Eat Healthier Without Giving Up Taste Or Convenience! @PhilipsPR #Ad

    I'm going to be completely honest, I don't have a lot of time to cook.  During the week, I teach middle school full-time, I blog full-time, and I'm a full-time mother and wife.  There just isn't a lot of space in my already crammed schedule to plan and execute elaborate, gourmet meals.  It's not that I don't want my family to enjoy tasty meals and snacks, I just have to be very careful how I manage my time.     Due to these time constraints, I am on an infinite quest to find products that allow me to prepare meals for my family in half the time.  The Philips Airfryer has been the answer to my prayers!  It is one of the most innovative new kitchen appliances that I have ever used and it allows me to fry, bake roast and grill with ½ tablespoon of oil or less.  The best part is that not only are these meals less fat, but they can also be prepared in a fraction of the time.     The digital touchscreen interface lets you easily customize the settings to cook your food to your … [Read more...]

Celebrate Autumn By Pairing New Veggie And Meat Dishes! #HormelFamily

    Now that Fall is upon us, it is time to make the transition from preparing warm weather meals to foods that are now in season with the winter months ahead of us.  Sometimes, pairing your meat dishes with seasonal vegetables can seem like a daunting task.  September and October are great months to experiment with seasonal root vegetables.  The new cool weather conditions are ideal for the growth of such veggies as broccoli, squash and cauliflower.     It is important to keep a few things in mind when pairing meats and seasonal veggies.  Here are some tips for planning and preparing seasonal meals for your family: *  Root vegetables gain some sweetness when they are roasted and taste delicious with pork.  One option is to pair a Hormel Always Tender roast flavored pork roast with carrots or a sweet potato as a tasty side. *  Vegetables can be paired with different meats for slow cook dishes in the form of soups, stews, chili, and more.  You can try mixing Herb-Ox chicken or beef … [Read more...]

Busy Moms Need Progresso™ Recipe Starters™! (Giveaway)

    In just two short weeks, our summer came to an abrupt end and this family is now back to keeping up with busy schedules, school, work, homework, and everything else that you guys could imagine.  The toughest thing to do after working all day long is to prepare a hearty meal for your family.  I am constantly fighting the good fight between being exhausted from the work day and wanting to make a delicious dinner for my husband and my sons.     Progresso™ Recipe Starters™ take the guesswork out of planning and preparing dinner and certainly give you a head start to a home cooked meal.  These cooking sauces are available in five flavorful varieties that you can use as starters to create home cooked meals for your family.  Many of these recipes are classic family favorites, such as Bacon Mac n’ Cheese, Chicken Pot Pie and Chicken Parmesan, and utilize ingredients your family may already have on-hand.     These sauces were directly inspired by the five "Mother" sauces that are derived … [Read more...]

Groundhog Month Inspired Meals #HormelFamily

        I'm sure by now, most of you know that the groundhog saw his shadow a few weeks ago which indicates that we can look forward to six more weeks of winter.  You can be like me and get depressed over this bit of news or you can use it as a reason to get together with your family and friends after the holiday season.  Instead of planning ways to cook that little groundhog for delivering such bad news, you might decide to use your imagination.     Since the groundhog has the option of either seeing or not seeing his shadow, you might decide to hold a cooking competition with some of your friends.  Put together two teams and give each team the same variety of ingredients along with one protein such as Hormel® Always Tender® meat along with different vegetables and sides.  Give each group a certain amount of time and see what kind of meal they can each come up with in a pinch.  Afterwards, everyone wins because you will have two delicious meals to enjoy together.     If you … [Read more...]