Cooking Up A Storm

Cooking Tips for the Not So Cooking Inclined!

It is not uncommon these days to find more people out of touch with what’s in their kitchen.  In our fast paced society, we have taken the value out of intentional meals, made from home.  Every day we are served propaganda telling us we don’t have time to cook. Manipulations that coerce us to think cheap and easy meals at your local grocery store, restaurant, and gas station are healthier, better options than attempting to cook it yourself.

Let’s put this in perspective: When you put the words “cheap” and “easy” together in your mind, food may not be the only thing at the top of the list…. 

Not to say that having lower food costs and convenient meals isn’t a wonderful thing to have, it just requires a little more clarifying. For example: a “cheap and easy” meal from my grocery store that consists of a pasta salad, a pre-cooked meat, and sautéed veggies, may seem like smart choices, yet may not be so “cheap” in calories or “easy”  for my heart and GI system to process.  This is because the foods may have been prepared using lots of oil or cream and high sodium sauces. Many of the prepared food in your deli case could also come right from a box itself-not even prepared at the store. This means that you may not even be able to pronounce most of the ingredients in them.  Restaurants and Fast Food speak for themselves on the health front.

It’s time to take control over your kitchen and let it know who’s boss...YOU! Getting to basics in the kitchen is where we are starting this week.  To begin your path towards cooking success you will need to get schooled in the basics of cooking.

I am not a trained chef, just an average amateur cook with a food science and human nutrition degree. It’s obvious I have a passion for food in general-I get to talk about it all day! However, I will refer you to wonderful video resources to help you get a better sense of what basic cooking looks like.

Weekly Challenge: Dine out 3 times or less this week (including breakfast and snacks) by perusing one or two of the links below and find out how to make an egg, broil a chicken, and properly cook pasta. 

Getting Schooled:
http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/technic.htm
http://www.epicurious.com/video/technique-videos
http://www.cookusinterruptus.com/index.php

Zen Recipe of the Week:
Brandi’s Left Over Protein Rice Pudding Porridge
Ingredients:
2 cups leftover brown rice (cooked)
½ cup rice milk (or whatever milk you drink)
¼ cup brown rice syrup (or honey or sugar)
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 scoop non flavored protein powder

Place all ingredients in a saucepan and turn to medium heat. Bring to a simmer. Stir occasionally to avoid rice sticking to bottom of pan. Feel free to add a little more milk if rice isn’t soft enough for you or you want the sauce to be thinner. When you can easily scoop up the porridge into a spoon without it pouring off the sides like a soup, then it’s done. (About 10 minutes.) Enjoy!