Kitchen Tips 1

Self-rising flour is all-purpose flour with added salt and leavening. You can make your own self-rising flour.

For 1-Cup Self-Rising Flour, use....

1-cup all-purpose flour

1-1/4 teaspoon baking powder

For you folks who enjoy eating as fat-free as possible,

here's a delicious way to make simple packaged cakes.

Start with one package of cake mix, add three-fourths

of a cup of water and one can of pie filling. (That's it -

no oil, no eggs.) Stir until thoroughly blended, pour

into greased 9"x13" pan. Bake at 375-degrees for 50

minutes. Delicious combinations are yellow cake mix with

peach pie filling -- chocolate cake mix with cherry pie

filling (YUM) or yellow cake mix with apple-spice pie

filling. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top or drizzled

frosting, if desired.

Cover and marinate chicken breasts in your favorite

salad dressing or sauce overnight in the refrigerator.

Try Italian dressing, barbecue sauce, vinaigrette dressing

Cut up boneless poultry breasts or thighs and combine

with cut-up vegetables. (In a hurry, try those delectable

looking veggies at the salad bar or deli.) Combine for a

Use leftover cut-up cooked chicken in salads, casseroles,

For an easy chicken salad, combine chopped cooked chicken

with mayonnaise. Dieters, use plain (or vanilla) yogurt with

a dribble of your favorite salad dressing. Add onions, sweet

pickles, or even radishes, as desired.

Use deli fried chicken in casseroles, soups or sandwiches...

Bake frozen chicken nuggets or fingers. Serve with your

favorite dipping sauce. (Sweet and sour sauce is delicious.)

Prepare frozen chicken patties as directed on package.

Top with spaghetti or pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese.

Bake or broil until cheese is melted.

Roast a whole chicken. Spruce it up by adding citrus

fruits or maybe apple or pear halves in the cavity before

It is said never to over-boil your pasta. Here's

a trick I learned from my mother-in-law that gives

you perfect pasta every time. Start with a "big"

pot of water - so that when your dry pasta is added,

there will be at least an inch of water over and

above pasta. Bring the water to a boil. Add your

pasta, which will cool the water slightly. Bring

water back to a rolling boil. REMOVE the pan from

burner, put a lid on the pan. Set your timer for

15 minutes. When time is up, drain pasta in a strainer.

You will have perfect pasta every time. No more

sticky pasta in our household; thanks Mom - I think of

you every time I make pasta.

Pasta toppings - the varieties are numerous. Here's

one of my personal favorites. Take 8-oz. of cooked,

drained hot egg noodles, immediately add about 4-Tablespoons

butter or margarine. Add 2-cups sour cream (dieters -

the fat free variety works great), 1/2 cup parmesan

cheese, 1-Tablespoon chives, salt and pepper to taste.

Arrange in serving bowl and top with 2-Tablespoons poppy

seeds. For variety, I sometimes add steamed broccoli

Here's a great low-fat idea using Lasagna noodles.

Cook 2-cups chopped spinach. Drain water thoroughly,

add 3-Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese and 1 cup of

cottage cheese. Spread mixture evenly along the entire cooked

lasagna noodles. Roll up each lasagna noodle and line

rolls in baking dish. (Best if they do not touch each

other.) Pour your favorite spicy tomato sauce, spaghetti

sauce or even creamy garlic sauce over the top. Bake

covered at 350-degrees for 20 minutes. Nutritious and

delicious with your favorite green salad. This is also

a great side dish to baked fish or chicken.

I had some left over chicken breast, so I thought this might taste good warmed up on a tortilla, I also had some frozen mozzarella cheese which I added and heated in the microwave until the cheese was melted. I thought something cold would go good on it so I added a few pieces of tomato and just a little garlic ranch dressing.

Wash zucchini thoroughly. Cut in slices into a large frying pan. Add onions and saute for a minute or two, then add canned or fresh tomatoes; salt and pepper it all. Cover and let

cook slowly for 20 minutes.

Roasting corn kernels

Add a delicious crunch to your salad with roasted corn. Spread whole kernel corn in a 15- x 10-inch jellyroll pan coated with vegetable cooking spray; coat corn with cooking spray, and sprinkle evenly with one half teaspoon chili powder. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until slightly charred, stirring occasionally.

Let me tell you about okra. First, fried okra can be made much easier. You slice your nice, young tender pods, then add a little buttermilk, just to coat it a little, sprinkle with cornmeal and toss. Fry until golden brown in a little oil in a skillet. As for 15 inch okra pods, I wouldn't eat them. They are very tough and woody when that big. Yuck! Pick only the small, tender ones to eat.

Guacamole recipe tips

add 1 boiled egg, and 1 tablespoon of sour cream it

will make it even better.

I have found that putting plastic wrap RIGHT on top of the guacamole retards the browning that typically occurs soon when it is exposed to air for very long. Put the wrap right on the surface of the guacamole and make sure you smooth out any air bubbles. (Putting the wrap over the top of the bowl rather than right on the surface of the dip doesn't help at all.)

Save that avocado seed and return it to your guacamole

sauce when completed. This will prevent your guacamole

from discoloring. The browning of the guacamole is

from oxidation. The seed contains vitamin E, an antioxidant.

Roasted pumpkin seeds are good snacks for Halloween. When you carve the

pumpkins, save the seeds. Gather 2 cups of washed, raw pumpkin seeds,

toss in 2 teaspoons of cooking oil and one-half teaspoon salt. Coat seeds

as evenly as possible. Spread seeds on waxed paper lined large cookie

sheet (or 2 smaller cookie sheets). Let stand for 24-to-48 hours to dry;

toss about occasionally. Remove waxed paper from baking sheet(s). Bake

in 350-degree oven for about 30 to 35 minutes. Stir once or twice

inbetween. Let cool slightly - then pat with paper towels to remove

For a ghoulish Halloween, try making Halloween ice cubes for drinks.

Freeze a tray of half-filled ice cubes. Then add a gummy critter or a

couple of raisins. Cover with water and refreeze. Then sit back and enjoy

the shrieks and thrills.

Here's another ghoulish project - float a hand in your punch bowl. Fill a

plastic glove with limeade. Use heavy-duty rubber bands to secure the end

of glove closed. Freeze until very solid. Peel away the glove, and float

your green ice hand in your favorite ice cold punch.

Easy Ice Cream Cake Roll

Ever make an Ice Cream Cake Roll? It is easy to do if you

know a few simple tricks. Start with a regular boxed

chocolate cake; follow directions on box except add one

extra egg. Bake your cake in a cookie sheet which has

first been lined with waxed paper (approx. 15-inch by 10-inch).

Grease and flour lined pan. Pour mixed ingredients evenly

onto prepared cookie sheet. Bake for about 15 to 18 minutes

or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Now here's the secret. On a flat surface, lay out a

clean cloth approximately the size of the cookie sheet.

Sift powdered sugar over the cloth. While the cake is

still warm, turn cake out onto prepared cloth. Remove

waxed paper. Trim the edges of the cake off.

Now roll the cake with the cloth, starting with the long

side. Roll as tightly as possible, then place on a cooling

rack, seam-side down.

When cool, unroll cake, remove cloth. Spread soft ice

cream over entire cake to within one-half inch of the

edges. Re-roll cake and place seam-side down in the

freezer for at least 3-hours. Cut and serve.

Varieties: (1) add chocolate chips to the soft ice

cream; (2) Use frozen yogurt instead of ice cream;

(3) use Cool Whip instead of ice cream - freeze it;

tastes a lot like ice cream and is lower calories;

(4) add your favorite jelly or preserves for a great

Jelly Cake Roll and (5) use your imagination.

Sugar provides sweetness, tenderness, and color in cakes

and cookies. But with most recipes you can reduce the sugar

by at least one-third without changing the taste and texture.

Fruit juices and frozen fruit juice concentrates may be used

to sweeten baked goods. You can also use sugar-free jams and

spreads as a sweetener. These all contain fructose, a form of

caloric sugar and a simple carbohydrate. You can also reduce

your sugar intake by substituting noncaloric artificial

sweeteners. These provide almost no calories and will not affect

your blood sugar levels. However, not all artificial sweeteners

can be used for baking. Read the labels and only use those which

say that the product can be used for baking.

To significantly decrease the amount of fat and calories in your favorite recipes try one of the following tips:

Use low-fat or fat-free versions of mayonnaise, milk, ice cream, cheese, etc.

Instead of sautéing in oil, try low fat chicken broth.

Replace a whole egg with 2 egg whites.

Replace oils in baking with applesauce.

Choose low-fat cuts of meats.

For gravies, brown flour in an iron skillet until it has a caramel color. Turn off the heat, and continue stirring until cooled. Mix in meat juices or broths that you have defatted. Heat to a boil while stirring.