Food For Thought: Menu Planning Tips to Keep Your Holidays Jolly

In the hustle-bustle of the holidays, it is so easy to have good intentions go awry. Every year the reminder that you need to get on the stick and get organized to make the holidays happen, is exacerbated by the fact that the retailers can’t seem to resist putting the holiday decorations out earlier and […]

Dinner Diva: Menu Makeover – Making Side Dishes Respectable

Some of the tastiest sides to load onto your plate at a summer barbecue or any other buffet table are French fries, mashed potatoes, rice, and coleslaw. Now, sadly, none of those sides are really great for you if you’re eating the classic version of the list above. However, there is a way to make […]

What’s Looming in Your Leftovers

Food For Thought What’s Looming in Your Leftovers by Leanne Ely, CNC A question that I’m asked a lot is: how many days can my leftovers be safely stored in the fridge? Honestly, I really don’t let the day count climb higher than 4 days. And it shouldn’t take that long to get around to […]

Food For Thought: The Ultimate Pantry Stock-Up

I am a big believer in planning your menus and knowing what’s for dinner (good thing because I am the Dinner Diva!), but sometimes, even best intentions get thrown to the wayside. Stuff comes up, things happen, and you need an alternate plan—and I’m not talking drive-thru! What to do? Go to the pantry! If […]

5 Tips for Stress-Free Catering

Dinner Diva 5 Tips on Stress-Free Catering by Leanne Ely, CNC   A few weeks back, I threw a bash for my husband’s birthday and had nearly 50 people in our house. The food was enjoyable, fun and beautifully presented. I had people falling over themselves thinking I had cooked it all from scratch–well hardly! […]

DD – Planning for Success

Dinner Diva Planning for Success by Leanne Ely CNC You know that old saying “Failure to plan is planning to fail?” This old adage holds true in our businesses, our homes, and every aspect of our lives. Flying by the seat of your pants only leads to stress, mistakes, and often costs you more time […]

Menu Planning Isn’t Brain Surgery

It’s so funny how perspective changes over time. Years and years ago (back in the dark ages when I was a newlywed), I just loved to be spontaneous and fun about dinner. “Let’s go out”, I’d announce knowing it really wasn’t in the budget. Or the conversation would go something like this, “What do you […]

Menu Plan for Pete’s Sake!

When you choose to not plan, you choose to live in an unprepared state. Think about what that means for a minute. Being unprepared means chaos, confusion and regret. Living life in a state of perpetual unpreparedness is highly stressful. Why do we do this to ourselves? In the kitchen and in the food department […]

Menu Planning

Buddy Hackett once said, “My mother’s menu consisted of two choices. Take it or leave it.” That’s what my mother’s menu consisted of, too. We had the choice of eating the dinner she prepared or leaving the table hungry. If we didn’t like what she prepared, we weren’t allowed to make ourselves a PB & […]