Recipes Cooking Food

I could have put this sloppy joes recipe up before this but for some reason I didn’t. I happen to like sloppy joes quite a bit and have them a couple of times per month and last week when I had them I remembered I hadn’t put this recipe up yet. This recipe for sloppy joes is so easy a 10 year old could do it.

Is this a good recipe. I think so, most of my family thinks so and most importantly my girlfriends granddaughter thinks so. She thinks they taste like the sloppy joes she eats at school. I( didn’t take that as a compliment because school food was really bad when I was young. However after she ate 4 of them I got the hint she liked them. Funny but she seems to think my sloppy joes taste a lot like Manwich. I don’t and I don’t like Manwich either. Mine are much better.

Your handy griddle can handle most frying tasks, except deep fried dishes, which aren’t all that good for you anyway and are a lot more trouble. When you’re getting the hang of your basic cooking skills, the less complicated, the better.

The slow cooker is a fabulous tool for producing dishes with very basic cooking skills. So simple is the preparation, all you need to do is toss the ingredients into the pot – in the correct order – and walk away until dinner time. The slow cooker is the champion of those with the most basic cooking skills. Coarsely chop a couple of onions and whatever veggies you want and plop your roast, chicken or stew meat on top. Pour a cup of broth over all and the seasonings of your choice on top of the meat. Set the cooker on medium. Do this in the morning and come home to a fragrant, delicious meal. Serve it up and freeze the remainder in portions for future meals.

Nothing beats a dinner where flavorful grilled chicken breast is presented as part of the main course. grilling chicken breasts can cause some frustration if one doesn’t know how to grill them properly. Chicken breasts naturally get very dry when cooking them, especially when grilling them. By following a few simple techniques, you can ensure not only that your chicken breasts stay juicy but also flavorful and bitter free.

Select the right grilling method for your cut of chicken, heat up your grill to the right temperature, then grill it to your desired doneness. Add your BBQ sauce in the final 10 to 15 minutes of grilling time. You don’t want to add it too soon or it will create a bitter, burnt skin that is unpleasant to eat. However, it’s the special, little things you do along the way that really make the difference between great eats and a dinner gone wrong.

Every person should have one frying pan in their kitchen that they love. Cooking is not always a joy, but it should never be a burden. Having a good pan that cooks evenly and is not hard to clean is something that everyone should have, but they are harder to find then one might think. Unless you have hundreds to spend on your pots and pans, you are going to have to do some searching for the best pans you can find within your price range. Some start out well, but they never seem to last very long.

I got a great frying pan for my wedding that I thought would be one I could use for a very long time. The girl that bought it for me told me that it had a warranty on it, so I thought it would be around for at least ten years. It was not three years into my marriage that the frying pan that should have lasted began to act up. The coating was coming up, and even thought I took good care of it, and everything was sticking. I was disappointed, as you can imagine.

I have yet to find a frying pan that will work as well as that one did. I can’t afford the pricier pans, and that may be the reason I can’t find a good one. I may have to break down and spend a painful amount of money on a frying pan so that I know I have something that is going to work well and won’t peter out on me within a few years. Though some inexpensive models can work well for a while, they always wear out, even with the best care possible.

Finding a good frying pan might mean finding someone who has one, and then asking them for recommendations. Looking through the stores can help, but there may be more information online. There are reviews of just about everything you can imagine online, and you are sure to find some that pertain to a type or brand of frying pan that you are considering for purchase. If you find one with great reviews, you may want to buy that pan to see how well it performs for you. If it does well, or if it fails miserably, you should perhaps write a review of your own to help out the next person who is searching online for the perfect pan.

We’ve all heard so much about eating those 5-9 servings of produce each day. Smart physicians have been promoting this for decades, but it’s only been in the last few years that the government has made this healthy recommendation official. Many of us gasped at the idea, wondering if it were even possible to consume so much produce and have any room left over for anything else!

Now, we’re getting used to increasing the amounts we serve and have become more aware of the many health benefits. With the rise in the incidence of cancer and heart disease, it only makes sense. Much of the fruit and fruit products we eat are eaten fresh, or as juice. In the case of vegetables, the reverse is true. Most of our vegetables are cooked before serving. The method used for cooking vegetables makes a world of difference in the nutrition derived from that serving of broccoli, carrots or potatoes – or any vegetable you cook.

The dark green, leafy vegetables, such as broccoli, spinach and kale contain significant amounts of B and C vitamins, as well as many other valuable nutrients. The brightly colored veggies, such as yellow, orange and red bell peppers, yield those cancer fighting antioxidants in copious amounts. However, there’s a caveat when it comes to cooking vegetables – those valuable nutrients are largely water soluble. This means that cooking vegetables in large amounts of boiling water leaves the nutrients in the water, leaving as little as 10% of that contained in the raw produce! You can see where this leads: improperly cooking vegetables is little more than an exercise in futility. Your body obtains little more than the dietary fiber and minimal quantities of the nutritive value.

Remember, too, that heat destroys vitamins A and C rather quickly, so it’s important to minimize exposure to heat.

Even when serving raw vegetables, as in a salad or crudites, you don’t want to soak the vegetables in water to clean them. A thorough, but brief run under the water helps prevent leaching of vitamins, delivering the maximum nutrition when eaten.

Have you ever noticed the difference in appearance between, say, an artichoke or broccoli that’s been steamed versus one that’s been boiled? The boiled version is certainly less attractive, having lost most of its color, turning an olive-gray green, whereas the same veggie, steamed, retains an appetizing, bright green hue. Boiled vegetables also tend to be limp and overly soft – one reason kids are so often turned off by that plate of veggies – the texture is not pleasurable to the palate. Steamed vegetables retain just the right amount of crunch. When you’re cooking vegetables, steaming is definitely the preferred method for nutrition as well as visual and sensate appeal.

Cooking vegetables in the microwave is the next best alternative, as it requires little water and cooks quickly, minimizing the loss of valuable vitamins. The less water touching the vegetables, the better.

When cooking stews and soups, most recipes direct you to cook the veggies far longer than necessary, which usually causes a loss in texture, appearance and color. This also results in the destruction of the A and C vitamins. It’s best to steam or nuke the veggies separately, adding to the soup or stew at the last minute.

Hey, this makes me wonder if the official number of servings doesn’t factor in improperly cooking vegetables. If so, cooking them right and eating those 5-9 servings could make you a very healthy individual indeed!

The author has been writing articles online for 4 years now. Come visit his latest site The Profit Spy bonus that discusses The Profit Spy by Kunj K & Kish V.

Will require to you be one who enjoys investing a great deal of time inside the kitchen attempting out various dishes, you most likely also get satisfaction from competing with other people who get delight from cooking. The a good deal far more interested one becomes in cooking, the higher the wish to try out numerous recipes, form Chinese to Indian to Mexican cooking. You might also get enjoyment from baking or creating desserts, drinks and diverse appetizers to turn out to become a pro ultimately and an all-rounder. Inside event you think that you just merely fit into this category, you might no doubt get satisfaction from getting portion in cooking contests! Listed here are a quantity of tips on how you can find cooking contests and how you can take component in them and win.

Cooking contests generally are not for everyone. It actually is only for those who really love cooking and so are also prepared to try new issues. You’ll come across however many diverse types of cooking contests for different people. Ideally you’ll have to select cooking contests determined by your specialty. If you enjoying cooking thai delicacies and as a result are a pro at creating their common dishes, you would want to flaunt your cooking expertise by competing with other this form of contestants. Apart in the joy of winning a prize, this would also enhance your self-esteem with consider to cooking, leading you to venture into new locations of cooking. You may even be able to compile and publish a very good book of tried top quality recipes one day!

Just ahead of you enter cooking contests nevertheless you would should prepare your self effectively. Seem at out several recipes, and re-try them. Tend not to stick to one recipe that you locate for a distinct dish. Try diverse recipes for your dish and choose the one that comes out the truly best. Need to have to you be entering cooking contests that call for you to cook something you�ve in no way tried before, it is normally a wonderful thought to very very first consume these dishes at a restaurant that specializes in them, so that you would know regardless of regardless of whether your recipes show up out effectively if you try them at home. You could then be ready to appear up with some point original by adding your quite own ingredients.

Bear in thoughts that in all cooking contests, it is not only the major high quality from the foods prepared that counts, but additionally other aspects these kinds of considering that the aroma and also the general presentation. You’d probably need to hone your abilities in this regard as effectively.

From cooking contests in magazines that need you to send in actually good quality recipes, to cook-offs, to cooking contests where you will probably be asked to prepare a specific meal, the varieties of cooking contests differ significantly. Choose one which you might be comfy with. Keeping up with today�s trends and types of food that occur about for being most commonly eaten, can help you be imaginative at your cooking contests. Always maintain in thoughts that copying recipes of a cook book will not get you the prize.

Electric kitchen appliances posts all the electrical gears you need in your kitchen. Coffee Machine, Grill and Griddle, electric ovens – electric stove, cooking appliances, electric knife, Microwave, kitchen fryer, Soup Warmer and more.

The cuisine of the Western region of China is well-known for its spiciness, that is why many people use food handling gloves, but many Western palates overlook the complex interplay of savory, sour, hot and sweet flavors that underlie the fiery spice of the Szechwan pepper and other spices that give the Szechwan cuisine its characteristic burn.

Food Preparation Calls For Food Gloves
For decades, most of the world was familiar mainly with Cantonese cuisine, and thought of it as ‘Chinese cuisine’. In reality, though, China is an enormous country that encompasses nearly every kind of climate imaginable. The amazing variety of foods, spices and climates have led to many distinct styles of Chinese cuisine. Szechwan cuisine, originating in a steamy, sub-tropical climate, includes smoked, pickled and spiced foods, as well as foods spiced with a heavy hand for both preservation and flavor which is why food handling gloves are important.

While the Szechwan pepper, a fruit that grows in the Chongging province, has always been used in Szechwan cooking, most agree that it wasn’t until Christopher Columbus brought the chili back from his travels. Besides the flavors that sear the mouth, Szechwan cooking uses an interplay of flavors to create the full impact of a dish. Hot and Sour Soup, for instance, when prepared properly is neither exclusively hot, nor ultimately sour. Prepared with sorrel, lemongrass, tofu and other spices, its first impression is the heady, rich scent of roast meat and sour lemon. That aroma is belied at the first touch on the tongue – the soup is salty first, though not intensely so. The subtle blending of flavors melds, changing in the mouth to mildly sour – the sorrel and lemongrass making themselves known. It is not until the mouthful of soup has been swallowed that the fire sets in as the chili oil finally seeps into the taste buds.

This is not unusual for Szechwan cooking. The first mouthful of Kung Pao chicken seldom brings tears to your eyes. It is only as you chew and swallow and take yet another bite that the true heat of the dish begins to assert itself. Double Cooked Spicy Pork seems almost bland at first, with the flavors blending subtly in the background until the intense fire of the chili oil in which the pork is fried suddenly flames in your mouth.

Food Handling Gloves Are Vital When Cooking Smoked Meats

There’s more than fire to Szechwan cuisine though. Smoked meats are common, and the smoking often makes use of unusual materials and flavors. Szechwan Tea-Smoked Duck is a delicacy that combines the flavors of citrus and ginger and garlic, juxtaposing them with a long, slow cooking over a fire laced with oolong and green tea leaves. With the use of food handling gloves the result is a succulent meat that melts in the mouth and leaves behind a hint of gingered orange.

One tradition of Szechwan cuisine that is becoming more common in the Western world is the Szechwan Hot Pot. Similar to a ‘fondue’, a Hot Pot is more an event than a meal. It is very important that you use food handling gloves because chunks and slices of raw meat, seafood and vegetables are offered to diners at a table that holds a ‘Hot Pot’ – a pot of chili oil over a flame. Each diner selects their food and dips it in the chili oil until it is cooked. Often, hosts will also offer a pot of simple broth for those guests who prefer a more bland meal, or can’t tolerate the spiciness of food fried in chili oil.

Savory, rich and spicy, Szechwan cuisine is cuisine based on intensity – intensely hot, intensely sour, and intensely delicious.

About the Author
The author has been writing articles online for 4 years now. Come visit his latest site FoodGloves.net that discusses Food Gloves – Reviews by Keith Martin.

With so many convenience foods available at the supermarket, many people have become a little rusty on basic cooking techniques. Cooking rice is a case in point. At the grocery, I was astonished to find cooked rice and veggies in the freezer aisle, all bagged up, with a cheery label declaring, “ready in 4 minutes�! Of course, there are also cartons of fried rice in a variety of flavors and meats, which look just like a Chinese take-out carton. Nuke and serve.

So what was I doing, perusing these aisles of convenience foods? Why I was looking for my nuke and serve lasagna – hey, I was short on time! The problem is, we’re all short on time, but with rising food costs, some dishes are best made from scratch with some of our handy kitchen appliances. Some of the convenience foods aren’t worth the hefty price. Cooking rice is a case in point.

Some cooks scoff at the idea of making a large batch of rice and freezing portions for future meals. “It’s so quick to cook rice, why bother?â€?, is what I usually hear. However, I beg to differ. Why should I spend time making four batches of rice, on four separate occasions, with four separate cleanups, when I can be done with it in one effort? Rice freezes well, so keep that little tip in mind. When you’re in a hurry, it’s much easier to get a bag out of the freezer and steam it in the microwave than it is to start from scratch. After all, that’s what those pricey food manufacturers are trying to sell: saving you the time and effort of cooking rice!

So, here are our two methods of cooking rice that’s nice and fluffy and never sticky.

1.If you don’t have a rice and vegetable steamer, you really should consider getting one. This handy appliance is inexpensive, easy to clean, doesn’t need watching and ensures that you get the maximum nutritive value out of the rice. They come in several sizes, ranging in price from about $10-20. A typical unit has the motor on the bottom, with a cook-and-serve bowl which fits into a lip which sits on top. You measure the amount of rice you want, add the water, put the lid on and turn the timer on. Each machine specifies the rice to water ratio, as well as cooking times, not only for cooking rice, but for at least a dozen different veggies. You can also dissolve a chicken or beef bouillon cube in the water before adding to the bowl. Add a little parsley or herbs – Chinese Five Spice adds a wonderful fragrance.

2.Our second recommended method of cooking rice requires a 3-quart microwaveable bowl to yield 5 cups of cooked rice. Measure 2 ½ cups of rice into the bowl, add 5 cups of water (flavored with bouillon as you wish) and a teaspoon of salt. Stir the salt throughout the rice. Microwave for 13 minutes at power level 6 (based on an 1100-watt oven). There should still be water in the bowl. Continue microwaving in 3 minute increments, at power level 4. When the rice is done, and no water remains, it’s done. Fluff it up with a fork and cover with plastic wrap. Let it steam on the counter for about 30 minutes. It should be perfect.

Follow these guidelines for a fool proof and consistent result every time. Cooking rice is easy!

The author has been writing articles online for 4 years now. Come visit his latest site Deadbeat Superaffiliate by Dan Brock that discusses Deadbeat Superaffiliate.

Pasta is a staple in most households. It’s economical, nutritious and filling. Pasta is also a versatile menu item, which can be served as a side dish, an entree, or even used in a salad, such as macaroni salad. You might think that all that’s needed is to toss it into boiling water, wait the number of minutes specified on the package and then drain and serve. This does describe the basic process, but there are a few tricks you need to know to avoid mushy, under-done or stuck together pasta. Let’s take cooking pasta step-by-step to a perfect result, every time.

The procedure for cooking pasta is the same, no matter what type of pasta you’re using. However, it’s good to know that if you’re cooking spaghetti, especially for kids, it’s perfectly all right to break those long strands into four smaller lengths, as you’re putting the pasta into the pot. Kids find the smaller lengths easier to skewer, while adults who haven’t mastered the twirling-around-the-fork routine can make meal time a little less messy on the napkin. You can also break lasagna noodles in half, which helps prevent these thick noodles getting stuck together in the colander by the time you’re ready to assemble. Just overlap broken pieces as you assemble the dish.

1.The number one rule in cooking pasta is to be sure to use plenty of water. If the package says, ’4 quarts of water’, be sure you use 4 quarts! Insufficient water tends to make the noodles stick together and become mushy with starch by the time they’re cooked.

2.Add a teaspoon of salt for every 2 quarts of water. This raises the boiling temperature of the water, which gets the uncooked pasta off to a good start. The dry pasta cools the water temperature by several degrees when plunged into the boiling water. Be sure the water is at a rolling boil when you add the pasta. Watch the pot until the water returns to a simmer – just short of boiling. Begin timing at this point. Add a tablespoon of oil to the pot. This prevents the pasta from sticking together.

3.You’ve probably heard of cooking pasta ‘al dente’. Al dente is an Italian term meaning, ‘to the bite’, or, in other words, when the pasta, bitten between the teeth, is firm – not mushy and not hard. Pasta packages usually indicate a window of cooking time, such as 8-10 minutes, due to variances in cookware. Test the pasta at the minimum cooking time, removing a strand or single noodle, such as penne or rigatoni with a slotted spoon or tongs. Allow the noodle to cool for a moment, so that you don’t burn your lips!

4.When the pasta is al dente, remove the pot from the heat and drain immediately into a (preferably) metal colander. Plastic colanders work, but there’s more chance of the pasta becoming embedded in the drainage holes. Contrary to popular opinion, rinse the pasta under hot running water. Drain thoroughly and remove to a bowl until you’re ready to assemble your dish or serve the pasta as a side.

Cooking pasta is easy, so long as you know the small, but important secrets to great pasta. Bon Appetit!

The author has been writing articles online for 4 years now. Come visit his latest site Complete Guide To Traffic bonus that discusses Complete Guide To Traffic by Paul Smithson.

Wouldn’t it it be fantastic to wake up to the fragrance of your own fresh baked bread?The answer is to make use of a bread maker.

They are truly wonderful home appliances.Merely add your ingredients,turn the thing on and a while later out comes hot fresh delectable bread.What could be easier?You have to appreciate automatic machines.

You do not have to stop at plain white bread.You can easily make whole wheat or multigrain breads.Or perhaps even add fruits or nuts to your Grandmas recipe to come up with a brand new twist on an old favorite.Your creativity is the only thing to stop you.

Are you a pizza aficionado just like I am and like to make your own dough?Again,load up the raw materials,permit the machine do it’s job and next thing you know you have got pizza dough.

Clean up is definitely easy since there are not all that many parts.Furthermore the segments where the things gets combined are nonstick.A quick wipe with a kitchen towel and the food crumbs left over will be wiped away.Could not be less complicated.

Fresh bread in the early morning should be a deal maker.You truly can not go wrong purchasing an automatic bread maker.

Go to http://automaticbreadmaker.org to learn more about and read reviews on bread machines like the Breadmans Tr875 bread maker

Halloween is the holiday to let out all the stops. Typically, we want to serve our family and friends with appetizing and visually appealing dishes. Halloween is the exception. Halloween snack recipes form the perfect opening to combine a tasty snack with a reminder of the darker side of this holiday. Halloween is our chance to survey a menu that scares us silly, but which we will still enjoy.

If you’re hosting a Halloween party and are looking for Halloween snack recipes for your buffet, take a look at these seven show stoppers.

1.Think yellow, orange, red and black. These are the traditional Halloween colors. One simple, but effective Halloween snack recipe requires only a brief stop at the deli counter. Any orange cheese will do. A smoked Cheddar cheese square, with a black olive, secured by a toothpick, makes a delightful and simple Halloween snack recipe. Set your snacks out on a tray and watch them disappear.

How about some bleeding celery sticks? This Halloween snack recipe invites disgust, but in a delicious venue. Slice your celery in 4-inch chunks. Use a toothpick, dipped in red food coloring, to imbue the celery veins with less-than-enchanting ‘blood lines’. Eeeew!

2.Halloween snack recipes should not exclude the sweets! Lemon bars with pumpkin faces may seem like a usual, but you shouldn’t underestimate the impact. This sweet packs a big punch, combining the visual with the food facts. Use color!

3.Now, for a truly ghoulish touch, how about some sweet roll dough brains? All you need is a pop-top can of rolls. Use a spritzer bottle, filled with water and just a single drop of red, blue and green food coloring. Spray the dough. Cut and shape them into rounds. Use a toothpick to get the brainy effect. Bake and serve!

4.A simple, but effective Halloween snack recipe consists of petit fours of pumpernickel bread, pearl onions and smoked salmon. The colors send the Halloween message in style and taste!

5.How about some orange-flavored Halloween muffins, decorated with yellow cake decorating gel and grated carrots, topped with a dash of whipping cream? Your party rocks!

6.Now, how about that old standby, garlic bread? Doused with sliced black olives, fire roasted red peppers, slathered with butter, tinted a brilliant yellow, with adequate amounts of cheese, is quite the standout in Halloween snack recipes.

7.Now, for the capper: Fried calamari and lime green fresh mozzarella eyes invite your guests to walk the talk. Fry your calamari and drop a tad of tinted fresh mozzarella, green or red, for a memorable Halloween snack recipe.

Good Halloween snack recipes need a bit of the unknown, the fair dissemination of spookiness and a bit of apprehension. Make your snacks with panache … your guests will be delighted!

Interested in knowing how to choose cake pans? Check out muffin pans to find out more simple and useful pots and pans tips.

This is one of the quickest and easiest ground beef meatloaf recipes I know of. No, it’s not a meatloaf recipe made with Lipton onion soup either. It’s a bit more work than that and has a better taste. I’ve been cooking with ground beef (it’s hamburger where I come from) all of my life and most recipes I have in my head I know who taught me to make them. This meatloaf recipe is different and I have no clue where I learned to make it.

For this meatloaf recipe you need to pay a little attention to the details. It will taste okay if you don’t but it will be better if you get the onion chopped really fine and the crackers crushed up fine, too. No big chunks of onion or crackers in this ground beef. It’s still one of the simpler recipes tho.

If you’re looking for some quick easy recipes for the grill here’s a very simple yet tasty recipe you can use as your ace in the hole when you have company but need something easy to make.

As luck would have it this burger recipe for the grill is so simple you can have your guests help and have some fun at the same time. It’s pretty much a no fuss, no muss grill recipe and it’s so simple anyone can make it to perfection.

All it takes is about 1/2 pound of ground beef per person, 1 medium potato and some chopped onion. Oh yeah, and some tin foil. This is so quick that you need to start the grill before you mess with the hamburger and potatoes. Read more about this recipe and others at the links above.

What picnic is complete without someone bringing potato salad? The answer is – the picnic isn’t complete without the world famous side dish. Everyone always claims that their potato salad recipe is the very best in existence. The ironic fact is that almost every single potato salad recipe has the exact same ingredients. I mean, you can’t make potato salad without the basic ingredients.

You can always just make sandwiches from whatever you have around the house but if a trip to the store is required then you can pick some really great easy picnic foods. If you not planning on having wine then cans of soda are great but juice can be a more refreshing alternative.

Hey, read this first,,,,

http://chefknife.info/?page_id=18

Cooking – some people fear that word and try to avoid it at all costs, but you don’t have to, cooking a meal, a nice meal is not as hard as you may think sure it can be quite a daunting task if you’ve never put yourself in the kitchen and prepared a meal, but with a good recipe and a little bit of perseverance you can learn to cook well, and for those of you who think that cooking is only for women, you’re wrong, if you think that way then surely you haven’t discovered the joy of cooking, and for all the men, you should know that women love a man that can cook. (from http://www.cookingfunpost.com)

More Fun Reading,,,

http://www.chefknife.info

You probably already have some of the items you will need. For example, look for black peppercorns, bay leaves, chilli powder (if you’re already a fan of chilli con carne), ground ginger, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon if you bake cakes or apple pies. Maybe you’ll find mustard seeds if you do your own pickling and sesame seeds if you make rolls or cook Chinese food. That only leaves a few basic ingredients which appear in a lot of Indian recipes – cumin, coriander, turmeric and cardamom. Often you need ground cumin and coriander but if you buy the whole spices, you can grind them as necessary (and they keep longer that way too).

The other thing I did was to choose a fairly simple recipe to start with and I just bought the spices I needed for that. The next time I want to cook an Indian meal, I chose another recipe with similar ingredients so I had to just buy a couple more things. Soon enough I built up a whole store cupboard of the things I needed and it didn’t have had such a drastic effect on my wallet.

Then there was no stopping me – I even know some recipes by heart now and you can do the same if you want to. If you gain some weight then just use the 31 day fat loss cure.

You don’t need special equipment for Indian cookery, although I wouldn’t be without my electric coffee grinder (to grind spices) and it’s nice (but not necessary) to have the traditional dishes to serve your meal in. Other than that, you need a bit of patience and it’s fun to cook with a friend so that you can share the chopping and grinding or have someone read the recipe out to you step by step so you don’t go wrong in the middle.

The flavors are great, a curry evening is really sociable, so go on, give it a try.

No Halloween party would be complete without some delicious food that is also on topic. You’ve decorated the house with cobwebs and spiders, mom has her Heidi costume and dad has decided he needs a polar bear costume!) but what is everybody going to eat?

Well, Meatloaf Mice are great, delicious and wonderful for Halloween. Here’s how to make them:

1. Grab some ground beef, catsup, uncooked spaghetti (and some spaghetti sauce), onions, carrots, turkey, raisins, oatmeal, salt, pepper.
2. Cut the carrot horizontally (these will be mouse ears!) and vertically (the mouse tail, of course!) and steam them until tender.
3. The meatloaf goes on a baking sheet and then mix the rest of the ingredients. Shape into a mice-shape and place in the oven for about forty five minutes.
4. Remove from oven and cut small slits to poke in the ears and tail (carrot, remember?).
5. The spaghetti noodles will form the nose/whiskers.
6. Finally, pour over the spaghetti sauce

Tastes good and looks good as well!

Every once in a while I come across a gadget that would make a GREAT gift. I’m always on the look out for the perfect gift and I usually do my Christmas shopping WAY in advance mainly because I HATE the stress of gift buying too close to Christmas.

This time it’s a gift for a kitchen, a 3 minute cup cake maker.

Well how cool is that !

My thoughts on this great gift is that it would be ideal for the following:

a busy Mum

a young person who wants to start baking cakes

a single parent Dad who is perhaps new to cake baking.

These are just a couple of my ideas but the concept of a 3 minute cup cake maker is brillant and practical and would be high up on anyone’s Christmas present list!

The microwave is one of your best friends, particularly in hot weather. It lends itself perfectly to preparing quick cooking recipes and certainly helps keep the kitchen cool. For entrees, try cooking a batch of chicken or fish in the microwave. These meats turn out perfect when cooked in the microwave. You can even cook chicken in the morning and simply warm it up in a lidded frying pan just before serving, with the added advantage of giving the chicken a quick browning that enhances the taste. Fish cooks so quickly that it takes just a few minutes to prepare at dinnertime. Use the microwave to cook fresh veggies in the cool morning hours, cooking them until just slightly undercooked. Refrigerate until ready to serve, warming and finishing cooking in the microwave.

The slow cooker is another boon to those looking for quick cooking recipes. It takes just minutes to assemble a complete one-dish meal in the morning and then let it do its thing while you attend to your busy schedule. One example is a pot roast. Cut up some potatoes, carrots, and onions put in a cup of water and lay your roast on top, seasoning as desired. Put the lid on and you’re done! The slow cooker does the work.

” Oomph is the intricate inner feeling of that touch of power, unexplained yet real, that comes with the drinking of coffee or espresso“

I had been a long term tea drinker, preferring tea to any other beverage for years, until one day, I had a new assistant. I was working as a dealer representative for stocks and shares at that time, and that means in a really stressful environment, being in the trading room all the time. So taking some time off to catch a cuppa and to be back to trading and watching the trading screens for the best prices was the perfect break anyone could hope for.

My new assistant was a young lady in her mid twenties, and it was interesting to see her prepare her drink.

No, she wasn’t a tea drinker like me. Instead, she was a coffee fan, perhaps even an addict to coffee, you may say. On her first day at work, she took out of her handbag three packs of instant coffee 3 in 1 – namely instant coffee, sugar and non-dairy creamer, and then proceeded to empty the three packs into one cup,adding hot water, making a strong coffee. She wasn’t through yet, because she also opened another pack of chocolate powder and sprinkled the chocolate powder on to her hot coffee, creating a tremendous aromatic smell that pervaded the trading room.

That was some “oomph” in her coffee.

After a period of three months, I found I was suddenly drinking coffee myself and wasn’t a pure tea drinker anymore. It was a subtle conversion process, and soon I found I really need that coffee in the afternoon trading session.

Now, looking back, I have learnt a lot of techniques to add more “oomph” to my cup of coffee.

One way is to enhance the taste with some special add-on ingredients.

My most popular add-on ingredient is powdered ginseng. Ginseng is the traditional chinese herb which is a root, and american ginseng is preferred to korean or chinese ginseng. This herb makes one alert when taken, and is normally taken to strengthen one’s immune system or body. You can get the ginseng powder from the Natural Herb Store or in the form of capsules that you can empty into a cuppa when you need the “oomph”.

Be reminded that the ginseng root powder carries a somewhat bitter taste. So don’t equate quantity with more “oomph”. You just add sufficient to give you the enhanced aroma and the “oomph” you need.

Another way is to add the “tongkat ali” root powder, which may be slightly harder to obtain. This root is from an original plant in Malaysia and is a well researched herbal root with aphrodiasic features. The aborigines of the tropical jungles of Malaysia use this to enhance their “maniless” and this they prove by having big families. Commercially, you can get a bottle of this Tongkat Ali powder under the brand name “Power Root” throughout the world. Just add a small pinch and you will find the difference in your taste and feel the subsequent well-being.

Now you can have that extra edge and “oomph” when you next take your coffee, irregardless whether it is an espresso or a latte.

The general consensus has been that crock pots were meant for comfort foods and hearty winter meals. The truth is that the crock pot should be one of your best loved and most often utilized cooking methods if you can manage it. When it comes to cooking with a crock pot, the options are almost limitless. Almost anything that can be baked can be made in the crock pot and many, many more wonderful and enticing meals and treats as well.

A great reason to use a crock pot for your summertime cooking is the ease of clean up. Unlike pots and pans, most crock pot meals are made in one dish. This means that there will not be mountains of dishes to be either hand washed or loaded into the dishwasher afterwards. You can spend less time cleaning just as you spent less time slaving over a hot stove. Make that no time slaving over a hot stove. Once clean up is complete you can get back to enjoying the sun set, chasing the lightening bugs with your little ones, or actually enjoy a tea party movement without slaving over the stove.

Easy ground beef recipes are my favorite accomplishment. Lol, for me they are simple as I like ground beef more than most everything else. If I had to choose one food it would be ground beef as it’s tasty and it’s so easy to blend it in with different things.

While I’m not a formally trained chef I have been cooking my own food for over 55 years. My grandmother started teaching me to cook at age 4 and the first thing she taught me was to fry a hamburger on the stove. I stood on a chair to flip the burgers and I learned to stay away from spattering grease. Cheeseburgers are my favorite meal.

If you’re looking for some quick hamburger recipes for the grill here’s a very simple yet tasty recipe you can use as your ace in the hole when you have company but need something easy to make.

As luck would have it this burger recipe for the grill is so simple you can have your guests help and have some fun at the same time. It’s pretty much a no fuss, no muss grill recipe and it’s so simple anyone can make it to perfection.