Rouxbe Online Cooking School

As I am sure you can tell cooking is one of my all time passions. Since I was a little girl I just loved the artistic challenge of taking different ingredients and merge them to create a delicious delight.  It is something I never grow tired of.  But there have always been huge learning curves in my cooking history that have led to kitchen disasters.  On more then one occasion a meal has turned out so bad we had to go out to eat.  It happens to everyone, but no matter how much you know that it always is a frustrating situation. For years I toyed with the idea of going to culinary school.  And even now when I drive by the Culinary Institute near my house, or when I hear of a friend making the leap to go I get that ache to go.  But I made decisions in my past that has made it a financial impossibility and that is something I understand.  But it doesn't take away my desire to learn and thankfully for that there are avenues out there that I can turn to.  Sites like allrecipes and reading other blogs has been a huge source of teaching materials for me.  But something that I was introduced to by my friend Kimbery Schaub of Peas on Moss has opened the doors to learning things that I only dreamed of.

Rouxbe is an online cooking school for anyone that wants to learn how to improve their cooking skills.  They provide video tutorials that takes you step-by-step through a process and then provide you with exercises to test you on what you have learned as well as a quiz.  You also have access to the schools team of instructors to ask any questions that you might have.  You get all of the benefits of going to a school but you can do it in your own time, and for a lot less money.  Two of my favorite things.

You wouldn't use a map to teach you how to drive, it is a tool that we use to get to where we are going once we lean the skills needed to drive.  But many people, myself included have relied entirely on recipes to teach them how to cook. Recipes are a wonderful guide that helps us when we are creating our meals.  But what if the recipe calls for you to braise your meat.  Do you know how to properly braise?  How big of a difference would it be to your meals if you knew how to properly saute vegetables so that you have the delicious flavor and not have your veggies overcooked and limp? There is so much to learn and I have barely touched the surface with my subscription.  I challenge you to take a look at the site and see what it can offer you.  Tell them I sent you.

Rouxbe Online Cooking School & Video Recipes

Healthier turkey leftover ideas: Spinach and Mushroom Turkey Tetrazzini

The holidays are often filled with very heavy meals with often just as heavy leftover dishes.  But after all of the sweets and heavy dishes I find that I crave slightly healthier meal options.  One of my favorite leftover dishes that my mother made while I was growing up with Turkey Tetrazzini.  So I decided to take it to task to make a healthier tetrazzini option for our holiday leftovers. So I decided to take it to task to make a healthier tetrazzini option for our holiday leftovers.

How to cook the perfect roast turkey

Have you ever taken a bite of roast turkey only to find it to be so dry you had to drown it in gravy just to get it down?  Probably the number one complain I hear about turkey is the fact that it is so dry.  But I am here to say that doesn't have to be the way it is.  You can roast a turkey that is so juicy and flavorful it will fall off the bones.   All it takes is time and preparation but each bite will be worth it.  A lot of the thanks goes to the website Simply Recipes .  I could never seem to get the cook time and temperatures just right, but after reading this article at Simply Recipes I gained the tools I needed for the perfect turkey.

Little money saving tip

Here is a little money saving tip for you, when you go to restock yourself with things like toothpaste or shampoo buy at least two so you have a spare.  That way you will save yourself from getting into a situation where you run out and have to make that "quick" trip to the store to replenish.  Because no matter how much we tell ourselves that we are just going into the store for shampoo we always walk out with way more then we bargained for and this is often spent on items that we could have done without.  Saving yourself from making unnecessary trips to the store is just a small way to help stop spontaneous shopping that can quickly ruin your monthly budget.

Perfect Vegetable Lasagna every time

Lasagna really is a lot like a dance, there are several steps and really until you learn how to put them in the right order it can be a bit of a mess.  For me when I tried to add veggies to my lasagna it always seemed to turn into a soupy mess.  So after experimenting with several recipes I finally discovered the right steps and the right order to have my lasagna turn out perfect every time.  Now as I have gotten bolder I have tried variations to the recipe but like a dance the essential steps are all there.  It is a longer process but the results are worth it.

Lemony Olive Chicken

I am sure we have all had one of those days when we just needed a simple meal idea that doesn't take too much effort and doesn't require us to have to follow a difficult recipe.  It is always important to have a few recipes in your repertoire that is simple and tasty.  This is one of my standard dishes, it is easy and tastes perfect every time.  I stumbled upon it while browsing allrecipes.com and other then a few tweaks found it to be just the thing I needed for those stressful days when I don't have the time of the energy to prepare a complicated meal. 

Tomato Bruschetta with Roasted Peppers

That holidays are often filled with parties, celebrations with friends and family filled with wonderful tasty delights.  This year my focus has been a lot more on healthier, fresh options so I decided to put a new twist on a fresh classic, Bruschetta.  I found inspiration through my favorite recipe website allrecipes and decided that flavor and color would be my main focus with this dish. It is extremely easy to make and everyone will be delighted.