Monday Morning Challenge! Eat up!

May 21, 2012 by Leave a Comment

If you are anything like me, your weekly grocery store trips are pretty standard, and therefore so are your meals.  We are pretty predictable around my house, Tuesdays are always taco night, Thursdays are always an easy Stouffers meal I can just throw in the oven, wanting something easy in anticipation of the weekend.  Well this week Ties & Tutus challenges you to try something completely new!  Blow the dust off those recipe books, check your Pinterest boards for all those yummy recipes you always dream of making and get out and do it!  Now, there always is a chance that things in the kitchen could go terribly awry so I might suggest picking up an extra frozen pizza at the store when you are buying your ingredients, just in cases.  (Not a grammatical error, anyone know the movie reference?)  So good luck and eat up – you’ve been challenged!    If you need some good places to start here are some awesome sites that will get your inner Julia Childs working:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/quick-and-easy/index.html

http://allrecipes.com/recipes/main-dish/daily.aspx

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/courses/dinner-recipes

And of course, my personal fave, Pinterest!

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Monday Morning Challenge – Let Your Child Cook Dinner

April 30, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Well, it’s Monday again.  I know, I know.  Nobody needs the reminder, but do not fret, we’ve got a fun way to start your Monday morning here at Ties & Tutus.  Are you ready for our second Monday Morning Challenge?  This week’s challenge is to allow your child(ren) to cook dinner for the family.  If your kiddos are too young to do this challenge independently, take the opportunity to have them in the kitchen with you, helping in any way they – stirring, measuring, learning, interacting, watching.

At the end of the week we’d love to hear how it went.  Are you raising a future chef?  Did somebody burn the house down?  Were you presently surprised or were you gagging through dinner?  This is sure to be a funny memory for both you and your children.

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Fun Find Friday – Cooking Tips

April 6, 2012 by 4 Comments

Now that my son is eating more table foods I’m forced to get back into a cooking routine.  Prior to his arrival last year I was quite proud of my skills in the kitchen, I would meal plan (in case you missed the meal plan printable, click here to get it now) and cook most nights.  I fully admit I slacked in that department this since my bundle of joy arrived.  Well, I’m back and I decided today was the perfect day to share some of my favorite cooking secrets.  Now, I fully admit I’m by no means a chef, but I’ve shared these two tips with a few friends and looked at me like I just cured cancer.  It’s not that cool people, I promise, but it will save you some time and some clean-up, which we can all appreciate.  Without further ado, here we go…

1.  Lay a wooden spoon over a pot of boiling water to prevent your pot from boiling over.  Simple and oh so smart.

2.  Rather than keeping a stinky grease jar under the sink (ah hum, mom, I’m talking to you…), soak up excess grease with a piece of bread then throw it in the trash.  I usually use an end of the loaf because who uses that anyway?

I told you they were helpful, now go try it out and let me know what you think.

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Free Kindle Download

January 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Yep, amazon.com is at it again.  Today’s free download is Naturally Skinny: 100 Organic Recipes Under 350 Calories.

This book is filled with all sorts of yummy recipes for the health-conscious cook.  I’ve already found a few I’m going to try with less than 350 calories each.  Can you say New Year’s resolution?

Click here to get your copy on a kindle, smartphone or even your computer.

Courtesy of Alicia’s Deals in AZ

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