If you read my last post, you learned that I no longer go to pancake stores to eat in.  The cost has become incredibly restrictive, and we can do just as well, if not better at home.

Same goes for meals.

We all want quick and easy these days, but most of us tend to think that using fast food restaurants (take away shops) are the only way to get meals quickly.  Not true.

There are loads of easy recipes these days, and a huge percentage of them are quick to prepare, as well as being economical and nutritious. With obesity being a major issue for all ages, we need to think more and more about what we put into our mouths.

I have been following Jamie Oliver’s “Food Revolution” shows for many months now, and the one thing that stands out for me is the fact everyone wants to save time.  Unfortunately we don’t always think about the health factors involved in giving our families fast foods, which in many cases have been aptly named junk foods.

Speaking of Jamie’s Food Revolution, I didn’t realize he’d put out a cookbook of the same name. What’s even better is it’s super cheap. (And I do love cheap!)

I’ve done a bit of research and in addition to Jamie’s cookbook above, I found there are loads of quick and easy recipes available, not only for your traditional meals, but for asian meals, as well as meals children can prepare. (Care for a night off from cooking?)

Cooking at home will not only save you money, it will save time, and may even help save the life of a family member.

This recipe is quick and easy, and if you’re diabetic like hubby and I, it won’t send your sugar levels over the top! This is one of our favourite desserts, and we have it at least one night each week. If your not diabetic you can play around with it, add sugar or other sweet goodies to it, or even sprinkle sugar or icing sugar on the top!

Quick and Easy Apple Pies

You’ll need a Sandwich/Snack Maker – one that’s for toasted sandwiches. Ours is divided into four – it makes two sandwich sized pies, and automatically cuts it into four triangles.

Take one sheet of puff pastry out of the freezer and lay it flat to thaw. Lightly spray the snack maker, and leave it to warm up.

Cut the pastry sheet into half, and place one half onto the base of the snack maker. Spoon stewed or tinned apple into the triangle bases.

Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon. You can also add sugar or sugar substitute if wanted, but sugar isn’t necessary.

Add remaining half of the pastry to cover the apple.

Close the lid and cook for about 5-10 minutes. *Can take more or less time depending on how hot the snack maker is when pastry is added.

You can substitute other fruits (such as rhubarb or peaches)  for the apple.

*Best eaten hot but can also be consumed cold.

1. Spaghetti – It’s easy to quickly boil noodles and simmer some spaghetti sauce. Spaghetti has so many add-ins your family will enjoy: Italian sausage, hamburger, diced vegetables and a variety of herbs and seasonings. For a low calorie meal, use spaghetti squash in place of traditional noodles.

2. Tacos – Olay! If your family likes Mexican food, whip up a batch of tacos for dinner. Use hard and soft shells for variety. For family menu planning, dice the fixin’s ahead of time so you can just pull them out on taco night.

3. Macaroni and cheese – What kid doesn’t like this as a dinner main dish? Spice it up with diced tomatoes, crumbled bacon, sliced hot dogs or hamburger.

4. Pizza – This is not the store-bought or the delivery. Keep several prepared pizza crusts on hand (like Boboli for instance). On pizza night, let the entire family choose which toppings they want on their pizza. Prep time is fun so it doesn’t last long and it takes about 20 minutes or so to bake.

5. Skewers – you can create tasty chicken, pork, seafood or beef kebobs quickly. Skewer the meat and your favorite vegetables and place them in a sealed container until meal day. This is the benefit of meal planning – getting prep work done early. Cook your tasty kebobs on a gas grill or use a grill pan indoors.

6. Hot dogs – Nothing could be easier than throwing them in a pot of boiling water or grilling them up. For the health-conscious family, use light franks or turkey franks by Oscar Mayer or Ballpark.

7. Chef salad – Salads are always quick to fix but they usually lack something in the taste department. With a chef salad you get your portion of protein from lean ham or turkey. The taste comes from the add-ins: bacon crumbles parmesan cheese, tomatoes, shredded cheese, black beans and cucumbers. Use others that your family likes.

8. Grilled cheese sandwich – Dinner doesn’t need to be a four-course meal. For a new taste, add deli meat or a juicy tomato.

9. Tortilla wraps – Create delicious quick sandwiches with your favorite flavor of tortilla. Glaze with mustard or low calorie mayonnaise. Add crunchy veggies and diced chicken, pork or beef.

10. Leftover creations– Use leftovers to create salads, casseroles, sandwiches and soups. Don’t let anything go to waste if it can be used for new meals.

Let these ideas spark your interest in having a great meal with your family.

Children are the future. You want the best for them. Family meals are instrumental in spending quality time with your children and helping them avoid some of the dangers that come with growing up.

Parents and kids have created shortcuts that pass for quality time. Most of us don’t even realize that that’s what we are doing. Sitting in the same room watching a movie or saying ‘hello’ and ‘good night’ is not the same as holding a meaningful discussion.

Here are a few statistics that might shock you to learn. According to A.C. Nielsen, parents and children spend an average of 38 minutes per week chatting to each other. That is less than six minutes each day discovering what is going on in their lives. They spend more time than that with their friends.

Kids who spend meal time sitting down with their families have a lesser risk of starting such behaviors as smoking, drinking and drugs according to the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine (2004). These are three of the biggest concerns that parents have with their kids. The teenage years are a time when depression is common as kids seek to “find” themselves. Those depressive episodes are less likely to occur in children who have meals with their family.

Also, kids (and parents) eat slower when they have meals with their families. This cuts down on overeating which is what we do when we are eating in a hurry between activities. Over indulgence is contributing to a higher incidence of childhood obesity.

Between school and work, very few families take the time to unwind. Less often than that, they take the time to relax together. Home is a sanctuary and a place of safety. At the dinner table, you and your kids can let your guard down and listen uninterrupted to each other. For younger children, listening to discussions at the dinner table helps them to learn language and communication skills (Harvard Research, 1996).

Most of the happier times in our lives center on food and family. That can still be true when you make time for meals. There are no set times for dinner. If your family can only get together at seven o’clock, have dinner at that time.

Just like working and school are priorities in your life, consider treating meal time the same way. Use that opportunity to talk about things that happened during the day and also to give advice to your children concerning difficult situations they are experiencing. In such a calm setting, they are more likely to open up and hear what you have to say.

Kids have their own rhyme and reason to eating. While some will eat everything you put in front of them one week, they will fight you at each meal the next. The first thing to remember is not to over react. Kids will be kids as they say.

Your children are not testing you. Their food preferences change with moods and their age. Resist the urge to shove food in their mouth when they refuse. They may not be hungry at that particular moment.

Is your child a picky eater? Use these five strategies to deal with mealtime issues.

1. Introduce new foods slowly. Maybe they got used to eating macaroni and cheese for lunch. If you want them to eat a jam sandwich this week, they may not want to break their routine. Instead, give them some macaroni and cheese and a quarter of a jam sandwich. They can see if they like it and still have something on their plate that they will eat if they don’t.

2. Save drinks for last. It is a common practice to serve a drink with the meal. Smaller kids love to drink. Filling their stomach with liquid will diminish their appetite. Later, when the drink fullness wears off, it’s bedtime and they are whining for food. Let them eat when they are hungry and serve them something to drink after they have eaten at least half of their meal.

3. Ask your child what they want to eat. If they choose to have breakfast at lunch or dinnertime, let them. The important thing is that they are eating. Your choice of food selection will provide them with the nutrients that they need even if they eat only a little.

4. Let kids help with meals. When they can see what you are fixing and participate, it can stimulate their appetite. It is not recommended to snack while cooking but for your kids, a few celery or carrot sticks won’t hurt. Be aware though, that too much snacking will spoil their appetite.

5. Have children sit at the table with you. With finger foods, kids are prone to walk around with their food if you let them. Also, sitting in front of the television to eat distracts a child and can mess with his or her appetite. They would rather see the show than eat their food.

The one thing we never seem to have enough of is time. When time gets short, the first thing that gets missed is meal time. Eating fast food several nights a week can be expensive not to mention bad for your health. If you plan your meals in advance, your family can still eat together for dinner.

Here’s the scenario: You come home and realize that you omitted to take an item out of the freezer for dinner. Rumaging through the refrigerator, you find a few bits and pieces to throw together. When the kids come in, they grumble because it’s not what they want. Your partner arrives later to find a congealed something in the pan on the stove and skips dinner.

Does this sound familiar? If it does, there is help for you and your family. Menu planning saves the headache that comes with searching at the last minute for something to fix for dinner. It also keeps you from throwing away food that no one wants to consume.

You could be one of those families who eat out for dinner because it’s late when you get home. No one wants to cook so you hit the fast food outlet.

There are many benefits to meal planning:

1. The entire family gets involved. One day a week, probably a Saturday or a Sunday, let everyone come together for an hour and decide what will be on the menu for the upcoming week. Each person from the youngest to the oldest has a say in the meals.

2. Menu planning fosters healthier lifestyles. When you have time to decide in advance, you can be sure that there is the right combination of protein, fats and carbohydrates in each meal. Eating at home means that you’ll know what is in the food that you eat.

3. You can save on the food bill. How many of us have gone to the grocery store and half filled the cart with items that we didn’t need but caught our eye? When you prepare a menu, you have an instant grocery list. Each week, you’ll shop for the items that are needed to make the meals and that’s it.

4. Meals can be fixed in a jiffy. When you are tired in the evening, simply pop your meals in the oven or microwave. Planning allows you to start the prep work the night before in anticipation of a busy day. That way, all the hard work is already done.

I came across this site recently, and it’s a beauty. Check your pantry to see what groceries you currently have. Then go to this site and with the software provided, list your available grocery items.

The software will work out your meal using your available products!

It’s free to use, and there’s no cost whatsoever involved. Try it out and do leave your feedback about the site.

Family meals can be quite expensive if you don’t plan ahead. For instance, if ground beef is on special this week, buy more than you need and freeze it. Our family has six members, so each meal can be potentially costly. We generally cook spagetti bolognaise once a week as everyone loves it.

But ground beef can be as expensive as $11 per kilo here in Australia. When it’s on special, I buy up big and split the packages into meal sizes so they’re ready when I need them.

Same goes for the spagetti sauce we use. It is often on special at $1 per jar less. So I’ll buy 6-12 jars when that happens. Cheddar cheese is rarely on special, but when it is, I again buy up big. Since cheese has a very long ‘best before’ date, there’s no problem keeping several packages in the pantry.

Plan ahead and take advantage of sales and enjoy massive savings. Your budget will love you for it.

Go here to download your FREE meal planner