Kid-free wish list for Mother's Day

To Cook or not to cook

Grocery shopping, recipe finding, leftovers  - as much as I love to cook and create new dishes I need a day off sometimes. But then having pizza or chinese food regularly is not really great for you. But what if someone else found the recipes, did the shopping and portioned meals so there were no leftovers to pack up or have for lunch?

Home Chef

Cooking is one of the many tasks moms do that is equally pleasurable and painful. Remove the painful aspect of cooking and get meal ingredients and recipes delivered to your front door. The recipes are great for any level of cook and are just like items you see on restaurant menus for twice the price. Picky eaters? Allergies? Not a problem for Home Chef. Simply give them your preferences and you will never see gluten or mushrooms in your box. Not sure your family will like a meal they suggest? Swap it out! Need more breakfasts than dinner? They do that too. Plus there is the added benefit that they really  know what they're doing when they deliver over 1.5 million meals per month!

My two favorite aspects of Home Chef after trying two meals with them - portion control and my husband cooked one night! It's so easy there are no more excuses for spouses, partners and even the children to have for not helping in the kitchen!

Zen of Slow Cooking

My slow cooker can be my best friend - and worst enemy smelling delicious food all day. But one of the hardest things about the recipes are the spice blends. Oftentimes you need a variety of spices and even with an overflowing cabinet of them, there’s always another I need. And then I only need it once. For the same price as that one jar of spice, you can get two spice packets from The Zen of Slow Cooking. Started by moms for moms, Zen Blends’ ingredients are carefully selected, starting with non-irradiated spices that are free of additives, chemicals and salt (exception: Smoky BBQ). Some blends feature whole spice infusions, which release their oils more slowly than ground spices and are ideal for slow cooking. They even give a a shopping list and recipe on the spice pack - how easy is that!

They currently offer 9 spice blends, including Coq au Vin (their best-seller), Daube Provençale (beef stew), Southwest Fiesta (chicken tortilla soup) and Smoky BBQ (pulled pork). They also offer seasonal Mulled Spices for wine and cider, plus a Sweet & Spicy cinnamon-based blend that’s ideal for breakfasts and desserts.

Maybe even better than the spice packets themselves, founders Meg Barnhart and Jane McKay outsource their packaging to Planet Access Company (PAC), a packaging, shipping and warehousing company that employs adults with developmental disabilities.

SoBakeable

SoBakeable is a baking box that takes the clutter out of baking without compromising quality. NO refridgerator doughs here! SoBakeable ships consumers a monthly box that includes two dessert kits with all ingredients pre-labeled and pre-measured. Just add the cold ingredients, mix, bake and serve! Choose from either a 3-month subscription for about $100 or grab a special Mother’s Day individual box for just $30. May’s Box includes their Shortbread Cookies (with a Lemon Glaze) and Vanilla Hydrangea Cupcakes (with a Blackberry Frosting).

Click next for a cause near and dear to moms

WordPress › Error

There has been a critical error on your website.

Learn more about debugging in WordPress.