I will just come out and say it:  I LOVE IT WHEN MY MOM COMES TO VISIT.  And one of my reasons (okay, there are more than one) is purely selfish!  My mom LOVES to cook.  And she loves to cook for my family! I have a tiny kitchen.  Tiny counter space.  And tiny children who love it when I’m in the kitchen cuz I can’t see what they are doing. lol!  And did I mention – I am the resident dishwasher – so preparing one...

The rewards of freezer cooking are that you can save money, save time and have a hot, home-cooked meal any night of the week. This is good, because this method requires planning and effort. If you are planning a full day of cooking, it is no light matter. If you can’t manage a full day of cooking, even preparing 2 or 3 meals ahead of time will be more efficient than scrambling to throw something together on a busy week night.  Either way,...

When I read about the opportunity to review a new cookbook from the Once-A-Month Cooking (OAMC) gals – I was REALLY excited.  While I do love to cook, I do NOT enjoy the daily cleanup.  I wanted to see what tips & tricks – as well as recipes – the Family Favorites cookbook had to offer, and I was pleasantly surprised. I immediately dug into the Introduction section, and found the tips and recommendations to be DO-able! ...

Do you plan ahead for you week’s menus?  Maybe even for a whole month’s worth of menus? It can be overwhelming and even difficult to plan many meals in advance in the face of busy schedules and changing moods.  Here are a couple of tricks I’ve discovered that have proved successful in my own family life: Make a list of family favorites.  If your family has a few favorite meals that they love, why not make a list of them...

Curly’s older cousin, Moe, gave her a Tshirt recently that is bright yellow with a hot pink graphic on the front that reads, “My Mom Rocks!” (I’d post a pic, but it’s in the dirty laundry at the moment…) I read it to her the first time she wore it, and now every time she puts it on, she says proudly “My Mom Rocks!” and does a little happy dance. I don’t even pay her to do that – somehow...