A Savvy Weeknight Family Meal

(Family Features) Because this time of year can be crazy busy, drive-thru meals can easily become the norm. While fast-food burgers may do the trick once in a while, they can get old quick if your family is eating them every other night. This quick and easy Baked Spaghetti can bring everybody back to the table and it won’t break the bank either. Find more weeknight dinner inspiration at Culinary.net.

Watch video to see how to make this recipe!

Baked Spaghetti
Recipe courtesy of “Cookin’ Savvy”
Servings: 4-6

• 1          pound ground beef
• 1          pound spaghetti noodles
• 1          jar (16 ounces) alfredo sauce
• 1          jar (24 ounces) marinara sauce
• 2          tablespoons garlic powder
• 2          tablespoons onion powder
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• 2          cups shredded cheese
• French bread or breadsticks, for serving

1. Heat oven to 350 F.
2. Brown and drain ground beef. Cook noodles according to package instructions. Drain noodles; add alfredo sauce and mix well.
3. Add marinara sauce, garlic powder and onion powder to ground beef. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
4. Place noodles in 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Spoon beef mixture on top but do not mix in. Cover with shredded cheese then cover with foil and bake 30-40 minutes.
5. Serve with French bread or breadsticks.

SOURCE:
Culinary.net

Chelsea Sherlock, Mississippi State University and Erik Markin, Mississippi State University

Imagine going on a road trip and passing several seemingly identical McDonald’s restaurants. Despite their uniform appearance, their ownership may vary widely: One might be run by a family, another by an individual entrepreneur, and others owned directly by the corporation.

This is possible because McDonald’s, like many other well-known fast-food restaurant chains, operates a under a franchise business model. Franchising allows companies to grow by licensing their brand to independent operators, who then manage day-to-day operations.

Ownership structure can significantly affect performance, profitability and other business outcomes, research shows. As professors who study family businesses, we were curious whether it could also be linked to health and safety outcomes.

We hypothesized that family-operated franchises would receive fewer health code violations compared with nonfamily-operated restaurants. Our reasoning was grounded in previous research showing that family-owned businesses often prioritize maintaining a strong reputation over short-term profits.

To test this, we analyzed health code violations at 1,492 quick-service restaurants across the southeastern U.S., categorizing them across three ownership types: family-owned, lone-founder and corporate-owned. We did this by analyzing public franchise disclosure documents and identifying whether one person, two or more members of the same family, or a parent company was listed as the owner.

The results surprised us. We found that family-owned franchises received more health code violations than both lone-founder and corporate-owned outlets. Family-owned franchises also had more frequent “critical” health code violations, like food contamination contributing to food poisoning.

In contrast, we found that corporate-owned franchises generally performed better in terms of health and safety.

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Why would family-run businesses lag behind? We suspect it’s because company representatives visit corporate-run franchises more often, which ensures better compliance with health and safety standards. Lone-founder franchises also showed strong health code performance, possibly due to owners’ high level of personal investment and control.

While family-run franchises often excel at long-term goals – like preserving a family legacy and fostering community ties – our findings suggest they may struggle with day-to-day operational compliance pertaining to health and safety.

Why it matters

This study adds to the research on how different types of franchise ownership can influence performance outcomes – both financial and nonfinancial. It also offers several insights into why family-owned franchises might struggle with operational outcomes.

First, family-owned franchises may lack the frequent oversight that corporate-owned outlets receive, reducing their accountability for meeting health and safety standards.

Second, family-owned franchises may prioritize maintaining family harmony over strictly following rules set down by the head office. This can result in poor performance.

Finally, conflicts can arise when franchisees and franchisors have diverging goals. Research shows that family businesses often emphasize noneconomic goals like long-term reputation maintenance and less external monitoring, and thus generally have more conservative investment preferences. These tendencies run counter to the economic goals of most franchising parent companies.

Ultimately, our findings suggest that family franchisees may need to consider their effectiveness in managing a franchise outlet and for corporate franchisors to be mindful of the ownership form of their franchisees.

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What still isn’t known

While our findings provide valuable insights, they are not without limitations. Our study focused on restaurants in a single region of the U.S., so it’s unclear how broadly the results can be applied. Future research should investigate whether these trends hold in other regions, countries and industries, such as retail franchises. Additionally, understanding how geographic distance between franchises and corporate offices influences monitoring could provide further insights.

The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.

Chelsea Sherlock, Assistant Professor of Management, Mississippi State University and Erik Markin, Assistant Professor of Management, Mississippi State University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Touchdown-worthy apps to amp up the crowd

(Family Features) The best watch parties have two things in common: good food and good company to root for your team with. Kick off your football feast with appetizers made with a game day favorite: avocados.

With nearly 2.5 billion pounds of avocados imported from Mexico annually, based on Hass Avocado Board Volume Data, the Big Game is the No. 1 occasion where avocados and guacamole are served and prepared. In fact, approximately 250 million pounds of avocados are imported in the weeks leading up to the Big Game, according to “Produce Blue Book” – that’s enough avocados to go down and back the length of a standard professional football field more than 400,000 times.

Just as the first quarter sets the tone for the game, apps are your first opportunity to build excitement and get your guests cheering. Because it’s not game day without guac, start the party by mashing up a bowl of Championship Guac – a real craving crusher made with creamy, delicious Avocados From Mexico and crispy bacon – to sack hunger.

Take your viewing party to a whole new flavor level with Gronkamole. This all-star dip features shredded chicken, blue cheese, Buffalo sauce and the same flare that football great and Avocados From Mexico partner Rob Gronkowski played the game with, so you know it’s ready to tackle every chip, cracker and veggie thrown its way.

These innovative spins on game day guacamole score big when made with fresh avocados, a nutrient-dense fruit everybody can cheer for. They taste good, are good for you and bring the good times on game day.

Find more touchdown-worthy eats, from dips and appetizers to main courses and desserts that are always good at BigGameGuac.com.

Championship Guac

Servings: 10

• 5 Avocados From Mexico, peeled and pitted
• 1 lemon, juice only
• 1/2 cup white onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
• 1 pound bacon, fried
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• tortilla chips, for serving (optional)
• crackers, for serving (optional)

1. To prepare avocado: In a bowl, use fork to mash the avocados and lemon juice until creamy. Then add the onion, tomatoes and cilantro.
2. To prepare bacon: Cut the bacon into squares then place it in a hot skillet over medium heat and cook 15 minutes, or until golden. Transfer to a plate to drain excess fat and let cool.
3. To prepare guacamole: Add the bacon, garlic powder, salt and pepper, to taste, to the guacamole; mix well.
4. To serve, put guacamole in bowl and serve with tortilla chips or crackers, if desired.

Gronkamole

Avocados From Mexico partner Rob Gronkowski’s favorite guacamole recipe
Servings: 4

• 2 Avocados From Mexico
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 3/4 cup chicken breast, cooked and shredded
• 1/4 cup blue cheese, crumbled
• 3 tablespoons Buffalo sauce
• salt, to taste
• corn chips, for serving (optional)
• carrot sticks, for serving (optional)

1. In a small bowl, mash avocados and stir in lemon juice.
2. Add chicken, blue cheese and Buffalo sauce to guacamole mixture. Add salt, to taste.
3. Serve with corn chips or carrot sticks, if desired.

SOURCE:
Avocados From Mexico