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Quick and Easy Lunches for the Cooking Challenged

Let’s face it, cooking is not a top priority in the lives of every man, woman, or child on the planet. In fact, far too people have made learning to cook a priority in their lives. This means that we often exist on convenience foods and boxed mixes rather than taking the effort to prepare healthy meals for our families and our own personal enjoyment.

The same holds true for lunches when we often resort to a can of soup or box of macaroni and cheese or some other such product rather than putting our creative efforts into making a quick and easy yet delicious lunch. You will see many ideas in this article and the hope is that these ideas will not only get you off to a great start for ending the lunch rut we all seem to find ourselves in at some time or another but also to try new things on your own.

First of all, not all great lunches require actual cooking in order to prepare. Some of them will require the use of the microwave and some of them will need to be cooked or at least prepared before hand and reheated. The choices are virtually limitless once you understand the creative concept that must be in place. You should also find that many of these ideas are so simple you will wonder why on earth you have never thought of them. I certainly hope that some of these ideas will become main features within your own home.

Lettuce wraps. These mike delightfully delicious lunch treats and the filling can be prepared ahead of time, which leaves only reheating the filling and wrapping when you’re ready to eat. This is a fun lunch to share with your little ones and it teaches them that lettuce is much more versatile than people often give it credit for being. Some people choose to go with a teriyaki inspired filling; my family likes taco inspired fillings for our lettuce rolls. You are perfectly free to come up with a favorite filling of your very own.

Try sandwiches with different breads. Believe it or not, my children love trying new things. It’s a rare trait for which I am extremely grateful. Believe me I understand all too well how fortunate I am. My youngest however, has a little difficulty with thick or crusty bread. Her favorite sandwich choice has become Hawaiian sweet rolls. We put the meat, cheese, mustard, and pickle in her roll as if it were a bun and she’s thrilled. Other great ideas include hollowing out crusty rolls and filling them with roast beef and cheddar. You can broil this in your oven for a few minutes for a rare sandwich treat. The cooking part is very minimal and you do not have to have in depth knowledge of anything to prepare or enjoy these simple treats. Other great bread ideas include croissants with ham and cheese or chicken salad, taco pitas (another great favorite in our household), and paninis (this works really well if you have a George Foreman grill or a panini press).

While this is by no means the end all be all guide to cooking quick and easy lunches it is good food for thought. The hope is that this will get your own creative juices flowing so that you can prepare wonderful lunches for your family without needing to do too terribly much heavy cooking in the process.

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Making Italian Food With Pasta

For many Italian food lovers and aspiring Italian food chefs, the first dish to be attempted from home is typically a pasta dish. Pasta is known as an Italian food that is easy to make. However, homemade Italian food dishes with pasta often end up falling flat. Here are a few things to keep in mind when preparing pasta at home.

First of all, your attempt at Italian food will only be as good as the pasta you use to make it with. When shopping for your pasta make sure you are buying a good brand that uses only quality ingredients. For instance, if buying dried pasta you should only buy brands that use just semolina flour. Any other type of dried pasta will taste like counterfeit Italian food. A good quality pasta will have a rough surface. The texture of the pasta will determine if it will be able to hold onto the sauce that it is served with. Smooth pasta is an instant indicator that you are dealing with an inferior brand. It is also important that the pasta be dense and heavy for its size.

If the pasta is too light it will fall apart when it is cooked. You want to make sure to avoid the mass produced and cheap pasta; otherwise your Italian food will not be satisfying. When shopping for fresh pasta you want to make sure that you pay attention to the expiration date, unlike dried pasta, fresh pasta does not have a long shelf life. Take a look at the pasta and if it looks cheap then it is. If it looks to have a good quality color and texture and is heavy, then that is the pasta that will give you the best tasting Italian food. The best bet when shopping for pasta is to see if there is a bakery that specializes in Italian food. Many such bakeries make pasta fresh daily and the quality will far out do anything that you will find at the store. The best way to get authentic Italian food is to get it from Italians.

Once you have bought your pasta you are halfway to enjoying good Italian food. The most important thing to remember when cooking pasta is to not overcook it. Mushy pasta is never good. For good tasting Italian food you want the pasta to be tender, yet firm to the teeth. Fresh pasta will take less time to cook than dried pasta. You want to make sure and use a large pot with an abundance of water. Bring the water to a boil and then liberally add salt. If you don’t salt the water then the pasta will taste bland compared to the sauce it is served with. After you’ve salted the water it is time to add the pasta. If you have plenty of water that is brought to a vigorous boil before adding the pasta then you shouldn’t have problems with the pasta sticking and it should cook evenly. Good Italian food sauce makes use of the water that was used to boil the pasta, so make sure to save a cup of it to add to the sauce. Also, don’t ever rinse the pasta after you’ve cooked it, otherwise you will be stripping away the flavor of your Italian food.

Hopefully these tips will help you make better Italian food. If you haven’t tried preparing Italian food yourself then give it a try starting with the most fundamental Italian food, pasta.

Hungary For Wine

Despite what many may think, the area known as Hungary holds more wine tradition than any other country in Europe. Most of this very tradition is just now surfacing in the light, with people finally starting to catch wind about everything Hungarian wine has to offer. Even though many wine drinkers arent familiar with Hungary – there are many who are.

Hungary is home to over 20 wine regions, fully of forests, vineyards, and orchards. With several different varieties of grapes to offer, the vineyards found in Hungary have flourished since the great Roman Times. The weather in Hungary is seasonal to say the least, with cold winters and extremely hot summers. This weather allows the soil in the country to be diverse, which allows wine makers to create a variety of quality wines.

Despite the communist control in the past, there are several different wines found in Hungary. Although the vineyards here produce a lot of excellent wines, Tokay Aszu is by far the favorite here and the wine that locals always love raising their glass to. Tokay Aszu is a popular wine with meals or dessert, in Hungary and also happens to be one of the most popular dessert wines in the entire world.

Tokay Aszu was discovered in the mid 17th century in Hungary, quickly becoming a favorite for many European aristocrats. Even though it was great to the taste, many believed that certain types of the wine had mystical healing powers. Although this was strictly a rumor, it actually helped the wine become more popular than ever. Over the years, Tokay Aszu was one indeed the most popular wine in Hungary, spreading to other areas of the world as well.

Egri Bikaver, also referred to as Bulls Blood is another popular wine found in Hungary. This is another popular wine for locals, and can be found throughout the world as well. Getting its name from its color, Bulls Blood is truly a feast for anyone who likes wine. The wine is dark red in color, yet sweet to the taste. The wine was first developed back in the 16th century, and remains popular even to this day.

If you ever visit Hungary, there are many places you can visit to get some great wine. You should also make a point to visit Tokay, located in the northeast. You can take a train from Budapest and arrive here in a few hours. There are several different wine flavors and varieties here, sure to please just about anyone. The wineries found throughout the Tokay area are normally open for tours and tasters from May to the end of October. If you visit during these months, you can tour the underground cellars, sample the superb wine, and learn more than you ever thought possible about the manufacturing of Hungarian wines.

All in the all, the wine found in Hungary is great to have in your collection or just have around the house for special occasions. You can get it by the bottle, the glass, or by the case. All types of Hungarian wine has been perfected over the years, making it something that you really cant go wrong with. If you like to drink wine, as most of us do, you really cant go wrong with any type of Hungarian wine. Hungarian wine gives wine lovers plenty to study, plenty to order, and plenty to drink. The wine is very tasty and refreshing – and it helps to keep the nation of Hungary thirsty for more.

Chocolate Belgian Waffle Recipe

The waffle is a cake-like breakfast bread made out of batter. The batter is usually a mixture of sugar, oil, flour, eggs and milk poured into a iron that has designs in it and no, we are not talking about the average flat iron that we use on clothes. The iron used in baking waffles generally has a honeycomb like design in it and can be bought in numerous shapes. Some are heart-shaped, cone-shaped or even shaped like a cloud. The common waffle iron has the distinctive crisscross pattern. The pattern is the result of the elevated divisions on the iron.

There are a large number of types of waffles. There are the light, crisp waffles; the waffles that are like apple pie that smells and tastes like the real apple pie; cinnamon waffles; the light and softy chocolate chip and butter milk waffles that are so fluffy and light; the cornmeal waffles that has a light and crunchy texture; the gingerbread waffles poured with a chocolate sauce; the crispy maple walnut waffle that has a full maple flavor within but the outer part is super crispy and of course who can forget the famous Belgian waffle. Most if not all of this are best served topped with butter, syrup or even fruits like raspberries or strawberries. And due to the insistent demand for Belgian waffles, below is a recipe of a chocolate Belgian waffle.

Ingredients:

For the Topping:

18 Ounces of dark chocolate, chopped up
1 Cup of heavy cream
12 Tablespoons of butter (unsalted) cut into cubes
1/2 Cup of corn syrup (light)
2 pinches of salt
4 Teaspoons of vanilla

Direction:

Throw in all the ingredients except for vanilla. Then mix everything in. Place over boiling water on a low heat; whip until melted and soft. Remove from high temperature and boiling water; beat with vanilla in a whisking manner. Place in a ceramic bowl them microwave at moderate power for a minute. Then fold the ingredients very well until very smooth. Then microwave for twenty minutes then stir well until the topping is silky soft. Chill for a moment. If you are not going to use it immediately, store it in the refrigerator. It is best served when warm.

For the waffles:

4 squares or 4 ounces of dark chocolate, chopped up
4 squares or 4 ounces of unsweetened chocolate, chopped up
4/6 cups of heavy cream
4 pieces of large eggs (Large, at room temperature)
6/8 cups plus 4 tablespoons of milk
4 cups of cake flour
1 cup plus 4 tablespoons of sugar
4 teaspoons of baking powder
1 pinch of salt

Direction:
In a little heatproof bowl, mix chopped chocolates with heavy cream. Put over boiling water on a low heat. Whip until almost thawed out. Remove from high temperature and boiling water. Beat until soft. Then cool by stirring the batter occasionally until room temperature.

In a medium sized bowl, beat the egg yolks and milk until well-mixed. Set aside. Sift the sugar, cake flour, salt and baking powder into a medium-sized bowl. When the chocolate mixture is at room temperature, add now the dry ingredients together with the egg yolk and milk mixture. Fold until blended, should a few lumps appear just ignore.

Preheat the waffle maker. While the waffle maker heats, you may start cleaning a small bowl with a clean beater, beat the egg whites on high speed to stiffen the peaks. Tenderly fold into the batter until there the white streaks disappears.

Then follow the manufacturers instructions for cooking waffles because waffle makers vary from the amount of batter you are going to put on the divisions.

Callebaut Belgian Chocolate: The World’s Finest Chocolate from Belgum

From chocolate bars to chocolate cakes, a lot of people simply love eating chocolate. Even people on strict diet have admitted that they cheated at least once when they were dieting by eating chocolate. In fact, dieting people have humorously said that chocolates were their number one enemy in a war and they always lose.

Although chocolates have existed for centuries, almost everyone still enjoys eating chocolate. Some people even dubbed this delicious treat as the “happy food” where it can put a smile to depressed people after eating one. In a more medical approach, researchers have found that chocolate is definitely good for your body. It reduces blood pressure, and it was also found that the chemicals found in chocolates keeps your blood flowing and it also keeps your heart healthy.

You also need to consider that old people who loves eating chocolate outlived other people of the same age because they testified that chocolates keeps them happy, and it keeps them feeling younger.

Indeed, this guilty pleasure candy is considered to be the most popular candy in the world.

If you love chocolate and you love to make chocolate products and delicacies, you should consider getting a Callebaut Belgian chocolate. Callebaut Belgian chocolates are considered to be the world’s finest chocolates and are used by popular restaurants all over the world for their chocolate delicacies.

Callebaut has been producing chocolates for 120 years and is a well known company for producing the finest chocolates in the world. In fact, Callebaut chocolates are the number one choice of professionally pastry chefs, chefs de cuisine, and even ice cream manufacturers all over the world. Callebaut chocolates are superior in quality and it can be used in any of your cooking with chocolates included in recipes.

Callebaut only makes its chocolates from the only finest grades of cocoa beans found in the south. They ensure high quality chocolates to their clients and are trusted by their clients all over the world. Whether you are a professional pastry chef, or you just like to cook chocolate delicacies, or you just want to eat chocolate, Callebaut chocolates is you chocolate of choice.

You can be sure that the chocolates provided by Callebaut (whether you like it mixed in with other foods as part of the ingredient or you just want to eat it in its pure form) are made with the highest quality cocoa beans that you will surely love.

If you love making chocolate pastries, Callebaut can offer a one-of-a-kind chocolate taste that will significantly improve your chocolate pastries where every member of your family and friends will surely love.

Callebaut chocolates can be ordered in blocks or it can also be ordered in its liquid form. Whatever kind of chocolate you want, you can be sure that Callebaut has it.

They also offer different kinds of chocolates, from dark chocolate to milk chocolate and even white chocolate, you will surely have what you want with Callebaut chocolates.

So, if you are looking for a way to improve your chocolate pastries and other chocolate delicacies, you should purchase Callebaut chocolates. This Belgian chocolate can satisfy your chocolate cravings and purchasing in bulk will provide you with great discounts.

Whether you own a pastry shop, or you just simply love cooking chocolate delicacies for your family and friends, you can be sure that Callebaut chocolates can satisfy your chocolate cravings. Your chocolate delicacies will be one of the best with Callebaut chocolates.