Quick and Easy Lunches Anyone Can Make

You can’t go wrong with a healthy fruit platter for lunch

For many people today, we have so much going on in our lives; work, family, study, and more, that learning to cook properly is often something many people want to do, but just never get round to doing.  This often leads to many people resorting to eating frozen dinners, microwave meals, and ready-made foods which require very little preparation, especially when it comes to lunch time.  Often we don’t even bother with cooking a meal in the microwave and opt for takeaway foods such as McDonald’s, pizza, Chinese, Thai and Indian take outs.  Unfortunately when people eat this way all of the time there is often not enough nutrition in their diet and it can lead to possible weight gain.  Not to mention the lack of variety and taste especially with ready-made home meals like cans of soup or pasta in a box.  So if you are not an expert cook and just want something easy to make don’t worry, you can still make a meal which both tasty and healthy.  You just need to think outside of the box a little when it comes to making easy to cook lunches at home.

Consider some of the following ideas to add a little variety into your lunches and you bet your health and taste buds will thank you.  These can be made for yourself at home for lunch, or to take with you for lunch at work, or even for your kids to take for lunch at school.

Tortilla Wraps:  These are delicious and extremely easy to make.  As a plus they are quite healthy too especially considering you choose what you want to put in them.  You can also opt for whole meal or multi-grain wraps.  With endless possibilities for fillings you can change the flavor and you will never get tired of them.  Try with pizza sauce and lettuce, olives, pepperoni and mozzarella.  Or try with ham, pineapple, lettuce and cream cheese.  Or how about refried beans with lettuce, olives, tomato and cheddar cheese topped with salsa.  The options are limitless and many options for vegetarians as well.  Anything you can put on a pizza, in a taco or on a sub, you can put in a tortilla.

Lettuce Rolls:  Who could have thought lettuce could be so tasty!  Use lettuce such as iceberg, red leaf or romaine, as a wrap for lunch with plenty of different options for fillings.  Prepare the filling beforehand, and when you are ready to eat, just heat it up in the microwave, pop onto your lettuce, wrap and eat.  It’s very simple, healthy and tasty.  Ideas for fillings include lunch meat, sushi, cold chicken salad, chicken teriyaki, turkey with mixed veggies and soy sauce, and anything you could put in a taco or tortilla.

Mixed Lunches:  Try something different and mix and match snacks together to form a tasty lunch.  Some ideas for this type of lunch are:

• Cheese and crackers
• Lunch meats and crackers
• Peanut butter and celery
• Chopped veggies and dip
• Fruit kabobs
• Cold cuts with cheese and crackers
• Fruit and cheese plate with crackers
• Ground nuts with veggies
• Curried yogurt dip with veggies
• Fruit and yogurt

Now you don’t need to spend ages preparing and cooking to have a nice, quick and healthy lunch.  You can still have a quick lunch with no hassle and yes you can still use the microwave to cook it if you have access to one, nothing wrong with that.  These ideas are just a start, the options for different lunches at home which are both quick and easy to make is endless.  Put your thinking cap on and try to invent new ways and new dishes to make your lunch both healthy, tasty and a bit of fun too.

Make the Most of Your Home Microwave Oven

Many may still think that the microwave oven you have in the kitchen of your home is merely there to be used as a small help for cooking, like to cook a side dish or for when you are in a hurry and don’t have time to cook a big meal.  Many may still only use a microwave to reheat leftovers from last night’s dinner, or to cook a frozen microwave dinner after a long day.  The rest of the family is out for the night, so you leave the cooking on the stove or in the oven for the night, and opt to cook yourself something simple in the microwave instead.  Some may only use their microwave oven to cook instant popcorn, or microwave porridge, or perhaps heat up a mug of chocolate milk.

Cook full meals using only your microwave

If you are used to only using your microwave for very small tasks you may be very interested and surprised that nowadays with today’s newest models, the variety of foods you are able in cook in your microwave oven have greatly increased.  You can even cook almost any type of foods in some ovens.

How to choose the right microwave oven:

Choosing the right microwave oven for your home can be a little tricky.  You need to think about what meals you would like to cook often in your microwave as well as thinking about the style and size of the model.  If you decide upon a countertop model you need to be sure you have adequate counter space for the oven as some full sized ovens can get quite large.  There’s also the option of choosing an over-the-range or built-in unit, so you will have to think about which design would best suit your kitchen and your usage.  Then you have to consider whether to get a compact, mid-sized or full-sized unit, and the features each model comes with.

Cooking veggies in the microwave can really help you cut down your cooking times

Compact, mid-sized or a full-sized microwave:

If you only plan to use your microwave for small and simple tasks like reheating leftovers or cooking popcorn, than a compact design with standard features may be all you need.  Those wanting to cook many meals in their microwave oven may prefer to opt for a mid or full sized model with a higher wattage for fast cooking times, and a large interior to accommodate larger dishes such as a casserole.  As an example, if you are the type of person who wants to still use the stove and the oven, but at the same time use the microwave to assist you in cooking larger meals, you could keep your eye out for features that will help you in this task as much as possible.  Fast and thorough defrosting would be a great feature to look for, as well as microwave model which cooks foods very evenly.  Food cooked evenly in the microwave means the heat is distributed evenly throughout the food, but it can also mean the foods taste better too, as the moisture, juices and flavor are kept within foods.

Those wanting to cook many meals in their microwave oven, in particular cooking large items or multiple dishes at once will prefer to opt for a full-sized unit with a large turntable and a spacious interior.  Generally speaking the mid and full-sized models available offer a lot more features than the compact models and therefore result it a faster cooked and better tasting meal.  The variety of foods you are able to cook in the unit increases also.

What about a convection microwave oven:

Bake cupcakes and muffins in a convection microwave oven

Another choice in microwave ovens which Is becomingly more popular of late, with smaller apartments and less time to spend in the kitchen is the convection microwave oven.  This type of microwave has the ability to completely replace your standard conventional oven.  I know that is quite hard to believe, that you could cook everything you would normally cook in your regular oven in a microwave instead, but many people praise the convection microwave and have fantastic results with it.

You can bake foods as you would in a normal oven such as baked bread, cakes, cookies, muffins, pastries, and baked vegetables.  You can roast foods such as steak, vegetables and whole chicken.  And you can even broil foods such as fish.  The results are quite amazing too, with many owners of this type of microwave stating that the foods turn out exactly like they would when coming out of a conventional oven or in some cases even better.

Microwave oven reviews:

When shopping for a new microwave model it may help to read up on some microwave oven reviews of the best models available.  This can help you to narrow down your search as you may find it a little overwhelming to see so many different types of models, all with different features, sizes, styles and functions.  You may feel you don’t know where to begin.  So if you are not sure where to start or what exactly to look for I recommend choosing a couple of the most popular models that look like they may interest you, reading detailed reviews of each model and going from there.  I found one website which I found to be very helpful. I like this one as it doesn’t have reviews on all the models available, just a select few of the best and most popular units so I didn’t find it overwhelming at all.  It also lists both the pros and cons of each model to help you decide on a model.  You can find it here it’s called:  Microwave Oven Reviews at microwaveoven-reviews.net.

Having the right microwave oven in your kitchen can work wonders in improving your meals, your cooking times, and your life (which all that extra time you will have!).  It really depends upon each person as to which design is the best for them.  Some people such as college students, young adults, singles and seniors may prefer a compact and simple microwave oven.  Those that love to cook many meals in their kitchen however, may find this type of model a little limiting and may prefer a mid or full sized unit with a lot of features including automatic sensor cooking options.  A convection microwave oven is not for everyone and it is more costly as it works as a regular oven also with convection cooking modes, but you may find for your needs that this is a worthwhile investment.  Happy Hunting!

5 Ways to Save Money on Your Everyday Groceries

Uh oh! It’s grocery shopping time again. While I find grocery shopping to be a pain a lot of the time, the worst part about it is definitely the bill. I used to never even look at it; you know the saying “out of sight, out of mind”. But not thinking about it doesn’t change the fact that way too much of my money (and I am quite sure very many people feel this way), was being poured into simple everyday groceries. So you may ask yourself: “What can I do to change that? We need groceries, we have to eat?” Well of course we all have to eat, but steps can be taken to drastically reduce your grocery bill, leaving more money which you can then put into savings and other investments instead.

Here are 5 simple steps you can take to cut costs on your everyday groceries:

Step 1: Learn how to store foods. If you have storage space, a good freezer and a little bit of time you can learn how to preserve foods. Learning how to do this really opens up the opportunity to take advantage of sale items. There is no point buying sale items if you are not able to eat them or store them. So this really is a very important step. If you do buy a sale item that will spoil easily such as fresh fruit or vegetables, be sure to make the most of it and use it as much as possible in meals for that week. For example, buying a huge box of apricots weighing 20 lbs. for $2 is a great bargain if you then use it for fresh snacking fruit, homemade jam, fillings of baked foods, in lunch boxes and as a topping for pork roast.

Step 2: Look into using coupons. A lot of shoppers have decided to make the most out of their groceries by using coupons whenever they can. You can find coupons in the newspaper, but if you don’t want to have to search for them, look into joining a coupon website or coupon sharing online group. These sites can often be free or only cost a few dollars, but the savings you get can be very significant. For example, the coffee brand I like is usually $7.58, but I paid $1.35 for it! Which is a very nice discount, and sure helps cut down that bill. Sites to check out include thegrocerygame.com and couponmom.com, but there are many others as well.

Step 3: Stock your pantry. This idea really depends on the person, when some people go grocery shopping they like to only buy what they immediately need. This can work for some, but others prefer to not have to travel back to the store each time they need something, and I find the more trips to the store means the higher chance you will end up buying items you don’t really need. More trips = more bills. So what a lot of people do is they stock their pantry with at least two of every item that they would use on a regular basis. This way you won’t ever need to buy anything and can afford to wait until items are on sale. After your pantry is stocked you can then only buy items which you either have a coupon for or the item is on sale. Once you get the hang of this you can cut down shopping costs to as low as $5-$10 per person in your household.

Step 4: Use store rewards cards. Every little bit counts! Filling out an application in the store only takes a minute or two, and can result in nice savings on your groceries each week. Savings vary from store to store, but can often be around a 10% discount off your total expense.

Step 5: And the final step but one of the easiest is to shop on a full stomach! Don’t forget to eat before you go shopping, otherwise you will be so tempted to add in many items you weren’t planning on buying. Eat first, and take your list with you. Stick to your list and do not deviate!

Changing the way you shop for your everyday groceries can take a little bit of planning and a little bit of time, but the results are well worth it. I went from being an impulse shopper who didn’t know the first thing about storage, to learning how to shop smart, store well and drastically reduce my expenses. You can too!

Short on Time? Tips on How You Can Save Time in the Kitchen

Those of us who want to make all our own food can often feel like we are always in the kitchen with nothing much to show for it. These tips are to help you save time in the kitchen so you don’t end up in there all day!

• Use your microwave: Finding a good microwave cookbook can really help you get through the week. Cookbooks focusing on quick and easy meals and one-pot recipes can save you a ton of time when cooking in the kitchen.

• Freeze meals in advance: This is especially handy for school lunches, as I am sure no one likes to spend a great deal of time in the morning making those. =P I will also freeze pretty much anything I have made and have excess of, such as extra muffins, bagels, waffles, pancakes, bread as well as soups and sauces.

• Cook extra: It can be a great idea to cook more than one meal at a time. I often cook 2 chickens or roasts at a time and double up on the vegetables. I also like to cook in cycles. I will do a lot of cooking for 1-2 days and that usually covers the next 2 days then I repeat. I try to always have a meal plan so I know my meals will last for more than one dinner and cover at least the lunch for the next day or possibly even another dinner. If you are interested in this there are quite a few magazines and cookbooks which cover very useful topics such as: How to make a roast chicken last 3 days to feed a family of four.

• Use a food processor: A food processor can really help with chopping vegetables. It only takes 3 minutes in the processor and you don’t need to spend time chopping in advance. A good idea for saving time in the kitchen if you prepare veggies frequently.

• Plan in Advance: Cooking from scratch can take quite a lengthy total time, but only a few minutes of actual hands-on time if you plan it right. For example, foods which need to thaw can thaw in the fridge over time instead of thawing it in the microwave just before cooking. This results in less hands-on time in the kitchen. Thinking ahead and planning in advance is one of the best ways to cut down time spent in the kitchen. And also remember to check you have everything you need for your meal, as having to stop to run to the shop last minute to buy something you forgot about will not save you time at all.

• Have good kitchen tools: I think it’s important to have a good selection of kitchen tools. These do not need to be expensive either. I place priority on having a very good sharp knife or knife set as well as versatile pots and pans. Stainless steel pans can go directly from the oven to the stove top, saving you valuable time.

• Learn good techniques: Learning some good preparation techniques can save you time and improve your cooking skills. For example, an onion can take 4 minutes or 1 minute to finely chop. Your technique as well as your tools can make a huge difference in preparation time.

And there you have it, some simple tips to save you a ton of time in the kitchen. Once you master the art of “cross-cooking” (what I like to call cooking several meals simultaneously in an efficient manner, eg. Cooking dinner and tomorrow’s lunch at the same time whilst overlapping on ingredients) you are really able to cut down on cooking and preparation time whilst increasing your output. Happy Cooking!