Blog
MyPlate Series – Christine
We’re kicking off a series of blogs about MyPlate this week. MyPlate is a simple guide to help us think about food groups at meals and snacks. A few of us Spend Smart. Eat Smart. blog authors will share how we use the MyPlate ideas at home.
Salsa Verde Chicken
Occasionally a recipe comes along that is so simple and tasty I wonder; how did I never make this before? Salsa Verde Chicken is just that. It is a dump-and-go slow cooker recipe that is delicious, easy and flexible. And would you believe you only need five ingredients to make it?
Fresh Fall Finds
The fall produce is here! Even though it means letting go of tomatoes fresh from the farm or garden, I enjoy switching up my meals to feature what’s in season. Here in Iowa the fall produce is coming in and some people even have it in their gardens. We’ll see dark greens, winter squash, and root vegetables like parsnips and sweet potatoes showing up at farmers markets.
Summer’s Perfect Side, Topping, Sandwich…
This month’s recipe is truly a jack of all trades. Broiled Tomatoes are so flexible, you can use them as the basis for a sandwich, sauce or appetizer. Here are some of the ways I have used this recipe.
Make Ahead Salad – Really?
I love to cook and I prefer to eat homemade food most of the time, but I do not want to cook every day. For me, this means that when I do cook, it has to lead to multiple meals. This can be challenging when it comes to salads because a lot of salads just don’t hold up very well for leftovers. This month’s recipe is a solution to that problem! Club Salad combines a chopped vegetable salad and a pasta salad into a hearty meal that you can eat over a couple of days.
Elevate Your Dessert
I love dessert and always find myself wanting something sweet after my meals or throughout my day to satisfy my “sweet tooth”. I have been this way ever since I can remember. As a young child I relished birthday cake at parties for friends and family, so now I consider myself an experienced consumer of all desserts!
Slow Cooker for One or Two
I often hear people share that they do not use a slow cooker because they generally cook for one or two and it just makes too much food. If you have thought this way before, I would like to encourage you to rethink if the slow cooker might actually be a useful tool. Bear with me!
Scrambled Egg Skillet
Justine often writes our recipe blogs because she is so heavily involved in developing recipes for our website. But this month I get to write the recipe blog because this recipe is one that I have loved for a long time. I hope you’ll indulge me and let me share the story of what inspired this recipe.
Cut your Fresh Produce Bill in Half
Raise your hand if you enjoy spending more money on food than you need to. Anyone? If I could see through your screen, my guess is your hand would be down. Most people like the idea of eating well while also keeping an eye on their grocery budget. With increasing food prices, that feels more difficult to do and can feel out of our control. However, there are steps you can take to put you on the path toward saving money on food.
Stock Multi-Purpose Spices
Are you tired of the same old salt-and-pepper flavor combo for your meals? If you want to spice things up a notch, stocking your kitchen with a few basic, versatile spices can save you money and precious pantry space.
A Fresh and Clean Refrigerator
We have reached the last task of our January kitchen refresh! Cleaning out the fridge likely doesn’t fall high on anyone’s priority list; however, it always feels good to get it done.
Smelly Drains and Grimy Oven?
As we continue our January refresh of our kitchens, we have two more tasks to complete. These are cleaning our sinks and oven. Neither of these are tasks that we look forward to doing, but after they are done our kitchen will be ready to tackle anything that the winter months bring us!
