How to Cook Pinakbet a Popular Filipino Dish

  Pinakbet is a Filipino delicacy that foreign visitors usually discover as a delectable dish with a rice meal. Local folks find various ways of cooking it; some without meat, some with shrimps, and a few with fish. The amazing thing about this simple vegetable dish is that it has significant nutritional value, providing essential [...]

image.png image.png

Protecting Our Kids From Food Allergies

According to a recent CDC study, 1 in 13 kids have a food allergy. Most kids tend to out grow childhood allergies, but some are not allergies at all. Food intolerance is a whole other thing. In the general population of adults and kids, about 2.5% of Americans have a food allergy. The most common [...]

151941_2665 151941_2665

You Are What You Eat

Are you getting the most out of what you eat? Most of us are not getting the remcomended amount of basic

nutrients we need for a healthy body.

girleating girleating

Dinner In The Sky?

Dinner in the Sky is now operated in more than 15 countries and got the official authorisations from the toughest countries such as US, Canada, Australia, South-Africa…”

dinner12 dinner12
chefcookbook-featured

3 Cakes That Rocked The World, And Still Do!

date June 17th, 2013 user TheSaltyChef

There is little doubt that cakes are right up there with the most popular desserts and they certainly have the ability to make most of us go weak at the knees. I mean, who doesn’t love a cake with some tea or coffee on a cold afternoon? It is more than simply food, cakes are therapeutic and are known to have the ability to make people feel warm and happy inside. But cakes are also right up there with all of the iconic food items, they can hold their own when put up against a fancy French main course and can certainly handle being served up with the finest wines and cheeseboards. This article pays homage to this awesome dessert of the Gods, also known as…cake!

Number One – The Chocolate Cake

If there was an award ceremony for cakes that really matter, the chocolate cake would probably take the first, second and third places all on its own! There are so many styles of chocolate cakes out there, but they all seem to possess that soothing and uplifting character that we love so much. Nothing quite says ‘I love you’ like a slice of chocolate cake. It is a winning combination of lovely sponge filling, flavoured with delicious chocolate loveliness. Birthdays just simply wouldn’t be the same without one. Some clever couples actually prefer the wedding cake to be all about chocolate, and who could blame them? Chocolate cake – We are not worthy!

Number Two – The Cheesecake

The word ‘Cheesecake’ just conjures up images of New York coffee shops on a rainy morning. Everyone is talking about the weather and the latest stock market dip, and then the cheesecake makes its entrance. Everybody clams up and the forks are produced as the waitress casually slips the full plates on the empty table. It is all about that special ‘me’ time and nobody dares to interrupt this special moment. Cheesecakes are the answer to most of our problems and they never let us down. You can find one for any occasion, and if you can’t, you just haven’t looked hard enough. Cheesecake – We Salute You!

Number Three –Roll Cakes

These are also known a ‘Swiss Rolls’ and they are certainly one of the most favourite family desserts of all time. They make a special appearance at Christmas time and are usually decorated in the form of a yuletide log due to their shape. The standard roll cake is a sponge based sweet with swirls of delicious strawberry jam running through the circular centre. But there are a myriad of mouth-watering recipes doing the rounds and you would really be missing out if you decided to stick with the base model! The beauty of the roll cake is the ability to transform it into pretty much any combination that you stomach desires. Just remember to always add some icing sugar on the top and you will not go far wrong.

Number Four?

Well, this is entirely up to you! Think about another winning cake recipe and why not give your family a treat tonight and whip them up something special from your oven?

About the Author

Today’s guest author, James Peters, is an accountant at Smiley Cakes, a leading cake shop in based in Perth, Australia. He is a nature lover and an environmentalist. He enjoys nature photography in his spare time.

chefcookbook-featured

Healthy Snack Options For Today’s Busy Families

date June 14th, 2013 user TheSaltyChef

American comedian Buddy Hackett once commented that when it came to mealtime, “My mother’s menu consisted of two choices: Take it, or leave it.” Could you imagine what would happen if more parents took that approach with their families?

I took that approach with my own family and the result was that we all started eating a little healthier. That’s not saying that overnight we went from couch potato to eating healthy, organic foods. It took a lot of hard work from everyone in the family, and we jumped some pretty tough hurdles.

Taking it one baby step at a time, we now enjoy an overall healthier lifestyle which includes making better choices when it comes to snacking on the go. Sure it’s easy to stop at a fast food restaurant or convenience store but those options aren’t always the healthiest.

Healthier Snacking Means a Healthier You!

According to the Obesity Society (http://www.obesity.org/) between 1977 and 1996, food portion sizes increased both inside and outside the home for all categories except pizza. Americas are not only supersizing their food portions, but also their own bodies!

Caving in to cravings for things like deep-fried, high-calorie snacks filled with fat and sodium might satisfy your taste buds for a little while, but this has a lasting effect on your health. Eating junk food contributes to digestive and cardiovascular problems, and even depression.

Eating Healthy On the Go Begins at Home

When your family adopts healthy eating habits, they can sport a more fit physique which promotes a better overall well-being, both physically and mentally. Here are some steps you can take at home to help influence healthy eating on the go.

  • FARMER’S MARKET – Shop your local farmer’s market, orchard, or roadside stand for fresh vegetables and fruits. Fruits and veggies make great on-the-go snacks and pair well with everything from peanut butter and honey to cottage cheese or yogurt.
  • HIGH FIBER – Whole wheat crackers, oatmeal bars, and dried fruits are high in fiber that your body needs for a healthy heart and digestive system, as well as to regulate blood sugar. Throw some red beans, brown rice, and hummus in a container for a healthy on-the-go lunch!
  • LOW FAT – Some foods marketed as “healthy” in restaurants and convenience stores have hidden carbs, sodium, and fat. When eating out stick to grilled veggies, chicken, and fish. And trade out the creamy dressing for something healthier, like olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette.
  • NON-PERISHABLES – Keep some non-perishables in your purse or in the glove box of your car. These could be cereal bars or single-serving packages of nuts, granola, or trail mix. It’s not only eliminates your mid-afternoon hunger craving, but also eliminates the need to stop off at a convenience store.
  • PACK LUNCH – Whether you are headed off to work, school, or a day of hiking, pack your own lunch. It’s just common sense! It saves you money (especially when you use up leftovers from last night’s dinner) as well as extra calories, sodium, and fat found in pre-packaged or fast food meals.

Sometimes you just want something sweet, and it seems nothing can substitute that craving. When you must have sugary snacks, stick to something that has as much natural sugar as possible like fresh fruits or whole-grain crackers drizzled in pure, local honey.

Amazon Image

More Convenient than Convenience Stores

You can prepare most healthy snacks to take on the go in 15 minutes or less. Parents with kids spend more time than that trying to find on-the-go snacks in convenience stores (No ma’am, there is no public restroom for your child, sorry!) or waiting in line at the drive thru window at a fast food restaurant.

One of my favorite snacks to prepare isn’t something you eat at all, but an on-the-go fruit and protein smoothie. The base ingredients are 1 container of plain Greek yogurt, 1 cup of ice, and a scoop of organic protein powder.

After the base ingredients, anything else you add is up to you – peanut butter, spinach, berries (fresh or frozen), bananas or other fruits, honey, or anything else that’s in your pantry or refrigerator! The amount of flavors you can mix or match is endless, making it perfect for picky eaters in your family.

When you’re on the go, don’t give in to unhealthy cravings for sugary, salty, high calorie snacks! If you didn’t prepare a snack beforehand and must stop off at a fast food restaurant or convenience store, pick fresh over deep fried foods, and water over soda or other sugary drinks.

About the Author

Freelancer Melissa Cameron lives in Austin, Texas with her husband Dave and their son and daughter. Although she writes on a wide variety of topics she finds www.biogirlhealth.com to be a great resource when doing the research part of her job. Melissa loves staying fit, and whenever possible she focuses on providing her family with healthy meals and snacks – even when on the go!

chefcookbook-featured

Guest Recipes Welcome – Fill Out Our Recipe Form Template

date June 14th, 2013 user TheSaltyChef

Do you have a recipe you would like to share with us here at The Chefs Cookbook? We want to help raise awareness for your cooking prowess and recipes, so share one or more of your recipes here with us and here are some of the benefits you will receive.

You retain all ownership of your recipe, we will publish your recipe and link credit to your name and your URL that you specific, if you want to link to your cookbook, blog or business we will link to it as part of you sending us a recipe. You also get to list your Twitter/Facebook accounts which are published in article to help show off our guest chef and make sure the readers know who you are and have a chance to follow you.

We accept any recipe and our recipe form template is built to allow you to specify separate description/story for the recipe, image of the finished recipe (if you have one), ingredients and directions. The form template for recipes also is in rich text format so you can use bullet list, number list, bolding, underline or any other type of formatting to make sure your recipe looks good and in the proper format.

Take the time and submit a guest recipe to The Chefs Cookbook and we also auto promote and share your recipe across our Twitter and Facebook followers, all recipes are also syndicated to the Blog Engage Blogger network as well!.

Submit a Recipe

We would love to share one of your recipes with our readers, go ahead and submit a recipe here and have it featured on The Chefs Cookbook. We don't own or retain the rights to your recipe so you can share anywhere and submit duplicate recipes, but please only submit your own recipe and don't post others recipes without permission. By submitting a recipe you will get a link back to whatever website you specific with your name, you can use this to link to your cookbook, cooking blog, website or anywhere.

You also get some free publicity for social media accounts by listing them.

Your Information

First
Last
When your recipe is published this link will be attached to your name, so you can link to website, profile, recipe book or whatever but 1 link only.
Enter your Twitter ID so that readers can follow you on Twitter
Enter your Facebook Profile or Fanpage URL so people can follow you on Facebook.

chefcookbook-featured

Gluten Free Apple Crumble

date June 13th, 2013 user TheSaltyChef

I have been playing around with different ways to come up with the best tasting Apple Crumble and I think I finally got it! Let me know what you think!

4 cups Fuji apples, diced and peeled
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup all purpose gluten free flour
1 cup brown sugar
4 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup soften olive oil butter spread
Cooking spray

Place apples in a lightly greased baking dish and add water. Combine flour, sugar, spices and cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. sprinkle mixture over apples. Bake at 350F for 35-40 min or until apples are tender. Serves about 5-6

chefcookbook-featured

Benefits Of Saffron

date June 12th, 2013 user TheSaltyChef

Saffron is a spice that is considered to be one of the most expensive spices in the world. There is a lot of labor involved in getting the stigmas from the saffron flower and to produce a pound of saffron spice, more than 70,000 saffron flowers will have to be harvested. The entire process is done by hand and takes a lot of people and time to produce and hence the high cost. Saffron is also used as medicine to help cure a lot of medical conditions and saffron extract is sold as dietary supplement and is said to help in weight loss. To know more about saffron, its benefits, side effects and uses check out the following link http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-844-SAFFRON.aspx?activeIngredientId=844&activeIngredientName=SAFFRON

Benefits of Saffron

Weight loss

Saffron is known to help lower the appetite and to reduce cravings. There have been many reports which have attributed weight loss benefits to saffron that is achieved by regulating the hormone that will help to prevent compulsive eating among people and therefore help to avoid weight gain. There have been studies conducted where saffron has been used as a possible weight reducing product as the results of the tests have shown that people who took saffron containing supplement lost a lot more weight than people who placebo.

Depression

Saffron is known to help influence the levels of serotonin in the brain and this helps to cheer up the person. Serotonin is a hormone that improves the mood of a person and the more serotonin in the brain, the cheerful the person will be. It is this serotonin that helps people to avoid over eating and the same hormone helps people who are suffering from low to moderate depression. Studies have been conducted on people who suffer from depressions and when they were treated with the help of supplements that contained saffron, the results were a lot better than people who opted for normal placebo. The results of the test have been able to prove that saffron is as effective as depression treatments and therefore is slowly finding its way into treatment of depression.

Premenstrual Syndrome

There are a lot of changes that happen in the body of a woman during menstruation, but there are some women who experience a few emotional and physical symptoms just before they experience their menstrual cycle. Such symptoms can be experienced in the week the menstruation starts or a week before that. A study was done on a few women who have premenstrual syndrome by giving them saffron supplements for two menstrual cycles and the results of the study have concluded that the women experienced a significant decrease in PMS symptoms. The symptoms that the women experienced were a lot less than those experienced by women who took placebo and therefore it can be said that saffron helps to reduce Premenstrual Syndrome symptoms in women.

There is no denying the fact that the assumptions are based on tests that have been conducted by various researchers and that there is a lot more research that is needed in order to substantiate the claims and the results of the test. To know about what Dr. Oz has to say about saffron, check out the following link http://www.ibtimes.com/saffron-extract-benefits-6-reasons-why-dr-ozs-natural-weight-loss-aid-can-work-you-413820

 

About the Author

Matthew Anton is a research blogger who is currently looking into the recent claims of the health benefits of saffron flower.

« Older Entries
rss facebook twitter
Advertise with IZEA Media

  • Featured Video

Sponsored by Curry and Spice