A Day in the Life of a Busy Kitchen
- I have a confession to make ... my kitchen in normally, everyday, mostly in a state of disarray of one kind or another. Stuff on the counters, stuff in the sink, floor needs sweeping or mopping, or the dishwasher to be loaded or unloaded. Sound familiar? If you cook at all I'm sure you can totally identify! But, you might say, The Granny Plan step number three says it's important to clean as you go. And I do. So, what's going on here? An Active Kitchen is Always in a State of Becoming the Next Meal Take a look at these three stunning kitchens and what do you notice? Zero cleanup, zero meal prep ... all is perfect! Of course we all know these are model kitchens, but I still think it has an effect on us that we see oh so many of these picture perfect kitchens on TV shows, in advertisements, online, on cooking shows, and on and on ad nauseum. On cooking shows all is clean, ingredients are pre-measured and in cute little bowls and totally ready to cook. But, in your own home there are dishes from the last meal in the sink, a full dishwasher… READ MORE
Most Recent Posts
Making the Most of Granny’s Free Meal Plan
Last week I released my first meal plan as a free download for anyone signing up for my mailing list. The meal plan has a page devoted to getting started with the plan but that is necessarily brief, so I wanted to share a few more thoughts with everyone on how best to work the […]
Three Spice Snickerdoodles
This funny sounding cookie is believed to have originated in New England in the 1800’s. So not only did your grandma likely eat these cookies, but your great-great-great grandma may have had them too! Supposedly the older recipes used cream of tartar and to make the cookies rise, while the newer recipes just use baking […]
Two Meat Crockpot Chili
This set-it-and-forget-it crockpot meal is sure to please the guys in particular this fall. But then who doesn’t enjoy a hot steaming bowl of comforting chili on a cool night! In a nutshell all you do here is brown the meat on the stove, add the remaining ingredients and pour into your slow cooker. Then […]
Crockpot Baked Apples
Nothing says fall than the smell of apples and cinnamon. It makes the entire house smell warm and comforting. These ‘baked’ apples are simple, throw it all in the crock pot and have a fresh warm dessert ready at dinnertime. Served with vanilla ice cream, it’s like apple pie with out the crust. This recipe […]
Saving Money Cooking from Scratch
Real Food at Walmart – Can it be done?
Imagine if you will that you live in rural America. There is no Trader Joe’s, no Whole Foods, no Sprouts, no local health food store to buy from. Instead once a week or so you drive 30 minutes to 2 hours to the nearest grocery store to you. And that grocery store is Walmart. Could […]
Making the Most of Granny’s Free Meal Plan
Last week I released my first meal plan as a free download for anyone signing up for my mailing list. The meal plan has a page devoted to getting started with the plan but that is necessarily brief, so I wanted to share a few more thoughts with everyone on how best to work the […]
Real Food at Walmart – Fruits and Vegetables
What is the first thing people think of when they decide to start eating healthy? Getting more fruits and vegetables into their daily diet of course! I thought we’d start here for that reason … Also, fruits and veggies at Walmart are pretty easy as long as we are okay with compromise on the issue […]
Real Food at Walmart – The Dairy Section
The Walmart dairy section on first glance looks like it’s got it’s act together, organic wise. After all they have a lot of organic labels here, Horizon being the most prominent one. Horizon’s parent company Dean Foods has a strong partnership with Walmart. Thus they are stocked in a big way. All isn’t peachy-keen though in […]
Straight Talk
Granny is a State of Mind
On this website I talk a lot about Granny. I generalize Granny did this or would have done that often. But I don’t know your Granny, or your best-friends Granny or even my husband’s Granny! How the hell do I know what she would or wouldn’t have done? My Grandma was born in the early […]
Easy to Make Sauerkraut
I live in the Sausage Capital of Texas. Little Elgin, now basically a suburb of Austin with a strong rural feel, is a railroad town in a part of Texas heavy with German immigrants. With the immigrants came the sausage Elgin is famous for and of course, sauerkraut. Now, I can safely say I’d never […]
Is Everything ‘Organic’ Real Food?
What jumps out at you when you first arrive at Costco? There’s the crowds, the TVs at the entrance, and the pallets of mostly processed junk food near the door. There’s all the clothes and the books, the luggage and appliances. It’d be very easy to get the impression that there’s no real food to […]
Buttermilk – A Staple in Grandma’s Kitchen
Did you have buttermilk in your home when you were growing up? I think we did only on special occasions and holidays. Mom had a few recipes she made during these times that my Grandmother had also made. So buttermilk didn’t feature prominently in our families diet when I was a kid. But it did […]
Modern Equipment Makes Scratch Cooking a Cinch!
Is real food scratch cooking just too hard to do? Most people think so. And they’re aren’t talking about some of the more labor intensive or time consuming things you could do as a from-scratch cook either. Mostly people are talking about things a fifties housewife commonly did like bake a cake from a mix, […]
Building up a Real Food Pantry
We’re rounding that last curve around the track to the finish line in “The Granny Plan” this week. Oh, we still have a few more steps to cover but we’re getting so close! Today we’re going to talk about ingredients and the logistics of keeping what you need to make what you want on hand. […]
Wholesome Ingredients
Butter – Getting the best quality you can afford
Butter butter everywhere and not a drop that’s real! Ever feel that way staring at the refrigerated section at the supermarket? Diana at Eat More Butter definitely has. Foodie at Kitchen Drawer Online took a series of pictures showing that only about 10% of the butter-like food items in the refrigerated section is actually butter! […]
Whole Grains Have a Sketchy Past
To most everyone in the western world whole grains are always better for you than refined grains. To all it’s really clear, black-and-white. The only real argument that exists concerning grains is over whether or not we should be eating them at all. Some say they are allergenic to pretty much everyone. Some say they […]
Feel Bad About Eating White Rice?
I’m here to tell ‘ya that you can feel good about eating white rice again! I’ve never cared much for brown rice and I bet you feel much the same. I’ve had maybe one or two good plates of brown rice in a lifetime. Most brown rice in the US is rancid long before it gets to you. That’s why it generally tastes rather bitter not nutty as it should if it were fresh.
Eat More Eggs – Easy to Make Affordable Nutrition
There is nothing more down-home delicious than a breakfast of eggs. Just picture it: Think of Granny’s house in the fifties. Imagine it’s early in the morning and the kids are not up yet. But Granny is and she’s getting breakfast ready. Is it cold cereal? Is it granola? Is it even yogurt or a […]