Easy Family Dinners with Homemade Gourmet

The concept of bulk cooking has been one of the most revolutionary concepts in my meal planning endeavor.
Check out my my easy meal planning tips video where I show how quickly meals can be put together.

4 Meals in 4 Minutes Homemade Gourmet give away

In order to celebrate FAMILY DAY this Monday and honor the long forgotten tradition of bringing friends and family back to the dinner table, I am beginning the first of many give aways to help facilitate this and make it a reality.
See how to get your name in the hat below. :)
With our crazy busy schedules, it's really hard to be intentional, especially for meal time, isn't it?
(I will continue my meal planning/coupon posts this weekend.)

Since I have a large family, people have always come to me on "food advise." They assume that because I have to feed the multitudes, I have this down to a science.
Honestly, I "know" it in my mind, and I can teach a great class and show others how, but the nuts and bolts when reality hits always goes in streaks.
It's all part of the balancing act.

The times that I don't always "get to it",
Homemade Gourmet has made it appear as if I do.
Their Homemade in a Hurry line and the 4 meals in 4 minutes concept has been a life saver for me over the last 18 months. These meals, sides, desserts, and appetizers that can be whipped up in literally minutes are for anyone/everyone.
I became a distributor only for personal use, but have had so many friends want to know more, and implement the meals ideas, that I have begun to dabble in the business.
Who doesn't want to have a grocery list, recipe plan and meal solutions at their fingertips. Hopefully, I can help you with that.
My give away is going to be for a sampling of my favorite 4 Meals in 4 Minutes mixes.
I will pick 4 HG dinner meals/mixes for you, along with the grocery list and recipes to make those meals, or you can look at my website and give me an idea of what you love.

There are three ways to get your name in the drawing.
1. Leave me some comment love (if you want to give some meal planning tips or you have questions that you want me to address in future posts...I'd love to hear.:)

2. Mention this give away with a link in your blog post.

3. Add me to your side bar (that counts as two :) Now, I really wish I had some bling to share.
Once you've done that, let me know how many times to put down your name, and I will pick a winner on Tuesday...(after you all have had dinner together on Monday night...right?) xoxox.
Our family emphasizes the power of a shared meal. Here are some ideas...
Do something fun for dinner.
If you have kids, why don't you try a "backwards" dinner night...serve dessert for the main course, making sure that they "save room" for the green beans.

I have also served a full spaghetti dinner under, yep...under the table. I set the place mats, charger plates, china and even lit the candles all while dining under the table. It was so fun and memorable. Yes, I even made the teens do it.
Remember, I am the Queen of Forced Bonding. :)
Good luck and get ready for some Good Eating.!

Featured Recipes: Click here to see this month’s menu planner>

As a mom of five, I guarantee that climbing Mount McKinley often pales in comparison to the managing of our mealtime madness. Once thing I can guarantee is that spending quality time in the kitchen and connecting with friends and family around the meal time will leave a lasting legacy for generations to come. This simple, deliberate act will add more to building strong, family ties and opening the lines of communication with our kids than 100 trips to Disney.

This will be my opportunity to share what works, (and what doesn't) when it comes to maneuvering this mountain. We will brainstorm ideas on cooking with the kids, bulk cooking, 4 Meals in 4 Minutes, and a host of other ideas. I am open for ideas......we will liven up this mealtime madness together. It's about sharing ideas, and getting excited about cooking again. Is this possible? I know so. Homemade Gourmet has helped me solve some of these dilemmas, but it's not just about our products (which are great), it's about looking at our dinner time from a new perspective.
Amid busy schedules, sports, school, and ..... life. I hope this blog will refresh, encourage, and inspire you to bring your families back to the dinner table...something that our family is still working on.

So sorry.....if any one stumbles on this site, it will be an asset to blog land once I work the kinks out. This is my learning curve. I know these need to be pictures of wonderfully appetizing family meals. Step by step pictures that will make you coming back for more wisdom for your family mealtime crises, but I don't have any of those loaded. Oh...it's all so new. I did make beautiful homemade pizzas (yes, and the crust....freshly picked basil.......can you just imagine it in your mind for me....please?)

Since I am advanced blog reader, but not an advanced blogger, I must practice before I launch to the real world.....I don't even know how to add a picture. Here goes....will it work? Nope....How do I add pictures that take up the whole space? I will try again with all 4 pictures that I have loaded on my computer and you have seen three of them.:) Ok...off to research...wow, I hate it when I feel my "roots" showing.

Considering that I haven't posted since last Oct., it is quite evident that this blog has gone no where. I will be changing that. Since we added such a huge amount of anti-spywear and security protection items to our computer, it even decided to block all of the blogs that I love to visit. My Earth Angel ladies and I have had a good chuckle over the fact that it blocks our Once Upon a Family "values based" yahoo group. Well, I guess it's doing its job. I will be entering the blog world in the next few weeks with a "daily" blog and then will use this for all my wonderful meal planning ideas. Please see http://www.fastfamilymeals.com for some great meal ideas already posted.
blessings on the journey,
Jen

I had a wonderful time with some friends this past week as I hosted my first J.A.M. class (Just add meat).
We were all moms feeling a little overwhelmed with the prospect of feeding the kids a healthy, well planned meal on a daily basis (what mom doesn't?)
Solution? Have fun doing it together, and leave my house with meals to fill the freezer.
I gave them a variety of recipes to pick from. I provided the Homemade Gourmet pantry staples, and any additions - can of soup, black beans, whatever the recipe called for, while they provided their choice of meat (beef, chicken or pork). I had stations set up with instructions, and we had a great time laughing, fellowshipping and brainstorming some additional meal ideas. They left with 4-10 meals in ziplock bags ready to cook or stick in the freezer for a busy day.
It was a huge success and my family has been eating the rewards all week. I will be doing many more of these. How much more fun to climb mealtime mountain with a group of girlfriends.

Have any interest in finding out how to organize this for your friends and family? Let me know, I would love to help.

From my kitchen to your on this beautiful fall, NC day,
Jen

In the midst of the hot heat, daydreaming about summer in the Southwest may not allow you to think longingly about a quick visit, but I can assure you that our Southwest Seasoning will.

I had been reading the HG blog about brainstorming vegetarian alternatives for quick and tasty family dinners without much success, so I decided to challenge my mom and sister in law to help me out. My husband is a meat and potatoes guy, but is very gracious when I want to experiment with him. Our five children have learned they eat what is served, therefore being a true delight to try out these new recipes...for the most part:).
I had not been a very proactive meal planner last week, as I was speaking at the NCHE homeschool conference. I had no meat thawed, had hungry troopers, needed something quick.
Plan of attack:
#1. Out comes the rice steamer....that is one of the best investment ever. Perfect rice everytime.
#2. Out comes the Southwest seasoning, and some creative "juices."

Honestly, I could have eaten just the rice mixed with the Southwest seasoning as a meal in itself. It was so yummy....just enough of a kick to lose the "rice meal feel," but I knew I needed to stretch it a bit more to feed seven.

#3. I stirfried green peppers, and onions (that had been already chopped and in the freezer) with some SW seasoning and olive oil. I then added the rice. I was feeling adventurous, pondered what the cowboys of the West would have had on the range, and felt that pinto beans was definitely appropriate. I added a can of those to the mixture, a bit of cheese, and then to get the balance of protein....some eggs (not to mention our chickens are laying like crazy, and I need to use those up). An extra dash of Southwest for good measure, and I was done.
IT WAS A HIT! Yummy, and SO healthy. My kids always ask, "is this healthy?" I think they enjoy eating the seconds alot more when they think it is making them big and strong...hee hee.

So, there you have it....heathly, quick, and tasty....vegetarian success in five minutes. (the rice took longer, but all I had to do was wait for the steamer to say "done.")
We have had some more success since then...I will share my mom and sil's ideas. Even if no one can read this blog yet.:)

Yes, this mom is just managing.....especially in the world of computers. For some reason, that I have yet to work through, I can't add numerous elements to my new blog. Until I can accomplish these very frustrating tasks, this blog will be in "low maintenance," and therefore not very exciting. I hope this will change soon...
Computers - can't live with them, can't live without them.:)
Experiencing joy in the journey,
Jen