Planning your meals

As you know I am very much into cooking from fresh with good produce, and I do hope the little salmon recipe the other day gave you some inspiration to do more of this kind of cooking (by the way I've got a cracking little chicken recipe coming up for you which takes seconds to prepare and is cooked in 2o minutes).
Anyway one of the things that can help you get ahead with this is to plan your weeks meals in advance and below is a great article showing you how to do just that.
Til next time
Gordon


The Advantages of Planning Your Meals Ahead
By O Quinn Platinum Quality Author


Do you come home from the office tired and wishing you didn’t have to think about dinner? Are you home all day with little ones and the last thing you want to do when they go down for a nap is get busy in the kitchen? Do you open the fridge ready to come up with a good meal only to find you need to run to the grocery store because you’re out of an ingredient. or two?

There is a remedy for all of this. By planning your meals in advance you can eliminate the last minute rush, the stress of indecision, and free up more time for your family.

Plan your menu: Plan your meals at least a week in advance. Browse your local grocery store circular for what is on sale. Poll your family members for a favorite dish they would like to have or subscribe to a meal planning menu mailer and have the recipes come to you.

Organize your Preparation: Now just because you have the recipes and even the ingredients don’t think you can just sit back and all will be done. To maximize this meal planning you should do a little reading ahead and maybe even a little before hand preparation. Chop onions and freeze them. See which meats need to be marinated. Maybe you can make a crust or bread dough on a slow day instead of waiting until the day you will serve the dish.

Keep track of favorites: A great meal feels like a pat on the back. Make sure you make note of which recipes are keepers. Have a meal planning notebook that you write them into or type them into your recipe software. This will help you with meal planning in the future. After a while all you will have are winning meals!

O Quinn is a work at home mom likes to find ways to automate and simplify the homemaking process while still obtaining excellent results. Visit Meal Planning for more information on planning your dinners in advance.

Kids & Cooking

Its quite a sad fact that kids these days really dont know much about the food they eat, some even struggle to recognise basic vegetables.

One of the ways to address this problem is to get the kids in the kitchen and give you a hand and have some fun while you are at it.

I remember as a young un helping out in the kitchen and I was the only one out of my friends who when we were in our teens could cook a full roast dinner.

Of course helping my mam make a cake was the best cos I always used to get to lick the spoon and get the last bits of mixture out of the bowl AHH happy days :0)

Anyway with that in mind have a look at the article below an as always
Til next time
Gordon

5 Steps To Teaching Kids To Cook
By Debbie Madson



Most all kids love to help and cook in the kitchen. Teaching them how to cook can be a skill that they will have for a lifetime. Cooking with your kids doesn't have to be overwhelming it can be easy when you look at it in five simple steps.

1. Plan meal. Sit down and plan what meal you will be working on our what recipe you will be making. Read through it making sure you have all ingredients available and the recipe is not too complicated. Plan out the steps you will be using to create the recipe or meal.

2. Shopping. Shop for the ingredients needed. This is a great way for kids to learn about the whole process of cooking.

3. Prep work. Read your recipe through again if needed. Wash your hands, a very important step in teaching your kids to cook. Prep work involves anything that needs done before the actual cooking such as chopping, peeling, and preparing ingredients that the recipe calls for.

4. Preparing and cooking. Now we get down to the actual cooking and preparing of the meal. This is the step where you put all your ingredients together and create, cook or bake.

5. Clean up. Remember to clean as you go especially utensils and dishes used with raw meats and eggs. This step can be done while something is cooking in the oven and you are waiting. Clean up involves cleaning dishes, counters and floors if needed. Remember to put dirty towels and aprons in the laundry also.


Remember the importance of praising your kids work. Even if their accomplishment may look less than perfect little by little and step by step they will become master chefs if given the opportunity and it is something they enjoy.

Now you can sit back and enjoy their cooking.

Visit http://www.kids-cooking-activities.com/kids-cooking-lessons.html for kids cooking lesson plans. For recipes, tips and ideas in teaching your kids to cook sign up for our Kids Cooking Activities Newsletter, http://www.kids-cooking-activities.com/kids-cooking-activities-newsletter.html

Dont have time to cook?

Ok in todays busy lifestyle with work, kids and all the other stuff its easy to fall into the trap of thinking cooking from fresh takes too long and its much easier just to microwave some convenience food or get a take away.

Well thats fair enough if you only do it once in a while or as a treat but really if you do it all the time you are pumping your body so full of things such as salt sugar preservatives etc.. that ultimatley it will end out having an effect on your weight or your energy or your health or worse still all of the above.

So I want to give you a little meal idea that I did myself last night which hopefully will inspire you and will take about 30mins to prepare and cook.

OK first of all lets peel some potatoes and put them in a pan of cold water with just a touch of salt and set the water away to boil. (HINT cut all your potatoes quite small and approx the same size so they all cook together) Also at the same time have your oven pre heating to 230C

Next while they are coming to the boil put some Thyme in your pestle and mortar and give it a bash. Then add a couple of good glugs of Extra Virgin Olive oil and rub this over some salmon fillets that have had their skins taken off.(HINT do this bit in your roasting dish)

Next wrap a couple of pieces of thinly sliced parma ham around each salmon fillet to cover all the thyme and the oil.

Next finely shred some savoy cabbage and melt a little butter in a pan with a touch of olive oil, then once thats melted put in a crushed garlic clove and give it a stir around - being careful not to burn either the butter or the garlic clove.

OK by this time your water should be boiling so pop your salmon into the oven and put your cabbage into the pan.

Give the cabbage a good coating of the mixture then pour in 1/2 a glass of water cover and let that steam on a moderate heat.

Give the salmon and cabbage both 10 mins then turn off the heat, mash your potatoes put them on your plate and spread them out a bit put your salmon on top and serve with the cabbage.

Now you might think salmon and ham a strange combination but honestly this goes so crispy without being burnt it is just absolutely delicious
Til next time
Gordon

The Holy Grail of Gravy

One of the things that took me ages to get around to learning in cooking was how to make gravy.
You see the thing is I absolutely love gravy and the thicker the better, but it's easy to fall into the trap of just using granuals because a) they don't taste too bad and b) it's quick a bit of boiling water add some granuals and your done!

But the thing is when you make your own gravy with the juices of the meat you've just cooked then there is nothing that compares.

As with all cooking I like to experiment with stuff as at the end of the day thats what cooking is all about, you know, take a basic recipe and make it your own.
So without further ado let me tell you about the gravy I made yesterday.

First of all I roasted my joint (which was a fantastic cut of topside beef - cooked to perfection if I do say so myself :0) )
Now when cooking the beef I rested it on an onion which I had cut in half and these cooked with the beef. Once the beef was cooked I took everything out of the roasting dish and added a liberal splash of red wine. The roasting dish was on a low gas and I used the wine to scrape up the scraps on the bottom of the dish and mix with the juices.

Once this was on the go I put the onions bak in the roasting dish and chucked in some Thyme, a clove of Garlic which was peeled but not sliced and a tomato which had been cut in half, which once they had softened a bit I then squashed with a potato masher.

Next I added some cornflour. I used about two tablespoons in a quarter of a wine glass of cold water and stirred it til it was disolved.

Anyway after this was in the dish I added about 350 ml (approx 1 and 1/2 cups) of beef stock.
I brought this all to the boil and then down to a low gas and simmered til it was the thickness I liked and I was stirring all the time.

When it was at the right thickness I then passed all through a sieve into a gravy dish and voila fantastic gravy to go with my beautiful piece of beef, now that is what I call heaven.
Til next time
Gordon

Aahh Home made bread

I came across this article and I thought I just have to reprint it here as for me there is simply nothing better than home made bread.
Personally I make my own bread as often as possible and once you have the basics then its great for doing so many different types of bread ciabattas and even pizza bases.
And best of all it makes your house smell FANTASTIC.
Til next time
Gordon

Whole Wheat Bread Vs. White Bread Which Is The Best?
05th December 2006
Author: apiwat songworn

Junk food fans argue with health enthusiast nuts, asserting white firm to be the best. The warming food silly about shoot back exclaiming befall how much better dime store off-the-rack clothes whole wheat bread is canting white bread.

The competition rages on...

On which side of odd debate do you stand?

For strictly speaking matter, which side need you REALLY be drawing for?

Lets consider all the distortion, the faults occur each choice and determine which one we be necessitated honestly be mantic as "the complete to goodness best!"

THE FAULTS OF Wing meat Old-line

1. White bread is food less. Even convenient it with vitamins can't replace half of the nourishment that is shiner spend the bleaching and sifting process that is used on the flour any which way viande bread is make out of.

2. White traditionalistic has a lot harmful chemicals and preservatives added to it to increase it's shelf life, but they decrease your lifespan.

3. White die-hard is practically tasteless. Unheard of is a pro to some people but a con to a lot of others who enjoy tasty food.

THE Testies OF STORE BOUGHT WHOLE WHEAT BREAD

1. Store bought whole batter cake bread semi- be extremely healthy and good for your body IF you could be find a loaf made without fattening and nutrition less sweeteners like sugar (but no dime store id est* I know of confers any such thing).

2. Store bought whole johnnycake bread contains, unfortunately, the same chemicals and preservatives that white bread does, also to lengthen shelf life.

On light of this initiation which viewpoint do you now hold to?

Neither hopefully. There is only one thing you can do to make sure you are getting the best tasting, highest quality and healthiest bread. And specially is...

Bake your own whole wheat bread! Read why you should below.

THE VIRTUES OF HOME BAKED WHOLE Waffle Conventional

1. Home baked whole wheat bread tastes good. Home baked whole wheat bread has a intensely delightful taste that is probably the main reason (even more so than it's health aspects) people prefer home baked whole wheat unprogressive to it's bland counterpart, white bread or unhealthy store bought whole wheat bread.

2. Take the cake baked whole tire patch bread contains vitamins and minerals your body needs. Medical studies criticize proven that all the B vitamins in whole grain foods help you to have a healthy heart, and guard against heart disease.

3. Baking your own whole sourdough unchanging is not the least bit "difficult" either. Purely learn the basics to baking bourgeois along with a few proven recipes and you'll be set.


find information about Bread machine recipe please visit http://bread--machine-recipe.blogspot.com

A Cracking Crock Pot

Hi
I've come across this and thought I would share it as there is a lot of interest in crock pot cooking and while I am at it I'll see if I can find any books on the subject that are worth recommending
Til next time
Gordon

Trusty Old Crockpot Recipes for a New Generation!

Fast foods may have been the meal of choice for many busy families through the last couple of decades. But now the slow cooked, home-prepared meals are gaining in popularity! Crock pots, with their wafting aromas and 'ready to eat' meals, entice health-conscious, busy people.



And it doesn't take super human talent, skill, or effort to make a delicious meal in a crockpot - in fact there are quite a few crockpot recipes that require 5 or less ingredients! And crockpot cooking can be as simple as tossing a few ingredients into the pot before everyone leaves for the day. In the evening, the smell of slow cooked food fills the house and whets the appetite. There's no more last minute trip to the grocery store, or the endless 'what's for dinner' questions.



Rising food costs and shrinking household budgets have helped bring many nostalgic foods back to the forefront. Time stressed families, tired of eating prepackaged foods, have begun to crave the aroma of savory nutritious meals.



Pot roast, beef stew, chicken and noodles can utilize less expensive cuts of meat, which taste tender and moist after slow cooking.



Our grandmothers knew how to manage a frugal, yet efficient and productive home -- and they didn't need expensive gadgets either! Many slow cookers sell in the range of $20 to $35, and the cost is soon made up by the thriftiness of eating at home.



On the market now are the programmable crockpot slow cooker. No stirring or supervision is necessary, and once cook time has expired the smart-pot automatically shifts to a warm setting. Want a side dish with your stew? Try the dual cooker. It allows cooking of two different dishes at the same time. Worried about little hands reaching up to the counter? Try the 'cool touch' slow cooker. These can be up to 25% cooler than other slow cookers.



Although crockpots are a relatively new invention, making hearty foods that simmer all day has been around for quite a while. Whether you're cooking for just two people or a large family, make your own convenience food! Dig out some old recipes or find a new one, and enjoy flavorful foods without the hardship.



Opening the front door on a cold evening evening and being greeted by the inviting smells of a beef stew or chicken noodle soup wafting from a slow cooker - ahhh - it is truly a diner's dream come true!

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Author: Tony Buel Crockpot Recipes Full Article: Crockpot Recipes for a New Generation

Recipes Cooking Food & Weight

I mentioned in one of my previous posts that sometimes the missus complains about some of the stuff that I put into my cooking as she doesn't want to put on weigh tfrom recipes that can be fattening. Now I completely respect that cos at the end of the day as much as I enjoy cooking and messing around with different types of food and recipes I dont want to end out being a big ol boy myself.
Now my wife goes to one of these slimming clubs which works on a points system and basically you are allocated so many points a day and she has recipe books to cook from that has some wonderful recipes in to help you keep within these points.
Now don't get me wrong these arent bland and tastless recipes in this book and my wife has cooked some of these meals for me and they have been really tasty but we have only had about 2 or 3 meals from this recipe book (There is a point to all this so please stick with me)
Now on the other hand I dont measure points but I do like to cook from tasty recipe's using good quality fresh food and as you know by now I like my Indian and Italian cooking Over the past month I have done most of the cooking and guess what Both Him & Her have lost about the same amount of weight even though Him wasn't really trying
Why is this you may ask
Well from my wifes point of view she has done really well on following through with her plan and getting to the gym once a week
From my point of view I have replaced crisps (or chips as they are in the US) with fresh fruit
Now I know this isnt earth shatterin and even more so it is just plain common sense but here is my point
Being relaxed about what you eat and being sensible between your meals means that come meal time you can cook good food for yourself from some of the wonderful recipes that are available and not worry too much about your weight.
Again that isnt anything you probably havent heard before but it seems to me that when it comes to food cooking and recipes people think that they have to be on some kind of wierd shakes an pills and strict regime when in fact if that is what you do you cant sustain it whislt enjoying your cooking and enjoying your eating and being creative with your recipes leads to a lifetime of healthy diet but more importantly keeps your food fun and after all eatin should be pleasurable - shouldn't it?
Til next time
Gordon