Kershaw Knives was founded in 1974 in Portland, Oregon, by a knife salesman named Pete Kershaw. He previously worked with the well-known Gerber Precision Knives company, where he had begun to come up with his own knife designs. The Kershaw Knives company was Pete Kershaw’s opportunity to produce and market his own knives. Today, Kershaw is one of the leading knife companies in the United States and worldwide.

At its founding, the Kershaw Company manufactured most of its knives in Japan despite being an American company. Kershaw has been a wholly owned subsidiary of the Japanese KAI Group since 1977. Today, most Kershaw knives are produced in facilities in Wilsonville or Tualatin, Oregon, although some are still produced overseas. Kershaw Knives is very much an American company, and has maintained offices as well as production facilities in the United States since its founding.

Today, the Kershaw company designs and produces many different types of knives, including hunting and outdoor knives, pocketknives, and a wide selection of kitchen cutlery. There are three main product lines: Kershaw Knives for hunting and outdoor knives as well as pocketknives and other basic styles, Shun Cutlery for kitchen cutlery, and Zero Tolerance or ZT, a unique line of combat-style knives designed for police, military, and related uses.

Although Kershaw makes many different knife styles, they are perhaps best known for their hunting knives. Many of their knife models are designed for specific hunting and outdoor tasks, such as the aptly named “deer hunting” and “antelope hunter” knives. The Kershaw Knives inventory is categorized by use, including pocket/utility, fishing, hunting/outdoor, police/military, and water sports. Kershaw also produces a range of knife-related tools and accessories, such as sharpeners.

Kershaw kitchen knives under the Shun Cutlery name are also well reviewed, although many have noted that they do require frequent sharpening to maintain their extreme sharpness. Kershaw steel knives are known for being strong and durable, with a well balanced and easy-to-use handle and blade design.

Although Kershaw offers a complimentary sharpening service for their knives, Kershaw knife sharpeners are also available. These make a great choice if you want to use your knife often or don’t want the hassle of having to send it in for sharpening. Kershaw knife sharpeners also make an excellent choice for sharpening non-Kershaw knives. The range of sharpeners includes the Ultra-Tek sharpening stick with 600 grit diamond coated shaft and the Shun electric knife sharpener designed to quickly sharpen kitchen cutlery.

Kershaw Knives has won numerous awards over the years for various knife designs, including SpeedSafe opening mechanisms for one-handed opening of folding knives. Recent developments in knife technology at Kershaw include a process for manufacturing knife blades using two different steels in the same blade. They are also known for several collaborative projects in knife design, including a 2004 model which had authentic stingray leather covering the handle. Recently, Kershaw won the prestigious “Knife of the Year” award. Besides knife quality, Kershaw is also known for its lifetime warrantee; all Kershaw products are guaranteed against defects for life.

By: James R Shaw

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If you are like me, you love outdoor cooking on a charcoal grill or barbecue. There is nothing better than sitting outside on a nice summer afternoon or evening, enjoying the warmth of your grill or fire pit, enjoying a drink and grilling up some delicious food. The flavors and aromas imparted by real wood charcoal are irreplaceable. A charcoal grill or a wood fire pit and my favorites because of the real wood fire, smoke and aromas they give off.However, charcoal can be hard to work with, especially if you don’t have much experience with it. So should you just give up the charcoal cooking and buy a gas barbecue? Not just yet! There are some tips for getting your charcoal going quickly which can help make the prep work on your outdoor grill easier.I am going to cover three types of charcoal starter that can be used to fire up your coal and get cooking. Read carefully, because I have tips on how to use each one better and my recommendations on the best of the bunch, their advantages and disadvantages.Ok, so here we go!

Lighter Fluid - Lighter fluid is the traditional way to start your charcoal. It works, but can be difficult and messy.

How to use it - Start by building a pyramid-shaped pile of charcoal in your grill or barbecue. It helps to have a small indentation at the top rather than a point. Turn your bottle of lighter fluid upside down and firmly squeeze for about 3 to 5 seconds, aiming the fluid into the indentation at the top of the pile of charcoal. Close and store your lighter fluid and then light the charcoal with a match. I recommend using long fireplace matches to avoid burning your hands! The coal will immediately ignite in flames. However, flames are not the goal, you want the charcoal to get hot enough to start burning themselves, developing hot, glowing embers. This takes some time. Some tips are to give the charcoal some time and avoid wind. Wind will blow out your fire. However, you don’t want to cover your grill just yet because it needs oxygen to get ignited. Your charcoal is ready when most of the briquets have a layer of grey ash developed over most of their surface. If your charcoal stops burning before it is lit and does not seem to be progressing, you occasionally need to add more lighter fluid. Try to avoid using too much and be careful, it will flare up as soon as you spray more lighter fluid on those hot coals! Pros - Lighter fluid is available everywhere, cheap and it does work, eventually. Cons - Lighter fluid is much less reliable in getting your charcoal lit, often taking several tries before your coals are ready. It can take longer than the other methods. Also, you are using chemicals, like kerosene, to ignite your charcoal. While this does burn off before you add your food theoretically, I definitely don’t want chemical aromas or fumes in or near my food. Electric Charcoal Starter - These are basically a metal loop attached to a handle which plugs into a standard power outlet. The electrical supply creates a current in the metal loop which heats it to very high heat, similar to an electric stove burner. This heat is used to ignite your charcoal. These electric charcoal starters are generally available in home supply stores and anywhere grills and barbecue supplies are sold.

How to use it - Spread a layer of charcoal briquets on your charcoal grate in your barbecue. Next, lay the metal loop of your electric charcoal starter on top of this layer of charcoal. Then cover the starter with more charcoal. Plug in the electric starter and wait. After about 8 to 12 minutes the coals around the starter have ignited sufficiently, getting a grey ash covering their surface, to get the rest of the coals around them started. Unplug your charcoal starter and remove it. You may need to wait a while longer before the rest of your charcoal has ignited and the majority of briquets have a layer of grey ash on their surface. Pros - The electric charcoal starter is an easy way to start your grill. You don’t need to deal with flames, flammable materials or matches. There are no chemicals involved and it is reusable. Cons - Obviously, you need an electrical outlet nearby your grill for this to work. If you are grilling at a park, beach or campground, this may not be practical. Occasionally these can take a bit longer to start your charcoal but are generally faster than using lighter fluid. Charcoal Chimney Starter - This is my personal favorite way to start my charcoal! Chimney starters can also be found in most home supply stores and anywhere grills and barbecue supplies are sold. I recommend finding the largest chimney you can find so that all your charcoal can be started in one step. I personally use the large Weber brand chimney starter which is widely available. Otherwise, after the charcoal in the chimney is dumped out, you have to add more briquets that take time to ignite off of the initial charcoal. If you have a very large grill, another option is to use two or more chimneys at the same time to get your charcoal ready.

How to use it - The chimney is basically a large cylindrical metal tube with a large handle and a metal grate in the middle to hold your charcoal. The bottom edge has holes in the metal sides to light your fire. The first step is to fill the top portion of your chimney with charcoal. Fill to just below the top rim, but avoid over-filling it. Next, crumple up two or three pieces of newspaper and place them in the bottom part of the chimney from below (below the grate holding your charcoal). You don’t want so much that it is packed tightly as it needs some oxygen circulation to light easily and burn hot. Set the chimney down inside your grill on the charcoal grate. Now light the newspaper. This is best accomplished using long fireplace matches which you introduce through the holes in the bottom of the chimney. Light in multiple places to ensure all your newspaper gets ignited. If you don’t have long matches, you can lift up the chimney and use a lighter or small match to light the newspaper. Now just sit back and wait! The burning newspaper inside the chimney will ignite the lower charcoal. As this burns the flames will ignite charcoal higher and higher in the chimney. Keep an eye on it, but wait until there are small flames starting to be visible near the top of your chimney and you can see the lower levels of charcoal glowing. At this point simply tip the chimney over and pour out your burning charcoal on the the charcoal grate in your grill. They are ready to use when there is a layer of grey ash covering most of the briquets. Pros - The chimney starter is easy to use. It ignites all your charcoal quickly and does not require any chemical starters. It is reusable and lasts a long time. Cons - Very rarely, your charcoal will not ignite with the first try and will require the addition of one or two more pieces of wadded up newspaper. Otherwise, the only downside to the chimney fire starter is that you need a few pieces of newspaper handy to get it lit!

Well there you have it! Three options for starting your charcoal for easier, quicker outdoor grilling. These are not the only ways to start charcoal, but they are the most common and in my opinion the more reliable and easy.For other tips on outdoor cooking on a fire pit, grill or barbecue or even cooking in your fireplace, see The Fire Pit and Grilling Guru Guide.Have fun and enjoy your charcoal grilling!

By: Josh Dusick

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You love to cook, and you love to eat. But you feel like you’re not doing it right. Somehow you know you need to change the way you cook. You eat and you gain weight. Yet there are others out there who eat such lavish dishes yet never seem to put on the pounds. You need to learn the secrets of healthy cooking. Don’t fret, you can learn these easy healthy cooking techniques and cook you way to a better diet, better health and a better life.

It is relatively easy to find healthy cooking techniques which you can apply to your daily life. Just look it up on the internet, and you will find hundreds. Look at books and videos, and you will find even more techniques for cooking healthy. Just remember that cooking healthy is simple and will not alter your life. One of the most immediate technique that you can use is as easy as replacing your salad dressing. Instead of the usual high-calorie fattening salad dressings, opt for low-fat or non-fat dressings available readily in the market. This basic change will assist in reducing your intake of calories. Many of us would think that eating salads would be a healthier choice compared to say a burger. However keep in mind that if we drench our salad with the fattening dressing, our salad will contain more calories than that burger!

Hey, those low-fat and non-fat dressing tastes funny, you say. Or they are tasteless. Well, this doesn’t have to be so. Another option is to have salsa, which packs a punch. Salsa is a fantastic alternative to fattening salad dressings. The appetizing salsa can help dress up any dish you have. Instead of salsa, you can also choose marinade. These no fat low calorie marinades instantly add a burst of flavor. Or you could have some mustard mixed with some soy sauce. This homemade dressing is simply delicious. Be creative and bold and try out new recipes.

If you’re a meat eater and love cooking meat, you can have ground beef or turkey as alternatives to a healthier diet. One healthy cooking technique that you can try is to basically cook the meat and once that is done, to use a spatula to hold the meat in place while you drain off the excess oil and fat. Once you drain off all the unnecessary oil and fat, you can now enjoy your meat without the excessive fat content and calories. Your food will taste lots better and you will not be dragged down by the lethargic feeling you’d normally get from eating a greasy, fattening meal.

Healthy cooking techniques when put to use can improve your diet, your health and your life. And if you cook for others, you will be giving them the great gift of these advantages too! You will be in for a great surprise when you realize how easy it is to utilize these healthy cooking techniques in your everyday diet, and make room for a healthier you. If you’re a meat eater and love cooking meat, you can have ground beef or turkey as alternatives to a healthier diet. One healthy cooking technique that you can try is to basically cook the meat and once that is done, use a spatula to hold the meat in place while you drain off the excess oil and fat. Once you drain off all the unnecessary oil and fat, you can now enjoy your meat without the excessive fat content and calories. Your food will taste lots better and you will not be dragged down by the lethargic feeling you’d normally get from eating a greasy, fattening meal.

Healthy cooking techniques when put to use can improve your diet, your health and your life. And if you cook for others, you will be giving them the great gift of these advantages too! You will be in for a great surprise when you realize how easy it is to utilize these healthy cooking techniques in your everyday diet, and make room for a healthier you.

By: Juzaily Ramli

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Which is better when it comes to a barbecue grill - gas or charcoal? The debate has been going on for quite a long time now. Each has its pros and cons, and people are often fiercely loyal to their chosen method of grilling. But if you’re just starting out and trying to decide which to buy, here’s a look at what each has to offer.

Gas

* Quick. In just 10 minutes, the grill is ready.

* The heat is controllable. It gives you the flexibility of pacing the cooking. Some foods need to cook low and slow, while others need high heat for just a short time. Gas can help you easily manage these requirements.

* Versatile. The side burner can be used for cooking veggies, and the rotisserie is useful for slow roasting of large cuts of meats.

* Flavor. Some people don’t like the flavor of food prepared on a gas grill. And it certainly doesn’t offer up the distinctive wood smoke taste of food cooked over charcoal.

* Easy to clean. There are no ashes to clean up. Drip trays will take care of most of the mess, and turning the heat up for 10 minutes or so will burn off the rest so it can be easily scraped off.

* Cost effective. One gas cylinder is enough for 8 hours even at maximum setting.

* The initial cost may be high; however there is a wide range of prices to suit any budget.

* It may prove to be more cost effective in the long run especially if taken good care of, but this depends on the changing prices of gas.

Charcoal

* The flavor and aroma of wood smoking can’t be matched.

* Initial cost is low, but it may not be efficient in the long run.

* They’re slow, both to get started and throughout the cooking. Lighting the briquettes and letting them burn down sufficiently can take up to 40 minutes. This can be a problem if you have a sudden urge for barbeque.

* Timing is important. There is no heat control, so you have to keep a close eye on your food.

* The cost of briquettes may prove to be quite expensive in the long run.

* Ashes are a pain to clean out. The grate is hard to clean, and it takes a long time for the unit to cool down enough to clean it.

That’s a look at some of the differences between gas and charcoal for barbequing. You should choose the one which fits not only your budget, but also your lifestyle. Busy people might want to get a gas grill as they are highly effective time wise. But if you have lots of time, charcoal grills win hands down for flavor.

By: Paul Cameron

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A classic cooking technique that transforms sublime and often tougher cuts of meat into succulent melt in your mouth goodness. By definition braising is technique where food is browned in and then simmered in a small amount of liquid over a long period of time.

This method of cooking is exactly what tougher cut of meat like chuck roasts and briskets also the more fibrous veg tables such as celery,carrots and leeks are all candidates for the braise.

Braising is often thought of as a winter preparation due to the colder temperatures and the need food to provide sustenance. Also the addition of extra heat in the kitchen in the dead of winter is also a welcome surprise. It may have have also been born out of necessity. Winter harvest include such staples as carrot,onions, leeks and corn which in some cases provide the base of the braising liquid. And meals definitely had to have that “Stick To Ribs” factor.

But with the advent of greater transportation and freezing development along with farming techniques these formerly winter staples can be bought fresh or frozen. Now I don’t prescribe to the notion that food should only be braised in the dead of winter, when I feel like I want short ribs I want short ribs. I don’t need to wait until the weather changes. And now a days tougher cuts of meat are back in fashion in many restaurants. So I say crank up the air conditioner and bring out the casserole and braise.

The process of conduction the transfer of heat from a liquid and convection the transfer of heat from the air to the food. Braising is a moist heat cooking method that can be thought of as a combination method of preparing tougher cuts of meat. The meat is first browned(sauteed) in fat to develop some character and a crust to lock in juices and flavor of the meat. It is then transferred to a casserole or a large pot with a tight fitting lid to prevent the evaporation and stop steam from escaping.

Liquid is added to a depth of 1-2 inches depending on the casserole and the meat being prepared. At this point aromatics are added to the pot. It can be cooked on the stove top over medium heat low heat or in a medium oven set to 325- 350 degrees. Braising in the oven offers a more consistent heat control than the stove top, which only heats from the bottom while oven cooking provides heat all over. Heat from the oven can also be maintained easier,with less attention than on the stove top.

Classic french braising calls for the vegetables to be added for there aromatic qualities they impart on the meat but are not served with the final product. Fresh vegetables are added close to the end of the cooking time to maintain there flavor and texture.

In most cases the cooking liquid is used as the finishing sauce for the meal. The veg table are strained off and in some case thickened with a roux, cream or even butter. The simple art of braising can be further broken down into more subcategories and more methods. Brown braising or sauteing food prior to the braising or white braising when food is braised with sauteing. Choice of cooking mediums water,broth or wine. Choice of aromatics, herbs or veg tables. Even with all the choices the basic method has changed little.

By: Keith Thicklin

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Are you living all on your own? Are most of the meals taken all by yourself? Do you face problems in cooking food where you often end up with more than required and having to eat leftovers most of the time in order not to waste money? Are you looking to perk up your consumption patterns? In that case, healthy cooking for singles is unquestionably the path to be taken by you!

A number of cookery books, commentaries, and views and opinions have been generated for people enthusiastic about healthy cooking for singles. Let us be realistic. Most of us, yet to come across that one very extraordinary person, many a times do not have any company to eat with. A majority of single people have stated that it is not at all easy to cook for one person since they usually cook in excess, and are all at sea trying to use the right quantity of ingredients needed without wasting them and so on. There is a countless list of reasons. Published matter dealing exclusively with healthy cooking for singles will benefit these persons largely.

Even a tiny leaflet that presents manifold healthy cooking ideas for singles can be gifted to such persons. In fact, this might be the very thing they were in search of.

From sufficient set of recipe choices to last the entire week to relieve them to drawing up weekly meal plans this comes as a stroke of luck to a number of people. Quite a few people are just unaware of the many options that are available. Many of them do not comprehend that there is more to healthy cooking for singles than simply chewing on a fruit or picking on a salad.

There are innumerable varieties of vegetables lining the shelves of supermarkets for you to select. You can come up with myriad combinations of recipes and this only the vegetable section!

Healthy cooking for singles is not at all hard or complicated. There could be complex recipes, but you can come across plain and easy recipes if you so fancy. If you are partial to cooking, you may select more detailed choices, but if you are dead beat after an exhausting day, then something that is straightforward, fast, and effortless to prepare will work well.

It can be sure delight cooking for a single person. It
can constitute an enjoyable new quest, make you more aware of yourself and will show you the healthy way to good living. You will learn how to prepare food for a large number of people. It will instill in you self-assurance and the determination to cook decent meals. This provides you with the unique opportunity of assessing you very own preparations.

Even if there has been a slip-up, it is only with a particular dish and thus there is little wastage. Moreover, everyone is prone to make errors when attempting a new thing. This is a natural state of affairs. It is an indication you are learning the ropes. Have the power to persevere. Simply keep at it and in due course of time you will be preparing healthy, appetizing meals for yourself than you ever could imagine!

By: Abhishek Agarwal

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If you ever wondered where those great-tasting gourmet coffees derive their rich flavor, you might want to take a look at the gourmet beans, the source of delightful coffee the world has come to love. It is not derived from one particular variety, but rather from the very best coffee beans from around the world.

To take your appreciation of gourmet coffee beans to the next level, it might help if you better understand the process that leads us from the freshly picked coffee cherry to the final product, the green beans, ready to be shipped to coffee roasters for roasting. Roasting and grinding of freshly picked green coffee beans are the two very crucial steps in enhancing the rich coffee flavors that’s so very typical of gourmet java.

Natural drying via the sun can produce some truly exquisite gourmet coffee beans, with unique flavors that are rarely experienced in the west. You can select from a wide variety of coffee blends that are made from the choicest beans.

Making a gourmet cup of coffee at home is pleasing and easy to do. All you will need are whole coffee beans, (grinding the beans just before brewing insures the freshest coffee) fresh spring water, light cream and sugar.

Finer grinds are preferred by those who like espresso but true lovers of gourmet coffee will almost invariably go with the coarse ground coffee powder as boiled water takes its own sweet time to pull out the flavor completely, especially in drip type filters.

Where can you purchase bags of gourmet coffee? In addition to coffee shops, which offer already brewed gourmet coffee and bags of gourmet coffee to bring home, more and more grocery stores and supermarkets are carrying it as well. You can find it online, as well.

Avoid buying the ground variety in grocery stores and supermarkets. Always get the whole bean coffee and grind what you need just before brewing.

Various coffee making companies, gourmet coffee shops and boutiques offer gourmet flavored coffee in a variety of flavors. Many coffee-making companies offer gourmet style drinks, including: Gevalia, Green Mountain, San Giorgio, San Francisco Bay, Kona and Javalution.

If you know someone who loves coffee, especially gourmet, a coffee gift basket is the perfect gift any time of the year. Choosing a gourmet coffee gift basket does not need to be hard on your part; there are many manufacturers and distributors of such gift items.

There you have it. Gourmet coffee beans do not just happen; they are grown from the best areas in the world and carefully nurtured to produce the very best beans. The best part is, gourmet coffee is available to anyone today, whether purchased at the corner market or online from a top-rated coffee bean supplier.

By: Carol Stack

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Gifts for the kitchen can easily cross the line, going from a thoughtful gesture to an inappropriate hint. For the holidays, beautiful cookbooks filled with inspiration should be your theme, leaving the overly practical cookbooks for the domestic chef to acquire on his or her own. Yet, when purchasing online, or fighting the holiday season rush, perusing the contents of cookbooks may not fit into your schedule.

Doing the work for you, we sifted through dozens of the year’s newest and hottest cookbooks to select a few that easily reach gift-worthy status for friends, family, or that gracious hostess:

My Sweet Vegan - Gifts are intended to indulge the senses, and nothing could possibly indulge us more than a gorgeous cookbook filled with only desserts and sweets. Whether your recipient is a prolific baker or an amateur cook with a voracious sweet tooth, the new young author, Hannah Kaminsky, has several recipes to delight them. Full color throughout, an enticing photo taken by the author herself accompanies every single recipe, almost unprecedented in these days of mass production.

Lidia’s Italy - When we think of comfort food, entertaining, and flavor, Italian food is one of the first thing to come to mind. Thus it is no surprise that this holiday season is filled with several beautiful Italian cookbooks. Yet, of those we viewed, the ultimate appeal was in this hefty title. As the subtitle “140 Simple and Delicious Recipes from the Ten Places in Italy Lidia Loves Most” implies, this substantial cookbook is filled with superb photography of not only the dishes she creates, but also the Italian countryside.

Nigella Express - As one of the newest cookbooks from the food network team, there is still a good chance that the receiver won’t yet have it in his or her collection. Any hostess will appreciate this package of quick, easy, and impressive dishes to add to her pool of go-to recipes. Plus, Nigella delivers her “fast” food with dozens of pleasing food photos for a quick “how it should look” shot.

The above cookbooks can be found, or ordered, from most major booksellers, or you can easily find them online from http://www.amazon.com or http://www.bn.com.

Additional Tips to Selecting Cookbook Gifts:

Unless the recipient has specifically requested it, avoid anything with the words “diet” or “nutrition” in the title.

Take a quick flip through the book to ensure it has good eye appeal. Food photos and a well-designed layout will invite the home chef into the kitchen, and are a must for gift giving. But be warned, a cookbook that is overly stuffed with cameo shots of the author rather than pictures of the actual food, may be more fluff than substance.

Check both the title and subtitle when thinking of your recipient. While we love Jamie Oliver and his gorgeous cookbook series, his latest creation subtitled, “My Guide to Making you a Better Cook,” may send the wrong message.

Last but not least, does the food look appealing to you? A cardinal rule of gift giving is to always give presents that you would enjoy receiving yourself.

By: Alisa Fleming

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A few weeks ago I thought it would be a good idea to make some gourmet food for a party I was going to arrange. Well I put on my chefs hat and finished up making some truffles, and wow, my friends thought they were fantastic and actually thought that they were gourmet chocolates that I had bought from a quality gourmet food store.

I would like to point out that making gourmet chocolates for yourself is difficult and will take a lot of time, however to be positive it does give you the opportunity to try out some recipes that you probably could not get from the local store.

The ingredients are the key to making fantastic gourmet chocolates:

Choosing and buying the ingredients of your gourmet chocolates is part of the fun. To start with I melted excellent quality dark chocolate over a double boiler. Secondly I rolled some small balls from marzipan and covered them with chocolate. Finally I rolled the chocolate covered marzipan in ground almonds, I also rolled chocolate covered peanut butter in more chocolate and then gave them a covering of ground peanuts.

Creating gourmet chocolates yourself will open up your creativity for sure, also making gourmet chocolates, will allow you to make many different sorts like, chocolate covered chili peppers, chocolate covered citrus peels, and a real wow, chocolate covered candied ginger.

Sharpen your sculpting talents when making gourmet chocolates:

A popular TV chef had a recipe for a honey chocolate cake, which inspired me to make a honey marzipan truffle. Start by melting some very good quality chocolate over the double boiler, and add a little honey, this will create a nice glaze. Now get the marzipan and with a paring knife carve some simple shapes like flowers, bunnies or hearts then dip the shaped marzipan carefully into the chocolate and let the chocolate set on the marzipan. Then dust them with confectioner’s sugar. The glaze will be a little sticky, so the sugar will stick. This will make a great gift for all occasions, and is an especially good idea for gourmet chocolates, because you can make the marzipan into any shape to suit the occasion, and finish off by dusting them with the confectioner’s sugar.

A Fantastic gift for someone you care about:

It’s difficult to find someone who doesn’t like chocolate, so as gifts they are an excellent choice to show someone you care. By making gourmet chocolates yourself, you can take your time, and make them look great for that special person in your life. Food and wine followed by some gourmet chocolates will definitely score you some brownie points.

Gourmet chocolates are usually created by master chocolatiers, so be sure not to create something that looks bland and boring, it defeats the purpose of making them yourself. If your chocolates look uneven, with strange shapes, people won’t think you creative. So try not to embarrass yourself or your friends when presenting a plate of your homemade gourmet chocolates.

By: George Moorhouse

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Eating healthy on a budget is not that difficult - it just takes some planning! Many people think that eating healthy means that you have to spend extra time cooking night after night coming up with fancy meals - but that is far from the truth! In fact, healthy meals can often be made very quickly and inexpensively.

Compared with dining out, cooking a healthy meal at home each night is not only better for your family but will save you money. When you eat out you really don’t know what ingredients are going into the food you are ordering and even if it looks healthy there could be many additives in there that simply are not good for you. The only way to really know what you are feeding your family is to make it yourself.

You don’t have to be a gourmet cook to get your family eating healthy on a budget. Some of the best and most healthy meals are actually quite economical! Foods such as pasta, rice and bean based meals with added vegetables and protein can be put together rather quickly without breaking your budget.

If you have children then it can become difficult to avoid junk food. Television commercials and magazines inundate kids with messages about junk food disguised as nutritious food, and often you are so worn out at the end of the day that it just seems easier to go out for fast food. Now, doing that once a month might be OK but if you are doing it once or more per week then you are not only spending too much money but you are eating too many unhealthy meals.

The best way to ensure that you are eating healthy on a budget is to plan your meals in advance and then start shopping for healthy ingredients around the sales. Start looking through some of your cookbooks or online for some healthy recipes or simply experiment by making your favorite recipes healthier. Experiment by using low fat ingredients such as reduced fat cheese in recipes, try cooking brown rice instead of white and whole wheat pastas. Another good substitute is baking cookies with whole wheat flour. Around here we enjoy peanut butter cookies and oatmeal cookies baked with whole wheat flour and you can’t tell the difference.

These are just a few tips for eating healthy on a budget. Get creative in your kitchen and you should be able to come up with several more!

By: Judy Turner

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