Bread Omelets are a common and popular street food in India. There are as many way to prepare them as people who make them–recipes abound. Similar to French toast, bread is dipped in eggs and then cook with an egg omelet filling. In India, it is usually served with chutney.
Sometimes it is just plain fun to try something new. A bread omelet is jsut that! It makes a great, quick and easy, breakfast sandwich. The filling may be any combination of ingredients–eggs, cheese, veggies, meat, spices, and butter. Add a side salad and breakfast sandwich becomes lunch or dinner. Like other egg and cheese recipes, bread omelets should be consumed within 2 hours of preparation or refrigerated.
The Food Network website has a how-to video showing how easy it is to make a bread omelet. This one-pan method makes clean up a breeze. Not only is a bread omelet incredibly fun and easy to make, but it’s also incredibly tasty and nutritious!
Stock your freezer with blue–blueberries, that is! Blueberries may be preserved by canning, freezing, and drying. Freezing is, by far, the easiest means of preserving for future use. Frozen blueberries are also super simple to use–rinse and thaw for a delicious snack or addition to whatever is being whipped up. They promise a burst of flavor and nutrition as frozen blueberries retain their flavor, color, texture, and nutrition benefits. Blueberries are a good source of fiber and Vitamin C, rich in various vitamins and minerals and just 80 calories per cup.
Freezing blueberries is as simple as the berries themselves using the Tray Pack method. Remove any stems or leaves and place them on a baking tray without washing. Pop them into the freezer. Once frozen, transfer them to freezer containers or resealable plastic bags for freezing. Label and freeze. Frozen blueberries will keep indefinitely in the freezer but are at best quality when used within 10 months.
Whether it is a surplus of meat from farm-raised livestock, wild game from the hunt, or a “deal” at the market, canning meat is an easy way to preserve any abundance for future use. Besides preserving a surplus, canning meat has other advantages as well–saves freezer space, ready in an emergency, convenient, nutrient dense, and taste good.
Meat is a low acid food and mustbe processed in a pressure canner (dial or weighted gauge)–no exceptions. A water bath canner, steam canner, multicooker or any other devised method cannot provide sufficient heat to make meat in a jar safe for pantry storage. As with other low acid foods, the food safety concern is botulism. If using a pressure canner is a new experience, check out this quick tutorial on how to use a pressure canner.
The National Center for Home Food Preservation is the best resource for preparing and canning poultry, red meats, and seafood. Other resources include: The USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning and So Easy to Preserve, 6th Edition. Meat can be pressure canned in strips, cubes, chunks, ground or chopped. Meat can safely be canned by either the raw or hot pack methods. While both methods are safe, many consumers find that the raw pack leaves less liquid in the jar surrounding the meat. It takes approximately one pound of meat to fill a pint jar or two pounds for a quart jar.
Canning Seafood by the Pacific Northwest Extension group, offers detailed information to guarantee safety.
Meat Canning Tips: – Can only good quality meat, poultry, or game. – Keep all meat clean and sanitary. – Use lean cuts OR remove as much fat as possible. Fat can go rancid in the jar over time. Fat also contributes to seal failure. Remove gristle and bruised spots. – Cut meat into uniform pieces suitable for cooking or canning. Slice meat across the grain. – Soak strong-flavored game in salt water before canning in a brine made of 1 tablespoon salt for each quart of water for 1 hour or as stated in a recipe. – Chill poultry pieces in the refrigerator 6 to 12 hours before canning. – Use the jar size specified by the recipe. Seafood should be processed in half-pint or pint jars only to ensure there is sufficient heat penetration throughout the jar. This is particularly important as seafoods have little natural acid to inhibit the growth of bacteria and bacterial spores that produce toxins. – Frozen meat may be canned. – Always adjust processing time and pressures for altitude. – Salt is optional and only added for flavor, not for any preservation benefits.
Vitamin D is vital to proper bodily functions. While sunlight is the primary source of vitamin D, spending time outdoors in the sunlight may be limited or not possible. In cases of limited sunlight, alternative ways to get the daily intake of Vitamin D may be necessary.
Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin essential for bone health and helping the body absorb and use calcium to build and keep bones and teeth strong reducing the risk of osteoporosis and fractures. It also been shown to reduce cancer cell growth and inflammation, build the immune system, and regulate cell growth.
Vitamin D is often considered the “sunshine” vitamin. This is because a Vitamin D precursor is produced in the skin upon exposure to the ultraviolet B rays of the sun. This precursor travels through the bloodstream to the liver and kidneys where it is turned into the active form of Vitamin D. Typically 5 to 15 minutes three times a week with exposure to the sun on bare skin is more than enough to get the benefits. Of course that effectiveness is affected by several things: geographic location, sunscreen use, skin color, age, limited fat absorption, age, and other factors.
Some foods, fortified foods, and supplements are alternative sources of Vitamin D. Foods that are good sources of Vitamin D include egg yolks, milk, cheese, fatty fish like salmon, tuna and mackerel, sardines, beef liver and UV-exposed mushrooms. Vitamin D fortified products include some cereals, bread, orange juice, yogurt, dairy and plant-based milk. The National Institute of Health says that “obtaining sufficient Vitamin D from natural (nonfortified) food sources alone is difficult. For many people, consuming Vitamin D-fortified foods and exposing themselves to some sunlight are essential for maintaining a healthy vitamin D status.”
When getting a daily dose of Vitamin D from foods and/or sunlight is a problem, dietary supplements may be needed to meet Vitamin D requirements. The National Institute of Health table below shows the current RDA for Vitamin D. Because Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, it is best to take the supplement with food. Always consult with your medical professional before starting a Vitamin D or any supplement.
Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for Vitamin D
Many of us will be making pumpkin pie during this Fall season. And many of us have favorite pumpkin pie recipes that have been in our families cookbook for many generations. Whether your recipe uses evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, a milk alternative, is a “lighter” version or gluten free there are some tips for helping make a pie with better results and keeping the pie safe.
Pumpkin pie is considered a custard-based pie so it must be refrigerated to keep it safe to eat. Do not leave the pumpkin pie at room temperature for more than two hours. Custard-based pies do not freeze very successfully. If you want to make the pie ahead of time you might want to consider freezing the crust and filling separately then after thawing in the refrigerator putting the pie together and baking it. When you are baking the pie be careful not to overbake it as that will cause the pie to crack. Remove the pie from the oven before the center is completely set. The internal temperature of the pie will help it finish baking.
You may want to mix your filling ingredients together the day before you are planning to make the pie to give the spices a chance to blend. For a twist on the crust, one site I looked at suggested replacing 1/4 cup of the flour with 1/4 cup cornmeal to add an interesting texture to the crust since the filling is so smooth. To make your own pumpkin pie spice at home combine 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves. This will substitute for 1 teaspoon of commercial pumpkin pie spice.
Pumpkin pie is a delicious dessert addition to a special Fall meal. Enjoy!
Pumpkin Season is upon us! Pumpkins are a Fall favorite for our family. They have both culinary and ornamental uses for us. They are delicious in pies and other desserts, fun to paint and display indoors or out, fun to carve into jack-o’-lanterns as a family activity and of course used in Fall decorations.
Pumpkins are a member of the Cucurbitaceae family along with squash, cantaloupe, cucumber, watermelon and gourds. Pumpkins are considered a type of squash. They are typically round with slightly ribbed deep yellow to orange skin.
If you want to store your pumpkins for use at Thanksgiving or later, place them in a single layer where they don’t touch each other in a cool, dry place (ideally 50-55 degrees F). The room should have good circulation to prevent moisture from forming on the surface of the pumpkins which causes decay. Do not store the pumpkins near apples, pears or other ripening fruit as the ripening fruit releases ethylene gas which shortens the storage life of pumpkins. If you store pumpkins correctly you can expect them to last 2-3 months.
Spend Smart Eat Smart has a great recipe for pumpkin pudding that is low calorie and can be used as a snack or dessert. If you prefer to use fresh pumpkin you can substitute 1 and 3/4 cups mashed fresh pumpkin for the 15 ounce can called for in the recipe.
The USDA SNAP-Ed Connection has more recipes, information about pumpkin nutrition, and how to preserve pumpkin.
If you want to preserve your uncarved pumpkins, start with soaking the pumpkins in a solution of 1 gallon water, 2 T. bleach, and a squirt of dish soap for 15-30 minutes. Rinse and dry well. You can then coat the pumpkins with a spray matte sealer.
I was recently doing some baking with pumpkin. My recipe called for only 1 cup of pumpkin rather than the whole can which left me with about half a can of pumpkin puree leftover. Some of you may have experienced the same thing. If you have, there are some options for you to consider. First of all you might want to double the recipe you are making and share the additional baked product with a friend:) One 15 ounce can of pumpkin is just shy of 2 cups. If you definitely want the full cup for the second batch you are making just add 1 tablespoon of applesauce to the leftover pumpkin puree. I think you will also find being a tablespoon shy of a full cup of pumpkin will not affect the outcome of your recipe.
If you are using commercially canned pumpkin puree you can refrigerate and use any leftovers within 5-7 days. If you have made your own pumpkin puree you will want to refrigerate and use it within 3-5 days. The leftover pumpkin is wonderful stirred into oatmeal or yogurt or added to a smoothie. Libby’s has posted on their site recommendations for substituting pumpkin puree for eggs, oil or butter in your baking.
You may also freeze any leftover pumpkin puree. An easy way to do that is to lightly spray a muffin cup and spoon 1/4 cup or 1/2 cup measurements of pumpkin into each cup. Freeze in the muffin pan until solid then remove the pumpkin mounds/scoops from the pan and transfer to freezer bags. Make sure to label your bags with what it is, the amount in each mound and the date. It is easy to remove the amount you need for a recipe later on. If you thaw the pumpkin puree in the refrigerator, which is the recommended way, you have an additional 3-4 days to store it in the refrigerator and use it. If you thaw the pumpkin in the microwave or with the cold water method you need to use it immediately. Once the pumpkin has thawed if there is any liquid pooling just drain it off before using. For best quality, use frozen pumpkin puree within 3 months. It will be safe indefinitely however if continuously frozen but will lose some quality over time.
There are so many delicious pumpkin recipes out there. I hope you will enjoy baking with pumpkin puree this season!
Induction cooktops and portable burners are becoming quite popular. How are they different from a standard electric burner?
A portable unit plugs into a standard outlet so it is easy to use on a countertop to provide an extra burner or outdoors on a deck/gazebo/an outdoor kitchen–wherever an outlet is found. An electromagnetic field below the glass surface provides magnetic energy that heats up the pan directly. The cookware is considered the transformer so instead of passing heat along from the surface to cookware to food, induction heats the cookware directly. Only the pan, and what’s in it and directly under it gets hot. The surface around it stays cool.
Because the cookware is the transformer not all cookware can be used on an induction cooktop. Aluminum, glass and ceramic will not work. The cookware must contain ferrous iron in order for it to work with the magnetic field to send heat and energy directly into the cooking vessel. It may not be necessary to purchase new cookware. To test, use a magnet; if it sticks to the cookware, the pan will work on an induction cooktop. Further, the cookware must also have a flat bottom.
Using magnetic induction heats pans up more quickly than either gas or electric. This saves energy and time. Induction burners also respond immediately to temperature adjustments. If you raise or lower the heat you will see results right away. Many induction burners can also sense if there is nothing in the pot and will turn off after 60 seconds.
Before purchasing a portable unit, consider use, counter space or storage space, how much power is needed, and is it afforable for what it may be used for. Also, be sure to test cookware to determine if it will work with the induction unit.
Induction cooking has the power to change the way we cook. For more information on induction cooktops, pros and cons, see Induction Cooking–What You Need to Know.
Fall is right around the corner and for many of us that comes with visits to local apple orchards. Of course the apples are delicious to eat on their own but there also many different types of apple dessert recipes to tempt us. Here are some differences among some of the various apple desserts:
Apple Brown Betty: baked apples with spiced bread crumbs layered between the fruit
Apple Buckle: moist cake topped with apples and a streusel topping
Apple Cobbler: less fussy than pie; pie dough, biscuit dough, or cookie dough is spooned/dolloped on the top rather than being chilled and rolled out
Apple Crumble: baked chopped apples with a crisp streusel topping that does not contain oats
Apple Crisp: apple mixture with a topping that includes oats and brown sugar
Apple Pandowdy: this apple dessert is “dowdied” up when dough is cut or broken into pieces and pressed into the bubbling juices
I love Summer but am looking forward to Fall and visiting some local apple orchards. Whether I eat the apples as a snack or incorporate them into a dessert I know they will be delicious.
