Cook-a-Palooza's Twelve Days of Christmas Cooking Tips

In the spirit of giving,

On the twelfth day of Christmas, Santa shared this cooking tip with me,

Always share your cooking tips with others,

Make use of all time-saving kitchen utensils,
Limit take-out to once or twice a week,
Let household members help you,
Plan your meals on weekends,
Utilize your leftovers,
Only grocery shop once a week,
KEEP COOK-ING FUN!
Don't cook to boy band Christmas tunes,
Invest in heavy bottom skillets,
Organize your kitchen
and
Always Dou-ble your ba-king sheets!

Have a very Happy Holiday Season!

Cook-On!

Cook-a-Palooza's Twelve Days of Christmas Cooking Tips

You probably have them stashed in drawers, at the back of cupboards and in the basement. I’m talking about all the kitchen utensils you own but never use. Using these items can save you loads of time but if they are hidden or hard to get to you’ll never utilize them. With that in mind;


On the eleventh day of Christmas, Santa shared this cooking tip with me,


Make use of all time-saving kitchen utensils,

Limit take-out to once or twice a week,
Let household members help you,
Plan your meals on weekends,
Utilize your leftovers,
Only grocery shop once a week,
KEEP COOK-ING FUN!
Don't cook to boy band Christmas tunes,
Invest in heavy bottom skillets,
Organize your kitchen
and
Dou-ble your ba-king sheets!

Cook-a-Palooza's Twelve Days of Christmas Cooking Tips

Like anything in life, it’s good to take a break…even from activities you love. The same applies to cooking. If you do it everyday, you may get “meal prep burn-out”. Use the 80 / 20 rule to prevent this awful condition. That means prepping homemade meals five or six days a week and resorting to take-out or ready-made meals for the remaining days. If you live with others maybe they can help you prep the meals to make the entire process even easier. Using this rule will not only make you feel better about what you eat but you’ll also be surprised about the dollars you save in the process.

On the ninth and tenth days of Christmas, Santa shared these cooking tips with me,

Limit take-out to once or twice a week,
Let household members help you,

Plan your meals on weekends,
Utilize your leftovers,
Only grocery shop once a week,
KEEP COOK-ING FUN,
Don't cook to boy band Christmas tunes,
Invest in heavy bottom skillets,
Organize your kitchen
and
Dou-ble your bak-ing sheets.

(Almost there folks)

Cook-a-Palooza's Twelve Days of Christmas Cooking Tips

Sometimes I think the majority of cooking stress comes from wondering what to make. This is especially true when you're in a hurry. The quick fix to this dilemma is to take fifteen minutes on the weekend to plan out a weekly menu before you do your grocery shopping. Post your menu on the fridge and then all you have to do is follow it like a map. Here are a few more tips to make your cooking experience stress-free.
One the sixth, seventh and eighth days of Christmas, Santa shared these cooking tips with me

Plan your meals on weekends,
Utilize your leftovers,
Only grocery shop once a week,

Keep Cook-ing Fun

Don't cook to boy band Christmas tunes,
Invest in heavy bottom skillets,
Organize your kitchen
and
Dou-ble your ba-king sheets.

Cook-a-Palooza's Twelve Days of Christmas Cooking Tips

If you follow this blog you'll know I'm all about keeping a relaxed and inspired atmosphere while you cook. If you try to imitate the chefs on TV and make every meal look absolutely perfect you're putting way too much stress on yourself. Remember those chefs have lots of people behind the scenes helping them out. You don't...so give yourself a pat on the back. Stop worrying about the results and start enjoying the process. Remember (especially during the holiday season) your cooking for family and friends. Even if the meal doesn't turn out exactly as planned they'll probably still enjoy it, appreciate the effort and love you just the same. With that in mind.


On the fifth day of Christmas, Santa shared a cooking tip with me,

Keep Cooking Fun!

Don't cook to boy band Christmas tunes,
Invest in heavy bottom skillets,
Organize your kitchen
and
Dou-ble your ba-king sheets

Cook-a-Palooza's Twelve Days of Christmas Cooking Tips

On the fourth day of Christmas, Santa shared a cooking tip with me,

Don't cook to boy band Christmas tunes,

Invest in heavy bottom skillets,
Organize your kitchen,
and
Alway dou-ble your ba-king sheets.

Cook-a-Palooza's Twelve Days of Christmas Cooking Tips

On the third day of Christmas, Santa shared a cooking tip with me,

Invest in heavy bottom skillets,

Organize your kitchen
and
Always dou-ble your ba-king sheets.

Cook-a-Palooza's Twelve Days of Christmas Cooking Tips

On the second day of Christmas, Santa shared a cooking tip with me,

Organize your kitchen
and
Always dou-ble your ba-king sheets.

Cook-a-Palooza's Twelve Days of Christmas Cooking Tips

There is always lots of baking done on Christmas and far too often the bottom of those goods get slightly burnt. The fact is most of us own those cheap baking sheets. If your one of those people (like myself) then I suggest you follow this tip.

On the First Day of Christmas, Santa shared a cooking tip with me,

Always dou-ble your ba-king sheets.

(sung to the twelve days of Christmas, which I'm sure you've figured out already)

Five common, cooking mistakes – and how to fix them

Mistake #1 – Not Reading a Recipe from Beginning to End Before You Start to Cook
This is like trying to put together IKEA furniture without reading the instructions…and we all know how that scenario plays out.
The Fix: Take one or two minutes to scan through the entire recipe before beginning so you’ll avoid unwanted surprises.

Mistake #2 – Pretending you’re too busy to cook
This is the number one excuse for not cooking. But your friend with that annoying cooking habit is just as busy as you are. The real barrier is lack of motivation.
The Fix: Let the tunes provide the motivational vibe or just think about how you’ll feel after making and eating a delicious homemade meal. Can you say mega confidence booster…especially when you get kudos from others.

Mistake # 3 – Always following a recipe as written
There’s nothing wrong with following a recipe as written the first few times but don’t let it become an instruction manual.
The Fix: Get crazy in the kitchen. Add a dash of this or a pinch of that. Just go with your cooking instincts and throw caution to the wind. You’ll eventually come up with some tasty combinations that you can call your own.

Mistake # 4 – Not learning knife skills
If it takes you 10 minutes to dice an onion you’re not going to want to cook very often.
The Fix: Take a basic cooking class or go online to learn basic knife skills. It’ll take a bit of practice but you’ll end up saving a whole lotta time prepping food.

Mistake # 5 – Always Making the Same Thing Over and Over Again
This is similar to hearing a song continuously being played on the radio. You eventually get tired of listening to it.
The Fix: Expand your cooking horizons. Every other week take a chance and try making something you’ve never heard of before. Going on a culinary adventure will help keep you inspired to cook especially when you discover something that stimulates your palette.

Facinating Sweet Potato Chimichangas - Cooking Up The Radio Dial (Part 7)

Dish - Sweet Potato Chimichangas

Station - 97.3 FM Easy Rock

Music Genre - You guessed it...easy rock.

It was American Thanksgiving last week and I’m going to assume plenty of sweet potatoes were served in one form or another. I find a lot of people don’t like sweet potatoes but that may be because they’ve never had them chimichanga style.

I made this dish the other night while I was traveling the radio dial. I originally landed on a classical station but I skipped it. For those of you that follow this blog you'll realize that I broke my own rules but I just couldn’t bring myself to make something called chimichanga to classical music. It would have been a musical cooking train wreck.

I ended up on an easy rock station 97.3 FM and I stuck around because they were playing some upbeat tunes from the 80s’. Bowie’s “China Girl” and Prince’s “1999”…fun tunes to cook to especially because I know all the words and can sing along. The station also played some real classics that made me laugh because they are just too funny (in a nostalgic way). Song’s like…Donna Summer’s “Last Dance” and Toto’s “Rosanna”. Apparantly Toto still tours...who knew? I always wondered why a rock band would call themselves after a dog in the wizard of Oz.

Getting back to the cooking, if you decide to make these chimichangas you can skip frying them if you wish but they won’t be nice and crispy. The alternative is to lightly spray them with cooking spray before baking them in the oven. Still good but lacking a little “chimi” and a pinch of “changa”.

As for my overall cooking experience I’ll give it 3 out of 5 song notes. The music was enjoyable but a little on the easy side for these chimichangas that are full of pizzaz! Cook-on!

Fascinating Sweet Potato Chimichangas

Instruments
1 medium sized sweet potato (about 12 oz / 340 g), peeled cooked
and mashed (see hip cooking tip)
2 tbsp chunky-style salsa (mild, medium or hot)
1 tbsp low-fat sour cream
½ tsp chili powder
1 can (127 ml) chopped green chilies
½ cup canned or thawed frozen kernel corn
½ cup (packed) shredded Monterey Jack cheese (2 oz / 57 g)
2 tbsp chopped green onions, divided
2 tsp minced fresh cilantro
8 (7-inch) whole wheat flour tortillas
1 tbsp canola oil, divided
Low-fat sour cream and salsa for topping

Lyrics
In a medium bowl, combine mashed sweet potato, salsa, sour cream and chili powder. Mix well. Stir in green chilies, corn, cheese, green onions and cilantro.

(Hip Cooking Tip - Use microwave power to cook the sweet potato for this recipe. Pierce the sweet potato’s skin a few times with a fork, then put in the microwave on high for 5 to 7 minutes, re-arranging once. Let the sweet potato cool slightly before removing the skin and mashing it up in a bowl.)

To assemble, spoon ¼ cup filling in the centre of a tortilla. Fold tortilla end, closest to yourself, over the filling just to cover. Fold the left and right side of tortilla towards the middle to enclose the filling. Fold over again, towards the top of the tortilla, to make a parcel. Repeat with remaining filling and tortillas.

In a large non-stick skillet heat ½ tbsp of oil over medium-high heat. Place 4 filled tortillas, seam side down in the pan. Fry for 30 seconds to lightly brown the tortilla (they brown quickly). Turn over and fry for 30 seconds more. Remove tortillas from pan and place seam side down on a baking sheet. Repeat process with remaining oil and filled tortillas.

Bake fried tortillas, uncovered in a 350º F oven for 10 minutes. To serve, top each tortilla with a dollop of sour cream, salsa and a sprinkle of the remaining green onions.

Volume: Makes 4 servings

The Cook-a-Palooza Experience Cookbook

Well, it's official. The Cook-a-palooza Experience cookbook has been launched and is ready to move, groove and inspire you in the kitchen. Thanks to everyone who attended the book launch event...I hope you all enjoy the book! Cook-on!