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Cooking, Recipe and Food Blog

3 Tips For Handling Your Food Allergies 

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Millions of people have allergies. Many people have allergy symptoms as a result of the quality of the air that they breathe, while others have more serious reactions to the foods that they eat. In some cases, allergy sufferers may experience milder effects, while others have considerably harsher ones. 

In some cases, it may not always be possible to avoid foods that contain traces of allergens.  It can experience extreme discomfort, and in some cases, even be deadly. Therefore, it’s helpful to know the best ways to cope with allergies when you experience them. Here are some of the best tips for handling allergies to foods that you eat. [Read more…]

Family-Friendly Kitchen Renovation Ideas

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Not all kitchens are designed with families in mind. This is unfortunate since the kitchen is often the place where kids do homework, parents make meals, and families discuss their days and find solutions to problems.

You’re not stuck with an unsuitable kitchen forever, however. Kitchens can always be updated to meet your needs. In fact, such a renovation may be one of the wisest decisions you’ll make, as it will likely raise your property values and lead to a quicker sale when the time comes. Consider these family-friendly kitchen renovations for the benefit of your family both now and in the future.  

Open-Concept Floor Plans

Those in the market for a forever-family home often put an open-concept floor plan at the top of their must-haves list.

“For families with young children, an open plan kitchen means being able to do the dishes or prepare meals while keeping an eye on children in another room,” says an article from property management firm Green Residential, pointing out that it also raises property values. “Giving kids a view of mom can also keep them out from underfoot while she works.”

Creating an open-concept floor plan may be as simple as knocking out a wall and adding a bar or island. Don’t try to do this on your own, however. The wall separating your kitchen from your living spaces may be load-bearing, and it would be catastrophic to knock it down without properly reinforcing it.

Raised Wall Oven

The oven is one of the largest safety hazards for families with small children. The solution is a raised oven that’s built into your wall. This is a popular kitchen feature, largely because you don’t have to bend over when checking food or pulling things out of the oven. It makes removing large things like a full turkey much safer and simpler.

Adding a wall oven to your existing kitchen plan may require some space planning. You’ll need to keep your stovetop and find a space on the wall that can sustain this new feature. It might require removing cupboard space, so make sure you’re willing to make this sacrifice.

Large, Walk-in Pantry

When you’re trying to keep your busy family well-fed at all meals and snack times, you need a lot of food. Your fridge is likely overflowing, and you might even have a second one in the garage to hold extras. You’ll also need ample space to keep all your snacks and dry goods.

Convert a corner of your kitchen into a glorious walk-in pantry where you’ll never run out of space for your food essentials. If you don’t have the space, look for ways to increase existing cupboard space. You might extend them all the way to the ceiling or cut off a portion of cupboard/countertop space so that you can install a large pantry instead.

With a larger pantry, you’ll have a little more flexibility to give your kids access to the snacks you want them to eat. Promoting self-sufficiency in the kitchen and healthy eating habits is important to consider,” interior designer Mary Jo Pierce told HGTV. “If you can, make it easy for kids to make the things they like to eat.” She recommends hiding the unhealthy food deep in your large pantry and putting out the healthier snacks so that kids are more likely to eat them.

Kitchen Island with Seats

You’ll never regret having a large island with several bar stools so that kids can gather while you’re cooking dinner.

“Everyone ends up in the kitchen anyway and having family members standing around only causes traffic issues,” Emily Hoefler, kitchen design specialist, told Improvenet. “Make sure everyone is comfortable (and give yourself space to cook) by having designated seating.”

Even if you’re not actually utilizing the kitchen for its intended purpose, this provides an excellent space for you to sit with your children while they work on homework, practice their reading, or talk about their days.

If you don’t have the space to install a kitchen island, consider a breakfast nook or a portable bar that can be placed against a wall, out of the way. This way, family members have a place to congregate without being underfoot.

There’s nothing better than a well-planned kitchen space where everyone can spend time together comfortably. Memories will be made, families will grow closer together, and your home will be worth more to both you and your pocketbook.

A Sweet Tooth’s Guide to Healthy Sugar-Free Treats

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There is no denying that the thought of sugar-free sweets is a sugarholic nightmare. Mankind’s endeavor towards a healthier lifestyle has led to an onset of varied diet plans that considerably cut down harmful and unhealthy “junk” (yes, sugar included). Living a healthy lifestyle is not at all terrifying, but the thought of skipping sweet favorites is not an easy deal for many. [Read more…]

4 Necessities for the Healthy Home Kitchen

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A central part of having a healthy home life is making sure you focus on nutrition in your kitchen. That means having the necessary items, equipment, and food at the ready. People end up complaining that they don’t eat right, but they don’t start by getting all of the needed items set in their home environment. That always ends up being a problem. [Read more…]

Better Health Through Detoxing and Fasting

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In the realm of food and nutrition, there is an approach to better health through the use of detoxing and fasting processes. It is important to note that both of these things can be dangerous if done improperly, so you should always talk to a doctor before starting anything new in those realms, but there are positive effects that can come from them as well.

[Read more…]

5 Ways What You Eat Can Negatively Affect Your Health

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Most people know that eating healthy food leads to healthy benefits. However, sometimes knowing things isn’t enough to convince someone to give up bad habits. However, perhaps if more people knew about the many adverse effects that bad food can have on your health beyond just weight gain, they may be more persuaded to make healthier food choices. [Read more…]

4 Tips For Your Proposal Dinner

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Preparing to pop the question to the woman of your dreams can be nerve rattling.  The pressure of whether she will say yes or no is enough to make you have a nervous breakdown.   Being nervous won’t achieve anything, however. If you feel confident enough to ask for her hand in marriage, then you should feel confident that she will likely say yes. [Read more…]

5 Ways To Spice Up Your Cooking Methods

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sous-vide-recipes

There are a few different ways to expand your cooking horizons. You can try new recipes. You can attempt new genres of food preparation. You can use new dishware, or just try adjusting some of the ratios of ingredients that you typically use.

Or, for a more extreme change in cooking behavior, consider spicing up your kitchen activities by changing your cooking methods themselves. Consider trying the sous vide method, adding some more gadgets to your repertoire, combining multiple cooking methods together, and reading cooking magazines and blogs to see how other people are expanding their abilities. And in the end, the more you experiment and fail, the bigger a knowledge base of cooking that you’ll have to work with in the future.

Try Sous Vide

One interesting way to cook that you may not have ever thought of or even heard described before is the sous vide method. At its core, you’re heating food in a sealed container inside of hot water. This will usually take the form of vacuuming sealing something like a steak inside a cook-safe plastic bag, and then dipping the bag in a hot water vat with a controlled temperature. The results can be nothing short of amazing if done correctly, and it will produce a unique flavor and texture that everyone will love.

Use Gadgets

At the center of many new cooking methods is the kitchen gadget. It may chop, slice, blend, heat, freeze, or dry out food in a new and unique way, and that’s what makes it worthy of being in your kitchen. There are new kitchen gadgets coming out all the time, and once they’ve been in the public eye for a minute, you’ll start to see reviews of how they work, and decide if there’s a new technique you’re willing to incorporate.

Combine Methods

Have you tried baking something, and then frying it to finish it off? Have you tried mixing pan frying, stir frying, and microwaving all together? One of the more interesting ways to spice up your cooking methods is simply to combine several different ways together. You can get some truly interesting results by mixing pan searing meat with baking it at different points in the cooking process, for example.

Reading Cooking Magazines and Blogs

If you’ve never read a cooking magazine or blog, then you don’t know what you’re missing when it comes to continuing education about cooking. Certain types of recipes and diets go into and out of vogue, but you can always rely on cooks to progress when it comes to their actual methods of cooking – go ahead and borrow from them!

Experiment, Fail, and Experiment Again

If all else fails, at least failure teaches you what not to do again, and that goes especially for cooking methods. After you burn something to a crisp or boil it into oblivion, take some mental notes about why it didn’t work. And then, put on your chef’s thinking cap and give something a bit different ago. The people you eventually will impress with your cooking will be glad of your early efforts!

Tips For Keeping Yourself and Your Family Risk Free From Diabetes

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Diabetes is a disease that affects the body’s ability to produce insulin. There are two types of diabetes, as you may or may not be aware. The first type, Type 1 is only had by 5 to 10 percent of the population with diabetes. It is often genetic, but can develop in adolescence or into adulthood.

When people have diabetes it means that their pancreas, the organ which sits behind the stomach isn’t able to produce insulin, the hormone which tells the body to take food and use it as energy or transfer it into fat. Type 1 causes the immune system to attack the pancreas so it can’t do its job. This can be fatal if not monitored.

Type 2 diabetes is the kind that is often related to people with unhealthy lifestyles that are overweight or seriously obese. Type 2 is often only seen in adults, but can be seen in children as well. Diabetes is a serious condition and if you don’t have Type 1, you can keep yourself and your family risk free from contracting Type 2 by doing these things:

Don’t Raise Your Children On Processed Foods

Processed foods are responsible for so many of the health related crisis in the world, especially in the United States. Processed foods are often engineered to have a bliss point. This is when foods are just salty enough or just sweet enough that they leave you feeling unsatisfied and so you eat more. Because processed foods are often stripped of much of their nutrients as well, you’re left feeling hungry shortly after consuming a high amount of calories.

Processed foods are highly addictive, so if you’re raising your children on them, you’re potentially setting them up for a lifetime struggle with foods that could cause them to get diabetes. They can’t stop eating the foods, the body can’t process the foods, the body stores fat, the pancreas can’t handle the amount of sugar in the body, so it develops diabetes. That’s a stripped down explanation of what happens, but the best thing you can do is limit processed foods as your children are growing up.

Encourage Activity

Standard as it is, and you’ve heard the same message preached time and time again, diabetes is mostly linked to people who are obese or have a very unhealthy lifestyle that contains high amounts of toxic foods. Other than adjusting diet, you should encourage activity within your household. Limit the watching of television and get out with the family to encourage movement.

When you foster this lifestyle from a young age into your children, they’ll win the battle before it even begins. For yourself, teaching your kids the importance of food and activity in order to live a healthy life will help you practice the same theories for your own life. Type 2 diabetes ends when you take control of what you’re putting in and putting your body through.

Breakfast Secrets For A Simpler Morning

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As children, we’re all taught that breakfast is the most important meal of the day – if you skip it, your body and mind don’t have the fuel they need to work their very best. As adults, however, many of us rush out the door without that morning meal, putting us at a disadvantage for the day. Luckily, with a few tricks, it doesn’t have to be that way.

Start your morning right with these 2 simple solutions, and you’ll be amazed at how different you feel.

Coffee: Cups And Concentrate

Most of us require at least one cup of coffee, and often more than that, to get started in the morning, though very few stop to consider how the coffee is made. Truly great coffee is a science, relying on precise temperatures and proportions, but don’t get caught up in the logistics. Today, there are simpler ways to make a perfect cup with minimal measurements.

One of the most popular ways to brew a great cup of coffee is by using a single cup system like a Keurig or Tassimo. These machines calibrate the temperature based on what pre-measured coffee pod you put in. You’ll get a tasty cup of joe, but know that these machines can be pricy.

Another alternative for a great cup of coffee that will simplify your mornings is cold brew. You can make cold brew coffee in large batches in advance, and for those with chronic reflux or other gastrointestinal issues, cold brew is often a better choice because it’s less acidic. Just steep your coffee grounds in cold water overnight, strain, and mix with water – cold brew makes a strong cup.

Superfood Central: Chia Seeds

For a highly nutritious, filling, and flexible breakfast, chia seeds are the perfect base. Chia seeds are one of today’s most popular superfoods, full of omega-3s and high in fiber. On their own, they don’t taste like much, but they make the perfect base for dozens of flavors and toppings.

To make chia pudding, mix about a ¼ cup of chia seeds with a cup of coconut milk, or other liquid of your choice. While at first the seeds will look like they’re just floating in the liquid, once they’ve sat overnight, they’ll absorb that liquid and make a creamy pudding base. Add a little bit of honey or maple syrup for sweetness, and then let loose with your favorite fruits and other add-ins. You can make a big batch of this pudding in advance and add different toppings each day.

It may not seem like much, but coffee plus chia pudding are a breakfast made in heaven, and they’ll get your day off to a great start. The fiber in the chia seeds will keep you full all morning, while the coffee energizes you – and it can all be done in advance or with the push of a button. No more excuses for skipping breakfast when it’s ready and waiting when you wake up.

Five Soups To Make Before Winter Is Over

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When it is cold outside it’s the perfect time of the year to have soup. Soup is warm, and it warms your body and soul. Soup is also one of those meals that has everything, and is an extremely healthy thing to eat.

Think about it. Soup usually has meat, or at least some kind of protein, a grain, vegetables, and it’s normally a nice filling food that can be ate on it’s own, or you can have it with a salad. It’s quick and easy to make, as well. Simply toss the ingredients in the crockpot and let it cook. [Read more…]

Heart To Heart: A Holistic Look At Alcohol And Health

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Centuries old health claims once named vodka the “elixir of life”, but current health studies indicate that this may be a bit of a stretch. Alcohol may play some role in aiding heart health and reducing diabetes risk, but even in those cases the studies aren’t calling for an evening of vodka shots. Rather, when it comes to overall health, the value of alcohol tends to slant to favor wine. And like almost every other piece of medical advice, any proven relationship between alcohol and health depends on a relationship of moderation. [Read more…]

Cooking Is An Art, Share It

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You may not see a plate of food sitting on a table in an art gallery like Park West Gallery, but cooking is an art. The culinary arts are so named but it takes an artistic ability to create the perfect plate. It isn’t just about cooking though, there is more to it than the mere making of a meal.

The Art That Goes Into Creating Food

Just like you blend the perfect color of paint from two or more paint colors, you also blend the perfect ingredients to create a great meal. Some dishes take extra delicate care, like making bread with yeast that needs a specific water temperature. Combining exact measurements isn’t always the key to the perfect dish though. [Read more…]

Planning The Perfect Holiday Meal

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Depending on how many you are planning to feed, there is much work that goes into planning a holiday meal. It starts with needing to know how many you are cooking for. You have the planning, the shopping, the prep, and the cooking. Just thinking about it is probably overwhelming.

Here are some tips that will hopefully help you plan the perfect meal, and get through it without tearing your hair out. [Read more…]

Eat Right: Save Money

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There are many problems that face people in the realm of health and nutrition. Sometimes people say eating right costs them way too much money, other times they say that they don’t have time to plan out a meal that ensures that they will be healthy enough, and have enough energy to carry out their day and achieve what needs to be done.

Immediately, there are two huge misconceptions in the realm of healthy living, and what it takes to eat right. First off, a healthy lifestyle in the realm of food does not need to cost a lot. Secondly, even if you have no time to make healthy things for you and your family to eat because life is hectic, there are things you can be doing to change these circumstances a little at a time. Here are some tips to helping you in your journey to eat right and save money. [Read more…]

5 Lifestyle Tips For Healthy Hair and Skin

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There are mental reasons for having a healthy lifestyle, and there are physical reasons for choosing a lifestyle, like the desire for healthy hair and skin, for instance. It’s all connected through diet, nutrition, and smart choices, but sometimes those details get lost in the shuffle.

So, if you want to gently get yourself back into habits that will make your appearance better, and then allow those decisions to affect the rest of your life positively as well, consider the five following lifestyle tips. [Read more…]

Five Reasons Pizza Is The Perfect Food

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Some people have the audacity to say that pizza isn’t good for you, and while if you were eating it daily and huge servings of it it might be, in moderation it’s great. It offers you more nutrients and less fats than some of the foods you could be eating. So, while it may not be the healthiest food option, it isn’t even close the worst.

Whether you choose to eat out, or create your own pizza creation right at home, there are a million options and combinations. Why wouldn’t pizza be on your list of favorite foods with all of that going for it. Plus, if you fold your slice in half it’s like an easy to eat pizza sandwich. [Read more…]