We are all encouraged to get more vegetables into our diets. One of the easy ways to do this is with salads. Here are two different salad ideas and both feature cucumbers, one of the healthy vegetables we can eat without remorse. For those who like a crunchy salad, this Thai salad is perfect with its combination of cucumbers and peanuts. So give these salads a try as you work to improve your diet.

THAI SPICY CUCUMBER PEANUT SALAD

1 1/2 lbs cucumbers

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1/2 cup water

3 tbsp Splenda granular

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

2 tbsp minced red onion

1 tbsp chopped dry roasted peanuts without salt

Peel cucumbers and half lengthwise, then slice into thin pieces. Add salt and toss well. Place in colander and drain for 1 hour. Spread cucumbers out on several layers of paper towels and cover with paper towels. Let stand 5 minutes, pressing down occasionally. Rinse and pat dry.

Combine vinegar, water, Splenda, and pepper in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook until reduced to about 1/3 cup. This should take about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. Stir in onion. Combine cucumbers with mixture in a medium bowl. Toss cucumbers well to coat. Sprinkle peanuts over cucumbers.

Yield 4 servings.

CUKES AND ONIONS IN SOUR CREAM

3 large cucumbers, washed, peeled, sliced

1 large yellow onion, sliced and separated into rings

1 lb carton of sour cream

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

fresh ground black pepper to taste

1 packet Splenda

Place the cucumber slices and onion rings in a large bowl. Toss to mix up. In a small bowl, mix vinegar, pepper, Splenda, and sour cream until well blended. Pour this mixture over the cukes and onions; toss to mix until all the veggies are coated. Cover and refrigerate.

Note: Tiny red tomatoes may be added for extra color and flavor.

Enjoy!

For more of Linda’s recipes and diabetic information go to http://diabeticenjoyingfood.squarespace.com For her vintage recipes, visit http://grandmasvintagerecipes.blogspot.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Linda_Carol_Wilson

Coffee cakes are delicious breakfast treats that are best paired with your favorite coffee or tea. Since coffee is a strong beverage, the cake it is paired with has to have a strong but sweet flavor – this is why they usually have fruits or nuts mixed in them.

There are numerous coffee cake recipes that you can find, both online and in recipe books. You can easily make one on your own by just following the simple recipes. However, if you want to make your coffee cake stand out, here are some tips you can try.

Although you have to mix the cake batter well, it is important that you don’t overdo it. Over-mixing can turn make the cake dense and tough.

Instead of using milk, try adding yogurt into the cake batter. This will result in a moist cake, which tends to rise well.

Try to use a spring-form pan when baking your coffee cake, as the cake will be easier to take out of the pan this way.

Streusel is crumbly; if you’re making streusel, don’t invert your coffee cake, as you can lose a lot of your toppings. Also, instead of making the streusel as a topping, you can also try mixing it into the batter to make it part of the cake itself.

Make your streusel topping different by adding some oatmeal or coconut to the mixture you have created. This will enhance the flavor and the texture after it has been baked. Also try adding nuts and other spices.

Decorate using icing, syrup, spices or even just some confectioner’s sugar. This will not only make your coffee cakes visually appealing, but it will also add some flavor to them, as well.

Once you know how to make one, you can easily make other types of coffee cakes. Try to research on the different variations that can be done on this sweet treat. You should try changing some ingredients in your recipe, such as the kinds of nuts and fruits used. For example, instead of almonds, try roasted pecans; or instead of peaches, try using apples.

Finally, don’t be afraid to experiment! You might just come up with a great coffee cake recipe on your own!

Katya Coen provides details on the best coffee cake recipes for Coffee Cake Recipes 101 – your online guide to a variety of coffee cake recipes! Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Katya_Coen

I originally bought this book because my daughter LOVED desserts from the cheesecake factory so much, and we simply didn’t have the money to spend on fancy foods. But when I discovered Americas Most Wanted Recipes, I was so excited!

My daughters 9th birthday was coming up soon, and I knew she would adore a cheesecake on her birthday, so without telling anyone, I made a cheesecake, exactly how the easy recipe told me to, and when my daughter ate it, she thought it was from the cheesecake factory! She was so excited to share her favorite dessert with her friends! I never told her that I made it, and she still doesn’t know. However, every two weeks or so, she asks me why we are able to have cheesecake so often now, when it used to be an expensive delicacy, and my response is always “because I love you so much!”.

So, you know why I bought the book, but now I will tell you more about the book in general. This book is very well written, and very easy to follow and understand. Every single recipe that I have tried has come out EXACTLY how it is at the restaurant! (and believe me, I have tried A LOT of recipes, and I am surely no cook.)

If you are like me and my family, you enjoy eating out, but it is often just not in the budget. But, now that I have found this book, it is so simple to cook a restaurant quality meal, at a tenth of the price! This book has easily payed for itself, even in the short while I have had it.

So, if you ask me, this book is a win-win, You can treat your family to a delicious meal, and give your wallet a rest too!

Did you find this article useful? Learn more about Americas Most Wanted Recipes Click Here Also, I believe there is a limited time bonus of the second book in this series, along with a few extra goodies FREE, so check it out! Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_L_King

If you were to tell me that you don’t enjoy eating at restaurants, I’m afraid I’d have to call you a big liar. I believe that you may restrict how often you go in order to keep your waistline under control. I believe that you may not go as much in order to keep some money in your wallet. But I know you love the food! We all do.

Luckily, these days with the help of the internet, it’s possible to make all your favorite restaurant recipes at home. And I mean, really make them. We’re talking recipes from some of the top restaurants in North America that end up tasting as close to the real thing as you can get. Some of you might wonder why in the world anyone would want to do this. Below are 3 reasons to make restaurant recipes at home that will make sense to any skeptics.

1) Cost

Despite how great some restaurant food tastes, few would argue that the price can really start to get up there. Even at some of the mid-priced restaurants, to take your family out to eat can easily top the fifty dollar mark. To buy the ingredients required to make the exact food at home would likely save you half that amount or more.

2) Health

Just like it’s no secret restaurant food costs a lot, it really is no secret that many of them are quite unhealthy as well. Food additives and cooking methods can make for a pretty toxic meal at many chain restaurants. Buying the ingredients and making restaurant recipes at home will give you greater control over the quality of what you’re putting into your body.

3) Convenience

Some of you might wonder how cooking your own food could be more convenient than going out, but it all depends on how you think about it. Often, the time it takes to decide where to go, get in the car, go to the restaurant, wait, get seated, served and eat would be a lot longer than if you had just made the food yourself at home. Also, making it at home means you can enjoy it anytime you want, whether the restaurant is open or closed.

I suppose you’d have to enjoy cooking just a little for this sort of thing to make sense to you. But if you do, and you agree with the points I’ve made above, making restaurant recipes at home may be a perfect choice for you.

If you’d like instant access to a huge directory of closely guarded secret restaurant recipes that you can start making today, go take a look here:http://RestaurantFoodAtHome.blogspot.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Olivia_McCarron

Steaks are the easiest to prepare among all the meats. Tender steaks like the sirloin and the T-bone (filet mignon is the tenderest but it is very expensive and not easily available in the markets) are usually grilled. Most recipes differ in the marinade that is to be applied to the steak. Marinades use wine, lemon juice, soy sauce, tomato juice, etc; or even fruits like papaya and pineapple. Steaks are marinated for 6 to 24 hours, depending on the recipe and then placed on the grill. A charcoal grill is the best bet to get the restaurant-like flavor. Based on the tenderness of the steak, they are turned twice or thrice to get the desired level of doneness. Steaks should not be disturbed when they are grilling, as this does not allow the crust to form on their sides. Also they should not be poked with forks as this would allow the juices to run out of the steak.

Among the best known recipes of steak preparation is the Bæuf au Poivre, literally meaning ‘Beef with Peppercorn’, a traditional French recipe. This is an exotic dish, which uses only the prime cuts of the filet mignon. Beef steaks from the tenderloin (four of them of about 1” thickness should serve four people) are first sprinkled with salt like kosher. Then peppercorns are crushed and patted onto both sides of the steak. Steaks readied in such a manner are then placed on a 12” skillet pan over a medium fire. They are cooked for 8 to 10 minutes on one side, without disturbing. Then they are turned over. Desired doneness is checked with a meat thermometer or just by touching if the person is experienced. Then mustard and Cognac is added to the skillet and further cooked for about 30 seconds. Each filet is then cut in four slices and served with Dijon sauce.

Almost all countries have their own traditional steak recipes. Asian recipes with porterhouse steaks are spicier, using a lot of soy sauce and peppers; cooked in the rotisserie style. They specialize in various types of kebabs. The Irish blend steak and bacon together with raisins to make a spicy-sweet recipe called the Steak and Guinness Pie. As in most other dishes, the Swiss use salsa in their steaks and serve it with mushroom soup. But the best and the most exotic dishes come from La France. The French have experimented and mastered several gourmet dishes. Despite there being several hundreds of steak recipes all over the world, Americans specialize in the humble grilled steak, which is just as flavorful as any of the other high-brow names going around.

Steak provides detailed information about steak, flank steak, grilling steak and more. Steak is affiliated with Disposable Chef Hats. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Max_Bellamy

Food allergy reactions can be from very moderate to very severe and life threatening. It is important to know there is a distant difference between the food intolerance and the true food allergy. With a food intolerance the person may be able to eat a small amount with out any type reaction, but the true food allergy will not allow for any ingestion of that food at all with out any food allergy symptoms. Once the food allergy or the trigger is determined it is very important to avoid that food or foods.

Your physician may ask that a food diary is kept. This will help to determine the foods and which ones cause a reaction. A family history will also be of help in determining a pattern. The skin test and the blood tests can also be used even for determining food allergies in children. Working with a health provider to determine a written plan that you can read, study and remember will be a great place for you to start your treatment and avoidance of the trigger foods.

A cookbook that is very specific to your food allergies can help you relearn to plan your menus. This will not only give up more recipes to choose from but can also help you learn to make substitutions and to have a more diversified diet and food choices. For example you might learn how to choose, purchase and prepare the more exotic fruit or vegetables if that is what your trigger foods happen to be. This will help you learn to cook allergy free foods.

Learn to read all food container labels. Be aware of the different alternate names for the foods you are allergic to. For some one who has an allergy to milk should avoid any food that has the ingredients lactoglobulin, sodium caseinate, casein and nougat. A person with the allergic reaction to eggs will need to avoid the ingredients with albumin and egg whites. Do not put your self and your health at risk. If you are not sure, call the manufacture. Shopping for a food allergy diet is not hard once you become familiar with what to look for and avoid.

It is also a great idea to let all of your family and loved ones know what you are allergic to. It is important for them to not only know the foods that will cause a reaction, but they need to know what reactions to look for. If your physician has provided antihistamines or the injections such as the EpiPen or the Twinject, make sure they know what and how to use them. Do not be ashamed or embarrassed to wear any type of medical identification such as the medical bracelet. Consider the Food Allergy Initiative suggests a card with a list of the foods you are allergic to. This can be given to the server, manager or the chef before placing your order as not restaurant wants you to get sick inside their establishment

With the skin and blood testing it is now easier then ever to have food allergy testing done. After determining what your food triggers are, now a allergy free food diet can be obtainedto help avoid the harmful symptoms of food allergies. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Debra_Atkins