How to Spice Up Your Cooking

Cooking with herbs and spices make all the difference in the world to the end product, your meal. But if you've never learned how to use the mountain of spices available, sometimes you need a little guidance. Never fear, the Dinner Diva is here! Do yourself a favor and copy this list and stick it to your fridge.

The Dinner Diva Spice Primer is guaranteed to get you cooking in no time!

1. Bay Leaf - Used in stews, soup and great with pot roast. Go easy. Bay leaves are strong, especially California bay leaves, which are the kind most grocery stores stock. I use 1/2 a leaf in my stews.

2. Basil - Ah, the taste of summer. Who can resist fresh basil and tomatoes from the garden tossed with olive oil and garlic on a plate full of pasta? Dried, it's wonderful in soups, pasta dishes and chicken.

3. Dill - It's not just for pickles. Try some dill sprinkled on fish, chicken or even in a light cream soup.

4. Garlic - Nectar of the gods, well, bulb of the gods anyway. Garlic has a way of making the most ordinary food gourmet. Try sprinkling garlic powder (not garlic salt) into a prepared box of white cheddar macaroni and cheese. Surprise! It's pretty good. Fresh though, is best. Squeeze it from a garlic press into almost anything. Don't use with chocolate though.

5. Ginger - Sprinkle it in your stir-fry, try it on baked chicken breasts with a little soy sauce and garlic. For fun, get it fresh (it's that alien-looking root mass in the produce department) and freeze it. It will keep almost indefinitely when frozen. To use, hack off a piece, peel it and grate into your recipe.

6. Nutmeg - I love nutmeg. If you can find nutmeg nuts and the itty, bitty grater that comes with it, buy it. Once you've had freshly grated nutmeg, the powdered stuff in the jar is beneath you. Obviously an ingredient in baking, it's also good grated on sauteed squash, green beans, and carrots.

7. Oregano - A staple in Italian cooking, it's also good in stews and salad dressings.

8. Rosemary - This beautiful plant grows wild in my garden and provides an intoxicating aroma to meats, stews and root veggies. Try some crumbled in your carrots for a change of pace.

9. Tarragon - An almost licorice flavor, this delicate herb takes front and center in vinaigrettes, as a delicious sprinkle on the top of baked or poached poultry and fish.

10. Thyme - Make time for thyme! It's strong and adds a hint of character to an otherwise pretty standard dish. Use it with chicken, soups and beef.

Even though I'm not numbering these last two, I need to give a shoutout to plain old salt and pepper. But not just the stuff in the blue cylinder with the little girl on the label or the familiar pepper sitting in the red and white can; I'm talking about sea salt and freshly ground pepper. You can buy both ready to go with their own grinders anywhere. Once you've used this kind of salt and pepper, you'll never go back to the old stuff. It's that much better.

And while this is an abbreviated list of spices, it's a good start. I've skipped a lot of them because they are used so infrequently or just take up room on the lazy susan. Feel free to add or subtract ones you know you won't use or you know you need!

Enjoy!

Cooking Recipe - Fresh Greek Style Salad Recipe

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A salad is very quick to prepare. Most people have their own ideas of what to put into a salad. Some salads you may have seen do not look appetizing. They just look plain and boring. That is probably why many people in the western world don't eat enough of these healthy salads. Well, let's do our bit to change that. Here is a recipe for you that is the just opposite. It looks good, tastes good and it is really good for you.

We were camping with some friends and we decided to have a barbeque. We chose what meats to have but struggled to decide what to accompany them. My friend told me that when he went to Greece on holiday he really enjoyed their fresh salads. With the ingredients that he remembered we set about to duplicate the recipe. After we had finished preparing the salad it looked really appetizing.

Here is that recipe for you and I hope you enjoy your fresh Greek style salad as much as we did.

INGREDIENTS

(serves 4)

4 large tomatoes cut into wedges
1 large cucumber
2 large red peppers
1 red onion
Approx 16-20 green and black olives de-stoned
250g of good firm feta cheese
1 small handful of fresh parsley leaves
Approx 1 dozen fresh mint leaves
125ml of extra virgin oil
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 clove of garlic crushed

METHOD

Take the cucumber, peel it first and cut it in half, length ways. Take out the seeds and then cut into small cubes. Cut the red peppers across into slices. Remove all the seeds and pith. Finely slice the onion. Cut the feta cheese into small cubes. Once you have done this, place the tomatoes, cucumber, red peppers, onion, olives, feta in a large salad bowl. Add half the parsley and mint leaves. Gently mix together.

Put the olive oil, lemon juice and crushed garlic into a container with a lid. Add a little salt and pepper to season. Shake until mixed thoroughly. Pour the dressing over the salad. Gently turn over with a large spoon or spatula to cover the salad evenly with the dressing. Sprinkle the remaining parsley and mint leaves over the salad.

This recipe is a rich source of vitamins, minerals. It is also very good for your heart especially when using tomatoes, red peppers, olives and olive oil. The feta cheese is also a good source of vitamins and calcium. The reason being, it is made from goats milk. Therefore it has far less fat than cows milk which again is beneficial to the heart and weight watching. All fresh food and highly nutritious. Enjoy.

Poverty Cooking

In recent months we have a really tight budget for food, so I really had to be inventive, to spread it as far as it would go. These are some recipes that really worked well for us and we eat very well at the end! Some of the vegetables from the garden came, they were free!

Spanish Rice

Rice

1 can of crushed tomatoes

Mexican spices

1 / 2 - 1 pound ground beef or Turkey

Chopped onion

diced peppers

Beans (rinsed anddrained)

Make rice according to package directions statement for the amount needed for cooking in chicken broth, if you can afford. Drain the meat and drain. Add fry the cooked rice, onions, peppers and beans to the meat and stir until everything is heated through.

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French bread, spaghetti

A piece of bread to save the French (or day old bread to get the 'permission to Wal-Mart)

1 jar spaghetti sauce

Mozzarella cheese, grated

Tear the bread into bite sizePieces. In a pan heat oil and butter. Toast the bread until browned on all sides. Place bread in bottom of a baking dish. Pour spaghetti sauce over the bread. Heat in an oven heated by 350 °. Top with mozzarella cheese and return to oven until cheese is melted.

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Minced meat sauce and mashed potatoes

1 / 2 - 1 pound ground beef or Turkey

Brown gravy mix (use as many as you need to spread)

Mashed potatoes (as ismust)

Drain the meat and drain. Stir the sauce mix according to package directions. Add meat and heat through. Pour the sauce over portions of mashed potatoes.

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Chicken and rice

1 / 2 - 1 pound chicken thighs, boiled, deboned and shredded

Rice

Chicken soup

In a saucepan, add the dry rice, chicken and salt and pepper. Add enough water to chicken broth to the rice according to package instructions for cooking instructions. Boil until the riceDone. Season with salt and pepper.

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Budget goulash

1 pound macaroni

1 / 2 - 1 pound ground beef or Turkey

1 can of beans, drained

1 can cream of mushroom soup

Cook macaroni according to package directions statement. The meat and fat drip off. Mix pasta, meat, green beans and mushroom soup. Heat through.

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Potatoes and Sausage

Potatoes

Onion

SmokedSausage

Cut the potatoes and onions into thin slices. Place in a large pan with just enough water to barely cover. Season with salt and pepper. Cut the sausage into small pieces and add potatoes. This will make the sauce.

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Leftovers Soup

We have a large plastic tub in the freezer (with ice). Whenever there was vegetables (with the left over juice), meat, sauce, or put him there and freeze. If it is full, I put in my potand add water, tomato juice and things like onions and potatoes and maybe some 'pasta or rice. I know it sounds kind of serious, but became more and really cool! I'm going to make corn bread, biscuits or bread to go with him. Does a pretty good meal on cold winter days. I also did in my Crock-Pot.

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Hobo Hash

1 pound ground beef or Turkey

2-3 diced tomatoes

1 onion

1 red pepper, diced

Boil the potatoes, onions and peppers in abit 'of oil, until potato is done. Add meat and brown. Drain. Season to taste. This can be very widespread, with more potatoes.

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Minced meat Stir Fry

1 pound ground beef or Turkey

2 bell pepper, diced

1 onion, diced

4.3 ribs celery, diced

Cup soy sauce, 04:01

04:01 Cup Worcestershire sauce

Brown discharge until the meat is almost ready to go. Add the vegetables to the oven and stir for 2-3 minutes before adding the soy sauce and WorcestershireSauce. Continue to stir until the vegetables are fried crisp and tender flesh when done. I also did this with cabbage and carrots cut into thin slices.

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Nanny Bacon and Tomato Macaroni

2 pounds hot cooked macaroni

1 can of stewed tomatoes, undrained

1 pound bacon

Vinegar

Cook the bacon crisp and break into small pieces. In a large bowl mix all ingredients. Season with salt and pepper. Add a dash of vinegarTaste.

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Tuna Pie with sauce

1 can of tuna

1 egg

A tuna can of milk

Parsley

2 pie crusts (one for the upper and lower)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

Mix first 4 ingredients in a saucepan and cook for a few minutes, stirring all the time. 2.1 The Place crust in bottom of a pie plate. Pour into piecrust and top with tuna filling the rest. Cut slits in top piecrust. Bake at 350 ° 30-40 minutes.Meanwhile, the soup in a saucepan and add 3.1 can milk or water. Heat, but do not boil. Cut cake into wedges and serve with sauce poured over.

Cooking Recipe - Camper's Succulent Barbecued Lamb Recipe With Pita Bread and Fresh Mint Salad

You are on your camping holiday. You're cooking over a barbeque. Let's say, you're putting on the burgers. Now, do you ever think to yourself, what are the ingredients that make up these burgers?

We have all seen on the packets of burgers the list of E numbers and preservatives. Also do you ever wonder how old and how good is the quality of the meat?

What better way of knowing the quality of the meat than to make the burgers fresh yourself. That way you know they are made from the freshest meat. Of course there will be no artificial colors or preservatives. They'll be packed with all the proteins and vitamins that fresh meat provides.

Here is a quick and simple recipe for lamb patties (small burgers) using fresh lean minced lamb. This is accompanied with a fresh and tasty mint salad inside a wonderful wholemeal Pita pocket.

Ingredients: Serves 4

1Kg fresh lean minced lamb
60g finely chopped fresh parsley
1 medium onion finely chopped
25g finely chopped fresh mint
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 egg
Salt and pepper

Mint Salad

4 small ripe tomatoes
20g whole fresh mint leaves
1 small red onion finely sliced
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 tablespoons of lemon juice

Method

Place the lamb, parsley, mint, onion, garlic and egg into a large bowl. Knead all the ingredients together while adding salt and pepper for seasoning. The use of the egg is to bind the ingredients together while adding extra protein and vitamins to the meal.

Shape the mixture into eight small patties and leave until you have made the mint salad. To make the Mint Salad first slice the tomatoes into thin rings. Place them in a bowl along with the sliced red onion, whole mint leaves, olive oil and lemon juice. Using a spatula or large spoon gently turn over the salad. Add salt and pepper for seasoning at the same time. Stop when the salad is evenly coated with the olive oil and lemon juice.

Once the salad is prepared brush on the patties a little olive oil both sides to stop them sticking to the hot barbeque grill. Place the patties on the barbeque and cook on each side for approximately 3-4 minutes. Make sure there is a nice brown crust on the bottom before you turn. Otherwise it may fall apart.

Put the wholemeal Pita breads on the barbeque only for a few seconds to brown both sides. Using wholemeal Pitas gives the meal an extra higher fibre content than using ordinary white pitas. Once browned take off the pitas and cut in half. Open them up and place inside them a little salad. Add a lamb pattie and then a little more salad.

If you like natural yogurt, it is a great compliment as a dressing. It is also good for your digestive system because natural yogurt has good bacterial properties. This cooking recipe is rich in nutrients. It has protein, vitamins, iron, minerals and good bacteria for the digestive system. A truly wholesome meal for the whole family. Enjoy.

What's So Great About Slow Cooking Anyway?

As I walked through the grocery store aisles a few weeks ago, I noticed the increase in prepackaged slow cooker meals. I've been using my slow cooker and reaping the rewards for years, so it was no real surprise to me when others started proclaiming the benefits of cooking with a crock pot. Why did it take the rest of the country so long to catch up? With this increase in popularity, I've recently been asked by a few 'newbies' 'What's so great about slow cooking anyway?'

That's an easy question to answer even if all you've ever done is make chicken stew with your slow cooker. It's just so dang simple and the food tastes better when cooked slowly and evenly in a crock pot.

I'm a work at home mom. I operate a Family Child Care and also have a busy online business, both of which keep me going all day long. That on top of my daughter's activities and the in and out nature of my husband's business, we're usually searching for time to sit down and eat, especially eating together as a family. There's where the slow cooker comes in handy. I have tons of slow cooker recipes, and can find just about anything to cook that my kids and picky husband will like to eat.

Since I work at home, having the kitchen stay a comfortable temperature is a must, as I spend quite a bit of time there preparing meals and snacks for my day care kids. I use my crock pot year round, and love its usefulness during the warm weather months when I can fix the beginnings of the meal in the morning when I've got other 'stuff' out on the counter anyway, put it all in the pot, and then clean up the whole mess when I'm done. The crock pot requires very little clean up itself, so there you have yet another major reason for why slow cooking is so great.

For those of you who work away from home, consider this scenario: As the day goes along, the slow cooker is busy fixing your meal for you, and when you walk through the door at the end of another grueling day at work, your dinner is waiting. All you need to do, depending on the recipe you've selected, is prepare a side dish or salad, add some bread, set the table, and call the family in to eat. Simple, simple, simple; and very satisfying to come home to.

Here is a favorite slow cooker recipe that you can try with your family. I'm sure you'll all love it.

Country-Style Crock Pot Chicken

6 carrots, sliced

6 celery stalks, sliced

8 chicken pieces

1 can (10-3/4 oz) cream of chicken soup, undiluted

1 envelope dry onion soup mix

1/3 c or chicken broth

2 tsp cornstarch

Slice vegetables place in crock pot. Place chicken on vegetables. Spread undiluted soup over chicken. Sprinkle dry onion soup mix. Do not add any water. Cook on High 4 hours, or until chicken is done. Stir often, but leave that lid on during cooking! 10 minutes before serving, mix broth and cornstarch. Pour over chicken, stir well. Serves 4.

Cooking for Kids - Easy, Tasty, and Fun

Cooking for Kids

During cooking for children, just think, tasty and fun. Pallets for children are not the same as those of adults and enjoy most of them to keep the food from the plate. Adults also appreciate a good presentation. Secretly, in some healthy eating and encourage them to dinner with the adopted children to try new things involved.

Turn Fun into food healthy food

Think burgers, hot dogs, cheese,> Nuggets or macaroni and "sticks". The biggest thing of all this is that you can substitute alternatives more viable. Hamburgers can be done by ground chicken, turkey and even tuna done. Try hot dogs from Turkey. Low mozzarella fat in "String Cheese" is made not only nutritious. It's Fun! The paste is for children, until they eat too much and too much. Make healthy cut nuggets chicken breast, dipping the pieces in low fat dressing and rolling in cornflakes crushed.Share your own baked potato!

Children love their sweets. Fortunately, fruit and fruit juices are used for a healthy sweet dessert. Sugar-free gelatin, low fat yogurt mixed with strawberries, bananas or blueberries, mixed fruit juices, fruit cocktails, frozen food is 100% fruit juice and ... all these make healthy, tasty snacks for children. Dried fruits with nuts first sinfully good taste, but offers a good diet.

Get childrenParticipate in the kitchen

In particular children may enjoy helping to cook meals or cook for themselves. Simple options are packaged in cans or soups, sandwiches with grilled meats and cheese, and macaroni and cheese. Depending on the age of the child and control capacity.

A fun and delicious recipe for kids hot dogs or sausages are wrapped with a croissant. Our family called them "Pigs in blankets," but whatever you call them, are easy and fun to play too.

Kids love food that is chaotic. Spaghetti and meatballs or Sloppy Joes are both courts can help the children together.

Children are also more likely to food, eat healthy for them if they are part of the preparation. Try peanut butter with celery, carrots and dip or salad green with some slices of orange or apple slices with their favorite sauce on top.

Add seasonings, mixing, forming and condiments are all appropriate measures for the kitchenChildren. Older children can peel dice, and terminals. Start with simple things and you learn to leave them as they grow.

The secret of how to take care of children to cook the food is fun, creative and getting to that way of cooking, too!

Cool Summertime Cooking

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Summertime - and the living is easy! But the kitchen is
hot! It's time for some cool cooking recipes and tips!

1. Cooking outdoors. If for some time, perhaps
On weekends, appetizers barbecue simultaneously. Then freeze
and you have your main course ready for the next week.

To help, here's a recipe I have for the marinade
the "cheap" cuts of beef and pork:

1 / 2 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 / 2 tspGinger

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Just whisk everything together and pour the meat. Let
sit in the refrigerator, turning occasionally for a few hours.

2. Use your crockpot. You do not have a mark on
complicated recipe. If you're short on time
Tomorrow, just put a whole chicken in the pot, salt
seasoning and pepper, cover and cook on low all day. If
for dinner, all you have to do is add a saladand
You're done!

3. Learn to use your scrap. The surplus of chicken
from your crockpot can be cut and transformed into
a casserole, which will be heated in a microwave oven:

Mix 1 1 / 2 to 2 cups of chopped chicken with some
chopped onion, a can of cream of mushroom soup,
a can of cream of celery and about 1 1 / 2 cups
Cooked macaroni. Pour into a casserole dish, top
heated through and cheese in a microwave oven to heat.

4. Bake inCool of the morning. If your family
just do not have the fried chicken, because
the morning and warm up for dinner?

5. Stop the deli - I know this is not the cheapest
Idea, but then a main course, you must
to add some pages when you get home. And it
still less expensive than those made for the family!

"Cooking is at once child's play and adult joy. And
Cooking with care is an act of love. "
- Craig Claiborne