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Top Kitchen Tips for Working Parents

By Sarah on January 23, 2015 in Meal Planning, Meal Plans, Tips and Tricks

The hardest part about being a working parent is the cooking. I could handle the commute and the nylons, the office politics and the food court sandwiches if it weren’t for that gargantuan task (a second job, basically) that awaits me each night in the kitchen. And yes I “love” to cook, but after a long tiring day at the office, even *I* would rather collapse in front of the TV than roast broccoli, make pasta sauce, and (the worst part) clean it all up. Are you with me?

So today, instead of sharing a recipe, I’m counting down some top kitchen tips from and for working parents. Some of these are my own tricks but many of them come from the Kiwi & Bean readers who answered my desperate Facebook call-out. If nothing else, it’s reassuring to know that I’m not the only one toiling in the post-workday meal-making trenches. Continue Reading →

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The Ultimate Make-Ahead Turkey Dinner

By Sarah on December 19, 2014 in Main Dish, Meal Planning

T minus 6 days until my Christmas guests arrive for a big roasted turkey and all the trimmings. This is only the second time ever that I will be hosting and cooking a Christmas dinner. I am very lucky to have some highly competent Christmas dinner cookers in my family (Mom, Irene, Susan and Mary I’m talkin’ about YOU!) and for most of my adulthood I have let them do the cooking while I eat spinach dip and play charades. But this year, it’s all me.

Now here’s the thing about all this: while I’m happy to do the planning, cooking and shopping for the big meal, I still want to eat spinach dip and play charades, darn it! I want to sit by the fire with a glass of champagne and some jingle bells. I do NOT want to be madly whisking lumps out of the gravy while everyone else is kissing under the mistletoe. Continue Reading →

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Your Summer Barbecue Meal Planner!

By Sarah on June 5, 2014 in Meal Planning, Meal Plans, Tips and Tricks

You will have to forgive my triple-A-type personality, and possibly hold back some laughter. Because I totally made you a Summer Barbecue Menu Matrix. Whaaaaaaaat? I know—so weird.

But before y’all go taunting me on Twitter and stuff, let me explain.

Summer barbecues are my fave. The best way to entertain friends and family, in my experience, because even if the food is just ok, you are sitting out in the sun or under the stars with your feet in the grass and a drink in your hand. And what could be better than that? Continue Reading →

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What’s Cooking This Week: V-Day Edition

By Sarah on February 10, 2014 in Meal Planning, Recipes

I’ve never been much for Valentine’s Day. Not since the late 1980s, anyway, when I dutifully filled out the “TO” and “FROM”s on drugstore Valentine’s cards and deposited them in my classmates’ cubbies.

But now that I’m a mom, these types of holidays appear to be taking on on a renewed importance. I got an email from the Bean’s preschool last week “inviting” me to provide Valentine’s Day cards for each of the 28 children and four teachers in the class. Wait, this is still a thing?! Indeed.

In a moment of sheer insanity, I decided the Bean and I ought to make the Valentine’s Day card ourselves. This is what good moms do, right?

2 sheets of red cardstock, 6 bottles of glitter glue, 2 temper tantrums, and 180 heart stickers later, we have 7 cards. Even this sleep-deprived baby brain can do that math—25 left to go. There may be a trip to the drugstore in my future. Continue Reading →

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