Who doesn’t love champagne? In fact, coming up on the site, I have some delicious Champagne Cupcakes I will be sharing in honor of Valentine’s Day. It’s interesting the flavor and moisture that using Champagne or Wines in your cooking can add. Do you use either in your recipes? If you’re not, you are missing out.

Learn more about delicious champagne by checking out this awesome infograph created as a toast to champagne. There’s all kinds of fun facts and history and information to be had in this colorful infograph. Enjoy!

Brought To By Wine.com, Purveyors of Fine Wine and Champagne

A Toast to Champagne originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on January 29, 2012.

Meal planning is such a simple thing, it is hard for me to understand why more people don’t do it. It really does not only help you save money, but it saves time and there is less of a chance of wasted food when you plan out your meals in advance. So what are the basics of meal planning?

1. Begin by finding recipes of the meals that you think your family will love. Try introducing one new meal a week, it allows for more choices when preparing meals and allows your family to be exposed to foods that might not have otherwise tried. Collect the recipes you plan to make and keep them in once location. Having a recipe journal or notebook is a good idea. You can write out the recipes and then there are all in one place. If you are planning to freezer cook, be sure that you keep in mind what aspects of the meal can be prepared and frozen ahead of time. This will also be important for figuring out how many recipes you need to find. If you are meal planning for just a week, then seven recipes are all you need, if you are planning for two weeks, three weeks or more, you might wish to find at least ten more recipes so that you aren’t consistantly eating the same thing.

2. Take inventory. Check and see what ingredients you have for those meals. You might have a pantry full of ingredients that would make several meals. As you are taking inventory be sure and record what you have and what you need on a piece of paper. You will never remember it all alter.

3. Create a shopping list. If you are familiar with your grocery store layout you can create the list in order of where you would find the items in the grocery store. If you are not as familiar with your grocery store, you might wish to make that be one of your goals. In addition, if you do your shopping at more than one store, you might wish to create more than one list so that you can be sure you get everything.

4. Go shopping. Bring all grocery lists with you in case you find a bargain somewhere you didn’t know about. Cross off the items as you get them. This way you can clearly see what you still need to purchase. Be sure to bring along any coupons and stick to your list.

5a. For Freezer Cookers: When you arrive home, leave everything out so it is all available to you as you begin to cook. You might wish to sort the items by the meal you plan to use them to make. Having everything handy is the key to managing your time.

5b. For Meal Planners Only: If you are not interested in freezer cooking, and only want to be able to meal plan, then at this point it is time to put the groceries away. It is recommended that you place items you plan to use together, near each other. This makes finding everything the night you plan to make the meals much easier and frees up time that would have been spent running all over the kitchen looking for this and that.

Do you have any basic meal planning tips that might help? Please feel free to share.

Meal Planning 101 originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on September 20, 2010.

A lot of people seem to think healthy eating is expensive. But that is just an excuse. More than likely you’ve heard it before, or at least perhaps you have thought it to yourself before. Eating healthy doesn’t have to be expensive. There are plenty of ways to reduce costs, cut out unhealthy foods and use meal planning to plan healthier meals, and cut out the rest.

Fruits and vegetables when purchased fresh, last a lot longer than their frozen or canned counterparts and are a much healthier option. It does take some time to wash, peel, slice or cut fruits and vegetables. However you usually get double to triple the amount you would get from any other method. Choosing fruits or vegetables as a snack is one way to get in your recommended daily allowance of these foods, and remain healthier.

In fact, cutting out those prepackaged snacks and foods, cooking from scratch and using coupons to purchase healthier foods are all additional ways to save money on healthy eating.

Cooking from scratch allows you to choose what you put into your meals. This allows you to choose healthier alternatives than anything you would find in a prepackaged meal.

The prepackaged snacks that are on the grocery shelves, are loaded with additives and preservatives which have all been linked to an increase of many psychological disorders. Remove these from your diet immediately, and already you are choosing healthier eating habits.

There are dozens of ways to cut costs and eat healthier, and it is an important area to work on for the betterment of your family. Trial and error, research, reading labels and meal planning seem to be the ways that most people save the easiest and the most.

Healthy Eating Is Expensive originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on September 13, 2010.

Do you find yourself eating out more frequently on the weekends than anytime? Sometimes I think the weekends signify “be lazy” time for me. I put forth a ton of effort to be sure that I am preparing meals for my family, but I definitely know that on the weekend, it’s hardest.

We went to the lake today, packed a cooler of drinks, couple of bags of chips, granola bars and for whatever reason we didn’t bring anything else. I giggled because honestly, we would have brought sandwiches with us and stayed there to eat. But we totally didn’t think about it.

We did avoid the temptation to grab something fast, and instead opted to just grill when we got home.

Weekends are the perfect time to use freezer cooked meals, make quick and easy meals, or opt to pop a frozen lasagna into the oven. It still lets you be lazy while eating a great meal.

So what do you wind up doing when the weekend laziness kicks in and you just don’t want to be bothered to cook?

Lazy Weekend Food Issues originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on August 21, 2010.

There is a waging war between the fast food industry, the Food Administration and dieters across the nation. On one side, you have those that swear that our obesity problems stem from greasy fast food items, so the fast food restaurants start offering alternative items. On the other side, you have these restaurants that have been serving these foods for decades and are sure that the problem does not stem from that. You make the choices in what you eat, so you should be held responsible. Where do you weigh in on that?

Are you ready for this?

Did you know that the worst breakfast food in America is Carl Jr’s Breakfast Burger. It packs a whopping 830 calories! Not only is this the worst breakfast item, Carl Jr’s might make the worst breakfast menus in America too. There is not one single entrée item that is less than 15 grams of fat. Each item is also more than 400 calories. Wow!

Here are some other interesting facts about fast food:

Many people who are trying to eat healthier or dieting opt for chicken at fast food restaurants, feeling that it is a healthier choice. While it can be in some instance, don’t be fooled. Oh, and grilled is not always better than fried.
- At Jack in the Box the Chipotle GRILLED Chicken Ciabatta packs 1,140 calories for one silly sandwich and a medium order of natural cut fries (do NOT order the curly fries). It has 51 grams of fat! (14 grams of saturated fat)
- At McDonald’s a 20 piece Chicken Nuggets is 840 calories, which is MORE than their Oreo McFlurry at only 820. (wow that’s like 1/3 or your daily allowance and all you got was a shake!)
- Burger King isn’t any better, Burger King’s Double Whopper with Cheese is 1060 calories. Opt for their Burger King Chicken TenderCrisp Sandwich (810 calories) or their Burger King Original Chicken Sandwich (560 calories) and you really are not doing much better. Yikes!
- Arby’s seems like a better alternative? Not so much. Their Arby’s Roast Turkey Ranch & Bacon Sandwich is 880 calories while their Arby’s Roast Chicken Caesar Sandwich is 820. Hmm. Guess turkey and chicken aren’t the healthier meat when you look at the fast food industries standards.
- Long John Silvers is doing a little bit better, as their most caloric item is their Long John Silvers Ultimate Fish Sandwich which is 500 calories.

I hate to say it, but armed with that info, I might never step foot into a fast food restaurant again. Plus, it is still cheaper to eat at home.

Fast Food Facts originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on August 20, 2010.

Oh, the pure agony. Most of us have been there if we practice freezer cooking. You are standing in the kitchen, you have sweat pouring down your face, you forget which towel you have used to wipe the sweat away, your stove top and oven are working overdrive, you have food, ingredients and a huge mess all over the counters and you aren’t even half through with your freezer cooking session. How do you possibly beat the heat of freezer cooking in Summer months?

It’s too late for me to tell you what I usually do, but for planning for next summer, I have some advice. Plan ahead.

And while I plan to give you some advice on planning ahead, I have some relief for those of you who didn’t realize how bad it would be, and what you can do for the rest of the summer to help aleviate the heat and the long sessions in the kitchen.

Planning Ahead – If you can, plan ahead. During the late Winter months, and all through the Spring – I am usually found making a bit more than I need each time. Rather than doubling or tripling a recipe, sometimes I go further than that. If you have a large spare freezer, this will work for you and don’t hesitate to fill it up. Of course I also recognize that not all of you have a spare freezer, so I have some tips for you and those of you who didn’t plan ahead.

No Storage Room – No Planning Ahead – All hope is not lost for you. There are several options. When you are preparing a nightly meal for your family, double the ingredients or if you are daring – triple them. Then store the second and third meal in the freezer for the following week. Use zip top baggies to store, because they allow for more room and can be stacked easily.

You might also consider meals made up of cold ingredients – cold pasta salads, cold sandwiches, raw veggies and my favorite tip in the summertime – make your meals in the crockpot. That little kitchen appliance doesn’t produce much heat which allows for the use of even multiple crockpots at the same time with no change of temperature.

We use three different crockpots during any one freezer cooking session. It allows me to prepare more meals at one time, and keeps the heat down. Check out garage sales, freecycle and other resources for used crockpots. Clean well and add to your collection. You can use as many crockpots as you have spare outlets in your kitchen. Just be careful not to blow a fuse. Also remember that if you own a toaster oven, it doesn’t produce as much heat as the conventional oven does. Depending on size, you might be able to use it to prepare a meal or two during a freezer cooking session without using up a lot of heat.

If you do decide to use your kitchen oven, try to find a couple of dishes that need to cook at the same temperature, for the same length of time. Put them all in together and add about 15-30 minutes of cook time, checking frequently after its standard cooking time to be sure you don’t overcook. If you precook these meals, they can be reheated in the microwave, even from a frozen state.

One last tip that helps me everytime – if you have extra fans in your house, no matter how small or how large, consider placing them in the kitchen while you are cooking. They will help tremendously and if placed correctly, might help push some of the hot air out of the kitchen.

If you have any tips to share on ways to beat the heat in the kitchen when you are doing a freezer cooking session in the summer, be sure to share.

Combating the Heat of Freezer Cooking in the Summer originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on July 9, 2010.

Have you considered having a pool party this summer? They are a great way to get together with family and friends and celebrate or just hang out. If you are struggling to come up with ideas for food, here are a few tips for the perfect pool party foods.

Think small, bite size treats. Carrot sticks, celery sticks and other cut veggies are perfect for setting out. Be careful with your dip, that it is not in direct sunlight, as it is the item that will go bad the quickest.

Hamburgers and hot dogs are a great poolside food, however consider getting children out of the pool about 5-10 minutes before serving food. Their wet hands often make the buns soggy, rendering them disgusting to a child. Allow them to dry off for a bit and they will be fine.

Chips, Pretzels and crackers are another great addition to a pool party. Again, their bite size nature makes them easier to grab on the go.

For desserts, think things like bite size brownies, smaller cookies, even small cupcakes. Anything that can be consumed quickly while pool time can be resumed is usually a big hit with the pool crowd.

What kinds of things do you serve at your pool parties?

Perfect Pool Party Foods originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on July 4, 2010.

It is that time of year where Farmer’s Markets, produce stands and other popular methods of selling local fruits and vegetables to the public are cropping up all over the place. Purchasing your fruits and vegetables from stands and markets is an opportunity to do two wonderful things. The first of course is to support your local farmers.

The other reason is that often, shopping for these healthy fresh fruits and fresh vegetables at these locations is more cost effective, leaving you with some extra cash that you might not obtain by shopping at your local grocery stores’ produce department.

First of all, usually these fruits and vegetables are a bit more fresh than those found at the corner grocer. In addition, there is often a dramatic price reduction on the fruits and vegetables. The stores raise the cost so they can gain back what they paid, plus make money on top. The produce stands offer bulk buys that significantly reduce these prices.

A farmer’s market or produce stand is a great place to get healthy fresh fruit, and still save money. The rising cost of everything, including food definitely warrants a trip to your local vendor. You can look in your yellow pages, but more often than not, if you keep your eyes peeled while you are out and about, you will probably discover one.

The only place I can think of that would be cheaper than buying this way, is if you have a local orchard that allows you to pick the fruit and vegetables yourself.

Where To Get Good Produce – Farmer’s Markets or Produce Stands originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on July 4, 2010.

Starting a meal making co-op is an excellent way to save money each month as well as saving time preparing meals. What is better than saved money and time in a busy  household? Happy, healthy kids – and because you are choosing the meals together – you can ensure your family is eating well.

To start a meal making co-op, you will need to find at least two or three other interested families. You will be very surprised that once people see what you are doing, how quickly they wish to join you. Don’t be surprised if eventually you have to turn people away.

You will also need to start thinking big. You will be preparing several meals at the same time. You will want to find things that are easily frozen and can be heated up in less than an hour with no preparation at the other end.

You will need to get organized, have a spare freezer at your disposal for extra storage space,  and be prepared to enjoy delicious foods you didn’t have to make yourself.

Tomorrow I will discuss the exact logistics of how this whole co-op thing works so you can see exactly how something like this can save you time and money in the kitchen.

Starting a Meal Making Co-Op originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on June 3, 2010.

After a lot of trial and error in my own meal making co-op endeavors, these are some of the tips and examples that have worked for us.

The first thing you will need to do is make a list of your families favorite meals and what ingredients they require. You will need to get together with the other members of your co-op and take a vote. Each family should wind up with at least five meals on their list at the end. Keep in mind that food allergies or picky eaters could prohibit other families from enjoying that meal. If something can be eliminated or substituted you might wish to share that and then make note of what requests anyone has.

You will take your list home and for the following week, each family will prepare dinner each night for their own family as well as making an additional meal for each family participating. You might even wish to make an extra one for your own family. All extras (including for other families) need to be stored in the freezer and labeled with the name of the meal.

A smaller co-op works best. We found that three families works really well.

At the end of the week the families will get together and hand out their extras to the other families. Each family should receive five meals from each participating family.

Here is a quick rundown on how that would work:

For instance, Pamela, Sarah and Jacque all start a co-op.

Pamela chooses five meals to create.

Starting on Monday night, she creates a Enchilada Casserole for her own family, and in addition one for both Sarah and Jacque’s family. She then freezes Jacque and Sarah’s, after first carefully marking what the meal is on the container it is placed in, and quick, and easy, directions for the meal.

Meanwhile on Monday night at Jacque’s house and also at Sarah’s house, the same thing should be occuring. Each girl is preparing a meal for their own family, and then preparing one for each other family in the co-op. This continues throughout the entire week with each meal.

A week after they have begun, Jacque, Sarah and Pamela get together to exchange their meals. Pamela will give five meals to Jacque and five meals to Sarah. Each lady should leave the swap with ten different meals (five from each of their friends).

And if Pamela, Sarah and Jacque were smart ladies, they should have also prepared an extra dinner each night for their own family and frozen it.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below.

How Does a Meal Making Co-Op Work? originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on June 3, 2010.