Book giveaway: Top 100 Pasta Dishes
I have a book giveaway for you today! The book is called Top 100 Pasta Dishes: Easy Everyday Recipes That Children Will Love
by Annabel Karmel. This book is filled with interesting-looking recipes for pasta to please kids of every age. The recipes are short. Many include pictures, always a plus in a cookbook. They mention possible substitutions for ingredients that might be hard to find. And though the recipes are very doable, they’re also carefully composed, obviously by a cook who took the time to add the little touches that really make the most of the food.
I am giving away a copy of this book on Tuesday. To enter yourself in the drawing, simply comment below and tell me one challenge you face when you step into the kitchen to prepare a meal for your family. Or tell me one way you make cooking easier for yourself. For example, I hate not having a variety of ingredients on hand, so I try to keep my pantry and freezer stocked with the fixings for at least 5 meals at all times. That gives me flexibility, and it keeps me from having to run to the store at dinnertime. Looking forward to hearing your challenges and/or your tips!
~~~
Note: I was given a copy of the book in exchange for a review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
Variety and finding nutritious ingredients that my kids will love: that is my number ONE biggest hurdle.
The biggest challenge I face is getting enough veggies and nutrients into our meals. I *know* I could do better here if I were more of a planner!
I think right now it is finding something everyone one will like on that night that does not heat up the kitchen and is not hugely time consuming. And balancing that out with being healthy!
My challenge is planning things and then having everything on hand. Seems like I’m always running out of something. AND the cleanup is not fun either from cooking. Other than that, cookin/baking is fun!
My challenge is simply finding the time to cook a good dinner. With a toddler and a preschooler who are hungry at 4, I am always tempted to just throw an easy kid-friendly meal on the table instead of a “real” dinner.
My biggest challenge is finding meals that the whole family will eat so I’m not turned into a short-order chef. We also eat at two different times (kids at 5:30 and parents after bed and Daddy’s home, usually 7:30/8) so its nice to be able to cook once.
My biggest challenge is making sure to plan ahead so that I’m not rushing around at dinnertime trying to find something nutritious to make!
My biggest challenge is finding a meal that everyone in the family can eat. I have 2 glue free, 4 dairy intolerant, and 3 that won’t eat cheese. My in-laws live with us also and so I need to cook heart healthy.
Due to the arrival of a new baby, my husband and I agreed tobeen to eat in for the last 2 months to save money. So I’ve picked fruit as it’s come in season and either canned or frozen it; made batches of pesto, pizza sauce, and pie crust and stuck it in the the freezer for quick meals; and am experimenting with making homemade bread. I also have my pantry stocked with tons of ingredients to make my own marinades, dressings, and desserts. It’s been great! We’ve saved money, eaten like kings, and don’t even miss eating out!
I keep a fully stocked pantry at all times. It makes it easier for on-the-fly cooking.
To help save money we raise beef and put it in the freezer. It tastes so much better than the grocery store kind and I know exactly what went into it. Peace of mind is a good thing.
Although I graduated college with a degree in Food Science and Human Nutrition, and I have worked in research and development of food products, I still think my major hurdle is finding flavorful, healthy, and INEXPENSIVE meals that the whole family can enjoy. These days I feel as if I rotate the same handful of meals over and over!
My biggest challenge is getting the kids to try everything
I have 5 kids, and my biggest challenge is coming up with a meal that is healthy, and that everyone will eat. My kids are just so picky!!
My biggest challenge is deciding what to make, something most of our 7 kiddos will like and doesn’t include any of or food allergy issues.
My biggest challenge is deciding what to make, something most of our 7 kiddos will like and doesn’t include any of our food allergy issues.
my biggest challenge is trying to find simple quick healthy recipes to prepare
I am always on the look out for new ides for my kids favorite food.
My biggest challenge is that I NEVER want to make or eat anything hot or warm in the summer, and gazpacho and cold sandwiches get old fast.
One thing that I do to make cooking easier is to prep some things in advance. The example that comes to mind right now is shredded cheese. I’ve read/heard that the pre-shredded cheese has flour additives to prevent caking, but that means that it doesn’t always melt correctly. So I like to go ahead and shred an entire block of cheese and package those up so that when I need shredded cheese, it’s right there for me to grab a handle to add to whatever I’m making.
*handful*
finding nutritious food that both my husband and son like is something i find challenging.
Challenge: having three kids (under the age of 5) arguing the minute i start cooking. I stock easy to cook items in my freezer for simple, fast meals.
Challenge: Not knowing when hubby will be home from work! Sometimes he’s home at 5, sometimes not til 6:30. I like to serve dinner fresh/hot, and it’s hard to do that when I’m not always sure what time we will eat (the crock pot helps, but you can’t eat EVERY meal out of the crock pot!)
To make things easy on myself, I don’t limit “dinner” to dinner foods… breakfast for dinner is always a hit, and leftover night is sure to please.
My challenge is TIME. I don’t get home from work and picking up my son from daycare till 6:15pm. By then, he is clamoring for food and I’m not far behind. My husband usually arrives shortly later and starts vacuuming up all food in sight until I can get a real meal in front of him. I need fast recipes. Last week, I didn’t have time to boil spaghetti and reheat sauce for pasta before the meltdown started.
My husband doesn’t eat cheese, potatoes, and a number of vegetables so I have a hard time coming up with varied and nutritious but quick meals while trying to introduce my 16 month old and 3 year old to new foods.
My biggest challenge is time. We get home around 7 p.m. Getting dinner on the table quickly is always a race. We try to plan ahead, but even with that it can take time as we are also having to keep an eye on our four little ones.
Here’s a way that makes tacos, spaghetti sauce, shepherd’s pie and other dishes that start with cooked ground beef faster to make – rather than freezing the ground beef raw, take time to cook it when you get home from the store and freeze it in recipe size portions – then either thaw first or use frozen – it will quickly “thaw” in the pan – and you’ve saved some time getting dinner on the table. This new pasta book looks wonderful – perfect for my 2 kids who live on pasta and rice! Even if I don’t win it, it looks like a book that I’ll need to buy to add to my collection! Thanks!
I always cook multiple meals of taco meat. Divide the meat into indidvidual meal portions and freeze. great for those times when dinner gets pushed back to the last minute!!
The biggest challenge I face when making dinner for my family is having enough time to prepare.
I am challenged by lack of ingredients. I don’t keep a well stocked pantry. I wish I planned ahead better and had the weeks meals planned out. I have before and it was wonderful.
MY challenge is coming up with a unique way to use leftovers. I’ve found great ideas on the internet to solve this problem!
my biggest challenge is reducing recipes from a family of six to my new family of 2..just hubby and me
Finding something everyone will like and getting my family to eat more meatless meals. I have been trying alot of new vegetables and meatless dishes lately and my family is less than excited about this.
I find I don’t have a lot of inspiration when it comes to making my menu. That is my biggest challenge. But since my least favorite time of the day is that time when I have to go into the kitchen and find something to make, I have a menu made at the beginning of the week with a couple alternates just in case I just can’t bring myself to make what it is I’ve written down. Thankfully, my family will eat anything I make and say ‘thank you.’
My kids always want to help! THat is a great thing but cooking with 2 3yearolds and an 18 month old that tries to climb up on the chairs his sisters are standing on makes it hard- I have to be extra careful no one gets hurt which is hard enough when cooking! To help overcome this, I started making dinner around 2 in the afternoon when the litte one is napping and the 3 year olds have to be quiet. They can help then and it occupies their time as well as teaches them something useful!
I like to make a menu list every week and go shopping once to get all the ingredients. This book looks great–I need new ideas!
I feel like I need to run to the store for a few items almost everyday on the way home from work just to have all the ingredients I need. I’m trying to do better about really making a plan and sticking to it.
My biggest challenge is sticking to the menu I’ve made up at the beginning of the week – sometimes the food planned for that night just doesn’t sound good!
I am working on eliminating as many processed foods out of our diet. “cream of’s” are a hard one for me!!
Having 10 kids makes it difficult to decide on healthy meals that most of them will like—mainly a dinner issue!!