Remembering Summer in WinterWritten by Arleen M. Kaptur
Summer's bountiful harvest can be well-remembered and renewed by freezing items you enjoy. Fruit: Work with small amounts at a time to allow for quick handling and prompt freezing. Gently wash fruit in cold water. Drain well. Never allow fruit to stand in water. Remove stems from berries, and pits from cherries, plums, apricots, peaches and pears. The peels should be removed from peaches, apples, and pears. The fruit can be sliced, quartered, or mashed, depending on future use. To prevent discoloration while working, apricots, peaches, nectarines, apples, pears, plums, etc. should be dipped in water with lemon juice. (1 gallon water to 3 tbs. lemon juice). Sweetening fruits before freezing helps retain flavor and color. Rolling fruit pieces in sugar is a simple way to guarantee that summer-fresh flavor. This is called a dry sugar pack. It is great with very juicy fruits as sugar and juice will make a great syrup.
| | Five Reasons For Preparing Your Own Baby FoodWritten by Nancy Miller
Here are 5 good reasons to start preparing your own baby food, as opposed to buying it in store.1. IT'S HEALTHIER AND MORE NUTRITIOUS Commercial baby foods contain additional fat, salt, sugar, fillers or other ingredients that are completely unnecessary (and often inappropriate) to your baby's diet. These additives are an attempt to add flavor, texture and bulk to poor-quality products. They contribute nothing at all to your baby's health or well-being. By preparing food yourself, you can be sure that your baby is getting exactly what his/her little body needs - and nothing that it doesn't. 2. YOU'RE IN CONTROL By preparing your baby's food yourself, you know exactly what your baby is eating. When you prepare an apple sauce, you know he/she is getting fresh, pure apple and all goodness it contains. However, when you buy apple-sauce at store, you'd almost need a degree in nutrition just to decipher list of ingredients. 3. IT'S EASY Once you get started cooking for your baby, you'll quickly realize just how easy it is. All you need is a food blender and some fresh ingredients to quickly prepare healthy, tasty, home-made meals for your little one. Furthermore, by making large amounts of his/her favorite meals in advance, and then freezing them for later, you'll be able to serve up delicious, healthy meals in minutes -- every day of week.
|
