I’m a busy lady (I’d say “girl,” but teetering on the cusp of 30 makes me feel like I should start referring to myself as an adult). Family dinner is important to me and mine; I spend a good chunk of time in the kitchen as a result. But you know what? Being a gourmet goddess in the kitchen isn’t always as easy or as time-sensitive as one might like.  Enter Shirley J, the wizard of “Cooking Made Easy.”

Shirley J has been locally owned and located right here in Utah for over 30 years. Their products have been tried and tested in commercial kitchens and are now available to help simplify the lives of us everyday chefs. The basic concept behind Shirley J is to provide you, er…us,  with the tools and ingredients necessary to make your time in the kitchen as easy and quick as possible: “Every product incorporates a no-fail, ‘just add water’ formula to ensure simplicity and perfection. The finished product refrigerates, freezes and reheats beautifully, cutting down on waste and making each meal as delicious as the first.”

The Sassies spent some time in the Shirley J test kitchen last week with Becky (you may know her on Twitter as @DomesticBecky), their resident social media and PR expert, as well as culinary secret weapon Chef Brian. Chef Brian managed to pull together several dishes out of seemingly thin air in the short time we were there using Shirley J products, including but certainly not limited to, calzones complete with different fillings and a warm marinara for dipping, spring salad (with bacon just for Becca, our guest Sassy) and a fresh vinaigrette, bbq sauces of all varieties and a few others. Becky was also kind enough to send us all home with a variety of Shirley J products to try on our own.

So how did the Sassies fare and what did we think of our test kitchen time? Did we have any success with the Universal Sauce mix, Pizza & Pasta seasoning, Slow Cooker seasoning, BBQ Sauce Mix or Onion  seasonings? Or did Chef Brian show us up in the end? Stay tuned for Wednesday’s post to find out!

In the mean time be sure to check out Shirley J online! You can purchase their products from their website, their Orem location or from select specialty stores like Bosch.

Their main site can be found here: http://www.shirleyj.com

For recipes and ideas see the Shirley J blog here: http://www.shirleyj.com/blog

or on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shirley-J

Twitter: @shirley_j

Flickr stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shirley_j/

For How-Tos see their YouTube channel here: http://www.youtube.com/user/ShirleyJvids