By "Chef" Pete Updike, Authorized Saladmaster Dealer
During any busy times in our lives we tend to go for all the snacks that are not good for us, and that causes us to become even more stressed. There are a few basic tips to remedy this situation and help put us back in control. This advice is not designed to teach dieting techniques but rather to be a guide to help Saladmaster owners use our Saladmaster tools to gain control of our eating binges or indulgences while still saving time, money and improving our health.
Snacks Breads and Cookies: In previous Chef Pete tips that discuss stove-top-baking, most folks will remember the famous Vegetable Cake. Take the Vegetable Cake a step further; incorporate a blend of fruits and vegetables into your cookie or snack cake mix. Just add an egg to the dry mix and then gradually add shredded vegetables and/or fruits until you get the same consistency as the version that includes oil, water milk and better of the same recipe. The key is to make the vegetable and/or fruit shreds small; use the Saladmaster Machine Cone #1 for shredding. Check some food combinations in the front of the Saladmaster food guide so you are not overpowering the taste. By using a little bit of several fruits or vegetables, you will not change the specific flavor of the mix; it will primarily just add a richer overall richness and body.
You can even do this with the gluten free/sugar free mixes. These can be baked in the oven in the traditional way or, even better, in the best-sized Saladmaster cooking utensil for what's being cooked. Remember, each of your cooking utensils is a stove-top oven (see baking temperatures in other Chef Pete tips).
Try to think of other quick and easy substitutions or enhancements for everyday recipes. Some tips: add ground flax seed to your oatmeal, cookie, pancake meatloaf or bread mixes. You can easily cook all of these in your Saladmaster cookware on top of the stove rather than in an oven. And flax seed is one of the best sources of Omega 3 and it is high in fiber.
Another exchange is to use quinoa in place of rice in a rice dish. When putting together recipes, such as a Saladmaster casserole or lasagna, add some quinoa or ground flax seed. Quinoa comes to us from the Andes and is one of the newer 'miracle' foods on the market and full of nutrition. It is a great substitute for a starch based grain such as rice. It is also one of the best foods for getting protein, and it is fiber rich.