yum...

I have made some tasty discoveries lately that I thought I might share. :) Getting dinner on the table can be a daunting task, so maybe someone will be able to use my findings.

I have some food sensitivities, and because of that there are very few packaged products I can eat. It's definitely healthier (and cheaper) to cook from scratch, but sometimes I long for the convenience of being able to open a can or a box. I have never been able to use canned broth, for example. No matter the brand, no matter whether it was organic or not, I could not eat it. I could make stock or broth myself to use in recipes, but there were no shortcuts.

Until now! Kitchen Basics makes a packaged stock (and it is stock, not broth) that I can actually eat! I was so excited to find it. The ingredients list is things like sea salt, carrots, celery, etc.--things you'd use if you were making stock yourself. There's nothing fake, nothing artificial, nothing that you wonder just what the heck it is. When you open the carton, it smells wonderful, and it's a rich, lovely color--not watery at all. I used it to make soup the other night (something else I can't buy canned), and it turned out so good! Kitchen Basics is more expensive than canned broths, but it is so worth it. I won't quit making homemade stocks and broths, but it's nice to have an easier option available now. You can read about it, buy it online, or find a store in your area that carries it here.

Another great resource is the website RecipeZaar. There are a ton of recipe search sites available on the Internet. I just happen to think that RecipeZaar is the easiest to use. :) And I have found some absolutely fantastic recipes here! My favorite so far is these amazing rolls. If you have a bread machine, you NEED to make these rolls. Or maybe you don't. They're slightly addictive. Once you make them, you won't be able to get enough. But man, are they good!

One final cooking website that I'll mention is Super Cook. This is another search site, but it's a bit more unique. If you've gotten to the end of the pay period, and you're down to just a few items left in the pantry, and you're wondering just HOW you can use them to put together a meal, then this is the site to help you! You enter what you have on hand, and it links to other recipe sites (RecipeZaar, All Recipes, Epicurius, etc.) with recipes that use the ingredients you have. I love it when I know we have no money to go buy even a few additional items, but I don't want to spend hours looking at recipes to figure out which one matches my current holdings.

P.S. Natalie has been smiling and cooing up a storm today...until I get out the camera. But I'm going to keep trying! She is adorable when she grins! (Okay, so she's adorable when she doesn't grin too!)