tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25362111327483701002012-01-24T06:02:57.361-08:00Most families are used to hosting a crowd during the holidays. For large families, there is a crowd every night! That means creating bigger meals, often with an eye on keeping within budget. This group blog features moms of many who will share their recipes, cooking tips, and more on how to handle feeding a crowd.Mirzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07434600358514028976noreply@blogger.comBlogger541100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-67995896967975537522010-01-12T10:37:00.000-08:002010-01-12T10:37:00.589-08:00

In our house they are times when I just can't make dinner. I try to keep easy to fix items in the cabinet or freezer for these nights & until recently I always felt guilty telling my husband & kids dinner was going to be Fend For Yourself. One day it suddenly hit me that Fend For Yourself night is actually a very good learning experience for my family. I'm not organized enough to actually

Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16969173185045558595noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-54040367312119619072010-01-07T00:15:00.000-08:002010-01-07T00:15:00.289-08:00

When the weather turns cold, everyone in my house seems to get cranky. Baking treats is one of my favorite ways to cure that crankiness (at least temporarily) and involving the kids in the actual making of the treats not only cuts down on their boredom, but is GREAT family time as well.When I first started baking with my kids, I found it easiest to stick to simple recipes or even boxed mixes.

Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16969173185045558595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-25874425555723537572009-12-31T14:03:00.000-08:002009-12-31T14:16:31.520-08:00

*** Cross-posted at all the Lotsofkids blogs. *** It's New Year's Eve (at least in this part of the world). 2009 is almost gone and 2010 is standing before us. It was a difficult year for many people. Financial hardships and insecurity made the year a struggle for so many. That said, even though things were hard, the trials led so many back to focusing on what is important, such as family and

Mirzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07434600358514028976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-70443600028288029752009-11-25T05:25:00.000-08:002009-11-25T06:40:43.658-08:00

I answered the phone yesterday to a question from a friend...Where's your turkey? She was wondering if I'd remembered to take it out of the freezer to defrost. Seems she'd just remembered that morning and it was a 28lb hunk of wonder so didn't know if it would be defrosted. It was then that I told her that I didn't have to worry about the turkey since my mom was cooking it. I also let her

Kimnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-57404517781118742452009-11-18T06:28:00.001-08:002009-11-18T06:49:49.304-08:00

For our family Thanksgiving is all about the TURKEY. I've been cooking at least one whole turkey every year for the last 25 years or more, so it seems simple. But every year I hear people fretting about the fact they have to make THE turkey this year.Here are a few tips that I've picked up over the years.If you're buying a frozen turkey, be sure to give yourself enough time for it to defrost (

Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16969173185045558595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-86594235103869133522009-07-02T09:06:00.001-07:002009-07-02T09:10:06.754-07:00

This is a VERY easy recipe, makes a lot, is tasty and can be served many different ways.*cross posted from my personal blog*Easy Peasy Red Beans and Rice - crock pot style2lbs dry kidney beans2 cups brown rice8 - 12 chicken bouillon cubesgarlic powderonion powder3-4 bay leavesSoak your beans over night or do a quick sock (as described on the back of the package). Dump in your 6 qt crock pot and

Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00154948687626639176noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-84633592752988403592009-06-20T17:46:00.000-07:002009-06-20T17:52:51.816-07:00

I found this recipe & wanted to adapt it to try with my kitchen aid stand mixer. I also had some white flour I needed to use. AND I never make just one loaf of bread, so I wanted to double the recipe. This is what I came up with and it's officially a WINNER in this house. It was very tasty!Christina's Honey Half Wheat BreadINGREDIENTS:3 cups unbleached white flour4-5 cups whole wheat flour4

Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00154948687626639176noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-84605939478253020652009-06-13T21:21:00.000-07:002009-06-14T20:28:27.051-07:00

Over the past few weeks, the food blogsphere has been buzzing about rainbow cakes. All because of this post. To tell you the truth, I hadn't heard of them until someone linked that blog entry on the LOK Household forum. The idea of a color cake certainly piqued my interest. With a combined birthday coming up in July, I thought I might give it a try. My problem was that the author (as well as

Mirzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07434600358514028976noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-46776099876517519972009-06-08T20:45:00.000-07:002009-06-08T20:49:01.106-07:00

I am going to be trying a little experiment with my menu planning style. For this month (and into the next I guess) I am going to make a two week basic menu (and their will be repeats, trust me) and we'll just repeat for the second half of the month. I know, people have said to do things like this before, but I'm slow at catching on LOL!I loath making a menu every week, after doing the same

Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00154948687626639176noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-13201940488460094162009-06-03T19:50:00.000-07:002009-06-03T20:09:11.989-07:00

I value healthy eating, but I also value my sanity :). As a mommy of five precious little bundles, managing the home and homeschooling, I am left with very little mental energy to really think about much else, like cooking! I have little unwritten rules to make my life easier, one of which is making dinner prep no more than 15 minutes long. Any longer and it's not a practical meal for me to

Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00154948687626639176noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-14301402518766911612009-05-12T12:18:00.001-07:002009-05-12T12:26:28.791-07:00

First of all, I wanted to announce a brand new area on the Lotsofkids.com website. Large Family Recipes is a new sub-site focusing on recipes for large families. These recipes are a compilation of recipes submitted by the LOK visitors and staff. There are currently over 350 recipes and the number is growing. Be sure to check it out HERE.Also, I just posted a very extensive article on meal

Mirzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07434600358514028976noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-15903889577057063582009-04-30T05:08:00.000-07:002009-04-30T16:03:51.474-07:00

We recently had a discussion on LOK's Household Tips board asking what is considered a convenience food. I was surprised by what was deemed convenience, I consider them economical and/or staples. There was a time that store bought bread was considered a convenience food. Now if you make your own bread you're considered frugal, earthy/crunchy/granola'y. Granted some things in the store, like

Kimnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-82857996700522206842009-04-30T04:33:00.001-07:002009-04-30T04:33:44.476-07:00

When I heard that there was a new outbreak of the Swine Flu, I have to admit my response was more of weariness than concern. Now, I'm not downplaying the seriousness of the situation at all. It's a dangerous flu and people have died--that's not good at all. However, over the last couple of months my family has been wracked with one illness after another. Stomach bugs, flu bugs, and severe

Mirzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07434600358514028976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-79375454688629905232009-04-03T08:03:00.000-07:002009-04-03T08:38:27.983-07:00

A recent question over at the new LOK Household forum got me thinking. We all know about staples--the items you keep on hand to use for cooking everyday. Things like sugar, and flour, and spices. However, depending on who you are, your "essentials" could be very different from someone else's. My family lives on pasta, however I have a friend whose husband and kids hate it--and thus she never

Mirzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07434600358514028976noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-13678965939292239242009-03-03T10:29:00.000-08:002009-03-03T15:53:02.998-08:00

Even though we are technically *just* in a recession, many economists say that the U.S. is actually experiencing a depression. There are people who are scraping to simply put food on the table, not to mention trying to keep a roof over their heads. How does one survive? Many lessons can be learned from looking to our past, to the last time our country went through this.Clara is a 93 year old

Mirzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07434600358514028976noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-59705459386527453242009-02-16T10:11:00.000-08:002009-02-16T09:42:40.135-08:00

I just recently found the blog Serious Eats. Very recently they had a discussion on what 20 dishes you need to know inorder to feed your family well for a month (figuring in eating out and pizza once a week). The discussion then came up, not to learn 20 dishes but to learn techniques which would open the door to lots of dishes. When I first saw the title I thought.... 20 dishes would be

Kimnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-91059285658884735312009-02-14T08:37:00.001-08:002009-02-14T08:37:36.972-08:00

Mirzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07434600358514028976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-27244515862451860862009-02-05T05:23:00.001-08:002009-02-05T05:29:42.544-08:00

Anne Coleman is a professional blogger. She used to be among the ranks of forum hosts and household bloggers here at Lots of Kids, until she made the difficult decision to leave and focus on her family and professional career. You'll see her main blog linked in our sidebar. It's full of frugal and yummy eats for families of any size.Anne was recently featured in a newspaper article and was

Mirzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07434600358514028976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-6580292694255539722009-01-20T04:34:00.000-08:002009-01-20T05:05:36.634-08:00

This post might be a no-brainer, but bear with me here. I am reading more and more in the news about how eating out hits your pocketbook. I have to laugh, because anyone with a large family (and a good deal of small families too) know this. However, the bottom line is that the drive-thru is still a convenience many people turn to and it can truly derail a budget. There are ways to eat-out

Mirzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07434600358514028976noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-22722569310625272002009-01-14T11:05:00.000-08:002009-01-14T11:05:00.491-08:00

This is a great winter comfort food. It is quick and easy whether you are making it to feed just a few people or a crowd. The basic recipe feeds about 4.Ingredients 6 medium peeled potatoes cut into cubes1/2 yellow onion diced1 stalk celery diced4 strips bacon diced1 can yellow corn (drained)2 cups milkPut the potatoes in a small stock pot and cover with water, cook until fork tender. While the

Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16969173185045558595noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-30160214318117692072009-01-12T09:01:00.000-08:002009-01-12T11:04:20.561-08:00

I am no expert shopper, but I do have a few tricks that I thought I would share. Using a weekly menu plan has made getting dinner on the table every night much easier, but unlike many people, I do not shop from my menu. I do my shopping FIRST and then write a menu based on what I have in the house. I also give myself permission to juggle the nights on my menu to fit our day to day needs.I do not

Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16969173185045558595noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-54725644989427768212009-01-07T21:48:00.000-08:002009-01-08T06:40:24.790-08:00

It's a sure menu buster...a stomach bug running through the house. And this time of the year is prime time for it. I don't know about anyone else but around here as soon as someone starts vomiting...the menu goes out the window. There are SO many things that I don't trust in tummies that may not continue to hold it's contents. You can't selectively feed the meals you'd planned. Someone who

Kimnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-27108123925813034282009-01-01T10:27:00.000-08:002009-01-01T10:30:00.409-08:00

With food prices still risings and the economy limping along, it's with a hesitant hope that we go into the new year. All of the bloggers and staff of Large Family Cooking and Lotsofkids.com wish you and your family a healthy and happy New Year. Here's to hoping the 2009 brings better things for our country, our world, and each other. In the meantime, we'll continue to be here, sharing our

Mirzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07434600358514028976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-83173362739571289142008-12-21T10:20:00.000-08:002008-12-21T10:20:00.927-08:00

This is a variation of rice krispie treats. The rice krispies are replaced with plain cornflakes and then formed into wreath shapes. This recipe makes about 20 wreaths.1 cup butter6 cups miniature marshmallows1 tsp vanilla extractGreen food coloring8 cups corn flakes cerealRed hot candies (red cinnamon balls)licorice whipsThis can be made on the stove or in the microwave (I prefer micro myself)

Kimnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-24321326478101620832008-12-20T11:13:00.000-08:002008-12-20T11:13:01.208-08:00

This is a homemade peanut butter cup but in the shape of a ball. The kids love to help roll the I get request for these every year. They make a great homemade gift. This recipe makes a lot.1 lb butter2 18oz jars peanut butter3 lbs powdered sugar (also known as confectionery or 10X)2 12 oz bags of semi sweet chocolate chips1 bar of paraffin (found with the canning supplies)Cream together butter

Kimnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-33558255712190903592008-12-19T10:18:00.000-08:002008-12-19T10:18:00.317-08:00

These are one of my all time favorite cookies. They're crispy to bite into and immediately melt in your mouth. And who can resist buttery goodness? I tried to make a mega batch of these in the past and the cookies didn't come out well. So I tend to make a bunch of batches of these. The trick is to make more before you finish the previous batch so there's cookies to serve holiday company! :o)

Kimnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-38571400513643861702008-12-17T09:08:00.001-08:002008-12-17T09:14:27.804-08:00

I never did my report on how my Thanksgiving planning chart worked out. I am happy to say it worked great, but not perfectly. Problem is, some of my helpers ended up getting up late which pushed us behind. Then a guest called and said they would be late. Then another individual who we thought wouldn't show up called and said they would. And...Bottom line, it was great having a timeline, but

Mirzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07434600358514028976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-89226477093993067262008-12-07T08:03:00.000-08:002008-12-07T09:50:26.477-08:00

This is my absolute favorite nutbread! Over Thanksgiving I discovered a sweetened cranberry relish in the deli section of the local grocery store. It has whole cranberries, pineapple & walnuts. It was too sweet to eat as a side dish, but when used instead of the fresh cranberries in my nutbread it was AMAZING! This recipe is for standard cranberry orange nutbread, but I will note the

Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16969173185045558595noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-9898836256022354462008-12-05T07:01:00.000-08:002008-12-09T09:59:28.640-08:00

Pumpkin (nut) Bread is a favorite at my house. All three of my sons LOVE pumpkin, so just about anything pumpkin will be devoured. A while back I saw a post on Cooking with Anne about preparing fresh pumpkin for use in recipes. I knew I had to try it. I used my mixer to puree it rather than dragging out the food processor or the blender. It worked really well.Ingredients2 cups pumpkin puree (

Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16969173185045558595noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-75777930790630637682008-12-02T09:55:00.000-08:002008-12-02T18:41:01.811-08:00

Now that it is December, it is time to start thinking about holiday baking. Banana's are very popular in my house, but just about every time I buy a bunch the last 2 or 3 don't get eaten. They get "too ripe" & the kids won't touch them. So, into the freezer they go. Frozen bananas work well in any recipe calling for fresh banana. Mini loaves wrapped in foil are also perfect for gift giving. The

Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16969173185045558595noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-79416826524276708892008-11-30T17:39:00.000-08:002008-11-30T17:53:40.852-08:00

If I had to guess, I think that eating out is probably the singlemost way to sabotage a food budget--any budget really. The reason is that most families don't factor this cost into their spending, so it's often a hidden cost. You're tired, you don't want to cook, and even though you weren't planning on it, you hit the drive-thru. Even when you do set aside a certain amount monthly for eating

Mirzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07434600358514028976noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-12426391815948117472008-11-26T15:02:00.001-08:002008-11-27T02:33:21.773-08:00

From all of us here at the Large Family Cooking Blog, and from the Lotsofkids.com Family...

Mirzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07434600358514028976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-80022357723502906432008-11-20T19:39:00.000-08:002008-11-20T20:04:53.063-08:00

Monkey Bread is one of those dishes that is just so appropriately named. It is sweet, filling, and a lot of fun. We make monkey bread periodically at our house. I recently did a follow-up article on Monkey Bread for Lotsofkids, and it got me thinking that it had been some time since we'd enjoyed the tasty breakfast.Many people like to make something special for the breakfast on a holiday. In

Mirzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07434600358514028976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-70496840053088945372008-11-17T13:45:00.001-08:002008-11-17T15:07:40.569-08:00

I’m a one-day cook. Meaning, on the holidays, I tend to do everything that day. I don’t do a lot of prep. Not because I don’t like to, but even with an additional refrigerator and deep freezer, I often don’t have the space to cook that much food in advance. Plus, I tend to forget things if I do them too far ahead of time. A few years back, I was hosting a particularly large gathering for the

Mirzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07434600358514028976noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-23455195906391252562008-11-16T12:14:00.000-08:002008-11-16T12:14:00.489-08:00

A few weeks ago, I worked up my menu for Thanksgiving, now I need to figure out how to do it all without breaking the budget. Like most families this year, my food budget has gotten much tighter. I've cut back a lot, but I'm trying not to be forced to drastically change our holiday menu. I've been trying to pick up a few things I will need each time I go shopping. Now that there are less than two

Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16969173185045558595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-39915403970940516802008-11-15T03:19:00.000-08:002008-11-15T03:23:34.327-08:00

At someone's request (thank, Kim), we've done a bit of tweaking on the blog. If you notice the sidebar, we've added a few new features. Noteably a feed and comments subscription, a way to search the blog by labels, and a link to our badges page where you can grab a button to show you're a fan of this blog. We'd like to thank all of our readers. This blog has turned out to be much more popular

Mirzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07434600358514028976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-81320018504375597862008-11-09T09:05:00.001-08:002008-11-09T09:53:43.878-08:00

I've seen it time and time again during my 10years online. Mothers bashing other moms because of what they create or not create in their kitchens. After all if it's not fresh, healthy, made from scratch and with tons of variety...You must not love your family very much. I know for myself I can even cause myself to fall into this trap. The media doesn't help either. How many commercials or

Kimnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-77973203944518950042008-11-06T13:48:00.000-08:002008-11-06T13:54:20.588-08:00

The current Kitchen Challenge dared participants to create a full day of meals on $10 (for an average family) or $15 (for a 6+ people family). Full details on the challenge can be found here.We had some great submissions, and were delighted to have a few international entries! Here is the rundown of submissions:• Denise from *F*O*O*D*• Jodie from HomeSweetHome• Ranae at Cornbread and Cookies•

Mirzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07434600358514028976noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-83993057297607164972008-11-05T17:10:00.000-08:002008-11-07T15:34:50.289-08:00

Thanksgiving is one of the most popular holidays in my family. I cook a ton of foods that most everybody likes, we eat way too much & we watch football all day on TV. This is the one meal of the year where I go out of my way to make sure that everyone gets several of their personal favorites, even when it means making more than one version of the same dish. This year I will plan to feed 25 people

Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16969173185045558595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-9831087602183350232008-10-29T04:52:00.000-07:002008-10-29T05:27:51.682-07:00

To read about the Kitchen Challenge, click here or here.I did this challenge on my personal blog, but did it again as the official LOK entry (yeah, I just wanted an excuse to do it again). We were cooking for a family of 11--3 adults, 4 older children, and 4 smaller children. Note, as always, I'm fudging the numbers on some of the ingredients on the upside (usually rounding up), because I want

Mirzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07434600358514028976noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-69470834637495443582008-10-28T05:37:00.000-07:002008-10-28T05:43:46.341-07:00

While poking around the internet for various things, I found this blog entry for homemade butter. Needless to say, after drooling profusely, I bookmarked it and have made it my life's goal (this week at least) to try to do this myself. Yum and yum.Of course, I thought it would be a nice gesture to share the link with all of you. Enjoy!Homemade Butter from Little House in the Suburbs

Mirzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07434600358514028976noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-58239865586407245032008-10-24T19:16:00.000-07:002008-10-24T19:16:00.140-07:00

Breakfast is supposed to be the most important meal of the day, but most weekdays, at my house, it is very rushed or ignored all together. When my oldest two were small, I had a rule that they could not leave the house in the morning until they ate "something". Over the years I relaxed that rule & by the time the next two started school the "rule" was a distant memory.I've recently been trying to

Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16969173185045558595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-34244472723342539762008-10-23T03:34:00.000-07:002008-10-23T05:56:01.490-07:00

While I enjoy cooking and consider myself a good cook, I do not consider myself a gourmet or fancy cook. One of the things I want to learn in this life is how to decorate cakes. Even with my lack of ability I can turn out some cute cakes in my opinion. Sometimes things just take some creativity.For her fifth birthday a couple of years ago, my daughter Cara wanted a doughut cake. Um .. yeah. I

Ranaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09088557088962760318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-85776909576043228462008-10-20T18:05:00.000-07:002008-10-20T18:08:54.430-07:00

Like most families, I am always in search of new, quick and easy recipes. I stumbled upon the recipe for taco cornbread pizza a couple of years ago, and just recently found it again when searching my hard drive. Essentially, it is taco pizza with a cornbread crust. This sounded interesting to me and certain worth a try. What I wasn't expecting was how really good it was. The cornbread makes a

Mirzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07434600358514028976noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-86426971186940805382008-10-18T17:20:00.000-07:002008-10-19T11:27:35.693-07:00

My four youngest kids all LOVE to help in the kitchen. They are 10, 8, 3 & 1. It can be hard to find things for the 3 yr old & the 1 yr old to do, but they enjoy helping so much that I'm always on the look out for simple tasks for them. The 3 yr old's favorite kitchen activity is stirring. She is actually pretty good at it. Yesterday I was making breakfast and needed to mix for an extended amount

Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16969173185045558595noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-90751227879853719682008-10-15T20:39:00.000-07:002008-10-15T21:04:11.332-07:00

If there's nothing else a LOK mom has to learn...it's be to FLEXIBLE! There are just too many factors in how a day goes that can effect the outcome. Like Denise in her post here a meal plan always helps make meal prep easier. Yeah, unless you're me and here's why (semi cross posted on my food blog today) OK...I'm not a dummy...I know to take the meat out of the freezer WELL before you plan to

Kimnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-76076156888001368792008-10-15T15:40:00.000-07:002008-10-15T20:39:01.724-07:00

Christina/Mommy Scott asked what I do with the bacon and chicken when I batch cook. I started to write a response in the comments section but it was getting long. I decided to do short 2nd post about it.Bacon is such a pain to cook. I like to cook as much of it as I can while I'm making a mess. Now that I've found the joy of baking bacon I don't mind cooking it. It's still nice to have a

Kimnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-20556466810277216902008-10-13T09:17:00.000-07:002008-10-20T18:10:16.646-07:00

My 13 year old son once said that leftovers are left over for a reason. Hardy-har-har ... He is such a funny kid. There are some leftovers that never seem to have a problem disappearing. Cold pizza moves real fast as does leftover stuffing. It is the other leftovers like bits of meat or vegetables that are not as good at the disappearing act.I have heard different ideas for giving leftovers

Ranaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09088557088962760318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-69056483708609526162008-10-09T06:47:00.000-07:002008-10-09T11:30:13.420-07:00

I've recently started writing down a weekly menu. People have recommended this idea to me in the past as a way to save money, but I was resistant.When I did daycare in my home, I belonged to a food program that provided menus to use for my daycare kids. I HATED it. I did try to stick to them. I was religious about writing in my changes, but it was a total chore & often made doing my job more

Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16969173185045558595noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-52579089551667101142008-10-06T05:15:00.001-07:002008-10-06T06:06:34.665-07:00

As was discussed on the LOK Full House blog, we have been doing a little re-tooling of our bi-monthly challenge. It will now include general kitchen challenges, as well as cooking assignments. However, to help promote our new blog here at LOK, our first kitchen challenge will be a cooking one!This challenge was inspired by this blog posting at CookingWithAnne.com. Anne previously co-hosted

Mirzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07434600358514028976noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-39446915091178288682008-10-03T05:52:00.000-07:002008-10-03T06:32:03.355-07:00

Since I'm new, I'll start with an introduction. My name is Denise and I am a Mom with 6 kids. I've been married to my high school sweetheart for 22 years. Our oldest is 21, married with his own baby. Our kids still at home are 18, 10, 8, 3 and 1. I've always encouraged my kids to be individuals, but one of the unexpected side effects of that encouragement has been that I have very picky eaters.

Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16969173185045558595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-8007995078441648232008-10-01T09:11:00.000-07:002008-10-01T13:12:01.906-07:00

Hi! I'm Kim, mom to 12 kids with 10 of them currently living at home. I love cooking and baking but having to do it EVERY day for this many people can squelch that love pretty quick. One of the things that saves my sanity when it comes to feeding my crew is batch cooking.Batch cooking doesn't take much more time to do then a single dish. Besides the ingredients, the only things required are

Kimnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-69813582613370510182008-09-29T09:28:00.000-07:002008-10-08T10:52:59.101-07:00

Compromise.... some see it as a dirty word and it can be, but sometimes when it comes to cooking for a large brood and maintaining mom's sanity, it's an excellent word to contemplate.For several years now I've been very zealous about eating healthfully and trying to eat organic whenever possible. If you've ever tried this, you KNOW how expensive it can be in comparison to eating the "

Christinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00154948687626639176noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2536211132748370100.post-13013862404531254752008-09-27T08:54:00.000-07:002008-09-27T09:01:00.396-07:00

If you ask most large families what their biggest challenge is, most will say laundry. However, a fair number will say cooking. In fact, next to laundry, feeding their crew comes in second with most families. Cooking for a large family, which can be from anywhere from 6-15 people (or more) is something that can take time, as well as a bit of ingenuity. Particularly in this time when many

Mirzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07434600358514028976noreply@blogger.com0