America's Cooking Cheerleader™ has a new blog home

Hi Fans and Readers,


The Let's Cook Tonight Blog has moved to a new home.  
Click here to see it:   http://www.letscooktonight.com/blog/   


(If the link above does not appear clickable or does not open a browser window when you click it, copy it and paste it into your web browser's  location bar.)

A new blog was posted yesterday, October 26.  


When you're there, sign up on the right hand side with your email address.  You'll then be notified every time there's a new post.       


Leave me a comment and let me know what you think of my new home.


Thank you for reading,
Gigi Centaro
America's Cooking Cheerleader™

Please allow me to introduce you to Orzo.

            People are very particular with what they put into their mouths and they should be.  We don’t have to eat anything that isn’t delicious to us.  However, I do smile on occasion when I see an adult avoid something because they think they don’t like it.  I was having lunch with a friend who ordered chicken soup.  Instead of rice or noodles, the soup had orzo in it.  My friend went out of her way to avoid eating a single grain of orzo.

           What amused me is that this same friend loves pasta and eats pasta in many shapes and sizes.  She didn’t realize that orzo is pasta.  It’s made with the exact same ingredients that pasta is made from; it’s just shaped to look like rice instead of spaghetti or ziti.  My friend avoided something that she likes because it was in an unfamiliar form.  She truly was judging a book by its cover.    

           Many people are in food ruts and won’t eat what isn’t familiar.  There are two potential problems with this.  First, any nutritionist will tell you that the more varied your diet the healthier you will be.  Sticking to the same foods all the time is very limiting nutritionally.  Second, there is a world of delicious tastes out there that you are depriving yourself of just because you think you don’t like something.  You don’t truly know if you like it or not until you put some in your mouth and chew.  

           Orzo has many possibilities.  It looks like rice, but it is indeed pasta.  It makes an easy fast starch side dish.  The simplest way to use it is to cook it in boiling, salted water until it’s the texture you prefer.  Drain it and add butter and grated pecorino Romano cheese.  If you want to make it a bit fancier, cut fresh Italian parsley into very small pieces and mix the parsley into the buttered orzo.  It compliments any other dish beautifully. 

Bringing families together to cook, eat and create family time at the dinner table. 

Copyright ©2010 by Let’s Cook Tonight, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Hello Dear Faithful Readers

           In case you're wondering why I went from posting five days a week to now only once or twice a week I have an explanation.  My website is currently being redesigned and once it's finished my blog will be housed on my website.  Because of that change, I've been up to my ears in work.  It's all good, but it has kept me very busy.
           Once the website is done, the first week of October, I will go back to posting at least twice a week faithfully.  I won't post five times a week because someone told me that writing five times a week is too much for anyone to read.  


            I'll post an announcement here to let you know when the changes have been completed.  Thank you for your understanding and thank you for reading.  I appreciate you.  By the way, do you like my new tag line? 

Bringing families together to cook, eat and create family time at the dinner table. 

Copyright ©2010 by Let’s Cook Tonight, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

The Answer to Losing Weight and Keeping it Off Forever

            I was at a women's business dinner the other day and I listened to three different women talk about the virtues of the diets they were on.  They all wanted to lose weight and all were eliminating some particular food from their diets.  I got confused quickly and could not keep up with all of the rules and regulations.  All three were convinced that they had finally found the secret to losing weight. 

            I smiled at one in particular when she declared that she had lost ten pounds in her first week.  Her variation included ingesting pregnancy hormones along with a severe calorie restriction.  She gave the entire credit to the hormones she was taking.  What she didn’t realize is that she would lose weight on any diet that restricted her calorie intake.  The hormones were just a way for the company to make money by selling her something. 

           All diets work initially because they all restrict something.  The followers are led to believe that it's the extra something that causes the weight loss.  That belief causes them to stay on the diet and buy that extra something.  All of this is fine and many people do need a boost to get started.  The rules and regulations give them the guidance they need to get into a better eating routine.  Therefore, they seem valuable and harmless enough.

          The rub is when the dieters get bored, hit a plateau, or actually reach the weight they desire.  At some point, they realize they can't do this forever.  Even the people who have told me they have so much weight to lose they need a quick jumpstart.  What they don't realize is that they need the long time to lose weight to teach them how to change their eating habits.  Their habits caused them to become over weight.  Habits take a long time to learn and they can be unlearned, but that takes time.  You must lose weight slowly in order to re-teach yourself how to eat.  Eliminating foods is not going to do it because you won't want to keep those foods out of your life forever.  You have to learn how to eat them in a way to enjoy them but not go crazy with them.  Only time and a change in habits will do that for you. 

          The answer to losing weight and keeping it off forever is to eat real food with real flavor.  Eat from smaller plates and bowls.  The smaller dishes will keep your potion sizes smaller.  Keep sweets and salty snacks in your diet in small quantities and eat them only occasionally.  Cook your food with fat and salt for flavor and satiety.  Just teach yourself to be normal with food and not obsessive.  Learning to be in control of what you eat takes time, but the results are worth it and will last you a lifetime.         

Bringing families together to cook and create family time around the table. 

Copyright ©2010 by Let’s Cook Tonight, LLC. All Rights Reserved

Real Food Tastes Better, You Know What You are Eating, and You Save Money

            Occasionally I like to buy a convenience food just to see how easy it is to make and what it tastes like.  Yesterday I tried frozen potatoes.  All I had to do was put the frozen bag into the microwave for 10 minutes.  Then I was instructed to let it sit for two more minutes.  After two minutes, I took a scissor, cut the bag open and put the potatoes into a bowl.  I added unsalted butter and whole milk and mashed the potatoes. 

            I'll admit this truly was easy to make.  I didn't have to peel any potatoes, nor cut them, nor clean my counter.  I also didn't have to wait the 30-40 minutes it would have taken to cook the potatoes.  In exactly 13 minutes, I had mashed potatoes.  The bag cost $3.99 for 7 ounces or 5½ cups of mashed potatoes.  The company claimed it would serve seven people, but I'd say it was closer to 5 adults and one child.       

           This actually looks attractive.  In 13 minutes, you can make a family of five mashed potatoes.  That is until you taste them.  They weren't horrible, but they weren’t delicious either.  Neither my husband nor I liked the taste.  They had a floury texture and were very salty.  I used unsalted butter to make them and I didn't add any salt.  When I looked at the ingredients, I read potatoes, salt, and disodium dihydrogen pyrophosphate.  Two types of salt were added to the potatoes before I even touched them.

          This is one of my main problems with convenience foods.  You have no control over the ingredients.  Manufacturers have to add chemicals to enhance flavor, prolong shelf life, or control the color.  In this case, the disodium dihydrogen pyrophosphate was added to prevent the potatoes from darkening.  Even though this additive is a GRAS (generally regarded as safe) ingredient by the FDA why must you eat it? 

         If you make your own potatoes, you will be eating potatoes, butter, milk (assuming you add those two) and exactly the amount of table salt you prefer.  Yes, making your own potatoes does take more time, but you aren't eating anything you can't spell or pronounce.  Even though it is a GRAS additive, it is still something that is not naturally found in potatoes. 

         Let's talk about the cost. Three pounds of potatoes will yield about 5½ cups of mashed potatoes.  You can get potatoes for about 79 cents a pound.  When you make your own potatoes, you'll save $1.62.  Not a lot of money, but for a family on a tight budget saving a few dollars at every meal adds up after a month.  

           So, the bottom line is real food tastes better, you know exactly what you are eating, and you save money. 

Bringing families together to cook, eat and reconnect. 

Copyright ©2010 by Let’s Cook Tonight, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Cooking doesn’t get any faster, easier or more fun than this.

    

            Apples are always available and are usually not expensive.  Of course, they are at their best in the fall, but they do keep well.  Eating them out of your hand is the most nutritious way to eat them, but apples lend themselves to many quick and delicious desserts.

           I love desserts and dinner never seems finished unless there is something sweet to top it off.  Cooking and baking is a science unto itself.  You can’t just do what you want with recipes for baked goods because they often won’t turn out right.  Baked apples are a fun exception. 

            If you don’t like to cook, making an apple pie might be over the top for you.  Many people just can’t make a good crust to save their life.  My solution is a delicious, easy apple dessert that will cause you no stress.  You make the filling for an apple pie, put it on top of ice cream and forget about the crust.

           Melt 1½ tablespoons of butter and put the melted butter into an 8” baking dish.  Mix ¾ cup sugar with ½ teaspoon cinnamon and sprinkle that evenly on top of the melted butter.  Cut 4 unpeeled apples into medium pieces and scatter them on top of the cinnamon sugar.  Bake 45-60 minutes depending on the variety of apple you chose.  Some take longer to cook than others.  The apples are done when they are soft.  Serve it warm over vanilla ice cream.  

           This beats any ready-made dessert you can buy.  You can control how sweet it is and you didn’t add anything artificial.  Cooking doesn’t get any faster, easier or more fun than this. 

Bringing families together to cook, eat, and reconnect. 

Copyright ©2010 by Let’s Cook Tonight, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Fast, Easy and Fun---These Beets will Keep you Coming Back for More.

            Beets are an iffy vegetable for many people.  Many adults were “made to eat beets” as children, and any time we were “made to do” anything we tend to remember that thing in an unfavorable light.  I’m not sure why more people don’t like beets.  They contain a lot of nutrients and fiber.  Their beautiful deep red purple color should be enough to win anyone over.

           I try to turn iffy vegetables into ones that you will want to eat.  That way you will be able to put more variety into you meals.  Making beets sweet and sour is one way to do this.  You can buy ready-made sweet and sour (or pickled) beets in a can or jar.  I have tasted them and they are either too sweet or too flat for my palate.  I like foods to have strong flavors and if I’m going to eat something sweet and sour, I want it to taste that way.  Besides, sweet and sour beets are easy to make.  It makes sense to prepare them yourself so you can control the flavor.  You also won’t add any artificial ingredients or preservatives.

           Sweet and sour beets are great to eat at a picnic, to take to a potluck, or for a cold salad option for dinner.  They add beautiful color to a meal of chicken breast and mashed potatoes.  The more color on your plate the more eye candy you have.  Color also means you are getting more nutrients.  My recipe freezes well so it’s perfect to freeze in individual portions for a Freezer Takeout™ meal later. 

         To make things easy for you I start with two 15-ounce canned sliced beets.  You certainly can cook fresh beets, but that will add a lot of time to a fast easy fun recipe.  Buy beets that have only water added.  Buy them either pre-sliced or whole and slice them yourself.  Drain them and put them into a pot along with a sliced onion.  Feel free to omit the onion.  Add 1 cup of apple cider vinegar and 1 cup of sugar to the pot along with 1 teaspoon of whole cloves.  The cloves add a great pizzazz to the taste.  Bring it to a boil then reduce it to a simmer and simmer for 5 minutes.  Let chill over night and serve cold.

        Fast, easy and fun these beets will keep you coming back for more.  

Cooking is easier than you think and you and your family are worth the time and effort it takes. 

Copyright ©2010 by Let’s Cook Tonight, LLC. All Rights Reserved.