Category: Quick and easy dinners

  • Joanie’s Busy Day Beef Barley Soup

    Today I thought I would share with you my favorite Beef Barley Crockpot Soup recipe.  This time of year always gets a bit crazy.  Work, school, & afterschool activities make getting dinner on the table a challenge. It’s also the perfect time for a hot bowl of soup. This is my No Fail slow cooker soup for when I have no time to make dinner but want a hot meal on the table for my family.  Don’t be afraid to buy pre-chopped frozen vegetables to cut down on prep-time. If your family likes veggies, add what they love. This soup is so yummy and filling I’m sure your family will love it.  Enjoy!

    before-Barley-soup

    Joanie’s Beef Barley Soup

    8 cups beef stock

    1 pound stew beef

    1 onion diced

    1 cup chopped carrots

    ½ cup barley

    1 – 14.5oz cans of diced tomatoes

    1 cup frozen peas

    1 bay leaf

    Salt and Pepper to taste

    Throw everything but the peas in a slow cooker on low for 8 hours (or high for 4 hours) and walk away. 30 minutes before dinner, throw in the frozen peas and give it a stir.

    Yes, it’s that easy!

    Serve with a fresh salad and bread. Serves 4-6.  If you have leftovers, pop them in the freezer for a quick thaw and eat meal another day when you don’t feel like cooking.

    If you liked today’s post, you’re welcome to use it in your own newsletter or blog as long as you include the following blurb: Joan Robinson, Senior Project Manager, helps working moms and families focus on what’s important. Get our FREE weekly tips and advice at www.NoMorePiles.com.

  • Meal Planning Made Easy

    The winter is upon us and it is the perfect time to work on your meal planning.  The days are shorter and full of school (or snow days), work, sports, homework and activities. The fast-paced afternoons and evenings, which leave us little time to make dinner every night. Even for those of us who love to cook, getting dinner on the table every night can be a challenge.

    The hours between 4pm and 7pm are often referred to as the witching hours. Babies are fussy, kids are grumpy and grown-ups are tired. Now, add hungry to that mix and you can see why they call it the witching hours.

    Often many families find they are scrambling at the last minute trying to decide what’s for dinner. Unfortunately most will find that they lack the proper ingredients or simply the lack of time or energy to make dinner. This leads to…you guessed it, take out.

    Maybe one of your new year’s resolutions was to cook healthier meals for your family.  Now is a great time add more vegetables or try new recipes.

    Meal Planning

    Meal Planning is key to cutting down on the stress and confusion during the dinner hour.

    1. The first step in meal planning is to clean out and organize your pantry and kitchen. Make sure to check expiration dates. It’s important to know what you have and to have the right things on hand. Organize your pantry the way you eat. Keep the pasta with the tomato sauce. This way when you want to have spaghetti you only have to check on place for the ingredients.
    2. Create a list of meals your family eats. Be sure to get input from everyone. This gives you a great place to start. Now pick one or two recipes you want to try. I recommend saving them for the weekend when you have a bit more time to focus.
    3. Sit down with your calendar and plan your week. If you know you won’t to be home in time to make dinner consider making a crock pot meal that day. Or using a meal from the freezer.
    4. Once your meal plan is set, make your grocery list. It’s a lot easier to shop when you know exactly what you need. Make sure you also have the ingredients for your “simple go-to meals”. Always have a shopping list and always take it with you when you shop! Make your own essential list and create a template so all you have to do is check off a list and leave room for the additional supplies.
    5.  Write it down so you don’t have to answer questions.  The first thing my and Tara’s kids ask every morning as soon as he wakes up is, “What’s for dinner?”.  Having a Write N Wipe Weekly Dry-Erase Calendar on the frig eliminates these questions.  Below is Tara’s calendar of meals this week.  She uses the word “Smorgasboard” instead of leftovers since kids (and husbands) often don’t like the idea of leftovers.  But, pulling all the leftovers out of the frig and letting the kids choose which items they want to eat sounds great!

      Magnetic Dry Erase Weekly Meal Calendar
      Magnetic Dry Erase Weekly Meal Calendar

    Meal planning is just the start. In a perfect world we would make a plan and follow it with no problems. But in the real world kids get sick, cars break down and you forget to pull the meat out of the freezer. So it’s just as important to have a plan B and sometimes even a plan C.

    • Simple go-to meals: Always have the ingredients for one or two simple meals on hand. A perfect example is spaghetti. A jar of tomato sauce and dry pasta can sit on the shelf and can be made in a flash. You can add whatever veggies or meat you have on hand. Find a few recipes that work for your family and always be sure the ingredient are on your shelf.
    • Try to prep ahead when you can schedule time after your trip to the grocery store to wash and prep you veggies for the week. If you have more time consider getting a head start and cooking a meal or two or at least chopping items ahead of time so you have them handy on the nights you need to get dinner on the table quickly.
    • Freezer Meals: Spending on day in the kitchen once a month can save you time and frustration several nights a week.
    • The 6 O’Clock Scramble: Still need help with meal planning. Consider signing up for an online meal planning service such as The 6 O’Clock Scramble. Every week you are sent a list of 5 recipes and the grocery shopping list. The website even let’s you customize your meals for what your family enjoys or for dietary needs.
    • Meal Swap: Consider joining or starting a meal swap group. Make one meal several times and swap with your friends.

    Hopefully this will get you on the right track. In the next few weeks we will discuss Freezer Meals and Meal Swaps in further detail. Also be sure to check our website and Facebook page for quick and easy meals.

    If you liked today’s post, you’re welcome to use it in your own newsletter or blog as long as you include the following blurb: Joan Robinson, helps working moms and families focus on what is important. Get our FREE weekly tips and advice at www.NoMorePiles.com.

  • Joanie’s Roast Chicken

    If you need an easy, throw together meal that has minimal prep, then you should try Joanie’s Roast Chicken.  This is a simple, yet impressive, one pan meal.  You can assemble it a day ahead and keep it in the frig overnight and then just pop it in the oven when you get home.  A crowd pleaser for even picky eaters, or impressive enough for guests.

    Here is what you need:

    2 – whole chickens (or 1 if you have a smaller family or don’t want leftovers)

    1 pound small potatoes of your choice (red, baby yukon, mixed), cut in half

    1-1 1/2  pounds root vegetables (I use a combination of carrots, parsnips, brussel sprouts, etc)

    2 large onions, quartered

    salt & pepper

    Cut up onions, potatoes, carrots, parsnips or any other root vegetables. Arrange the veggies in a large roasting pan. Place the chicken in the middle drizzle with olive oil sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake uncovered at 450 for an hour, maybe longer if the bird is larger than 5 pounds. Super easy and so good and all in one pan so easy clean up! Double the recipe and use the extra chicken for soup, quesadillas or casseroles.150001_10200237383315748_1398452446_nIf you liked today’s post, you’re welcome to use it in your own newsletter or blog as long as you include the following blurb: Joan Robinson, helps working moms and families focus on what is important. Get our FREE weekly tips and advice at www.NoMorePiles.com.

  • Quick and Easy Pasta & Meat Sauce

    Here is my favorite recipe for a quick and easy pasta and meat sauce.  I always get lots of compliments on my pasta sauce, so I am sharing it with you.  Now that the weather is turning colder, it is always nice to be able to have a hot meal on the table quickly.  I also seem to have at least 4 or 5 occasions over the fall and winter when I have unexpected dinner guests.  This is a great way to have a nice dinner on the table for my guests that seems to please a crowd.  Plain pasta can be served for toddlers or picky eaters.  Or, you can serve a large bowl family style for a casual meal. Pair with a quick salad and some good bread and you are set!

    Here is my quick and easy pasta & meat sauce.  There are 3 amazing things about this sauce:

    1. It tastes like you cooked it for hours and you only need 30 minutes!

    2. You can add lots of things to this sauce or take some things out to suit your and your family’s tastes.  Remove the onions and mushrooms, if your family doesn’t like veggies in their sauce.  Or, for more options, add italian sausage, chopped peppers, zucchini, fresh tomatoes, black olives, capers, crushed red pepper flakes.

    3. It is a super thing to have in your freezer, so just double your recipe and pop your leftovers in a container and you can have a meal another time.
    Meat-Sauce-300x300

    The ingredients are:

    1 pound ground beef (or any other meat you like: turkey, chicken, sausage.  I often use bison to make it leaner but still meaty in flavor)

    1 onion, diced

    1 container/can strained or pureed tomatoes (26 oz) (I like Pomi brand)

    1 container chopped tomatoes

    1 package sliced mushrooms

    1/2 cup red wine

    3 cubes garlic (I like the Dorot herb cubes, but you could just chop 3 cloves)

    4 cubes basil

    2 tablespoons olive oil

    salt & pepper

    1 pound pasta, your choice of shape (I like Bionaturae brand organic pastas)

    In a medium pot, add the olive oil and brown the ground beef.  If you chose a lean cut, you can just add the onions, mushrooms and meat at the same time.  If you chose a fattier cut, brown the ground beef and drain it before adding it back into the pot with the vegetables.  No need to cook the meat all the way through at this point.

    Boil a large pot of water and cook pasta according to instructions.

    Add the red wine to meat and veg mixture and simmer for 1 minute.  Then add the garlic, basil, tomatoes and simmer for 20 minutes on medium low.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

    You can serve the pasta and sauce separately OR reduce the pasta cooking time by 2 minutes and while still slightly undercooked, strain and add the pasta to the sauce pot and cook for the last two minutes in the sauce and serve family style in a large bowl.  Enjoy!

    If you liked today’s post, you’re welcome to use it in your own newsletter or blog as long as you include the following blurb: Life Management Expert, Tara Donohue Rudo, helps working moms and families focus on what is important. Get her FREE weekly tips and advice at www.NoMorePiles.com.