Chances are someone’s been cooking for you all your life. Sure, you’ve probably
helped cook from time to time, and hopefully acquired some cooking skills along
the way, but now you’re in college, miles away from home and must feed
yourself.

Living on your own can be hard, especially when you’re studying, working and
socializing. With all that is going on in your busy life, the last thing you want to
think about when you’re hungry is what to get at the grocery store so you can
cook your own meals. That’s why you often turn to fast food takeout or delivery.
While these foods may taste good, they aren’t always the best choice to help fuel
you through your studies – and the cost can certainly add up!

Here in the pages of The College Kid’s Guide to Cooking, you’ll find easy-to-digest
tips for planning, shopping and cooking meals while at school, along with
simple, yet delicious recipes tailored to your busy student lifestyle. Whether
you’re a novice in the kitchen or a seasoned cook looking for quick and affordable
meals, this guide to college cooking is here to simplify your culinary journey and
make eating well on a budget a rewarding part of your college experience.

With this cookbook, you will learn how to

• Set up your kitchen with the right tools and organization
• Find simple, quick-to-make recipes with few ingredients and short prep times
• Plan meals ahead of time that will fit your busy schedule
• Set your food budget and shop efficiently
• Grow your skills and confidence in the kitchen
• Manage your time to do it all

In addition to an easy-to-follow format, with quick and simple tasks to complete,
you’ll find a collection of Cheat Sheets which are designed to provide you with
answers to essential questions you will have about the planning, shopping and
cooking process. The Recipe section includes more than 50 recipes that will
provide you with plenty of mealtime inspiration.
With a bit of planning and preparation, you’ll be ready to cook in no time at all!

The post The College Kid’s Guide to Cooking appeared first on Family Eats.

If you’re looking for just the recipes to The College Kid’s Guide to Cooking, here it is! The perfect companion to the full Guide, but pared down to let you easily access the 50+ recipes for college kids. All recipes are listed with budget, flavor and ease of making in mind. Perfect for the college kids in your life — or anyone looking for more recipes.

The post Just the Recipes: for The College Kid’s Guide to Cooking appeared first on Family Eats.

Its Halloween season and that means its time to throw a Pumpkin Carving Party! This 21-page guide will take you through the steps to plan and execute a memorable party without all the stress. You’ll also get 10 Family Eats fan favorite recipes for the party. Our first Pumpkin Carving Party was held 21 years ago, and every year since then, our friends look forward to this favorite tradition.

The post Entertaining with Family Eats: Pumpkin Carving Party appeared first on Family Eats.

I know what you’re thinking – “Not another ‘ultimate’ meal planning guide. I’ve tried so many they just don’t work.” That’s because so many meal plans offer generic, pre-made weekly meal plans complete with recipes along with a few tips to ‘help’ you through the process. Yet, after a few weeks, you abandon the process of meal planning, and revert to your old ways.

The reason is because these meal plans are generic. They are created to appeal to everyone, and because they are created with recipes to appeal to all, they fall short of appealing — or working – for you and your family. The meal plans don’t take into account you – and your family’s –  food likes and dislikes. They don’t take into account your schedule, your cooking skills, your budget, your desire to cook. 

This guide is designed a bit differently than those you may have tried before. 

Instead of offering a one-size-fits all meal plan guide, this guide is filled with actionable steps that will guide you through the meal planning process so you can experience the benefits that will transform the way you think about mealtime. In the end, you’ll have the tools needed to create a lifelong habit of meal planning that is tailored for you and your family’s lifestyle, and enables you to confidently move through the process regardless of your changing schedules and mealtime desires.

Because meal planning is personal, it is important to remember that there is no ONE way to meal plan. That’s why this guide will take you through the process of how to create your own meal plan, so that you will continue to use the process and benefit from the results. 

The post Mastering Meal Planning: From Stress to Success Guide appeared first on Family Eats.

The December busy is always a stressful time for 

• Managing work
• Decorating the house
• Planning get-togethers with friends
• Supporting the kids in their final push of the semester
• Holiday Baking
• Holiday Shopping
• Sleep
• Trying to stay healthy, and not eat too many sweets!

I’m sure there is something else I will add to this list

In addition to the here-and-now busy of December, I’m on a mission to begin my planning for the new year, which will be a bit different than it has been in the past. More than coming up with resolutions, which for me, rarely come to fruition, instead this year I’m focusing on a bit of habit changing, which will create the framework for me to follow through on my resolutions.

Typically, when the new year comes, and I have a healthy slate of resolutions, I always feel behind. I’m exhausted from the holiday season, which also includes the twins’ birthday between Christmas and NY Eve, but also Nicole’s birthday, which arrives in January. I exhale once her birthday is behind us, but that exhale comes with exhaustion, and the realization that I’m already halfway through January and I haven’t had time to focus on my resolutions.

This December, I’m dedicating a bit of time to getting ahead of the resolution game. But rather than simply writing down a list of resolutions for the new year, I need to first take a look at how my existing habits are causing me a bit of stress and anxiety, and ask myself . . . What is making me stressful when it comes to getting dinner on the table?

But, before I get to answering that question, I’ll get to a question you may be wondering about: “What’s the difference between a resolution and a habit?”

Well, my resolutions will serve as my commitment to make a positive change (or achieve a goal), while my habits represent those unconscious behaviors that affect my daily routine and affect whether or not I attain my resolutions. In short, habit-changing is exactly what I will focus on for 2024.

The Four Pillars Solution

To change my habits and reduce stress in the kitchen, I look to my own Four Pillars solution to get me back on track. For years, the Family Eats Four Pillars method has served as the framework I needed to empower me to meet my goals as they related to food. It is a process that I re-visit frequently, as my goals and our lives continue to change. 

So, back to my own question . . . What is making me stressful when it comes to getting dinner on the table?

And, my answers:

• I haven’t been planning as diligently as I used to;
• Because I want to prepare meals with less meat, I’m struggling to find inspiration in my existing recipes;
• Everyone is eating at a different time;
• I’m driving everyone to and from school, the bus stop, sports practices, etc., that I find myself in the kitchen hungry and tired when I need to whip up a meal.

Now that I’ve identified the causes of my mealtime stress and anxiety, my next step will be to start thinking about what I can do so I don’t get into these situations.

My Solutions, including my plan on how I will follow-through on the solutions:

• Get back into my meal planning routine, and set aside some time the night before I go shopping to figure out meals for the week.
• Take time to find new recipes. I don’t want this to be too time consuming, so I’m planning to start with perusing my existing cookbooks for potential recipes (and, making copies so I have them on hand). I’ll also take 15 minutes every few days for searching online, and also find some new cookbooks, too.
• Our schedule is always changing, so when I’m in the meal planning mode, I will get everyone’s schedule for the week – this will help me decide on which meals to prepare each night. For example, on a night when we are eating at different times, I’ll need a one pot meal that can be easily kept warm and waiting for whenever we each find our way into the kitchen.
• Once I know everyone’s schedule, and figure out when I’ll be ‘on call’ for the driving, I can decide if I’ll prep a meal ahead of time, and just reheat it, or choose a simple 30 minute recipe.

By breaking up the larger problem into these four, smaller tasks, I’m confident that I’ll be ready come January to start my journey of becoming less stressed in the kitchen. And then, once I’m less stressed, I’ll be ready to take on another resolution by changing my habits.

Let me know if you find this quick exercise in habit changing effective for you.

****

Subscribe to Family Eats Substack

Join Family Eats as a subscriber and you’ll get weekly posts focusing on how the Family Eats Four Pillars method can help you change your relationship with mealtime. By focusing on changing your routine and building new habits, you’ll overcome the overwhelm when it comes to planning, purchasing, preparing and partaking in mealtime. 

For those who don’t know me, I launched Family Eats back in 2008 with a focus on helping others ‘reconnect with the food we eat and the family we love.’ At the time, I had four young children – and a desire to prepare healthy, homemade meals for my family, and to enjoy them together around the table. As I struggled with lack of time, energy and inspiration to feed my family of 6, I tooks some time to change my routine, and build habits that have changed my relationship with food. In the process, I created a Four Pillars method.

Fifteen years later, I’ve 2 in college and 2 here at home, yet I’m still following the Four Pillars method — revisiting it time and again as our lives have changed. By following the four pillars, I have been able to reduce my stress, save money, create great traditions, and instill the importance of a healthy relationship with mealtime in my children. 

My subscriber-only posts will focus on helping you incorporate the Four Pillars method into your daily life, which will move you closer to attaining your goals as they relate to food — whether it is to cook more from scratch, to save on food costs, reduce food waste, eat healthier — perhaps less meat, and how to gather around the table with your family and friends on a more frequent basis. 

For just $30 a year — you’ll get

• Weekly subscriber only posts
• Weekly prompts – discussion Chats on topics related to my posts
• Occasional free downloads
• Maybe even some giveaways!
• You’ll support my writing

$30 — that’s just $1.70 a week.  Subscribe Below!

Thank you ~ Laura @Family Eats

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Make Meal Prep Manageable with the Four Pillars Process

There was a time when mealtime was a very stressful time for me. In fact, I dreaded 4 pm, the time when I needed to begin preparing dinner.

Not only did I have 4 young children who were hungry (and cranky), but I, too, was hungry, cranky — AND exhausted! The last thing I had the energy and inspiration for was to begin meal prep.

Eventually, I decided something had to change. That’s when I came up with the 

Family Eats Four Pillars Process: 

Planning, Purchasing, Preparing & Partaking.

I found that through better planning, better purchasing habits, a focus on recipes that would be easier to prepare, and creating a dedicated time when we could all sit down and partake in a meal, I created a much more enjoyable relationship with mealtime.

In short, mealtime became much more manageable — and enjoyable!

How will the Four Pillars Process Help Me with Meal Prep?

Over the past decade, the Family Eats Four Pillars process has inspired countless home cooks to confidently tackle all their frustrations when it comes to preparing meals.

Whether you choose to prep for a full week of meals or just one, the Four Pillars Meal Prep Series is designed to arm you with the small steps needed to help you move past the roadblocks of lack of time, confidence, and inspiration. In the end, the process will help you create an enjoyable habit that will inspire you to reconnect with the food you eat and the family you love.

Seven Days. Seven Emails with insight into how Meal Prep can work for you — and your busy life. Each day, you’ll receive an email that guides you through 1 easy -to-accomplish ‘task’ so that you’ll start making progress immediately.

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