Cooking and Food

How to Cook Organic Foods from Scratch.

2019-09-14T18:09:00.000-05:00

Cooking Organic Food from Scratch: Not Hard, Not Expensive

About two years ago, I started the Cook for Good experiment as a response to the Food Stamp Challenges so popular that summer. Good people working to end hunger and strengthen sustainable food systems were trying to eat on a dollar a meal … and failing miserably.

One congressman in particular formed the chorus for this song. He approached the Food Stamp Challenge in a slap-dash, center-aisle way, with his aides throwing in two-ounce bags of coffee into his cart. When airport security seized his stash of peanut butter and jelly, he was looking at thirty-six hours with nothing but corn meal. He wound up cheating by eating bags of airline peanuts.

Nonsense, I kept thinking. These people must not be cooks. A dollar a meal is tight, but it doesn’t mean you have to pick Cheetoes over carrots. The goal should not be maximum calories but maximum nutrition. But could I really get by on a dollar a meal? Could I enjoy it? One night at dinner, I broached the idea to my husband. Bruce looked only mildly horrified. “You can eat extra if you want,” I said. “I’ll just cook for both of us to that budget.” “No, I’ll do it with you. Might as well see just how hungry we get.” (You can see why I love him.) “Well, at least we’ll lose some weight.”

The Results: Saving Money Leads to other Savings

We did lose weight – about 10 pounds each over a three-month period. But except for the first day, we were never hungry or felt deprived. In fact, we were surprised to find that not only was it possible, but that other good things happened when we did eat so cheaply. We started feeling more energetic after only a week. Our moods improved. Our recycling and trash went down to almost nothing. I learned skills that will help me get through the panic if I ever do have serious money trouble.

The first week was so good that we revised the experiment and continued on for three more months, beginning and ending with a week of $1 meals. For two months we kept under the actual food-stamp allowance in North Carolina, then $1.53 a meal. The final month, we followed the thrifty menu from the previous month but ate nearly all organic, sustainably raised, locally grown foods. Amazingly, those "green" meals averaged just under $2 per person.

I was so excited by the great food, my new-found energy, and my nearly empty recycling bin that I knew I had to share this way of shopping and cooking with others. After another year of cooking, tracking prices, and planning menus, I had it: the Cook for Good plan. It provides menus, recipes, and shopping lists with current prices to help anyone eat well on a budget. Folks at DrGreene.com will be most interested in the mostly organic green option, of course.

In June, 2009, the average green Cook for Good meal costs just $1.57 per person. That’s 42 cents less than the food-stamp allowance in North Carolina, where I gather the prices. Even the "cart cost" for the green ingredients comes out to just $1.87 a meal, 11 cents less per meal than the food-stamp allowance in North Carolina. The cart cost shows how much you’d actually have to spend at the grocery store buying everything on the shopping lists, even though you will have some ingredients left over, such as part of a bottle of oil. The regular plan, using conventionally raised food, costs even less at just $1.15 a meal.

Tomorrow, I’ll tell you about a cheap, tasty food that appears in some form nearly every day on the Cook for Good menus and give you an easy recipe too.

How to Cook Restaurant Food at Home.

2011-10-23T13:33:00.000-05:00

How to Cook Restaurant Food at Home - An experience of mine

Alright so your family is getting tired of the same oven cooked pizzas and microwaved dinner plates. Time to make them some real meals and give them the feeling that they are eating at a gourmet restaurant.

Well, atleast I want to make food that COULD be served at a restaurant, maybe a low budget one..

My search took me through a few books inluding Emeril's chef magic but it wasn't until I picked up a copy of America's Secret Recipes that my cooking started to match a true chefs.

The cookbook has a ton of little secrets that I never used at home to make food taste so much better. It changed the way I look at pasta, chicken, any steak, and of course all the vegetable , potatoes, fruit and more ingrediants in side dishes.

My absolute favorite new restaurant recipes:

Applebee's Bourban Street Steak = mouth watering steak that has a great sauce derived from barbeque sauce, herbs, and spices that will blow you away
Benihana's Ginger Salad Dressing = same amazing dressing that you get when you go for sushi and Japanese cuisine; sweet and tastey
David and Busters Cheeseburger Pizza = kids absolutely love this meal, it has quick prep and tastes even better than it sounds

AND my #1 favorite recipe is

Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies

I'm tired of paying so much money for every box of delicious, addictive girl scout cookies, so now I make my own. Everyone goes crazy for them and beg me to make more.

So go ahead and check out America's Secret Restaurant Recipes and cook food that rivals or is better than most restaurants. Learn their secrets and bring em' home to impress the family, I did.

Please comment below or email me.

Vegetarian Cooking.

2011-10-18T16:42:00.001-05:00

Vegetarian Cooking - Healthy Foods Can Taste Terrific

Whoever said that vegetarian cooking needs to be tasteless and bland? Many years in the past, that might are the case, but right now, when people are additional concerned about their wellness, healthy meals are becoming more delightful. Different elements and cooking strategies are created to improve the all round taste of meals, especially that of healthy meals. You will find also numerous vegetarian recipes that not only appear terrific but taste great too!
How can you enhance the taste of vegetarian meals? It is not as hard as it looks, because in vegetarian cooking, essentially all of the cooking techniques can still be used. The difference may be the elements being used. As an example, vegetarian as well as healthy cooking use more olive oil, as it is a healthy alternative to animal-fat-based oils. Oils like olive oil and canola oil have healthy fats that are needed by the system. Several of these oils are also incredibly aromatic and add for the taste of your food you are cooking.
The usage of pure herbs and spices also can make vegetarian cooking scrumptious. These are significantly better than salt, which is higher in sodium and could be bad for the system. Organic herbs and spices also have different aromas that will significantly improve how your foods tastes.
Who says you can not reside with out meat? Lean meats are an great supply of protein, but you'll find lots of plant proteins that are out there. Soy protein can be an option to animal proteins. (Health note: There has been some study printed suggesting that soy depresses thyroid function. So both do more research in your personal or, in the quite least, consume soy protein in moderation.) Beans and nuts include healthy fats and proteins, so consuming the right sorts will get your protein repair for the day, therefore allowing you to skip meat.
Vegetarian cooking indicates greens, fruits and every thing plant-based. With vegetarian food, you are only excluding meat out of your cooking, and also you do possess a wide array of components to select from. Spices and herbs that make meat taste scrumptious are also at your disposal, plus they can make vegetables taste good. Fairly a lot all of the things that make typical cooking taste good could be utilized to vegetarian cooking.
And there are many great-tasting recipes for healthy foods. No one dislikes pasta, right? How about all-vegetable pasta? It really is essentially the same taste, only with healthier elements. You are able to use spinach rather than ground beef and whole wheat pasta rather than normal pasta. Plus, the herbs and spices at your disposal are heading to tremendously enhance the look, taste and smell of your entire dish.
Healthy eating does not have to be dull, and healthy meals do not need to be tasteless and bland. You may get pleasure from healthy vegetarian dishes which are as delightful as their typical counterparts, not to mention that these dishes are much far more healthy that their regular counterparts. With lots of people looking right after their well being and watching what they eat, quite a few have done inventive things by way of vegetarian cooking that the entire loved ones will take pleasure in. Yes, even the children will like them, because they taste scrumptious!

Please comment below or email me.

How to Cook with Food Allergies.

2011-10-18T16:39:00.000-05:00

Cooking With Food Allergies

Cooking for those with food allergies can be tricky business, some offering more of a challenge than others, but it’s usually the safest route to take. When you make your own meals from scratch you know exactly what is in it, which greatly reduces the chance of an allergic reaction. The key is to know allergen replacements for most if not all of the common recipe ingredients. For example, anyone with a dairy allergy has to know what to use in place of milk, cream, butter, or even cheese if the recipe calls for it. This can become even trickier when you have multiple allergies to contend with, and being someone with a soy and dairy allergy I have dealt with this first hand. A soy and dairy allergy is unique in that many of the replacements overlap. You can’t use soymilk instead of milk, you can’t use margarine instead of butter, and you can’t use non-dairy creamer instead of cream. Add to that: no vegetable oil (Crisco for instance), no shortening, and no broths or bouillon cubes. So whether you’re cooking your favorite dinner or baking your favorite desert, you must know the allergy replacement basics.

Let’s start with milk. My favorite choice is oat milk (“Pacific” makes a great organic oat milk), and with it’s rich and creamy flavor it works well for both cooking and baking. For those who are used to skim milk rice milk may feel a little closer to home. If a recipe calls for cream, a nice alternative is organic oat milk with tapioca flour (the more flour the thicker the cream). As for butter, the proper ingredient replacement will depend on the application. If a recipe calls for a “pat of butter” then a good replacement could be organic clarified butter (or ghee), which is butter that has had the milk solids and water separated from the butterfat. It also works great for frying since the rendering process yields butter with a higher smoke point. Olive or canola oil can also be used, but since I use the organic unrefined olive oil I don’t recommend it for frying; the unrefined has a lower smoke point, but is much healthier for you. Goat products are also an option when it comes to finding dairy and soy replacements, assuming you’re not allergic to them. I am not a fan of the taste of either goat milk or butter (it’s kind of “goaty”, a term only familiar to those who have tried goat products), but I do like goat cheese, and it comes in many varieties. “Woolwich” makes a great tasting cheddar and mozzarella, and you’ll never know it’s not from a cow.

Now that we’ve covered the “soy free” dairy replacements lets take a look at the soy replacements. For any recipe calling for vegetable oil or Crisco oil, you can use olive or canola oil instead; coconut oil is also an option, and the flavor compliments certain foods nicely. I recommend making chicken broths from scratch, they’re not hard and always taste better than store bought, but if a recipe only calls for 1 cup or less use “Imagine” Organic Free Range Chicken Broth and/or Stock (read labels as some varieties may contain soy); this can also be used as a replacement for bouillon cubes. Now if you’re one who bakes often, than you will definitely need a replacement for shortening and butter, and for that I suggest palm oil; “Spectrum” makes a great tasting organic palm oil.

Food allergies should never be a reason to give up on meal ideas. Whether you’re cooking or baking, there are many great tasting ingredient alternatives available for both soy and dairy allergies. I’ve been dealing with food allergies for some time now, and despite the challenges I’ve never eaten healthier. Eating healthy is a choice I’ve made, but menu limitations were never an option.

Living with allergies can be difficult, some harder than others. Being allergic to both soy and dairy, I know this first hand. So with the hopes of educating others, I have created a very informative blog with a focus on living soy and dairy free, while maintaining a healthy diet. My belief in natural healing and natural cures is the driving force behind my desire to be as healthy as I can be...body and mind.

Please comment below or email me.

Using Fast Food Coupons to Save You Money.

2011-10-17T17:54:00.000-05:00

When You Don't Have Time To Cook, Fast Food Coupons Can Help Save You Money

With our busy life, cooking at home is not always workable. On the other hand, eating out with the entire family might be rather expensive. Fast food represents one of the most affordable options and plus you can even save some money if you are paying attention to the coupons offered by your preferred restaurants.

The Sunday edition of the newspapers is always an ideal place to start with, as chains frequently offer a wide range of coupons.

You can also get restaurant coupons visiting the restaurant's website and signup for their newsletter and loyalty program. Once your subscription is confirmed, you will start to receive offers from them. These offers are in most cases the best coupons as they do not have distribution costs. You might even get a highly valuable coupon for your birthday. It would pay off to signup all family members.

As the economy hasn't fully recovered yet, most restaurants are having hard times to achieve the desired volume of business. Nowadays, you can go to a restaurant and obtain a significant discount for your office or work group with that establishment. An intelligent businessman will be always open to situations where they can win over regular customers. You might even have them create a special offer to distribute to your customers, if you have your own business. Typically, it will be for a product you would not get, unless you purchase something else. It is basically a win-win situation, where you are giving away something valuable, while the restaurant gains a potential customer that otherwise would not have visited them.

Fast food coupons are great and have several applications, so use them wisely to help the family budget.

Please comment below or email me.

Weight Watchers Recipies and Tips.

2011-10-17T17:31:00.000-05:00

Good Food-Get Weight Watchers Recipes And Tips On Cooking Healthy Food And Smart Choices When Eating Out

Author: gagan

Used for several public, preparing healthful recipes appear too hard and generation absorbing...

On the other hand with approximately early preparation and various important information of diet, it is relaxed to make a week's worth of healthful food that you and your family unit will be fond of. The answer to making adorable and healthful food for the family is preparation ...And lot's of it!

http://drinkslover.blogspot.com

Preparation early of period and complete week of healthful recipe food is the superlative idea to make dishes you can be pleasing of, as keeping charge and period responsibility to a most minuscule. So under are marvelous point you can work to produce healthful food all the period.

Healthful Recipe Tip #1

Using expedient instrument similar as gradual cookers and microwaves can be a colossal period gatherer as preparation and planning food. Present are several adorable and healthful recipes that can be in progress in the morning and gone to cook all time in a crock container or gradual cooker. These are huge selection for working people.

Additionally, preparing the meals beforehand of period on the outing and boiling them in the microwave is a huge idea to extend one and the other you're diet and your period. There is several microwavable healthful foods you can manufacture at home, and distinct serving microwave free from harm pot permit an action each part of the family unit to have on their personal plan for one's time.

As preparation the food for the week, it is a skilled perception to make a chart item apiece day's menu and apiece days' plan for one's time. Here's a intelligent tip...Arrangement the speedy and not difficult to arrange food for the active days of the week.

Healthful Recipe Tip #2

Persuade your family unit includes in making the week's food preparation by wanting to know for their input and noting everyone's preferred diet. It is quiet exact valuable to have healthful food, lest (definitely) does not hostile consumption pizza all night or having ice cream for feast. On the other hand concerning your partner and children in healthful recipe preparation, you'll support to expand their appeal in healthful consumption exact at a distance.

It is moreover a lovely perception to make your whole family unit include in the preparation of the food. Impartial children too adolescent to prepare can support out by scene out the dishes, chopping vegetables, clearance the list and cleaning the dishes.

Healthful Recipe Tip #3:

Cooking generous number of healthful diet recipes - and very cold the waste - is a relaxed idea to protect period. Cooking generous number of mixture, soups, pasta, chili and casseroles can be a colossal period gatherer. Preparing increase twofold and impartial triple group of these secure diet, and very cold the waste for soon after work, is a huge idea to protect one and the other period and money.

As very cold waste, nevertheless, it is valuable to marker the pot carefully, using cooler tape and a eternal marker. Try to keep the most aged diet virtually the highest to prevent having to puzzle at a distance closed part.

Stocking up on meats as they are on deal is a further extreme idea to work that important cooler area. Stocking up on similar simply frozen diet as chicken, turkey, ground beef, steaks, criticize and chops is a huge idea to manufacture your diet dollar extend as far as workable as quiet acknowledge you and your family unit to take pleasure in adorable healthful food continually.

Healthful Recipe Tip #4:

Consistency a pleasantly stocked kitchen storage room is as valuable as consistency a pleasantly stocked cooler. Stocking the kitchen storage room with a skilled provide of secure part alike canned dishes, canned fruits, soup stocks and the alike will bake healthful recipe research plenty sooner and relaxed.

http://weightlosslover.blogspot.com

Stocking the kitchen storage room can protect you money as well as time. Grocery provisions are always running sales, and these sales are a terrific period to routine up. Selling various cases of canned dishes whilst they are on deal, for occasion can protect plenty of cash and supply the important component of concoction for several healthy, straightforward to arrange food.

Examples of splendid staples to supply up on contain total grain cereals, pastas, tomato sauce, baked beans, canned salmon, tuna and total grain food. It is straightforward to bring together these staples into several extreme foods on a moment's notice.

Healthful recipe

I wish you discover this healthful recipe point straightforward as pie!

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/coffee-articles/good-foodget-weight-watchers-recipes-and-tips-on-cooking-healthy-food-and-smart-choices-when-eating-out-2042614.html

About the Author

To Know More Visit Now

Slow Cooking

Visit here to get answer about

Cooking Academy

Cooking Salmon

Please comment below or email me.

Cooking: Using Good Cookware.

2011-10-17T17:29:00.000-05:00

Pots and Pans - Cooking Good Food is more than just Choosing Stainless Steel or Cast Iron Cookware

Author: Peter Clifford

Cookware and Pots and Pans – Is what you personally bring to cooking more important?

The type and quality of the cookware you choose, whether you are looking for steel pans, an electric frying pan or a cast iron cookware set, is essential to your cooking success and like any job that you tackle, the better the tools to hand the more time and energy you save and the more you have control over the end result.

With cooking particularly this last point is vital. If the wrong type of pan is selected and gets too hot, too quickly then food is easily spoilt or ruined.

In general cheaper, thinner cookware absorbs heat too quickly and risks burning the food and loses heat it too fast when removed from the energy source. Heavier, better quality cookware will continue to cook food gently or keep it hot even when removed from the heat source.

Rice, for example, can be cooked this way after being brought to the boil and then left to cook on its own without additional heat input.

Your choice of cookware will also be influenced by its size, design, colour and appearance. Good quality, well maintained cookware looks great in a modern kitchen as well as being useful.

The type of cooker you have will also determine the type of pan you might use. Stainless steel works very well on electric and gas hobs; ranges such as an Aga generally cook best with much heavier pans.

However, more that anything else bear in mind that what we personally bring to our cooking influences the quality of the food that we produce. If we are relaxed and enjoying what we are doing then that will be reflected in the food. Conversely, if we are upset, angry or tense then that will be reflected in the food we produce too. If food is made with care, enthusiasm and love it will show in the taste, texture and presentation.

Just think about the food at your favourite restaurant – if you go there often you will know whether the chef is having a good day or not by what arrives at your table!

Food is very subtle and when we put it in our mouth a lot of senses come into play, not just taste and smell but memory too. Some people can recall particular events in their life years later just by recalling the food they ate on that particular occasion.

So bearing all these factors in mind choose those cookware items that best suit you and that will help you make the perfect meals for you, your family, friends or that special person in you life.

They say " we are what we eat", so start by choosing the best basic tools that you can afford, choose the best quality ingredients that you can find or grow yourself and enjoy what you do so that you can be the best chef you can be. It's incredibly satisfying to produce and share great food!

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/kitchens-articles/pots-and-pans-cooking-good-food-is-more-than-just-choosing-stainless-steel-or-cast-iron-cookware-3359627.html

About the Author

Go to: http://www.kweezeen.com for useful tips on cookware and cooking and a great selection of pots and pans.

Article Author: Peter Clifford http://www.kweezeen.com

I specialise in writing about health, wellbeing, modern lifestyles, business opportunities, relationship and emotional problems and environmental issues, having had a total of more than 40 years with experience in these areas.

Please comment below or email me.

10 Easy Tips to Cook an Excellent Sunday Dinner.

2011-10-17T17:26:00.000-05:00

Sunday Dinner Cooking - 10 Easy Tips To Cook Exciting Food

Author: Abhishek Agarwal

Sundays have always been special in many aspects. One of them are the Sunday Dinners at the church. Potluck on Sundays refers to one lucky person offering food for all at the local church. Ever since I have been attending these dinners I remember, most people offered fried chicken. Why only this option? Well, it is easily available at the neighboring food store. So easy, just walk in to the store pick out a few packs of fried chicken and walk in to the church.

As far as I can evaluate it happens due to lack of time, planning and ideas. But imagine, what if you cook scratch out a bit of time, prepare something simple yet special & elegant and offer it in the potluck! So many people would be impressed! Some would be jealous! And almost all would be surprised! So much appreciation and satisfaction that you offered something with so much love and little effort! Won't you like to do the same?

Picking a fried chicken from a deli or a local restaurant might not be wrong, but, its surely repetitive, boring and certainly nothing special!

There are so many simple & easy recipes available through varied resources that you can go ahead with; for instance spicy taco casserole or the dessert items!

Here are a few ideas 7 resources for your next Sunday dinner:

1. Surf the internet.

Internet is surely a global resource to quench all your thirst related to whatever aspect it may be. Key in the right keywords and you can find several easy to cook dishes at one go. Kraft foods website offers some delicious desserts that are quite easy to cook.

2. Desserts are often a good choice for Sunday dinners.

Sweet delicacies can be made within no time just a night before. These can be frozen overnight and so can be easily carried over to serve. Such desserts that tickle the taste buds of almost all of us are easy tricks to make your coworkers envious of your culinary talent at the 'pitch ins' at work.

3. Check out the casserole recipes.

Casserole recipes are often quick, simple and delicious.

4. Try the crock pots & slow cookers.

There are several dishes that you can cook in the crock pots & slow cookers. Just fill it in with the ingredients, turn it on and sleep over. By the time you complete your health sleep, the food would be done giving out a yum aroma and you could make up to the church in a record time.

5. Read through the magazines.

Many magazines offer interesting cookery sections. Magazines offer very healthy eating options such as large salad, casserole, or a healthy dessert.

6. Opt some healthy foods.

It is not necessary to select fat filled or calorie filled dishes for the Sunday dinner.

7. Enjoy the cooking.

It is often said that the cook's mood defines the taste of the food. So, cook the dishes that you enjoy. Do not opt for any long recipes that feel you are forced to work on. Instead of being helpful, it would become more tedious and the food would get the bad taste of the cook. Hence, do not make it a stressful activity for yourself.

8. Do not repeat the same dishes.

Try a new recipe every time rather than sticking to the same thing time and again. It can make even a good dish repetitive and boring, just like the fried chicken.

9. Prepare a bank of recipes.

I suggest you to collect some recipes over time so that the next time you have to make the Sunday dinner, you do not have to vigorously search for them.

10. Treat your potluck audiences as guinea pigs.

Though every individual puts in all their effort & love in the dishes they cook, sometimes the results are not that perfect. This could also save you and your family from getting stuck with leftovers for a week. And a rather happier option, if you like the food, you can put it into rotation of recipes at home.

Now, those with little or no culinary talents go out to surprise your family, friends, and fellow church members with the correct 'simple to make' recipes. Instead of getting on to fried chicken next time, cook up something awesome and get famous with your folks!

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/cooking-tips-articles/sunday-dinner-cooking-10-easy-tips-to-cook-exciting-food-708790.html

About the Author

Abhishek is really passionate about Cooking and he has got some great Cooking Secrets . up his sleeves! Download his FREE 88 Pages Ebook, "Cooking Mastery!" from his website http://www.Cooking-Guru.com/770/index.htm . Only limited Free Copies available.

Please comment below or email me.

Using a Solar Oven for Under $10.

2011-10-17T17:24:00.000-05:00

Build A Solar Oven For Under $10 - Use Solar Power To Cook Your Food

Author: Andy Greene

Are you looking for ways to save energy and live your life greener? You can cook your food by the light of the sun. What could be more back-to-the-earth and off-the-grid than that? Solar ovens are available commercially, and can be quite expensive. If you are into green living you don't need me to tell you all the un-green things about stoves and ovens, gas and electric alike. But you may need me to offer you an alternative. So here it is - the simple homemade solar oven that you can make for under 10 dollars.

Your list of materials:

2 cardboard boxes of two different sizes (more on this in a sec)
4 flat pieces of cardboard (2'-3' square or rectangular)
scrap cardboard
1 small, 18" wide roll of aluminum foil
1 piece double-strength glass (more on this in a sec too)
white paper glue
black pan

Now, about those boxes - one of them should be able to fit inside the other one with 2 to 3 inches of space all around. And about that glass - it should be half-an-inch longer and half-an-inch wider than your smaller cardboard box.

A solar oven is made up of two parts: the oven itself and a solar collector.

To make the oven:

Paint the inside of your smaller box black.

Cut up your cardboard scrap into pieces and line the bottom of the larger box with a layer of scrap thick enough so that when you place the smaller box inside the larger one, the smaller one's lip rests about one inch below the larger one's lip.

Once you've got your scrap layer sized right, take that smaller box out for a second so you can fold in the larger boxes flaps. Then place the smaller box inside. Cut up however much more scrap you need to stuff in around the sides of the smaller box so that you've got it wedged in there good.

The glass should make a nice seal when placed on top of the oven, with enough of a lip that your finger can hook under it to raise and lower the glass as needed.

To make the solar collector:

Take the 4 flat pieces of cardboard (don't use double-strength) and cut them out in the shape of an anvil (like the kind the Road Runner drops on Wile E. Coyote's head all the time). Glue these to the upper, outer rim of your solar oven so that the pieces join together in an overturned lampshade sort of shape. (To do this, glue the shorter of the two parallel sides of each flap to the upper, outer rim of the larger cardboard box. Then glue the angled edges to one another.)

Glue aluminum foil to the upward facing sides of these 4 flaps.

And you're done!

To use the oven, simply place the food you want cooked inside it and sit the unit out under the sun until sufficiently cooked. Then eat and enjoy your - gas and electricity free!

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/build-a-solar-oven-for-under-10-use-solar-power-to-cook-your-food-946298.html

About the Author
Andy Green is a green redneck. He writes about green living for rednecks at GreenRednecks.com (with some help from his friends). If you are a a rural person who cares for the land check out the resources at http://greenrednecks.com. Please comment below or email me.

How to Cook for Your Family on a Budget.

2011-10-17T17:22:00.001-05:00

Cooking Family Food on a Budget

Author: Peter Gallacher

In this interview we spoke to mum of two Kimberley Saunders about cooking healthy food for a family of four living on a tight budget.

Is it hard to cook good quality meals for our children when you are on a budget?

No, not really because it depends on how well you know the basics of cooking and nutrition. A lot of that's been lost as they didn't teach it in schools in our generation and there are people who think you have to buy things that are cheap on the price label without realising that it's not healthy or that it's actually more expensive than it lookss.

Does cheap meals mean burger and chips?

No it doesn't. You can buy a bag of chips for about a pound and that will only do one or two meals for a family of four, but you still have to have the burgers and there's a lot of fat in that food.

What are the alternatives?

You could still have a meal of hamburger and chips but adapt it. There could be a lean turkey mince homemade meat patty, put under the grill and serve with green beans and sweetcorn. For a family of four that'd be around £2.50. I'm not saying that chips aren't fine for the occasional treat. The green beans you could get fresh, tinned or frozen so it's available to anyone regardless of budget.

What about kids that are picky?

I do understand that some people say their kids won't eat some things. It takes a bit of fortitude and patience to get a child to eat healthily. One of the things that kept me going was saying that there are children in Africa who've never seen a chip in their life. If a child is hungry they're going to eat it.

What tips would you give parents?

Start small, start healthy versions of their favourite food. Chicken nuggets for example. We got chicken breasts and made our own. We did roasted potatoes instead of chips. Fish fingers we turned into tuna patties. It's a bit of tuna fish mixed with a bit of egg, put breadcrumbs over the top and cook.

What about mothers who are pressed for time?

The tuna patties are as simple as opening the tin and popping under the grill. I know a lot of mothers are pressed for time. Why not invest in a slow cooker. You can do roasts, soups, casseroles. You can even do puddings in it.

Should we shop in the supermarkets or smaller shops?

Look at what you're getting and what you have available in your area. If you have a good market by you it's cheaper to go to the market to get your vegetables. If you've got a good local butcher get to know him. If you have some garden space grow your own vegetables. It's important that children know where their food comes from. I know my children wouldn't touch tomatoes until we grew cherry tomatoes in our own garden.

What basics should we have in the cupboard to try and save money?

A good stock cupboard would include tuna, tinned fruit and vegetables with no salt added. I would recommend always having eggs on hand - another quick meal.

What other tips do you have?

A big portion of our budget goes on food. I write meal plans so I know what I am going to cook. I'd go to the supermarket and not even look at the offers. You really can feed a family on a very small budget.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/home-and-family-articles/cooking-family-food-on-a-budget-592204.html

About the Author

To find more great interviews just like this one, why not visit the My Baby Radio website, at http://www.mybabyradio.com/pregnancy-birth/finance/feeding-family-is-costly/

Please comment below or email me.

Different Ways to Cook Your Food

2011-10-17T17:17:00.001-05:00

More Ways To Cook Your Food

Author: Jennifer Skipp

SIMMERING, OR STEWING.--The cooking process known as simmering, or stewing, is a modification of boiling. By this method, food is cooked in water at a temperature below the boiling point, or anywhere from to degrees Fahrenheit. Water at the simmering point always moves gently--never rapidly as it does in boiling. Less heat and consequently less fuel are required to cook foods in this way, unless, of course, the time consumed in cooking the food at a low temperature is much greater than that consumed in cooking it more rapidly.

Aside from permitting economy in the use of fuel, simmering, or stewing, cooks deliciously certain foods that could not be selected for the more rapid methods. For example, tough cuts of meat and old fowl can be made tender and tasty by long cooking at a low temperature, for this method tends to soften the fiber and to develop an excellent flavor. Tough vegetables, too, can be cooked tender by the simmering process without using so much fuel as would be used if they were boiled, for whatever method is used they require long cooking. Beets, turnips, and other winter vegetables should be stewed rather than boiled, as it is somewhat difficult to cook them tender, especially in the late winter and early spring. If dry beans and peas are brought to the simmering point and then allowed to cook, they can be prepared for the table in practically the same length of time and without so much fuel as if they boiled continuously.

. STEAMING.--As its name implies, steaming is the cooking of food by the application of steam. In this cooking process, the food is put into a steamer, which is a cooking utensil that consists of a vessel with a perforated bottom placed over one containing water. As the water boils, steam rises and cooks the food in the upper, or perforated, vessel. Steamers are sometimes arranged with a number of perforated vessels, one on top of the other. Such a steamer permits of the cooking of several foods at the same time without the need of additional fuel, because a different food may be placed in each vessel.

Steaming is preferable to boiling in some cases, because by it there is no loss of mineral salts nor food substances; besides, the flavor is not so likely to be lost as when food is boiled. Vegetables prepared in this way prove very palatable, and very often variety is added to the diet by steaming bread, cake, and pudding mixtures and then, provided a crisp outside is desired, placing them in a hot oven to dry out the moist surface.

DRY STEAMING.--Cooking foods in a vessel that is suspended in another one containing boiling water constitutes the cooking method known as dry steaming. The double boiler is a cooking utensil devised especially for carrying on this process. The food placed in the suspended, or inner, vessel does not reach the boiling point, but is cooked by the transfer of heat from the water in the outside, or lower, vessel. A decided advantage of this method is that no watching is required except to see that the water in the lower vessel does not boil away completely, for as long as there is water between the food and the fire, the food will neither boil nor burn.

Because of the nature of certain foods, cooking them by this process is especially desirable. The flavor and consistency of cereals and foods containing starch are greatly improved by long cooking in this way. Likewise, custards and mixtures containing eggs can be conveniently cooked in a double boiler, because they do not require a high temperature; in fact, their texture is spoiled if they are cooked at the boiling point. To heat milk directly over the flame without scorching it is a difficult matter, and, on the other hand, boiled milk is hard to digest. Because of these facts, food containing milk should not be boiled, but should be cooked at a lower temperature in a double boiler.

BRAIZING.--Cooking meat in an oven in a closed pan with a small quantity of water constitutes braizing. This cooking process might be called a combination of stewing and baking, but when it is properly carried out, the meat is placed on a rack so as to be raised above the water, in which may be placed sliced vegetables. In this process the meat actually cooks in the flavored steam that surrounds it in the hot pan. The so-called double roasting pans are in fact braizing pans when they are properly used. A pot roast is the result of a modification of the braizing method.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/food-and-beverage-articles/more-ways-to-cook-your-food-880750.html

About the Author

To learn about low sodium diets and foods high in sodium, visit the Daily Sodium Intake website.

Please comment below or email me.