Everybody loves Chinese take-out. From the delicious dumplings, to the stupendous spring rolls, to the spicy and flavorful meat dishes, Chinese food is a favorite of Americans everywhere. Despite the popularity of Chinese take-out, few people attempt Chinese cooking in their own homes. Perhaps they are under the impression that it is too difficult, or maybe they are concerned about the quality of the results. However, the truth is that Chinese cooking at home is not only simple, it?s healthy too!Taste For Less

One of the main advantages of cooking Chinese food at home is that you can get the same taste without paying such a high price for your health. Most meals that can be ordered from a Chinese restaurant contain anywhere from 500 to over 1,000 calories. Not only that, but these meals are also known for their high sodium content. Preparing your own Chinese food at home means that you can have control over the amount of sauces and food that you prepare, resulting in healthier meals.

Doesn?t This Look Familiar?

The methods for cooking Chinese food are actually quite similar to methods used in American cooking. Though there are some cooking methods unique to Chinese cooking, other methods are fairly universal. The main methods used in Chinese cooking are boiling, roasting, and shallow frying.

Reminiscent Of Restaurant Cuisine

When preparing Chinese food at home, the result usually turns out to be similar to what you would taste in a Chinese restaurant. You can find Chinese recipes in many cookbooks, or on the Internet. One popular Chinese dish that can easily be prepared at home is Sweet and Sour Chicken.

To prepare Sweet and Sour Chicken, you will need: 1 clove minced garlic, ? teaspoon dry ginger, 1 diced onion, 1 sliced bell pepper, 1-2 shredded carrots, 1 cup Chinese cabbage, 4 tablespoons divided Peanut oil, 1 cup sliced celery, and 1 pound thinly sliced chicken breast. To prepare the sauce, you will need 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, ? cup brown sugar, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 1 cup chicken stock, ? teaspoon dry ginger, ? cup ketchup, and a pinch of garlic powder.

Begin by heating two tablespoons of oil in a skillet or wok over high heat. Add all the vegetables, and cook until the onion is translucent. Place aside in a bowl. Add another two tablespoons of oil to the wok and add the chicken until fully cooked. Mix the sauce ingredients in a separate bowl, and add the sauce and vegetables to the wok along with the chicken. Cook for about seven minutes, until the sauce has become thick. Serve over white rice.

Turning Away From Takeout

Before you know it, you will be cooking Chinese food like a pro and will no longer have any need for that takeout joint down the street. Not only will your health benefit from this change, but your self-esteem will as well.

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In any family when one person gets excited about something new, everybody gets in on the act. And that is certainly true of children. They love to be active in whatever hobbies mom and dad love to be part of. So if you bowl, the kids want to go and play the video games. If you love Shakespeare in the park, the kids will go and play on the ground nearby. So if you can find a way to give the kids a part of what you are doing, that keeps the family together.

That may seem tough with a hobby like home brewing. After all, the process of brewing is pretty involved and there is boiling water and sterile instruments to think of. That kind of thing really isn’t fun for the kids. So if you can find a way to make a “beer” just for them, then they too can enjoy the excitement and feel part of what the adults are doing.

A way to fill this need is to brew up a delicious batch of ginger beer from for the kids. And the nonalcoholic beverage drinkers in the family will love it too! Of course, ginger beer is not real “beer” in the sense of an alcoholic brew although it can be mixed with beer for delightful and very British toddy. But it’s so easy to make that the kids can get involved and they will love the beverage that results almost as much as mom and dad love their home brewed beer.

It’s a good thing to have the procedures, tools and ingredients for your ginger beer all ready to go on brew day because it’s a great surprise to the kids to let them know that they are going to get to make their own beer too! Because the steps for making ginger beer are fast, easy and harmless, the kiddos can have a ball doing it using a very simple recipe and even if they drink it all gone, it’s easy enough to whip up another batch.

The ingredients for ginger beer are not exotic and they can be found at any grocery store. They include…

. Be ready with 8 plastic bottles that will hold a pint and 4 bottles that will hold a quart and some bowls to mix the ginger beer up with.
. Ginger - you can get it fresh at larger grocery stores. Two ouches is enough.
. Cream of tartar - about one teaspoon will do.
. Two lemons sliced.
. A pound of sugar
. An ounce of yeast
. Boil one gallon of water.

Now it’s just a matter of putting it all together. Cut the lemons in big sized rings and combine them in a big bowl with the other ingredients. The only other preparation you need to do besides boiling the water is to crush the ginger so it mixes with the water and other parts of the beer.

Now just chill the mixture to room temperature and add the yeast. Put it in the larger bottles to let it ferment for a couple of days. Once that is done, skim off the residue on top and your ginger tea is ready to enjoy.

Creating a progressive dinner routine is an excellent way to bring neighbors, friends and even families together. By spreading the work and cooking around to many people, these dinners present an excellent, relatively trouble-free way for folks to get to know each other better while enjoying a fun experience.

Progressive dinners typically involve multi-course meals that take place in different homes. They are generally hosted within neighborhoods, on a single block or even in apartment or condo complexes. The basic neighborhood setting tends to lend itself very well to walking between courses rather than driving. This can be especially beneficial if cocktails and nightcaps are included in the course lineup. There is nothing that prevents having courses take place further distances away, however. Just plan smart and omit these “courses” or designate a driver or two.

While a progressive dinner event can take place as a one-time thing, many participants find they enjoy them enough to start a tradition. For example, some people plan dinners on a monthly or every-other-month basis with very specific themes in mind. Others prefer to allow an anything-goes styling for meal planning, but keep the dinner tradition going on a fairly regular basis, passing cooking duties along to different hosts as they go.

If you’d like to get a progressive dinner tradition going in your neighborhood or with your friends and family, the effort doesn’t really involve all that much work. Pick an evening, enlist a few cooks and make a guest list. Make sure all the cooks involved know how many to expect. This can greatly impact the planning on their part, as well. If a theme is desired, select and share this in advance too.

The courses that are assigned or selected by participants during progressive dinners can be very extensive or quite basic. Options to consider include before-dinner drinks and hor d’ oeuvres, more substantial appetizers, soup and salad, main course with sides, desserts and then nightcaps.

If themes are desired, they can run the gamut. They might include such things as holiday fare, ethnic favorites, barbecue, picnic and more. The sky is really the limit.
Progressive dinners provide an interesting way for families to get closer or neighbors to get to know each other better. By providing a tasty way to socialize, these dinners are becoming staples of social life in many areas. Since they spread the work around, they are often adored by participants, as well.

Making Dried Fruit

Whether you have children in mind that need to eat healthier, or you are looking for a way to put more fruit into your own diet, making your own dried fruit can be a great way to get you out of a dietary rut and to make sure that you are getting the vitamins and natural sugars that are so healthy for you. The price of dried fruit can be a little high, however, and it will only be a matter of time before you realize that it is probably just as easy and cheap to dry the fruit yourself. Take a look below for a few things to keep in mind before you start buying your apples and bananas, however!

If you can get a food dehydrator, this is the most simple, straightforward and reliable way to dry your fruit. This device allows you control the temperature, the speed of drying and practically everything involved with the process of drying out whatever fruit you choose to put into it. It can also dry fruit without taking up valuable stove time, which is a plus for the busy individual. In a food dehydrator, fruits like apples and pears will dry at a stable 135 degrees Fahrenheit and come out looking great.

If you’d prefer to try it the old fashioned way, it is actually quite simple. First, decide on what fruits you are interested in drying. Apples and bananas are quite popular, and they are quite easy if you are looking for a simple first-time experience. The first thing you need to do to the fruit is cut it. While theoretically fruit of any shape or configuration can be dried, the drying process happens a great deal more swiftly and evenly if you cut the fruit into thin slices first.

Then, you will want to prepare the fruit. Many fruits will go brown or even blacken when they have been exposed too long to air, and to prevent this, you can briefly soak them in a variety of solutions that will help preserve their color. Fruit juice with a high level of citric acid, asorbic acid, or even a honey and water can help your fruit looking great. This should also be done to any fruits that you put in a food dehydrator.

There are several ways to dry your fruit after you have prepared it. For instance, you can use a plastic needle to thread your fruit onto clean cotton thread and set up a rack in the sun. This method can take a few days, depending on juicy the fruit is. Remember to put down a cloth to catch any drips. You can also use a conventional oven. To use this method, put down some wax paper over a cookie sheet and lay the fruit slices on it, without letting them touch each other. Set the oven to about 175 degrees and let it simply cook for a while. This will take several hours but don’t turn the oven up to speed the process!

Essentially, your fruit will be done whenever you feel it’s good to eat, so do some experimenting and give it a shot! This is a great and fun way to eat your fruits.

Nesco American Harvest FD-1010 Gardenmaster Food Dehydrator