HEALTH, DIET AND NUTRITION FAQ’s

When I get home and have short time to prepare lunch, the quickest dish is always pasta. You can easily have a complete meal in 10 minutes (plus the time to boil the water).

Pasta is a genuine food, that mostly of the times contain only water and wheat flour, being safe for people of all ages. The difference is how we dress it. But following the rules of Mediterranean Diet, that combines vegetables with carbohydrates, if the right quantity of fat (good fat) is used, it can really be considered a high quality meal for all ages.

The number of calories of a pasta dish (not considering the dressing) is around 300 kcal. Plus the dressing it makes a complete meal for about 600kcal, that matches perfectly with a balanced and healthy diet.

There are many industrialized dressings that may contain chemicals, but as seen along the following recipes, it is really easy and simple to cook a good and genuine meal with easy-to-find fresh ingredients.

Tasty Pasta with Tuna

This recipe is my children’s favorite one. It’s a complete meal as you have pasta (carbohydrates), extra virgin olive oil (good fat), grated parmesan and tuna (proteins).

You’ll need for 4 people:

400gr of pasta (500gr if you want a unique and complete dish)

3 cans of tuna with olive oil (I use the 160gr can)

5 anchovies fillets

4 pieces of garlic (chopped)

3 spoons of extra virgin olive oil

4 or 5 spoons of grated parmesan

1 lemon juice

How to do it:

Put the pasta into the boiling salted water and set your timer for the cooking time (part of the goodness of a pasta dish is its correct cook – a too much cooked pasta loses taste).

Then put the extra virgin olive oil inside a frying pan and add the chopped garlic, the minced anchovies fillets and soon after the tuna. Mix it all, add a small piece of peperoncino (optional) and right before turning the gas off, add the lemon juice.

When the pasta is done, drain it with a colander and put it back inside the pan. Add the tuna mix and the grated parmesan. Mix it all well and…it’s ready.

Tagliatelle Alfredo

I got this recipe from a waiter of Alfredo’s restaurant at Epcot Center, many years ago.

You’ll need (for 4 people):

400gr of tagliatelle(fresh fettuccine would be great)

250gr cream

120gr of a good quality grated parmesan

1 spoon of butter

How to do it:

After putting the pasta inside the boiling salted water (tip: add a thread of oil to the water. It avoids fresh pasta to attach one with another), take a pan and put the butter, the cream and the grated parmesan together. Take it to low gas and mix it until it gets hot, but not boiling.

When the pasta is done, drain it with a colander and add the warm cream and mix it all. It’s done.

Pasta with bottarga and cherry tomatoes

Here you need to have grated bottarga, but it worths the expense.

You’ll need (for 4 people):

400 gr of spaghetti

4 spoons of extra virgin olive oil

4 or 5 pieces of garlic, chopped

Minced parsley

500gr of cherry tomatoes

Grated bottarga

How to do it:

After putting the spaghetti into the boiling salted water, put the extra virgin olive oil inside a pan, add the chopped garlic and parsley and let it color a little. Then add the cherry tomatoes cut in halfs, mix it with the rest for a while and then turn off the gas.

When the pasta is done, add this mix adding the grated bottarga. Perfect with a glass of good white wine.

Enjoy!

Ana Maria da Costa. Economist, living in Italy since 1983 and proceeding the studies in Food and Wine culture. Her website All About Italian Food gives useful information about Italian food

There is absolutely nothing that brings back the great memories of bygone times like roasting hotdogs on outdoor fire pits. For most of us, a traditional campfire built on the ground in the forest is practically impossible to recreate but an outdoor fire pit is an easy addition to any backyard. It allows you to once again enjoy the taste of food cooked outside over an open fire and the ambiance of a cozy fire on a chilly night.

A fire pit can be a great place to do as much or as little cooking out as you want to do. In addition to just roasting hotdogs on outdoor firepits, you can also cook corn on the cob, fish, meats, vegetables and much more. The list of foods and dishes you can make on a fire pit is endless.

One thing you must keep in mind is that you do need to have the right tools in order to be able to cook out easily and with the least amount of fuss and mess. A grate to put over your fire pit is essential to any cooking you want to do on it. Without a fire pit grate, you will have tired arms from holding things over the flames, not to mention how warm it gets when you stand within arm’s reach of the fire for a while. A mesh basket is another great investment for fire pit cooking. It is the perfect way to cook vegetables, fish and shellfish. You’ll never have to worry again about dropping good food into the fire and watching it incinerate. Last, but not least, when you’re doing those marshmallows and roasting hotdogs on outdoor fire pits, you need extra long metal skewers with stay cool handles.

A great idea for an outdoor fire pit cookout is to do a build-your-own-shish-kebab party. Set up a table with all the ingredients anyone could possibly want for shish kebabs and keep them on ice. Have plenty of wooden skewers already soaked in water to prevent scorching. Allow everyone to make their very own shish kebabs exactly how they want. A cook out like this is easy, family friendly, healthy and fun. Before long, you’ll be known for your great outdoor get-togethers.

When cooking meals over an open fire, you can get everyone involved. It is not the traditional kind of meal where one person devotes lots of time to preparing it for everyone else. It is very much a shared event and as such, it will make for not just tasty meals but also warm memories of doing things together as a family. Whether you are simply toasting marshmallows, cooking an elaborate meal or roasting hotdogs on outdoor fire pits, it will be great fun and you will create lots of special moments to cherish.

So call up your friends, get the family together, plan a menu and head out to the backyard. In no time you can put together a fun evening of cooking out and cozying up to a fire, just like the good old days, only a little better.

For more information on fire pits or fire pit accessories please visit PremiereFirePits.com

Providing your family with easy dinner ideas each night is never easy. They need to include foods which the family loves an also provide the right nutrition for health. They need to be made quickly especially on the nights you work late. It must include healthy options and, above all else, taste good. The recipes listed here will give you what you are looking for in easy dinner ideas the entire family will love.

The Easy dinner ideas listed here would not be served art a gourmet restaurant but, they will give you and your family a nutritious option each night. They are simple to prepare for and do not require many ingredients. You will also not need to take much time to plan for it. You might even look forward to coming home each night just so you can prepare them.

The first of the easy dinner ideas is an old classic, barbecue chicken. It will take less than an hour to make and can feed a large family cheaply. The trick to cooking barbecue chicken is to make sure the outside does not burn while the inside is cooking through. To make sure this is accomplished, put the barbecue coating on after the chicken is cooked thoroughly and let it heat until warm.

To prepare this, preheat the oven to 300 degrees. While you are waiting for the oven to heat, take out a baking dish and add about a teaspoon of oil. You can use olive oil for a healthier option. Add your chicken pieces to the pan and coat with salt and pepper. Put the chicken in the heated oven and cook until white inside and heated to 180 degrees by meat thermometer. Mix one 16 ounce can of orange soda and 16 ounces of barbecue sauce together and coat chicken. Put back into the oven for about ten to fifteen minutes. Remove and enjoy. Add a Side salad and a baked potato or potato salad made with low fat mayonnaise and you have one of the most perfect easy dinner ideas.

One of the kids favorites as well as good eating for adults is tater tot casserole. It is super simple to create and only takes less than an hour from start to finish. It is great because it only requires the use of two pans. A pound or two of ground met such as beef, turkey, chicken, or pork needs to be cooked and browned. While this is cooking, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Take out a large baking dish and begin to cover the bottom with frozen tater tots. Drain the cooked ground meat and begin to add a layer over the tater tots.

If you like onions, you can also cut these and layer them on top of the meat. Add a layer of shredded cheese of your choice. Cover all this with cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup. Continue layering the ingredients until you reach the top. Add a final layer of cheese and cover with foil. Put into the oven until the casserole is heated through. Take off the foil and let sit in the oven for a minute to make it brown. Serve each person and enjoy. It goes great with a fresh salad and a nice large glass of milk.

Want to learn more about Meal Planning? Visit http://mealplanningguide.com for meal planning ideas, meal plans and recipes.

Healthy eating does not denote a diet strictly made up of salads; it just means that your favorite meals are prepared with more care to calorie and fat, as well as other harmful ingredients among them.

Reduce the Fat

Non-stick cookware is also a way of cooking healthy, as it negates the need for using cooking oil. Valuable nutrients are also maintained by boiling, steaming, braising, baking and microwaving foods.

Taking the Fat Out of the Cow

The choice of reduced dairy fats products and lean meats minimizes hidden fats within these food groups, which can also be found in varying amounts in processed foods. Dietary fats are best found in natural, unrefined form in foods such as avocado, olives, soy, fish, seeds and fish. If fats are used in the cooking process, use, to a bare minimum, mono-saturated oils, like canola and olive oils.

Shopping for Healthy Eats

Healthy cooking begins when shopping at the store and as such, the choices made reflect upon the results. Skinless chicken breasts are a wise choice, as is lean meat cuts. Make sure to look for foods with low fat versions, such as gravies, salad dressings, yoghurt, cheese and milk.

Start With Healthy Ingredients

Other tips on healthy cooking include consuming more fish, rich in protein and omega three acids, while being short on fats. As a matter of course, consume fresh legumes and vegetables and desist from adding too much salt while cooking. Recipes that require animal fat saut

It’s that time of year when hosts and hostesses turn their thought to themes for parties celebrating everything from their favorite college or professional football game and Super Bowl parties to Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s parties, and celebrations of All of the other World Holidays during this holiday season.

We at I-ShopTheWorld are what you might call “party people,” so we have some party idea suggestions that will add variety and spice up your party: host a saucy chili cook-off.

Compile your guest list so you can create teams of 3-6 cooks. On your invitation let your guests know they’ll be participating in a chili cook-off and who’ll be on their team (have some extra fun and mix up couples). Ask them to bring any special ingredients they like to use in their chili, but let them know that every thing they could possibly will likely be provided and everyone will be starting with a basic batch of chili you will prepare in advance. Then they can spice it up. Be sure to arrange for enough pots and utensils for each team to have their own. Tell them to BYOA (bring your own apron).

Here’s how it works: The day before your party prepare a big batch of chili starter sauce using your choice of basic ingredients. Here’s one recipe. We suggest you multiply the ingredients to accommodate the number of teams you’ve organized with a hefty batch of starter sauce.

Basic chili sauce recipe to serve 6

• 1 pound lean ground beef or steak chopped into bite-size pieces

• 1/2 cup chopped onion

• 2 chopped garlic cloves

• 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes or tomato puree

• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder

• 1 teaspoon salt (regular or garlic)

Preparation:

Spray the skillet with nonstick cooking spray or a light coating of an oil, such as olive oil. Brown the ground beef or chopped steak with the onion. Add the remaining ingredients stirring as you go. Note, you are not adding beans at this point; your guest cooks get to do that. Cover and simmer for at least 20 minutes. Refrigerate till party time.

On the day of the party, scoop up an equal amount of the basic chili sauce for each team, then invite them to complete the cook-off by adding any of the following ingredients you’ll have available in whatever quantities they prefer:

• cooked, browned ground pork

• pre-cooked sausage

• cans of beans, including kidney, chili, black, cannelloni, and pinto

• cans of vegetarian refried beans with chilies

• cans of tomato sauce or whole tomatoes with and without chilies

• cans of whole kernel corn

• fresh tomatoes

• fresh red, green, and yellow sweet peppers

• fresh jalapeno peppers

• fresh squash and zucchini

• garlic powder

• paprika

• fresh natural black pepper, white pepper, dried chili spice, and India long pepper spice

• an assortment of gourmet Tortuga sauces, such as Sweet Heat Carib, Mango & Ginger Stir Fry, Hot Caribbean Pepper, and Hell Fire Hot Pepper Sauce.

• jars of Tortuga Gourmet Wildflower and Citrus Honey

Give each team a couple of hours to finish the cook-off, then conduct the taste contest and let your guests vote on the best. If you get a wow! Winner, consider having the team try it again for charity, presuming they have kept track of their ingredients and can repeat the taste (check out those opportunities at http://www.chilicookoff.com).

Consider serving other I-ShopTheWorld products like Thai coffee and tea. Treat your guest cooks to beverages made with Tortuga Rum Punch Mix. And, don’t forget the dessert; you’ll be so busy making the basic chili and organizing teams and ingredients, you may want to serve a variety tray of Tortuga Gourmet Fudge, rum balls, or rum cakes.

Go ahead, just do it.

Tell everyone to “pen” in the date, start arranging the details, and place your order online.

Let I-ShopTheWorld help you concoct the sauciest party your family and friends have ever had.

—–

Please Reply and Post All of Your Feedback and Comments regarding this Article and …

- Your Saucy Party Ideas?

- Your Best Favorite Chili Recipes?

- Your Favorite / the Best Chili Ingredients?

- How Hot / “How Many Alarms” do You like Your Chili?

- Where do you stand on the “Bean” or “No Beans” “Great Chili Debate”?

- How about Meats in Your Chili?

—– Do You prefer Your Chili with or without meat(s)?

—– Which meat(s) do You like Best in Your Chili? / makes the Best Chili?

- Your other ideas do You have to Share for Great Parties?

Again, Please Reply and Post All of Your Comments at:

http://i-shoptheworld.com/2008/09/27/how-to-concoct-a-saucy-party/

regarding all of this and anything other Great Party Ideas can think of for the Mutual Benefit of Everyone Around The World, ok?!

Michael S. DeVries is the Founder of I-ShopTheWorld.com (http://www.I-ShopTheWorld.com ) – where You may Save Money on Unique Native Products Direct to You from All over the World! and a Principal of The Virtual Consulting Firm (http://www.TheVCF.com).

International cooking usually leaves you slaving over a hot stove or running for the phone book to search for the closest take out place. But with a crock pot and a couple of simplified recipes, you can cook to your heart’s content for a taste that’s a world away.

No amount of reading and re-reading the instructions for Kung Pow Chicken in your International Foods cook book is going to prepare you for what’s in store, especially if you’ve never attempted Kung Pow Chicken or any other type of Asian or other international dish. The same goes for all different types of international foods. You have to get used to using different types of seasonings like cumin, coriander and for many dishes, kosher sea salt—you’ll probably be wondering “whatinthewhonow” does that mean?

Especially if you are a beginning cook—and many times, even if you’re not—you need to choose cooking options that are within your grasp. But that doesn’t mean you’re stuck with Mac & Cheese or grilled cheese sandwiches—you know that’s what you’re cooking, don’t lie. You simply have to be more innovative about “how” you cook your foods.

Every cook should have a large brigade of cooking utensils and cooking appliances. Amongst this army of cookware you should always be able to easily locate a well maintained crock pot. Crock pot cooking is one of the easiest ways to get around the difficult recipes you’ll find in cook books. Not only are crock pot recipes simplified for the crock pot way of life, but they are also easily accessible in crock pot recipe books and all over the internet—there are hundreds of web sites dedicated to crock pot recipes and crock pot cooking and your favorite search engine can open the doors to crock pot recipe bliss if you let it.

Crock pot cooking is known for having hundreds of easy crock pot beef recipes and crock pot pork recipes, many of which are international dishes that could be cooked over the stove, slaved over even…but don’t have to be. You can even make delicious crock pot pasta recipes that you’d expect to find only at an Italian restaurant. And it doesn’t end there. Crock pot dessert recipes also mimic the hard-to-make in the oven or over the stove top recipes that come from the pros at French restaurants all over the world.

Never forget that the basic principle of crock pot cooking is to make food that tastes as if it were professionally prepared and tastes as if you spent hours preparing it. The fact that you threw the ingredients in the crock pot, turned it to high and walked away for five hours is always supposed to be your little secret.

Not to mention the leftovers. If you’re a fan of ordering in from a great take-out place with your favorite international dishes, then you’ll love cooking for yourself at home with easy crock pot recipes. Not only will you save money making the exact same dish, but you’ll be able to keep tons of leftovers that you can even freeze for a later date. And you’ll be able to choose exactly what is and what isn’t in your food. You can’t beat that.

Lisa Paterson is an avid home cook who loves to share her favorite recipes. Find all her crock pot recipes at www.A-Crock-Cook.com. And be sure to try one of her beef crock pot recipes.

Kitchen utensils of all kinds abound. Just look in any kitchen store or in the aisles of kitchenware at other retail stores and you’ll see an amazing array of items used for cooking. Some kitchen utensils are used only for one very specific task, so may not be used often. However, there are other utensils that are more versatile, and needed and used daily.

Knives Are The Workhorse of The Kitchen

If you do much cooking at all, you’ll use not one, but several kinds of knives. Each of these kitchen utensils has a specific function, like chopping, slicing, or filleting food.

However, all knives have pretty much the same parts.

The Major Player – The Blade

The blade is pretty self-explanatory, being the metal part of the knife used for cutting, from the handle to the tip. It’s the most important part of the knife, and the quality of the blade determines how well the knife cuts. Good quality blades make it much easy to do food preparation for cooking.

A Better Bolster

The bolster is the small part between the blade and the handle, connecting the two together. Obviously, it needs to hold the blade securely to the handle so the blade doesn’t fall off while you’re using it.

It’s also worth noting, however, that there is an advantage to having a bolster that is not the full width of the end of the blade. That might seem sturdier, but it gets in the way of sharpening the blade. A bolster that doesn’t reach clear to the edge of the blade is preferable for that reason.

The Whole Tang

The tang is an extension of the blade. It runs through the middle of the handle and not only provides a way to attach the handle, but it helps give the knife a good balance. It also strengthens the knife and makes it more durable.

The tang is of varying lengths, and sometimes only runs partway into the handle. The higher quality knives have a tang that runs the full length of the handle, making it strong and well-balanced.

Getting A Handle

You need a way to safely hold a knife, and that’s the handle. The handle wraps around the tang and holds it secure. A handle can be made of many different materials, including wood, metal, or various types of plastic.

Not only should the handle should be sturdy, but it should also be easy to hold. You’re going to be using a knife a lot, and it should fit your hand well.

Types of Kitchen Knives

Checking the different parts of the knife for quality gives you an idea what to look for when buying a good knife. However, when it comes to buying a knife, there’s a tremendous variation of types. Some of these include:

* Boning Knife

* Butter Knife

* Cheese Knife

* Chef’s Knife

* Cleaver

* Deli Knife

* Filet Knife

* Frozen Food Knife

* Mincing Knife

* Paring Knife

* Sandwich Knife

* Serrated Knife

* Slicing-Carving Knife

* Steak

* Utility

There are also specialty knives for chestnuts, clams, grapefruits, deveining, lettuce and oysters, plus specialty knives for different types of cuisines such as Japanese and Asian.

Fortunately you don’t need to buy every kind of knife out there.

The Bare Essentials of Knives For The Kitchen

While every knife has a use, most people don’t need so many of the more specialized knives. There are a few types, however, that should be found in every kitchen. These are the more versatile knives that can do a number of different types of food preparation.

The Paring Knife

If you don’t have any other knife, you need a paring knife. It’s a small knife with a straight, sharp blade. Paring knives run from about three to five inches long with a thin blade that tapers to a point at the tip.

This little knife is easy to handle and use. As indicated by the name, it’s main function if for paring foods. It’s also good for cutting up small items, coring apples and such, and mincing garlic and other foods. Every kitchen should have at least one good paring knife.

The Chef’s Knife

The Chef’s or Cook’s knife is another versatile knife. It comes in several different lengths, running from about 6 inches to 12 inches long. The smaller sized chef knives are called mini chef’s knives. These are the best chef knives for people with smaller hands. The larger chef knives are handier for people with bigger hands that allow the bigger chef knives to balance better in their hands.

The chef knife picks up where the paring knife leaves off, and can cut bigger vegetables, fruits and meats. It’s great for chopping, dicing, mincing or slicing foods. The bigger size makes it better suited for the heavy duty work, and making thicker slices than a paring knife.

A Serrated Knife

Instead of a straight edge like the paring and chef knives have, the serrated knife has notches in the blade. It can be anywhere from 5 to 10 inches long. It is best used for foods that are hard on the outside, while being soft on the inside. A perfect example is a loaf of homemade bread. The serrated blade is also good for slicing tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables.

Don’t Forget A Cleaver

You could make do with a paring knife, chef’s knife and serrated knife, but there’s one other blade that is highly useful in the kitchen. This knife had a very wide blade which is usually about 6 inches in length.

A cleaver is good for pounding and crushing foods, although it can also be used to chop and shred foods like the other knives. Additionally, this is a good knife for cutting through hard materials like bones in chickens.

Not only can a cleaver pulverize meat, but the flat of the blade can be used to crush garlic and other herbs. It takes up a lot of space in a kitchen drawer, but most cleavers come with a hole near the end of the blade so it can be hung up somewhere out of the way.

Choose Good Quality Knives For The Kitchen

Whatever knives you chose, get the best quality you can. A kitchen knife gets used a lot, so make you food preparation easier by buying good ones.

The more you cook, the more you will appreciate using good quality knives, and may wish to expand your selection to include more types. For a starter kitchen, however, the paring knife, chef’s knife, serrated knife and cleaver are good basic equipment.

Every kitchen can use a few good knives.

Cooking for over 40 years, Pat has lots of experience and definite ideas about what works best in the kitchen. http://www.cookwareforhealth.com/

Society today is very tired and overworked. Everyone is busy and running at a fast pace each day. It does not matter what the reason is for the hectic pace of your lifestyle, your time is precious and needs to be managed effectively. You need cheap meal ideas to help you stretch your time and money while still providing a wholesome and nutritious dinner for you and your family.

The fast food makers know how little time we have and use this very thing to make themselves successful. The idea of coming home after a long day at work and cooking for four or five people is not something we tend to look forward to on top of preparing for the next day and trying to get the homework done. This is why they offer you cheap meal ideas that require no cleaning, no cooking, and only 25 minutes to pick up.

Mothers and fathers are the first to take a run to the drive through to avoid the hassles of grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning up after dinner so they can go home and relax a bit before they need to wake up and do it all over again. The problem with this is that eating so much fast food will inevitably cause obesity and is not the healthiest choice to consider. There are some very cheap meal ideas that take almost no time to prepare and will make coming home to a good meal more bearable.

The first cheap meal idea includes meat, vegetables, and pasta or rice all in one dish. To make a quick stir fry, begin with some thin slices of meat. Beef is good and chicken will also work. Add a modest amount of soy sauce to the meat. Cook until done completely. In the same pan, add a bag of stir fry vegetables to the mix. Add a cup of water to the mix as the vegetables are heating to make a sauce of sorts. While the meat and vegetables are cooking, get out a bag or two of the boil in bag rice. Let this cook as the rest is heating. When the rice is complete, put a helping on each plate and cover with the stir fry vegetables and meat. Not only is this a cheap meal idea, it is also fast; it can be made in only 20 minutes.

You can whip up a hearty batch of pancakes and scrambled eggs for the family in about 30 minutes or less. If you think it is strange to eat breakfast food for dinner, consider how these same foods give you what you need to go through an entire day. Another one of the cheap meal ideas to try is a simple macaroni and cheese with meat dish. The ground beef or turkey only takes 20 minutes to cook through and the macaroni and cheese can be finished before the meat is. For an added flavor, add one small can of tomato sauce for a tomato macaroni dish.

When you fix one of these or other cheap meal ideas at home, you are taking time out of your busy day to treat yourself and your family special.

Want to learn more about Meal Planning? Visit http://mealplanningguide.com for meal planning ideas, meal plans and recipes.

With fluorescent lights bleaching the steel surfaces and plumes of scented smoke rising from shing copper pots, this could be anyone of the bustling kitchens in Hanoi’s high-end restaurants. But at KOTO (which stands for Know One, Teach One), creating tantalising dishes is only one of the restaurant’s aims. The other is to provide training, employment and housing for 100 local “street children”. Enjoy one of the most vibrant recipes from the restaurant:

Caramel pork

2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

2 eschalots, peeled and chopped

1/3 teaspoon ground black pepper

150 ml fish sauce, plus extra to taste

1 kg port belly

Vegetable oil for frying

Boiled rice to serve

Pickled bean sprouts (see following recipe) to serve

Caramel sauce

220 g caster sugar

Juice of

Autumn is the one time of year the weather is nice in most parts of the country at the same time. In the warm southern and southwest regions, people who have been kept inside by the blazing summer temperatures start to enjoy the outdoors more. In the northern regions, the nights start to get crisp but the daytime temperatures are very pleasant. And pleasant weather means an ideal time for grilling and barbecue.

1. We all tend to have a few recipes that are our favorites to prepare on the grill, the dishes we know are going to turn out nearly perfect every time. The old reliables. But part of the fun of grilling is experimenting, finding new dishes, flavors and cooking techniques to use with the grill or the smoker unit.

2. A new take on an old favorite. Is steak your favorite meat to grill? Well, steak is incredibly versatile. You could try making spicy southwest steak, by adding a chile powder such as chipotle to the normal salt, pepper, and garlic you put on the steak before grilling. Adding a few tablespoons of ground coffee beans gives you the classic “cowboy” steak. Have you ever added brown sugar to the spice mix you use? Try it. You’ll find it gives the steak a unique glaze, and it is one of the secrets expensive steakhouses employ.

3. And now for something completely different. Don’t limit yourself to the old standards: steaks, chops, burgers, ribs. Grilled fish is delicious, and is good for you as well. Buy whole fish like trout, insert thin lemon slices into the cavity, and cook them on a low, smoky heat. If you have a smoker unit, you’ll be surprised all the great food you can prepare—duck, goose, game birds, turkey, and chicken are all tasty candidates. You can even make your own smoked ham or smoked sausage.

4. Check out the liquor cabinet for ideas. Beer, brandy, red wine, bourbon, rum, even tequila can add tremendous flavor to a marinade or a sauce. Beer can be used to make a zesty marinade for shrimp. There are great tequila based marinades for grilled chicken. Bourbon and rum can be used to create your own signature barbeque sauce. An easy to make mushroom and red wine sauce or brandy can turn your backyard barbeque into one rivaling the high-end steakhouses.

5. Take a culinary vacation in the backyard. Maybe the cost and hassle of international travel these days has kept you from visiting those places you’ve always dreamed of. There’s no reason you can’t enjoy those countries’ cuisine. How about grilling some delicious, tender ribeye steaks and preparing several different dipping sauces for your guests to sample, maybe Asian teriyaki-style; a South American “Gaucho” sauce with lime juice, roasted peppers, red onions and cilantro; and a Caribbean “jerk”-style sauce. Sort of like one of those “five countries in one and a half days” tour packages you see advertised on TV.

Don’t be afraid to expand you grilling repertoire. And keep a record of your grilling experiments, the variations you tried on recipes you use. Write down what worked so well you would like to try it again. You may find out your family has a high tolerance for spicier foods, so you may want to enhance the recipes with additional chiles. You might find a grilled shrimp recipe that works equally well with scallops. Who knows, you might come up with a totally unique recipe that ends up in a cooking magazine.

Brian Hill is the author of several nonfiction books and the novel, Over Time.” One of his favorite hobbies is Grilling right behind eating and gardening.