Kelly Trepp, Author

I do not know how dinner decisions are made in your house, but usually when the topic of dinner comes up with my husband and I, there are roughly 40 texts exchanged throughout the work day that include suggestions and a lot of "IDK," "Ehh," and other indecisive forms of communication. We have been going through this dance for years. Eventually, we come to an agreement on what will satisfy both of us or one of us makes the decision and gets to cooking. When I was making my grocery list for this weekend's shopping trip, it suddenly hit me. Why don't I plan our meals out in advance? I know what you are thinking, isn't that what everyone does? But no. This had never occurred to me before. Thankyouverymuch. And if it works to keep me on track with my workouts, why not my meals? Not only will this BRILLIANT idea save me time trying to decide what to prepare during the week, but it also gives me the foresight to have the ingredients I need to try new re...

Now that we are in the middle of the holiday rush, do you feel like the sky is falling down? Don't know what or when to cook dinner? Here is a slow cooker recipe that is quick to throw together and produces fall-off-the-bone, juicy chicken! Slow Cooker Chicken 2-3lb Chicken Paprika Garlic Thyme 1 Chicken Bouillon Salt and Pepper Aluminum Foil Slow Cooker (Crock Pot) Wad three to five pieces of aluminum foil into three to four inch balls and place them in the bottom of the slow cooker. Place the chicken bouillon in the bottom of the slow cooker and pour over two cups of water. Clean the chicken with cool water and pat dry.  Season the chicken with the paprika, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper. Place the chicken in the slow cooker on top of the crumbled aluminum foil. Set the slow cooker to High for 1 hour, then turn down to Low for about 8 to 10 hours, or until the chicken is no longer pink and the juices run clear. This is the perfect recipe to prepare in the mornin...

A photographer I am not. As the weather turns cooler with winter's approach, I turn to cold weather recipes to warm up the Hubby and I. I saw this recipe for Lightened Loaded Potato Soup on Pinterest , and I had to give it a try! I made my own modifications to the recipe, of course. For starters, sour cream had to be removed from the ingredient list as Hubby despises mayonnaise, salad dressings, and generally anything white and creamy. This includes sour cream, unfortunately. I argued it is an essential ingredient in a loaded potato, but we did not have any in the house and I did not want to go to the store for one item... but I digress . I also replaced green onions with garlic chives that were miraculously still growing in my garden, which I have long since ceased caring for this year (A wedding will force you to neglect other aspects of your life). The original recipe also calls for preparing the potatoes and bacon in a microwave, which we do not have. So my instructio...

One of my easiest go to meals for dinner is Scallops over Fried Rice. It takes about 30 minutes , give or take rice cooking time, and is delicious every time. Trust me, the hubster was not very familiar with fish when we first started dating, but I've made him a believer in scallops. I've been working a lot of long days and, thanks to some road work, I have had a longer than usual commute time lately; so healthy, home cooked meals have been hard to come by since the wedding. I was thrilled to make it home in time to cook this meal for dinner. As a bonus, hubby had the rice ready and waiting for me when I got home. (Love you hubby!) To make things go quicker, I used frozen vegetables for this meal, though I typically peel carrots and chop onions and peppers. As you'll see from this recipe, I don't often use measurements in my dinner recipes (baking is a completely other story). I also don't like to tell people how to season their foods because different people...

I've been in a bit of a sprint to the finish with our wedding coming up and haven't had much time for preparing full meals. But fast food is pretty much the opposite of good for you food. Brinner (Breakfast for dinner) has always been a quick and easy alternative for dinner, but it can get boring. Why not spice it up? Enter: the pizza omelet! "Doesn't look delicious," you say? Think again. The key is in the marinara sauce. Here's what I put into my pizza omelet; a few items I already had in my fridge, thankfully. 2 Eggs, Beaten 1/4 cup organic 1% milk 1/4 cup ricotta cheese 2 baby bella mushrooms, sliced 10 turkey pepperoni slices 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella Ragu Chunky Marinara (it's what was in the fridge) Beat the eggs, milk and ricotta together. Pour into hot pan. Let set. Spread marinara over top of egg to your liking. Place mushrooms and pepperoni slices. Cover with mozzarella. Voila! I folded the egg creation like I would any omele...