Family Food for Moms Podcast I Inspiration for Family Cooking and Dining I How to Enjoy Special Meals Together

#91 What we can learn from Julia Child about Cooking - Chef Series

 Today we're going to be continuing our series on what we can learn from famous chefs, present or past. This time, we're going to be talking about Julia Child. She was a famous chef, a cookbook author, and a television personality. I'm sure you've seen those funny old video clips of her on the little TV screen with the round center from the sixties. She was one of the first women to host her own cooking show on television. 
She gave people lots of tips, and she did lessons on how to prepare French food very simply and easily. Have you seen the movie Julie and Julia? It's about a young girl learning to cook from Julia's recipe. Julia Child left a legacy of more than just recipes. She's taught people how to approach cooking and eating with a huge amount of joy, confidence, and curiosity. She loved food, she loved to eat, and she was so enthusiastic about it. She was very good at teaching you how to make things simple, and how to just go for it with your cooking.

#90 What We Can Learn from Chef Jamie Oliver about Cooking - Chef Series

We’re doing a series on what we can learn from chefs about cooking. We’ll learn some tips and things they teach that will really help us to build and improve our own cooking. Today, we're going to be talking about Jamie Oliver, a British chef. He's a good one for helping a normal mom at home.
He doesn’t do so much restaurant cooking; more home cooking, and he does it so well. He and his family, his kids, are all very approachable. He makes lots of comfort food. There might be some things in this episode that are similar to what Gordon Ramsey teaches or does, but that's good, right? Enforce the best habits. So, here we go. 

#89 What We Can Learn from Chef Gordon Ramsay about Cooking - Chef Series

Today, I thought it'd be fun to talk about some tips from Gordon Ramsey about cooking. These are things that he advises, some of which I've tried, and others not yet. I find it really interesting to look at professional chefs, or at chefs like Jamie Oliver who aim to help ordinary people like you and I to be able to cook better, to make things easier and healthier, and et cetera.
I'm going to do a brief series, and talk about tips from some other chefs as well, but for today it'll be Gordon Ramsey. We’ll talk about the important things that he says or that he teaches online in various places, whether it be on Masterchef, in his home cooking videos, et cetera. 

#88 Ideas for What to Cook and Eat on Vacation - and What We Did on Ours

Today we're gonna be talking about food on vacation - if you go away on a holiday.
We recently went to the beach for a few days and it was amazing. I'm gonna talk a little bit about what meals we did and general ideas of what to cook and eat on a vacation!

#87 Seven MORE Things we can Learn from Downton Abbey about Food, Cooking and Dining

(There won't be an episode on Wednesday this week, but I'll be back next Monday!!)
I'm soo excited about the Downton Abbey movie coming up on the 12th of September!! ..so I thought this would be a good time to make this episode.
We're going to talk about what we can learn from Downton Abbey again - from the show itself, and things that are significant when it comes to food, dining, and even cooking.
There are so many things that inspire me when I look at the way they ate and what they ate, although it required having a full-time cook or two. We can't really replicate that part, but there are a lot of principles that are inspiring, and that we can apply to our daily lives and our families. 
 

#86 - Ideas for a Fun Food-Themed Evening with Your Family or Friends

 Today we’re going to talk about some fun ideas for a food-themed evening with family or friends. Food-related fun that you can have with your kids. We'll chat about evenings involving food in a fun way for your younger kids, for your older teens; or for your family to do together.
So, let's dive right in. 

#85 Learning to Cook – More Easy Ways to Begin

Today we're going to talk about more simple meals for if you're learning to cook, just starting to cook, or if you just need something quick for dinner.
Last time, we talked about using potatoes and pasta as the base of meals.  In this episode, we’re going to talk about rice and a few other ways to start your cooking with some easy meals!

#84 How to Learn Cooking - Two Easy Ways to Start

Today I’m going to talk about two easy meal options that have variety for when you're just starting out cooking, or for when life is crazy and you want something very easy to do. I’ll talk about a way to plan things around potatoes and pasta so that you've got a good variety, and different ways to enhance the toppings, to add sauces, et cetera, to go with those.
Start off with easy meals when you're learning to cook. If your son or daughter is going to leave home soon, this is a good way for them to learn to cook. So, let's get started. 

#83 Lets Talk about Pesto - Its origins, how to make it and how to use it.

Let's talk about pesto. Is your favorite green pesto or red pesto, and what do you like to have it on? Pizza, caprese salad - what are your favorite ways to use it? I'm going to talk about the origins of pesto, and then about some of the ways you can use it, and how to make it. I often buy pesto from the grocery store, and sometimes I make it. Both ways can be delicious, and there's so many different ways you can use it. 
Pesto is traditionally Italian, and its roots are in ancient Rome. It’s best known today in the form pesto alla Genovese, which is made from basil, garlic, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, and olive oil.
The concept of pesto can be traced back to ancient Roman times. Back then, there was a sauce called moretum, which was made by crushing herbs with garlic, some kind of cheese, salt, olive oil, and vinegar. In a similar way to modern pesto, it was prepared with a pestle and mortar. The word pesto comes from the Italian verb pestare, meaning “to pound” or “to crush” with the pestle and mortar.
The classic form of pesto, Genovese, comes from Genoa in Northwestern Italy. It’s from around the 19th century. The key ingredient, of course, is the Genovese basil that grows abundantly in that region. It loves the Mediterranean climate. The traditional recipe includes fresh basil leaves with garlic, traditionally pine nuts, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, and lots of olive oil.

#82 - How to Disguise the Taste of Eggs (and Other Breakfast Ideas for When You Don’t LIke Eggs)!

Today we're going to talk about eggs, or rather about if you don't like eggs, and what's a good thing to have for breakfast in that case - what's a good way to use eggs, so that they don't taste too “eggy”? Here are creative ways of using them so that you still get the protein and the benefits like choline from eggs, but you don't have to just have scrambled or fried eggs. Maybe those are things that you don't enjoy.
I seem to go through phases. Sometimes I don't mind eggs for breakfast, and other times I really can't stomach them, though I still enjoy the sides like grilled tomato, mushrooms, zucchini, and avocado. All those things are great, but it's hard for me to have eggs with them.
So, let's talk about some ways to use eggs in your breakfast even if you don't like them. We want to try to incorporate them into dishes where their flavor is a little masked, or complimented by other ingredients.