Let's face it. We're all on the run these days now that school has started and the office work load is gearing up towards a busy (well relatively busy) holiday season. It brings us to the problem of eating on the run. Where do you go? What do you do? What do you chow down on to keep you going til you drop exhausted into bed?
It pays to rise earlier than usual to make a fulfilling and satisfying breakfast. After all, this is the most important meal of the day This is a good time to fill up on those much needed proteins to keep you going. The problem is trying to get up instead of having that extra half hour or hour of sleep. I usually opt for the extra shut eye and just grab a piece of fruit fir a fast breakfast. If you have to stop at your local Dunkin Donuts or any fast food buy a quick breakfast sandwich along with a coffee or tea. Bagels are a another solution as well but they're high in calories and you're better or with a bran muffin. Another option is bring instant oatmeal with your to the office and eat it at your desk. It's nutritious and filling - maybe not the best breakfast ,but at least a breakfast.
Lunch and dinner tend to go by the wayside too. We tend to fill up on empty calories and fats thanks to all the drive through and little or no lunch hours.If you have to go fast food then try the healthier alternatives like Subway or Wendy's. Subway allows you to create a low calorie but satisfying lunch . The sandwich combos and dressings are always tasty too. Wendy's lets you to choose from a variety of yummy salads as well as healthy baked potatoes. Even their chili is a good lunch or even dinner. Which bring s up that subject - dinner. Fast food or frozen? Sometimes the best bet is making a fresh cooked meal but sticking to simple techniques: barbecue, grill and saute. A 1-2-3 suppercan be a can of tuna or sliced cold cutswith a salad and low fat dressing. make a Cobb or chef salad that can last two nights as well.
September begins the season of crazy hours and no time for proper sit down and relax meals.Try to avoid this by eating right. It's hard when you're on the go. Just don't go withhout or yoou'll be running on empty.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Good Breading
There’s nothing like a crispy fried piece of chicken, pork chop or even veggie. What makes these ordinary foods so delectable? The secret is breadcrumbs. A crispy fried or baked food starts off with a good coating. You can use the store bought or something of your own creation , American or Japanese.
A good rule of thumb is to always have a canister of bread crumbs in your kitchen. You can use them to thicken soups (like the Piedmontese pane pesto) or a quick additive to a sparse stuffing. You can buy the commercial made which come plain or Italian style. Another option is making your own. Use dry Not stale bread . Stale bread will mean stale breadcrumbs and you don’t; want your food to taste that way. If the bread is to fresh just dry it out. A better solution is using lightly toasted Italian or French bread. Slice and bake for ten minute sin a 300 degree oven. Cool and then add to your food processor Store in an air tight container. I fyou want you can add garlic, or onion powder as well any herb such as, oregano or thyme to flavor them. Herb flavored bread crumbs are perfect in making veal Milanese , chicken or eggplant parmesan.
Another craze right now is breading with the Japanese panko breadcrumbs. These are a finer , spicer version of our American version. The coating is much crisper and crunchier and goes well coating chicken and especially pork . Panko breadcrumbs can come in a bag or jar. Again these are easy to make. Instead of bread you use Saltines or oyster crackers. These are crushed and mixed with thyme , chili powder as well as dried basil and black pepper. The next step is drying these in 325 degrees Farenheit oven fro 6 to 8 minutes. You can freeze these or store these in a jar.
Breadcrumbs, especially homemade are a nice way to liven up a meal. There’s nothing like a crunchy chicken leg or pork cop with a light coating of crumbs. Even better consider breaded vegetables for a nice appetizer or hors’ d’oeuvre. Bread crumbs whether American or th e Japanese panko liven up any fried dish.
A good rule of thumb is to always have a canister of bread crumbs in your kitchen. You can use them to thicken soups (like the Piedmontese pane pesto) or a quick additive to a sparse stuffing. You can buy the commercial made which come plain or Italian style. Another option is making your own. Use dry Not stale bread . Stale bread will mean stale breadcrumbs and you don’t; want your food to taste that way. If the bread is to fresh just dry it out. A better solution is using lightly toasted Italian or French bread. Slice and bake for ten minute sin a 300 degree oven. Cool and then add to your food processor Store in an air tight container. I fyou want you can add garlic, or onion powder as well any herb such as, oregano or thyme to flavor them. Herb flavored bread crumbs are perfect in making veal Milanese , chicken or eggplant parmesan.
Another craze right now is breading with the Japanese panko breadcrumbs. These are a finer , spicer version of our American version. The coating is much crisper and crunchier and goes well coating chicken and especially pork . Panko breadcrumbs can come in a bag or jar. Again these are easy to make. Instead of bread you use Saltines or oyster crackers. These are crushed and mixed with thyme , chili powder as well as dried basil and black pepper. The next step is drying these in 325 degrees Farenheit oven fro 6 to 8 minutes. You can freeze these or store these in a jar.
Breadcrumbs, especially homemade are a nice way to liven up a meal. There’s nothing like a crunchy chicken leg or pork cop with a light coating of crumbs. Even better consider breaded vegetables for a nice appetizer or hors’ d’oeuvre. Bread crumbs whether American or th e Japanese panko liven up any fried dish.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Bake Sale Season
September ushers in a ton of things to do. There's school, soccer, dance , not to mention church socials and garage sales. Every one of these has one thing in common - bake sale. They're alo held to benefit some school or sports group. Teas sometimes have bakes sales as well as do yard sales. The question is what to bake and what would sell the best? What dough will bring in a lot of dough and garner huge sales?
The safest way is to bake your specialties or simple cakes and cookies. Also people are not going to go wild over anything too elaborate or too messy. Cookies are good. Even if you have to cheat and use the slice and bake logs, they still have a home baked taste and will be crowd pleasers. Molasses drop cookies are another bake sale favorite. Cupcakes are trendy right now, especially those made with homemade butter cream icing. They 're easy to whip up and decorate. All it takes is a couple of boxes of cake mix an easy butter cream recipe and some sprinkles.
Should you make the more elaborate cakes pies and tarts? Yes if one you're planning on selling individual pieces of cake and two, if you're thinking of selling the goods in their entirety. Remember that a homemade sweet is a nice gift for those invited to a Saturday night dinner or a Sunday brunch at someone's home. You don't have to go wild. A simple vanilla or chocolate Bundt cake is easy especially if it has an easy to create glaze on it. With pies you can already buy premade dough and cans of filling. You can also use any sort of pudding as a filling and top with Cool Whip. tarts can be made with the same kind of packaged dough but you can add fresh fruit like the current season of apples and raspberries.
Don't despair if you tapped to bake for a bake sales. There's a number of ways in which you can produce a money making tasty treat. It's just simply using dough to make dough.
The safest way is to bake your specialties or simple cakes and cookies. Also people are not going to go wild over anything too elaborate or too messy. Cookies are good. Even if you have to cheat and use the slice and bake logs, they still have a home baked taste and will be crowd pleasers. Molasses drop cookies are another bake sale favorite. Cupcakes are trendy right now, especially those made with homemade butter cream icing. They 're easy to whip up and decorate. All it takes is a couple of boxes of cake mix an easy butter cream recipe and some sprinkles.
Should you make the more elaborate cakes pies and tarts? Yes if one you're planning on selling individual pieces of cake and two, if you're thinking of selling the goods in their entirety. Remember that a homemade sweet is a nice gift for those invited to a Saturday night dinner or a Sunday brunch at someone's home. You don't have to go wild. A simple vanilla or chocolate Bundt cake is easy especially if it has an easy to create glaze on it. With pies you can already buy premade dough and cans of filling. You can also use any sort of pudding as a filling and top with Cool Whip. tarts can be made with the same kind of packaged dough but you can add fresh fruit like the current season of apples and raspberries.
Don't despair if you tapped to bake for a bake sales. There's a number of ways in which you can produce a money making tasty treat. It's just simply using dough to make dough.
Friday, September 11, 2009
American Foods , American Freedoms
We foodies are lucky here in America. We have no restrictions on what we love to eat nor does our diet suffer because of any state induced bans. If we do have them, it’s because of our religions our beliefs or personal tenets.
We also share our culinary histories with each other which is why American cuisine is so diversified. We meld , rethink and create an entirely new dishes using a fine mix of ancient spices and vegetables and modern techniques. This is what makes cooking here so varied and unique. We can make a salad bar with Greek dolmades, German potato salad and Arabic pilaf. Our dessert tray consists of Scandinavian almond cookies, Chinese kumquats and Italian zablagione. Our barbecue could be Yankee hamburgers and hot dogs alongside of Lebanese or Syrian kabobs.
Our earliest memories and loves are of food, whether American or international. It’s what unites us as children and it’s where we learn to tolerate and embrace other’s nationalities and religions. Foods let us experience a tiny bit of another place and expands our palates the way books do our minds. Like anything else , the freedom to choose what we eat defines us as a nation.
This is America, Patriot‘s Day 2009. It’s a day when we can break down our cultural barriers and share a meal at our many food courts or treat each other to ice cream cones. it’s a day of remembrance and thought but also a day to come together and share. It could be our feelings or our food.
We also share our culinary histories with each other which is why American cuisine is so diversified. We meld , rethink and create an entirely new dishes using a fine mix of ancient spices and vegetables and modern techniques. This is what makes cooking here so varied and unique. We can make a salad bar with Greek dolmades, German potato salad and Arabic pilaf. Our dessert tray consists of Scandinavian almond cookies, Chinese kumquats and Italian zablagione. Our barbecue could be Yankee hamburgers and hot dogs alongside of Lebanese or Syrian kabobs.
Our earliest memories and loves are of food, whether American or international. It’s what unites us as children and it’s where we learn to tolerate and embrace other’s nationalities and religions. Foods let us experience a tiny bit of another place and expands our palates the way books do our minds. Like anything else , the freedom to choose what we eat defines us as a nation.
This is America, Patriot‘s Day 2009. It’s a day when we can break down our cultural barriers and share a meal at our many food courts or treat each other to ice cream cones. it’s a day of remembrance and thought but also a day to come together and share. It could be our feelings or our food.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Have A Fun Lunch With Bento Boxes!!
The New York Times had a fun article in their food section yesterday. It was about bento boxes, lunch boxes that are filled with cute animal or artistically floral cut veggies fruits, rice and meats This is a great way of getting picky eaters to eat. It’s also a great way to lose weight.
Bento boxes are Japanese and have had compartments filled with rice pickled vegetables, rice along with meat or fish. Construction is based on the Japanese belief of five colored foods, an idea similar to our food pyramid. There has to be white which is bread and, brown which can be either meat or peanut butter. Green is represented by a green salad, red by tomatoes and yellow by peppers or bananas. Now comes the fun part. Parents and foodies can assemble the pieces of food into appealing shapes. A cut hard boiled egg can be come a chick A rice triangle can become a cat face .or fish. Rice is mixed with Japanese vinegar and then can be cut into animal or floral shapes. Dieters can use th e bento boxes for portion control and having a filling but light lunch or even dinner.
Bento boxes are not found everywhere. Large cities would have stores that sell them. If not you can search on line for bento boxes along with rice cutters and skewers. You can also use ordinary skewers and cookie cutters from places like Target or K-Mart. There are also a few good websites that have a wide range of bento recipes.
Give zip and fun to your lunch by creating a bento box. It’s a neat way of having a nutritious lunch . It’s also fun to get all the important foods in a cheery package
Bento boxes are Japanese and have had compartments filled with rice pickled vegetables, rice along with meat or fish. Construction is based on the Japanese belief of five colored foods, an idea similar to our food pyramid. There has to be white which is bread and, brown which can be either meat or peanut butter. Green is represented by a green salad, red by tomatoes and yellow by peppers or bananas. Now comes the fun part. Parents and foodies can assemble the pieces of food into appealing shapes. A cut hard boiled egg can be come a chick A rice triangle can become a cat face .or fish. Rice is mixed with Japanese vinegar and then can be cut into animal or floral shapes. Dieters can use th e bento boxes for portion control and having a filling but light lunch or even dinner.
Bento boxes are not found everywhere. Large cities would have stores that sell them. If not you can search on line for bento boxes along with rice cutters and skewers. You can also use ordinary skewers and cookie cutters from places like Target or K-Mart. There are also a few good websites that have a wide range of bento recipes.
Give zip and fun to your lunch by creating a bento box. It’s a neat way of having a nutritious lunch . It’s also fun to get all the important foods in a cheery package
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
A Bite Out of Applebee's
Last night I rediscovered Applebee's. It's very rare that i get to eat at this American chain restuarant beacause there ar e none in my neighborhood. It just felt good to go there and enjoy some of their dishes. There's so many diverse dishes that it's hard to choose.
Applebee's started in the 1980's in Altanta, Georgia when Bill and TJ Palmer opened ther first Applebbe's Rx for Edibles and Elixers. it wss then takne nationwide when the giant W.R. Grace bought it. I t was then franchised and in the 1990's went overseas to Germany and The Netherlands. They also introduced their Rio Grande chain at this time too. By the millennium the chain was now seen in the Mid East and Latin American. Everyone loves Applebees and why not? The steaks are phenomenal, cooked like you did it yourself and the sides are wonderful. I had steamed veggies and a nutty rice pilaf that I could have ask for seconds. The restaurant also has a wide range of chicken , fish and ribs too. Unfortunately I didn't have any of their decadent desserts I would have liked to tried their dessert shooter s where you can get strawberry cheescake, chocolate mouuse or an ice cream sundae in tiny, little shooter glasses. There's also an ice cream pie and a blondie sundae that look pretty wicked too.
Another aspect is that Applebee's serves good food at good prices. You can get a filling steak dinner like I did for only $15.49. There are also lunches that start at only $5.99 featuring chicken Ceasar salad or French dip roast beef. Another is the big 2 for 20 value meals where diners can choose one appetizer and two meals for just twenty bucks. There's also the kids' 99 cents meal and half price appetizers on certain nights
Do what I did last night .Take a huge bite out of Applebee's . If you haven't been in a while , revisit it to taste their wonderful dinners and save on their great deals. You'll be glad you did.
Applebee's started in the 1980's in Altanta, Georgia when Bill and TJ Palmer opened ther first Applebbe's Rx for Edibles and Elixers. it wss then takne nationwide when the giant W.R. Grace bought it. I t was then franchised and in the 1990's went overseas to Germany and The Netherlands. They also introduced their Rio Grande chain at this time too. By the millennium the chain was now seen in the Mid East and Latin American. Everyone loves Applebees and why not? The steaks are phenomenal, cooked like you did it yourself and the sides are wonderful. I had steamed veggies and a nutty rice pilaf that I could have ask for seconds. The restaurant also has a wide range of chicken , fish and ribs too. Unfortunately I didn't have any of their decadent desserts I would have liked to tried their dessert shooter s where you can get strawberry cheescake, chocolate mouuse or an ice cream sundae in tiny, little shooter glasses. There's also an ice cream pie and a blondie sundae that look pretty wicked too.
Another aspect is that Applebee's serves good food at good prices. You can get a filling steak dinner like I did for only $15.49. There are also lunches that start at only $5.99 featuring chicken Ceasar salad or French dip roast beef. Another is the big 2 for 20 value meals where diners can choose one appetizer and two meals for just twenty bucks. There's also the kids' 99 cents meal and half price appetizers on certain nights
Do what I did last night .Take a huge bite out of Applebee's . If you haven't been in a while , revisit it to taste their wonderful dinners and save on their great deals. You'll be glad you did.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Rethink That School Lunch
Now that its' the official start of the 2009-2010 school year it's time to rethink lunches. What do you want to give your budding (or big if you have teens) foodie? Do you cave in and fill it with their favorite snacks? Or do you give them something healthy? Whats the right mix and the best mix?
First of all study their eating habits. if your kids love snacks, you may want to substitute healthy ones like orange or peach slices or popcorn to go with their lunch. Apple chips are fun too. Another aspect is what are their favorite meats and veggies. If they like a particular meat like turkey, make wraps and sandwiches for them using it. Vary it with chicken every now and then. Salads are fun too. You can pack enough plus an extra plate so that it can be shared with friends. Another healthy but really fun choice packing veggies and a low cal dip. Kids love the idea of dipping anything, from the dreaded broccoli spear to green beans.
Remember that it's your kid's lunch not yours. You should include them in the shopping stage all the way through to the creating stage. Teach them to know what's a good fruit as opposed to bruised rotty, ones as well as what's considered organic. Let them browse through your supermarket's deli section and explain which meats are high in nitrates and preservatives. Buy ingredients such as oil and vinegar along with low fat plain yogurt so they can make their own dressings and dips. Have them choose the bread for their sandwiches, but steer them towards whole wheat and rye for better nutrition and fewer calories.
School lunches can be a combination of tasty and healthy it;'s a matter of one, conferring with your student about what he or she likes and then finding the right foods. Making them the perfect lunch will be easier than getting them to do their homework! Trust me!
First of all study their eating habits. if your kids love snacks, you may want to substitute healthy ones like orange or peach slices or popcorn to go with their lunch. Apple chips are fun too. Another aspect is what are their favorite meats and veggies. If they like a particular meat like turkey, make wraps and sandwiches for them using it. Vary it with chicken every now and then. Salads are fun too. You can pack enough plus an extra plate so that it can be shared with friends. Another healthy but really fun choice packing veggies and a low cal dip. Kids love the idea of dipping anything, from the dreaded broccoli spear to green beans.
Remember that it's your kid's lunch not yours. You should include them in the shopping stage all the way through to the creating stage. Teach them to know what's a good fruit as opposed to bruised rotty, ones as well as what's considered organic. Let them browse through your supermarket's deli section and explain which meats are high in nitrates and preservatives. Buy ingredients such as oil and vinegar along with low fat plain yogurt so they can make their own dressings and dips. Have them choose the bread for their sandwiches, but steer them towards whole wheat and rye for better nutrition and fewer calories.
School lunches can be a combination of tasty and healthy it;'s a matter of one, conferring with your student about what he or she likes and then finding the right foods. Making them the perfect lunch will be easier than getting them to do their homework! Trust me!
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