This month in the Eat Well, Spend Less series we’re going to take a look at a few things you can do to organize your kitchen to save you time and money. The ins, the outs, the ups, the downs and my own present failure. Plus more from everyone else on their food resolutions for 2012. My dream is to have a pantry like this someday. Via Escapade I have made quite the mess in the kitchen. We’re not talking an “I’ve been baking all day and have yet to clean it up” type of... more

A look at the weekly menu in the middle of January that includes plenty of coffee, hiding in the house, and a Keurig Brewer and Millstone Coffee giveaway to keep you warm this winter. It’s Tuesday. My computer is acting slow. Last night I asked my husband to make dinner. I offered some slightly pathetic options, and he turned them into a meal. It is one of the reasons I married him. Suddenly microwave rice and chicken and fresh green beans became Singapore-style rice with cilantro and lime,... more

How to make your own pompelmocello (or grapefruit limoncello) using seasonal grapefruits and Everclear. Start now, drink later. I’ve left you waiting unintentionally. My intentions were to come back and tell you a story or two, share a recipe and even a fun something I have been sitting on (tomorrow). Good intentions don’t get you very far, though. Forgiveness will. So, here I am asking you for a bit of forgiveness in my absence, as it’s now time to celebrate. The book is tucked... more

An easy way to get fresh, roasted squash butternut (or any other) purée to use in recipes at home. So, as evidenced by my insistence on making my own pumpkin purée, you can probably imagine that I did not purchase a can of squash earlier this week for the butternut squash soup with bacon and sage. Instead, I roasted a butternut beauty that had been sitting and waiting patiently for me to finish making desserts and to start making dinner for the family again. I purchased it way back at the beginning... more

A well-balanced butternut squash soup featuring chowder-like consistency with potatoes, parsnips, fresh sage and jalapeño, all topped with bacon crumbles. A perfect cold weather soup. Our house is rather small. A modest ranch-style home with three small bedrooms, each housing two people. In the hallway you will find a linen closet barely a foot wide and deep, and just to the right of it is the one and only bathroom for the family. It’s the size of a proper linen closet itself, and with two... more

A brief overview of 2011 here on Food for My Family, as well as a look forward into what 2012 has in store for us. As we head into the New Year, I thought I’d take a moment to look back on 2011. I’m always introspective at the start of a new year. I view January, with its blanket of snow and cold temperatures that cleanse and render the world immobile, like a blank canvas waiting for the artist to create a new world from raw materials. I’m excited to see what this year has in store... more

Wishing you a Happy New Year, plus a NeatDesk Desktop Scanner & Digital Filing System giveaway to keep you organized going into 2012! We had a highly disorganized, hectic, fun-filled Christmas weekend this year. We ran from one place to the next starting Christmas Eve morning, baked cookies in between, showed up late once because Ole decided the odd warm weather required a Christmas Day motorcycle ride (worth it) and stuffed ourselves silly on prime rib, shrimp dip, Christmas cookies and more.... more