The do's and don't's of dinnertime

Manners, its something that today we seem to have forgotten about, people rarely use 'sir' or  'm'am' these days. Elbows are on the table, hats worn, mouths chatting full of food. Its important that for family diner we remember that not only is it a time to spend with our kids, but also a time to teach them the right way to eat, and behave at the diner table. So I've provided a few tips for you folks, to keep it polite.

DO

• Set the table: don't leave it up to your kids to pull the right knives and forks out of the drawer, a nicely set table is a great way to say 'this isn't eat and run'
• Put the food out: Just like the previous tip, don't just have everybody take their food from the kitchen, put your food on plates and let your family and guests serve themselves on the table, this is a perfect opportunity to use 'please' and 'thank-you' when asking for the plates of food.
• Demand Respect: be sure that your kids act nicely at the table, speaking with respect
• Clean your plate: Only take what you can eat, if seconds are available then take them after you have cleared everything.
• Start Early: the best way to instill good habits is to start when kids are young
• Wash up: Dirty and dinner tables, should not be combined
• Say Thank-you: after dinner, during dinner, before dinner, say thank you, its just plain rude to not say thank-you when someone cooks for you.

Don't

• Chew or talk with your mouth open: This is disgusting, nobody wants to see half eaten food, so just wait. Don't feel rude if you don't answer someone's question immediately, they'll forgive you
• Turn on the television: The television is one of the worst inventions when it comes to dinnertime. Spend this time finding out about your family's day; ask your kid to tell you three things that happened to them at school today, its a great way to start conversation
• Leave the table early: its polite to wait until everybody is done, especially since mom usually ends up eating last.
• Wear your hat: its impolite, especially for men, there is no reason to wear you hat at the table, its one of the oldest rules in the book so just follow it
• Put your elbows on the table: or even worse lean over your plate while eating! Unless you're in a mess hall, and have a short amount of time to eat, there is no reason to be shoveling food into your mouth
• Feed the animals: I think the worst trait of a dog is that it begs, please please please, when you eat keep the animals in another room, it can be tempting to feed an adorable puppy, but when he's a full grown dog begging at your feet, its awful. If you want to give your dog a treat, do it after dinner in his bowl.

I hope that this can help some of you bring a bit more etiquette into your lives. We're living in a world where it is  quickly becoming okay to behave like we don't care. Using manners just shows that we care and are thankful for the people that we are around. Teach your kids now so that later they will be able to do the same with their kids.

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Kraft Homestyle Macaroni and Cheese blogging program, for a gift card worth $50. For more information on how you can participate, click here

Tips for Low Sodium Meals

Salt, we need it to live, it makes food taste better, its in.... everything

But its important to watch the sodium we take in, because too much of it can cause swelling, bloating, and can lead to kidney problems, high blood pressure, and heart failure.

Don't get me wrong, I love salt, but I try not too use too much of it when I cook, because I know that once the food makes it to the individual plates, the habit of grabbing the rooster full of salt is hard to stop.

So realizing, that my creations are only going to be flavored to the diner's delight, I try to cook meals that are low in salt, or flavor it to my taste (except in baking, where it is often needed for science reasons)

Another way to avoid too much sodium is to take a look at the ingredients (something I always recommend if you want to eat healthy) 

• Monosodium glutamate (MSG) This should be avoided anyways, because its awful for you
• Baking Soda: Not that you should avoid it, but maybe before using salted butter on that homemade biscuit, try some honey or jam
• Baking Powder: Same recommendation as above
• Disodium phosphate: An anti-caking agent
• Sodium alginate: an emulsifier
• Sodium nitrate or nitrite: is a preservative that changes the color of fish and meat fights botulism 

Another good way to avoid sodium is using fresh herbs and veggies,  avoid using pre-mixed spice packets because they are usually made with mostly salt. 

Make your own! Make your own dressings, that way you can control how much sodium goes into them,  a simple drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar are really help to bring out the flavor of fresh veggies, without covering them up like traditional dressings. Try out this Balsamic vinegrette from Emeril. 


 This Recipe for Mediterranean butter, made with Mrs.Dash's  low sodium tomato-basil seasoning, is simple and easy served over veggies or fish. Just mix butter and the seasoning, and spread over the fish and veggies! YUM! I think I would like to try this over the veggies and potatoes, in foil on the grill while camping!

Another way to limit the salt intake is to make your own food, salt is naturally a preservative, my making your own fresh breads, dinners, sauces, and snacks, you can avoid the salt-laden preservatives that fill convenience foods (it will also cut down that waist line)

Eat home, and if you don't pay for quality. I am a big believer in this, I don't eat 'sit down fast food' Chain restaurants that you find in strip malls. The food is not healthy, even the salads often times have more calories then a piece of chocolate cake. They also use tons of salt to make the food so delicious.  I going to make this zucchini casserole for diner once a few more zucchinis ripen. I am always over salting my zucchini (I don't really like them) but this is made with  Mrs.Dash's lemon pepper seasoning blend, and I think it looks so good! 

Condiments are also high in salt, but you don't have to eat a dry sandwich. Try using some aIoli in place of the mayo, fresh basil pesto is another yummy low sodium sandwich spread.


Its always important to watch what we eat, try out some of these recipes and you're on your way to a healthier heart, and tastier food!




“I wrote this blog post while participating in the Mrs. Dash and TwitterMoms blogging program for a chance to get a $50 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here

Homemade Brown Rice For Baby Tutorial

Brown rice is much healthier then white rice, it contains Iron, which is a nutrient that can be low in breastfed babies, phosphorus, B1, B6, and B3, fiber, and fatty acids. Its also yummy and a great starter food for babies. 

 I make it for Annabella pretty regularly. She loves it and it fills her right up! I started out by making this very thin and smooth for her, now I make it with quite a bit of texture so that she can 'chew'  it.  A little goes a long way, and its cheap to make So heres a tutorial on how to make it for your little one!

You're going to need One cup of brown rice and six or seven cups of water, I also add a pinch of salt, but you don't have to do this, this makes enough brown rice to last for a while, I freeze some and leave about half of it in the fridge, I just warm it up in the oven.

First, put six cups of water and one cup of brown rice in a pot and bring to a boil 

Let it simmer and stir it occasionally, this should take about two hours  for almost all the liquid to absorb. 

Check the rice, it should be VERY soft, you shouldn't have to bite any of the grains, but be able to mush them with your tongue on the top of your mouth (thats my best description)

If its still not soft enough add a half to a whole cup of water and let it simmer for about another hour.  Be sure that there is still a little bit of liquid left with the rice so that you can puree it in a blender or food processor. 

Now you are going to want to let the rice cool for about a half hour, so that you aren't working with mega hot rice, as it tends to burn.

Transfer everything to a blender or food processor.

Put the top on and blend at high speed. 

Check the consistancy, when it is where you want it, you are done!

Transfer it to a bowl

Now you are ready to freeze it or put it in the fridge. Or feed it to your little one!

Mmmm

Hope you make this for your little ones! It is certainly a hit in our house

Citrus Swordfish with mango salsa and coconut rice

Last night I got swordfish

It was a battle, mostly because I had no idea what to do with it

Luckily, swordfish is not as hard to cook as I thought it was.

I found the recipe for the swordfish here

I omitted the cilantro, but if you like cilantro you should add it

For the rice:

Two cans coconut milk

Half a cup of water

pinch of mace

tsp cinnamon

quarter tsp ginger

salt and pepper

Two cups jasmine rice

I put all of this in a pan, brought it to a simmer and let it cook until all the liquid had evaporated. (careful, this smells exotic and yummy)

Meanwhile I toasted some pecans, about three to five minutes on 350

I grilled the swordfish till it was white in the center, this took a lot longer then I thought it would, and I only managed to get good grill marks on one of my steaks.

For plating:

Rice

Crushed Pecans

Swordfish Steak

Salsa

The nuts add such a nice texture with everything else. I'm sure you'll love this

I will make this again, I love how tropical it tastes.

Pizza dough, the secret ingredient

I have mastered Pizza

I have Jamie Oliver to thank

Annabella is also thanking Jaime

A few months ago, I found a recipe from him in an italian cooking magazine

I haven't tried it up until now because I have never in my life succeeded with pizza dough

But I tried it because I was broke, but had all the ingredients I needed here in my house

And the secret ingredient? Semolina flour, this high gluten flour is what I use to make my pasta. Everything I make with Semolina seems to come out perfect...

It only takes about an hour to make it!

I even tossed this dough (much to annabella's amusement)

You can get Jaime's recipe 

here

Then you can make this

Pizza is a great way to reuse leftovers, yesterday, I made Ryan one with leftover pork roast, Jaime's recipe only takes about an hour and a half

My Pizza Tips

• Roll it out, let it sit for a half hour, then add toppings and let it sit for about fifteen minutes before baking
• Get your oven HOT, turn it on about an hour before you cook your pizza
• Use lots of flour on the board you use to transfer it to the pizza stone
• That reminds me, get a pizza stone
• Less is more with toppings
• Fresh ingredients make a difference..USE THEM
• Make your pizza with Love
• Practice tossing it in the air (if you dare), on a few dozen pizzas before you do it in front  of pizza
• also if you are going to practice tossing, you should wash your floor first
• Babies Love Pizza Crust

Chicken and Biscuits, a versatile recipe/tutorial

Mmmm.... Chicken and dumplings... I was recently informed that this is not chicken and dumplings but its chicken and biscuits. Due to the fact that I bake them and make them crispy, either way its a favorite in our house. I came up with this recipe because I wanted a quick and easy version of one of my favorites. In the recipe I will put substitutions for what you can use if you don't have what I did on hand.

Ingredients

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 5 peeled carrots (these don't have to be fresh, frozen will work fine
• about 4 cups of frozen veggies (I used peas, green beans, and corn any veggies that you like will work just fine)
• Spices (I recommend, savory, Bell's Seasoning, garlic powder, marjoram, thyme, celery salt, rosemary, parsley and bay leaves) a pinch of each, You can change this as you see fit
• Salt and Pepper

1.   Gather all your ingredients, Cut chicken into 1 inch pieces, season with spices and salt and pepper, mix so evenly coated

spices

Tip:  Bells seasoning comes in a box for some reason, I like to put it in an old spice jar so it keeps better for longer. Paint Markers work great for writing on glass

thats the seasoned chicken

2. Heat the Olive oil in a dutch oven or heavy saucepan, over medium heat (never put your dutch oven on high).

3.When it starts to sizzle add the chicken. Cook until golden on both sides or white all the way through

4. Meanwhile cut the carrots into half inch thick slices

5. When the chicken is all cooked 

Add the broth

And the carrots

6. Bring this to a boil

7. Now you can be creative, go into your freezer and pull out whatever frozen veggies you have

measure out 4 cups, make sure your chicken doesn't get into it!

now pour it into your soup. Turn it down to low and leave it to simmer

We are going to make BISCUITS!

My camera battery died halfway through my biscuit procedure, which is no good! But I promise to update this week with another biscuit tutorial so you can understand what everything looks like!

Recipe

• 2cups white flour (I like to replace1/2 c white flour  with 1/2 c whole wheat flour when I have it
• 4tsp baking powder
• 3/4tsp salt
• 4tbsp unsalted butter
• 1c buttermilk (If you don't have buttermilk don't worry, just add 1tbsp white vinegar to a cup of milk and let it sit for five minutes before using, I do this often and it works every time)

Preheat the oven to 400

1. Whisk or sift together the flours, baking powder and salt

2. Add the butter and blend it together with your fingers, it will look like crumbs, you can use a pastry cutter if you don't want to use your hands, but they are gonna have to get dirty anyway

this is where my camera died

3. Make a well in the middle of the four mix, and pour the buttermilk into the middle

4. mix together until evenly wet, the mix will be VERY wet

5. Generously flour a surface, put the biscuit mix onto the surface and kneed until it is manageable

6. Cut the dough into 12-14 pieces and drop the balls on top of the soup, put it in the preheated oven with no top and bake for 15-20 min until golden brown

(this also coincidently is the same time it takes for my camera to charge

ooo crusty top

whats hiding under there?

Oh yea

Hello to all my new followers thank you so much for all the love! I have been very busy checking out blogs today! There are so many talented mommies out there!

A nutty Diner!

I'm just going 'nuts' over diner tonight!

Sesame Peanut noodles with walnut crusted chicken

I wasn't sure about walnuts and peanuts in the same dish when I made this at first, I was also unsure on how cream soaked chicken would taste with Asian peanut noodles. But it was a success

I've loved peanut noodles since my Auntie Pam's New Years Day party many years ago. And I have been experimenting with recipes ever since. I got a hint of honey, I just made the sauce and put it on top of some udon noodles. Then I made some 

Walnut Crusted Chicken

*I found this recipe like this on the internet about a year ago and I can't find the original link no matter how hard I look , I'm sure its different then the original because I've lost all my recipe books!

2c Walnuts

1/2c flour

1/2 tbsp cinnamon

salt and pepper

heavy cream

2 chicken breasts

1. Preheat the Oven to  325
2. Cut the chicken breast into strips, add some salt and pepper 
3. Put the chicken breasts into a bowl and cover with cream
4. Put walnuts, flour and cinnamon in food processor, process till nuts are in small pieces (you can make it finer if you like, but I like the texture of the walnuts, plus it looks pretty)
5. Coat the chicken with the walnut mix
6. Bake for 25 minutes or until done

I made the sesame noodles while the chicken was cooking, and I served them cold. 

I added shredded carrots, green onions, roasted peanuts,  and hemp seeds to the dish to add some extra crunch and some veggies! The carrots add a fresh taste to the dish

I hope you try this because its quick, delicious, and easy to make, definitely one of my favorites.