Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy Dinners 101

Hello Party People!!! Welcome to Dinner Is Easy Peasy Lemon Squeasy! In this first post I thought I would introduce myself and explain a few terms, etc.

INTRO:

    To start - my name is Allie (HI!) and I am totally NOT a professional cook/chef or anything official. I just love to create in the kitchen with simple ingredients mostly purchased from Trader Joes. I live in CA with my husband and four children, two of which I homeschool, so that means we have a set weekly food budget and no extra time or patience for weird/expensive/obscure ingredients. Most of what I cook and will feature are simple recipes, so this blog is for lovers of simple.
     I apologize in advance because almost all of these photos will be taken with my iPhone....so nothing fancy! 
    We LOVE Trader Joes for their awesome prices and quality & unique foods. I also love knowing that anything with the Trader Joes private label is NON-GMO - this makes shopping Easy Peasy for us. I shop there about 97% of the time so this blog is for peeps that love that place. The rest of my supplies come from Amazon.com or Vitacost.com.

Basic Items NOT at TJs: 

(I'm not going to cover every basic item under the sun, just the ones I really, really, really thing are essential)

Spike: This is an all-purpose spice I buy from Vitacost. You need this. You need it now.

Onion Powder: I also purchase this from Vitacost. It's one of those darn spices TJs just doesn't carry (yet). I also purchase just about all spices from Vitacost actually. Why? I love how the matching Simply Organic bottles look on my self. Nerd alert!

Better Than Bouillion: This is awesome stuff! I buy 6 at a time, also from Vitacost. It's basically chicken broth that has been cooked down to form a thick paste. It's flavor is incredible. I use this allllll thhhhheeee timeeeee. And when my girlfriend turned me on to it - i never went back to regular stock/broth again. What's the difference between stock and broth anyway??

Salt: TJs has salt but this salt is better. Way better. And CHEAP!

Chef Knives: I don't really know the technical definition for that and I don't think I care? But here's a link to the ones I own that I LOVE. I used to cook with regular little crappy knives and my girlfriend turned me on to a chef knife and it really does make a difference. I've tried other kinds at everyone's house I go to (I'm weird) and I really love mine the best. They are from Ikea and are very economical. ($14.99) I also bought the sharpener and have had both for 4 years and they are still magnifico! Oh and their bread knife in this set is the bees knees for cutting tomatoes or persnickety things that shred and turn ugly with a regular knife....




Pans: I cook almost exclusively with a plain ol' set of stainless steel pots and pans. Get whatever ones are in your budget. I 've had them for 11 years and they are fabulous except when you really want non stick....like cooking eggs.

I bought this "green" version on Amazon after buying a super cheap version that fell apart ridiculously fast. Anyway these enamel pans are fab and healthy and seriously people....cooking an egg on stainless steel pans is just a friggin pain. So get this and become so so happy with me!

Crock Pot: Hot dang a crock pot is so friggin key for making your life easy peasy lemon squeezy. As one friend put it "it's like having a personal chef" and it really does feel that way. I suggest one with automatic turn off BIG TIME. This way you can prepare your meal, turn it on, and forget about it. It will turn itself off and "keep warm" until dinner. This is the one I bought from Amazon.

Q and A!

Q: Why did you start this blog?

A: My little sister made me. :) She loves my posts on Instagram about our easy Trader Joes dinners and wanted more details.

Q: Who is this blog for?? What kinds of people?

A: This is for anyone who fits the following criteria....

        1) Love Trader Joes a lotty lot.

        2) Hate to Cook

        3) Love to cook but have little time and/or money

        4) Have no clue how to cook, but wanna!

        5) Have ankle-biting minions....aka children under 5. This could really come under the  
             heading of #2 but seriously - it deserves it's own category. 2 of my 4 fit this. :)

Q: What does "chop" mean?

A: cut something in small pieces - think "bite-sized"

Q: What does "rough chop" mean?

A: Not a precise cut, a rough chop is a random cut that in the end, will not matter what it looks like after cooking. I do a whole looootta rough choppin'

Q: What does "mince" mean?

A: cut up in tiny pieces - you can do this with a knife or a chopper/food processer.

Q: What does "T" mean?
A: Tablespoon. It's a pain to constantly type this out. 

Q: What does "t" mean?
A: teaspoon (the smaller one)

Q: WHY IN THE HECK don't you use proper measurements for some of the spices?

A: Aw shucks - I used to hate when recipes did the whole "to taste" thing. I had no idea where to even start! I will try not to do this to you guys but something my sister taught me is that when it comes to meat - you go by smell. So I can't always tell you how much you will need. You have to actually smell your pot/pan and taste test. Every step should taste yummy in my opinion.