My love for cooking intensified with all of the great cookware, dishes and utencils that I recieved as wedding presents. I believe it's absolutely true that quality tools and ingredients can make cooking and eating an even more enjoyable experience. On this page I would like to share great tools or products that I love to cook with, or that make things easier.
#1-Penzey's Spices
I was introduced to Penzey's the weekend I went to Naperville for my first wedding shower and I walked around downtown with my Mom, sister Melissa, and friend Kathleen. My mom was excited by the fact that there was a Penzey's, and when I walked in, it was love at first sight! They have just about every spice and many unique blends, all of them surprisingly very affordable! They have stores nationwide, a catalog, and a website, so there is almost no excuse to not try them at least once. The stores are great though, because each spice has a jar on the shelf simply for smelling. You can tell a lot about if you will like a spice by being able to smell it, so I thought that was a nice touch. Another great thing I love about Penzey's is that you can buy empty jars for reusing and they have refill bags for sale, so it's a great way to get a good value and it's more green! Check them out! http://www.penzeys.com/
Planning eliminates visiting the store during the week (which I really don't like to do). As well as this time saved, I just feel better knowing that dinner for the week is set, plus, I like looking forward to dinner while I'm driving home! Not only does planning save me valuable time, but it also keeps me on track with eating healthy and saving money, because we don't get frusterated on Wednesday night and order take out. We like to save take out or going out to eat for occasional Fridays. Saturday nights we like to make a yummy restaurant quality meal with a great cocktail. Since we ate light and at home every other night, it makes going out on Friday that much greater of a reward!
#1-Penzey's Spices
I was introduced to Penzey's the weekend I went to Naperville for my first wedding shower and I walked around downtown with my Mom, sister Melissa, and friend Kathleen. My mom was excited by the fact that there was a Penzey's, and when I walked in, it was love at first sight! They have just about every spice and many unique blends, all of them surprisingly very affordable! They have stores nationwide, a catalog, and a website, so there is almost no excuse to not try them at least once. The stores are great though, because each spice has a jar on the shelf simply for smelling. You can tell a lot about if you will like a spice by being able to smell it, so I thought that was a nice touch. Another great thing I love about Penzey's is that you can buy empty jars for reusing and they have refill bags for sale, so it's a great way to get a good value and it's more green! Check them out! http://www.penzeys.com/
#2 Meal Planning
Every week we plan our meals for the week. Each Saturday or Sunday, I sit down and make a list. On one side of the list, I write the days that we will need meals (Mon.-Thurs. for example). This is where I write what we will eat each night (the meals are flexible, it just helps me see how many meals to plan, I'm a visual person). On the other side, I write what we will need for those meals as well as any other grocery items and breakfast and lunch items I need to pick up.
Planning eliminates visiting the store during the week (which I really don't like to do). As well as this time saved, I just feel better knowing that dinner for the week is set, plus, I like looking forward to dinner while I'm driving home! Not only does planning save me valuable time, but it also keeps me on track with eating healthy and saving money, because we don't get frusterated on Wednesday night and order take out. We like to save take out or going out to eat for occasional Fridays. Saturday nights we like to make a yummy restaurant quality meal with a great cocktail. Since we ate light and at home every other night, it makes going out on Friday that much greater of a reward!
#3 My Cookbooks
I have a whole shelf on my bookshelf dedicated to my cookbooks. Most of them contain healthy and light recipes and a few instruct on the basics. Even though I am getting experienced, I'm still learning things about cooking all the time. My Cooking Light cookbooks are probably my favorites. They hold some of my most cooked recipes. There is one skinny, magazine-like one titled, What's For Dinner. It's pages are weathered and wavy from years of flipping and being stoveside. I've had it for just under 10 years and there are several recipes from this blog contained in it. The funny thing about all of my cookbooks though is that everytime I flip through them on the weekend when I'm doing my meal planning (see above!) I discover new recipes. Two of my cookbooks are full of old favorites and recipes passed down. You'll see in the pic the sprial bound one. It's titled, Tried and True. This cookbook is the Karczewski family cookbook, full of recipes of my own, my Sister's, my Mother's, my Aunts', and my Grandmother's. I guess you could say a love for cooking and eating runs in the family!
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