Dinnersmith and getting more out of each day

DinnerSmith was founded on the premise that moms are overwhelmed and need a helping hand. There are only so many hours in every day and many of us feel we can even slow down to get organized. It is like a hamster wheel.

I would like to suggest using Dinnersmith to buy some time to get organized. If dinner is scheduled and prepped for the week, that will liberate a chunk of time that could be used for an organizng project.

My most critical task as the mom of a young child was scheduling. I tell moms I meet now : you live your life and theirs until they can mange on their own. Your child may actually be present for dance class but youare taking class too: by having everything ready and get there on time. Mom finds the shoes and paperwork and the outfit. If I knew what was scheduled , I could think about all the stuff needed.

At one point , we lived in a town where it seemed all the moms were very competent and organized, everything ran like clockwork. I studied them and surveyed them whenever I could. There were many things in common in these households. Time management was important. Everyone had the kitchen or frig calendar. People would talk about the frig calendar: it ran our worlds. Most folks swore by the big plain office desk calendar which is . A strip of magnets held it on or it would be hung on a bulletin board. So simple so nessecary. Even the kids knew to check their famly calendar before making a commitment. In a world of t-ball, piano, cub scouts, church school and public school, everything got written down.



The big public frig calendar is a great training tool for the whole family. Kids can learn to visualize the week. They expect to be busy or not. Fathers can see all the activity, they can be more grounded in the schedule even if they are away all day. Responsibility for the family schedule becomes public: it becomes harder for anyone to be surprised. It is a little harder on Mom because she seems less omnipotent. The rewards are a more balanced family life!

Buy a cheap large calendar. get a DinnerSmith meal and take some time to chart the future of your family.

Making memories

I posted on facebook that we were closed for the weekend. Mother's Day is a working holiday on my sister's farm: www.riversidealpacas.com. Its Shearing Weekend and it takes a lot of hands to shear and maintain 60 alpacas. This year's team were awesome, focused and dedicated. So well organized by my sister: she has found her own way to manage her personal life and two businesses and her passion for her industry.

Chris is a list maker. Long ago she made lists when going on vacations, or having a weekend party for 100. Recently she and I were talking about how a mom can be accomplishing so many tasks and still be a great parent , daughter and wife. We were focused on how to manage the tasks. Her task list includes caring for 60 alpacas, three dogs, various cats and the land and the house and her son and her mom and her husband and representing her industry in two different fields and maybe reading for pleasure.

I have used a paper planner since high school. I need the feel of writing it all down, the exercise of it. I gave her a planner system one year for Christmas. She did not really like it. She felt bad, a kind of failure. What I have learned in the many years of planner use is this: find what works for you. If something does not feel right and you cannot make it work, try something else. Now Chris uses a notebook. filled with project lists, broken down into shopping lists and task sets. For the weekend with tons of extra people on hand for meals, she had already made a menu, outlining each meal, creating and completing shopping lists. She had a real ease about the weekend and a confidence which allowed her to focus on the work to be done.

Try using one notebook, make lists and lay out projects. add phone call lists and shopping lists. Or buy a fancy planner with tabs and a leather binder. Keep trying till you find what works for you. Don't give up. Ask friends what they use: how they manage.

Let DinnerSmith help you plan a weeks or months worth of meals. Have a menu you can count on so you can have an ease and confidence to tackle some projects or get some personal time. Now even easier with online ordering

DinnerSmith is a bargain!!!!

This story was from today in the Times. Short story. This restaurateur will fill your lasagna pan and you can bake it at home. FOR $55. Really well it makes sense: who doesn't love a home baked lasagna and it is a mess to make.

There is so much to do these days. We are spring cleaning and freshening the house for Summer First on the list, window treatments. I made a list, measured every window and noted all hardware and curtains needed. The windows were cleaned inside and out last fall so I noted touch-ups. So far all the hardware is purchased and up. All the blinds need to be washed so every night a set spends overnight in the tub filled with soapy bleachy water. All the curtains and treatments are chosen and will be purchased this week.

The only way I can tackle these kind of projects to imagine the project as a paid job. I make a list and set goals just like an web design or catering job. It makes it harder to put it off. I can reschedule, but not procastinate. The payoff is the transformed space we call home.

Next project...artwork and wall treatments.

recycled - still timely

Perhaps you do it once a week. I did mine last week. and scrubbed it down. Cleaning the frig....

Perhaps only when you trace those funky smells to your refrigerator’s crisper drawers. But eventually, you toss out spoiled fruits, vegetables meats and cheeses. Lots of them.

Researchers at the University of Arizona several years ago spent a year tracking families’ food-use habits. Working with the United States Department of Agriculture, they interviewed the families about their eating habits, collected their grocery receipts, watched them prepare meals, and then sifted through every last discarded lettuce leaf, slice of bread, burger and bean. The results, reported in 2002, were pretty shocking, but still bear reporting today:

The families tossed out an average of 470 pounds of food per year- about 14 percent of all food brought into the home-at an annual cost of $600!

Could you do with an extra $600?

DinnerSmith helps you manage this largely ignored family expense in arguably the most inventive and delicious fashion available. Every time you have a DinnerSmith meal, there are no bits and pieces to fill up the corners of the frig. Some DinnerSmith customers report a much cleaner frig, much less to clean and very little to toss.

Check our delicious and ever-evolving menu selections this month then Call or email Your Order. Who would have thought that saving money could ever be so easy, so delicious and so much fun?

DinnerSmith Meal Prep Studio of Maplewood NJ

325 Irvington ave South Orange NJ | 973-206-8121

“We do the Shopping, the Chopping and the Mopping.

You do the Saving.”

The May menu

The may menu is on facebook and June is there too, ready to publish on the first day of June. here si a little insight on how the menu comes to be. Zach and I sit down with the previous menu and cross out anything we can not look at again, or are unhappy with. The next to go is seasonal items. Then we start to dream about what makes us feel good...what do we want to eat and serve. We try to balance the categories but sometimes there's too much chicken like this month. But they are all good.

Chicken

* Cheese-it Chicken Nuggets -Tastes like snack food but so good for them! Boneless breast cut into small bites covered with Cheese-it Cracker crumbs and oven baked for crunchy goodness. Served with rice and veg.

* Chicken Pica ta - Cutlets pounded flat and sauteed and served with lemons and capers in a sauce over pasta.
* Chicken Marsala- Cutlets pounded flat and sauteed and served with Marsala wine and mushrooms in a sauce over pasta.
* Chicken Frances e - Cutlets pounded flat and sauteed and served with lemons and white wine in a sauce over pasta.

* Moroccan Chicken - Bone-in chicken with olives, capers, lemon, and artichoke . Bakes in the oven
* 40 cloves of Garlic Chicken - Bone-in chicken with 40 cloves of garlic. Bakes in the oven.Served with rice and veg.
* Chicken Kabobs Skewers of Chickens and Vegetables in a vinaigrette marinade for grill. Served with rice.

Pork

* Pork with Pears - Pork chops cooked with pears and onions. Comes with rice
* Midwestern Pork Chops – Our center cut boneless pork chops in a vinaigrette marinade for grill. Served with rice. Served with rice and veg
* Latin American Pork stew- Tender white meat stewed with squash, tomatoes and beans. Lighter than a traditional stew but filling.
* Pulled Pork - Bone in pork shoulder slow cooked in crock pot for hours. Then pulled with two forks. Comes with buns to make an awesome sandwich.



Beef

* Horseradish burgers - Fresh grated horseradish mixed into the meat makes a great tasting burger: but it is not hot! Comes with buns.
* Stuffed Bacon cheese burgers - The bacon and cheese are stuffed into the meat for an inside out burger. Comes with buns
* Salisbury Steak with Onion Sauce Grill the salisbury steaks on the grill.Then smother with lots of onion gravy. Serve with mashed potatoes.



Turkey

* Turkey Salisbury Steak with Onion Sauce A lighter twist on the traditional favorite.Grill the Salisbury steaks on the grill.Then smother with lots of onion gravy. Serve with mashed potatoes.
* Turkey Burgers Pesto, red wine and a little bread crumbs bring these burgers to life. comes with buns.

Fish:

* Tilapia with Red Beans and Rice Cajun - Seasoned fish over a bed of red beans and tomatoes and rice.
* Shrimp Scampi. Very traditional garlic , olive oil , shallots. Served with pasta and veg
* Shrimp with White Beans in Lemon sauce. Cannelli beans and shrimp simmered in lemon and white wine, Served with rice and veg



Pasta:

Spaghetti Pie – Layers of pasta, sauce and cheese bakes in the oven.

Chicken/Shrimp Alfredo – Wonderful cheese sauce with pasta and vegetables, chicken or shrimp option



Brunch:

Monte Cristo Sandwich - Bake Ham and cheese sandwiches made from French toast.

Strawberry French Toast - Sliced berries and jams mixed in a bread pudding. Baked in the oven, so sweet: serve with yogurt, whipped cream or ice cream.

Soup to keep us going til Spring gets warmer

Its a busy time of year so make a pot of soup in the crock pot, Add some biscuits and lunch or dinner is done.Today's soup at our house. in the big crock pot, a sleeve of that dried bean and barley soup, (throw out the spices :it is mostly salt) a pound of mushrooms (washed broken up by hand), and two turkey legs (mine were leftover from last weeks turkey: get some smoked ones at the store).cover with water and leave on high for for a couple of hours. Variations on the same theme for last week: pound of leftover ham, two cups of dried beans and barley (my mom's mixture) a bag of frozen turnips and a bag of frozen carrots.

Cant manage it ...shoot me an email info@dinnersmith.com. Ask me - I can help!

May A new month and the start of spring

Spring for most of us is a countdown to summer. The end of the school year and spring sports. Planning for the vacations, the beach house and camp programs. Let Dinnersmith make it easier.

Plan now for this month menu in your home. Give yourself some pizza days, make some of your specialities and get some DinnerSmith to lighten the load. I take an half hour on Sunday to look at the week and the pantry and the fridge.

Last week was all about left over ham. Ham sandwiches, grilled cheese and ham. Ham and bean soup. Ham and cabbage soup (yes the whole house smelled). And there is ham frozen for the end of May. Chicken nuggets were dipped in thai chili sauce for gametime snacking.

This week is all about turkey on sale at PathMark for $.69 a pound. Today is roasted turkey and then the fun begins. Turkey soup, hot turkey sandwiches and turkey a la king. maybe even turkey pot pie. Probably mom's meatloaf to give us a break.

Make a plan for yourself, Get a DinnerSmith meal and enjoy the springtime!

May Menu

Here is the May Menu , also on our DinnerSmith Facebook page under "notes". Like us on Facebook.
send an email to Info@dinnersmith.com to get an email newsletter to your mail box with new menus. and updates.



                            Chicken

   * Cheese-it Chicken Nuggets -Tastes like snack food but so good for
them! Boneless breast cut into small bites covered with Cheese-it
Cracker crumbs and oven baked for crunchy goodness. Served with rice
and veg.

   * Chicken Pica ta - Cutlets pounded flat and sauteed and served with
lemons and capers in a  sauce over pasta.
   * Chicken Marsala- Cutlets pounded flat and sauteed and served with
Marsala wine and mushrooms in a  sauce over pasta.
   * Chicken Frances e - Cutlets pounded flat and sauteed and served with
lemons and white wine in a  sauce over pasta.

   * Moroccan Chicken - Bone-in chicken with olives, capers, lemon, and
artichoke . Bakes in the oven
   * 40 cloves of Garlic Chicken - Bone-in chicken with 40 cloves of
garlic. Bakes in the oven.Served with rice and veg.
   * Chicken Kabobs Skewers of Chickens and Vegetables in a vinaigrette
marinade for grill. Served with rice.

                    Pork

   * Pork with Pears - Pork chops cooked with pears and onions.   Comes
with rice
   * Midwestern Pork Chops – Our center cut boneless pork chops in a
vinaigrette marinade for grill. Served with rice. Served with rice and
veg
   * Latin American Pork stew- Tender white meat stewed with squash,
tomatoes and beans. Lighter than a traditional stew  but filling.
   * Pulled Pork - Bone in pork shoulder slow cooked in crock pot for
hours. Then pulled with two forks. Comes with buns to make an awesome
sandwich.



                     Beef

   * Horseradish burgers - Fresh grated horseradish mixed into the meat
makes a great tasting burger: but it is not hot! Comes with buns.
   * Stuffed Bacon cheese burgers - The bacon and cheese are stuffed
into the meat for an inside out burger. Comes with buns
   *  Salisbury Steak with Onion Sauce  Grill the salisbury steaks on the
grill.Then smother with lots of onion gravy. Serve with mashed
potatoes.



                  Turkey

   * Turkey Salisbury Steak with Onion Sauce  A lighter twist on the
traditional favorite.Grill the Salisbury steaks on the grill.Then
smother with lots of onion gravy. Serve with mashed potatoes.
   * Turkey Burgers Pesto, red wine and a little bread crumbs bring these
burgers to life. comes with buns.

                   Fish:

   * Tilapia with Red Beans and Rice Cajun - Seasoned fish over a bed of
red beans and tomatoes and rice.
   * Shrimp Scampi. Very traditional garlic , olive oil , shallots.
Served with pasta and veg
   * Shrimp with White Beans in Lemon sauce. Cannelli beans and shrimp
simmered in lemon and white wine, Served with rice and veg



                  Pasta:

Spaghetti Pie – Layers of pasta, sauce and cheese bakes in the oven.

Chicken/Shrimp Alfredo – Wonderful cheese sauce with pasta and vegetables,
chicken or shrimp option



                  Brunch:

Monte Cristo Sandwich - Bake Ham and cheese sandwiches made from French
toast.

Strawberry French Toast - Sliced berries and jams mixed in a bread
pudding. Baked in the oven, so sweet: serve with yogurt, whipped cream or
ice cream.