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/   


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A new blog was posted yesterday, October 26.  


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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.

It’s Okay to Make Your Food Fun.

           Dark green leafy vegetables are good for you.  There, I’ve said it and I won’t apologize.  Not only are dark green vegetables powerhouses of nutrition, but so are vegetables that are deep orange, yellow or red.  The more color it has the more vitamins and minerals it contains.  I like iceberg lettuce and nothing beats it on a burger or in a BLT, but if I’m going to the trouble to eat a salad, I want more nutritional bang for my buck.

          Just because something is good for you doesn’t mean you'll love the taste.  I believe that if you are going through the trouble of cooking fresh vegetables from scratch, you should use the ones that have the most nutrition.  It’s much better to make deep orange butternut squash than corn.  There's nothing wrong with corn, but the squash is more nutritious.

         However, I realize that corn is a more familiar, and therefore a comfortable vegetable.  Butternut squash cooked in the microwave without water and just a bit of butter and salt is delicious.  But if you can’t get your kids to eat this vegetable then let’s make butternut squash fun.  Let’s add a familiar taste to it like orange. 

         When you cook butternut squash in the microwave without any water, it has a dense texture and rich flavor.  If you then mash it with a bit of butter and add some sweet orange marmalade, you have easily taken this vegetable and made it taste more familiar.  Don’t add so much marmalade that it becomes dessert.  Just add enough to give it a sweet orange flavor.  Try it on your kids and call it sweet orange squash.  Better yet, let them mix in the butter and marmalade.  Not only will they try it they will also eat it.

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.

A Meal your Family will Eat, will be Quick to Make and that is Healthy

            If you don’t like to cook, don’t know how to cook, or don't have the time to cook, you probably have successfully avoided cooking the majority of your life.  However, something has occurred in your life and you can no longer avoid it.  You might have had a change in health and you must eat foods that are more nutritious. Your economic situation may have changed and you realize cooking at home can help the family finances. You might have young children and you realize that a steady diet of fast food and manufactured foods isn't good for your children’s growth and long-term health.

 

           Perhaps a change has occurred in your lifestyle. You may be part of a newly married couple or a couple who recently set up a household, or perhaps you’re a single person on your own for the first time. Whatever the situation, reality hits. Someone has to decide what’s for dinner every night and tag, you’re that person.

          I taught myself how to cook over 28 years of trial and error.  I understand the frustration and apprehension the inexperienced cook faces. I have a knack for making complicated recipes and cooking techniques easy for anyone to understand.  I take the difficulty and mystery out of cooking so you can make a delicious and nutritious dinner easily.  Because that is your goal, to get a meal on the table that your family will eat and enjoy, that will take you as little time and work as possible, and that will be healthy.

         I got it.  I understand.  I can help you.  I make cooking a no brainer for you.  After you make a Let's Cook Tonight menu, you will feel like a super star chef.  As America's Cooking Cheerleader I'm cheering you all the way and I'm behind you 100%.  You can do this.  It's easier than you think.  You and your family are worth the time and effort it takes.  I can show you how.  

       Let's Cook Tonight is finally available.  

Go to www.LetsCookTonight.com to get your copy today.  

  

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.

Fun Food Facts to Ponder

           Would you like a recipe for marinated wild bear?  One was in the first issue of Gourmet, America’s First food magazine.  The year was 1941.  Gourmet closed down in 2009.

           Do you know when the concept of cooking on TV first made an appearance?  It was August 1946.  Borden sponsored a fifteen-minute show called Elsie Presents James Beard in “I Love to Eat.”    

           It wasn’t until 1962 that Julia Child demonstrated omelette making on public television.  Her show, The French Chef, was the first widely televised cooking show. 

          The Food Network debuted in 1993 and the celebrity chef was born. 

          You can blame Wilbur O. Atwater for starting our obsession with counting calories.  He measured the food intake and energy out put of more than 10,000 people using a device called the Calorimeter.  It was in 1892.  

           A New Your housewife started a weight-loss club in 1963.  Her name was Jean Nidetch and the club she founded was Weight Watchers.  I wonder how many pounds all of its members have shed collectively in the past 47 years.  

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

Produce 101

            Precut anything is more expensive.  Vegetables typically are precut into very large pieces.  Since you still have to cut them, it doesn’t make sense to spend the extra money in the first place.    Additionally, the moment you cut a fruit or vegetable you expose it to air and it starts to lose some of its nutritional value.  If you are going to the trouble to make fresh produce for your family, you want as much nutrition as possible.  In order to retain the nutrients in the produce you need to cut them yourself when you’re ready to use them. 

            Having cut-up fruits and vegetables ready for family snacks is a great idea, but cut them yourself. The time between you cutting them and your family eating them is much shorter than the time it takes a packager to cut, package, and ship them to your grocery store.  You also have no control over the length of time they have been sitting on the shelf. 

           The only precut vegetable I use is sliced mushrooms, and the only vegetables I use that would be considered shortcuts are pre-washed spinach and salad greens.

          

          Eat your fruits and veggies just be certain to buy them whole and fresh and cut them when you need them. 

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

Please Allow Me to Introduce You to Broccoli Rabe.

            If your mother made you eat squash when you were ten, and you didn’t like it, you need to try it again.  We shun many foods and flavors as adults because we didn’t like them as children or our parents never gave them to us. Consequently, we think they’re strange.  Many people are reluctant to try new taste sensations and therefore eat only what’s familiar to them.

            Like many children, I disliked anything that was bitter and refused to eat any vegetable I thought tasted bitter. As a young adult, I continued with this mindset and avoided all dark green vegetables. Then when I discovered my husband enjoyed broccoli rabe, a bitter, dark green, leafy vegetable, I decided to try it. I enjoyed it! Subsequently I tried all the dark green vegetables I’d been avoiding. Eating those foods introduced me to additional nutrition, fiber, and new taste sensations.  

          If you are going to cook, I want you to get maximum nutrition for the time you spend in the kitchen.  I encourage you to buy and cook foods that are powerhouses of nutrition.  Ones you might not normally eat.  Any nutritionist will tell you the more varied your diet the healthier you will be. 

          If you have never tried broccoli rabe (also called broccoli raab, raap, or rapini) I invite you to try it.  This vegetable looks like skinny broccoli heads with a lot more leaves.  You eat the entire thing, head, leaves and stem.  The stem is much thinner than regular broccoli and therefore more tender.  Buy it when it’s green and before the buds have turned yellow.  Broccoli rabe is a common vegetable in southern Italy, Portugal and China.  Its flavor is slightly bitter.  When you cook it with oil and garlic, the sharpness softens and it becomes quite delicious.

          Buy only a pound just to try it.  If you don’t like it, you needn’t eat it ever again, but you won’t know if you don’t try.  Cut the broccoli rabe into small pieces.  Cut garlic into very small piece and cook the garlic in extra virgin olive oil until it is golden.  Add the broccoli rabe to the hot oil and add salt---1/4 teaspoon for 1 pound.  Mix well, do not add water, cover and cook until the broccoli is soft.  Taste a piece to be sure.    

           We were born with a preference for sweet tasting foods; after that, all of our taste preferences are learned.  As America’s Cooking Cheerleader, I encourage you to retrain your taste buds and try foods you haven’t tasted in years as well as those you have never tasted before. You may discover that foods you have been avoiding taste delicious today.  As a fun side note, I admit to giving liver another try and I still dislike it!

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.

Be Particular at the Deli Counter-Cold Cut Primer 101

            Deli meats are expensive.  Even when I buy the cuts that are on sale, I always end up spending a lot of money.   Make sure you look at the meat before it is cut for you.  I was buying prosciutto the other day.  Prosciutto is an Italian cured ham and it is very pricey.  I cook with it because it gives great flavor. 

           The man behind the counter picked the prosciutto up and immediately walked to the meat slicer.  I quickly asked to see it and I was glad I had.  I told him, “Would you please get me another piece, that one is old and fatty.”  He did so willingly.

            I knew it was old because it had an off color.  It also was surrounded with too much fat.  Another time when I was buying prosciutto he did show me a fresh piece, but I asked him to cut off the extra fat.  This can be done easily with the meat slicer.  There is no need to pay for the fat that you are going to throw away.

            Feel free to ask for a taste of the meat or cheese before it is sliced so you can be sure you like the flavor.  You can always select another product if you don’t like the taste.  While I’m on the subject of slicing, very thin slices taste better than thick slices.  I honestly don’t know why this is the case but try it for yourself.  The next time you go to buy a pound of either a meat or cheese, ask for half of it the way they usually give it to you and the other half a pound sliced paper-thin.  You will be amazed at the taste difference.  With cheese make sure they put those slips of paper in-between the slices otherwise you won’t be able to separate them when you get home.

          Never buy the pre-sliced cold cuts.  Even if they cut them that morning the longer they sit open and exposed to the air the quicker they will spoil.  For the price you pay, you want them as fresh as possible.  Don’t keep your cold cuts in the plastic bags they come in.  Instead, put them with a gallon plastic bag or take them out and put them in a plastic container.

         You are the customer and you always have a choice. 

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.

“If it Came from a Plant Eat it; if it was Made in a Plant Don’t.”

            Think about the simplicity and wisdom of that advice.  This rule takes a lot of guesswork out of what to eat everyday.  Those words are clever and I can’t claim them as mine.  They belong to Michael Pollan.  He wrote them in his 2009 book, Food Rules: An Eater’s Manuel.

            If we followed that rule, we would never have to wonder if we should eat something or not.  Almost everything in the center of the grocery store was made in a plant.  We would all be much healthier if we stopped eating those items for a while. To the rule, I do add meat, fish, poultry and dairy products.    

            The other day I was at an event and saw someone I hadn’t seen in a while.  She commented on the fact that I was thinner than the last time she saw me.  Her first question was, “What did you do to lose weight?”  I have asked that question to others countless times.  I hadn’t thought about it until then, but when I was testing the recipes for my new cookbook I basically followed Michael Pollan’s advice.  I stopped eating any salty snacks and sugar foods.  I made a decision to eat only the menus I was creating.     

            The food I ate was delicious, nutritious and none of it was made in a plant; it was all cooked in my kitchen. Now I eat salty snacks occasionally and every day I eat one very small sweet treat.  I’m not against foods made in a plant I just don’t eat them all day every day. 

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.

I Just Don't Feel Like Cooking

            Sometimes I just don’t feel like cooking.  Many times I’m involved with a project and I don’t want to stop to go into the kitchen.  Sometimes I have been out all day and I’m just too tired to cook.  Other times I’m just not in the mood.  

            I still want a good meal that is healthy.  Sure, a takeout pizza or chicken and sides from the deli will suffice, but that can get expensive.  What is my solution?  Freezer Takeout™. 

            Freezer Takeout™ is making double the recipe and then putting half of it in the freezer to use on a day you don’t feel like cooking.  The food ceases to be a leftover once it has been in the freezer a week or more.  Instead, it is a completely new meal. 

           Once you’re in the rhythm of cooking, doubling everything is not a big deal.  It doesn’t take double the time to cut up another pound of vegetables or to cook another pound of meat.  Not all double amounts require double the cooking time either. 

           The trick to creating your Freezer Takeout™ is to put half of the food into containers before you call the troops to the table.  If you put all of the food out for dinner, too much will be eaten and you’ll have nothing to freeze.  Also, be certain to label and date everything.  Once it’s frozen, it becomes completely unrecognizable. 

           Freeze in individual amounts and let your family decide what they want.  Let them choose their dinner from your Freezer Takeout™ menu.  Don’t fret if you forgot to take something out in the morning.  Everything can go from frozen solid, to microwave, to piping hot in a matter of minutes.  You will save a ton of money and you will eat better.  Just knowing you have a freezer full of healthy, delicious food you made weeks or months earlier is priceless.          

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.

Why are we Picking on Mushrooms?

            Do you think mushrooms are void of nutrition?  Think again.  This low calorie food can claim quite a few nutrients among them six types of B vitamins.  They are low in sodium, carbohydrate, and fat, but high in fiber.  Mushrooms have more potassium than bananas.  They also contain many necessary minerals.

           So why does man have to mess around with them?  I believe Mother Nature made all of her food perfect just as it is.  If it grew in the ground, it’s good for us to eat.  It appears that mushrooms are now being fortified with vitamin D.  They flash the mushrooms with UV rays.

           While this may seem like a good idea initially, make something good even better, why is it necessary?  Even though it has been tested to be safe, oftentimes when you mess with the way Mother Nature made something it eventually goes astray.  We need to eat mushrooms as they  come from the earth and enjoy the flavor and nutritional value they bring to the table naturally.    

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.

Use Your Head When it Comes to Eating Fast Food

            You don’t have a science lab in your kitchen and you can’t, and don’t, add artificial ingredients to your dinner.  This is one of the many reasons why the food you buy and cook yourself is better for you.   It is common knowledge that processed foods contain chemical additives to enhance flavor, texture and color.  Preservatives are also added to give the manufactured food a longer shelf life.  

          You should not be surprised to learn that many fast food restaurant chains also add artificial additives to their foods for the same reasons---to enhance flavor, texture and color.  Any ingredient that is not found naturally in the food has the potential to cause harm to your body if you ingest too much of it.  That is why you need to keep eating fast and processed foods to a bare minimum. 

           Occasionally eating a fast food along with the artificial chemicals they add to the food is not going to harm your health or make you gain weight.  The problem arises when you eat fast food too often.  I love my burgers and fries, but not everyday and not even weekly.

          If you use your head and enjoy fast foods, processed foods, salty snacks, sweetened beverages, and sugary foods only occasionally, you will never have to worry about the potential dangers of the food additives they use in making them.  

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.

Let the Kids Cook and They Will Eat

            Teens don’t like to sit and have dinner with their parents.  I was talking to a woman in charge of the teen club at her church.  She told me that parents have a hard time getting their teens to eat dinner with them. 

            I told her people support that which they help to create.  If the teens made the meal, or at least helped with choosing the meal and its preparation, they would sit down and share it with their parents.  This really works.  I have a friend whose five-year-old son never wanted to eat a soup she made.  When she started to let her son help in the soup’s preparation and stir the soup, he ate it with enthusiasm.    

            I wrote the recipes in my cookbook, Let’s Cook Tonight, on a third grade reading level.  That was by design.  My recipes aren’t childlike nor are they condescending; they are just easy to understand.  I wrote for a particular audience, people who don’t like to cook and don’t know how.  Because this group usually doesn’t understand cooking terms, I eliminated them and made the instructions very easy to follow. 

           All you have to do is give your teens my cookbook and tell them where the kitchen is.  Before long, a healthy, delicious dinner will be on the table and your teens will be sitting, eating, and chatting with you. 

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.

There is a Problem with the Assumption that Fat Makes Us Fat.

           Eliminating fat has not worked.  Americans have been on the “low fat” and “no fat” food craze for many years now.  Common sense says that if that was the solution to our health and weight problems, we would be healthier and thinner.  You don’t need to read the research reports that state we are heavier and sicker, just look around.       

           I was buying ground beef the other day and all I could find was the very lean variety.  I asked the man behind the meat counter if he had any other ground beef for sale and he said, “No, that is all they let us sell.”  I was dismayed because the consumer had no choice.  I realized there were other grocery stores, but wasting time and gas driving to another store just didn’t seem productive. 

            I looked at the butcher and said, “It isn’t working.”  To which he immediately responded, “I know.  Just look at me and all of the other people in this country who are over weight.”  I smiled because we both understood that there is a problem with the assumption that fat makes us fat. 

            We need fat for flavor, satiety and health.  Fat is necessary to support body functions, insulate our organs, allow for the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins and many other things.  We went to an extreme. We heard that fat was bad so we went on a crusade to eliminate all fat.  Fat is not bad; too much fat is bad. 

         When you eliminate fat, you eliminate flavor.  To compensate for this, manufacturers put sugar, or a form of sugar, in everything.  When we eliminated fat, we added a lot of sugar.  That, along with the large quantity of sugary drinks we consumer all day, is our problem. 

          Use your common sense.  Think before you automatically reach for that sweetened beverage.  Enjoy sweet foods and beverages, but not all day everyday.  And be sure to eat both lean meat and meat that has fat. 

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.

Seven Fun and Interesting Food and Kitchen Facts

           Would you pay $3,000 for a microwave oven?  That was the cost of The Radarange, the first microwave oven.  The year was 1947.  So much for things being cheaper in the olden days.

          We can credit Clarence Birdseye for starting the decline in home cooking.  In 1924, he developed quick-freezing technology.  Frozen dinners were born. 

          Did you think snack foods were relatively new?  I did until I learned that two brothers from Chicago started selling the first mass-produced packaged snack food in 1895.  It was molasses-covered peanuts and popcorn and they named it Cracker Jack.    

         The idea of organic is also older than you think.  It was 1942 when Jerome Rodale codified the fundamental principles of organic farming in his magazine Organic Gardening. 

         It wasn’t until 1896, upon the completion of the transcontinental railroad, that the east coast got its first taste of California produce. 

        Speaking of produce, do you like bananas?  They were introduced at a tropical-plant exhibit in 1876 in Philadelphia.  They were ten cents apiece which sounds like a lot of money for 1876.  My husband’s uncle was born in Italy.  He saw a banana for the first time when he arrived in America as an immigrant.  He didn’t know he was supposed to peel the fruit so the first time he tried it he ate it with its peel! 

        The gold rush of 1848 brought more than gold to Americans.  It also brought a wave of Chinese immigrants.  With that wave came the first Chinese restaurants.  But dining out had already become popular.  In 1827, the Delmonico brothers opened a café in New York City and for a time is was the most famous eatery in the country. 

       I guess everything new really is old. 

       All of these fun facts came from Saveur Magazine issue #124.  The editors got their information from Andrew Smith’s book Eating History: 30 Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine.  Colombia University Press, August 2009.         

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.

Eating Shouldn't be a Reading and Memory Exam.

          MSG is believed to aggravate allergies.  Many people avoid this additive for this reason.  The problem occurs because MSG is used widely in processed foods.  Reading the labels won’t help you unless you know all of the names for MSG.  


             In his newsletter on July 23, 2010, Supermarket Expert® Phil Lempert listed quite a few of them: hydrolyzed vegetable protein, autolyzed vegetable protein, textured vegetable protein, hydrolyzed yeast extract, autolyzed yeast extract, plant protein extract, sodium caseinate, calcium caseinate, yeast extract, textured whey protein, textured soy protein, monopotassium glutamate, and gelatin. 


            Eating is a delightful daily necessity and one that can bring a lot of sensual pleasure and satisfaction.  Deciding what to eat doesn’t have to be a reading and memory exam.  If you're under a doctor’s care then follow his advice.  If you're healthy and you want to eat for pleasure and continued health all you need to do is follow one simple rule.  Buy real, colorful foods and cook them yourself.  Real foods do not come with a list of ingredients to avoid and when you cook them yourself you retain 100% control over what you add to the finished dish. 

              You can do this.  You can cook tonight---real food with real flavor and it is real easy.

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.

Gummy Bears Are Now Taking Steroids.

             Imagine a gummy bear.  Now imagine a gummy bear that looks like a Sumo wrestler.  Gummy bears are now taking steroids.  They are bulking up, but their muscles are all made of sugar!  
            
            The new gummy bear weighs an incredible half a pound---the equivalent of 88 regular bears!  The gummy bear is sold on a stick and is 90 times larger than a regular gummy.
           
            I admit this is novel, but I’m thinking that it’s going to lead to a major sugar over dose.  I’ll bet you could eat this giant bear in one sitting, but I’m not so sure you’d eat 88 bears all at once.  I’m asking all gummy bear lovers out there---is this a good thing or is it an example of “super size” being taken to an unnecessary extreme?                        
            What do you think?  

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.

Do You Eat in Black and White?

            Do you ever watch old black and white movies?  They’re a lot of fun and without the color stimulation you're forced to pay more attention to the acting and words.  However, imagine for a moment that the only two colors we could see were black and white.  I suppose if that was all we knew it wouldn’t make any difference.  However, the thought of a black and white world is a bit sad because we know the pleasures of color. 


          What does this have to do with food?  The easiest way to be certain you’re getting enough fruits and vegetables is to eat in color, not black and white.  A plate of chicken breast, mashed potatoes, corn, and a white roll could have come right out of a 1930s movie.  Make your plate a 2010 movie extravaganza.  Fill it with vibrant color and add sweet potatoes, broccoli and a whole-wheat roll to the chicken breast. 


            I picked up a free magazine from my grocery store the other day.  It sited a study that compared older adults’ cognitive abilities.  The group that ate a lot of fruits and vegetables did better in the testing than those that ate few fruits and vegetables.  Studies like this are never perfect because there are so many things to consider such as heredity and eating patterns through out the subjects’ lives, but the point still has validity.  Fruits and vegetables are good for your health and well-being.          


           Nutrition is easy.  If your plate is in black and white, you won’t pass your tests.  If your plate is in full Technicolor, you’ll pass with flying colors.  No pun intended! 

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.