Beef Stir-Fry

I hope there are some Chinese food fans out there. If you don't like Chinese food, there is something seriously wrong with you. I know someone who says to me all the time that she can't eat Chinese food because of how it smells. Well you are just missing out my friend. There is nothing better than fried rice and big chunks of chicken, beef, and shrimp married with delicious vegetables.
Chinese food doesn't cost that much considering they give you a mound of it to eat, but I have to cut back on eating out and decided to get my Chinese food fix by cooking it at home myself. I like mine simple with meat, rice, and vegetables. Those noodle recipes they can keep. Someone once told me they look like worms; maybe that is why I never eat them. Here is my version of stir fry beef and rice.


Ingredients
Flank, sirloin, or skirt steak (for stir-fry)
1 cup rice
2 Tbsp hoisin sauce
½ an onion
1 egg
1 green onion
¼ cup soy sauce
6 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Flank steak is the best steak to use for stir-frying. If cut against the grain, the muscle fibers become tenderer. Cut the flank steak into thin slices and put into a bowl. Add 2 Tbsp hoisin sauce to the meat as a marinade. Put it in the fridge for an hour to make the meat happy. Cook a cup of rice and refrigerate that too since rice is best cold before you stir-fry it. Once all of your ingredients have been in the fridge for a while, heat a wok on medium high heat with 2 Tbsp olive oil. Make sure the oil is hot by adding a drop of water. If the oil sizzles, it's hot enough. Lightly beat the egg and add to the hot oil. Chop it into pieces and set aside. Add 2 Tbsp oil to hot wok then cook steak slices. Remove from wok and add 2 Tbsp more of olive oil. Add in cold rice to hot oil. Chop onion into quarter pieces and add to the rice and stir-fry together. Add in the steak strips, soy sauce, and egg to the mixture. There is a lot of sodium in soy sauce; don't use much salt. Stir the mixture around and place on a serving dish. Garnish the stir-fry with sliced green onion.

Healthy Slow Cooker Stew With Herbs and Fall Vegetables

Slow Cookers are the best investment for simmering stews and soups on a cool, autumn day. A little planning ahead will free up hours during the day for other projects.
Squash and zucchini are still plentiful and great stew starters. Add some of your favorite vegetables and lots of spices and herbs and prepare to feast.
Caution: remember to cut your vegetables in small pieces for the slow cooker. This stew is a good staple for those who are limiting their use of potatoes and pastas; full of nutrition and good taste and hearty enough for any appetite.


Mediterranean Stew
2 cups of sliced zucchini
1 can chick-peas, drain and rinse
1 medium acorn or butternut squash, cubed
1 pkg. frozen okra pieces
2 cups eggplant, unpeeled and cubed
1 cup chopped onion
1 large carrot, sliced thin
1 large tomato, chopped
Combine the following and mix with above ingredients in slow cooker.
½ cup raisins
1 minced clove garlic
¼ teaspoon each: red pepper, ground cinnamon, paprika
½ teaspoon each: tumeric, cumin
8 ounces tomato sauce
½ cup water or low sodium broth
Cover and cook 8 to 10 hours in slow cooker on low. Vegetables should be tender but not too soft. This stew is very tasty; good by itself with crackers or cornbread. It is especially great when spooned over steaming rice or couscous.
In trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle, it is important to limit your intake of sodium and fats. Soups and stews, when properly prepared, will do just that without compromising taste. Become aware of natural juices from fruits and vegetables to use in cooking instead of tossing them. A slow cooker adds moisture which helps cut down on the need to add fats. This way of cooking also enhances the natural flavor of foods as it slowly cooks them.
Economically, it is good to find uses for foods in season. For years I snubbed some squashes and other foods. Now I realize how nutritious many of them are and how tasty when prepared properly. It has become a joke around our house to see what Mom has "dragged in to feed us."
I hope you join me in experimenting with new foods and combinations that work for your family and those in your care.

Find Out How To Make Eggs Over Easy The Right Way

One of the most common meals in the world is eggs over easy. A lot of people will typically take it as a meal at breakfast or may choose to eat it as lunch with other foods like bacon, bread or sausages. Anyone can use the following recipe to know how to make eggs over easy.
The simplest method, when preparing this dish, is to use a clean pan for frying and use some oil. A standard choice of oil would be canola oil, but many types of oil would suffice. With any oil of choice, very lightly cover the entire bottom of the pan. The egg should not be swimming in oil. The oil serves only as a means of eliminating the possibility of the egg sticking to the pan.
Take care to ensure that the fire is set to medium low otherwise the eggs are going to burn later in the cooking process. The next step is to simply crack an egg into a bowl while taking care to avoid breaking the yolk. Once this has been accomplished, simply put the eggs into the pan.
Take care when adding the eggs to the pan to make sure there will be room to flip the eggs over half-way through the cooking process. Too many eggs in the pan will result in the eggs sticking together after turning. Cooking the first side will take about two minutes.
After the two minutes period, the white of the eggs should have become more solidified as a result of the heat from the frying pan. How solid the whites of the eggs will be would depend on how high or low the heat at the bottom of the pan is. The eggs' whites will usually solidify much more quickly if the heat is high than if it is low.

Flipping the egg is going to be the real challenge in this entire effort given that this part of the process is when people are most likely to break the yolk. It is best to do this by getting a large-sized spatula and using this to flip the egg. This should be done carefully and slowly or else the yolk will no longer be full.
The final step in this process is to flip it over once more so that the opposite side can cook. The fire should be lowered at this stage because the second side is already partially cooked and could become burned otherwise. So, after having completed the final flip, it is possible to leave the egg for a bit and then turn the burner off entirely.

The mystery has now been taken out of this simple egg preparation technique. Approximately ten minutes of effort will produce any number of well-prepared eggs. Now that you know how to make eggs over easy, add some toast and a nice cup of juice to complete a quick breakfast or lunch.

How To: Make the Best Home Made Fettuccine for the Holidays

Having some good old pasta on the dinner table is one of the best things to have when the season's getting a little chilled and jolly. The holidays are the perfect time to let go of all your worries about dieting, and how your figure looks. After losing so much weight just for summer and beach trips, this is now the time when you can let go and feast for Christmas comes but only once a year.
You can of course order your own fettuccine online or through the phone, but there's still a little something about when you get to do it by yourself and present it to your family during Christmas Eve. Now you might be wondering how you can make this, well fret not, because here in this article you will indeed earn how to make your own famous Italian pasta.
First the Dough
Of course you can buy yourself some easily cooked pasta on your local grocery store, but if you intend to get to create everything from scratch, here is how you can create the pasta from scratch!
For the Pasta Dough you will need the following:
3 cups of all-purpose flour
1 Teaspoon of salt
3 eggs plus 2 yolks
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon of water
Cornmeal for dusting
To make the pasta dough, you start by combining the flour and salt, then shape it into a mound on your work surface. Then shape a well in its centre in which you will have to add the eggs, yolks and one tablespoon of olive oil. These can now be beaten lightly with a fork. While mixing with one hand, you can use another hand to keep the wall of the outer well stable.
You continue with this process until you are able to mix all the flour and form a ball. That's when you start to mould and fold the dough until it becomes elastic and smooth. This shouldn't take too long and will be achieved in only ten minutes.
Then with some left over olive oil, brush the surface with the remaining olive oil and wrap the dough in plastic wrap. After thirty minutes, divide the ball of dough in small sections. *Remember to always cover some of the parts of the dough that you are not going to use in the mean time so that these parts will not dry up.
To flatten the dough, form them into rectangles first. After which you run them through the pasta machine. You will usually need to run the dough two to three times in this machine until it's already 1/4 of an inch thick. If you do not have this machine you can use your own rolling-pin.
Now you cut long sheets into workable eighteen inch long pieces, which you can now run through the fettuccine cutting attachment. Once you've already made some strips for the fettuccine pasta, you will have to let the dough strips dry for a while before cooking them in boiling salted water for three minutes.
Alfredo Sauce
For the sauce you will have to need these:
1 Pint of heavy cream
1/2 Cup or one stick of unsalted butter
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Freshly cracked black pepper
Chopped flat-leaf parsley for garnish.
The first thing you can do is to heat the heavy cream on low-medium heat in a deep sauce pan. After which you add the butter and let it melt. While stirring you sprinkle in the cheese. You can use the black pepper to season the sauce.
Once you have finished cooking the pasta and the sauce, place them both on a sauté pan and gently toss the noodles to coast in the Alfredo sauce.
After placing this on a plate, top it off with some grated cheese and some parsley on the side.

Healthy Baked Chicken Recipe - Parmesan Herb Stuffed Chicken

Fresh herbs and parmesan cheese come together to make a delightful Parmesan and Herb Stuffed Chicken. This recipe tastes like something from a restaurant, but easy enough for any weekday night. Thanks to the fresh herbs and parmesan cheese, it has tons of flavor but it's light on calories and fat. In less than an hour, you can have a crave-worthy meal that will please the entire family.
My Parmesan Herb Stuffed Chicken recipe is baked, gluten-free and healthy but it is also drool-worthy. Even your most picky eater beg for this meal to become part of your weeknight rotation. It tastes fancy enough that you could also serve it for a dinner party, date night or any other special occasion. You could also make this dish ahead of time. You would just stuff the chicken breasts ahead of time and refrigerate the uncooked chicken until about an hour before serving. Let the stuffed chicken breasts come to room temperature before cooking.
One of my favorite kitchen tools is my rice cooker. It is programmable so I can schedule it to come up to 10 hours ahead of time so your food is cooked when you are ready. You can use a rice cooker to cook just about any grain. In this recipe, I could cook my quinoa in the rice cooker if needed.
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 40 mins
Total time: 55 mins
Serves: 6
Ingredients
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 tablespoons of minced fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon of minced fresh basil
1 tablespoon of minced fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon of minced fresh spicy oregano
1 tablespoon of minced fresh lemon thyme
1 large garlic clove, minced or pressed
½ cup of grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbs of grated Parmesan cheese
salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Start with lots of herbs, whatever ones that you like... I chose cilantro, basil, rosemary, spicy oregano and lemon thyme. These are the herbs that I have currently in my garden. Chop them finely and mix with parmesan cheese and fresh garlic.
Cut a pocket in each chicken breast, fill with herb parmesan mix and secure with tooth picks. Then spray a 3 quart baking dish with non-stick cooking spray or extra virgin olive oil. Next place stuffed chicken breasts in the baking dish and top with parmesan cheese. Then bake chicken for 35-40 minutes or until juices run clear.
I would suggest that you serve this dish with quinoa mixed with the same fresh herbs and a simple green salad. This would keep the dish gluten-free, full of protein and very healthy! You could also serve with brown rice or with gluten-free or whole wheat pastsa

Healthy Game Day Guacamole

We all want something salty and crunchy to indulge in when we're gathered around the TV cheering on our favorite sports team. It's OK to splurge on buffalo chicken dip and hot wings every once in a while, but if you make a habit out of doing it every weekend you could be sabotaging all the hard work you put in during the week. Curb that expanding waistline and keep it light this weekend by trying this omega-3 packed guacamole recipe.
You really don't need much to make a good guacamole. If you usually buy pre-made packaged guacamole from the grocery store, I promise the first time you try this you'll never buy it again. Fresh, wholesome ingredients are the key and it only takes about 10 minutes to throw together this one-step recipe.
Healthy Game Day Guacamole

• 2 avocados
• 1 small roma tomato, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon jalepeno
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• 1 heaping teaspoon fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, diced
• 1/2 tablespoon red onion, diced
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• Pinch of salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

1. Cut avocados in half. Remove flesh from skin, place in a medium bowl and discard the seeds. Smash with a fork or potato masher (I like to leave mine a little chunky). Add tomato, jalepeno and spices to bowl and stir. Done!
You can pair this dip with whole grain tortilla chips, whole grain pita chips, unsalted pretzels or carrot and celery sticks. When searching for tortilla chips, first look at the ingredient list. Are there words you can't pronounce or does it take you more than 10 seconds to read through the entire list? If so, you may want to pick a different chip. Don't be fooled by products that read "mult-grain" as this term does not necessarily mean whole grain.
Also keep in mind that you don't have to just use this guacamole as a dip. It also tastes great as a spread on toast for breakfast and as a topper for mexican-style soups, casseroles, salads, quesadillas and tacos.
Do you have any favorite game day healthy dips or snacks that everyone loves? Other healthy snacking options include black bean dips (avoid refried beans and tons of cheese or sour cream), and fresh fruit and vegetable plates.
Additional tip: when storing half-used avocados, do not discard the seed. Keeping the flesh with the seed will help to prevent browning.

Fried Breakfast Chops

I'm sorry to say that I had to give up eating pork. Why you may ask? Well, my body rejects it now. I have major issues after eating pork. Clearly it is due to the gastrointestinal problems I have, but that's another story. Let me plead my case, I do eat bacon from a restaurant, but not often. You're allowed to do that. Don't deprive yourself where you spend your hard-earned money.
As far as eating pork at home, it is very rare. I prefer turkey bacon, which to me, is just as good as regular bacon as long as it's crispy. I can't recall the last time I had a pork chop. I used to eat them fried in between two very soft slices of white bread slathered in miracle whip. Those were the days. If I ate a pork chop sandwich like that now, I would probably have to take a trip to the local ER to have an EKG done for possible heart attack symptoms.
I could bake them for a healthier alternative but I would rather cut pork altogether. I would like to share a way I used to cook them so you can enjoy some fried pork.
Ingredients
1 pack of breakfast chops (thin pork chops)
¼ - ½ cup grape seed oil
1 cup flour
1 tbsp paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
I like using breakfast chops since they are super thin cuts of pork. Wash the meat and season with paprika, salt and pepper. In a cast iron skillet, heat just enough grape seed oil to cover the entire bottom of skillet. You don't want to use a lot of oil nor have the chops covered in oil. I sometimes like to set the seasoned chops in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour but it's not necessary. Take the thin pork chops and dredge them in the flour. Make sure you season your flour generously with salt, pepper and paprika. Once the oil is hot, lay them flat in the hot oil and fry until golden brown. Flip them over and fry the other side until brown. Since these chops are thin, they will cook fast. Remove from oil and place on a paper towel lined plate. I usually eat these with fried eggs and buttermilk biscuits for breakfast; an egg pork chop biscuit. Of course, bread is always the best option; nothing like some fried pork on bread.

Spinach Saute

I was never one of those kids who didn't eat vegetables. The only thing I couldn't stand to eat was Brussel sprouts. I can tolerate them now as an adult but I despised them as a child. One of my favorite vegetables to eat as a child was spinach and I still have a love for it.
As a child I had good reason behind why I ate so much spinach. I was a big fan of Popeye the Sailor Man. My grandmother would convince me that eating spinach would make me strong like Popeye. I believed it since Popeye would pop open a can of spinach and become strong and beat up Brutus for his love Olive Oil. I would eat all of my spinach simply because of the cartoon. Popeye obviously knew the health benefits of eating spinach.
Spinach is full of vitamins K, magnesium, and folate. It is great for the cardiovascular system and contains antioxidants that prevent cancerous cells. Spinach is also good for brain function since it prevents the effects of oxidation on your brain. A healthy brain could lessen the chances of having Alzheimer's. With these health benefits, I recommend eating spinach cooked and raw. I use spinach in many recipes but a simple sauté of spinach with some seasoning is the best way to eat it. Here is how I prepare spinach as a side dish.
Ingredients
2 to 3 bunches of fresh spinach
4 to 5 cloves garlic
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp sugar
4 hard-boiled eggs
Salt and pepper to taste
Boil a few eggs in a pot. Add some salt to the boiling water to help remove the egg shells easily from the eggs. Wash the spinach well. I like to remove the stems when I cook spinach but leave them on when eating them raw. In a sauté pan add the butter and garlic and mix together. Add in the fresh spinach leaves and stir into the butter garlic sauce. Sometimes I even use the garlic butter sauce that comes in the pizza box for my spinach. Add in about a tsp of sugar. Salt and pepper the spinach to your liking. Cook the spinach until wilted about 5 minutes but it depends on how cooked you like your spinach. Once the boiled eggs are ready run cold water over them to cool them. Remove the shells and slice one egg on top of your serving of spinach. Save the rest of the eggs for when you want to eat another serving.

Spring Mix Chicken Pizza

I like chicken pizza which isn't a traditional way of serving pizza but it is a healthier alternative. I don't eat pork and here lately, I have been reluctant to eat red meat. That only leaves me with chicken or fish and I don't think fish pizza would be very appetizing. People put anchovies on their pizza which I can't understand for the life of me.
I remember once my mother wanted to order anchovies on our pizza. I suggested she put it on half so I could eat my slices happily. She sat there sniffing her pizza and turning her nose up. I reminded her she shouldn't have done that especially as a first time and eating out. Half of the pizza went to waste because she said it was nasty and she tried to eat up my half of the pizza since she was starving.
Since my favorite food in the world is pizza, I will always have a new way to create pizza at home to share for any other pizza lovers like myself. There's so many ways to prepare it because of the many ingredients and ideas you can come up with. Luckily I went to the bread store and they were giving away free pizza crusts and I went home and came up with this recipe.
Ingredients
1 store-bought wheat pizza crust
1 tbsp olive oil
½ cup pizza sauce
1 boneless chicken breast grilled
2 cups spring mix (baby lettuce, endive, and radicchio)
1 cup shredded pizza blend
¼ cup parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Pre-heat the oven. Wash the chicken breast and season with sea salt. Grill the meat on an indoor grill. Remove the meat and cut into chunks. Grab the wheat pizza crust and brush with olive oil. Spread the pizza sauce all over the crust. I used some homemade sauce that I had stored in the freezer. Store bought jar sauce will do the trick. The spring mix comes from a package bag of salad. I spread the greens over the sauce then I top them with the chicken chunks. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese over the pizza toppings. Top with a blend of pizza cheeses that comes in a package. In a 350 degree oven place the crust directly on the bottom rack and bake until the crust is golden brown about 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cut into slices.

Chinese Okra Chicken Stir-Fry

I am the stir-fry queen. I will throw anything in a wok and cook it. I mainly like chicken and beef stir-fry. I often go to the farmers market and buy fresh vegetables. There was an Asian family there selling their vegetables. Most of the stuff they had I had never seen but I am open to trying new things. They convinced me to buy a vegetable that looked like a cucumber and some other weird shaped vegetable.They referred to the strange item as a luffa.
Luffa is a fruit eaten as a vegetable and belongs to the cucumber family. The weird thing about this fruit is its use as a bath or kitchen sponge also spelled loofah. The fruit dries out for use as a natural scrubber. Who knew? It is a popular vegetable in Chinese stir-fry dishes and known as Chinese okra. Since I am such an adventurer, I bought one to see what I could do with it. I came up with a Chinese okra chicken recipe.
Ingredients
1 lb chicken breast
1 bunch broccoli
1 Chinese okra (luffa)
1 onion
1 tbsp garlic chili paste
2 tbsp sesame ginger marinade
6 tbsp oil
¼ cup soy sauce
1-2 cups cold rice
Salt and pepper to taste
Wash chicken and marinade in sesame ginger sauce for an hour. Place a wok on the stove and add 2 tbsp oil. Let the wok get nice and hot before adding ingredients. Cut the chicken breast into pieces. I season the chicken with sea salt and stir in the hot oil for a few minutes. Remove chicken from wok. Clean the wok and add 2 tbsp oil. I microwave the broccoli for 1-2 minutes first before adding to the wok. Wash the Chinese okra and cut the ends. Slice into ½ inch pieces. Stir-fry broccoli and luffa in the hot oil. Add the garlic chili paste in the middle of the vegetables and stir around. Remove vegetables once tender. Add 2 tbsp oil to wok then add cold rice and stir-fry for a minute or two. Cut up the onion. I like to add the onion at the end so it won't become soggy. Add to the rice the chicken, vegetables, and cut up onion. I don't use much salt since soy sauce has a lot of sodium. Pour the soy sauce into the wok and stir-fry all the ingredients together. Enjoy

Recipes for Kids - Chicken Nuggets

I am proud to bring you the recipe of a classic kids' favorite with a twist - Chicken Nuggets. Chicken nuggets come close to pizza as being a universal kids' favorite food. I discovered the shocking secret that store or restaurant bought chicken nuggets contain only about 50% of chicken meat. You want to know what the other 50% is made of? Sure? Well the other 50% is made of such grisly leftovers after the chicken is harvested like fat, cartilage, bone, muscle, nerves and blood vessels!
This was as good a reason as any apart from the fact that my kids devour chicken nuggets and cannot seem to get enough of them. I tried a few different routes and this route that I took today yielded tremendous results. Take a look.

Ingredients:
Boneless chicken (Chicken breast works best) cut into small cubes - 3 pounds
Corn Flour - 3-4 tbsp
Vinegar - 1 tsp
Black Pepper - 1 tsp
Egg - 1
Salt to Taste
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp (optional)
Red coloring (optional)

Method:
1. Wash the chicken pieces thoroughly and pat them dry.
2. In a bowl mix together the rest of the ingredients.
3. Add chicken to the mixture and mix well. Make sure the cornflour coats all the chicken pieces.
4. Keep aside for 10-15 minutes.
5. Heat oil in a pan enough to deep fry the chicken pieces.
6. Put the chicken pieces into the hot oil and deep fry them. Take care to drop the chicken pieces one by one so that they don't stick to one another.
7. Fry the chicken pieces well so that the coating becomes visibly crisper and the chicken pieces take on a golden hue.
8. Drain on a paper towel to remove excess oil
9. Serve with ketchup, mustard or mayonnaise.

Trick or Treat Halloween Cake

Come on, let's indulge together in a little sweet and scary decadence. Have you ever had visions of a little Jack o' Lantern pumpkin surrounded with other little monsters in your head? You will enjoy making a very special Halloween holiday treat with a little help from these lovely trick or treat beggars. I can't imagine a better helpers than your own children. This cake is an unbeatable fun centrepiece for any Halloween celebration. Fun to bake and pleasure to eat.
You will marvel how helpful they will be with cake making. And your reward will taste just like orange with some sweet and chocolate cover. This powerful and eye-catching combination of dark brown cake and orange glowing in the dark butter cream filling works ridiculously well. Orange and chocolate is always a tasty flavour combination so your little monsters will love the flavour of this creation. Your result will be the scariest Halloween cake you can dream about.
Serves 10-12 little monsters
Preparation time: 45 min
Cooking Time: 1 hour 15 min
Ingredients:
50 g cocoa powder
225 ml boiling water
125 g butter, softened
350 g caster sugar
4 eggs
grated zest and juice of 1 orange
100 g plain chocolate, melted
150 ml soured cream
350 g plain flour
2 table spoons of bicarbonate of soda
For the butter cream
125 g unsalted butter, softened
grated zest of 1 orange
2 table spoons of orange juice
275 g icing sugar, sifted
orange food colouring, optional
To complete
Trick or Treat Halloween Cake Topper
Equipment
20.5 cm round deep pan
piping bag fitted with a star nozzle (optional)
Method
First pre heat the oven to 170° or use gas mark 3. Place the cocoa powder in a small bowl and steadily blend in the boiling water. If you are not scared too much, ask your little monster helpers for a helping hand. In a separate bowl, they could cream together the butter and sugar until they will mix it thoroughly. The older ghosts are probably experienced enough to add the eggs. One egg at a time, beating well after each egg addition. When done, they have to add the orange zest and juice, then stir in the melted chocolate, soured cream and the cocoa mix.
Finally sieve the flour and bicarbonate of soda into the mixing bowl and fold until done. Place the cake pan on a baking sheet and pour in the cake mixture. Bake your cake with your little helpers for about 1 hour 15 minutes, or until the cake is firm and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool the finished block of scary cake in the pan.
The first steps of that stage are easy to handle for the monster crew surrounded around your table. To put together the butter cream, beat the butter until light and fluffy, then beat in the orange zest and juice. Add half the icing sugar and beat well for several minutes. Add the remaining icing sugar and beat until very light and fluffy, adding a little orange food colouring to create the desired scary look. Level the top of the cake if necessary and then slice into 3 equal layers. Place the bottom cake layer on a serving plate and pipe or spread ½ of the butter cream over it. Top with the middle cake layer and spread with the remaining cake layer.
Brush the top of the cake with a little apricot jam or marmalade and place the Trick or Treat Halloween Cake Topper on top.

Let's Make Mousaka

Mousaka is one of the most popular Mediterranean cuisines. It is a delicious party meal and tempting on the taste buds. Making Mousaka is not as difficult as many people think. It just require one to spend more time in the kitchen than our usual cuisine. This recipe makes Mousaka easy to make. If you want to surprise your guests by cooking Mousaka, then you will require the following:

• One finely chopped onion
• One can of tomato puree
• Four finely chopped garlic
• One pound ground beef
• One teaspoon of dried basil
• Two teaspoons of dried Oregano
• Half teaspoon Cinnamon
• One bay leaf
• Half cup grated Pecorino
• Salt and black pepper, according to your taste
• Sliced eggplant
• Two cups of Bechamel sauce
• Quarter cup of bread crumbs

Preparation Method
Here are the simple steps of making Mausaka:
1. Brown the beef and then remove it after leaving the pan greasy.
2. Add onions and garlic. Saute well until you sense the aroma.
3. Add the ground beef into the pan and mix well.
4. Add basil, bay leaf, oregano, tomatoes, cinnamon, salt and pepper into the cooking pan.
5. Cover the pan with its lid and simmer for around twenty minutes.
6. Broil the eggplant from both sides, until golden brown. This usually takes around four to five minutes.
7. Place the eggplant on the bottom of a baking pan and pour the beef sauce.
8. Make Bechamel Sauce.

How Can You Make Bechamel Sauce?
Do you know how to make Bechamel sauces? My guests always enjoy this tasty sauce with Mausaka. For making this sauce, you will require two tablespoons of butter, two tablespoons of floor, one cup of milk and half teaspoon nutmeg. You can also add salt and black pepper according to your taste. Here is how you can make Bechamel sauce:

• First of all, add butter in a small sauce pan and heat over medium low heat, until it melts.
• Mix flour and stir well, until it becomes smooth.
• Pour milk and keep on stirring until it gets thick.
• Sprinkle salt, black pepper and nutmeg. Then cook the for five minutes on low heat.

Bechamel sauce is ready! Now, you can melt cheese into the sauce and mix the sauce in the beef sauce. Garnish with bread crumbs and cheese. Bake the mixture over 350 degrees, until it becomes golden brown from the surface. It mostly takes around half an hour. Take out the baking pan from the oven and serve hot. Invite your family and friends over and enjoy the tempting dish! I am sure your guests will admire your cooking and hospitality. So, try today and feel proud!

Southern Style Dressing For Your Thanksgiving

Halloween is creeping upon us, and soon we will be looking toward Thanksgiving as a time of family, food, and football. Tradition is important this time of year, especially here in the south. Thanksgiving has always had a special place in my heart as a time for the family to congregate and share a wonderful feast of dressing, gravy, and, in my family, chicken. My personal holiday tradition is at least two crescent roll sandwiches made from the dishes above, it's simply not Thanksgiving without it. Well, that and some pumpkin pie and whipped cream.


My family broke with tradition and eschewed the turkey and went with two baking hens prepared in a pressure cooker, lightly seasoned with salt and pepper. It served not only as the main dish, but also an ingredient in the dressing and gravy. And personally, I'm glad they did. Chicken offers great flavor while not being as sleep inducing as Turkey, nor as dry in my experience. Gravy, as delicious as it is, can only stretch so far. And with Chicken it doesn't have to work so hard.
Hannah Family Southern Style Cornbread Dressing


Software:
Cornbread Muffin Mix (2 boxes)
1 box of corn flakes
1 large onion, finely chopped
6 eggs, lightly beaten
At least 3 cups chicken broth and chicken pieces (preferably dark meat) from the baking hens. (Amount of either is subject to preferences but you don't want to run out!)
3 Tbsp vegetable oil.
Salt and Pepper to taste.
Hardware:
Glass baking pan
Large mixing bowl
Cast Iron Skillet
Aluminum Foil
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Prepare the cornbread muffin mix according to directions. However, instead of baking it, pour the vegetable oil in a cast iron skillet and proceed to make cornbread pancakes with the mix until it has been used up. Take the cornbread pancakes and crumble them thoroughly. Take 2 cups of corn flakes, crush them finely, and add them to the cornbread crumbs, stirring thoroughly. Stir in chicken broth and eggs until the cornbread has reached a consistency slightly thicker than the original cornbread dough. Mix in onions, salt, and pepper to taste. Pour the cornbread mixture into a greased glass baking pan. Place chicken pieces on top of the dressing mix.
Cover with aluminum foil and cook for 35 minutes. Remove tin foil and cook for five more minutes.
It is not the holidays, neither Thanksgiving nor Christmas, without this dish on my table. I hope you and yours will enjoy it this holiday says. Happy Thanksgiving!

Classic Southern Pumpkin Bread Recipe

Pumpkin Bread
Of all the wonderful flavors on which we're able to indulge during Thanksgiving, pumpkin has to be one of the most delicious. It seems that it has become a trend around this holiday to find new and creative ways to infuse anything edible with the great flavor of pumpkin. However, it's nice to sometimes go back to the standards and enjoy those treats that made pumpkin so popular.
The first of these recipes will be for Pumpkin Bread.


Cook Time
Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour 30 min
Ready in: 1 hour 55 min
Yields: No. of servings depends on the size of the slices.


Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1-2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. cloves
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup pumpkin, canned or steamed, drained and mashed

How to Prepare

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray non-stick cooking spray on a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
2. Combine the sugar, vegetable oil and eggs into a large mixing bowl and set aside.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
4. Add these dry ingredient mixture into the bowl containing the egg, oil, and sugar mixture. Mix until well blended.
5. Combine the pumpkin and chopped nuts into the bowl and mix well.
6. Pour into the greased loaf pan and baked for about an hour and a half or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Let stand for about 5 minutes, then turn it onto a bread rack to cool. Serve and enjoy!

In Conclusion
Pumpkin bread is similar in texture to banana bread and zucchini bread, but is a bit richer with a flavor best suited for cooler weather. It can be enjoyed plain, with some melted butter, or with a light powder sugar based glaze. It works great as a companion to a cup of hot chocolate while sitting by the fireplace.

Tips on Identifying Authentic Hyderabadi Biryani

New to Hyderabad? Looking for some authentic Hyderabadi Biryani, but confused? Don't worry, we are here to help you out. Many restaurants both in and outside Hyderabad (within India and abroad) claim to serve authentic Hyderabadi Biryani. However, just naming the dish or claiming it to be the original recipe does not make it authentic.
You can determine if a restaurant is serving authentic dish by checking how it is served, finding how it is cooked and by the characteristics of the restaurant. Here are few tips that could help you find out the authentic one.


Rice variety
An authentic Biryani is made only from Basmati rice, a long and slender rice variety popular in South Asia. The rice has a typical flavour which is caused by the aroma compound 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline. These characteristics make Basmati rice a preferred variety to make the dish.


Cooking style
Secondly, the only authentic Biryani is the Dum ka Biryani. It means the rice and the meat together, along with spices are steam cooked in a large conical vessel called deksha. The lid is sealed with dough to prevent the steam from going out and the food is slowly cooked, typically on charcoal. This cooking method is what gives the dish, the distinct flavour and taste.
This way of low heat cooking is difficult. A chef cannot really examine the dish while it is cooking. Once it is removed from the flame, and the meat is overcooked or undercooked - the chef cannot really make adjustments. Therefore, only expert chefs can make a perfect dish.


Side accomplishments
Here is what you should get with an authentic Biryani. It comes with Mirchi ka Saalan (dish made with big green chillies), dahi chutney (made with curd and onions) and onion salad with some lime pieces. If any restaurant does not provide you all of these at no additional cost - then it's not serving authentic dish. These are absolutely the basic things that make the 'Biryani' meal. If anyone item is missing it is like serving a Pizza without topping.
Many restaurants also serve a non-authentic variety called Pakki Biryani - in which meat and rice are cooked separately. Then, mixed at the end to make the dish. This is like mixing curry and rice. You can easily identify this kind of dish by its colour. It completely looks yellowish or light brown, unlike the authentic one, in which half of the rice looks white and half looks yellowish or light brown.
Finally, remember that the Biryani was originally created to serve quick meals to troops during war. So any good restaurant will typically serve a large number of guests. A good restaurant in Hyderabad serves tens of thousands of meals a day.
The above should hopefully help you figure out a restaurant serving Authentic Hyderabadi Biryani!

Mutton or Chicken Biryani - Which One to Prefer in Hyderabad?

Biryani is a part and parcel of many lives in Hyderabad. Almost every localite, irrespective of the caste and religion celebrates with this dish special occasions like weddings, birthdays, parties and even some festivals. It becomes the main dish in their lunch/dinner menu. Till today, for many people in Hyderabad weekend means biryani time! Not just for the local people, Hyderabad's Dum-ka biryani is popular all across the world.
For people outside the city this craze may look mysterious but once they taste the authentic dish, they will surely admire it. But most tourists and people outside the city are always confused whether to eat mutton or chicken biryani.
Since many hotels, restaurants and Irani cafes in the twin cities serve the dish, it is important to choose a good and popular one to have a good experience.


Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani
Chicken is much cheaper than mutton. You can get 1kg of it at around Rs.200 at retail market, whereas mutton costs around Rs.300-350 per kg. Therefore, you get more meat with chicken biryani than mutton biryani. Moreover, many restaurants either do not use good mutton or give only a limited quantity of meat due to its cost. This affects the eating experience. Better to go for chicken dish if you prefer to have more meat.
You can have mutton dish only in a few places, that too during peak hours. Other times it is safer to go for chicken dish. Also, when you are in doubt, it is always better to go for the latter.


Hyderabadi Mutton Biryani
When you cook the dish at home, or having at some other's place, or at a popular restaurant like Paradise, Cafe Bahar, etc., always go for mutton biryani. It is the original and authentic dish from the city.
Meat of the goat in Telangana region is considered as one of the best in the world. The semi arid vegetation of the Deccan plateau with its rolling hills, boulders and volcanic ash is a great place to rear goats. In deltas where land is fertile and no free land exists, goats are not very common.
Chicken is a very late entrant in Hyderabad. It is not uncommon in old time Hyderabadis not to eat it at all or dislike it. It was not part of the regular meats in the city till a couple of decades.
Apart from these two, there are many other varieties of non-vegetarian and vegetarian biryanies today. The creativity of the people invented a number of similar dishes such as fish, prawn, egg and vegetable biryani etc. Mutton and chicken dishes are, however, popular in the city.

Amazing Facts About Chicken Recipes

Chicken is called the universal meat due to its universal acceptance across the world. For chicken lovers it is the food of life. For cooking a superb chicken dish there are so many recipes available that you cannot simply count them on fingers.
Such easy and versatile is the chicken recipe dish. Everyone off course has different set of favorite flavors which they can try to create amazing chicken recipes at home and thrill their family. It can be grilled, fried, stewed or barbecued. There are many ways in which this dish can be served such as main course dish, or simply added to salads, soups or rice or pasta or pizza. There are plenty of variations which can surely please even a picky eater.
You can surprise your family members every day by trying different scrumptious chicken recipes at home that surely brings in smile on their faces.
It is considered quite healthy among other meat alternatives and is one of the top choices of healthy nutrition. It is one of the leaner meats which is highly rich in protein with no carbohydrates and is low in fat and cholesterol. Even doctors advise pregnant women and people who have obesity and other health related issues to add this nutritious dish in their diet chart. When preparing this dish you actually don't have to sacrifice taste.
The best part about a chicken recipe is that just by altering its couple of ingredients a whole new dish can be prepared easily. Take for example if you have pasta salad ready you can simply add some cubed chicken cubes to it and you are ready with a whole new chicken recipe that will delight your friends.
For beginners who are new to chicken cooking process they should always keep following tips in mind:

• It should never be cooked incompletely and stored that way. This surely promotes the growth of bacteria. To prevent the bacteria growth it's advised to wash uncooked chicken thoroughly before cooking it.
• To prepare quick and easy chicken recipes it's advisable to prepare any seasonings or sauces and vegetables beforehand which saves time.
• Chicken should never look grey or pale in color.
• If it smells a foul odor it indicates it's a spoiled chicken.
• Before using its prior inspection is necessary it should be creamy white or pale yellow.
• Freeze it if you don't plan to cook it immediately.

I hope the readers of this article might really find the tips and suggestions advised here quite fruitful which they can use to prepare hearty and delicious chicken recipes. Eating doesn't only provide you with nutrition but ensures your family's delight as well.

3 Tips for Green Smoothie Success (For Beginners)

If you just learned about green smoothies, you may be excited to try them out. Green smoothies all the rage these days, and for a good reason: they are super easy to make and super tasty.
However, you still need to know some basic rules to make your smoothies a success. If you don't, you may be disappointed and become discouraged quickly, before they become a part of your life.
So here are my top three tips for green smoothie success (for beginners):
Green Smoothie Success Tip #One: Be Aware of Strong Tasting Greens
First of all, when you're just starting out, don't use really strong tasting ingredients, such as mustard greens, cabbage, Swiss chard, parsley or watercress. Even though these ingredients are super healthy, if you add too much of them to a smoothie, it may become unpalatable, so it's best to avoid them altogether, at least initially. I find that the best ingredients for beginners are baby greens (such as spinach, lettuce, or arugula), celery stalks (see the tip below about the best blenders to buy), and lots of sweet, juicy fruits.
Green Smoothie Success Tip #Two: Buy the Best Blender for Your Green Smoothies That You Can Afford
If you don't have a high power blender, such as Vitamix or Blendtec, you may want to avoid really tough greens and vegetables, such as kale leaves or celery stalks, as your blender may not be able to handle the challenge, and you'll end up with a smoothie with lots of tough chunks. That's definitely not what you want!
Start with baby greens, such as baby spinach, and make sure you blend your greens first with the liquid until very smooth. Another option is to add green powders to your smoothies.
However, if you are really serious about green smoothies, my advice is to invest in a high-end blender. You'll be able to use it for much more than just smoothie making machine; plus, even though it's more expensive, it will last for many more years or heavy use. Think of it as an investment in your health and how much you'll save on doctor's bills.
Green Smoothie Success Tip #Three: Mask the Color with Blueberries
If someone in your home objects to the green color of the smoothie, you may add some blueberries or black berries to mask the color. The resulting color may not be the prettiest, but it will not be green. Or try serving it an opaque glass and serve it with a straw.

Healthy Ways To Cook Chicken Dishes

Cooking light is the new way of enjoying food that is good for you, as well as nutritional, without the added fat and calories. The body requires protein to regulate growth and the healthy development of muscles, organs and all other parts of the body. One of the best sources of protein comes from chicken, and finding healthy ways to cook chicken will ensure that the body is provided with much needed protein in a lean form.
Using healthy ways to cook chicken does not have to be boring as there are lots of ways to add flavor and interest to chicken recipes. Removing the skin and trimming all fat from the chicken before using it in a recipe, already reduces the amount of calories by a significant amount. Half a lean chicken breast contains only 182 calories and 4 grams of fat, of which only 1,1 g is saturated fat.
Below are some healthy ways to cook chicken using five main techniques:
STIR FRYING
Stir frying is a fast and easy, as well as healthy way to cook lean chicken.
Chicken Teriyaki
1 Chicken Breast - cut into ½" wide strips
1 Tablespoon Canola Oil
½ Cup Carrots
1 Cup Broccoli florettes
3 Tablespoons low sodium Teriyake Sauce
1 Cup Cooked Brown Rice
Stir fry the chicken strips lightly in the canola oil for two minutes. Add the carrots and broccoli and continue to fry for a further two minutes. Add the Teriyaki sauce and serve over cooked brown rice.
BOILING
Boiling chicken will dissolve any excess fat and eliminates the need for any additional oil or fat to cook the chicken. The cooked chicken can be added to stir fried dishes after the vegetables have been cooked in a small amount of water for a completely fat free meal.
Boil the chicken for a few minutes until it there is no pink left in the center. Add chicken stock or fragrant herbs to the cooking water to enhance the flavor. When done, the chicken can be used in healthy salads, added to hot or cold soup, or used in delicious sandwich fillings for a quick healthy meal.
BROILING
Pre-heat a broiler or set the oven on broil. Coat chicken breasts lightly with canola oil and broil for 5 minutes. Turn over for another 5 minutes of cooking. Remove and baste with a marinade of your choice. A healthy way is to use apricot preserve with a dash of hot sauce added. Return to chicken to the broiler for another 2 minutes, or until done.
GRILLING
Grilling chicken on a gas or charcoal grill under direct heat is one of the healthy ways to cook chicken. Lightly coat the chicken with canola oil to prevent it sticking to the grill. Sprinkle spices or herbs on the chicken and grill on both sides until done.
Alternatively a lemon marinade can be used to marinade the chicken before grilling. Serve with a healthy salad.
For the marinade, mix 1/3 cup of lemon juice, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon oregano, ½ teaspoon chopped garlic, and pepper to taste.
ROASTING
Remove any excess fat from the cavity of the bird. Rub inside and outside with olive oil and sprinkle with rosemary. Roast in the oven at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. At this stage you can add vegetables to the pan and continue cooking until the vegetables are done. Remove the chicken and vegetables and pour off any fat left in the pan, add a splash of white wine or wine vinegar to the pan juices and serve.
The variations of healthy ways to cook chicken are limited only by your imagination. So be adventurous with your techniques and serve healthy, light chicken dishes on any day of the week.