One-Pot Beer Cheese Soup
Today is National Cheese Lover’s Day! A day just for cheese lovers — of which I am one! I often pick restaurants based on my ability to have an entre with cheese… So in celebration of today, I am posting a beer cheese soup recipe. Perfect for winter! Beer cheese soup makes for a warm and satisfying meal on cold, blustery days. Unfortunately, it has a reputation for being a bit tricky to make because it can turn into a gloppy mess if you aren’t careful. However, you can achieve picture-perfect (and palate-worthy) results at home with this easy recipe. Advertisements
Make a Plan: What Meal Is Going in Your Slow Cooker this Week?
Last week, we talked about some basics of slow cookers. Today, we will talk about starting to meal plan. At some point (probably more than once!), you will have a day this week when you’ll be running around all day. The kids will have a full schedule of after-school activities that will have you driving from one ball field or meeting or dance lesson to the next. It’s going to happen — you know it… That’s the perfect day to plan a slow cooker meal. Plan 1: Make a Plan in the Morning Pick a one-pot dish like beef stew, chili, or a chicken and rice casserole with broccoli and…
How to Select the Right Slow Cooker
It’s a new year! On top of that, January is Slow Cooker month. This month, I am going to post multiple slow cooker recipes, slow cooker reviews, and more. You can also sign up to get recipes in your mailbox right here: Slow Cooker Challenge This should be fun! Picking a Slow Cooker 101 Are you ready to incorporate a slow cooker into your prep routine? It’s a wonderful way to prepare your family’s meals without having to spend hours in the kitchen stirring pots. Make a pot of beef stew that tastes like you’ve slaved for hours over the stove when all it really took was dumping a few…
Cool Meal Ideas for Your New Year’s Celebrations
There have been numerous celebrations during the holiday season in addition to the rush of shopping, wrapping, and decorating. New Year’s is the perfect time to make things simple. You’re already going to be staying up late on New Year’s Eve to ring in 2020, so why not make the party easy by not overcomplicating your meal planning. One trick is to consider the different traditions when you get started planning. For example, it’s a southern tradition to offer black-eyed peas, collards, and cornbread or hoecakes on New Year’s Day to bring in the New Year and expand luck. Knowing about this tradition can inform your meal planning. Other locations…
Resetting Your Eating Habits after Christmas
When Christmas is over, most people feel as if they need a break from the heavy holiday food that they’ve been eating. You need a reset from the holiday fare. It’s the perfect time to try to start eating healthier, even while navigating the leftovers. Establish Balance in Your Meals Focus at first on balancing your meals. Each of your meals should contain a healthy mix of carbs, protein, and fat. If you focus on smaller meals stretched over six times per day (about every three hours), you’ll avoid the energy slumps and feelings of hunger that can knock people off their plan. Drink More Water Stop drinking any other…
Six Ideas for Your Christmas Leftovers
We spend a lot of time thinking about Thanksgiving dinner and the Thanksgiving leftovers. Little consideration is given to what happens to the Christmas meal the next day. But that leaves some fun opportunities on the table. The only thing better than Christmas dinner is Christmas leftovers. It’s one of the few times of the year that everyone looks forward to having leftovers. Thankfully, there are tons of ways to use traditional Christmas food creatively in leftovers. Wraps Almost anything is good in a wrap. The best part is that you can use different things for the wrap such as lettuce, cabbage, jicama, tortillas, seaweed, and more. Be creative about…
Holiday Rewind: Surviving Your Family During the Holidays
I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays and spending time with family. Sometimes, you may not enjoy family time as much as you would like. Last year, I wrote this post about Holiday Survival. It might be appropriate to check it out this year as we enter into the holiday week.
Christmas Doesn’t Have To Be Perfect To Be Enjoyable
One disadvantage of social media — it emphasizes the relentless pursuit of perfection in all things… If you believe popular media and holiday guides, you may think that everything to do with Christmas from the tree and decorations to the food, and even how you wrap your gifts has to be perfect. That’s simply not true. We all know this, but here we are… Christmas doesn’t have to be perfect to be enjoyable. Kitchen Mishaps Make “Great” Stories Wonky-looking cookies taste just as good. Handmade ornaments with their flaws are charming. Mix and match holiday decorations reflect your style, your family history, and bring back lots of lovely memories. A…
Sometimes Christmas Sucks. That’s OK…
Life comes in seasons. Some years are wonderful with few worries and plenty of everything. Others are leaner, more troublesome, and just plain sad. In the good years, the holidays are a lot of fun, but during the sad times, we may not enjoy Christmas all that much. That’s OK. There’s a lot of pressure put on us to put on a smile be “merry and bright” during the holidays. We’re magically supposed to be in a good mood on Christmas no matter what’s going on in our lives or around us. Yes, you should hide your pain and sorrow and smile through the tears for your kids. Of course,…
How to Find Joy During A Stressful Holiday Season
Between the school’s holiday play, work obligations, Christmas parties, and gift shopping, the weeks leading up to Christmas can be a very busy and stressful time. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and rush through the days. When you push hard to get everything done, you may find yourself exhausted on Christmas day. At that point, you will realize that you’ve blown through the entire holiday season without stopping to enjoy it. There are a few little simple things you can do to make sure that doesn’t happen. If you’re ready to make sure you can enjoy this holiday season, no matter how busy you are or how much pressure you’re…
