Brown Bagging it! School and Work Lunches

     Since school is still beginning it is hard to make time to pack a good and hearty lunch. Take time to make you lunch like making them the night before or making a weeks worth at a time. Here are a few tips to packing some great lunches!

-Salads

      ~Salads are easiest to prepare all a once 

      ~Either store them in plastic containers or mason jars

      ~http://www.fitsugar.com/How-Pack-Salads-Week-34675868#photo-34676153

-Granola bars are healthy and easy to make. They are lots of great recipes but here is one:

     ~http://www.laurenslatest.com/no-bake-chocolate-chip-granola-bars-easy-healthy/

     ~ Make granola in bars, bites, or just as a mix

-Here is an easy chart to show what to pack in your lunch!

The Substitute

     Teachers are not the only ones who need substitutes sometimes! Many times you will find yourself stuck when you have a recipe that calls for an ingredient that you don't have or don't have enough of. Yes, you could run to the store to get it or you could just substitute the ingredient with something else or a combination of things. When you are starting out, like moving to your first apartment, it is hard to get all of the staple ingredients at once, so substitutions are great! Here are some of the basics needed to know:

     Baking Chocolate
Chocolate, Baking, unsweetened, 1 ounce or square
= 3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa + 1 Tablespoon butter/margarine
= 3 Tablespoons carob powder + 2 Tablespoons water
Chocolate, Baking, unsweetened pre-melted, 1 ounce
= 3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa + 1 Tablespoon oil/melted shortening
Chocolate, Semi-sweet, 6 ounces chips, bits, or squares
= 9 Tablespoons cocoa + 7 Tablespoons sugar + 3 Tablespoons butter/margarine
     Cilantro or Coriander Leaf or Chinese Parsley (all the same)
= parsley + lemon juice
= orange peel + a little sage
= lemon grass + a little mint
=parsley + a little mint
= Italian Parsley (for looks)
     Cinnamon 
= allspice (use less)
=cardamom
*You should always have cinnamon but you can use cinnamon for allspice or cardamom if needed
     Eggs, Whole
= 2 Tbsp liquid + 2 Tbsp flour + 1/2 Tbsp shortening + 1/2 tsp baking powder
= 2 yolks + 1 Tbsp water
= 2 yolks (in custards, sauces, or similar mixtures)
=2 Tbsp oil + 1 Tbsp water
= 1 tsp cornstarch + 3 Tbsp more liquid in recipe
* If halving a recipe, do not try to halve an egg: use one whole egg. If short one more egg in recipe, substitute 1 tsp vinegar or 1 tsp baking powder
     Flour, Self-rising, 1 cup
= 1 cup flour + 1/4 tsp baking powder
*Optional: add a pinch of salt
     Garlic, 1 clove
= 1/2 tsp minced, dried garlic
= 1/4 tsp garlic powder
= 1/4 tsp garlic juice
= 1/2 garlic salt (and omit 1/2 tsp salt from recipe)
     Buttermilk
=1 cup milk + 1 3/4 Tbsp cream of tartar (for 1 cup of buttermilk)
= sour cream
= plain, low-fat yogurt

Hope these substitutions with help!

New Blog!

Welcome Readers of the Internet,

     This blog is for my two sisters and anyone else who needs cooking advice. Being the youngest, it is hard to give advice when my sisters are older, wiser, and more experienced. But when it come to baking and cooking (two completely different things, by the way) I am more experienced. So this is where you will find baking and cooking recipes, tips, and ideas. 

     I have always loved being in the kitchen. When I was a baby I would sit on the kitchen floor and make noise with pots and pans. I loved to be in the kitchen helping my grandma bake cookies and pies when I was very young. 

     I started decorating cakes when I was in 5th grade (about 10 years old) from then I started baking and then cooking. Now I am a sophomore in high school and still experimenting with new recipes. Here is one of my more recent cakes. This cake is based on the book Animal Farm by George Orwell. I made it for a English project last year. Everything is edible except the fan of the windmill. The animals are chocolate, made from my own mold of flour. 

     The next blog will begin my cooking advice!