small business, Self improvement, working at home, mental health, cooking, hobbies, gardening, wellness, health, fitness, motherhood and raising families

15 Minute Meals Are The Dream Of The Busy Mom. http://ideamarketers.com/?articleid=810157

I am preparing a surprise birthday party for my husband.  This year is a milestone birthday for him, although he wouldn’t want me to tell you which one.  He will be entering a new decade of life, so I want for us to celebrate this event more than we usually do.  Since my husband is a man who likes to keep everything simple in life, I will keep the guest list small.  He surely would not enjoy a grand affair, nor would he want a lot of presents to open.  That’s why I’m asking the guests to only bring lighthearted birthday wishes in the form of humorous greeting cards.  For those who insist on a present, I’m suggesting they make a charitable donation to those less fortunate than us, in my husband’s honor. (more…)

Window Herb Garden

Why Choose a Windowsill Herb Garden

If you want to grow your own herbs, a window herb garden can be fun and rewarding and save you money. Most Chef’s will admit that one of the most costly ingredients on any menu are the herbs. You may only use a pinch of this and a dash of that but initially you have to buy a whole container which is not cheap.

It is a very good reason to grow your own herbs and why most people do. Not everyone has the luxury of having a plot of land in order to grow regular herbs, Chinese herbs or any other types of herbs, so many have to resort to growing them right in their windows. For more informantion on Herbs and herb gardening visit Windowsill Herb Garden

Window herb gardens require only a pot to put the herbs in, of course the seeds, some fertilizer or just plain dirt, some water and a lot of love and attention. Herbs aren’t very difficult to grow. As long as you pay attention to them and give them lots of water when they look a little dry, and you put them in a window that gets a lot of sunshine, you’ll soon see that your herbs will grow big and strong without you really needing to do anything at all.

(more…)

15 Minute Meals Are The Dream Of The Busy Mom. http://ideamarketers.com/?articleid=810157

Most Americans aren’t gourmet cooks. In part it’s because of packed schedules.  Often they don’t have time to think about home cooking. Quick, healthy, inexpensive meals aren’t easy to plan, that’s the problem. People who have trouble with this, however, must not be paying much attention. Because between cooking shows, the Internet, and a wide variety of easy prepare wholesome foods at grocery stores, it’s not hard to come up with a seven day menu that satisfies everyone at the table. Here are a few good dinner ideas for delicious meals the whole family can enjoy.

One of the dinner ideas is preparing the corn dogs. An American favorite is the corn dog. While a little on the unhealthy side, it’s quick and good to eat. Coat the hot dogs with batter made of flour, corn meal, milk, salt, sugar and baking powder, then fry them until golden. You an even add a corn dog stick to make it feel authentic.

In colonial times, dinner was an afternoon meal, followed by a later light meal called supper. Social status and job type dictated changes in this over time. People who performed manual labor continued with the tradition of dinner to keep up their energy. As times change and we move away from regular meals at home, dinner has become the anchor that keeps families together and signals the end of the out of the home portion of the day and the beginning of at home leisure time. The meaning of supper and dinner have merged. That doesn’t mean the meal has to be large, especially for people watching their waist lines. Go more the dinner way with a lighter meal.

Another dinner idea is using crock pots.  Set it, forget it, then return home to a well cooked meal. Great food is possible in a crock pot, the entire meal too. Add some meat and some potatoes cut into quarters for a terrific pot roast. Serve it with a fresh baked loaf of bread picked up on the way home from the local supermarket. Or, skip the bread to avoid the extra calories.

The possibilities are endless with simple but delicious meals like veal cutlets, pork chops, even steaks on the grill. For more great dinner ideas, Google the term. There are tons on line.

Ginger, (scientific name: Zingiber officinale) is the root of a plant native to Asia but cultivated in the West Indies, Jamaica, and Africa. It is one of the most widely used herbs in the world. Used for thousands of years previously, it was introduced to Spain by Francisco de Mendosa in the early 1500’s and from there to the new world.

Ginger powder comes from a perennial tuber type root (like a potato) that creeps and grows underground. The stalk has narrow leaves and grows to be about two feet tall. In the fall the tuber is harvested, dried, and ground into the herb powder. Black or coated ginger means the root was immediately scalded (not peeled) after harvesting. White or uncoated ginger was washed and scraped to prevent sprouting. To whiten it even more, white ginger is at times bleached or limed but this process robs it of some of its value.

Now let’s talk about some of the health benefits of ginger. Ginger herbs valuable nutrients include sulphur, resin, volatile oil (up to 3%), acrid soft lignin, starch, vegeto matter, gum, asmazone, potassium acetate, and acetic acid.

Ginger will stimulate appetite, fight body odor, and promote perspiration. It is best known as a  traditional Asian medicine to treat nausea. It has relieved morning sickness as well as the nausea related to chemotherapy. Some say ginger is more effective in relieving motion sickness than Dramamine.

Ginger also helps treat joint pain by stimulating blood circulation causing redness of the skin. This makes it effective in treating illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis and Raynaud’s syndrome.

Ginger is often used for treatment of flatulence, indigestion, diarrhea, and menstrual cramps. It does this by mimicking some digestive enzymes used to process protein in the body. It also relieves gastrointestinal distress.

Ginger is good for the heart as well. (See caution below.)  Just five grams of dried ginger per day slows the production of LDL (bad) cholesterol and triglycerides in the liver. Ginger also hinders platelets from sticking together, thus decreasing the risk of stroke or heart attack.

Some recommend ginger for relief of cold symptoms since it will loosen phlegm in the throat and fight chills by spreading a warm feeling throughout the body. Many like to cook with ginger as a seasoning or drink it as a tea. One teaspoon of the powder in a gingersnap cookie recipe is prescribed.

Ginger is available in capsules, pickles, extracts, and prepared teas that can be made into compresses. The ginger root may also be consumed raw, but avoid small, wrinkled, or soft tubers. Steep ginger in hot water to make a tea, or just add it to a variety of dishes. The usual dosage is 1/3 of an ounce of fresh ginger root per day. Preserved Ginger is made by steeping the root in hot syrup. Store ginger root dry in your refrigerator for short periods. You can also freeze ginger root for up to three months.

Pregnant women should be careful not to overdose on ginger because it may stimulate uterine contractions. People taking blood thinners, barbiturates, beta-blockers, insulin or diabetes medications should consult a physician before use since ginger may conflict with these medications. Ginger may also interfere with the absorption of dietary iron and fat-soluble vitamins, and cause stomach upset in higher doses. Also, because ginger helps thin the blood, it should not be taken two weeks prior to surgery.

Ready to add Ginger to your diet? Visit MoreThanAlive – the best place we’ve found for where to buy Ginger.

For anybody who is into cooking or spends quite some time in the kitchen concocting delicious meals, they would have to agree with me that a pressure cooker is an important appliance that everybody should have in their very own kitchen. Though this cooking appliance may look somewhat like your ordinary pot in the kitchen, it comes with a specially designed lid that seals the cooker completely trapping steam and allowing pressure to build up inside. A higher cooking temperature leads to shorter cooking time.

The use of a pressure cooker offers numerous advantages. I think that the most important benefit you will get with using pressure cooker is that you will get a lot more minerals and vitamins since the meals do not require so much water and are cooked in shorter time intervals.

You will save a lot of time when you are using a slow cooker, sometimes your meals will be prepared in 1/3 of the time they usually do. When you are using a pressure cooker, you have the freedom to put the ingredients in while you are outside of the kitchen, attending some other business.

Using pressure cookers hs another benefit – energy efficiency. Since it requires lesser time to cook the food then it also reduces the amount of energy consumed.

You can also expect the kitchen atmosphere to be cooler since the heat is being trapped inside the pressure cooker as compared to the traditional stove top and conventional oven used for cooking.

You can also expect to have a lot cleaner kitchen since there won’t be any food coming out of the sealed pot.

It is easy to find a pressure cooker with a decent price and a good quality, just check out some of Wolfgang Puck pressure cookers. If you have a big family, opt to buy a larger piece of cookware that could accommodate more than enough.

There are plenty of advantages when you are using a pressure cooker. I suggest that you read the manual if this will be your first time using the pressure cooker.

YOU WONT BE SORRY IF YOU TRY THIS RECIPE – I JUST COULD NOT BELIEVE IT COULD TASTE SO GOOD!

BREAD PUDDING - the best you have ever tasted

Fruit bread slices buttered (use quality bread and enough for 2 – 3 layers depending on the depth of your baking dish)

3 tbls plum jam

2 ripe bananas

2 tbls brown sugar

Sultanas

5 eggs (more if you have a big dish)

2 tbls castor sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

½ tsp coconut essence

¾ cup milk 

Spray your baking dish.  Butter enough bread to fill dish.  With the first layer, lay it buttered side down. Spread a good layer of plum jam over bread.  Roughly mash bananas and spread over bread.  Put in another layer of bread, buttered side up.  (If you are using 3 layers, repeat the jam layer again).Sprinkle top with brown sugar and sultanas.Mix remaining ingredients (eggs, castor sugar, vanilla, coconut essence and milk).  Pour over bread.

Bake in oven at 180° for 15 mins and reduce temperature to 150° and cook until firm (about 35 mins).

For more delicious desserts you cannot go past some of our ebooks.  Anything from cheesecakes, chocolate and so many more mouthwatering recipes.

 THICKENING YOUR CROCK POT MEAL

I have a terrible habit of rushing at the last minute with meals.  With the crock pot meals I often have all the flavors in, and of course the meat, (I am rushing here ha! ha!), but get to 20 mins before serving and have not thickened it.  At this stage, there are two ways of thickening the juice. One is to add your thickening to the crock pot and the other is to pour your juice into a pot or fryingpan and then thicken it there.

I use the 'in the crock pot' method if I have already added my flavorings earlier, but if I have to mix flavorings as well as thickening I put it into a frying pan as I feel this blends the flavors more easily.

One of the things I just love about crock pot cooking is that whatever meat you use for a 'stew' your meal is just the absolute best when cooked in a crock pot.

For the month of September 08 we are specialling our crock pot ebook.  You just need to go to our website at http://ebooksnowonline.com/cooking/crockpot/ and you will be able to purchase our 470 Crock Pot Recipes ebook and ALSO get  Desserts – Classic Collection  as a bonus!  All for the one price of  $7, normally $11.  

THAT'S RIGHT THIS IS FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER ONLY!

IF YOU ARE HEADING INTO WINTER, THEN CROCK POTS ARE JUST THE THING

I always thought they would be a good idea, but I never really got too fussed about it til I stayed with someone who used one all the time.  Gosh, I could see the value in time saving, never mind the fact that you would have a lovely tasty meal waiting at the end of the day.

470 Crock Pot Recipes is just perfect for finding the ideal recipe for the family, or for entertaining.  Sometimes you have to entertain at the end of a long work day, and a crock pot is just the answer.  Make the dessert the night before, and have the crock pot waiting.  What more could you ask for?