Help them help you.

Question: What do all of the above pictured have in common?

Answer: They are all homemade meals that have an optional short cut starting point.

Take the homemade chicken tostadas for example (pictured top left). For awhile, somehow I got a kick on making these on a Tuesday. I would take L to ninja class, walk right past the awesomely authentic Mexican spot, and drive home and fry up some tortillas.

Um…HELLO!

I felt like shaking myself all Jerry Maguire style. HELP THEM HELP YOU. Why was I wasting time frying up tortillas? It added 10 minutes that sometimes we as moms/dads/college students/ceos/teachers, etc, just don’t have. Not to mention it messes up the kitchen!

I mentioned to my good friend that finally I figured it out and picked up the shells and she almost baffled asked ‘they’ll sell those?’

Well, they aren’t exactly on the menu – but believe me, they’ll (and most places) sell anything. I walked out with 5 shells, a bag of plain chips, and went home to finish up the tostadas served with homemade guacamole. Saved prep time and cleaning time. Completely worth the $2.07 I paid.

I’m almost embarrassed it took me weeks to put that together but now that I did – help me help you:

Chicken tostadas: (again, pictured top left). Obviously you know about shells. Another great short cut (mentioned in the recipe post) is using rotisserie chicken. I have a routine of roasting mine earlier in the day (precisely during my walking and bus pick up time with B – 3:20-4:10) but I know not everyone has this option. Rotisserie works great.

Date night in pizza: (pictured top right). Pick up the pizza dough from your favorite pizzeria. Or better yet, pick up an already baked pizza dough. No rolling!

Spring minestrone: (pictured bottom left). Prep the soup and add Trader Joe’s mini chicken meatballs. (Thanks Molly for this great idea!)

Pesto Gnoochi: (pictured bottom right) Store bought gnocchi – couldn’t be easier. Is anyone making this homemade? Oh wait, I have a friend that totally does. And she also just ran the Boston Marathon. I know – impressive!

The best part about all of these? With the helping hand, none take more than 10 minutes to prep. Promise.

Eat up!
C

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Courtney

Courtney is a wife to M and a mom of two boys, L (8) and B (3). Most of her blogging is done frantically during nap time in between laundry, cleaning, and the occasional housewives rerun. Or the brief hour or so that she can stay awake after the boys go down for the night. She loves her sleep. Read more...

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