Cooking Articles

Venturing into unknown territory with food

I recently ventured into a new region of food. My husband’s aunt is from the Philippines and whenever we would gather for family functions, she would always make her famous Pancit and Lumpias. I love her cooking and wished that I knew how to make this awesome food. For years and years I tried to get the recipe but never seemed successful. It is not because she didn’t want to fork over the recipe; it was because there is no written recipe. Everything is from memory or recollection of how mama made it. I realized that not having a written recipe was a common practice and that no two recipes are alike. These recipes like most ethnic food are learned from watching someone, not from following directions.

I can appreciate this because the same goes for me. It is very difficult for me to write recipes because they are a pinch of this and a pinch of that. One time I use x ingredients and the next time I use Y. I have very few recipes that I have written measurements for. However, not knowing how to make his aunt’s wonderful dishes, I needed some sort of recipe that I could learn the steps from.

Venturing into unknown territory...

Buying local is becoming more and more important. Understanding where our food comes from is just as important as what the animals are eating. If you are in the New England area and are interested in buying local produce and meat read the following e-mail from a local farmer. You can also go to localharvest.org to find products and farms all over the US.

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Two For One Meals. This sounds great, but what does it mean. 2 for 1 meals are designed so that when you make one meal, you can make two or three or four using the same ingredients or very similar ingredients.
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Time Saving Ideas Make a monthly meal plan and break it down into Weeks 1,2,3,4. Keep plan next to stove. When making a meal plan use recipes that call for the freshest ingredients for weeks 1 & 2 to avoid extra trips to the store. Limit your trips to once every two weeks. Make meal plans and prepare grocery lists a month or two at a time. Save them and rotate them for another month.
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Meal Planning --- The Necessary Evil Why Meal Plan? Saves Time - No more guessing or wasting time thinking about what to eat. Saves Money - No more impulse shopping or impulse eating out because there is no dinner. Reduces frequent shopping trips for last minute items.
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Double Your Meals - Going through the work of preparing something that is labor intensive...Make a double batch and store it for a later day or extra in the fridge for the week. Do any chopping and dicing ahead of time to reduce wasted time in the kitchen and save ingredients from spoiling. Here are a few tips for making the best use of your time in the kitchen!
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Mix and Match Pantry, Freezer and Fridge Staples Stocking these few items allows you to make several Mix and Match meals cooked in 30 minutes. These can be used as backup meals in case you are running behind or just can’t follow your planned meal.
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The Wonderful World of Food Allergies

Several years ago our family discovered through several incidents that out oldest child may have food allergies. Like all parents we tried new foods at the appropriate stages but soon discovered we would be one of thousands of families living in the United States with food allergies. Well what to do after suspecting something we went to see an allergist. At the appointment we also met with a nurse who showed how to use an Epi Pen Jr. and what to do in case of an emergency. That day we were lucky the nutritionist was in and we learned how to read labels, where to shop and received sheets on ingredient lists and substitutes. After leaving the doctor’s office armed with information and instructions I felt overwhelmed.