Saturday, December 31, 2011

Molasses Cookie Recipe - Simple Steps

Molasses Cookie Recipe - Simple Steps

Before starting, you need to make sure you have the following items in your kitchen. They include, butter, sugar and egg. Other than these check if you have cookie flour, soda, salt, ginger and other stuff you would like to add to your cookies.

To start with, you need to mix butter and sugar with egg. Then you need to add molasses with it. Once you get a fine mixture, you can start adding the other stuff like baking soda, salt, ginger etc. These are no way different from the conventional items you would add to make any kind of cookies. In fact, this list would vary depending on your preference. For example some would like to add more salt with others would add only a little. These small things can bring lot of difference in the final taste of cookies.

Then you need to heat the paste in a oven till it becomes golden brown. Now you can roll them in white sugar. Following this you can place the cookies on baking sheet.

Then you need to place the cookies rolled with white sugar in the oven. Set the temperature levels. Modern ovens have predetermined settings for baking cookies. If you are unsure of the temperature level you need to set, you can just set it to the default level given for cookies and relax. Generally it would take around 15 minutes for cookies to get their crispy nature. Now its done. You have cookies ready which you are going to love and so would your kids.

Molasses Cookie Recipe - Simple Steps

Friday, December 30, 2011

How to Make Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

How to Make Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies can be soft, crunchy, or whatever you like, but a popular of many is soft chocolate chip cookies. Making soft chocolate chip cookies is not hard if you just succeed these tips that I will give you.

First you'll need to make the chocolate chip cookie dough. If you're seeing for a good recipe, hunt colse to or use the method on the back of the bag of chocolate chips. This is ordinarily a approved chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Mix together the sugars and butter thoroughly. Use an galvanic mixer to do it fast and well. Don't be until it's as a matter of fact fluffy, just consolidate to take off all lumps of butter and/or sugar. Then add in the eggs and vanilla.

This step is leading to get soft chocolate chip cookies. Do not beat the batter with the eggs so that it becomes fluffy and airy. You are not trying to make a cake or a meringue. Just stir until combined and that is it.

Next, in a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir it with a spoon and sift according to the instructions. If it says sifted flour sift it and then portion it. If is says flour sifted, portion it and then sifted it. This makes sure that you get the right whole of flour.

Now you can moderately add the flour aggregate into the wet ingredients. Add a exiguous bit out of time and mix in thoroughly. Again, there is no need to be just mix it completely. Then stir in the chocolate chips.

Refrigerate the dough for at least two hours or preferably overnight. Preheat the oven to make sure it is thoroughly heated before you put the cookies in. Roll the cookie dough into 2 inch balls and place then about 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet. Make sure the cookie she is not warm especially in the middle of batches. Put the cookie sheet in a refrigerator beforehand to make a cold to ensure that it's not warm.

Bake according to the instructions until very lightly golden brown over the whole cookie. You do not want dark brown or it will be hard and crunchy. Still, make sure you cook all the way or else it will just be gooey dough instead of soft cookie and gooey chocolate.

How to Make Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

For development Shaped and Decorated Fancy Cookies This Is an exquisite Recipe!

For development Shaped and Decorated Fancy Cookies This Is an exquisite Recipe!

Do you ever wish you could make cookies as pretty and tasty as the ones in the bakery shop windows? With this formula for perfect Sugar Cookies and Icing, you can. Bring out the cookie cutters and bake up a batch soon. You will soon find yourself seeing for occasions to bake up a batch of this yummy cookies.

Excellent Sugar Cookies & Icing
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 egg
1 tbsp corn syrup
1 tbsp grated lemon peel
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Beat the butter, sugar, and salt together in a large mixer bowl with mixer on medium high speed. Beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Cut the mixer speed to medium and add the egg, beating until egg is combined into the mixture. Beat in the corn syrup, lemon peel, and vanilla extract. Cut speed again, to low this time. Add the half the flour at a time, mixing until well combined. Shape the dough into two equal disks and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the wrapped dough for an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove one disk from the refrigerator and roll out in the middle of two sheets of waxed paper to a quarter-inch thickness. Remove the top layer of waxed paper and cut into your beloved shapes using cookie cutters that have been lightly dipped in flour. Exchange cookies to an ungreased baking sheet and bake 10 to 12 minutes until light golden brown. Allow cookies to cool about a slight then Exchange to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat the process with the second disk of dough.

Decorate the cookies with the following icing, if desired.

1 lb powdered sugar
6 tbsp water
3 tbsp Just Whites*

In a large mixer bowl with the mixer at low speed, beat the Just Whites and powdered sugar. Add the water nd beat until blended. Growth the mixer speed to high and continue to beat for other 8 minutes or until thick and white. Remove any number of icing you want to color to a small bowl or bowls. Add desired food color or colors and mix just until blended. Thin the remaining icing with additional teaspoons of water until the consistency resembles slightly whipped cream. Spread the thinned icing over the cookies and let dry completely. Exchange the colored icing to a pastry bag or bags, attach suitable tips for decorating and decorate the cookies as desired.

*Just whites is found in the dairy aisle at major grocery stores. It is with the eggs.

Enjoy!

For development Shaped and Decorated Fancy Cookies This Is an exquisite Recipe!

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Vanilla Fudge Recipes - Easy Vanilla Fudge

Vanilla Fudge Recipes - Easy Vanilla Fudge

This quick and simple recipe is made with sweetened condensed milk.

3 cups white sugar

1/2 cup corn syrup

1 1/4 cup condensed milk

1/4 pound butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

In a saucepan or double boiler, combine the white sugar, white syrup, condensed milk and butter. Cook over medium heat until fudge reaches the firm ball stage on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat and beat in the vanilla extract.

Turn the fudge out onto a prepared sheet of buttered wax paper. Let cool. Cut into squares.

=> Fancy Vanilla Fudge

This is a deliciously mouthwatering homemade vanilla fudge recipe made with, white chocolate candy bar, marshmallow crème and pecans.

2 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

5 oz. can evaporated milk

2 cups marshmallow crème

8 oz. white chocolate candy bar

3/4 cup chopped pecans

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Line a 9x13-inch pan with foil, let the foil extend over the sides of the pan. Butter foil thoroughly.

In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, butter and the milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Continue to boil for 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove pan from heat.

Add in the marshmallow crème, white chocolate bar, pecans and vanilla. Stir mixture until smooth. Pour into prepared pan. Let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until firm.

=> Walnut Vanilla Fudge

Here's a great homemade vanilla fudge with crunchy black walnuts.

1 package vanilla bits

2 cups sugar

5 oz. evaporated milk

1/4 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup black walnuts

7 oz. marshmallow crème

Directions

Grease a 9x9x2-inch pan.

In a heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, milk and butter. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. Continue boiling and stirring for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Add in the vanilla bits, vanilla, walnuts and marshmallow crème, stirring until well blended. Pour fudge mixture into the prepared pan. Let cool. Cut into squares.

=> Cherry Vanilla Fudge

A rich, creamy and colorful fudge that's perfect for any occasion.

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup dairy sour cream

1/3 cup light corn syrup

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup Maraschino cherries, quartered

1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

Directions

Butter an 8-1/2 x 4-1/2-inch loaf pan.

In a microwaveable bowl, combine the sugar, sour cream, corn syrup, butter and salt. Microwave on high heat for 5 minutes. Stir well until the sugar is dissolved.

Microwave on high heat for another 6 minutes, or until the mixture reaches 236 degrees on a candy thermometer. Let stand for 15 minutes (do not stir).

Add in the vanilla and beat the mixture about 6 minutes (until it starts losing its gloss).

Stir in the cherries and walnuts. Pour into prepared pan. Let cool. Cut into squares.

Vanilla Fudge Recipes - Easy Vanilla Fudge

Quick and Easy Cookie Recipes - Drop Sugar Cookies and White Chip Apricot Oatmeal Cookies

Quick and Easy Cookie Recipes - Drop Sugar Cookies and White Chip Apricot Oatmeal Cookies

If you love homemade cookies but you just don't have a lot of time to indulge in baking, here are some cookie recipes for you. Maybe you are a young mother who works or just doesn't have a lot of free time, yet you would love to bake with your children as your mother and/or grandmother did with you. These recipes are perfect for you. Drop Sugar Cookies allow you to make delicious sugar cookies without rolling, cutting and decorating. And the White Chip Apricot Oatmeal Cookies take oatmeal cookies to a new level! So get out the ingredients, grab the kiddos and have some baking fun.

DROP SUGAR COOKIES

2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar + additional sugar for topping
2/3 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well. In a large bowl, using a wire whisk, whisk eggs until blended. Add sugar, oil, vanilla, and lemon zest; mix well. Stir the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until well blended. Chill, covered, for at least 30 minutes. Drop cookie dough by rounded teaspoonfuls about two inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Mist the bottom of a 3-inch flat-bottom glass with water and dip glass in additional sugar. Press tops of cookies lightly with the glass, misting with water and dipping into sugar for each cookie. Bake cookies until lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for two minutes then remove to wire racks to finish cooling. Store in an airtight container.

WHITE CHIP APRICOT OATMEAL COOKIES

3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 cups rolled oats
10-oz pkg Hershey's Premier White Chips
3/4 cup dried apricots

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Beat butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in a large bowl until fluffy. Add egg and beat well. Add flour and baking soda; beat until well blended. Stir in oats, white chips and apricots. Loosely form rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 7 to 9 minutes or just until lightly browned. Do not overbake! Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

Enjoy!

Quick and Easy Cookie Recipes - Drop Sugar Cookies and White Chip Apricot Oatmeal Cookies

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Make Extra Money With Personalized Cookies

Make Extra Money With Personalized Cookies

Just think about it; cookies are used for all kinds of celebrations and announcements. They are made for holidays and parties, and even just times when we need a petite pick me up. So it should not be a surprise to whatever to find out that the cookie firm is a big one. So in those times that you may be finding to make a petite extra wage now and then, you might want to get into this very lucrative firm for yourself.

While you could start off offering a few different kinds of cookies and maybe even some brownies, you could focus on one specific type of cookie to find your niche. One great idea is to make and sell personalized sugar cookies. They are great for any kind of party or announcement. Just think how cute personalized cookies would be at a baby shower! The ingredients for personalized cookies aren't that costly either. A basic recipe only calls for butter, sugar, eggs and flour, and the icing is just powdered sugar, milk and coloring. Even one uncomplicated batch of sugar cookie dough will make several dozen cookies that can be decorated and personalized all in a matter of hours. While most cookies can be sold for colse to five dollars for each dozen, personalized cookies can cost double that or even more!

You could even start your own web site where you can sell your personalized cookies, and can be shipping them all over the world in no time at all. The more cookies you can sell, the more materials that you can buy for even more cookies!

Make Extra Money With Personalized Cookies

Easy Cookie Recipes With Few Ingredients

Easy Cookie Recipes With Few Ingredients

Cookie hunger can strike at any time. This is an easy cookie recipe that requires few ingredients - three ingredients, to be precise. Its simplicity and the fact that it only takes a few minutes to cook means that you never again have to be short of cookies for more than a few minutes.

Many cookie recipes require odd ingredients - or, at least, ones that you won't necessarily have in the house. This one has only three: egg, peanut butter and sugar. You don't even need flour, which means that it's perfect for coeliacs and those with gluten intolerance. This is truly the easiest cookie recipe out there. If you're pushed for time, or entertaining at short notice and need to impress without going out to the shops first, this is one to go for.

All you need to do is mix one cup of peanut butter and one cup of sugar together with one egg. Then spoon lumps of the mixture onto a baking sheet that has been lightly greased. Cook for 10 minutes at 350 degrees (make sure you preheat the oven).

Voila: easy cookies with only three ingredients.

You can mix it up a bit if you want. These are pretty sugary and sweet, and so you can try cutting down on the sugar. Instead, try grating some chocolate into the mixture - peanut butter and chocolate is always a winning combination. White sugar will give you a different taste to brown sugar. Also, you'll find it makes a difference if you use unsalted butter. Enjoy!

Easy Cookie Recipes With Few Ingredients

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Two Easy To Make Delicious Blueberry Dessert Recipes

Two Easy To Make Delicious Blueberry Dessert Recipes

If you are like many other people today you are getting ready for the holiday season. Celebrating with family and friends is on the agenda for one and all. One of the best things about the holidays is all the wonderful and delicious recipes that people are making to serve for such special occasions. You want to make and serve food and desserts that taste great. So, you may be searching for easy to make recipes that help you save time while you are taking care of all the other details of creating holiday magic for anyone and everyone you know.

We have two easy to make delicious blueberry pie recipes that you might like to try. If you are short on time, you might want to make the blueberry sour cream pie. If you have a bit more time on your hands you might want to make this delicious blueberry custard.

Recipe for Blueberry Custard Dessert

What You Need

2 dozen finely crushed graham crackers 1/3 cup sugar ¼ cup melted butter or margarine 3 beaten eggs 1 package cream cheese 8 ounce 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/3 cup sugar 1 cans blueberry pie filling 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1 container whipped topping

How to Make It

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Prepare a 13x9 inch baking pan with a light covering of cooking spray.

Crush graham crackers. Melt butter or margarine. Add the sugar and the graham cracker crumbs to the melted butter or margarine and mix well. Press this mixture into the baking pan and then set aside until needed.

Cream together the beaten eggs and cream cheese thoroughly. Add the sugar and vanilla while creaming ingredients together.

Pour this mixture over the crumb crust and then place in the preheated oven to bake for about 15 minutes or until it is a light brown along the edges and the center is set. Remove from oven when done and set aside to cool.

Add the blueberry and lemon juice and mix thoroughly. Spread this fruit topping over the cooled custard and chill overnight or for at least 8 hours. Add a dollop of whipped topping before serving to your family, friends, or associates.

Recipe for Blueberry Sour Cream Pie

What You Need

1 large graham cracker pie shell 1 cans blueberry pie filling 1 box jello vanilla instant pudding ¾ cup milk 1 cup sour cream

How to Make It

Pour blueberry pie filling in graham cracker pie shell.

Combine the vanilla pudding with the milk and mix well. Fold in the sour cream and then spread this mixture over the blueberry filling. Place in the refrigerator to chill for about an hour before serving.

You may also want to top this dessert with a dollop of whipped topping before serving as a special treat to family and friends.

Two Easy To Make Delicious Blueberry Dessert Recipes

Pumpkin Frosted Cookies

Pumpkin Frosted Cookies

These cookies will be the hit of your party. I have made these cookies for years for our every year pumpkin carving party. The kids look forward to the fun of decorating them. These are made ahead and piled on a plate waiting for the faces to be added using chocolate gel. It is fabulous to see the creativity of the kids(and adults) as they decorate their pumpkin cookies.

An easy entertainment idea for your next Halloween party.

Ingredients

1 cup margarine

1/2 cup peanut butter

2 cups packed brown sugar

2 whole eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

4 1/2 cups flour, all-purpose

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Frosting

4 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon margarine

enough milk to make thick frosting

yellow and red food coloring

tubes of premixed chocolate frosting gel that you can buy at any grocery store in baking section.

Directions

1. Cream margarine and peanut butter until fluffy. Stir in sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Add flour baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix well.

2. Chill for 2 hours

3. Roll out on floured board and cut into pumpkin shapes using pumpkin shaped cookie cutter.

4. Placed on greased cookie sheet and bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Cool

5. Make frosting by mixing powdered sugar and butter then adding enough milk to make thick spreadable frosting.

6. Add red and yellow food coloring until desired orange color is accomplished.

7. Frost cooled cookies and let dry until frosting is set.

8. Can be stored in air tight container for overnight.

9. Give kids a tube of premixed chocolate frosting gel and let them decorate their own pumpkin cookie.

To see pictures of these cookies go to http://www.greatrecipesite.com/pumpkin-recipes/frosted-pumpkin-cookies.php.

Pumpkin Frosted Cookies

Monday, December 26, 2011

Most Popular Christmas Cookie Recipes - Chocolate Drizzled Cherry Bars

Most Popular Christmas Cookie Recipes - Chocolate Drizzled Cherry Bars

These impressive looking cookies will make a splash at any gathering.

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups quick cooking oats

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups butter, softened

1 (21 oz.) can cherry pie filling

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

3/4 teaspoon shortening

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, combine the flour, oats, sugar and butter until crumbly. Set aside 1 1/2 cups for topping. Press the remaining crumb mixture into an ungreased 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until edges begin to brown.

In another bowl, combine the pie filling and extract; carefully spread over the crust. Sprinkle with the reserved crumb mixture.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the edges of the topping are lightly browned.

In a microwave or heavy saucepan, melt the chocolate chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Drizzle over warm bars. Cool completely. Cut into bars.

Makes 36 bar cookies.

=> Most Popular Christmas Cookie Recipes: Heavenly Caramel Cookies

A delicious cookie featuring spices, nuts, coconut and marshmallows.

12 graham crackers

2 cups miniature marshmallows

3/4 cup butter

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup sliced almonds

1 cup flaked coconut

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line a 15x10x1-inch baking pan with foil.

Place graham crackers inside the pan; cover with marshmallows.

In a saucepan, cook and stir butter, brown sugar and cinnamon over medium heat until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat; stir in the vanilla. Spoon over the marshmallows.

Sprinkle with almonds and coconut. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes or until browned. Cool completely. Cut into 2-inch squares, then cut each square in half to form triangles.

Makes 72 cookies.

=> Most Popular Christmas Cookie Recipes: Minty Meringue Drop Cookies

These light as air cookies are perfect for the holidays.

2 egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

3/4 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 to 6 drops green food coloring, optional

1 pkg. mint chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat 250 degrees.

Lightly grease baking sheets or line with parchment paper; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar, beating until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until stiff peaks form. Beat in the vanilla and food coloring. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2-inches apart onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until dry to the touch. Cool.

Makes 30 cookies.

Note: If you cannot find mint chocolate chips, place 2 cups of semisweet chocolate chips and 1/4 teaspoon of peppermint extract inside a plastic bag. Seal the bag and toss chips until coated. Let chips sit for 24 to 48 hours before using.

Most Popular Christmas Cookie Recipes - Chocolate Drizzled Cherry Bars

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Easy Cookie Decorating Ideas For Children

Easy Cookie Decorating Ideas For Children

Making cookies is a great way to spend some quality time with your children. They like to help and here are some ways to get them started without a lot of fuss. You can buy or make up a little icing beforehand. If you are making the icing, use meringue powder instead of raw eggs. Here is an easy icing that dries glossy and makes a little over a cup. Beat 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of meringue powder with 2 cups of powdered sugar. Add ¼ cup of warm water and ½ teaspoon of your favorite extract flavor. Avoid maple or vanilla unless you have the clear-colored extracts or you will end up with brown icing. Mix on low for 4 minutes.

Separate your icing into several bowls. Let the kids add some red and green food coloring, but remember to keep some just plain white icing. Find some unused paint brushes if you have them for the little artists to dab on eyes or swirls with the colored icing. And arrange all the different sprinkles, sugars, chips, coconut flakes and candies that can be used for decoration. If you have any straws they can come in handy, also.

If you are making cut out cookies, you can make it easy on yourself by cutting some simple round shapes. Suggest that they are faces, balloons or balls from their favorite sport or any other round object. Save a little dough, color it yellow or brown (equal amounts of red, blue and yellow coloring) and squeeze it through a garlic press to make hair. Attach it to the top of the round cookies as if it is hair and bake. Mixing food coloring with coconut flakes also makes hair. You can create Christmas carolers by using your straw to make a hole for the mouth before baking the cookies. Cut small pieces off a gumdrop and attach them with a little icing where the ears would be. They look like earmuffs. You can also place them into the dough before baking.

If you have graham crackers, you don't have to make any cookies at all. Just turn the square so the points are at the top and bottom and make a Santa Claus face. Put down a small layer of white icing on all but the top inch or so of the triangular point. Before it dries attach coconut flakes on the bottom point for a beard. With red icing spread the top inch triangular point for a hat. Attach more coconut across the bottom of the red triangle for the hat trim and at the very tip to complete Santa's hat. A red cinnamon candy or red M&M-type candy will do for the nose. You could even use the tip of a red licorice stick or a small piece cut from a red gum drop. Eyes can be any other tiny colored candies you may have on hand or just some green-colored icing.

Decorating doesn't have to be complex, nor do you need dozens of different-shaped cutters. Let the children paint a design on the round cookies with different colors using a paintbrush. They can write their names or initials in icing. Two teaspoons of vodka with ½ teaspoon of luster dust allows you to paint sparkling designs on top of dried icing. The alcohol will evaporate. Cutting out the center of a round cookie before baking creates a wreath that can be decorated. Placing a tiny open cookie cutter in the center of an iced cookie before it dries, allows you to add sprinkles on the inside of the cutter that will make the shape of the tiny cutter. Add a little icing in the center of a cookie and place an animal cracker on top. The opportunities are endless and only limited by you or your children's imagination.

Easy Cookie Decorating Ideas For Children

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Quick and Easy to Prepare Homemade Dog Food Recipes

Quick and Easy to Prepare Homemade Dog Food Recipes

When it comes to preparing homemade dog food, it seems so difficult and unachievable, especially with the type of busy lifestyle we live in this modern age. As a matter of fact, preparing homemade dog food can be easy and provide good nutrient for your dog as well provide you know what you are doing.

If given a choice, I'm sure your dog would prefer natural dog food prepare by you rather than funny size, unrecognizable commercial kibble that are not as healthy. The main problem with most commercial kibble food is that they contain too much low quality protein that contains a high quantity of ammonia producing agents.

A good healthy replacement would be foods that contain eggs, real meats with a low fat content such as white chicken meat, and low fat dairy products such as yogurt and cottage cheese. Such foods are high in moisture and provide high quality protein that dogs need for good health.

One high quality and quick homemade meal that you can provide for your dog would be:

Ingredients:

Cottage cheese

Egg

Chicken (Baked, steam fish, or canned fish)

Cooked Oatmeal

Canned Pumpkin (plain, no spice type)

The cottage cheese, egg and chicken should make up to about fifty percent of the meal, oatmeal thirty percent, and twenty percent pumpkin. Barley and whole wheat bread can be used as substitute for the carbohydrates. This recipe only takes a few minutes to prepare and your dog will love it! On the surface, this meal might appear to have high protein content, nevertheless, the protein are of high quality and your dog would have no problem digesting them.

Vegetable based biscuits are another easy to prepare dog food that can be stored for later in the refrigerator or freezer:

Ingredients:

An Egg

1/3 cup of applesauce

Tablespoon of brewer's yeast

A Cup each of cooked brown rice, mashed or grated vegetables

Mix well and drop small dollops of the mixture on a greased cookie tray and bake for about 10 to 13 minutes in a 350 degrees heated baking oven. These biscuits can be served as a treat or as part of your dog's daily meal.

Preparing your dog food at home is not really difficult and time consuming. A search on dog food recipes online can give you many good dog food recipes also. If you are good at it, you can even provide better nutrition for your dog and save some money along the way.

Quick and Easy to Prepare Homemade Dog Food Recipes

Three Fun and Easy Halloween Recipes

Three Fun and Easy Halloween Recipes

Halloween is a favorite holiday for the young and old alike. Kids love Halloween because they get to wear costumes and go out trick or treating. But being out and about can be dangerous. To keep children safe, many parents these days are deciding to throw a Halloween party for them instead of taking them out trick or treating. Or if, like me, you still like to take the kids trick or treating, you can always have a Halloween party for adults-- it's a great way for grown ups to get a chance to act like kids again.

Whether hosting an adult Halloween party or one for the kiddos, one of the most important things to think about is... the food! Below are some quick and easy Halloween recipes for your next party. Your kids will love them and most adults will too.

Halloween Cookie Pizza Recipe

Ingredients:
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (Pillsbury)
3 Tbsp Peanut Butter
1 Tub Vanilla cake frosting
1 Package Miniature Chocolate Chips

Instructions: Preheat your oven to 350°F. Cut the chocolate chip cookie dough into ¼ -inch-thick slices. Place the slices on the bottom of a 12 inch greased foil-lined pan. Using floured fingers, press slices to form the cookie dough pizza crust. Place crust in oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Once the cookie dough pizza crust has cooled, carefully remove foil from crust and place on serving platter. Spread peanut butter evenly over the crust and sprinkle candy corn and chocolate chips over the entire top. Drizzle ¼ cup of melted frosting over the cookie pizza. Cut into wedges and serve.

Black Jello Halloween Party Recipe

Ingredients:
1 6 ounce package grape Jello
2 cups purple grape juice, chilled
1 cup water
1 small carrot, shredded
4 large marshmallows
1 16 ounces can unsweetened pineapple tidbits, drained
1 16 ounces can light peach slices, drained
2 cups green seedless grapes, washed
1 cup ice cubes

Instructions: While pineapple bits and peach slices are draining, dissolve Jello in 1 cup of boiling water. When the Jello is completely dissolved, add chilled grape juice and 1 cup of ice cubes. Stir until all ice cubes are dissolved. Add shredded carrot to the Jello. Cut the marshmallows into small pieces and add along with cut up peaches and pineapple tidbits. Leave grapes whole for eyeballs. Chill and then stir as it thickens to evenly distribute the fruit.

Blood Clot Punch Recipe for Halloween

Ingredients:
1 2-liter bottle of Black Cherry soda
1 2-liter bottle of Fruit Punch soda
1 can frozen strawberries
1 bag of gummy worms

Instructions: Pour both bottles of soda into a punch bowl. Put the can of frozen strawberries in the soda to melt. Stir occasionally as the strawberries melt. Just before serving, stir in the bag of gummy worms. You can also fill a rubber glove with water and freeze. Before you place the bowl of punch on the table, remove the rubber glove and put the frozen hand in the punch bowl to keep it cold.

These are just a few easy Halloween recipes for your party. Don't forget to put out a few creepy spiders, black cats, etc. to for the party to give your party that fun spooky feeling.

Three Fun and Easy Halloween Recipes

Friday, December 23, 2011

Easy Cookie Recipe for 4-Ingredient Cookies

Easy Cookie Recipe for 4-Ingredient Cookies

Cookies are a vital part of a balanced diet and one of the four food groups. Most people don't recognise this, and consequently they save cookies for special occasions such as weddings, bar Mitzvahs and tax deadline day. However, this can lead to unnecessary hunger, weakness, anaemia, loss of hearing and, in certain extreme cases, prolonged and grisly death.

Therefore, having some easy cookie recipes with few ingredients is tremendously important, since otherwise you will be forced to go out and buy some from the store, which is an unnecessary expenditure of energy and money. This recipe can be put together from basic household ingredients and cooked in an oven, an appliance many homes have but few use on a regular basis.

For these easy chocolate cookies you will need:

Flour, Butter or margarine, Cocoa powder; Sugar

You can also add a splash of vanilla essence, coffee essence or Absinthe, to taste, if you like.

Mix together a cup of melted butter (use a microwave) and a cup of sugar. Then start adding flour slowly to the mix. Throw in 2 or 3 tablespoons of cocao along the way. After you've added a bit more than a cup of flour, you will have a stiff dough mix.

Roll out the dough on a counter, using more flour to stop it sticking. Use a bottle or jar if you don't have a rolling pin. Then use a cookie cutter to cut out cookie shapes, and put them on a baking sheet.

Put the baking sheet in an oven that has been pre-heated to 325 degrees. Leave them in there for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on how soft you like your cookies and how hungry you are.

Then take them out and eat them, allowing them to cool first to avoid burns to your mouth and lawsuits for people who are kind enough to give you recipes for free.

These cookies are best served warm with a glass of cold milk, ideally semi-skimmed. They will also go exceptionally well with a cup of coffee, because the chocolate contains theobromine which perfectly complements the caffeine in the coffee (the two molecules being very similar). However, don't even think about using instant. You're going to need to find some proper, roasted coffee - ideally an African coffee, like Ethiopian Yirgacheffe or Kenya Peaberry - in bean form, so that you can grind it for maximum freshness. Make it in a cafetiere to be sure, and drink it fresh, soon after you've made it, to offset that cookie really well.

Easy Cookie Recipe for 4-Ingredient Cookies

Cookies of the Soul - Mint Chocolate Kisses and the Pirate's Slave

Cookies of the Soul - Mint Chocolate Kisses and the Pirate's Slave

Such fear she had never know....trapped on the edge of a slow burning night. A night that had no end. One minute felt like two hours. The candle had barely burned. In this dark corner she hid, behind a door of no dignity. That material object which swings open for all men, unnoticed. How she envied that door. How tight her hand was wrapped around her dagger. If it hadn't been for the purpose of the object she would have forgotten about it. Her knuckles were white and her whole body was shaking. She hoped they couldn't smell her fear, because she was soaked with it.

She listened for their footsteps along the wooden hall. All her ears encountered above the sound of the rain was absolute and total silence. There was no sound before the hand clamped around her mouth and the smell of oil, blood, and toil insulted her very senses. She had no time to think as her hands were clamped behind her back and she was shoved out into the hall. "I got er Capt'n. Hidin' behind the door she was. Thinkin' that be help'n her." His breath was dangerously close to hers and she turned her head until the Captain approached in one swift movement cackling so hard he could bust, but unfortunately it was not so. "You be too bold lass. Grabb'n daggers and flee'n.

Why we be nothing but good to ya since we picked ya away from that piece of salvage ya called a home. We be nothing but treating ya as a lass should be treated. That's not bein' nice to the men who take care of ya. Killed yor good for nothin' pa when we cared ye off." Caressing her face in such a manner she knew what "taking care" of you meant and she couldn't think of it or her father's sweet face or she would surely go mad. A man she didn't necessarily know well, but one who always had enough chocolate mint kisses to give her, hugs if she needed them, and many good stories. A mysterious man who meant more to her than anything. For he was a kind memory.

All the pirates were chortling under the ir breath and wiping their mouths with low stares and she knew what that meant. She knew what it meant for three weeks. She saw above it all. She believed that she would get away. She was not meant to die with a band of dirty pirates. She was born of noble royalty. She was meant to die in comfort with no memories of fear or sadness. Gone away was that perfect image her father had hoped for her before he was murdered. Slow tears rolled down her cheeks, but the composure of her face was still intact. "Cryin? Well, I never seen that on ya before but it makes ya pretty like. Once we be getting' ye to the ship then we be talkin' more kind like. After all, I am yar capt'n, aren't I little lass?" As he stepped away a shot rang out. She felt her life slipping form her and she was surprised to feel relief.

Opening her eyes from the clamor, she realized that it was not her that had been shot. More shots rang out as she dropped to the ground and felt the world slip away. As she awoke she felt herself rising like an angel above a strong hand. When she looked up she swore she saw the face of God. Instead she saw a soldier. "You're safe, fear not Lady Anne, all will be well. Float on a billion clouds and may God grant you a safe sleep." Slip away she did and into a land of dreams which although not of the purest of dreams were far above everything else in the arms of comfort.

"Lady Anne's Mint Chocolate Kisses"*

Ingredients: ½ cup of all-purpose flour, ½ cup of whole wheat flour, ½ cup of margarine softened, 1/3 cup of margarine, 2 tbs of cocoa powder, 5 oz of bittersweet chocolate coarsely chopped, 1/8 tsp of salt, 2 tsp of mint extract, 1/8 cup of sugar, 1/8 cup of Splenda, 7 oz of white chocolate coarsely chopped, 1 egg, and ½ cup of heavy cream.

1)Mix the flours, cocoa, and salt. Beat the softened margarine and sugar in a large bowl on medium speed until creamy. Add 1 tsp of mint extract and the egg; beating just until blended. Mix in the dry ingredients. Press the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2)Butter two cookie sheets. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to 1/8 inch thick. Use a 2 inch cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. Gather the dough scraps, re-roll and continue cutting out the cookies until all the dough is used. Transfer the cookies to the cookie sheets, placing them 1 inch apart. Bake for about 6 minutes or until just firm. Transfer to racks and let cool completely.

3)Bring the cream to a boil over low heat. Remove from the heat and stir in the white chocolate until melted. Add the rest of the mint extract and transfer to a medium bowl. Cool for about 30 minutes. Stick the cookies together in pairs with filling.

4)Melt the chocolate and margarine in a double boiler over barely simmering water. Spread on top of the cookies and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

5)Enjoy the smooth surprise of these minty cookies.

* Base of recipe from Cookies and then I molded it from there.

Cookies of the Soul - Mint Chocolate Kisses and the Pirate's Slave

Christmas Cookies Recipes - Soft Mincemeat Cookies

A deliciously comforting soft baked cookie.

1/4 cup butter; softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

3/4 cup mincemeat

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray.

In a bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Add in eggs and mincemeat; mix well.

In an additional one bowl, incorporate flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt; add to the creamed mixture; mixing well. Fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts.

Drop by tablespoonfuls 2-inches apart onto ready baking sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool completely.

Makes 48 cookies.

=> Christmas Cookies Recipes: Orange Cookies

A fresh, citrus flavored cookie that will pleasure everyone.

1 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup buttermilk

3 eggs

2/3 cup orange juice

4 1/2 teaspoons grated orange peel

3 to 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

Cookie Icing

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl, cream together shortening and sugar. Add in the buttermilk, eggs, orange juice and orange peel.

In an additional one bowl, incorporate the flour, baking soda and baking powder; slowly add to creamed mixture.

Drop by teaspoonfuls 2-inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool. Frost with Cookie Icing.

Cookie Icing

4 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar

1/4 teaspoon orange extract

1/3 to 1/2 cup orange juice

Directions

In a bowl, incorporate the confectioners' sugar, orange citation and enough orange juice to get to the desired consistency. Frost cooled cookies.

Makes 144 cookies.

=> Christmas Cookies Recipes: Mocha Fudge Cookies

A appetizing cookie graced with coffee and cocoa flavors.

2 cups butter

4 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided

3 cups sugar

1 cup baking cocoa

1 tablespoon instant coffee granules

3 cups packed brown sugar

8 eggs, beaten

3 tablespoons vanilla extract

8 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a Dutch oven over low heat, melt butter and and 2 cups of chocolate chips. Take off from heat; stirring until smooth.

In a bowl, incorporate the sugar, cocoa and coffee; add to butter mixture. Stir in the brown sugar. Stir in the eggs and vanilla.

In an additional one bowl, incorporate the flour, baking powder and salt; slowly add to chocolate mixture. Stir in walnuts and remaining chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2-inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 10 to 11 minutes or until edges are set. Let cool.

Makes 222 cookies.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

The Best Homemade Chocolate Chips Cookie Recipe

My big family loves chocolate chip cookie so much that we make batches of if on most weekends and special occasions. Everyone simply loves them that they disappear very fast during family events. We have our own special recipe which has become a tradition we all cherish, and I call this the best chocolate cookie recipe ever. This makes more than 5 dozens of chocolate chip cookies.

You will have fun with this recipe which you can choose to modify to your personal taste. So, to get started, you need to prepare all the ingredients.

You will need:

1 cup pure butter 3/4 cup brown sugar 3/4 cup granulated sugar 2 cups all-purpose flour or your favorite cake mix 2 cups semi-sweetened chocolate chips 1teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 2 eggs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Dissolve butter. Add the granulated and brown sugar.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat all ingredients until thoroughly combined.
4. Add the eggs and vanilla, and beat just enough to combine all ingredients.
5. In a separate bowl, combine all-purpose flour, salt and baking soda.
6. Slowly add the flour mixture, beating with a mixer.
7. Add in chocolate chips gently stirring with a spoon until mixture is evenly mixed throughout the batter.
8. Drop in rounded tablespoonfuls, on a cookie sheet,or baking pan.
9. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes until the edges turn golden brown.
10. Watch your cookies closely, do not overcook.

These fantastic cookies are ideal for almost any occasion. Its goodness makes it perfect for dessert and snacks. Now you have just discovered my family's favorite chocolate cookie recipe. One top secret is the type of flour you use. I love the yellow boxed cake mix, of course, you still could use any of your favorite brands. Just learn by heart that using the best cake flour will deliver your cookie a little more body than any ordinary unbleached flour.

If you are doing smaller cookies, remember that baking time also goes down. Many ovens produce heat from the bottom, and so as not to burn the bottom of the cookies, I simply double pan them before baking.

Spend time experimenting different mixes, it is the only way to obtain the ideal chocolate chip cookie you desire. As soon as you get hold of the best combinations, you too will enjoy the delicious treat of chocolatey goodness you and your family will be delighted as well.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Free Cheesecake Factory Restaurant Recipes

Imagine it is Friday night. You've had a long week. You don't feel like spending a lot of money eating out, but you still want to eat good food tonight. What are you going to do? Recently I discovered restaurant recipes. I realized that I could save a ton of money by making restaurant recipes at home.

One of my favorite restaurants is the Cheesecake Factory. Cheesecake Factory restaurant recipes are delicious! I have been scouring the internet recently for the best Cheesecake Factory Restaurant recipes. After doing some extensive research, here are several amazing Cheesecake Factory Restaurant recipes.

Cheesecake Factory Oreo Cheesecake
Filling:
1 1/2 pound cream cheese
1 cup sugar
5 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup flour
8 ounces sour cream
5 Oreo cookies (coarsely chopped for the batter)
10 coarsely chopped Oreo cookies for the topping

Crust
1 1/2 cup Oreo cookie crumbs (about 25 Oreo cookies finely chopped)
2 tablespoon melted butter
93 spring form pan (buttered on bottom and sides)

1. Mix melted butter with Oreo crumbs and press in the bottom of the spring pan and 1 1/23 up the sides, set aside.
2.All Ingredients must be at room temperature before beginning. Beat cream cheese with a mixer on low until fluffy.
3. Slowly add sugar and continue beating cream cheese until mixed well.
4. Add eggs one at a time and continue to beat until blended.
5. Measure the vanilla, salt and flour, pour into cream cheese and egg mixture and beat until smooth. Add the sour cream and beat.
6. Stir in the coarsely chopped oreo cookies with a spoon.
7. Pour cream cheese into the spring pan and place the nine coarsely chopped Oreo Cookies on to of the cream mixture.
8. Place pan on the top rack and in the middle of a preheated oven at 325 degrees F and bake for one hour and 15 minutes.
9. After that time, keep oven door open and let the cheese cake stay in the oven for one hour. Remove from oven and let cool enough to place in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

Cheesecake Factory Pasta Da Vinci
1(1lb)box penne pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced
1 large red onion, finely chopped
1(4ounce)can sliced mushrooms, drainedor
1/2 cup rehydratedshiitake mushrooms
2 tablespoons mincedgarlic
1 cup madeira wine
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sour cream
1-2 tablespoon butter

Directions
1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Place cooked and drained pasta in separate bowl.
2. Heat oil in skillet and saute chicken, onion, mushrooms, and garlic.Remove from skillet;set aside. Add wine to same skillet and simmer over medium heat until liquid is reduced by two-thirds. Add heavy cream and sour cream and heat through.
3. Remove from heat and swirl in butter. Toss with pasta.

Cheesecake Factory Vanilla Bean Cheesecake
1 envelope plus 1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cold water
1 1/2 cups milk
6 egg yolks
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, whipped

1. Soften the gelatin in cold water and set aside for later use.
2. Beat the egg yolks in the top of a double boiler until light and lemon colored. Gradually beat in the sugar. Add the salt.
3. Scald the milk and gradually stir it into the egg mixture. Cook over hot, not boiling, water until thickened, stirring constantly.
4. Blend in the softened gelatin and vanilla. Chill until the mixture begins to thicken, stirring occasionally to prevent a crust from forming on the surface.
5. Fold in the whipped cream and spread cream mixture onto cheesecake.
Chill until firm.
6. Garnish with lightly sweetened whipped cream.

Cheesecake Factory Avocado Egg Rolls
2-4 servings
30 mins prep time
Egg Rolls
1 large avocado, peeled, pitted, & diced
2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped red onions
1/2 teaspoon fresh cilantro, chopped
1 dash salt
4 egg roll wraps (can also use won ton wraps)
1 egg, beaten
Oil for deep-frying
Dipping Sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
4 teaspoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon tamarind pulp
1/2 cup honey (I use slightly less)
1 pinch turmeric
1/2 cup chopped cashews
2/3 cup fresh cilantro
2 garlic cloves
2 green onions
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin

Dipping Sauce
1. Combine vinegars, honey, tamarind, and saffron in a microwave safe bowl. Stir until tamarind is dissolved completely.
2. Microwave for 1 minute.
3. Using a blender, Puree tamarind mixture, cashews, cilantro, garlic, onions, sugar, pepper, and cumin.
4. Pour mixture into a bowl and stir in oil.
5. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Egg Rolls
1. Stir together avocado, tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and salt.
2. Distribute filling evenly on the center of each egg roll wrapper.
3. Fold one corner up, 1/4 of the way over the filling.
4. Brush the remaining corners and edges with beaten egg, roll up the left and right side, then fold top corner over all and press to seal.
5. Repeat with the remaining wrappers.
6. Deep-fry the egg rolls in 375 degree oil for 3-4 minutes, or until browned.
7. Drain on paper towels.
8. Slice egg rolls diagonally in half and serve with the prepared dipping sauce.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Creepy and Cute Halloween Cake Design Ideas

To help you get started scheming and designing your ghoulish confections, here are a few Halloween Cake Design Ideas. Try these or create your own spin-off's!

Haunted House - Sheet, Novelty Pan or Sculpted Castle

This Halloween cake can be made in many ways.

1. Trim a sheet cake into the shape of an old Victorian house with gables. Then pipe icing windows, doors, and other details, including cobwebs. Ghostly shapes are easy to pipe and fill in with snow-white buttercream icing. Add bats and other easy to pipe Halloween creatures.

2. Or you can use a novelty cake pan with the haunted house theme. Many of these come with decorations and instructions.

3. For a really exciting Halloween cake, try a haunted castle cake! Butter cakes works well. Stack two or more cakes, being sure to place supportive plates in between the layers. If the cake is large like a wedding cake, add cake dowels.

Towers can be created with upside down ice-cream cones or paper towel rolls, shortened to fit proportionally to your cake.

For edible towers, bake a pound cake in a jelly roll pan, and then using a cookie-cutter or glass, cut our circular pieces of uniform size. Skewer these, and then stick the skewered towers into the cake. Then ice them and pipe designs and windows.

For an amazing haunted house castle - think detail. For example, you could cut out windows and place inside kooky ghosts or other ghoulish figures (modeled with rolled buttercream, created with gum paste molds, or store-bought).

You might even want to add a moat and drawbridge! Tuck green miniature lights behind the turrets and under the drawbridge for an eerie glow.

A basic set of confectionary tools will help you model your Halloween cake creatures. You can find these and all sorts of decorating supplies at www.CandylandCrafts.com

If you model your Halloween cake figures with gum paste, creations will dry hard and last for years, but the children won't enjoy the taste much. Marzipan's expensive, and this almond paste isn't as much of a hit with kids as grown-ups. Your best bet for your Halloween cakes is Rolled Buttercream. It's a great tasting icing dough that can be easily modeled or molded.

Frankenstein's Bride - Vintage Halloween Cake

Here's a spin off from our charming doll cake that is made with a Barbie type doll and a cake dress. Use a doll with black hair. Tease the hair so it's all puffed up and then paint the lightening stripes up each side of her hair do. (For a humorous version, you could make her hair stand straight up).

Paint her face a pasty white, add make-up (search online for "Bride of Frankenstein doll" and "Bride of Frankenstein costumes" for ideas. Cover the negligee dress with smooth, white buttercream and maybe add some black spiders and lacy impressions.

Another idea: A vintage 60's Halloween doll cake could be fashioned after the Adam's Family's Mortisha.

Jack o' Lantern Bundt Halloween Cake

This is an easy Halloween cake for cake decorators new to cake sculpting.

Young children will adore a Jack o' Lantern cake with a cute or goofy expression, while most older kids will get a kick out of an outlandish or spooky face.

Start with 2 bundt cakes (butter, pumpkin and pound cakes work well). Then after leveling and icing the bottom of the cakes, fit them together to form the pumpkin. Cover the pumpkin with smooth, orange buttercream. Then pipe and/or use rolled buttercream to model the facial features. Pipe green leaves on top and add a stem made of rolled buttercream or an upside-down ice cream cone, iced with green.

Last, but not least, here's an important Halloween Cake tip. The amount of liquid food coloring needed to create black or dark brown icing will probably give your icing a bitter taste. To avoid making a Halloween cake that tastes creepier than it looks, try one of these ghoulishly clever tips:

· Use gel, paste or powder coloring. They're concentrated, so you won't need as much.

· Begin with dark chocolate buttercream, and you'll need even less.

· Instead of black icing, cover plain buttercream with crushed, dark chocolate cookies, and use licorice and such for spiders and bats.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Halloween Activities for Young Children

Celebrate the annual Fright Night with these seventeen fun (and not so scary) ideas, especially for young children.

1. Try your hand at face painting, or allow your children to paint each other's faces with washable face paints.

2. Make your own goodie bags. Set out some brown paper bags with the standard art supplies or embellish an old pillowcase with fabric paints. You can even spring for blank canvas baggies from your local discount store or craft store without spending a lot.

3. Tie-dye some T-shirts or socks using orange and black fabric dyes.

4. Make ghosts. Fold a piece of black construction paper in half and let your child squirt white paint inside. Squish the paint between the paper, let dry, then embellish the white ghost with paints, markers and other craft supplies.

5. Make homemade slime. This is always a popular activity. Here is a great recipe from Family Fun Magazine: http://jas.familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts?page=CraftDisplay&craftid=10684

6. Watch a Halloween movie. Make popcorn, cuddle up together in blankets, and take in some spooky cinematic sights. Harry Potter, Dracula, or Ghostbusters are great choices. For younger children, choose Heffalump Halloween, starring Winnie the Pooh or The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad by Disney Classics.

7. Eat creepy cuisine. Cut sandwiches or tortillas into Halloween shapes with cookie cutters. Create a ghoulish look with almost anything by mixing in a little green or red food coloring.

8. Play "Guess How Many Pumpkin Seeds." Each family member or party guest gets to take turns guessing how many pumpkin seeds are in a jar. The winner gets a prize.

9. Go apple bobbing. Fill a bucket or tub with water and apples and see how many apples each contestant can snag.

10. Make masks. Set out the art supplies and see who can make the scariest mask with a paper plate, construction paper, yarn, and markers or paints.

11. Create a family costume. Come up with a costume theme that the whole family can participate in. One year, we were all Star Wars characters. Maybe you will all be people from the Wild West or fuzzy forest animals.

12. Have a pumpkin seed spitting contest.

13. Roast pumpkin seeds. Clean the pumpkin seeds and toss them in just enough melted butter to lightly cover the seeds. (One tablespoon of butter is generally enough for the seeds from a medium sized pumpkin.) Salt the seeds, then spread them on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake at 250 degrees until golden brown, stirring occasionally.

14. Play Pin the Tail on the Black Cat (or Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin.) Any variation of Pin the Tail on the Donkey is fun for young kids.

15. Make a Scare Tape. Record you and your family members making spooky sounds. All you need is a tape recorder and a little imagination. Include footsteps, slamming doors, creepy howling werewolves, and crazy cackles. Play the tape from your front porch on Halloween.

16. Give each child an inexpensive disposable camera for the big night. This is a fun way to see what Halloween looks like from their perspective. I love to give my kids a blank journal and let them tell the story of memorable events, such as Halloween. This is a great tradition and really helps them to tell their personal stories, which they will cherish for many Halloweens to come.

17. Once Halloween is over, make sure to shop the post Halloween sales for fun additions to your dress up closet, which your young children are sure to enjoy year round.

Happy haunting!

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Farmville Neighbors Not Showing Up - How to Find Your Missing Neighbors

Lately more and more Farmville players have bumped into the bug where you can't see your neighbors. It occurs both on old neighbors and just added ones. The game's developer Zynga has also acknowledged this problem, but for some reason it has been going on for some time now and they have yet to fix it. In most cases it's rather simple to fix, but some people have had to work some more for it.

The simple fix is to send a gift to one of your neighbor. For most people, this fixes it. Now, of course you can't do it via the friends link at the bottom of the screen, instead you should use the 'Free Gifts' link in the top.

However, if that doesn't fix it for you, you must upgrade your Adobe Flash Player. You want to do this thoroughly so start by uninstalling your old Flash Player. Go here and download the Uninstaller compatible with your operating system. Save it, quit all applications and then run it.

Next, go here and get the current Flash Player. It should recognize your OS but if it displays a wrong one, just click where it reads 'Different operating system or browser?' and select yours. Now just download and install.

This should make your neighbors show up again for most, but if it still doesn't work here's something you might want to try. First, clear your browser's cache and cookies. Try playing Farmville via the official site instead of through Facebook. You can also try a different browser. Unfortunately, if it still doesn't work after all of this, there's really nothing more you can do about it and it's up to Zynga to fix it.

Sugar Lovers Beware

It would be fair to assume that almost everyone on the planet loves sugar and sweet foods. Processed sugar is in many products and is a key ingredient for baking. It seems that everyone has a sweet tooth for some sugar food in one way or another. Most people know to limit their intake of processed sugar, however, what most people don't know is that sugar is one of the worst ingredients to put into your body. The chemical reaction of sugar in the body acts as a poison. Studies show that sugar has drug like effects in the body.

Processed sugar has many harmful effects throughout the body and can cause major imbalances in the organ systems. You could say that sugar tends to throw off the homeostatic balance of the whole body by increasing the production of adrenaline by many times. In essence, sugar stimulates the nervous system by inducing a flight or fight response.

This is obviously not a healthy process. This intense reaction of the body increases the production of cortisone, which suppresses immune function and can lead to other health disorders.

The daily intake of sugar leads to many other imbalances and malfunctioning of the bodily processes. High sugar consumption leads to an overly acidic body and in turn will cause the body to strip nutrients from its reserves to counterbalance this effect. This can eventually cause the body to take calcium from the bones and teeth since calcium is the primary mineral used to neutralize high acid in the cells. Osteoporosis and arthritic conditions can result from this continued process.

Sugar and its Link to Weight Gain

Excess sugar consumption will eventually effect every organ in the body. Primarily, sugar is stored in the liver as glucose. Since the liver's capacity to store sugar in this form is limited, the liver will start to expand almost like a balloon with continued daily sugar intake. When the livers' capacity has been filled, the excess glycogen (glucose) is returned to the blood in the form of fatty acids (fat). The fatty acid compounds are then taken to various parts of the body and are stored as fat deposits in the buttocks, belly, breasts and hips since these are the most inactive body parts.

The consumption of excess processed (refined) carbohydrates has the same effect on the body. Eating foods with refined white flours and other enriched products can cause the same physiological effects. Consuming excess pasta, rice, chips, pretzels, and other high processed carbohydrates can lead to fat deposits on the body.

Many people do not understand how eating excess pasta or rice can cause weight gain since these foods has very minute quantities of fat and calories in them. The secret is...it is not that important how much fat or calories a food has. The real key is what biological effect does a food have in the body.

When the inactive body parts have become filled with fat then eventually the excess fatty acid deposits will become stored around major organ systems such as the heart and kidneys. This leads to the degeneration of these organs and in turn will cause poor health. This can result in poor immune response, poor circulation, high blood pressure, and can even impact brain functioning.

A False Energy High

Too much sugar intake gives one a false sense of energy. When you eat a sweet food, your energy will go up, however, it only feels that your energy is going up. In fact, this false energy is really your body being stimulated via the flight or fight response that I spoke of earlier. After this reaction has worn off, your energy levels will come crashing down as most people experience every day after they have eaten a high sugar food.

Most children that have ADD can completely heal themselves just by eliminating processed sugars in their diets. Children eat way too many processed sugars. The behaviors and bodily responses that these children feel are the flight or fight responses of their nervous systems. All forms of processed sugars such as nutra sweet, cane juice, corn syrup, brown sugar, splenda, powdered sugar and others have the same effect on the body. The chemical structures of these compounds are very harmful to the body and should not be consumed on a frequent basis.

Fruit sugars are very healthy for you. The monosaccharides (simple sugars) in these natural foods are in a structure that are beneficial to your cells. Fruit sugar has a much different effect on your body than does processed sugar. Fruit sugars nourish and energize the body naturally. This is true energy as compared to the false energy one gets from processed sugars. Your cells require the simple sugars in fruits consistently since they serve to fuel the body with the best substances. Make sure you consistently eat many fruits a day. I would recommend eating 4 to 5 pieces of different fruits a day for better health.

The True Bitterness of nutra sweet & sucralose (splenda tm)

What you are about to discover is information that has been known for quite some time by various health organizations. Please take this information seriously because there are agendas in place to hide this truth and to use it against you.

Aspartame (nutra sweet) is actually worse to consume than sugar. This technical name includes the following brands of sweeteners- (equal, nutra sweet, spoonful and equal measure).

Be advised that these compounds are very powerful and can cause severe biological effects in your body. To say that they are toxic is an understatement. The manufacturer of these compounds knows of the dangers in consuming regular amounts of aspartame substances. As I have already said there is an agenda for putting these compounds into various products.

If you want to know the true agenda then research it for yourself. I am not one who attempts to prove anything to anyone. I challenge you to do your own research and see if you can prove what I am saying wrong. In trying to prove me wrong, you will prove me right.

The Breakdown of Aspartame

Aspartame is a volatile substance, meaning that it breaks down very readily under normal storing conditions. Primarily, all aspartame compounds break down into methanol (alcohol), which is a known neurotoxin. The methanol in time then will break down into formaldehyde that is a highly reactive chemical that is damaging to the cells and genetics of the body.

This process can cause a number of neurodegenerative diseases such as alzheimers, lupus, multiple sclerosis (MS), and parkinson's disease. The methyl alcohol that forms from aspartame is thousands of times more potent than the alcohol found in a normal alcoholic beverage.

Reactions to aspartame products include the following: headaches, nausea, depression, fatigue, heart palpitations, slurred speech, breathing difficulties, memory loss, seizures and even death. Consuming high amounts of aspartame can also increase your cravings for carbohydrates. I explained earlier that consuming high amounts of empty carbohydrates (refined flours, pasta, rice, chips) will lead to weight gain.

Primarily, the effects of aspartame chemicals in the body seem to alter key hormones thus creating imbalances in neurotransmitters and blocking other hormone precursors.

So, why haven't you heard about these dangers before now? Let's see...the diet industry is a trillion dollar market to many organizations. Obviously, they don't want this secret information to get out to public ears if you know what I mean.

Aspartame & Children

Children love to consume sweets on a daily basis. Many of the food products that these children are consuming have aspartame sweeteners in them. I would advise all parents to get their kids off of aspartame food items. These foods are not healthy for them. There are plenty of healthy alternatives for any of the items that they enjoy.

Email me and I will give you loads of information. Many kids are diagnosed with ADD and other mood disorders. Many of these conditions are being classified as hyper, behavioral problems and others when in fact these children are being affected by the foods they eat. Look at a normal child's food intake for an average day and you will find that they eat way too much sugar and items with aspartame compounds and other chemicals in them.

This daily consumption of these sweeteners has a harmful effect on their nervous system and therefore becomes expressed as mood disorders and behavioral problems. Take these kids off sugar and these sweeteners and watch them improve.

Pregnant Mothers & Aspartame

If you or anyone you know is pregnant then I would say just stay away from these dangerous sweeteners forever. Make sure you read labels and make it a conscious intent to have the whole family keep clean of these products. It will help your whole family out I assure you.

If you are pregnant and consume aspartame foods you will only be hurting the development of the child. Doing so can cause neurological imbalances and other cellular damage. You are also hurting yourself. It is not worth the price just to have your diet soda. Please educate yourself more on this topic for it can save your health and the baby's health.

Products to Stay Away From

If you drink diet soda then are you most likely consuming aspartame. Most diet sodas and many other beverages are sweetened with one of the aspartame sugar substitutes. STAY AWAY FROM ALL PRODUCTS THAT CONTAIN THE VARIOUS FORMS OF ASPARTAME! These include aspartame, nutra sweet, splenda, spoonful, equal. Read your labels and throw away all items that have these compounds in them. Take responsibility for your diet. If you choose to continue to consume aspartame after reading this chapter well then you are the one to pay the consequences.

What Will I Use To Sweeten My Drinks & My Food

Relax! I know you enjoy sugar and do not want to give up great tasting foods and beverages. You don't have to. There are some great natural sugar alternatives that I feel taste better than sugar and the other toxic substances mentioned earlier.

To sweeten your drinks you can use Stevia. Stevia is a natural herb that is actually hundreds of times sweeter than regular sugar. It has no fat, carbohydrates or calories and is perfectly suitable for people with diabetes, low carb diets and people with candida and other parasitic conditions. Stevia does not cause spikes in blood sugar and has a nourishing effect on the body. It has been used for centuries among various cultures.

You can get stevia at any health food store in the dietary supplement section. There are 2 products: 1 is a liquid concentrate- I recommend this for sweetening beverages like teas and shakes. The other is a ground up version and is in powder form. I recommend this for foods like cereal or oatmeal.

Agave syrup is an awesome food product. You will love this sweetener guaranteed. It is a compound similar to honey only that it comes from a cactus plant in the desert. I believe that it tastes better than honey and can used on pancakes, cookies and to sweeten baked goods. Try it and see! You can find this at most health food stores. If they don't have it then ask them to carry it.

Rice syrup is also a good sugar alternative. It can be used in various ways and has a pleasant taste.

Date Paste is very sweet and can be added to baked goods and pancakes, waffles and cookies.

Fruit Juice Concentrates can be used to sweeten baked foods as well.

Barley Malt Syrup is another great alternative.

Honey - old time favorite for many, can be used also in various ways from sweetening drinks to sweetening baked goods. Use only organic varieties.

I would say to just buy some of these sweeteners and see which ones you like. They are all healthy to consume on a daily basis and you will feel the difference. You will not miss regular sugar believe me. Your body will thank you I assure by eating natural sugars. If you want some recipes on how to use these sweeteners then let me know via email.

The Truth About Sweet-N-Low

There have many reports that state Sweet-N-Low can be carcinogenic when used frequently. I remember when I was a child I heard that this can be a harmful compound to the body. The truth of the matter is that Sweet-N-Low is not harmful to your body. The chemical structure of this substance does not have any damaging effects to your cells as do the sugar substitutes mentioned earlier.

I stated previously that the important thing of any compound is the chemical structure and its biological effects once in the body. Sweet-N-Low has no negative effects once in the body. It is actually a good substitute for sugar.

So there you have it. You now know the truth about sugar and sugar substitutes. Please use this information immediately.

You Must Learn To See Through The Veils of Illusion To Get at the Truth !

How to Make the World's Best Creme Brulee

Creme Brulee is a French term for what the English refer to as Burnt Cream. The word brulee refers to dishes, such as custards, finished with a sugar glaze.

This simple custard is cooked and cooled. A small amount of sugar is sprinkled on the top of the cooled custard and the sugar is caramelized using a small torch or beneath a broiler. This classic custard inherits its' delicate flavor from the simple mixture of cream and eggs. Traditional creme brulee does not use any additional flavorings such as vanilla.

This is an old creme brulee recipe that dates back to 1909. It was taken from The Ocklye Cookery Book, and it is the best creme brulee recipe I have personally ever come across. It comes from the folks over at the Gourmet Sleuth and it is not only easy, it is amazing.

I N G R E D I E N T S

2 1/2 cups heavy cream or 1 1/4 cups heavy cream and 1 1/4 cups light cream
4 large egg yolks, well beaten
1/4 to 1/3 cup superfine sugar*

I N S T R U C T I O N S

Bring cream to a boil, and boil about 30 seconds. Pour it immediately into the egg yolks and whisk them together. Return the mixture to the pan and continue cooking without allowing it to boil. Stir the mixture until it thickens and coats the spoon. Pour the mixture into a shallow baking dish. Refrigerate overnight.

Two hours before the meal, sprinkle the chilled cream with the sugar in an even layer and place it under a broiler preheated to the maximum temperature. The sugar will caramelize to a sheet of brown smoothness. You may need to turn the dish in the grill to achieve an even effect. It is important that this step be done very quickly in order to keep the custard cold and firm and the top crisp and brown.

*The custard in this recipe does not call for sugar. The sweetness is derived from the burnt sugar crust.

Serving size - 4 to 6

Saturday, December 17, 2011

How Many calories Should I Eat a Day?

The term "Calorie" has come to be very coarse as this is the quantum recommended by dietitians and nutritionists to sacrifice body weight. Also, this is the term population are more concerned about, to avoid obesity and other ill effects.

Most population think that they consume less calories if they are not eating enough. But this is a wrong advent as this lowers the metabolic rate and puts body into starvation mode. The ideal way is to utter your calories by eating right estimate of very nutrient food.

An active someone who exercises every day will burn more calories than the someone who is moderately active with less bodily activities.

Men, Women and Children have different daily calorie needs as there are different metabolisms, different heights, weight, age and gender for every human being. The current lifestyle also has an impact in the estimate of wholesome calorie intake. In general, Men need 2000 to 2500 calories and Women need 1500 to 2400 calories per day depending on their age levels, height and weight. There are many ways to analyse your daily calories needs. There are calorie calculators that help you to estimate daily calorie needs based on gender, height, weight, age and performance level.

It is recommended to eat at least 1200 to 1500 calories per day if you want to lose weight, but this diet plan cannot be followed forever. You need to take balanced diet with enough calories to stay active and healthy.

Men at the age group of 20 to 30 years who do less practice would need almost 2400 calories per day whereas Women at the same age group, with the same type of workout routines would need nearby 2000 calories per day. Men of age group 31 to 50 with less bodily performance levels would need 2200 to 2300 calories per day while women of age group 31 to 50 with less bodily performance would need 1800 to 1900 calories per day.

This calculation applies to children as well. Children of age group 2 to 3 years would need 1000 calories per day whereas children of age group 4 to 8 years would need 1100 to 1500 calories per day with less bodily performance levels.

Young boys at the age group of 9 to 18 years wish nearby 1800 to 3000 calories and girls wish nearby 1800 to 2200 calories per day.

Women above 50 years of age need 1600 to 1700 calories per day and Men above 50 years may need 2000 to 2200 calories per day with less bodily performance levels.

Similarly, Men of age group 20 to 50 years with more bodily performance levels may need 2500 to 3000 calories per day and women may wish 2000 to 2500 calories per day.

Men above 50 years would need 2300 to 2800 calories and women would need 1800 to 2300 calories per day with more bodily activities.

Calorie Calculator

There are many calorie calculators ready online to predict the daily calorie needs. Once you estimate your calorie needs, consequent it for a week and start monitoring the changes to your body weight. Make adjustments in calorie intake as required so that you can utter your weight as you wish.

Basal Metabolic Rate (Bmr)

You need to intuit Bmr to shape out ho many calories you need per day. Bmr measures the estimate of calories you need to utter your current weight with general body processes. The very easy and basic formulae for calculating your Bmr is - just multiply your current body weight by 10.

For example, if your current weight is 100 lbs, 1000 calories per day is the basal metabolic rate. Basal Metabolic Rate calculation does not include the quantum from bodily performance levels (based on practice limits). You can use some other formulas like Harris - Benedict recipe and Katch-McArdle recipe to estimate the Bmr that includes performance levels.

Exercise is an leading factor that determines your daily calorie needs. If you are more physically active or if you do lot of exercise, your body needs slightly higher calorie levels. However, there are other factors like age, height and estimate of body fat you have etc also plays a vital role in determining calorie needs.

Maintain an performance Diary

You need to rate yourself by maintaining an performance diary. You need to decree if you are sedentary, moderately active or active.

You are "sedentary" if there is not much bodily performance in your lifestyle or job. It may involve mostly sitting, standing etc. You are "lightly active" if you do very light walking. You are "Moderately active" if you do slightly more bodily performance than just walking. This may include doing some cleaning, some other work to be done manually. You are "Very active" if you do lot of work and more exercise. You are "Extremely active" if you are complex in any sports, quarterly hard work outs etc. Keep a track of these different performance levels in the diary.

Set a target of two weeks and keep a detailed description of things you eat and drink in two weeks period. description all you bodily activities, weight and update the diary every day with your routines. After 2 weeks, if your weight is the same when you started, you are on the right track and you are fascinating the calories calculated by Bmr. If you have gained weight while the 2 weeks exercise, you need to do the requisite changes in your diet plan.

Balance your diet with wholesome foods

It is leading to know what type of calories you eat every day. You need to allocate your daily calorie intake as follows:

1. Take 40% of protein rich food every day. You can get rich proteins from lean meat, fish, milk, eggs

2. Eat 40% carbohydrates that come from beans, peas, oats, lentils, yogurts etc. Do not go for items like sugar, beverages, cookies, pizza, bread, potatoes, rice, pasta etc

3. 20% of unsaturated or good fat is acceptable. You can eat nuts, seeds etc

Take only Balanced diet with wholesome calories and please do remember that calories are the only way to keep check in your weight. You need to alter the calorie intake to lose weight. Any diet plan without a clear distribution in the types of calories will not be of help. Choose a correct diet plan and decree the daily calorie needs.

Halloween Finger Foods Are Great Crowd Favorites For Scary Theme Food Ideas

Halloween finger foods are great items to use at any Halloween party of get together. Trick-or-treating is not the only reason for having such a great holiday as Halloween. It is a time for everyone to get together and show a different side of ourselves and have fun with our friends and loved ones.

At such get parties there are all kinds of fun activities to participate in. one of the most popular item at these parties are the Halloween finger foods . These foods are always crowd favorites and can be exciting to look at as well as eat.

There are all kinds of ideas for Halloween finger foods that you can use at your Halloween party. Creating these finger foods, with all the fun and creative holiday shapes is a fun way to spruce up the holiday spirit. Creating these finger foods will test your skill in the culinary arts and allows you to show off just how good you really are.

There are man y different ideas that you can use for the Halloween finger foods that you use at your party. With such ideas as bat shaped sandwiches or witch finger sandwiches, you can create fabulous finger foods that everyone will enjoy. Blazing bat wings can also be an excellent idea for your holiday finger foods. The bat shaped sandwiches are just sandwiches that have their shape with the use of a bat shaped cookie cutter.

With finger sandwiches are shaped from bread stick dough and use a piece of pepperoni to create the finger nail. Buffalo wings are the best description of the blazing bat wings. These are just a few of the idea possibilities that are out there. You should test your imagination and come up with some creative ideas of your own.

If you cannot come up with any creative ideas of your own, do not worry. There are all kinds of ideas that you can find over the Internet. Here you will be able to find some recipes that would be great Halloween finger food ideas for your Halloween party. It is pretty amazing at some of the ideas that are created for this spookynite holiday season.

When you throw a Halloween party, you want to be able to offer the very best that there is. By creating these holiday treats, you offer creativity and fun that everyone is sure to enjoy.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Wheat Grinders - Types, Prices, Usage, Recommendations

If you are anything like me, the idea of buying, let alone in fact Using a wheat grinder can be pretty intimidating. I am thought about to fetch a healthy-sized food warehouse and wheat is going to play a big role in that. I am also a fan of the mantra "store what you eat and eat what you store". Thus it speedily became apparent to me that I needed to do some heavy duty study in order to search all the mysteries surrounding "wheat grinders" or "grain mills" as they are officially called. With the help of internet research, some hands on study at several neighbors' houses, and multiple failed attempts in the kitchen, I have come up with a pretty good summary of what you need to know.

Types of Wheat Grinders

Manual Wheat Grinders

Pros

Inexpensive Can be used with no power source Small to store
Cons

Slow to grind (mine took 6 minutes to grind one cup of flour) Except for the very high-end models, you cannot grind a fine flour Inconvenient (messy and hard to fit a large bowl underneath)
KitchenAid Attachments

Pros

Less costly than an electric grinder Small to store Convenient to use and then mix bread in the same machine
Cons

I have heard from multiple sources that these units will Break your KitchenAid mixer Not as fast at grinding as electric grinders
Electric Wheat Grinders

Pros

Grinds very fast Useful for many types of grains, beans, nuts, etc. Easy to settle on how common or fine to grind, and has a large range
Cons

Fairly expensive, even for the lower-end models Must have a generator or battery pack to use with no electricity (unless you buy a high end model that comes with a hand-operated crank) A large appliance to store in your kitchen
Prices of Wheat Grinders

Manual Wheat Grinders

Low: -30 models will not grind flour, only common corn meal, etc. Not very useful. Medium: -5 is a good price range. Back to Basics Grain Mill is . It can grind fine sufficient for bread flour but not for very fine cake flour. Wonder Junior is higher-priced at 9 but it can grind into cake flour. High: Up to 0 for the Country Living Grain Mill. It is quicker than other hand-operated grinders and is able to grind a fine cake flour.
KitchenAid Attachments

0-120, some may be used on any stand mixer.
Electric Wheat Grinders

Low: Under 0 for grinders such as the Blendtec Grain Mill. Its drawbacks are it is very noisy and cannot do very common grinds. Medium: 0-0 can get you a great grinder. The two most popular electric grinders are the WonderMill and the NutriMill. In my tests I found the WonderMill to be faster, quieter, cleaner, and easier to store. And priced at 9 it is even economy than the NutriMill which is 9. High: Over 0 is an unnecessary amount to spend in my opinion. There are heavy duty models out there but you can get the job done with the mid-range models.
How To Use Wheat Grinders

Manual Wheat Grinders

Attach wheat grinder to your counter top Place a bowl underneath Pour the wheat in the funnel Turn the crank (for a Long time) Wheat will filter into the bowl below
Electric Wheat Grinders

Select how fine or common you want to grind Turn on the machine Pour the wheat in the top Wait for it to grind into flour (super fast) Turn off the motor and pull out your canister of wheat
How To Use Fresh Ground Whole Wheat

Whole wheat bread can be delicious! I have gone through a lot of recipes trying to find the perfect equilibrium of flavor, nutrition, texture, etc. For my wheat bread. Experiment with dissimilar recipes and types of wheat until you find what your family prefers. We liked using hard white wheat in a formula that included gluten and oatmeal. Pancakes even your kids will love! I took an Ihop corn cakes formula and plainly swapped all-purpose flour for whole wheat flour and it was amazing. My kids ate 3 each at one meal. They are tasty drizzled with honey over top. Whole wheat oatmeal cookies you can't resist. I haven't tried any of these recipes yet but several of my friends said they prefer whole wheat cookies to regular cookies. Who wouldn't want an excuse to make cookies, hey it's rotating your food storage. Much much more. I grind up a large Tupperware full of hard white wheat flour and store it in my freezer (it retains the nutrients that way). Whenever I do any baking I replace half or all of the flour called for with my whole wheat flour. If it is as good or great I add that formula to my food warehouse formula binder. It's a great way to experiment until you find what works for you.
My Recommendations

Emergency-Only Usage

If you are planning to use your food warehouse and wheat grinder only if an emergency situation arises, it is not worth the cost and hassle of buying and storing an electric grinder. At a minimum you should get the Back to Basics Grain Mill but I would extremely suggest splurging for the Wonder Junior.
Every-Day Usage

If you plan to "store what you eat and eat what you store" I extremely suggest the WonderMill Grain Mill electric grinder. If you are not planning to find an alternative power source for an emergency situation, then eventually pick up a Back to Basics Grain Mill as well. The price of these two combined are still economy than high-end electric grinders that have a hand-operated crank option, and the functionality of the WonderMill is great for frequent usage.