When you’re trying to lose weight, you’ll want to stay away from fried foods. You can replace your craving with Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Zucchini. Here are the ingredients: 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour; 1/2 tsp pepper; 1/2 tsp salt; 1 egg white; 2 tsp fat-free milk, 1 cup breadcrumbs, 2 Tbsp Italian seasoning, 2 medium zucchini, cut into 3/4-inch discs, and nonstick olive oil cooking spray.

Using the Un-fry technique, coat the zucchini with these ingredients. Then spray your pan with an olive oil cooking spray. After you have preheated the oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit, place the breaded zucchini on the baking sheet and cook for eight minutes. Then flip to the other side and cook for another eight minutes. For a meowlish entree, you can use the same ingredients on catfish. Replace the Italian dressing with 2 tsp Paul Prudhomme's Blackened Red Fish Magic Seasoning Blend (or your favorite Creole seasoning.)

Mushrooms can reverse your aging symptoms. This recipe is as cute as a button. Here are the ingredients: 3 Tbsp whole wheat flour; 1 tsp garlic salt; 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper; 1/2 tsp black pepper; 2 egg whites; 1 Tbsp milk; 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat breadcrumbs; 24 medium button mushrooms; and nonstick olive oil cooking spray. Use the same un-fry technique as before. However, after cooking the mushrooms for eight minutes, flip them over and only cook them for another three minutes. You can find these recipes and more tips to cook without frying on http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0KGB/is_4_4/ai_n6013158/.

A good salad is both nutritious and pleasing to the eye; overall, though, it should taste as good as it looks. Knowing the flavor of each type of lettuce and vegetable is essential for creating the best salad.

The iceberg lettuce is the most common lettuce because it stores well for about two weeks. Iceberg lettuce is known for the crispy texture and very mild flavor. However, it has the least amount of nutrition of the lettuce family. The darker the lettuce leaves, the more nutritious the lettuce. Romaine's strong taste and crispy texture coupled with the sweet taste of carrot, the acidic bite of a sweet Cherry tomato and a crunchiness of the radish makes for a good salad. The butter head type of lettuce has a delicate sweet flavor with the addition of green peppers, green onions and small sprigs of broccoli making an interesting variety of flavors for a green salad. Arugula added to any salad will lend a peppery flavor. Mâche or lambs lettuce is very nutritious, has a velvety texture and a mild flavor. Endive will add a slightly bitter taste, but when added to a sweeter lettuce will off set the sweetness. Celery is a good source of nutrition and goes well with practically every vegetable. Shredded cabbage, spinach and Kale add extra fiber to the salad.

Some of the lettuce types such as arugula and Mâche or lambs lettuce are very delicate and they do not keep well, which means they should be purchased only in the quantity needed and used immediately.

Learning to bake homemade pies is not exactly easy, but with a little time and practice you could be making perfect pies. Of course, baking does take a bit of skill but once you learn the basics, you're on the way to baking pies like your Grandma.

One of the essentials and the most difficult part is turning out a good pie crust. The key to a good crust in one word is "cold". All of the ingredients must be cold and the water you should use is ice water. You must also roll out the dough on a cold surface. Use pastry or cake flour for a flakier crust. A final tip on making pie crust dough is to handle the dough as little as possible. You want the shortening you are using to stay in clumps because the fat between layers of flour makes the piecrust flaky.

If you want to make a lemon meringue pie, you'll need to consider a few points about making a good meringue. Meringue is made from whipped egg whites and sugar. Whipping egg whites is what makes them so beautifully puffy and billowy. Adding the sugar at just the right time and in the right amount will keep the egg whites from collapsing while making the meringue sweet.

One important thing to remember when making a good meringue is to have everything impeccably clean and free of fat. Resist using plastic bowls since they may harbor fat residues. Be careful about getting even the slightest spec of egg yolk into the egg whites. Older egg whites make higher peaks and colder eggs separate more easily. The last tip in making good meringue is to keep beating the egg whites, don't stop once you've started whipping them.

Many people are of the mistaken opinion that it is difficult to bake a homemade pie. However, you really don’t have to be an experienced cook to produce a tasty dessert. Actually, the most difficult part of the whole process is making the pie crust. If you don’t want the headaches of making and rolling out the dough, you can purchase a frozen pie crust that will taste every bit as good as one made from scratch.

Your choices are fairly straightforward. You can do a cream pie or one that is filled with fruit. A word to the wise — meringue pies tend to be more difficult, so you may want to stick to the basics. Blueberry, cherry, or apple fillings all come in a can, ready to use. Once you’ve added the necessary spices, it’s really tough to distinguish them from a homemade creation.
Pumpkin pies are also easy to make. The following recipe can be found at www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/specialty/libbys-detail-fpp.aspx.

First, place an uncooked pie shell in a baking dish. A glass container is recommended for easy visibility. Next, open your can of filling and set it aside.

Then, mix together 3/4 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves, and add your canned pumpkin to it. Beat two large eggs in another bowl, and combine with the sugar/spice mixture.

Gradually, pour in one can of evaporated milk and stir thoroughly. Place this mixture in your unbaked pie shell and bake for 15 minutes in a 425 degree preheated oven. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking for another 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool your pie for several hours and serve with either ice cream or whipped cream. Voila, you’ve just made your guests an inspiringly delicious dessert with precious little effort!

Soups aren't the first dishes a person thinks about when they think of summertime meals. Traditionally considered cold weather comfort foods, most soups are served warm or hot. However, there are some wonderful summertime soup ideas out there that will help mix up your meal planning for the hot summer months.

Most summertime soups are served cold so they are nice and refreshing after a long day in the sun. Fruits and vegetables are the more popular ingredients in recipes for summer soups. The most popular soups served chilled or at room temperature are gazpacho and vichyssoise. Vichyssoise and other summer soups may be precooked and then chilled prior to serving, but there are many soups, gazpacho included, that require no cooking of ingredients. Summer soups made from such ingredients as watermelon, a variety of berries, corn and tomatoes are more appealing when they are silky smooth, cold and colorful. Unless a soup is supposed to be chunky, effort should be made to ensure that the soup is pureed to a very smooth consistency. Be sure to allow plenty of time for a soup to chill should it need to be served at a colder temperature.

Recipes for a wide variety of summertime soups can be found all over the Internet. Summertime soups are a great way to get fruits and vegetables into your diet, and with many fruits being in season during the summer, there isn't a better time to enjoy their flavor. Have fun getting started and enjoy experimenting with soups this summer.