We have all been there, when the kids ask what’s for dinner and you tell them, the groans ensue. You can’t really blame them. If you take a good look at what you have been fixing for them to eat and find that you have about 7 different meals that you just continually rotate, then maybe it is time to mix things up a bit. Throw caution to the wind and try something new, you may find a new family favorite and something that will not require as much work as you think.

With the kids finding their way back to school, all the time that you thought you would be gaining, seems to by flying out the window. All the time that you thought you would have is quickly being eaten up by back to school nights, volunteer opportunities, PTO, in fact, you could swear that you are actually finding yourself with less time. By the time you actually walk through the door, it is dinner time.

Going with the old stand by may seem like the only feasible thing when faced with the new time crunch. Don’t limit yourself to the same old, same old, there are a thousand different recipes that cater to the cook who is running, not only on limited time, but limited budgets as well.

There are an endless number of different recipes available specifically designed for the overworked cook. Most of the recipes are designed to help prepare meals on a weekly basis, well ahead of time, to make time. Most of these recipe “plans” are excellent at saving money as well. Their sole purpose is to give you great ideas that are easy, will mix things up a bit, and use the same ingredients so that you are finding yourself with less waste and less food that you find yourself throwing out unused.

Food plans are the best way to try something new. Very easy to follow, most of them can be prepared in 30 minutes or less, making it ideal to get food on the table on time to get everyone either off to bed, or off to soccer. It is very important to feed your family meals that have a variety of different nutrition, and even more so to not end up with a picky eater. Make sure to carve out just a little bit of time to put a little extra love and variety into meal time. You will be surprised at how easy it actually is.

In today’s fast and furious world, there is hardly time to stop and chill out, and one of the big time-consuming chores of the day is the evening dinner preparation.  We’ve all been there, you’ve been working all day, or maybe running the kids about, trying to organize this and that; and then it comes to meal time and the last thing you really feel like doing is slaving over the cooker.  Very often everybody wants something different, or if they are in agreement, you don’t have the necessary ingredients to put it together.

 Well, there is now an online e-book that promises to solve all this in the form of ‘Frugal Mom’s Guide To Once A Month Cooking’.  This publication by Candace Anderson, basically highlights the possibility of selecting just one day a month, probably at a weekend, and doing a whole month’s cooking on that particular day.  That undoubtedly would be one very busy day, but it would then release so much more free time over the rest of the month, that it may well be an ingenious idea.

(If you would like to find out more about Frugal Mom’s guide to once a month cooking please click here.)

 The book gives a 5 step plan, to create all manner of meals from various combinations.  Amongst the 70+ recipes are creations such as: Mexican Beef Casserole, Stuffed Burger Pockets, Baked Herb Chicken, Angel Pork Chops, English Muffin Pizzas and Cheesy Double Baked Potatoes.  The book formulates dates and menus, creates shopping lists, maps cooking sessions and provides processes of plastic wrap, freezer bag and baking dish freezing guidelines.

 The recipes are split into 4 different categories: Beef, Chicken, Pork and Potpourri.  Also included in the package are a selection of forms including: Master Plan Work Sheets, Cooking Session Maps – together with samples, Master Ingredient Lists and a Meal Calendar.  As an extra, there is also an additional e-book supplied entitled: Bulk Cooking For The Freezer – Ground Beef.

 The book promises to create an easier way of life and there may well be something in this.  In addition it guarantees 24 hours support to ensure there is always someone to turn to.  There should also be monthly savings involved, which in today’s climate can make a huge difference to family life.

 As an e-book there is immediate delivery as a downloaded product; and so confident is the author of success that there is an offer of a no questions asked, money back guarantee, within 30 days, if not satisfied.  At $12.95, it is not too great an outlay in the first place anyway; although there may be an initial need to purchase a larger freezer!

If you would like to find out more about Frugal Mom’s guide to once a month cooking please click here.

Thanks for reading my blog post and in the meantime if you would like to read more of my fantastic healthy eating cooking tips and food recipes you can subscribe to my RSS feed or join my free online Ezine.

To your food heaven

Dominic

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What could be a better way of enjoying cooking than inviting your children into your cooking workspace. As well as being a fun activity it will also mean that your children will feel comfortable in the kitchen which will leave them well equipped for looking after themselves when they leave home in years to come.

Unfortunately it is often the case that if children venture into their cooking parents workspace they end up getting shouted at and told to leave things alone. Imagine the difference if they are actually welcomed into the cooking workspace and actively encouraged to get involved.

I find that a great way to invite your children into your cooking workspace is to buy them their own apron to wear whilst they are getting involved in the cooking. If you have a little boy who doesn’t want to wear an apron you could buy them one with a cartoon character printed on the front or perhaps their favourite football team, you will find that an apron like this usually does the trick.

You should then start to think of a simple recipe that your children can get started on so that there cooking experience is not just watching you. By letting them take an active part you will find that it gives them a great deal of confidence but they must also be made aware of the dangers within the cooking workspace such as hot pans and sharp knives.

The great thing is, as they are getting actively involved they will not feel the need to touch things that they shouldn’t and they will also act with responsibility when faced with situations that they are not used to.

To start your children off in their cooking adventures you could look at recipes for biscuits which are easy to prepare but also involve the oven which will again go to demonstrate the need to respect the appliances within the kitchen.

The biscuits could the be decorated with sweets for example, and then it is important that the whole family sit down and eat the end product and congratulate the children on how well they have done, and how proud you are of them. You can see how much better this is for the family rather than telling the children to stay out of the cooking workspace and not to touch anything.

For a fantastic selection of free food recipes please visit my website:

http://www.dsmfoodlimited.com

Thanks for reading my blog post and in the meantime if you would like to read more of my fantastic cooking tips and food recipes you can subscribe to my RSS feed or join my free online Ezine.

To your food heaven

Dominic

If you really want to forge ahead with your cooking skills it is highly recommended that you find yourself a mentor who will guide you along the way. I am not saying that you have to splash out a fortune by paying someone to personally teach you all that they know (that is unless you can afford it) but by following the books and videos of your chosen cooking mentor you really can learn so much.

What is important is that when you find your cooking mentor you actually stick with them. The reason I am saying this is that you will soon realise that there is not a set way to cook and many chefs have their own methods along with a variety of tips and tricks,. If you start to follow several different chefs you will soon find yourself confused and dare I say it, overwhelmed by all of the different cooking methods that are being explained to you.

Using myself as an example, my cooking mentor is Gordon Ramsay and as a result of reading his books and watching his videos and television programmes I am now a far better cook than I was only a few years ago. I love his style of cooking and that most definitely helps because when I am following his recipe’s I am really enjoying myself and this really shows up in my cooking.

You may not like Gordon Ramsay and would rather follow someone like Jamie Oliver, but whoever you choose as your mentor, you must like them, you must enjoy eating the food that they seem to specialise in and most importantly, you must be prepared to at least have a go at trying out some of their recipe’s, you will be amazed at the number of people who don’t even try and let any cookery books simply gather dust on the shelves.

After all, having a go and making mistakes along the way is all part of the fun and if you let your family join in you will be amazed at what a centre of fun the kitchen will become. There is nothing like it when you all follow the instructions of your cooking mentor and prepare a lovely meal that you can all sit down and enjoy after all of the hard work has been done. Just make sure that it is not you that has to do the washing up!

For a fantastic selection of free food recipes please visit my website:

http://www.dsmfoodlimited.com

Thanks for reading my blog post and in the meantime if you would like to read more of my fantastic cooking tips and food recipes you can subscribe to my RSS feed or join my free online Ezine.

To your food heaven

Dominic

There are many great cooks all over the world and the vast majority of them have not received any kind of training at all. So what makes them good cooks who are able to produce dishes that can really take your breath away with flavours and ingredients that mere mortals would not even consider.

The simple answer to this is that to be a good cook you must have a passion in the kitchen. You must absolutely love what you are doing and as with any other walk of life, if you love what you do it will come shining through in everything that you do do.

A fine example of this passion in the kitchen are the countless grandmothers and mothers all around the world who are able to produce dishes, it doesn’t matter if it is a meal for 10 people or a snack for one person, that knock your taste buds for six and leave begging for more. It is often the case that these ladies haven’t attended an expensive cookery course or been to college, they just have a passion for cooking the very best for their loved ones, and over the years their cookery skills have got to such an advanced stage that they will be able to more or less cook anything that they wish.

Anything that is cooked with a passion will always taste better than something that is cooked half heartedly and that is why I always choose a restaurant if I am eating out, with a chef who is recognised as being a passionate cook, it really does make all of the difference.

One of the main problems why some people are not passionate in the kitchen is that for them, cookery has become something of a drudgery, cooking the same few dishes week after week can have that effect on anyone. If you want to start working with passion in the kitchen you should start to experiment with your cooking and you will then find that the enjoyment will start to appear, and then in turn you will find a passion in the kitchen and the food that you produce will start to reflect this new found enthusiasm.

It is amazing to think how different the same dishes can taste when cooked by two people, one with passion in the kitchen and one without.

For a fantastic selection of free food recipes please visit my website:

http://www.dsmfoodlimited.com

Thanks for reading my blog post and in the meantime if you would like to read more of my fantastic cooking tips and food recipes you can subscribe to my RSS feed or join my free online Ezine.

To your food heaven

Dominic

There are many reasons why I love to cook fresh food and the number one reason is that the taste is so different from food that is not fresh. The problem is that many people unfortunately do not ever taste fresh food and they just cannot imagine that it would taste any different. After all, a carrots a carrot and a piece of salmon is a piece of salmon, isn’t it. Well no, not really. Fresh vegetables for example really do taste so much different from tinned vegetables that you would not believe it.

As an example, last week I visited a friend and she served tinned carrots with the meal and although I would never be rude enough to mention it, if you tasted one of these carrots next to a fresh carrot you would think that you were tasting a completely different vegetable. Yes really, it does actually taste that different.

It is true that fresh food is more expensive than the alternative and I suppose that is why many people don’t even bother to try it and that applies even more so in the current economic climate.

You will be pleased to know that there are a few ways that will enable you to buy fresh food without it costing the earth and you will then get an idea of why I love to cook fresh food.

You could simple go the your local market or supermarket at the end of the day when they will greatly reduce the price of many items of fresh food. It will still be perfectly safe to eat, it is just that if it is kept for another day or two it will start to lose its freshness so the traders would rather get it off their hands, even though at a lower price.

Another reason why I love to cook fresh food is that the smell during the cooking process is absolutely amazing and this aspect alone is worth paying the extra for, in my opinion. You can actually smell the goodness if you know what I mean but you have been warned, once you start to cook fresh food on a regular basis you will never ever want to go back to the processed stuff ever again, and that can only be classed as excellent news for you and your family.

For a fantastic selection of free food recipes please visit my website:

http://www.dsmfoodlimited.com

Thanks for reading my blog post and in the meantime if you would like to read more of my fantastic cooking tips and food recipes you can subscribe to my RSS feed or join my free online Ezine.

To your food heaven

Dominic

Everyone knows how important it is that everyone, especially children, eat their 5 pieces of fruit per day but the big mistake that many parents make is that it is just to boring. If your children love fruit and would rather eat a piece of fruit rather than a chocolate bar any day of the week, then you are a very lucky parent with very healthy children.

The usual scenario is that you send your child to school with a piece of fruit and find that it is still in their lunch box when they come home. Sending your child to school with a piece of fruit like this is a complete waste of time and they will grow up to believe that eating fruit is something of a chore and this will pass on to their adult life.

When sending your child to school with a piece of fruit it is a good idea to experiment a little and jazz things up a little bit. What about this, spend a couple of hours with your child one Sunday afternoon and have some fun with the blender. Experiment with some different fruits and juices and blend them up to see what you come up with. When you and your child have come up with something that fits the bill you could make up a blend up a couple of times a week and they could take it to school in a small flask. This is just the same as sending your child to school with a piece of fruit but much more fun.

One word of warning here though, when you are experimenting, make sure that you make a note of the fruit and juices that you are blending up. There is nothing worse that finding that you have produced the ideal smoothie only to forget what you have put in it in the first place.

Another option when sending your child to school with a piece of fruit would be to purchase a tool which cuts the fruit into interesting shapes such as letter of the alphabet. Just by making the fruit a little bit out of the ordinary can have a big impact in making the fruit more interesting to eat for children and before you know it they will be choosing to take a piece of fruit to school rather than a chocolate bar and crisps.

For a fantastic selection of free food recipes please visit my website:

http://www.dsmfoodlimited.com

Thanks for reading my blog post and in the meantime if you would like to read more of my fantastic cooking tips and food recipes you can subscribe to my RSS feed or join my free online Ezine.

To your food heaven

Dominic

As the days are getting longer and the climate starts to get warmer it is time to start thinking about a change of diet and to start to incorporate different aspects to your diet which are more suitable for the hopefully, warmer weather.

The days of the heavy meals that seem to make you feel tired just by thinking about them should be replaced by light salads and fruit based dishes which will make you feel fresher and ready to take on the warm summer days.

You can’t really go wrong with salads but don’t fall into the trap of thinking that salads should only consist of lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes. Use your imagination because salads can really consist of anything that takes your fancy so all you really have to do is experiment. You could base the salad around some chopped lettuce and onion and then throw in some chopped fruit, peppers, anything you can think of and you could very well be surprised by the compliments you get when you feed your family and guests.

Something else that can make so much difference as far as salads go is the type of dressing that you use. You could make your own if funds are tight but if you take a look what can be bought at the supermarket you will find that it is usually much less hassle and such a great time saver.

A summer snack that is easy to knock up and ideal for when you and your family are a little peckish between meals is to use left over salad and eat them with some lovely dips. It is just a case of slicing up some celery, carrots and even peppers and serving them with a variety of dips. There are many dips to choose from such as salsa dips, sour cream dips and hot chilli dips. Place the sliced carrots etc around a plate with the dip in the middle and simply leave everyone to get stuck in. Snacks like this are absolutely gorgeous and ideally lend themselves to a warm sunny day in the garden where everyone can have a nibble if and when they please.

Snacks like this make such a refreshing change from the heavy diet that is eaten in the winter and leave you feeling far lighter and ready to face the day.

For a fantastic selection of free food recipes please visit my website:

http://www.dsmfoodlimited.com

Thanks for reading my blog post and in the meantime if you would like to read more of my fantastic cooking tips and food recipes you can subscribe to my RSS feed or join my free online Ezine.

To your food heaven

Dominic

BBQ sauce is generally a basic mixture of tomatoes, sugar and vinegar. Tomatoes used can be in various forms such as tomato sauce, paste, puree and even ketchup. Sugar adds sweetness to the barbecue sauce and can either be corn syrup, honey or molasses. The addition of vinegar, on the other hand, lends a sour flavor to the bbq sauce and can be in the form of beer, white or flavored vinegar, wine or citrus juices. In general, bbq sauces can be used throughout the barbecue process from preparation to cooking.

Bechamel sauce or White Barbecue Sauce has a long and illustrious history. It has been a pet of the French food connoisseurs, since 1651. One of the mother sauces of French cuisine, the white sauce is nowadays made by whisking scalded milk gradually into a white flour-butter roux. However, it can also be made by whisking a kneaded flour-butter beurre manié into scalded milk. The thickness of the final sauce depends on the proportions of milk and flour. White Barbecue sauce, unquestionably adds a delicate flavoring to your meat dishes.

White Barbecue Sauces of Alabama are different from most other barbecue sauces in the use of their bases. These sauces are predominantly mayonnaise based, unlike the traditional and ubiquitous tomato. Chicken, turkey or pork – these white sauces are taste uppers beyond imagination. Like its tomato- and mustard-based cousins, white barbecue sauce comes in shades ranging from porcelain to putty. There are also differences in consistency. Some sauces flow like fat free milk, while others are more reminiscent of a creamy dressing. As for the ingredients, well, purists such as Myra Grissom, owner of Miss Myra’s Pit Bar-B-Q in Birmingham, insists there are only four items who play the role: mayonnaise, vinegar, salt, and coarsely ground pepper. Perking up salads or topping pulled pork sandwiches or grilled fish whatever you are up to these sauces are great.

Smuggler’s Run White Grilling Sauce and Big Bob Gibson White BBQ sauce are sauces that can be recommended, without any hesitation. Mayonnaise, Egg Yolks, Water, Corn Syrup, Vinegar, Salt, Spices, Calcium Disodium, Cider Vinegar, Onion, Garlic, White Pepper, Salt and Xanthium Gum are what goes into the making of this taste bud rocker.

Big Bob Gibson White BBQ sauce comprises distilled vinegar, sugar, salt, spices, egg yolks, mustard flour, paprika and garlic. Poultry, pork, seafood, and wild game-Big Bob, goes with them comfortably enough.

Thanks for reading my blog post and in the meantime if you would like to read more of my fantastic cooking tips and food recipes you can subscribe to my RSS feed or join my free online Ezine.

To your food heaven

Dominic

Despite new trends, hype and marketing, tradition has never been stronger. In France, good food still means authentic cooking by using natural products from diverse regions. This is how we celebrate human being by offering the best food to all our senses. Cooking home-made food and eating at the table make your appetite grow stronger. The challenge is to combine ingredients together to get the best taste out of them. However anyone from anywhere can explore the world of french cooking. To start with, let’s find out what french people enjoy to eat.

Here are the top 10 most popular recipes in France:

Roast Chicken

Indeed roast chicken is not a notorious french recipe but cooked everywhere around the world from Asia and Africa to America. However it is the most popular french dish. Roast chicken is not stuffed inside. The secret is to baste the poultry several times during roasting with butter and cooking oil and to add an onion in the roasting pan. Roast chicken is traditionally served with potatoes and green beans.

Boeuf bourguignon
The most famous beef stew in France. Boeuf bourguignon is a traditional recipe from Burgundy. A recipe that french people use to cook at least once every winter. The beef meat is cooked in a red wine sauce, obviously a red wine from Burgundy. Bacon, onions, mushrooms and carrots add flavor to the recipe. But thyme, garlic and beef stock are essential to cook a good boeuf bourguignon.

Mussels mariniere
A typical summer recipe very popular along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coast. Mussels are fresh and cooked in a white wine sauce with parsley, thyme, bay leaf and onion. It takes only 5 minutes to cook a tasteful mussels mariniere. The secret is to season carefully the meal and to discard any mussels that don’t look good enough.

Sole meuniere
Although sole is an expensive fish, the taste is so elegant that it is considered as the noblest fish. Sole meuniere is a recipe from Normandy. The fish is cooked in a butter sauce with a little bit of flour and lemon juice. Sole is traditionally served with rice or green vegetables.

Pot au feu
A typical family meal coming once again from Normandy. Pot au feu is a boiled beef with pork, chicken and vegetables. It takes about 4 hours an a half to cook as the beef has to simmer slowly to extract all its flavor. Pot au feu is also called Potee Normande in France.

Sauerkraut
Quite similar to the german sauerkraut, the french sauerkraut called choucroute comes from Alsace. However the french recipe can be traced back to 6 centuries ago ! Sauerkraut is a fermented cabbage. Commonly sauerkraut includes sausages, pork knuckle and bacon. Two essential ingredients are alsatian white wine and juniper berries.

Veal stew
Called blanquette de veau in France, this is another stew recipe from Normandy. The veal meat simmers in white sauce – as blanquette from blanc stands for white in french – with mushrooms and onions. The white sauce is made of egg yolks, whipping cream and lemon juice. Veal stew is usually served with rice.

Lamb navarin
Another stew but this one is made of lamb meat. It is also called spring lamb as it comes with green vegetables available in spring. Navarin comes from navet which stands for turnips in french. Other ingredients are tomatoes, lamb stock and carrots. This stew takes less time to simmer than any other.

Cassoulet
A strange recipe that english people often confuse with their traditional breakfast! A traditional meal from south west of France. Each village has its own recipe but it always includes beans and meats. Cassoulet is a rich combination of white beans and depending on the village lamb, pork, mutton or sausage meat. Cassoulet is the cornerstone of the french paradox study describing why people from south west of France suffer less than others from infarcts.

Bouillabaisse
Bouillabaisse is closely linked with the city of Marseille on the Mediterranean coast. The recipe is a fish soup from local fish and seafood products including crabs, scorpion fish, monk fish and others. Provencal herbs and olive oil are essential. For a long time, the recipe was a secret jealously kept by the people from Marseille.

Thanks for reading my blog post and in the meantime if you would like to read more of my fantastic cooking tips and food recipes you can subscribe to my RSS feed or join my free online Ezine.

To your food heaven

Dominic