peppers on sale, pepper steak and potatoes, etc. Eggs? see how many recipes you can come up with that are creative, different and good i.e. omlets, strattas, souffles, dutch baby pancakes etc.#4 Keep on going like this until the week or two weeks or some of the month is filled in. If you know the sale is good on chicken, then you can spend some time on the web or looking through cookbooks for chicken ideas. It's overwhelming to not know what you want to cook and you see a thousand ideas and recipes and maybe what you settle for is not avail at the store or at a high price that week. Refer to photo cookbooks to give you some ideas and do this when you haven't eaten. It is always good to sit down and do this when you are hungry!#5You will find that you have saved time, energy, effort and alot of money by taking some time to do this. I promise. Also, keep a couple of things in the fridge or pantry for unexpected days or when you just don't have energy to cook and the leftovers are gone. Like a froz pizza, or froz chicken patties and buns etc.Need more help? Just write for more ideas. I am a huge advocate and believer in planning and in menus. I hope I helped!#6 In the end, once you have done this, albeit time consuming in the beginning, you can then rotate the menu, use the same each month and then choose one or two days a month when you will experiment' with a new recipe and so on. Pretty soon, you'll be a pro and wonder why you didn't do this sooner. Sitting down w a magazine for just one meal a month might even be a fun diversion and something to look forward to doing. Involve the kids as they get older like cutting up the lettuce, making carrot and celery sticks and so on.Make it fun, and make it a challenge. If your budget is say 100.00 a week, using only the things on sale and managing your time, see how much you can save. Put the difference in a jar and mark it for Movie Night or Mom's new outfit fund etc. Let me know how things go! I'm excited to know how you do.

AFAICT you've cveroed all the bases with this answer!

It's spooky how cleevr some ppl are. Thanks!