Store It Foods

If you take your cooking very seriously, you are most likely aware of the cooking rule that the best food is produced from the best ingredients. But don’t fret if you’re not a professionally trained chef. After all, picking high quality ingredients is not difficult to do. It’s all a matter of finding the freshest items. For spices, this means using fresh leaves and sprigs will almost exclusively add more flavor than dried or old spices. This means bottled items will always pale in comparison to spices straight from your own garden.

And if you want the freshest meat available, this often means venturing beyond your neighborhood grocery store aisles. With that in mind, make sure to invest in a high quality electric meat grinders for your kitchen and make some visits to your butcher. Not only will this ensure that your meat is the absolute freshest it can be, but it will also add an element of fun to your meat dishes. After all, you’ll surely feel like a bona fide chef when you’re grinding away creating your own ground beef for an authentic pasta dish or Swedish meatballs.

Here’s a tantalizing recipe for vegetable soup that can be ready in less than half an hour! It’s a great meal for an evening if you’re short on time, and depending on the size of your family, makes enough to reheat for the rest of the week! In addition to the ingredients, you’ll need one of your Presto pressure cookers.

Ingredients:

6 cups diced potatoes
3 cups carrot rounds
2 cups sliced onions
2 cups sliced celery
3 tbsp. minced garlic
12 oz. tomato paste
2 tbsp. oregano
2 tbsp. parsley
¼ cup olive oil
6 cups water (more if desired)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Chop all your ingredients and add them to your pressure cooker, then add the spices, water, and oil.  Make sure you have enough water to cook the veggies!  Fasten your pressure cooker lid, and place the rocker on top.  Set your stovetop burner to high heat, wait until the cooker is rocking and steaming.  Once the pressure cooker is rocking, let it cook for about 15 minutes, then cut the heat and let it cool down.  After the pressure cooker has decompressed, simply open and enjoy!

A stock pot can be one of the most versatile items you have in your kitchen.　 As the name implies, it is perfect for producing soup stocks, but it can also be used for preparing soups and stews, cooking pasta, boiling corn on the cob, braising meats, making marinara sauces and much more.　 Larger than your customary pots and pans, it is this larger size that lends it its versatility.

Since soup stock is generally prepared for use in future meals, many recipes suggest separating the large batch that results into smaller portions.　 Some of these could be refrigerated for more immediate use, and others frozen for use at more distant meal times.　 One home chef recommends that the freezing take place in ice cube trays with the frozen cubes being taken out and stored in plastic freezer bags for space saving convenience.　 Freezing, however, need not be the only option.　 Canning is also a possibility.

Of course, canning, if chosen, needs to be done properly.　 Water bath and steam canners work, but they may not work safely.　 The best choice, when it comes to the canning of　such non-acidic foods as meats and many vegetables, is pressure canning.　 This effectively destroys those organisms which cannot be totally eliminated when relying solely upon boiling water methods.

 Despite my hectic work schedule, I try to make time to prepare a home-cooked dinner at least three times a week. It’s relaxing and invigorating to indulge in the delicious scents of sizzling meat or sautéing mushrooms. I’ve also found that cooking my own food is much healthier than dining out or buying pre-packaged “instant meals.” Not to mention the obvious taste discrepancies.

My only real downfall in the kitchen is a propensity to cook too much food. It’s actually not much of a problem at all because I can always save the leftovers in some food storage containers. Then, later in the week when I’m too worn out to cook a meal from scratch, I can peruse the storage containers and sample an entrée for the second time around.

The prospect of dieting is certainly not a fun one, and at times the mere thought of giving up one’s favorite foods is enough to derail a diet before it even begins. Luckily there are a number of ways people can shed superfluous pounds without resorting to a desperation diet. For starters, it’s advantageous to read food labels. This will help to “budget” or manage one’s daily intake of calories, fats and sodium.

Next, plan out your snacks well in advance so that you have a small, healthy portion of food ready to eat when you feel a hunger craving between meals. If it’s not readily available, you’ll be tempted to chomp on some chips or hit the corner store for candy. Try eating more fruits, vegetables and whole grains prepared in your hand grain mill.

When it comes to preparing food for a diabetic, it’s important to be mindful of the sugar content of the food. Even something as simple as a glaze for meat or barbeque sauce can be detrimental to a diabetic. Diabetics need to receive adequate nutrition, but also should be eating food that is low in sugar. It’s also important for diabetics to eat balanced meals on a regular time schedule, otherwise the diabetic can might take too much or too little insulin and have a diabetic reaction, which is quite dangerous.

Starches are great foods for diabetics in moderation; potatoes, rice, and grains.  Vegetables are also excellent sources of vitamins and fiber; I like using a Roma food strainer to create my own sauces and jucices.  Common recipes for diabetics might include stir fry, baked potatoes, rice and vegetables (light on the teriyaki or soy sauce), grilled cheese sandwiches, and casseroles. If the meal is light or heavy on calories, it’s also a good idea to inform a diabetic beforehand so they can adjust their insulin intake if necessary.

If you’re anything like me, you indulge your sweet tooth by eating licorice sticks by the handful. I picked up that habit as a child, and it’s never steered me wrong. Over the years, I’ve picked up a few recipes that have encouraged me to branch out while still enjoying the distinctive taste of good licorice. The following recipe for parfaits should be enjoyed at the end of a warm late-summer day.

Ingredients:

1 packet black licorice sticks, chopped
5 egg yolks
12 fluid ounces cream
4 ounces granulated sugar
1 gelatin leaf
8 cylindrical molds
½ pound blackcurrants
3.5 ounces icing sugar
1 cup water

Directions:
1. Dissolve licorice in the water over low heat. Add the gelatin leaf to the pan, put the mixture through a Back to Basics food strainer and set to one side.
2. Put blackcurrants and icing sugar in a blender and puree to a fine consistency. Set this mixture aside as well.
3. Boil sugar and water together in a pan, lower the heat to simmer. Once the mixture reaches jam stage, start whisking some egg yolks. Add the hot sugar syrup to the eggs when they become fluffy.
4. In yet another bowl, whisk the cream until relatively thick. Pour in majority of blackcurrants and fold; add the cooled egg mixture next; drizzle licorice syrup on last.
5. Pour everything into a mold and freeze it for 12 hours. When it’s time to serve, dip the mold in cold water and the parfaits will pop out.

I am one who will never tire of kitchen gadgets.  When shopping, I am always drawn to stores that sell small kitchen appliances.  I have always thought about why I am so attracted to these stores.  I realize that one reason is because they always have something new.  It could be a revolutionary new gadget I have only seen now, or a new form or presentation of one that I had been using for years. I find it such fun to discover new things.

The store that sells small kitchen appliances is also a good place to get gifts for your friends. Who would not love a blender, food processor or mixer? She might already have a coffee maker, cooker or steamer, but new designs look so modern, so up-to-date.

Emergency survival kits are great tools for securing your family in any emergency situation. Having one on hand provides a feeling of peace of mind and security. Many people actually keep more than one on hand, like having one at home and one in the car. Keeping an emergency survival kit in the car should be mandatory, especially if you are always on the road or you live in a remote area that is prone to severe weather conditions.

Even in any outdoor activities such as hiking or camping in the woods, an emergency survival kit should be included in the backpack as several emergency situations could happen along the way. There are emergency survival kits can be carried in a backpack or shoulder bag. Examples of the contents include water pouches, batteries, food bars, first aid kit, warm clothes, flashlight, and waterproof matches.

A few months ago, I switched to part-time at my job in order to spend more time at home with the kids. Since then we’ve been busy with dozens of activities, from arts and crafts to learning musical instruments and foreign languages. I want to allow my kids to experience all sorts of practical yet fun hobbies so that they can choose the ones they’d like to pursue seriously.

One such hobby takes place in the kitchen, where we’ve been learning how to make our favorite foods from scratch. It’s proved to be a real money-saver for me as well – many food products are marked up to exorbitant prices in grocery stores. You’re really just paying all that money for packaging and convenience. Just last week we used a Roma sauce maker to create a marinara from tomatoes, onions and assorted herbs.