Simple Fruit Sorbet

2 packages frozen fruit, your choice
1/4-1/3 cup simple syrup ( equal amounts water & sugar, boiled till sugar dissolves, cooled)
Water as needed

In a food processor, a blender won't do here, dump in the fruit & simple syrup , pulse to get started, turn to 'on', pour water through tube as needed to make purée smooth. That's it. Pour into container, freeze hard or enjoy on the spot.
Couldn't be easier. I learned this recipe from food writer Mark Bittman.
Makes a quart.

A Menu- Why?

Why take the time & pickiness to write a weekly menu? Well, there are perks to it. You know each day what to pick up at the store or set out from the freezer to thaw. Second, it helps organize your grocery list. Instead of picking up random items, make your list from your menu, then add those everyday or fill in items you use all the time or want to have on hand. It's been proven that a grocery list helps you save money.Third, most of all, just because you've taken the time to make a menu doesn't mean you have to stick to it completely. Is flexible, after all, you made it so you can change it.
The menu here is just a list, it's not one of those complicated, fancy menus you'd find I a restaurant so don't be scared to write one. I use a calendar computer software to print out a months worth of weekly list, I use the week planner feature, but you can use a sheet of paper & a pen, and you only do a week at a time. I only print out a months worth so I don't have to print each weeks list. You can do it any way you want, you control it . Here's a sample.

Chicken Curry & Rice

This dish is not spicy hot at all, yet it is flavorful & a great way to use leftover chicken (the roast chicken from last night's dinner maybe?.

1/2 cup chopped onion 1/2 teaspoon red curry paste or any mild curry paste 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon garam masala 1 can of cream of chicken soup 1/2 cup milk (soy, coconut or regular) 1/4 cup of green onion 2-3 tablespoon cilantro or parsley 2 tablespoons of butter 1 teaspoon garlic,chopped (1 clove) Left over chicken from roasted chicken or 2 cups, cubed/// Soften onion in the butter, add garlic, mix in all but green onion & chicken. Bring to a boil, add chicken, let simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Serve over rice. Garnish with green onions. Real food, easy to make fun to do & delicious too. Happy Cooking

The Pressure Cooker Is Your Friend

This is a pressure cooker. Some people are afraid of them, they don't bite, they don't strike out, what they do is shorten cooking tine for many foods. You can cook potatoes in about 10 minutes, beans in about 15 to 30 minutes, meatloaf in about 30 minutes, and so on. I have used one to cook a turkey before. One thing to remember is that it uses pressure to cook & that pressure MUST be released before you open it. Once the stove is turned off, just let it sit & the pressure will go down on its own. If, however, you're in a hurry (who isn't) you can either run cold water out of the tap over it or with the range hood fan running & a towel placed over the vent hole, remove the little cap (the one you put on it to build steam, usually placed on the center hole) and let the steam escape that way. Both ways work fairly well. Once in a while the cooker may spray & spurt steam or moisture, just cover it with a kitchen towel until the steam stops coming out. You may have heard stories of the pressure cooker exploding. This is rare. The best way to avoid it is to make sure the gasket in the lid is free of cracks & fits properly & it should be fine. Happy cooking!

What's in that Box? Food?

This box contains what I call semi-processed food, meaning you have to add something fresh to the pre measured, pre mixed dry ingredients. The only drawback here is you don't really know what's in the box because you didn't put it there. When I was writing my thesis I came across lots of this, boxed mixes where you add the fresh, wet ingredients. This, coupled with other findings, led me to wonder what I could safely eat. So I learned to read labels, not fully understanding all of the ingredients on that label. More research later I learned that most of those ingredients were perfectly natural & safe to eat. They are just listed by their scientific name. For example, citric acid is vitamin C, also called ascorbic acid. That's perfectly natural. Anyway, this boxed semi-real food produced some tasty results, bananna bread. As far as reading labels, eating boxed or frozen already prepared foods, as long as you use them in moderation & eating as fresh as "possible"meaning using what's out there, is the best option that I've found so far. Happy Cooking

A Chicken in Every Pot --Or Oven

Just pop a plain, whole chicken (rinsed) in the oven, at 400 degrees for an hour and a half (the photo on the left) and you get perfect roasted chicken (photo on the right. There is absolutely nothing else done to it, no salt, no pepper, no other seasoning, nothing at all. What you get is chicken, although not too pretty to look at (add a garnish if you like) that actually tastes like chicken. Pure & simple. Happy Cooking!!

This is Real Food

Just a brief stop here. This is considered real food,, home grown(in my back yard garden) & home canned.You can get the same thing at the farmers market. I know what's in it exactly.

But I. Do cook with real food, don't I?

The idea for this blog came about because of my love of food combined with my training as a nutritionist. First of all, I love anything creative and cooking is just that, creative. But I've also come to understand that food should be a vehicle to providing proper fuel to the body, for all it's functions, therefore I cook with real food. I'm not talking about the stuff that comes prepackaged in boxes or in the freezer section of the store. I mean plain food in it's simplest of forms, tomatoes, meat, fish, vegetables, onions, celery, that sort of thing. It's also know as. Cooking from scratch, just like it was done before all the convenience foods came along.
This blog is Not a vegetarian or vegan place although such recipes can be included here. Oh sure, there will be nutrition tips along the way, but it's mostly about cooking food you will actually enjoy when you eat it. And it doesn't mean you will spend hours in the kitchen cooking, unless you choose to do that. It's about using plain foods, modern appliances like slow cookers, food processors & such that make the job easier, to make delicious meals that you'll want to make over and over again.
When I was writing my dissertation ( did I mention I have a PhD in holistic nutrition? I do) I wrote about how food affects ones quality of life. One should enjoy their lives to have a good quality of life, in order to do that one must have the energy to do what they like, so they have to provide their bodies with the proper fuel for that energy, and since the fuel comes from the food, one must get good food and since the best food is what you, yourself, make, you have to cook. That's where this all began, cooking to maintain a good energy level so I can enjoy the things I like to do. One of those things I like to do is to cook. So here we go, hang on for the ride or get off if you like. W will explore many cuisines, there will be tips & tricks along the way. Just remember one thing during our journey. It's the great equalizer -- the one thing everyone on earth, animal, humans, plants, etc. have in combo min -- we all eat.
Enjoy the ride. . .