Cutting Costs When Inviting Family Round To Eat

June 6, 2022 By Anne

It is no secret that many people are struggling right now, and that growing living costs are putting a strain on many families’ family budgets. Food prices and rising energy costs make cooking, particularly entertaining, a potentially costly hobby. The good news is that, despite escalating prices, hosting a family lunch on a budget is achievable; you just need to know how to arrange it.

Photo by fauxels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/group-of-people-making-toast-3184183/

Here are some pointers to help you organize a family lunch on a budget while still eating well and having a wonderful time:

Get Rid Of The Takeout Menu

If ordering takeout is your typical method of entertaining friends, you are aware of how costly it can be. While ordering takeaway may appear to be an easy way to ensure that everyone gets to eat what they want, the cost can rapidly become overwhelming. You may have observed that the cost of ordering food has grown in recent months, so instead of ordering takeout, creating a menu and cooking dinner should be a more economical option. Of course, even a home-cooked lunch can be extremely expensive if you do not keep a tight watch on prices, but you will be able to spend significantly less if you carefully prepare your menu.

Keep Your Numbers Low

Inviting your entire family to dinner may seem like a fantastic idea and a great way to bring everyone together, but it may quickly spiral out of control. Creating a guest list and limiting your guests will help you keep your spending under control. When you have a large number of visitors to feed, it can be difficult to assess the amount of food you need and manage portion sizes. When catering to several guests, many people discover that they cook significantly more food than is required, resulting in food waste. Using a recipe such as macaroni salad recipe with egg can help you to learn how many guests can be fed while staying within budget.

Set A Budget

Setting a food budget and sticking to it is a sure-fire strategy to keep your expenditures under control. Thinking about how much you can afford to spend and breaking it up to pay for each course is an excellent approach to keep your expenditures in check. Shopping around for deals and special offers is a great way to get more food for your money. Don’t forget to include any extras which may cost more, such as drinks and snacks, when estimating your spending.

Don’t Do It All Yourself

If you generally say no when your guests offer to bring anything to a meal, now is the moment to change your tune. Inviting your friends to bring drinks, appetizers, or dessert is a great way to make your meal more reasonable and less expensive. You will be able to enjoy your family gathering without stressing about how much you are spending if the prices are maintained at a realistic level.

These tips should help you to keep costs down when you are hosting family or friends. Do you have any other tips that could help? Please share them in the comments below.

Anne

I'm a mother of 2 who likes to get involved in too much! Besides writing here I started a non-profit, I'm on the PTO board, very active in my community and volunteer in the school. I enjoy music, reading, cooking, traveling and spending time with my family. We just adopted our 3rd cat and love them all!

3 Reasons a Healthy Diet is Beneficial for You and Your Loved Ones

March 9, 2022 By Anne

A healthy diet is one of the most important things you can do for your health and the health of your loved ones. There are many benefits to eating a healthy diet, including weight loss, decreased risk of disease, and improved mental health. This blog post will discuss four reasons why a healthy diet is so important.

Photo by Alesia Kozik from Pexels

1) Helps Prevent Diseases

Eating a healthy diet can help reduce your risk of developing certain types of cancer, including ovarian cancer, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer. This is because a healthy diet helps maintain a healthy weight, reducing your exposure to harmful toxins. It also includes plenty of fruits and vegetables, high in antioxidants and other nutrients that can protect against disease. In addition, eating a balanced diet can help improve your immune system function, making you less likely to get sick. For example, many cancers are caused by viruses or bacteria that take advantage of a weakened immune system. Therefore, by keeping your immune system strong, you can reduce your risk of developing cancer.

2) Increased Energy Levels

When you eat a healthy diet, your body needs the nutrients to function correctly. This means that you will have more energy and think more clearly. Your body will also be better able to fight off infection and disease. Eating a nutritious diet can also help improve your mood and reduce stress levels. If you are looking for ways to boost your energy levels, eating a healthy diet is a great place to start. Protein-rich foods such as lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, lentils, tofu, eggs, and nuts are essential for a healthy diet. These foods provide your body with the amino acids it needs to build muscle tissue and repair cells. Eating plenty of protein can help improve your energy levels, mood, and focus.

3) Mental Health Benefits

Eating a healthy diet has been linked to improved mental health. This is likely because healthy meals like this slow cooker chicken pot pie recipe have the nutrients your body needs to function correctly. When your body functions well, it can better handle stress and cope with difficult situations. A healthy diet also provides your brain with the building blocks it needs to create new cells and neurotransmitters. These are important for mood regulation, memory, and focus. In addition, eating a healthy diet can help reduce inflammation throughout the body, linked to depression and anxiety. If you are struggling with mental health issues, eating a nutritious diet may help improve your symptoms.

There are many other benefits of eating a healthy diet that we didn’t discuss in this blog post. However, we hope that this has given you a better understanding of why a healthy diet is important. If you want to improve your health, eating a nutritious diet is a great place to start. There are many delicious and healthy foods available, so there is no excuse not to eat well. Start making healthier choices today, and you will be on your way to a healthier and happier life.

Anne

How To Host The Perfect BBQ

February 19, 2022 By Anne

There has been some talk of late that summertime might be arriving soon and as if that wasn’t good enough news, we’re almost ready to start talking about the Coronavirus in the past tense – who would have thought that that day would have arrived?

Sure, we’re not quite out of the woods yet, but come on, doesn’t it feel great to know that we’re heading in the right direction, finally?

All of that adds up to one very special event – the first BBQ of the season, do you know who is hosting it this year? You are. Do you know why? Because we’re going to tell you how to host a BBQ that is going to have everyone talking about it, long after you’ve hosted it – for all the right reasons.

Plus, if you host the first one and do it properly, well – you’re done for the season and everyone else is going to have to work harder to try and one-up you – bliss!

Image By RitaE

FIRST: LOCATION….YOU KNOW HOW THAT GOES

Before you can claim your rightful title as BBQ Czar/Czarina, you have to make sure that you have the perfect space for it first. So, that means that as soon as the weather allows for it, it’s time to get your backyard looking like it’s meant to be looking – absolutely fabulous! Rope in the rest of your tribe if you have to, but pull out the dead “stuff”, repaint the flower holders if you have to, and take care of any damage that might have been caused by a winter storm. You don’t have to have everything done professionally, just put some muscle into it and you’ll be amazed at how much fun you can have doing it. Your guests will appreciate the effort too.

NEXT: THEME IT

Since it is the first BBQ of the season, you’ll want to do something a little different, a little special, and a lot memorable. So, theme it. Think “A Midsummer Nights Dream”, or “A Night Of A Thousand Stars” and have everyone come as a Hollywood star from a bygone age. The theme in and of itself doesn’t have to be too complicated, but if everyone buys into it, the whole flavor of the night increases too. Find some inspiration, here.

FOOD, FOOD, EVERYWHERE!

Now, it’s not going to be the party you have in mind if you don’t have the catering to match, so make sure that you’ve done enough research to ensure that you have all of your guests’ dietary requirements in mind. Don’t be that person that serves up a vegetarian dish to your friends that is what everyone else has – minus the meat. And if you have vegan friends, find new ones. We jest, the point is to take the time to make sure that all of your guests are well catered for, it’s an elegant act and one that you’ll be remembered for, for the best of reasons.

ALL THE RIGHT STUFF

It’s a whole heap of fun if you can get everyone involved in what you’re doing, and to do that – you’ll need the right gear too. BBQGuys can help you get set up with all the accessories and grilling equipment you could ever need.

Remember: if you’re going to be serving alcohol at your BBQ (and you are), then be the classiest broad in town and designate a driver to get your guests to and from your home, or hire an Uber for the night. It’s not just classy – but it’s the right thing to do.

Anne

Autumn Charcuterie Board

September 27, 2021 By Anne

Who doesn’t love a good charcuterie board?

Presentation is what creates a great charcuterie board. On this board we chose a fall theme. We looked for shapes, colors and fall flavors such as maple shaped cookies, cranberry, and cinnamon. It was important to us that both sweet and savory flavors were available.

Our cheeses were:
Cinnamon Cranberry Goat Cheese
Mild cheddar cubes
Sharp white cheddar slices
Mozzarella balls

Meats chosen:
Prosciutto
Salami
Pepperoni

Fruits:
Raspberry preserves
Pomegranate
Apple slices
Dried Dates

Nuts:
Praline Pecans

Additions were pumpkin seeds, grape tomatoes, a variety of crackers and a bit of basil for a great burst of color and flavor.

There are no hard rules for charcuterie presentation. Make it with your own taste in mind, change it up, think outside the box!

A few fall suggestions you may want to include on your next Fall charcuterie board: apple butter, pumpkin hummus, figs, or pears. The options are endless.

Share with us your favorite charcuterie board foods in the comments, we’d love to try them!

Written by Nicole Valenzuela

Anne

Getting More Fruit Into Your Diet

September 19, 2021 By Anne

There are many great reasons to try and eat a lot more fruit, and you are probably already aware of many of them. Having a lot of fruit in your diet ensures that you have a wide range of minerals and nutrients which are essentially for healthy living. It also means that you are going to have a much easier time of keeping weight off, as eating fruit tends to have that kind of effect. But how can you make sure that you are getting as much fruit as possible into your diet? Let’s take a look at some of the best ways to achieve this right now.

Image – CCO Licence

Plan It Out

If you are not already doing this, you might want to think about finding a way to plan out how much fruit and veg you are eating. Having a planner or a diary of some kind and marking off the fruit as you eat it ensures that you are keeping on top of it, and it is just so much simpler this way on the whole. You’ll be amazed at how much you are able to achieve by doing this, so it’s definitely time to start plotting out your fruit consumption a little more if you are able to.

Add It To Dishes

There are a lot of everyday dishes that can have extra fruit added to them, and this is something that a lot of people are starting up and waking up to at the moment. Very often you can improve a home-cooked dish with the addition of a fruit, and this will also help to make the dish a lot healthier as well. Anyone who enjoys being a home cook is going to want to be aware of these kinds of changes, so they are something you might want to look up.

Make Delicious Desserts

Fruits are very important in desserts, of course, and if you are able to make some delicious and amazing desserts then you are going to have an easy and enjoyable way to get a lot more fruit into your diet in general. You can easily make delicious desserts by simply ensuring that you are looking up some new recipes. Sometimes it’s as simple as taking a fruit like a kumquat and doing something very basic with it – learn more about kumquats here – or else you can include it in a tart, pie or other dessert.

Image – CCO Licence

Eat A RainbowIf you want to eat more fruit, one way is to widen out that attempt and to generally try to eat a lot more fruit and veg on the whole. In general, they say that you should eat a rainbow, which means you are eating fruit and veg of all kinds of colours. If you are doing that on the whole, then in general it means you are going to be eating a lot of fruit, so that is something that you should definitely think about in particular. It is really going to help.