Quick Cook Kid Pleasing Summer Vegetable Soup Recipes

In summer heat, our appetites and cooking styles naturally turn to cold or grilled foods. I don't know about you, but sometimes, even in the blistering heat, I get a hankering for a hot (not char-broiled) meal. When that craving hits, I tout out these tried-and-tasty summer stove-top soups. These recipes feature pared-down (pardon the pun) cooking time frames that won't over-tax the air-conditioning or overheat the house. Best of all, these yummy soups incorporate summer's vegetable bounty and are easy on the diet. Kids love them too. Quick-Cook Kid-Pleasing Summer Vegetable Soup Recipes 

Apples and Honey Recipes for Jewish Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, begins the Days of Awe which end with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Special foods are eaten and fasting is practiced on some days of this most holy season. Apples and honey are two symbols of Rosh Hashanah and eaten on that day. In honor of Rosh Hashanah, here are some of my best apple recipes made with delicious Michigan apples. Michigan Apple Harvest: Healthy Goodness (Note: one recipe calls for sausage, chicken sausage, Kosher meat may be substituted. Vegetarian options are given, too). Here are websites with resources to help families involved kids in Rosh Hashanah preparations. Each online resource provides recipes and dietary regulations, too. Non Jews may wish to explore this lovely holiday season and these resources provide good ways to do that. Free Printable Rosh HaShanah Activities 

Low Sodium Recipes, Diet Tips, Cooking Ideas to Cut Salt

U.S. News and World Reports voted the low-sodium DASH diet best all-around weight loss plan in 2011. The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet not only reduces high blood pressure, it helps people lose weight. But low salt foods are boring and bland, right? Not with these diet tips, cooking ideas and low sodium recipes, they're not. Low Sodium Recipes, Diet Tips, Cooking Ideas to Cut Salt

Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms--Hunting Morels, Cooking Fungi

I am a mushroom lover. Not Psilocybin "Magic" shrooms--I'm speaking of the the edible and medicinal kinds. I love portobello, truffle, reishi, shiitake, white and of course, morels. May in Michigan is morel mushroom season. And with all this rain the morels are out in force.

Mushrooms have a cult following and for good reason. They're the only plant source of vitamin D, says Mushroom Info. No variety of vegetable contains naturally-occurring vitamin D.  Vitamin D is crucial for thyroid functioning. This makes mushrooms popular on the health-conscious diner's plate. And mushrooms are just so dad-gum tasty! The French  mirepoix is onion, carrots and celery (with a green pepper slant in Cajun cooking). For me, mushrooms, onions and garlic make up the holy trinity. Leeks, shallots and peppers are lesser deities.

Mushroom is a generic name for gilled fungi. Fungi are not plants, they are spores. They do not need light; in fact, they grow best in dark, dank areas. The white button mushroom is a member of the agraricus bisporus family. Read on May Means Morel Mushrooms in Michigan.

Apple Recipes, Lessons, Activities for Fall Harvest

Apples represent fall better than any other crop. Michigan, one of the U.S.'s major apple-growing states will have slimmer harvest in 2012 due to early pollination followed by a late frost. Nevertheless, you can still enjoy many apple treats and recipes, using this handy free printable apple guide. It contains cooking tips and information on apple varieties. This booklet includes apple math activities, science puzzles, social studies lessons and history extensions for apple lessons, too. My personal preference in apples is the mighty Macintosh (or Jonamac, a Jonathon-Macintosh blend). These are great eating, cooking and baking apples. They're tart and juicy. Here are more apple recipes, plus my signature Apfel Kaffeklatsch Kuchen (apple coffee cake) recipe. And here's hoping for an apple-tastic 2013! Free Printable Apple Activities for Fall Preschool Lesson Plans