July 4th Cooking

Fourth of July!


L: Jeep Cake: Under Construction
R: Grilling Shrimp

MEALS WITH A MESSAGE

Food for Thought: Remember…Revelation 2: 5

(Remember all those who

Gave their lives for

America The Beautiful!)

FAMILY MEAL PLANNING

Suggested Menu:

Shrimp in Garlic Butter

Rice with mixed vegetables

Relish Plate

Cake: Jeep Under Construction

Water Melon Cups

Tea

Tip: Decorate with red, white and blue

Recipes

Shrimp

Place 4 or 5 large shrimp on skewers. Brush garlic butter on each side and grill.

Garlic Butter: ¼ cup corn oil margarine

1 T. garlic salt

Melt and dip shrimp

Rice with vegetables

Rice: Cook desired amount to rice in cooker.

Steam 2 cups mixed vegetables

Mix together and serve warm.

Relish plate

Clean celery, fresh onions, and red, yellow and green peppers. Cut into desired lengths and place on a relish plate. May sere yogurt dressing.

Jeep Cake

Bake cake batter into rectangle or use a shaped cake pan. If using a rectangle pan, cut into desired car or jeep shape when cooled. To make the cake appear disassembled, cut out windows, doors and top. Frost each with grey cake frosting to resemble primmer paint. Since off-roading is a fun 4^th of July activity, this will be a novel treat!

Melon Balls

Hollow a watermelon. Using the watermelon, cut balls with a melon cutter. Scallop the edges of the watermelon rind. Replace the balls into the watermelon and chill! Cold watermelon hits the spot!

From the Nutritionist:

• Meals should have basic nutrients to maintain a healthy life. Protein builds strong bones and teeth. Protein is found in the shrimp. Vitamins are requirement to prevent many illnesses and to maintain good mental health. The vegetables in the melon cups, relish plate and rice dish are high in vitamins A and C. Carbohydrates are in the rice and cake. Fiber is found in the whole grain rice and raw vegetables of the relish plate. Store any left over foods in airtight containers. Take left over cake in baskets or gift boxes to shut-ins for a novel treat with the disassembled jeep cake! This meal can be adapted for diabetics by omitting the bread and other high carbohydrate foods. Happiness is cooking and eating!!!!! Happy 4th of July!

Peanut Butter & Crackers Cookies

Easter Meals

Stuffed Eggs
Greens
Chicken Salad with Grapes
Rolls
Easter Delights (Peanut Butter & Cracker Cookies)
Tea

Food for Thought: He is not here; He is risen.Luke 24:8

Tips: Decorate with Easter table ware and rabbits. Collect old Easter baskets and rabbits and plan to use with leftover cookies for shut-in and sick friends or family.

Recipes:

Stuffed Eggs

6 hard cooked eggs
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 t. pepper
1/2 t. salt
paprika

Boil eggs that are at room temperature for approximately 20 minutes. Place in cold water immediately to prevent green coating or oxidation around the yoke. When cold, peel. Cut each egg length-wise and scoop out yoke. Mash the yokes and mix with mayonnaise, salt and pepper. Refill egg whites with a piping decorator or teaspoon. Sprinkle paprika on top of each half.

Fresh Mustard Greens

If you have fresh greens in your garden, use them. Use approximately 4 lbs. fresh greens. Wash and cover with water. Add 2 cubes of beef bullion. Cook at least 1 hour. Place in a crock pot and keep warm until time to serve. Serve with fresh garden onions, if available.

Chicken Salad

4 boneless chicken breasts
1 hard cooked egg
1 c. mayonnaise
1 t. garlic salt
1/4 t. pepper
1/2 t. salt
lettuce leaves
1/4 c. chopped red pepper or pimento
1 cup of grapes, halved

Cook chicken breast covered in water until done, approximately 1 hour. Chop chicken. Chop boiled egg. Mix together. Add mayonnaise, garlic salt, season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix in red pepper and grapes. Serve on a bed of lettuce. Sprinkle paprika on top, if desire.

Easter Delights
(Peanut Butter and Cracker Cookies)

1 c. sugar
1 c. white corn syrup
1/2 c. peanut butter
4 cup cracker bits

Boil sugar and corn syrup until sugar dissolves, approximately 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add peanut butter and cracker bits. I used cheese-its bits. Stir all of this well and drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax or parchment paper.

From Nutritionist: This meal is a different choice for Easter celebration, yet easy to serve because it can be made ahead of time. Cook greens and place in a slow cooker on warm. Chicken Salad and stuffed eggs may be made ahead of time and placed in the refrigerator. The cookies take about 30 minutes total. Store in air tight containers for future use. For any left-overs store in air-tight containers and place in Easter baskets or boxes with pastel bows. Caution: If taking left-over chicken salad or eggs to someone, keep in a cooler until you take it out at their residence. May add a rabbit to complete the Easter theme. Deliver to shut-ins or the sick. The protein is found in the chicken and eggs. Vitamins and minerals are in the greens, lettuce and grapes. Arrange rolls in the shape of the cross and serve warm. Serve with plenty of ice tea. Diabetics will desre to substitute the cookie for fruit. The cook should save some grapes for them. Happy Easter everyone!

Cinco de Mayo Menu

May 5 Cinco de Mayo

Family Meal Suggested Menu:
Frijoles Casserole
Taco Salad
Mexican Cornbread
Mexican Wedding Cakes
Fruit Cup
Fiesta Tea

Tip: Parties on the veranda are an integral part of Latin American and South American entertaining. The above picture was made in Brazil. Cinco de Mayo is considered a Mexican holiday but many other countries take advantage of the holiday for a time of celebration and partying. Tables may be decorated with streamers, sombreros and maracas. Colorful fiesta pottery dishes may be used. Paper napkins and tablecloths with cacti or other Southwestern theme may be substituted for linens. May use a potted cactus plant for centerpiece. Mexican wedding cakes may be placed in gift food baskets and presented to guests as favors. Store left over cakes or cornbread in airtight food storage containers for future use. A piñata adds to the festivity.

Food for Thought: The good man eats to live, while the evil man lives to eat. Proverbs 13:25 LB

Eating Well for Wellness

When God created people, He placed plenty of food on the earth for healthy survival and enjoyment. Family meal planners are always concerned about maintaining a healthy family. There are 4 Ps that can help family meal planners to assure that the family is eating well for wellness. These are: 1. Plan 2. Prepare nutritious choices 3. Promote exercise 4. Pray. The primary concern of family meal planners is to give the family wholesome meals and snacks.
Children, and adults as well, do not always feel like eating on a regular schedule. You may need to have nutritious food available when children become hungry. Plan the food that is needed for an entire day. As the child or adult becomes hungry, serve or offer one or more of the foods to balance the nutrients needed for that day. By providing food at hunger times, less food will be served or consumed at family mealtime. Next, promote physical activity. God created our bodies with the capacity to store nutrients for survival.
To maintain a healthy weight, some people may need to deplete those stored reserves to keep from adding cells of fat for energy. Obese family members or those with sedimentary lifestyles should exert some kind of physical activity every three hours for at least 10 minutes. Physical activity may be dusting furniture, vacuuming the house, leg and arm exercises, walking, running, swimming, biking, ballgame, etc. Be sure to replenish the body’s liquids with water or sport’s drinks, if perspired a lot.

Peppers

Peppers are an expected staple of Cinco de Mayo foods. Peppers probably originated in the East Indies. It is used as a vegetable, spice or medicine. Some people mix black peppers and honey for a cough remedy. Pepper pods contain vitamin A and C as well as carbohydrate called cellulose. Green or bell, yellow and red peppers may be cooked, served raw as in salads or stuffed. Red pimentos are often mixed with cheese and served as a spread. Berries from pepper plants are called peppercorns. White and black are ground from ripened berries for table use.
These are tastier when ground at the time of eating. Red berries are considered exotic. Cayenne and paprika range from hot to mild taste. Green berries may be used in the unripened sate in cooking. Chiles are red and green and very hot. Sauces and chili condiments are often associated with Mexican dishes. Vinegar based hot pepper sauces often compliment southern vegetable dishes like black-eyed peas. Chilies may be dried for future use or decoration.
From the Nutritionist: Our menu has a Southwestern flavor. The Frijoles or beans and meat provide protein. The salad, fruit cup and cornbread supply needed vitamins and minerals. For diabetics the cornbread and wedding cakes are two bread exchanges. The Fiesta Tea is a tea-based punch. Via com Dios and felicemento Dia de la Madre a todas Madres. God go with you and happy Mother’s Day to all mothers.
Recipes are available upon request.Comments and questions are welcomed.Please share this web site with a friend.