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Roasted Broccoli

July 2, 2015 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

One of the foods that I recommend most often to clients is roasted vegetables. For the busy cook, they are great because they are easy to make, very forgiving in terms of cooking time, and can be made in bulk and then used throughout the week in various dishes.

I also love them for how versatile they are. You can use them on their own as a side dish or include them in a huge variety of dishes including omelets, pastas, grain salads, pizzas, quesadillas, wraps, grilled cheese/paninis, stir fries. And you can flavor them in various ways–salt and pepper, indian spices, chili powder, parmesan, nutritional yeast, soy sauce, and bread crumbs are just a few of our favorite ways to have them….

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Filed Under: Cooking Basics, Feeding Kids, Quick Dinners, Sides Tagged With: bread crumbs, broccoli, cauliflower, chili powder, Easy, healthy, Indian, parmesan, potato, soy sauce, sweet potato, time management, Vegetables

Slow Cooker Overnight Oatmeal: A solution to the breakfast struggle

March 11, 2014 By Jessica Braider 3 Comments

Slow Cooker Overnight Oatmeal: A solution to the breakfast struggle

Breakfasts have been a big topic of conversation in my world recently. Between running a workshop on it last week and multiple conversations with clients about the importance of a healthy start to the day with breakfast, it seems like people just feel stuck with breakfast.

People tell me that they just don’t have time, that they need it on the go, that they are sick of eating the same thing every day, that they can’t bear the thought of food first thing in the morning. Sound familiar? …

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Filed Under: Breakfast, Feeding Kids, Freezer Cooking, Slow Cooker, Tips and Tricks Tagged With: Easy, healthy, oats, time management

What To Do With All Those Fall and Winter Vegetables?: Fall Veggie Stew

November 5, 2013 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

What To Do With All Those Fall and Winter Vegetables?: Fall Veggie Stew

As the weather gets colder and the CSA (community supported agriculture) delivery tends more and more towards the fall and winter vegetables, I have been trying lots of different squash and root vegetable recipes. One of the challenges of these veggies is that they take a long time to cook, which is not so helpful when you get home from work or a busy day and only have 20-30 minutes to make dinner. This has definitely been a challenge for me in the past few, very busy, weeks.

One solution that I have been using a lot is to make a big batch of roasted vegetables and then reheat or recrisp them when I need them. This is a great and healthy way to use these veggies. Sometimes I cut them into bite-sized pieces, recently I’ve made them into french fry shapes and put out dipping sauces—the boys think they are getting a super special treat. But roasting vegetables can’t be the only answer.  So I turned to the crock pot….

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Filed Under: Dinner, Slow Cooker Tagged With: Easy, healthy, potato, squash, stew, time management, Vegetables, vegetarian

Supermom?

October 31, 2013 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

Supermom?

I don’t know about you, but I am really, really glad Halloween is finally here! Not because I love trick or treating (which I do). Not because I am excited to see lots of costumes (which is truly my favorite part). Not because I am excited about the candy (which I am and am not at the same time -super confusing). But because I am SO SICK of the preparations for it!

It isn’t really fair to Halloween that I am sick of it, my real problem is that I did it all wrong. I took on way, way too much, given the other pieces of my life that are busy right now (all of them), and also put the preparations off. …

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Halloween, time management

Baked Pasta and Multitasking in the Kitchen: Making Time Count

October 7, 2013 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

Baked Pasta and Multitasking in the Kitchen: Making Time Count

Whenever I am in the kitchen to make a big meal, like I often am on Sunday afternoons, I like to try to make that time really count. This often means that while I am cooking one big dish, I also take on some simple side dishes or meal prep that will help me save time later in the week. So yesterday when I pulled out the veggies I was going to put into a big baked pasta that would last us for at least one dinner and two or three lunches, it was also time to roast the remaining broccoli and brew my chai (spiced tea) for the week.

There are a couple of tricks that I have learned over the years that help this kind of multitasking work well:…

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Filed Under: Dinner, Family Dinner, Feeding Kids, Sides, Tips and Tricks Tagged With: broccoli, carrot, feta, healthy, mozzarella, pasta, time management, Vegetables, vegetarian

It’s All About Efficiency

September 12, 2013 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

Yesterday I had an afternoon meeting in Philly, which meant I had to leave the house by 1pm and wouldn’t be back until 9pm— or later—  PLUS I had the little matter of work that had to be finished. ACK! Luckily, I have a supportive husband and in-laws who could help me out.

But even with a whole lot of support, there was a lot to organize and accomplish yesterday: boys needed to be dropped off at school (with reminders to teachers that a different person was picking them up), dinner needed to be made ahead of time so that it would be ready and waiting for my in-laws to serve, supplies for the kids had to be set out so my in-laws could easily find them, the house had to be straightened up so my in-laws wouldn’t find out that we sometimes live like slobs, my work had to be finished for the day, I had to prepare for the meeting, and I had to feed myself and get some snacks ready so I wouldn’t pass out on the drive back post-dinner time without dinner in my stomach. Whew!…

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Filed Under: Dinner, Slow Cooker Tagged With: lasagna, time management, vegetarian

Jessica Braider

Hi! I'm Jessica. I love delicious food that is simple and easy. As a busy mom, I am always on the lookout for ways to make life easier and tastier! Read More…

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