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Entry bubble Your Turn: Inexpensive Meals

By: Editor | June 15, 2009 | Category: Spanish

Our Monday blogger, Jake, has work duties that will take him away from Gov Gab until September. In his absence, we’re alternating between “Your Turn” weeks, where we’ll ask a question to spotlight your knowledge about government resources, and posts from guest bloggers across the government.

tofu and noodle dishToday’s question: Thrifty meal ideas, favorite recipes, sources for good quality and inexpensive ingredients—I’d love to hear all your suggestions!

| View Comments [6] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: budget   cooking   editor   meal_planning   recipes   your_turn  

 

Entry bubble Experimenting with new recipes

By: Jess | March 12, 2009 | Category: Health

Vegetables in a bowlWhen I was thrust into the real world after college, it was my first real opportunity to cook my own meals. As a health nerd, I had a couple recipes that I knew were nutritious, but after making grilled chicken with vegetables or salmon with broccoli hundreds of times, the recipes started to get boring and I was craving something different.

Often that meant I would hit the salad bar at my grocery store or order a veggie hoagie from a sandwich shop. While still nutritious, these on-the-go meals started to make a dent in my budget.

In honor of National Nutrition Month, I'm challenging myself to try at least one new recipe a week. This week I made a vegetarian stir fry that I found on a friend's blog. Next week I might try some of the heart-healthy recipes from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. In my quest to put lots of color on my plate, I'll definitely explore recipe options from the the Centers for Disease Control that focus on creating meals around fruits and veggies. And of course, I'll check out meal options from the United States Department of Agriculture as I try to put as much variety in my menus as possible.

If this sounds like a challenge you are up for, I'd love to have you join me. If you're worried that healthy cooking is going to be too expensive, you can check out tips for cooking thrifty meals that are still healthy. Nutrition.gov is another place you can turn for healthy eating guidelines.

If you know of any other great nutritious recipe sources please feel free to share in the comments!

| Post a Comment | View Comments [3] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: cooking   food   fruits   healthy_cooking   hearty_healthy_recipes   jess   nutrition   recipes   vegetables   vegetarian  

 

Entry bubble Get Ready for Turkey!

By: Jake | November 25, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

I suggested a way you can work off those extra calories from your Thanksgiving turkey yesterday. Today I'm going to get you prepared for Turkey Day.

Turkey CalendarThe best way to get ready is to go to the USA.gov Thanksgiving page. Here you will find information on everything you need to get ready for Thanksgiving. The page will help you find air travel status for those of you flying, send thanks to members of the U.S. military or learn how astronauts eat turkey in space. Of course there's also tons of recipes with the usual ways to cook your turkey and some unusual ones.

I'm a big fan of trivia and I got these Thanksgiving tidbits from USA.gov:

I'm posting today in Joanne's absence while she attends to a family emergency. I'm sure if she was writing today she'd say the most important thing on Thanksgiving is to be very thankful for what you have, especially those you love.

| View Comments [0] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: cooking   jake   sleep   thanksgiving   tryptophan  

 

Entry bubble Beyond Pumpkin Pie

By: Nancy | October 23, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

Our Kids.gov manager Arlene shared her fantastic apple pie recipe with us in the comments section of my birthday post last week. And that got me to thinking: The apple pie's all gone and now I'm craving pumpkin. pumpkins in a fieldSo for fun I did a search on USA.gov for pumpkin recipes and was not disappointed by what I found among federal, state and local government and nonprofit websites. So for your culinary pleasure, here are some of my favorite discoveries:

Think pumpkin and you probably think "pie." You can get the standard recipe on any can of pureed pumpkin. But here are two new ones to try:

If you have celiac disease and can't tolerate—or don't want to use—regular flour, Ohio State University's extension department suggests harvest pumpkin bars, using soy flour for the crust.

Pumpkin cheesecake from South Carolina? That sounds good about now, as do pumpkin orange cookies from Alabama's Tallapoosa County Extension Office.

Kids get such a kick out of cooking. How about saving the seeds from their jack-o-lanterns and toasting them up with one of the creative mix-ins suggested by the kids in Michigan's Saranac Community School District?

Pumpkin's good for more than just desserts. The Vegetarian Resource Group offers recipes for pumpkin and lentils, stuffed pumpkins and more. I've hollowed out pumpkins but never filled them!

In the mood for something light, like soup? King County, Washington has a spiced pumpkin soup recipe and my home base, the state of New Jersey has pumpkin bread and pumpkin-mushroom soup recipes for you to try.

Aiming to eat not so light? Take a peek at the Pentagon Channel's pumpkin and sweet Italian sausage fettuccine. Yes sir, that's good eating!

Which of these recipes are you tempted to try?

| Post a Comment | View Comments [2] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: baking   cooking   nancy   pumpkin  

 

Entry bubble Safe Cooking for Your Holiday Recipes

By: Sommer | December 21, 2007 | Category: Health

Millions of Americans will travel to someone else’s home to celebrate Christmas or New Years this year. Good luck if you’re the one expecting all those visitors, they’re probably going to be very hungry when they arrive! Here are some tips on cooking for large groups of people, food safety, and great recipes to help you out.

The most important thing when cooking for large groups is to make sure you’re aware of 4 basic food safety principles:

  1. Clean hands, cutting boards and other kitchen surfaces regularly.cooking
  2. Separate raw meat, seafood and poultry (and their juices) from ready-to-eat foods and produce.
  3. Cook foods to their recommended temperatures – use a food thermometer to verify the temperature.
  4. Chill refrigerated foods properly to below 40 degrees fahrenheit and put leftovers away within 2 hours. Always thaw foods in the refrigerator, not on the counter.

You’d hate to have a houseful of sick guests because you forgot to use your meat thermometer on the turkey, turducken, rib roast or ham, right?

Also, be sure to take extra care preparing holiday goodies that call for eggs by ensuring they’re fully cooked before you partake. No licking the spoon for the cookie dough, folks! And be careful with the egg nog – alcohol doesn’t kill the bacteria in the eggs!

Remember that foods might require a little extra prep if any of your guests are members of at risk groups including expectant moms (like me!), children and seniors.  It will make your guests feel good to know you’ve taken the time to prepare food that they can enjoy safely.

I’d love to hear about any of your favorite holiday traditions or recipes – you can leave them in the comments.

Happy Holidays!!!

| Post a Comment | View Comments [6] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: cooking   food   holiday   recipes   safe   sommer  

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