by Vicki Peel | Mar 28, 2022 | Food |
In the previous blog post, demonstration of a sheet pan meal showed just how quick and easy it is to prepare a sheet pan meal.
You don’t even need a recipe!
In this post, you will receive all the tools you need to create your own quick, easy, and delicious sheet pan meals. And you will be able to create your own sheet pan meal recipes!
All the printable instructions you need can be downloaded HERE. Just download and unzip the file. There are two sets of instructions. One has been created in pastel colors and the other has been created in gray with a gray dotted background. Both files are exactly the same. You simply have a choice as to whether you would rather print the instructions in color or in gray.
Below are examples of the downloads you are receiving. From this point forward, the individual downloaded instructions will be referred to as “printable or printables”.
The Sheet Pan Meal Recipe Template is your basic recipe to make a sheet pan meal. It guides you through the steps for preparing a sheet pan meal, and you create the recipe by adding your choice of protein (beef, pork, chicken or fish) and your choice of vegetables. The result will be your own sheet pan meal recipe!
Sheet Pan Meal Construction lists the components needed to construct your sheet pan meal, along with tips for selection and use of each part.
The Sheet Pan Meal Vegetables Tip Sheet is a list of vegetables that roast well in a sheet pan recipe, and some recommendations for vegetables that pair well for roasting.
Follow the steps for How to Oven-Roast Vegetables if you want to roast just vegetables, without the protein that makes a complete meal.
To add more flavor to your sheet pan meals, the Sheet Pan Meal Specialty Recipes printable provides four different rub recipes for your chosen meat. Use these to spark ideas and create your own rub recipes.
You can take the flavor up a notch with toppers to serve over your prepared sheet pan meal. Use prepared sauces or dressings, a favorite topper recipe, or mix your own favorite flavors to create a new topping.
In addition to the instruction printables, Sheet Pan Meal Recommended Tools includes some of my favorite tools for making perfect sheet pan meals. I use all of these exact tools, except for the sheet pan, which I already owned. However, after reviewing the specifications of the included sheet pans, I recommend either of them.
Click on the image of each tool to see product and purchase information. These are affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
All the printable instructions you need can be downloaded HERE. Just download and unzip the file.
Now, you have everything you need to make quick, easy, and delicious sheet pan meals your family will love. If you have comments, suggestions, or requests, please leave them in the Comments section below.
And take pictures of sheet pan meals you prepare and recipes you create! Send them to me at vicki@herlifehacks.com. I want to feature your creations in a future post!
I’m Vicki Peel, former home economics teacher and educational administrator. If you are not receiving my emails, coupons, and freebies, look for the Subscribe block (below right) and submit your contact information. I will not share your information with anyone, and all the content you will receive as part of our community is free. I may occasionally promote someone else’s paid content, offer a product for your consideration or share an item that I think might be of use to you. However, you are under no obligation to purchase anything – ever. So, sign up now so you won’t miss anything during our March – June foods extravaganza!!
https://HERLifeHacks.com
by Vicki Peel | Mar 24, 2022 | Food |
You can’t get much easier than a sheet pan meal. And there are so many ways you can change it up to make it with your favorite foods. You really don’t need a recipe. But I’ve got one to share with you, just to get you started!
This short video shows just how quickly you can get a sheet pan meal on the table. The video is only a little over 6 minutes, and the only thing left out is about 5 minutes to gather my ingredients and equipment and the 25 minutes it takes to cook!
Have you tried sheet pan meals? Do you cook them regularly? If so, let us know what you prepared and how it went. I’d love for you to share a favorite sheet pan recipe and pictures next time you make it! I want to feature you in a future blog or email.
Easy peasy! Try out my recipe or create your own! Click HERE for recipe with gray dotted lines background and click HERE for recipe with colorful abstract fruit background.
I’m Vicki Peel, former home economics teacher and educational administrator. If you are not receiving my emails, coupons, and freebies, look for the Subscribe block (below right) and submit your contact information. I will not share your information with anyone, and all the content you will receive as part of our community is free. I may occasionally promote someone else’s paid content, offer a product for your consideration or share an item that I think might be of use to you. However, you are under no obligation to purchase anything – ever. So, sign up now so you won’t miss anything during our March – June foods extravaganza!!
https://HERLifeHacks.com
by Vicki Peel | Mar 22, 2022 | Food |
Meal planning has never been easy for me. I’ve repeatedly tried to plan weekly family meals but was never able to create a sustainable process. There were too many moving parts – menus, ingredients needed, ingredients on-hand, grocery lists, time to plan, time to prepare, energy to do it all at the end of a busy day. It just never came together like I envisioned meal planning should be.
And therein lies the problem – I envisioned the end result, which was a home-cooked family meal at least once a day. I never got beyond the vision. I often found myself staring into the abyss of an uninviting and limited-options refrigerator.
But you don’t start out with anything as an expert. You start at the beginning. Preparing a meal a day is a habit. And habits start with tiny steps, repeated again and again.
To help you get started, I’ve prepared a Meal Prep Cheat Sheet of tips. You can download it HERE.
I am excited to share with you the quick and easy Level-Up Meal Planning System! You don’t start out preparing made-from-scratch home-cooked meals on a daily basis. Nobody has the amount of free time to do that, much less plan and implement it!
With my new system, you start at Level 1. You start with what you know and what you can reasonably accomplish within your available time.
The goal is one meal per day prepared and served at home.
Even if it’s not the complete home-cooked meal your mother or grandmother used to prepare. Almost any meal prepared at home will be healthier than the fast food you’re likely to pick up when you realize you don’t have a meal plan in place.
The one and only goal of Level 1 in the Level-Up Meal Planning System is to prepare and eat one meal a day at home with your family. Can you do it? Think it through
Here are some basic steps in the Level-Up Meal Planning System, Level 1:
- Look at your calendar or schedule for the coming week and consider when your family will be at home together. Your schedule may not allow you to prepare a meal at home every day. That’s okay. And you may have to deal with a staggered eating schedule for family members. That’s okay.
- Decide which meal of the day you will have time to prepare at home.
- Complete the basic Weekly Meal Planning, Level-Up 1 planning sheet. Keep it simple.
- Fill in your menu for the day.
- Identify any part of the menu that can be prepped the day before to save you time and write that in the Pre-Prep For the Following Day. For example, it may be as simple as gathering the equipment and non-refrigerated ingredients and have them ready to go when you start your meal preparation the next day.
- List any ingredients you need to prepare each daily menu on the Grocery Shopping List – Level-Up 1 checklist. It may be a good idea to list every ingredient and then check to see what you have on hand and cross those items off the list. That leaves you with a final grocery shopping list.
- Do your grocery shopping. That has become simpler with delivery and pick-up options.
- Implement your plan.
Download your Level-Up 1 Meal Planning Worksheet now to start creating your own system. You can get it HERE.
I also created a Grocery Shopping List – Level 1 for you. Download it HERE.
Here are a few suggestions to make the system work for you:
- First, don’t start out feeling like you have failed if you can’t prepare one meal a day at home, especially if you’ve not been doing so regularly.
- Try eating the same food (or a choice of 2 food options) for the other two meals of the day for the week. If you want a daily snack, plan on eating the same snack or a choice of two snacks for the week. That will simplify your planning process by keeping decisions to a minimum.
- Try planning the home-prepared meal for each day around a weekly theme. For example:
- Meatless Monday
- Taco Tuesday
- Soup and Sandwich Wednesday
- Pasta Thursday
- Stir-Fry Friday
- Pizza Saturday
- Some other options might be a night for loaded baked potatoes, breakfast-for-dinner, casseroles, leftovers. There are a lot of variations of menu items you could prepare for each themed night. Create your own nightly theme based on your family’s favorite foods.
- When time is limited and your energy is low, have a preplanned menu for a Takeout Night. By planning ahead, you will be able to make healthier choices.
You can stay at Level 1 as long as you like. If you get bored or ready to stretch yourself in the kitchen, you can always move up to Level 2. (More about that one later.)
The more you follow this system, the easier it becomes to plan and follow through. You’ll be able to serve your family healthier meals than if your lack of planning meant a quick dash at your favorite fast-food restaurant.
When you follow a system that works for your family, you are developing a habit of commitment to planning healthier food choices.
What have you got to lose? No – the question is what have you got to gain?
I’m Vicki Peel, former home economics teacher and educational administrator. If you are not receiving my emails, coupons, and freebies, look for the Subscribe block (below right) and submit your contact information. I will not share your information with anyone, and all the content you will receive as part of our community is free. I may occasionally promote someone else’s paid content, offer a product for your consideration or share an item that I think might be of use to you. However, you are under no obligation to purchase anything – ever. So, sign up now so you won’t miss anything during our March – June foods extravaganza!!
https://HERLifeHacks.com
by Vicki Peel | Mar 17, 2022 | Food |
How many times have you made a New Year’s resolution to eat healthier this year? And how many times have you failed?
I have to admit it – that’s the hardest thing I’ve ever tried to do – eat healthy! Are we so addicted to processed foods and sugar that we can’t get off that hamster wheel?
In 2019, the United States tied for 10th place (with Lithuania) among the world’s unhealthiest countries. And the reason for this is the rate of obesity and chronic health conditions.
We are doing something very wrong. And we’re not helping the next generation out of this mess.
So what can we do? First we need to become more aware – aware of what we are doing to ourselves and our children and grandchildren. I think if most of us were presented with a variety of foods, we could identify which ones were better for us to eat than others. But, we’re not choosing to eat them.
The next thing we need to do is develop tiny habits. What is one thing you can do today – one choice you can make that is a step toward eating healthier food? It’s unlikely that you or anyone will start today with good choices and be able to continue that as a habit. Just start with one thing today. Tomorrow is another chance to work on developing a healthier habit. Tiny steps turn into big results if repeated.
Here’s a quick and fun way to start becoming more aware. What type of eater are you?
Which number did you pick? Click HERE to see what type of eater you are!
Now – what is your next thing to do? Leave your comments below!
I’m Vicki Peel, former home economics teacher and educational administrator. If you are not receiving my emails, coupons, and freebies, look for the Subscribe block (below right) and submit your contact information. I will not share your information with anyone, and all the content you will receive as part of our community is free. I may occasionally promote someone else’s paid content, offer a product for your consideration or share an item that I think might be of use to you. However, you are under no obligation to purchase anything – ever. So, sign up now so you won’t miss anything during our March – June foods extravaganza!!
https://HERLifeHacks.com
by Vicki Peel | Mar 15, 2022 | Food |
Don’t think you have time to cook a family meal? Muffin pan recipes are one solution to that problem.
Muffin pan recipes allow you to prepare meals faster because you are cooking the food in smaller amounts. The less food you cook in a muffin pan cup, the faster it cooks. It’s that simple.
Watch me prepare two muffin pan recipes in under an hour! Of course, the video doesn’t include cooking time. I demonstrate all the preparation steps for cooking Mini Meatloaf and Mini Scalloped Potatoes. In addition to video time, add 12 minutes for assembling ingredients and equipment and 25 minutes cooking time. Under an hour!
Click HERE to view “Muffin Pan Meal in Under an Hour”
Want a copy of the recipes? Click on either of the titles below:
Muffin Pan Recipes (on a colorful fruit background)
Muffin Pan Recipes (on a gray dots background)
Please share your comments below!
I’m Vicki Peel, former home economics teacher and educational administrator. If you are not receiving my emails, coupons, and freebies, look for the Subscribe block (below right) and submit your contact information. I will not share your information with anyone, and all the content you will receive as part of our community is free. I may occasionally promote someone else’s paid content, offer a product for your consideration or share an item that I think might be of use to you. However, you are under no obligation to purchase anything – ever. So, sign up now so you won’t miss anything during our March – June foods extravaganza!!
https://HERLifeHacks.com
