Add healthy Fat To Your Diet With Coconut Oil
Over the last year I have really started focusing in on my health. I’ve been eating organic food and watching my fat intake. I was recently introduced to coconut oil. Before a few weeks ago I didn’t even know it existed, and now it something I find myself talking about all of the time.
Coconut oil is manufactured primarily in the Philippines. It has numerous health benefits and cooks great. Coconut oil is a fat, which consists of about 90% saturated fat. The oil is made up of predominantly medium chain triglycerides, which basically means your body converts it to energy more easily than fat.
You can cook with coconut as long as you remember that you shouldn’t cook over medium heat. It tastes great; you can just drizzle it over your food if you like. Studies have shown that it lowers the chance for heart disease and works great as a moisturizer. It helps heal skin rashes and burns. It also helps by maintaining thyroid levels, blood sugar levels, and digestive health.
So what are you waiting for? Try some . . . you’ll love it!
Simplicity Gourmet’s Darn Good Quesadillas
Everyone loves quesadillas, but do you ever get tired of eating the same old thing the same old way? If you would like an easy way to kick the flavor in your quesadillas up a notch you should try Darn Good seasoning. It works like a charm. To make these quesadillas, you’ll need the following ingredients:
Tortillas (flour, wheat, or your favorite flavor)
Shredded mexican cheese
Butter (substitue Brummel and Brown for fewer calories)
Darn Good Seasoning (all purpose seasoning available at Simplicity Gourmet)
Optional: Chopped chicken or steak -seasoned with Darn Good
Directions:
Mix 2 tablespoons of butter with 2 teaspoons of darn good. Spread evenly on one side of tortilla. Place buttered side down into a preheated skillet (med heat). Sprinkle cheese on top. Once cheese melts add chopped meat of your choice - steak and chicken work great. Fold tortilla in half once ingredients are in. Cook until golden brown.
These are very easy to make and my children love them. You can also use Darn Good to spice up your grilled cheese. Garnish them with sour cream, pico, and or guacamole. This is an easy dinner, if you had to work late. It is a great lunch. You can make them and eat them within 20 minutes. So if you are eating at home on your lunch break, this works great. Enjoy!
July 4th Celebration
July 4th is a great time to celebrate your country’s freedom and spend valuable time with family and friends. I believe one of the best ways to spend time with family and friend is around the dinner table. Here is a great recipe to share with those you love. You may consider doubling the recipe; you will want seconds. The recipe is for a BBQ pulled pork sandwiches. They are delicious! They are always a hit at my house. Serve them with cole-slaw for a little extra touch.
BBQ pulled pork
Ingredients:
1-4lb Boston Butt Pork Roast
2- extra large cans chicken broth
¼ cup garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup barbeque dry seasonings
2tbsp onion powder
1 bottle KC masterpiece BBQ sauce
Directions:
Heat your 6 qt or 5 qt slow cooker at med to med high heat until water beads up and dances in pan. Sear meat on all sides. Add chicken broth and dried seasoning. Cook until pork is falling from the bone and pulls apart easily (approximately 5 hrs.). Pull pork apart, discarding all fat. (Keep broth- place it in a bowl we will use it later). Add ½ bottle KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce. Place pulled pork, and BBQ sauce, and 3 cups of broth back into 5 or 6 qt. Cook on med-low heat until heated through. Add extra dried seasoning to taste. Add extra broth if extra moisture is needed for the pork. Serve on a hamburger bun and enjoy!
The Easy Way to Keep A Clean Kitchen
Sometimes I feel as though all I do is clean my kitchen; and I don’t really like to clean. I have two kids, a dog, and of course my husband and I dirtying it up all day long and sometimes it just never stays clean long enough. I have found a few ways I can cut down on the time it takes me to get my kitchen clean and presentable. Simplicity is key here. I do deep cleaning on specific days and otherwise i move quickly. The first thing I do is give myself a time limit. This is how long I can spend. It makes me move faster. Next, I unload my dishwasher as soon as it finishes the cleaning cycle so it will be ready for the next load of dishes going in. I don’t know how I would function without my dishwasher. I find that the area that has the ability of getting messy the fastest is the sink. Every product I use in the kitchen is dishwasher safe. That is a must in my house. As I use dishes throughout the day, I load as I go. This gives me less to do at the end of the night after dinner. I also use a spay bottle of 1 part vinegar and 1 part water to mop my floor. I spray the solution onto the floor and then mop it right up. This way I don’t have to wring out my mop each step of the way; and I don’t have to wait as long for the floor to be dry. I also love the pre-moistened kitchen wipes. I hope these suggestions help you spend more time with those you love and less time cleaning a dirty kitchen.
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Simple Yet Elegant Dining at Home
My husband and I were invited over to an old friends house this weekend for dinner. It was a perfect night out. It was a relaxing, yet elegant atmosphere. There is no better way to catch up with friends than around a dinner table where you are close and relaxed. This is the ideal setting for great talks and fun. We have large parties at our house all of the time, but rarely entertain just one or two couples. For a few years my husband and I ate out in restaurants a few times a week. Many times, we had friends with us. The unfortunate thing about going to a restaurant, however, is that you have no control over noise levels and atmosphere. There is nothing that will kill a conversation faster than having to ask, “What?” every few seconds. Our dinner this weekend was completely opposite of those annoying restaurant situations. It was a great way to rekindle our friendship with the Trotters. They created an ambiance with dim lighting and candles. There was no overpowering music. They pulled out their china to serve us. We ate a simple salad, a zucchini and squash mixture, steak, and sweet potatoes. It was cooked in about 25 minutes using waterless and greaseless cookware and clean up was a breeze. Thank God for dishwashers! The whole evening made us feel great, and went further than words could in reminding us that we are special to them. It was a perfect evening! I hope we can do the same for them very soon. You don’t have to go out to a gourmet restaurant to have a great time. In fact, the simplicity of the evening reminded me how easy it is to dine and entertain at home. No matter what the size of the group, the next time we catch up with friends or entertain business associates or clients, we will be at our house!
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Do I need new cookware?
Have you ever wondered whether or not you need new cookware? Maybe your handles are loose or your non-stick is flaking out. I recently conducted an experiment that will put all of that wondering to rest. This experiment was strongly recommended to me and I strongly recommend it to everyone. Basically you round up one of each different type of cookware that you or your family own. This means one of each type of pan in your home, i.e. one non-stick, one cast iron, one aluminum, etc. Add two cups of water to each pan. You’ll then need a clean sponge for each pan. To save money buy a green scouring pad or two and cut it into 2 inch pieces. Now the premise behind this experiment is that each time you cook in a pan, you risk metal, plastic, dirt, and grime getting into your food from the pan. In other words, as you stir you pull things from the pan into your food and don’t even realize it. Your food masks the taste, smell, and even vision of flakes in your food. Now, take the scouring pad and lightly circle the bottom of the pan, as if you were cleaning the pan. Do this in each pan for 1-2 minutes. The gentle rubbing of the pan simulates your stirring in the pan. Then pour the water from the pan into a clear glass. If you notice anything floating in the pan, it is probably time to buy new cookware. I saw this with cast iron and the water was rusty! Gross! The aluminum water was grey. The non-stick water had flakes all in it. The high-grade stainless steel pan was the only one that had water come out of the pan as clear as when it went in. Now, I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine cooking with something that I know is leaching metals and/ or plastic into my food. This test will completely change how you think about cookware and you health in relation to it. If you don’t want to drink the water at the end of the test, buy new cookware.
