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Most Americans aren’t gourmet cooks. In part it’s because of packed schedules.  Often they don’t have time to think about home cooking. Quick, healthy, inexpensive meals aren’t easy to plan, that’s the problem. People who have trouble with this, however, must not be paying much attention. Because between cooking shows, the Internet, and a wide variety of easy prepare wholesome foods at grocery stores, it’s not hard to come up with a seven day menu that satisfies everyone at the table. Here are a few good dinner ideas for delicious meals the whole family can enjoy.

One of the dinner ideas is preparing the corn dogs. An American favorite is the corn dog. While a little on the unhealthy side, it’s quick and good to eat. Coat the hot dogs with batter made of flour, corn meal, milk, salt, sugar and baking powder, then fry them until golden. You an even add a corn dog stick to make it feel authentic.

In colonial times, dinner was an afternoon meal, followed by a later light meal called supper. Social status and job type dictated changes in this over time. People who performed manual labor continued with the tradition of dinner to keep up their energy. As times change and we move away from regular meals at home, dinner has become the anchor that keeps families together and signals the end of the out of the home portion of the day and the beginning of at home leisure time. The meaning of supper and dinner have merged. That doesn’t mean the meal has to be large, especially for people watching their waist lines. Go more the dinner way with a lighter meal.

Another dinner idea is using crock pots.  Set it, forget it, then return home to a well cooked meal. Great food is possible in a crock pot, the entire meal too. Add some meat and some potatoes cut into quarters for a terrific pot roast. Serve it with a fresh baked loaf of bread picked up on the way home from the local supermarket. Or, skip the bread to avoid the extra calories.

The possibilities are endless with simple but delicious meals like veal cutlets, pork chops, even steaks on the grill. For more great dinner ideas, Google the term. There are tons on line.

 THICKENING YOUR CROCK POT MEAL

I have a terrible habit of rushing at the last minute with meals.  With the crock pot meals I often have all the flavors in, and of course the meat, (I am rushing here ha! ha!), but get to 20 mins before serving and have not thickened it.  At this stage, there are two ways of thickening the juice. One is to add your thickening to the crock pot and the other is to pour your juice into a pot or fryingpan and then thicken it there.

I use the 'in the crock pot' method if I have already added my flavorings earlier, but if I have to mix flavorings as well as thickening I put it into a frying pan as I feel this blends the flavors more easily.

One of the things I just love about crock pot cooking is that whatever meat you use for a 'stew' your meal is just the absolute best when cooked in a crock pot.

For the month of September 08 we are specialling our crock pot ebook.  You just need to go to our website at http://ebooksnowonline.com/cooking/crockpot/ and you will be able to purchase our 470 Crock Pot Recipes ebook and ALSO get  Desserts – Classic Collection  as a bonus!  All for the one price of  $7, normally $11.  

THAT'S RIGHT THIS IS FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER ONLY!

IF YOU ARE HEADING INTO WINTER, THEN CROCK POTS ARE JUST THE THING

I always thought they would be a good idea, but I never really got too fussed about it til I stayed with someone who used one all the time.  Gosh, I could see the value in time saving, never mind the fact that you would have a lovely tasty meal waiting at the end of the day.

470 Crock Pot Recipes is just perfect for finding the ideal recipe for the family, or for entertaining.  Sometimes you have to entertain at the end of a long work day, and a crock pot is just the answer.  Make the dessert the night before, and have the crock pot waiting.  What more could you ask for?