Christmas Foods that Kids can Prepare

Christmas is a holiday where the entire family tries to get together. Sweet smells waft from the kitchen as those with the talent prepare meal after meal to everyone's delight. If you have kids, get them in on the Christmas cooking craze.

It is a common myth that kids don't want anything to do with the kitchen. In fact, kids love to cook. How do you think we got so many wonderful chefs in the world? When you invite them in and give them something to do, kids will jump at the chance to cook in the kitchen.

No matter what you are cooking (or baking) in the kitchen, the key here is cleanliness. In preparation, buy your child their own apron. Aprons will protect their clothing, giving them a place to wipe their hands. Also, keep plenty of paper towels and hand soap available as they will be washing their hands quite a lot.

Baking is the easiest thing to start with. Let your kids cut their culinary teeth on breakfast. Biscuits are a favorite place where they can learn and not get in trouble for making a mess. As you go from step to step, explain to your kids what you are about to do.

Baking involves most of the work to be done away from the stove. You can set up a work area on the kitchen table or the counter if your kids are tall enough. Let them create there while you prep the stove for the food.

For any recipe, begin by gathering your ingredients and utensils. It will feel like a kitchen show; your kids will love that. Show them how to do each step and then let them take over from there.

We mentioned biscuits before. Anything that goes into the oven is a good start for kids:

• Christmas cookies
• Breakfast casserole
• Cakes
• Rolls
• Dinner meats

With the dinner meat, you will have to help them carry it to the stove, but they can pour the brown sugar glaze (if you like that) onto the ham, season the outside of the turkey, sprinkle pecans on the sweet potato casserole and many other small tasks.

Your kids will get the hang of baking and stove-top cooking with a little assistance. The holidays are a relaxing and jovial time to let your kids begin cooking with you. Teach them the basics of hygiene, preparation and creating so they will want to cook all of the time.

Christmas Cooking: Creating Christmas Sweets to Die For

What is the one thing everyone enjoys at Christmas time? Arguably it could be sweets. There is nothing like a cookie, slice of cake or gum drop around the holidays. Here are some tips to make sure that those delectable morsels are just as tasty as their sugarplum visions.

Working with Chocolate

When you create a recipe that calls for chocolate, it is so easy to go wrong here. Instead of using the store-bought chocolate syrup, make your own. Buy the chocolate bricks and melt them yourself. Keep the heat under the saucepan low so that the chocolate doesn't burn while it melts.

Dark chocolate is the new healthy chocolate for the 21st century. It is full of antioxidants and great taste. Use it for decorating cakes, cookies, breads and pies. Use some of that melted chocolate in a plastic bag to pipe out all sorts of cool designs onto wax paper. Once they cool, you can carefully place them on any dessert that you wish.

Butter

The rest of the year, this word gets sneer and jeers, but at Christmas, it is spot on. There is no substitute for using regular butter in your dessert recipes. Well, there is but it won’t give you the same taste or texture in your sweets. To compensate, eat a little less of each dessert, but by all means taste them all.

When working with margarine, part of it is water. It says that on the box. Water evaporates when baking and can partially dry out your recipes. Butter is also creamier when softened and whipped. It keeps your cakes, breads, cupcakes and cookies moist like they need to be. Unless the recipe calls for stiff butter, let it come to room temperature on the counter before using.

Fruit

Apple pies, peach cobblers and blueberry blintzes are all great during the holidays. Fruit can be expensive since most of your choices are out of season. If you can’t find fresh at a reasonable price, opt for frozen choices. It’s as close to fresh as you can get.

If you keep your fruit in the fridge to prolong freshness, make sure that you allow them to come to room temperature before using them in delicious dessert recipes. Fruit will juice better when warm. Scalding fruits with removable skins helps the skin to peel off easier so you don’t have to ruin the look of the fruit doing it the hard way.

Here are just a few tips for creating those desserts your family will love all holiday long. Christmas is the one time of year that they don’t want you to skimp on flavor or presentation.

Harvesting the Benefits of Green Smoothie with Almond Milk

Green smoothie lovers have found a great way of making their drink more fun. Concocting green smoothie with almond milk is just another mean of enjoying the delectable drink without guilt. It tastes like marzipan reminding us of our childhood days when birthday cakes and all those sweet treats made us shriek with delight. This healthy drink is made healthier with all the benefits almond can give.

Almonds are edible nuts with extensive health benefits that can be enjoyed by people suffering from heart disorders, constipation, impotency, diabetes, respiratory disorders, and coughs. Almond extracts are also found as valuable ingredients in products used to maintain healthy skin, hair, and teeth. The highly nutritious nut is a tiny well of vitamin E, calcium, magnesium, iron and phosphorous. It is one of most nutrient-packed nuts containing zinc, copper, niacin, and selenium. With all these substances, people proactively add almonds in their diet, including green smoothie with almond milk.

Based on research, here are some of the benefits to be gained from almonds:

• It is good for the brain – Almonds contain many nutrients beneficial to the human brain. They are considered an essential food ingredient ideal for growing children to help develop higher intellectual level.
• It regulates cholesterol level – Regular consumption of almonds balances the level of HDL (high-density lipoproteins) and LDL (low-density lipoproteins).
• It is good for the heart – The presence of protein, potassium, healthy fats, and magnesium in every piece of almond help in maintaining a healthy heart. The high amount of antioxidants found in almonds help reduce homocysteine, the cause of fatty plaque build-up in the arteries thus it greatly prevents the occurrence of heart attacks.
• It cares for the skin – Almond oil is recommended for use with infants. Its vitamin E content is a known to be beneficial to skin that is why almond milk is usually found in skin beauty products such as soap and lotion.
• It is good in pregnancy – Almonds are great source of folic acid, and essential nutrient that helps reduce the incidence of deformation among newborn babies.

Traditionally, almonds are eaten raw or cooked. However, they can be extracted to produce oil to flavor food as well as almond milk that can serve as a delicious beverage and a healthier alternative to dairy products. It is best for weight loss. The great amount of mono-saturated fat in almonds can satiate the appetite and prevents one from overeating. A recommended ingredient for obese and weight-watchers, green smoothie with almond milk is a good low-calorie diet for shedding the excess pounds. The following is a simple recipe that can be prepared if you want to have smoother skin.

Almond Milk Green Smoothie Recipes

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups water
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 cup tightly packed kale
• 1 cup peaches
• 1 piece ripe banana
• 1 cup oats (use raw oat groats if following a raw food diet or oatmeal if there is no high powered blender)
• 1/4 cup apricots (or any other dried fruit)
• 1/4 cup ground almonds

Combine all ingredients gradually one after the other in a blender. Add water if the blended ingredients become too thick. If the smoothie has turned too warm, add cold water or ice cubes into it. Preparation is only five minutes before two people can enjoy the thick smoothie.

Smoothie lovers are quick to advocate the value of green smoothie with almond milk. It is more nutritious than yogurt or milk, and when combined with fresh fruits and vegetable ingredients, almond milk adds more nutritional benefits that people cannot be wrong in making green smoothie the path to a healthier lifestyle.

A Heavenly and Creamy Fare Using Fresh Coconut Milk

Coconut milk is very common if you are from the Southeast Asia – Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines – or from Brazil, Caribbean, Polynesia, and Pacific islands. The liquid is extracted from the grated matured meat of a coconut. The color and rich taste of the milk can be ascribed to its high oil content. Fresh coconut milk is a very popular ingredient to the exotic cuisines in the tropics and the islands.

Use Coconut Milk Like Milk, Creamer, or Yoghurt

The coconut milk extracted fresh from matured fruits has a consistency and mild sweet taste comparable to cow’s milk. If it has been extracted properly, it is not supposed to have any coconut odor. For those who like the fresh taste of coconut milk, it makes a delicious creamer or as a milk substitute in tea, coffee. It can also be used in baking by vegetarians, vegans and by people with lactose intolerance. As a yoghurt substitute, it can be mixed with fruits and other dishes.

Making Savory Curries With Coconut Milk

Curry is a foremost cooking ingredient to many cuisines such Thai, Indonesian, Malaysian, and Sri Lankan. Fresh coconut milk makes the best base for the curry sauce. This is prepared by cooking the coconut milk first at high heat to break down the milk that will cause the oil to separate. The curry paste, which can be a blend of several spices, is then added including the other seasonings and ingredients.

Serabi cakes, a staple in Indonesia is simply rice flour cooked in coconut milk. In Brazil, it is a common ingredient in Northeastern cuisine. Seafood like lobsters, shrimps and fish, stews and desserts can be made more mouth-watering with coconut milk.

Extracting Fresh Coconut Milk

While you can use canned coconut milk, nothing compares to freshly squeezed coconut milk. Homemade versions are richer in flavor and contain more vitamin C, Vitamin B–complex, and Vitamin E. With the growing popularity of South East Asian cuisines, more and more people are coming to love the taste of freshly made coconut milk.

Making coconut milk is easy when it is done properly. In the Philippines, homemade coconut milk is done by grating the coconut kernel using an improvised grater made especially for this purpose. Those who want convenience can buy coconuts in the market where grating is provided as a free service. The grated coconut can also be pressed to extract the rich milk. Otherwise, the milk from the grated coconut is done by adding water and manually pressing it at home. The amount of water determines the thinness or thickness of the coconut milk.

Raw Fish Kinilaw

This dish can be made more exciting with regional variations. In certain places, the flavor is enhanced by adding grilled ‘liempo’ (pork cut from the upper thigh) while in another region the additional ingredient is salted egg (a Filipino version of century egg).

• Clean and cube 1/2 kilo of fresh fish like tuna or malasugue. Keep it chilled while the other ingredients are being prepared.
• Finely dice a piece of ginger, 2 pieces of red onion, and 2-4 pieces of chilies.
• Peel and thinly slice one radish and one cucumber.
• It is best to make your own coconut milk when preparing this dish. Add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the freshly grated coconut instead of water. Press the coconut to extract the sour milk.
• Get the chilled fish and put it in a medium-sized bowl. Season the fish with salt and lemon or calamansi juice.
• Put in the ginger, onion, and chilies. Add the sliced veggies.
• Pour the sour coconut milk in the mixture. Adjust the seasoning and add more chilies for more heat. Toss and serve cold.

This dish is simple, fresh, and healthy. Try this and enjoy the taste of fresh coconut milk that has been given a twist with vinegar.