National Pigs in a Blanket Day

This Sunday, while Christians are celebrating Easter, the calendar also has a silly little holiday mentioned. National Pigs in a Blanket Day!

Pigs in a blanket are simply cocktail franks, wrapped in dough and baked in the oven. Meant to be an appetizer, these tasty little treats would be perfect to serve at your holiday gettogether. They can help delay your meal so that you can wait for those family members who are always late or be a part of your pre-meal spread.

These are simple enough to make on your own. Just purchase a package of smoked sausages or cocktail franks- there are several varieties in many flavors. In your supermarket's dairy aisle you will find refrigerated dough to wrap around each individual smokie. Pillsbury even makes crescent dough that you can cut yourself to accomodate anything. This is a chore that with a little direction your kids can handle doing.

Have them prepare them the night or day before and then just put in a preheated oven 20 minutes before you want to serve them. Have bowls of dipping sauces (ketchup, mustard,etc) and it makes a nice appetizer.

Here are some other springtime recipes for warmer weather foods and also some ideas for what to do with Easter leftovers.

Delicious potato salad

Remember that this weekend is Easter and if there is a little one in your life, an Easter basket makes a nice gift. Click this link to ideas for making an Easter basket. How to make an Easter basket for kids

Healthier Eating Simplified

There is so much talk today about obesity, preventing heart disease and diabetes and avoiding fast foods. I prefer to cook at home versus eating out. I try to use the freshest ingredients and avoid prepared or processed foods. Often I get comments about the beef recipes that I have because it seems that the vegans and anti-beef eaters see me as an easy target to criticize.

Everything in moderation is my mantra when it comes to food. You need to find a balance. Eating a small portion of a lean steak is not going to kill you. Eating it every day may not be healthy but that is where balance comes in.

Learning what is healthy and what you should avoid is not that complicated. Take oil for example.

Healthy oils do exist and knowing the kinds of oils and what benefits there are is one way of making healthier eating simpler. We need oil in our diet. This is not condoning deep frying but using oil in a stir fry is healthy.

Homemade salad dressings are easy to do. There really is no need to buy bottled dressings. Avoiding processed foods as much as you can can improve your health and makes weight management easier. There are always choices such as low-fat mayo instead of traditional mayo. If you absolutely need to use canned gravy instead of making your own, choose a fat-free or lower sodium variety.

If your family likes meals like macaroni and cheese, make your own. Use whole grain macaroni to add more nutrition. As long as you cook it long enough, they won't even notice. Making your own cheese sauce is easy. Use your own choice of cheese or cheeses, a combination of cheddar, swiss and monterey jack makes a very tasty cheese sauce. Just add it to a white sauce which is simple. You can use non-fat milk, butter substitute to further lower calories and fat. Throwing steamed or frozen vegetables into it makes sure you are getting another serving of healthy veggies.

It may seem like it takes a lot of thought and preparation to eat healthier but once you make it a habit, it becomes second nature.