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Kitchen Shortcuts for the Busy Mom
Kitchen Shortcuts for the Busy Mom
by Chef Craig Noche
By today's modern-day definition, I qualify as the "Busy Mom" or "Soccer Mom" of my family. It's not an achievement I ever thought I'd aspire to, it just worked out that way.
I'm also the only male, including pets, in my family. While most American families know husbands and dads to enjoy lifestyle treats like napping on the couch while watching sports, my family can count on me to assist with an emergency deep-heat hair condition session on a moments notice.
I'm also a chef. By virtue of this skill alone, I was elected 3-1 to assume all the kitchen, shopping, cleaning up, and food preparation responsibilities of the household. My wife and two teenage daughters have no knowledge or desire to participate in any such kitchen activities. The last time I brought my youngest daughter to the market she asked me, "Daddy, where’s the toast?"
I feel very qualified to write on being a "Busy Mom," especially as it applies to feeding my family. I'm also very knowledgeable on all the DineWise products and, as a chef, I can provide some compelling insight on how you can incorporate our delicious chef-prepared meals into your busy lifestyle.
My Typical Wednesday
Wednesdays are one of my toughest days for feeding my family. Like most "Busy Moms", I have to get dinner out to the clan around some pretty impossible schedules. I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir when I say I also have to work around some pretty finicky eaters.
Fast Food, such as anything with a Drive-Thru is always a super popular suggestion for meeting the demand of scheduling. I think most of today's Busy Moms I speak with are becoming more and more concerned about health and nutrition. I'm no exception. As a newly diagnosed diabetic, I've become somewhat of a nutritionist when it comes to healthy eating and what I feed my family.
FASTER than a Speeding Microwave; Dinner for Four (including clean-up) in Just 6 Minutes of Total Kitchen Time!
5:00 PM: I come home, pick up the mail, and make my way to the kitchen. I set the oven for 350°. I take out my covered no-stick casserole pan (any size covered pan will do). Corningware works also, but I like the no-stick feature for clean up.
5:03 PM: The night before, I defrosted tonight's dinner. We're having Chicken Marsala with Coconut Rice and Yellow and Green Beans. It’s one of my family’s favorites. It also has 410 calories per meal, and this is a hearty sized serving. How do I know that? Just go to our Nutritional Mix and Match Meals page and see all the delicious, healthy food you can eat without feeling like you’re on a diet. All I do is cut the individually packaged bags open and arrange the contents of tonight’s dinner in my pan. Chicken on one side, rice on another side, and the vegetables on the last side.
5:07 PM: I cover the pan and put it in the oven, which hasn't come up to 350° yet. That's okay. I set my kitchen timer for 25 minutes and I'm out of the kitchen.
5:32 PM: I come back into the kitchen and check the meal. It's warmed up perfectly. I lower the oven temperature to 120° (or your lowest setting), close the oven door and leave the kitchen. Oven temperatures can vary but the concept is the same.
6:10 PM: My oldest daughter is home from school, and has 10 minutes to eat before going to karate. I plate up her portion of the evening's meal and put the rest back in the oven. She eats, I drive her to karate.
6:25 PM: I drop my oldest daughter off at karate and pick up my youngest daughter from tennis. We go home and she eats her portion and then goes next door to study with friends.
6:50 PM: My wife comes home and we have our portions together.
7:10 PM: We finish dinner.
7:14 PM: I've put all the dishes in the dishwasher and hand-wash my no-stick covered pot. I'm old school in that I don't put my cookware in the dishwasher.
7:30 PM: I pick up my oldest daughter at karate.
8:00 PM: I take out tomorrow's dinner to defrost. One of the wonderful things about DineWise is that we don't all have to eat the same dinner. I'm going to have Rack of Lamb. My wife wants the Chicken Florentine, and my two daughters will have Stuffed Pork Chops. We all will have the Roasted Potatoes as a side dish. My wife and I will have Asparagus Spears as our vegetable and the girls will have the Baby Carrots.
What’s cool about Thursdays in my family is that there’s a window of opportunity where everyone is home for dinner at around 6:00 PM. I’ll warm up tomorrow’s dinner in the same manner and in the same covered pan. Tomorrow, I just have to remove the pan from the oven and place it on the table for us to eat family style.
I’ll secretly take the telephone off the hook, which I am also forbidden to do, and enjoy a delicious family dinner at home. For me, this is one of the most rewarding “Busy Mom” experiences.
There are some DineWise Foods this technique works easier than others. For beginners, figure if the entrée has gravy you can't go wrong. If your meal entrée doesn't have gravy, do everything the same but just check it a little bit more. Here are some my favorites for your first try. These are all excellent entrées:
• Beef Short Ribs in a delicious Asian BBQ sauce
• Our new Beef Sirloin with Morel Sauce - a morel is a mushroom
• Our new Grilled Pork Loin with Apple Cider Sauce - my daughters just love this!
• Beef Top Steak, especially if you love Yankee Pot Roast
• Lamb Shank This entrée is in my top 3. It doesn't have a gamey flavor.
• Chicken Cacciatore - Cacciatore means cooked hunter style, with gravy and crisp wild vegetables.
• Seafood Medley - perfect over rice!
• And the gravy that comes with the Osso Buco is to die for!
Next time I will show you how to make amazing soups and stews and be out of the kitchen in 5 minutes!
Bon Appetite!
Craig Noche
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