Preparing dinner is even easier when you roast everything on a sheet pan… oh, and clean-up is a snap!

This is a great recipe to whip out during the week because you can mix and match the spices based on what you have on hand: Greek (lemon+garlic+oregano), Chinese (ginger+garlic+soysauce) or Italian (basil+garlic+tomatoes). Steam some veggies or make a big salad and voilà! Dinner Dilemma solved.

I like using chicken thighs for sheet pan meals because they won’t dry out in the oven like boneless skinless chicken breasts often do. They’re also less expensive, which is always a plus in my book! Click here for the step-by-step tutorial on how to make the fabulous Sheet Pan Moroccan Chicken.

Tip: Get the kids to help with dinner by letting them peel and section the citrus fruit!

Like this recipe? Here’s more super easy dinner ideas: Easy Ravioli Bake and Island Chicken Drummies.

Life around my house is lived as though someone stepped on the accelerator—going 80 miles an hour, everything and everyone in constant motion (that happens when you have five kids). Lots of running around.

Last month is a good example—getting everyone ready to go back to school is a balancing act… no, a juggling act, beyond compare. Clothes to pack. Doctor appointments. School supplies. Planes to catch. Trains to catch.

And no real time for meals.

So, it’s kind of ironic that my salvation during all this activity isn’t something that moves fast. Just the opposite…it moves slowly. Methodically. It’s my slow cooker…and it’s a life-saver. Uh, make that a time-saver.

My good friends at Hamilton Beach sent me their Set & Forget 6-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker to try out. What do I think? In three words: I. Love. It.

What’s really great is that I’m able to prep meals the night before… like this Slow Cooker Pork Roast with Green Salsa recipe. First I sliced an onion really thick and put the slices in the bottom of the Slow Cooker’s crock. I rubbed the pork shoulder with spices and set it on top of the onions… and then put the crock in the fridge.

The next morning I added the chicken stock and programmed the Slow Cooker to be ready by the time I got home. The salsa is so easy to prepare, I made it while I got the rest of dinner ready, but you can also prepare it in advance.

I shredded the pork, stirred in half of the salsa and served it with warm tortillas so everyone could make their own tacos as we all sat down for dinner… and put on the brakes for a little while.

And if you have any salsa leftover, it goes great with eggs the next morning!

One other cool thing is that this slow cooker comes with a temperature probe so that you can cook large cuts of meat, whole chickens or even turkey breasts by relying on the internal food temperature to test for doneness.

I used the probe to cook a 4-pound chicken on High in about 4 hours (internal temperature 180°F in the chicken’s thigh). The skin didn’t crisp up and brown the way I like it, so I but it in a roasting pan under the broiler for about 5 minutes… beautiful!

One more thing… head on over to my friend, Miz Helen’s Country Cottage, to find more delicious recipes… just like this one!

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September is No Kid Hungry Month and, believe it or not, you have the opportunity to help fight hunger with your fork.

The average person will eat 90 meals in the month of September… we’re talking breakfast, lunch and dinner. That means you have 90 opportunities (well, since it’s September 3, a few less now) to dine out and make a difference for the 1 in 5 kids struggling with hunger in your community and mine.

This month, thousands of restaurants around the country are donating a portion of your meal tab to help kids get breakfast before school, after school meals and food in the summer. The money will also be used to teach kids the benefits of healthy eating and cooking.  To find a restaurant near you, click here.

If there are no participating restaurants in your area, you can still make a tax-deductible donation to No Kid Hungry… just click here. Did you know that $1 can provide a child with as many as 10 meals?

I believe every child deserves three meals a day… every day. How about you?

Just as we’re all about to make that deep dive into holiday cooking, the Food and Drug Administration says 12-percent of spices brought into the U.S. are contaminated with insects, rodent hairs and who knows what else.

Please… don’t pass the pepper.

The FDA took a hard look at the safety of spice imports and also found that 7-percent were contaminated with the toxic bacteria salmonella (particularly in pepper, sesame seeds and oregano).

The FDA’s report says Mexico and India had the highest amount of contamination. Most of the problems originated in the processing and storage of the spices… not harvesting. Did you know one-quarter of the spices, food colorings and oils used in the U.S. come from India?

So, what can you do to protect your family?

Cooking will take care of the potential for salmonella poisoning, but won’t help with the bits of insects, hair and other detritus.

The BEST solution is to buy whole certified organic spices (like black pepper, cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.), wash them and grind them at home with an electric grinder. A lot of work, I agree, and not really practical (not to mention expensive).

Another idea is to buy your spices in bulk from reputable spice companies like The Spice House, Frontier Herbs or Mountain Rose Herbs. They tell you exactly where the spices originated so you can make an informed decision as to whether to purchase.

But here’s my question for you: Will the FDA report change how you cook this holiday season?