The Ultimate Easy to Prepare Vegetarian Recipes Cookbook - Fettuccine Alfredo

Fettuccine Alfredo

Ingredients:

Fettuccine Pasta                      About 200 grams to 250 (or one fistful per person)

Butter                                      1 tablespoon

Cream, heavy                          1 ½ cup

Parmesan, grated                     ½ cup

Nutmeg                                   Season to taste

Salt                                          Season to taste

Pepper, black                           Season to taste

To Prepare:

Cook the pasta al dente and set aside. Remember, al dente means leaving the pasta with just enough bite so that it isn’t mushy.

Melt the butter in a pan. Add the cream to the pan and bring to a simmer. While constantly stirring, allow the cream to reduce to about half its original amount. Thicken the sauce with parmesan cheese but leave some for garnish later. Season the pasta to taste with salt, black pepper, and nutmeg.

Remove from heat and add the pasta into the sauce. Toss until the pasta is completely coated. Serve immediately with an extra sprinkling of parmesan cheese on top.

This is an excerpt from the book: The Ultimate Easy to Prepare Vegetarian Recipes Cookbook

33 Juicing Recipes for Weight Loss - Part IX - Juicing Tools of the Trade

I know a lot of people who want to try juicing but are intimidated by the long list of tools and equipment that a lot of juicers seem to think they need. When you’re an advanced juicer who’s invested in the whole juicing program, I can’t blame you for wanting the latest gadgets and the top-of-the-line equipment. It’s a lot like taking up photography or surfing or any hobby – the more you learn about what you’re doing and the more you get to see the results, the more you want to up your game and you’ll have a genuine interest for the tools of your trade; all the tools. But unlike most hobbies, juicing is a hobby for your health. Despite the wide array of equipment that’s being marketed for juicing (and some are truly expensive), it doesn’t mean that you have to shell out a huge amount of cash to start juicing.

The Essential Tools for Juicing

There are some tools for juicing that you absolutely need to have and there are some that you can do without. Chances are you won’t need that $300 dehydrator or that $500 high speed blender. Here’s a list of the tools that every juicer should have:

Chef’s Knife	I might be stating the obvious here but a good chef’s knife or a hefty kitchen knife is a useful and necessary tool for juicing. You can replace a mandolin and a corer with a good knife, provided you’re willing to learn a few knife skills (and if you handle the knife carefully).
Blender	A blender is the all-in-one tool of a juicer. You can make smoothies and you can also do a MacGyver method of juicing provided you have a strainer handy. And with a good blender, you can grind nuts and beans to add to your smoothies and juices. You can get a starter blender for about $20 but I would recommend that you shell out at least $50 for a blender that lasts and can handle constant use.
Juicer	Technically, you can make do with a blender, especially if you’re just starting out, but a good juicer will go a long way. If those specialized $100-$200 juicers sound like a little too much, opt for the $30-$50 range. There may be less features for you to play with, but they’ll get the job done.
Peeler	You might already have one in your kitchen or you might not. With just $2-$4, you can have a good peeler and save yourself a lot of trouble. This is a sample from the book 33 Juicing Recipes for Weight Loss--to get the complete recipes you can get the book here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NB0RD8I

The Ultimate Easy to Prepare Vegetarian Recipes Cookbook - Penne all’Arrabbiata

Penne all’Arrabbiata

Ingredients:

Penne pasta, dry                      1 to 2 cups

Olive oil                                  3 to 4 tablespoons

Basil, fresh                              1 tablespoon, chopped finely

Garlic                                      1 tablespoon, minced

Tomatoes, canned or fresh      Half the amount of pasta

Crushed red chillies                1 teaspoon

Salt                                          Season to taste

Pepper, black                           Season to taste

Parmesan or Romano              1 to 2 tablespoons

To Prepare:

Get started on boiling the pasta water. There should be 10 parts water to 1 part pasta. Don’t forget to salt the water, enough that it tastes like saltwater. Put in the penne when the water is boiling and remove when the pasta is al dente or still has a little bite (not mushy and overcooked). Set aside pasta and let it cool.

For fresh tomatoes, wash and core them then dice into about half a centimetre sizes; remove the seeds. For canned tomatoes, just chop them up into about half a centimetre pieces. If you’d like, you can blanch the fresh tomatoes in boiling water (no salt), enough to easily peel them so that you can remove the skin and deseed.

Peel the garlic, wash, and mince. Cut the basil into long, thin strips.

In a saucepan, heat up the olive oil on medium heat. Add the garlic and chillies and sauté. Don’t let the garlic brown. Add the tomato and continue to sauté. Add the penne pasta and sauté until it is nicely coated with sauce. Serve on a plate and top with grated parmesan cheese or Romano cheese. Pick out a few basil leaves and place them on top for garnish.

You can use a wide variety of pasta like spaghetti, fettuccine, and linguine and match them with a variety of flavors. Add capers, anchovies, olives, parsley, and parmesan to this recipe, substitute spaghetti for the penne, and you’ll get a yummy Pasta Puttanesca. Or use a simple pesto sauce with the penne and you can have Pesto Penne, great with some crisp white wine.

This is an excerpt from the book: The Ultimate Easy to Prepare Vegetarian Recipes Cookbook

33 Juicing Recipes for Weight Loss - Part VII - Setting Your Goals

One of the most important things that you need to do when getting started on a juicing program is to have a set of goals that are clear, reasonable, and has a time frame. Your objectives will help you choose what kinds of juices are best for you and what kind of ingredients you should be using the most. It’s basically going to determine your entire menu for juicing. Some of the common goals of juicers include weight loss and better health, but you also need to be more specific. You can say that you want to lose 15 pounds in 3 months (5 pounds of weight loss a month is still a healthy weight loss rate), that you want to have clearer and glowing skin, and you want to have more brain food for better memory retention and faster thinking. You can then match the types of ingredients you can juice to match these objectives (you’ll learn more about the characteristics of different ingredients in the ingredients section of the book).

When you’re setting your objectives, make sure that they’re reasonable so that you won’t endanger yourself trying to meet goals that just can’t be met given a certain timeframe. Saying that you want to lose 25 pounds in a month is a goal that would be dangerous to achieve and will put both your physical and emotional health at risk. Don’t do it.

Once you’ve decided on healthy and reasonable goals, you can put it in writing and maybe place them somewhere prominent so that they’re easy to spot and will remind you to stay on track. Most juicers place a large sign in the kitchen where they can be reminded of their personal juicing objectives everyday while they’re preparing their juices and meals.

Now that you’re familiar with the beginner’s guidelines to juicing and you know how to take a safe and healthy approach to juicing your way to a healthier and better body, you can move on to familiarizing yourself with the tools of our trade! Find out the tools that you need in your kitchen and how to juice on a budget in the next chapter.

This is a sample from the book 33 Juicing Recipes for Weight Loss--to get the complete recipes you can get the book here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NB0RD8I 

The Ultimate Easy to Prepare Vegetarian Recipes Cookbook - IX. Recipes: Pasta All Pasta

 IX. Recipes: Pasta All Pasta

When you say vegetarian pasta in a restaurant, the lazy answer always seems to be a vegetarian lasagne. Now, there’s nothing wrong with a good vegetable lasagne layered with tomato sauce and zucchini and eggplant and thin strips of carrots; but you have to admit it’s a little overdone. And it doesn’t even make any sense that just about every restaurant, from casual sit-downs to bistros, serve lasagne when there are endless options of pasta dishes out there that are completely vegetarian friendly, even the traditional ones.

And the best part about having pasta? It’s simple and easy to prepare but is usually mouth-wateringly delicious.

Before diving into our pasta recipes for vegetarians, let’s talk about a few rules of thumb for cooking pasta that every cook should know. When preparing the boiling liquid for pasta, always follow the 10 parts to 1 part rule, with 10 parts water to 1 part pasta. 

That allows the pasta enough liquid to not get clumpy or crowded. When boiling pasta, always salt the water so that you can start infusing it with flavor immediately.

You don’t always have to cook pasta in water either. Try cooking pasta in vegetable stock for that extra level of taste or in red wine if you feel like getting fancy (often paired with a light tomato sauce). 

Let’s start with the Penne all’Arrabbiata.

This is an excerpt from the book: The Ultimate Easy to Prepare Vegetarian Recipes Cookbook

33 Juicing Recipes for Weight Loss - Part VI - Knowing Your Current Health And Juicing

Knowing your current health and what kind of needs you want juicing to meet is important for putting together your own personalized juicing program. People have a lot of different reasons for going into juicing that includes weight loss, dealing with health problems, or just getting healthier. But because everyone has different expectations, they may have more of certain ingredients and less of others.

Before getting started in juicing, I would recommend seeing your local physician or a nutritionist or dietician. They can not only help determine if you do need to lose weight or get on a special diet, they can also make suggestions on what kind of juices would suit you best. Your current health can drastically affect what kind of juices to include in your juicing program. For example, if you are diabetic or even borderline diabetic, it would be best to reduce the amount of fruit juices because your body can’t produce the right amount of insulin to deal with the sugars. If you have hypoglycaemia or have low blood pressure or high blood pressure, there are certain ingredients that would be either withheld or prescribed. But juicing done correctly can help with plenty of health problems; you just need to know what’s best for you and what’s not which you can find out by having a clear assessment of where you are health-wise.

This is a sample from the book 33 Juicing Recipes for Weight Loss--to get the complete recipes you can get the book here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NB0RD8I  

How to Home School Your Child - Maintaining Objectivity

It is important that you maintain objectivity while teaching your special needs child. You cannot allow yourself to feel that you have failed as a parent and teacher when your child fails to grasp a concept. It may simply be beyond them to grasp some of the lessons. Depending on your child’s diagnosis and abilities, it may be very difficult for them to learn the same things that other children learn in a public school or home school setting.

You must do your best to understand what your child is capable of and what your reasonable expectations should be. This is one reason you must work closely with your child’s health care providers. Having reasonable expectations keeps you from feeling like a failure later on and gives you a better perspective of your child’s progress.

Of course, there is no reason to feel that you are bound by those expectations. Feel free to introduce new material that your child may or may not understand. Your child may surprise you. You will never know your child’s true potential if you stay within the bounds set by expectations. It is important to challenge your child and to continue working with him on any subject or activity that appears to be beneficial or even somewhat successful.

Discovering New Learning Tools

Do a lot of research on teaching children in your child’s learning situation. This research will become invaluable to you later on. There are a lot of books available, as well as online resources that will provide you with information vital to your success.

You will discover that there are a number of new learning tools available for teaching children basic necessary skills in new ways, depending on their ability. These tools are readily available online, just as any other homeschooling tools. It is just more difficult to know what tools you need for success. Your research should bring you a number of new and exciting methods and tools that you can use to teach your child as much as possible.

Reaping the Rewards

In the end, homeschooling can be very rewarding. Not only will you have more of a hand in the shaping of your child’s mind and future, you will be building bonds that most families only dream of. The rewards for your child are obvious. But there are rewards for the parents as well.

It is hard to watch a child grow up and leave the home. When children are in public school and parents are at work, it becomes even more difficult. Time seems to slip through your fingers. But when you home school, you get additional time with your child, creating memories you’ll never forget. By the time your child is all grown up and gone, you can gain a sense of peace and calm, knowing that you have fully prepared them for the world.

Homeschooling has other benefits for parents as well. While you are teaching your children, you can take on activities and careers that many parents don’t have the time to do. You can go back to school by taking classes online, working on your own education as well as your child’s. You can work from home and earn money while also spending time with your family. You can take up a hobby that may or may not earn an income, something that can help your personal growth. By staying at home with your children, you are opening doors for yourself that you would never have known about if you worked outside your home.

Of course, the real reward comes when your child succeeds as an adult. As you watch them go off to college, start their career, and start a family, you will see how what you have taught them influences their every decision. Knowing that you have had such a profound impact on your child’s life is often reward enough for most parents.

If you are considering homeschooling your child, go forward with a smile. Reassure yourself that you are able to teach your child better than anyone else in this world. You know your child better than anyone and you will be able to teach them things that they will never learn anywhere else. Recognize your ability to share knowledge with your child on any level and know that you and your child will reap the rewards of your efforts for years to come. 

This is an excerpt from the book: How to Home School Your Child: and Develop a Well Trained Mind