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What did the WAHM cook make today?

So I want to live up to my recommendations to you and tell you exactly what I was able to cram into my lunch hour today.

During the lunch hour I was able to to:

• Batch cook 6 chicken breasts - 4 c for Country Chicken Pot Pie and 2 c leftover for future use stored in my freezer.
• Sauted beef strips - I had some beef steaks in the freezer so I decided to thaw one out and slice it into strips and cook in a pan for future use. I could use it in a stir fry (by creating an oriental sauce when reheating) or as fajitas (by adding pepper and onions and HG Taco seasoning)
• 6 batches of Master Bread Machine mix (easier to do than it sounds)
• 2 Country Chicken pot pies

I have pictures but have not had time to upload them just yet! But I wanted to show you that I actually do practice what I preach!

WAHM Cook Tip of the Day - A little extra goes a long way

So recently I was conducting a personal menu planning consultation with a co-worker of mine (a fellow WAHM) and I mentioned a little WAHM tip to her that I thought I should share with you.

Just this past week I made Italian Slow cooker chicken with fresh salad and Texas cornbread. Well during this easy weeknight meal I decided to go ahead and make ahead a yummy dinner/lunch treat for my 3 year old.

In half of the batter I put some cut up hot dogs into the muffin tin. So at the same time as I was baking a side item for that night's dinner I made a dinner and lunch for another day! I then cooled the muffins and wrapped them in plastic wrap and placed all of them in a freezer bag. Corn dog muffins are just a quick zap in the microwave away!

WAHM TIP:

When making dinner for any given night, think of how you can use that meal in another way for another day. Sometimes simply throwing in an extra chicken breast or cooking up one extra pound of ground beef at the time you are cooking the others can save you an hour on another day!

So I leave you with that quick tip of the day.

WHAM Dinner Tips - Batch Cooking

Okay so I'm sure that the conecpt of Batch Cooking is not new to you.....but are you actually doing it? I know that when I first heard of the concept of batch cooking it sounded great, but WHEN would I find the time to actually cook large batches of fresh meat?

Between shuttling the kids to daycare (yes even though I work at home daycare is a necessity in my day job), shopping, doing errands, oh yeah and doing that thing called Full time work, I just could not find the time to cook batches of chicken or beef.

I could have done it on the weekends but let's face it. In our busy world are weekends are filled doing all the things that we could not get done during the week right? Or if you are like me, between the shopping and cleaning you are spending as MUCH time focused on your kids and family then you are on actually cooking.

TIP: If you are one of my super couponing friends then this method is PERFECT for you! After you have stocked up on your super meat sales at the grocery store, you don't even have to plan what to do with your meat! I generally like to cook HALF of my quantity of meat in the batch and leave the other half uncooked for my smoosh meals/4 meals in 4 minutes

So, WAHM Dinner Guide to the rescue!

As I had mentioned before in ______________ using your lunch hour or other scheduled breaks during your work day is a GREAT way to start the kitchen battle. I can think of no great time well spent then that of cooking up 6-8 lbs of chicken or 5 + lbs of beef! Think about it, if you were to cook that much meat in only one hour, that shaves off 30 minutes to an hour of prep time PER MEAL!

So if you wanted to make tacos the first step is the cooking of beef right? Well, if you are anything like me in my crazy life, I'm lucky that I had the foresight to serve the taco dinner shortly after buying the ground beef. That stuff spoils quickly! If you've ever taken a look at the best by date on the package it usually hits that date 1-2 days after you buy it! Which is why doing batch cooking is such a great thing!

No, I don't really add things up in my recipes for the month and just precisely determine how much ground beef I'm going to cook for given recipes. But I do know that on average a recipe calls for 1 lb of meat. If it calls for more or less my 1lb cooked is still just right. Just think of all the possiblities that can come from having cooked ground beef or chicken on hand! Even if you are not a planner like me, you can easily look in your freezer and come up with several menus with some simple pantry staples on hand.

Let's take a look:

Ground Beef:

• Tacos - need I say more? (make it with our Taco Soup mix and it is super yummy, just add in 2 T when you reheat the beef on the stovetop and bam, you've got tacos!)
• Shepherd's Pie
• Beef and Biscuit Hot Dish
• Sloppy Joe's
• Mix into spaghetti sauce (Homemade Gourmet of course!)
• Tater Tot Casserole

Chicken Cooked:

• Chicken Salad - try some of our chicken salad mixes to think outside the box! (Cilantro Lime Chicken Salad, Tropical Chicken Salad Mix)
• Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole (I like to make mine without the poppy seeds! Find a yummy recipe here: cooks.com)
• Chicken Quesadillas - just heat up and throw on some cheese and taco season and you're good to go!
• Broccoli and Garlic Lemon Chicken Casserole - when I make it with my batch cooked chicken I just add the garlic lemon at the time of preparation of the dish, still tastes delicious!

Use your imagination! The possibilities are endless! Any recipe that requires you to cook your chicken or beef before preparing the dish can be made this way. Just add the required seasonings at the time you are reheating the meat!

This has become a HUGE time saver for me. Okay, so now I've talked you into it, but HOW do I do it?

Well there are several ways:

Chicken:

You can slow cook as may chicken breasts as will fit in your slow cooker.

You can cut up into cubes or slices and saute in a pan until done

Poach

You can grill them all up TIP! Another way to slowly build up some easy meals is to throw in one or two extra breasts or steaks or whatever into your marinade and COOK them with the dinner you make that night. Then freeze the extras for another night! Cook once and serve twice!

My favorite method, is to BAKE the chicken. I just love the flavor of a roasted chicken versus any other method and it is VERY hands off! While at lunch I just preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Then when ready I put all my chickens on a baking sheet and place them all at once in my oven and let them go for 30-45 minutes. I like to do this with FROZEN chicken. I don't even have to thaw them out. I keep an eye on them about 10 minutes before hand to make sure I don't dry them out but then they just cool. After cooled I simply cut them up into cubes, throw into a freezer bag then into the freezer!

I usually store them in 2 cup portions since that is a typical amount called for in recipes.

EASY!

Beef:

Microwave - yes you can, I don't but you can

Fry in a pan - if you have a pan large enough or a few pans you can do this. Try not to crowd too many lbs into one pan as I find that the juice that is rendered tends to steam the beef rather than brown it. I like a nice brown and crisp beef.

I like to use my LARGE oval electric skillet for this task. It is wide and deep so it can fit alot of beef and cooks evenly around. This does require that you at least be in the kitchen making your lunch or on a conference call on MUTE on a portable phone!

I store mine in 1lb portions FLAT in a freezer bag.

I hope that this gives you confidence to do some mini batches in your small breaks during the day. The time savings is huge!

TIP: You will become so used to having pre-cooked meat on hand that you may sometimes forget that you have run out! Keep a little list on the fridge with the number of bags and just mark each tic mark off as you use it so you know when you are getting low!

Freezer Meals the WAHM Way - VIDEO!

Hi Wahm Cooks!

This is the debut of my first video blog! I show you just how easy it is to do freezer cooking the WAHM way! Watch me as I make a freezer meal in minutes!

Crazy Taco Night!

Okay so today was a very busy day at work. Started out with non-stop conference calls and TONS of configuration work right up to 5 pm! I still have a late night conference call tonight, as well as a host coaching call with a hostess of an upcoming party (excited about that one!).

This is why I was so thankful to have had an easy meal to throw together the WAHM way.

TACOS!

I had done my diligence earlier when I bought some ground beef on sale last month. I found some ground beef at $1.79/lb which is a STEAL here in North IL. On the day I brought the meat home I split it up into hamburgers (to which I sprinkled in some worstechester and Pepper Pizzaz seasoning) and froze them in patties. I also cooked up another batch into taco meat and then I simply just wrapped up some untouched meat for random quick dinners during the month. I had about 9 lbs of meat total.

Well I saved my taco meat in 2-3 cup portions and labeled it in a freezer bag and just had it hanging around. So when I did my meal planning this week I simply shopped my freezer. So I added tortillas to my shopping list, along with fresh lettuce, a tomato and I already had some frozen shredded cheese on hand. I also grabbed an 8 oz can of tomato sauce to make my mexican rice (a yummy recipe from my best friend). I also grabbed ingredients to make the Cinnamon Sopapillas for dessert, hubby's favorite!

Let's look at the WAHM way to cook this:

At a break or lunch:

• Cut lettuce - place in bag back in fridge
• Chop tomatoes - place in container back in fridge
• Set out the rice (you could even measure out the cup!)
• Set out the tomato sauce
• Set out the tortillas
• Set out the cream cheese
• Set out the chicken broth (or bullion cubes)
• chop onions (if using, I have mine already chopped in the freezer)

This way when I get home from the rush from pickups at daycare I just start dinner in the following way:

1. Start the Rice
2. While rice is cooking take out taco meat from freezer
3. Heat taco meat in microwave
4. Set out lettuce, tomatoes and cheese
5. Set table
6. Heat tortillas in microwave
7. Serve and enjoy!

Recipes:

Taco Soup Seasoned Beef

Mexican Rice

• 1 cup uncooked long grain rice
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 1 T oil
• 2T chopped onions
• 1 t garlic salt
• 1/2 t cumin
• 2 cups chicken broth (I made mine with bullion cubes)
• 2-3 T Taco Soup Seasoning (or Chicken Enchilada Soup or Tortilla Soup Seasoning)

Saute rice in medium sauce pan in oil until puffed and white. Add onion and cook until tender. Sprinkle seasonings over top and cook 1 minutes. Add tomato sauce and broth, bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 20-25 minutes until tender and all liquid is absorbed. Serve!

To order product visit http://www.homemadegourmet.com/deenacannistraci

Mother's Day Treat - Strawberry Tea

Have you figured out what to get for Mother's Day? I always like to give something to my Mom that can help her relax or make her life easier. She lives far away from me so I try and keep my gift small or have it shipped direct to her.

Homemade Gourmet mixes make a great addition to a relaxing gift basket. In the mood to create a nice relaxing drink for her? Try this yummy looking Sparkling Strawberry Tea recipe if you are in a creative mood! You can order the Mojito Mint Tea here.

You can have the tea shipped direct to you in time for Mother's Day!

Don't put your crock pot away just yet!

Just because the weather has gotten warmer doesn't mean yo have to put away the slow cooker for the season!

One of my favorite time saving tips for WAHM cooking is cooking in the microwave. Homemade Gourmet has a great line of products called Season 'N Steam in which you quickly cook up meals using your microwave in a steamer bag! I love the Sloppy Joes and Broccoli and Beef.

But, I just learned that you can cook these in the crock pot too! All of the Season 'n Steam entrees can be prepared in the slow cooker, too- right in the season 'n steam bag for super easy clean-up! Just fill the steamer bag with all the ingredients and place in the slow cooker on high for 4 hours or low for 6*. Whether you're using the microwave or slow cooker, you kitchen stays cool!

This is especially good news for our hosts in May. The host meal gift for May is the Season 'n Steam BBQ Sandwich Mix!

Want a great idea for this summer? Try our new Season 'n Steam Orange Ginger Chicken, this is great served over rice or wrap in a tortilla with lettuce and tomato or slice and serve over fresh salad greens with an orange vinagrette, yummy!

Bonus Tip: To add an extra layer of flavor, brown the meat in a skiller over med-high for a few minutes on each side before adding to the slow cooker.

* Key to the Kitchen has been updated with the exact slow cooker instructions for each Season 'n Steam meal.

"So What's for Dinner - Sunday" March 28

What a week! It has been a while since I have been able to sit down to write a post. A hectic and stressful week at work and yet another round of illness with my children set me back in the kitchen.

I've been attending some couponing exchanges locally and even went on an excursion with a few ladies who showed me and a few others how to actually get things for cheap or FREE!

It was an eye opening experience and really got me excited! Some of the principles really fit into my WAHM meals! By saving coupons and waiting for sales and stocking up on those items you can save alot of money! The great thing with the Homemade Gourmet meals is that you use simple ingredients that can stay in your pantry and get used when you need them!

I was able to snag up quite a few deals on meat this week which filled our freezer with 12 meals! The great part is, each of these meals can be used int a complety different meal the next night!

Here is what I bought:

4 Angus pot roasts $1.99/lb

6 lbs Ground Beef $1.69/lb

8 lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts $0.99/lb! Yes! That was a GREAT deal I snagged at the last minute!

Now I did make a special trip to purchase these meats. Here in Chicagoland anything $1.99/lb or less is a STEAL! So when I saw these prices I took the money extra and stocked up.

Here is how I used up the meat:

• Double batch of Taco meat for tacos


• Beefy Enchilada Casserole - using extra taco meat above


• Garlic Parmesean Chicken


• Italian Slow Cooker Chicken


• Pepper Pizazz Burgers (made enough for 4 dinners!)


• BBQ Chicken Sandwiches


• Burgandy Beef Tips


• Awesome Chicken Grill


• 2 - Beef Pot Roasts

What I picked up on my regular shopping trip consisted of side dishes to accompany these meals.

All of the meals, except the taco meat and burgers, were 4 meals in 4 minutes meals. Meaning, with the meat, a Homemade Gourmet Seasoning and a wet ingredient, usually something like a can of diced tomatoes, cream of mushroom soup, wine, chicken broth etc you mix it all together in a bag and SMOOSH it!

My 3 year old LOVES to help with this part! After I put the meat into the bag, we both count out the scoops of seasoning together as she pours it in, and then we dump in the wet ingredients. After we seal up the bag, we SMOOSH it together! You can see her washing her hands before we began! Due to our time crunch I didn't get to take any pictures of our meal making event!

It only took us 20 minutes to put all of that together. After dinner we set up our assembly line of recipes printed out on the table, setting each canned good or seasoning on the recipe. As my husband washed the dishes after dinner and my 6 month old played on the floor in the family room, "S" and I got to work!

After the kids were in bed I finished up the taco meat while rotating loads of laundry in the basement!

Remember, dinner time doesn't have to be a chore! With a few minutes planning ahead you can have several weeks worth of dinners waiting for you!

Now as far as cooking these meals goes, each one can be made in the following ways:

1. Slow Cooker - my first choice!

2. Grill - next best choice

3. Bake - last choice

I just throw my meal under the hot water tap to loosen it from the bag and dump it, frozen and all in the slow cooker, when dinner time comes I pop in some veggies in the microwave and dinner is done!

To find these recipes visit my website: Key 2 the Kitchen

What are you having for dinner this week?

Did she say "Steamed" Egg Omelet?

Okay, so I know what you are thinking....did she say a STEAMED omelet? What the heck is that? So Homemade Gourmet came out with these cool new Shakers. They are for meat and pasta and veggies and EGGS????? Well I decided to give it a try.

The Tami's Garden Select shaker is a wonderful blend of spices that is SALT-FREE! Yep, you can add flavor to your meat and pasta and veggies without the added salt. If you are someone on a sodium reduced diet then you will love this shaker. In fact there are alot of reduced sodium mixes that Homemade Gourmet carries. I would describe the scent of the seasoning as a bouquet of garlic and thyme and pepper flakes, a heavenly aroma.

Even if you are not on a sodium reduced diet you will still enjoy these eggs. No mess, everything made in one steamer bag that you toss at the end!

Steamed Omlete:

1. 2-3 eggs
2. Splash of milk
3. Tami's Garden Select Shaker
4. Any choice of omlete goodies - cheese, ham, bacon, peppers, onions, mushrooms, salsa, sour cream, black olives
5. Ziploc Steamer Bag - medium is good size

Crack the eggs and place in the steamer bag, add a splash of milk if you wish. Close up the bag and smoosh and shake the bag to 'scramble' the eggs. Next add the seasoning to taste, and all the add in's to your eggs.

Seal the bag and place in the microwave. Take care to follow the directions on the bag and place the correct side up to allow for the steam to vent. Cook 1.5-2.5 minutes depending on the power of your microwave. You will know the eggs are done when there is no more liquid. Take care to not overcook the eggs.

Shake the bag to get the eggs off the side and to make it fall into a nice roll. Roll out onto plate and enjoy.

I paired up my eggs with two slices of warm Strawberry Bread, YUM!

Enjoy!

What is WAHM Cook about Anway?

So you maybe wondering what is this blog all about? Well I am a WAHM and I like to call myself the WAHM Cook!

I have been working from home since 2006 and while I have the luxury of working in my PJ's life is very hectic with two kids! Working full time from home and raising a family does not mean that dinner is always easy! Let's face it. If you are a SAHM you are still trying to find out how to balance getting everything done and the number one area is always dinner!

"Mom, What's for Dinner?"

Those are the words that ring in your ears as you realize that you have nothing started, it is now 4:45 pm and you have a freezer full of chicken breasts or a solid chunk of ground meat! Your solution maybe to pop a frozen pizza in the oven, cook pasta AGAIN, or worse yet, go out to eat or order in costing you more money.

I'm here to help you get balance in kitchen while you work at home! I'll share with you tips and tricks to better meal preperation, saving time and making sure you have a backup plan that doesn't involve the pocket book!

And no this advice is not full of OAMC (once a month cooking) ideas either. Although freezer cooking is part of my plan, you do not need to spend a 3 day marathon of cooking to have dinner at the ready the rest of the month!

I'm not a health nut either, so if you are looking for something that is uber healthy, then this blog is NOT for you! I will give you yummy tasting recipes without regard of the fat content! Let's face it, we need our kids to eat this stuff so it has to taste good!

Well I hope you enjoy your time on my blog and that you get some tips that are easy and make your WAHM life more balanced!

Happy Cooking!

WAHM Cook

Garlic Basil Mozzarella Bread

Mmmmm, nothing like the house filled with the smell of fresh baked bread. Even better when you combine that with the smell of garlic, basil and melted mozzarella cheese!



To get a head start on my WAHM dinner tonight I whipped up a loaf of Garlic Basil bread. Although it only took less than 5 minutes to prepare the cooking time is a good 45-50 minutes.



So during my break at lunch I mixed it all up and popped it into the oven. My little boy is home from daycare sick with RSV so I had him playing in his highchair while I explained to him the ease of putting this dinner together!



Typically we keep a few frozen loaves of garlic bread in the freezer to whip out on spaghetti night. But I had a few packs of the Homemade Gourmet World Vision Basic Bread mix on hand and decided to spice dinner up tonight with wonderful homemade bread instead of the expensive and often tasteless store bought stuff.



Now you might be saying, why don't you just keep a loaf of french bread around and spread on some minced garlic and butter? Well again, I find that to be relatively tasteless as well, the garlic never imparts enough flavor for me unless I roast it, and that is not on my to do list! Also, unless you freeze your french bread or use it right away then your bread spoils. I am also not a big fan of freezing loafs of baked bread (unless it is muffins or banana bread, you get the point). Somehow it just never comes out just right.



Plus, this bread is infused with HG's Garlic Basil seasoning and gooey mozzarella cheese. Mmmmmm. This will bring a different twist to having the same old spaghetti dinner tonight.



By having a mix that I can go to and just add a few different ingredients to I can have warm fresh baked bread TODAY. Now that is a WAHM dinner! Also this mix has TONS of other recipes you can make with it, love beer bread? How about a cheesy bacon bread? The recipes are endless!







Here is the recipe, enjoy!




Ingredients
1 Homemade Gourmet® Basic Bread Mix
2 tablespoons Homemade Gourmet® Garlic Basil Seasoning
1-3/4 cups milk
1/2 stick butter/margarine, melted

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese




Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.



2. In a large bowl, combine bread mix, seasoning, and milk (batter will be lumpy).



3. Spoon batter into a greased 5x8 loaf pan.



4. Pour melted butter over batter.



5. Place loaf pan on a baking sheet to catch any spillover.



6. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

The best Homemade Fish Tacos

My husband is a huge fan of Fish Tacos. When we were stationed in Memphis, TN we both fell in love with a little mexican deli called Las Tortugas. He always got the Fish Tacos made fresh by Pepe himself. Well up here in Illinois we are finding it really hard to get super good mexican food. I have experimented many times with various fish taco recipes, including the simple fish with Old Bay Seasoning on them (bleh, too salty!).

Well Homemade Gourmet to the rescue! I was on their Key 2 the Kitchen website with all the recipes for their products. Lo and behold there was a Fish Taco recipe using the Garlic Lemon seasoning.

Well needless to say it was a HUGE hit! I made it with only 3 tilapia filets and I had to hear about it! He even took the pan I cooked it in and scraped up all the tiny bits from the pan. This is a great WAHM recipe as it only takes less than 10 minutes to prepare.

WAHM Dinner Method:

Start the rice side dish in the rice cooker first
Take out taco toppings and flour tortillas
Just before serving prepare the fish

Ingredients

1 lb. Trout Fillets, cubed (I used frozen tilapia fillets)
2 T butter
2 T lime juice, divided
1 T Homemade Gourmet Garlic Lemon Seasoning
2 T sour cream
2 T mayo
Pinch Homemade Gourmet Southwest Seasoning
8 flour tortillas – soft taco size
chopped tomatoes
shredded lettuce
shredded cheese

Saute fish in butter, 1 T of lime juice and Garlic Lemon seasoning over medium-high heat for 6 minutes until fish easily flakes with fork.

Meanwhile, combine sour cream, mayo, remaining lime juice and Southwest Seasoning to form a smooth sauce

Fill warm tortillas with fish, drizzle with sauce and top with toppings of choice.

Serve with rice


Need to order Homemade Gourmet? Click here: WAHM Cook’s HG Site