Need some culinary inspiration?
If you any of you are like me and working right up to Christmas day, or you are someone who actions a last minute throw together Christmas plan, here are some of my tips, shortcuts and favourite recipes for easy Christmas entertaining.
Sweet and delicious are often used to describe lobster meals, and Cajun lobster isn’t any different. If you are thinking of changing your eating habits or looking for a new lobster recipe, here are some Cajun meals you should consider.
Baked Dishes of Pasta, rice or vegetable are something that we all grew up on and the best thing about having them for dinner is that they taste even better the next day.
Smoothies are a perfect quick breakfast for anyone on the go, there are two different types of smoothies, a high protein smoothie and a fruit and or blended fruit and vegetable smoothie.
Soups are a perfect meal for a snack, lunch or dinner and make use of all the vegetables that you may have lying around in the fridge. To these basic recipes, you can add any of your own cooked proteins or have the soup as a starter then have your protein with a salad. Soups are perfectly accompanied with a small bread roll, pita bread or flour tortilla and can be easily transported in a thermos flask keeping them hot or take them to work in a container to be reheated later.
If you have the time a salad is a perfect lunch or dinner option and is another excellent portable food that can be deliciously healthy and really quite filling. Salads are perfect as you can include many grains, legumes and some great tasty proteins teamed with fresh seasonal leafy greens and vegetables. The most important aspect to a good salad is the dressing.
Wraps are the best way to enjoy a healthy lunch or dinner and they can include anything, Take advantage of wholemeal tortillas, lavash bread, and pita bread and use fillings such as boiled eggs, roast chicken, lean ham, curried eggs, poached or grilled fish, tinned tuna, salmon or sardines. You can flavour these with salsas, smashed avocado, mustards, a small amount of mayonnaise, pesto, hummus or yoghurt dips, even a squeeze of lemon.
Get creative and design your own personal festive look, use ingredients that you have on hand for the glaze, add a bright Christmas ribbon to finish off the look of your Christmas glazed ham.
You will need these ingredients:
Leg of ham, brown sugar, apricots, marmalade, ginger beer, orange juice, orange zest.
This is what you do:
Blend until smooth the apricots, marmalade, orange juice and zest;
In a saucepan combine the apricot mix combined with brown sugar, salt and cinnamon and simmer for 4 minutes.
Take a sharp knife and cut around the bone at the base of the ham and then gently slice under the skin to gently lift it off.
Score the fat in a diamond design and garnish with whole cloves.
Megan Rizzo Photography
Place the ham in a baking tray and pour in the ginger beer. Bake in 190-degree oven, continuing to baste every 15 minutes.
Serve with the apricot sauce.
For the full recipe, click here.
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Enjoy this perfect Christmas lunch dish with your family and friends.
If you would like a little recipe inspiration go my Festive Cooking recipes, and then subscribe to receive my Free Ebook . Perfect for festive new year cooking. It is free when you subscribe.
Recipes for Summer Flavours
Click here for your Free EBOOK – “It’s All About The Flavour” a “Thank You” for Subscribing to Chef Dominique Rizzo.
” Its All About The Flavour” a collection of delicious recipes. Above all, recipes for easy summer cooking and fresh new flavours.
Simple recipes and ideas. Firstly to help you in the kitchen, secondly to give you more time to enjoy your time with family and friends.
Society as a whole and the internet, in particular, seem to have finally gotten to an evolutionary point where we genuinely value eating healthy above, well, not eating healthy.
If you’re new to the sport, and you find it sounds like a time-saving and health-boosting practice but you’re unsure where to start, take a look at our guide on meal planning:
Why should I embrace meal planning?
There are several benefits to planning your meals, not limited to:
● You can save money, as you won’t be spending on ingredients that end up untouched.
● At the same time, you’ll be cutting down the amount of food you waste.
● You can choose to eat healthier this way.
● You can save yourself some valuable time and reduce your cooking-related stress levels.
● It’s easier to try out new recipes and foods.
Where do I start?
There are three steps to meal planning you need to add to your weekly schedule:
Image by Jeff Sheldon on Unsplash
The first thing you need to do is actually plan out what you want to eat next week. Take into account your actual schedule: how many nights a week are you out, do you already have lunch plans on certain days, etc. When choosing recipes, try to choose things you know and love, and add in one new dish every week. You can base a variety of dishes around similar ingredients, so you minimize the risk of waste.
Image by Scott Warman on Unsplash
Before you head out to the shops, compile a list of ingredients. Start with the base ingredients (the major things each dish needs, like pasta, meat, rice, etc.) and go down to the smallest condiments and spices. Once you know what you actually need, check what you already have and can use. Finally, head down to the shop and get what you need.
Another good idea is to work with seasonal ingredients and plan your meals accordingly. Also, don’t forget that some ingredients can’t be kept in the fridge for an entire week, so you may need to make more than one trip to the shops. In that case, add this second (or third) grocery run to your to-do list, and attach the grocery list too.
There are different ways you can go about meal prep at this point. You can prep as many of the dishes ahead (for example over the weekend) and freeze them or keep them in the fridge, then just heat them up any day of the week. Or you can prep partly (chop up your veggies, measure out ingredients, mix sauces, etc.) and cook each meal on the day, or the day before. The decision will mostly come down to your own schedule and routine – you don’t have to do the same thing each week.
What do I eat?
The beauty of meal planning is that you get to try all sorts of different dishes, and fall in love with new favorites. The internet offers such a huge range of recipe ideas that you will simply be spoiled for choice.
● You can develop an AIP meal plan if you’re suffering from an autoimmune disease or digestive problems.
● You can try to add more fish to your diet by focusing on certain types of meals three times a day.
● You can contribute to the environment by eating more sustainable meals on several nights a week.
● You can lose weight by cutting down on your calorie intake through meal planning.
● You can boost your workout routine with a complementary meal plan.
● Store all your recipes either in the same online space or in a recipe book you can reach for at any time.
● Buy a meal planning calendar you can keep on the fridge, so you never forget what’s on the menu.
● Schedule yourself reminders to look for new recipes.
● Cut down on prep time by cooking more than one dish at a time, especially if they call for some of the same ingredients.
Once you get into meal planning, you’ll wonder how you’ve ever managed to feed yourself before. Remember that this shouldn’t be another boring chore – it’s actually a great way to have fun and eat well at the same time!
Rachel Claire
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