Blog | Gotta Eat, Can't Cook

Archive for the ‘Blog’ Category

May 18th, 2015

Blog, Fitness Food, One Bowl Meals, Pasta

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Pasta with Fresh Chicken Sausage Sauce – All in Pictures

Last post showed how to cook pasta to “al dente” (or, “firm to the teeth”) perfection. Here’s a great way to enjoy that pasta – with fresh chicken sausage sauce.

As the word “fresh” implies, the key to making this recipe turn out full-on flavorfully is using fresh garlic, fresh tomatoes, and a good handful of fresh basil – and, you bet, fresh sausage, if you can find it, sure makes a difference.

Here are the ingredients needed to make this recipe.

Click any picture on this page for a complete, easy to follow step-by-step picture book recipe.
Read more »

April 4th, 2015

Blog, Cooking Technique

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Cooking Mistakes Can Taste Great!

It’s all about not giving up, being flexible, and staying calm – and, you bet, that’s sometimes a lot easier said than done. And while some cooking mistakes are better to walk away from; burned chocolate is a great example – here’s an example of a cooking mistake that turned out tasting great.

I’d recently intended to make a mixed berry fruit pancake that was supposed to look like this…

Berry Pancake

March 19th, 2015

Beans, Blog, Cycling Food, Fitness Food, Snacks, Special Recipes

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How to Make Hummus – All in Pictures

Like I mentioned in the last post that showed how to cook dried garbanzo beans (also known as chickpeas), garbanzo beans/chickpeas are nut-like in flavor, versatile, meaning they can be used in all kinds of recipes, and are highly nutritious, especially regarding their protein and fiber content. Read more »

March 12th, 2015

Beans, Blog, Cycling Food, Fitness Food, How To & Tips

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How to Cook Dried Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas) – All in Pictures

If you’re not familiar with garbanzo beans or chickpeas, they are nut-like in flavor, versatile, richly nutritious (especially regarding protein an fiber), and extraordinarily appetite-satisfying. Below is a summary of nutrition facts (164 grams is 1 cup of cooked garbanzo beans), which you can click for a full garbanzo bean nutrition graphic posted by Condé Nast that was derived from USDA information.

NOTE: If you’re not used to eating foods high in fiber, like these beans, you can acclimate your body and minimize uncomfortable bloating by starting with a small amount of beans added to your meal and then steadily increasing that amount. I followed that advice myself, and it worked out great.

March 1st, 2015

Blog

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Spectacularly Tasteful DIY Travel Through Scotland Made Easy

Just as this site provides practical tools to empower people to make meals for themselves, Marie Cruickshank’s Scotland Made Easy site and service empowers people with personalized guidance to travel the spectacular sites of Scotland – and more – all on their own. Read more »

February 25th, 2015

Blog, Breakfast, Cycling Food

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Microwave Cooked Oatmeal – Flavor, Nutrition & All in Pictures

Last post showed how to make flavorful, energy-sustaining microwave cooked power cereal to give you a warm, full-powered start to these exceptionally cold days we’ve been experiencing. Considering those temperatures aren’t expected to change much in the foreseeable future, here’s something else to look forward to as you climb out of bed in the morning and hit that cold floor running that’s flavorful, richly nutritious, and easy to make – microwave cooked oatmeal.

Here’s what you’ll need to put together a simple version of microwave cooked oatmeal. Next post, I’ll show how to take what you see here from simple to exciting!

February 16th, 2015

Blog, Breakfast, Cycling Food, Eggs, One Bowl Meals

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Microwave Cooked Power Cereal – Warm, Flavorful, and All in Pictures

You bet it’s cold outside, but there is a bright side. It’s mid-February, the days are getting longer, and everyday forward brings us closer to spring.

Still, all we ever have to deal with is the here and now. So, to make that here and now more comfortable, flavorful, easy to deal with…and nutritionally sound, here’s Microwave Power Cereal. Microwave Power Cereal has a lot going for it. First, it tastes great and requires only commonly found ingredients. Secondly, it gives you just what you need for a sustained energy burn by combining complex carbohydrates with protein. And finally, you use the same bowl to mix, cook, and eat the cereal from, which greatly minimizes cleanup. All good stuff! Read more »

February 12th, 2015

Blog, Vegetables

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How to Take Microwave Cooked Kale From Simple to Exciting – All in Pictures

Last time I showed how to cook kale in the microwave oven, which is a great way to prepare kale both to maximize it’s flavor and not just retain but even boost its terrifically nutritional properties. But eating kale all by itself? Not for me.

So, here’s how to take microwave cooked kale from simple to exciting, which really is an example of just how easy – and flavorful – improvising in the kitchen can be. What I mean specifically regarding this recipe is that all the ingredients you see below or in the full picture book recipe you can download by clicking any picture on this page are just suggestions. Sure, they taste great together – for me. But what about you? You might not like onions or chickpeas (I used to not be a chickpea/garbanzo bean fan at all). Fine. Don’t use them, or substitute them with something else you do like, for example, chopped red – or any color – bell pepper, kidney beans, sun dried tomatoes, cucumber; you get the picture. Read more »

February 7th, 2015

Blog, Vegetables

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Resetting New Year’s Resolutions & Microwave Cooked Kale In Pictures

I laughed the other day when I heard that February 1^st is becoming the new start date for New Year’s resolutions. But then after I let the idea sink in, it began to make sense. By February 1^st, the winter holidays and their tempting, flavorful excesses are all over. The football playoffs are over – or sometimes just about over. We’re starting to look at least somewhat more optimistically toward the light of spring at the end of the dark tunnel of winter. So, why not make February 1^st a much more fitting start date?

Regarding that new start date and the desire among most to eat better, how ‘bout looking at what kale has to offer? Kale has a lot going for it in that it’s flavorful, versatile, easy to prepare, and richly nutritious (you can click the graph below for a link to The World’s Healthiest Foods for more detailed information.)

February 2nd, 2015

Blog, How To & Tips

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Excellent Illustrated Guide to Cooking Oils and How to Use Them

Just got an email from fix.com with the concise, illustrated article printed below about the difference between cooking oils regarding their smoke points (temperature at which they start to smoke), nutrition, source, flavor, and best use – all in alphabetical order. Terrific reference that I’ll be sure to use. Thanks, Fix!

Nut, Seed, and Flower Oils – Which Cooking Oil to Use When

From deep-fried foods to healthy salads, cooking oils play a part in the flavor profile and healthiness of many meals. With such a huge range of nut, seed, and flower oils on the market to choose from, all boasting their own array of nutritional and superfood benefits, it can be hard to know where to start.

Consider the smoke point when selecting an oil to cook with. The temperature at which a type of oil begins to smoke and burn will play a huge factor in the dishes you should use it in. Will you be cooking your food hot and fast? If that’s the case you might want to avoid the delicious and flavorful extra virgin olive oil, which begins to smoke at 320 degrees F, and instead opt for an oil with a higher smoke point, like avocado oil, which smokes at a searing 520 degrees F.

Then there’s your waistline and general health to consider. It’s no secret all oils contain fats, but consulting our list will teach the levels of mono-saturated, mono-unsaturated, and poly-unsaturated fats in 15 popular nut, seed, and flower oils, allowing you to choose the oil that’s right for you.

Will you be stir-frying your next meal? Try almond oil, avocado oil, olive oil, or walnut oil. Feel like a toasty flavor in your next salad dressing? Perhaps sesame oil should be your oil of choice. From flavor profiles to best applications, as well as interesting information on the derivation of each oil from its plant source, see the infographic below for everything you need to know about cooking oils and more.