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Cooking Made Really Simple

Sunday, June 6th, 2010 at 9:49 am

Lots of people simply cannot be bothered preparing food these days. Sometimes it seems easier just to eat at cafes every night, because of so many take-away shops out there or perhaps to simply put something in the microwave since there are plenty of ready dinners to select from.

At times, it can be very amazing to discover precisely what actual ingredients are contained in ready foods, or in the fast foods which seem so handy and which young people frequently really like! It can also be surprising to work through the amount these dishes cost you, when you add up the time as well as real money put out.

Frequently, the reasons people today do not cook meals for themselves as well as their loved ones tend to be because (a) they feel they do not have the time and also (b) they don’t know what to prepare. But there are many very simple, nourishing meals available that you can try out on your own family. A lot of straightforward ingredients can quickly be converted into tasty nutritious meals. And by the way – you’re saving yourself unwanted expense. And if you are concerned about the dish washing- there is hardly any!

Why not try an easy meal together with your next fast food, just to discover just how easy it is? And if you want to inspire yourself to accomplish something, whether it’s to prepare a meal on a regular basis or perhaps to cultivate some other good routine – go to Freedup to figure out ways of getting yourself to do what you want to achieve.

Mashed Potatoes

This is a simple and filling dish but very pleasant and tasty. They can be served in lots of alternatives and even the leftovers can be used up.

Ingredients: Depending on your appetite, use about 2 medium potatoes for each person. You will also need salt and pepper to taste, a knob of butter and a little milk.

Method: Thinly peel the potatoes and slice them. Put them in cold water until you are ready to use them. Drain off the cold water, put the pieces in a saucepan and cover them with boiling water. Bring the water back to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the potato slices are cooked. (They will be tender when tested about 5 – 10 minutes.) You can use a fork to check if the potatoes are done. There should be no resistance when it is pricked into the slices and it should come out again very easily. If the potatoes break up – they are overdone! But if the potatoes try to hold onto the fork, cook them a little longer. Drain the potatoes and return them to the pan. Put the pan back on a low heat for a very short while, just to dry them. Add a knob of butter, a little milk and salt and pepper and mash the potatoes up using a potato masher. Use alongside your normal meal or even eat them by themselves.

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Should We Be Eating Food Raw?

Sunday, June 6th, 2010 at 9:47 am

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Even though the raw food (also known as “raw foodism” or “rawism”) diet is not new, it is gaining a great deal of popularity. Followers of the diet believe strongly in the claims that eating in this manner will lead to the best possible health. All of the recent attention may have you wondering: what is the raw food diet?

People who practice this type of diet are known as “raw foodists”. From having great skin, a lean body, and more energy to having better overall health with a lower risk of developing diseases, the claims of this diet are many. The diet must be followed to the letter in order to get those kind of benefits. Consuming food in its most natural form, unprocessed and uncooked, is the best way to follow the diet. You must be fully committed and have plenty of time to devote to this diet. Many hours a day are spent preparing food by chopping, blending, peeling, and dehyrdating.

The main component of the diet, usually about seventy-five percent, is made up of vegetables and fruits. Nuts, grains, seaweed, beans, and sprouts make up the remainder of the diet. While some cheeses made from raw milk or raw eggs are allowed on the diet, most animal products are not. Foods such as refined sugar, all forms of refined products, caffeine, and alcohol are not allowed.

Traditional cooking methods are not allowed on the raw food diet. The main “cooking device” used is a food dehydrator, not a stove or oven. Food dehydrators heat gently and use low amounts of heat, no more than 115 to 118 degrees, to dry the food. Raw foodists believe enzymes and vitamins necessary for digestion are destroyed when food is heated above 118 degrees.

Much more research is needed to support the claims of the raw food diet, however an early study concluded that consuming cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and kale on a regular basis may reduce the risk of developing cancer. These vegetables contain isothicyanates, which have been shown to modify protein in cancer cells. Isothicyanates are reduced through the cooking process, thus reducing the health properties. A second completed study regarding the raw food diet found that regular consumption of raw vegetables may in fact lower the risk of esophageal, laryngeal, oral, pharyngeal, and gastric cancers. Further studies have shown that a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, as well as those that are vegan or vegetarian may lower cholesterol levels, and regulate blood glucose levels.

Be careful though, you should always contact your physician before starting this or any type of diet. You need to make sure all of your health needs are met, and the diet is safe. The raw food diet is not suitable for children or infants as it does not provide enough nutrition for development and growth.

If you don’t fancy a raw food diet then you might want to consider the Diet Solution Program instead.

Eat Yourself Fit

Sunday, June 6th, 2010 at 9:47 am

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Diet is the major part of any weight loss or fitness regime and can account for about four fifths of your achievements. You can help improve your diet by planning your meals for the coming week and eating more frequent, smaller meals, to spread your intake over the day.

The basics of any healthy diet are proteins, carbohydrates and fats. For healthy eating, your proteins should concentrate on poultry, such as chicken and turkey and fish, eg, tuna. Your carbohydrates should be healthy ones, such as salads and green vegetables, while your fats should come in limited quantities from almonds, flax seed and olive oil. Try your best to avoid processed foods and refined sugars.

Eat 5 – 7 small meals a day. The reason behind eating so frequently throughout the day, is that, every time you eat, you raise your metabolism. This is why eating breakfast after your 7 – 8 hour overnight fast is so important when trying to lose weight. Do remember that you want to maintain the same calorie intake (assuming that your current calorie intake is at the appropriate level) across the larger number of meals as you ate previously with fewer meals. For example, if you should be eating 1800 calories a day, a rough breakdown across 6 meals would be 350 calories for a main meal, ie breakfast, lunch and dinner and 250 calories for your three snacks, mid morning, mid afternoon and pre-bed. You may need to modify this depending on when you train but I will expand on this in a later article.

Plan Ahead. Choose one day during the week when you have a couple of hours free to prepare your food for the next 5 days. I say 5 because I only prepare my food for Monday to Friday but some people may find it easier to cover the full 7 days. I aim to make all my lunches and dinners for the working week. This ensures that I am not tempted to reach for fast, high calorie food, which ends up being more expensive anyway.

I prepare my week’s food on a Sunday, making sure I check on portion sizes, based on the “size of your hand” principle. This usually means one chicken fillet, a cup of lean mince or a palm-sized piece of steak for each adult. Because the protein preparation is the most time-consuming, this is mostly what I prepare ahead of time. The carbohydrate portion is usually salad, which I prepare in the morning, or frozen vegetables which only take a few minutes.

Possible meal choices for the week might typically include two chicken, two fish and one steak dinner, plus lunches. The fish is frozen, so can easily be cooked on the day of use. I might cook 8 chicken fillets, 2 steaks and 6 hard boiled eggs. Half the chicken (4 fillets) goes in the freezer for one dinner and one lunch at the end of the week. The cooked steak and the other half of the cooked chicken fillets (4), plus the hard boiled eggs go in the fridge, assuming cooked meat is safe in the fridge for two or possibly three days. The chicken is used both for dinner and for lunch. The hard boiled eggs can be used for snacks or for breakfast.

In addition to the chosen cooking day, I use a Wednesday evening to prepare any snacks for Thursdays and Fridays, such as hard-boiled eggs.

On a closing note, always remember, failing to plan is planning to fail. For more information on fitness and diet look at the WordPress Blog – My Fitness Tale

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A Glance At Some Of The Most Popular Pastas

Sunday, June 6th, 2010 at 9:46 am

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All around the world, pasta has become an easy to find and well liked dish. Today it is cooked in different manners in different countries. Take a look at some pastas that are liked by folks across the globe.

If you are fond of pastas you can not afford to luck the rice paper pastas. This spread of pasta is more widely known as pancakes. This kind of pasta essentially originated from places such as Thailand and china. Initially rice paper was used for making spring rolls. In addition it was also used to serve the fish pieces when hot.

As of now, this kind of pasta is really preferred for those dishes which involve a microwave. Rice paper is not paper but they are paper thin sheets of rice dough. The product is available in many shapes, particularly round and triangle. There are three things it can be cooked with – pork, vegetable for vegans or shrimp for the sea food lovers. Before you try frying or boiling a sheet, you must dip in water for some time.

Fettuccine has a very hard to pronounce name but has somehow managed to become an extremely popular type of pasta. Generally, it is available in the shape of ribbons. The ribbon shapes lead it look good but eating it might seem like a chore, especially for the 1st timers. Luckily, this pasta tastes good with both white sauce and arabiatta sauce.

In the far east, Soba is a form of pasta to come out of Japan. The flavor of this pasta isn’t the same as what you would expect. The explanation is because this one here is made from buckwheat and wheat flour. Its texture is a little thick and its flavour is rather nutty.

The common colours of this kind of pasta are beige and brown. many a times it might also exhibit a green color. The explanation for this is that it is usually cooked in the green tea as well. Almost all the pasts are served piping hot. this on incorporates a difference .soba is served when it is cold. It is for this that it becomes a must have in the burning heat of the summers.

Tapioca noodles are a form of pasta which you will find most peculiar but they are intensely nonetheless. You will find it in various forms – spirals, grains and even bows! And they are cooked in different places. In Africa and Far East, folk fry it with many tasty sauces. In east, the Indonesians cook it with sugar syrup and coconut milk. Plus they eat it as a dessert!

If you want to dig in pasta that is high on the nutrition value, then soy noodles are the perfect option to go in for. Made of pressed bean curd, this pasta type is an excellent source of proteins and several other nutrients.

So wait no more. Simply dig into any of the given pastas and be certain that you are going to have good treat for yourself.

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Ham or lamb for Easter?

Sunday, June 6th, 2010 at 8:20 am

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“Ham vs. lamb” may not rise to the level of theological debate, but when it comes to Easter dinner, the issue can divide celebrants into zealous partisan camps.

Whose meat reigns supreme? We put the question to two passionate chefs.

“You know ham kicks lamb’s butt,” said Leisa Dent, co-owner and chef of L.L. Dent, the Southern-style restaurant in Carle Place, N,Y. “And I don’t care how much mint jelly you put on that thing.” Dent regularly cooks fresh ham (i.e., pork) and smoked ham.

“Both are better than lamb,” she declared.

For Easter lunch, Dent traditionally prepares a smoked ham that she glazes with, among other ingredients, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey.

A whole ham (that is, the entire hind leg of the pig) easily feeds 20 to 30 people. For a smaller gathering, Dent cooks the “shank” half, which serves 10 to 12.

Because a smoked ham has already been cooked, “cooking” it at home involves little more than putting it in the oven, brushing on the glaze and getting it hot. Dent makes it fancy by scoring the top and inserting cloves into the resulting diamond pattern.

Ninety minutes later, the ham comes out of the oven fragrant, succulent of flesh and crisp of skin.

And ham is the Easter gift that keeps on giving. “The leftovers are good, hot or cold,” she said. “Ham and eggs for breakfast the next morning, ham sandwiches for lunch. And then I use the bone for pea soup.”

“For Greeks there is no question,” said Peter Spyropoulos, executive chef of Limani, the Greek seafood restaurant in Roslyn. “Lamb is all we eat. Lamb. Lamb. Lamb.”

In fact the traditional Easter meal, consumed at midnight after Easter Mass, starts with magiritsa, a soup made from lamb innards. Next up: kokoretsi, skewered lamb innards wrapped with fat and grilled. Finally, spit-roasted baby lamb.

For American homes, roast leg of Lamb
is easier to handle, and Spyropoulos recommends a boneless leg, which is a cinch to carve. He seasons his lamb with the Greek trinity of garlic, oregano and lemon — 2 cups of lemon juice to cut the richness of the lamb — but he also adds rosemary and thyme (if his mother isn’t around).

As for leftovers, Spyropoulos insists that “anything you can do with ham you can do with lamb.” He loves a sandwich made with thinly sliced lamb and Gulden’s mustard on white bread.

Finally, Lamb has a profound connection to the Easter story that ham just can’t touch. “At Mass,” Spyropoulos said, “the Greek Orthodox priest is always talking about lamb as a symbol of Jesus’ sacrifice.”

No one ever talks about “the ham of God.”