He Eats Here

My prep routine has been changed forever!

So, each week, I marinate pounds and pounds of meat in a variety of different flavors. My number one go to is the Grill Mates line. I use their Wine, Garlic & Herb, Bourbon Brown Sugar, Mojito Lime, Baja Citrus, and Mesquite marinades a few times a month. It’s helpful to have the meat marinated beforehand so that I can pull the meat and the put it right on the heat. 

Inflation

Currently, the marinade packets are $0.99 at my closest grocer- they were $2+ a few months back. The store I shop at the most doesn’t sell these packets for under $3. The stores I frequent for pickups don’t carry these items at all. One day while checking out it hit me, I should begin making my own marinades. The packets aren’t necessarily fresh, I have no control over the ingredients, the cost of EACH packet adds additional costs to EACH meal but didn’t know where to start.

Coconut Aminos to the rescue!

Typically, MOST things require soy as an ingredient, and I cannot have soy. So, I needed to research for a replacement ingredient and was able to find a product that is used as a soy substitute called Coconut Aminos. For some reason the name sounds familiar, but I’d thought I came across it in a hair conditioning recipe- or maybe I’m just thinking about silk aminos LOL. So away with the packets and onto these coconut aminos! 

My marinade faves

I usually like a wine marinade, being from the South I love a smoky marinade, and herby/zesty flavors as well. After researching what I needed for marinades: Acids- I usually use Balsamic, white, and apple cider vinegars. Oil which is basically the fat- I always use Olive oil, and the herbs or spices I’d settled on. For the mesquite I used my dry rub recipe and added it to water and oil since I didn’t need acid for that flavor. Some individuals do add an acid to their BBQ marinades- I didn’t for this particular batch.

The results!

I made the 4 following marinades:

1. An everyday marinade- to be used as my quick go to as I have ALL of these ingredients 100% of the time.

2. Zesty herb marinade- to be used on meats to top salads.

3. Citrus marinade- to be used on meat for “bowl” night.

4. Teriyaki marinade- to be used in stir-fry since I hadn’t been able to have it in so long in an attempt to avoid soy. 

Hello fellow brownie lovers!

When I say I love brownies, I absolutely mean it! Gooey brownies, crispy edges, flaky, shiny tops, with or without nuts- I’m there. I grew up eating box mixes for brownies until I became a college student and realized how unhealthy the ingredients are. I also realized, as a person who cooks often, my pantry was already full of the items needed to make brownies and most other desserts I enjoy eating. While I make sure to create them from scratch, I still watch the calories and eat in moderation-I also share a lot and of course, he eats here so he is usually my first sampler lol.

I don’t see brownies as being much different than cookies...

Brownies and cookies have a very similar ingredient base- the difference is in the amount of mixing and the placement of the dough/batter for baking. You can make any kind of brownie just the same as you can make different versions of cookies- I just look at them as “cookie bars” due to their consistency. You like lemon drop cookies? Make lemon bars?, You enjoy kitchen sink cookies? Why can’t you have the same in a brownie? 

My most recent brownie experiment

Recently, I set out to create a brownie similar to a kitchen sink cookie- except I used items from my pantry. The brownies were a success, and I was able to use everything I found in the pantry. I WISH I’d had plain potato chips to add to this batter though- I think the salty addition would’ve taken these to the next level. The pretzels added a nice crunch, the peanut butter and chocolate chip pieces were nice and gooey, the walnuts complimented the peanut butter chips as well. The brownie had a NICE texture, but I love salty and sweet and missed that in this particular batch. If you cook, you know how pantry items are...they’ll be around. Next time I will be intentional in grabbing some plain chips so I can try this recipe again! Check out the video of this recipe and the ingredients I used. 

I’m a coffee drinker

I began drinking coffee in my late 20s. I noticed most of my team teachers would drink coffee and even set up a coffee station. That’s when I discovered I love the smell of coffee. What I didn’t know is that I was going about making my cup of coffee the wrong way. Being new to coffee, I would add creamer and sugar to my coffee cup and wonder why the appearance was different compared to others who were sipping the hot beverage as well. Turns out, creamer already has sugar within it so adding sugar is redundant- it made sense as to why I’d gulp water after sipping the syrupy concoction. But something I also noticed is the creamer container had a large number of ingredients for something I felt should be simple to produce.

How do you like your coffee?

I had a conversation with a coworker who was prehypertensive and she told me that she now had to drink her coffee black to make her coffee healthier. Now, in education we get up EARLY to get into the building before our coworkers, use the printers before they jam and have parking since our inner-city school only had parking for about half of the building. I knew she would still drink her coffee. At this new school I set up the coffee station and began making coffee each morning for those who also enjoyed drinking the hot bean juice as I call it. 

How do I make coffee?

In my classroom I have a K-slim Keurig (purchased on special). It’s small and takes up a minimal amount of space and I make tea there as well. It’s quick in the winter when I want something warm and less work than the electric kettle and drip coffee maker, I used pre-pandemic when students wanted cocoa etc... during reading time. Now the warm beverages are only for me. 

Most days I wake up, turn on my electric kettle and grind beans for my Bodum French press. I can make the coffee as strong or weak as I need for that particular morning. It’s not as lengthy of a process as many would think especially since I keep the water at room temp by filling the kettle the night before I get ready or pack my lunch while the water heats and coffee steeps. 

His coffee is percolated in a Brim Macchinetta / Moka pot. He likes the rocket fuel as he calls it. This is the closest he can get to espresso while at my house, he actually has two espresso machines. I can barely drink espresso shots, Moka pot coffee a.k.a. rocket fuel even after adding creamer and whipped topping. 

Back to the creamer

I spent a week in Florida with family

Of course, my nephew wanted to hit the beach, swimming pool, and play some baseball and video games so my week was full. What are young 7-year olds interested in eating? More importantly, are they willing to help? My students often return from holiday breaks and weekend gatherings and share stories of what they ate. One key detail I never hear is how they contributed to the meal.

 I know that isn’t the case for my nephew since my sister cooks and he loves experimenting with slime, erupting volcanoes, and anything messy he can get his hands on. I figured we could make ice cream to eat after being out in the heat all day. This is smart for a few reasons- 1. We can control what we are eating by preparing what we want fresh. 2. We can control the costs while enjoying the treats we like. 3. Servings can be portioned ahead of time, so we aren’t tempted by our sweet tooth and reduce what is wasted.

What’s on the menu?

In a week, my nephew eats different combinations of these items

Breakfast 

Turkey sausages, yogurt, waffles, fresh fruit. I wanted to make cute, bite-sized waffles to freeze for the future, and there wasn’t much else we could modify in his routine that he could help with. 

Lunch

Peanut butter and jelly, grilled cheese, pretzels, goldfish crackers, raisins, yogurt, homemade chicken tenders. To experiment, I wanted to make a dip for the pretzels, prep some apple slices for peanut butter and raisins, and play around with a grilled PB&J sandwich.

Dinner

Fish sticks (Trident only), chicken, homemade chicken strips, peas, broccoli, green beans, salmon, corn, rice, and croissant. To be helpful, I wanted to pre-marinate some meats and fill up my sister’s freezer with prepped food. I’m on my summer break and have fulfilled all of my professional obligations in addition to my personal extended learning goals so with this trip I wanted to have fun, but also be useful. 

Dessert

My nephew can have the occasional cookie, ice cream, or piece of candy. The good thing is we can make all of those. I wanted to stick to simple recipes with minimal ingredients. I had the following ideas for dessert: 

 1. Peanut butter cookies, 

 2. Homemade ice cream since we’d planned on being outside A LOT, 

 3. Oatmeal raisin cookies (something healthier)

What we actually did

Check out the videos below to see how everything turned out!

Breakfast- we didn’t modify anything lol. He still ate his rotation of muffins/yogurt or waffles/sausage with bananas on the side. 

Lunch- we had toasted peanut butter and jelly which he enjoyed. We also added in Tuna wraps with mozzarella sticks.

Dinner- we had marinated thighs with roasted sweet potatoes and Brussel sprouts. He had a side of pineapple and ate quite a bit. On a different night we had chicken tenders coated with poultry seasoning and panko with potato wedges on the side all prepared in the air fryer.  

Dessert- we made strawberry ice cream, peanut butter cookies, and chocolate chip cookies because I forgot we were supposed to make oatmeal raisin cookies. The chocolate chip cookies had a combination of semi-sweet and chocolate chips, so they were not super sweet. We wanted to make rice Krispie treats for his school orientation as a gift for his teacher, but we decided on the chocolate chip cookies since they turned out perfect! Unfortunately, we left the bagged cookies on a table when we left for school. The peanut butter cookies were a lot of fun because my nephew had never heard of or tasted peanut butter cookies so that was exciting.

Click here for the videos

Strawberry ice cream

Chocolate chip cookies

 I LOVE oatmeal. 

During my college years, I ate oatmeal for breakfast each morning. The grain is reasonably priced, only requires water to cook, and can be paired with fruit, nuts, yogurt and basic spices. Each morning I’d measure out my oats, add a dash of cinnamon and I was on my way. If I was running behind, I’d grab a scoop of the fruit and nut mix, throw the oats in a microwavable glass dish along with the fruit and nut mix and add water and heat when I got to school. As a professional, I’d often store my breakfast at work and use the microwave method each morning. This kept me fuller longer and helped me watch my weight. I didn’t need to add sugar because I had sugar from the dried fruit, and I was able to avoid preservatives found in many of the instant varieties. 

Oatmeal doesn’t have to be labor intensive

I’d been searching for Bundt pans that wouldn’t force me to bake LARGE cakes. What if I wanted to make mini- Rum cakes? Well, I’d shopped for a few which turned out to be way too small upon delivery. I received an email from Williams -Sonoma advertising an anniversary sale and decided to check out their merchandise. To my surprise, I found not one, but two different sized mini-Bundt pans and ordered them both. They’re a nice color and represent an anniversary for the company🤷🏾‍♀️.  I got my ingredients together and decided to test my whipped pound cake recipe in the new pans. 

Issues baking with new pans

First, I now know not to overfill. I’ve never had this issue using my same ole pans for the cake recipes (I have 3 I usually rotate between). As you can see in this video, I ran into an issue with the edges being over filled as the cake baked, but I was able to fix the issue rather quickly using a fork after the cakes were finished baking.   

What did he think?

In me filming and making the cake, I forgot 1 ingredient. I shared a mini-Bundt cake with him and in the video, you can see which one we sampled in the video lol. His exact words were “The cake is good, soft, and sweet, but I know your cooking...you left out the vanilla extract”. LOL He was right on, but the cakes are STILL good. 

My overall thoughts

Outside of that, the pans are SOLID and I have no complaints. The color is different than my other bakeware, but I like it. Also, I like the 2 cake, mini-Bundt pan has two different designs in the baking tin. This makes the cakes more interesting in my opinion especially if you plan to decorate the cakes or mix different cake mixes to pour into each baking tin.  

I cannot take this heat!

These recent temperature spikes have made me plan my meals. Between the heat and power outages due to the combination of heat and thunderstorms, I’ve had to be strategic with my meals. I’m still baking the cookies, cakes, and pies (when the overall temperatures are cooler), but not doing any extra baking for meals especially not during the day. 

Got canned meat?

If you are a can stocker, I know you have canned meat. These cans come in handy especially when you want to make quick meals that can be stored in sandwich bags. 

Canned Chicken - I’ve even seasoned and diced the meat for a barbeque chicken pizza first then experimented on a buffalo wing and blue cheese pizza. Why not use this meat in a chicken salad mix? The ingredients can be combined without heat, and we’d normally eat them cold with crackers or on a sandwich anyway, right?

Canned Tuna- Great for Tuna salad sandwiches. You can toast croissants or the bread of your choice, add a few ingredients to your tuna and viola you can eat it chilled or room temp. Not in the mood for a cold tuna meal? Try tuna melts. You could make these in a skillet or by using your air fryer and not increase the temperature of your home by much.  

Don’t forget about the cruciferous greens!

Salads- Cold ingredients are welcome here! Although, you may want to add boiled eggs. Many have the alternative rapid egg cookers which quickly prepare hardboiled eggs, or you could boil these late at night while prepping for the next day or week. The toppings are endless, guacamole, croutons, bacon bits (if you’re into that), tortilla strips, dried fruit, nuts, cheese and of course a dressing which you could create yourself.

    Salads w/pre-grilled meat- I know I said not to heat up the house by using the stove/oven... but this can work. I have an air fryer and it will heat up my kitchen some, BUT in a small area and for a shorter amount of time than what I’d need cooking on the stove or using the oven. I’d be okay with containing the amount of heat and reducing cook time- I would just use the air fryer at night, prepping for meals the rest of the week.

Now I don’t know about you, but between the pizzas and salads I make, I keep feta, blue, mozzarella and cheddar cheeses in addition to other toppings that work for pizza and salads like olives, pepperoncini peppers, onions etc... So, I’m able to load my salads! I CAN have meatless salads, but if it’s the largest meal of my day then I will add marinated meat to the salad. This is quite an easy step since I keep 3-4 freezer bags of different flavored marinated meats in the fridge during the week. I can simply skip the seasoning step and cook the meat or pull out the cooked meat. It saves me time. 

In the mood for seafood-?

Ceviche- Ceviche doesn’t require heat. Acid cooks the delicate meat, and you can devour everything chilled. Select the seafood of your choice and make sure your acidic liquid (likely some citrus) pairs with various seasonings and you can even create tacos with this mixture OR top on tortilla chips. I want to add- it’s likely you already have most of these ingredients. It’s absolutely delicious!

Liquid meals!

Smoothies- What are you in the mood for? Green smoothies, turmeric smoothies, fruit smoothies there are so many possibilities. I like coconut water, spinach, ginger, strawberries with a tbsp of honey. It’s spicy and full of fiber too! Maybe you want a 100% green smoothie with celery, spinach, wheat or lemon grass, and with a hint of honey or coconut milk. Either way, if you have a blender and some healthy ingredients, this is doable.

Cold soups- Take advantage of the fresh produce that’s in season and retain all of the nutrients housed within the vegetables. Have you ever heard of cryo-blanching? Yes, that’s a thing. You can freeze and thaw veggies to break them down. This process is beneficial to no cook soups. Don’t forget to top your soups with some chilled, grilled, meat if you can!

Homemade sandwiches 

Good old- fashioned meat and bread- You can purchase the cold cuts and sliced cheese from the deli section in your local grocer. OR you can cook your own seasoned meat using an air fryer or your oven at night and chill the meat. Slice as needed and build your sandwiches. I like my sandwiches with the works, but I promise not to judge if you’re a meat and, bread type of person.  

Deli style- I like tomatoes, lettuce or kale, onions, cheese, mustard, sandwich sprinkle OR a deli dressing such as oil and vinegar with herbs. I will admit, I’m a bit of a sandwich snob 🤤. 

Make your sandwiches great! 

I’ve been munching on a lot of croissants lately. For as long as I can remember, I’ve enjoyed this pastry more than any other. Croissants are so versatile! They can be eaten with breakfast, lunch or dinner. I almost forgot to mention, you can include them in desserts. I’ve included a few of my favorite ways to devour croissants.

Breakfast

Bacon, egg, and yes...cheese sandwiches, sausage egg, and cheese sandwiches! This pastry also pairs well with coffee or tea alone. When I make breakfast sandwiches, I like adding apple butter to my toasted croissants- if you’ve never tasted apple butter you are missing out!

Lunch

More sandwiches! Tuna salad sandwiches with a side of chips, chicken salad sandwiches with apple slices on the side. Deli sandwiches layered with meats, cheeses, crisp greenery, and Dijon mustard with a slice of both tomato and onion. Oh, and Ham and Cheese would be the G.O.A.T. of the croissant sandwich as it can be served for breakfast or lunch. These sandwiches are especially tasty when the croissants are toasted. 

Dinner

I’ve used croissants as toppings on chicken pot pies. Pigs in a blanket (hot dogs wrapped in croissant dough). Pizza rollups with cheese and pepperonis.  Depending on how you make your croissants, taco, lasagna, chicken alfredo all work as crescent dough filling if you are using canned dough. My nephew doesn’t have a preference, he just LOVES croissants with his dinner each night. 

Desserts

Do I really need to do this? Okay, chocolate croissants- can be eaten room temp or warmed, Nutella, pastry cream, bananas and peanut butter, almonds and honey, dusted in powdered sugar, apples and other fruits that would be used for tart fillings, and the number one duo- cinnamon and sugar.

I’d support an ice cream cone made from croissants!

My favorite memory of croissants is traveling abroad! We were in Paris and stumbled upon a bakery serving fresh regular and chocolate croissants, just imagine a glazed Krispy Kreme doughnut when the hot sign is on, that’s how fluffy, soft, and warm the croissants were. Since then, I’ve yet to have croissants that come close to that freshness. In the D.C. area, I’ve enjoyed croissants from Baked & Wired, and of course I shop at BJ’s and Costco so those boxes to use as well.

Try these ideas which don't require a laundry list of ingredients. You can make these at home as long as you have at least 4 ingredients.

Peanut Butter cookies

My grandmother includes roasted peanuts in her peanut butter cookies. You can even store the extra in the freezer so the next time you have a craving, you can let them sit out at room temperature or you can pop them into the microwave for 10 - 15 seconds. I personally notice a difference when I bake them straight from the freezer, so I have to allow mine to sit and become room temperature before baking or they come out super soft and crumbly.

Brownies

You can add eggs, sugar, and flour to your fudge recipe, and you’ll have brownies in no time.  

Mini cheesecakes

These can be traditional topped with fruit, fruit flavored, or chocolate or nut flavored. If you’re making seasonal desserts, consider mini key lime or ice box cheesecakes.

Ice Cream (no churn) 

Ice cream is much easier than you’d think. It requires few ingredients, can be made using 2 containers (1 container if you’ve been making no churn ice cream for a while and have made your own hacks and shortcuts). You can start off making the basic flavors, vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry before experimenting with different flavors and gather some inspiration from your favorite cookies/desserts to include more ingredients. Make sure you have a blender with a whisk attachment for whipping. Making no churn ice cream by hand is some serious work- I’ve yet to receive any complaints so I will continue to employ my $12 blender.

Mini fruit pies

Do you know how to make pie crust? Do you have left over biscuit dough? If you have extra compote left over from waffles or pancakes or have pie filling close by, you can make mini fruit pies. Make your icing with some powdered sugar.

Rice Krispie Treats 

These snacks are great and the cereal stores well. The best thing about making rice Krispie treats is the adaptability of the dessert. You can include some of your favorite cookie addons for added flavor, cocoa, brownie chunks, peanut butter, and other kinds of cereal. I can think of a list of desserts that can serve as inspiration for your Rice Krispie treats.

Caramel and Fudge

You don’t have to shop to enjoy fudge and caramel. You can enjoy these candies with as little as 4 ingredients. Hint: one of them is sweetened condensed milk and I’m sure you have at least one can of this (it’s not difficult to make either). Don’t forget to swirl some of this through some of your homemade ice cream or use it as an ice cream topping.

Tea biscuits and Tea cakes

Go well with tea and coffee obviously. Not super sweet and I snack on these often. You can also switch it up and add sprinkles of cinnamon sugar etc...

Cinnamon rolls 

Who doesn’t love breakfast that can also be a dessert? These aren’t difficult and can be finessed with pie crust or biscuit dough. They’re so simple and don’t forget to make that icing! Flatten for cinnamon roll pancakes!

Fruit Compote 

Viola! This was sooooo tasty!

 The cake was moist, and yes, he loved it. The outcome of this cake left me feeling very confident in my pound caking abilities lol Looking at the shape, I now want to try this recipe and similar recipes in different shaped pans- specifically Bundt cake pans. I do have a loaf pan somewhere I’ve been using for ice cream the past few years and if it’s in good enough shape, I would make a classic Pound loaf as well.

Uniform appearance and color

This view shows the sides of the cake which turned out well. There was no sticking whatsoever- which was a relief. You can also see to the right, the Swans Down cake flour which is very fine and what you don’t see if the Baker’s Joy spray. Baker’s Joy works well and is more than a cooking spray, it also contains flour. After baking more of these, I will experiment with buttering a pan vs using the baking spray.

The next time...

I would make a complimentary compote as a topping for the cake. Any berry or fruit that’s in season will do and I would even play around with some different flavors of Bundt cakes like some Southern favorites such as fruit cobblers. You can’t beat that...fruit cobbler flavored Bundt cakes.  

Must have kitchen equipment

Espresso machines! No offense, but I haven't used a drip coffee maker in years. However, I'd take a fancy programmable drip coffee maker that would have my cup of coffee ready (with a grinder for freshly ground coffee when I wake up), but other than that, I've been there and done that., other than that I currently have a Imusa macchinetta, a Bodum French Press, and a Brim Moka pot, and a De’Longhi espresso machine. I know some don't get the hype, but you'd have to be a coffee connoisseur to understand why I don't mind using so many different brewing devices. I recommend subscribing to James Hoffman's YouTube channel if you are new to all things coffee.

Food processer- I currently have a 10-year old Black+Decker mini food processer from a Wal-Mart black Friday special. It works well but I can only work ingredients in small batches so I stick to chopping, dicing, and mincing aromatics. I'd like a larger food processer to make crumble, create pizza dough, biscuits, and pie dough while saving my arms and wrists from the repetitive motions. I'd also make large batches of humus and salsas- I love making dips.

Stand mixer- I want to throw the ingredients in the mixer and have both hands free to scrape the sides of the bowl and add more of different ingredients at the same time. I have played around with purchasing one at full price and shopping for a refurbished model from a very reputable brand during Black Friday specials. I just haven't had that much difficulty with my hand mixer to trade up, but it I had the space, I definitely would have it on the counter.

Ice cream maker- I LOVE making ice cream and my boyfriend enjoys the creative flavors. There's something about creating your own flavors from your favorite cookies and other desserts. I currently make ice cream with my students using the Ziploc bag and rock salt method. At home I make no-churn ice cream using my hand mixer on a high speed. I'm just curious to see how different the consistency is and how much time it would save if I had a machine. I have yet to receive any complaints with the methods I currently use so...   

Current kitchen items I could not live without:

For making Desserts

Dough measuring mat- usually made of silicone, helps me avoid having to cut and recut excess pie crust. Uniformity is important, I use this when making mini apple pies and I haven't had to under stuffed a pie since.

Turntable cake stand- I have an inexpensive cake stand and it gets the job done much better than me struggling to smooth icing while rotating around a rectangle table or trying to slowly slide the cake base. They are as inexpensive as $12. Don't forget a cake slicer, if you are making 2+ layered cakes and don't want to divide and bake the batter using double the number of pans. Cake slicers also make cupcake and brownie sandwiches easier to slice evenly.  

Cooling wire rack- I tried to bake large batches while rotating multiple cookie sheets and trivets but it’s not nearly as effective as moving cookies to the cooling rack. The circulation of air will definitely have your cookies tin-ready in no time.  

French fry slicer- I used to watch my mom use a slicer with ease and crank out fries within minutes. I do enjoy slicing my own steak fries, but there’s something about being able to convert whole potatoes into fry shape using a single motion. Not to mention using the machine for other veggies you may substitute for French fries.

Air fryer- I've had my current Bella air fryer from Best Buy for almost 3 years now (it was a beginning of the pandemic purchase). Since then, I've perfected a number of foods in the air fryer and have even played around with desserts like cinnamon rolls. I've had my eye on the Ninja air fryer which can cook two items at different temperatures in separate compartments, but it would take up more space than my current air fryer- which I still like.

Pantry Must haves!

Have you ever driven by fast food restaurants and were determined to eat at home but struggled to make a quick meal or snack? Read below to see which items I keep on hand for my go to meals and snacks.

Whether you have a sweet tooth, love entertaining, are considering stretching out a meal-delivery service recipe, or plan to explore, here are some items you must have in your pantry and kitchen. 

These are my pantry must haves... 

Canned tomatoes and tomato paste

- patatas bravas for entertaining, quick marina sauce for your last-minute Italian cuisine meal, these can be crushed for tomato soup, homemade salsa and so on...

Pasta- can be included in an entree, on the side like mac n cheese or pasta salad or eaten alone tossed with olive oil herb and lemon.

Rice - a nice addition to most meals especially stews and casseroles.

Beans- chili in the winter, chili cheese dogs, slaw dogs with chili, good old homemade beanie weenie. Black beans for tacos and burritos.

Baking powder and baking soda- you never know when you want to make the quick 3-5 ingredient cookies. I also keep chocolate chips and peanut butter for these simple cookie recipes.

Grains- barley, quinoa, rice, grits (great in breakfast bowls), and cereal. I love breakfast for dinner so I can cook a number of these easily or when it comes to grits you can go Creole with the shrimp and grits lol.

Oats are so versatile. Overnight oats, oatmeal cookies, porridge, homemade granola.

Dried fruits like raisins and cranberries- these can be tossed into a quick batch of cookies and granola or eaten with a lunch as a healthy snack. If you cook a number of grain dishes to be paired with protein such as chicken or shrimp for dinner these dried fruits can be soaked in water and included with a grain for some additional flavor.

Flour for homemade pancakes, biscuits, and waffles to batch cook while prepping and freeze for weekday breakfast. Gravy for meats and potatoes. Not to mention breading for the air fryer chicken and fish recipes. Homemade pizza dough balls and the list goes on... I even have both whole wheat and bleached All-purpose flour. 

Oils: Olive and coconut- used for sautéing, sauces, baking and seasoning. Both are healthier than shortening. Outside of cooking they are both great for conditioning your hair and moisturizing skin.

Vinegar and Soy Sauce- great in sauces, marinades and salads.

Broth or base to add flavor to sauces and stews.

Speaking of sauces- cornstarch to thicken stews, gravy, and sauces. I've also dusted air fryer potato wedges and chicken for a nice crunch.

Sweet, condensed milk-great for homemade coffee creamer, ice cream, and plenty of dessert recipes.

Refrigerated items

When I think about cooking a meal quickly a quick list of these refrigerated items comes to mind.

Heavy whipping cream-I love making ice cream and whipped topping for my coffee drinks, and not to mention pies!

Butter- important in sauces (sweet and savory), necessary for pie/biscuit dough although you can always keep premade dough on hand (it can be your own recipe or a store-bought brand you trust.

Eggs- a staple in numerous desserts, baked goods, breakfast items, and chilled salads. You can’t go wrong with keeping eggs regardless of the season- they pair with so many items. 

Prep Life!

Marinating meat, washing greens, dicing aromatics and other veggies, prepping herbs, boiling eggs, cooking grains all ahead of time, making and proofing dough and the list goes on and on. Prepping is whatever you need it to be to make cooking and enjoying your meal easier. 

Prepping is necessary when like when you want a homemade meal in a short amount of time after a busy day’s work.  Unless you want your ingredients in that meal to be highly processed, you will need to prep. 

Preparing for the birth of my nephew

A month away from my sister's due date we thought it would be a good idea to make meals easier by prepping. Afterall, the family would still need to eat right? My sister and I made a list of her favorite slow cooker meals, prepped the ingredients for each meal and then dumped them all into Ziploc bags. Once we labeled everything, we laid the bags flat and put them in the freezer in a shape that would make placing the contents into a crock pot easy.

My sister even had plenty of prepped frozen veggies, and marinated cuts of meat bagged, and in the freezer as well. When you have a newborn, are breastfeeding and pumping breastmilk to store, prepping is key. Not to mention making your own baby food- you will definitely need to prep those portions and combinations in advance.

 Sunday’s hustle!

How will you get everyone to stay awake to bring in the new year?

Each year I wake up to Happy New Year wishes and photos in my inbox of me knocked out on the sofa around 10 pm. This year I plan to incorporate the following plan:        

1. Have kettle heating water.    

2. Prep ingredients for the cookie recipe for the little ones- they will assist me with making the cookies. 

3. Once I place the cookies in the oven the little ones can grab their mugs for coca and elect to have whipped cream, sprinkles.  

4. I will grind the Grand Marnier coffee beans and make more whipped cream as the kettle heats up more water.            

5. After grinding the beans I will prepare the mugs with my home-made creamer, a splash of orange simple syrup, and make sure everything is slightly warmed.   

6. Brew the coffee and add it to the mugs that were prepped. You can make the French press

or macchinetta coffee based on what your guests prefer.      

               7. I will check on the cookies and make my way to the sitting area once the cookies have cooled, they can be plated, and I can have my Monte Cristo to eat cookies and sip coffee…

oatmeal raisin cookies- not as sweet, but delicious!

thin chocolate chip cookies- very sweet!

 You can also make tea cookies for the younger ones since they contain less sugar.  Adults can have their choice of cookies OR you can make one type of cookie to make things easier (don’t forget, you can enjoy the holiday too!). Adults will have a dessert coffee drink (my version of a Grand Mariner Monte Cristo)- I saw the original recipe in a magazine and have modified my recipe for my homemade whipped cream to include some orange simple syrup. I order my Grand Marnier coffee beans from Coffee AM (we also enjoy their Jamaican rum beans). 

This specific grinder model is no longer available on Amazon, but there are numerous models that are just as nice. 

This tamp also came from Amazon and will help your machine brew a nice espresso with crema!

This milk frother makes great whipped cream for coffees and hot cocoa. My last frother was an introductory level frother. This one charges through a USB and hold a charge for weeks. Of course, it was an Amazon purchase.

Note: since some adult coffee drinks will contain alcohol, make sure you make the cocoa for the little ones first!

Again with the inflation! 

If you are having family over at your home for Christmas, consider surveying the group to get a consensus on the main source of protein (I will touch on vegan options later). If they prefer a honey baked ham, consider making your own but having everyone contribute to the cost of the ham (I’m certain you have most of the other ingredients already on hand).  The other meal components such as the sides and desserts can be brought by your family but can also be polled in your survey for the menu. As the person hosting the event you may want to use signup genius. I love the different formats of signups they offer. Consider having everyone signup to bring an item from the menu you’ve put together OR have everyone signup and enter an item they want to bring. Signup genius can be used free. 

Here is my honey baked ham.                

Pork alternatives: marinated and smoked turkey wings (more reasonable than purchasing the entire turkey).

Oxtails are also great as this works as it isn’t something you eat daily, you’d make no more than 4lbs at a time.           Thanks Chang ;-)      

Friday night Pizza and wings!

Have you ever had a taste for game night food but wanted something healthier, not processed and not dripping in oil?!  Your homemade pizza can be made in under 30 minutes! It’s all about prep. 1 bag (2.2kg) of the ANNA Napoletana TIPO ‘00′ dough. When I make the entire bag, it yields 10 Med /small thin crust pizzas for us to munch on during the week. Now, you can make pizza dough and eat the pizza that same night, but I have also made the dough in advance and then bag it and store it in the fridge for the week. 

When I make the pizza dough and plan to make pizzas that same day, I like to speed up the process by using water that’s been warmed slightly in the kettle. I divide the dough into 10 separate dough balls and place them in Ziploc bags (I make sure to rub a little olive oil inside the bag so that the dough comes out easily when I’m ready to use the dough. You can also refrigerate and freeze dough- this is why it’s the ultimate game food. Take it out ahead of time so that it can reach room temperature, add your toppings and you’re ready to toss it in the oven.

My BBQ chicken pizza- a go to!

My supreme pizza with herbed crust!

mini supreme pizzas with herbed dough.

my Greek pizza- nice experiment and very tasty!

marinated chicken breasts with pineapple bacon chicken sausage along with caramelized onions! This is a new favorite along with the BBQ chicken pizza!

Toppings

I also prep the toppings in advance. For instance, when I know we plan to eat pizza during the week I go back to a few bags of the marinated breast, slice/ grate mozzarella, dice an onion, mushrooms, pepperoncini, and olives. Just pull everything out when you’re ready to prepare the pizzas. Onions are a must, I prefer caramelized onions which are easy to prepare, but the raw diced and sliced onion are definitely appropriate depending on the type of pizzas you intend to make. I love purchasing the Hormel Turkey pepperoni in bulk from BJs along with the block of mozzarella cheese to slice and grate myself. Want to add more protein? consider adding some of those marinated chicken breasts I use as a go to from the Grill Mates line by McCormick.  

Pesto is a must have for flavor. I use organic pizza sauce when I’m not pureeing my own tomatoes and herbs for sauce. 

marinated chicken breasts- for additional flavor!

I also like the King Arthur dough ‘00’ pizza dough. 

What’s up? Food prices driving the inflation of the Thanksgiving meal. Don’t forget, good food will always be good food. Remember, it’s the time spent with your family that’s the focus. Give thanks and reflect on good times, funny stories, and don’t forget to include a moment of celebration for your loved ones who are no longer physically with you. 

 IMPORTANT: if you’re a planner (who may procrastinate) like me, you may want to check in with everyone to start the planning for your next meal and get together. Everyone has those meals, sides, or desserts they’re great at preparing. For example, my aunt is always on yams duty. My sister is a go-to for anything fried. I am great with air fryers, desserts and large pieces of meat, marinating protein and my boyfriend is the smoker of meats. Allow everyone to contribute their expertise and don’t forget to make sure you include the younger generations- them being able to prepare their own foods instead of relying on heavily processed foods will benefit them in the long run.

 So what did we eat? Rosemary lemon chicken with butternut squash sautéed   kale and roasted brussels sprouts.          

  Also, Consider making Cornish/French hens- you don’t have to cook in your kitchen in preparation for an entire week and you can tailor the flavor of each hen to suit the preference of each family member.