I know I’m not alone when it comes to salad, and I wouldn’t consider most of the ones I’ve had to be “real food”. They’re mostly filler when I could be eating something a lot more thrilling.

I’ve recently gone on a mission to make salad more palatable. The first thing I did was to throw health out the window. One of the problems I’ve had in the past was salads that were intended to be good for you. More often than not, this served as a handicap for true flavor. I know how important it is to maintain a balanced diet, but for the sake of this article let’s just concentrate on flavor. Once I decided that my salad didn’t have to represent the pinnacle of health, it freed me up to be more creative.

Use something other than lettuce – let’s face it, lettuce is boring. It’s something we’ve had a million times before. I’ve recently discovered other greens that work well in salad, and there’s nothing stopping you from combining them. I really like spinach, and I find it works well with a lot of other elements – and you don’t have to limit yourself to a straight spinach salad. And if you’re going to go with lettuce, then make sure it’s as crisp as possible, and don’t forget to dry it properly!

A wide variety of goodies – I consider the main green to be my base, and every other vegetable to be a “goodie”. A real salad in my opinion should include all of the following: tomato, cucumber, carrots, celery, onions, mushrooms, and green pepper. Once you have those goodies added, go ahead and experiment with others. There are lots of ways you can spruce up an ordinary salad with the simple addition of a different type of vegetable.

Nuts and berries – I’ve had fancy salads that feature nuts and berries and for the most part, I’m not a huge fan. However, there is one type of nut that I can add to almost any salad with great success: walnuts. There’s just something earthy about them that gives me a great crunch for the top of my salad. It’s never overpowering but you can tell it’s there, and there are plenty of other nuts you can try as well.

Cheese – the main reason I like Greek salad is because of the cheese, but there’s no reason why you have to limit Feta to this type of salad. I’ve used it for general salads, and I’ve also had success with cheddar.

Eggs – whenever I make a salad, I also make sure to boil at least three eggs. After 10 minutes, I’ve got perfect eggs for the top of my salad. I’ve got a handy little metal cutter that slices my eggs in one motion. It’s a popular feature of spinach salad, but you can use it for other types as well.

Meat – one of the main ingredients that turns a salad into “real food” in my opinion is some kind of meat. Without it, I can never consider a salad to be a full meal. But all it takes is a well grilled piece of chicken or salmon, and I’ll be one happy camper. If I’m making a side salad, then I’ll throw shrimp or ham into the mix.

Try new Dressings – remember that when I said I wasn’t going to worry about health with my salad? Dressing is the one area where people get into trouble. Some people are still clueless to the fact that dressing is loaded with calories and fat. So if you didn’t know that, now you do. There are health experts that recommend putting the dressing on the side, but again, I’m not really worried about that. For me, I need a great salad dressing with a little bit of kick. My favorites are homemade vinaigrette, Italian, thousand Island, and Russian. The key is to try a large variety without ever settling on just one. Better yet, make your own dressing because that’s when you can fine-tune it to your own tastes.

As I’ve grown up, chicken soup has obviously moved out of the category of a cold treatment. Now it’s a wholesome food that I make whenever I want something delicious but not too heavy. There are lots of variations you can make with your own chicken soup, and finding the right combination is half the fun. The following recipe combines classic elements with a no-nonsense approach. It also happens to use a pressure cooker, and that means I can whip up a batch in no time. Best of all, one batch usually lasts a long time, and I can even freeze it to reheat for the next few weeks.

3 stalks celery
6 carrots
3 white onions
1 parsnip
5 stalks fresh parsley
1 stalk celantro
1 bay leaf

12 cups water
1 chicken, cut into quarters (add a few more bones if you have some extra laying around)
2 whole chicken breasts
1 tablespoon kosher salt

1. Add all of your vegetables into the pressure cooker.

2. Add all of your chicken into the cooker as well. I always like to add a few extra bones that I’ve saved from previous cooking to make the soup even more flavorful. It’s not necessary as long as you have the basic requirement of one whole chicken and your two breasts.

3. Add your salt, all of your water, and give it a gentle stir.

4. Now it’s pressure cooking time. Secure the lid and bring up the heat – cook under medium pressure for 15-20 minutes.

Let cool for about 15 minutes.

5. The next part is a bit like a science experiment, but it’s necessary to get clear soup without bits of stuff you don’t want.

6. In different containers, you’ll want to separate your chicken, your vegetables, and your soup. You’ll need a strainer to do this properly. Make sure to take out the parts you don’t want like the bay leaf and your parsley.

7. Chop up your chicken breasts into bite-size pieces. You can also add the cooked meat from your whole chicken, or use it for another dish that requires chicken as an ingredient.

8. Refrigerate your broth until the fat collects at the top. Remove this excess fat and discard.

9. Now it’s time to put it all back to gather, so add all of your ingredients into a pot or large saucepan. Simmer for about 10 minutes, and your chicken soup is ready to enjoy.

Tomato Soup – I used to be a Campbell Soup kind of guy, but I recently changed my tune. Keep in mind, I rarely eat tomato soup as is. I usually use it as a sauce when I’m cooking stew. And when I use it for this purpose, there’s really no difference with the no name brand. In fact, I found a cheaper version that comes with more chunks of tomatoes that adds even more zest to my sauce.

Frozen Vegetables – you’d be hard-pressed to convince me there’s a difference between no-name vegetables and more expensive brands. I’m constantly buying big bags of frozen corn, peas, and carrots, and it works just fine. There’s no way I’m going to spend an extra few dollars just because the package has a picture of a green giant on it.

Pasta – there’s no way I’m going to argue that anything is better than homemade pasta. I’ve also got my favorite brand of spaghetti that I usually buy when I’m cooking a special meal. But I’ve also tried no-name past and in most cases, it does the job just fine. If you’ve got a great sauce, it will make up for the fact you’re using no-name pasta.
Ketchup – obviously if I had my choice, I would go with Heinz ketchup. But if I was in a bind, I have no problem buying the cheaper stuff at a better price.

Crackers – I rarely eat crackers by themselves since I prefer to have them with soup or cheese. And in those instances, no name brand crackers do the job perfectly. They’re crunchy and not too salty, and that’s the perfect mix when I crumble them into my favorite soup.

Chocolate Chip Cookies – I find that no-name brand chocolate chip cookies are actually tastier than diet varieties. They’re full of flavor and often contain enough chocolate to satisfy my sweet tooth.

Teriyaki Sauce – I’ve tried the expensive stuff, and I’ve tried the cheap stuff, and I’ve come to the conclusion that teriyaki doesn’t require anything fancy. The key to getting good teriyaki chicken or steak is in how you cook the meat anyways. As long as it’s perfectly seared on the outside and juicy on the inside, a no-name brand teriyaki sauce will bring it to perfection with no problems.

Honey – in my house, honey is considered a luxury item. I don’t really use it all that much except for with tea or when I’m cooking a roast. For example, I like to drizzle a bit of honey on top of a roast chicken a half hour before it’s done. And when I’m using it for this purpose, I find that no-name honey works great.

Tuna – one of my favorite lunch items is tunafish sandwiches, and I love to add all kinds of goodies into the mix. I chop up onions, celery, and grind in some fresh pepper. A lot of these fresh elements boost the taste of tuna, and I find I don’t need to spend extra money on a fancy kind.

Potato Chips – this one took a bit of convincing, but now I’m able to find generic potato chips without having to pay more. Keep in mind, I still don’t trust no-name brand potato chips with more elaborate flavors. If I’m going with salt and vinegar or barbecue, I’m still going to buy Old Dutch. But if it’s just regular potato chips as a quick snack, I have no problem with the ones in the yellow bag.

4-6 Lamb Shanks
5 tablespoons flour

1 bay leaf
fresh rosemary and thyme sprigs (one each)
150g cold butter
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

10 cloves of garlic
1 leek, sliced fine
1 stalk celery, diced
1 onion, sliced or diced
2 large carrots, sliced

olive oil
2 cups white wine

Try your best to get fresh lamb Shanks from a local butcher. They might be more expensive, but it’s totally worth it. Most slow cooked meats are less expensive, but in this case lamb shanks can be a bit pricey. That’s why it’s always a good idea to form a good relationship with your local butcher so you can get special deals every once in a while. And if it comes down to choosing between Shanks with bone in or bone removed, I say get the ones with the bone every time. It adds a special bit of flavor, and I love watching the meat fall off the bone when everything is done.

1. Your first step will be to coat your lamb Shanks in flour and brown them in your pan. All it takes is a bit of all of oil for this first step. Try to cook each side of your lamb Shanks so that you seal in all of the juices. You can also add a touch of garlic at this point, but not too much because it could end up burning.

2. Now it’s time to add your vegetables and lightly browned them alongside your lamb Shanks while absorbing all of those great uses. And in your white wine to deglaze and simmer until it’s cooked down.

3. Throw in all of your fresh seasoning and herbs. You have a lot of leeway to play around depending on your preferences. Add salt-and-pepper, but not too much because you’ll be adding more towards the end of the process.

4. If you’re going to use an oven, cover your roasting pan with aluminum foil and bake at 300 for about three hours. You can also transfer it into a slow cooker or pressure cooker as well. If slow cooking, continue the process for about five hours. If you’re using a pressure cooker, it will only take about 45 minutes to one hour. Towards the end of the cooking process, given to taste and season with salt-and-pepper accordingly.

5. Either method you use, you’ll get a great gravy and tender vegetables at the end. You can strain it once if you want to skim off the fat. Make sure to remove your belief, and let rest for about 5 min. before serving.

2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 stalks celery, diced
2 onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
2 large carrots, diced
1 sweet green pepper, diced
salt and pepper

1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 tbsp chili powder

It all starts with the beef so make sure you have a nice cut. A boneless cross rib is your best choice that blends tenderness with quality. You can also go with a shoulder roast that will break down for even more tender results. A nice fatty brisket is also a great alternative if you want beef with yummy melted fat and extra flavor. You can even ask your local butcher for his recommendation, and he might even give you a special cut specifically used for chili.

All of the vegetables in this recipe are optional, and you’re free to add or subtract as you see fit. Sometimes I like to throw in a few mushrooms even if they’re not found in traditional recipes. You can also substitute your tomato ingredients with the real thing, although after hours of slow cooking is usually not that much difference. But you can definitely add fresh chunks of tomato towards the end for a noticeable chunks with a nice texture.

Hot sauce is also optional if you want to really spice things up, or you can read some on the size that your guests can add themselves. Not everyone is a fan of super hot chili, and I prefer mild with the option of making it hot later.

1. Your first step will obviously be to brown your beef. You can coat your beef cubes in flour if you like, or you can try cornstarch. Just make sure that you give it a nice sear so that you can seal in all the juices.

2. Now that you have all that oil and fat in your pan, you can remove it if you like. Or if cholesterol isn’t a huge deal for you, leave it in for that extra flavor. Throw in all of your vegetable components and lightly brown. You can also leave your vegetables towards the end of the slow cooking process if you want them to be firmer.

3. The final step is easy – all you have to do is load in the rest of your ingredients into a slow cooker. Give it a gentle stir, cover and cook for 5-6 hours. Give it the occasional stir every once in a while, and make sure to taste it and adjust the salt-and-pepper as needed.

Preheat your oven – a lot of cooking rookies forget about preheating the oven to the proper temperature in the very beginning. This is an important step because most recipes call for it. It’s simple science really, a cold oven isn’t the same temperature as a hot one, but all recipes assume you’ve taken this step already. If you don’t, it can alter the results or make it take longer.

Don’t open the oven – it’s important not to interrupt the cooking process whether you’re using an oven, a steamer, or a pressure cooker. There are some foods that you need to let cook for the appropriate amount of time, otherwise you won’t get good results. Basically opening the oven interrupts the cooking process and releases all of the heat.

Make sure your utensils are clean – anything that has touched raw or undercooked meat should never get close to your dinner plate. But this is a common mistake that people make, and sometimes it’s because they simply forget. Just make sure that you thoroughly wash anything that has touched raw food, otherwise you run the risk of getting food poisoning.

Knives should be sharp – a sharp knife makes a tremendous difference in any kitchen. You might not even realize that you’re nicer don’t because it’s not really something most people pay attention to. But if someone were to sharpen them today, you would definitely see a difference in performance. Make sure to keep your knife sharp or upgrade them if needed.

Don’t overcrowd your pan – when you’re using a frying pan, there’s nothing better than getting that great seer on the first side of your meat. It’s crispy and seals and all the juices perfectly. But if you overcrowd your pan, then you run the risk of trapping steam under your food instead of cooking it properly. It matter how hard you try, it’s going to come out soft and mushy rather than crisp and juicy.

Butter Burns Faster – be careful when using butter instead of oil on your frying pan. It Burns at a lower temperature and browns easily. If you’re not paying attention, you could end up with dark butter and that doesn’t have any of its natural flavor. The same general rule applies for garlic as well, especially if you’re using them together.

Keep Your kitchen Fully Stocked – nothing disrupts the cooking process more than being unprepared. So if there’s one thing you should remember, it’s to keep your kitchen fully stocked with commonly used things. When it comes to spices, popular herbs, or certain types of vegetables, it always helps to have them on hand. This is actually a great tip that will save you money in the long run too.

Taste test – this is something you see confessional chefs doing all the time. Even if you’ve mastered your current recipe, you can still taste test along the way. It’s essential that you know what your food actually tastes like before serving it. It also gives you a chance to adjust with salt or pepper if necessary.

Let your food sit – of course everybody wants to dig in immediately when it’s time to eat. But you should always let your food sit for at least 5 minutes so that uses have a chance to distribute evenly throughout your cut of meat. Everyone likes food hot, but it’s not like you can’t eat food right out of the pan anyways when it piping hot. So exercise some patience and you’ll get a better meal out of it.

Here are some ways you can get your kids involved in the kitchen process:

Recipe research – kids want to spend time on the Internet, why not allow them to do so in a way that’s actually productive? Internet is actually a wonderful resource when you use it in a smart way. When it comes to recipe research, you can have a lot of great ideas at the touch of a fingertip. This is one area where kids won’t mind helping you at all if you send them on a mission to find recipes for the whole family. You can also take a more traditional approach by putting out a few real-life cookbooks and browsing through them with your children.

Food prep – you’re obviously not going to let your children handle an indoor grill or a deep fat fryer. But there are perfectly safe ways they can help with food preparation. It’s also a good time to teach them basic safety measures especially as it pertains to kitchen tools and sharp objects. There are lots of ways kids can help ranging from peeling vegetables to making a marinade. You’ll have to supervise them at first but chances are there learned quickly and become experts at these smaller tasks.

Grocery Shopping – here’s a really fun way you can get every member of the family in on the action. You should make grocery shopping a family affair while taking advantage of coupons and weekly deals. You might have to give younger children a brush up on groceries etiquette and how to behave in public, but it’s usually not a problem. Small kids love being able to sit in the car while they’re wheeled around.

Setting the table – a surprising number of families don’t even bother to set the table anymore. Some of them eat in front of the television or in different rooms completely. Bring back some tradition by having your kids help to set the dining room table. You can even give them the task of making up simple decorations or a centerpiece every once in a while.

Doing the Dishes – one of the best chores that kids can learn early on is doing the dishes. And don’t worry if they don’t seem to like it, normal kids (and adults) will usually hate doing the dishes. But it’s a good chance to teach responsibility and to show everyone that while eating is the fun part of the process, there are other more tedious tasks that go along with cooking as well.

Teach while you cook – in the overall scheme of things, doing things in the kitchen is a great chance to find all kinds of teachable moments. You can show your kids healthy eating as you prepare recipes. Explain why you use a certain ingredient instead of something else. Show them techniques related to different styles of cooking or explore multicultural versions of popular dishes.

Roast Chicken into a Quesadilla – roast chicken is actually a great leftovers a have because you can use it with almost anything. You can turn it into a sandwich the next day, or you can put it on top of a fresh salad. Roast chicken is also one of those delightful things you can keep in your fridge and nibble on from time to time whenever you need a snack. My greatest success with roast chicken involves incorporating it into a tasty quesadilla packed with fresh vegetables and cheese. I tried it after buying a countertop grill design for things like grilled cheese sandwiches. As it turns out, and were perfectly for my chicken quesadilla two.

Pork Roast into an Omelet – I like pork roast for dinner, but I don’t like ham. There was one time when I cooked a cut of pork that was probably the same thing used for him. As a result, it tasted like ham. So while I didn’t really enjoyed for dinner, I was able to use it the next day. Because when it comes to breakfast, I don’t mind ham at all. So I was able to cut up my pork roast into little cubes, add a few fresh mushrooms, green peppers, onions, and cheddar cheese. I whipped the whole thing up into a delightful breakfast omelette, and it was fantastic.

Prime Rib into Beef Stew – even though it’s expensive, I love having prime rib every once in a while. I preferred it rare and I put a minimal amount of salt-and-pepper on top. And that’s it, no other flavoring is required because prime rib is such a high quality cut of meat. But even prime rib that has been in your fridge for today’s tends to lose its appeal. That’s when I decided to turn a large leftover roast into beef stew. All it took was a can of tomato soup, some fresh tomatoes, garden vegetables, and potatoes. Two hours in my slow cooker and I had a delicious beef stew with prime rib chunks.

Pork Chops into Curry – I don’t usually cook Curry from scratch because I found a great brand that comes in a can. I also partnering up with some Indonesian spice, that also comes in a package. So there’s nothing particularly homemade about my Curry, but all I need is my trustee electric pressure cooker and the right ingredients to put inside. In this case, I turned the leftover pork chops into a really tender pork Curry that I served on Jasmine Rice.

Meatballs into Fried Rice – this is probably one of the biggest transformations I’ve ever made. When you think about the essence of the beginning product, and what it actually became, I’m really proud that I thought up of this idea. I had about eight leftover meatballs from a spaghetti dinner from the night before. I ran out of spaghetti however, and I didn’t feel like eating just meatballs anyways. So I decided to run those meatballs underwater to get rid of some of the excess sauce. Then I broke them down and use them as meet in fried Rice. I had it all kinds of goodies like fresh vegetables, shrimp, eggs, and lettuce. I also added some spicy sauce and slather sauce for taste. I swear to you, the end result was absolutely delicious and you would have never been able to tell that this fried rice was once meatballs.

This is one of those dishes you can put together quite easily because all of the work is done in the front end. You don’t have to stick around and make sure things turn out right, you’re almost guaranteed that they will if you’ve got a good slow cooker. And when you come back about five hours later, you have everything you need for a great meal right there waiting for you.

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup vegetable oil
5 cups beef stock
2 bay leaves
½ tsp dried thyme
1 tsp whole black peppercorns

1 large onion
2 medium celery
1 large carrot
5 cloves garlic
1 cup canned diced tomatoes

2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp unsalted butter

Your Beef – this recipe works for any size of beef, and any cut. You can make minor adjustments as you go depending on the size of your beef you choose. I’ve found that brisket works wonderfully in addition to regular beef chuck. You can also use a beef shoulder blade which has a nice amount of fat that gives you even more tenderness. Some people recommend cutting off excess fat, but I like to keep it on for that bonus flavor and texture.

1. In a frying pan, you’ll want to see her all sides of your beef to get it a nice golden brown color. Drop some oil into your pan and following up with your meat. When it’s done, transfer it into your slow cooker.

2. You can choose to fry your vegetables in the same oil, or just transfer them along with your meat into the slow cooker.

3. And now comes the easy part, combine everything else you see on the list into your slow cooker, give it a bit of a mix, and then cook for about 4 to 5 hours. You can go even longer than that, but there comes a point when the meat might break to easily. So adjust accordingly to the size of your cut and how tender you want it.

4. After the cooking process is done, the liquid you find inside is absolute gold. But it also might be a bit too oily so give it a strain before you turn it into a roux. Let it settle and spoon off any excess fat at the top.

5. He’d your butter and gradually stir in the flour until things start to thicken. Pour your heart pot roasts like lead into the roux and simmer for about 10 minutes. This is going to make a great tasty gravy that has all of that slow cooked goodness infused into it.

6. By now enough time has passed that your pot roast has been given a chance to settle, so sliced your meat across the grain and serve.

Not Tasting – watch any professional cooking show on television and you’ll see chefs constantly tasting their food. It doesn’t matter how good your intuition is, you can’t know what your food is going to taste like unless you actually taste it. So as your cooking progresses, take the time to sample and adjust accordingly. This can mean the difference between something that is perfectly seasoned and a dish that is totally bland.

Following the Recipe – if you’re new to cooking then you should stick with given directions. It’s not until you reach a certain level that you can strike out on your own by adjusting certain recipes. So if you have a recipe in front of you, follow it as closely as you can so that you will actually get the right final results. If you haven’t followed the instructions carefully, it shouldn’t be a shock if it doesn’t turn out well.

Turning and Flipping Food – if you’re cooking food on a frying pan, indoor grill, our barbecue, timing is key. One of the biggest mistakes that results in overcooked and dehydrated food is constant flipping and turning. Quite often, food only needs to be turned once in order to complete the cooking process. So stop flipping all that food and pressing down your spatula to speed up. Sometimes all you end up doing is eliminating all the juicy goodness.

Overwhelming Yourself – start off slow and concentrate on basic dishes first. If you begin with the most complex recipe in the cookbook, you might not be up for the challenge. Cooking is a process where you learned from minor successes and build on them. Don’t worry, you’ll eventually get to the point where you can handle more complicated dishes and meal plans.

Not pre-heating – it’s a simple step that can mean the difference between success and failure for a recipe. Most recipes will tell you to preheat the oven, and it’s something that you shouldn’t ignore. It will be a big factor in overall cooking time and making sure that everything cooks evenly. Throwing food into a cold oven or frying pan will definitely yield a different type of results.

Not using a Meat Thermometer – time is definitely a way to measure your cooking, but of course the best measurement is temperature. And nothing does it better than a handy meat thermometer that you can stick into the heart of your roast. There’s really no other way you can tell what’s going on in their even if you have a good way of guesstimating. So eliminate any chance and use a meat barometer to tell when your meat is done.

No Seasoning – mostly has natural flavor but you can enhance it to a whole new level with the right seasoning. Just don’t make the mistake of over doing it either. Seasoning in itself is a fine art that requires balance and experience to master. Sometimes you can get away with a simple approach using salt and pepper. Other times you might require a marinade or intricate blend of herbs and spices.

Eating too Soon – make sure you time things so that your food has a chance to settle down after the cooking process. This ensures that your meat has a chance to rest which allows the yummy juices inside to redistribute. If you cut into your meat or roast right away, that all of those juices are going test bill out right then and there. That first cut my taste great, but subsequent pieces will be dry. So exercise some patience or try to plan things so that you can let your meat rest while you make the final touches for your meal.