Come home to comfort foods!

Using a slow-cooker or crockpot is the perfect choice for winter cooking. While you go about your day, your home gradually fills with wonderful aromas of beef, chicken, and herbs. Yum!

Comfort foods are rich, filling, easy to make and eat, and delicious. Make them in your slow cooker and you have some sure-fire winners! These methods cook your recipes to perfection, and you hardly have to do a thing.

But be sure you follow basic rules. Fill the appliance 1/2 to 2/3 (some say 3/4) full, cook as long as the recipe directs, layer foods starting with hard root vegetables and ending with meat and tender ingredients, and don't lift the lid while the food is cooking.

Cheers to your health!

Wine is rising in popularity in the U.S., showing particular gains among women and people in their twenties. Wine even outstripped beer in popularity in the U.S. for the first time in 2005!

Red wine has surpassed white wine in sales for the first time since the mid-1970s. One likely reason for the rising popularity of red wine is the “French Paradox”— the fact that, despite an appetite for rich foods like butter, cheese and cream (sounds like Wisconsin doesn't it) the French people experience a heart disease rate significantly lower than that of other Western countries. Some believe it's a result of the inclusion of wine in their diets. Scientists point to a compound found in red wine called resveratrol that possesses numerous health benefits.

So remember in include wine in moderation as a nice addition to your evening meal. Cheers!

Saving Sauces?

I don't know about you but I think it's usually the sauce that turns a good dish into a great dish! So I have a tendency to make a little too much of a good thing. And when that happens to you, it's best to store and use remaining sauces wisely.
You can keep white sauces, tomato sauces, brown sauces and gravies in the refrigerator up to 4-5 days. To store, strain the sauce, pour it into a container and cover with a piece of plastic wrap (pressed directly against the surface) or a thin layer of fat, vegetable oil or sherry.
You can also freeze sauces in ice cube trays, and then after removing the cubes from the tray, keep them in the freezer in a resealable plastic bag. You can take out as many as you need and save the remainder for another time.

Need to warm up from the inside out?

Try a little arrabbiata!

Arrabbiata Sauce is a light marinara or red Italian sauce that is given an extra spicy flavor by adding hot peppers to the sauce. Arrabbiata can loosely translate to “angry mood". It’s unlikely the sauce will accomplish this for anyone, and the name is actually inspired by its piquant taste. In other words, it’s an angry sauce that is likely to delight your taste buds.

We're offering Shrimp Arrabbiatta on this month's menu. However, Arrabbiata Sauce will go well with any plain pasta, and it is often best enjoyed over penne (which is the small ridged tubular pasta). The ridges help hold the sauce and the tubes can fill with the sauce, creating fiery mouthfuls with each bite. Definitely something to warm you from the inside out on a frigid, winter day!

Healthy, Hearty and oh, so delicious!

Oats deserve attention for their nutritional value, especially for their fiber (1/2 of which is insoluble and aids in digestion and the other 1/2 is the soluble type that lowers cholesterol. All oats are whole grains and still have the bran (oat bran is the outer layer of the oat kernel only).

100 grams of dry, rolled oats contains 380 calories, 67 gms. of carbohydrate, 16 gms. of protein, 6 gms. of fat as well as a good supply of thiamin, vitamin E, iron and phosphorus.

Oatmeal is the "secret ingredient" in my meatloaf, replacing bread crumbs and resulting in a moist, flavorful and nutritious dish!

Another reason to keep that New Year's Resolution

Many of us make a promise to ourselves on New Years Day to eat healthier and get fit. How are you doing so far with your resolution to lose weight?

Now there's a whole new reason to get in shape - whole body scanner!

It's cold out there ... better put the soup on!

I remember being greeted at my aunt's house on cold winter days with a warm bowl of soup. A hearty soup, warm whole wheat roll, salad with fresh greens and juicy piece of fruit can be all it takes to make a meal on a day when the temperature dips and the snow crunches under your feet.

Split Pea with Ham is one I remember best:
2 cups dried split peas are soaked overnight in 6 cups of cold water. Then drain and put in a soup kettle with a meaty ham bone, 1/4 pound of salt pork that's been cut in 1/2" pieces plus 10 cups of water. Cover and simmer for 2 hours, then add 1 cup of diced onions, 1 cup celery leaves & stalks, chopped. Simmer about one more hour (adding another cup of water if the soup dries out too much). Remove ham from bone and dice. If desired, remove the salt pork. Put the soup through a strainer. Blend with ham or add ham back into soup after blending. I prefer to keep some of the pea soup as is and only mash a portion to keep some texture. If the soup is not as thick as you'd like you can always add about 1/2 cup of light cream. It's enough to serve 4 to 6 hungry souls who've just ventured in from the cold outdoors!

Make some memories... serve a warm, homemade soup today!