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.