Category: Creative Cookery

Kid-Friendly Vegetable Recipes

Post author By Guest Post
Post date January 25, 2021

Are you looking for some kid-friendly vegetable recipes? Bella Cupcake Couture provides two creative options.

Creative Vegetable Recipes for Children

By the staff at Bella Cupcake Couture

When it comes to cooking, one of the greatest struggles is finding a vegetable recipe that is interesting and appealing for children. Knowing that vegetables are an essential aspect of proper nutrition, parents often have to find ways to make their kids want to eat vegetables as often as possible. So, if you’re looking for some creative ways to cook and present your vegetable dishes, you are in the right place. Here are some unique vegetable recipes that will surely unleash your kitchen creativity.

Kale Chips

If you’re tired of seeing your kids munch on a bag of unhealthy potato chips, take matters in your hand and make amazing kale chips as an alternative.

First, wash and dry the kale before removing the stems and cutting it into smaller, bite-size pieces.
Then, generously pour some oil to cover the kale and season it with your seasonings of choice. You can simply season it with some sea salt or go the extra mile and use either cayenne pepper, cinnamon, cumin, curry powder, chili powder, garlic powder, hot sauce, or maple syrup for added flavor.
Once properly coated with your seasoning of choice, place the kale on a baking sheet. Make sure not to overcrowd the pan and have some space in between pieces so that the kale comes out nice and crisp.
Place the pan in your oven to cook for about 15 minutes before stirring the pieces gently and let it completely bake until golden brown.

Popcorn Cauliflower

There is no doubt that kids love fried food. Taking this into consideration, here is how you can make popcorn cauliflower as an alternative for chicken. This can be an amazing movie snack or even a recipe good enough for lunch or dinner.

First, cut your cauliflower into bite-size florets.
To create the batter, mix a cup of buttermilk, ¾ cup of flour, 2 tablespoons of hot sauce, and a teaspoon of Kosher salt until smooth.
Simply dredge your cauliflower florets in the batter until fully coated. Make sure to let the excess batter drip off before rolling the pieces on some breadcrumbs for an added crunch.
Fry the cauliflower for about 2 to 3 minutes until golden brown. Let the popcorn drain on paper towels before serving with some ranch dressing.

Conclusion

Vegetables are an essential part of proper nutrition and a must for kids to grow as healthy as they can be. Taking this into consideration, it is important for parents to find creative ways to make vegetables feel, look, and taste familiar to their children. Hopefully, this article was able to provide you with amazing ideas for appealing vegetable recipes for kids.

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Enjoyed these vegetable recipes?

Want more baking hacks and tips? The pro bakers from Bella Cupcake Couture are happy to help you out. Go to www.bellacupcakecouture.com. [/four_fifth_last]

Creative Cookery

How to Use a Cookbook

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date October 5, 2020

How many cookbooks do you have in your collection? One tried and true tome you return to whenever you want to try something new? A tall bookcase full, many of which you never even look at? Or something in between. These days many people don’t even crack open a cookbook when they want a recipe, they simply Google it or peruse their favorite magazine or online recipe resource. Well, in honor of October being National Cookbook Month, I thought I’d share some ideas on how to use a cookbook.

There just might be some life in those cookbooks yet!

Take an Inventory of Your Cookbook Collection

First things first, you need to know what kinds of cookbooks you have available to you. Many cookbooks have a theme, such as Italian cuisine or Christmas cookies, or cooking for kids. Other are more general such as The Joy of Cooking or the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook.

Take a look at what you’ve got on your cookbook shelves and pull out those that strike your fancy. Perhaps you can even organize them by type so that your next visit to your collection will be easier.

Now take a look at the ones you set aside. Does one pop out at you, begging you to open it and make something wonderful? If so, put the rest away. That’s the one we’re going to work with.

If one doesn’t pop, then select one at random and put the rest away. That will be the one we’re going to work with.

The idea is to re-introduce yourself to one cookbook at a time. Maria Ribas, writing for TheKitchen.com recommends that you “Pick only one cookbook to try per week.” She knows just as well as I do, “You’re not going to cook from your cookbooks if you can’t even bring yourself to pick one.”

Get to Know Your Chosen Cookbook

There are many different ways that a cookbook can be put together. What sections does your selected cookbook have?

About the Author — Take some time to get to know who wrote that book. What is their background? What is their cooking philosophy?
How to use this cookbook — Some authors tell you exactly how to use their cookbook. Take some time to read this section. It can be empowering.
Ingredients and Tools — Many authors will discuss ingredients they use in their recipes and the tools and equipment you’ll need to be successful in making them. Don’t skip this section!
Recipes — Yes, take a look at the Table of Contents to see if the individual recipes are listed there. If not, there is probably an index where you can find them.

Select a Recipe to Try Out

Pick a recipe you want to try and read it first. This is how I evaluate whether or not I want to try a recipe.

Ingredients – Do I like all the ingredients? If there are any I don’t want to or can’t eat, can I leave them out or substitute them without harming the recipe? It may take you some experiment to get comfortable with this evaluation by just reading it, but a good rule of thumb is if the “offending” ingredient is not dominant in the recipe, it is usually safe to substitute or omit.
Directions – Do I have all the necessary equipment? Am I confident that I can implement the required techniques? If not, am I OK with failing? Sometimes you’re in the mood to experiment and don’t mind ending up with something you throw away. But other times you don’t have the wiggle room — like when you’re going to have company!

If the recipe you chose fails your evaluation, move on to your second choice. Repeat until you find a recipe you are willing to make.

Unleash Your Kitchen Creativity with Cookbooks

Go through this process once a week or twice a month and you’ll be amazed at what you’ll learn. You’ll find flavor combinations you like, and those you don’t. You’ll see beautiful food photography and see how well your finished creation compares. You’ll learn new techniques and maybe even expand your palate!

Creative Cookery Healthy Living Well Stocked Pantry

Save Money On Your Food Shopping With These Ideas

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date September 25, 2020

One of the biggest money drainers in life is grocery shopping. You wouldn’t think so, but if you look at how much money you spend per month on food, you’ll see that you don’t just spend what you budget per week. You’re buying extra sandwiches while out at work, you’re tagging on that extra coffee twice a day from your favorite coffee shop. It all adds up and it all works to drain your wallet when you don’t intend it to. But there are smart and savvy ways to save money on your grocery trip. Read on and I share some.

What you need is a way to save money on your groceries so that you are spending what you want and need to spend, and no more than that. For example, those expensive coffees twice a day become so much cheaper when you buy a coffee machine and learn with the guide How To Make Nitro Cold Brew Coffee At Home. Once you know how to do it, you can stop wasting cash with Starbucks. With that in mind, here are even more money-saving ideas for your shopping!

1. Eat Before You Shop

In this day of technology, everyone seems to shop online. However, if you are someone who prefers to shop in the store and see the food you are buying, you need to make sure that you eat before you shop. You can always find more deals and see more delicious food when you shop on an empty stomach. So, avoid the hungry growls when you shop and you can shop smarter with it!

2. Always Write a Home Menu and List

It’s more of a chore to decide what to eat for your meals than it is to shop for them sometimes, but you can save a lot of money by going through what you have and writing down meals that you can make out of it. Once you have done this, you only need to buy what’s missing plus toiletries and you are going to save huge amounts of cash. Write it all out in a list and cross everything off as you shop.

3. Save Money by Buying Special Offers When You Can

You know what the staples are for your food cupboard and for your cleaning cupboards. A good way to save money is to buy those staples when you see them on special to keep your cupboard filled up. Canned goods and baking goods are especially the most important to buy on offer, and you can buy meat at cut prices and freeze it into portions to save money and have food on standby.

4. Always Compare Prices to Save Money

Let’s say that there are six different supermarkets in your town. One of the best things that you can do is to use an online comparison website. You enter your shopping list in it and compare the prices for all the grocery stores nearby. Not only will you save money, but you may discover a new brand that you love, as well.

5. Downsize Your Name Brands

You don’t have to be a brand snob to have a preference for some items. You could prefer a Starbucks coffee over instant, and then end up loving your homebrew instead. Either way, look at the cost between brand and store-bought and you’ll see a difference!

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Take Charge of Your Health!

Changing your eating habits can be tough. But it doesn’t have to be if you take a little time to think it out and create a plan.

This Healthy Eating Worksheet will walk you through the process of creating a healthy eating plan. All you need to do is print it out, set aside some time to complete it, and then fill it out. Then you can create your plan, knowing that you have addressed potential obstacles and came up with some creative ways to handle them.

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Creative Cookery Flavor Blending

4 Fantastic Ways To Level Up Your Cooking

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date September 2, 2020

It doesn’t take much to level up your cooking and create a new layer of flavor and richness to the dishes you prepare. Here are some of the best possibilities that I recommend you explore. Take this advice and you’ll be amazed at how tasty your dishes become.

Invest In New Tech

As odd as it sounds it can be worth investing in new tech when you’re trying to level up your cooking. Why is this? Well, I could explore the example of a heat induction hob. A heat induction hob will react and change based on how you are using it and the dish that you are preparing. It will evenly heat the surface of any pan. So, you can guarantee that you get the most flavor out of anything you’re cooking. After all, any chef will tell you that heating a dish to perfection will deliver the ultimate tasty treat that you are searching for.

Level Up Your Cooking with Sauces

Try a few different sauces to see if they can bring anything new and exciting to your cooking. Companies such as esprovisions.com provide novice chefs with sauce packages so that you can choose from and sample a variety of different flavors. While Esprovisions does specialize in providing sauces for pretzels, it’s worth noting that you can also sample these and add them to different dishes and snacks. You might find a perfect match here and sometimes the right sauce is all you need to elevate one of your creations.

Mix And Match Different Flavors

Try different flavors and mix them together. It’s worth being adventurous here because you’ll never know what flavors go together unless you try them at least once. Once you start exploring the options, you’ll probably find that there are some really different and unique matches that make certain dishes you have been cooking for years come alive in fantastic, fresh ways. Take inspiration from chefs that are well known for being a little bolder with the flavors that they use. If you are brave enough you could create a brand new dish completely unique to you.

Buy A New Cook Book to Level Up Your Cooking

You might want to think about purchasing a new cookbook. The benefit of a cookbook is that you can use it as inspiration and a starting point for your own exciting recipes. If you do this, you’ll be amazed at just how much you can accomplish. Be sure to research different cookbooks and look at reviews. It’s important to make sure that the recipes are useful and easy to follow as well.

I hope you love these ideas and look forward to adding more to your cooking experiences. If you take the right steps here you’ll be amazed at the new delicious dishes that you create. They are guaranteed to tantalize your taste buds and anyone that you might choose to serve them too. All it takes is a little determination and a lot of passion.

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Take Charge of Your Health!

Changing your eating habits can be tough. But it doesn’t have to be if you take a little time to think it out and create a plan.

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Creative Cookery Flavor Blending Recipes

Summer Barbecue: Baked Beans and Hot Dogs Are a Great Match

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date July 6, 2020

July is both National Baked Beans Month and National Hot Dog Month. Now there is a match made in summer barbecue heaven!

Summer Barbecue: Baked Beans

It’s summertime and that means barbecue time. This summer’s grilling season will be especially sweet after months of lockdown. One of the more popular side dishes of the season in America is baked beans.

Beans are high in protein, practically fat-free and contain more fiber than many whole grade foods. If you’re watching your carbs, however, they do count even with all that protein.

You can thank Native Americans for baked beans, who originally sweetened them with maple syrup. In the 17th Century, English colonists modified the recipe and began using brown sugar. In the 18th Century, Americans started using molasses to avoid British taxes on sugar.

Summer Barbecue: Hot Dogs

Another summer barbecue favorite is the hot dog. I remember finding a stick, sharpening one end, skewering a dog, and cooking it over an open flame when I was a kid. Yum! Hot dogs are celebrated this month at a variety of festivals across the U.S., including:

Alfred Village Hot Dog Day, Alfred, NY
Annual Hot Dog Lunch, Washington, DC
Boston Hot Dog Safari, Boston, MA
West Virginia Hot Dog Festival, Huntington, WV

You can learn about them and discover more on Wikipedia.

Maple Baked Beans with Hot Dogs

To help you celebrate these two fine foods during your summer barbecue, here’s a recipe that brings them together.

Ingredients:

1 pound dried white beans
6 slices thick-cut bacon, diced
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup real maple syrup
3/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
4 large all-beef hot dogs, chopped

Directions:

For best flavor, make at lead one day ahead of time.

Sort and since the beans. Place in a bowl and cover with water. Let soak for 30 minutes.
Drain and repeat one more time. This process will reduce the gas of the beans.
Place beans in a 4-quart Dutch oven and cover with two quarts of cold water. Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat.
Cover and let stand 1 hour. Drain and rinse beans.
Return beans to Dutch oven; cover with another two quarts of cold water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes or until almost tender.
Drain and reserve liquid.
In a 2-1/2-quart casserole pot, combine beans with all remaining ingredients except the hot dogs.
Cover and bake at 325° for 2 hours. Stir occasionally; add reserved bean liquid, if necessary.
Add hot dogs and bake for an additional 30 minutes or until tender.

Feel free to play around with the recipe. If you want it sweeter, increase the maple syrup and/or the brown sugar. Reduce them if you want it less sweet.

Like a spicier sauce? Increase the paprika or add in some cayenne pepper.

You can also try adding in ham or substituting salt pork for the bacon.

Another idea would be to use sausages such as kielbasa or polish sausage instead of hot dogs.

Another way to add flavor is to grill the hot dogs or sausage before adding them to the beans.

You can even cook this in your slow cooker rather than the oven. Cook it on low all day to really meld the flavors together.

Customize the recipe to suit your and your family’s taste!

Tags beans, hot dogs, monthly food observances, sausage

Creative Cookery

Rainbow Fruit and Veggie Plate Ideas

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date June 1, 2020

As the days get warmer, more and more wonderful fruits and vegetables become available. Since June is National Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month, I decided to share some creative veggie plate ideas. Whether you are creating one for a gather or just the family, making your display beautiful is always a good idea and makes the food look even tastier!

Everyone knows the traditional veggie plate: Cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, and tomatoes arranged around a bowl of ranch dressing. But when you unleash your kitchen creativity, you can come up with a variety of veggie plate ideas that put that one to shame. In this post, I suggest you add a little fun to your fruit and veggie plate by turning it into a rainbow.

There are so many possibilities for putting this plate together and whether you are completely authentic and do all 7 colors of the rainbow or just 5 or 6, it’s completely up to you. Here are some ideas to get you started:

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