Healthy Food Recipe

Archive for August, 2007

• 1 (16 oz.) can crushed pineapple in pineapple juice
• 1 tsp. unflavored gelatin (1/3 envelope)
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice nonnutritive sweetener equivalent to 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 c. nonfat dry milk powder

At least 3 1/2 hours before serving: Drain pineapple, reserving juice.

In small saucepan, into 1/4 cup reserved pineapple juice, sprinkle

gelatin. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until gelatin is

dissolved. Remove from heat; stir in 1/2 cup reserved pineapple juice,

lemon juice, crushed pineapple and nonnutritive sweetener; cool. In

small bowl with mixer at high speed, beat milk powder with 1/2 cup

ice water until stiff peaks form; gently stir in gelatin mixture until well

combined. Pour into shallow pan; freeze 3 hours or until firm.

Makes 8 servings.

• 1/2 c. margarine
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 c. flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 24 sm. gum drops or 12 maraschino cherries, halved

Cream together margarine adding sugar slowly. Mix in egg yolk and

vanilla extract. After sifting dry ingredients together slowly add

creamed mixture. Roll into small balls and place on ungreased cookie

sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. After removing from oven,

gently press maraschino cherry half or 1 gumdrop in the center of

each cookie. Return to oven and continue baking for an additional 8-

10 minutes. 2 cookies = 1 fruit exchange and 2 fat exchanges. Yields

2 dozen cookies.

• 2 c. graham cracker crumbs (approximately 24 crackers)
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts
• 3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
• 1 1/2 tsp. Sweet-N-Low (6 packs)
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 c. skim milk

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place all ingredients in bowl; blend well.

Bake in greased 8×8x2 pan for 30 minutes. Cut in 2-inch squares

while warm.

• 1 3/4 c. cake flour, sifted
• 1/43 tsp. salt
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1/2 c. melted butter or oil
• 3/4 c. Fruit Sweet
• 3/4 c. Fudge Sweet
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 c. milk

Sift dry ingredients together and set aside. Combine the butter or oil,

Fruit Sweet, Fudge Sweet and vanilla. Add the yolks to the liquid

mixture, blending one at a time. Add the flour mixture to the liquid

mixture alternately with the milk. Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks

and fold in gently but thoroughly. Bake at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour in

when lightly touched. For a drier cake, bake until the cake draws
away from the edge of the pan. Cool.

• 2 (9") round greased and floured tins. Test. Cake will spring back
• 1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
• 3 tbsp. Fruit Sweet
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Blend together. Cream cheese may be warmed slightly to soften for

blending. Fill cake, then frost with whipped cream sweetened to taste

with Fruit Sweet, flavored with vanilla or your favorite flavoring.

Drizzle melted Fruit Sweet around edge of cake. *optional – put thinly

sliced strawberries on top.

• 1 c. rice, uncooked
• 1 c. water
• 1 c. orange juice
• 1 tsp. reduced calorie margarine
• Dash of salt
• 1 tbsp. orange rind, freshly grated
• 1/2 c. fresh orange sections, seeded

In a 2-quart microwave safe casserole, combine the rice, water,

orange juice, margarine and salt. Cover, microwave on High for 5

minutes. Stir in the orange rind. Turn the bowl 1/4 turn. Microwave

on High for an additional 10 minutes, turning the bowl after 5 minutes.

Do not uncover the bowl. Allow to set covered for an additional 10

minutes or until all of the liquids have been absorbed. Immediately

before serving, fluff with a fork, add orange sections and mix gently.

Serve with pride. Makes about 6 (100 calories) servings.

Around the world people are paying more attention to their bodies and their health than perhaps at any other time in history. One method that has shown great success in helping people quickly drop those unwanted pounds is through low carb cooking and dieting. This method of weight loss seems to have taken the world by storm promising quick results for the simple (or not so simple) lifestyle change of eliminating as many carbohydrates as possible from our diets.

The notion sounds simple on one hand and is appealing to not only women hoping to drop those vanity pounds but also men who welcome the idea of eating all the steaks they can handle throughout the year. Low card cooking is becoming a way of life for many families as a result though the idea of this particular lifestyle change and the reality of it do on occasion seriously collide with one another.

If you are interested in dropping those unwanted pounds and keeping them off, this is a doubt that without a doubt gets results. The problem is that you must stick to the diet in order for the results to remain consistent even after you’ve met your weight loss goals. This means that you are not really embarking on a diet so much as a complete overhaul in the way you eat.

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When the weather outside warms up, the kitchen can be a terrible place to be. There are many things you can do however, when it comes to cooking a nice home made meal that doesn’t require traditional stove top or oven cooking. Learn to utilize some of the lesser heat producing equipment in your kitchen, such as the crock pot, in order to truly beat the summer heat and keep your cool while preparing a nice hot meal for friends and family.

So, how does crock pot cooking really help beat the heat? Simply put, the crock pot in and of itself puts off far less heat when cooking than an oven or stove top. This is the first and possibly the best reason to utilize the crock pot in your summer meal planning. You should also consider the fact that by not heating the house by using your stove top or oven you are also preventing your air conditioning (or other cooling methods) from working overtime in order to compensate for the additional heat that other cooking methods introduce.

This makes crock pot cooking a win-win situation as the costs involved in operating a crock pot are far less than the costs involved in operating a stove or oven in general. Whether electric or gas, your stove and oven are often serious energy hogs. Add to that the fact that you are not raising the temperature in your home by traditional means of cooking and you are using even less electricity.

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Cooking in the heart of Cajun country is an art form. There really is very little science to this particular form of cooking that includes a lot more than mere lagniappe from the pantry or the spice cabinet. Cajun cooking is something that has often been imitated around the country and around the world but can very rarely be accurately duplicated.

One of the fascinating things about Cajun cooking is the fact that there are very few exact recipes. Most, if not all authentic Cajun cooking is done to taste rather than measurements. Even more amazing is that from day to day one person can make the same dish over and over and it is quite likely to taste a little bit different each and every time it is made. The major reason for this is that in addition to being an art form in and of itself, Cajun food is often made even more delicious or mysterious simply by the mood of the one doing the cooking.

I’m sure that many of you have watched as Emeril Lagasse makes some special concoction and exclaims "Bam!" there is a good bit of that when it comes to Cajun cooking. Something that goes far beyond the ingredients in the recipe and somewhere into the heart and the soul of the cook in question. There is a reason that many southern cooked dishes are referred to as soul food and you should not for one second forget that New Orleans is in the heart of the Deep South.

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Far too often people overlook the importance of using the proper tools when cooking fine meals. While there is nothing in the world that can quite compare to cooking with the finest and freshest of ingredients, these things can only be enhanced by making use of the perfect tools for the job at hand.

When it comes to pots and pans and skillets you should keep in mind that conductivity is of extreme importance. You should also select pots and pans that are made of a heavier gauge. This allows your pans to heat evenly avoiding hot spots, which can lead to food that may ’stick’ to your pan or scorch during the cooking process. This means that simply stopping in at your local mass market retailer and purchasing any old set of pots and pans is probably not the best course of action for the best possible quality in your kitchen.

Kitchen knives are also important ingredients in the kitchens of today. If you plan to prepare many meals in your kitchen, then the quality of your knives is of the utmost importance. Your knives are an investment you shouldn’t have to make too often in your lifetime. For this reason, select a really good set and be prepared to make a sizeable investment in your knives. You will never understand, unless you’ve tried to prepare foods with knives of inferior quality, just how important it is to purchase good quality and well-balanced knives for your kitchen. You should also try the handles in your hand to see how comfortable they feel before purchasing a set of knives. If you do a lot of chopping and cutting during your meal preparation and cooking you will want to make sure that the knives you are using feel comfortable in your hands.

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When it comes to cooking, it is important to keep in mind that everyone started somewhere. I do not know of a single person who was born with a wooden cooking spoon and ready to go. There is a lot of learning that must be done in order to become a prolific cook and then there is always room for improvement. Not only do you need to begin with the basics when it comes to cooking but you almost need to begin again when learning to cook a new cuisine such as Chinese, Thai, or Indian food.

This means that at any given time in your cooking learning cycles there is quite probably someone somewhere that is better and/or worse at cooking than you. Take heart from this because even the best have bad days when it comes to cooking. There are many people who cook for different reasons. Some cook in order to eat and survive while others cook because they actually enjoy the process of cooking. Some cook during times of emotional upheaval and others cook out of sheer boredom. Whatever your reason for cooking or learning to cook you should always begin with the basics.

The first thing that you need to learn is what the different terminology you will find in recipes actually means. There are many new and sometimes foreign sounding terms that you will find in common recipes. These terms can mean the difference in recipe success or failure. You should be able to find a good section in any inclusive cookbook that explains the different definitions for unfamiliar terminology. If you aren’t absolutely certain what is meant by "folding in the eggs" it is in your best interests to look it up.

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