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Category: cooking

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Choose Vegetarian Recipes

Whether you are a seasoned chef or someone who has never put together an edible meal, consider expanding your knowledge of cooking by adding vegetarian recipes. Chefs of great restaurants and moms of hungry families will enjoy having more meals to cook, and the customers and children who eat the food will be happy as well.

Exploring vegetarian recipes is great simply to spice up the kitchen with something new. No cook likes to get bored by preparing the same meals over and over. It is always fun to try new ingredients or methods of making the foods you love and it can be just as fun to experiment with vegetarian recipes you have never tried before.

Great vegetarian recipes can be found in many locations. Search online, in cookbooks, or at local health food stores for ideas. If you have friends that have been cooking great dishes try swapping vegetarian recipes with them. Sometimes restaurants will even share vegetarian recipes with their customers for little or no charge.

Stopping into a local health food store is a great way to obtain all of the ingredients and spices you will need to begin cooking vegetarian recipes to perfection. Workers at these stores are often knowledgable resources that you can utilize and learn from.

Incorporating vegetarian recipes into any diet will bring variety and give healthy eating options. Many studies suggest that switching at least some of your weekly diet to vegetarian recipes can be benefical to your health. Let your tastebuds enjoy new things that are good for your body. Vegetarian recipes will often include many of the vitamins, minerals, and sources of nutrition that every body needs. Instead of meat, vegetarian recipes are filled with healthy protein substitutes so that you do not miss out on things you need.

Take a look at your health and at the foods you’ve been eating. Including a few vegetarian recipes into your diet can quickly improve how you feel and can be part of an overall health plan that will improve your life. Since few things are as important as leading a healthy life, take your time in researching new ways to eat better. Vegetarian recipes are just one of many things that you can consider. And contrary to popular belief, vegetarian recipes are full of the taste and enjoyment of many other foods you eat. The biggest difference is that they are much better for you.

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Elegant Entertaining Without Breaking The Bank

Good news for the next time you’re considering hosting a party. You don’t have to feel dizzy, overwhelmed and full of questions: I don’t have a creative bone in my body-how will I decorate without spending a fortune? What will I serve? You can relax and take a deep breath. Here are a few hints on how to create an affordable elegance that you can enjoy just as much as your guests.

How will I decorate without spending a fortune? You don’t have to spend huge amounts of money on anything that will only be used once. Start by looking around your home and see what you can use to complement a specific theme. For example, if you’re hosting a luncheon for family or a group of friends, gather potted plants from inside and outside your home and place them in the dining area for a lush, garden theme. Make place cards by writing each guest’s name on a leaf.

For an inexpensive table centerpiece, head outside! Fill a long platter or wicker basket with pinecones, fresh fruit, nuts, small white birch logs and baby pumpkins. The Pampered Chef, the premier direct seller of kitchen tools, has some beautiful and versatile tabletop pieces to help you, such as a Woven Selections Rectangle Tray or Simple Additions® Entertaining Set. Finish off by sprinkling dried flower petals around the table. You’ll be surprised at how much fun you can have and how much money you’ll save simply by using your imagination.

What will I serve? Here’s where most people worry needlessly. If you are making a main course, keep it simple and stick with what you know. Take advantage of convenience items such as prechopped vegetables or rotisserie chickens. Don’t be afraid to ask friends or family to bring a simple side such as a marinated salad or potato dish. For less formal gatherings, purchase snacks that your guests can graze on-mixed nuts, cold cuts, crackers and exotic cheeses, prepared salads and fresh salsa and chips. The Pampered Chef® has many simple yet sensational recipe ideas to help you get in and out of the kitchen quickly, so you can join your friends in the festivities. To please even the most discriminating palate, serve an elegant appetizer such as Baked Brie. Along with your favorite beverages, and festive music, you’re well on your way to hosting this year’s “Affair to Remember!”

Baked Brie with Apples

& Cranberries

Prep time: 15 minutes

1/2 cup chopped apple

(1/2 medium apple)

1/4 cup sliced natural almonds

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1 tablespoon packed brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon Pantry Korintje Cinnamon

1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted

1 round (8 ounces) Brie cheese (about 4 inches in diameter)

Crackers or cocktail bread slices

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Coarsely chop apple with food chopper. Combine apple, almonds, cranberries, brown sugar and cinnamon in small batter bowl; mix gently. Stir in butter just until ingredients are moistened.

2. Cut Brie in half horizontally using utility knife. Place one half of Brie, rind side down, on small bar pan. Spoon half of the apple mixture onto bottom half of Brie, spreading evenly. Top with remaining half of Brie, rind side up. Spoon remaining apple mixture over top. Bake 12-15 minutes or until cheese is soft and just begins to melt. Serve with assorted crackers or cocktail bread slices. Yield: 8 servings

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They Say “Look In The Mirror, Don’t See Fat, See Beautiful!” That’s Not Going To Make You Healthy Or Unclog Your Arteries Or Improve Your Diabetes

Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can, or you can’t, you are usually right.” If you really want to improve yourself, know that you can. You will not be dieting, you will be changing ingredients and you will give in to some changes without turning your nose up before trying. It took a long time to put that weight on, it will come off, but not in 6 weeks like the skinny models on your TV screen. Have patience! Don’t have the mindset of a dieter. Remember, you are not starving. You are eating delicious, tasty food.

My husband was 241 lbs. and had a triple bypass six years ago. Today he weighs 178 lbs. and his cholesterol is 108. I never lied to him about his food; I just neglected to mention that I did things like replacing the ground beef in his chili with veggie protein crumbles (from the frozen food case) and the shredded cheddar was veggie cheese from the supermarket produce department. Believe it or not the shredded veggie cheddar tastes and melts so much better than the regular no-fat cheddar. He loves it! I finally had to tell him why he was losing so much weight. He was beginning to think there was something terribly wrong with him.

I bought a cook book with lots of creamy comfort foods that he always craved. None had the heavy cream, butter and cheese that comfort food usually has. I learned how to substitute fat-free half & half or evaporated skim milk for cream. I used margarine with no trans-fat and after a while, I didn’t need a special cookbook. It was easy to convert any recipe to low fat, low calorie, low anything.

Here’s a good example of a recipe conversion: Original recipe was made with veal not chicken. I used healthy olive oil and margarine, reduced both to 1 ½ teaspoons. The half-and-half was replaced with the fat free kind.

Chicken in a Creamy Mustard Sauce:

2 chicken breasts (boned & skinned)
1 ½ tablespoon flour
¼ teaspoon each salt & pepper
1 ½ teaspoons each olive oil & margarine
½ cup each diced onion & sliced mushrooms
¼ cup fat-free half-and-half or evaporated skim milk
1 tablespoon each Dijon & fresh parsley
1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice

Dredge chicken in flour, salt, & pepper. In a non-stick skillet heat oil over medium heat, add chicken and cook, turning once, until browned on both sides and cooked throughout (about 2 minutes per side). Remove chicken.

In same skillet heat margarine until bubbly; add onions & mushrooms. Sauté until lightly browned. Reduce heat, add half-and-half, mustard, parsley and lemon. Stir constantly until sauce comes to a boil and thickens. Serve over the chicken.

Learn this method of good eating; forget the fad diets and the pills. Stop killing your husband and the kids with what you think is kindness cooking. Serve more vegetables and salad. Get healthy and then look in the mirror and be proud of your accomplishment!

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Serve Eggs Anytime

The popularity of breakfast foods is a good reason to keep dependable starters, such as eggs, bread and other staples, on hand. But why reserve them only for morning meals? Planning breakfast for dinner is a good way to serve up simple, satisfying evening meals without spending a lot of time in the kitchen.

A strata is one easy-to-prepare dish that can go from breakfast to dinner with ease. The word strata means layers and the layers of Tomato Strata Florentine are simply cubed bread, torn spinach and seasoned chopped tomatoes. An egg-milk custard poured over the top binds the bright-colored layers together and causes the bread to puff up during baking.

For single diners or families whose members eat at separate times, bake the ingredients in individual custard cups which you can refrigerate and reheat in the microwave. For a family meal, use a baking pan. Either way, you can make the strata the night before you want to serve it. Simply leave a note for the first one home to pop it into the oven.

This budget-wise combination is nutrient dense. Along with cheese and milk, the eggs provide about 1/3 of your daily protein needs, while the bread and tomato supply carbohydrates. Together, the ingredients add up to an impressive array of needed vitamins and minerals, at less than 200 calories and only 8 grams of fat per serving.

Other breakfast dishes make good dinners, too. Quick-cooking scrambled eggs are easy to dress up with pasta or rice and onions, peppers, mushrooms or other flavoring foods. Poached eggs combine well with breads, veggies and cheeses.

Tomato Strata Florentine

4 servings

Cooking spray

2 cups torn fresh spinach (about 4 oz.)

2 slices whole wheat bread, cubed (about 1 1/2 cups)

1 cup chopped fresh tomato (about 1 medium)

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, crushed

4 eggs

1 cup skim or low-fat (1%) milk

1/4 cup (1 oz.) shredded low-moisture, part-skim mozzarella cheese

For individual cups: Evenly coat 4 (10-ounce) custard cups with spray. Place 1/2 cup of the spinach in each cup. Sprinkle each with about 1/3 cup of the bread cubes. In medium bowl, stir together tomato and seasoning until tomato is evenly coated with seasoning. Spoon 1/4 cup tomato mixture over bread cubes in each cup. In medium bowl, beat together eggs and milk. Slowly pour scant 1/2 cup egg mixture over tomato mixture in each cup. Sprinkle each with 1 tablespoon of the cheese.

Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven until custards are puffed and begin to pull away from sides of cups and knife inserted near centers comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

For baking pan: Layer entire amounts of all ingredients as above in sprayed 8 x 8 x 2-inch baking pan. Bake as above.

Nutritional information for 1 serving of 1/4 recipe using skim milk: 175 calories, 8 gm total fat, 218 mg cholesterol, 238 mg sodium, 469 mg potassium, 14 gm total carbohydrate, 13 gm protein and 10% or more of the RDI for vitamins A, B12 and C, riboflavin, calcium, iron, phosphorus, zinc

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Mexican Family Night Menu

Chicken Enchilada Casserole Recipe
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This is a Tex-Mex casserole dish that will be eaten up so fast. It is petty simple to make. It is assembled just like a Lasagna dish. Only differnece is that we use Corn Tortillas.

Happy Cooking!

Ingredients:

* 10 – 7 inch corn tortillas
* 1 lb. chicken, cooked and shredded
* 1 lb. Cheddar cheese, shredded
* 1 pt. sour cream
* 1/2 cup chicken broth
* 1 packet taco seasoning
* 1 cup mayo.
* 1/4 green onions, chopped (garnish)
* 1 can Rotel, drained (garnish)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Cook chicken, shred, and cool.
3. Mix shredded chicken, sour cream, chicken broth, taco seasoning, mayo, 3/4 of cheddar cheese, and salt & pepper in a bowl.
4. Lightly grease a 9×9 casserole dish.
5. Place 2 corn tortillas on bottom of the casserole dish.
6. Cover with chicken mixture.
7. Repeat until all tortillas are gone. Note: The final layer should be 2 tortillas.
8. Place drained Rotel and remaining cheddar cheese on top.
9. Cover with foil and bake for 45 min.
10. Remove foil and place under broiler for 3-5 mins.
11. Garnish with chopped green onions.

Tips from Chef Bek:

* Boil your chicken to prevent from overcooking.
* If Rotel is not available, use a can of Mexican Stewed Tomatoes.

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Black Bean Corn Salsa Recipe
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Salsa does just not have to be served with the traditional tortilla chips anymore. This black bean corn salsa is a great addition to any meal, or dish. Best of all, it is a fat free and low calorie accompaniment.

Happy Cooking!

* 1 can black beans – drained and washed
* 1 can corn – drained
* 1/2 cup diced red onion
* 1/4 cup diced jalapenos
* 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
* 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
* 2 large tomatoes – diced
* 2 cloves garlic – chopped
* salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Wash all your veggies, drain all your canned goods, and cut as described. Combine all into a plastic or glass container.

Chill in the refrigerator at least 8 hours, or overnight, before serving.

Tip From Chef Bek:
Do not use a metal container to store the salsa. The acids in the lime juice and tomatoes will have a reaction with the metal.

Serving Suggestions:
* Serve with warm tortilla chips.
* Serve as a sauce for fresh fish.
* Wrap in a warm tortilla with chicken, sliced avocado, and lettuce.
* Place inside a breakfast omelet.
* Add to a bed of mixed greens with some crushed tortilla chips.

Happy Eating!

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