In this section, I’d like to give you an idea of the ingredients/products I like to have in my pantry or refrigerator…just in case. A surprise guest, an unexpected bake sale or party.  These usually will keep well and have a long shelf life.  I’ll mention them in my recipes and past them in this section as well.

Here are a few items to start with:

Grate-I Fresh Parmesan Cheese:  Requires refrigeration but keeps up to six months in the refrigerator.  It never last that long in my house.  My daughter tends to pile it on and we use it in several recipes other than a topping.

Panko: Japanese dried bread crumbs.  Can now be found in the ethnic food section of your local grocery store or in the asian supermarket (cost is nearly half of the grocery store).  Keeps indefinitely and can be used in meatballs, meatloaf, crusted chicken/fish.

Italian Seasoning Mix:  Mixed seasoning with oregano, basil, thyme, etc.  his is great for italian dishes such as spaghetti sauce, lasagna, and crusted chicken.

Olive Oil

Canned whole tomatoes

Oatmeal

Chocolate Chips

unsalted sick butter

flour

sugar

brown sugar

The kitchen tool section will highlight tools that I use in my kitchen and will hopefully  help  in yours.  remember this is my opinion and is limited to what I currently have  in my kitchen.  Eventually I’d like to try differnt gadgets and give you my opinion on the products.  Ultimately, I would like this venue to provide and opportunity for the readers to comments/reviews and recommendations.

The first kitchen tool I will review is the Pampered Chef Food Chopper.

Pampered Chef Food Chopper is a kitchen tool I use  2-3 times a week. It can be a stress reliever when you hit the chopper to chop the vegetables. It has a lid on the chopper to confine the vegetables in the cup.  The great thing about the chopper is the ease of finely chopping vegetables.  Its somewhat easy to clean by hand if you clean it right after you use it.  It’s also dishwasher safe.  I’ve had my for about 5-years and it still performs well.  I would definitely recommend this as an essential kitchen tool.

This simple recipe was contributed by my sister in Boston. Thanks, sis!

Garlic fried rice was a staple in our house growing up. We even ate it for breakfast sometimes! It’s easy to make, requires minimal ingredients, and whenever we make it, it just takes us right back home to our mom’s kitchen. Make sure your rice is cold or at the very least room temperature so that the rice won’t get too sticky when you make the fried rice.

Mama’s Fried Rice

Lots of Garlic (roughly 1 large clove per cup of cooked rice)
Leftover rice (cold or room temperature works best)
Cooking Oil (I use Olive Oil) roughly 4 tbsp
Salt to taste

Directions:

1. Heat a wok, or large pan, add oil and make sure it coats the bottom of the pan over medium to mid-medium heat (you don’t want the garlic to burn!). There should be enough for a small pool in the bottom of the pan.

2. Add garlic and let it brown. Smells good!

3. Add rice and stir.

4. Sprinkle with salt

Enjoy!

My husband asked the question, “What do you love to do?”. I had a dream…really (must have been hungry)…about cooking. I love to cook and I love to bake but have limited time. Working full time during the day and a mother of three, cooking becomes a challenge and we just eat out. With prices rising, eating out becomes less of an option.  I’ve taken steps to make it easier to cook quick meals that my whole family enjoys. The hardest to cook for are my boys who are very picky eaters. They like to know what they are eating which usually mean little to no sauces or gravies and simple vegetables. Slowly but surely the range of foods they like is widening.

Hopefully this blog will not only give you some delicious recipes but also provide tips and suggest products that will make cooking easier and help you stay within your budget. I will also post more challenging recipes which require more time but are well worth the effort.

I’m always looking for recipes, tips/shortcuts or products that I can try and share with others. If you have something you would like to share, please email me at thewoodenforkandspoon@yahoo.com. Check back soon for my first recipe.

This is an easy recipe that my kids love.  Some of the ingredients I use, I keep in stock at home.  I will also be using these ingredients in upcoming recipes.

Kraft has a product called Grate-It Fresh Parmesan. It’s parmesan cheese with its own grater.  It makes having fresh parmesan cheese easy, convenient as well as kid friendly (nothing sharp).  My children love to grate the cheese.

Italian seasoning mix (such as McCormick’s) is a must especially with any Italian dishes you may have.

Panko bread crumbs are Japanese dry bread crumbs that can now be found in the ethnic foods section of most grocery stores.  If you are looking to save money, a stop at your local Asian market will cost you about half of the grocery store prices.

Well, I hope you enjoy this recipe.  My next posting will be my recipe for homemade spaghetti sauce which is also great for lasagna.

EASY MEATBALLS

1.5 lbs ground beef

1.0 lbs ground pork

2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

3 tbsp Italian Seasoning

3/4 cup panko bread crumbs

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (depending on your love of cheese)

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1 egg

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and form into 2 inch meatballs.  Place the meatballs on a foil lined baking sheet.  Place in the oven to broil on high for 10 minutes then flip over meatballs and cook for another 10 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes.

My kids eat them plain or you can top it off with gravy or spaghetti sauce or just sprinkle with more parmesan cheese!  If you want to spice it up add 1 tsp of crushed red pepper.