Mommies Magazine

Chef Requirements – Hints &Tips for Food Preparation

Posted on 17. Apr, 2009 by Mom Mag.

A chef school can provide a tremendous amount of experience for the aspiring cook, but one of the most valuable benefits will be learning all the hints and tips from your fellow students and instructors. Cooking suggestions help you side step the many problems in the kitchen and will make dish preparation easier. While it has been said that experience, patience and knowledge are key when cooking, it is the hints and tips that will give you the chef skills to truly become a master in the culinary arts. This article offers basic cooking suggestions that every culinary student should know before attending a culinary program.

Healthy Food Tips

Having food that tastes its best is most easily accomplished when you make sure that the products you buy are fresh. As you shop in the supermarket (or produce market, or farmer’s market) you should closely examine each of the items you purchase to make sure it is the highest quality freshness or ripeness. Packaged foods can be judged by an expiration date, while fruits and vegetables must be looked at individually. Always familiarize yourself with the general produce that is available, and be able to spot quality produce in whatever market you shop at. As far as meats go, make sure that the meats (beef, poultry and fish) you purchase are fresh. Additionally, keep all meats refrigerated until using them. Any utensils you use with the meat or that come into contact with the meat should be cleaned with soap and water.

Regarding serving, make sure that meats are cooked thoroughly and reach a safe temperature. Always use a cooking thermometer to make sure your meats reach a temperature of 140 degrees F. While cooked foods should be heated to 140 degrees F, foods such as dairy products that need to be chilled, should be so at temperatures of less than 40 degrees F.

It All Gets Easier With the Correct Tools

As you probably know, a good mechanic always uses the right tools to fix a car. Thus, a good cooking suggestion is to likewise keep the right items in your kitchen to help you create dishes easily and properly. What exactly you need depends on what kinds of dishes you want to prepare, but knives, pots, pans, and measuring cups are standard. Many dishes require the use of a blender or a food processor as well.

Healthy Cooking

Many people believe that low fat food is automatically tasteless. On the contrary, low fat cooking can be colorful, vibrant, and very tasty. A few simple tricks to make your dish taste its best include adding plenty of fresh spices and herbs, also olive oil, and always thinking your dish through carefully. Use a small amount of oil with lean cuts of beef and pork, and you can make almost any meal low fat. In general, chicken and turkey are usually low fat and fish is also a great option for any low in calorie dish.

Beverage Selection

For one last cooking suggestion, it’s important to remember that a meal is more than food – you need a great beverage selection as well. Most meals can be improved greatly through simply adding a tasty beverage. The tone and flavor of your meal can be changed drastically through adding wine, sparkling mineral water, or perhaps a cocktail.

photo credit: dumbledad

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Ways to Get Free Baby Samples

Posted on 16. Apr, 2009 by Mom Mag.

Do you have a new baby coming and want to find some free baby samples?

Do you want some diaper coupons and samples to see what brands are best for your baby?

Do you want to give a gift to a new mother without spending a lot of money?

It doesn’t matter what the reason is you are looking for baby stuff, there are a lot of resources out there to help you out. You just need to know where to look and who to contact. This is what I am here to help you with.

There are a lot of companies and websites that offer free samples, coupons, and other things related to babies. All you do is sign up for their mailing list and they will send you coupons, helpful tips, and even help you track your pregnancy. Click the link and check out a great resources to sign up for diaper coupons and samples.

There are tons of larger offers you can get if you are willing to fill out some surveys and maybe sign up for a trial membership to something, you can get free diapers, gift cards, and tons of other things. If you sign up for a trial membership to get free stuff, just make sure you cancel before the free trial expires. You can literally get hundreds of dollars of free stuff this way and not have to spend anything. There will also be some of these offers on the pages listed below.

Another way to get totally free stuff is talk to all your friends and family that have recently had babies. As you probably know, babies grow pretty fast and grow out of clothes fast. They aren’t very active as far as moving around so they don’t wear cloths out. A lot of times, the only thing that separates brand new baby stuff and used baby stuff is a couple washes. You can get tons of almost new stuff just by asking for things that your friend’s babies have outgrown.

If you cannot afford things that you need for your new baby, you should check with your local WIC branch and see if you are eligible for help. You can find them online at http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/. They can provide a lot of help including free baby samples if you are really in need.

Hopefully these tips have helped you out some. Best of luck with your quest to save some money with totally free baby stuff!

To end the article, I will leave you with one more link for totally free baby stuff. Good luck with your new baby!

photo credit: billaday

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Autism support and solutions for bullying in today’s classrooms

Posted on 27. Mar, 2009 by Mom Mag.

Parents whose children with autism/Asperger’s have been victims of bullying in school have been seeking answers within our community. In some cases a the child has been relentlessly teased by a peer, in some other more severe cases the child has been the victim of physical abuse at the hands of another student.

Children with autism are particularly susceptible to bullying. Having difficulty understanding social cues and exhibiting unusual behaviors frequently make a child (and an adult!) an easy target for jokes, teasing, and general disparagement. Gone unchecked, this kind of negative activity can have long lasting emotional, psychological and even physical impact. It is the responsibility of each parent to protect and defend the interests of their child, and a legal obligation of the school and its personnel to provide a safe environment where students can learn without fear, and in accordance to that child’s IEP.

Here are some tips that parents can use when bullying of their child with autism occurs:

1. Document. Keep a log of any bullying that your child might experience with the day, who it was, what happened, who was told – if anyone. Your record of events can be one of your most powerful tools in helping to defend the rights of your child. If there is any physical abuse, take photographs along with your written record.
2. Escalate. Parents need not be shy about contacting the child’s teacher when an incident of bullying occurs. There is one woman in our community to tried to approach the teacher and was told there was “nothing she could do about it” – and that the other child was just an aggressive type. A few days thereafter, this woman’s child was physically beaten by the bully and admitted to a hospital, and the woman is suing the school. The school and teacher are legally responsible for the educational health of all students. If you fail to get a satisfactory response, escalate to the principal. Then to the school board. You can also contact your local Americans with Disabilities Act representative and even hire a lawyer to write to your school board to ensure your child’s safety and right to education.
3. Script. Those with autism can benefit greatly from rehearsing and scripting social interactions, both positive and negative. Sure, you can’t plan for every kind of situation, but it is helpful for parents to create a framework for options and responses for when such situations do occur.

Whether you’re a teacher or administrator within a school system, the following tips should be considered:

1. Don’t blame the ASD. I have heard cases of the victim being blamed for being bullied because of his/her ASD behaviorisms. “Tommy’s teasing you because you’re always moving your hands funny, so just stop that.” This is tantamount to telling an African-American boy he’s being teased because his skin color is darker – so just change it. Ridiculous!
2. Public admonishment can backlash. The axiom, “Praise in public, critique in private” is highly relevant here. A well-intentioned teacher or staff member who calls the bully out onto the floor, showing the whole class the bully is being punished for teasing the kid with ASD can have a backlash effect as it magnifies the conflict in front of peers and can further isolate the child with autism. Better to remove the bully from the class and admonish in private.
3. Document. One of the teacher’s responsibilities is to ensure a healthy learning environment for all students in a classroom. Keeping a written record of bullying behavior, incidents and steps taken is an important document should the matter need to be escalated within the school, for a student’s IEP and informational purposes for parents.
4. Implement a social curriculum. Particularly important for the earlier grades is developing social curriculums in which social cues and responses can be demonstrated and taught and is generally key for autism support. How one can recognize and respond to teasing/bullying, appropriate peer interaction, reacting to stressful situations can all be exposed in a group setting and learned as a group. This helps the NT children as well as those with ASD.

Finally, engage your school representatives in the creation of a plan for dealing with both bullies and victims if one does not yet exist. Having a school-wide plan in place and making the consequences well known across the school is an effective way to broadcast a clear message and set expectations for both students and teachers.

Brian Field is the co-founder of the Autism Support Network

photo credit: SeRVe61

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Cooking Party Invitations

Posted on 12. Mar, 2009 by Mom Mag.

photo credit: JaeYong, BAE

Cooking party invitations for all the chefs in your life. Sounds fun and yummy. We’ve got what you need for your invitations and we’ve also got some great tips for you to make your cooking party go smoothly and be a success.
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Review: Get Organized Now Easy Organizer

Posted on 13. Jan, 2009 by Nanette.

It’s still very early into the new year and no doubt you’ve got lots to do ahead of you this year. I certainly do.  No matter who you are mom, entrepreneur, business woman, work at home mom, stay at home mom, parent, single or married, you’ve got tasks to take care of and information to keep straight.   So how do you prepare for it all and get and keep yourself organized?

This may be your answer: The Get Organized Now! Easy Organizer by Maria Gracia  Here let me have just a minute of your time and I’ll tell you about it.

Get Organized Now! Easy Organizer is a system that will organize all of your information! It is easy-to-use, comprehensive, organized and low-priced! You will find forms, checklists, logs, and information sheets for…

• Family, friends, and associates
• Goals and planning
• Personal growth and reflection
• Home garden and auto
• Inventory
• Food and shopping
• Health, exercise, and medical
• And more!

It’s not just a planner. It’s much, much more! Loaded with over 200 pages of easy-to-use tools to help you get organized now! Conveniently organized into 15 tabbed sections. 3-ring binder included. Large 8 1/2″ x 11″ format.

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Consider This Before Buying A Digital Picture Frame

Posted on 19. Dec, 2008 by Nanette.

Digital picutre frames are indeed all the rage right now and they do make wonderful gifts but which one is right for your recipient?  There are some things to consider before you just head out and buy them and ship them off to family and friends.  Originally back in 2000 when digital picutre frames came on the scene an internet connection was requried since new photos would have to be downloaded each night.  It required you to upload your photos to a website and then download them to the digital picutre frame.  So, when you choose a gift such as this to give there are some things you should keep in mind.

* How computer savvy is your recipient? As some frames have wi-fi, will the recipient know how to work with it?

* Most digital frames offer multiple memory card formats so no matter what type of digital camera you have, you should be able to use the picture frame assuming your recipient has a digital camera.  Some people haven’t joined the digital revolution just yet so keep that in mind.

* Playback is another item to consider.  Do you simply want photos to show or are you interested in other options such as video and music?

* The size of the images is also an important factor to consider.  Why would you want a digital frame with an image screen so small that you can’t really enjoy viewing the photographs in the first place. This is where price and value become an issue.  It all depends to on where you plan on keeping the frame.  On a desk something small might work but on the other hand there is a possibility it may be on a wall across the room you’d need to find a larger one so that the images could be enjoyed from a further distance.

* Price.  Again if you are looking for a quality frame large enough to be enjoyed from more than an arms length be prepared for a higher price tag.

* What is the display of photos dependent on?  Is an internet connection requried or does it contain internal memory? and if so what is it’s capacity?

Shop around for deals, look online and at sales in circulars you may find just what you are looking for at a price you are willing to pay with a knowledge of exactly what you are looking for.  Don’t forget when shopping for digital frames keep in mind the cost, it’s features and where it’s intended location may be from it’s viewer.

photo credit: laihiu

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Homemade SnowGlobes

Posted on 18. Dec, 2008 by Nanette.

There was a time when you would go to a tourist attraction, shop or museum and you’d see these great little snow globes you could buy.  In fact, it used to be a favorite item to collect.  Snow globes were a great way to remember those special locations you visited plus it was nice to be reminded of cooler weather during those hotter months.

Today, sadly it’s rare to find snow globes as they have lost their popularity as a momento of your travels.  You can find a few here and there if you look hard enough.  My daughter spots them and just has to shake them up to watch the snow or glitter sparkle in the water.  Why not take those emptied baby food jars and bring a part of the past back to today and share them with your family and friends. And it’s a great project to do with your kids.  They will be loved treasured gifts for loved ones since they were made with love.

Making your own snowglobes don’t take much but a few items and some time.  Here’s a list of the items you’ll need:

* A small glass jar with a tight-fitting lid (baby food jars are great for this).

* Distilled water or water that has been boiled and allowed to cool.

* Glycerin (Look for it in most drug stores, craft stores or craft departments).

* White or silver glitter.  Make sure the glitter you choose isn’t too fine or it won’t look like snow falling as it will be too fine.

* A dmall waterproof ornament or toy.

* Clear silicone sealant.  (NOTE: Only adults should handle the sealant. Don’t allow children to work with the sealant.)

* A small plastic lid such as a film canister lid or florist’s clay to elevate the ornament inside the jar.

* Decorative ribbon or fabric to cover the lid.

Instructions:

Wash and dry the baby food jar and lid to be sure they’re completely clean.

Build up some clay or attach the film canister lid inside the lid of the jar.  Attach the ornament, toy, or other miniature to it, building up the base so you can easily see the figurine.  To make sure the toy is at the right height prior to putting anything else in the jar, put the lid on the empty jar and visually check it to make sure it is a a height you are happy with.

Add cold water to the jar, leaving at least ½ inch at the top.  Sprinkle glitter into the jar, approximately ½ teaspoon for the medium to large baby food jars.  Add ½ teaspoon of glycerin so the glitter will float rather than just fall.

Line the inside of the lid with silicone sealant and then screw the lid down as hard as you can.  This should make the seal waterproof.  Run a bead of silicone around the outer edge of the lid and let dry overnight, lid side up.

You can make a wooden base for the globe if you like.  If not, decorate the lid with the fabric or ribbon of your choice by hot gluing it to the lid.  Allow your globe to completely dry, then give it a shake and enjoy the snow fall.

photo credit: A Girl And Her Camera

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