Check the Dates!

This time of year -- ESPECIALLY this year -- our families are prone to coughs, colds, sneezes, and maybe worse. In the United States right now there is a lot of unrest going into the inauguration of a President on January 20. Now is a good time to check the expiration dates on all your medications, but especially on over the counter medications for your kids. Check your 'daily use' supply, but if you have an emergency supply or have put some back doing prepping, make a special point to check those dates and rotate out as needed. There's a lot of disagreement as to whether or not expired meds can be safely used. At our house, I'm more inclined to use an expired med for an adult than a child, and I still try to keep the expiration date within a month or two. While the chances are it won't hurt anyone, the potency of these meds falls once the expiry date is reached. So keep everything current. While you're going through things, make sure you check the date on your SPF sunscreens and makeup. If it is going to expire before the heat hits and you'll be spending more time outside, put it on the list of things to replace before spring. Make it a point to check your pet meds and your antibiotic salves while you're at it. Replenish your supply on your regular errand runs, so you are never without.

Image: CTC Integrated Healthcare

It's not your Gramma's recipe!

Gramma's recipes are wonderful, when you want comfort food. But if you're tired of the same old recipes, try these tips to spice up old favorites and turn them into today's specials. These tips are guaranteed to make your favorites taste brand new. And remember, THESE recipes may be "Gramma's" recipes a few years down the line!

·         Switch out one spice and add a different and complementary one to add new undertones. Try to stay in the same general family: replace cinnamon with a little ginger and nutmeg, for example.

·         If your recipe calls for rice, try noodles. If it calls for pie crust, put the contents on the bottom and cover the top with biscuit dough. Don't be afraid to try different approaches.

·         Try a different fat. Use coconut oil for an exotic eastern flavor, sesame oil for a smoky tone, or chicken fat for a delightful undertone.

·         Try adding a different meat to your regular recipe. You may not realize it, but most of the time you can switch pork, beef, and chicken in a recipe with minor changes to the time.

·         Consider making your main dish into a casserole. Instead of serving chicken cacciatore as noodles, chicken, and sauce, use boneless chicken in a spicy red sauce with peppers and onions. Mix with sautéed chicken bits. Heat, covered with a layer of mozzarella. Delectable.

·         Try sautéing the ingredients lightly, instead of frying. You can even sauté with a tablespoon of water, for no added calories.

Don't stick your old faithful recipes in the back of the box. Instead, try a different way of looking at your recipes and spotlight your great cooking skills. Chances are, your family will think it's a great new food that "reminds them of something". Only you will know the secret!

Oh, Balls! (The Evolution of the Man Scone)

Oh, Balls! 

Yes, I am talking about those very tasty and not very healthy appetizer balls made of sausage, cheese, and biscuit mix that have been around since Betty Crocker grew boobs. Somehow it seems so unmanly to be serving appetizer balls to the man of the house even though he's been known to snarf down quite a few in one sitting.

Enter the "man scone". No more is your man limited to eating dainty little sausage balls, now he can have the man scone. Man Scones, as defined by the Kitchen Queen, are macho slabs of tasty biscuity meat and cheese. Oh yes, did the man of the house warm up to the concept of a man scone!

Suddenly, the Man Scone began to evolve. Halfway to work, he calls home. "Hey, about those man scones, could we make them with Swiss and corned beef, like a Rueben?"  Ten minutes later, the cell rings again. "What about chopped kielbasa and a bit of Swiss? Pepperoni and mozzarella?  Green onion and chive?" A few minutes later, it rings again. "Garlic powder? Sage and chopped chicken? Chili powder and beef?"

Clearly, Man Scones have potential. The balls, in their purest form, are easily and quickly made. Here's the basic recipe:

• 2 cups of grated cheese
• 3 cups of buiscuit mix
• 1 pound of sausage meat
• 1/2 - 1 1/2 cups milk, buttermilk, or water.

Break the raw sausage up with a fork and use your hands to mix together all the ingredients. Add the milk or water a small bit at a time so it does not get too damp, you only want the mix to stick together. Form into 1" balls and bake at 325 about 10 minutes, until they get lightly brown. Here's the result:

Balls, the first step on the evolutionary scale

I'm certainly not claiming to have invented this recipe, there must be 10,000 versions of it on the internet. But the evolution of the Man Scone, that's different!

Judging by the excitement of the man of the house, there are more man scones in the future than I can count. I suspect the ball will evolve to a flatter, more easily held patty suitable for commuting. Join us in the evolution of the Man Scone, and post the results here! We'd love to what happens to YOUR balls.

Getting Started in the Kitchen

If you haven't done much cooking, you might think it is overwhelming at first. Or, if you have a real star in the kitchen living in your house, watching them whiz through anchovy paste and duck eggs might make you decide that cooking is not your thing. Don't get discouraged. Cooking is easier than it looks, and a lot more fun too. Get started in the kitchen using these tips.

----> Look through cookbooks or the internet and find a simple recipe for your first attempt. Sites like www.food.com allow you to search for categories of recipes, like "beginner recipes," "easy," or "less than three steps". This makes it easy to find something you would like to eat and that tastes good even for the first try.

----> Read the recipe, and make sure you have the ingredients. In the days when we all had "Home Ec" in school they would tell you to get out all the ingredients and sit them on the counter. Then, as you use the ingredient, put it away. That way, you'll know you added everything.

----> Get out the utensils and pans you will need. The pan size is usually specified in the recipe, especially if it is something that will be made in the oven. If it is not, use a larger pan than you think you'll need, especially for stovetop cooking. Make sure you have a potholder ready.

----> If the recipe says to preheat your oven or to preheat the pan, do it. Some foods get started in a cold pan, others in a hot one. Failing to follow the directions can make the food stick.

----> Follow the recipe steps in the order they are given. Once you've been cooking a while, you can alter recipes. In the beginning, though, success is more important than experimentation!

----> Cook the food according to the directions. Putting a lid on when the recipe says to leave it off can result in soggy food. Leaving a lid off when it says to leave it on can make the food dry. The devil is in the details!

Once the meal is done, serve and enjoy. Later in your cooking career, you can worry about plating, or presenting food in a beautiful manner. Right now, you just want to be able to get the food to the table hot and tasty.

Remember, all good cooks got that way through practice. You may not get it right the first time, or even the third time. Once you get the hang of it, though, you'll wonder why it ever worried you. Use the tips I've given you to get a head start on your first turkey dinner!

 This is Angel's first homemade, not-from-the-box macaroni and cheese. It was delicious! Tomorrow, I'll start sharing some easy recipes, for the beginning cook or those that are easily intimidated. It will be painless, I promise.

Great Food, Little Cash

I keep hearing that one particular fast food joint's profits are going up (more than 5% this month alone) because people love the "cheap" dollar menu. I'm figuring this out: four people per family, a minimum of three $1 items per person, and that cheap meal has cost a minimum of $12, not to mention the cost to your health.

Being on a tight budget doesn't mean you have to eat cheap fast foods or foods from a box, like the one that helps your hamburger. You can create great meals while keeping costs low, and even beat the $12 minimum. Here are some tips to show you how to do it.

• Look up low-cost recipes online or in cookbooks. The more ingredients, in general the more the cost. Search with words like cheap, nutritious, low cost, recipes.

• Learn to substitute less expensive foods for the high cost ones. Here's an example. Sometimes sour cream is cheap, sometimes it is cottage cheese, and sometimes yogurt. You can usually substitute yogurt and sour cream (except for toppings). Many times you can blend cottage cheese with a little vinegar for a very good sour cream substitute. Go with whatever is cheapest that week. The same thing applies to many meals, when you can substitute chicken for beef or pork by adjusting the timing a little.

• Cheaper cuts of meat do well in the crock pot, the cook's friend. Even the toughest meat can be tenderized by marinating with an acid (red wine vinegar, beer, or other marinade) and cooking in the crock. Side effect: You don't have to be at home while this wizard makes your dinner.

• To save energy, look ahead to other meals and cook extra. If you'll need carrots later in the week, add extras to today's roast. If you'll need cubed beef for hash later in the week, Cut a piece off of the roast and save it till needed. Freeze it if you have nibblers.

• You can add pasta or rice to leftovers to turn them into an entirely new meal. Leftover pork, a white sauce, and noodles combined with a plop of sour cream make stroganoff. Leftover chicken added to broccoli and cheese sauce makes a great casserole. Add rice to leftover diced meat and veggies for a signature stir-fry.

• Before you head to the grocery, make a list of what you need. Don't allow yourself to run out of basics. Be prepared to change your menu or to add to your freezer if you find a very good in-house special.

• One final idea that you might consider is to observe the serving sizes in the recipe. If it says it makes six servings, it really does except for teenagers. That means that if there are four of you and the recipe serves six, you should remove 1/3 of the food and package it for lunches before you serve dinner. Helps the budget AND the body.

A home cooked meal is always the way to go, whether you are cooking for yourself or for a house full of people. Try putting some of the suggestions listed here to good use. You'll be glad you did, and so will your budget.

Get Cooking! There's a lot of benefits to doing it yourself.

If you're like most adults, by the time it is time for dinner you've already had a long day at work, and if you have kids you're twice as worn out. It seems so easy to just grab fast food on your way home. Cooking a meal at home seems like a lot of effort. In the long run, however, it will pay off.

What's really in that special sauce, anyway? If you buy your food in its most basic form, you know where your food came from. You'll know how healthy it is, and how fresh it it. You may be shocked the first time it really sinks in what that filling in the middle of an Oreo REALLY is*.

Does your family have issues with allergies? By making your own foods, you'll know what ingredients are being used, and you'll never have that nagging "what if" worry.

You'll be able to sit down at your table, and have a relaxing dinner with your family. If you want candles, add them for ambiance. If you like to have the lights nice and bright so you can see the food, you can do that too. It's been a long time since that big burger chain told you to "have it your way". When you cook at home, you really CAN have it your way!

One of the best "side effects" of home cooking is that with planning, you'll have leftovers for lunches and for dinners later in the week. You'll be able to make double and freeze one for later. You can save time, money, and energy, and have a great dinner already pre-made!

I hope I've shown you that cooking your own meals doesn't have to be a chore. There are so many benefits to home cooked meals, and you might not have realized this as you zip through your busy life. Fire up the oven, plug in the crock pot, and spend evenings with the family!

*Oh...and that Oreo? It's stuffed with Crisco and powdered sugar. BLEAH.

Your own sloppy joes: Quick, cheap, and tasty!