Try foods that are not fried. Granted once in a while a fried fish meal won't be that hard on your system.  There are so many good alternatives to fried food.  In fact there is a good blog that offer you home style recipes and suggestions for alternative ways of preparing your food.

There are so many new ways to cook that you will find pleasing to your palette.  At first it may seem strange but you can start easy with baked roasts, stews and soups.  Those are all comfort foods taht are sure to please everyone.  Then start trying new recipes for baking, broiling and boiling but not frying.

The weather is hot and we want something cool to eat.  Let's have a summer soup.  Roasted red pepper soup does sound good but maybe a bit too arm.  It really isn't that hot despite the name.  To find the recipes available for the soups we will mention you need to go to www.homestylerecipecooking.com  Gazpacho is a great summer soup.

Vichyssoise is good not only in the summer but year around. 

Try fruit soup like Strawberry Champagne soup or Honeydew Blueberry soup.  Another tasty soup is Peach Ginger Soup.

Or cook your vegetable soups in the crock-pot to keep from heating up the house.

Add to your weekend Bar-B-Que by starting off with a really good dip that is great with toasted French Bread.

Cheesy Spinach Dip (preheat oven to 425*)

2 tablespoons butter

¼ cup chopped onion

2 minced cloves of garlic

1 tablespoon flour

1-3/4 cup ½ and ½

2 Nine ounce packages frozen chopped spinach (thaw and drain well)

1 Eight ounce can sliced water chestnuts

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1 One ounce package of dry vegetable soup mix

¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

In a large saucepan melt the butter.  Add onion and garlic until onion is crisp but still tender – about 3 minutes.  Stir in flour and cook, stirring constantly for one minute.  Add ½ and ½.  Cook and stir until mixture boils and thickens.  Remove pan from heat.  Stir in spinach, water chestnuts, Cheddar cheese and vegetable soup mix. Pour or spoon mixture into a one quart casserole.  Sprinkle with Parmesan.  Bake 10-15 minutes until bubbly and cheese is melted.  Serve warm with lightly toasted French bread.

Top the meal off with Banana Nut Muffin (lower heat in oven to 400*)

1-1/2 cups flour

1 cup finely chopped walnuts

½ cup toasted wheat germ

½ cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 ripe bananas mashed

¾ cup milk

5 tablespoons melted butter

1 egg

Mix flour, walnuts, wheat germ, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg in large bowl   Blend in bananas, milk, butter and egg. Stir until just blended.  Fill muffin cups evenly with batter and bake 20 to 22 minutes.  Cool 1 minute then remove from pan and cook on a wire rack.

It's is hard to believe that even children are now being diagnosed as having eating disorders. Learn more about this disease that is becoming more more prominent.  As parents you need to be aware of the signs of this problem.  Are they refusng to eat or are they exercising to an excessive amount?  The parent is the model for their children and need to maintain good eating habits.  Healthy eating is many times the proper method rather than going on a "diet".  Families need to make fitness a regular part of their daily lives.  Make mealtimes pleasant and not critical each and every day.

I just wrote about this delicious meal for another client.  Just writing it made me so hungry that I wanted to share it with readers of areyoucookin.com.

If you have eaten in the South you surely have tried Chicken-Fried Steak.  That’s where the term and the recipes originated.  One of the secrets is using round or cubed steak and pounding it with a meat mallet until it is thin and tender. One to one & one half pounds of steak cut into about 4 serving size pieces, pounded and then dipped in a mixture of one egg beaten with one cup of milk.  Then dredge the meat in flour seasoned with salt and pepper.  Fry steaks in about two to three tablespoons shortening in a heavy skillet. Fry until the batter is crisp and well browned.  Drain.  Pour the oil from the skillet and add 2 tablespoons of flour to the dripping left in the pan.  Stir and brown the flour .   Add one cup of water or milk.  Cook until thick and creamy.  Season with salt and pepper and serve with steak.

This good tasting dish is usually served with mashed potatoes and biscuits.  Seldom do you get a vegetable with this filling combination.

One southern variation to this recipe is using one sleeve of crushed saltine crackers, combined with one cup flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper and red pepper.  Then mix together ¾ cup milk and 2 large eggs.  Dredge the steaks in the cracker-flour, dip in milk and then dredge again in the cracker-flour.  Fry in about 3 cups peanut oil until golden brown. Drain oil from the skillet reserving one tablespoon of the drippings and cooked bits.  Add flour, salt and pepper then stir in 4 cup of milk. Cook until thickened over medium-high heat.