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Why is dinnertime so hard?!?
If your daily dinnertime feels fresh out of Groundhog’s Day – honey, you are not alone. Dinnertime is hard! Last year I set out to do research to better understand what made cooking dinner so difficult. As the feedback came in, the results were loud and clear: it wasn’t so much the doing part – the cooking – but it was definitely the thinking part – the planning, the sticking to the plan, the finding the time, and most of all, the figuring out what to cook for these people (aka your fam)! The feedback was consistent with most problems we face in life, it’s the thinking part that gets us. Sometimes the biggest hurdles we face are our…
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More Than Just a Meal Plan
It’s been almost a year since the seed of an idea was planted, when I began exploring the notion that perhaps my success in the kitchen wasn’t about my recipes, but about my process. I started to ask some questions… Was there a process to unpack beneath my dinnertime routine? Could my method work for other people? The answers, to my great delight, are yes and yes. And thus, Dominate Dinner was born. So what is Dominate Dinner? The words began as part of the subtitle to my (work in progress) book… Biscuits ‘n Crazy: The Busy Mom’s Guide to Dominate Dinner. And then they were the name of my…
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Korean Pulled Pork (Instant Pot)
Have I mentioned lately how much I love pulled pork in the Instant Pot?!? Well if not, it’s the greatest. Truly. A few weeks ago I had a craving for Korean inspired pulled pork lettuce wraps. Determined to scratch this itch, I did a bit of research to figure out just what would give it that distinct Korean flavor, and I discovered it’s gochjung! Ever wondered what made Korean BBQ so good? This stuff! It’s made of fermented chilis and has the consistency of tomato paste. It’s packed with flavor, and a bit spicy, but my goodness, I cannot wait to cook more meat with it! I found mine at…
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Instant Pot Pulled Pork
This is one of my family’s favorite IP recipes! Each time I make it I’m amazed that I made this tender, delicious pulled pork in under an hour – it’s truly amazing! This takes less than 10 minutes to throw together, and then the Instant Pot does most the work! If you’re a BBQ fan, but don’t have time to smoke or slow roast a pork butt on a weeknight, this recipe is for you! Pulled Pork (Instant Pot) 3-4lb pork butt, cut into 3 to 4 inch pieces ½ cup brown sugar 2 tsp salt 2 tsp onion powder 2 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp pepper 1 tsp paprika ½ cup beef broth ½ cup BBQ sauce (all-natural is…
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Meal Planning through Thanksgiving
It’s Thanksgiving week!! For those of us who love to cook and entertain, it’s like our Super Bowl! And at the same time – for those of us who like to operate with a meal plan, it can feel like we’re drowning without our structure and routine! Meal planning through the Thanksgiving holiday can certainly feel like the wheels have fallen off! Between travel, all that cooking for the big day, and then the mountains of leftovers, it’s easy to feel like you’re out of control of your dinnertime – but fear not! Here are a few tips to help get you (and me!) through this week! Plan to not…
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5 Simple Tips to Dominate Thanksgiving Dinner!
Hosting Thanksgiving is exciting for some, and stressful for others. I’ve found that the key to keeping it low-stress (regardless of the size of the gathering or how many dishes you’re preparing), is having a plan! Doing the things that can be done ahead of time prior to Thanksgiving day will go a long way towards lightening the load! Here are my 5 tips to help you dominate Thanksgiving dinner! Tip 1 – Decide What Kind of Gathering You’ll Host– Size: Small and intimate or large and feisty?– How Formal: Will you be eating on paper plates or the special China?– Who’s Cooking: Is it a pot-luck or are you…
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The #1 Meal Planning Mistake
Implementing a weekly meal planning routine has the potential to save you tons of time, reduce your stress and anxiety around cooking, and make family dinners an achievable goal. But sometimes, your meal plan is a bust and you’re left feeling just as overwhelmed as before. I think the culprit to most meal planning flops is that people try to do too much. When folks approach meal planning with the notion that they need to cook every night and find all new recipes, it can quickly turn into a recipe for disappointment. Being all extra right out of the gate is the #1 meal planning mistake. And coming from a…
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Tip #10 – Get Your Recipes Printed
Recipes that are printed out are so much easier to follow! The internet is a great place for recipes, but once you find a good one – print it! Cooking with a printed recipe means no more phone or iPad going to sleep in the middle of the food prep! No more scrolling through a ridiculously long blog post and dealing with pop-up ads trying to get to your recipe! No more touching your device with messy hands! And recipes are easier to read since the font is typically bigger on the printed version. Keep all your print outs alphabetized in a 3 ring binder. You’ll thank yourself, promise.
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Tip #9 – Get a Backup Plan
Having a backup meal available when your original plan falls through is super helpful. I try to pick something that can be made in 15-20 minutes, and uses ingredients that can hold for at least a few weeks. Some of my favorites are flat bread pizzas (naan bread, marinara, mozzarella cheese and whatever meats or veggies I have handy), breakfast for dinner (eggs, grits, oatmeal, bacon, pancakes, omelets or breakfast sandwiches), or soup and grilled cheese (I keep boxes of organic tomato soup, and always have bread and cheese around). This way, if I either run out of time to make my original meal, or forgot to defrost my meat,…
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Tip #8 – Get Your Groceries Once a Week
Perhaps one of my biggest time savers is this tip. If you have a meal plan, you can make the switch to grocery shop once a week. Having groceries on hand has been the single most improvement noted by the folks who have been using my process. Knowing what you’re going to cook and having everything you need already in your kitchen removes so many of the hurdles to cooking. It means when it’s time to cook dinner, you can literally just cook dinner. Not try to think about what to cook… not have to run to the store real quick… just cook. Pick a day that works best with…
