Chef Philip Chiang was born in Shanghai and grew up in Tokyo, before relocating to San Francisco.

In the early 1960s, his mother opened The Mandarin, one of the first Chinese restaurants in the United States to serve Chinese food from regions other than Canton.

The Mandarin became widely known for its high-end cuisine and eventually led to a second location in Beverly Hills…

From this beginning, came P.F. Chang’s Chinese restaurants.

At P.F. Chang’s you are surrounded by a unique environment combining influences of Chinese and American cultures.

A panoramic, hand-painted mural depicting 12th century China, is visible from the main dining room and commands attention as the restaurant’s centerpiece, while several terra-cotta warriors stand guard.

P.F. Chang’s majestic 11 ft. tall horses grace the entrance to many of their restaurants. The horse symbolizes the original Forbidden City in China, which was built for China’s first emperor Qin Shi Huangdi.

P.F. Chang’s China Bistro believes the best way to keep their guests and each other happy is through living The Message: “We are truly glad you are here and we will do everything we can to make you want to come back.”

P.F. Chang’s is often mentioned by Howard Wolowitz, a character in the sitcom THE BIG BANG THEORY.

Its menu is focused on select dishes created to capture the distinct flavors and styles of the five major culinary regions of China – Canton, Hunan, Mongolia, Shanghai and Szechwan.

>>> If you want to prepare a delicious meal to impress family, friends or even a hot date you met at one of the hot new Romance sites like WUVING.com – here are the P.F. Chang’s China Bistro’s most popular recipes of all time…

–P.F. Chang’s China Bistro Gluten Free Shanghai Cucumbers–

12 oz. Peeled and Seeded Cucumbers, cut into 1″ pieces
1.5 oz. Gluten Free Soy Sauce
1 tsp. White Vinegar
¼ tsp. Sesame Oil
½ tsp. Toasted Sesame Seeds

1. Mix together the sauce ingredients
2. Mix sauce together with the cucumbers
3. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the top

*

–P.F. Chang’s China Bistro Ginger Chicken Stir-Fry Romaine Wraps with Citrus Soy–

1 pound chicken
3 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
½ teaspoon dry chili flakes
3 tablespoons soy bean oil or vegetable oil
2 heads romaine lettuce, cleaned
½ cup fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 ounce scallions, sliced thin
2 tablespoons soy sauce

Dice the chicken into tiny pieces. Place the chicken in a mixing bowl and add 2 tablespoons soy
bean oil, ginger, garlic, chili flakes and 2 tablespoons soy sauce.

Mix together in circular motion until well mixed. Let marinate in refrigerator for 2-4 hours.

Mix together the citrus juices, soy, and hoisin sauce with a whisk. Reserve until needed. Clean the romaine lettuce, chopping off the stem, peeling each ‘spear’ and running under clean cold water.

Reserve in refrigerator until ready to use. Chop scallions into rings and reserve chilled.

Coat a very hot sauté pan lightly with soy bean oil. Lay the chicken around the sauté pan being
careful not to lay too many on top of each other.

Sear the chicken until crispy and golden brown, about 2 ½ minutes.

Once chicken is brown, toss gently in pan and sear another 2 ½ minutes. The
pan will appear to “burn”, but that is the carmelization and where all the flavor comes from.

Add ½ of the citrus soy mixture to the sauté pan and coat well. Let the sauce coat the chicken
until it is glazed, and thickens on the chicken. Add more or less depending on how “wet” you want your mixture.

Spoon chicken onto a plate.

Wrap the chicken mixture in romaine lettuce and top with scallion rings. And serve!

*Fun fact: this recipe can also be done with baby shrimps, fish or beef.

*

–P.F. Chang’s China Bistro Gluten Free Mongolian Beef–

12 oz. Sliced Beef Tenderloin
1 tbsp. Soy Bean Oil
½ tsp. Garlic
2 fl oz. GLUTEN FREE soy sauce
2 tbsp. Sugar
1 tsp. Rice Wine
2 oz. Green Onion

1. Heat oil in a sauté pan. Add the beef and cook for 30-60 seconds or until cooked.
-Beef should be lightly browned around the edges and gray throughout the rest of the surface.
2. Add your garlic and toss.
3. Add the rice wine, soy sauce, and sugar. Bring to a boil.
4. Cook and reduce the sauce around the beef until all sauce has caramelized onto the beef.
-The sauté pan should be “dry” (no flowing sauce) before proceeding onto the next step.
5. Add the green onion sticks and toss to incorporate into the beef.
A few tosses are all that are needed; do not wilt the green onion sticks!
6. Finish with sesame oil.
7. Serve on a plate.

*

–P.F. Chang’s China Bistro Shanghai Noodles with Grilled Rib Eye and Broccoli–

1 pound Shanghai noodles, egg-based
4 – 8 ounce Rib Eye Steaks, 1″ cut
1 pound broccoli florets
1 large white onion, julienned
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
1 teaspoon dried chili flakes
¼ cup soy sauce
1 cup hoisin sauce
¼ cup dry white wine
3 ounces butter,unsalted
4 tablespoons soy bean oil
¼ cup fresh squeezed orange

Combine the hoisin, orange juice and soy sauce with a whisk and reserve. In a small bowl, combine ginger, chili flakes and garlic with 2 tablespoons soy bean oil.

Add salt and pepper to the mixture and combine well.
Add rib eye steaks to marinade and refrigerate for 2 hours.

While steaks are marinating, blanch the noodles and broccoli. Bring large pot of water to a boil. Place the broccoli in a wire basket and cook for about 4 minutes at a slow boil.

Remove from pot and place in ice water to stop the cooking process. Let sit in ice bath for a couple minutes until chilled.

In the same pot, cook Shanghai noodles until al dente, about 5 or 6 minutes. Remove and pour into colander.

Once the excess water is removed, place the noodles on a sheet tray, and lightly coat with soy bean oil, being sure to move the noodles to prevent them from sticking.

Let cool to room temperature, moving occasionally.

Remove beef from refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature for about 5 minutes before cooking.

Season with salt and pepper. In a very hot oiled sauté pan, place the steaks and let cook for 5 minutes on each side (to medium-rare).

While the steaks are cooking, place 1 tablespoon of soy bean oil in a warm sauté pan and sweat the onions with 1 teaspoon of garlic, ginger and chili flakes. Once the onions are translucent, add the white wine and allow to reduce by ¾. Add hoisin mixture and stir. Let simmer for 3-4 minutes then add noodles.

Toss the noodles with the sauce and allow the noodles to get hot, about 4 minutes. Add the blanched broccoli and continue to cook until noodles and broccoli are hot. Add the butter and continue to toss until noodles and broccoli are coated.

Divide the noodles unto four separate plates. Place the beef on a cutting board and cut into thin strips. Lay the rib eye slices on top of the noodles and serve.

Source: The great chefs at P.F. Chang’s China Bistro – Thanks, Guys!

A Graduate of the Holland College Culinary Course, Brian Alan Burhoe has cooked in Atlantic Coast restaurants for over 30 years. He is a member of the Canadian Culinary Federation. Brian’s articles reflect his interests in food service, dreamstudy, imaginative literature and our best friends — our dogs.

His Home Page is A CULINARY MYSTERY TOUR – A Literary Chef. His articles have been reprinted on numerous culinary websites and various Blogs, including the popular romance siteWuving.com.

Some P.F. Chang’s China Bistro Menu Entrees:

CHANG’S CHICKEN LETTUCE WRAPS
Quickly-cooked spiced chicken served with cool lettuce cups

SICHUAN CHICKEN FLATBREAD
Chinese scallion flatbread grilled with Sichuan marinated chicken, layered with melted cheese and served with creamy Asian Slaw

EGG ROLLS
Hand-rolled with marinated pork and vegetables. Served as a pair (2), this flavorful tradition is perfect with our special sweet & sour mustard sauce

NORTHERN STYLE SPARE RIBS
Tender wok-braised ribs served with a five-spice salt

CRAB WONTONS
Crunchy wonton filled with rock crab meat and served with a side of spicy plum sauce

SALT & PEPPER CALAMARI
Calamari tossed with scallions and our salt and pepper mix

SESAME CHICKEN
Tender chicken, broccoli, red bell peppers and onions in a spicy sesame sauce

CHANG’S SPICY CHICKEN
Lightly dusted and stir-fried in a sweet Sichuan sauce. Our version of General Tso’s and always a favorite

SWEET & SOUR CHICKEN
Stir-fried with pineapple, bell peppers, onions and candied ginger in a sweet & sour sauce

HUNAN PORK
Tender pork with crisp red and green bell peppers, onions and snow peas; just enough spice to keep you coming back for more

CHENGDU SPICED LAMB
Richly spiced marinated lamb, wok-caramelized then tossed with cumin, mint, tomatoes and yellow onions

SHANGHAI SHRIMP WITH GARLIC SAUCE
Shrimp, broccoli and snow peas stir-fried in a light garlic, white wine sauce

OOLONG MARINATED SEA BASS
A great catch steeped in Oolong tea, broiled and served with sweet ginger soy and spinach

*

- Brian

Still, the Crockpot – while a great and versatile cooking tool – is not as user friendly as the oven or microwave. It is very easy to ruin your meal either by cooking the ingredients incorrectly or using Crockpot recipes that are not well designed.

Tips for Cooking Chicken in a Crockpot

1. Defrost The Chicken First

Chicken can carry diseases. When your chicken is frozen before you put it in the slow cooker, it can cause the cooking time to take longer, thereby increasing your risk of catching these diseases and bacteria. By defrosting the chicken first, you significantly reduce this risk, because you create an environment inside the pot that will allow your food to heat up more quickly and retain the heat easier.

2. Heat on High, Then Cool

Once again, for the safety of you and your family, it is a good idea to cook the chicken on high before you put the slow cooker on low to ensure that you quickly raise the temperature of the chicken to over 165 degrees as quickly as possible. This is done to kill off all of the bacteria which have ample opportunity to grow in your slow cooker.

3. Remove All of the Skin

Even if it is not mentioned in your Crockpot chicken recipes, it is important that you remove all of the skin from the chicken before you place it inside the pot. This will improve the texture of the dish and make cooking times more uniform.

4. Keep the Pot Closed

Removing the top of the pot to smell, taste or stir, you are removing a great deal of heat that is important to the slow cooker process. Doing so can ruin your Crockpot chicken recipes, and also increases cooking time by quite a bit.

5. Spices and Peppers Should Be Near the End

Most Crockpot chicken recipes are going to have some types of spices or hot peppers in order to bring out the chicken flavor. But if you place these ingredients inside the Crockpot too early, you risk causing them to lose or alter their flavor. These types of ingredients should be added near the end of the cooking process to ensure that they retain the taste you want.

Crockpot Chicken Recipes are Easy

There are thousands of recipes for cooking chicken inside your slow cooker. These recipes are easy to implement, taste great, and make healthy meals that the whole family can enjoy. If you utilize the above tips for cooking chicken inside of a Crockpot, you too will see that with such a rich flavor, chicken and the ingredients that complement it can allow you to make delicious food that you and your family will enjoy every day.

Steak can be cooked to different degrees which are classified as raw, very rare, rare, medium rare, medium, medium well-done and well-done.  The tenderness of cooked steak is influenced by how much it is cooked, the closer it is to well-done, the less tender the meat is.  Rare steaks are cooked for a very short time. They still preserve their rawness and are very pink in color. Rarely done steaks preserve their original beefy flavors, but they are not very healthy as they still contain microorganisms. As the cooking time intensifies, the pinkness of steak is changed to brownness and its juiciness also minimizes. Well-done steaks are brown all through and also tough to chew.   Each steak cut has different traits. The unfailing attribute to steak cut is the marbling. The marbling of the steak should be evenly spread throughout the steak. The amount of marbling will differ per steak.

Before cooking steak, bring to room temperature for at least 30 minutes. If the steak was frozen first thaw it in the refrigerator as cooking the steak while still cold will cause a longer time to reach its optimal internal temperature.  Marinate the steak if required.  The better the steak cut the less marinating it will require.  Marinating is particularly recommended for lean steak cuts with no fat. Meat tenderizer should be used in moderation or not at all if you are not sure of its correct use. A good marinade of red wine, lemon juice and olive oil will tenderize the meat, and create flavor and moisture.

Use steak seasoning to supplement the steak cut’s natural taste, salt and pepper are generally the only seasoning needed.  When using other components ensure they improve the steak’s flavor and not overpower it.  When cooking steaks, refrain from needlessly poking the meat as this may destroy its flavor and texture.  When browning steak let it to sit still for a good amount of time for the browning. Use a pair of tongs or a spatula to handle the steak.

The most common way of cooking steak is to grill it.  When grilling a steak – the tenderness of steak, the marinade, the quality of the coal and lighter fluid – should all be taken into consideration. Most steaks require about 8-10 minutes grill time.  Tender cuts can be broiled. Broiling is done in the oven without the use of liquids. Thin and tender cuts of steak such as the sirloin, T-bone and rib-eye are best pan-fried. Steaks are fried in an open pan placed over flame with no oil. The steaks cook in their own fats.

Bigger cuts of beef are good for roasting which is also a dry heat cooking method that uses no liquid and no cover.  Braising, a moist-heat cooking method done with a little amount of liquid in an oven with a closed lid, is good tougher cuts of beef such as chuck, round, briskets and blade. Stewing is an another method for tough cuts.
Feeling the middle of the steak with your finger can tell if it’s cooked.

If there is no bounce back, then the steak is still not cooked.  A small bounce back, suggests the steak is medium raw.  The more bounce received, the more well cooked the steak is.Before serving, place the steak to rest for at least 10 minutes to redistribute the juices back into the meat.  This will stop the steak from losing some of its internal juices when cut.

Oh and please understand this…This recipe is easy yes, but most importantly….it also tastes absolutely delightful!

So avoid the typical misconception that if a particular dish is easy to make, then it’ll probably taste like crap (yes, I’m talking to you my dear soon-to-be-sous-chef sister!)…

You see, my younger sister is going to become a sous chef soon and she happens to be a big fan of making all these complicated, fancy shmancy recipes…

Well, no way! Not this easy paleo dinner recipe which I’m about to share. See the main ingredient that you will be using in this recipe is coconut and I lo-o-o-o-v-e-e-e coconut….

And I totally love seafood as well, so for me – this recipe is a marriage made in heaven! Okay, I’m going to quit yammering now, and present all you modern caveman and woman, the low down on how to cook this easy paleo dinner…

Now let the show begin!

The Ingredients: coconut oil, coconut flour, some unsweetened coconut flakes, 1 large egg, organic kelp granules salt alternative, pepper, a bunch of shrimp, squid and scallops

Cooking directions:

•    Place shrimp, squid and scallop in a bowl and season them with pepper and organic kelp granules. Now crack egg into another bowl and beat it.

•    Next, dunk seafood mix into the beaten egg and coat them in coconut flour and flakes.

•    Fry the well coated seafood mix using coconut oil. You can even fry them in extra virgin olive oil.

See? Easy isn’t it? I didn’t call this one “easy paleo dinner” for nothing okay…

So enjoy this dinner recipe and I wish you all the best in health and life.

One last thing though… If you want more Paleolithic diet recipes, then maybe you can check out these cookbooks. This cookbook set has boatloads of recipes that cater specifically for us paleo diet followers.

Easy paleo recipes and more complicated one are also included…So take your pick.

More details at – -> www.paleorecipecookbook.info

Wendy’s is known for its square ground beef hamburgers and the Frosty, a form of soft serve ice cream.

The idea for Wendy’s Old Fashioned hamburgers was actually inspired by Dave Thomas’s trips to Kewpee Hamburgers in his home town of Kalamazoo, Michigan. The Kewpee sold square hamburgers and thick malt shakes, much like the famous restaurant that Thomas eventually founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1969. Thomas named the restaurant after his fourth child Melinda Lou “Wendy” Thomas.

And today they even serve nutritional meals for the diet conscious. Like Ultimate Chicken Grill with a Side Salad. Junior Hamburger Deluxe without mayonnaise with a Side Salad and fat-free dressing.  Large Chili with a Side Salad and fat-free dressing.  Plain Baked Potato and a small Chili…

>>> So if you want to prepare a delicious meal to impress family, friends or even a hot date – maybe someone you met on a romantic dating site – here are Wendy’s most popular recipes of all…

–Wendy’s Chicken Caesar Fresh Stuffed Pita–

4 pita breads

4 teaspoons shredded, fresh parmesan

>> Dressing:

1/2 cup water

1/8 teaspoon dry, unflavored gelatin

1/3 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 teaspoon finely minced red bell pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

1/8 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

dash parsley

dash oregano

dash thyme

dash basil

1 tablespoon grated Romano cheese

1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons egg substitute

 >>Chicken

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

salt

pepper

>>Salad

6 cups romaine lettuce, chopped

1/4 cup red cabbage, shredded

1/4 cup carrot, shredded

1. Make the dressing by first dissolving the gelatin in the water. Heat the mixture in the microwave on high for two minutes or until it begins to rapidly boil. Add the vinegar, then whisk while adding the oil. Add bell pepper, salt, garlic powder, worcestershire, black pepper, parsley, oregano, thyme and basil.

2. Let dressing cool for about 15 minutes before adding cheeses and egg substitute. Whisk until slightly thicker, then chill. Overnight refrigeration makes the dressing thicker. Preheat a barbecue or indoor grill to medium heat. Salt and pepper the chicken, then grill it for 5 minutes per side, or until done.

3.Remove chicken from the grill and dice it. While chicken cooks, prepare the salad by combining the romaine lettuce, red cabbage and shredded carrot in a large bowl and toss.

4. Prepare the sandwiches by first microwaving each pita for 20 seconds. Fold each pita in half like a taco, then add 1 to 1 1/2 cups of the romaine salad into the bread. Add about 1/3 cup of diced chicken on top of the salad in the pita.

Pour about a tablespoon of dressing over each sandwich. Sprinkle about a teaspoon of shredded fresh parmesan on top of each one and serve.

–Wendy’s Old Fashioned Burger–

1 Sesame-seed hamburger bun

1/4 Pound Ground beef

1 d Salt

3 Dill pickle slices

1 Teaspoon Catsup

3 White onion ring slices

2 Tomato slices

1/4 Cup Chopped iceburg lettuce

1 Tablespoon Mayonnaise

1. Using waxed paper, form the 1/4 pound of beef into a 4-inch square patty. Refrigerate until you’re ready to cook.

2. Preheat a barbecue grill on high. Toast both halves of the bun, face down, in a hot skillet. 3. Lightly salt the hamburger patty and cook on the barbecue grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side. Build the burger in the following stacking order from the bottom up: bottom bun, hamburger patty, pickles, catsup, onion rings, tomatoes, lettuce, mayonnaise, top bun.

Details: If you’d like the classic Wendy’s double, cook two patties, and dress the bun the same. If adding cheese, use only real American cheese and place it on top of the dressed bun prior to adding the cooked beef. Double cheese? Do the same.

For Wendy’s classic bacon cheese burger, cook the burger and dress the bun as directed above. For the bacon, use Oscar-Mayer Ready-Made pre-cooked bacon. Simply microwave 2 slices for about 30 seconds, and add to your burger between the cheese and the beef patty.

–Wendy’s Original Frosty–

The Frosty was invented at Wendy’s owner Dave Thomas’ request by dairyman E.M. “Bill” Barker. The actual flavor of the original Frosty is a mixture of chocolate and vanilla. You can add M&M’s, Butterfinger Chips or Oreo Chips – whatever you desire.

1 cup Milk

1/2 Cup Nestle Quick

3 Cups Vanilla ice Cream

Put all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth…

Or try…

–Wendy’s Chili–

1 pound ground chuck

1 15-ounce can of diced tomatoes (liquid included)

1 15-ounce can of red kidney beans (liquid drained)

1 15-ounce can of pinto beans (liquid drained)

1 8-ounce can Hunt’s tomato sauce

1/2 medium white onion, diced

1 4-ounce can diced green chilies (with liquid)

2 Tablespoons chopped celery

2 Tablespoons chili powder

1/2 Tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1 cup water

1. Brown the ground chuck over medium heat, breaking into small pieces with the spatula. Add a dash of salt and pepper while cooking.

2. Empty the cooked meat into a spaghetti strainer, and rinse well under very hot water. This removes the bulk of the fat.

3. Transfer the beef into a dutch oven, and add the remaining ingredients. Stir together to combine thoroughly.

4. Over medium heat, bring to a simmer. Reduce the burner to low, and continue simmering 50-60 minutes, stirring occasionally.

–Wendy’s Garden Sensation Mandarin Chicken Salad–

>> Sesame Dressing:

1/2 cup corn syrup

3 tablespoons white distilled vinegar

2 tablespoons pineapple juice

4 teaspoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoon light brown sugar

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar 1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1/4 teaspoon ground mustard

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon paprika

1 dash garlic powder

1 dash ground black pepper

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds

>>Mandarin Chicken Salad:

4 chicken breast fillets

1 head iceberg lettuce, chopped

4 cups red leaf lettuce, chopped

1 1/3 cups canned mandarin orange segments

1 cup rice noodles

1 cup roasted sliced almond.

Prepare dressing by combining all dressing ingredients except vegetable oil and sesame seeds in a blender on high speed. Slowly add oil to mixture, to create an emulsion.

Add sesame seeds and blend for just a couple seconds. Pour dressing into a covered container (such as a dressing cruet)and chill until needed. (1 1/2 CUPS DRESSING) Rub each chicken breast fillet with oil, then lightly salt and pepper each piece.

Grill on medium/high heat until done. Chill chicken breasts in refrigerator. When chicken is cold, build each salad by first arranging about 4 cups of iceberg lettuce in the bottom of a large salad bowl or on a plate. Arrange a cup of red leaf lettuce on the iceberg lettuce.

Dice each chicken breast into bite- size pieces and sprinkle the pieces from each one over each salad. Arrange about 1/3 cup of mandarin orange wedges on each salad. Next, sprinkle about 1/4 cup of rice noodles and 1/4 cup of roasted sliced almonds on top of each salad. Add desired amount of sesame dressing and serve.

Dig In and Enjoy!

A Graduate of the Holland College Culinary Course, Brian Alan Burhoe has cooked in Atlantic Coast restaurants for over 30 years. He is a member of the Canadian Culinary Federation. Brian’s articles reflect his interests in food service, dreamstudy, imaginative literature and our best friends — our dogs.

His Home Page is A CULINARY MYSTERY TOUR – A Literary Chef. His articles have been reprinted on numerous culinary websites and various Blogs, including the popular Romantic Relationship site WUVING.com.

Other Popular items on theWendy’s Restaurant Menu:

Honey BBQ Boneless Wings - Tender, juicy chicken breast, hand-tossed in a honey barbeque sauce made with real amber honey.

Homestyle Chicken Fillet - Wendy’s signature chicken fillet. Specially seasoned, lightly breaded and topped with mayonnaise.

Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Go Wrap - Their chicken fillet made with a fiery blend of peppers and spices. Plus crisp lettuce, cheddar cheese and a zesty ranch sauce all wrapped in a flour tortilla.

Wendy’s Chicken Club - Crisp strips of Applewood smoked bacon, sliced natural Swiss cheese and fresh toppings join a whole breast fillet for one tender, tasty sandwich. Available lightly breaded or grilled.

Sour Cream and Chives Baked Potato – Slow-baked in an oven, not zapped in a microwave. Sour Cream and Chives Baked Potato is their most popular, but they also have baked potatoes served with broccoli & cheese or bacon & cheese.

I have always had a hard time cooking for my family of four. Each person has a very unique taste in food, and with my limited chef skills, I was just not able to meet the demands of my families mealtime preferences. In a last ditch effort to make up for my shortcomings, I decided that I would try to make something we all liked, and make small changes in the meal, in hopes that everyone would like what they were given.

This turned out to be very costly. Buying different ingredients for each family members meal, and sometimes even cooking completely separate meals for my son was becoming far too expensive for me to continue to do. It was about this time that I realized that we never had this problem at restaurants. It had always been sort of a family joke that we all end up ordering the same meals when we go to restaurants. Why was this true at restaurants, but I was experiencing the complete opposite at home? Well, for one thing, and let’s be honest, I am 100% positive that my home cooking couldn’t compare to Applebee’s Club House Sandwich.

It was by chance that I started searching online for restaurant recipes. It was my thinking that if I could prepare meals the exact way the restaurant did, I could probably avoid cooking a separate meal for my son, daughter, or husband. I looked for probably a week, and wasted a whole lot of money on terrible restaurant recipe guides that came out tasting nothing like the real thing. I started to lose hope.

I decided that I would try out one last guide. It was averagely priced compared to the previous guides that I had bought. I ordered it, printed it out and started preparing my meals using the guide. I couldn’t believe how much of a difference this particular guide made. Most of the meals that I cooked came out tasting very similar to the meals you would order at the actual restaurant. For the first time, I was able to please all members of my family with the same meal. Of course, I never told them what I was actually doing, although my husband did later catch on.

From one honest homemaker to another, if you want to save a fair amount of money, and cook excellent meals, Americas Most Wanted Recipes is definitely the guide for you.

Value For The Money: 10/10

The guide comes with so many extra, small guides that it is completely worth the price. I have almost completely changed the meals the I used to cook, and have learned to cook dozens more restaurant recipes from this guide. Not to Mention that it helps you save time and money throughout each month because you are not eating out as much.

Ease: 9/10

Some of the recipes can be a little complicated, mostly since I wasn’t used to using the techniques they used to prepare the dishes. Most meals can be prepared, cooked, and served in under an hour.

Overall: 10/10

Shopping Tips for a Greener Kitchen Buy local when you can. It means less fuel was used to transport your food, and less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Shop at farmers’ markets. You know you’re buying locally, and contributing to the local economy as well. Keeping local farmers in business is good for everyone. Skip “serving size packs” of food and buy in bulk. It reduces the amount of trash going into the landfills. Bring your own bags. Every plastic bag you don’t use is one less bag in the trash. For an added bonus, many stores will take 5-10 cents off your grocery bill for every bag you bring. Look for the recycle symbol on products that you buy in plastic bottles to make sure you’re buying containers that can be recycled. Green Cooking Tips Raw foods use no energy at all in preparation. Serve fruits and vegetables au naturel as snacks and desserts. Use the right size burner for your pots and pans. Don’t put a small pan on a large burner – it wastes up to 40% of the energy used to heat the burner. Think small. Use the smallest cooking appliance possible when cooking. A full-size oven wastes a lot of energy heating empty space. Try a counter top oven or slow cooker to use less energy when cooking. Skip the food processor and electric mixer for small jobs. Some of the best kitchen appliances use no energy at all – an old-fashioned egg beater, for instance, can whip cream or egg whites with just a little elbow grease. Don’t preheat your oven. Most modern ovens heat quickly enough that preheating is redundant. Serve It Green If you must use disposable dishes and serving ware, use paper which can go into your compost, or look for post-consumer recycled materials. Using fewer dishes means washing fewer dishes – less energy needed for cleanup. There’s no need to dump vegetables from the cooking pot into a serving dish. Garnish food with edible fresh flowers and herbs from your own garden. Gardening is one way to reduce your carbon footprint by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Serve food when it’s ready to avoid having to keep food warm. Green Kitchen Cleanup Tips If you only have a couple of plates and cups, wash them by hand instead of running the dishwasher. When hand-washing, fill the sink instead of washing and rinsing under running water. Compost fruit and vegetable peels and leftovers. Good for your garden, good for the planet. It’s actually kinder to the environment to run the dishwasher for a full load of dishes than to wash them by hand. Recycle as much as possible – glass, cans and cardboard are all recyclable. The more you recycle, the less goes into the landfills to clog up our earth.