Lorena in SD's Profile

My go-to freezer meals are casseroles: mac and cheese, and lasagna. To go low-carb, you could do a macaroni and cheese dish, but sub the macaroni with blanched cauliflower.

Instead of lasagna, you could also do my low-carb riff on eggplant parmigiana -- just broil slices of eggplant instead of breading and baking/frying, then layer those slices with marinara and shredded cheese (I like a mix of mozzarella and parmigiana).

Frozen meatballs are awesome, especially if they serve it alongside microwaved spaghetti squash and warm up a jar of marinara (or a frozen container of the homemade stuff, if you're so inclined).

To round out any of these meals, you could provide some frozen veggies, a marinated salad as someone else mentioned, or an easy bagged salad and a bottle of store-bought or homemade salad dressing.

Whatever you do, I'm sure it will be much appreciated!

@IG - would love to try out the variations you mentioned. Since tomato season is coming to a close in the U.S., I'd love to eat as many of them in as many recipes as possible! Thanks in advance.

Agreeing with JMORRI26 -- very cute and healthy, but I went with sugar for my son's birthday. Since he had two parties (one with family in the Midwest and one in Southern California), he had a two-layer buttercream cake with my in-laws in the Midwest and I made two cakes for his birthday party at home (a simple lemon cake with a drizzle of icing and a chocolate brownie cake filled with cannoli filling featuring pistachios and dark chocolate).

My son doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, so he only ate the lemon cake out of all the options presented (and he was even less interested in smashing them). Of course, the adults loved the brownie cannoli cake!

I think I just figured out what I'm making for breakfast tomorrow. Now, to dig out some sausage-y goodness from our freezer and get it defrosted in time...

I'm lucky to live in San Diego where Ballast Point Brewing and Spirits makes great beer, gin, rum and vodka. However, I'm excited to check out Caskers since my husband is a fan of small batch whiskey and bourbon.

We have packs of ramen on hand in our house for quick dinners in the winter. We usually add bok choy or celery, dried mushrooms, Sriracha and some bits of meat. But, the best way to use those noodles is for Filipino pancit, a stir-fried noodle dish. My grandmother even uses instant ramen noodles for informal occasions so she doesn't have to make a special trip to Seafood City to buy the traditional pancit noodles.

Just soak the noodles in warm water while you stir-fry some smashed cloves of garlic in olive oil. Add shredded cabbage, grated carrots and sliced shiitake mushrooms to the garlic-flavored oil, saute until cabbage is wilted, then add any diced bits of meat (leftover chicken and/or pork is good here; I've also used sliced inarizushi skins for a vegetarian version). Once everything is warmed, add the drained noodles and seasoned salt to taste. It's done once you're happy with the consistency of the noodles.

Serve it hot or at room temp with lemon slices on the side for a quick squirt of sour. You can also garnish it with diced boiled egg or diced green onions. This is a traditional party food and it always disappears whenever I bring it to a potluck.

I'm trying to convert my husband from bottled salad dressing to homemade. Maybe this will do the trick!

I order the salmon skin roll at my local sushi joint just because I love crispy fish skin so much! My father-in-law looked at me like I was crazy last time we had dinner (he baked some salmon), but I was in heaven -- crispy, salty and just a hint of fattiness. Heaven!

Wow. This looks healthy (sans sausage anyway), easy and delicious. I'm definitely making this the next time I need a quick and easy meal at work or when I'm alone at home. Yum!

We used to be tumbler people, and I never really noticed the difference. But, now, we seldom drink wine and find ourselves wanting to savor the experience (say, after the baby has gone to bed and I want to unwind). So, we bought some very nice Italian wineglasses for a very reasonable price at Marshalls. I would really recommend looking at a discount store first for wineglasses, especially if you're prone to breaking them (see: my husband) or if you have little ones afoot. They have alternating inventory, but the prices can't be beat. Salud!