Tips and Basic Guide on Quick Breads

It's easy to understand why quick breads are so popular. First of all, there's such a wide variety of taste-tempting breads from which to choose. And, they're relatively speedy to prepare and bake, especially when you take into account the rising time necessary for yeast bread preparation.

Although biscuits, muffins, and nut breads play a particularly tasty role in rounding out the meal, the quick bread family isn't limited to the bread plate. In fact, feathery pancakes and crisp waffles can serve as part of the main dish. And dough nuts, often star as the meal-ending dessert.

The following are quick bread tips and explanations:

• Baking powder, baking soda, steam, or air -- rather than yeast --- leaven quick breads.
• Most quick breads are best served hot from the oven- with plenty of butter!
• Most nut breads should be stored for at least a day. The flavors will mellow and the loaf will slice more easily.
• After baking, turn nut breads out of the pan and cool on a wire rack. Place cooled bread in an airtight container, or wrap it in foil or clear plastic wrap.
• A crack down the center of a nut loaf is no mistake --- it's typical.

Serve nut breads cut in very thin slices with simple spreads: soft butter, cream cheese, jam or jelly.

Dip tops of warm muffins in melted butter or margarine and then in sugar for a sweet and sparkling crusty topping.

Here is a recipe on a quick bread:

Zucchini Nut Loaf

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp baking powder
1 cup sugar
1 cup finely shredded peeled zucchini
1 egg
¼ cup cooking oil
¼ tsp finely shredded lemon peel
12 cup chopped walnuts
Oven 350o

In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and baking powder; set aside. In a mixing bowl beat together sugar, shredded zucchini, and egg. Add oil and lemon peel; mix well. Stir flour mixture into zucchini mixture. Gently fold in chopped nuts. Turn batter into a greased 8x4x2-inch loaf pan. Bake in 350o oven for 55 to 60 minutes or till wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool thoroughly on a rack. Wrap and store loaf overnight before slicing. Makes 1.

Sandy is a food lover who has been into food business for more than 20 years. She shares her experience in cooking tips, recipes as well as healthy cooking way.

How to Cook Healthy Meals Fast Using Foods Which Take Less Time to Prepare

With all the things we have to do every day, like working, shopping, cleaning etc., cooking our own healthy meals often becomes a challenge that makes many give up. We then seek our refuge in fast food that we pick up on the way home and ready-made meals out of the freezer which are neither good for our budget nor for our health when we eat them too often.

But did you know that there are some great shortcuts you can take to prepare meals in less time? Half an hour can be all you need to get a tasty and healthy meal on the table. Let me explain to you how to cook faster by using foods which take less time to prepare!

1. Focus on little and easy-to-prepare ingredients
2. Base your meals on foods that are ready for use

Trick #1: Focus on little and easy-to-prepare ingredients

• It can be quite challenging to handle a wide variety of ingredients when you are in a hurry. To keep the overview, rather stick with a small number of ingredients, about 3 to 5 for the most.
• Also make sure you choose foods that are quick and easy to prepare, that is for example everything that does not need to be peeled, does not have pips or seeds to remove and is cut very easily, like marrow, mushrooms or tomatoes.
• Thirdly, use foods that don't take long to cook (even if you cut larger pieces to save time), e.g. leek, aubergines and peppers.

Trick #2: Base your meals on foods that are ready for use

• Buy fresh foods that are already cleaned and cut so that you just need to cook them.
• Canned or frozen fruit or vegetables are another great asset for fast cooking. Canned foods just need to be warmed, which is an issue of minutes. Frozen foods can be cooked straight from the freezer and are done in about half the time as if you would use the same amount of fresh food.
• Foods that can be eaten raw are also marvellous if you don't have much time. Think for example of a green salad with cucumber slices and pieces of pepper. Or add canned pineapple pieces and chopped walnuts, or shredded tuna and cherry tomatoes.
• Left-overs often make you create great meals. Try to plan left-overs that can help you. If you have grilled chicken filet one day, prepare enough so that you can cut it up for a salad or pasta sauce. Cook more potatoes than you need so that the next day you just need to bake them quickly.

These are two simple but powerful tricks that you can apply easily. Fast cooking is not magic, all it takes is to know some basic rules and techniques, and you can prepare healthy meals yourself in little time, leaving you and your family healthier and with more time and money to spend on other things you enjoy.

Bettina Berlin is a health professional specializing in healthy nutrition and quick cooking. Eating healthy and thus maintaining a healthy weight can significantly improve your health and help prevent many diseases. Is your life so hectic that preparing healthy food often seems impossible? Then visit http://www.elishas-quick-recipes.blogspot.com