Cooking is one of the most fun skills that every people should have. Some people are innately good at cooking, but most of the greatest chefs and cooks today are never experts before. They just dedicated their time and effort to constantly learn and improve their cooking skills. Well, if you are tired of just frying hotdogs, boiling water or doing basic cooking, then follow these essential steps on how to improve your cooking skills.

Take Cooking Lessons

To learn about cooking, you can enroll in a culinary school. There are dozens of trusted schools and institutions that offer culinary courses. Moreover, you can hire a cooking instructor or a certified chef who can provide you custom-tailored cooking lessons. Through this, you can interact with experts and professionals who can definitely improve your cooking skills. However, it will really be costly.

Watch Cooking Shows

If you do not want to spend money on cooking classes, you can watch TV instead. There are various shows, programs and channels that are centered to cooking. They feature professional chefs who can give you essential cooking advice for free. They can also provide you some unique recipes that you can try. Some shows feature chefs who are competing with each other to be hailed as the best among the rest.

Read a Cookbook

If you want it to be more personalized without spending too much, then you can buy a cookbook. A cookbook contains recipes of delicious dishes from different world cuisines. It includes ingredients, step-by-step procedures, and essential tips on how to improve your skills. All you need to do is to carefully read the ingredients and the instructions.

Go to YouTube

If TV offers too general content for you, then go to YouTube. There are hundreds of channels that specialize in cooking. You can watch videos on how to bake a cake, roast a turkey, cook spaghetti and so much more. These cooking videos also provide step-by-step procedures and all the ingredients you need.

Start Cooking

Experience is the best teacher. In order for you to fully understand what “cooking” really is, you need to start cooking. Follow what you have learned from the cooking shows or what you have read from the cookbook. Apply all your learning by doing it yourself – slicing the vegetables, making a marinade mixture, creating the sauce and stuffing the turkey. You need to use your bare hands to personally work on the different kitchen essentials and measure the ingredients until you gradually discover the beauty of cooking.

Cooking is fun. But, it will be more fun if you do it in your own kitchen. Of course, cooking will be much easier and more efficient with the help of the right equipment. So, stock your kitchen with these 12 basic essentials:

Knives

The most important are the knives. They are used for chopping, slicing, cutting and so much more. You do not have to own a 30-piece knife set. A few will do. The basics are the chef’s knife, boning knife, paring knife, and a serrated knife.

Tongs

Tongs are used to grip and lift objects. They are very useful for frying and grilling. They can also be used in grabbing pasta, cabbage rolls, meat and basically everything.

Spatula

A spatula is a broad and flat kitchen essential that is usually made up of wood, metal or plastic. They are used to combine mixtures, lifting multiple cookies, transferring cakes and removing baked goodies from the pan.

Whisk

Whisk is a stainless steel kitchen essential with series of wire loops. They are primarily used for whisking or whipping eggs, cream, soups, sauces, and cake mixtures, among others.

Measuring spoons

A set of spoons that measures the volume of dry and liquid ingredients are called measuring spoons. They are usually made up of plastic or metal. They are available in different sizes, of different measurements.

Measuring cups

For larger volumes, measuring cups are used. They are very useful to accurately measure the amount of ingredients you are going to use. You can’t just any regular cup if the cookbook says “one cup of flour”.

Cutting boards

If knives are important, cutting boards are also important. They are made of durable materials, usually wood or hard plastic. Other materials of cutting boards include rubber, glass, and steel.

Mixing bowls

You can’t proceed cooking without mixing bowls. They are used as containers where you will mix ingredients. They come in different sizes and are usually made of metal, plastic, and glass.

Pots and pans

In pots and pans is where the real cooking begins. There are different kinds of pots and pans, depending on the usage. There are sheet pans, grill pans, non-stick pans, saute pans, stock pots and so much more.

Grater

Basically, a grater is used to grate or shred foods into pieces. You can grate cheese, carrots, lemon, orange, potatoes, and coconut, among others.

Side towels

Well, you might underestimate this kitchen essential but this is very important. Side towels are used to clean your hands. Side towels can dry your wet hands. Trust us! Everyone needs side towels.

Apron

Lastly, you can never be called a master chef or cook without this. The apron is a garment that is worn to cover the front of your body. It keeps you from being filthy and messy from the inevitable fun experience in the kitchen.

These are the basic kitchen essentials. After you complete this, start investing on other kitchen tools and equipment like blenders, food processors and so much more.

In April 1955, the world’s first ever fast food chain restaurant opened. It was followed by more fast food chains offering different kinds of foods and drinks. Since then, the people rejoiced because of the convenience they get from eating “fast food”. Never did they know that “fast food” ends their life faster.

Eating fast food has been attributed as the leading cause of some major diseases in the United States. However, people are still too tired and busy to prepare for their own food or go organic so, they do not care about the hazards of eating fast food. Now, let us tell you again why you should stop eating fast food:

Too much sodium

Fast food is high in sodium content. According to American Heart Association, too much sodium increases your risk to hypertension, heart diseases, and osteoporosis. Moreover, the kidney may not hold the sodium anymore and may turn to kidney stones.

Source: http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/HealthyEating/HealthyDietGoals/The-Effects-of-Excess-Sodium-Infographic_UCM_454384_SubHomePage.jsp

Too much sugar

Fast food involves soft drinks which have a high concentration of sugar. Burgers, chicken sandwiches, pies, and breakfast meals contain added sugar. As we all know, too much sugar may lead to obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes, among others.

Too much trans fat

Trans fat is a major ingredient in fast food so they remain solid at room temperature. The American Heart Association considered trans fat as one of the deadliest things as it can cause type 2 diabetes, stroke and heart diseases.

Poor nutritional value

Basically, fast food has poor nutritional value. For example, a big burger contains 600 calories, 33 grams of fat, and 1,000 grams of sodium. Plus, you ordered fries which contain over 300 calories and lots of cholesterol. Indeed, fewer nutrients compared to home-cooked meals.

Obesity

Fast food is a powerhouse of sugar, unhealthy fat, sodium, and empty calories. All of these can lead to obesity. One meal is equivalent to more or less 1,500 calories. That is more than your required daily calories.

Food poisoning

Food poisoning is a common incident in fast food restaurants. In an investigation conducted by NBC News, behind the counter is a very unhygienic kitchen. Popular fast food chains commit major food safety critical violations, like crawling rodents and cockroaches, improper food holding and inadequate sanitation, among others.

Digestive problems

In a study conducted by WebMD, eating fast food can cause gastroesophageal reflux disease and irritable bowel syndrome.

Mental breakdown

A study found out that feeding rats with fast food for one week impaired their brain functions. Another study suggests that children eating too much fast food can lose focus and impair mental functioning because fast food lack iron that is needed by our brain.

Heart problems

With cholesterol, sodium, trans fat and triglyceride, eating fast food increases your risk to various types of heart diseases.

Cancer

Lastly, fast food can cause cancer. A study suggests that fatty fried food has a direct link to the incidence of cancer. Moreover, high content of fat, sugar, and sodium can promote the reproduction of cancer cells.

When your children hear the word “vegetable”, their reaction will probably be:

“Gross”

“Eww”

“Yuck”

“No, mommy, no!”

We understand. According to a study, children hate vegetables because, at their age, they have more sensitive bitter receptors. When they eat vegetables, they can taste all the types of bitterness.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2016/12/08/hated-veggies-as-a-kid-these-are-the-scientific-reasons-why_a_21622833/

But as parents, it is our primary duty to feed them with fruits and most especially vegetables that are rich in antioxidants and essential nutrients needed for their growth and development.

To help you with these struggle, try these 10 effective tricks that make your children eat vegetables.

Bake “Veggie” Goodies

Most children love sweets – cake, brownies, cookies, and truffles. Well, you can grind those veggies and mix them into these sweet goodies. At least, they can now enjoy their favorite snacks while unconsciously eating vegetables.

Blend them in Smoothies

Strawberry and banana smoothies? Your children will definitely love them. How about we mix kale or broccoli, will they still know the difference? Of course, not! Choose sweeter fruits to neutralize the bitter flavor of the vegetables.

Make “Veggie” Burgers

Most children cannot resist burgers. They learned it from SpongeBob. Anyway, do not forget the smaller slices of tomatoes and some lettuce between those buns. Do not make it obvious, though!

Mix them in Macaroni Salad

Macaroni salad is the best sweet treat you can give your children. Because of the deliciousness of the macaroni salad, they will forget that you actually mixed some minced carrots and potatoes, sweet pickle relish and corn kernels.

Fry “Veggie” Patties

If you want to serve your child a patty for lunch, make sure you put some “veggie” twist in it. Place any vegetables you want, a small cut of beef, flour and spices and seasonings inside a food processor and mix. Form the mixture into patties and fry. Serve with mayonnaise or any special sauce.

Let them Prepare the Food

Teach your children how to prepare food. It will be a fun, interactive activity for them. Do not forget the veggies as part of the main ingredients. Get them involved in the cooking. For sure, they will not resist what they have prepared.

Try the “One Bite Rule”

Do not force your children to eat vegetables. The process should be gradual. You can try the “one bite rule” in which they will eat a spoonful of veggies. Sooner, they will find vegetables favorable.

Reward them

To introduce to them what vegetables are, you can reward them when they eat vegetable meals. You can treat them with some sweets, bring them to movies and any reward you think they like.

Make Attractive Food Presentation

If your food presentation is dry, the more they will show no interest in eating vegetables. Make an attractive food presentation. Offer diverse colors so that it will be difficult for them to resist.

Be a Model

Lastly, set an example to your children. Show them that you love vegetables and let them be aware that what keeps you healthy and strong are because of vegetables.

Food preservation is one of the most important discoveries that have been practiced in the earliest civilizations. It allows the food to last for a period of time, delaying its decay or spoilage. Food preservation is also a very practical way to those who are saving.

Well, here are the most common ways on how to preserve food:

Canning

In this method, the food will undergo the process of heating. Once done, they will be placed inside a tight container, usually a canning jar and store them for a period of time. Canning is applicable to fruits, vegetables, and seafood.

Freezing

With the use of a refrigerator, freezing is the most accessible way of preserving food. Any types of food – fruits, vegetables, meat, eggs, and fish can be placed in the freezer with at least 0°F temperature.

Cooling

Well, if you do not have a freezer, you can actually just chill the food inside an icebox or any cool place. Cooling slows down the growth of microorganisms that destroy the quality of food.

Salting

Salt is very effective in decreasing the number of bacteria which cause food spoilage. The salt can also draw out moisture from meat and fish to preserve its quality.

Drying

Drying is the process of dehydrating foods to get rid of moisture. This method is very common everywhere else. Drying can be done in fruits, vegetables, nuts, fishes, and meat, among others.

Fermenting

Wine and yogurt – these are produced through a special process called fermentation. It utilizes good bacteria that fight against bad bacteria that promotes spoilage of food products. The most common products that can be fermented are grape extracts, milk, and meat.

Boiling

Boiling is the process of exposing the food product to heat in order to kill existing microbes that may lead to spoilage of food. Milk and water are commonly boiled to kill these harmful microbes.

Sugaring

Sugar is effectively used as a preservative. Sugar draws moisture away from microbes, dehydrates them until they die. Through this, the food is safe from microbial spoilage. Any fruits and vegetables can undergo sugaring.

Pickling

Pickling makes use of a liquid mixture that promotes longevity to food quality. Most commonly, the mixture is comprised of brine, vinegar, alcohol, and vegetable oil. The most common pickled products are cucumber and corned beef.

Curing

One of the earliest forms of food preservation is curing. It makes use of pink salt or curing salt. It then follows the drying and smoking methods. The curing salt speeds up the drying while getting rid of harmful bacteria.

Sealing

Sealing is another effective way which keeps the food from any access to air. Foods are usually stored inside a plastic and get rids of air before sealing the container. Fat sealing and vacuum sealing are two available means of sealing.

Burial

Burial is widely practiced in Asia. The food is stored in a pot or any container and then burned to the ground. Burial keeps the food from light and oxygen sources. It is also cool underneath which inhibits microbe spoilage.