Top 10 Answers to Telemarketers

We have all been there, you get home from a long days work, start to prepare dinner and that's when it starts... Telemarketers know that you're home, busy, distracted and most likely willing to do anything to get off the phone!

It's happened to me so many times that I want to share how I deal with telemarketers. I want to share my top ten answers that I give telemarketers when they call. Trust me these work! I almost get no phone calls at all now from telemarketers.

Top 10 Answers to Telemarketers:

10. My Brother does that
9. We're broke...lost all our money in Vegas
8. I'm just the babysitter
7. Getting a divorce and selling the house
6. That' the job I do
5. Yes I am interested but have 1 week to live
4. Sorry having sex, can I call you back
3. Saving my money for my sex change
2. I have to ask my mom before making a decision
1. Hablo español?

If you have any answers that have worked, please share them with us!

Kevin P.

Greek Rice

Dinner time!! The most popular side dish to any meat is rice. Now I have a quick easy recipe for Greek rice. Many people, including my family, use the prepackaged rice but sometimes I get the urge to use the old fashion "real" rice.

How to Prepare Greek Rice for 4:
1 cup white long grain rice
Juice of 1 lemon
Instant Chicken Stock, we use the Knorr instant mix
Salt
Pepper

Directions:
Boil 2 cups of water in a pot, add two teaspoons of the instant chicken stock. Once the water has come to a boil add the rice. Once the rice is ready add some salt, pepper and the juice on the lemon. Let simmer for about 2 min and then serve. An option would be to ad some dried Oregano to the rice to ad a bit more flavor. Happy Cookin!

Weekly Dinner Planner

Planning your dinner for the week is one action that will save both time, stress and help eliminate that "What's for dinner" question! There are many things to consider when planning your meals for the week.

Things to consider when planning your meals:

• Nights where someone is working late
• Going out to the parents, friends or restaurant for dinner
• Wild Card Night (one night during the week you order out)
• Nights when you have time to cook and those you don't

What we do is each Sunday night we plan our meals for the week. We check what we have in the fridge and freezer and work with that. This way if there is a special meal you want to make you can see right away if you need to head to the grocery store. Most important is having your meal plan accessible. There are many tools you can use to record your meal plan, I find that Google Calendar is the best because you can access it from home or work.

Good luck and Happy Cookin!

Lamb for Easter

Easter for my family is huge...and when a meal is being planned you can guarantee that nobody goes home hungry. This year Easter was special, we had my wife's and Nadia's family over at my parents. Now there are some foods that are a must for any Easter celebration. This year the center attraction was a 35 lbs lamb! With roasting a lamb there are several pieces that need to be set so that it's a success. First is to order the lamb. This year we bought the lamb from Mourelatos. The lamb spit was built by Astro Machine Shop (my father-in-laws company). My uncle and aunt came from Vermont to help marinate and sew up the lamb (a very tricky procedure). We started to clean the lamb at 9am to get it on by 10am. We started by cleaning the lamb and marinating the inside. We then put the lamb on the spit, made sure it was secure and placed in on the rotisserie. For a lamb this size it took around 6 hrs.

The marinade for the lamb (whether chops, shanks or a whole lamb) is very important and simple. Mix together Olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, salt and pepper. If you are preparing chops or shanks, better to marinate for 24 hrs. For the whole lamb because it's on the spit, you marinate throughout the 6 hrs. In the end the lamb was amazing, the taste, the smell the look, everything came together.

If you want more information about purchasing a rotisserie or cooking lamb, please feel free to contact me. Happy Cookin!

A great marriage starts with dinner?

Quite often Jason and I decide to have a nice romantic dinner together.  No music, no television, no internet, no phones...  Just him and I, having a nice, slow enjoyable dinner where we catch up on our day and our week.  We simply sit together and share a meal or wine, great conversation and a kiss here and there.  

It sounds so small and maybe even cheesy but that quality time with your loved one can be so relaxing and incredible.  Jason and I are both extremely busy people but we have made it a point to spend quality time with each other no matter what.  We all have our excuses but taking that time for our loved ones can make a world of difference!

Why not have a romantic dinner tonight?

Bruschetta

So you have company coming over and you want to make an appetizer that's easy and tasty. Bruschetta is easy to make, healthy and also impressive.

How to make Bruschetta:
6 Italian tomatoes
Oregano
1/4 cup Olive oil
1 tble spool Balsamic vinegar
Salt
Pepper

Directions:
Cut the tomatoes into 1/2" pieces and place in a mixing bowl. Add the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Mix in the remaining ingredients to taste. The key in to let the mixture marinate for about 30 min in the fridge. Cut a fresh baguette into 1" slices and place in a bread basket. Put the Bruschetta mixture in a nice bowl and spoon it onto a piece of bread. Enjoy and happy cookin!

Sausage, Peppers and Pasta

Pasta Night! I decided to make a little twist to our pasta dish tonight. A very easy recipe that will both impress in appearance and taste.

How to make "Sausage, Peppers and Pasta" for 2:
Two Sausages
1 Red Pepper
Your favorite pasta
Olive Oil
Oregano

Preparation: Heat some Olive Oil in a frying pan. While the oil is warming up cut the sausages and pepper in to 1" pieces and place them in the pan.

Cook the sausage and peppers on medium-low heat.

While the sausage and peppers are cooking boil some water for the pasta. A little trick to help the water boil faster is to add some sea salt to the water. Once the Pasta is ready strain it and put it in a big bowl. When the peppers are tender, they are ready. Add the sausage and peppers mixture to the bowl and sprinkle olive oil and oregano. All that's left to do is toss and serve. Happy Cookin!

Simple Fast Stir-Fry

We've all been there. Time to prepare supper, you open the fridge and you have very few ingredients to cook with..... Here is a simple, healthy, easy meal that looks as good as it tastes.

How to make "Simple Fast Stir-fry" for 2:

1 Red Pepper

1 Onion

1 Broccoli

Pre cooked and cut chicken - you can pick this up at Costco or any other grocery store. Great to have in the freezer!

Package of Asian noodles and Sauce - you can pick this up at any grocery store

Preparation: Cut the red pepper and onion into thin strips. Cut the broccoli into 2" pieces. Pour some canola oil in the Wok or large frying pan and heat at Med Heat on the stove. Add the veggies to the Wok and cook until the veggies are somewhat tender, at this point add the pre-cooked chiken and continue cooking until the veggies are fully cooked. On the side prepare the noodles as per the instruction on the noddle package. Once the noodles are done, mix with veggies/chicken in a large bowl. Add the stir-fry sauce, stir everything together and enjoy. Happy Cookin!

What's for dinner?

"What's for dinner?", a question we have all come face to face with and have tried to avoid or just can't answer. The end result is ordering out, eating out or preparing frozen meals. In my experience, this question can cause stress especially for those who can't cook. My name is Kevin and I am here to help you answer the "What's for dinner?" question. I will be discussing cooking on a budget, simple meals, setting up a weekly meal plan, entertainment food menus and how to pick that perfect wine even if you know nothing about wine. So stay tuned and happy cookin!