My website Noel’s Kitchen Tips.com  is a website about sharing wonderful family mealtimes and creating family memories that last a lifetime. Each and every week, I try and share menus with busy moms (and dads) that they can create for their family without breaking the food budget.  Here’s a 30-minute meal you can create for your family. It’s a creamy mix of tender ham and broccoli, topped with sour cream. Family Style Broccoli Ham Rolls Ingredients: 1 package frozen chopped broccoli 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup 1 package sliced cooked ham, diced 4 eggs 1/4 cup water 1 Tablespoon butter or margarine 1/2 cup sour cream Directions: In a saucepan, prepare broccoli according to package instructions; drain. To broccoli, add cream of mushroom soup and

Don’t you just love the idea that dinner is cooking even when you’re away at the office? I absolutely enjoy the aroma when I walk in the door. Whether it’s a pot roast, chicken and dumplings, beef stew or simply a soup-what could be easier! Slow cooking is the easiest cooking technique ever developed. Here is an “Easy-On-The-Cook” meal to serve your family. Slow Cooker Beefburger Stroganoff Ingredients: 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef 3 slices bacon, diced 1 small onion 2 Tablespoons flour 1/4 teaspoon paprika 1 teaspoon salt 1 (10 3/4 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup 2 Tablespoon dry red wine 1 cup sour cream 6 to 8 hamburger buns, toasted and buttered Directions: In a large skillet, brown beef and bacon. Drain. In a slow-cooker, mix

Stretch Your Food Budget Without Sacrificing Nutrtion With response to rising food costs eating out, about half of families have begun to make some changes in their household with their eating and buying habits.  Many are eating out less often, shopping for sales, and cutting back on more expensive food items.  Here are some tips on ways to stretch your food dollar without sacrificing nutrition. Here are some tips that will help make this easy: 1. Don’t pay a premium for convenience. You can save a lot of money on groceries simply by washing your own lettuce, peeling your own carrots, slicing your own cheese, and chopping your own onions. I think people underestimate just how much extra they are spending for these small conveniences and at the same time overestimate how

Being an Independent Kitchen Consultant, I know what it’s like to be a mom with a busy schedule. I share this with my all my Hosts and thought it would be a great suggestion to all! Fun “YOU DESERVE TO BE PAMPERED” THOUGHTS “ Why Pampering is important… It’s so easy to come up with excuses for why we shouldn’t pamper ourselves. The usual ones are… I don’t have the time, I have too much to do, and… it’s just not important. All of these excuses can be dispelled. The usual reason that someone thinks that they don’t have time is because they don’t schedule the time into their lives. Couldn’t you find that hour here or there if you really think about it? Is there a sister, friend, or husband that can watch the kids for an afternoon while you soak in the tub and read a

Come join your children in your kitchen for a fun cooking experience. Share and Learn some great cooking tips and recipes that you can enjoy with your child. What better way to teach measurement, following directions and taking turns than in the kitchen with you! You have to cook anyway, why not make it a family affair!! In fact, some professionals believe that cooking is as educational as it is exciting for children. Helping to cook involves several valuable skills important to child development: • Planning a series of steps in a process • Using mathematical skills to measure ingredients and time the cooking of foods • Reading and interpreting written instructions used in recipes • Expanding creative boundaries • Mastering teamwork when cooking with adults

Make Ahead Meals Part 2 I’ve discussed previously the term “Make Ahead Meals”and how cooking meals “ten at a time” saves both time and money, now I’m going to share some tips on both shopping and cooking those meals. If you shop the same day you plan to cook, it will save putting many groceries away. You can choose any day of the week that works best for you. My day is Saturday in the morning, kids and hubby are still asleep and this gives me some time to work in the kitchen. Pull any frozen foods that you need to thaw for cooking and place in the refrigerator. This can be done the evening before. Pull any items from your cupboards and group the ingredients for each recipe on your counter. Shopping and Cooking Tips By going to your “bulk” store first like Costco, you can get

Make Ahead Meals Have you heard of the term “Make Ahead Meals”? (Often referred to as Power Cooking) Make Ahead Meals is a real solution for busy moms (and dads). You can make meals faster and it saves time! Cooking meals “ten at a time” saves both time and money. You’ll have way fewer trips to the grocery store. Even a “quick trip” is very time consuming, plus you’ll have fewer impulse purchases, which saves you money and did I mention how much money you’ll be saving on gas? Many of the time-consuming tasks can be combined on one day, making your dinner much easier and quicker for the next two weeks. Saving money by making dinner easier so you eat out (or pick up take-out) less often is a really BIG savings. Plus, as I mentioned in previous articles, dinner at home, around your