Family Meals - Better For Children, Easier For You

Another day, another dinner to prepare. Are you having a difficult time finding easy to prepare meals that can satisfy your growing family?

You want to give your family the best, but time is in short supply and preparing a healthy meal has become a chore. Too often take out or frozen dinners have to do. Is there a way to combine healthy eating with convenience?

Yes! New methods of cooking and easy to prepare staples can change your eating habits and lead to a better eating style for your family. According to the 'Kid's Health' Program created by the Nemours Foundation, family meals are an important part of developing healthy habits in your kids. Eating as a family will encourage your kids to eat healthy foods like whole grains and vegetables. It will discourage unhealthy snacking and even make them less likely to try smoking, alcohol or marijuana.

But how do you plan healthy family meals on a tight schedule? Here are some ideas to start:

Does your family love lasagna? Maybe you thought that it was a labor intensive dish that just doesn't fit your lifestyle. Cheesy and full of fat, perhaps it's not even a wise choice. However, lasagna is actually one of the most versatile meals to prepare - and with instant (no boil) noodles, it doesn't even have to be a big job.

There are lasagna recipes for vegetarians, low-carb, low-fat and even diabetic diets. Lasagna noodles now come in instant, no-cook preparations that cut time and energy when making this hearty dish.

For lasagna or other pasta dishes, try using whole wheat pasta and shredding carrots or zucchini into the meat sauce for an easy way to up the nutritional value. Using lean ground beef or even substituting with ground turkey or chicken can make for a surprising, yet nourishing result. Buy bottled pasta sauces for even faster preparation - many grocers carry a wide assortment that will add variety to your dishes.

Looking for an elegant chicken dinner? Don't forget about frozen skinless chicken breasts. Baked in the oven with a dollop of salsa and shredded cheddar on top makes for a healthy alternative to frying or heavy sauces.

Need ideas for a side dish? Why are you wasting time cutting and washing lettuce when you can pick up a prepackaged bag at the grocers? Not to say it's the cheapest method, but it definitely helps busy families put nutrition ahead of convenience when planning a meal.

Have you ever tried steaming vegetables in the microwave? Fresh or frozen veggies make for another easy side dish when they're popped into the microwave for a few minutes. Add a couple tablespoons of water and cover with a paper towel, an easy AND healthy alternative to frying or boiling.

We're all concerned about our children eating healthier foods. Regular family meals will encourage kids to develop healthy eating habits - an important key to good health later in life. By making meal time less stressful you can focus on the joys of spending time together instead of the hassles of preparing meals.

Easy and Healthy Slow Cooker Meals

People seem to think that healthy crack pot meals are boring and flat. Some also believe that preparing them is time-consuming and difficult. This kind of thinking is what we are here to change. We want to share with you healthy crack pot meals that you and your family will surely love. First, we want to share with you a healthy chicken crock pot meal we call the chicken cacciatore. In Italian, the word cacciatore refers to a hunter. In a kitchen setting, this word simply describes a meal prepared “hunter-style” with onions, mushrooms, herbs, tomatoes, bell pepper and sometime wine. So, in preparing this dish, we need three pounds of skinless bone-in chicken thighs, 14 ounce of diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning, six ounce of canned tomato paste, half a cup of chicken both. To add more flavor to the dish, bring in some sliced onions, three cloves of minced garlic, and chopped bell peppers. To complete the dish, we need one-fourth cup of dry red wine. Don’t forget the salt and pepper to season it. As soon as you get every ingredient on the kitchen table, simply place all these ingredients in a 3-4 quart slow cooker. Then cover and cook the chicken on low heat for 6-8 hours. It’s as simple as that. You can serve this with hot cooked pasta or rice depending on what you are craving for. One of the healthy crock pot meals that you’ll surely find flavorful is the slow cooker pork roast and vegetables. This dish is a collaboration of pork sirloin roast with vegetables seasoned with all spice and apple butter. For this easy-to-make and healthy crock pot meal, we’ll use three pounds of boneless pork sirloin roast, four peeled sweet potatoes, three tablespoons of prepared horseradish, a tablespoon of cornstarch and two acorn squash. To give the dish a unique taste, we’ll need half a cup of apple butter, half a teaspoon of ground allspice, and quarter of a teaspoon of pepper. To get started with this dish, heat the oil in a heavy skillet. Then add the pork roast. Occasionally turn it until all its sides are brown. While you’re cooking the pork roast, cut squash into 8 wedges. Make sure that you remove the seeds. Without peeling the sweet potatoes, cut them into chunks and place them in the crock pot. Then, put the browned pork roast on top. The next step is mixing together the apple butter, horseradish, cornstarch, all spice and pepper. Then slowly pour the mixture into the crock pot. Let it simmer for about seven to nine hours until the pork and vegetables are tender. Now, we have two lovely healthy crock pot meals that would certainly change the way you look at healthy foods. If you are thinking of what to serve on a Sunday night, do away with the regular two-minute meals that you could prepare with your microwave. Give your family a chance of experiencing these heavenly yet healthy crock pot meals. So let’s both get to the kitchen and start cooking.

Different Types Of Kitchen Knifes

A knife is defined as a type of hand tool with a sharp edge that is used to cut something, whether it be food, rope, or even wood. It is usually composed of a blade, which is commonly around 12 inches or less in length, that is attached to a type of handle. They have been around for a very long time, dating back to the Stone Age where they were used as both tools and weapons. The first knifes used in the Stone Age were made of either flint orflint or rock, their edge was chipped or ground, and they sometimes, but not all the time, had a handle. With later advances in smelting and metallurgy, blades were able to be made of bronze, iron, and even steel. Although time has changed the materials that are used, a knife’s basic design still remains very much the same. As previously stated, a knife is composed of a blade and a handle, as well as a tan. The tang is known as a blade’s extension into the handle. Some knifes also have an attached handguard so that a person, while using the knife, won’t have his/her fingers slip onto the blade’s edge, therefore resulting in an injury. The groove that is found alongside of the blade actually has a name. It’s called the fuller, also known as a blood gutter and/or blood groove. Myth has said that the fuller is used to allow an artery to bleed without having to remove the knife. However, the reality is that a fuller is used to make both knifes and sword lighter without having to sacrifice any large amounts of strength. In fact, on most knifes, a fuller is used solely for decorative purposes. Also, a blade’s groove allows for surface tension reduction that can occur between a blade and whatever is being cut. This means that both easier movement and also removal of the blade is allowed. Another feature of a knife is its shoulder. This is where the blade thickens to meet the handle. This is most commonly seen in kitchen knifes. It keeps the knife from any kind of jamming, for example when cutting into the bone of a chicken. It also allows for the chopped item to stay stationary and not move back toward the person’s hand while chopping with kitchen knifes. Kitchen knifes are the most commonly used type of knife today. It seems that everyone who has a kitchen has at least one, although many of us have several that are used for many different purposes. One of the most commonly known of the kitchen knifes is the French knife, also known as a chef’s knife. It has a broad, tapered shape with a fine edge that is great for things such as chopping vegetables. A slicing knife, with its long and narrow blade, is used to cut through things such as cooked meat. Those kitchen knifes that feature scalloped edges are perfect for slicing those foods that are softer, such as tomatoes, bread, and cakes. One of the most used of the kitchen knifes is the smaller paring knife. A paring knife has a short, pointed blade that is very easy to handle. It is mostly used for quicker jobs such as peeling and removing cores. Other kitchen knifes are used for table service. These are usually named after the service they provide such as a dinner knife, luncheon knife, fish knife, butter knife, and the popular steak knifes.

10 Steps For Cooking-Up Family Memories

The kitchen is the perfect place for making memories. When you spend time baking, cooking and enjoying meals with your family, you create happy memories you and your children will cherish forever.

The benefits of preparing and enjoying food as a family are clear. You save money and eat healthier meals. You create opportunities to connect and communicate with your children and spouse. And most importantly, you show love for your family when you spend time cooking and eating with them. Children of all ages need your attention and your time. By working together to create a meal or bake a batch of cookies, you spend valuable time together.

So, here are 10 steps to get your family cooking up memories.

Step 1:
Teach small children the fun of cooking by helping them bake cookies and cakes. If you are short on time, you can use a boxed cookie mix and spend more time decorating.

Step 2:
Encourage the littlest ones to play pretend cooking. Kids love to play with real mixing bowls, strainers and wooden spoons. These make harmless toys and can be easily thrown in the dishwasher for quick cleanup.

Step 3:
If you live by your day-timer, schedule in baking cookies with your kids. Our schedules can be so hectic that something as simple as baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies can get skipped over. Write it down and do it.

Step 4:
If you have teenagers, let them play their favorite music while they wash the lettuce and set the table.

Step 5:
Work together with your spouse to prepare the dinner and use the time to catch up on each other's day.

Step 6:
Even if you are in a rush preparing dinner, remember to reduce your stress and focus on creating a fun atmosphere that naturally encourages the whole family to participate.

Step 7:
When spending time preparing food with your children, include lessons about healthy eating choices. Keep the conversation positive and avoid listing foods they can't have.

Step 8:
On days where you anticipate time will be tight, consider taking a short cut by using a frozen stir-fry mix or pasta with a jar of pre-made sauce. Your family will appreciate your relaxed mood much more than a made-from-scratch dinner.

Step 9:
Share the job of grocery shopping. One week have mom take one of the children as a helper, the next week dad can go with another child. Always work from a grocery list and let your children help you retrieve items and cross them off the list.

Step 10:
Have big family meals where you share about your day. Keep the conversation fun and avoid negative lectures over dinner. Remember to laugh.

Take these steps today and make your kitchen a fun and memorable place for your whole family.

Kitchen Shortcuts for Busy Families

Do you need to save some time in the kitchen, but are not quite ready to tackle a lot of freezer cooking just yet? Here are some shortcuts that work for my family, and might just fit with your family, too. Most of the meals my family eats start with the basics, like chicken and beef. A lot of grocery stores lower the per-pound price on meat when you buy in larger quantities. I buy 5 pounds of beef and 3 pounds of chicken at a time. All 5 pounds of beef get thrown in a pot and cooked while I’m cooking dinner that evening. The chicken also gets diced up and cooked. I then divide the beef into sandwich bags, 2 cups each. The chicken gets divided into approximately 1 ½ cups each. I never thaw out meat in advance now, because it only takes 4 minutes to thaw one of our pre-cooked bags in the microwave. As our lives have gotten busier, we have definitely learned to simplify our meals. I am the queen of one-skillet meals and simple dishes. My family enjoys tacos in a pan, goulash, macaroni & cheese with hot dogs, and a ton of other easy dishes. Keep a family favorites cookbook, and add to it when you find any new and easy recipes you would like to try. Determine the ingredients that you use on a regular basis, and keep stocked up on them. Make vegetables the easy way. Most dishes are even better when veggies are thrown into the mix. We try to eat vegetables every evening, so I have become pretty creative in slashing the task in half. Don’t be afraid to throw vegetables into skillet meals, or mix them up with dishes. This will save on washing an extra pot. My family just recently discovered steam fresh vegetable bags. They steam in the microwave in a matter of minutes, which makes the task of adding veggies to the menu even easier. Look for them in your grocery store’s frozen vegetable isle. There are plenty of ways to save you time in the kitchen, and spend a little more time enjoying meals with your family. Try out different techniques, and stick with what works. You don’t have to feel guilty for not making fancy dishes, as long as your family enjoys what you cook. In this day and age, you should feel good about the fact that you are cooking for your family, instead of eating out.