Linda Wilson asked:


Breakfast is probably the most important meal of the day.  Yet, while kids are tired in the mornings and rushing around to get ready for school, it is sometimes tempting to offer a donut, toaster pastry or other nutritionally devoid treat.  Don’t give in to that temptation.  You want your child to do well during their school day so help them out by starting their day with some nutritious food and breaking the “cereal routine” somedays.  Following are some recipes that can be made ahead or are quick and easy and they will give your children a good start to their day.  All of these recipes are also suitable for diabetics.

Kids love muffins.  So make up a batch of these Oatmeal-Blueberry Muffins.  Oats and blueberries are a couple of our best food products and here they are combined into a tasty muffin.  Add a small carton of yogurt for a quick and tasty breakfast.  If mornings are hectic for you, make the muffins before hand and warm before serving for breakfast. 

OATMEAL-BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

1 cup + 2 tbsps flour

6 ounces uncooked regular oats

1 tbsp baking powder

2 tbsp Equal Sugar-Lite

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup skim milk

1 egg or 1/4 cup egg substitute

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup fresh blueberries

Vegetable cooking spray

1 tsp ground cinnamon

In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, oats, baking powder, Equal and salt.  Make a well in the center of the mixture.

In a small mixing bowl, combine milk, egg and oil.  Add to the well of the dry ingredients.  Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.  Gently fold the blueberries into the mixture.  Spray 12 muffin cups with vegetable oil spray.  Fill each cup 2/3 full of the batter.  Sprinkle cinnamon over the tops of the batter.  Bake at 425 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned.

French Toast Strata needs to be refrigerated overnight making it perfect if you like to make breakfast preparations the night before.  Hop up in the morning, remove from the ‘fridge, pop in the oven and breakfast is served by the time you are ready to face the day.  For diabetics, add a couple strips of bacon or a sausage patty or link.  There are apples in the strata so a fruit is incorporated into this meal.

FRENCH TOAST STRATA

1/3 cup granulated sugar substitute (I use Splenda)

1 cup egg substitute

2/3 cup skim milk

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp maple-flavored extract

8 slices cinnamon-raisin bread

2 cups apples, peeled, cored, sliced thin

1/4 cup low-fat cream cheese

1 tbsp granulated sugar substitute (for this I use Equal Sugar-Lite)

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

  Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, blend together 1/3 cup granulated sugar substitute, egg substitute, milk and extracts.  Tear bread into small pieces and toss into egg mixture.  Add apples.  Coat the bread evenly with mixture and pour into prepared pan.  Cut cream cheese into 8 pieces and place strategically over the top of mixture.  Blend cinnamon with 1 tablespoon of sugar substitute and sprinkle over the strata.  Cover and refrigerate overnight. 

Next morning preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Remove strata from fridge and bake 40-50 minutes or until lightly browned and set.  Serve immediately while hot.

Carbs 20g, Protein 7 g in each 1/8 of strata serving.

Our Strawberry Spread is great spread on toast, bagels, etc.  Your child will feel so special knowing you made this delicious spread for them.

STRAWBERRY SPREAD

1 qt fresh strawberries

3/4 cup cold water, divided

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp cinnamon

3 tbsp cornstarch

1 cup Equal Sugar-Lite

Wash, hull, finely coarsely chop berries.  Combine in a small dutch oven or other heavy saucepan, strawberries, 1/2 cup water, lemon juice and cinnamon.  Bring mixture to a boil, stirring well.  Dissolve cornstarch in the remaining cold water and add to the boiling mixture. Reduce the heat and simmer a couple of minutes or until mixture thickens, stirring occasionally.  Remove from the heat and cool.  Stir in Equal after mixture has cooled down. 

NOTE:  This is good spread on toast or used as you might use jelly or jams. 

1 tbsp = 11 calories, 3 g carbs, trace protein

For a different way to serve ham and eggs and entice your child to eat something they might otherwise not want, try our Mini Ham and Cheese Frittatas.  Your child will love the idea of their own little muffin cup meal.  And you will have served them a good breakfast.

 MINI HAM & CHEESE FRITTATAS

1/4 lb cubed fully cooked lean ham

1 cup shredded fat-free cheddar cheese

1 1/2 cups egg substitute (or 6 eggs)

4 egg whites

3 tbsp minced chives

2 tbsp skim milk

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Coat 8 muffins cups with nonstick cooking spray.

Divide ham evenly among the 8 muffin cups.  Top ham with cheese.  In a large mixing bowl beat eggs or egg substitute with egg whites.  Beat in the chives, milk, salt and pepper.  Pour this mixture over the cheese in muffin cups.  Each cup should be about 3/4 full.  Bake 22-25 minutes or until a knife inserted near center comes out clean.  Carefully run a knife around edges to loosen.  Remove from pan and serve warm.

Enjoy!

 

Abhishek Agarwal asked:


One of the ways in which people can enjoy cooking is through Down Home cooking. There are actually varied down home cooking meals and recipes that you can choose from. Some try their constant favorite or try a new one. Enumerated below are just some of the recipes of Down Home cooking that you may want to try yourself. Of course, the recipes of Down Home cooking are not limited to the ones listed below.

Venision Stew

4 slices of bacon, cut into half inch pieces

2 cups of water

1 pound of boneless vension, cut into one inch cubes

1/2 tsp. of salt

1 cup of red wine

1/4 tsp. of dried marjoram leaves

1/4 tsp. of dried thyme leaves

1/4 tsp. of pepper

1 piece of large potato, cut into one-inch pieces

4 ounces of pearl onions

2 medium-sized carrot, cut into one-inch pieces

1/2 cup of cold water

1/2 tsp. of browning sauce, (optional)

3 tsp. of Gold Medal

abcd1234 asked:


Do you want to start making birthday cakes but don’t know where or how to get started? You can stop worrying now as this article will provide you with the basic steps on how to prepare the best birthday cake!

Similar to cooking different styles of cuisine for special occasions, making birthday cakes also requires skill, effort, time, and a budget. If you want to prepare a chocolate cake to surprise your best friend or relative on their special day, you need to make sure you are prepared so that it doesn’t become a stressful event.

Chocolate cake is often a favourite with many people in the UK and America and there are many varieties depending on the ingredients that you use and the baking times.

Therefore before you start preparing a chocolate cake, you really need to find out the utensils needed, the recipe as well as the procedure to get it done well.

The Utensils for baking chocolate cakes includes:

9 inch Pan

A Large Bowl

A Cooking Spoon

Measuring Cups

Tooth Pick

Below is the Recipe of Chocolate Cake:

All-purpose flour – 11/2 cups (375ml)

Granulated sugar – 11/4 cups (300mil)

Coca -1/2 cup (125ml)

Baking powder – 1 tsp. (5ml)

Baking soda – 1 tsp. (5ml)

Salt – 1/2tsp. (5ml)

Hard Margarine – 1/2cup (125ml)

Large Eggs – 2

Vanilla – 1 tsp. (5ml)

Hot Water – 1 cup (250ml)

For you to successfully bake your chocolate cake, the procedure below can aid you

Measure all 10 ingredients in a large bowl base on the order given. Beat on low speed until moistened. Then beat on medium for about 1 minute, scraping down sides of bowl, till it gets smooth. Have your pan greased. Bake in 350F (175C) oven for about 35 minutes and then stick the tooth pick in and out the until tooth pick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, before icing. Have it sliced into 16 pieces.

I hope this article has contributed to making a great chocolate birthday cake.

Get a easy & comfort way to send birthday cake all over India by online.

Penny Sansevieri asked:


So what does it take to make a bundle on foreign rights? I recently spoke with John Penberthy about securing foreign rights sales, and he said it really wasn’t that hard. It just takes a dash of persistence, patience, and creativity! Here’s my interview with John:

1. What’s the most important thing authors should know when pitching their book to a FR person?

Make it brief and succinct. You’re pitching via email, agents get a ton of emails/day and you have to have something that will be quick and grab their attention. In my case, I wrote a brief 2 paragraph letter with a link to my 60 second trailer. So they could tell very quickly if it was something they might be interested in. At the end of the trailer was a link to my site, where I offered the ebook version for free as a way of generating buzz. Interested agents could then read a few chapters to see if they wanted to request a hard copy.

One thing that strongly worked in my favor was that you can read my book in 90 minutes. Agents are overwhelmed with book submissions and loathe the amount of time it takes to read them, so 90 minutes was a breath of fresh air for them. Offering the ebook free was huge because it quickly disseminated the book all over the world and resulted in all kinds of interesting inquiries. You don’t want to do it forever, but when you’re starting out, it really helps generate buzz and eliminates all risk for prospective buyers. It was instrumental in many of my foreign rights deals.

2. What types of books work better for FR?

My book, To Bee or Not to Bee, is a spiritual allegory about bees, sort of a next-generation Jonathan Livingston Seagull. People the world over have sought more meaning in their lives through spiritual understanding from time immemorial, so I felt my book had universal appeal. I had the illustrations drawn in a Chinese watercolor style in order to reflect the story’s Eastern approach to spirituality, which is really taking hold in the West, but also to appeal to the huge Asian market. This has worked well as 2 of my contracts are for Korean and Chinese, and I think I’m close in Taiwan and Japan.

Each author has to evaluate the extent to which their book will appeal to those within 1) the U.S., 2) Europe, 3) Latin America and then 4) Asia. These are the 4 big markets and each is a step removed from the previous one. So many books are written specifically for Americans because America is the biggest market. You’re probably not going to get any foreign deals for a cookbook, but I would think computer and Internet books would do well in most countries because computer people all speak the same language. Each author needs to assess the universality of her book’s appeal.

3. What should be included in the FR packet?

Once I would get email replies from interested agents I would send them just 2 things — the book and a detailed cover letter explaining the book, its uniqueness and market appeal, and its track record. For example, my book is a strong gift book — we’re averaging nearly 5 books sold per customer through our website — so I always made sure to mention this and the fact that To Bee or Not to Bee is a perennial gift book that would be in print for decades. Multiple sales and longevity definitely grab the attention of prospective publishers.

A zillion new books are published each year and publishers are always looking for something new and different, so I would encourage people to explain why their book is new and different. As foreign rights sales grew, I always mentioned the previous translation rights I had sold and the names of the publishers (to add credibility).

4. How long does it take for a foreign rights deal to happen?

It really varies. My first deal, Korean, was signed within a month of sending the agent the book and the book was published 3 months after that. This is lightning speed in the publishing world. My second deal, Italian, took about 2 months because the agent took it to the Frankfurt Book Fair, by far the largest book fair in the world, which happened soon after she received the book. I was lucky to have these deals happen so quickly, but 1-2 months is abnormally fast. My third and fourth deals, Spanish and Portuguese, took about 6 months, again at a book fair. By the time these editions are released, 1 1/2 years will have elapsed. In general, the publishing world moves at a snail’s pace so you have to be patient.

My latest deal, Chinese, also took over 6 months. But other agents have been working other countries for over a year and still have no publisher prospects. Some publishers sit on books forever. Once To Bee or Not to Bee is re-released by Sterling Publishing in the English-speaking world this fall and establishes a sales track record, I plan on doing another email blitz to foreign rights agents in all the countries for which rights haven’t been sold and apprising them of this new information. Hopefully this will generate a new round of rights sales.

5. Should authors hire someone to negotiate for them?

I’m a strong believer in literary agents. Publishers rely on them to sort through all the riff-raff and know that books sent to them by good agents are worth their time considering. But most importantly, agents know what a book is worth and will negotiate the best deal for you. There are instances of publishers working directly with authors, but it’s a long shot, and publishers know authors are inexperienced in negotiating and desperate and so it’s highly likely the authors didn’t get the best deal possible.

But you don’t hire agents; if they like your book they choose you and then work on a commission basis, usually 15% of advances and subsequent royalties. The author pays nothing up front; the publishers only get paid if they produce. Most foreign agents work with a co-agent in the author’s country, who feed them books to market, which already have a proven sales track record in the author’s country. In these cases, the 2 agents usually split a 20% commission. In my case it was the reverse — I marketed my book directly to foreign rights agents and built a track record of rights sales in other countries, which I then used to attract a U.S. agent who subsequently got me a contract with Sterling Publishing here in the U.S.

6. How much time can an author expect to allocate to this process?

It’s not very time-consuming. First you research foreign rights agencies on the Internet and put your list together. Then you draft your email letter and send it out. I probably haven’t spent more than a couple of weeks on this in total in a year and a half.

7. What are the things you look for in a foreign rights contract?

Because the agent is the intermediary, she usually has a standard contract which she prepares and sends to both parties for signatures, so the contracts are generally quite similar. The key factors, of course, are the amount of the non-refundable advance and the royalty rate, generally only 7-8% on foreign rights, which should be applied to the retail price. Royalties are deducted from the advance and once the advance is paid back, the publisher makes royalty payments.

Most publishers calculate royalties following the end of each calendar year, though some do so semi-annually, and payments are due a quarter later. The contract should have a finite term, usually five years. If the book proves to be big with good longevity, it can go back on the market at the end of the term for much better terms.

One thing that is absolutely critical is that the publisher provide a computerized statement showing sales, returns, etc. via postal mail to the author for each period. If figures are provided any other way (i.e. via email) it is too easy to fudge them. The language and geographic territory licensed should be specified. And the number of complimentary books provided to the author should be specified. The agent’s commission should be identified. One other important thing, for my book at least, was to limit rights to book publishing only. My vision is to see To Bee or Not to Bee made into a digitally animated film and so I always retained audio-visual rights.

8. You’re dealing with a bunch of strangers in foreign countries. Once you’ve got a contract, what about getting paid?

For the advance you’ve got leverage because you don’t email the manuscript file until you get the advance. But for royalties, once the advance is paid back it can be dicey, depending upon the quality of the agents and size of the publishers you’re working with. My Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese contracts were secured by established agencies with large publishers. They provide computerized sales reports and are very legit. Publishers in Asia and Eastern Europe can be more problematic, depending on their size and reputation. Many of these countries have only recently signed the international copyright agreements and some of the more marginal publishers still don’t feel they need to comply with them.

And even if the publisher does comply, they send the money to the agent, who is supposed to send it on to you, so there’s an extra layer of opportunity for graft. They know that you have no leverage; who’s going to spend thousands of dollars hiring lawyers in a country halfway around the world unless there are clearly large royalties at stake (and royalty rates for most foreign deals are notoriously low, typically 7-8%)? The only leverage you have is if you have an American co-agent involved because the foreign co-agent’s reputation is at stake among the international agent community. Even then, many American co-agents expect only to receive their share of the advance and spend little if any effort to collect royalties unless they are substantial. The moral of the story — the larger and more established the agency and publisher, the better chance you have of getting paid.

John Penberthy is the author of To Bee or Not to Bee. He has sold rights to his book in Korean, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Slovenian, and Chinese. His foreign rights deals have totaled $40,000. View the trailer, read Chapters 1-3 and send free ecards at http://www.ToBeeBook.com

unclenalts asked:

Yeah- he’s my friend Phil… kept me sane in my first job after business school because he’s smart, driven and creative (a rare mix). So I couldn’t bring myself to drop the worm into his PF Chang meal. But I also couldn’t resist keeping it in my pocket much longer. Hey, UncleNalts. Is that a worm in your pocket or did you run out of viagra?

Lai Yee asked:


Purchasing a gift is not always easy especially it is for someone from a different culture. This article provides some interesting information if the gift is for a Chinese person.

As China is a big place with many provinces the culture can vary depending on which province the person comes from, but there are some general themes that can be followed to avoid embarrassment.

What you need to know?

To the Chinese, anything that brings prosperity, longevity or good fortune are fine and anything related or ‘sounds like’ death must be avoided. This rule applies to both numbers and colors that are being used in almost any occasions.

Note: The pronunciation is referring to Cantonese.

Bad numbers – number 4 is the most unwelcome number simply because it has a similar pronunciation to ‘death’.

Good numbers – number 8 sounds like prosperity and number 9 for longevity. Series of 8’s or 9’s such as ‘888’, ‘99’ are even better. Numbers ‘168’ and ‘138’ are also very popular for they sound like ‘continuous fortune’.

Bad colors – black and white are usually for funeral or mourning. Therefore, you should only send white flowers to a funeral. Gift wrapping paper should not be plain white or black. An exception, although wearing black or white to a wedding is not a tradition, it is acceptable if the wedding ceremony is held in a church which follows the western style.

Good colors – red and gold are for celebrations such as birthday and wedding.

Items to avoid – sharp objects such as knives or scissors as they would ‘cut-off’ a relationship. Umbrellas resemble separation. Clock sounds like “attend a funeral”. Handkerchiefs are for mourning. Books are not for Cantonese people who love gambling because it sounds like “loss”, otherwise they are fine.

Do not be offended if your hosts do not open the gift in front of you as it is not polite in the Chinese culture unless you insist. Also, they do not normally accept your gift immediately in case you feel they are greedy.

What are the popular items?

Cash

Cash can be used in almost all occasions. For happy occasions, it should be put inside a ‘red envelope’ that has some words of blessing pre-printed on it. Red envelopes can easily be found at most Chinese grocery stores but always check with the staff to find one for the occasion you want if you do not understand the Chinese characters on the envelope otherwise you might give away one for the wrong occasion.

The amount inside the envelope should follows the numbering rules as mentioned before i.e. use even numbers except number 4. Also, if you are a couple then you should give two envelopes instead of one to cover for both.

If it is used in a funeral, which is normally used for donation to the charity or assist the grieving family financially, you can put small amount of cash in ‘odd’ number in a normal ‘white envelope’.

Food

There is no doubt that Chinese love foods, this is always a good bet especially for older people. When visiting someone in person, it is always a good manner to bring a food basket containing fruits, biscuits or table wine. If he or she is a smoker then a good brand cigarettes is also fine. In the upper range you can give away food such as dried oysters, dried seafood, mushrooms or bird’s nests. For individual fruit such as oranges or apples, count them in even numbers e.g. 6, 8 or 10 pieces.

Jewellery or ornament

Normally given in big celebrations such as wedding, new born baby, 21st birthday, 60th birthday, 90th birthday and so forth.

Baby – parents like to host a banquet for their new born baby after one month of birth. Jade, gold or silver bracelet or necklace is a good gift, otherwise baby clothes.

Birthday – If you know the person’s Chinese zodiac sign, another hot item is a gold plated Chinese zodiac figurine represents the animal sign of the person.

Wedding – jade or gold bracelet or necklace resembles long lasting relationship.

What sort of gifts for festivals?

There are many festivals in China, but you will most likely be invited to join a family celebration in the following festivals:

Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) – this is the most important festival for the Chinese people which brings family members, friends and relatives together. It is a custom to give money in a red packet from married couple to single people or children. If you are single it is considered to be polite to bring a food/fruit basket to your hosts.

Mid-Autumn (Moon) Festival – This is the day when people would sit down with family and friends to watch the full moon and serve moon cakes and other type of food. Therefore, bringing some moon cakes or food along to your hosts is the best gift you can offer.

Dragon Boat Festival – Rice parcels as big as a purse are made during this festival to honor a patriotic scholar named Chu Yuan who drowned himself to protest against the emperor. Before his body was recovered, people made the rice parcels and threw them into the water to stop any fish eating his flesh. Another saying is dragon boats were used to scare away ‘water spirits’ because the dragon is the god of the oceans. Rice parcels are made out of glutinous rice, pork and egg yolk wrapped with bamboo leaves which are sold in most shops during the festival. If you are interested in cooking, bring along some home made rice parcels which will surely impress your hosts.

Other occasions

Return from a vacation – small souvenirs to your neighbors, friends, colleagues and relatives when returning from a trip.

Farewell – cash in a red packet or small gift such as a sailing boat meaning smooth sailing to the new destination.

Visiting someone at home – food basket.

Visiting someone in the hospital – food plus health drinks (e.g. Ginseng) that will help speedy recovery.

Conclusion

Generally speaking, dealing with people from a difficult culture requires understanding. Some of the traditions have been practiced for a long time but are diminishing in the new generations. Chinese people are normally understandable in terms of culture conflict since they have over 2000 years of history and have different culture in different provinces. It is beneficial to know the customs but they do not need to be strictly followed as long as you stay away from the ‘death’ associations you should be safe.

For gift ideas, visit http://www.ozshopeasy.com/