If you are as busy as most people you are always looking for ways to feed your family in convenient, fast, yet not-too-expensive ways. Try the following suggestions:1. Cooking several meals for the week at one time. It may take a few hours of your time up front but will pay off in the long run when you come home each evening and have a meal ready to eat in a short amount of time. Try cooking a roast and using part of it as a main meal and then using some for sandwiches, beef stroganoff or as part of a stir-fry. Fry several pounds of hamburger and make a casserole, taco meat and chili to freeze for use later in the week.2. After you return home from the grocery store clean all the fruits and vegetables you can. When it’s time for a meal all you will have to do is cook them or add them to a salad or soup.3. Get ideas from the cooking shows on T.V. There are great shows that show you how to make a healthy meal in a short time.4. Develop a revolving recipe file. If you get bogged down by the idea of having to plan 30 meals a month the recipe file is for you. Let family members choose some of their favorites and put the recipes in a monthly file. Flip to day five or fifteen and there is the meal just waiting to be cooked.5. Enlist the help of the members of your family. As soon as the kids are old enough divide up the cooking responsibilities. Let everyone take turns with specific tasks or the whole meal. Pair these meals with fruit and veggies that have already been washed and cut-up and you are ready for dinner.6. Share the cooking with friends or neighbors. I’ve known people who cook four or five of the same meal and then trade with four or five other people. This works best when people share the same basic ideas on what they like and don’t like. It’s a great idea though for a very easy week of evening meals.7. Save coupons for those convenience things at the grocery store. They have entire entrees and dinners either fresh or frozen. Sometimes they are rather pricy but with the coupons they are good to have on hand for an evening when everyone is running in different directions and time is of the essence.8. It’s O.K. to eat out from time to time. Clip coupons for these occasions and if you have kids keep a look-out for the places that have special prices for children. Some of the fast-food restaurants are trying to offer item choices that are a little more healthy.9. Many larger cities have businesses that prepare food for the evening meal. They seem expensive at first but are so convenient and available for one person or entire families. There are many menu choices and meals cooked for special diets. When you calculate the groceries you buy and the times you eat out each week, this may work for you.10. Combine several of the above ideas into a plan that is best for you.It is possible with a little planning to cook meals that are quick and easy without spending hours in the kitchen every day.
Posts Tagged ‘Cooking’
Fast Food Restaurants
January 2nd, 2010As a staple of life our need to eat has developed from a basic form of simply feeding our bodies with the fuel it requires, to a complicated art of presentation and taste combined with our intrinsic need to experiment with everything we see, touch, smell and of course taste. The ever-increasing divergence of foods that is now available to us at our local stores and eating-places only help to confuse and tantalise us into new culinary experiments and delights. From the sandwich shop to the award winning restaurants, we can always find a place that prepares and sells the food we want at a reasonable price, although cooking or preparing food for ourselves may be a cheaper or healthier option it never seems to taste the same as our local restaurant. Most people that have cooked their own versions and varieties of local, Chinese, Indian or other international cuisine believes it does not have the same taste or texture and will often opt for a more authentic meal from their local restaurant or take away. Cooking at home has become less of a choice and more of a chore. With the large amount of ready meals available, the option of spending time in the kitchen becomes less and less appealing. People are spending more of their time and money in the world of fast foods and restaurants. Although some believe this to be a bad thing it has fuelled a new market in available meals that are only a phone call away. As long as the health and hygiene departments vet these establishments and our choices are varied, of good quality and healthy their use can be a good alternative to cooking our own meals. With the onset of fast foods and the quick cook and ready cooked meals available along with the ever increasing choice of world cuisine, the enjoyment of these different foods have opened new options to the consumer within the food market. In today’s busy world where leisure time has become more and more important, the less time spent working and preparing to eat allows us more available time for our pursuit of our leisure activities. People who do not have the ability, time or will to cook at home now only have to pick up the phone book or click on the Internet in order to find their local restaurant or fast food retailer that will be more than happy to deliver the freshly prepared hot food ready to eat straight to their door with minimum fuss. Although the fast food retailers compete with each other fiercely, using their special offers and cheaper and healthier alternatives to entice us to their premises, the main stay of traditional restaurants still hold an important part in our lives. Even though these places are vastly out numbered by the fast food industry, we still enjoy sitting down in the nice comfortable and pleasant surroundings of a restaurant and dining on good quality food at a leisurely pace, leaving behind the hustle and bustle of daily life and the fast food rush. Traditional restaurants will always offer us that pleasant alternative to eating at home, ordering take out from our local fast food dispenser or visiting their drive through or small busy café style restaurants. Not forgetting those special occasions or romantic rendezvous, these still command the need for that quiet stylish quality restaurant where we know that the food wine and service will always be excellent and the experience wonderful and charming.
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Homemade Fast Food Favorites
December 30th, 2009As tasty as fast food is, it simply isn’t economical to dine out as often as we would like, particularly if you have a large family. So if dining in is to be your fate, why not make the best of it and enjoy a nice home-cooked spin on your favorite fast food dish? We’ve prepared a few instructions to get the meal you’re craving at a price you can afford.
First up is the great American burger and fries. For this, you’ll need some ground beef or ground steak, 1 egg, a dash or coriander and paprika, salt and pepper, about a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, and finely chopped onion. Adjust all of the seasonings and the onion to your taste preferences. Mix all the ingredients into a bowl until they’re fully blended. Roll the seasoned meat into balls, and then flatten into a patty shape. Place in a slightly-oiled skillet on a medium heat (or on a barbecue grill) and cook thoroughly, turning occasionally. Top with condiments of your choice, such as onion, tomato, lettuce, pickles, ketchup/mustard, etc. If you can, toast your burger buns just before serving to give it that little extra something.
For the fries, get a few large potatoes (peeled), and cut into 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch strips. Add oil to a Dutch oven and heat to about 320 degrees F. Completely submerge the potatoes in the oil–try to work in small batches–for about 3 minutes or until the potatoes are floppy and pale in color. Remove them, pat them with paper towel, and allow them to cool. Put the Dutch oven back into the oven to heat to 375 degrees F. When the oil is heated, put the partially-cooked potatoes back into the oil for another 3 minutes. When they’re done, remove them and pat off any excess oil. Serve hot.
Pizza is another fast food favorite that can put a nice spin on any night in. All you need is a packet of or tube of pizza dough (very cheap at your local grocery store), pizza sauce (also cheap, but you can make it yourself with a bit of tomato sauce and Italian seasonings), grated cheese, and the toppings of your choice. Simply roll out the dough, spread a bit of sauce evenly over the dough, sprinkle with cheese, and add the toppings of your choice. Ground beef, bacon, mushrooms, peppers, onions, and even pineapple are all tasty toppings that many people have on hand. Cook the pizza according to the instructions on the pizza dough package; serve hot and enjoy!
Another great fast food favorite is Long John Silvers’s fish (or chicken). The batter for this is simple: 1 cup of plain flour, 1 tablespoon of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, a bit of garlic, 1/2 cup of cornstarch, 1/4 tablespoon of salt, and 3/4 cup of water. Mix all of the ingredients until the batter is smooth. Dip your fish (or chicken) into the batter until it’s fully coated, then deep fry at 400 degrees F for 3 – 5 minutes until batter is golden brown. You might want to stick a knife in to make sure the fish is thoroughly cooked. Serve with cole slaw and fries and you’re set!
These recipes are easy to make and you’ll find yourself saving a great deal of money when compared to what you’d spend at a fast food joint—plus you can always save the left-overs for later!
Children Eat What They Live
November 27th, 2009Nutritious eating habits are generally formed long before children start to select their own foods. Children adopt the eating habits of their role models. Parents and child care providers are the first role models that children have contact with.
Children are great observers. When children see what is going on in the kitchen, they can create a complete dialogue with their invisible friend on how to fry french fries or prepare a salad.
In several studies involving the eating patterns of children, researchers found that their eating habits, including preferences for certain foods was traced back to the patterns and preferences of their parents.
As children transition from bottles to bacon, they beging to develop eating habits that stay with them throughout their lives. Nutritious eating habits that are started at a very early age will follow them through adulthood.
Since it is documented that eating healthy can prevent serious illness, it is vital that role models start giving a carrot stick or an apple for a fun snack rather than a sugary snack. Children eat what they see adults consuming.
Parents do not realize the major influence that they have over what their children learn to eat. Following the eating habits of children, research confirmed that the rules about food are almost as genetic as the color of their eyes. This fact puts a lot of stress on caregivers.
But understanding the far reaching implications of this study will result in healthier kids and healthier caregivers.
Parents can relate to the fact that they associate both positive and negative memories with food. When children are involved in fun activities, they tend to be snacking on junk food. The food offered at the park is all about hotdogs, ice cream and sugary snacks.
The smell of Grandma’s cookies baking in the oven might bring back feelings of love and security. While the smell of vegetables cooking might invoke a negative memory of having to finish their plate of vegetables before getting dessert.
Bribing a child to eat nutriously is a short term strategy that will generally backfire. “These contingency strategies are effective in the short run; they elicit the correct response, says Dr. Fisher, Ph.D, assistnant profession of Pediatrics at Baylor College of medicine. In a study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Dr Fisher made a direct link to the eating patterns of children and their parents.
Dr. Fisher and her researchers made some startling discoveries surrounding the eating habits of children. The children of caregivers who ate lots of fruits and vegetables in turn had children who also ate the same types of foods. Alternatively, caregivers who only encouraged healthy eating but led an unhealthy eating lifestyle, had children who ate low amounts of fruits and vegetables.
Children will like and react to the power of influence. Because nitritious eating habits are as important for parents as it for the children, the commitment to eating healthier will be easy.
The moral of the study is that if you want your children to follow healthy eating habits, the general rule is you must show them – don’t just instruct them.
