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Cooking With The Kids

April 20, 2012 By

As parents, feeding our families healthy food that they enjoy is of course of prime concern. What’s more, time and cost are important factors, so sometimes trying to tick off all of these boxes can be pretty tricky.

Help is at hand though! A great way of getting the kids to eat nutritious food that doesn’t cost the earth is to get them involved in the food preparation. And, by making food preparation a fun, family activity, it won’t feel like a waste of time or a burden either.

Get the kids involved in preparing meals and you should soon find that they are much more open to trying new and varied foods. For example, try making your own homemade soups for lunch or tea times. There are hundreds of varieties of soups you can try and the great thing about this dish is that you can of course freeze or chill it to enjoy after you have made it. Add as much veg as you like and serve with wholemeal or granary bread for added nutrition.

If your family is fussy about their bread and prefer white only, try best of both for the taste of white with the goodness of wholemeal. When it comes to which brand, Hovis bread is a personal favourite.

As well as soups, you can try out a whole range of family-friendly recipes. A favourite in our household is tuna pasta bake using wholemeal pasta, organic tomatoes and a crunchy topping of cheddar cheese and crushed salt and vinegar crisps. A real treat!

Try out spaghetti Bolognese, chilli con carne, hot pots and curries – the choice is yours and the list is pretty much endless! The main thing is that you enjoy spending time together as a family and food and meal times become something which you all look forward to.

 

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How to be a good chef

April 16, 2012 By

What’s the secret to becoming a good chef? The first and most important ingredient is of course, a passion for food! If you enjoy tasting new foods, trying new recipes and tantalising your taste buds then you have won half the battle already!

 

Of course, there is a little bit more to becoming a chef than just having a love of food. You will need to get lots of hands on experience in the kitchen, for starters, and restaurant kitchens can be a much busier and more stressful environment than the kitchen at home, so can take some getting used to.

Many chefs undertake catering courses at college which involve practical experience in the kitchen, whereas others start in the kitchen and then gain their official qualifications on day release to college.

 

If you are already working in a kitchen, your employers may well pay for you to do your official chef qualifications, such as NVQs and other practical certificates, so it is well worth speaking to them about this as it will only enable you to do an even better job for them.

 

As well as chef qualifications that can be carried out at college, there are food hygiene courses that you will need to complete in order to become a chef. It may be that you have to pay to do a food hygiene course, or that your employer will pay for you to do one, as it is another important part of your job.

 

Once you have fully qualified as a chef you can consider where you would eventually like to work, whether you want to move restaurants, become head chef eventually or even own your own chain of restaurants in the future. All of these options will be open to you as a good chef with all the right experience and training.

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Ideas for a nice christmas meal

December 27, 2011 By

It’s that time of year again… Christmas is fast approaching and in the rush to buy everyone’s Christmas presents and get the Christmas tree sorted, you’ve all but forgotten about Christmas dinner. So now what?

Well, to create a lovely Christmas dinner this year read the following tips for creating a smashing festive feed, then get your kitchen units cleared and get ready to cook!

The much maligned sprout is a festive fixture, but tends not to be to everyone’s taste, especially the younger members of the family. Serve this little veg a little differently by peeling and frying the leaved in butter. You’re bound to have a few converts to the humble sprout when served this way! If you are cooking the traditional turkey this year, remember this bird has a tendency to be quite dry. To avoid running out of cranberry sauce and gravy as your guests attempt to combat the dryness, make sure you baste the bird regularly. This will ensure it is moist and tasty once cooked.

For a bread sauce that will be the envy of your friends and family, avoid packet mixes and have a go at making your own. Follow the traditional recipe, but use sourdough instead of a normal loaf. It will taste divine!

For any vegetarian guests this Christmas, or if you are a vegetarian yourself, a good tip for delicious roast potatoes that don’t require goose or duck fat is to cook them in olive oil then serve with a small amount of butter and paprika. You can also whip up wonderful homemade vegetarian gravy using vegetable stock, madeira wine and red wine.

Finally and most importantly, to create a nice Christmas dinner, you need the right kitchen equipment and a decent kitchen! Find kitchen accessories and more at Wrenkitchens.com to make sure this year’s Christmas dinner is one to remember for all the right reasons.

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Let tomatoes take centre stage

August 30, 2011 By

I love to use my home grown tomatoes for dishes such as spaghetti bolognaise or a Rogan Josh but sometimes I think it’s nice to let the tomatoes take centre stage rather than being hidden in a sauce. After all there is nothing to compare with the flavour of a freshly picked tomato, something quite unlike that of some of the tasteless specimens bought in the supermarket.
Of course tomatoes are good in salads but what about making them the centre piece and have a salade de tomates to give it its French name. It is simple to make but delicious. Apart from slicing the tomatoes and adding some chopped chives (or finely chopped onion)  and fresh basil you need to make a tasty vinaigrette with olive oil, wine vinegar, garlic, mustard, salt and pepper. Just shake the ingredients together in a screw top jar and drizzle over the tomatoes.
For a slightly more substantial tomato treat why not try bruschetta, the scrumptious Italian snack of toasted bread rubbed with garlic and topped with chopped tomatoes, basil and olive oil?
For something even more filling, Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s recipe for tomato gratin hits the spot. Sliced tomatoes are cooked in the oven with cream, garlic, thyme and cayenne pepper, then topped with cheese such as parmesan. Served with bread it makes a meal on its own.
Tomatoes are also great in tarts, using either puff or short crust pastry. You can adjust the tomato filling according to your own taste. Add a few fresh herbs such as basil or alternatively cheat and use some of the range of Schwartz dried herbs. Top with grated cheese but choose one which will not overwhelm the taste of the tomatoes.
Tomatoes might not be the first thing that springs to mind when you are planning a barbecue but cooked in a foil parcel with a little olive oil, chopped parsley and seasoning, they make a delicious dish.

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Convenient Online Food!

August 26, 2011 By
milk&more

milk&more

There is now a new way to do your grocery shopping.  The new service from milk&more allows you to place orders online from a large range of products which can be delivered as early as your next delivery day  (subject to placing your order before 9:00pm.)  milk&more is a service delivered by Dairy Crest Group via your local milkman, but don’t worry if you don’t want milk – what you order is entirely up to you, it could for example be a fruit and veg delivery.  

One big advantage to using milk&more is that their service requires no minimum spend and there is no need to book “a slot” as with the bigger players in the online grocery business and they offer a wide range of fresh and household products from well-known brands such as Kingsmill, Nescafe and Nutella.  

milk&more have an excellent selection of fresh fruit and vegetables for delivery straight to your door.  They have taken into account the many different types of household whilst developing their fresh fruit and veg delivery range so that you could buy just one iceberg lettuce or four oranges right up to a family sized fruit and veg box or a 25kg bag of standard white potatoes. 

As you would expect, you can still order all the dairy products associated with your local milkman but milk&more also offer non-food items such as cleaning products and toilet roll alongside well known brands of pet food such as Felix and Baker’s Complete for our furry family members. 

For further information and to find your local milk&more Milkman, visit the website at www.milkandmore.co.uk

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What are the best foods for weaning?

February 4, 2011 By
Baby Eating Baby Food

Baby Eating Baby Food

Helpful information on the explanations you may need to wait till half a year to wean your baby. Weaning is the method of introducing your baby to solids after being absolutely dependant on breastmilk for her nutritive need for the first half a year of life. After the initial few months of life your child’s needs are not met completely by breastmilk. Round the age of 6 months solid food is introduced. The target is for your baby, by the age of one year, to be eating a well-balanced, sundry diet that’s roughly the same as that of the rest of the family. The child’s foods will nonetheless, still have to be sliced. Baby weaning starts with the arrival of varied solid foods ,eg baby rice or vegetables. Though we discuss beginning a baby on solids, weaning foods are smooth purees not very much thicker than milk. [Read more...]

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