Cooking and baking can be extremely simple or excruciatingly complicated and everything in between. For most of us the day to day meals the occasional (or not so) extra special deserts are relatively simple affairs that can be accomplished by reading the recipe and understanding the instructions.

Recently Glen & Friends over on YouTube posted a great example of what happens when recipe writers, and those who use those recipes to make sales, create recipes that are almost certainly guaranteed to frustrate, annoy, and fail. Check it out:

Be sure to check out both recipes in the description box below the video. Eye opening stuff!

I have to wonder if the original recipes might have gone through some tool to adjust it for folks in different parts of the world or who use different measuring tools. That might explain some of the ridiculous measurements.

What Glen does is take the absurdity out of the equation and provide a usable recipe that anyone should be able to make. Even someone who is new to the cookery craft.

As I said, things like this do not have to be complicated but there is also a touch of confusion when you are working with a recipe intended for folks who use scales and those who do not. Either method works you just have to be mindful to be sure you are keeping with the method you chose.

Those cookies do look good!

The absolute best quiche I’ve ever had was one made with more filling than eggs. It is not easy to find one like that. However, the one below checks all the boxes and then some:

The potato crust is amazing. This gem could feed a few more folks than you might think. I love the versatility of it, too.

Would you give this one a try?

Nicole over at AllRecipes on YouTube has done it again. I am especially liking the encouragement to use what we already have on hand.

This is the second food processor video Nicole has done.

Recently one of my YouTube foodies mentioned that she was over Winter casseroles and ready for lighter Spring food. Yep! I fully understand.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my casseroles and a good roast but after months of that … Even your favorites on the menu no longer excite you, right.

I don’t know about you but I suspect we are in the same, er, cart when it comes to restocking the pantry and finding new meal options. I’ve been pondering my next grocery order and, well, let’s just say that it isn’t exactly going well. I have the roast and some ground beef and lots of chicken in the freezer along with more veg than should be there. In the pantry there are rice and pasta and a few cans of beans. One lonely packet of tuna is in the fridge. Note: I keep my tuna in the fridge because I mostly use it for tuna salads and it just makes sense to keep it cold.

Tuna. Tuna!

I realized that the biggest problem I was having developing my grocery list was that I wasn’t putting things on it I wanted to eat. Head Slap Moment!

A few weeks back I pulled a packet of smoked tuna out of the fridge and made my usual tuna salad with it. O. M. G.!!! That was amazing! Smoked tuna isn’t always easy to get hold of…why not buy a bottle of liquid smoke to add with the rest of the salad ingredients?

Liquid smoke could also be used in oven barbeque sauces or added to gravies.

I realized that I wouldn’t mind having some salmon patties, too. I’m not up to trying to cook salmon fillets but a salmon patty is easy and tasty.

A variety of Spring greens are now available, too. That broadens the salad issue. Some of the Spring fruits and berries are coming on, too.

I think the grocery order is starting to look interesting and, dare I say it, exciting.

What have you been missing that might go on your next grocery order? Something you haven’t had in a while, I hope!

Happy Cooking!

Getting dinner on the table seems to stress out a lot of folks. With either no plan at all or way too much planning, I find folks stuck in panic mode. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Meal planning, prep, cooking, and even plating can be much simpler if we just take a few minutes to think about what we want to do. Beyond, of course, the work. 🙂

Meal planning itself is a useful process but one size does not fit all. So, if you are not a by the list cook (i.e.: Monday’s Dinner is THIS.) rather than set up a rigid menu, why not set up a flexible pantry that will lead you to a more flexible dinner?

Take a few minutes to write down the meals you and your family enjoy. Create a shopping list that includes all the ingredients for those meals. Have those items in your pantry, freezer, and fridge. Now you can choose what you want to eat without being chained to a menu you aren’t in the mood for or don’t have time for.

When you put together your list of meals, look for ways to do some batch cooking. Are you having chicken more than once? Can you cook what you need for those meals and put the extra in the fridge or freezer until you are ready for it? If you, you’ve just saved yourself some work later in the week. Give yourself a High Five!

While this trick is great for proteins, it works well with fruits or veg, too.

Do you have a free day on your schedule and feel like playing in the kitchen? Why not create a batch cook list and set yourself up for more time savers later in the month?

I’ve been known to grab some ground beef (5 or 10 pounds worth), chop enough onions and garlic to go with it, haul out my large stock pot, dutch oven or slow cooker and get them started cooking that meat. I might make a simple beef, garlic, onion, salt and pepper mixture that can go into casseroles or I might combine some of the beef, etc., into patties and get them browned and ready for the freezer.

I love family packs of chicken and have tossed the lot into my slow cooker or roasting pan for the oven and let them roast until done. I will then have enough to package up for all sorts of meals.

I can prepare several casseroles up to the point of getting them packaged and then tuck them into the freezer. This is a great way to have dinner mostly done on those days when you just aren’t feeling it.

Free Ranging Foodie recently posted some great ideas on how she sets herself up for success. Click HERE to check it out.

It is easy to get stuck in that rut where dinner becomes just one more hurdle. Sometimes all it takes to avoid that rut is to think outside the box (or bag) and find ways to get things ready before we even know we need it.

Happy Cooking!

Leave it to Nichole over at AllRecipes to come up with The Best collection of Easy Dinners. She provides the tips and tricks you need to learn the basic tools to cook without a recipe.

Don’t panic! It is easier than you think. Check it out:

Once you are comfortable with these easy dinners you can create all kinds of meals.

Which are your favorites?

Frankly, I don’t know of anyone who does not love bacon. Good bacon, that is. The one that is Just Right.

AllRecipes.com have done some research on the topic and while I generally subscribe to their suggestions, I use my broiler pan rather than a baking sheet. I spray both pieces with cooking spray to make clean up easier and then put the bacon on the rack, tuck it into the oven and impatiently wait. 😀 You could line the bottom pan with foil for easy clean up but if you are keeping the bacon fat in the fridge, foregoing the foil just makes it a bit easier.

Note: Some brands of bacon have a LOT of fat while others have very little.

Keep in mind that you could tuck in some tater tots or hash browns while the bacon cooks.

I have not gotten to the place where I freeze left over bacon because, well, there usually isn’t any. I might let it cool, blot it a bit and they layer between sheets of parchment paper cut to size for a gallon sized zip lock freezer bag. Freeze it flat and then, once frozen, I could stand it up beside my rack of veg to save space.

All in all, bacon cooking in the oven is a simple process. If you have not already done so, give it a try.

There are some convenience foods that I don’t use as much as I might because, honestly, I make a better product from scratch. I’m referring to using the product for what it was designed: biscuits, cake mixes, cookie mixes, and similar.

That being said, because of the way boxed mixes are constructed, they can be used instead of having a long list of ingredients always on hand all the time.

I am a HUGE fan of Bisquick because it makes a lot of different things quick and easy. Owning 8+ cookbooks dedicated to the product gives me a lot more versatility than just biscuits, pancakes, waffles and such.

Cake mixes, refrigerated biscuits and crescent rolls, pie crusts, and such are a great beginning for both new and experienced cooks. The newbies are pretty much guaranteed to get a good result while the more experienced cooks will see potential in trying something a little out of the ordinary – which is pretty much where all those recipes in the cookbooks came from. 😀

I am enjoying Nichole over at AllRecipes.com on YouTube stretch the envelope using these convenience items. Check out the YouTube channel by clicking HERE.

She has come up with a variety of uses for mixes in addition to creating new dips and appetizers along with some rather amazing holiday menus.

The videos are not only entertaining but thought provoking, too. And if you want the recipe, the link is in the description box below the video.

She recently tackled cake mixes and my mind was blown. I don’t know about your area but in my local stores the mixes usually start at $1.50 and go up. Since you don’t need an expensive mix to create these delights, they are a budget friendly way to play with your food. (And we like that around here!)

Now, for the slightly other side of the convenience coin. Mixes have their place and some are quite good while others…need help. America’s Test Kitchen has done some rather interesting, not to mention extensive, testing on a variety of convenience foods, including cake mixes. Click on the link to their YouTube Channel HERE. The results are interesting and a bit thought provoking.

Remember when I said that I could make some things better than a mix? To me a scratch cake is a true delight and not difficult. I’ve been making them for decades. If you follow the guidelines (room temp ingredients, preheated oven, pretreated pan…) you should get good results, too.

The difference could be that the items on the grocer’s shelves are new/fresher than what might be in your pantry. Baking powder and baking soda not working? How old are the containers? Spices not tasting quite right? Again, how old are those containers?

At the end of the day, the quality of anything coming out of your kitchen is based on the quality of the ingredients you use.

Check out the links, prepare to get your mind blown a bit, too. Then, grab those recipes and see what magic comes out of your kitchen!

Happy baking!