Cool Breakfast Facts

According to a Harvard University – Massachusetts General Hospital study of children in Philadelphia and Baltimore schools, students who usually ate school breakfast had better math grades, higher standardized test scores, decreased absences and tardiness, reduced hyperactivity and improved social relations in comparison to children who seldom ate school breakfast.

The word “breakfast” literally means to break fast. As we know, fasting is the act of not eating over a period of time. We

may not think of it this way, but we virtually fast while we sleep — even if we dream about food. The act of eating breakfast is literally breaking the fast!

The National Weight Control Registry is a database of more than 3,000 people who have lost at least 60 pounds and kept it off for at least 6 years. Seventy eight percent of these people in the registry found that eating breakfast daily was an

excellent weight control strategy along with eating a low-fat diet and exercising for an hour or more every day. Continue reading “Cool Breakfast Facts”

What Can You Do With Your Food Storage?

You need to plan your food storage in terms of what you can actually MAKE out of the items. Wheat will do you no good if you don’t have other baking items necessary to make edible food out of it. Using the information from the book Marlene’s Magic with Food Storage as a general guideline, I have compiled a list of different food items you can cook depending on what items you currently have in your food storage. This should be a starting point for anyone when determining which items to begin accumulating or to see what items you should add to really enhance your meal options.

I would suggest getting a 3 month supply of all of these items first, and then moving on to a full year’s worth of food. You don’t want to end up with a year’s supply of wheat and unable to make even a loaf of bread because you don’t have the other ingredients.

Foods You Can Make Using Common Food Storage Items

If You ONLY Have: Water, Wheat, Salt, Shortening or Oil Continue reading “What Can You Do With Your Food Storage?”

Easy and Quick Vegan Recipes Ideas – Breakfast, Lunch and Dinners For The Busy Vegan

With veganism becoming increasingly popular nowadays, many folk on the vegan diet are in desperate need for quick and easy vegan recipes to accommodate their busy lifestyle. Fortunately over the past couple of decades an abundance of vegan recipe ideas and information has emerged to cater for the needs of this ever-growing veganism lifestyle. Below are some quick and easy vegan recipe ideas for your breakfast, lunch and dinners.

Easy & Quick Vegan Breakfast Recipes & Ideas

Pancakes

Stir together in a bowl: 1 Cup flour, 1 Tbsp. sugar, 2 Tbsp. baking powder, and a pinch of salt. Add 1 Cup Soy/Rice/Coconut milk and 2 Tbsp. oil. Mix ingredients together until batter is smooth. In a hot, oiled frying pan, spoon in large spoonfuls of the mixture. Flip sides when bubbles start to appear (approximately 2 minutes per side). Add more oil to frying pan as needed. Serve pancakes with maple syrup, agave nectar, molasses, soy yogurt, fruit, berries, or another topping of your choice. Continue reading “Easy and Quick Vegan Recipes Ideas – Breakfast, Lunch and Dinners For The Busy Vegan”

Orh Chien – The Famous Sarawak Oyster Pancake Like No Other

Besides the famous Sarawak laksa that is well known all over Sarawak, Sarawak is also famous for its Orh Chien, just like Tom yam soup is to Thailand. If you ever come to Kuching, Sarawak, you must also try Orh Chien, the famous Sarawak Oyster Pancake. Some people may call it Oyster omelette but in Sarawak, because the method of preparation is different, we prefer to call it Oyster Pancake because it is crispy, large and tasty.

The pancake is made of flour and egg. It is then deep fried until it is very crispy. Then a few oysters or mussels are thrown on top of the surface and fried together. You must eat it immediately when it is served because it is very crispy. You can eat it on its own or you can dip it into special soya sauce sprinkled with pepper.

As this pancake is very large piece, you would need to break it into small edible sizes. It can be a starter dish or you can eat it with your meal. After your first time trying it, you may be curious of how it is prepared. Well, I never get round to finding out the recipe but I managed to find out eventually. Continue reading “Orh Chien – The Famous Sarawak Oyster Pancake Like No Other”

Sauteed Eggs with Pork (Mu Xu Rou)

Mu Xu Pork is a kind of dish served by rolling it into very thin pancakes (Mu Xu pancakes) after frying eggs, pork and other Chinese vegetables. This is a very tasty Northern dish in China and favored by most families. It tastes the best when served with pancakes along with the special sweet seafood sauce (known as Hoysing (Cantonese) sauce in America, though it really should be called Hai Xian sauce you meant to say it in Chinese); it is also favored by many people as a side dish when eating with rice or congee. It is full of unique fragrance. Adding enough chopped raw scallions when you eat can bring out the best flavor.

Of course, depending on your preference, you may replace the pork with other meats like shrimps, chicken, beef, etc., or cook it without any meat to make it a vegetable Mu Xu. But traditionally when we talk about Mu Xu Rou in China, pork is always the king.

Ingredients Continue reading “Sauteed Eggs with Pork (Mu Xu Rou)”

Bohemian Pudding With Special Custard Recipe

This pudding was made in a border mould and after turning it onto a round porcelain dish from Royal Doulton we very carefully cut away a little section from the top of each pancake to reveal the mixed fruits inside.

Ingredients:-

12 very thin, small pancakes

1 oz. butter

approximately ½ pint sweetened apple puree

special custard

2 oz. diced glace cherries

1 oz. softened, diced angelica

3 oz. sultanas

Method:-
Continue reading “Bohemian Pudding With Special Custard Recipe”

Homemade Dutch Pancake Recipe

Pancakes are eaten across the world, though the range of styles and flavors is quite surprising. For example, over in Europe in France and Belgium, they tend to be very thin. However, in the US, it is common for them to be quite thick. Another take is the Dutch pancake recipe, which often makes for a meal in itself. Many people are surprised to learn that the humble pancake is a firm favorite on dining tables across the Netherlands, but it is true. However, these differ greatly from the crepes of France, being much more like an Italian pizza in many respects.

A traditional Dutch pancake recipe would be too large for most household kitchens, but here is a simple and tasty basic recipe with a few ideas, that is a little smaller. This should be good for two or three pancakes; ideal for the family. There a no more than three ingredients which make up the basis of a recipe, though salt, pepper and sugar can be added. All that is need is 125 grams, (or 4 ounces), of flour, an egg, and 250ml, (or half a pint), of milk. These should be beaten together, with the milk going in slowly, once the egg and flour have been thoroughly combined. Continue reading “Homemade Dutch Pancake Recipe”

Curtains, Pancakes and Broom Hockey – 12 Ways to Build Self Esteem in Kids

Few things are as rewarding as seeing your child glow from the inside out. And it happens when children have a high self esteem: when they know themselves to be unconditionally accepted, when they feel both loved and lovable, and when they feel a sense of belonging and self worth.

Here are twelve simple activities that have really made a difference in our family. These are the rituals that I find especially important to staying connected and to communicating my love and appreciation for each child.

1. Rely on rituals to help you reconnect. We have such a ritual following every school day. The kids think of it as “after school snack time” but I know it to be much more than that. It is a time when they tell me whatever they like about their day. Try to create this special time as soon as possible after their day away at school. I find that if I wait until later in the evening to ask them the same open ended questions, I hear mostly “I do not remember” and “Everything was fine.” For us, immediacy is important, and so is the ability to sit and listen without offering too much unsolicited advice. Family dinners are another wonderful time to reconnect. Continue reading “Curtains, Pancakes and Broom Hockey – 12 Ways to Build Self Esteem in Kids”

The One Recipe You Should Never Make With Your KitchenAid Mixer

A few weeks ago I was researching the KitchenAid stand mixer and I came across a blog post by someone that I thought was not the best advice. The blog post was all about making pancakes with your mixer (or any stand mixer really). Now the recipe was probably pretty good but the process is what was flawed in my opinion.

For me pancakes are all about being soft and light and fluffy. They should not be dense or chewy or gummy in any way. If I wanted that, I could make a trip to one of those all night breakfast joints and get a stack of hockey puck flap jacks.

No, for me pancakes need to be handled with care and attention. The reason is gluten. Now for a bit of food science. Gluten is a protein, actually it is a composition of 2 proteins named gliadin and glutenin. When water is added to wheat flour and then mechanically mixed, gluten forms. And it is this wonderful gluten that gives bread dough and pasta their chewy and elastic characteristics. But since the gluten content is increased by mechanical mixing or kneading, it is not something we ever want to do if we desire to have light and fluffy pancakes. Continue reading “The One Recipe You Should Never Make With Your KitchenAid Mixer”

Awesome Omelette and Pancake Recipes

Ingredients

4 eggs

A few shots of hot sauce

Half a green pepper (sliced into bits)

One onion (chopped)

Oil

Two tablespoons Butter

Continue reading “Awesome Omelette and Pancake Recipes”