Am I the only person that sometimes gets the idea that a good meal takes a long time to cook? I hope not. I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that I’m often so busy that when it comes to mealtime I often find myself making what’s quick or familiar. Sure, I’d like to cook more things from scratch but I just don’t always have time to try new dishes or money to buy ingredients I don’t regularly use. Sometimes I think it’s almost impossible for our dinner routine to not be old.
Thanks to Mom Central I’ve learned about a terrific website called Making Life Better. Unilever created this site in order to help us find ways to live better and make our dollars go further. Unilever makes many brands that you’re already using or familiar with including Ragu, Skippy, Slim Fast, Bertolli, Ben & Jerry’s, Breyers, Country Crock and Good Humor. They also make many non-food products including Dove, Axe, All, Caress and Degree. The site offers money saving ideas and tips for many aspects of life including food, beauty and wellness. There’s even a section of coupons and special offers.
My favorite part of the site is the recipes section. I saw recipes on the site that sounded good enough to call gourmet but required only regular ingredients that many of us have in our cabinets. I thought it was great that the recipes clearly mention prep time, cooking time, cost per meal and cost per serving. And, the recipes include pictures! The recipe Quick Search allows you to search by keyword, meal type, cooking method and ingredient. . I also liked the Recipe Roundup, which grouped like meals together for easier browsing.
I found a recipe for Country Style Glazed Ham on the site. I make ham all the time but I’ve never tried making a glaze. This recipe makes the glaze sound so simple that I’m going to make it this Easter. The really cool thing that I learned on the site is that in this Sunday’s (April 5) newspaper there will be an offer to get up to $20 back on your ham or turkey purchase by mail when you buy $40 in Unilever products. We use a lot of their products already, like I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter sticks and Shedd’s Spread Country Crock, so my Easter dinner will be almost free. Some of my other favorites from the site include Cheddar Chicken Pasta & Vegetable Skillet Dinner, Country-Italian Chicken & Potatoes and Parmesan Crusted Chicken.
This site is terrific! It’s easy to navigate and contains tons of helpful information. I know now why Lipton Recipe Secrets Onion Soup Mix has that name – it’s amazing how many dishes can be made using an envelope of that mix! I have found the site to be very helpful and have added it to the bookmarks on my toolbar. I’ve even registered for the site so that I could save recipes and articles, and I signed up for the newsletter.
There’s something for everyone on Making Life Better so be sure to check it out.