THE FOOD ENTHUSIAST: cooking tips and tasty recipes!
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Smoothies - the Easy BreakfastIt's important to get enough fruits and veggies for your health and well-being. Fruit adds fiber, helps prevent some cancers, and is great for heart health. If you have high blood pressure, it's an easy way to get enough potassium into your diet as well. Choosing whole fruit over fruit juice saves a ton of calories and preserves all the fiber. One of the reasons juice is so high in calories is that by removing the natural fiber, you have to use many more pieces of fruit to get a single cup of juice. This also makes it high in sugars as well. With our busy lives is can be difficult to always get 9 - 12 servings of fruits and veggies. Your morning smoothie let's you start out ahead of the game. You can even sneak a serving or two of veggies without anyone else noticing. It's a great way to get greens into a veggie hating child. Just give them funny names like Shrek smoothie or alien milkshake and they will gobble them down even if they are green! You can use different colors of glass to give the illusion of a different color as well. The Noritake Breeze comes in green, blue, amber, pink, red as well as clear, so use them to your advantage. You can use any blender, though having a high powered one like a Vita-Mix allows you to add in larger chunks with peels, seeds, and all. That's great for peeled oranges (no skin), whole lemons (including the skin), apples, and pomegranate seeds. If you use a regular blender, just cut things into smaller pieces, peel when necessary, and remove all seeds. If you want to add in veggies, start in easy with mild tasting lettuce or spinach. The move on to adding a small chunk of cabbage. The cabbage taste is taken away by strong fruit like pineapple or even strawberries. One of the best things about cabbage is you can even get red cabbage which adds a beautiful pink color to your smoothie. There's nothing better than starting the day sitting on my deck with a Noritake Breeze goblet filled with a mango, blueberry, spinach smoothie. Author: Kathy Hester Posted: Thursday 4th March 2010, 6:22 AM Vegan Up Some of Your MealsYou can use many of your regular recipes by substituting olive oil or Earth Balance for butter. Olive oil works surprising well in cookies. Try a few non-dairy 'milks' to see which one you prefer. For a thick milk, try So Delicious brand Coconut Milk from the refrigerated section, it's amazing in mashed potatoes. If you're looking for low calorie, unsweetened almond milk is one of the best, try the vanilla flavor in your favorite baked goods and I bet you get as hooked on it as I am. You might find your favorite among oat, soy, rice, or some of the new nut milks. Egg substitutions aren't as hard as you imagine. I'm not suggesting you start off trying to make vegan quiche, but vegan baked goods can be amazing. Try using 1/2 medium banana mashed in your favorite cookie recipe. If you've been looking for a way to incorporate more flax into your diet you've found it! For each egg add 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds to 3 tablespoons of warm water and mix together. It does look slimy, but really so does egg. If you are using egg to bind a croquette or casserole try putting in some mashed white beans instead. Vegcooking.com (http://www.vegcooking.com/vegcooking-eggreplace.asp) has a great list of egg substitutes you can take a look at. For your entree, start with recipes that you are already familiar with like risotto or pasta. Check for eggs in the pasta and you won't notice that cheese is missing in the risotto. Simple but elegant dishes include butternut squash sage risotto, veggie lasagna, and tofu red curry with jasmine rice. To make a yummy fake ricotta, try blending 1 package tofu with 1 can of pumpkin puree. Then you can easily add season mixtures that fit in with your dish. To busy to bake? Wow your friends with the easiest mousse ever. Take 1 package silken tofu and process with 1 cup melted vegan dark chocolate chips and a few tablespoons Frangelico. No one will guess it's vegan or that it not even bad for you. Serve it in your best Noritake dinnerware to make your guests enjoy the mousse even more. Who knows, after the holidays you might find yourself sneaking in a few vegan dishes in your regular routine. Let me know if your doctor notices a difference. Author: Kathy Hester Posted: Monday 22nd February 2010, 12:14 AM PastabilitiesStay with an Italian theme by adding some sausage to your typical bottled sauce. Throw in some broccoli, fresh garlic, and a little spinach for good measure. It only takes a few minutes more and you'll feel like you're having a special dinner. Another speedy favorite is tossing cooked pasta with minced fresh herbs, olive oil, and Parmesan. Leftover beans make a hearty dinner when combined with pasta and a few veggies. And speaking of leftovers, don't forget any bits of leftover veggies you have in the fridge. I love roasted veggies tossed in olive oil over ziti pasta. Sneak some whole wheat pasta into your family's menu. Start with angel hair pasta cooked a little longer than you would regular pasta. That way your family won't even notice. You can also sneak in a little tofu while you're at it. Puree silken tofu with some fresh basil and a handful of nutritional yeast and you have a faux ricotta to mix in with your regular tomato sauce. The nutritional yeast adds a cheese-like flavor that really makes it. It also makes a nice veggie broth addition when you're making soups. For a change of pace try a stir-fry over angel hair or spaghetti. Use a terrriaki, black bean, or garlic sauce and your new favorite Chinese take out may be in your own kitchen! Go to an Asian market and stock up on a few jars of pre-made stir-fry sauces. Get out the peanut butter and make some Thai noodles. A little coconut milk, peanut butter, and some chili makes a beautiful warm sauce for pasta. You can also make a cold sesame noodles with peanut butter and sesame oil. It's a perfect summer dish and looks great on Noritake Colorwave Sky color. Try making your next pasta dinner into a pantry challenge and see what you come up with. Marinated artichokes, olives, beans are all fair game. Be up for trying a few unusual combinations. One of my favorite pasta sauce combines creamed corn with minced pickled banana peppers. Add a few shrimp if you have some on hand. See if you are impressed by it as much as I am. Author: Kathy Hester Posted: Saturday 6th February 2010, 5:38 AM Food From Your Pantry: Beyond Easy ChiliMake sure to have cans of beans, corn, and tomatoes as well as various grains and pastas. I like to keep dried beans on hand too. They are cheap and only have the amount of sodium you add. If you use canned beans rinse them first and lower the salt in the recipe you are following. Beyond Easy Homemade Chili
Stove top: In a large pot heat up 1 Tb olive oil. Once it's hot add onions, once they are translucent add garlic and spices. Add the canned goods and water. Cook until hot throughout (about 15 minutes on medium heat). Serve with sour cream over rice, or with tortillas. I like to mix and match my Sengware dinnerware to show off my food. My favorite color for chili is the Sengware Pomello. I also use my freezer as an extention of my pantry. I keep various frozen veggies, leftover cooked beans or grains, all of which I can use in a moments notice. Try making a farmers market chili by adding frozen broccoli, peppers, winter squash or other veggies you have in your freezer to the chili mix. Use leftovers as a burrito or quesadilla filling. It also makes a tasty baked potato topping too. Try it on baked sweet potatoes as well. Author: Kathy Hester Posted: Thursday 21st January 2010, 3:03 AM |
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