Can The Dinner Dilemma Be Solved In As Few As Five Minutes? (NAPSA)—Anew survey found that today’s time-starved home cooks really do like to cook (49 percent), but have little time to think about meal preparation. In fact, 28 percent of respondents indicated that they decide what to serve for dinner one hour or less in advance. “As a working mother, I know that simple and fast are key when preparing dinner for your family,” said Mary Donkersloot, registered dietitian and author of The FastFood Diet: Quick and Healthy Eating at Home and On the Go. “By incorporating a few of today’s convenience products into your recipe routine, you can serve a nutritious dinner in no time. The key is to keep your kitchen stocked with time-saving products.” Donkersloot offers these tips for home cooks who crave less kitchen duty and more dinner table time: * Don’t miss out on meat for the main course. Thomas E. Wilson ready-to-serve roasts, for example, are fully cooked family dinner meats from select cuts that can be heated in the microwave and ready to serve in aslittle as five minutes. * Take advantage of quickcooking grains like couscous, rice or pasta that can become easy, Four Hours Vefore versatile menu items in minutes. Add flavor and variety with toasted walnuts, chopped roasted red peppers—look for them in cans and jars at the supermarket—or a cup of your family’s favorite salsa. * Round out the menu with savvy side dishes such as a salad assembled from pre-washed, precut lettuces and other vegetables like baby carrots, cherry tomatoes and sliced mushrooms. * If you’re having trouble getting your kids to eat vegetables, top with a teaspoon or two of butter, margarineor olive oil and season with a dash of salt. This is not the place to save on fat gramsif it means getting children to eat their veggies. * Whenyou do take the time to cook, make your efforts really worthwhile. A basic rule of cooking—whether for one, two or more—is to make enough food for more than one meal each time you cook. For example, you can serve a Thomas E. Wilson beef or pork roast for dinner and turn any leftovers into sandwiches for lunch the next day. Whenit comes to planning dinner, 41 percent of home cooks say their biggest influence is quick and convenient meals; 31 percent say it’s something everyone will like; and 18 percent say it’s nutrition. New ThomasE. Wilson fully cooked and already carved pork and beef roasts offer a solution to all three dinner essentials. The seven varieties offer nutritious main courses with traditional tastes that can be ready to serve in as little as five minutes. The seven varieties of Thomas E. Wilson roasts include Italian Seasoned Pork Roast, Lemon Pepper Pork Roast, Seasoned Meatloaf, Beef Pot Roast, Beef in Barbecue Sauce, Roast Beef in Brown Gravy and Seasoned Beef Sirloin Roast. The roasts are available in the grocer’s fresh meat case for a suggested retail price of $6.99 to $7.99. For more information and dinner tips, visit the Web site at www.thomasewilson.com.
