Back to School Recipe: Healthy oasted and Spicy Pumpkin Seeds Snack

1 1/3 cup fresh pumpkin seeds, cleaned and rinsed
1 tsp salt
1 tsp crushed red pepper
½ tsp black pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
2tsp of another spice you enjoy

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a bowl, combine the pumpkin seeds with the spices. Place the pumpkin seeds on a baking tray, sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, and bake for approximately 15 minutes. The seeds should be slightly golden brown and crispy. Remove from the oven and let them cool completely.

Place in mini plastic (snack size) baggies and put in your kids lunch box for a healthy snack.

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Easy Make Ahead Fruit Salad

3 T. chopped crystallized ginger
2 T. lemon juice
1/4 cup honey
2 cups cubed cantaloupe
2 cups cubed honeydew melon
3 cups cubed fresh pineapple pieces
4 cups sliced strawberries
1 cup raspberries

Combine ginger, lemon juice and honey in bowl and whisk until well.

Add all fruit to mixture except for strawberries and raspberries.  Mixt gently covering fruit completely.  Cover and place in refrigerator for a minimum of 8 hours.  Stir once during refrigeration.  Just before serving add berries and stir.

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Quick Cherry Tomato Broccoli Yum

1 broccoli bunch
12 cherry tomatoes
3 tablespoons minced parsley
2 tablespoons chopped chives
Salt to taste

Wash and cut broccoli.  Slice tomatoes into quarters.  Place cut up broccoli in a take along bowl.  Add cherry tomatoes on top of broccoli.  Next sprinkle parsley, chives and salt on top of tomatoes.  Do NOT mix ingredients.  Cover bowl and chill in refrigerator until you’re ready to eat.  Once you are ready to eat, remove lid from container and mix ingredients together.  Microwave for 6-8 minutes depending on whether you want your broccoli soft or crunchy.  Serve.

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Easy Almond Oat Milk

1 cup oatmeal cooked
2 cups distilled water
1/4 cups almonds
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 dates

Combine all ingredients in a blender and mix well.  Add 5 cups of distilled water to mixture and strain to remove pulp.  Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.  Shake before serving.

Tip: You can add the pulp left from the straining step to muffins, breads or hot cereals for added flavor.

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Barbecuing, a Fun and Convenient Way to Make Dinner

“There’s nothing more enjoyable than having friends and family gathered around amidst the wonderful smells of charcoal-grilled prawns, vegetables and selected favorites. Barbecuing is one of those time- honored rituals that go hand in hand with summertime. Whether you’re in your backyard or at you’re favorite camping site, barbecuing is a pleasure to be enjoyed by the whole family.”

Barbecuing has never been more exciting; with the endless designs of barbecues available and the myriad of barbecue cookbooks and cooking shows it really does take barbecuing into a whole new realm. With recipes for everything from grilled bananas to peaches and dry rubs for ribs, barbecues aren’t just for cooking steaks and burgers anymore. With all the available barbecuing options it helps to know a few of the barbecuing terms and barbecuing utensils that are used.

Firstly, barbecues come in a wide variety of options; there are propane, natural gas and the standard barbecues for use with charcoal. Barbecues can come with range style one, two and four burner options along with rotisseries. There are even barbecues that have coolers built right into the bottom! Barbecuing has never been quite so convenient.

Accessories

When you’re using your barbecue it really helps to have the right utensils and barbeque accessories, this will make your barbecuing experience easier and more enjoyable. Long handled tongs, basting brushes and spatulas are quite helpful. Heavy-duty oven mitts can also be useful. Of course you don’t want to forget the proper wire brushes and scrubbers (crumpled foil even works well) to remove build-up, keeping your grill racks clean.

Foods that are tender such as fish, vegetables and some burgers can benefit from cooking in a special grill basket (this way you aren’t loosing any of your meal into the barbecue). There are also special racks available to be used with corn, potatoes, ribs and meat.

An excellent barbecue accessory is the grill wok, with this you can make you’re favorite stir fries and vegetable dishes; the wok has small holes throughout that allow heat and smoke to penetrate the food. Another great grill accessory is the grill pizza tray used mostly for grilled pizza. Other grill accessories include; the grill topper used for fish and vegetables providing an even cooking surface, which prevents foods from falling through the grill rack; you can never have too many skewers in assorted lengths which can be used with a skewer rack for grilling your favorite marinated vegetables and meats; smoker boxes for gas grills filled with soaked wood chips add a wonderful smoked flavor to foods. Lastly foil packets are available or simple tin foil to wrap foods, just remember that you may be sacrificing the grill and smoke flavors when foods are wrapped tightly.

Grilling Processes

After you have the utensils and proper grilling accessories needed for you’re barbeque experience you’ll want to familiarize yourself on the different types of grilling processes and terms to find the ones that work best for you and to know exactly what has to be done. To start, basting is probably the most familiar of barbecuing terms, a simple brushing with a seasoned liquid adding both flavor and moisture to your food. A brochette is just French for a kabob, or simply food cooked on a skewer. A glaze is a glossy, flavorful coating on food as it cooks as a result of regular basting.

Three very popular methods of barbecuing are the direct grilling, dry smoking and indirect grilling methods. Direct grilling is probably the most popular grilling used, it is when food is placed directly over the flame. It is a fast method because of the intense heat and allows for browning on the outside of foods. This process works best for food requiring short cooking times such as burgers and steaks, you must remember to turn food over to allow cooking on both sides. The dry smoking method is achieved by placing a grill rack indirectly over the heat source with the barbecue lid down, this allows the flame to burn thus creating smoke which covers the food, giving you a smoky flavor. Lastly the indirect grilling is a slow process of cooking because of less heat, it is done by surrounding a drip pan with the coals and putting the food over the pan, so the hot air circulates around the food (similar to a convection oven). It is wise to check with your barbecue owner manual for indirect grilling specific to your barbecue, roasts work well with this method.

After you’ve acquired the barbecue and all the necessary cooking utensils and accessories you’re ready for the best part of barbecuing and that is the cooking of the food. Sauces, marinades and rubs are popular cooking ideas when barbecuing. Barbecue sauce can be said to define a great barbecue. Whether you use a little or a lot is a matter of preference. A sauce often includes sugar, honey or preserves, which can cause the sauce to burn when cooking; a suggestion is to brush your sauce on in the last five to ten minutes of cooking. There are a wide variety of sauces and glazes to be made ranging from apple butter barbecue sauce to raspberry piquant sauce.

Marinades are used for soaking your choice of meat, tofu or vegetables. The marinating both tenderizes and permeates the food with flavor, adding flavor and promoting crisp brown exteriors, changing an otherwise average dinner into a great one. Marinades are virtually fool proof and can be made in advance refrigerated in an airtight container for up to a week. The three basic ingredients in a marinade are; flavorings such as herbs, spices, sweeteners; oils which keep the food pliable and give a crispy crust; acids such as citrus juices, wines, vinegars and yogurts used to balance the sweetness. It is suggested to use the acids sparingly on fish and poultry, as they will soften the flesh when used.

A virtually fat free and easy way to add flavor to food is by using a variety of bold seasonings in a rub. The food is rubbed with spices prior to grilling, the rub transforms into a crunchy brown crust that seals in the juices and enhances the flavors of the food. The spices should be generously applied coating the entire surface of the food; the food should then be covered and put in the fridge for 15 minutes to 2 hours. Simplicity is the key for making rubs, salt and sugar are two of the main ingredients and the rest are up to you.

In summary, whatever your barbecuing specialty might be barbecues can be both a fun and convenient way to make dinner. Summertime needn’t be the only time of year that you’re barbecuing, if weather allows you can barbecue all year round. The options have never been more exciting, and the variety of foods and recipes never more abundant.

About the Author: Valerie Giles owns and operates Best BBQ Online, a resource web site featuring barbecue grills, grill accessories and BBQ recipes and marinades. Everything you need for the barbecuing season. http://www.best-bbq-online.com. Try some of our complimentary Mouth Watering Rotisseries Recipes.

Easy Crockpot Chicken

This is not that quick to cook. However, it is easy and prep is quick.

1 chicken cut up, or your favorite pieces
1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce
dried oregano, garlic salt, your favorite herbs, all to taste.

Cut chicken into pieces, if needed. Dump chicken pieces into crock pot. Dump 1 jar spaghetti sauce over chicken. Shake dried oregano and garlic salt (or your other favorite additives to spaghetti sauce), to taste.
Put lid on crock pot and turn the pot on LOW.

Cook all day

CAREFULLY remove the chicken from the crock pot to a serving platter (it’s tender and will fall apart , so be careful), then spoon the leftover liquid into a gravy boat or whatever you serve spaghetti sauce in.

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Easy Iced Coffee

Hot strong coffee
Ice cubes
Cream
Sugar

Brew coffee, fill tall glasses with ice and slowly pour hot coffee in glass. Serve with cream and sugar if desired.

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Easy Raspberry Sauce

1 10 oz. package frozen raspberries, thawed
1 T. cornstarch
1/3 C. red currant jelly

Drain raspberries, reserving syrup. Add enough water to syrup to make 3/4 cup.

In a small saucepan, combine syrup mixture and cornstarch; mix well. Add jelly; cook, stirring constantly, until thickened and clear. Stir in raspberries. Refrigerate until cold.

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Easy Giblet Gravy

Giblets and neck of chicken or turkey
2 tablespoons chicken or turkey fat
2 tablespoons flour
Salt and pepper

To prepare this Giblet Gravy Recipe, first place the giblets (liver, heart and gizzard) and the neck in a saucepan, and cover them with cold water. Simmer slowly and when tender remove meat from the neck, and chop fine with the giblets, saving the water in which they were cooked. Heat the fat on top of the stove and when it is hot, stir in the flour. Cook two minutes, then add one cup of the stock left from cooking the giblets, pouring it in gradually so as not to thin the gravy too much. If the gravy seems too thick, add a little hot water. Lastly, put in the chopped giblets, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

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Easy Beef Gravy

1 1/2 tbsp. flour
1/4 c. milk
1 (10 1/2 oz.) can beef bouillon
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix milk and flour and add to chicken bouillon. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Yields: 1 1/2 cups.

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