Dinner Sisters

Slow Cooker Tortellini Minestrone Soup, Slow Cooker Spinach and Artichoke Chicken, and Honey Balsamic Slow Cooker Ribs. At the end of the day, we’re always more about what works for you in your kitchen. Which means three recipes this week that can go either way - slow cooker or IP. Whatever you choose, we hope you find a recipe that works for your very own kitchen.

Family talks around the dinner table can be the highlight of the day. A time to connect with everyone after a time apart. But what if the littlest ones won’t participate? Betsy has some tips to get even the grumpiest, one-word-answering kid talking.

A meal in the fridge or freezer during a long week can make all the difference. It’s that “I’ve got this!” feeling all in a foil-wrapped breakfast burrito or a container of beans ready to spoon over toast. We’ve a few more recipes for just that feeling: Korean-style Beef Bulgogi Burgers, Savory Bread Pudding with Sausage and Escarole , and Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Beans and Guacamole. Any of these three recipes put you one step ahead of the game.

We are happy to have a ProTip from a listener and fellow podcaster, Marie. She’s all about making life in the kitchen easier for people with hungry (and little) mouths to feed. Her tip is all about doing double duty with roast chicken. If you’re going to roast one for dinner, why not another to have the start of quick meals the rest of the week? Pretty smart. Thanks, Marie!

A pot of beans can be the ultimate comfort food, warming you up on a cold winter night, saving your wallet during lean times, or as a quick start to a meal on a busy night. We take a trip to the hipster health food store with a Chickpea and Sunflower sandwich, make a Cuban version of black beans, and cook a Tuscan stew with a crunchy bread topping. Each one is a way to stretch your wallet and fill your belly with delicious food.

Knife Safety Likely the most used tool in the kitchen, knives can also be a bit of a hazard. Kate talks about her tips for knife safety learned from a few catering gigs and years of home cooking. In short: keep a sharp knife, let it drop, and never put a knife in the sink . A ProTip to keep you safe and happy in the kitchen. Win-win! Have a tip, trick, or advice? Email us at: dinnersisterspodcast@gmail.com.  Or send us a message on Facebook or Instagram. Can't wait to hear from you!

Chicken is a dinnertime staple in our kitchens for good reason. It’s inexpensive, flexible with many flavors, and easy to find in any grocery store. Take a peek around the food blogs and you’ll see this is also true for large swaths of the internet. Recipes abound for chicken breast, roasted chicken, chicken thighs...so many it’s easy to get overwhelmed and fall back to our tried and true. Hopefully this episode can give you three recipes that can, gently, push you out of your chicken rut.

Whether you’re looking for a bit of crunch for the top of a salad or making some decadent chocolate chip walnut cookies, sometimes you need just a few toasted nuts to make a recipe. Kate has a quick and easy tip for toasting nuts: use the microwave. Less burning, less time, but happier cooks. Sounds like a ProTIp to us.

Join us as we try a few traditional and out-of-the-box pizza recipes this week. We baked up and reviewed Carrot, Pine Nut, and Parmesan Skillet Pizza with Creamy Roasted Garlic Sauce, the Best Ever Cauliflower Pizza Crust, Muffin Tin Pizza Bombs and stromboli.

Our listener Ed shares with us his technique for cooking a little easier and being a little more relaxed in the kitchen: a mise en place. Ed explains how having all his ingredients prepped before he begins makes dinnertime that much more enjoyable. Have a tip, trick, or advice? Email us at: dinnersisterspodcast@gmail.com or send us a message on Facebook or Instagram.

Every week we feature experts and home cooks who share pro-tips to make dinnertime a little better. Have a tip, trick, or advice? Email us at: dinnersisterspodcast@gmail.com or send us a message on Facebook or Instagram.

March is here, which means citrus season is in full swing. We can’t get enough grapefruit, sumo oranges, and clementines this time of year. Good thing we have three recipes that use some of those gorgeous fruits in some bright and tangy recipes. We have you covered with a weeknight beef stir fry, a savory marinade and glaze for pork chops, and a waffle recipe for a fancy brunch or breakfast for dinner. As long as citrus is here, we are taking full advantage.

We’re having an anniversary party! The Dinner Sisters have been around for a whole year and we think that’s reason to celebrate. 1 Betsy’s favorite, bacon-wrapped dates, show up with a twist. A Spanish tortilla is on the menu to serve a crowd (and won’t break your budget). Rounding out the party, we have roasted red peppers with garlic and olive oil that just might be the best pantry-friendly appetizer we’ve found.

Ancient grains may seem like a marketing ploy (and maybe they are…) but we love them for the deliciously different taste they give to our dinners. We break out of our rice, wheat, and corn rut with quinoa, farro, and buckwheat. Try something new with us and see what you think.

As part of the Ten Speed Ambassadors program we were able to review Andrea Nguyen’s latest cookbook, Vietnamese Food Any Day. (Thanks for the free book Ten Speed!) We had to try out the recipes for ourselves and they were a hit. (Please know, all opinions are our own. ) Betsy was lucky enough to be able to talk with Andrea Nguyen about her cookbook, favorite fish sauce, and a tip for cooking rice that we know will come in handy.