It Actually Works! Egg Shell Removal in Seconds

I saw this video on YouTube a few weeks ago and shared it on my SimpleSAHM blog.  It a nutshell (or eggshell, if you will) you simply peel both ends off of the egg and "blow" it out of the shell. 

Today, I made 5 egg sandwiches for our family lunch and had to "de-shell" 8 eggs.  Using this method, it literally took me 10 minutes to prepare my egg-salad - plus, my kids were cracking up (pardon the pun) the entire time!

Give it a try!  (Oh....and just make sure you blow on the larger part of the egg...and not the smaller part. ;)  I nearly popped my eardrums doing the opposite.

A Few Kitchen "Sprintcuts" for Busy Cooks

Have you heard of "sprintcuts" yet? It is a cool video campaign by Sprint that shows viewers how to do things faster.... Here are two of my favorites...view more (like how to "quick pour ketchup" at waitless.org.

Quickly Peel a Potato

Quickly Peel Boiled Eggs

Use Your Freezer to Save Money on Groceries

I spent part of yesterday at Costco and left with sticker shock - and LOTS of milk.  =) 

When the price of milk started to rise (dramatically) I begin looking for ways to save money on our grocery bill.  The price of milk at our local Costco store is usually half the price at our local grocery store.  Therefore, I did a little research on freezing milk and learned that it is possible, simple and it does not harm the quality of the milk. 

Since the prices of nearly everything else are rising as well, I thought about ways to buy additional items in bulk and freeze them (like cheeses, breads, eggs, etc..)

Here are a few useful links I discovered in my search.

• USDA - Food Safety and Freezing
• How to Freeze Food and Save Money
• 30 Day Cafe - Once a Month Cooking (Freezer Cooking Guide)
• A Guide to Freezing Cheese
• Refrigerator & Freezer Storage Guide
• Freezing Vegetables

Hopefully they will help you make a dent in your rising grocery bill as well.

Once a Month Cooking Video Tutorials

This weekend my husband and I spent nearly $300 at Costco stocking up on items like cheese, milk, butter, eggs and cereal. Perhaps you noticed the cost of these items skyrocketing too?

When I didn't have two preschoolers underfoot I spent one weekend each month preparing a months' worth of meals. While the cooking day wasn't exactly fun (unless you *really* like cooking) I saved a tremendous amount of money and I loved having healthy "fast food" to serve each evening.

As a result of the recent jump in grocery prices, I am revisiting once a month cooking (or freezer cooking) as a way to save money on our families' grocery bill.

Since I am "polishing up" myself, I thought I would share some resources with you...

Easy Crockpot Recipe - Chicken Pot Pie

Fix, Freeze, Fast - An At-Home Alternative to Popular Meal Assembly Kitchens

Meal assembly kitchens have become all the rage lately.  If you've never been to one, the concept is simple.  You choose your menu from a variety of dishes and then assemble them in a professional kitchen for later use.

I decided to try the service about a year ago and I loved it.  I gathered a bunch of girlfriends and we had a blast making delicious meals together (and not worrying about clean-up).  I would do it every month...if I had a six-figure income.

The only drawback to these centers (in my opinion, of course) is that they can be expensive.  You could create twice as many meals at a fraction of the cost by creating your own meal assembly center in the comfort of your own home.

This video will show you how to quickly and easily create a tasty freezable dish.

My Kind of Cookie Recipe - 1 Cookie…25 Ways

Now this is my kind of cookie recipe.  MSN just posted a great article about how to use a single, simple sugar cookie recipe to create 25 different cookies.  Some are elegant, some are childish and all of them look absolutely de-lish!

I was just pondering a Costco holiday cookie tray...but may change my mind after seeing this. 

Enjoy!

One Holiday Cookie Recipe, 25 Ways - MSN Lifestyle - Food & Entertaining - Slideshow - 1

Baked Spaghetti: Quick, Easy and De-lish Bulk Recipe

I am right in the middle of a "pantry challenge". 

What's that?  Well, it means different things for different people.  For me, the pantry challenge means that I am trying desperately to put off grocery shopping (one of my least favorite things in the world). 

Basically, I am going through my pantry and trying to come up with creative meals with all of the stuff I haven't used yet.  Let's just say that we've eaten a lot of tacos, grilled cheese sandwiches and hot-dogs this week.

I was very excited about tonight's meal, however.  I found a recipe for a fantastic baked spaghetti on AllRecipes.com. 

Since I purchase my cheese, spaghetti sauce and noodles at Costco, I have an abundance of those items to use. 

I decided to make three batches of the dish (without even trying it first).  Really - how can anyone (including me) mess up a spaghetti dish?

The great thing about this recipe is that it is super-simple to make mass quantities of it and it freezes wonderfully. 

A quick tip:

Line your baking dishes with at  least two layers of tin foil before adding the ingredients making sure you allow enough extra tinfoil on the sides to completely cover the dishes.

Then, "quick-freeze" the dishes (including the pans).  This will take several hours.  Once the dishes are solid (like a brick) remove them from the pans, label and freeze them for later use.

When you are ready to cook the meal, you simply place the "brick" back into the original dish and bake.

Enjoy!  =)

Deep Fried Turkey - How To Video

Would you like a simple & delicious way to prepare your turkey this year?  Try deep frying it.  We've deep fried our turkey for the past five years.  It is never dry, always juicy and never greasy (believe it or not).  I doubt we will ever return to traditional turkey roasting.

Here is a great "how-to" video from Alton Brown - one of my favorite Food TV hosts.  The only drawback to turkey frying is that it can be very dangerous.  The video does a great job of explaining how to fry it safely.

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: turkey , thanksgiving , deep fried turkey , deep fried turkey tips , how to deep fry a turkey , thanksgiving turkey recipes , simple thanksgiving recipes

Mac-N-Cheese or Cracked Pepper Albacore Steak with a Mediterranean Spinach Salad? You Decide.

Which would you rather have for lunch?  Alright - chances are...at least 75% of you are voting for the Mac-n-Cheese...but what if I told you that the second option is quicker and healthier?  Would you try it?

Earlier this month I told you about my less than flattering "Real Age" test where I "matured" considerably.  In my quest to find simple, quick and healthy meals I went straight to the "bagged" aisle.   Yes, I know "bagged" doesn't exactly scream "nutritious"...but bear with me....I used to survive on foods from the canned aisle....this was a step-up.

My results showed that I needed to eat more "leafy greens" and fish so I gave these products a try.  Baby steps, right?

As I was heating up some tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for the kiddos I threw together a tossed salad while nuking a tuna steak for myself.  It was De-Lish!    The tuna steak was wonderful.  It was moist, firm and with additional squeeze of lemon juice and ground pepper - I would not have known that it wasn't fresh.

The salad was even better.  It contained foccacia bread croutons, a fantastic dijon vinaigrette and a bag of baby spinach leaves.  Needless to say, I was pleasantly shocked.  =)

I almost felt *fancy* despite my paper plate and neon green plastic spoon.

It just goes to show that you don't need to settle for mac-n-cheese, spagetti-o's, hotdogs for a quick and easy lunch!

Technorati Tags: quick and easy meals , sahm , stay at home mom , lunch ideas , quick and easy lunches , healthy lunches , real age test , dr. oz , oprah