Don't be afraid of recipes with too many ingredients.

I always cringe a little bit when I read user comments on recipe sites, and I find that the odd user is complaining that a recipe has ‘too many’ ingredients. There are so many delicious recipes out there, and though they make a little more time and an extra trip the grocery store, sometimes too many ingredients in a dish can be just the right amount.

This post is meant for all those people who would love to be aficionados in the kitchen but are a little shy about making that odd leap into the bewildering 5+ ingredient zone. Of course, since this blog is all about healthy weight loss, this post will focus on healthy ways to amp up your fine cooking skills.

How To Get Started Cooking

The main problem with having too many ingredients on your list is that you can feel overwhelmed. What if it’s too much? Too little? What if the recipe doesn’t say exactly how much spice to add? Will it be a disaster?

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Knives are essential tools in the kitchen.

I am a true believer that if you have a great chef’s knife in your kitchen, then you can prepare anything! A good knife is your secret weapon to cutting, chopping, skinning, dicing, and all other things to prepare your dishes and also make them look appetizing to eat. A good knife will cost you a decent chunk of money, but it’s an invaluable purchase because most of them can be sharpened and reused for years to come. If you’re on a budget, it’s better to allocate as much as you can towards a great knife and forgo other kitchen gadgets since your knife can do it all!

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Kids (and many adults) love ice cream novelty treats, but they tend to be full of processed, artificial ingredients and an over abundance of sugar. Many kids also love to help out in the kitchen and are more likely to try something when they’ve had a hand in creating it. So, for a fun and healthy treat, try making your own frozen novelties at home!

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The crisp, fragrant taste of fresh herbs is pure bliss. I grow my own basil, thyme, oregano, parsley, cilantro, and chives in my garden, and they’re easy to maintain.. If you don’t have the luxury to grow your own, or the green thumb for it,  then you are the perfect candidate to buy fresh herbs from the local grocery or farmer’s market and store them at home. Here’s a quick guide on the best way to store fresh herbs and how best to keep them alive:

Storing Long Stemmed Herbs Like Basil, Parsley & Cilantro

Store herbs in the fridge to keep them fresh.

Always go for herbs which have roots still attached to them. Long stemmed herbs such as basil, parsley and cilantro should be treated like a bouquet of flowers.Put them in a water-filled vase in a warm place, and de-leaf as much as you require[1]. Do NOT freeze these herbs because moisture will make their leaves wilt and blacken.  These varieties don’t do well inside the refrigerator.

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I’ve always been interested in foods that heal, and my blog would not be complete without mentioning the nutritional superstar, turmeric. I don’t think people use enough turmeric in their cooking, probably because it’s not a popular flavor in American food recipes.

What is Turmeric?

Fresh and Powdered Turmeric

A bright yellow spice, turmeric tastes like a peppery mixture of ginger and musky orange. You’ve probably tried it in egg salad and Indian curries, but it might surprise you to learn it’s also an ingredient in ballpark mustard. It also lends itself well to pickles, relish, chutneys, rice dishes, butter and cheese. Exotic and fragrant, turmeric is actually the powdered rhizome (root) of the plant Curcuma longa, a cousin of the ginger plant, and has been used in India for over 2500 years[1]. The yellow coloring substance present in turmeric, called curcumin, appears to be the major active component.

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Peppers are rich in vitamins and minerals.

Roasting a bell pepper seems to break all of the normal rules of cooking. You need to roast the pepper until it’s black and burnt, but once you peel away all the charred skin, a glorious treasure is revealed: sweet, soft and impeccably delicious. Red, orange and yellow peppers are best for this process..

Peppers Roasting on an Open Fire

First, remove the stem and innards of the pepper. Then, take your whole pepper and slice it into halves. You can then cook it directly over a flame or broiler with a pair of tongs. Be sure to turn it over ever so often so both sides are evenly cooked. When the skin chars evenly on all sides, turn off the heat and let it rest in a closed brown paper bag for a few minutes before rinsing it under cold water. The skin will easily slide off. Be careful though, as the pepper is Usually very hot. Too hot for bare hands, so use something to protect yourself when peeling the charred skin.

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Marinate meat before grilling.

If you haven’t cooked for a BBQ party yet, you’ve missed out. I have such fond memories of afternoons heralded by golden roasted corn on the cob, grilled Portobello mushrooms on spinach and grilled lean meat such as chicken and fish slathered in vegetables and enjoyed outside in the gentle sun. I love how you don’t use a lot of fats to grill food. In fact, during the grilling process, most of it slides right off.

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When was the last time you bit into a juicy citrus fruit? Oranges, lemons, grapefruits, kumquats and limes are all part of the citrus family and come in an array of perky rainbow hues: pink, red, green and yellow, all brightly proclaiming their nutritional value even before you cleave these juicy, bursting orbs in half.

In my humble opinion, the citrus fruit is underused. Juicing the citrus fruit is an easy way to get its health benefits, but you miss out on all that good fruit fiber which aids digestion and adds to the feeling of fullness.

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