Christa Wagner

Our Meal Planning Made Easy System Helps You Get Dinner On The Table Every Night

You’ve heard me talk about my Mom in the kitchen before.  She is amazing.  My Mom can look into a the emptiest of fridges and make a masterpiece. I wish I had that skill as I am more of a cookbook cook, but I have learned a few of her shortcuts from the pro along the way.

1. Fast and Curios BBQ Kielbasi:  Now I know this sounds strange, but I can personally guarantee there will be no leftovers with this appy.  Slice store bought kielbasi and boil for 20 minutes in water.  Drain.  Take equal parts grape jelly and nothing fancy yellow mustard and bring to a simmer.  Add cooked kielbasi and simmer for 15 more minutes to marinade.  Serve with toothpicks.  Could also be a dinner at brat size. 
2. Alfredo Sauce in Minutes:  Warm butter in the microwave, add fat free half and half, bring to a simmer and then add Parmesan cheese.  Pour over your favorite pasta.  Mangia!
3. Take Advantage of Packets:  Like Taco seasoning, Fajita seasoning and Italian dressing seasoning.  All can make a fast and yummy dinner. 
4. Zucchini Parmesan:  Slice zucchiniand simmer in olive oil and garlic stovetop.  Add stewed tomatoes until soft.  Serve with Parmesan cheese. 
5. Roasted Potatoes:  I am proud to say these are actually my shortcut potatoes and they are so good I made them for Thanksgiving last year.  I made them according to recipe and then thru them into the turkey juices for the last 20 minutes.  Outstanding!  Lay two sheets of foil on top of each other, spray with cooking spray.  Cut as many potatoes as you need and quarter them.  Add olive oil, fresh garlic and rosemary (of whatever herb you have).  Top with foil and crimp.  Grill on medium heat for 30 minutes, rotating. 
6. Grilling:  5 Minutes on each side.   My Mom’s (actually my Dad’s) solutions for just about everything on the grill is 5 minutes on each side.  Chicken is the exception which is 20 minutes total at 5, 5, 5 and 5 flipping.  So add some terriaki sauce, BBQ sauce, Italian dressing, pesto or just about any marinade to meat or fish and grill it on medium for 5 minutes on each side. 
7. Blueberry Ice Cream:  Water and a packet of sugar, simmer on the stove for a five minutes.  Cool and serve over vanilla ice cream.  Fantastic and decadent. 
   

   Mom and Me In the Kitchen

8. Diet Fruit Dip:  Vanilla yogurt, lite cool whip, 1/2 packet sugar free Kool Aid or 1/2 small tub of Crystal Light (flavor is your choice(.  Mix and chill.  Serve with favorite fruit.   1/4 cup is 1 point on Weight Watchers.

I could go on and on.  The one thing my Mom has always taught me was to have fun in the kitchen and to keep short cut tools on hand.  Have fun with cooking and come up with your own shortcuts. 

For more help use our Meal Planning Made Easy system with step-by-step reminders to make meal planning and shopping easier for busy people.  For less than the price of take out, you can get dinner on the table every night.

By the way, my Mom also happens to be a great travel agent.  Her business is Personalized Travel and she can help you plan your next fabulous vacation at gigi.patchen@aol.com. 

Christa Wagner is a Vancouver Professional Organizer and founder of Savvy Solutions.  As a professional organizer, We bring the plan, the products and the know-how to get organized and stay organized. We help you decide what’s important and make sure you have the right tools at your finger tips.

As a professional organizer, I am always looking for new products to share with my clients and here’s one I came across the other day (from a friend on Facebook).  The company is called SpiceTable and the product is SpiceCare; a spice storage system. 

With the SpiceCare system, “You keep spices them fresh and simplify storage–in containers as distinctive as the spices they contain.”  The SpiceCare System is sold as a convenient boxed set or as individual containers, allowing you to build the perfect size spice collection for your needs. Extra screens, lids and labels are also available to help you manage and organize your growing collection.

SpiceCare could be a potential product choice for you if you have limited kitchen storage space, if you need to see things to know they are there and if prefer aesthetically appealing products on the kitchen counter.   Check it out and let me know what you think! 

Vancouver Professional Organzer, Christa Wagner, and founder of Savvy Solutions brings the plan, the products and the know-how to get organized and stay organized.

I recently received my POC Talk newsletter and was shocked and thrilled to see that I have been nominated for the 2009 Harold Taylor  Organizing Award.  What an honor and a surprise!!!  Thank you so much to whoever nominated me.  I did not see this coming and am just thrilled to be apart of such a distinguished list of organizers. 

Nominees are the people who have been recognized by their peers as having given something back to POC, its members, and the organizing industry. The winner will be announced at the National POC Conference in Calgary this November.  I will be a speaker the conference am looking forward to meeting many organizers. 

Thank you for this honor.  I am proud to be apart of POC and have always wanted to give as much as I can to other organizers and the organizing industry.

Proud Biz Owner - 2004

July 1st is Savvy Solutions 5 Year Anniversary!!!!  It’s hard to believe that it’s been five years since I launched.    In that time, we have worked with hundreds of clients on complex organizing projects as well as the simplest of organizing projects that made a huge difference in our client’s lives.  My business has grown, changed and developed and I could not have done it without the support of my clients, family, friends, other organizers and most of all my hubby John. 

Christa